Ireland has had a special place in the unfolding story of civilisation. In this she is by no means alone. Yet Ireland, with Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, is one of the key players from antiquity.
There are many reasons for this; one could mention
* Climate. Her island situation in the Gulf Stream has ensured a particularly mild climate, ideal for agriculture. This allowed Her denizens the leisure to develop an advanced civilisation without large centralised cities (as happened in the Middle East).
* Geographic location. Her relative remoteness and accessibility protected her from the Barbarian Invasions at the breakup of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
* Early conversion to the Catholic Church purified her civilisation. In part this may be attributed to the pre-existing Irish culture, which appears to have been favourable to hearing the Gospel when it was preached, and an organised system of government under local kings and "High-Kings" with a powerful and organised druidic priesthood. Once the leaders of the culture had been converted, they passed the message down the chains of command.
* The merits of S. Patrick himself played a vitally important role, which is active even to the present day.
* The various waves of emigration, from the White Martyrdom of the 6th – 8th centuries to the dispersion after the Famine in the 19th, repeatedly spread the enriching and civilising influence of Irish culture around the world.