Sir,—My thanks to Joe Culley (Bookworm, HI 27.2, March/April 2019) for the kind and thoughtful little review of my recent book, Saint Patrick retold. However, there is an error to which I must draw your attention. Nowhere in the book do I argue that ‘Patrick entered the clergy to avoid the inherited role of tax collector’, as the reviewer claims. Patrick might have chosen to settle in Ireland in order to abscond from such an office, but never did I cast aspersions on his motivation to become a cleric. In the electronic version of the review on your website, can I please ask that the words ‘entered the clergy’ be replaced with ‘may, perhaps, have chosen to settle in Ireland’?—Yours etc.,
Dr ROY FLECHNER
Lecturer in Early Medieval History,
UCD
I am more than happy to accept Dr Flechner’s clarification. Perhaps in my attempt to condense a highly nuanced argument down to half a dozen words some of that nuance was sacrificed. I have no desire to cast aspersions on St Patrick, and I certainly wasn’t suggesting that Dr Flechner had any such intention. Of course, the best course of action for readers is to buy the book. It’s excellent.
JOE CULLEY
The necessary amendment has been made on our website—Ed.