rk of that nature
in contemplation, we shall only make brief mention of the events
connected with the life and mission of the saint at present; but the
Christianizing of any country must always form an important epoch,
politically and socially, and, as such, demands the careful
consideration of the historian. How and when the seed of faith was sown
in ancient Erinn before the time of the great Apostle, cannot now be
ascertained. We know the silent rapidity with which that faith spread,
from its first promulgation by the shores of the Galilean lake, until it
became the recognized religion of earth's mightiest empire. We know,
also, that, by a noticeable providence, Rome was chosen from the
beginning as the source from whence the light should emanate. We know
how pagan Rome, which had subdued and crushed material empires, and
scattered nations and national customs as chaff before the wind, failed
utterly to subdue or crush this religion, though promulgated by the
feeblest of its plebeians. We know how the material prosperity of that
mighty people was overruled for the furtherance of eternal designs; and
as the invincible legions continually added to the geographical extent
of the empire they also added to the number of those to whom the gospel
of peace should be proclaimed.

The first Christian mission to Ireland, for which we have definite and
reliable data, was that of St. Palladius. St. Prosper, who held a high
position in the Roman Church, published a chronicle in the year 433, in
which we find the following register: "Palladius was consecrated by Pope
Celestine, and sent as the first Bishop to the Irish believing in
Christ."[110] This mission was unsuccessful. Palladius was repulsed by
the inhabitants of Wicklow,[111] where he landed. He then sailed
northward, and was at last driven by stress of weather towards the
Orkneys, finding harbour, eventually, on the shores of Kincardineshire.
Several ancient tracts give the details of his mission, its failure, and
his subsequent career. The first of those authorities is the Life of St.
Patrick in the Book of Armagh; and in this it is stated that he died in
the "land of the Britons." The second Life of St. Patrick, in Colgan's
collection, has changed Britons into "Picts." In the "Annotations of
Tierchan," also preserved in the Book of Armagh,[112] it is said that
Palladius was also called Patricius,[113] and that he suffered martyrdom
among the Scots, "as ancient saints rela