Sun Dancing: Life in a Medieval Irish Monastery and How Celtic Spirituality Influenced the WWorld [Paperback]

Geoffrey Moorhouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 1999

Visible on a clear day off the west coast of Ireland, the Skellig Islands, a cluster of cruel rocks, rise spectacularly from the Atlantic Ocean. A sanctuary to birds and seals today, for over six hundred years during the middle ages it was a center for a particularly intense form of monastic life, one that acclaimed writer Geoffrey Moorhouse explores with utmost fascination, scholarship, and imagination in Sun Dancing. A must read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Celtic spirituality, Moorhouse's lively narrative is a superbly imagined account of the monks' isolated life-the spiritual struggles and triumphs and unbelievable physical hardships. To complement and enrich the book, Moorhouse establishes the historical context of Irish monasticism and describes the monks' influence and undeniable role in preserving western civilization, as well as unexpected connections between medieval Ireland and India, Egypt, and Byzantium, and the surviving impact of pagan mythology. An entertaining and enlightening work, Sun Dancing makes medieval Ireland come alive.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

The rigors of Irish monasticism in the medieval period, well told by travel writer Moorhouse (On the Other Side, 1991; Hell's Foundations, 1992; etc.). The first half of the book is an imaginative reconstruction of life in an Irish monastery on the secluded rock-island of Skellig Michael from its founding in 588 to its dissolution in 1222. Moorhouse uses fictional vignettes to enliven the text. Each chapter is a well-chosen window onto a significant figure or event in the monastery's history--an 824 attack by Viking raiders, for example. In these fictional glimpses, we see the larger picture of Irish monasticism's evolution from a rigorously austere island faith to a less zealous, Romanized religion. Skellig Michael, perilously located on a sheer cliff rising from the ocean, began as one of the most ascetic of the Irish monasteries. Gradually, however, the population of monks began to dwindle, and the last fictionalized chapter shows the abbot and his aging disciples rowing their way back to the security of the mainland. The first half of the book is so intriguing and beautifully written that the second, a more traditional historical treatment of Irish monasticism, arranged topically, pales by comparison. Some of the discussions are absorbing, though; in one instance, Moorhouse explores the theme of syncretism, arguing that early Irish Catholicism, rather than eradicating pagan Celtic rituals, incorporated them into monastic life. This eclectic borrowing was able to continue for centuries because of Ireland's geographical remoteness from the centralizing forces of Rome. Due to accommodation with a Celtic spring ritual, Easter was dated differently than in Rome, a discrepancy that continued until Rome demanded conformity in the early 8th century. An uneven work, then, more fascinating in its first, fictionalized half than in the rigorous explications of the second, and one that might have worked better presented purely as a novel. (illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Geoffrey Moorhouse has taken his fascination with the Skellig Islands and created from it a unique work. . . . Its distinctive combination of documentary fiction and engrossing scholarship will compel many readers."-Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler's List and The Great Shame
"Highly original, gracefully written, and carefully researched . . . Moorhouse can go deep, and his scholarship is impressive."-The Boston Globe
"Moorhouse writes with eloquence and a quiet humor calculated to charm even the blackest of heathens."-The Atlantic Monthly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Harvest Books; 1st Harvest Edition 1999 edition (March 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156006022
• ISBN-13: 978-0156006026
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way They Really Were, May 30, 2005

By 

Columbina O'Niall "Columbina" (Somewhere out west) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Dancing: Life in a Medieval Irish Monastery and How Celtic Spirituality Influenced the WWorld (Paperback)

This book will capture your interest and will leave you hanging with more questions. If your interest is in the field of archaeology, etc, you will probably want to "pass by, Horseman." However, if you're like me and you just want to know what was happening to the average peasant and believer on the banks of the River of history, then this book is for you. G. Moorehouse, does a smash up job of bringing to life the spirit of the Celtic monks who changed the world. The book is divided into two parts: the first being a "faction", that is a historically accurate fictional account of day to day life in the monastery of Sceilig Michail. In this section, he attempts to penetrate the Celtic mind and I have to give him credit for this. If in any way, he failed, it is only because the truly Celtic Christian mind was lost to us after the Great Schism of 1054 and after their valiant and heroic resistance, Eire finally fell to the Roman church. (We should all mourn what might have been contributed to Byzantium because it is the less for all that!)

The second section deals in the facts, insofar as they are known, and as cold as the stones that pious Celtic hands pressed into service, to build the monasteries of Iona, Lindisfarne, Sceilig Michail. The bibliography alone is worth every penny, the price of the book and I highly recommend it as much for Mr. Moorehouse's attempt to plumb the depths of the celtic Christian heart, as for it's more scholarly attributes.

If you're looking for new age nonsense about "Celtic" spirituality, move on. If you are looking for the Orthodoxy (big O intended) of the Celts, you've come to the right place. Moorehouse skirts the issue, and never directly says it outright, but the message of this book is loud and clear: The origin of Celtic Christianity lies in the East, with Eastern Orthodoxy and not with Roman pontiffs. Nobody, with any knowledge will fail to recognize the obvious: St. John Cassian's prayer and method of use (pre-cursor of the Jesus prayer), the monastic cell rules, the ascetism of St. Anthony and other Desert Fathers.

In the end, what one is left with is this: Iona, Lindisfarne, and Sceilig Michail are not so far away as they may appear in the mist. They may, and must, be re-built each day in our own hearts with a Christianity that is Orthodox and that is lived each day, without fail.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rocks of passion, March 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sun Dancing: A Vision of Medieval Ireland (Hardcover)

If you've ever stood on the rocks of Skellig Michael, or peered at them from safe ground across the tossing waves, you've thought to yourself, "only crazy people and seagulls would live there". You would be wrong - passionate maybe, maybe not crazy. This story of the monks on Skellig Michael, part history, part fiction, speaks of the loneliness and of being alone - which are not the same things - and the astonishing strength that can come from the most unexpected places when one person or a group of people who share a focus come together. Even the early pages that detail the types of ink used in the glorious illuminated manuscripts of Clanmacnoise draw you into this passion and this focus. It's an incredible story of life on a rock in the middle of nowhere that provided a continuous line of education and religion (like it or not) in a time beyond our imagination.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five-stars for the story of Irish monks in the dark ages, January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sun Dancing: A Vision of Medieval Ireland (Hardcover)

Sun Dancing is a fascinating look at this period of Irish history. The arrangment of the fictionalized account, backed by in-depth commentaries in the second half is novel and a joyful way to present the materials gathered. I hope Mr. Moorhouse writes many more books of this sort as I practically swallowed this one whole, and now have to go back and re-read it to savor it all over again!