The Cult of Relics in Early Medieval Ireland

The cult of relics was an integral facet of early Christianity, and relics played a key role in the administration of the church and in its interaction with secular society. This book is the first to explore the historical roots of this cult in Ireland by examining the role of relics in the earliest Irish sources, up until the ninth century.

Wycherley explores how the Christian phenomenon of relic veneration became manifest in early Ireland and evaluates the continuity between Irish practice and that on the continent. She offers an entirely new model of how the cult of relics developed and explores the extent to which it helped forge early Irish Christianity in exciting ways. This has the potential to reshape views of the entire period.

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