An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800
by Mary Francis Cusack · English · Gutenberg #14754 · 1,590,072 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800
Author: Mary Francis Cusack
Release date: January 22, 2005 [eBook #14754]
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Language: English
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AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND FROM AD 400 TO 1800
by
MARY FRANCES CUSACK
'The Nun of Kenmare'
Illustrations by Henry Doyle
1868
TO THE
RIGHT HONORABLE JUDGE O'HAGAN,
AND TO
HIS SISTER MARY,
FOUNDRESS AND ABBESS OF SAINT CLARE'S CONVENT, KENMARE,
THIS VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
By
The Author.
List of Full-Page Illustrations
ETC.
THE EMIGRANTS' FAREWELL
SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT IRISH MANUSCRIPTS
ST. PATRICK GOING TO TARA
KING BRIAN BOROIMHE KILLED BY THE VIKING
MARRIAGE OF EVA AND STRONGBOW
INTERVIEW BETWEEN MACMURROUGH AND THE OFFICERS OF RICHARD II.
INTERVIEW BETWEEN ESSEX AND O'NEILL
MASSACRE AT DROGHEDA
IRETON CONDEMNING THE BISHOP OF LIMERICK
GRATTAN'S DEMAND FOR IRISH INDEPENDENCE
O'CONNELL REFUSING TO TAKE THE OATH
IRELAND AND AMERICA
PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION.
A demand for a Second Edition of the "Illustrated History of Ireland,"
within three months from the date of the publication of the First,
consisting of 2,000 copies, is a matter of no little gratification to
the writer, both personally and relatively. It is a triumphant proof
that Irishmen are not indifferent to Irish history--a fault of which
they have been too frequently accused; and as many of the clergy have
been most earnest and generous in their efforts to promote the
circulation of the work, it is gratifying to be able to adduce this fact
also in reply to the imputations, even lately cast upon the
ecclesiastics of Ireland, of deficiency in cultivated tastes, and of
utter neglect of literature.
Nor, as a Catholic and a religious, can I fail to express my respectful
gratitude and thankfulness for the warm approbation which the work has
received from so many distinguished prelates. A few of these
approbations will be found at the commencement of the volume--it was
impossible to find space for all. It may be, however, well to observe,
that several of the English Catholic bishops have not been less kind and
earnest in their commendations, though I have not asked their permission
to publish their communications. Some extracts are given from the
reviews, which also are necessarily condensed and limited; and, as the
Most Rev. Dr. Derry has observed, the press has been most favorable in
its criticisms. Even those who differed from the present writer _toto
coelo_, both in religion and politics, have not been less commendatory,
and, in some instances, have shown the writer more than ordinary
courtesy.
Nor should I omit to acknowledge the encouragement which so many
gentlemen, both English and Irish, have given to the work, and the
assistance they have afforded in promoting its circulation. In a
circular, quite recently published in London, and addressed to the
members of a society for the republication of English mediæval
literature, gentlemen are called on by the secretary, even at the risk,
as he himself admits, of "boring them, by asking them to canvass for
orders, like a bookseller's traveller," to assist in obtaining
additional subscribers to the series, and he requests every subscriber
"to get another at once." I am happy to say that, without such
solicitation on our part, many Irish gentlemen have done us this
kindness, and have obtained not one, but many orders from their friends.
I confidently hope that many more will exert themselves in a similar
manner, for the still wider dissemination of the Second Edition. It is a
time, beyond all others, when Irish history should be thoroughly known
and carefully studied. It is a disgrace to Irishmen not to know their
history perfectly, and this with no mere outline view, but completely
and in detail. It is very much to be regretted that Irish history is not
made a distinct study in schools and colleges, both in England and
Ireland. What should be thought of a school where English history was
not taught? and is Irish history of less importance? I have had very
serious letters complaining of this deficiency from the heads of several
colleges, where our history has been introduced as a class-book.[A]
There are some few Irish Catholics who appear to think that Irishmen
should not study their history--some because they imagine that our
history is a painful subject; others, because they imagine that its
record of wrongs cannot fail to excite violent feelings, which may lead
to violent deeds. I cannot for one moment admit that our history is
either so very sorrowful, or that we have cause to do anything but
rejoice in it. If we consider temporal prosperity to be the _summum
bonum_ of our existence, no doubt we may say with truth, like the
Apostle, that of all peoples we are "most miserable;" but we have again
and again renounced temporal advantages, and discarded temporal
prosperity, to secure eternal gain; and we have the promise of the
Eternal Truth that we shall attain all that we have desired. Our
history, then, far from being a history of failures, has been a history
of the most triumphant success--of the most brilliant victories. I
believe the Irish are the only nation on earth of whom it can be truly
said that they have never apostatized nationally. Even the most Catholic
countries of the Continent have had their periods of religious
revolution, however temporary. Ireland has been deluged with blood again
and again; she has been defeated in a temporal point of view again and
again; but spiritually--NEVER! Is this a history to be ashamed of? Is
this a history to regret? Is this a history to lament? Is it not rather
a history over which the angels in heaven rejoice, and of which the
best, the holiest, and the noblest of the human race may justly be
proud?
On the second count, I shall briefly say that if Irish history were
taught in our Irish colleges and schools to children while still young,
and while the teacher could impress on his charge the duty of
forgiveness of enemies, of patient endurance, of the mighty power of
moral force, which has effected even for Ireland at times what more
violent measures have failed to accomplish, then there could be no
danger in the study. Perhaps the greatest human preservative of the
faith, for those whose lot may be cast hereafter in other lands, would
be to inculcate a great reverence for our history, and a _true_
appreciation of its value. The taunt of belonging to a despised nation,
has led many a youth of brilliant promise to feel ashamed of his
country, and almost inevitably to feel ashamed of his faith. A properly
directed study of Irish history would tend much to remove this danger.
During the debate on the Irish Church question, Mr. Maguire, M.P. for
Cork, significantly remarked on the effect produced by the "deliberate
exclusion" of any instruction in Irish history from National schools. It
does seem curious that national history should be a forbidden subject in
National schools, and this fact makes the appellation of "National" seem
rather a misnomer. The result of this deliberate exclusion was
graphically described by the honorable member. The youth comes forth
educated, and at a most impressible age he reads for the first time the
history of his country, and burns with indignant desire to avenge her
many wrongs. The consequences are patent to all. It is, then, for the
advantage of England, as well as of Ireland, that Irish history should
be made the earliest study of Irish youth; nor is it of less importance
that Irish history should be thoroughly known by Englishmen. It is the
duty of every Englishman who has a vote to give, to make himself
acquainted with the subjects on which his representative will give, in
his name, that final decision which makes his political opinion the law
of the land. I suppose no one will deny that the Irish Question is the
question of the day. The prosperity of England, as well as the
prosperity of Ireland, is involved in it. No educated man, however
humble his station, has a right to assist in returning a member to
Parliament without clearly comprehending the principles of his
representative. But unless he has some comprehension of the principles
themselves, it is of little use for him to record his vote. I do not say
that every English voter is bound to study Irish history in detail, but
I do say that, at the present day, he is bound to know what the Irish
themselves demand from England; and if he considers their demands
reasonable, he should record his vote only for those who will do their
utmost to obtain the concessions demanded. A man is unworthy of the
privilege of voting, if he is deficient either in the intellect or the
inclination to understand the subject on which he votes.
But it is of still more importance that members of Parliament should
read--and not only read, but carefully study--the history of Ireland.
Irishmen have a right to _demand_ that they shall do so. If they
undertake to legislate for us, they are bound in conscience and in
honour to know what we require, to know our past and our present state.
Englishmen pride themselves on their honour; but it is neither honorable
to undertake to govern without a thorough knowledge of the governed, or
to misrepresent their circumstances to others whose influence may decide
their future.
It was manifest from the speech of her Majesty's minister, on the night
of the all-important division on the Irish Church question, that he
either had not studied Irish history, or that he had forgotten its
details. If his statements are correctly reported by the press, they are
inconceivably wild. It may be said that the circumstances in which he
found himself obliged him to speak as he did, but is this an excuse
worthy of such an honorable position? The Normans, he is reported to
have said, conquered the land in Ireland, but in England they conquered
completely. The most cursory acquaintance with Irish history would have
informed the right honorable gentleman, that the Normans did _not_
conquer the land in Ireland--no man has as yet been rash enough to
assert that they conquered the people. The Normans obtained possession
of a small portion, a very small portion of Irish land; and if the
reader will glance at the map of the Pale, which will be appended to
this edition, at the proper place, he will see precisely what extent of
country the English held for a few hundred years. Even that portion they
could scarcely have been said to have conquered, for they barely held it
from day to day at the point of the sword. Morally Ireland was never
conquered, for he would be a bold man who dared to say that the Irish
people ever submitted nationally to the English Church established by
law. In fact, so rash does the attempt seem even to those who most
desire to make it, that they are fain to find refuge and consolation in
the supposed introduction of Protestantism into Ireland by St. Patrick,
a thousand years and more before that modern phase of religious thought
appeared to divide the Christian world.
But I deny that Ireland has ever been really conquered; and even should
the most sanguinary suggestions proposed in a nineteenth-century serial
be carried out, I am certain she could not be. Ireland has never been
permanently subdued by Dane or Norman, Dutchman or Saxon; nor has she
ever been _really_ united to England. A man is surely not united to a
jailer because he is bound to him by an iron chain which his jailer has
forged for his safe keeping. This is not union; and the term "United
Kingdom" is in fact a most miserable misnomer. Unity requires something
more than a mere material approximation. I believe it to be _possible_
that England and Ireland may become united; and if ever this should be
accomplished, let no man forget that the first link in the golden chain
issued from the hands of the right honorable member for South
Lancashire, when he proposed equality of government on religious
questions--the first step towards that equality of government which
alone can effect a moral union of the two countries. It might be
treasonable to hint that some noble-hearted men, who loved their country
not wisely but too well, and who are paying in lifelong anguish the
penalty of their patriotism, had anything to do with the formation of
this golden chain--so I shall not hint it.
I believe the Fenian movement, at one time scouted as a mere ebullition,
at another time treated as a dangerous and terrible rebellion, has done
at least this one good to England--it has compelled honest and honorable
men to inquire each for himself what are the grievances of Ireland, and
why she continues disaffected to English rule. For men who are honest
and honorable to make such inquiries, is the first step, and a certain
step, towards their remedy; and as I glanced down the list of the _ayes_
in the division, I could see the names of men who, in England, have been
distinguished during years for their private and public virtues, and who
have been lavish in their charities whenever their own countrymen
required their assistance.
There can be little doubt that a new era has dawned upon old Erinn's
shores. It remains to be proved if her sons shall be as faithful in
prosperity as they have been in adversity. It remains to be proved, if
opportunities are afforded us of obtaining higher intellectual culture
without the danger of the moral deterioration which might have attended
that culture under other circumstances, whether we shall avail ourselves
of them to the full. May we not hope that Ireland will become once more
famous both for learning and sanctity. The future of our nation is in
the hands of the Irish hierarchy. No government dare refuse anything
which they may demand perseveringly and unitedly. The people who have
been guided by them, and saved by them for so many centuries, will
follow as they lead. If their tone of intellectual culture is elevated,
the people will become elevated also; and we shall hear no more of those
reproaches, which are a disgrace to those who utter them, rather than to
those of whom they are uttered. Let our people be taught to appreciate
something higher than a mere ephemeral literature; let them be taught to
take an interest in the antiquities and the glorious past of their
nation; and then let them learn the history of other peoples and of
other races. A high ecclesiastical authority has declared recently that
"ecclesiastics do not cease to be citizens," and that they do not
consider anything which affects the common weal of their country is
remote from their duty. The clergy of the diocese of Limerick, headed by
their Dean, and, it must be presumed, with the sanction of their Bishop,
have given a tangible proof that they coincide in opinion with his Grace
the Archbishop of Westminster. The letter addressed to Earl Grey by that
prelate, should be in the hands of every Irishman; and it is with no
ordinary gratification that we acknowledge the kindness and
condescension of his Grace in favouring us with an early copy of it.
This letter treats of the two great questions of the day with admirable
discretion. As I hope that every one who reads these pages possesses a
copy of the pamphlet, I shall merely draw attention to two paragraphs in
it: one in which Fenianism is treated of in that rational spirit which
appears to have been completely lost sight of in the storm of angry
discussion which it has excited. On this subject his Grace writes: "It
would be blindness not to see, and madness to deny, that we have entered
into another crisis in the relation of England and Ireland, of which
'98, '28, and '48 were precursors;" and he argues with clearness and
authority, that when Englishmen once have granted justice to Ireland,
Ireland will cease to accuse England of injustice.
To one other paragraph in this remarkable letter, I shall briefly
allude: "I do not think Englishmen are enough aware of the harm some
among us do by a contemptuous, satirical, disrespectful, defiant,
language in speaking of Ireland and the Irish people." From peculiar
circumstances, the present writer has had more than ordinary
opportunities of verifying the truth of this statement. The wound caused
by a sarcastic expression may often fester far longer than the wound
caused by a hasty blow. The evil caused by such language is by no means
confined entirely to Protestants. There are, indeed, but few English
Catholics who speak contemptuously of Ireland, of its people, or of its
history; but, if I am to credit statements which have been made to me on
unquestionable authority, there are some who are not free from this
injustice. A half-commiserating tone of patronage is quite as offensive
as open contempt; and yet there have been instances where English
Catholic writers, while obliged to show some deference to Ireland and
the Irish, in order to secure the patronage and support of that country
for their publications, have at the same time, when they dared, thrown
out insinuations against peculiarities of Irish character, and made
efforts to discredit Irish historical documents.
I had intended, in preparing the Second Edition of the "Illustrated
History of Ireland," to omit the original Preface, in order to leave
more space for the historical portion of the work. When this intention
was mentioned, several laymen and ecclesiastics expostulated so
earnestly against it, that I have been obliged to yield to their
request. I am aware that some few persons objected to my remarks on the
state of land laws in Ireland, or rather on the want of proper land
laws; but the opinion of those interested in maintaining an evil, will
always be averse to its exposure; and I cannot conceive how any one who
desires an injustice to be removed, can object to a fair and impartial
discussion of the subject. An English writer, also, has made some
childish remarks about the materials for Irish history not being yet
complete, and inferred that in consequence an Irish history could not
yet be written. His observations are too puerile to need refutation. I
have been informed also that some objection has been made to a
"political preface;" and that one gentleman, whose name I have not had
the honour of hearing, has designated the work as a "political
pamphlet." Even were not Irish history exceptional, I confess myself
perplexed to understand how history and politics can be severed. An
author may certainly write a perfectly colourless history, but he must
state the opinions of different parties, and the acts consequent on
those opinions, even should he do so without any observation of his own.
I never for a moment entertained the intention of writing such a
history, though I freely confess I have exercised considerable
self-restraint as to the expression of my own opinion when writing some
portions of the present work. You might as well attempt to write an
ecclesiastical history without the slightest reference to different
religious opinions, as attempt to write the history of any nation, and,
above all, of Ireland, without special and distinct reference to the
present and past political opinions of the different sections of which
the nation is composed. Such suggestions are only worthy of those who,
when facts are painful, try to avert the wound they cause by turning on
the framer of the weapon which has driven these facts a little deeper
than usual into their intellectual conception; or of those uneducated,
or low-minded, even if educated persons, who consider that a woman
cannot write a history, and would confine her literary efforts to
sensation novels and childish tales. I am thankful, and I hope I am not
unduly proud, that men of the highest intellectual culture, both in
England and Ireland, on the Continent of Europe, and in America, have
pronounced a very different judgment on the present work, and on the
desire of the writer to raise her countrywomen to higher mental efforts
than are required by the almost exclusive perusal of works of fiction.
If women may excel as painters and sculptors, why may not a woman
attempt to excel as an historian? Men of cultivated intellect, far from
wishing to depreciate such efforts, will be the first to encourage them
with more than ordinary warmth; the opinions of other persons, whatever
may be their position, are of little value.
On the Irish Church question I feel it unnecessary to say more than a
word of congratulation to my countrymen, and of hearty thanks for the
noble conduct of so many Englishmen at this important crisis. Irish
Protestants have been quite as national as Irish Catholics; and now that
the fatal bane of religious dissension has been removed, we may hope
that Irishmen, of all classes and creeds, will work together
harmoniously for the good of their common country: and thus one great
means of Irish prosperity will be opened. The Irish are eminently a
justice-loving people. Let justice once be granted to them, and there is
that in their national character which will make them accept as a boon
what others might accept as a right.
In concluding the Preface to this Edition, I cannot omit to express my
grateful thanks to Sir William Wilde, and other members of the Royal
Irish Academy, through whose kindness I obtained the special favour of
being permitted to copy some of the most valuable illustrations of Irish
antiquities contained in their Catalogue, and which has enabled the
reader, for the first time, to have an Irish history illustrated with
Irish antiquities--a favour which it is hoped an increase of cultivated
taste amongst our people will enable them to appreciate more and more.
To John O'Hagan, Esq., Q.C., I owe a debt of gratitude which cannot
easily be repaid, for the time he bestowed on the correction of the
proofs of the First Edition, and for many kind suggestions, and much
valuable advice. I am indebted, also, to M.J. Rhodes, Esq., of
Hoddersfield, for a liberal use of his library, perhaps one of the most
valuable private libraries in Ireland, and for permitting me to retain,
for a year and more, some of its most costly treasures. The same
kindness was also granted by the Rev. D. M'Carthy, Professor of Sacred
Scripture and Hebrew at Maynooth, who is himself doing so much for its
ecclesiastical students by his valuable literary labours, and who was
one of the first to urge me to undertake this work. In preparing the
Second Edition, I am not a little indebted to the Rev. James Gaffney,
C.C., M.R.I.A., of Clontarf, who, even during the heavy pressure of
Lenten parochial duties, has found time to give me the benefit of many
important suggestions, and to show his love of Ireland by deeming no
effort too great to further a knowledge of her glorious history. I am
also indebted to the Rev. John Shearman, C.C., M.R.I.A., of Howth, for
the valuable paper read before the R.I.A., on the "Inscribed Stones at
Killeen Cormac;" and to many other authors who have presented me with
their works; amongst the number, none were more acceptable than the
poems of Dr. Ferguson, and the beautiful and gracefully written _Irish
before the Conquest_, of Mrs. Ferguson, whose gifts are all the more
treasured for the peculiar kindness with which they were presented.
To my old friend, Denis Florence MacCarthy, Esq., M.R.I.A., who should
be the laureate of Ireland--and why should not Ireland, that land of
song, have her laureate?--I can only offer my affectionate thanks, for
his kindnesses are too numerous to record, and are so frequent that they
would scarcely bear enumeration. At this moment, Roderick O'Flanagan,
Esq., M.R.I.A., has found, or rather made, leisure, amongst his many
professional and literary occupations, to prepare the valuable and
important map of Irish families, which will be given _gratis_ to all
subscribers, and in which W.H. Hennessy, Esq., M.R.I.A., at present
employed by Government on the important work of publishing ancient Irish
MS., will also give his assistance.
To many of the gentlemen in Cork, and principally to Nicholas Murphy,
Esq., of Norwood, and Eugene M'Sweeny, Esq., I cannot fail to offer my
best thanks, for the generous help they have given in promoting the sale
of the First Edition, and for over-payments of subscriptions, made
unasked, and with the most considerate kindness, when they found the
heavy cost of the First Edition was likely to prove a loss to the
convent, in consequence of expenses which could scarcely be foreseen in
the increased size of the work, and the high class of engravings used,
which demanded an immense outlay in their production. The subscribers to
the Second Edition are indebted to not a few of the subscribers to the
First, many of them priests with limited incomes, for the generosity
which has enabled them to obtain this new issue on such favourable
terms. It is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that I add also the
names of the Superioresses of nearly all the convents of the order of
Our Lady of Mercy and of the order of the Presentation, to the list of
our benefactors. With the exception of, perhaps, two or three convents
of each order, they have been unanimous in their generous efforts to
assist the circulation of the Irish History, and of all our
publications; and this kindness has been felt by us all the more deeply,
because from our own poverty, and the poverty of the district in which
we live, we have been unable to make them any return, or to assist them
even by the sale of tickets for their bazaars. Such disinterested
charity is, indeed, rare; and the efforts made by these religious--the
true centres of civilization in Ireland--to promote the education and to
improve the moral and intellectual tone of the lower and middle classes,
are beyond all praise, combined, as these efforts are, with
never-ceasing labour for the spiritual and temporal good of the poor in
their respective districts. Nor should I omit a word for the friends
across the wide Atlantic, to whom the very name of Ireland is so
precious, and to whom Irish history is so dear. The Most Rev. Dr.
Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati, has pronounced the work to be the
only Irish history worthy of the name. John Mitchel has proclaimed, in
the _Irish Citizen_, that a woman has accomplished what men have failed
to do; and Alderman Ternan, at a banquet in New Fork, has uttered the
same verdict, and declares that there, at least, no other history can
compete with ours, although Moore and D'Arcy Magee have preceded us in
their efforts to promote the knowledge of what Ireland has been, and the
hope of what Ireland may yet become.
M.F.C.
ST. CLARE'S CONTENT, KENMARK, CO. KERRY,
May 8th, 1868.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The Rev. U. Burke, of St. Jarlath's College, Tuam, has a note on
this subject, in a work which he is at this moment passing through the
press, and which he kindly permits me to publish. He says: "This book
[the "Illustrated History of Ireland"] ought to be in the hands of every
young student and of every young Irish maiden attending the convent
schools. Oh, for ten thousand Irish ladies knowing the history of
Ireland! How few know anything of it! The present volume, by Sister
Francis Clare, is an atoning sacrifice for this sin of neglect."
I am aware that the price of the "Illustrated History of Ireland," even
in its present form, although it is offered at a sacrifice which no
bookseller would make, is an obstacle to its extensive use as a school
history. We purpose, however, before long, to publish a history for the
use of schools, at a very low price, and yet of a size to admit of
sufficient expansion for the purpose. Our countrymen must, however,
remember that only a very large number of orders can enable the work to
be published as cheaply as it should be. It would save immense trouble
and expense, if priests, managers of schools, and the heads of colleges,
would send orders for a certain number of copies at once. If every
priest, convent, and college, ordered twelve copies for their schools,
the work could be put in hands immediately.
PREFACE
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The history of the different races who form an integral portion of the
British Empire, should be one of the most carefully cultivated studies
of every member of that nation. To be ignorant of our own history, is a
disgrace; to be ignorant of the history of those whom we govern, is an
injustice. We can neither govern ourselves nor others without a thorough
knowledge of peculiarities of disposition which may require restraint,
and of peculiarities of temperament which may require development. We
must know that water can extinguish fire, before it occurs to us to put
out a fire by the use of water. We must know that fire, when properly
used, is a beneficent element of nature, and one which can be used to
our advantage when properly controlled, before we shall attempt to avail
ourselves of it for a general or a particular benefit. I believe a time
has come when the Irish are more than ever anxious to study their
national history. I believe a time has come when the English nation, or
at least a majority of the English nation, are willing to read that
history without prejudice, and to consider it with impartiality.
When first I proposed to write a History of Ireland, at the earnest
request of persons to whose opinion. I felt bound to defer, I was
assured by many that it was useless; that Irishmen did not support Irish
literature; above all, that the Irish clergy were indifferent to it, and
to literature in general. I have since ascertained, by personal
experience, that this charge is utterly unfounded, though I am free to
admit it was made on what appeared to be good authority. It is certainly
to be wished that there was a more general love of reading cultivated
amongst the Catholics of Ireland, but the deficiency is on a fair way to
amendment. As a body, the Irish priesthood may not be devoted to
literature; but as a body, unquestionably they are devoted--nobly
devoted--to the spread of education amongst their people.
With regard to Englishmen, I cannot do better than quote the speech of
an English member of Parliament, Alderman Salomons, who has just
addressed his constituents at Greenwich in these words:--
"The state of Ireland will, doubtless, be a prominent subject of
discussion next session. Any one who sympathizes with distressed
nationalities in their struggles, must, when he hears of the
existence of a conspiracy in Ireland, similar to those combinations
which used to be instituted in Poland in opposition to Russian
oppression, be deeply humiliated. Let the grievances of the Irish
people be probed, and let them be remedied when their true nature
is discovered. Fenianism is rife, not only in Ireland, but also in
England, and an armed police required, which is an insult to our
liberty. I did not know much of the Irish land question, but I know
that measures have been over and over again brought into the House
of Commons with a view to its settlement, and over and over again
they have been cushioned or silently withdrawn. If the question can
be satisfactorily settled, why let it be so, and let us conciliate
the people of Ireland by wise and honorable means. The subject of
the Irish Church must also be considered. I hold in my hand an
extract from the report of the commissioner of the Dublin
_Freeman's Journal_, who is now examining the question. It stated
what will be to you almost incredible--namely, that the population
of the united dioceses of Cashel, Emly, Waterford, and Lismore is
370,978, and that of those only 13,000 are members of the
Established Church, while 340,000 are Roman Catholics. If you had
read of this state of things existing in any other country, you
would call out loudly against it. Such a condition of things, in
which large revenues are devoted, not for the good of the many, but
the few, if it does not justify Fenianism, certainly does justify a
large measure of discontent. I am aware of the difficulties in the
way of settling the question, owing to the fear of a collision
between Protestants and Catholics; but I think Parliament ought to
have the power to make the Irish people contented."
This speech, I believe, affords a fair idea of the opinion of educated
and unprejudiced Englishmen on the Irish question. They do not know much
about Irish history; they have heard a great deal about Irish
grievances, and they have a vague idea that there is something wrong
about the landlords, and something wrong about the ecclesiastical
arrangements of the country. I believe a careful study of Irish history
is essential to the comprehension of the Irish question; and it is
obviously the moral duty of every man who has a voice in the government
of the nation, to make himself master of the subject. I believe there
are honest and honorable men in England, who would stand aghast with
horror if they thoroughly understood the injustices to which Ireland has
been and _still is_ subject. The English, as a nation, profess the most
ardent veneration for liberty. To be a patriot, to desire to free one's
country, unless, indeed, that country happen to have some very close
connexion with their own, is the surest way to obtain ovations and
applause. It is said that circumstances alter cases; they certainly
alter opinions, but they do not alter facts. An Englishman applauds and
assists insurrection in countries where they profess to have for their
object the freedom of the individual or of the nation; he imprisons and
stifles it at home, where the motive is precisely similar, and the
cause, in the eyes of the insurgents at least, incomparably more valid.
But I do not wish to raise a vexed question, or to enter on political
discussions; my object in this Preface is simply to bring before the
minds of Englishmen that they have a duty to perform towards Ireland--a
duty which they cannot cast aside on others--a duty which it may be for
their interest, as well as for their honour, to fulfil. I wish to draw
the attention of Englishmen to those Irish grievances which are
generally admitted to exist, and which can only be fully understood by a
careful and unprejudiced perusal of Irish history, past and present.
Until grievances are thoroughly understood, they are not likely to be
thoroughly remedied. While they continue to exist, there can be no real
peace in Ireland, and English prosperity must suffer in a degree from
Irish disaffection.
It is generally admitted by all, except those who are specially
interested in the denial, that the Land question and the Church question
are the two great subjects which lie at the bottom of the Irish
difficulty. The difficulties of the Land question commenced in the reign
of Henry II.; the difficulties of the Church question commenced in the
reign of Henry VIII. I shall request your attention briefly to the
standpoints in Irish history from which we may take a clear view of
these subjects. I shall commence with the Land question, because I
believe it to be the more important of the two, and because I hope to
show that the Church question is intimately connected with it.
In the reign of Henry II., certain Anglo-Norman nobles came to Ireland,
and, partly by force and partly by intermarriages, obtained estates in
that country. Their tenure was the tenure of the sword. By the sword
they expelled persons whose families had possessed those lands for
centuries; and by the sword they compelled these persons, through
poverty, consequent on loss of property, to take the position of
inferiors where they had been masters. You will observe that this first
English settlement in Ireland was simply a colonization on a very small
scale. Under such circumstances, if the native population are averse to
the colonization, and if the new and the old races do not amalgamate, a
settled feeling of aversion, more or less strong, is established on both
sides. The natives hate the colonist, because he has done them a
grievous injury by taking possession of their lands; the colonist hates
the natives, because they are in his way; and, if he be possessed of
"land hunger," they are an impediment to the gratification of his
desires. It should be observed that there is a wide difference between
colonization and conquest The Saxons conquered what we may presume to
have been the aboriginal inhabitants of England; the Normans conquered
the Saxon: the conquest in both cases was sufficiently complete to
amalgamate the races--the interest of the different nationalities became
one. The Norman lord scorned the Saxon churl quite as contemptuously as
he scorned the Irish Celt; but there was this very important
difference--the interests of the noble and the churl soon became one;
they worked for the prosperity of their common country. In Ireland, on
the contrary, the interests were opposite. The Norman noble hated the
Celt as a people whom he could not subdue, but desired most ardently to
dispossess; the Celt hated the invader as a man most naturally will hate
the individual who is just strong enough to keep a wound open by his
struggles, and not strong enough to end the suffering by killing the
victim.
The land question commenced when Strongbow set his foot on Irish soil;
the land question will remain a disgrace to England, and a source of
misery to Ireland, until the whole system inaugurated by Strongbow has
been reversed. "At the commencement of the connexion between England and
Ireland," says Mr. Goldwin Smith, "the foundation was inevitably laid
for the fatal system of ascendency--a system under which the dominant
party were paid for their services in keeping down rebels by a monopoly
of power and emolument, and thereby strongly tempted to take care that
there should always be rebels to keep down." There is a fallacy or two
in this statement; but let it pass. The Irish were not rebels then,
certainly, for they were not under English dominion; but it is something
to find English writers expatiating on Irish wrongs; and if they would
only act as generously and as boldly as they speak, the Irish question
would receive an early and a most happy settlement.
For centuries Ireland was left to the mercy and the selfishness of
colonists. Thus, with each succeeding generation, the feeling of hatred
towards the English was intensified with each new act of injustice, and
such acts were part of the normal rule of the invaders. A lord deputy
was sent after a time to rule the country. Perhaps a more unfortunate
form of government could not have been selected for Ireland. The lord
deputy knew that he was subject to recall at any moment; he had neither
a personal nor a hereditary interest in the country. He came to make his
fortune there, or to increase it. He came to rule for his own benefit,
or for the benefit of his nation. The worst of kings has, at least, an
hereditary interest in the country which he governs; the best of lord
deputies might say that, if he did not oppress and plunder for himself,
other men would do it for themselves: why, then, should he be the loser,
when the people would not be gainers by his loss?
When parliaments began to be held, and when laws were enacted, every
possible arrangement was made to keep the two nations at variance, and
to intensify the hostility which already existed. The clergy were set at
variance. Irish priests were forbidden to enter certain monasteries,
which were reserved for the use of their English brethren; Irish
ecclesiastics were refused admission to certain Church properties in
Ireland, that English ecclesiastics might have the benefit of them.
Lionel, Duke of Clarence, when Viceroy of Ireland, issued a
proclamation, forbidding the "Irish by birth" even to come near his
army, until he found that he could not do without soldiers, even should
they have the misfortune to be Irish. The Irish and English were
forbidden to intermarry several centuries before the same bar was placed
against the union of Catholics and Protestants. The last and not the
least of the fearful series of injustices enacted, in the name of
justice, at the Parliament of Kilkenny, was the statute which denied,
which positively refused, the benefit of English law to Irishmen, and
equally forbid them to use the Brehon law, which is even now the
admiration of jurists, and which had been the law of the land for many
centuries.
If law could be said to enact that there should be no law, this was
precisely what was done at the memorable Parliament of Kilkenny. If
Irishmen had done this, it would have been laughed at as a Hibernicism,
or scorned as the basest villany; but it was the work of Englishmen, and
the Irish nation were treated as rebels if they attempted to resist. The
confiscation of Church property in the reign of Henry VIII., added a new
sting to the land grievance, and introduced a new feature in its
injustice. Church property had been used for the benefit of the poor far
more than for the benefit of its possessors. It is generally admitted
that the monks of the middle ages were the best and most considerate
landlords. Thousands of families were now cast upon the mercy of the new
proprietors, whose will was their only law; and a considerable number of
persons were deprived of the alms which these religious so freely
distributed to the sick and the aged. Poverty multiplied fearfully, and
discontent in proportion. You will see, by a careful perusal of this
history, that the descendants of the very men who had driven out the
original proprietors of Irish estates, were in turn driven out
themselves by the next set of colonists. It was a just retribution, but
it was none the less terrible. Banishments and confiscations were the
rule by which Irish property was administered. Can you be surprised that
the Irish looked on English adventurers as little better than robbers,
and treated them as such? If the English Government had made just and
equitable land laws for Ireland at or immediately after the Union, all
the miseries which have occurred since then might have been prevented.
Unfortunately, the men who had to legislate for Ireland are interested
in the maintenance of the unjust system; and there is an old proverb, as
true as it is old, about the blindness of those who do not wish to see.
Irish landlords, or at least a considerable number of Irish landlords,
are quite willing to admit that the existence of the Established Church
is a grievance. Irish Protestant clergymen, who are not possessed by an
anti-Popery crochet--and, thank God, there are few afflicted with that
unfortunate disease now--are quite free to admit that it is a grievance
for a tenant to be subject to ejection by his landlord, _even if he pays
his rent punctually_.
I believe the majority of Englishmen have not the faintest idea of the
way in which the Irish tenant is oppressed, _not by individuals_, for
there are many landlords in Ireland devoted to their tenantry, but by a
system. There are, however, it cannot be denied, cases of individual
oppression, which, if they occurred in any part of Great Britain, and
were publicly known, would raise a storm, from the Land's End to John o'
Groat's House, that would take something more than revolvers to settle.
As one of the great objects of studying the history of our own country,
is to enable us to understand and to enact such regulations as shall be
best suited to the genius of each race and their peculiar circumstances,
I believe it to be my duty as an historian, on however humble a scale,
not only to show how our present history is affected by the past, but
also to give you such a knowledge of our present history as may enable
you to judge how much the country is still suffering from _present
grievances_, occasioned by past maladministration. Englishmen are quite
aware that thousands of Irishmen leave their homes every year for a
foreign country; but they have little idea of the cause of this
emigration. Englishmen are quite aware that from time to time
insurrections break out in Ireland, which seem to them very absurd, if
not very wicked; but they do not know how much grave cause there is for
discontent in Ireland. The very able and valuable pamphlets which have
been written on these subjects by Mr. Butt and Mr. Levey, and on the
Church question by Mr. De Vere, do not reach the English middle classes,
or probably even the upper classes, unless their attention is directed
to them individually. The details of the sufferings and ejectments of
the Irish peasantry, which are given from time to time in the Irish
papers, and principally in the Irish _local_ papers, are never even
known across the Channel. How, then, can the condition of Ireland, or of
the Irish people, be estimated as it should? I believe there is a love
of fair play and manly justice in the English nation, which only needs
to be excited in order to be brought to act.
But ignorance on this subject is not wholly confined to the English. I
fear there are many persons, even in Ireland, who are but imperfectly
acquainted with the working of their own land laws, if, indeed, what
sanctions injustice deserves the name of law. To avoid prolixity, I
shall state very briefly the position of an Irish tenant at the present
day, and I shall show (1) how this position leads to misery, (2) how
misery leads to emigration, and (3) how this injustice recoils upon the
heads of the perpetrators by leading to rebellion. First, the position
of an Irish tenant is simply this: he is rather worse off than a slave.
I speak advisedly. In Russia, the proprietors of large estates worked by
slaves, are obliged to feed and clothe their slaves; in Ireland, it
quite depends on the will of the proprietor whether he will let his
lands to his tenants on terms which will enable them to feed their
families on the coarsest food, and to clothe them in the coarsest
raiment If a famine occurs--and in some parts of Ireland famines are of
annual occurrence--the landlord is not obliged to do anything for his
tenant, but the tenant _must_ pay his rent. I admit there are humane
landlords in Ireland; but these are questions of fact, not of feeling.
It is a most flagrant injustice that Irish landlords should have the
power of dispossessing their tenants if they pay their rents. But this
is not all; although the penal laws have been repealed, the power of the
landlord over the conscience of his tenant is unlimited. It is true he
cannot apply bodily torture, except, indeed, the torture of starvation,
but he can apply mental torture. It is in the power of an Irish landlord
to eject his tenant if he does not vote according to his wishes. A man
who has no conscience, has no moral right to vote; a man who tyrannizes
over the conscience of another, should have no legal right. But there is
yet a deeper depth. I believe you will be lost in amazement at what is
yet to come, and will say, as Mr. Young said of penal laws in the last
century, that they were more "fitted for the meridian of Barbary." You
have heard, no doubt, of wholesale evictions; they are of frequent
occurrence in Ireland--sometimes from political motives, because the
poor man will not vote with his landlord; sometimes from religious
motives, because the poor man will not worship God according to his
landlord's conscience; sometimes from selfish motives, because his
landlord wishes to enlarge his domain, or to graze more cattle. The
motive does not matter much to the poor victim. He is flung out upon the
roadside; if he is very poor, he may die there, or he may go to the
workhouse, but he must not be taken in, even for a time, by any other
family on the estate. The Irish Celt, with his warm heart and generous
impulses, would, at all risks to himself, take in the poor outcasts, and
share his poverty with them; but the landlord could not allow this. The
commission of one evil deed necessitates the commission of another. An
Irish gentleman, who has no personal interest in land, and is therefore
able to look calmly on the question, has been at the pains to collect
instances of this tyranny, in his _Plea for the Celtic Race._ I shall
only mention one as a sample. In the year 1851, on an estate which was
at the time supposed to be one of the most fairly treated in Ireland,
"the agent of the property had given public notice to the tenantry that
expulsion from their farms would be the penalty inflicted on them, if
they harboured _any one_ not resident on the estate. The penalty was
enforced against a widow, for giving food and shelter _to a destitute
grandson of twelve years old_. The child's mother at one time held a
little dwelling, from which she was expelled; his father was dead. He
found a refuge with his grandmother, who was ejected from her farm for
harbouring the poor boy." When such things can occur, we should not hear
anything more about the Irish having only "sentimental grievances." The
poor child was eventually driven from house to house. He stole a
shilling and a hen--poor fellow!--what else could he be expected to do?
He wandered about, looking in vain for shelter from those who dared not
give it. He was expelled with circumstances of peculiar cruelty from one
cabin. He was found next morning, cold, stiff, and dead, on the ground
outside. The poor people who had refused him shelter, were tried for
their lives. They were found guilty of manslaughter _only_, in
consideration of the agent's order. The agent was not found guilty of
anything, nor even tried. The landlord was supposed to be a model
landlord, and his estates were held up at the very time as models; yet
evictions had been fearfully and constantly carried out on them. Mr.
Butt has well observed: "The rules of the estate are often the most
arbitrary and the most sternly enforced upon great estates, the property
of men of the highest station, upon which rents are moderate, and no
harshness practised to the tenantry, who implicitly submit." Such
landlords generally consider emigration the great remedy for the evils
of Ireland. They point to their own well-regulated and well-weeded
estates; but they do not tell you all the human suffering it cost to
exile those who were turned out to make room for large dairy farms, or
all the quiet tyranny exercised over those who still remain. Neither
does it occur to them that their successors may raise these moderate
rents at a moment's notice; and if their demands are not complied with,
he may eject these "comfortable farmers" without one farthing of
compensation for all their improvements and their years of labour.
I have shown how the serfdom of the Irish tenant leads to misery. But
the subject is one which would require a volume. No one can understand
the depth of Irish misery who has not lived in Ireland, and taken pains
to become acquainted with the habits and manner of life of the lower
orders. The tenant who is kept at starvation point to pay his landlord's
rent, has no means of providing for his family. He cannot encourage
trade; his sons cannot get work to do, if they are taught trades.
Emigration or the workhouse is the only resource. I think the efforts
which are made by the poor in Ireland to get work are absolutely
unexampled, and it is a cruel thing that a man who is willing to work
should not be able to get it. I know an instance in which a girl
belonging to a comparatively respectable family was taken into service,
and it was discovered that for years her only food, and the only food of
her family, was dry bread, and, as an occasional luxury, weak tea. So
accustomed had she become to this wretched fare, that she actually could
not even eat an egg. She and her family have gone to America; and I have
no doubt, after a few years, that the weakened organs will recover their
proper tone, with the gradual use of proper food.
There is another ingredient in Irish misery which has not met with the
consideration it deserves. If the landlord happens to be humane, he may
interest himself in the welfare of the _families_ of his tenantry. He
may also send a few pounds to them for coals at Christmas, or for
clothing; but such instances are unhappily rare, and the alms given is
_comparatively_ nothing. In England the case is precisely the reverse.
On this subject I speak from personal knowledge. There is scarcely a
little village in England, however poor, where there is not a committee
of ladies, assisted by the neighbouring gentry, who distribute coals,
blankets, and clothing in winter; and at all times, where there is
distress, give bread, tea, and meat. Well may the poor Irish come home
discontented after they have been to work in England, and see how
differently the poor are treated there. I admit, and I repeat it again,
that there are instances in which the landlord takes an interest in his
tenantry, but those instances are exceptions. Many of these gentlemen,
who possess the largest tracts of land in Ireland, have also large
estates in England, and they seldom, sometimes _never_, visit their
Irish estates. They leave it to their agent. Every application for
relief is referred to the agent. The agent, however humane, cannot be
expected to have the same interest in the people as a landlord _ought_
to have. The agent is the instrument used to draw out the last farthing
from the poor; he is constantly in collision with them. They naturally
dislike him; and he, not unnaturally, dislikes them.
The burden, therefore, of giving that relief to the poor, which they
always require in times of sickness, and when they cannot get work,
falls almost exclusively upon the priests and the convents. Were it not
for the exertions made by the priests and nuns throughout Ireland for
the support of the poor, and to obtain work for them, and the immense
sums of money sent to Ireland by emigrants, for the support of aged
fathers and mothers, I believe the destitution would be something
appalling, and that landlords would find it even more difficult than at
present to get the high rents which they demand. Yet, some of these same
landlords, getting perhaps £20,000 or £40,000 a-year from their Irish
estates, will not give the slightest help to establish industrial
schools in connexion with convents, or to assist them when they are
established, though they are the means of helping their own tenants to
pay their rent. There are in Ireland about two hundred conventual
establishments. Nearly all of these convents have poor schools, where
the poor are taught, either at a most trifling expense, or altogether
without charge. The majority of these convents feed and clothe a
considerable number of poor children, and many of them have established
industrial schools, where a few girls at least can earn what will almost
support a whole family in comfort. I give the statistics of one convent
as a sample of others. I believe there are a few, but perhaps only a
very few other places, where the statistics would rise higher; but there
are many convents where the children are fed and clothed, and where work
is done on a smaller scale. If such institutions were encouraged by the
landlords, much more could be done. The convent to which I allude was
founded at the close of the year 1861. There was a national school in
the little town (in England it would be called a village), with an
attendance of about forty children. The numbers rose rapidly year by
year, after the arrival of the nuns, and at present the average daily
attendance is just 400. It would be very much higher, were it not for
the steady decrease in the population, caused by emigration. The
emigration would have been very much greater, had not the parish priest
given employment to a considerable number of men, by building a new
church, convent, and convent schools. The poorest of the children, and,
in Ireland, none but the very poorest will accept such alms, get a
breakfast of Indian meal and milk all the year round. The comfort of
this hot meal to them, when they come in half-clad and starving of a
winter morning, can only be estimated by those who have seen the
children partake of it, and heard the cries of delight of the babies of
a year old, and the quiet expression of thankfulness of the elder
children. Before they go home they get a piece of dry bread, and this is
their dinner--a dinner the poorest English child would almost refuse.
The number of meals given at present is 350 per diem. The totals of
meals given per annum since 1862 are as follows:--
During the year 1862 ...... 36,400
" " 1863 ...... 45,800
" " 1864 ...... 46,700
" " 1865 ...... 49,000
" " 1866 ...... 70,000
" " 1867 ...... 73,000
_______
Making a total of 320,900
There were also 1,035 _suits_ of clothing given.
The Industrial School was established in 1863. It has been principally
supported by English ladies and Protestants. The little town where the
convent is situated, is visited by tourists during the summer months;
and many who have visited the convent have been so much struck by the
good they saw done there, that they have actually devoted themselves to
selling work amongst their English friends for the poor children.
The returns of work sold in the Industrial School are as follows:--
£ s. d.
Work sold in 1863 ..... 70 3 6-1/2
" " 1864 ..... 109 18 5
" " 1805 ..... 276 1 3-1/2
" " 1866 ..... 421 16 3
" " 1867 ..... 350 2 4-1/2
______________
Making a total of £1,228 1 10-1/2
The falling off in 1867 has been accounted for partly from the Fenian
panic, which prevented tourists visiting Ireland as numerously as in
other years, and partly from the attraction of the French Exhibition
having drawn tourists in that direction. I have been exact in giving
these details, because they form an important subject for consideration
in regard to the present history of Ireland. They show at once the
poverty of the people, their love of industry, and their eagerness to do
work when they can get it. In this, and in other convent schools
throughout Ireland, the youngest children are trained to habits of
industry. They are paid even for their first imperfect attempts, to
encourage them to go on; and they treasure up the few weekly pence they
earn as a lady would her jewels. One child had in this way nearly saved
up enough to buy herself a pair of shoes--a luxury she had not as yet
possessed; but before the whole amount was procured she went to her
eternal home, where there is no want, and her last words were a message
of love and gratitude to the nuns who had taught her.
The causes of emigration, as one should think, are patent to all.
Landlords do not deny that they are anxious to see the people leave the
country. They give them every assistance to do so. Their object is to
get more land into their own hands, but the policy will eventually prove
suicidal. A revolutionary spirit is spreading fast through Europe.
Already the standing subject of public addresses to the people in
England, is the injustice of certain individuals being allowed to hold
such immense tracts of country in their possession. We all know what
came of the selfish policy of the landowners in France before the
Revolution, which consigned them by hundreds to the guillotine. A little
self-sacrifice, which, in the end, would have been for their own
benefit, might have saved all this. The attempt to depopulate Ireland
has been tried over and over again, and has failed signally. It is not
more likely to succeed in the nineteenth century than at any preceding
period. Even were it possible that wholesale emigration could benefit
any country, it is quite clear that Irish emigration cannot benefit
England. It is a plan to get rid of a temporary difficulty at a terrific
future cost. Emigration has ceased to be confined to paupers.
Respectable farmers are emigrating, and taking with them to America
bitter memories of the cruel injustice which has compelled them to leave
their native land.
Second, _How misery leads to emigration_. The poor are leaving the
country, because they have no employment. The more respectable classes
are leaving the country, because they prefer living in a free land,
where they can feel sure that their hard earnings will be their own, and
not their landlord's, and where they are not subject to the miserable
political and religious tyranny which reigns supreme in Ireland. In the
evidence given before the Land Tenure Committee of 1864, we find the
following statements made by Dr. Keane, the Roman Catholic Bishop of
Cloyne. His Lordship is a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and of
more than ordinary patriotism. He has made the subject of emigration his
special study, partly from a deep devotion to all that concerns the
welfare of his country, and partly from the circumstance of his
residence being at Queenstown, the port from which Irishmen leave their
native shores, and the place where wails of the emigrants continually
resound. I subjoin a few of his replies to the questions proposed:--
"I attribute emigration principally to the want of employment."
"A man who has only ten or twelve acres, and who is a
tenant-at-will, finding that the land requires improvement, is
afraid to waste it [his money], and he goes away. I see many of
these poor people in Queenstown every day."
"I have made inquiries over and over again in Queenstown and
elsewhere, and I never yet heard that a single farmer emigrated and
left the country who had a lease."
Well might Mr. Heron say, in a paper read before the Irish Statistical
Society, in May, 1864: "Under the present laws, no Irish peasant able to
read and write ought to remain in Ireland. If Ireland were an
independent country, in the present state of things there would be a
bloody insurrection in every county, and the peasantry would ultimately
obtain the property in land, as _they have obtained it in Switzerland
and in France_." That the Irish people will eventually become the
masters of the Irish property, from which every effort has been made to
dispossess them, by fair means and by foul, since the Norman invasion of
Ireland, I have not the slightest doubt. The only doubt is whether the
matter will be settled by the law or by the sword. But I have hope that
the settlement will be peaceful, when I find English members of
Parliament treating thus of the subject, and ministers declaring, at
least when they are out of office, that something should be done for
Ireland.
Mr. Stuart Mill writes: "The land of Ireland, the land of every country,
belongs to the people of that country. The individuals called landowners
have no right, in morality or justice, to anything but the rent, or
compensation for its saleable value. When the inhabitants of a country
quit the country _en masse_, because the Government will not make it a
place fit for them to live in, the Government is judged and condemned,
It is the duty of Parliament to reform the landed tenure of Ireland."
More than twenty years ago Mr. Disraeli said: "He wished to see a public
man come forward and say what the Irish question was. Let them consider
Ireland as they would any other country similarly circumstanced. They
had a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, an alien Church,
and, in addition, the weakest executive in the world. This was the Irish
question. What would gentlemen say on hearing of a country in such a
position? They would say at once, in such case, the remedy is
revolution--not the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. But the
connexion with England prevented it: therefore England was logically in
the active position of being the cause of all the misery of Ireland.
What, then, was the duty of an English minister? To effect by policy all
the changes which a revolution would do by force." If these words had
been acted upon in 1848, we should not have had a Fenian insurrection in
1867. If a peaceful revolution is to be accomplished a few persons must
suffer, though, in truth, it is difficult to see what Irish landlords
could lose by a fair land law, except the power to exercise a tyrannical
control over their tenants. I believe, if many English absentee
landlords had even the slightest idea of the evil deeds done in their
names by their agents, that they would not tolerate it for a day. If a
complaint is made to the landlord, he refers it to his agent. It is
pretty much as if you required the man who inflicted the injury to be
the judge of his own conduct. The agent easily excuses himself to the
landlord; but the unfortunate man who had presumed to lift up his voice,
is henceforth a marked object of vengeance; and he is made an example to
his fellows, that they may not dare to imitate him. The truth is, that
the real state of Ireland, and the real feelings of the Irish people,
can only be known by personal intercourse with the lower orders.
Gentlemen making a hurried tour through the country, may see a good deal
of misery, if they have not come for the purpose of not seeing it; but
they can never know the real wretchedness of the Irish poor unless they
remain stationary in some district long enough to win the confidence of
the people, and to let them feel that they can tell their sorrows and
their wrongs without fear that they shall be increased by the
disclosure.
Third, one brief word of how this injustice recoils upon the heads of
the perpetrators, and I shall have ended. It recoils upon them
indirectly, by causing a feeling of hostility between the governors and
the governed. A man cannot be expected to revere and love his landlord,
when he finds that his only object is to get all he can from him--when
he finds him utterly reckless of his misery, and still more indifferent
to his feelings. A gentleman considers himself a model of humanity if he
pays the emigration expenses of the family whom he wishes to eject from
the holding which their ancestors have possessed for centuries. He is
amazed at the fearful ingratitude of the poor man, who cannot feel
overwhelmed with joy at his benevolent offer. But the gentleman
considers he has done his duty, and consoles himself with the reflection
that the Irish are an ungrateful race. Of all the peoples on the face of
the globe, the Irish Celts are the most attached to their families and
to their lands. God only knows the broken hearts that go over the ocean
strangers to a strange land. The young girls who leave their aged
mothers, the noble, brave young fellows who leave their old fathers, act
not from a selfish wish to better themselves, but from the hope, soon to
be realized, that they may be able to earn in another land what they
cannot earn in their own. I saw a lad once parting from his aged father.
I wish I had not seen it. I heard the agonized cries of the old man: "My
God! he's gone! he's gone!" I wish I had not heard it. I heard the wild
wailing cry with which the Celt mourns for his dead, and glanced
impulsively to the window. It was not death, but departure that prompts
that agony of grief. A car was driving off rapidly on the mountain road
which led to the nearest port. The car was soon out of sight. The father
and the son had looked their last look into each other's eyes--had
clasped the last clasp of each other's hands. An hour had passed, and
still the old man lay upon the ground, where he had flung himself in his
heart's bitter anguish; and still the wail rung out from time to time:
"My God! he's gone! he's gone!"
Those who have seen the departure of emigrants at the Irish seaports,
are not surprised at Irish disaffection--are not surprised that the
expatriated youth joins the first wild scheme, which promises to release
his country from such cruel scenes, and shares his money equally between
his starving relatives at home, and the men who, sometimes as deceivers,
and sometimes with a patriotism like his own, live only for one
object--to obtain for Ireland by the sword, the justice which is denied
to her by the law.
I conclude with statistics which are undeniable proofs of Irish misery.
The emigration _at present_ amounts to 100,000 per annum.
[Illustration: The Emigrants' Farewell.]
From the 1st of May, 1851, to the 31st of December, 1865, 1,630,722
persons emigrated. As the emigrants generally leave their young children
after them for a time, and as aged and imbecile persons do not emigrate,
the consequence is, that, from 1851 to 1861, the number of deaf and dumb
increased from 5,180 to 5,653; the number of blind, from 5,787 to 6,879;
and the number of lunatics and idiots, from 9,980 to 14,098. In 1841,
the estimated value of crops in Ireland was £50,000,000; in 1851, it was
reduced to £43,000,000; and in 1861, to £35,000,000. The number of
gentlemen engaged in the learned professions is steadily decreasing; the
traffic on Irish railways and the returns are steadily decreasing; the
live stock in cattle, which was to have supplied and compensated for the
live stock in men, is fearfully decreasing; the imports and exports are
steadily decreasing. The decrease in cultivated lands, from 1862 to
1863, amounted to 138,841 acres.
While the Preface to the Second Edition was passing through the press,
my attention was called to an article, in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, on
the Right Rev. Dr. Manning's Letter to Earl Grey. The writer of this
article strongly recommends his Grace to publish a new edition of his
Letter, omitting the last sixteen pages. We have been advised, also, to
issue a new edition of our HISTORY, to omit the Preface, and any remarks
or facts that might tend to show that the Irish tenant was not the
happiest and most contented being in God's creation.
The _Pall Mall Gazette_ argues--if, indeed, mere assertion can be called
argument--first, "that Dr. Manning has obviously never examined the
subject for himself, but takes his ideas and beliefs from the universal
statements of angry and ignorant sufferers whom he has met in England,
or from intemperate and utterly untrustworthy party speeches and
pamphlets, whose assertions he receives as gospel;" yet Dr. Manning has
given statements of facts, and the writer has not attempted to disprove
them. Second, he says: "Dr. Manning echoes the thoughtless complaints of
those who cry out against emigration as a great evil and a grievous
wrong, when he might have known, if he had thought or inquired at all
about the matter, not only that this emigration has been the greatest
conceivable blessing to the emigrants, but was an absolutely
indispensable step towards improving the condition of those who remained
at home;" and then the old calumnies are resuscitated about the Irish
being "obstinately idle and wilfully improvident," as if it had not been
proved again and again that the only ground on which such appellations
can be applied to them in Ireland is, that their obstinacy consists in
objecting to work without fair remuneration for their labour, and their
improvidence in declining to labour for the benefit of their masters. It
is the old story, "you are idle, you are idle,"--it is the old demand,
"make bricks without straw,"--and then, by way of climax, we are assured
that these "poor creatures" are assisted to emigrate with the tenderest
consideration, and that, in fact, emigration is a boon for which they
are grateful.
It is quite true that many landlords pay their tenants to emigrate, and
send persons to see them safe out of the country; but it is absolutely
false that the people emigrate willingly. No one who has witnessed the
departure of emigrants dare make such an assertion. They are offered
their choice between starvation and emigration, and they emigrate. If a
man were offered his choice between penal servitude and hanging, it is
probable he would prefer penal servitude, but that would not make him
appreciate the joys of prison life. The Irish parish priest alone can
tell what the Irish suffer at home, and how unwillingly they go abroad.
A pamphlet has just been published on this very subject, by the Very
Rev. P. Malone, P.P., V.F., of Belmullet, co. Mayo, and in this he says:
"I have _seen_ the son, standing upon the deck of the emigrant ship,
divest himself of his only coat, and place it upon his father's
shoulders, saying, 'Father, take you this; I will soon earn the price of
a coat in the land I am going to.'" Such instances, which might be
recorded by the hundred, and the amount of money sent to Ireland by
emigrants for the support of aged parents, and to pay the passage out of
younger members of the family, are the best refutation of the old
falsehood that Irishmen are either idle or improvident.
AN
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND.
[Illustration: IRISH HISTORY.]
CHAPTER I
Celtic Literature--Antiquity of our Annals--Moore--How we should
estimate Tradition--The Materials for Irish History--List of the Lost
Books--The Cuilmenn--The Saltair of Tara, &c.--The Saltair of
Cashel--Important MSS. preserved in Trinity College--By the Royal Irish
Academy--In Belgium.
The study of Celtic literature, which is daily becoming of increased
importance to the philologist, has proved a matter of no inconsiderable
value to the Irish historian. When Moore visited O'Curry, and found him
surrounded with such works as the _Books of Ballymote and Lecain_, the
_Speckled Book_, the _Annals of the Four Masters_, and other treasures
of Gaedhilic lore, he turned to Dr. Petrie, and exclaimed: "These large
tomes could not have been written by fools or for any foolish purpose. I
never knew anything about them before, and I had no right to have
undertaken the _History of Ireland_." His publishers, who had less
scruples, or more utilitarian views, insisted on the completion of his
task. Whatever their motives may have been, we may thank them for the
result. Though Moore's history cannot now be quoted as an authority, it
accomplished its work for the time, and promoted an interest in the
history of one of the most ancient nations of the human race.
There are two sources from whence the early history of a nation may be
safely derived: the first internal--the self-consciousness of the
individual; the second external--the knowledge of its existence by
others--the _ego sum_ and the _tu es_; and our acceptance of the
statements of each on _matters of fact_, should depend on their mutual
agreement.
The first question, then, for the historian should be, What accounts
does this nation give of its early history? the second, What account of
this nation's early history can be obtained _ab extra_? By stating and
comparing these accounts with such critical acumen as the writer may be
able to command, we may obtain something approaching to authentic
history. The history of ancient peoples must have its basis on
tradition. The name tradition unfortunately gives an _a priori_
impression of untruthfulness, and hence the difficulty of accepting
tradition as an element of truth in historic research. But tradition is
not necessarily either a pure myth or a falsified account of facts. The
traditions of a nation are like an aged man's recollection of his
childhood, and should be treated as such. If we would know his early
history, we let him tell the tale in his own fashion. It may be he will
dwell long upon occurrences interesting to himself, and apart from the
object of our inquiries; it may be he will equivocate unintentionally if
cross-examined in detail; but truth will underlie his garrulous story,
and by patient analysis we may sift it out, and obtain the information
we desire.
A nation does not begin to write its history at the first moment of its
existence. Hence, when the chronicle is compiled which first embodies
its story, tradition forms the basis. None but an inspired historian can
commence _In principio_. The nation has passed through several
generations, the people already begin to talk of "old times;" but as
they are nearer these "old times" by some thousands of years than we
are, they are only burdened with the traditions of a few centuries at
the most; and unless there is evidence of a wilful object or intent to
falsify their chronicles, we may in the main depend on their accuracy.
Let us see how this applies to Gaedhilic history. The labours of the
late lamented Eugene O'Curry have made this an easy task. He took to his
work a critical acumen not often attained by the self-educated, and a
noble patriotism not often maintained by the gifted scions of a country
whose people and whose literature have been alike trodden down and
despised for centuries. The result of his researches is embodied in a
work[1] which should be in the hands of every student of Irish history,
and of every Irishman who can afford to procure it. This volume proves
that the _early_ history of Ireland has yet to be written; that it
should be a work of magnitude, and undertaken by one gifted with special
qualifications, which the present writer certainly does not possess; and
that it will probably require many years of patient labour from the
"host of Erinn's sons," before the necessary materials for such a
history can be prepared.
The manuscript materials for ancient Irish history may be divided into
two classes: the historical, which purports to be a narrative of facts,
in which we include books of laws, genealogies, and pedigrees; and the
legendary, comprising tales, poems, and legends. The latter, though not
necessarily true, are generally founded on fact, and contain a mass of
most important information, regarding the ancient customs and manner of
life among our ancestors. For the present we must devote our attention
to the historical documents. These, again, may be divided into two
classes--the lost books and those which still remain. Of the former
class the principal are the CUILMENN, _i.e._, the great book written on
skins; the SALTAIR OF TARA; the BOOK OF THE UACHONGBHAIL (pron. "ooa
cong-wall"); the CIN DROMA SNECHTA; and the SALTAIR OF CASHEL. Besides
these, a host of works are lost, of lesser importance as far as we can
now judge, which, if preserved, might have thrown a flood of light not
only upon our annals, but also on the social, historical, and
ethnographic condition of other countries. The principal works which
have been preserved are: the ANNALS OF TIGHERNACH (pron. "Teernagh");
the ANNALS OF ULSTER; the ANNALS OF INIS MAC NERINN; the ANNALS OF
INNISFALLEN; the ANNALS OF BOYLE; the CHRONICUM SCOTORUM, so ably edited
by Mr. Hennessy; the world-famous ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS; the BOOK
OF LEINSTER; the BOOK OF LAWS (the Brehon Laws), now edited by Dr. Todd,
and many books of genealogies and pedigrees.
For the present it must suffice to say, that these documents have been
examined by the ordinary rules of literary criticism, perhaps with more
than ordinary care, and that the result has been to place their
authenticity and their antiquity beyond cavil.
Let us see, then, what statements we can find which may throw light on
our early history, first in the fragments that remain of the lost books,
and then in those which are still preserved.
The CUILMENN is the first of the lost books which we mentioned. It is
thus referred to in the Book of Leinster:[2] "The _filés_ [bards] of
Erinn were now called together by _Senchan Torpéist_ [about A.D. 580],
to know if they remembered the _Táin bó Chuailgné_ in full; and they
said that they knew of it but fragments only. Senchan then spoke to his
pupils to know which of them would go into the countries of _Letha_ to
learn the _Táin_ which the _Sai_ had taken 'eastwards' after the
_Cuilmenn_. Eminé, the grandson of Nininé, and Muirgen, Senchan's own
son, set out to go to the East."
Here we have simply an indication of the existence of this ancient work,
and of the fact that in the earliest, if not in pre-Christian times,
Irish manuscripts travelled to the Continent with Irish scholars--Letha
being the name by which Italy, and especially what are now called the
Papal States, was then designated by Irish writers.
The SALTAIR OF TARA next claims our attention; and we may safely affirm,
merely judging from the fragments which remain, that a nation which
could produce such a work had attained no ordinary pitch of civilization
and literary culture. The Book of Ballymote,[3] and the Yellow Book of
Lecan,[4] attribute this work to Cormac Mac Art: "A noble work was
performed by Cormac at that time, namely, the compilation of Cormac's
Saltair, which was composed by him and the Seanchaidhe [Historians] of
Erinn, including Fintan, son of Bochra, and Fithil, the poet and judge.
And their synchronisms and genealogies, the succession of their kings
and monarchs, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities, from
the world's beginning down to that time, were written; and this is the
Saltair of Temair [pron. "Tara," almost as it is called now], which is
the origin and fountain of the Historians of Erinn from that period down
to this time. This is taken from the Book of the Uachongbhail."[5]
As we shall speak of Cormac's reign and noble qualities in detail at a
later period, it is only necessary to record here that his panegyric, as
king, warrior, judge, and philosopher, has been pronounced by almost
contemporary writers, as well as by those of later date. The name
_Saltair_ has been objected to as more likely to denote a composition of
Christian times. This objection, however, is easily removed: first, the
name was probably applied after the appellation had been introduced in
Christian times; second, we have no reason to suppose that King Cormac
designated his noble work by this name; and third, even could this be
proven, the much maligned Keating removes any difficulty by the simple
and obvious remark, that "it is because of its having been written in
poetic metre, the chief book which was in the custody of the _Ollamh_ of
the King of Erinn, was called the _Saltair of Temair;_ and the Chronicle
of holy Cormac Mac Cullinan, _Saltair of Cashel;_ and the Chronicle of
Aengus _Ceilé Dé_ [the Culdee], _Saltair-na-Rann_ [that is, Saltair of
the Poems or Verses], because a Salm and a Poem are the same, and
therefore a _Salterium_ and a _Duanairé_ [book of poems] are the
same."[6]
[Illustration: SITE OF TARA.]
The oldest reference to this famous compilation is found in a poem on
the site of ancient Tara, by Cuan O'Lochain, a distinguished scholar,
and native of Westmeath, who died in the year 1024. The quotation given
below is taken from the Book of Ballymote, a magnificent volume,
compiled in the year 1391, now in possession of the Royal Irish
Academy:--
Temair, choicest of hills,
For [possession of] which Erinn is now devastated,[7]
The noble city of Cormac, son of Art,
Who was the son of great Conn of the hundred battles:
Cormac, the prudent and good,
Was a sage, a filé [poet], a prince:
Was a righteous judge of the Fené-men,[8]
Was a good friend and companion.
Cormac gained fifty battles:
He compiled the Saltair of Temur.
In that Saltair is contained
The best summary of history;
It is that Saltair which assigns
Seven chief kings to Erinn of harbours;
They consisted of the five kings of the provinces,--
The Monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.
In it are (written) on either side,
What each provincial king is entitled to,
From the king of each great musical province.
The synchronisms and chronology of all,
The kings, with each other [one with another] all;
The boundaries of each brave province,
From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.
From this valuable extract we obtain a clear idea of the importance and
the subject of the famous Saltair, and a not less clear knowledge of the
admirable legal and social institutions by which Erinn was then
governed.
The CIN OF DROM SNECHTA is quoted in the Book of Ballymote, in support
of the ancient legend of the antediluvian occupation of Erinn by the
Lady _Banbha_, called in other books Cesair (pron. "kesar"). The Book of
Lecan quotes it for the same purpose, and also for the genealogies of
the chieftains of the ancient Rudrician race of Ulster. Keating gives
the descent of the Milesian colonists from Magog, the son of Japhet, on
the authority of the Cin of Drom Snechta, which, he states, was compiled
before St. Patrick's mission to Erinn.[9] We must conclude this part of
our subject with a curious extract from the same work, taken from the
Book of Leinster: "From the Cin of Drom Snechta, this below. Historians
say that there were exiles of Hebrew women in Erinn at the coming of the
sons of Milesius, who had been driven by a sea tempest into the ocean by
the Tirrén Sea. They were in Erinn before the sons of Milesius. They
said, however, to the sons of Milesius [who, it would appear, pressed
marriage on them], that they preferred their own country, and that they
would not abandon it without receiving dowry for alliance with them. It
is from this circumstance that it is the men that purchase wives in
Erinn for ever, whilst it is the husbands that are purchased by the
wives throughout the world besides."[10] The SALTAIR OF CASHEL was
compiled by Cormac Mac Cullinan King of Munster, and Archbishop of
Cashel. He was killed in the year 903. This loss of the work is most
painful to the student of the early history of Erinn. It is believed
that the ancient compilation known as Cormac's Glossary, was compiled
from the interlined gloss to the Saltair; and the references therein to
our ancient history, laws, mythology, and social customs, are such as to
indicate the richness of the mine of ancient lore. A copy was in
existence in 1454, as there is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud,
610) a copy of such portions as could be deciphered at the time. This
copy was made by Shane O'Clery for Mac Richard Butler.
The subjoined list of the lost books is taken from O'Curry's _MS.
Materials_, page 20. It may be useful to the philologist and interesting
to our own people, as a proof of the devotion to learning so early
manifested in Erinn:--
"In the first place must be enumerated again the _Cuilmenn_; the
Saltair of Tara; the _Cin Droma Snechta;_ the Book of St. Mochta;
the Book of _Cuana_; the Book of _Dubhdaleithe_; and the Saltair of
Cashel. Besides these we find mention of the _Leabhar buidhe
Sláine_ or Yellow Book of Slane; the original _Leabhar na
h-Uidhre;_ the Books of _Eochaidh O'Flannagain_; a certain book
known as the Book eaten by the poor people in the desert; the Book
of _Inis an Duin_; the Short Book of St. Buithe's Monastery (or
Monasterboice); the Books of Flann of the same Monastery; the Book
of Flann of _Dungeimhin_ (Dungiven, co. Derry); the Book of _Dun da
Leth Ghlas_ (or Downpatrick); the Book of _Doiré_ (Derry); the Book
of _Sabhall Phatraic_ (or Saull, co. Down); the Book of the
_Uachongbhail_ (Navan, probably); the _Leabhar dubh Molaga_, or
Black Book of St. Molaga; the _Leabhar buidhe Moling_, or Yellow
Book of St. Moling; the _Leabhar buidhe Mhic Murchadha_, or Yellow
Book of Mac Murrach; the _Leabhar Arda Macha_, or Book of Armagh
(quoted by Keating); the _Leabhar ruadh Mhic Aedhagain_, or Red
Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar breac Mhic Aedhagain_, or Speckled
Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar fada Leithghlinne_, or Long Book of
Leithghlinn, or Leithlin; the Books of O'Scoba of _Cluain Mic Nois_
(or Clonmacnois); the _Duil Droma Ceata_, or Book of Drom Ceat; and
the Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the Queen's County)."
[Illustration: (A) MS. in the "_Domhnach Airgid,_" [R.I.A.] (temp. St.
Patrick, circa A.D. 430.)]
[Illustration: (B) MS. in the "_Cathach_," (6th century MS attributed to
St. Colum Cillé)]
Happily, however, a valuable collection of ancient MSS. are still
preserved, despite the "drowning" of the Danes, and the "burning" of the
Saxon. The researches of continental scholars are adding daily to our
store; and the hundreds of Celtic MSS., so long entombed in the
libraries of Belgium and Italy, will, when published, throw additional
light upon the brightness of the past, and, it may be, enhance the
glories of the future, which we must believe are still in reserve for
the island of saints and sages.[11]
The list of works given above are supposed by O'Curry to have existed
anterior to the year 1100. Of the books which Keating refers to in his
History, written about 1630, only one is known to be extant--the
_Saltair-na-Rann_, written by Aengus Céile Dé.
The principal Celtic MSS. which are still preserved to us, may be
consulted in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy. The latter, though founded at a much later
period, is by far the more extensive, if not the more important,
collection. Perhaps, few countries have been so happy as to possess a
body of men so devoted to its archæology, so ardent in their
preservation of all that can be found to illustrate it, and so capable
of elucidating its history by their erudition, which, severally and
collectively, they have brought to bear on every department of its
ethnology. The collection in Trinity College consists of more than 140
volumes, several of them are vellum,[12] dating from the early part of
the twelfth to the middle of the last century. The collection of the
Royal Irish Academy also contains several works written on vellum, with
treatises of history, science, laws, and commerce; there are also many
theological and ecclesiastical compositions, which have been pronounced
by competent authorities to be written in the purest style that the
ancient Gaedhilic language ever attained. There are also a considerable
number of translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. These are
of considerable importance, as they enable the critical student of our
language to determine the meaning of many obscure or obsolete words or
phrases, by reference to the originals; nor are they of less value as
indicating the high state of literary culture which prevailed in Ireland
during the early Christian and the Middle Ages. Poetry, mythology,
history, and the classic literature of Greece and Rome, may be found
amongst these translations; so that, as O'Curry well remarks, "any one
well read in the comparatively few existing fragments of our Gaedhilic
literature, and whose education had been confined solely to this source,
would find that there are but very few, indeed, of the great events in
the history of the world with which he was not acquainted."[13] He then
mentions, by way of illustration of classical subjects, Celtic versions
of the Argonautic Expedition, the Siege of Troy, the Life of Alexander
the Great; and of such subjects as cannot be classed under this head,
the Destruction of Jerusalem; the Wars of Charlemagne, including the
History of Roland the Brave; the History of the Lombards, and the almost
contemporary translation of the Travels of Marco Polo.
There is also a large collection of MSS. in the British Museum, a few
volumes in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, besides the well-known,
though inaccessible, Stowe collection.[14]
The treasures of Celtic literature still preserved on the Continent, can
only be briefly mentioned here. It is probable that the active
researches of philologists will exhume many more of these long-hidden
volumes, and obtain for our race the place it has always deserved in the
history of nations.
The Louvain collection, formed chiefly by Fathers Hugh Ward, John
Colgan, and Michael O'Clery, between the years 1620 and 1640, was widely
scattered at the French Revolution. The most valuable portion is in the
College of St. Isidore in Rome. The Burgundian Library at Brussels also
possesses many of these treasures. A valuable resumé of the MSS. which
are preserved there was given by Mr. Bindon, and printed in the
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy in the year 1847. There are also
many Latin MSS. with Irish glosses, which have been largely used by
Zeuss in his world-famed _Grammatica Celtica_. The date of one of
these--a codex containing some of Venerable Bede's works--is fixed by an
entry of the death of Aed, King of Ireland, in the year 817. This most
important work belonged to the Irish monastery of Reichenau, and is now
preserved at Carlsruhe. A codex is also preserved at Cambray, which
contains a fragment of an Irish sermon, and the canons of an Irish
council held A.D. 684.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CLONMACNOIS.]
[Illustration: CLONMACNOIS.]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Work._--_Lectures on the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History_.
This work was published at the sole cost of the Catholic University of
Ireland, and will be an eternal monument of their patriotism and
devotion to literature. A chair of Irish History and Archæology was also
founded at the very commencement of the University; and yet the "Queen's
Colleges" are discarding this study, while an English professor in
Oxford is warmly advocating its promotion. Is the value of a chair to be
estimated by the number of pupils who surround it, or by the
contributions to science of the professor who holds it?
[2] _Leinster._--Book of Leinster, H.2.18, T.C.D. See O'Curry, p. 8.
[3] _Ballymote._--Library R.I.A., at fol. 145, a.a.
[4] _Lecan._--Trinity College, Dublin, classed H.2.16.
[5] _Uachongbhail_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, p. 11.
[6] _Same_.--Ibid. p. 12. The Psalms derived their name from the musical
instrument to which they were sung. This was called in Hebrew _nebel_.
It obtained the name from its resemblance to a bottle or flagon.
Psaltery is the Greek translation, and hence the name psalm.
[7] _Devastated_.--This was probably written in the year 1001, when
Brian Boroimhé had deposed Malachy.
[8] _Fené-men_.--The farmers, who were not Fenians then certainly, for
"Cormac was a righteous judge of the _Agraria Lex_ of the Gaels."
[9] _Erinn._--Keating says: "We will set down here the branching off of
the races of Magog, according to the Book of Invasions (of Ireland),
which was called the Cin of Drom Snechta; and it was before the coming
of Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed."--See Keating,
page 109, in O'Connor's translation. It is most unfortunate that this
devoted priest and ardent lover of his country did not bring the
critical acumen to his work which would have made its veracity
unquestionable. He tells us that it is "the business of his history to
be particular," and speaks of having "faithfully collected and
transcribed." But until recent investigations manifested the real
antiquity and value of the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History, his
work was looked on as a mere collection of legends. The quotation at
present under consideration is a case in point. He must have had a copy
of the Cin of Drom Snechta in his possession, and he must have known who
was the author of the original, as he states so distinctly the time of
its compilation. Keating's accuracy in matters of fact and
transcription, however, is daily becoming more apparent. This statement
might have been considered a mere conjecture of his own, had not Mr.
O'Curry discovered the name of the author in a partially effaced
memorandum in the Book of Leinster, which he reads thus: "[Ernín, son
of] Duach [that is], son of the King of Connacht, an _Ollamh_, and a
prophet, and a professor in history, and a professor in wisdom: it was
he that collected the Genealogies and Histories of the men of Erinn in
one book, that is, the _Cin Droma Snechta_." Duach was the son of Brian,
son of the monarch _Eochaidh_, who died A.D. 305.
[10] _Besides._--O'Curry, page 16.
[11] _Sages._--M. Nigra, the Italian Ambassador at Paris, is at this
moment engaged in publishing continental MSS.
[12] _Vellum._--The use of vellum is an indication that the MSS. must be
of some antiquity. The word "paper" is derived from _papyrus_, the most
ancient material for writing, if we except the rocks used for runes, or
the wood for oghams. Papyrus, the pith of a reed, was used until the
discovery of parchment, about 190 B.C. A MS. of the _Antiquities of
Josephus_ on papyrus, was among the treasures seized by Buonaparte in
Italy.
[13] _Acquainted_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, page 24.
[14] _Collection_.-A recent writer in the _Cornhill_ says that Lord
Ashburnham refuses access to this collection, now in his possession,
fearing that its contents may be depreciated so as to lessen its value
at a future sale. We should hope this statement can scarcely be
accurate. Unhappily, it is at least certain that access to the MSS. is
denied, from whatever motive.
CHAPTER II.
Tighernach and his Annals--Erudition and Research of our Early
Writers--The Chronicum Scotorum--Duald Mac Firbis--Murdered, and _his_
Murderer is protected by the Penal Laws--The Annals of the Four
Masters--Michael O'Clery--His Devotion to his
Country--Ward--_Colgan_--Dedication of the Annals--The Book of
Invasions--Proofs of our Early Colonization.
Our illustration can give but a faint idea of the magnificence and
extent of the ancient abbey of Clonmacnois, the home of our famous
annalist, Tighernach. It has been well observed, that no more ancient
chronicler can be produced by the northern nations. Nestor, the father
of Russian history, died in 1113; Snorro, the father of Icelandic
history, did not appear until a century later; Kadlubeck, the first
historian of Poland, died in 1223; and Stierman could not discover a
scrap of writing in all Sweden older than 1159. Indeed, he may be
compared favourably even with the British historians, who can by no
means boast of such ancient pedigrees as the genealogists of Erinn.[15]
Tighernach was of the Murray-race of Connacht; of his personal history
little is known. His death is noted in the _Chronicum Scotorum_, where
he is styled successor (_comharba_) of St. Ciaran and St. Coman. The
Annals of Innisfallen state that he was interred at Clonmacnois. Perhaps
his body was borne to its burial through the very doorway which still
remains, of which we gave an illustration at the end of the last
chapter.
The writers of history and genealogy in early ages, usually commenced
with the sons of Noah, if not with the first man of the human race. The
Celtic historians are no exceptions to the general rule; and long before
Tighernach wrote, the custom had obtained in Erinn. His chronicle was
necessarily compiled from more ancient sources, but its fame rests upon
the extraordinary erudition which he brought to bear upon every subject.
Flann, who was contemporary with Tighernach, and a professor of St.
Buithe's monastery (Monasterboice), is also famous for his Synchronisms,
which form an admirable abridgment of universal history. He appears to
have devoted himself specially to genealogies and pedigrees, while
Tighernach took a wider range of literary research. His learning was
undoubtedly most extensive. He quotes Eusebius, Orosius, Africanus,
Bede, Josephus, Saint Jerome, and many other historical writers, and
sometimes compares their statements on points in which they exhibit
discrepancies, and afterwards endeavours to reconcile their conflicting
testimony, and to correct the chronological errors of the writers by
comparison with the dates given by others. He also collates the Hebrew
text with the Septuagint version of the Scriptures. He uses the common
era, though we have no reason to believe that this was done by the
writers who immediately preceded him. He also mentions the lunar cycle,
and uses the dominical letter with the kalends of several years.[16]
Another writer, _Gilla Caemhain_, was also contemporary with Flann and
Tighernach. He gives the "annals of all time," from the beginning of the
world to his own period; and computes the second period from the
Creation to the Deluge; from the Deluge to Abraham; from Abraham to
David; from David to the Babylonian Captivity, &c. He also synchronizes
the eastern monarchs with each other, and afterwards with the Firbolgs
and Tuatha Dé Danann of Erinn,[17] and subsequently with the Milesians.
Flann synchronizes the chiefs of various lines of the children of Adam
in the East, and points out what monarchs of the Assyrians, Medes,
Persians, and Greeks, and what Roman emperors were contemporary with the
kings of Erinn, and the leaders of its various early colonies. He begins
with Ninus, son of Belus, and comes down to Julius Cæsar, who was
contemporary with _Eochaidh Feidhlech_, an Irish king, who died more
than half a century before the Christian era. The synchronism is then
continued from Julius Cæsar and _Eochaidh_ to the Roman emperors
Theodosius the Third and Leo the Third; they were contemporaries with
the Irish monarch Ferghal, who was killed A.D. 718.
The ANNALS and MSS. which serve to illustrate our history, are so
numerous, that it would be impossible, with one or two exceptions, to do
more than indicate their existence, and to draw attention to the weight
which such an accumulation of authority must give to the authenticity of
our early history. But there are two of these works which we cannot pass
unnoticed: the CHRONICUM SCOTORUM and the ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS.
The Chronicum Scotorum was compiled by Duald Mac Firbis. He was of royal
race, and descended from _Dathi_, the last pagan monarch of Erinn. His
family were professional and hereditary historians, genealogists, and
poets,[18] and held an ancestral property at Lecain Mac Firbis, in the
county Sligo, until Cromwell and his troopers desolated Celtic homes,
and murdered the Celtic dwellers, often in cold blood. The young Mac
Firbis was educated for his profession in a school of law and history
taught by the Mac Egans of Lecain, in Ormonde. He also studied (about
A.D. 1595) at Burren, in the county Clare, in the literary and legal
school of the O'Davorens. His pedigrees of the ancient Irish and the
Anglo-Norman families, was compiled at the College of St. Nicholas, in
Galway, in the year 1650. It may interest some of our readers to peruse
the title of this work, although its length would certainly horrify a
modern publisher:--
"The Branches of Relationship and the Genealogical Ramifications of
every Colony that took possession of Erinn, traced from this time up to
Adam (excepting only those of the Fomorians, Lochlanns, and Saxon-Gaels,
of whom we, however, treat, as they have settled in our country);
together with a Sanctilogium, and a Catalogue of the Monarchs of Erinn;
and, finally, an Index, which comprises, in alphabetical order, the
surnames and the remarkable places mentioned in this work, which was
compiled by _Dubhaltach Mac Firbhisigh_ of Lecain, 1650." He also gives,
as was then usual, the "place, time, author, and cause of writing the
work." The "cause" was "to increase the glory of God, and for the
information of the people in general;" a beautiful and most true epitome
of the motives which inspired the penmen of Erinn from the first
introduction of Christianity, and produced the "countless host" of her
noble historiographers.
Mac Firbis was murdered[19] in the year 1670, at an advanced age; and
thus departed the last and not the least distinguished of our long line
of poet-historians. Mac Firbis was a voluminous writer. Unfortunately
some of his treatises have been lost;[20] but the CHRONICUM SCOTORUM is
more than sufficient to establish his literary reputation.
The ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS demand a larger notice, as unquestionably
one of the most remarkable works on record. It forms the last link
between the ancient and modern history of Ireland; a link worthy of the
past, and, we dare add, it shall be also worthy of the future. It is a
proof of what great and noble deeds may be accomplished under the most
adverse circumstances, and one of the many, if not one of the most,
triumphant denials of the often-repeated charges of indolence made
against the mendicant orders, and of aversion to learning made against
religious orders in general. Nor is it a less brilliant proof that
intellectual gifts may be cultivated and are fostered in the cloister;
and that a patriot's heart may burn as ardently, and love of country
prove as powerful a motive, beneath the cowl or the veil, as beneath the
helmet or the coif.
Michael O'Clery, the chief of the Four Masters, was a friar of the order
of St. Francis. He was born at Kilbarron, near Ballyshannon, county
Donegal, in the year 1580, and was educated principally in the south of
Ireland, which was then more celebrated for its academies than the
north. The date of his entrance into the Franciscan order is not known,
neither is it known why he,
"Once the heir of bardic honours,"
became a simple lay-brother. In the year 1627 he travelled through
Ireland collecting materials for Father Hugh Ward, also a Franciscan
friar, and Guardian of the convent of St. Antony at Louvain, who was
preparing a series of Lives of Irish Saints. When Father Ward died, the
project was taken up and partially carried out by Father John Colgan.
His first work, the _Trias Thaumaturgus_, contains the lives of St.
Patrick, St. Brigid, and St. Columba. The second volume contains the
lives of Irish saints whose festivals occur from the 1st of January to
the 31st of March; and here, unfortunately, alike for the hagiographer
and the antiquarian, the work ceased. It is probable that the idea of
saving--
"The old memorials
Of the noble and the holy,
Of the chiefs of ancient lineage,
Of the saints of wondrous virtues;
Of the Ollamhs and the Brehons,
Of the bards and of the betaghs,"[21]
occurred to him while he was collecting materials for Father Ward. His
own account is grand in its simplicity, and beautiful as indicating that
the deep passion for country and for literature had but enhanced the yet
deeper passion which found its culminating point in the dedication of
his life to God in the poor order of St. Francis. In the troubled and
disturbed state of Ireland, he had some difficulty in securing a patron.
At last one was found who could appreciate intellect, love of country,
and true religion. Although it is almost apart from our immediate
subject, we cannot refrain giving an extract from the dedication to this
prince, whose name should be immortalized with that of the friar patriot
and historian:--
"I, Michael _O'Clerigh_, a poor friar of the Order of St. Francis (after
having been for ten years transcribing every old material that I found
concerning the saints of Ireland, observing obedience to each provincial
that was in Ireland successively), have come before you, O noble
_Fearghal_ O'Gara. I have calculated on your honour that it seemed to
you a cause of pity and regret, grief and sorrow (for the glory of God
and the honour of Ireland), how much the race of Gaedhil, the son of
Niul, have passed under a cloud and darkness, without a knowledge or
record of the obit of saint or virgin, archbishop, bishop, abbot, or
other noble dignitary of the Church, or king or of prince, of lord or of
chieftain, [or] of the synchronism of connexion of the one with the
other." He then explains how he collected the materials for his work,
adding, alas! most truly, that should it not be accomplished then, "they
would not again be found to be put on record to the end of the world."
He thanks the prince for giving "the reward of their labour to the
chroniclers," and simply observes, that "it was the friars of the
convent of Donegal who supplied them with food and attendance." With
characteristic humility he gives his patron the credit of all the "good
which will result from this book, in giving light to all in general;"
and concludes thus:--
"On the twenty-second day of the month of January, A.D. 1632, this book
was commenced in the convent of Dun-na-ngall, and, it was finished in
the same convent on the tenth day of August, 1636, the eleventh year of
the reign of our king Charles over England, France, Alba, and over
_Eiré_."
There were "giants in those days;" and one scarcely knows whether to
admire most the liberality of the prince, the devotion of the friars of
Donegal, who "gave food and attendance" to their literary brother, and
thus had their share in perpetuating their country's fame, or the gentle
humility of the great Brother Michael.
It is unnecessary to make any observation on the value and importance of
the Annals of the Four Masters. The work has been edited with
extraordinary care and erudition by Dr. O'Donovan, and published by an
Irish house. We must now return to the object for which this brief
mention of the MS. materials of Irish history has been made, by showing
on what points other historians coincide in their accounts of our first
colonists, of their language, customs, and laws; and secondly, how far
the accounts which may be obtained _ab extra_ agree with the statements
of our own annalists. The _Book of Invasions_, which was rewritten and
"purified" by brother Michael O'Clery, gives us in a few brief lines an
epitome of our history as recorded by the ancient chroniclers of
Erinn:--
"The sum of the matters to be found in the following book, is the taking
of Erinn by [the Lady] _Ceasair;_ the taking by _Partholan;_ the taking
by _Nemedh;_ the taking by the Firbolgs; the taking by the _Tuatha Dé
Danann;_ the taking by the sons of _Miledh_ [or Miletius]; and their
succession down to the monarch _Melsheachlainn_, or Malachy the Great
[who died in 1022]." Here we have six distinct "takings," invasions, or
colonizations of Ireland in pre-Christian times.
It may startle some of our readers to find any mention of Irish history
"before the Flood," but we think the burden of proof, to use a logical
term, lies rather with those who doubt the possibility, than with those
who accept as tradition, and as _possibly_ true, the statements which
have been transmitted for centuries by careful hands. There can be no
doubt that a high degree of cultivation, and considerable advancement in
science, had been attained by the more immediate descendants of our
first parents. Navigation and commerce existed, and Ireland may have
been colonized. The sons of Noah must have remembered and preserved the
traditions of their ancestors, and transmitted them to their
descendants. Hence, it depended on the relative anxiety of these
descendants to preserve the history of the world before the Flood, how
much posterity should know of it. MacFirbis thus answers the objections
of those who, even in his day, questioned the possibility of preserving
such records:--"If there be any one who shall ask who preserved the
history [_Seanchus_], let him know that they were very ancient and
long-lived old men, recording elders of great age, whom God permitted to
preserve and hand down the history of Erinn, in books, in succession,
one after another, from the Deluge to the time of St. Patrick."
The artificial state of society in our own age, has probably acted
disadvantageously on our literary researches, if not on our moral
character. Civilization is a relative arbitrary term; and the ancestors
whom we are pleased to term uncivilized, may have possessed as high a
degree of mental culture as ourselves, though it unquestionably differed
in kind. Job wrote his epic poem in a state of society which we should
probably term uncultivated; and when Lamech gave utterance to the most
ancient and the saddest of human lyrics, the world was in its infancy,
and it would appear as if the first artificer in "brass and iron" had
only helped to make homicide more easy. We can scarce deny that murder,
cruel injustice, and the worst forms of inhumanity, are but too common
in countries which boast of no ordinary refinement; and we should
hesitate ere we condemn any state of society as uncivilized, simply
because we find such crimes in the pages of their history.
The question of the early, if not pre-Noahacian colonization of Ireland,
though distinctly asserted in our annals, has been met with the ready
scepticism which men so freely use to cover ignorance or indifference.
It has been taken for granted that the dispersion, after the confusion
of tongues at Babel, was the first dispersion of the human race; but it
has been overlooked that, on the lowest computation, a number of
centuries equal, if not exceeding, those of the Christian era, elapsed
between the Creation of man and the Flood; that men had "multiplied
exceedingly upon the earth;" and that the age of stone had already given
place to that of brass and iron, which, no doubt, facilitated commerce
and colonization, even at this early period of the world's history. The
discovery of works of art, of however primitive a character, in the
drifts of France and England, indicates an early colonization. The
rudely-fashioned harpoon of deer's horn found beside the gigantic whale,
in the alluvium of the carse near the base of Dummyat, twenty feet above
the highest tide of the nearest estuary, and the tusk of the mastodon
lying alongside fragments of pottery in a deposit of the peat and sands
of the post-pliocene beds in South Carolina, are by no means solitary
examples. Like the night torch of the gentle Guanahané savage, which
Columbus saw as he gazed wearily from his vessel, looking, even after
sunset, for the long hoped-for shore, and which told him that his desire
was at last consummated, those indications of man, associated with the
gigantic animals of a geological age, of whose antiquity there can be no
question, speak to our hearts strange tales of the long past, and of the
early dispersion and progressive distribution of a race created to
"increase and multiply."
The question of transit has also been raised as a difficulty by those
who doubt our early colonization. But this would seem easily removed. It
is more than probable that, at the period of which we write, Britain, if
not Ireland, formed part of the European continent; but were it not so,
we have proof, even in the present day, that screw propellers and iron
cast vessels are not necessary for safety in distant voyages, since the
present aboriginal vessels of the Pacific will weather a storm in which
a _Great Eastern_ or a _London_ might founder hopelessly.
Let us conclude an apology for our antiquity, if not a proof of it, in
the words of our last poet historian:--
"We believe that henceforth no wise person will be found who will
not acknowledge that it is possible to bring the genealogies of the
Gaedhils to their origin, to Noah and to Adam; and if he does not
believe that, may he not believe that he himself is the son of his
own father. For there is no error in the genealogical history, but
as it was left from father to son in succession, one after another.
"Surely every one believes the Divine Scriptures, which give a
similar genealogy to the men of the world, from Adam down to
Noah;[22] and the genealogy of Christ and of the holy fathers, as
may be seen in the Church [writings]. Let him believe this, or let
him deny God. And if he does believe this, why should he not
believe another history, of which there has been truthful
preservation, like the history of Erinn? I say truthful
preservation, for it is not only that they [the preservers of it]
were very numerous, as we said, preserving the same, but there was
an order and a law with them and upon them, out of which they could
not, without great injury, tell lies or falsehoods, as may be seen
in the Books of _Fenechas_ [Law], of _Fodhla_ [Erinn], and in the
degrees of the poets themselves, their order, and their laws."[23]
[Illustration: BEREHAVEN]
FOOTNOTES:
[15] _Erinn_.--O'Curry, page 57. It has also been remarked, that there
is no nation in possession of such ancient chronicles written in what is
still the language of its people.
[16] _Years_.--See O'Curry, _passim_.
[17] _Erinn_.--_Eire_ is the correct form for the nominative. Erinn is
the genitive, but too long in use to admit of alteration. The ordinary
name of Ireland, in the oldest Irish MSS., is (h)Erin, gen. (h)Erenn,
dat. (h)Erinn; but the initial _h_ is often omitted. See Max Müller's
Lectures for an interesting note on this subject, to which we shall
again refer.
[18] _Poets_.--The _Book of Lecain_ was written in 1416, by an ancestor
of Mac Firbis. Usher had it for some time in his possession; James II.
carried it to Paris, and deposited it in the Irish College in the
presence of a notary and witnesses. In 1787, the Chevalier O'Reilly
procured its restoration to Ireland; and it passed eventually from
Vallancey to the Royal Irish Academy, where it is now carefully
preserved.
[19] _Murdered_.--The circumstances of the murder are unhappily
characteristic of the times. The Celtic race was under the ban of penal
laws for adherence to the faith of their fathers. The murderer was free.
As the old historian travelled to Dublin, he rested at a shop in
Dunflin. A young man came in and took liberties with the young woman who
had care of the shop. She tried to check him, by saying that he would be
seen by the gentleman in the next room. In a moment he seized a knife
from the counter, and plunged it into the breast of Mac Firbis. There
was no "justice for Ireland" then, and, of course, the miscreant escaped
the punishment he too well deserved.
[20] _Lost_.--He was also employed by Sir James Ware to translate for
him, and appears to have resided in his house in Castle-street, Dublin,
just before his death.
[21] _Betaghs_.--Poems, by D.F. Mac Carthy.
[22] _Noah_.--This is a clear argument. The names of pre-Noahacian
patriarchs must have been preserved by tradition, with their date of
succession and history. Why should not other genealogies have been
preserved in a similar manner, and _even the names of individuals_
transmitted to posterity?
[23] _Laws_.--MacFirbis. Apud O'Curry, p. 219.
CHAPTER III.
First Colonists--The Landing of Ceasair, before the Flood--Landing of
Partholan, after the Flood, at Inver Scene--Arrival of Nemedh--The
Fomorians--Emigration of the Nemenians--The Firbolgs--Division of
Ireland by the Firbolg Chiefs--The Tuatha Dé Dananns--Their Skill as
Artificers--Nuada of the Silver Hand--The Warriors Sreng and Breas--The
Satire of Cairbré--Termination of the Fomorian Dynasty.
[A.M. 1599.]
We shall, then, commence our history with such accounts as we can find
in our annals of the pre-Christian colonization of Erinn. The legends of
the discovery and inhabitation of Ireland before the Flood, are too
purely mythical to demand serious notice. But as the most ancient MSS.
agree in their account of this immigration, we may not pass it over
without brief mention.
The account in the _Chronicum Scotorum_ runs thus:--
"Kal. v.f.l. 10. Anno mundi 1599.
"In this year the daughter of one of the Greeks came to Hibernia, whose
name was h-Erui, or Berba, or Cesar, and fifty maidens and three men
with her. Ladhra was their conductor, who was the first that was buried
in Hibernia."[24] The Cin of Drom Snechta is quoted in the Book of
Ballymote as authority for the same tradition.[25] The Book of Invasions
also mentions this account as derived from ancient sources. MacFirbis,
in the Book of Genealogies, says: "I shall devote the first book to
Partholan, who first took possession of Erinn after the Deluge, devoting
the beginning of it to the coming of the Lady Ceasair," &c. And the
Annals of the Four Masters: "Forty days before the Deluge, Ceasair came
to Ireland with fifty girls and three men--Bith, Ladhra, and Fintain
their names."[26] All authorities agree that Partholan was the first who
colonized Ireland after the Flood. His arrival is stated in the
Chronicum Scotorum to have taken place "in the sixtieth year of the age
of Abraham."[27] The Four Masters say: "The age of the world, when
Partholan came into Ireland, 2520 years."[28]
Partholan landed at Inver[29] Scene, now the Kenmare river, accompanied
by his sons, their wives, and a thousand followers. His antecedents are
by no means the most creditable; and we may, perhaps, feel some
satisfaction, that a colony thus founded should have been totally swept
away by pestilence a few hundred years after its establishment.
The Chronicum Scotorum gives the date of his landing thus: "On a Monday,
the 14th of May, he arrived, his companions being eight in number, viz.,
four men and four women." If the kingdom of Desmond were as rich then as
now in natural beauty, a scene of no ordinary splendour must have
greeted the eyes and gladdened the hearts of its first inhabitants. They
had voyaged past the fair and sunny isles of that "tideless sea," the
home of the Phoenician race from the earliest ages. They had escaped the
dangers of the rough Spanish coast, and gazed upon the spot where the
Pillars of Hercules were the beacons of the early mariners. For many
days they had lost sight of land, and, we may believe, had well-nigh
despaired of finding a home in that far isle, to which some strange
impulse had attracted them, or some old tradition--for the world even
then was old enough for legends of the past--had won their thoughts. But
there was a cry of land. The billows dashed in wildly, then as now, from
the coasts of an undiscovered world, and left the same line of white
foam upon Eire's western coast. The magnificent _Inver_ rolled its tide
of beauty between gentle hills and sunny slopes, till it reached what
now is appropriately called Kenmare. The distant Reeks showed their
clear summits in sharp outline, pointing to the summer sky. The
long-backed Mangerton and quaintly-crested Carn Tual were there also;
and, perchance, the Roughty and the Finihé sent their little streams to
swell the noble river bay. But it was no time for dreams, though the
Celt in all ages has proved the sweetest of dreamers, the truest of
bards. These men have rough work to do, and, it may be, gave but scant
thought to the beauties of the western isle, and scant thanks to their
gods for escape from peril. Plains were to be cleared, forests cut down,
and the red deer and giant elk driven to deeper recesses in the
well-wooded country.
Several lakes are said to have sprung forth at that period; but it is
more probable that they already existed, and were then for the first
time seen by human eye. The plains which Partholan's people cleared are
also mentioned, and then we find the ever-returning obituary:--
"The age of the world 2550, Partholan died on Sean Mhagh-Ealta-Edair in
this year."[30]
The name of Tallaght still remains, like the peak of a submerged world,
to indicate this colonization, and its fatal termination. Some very
ancient tumuli may still be seen there. The name signifies a place where
a number of persons who died of the plague were interred together; and
here the Annals of the Four Masters tells us that nine thousand of
Partholan's people died in one week, after they had been three hundred
years in Ireland.[31]
The third "taking" of Ireland was that of Nemedh. He came, according to
the Annals,[32] A.M. 2859, and erected forts and cleared plains, as his
predecessors had done. His people were also afflicted by plague, and
appeared to have had occupation enough to bury their dead, and to fight
with the "Fomorians in general," an unpleasantly pugilistic race, who,
according to the Annals of Clonmacnois, "were a sept descended from
Cham, the sonne of Noeh, and lived by pyracie and spoile of other
nations, and were in those days very troublesome to the whole
world."[33] The few Nemedians who escaped alive after their great battle
with the Fomorians, fled into the interior of the island. Three bands
were said to have emigrated with their respective captains. One party
wandered into the north of Europe, and are believed to have been the
progenitors of the Tuatha Dé Dananns; others made their way to Greece,
where they were enslaved, and obtained the name of Firbolgs, or bagmen,
from the leathern bags which they were compelled to carry; and the third
section sought refuge in the north of England, which is said to have
obtained its name of Briton from their leader, Briotan Maol.[34]
The fourth immigration is that of the Firbolgs; and it is remarkable how
early the love of country is manifested in the Irish race, since we find
those who once inhabited its green plains still anxious to return,
whether their emigration proved prosperous, as to the Tuatha Dé Dananns,
or painful, as to the Firbolgs.
According to the _Annals of Clonmacnois, Keating_, and the
_Leabhar-Gabhala_, the Firbolgs divided the island into five provinces,
governed by five brothers, the sons of Dela Mac Loich:--"Slane, the
eldest brother, had the province of Leynster for his part, which
containeth from Inver Colpe, that is to say, where the river Boyne
entereth into the sea, now called in Irish Drogheda, to the meeting of
the three waters, by Waterford, where the three rivers, Suyre, Ffeoir,
and Barrow, do meet and run together into the sea. Gann, the second
brother's part, was South Munster, which is a province extending from
that place to Bealagh-Conglaissey. Seangann, the third brother's part,
was from Bealagh-Conglaissey to Rossedahaileagh, now called Limbriche,
which is in the province of North Munster. Geanaun, the fourth brother,
had the province of Connacht, containing from Limerick to Easroe. Rorye,
the fifth brother, and youngest, had from Easroe aforesaid to Inver
Colpe, which is in the province of Ulster."[35]
The Firbolg chiefs had landed in different parts of the island, but they
soon met at the once famous Tara, where they united their forces. To
this place they gave the name of _Druim Cain_, or the Beautiful
Eminence.
The fifth, or Tuatha Dé Danann "taking" of Ireland, occurred in the
reign of Eochaidh, son of Erc, A.M. 3303. The Firbolgian dynasty was
terminated at the battle of _Magh Tuireadh_. Eochaidh fled from the
battle, and was killed on the strand of Traigh Eothailé, near
Ballysadare, co. Sligo. The cave where he was interred still exists, and
there is a curious tradition that the tide can never cover it.
The Tuatha Dé Danann king, Nuada, lost his hand in this battle, and
obtained the name of Nuada of the Silver Hand,[36] his artificer, Credne
Cert, having made a silver hand for him with joints. It is probable the
latter acquisition was the work of Mioch, the son of Diancecht, Nuada's
physician, as there is a tradition that he "took off the hand and
infused feeling and motion into every joint and finger of it, as if it
were a natural hand." We may doubt the "feeling," but it was probably
suggested by the "motion," and the fact that, in those ages, every act
of more than ordinary skill was attributed to supernatural causes,
though effected through human agents. Perhaps even, in the enlightened
nineteenth century, we might not be much the worse for the pious belief,
less the pagan cause to which it was attributed. It should be observed
here, that the Brehon Laws were probably then in force; for the
"blemish" of the monarch appears to have deprived him of his dignity, at
least until the silver hand could satisfy for the defective limb. The
Four Masters tell us briefly that the Tuatha Dé Dananns gave the
sovereignty to Breas, son of Ealathan, "while the hand of Nuada was
under cure," and mentions that Breas resigned the kingdom to him in the
seventh year after the cure of his hand.
A more detailed account of this affair may be found in one of our
ancient historic tales, of the class called _Catha_ or _Battles_, which
Professor O'Curry pronounces to be "almost the earliest event upon the
record of which we may place sure reliance."[37] It would appear that
there were two battles between the Firbolgs and Tuatha Dé Dananns, and
that, in the last of these, Nuada was slain. According to this ancient
tract, when the Firbolg king heard of the arrival of the invaders, he
sent a warrior named Sreng to reconnoitre their camp. The Tuatha Dé
Dananns were as skilled in war as in magic; they had sentinels carefully
posted, and their _videttes_ were as much on the alert as a Wellington
or a Napier could desire. The champion Breas was sent forward to meet
the stranger. As they approached, each raised his shield, and cautiously
surveyed his opponent from above the protecting aegis. Breas was the
first to speak. The mother-tongue was as dear then as now, and Sreng was
charmed to hear himself addressed in his own language, which, equally
dear to the exiled Nemedian chiefs, had been preserved by them in their
long wanderings through northern Europe. An examination of each others
armour next took place. Sreng was armed with "two heavy, thick,
pointless, but sharply rounded spears;" while Breas carried "two
beautifully shaped, thin, slender, long, sharp-pointed spears."[38]
Perhaps the one bore a spear of the same class of heavy flint weapons of
which we give an illustration, and the other the lighter and more
graceful sword, of which many specimens may be seen in the collection of
the Royal Irish Academy. Breas then proposed that they should divide the
island between the two parties; and after exchanging spears and promises
of mutual friendship, each returned to his own camp.
[Illustration: FLINT SPEAR-HEAD, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE R.I.A.] The
Firbolg king, however, objected to this arrangement; and it was decided,
in a council of war, to give battle to the invaders. The Tuatha Dé
Dananns were prepared for this from the account which Breas gave of the
Firbolg warriors: they, therefore, abandoned their camp, and took up a
strong position on Mount Belgadan, at the west end of _Magh Nia_, a site
near the present village of Cong, co. Mayo.
The Firbolgs marched from Tara to meet them; but Nuada, anxious for
pacific arrangements, opened new negociations with King Eochaidh through
the medium of his bards. The battle which has been mentioned before then
followed. The warrior Breas, who ruled during the disability of Nuada,
was by no means popular. He was not hospitable, a _sine qua non_ for
king or chief from the earliest ages of Celtic being; he did not love
the bards, for the same race ever cherished and honoured learning; and
he attempted to enslave the nobles. Discontent came to a climax when the
bard Cairbré, son of the poetess Etan, visited the royal court, and was
sent to a dark chamber, without fire or bed, and, for all royal fare,
served with three small cakes of bread. If we wish to know the true
history of a people, to understand the causes of its sorrows and its
joys, to estimate its worth, and to know how to rule it wisely and well,
let us read such old-world tales carefully, and ponder them well. Even
if prejudice or ignorance should induce us to undervalue their worth as
authentic records of its ancient history, let us remember the undeniable
fact, that they _are_ authentic records of its deepest national
feelings, and let them, at least, have their weight as such in our
schemes of social economy, for the present and the future.
The poet left the court next morning, but not until he pronounced a
bitter and withering satire on the king--the first satire that had ever
been pronounced in Erinn. It was enough. Strange effects are attributed
to the satire of a poet in those olden times; but probably they could,
in all cases, bear the simple and obvious interpretation, that he on
whom the satire was pronounced was thereby disgraced eternally before
his people. For how slight a punishment would bodily suffering or
deformity be, in comparison to the mental suffering of which a
quick-souled people are eminently capable!
Breas was called on to resign. He did so with the worst possible grace,
as might be expected from such a character. His father, Elatha, was a
Fomorian sea-king or pirate, and he repaired to his court. His reception
was not such as he had expected; he therefore went to Balor of the Evil
Eye,[39] a Fomorian chief. The two warriors collected a vast army and
navy, and formed a bridge of ships and boats from the Hebrides to the
north-west coast of Erinn. Having landed their forces, they marched to a
plain in the barony of Tirerrill (co. Sligo), where they waited an
attack or surrender of the Tuatha Dé Danann army. But the magical skill,
or, more correctly, the superior abilities of this people, proved them
more than equal to the occasion. The chronicler gives a quaint and most
interesting account of the Tuatha Dé Danann arrangements. Probably the
Crimean campaign, despite our nineteenth century advancements in the art
of war, was not prepared for more carefully, or carried out more
efficiently.
Nuada called a "privy council," if we may use the modern term for the
ancient act, and obtained the advice of the great Daghda; of Lug, the
son of Cian, son of Diancecht, the famous physician; and of Ogma
Grian-Aineach (of the sun-like face). But Daghda and Lug were evidently
secretaries of state for the home and war departments, and arranged
these intricate affairs with perhaps more honour to their master, and
more credit to the nation, than many a modern and "civilized" statesman.
They summoned to their presence the heads of each department necessary
for carrying on the war. Each department was therefore carefully
pre-organized, in such a manner as to make success almost certain, and
to obtain every possible succour and help from those engaged in the
combat, or those who had suffered from it. The "smiths" were prepared to
make and to mend the swords, the surgeons to heal or staunch the wounds,
the bards and druids to praise or blame; and each knew his work, and
what was expected from the department which he headed before the battle,
for the questions put to each, and their replies, are on record.
Pardon me. You will say I have written a romance, a legend, for the
benefit of my country[40]--a history of what might have been, of what
should be, at least in modern warfare, and, alas! often is not. Pardon
me. The copy of the tracts from which I have compiled this meagre
narrative, is in existence, and in the British Museum. It was written on
vellum, about the year 1460, by Gilla-Riabhach O'Clery; but there is
unquestionable authority for its having existed at a much earlier
period. It is quoted by Cormac Mac Cullinan in his Glossary, in
illustration of the word _Nes_, and Cormac was King of Munster in the
year of grace 885, while his Glossary was compiled to explain words
which had then become obsolete. This narrative must, therefore, be of
great antiquity. If we cannot accept it as a picture of the period, in
the main authentic, let us give up all ancient history as a myth; if we
do accept it, let us acknowledge that a people who possessed such
officials had attained a high state of intellectual culture, and that
their memory demands at least the homage of our respect.
The plain on which this battle was fought, retains the name of the Plain
of the Towers (or Pillars) of the Fomorians, and some very curious
sepulchral monuments may still be seen on the ancient field.
In those days, as in the so-called middle ages, ladies exercised their
skill in the healing art; and we find honorable mention made of the Lady
Ochtriuil, who assisted the chief physician (her father) and his sons in
healing the wounds of the Tuatha Dé Danann heroes. These warriors have
also left many evidences of their existence in raths and monumental
pillars.[41] It is probable, also, that much that has been attributed to
the Danes, of right belongs to the Dananns, and that a confusion of
names has promoted a confusion of appropriation. Before we turn to the
Milesian immigration, the last colonization of the old country, let us
inquire what was known and said of it, and of its people, by foreign
writers.
[Illustration: CAVITY, CONTAINING OVAL BASIN. NEW GRANGE.]
[Illustration: THE SEVEN CASTLES OF CLONMINES]
FOOTNOTES:
[24] _Hibernia_.--Chronicum Scotorum, p. 3.
[25] _Tradition_.--O'Curry, p. 13.
[26] _Names_.--Four Masters, O'Donovan, p. 3.
[27] _Abraham.--_Chronicum Scotorum, p. 5.
[28] _Years_.--Four Masters, p. 5.
[29] _Inver.--Inver_ and _A[=b] er_ have been used as test words in
discriminating between the Gaedhilic and Cymric Celts. The etymology and
meaning is the same--a meeting of waters. Inver, the Erse and Gaedhilic
form, is common in Ireland, and in those parts of Scotland where the
Gael encroached on the Cymry. See _Words and Places_, p. 259, for
interesting observations on this subject.
[30] _Year_.--Annals, p. 7.
[31] _Ireland._--Ib. p. 9.
[32] _Annals._--Ib. I. p. 9.
[33] _World_.--See Conell MacGeoghegan's Translation of the Annals of
Clonmacnois, quoted by O'Donovan, p. 11.
[34] _Maol_.--The Teutonic languages afford no explanation of the name
of Britain, though it is inhabited by a Teutonic race. It is probable,
therefore, that they adopted an ethnic appellation of the former
inhabitants. This may have been patronymic, or, perhaps, a Celtic prefix
with the Euskarian suffix _etan_, a district or country. See _Words and
Places_, p. 60.
[35] _Ulster_.--Neither the Annals nor the Chronicum give these
divisions; the above is from the Annals of Clonmacnois. There is a poem
in the Book of Lecain, at folio 277, b., by MacLiag, on the Firbolg
colonies, which is quoted as having been taken from their own account of
themselves; and another on the same subject at 278, a.
[36] _Hand_.--Four Masters, p. 17.
[37] _Reliance_.--O'Curry, p. 243.
[38] _Spears_.--O'Curry, p. 245.
[39] _Eye_.--There is a curious note by Dr. O'Donovan (Annals, p. 18)
about this Balor. The tradition of his deeds and enchantments is still
preserved in Tory Island, one of the many evidences of the value of
tradition, and of the many proofs that it usually overlies a strata of
facts.
[40] _Country_.--We find the following passages in a work purporting to
be a history of Ireland, recently published: "It would be throwing away
time to examine critically _fables_ like those contained in the present
and following chapter." The subjects of those chapters are the
colonization of Partholan, of the Nemedians, Fomorians, Tuatha Dé
Dananns, and Milesians, the building of the palace of Emania, the reign
of Cairbré, Tuathal, and last, not least, the death of Dathi. And these
are "fables"! The writer then calmly informs us that the period at which
they were "invented, extended probably from the tenth to the twelfth
century." Certainly, the "inventors" were men of no ordinary talent, and
deserve some commendation for their inventive faculties. But on this
subject we shall say more hereafter. At last the writer arrives at the
"first ages of Christianity." We hoped that here at least he might have
granted us a history; but he writes: "The history of early Christianity
in Ireland is obscure and doubtful, precisely in proportion as it is
unusually copious. If legends enter largely into the civil history of
the country, they found their way tenfold into the history of the
Church, because there the tendency to believe in them was much greater,
as well as the inducement to invent and adopt them." The "inventors" of
the pre-Christian history of Ireland, who accomplished their task "from
the tenth to the twelfth century," are certainly complimented at the
expense of the saints who Christianized Ireland. This writer seems to
doubt the existence of St. Patrick, and has "many doubts" as to the
authenticity of the life of St. Columba. We should not have noticed this
work had we not reason to know that it has circulated largely amongst
the middle and lower classes, who may be grievously misled by its very
insidious statements. It is obviously written for the sake of making a
book to sell; and the writer has the honesty to say plainly, that he
merely gives the early history of Ireland, pagan and Christian, because
he could not well write a history of Ireland and omit this portion of
it!
[41] _Pillars_.--The monuments ascribed to the Tuatha Dé Dananns are
principally situated in Meath, at Drogheda, Dowlet, Knowth, and New
Grange. There are others at Cnoc-Ainè and Cnoc-Gréinè, co. Limerick, and
on the Pap Mountains, co. Kerry.
CHAPTER IV.
The Scythians Colonists--Testimony of Josephus--Magog and his
Colony--Statements of our Annals confirmed by a Jewish Writer--By
Herodotus--Nennius relates what is told by the "Most Learned of the
Scoti"--Phoenician Circumnavigation of Africa--Phoenician Colonization
of Spain--Iberus and Himerus--Traditions of Partholan--Early
Geographical Accounts of Ireland--Early Social Accounts of Ireland.
The writer of the article on Ireland, in Rees' Cyclopædia, says: "It
does not appear improbable, much less absurd, to suppose that the
Phoenicians might have colonized Ireland at an early period, and
introduced their laws, customs, and knowledge, with a comparatively high
state of civilization; and that these might have been gradually lost
amidst the disturbances of the country, and, at last, completely
destroyed by the irruptions of the Ostmen." Of this assertion, which is
now scarcely doubted, there is abundant proof; and it is remarkable that
Josephus[42] attributes to the Phoenicians a special care in preserving
their annals above that of other civilized nations, and that this
feeling has existed, and still exists, more vividly in the Celtic race
than in any other European people.
The Irish annalists claim a descent from the Scythians, who, they say,
are descended from Magog, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah. Keating
says: "We will set down here the branching off of the race of Magog,
according to the Book of Invasions (of Ireland), which was called the
Cin of Drom Snechta."[43] It will be remembered how curiously O'Curry
verified Keating's statement as to the authorship of this work,[44] so
that his testimony may be received with respect. In the Scripture
genealogy, the sons of Magog are not enumerated; but an historian, who
cannot be suspected of any design of assisting the Celts to build up a
pedigree, has happily supplied the deficiency. Josephus writes:[45]
"Magog led out a colony, which from him were named Magoges, but by the
Greeks called Scythians." But Keating specifies the precise title of
Scythians, from which the Irish Celts are descended. He says they had
established themselves in remote ages on the borders of the Red Sea, at
the town of Chiroth; that they were expelled by the grandson of that
Pharaoh who had been drowned in the Red Sea; and that he persecuted them
because they had supplied the Israelites with provisions.
This statement is singularly and most conclusively confirmed by Rabbi
Simon, who wrote two hundred years before the birth of Christ. He says
that certain Canaanites near the Red Sea gave provisions to the
Israelites; "and because these Canaan ships gave Israel of their
provisions, God would not destroy their ships, but with an east wind
carried them down the Red Sea."[46] This colony settled in what was
subsequently called Phoenicia; and here again our traditions are
confirmed _ab extra_, for Herodotus says: "The Phoenicians anciently
dwelt, as they allege, on the borders of the Red Sea."[47]
It is not known at what time this ancient nation obtained the specific
appellation of Phoenician. The word is not found in Hebrew brew copies
of the Scriptures, but is used in the Machabees, the original of which
is in Greek, and in the New Testament. According to Grecian historians,
it was derived from Phoenix, one of their kings and brother of Cadmus,
the inventor of letters. It is remarkable that our annals mention a king
named Phenius, who devoted himself especially to the study of languages,
and composed an alphabet and the elements of grammar. Our historians
describe the wanderings of the Phoenicians, whom they still designate
Scythians, much as they are described by other writers. The account of
their route may differ in detail, but the main incidents coincide.
Nennius, an English chronicler, who wrote in the seventh century, from
the oral testimony of trustworthy Irish Celts, gives corroborative
testimony. He writes thus: "If any one would be anxious to learn how
long Ireland was uninhabited and deserted, he shall hear it, as the most
learned of the Scots have related it to me.[48] When the children of
Israel came to the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them and were drowned,
as the Scripture records. In the time of Moses there was a Scythian
noble who had been banished from his kingdom, and dwelt in Egypt with a
large family. He was there when the Egyptians were drowned, but he did
not join in the persecution of the Lord's people. Those who survived
laid plans to banish him, lest he should assume the government, because
their brethren were drowned in the Red Sea; so he was expelled. He
wandered through Africa for forty-two years, and passed by the lake of
Salinæ to the altars of the Philistines, and between Rusicada and the
mountains Azure, and he came by the river Mulon, and by sea to the
Pillars of Hercules, and through the Tuscan Sea, and he made for Spain,
and dwelt there many years, and he increased and multiplied, and his
people were multiplied."
Herodotus gives an account of the circumnavigation of Africa by the
Phoenicians, which may have some coincidence with this narrative. His
only reason for rejecting the tradition, which he relates at length, is
that he could not conceive how these navigators could have seen the sun
in a position contrary to that in which it is seen in Europe. The
expression of his doubt is a strong confirmation of the truth of his
narrative, which, however, is generally believed by modern writers.[49]
This navigation was performed about seven centuries before the Christian
era, and is, at least, a proof that the maritime power of the
Phoenicians was established at an early period, and that it was not
impossible for them to have extended their enterprises to Ireland. The
traditions of our people may also be confirmed from other sources.
Solinus writes thus: "In the gulf of Boatica there is an island, distant
some hundred paces from the mainland, which the Tyrians, who came from
the Red Sea, called Erythroea, and the Carthaginians, in their language,
denominate Gadir, i.e., the enclosure."
Spanish historians add their testimony, and claim the Phoenicians as
their principal colonizers. The _Hispania Illustrata_, a rare and
valuable work, on which no less than sixty writers were engaged, fixes
the date of the colonization of Spain by the Phoenicians at 764 A.C. De
Bellegarde says: "The first of whom mention is made in history is
Hercules, the Phoenician, by some called Melchant." It is alleged that
he lived in the time of Moses, and that he retired into Spain when the
Israelites entered the land of promise. This will be consistent with old
accounts, if faith can be placed in the inscription of two columns,
which were found in the province of Tingitane, at the time of the
historian Procopius.[50] A Portuguese historian, Emanuel de Faria y
Sousa, mentions the sailing of Gatelus from Egypt, with his whole
family, and names his two sons, Iberus and Himerus, the first of whom,
he says, "some will have to have sailed into Ireland, and given the name
Hibernia to it."
Indeed, so strong has been the concurrent testimony of a Phoenician
colonization of Ireland from Spain, and this by independent authorities,
who could not have had access to our bardic histories, and who had no
motive, even had they known of their existence, to write in confirmation
of them, that those who have maintained the theory of a Gaulish
colonization of Ireland, have been obliged to make Spain the point of
embarkation.
There is a curious treatise on the antiquities and origin of Cambridge,
in which it is stated, that, in the year of the world 4321, a British
prince, the son of Gulguntius, or Gurmund, having crossed over to
Denmark, to enforce tribute from a Danish king, was returning victorious
off the Orcades, when he encountered thirty ships, full of men and
women. On his inquiring into the object of their voyage, their leader,
_Partholyan_, made an appeal to his good-nature, and entreated from the
prince some small portion of land in Britain, as his crew were weary of
sailing over the ocean. Being informed that he came from Spain, the
British prince received him under his protection, and assigned faithful
guides to attend him into Ireland, which was then wholly uninhabited;
and he granted it to them, subject to an annual tribute, and confirmed
the appointment of Partholyan as their chief.[51]
This account was so firmly believed in England, that it is specially set
forth in an Irish act (11th of Queen Elizabeth) among the "auncient and
sundry strong authentique tytles for the kings of England to this land
of Ireland." The tradition may have been obtained from Irish sources,
and was probably "improved" and accommodated to fortify the Saxon claim,
by the addition of the pretended grant; but it is certainly evidence of
the early belief in the Milesian colonization of Ireland, and the name
of their leader.
The earliest references to Ireland by foreign writers are, as might be
expected, of a contradictory character. Plutarch affirms that Calypso
was "an island five days' sail to the west of Britain," which, at least,
indicates his knowledge of the existence of Erinn. Orpheus is the first
writer who definitely names Ireland. In the imaginary route which he
prescribes for Jason and the Argonauts, he names Ireland (Iernis), and
describes its woody surface and its misty atmosphere. All authorities
are agreed that this poem[52] was written five hundred years before
Christ; and all doubt as to whether Iernis meant the present island of
Ireland must be removed, at least to an unprejudiced inquirer, by a
careful examination of the route which is described, and the position of
the island in that route.
The early history of a country which has been so long and so cruelly
oppressed, both civilly and morally, has naturally fallen into
disrepute. We do not like to display the qualifications of one whom we
have deeply injured. It is, at least, less disgraceful to have forbidden
a literature to a people who had none, than to have banned and barred
the use of a most ancient language,--to have destroyed the annals of a
most ancient people. In self-defence, the conqueror who knows not how to
triumph nobly will triumph basely, and the victims may, in time, almost
forget what it has been the policy of centuries to conceal from them.
But ours is, in many respects, an age of historical justice, and truth
will triumph in the end. It is no longer necessary to England's present
greatness to deny the facts of history; and it is one of its most patent
facts that Albion was unknown, or, at least, that her existence was
unrecorded, at a time when Ireland is mentioned with respect as the
Sacred Isle, and the Ogygia[53] of the Greeks.
As might be expected, descriptions of the social state of ancient Erinn
are of the most contradictory character; but there is a remarkable
coincidence in all accounts of the physical geography of the island. The
moist climate, the fertile soil, the richly-wooded plains, the navigable
rivers, and the abundance of its fish,[54] are each and all mentioned by
the early geographers. The description given by Diodorus Siculus of a
"certain large island a considerable distance out at sea, and in the
direction of the west, many days' sail from Lybia," if it applies to
Ireland, would make us suppose that the Erinn of pagan times was
incomparably more prosperous than Erinn under Christian rule. He also
specially mentions the fish, and adds: "The Phoenicians, from the very
remotest times, made repeated voyages thither for purposes of
commerce."[55]
The descriptions of our social state are by no means so flattering; but
it is remarkable, and, perhaps, explanatory, that the most unfavourable
accounts are the more modern ones. All without the pale of Roman
civilization were considered "barbarians," and the epithet was freely
applied. Indeed, it is well known that, when Cicero had a special object
in view, he could describe the Celtae of Gaul as the vilest monsters,
and the hereditary enemies of the gods, for whose wickedness
extermination was the only remedy. As to the "gods" there is no doubt
that the Druidic worship was opposed to the more sensual paganism of
Greece and Rome, and, therefore, would be considered eminently
irreligious by the votaries of the latter.
The most serious social charge against the Irish Celts, is that of being
anthropophagi; and the statement of St. Jerome, that he had seen two
Scoti in Gaul feeding on a human carcass, has been claimed as strong
corroboration of the assertions of pagan writers. As the good father was
often vehement in his statements and impulsive in his opinions, he may
possibly have been mistaken, or, perhaps, purposely misled by those who
wished to give him an unfavourable impression of the Irish. It is
scarcely possible that they could have been cannibal as a nation, since
St. Patrick never even alludes to such a custom in his _Confessio_,[56]
where it would, undoubtedly, have been mentioned and reproved, had it
existence.
[Illustration: CROSS AT GLENDALOUGH, CO. WICKLOW.]
[Illustration: CROMLECH AT DUNMORE, WATERFORD.]
FOOTNOTES:
[42] _Josephus_.--Con. Apionem, lib. i.
[43] _Snechta_.--O'Curry, p. 14.
[44] _Work_--See ante, p. 43.
[45] _Writes_.--Josephus, lib. i. c. 6. Most of the authorities in this
chapter are taken from the Essay on the ancient history, religion,
learning, arts, and government of Ireland, by the late W. D'Alton. The
Essay obtained a prize of £80 and the Cunningham Gold Medal from the
Royal Irish Academy. It is published in volume xvi. of the Transactions,
and is a repertory of learning of immense value to the student of Irish
history.
[46] _Sea_.--Lib. Zoar, p. 87, as cited by Vallancey, and Parson's
Defence, &c., p. 205.
[47] _Sea_.--Herodotus, l. vii. c. 89.
[48] _Me_.--"Sic mihi peritissimi Scotorum nunciaverunt." The reader
will remember that the Irish were called Scots, although the appellative
of Ierins or Ierne continued to be given to the country from the days of
Orpheus to those of Claudius. By Roman writers Ireland was more usually
termed Hibernia. Juvenal calls it Juverna.
[49] _Writers_.--The circumnavigation of Africa by a Phoenician ship, in
the reign of Neco, about 610 B.C., is credited by Humboldt, Rennell,
Heeren, Grote, and Rawlinson. Of their voyages to Cornwall for tin there
is no question, and it is more than probable they sailed to the Baltic
for amber. It has been even supposed that they anticipated Columbus in
the discovery of America. Niebuhr connects the primitive astronomy of
Europe with that of America, and, therefore, must suppose the latter
country to have been discovered.--_Hist. of Rome_, vol. i. p. 281. This,
however, is very vague ground of conjecture; the tide of knowledge, as
well as emigration, was more probably eastward.
[50] _Procopius.--Hist. Gen. d'Espagne_, vol. i.c.l. p.4.
[51] _Chief.--De Antiq. et Orig. Cantab_. See D'Alton's _Essay_, p. 24,
for other authorities.
[52] _Poem_.--There has been question of the author, but none as to the
authenticity and the probable date of compilation.
[53] _Ogygia_.--Camden writes thus: "Nor can any one conceive why they
should call it Ogygia, unless, perhaps, from its antiquity; for the
Greeks called nothing Ogygia unless what was extremely ancient."
[54] _Fish_.--And it still continues to be a national article of
consumption and export. In a recent debate on the "Irish question," an
honorable member observes, that he regrets to say "fish" is the only
thing which appears to be flourishing in Ireland. We fear, however,
from the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the
question of Irish sea-coast fisheries, that the poor fishermen are not
prospering as well as the fish. Mr. Hart stated: "Fish was as plenty as
ever; but numbers of the fishermen had died during the famine, others
emigrated, and many of those who remained were unable, from want of
means, to follow the pursuit." And yet these men are honest; for it has
been declared before the same committee, that they have scrupulously
repaid the loans which were given them formerly; and they are willing to
work, for when they can get boats and nets, _they do work_. These are
facts. Shakspeare has said that facts are "stubborn things;" they are,
certainly, sometimes very unpleasant things. Yet, we are told, the Irish
have no real grievances. Of course, starvation from want of work is not
a grievance!
Within the few months which have elapsed since the publication of the
first edition of this History and the present moment, when I am engaged
in preparing a second edition, a fact has occurred within my own
personal knowledge relative to this very subject, and of too great
importance to the history of Ireland in the present day to be omitted. A
shoal of sprats arrived in the bay of ---- and the poor people crowded
to the shore to witness the arrival and, alas! the departure of the
finny tribe. All their nets had been broken or sold in the famine year;
they had, therefore, no means of securing what would have been a
valuable addition to their poor fare. The wealthy, whose tables are
furnished daily with every luxury, can have but little idea how bitter
such privations are to the poor. Had there been a resident landlord in
the place, to interest himself in the welfare of his tenants, a few
pounds would have procured all that was necessary, and the people,
always grateful for kindness, would long have remembered the boon and
the bestower of it.
[55] _Commerce_.--"Phoenices a vetustissimis inde temporibus frequenter
crebras mercaturæ gratiâ navigationes instituerunt."--Diod. Sic. vers.
Wesseling, t.i.
[56] _Confessio_.--Dr. O'Donovan states, in an article in the _Ulster
Archæological Journal_, vol. viii. p. 249, that he had a letter from the
late Dr. Prichard, who stated that it was his belief the ancient Irish
were not anthropophagi. He adds: "Whatever they may have been when their
island was called _Insula Sacra_, there are no people in Europe who are
more squeamish in the use of meats than the modern Irish peasantry, for
they have a horror of every kind of carrion;" albeit he is obliged to
confess that, though they abuse the French for eating frogs, and the
English for eating rooks, there is evidence to prove that horseflesh was
eaten in Ireland, even in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
CHAPTER V.
Landing of the Milesians--Traditions of the Tuatha Dé Dananns in St.
Patrick's time--The Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny--The Milesians go back
to sea "nine waves"--They conquer ultimately--Reign of Eremon--Landing
of the Picts--Bede's Account of Ireland--Fame of its Fish and
Goats--Difficulties of Irish Chronology--Importance and Authenticity of
Irish Pedigrees--Qualifications of an Ollamh--Milesian
Genealogies--Historical Value of Pedigrees--National Feelings should be
respected--Historic Tales--Poems.
[A.M. 3500.]
The last colonization of Ireland is thus related in the Annals of the
Four Masters: "The age of the world 3500. The fleet of the sons of
Milidh came to Ireland at the end of this year, to take it from the
Tuatha Dé Dananns, and they fought the battle of Sliabh Mis with them on
the third day after landing. In this battle fell Scota, the daughter of
Pharaoh, wife of Milidh; and the grave of Scota[57] is [to be seen]
between Sliabh Mis and the sea. Therein also fell Fas, the wife of Un,
son of Uige, from whom is [named] Gleann Faisi. After this the sons of
Milidh fought a battle at Taillten[58] against the three kings of the
Tuatha Dé Dananns, MacCuill, MacCeacht, and MacGriéné. The battle lasted
for a long time, until MacCeacht fell by Eiremhon, MacCuill by Eimheur,
and Mac Griéné by Amhergen."[59] Thus the Tuatha Dé Danann dynasty
passed away, but not without leaving many a quaint legend of magic and
mystery, and many an impress of its more than ordinary skill in such
arts as were then indications of national superiority. The real names of
the last chiefs of this line, are said to have been respectively Ethur,
Cethur, and Fethur. The first was called MacCuill, because he worshipped
the hazel-tree, and, more probably, because he was devoted to some
branch of literature which it symbolized; the second MacCeacht, because
he worshipped the plough, i.e., was devoted to agriculture; and the
third obtained his appellation of MacGriéné because he worshipped the
sun.
It appears from a very curious and ancient tract, written in the shape
of a dialogue between St. Patrick and Caoilte MacRonain, that there were
many places in Ireland where the Tuatha Dé Dananns were then supposed to
live as sprites and fairies, with corporeal and material forms, but
endued with immortality. The inference naturally to be drawn from these
stories is, that the Tuatha Dé Dananns lingered in the country for many
centuries after their subjugation by the Gaedhils, and that they lived
in retired situations, where they practised abstruse arts, from which
they obtained the reputation of being magicians.
The Tuatha Dé Dananns are also said to have brought the famous. Lia
Fail, or Stone of Destiny, to Ireland. It is said by some authorities
that this stone was carried to Scotland when an Irish colony invaded
North Britain, and that it was eventually brought to England by Edward
I., in the year 1300, and deposited in Westminster Abbey. It is supposed
to be identical with the large block of stone which may be seen there
under the coronation chair. Dr. Petrie, however, controverts this
statement, and believes it to be the present pillar stone over the
Croppies' Grave in one of the raths of Tara.
A Danann prince, called Oghma, is said to have invented the occult form
of writing called the Ogham Craove, which, like the round towers has
proved so fertile a source of doubt and discussion to our antiquaries.
The Milesians, however, did not obtain a colonization in Ireland without
some difficulty. According to the ancient accounts, they landed at the
mouth of the river Sláingé, or Slaney, in the present county of Wexford,
unperceived by the Tuatha Dé Dananns. From thence they marched to Tara,
the seat of government, and summoned the three kings to surrender. A
curious legend is told of this summons and its results, which is
probably true in the more important details. The Tuatha Dé Danann
princes complained that they had been taken by surprise, and proposed to
the invaders to re-embark, and to go out upon the sea "the distance of
nine waves" stating that the country should be surrendered to them if
they could then effect a landing by force. The Milesian chiefs assented;
but when the original inhabitants found them fairly launched at sea,
they raised a tempest by magical incantations, which entirely dispersed
the fleet. One part of it was driven along the east coast of Erinn, to
the north, under the command of Eremon, the youngest of the Milesian
brothers; the remainder, under the command of Donn, the elder brother,
was driven to the south-west of the island.
But the Milesians had druids also.[60] As soon as they suspected the
agency which had caused the storm, they sent a man to the topmast of the
ship to know "if the wind was blowing at that height over the surface of
the sea." The man reported that it was not. The druids then commence
practising counter arts of magic, in which they soon succeeded, but not
until five of the eight brothers were lost. Four, including Donn, were
drowned in the wild Atlantic, off the coast of Kerry. Colpa met his fate
at the mouth of the river Boyne, called from him Inbhear Colpa. Eber
Finn and Amergin, the survivors of the southern party, landed in Kerry,
and here the battle of Sliabh Mis was fought, which has been already
mentioned.
The battle of Taillten followed; and the Milesians having become masters
of the country, the brothers Eber Finn and Eremon divided it between
them; the former taking all the southern part, from the Boyne and the
Shannon to Cape Clear, the latter taking all the part lying to the north
of these rivers.
This arrangement, however, was not of long continuance. Each was
desirous of unlimited sovereignty; and they met to decide their claims
by an appeal to arms at Géisill,[61] a place near the present Tullamore,
in the King's county. Eber and his chief leaders fell in this
engagement, and Eremon assumed the sole government of the island.[62]
[Illustration: ANCIENT FLINT AXE.]
He took up his residence in Leinster, and after a reign of fifteen years
died, and was buried at _Ráith Beóthaigh_, in _Argat Ross_. This ancient
rath still exists, and is now called Rath Beagh. It is situated on the
right bank of the river Nore, near the present village of Ballyragget,
county Kilkenny. This is not narrated by the Four Masters, neither do
they mention the coming of the Cruithneans or Picts into Ireland. These
occurrences, however, are recorded in all the ancient copies of the Book
of Invasions, and in the Dinnseanchus. The Cruithneans or Picts are said
to have fled from the oppression of their king in Thrace, and to have
passed into Gaul. There they founded the city of Poictiers. From thence
they were again driven by an act of tyranny, and they proceeded first to
Britain, and then to Ireland. Crimhthann Sciath-bél, one of King
Bremen's leaders, was at Wexford when the new colony landed. He was
occupied in extirpating a tribe of Britons who had settled in
Fotharta,[63] and were unpleasantly distinguished for fighting with
poisoned weapons. The Irish chieftain asked the assistance of the new
comers. A battle was fought, and the Britons were defeated principally
by the skill of the Pictish druid, who found an antidote for the poison
of their weapons. According to the quaint account of Bede,[64] the
Celtic chiefs gave good advice to their foreign allies in return for
their good deeds, and recommended them to settle in North Britain,
adding that they would come to their assistance should they find any
difficulty or opposition from the inhabitants. The Picts took the
advice, but soon found themselves in want of helpmates. They applied
again to their neighbours, and were obligingly supplied with wives on
the condition "that, when any difficulty should arise, they should
choose a king from the female royal race rather than from the male." The
Picts accepted the terms and the ladies; "and the custom," says Bede,
"as is well known, is observed among the Picts to this day."
Bede then continues to give a description of Ireland. His account,
although of some length, and not in all points reliable, is too
interesting to be omitted, being the opinion of an Englishman, and an
author of reputation, as to the state of Ireland, socially and
physically, in the seventh century: "Ireland, in breadth and for
wholesomeness and serenity of climate, far surpasses Britain; for the
snow scarcely ever lies there above three days; no man makes hay in
summer for winter's provision, or builds stables for his beasts of
burden. No reptiles are found there; for, though often carried thither
out of Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the shore, and the scent
of the air reaches them, they die. On the contrary, almost all things in
the island are good against poison. In short, we have known that when
some persons have been bitten by serpents, the scrapings of leaves of
books that were brought out of Ireland, being put into water and given
them to drink, have immediately expelled the spreading poison, and
assuaged the swelling. The island abounds in milk and honey;[65] nor is
there any want of vines, fish,[66] and fowl; and it is remarkable for
deer and goats."
The chronology of Irish pagan history is unquestionably one of its
greatest difficulties. But the chronology of all ancient peoples is
equally unmanageable. When Bunsen has settled Egyptian chronology to the
satisfaction of other literati as well as to his own, and when Hindoo
and Chinese accounts of their postdiluvian or antediluvian ancestors
have been reconciled and synchronized, we may hear some objections to
"Irish pedigrees," and listen to a new "Irish question."
Pre-Christian Irish chronology has been arranged, like most ancient
national chronologies, on the basis of the length of reign of certain
kings. As we do not trace our descent from the "sun and moon" we are not
necessitated to give our kings "a gross of centuries apiece," or to
divide the assumed period of a reign between half-a-dozen monarchs;[67]
and the difficulties are merely such as might be expected before
chronology had become a science. The Four Masters have adopted the
chronology of the Septuagint; but O'Flaherty took the system of
Scaliger, and thus reduced the dates by many hundred years. The
objection of hostile critics has been to the history rather than to the
chronology of the history; but these objections are a mere _petitio
principii_. They cannot understand how Ireland could have had a
succession of kings and comparative civilization,--in fact, a national
existence,--from 260 years before the building of Rome, when the
Milesian colony arrived, according to the author of the _Ogygia_, at
least a thousand years before the arrival of Cæsar in Britain, and his
discovery that its inhabitants were half-naked savages. The real
question is not what Cæsar said of the Britons, nor whether they had an
ancient history before their subjugation by the victorious cohorts of
Rome; but whether the annals which contained the pre-Christian history
of Ireland may be accepted as, in the main, authentic.
We have already given some account of the principal works from which our
annals may be compiled. Before we proceed to that portion of our history
the authenticity of which cannot be questioned, it may, perhaps, be
useful to give an idea of the authorities for the minor details of
social life, the individual incidents of a nation's being, which, in
fact, make up the harmonious whole. We shall find a remarkable
coincidence between the materials for early Roman history, and those for
the early history of that portion of the Celtic race which colonized
Ireland.
We have no trace of any historical account of Roman history by a
contemporary writer, native or foreign, before the war with Pyrrhus; yet
we have a history of Rome for more than four hundred years previous
offered to us by classical writers[68], as a trustworthy narrative of
events. From whence did they derive their reliable information?
Unquestionably from works such as the _Origines_ of Cato the Censor, and
other writers, which were then extant, but which have since perished.
And these writers, whence did they obtain their historical narratives?
If we may credit the theory of Niebuhr,[69] they were transmitted simply
by bardic legends, composed in verse. Even Sir G.C. Lewis admits that
"commemorative festivals and other periodical observances, may, in
certain cases, have served to perpetuate a true tradition of some
national event."[70] And how much more surely would the memory of such
events be perpetuated by a people, to whom they had brought important
political revolutions, who are eminently tenacious of their traditions,
and who have preserved the memory of them intact for centuries in local
names and monumental sites! The sources from whence the first annalists,
or writers of Irish history, may have compiled their narratives, would,
therefore, be--1. The Books of Genealogies and Pedigrees. 2. The
Historic Tales. 3. The Books of Laws. 4. The Imaginative Tales and
Poems. 5. National Monuments, such as cromlechs and pillar stones, &c.,
which supplied the place of the brazen tablets of Roman history, the
_libri lintei_,[71] or the chronological nail.[72]
The Books of Genealogies and Pedigrees form a most important element in
Irish pagan history. For social and political reasons, the Irish Celt
preserved his genealogical tree with scrupulous precision. The rights of
property and the governing power were transmitted with patriarchal
exactitude on strict claims of primogeniture, which claims could only be
refused under certain conditions defined by law. Thus, pedigrees and
genealogies became a family necessity; but since private claims might be
doubted, and the question of authenticity involved such important
results, a responsible public officer was appointed to keep the records
by which all claims were decided. Each king had his own recorder, who
was obliged to keep a true account of his pedigree, and also of the
pedigrees of the provincial kings and of their principal chieftains. The
provincial kings had also their recorders (Ollamhs or Seanchaidhé[73]);
and in obedience to an ancient law established long before the
introduction of Christianity, all the provincial records, as well as
those of the various chieftains, were required to be furnished every
third year to the convocation at Tara, where they were compared and
corrected.
The compilers of these genealogies were persons who had been educated as
Ollamhs--none others were admissible; and their "diplomas" were obtained
after a collegiate course, which might well deter many a modern aspirant
to professorial chairs. The education of the Ollamh lasted for twelve
years; and in the course of these twelve years of "hard work," as the
early books say, certain regular courses were completed, each of which
gave the student an additional degree, with corresponding title, rank,
and privileges.[74]
"In the Book of _Lecain_ (fol. 168) there is an ancient tract,
describing the laws upon this subject, and referring, with quotations,
to the body of the _Brethibh Nimhedh_, or 'Brehon Laws.' According to
this authority, the perfect Poet or _Ollamh_ should know and practise
the _Teinim Laegha_, the _Imas Forosnadh_, and the _Dichedal do
chennaibh_. The first appears to have been a peculiar druidical verse,
or incantation, believed to confer upon the druid or poet the power of
understanding everything that it was proper for him to say or speak. The
second is explained or translated, 'the illumination of much knowledge,
as from the teacher to the pupil,' that is, that he should be able to
explain and teach the four divisions of poetry or philosophy, 'and each
division of them,' continues the authority quoted, 'is the chief
teaching of three years of hard work.' The third qualification, or
_Dichedal_, is explained, 'that he begins at once the head of his poem,'
in short, to improvise extempore in correct verse. 'To the _Ollamh_,'
says the ancient authority quoted in this passage in the Book of
_Lecain_,' belong synchronisms, together with the _laegha laidhibh_, or
illuminating poems [incantations], and to him belong the pedigrees and
etymologies of names, that is, he has the pedigrees of the men of Erinn
with certainty, and the branching off of their various relationships.'
Lastly, 'here are the four divisions of the knowledge of poetry (or
philosophy),' says the tract I have referred to; 'genealogies,
synchronisms, and the reciting of (historic) tales form the first
division; knowledge of the seven kinds of verse, and how to measure them
by letters and syllables, form another of them; judgment of the seven
kinds of poetry, another of them; lastly, _Dichedal_ [or improvisation],
that is, to contemplate and recite the verses without ever thinking of
them before.'"[75]
The pedigrees were collected and written into a single book, called the
_Cin_ or Book of Drom Snechta, by the son of Duach Galach, King of
Connacht, an Ollamh in history and genealogies, &c., shortly before[76]
the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland, which happened about A.D. 432. It
is obvious, therefore, that these genealogies must have existed for
centuries prior to this period. Even if they were then committed to
writing for the first time, they could have been handed down for many
centuries orally by the Ollamhs; for no amount of literary effort could
be supposed too great for a class of men so exclusively and laboriously
devoted to learning.
As the Milesians were the last of the ancient colonists, and had subdued
the races previously existing in Ireland, only their genealogies, with a
few exceptions, have been preserved. The genealogical tree begins,
therefore, with the brothers Eber and Eremon, the two surviving leaders
of the expedition, whose ancestors are traced back to Magog, the son of
Japhet. The great southern chieftains, such as the MacCarthys and
O'Briens, claim descent from Eber; the northern families of O'Connor,
O'Donnell, and O'Neill, claim Eremon as their head. There are also other
families claiming descent from Emer, the son of Ir, brother to Eber and
Eremon; as also from their cousin Lugaidh, the son of Ith. From four
sources the principal Celtic families of Ireland have sprung; and though
they do not quite trace up the line to
"The grand old gardener and his wife,"
they have a pedigree which cannot be gainsaid, and which might be
claimed with pride by many a monarch. MacFirbis' Book of
Genealogies,[77] compiled in the year 1650, from lost records, is the
most perfect work of this kind extant. But there are tracts in the Book
of Leinster (compiled A.D. 1130), and in the Book of Ballymote (compiled
A.D. 1391), which are of the highest authority. O'Curry is of opinion,
that those in the Book of Leinster were copied from the Saltair of
Cashel and other contemporaneous works.
The historical use of these genealogies is very great, not only because
they give an authentic pedigree and approximate data for chronological
calculation, but from the immense amount of correlative information
which they contain. Every free-born man of the tribe was entitled by
_blood_, should it come to his turn, to succeed to the chieftaincy:
hence the exactitude with which each pedigree was kept; hence their
importance in the estimation of each individual; hence the incidental
matter they contain, by the mention of such historical events[78] as may
have acted on different tribes and families, by which they lost their
inheritance or independence, and consequently their claim, however
remote, to the chieftaincy.
The ancient history of a people should always be studied with care and
candour by those who, as a matter of interest or duty, wish to
understand their social state, and the government best suited to that
state. Many of the poorest families in Ireland are descendants of its
ancient chiefs. The old habit--the habit which deepened and intensified
itself during centuries--cannot be eradicated, though it may be
ridiculed, and the peasant will still boast of his "blood;" it is all
that he has left to him of the proud inheritance of his ancestors.
The second source of historical information may be found in the HISTORIC
TALES. The reciting of historic tales was one of the principal duties of
the Ollamh, and he was bound to preserve the truth of history "pure and
unbroken to succeeding generations."
"According to several of the most ancient authorities, the _Ollamh_, or
perfect Doctor, was bound to have (for recital at the public feasts and
assemblies) at least Seven Fifties of these Historic narratives; and
there appear to have been various degrees in the ranks of the poets, as
they progressed in education towards the final degree, each of which was
bound to be supplied with at least a certain number. Thus the _Anroth_,
next in rank to an _Ollamh_ should have half the number of an _Ollamh_;
the _Cli_, one-third the number, according to some authorities, and
eighty according to others; and so on down to the _Fochlog_, who should
have thirty; and the _Driseg_ (the lowest of all), who should have
twenty of these tales."[79]
The Ollamhs, like the druids or learned men of other nations, were in
the habit of teaching the facts of history to their pupils in verse,[80]
probably that they might be more easily remembered. A few of these tales
have been published lately, such as the Battle of _Magh Rath_, the
Battle of _Muighé Leana_, and the _Tochmarc Moméra_. Besides the tales
of Battles (Catha), there are the tales of Longasa, or Voyages; the
tales of Tóghla, or Destructions; of Slaughters, of Sieges, of
Tragedies, of Voyages, and, not least memorable, of the Tána, or Cattle
Spoils, and the Tochmarca, or Courtships. It should be remembered that
numbers of these tales are in existence, offering historical materials
of the highest value. The Books of Laws demand a special and more
detailed notice, as well as the Historical Monuments. With a brief
mention of the Imaginative Tales and Poems, we must conclude this
portion of our subject.
Ancient writings, even of pure fiction, must always form an important
historical element to the nation by which they have been produced.
Unless they are founded on fact, so far as customs, localities, and mode
of life are concerned, they would possess no interest; and their
principal object is to interest. Without some degree of poetic
improbabilities as to events, they could scarcely amuse; and their
object is also to amuse. Hence, the element of truth is easily separated
from the element of fiction, and each is available in its measure for
historic research. The most ancient of this class of writings are the
Fenian Poems and Tales, ascribed to Finn Mac Cumhaill, to his sons,
Oisín and Fergus Finnbheoill (the Eloquent), and to his kinsman,
Caeilité. There are also many tales and poems of more recent date. Mr.
O'Curry estimates, that if all MSS. known to be in existence, and
composed before the year 1000, were published, they would form at least
8,000 printed pages of the same size as O'Donovan's Annals of the Four
Masters.
[Illustration: FROM SCULPTURES AT DEVENISH.]
[Illustration: ROUND TOWER OF DYSART, NEAR CROOM, LIMERICK.]
FOOTNOTES:
[57] _Scota_.--The grave is still pointed out in the valley of Gleann
Scoithin, county Kerry.
[58] _Taillten_.--Now Telltown, county Meath.
[59] _Amhergen_.--Annals of the Four Masters, vol. i. p. 25.
[60] _Also_.--This tale bears a simple and obvious interpretation. The
druids were the most learned and experienced in physical science of
their respective nations; hence the advice they gave appeared magical to
those who were less instructed.
[61] _Géisill_.--The scene of the battle was at a place called _Tochar
eter dhá mhagh_, or "the causeway between two plains," and on the bank
of the river _Bri Damh_, which runs through the town of Tullamore. The
name of the battle-field is still preserved in the name of the townland
of Ballintogher, in the parish and barony of _Géisill_. At the time of
the composition of the ancient topographical tract called the
Dinnseanchus, the mounds and graves of the slain were still to be
seen.--See O'Curry, page 449. The author of this tract, Amergin Mac
Amalgaidh, wrote about the sixth century. A copy of his work is
preserved in the Book of Ballymote, which was compiled in the year 1391.
There is certainly evidence enough to prove the fact of the _mélee_, and
that this was not a "legend invented from the tenth to the twelfth
centuries." It is almost amusing to hear the criticisms of persons
utterly ignorant of our literature, however well-educated in other
respects. If the treasures of ancient history which exist in Irish MSS.
existed in Sanscrit, or even in Greek or Latin, we should find scholars
devoting their lives and best intellectual energies to understand and
proclaim their value and importance, and warmly defending them against
all impugners of their authenticity.
[62] _Island_.--The axe figured above is a remarkable weapon. The copy
is taken, by permission, from the collection of the Royal Irish Academy.
Sir W. Wilde describes the original thus in the Catalogue: "It is 3-1/8
inches in its longest diameter, and at its thickest part measures about
half-an-inch. It has been chipped all over with great care, and has a
sharp edge all round. This peculiar style of tool or weapon reached
perfection in this specimen, which, whether used as a knife, arrow,
spike, or axe, was an implement of singular beauty of design, and
exhibits great skill in the manufacture."
[63] _Fotharta_.--Now the barony of Forth, in Wexford.
[64] _Bede.--Ecclesiastical History_, Bohn's edition, p. 6.
[65] _Honey_.--Honey was an important edible to the ancients, and,
therefore, likely to obtain special mention. Keating impugns the
veracity of Solinus, who stated that there were no bees in Ireland, on
the authority of Camden, who says: "Such is the quantity of bees, that
they are found not only in hives, but even in the trunks of trees, and
in holes in the ground." There is a curious legend anent the same useful
insect, that may interest apiarians as well as hagiologists. It is said
in the life of St. David, that when Modomnoc (or Dominic) was with St.
David at Menevia, in Wales, he was charged with the care of the
beehives, and that the bees became so attached to him that they followed
him to Ireland. However, the Rule of St. Albans, who lived in the time
of St. Patrick (in the early part of the fifth century), may be quoted
to prove that bees existed in Ireland at an earlier period, although the
saint may have been so devoted to his favourites as to have brought a
special colony by miracle or otherwise to Ireland. The Rule of St. Alban
says: "When they [the monks] sit down at table, let them be brought
[served] beets or roots, washed with water, in clean baskets, also
apples, beer, and honey from the hive." Certainly, habits of regularity
and cleanliness are here plainly indicated as well as the existence of
the bee.
[66] _Fish_.--It is to be presumed that fish are destined to prosper in
Hibernia: of the ancient deer, more hereafter. The goats still nourish
also, as visitors to Killarney can testify; though they will probably
soon be relics of the past, as the goatherds are emigrating to more
prosperous regions at a rapid rate.
[67] _Monarchs_.--See Bunsen's _Egypt, passim_.
[68] _Writers_.--The first ten books of Livy are extant, and bring Roman
history to the consulship of Julius Maximus Gurges and Junius Brutus
Scoene, in 292 B.C. Dionysius published his history seven years before
Christ. Five of Plutarch's Lives fall within the period before the war
with Pyrrhus. There are many sources besides those of the works of
historians from which general information is obtained.
[69] _Niebuhr_.--"Genuine or oral tradition has kept the story of
Tarpeia for _five-and-twenty hundred years_ in the mouths of the common
people, who for many centuries have been total strangers to the names of
Cloelia and Cornelia."--_Hist_. vol. i. p. 230.
[70] _Event.--Credibility of Early Roman History_, vol. i. p. 101.
[71] _Libri lintei_.--Registers written on linen, mentioned by Livy,
under the year 444 B.C.
[72] _Nail_.--Livy quotes Cincius for the fact that a series of nails
were extant in the temple of Hostia, at Volsinii, as a register of
successive years. Quite as primitive an arrangement as the North
American _quipus_.
[73] _Seanchaidhé_ (pronounced "shanachy").--It means, in this case,
strictly a historian; but the ancient historian was also a bard or poet.
[74] _Privileges_.--We can scarcely help requesting the special
attention of the reader to these well-authenticated facts. A nation
which had so high an appreciation of its annals, must have been many
degrees removed from barbarism for centuries.
[75] _Before_.--O'Curry, p. 240.
[76] _Before_.--This, of course, opens up the question as to whether the
Irish Celts had a written literature before the arrival of St. Patrick.
The subject will be fully entertained later on.
[77] _Genealogies_.-There is a "distinction and a difference" between a
genealogy and a pedigree. A genealogy embraces the descent of a family,
and its relation to all the other families that descended from the same
remote parent stock, and took a distinct tribe-name, as the Dalcassians.
A pedigree traces up the line of descent to the individual from whom the
name was derived.
[78] _Events_.--Arnold mentions "the _family traditions_ and funeral
orations out of which the oldest annalists [of Roman history] compiled
their narratives." vol. i. p. 371. Sir G.C. Lewis, however, thinks that
the composition of national annals would precede the composition of any
private history; but he adds that he judges from the "example of modern
times." With all respect to such an authority, it seems rather an
unphilosophical conclusion. Family pedigrees would depend on family
pride, in which the Romans were by no means deficient; and on political
considerations, which were all-important to the Irish Celt.
[79] _Tales_.--O'Curry, p. 241.
[80] _Verse_.--See Niebuhr, _Hist_. vol i. pp. 254-261. Arnold has
adopted his theory, and Macaulay _has acted on it_. But the Roman poems
were merely recited at public entertainments, and were by no means a
national arrangement for the preservation of history, such as existed
anciently in Ireland. These verses were sung by boys _more patrum_ (Od.
iv. 15), for the entertainment of guests. Ennius, who composed his
_Annales_ in hexameter verse, introducing, for the first time, the Greek
metre into Roman literature, mentions the verses which the _Fauns_, or
religious poets, used to chant. Scaliger thinks that the _Fauns_ were a
class of men who exercised in Latium, at a very remote period, the same
functions as the Magians in Persia and _the Bards in Gaul_. Niebuhr
supposes that the entire history of the Roman, kings was formed from
poems into a prose narrative.
CHAPTER VI.
Tighearnmas--His Death--Introduces Colours as a Distinction of
Rank--Silver Shields and Chariots first used--Reign of Ugainé Môr--The
Treachery of Cobhthach--Romantic Tales--Queen Mab--Dispute which led to
the celebrated Cattle Spoil--The Story of the Táin bó Chuailgné--The
Romans feared to invade Ireland--Tacitus--Revolt of the Attacotti--Reign
of Tuathal--Origin of the Boromean Tribute.
[B.C. 1700.]
Our annals afford but brief details from the time of Eremon to that of
_Ugainé Môr_. One hundred and eighteen sovereigns are enumerated from
the Milesian conquest of Ireland (according to the Four Masters, B.C.
1700) to the time of St. Patrick, A.D. 432. The principal events
recorded are international deeds of arms, the clearing of woods, the
enactment of laws, and the erection of palaces.
Tighearnmas, one of these monarchs, is said to have introduced the
worship of idols into Ireland. From this it would appear, that the more
refined Magian, or Sun-worship, had prevailed previously. He died, with
"three-fourths" of the men of Ireland about him, on the night of
Samhain,[81] while worshipping the idol called Crom Cruach, at Magh
Slacht, in Breifné.[82] Tighearnmas reigned seventy-five years. He is
said to have been the first who attempted the smelting of gold in
Ireland; and the use of different colours,[83] as an indication of rank,
is also attributed to him.
Silver shields were now made (B.C. 1383) at Airget-Ros, by Enna
Airgtheach, and four-horse chariots were first used in the time of
Roitheachtaigh, who was killed by lightning near the Giant's Causeway.
Ollamh Fodhla (the wise or learned man) distinguished himself still more
by instituting triennial assemblies at Tara. Even should the date given
by the Four Masters (1317 B.C.) be called in question, there is no doubt
of the fact, which must have occurred some centuries before the
Christian era; and this would appear to be the earliest instance of a
national convocation or parliament in any country. Ollamh Fodhla also
appointed chieftains over every cantred or hundred, he constructed a
rath at Tara, and died there in the fortieth year of his reign.
At the reign of Cimbaoth (B.C. 716) we come to that period which
Tighernach considers the commencement of indisputably authentic history.
It is strange that he should have selected a provincial chief, and a
period in no way remarkable except for the building of the palace of
Emania.[84] But the student of Irish pre-Christian annals may be content
to commence with solid foundation as early as seven centuries before
Christ. The era was an important one in universal history. The Greeks
had then counted sixteen Olympiads, and crowned Pythagoras the victor.
Hippomenes was archon at Athens. Romulus had been succeeded by Numa
Pompilius, and the foundations of imperial Rome were laid in blood by
barbarian hordes. The Chaldeans had just taken the palm in astronomical
observations, and recorded for the first time a lunar eclipse; while the
baffled Assyrian hosts relinquished the siege of Tyre, unhappily
reserved for the cruel destruction accomplished by Alexander, a few
centuries later. The prophecies of Isaiah were still resounding in the
ears of an ungrateful people. He had spoken of the coming Christ and His
all-peaceful mission in mystic imagery, and had given miraculous
evidences of his predictions. But suffering should be the precursor of
that marvellous advent. The Assyrian dashed in resistless torrent upon
the fold. Israel was led captive. Hosea was in chains. Samaria and the
kingdom of Israel were added to the conquests of Sennacherib; and the
kingdom of Judah, harassed but not destroyed, waited the accomplishment
of prophecy, and the measure of her crimes, ere the most ancient of
peoples should for ever cease to be a nation.
Ugainé Môr is the next monarch who demands notice. His obituary record
is thus given by the Four Masters:--"At the end of this year, A.M. 4606,
Ugainé Môr, after he had been full forty years King of Ireland, and of
the whole of the west of Europe, as far as Muir-Toirrian, was slain by
Badhbhchad at Tealach-an-Choisgair, in Bregia. This Ugainé was he who
exacted oaths by all the elements, visible and invisible, from the men
of Ireland in general, that they would never contend for the sovereignty
of Ireland with his children or his race."
Ugainé was succeeded by his son, Laeghairé Lorc, who was cruelly and
treacherously killed by his brother, Cobhthach Cael. Indeed, few
monarchs lived out their time in peace during this and the succeeding
centuries. The day is darkest before the dawn, in the social and
political as well as in the physical world. The Eternal Light was
already at hand; the powers of darkness were aroused for the coming
conflict; and deeds of evil were being accomplished, which make men
shudder as they read. The assassination of Laeghairé was another
manifestation of the old-world story of envy. The treacherous Cobhthach
feigned sickness, which he knew would obtain a visit from his brother.
When the monarch stooped to embrace him, he plunged a dagger into his
heart. His next act was to kill his nephew, Ailill Ainé; and his
ill-treatment of Ainé's son, Maen, was the consummation of his cruelty.
The fratricide was at last slain by this very youth, who had now
obtained the appellation of Labhraidh-Loingseach, or Lowry of the Ships.
We have special evidence here of the importance of our Historic Tales,
and also that the blending of fiction and fact by no means deteriorates
from their value.
Love affairs form a staple ground for fiction, with a very substantial
under-strata of facts, even in the nineteenth century; and the annals of
pre-Christian Erinn are by no means deficient in the same fertile source
of human interest. The History of the Exile is still preserved in the
Leabhar Buidhé Lecain, now in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. It
is a highly romantic story, but evidently founded on fact, and full of
interest as descriptive of public and private life in the fifth century
before Christ. It tells how Maen, though supposed to be deaf and dumb,
was, nevertheless, given in charge of two officers of the court to be
educated; that he recovered or rather obtained speech suddenly, in a
quarrel with another youth; and that he was as symmetrical of form and
noble of bearing as all heroes of romance are bound to be. His uncle
expelled him from the kingdom, and he took refuge at the court of King
Scoriath. King Scoriath had a daughter, who was beautiful; and Maen, of
course, acted as a knight was bound to do under such circumstances, and
fell desperately in love with the princess. The Lady Moriath's beauty
had bewildered more heads than that of the knight-errant; but the Lady
Moriath's father and mother were determined their daughter should not
marry.
The harper Craftiné came to the rescue, and at last, by his
all-entrancing skill, so ravished the whole party of knights and nobles,
that the lovers were able to enjoy a tête-a-tête, and pledged mutual
vows. As usual, the parents yielded when they found it was useless to
resist; and, no doubt, the poet Craftiné, who, poet and all as he was,
nearly lost his head in the adventure, was the most welcome of all
welcome guests at the nuptial feast. Indeed, he appears to have been
retained as comptroller of the house and confidential adviser long
after; for when Labhraidh Maen was obliged to fly the country, he
confided his wife to the care of Craftiné. On his return from
France,[85] he obtained possession of the kingdom, to which he was the
rightful heir, and reigned over the men of Erinn for eighteen years.
Another Historic Tale gives an account of the destruction of the court
of Dá Derga, but we have not space for details. The Four Masters merely
relate the fact in the following entry:--
"Conairé, the son of Ederscél, after having been seventy years in the
sovereignty of Erinn, was slain at Bruighean Dá Dhearga by insurgents."
Another prince, Eochaidh Feidhlech, was famous for sighing. He rescinded
the division of Ireland into twenty-five parts, which had been made by
Ugainé Môr, and divided the island into five provinces, over each of
which he appointed a provincial king, under his obedience. The famous
Meadhbh, or Mab, was his daughter; and though unquestionably a lady of
rather strong physical and mental capabilities, the lapse of ages has
thrown an obscuring halo of romance round her belligerent
qualifications, and metamorphosed her into the gentle "Faery Queen" of
the poet Spenser. One of Méav's exploits is recorded in the famous Táin
bó Chuailgné, which is to Celtic history what the Argonautic Expedition,
or the Seven against Thebes, is to Grecian. Méav was married first to
Conor, the celebrated provincial king of Ulster; but the marriage was
not a happy one, and was dissolved, in modern parlance, on the ground of
incompatibility. In the meanwhile, Méav's three brothers had rebelled
against their father; and though his arms were victorious, the victory
did not secure peace. The men of Connacht revolted against him, and to
retain their allegiance he made his da
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