Summary

What Life Was Like Among Druids and High Kings tells the fascinating story of the coming of Christianity to the Irish and many other compelling tales of the daily lives of the men and women of Ireland from Celtic to Christian times. From contemporary accounts by travellers, church officials, and jurists, as well as from the legends and histories for which the Irish are so justly famous, come the stories of kings and thieves, farmers and monks, scholars and saints. Among them are the mighty Brian Boru, who defeated Irishmen and Vikings alike to become king of all Ireland; Saint Brigit, the daughter of a druid, who put her eye out rather than marry, and Dermot Mac Murrough, who, by asking for the assistance of Henry II in regaining his kingdom, opened the door to England's future involvement in Ireland's affairs.