ABSTRACT
The kingdom of Ireland was mid-way between tribal gregariousness and monarchic organization. Men were grouped in a patriarchal feudalism, united by personal ties of consanguinity and by both real and personal ties of property and social hierarchy. It has been noted that the framework of the Irish Church reproduced that of society; dioceses correspond to clans; monastic communities to the large agnatic groups. In the work of Czarnowski, Saint Patrick is compared only with the saints, gods, and heroes of Ireland; and moreover this comparison is actually intended to show that he resembles them and therefore is a hero. In the same way that the Church of Saint Patrick modeled its organization on the framework of Irish society, it imitated, in the cult of its saints, the cult of the heroes found in this society. Equally Saint Patrick, because he is a saint and founder of churches, offers a favorable case for another part of the study of heroes.
