New
New
Year 5

Irish missionaries

I can explain how Irish missionaries helped to spread Christianity in the 6th century.

New
New
Year 5

Irish missionaries

I can explain how Irish missionaries helped to spread Christianity in the 6th century.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The strength of Christianity in Ireland led to its own missionary activity, and Irish missionaries travelled widely.
  2. St Columba was one of these, and travelled to the Scottish island of Iona in the late 6th century to set up a monastery.
  3. From Iona, St Columba spread Christianity through the Pictish territories of Western and Northern Scotland.
  4. St Columbanus went to Gaul at the end of the 6th century and founded two monasteries before travelling across Europe.

Common misconception

The missionaries found it easy to convert people to Christianity.

The missionaries like St Columba and St Columbanus experienced resistance from kings and bishops which sometimes led to major problems and even battle.

Keywords

  • Missionary - A missionary is a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country

  • Iona - Iona is a small Scottish island

  • Picts - Picts were a tribe of people who lived in what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland

  • Gaul - Gaul was an ancient region of Western Europe which included France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy

Look at maps of Gaul and compare them with todays map of Europe.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match these words to their definition.
Correct Answer:patronage,the support given by a person to another person, organisation or cause

the support given by a person to another person, organisation or cause

Correct Answer:monastery,a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows

a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows

Correct Answer:monk,a member of a community of men living under religious vows

a member of a community of men living under religious vows

Q2.
Skellig Michael is an ...
Correct Answer: island, remote island, isolated island
Q3.
Who supported the monasteries?
Correct answer: kings
poor people
Correct answer: rich people
Q4.
Clonmacnoise and Glendalough are the names of two...
Correct Answer: monastries
Q5.
What were monasteries important centres for?
Correct answer: learning
Correct answer: religion
Correct answer: culture
dancing
walking
Q6.
Why were the monasteries large and full of valuable objects?
Correct answer: They were given money and gifts.
They stole money and gifts.
They made money and gifts.

6 Questions

Q1.
Where was St Columba born?
Correct Answer: Ireland
Q2.
When did St Columba travel to Iona?
262 CE
Correct answer: 563 CE
764 CE
865 CE
Q3.
Match the words to their definitions.
Correct Answer:Iona,a small Scottish island

a small Scottish island

Correct Answer:Picts,a tribe of people who lived in what is now northeastern Scotland

a tribe of people who lived in what is now northeastern Scotland

Correct Answer:Gaul,an ancient region of Western Europe

an ancient region of Western Europe

Q4.
Where is St Columba a patron saint of?
Correct answer: Ireland
Correct answer: Scotland
Wales
England
Q5.
When did St Columbanus travel to Italy?
Correct answer: 611 CE
750 CE
800 CE
Q6.
Where is St Columbanus buried?
Iona abbey
Annegray abbey
Correct answer: Bobbio abbey

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