Ireland or England

[Annlinda]

which country became Christian first- England or Ireland

[simms]

Christianity emerged at the time when the land from the mediterranean basin to west atlantic coastal fringe was dominated by the Romans. In the 2nd century AD the Roman emperor became a christian (constantine), and thereafter christianity was off and on the official aristocratic religion of the roman empire and filtered through to the cultures existing on the fringes of the official empire. Ireland was one of the peripheral cultures in question: the stories told about St Patrick say he was a roman aristocrat who was kidnapped by pirates and ended up in Ireland where he began his mission of conversion. However, trade links could have easily brought irish people into contact with christianity at the same time that these first contacts came to Britain. Keep an open mind. PS 'England' post-dates all of this discussion: a name brought in the 6th century AD onwards.

[JohnPPotts]

While I agree with much of what Simms says (except Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, is 4th Century, not 2nd), after the Roman withdrawal from Britain and the subsequent pagan invasions by the Anglo-Saxons, Britain was largely de-Christianised in all but the periphery (such as Cornwall and Wales), until St Augustine's re-conversion mission (at the end of the 6th Century). So although England was Christian before Ireland, Ireland has been Christian continuously for longer.

[Cumbrian]

QUOTE - simms "the stories told about St Patrick say he was a roman aristocrat who was kidnapped by pirates and ended up in Ireland"

St. Patrick was from the Kingdom of Rheged.  He was taken from a small community on the Cumbrian coast as a slave to Ireland at some point he was shipwrecked and was washed up at Heysham on Morecambe Bay.  He later returned to Ireland where he preached the Christian faith.  See following site for more info.

http://www.aboutulverston.co.uk/celts/patrick.htm