The Tripartite Life of Patrick

This two-volume collection (1887) of early medieval texts, in Latin and Irish, illuminates the development of the cult of St Patrick.

This two-volume edition of works about Patrick, the fifth-century apostle to Ireland, was published in 1887. Dating from the fifth to the eleventh century, in both Latin and Irish, the texts show the development of the saint's cult, ranging from hagiography to hymns and homilies. The Irish texts are translated.Celtic scholar and philologist Whitley Stokes (1830–1909) edited and translated many important early medieval texts from Ireland, in Latin and Irish, which remain standard reading. This two-volume edition of works about Patrick, the fifth-century apostle to Ireland, was first published in 1887. Volume 2 contains a range of works dating from the fifth to the eleventh century. It includes the two surviving works that can be attributed to Patrick himself, the Confession and Letter to Coroticus. The excerpts from the Book of Armagh from the seventh century onward reflect the growing nationwide cult of St Patrick, and Armagh's claim to ecclesiastical primacy by associating Patrick with its church. These include the accounts of Patrick by Tírechán and Muirchu, and the 'Book of the Angel'. There are also hymns by Secundinus and Fiacc, Ninníne's prayer and an Irish homily from the Lebar Brecc. Translations of the Irish, along with several appendices and indexes, are also provided.