Dungal himself informs us that he was an Irishman in a poem in praise of Charlemagne which commences with these words: “These verses the Irish Exile (_exul Hibernicus_) sends to King Charles.” He composed several other poems,[499] but that written to Charlemagne is his longest and best effort. The shorter poems display considerable taste but not much imagination.[500] In 828 A.D. Dungal appeared in a controversy against Claudius, bishop of Turin, who had written against the veneration of images. It will be recalled that this Claudius was the learned and gifted Spaniard who described the Council of Italian bishops as a “council of asses” (_congregatio asinorum_). Against this formidable opponent Dungal was called upon to undertake the defence of the veneration of images. As Zimmer remarks, “these two learned adversaries, Claudius the Spaniard and Dungal the Irishman, who met on the soil of Lombardy, were the representatives of two countries—the only ones—which offered an asylum to Graeco-Roman culture at the beginning of the seventh century when it had declined in the West. Ireland was especially conspicuous in introducing it anew in the form of Christianity, principally into France, these efforts being made when civilization was at its lowest ebb and the country in its most degraded condition.”[501] We are not concerned here with the theological question at issue, but it may be remarked that Dungal’s reply[502] shows that he was a man of wide culture, “accomplished too in sacred literature, and at the same time trained in grammatical laws and in the classical excellence of style as will readily appear to anyone who reads his writings.”[503] Alzog informs us that the sophistical reasoning of Claudius was refuted by Jonas, bishop of Orleans, but much more ably by Dungal. He is styled an excellent theologian (_theologus excellans_) by a contemporary and Healy declares that Dungal’s is the first and best work that was written on the subject.[504] The many quotations from Greek and Latin poets which occur in his reply to Claudius as well as in his epistle to Charlemagne prove that Dungal had a strong love for poetry and that he was well read in classic literature.[505] Thus we see that Dungal’s education was built on a broad foundation, for he was distinguished as an astronomer and a theologian as well as a poet and a schoolmaster.