This book represents the first study of the art of rhetoric in medieval Ireland, a culture often neglected by medieval rhetorical studies. In a series of three case studies, Brian Stone traces the textual transmission of rhetorical theories and practices from the late Roman period to those early Irish monastic communities who would not only preserve and pass on the light of learning, but adapt an ancient tradition to their own cultural needs, contributing to the history of rhetoric in important ways. The manuscript tradition of early Ireland, which gave us the largest body of vernacular literature in the medieval period and is already appreciated for its literary contributions, is also a site of rhetorical innovation and creative practice.

Brian James Stone is Assistant Professor of English at Indiana State University, where he teaches rhetoric, writing, and medieval Irish literature.

Acknowledgements
Introduction: Early Irish Rhetoric
Ireland and the Roman Frontiers
Ireland and the History of Medieval Rhetoric
Historiography and Medieval Rhetoric
A Note on Periodisation
Chapter I: Late Antique and Early Medieval Ireland and the Latin West
Social and Ecclesiastical Organization in Early Ireland
Chapter II: Learning in Ireland in the Sixth through the Eighth Centuries
Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England
Ireland and Spain
Letter Writing and the Paschal Controversy
Columbanus
Learning at Iona
The Grammatical Handbook Tradition in Ireland
Chapter III: St Patrick and the Rhetoric of Epistolography
The Dating of Patrick’s Obit
The Rhetorical Arts in Sub-Roman Britain
Rhetoric of Epistolography
The Purpose of Patrick’s Mission
Chapter IV: A Rhetorical Analysis of Patrick’s Epistola ad Milites Corotici
Patrick and Paul
Chapter V: The Hisperica famina
Rhetorical Analysis of the Hisperica famina
Chapter VI: Secular Learning and Native Traditions
Filidecth and Secular and Church Relations
Verbal Art and Early Irish Poetry – ‘The Cauldron of Poetry and Learning’
The Cauldron
‘The Cauldron of Poetry and Learning’
Conclusion
Bibliography