The Sister Fidelma Mysteries

I first learned about the Synod of Whitby from a novel and became instantly intrigued to know more and to visit the site of this major shift in Celtic Christianity. The book I was reading was The Council of the Cursed by Peter Tremayne, one of the many mysteries in the Sister Fidelma series set in 7th century Ireland and involving visits by this amazing woman and inadvertent solver of murders.  She is advocate/judge as well as nun from an esteemed family who is called upon to visit important places not only in ancient Ireland but in other Celtic lands. In this book she visits Whitby Cathedral where a monumentally important gathering of religious leaders is deciding whether The Early Christian Church would adhere to Celtic custom or convert to Roman practices. 

The true to history synod occurred in 664 A.D. and, among other things, determined the date that Easter would be declared and celebrated throughout Christianity.  Clearly, neither the novel or this blog can do justice to the theological, historic or cultural importance of this event, but it did get my juices of curiosity going to better understand the dynamics that be began to unravel the early Celtic Church of Brigit and Patrick and would centuries later lead to the Protestant Reformation as well as the Irish Church keeping so many of its early traditions and beliefs well into the 1800s.

For those who want to delve into this I would recommend The Life of Wilfrid, and Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum both ancient texts. But I must admit I stopped my research short of that and would expect that most of you would as well.  I was most interested in following the ribbon of official events that led to Celtic lands being Romanized, not just through occupation, but by mandated religious changes and later targeted eradication of the Old Religion, the language of Celtic peoples. 

As I write this looking out at a lake that is calling me, I am reminded that I started this blog to recommend a fun, summer read for Celtic enthusiasts. This Sister Fidelma series is just the ticket. And like any cozy mystery, you learn about the setting and like any historic mystery, you learn about the period. Both are lightly introduced but beautifully included. While it is always nice to start with the first book in a series to see how the main character develops and changes over time. Each book in the series is stands alone. I haven’t read all but I have loved all that I have read.

Those of you who have read my two books know that that bringing a sacred place alive through fiction is one of my passions. Learning has become so subject oriented and siloed that the power of place, meeting history, folklore, and culture in a way that brings depth of meaning and joy can  often be lost. Peter Tremayne does a wonderful job of pulling you in to his settings. I want to visit them all, not just Whitby Cathedral, and feel for myself what it would have been like in the 7th century. Short of that, I will keep reading and adding to my bucket list. I also just ordered the book, The Sister Fidelma Mystery Series: Essays on the Historic Novels of Peter Tremayne, edited by Edward Rielly and David Robert Wooten.

Fans or soon-to-be fans of Sister Fidelma, please join me.