Their testimony, late though it seems, has often been treated in relation to the historical question of pre-Patrician Christianity in the south of Ireland.
The Lives of Ailbe, Declán, Ciarán and Abbán in the Dublin Collection appear to reflect the need of the Munster houses to offer some counterweight against the Patrician dossier promoted by Armagh, even though they do not deny the national importance of St Patrick [REF].