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diff --git a/old/14754.txt b/old/14754.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..528c424 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14754.txt @@ -0,0 +1,27285 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 +to 1800, by Mary Frances Cusack, Illustrated by Henry Doyle + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 + +Author: Mary Frances Cusack + +Release Date: January 22, 2005 [eBook #14754] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND +FROM AD 400 TO 1800*** + + +E-text prepared by Project Rastko, Zoran Stefanovic, Nenad Petrovic, Susan +Skinner, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14754-h.htm or 14754-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/7/5/14754/14754-h/14754-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/7/5/14754/14754-h.zip) + + + + + +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 mediaeval +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 L20,000 or L40,000 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:-- + + L 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 L1,228 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 L50,000,000; in 1851, it was +reduced to L43,000,000; and in 1861, to L35,000,000. 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 _files_ [bards] of +Erinn were now called together by _Senchan Torpeist_ [about A.D. 580], +to know if they remembered the _Tain bo Chuailgne_ 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 _Tain_ which the _Sai_ had taken 'eastwards' after the +_Cuilmenn_. Emine, the grandson of Ninine, 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 _Ceile De_ [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 _Duanaire_ [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 file [poet], a prince: + Was a righteous judge of the Fene-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 Tirren 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 + Slaine_ 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 _Doire_ (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 Cille)] + +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 Ceile De. + +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 archaeology, 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 resume 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 Archaeology 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 Boroimhe had deposed Malachy. + +[8] _Fene-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: "[Ernin, 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 De 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 Caesar, 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 Caesar 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 +_Eire_." + +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 De +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 Guanahane 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 Mueller'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 De Dananns--Their Skill as +Artificers--Nuada of the Silver Hand--The Warriors Sreng and Breas--The +Satire of Cairbre--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 Finihe 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 De 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 De 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 De 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 Eothaile, 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 De 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 De 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 De 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 De +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 De +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 Cairbre, 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 De 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 De 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 De 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 De +Dananns, and Milesians, the building of the palace of Emania, the reign +of Cairbre, 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 De Dananns are +principally situated in Meath, at Drogheda, Dowlet, Knowth, and New +Grange. There are others at Cnoc-Aine and Cnoc-Greine, 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' Cyclopaedia, 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 +Salinae 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 L80 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 mercaturae gratia navigationes instituerunt."--Diod. Sic. vers. +Wesseling, t.i. + +[56] _Confessio_.--Dr. O'Donovan states, in an article in the _Ulster +Archaeological 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 De 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 De 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 De Dananns, MacCuill, MacCeacht, and MacGriene. The battle lasted +for a long time, until MacCeacht fell by Eiremhon, MacCuill by Eimheur, +and Mac Griene by Amhergen."[59] Thus the Tuatha De 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 MacGriene 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 De 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 De 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 De 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 Slainge, or Slaney, in the present county of Wexford, +unperceived by the Tuatha De 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 De 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 Geisill,[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 _Raith Beothaigh_, 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-bel, 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 Caesar in Britain, and his +discovery that its inhabitants were half-naked savages. The real +question is not what Caesar 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 Seanchaidhe[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 _Muighe Leana_, and the _Tochmarc Momera_. Besides the tales +of Battles (Catha), there are the tales of Longasa, or Voyages; the +tales of Toghla, or Destructions; of Slaughters, of Sieges, of +Tragedies, of Voyages, and, not least memorable, of the Tana, 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, +Oisin and Fergus Finnbheoill (the Eloquent), and to his kinsman, +Caeilite. 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] _Geisill_.--The scene of the battle was at a place called _Tochar +eter dha 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 _Geisill_. 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 _melee_, 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] _Seanchaidhe_ (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 Ugaine Mor--The +Treachery of Cobhthach--Romantic Tales--Queen Mab--Dispute which led to +the celebrated Cattle Spoil--The Story of the Tain bo Chuailgne--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 +_Ugaine Mor_. 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 Breifne.[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. + +Ugaine Mor 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, +Ugaine Mor, 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 Ugaine 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." + +Ugaine was succeeded by his son, Laeghaire 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 Laeghaire 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 Aine; and his +ill-treatment of Aine'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 Buidhe 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 Craftine 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 tete-a-tete, and pledged mutual +vows. As usual, the parents yielded when they found it was useless to +resist; and, no doubt, the poet Craftine, 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 Craftine. 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 Da Derga, but we have not space for details. The Four Masters merely +relate the fact in the following entry:-- + +"Conaire, the son of Ederscel, after having been seventy years in the +sovereignty of Erinn, was slain at Bruighean Da 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 +Ugaine Mor, 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 Meav's exploits is recorded in the famous Tain +bo Chuailgne, which is to Celtic history what the Argonautic Expedition, +or the Seven against Thebes, is to Grecian. Meav 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, Meav'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 daughter Queen of Connacht, and gave +her in marriage to Ailill, a powerful chief of that province. This +prince, however, died soon after; and Meav, determined for once, at +least, to choose a husband for herself, made a royal progress to +Leinster, where Ross Ruadb held his court at Naas. She selected the +younger son of this monarch, who bore the same name as her former +husband, and they lived together happily as queen and king consort for +many years. On one occasion, however, a dispute arose about their +respective treasures, and this dispute led to a comparison of their +property. The account of this, and the subsequent comparison, is given +at length in the _Tain_, and is a valuable repertory of archaeological +information. They counted their vessels, metal and wooden; they counted +their finger rings, their clasps, their thumb rings, their diadems, and +their gorgets of gold. They examined their many-coloured garments of +crimson and blue, of black and green, yellow and mottled, white and +streaked. All were equal. They then inspected their flocks and herds, +swine from the forests, sheep from the pasture lands, and cows--here the +first difference arose. It was one to excite Meav's haughty temper. +There was a young bull found among Ailill's bovine wealth: it had been +calved by one of Meav's cows; but "not deeming it honorable to be under +a woman's control," it had attached itself to Ailill's herds. Meav was +not a lady who could remain quiet under such provocation. She summoned +her chief courier, and asked him could he a match for Finnbheannach (the +white-horned). The courier declared that he could find even a superior +animal; and at once set forth on his mission, suitably attended. Meav +had offered the most liberal rewards for the prize she so much coveted; +and the courier soon arranged with Dare, a noble of large estates, who +possessed one of the valuable breed. A drunken quarrel, however, +disarranged his plans. One of the men boasted that if Dare had not given +the bull for payment, he should have been compelled to give it by force. +Dare's steward heard the ill-timed and uncourteous boast. He flung down +the meat and drink which he had brought for their entertainment, and +went to tell his master the contemptuous speech. The result may be +anticipated. Dare refused the much-coveted animal, and Meav proceeded to +make good her claim by force of arms. But this is only the prologue of +the drama; the details would fill a volume. It must suffice to say, that +the bulls had a battle of their own. Finnbheannach and Donn Chuailgne +(the Leinster bull) engaged in deadly combat, which is described with +the wildest flights of poetic diction.[86] The poor "white horn" was +killed, and Donn Chuailgne, who had lashed himself to madness, dashed +out his brains.[87] + +[Illustration: FLINT SPEAR-HEAD, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE R.I.A.] + +Meav lived to the venerable age of a hundred. According to Tighernach, +she died A.D. 70, but the chronology of the Four Masters places her +demise a hundred years earlier. This difference of calculation also +makes it questionable what monarch reigned in Ireland at the birth of +Christ. The following passage is from the Book of Ballymote, and is +supposed to be taken from the synchronisms of Flann of Monasterboice: +"In the fourteenth year of the reign of Conaire and of Conchobar, Mary +was born; and in the fourth year after the birth of Mary, the expedition +of the Tain bo Chuailgne took place. Eight years after the expedition of +the Tain, Christ was born." + +The Four Masters have the following entry after the age of the world +5194:-- + +THE AGE OF CHRIST. + +"The first year of the age of Christ, and the eighth year of the reign +of Crimhthann Niadhnair." Under the heading of the age of Christ 9, +there is an account of a wonderful expedition of this monarch, and of +all the treasures he acquired thereby. His "adventures" is among the +list of Historic Tales in the Book of Leinster, but unfortunately there +is no copy of this tract in existence. It was probably about this time +that a recreant Irish chieftain tried to induce Agricola to invade +Ireland. But the Irish Celts had extended the fame of their military +prowess even to distant lands,[88] and the Roman general thought it +better policy to keep what he had than to risk its loss, and, perhaps, +obtain no compensation. Previous to Caesar's conquest of Britain, the +Irish had fitted out several expeditions for the plunder of that +country, and they do not appear to have suffered from retaliation until +the reign of Egbert. It is evident, however, that the Britons did not +consider them their worst enemies, for we find mention of several +colonies flying to the Irish shores to escape Roman tyranny, and these +colonies were hospitably received.[89] The passage in Tacitus which +refers to the proposed invasion of Ireland by the Roman forces, is too +full of interest to be omitted:--"In the fifth year of these +expeditions, Agricola, passing over in the first ship, subdued in +frequent victories nations hitherto unknown. He stationed troops along +that part of Britain which looks to Ireland, more on account of hope +than fear,[90] since Ireland, from its situation between Britain and +Spain, and opening to the Gallic Sea, might well connect the most +powerful parts of the empire with reciprocal advantage. Its extent, +compared with Britain, is narrower, but exceeds that of any islands of +our sea. The genius and habits of the people, and the soil and climate, +do not differ much from those of Britain. Its channels and ports are +better known to commerce and to merchants.[91] Agricola gave his +protection to one of its petty kings, who had been expelled by faction; +and with a show of friendship, he retained him for his own purposes. I +often heard him say, that Ireland could he conquered and taken with one +legion and a small reserve; and such a measure would have its advantages +even as regards Britain, if Roman power were extended on every side, and +liberty taken away as it were from the view of the latter island."[92] + +We request special attention to the observation, that the Irish ports +were better known to commerce and merchants. Such a statement by such an +authority must go far to remove any doubt as to the accounts given on +this subject by our own annalists. The proper name of the recreant +"regulus" has not been discovered, so that his infamy is transmitted +anonymously to posterity. Sir John Davies has well observed, with regard +to the boast of subduing Ireland so easily, "that if Agricola had +attempted the conquest thereof with a far greater army, he would have +found himself deceived in his conjecture." William of Neuburg has also +remarked, that though the Romans harassed the Britons for three +centuries after this event, Ireland never was invaded by them, even when +they held dominion of the Orkney Islands, and that it yielded to no +foreign power until the year[93] 1171. Indeed, the Scots and Picts gave +their legions quite sufficient occupation defending the ramparts of +Adrian and Antoninus, to deter them from attempting to obtain more, when +they could so hardly hold what they already possessed. + +The insurrection of the Aitheach Tuatha,[94] or Attacotti, is the next +event of importance in Irish history. Their plans were deeply and wisely +laid, and promised the success they obtained. It is one of the lessons +of history which rulers in all ages would do well to study. There is a +degree of oppression which even the most degraded will refuse to endure; +there is a time when the injured will seek revenge, even should they +know that this revenge may bring on themselves yet deeper wrongs. The +leaders of the revolt were surely men of some judgment; and both they +and those who acted under them possessed the two great qualities needed +for such an enterprise. They were silent, for their plans were not even +suspected until they were accomplished; they were patient, for these +plans were three years in preparation. During three years the helots +saved their scanty earnings to prepare a sumptuous death-feast for their +unsuspecting victims. This feast was held at a place since called _Magh +Cru_, in Connaught. The monarch, Fiacha Finnolaidh, the provincial kings +and chiefs, were all invited, and accepted the invitation. But while the +enjoyment was at its height, when men had drank deeply, and were soothed +by the sweet strains of the harp, the insurgents did their bloody work. +Three ladies alone escaped. They fled to Britain, and there each gave +birth to a son--heirs to their respective husbands who had been slain. + +After the massacre, the Attacotti elected their leader, Cairbre +Cinn-Cait (or the Cat-head), to the royal dignity, for they still +desired to live under a "limited monarchy." But revolutions, even when +successful, and we had almost said necessary, are eminently productive +of evil. The social state of a people when once disorganized, does not +admit of a speedy or safe return to its former condition. The mass of +mankind, who think more of present evils, however trifling, than of past +grievances, however oppressive, begin to connect present evils with +present rule, and having lost, in some degree, the memory of their +ancient wrongs, desire to recall a dynasty which, thus viewed, bears a +not unfavourable comparison with their present state.[95] + +Cairbre died after five years of most unprosperous royalty, and his son, +the wise and prudent Morann,[96] showed his wisdom and prudence by +refusing to succeed him. He advised that the rightful heirs should be +recalled. His advice was accepted. Fearadhach Finnfeachteach was invited +to assume the reins of government. "Good was Ireland during this his +time. The seasons were right tranquil; the earth brought forth its +fruit; fishful its river-mouths; milkful the kine; heavy-headed the +woods."[97] + +Another revolt of the Attacotti took place in the reign of Fiacha of the +White Cattle. He was killed by the provincial kings, at the slaughter of +Magh Bolg.[98] Elim, one of the perpetrators of this outrage, obtained +the crown, but his reign was singularly unprosperous; and Ireland was +without corn, without milk, without fruit, without fish, and without any +other great advantage, since the Aitheach Tuatha had killed Fiacha +Finnolaidh in the slaughter of Magh Bolg, till the time of Tuathal +Teachtmar.[99] + +Tuathal was the son of a former legitimate monarch, and had been invited +to Ireland by a powerful party. He was perpetually at war with the +Attacotti, but at last established himself firmly on the throne, by +exacting an oath from the people, "by the sun, moon, and elements," that +his posterity should not be deprived of the sovereignty. This oath was +taken at Tara, where he had convened a general assembly, as had been +customary with his predecessors at the commencement of each reign; but +it was held by him with more than usual state. His next act was to take +a small portion of land from each of the four provinces, forming what is +now the present county of Meath, and retaining it as the mensal portion +of the Ard-Righ, or supreme monarch. On each of these portions he +erected a palace for the king of every province, details of which will +be given when we come to that period of our history which refers to the +destruction of Tara. Tuathal had at this time two beautiful and +marriageable daughters, named Fithir and Dairine. Eochaidh Aincheann, +King of Leinster, sought and obtained the hand of the younger daughter, +Dairine, and after her nuptials carried her to his palace at Naas, in +Leinster. Some time after, his people pursuaded him that he had made a +bad selection, and that the elder was the better of the two sisters; +upon which Eochaidh determined by stratagem to obtain the other daughter +also. For this purpose he shut the young queen up in a secret apartment +of his palace, and gave out a report that she was dead. He then +repaired, apparently in great grief to Tara, informed the monarch that +his daughter was dead, and demanded her sister in marriage. Tuathal gave +his consent, and the false king returned home with his new bride. Soon +after her arrival at Naas, her sister escaped from her confinement, and +suddenly and unexpectedly encountered the prince and Fithir. In a moment +she divined the truth, and had the additional anguish of seeing her +sister, who was struck with horror and shame, fall dead before her face. +The death of the unhappy princess, and the treachery of her husband, was +too much for the young queen; she returned to her solitary chamber, and +in a very short time died of a broken heart. + +The insult offered to his daughters, and their untimely death, roused +the indignation of the pagan monarch, and was soon bitterly avenged. At +the head of a powerful force, he burned and ravaged Leinster to its +utmost boundary, and then compelled its humbled and terror-stricken +people to bind themselves and their descendants for ever to the payment +of a triennial tribute to the monarch of Erinn, which, from the great +number of cows exacted by it, obtained the name of the "Boromean +Tribute"--_bo_ being the Gaedhilic for a cow. + +The tribute is thus described in the old annals: + + "The men of Leinster were obliged to pay + To Tuathal, and all the monarchs after him, + Three-score hundred of the fairest cows, + And three-score hundred ounces of pure silver, + And three-score hundred mantles richly woven, + And three-score hundred of the fattest hogs, + And three-score hundred of the largest sheep, + And three-score hundred cauldrons strong and polished[100]." + +It is elsewhere described as consisting of five thousand ounces of +silver, five thousand mantles, five thousand fat cows, five thousand fat +hogs, five thousand wethers, and five thousand vessels of brass or +bronze for the king's laving, with men and maidens for his service. + +The levying of the tribute was the cause of periodical and sanguinary +wars, from the time of Tuathal until the reign of Finnachta the Festive. +About the year 680 it was abolished by him, at the entreaty of St. +Moling, of Tigh Moling (now St. Mullen's, in the county Carlow). It is +said by Keating, that he a ailed himself of a pious ruse for this +purpose,--asking the king to pledge himself not to exact the tribute +until after Monday, and then, when his request was complied with, +declaring that the Monday he intended was the Monday after Doomsday. The +tribute was again revived and levied by Brian, the son of Cinneidigh, at +the beginning of the eleventh century, as a punishment on the Leinster +men for their adherence to the Danish cause. It was from this +circumstance that Brian obtained the surname of _Boroimhe_. + +[Illustration: LOUGH HYNE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] _Samhain_.--Now All Hallows Eve. The peasantry still use the pagan +name. It is a compound word, signifying "summer" and "end." + +[82] _Breifne_.--In the present county Cavan. We shall refer again to +this subject, when mentioning St. Patrick's destruction of the idols. + +[83] _Colours_.--Keating says that a slave was permitted only one +colour, a peasant two, a soldier three, a public victualler five. The +Ollamh ranked, with royalty, and was permitted six--another of the many +proofs of extraordinary veneration for learning in pre-Christian Erinn. +The Four Masters, however, ascribe the origin of this distinction to +Eochaidh Eadghadhach. It is supposed that this is the origin of the +Scotch plaid. The ancient Britons dyed their _bodies_ blue. The Cymric +Celts were famous for their colours. + +[84] _Emania_.--The legend of the building of this palace will be given +in a future chapter. + +[85] _France_.--It is said that foreigners who came with him from Gaul +were armed with broad-headed lances (called in Irish _laighne_), whence +the province of Leinster has derived its name. Another derivation of the +name, from _coige_, a fifth part, is attributed to the Firbolgs. + +[86] _Diction_.-This tract contains a description of arms and ornaments +which might well pass for a poetic flight of fancy, had we not articles +of such exquisite workmanship in the Royal Irish Academy, which prove +incontrovertibly the skill of the ancient artists of Erinn. This is the +description of a champion's attire:--"A red and white cloak flutters +about him; a golden brooch in that cloak, at his breast; a shirt of +white, kingly linen, with gold embroidery at his skin; a white shield, +with gold fastenings at his shoulder; a gold-hilted long sword at his +left side; a long, sharp, dark green spear, together with a short, sharp +spear, with a rich band and carved silver rivets in his hand."--O'Curry, +p. 38. We give an illustration on previous page of a flint weapon of a +ruder kind. + +[87] _Brains_.--My friend, Denis Florence MacCarthy, _Esq_., M.R.I.A., +our poet _par excellence_, is occupied at this moment in versifying some +portions of this romantic story. I believe he has some intention of +publishing the work in America, as American publishers are urgent in +their applications to him for a complete and uniform edition of his +poems, including his exquisite translations from the dramatic and ballad +literature of Spain. We hope Irish publishers and the Irish people will +not disgrace their country by allowing such a work to be published +abroad. We are too often and too justly accused of deficiency in +cultivated taste, which unfortunately makes trashy poems, and verbose +and weakly-written prose, more acceptable to the majority than works +produced by highly-educated minds. Irishmen are by no means inferior to +Englishmen in natural gifts, yet, in many instances, unquestionably they +have not or do not cultivate the same taste for reading, and have not +the same appreciation of works of a higher class than the lightest +literature. Much of the fault, no doubt, lies in the present system of +education: however, as some of the professors in our schools and +colleges appear to be aware of the deficiency, we may hope for better +things. + +[88] _Lands_.--Lhuid asserts that the names of the principal commanders +in Gaul and Britain who opposed Caesar, are Irish Latinized. + +[89] _Received_.--"They are said to have fled into Ireland, some for the +sake of ease and quietness, others to keep their eyes untainted by Roman +insolence."--See Harris' Ware. The Brigantes of Waterford, Tipperary, +and Kilkenny, are supposed to have been emigrants, and to have come from +the colony of that name in Yorkshire. + +[90] _Fear_.--"In spem magis quam ob formidinem." + +[91] _Merchants_.--"Melius aditus portusque per commercia et +negotiatores cognitis." + +[92] _Island.--Vita Julii Agric. c._ 24. + +[93] _Year.--Hist. Rer. Angl_. lib. ii. c. 26. + +[94] _Aitheach Tuatha_.--The word means rentpayers, or rentpaying tribes +or people. It is probably used as a term of reproach, and in +contradiction to the free men. It has been said that this people were +the remnants of the inhabitants of Ireland before the Milesians +colonized it. Mr. O'Curry denies this statement, and maintains that they +were Milesians, but of the lower classes, who had been cruelly oppressed +by the magnates of the land. + +[95] _State_.--"Evil was the state of Ireland during his reign: +fruitless the corn, for there used to be but one grain on the stalk; +fruitless her rivers; milkless her cattle; plentiless her fruit, for +there used to be but one acorn on the oak."--Four Masters, p. 97. + +[96] _Morann_.--Morann was the inventor of the famous "collar of gold." +The new monarch appointed him his chief Brehon or judge, and it is said +that this collar closed round the necks of those who were guilty, but +expanded to the ground when the wearer was innocent. This collar or +chain is mentioned in several of the commentaries on the Brehon Laws, as +one of the ordeals of the ancient Irish. The Four Masters style him "the +very intelligent Morann." + +[97] _Woods_.--Four Masters, p. 97. + +[98] _Magh Bolg_.--Now Moybolgue, a parish in the county Cavan. + +[99] _Teachtmar_, i.e., the legitimate, Four Masters, p. 99.--The +history of the revolt of the Attacotti is contained in one of the +ancient tracts called Histories. It is termed "The Origin of the +Boromean Tribute." There is a copy of this most valuable work in the +Book of Leinster, which, it will be remembered, was compiled in the +twelfth century. The details which follow above concerning the Boromean +Tribute, are taken from the same source. + +[100] _Polished_.--Keating, p. 264. + + + + +[Illustration: ORATORY AT GALLARUS, CO. KERRY.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Tuathal-Conn "of the Hundred Battles"--The Five Great Roads of Ancient +Erinn--Conn's Half--Conaire II.--The Three Cairbres--Cormac Mac +Airt--His Wise Decision--Collects Laws--His Personal Appearance-The +Saltair of Tara written in Cormac's Reign--Finn Mac Cumhaill--His +Courtship with the Princess Ailbhe--The Pursuit of Diarmaid and +Grainne--Nial "of the Nine Hostages"--Dathi. + + +Tuathal reigned for thirty years, and is said to have fought no less +than 133 battles with the Attacotti. He was at last slain himself by his +successor, Nial, who, in his turn, was killed by Tuathal's son. Conn "of +the Hundred Battles" is the next Irish monarch who claims more than a +passing notice. His exploits are a famous theme with the bards, and a +poem on his "Birth" forms part of the _Liber Flavus Fergusorum_, a MS. +volume of the fifteenth century. His reign is also remarkable for the +mention of five great roads[101] which were then discovered or +completed. One of these highways, the Eiscir Riada, extended from the +declivity on which Dublin Castle now stands, to the peninsula of Marey, +at the head of Galway Bay. It divided Conn's half of Ireland from the +half possessed by Eoghan Mor, with whom he lived in the usual state of +internecine feud which characterized the reigns of this early period. +One of the principal quarrels between these monarchs, was caused by a +complaint which Eoghan made of the shipping arrangements in Dublin. +Conn's half (the northern side) was preferred, and Eoghan demanded a +fair division. They had to decide their claims at the battle of Magh +Lena.[102] Eoghan was assisted by a Spanish chief, whose sister he had +married. But the Iberian and his Celtic brother-in-law were both slain, +and the mounds are still shown which cover their remains. + +Conn was succeeded by Conaire II., the father of the three Cairbres, who +were progenitors of important tribes. Cairbre Muse gave his name to six +districts in Munster; the territory of Corcabaiscinn, in Clare, was +named after Cairbre Bascain; and the Dalriada of Antrim were descended +from Cairbre Riada. He is also mentioned by Bede under the name of +Reuda,[103] as the leader of the Scots who came from Hibernia to Alba. +Three centuries later, a fresh colony of Dalriadans laid the foundation +of the Scottish monarchy under Fergus, the son of Erc. Mac Con was the +next Ard-Righ or chief monarch of Ireland. He obtained the royal power +after a battle at Magh Mucruimhe, near Athenry, where Art the +Melancholy, son of Con of the Hundred Battles, and the seven sons of +Oilioll Oluim, were slain. + +The reign of Cormac Mac Airt is unquestionably the most celebrated of +all our pagan monarchs. During his early years he had been compelled to +conceal himself among his mother's friends in Connaught; but the severe +rule of the usurper Mac Con excited a desire for his removal, and the +friends of the young prince were not slow to avail themselves of the +popular feeling. He, therefore, appeared unexpectedly at Tara, and +happened to arrive when the monarch was giving judgment in an important +case, which is thus related: Some sheep, the property of a widow, +residing at Tara, had strayed into the queen's private lawn, and eaten +the grass. They were captured, and the case was brought before the king. +He decided that the trespassers should be forfeited; but Cormac +exclaimed that his sentence was unjust, and declared that as the sheep +had only eaten the fleece of the land, they should only forfeit their +own fleece. The _vox populi_ applauded the decision. Mac Con started +from his seat, and exclaimed: "That is the judgment of a king." At the +same moment he recognized the prince, and commanded that he should be +seized; but he had already escaped. The people now recognized their +rightful king, and revolted against the usurper, who was driven into +Munster. Cormac assumed the reins of government at Tara, and thus +entered upon his brilliant and important career, A.D. 227. + +Cormac commenced his government with acts of severity, which were, +perhaps, necessary to consolidate his power. This being once firmly +established, he devoted himself ardently to literary pursuits, and to +regulate and civilize his dominions. He collected the national laws, and +formed a code which remained in force until the English invasion, and +was observed for many centuries after outside the Pale. The bards dwell +with manifest unction on the "fruit and fatness" of the land in his +time, and describe him as the noblest and most bountiful of all princes. +Indeed, we can scarcely omit their account, since it cannot be denied +that it pictures the costume of royalty in Ireland at that period, +however poetically the details may be given. This, then, is the bardic +photograph:-- + +"His hair was slightly curled, and of golden colour: a scarlet shield +with engraved devices, and golden hooks, and clasps of silver: a +wide-folding purple cloak on him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his +breast; a gold torque around his neck; a white-collared shirt, +embroidered with gold, upon him; a girdle with golden buckles, and +studded with precious stones, around him; two golden net-work sandals +with golden buckles upon him; two spears with golden sockets, and many +red bronze rivets in his hand; while he stood in the full glow of +beauty, without defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of +pearls that were set in his mouth; his lips were rubies; his symmetrical +body was as white as snow; his cheek was like the mountain ash-berry; +his eyes were like the sloe; his brows and eye-lashes were like the +sheen of a blue-black lance."[104] + +The compilation of the Saltair of Tara, as we mentioned previously, is +attributed to this monarch. Even in Christian times his praises are +loudly proclaimed. The poet Maelmura, who lived in the eighth century, +styles him Ceolach, or the Musical, and Kenneth O'Hartigan, who died +A.D. 973, gives a glowing account of his magnificence and of his royal +palace at Tara. O'Flaherty quotes a poem, which he says contains an +account of three schools, instituted by Cormac at Tara; one for military +discipline, one for history, and the third for jurisprudence. The Four +Masters say: "It was this Cormac, son of Art, also, that collected the +chronicles of Ireland to Teamhair [Tara], and ordered them to write[105] +the chronicles of Ireland in one book, which was named the Saltair of +Teamhair. In that book were [entered] the coeval exploits and +synchronisms of the kings of Ireland with the kings and emperors of the +world, and of the kings of the provinces with the monarchs of Ireland. +In it was also written what the monarchs of Ireland were entitled to +[receive] from the provincial kings, and the rents and dues of the +provincial kings from their subjects, from the noble to the subaltern. +In it, also, were [described] the boundaries and mears of Ireland from +shore to shore, from the provinces to the cantred, from the cantred to +the townland, from the townland to the traighedh of land."[106] Although +the Saltair of Tara has disappeared from our national records, a law +tract, called the Book of Acaill, is still in existence, which is +attributed to this king. It is always found annexed to a Law Treatise by +Cennfaelad the Learned, who died A.D. 677. In an ancient MS. in Trinity +College, Dublin (Class H.L. 15, p. 149), it is stated that it was the +custom, at the inauguration of Irish chiefs, to read the Instructions of +the Kings (a work ascribed to Cormac) and his Laws. + +There is a tradition that Cormac became a Christian before his death. In +the thirty-ninth year of his reign, one of his eyes was thrust out by a +spear, and he retired in consequence to one of those peaceful abodes of +learning which were so carefully fostered in ancient Erinn. The +high-minded nobility of this people is manifest notably in the law which +required that the king should have no personal blemish; and in obedience +to this law, Cormac vacated the throne. He died A.D. 266, at Cleiteach, +near Stackallen Bridge, on the south bank of the Boyne. It is said that +he was choked by a salmon bone, and that this happened through the +contrivances of the druids, who wished to avenge themselves on him for +his rejection of their superstitions. + +This reign was made more remarkable by the exploits of his son-in-law, +the famous Finn Mac Cumhaill (pronounced "coole"). Finn was famous both +as a poet and warrior. Indeed, poetical qualifications were considered +essential to obtain a place in the select militia of which he was the +last commander. The courtship of the poet-warrior with the Princess +Ailbhe, Cormac's daughter, is related in one of the ancient historic +tales called _Tochmarca_, or Courtships. The lady is said to have been +the wisest woman of her time, and the wooing is described in the form of +conversations, which savour more of a trial of skill in ability and +knowledge, than of the soft utterances which distinguish such narratives +in modern days. It is supposed that the Fenian corps which he commanded +was modelled after the fashion of the Roman legions; but its loyalty is +more questionable, for it was eventually disbanded for insubordination, +although the exploits of its heroes are a favourite topic with the +bards. The Fenian poems, on which Macpherson founded his celebrated +forgery, are ascribed to Finn's sons, Oisin and Fergus the Eloquent, and +to his kinsman Caeilte, as well as to himself. Five poems only are +ascribed to him, but these are found in MSS. of considerable antiquity. +The poems of Oisin were selected by the Scotch writer for his grand +experiment. He gave a highly poetical translation of what purported to +be some ancient and genuine composition, but, unfortunately for his +veracity, he could not produce the original. Some of the real +compositions of the Fenian hero are, however, still extant in the Book +of Leinster, as well as other valuable Fenian poems. There are also some +Fenian tales in prose, of which the most remarkable is that of the +Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne--a legend which has left its impress in +every portion of the island to the present day. Finn, in his old age, +asked the hand of Grainne, the daughter of Cormac Mac Airt; but the lady +being young, preferred a younger lover. To effect her purpose, she +drugged the guest-cup so effectually, that Finn, and all the guests +invited with him, were plunged into a profound slumber after they had +partaken of it. Oisin and Diarmaid alone escaped, and to them the Lady +Grainne confided her grief. As true knights they were bound to rescue +her from the dilemma. Oisin could scarcely dare to brave his father's +vengeance, but Diarmaid at once fled with the lady. A pursuit followed, +which extended all over Ireland, during which the young couple always +escaped. So deeply is the tradition engraven in the popular mind, that +the cromlechs are still called the "Beds of Diarmaid and Grainne," and +shown as the resting-places of the fugitive lovers. + +There are many other tales of a purely imaginative character, which, for +interest, might well rival the world-famous Arabian Nights' +Entertainments; and, for importance of details, illustrative of manners, +customs, dress, weapons, and localities, are, perhaps, unequalled. + +Nial of the Nine Hostages and Dathi are the last pagan monarchs who +demand special notice. In the year 322, Fiacha Sraibhtine was slain by +the three Collas,[107] and a few short-lived monarchs succeeded. In 378, +Crimhthann was poisoned by his sister, who hoped that her eldest son, +Brian, might obtain the royal power. Her attempt failed, although she +sacrificed herself for its accomplishment, by taking the poisoned cup to +remove her brother's suspicions; and Nial of the Nine Hostages, the son +of her husband by a former wife, succeeded to the coveted dignity. This +monarch distinguished himself by predatory warfare against Albion and +Gaul. The "groans"[108] of the Britons testify to his success in that +quarter, which eventually obliged them to become an Anglo-Saxon nation; +and the Latin poet, Claudian, gives evidence that troops were sent by +Stilicho, the general of Theodosius the Great, to repel his successful +forays. His successor, Dathi, was killed by lightning at the foot of the +Alps, and the possibility of this occurrence is also strangely verified +from extrinsic sources.[109] + +[Illustration: GAP OF DUNLOE, KILLARNEY.] + +[Illustration: ARMAGH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[101] _Roads_.--Those roads were Slighe Asail, Slighe Midhluachra, +Slighe Cualann, Slighe Dala, and Slighe Mor. Slighe Mor was the Eiscir +Riada, and division line of Erinn into two parts, between Conn and +Eoghan Mor. These five roads led to the fort of Teamair (Tara), and it +is said that they were "discovered" on the birthnight of the former +monarch. We shall refer to the subject again in a chapter on the +civilization of the early Irish. There is no doubt of the existence of +these roads, and this fact, combined with the care with which they were +kept, is significant. + +[102] _Magh Lena_.--The present parish of Moylana, or Kilbride, +Tullamore, King's county. + +[103] _Reuda_.--Bede, _Eccl. Hist_. p. 7. + +[104] _Lance_.--O'Curry, p. 45. This quotation is translated by Mr. +O'Curry, and is taken from the Book of Ballymote. This book, however, +quotes it from the _Uachongbhail_, a much older authority. + +[105] _Write_.--Professor O'Curry well observes, that "such a man could +scarcely have carried out the numerous provisions of his comprehensive +enactments without some written medium. And it is no unwarrantable +presumption to suppose, that, either by his own hand, or, at least, in +his own time, by his command, his laws were committed to writing; and +when we possess very ancient testimony to this effect, I can see no +reason for rejecting it, or for casting a doubt upon the +statement."--_MS. Materials_, p. 47. Mr. Petrie writes, if possible, +more strongly. He says: "It is difficult, if not impossible, to conceive +how the minute and apparently accurate accounts found in the various +MSS. of the names and localities of the Attacottic tribes of Ireland in +the first century, could have been preserved, without coming to the +conclusion that they had been preserved in writing in some +work."--_Essay on Tara Hill_, p. 46. Elsewhere, however, he speaks more +doubtfully. + +[106] _Land_.--Four Masters, p. 117. + +[107] _Collas_.--They were sons of Eochaidh Domlen, who made themselves +famous by their warlike exploits, and infamous by their destruction of +the palace of Emania. + +[108] _Groans_.--Bede, _Eccl. Hist_. c. 12. + +[109] _Sources_.--The Abbe M'Geoghegan says that there is a very ancient +registry in the archives of the house of Sales, which mentions that the +King of Ireland remained some time in the Castle of Sales. See his +_History_, p. 94. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +St. Patrick--How Ireland was first Christianized--Pagan Rome used +providentially to promote the Faith--The Mission of St. +Palladius--Innocent I. claims authority to found Churches and condemn +Heresy--Disputes concerning St. Patrick's Birthplace--Ireland receives +the Faith generously--Victoricus--St. Patrick's Vision--His Roman +Mission clearly proved--Subterfuges of those who deny it--Ancient Lives +of the Saint--St. Patrick's Canons--His Devotion and Submission to the +Holy See. + +[A.D. 378-432.] + + +It has been conjectured that the great Apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick, +was carried captive to the land of his adoption, in one of the +plundering expeditions of the monarch Nial--an eminent instance of the +overruling power of Providence, and of the mighty effects produced by +causes the most insignificant and unconscious. As we are not writing an +ecclesiastical history of Ireland, and as we have a work of that nature +in contemplation, we shall only make brief mention of the events +connected with the life and mission of the saint at present; but the +Christianizing of any country must always form an important epoch, +politically and socially, and, as such, demands the careful +consideration of the historian. How and when the seed of faith was sown +in ancient Erinn before the time of the great Apostle, cannot now be +ascertained. We know the silent rapidity with which that faith spread, +from its first promulgation by the shores of the Galilean lake, until it +became the recognized religion of earth's mightiest empire. We know, +also, that, by a noticeable providence, Rome was chosen from the +beginning as the source from whence the light should emanate. We know +how pagan Rome, which had subdued and crushed material empires, and +scattered nations and national customs as chaff before the wind, failed +utterly to subdue or crush this religion, though promulgated by the +feeblest of its plebeians. We know how the material prosperity of that +mighty people was overruled for the furtherance of eternal designs; and +as the invincible legions continually added to the geographical extent +of the empire they also added to the number of those to whom the gospel +of peace should be proclaimed. + +The first Christian mission to Ireland, for which we have definite and +reliable data, was that of St. Palladius. St. Prosper, who held a high +position in the Roman Church, published a chronicle in the year 433, in +which we find the following register: "Palladius was consecrated by Pope +Celestine, and sent as the first Bishop to the Irish believing in +Christ."[110] This mission was unsuccessful. Palladius was repulsed by +the inhabitants of Wicklow,[111] where he landed. He then sailed +northward, and was at last driven by stress of weather towards the +Orkneys, finding harbour, eventually, on the shores of Kincardineshire. +Several ancient tracts give the details of his mission, its failure, and +his subsequent career. The first of those authorities is the Life of St. +Patrick in the Book of Armagh; and in this it is stated that he died in +the "land of the Britons." The second Life of St. Patrick, in Colgan's +collection, has changed Britons into "Picts." In the "Annotations of +Tierchan," also preserved in the Book of Armagh,[112] it is said that +Palladius was also called Patricius,[113] and that he suffered martyrdom +among the Scots, "as ancient saints relate." + +Prosper also informs us, that Palladius was a deacon[114] of the Roman +Church, and that he received a commission from the Holy See to send +Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, to root out heresy,[115] and convert the +Britons to the Catholic faith. Thus we find the Church, even in the +earliest ages, occupied in her twofold mission of converting the +heathen, and preserving the faithful from error. St. Innocent I., +writing to Decentius, in the year 402, refers thus to this important +fact: "Is it not known to all that the things which have been delivered +to the Roman Church by Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and preserved +ever since, should be observed by all; and that nothing is to be +introduced devoid of authority, or borrowed elsewhere? Especially, as it +is manifest that no one has founded churches for all Italy, the Gauls, +Spain, Africa, and the interjacent islands, except such as were +appointed priests by the venerable Peter and his successors." + +Palladius was accompanied by four companions: Sylvester and Solinus, who +remained after him in Ireland; and Augustinus and Benedictus, who +followed him[116] to Britain, but returned to their own country after +his death. The _Vita Secunda_ mentions that he brought relics of the +blessed Peter and Paul, and other saints, to Ireland, as well as copies +of the Old and New Testament, all of which were given to him by Pope +Celestine. + +The birthplace of the great Apostle of Ireland has long been, and still +continues, a subject of controversy. St. Fiacc states that he was born +at Nemthur,[117] and the Scholiast on St. Fiacc's Hymn identifies this +with Alcuith, now Dumbarton, on the Firth of Clyde. The most reliable +authority unquestionably is St. Patrick's own statements, in his +_Confessio_. He there says (1) that his father had a farm or villa at +Bonavem Taberniae, from whence he was taken captive. It does not follow +necessarily from this, that St. Patrick was born there; but it would +appear probable that this was a paternal estate. (2)The saint speaks of +Britanniae as his country. The difficulty lies in the identification of +these places. In the _Vita Secunda_, Nemthur and Campus Taberniae are +identified. Probus writes, that he had ascertained as a matter of +certainty, that the _Vicus Bannave Taburniae regionis_ was situated in +Neustria. The Life supposed to be by St. Eleran, states that the parents +of the saint were of Strats-Cludi (Strath-Clyde), but that he was born +in Nemthur--"Quod oppidum in Campo Taburniae est;" thus indicating an +early belief that France was the land of his nativity. St. Patrick's +mention of Britanniae, however, appears to be conclusive. There was a +tribe called Brittani in northern France, mentioned by Pliny, and the +Welsh Triads distinctly declare that the Britons of Great Britain came +from thence. + +There can be no doubt, however, that St. Patrick was intimately +connected with Gaul. His mother, Conchessa, was either a sister or niece +of the great St. Martin of Tours; and it was undoubtedly from Gaul that +the saint was carried captive to Ireland. + +Patrick was not the baptismal name of the saint; it was given him by St. +Celestine[118] as indicative of rank, or it may be with some prophetic +intimation of his future greatness. He was baptized by the no less +significant appellation of Succat--"brave in battle." But his warfare +was not with a material foe. Erinn received the faith at his hands, with +noble and unexampled generosity; and one martyr, and only one, was +sacrificed in preference of ancient pagan rites; while we know that +thousands have shed their blood, and it maybe hundreds even in our own +times have sacrificed their lives, to preserve the treasure so gladly +accepted, so faithfully preserved.[119] + +Moore, in his _History of Ireland_, exclaims, with the force of truth, +and the eloquence of poetry: "While in all other countries the +introduction of Christianity has been the slow work of time, has been +resisted by either government or people, and seldom effected without +lavish effusion of blood, in Ireland, on the contrary, by the influence +of one zealous missionary, and with but little previous preparation of +the soil by other hands, Christianity burst forth at the first ray of +apostolic light, and, with the sudden ripeness of a northern summer, at +once covered the whole land. Kings and princes, when not themselves +amongst the ranks of the converted, saw their sons and daughters joining +in the train without a murmur. Chiefs, at variance in all else, agreed +in meeting beneath the Christian banner; and the proud druid and bard +laid their superstitions meekly at the foot of the cross; nor, by a +singular blessing of Providence--unexampled, indeed, in the whole +history of the Church--was there a single drop of blood shed on account +of religion through the entire course of this mild Christian revolution, +by which, in the space of a few years, all Ireland was brought +tranquilly under the dominion of the Gospel." + +It is probable that St. Patrick was born in 387, and that in 403 he was +made captive and carried into Ireland. Those who believe Alcuith or +Dumbarton to have been his birthplace, are obliged to account for his +capture in Gaul--which has never been questioned--by supposing that he +and his family had gone thither to visit the friends of his mother, +Conchessa. He was sold as a slave, in that part of Dalriada comprised in +the county of Antrim, to four men, one of whom, Milcho, bought up their +right from the other three, and employed him in feeding sheep or swine. +Exposed to the severity of the weather day and night, a lonely slave in +a strange land, and probably as ignorant of the language as of the +customs of his master, his captivity, would, indeed, have been a bitter +one, had he not brought with him, from a holy home, the elements of most +fervent piety. A hundred times in the day, and a hundred times in the +night, he lifted up the voice of prayer and supplication to the Lord of +the bondman and the free, and faithfully served the harsh, and at times +cruel, master to whom Providence had assigned him. Perhaps he may have +offered his sufferings for those who were serving a master even more +harsh and cruel. + +After six years he was miraculously delivered. A voice, that was not of +earth, addressed him in the stillness of the night, and commanded him to +hasten to a certain port, where he would find a ship ready to take him +to his own country. "And I came," says the saint, "in the power of the +Lord, who directed my course towards a good end; and I was under no +apprehension until I arrived where the ship was. It was then clearing +out, and I called for a passage. But the master of the vessel got angry, +and said to me, 'Do not attempt to come with us.' On hearing this I +retired, for the purpose of going to the cabin where I had been received +as a guest. And, on my way thither, I began to pray; but before I had +finished my prayer, I heard one of the men crying out with a loud voice +after me, 'Come, quickly; for they are calling you,' and immediately I +returned. And they said to me, 'Come, we receive thee on trust. Be our +friend, just as it may be agreeable to you.' We then set sail, and after +three days reached land." The two Breviaries of Rheims and Fiacc's Hymn +agree in stating that the men with whom Patrick embarked were merchants +from Gaul, and that they landed in a place called Treguir, in Brittany, +some distance from his native place. Their charity, however, was amply +repaid. Travelling through a desert country, they had surely perished +with hunger, had not the prayers of the saint obtained them a miraculous +supply of food. + +It is said that St. Patrick suffered a second captivity, which, however, +only lasted sixty days; but of this little is known. Neither is the +precise time certain, with respect to these captivities, at which the +events occurred which we are about to relate. After a short residence at +the famous monastery of St. Martin, near Tours, founded by his saintly +relative, he placed himself (probably in his thirtieth year) under the +direction of St. Germain of Auxerre. + +It was about this period that he was favoured with the remarkable vision +or dream relating to his Irish apostolate. He thus describes it in his +_Confessio_:-- + +"I saw, in a nocturnal vision, a man named Victoricus[120] coming as if +from Ireland, with a large parcel of letters, one of which he handed to +me. On reading the beginning of it, I found it contained these words: +'The voice of the Irish;' and while reading it I thought I heard, at the +same moment, the voice of a multitude of persons near the Wood of +Foclut, which is near the western sea; and they cried out, as if with +one voice, '_We entreat thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk +amongst us.'_ And I was greatly affected in my heart, and could read no +longer; and then I awoke." + +St. Patrick retired to Italy after this vision, and there spent many +years. During this period he visited Lerins,[121] and other islands in +the Mediterranean. Lerins was distinguished for its religious and +learned establishments; and probably St. Germain,[122] under whose +direction the saint still continued, had recommended him to study there. +It was at this time that he received the celebrated staff, called the +_Bachall Isu_, or Staff of Jesus. + +St. Bernard mentions this _Bachall Isu_, in his life of St. Malachy, as +one of those insignia of the see of Armagh, which were popularly +believed to confer upon the possessor a title to be regarded and obeyed +as the successor of St. Patrick. Indeed, the great antiquity of this +long-treasured relic has never been questioned; nor is there any reason +to suppose that it was not in some way a miraculous gift. + +Frequent notices of this pastoral staff are found in ancient Irish +history. St. Fiacc speaks of it as having been richly adorned by an +ecclesiastic contemporary with the saint. + +A curious MS. is still preserved in the Chapter House of Westminster +Abbey, containing an examination of "Sir Gerald Machshayne, knight, +sworn 19th March, 1529, upon the Holie Mase-booke and the _great relicke +of Erlonde, called Baculum Christi_, the presence of the Kynge's +Deputie, Chancellour, Tresoror, and Justice." + +Perhaps it may be well to conclude the account of this interesting relic +by a notice of its wanton destruction, as translated from the Annals of +Loch Ce by Professor O'Curry:-- + +"The most miraculous image of Mary, which was at _Baile Atha Truim_ +(Trim), and which the Irish people had all honoured for a long time +before that, which used to heal the blind, the deaf, the lame, and every +disease in like manner, was burned by the Saxons. And the Staff of +Jesus, which was in Dublin, and which wrought many wonders and miracles +in Erinn since the time of Patrick down to that time, and which was in +the hand of Christ Himself, was burned by the Saxons in like manner. And +not only that, but there was not a holy cross, nor an image of Mary, nor +other celebrated image in Erinn over which their power reached, that +they did not burn. Nor was there one of the seven Orders which came +under their power that they did not ruin. And the Pope and the Church in +the East and at home were excommunicating the Saxons on that account, +and they did not pay any attention or heed unto that, &c. And I am not +certain whether it was not in the year preceding the above [A.D. 1537] +that these relics were burned." + +St. Patrick visited Rome about the year 431, accompanied by a priest +named Segetius, who was sent with him by St. Germanus to vouch for the +sanctity of his character, and his fitness for the Irish mission. +Celestine received him favourably, and dismissed him with his +benediction and approbation. St. Patrick then returned once more to his +master, who was residing at Auxerre. From thence he went into the north +of Gaul, and there receiving intelligence of the death of St. Palladius, +and the failure of his mission, he was immediately consecrated bishop by +the venerable Amato, a prelate of great sanctity, then residing in the +neighbourhood of Ebovia. Auxilius, Isserninus, and other disciples of +the saint, received holy orders at the same time. They were subsequently +promoted to the episcopacy in the land of their adoption. + +In the year 432 St. Patrick landed in Ireland. It was the first year of +the pontificate of St. Sixtus III., the successor of Celestine; the +fourth year of the reign of Laeghaire, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages, +King of Ireland. It is generally supposed that the saint landed first at +a place called Inbher De, believed to be the mouth of the Bray river, in +Wicklow. Here he was repulsed by the in habitants,--a circumstance which +can be easily accounted for from its proximity to the territory of King +Nathi, who had so lately driven away his predecessor, Palladius. + +St. Patrick returned to his ship, and sailing towards the north landed +at the little island of Holm Patrick, near Skerries, off the north coast +of Dublin. After a brief stay he proceeded still farther northward, and +finally entering Strangford Lough, landed with his companions in the +district of Magh-Inis, in the present barony of Lecale. Having +penetrated some distance into the interior, they were encountered by +Dicho, the lord of the soil, who, hearing of their embarkation, and +supposing them to be pirates, had assembled a formidable body of +retainers to expel them from his shores. But it is said that the moment +he perceived, Patrick, his apprehensions vanished. After some brief +converse, Dicho invited the saint and his companions to his house, and +soon after received himself the grace of holy baptism. Dicho was St. +Patrick's first convert, and the first who erected a Christian church +under his direction. The memory of this event is still preserved in the +name Saull, the modern contraction of _Sabhall Padruic_, or Patrick's +Barn. The saint was especially attached to the scene of his first +missionary success, and frequently retired to the monastery which was +established there later. + +After a brief residence with the new converts, Patrick set out for the +habitation of his old master, Milcho, who lived near Slieve Mis, in the +present county of Antrim, then part of the territory called Dalriada. It +is said that when Milcho heard of the approach of his former slave, he +became so indignant, that, in a violent fit of passion, he set fire to +his house, and perished himself in the flames. The saint returned to +Saull, and from thence journeyed by water to the mouth of the Boyne, +where he landed at a small port called Colp. Tara was his destination; +but on his way thither he stayed a night at the house of a man of +property named Seschnan. This man and his whole family were baptized, +and one of his sons received the name of Benignus from St. Patrick, on +account of the gentleness of his manner. The holy youth attached himself +from this moment to his master, and was his successor in the primatial +see of Armagh. + +Those who are anxious, for obvious reasons, to deny the fact of St. +Patrick's mission from Rome, do so on two grounds: first, the absence of +a distinct statement of this mission in one or two of the earliest lives +of the saints; and his not having mentioned it himself in his genuine +writings. Second, by underrating the value of those documents which do +mention this Roman mission. With regard to the first objection, it is +obvious that a hymn which was written merely as a panegyric (the Hymn of +St. Fiacc) was not the place for such details. But St. Fiacc _does_ +mention that Germanus was the saint's instructor, and that "he read his +canons," _i.e._, studied theology under him. + +St. Patrick's Canons,[123] which even Usher admits to be genuine, +contain the following passage. We give Usher's own translation, as +beyond all controversy for correctness:--"Whenever any cause that is +very difficult, and unknown unto all the judges of the Scottish nation, +shall arise, it is rightly to be referred to the See of the Archbishop +of the Irish (that is, of Patrick), and to the examination of the +prelate thereof. But if there, by him and his wise men, a cause of this +nature cannot easily be made up, we have decreed it shall be sent to the +See Apostolic, that is to say, to the chair of the Apostle Peter, which +hath the authority of the city of Rome." Usher's translation of St. +Patrick's Canon is sufficiently plain, and evidently he found it +inconveniently explicit, for he gives a "gloss" thereon, in which he +apologizes for St. Patrick's Roman predilections, by suggesting that the +saint was influenced by a "special regard for the Church of Rome." No +doubt this was true; it is the feeling of all good Catholics; but it +requires something more than a "special regard" to inculcate such +absolute submission; and we can scarcely think even Usher himself could +have gravely supposed, that a canon written to bind the whole Irish +Church, should have inculcated a practice of such importance, merely +because St. Patrick had a regard for the Holy See. This Canon was acted +upon in the Synod of Magh-Lene, in 630, and St. Cummian attests the fact +thus:--"In accordance with the canonical, decree, that if questions of +grave moment arise, they shall be referred to the head of cities, we +sent such as we knew were wise and humble men to Rome." But there is yet +another authority for St. Patrick's Roman mission. There is an important +tract by Macutenius, in the Book of Armagh. The authenticity of the +tract has not, and indeed could not, be questioned; but a leaf is +missing: happily, however, the titles of the chapters are preserved, so +there can be no doubt as to what they contained. In these headings we +find the following:-- + +"5. De aetate ejus quando iens videre Sedem Apostolicam voluit discere +sapientiam." + +"6. De inventione Sancti Germani in Galiis et ideo non exivit ultra." + +Dr. Todd, by joining these two separate titles, with more ingenuity than +fairness, has made it appear that "St. Patrick desired to visit the +Apostolic See, and there to learn wisdom, but that meeting with St. +Germanus in Gaul he went no further."[124] Even could the headings of +two separate chapters be thus joined together, the real meaning of _et +ideo non exivit ultra_ would be, that St. Patrick never again left +Germanus,--a meaning too obviously inadmissible to require further +comment. But it is well known that the life of St. Patrick which bears +the name of Probus, is founded almost verbally on the text of +Macutenius, and this work supplies the missing chapters. They clearly +relate not only the Roman mission of the saint, but also the saint's +love of Rome, and his desire to obtain from thence "due authority" that +he might "preach with confidence." + +[Illustration: ANCIENT SWORD, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE R.I.A., FOUND +AT HILLSWOOD, CO. GALWAY.] + +[Illustration: SCULPTURES AT DEVENISH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[110] _Christ_.--"Ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatur a papa +Caelestino Palladius et primus episcopus mittitur."--_Vet. Lat. Scrip. +Chron. Roncallius_, Padua, 1787. + +[111] _Wicklow_.--Probably on the spot where the town of Wicklow now +stands. It was then called the region of Hy-Garchon. It is also +designated _Fortreatha Laighen_ by the Scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn. The +district, probably, received this name from the family of _Eoichaidh +Finn Fothart_, a brother of Conn of the Hundred Battles. + +[112] _Armagh_--Fol. 16, a.a. + +[113] _Patricius_.--This name was but an indication of rank. In the +later years of the Roman Empire, Gibbon says, "the meanest subjects of +the Roman Empire [5th century] assumed the illustrious name of +Patricius."--_Decline and Fall_, vol. viii. p. 300. Hence the confusion +that arose amongst Celtic hagiographers, and the interchanging of the +acts of several saints who bore the same name. + +[114] _Deacon_.--This was an important office in the early Roman Church. + +[115] _Heresy_.--The Pelagian. + +[116] _Followed him_.--The Four Masters imply, however, that they +remained in Ireland. They also name the three wooden churches which he +erected. Celafine, which has not been identified; Teach-na-Romhan, House +of the Romans, probably Tigroni; and Domhnach-Arta, probably the present +Dunard.--Annals, p. 129. + +[117] _Nemthur_.--The _n_ is merely a prefix; it should read Em-tur. + +[118] _Celestine._--See the Scholiast on Fiacc's Hymn. + +[119] _Preserved._--It is much to be regretted that almost every +circumstance in the life of St. Patrick has been made a field for +polemics. Dr. Todd, of whom one might have hoped better things, has +almost destroyed the interest of his otherwise valuable work by this +fault. He cannot allow that St. Patrick's mother was a relative of St. +Martin of Tours, obviously because St. Martin's Catholicity is +incontrovertible. He wastes pages in a vain attempt to disprove St. +Patrick's Roman mission, for similar reasons; and he cannot even admit +that the Irish received the faith as a nation, all despite the clearest +evidence; yet so strong is the power of prejudice, that he accepts far +less proof for other questions. + +[120] _Victoricus_.--There were two saints, either of whom might have +been the mysterious visitant who invited St. Patrick to Ireland. St. +Victoricus was the great missionary of the Morini, at the end of the +fourth century. There was also a St. Victoricus who suffered martyrdom +at Amiens, A.D. 286. Those do not believe that the saints were and are +favoured with supernatural communications, and whose honesty compels +them to admit the genuineness of such documents as the Confession of St. +Patrick, are put to sad straits to explain away what he writes. + +[121] _Lerins.--See Monks of the West_, v. i. p. 463. It was then styled +_insula beata_. + +[122] _St. Germain_.--St. Fiacc, who, it will be remembered, was +contemporary with St. Patrick, write thus in his Hymn: + +"The angel, Victor, sent Patrick over the Alps; Admirable was his +journey-- Until he took his abode with Germanus, Far away in the south +of Letha. In the isles of the Tyrrhene sea he remained; In them he +meditated; He read the canon with Germanus-- This, histories make +known." + + + +[123] _Canons_--This Canon is found in the Book of Armagh, and in that +part of that Book which was copied from _St. Patrick's own manuscript_. +Even could it be proved that St. Patrick never wrote these Canons, the +fact that they are in the Book of Armagh, which was compiled, according +to O'Curry, before the year 727, and even at the latest before the year +807, is sufficient to prove the practice of the early Irish Church on +this important subject. + +[124] _Further.--Life of St. Patrick_, p. 315. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +St. Patrick visits Tara--Easter Sunday--St. Patrick's Hymn--Dubtach +salute him--He overthrows the Idols at Magh Slecht--The Princesses +Ethnea and Fethlimia--Their Conversion--Baptism of Aengus--St. Patrick +travels through Ireland--His Success in Munster--He blesses the whole +country from Cnoc Patrick--The First Irish Martyr--St. Patrick's +Death--Pagan Prophecies--Conor Mac Nessa--Death of King Laeghaire--The +Church did not and does not countenance Pagan Superstition--Oilioll +Molt--Death of King Aengus--Foundation of the Kingdom of Scotland--St. +Brigid--Shrines of the Three Saints--St Patrick's Prayer for Ireland, +and its Fulfilment. + +[A.D. 432--543.] + + +On Holy Saturday St. Patrick arrived at Slane, where he caused a tent to +be erected, and lighted the paschal fire at nightfall, preparatory to +the celebration of the Easter festival. The princes and chieftains of +Meath were, at the same time, assembled at Tara, where King Laeghaire +was holding a great pagan festival. The object of this meeting has been +disputed, some authorities saying that it was convoked to celebrate the +Beltinne, or fire of Bal or Baal; others, that the king was +commemorating his own birthday. On the festival of Beltinne it was +forbidden to light any fire until a flame was visible from the top of +Tara Hill. Laeghaire was indignant that this regulation should have been +infringed; and probably the representation of his druids regarding the +mission of the great apostle, did not tend to allay his wrath. +Determined to examine himself into the intention of these bold +strangers, he set forth, accompanied, by his bards and attendants, to +the place where the sacred fire had been kindled, and ordered the +apostle to be brought before him strictly commanding, at the same time, +that no respect should be shown to him. + +Notwithstanding the king's command, Erc, the son of Dego, rose up to +salute him, obtained the grace of conversion, and was subsequently +promoted to the episcopate. The result of this interview was the +appointment of a public discussion, to take place the next day at Tara, +between St. Patrick and the pagan bards. + +[Illustration: St. Patrick going to Tara.] + +It was Easter Sunday--a day ever memorable for this event in the annals +of Erinn. Laeghaire and his court sat in state to receive the ambassador +of the Eternal King. Treacherous preparations had been made, and it was +anticipated that Patrick and his companions would scarcely reach Tara +alive. The saint was aware of the machinations of his enemies; but life +was of no value to him, save as a means of performing the great work +assigned him, and the success of that work was in the safe keeping of +Another. The old writers love to dwell on the meek dignity of the +apostle during this day of trial and triumph. He set forth with his +companions, from where he had encamped, in solemn procession, singing a +hymn of invocation which he had composed, in the Irish tongue, for the +occasion, and which is still preserved, and well authenticated.[125] He +was clothed as usual, in white robes; but he wore his mitre, and carried +in his hand the Staff of Jesus. Eight priests attended him, robed also +in white, and his youthful convert, Benignus, the son of Seschnan. + +Thus, great in the arms of meekness and prayer, did the Christian hosts +calmly face the array of pagan pomp and pride. Again the monarch had +commanded that no honour should be paid to the saint, and again he was +disobeyed. His own chief poet and druid, Dubtach, rose up instantly on +the entrance of the strangers, and saluted the venerable apostle with +affection and respect. The Christian doctrine was then explained by St. +Patrick to his wondering audience, and such impression made, that +although Laeghaire lived and died an obstinate pagan, he nevertheless +permitted the saint to preach where and when he would, and to receive +all who might come to him for instruction or holy baptism. + +On the following day St. Patrick repaired to Taillten, where the public +games were commencing; and there he remained for a week, preaching to an +immense concourse of people. Here his life was threatened by Cairbre, a +brother of King Laeghaire; but the saint was defended by another of the +royal brothers, named Conall Creevan, who was shortly after converted. +The church of Donough Patrick, in Meath, was founded by his desire. It +is said that all the Irish churches which begin with the name Donough +were founded by the saint, the foundation being always marked out by him +on a Sunday, for which Domhnach is the Gaedhilic term. + +Having preached for some time in the western part of the territory of +Meath, the saint proceeded as far as Magh Slecht, where the great idol +of the nation, Ceann [or Crom] Cruach was solemnly worshipped. The +legend of its destruction, as given in the oldest annals, is singularly +interesting. We give a brief extract from Professor O'Curry's +translation: "When Patrick saw the idol from the water, which is named +_Guthard_ [loud voice] (i.e., he elevated his voice); and when he +approached near the idol, he raised his arm to lay the Staff of Jesus on +him, and it did not reach him; he bent back from the attempt upon his +right side, for it was to the south his face was; and the mark of the +staff lies in his left side still although the staff did not leave +Patrick's hand; and the earth swallowed the other twelve idols to their +heads; and they are in that condition in commemoration of the miracle. +And he called upon all the people _cum rege Laeghuire;_ they it was that +adored the idol. And all the people saw him (i.e., the demon), and they +dreaded their dying if Patrick had not sent him to hell."[126] + +After this glorious termination of Easter week, the saint made two other +important converts. He set out for Connaught; and when near Rath +Cruaghan, met the daughters of King Laeghaire, the princesses Ethnea and +Fethlimia, who were coming, in patriarchal fashion, to bathe in a +neighbouring well. These ladies were under the tuition of certain +druids, or magi; but they willingly listened to the instruction of the +saint, and were converted and baptized. + +The interview took place at daybreak. The royal sisters heard the +distant chant of the priests, who were reciting matins as they walked +along; and when they approached and beheld them in their white garments, +singing, with books in their hands, it was naturally supposed that they +were not beings of earth. + +"Who are ye?" they inquired of the saint and his companions. "Are ye of +the sea, the heavens, or the earth?" + +St. Patrick explained to them such of the Christian mysteries as were +most necessary at the moment, and spoke of the one only true God. + +"But where," they asked, "does your God dwell? Is it in the sun or on +earth, in mountains or in valleys, in the sea or in rivers?" + +Then the apostle told them of his God,--the Eternal, the Invisible,--and +how He had indeed dwelt on earth as man, but only to suffer and die for +their salvation. And as the maidens listened to his words, their hearts +were kindled with heavenly love, and they inquired further what they +could do to show their gratitude to this great King. In that same hour +they were baptized; and in a short time they consecrated themselves to +Him, the story of whose surpassing charity had so moved their young +hearts. + +Their brother also obtained the grace of conversion; and an old Irish +custom of killing a sheep on St. Michael's Day, and distributing it +amongst the poor, is said to date from a miracle performed by St. +Patrick for this royal convert. + +Nor is the story of Aengus, another royal convert, less interesting. +About the year 445, the saint, after passing through Ossory, and +converting a great number of people, entered the kingdom of Munster. His +destination was Cashel, from whence King Aengus, the son of Natfraech, +came forth to meet him with the utmost reverence. + +This prince had already obtained some knowledge of Christianity, and +demanded the grace of holy baptism. + +The saint willingly complied with his request. His courtiers assembled +with royal state to assist at the ceremony. St. Patrick carried in his +hand, as usual, the Bachall Isu; at the end of this crozier there was a +sharp iron spike, by which he could plant it firmly in the ground beside +him while preaching, or exercising his episcopal functions. On this +occasion, however, he stuck it down into the king's foot, and did not +perceive his mistake until-- + + "The royal foot transfixed, the gushing blood + Enrich'd the pavement with a noble flood." + +The ceremony had concluded, and the prince had neither moved nor +complained of the severe suffering he had endured. When the saint +expressed his deep regret for such an occurrence, Aengus merely replied +that he believed it to be a part of the ceremony, and did not appear to +consider any suffering of consequence at such a moment.[127] + +When such was the spirit of the old kings of Erinn who received the +faith of Christ from Patrick, we can scarcely marvel that their +descendants have adhered to it with such unexampled fidelity. + +After the conversion of the princesses Ethnea and Fethlimia, the +daughters of King Laeghaire, St. Patrick traversed almost every part of +Connaught, and, as our divine Lord promised to those whom He +commissioned to teach all nations, proved his mission by the exercise of +miraculous powers. Some of his early biographers have been charged with +an excess of credulity on this point. But were this the place or time +for such a discussion, it might easily be shown that miracles were to be +expected when a nation was first evangelized, and that their absence +should be rather a matter of surprise than their frequency or +marvellousness. He who alone could give the commission to preach, had +promised that "greater things" than He Himself did should be done by +those thus commissioned. And after all, what greater miracle could there +be than that one who had been enslaved, and harshly, if not cruelly +treated, should become the deliverer of his enslavers from spiritual +bondage, and should sacrifice all earthly pleasures for their eternal +gain? Nor is the conversion of the vast multitude who listened to the +preaching of the saint, less marvellous than those events which we +usually term the most supernatural. + +The saint's greatest success was in the land[128] of Tirawley, near the +town of Foclut, from whence he had heard the voice of the Irish even in +his native land. As he approached this district, he learned that the +seven sons of King Amalgaidh were celebrating a great festival. Their +father had but lately died, and it was said these youths exceeded all +the princes of the land in martial courage and skill in combat. St. +Patrick advanced in solemn procession even into the very midst of the +assembly, and for his reward obtained the conversion of the seven +princes and twelve thousand of their followers. It is said that his life +was at this period in some danger, but that Endeus, one of the converted +princes, and his son Conall, protected him.[129] After seven years spent +in Connaught, he passed into Ulster; there many received the grace of +holy baptism, especially in that district now comprised in the county +Monaghan. + +It was probably about this time that the saint returned to Meath, and +appointed his nephew, St. Secundinus or Sechnal, who was bishop of the +place already mentioned as Domhnach Sechnail, to preside over the +northern churches during his own absence in the southern part of +Ireland. + +The saint then visited those parts of Leinster which had been already +evangelized by Palladius, and laid the foundation of many new churches. +He placed one of his companions, Bishop Auxilius, at Killossy, near +Naas, and another, Isserninus, at Kilcullen, both in the present county +of Kildare. At Leix, in the Queen's county, he obtained a great many +disciples, and from thence he proceeded to visit his friend, the poet +Dubtach, who, it will be remembered, paid him special honour at Tara, +despite the royal prohibition to the contrary. Dubtach lived in that +part of the country called Hy-Kinsallagh, now the county Carlow. It was +here the poet Fiacc was first introduced to the saint, whom he +afterwards so faithfully followed. Fiacc had been a disciple of Dubtach, +and was by profession a bard, and a member of an illustrious house. He +was the first Leinster man raised to episcopal dignity. It was probably +at this period that St. Patrick visited Munster, and the touching +incident already related occurred at the baptism of Aengus. This prince +was singularly devoted to religion, as indeed his conduct during the +administration of the sacrament of regeneration could not fail to +indicate. + +The saint's mission in Munster was eminently successful. Lonan, the +chief of the district of Ormonde, entertained him with great +hospitality, and thousands embraced the faith. Many of the inhabitants +of Corca Baiscin crossed the Shannon in their hidecovered boats +(curaghs) when the saint was on the southern side, in Hy-Figeinte, and +were baptized by him in the waters of their magnificent river. At their +earnest entreaty, St. Patrick ascended a hill which commanded a view of +the country of the Dalcassians, and gave his benediction to the whole +territory. This hill is called Findine in the ancient lives of the +saint; but this name is now obsolete. Local tradition and antiquarian +investigation make it probable that the favoured spot is that now called +Cnoc Patrick, near Foynes Island. + +The saint's next journey was in the direction of Kerry, where he +prophesied that "St. Brendan, of the race of Hua Alta, the great +patriarch of monks and star of the western world, would be born, and +that his birth would take place some years after his own death."[130] + +We have now to record the obituary of the only Irish martyr who suffered +for the faith while Ireland was being evangelized. While the saint was +visiting Ui-Failghe, a territory now comprised in the King's county, a +pagan chieftain, named Berraidhe, formed a plan for murdering the +apostle. His wicked design came in some way to the knowledge of Odran, +the saint's charioteer, who so arranged matters as to take his master's +place, and thus received the fatal blow intended for him. + +The See of Armagh was founded about the year 455, towards the close of +the great apostle's life. The royal palace of Emania, in the immediate +neighbourhood, was then the residence of the kings of Ulster. A wealthy +chief, by name Daire,[131] gave the saint a portion of land for the +erection of his cathedral, on an eminence called _Druim-Sailech_, the +Hill of Sallows. This high ground is now occupied by the city of Armagh +(Ard-Macha). Religious houses for both sexes were established near the +church, and soon were filled with ardent and devoted subjects. + +The saint's labours were now drawing to a close, and the time of eternal +rest was at hand. He retired to his favourite retreat at Saull, and +there probably wrote his _Confessio_.[132] It is said that he wished to +die in the ecclesiastical metropolis of Ireland, and for this purpose, +when he felt his end approaching, desired to be conveyed thither; but +even as he was on his journey an angel appeared to him, and desired him +to return to Saull. Here he breathed his last, on Wednesday, the 17th of +March, in the year of our Lord 492. The holy viaticum and last anointing +were administered to him by St. Tussach.[133] + +The saint's age at the time of his death, as also the length of his +mission in Ireland, has been put at a much longer period by some +authors, but modern research and correction of chronology have all but +verified the statement given above. + +The intelligence of the death of St. Patrick spread rapidly through the +country; prelates and priests flocked from all parts to honour the +mortal remains of their glorious father. As each arrived at Saull, he +proceeded to offer the adorable sacrifice according to his rank. At +night the plain resounded with the chanting of psalms; and the darkness +was banished by the light of such innumerable torches, that it seemed +even as if day had hastened to dawn brightly on the beloved remains. St. +Fiacc, in his often-quoted Hymn, compares it to the long day caused by +the standing of the sun at the command of Joshua, when he fought against +the Gabaonites. + +It is said that the pagan Irish were not without some intimation of the +coming of their great apostle. Whether these prophecies were true or +false is a question we cannot pretend to determine; but their existence +and undoubted antiquity demand that they should have at least a passing +notice. Might not the Gaedhilic druid, as well as the Pythian priestess, +have received even from the powers of darkness, though despite their +will, an oracle[134] which prophesied truth? + +There is a strange, wild old legend preserved in the Book of Leinster, +which indicates that even in ancient Erinn the awful throes of nature +were felt which were manifested in so many places, and in such various +ways, during those dark hours when the Son of God hung upon the accursed +tree for the redemption of His guilty creatures. + +This tale or legend is called the _Aideadh Chonchobair_. It is one of +that class of narratives known under the generic title of Historical +Tragedies, or Deaths. The hero, Conor Mac Nessa, was King of Ulster at +the period of the Incarnation of our Lord. His succession to the throne +was rather a fortuity than the result of hereditary claim. Fergus Mac +Nessa was rightfully king at the time; but Conor's father having died +while he was yet an infant, Fergus, then the reigning monarch, proposed +marriage to his mother when the youth was about fifteen, and only +obtained the consent of the celebrated beauty on the strange condition +that he should hand over the sovereignty of Ulster to her son for a +year. The monarch complied, glad to secure the object of his affections +on any terms. Conor, young as he was, governed with such wisdom and +discretion as to win all hearts; and when the assigned period had +arrived, the Ulster men positively refused to permit Fergus to resume +his rightful dignity. After much contention the matter was settled +definitely in favour of the young monarch, and Fergus satisfied himself +with still retaining the wife for whose sake he had willingly made such +sacrifices. Conor continued to give ample proofs of the wisdom of his +people's decision. Under his government the noble Knights of the Royal +Branch sprang up in Ulster, and made themselves famous both in field and +court. + +It was usual in those barbarous times, whenever a distinguished enemy +was killed in battle, to cleave open his head, and to make a ball of the +brains by mixing them with lime, which was then dried, and preserved as +a trophy of the warrior's valour. Some of these balls were preserved in +the royal palace at Emania. One, that was specially prized, passed +accidentally into the hands of a famous Connaught champion, who found a +treacherous opportunity of throwing it at Conor, while he was displaying +himself, according to the custom of the times, to the ladies of an +opposing army, who had followed their lords to the scene of action. The +ball lodged in the king's skull, and his physicians declared that an +attempt to extract it would prove fatal. Conor was carried home; he soon +recovered, but he was strictly forbidden to use any violent exercise, +and required to avoid all excitement or anger. The king enjoyed his +usual health by observing those directions, until the very day of the +Crucifixion. But the fearful phenomena which then occurred diverted his +attention, and he inquired if _Bacrach_, his druid, could divine the +cause. + +The druid consulted his oracles, and informed the king that Jesus +Christ, the Son of the living God, was, even at that moment, suffering +death at the hands of the Jews. "What crime has He committed?" said +Conor. "None," replied the druid. "Then are they slaying Him +innocently?" said Conor. "They are," replied the druid. + +It was too great a sorrow for the noble prince; he could not bear that +his God should die unmourned; and rushing wildly from where he sat to a +neighbouring forest, he began to hew the young trees down, exclaiming: +"Thus would I destroy those who were around my King at putting Him to +death." The excitement proved fatal; and the brave and good King Conor +Mac Nessa died[135] avenging, in his own wild pagan fashion, the death +of his Creator. + +The secular history of Ireland, during the mission of St. Patrick, +affords but few events of interest or importance. King Laeghaire died, +according to the Four Masters, A.D. 458. The popular opinion attributed +his demise to the violation of his oath to the Leinster men. It is +doubtful whether he died a Christian, but the account of his burial[136] +has been taken to prove the contrary. It is much to be regretted that +persons entirely ignorant of the Catholic faith, whether that ignorance +be wilful or invincible, should attempt to write lives of Catholic +saints, or histories of Catholic countries. Such persons, no doubt +unintentionally, make the most serious mistakes, which a well-educated +Catholic child could easily rectify. We find a remarkable instance of +this in the following passage, taken from a work already mentioned: +"Perhaps this [King Laeghaire's oath] may not be considered an absolute +proof of the king's paganism. To swear by the sun and moon was +apparently, no doubt, paganism. But is it not also paganism to represent +the rain and wind as taking vengeance? ... for this is the language +copied by all the monastic annalists, and even by the Four Masters, +Franciscan friars, writing in the seventeenth century." The passage is +improved by a "note," in which the author mentions this as a proof that +such superstitions would not have been necessarily regarded two +centuries ago as inconsistent with orthodoxy. Now, in the first place, +the Catholic Church has always[137] condemned superstition of every +kind. It is true that as there are good as well as bad Christians in her +fold, there are also superstitious as well as believing Christians; but +the Church is not answerable for the sins of her children. She is +answerable for the doctrine which she teaches; and no one can point to +any place or time in which the Church taught such superstitions. +Secondly, the writers of history are obliged to relate facts as they +are. The Franciscan fathers do this, and had they not done it carefully, +and with an amount of labour which few indeed have equalled, their +admirable Annals would have been utterly useless. They do mention the +pagan opinion that it was "the sun and wind that killed him [Laeghaire], +because he had violated them;" but they do not say that they believed +this pagan superstition, and no one could infer it who read the passage +with ordinary candour. + +It is probable that Oilioll Molt, who succeeded King Laeghaire, A.D. +459, lived and died a pagan. He was slain, after a reign of twenty +years, by Laeghaire's son, Lughaidh, who reigned next. The good king +Aengus[138] died about this time. He was the first Christian King of +Munster, and is the common ancestor of the MacCarthys, O'Sullivans, +O'Keeffes, and O'Callahans. The foundation of the kingdom of Scotland by +an Irish colony, is generally referred to the year 503.[139] It has +already been mentioned that Cairbre Riada was the leader of an +expedition thither in the reign of Conaire II. The Irish held their +ground without assistance from the mother country until this period, +when the Picts obtained a decisive victory, and drove them from the +country. A new colony of the Dalriada now went out under the leadership +of Loarn, Aengus, and Fergus, the sons of Erc. They were encouraged and +assisted in their undertaking by their relative Mortagh, the then King +of Ireland. It is said they took the celebrated _Lia Fail_ to Scotland, +that Fergus might be crowned thereon. The present royal family of +England have their claim to the crown through the Stuarts, who were +descendants of the Irish Dalriada. Scotland now obtained the name of +Scotia, from the colony of Scots. Hence, for some time, Ireland was +designated Scotia Magna, to distinguish it from the country which so +obtained, and has since preserved, the name of the old race. + +Muircheartach, A.D. 504, was the first Christian King of Ireland; but he +was constantly engaged in war with the Leinster men about the most +unjust Boromean tribute. He belonged to the northern race of Hy-Nial, +being descended from Nial of the Nine Hostages. On his death, the crown +reverted to the southern Hy-Nials in the person of their representative, +Tuathal Maelgarbh. + +It would appear from a stanza in the Four Masters, that St. Brigid had +some prophetic intimation or knowledge of one of the battles fought by +Muircheartach. Her name is scarcely less famous for miracles than that +of the great apostle. Broccan's Hymn[140] contains allusions to a very +great number of these supernatural favours. Many of these marvels are of +a similar nature to those which the saints have been permitted to +perform in all ages of the Church's history. + +Brigid belonged to an illustrious family, who were lineally descended +from Eochad, a brother of Conn of the Hundred Battles. She was born at +Fochard, near Dundalk, about the year 453, where her parents happened to +be staying at the time; but Kildare was their usual place of residence, +and there the holy virgin began her saintly career. In her sixteenth +year she received the white cloak and religious veil, which was then the +distinctive garment of those who were specially dedicated to Christ, +from the hands of St. Macaille, the Bishop of Usneach, in Westmeath. +Eight young maidens of noble birth took the veil with her. Their first +residence was at a place in the King's county, still called Brigidstown. +The fame of her sanctity now extended far and wide, and she was +earnestly solicited from various parts of the country to found similar +establishments. Her first mission was to Munster, at the request of Erc, +the holy Bishop of Slane, who had a singular respect for her virtue. +Soon after, she founded a house of her order in the plain of Cliach, +near Limerick; but the people of Leinster at last became fearful of +losing their treasure, and sent a deputation requesting her return, and +offering land for the foundation of a large nunnery. Thus was +established, in 483, the famous Monastery of Kildare, or the Church of +the Oak. + +At the request of the saint, a bishop was appointed to take charge of +this important work; and under the guidance of Conlaeth, who heretofore +had been a humble anchorite, it soon became distinguished for its +sanctity and usefulness. The concourse of strangers and pilgrims was +immense; and in the once solitary plain one of the largest cities of the +time soon made its appearance. It is singular and interesting to remark, +how the call to a life of virginity was felt and corresponded with in +the newly Christianized country, even as it had been in the Roman +Empire, when it also received the faith. Nor is it less noticeable how +the same safeguards and episcopal rule preserved the foundations of each +land in purity and peace, and have transmitted even to our own days, in +the same Church, and in it only, that privileged life. + +The Four Masters give her obituary under the year 525. According to +Cogitosus, one of her biographers, her remains were interred in her own +church. Some authorities assert that her relics were removed to Down, +when Kildare was ravaged by the Danes, about the year 824. + +It has been doubted whether Downpatrick could lay claim to the honour of +being the burial-place of Ireland's three great saints,[141] but there +are good arguments in its favour. An old prophecy of St. Columba +regarding his interment runs thus:-- + + "My prosperity in guiltless Hy, + And my soul in Derry, + And my body under the flag + Beneath which are Patrick and Brigid." + +The relics of the three saints escaped the fury of the Danes, who burned +the town and pillaged the cathedral six or seven times, between the +years 940 and 1111. In 1177, John de Courcy took possession of the town, +and founded a church attached to a house of Secular Canons, under the +invocation of the Blessed Trinity. In 1183 they were replaced by a +community of Benedictine monks, from St. Wirburgh's Abbey, at Chester. +Malachy, who was then bishop, granted the church to the English monks +and prior, and changed the name to that of the Church of St. Patrick. +This prelate was extremely anxious to discover the relics of the saints, +which a constant tradition averred were there concealed. It is said, +that one day, as he prayed in the church, his attention was directed +miraculously to an obscure part of it; or, according to another and more +probable account, to a particular spot in the abbey-yard, where, when +the earth was removed, their remains were found in a triple +cave,--Patrick in the middle, Columba and Brigid on either side. + +At the request of De Courcy, delegates were despatched to Rome by the +bishop to acquaint Urban III. of the discovery of the bodies. His +Holiness immediately sent Cardinal Vivian to preside at the translation +of the relics. The ceremony took place on the 9th of June, 1186, that +day being the feast of St. Columba. The relics of the three saints were +deposited in the same monument at the right side of the high altar. The +right hand of St. Patrick was enshrined and placed on the high altar. In +1315, Edward Bruce invaded Ulster, marched to Downpatrick, destroyed the +abbey, and carried off the enshrined hand. In 1538, Lord Grey, who +marched into Lecale to establish the supremacy of his master, Henry +VIII., by fire and sword, "effaced the statues of the three patron +saints, and burned the cathedral, for which act, along with many others +equally laudable, he was beheaded three years afterwards." The +restoration of the old abbey-church was undertaken of late years, and +preceded by an act of desecration, which is still remembered with +horror. The church had been surrounded by a burying-ground, where many +had wished to repose, that they might, even in death, be near the relics +of the three great patron saints of Erinn. But the graves were exhumed +without mercy, and many were obliged to carry away the bones of their +relatives, and deposit them where they could. The "great tomb," in which +it was believed that "Patrick, Brigid, and Columkille" had slept for +more than six centuries, was not spared; the remains were flung out into +the churchyard, and only saved from further desecration by the piety of +a faithful people. + +The shrine of St. Patrick's hand was in possession of the late Catholic +Bishop of Belfast. The relic itself has long disappeared; but the +shrine, after it was carried off by Bruce, passed from one trustworthy +guardian to another, until it came into his hands. One of these was a +Protestant, who, with noble generosity, handed it over to a Catholic as +a more fitting custodian. One Catholic family, into whose care it passed +at a later period, refused the most tempting offers for it, though +pressed by poverty, lest it should fall into the hands of those who +might value it rather as a curiosity than as an object of devotion. + +This beautiful reliquary consists of a silver case in the shape of the +hand and arm, cut off a little below the elbow. It is considerably +thicker than the hand and arm of an ordinary man, as if it were intended +to enclose these members without pressing upon them too closely. The +fingers are bent, so as to represent the hand in the attitude of +benediction. + +But there is another relic of St. Patrick and his times of scarcely less +interest. The _Domhnach Airgid_[142] contains a copy of the Four +Gospels, which, there is every reason to believe, were used by the great +apostle of Ireland. The relic consists of two parts--the shrine or case +and the manuscript. The shrine is an oblong box, nine inches by seven, +and five inches in height. It is composed of three distinct covers, in +the ages of which there is obviously a great difference. The inner or +first cover is of wood, apparently yew, and may be coeval with the +manuscript it is intended to preserve. The second, which is of copper +plated with silver, is assigned to a period between the sixth and +twelfth centuries, from the style of its scroll or interlaced ornaments. +The figures in relief, and letters on the third cover, which is of +silver plated with gold, leave no doubt of its being the work of the +fourteenth century. + +The last or external cover is of great interest as a specimen of the +skill and taste in art of its time in Ireland, and also for the highly +finished representations of ancient costume which it preserves. The +ornaments on the top consist principally of a large figure of the +Saviour in _alto-relievo_ in the centre, and eleven figures of saints in +_basso-relievo_ on each side in four oblong compartments. There is a +small square reliquary over the head of our divine Lord, covered with a +crystal, which probably contained a piece of the holy cross. The smaller +figures in relief are, Columba, Brigid, and Patrick; those in the second +compartment, the Apostles James, Peter, and Paul; in the third, the +Archangel Michael, and the Virgin and Child; in the fourth compartment a +bishop presents a _cumdach_, or cover, to an ecclesiastic. This, +probably, has a historical relation to the reliquary itself. + +One prayer uttered by St. Patrick has been singularly fulfilled. "May my +Lord grant," he exclaims, "that I may never lose His people, which He +has acquired in the ends of the earth!" From hill and dale, from camp +and cottage, from plebeian and noble, there rang out a grand "Amen." The +strain was caught by Secundinus and Benignus, by Columba and Columbanus, +by Brigid and Brendan. It floated away from Lindisfarne and Iona, to +Iceland and Tarentum. It was heard on the sunny banks of the Rhine, at +Antwerp and Cologne, in Oxford, in Pavia, and in Paris. And still the +old echo is breathing its holy prayer. By the priest, who toils in cold +and storm to the "station" on the mountain side, far from his humble +home. By the confessor, who spends hour after hour, in the heat of +summer and the cold of winter, absolving the penitent children of +Patrick. By the monk in his cloister. By noble and true-hearted men, +faithful through centuries of persecution. And loudly and nobly, though +it be but faint to human ears, is that echo uttered also by the aged +woman who lies down by the wayside to die in the famine years,[143] +because she prefers the bread of heaven to the bread of earth, and the +faith taught by Patrick to the tempter's gold. By the emigrant, who, +with broken heart bids a long farewell to the dear island home, to the +old father, to the grey-haired mother, because his adherence to his +faith tends not to further his temporal interest, and he must starve or +go beyond the sea for bread. Thus ever and ever that echo is gushing up +into the ear of God, and never will it cease until it shall have merged +into the eternal alleluia which the often-martyred and ever-faithful +children of the saint shall shout with him in rapturous voice before the +Eternal Throne. + +[Illustration: ST. PATRICK'S BELL.] + +[Illustration: CROMLECH, AT CASTLE MARY, CLOYNE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[125] _Authenticated_.--A copy of this ancient hymn, with a Latin and +English translation, may be found in Petrie's _Essay on Tara_, p. 57, in +Dr. Todd's _Life of St. Patrick_, and in Mr. Whitley Stokes' +_Goidilica_. We regret exceedingly that our limited space will not +permit us to give this and other most valuable and interesting +documents. There is a remarkable coincidence of thought and expression +between some portions of this hymn and the well-known prayer of St. +Ignatius of Loyola, _Corpus Christi, salve me_. Such coincidences are +remarkable and beautiful evidences of the oneness of faith, which +manifests itself so frequently in similarity of language as well as in +unity of belief. The Hymn of St. Patrick, written in the fifth century, +is as purely Catholic as the Prayer of St. Ignatius, written in the +sixteenth. St. Patrick places the virtue or power of the saints between +him and evil, and declares his hope of merit for his good work with the +same simple trust which all the saints have manifested from the earliest +ages. This hymn is written in the _Bearla Feine_, or most ancient +Gaedhilic dialect. Dr. O'Donovan well observes, that it bears internal +evidence of its authenticity in its allusion to pagan customs. Tirechan, +who wrote in the seventh century, says that there were four honours paid +to St. Patrick in _all monasteries and churches throughout the whole of +Ireland_. First, the festival of St. Patrick was honoured for three days +and nights with all good cheer, except flesh meat [which the Church did +not allow then to be used in Lent]. Second, there was a proper preface +for him in the Mass. Third, his hymn was sung for the whole time. +Fourth, his Scotic hymn was sung always. As we intend publishing a +metrical translation of his hymn suitable for general use, we hope it +will be "said and sung" by thousands of his own people on his festival +for all time to come. + +[126] _Hell_.--O'Curry, p. 539. This is translated from the Tripartite +Life of St. Patrick. + +[127] _Moment_.--Keating, Vol ii. p. 15. + +[128] _Land_.--Near the present town of Killala, co. Mayo. + +[129] _Protected him_.--Book of Armagh and Vit. Trip. + +[130] _Death_.--Vit. Trip. It was probably at this time St. Patrick +wrote his celebrated letter to Caroticus. + +[131] _Daire_.--Book of Armagh, fol. 6, b.a. + +[132] _Confessio_.--This most remarkable and interesting document will +be translated and noticed at length in the _Life of St. Patrick_, which +we are now preparing for the press. + +[133] _St. Tussach_.--All this Dr. Todd omits. The Four Masters enter +the obituary of St. Patrick under the year 457. It is obvious that some +uncertainty must exist in the chronology of this early period. + +[134] _Oracle_.--It is said that, three years before St. Patrick's +apostolic visit to Ireland, the druids of King Laeghaire predicted the +event to their master as an impending calamity. The names of the druids +were Lochra and Luchat Mael; their prophecy runs thus:-- + +"A _Tailcenn_ will come over the raging sea, With his perforated +garment, his crook-headed staff, With his table at the east end of his +house, And all his people will answer 'Amen, Amen.'" + +The allusions to the priestly vestments, the altar at the east end of +the church, and the pastoral staff, are sufficiently obvious, and easily +explained. The prophecy is quoted by Macutenius, and quoted again from +him by Probus; but the original is in one of the most ancient and +authentic Irish MSS., the Book of Armagh. + +[135] _Died_.--O'Curry, p. 273. + +[136] _Burial_.--"The body of Laeghaire was brought afterwards from the +south, and interred with his armour of championship in the south-east of +the outer rampart of the royal rath of Laeghaire, at Tara, with his face +turned southwards upon the men of Leinster, as fighting with them, for +he was the enemy of the Leinster men in his lifetime."--Translated from +the _Leabhar na Nuidhre._ Petrie's _Tara_, p. 170. + +[137] _Always_.--National customs and prejudices have always been +respected by the Church: hence she has frequently been supposed to +sanction what she was obliged to tolerate. A long residence in +Devonshire, and an intimate acquaintance with its peasantry, has +convinced us that there is incalculably more superstitions believed and +_practised_ there of the _grossest kind_, than in any county in Ireland. +Yet we should be sorry to charge the Established Church or its clergy, +some of whom are most earnest and hard-working men, with the sins of +their parishioners. The following extract from St. Columba's magnificent +Hymn, will show what the early Irish saints thought of pagan +superstitions: + +"I adore not the voice of birds, Nor sneezing, nor lots in this world, +Nor a boy, nor chance, nor woman: My Druid is Christ, the Son of God; +Christ, Son of Mary, the great Abbot, The Father, the Son, and the Holy +Ghost." + + + +[138] _Aengus_.-- + +"Died the branch, the spreading tree of gold, Aenghus the laudable." + +--Four Masters, p. 153. The branches of this tree have indeed spread far +and wide, and the four great families mentioned above have increased and +multiplied in all parts of the world. + +[139] _Year_ 503.--The Four Masters give the date 498, which O'Donovan +corrects both in the text and in a note. + +[140] _Broccan's Hymn_.--This Hymn was written about A.D. 510. See the +translation in Mr. Whitley Stokes' _Goidilica_, Calcutta, 1866. +Privately printed. + +[141] _Saints_.--St. Patrick, St. Columba, and St. Brigid. See Reeves' +_Ecc. Anti. of Down and Connor_, p. 225, and Giraldus Cambrensis, d. 3, +cap. 18. + +[142] _Domhnach Airgid_.--See O'Curry, _MS. Materials_, p. 321, for a +complete verification of the authenticity of this relic. The Tripartite +Life of St. Patrick mentions the gift of this relic by the saint to _St. +MacCarthainn_. Dr. Petrie concludes that the copy of the Gospels +contained therein, was undoubtedly the one which was used by our +apostle. We give a fac-simile of the first page, which cannot fail to +interest the antiquarian. + +[143] _Famine years_.--During the famous, or rather infamous, Partry +evictions, an old man of eighty and a woman of seventy-four were amongst +the number of those who suffered for their ancient faith. They were +driven from the home which their parents and grandfathers had occupied, +in a pitiless storm of sleet and snow. The aged woman utters some slight +complaint; but her noble-hearted aged husband consoles her with this +answer: "The sufferings and death of Jesus Christ were bitterer still." +Sixty-nine souls were cast out of doors that day. Well might the _Times_ +say: "These evictions are a hideous scandal; and the bishop should +rather die than be guilty of such a crime." Yet, who can count up all +the evictions, massacres, tortures, and punishments which this people +has endured? + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +[Gothic: The Religion of Ancient Erinn]--The Druids and their +Teaching--The Irish were probably Fire-worshippers--[Gothic: The Customs +of Ancient Erinn]--Similarity between Eastern and Irish Customs--Beal +Fires--Hunting the Wren--"Jacks," a Grecian game--"Keen," an Eastern +Custom--Superstitions--The Meaning of the Word--What Customs are +Superstitious and what are not--Holy Wells--[Gothic: The Laws of Ancient +Erinn]--Different kinds of Laws--The Lex non Scripta and the Lex +Scripta--Christianity necessitated the Revision of Ancient Codes--The +Compilation of the Brehon Laws--Proofs that St. Patrick assisted +thereat--Law of Distress--Law of Succession--[Gothic: The Language of +Ancient Erinn]--Writing in pre-Christian Erinn--Ogham Writing--[Gothic: +Antiquities of pre-Christian Erinn]--Round +Towers--Cromlechs--Raths--Crannoges. + + +Eastern customs and eastern superstitions, which undoubtedly are a +strong confirmatory proof of our eastern origin, abounded in ancient +Erinn. Druidism was the religion of the Celts, and druidism was probably +one of the least corrupt forms of paganism. The purity of the +divinely-taught patriarchal worship, became more and more corrupted as +it passed through defiled channels. Yet, in all pagan mythologies, we +find traces of the eternal verity in an obvious prominence of cultus +offered to one god above the rest; and obvious, though grossly +misapplied, glimpses of divine attributes, in the many deified objects +which seemed to symbolize his power and his omnipotence. + +The Celtic druids probably taught the same doctrine as the Greek +philosophers. The metempsychosis, a prominent article of this creed, may +have been derived from the Pythagoreans, but more probably it was one of +the many relics of patriarchal belief which were engrafted on all pagan +religions. They also taught that the universe would never be entirely +destroyed, supposing that it would be purified by fire and water from +time to time. This opinion may have been derived from the same source. +The druids had a _pontifex maximus_, to whom they yielded entire +obedience,--an obvious imitation of the Jewish custom. The nation was +entirely governed by its priests, though after a time, when the kingly +power developed itself, the priestly power gave place to the regal. Gaul +was the head-quarters of druidism; and thither we find the Britons, and +even the Romans, sending their children for instruction. Eventually, +Mona became a chief centre for Britain. The Gaedhilic druids, though +probably quite as learned as their continental brethren, were more +isolated; and hence we cannot learn so much of their customs from +external sources. There is no doubt that the druids of Gaul and Britain +offered human sacrifices; it appears almost certain the Irish druids did +not. + +Our principal and most reliable information about this religion, is +derived from Caesar. His account of the learning of its druids, of their +knowledge of astronomy, physical science, mechanics, arithmetic, and +medicine, however highly coloured, is amply corroborated by the casual +statements of other authors.[144] He expressly states that they used the +Greek character in their writings, and mentions tables found in the camp +of the Helvetii written in these characters, containing an account of +all the men capable of bearing arms. + +It is probable that Irish druidical rites manifested themselves +principally in Sun-worship. The name of Bel, still retained in the +Celtic Beltinne, indicates its Phoenician origin; Baal being the name +under which they adored that luminary. It is also remarkable that Grian, +which signifies the sun in Irish, resembles an epithet of Apollo given +by Virgil,[145] who sometimes styles him Grynaeus. St. Patrick also +confirms this conjecture, by condemning Sun-worship in his Confession, +when he says: "All those who adore it shall descend into misery and +punishment." If the well-known passage of Diodorus Siculus may be +referred to Ireland, it affords another confirmation. Indeed, it appears +difficult to conceive how any other place but Ireland could be intended +by the "island in the ocean over against Gaul, to the north, and not +inferior in size to Sicily, the _soil of which is so fruitful_ that they +mow there twice in the year."[146] In this most remarkable passage, he +mentions the skill of their harpers, their sacred groves and _singular +temple of round form_, their attachment to the Greeks by a singular +affection from _old times_, and their tradition of having been visited +by the Greeks, who left offerings which were noted in _Greek letters_. + +Toland and Carte assume that this passage refers to the Hebrides, +Rowlands applies it to the island of Anglesea; but these conjectures are +not worth regarding. We can scarcely imagine an unprejudiced person +deciding against Ireland; but where prejudice exists, no amount of proof +will satisfy. It has been suggested that the Irish pagan priests were +not druids properly so called, but magi;[147] and that the Irish word +which is taken to mean druid, is only used to denote persons specially +gifted with wisdom. Druidism probably sprung from magism, which was a +purer kind of worship, though it would be difficult now to define the +_precise_ limits which separated these forms of paganism. If the +original pagan religion of ancient Erinn was magism, introduced by its +Phoenician colonizers, it is probable that it had gradually degenerated +to the comparatively grosser rites of the druid before the advent of St. +Patrick. His destruction of the idols at Magh Slecht is unquestionable +evidence that idol worship[148] was then practised, though probably in a +very limited degree. + +The folklore of a people is perhaps, next to their language, the best +guide to their origin. The editor of Bohn's edition of the Chronicle of +Richard of Cirencester remarks, that "many points of coincidence have +been remarked in comparing the religion of the Hindoos with that of the +ancient Britons; and in the language of these two people some striking +similarities occur in those proverbs and modes of expression which are +derived from national and religious ceremonies."[149] We are not aware +of any British customs or proverbs which bear upon this subject, nor +does the writer mention any in proof of his assertion: if, however, for +Britons we read Irish, his observations may be amply verified. + +The kindly "God save you!" and "God bless all here!" of the Irish +peasant, finds its counterpart in the eastern "God be gracious to thee, +my son!" The partiality, if not reverence, for the number seven, is +indicated in our churches. The warm-hearted hospitality of the very +poorest peasant, is a practical and never-failing illustration of the +Hindoo proverb, "The tree does not withdraw its shade even from the +woodcutter." + +The celebration of St. John's Eve by watchfires, is undoubtedly a +remnant of paganism, still practised in many parts of Ireland, as we can +aver from personal knowledge; but the custom of passing cattle through +the fire has been long discontinued, and those who kindle the fires have +little idea of its origin, and merely continue it as an amusement. Kelly +mentions, in his _Folklore_, that a calf was sacrificed in +Northamptonshire during the present century, in one of these fires, to +"stop the murrain." The superstitious use of fire still continues in +England and Scotland, though we believe the Beltinne on St. John's Eve +is peculiar to Ireland. The hunting of the wren[150] on St. Stephen's +Day, in this country, is said, by Vallancey, to have been originated by +the first Christian missionaries, to counteract the superstitious +reverence with which this bird was regarded by the druids. Classic +readers will remember the origin of the respect paid to this bird in +pagan times. The peasantry in Ireland, who have never read either Pliny +or Aristotle, are equally conversant with the legend. + +The common and undignified game of "jacks" also lays claim to a noble +ancestry. In Mr. St. John's work on _The Manners and Customs of Ancient +Greece_, he informs us that the game was a classical one, and called +_pentalitha._ It was played with five _astragals_--knuckle-bones, +pebbles, or little balls--which were thrown up into the air, and then +attempted to be caught when falling on the back of the hand. Another +Irish game, "pricking the loop," in Greece is called _himantiliginos_, +pricking the garter. Hemestertius supposes the Gordian Knot to have been +nothing but a variety of the himantiliginos. The game consists in +winding a thong in such an intricate manner, that when a peg is inserted +in the right ring, it is caught, and the game is won; if the mark is +missed, the thong unwinds without entangling the peg. + +The Irish keen [_caoine_] may still be heard in Algeria and Upper Egypt, +even as Herodotus heard it chanted by Lybian women. This wailing for the +deceased is a most ancient custom; and if antiquity imparts dignity, it +can hardly be termed barbarous. The Romans employed keeners at their +funerals, an idea which they probably borrowed from the Etruscans,[151] +with many others incomparably more valuable, but carefully +self-appropriated. Our _wakes_ also may have had an identity of origin +with the funeral feasts of the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, whose +customs were all probably derived from a common source. + +The fasting of the creditor on the debtor is still practised in India, +and will be noticed in connexion with the Brehon Laws. There is, +however, a class of customs which have obtained the generic term of +superstitions, which may not quite be omitted, and which are, for many +reasons, difficult to estimate rightly. In treating of this subject, we +encounter, _prima facie_, the difficulty of giving a definition of +superstition. The Irish are supposed to be pre-eminently a superstitious +people. Those who make this an accusation, understand by superstition +the belief in anything supernatural; and they consider as equally +superstitious, veneration of a relic, belief in a miracle, a story of a +banshee, or a legend of Finn Mac Cumhaill. Probably, if the Celts did +not venerate relics, and believe in the possibility of miracles, we +should hear far less of their superstitions. Superstition of the +grossest kind is prevalent among the lower orders in every part of +England, and yet the nation prides itself on its rejection of this +weakness. But according to another acceptation of the term, only such +heathen customs as refer to the worship of false gods, are +superstitions. These customs remain, unfortunately, in many countries, +but in some they have been Christianized. Those who use the term +superstition generically, still call the custom superstitious, from a +latent and, perhaps, in some cases, unconscious impression that there is +no supernatural. Such persons commence with denying all miraculous +interventions except those which are recorded in holy Scripture; and +unhappily, in some cases, end by denying the miracles of Scripture. + +To salute a person who sneezed with some form of benediction, was a +pagan custom. It is said to have originated through an opinion of the +danger attending it; and the exclamation used was: "Jupiter help me!" In +Ireland, the pagan custom still remains, but it has been Christianized, +and "God bless you!" is substituted for the pagan form. Yet we have +known persons who considered the use of this aspiration superstitious, +and are pleased to assert that the Irish use the exclamation as a +protection against evil spirits, meaning thereby fairies. When a motive +is persistently attributed which does not exist, argument is useless. + +Devotion to certain places, pilgrimages, even fasting and other bodily +macerations, were pagan customs. These, also, have been Christianized. +Buildings once consecrated to the worship of pagan gods, are now used as +Christian temples: what should we think of the person who should assert +that because pagan gods were once adored in these churches, therefore +the worship now offered in them was offered to pagan deities? The +temples, lite the customs, are Christianized. + +The author of a very interesting article in the _Ulster Archaeological +Journal_ (vol. ix. p. 256), brings forward a number of Irish customs for +which he finds counterparts in India. But he forgets that in Ireland the +customs are Christianized, while in India, they remain pagan; and like +most persons who consider the Irish pre-eminently superstitious, he +appears ignorant of the teaching of that Church which Christianized the +world. The special "superstition" of this article is the devotion to +holy wells. The custom still exists in Hindostan; people flock to them +for cure of their diseases, and leave "rags" on the bushes as +"scapegoats," _ex votos_, so to say, of cures, or prayers for cures. In +India, the prayer is made to a heathen deity; in Ireland, the people +happen to believe that God hears the prayers of saints more readily than +their own; and acting on the principle which induced persons, in +apostolic times, to use "handkerchiefs and aprons" which had touched the +person of St. Paul as mediums of cure, because of his virgin sanctity, +in preference to "handkerchiefs and aprons" of their own, they apply to +the saints and obtain cures. But they do not believe the saints can give +what God refuses, or that the saints are more merciful than God. They +know that the saints are His special friends, and we give to a friend +what we might refuse to one less dear. _Lege totum, si vis scire totum_, +is a motto which writers on national customs should not forget. + +Customs were probably the origin of laws. Law, in its most comprehensive +sense, signifies a rule of action laid down[152] by a superior. Divine +law is manifested (1) by the law of nature, and (2) by revelation. The +law of nations is an arbitrary arrangement, founded on the law of nature +and the law of revelation: its perfection depends obviously on its +correspondence with the divine law. Hence, by common consent, the +greatest praise is given to those laws of ancient nations which +approximate most closely to the law of nature, though when such laws +came to be revised by those who had received the law of revelation, they +were necessarily amended or altered in conformity therewith. No +government can exist without law; but as hereditary succession preceded +the law of hereditary succession, which was at first established by +custom, so the _lex non scripta_, or national custom, preceded the _lex +scripta_, or statute law. The intellectual condition of a nation may be +well and safely estimated by its laws. A code of laws that were observed +for centuries before the Christian era, and for centuries after the +Christian era, and which can bear the most critical tests of forensic +acumen in the nineteenth century, evidence that the framers of the code +were possessed of no slight degree of mental culture. Such are the +Brehon laws, by which pagan and Christian Erinn was governed for +centuries. + +The sixth century was a marked period of legal reform. The Emperor +Justinian, by closing the schools of Athens, gave a deathblow to Grecian +philosophy and jurisprudence. But Grecian influence had already acted on +the formation of Roman law, and probably much of the Athenian code was +embodied therein. The origin of Roman law is involved in the same +obscurity as the origin of the Brehon code. In both cases, the mist of +ages lies like a light, but impenetrable veil, over all that could give +certainty to conjecture. Before the era of the Twelve Tables, mention is +made of laws enacted by Romulus respecting what we should now call civil +liabilities. Laws concerning religion are ascribed to Numa, and laws of +contract to Servius Tullius, who is supposed to have collected the +regulations made by his predecessors. The Twelve Tables were notably +formed on the legal enactments of Greece. The cruel severity of the law +for insolvent debtors, forms a marked contrast to the milder and more +equitable arrangements of the Brehon code. By the Roman enactments, the +person of the debtor was at the mercy of his creditor, who might sell +him for a slave beyond the Tiber. The Celt allowed only the seizure of +goods, and even this was under regulations most favourable to the +debtor. The legal establishment of Christianity by Constantine, or we +should rather say the existence of Christianity, necessitated a complete +revision of all ancient laws: hence we find the compilation of the +Theodosian code almost synchronizing with the revision of the Brehon +laws. The spread of Christianity, and the new modes of thought and +action which obtained thereby, necessitated the reconstruction of +ancient jurisprudence in lands as widely distant geographically, and as +entirely separated politically, as Italy and Ireland. + +Those who have studied the subject most carefully, and who are therefore +most competent to give an opinion, accept the popular account of the +revision of our laws. + +The Four Masters thus record this important event:--"The age of Christ +438. The tenth year of Laeghaire. The Feinchus of Ireland were purified +and written, the writings and old works of Ireland having been collected +[and brought] to one place at the request of St. Patrick. Those were the +nine supporting props by whom this was done: Laeghaire, i.e., King of +Ireland, Corc, and Daire, the three kings; Patrick, Benen, and +Cairneach, the three saints; Ross, Dubhthach, and Fearghus, the three +antiquaries." Dr. O'Donovan, in his note, shelters himself under an +extract from Petrie's _Tara;_ but it is to be supposed that he coincides +in the opinion of that gentleman. Dr. Petrie thinks that "little doubt +can be entertained that such a work was compiled within a short period +after the introduction of Christianity in the country, and that St. +Patrick may have laid the foundations of it;"[153] though he gives no +satisfactory reason why that saint should not have assisted at the +compilation, and why the statements of our annalists should be refused +on this subject, when they are accepted on others. A list of the +"family" [household] of Patrick is given immediately after, which Dr. +O'Donovan has taken great pains to verify, and with which he appears +satisfied. If the one statement is true, why should the other be false? +Mr. O'Curry, whose opinion on such subjects is admittedly worthy of the +highest consideration, expresses himself strongly in favour of receiving +the statements of our annalists, and thinks that both Dr. Petrie and Dr. +Lanigan are mistaken in supposing that the compilation was not effected +by those to whom it has been attributed. As to the antiquity of these +laws, he observes that Cormac Mac Cullinan quotes passages from them in +his Glossary, which was written not later than the ninth century, and +then the language of the Seanchus[154] Mor was so ancient that it had +become obsolete. To these laws, he well observes, the language of Moore, +on the MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, may be applied: "They were not +written by a foolish people, nor for any foolish purpose;" and these +were the "laws and institutions which regulated the political and social +system of a people the most remarkable in Europe, from a period almost +lost in the dark mazes of antiquity, down to about within two hundred +years of our own time, and whose spirit and traditions influence the +feelings and actions of the native Irish even to this day."[155] + +But we can adduce further testimony. The able editor and translator of +the _Seanchus Mor_, which forms so important a portion of our ancient +code, has, in his admirable Preface, fully removed all doubt on this +question. He shows the groundlessness of the objections (principally +chronological) which had been made regarding those who are asserted to +have been its compilers. He also makes it evident that it was a work in +which St. Patrick should have been expected to engage: (1) because, +being a Roman citizen, and one who had travelled much, he was probably +well aware of the Christian modifications which had already been +introduced into the Roman code. (2) That he was eminently a judicious +missionary, and such a revision of national laws would obviously be no +slight support to the advancement of national Christianity. It is also +remarked, that St. Patrick may not necessarily have assisted personally +in writing the MS.; his confirmation of what was compiled by others +would be sufficient. St. Benignus, who is known to be the author of +other works,[156] probably acted as his amanuensis. + +The subject-matter of the portions of the Seanchus Mor which have been +translated, is the law of distress. Two points are noticeable in this: +First, the careful and accurate administration of justice which is +indicated by the details of these legal enactments; second, the custom +therein sanctioned of the creditor fasting upon the debtor, a custom +which still exists in Hindostan. Hence, in some cases, the creditor +fasts on the debtor until he is compelled to pay his debt, lest his +creditor should die at the door; in other cases, the creditor not only +fasts himself, but also compels his debtor to fast, by stopping his +supplies. Elphinstone describes this as used even against princes, and +especially by troops to procure payment of arrears.[157] + +One of the most noticeable peculiarities of the Brehon law is the +compensation for murder, called _eric_. This, however, was common to +other nations. Its origin is ascribed to the Germans, but the +institution was probably far more ancient. We find it forbidden[158] in +the oldest code of laws in existence; and hence the _eric_ must have +been in being at an early period of the world's civil history. + +The law of succession, called _tanaisteacht_, or tanistry, is one of the +most peculiar of the Brehon laws. The eldest son succeeded the father to +the exclusion of all collateral claimants, unless he was disqualified by +deformity, imbecility, or crime. In after ages, by a compact between +parents or mutual agreement, the succession was sometimes made alternate +in two or more families. The eldest son, being recognized as presumptive +heir, was denominated _tanaiste_, that is, minor or second; while the +other sons, or persons eligible in case of failure, were termed +_righdhamhua_, which literally means king-material, or king-makings. The +_tanaiste_ had a separate establishment and distinct privileges. The +primitive intention was, that the "best man" should reign; but +practically it ended in might being taken for right, and often for less +important qualifications. + +The possession and inheritance of landed property was regulated by the +law called gavelkind (gavail-kinne), an ancient Celtic institution, but +common to Britons, Anglo-Saxons, and others. By this law, inherited or +other property was divided equally between the sons, to the exclusion of +the daughters (unless, indeed, in default of heirs male, when females +were permitted a life interest). The _tanaiste_, however, was allotted +the dwelling-house and other privileges. + +The tenure of land was a tribe or family right; and, indeed, the whole +system of government and legislation was far more patriarchal than +Teutonic--another indication of an eastern origin. All the members of a +tribe or family had an equal right to their proportionate share of the +land occupied by the whole. This system created a mutual independence +and self-consciousness of personal right and importance, strongly at +variance with the subjugation of the Germanic and Anglo-Norman vassal. + +The compilation of the Brehon laws originated in a question that arose +as to how the murderer of Odran, Patrick's charioteer, should be +punished. The saint was allowed to select whatever Brehon he pleased to +give judgment. He chose Dubhthach; and the result of his decision was +the compilation of these laws, as it was at once seen that a purely +pagan code would not suit Christian teaching. + +The Celtic language is now admittedly one of the most ancient in +existence. Its affinity with Sanscrit, the eldest daughter of the +undiscoverable mother-tongue, has been amply proved,[159] and the study +of the once utterly despised Irish promises to be one which will +abundantly repay the philologist. It is to be regretted that we are +indebted to German students for the verification of these statements; +but the Germans are manifestly born philologists, and they have +opportunities of leisure, and encouragement for the prosecution of such +studies, denied to the poorer Celt. It is probable that Celtic will yet +be found to have been one of the most important of the Indo-European +tongues. Its influence on the formation of the Romance languages has yet +to be studied in the light of our continually increasing knowledge of +its more ancient forms; and perhaps the conjectures of Betham will, by +the close of this century, receive as much respect as the once equally +ridiculed history of Keating. + +It is almost impossible to doubt that the Irish nation had letters and +some form of writing before the arrival of St. Patrick. There are so +many references to the existence of writings in the most ancient MSS., +that it appears more rash to deny their statements than to accept them. + +[Illustration: RUNES FROM THE RUNIC CROSS AT RUTHWELL.] + +The three principal arguments against a pre-Christian alphabet appears +to be: (1) The absence of any MS. of such writing. (2) The use of the +Roman character in all MSS. extant. (3) The universal opinion, scarcely +yet exploded, that the Irish Celts were barbarians. In reply to the +first objection, we may observe that St. Patrick is said to have +destroyed all the remnants of pagan writing.[160] Caesar mentions that +the druids of Gaul used Greek characters. It appears impossible that the +Irish druids, who were at least their equals in culture, should have +been destitute of any kind of written character. The ancient form of +Welsh letters were somewhat similar to the runes of which we give a +specimen, and this alphabet was called the "alphabet of the bards," in +contradistinction to which is placed the "alphabet of the monks," or +Roman alphabet. The alphabet of the Irish bard may have been the +Beith-luis-nion, represented by the Ogham character, of which more +hereafter. + +The difficulty arising from the fact of St. Patrick's having given +_abgitorium_, or alphabets, to his converts, appears to us purely +chimerical. Latin was from the first the language of the Church, and +being such, whether the Irish converts had or had not a form of writing, +one of the earliest duties of a Christian missionary was to teach those +preparing for the priesthood the language in which they were to +administer the sacraments. The alphabet given by the saint was simply +the common Roman letter then in use. The Celtic characteristic +veneration for antiquity and religion, has still preserved it; and +strange to say, the Irish of the nineteenth century alone use the +letters which were common to the entire Roman Empire in the fifth. The +early influence of ecclesiastical authority, and the circumstance that +the priests of the Catholic Church were at once the instructors in and +the preservers of letters, will account for the immediate disuse of +whatever alphabet the druids may have had. The third objection is a mere +_argumentum ad ignorantiam_. + +[Illustration: CUNEIFORM CHARACTERS.] + +It is to be regretted that the subject of Ogham writing has not been +taken up by a careful and competent hand.[161] There are few people who +have not found out some method of recording their history, and there are +few subjects of deeper interest than the study of the efforts of the +human mind to perpetuate itself in written characters. The Easterns had +their cuneiform or arrow-headed symbols, and the Western world has even +yet its quipus, and tells its history by the number of its knots. + +[Illustration: The Quipus] + +The peasant girl still knots her handkerchief as her _memoria technica_, +and the lady changes her ring from its accustomed finger. Each practice +is quite as primitive an effort of nature as the Ogham of the Celtic +bard. He used a stone pillar or a wooden stick for his notches,--a more +permanent record than the knot or the Indian quipus.[162] The use of a +stick as a vehicle for recording ideas by conventional marks, appears +very ancient; and this in itself forms a good argument for the antiquity +of Ogham writing. Mr. O'Curry has given it expressly as his opinion, +"that the pre-Christian Gaedhils possessed and practised a system of +writing and keeping records quite different from and independent of the +Greek and Roman form and characters, which gained currency in the +country after the introduction of Christianity." He then gives in +evidence passages from our ancient writings which are preserved, in +which the use of the Ogham character is distinctly mentioned. One +instance is the relation in the _Tain bo Chuailgne_ of directions having +been left on wands or hoops written in Ogham by Cuchulainn for Meav. +When these were found, they were read for her by Fergus, who understood +the character. We have not space for further details, but Professor +O'Curry devotes some pages to the subject, where fuller information may +be found. In conclusion, he expresses an opinion that the original +copies of the ancient books, such as the Cuilmenn and the Saltair of +Tara, were not written in Ogham. He supposes that the druids or poets, +who, it is well known, constantly travelled for educational purposes, +brought home an alphabet, probably the Roman then in use. "It is, at all +events, quite certain that the Irish druids had written books before the +coming of St. Patrick, in 432; since we find the statement in the +Tripartite Life of the saint, as well as in the Annotations of Tirechan, +preserved in the Book of Armagh, which were taken by him from the lips +and books of his tutor, St. Mochta, who was the pupil and disciple of +St. Patrick himself." + +[Illustration: Ogham stone] + +[Illustration: SAGRANI FILI CUNOTAMI] + +We give two illustrations of Ogham writing. The pillar-stone is from the +collection of the Royal Irish Academy. It is about four and a-half feet +high, and averages eleven inches across. It was found, with three others +similarly inscribed, built into the walls of a dwelling-house in the +county Kerry, to which it is believed they had been removed from the +interior of a neighbouring rath. The bilingual Ogham was found at St. +Dogmael's, near Cardiganshire. The Ogham alphabet is called +_beithluisnion_, from the name of its two first letters, _beith_, which +signifies a birch-tree, and _luis_, the mountain-ash. If this kind of +writing had been introduced in Christian times, it is quite unlikely +that such names would have been chosen. They are manifestly referable to +a time when a tree had some significance beyond the useful or the +ornamental. It has been supposed that the names of the letters were +given to the trees, and not the names of the trees to the letters. It is +at least certain that the names of the trees and the letters coincide, +and that the trees are all indigenous to Ireland. The names of the +letters in the Hebrew alphabet are also significant, but appear to be +chosen indiscriminately, while there is a manifest and evidently +arbitrary selection in the Celtic appellations. The number of letters +also indicate antiquity. The ancient Irish alphabet had but sixteen +characters, thus numerically corresponding with the alphabet brought +into Greece by Cadmus. This number was gradually increased with the +introduction of the Roman form, and the arrangement was also altered to +harmonize with it. The Ogham alphabet consists of lines, which represent +letters. They are arranged in an arbitrary manner to the right or left +of a stemline, or on the edge of the material on which they are traced. +Even the names of those letters, _fleasg_ (a tree), seem an indication +of their origin. A cross has been found, sculptured more or less rudely, +upon many of these ancient monuments; and this has been supposed by some +antiquarians to indicate their Christian origin. Doubtless the practice +of erecting pillar-stones, and writing Oghams thereon, was continued +after the introduction of Christianity; but this by no means indicates +their origin. Like many other pagan monuments, they may have been +consecrated by having the sign of the cross engraven on them hundreds of +years after their erection. + +During the few months which have elapsed between the appearance of the +first edition and the preparation of the second edition, my attention +has been called to this portion of the history by four or five eminent +members of the Royal Irish Academy, who express their regret that I +should appear to have adopted, or at least favoured, Mr. D'Alton's view +of the Christian origin of the round towers. I cannot but feel gratified +at the interest which they manifested, and not less so at their kind +anxiety that my own views should accord with those of the majority. I am +quite aware that my opinion on such a subject could have little weight. +To form a decided opinion on this subject, would require many years' +study; but when one of these gentlemen, the Earl of Dunraven, +distinguished for his devotion to archaeology, writes to me that both +Irish, English, and Continental scholars are all but unanimous in +ascribing a Christian origin to these remarkable buildings, I cannot but +feel that I am bound to accept this opinion, thus supported by an +overwhelming weight of authority. It may, however, be interesting to +some persons to retain an account of the opposing theories, and for this +reason I still insert page 115 of the original edition, only making such +modifications as my change of opinion make necessary. + +The theories which have been advanced on this subject may be classified +under seven heads-- + +(1) That the Phoenicians erected them for fire temples. + +(2) That the Christians built them for bell towers. + +(3) That the Magians used them for astronomical purposes. + +(4) That they were for Christian anchorites to shut themselves up in. + +(5) That they were penitentiaries. + +(6) That the Druids used them to proclaim their festivals. + +(7) That the Christians used them to keep their church plate and +treasures. + +[Illustration: URN AND ITS CONTENTS FOUND IN A CROMLECH IN THE PHOENIX +PARK, DUBLIN.] + +Contradictory as these statements appear, they may easily be ranged into +two separate theories of pagan or Christian origin. Dr. Petrie has been +the great supporter of the latter opinion, now almost generally +received. He founds his opinion: (1) On the assumption that the Irish +did not know the use of lime mortar before the time of St. Patrick. For +this assumption, however, he gives no evidence. (2) On the presence of +certain Christian emblems on some of these towers, notably at Donaghmore +and Antrim. But the presence of Christian emblems, like the cross on the +Ogham stones, may merely indicate that Christians wished to consecrate +them to Christian use. (3) On the assumption that they were used as +keeps or monastic castles, in which church plate was concealed, or +wherein the clergy could shelter themselves from the fury of Danes, or +other invaders. But it is obvious that towers would have been built in a +different fashion had such been the object of those who erected them. +The late Mr. D'Alton has been the most moderate and judicious advocate +of their pagan origin. He rests his theory (1) on certain statements in +our annals, which, if true, must at once decide the dispute. The Annals +of Ulster mention the destruction of fifty-seven of them in consequence +of a severe earthquake, A.D. 448. He adduces the testimony of Giraldus +Cambrensis, who confirms the account of the origin of Lough Neagh by an +inundation, A.D. 65, and adds: "It is no improbable testimony to this +event, that the fishermen beheld the religious towers (_turres +ecclesiasticas_), which, according to the custom of the country, are +narrow, lofty, and round, immersed under the waters; and they frequently +show them to strangers passing over them, and wondering at their +purposes" (_reique causas admirantibus_). This is all the better +evidence of their then acknowledged antiquity, because the subject of +the writer was the formation of the lough, and not the origin of the +towers. Mr. D'Alton's (2) second argument is, that it was improbable the +Christians would have erected churches of wood and bell towers of stone, +or have bestowed incomparably more care and skill on the erection of +these towers, no matter for what use they may have been intended, than +on the churches, which should surely be their first care.[163] + +The cromlechs next claim our notice. There has been no question of their +pagan origin; and, indeed, this method of honouring or interring the +dead, seems an almost universal custom of ancient peoples.[164] +Cremation does not appear to have been the rule as to the mode of +interment in ancient Erinn, as many remains of skeletons have been +found; and even those antiquarians who are pleased entirely to deny the +truth of the _historical_ accounts of our early annalists, accept their +statements as to customs of the most ancient date. When the dead were +interred without cremation, the body was placed either in a horizontal, +sitting, or recumbent posture. When the remains were burned, a fictile +vessel was used to contain the ashes. These urns are of various forms +and sizes. The style of decoration also differs widely, some being but +rudely ornamented, while others bear indications of artistic skill which +could not have been exercised by a rude or uncultivated people. + +[Illustration] + +We give a full-page illustration of an urn and its contents, at present +in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. This urn was found in a +tumulus, which was opened in the Phoenix Park, near Dublin, in the year +1838. The tumulus was about 120 feet in diameter at the base, and +fifteen feet high. Four sepulchral vases, containing burnt ashes, were +found within the tomb. It also enclosed two perfect male skeletons, the +tops of the femora of another, and a bone of some animal. A number of +shells[165] were found under the head of each skeleton, of the kind +known to conchologists as the _Nerita littoralis_. The urn which we have +figured is the largest and most perfect, and manifestly the earliest of +the set. It is six inches high, rudely carved, yet not without some +attempt at ornament. The bone pin was probably used for the hair, and +the shells are obviously strung for a necklace. We give above a specimen +of the highest class of cinerary urns. It stands unrivalled, both in +design and execution, among all the specimens found in the British +isles. This valuable remain was discovered in the cutting of a railway, +in a small stone chamber, at Knockneconra, near Bagnalstown, county +Carlow. Burned bones of an infant, or very young child, were found in +it, and it was inclosed in a much larger and ruder urn, containing the +bones of an adult. + +Possibly, suggests Sir W. Wilde, they may have been the remains of +mother and child.[166] + +[Illustration: GOLD HEAD-DRESS, R.I.A.] + +The collection of antiquities in the Royal Irish Academy, furnishes +abundant evidence that the pagan Irish were well skilled in the higher +arts of working in metals. If the arbitrary division of the ages of +stone, bronze, and iron, can be made to hold good, we must either +suppose that the Irish Celt was possessed of extraordinary mental +powers, by which he developed the mechanical arts gradually, or that, +with successive immigrations, he obtained an increase of knowledge from +exterior sources. The bardic annals indicate the latter theory. We have +already given several illustrations of the ruder weapons. The +illustration appended here may give some idea of the skill obtained by +our pagan ancestors in working gold. This ornament, which is quite +complete, though fractured in two places, stands 11-1/2 inches high. It +weighs 16 oz. 10 dwts. 13 grs. The gold of which it is formed is very +red. It was procured with the Sirr Collection, and is said to have been +found in the county Clare.[167] Our readers are indebted to the kindness +of the Council of the Royal Irish Academy, for the permission to depict +these and the other rare articles from the collection which are inserted +in our pages. + +The amount of gold ornaments which have been found in Ireland at various +times, has occasioned much conjecture as to whether the material was +found in Ireland or imported. It is probable that auriferous veins +existed, which were worked out, or that some may even now exist which +are at present unknown. The discovery of gold ornaments is one of the +many remarkable confirmations of the glowing accounts given by our +bardic annalists of Erinn's ancient glories. O'Hartigan thus describes +the wealth and splendour of the plate possessed by the ancient monarchs +who held court at Tara:-- + + "Three hundred cupbearers distributed + Three times fifty choice goblets + Before each party of great numbers, + Which were of pure strong carbuncle,[168] + Or gold or of silver all." + +Dr. Petrie observes that this statement is amply verified by the +magnificent gold ornaments, found within a few yards of this very spot, +now in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy. We shall see, at a +later period, when the cursing of Tara will demand a special notice of +its ancient glories, how amply the same writer has vindicated the +veracity of Celtic annalists on this ground also. + +A remarkable resemblance has been noticed between the pagan military +architecture of Ireland, and the early Pelasgian monuments in Greece. +They consist of enclosures, generally circular, of massive clay walls, +built of small loose stones, from six to sixteen feet thick. These forts +or fortresses are usually entered by a narrow doorway, wider at the +bottom than at the top, and are of Cyclopean architecture. Indeed, some +of the remains in Ireland can only be compared to the pyramids of Egypt, +so massive are the blocks of stone used in their construction. As this +stone is frequently of a kind not to be found in the immediate +neighbourhood, the means used for their transportation are as much a +matter of surprise and conjecture, as those by which they were placed in +the position in which they are found. The most remarkable of these forts +may still be seen in the Isles of Arran, on the west coast of Galway; +there are others in Donegal, Mayo, and in Kerry. Some of these erections +have chambers in their massive walls, and in others stairs are found +round the interior of the wall; these lead to narrow platforms, varying +from eight to forty-three feet in length, on which the warriors or +defenders stood. The fort of Dunmohr, in the middle island of Arran, is +supposed to be at least 2,000 years old. Besides these forts, there was +the private house, a stone habitation, called a _clochann_, in which an +individual or family resided; the large circular dome-roofed buildings, +in which probably a community lived; and the rath, intrenched and +stockaded. + +But stone was not the only material used for places of defence or +domestic dwellings; the most curious and interesting of ancient Irish +habitations is the _crannoge_, a name whose precise etymology is +uncertain, though there is little doubt that it refers in some way to +the peculiar nature of the structure. + +The crannoges were formed on small islets or shallows of clay or marl in +the centre of a lake, which were probably dry in summer, but submerged +in winter. These little islands, or mounds, were used as a foundation +for this singular habitation. Piles of wood, or heaps of stone and bones +driven into or heaped on the soil, formed the support of the crannoge. +They were used as places of retreat or concealment, and are usually +found near the ruins of such old forts or castles as are in the vicinity +of lakes or marshes. Sometimes they are connected with the mainland by a +causeway, but usually there is no appearance of any; and a small canoe +has been, with but very few exceptions, discovered in or near each +crannoge. + +Since the investigation of these erections in Ireland, others have been +discovered in the Swiss lakes of a similar kind, and containing, or +rather formed on, the same extraordinary amount of bones heaped up +between the wooden piles. + +The peculiar objects called celts, and the weapons and domestic utensils +of this or an earlier period, are a subject of scarcely less interest. +The use of the celt has fairly perplexed all antiquarian research. Its +name is derived not, as might be supposed, from the nation to whom this +distinctive appellation was given, but from the Latin word _celtis_, a +chisel. It is not known whether these celts, or the round, flat, +sharp-edged chisels, were called _Lia Miledh_, "warriors' stones." In +the record of the battle of the Ford of Comar, Westmeath, the use of +this instrument is thus described:-- + +"There came not a man of Lohar's people without a broad green spear, nor +without a dazzling shield, nor without a _Liagh-lamha-laich_ (a +champion's hand stone), stowed away in the hollow cavity of his +shield.... And Lohar carried his stone like each of his men; and seeing +the monarch his father standing in the ford with Ceat, son of Magach, at +one side, and Connall Cearnach at the other, to guard him, he grasped +his battle-stone quickly and dexterously, and threw it with all his +strength, and with unerring aim, at the king his father; and the massive +stone passed with a swift rotatory motion towards the king, and despite +the efforts of his two brave guardians, it struck him on the breast, and +laid him prostrate in the ford. The king, however, recovered from the +shock, arose, and placing his foot upon the formidable stone, pressed it +into the earth, where it remains to this day, with a third part of it +over ground, and the print of the king's foot visible upon it." + +Flint proper, or chalk flint, is found but in few places in Ireland; +these are principally in the counties of Antrim, Down, and Derry. In the +absence of a knowledge of the harder metals, flint and such-like +substances were invaluable as the only material that could be fashioned +into weapons of defence, and used to shape such rude clothing as was +then employed. The scarcity of flint must have rendered these weapons of +great value in other districts. Splitting, chipping, and polishing, and +this with tools as rude as the material worked on, were the only means +of manufacturing such articles; and yet such was the perfection, and, if +the expression be applicable, the amount of artistic skill attained, +that it seems probable flint-chipping was a special trade, and doubtless +a profitable one to those engaged in it. + +When flints were used as arrows, either in battle or in the chase, a bow +was easily manufactured from the oak and birch trees with which the +island was thickly wooded. It was bent by a leathern thong, or the +twisted intestine of some animal. The handles of the lance or +javelin--formidable weapons, if we may judge from the specimens in the +Museum of the Royal Irish Academy--were also formed of wood; but these +have perished in the lapse of ages, and left only the strangely and +skilfully formed implement of destruction. + +Among primitive nations, the tool and the weapon differed but little. +The hatchet which served to fell the tree, was as readily used to cleave +open the head of an enemy. The knife, whether of stone or hard wood, +carved the hunter's prey, or gave a deathstroke to his enemy. Such +weapons or implements have, however, frequently been found with metal +articles, under circumstances which leave little doubt that the use of +the former was continued long after the discovery of the superior value +of the latter. Probably, even while the Tuatha De Danann artificers were +framing their more refined weapons for the use of nobles and knights, +the rude fashioner of flint-arrows and spear-heads still continued to +exercise the craft he had learned from his forefathers, for the benefit +of poorer or less fastidious warriors. + +[Illustration: CROMLECH IN THE PHOENIX PARK. +The urn and necklace, figured at page 154, were found in this tomb.] + +[Illustration: CLONDALKIN ROUND TOWER.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[144] _Authors_.--Strabo, l. iv. p. 197; Suetonius, _V. Cla._; Pliny, +_Hist. Nat._ l. xxv. c. 9. Pliny mentions having seen the serpent's egg, +and describes it. + +[145] _Virgil_.--_Ec._. 6, v. 73. + +[146] _Year_.--Dio. Sic. tom. i. p. 158. + +[147] _Magi_.--Magi is always used in Latin as the equivalent for the +Irish word which signifies druid. See the _Vitae S. Columbae_, p. 73; see +also Reeves' note to this word. + +[148] _Worship_.--In the Chronicle of Richard of Cirencester, ch. 4, +certain Roman deities are mentioned as worshipped by the British druids; +but it is probable the account is merely borrowed from Caesar's +description of the Gauls. + +[149] _Ceremonies_.--Bohn's edition, p. 431. + +[150] _Wren_.--In Scotland the wren is an object of reverence: hence the +rhyme-- + +"Malisons, malisons, more than ten, That harry the Ladye of Heaven's +hen." + +But it is probable the idea and the verse were originally imported from +France, where the bird is treated with special respect. There is a very +interesting paper in the _Ulster Archaeological Journal_, vol. vii. p. +334, on the remarkable correspondence of Irish, Greek, and Oriental +legends, where the tale of Labhradh Loinseach is compared with that of +Midas. Both had asses' ears, and both were victims to the loquacious +propensities of their barbers. + +[151] _Etruscans_.--See _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_, vol i p. +295, where the bas-reliefs are described which represent the _praeficae_, +or hired mourners, wailing over the corpse. + +[152] _Laid down_.--Law, Saxon, _lagu, lah_; from _lecgan_==Goth. +_lagjan_, to lay, to place; Gael. _lagh_, a law; _leag_, to lie down; +Latin, _lex_, from Gr. _lego_, to lay. + +[153] _It_.--Four Masters, vol. i p. 133. The Seanchus Mor was sometimes +called _Cain Phadruig_, or Patrick's Law. + +[154] _Seanchus_.--From the old Celtic root _sen_, old, which has direct +cognates, not merely in the Indo-European, but also in the Semitic; +Arabic, _sen_, old, ancient--_sunnah_, institution, regulation; Persian, +_san_, law, right; _sanna_, Phoenicibus idem fuit quod Arabibus _summa_, +lex, doctrina jux canonicum.--Bochart, _Geo. Sae_. 1. ii. c. 17. See +Petrie's _Tara_, p. 79. + +[155] _Day_.--O'Curry, page 201. + +[156] _Works_.--He appears to have been the author of the original Book +of Rights, and "commenced and composed the Psalter of Caiseal, in which +are described the acts, _laws,"_ &c.--See Preface to Seanchus Mor, p. +17. + +[157] _Arrears_.--Elphinstone's _India_, vol. i. p. 372. + +[158] _Forbidden_.--"You shall not take money of him that is guilty of +blood, but he shall die forthwith."--Numbers, xxxv. 31. + +[159] _Proved_.--See Pictet's _Origines Indo-Europeennes_. He mentions +his surprise at finding a genuine Sanscrit word in Irish, which, like a +geological boulder, had been transported from one extremity of the Aryan +world to the other. Pictet considers that the first wave of Aryan +emigration occurred 3,000 years before the Christian Era. + +[160] _Writing_.--"Finally, Dudley Firbisse, hereditary professor of the +antiquities of his country, mentions in a letter [to me] a fact +collected from the monuments of his ancestors, that one hundred and +eighty tracts [tractatus] of the doctrine of the druids or magi, were +condemned to the flames in the time of St. Patrick."--_Ogygia_, iii. 30, +p. 219. A writer in the _Ulster Arch. Journal_ mentions a "Cosmography," +printed at "Lipsiae, 1854." It appears to be a Latin version or epitome +of a Greek work. The writer of this Cosmography was born in 103. He +mentions having "examined the volumes" of the Irish, whom he visited. If +this authority is reliable, it would at once settle the question.--See +_Ulster Arch. Journal_, vol. ii. p. 281. + +[161] _Hand_.--A work on this subject has long been promised by Dr. +Graves, and is anxiously expected by paleographists. We regret to learn +that there is no immediate prospect of its publication. + +[162] _Quipus_.--Quipus signifies a knot. The cords were of different +colours. Yellow denoted gold and all the allied ideas; white, silver, or +peace; red, war, or soldiers. Each quipus was in the care of a +quiper-carnayoe, or keeper. Acorta mentions that he saw a woman with a +handful of these strings, which she said contained a confession of her +life. See Wilson's _Pre-Historic Man_ for most interesting details on +the subject of symbolic characters and early writing. + +[163] _Care_.--Annals of Boyle, vol. ii. p. 22. _Essay_, p. 82. + +[164] _Peoples_.--See _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_, vol. ii. p. +314, where the writer describes tombs sunk beneath a tumulus, about +twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter, and also tombs exactly +resembling the Irish cromlech, the covering slab of enormous size, being +inclined "apparently to carry off the rain." In his account of the +geographical sites of these remains, he precisely, though most +unconsciously, marks out the line of route which has been assigned by +Irish annalists as that which led our early colonizers to Ireland. He +says they are found in the presidency of Madras, among the mountains of +the Caucasus, on the steppes of Tartary, in northern Africa, "_on the +shores of the Mediterranean they are particularly abundant_," and in +Spain. + +[165] _Shells_.--Cat. Ant. R.I.A.; Stone Mat. p. 180. The ethnographic +phases of conchology might form a study in itself. Shells appear to be +the earliest form of ornament in use. The North American Indians have +their shell necklaces buried with them also. See Wilson's _Pre-Historic +Man_. + +[166] _Child_.--Mr. Wilson gives a most interesting description of an +interment of a mother and child in an ancient Peruvian grave. The mother +had an unfinished piece of weaving beside her, with its colours still +bright. The infant was tenderly wrapped in soft black woollen cloth, to +which was fastened a pair of little sandals, 2-1/2 inches long; around +its neck was a green cord, attached to a small shell.--_Pre-Historic +Man_, vol. i. p. 234. + +[167] _Clare_.--In 1855, in digging for a railway-cutting in the county +Clare, gold ornaments were found worth L2,000 as bullion. + +[168] _Carbuncle_.--This word was used to denote any shining stone of a +red colour, such as garnet, a production of the country. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Pestilence of the _Blefed_--The Cursing of Tara by St. Rodanus--Extent +and Importance of Ancient Tara--The First Mill in Ireland--The _Lia +Fail_--Cormac's House--The Rath of the Synods--The Banqueting +Hall--Chariots and Swords--St. Columba--St. Brendan and his +Voyages--Pre-Columbian Discovery of America--The Plague again--St. +Columba and St. Columbanus--Irish Saints and Irish Schools--Aengus the +Culdee. + +[A.D. 543-693.] + + +From time to time, in the world's history, terrible and mysterious +pestilences appear, which defy all calculation as to their cause or +probable reappearance. Such was the _Blefed_,[169] or _Crom Chonaill_, +which desolated Ireland in the year 543. + +The plague, whatever its nature may have been, appears to have been +general throughout Europe. It originated in the East; and in Ireland was +preceded by famine, and followed by leprosy. St. Berchan of Glasnevin +and St. Finnen of Clonard were amongst its first victims. + +Diarmaid, son of Fergus Keval, of the southern Hy-Nial race, was +Ard-Righ during this period. In his reign Tara was cursed by St. Rodanus +of Lothra, in Tipperary, in punishment for violation of sanctuary;[170] +and so complete was its subsequent desertion, that in 975 it was +described as a desert overgrown with grass and weeds. + +But enough still remains to give ample evidence of its former +magnificence. An inspection of the site must convince the beholder of +the vast extent of its ancient palaces; nor can we, for a moment, +coincide with those who are pleased to consider that these palaces +consisted merely of a few planks of wood, rudely plastered over, or of +hollow mounds of earth. It is true that, from an association of ideas, +the cause of so many fallacies, we naturally connect "halls" with marble +pavements, magnificently carved pillars, and tesselated floors; but the +harp that once resounded through Tara's halls, may have had as +appreciating, if not as critical, an audience as any which now exists, +and the "halls" may have been none the less stately, because their floor +was strewn with sand, or the trophies which adorned them fastened to +walls of oak.[171] + +According to Celtic tradition, as embodied in our annals, Tara became +the chief residence of the Irish kings on the first establishment of a +monarchical government under Slainge:-- + +"Slaine of the Firbolgs was he by whom Temair was first raised." + +One hundred and fifty monarchs reigned there from this period until its +destruction, in 563. The _Fes_, or triennial assembly, was instituted by +Ollamh Fodhla. The nature of these meetings is explained in a poem, +which Keating ascribes to O'Flynn, who died A.D. 984. It is clear that +what was then considered crime was punished in a very peremptory manner; +for-- + + "Gold was not received as retribution from him, + But his soul in one hour."[172] + +In the reign of Tuathal a portion of land was separated from each of the +four provinces, which met together at a certain place: this portion was +considered a distinct part of the country from the provinces. It was +situated in the present county of Meath. + +In the tract separated from Munster, Tuathal[173] built the royal seat +of Tlachtga, where the fire of Tlachtga was ordained to be kindled. On +the night of All Saints, the druids assembled here to offer sacrifices, +and it was established, under heavy penalties that no fire should be +kindled on that night throughout the kingdom, so that the fire which was +used afterwards might be procured from it. To obtain this privilege, the +people were obliged to pay a scraball, or about three-pence, yearly, to +the King of Munster. + +On the 1st of May a convocation was held in the royal palace of the King +of Connaught. He obtained subsidies in horses and arms from those who +came to this assembly. On this occasion two fires were lit, between +which cattle were driven as a preventative or charm against the murrain +and other pestilential distempers. From this custom the feast of St. +Philip and St. James was anciently called Beltinne, or the Day of Bel's +Fire. + +The third palace, erected by Tuathal, was on the portion of land taken +from the province of Ulster. Here the celebrated fair of Tailtean was +held, and contracts of marriage were frequently made. The royal tribute +was raised by exacting an ounce of silver from every couple who were +contracted and married at that time. The fair of Tailtean had been +instituted some years before, in honour of Tailte, who was buried here. +This fair, says Keating, was then kept upon the day known in the Irish +language as La Lughnasa, or the day ordained by Lughaidh, and is called +in English Lammas-day. + +The fourth and the most important of the royal seats was the palace of +Temair, or Tara: here, with the greatest state and ceremony, the affairs +of the nation were discussed and decided. On these occasions, in order +to preserve the deliberations from the public, the most strict secrecy +was observed, and women were entirely excluded. + +The Dinnseanchus, a topographical work, compiled in the twelfth century +from ancient MSS., is the principal source of information on this +subject. Dr. Petrie, in his famous _Essay_, has given both the original +and translation of this tract, and of other documents on the same +subject; and he remarks how exactly the accounts given by the poet +historians coincide with the remains which even now exist. In fact, each +site has been ascertained with precise accuracy--an accuracy which +should very much enhance our appreciation of the value of our ancient +histories. + +The well _Neamhnach_ was first identified. Tradition asserts that the first +mill[174] erected in Ireland was turned by the stream which flowed from +it, and even at the present day a mill is still worked there. The +situation of the _Rath-na-Riogh_ was then easily ascertained. This is +the most important of these ancient sites, but it is now, unfortunately, +nearly levelled to the ground. This rath is oval and measures about 853 +feet from north to south; it contains the ruins of the _Forradh_ and of +_Teach Cormac_ (the House of Cormac). A pillar-stone was removed in 1798 +to the centre of the mound of the Forradh. It formerly stood by the side +of a small mound lying within the enclosure of Rath-Riogh. This stone +Dr. Petrie considers identical[175] with the famous _Lia Fail_, or Stone +of Destiny, which other authorities suppose to have been removed to +Scotland, and subsequently to Westminster. The _Rath-na-Riogh_ is +identical with Teamur, and is, in fact, _the_ ancient Tara, or royal +residence, around which other scarcely less important buildings were +gradually erected. It was also called _Cathair Crofinn_. The name of +_Cathair_ was exclusively applied to circular stone fortifications built +without cement; and stones still remain which probably formed a portion +of the original building. In ancient Irish poems this fortification is +sometimes called the Strong Tower of Teamur, an appellation never +applied to a rath, but constantly to a _Cathair_, or circular stone +fort. + +The Rath of the Synods obtained its name at a comparatively recent +period. The situation is distinctly pointed out both in the prose and +verse accounts. Here was held the Synod of Patrick, the Synod of Ruadhan +and Brendan, and lastly, the Synod of Adamnan. The next existing +monument which has been identified with certainty, is the +_Teach-Miodhchuarta_, or Banqueting Hall, so famous in Irish history and +bardic tradition. This was also the great house of the thousand +soldiers, and the place where the _Fes_ or triennial assemblies were +held. It had fourteen doors--seven to the east and seven to the west. +Its length, taken from the road, is 759 feet, and its breadth was +probably about 90 feet. Kenneth O'Hartigan is the great, and indeed +almost the only authority for the magnificence and state with which the +royal banquets were held herein. As his descriptions are written in a +strain of eloquent and imaginative verse, his account has been too +readily supposed to be purely fictitious. But we have already shown that +his description of the gold vessels which were used, is amply +corroborated by the discovery of similar articles. His account of the +extent, if not of the exterior magnificence, of the building, has also +been fully verified; and there remains no reason to doubt that a +"thousand soldiers" may have attended their lord at his feasts, or that +"three times fifty stout cooks" may have supplied the viands. There was +also the "House of the Women," a term savouring strangely of eastern +customs and ideas; and the "House of the Fians," or commons soldiers. + +Two poems are still preserved which contain ground-plans of the +different compartments of the house, showing the position allotted to +different ranks and occupations, and the special portion which was to be +assigned to each. The numerous distinctions of rank, and the special +honours paid to the learned, are subjects worthy of particular notice. +The "_saoi_ of literature" and the "royal chief" are classed in the same +category, and were entitled to a _primchrochait_, or steak; nor was the +Irish method of cooking barbarous, for we find express mention of a spit +for roasting meat, and of the skill of an artificer who contrived a +machine by which thirty spits could be turned at once.[176] The five +great Celtic roads[177] have already been mentioned. Indistinct traces +of them are still found at Tara. The _Slighe Mor_ struck off from the +Slope of the Chariots,[178] at the northern head of the hill, and joined +the Eiscir Riada, or great Connaught road, from Dublin _via_ Trim. Dr. +Petrie concludes his Essay on Tara thus: "But though the houses were +unquestionably of these materials [wood and clay, with the exception of +the Tuatha De Danann Cathair], it must not be inferred that they were +altogether of a barbarous structure. It is not probable that they were +unlike or inferior to those of the ancient Germans, of which Tacitus +speaks in terms of praise, and which he describes as being overlaid with +an earth so pure and splendid, that they resembled painting." And the +historian Moore, writing on the same subject, observes: "That these +structures were in wood is by no means conclusive either against the +elegance of their structure, or the civilization, to a certain extent, +of those who erected them. It was in wood that the graceful forms of +Grecian architecture first unfolded their beauties; and there is reason +to believe that, at the time when Xerxes invaded Greece, most of her +temples were still of this perishable material." + +But the cursing of Tara was by no means the only misfortune of +Diarmaid's reign. His unaccountable hostility to St. Columba involved +him in many troubles; and, in addition to these, despite famine and +pestilence, the country was afflicted with domestic wars. It is said +that his war with Guaire, King of Connaught, was undertaken as a +chastisement for an injustice committed by that monarch, who, according +to an old chronicle, had deprived a woman, who had vowed herself to a +religious life, of a cow, which was her only means of support. It is +more probable, however, that the motive was not quite so chivalric, and +that extortion of a tribute to which he had no right was the real cause. +The high character for probity unanimously attributed to Guaire, makes +it extremely unlikely that he should have committed any deliberate act +of injustice. + +The first great convention of the Irish states, after the abandonment of +Tara, was held in Drumceat, in 573, in the reign of Hugh, son of +Ainmire. St. Columba and the leading members of the Irish clergy +attended. Precedence was given to the saint by the prelates of North +Britain, to honour his capacity of apostle or founder of the Church in +that country. + +Two important subjects were discussed on this occasion, and on each the +opinion of St. Columba was accepted as definitive. The first referred to +the long-vexed question whether the Scottish colony of Alba should still +be considered dependent on the mother country. The saint, foreseeing the +annoyances to which a continuance of this dependence must give rise, +advised that it should be henceforth respected as an independent state. +The second question was one of less importance in the abstract, but far +more difficult to settle satisfactorily. The bards, or more probably +persons who wished to enjoy their immunities and privileges without +submitting to the ancient laws which obliged them to undergo a long and +severe course of study before becoming licentiates, if we may use the +expression, of that honorable calling, had become so numerous and +troublesome, that loud demands were made for their entire suppression. +The king, who probably suffered from their insolence as much as any of +his subjects, was inclined to comply with the popular wish, but yielded +so far to the representations of St. Columba, as merely to diminish +their numbers, and place them under stricter rules. + +Hugh Ainmire was killed while endeavouring to exact the Boromean +Tribute. The place of his death was called Dunbolg, or the Fort of the +Bags. The Leinster king, Bran Dubh, had recourse to a stratagem, from +whence the name was derived. Finding himself unable to cope with the +powerful army of his opponent, he entered his camp disguised as a leper, +and spread a report that the Leinster men were preparing to submit. + +In the evening a number of bullocks, laden with leathern bags, were seen +approaching the royal camp. The drivers, when challenged by the +sentinels, said that they were bringing provisions; and this so tallied +with the leper's tale, that they were permitted to deposit their burdens +without further inquiry. In the night, however, an armed man sprang from +each bag, and headed by their king, whose disguise was no longer needed, +slaughtered the royal army without mercy, Hugh himself falling a victim +to the personal bravery of Bran Dubh. + +The deaths of several Irish saints, whose lives are of more than +ordinary interest, are recorded about this period. Amongst them, St. +Brendan of Clonfert demands more than a passing notice. His early youth +was passed under the care of St. Ita, a lady of the princely family of +the Desii. By divine command she established the Convent of _Cluain +Credhuil_, in the present county of Limerick, and there, it would +appear, she devoted herself specially to the care of youth. When Brendan +had attained his fifth year, he was placed under the protection of +Bishop Ercus, from whom he received such instruction as befitted his +advancing years. But Brendan's tenderest affection clung to the gentle +nurse of his infancy; and to her, in after years, he frequently +returned, to give or receive counsel and sympathy. + +The legend of his western voyage, if not the most important, is at least +the most interesting part of his history. Kerry was the native home of +the enterprising saint; and as he stood on its bold and beautiful +shores, his naturally contemplative mind was led to inquire what +boundaries chained that vast ocean, whose grand waters rolled in mighty +waves beneath his feet. His thoughtful piety suggested that where there +might be a country there might be life--human life and human souls dying +day by day, and hour by hour, and knowing of no other existence than +that which at best is full of sadness and decay. + +Traditions of a far-away land had long existed on the western coast of +ancient Erinn. The brave Tuatha De Dananns were singularly expert in +naval affairs, and their descendants were by no means unwilling to +impart information to the saint. + +The venerable St. Enda, the first Abbot of Arran, was then living, and +thither St. Brendan journeyed for counsel. Probably he was encouraged in +his design by the holy abbot; for, he proceeded along the coast of Mayo, +inquiring as he went for traditions of the western continent. On his +return to Kerry, he decided to set out on the important expedition. St. +Brendan's Hill still bears his name; and from the bay at the foot of +this lofty eminence he sailed for the "far west." Directing his course +towards the south-west, with a few faithful companions, in a +well-provisioned bark, he came, after some rough and dangerous +navigation, to calm seas, where, without aid of oar or sail, he was +borne along for many weeks. It is probable that he had entered the great +Gulf Stream, which brought his vessel ashore somewhere on the Virginian +coasts. He landed with his companions, and penetrated into the interior, +until he came to a large river flowing from east to west, supposed to be +that now known as the Ohio. Here, according to the legend, he was +accosted by a man of venerable bearing, who told him that he had gone +far enough; that further discoveries were reserved for other men, who +would in due time come and christianize that pleasant land. + +After an absence of seven years, the saint returned once more to +Ireland, and lived not only to tell of the marvels he had seen, but even +to found a college of three thousand monks at Clonfert. This voyage took +place in the year 545, according to Colgan; but as St. Brendan must have +been at that time at least sixty years old, an earlier date has been +suggested as more probable.[179] + +The northern and southern Hy-Nials had long held rule in Ireland; but +while the northern tribe were ever distinguished, not only for their +valour, but for their chivalry in field or court, the southern race fell +daily lower in the estimation of their countrymen. Their disgrace was +completed when two kings, who ruled Erinn jointly, were treacherously +slain by Conall Guthvin. For this crime the family were excluded from +regal honours for several generations. + +Home dissensions led to fatal appeals for foreign aid, and this +frequently from the oppressing party. Thus, Congal Caech, who killed the +reigning sovereign in 623, fled to Britain, and after remaining there +nine years, returned with foreign troops, by whose assistance he hoped +to attain the honours unlawfully coveted. The famous battle of +Magh-Rath,[180] in which the auxiliaries were utterly routed and the +false Congal slain, unfortunately did not deter his countrymen from +again and again attempting the same suicidal course. + +In 656 the country was once more visited by the fatal _Crom Chonaill_, +and again holy prelates and sainted religious were foremost amongst its +victims. Many orphans were of necessity thrown on the mercy of those to +whom charity was their only claim. Nor was the call unheeded. The +venerable Bishop of Ardbraccan, St. Ultan, whom we may perhaps term the +St. Vincent of Ireland, gathered these hapless little ones into a safe +asylum, and there, with a thoughtfulness which in such an age could +scarcely have been expected, sought to supply by artificial means for +the natural nourishment of which they had been deprived. + +Venerable Bede mentions this pestilence, and gives honorable testimony +to the charity of the Irish, not only to their own people, but even to +strangers. He says: "This pestilence did no less harm, in the island of +Ireland. Many of the nobility and of the lower ranks of the English +nation were there at that time, who, in the days of Bishop Finan and +Colman, forsaking their native land, retired thither, either for the +sake of divine studies, or for a more continent life. The Scots +willingly received them all, and took care to supply them with food, as +also to furnish them with books to read and their teaching gratis."[181] + +In 673 Finnachta Fleadhach, or the Hospitable, began his reign. He +yielded to the entreaties of St. Moling, and remitted the Boromean +Tribute, after he had forced it from the Leinster men in a bloody +battle. In 687 he abdicated, and showed his respect for religion still +further by embracing the monastic state himself. In 684 the Irish coasts +were devastated, and even the churches pillaged, by the soldiers of +Egfrid, the Saxon King of Northumbria. Venerable Bede attributes his +subsequent defeat and death, when fighting against the Picts, to the +judgment of God, justly merited by these unprovoked outrages on a nation +which had always been most friendly to the English (_nationi Anglorum +semper amicissimam_). + +It has been supposed that revenge may have influenced Egfrid's conduct: +this, however, does not make it more justifiable in a Christian king. +Ireland was not merely the refuge of men of learning in that age; it +afforded shelter to more than one prince driven unjustly from his +paternal home. Alfred, the brother of the Northumbrian monarch, had fled +thither from his treachery, and found a generous welcome on its +ever-hospitable shores. He succeeded his brother in the royal dignity; +and when St. Adamnan visited his court to obtain the release of the +Irish captives whom Egfrid's troops had torn from their native land, he +received him with the utmost kindness, and at once acceded to his +request. + +St. Adamnan, whose fame as the biographer of St. Columba has added even +more to the lustre of his name than his long and saintly rule over the +Monastery of Iona, was of the race of the northern Hy-Nials. He was born +in the territory of Tir-Connell, about the year 627. Little is known of +his early history; it is generally supposed that he was educated at +Iona, and that, having embraced the monastic rule, he returned to his +own country to extend its observance there. He presided over the great +Abbey of Raphoe, of which he was the founder, until the year 679, when +he was raised to the government of his order, and from that period he +usually resided at Iona. The fact of his having been chosen to such an +important office, is a sufficient testimony to his virtues, and of the +veneration and respect in which he was held by his contemporaries. + +St. Adamnan paid more than one visit to his friend the Northumbrian +monarch (_regem Alfridem amicum_). On the second occasion he went with +the Abbot Ceolfrid, and after some conversation with him and other +learned ecclesiastics, he adopted the Roman paschal computation. Yet, +with all his influence and eloquence, he was unable to induce his monks +to accept it; and it was not until the year 716 that they yielded to the +persuasions of Egbert, a Northumbrian monk. Adamnan was more successful +in his own country. In 697 he visited Ireland, and took an important +part in a legislative council held at Tara. On this occasion he procured +the enactment of a law, which was called the Canon of Adamnan, or the +Law of the Innocents, and sometimes "the law not to kill women." We have +already referred to the martial tendencies of the ladies of ancient +Erinn--a tendency, however, which was by no means peculiar at that +period of the world's history. The propensity for military engagements +was not confined to queens and princesses--women of all ranks usually +followed their lords to the field of battle; but as the former are +generally represented as having fallen victims to each other's prowess +in the fight, it appears probable that they had their own separate line +of battle, or perhaps fought out the field in a common _melee_ of +feminine forces. + +Had we not the abundant testimony of foreign writers to prove the +influence and importance of the missions undertaken by Irish saints at +this period of her history, it might be supposed that the statements of +her annalists were tinged with that poetic fancy in which she has ever +been so singularly prolific, and that they rather wrote of what might +have been than of what was. But the testimony of Venerable Bede (to go +no further) is most ample on this subject. + +Irish missionary zeal was inaugurated in the person of St. Columba, +although its extension to continental Europe was commenced by another, +who, from similarity of name, has been frequently confounded with the +national apostle. + +St. Columbanus was born about the year 539. The care of his education +was confided to the venerable Senile, who was eminent for his sanctity +and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It was probably through his +influence that the young man resolved to devote himself to the monastic +life. For this purpose he placed himself under the direction of St. +Comgall, who then governed the great Monastery of Bangor (Banchorr). + +It was not until he entered his fiftieth year that he decided on +quitting his native land, so that there can be no reason to doubt that +his high intellectual attainments were acquired and perfected in +Ireland. + +With the blessing of his superior, and the companionship of twelve +faithful monks, he set forth on his arduous mission; and arduous truly +it proved to be. The half-barbarous Franks, then ruled by Thierry or +Theodoric, lived more a pagan than a Christian life, and could ill brook +the stern lessons of morality which they heard from, and saw practised +by, their new teacher. The saint did not spare the demoralized court, +and the Queen-Dowager Brunehalt became his bitterest foe. He had already +established two monasteries: one at Luxovium, or Luxeuil, in a forest at +the foot of the Vosges; the other, on account of its numerous springs, +was called Ad-fontanas (Fontaines). Here the strict discipline of the +Irish monks was rigidly observed, and the coarsest fare the only +refection permitted to the religious. + +For a time they were allowed to continue their daily routine of prayer +and penance without molestation; but the relentless Brunehalt, who, from +the basest motives, had encouraged the young king in every vice, could +no longer brave either the silent preaching of the cloister or the bold +denunciations of the saint. As Columbanus found that his distant +remonstrances had no effect on the misguided monarch, for whose eternal +welfare he felt the deep interest of true sanctity, he determined to try +a personal interview. For a brief space his admonitions were heard with +respect, and even the haughty queen seemed less bent on her career of +impiety and deceit; but the apparent conversion passed away as a summer +breeze, and once more the saint denounced and threatened in vain. + +Strict enclosure had been established in the monasteries professing the +Columbanian rule[182] and this afforded a pretext for the royal +vengeance. Theodoric attempted to violate the sanctuary in person; but +though he was surrounded by soldiers, he had to encounter one whose +powers were of another and more invincible character. The saint remained +in the sanctuary, and when the king approached addressed him sternly: + +"If thou, sire," he exclaimed, "art come hither to violate the +discipline already established, or to destroy the dwellings of the +servants of God, know that in heaven there is a just and avenging power; +thy kingdom shall be taken from thee, and both thou and thy royal race +shall be cut off and destroyed on the earth." + +The undaunted bearing of Columbanus, and, perhaps, some lingering light +of conscience, not yet altogether extinguished, had its effect upon the +angry monarch. He withdrew; but he left to others the task he dared not +attempt in person. The saint was compelled by armed men to leave his +monastery, and only his Irish and British subjects were permitted to +bear him company. They departed in deep grief, not for the cruel +treatment they suffered, but for their brethren from whom they were thus +rudely torn. As the monks who were left behind clung weeping to their +father, he consoled them with these memorable words: "God will be to you +a Father, and reward you with mansions where the workers of sacrilege +can never enter." + +Nantes was the destination of the exiled religious. Here they were put +on board a vessel bound for Ireland; but scarcely had they reached the +open sea, when a violent storm arose, by which the vessel was driven +back and stranded on the shore, where it lay all night. The captain +attributed the misfortune to his travelling companions, and refused to +carry them any farther. Columbanus, perceiving in this accident an +indication of the will of heaven in their regard, determined to seek a +settlement in some other part of the Continent. In the third year after +his expulsion from Luxeuil, he arrived at Milan, where he was hospitably +received by the Lombard king, A.D. 612. On his journey thither he had +evangelised Austrasia, then governed by Theodebert. This prince, though +a brother of the monarch by whom he had been expelled, entertained him +with the utmost courtesy. At Mentz, the bishop vainly endeavoured to +detain him. Zeal for the conversion of souls led the saint to desire a +less cultivated field of labour. As he passed along the Lake of Zurich, +and in the Canton of Zug, he reaped a rich harvest; from, thence he +directed his course to Bregentz, then inhabited by an idolatrous people. + +Here he was repulsed by those who most needed his apostolic labours; +but, undaunted, he retired to the neighbouring county, where he secured +a band of zealous converts. Surrounded by these, and attended by his +faithful monks, he once more entered the idolatrous city, and proceeded +boldly to the temple where their false gods were enshrined. Here he +invoked the Holy Name, and by its power the idols were miraculously +overthrown, and a multitude of the people were converted, including in +their number some of the principal inhabitants of Bregentz. + +The theological controversy, known as that of the "Three Chapters," was +now prevalent in northern Italy. A letter is still extant which St. +Columbanus addressed to Pope Boniface on this subject, in which, while +he uses the privilege of free discussion on questions not defined by the +Church, he is remarkably, and perhaps for some inconveniently, explicit +as to his belief in papal supremacy. A brief extract from this important +document will show that the faith for which Ireland has suffered, and +still suffers so much, was the same in the "early ages" as it is now. He +writes thus to the Holy Father:-- + +"For we Irish [Scoti] are disciples of St. Peter and St. Paul, and of +all the divinely inspired canonical writers, adhering constantly to the +evangelical and apostolical doctrine. Amongst us neither Jew, heretic, +nor schismatic can be found; but the Catholic faith, entire and +unshaken, precisely as we have received it from you, who are the +successors of the holy Apostles. For, as I have already said, we are +attached to the chair of St. Peter; and although Rome is great and +renowned, yet with us it is great and distinguished only on account of +that apostolic chair. Through the two Apostles of Christ you are almost +celestial, and Rome is the head of the churches of the world."[183] + +In the year 613 St. Columbanus founded the world-famed Monastery of +Bovium, or Bobbio,[184] in a magnificently romantic site on the +Apennines. Near his church was an oratory dedicated to the Mother of +God, who, as we shall presently see, was as devoutly worshipped in +ancient as in modern Erinn. + +Agilulph, the Lombardian monarch, was ever a warm patron of the monks. +Clothaire had now ascended the French throne. He earnestly pressed the +saint to return to Luxeuil, but Columbanus excused himself on the plea +of age and infirmities. He did not fail, however, to send advice for the +government of the monasteries which he had founded, where his rule had +continued to be observed with the utmost fervour. + +St. Columbanus died at Bobbio, on the 21st of November, 615, at the age +of seventy-two years. His name is still preserved in the town of St. +Columbano. His memory has been ever venerated in France and Italy. + +While the saint was evangelizing in Switzerland, one of his disciples +became seriously ill, and was unable to travel farther. It was a +providential sickness for the Helvetians. The monk was an eloquent +preacher, and well acquainted with their language, which was a dialect +of that of the Franks. He evangelized the country, and the town of St. +Gall still bears the name of the holy Irishman, while his abbey contains +many precious relics of the literature and piety of his native land. St. +Gall died on the 16th October, 645, at a very advanced age. The +monastery was not erected until after his decease, and it was not till +the year 1798 that the abbey lands were aggregated to the Swiss +Confederation as one of the cantons. + +Another Irish saint, who evangelized in France, was St. Fiacre. He +erected a monastery to the Blessed Virgin in a forest near Meaux. The +fame of his sanctity became so great, and the pilgrimage to his tomb so +popular, that the French hackney coaches _(fiacre)_ obtained their name +from their constant employment in journeys to his shrine. + +About the same period, St. Fursey founded a monastery near Burgh Castle, +in Suffolk, where he was kindly received by Sigbert, King of the East +Angles. From thence he proceeded to Lagny, in France, where his +missionary zeal was long remembered. His brothers, St. Foillan and St. +Altan, were his constant companions. St. Fursey died on the 16th +January, 650, at Macerius. His remains were subsequently translated to +Peronne, in Picardy. The evangelic labours of many of his Irish +disciples, are matter of history in the Gallic Church. It is said that +the fame of the Irish for their skill in music, was so well known on the +Continent at this period, that St. Gertrude, daughter of King Pepin, and +Abbess of Nivelle, in Brabant, invited the brothers of St. Fursey to +instruct her community in sacred music. They complied with her request, +and soon after erected a monastery at Fosse, near Nivelle. Nor were the +Scoti without their missionary martyrs, amongst whom the great St. +Kilian holds a distinguished place. The spirit of devotion to the Holy +See seems almost to be an heirloom in the little island of the western +sea. True to the instincts of his native land, the martyr-saint would +not undertake his mission in Franconia, great as was its necessity, +until he knelt at the feet of the Vicar of Christ to obtain his +permission and blessing. Thus fortified, he commenced his glorious race, +so happily crowned with the martyr's palm. His bold rebuke of the open +scandal given by the conduct of the ruling prince, was the immediate +cause of his obtaining this favour. St. Kilian was assassinated at +midnight, while singing the Divine Office, with two of his faithful +companions. Their remains were interred in the church of Wurtzberg, +where St. Kilian is still revered as its patron and apostle. + +We can but name St. Mailduf, from whom Malmsbury has been named; St. +Livin, who converted the inhabitants of Flanders and Brabant; St. +Cataldus and his brother, St. Donatus, the former patron of the +metropolitan see of Tarentum, and whose name is still preserved in the +little town of _San Cataldo_, the latter Bishop of Lecce, in the kingdom +of Naples, and both famous for miracles and sanctity of life; St. +Virgilius, called in the ancient annals "Ferghil the Geometer," and by +Latin writers Solivagus,[185] or the "solitary wanderer," who died +Bishop of Saltzburg, distinguished for literary fame; St. Fridolin, "the +traveller," son of an Irish king, who evangelized Thuringia, and was +appointed by the Pope Bishop of Buraburgh, near Fritzlar, in the year +741; St. Sedulius the younger, who wrote commentaries on Holy Scripture, +and assisted at a council held in Rome, in the year 721, under Gregory +II. It is noticeable that this saint was consecrated Bishop of Oreto, in +Spain, while in Rome. When he entered on the mission thus confided to +him, he wrote a treatise to prove that, being Irish, he was of Spanish +descent; thus showing that at this period the idea of a Milesian origin +was common to men of learning in Ireland.[186] + +But if Ireland gave saints and martyrs to foreign lands, her charity was +in some measure repaid in kind. True, she needed not the evangelic +labours of other missionaries, for the gospel-seed had taken deep root, +and borne a rich harvest on her happy shores; still, as the prayers of +saints are the very life and joy of the Church, she could not choose but +rejoice in the hundreds of pure and saintly souls who gathered round her +altars at home, who crowded her monasteries, or listened devoutly to the +teachers of her distinguished schools. In the Litany of Aengus the +Culdee[187] we find hundreds of foreign saints invoked, each grouped +according to their nation. "The oldest tract, or collection of the +pedigrees of the saints of Erinn," says Professor O'Curry, "of which we +have now any recognizable copy remaining, is that which is ascribed to +Aengus Ceile De, commonly called Aengus the Culdee. The genuineness of +this composition is admitted by all writers of modern times, Protestant +and Catholic, by Usher and Ware as well as by Colgan." + +Aengus wrote about the year 798. He was descended from the illustrious +chieftains of Dalriada, and completed his education in the Monastery of +Cluain Eidhneach, in the present Queen's county. The remains of a church +he founded at Disert Aengusa, near Ballingarry, in the county of +Limerick, may still be seen. + +The Monastery of Tamhlacht (Tallaght), near Dublin, was founded in the +year 769, by St. Maelruain, on a site offered "to God, to Michael the +Archangel, and to Maelruain," by Donnach, the pious and illustrious King +of Leinster. St. Aengus presented himself at this monastery as a poor +man seeking for service, and was employed for some time in charge of the +mill or kiln, the ruins of which have but lately yielded to "the +improving hand of modern progress." Here he remained hidden for many +years, until, by some happy accident, his humility and his learning were +at once discovered. + +Aengus composed his "Festology" in the reign of Hugh Oirdnidhe (the +Legislator), who was Monarch of Ireland from the year 793 to the year +817. Hugh commenced his reign by attaching the province of Leinster, and +then marched to the confines of Meath. The Archbishop of Armagh and all +his clergy were commanded to attend this expedition, for such had +hitherto been the custom. The ecclesiastics, however, protested against +the summons, and complained to the king of the injustice and +inconsistency of demanding their presence on such occasions. Hugh +referred the matter to Fothadh, his poet and adviser. The learning and +piety of the bard were well known; and a decision favourable to the +clergy was the result. This decision was given in a short poem of four +quatrains which is preserved in the preface to the "Martyrology" of +Aengus. The following is a literal translation:-- + + "The Church of the living God, + Touch her not, nor waste; + Let her rights be reserved, + As best ever they were. + + "Every true monk who is + Possessed of a pious conscience, + To the church to which it is due + Let him act as any servant. + + "Every faithful servant from that out, + Who is not bound by vows of obedience, + Has liberty to join in the battles + Of Aedh (Hugh) the Great, son of Nial. + + "This is the proper rule, + Certain it is not more, not less: + Let every one serve his lot, + Without defect, and without refusal." + +This decision obtained the name of a canon, and henceforth its author +was distinguished as _Fothadh na Canoine_, or Fothadh of the Canons. + +At the time of the promulgation of this canon, Aengus was residing at +his church of Disert Bethech, near the present town of Monasterevan, not +far from where the Irish monarch had pitched his camp. + +The poet visited Aengus, and showed him the canon before presenting it +to the king. An intimacy was thus commenced, which must have proved one +of singular pleasure to both parties. Aengus had just finished his +"Festology," and showed it for the first time to his brother poet, who +expressed the warmest approbation of the work. + +This composition consists of three parts. The first part is a poem of +five quatrains, invoking the grace and sanctification of Christ for the +poet and his undertaking:-- + + "Sanctify, O Christ! my words: + O Lord of the seven heavens! + Grant me the gift of wisdom, + O Sovereign of the bright sun! + + "O bright Sun, who dost illuminate + The heavens with all Thy holiness! + O King, who governest the angels! + O Lord of all the people! + + "O Lord of the people! + O King, all righteous and good! + May I receive the full benefit + Of praising Thy royal hosts. + + "Thy royal hosts I praise, + Because Thou art my sovereign; + I have disposed my mind + To be constantly beseeching Thee. + + "I beseech a favour from Thee, + That I be purified from my sins, + Through the peaceful bright-shining flock, + The royal host whom I celebrate." + +Then follows a metrical preface, consisting of eighty stanzas. These +verses are in the same measure[188] as the invocation, Englished by +modern Gaedhilic scholars as "chain-verse;" that is, an arrangement of +metre by which the first words of every succeeding quatrain are +identical with the last words of the preceding one. + +After the invocation follows a preface, the second part of this +remarkable poem. In this there is a glowing account of the tortures and +sufferings of the early Christian martyrs; it tells "how the names of +the persecutors are forgotten, while the names of their victims are +remembered with honour, veneration, and affection; how Pilate's wife is +forgotten, while the Blessed Virgin Mary is remembered and honoured from +the uttermost bounds of the earth to its centre." The martyrology +proper, or festology, comes next, and consists of 365 quatrains, or a +stanza for each day in the year. + +It commences with the feast of the Circumcision:-- + + "At the head of the congregated saints + Let the King take the front place; + Unto the noble dispensation did submit + Christ--on the kalends of January." + +St. Patrick is commemorated thus, on the 17th of March:-- + + "The blaze of a splendid sun, + The apostle of stainless Erinn, + Patrick, with his countless thousands, + May he shelter our wretchedness." + +On the 13th of April, Bishop Tussach, one of the favourite companions of +the great saint, is also mentioned as-- + + "The kingly bishop Tussach, + Who administered, on his arrival, + The Body of Christ, the truly powerful King, + And the Communion to Patrick." + +It will be remembered it was from this saint that the great apostle +received the holy viaticum. In the third division of his great work, +Aengus explains its use, and directs the people how to read it. + +It will be manifest from these poems that the religious principles of +the Culdees and of the Irish ecclesiastics generally, were those of the +Universal Church at this period. We find the rights of the Church +respected and advocated; the monarchs submitting to the decision of the +clergy; invocation of the saints; the practice of administering the holy +viaticum; and the commemoration of the saints on the days devoted to +their honour. + +Usher observes, that the saints of this period might be grouped into a +fourth order.[189] Bede says: "That many of the Scots [Irish] came daily +into Britain, and with great devotion preached the word and administered +baptism.... The English, great and small, were by their Scottish [Irish] +masters instructed in the rules and observances of regular +discipline."[190] Eric of Auxerre writes thus to Charles the Bald: "What +shall I say of Ireland, which, despising the dangers of the deep, is +migrating with her whole train of philosophers to our coast?" Rency, +after describing the poetry and literature of ancient Erinn as perhaps +the most cultivated of all Western Europe, adds, that Ireland "counted a +host of saints and learned men, venerated in England[191] and Gaul; for +no country had furnished more Christian missionaries." It is said that +three thousand students, collected from all parts of Europe, attended +the schools of Armagh; and, indeed, the regulations which were made for +preserving scholastic discipline, are almost sufficient evidence on this +subject. + +The discussions of the Irish and English ecclesiastics on the time of +keeping of Easter, with their subsequent decision, and all details +concerning domestic regulations as to succession to office and church +lands, are more properly matters for elucidation in a Church History, +for which we reserve their consideration. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT ADZE, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE ROYAL IRISH +ACADEMY.] + +[Illustration: CROSS AT FINGLAS.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[169] _Blefed_.--The name _Crom Chonaill_ indicates a sickness which +produced a yellow colour in the skin. + +[170] _Sanctuary_.--This may appear a severe punishment, but the right +of sanctuary was in these ages the great means of protection against +lawless force, and its violation was regarded as one of the worst of +sacrileges. + +[171] _Oak_.--Dr. Petrie mentions that there were stones still at Tara +which probably formed a portion of one of the original buildings. It was +probably of the Pelasgian or Cyclopean kind. + +[172] _Hour_.--Petrie's _Tara_, p. 31. + +[173] _Tuathal_.--Very ancient authorities are found for this in the +_Leabhar Gabhala_, or Book of Conquests. + +[174] _Mill_.--"Cormac, the grandson of Con, brought a millwright over +the great sea." It is clear from the Brehon laws that mills were common +in Ireland at an early period. It is probable that Cormac brought the +"miller and his men" from Scotland. Whittaker shows that a water-mill +was erected by the Romans at every stationary city in Roman Britain. The +origin of mills is attributed to Mithridates, King of Cappadocia, about +seventy years B.C. The present miller claims to be a descendant of the +original miller. + +[175] _Identical_.--First, "because the _Lia Fail_ is spoken of by all +ancient Irish writers in such a manner as to leave no doubt that it +remained in its original situation at the time they wrote." Second, +"because no Irish account of its removal to Scotland is found earlier +than Keating, and he quotes Boetius, who obviously wished to sustain the +claims of the Stuarts." The pillar-stone is composed of granular +limestone, but no stone of this description is found in the vicinity. As +may be supposed, there are all kinds of curious traditions about this +stone. One of these asserts that it was the pillar on which Jacob +reposed when he saw the vision of angels. Josephus states that the +descendants of Seth invented astronomy, and that they _engraved their +discoveries on a pillar of brick and a pillar of stone_. These pillars +remained, in the historian's time, in the land of Siris.--_Ant. Jud_. l. +2, sec. 3. + +[176] _At once_.--See Petrie's _Tara_, p. 213. + +[177] _Roads_.--See Napoleon's _Julius Caesar_, vol. ii. p. 22, for +mention of the Celtic roads in Gaul. + +[178] _Chariots_.--St. Patrick visited most parts of Ireland in a +chariot, according to the Tripartite Life. _Carbad_ or chariots are +mentioned in the oldest Celtic tales and romances, and it is distinctly +stated in the life of St. Patrick preserved in the Book of Armagh, that +the pagan Irish had chariots. Different kinds of roads are expressly +mentioned, and also the duty of road-mending, and those upon whom this +duty devolved. See Introduction to the Book of Rights, p. 56. + +[179] _Probable_.--The legend of St. Brendan was widely diffused in the +Middle Ages. In the _Bibliotheque Imperiale_, at Paris, there are no +less than eleven MSS. of the original Latin legend, the dates of which +vary from the eleventh to the fourteenth century. In the old French and +Romance dialects there are abundant copies in most public libraries in +France; while versions in Irish, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, and +Portuguese, abound in all parts of the Continent. Traces of +ante-Columbian voyages to America are continually cropping up. But the +appearance, in 1837, of the _Antiquitates Americanae sive ita Scriptores +Septentrionales rerum ante-Columbiarum_, in America, edited by Professor +Rafu, at Copenhagen, has given final and conclusive evidence on this +interesting subject. America owes its name to an accidental landing. Nor +is it at all improbable that the Phoenicians, in their voyage across the +stormy Bay of Biscay, or the wild Gulf of Guinea, may have been driven +far out of their course to western lands. Even in 1833 a Japanese junk +was wrecked upon the coast of Oregon. Humboldt believes that the Canary +Isles were known, not only to the Phoenicians, but "perhaps even to the +Etruscans." There is a map in the Library of St. Mark, at Venice, made +in the year 1436, where an island is delineated and named Antillia. See +Trans. R.I.A. vol. xiv. A distinguished modern poet of Ireland has made +the voyage of St. Brendan the subject of one of the most beautiful of +his poems. + +[180] _Magh-Rath_.--Now Moira, in the county Down. The Chronicum +Scotorum gives the date 636, and the Annals of Tighernach at 637, which +Dr. O'Donovan considers to be the true date. + +[181] _Gratis_.--Ven. Bede, cap. xxviii. + +[182] _Rule_.--"The light which St. Columbanus disseminated, by his +knowledge and doctrine, wherever he presented himself, caused a +contemporary writer to compare him to the sun in his course from east to +west; and he continued after his death to shine forth in numerous +disciples whom he had trained in learning and piety."--_Benedictine +Hist. Litt. de la France_. + +[183] _World_.--See Herring's _Collectanea_ and the _Bibliotheca +Patrum_, tom. xii. + +[184] _Bobbio_.--My learned friend, the Rev. J.P. Gaffney, of Clontarf, +has in his possession a printed copy of the celebrated _Bobbio Missal_. +It is contained in a work entitled "MUSEUM ITALICUM, seu collectio +Veterum Scriptorum ex Bibliothesis Italicis," eruta a D.J. Mabillon et +D.M. Germain, presbyteris et monachis, Benedictinae, Cong. S. Maure. This +work was published at Paris in 1687. The original Missal was discovered +by Mabillon two hundred years ago, and is at present preserved in the +Ambrosian Library at Milan. It dates from the seventh century, and is no +doubt the identical Missal or Mass-book used by the saint. As my friend +has allowed me to retain the treasure for a time, I intend to give full +details on the subject in my Ecclesiastical History. For further +information at present, I refer the reader to the Rev. J.P. Gaffney's +_Religion of the Ancient Irish Church_ p. 43, and to Dr. Moran's learned +_Essays_, p. 287. I especially request the superiors of religious orders +to afford me any information in their possession concerning the history +of their respective orders in Ireland, and also of their several houses. +Details of re-erections of religious houses on old sites are +particularly desired. All books or documents which may be forwarded to +me shall be carefully returned. + +[185] _Solivagus_.--Four Masters, p. 391. + +[186] _Ireland_.--The elder Sedulius, whose hymns are even now used by +the Church, lived in the fifth century. The hymn, _A solis ortis +cardine_, and many others, are attributed to him. + +[187] _Culdee_.--There was much dispute at one time as to the origin and +true character of the Culdees. The question, however, has been quite set +at rest by the researches of recent Irish scholars. Professor O'Curry +traces them up to the time of St. Patrick. He thinks they were +originally mendicant monks, and that they had no communities until the +end of the eighth century, when St. Maelruain of Tallaght drew up a rule +for them. This rule is still extant. Mr. Haverty (_Irish History_, p. +110) has well observed, they probably resembled the Tertiaries, or Third +Orders, which belong to the Orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis at the +present day. See also Dr. Reeves' _Life of St. Columba,_ for some clear +and valuable remarks on this subject. + +[188] _Measure_.--The subject of Irish poetical composition would demand +a considerable space if thoroughly entertained. Zeuss has done admirable +justice to the subject in his _Grammatica Celtica_, where he shows that +the word rhyme [_rimum_] is of Irish origin. The Very Rev. U. Burke has +also devoted some pages to this interesting investigation, in his +_College Irish Grammar_. He observes that the phonetic framework in +which the poetry of a people is usually fashioned, differs in each of +the great national families, even as their language and genius differ. +He also shows that the earliest Latin ecclesiastical poets were Irish, +and formed their hymns upon the rules of Irish versification; thus quite +controverting the theory that rhyme was introduced by the Saracens in +the ninth century. + +[189] _Order_.--This refers to the vision in which St. Patrick is said +to have seen three orders of saints, who should succeed each other in +Ireland. + +[190] _Discipline_.--Bede, lib. iii. cap. 3. We have used Bohn's +translation, as above all suspicion. + +[191] _England_.--Camden says: "At that age the Anglo-Saxons repaired on +all sides to Ireland as to a general mart of learning, whence we read, +in our writers, of holy men, that they went to study in +Ireland"--_Amandatus est ad disciplinam in Hiberniam_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Christianity improves the Social State of Ireland--A Saxon Invasion of +Ireland--Domestic Wars--The English come to Ireland for Instruction--A +Famine and Tempests--The First Danish Invasion--Cruelty of the +Danes--The Black and White Gentiles--King Cormac Mac +Cullinan--Cashel--Amlaff the Dane--Plunder of the Towns--Arrival of +Sitric--Death of Nial Glundubh--The Circuit of Ireland--Malachy the +Second--Entries in the Annals. + +[A.D. 693-926.] + + +Very few events of any special interest occur between the commencement +of the seventh century and the Danish invasion. The obituaries of +ecclesiastics and details of foreign missions, which we have already +recorded, are its salient points. The wars of the Saxon Heptarchy and +the Celtic Pentarchy almost synchronize, though we find several Irish +kings influenced by the examples of sanctity with which they were +surrounded, and distinguished for piety, while Charlemagne pronounces +their neighbours a perfidious and perverse race, worse than pagans. +There can be no doubt that Charlemagne's high opinion of the Irish was +caused by the fact, that so many of the heads of his schools were of +that nation, which was then in the vanguard of civilization and +progress. The cloister, always the nursery of art, the religious, always +the promoters of learning, were pre-eminent in this age for their +devotion to literary pursuits. In the present work it is impossible to +give details of their MSS. still preserved, of their wonderful skill in +caligraphy, still the admiration of the most gifted, and of the +perfection to which they brought the science of music; but I turn from +this attractive subject with less regret, from the hope of being soon +able to produce an Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, in which such +details will find their proper place, and will be amply expanded.[192] +The revolution of social feeling which was effected in Ireland by the +introduction of Christianity, is strongly marked. Before the advent of +St. Patrick, few Irish monarchs died a natural death--ambition or +treachery proved a sufficient motive for murder and assassination; while +of six kings who reigned during the eighth and ninth centuries, only one +died a violent death, and that death was an exception, which evidently +proved the rule, for Nial was drowned in a generous effort to save the +life of one of his own servants. + +The fatal pestilence, already recorded, did not appear again after its +severe visitation, which terminated in 667. In 693 Finnachta Fleadhach +(the Hospitable) commenced his reign. He remitted the Boromean Tribute +at the request of St. Moling, and eventually abdicated, and embraced a +religious life. In the year 684, Egfrid, the Saxon King of +Northumberland, sent an army to Ireland, which spared neither churches +nor monasteries, and carried off a great number of the inhabitants as +slaves. Bede denounces and laments this barbarous invasion, attributing +the defeat and death of King Egfrid, which took place in the following +year, to the vengeance of heaven.[193] St. Adamnan was sent to +Northumbria, after the death of this prince, to obtain the release of +the captives. His mission was successful, and he was honoured there as +the worker of many miracles. + +The generosity of Finnachta failed in settling the vexed question of +tribute. Comgal, who died in 708, ravaged Leinster as fiercely as his +predecessors, and Fearghal, his successor, invaded it "five times in one +year." Three wonderful showers are said to have fallen in the eighth +year of his reign (A.D. 716 according to the Four Masters)--a shower of +silver, a shower of honey, and a shower of blood. These were, of course, +considered portents of the awful Danish invasions. Fearghal was killed +at the battle of Almhain (Allen, near Kildare), in 718. In this +engagement, the Leinster men only numbered nine thousand, while their +opponents numbered twenty-one thousand. The Leinster men, however, made +up for numbers by their valour; and it is said that the intervention of +a hermit, who reproached Fearghal with breaking the pacific promise of +his predecessor, contributed to the defeat of the northern forces. +Another battle took place in 733, when Hugh Allan, King of Ireland, and +Hugh, son of Colgan, King of Leinster, engaged in single combat. The +latter was slain, and the Leinster men "were killed, slaughtered, cut +off, and dreadfully exterminated." In fact, the Leinster men endured so +many "dreadful exterminations," that one almost marvels how any of their +brave fellows were left for future feats of arms. The "northerns were +joyous after this victory, for they had wreaked their vengeance and +their animosity upon the Leinster men," nine thousand of whom were +slain. St. Samhthann, a holy nun, who died in the following year, is +said to have predicted the fate of Aedh, Comgal's son, if the two Aedhs +(Hughs) met. Aedh Allan commemorated her virtues in verse, and concludes +thus:-- + + "In the bosom of the Lord, with a pure death, Samhthann passed + from her sufferings." + +Indeed, the Irish kings of this period manifested their admiration of +peaceful living, and their desire for holy deaths, in a more practical +way than by poetic encomiums on others. In 704 Beg Boirche "took a +pilgrim's staff, and died on his pilgrimage." In 729 Flahertach +renounced his regal honours, and retired to Armagh, where he died. In +758 Donal died on a pilgrimage at Iona, after a reign of twenty years; +and in 765 his successor, Nial Frassagh, abdicated the throne, and +became a monk at Iona. Here he died in 778, and was buried in the tomb +of the Irish kings in that island. + +An Irish poet, who died in 742, is said to have played a clever trick on +the "foreigners" of Dublin. He composed a poem for them, and then +requested payment for his literary labours. The _Galls,_[194] who were +probably Saxons, refused to meet his demand, but Rumrann said he would +be content with two _pinguins_ (pennies) from every good man, and one +from each bad one. The result may be anticipated. Rumrann is described +as "an adept in wisdom, chronology, and poetry;" we might perhaps add, +and in knowledge of human nature. In the Book of Ballymote he is called +the Virgil of Ireland. A considerable number of Saxons were now in the +country; and it is said that a British king, named Constantine, who had +become a monk, was at that time Abbot of Rahen, in the King's county, +and that at Cell-Belaigh there were seven streets[195] of those +foreigners. Gallen, in the King's county, was called Galin of the +Britons, and Mayo was called Mayo of the Saxons, from the number of +monasteries therein, founded by members of these nations. + +The entries during the long reign of Domhnall contain little save +obituaries of abbots and saints. The first year of the reign of Nial +Frassagh is distinguished by a shower of silver, a shower of wheat, and +a shower of honey. The Annals of Clonmacnois say that there was a most +severe famine throughout the whole kingdom during the early part of his +reign, so much that the king himself had very little to live upon. Then +the king prayed very fervently to God, being in company with seven holy +bishops; and he asked that he might die rather than see so many of his +faithful subjects perishing, while he was helpless to relieve them. At +the conclusion of his prayer, the "three showers" fell from heaven; and +then the king and the seven bishops gave great thanks to the Lord. + +But a more terrible calamity than famine was even then impending, and, +if we may believe the old chroniclers, not without marvellous +prognostications of its approach. In the year 767 there occurred a most +fearful storm of thunder and lightning, with "terrific and horrible +signs." It would appear that the storm took place while a fair was going +on, which obtained the name of the "Fair of the clapping of hands." Fear +and horror seized the men of Ireland, so that their religious seniors +ordered them to make two fasts, together with fervent prayer, and one +meal between them, to protect and save them from a pestilence, precisely +at Michaelmas.[196] + +The first raid of the Danish pirates is recorded thus: "The age of +Christ 790 [_recte_ 795]. The twenty-fifth year of Donnchadh. The +burning of Reachrainn[197] by plunderers; and its shrines were broken +and plundered." They had already attacked the English coasts, "whilst +the pious King Bertric was reigning over its western division." Their +arrival was sudden and so unexpected, that the king's officer took them +for merchants, paying with his life for the mistake.[198] A Welsh +chronicle, known by the name of _Brut y Tywysogion_, or the Chronicle of +the Chieftains, has a corresponding record under the year 790: "Ten +years with fourscore and seven hundred was the age of Christ when the +pagans went to Ireland." Three MSS. add, "and destroyed Rechren." +Another chronicle mentions, that the black pagans, who were the first of +their nation to land in Ireland, had previously been defeated in +Glamorganshire, and after their defeat they had invaded Ireland, and +devastated Rechru. + +If by bravery we understand utter recklessness of life, and utter +recklessness in inflicting cruelties on others, then the Vikings may be +termed brave. The heroism of patient endurance was a bravery but little +understood at that period. If the heathen Viking was brave when he +plundered and burned monastic shrines--when he massacred the defenceless +with wanton cruelty--when he flung little children on the points of +spears, and gloated over their dying agonies; perhaps we may also admit +those who endured such torments, either in their own persons, or in the +persons of those who were dear to them, and yet returned again and again +to restore the shrine so rudely destroyed, have also their claim to be +termed brave, and may demand some commendation for that virtue from +posterity. + +As plunder was the sole object of these barbarians, they naturally +sought it first where it could be obtained most easily and surely. The +islands on the Irish coast were studded with monasteries. Their position +was chosen as one which seemed peculiarly suitable for a life of retreat +from worldly turmoil, and contemplation of heavenly things. They were +richly endowed, for ancient piety deemed it could never give enough to +God. The shrines were adorned with jewels, purchased with the wealth +which the monks had renounced for their own use; the sacred vessels were +costly, the gifts of generous hearts. The Danes commenced their work of +plunder and devastation in the year 795. Three years after, A.D. 798, +they ravaged Inis-patrick of Man and the Hebrides. In 802 they burned +"Hi-Coluim-Cille." In 806 they attacked the island again, and killed +sixty-eight of the laity and clergy. In 807 they became emboldened by +success, and for the first time marched inland; and after burning +Inishmurray, they attacked Roscommon. During the years 812 and 813 they +made raids in Connaught and Munster, but not without encountering stout +resistance from the native forces. After this predatory and internecine +warfare had continued for about thirty years, Turgesius, a Norwegian +prince, established himself as sovereign of the Vikings, and made Armagh +his head-quarters, A.D. 830. If the Irish chieftains had united their +forces, and acted in concert, the result would have been the expulsion +of the intruders; but, unhappily, this unity of purpose in matters +political has never existed. The Danes made and broke alliances with the +provincial kings at their own convenience, while these princes gladly +availed themselves of even temporary assistance from their cruel foes, +while engaged in domestic wars, which should never have been undertaken. +Still the Northmen were more than once driven from the country by the +bravery of the native commanders, and they often paid dearly for the +cruel wrongs they inflicted on their hapless victims. Sometimes the +Danish chiefs mustered all their forces, and left the island for a brief +period, to ravage the shores of England or Scotland; but they soon +returned to inflict new barbarities on the unfortunate Irish.[199] + +Burning churches or destroying monasteries was a favourite pastime of +these pirates, wherever they could obtain a landing on Christian shores; +and the number of religious houses in Ireland afforded them abundant +means of gratifying their barbarous inclinations. But when they became +so far masters as to have obtained some permanent settlement, this mode +of proceeding was considered either more troublesome or less profitable +than that of appropriating to themselves the abbeys and churches. +Turgesius, it is said, placed an abbot of his own in every monastery; +and as he had already conferred ecclesiastical offices on himself and on +his lady, we may presume he was not very particular in his selections. +The villages, too, were placed under the rule of a Danish captain; and +each family was obliged to maintain a soldier of that nation, who made +himself master of the house, using and wasting the food for lack of +which the starving children of the lawful owner were often dying of +hunger. + +All education was strictly forbidden; books and manuscripts were burned +and _drowned;_ and the poets, historians, and musicians imprisoned and +driven to the woods and mountains. Martial sports were interdicted, from +the lowest to the highest rank. Even nobles and princes were forbidden +to wear their usual habiliments, the cast-off clothes of the Danes being +considered sufficiently good for slaves. + +The clergy, who had been driven from their monasteries, concealed +themselves as best they could, continuing still their prayers and fasts, +and the fervent recital of the Divine Office. The Irish, true to their +faith in every trial, were not slow to attribute their deliverance to +the prayers of these holy men. + +In 831 Nial Caille led an army against them, and defeated them at Derry; +but in the meanwhile, Felim, King of Cashel, with contemptible +selfishness, marched into Leinster to claim tribute, and plundered every +one, except the Danes, who should have been alone considered as enemies +at such a time. Even the churches were not spared by him, for he laid +waste the termon-lands of Clonmacnois, "up to the church door." After +his death,[200] A.D. 843, a brave and good king came to the rescue of +his unfortunate country. While still King of Meath, Meloughlin had freed +the nation from Turgesius, one of its worst tyrants, by drowning him in +Lough Owel. His death was a signal for a general onslaught on the Danes. +The people rose simultaneously, and either massacred their enemies, or +drove them to their ships. In 846 Meloughlin met their forces at Skreen, +where they were defeated; they also suffered a reverse at Kildare. + +The Danes themselves were now divided into two parties--the Dubh Galls, +or Black Gentiles; and the Finn Galls, or White Gentiles. A fierce +conflict took place between them in the year 850, in which the Dubh +Galls conquered.[201] In the following year, however, both parties +submitted to Amlaff, son of the Norwegian king; and thus their power was +once more consolidated. Amlaff remained in Dublin; his brothers, Sitric +and Ivar, stationed themselves in Waterford and Limerick. A great +meeting was now convened by the ecclesiastics of Ireland at Rathugh, for +the purpose of establishing peace and concord amongst the native +princes. The northern Hy-Nials alone remained belligerent; and to defend +themselves, pursued the usual suicidal course of entering into an +alliance with the Danes. Upon the death of the Irish monarch, the +northern chief, Hugh Finnlaith, succeeded to the royal power; broke his +treaty with Amlaff, which had been only one of convenience; and turned +his arms vigorously against the foreigners. This prince was married to a +daughter of Kenneth M'Alpine, the first sole Monarch of Scotland. After +the death of the Irish prince, his wife married his successor, Flann, +who, according to the alternate plan of succession, came of the southern +Hy-Nial family, and was a son of Meloughlin, once the formidable +opponent of the lady's former husband. During the reign of Flann, Cormac +Mac Cullinan, a prelate distinguished for his learning and sanctity, was +obliged to unite the office of priest and king. This unusual +combination, however, was not altogether without precedent. The +archbishopric of Cashel owes its origin remotely to this great man; as +from the circumstance of the city of Cashel having been the seat of +royalty in the south, and the residence of the kings of Munster, it was +exalted, in the twelfth century, to the dignity of an archiepiscopal +see. + +Of Cormac, however interesting his history, we can only give a passing +word. His reign commenced peaceably; and so wise--perhaps we should +rather say, so holy--was his rule, that his kingdom once more enjoyed +comparative tranquillity, and religion and learning flourished again as +it had done in happier times. + +But the kingdom which he had been compelled to rule, was threatened by +the very person who should have protected it most carefully; and Cormac, +after every effort to procure peace, was obliged to defend his people +against the attacks of Flann. Even then a treaty might have been made +with the belligerent monarch; but Cormac, unfortunately for his people +and himself, was guided by an abbot, named Flahertach, who was by no +means so peaceably disposed as his good master. This unruly ecclesiastic +urged war on those who were already too willing to undertake it; and +then made such representations to the bishop-king, as to induce him to +yield a reluctant consent. It is said that Cormac had an intimation of +his approaching end. It is at least certain, that he made preparations +for death, as if he believed it to be imminent. + +On the eve of the fatal engagement he made his confession, and added +some articles to his will, in which he left large bounties to many of +the religious houses throughout the kingdom. To Lismore he bequeathed a +golden chalice and some rich vestments; to Armagh, twenty-four ounces of +gold and silver; to his own church of Cashel, a golden and a silver +chalice, with the famous Saltair. Then he retired to a private place for +prayer, desiring the few persons whom he had informed of his approaching +fate to keep their information secret, as he knew well the effect such +intelligence would have on his army, were it generally known. + +[Illustration: ROCK OF CASHEL.] + +Though the king had no doubt that he would perish on the field, he still +showed the utmost bravery, and made every effort to cheer and encourage +his troops; but the men lost spirit in the very onset of the battle, and +probably were terrified at the numerical strength of their opponents. +Six thousand Munster men were slain, with many of their princes and +chieftains. Cormac was killed by falling under his horse, which missed +its footing on a bank slippery with the blood of the slain. A common +soldier, who recognized the body, cut off his head, and brought it as a +trophy to Flann; but the monarch bewailed the death of the good and +great prince, and reproved the indignity with which his remains had been +treated. This battle was fought at a place called Bealagh Mughna, now +Ballaghmoon, in the county of Kildare, a few miles from the town of +Carlow.[202] + +Flahertach survived the battle, and, after some years spent in penance, +became once more minister, and ultimately King of Munster. As he +advanced in years, he learned to love peace, and his once irascible +temper became calm and equable. + +The Rock of Cashel, and the ruins of a small but once beautiful chapel, +still preserve the memory of the bishop-king. His literary fame also has +its memorials. His Rule is contained in a poem of fourteen stanzas, +written in the most pure and ancient style of Gaedhilic, of which, as +well as of many other languages, the illustrious Cormac was so profound +a master. This Rule is general in several of its inculcations; but it +appears to have been written particularly as an instruction to a priest, +for the moral and spiritual direction of himself and his flock. He was +also skilled in the Ogham writings, as may be gathered from a poem +written by a contemporary, who, in paying compliments to many of the +Irish kings and chiefs, addresses the following stanza to Cormac:-- + + "Cormac of Cashel, with his champions, + Munster is his,--may he long enjoy it! + Around the King of _Raith-Bicli_ are cultivated + The letters and the trees." + +The death of Cormac is thus pathetically deplored by Dallan, son of +Mor:-- + + "The bishop, the soul's director, the renowned, illustrious doctor, + King of Caiseal, King of Farnumha: O God! alas for Cormac!" + +Flann's last years were disturbed by domestic dissensions. His sons, +Donough and Conor, both rebelled against him; but Nial Glundubh (of the +black knee), a northern Hy-Nial chief, led an army against them, and +compelled them to give hostages to their father. Flann died the +following year, A.D. 914, and was succeeded by the prince who had so +ably defended him. Meanwhile, the Danes were not idle. Amlaff[203] has +signalized his advent by drowning Conchobhar, "heir apparent of Tara;" +by slaying all the chieftains of the Deisi at Cluain-Daimh; by killing +the son of Clennfaeladh, King of Muscraighe Breoghain; by smothering +Machdaighren in a cave, and by the destruction of Caitill Find (Ketill +the White) and his whole garrison. Oisill is the next chief of +importance; and he "succeeded in plundering the greatest part of +Ireland." It is not recorded how long he was occupied in performing this +exploit, but he was eventually slain, and his army cut off, by the men +of Erinn. The deaths of several Danish chieftains occured about this +period, and are referred to the vengeance of certain saints, whose +shrines they had desecrated. In A.D. 864 according to the Four Masters, +867 according to O'Flaherty, the Danes were defeated at Lough Foyle, by +Hugh Finnliath, King of Ireland. Soon after, Leinster and Munster were +plundered by a Scandinavian chief, named Baraid, who advanced as far as +_Ciarraighe_ (Kerry): "And they left not a cave under ground that they +did not explore; and they left nothing, from Limerick to Cork, that they +did not ravish." What treasures the antiquarian of the nineteenth +century must have lost by this marauder! How great must have been the +wealth of the kings and princes of ancient Erinn, when so much remains +after so much was taken! In 877 the Black Gentiles took refuge in +Scotland, after suffering a defeat in an engagement with the White +Gentiles. They were, however, consoled by a victory over the men of +Alba, in which Constantine, son of Kenneth, was slain, and many others +with him. Their success proved beneficial to Ireland, for we are told +that a period of "rest to the men of Erinn" ensued. The Danes still held +their own in Dublin and at Limerick, occasionally plundered the +churches, and now and then had a skirmish with the "men of Erinn;" but +for forty years the country was free from the foreign fleets, and, +therefore, enjoyed a time of comparative quiet. + +In the year 913 new fleets arrived. They landed in the harbour of +Waterford, where they had a settlement formerly; but though they +obtained assistance here, they were defeated by the native Irish, both +in Kerry and in Tipperary. Sitric came with another fleet in 915, and +settled at Cenn-Fuait.[204] Here he was attacked by the Irish army, but +they were repulsed with great slaughter. Two years after they received +another disastrous defeat at Cill-Mosanhog, near Rathfarnham. A large +cromlech, still in that neighbourhood, probably marks the graves of the +heroes slain in that engagement. Twelve kings fell in this battle. Their +names are given in the _Wars of the Gaedhil_, and by other authorities, +though in some places the number is increased. Nial Glundubh was amongst +the slain. He is celebrated in pathetic verse by the bards. Of the +battle was said:-- + + "Fierce and hard was the Wednesday + On which hosts were strewn under the fall of shields; + It shall be called, till judgment's day, + The destructive burning of Ath-cliath." + +The lamentation of Nial was, moreover, said:-- + + "Sorrowful this day is sacred Ireland, + Without a valiant chief of hostage reign! + It is to see the heavens without a sun, + To view Magh-Neill[205] without a Nial." + + "There is no cheerfulness in the happiness of men; + There is no peace or joy among the hosts; + No fair can be celebrated + Since the sorrow of sorrow died." + +Donough, son of Flann Sinna, succeeded, and passed his reign in +obscurity, with the exception of a victory over the Danes at Bregia. Two +great chieftains, however, compensated by their prowess for his +indifference; these were Muircheartach, son of the brave Nial Glundubh, +the next heir to the throne, and Callaghan of Cashel, King of Munster. +The northern prince was a true patriot, willing to sacrifice every +personal feeling for the good of his country: consequently, he proved a +most formidable foe to the Danish invader. Callaghan of Cashel was, +perhaps, as brave, but his name cannot be held up to the admiration of +posterity. The personal advancement of the southern Hy-Nials was more to +him than the political advancement of his country; and he disgraced his +name and his nation by leaguing with the invaders. In the year 934 he +pillaged Clonmacnois. Three years later he invaded Meath and Ossory, in +conjunction with the Danes. Muircheartach was several times on the eve +of engagements with the feeble monarch who nominally ruled the country, +but he yielded for the sake of peace, or, as the chroniclers quaintly +say, "God pacified them." After one of these pacifications, they joined +forces, and laid "siege to the foreigners of Ath-cliath, so that they +spoiled and plundered all that was under the dominion of the foreigners, +from Ath-cliath to Ath-Truisten."[206] + +In the twenty-second year of Donough, Muircheartach determined on a +grand expedition for the subjugation of the Danes. He had already +conducted a fleet to the Hebrides, from whence he returned flushed with +victory. His first care was to assemble a body of troops of special +valour; and he soon found himself at the head of a thousand heroes, and +in a position to commence "his circuit of Ireland." The Danish chief, +Sitric, was first seized as a hostage. He then carried off Lorcan, King +of Leinster. He next went to the Munster men, who were also prepared for +battle; but they too yielded, and gave up their monarch also, "and a +fetter was put on him by Muircheartach." He afterwards proceeded into +Connaught, where Conchobhar, son of Tadhg, came to meet him, "but no +gyve or lock was put upon him." He then returned to Oileach, carrying +these kings with him as hostages. Here he feasted them for five months +with knightly courtesy, and then sent them to the Monarch Donough. + +After these exploits we cannot be surprised that Muircheartach should be +styled the Hector of the west of Europe. But he soon finds his place in +the never-ceasing obituary. In two years after his justly famous +exploit, he was slain by "Blacaire, son of Godfrey, lord of the +foreigners." This event occurred on the 26th of March, A.D. 941, +according to the chronology of the Four Masters. The true year, however, +is 943. The chroniclers briefly observe, that "Ard-Macha was plundered +by the same foreigners, on the day after the killing of +Muircheartach."[207] + +Donough died in 942, after a reign of twenty-five years. He was +succeeded by Congallach, who was killed by the Danes, A.D. 954. Donnell +O'Neill, a son of the brave Muircheartach, now obtained the royal power, +such as it was; and at his death the throne reverted to Maelseachlainn, +or Malachy II., the last of his race who ever held the undisputed +sovereignty of Ireland. But it must not be supposed that murders and +massacres are the staple commodities of our annals during this eventful +period. Every noteworthy event is briefly and succinctly recorded. We +find, from time to time, mention of strange portents, such as double +suns, and other celestial phenomena of a more or less remarkable +character. Fearful storms are also chronicled, which appear to have +occurred at certain intervals, and hard frosts, which proved almost as +trying to the "men of Erinn" as the wars of the Gentiles, black or +white. But the obituaries of abbots or monks, with the quaint remarks +appended thereto, and epitomes of a lifetime in a sentence, are by no +means the least interesting portion of those ancient tomes. In one page +we may find record of the Lord of Aileach, who takes a pilgrim's staff; +in another, we have mention of the Abbot Muireadhach and others, who +were "destroyed in the refectory" of Druim-Mesclainn by Congallach; and +we read in the lamentation of Muireadhach, that he was "the lamp of +every choir." Then we are told simply how a nobleman "died in religion," +as if that were praise enough for him; though another noble, Domhnall, +is said to have "died in religion, after a good life." Of some abbots +and bishops there is nothing more than the death record; but in the age +of Christ 926, when Celedabhaill, son of Scannal, went to Rome on his +pilgrimage from the abbacy of Beannchair, we are given in full the four +quatrains which he composed at his departure,--a composition which +speaks highly for the poetic powers and the true piety of the author. He +commences thus:-- + + "Time for me to prepare to pass from the shelter of a habitation, + To journey as a pilgrim over the surface of the noble lively sea; + Time to depart from the snares of the flesh, with all its guilt; + Time now to ruminate how I may find the great Son of Mary; + Time to seek virtue, to trample upon the will with sorrow; + Time to reject vices, and to renounce the demon. + + * * * * * + + "Time to barter the transitory things for the country of the King of heaven; + Time to defy the ease of the little earthly world of a hundred pleasures; + Time to work at prayer in adoration of the high King of angels." + +The obituary notices, however, were not always complimentary. We find +the following entry in the Annals of Clonmacnois:--"Tomhair Mac Alchi, +King of Denmark, is reported to go [to have gone] to hell with his +pains, as he deserved." + + +[Illustration: GREY MAN'S PATH, GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.] + +[Illustration: RATH AT LEIGHLIN, CARLOW] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[192] _Expanded_.--I take this opportunity of requesting from laymen or +ecclesiastics who may read this announcement, the favour of any +information they may consider valuable. + +[193] _Heaven.--Ec. Hist_. lib. iv. c. 26. "From that time the hopes and +strength of the English crown began to waver and retrograde, for the +Picts recovered their own lands," &c. The Annals of the Four Masters +mention a mortality among cattle throughout the whole world, and a +severe frost, which followed this invasion: "The sea between Ireland and +Scotland was frozen, so that there was a communication between them on +the ice."--vol. ii. p. 291. They also mention the mission of Adamnan to +"Saxon land." + +[194] _Galls_.--Gall was a generic name for foreigners. The Danes were +Finn Galls, or White Foreigners, and Dubh Galls, or Black Foreigners. +The former were supposed to have been the inhabitants of Norway; the +latter, of Jutland. In Irish, _gaill_ is the nom., and _gall_, gen. + +[195] _Streets_.--In Armagh the buildings were formed into streets and +wards, for the better preservation of monastic discipline. Armagh was +divided into three parts--_trian-more_, the town proper; +_trian-Patrick_, the cathedral close; and _trian-Sassenagh_, the home of +the foreign students. + +[196] _Michaelmas_.--Annals, p. 371. Another fearful thunderstorm is +recorded in the Annals for 799. This happened on the eve of St. +Patrick's Day. It is said that a thousand and ten persons were killed on +the coast of Clare. The island of Fitha (now Mutton Island) was partly +submerged, and divided into three parts. There was also a storm in +783--"thunder, lightning, and wind-storms"--by which the Monastery of +Clonbroney was destroyed. + +[197] _Reachrainn_.-Rechru appears to be the correct form. It has not +yet been ascertained whether this refers to Lambay, near Dublin, or the +island 01 Rathlinn. See note, p. 32, to the "Introduction" to the _Wars +of the Gaedhil with the Gall_. + +[198] _Mistake.--Ethel. Chron. Pro._ book iii. + +[199] _Irish_.--The history of the two hundred years during which these +northern pirates desolated the island, has been preserved in a MS. of +venerable age and undoubted authenticity. It is entitled _Cogadh Gaedhil +re Gallaibh_ (the Wars of the Gaedhil with the Gall). It was quoted by +Keating, known to Colgan, and used by the Four Masters; but for many +years it was supposed to have been completely lost, until it was +discovered, in 1840, by Mr. O'Curry, among the Seabright MSS. The work +is now edited, with a translation and most valuable notes, by Dr. Todd. +Several other copies have been discovered since, notably one by the +Franciscan Brother, Michael O'Clery, which is at present in the +Burgundian Library at Brussels. From internal evidence, it is presumed +that the author was a contemporary of King Brian Boroimhe. Dr. O'Connor +refers the authorship to Mac Liag, who was chief poet to that monarch, +and died in 1016, two years after his master. Dr. Todd evidently +inclines to this opinion, though he distinctly states that there is no +authority for it. + +[200] _Death_.--It appears doubtful whether he really died at this time. +It is said that he repented of his sins of sacrilege, and ended his days +in penance and religious retirement. See Four Masters, p. 472. + +[201] _Conquered_.--Duald Mac Firbis gives a curious account of these +contests in his _fragments of Annals_. The White Galls, or Norwegians, +had long been masters of the situation. The Black Galls fought with them +for three days and nights, and were finally victorious. They take the +ships they have captured to Dublin, and deprive the Lochlanns (Black +Galls) of all the spoil they had so cruelly and unjustly acquired from +the "shrines and sanctuaries of the saints of Erinn;" which the annalist +naturally considers a judgment on them for their sins. They make another +struggle, and gain the victory. But the Banish general, Horm, advises +his men to put themselves under the protection of St. Patrick, and to +promise the saint "honorable alms for gaining victory and triumph" over +enemies who had plundered his churches. They comply with this advice; +and though greatly inferior in numbers, they gain the victory, "on +account of the tutelage of St. Patrick." + +[202] _Carlow_.--The site of the battle is still shown there, and even +the stone on which the soldier decapitated Cormac. Cormac's death is +thus described in a MS. in the Burgundian Library: "The hind feet of his +horse slipped on the slippery road in the track of that blood; the horse +fell backwards, and broke his [Cormac's] back and his neck in twain; and +he said, when falling, _In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum_, and he +gives up his spirit; and the impious sons of malediction come and thrust +spears into his body, and sever his head from his body." Keating gives a +curious account of this battle, from an ancient tract not known at +present. + +[203] _Amlaff_.--Dr. Todd identifies Amlaff with Olaf Huita (the white), +of Scandinavian history, who was usually styled King of Dublin, and was +the leader of the Northmen in Ireland for many years. See "Introduction" +to the _Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 69. + +[204] _Cenn-Fuait_.--Fuat Head. The site has not been accurately +identified. + +[205] _Magh-Neill, i.e.,_ the Plain of Nial, a bardic name for +Ireland.--Four Masters, vol. ii. p. 595. + +[206] _Ath-Truisten_.--From Dublin to a ford on the river Green, near +Mullaghmast, co. Kildare. + +[207] _Muircheartach_.--This prince obtained the soubriquet of +Muircheartach of the Leathern Cloaks. The origin of this appellation +has not been precisely ascertained. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The Battle of Dundalk--The Danes supposed to be Christianized--Brian +Boroimhe and his Brother Mahoun--The Dalcassians fight the Danes--Mahoun +is assassinated--Brian revenges his Brother's Murder--Malachy's Exploits +against the Danes--Malachy and Brian form a Treaty and fight the +Danes--Malachy wins "the Collar of Gold"--Brian's "Happy Family" at +Kincora--He usurps the Supreme Power, and becomes Monarch of +Ireland--Remote Causes of the Battle of Clontarf--Gormflaith is "grim" +with Brian--Blockade of Dublin--The Danes prepare for a Fierce +Conflict--Brian prepares also--The Battle of Clontarf--Disposition of +the Forces--Brian's Death--Defeat of the Danes. + +[A.D. 926-1022.] + + +Many of the sea-coast towns were now in possession of the Danes. They +had founded Limerick, and, indeed, Wexford and Waterford almost owe them +the debt of parentage. Obviously, the ports were their grand +securities--a ready refuge if driven by native valour to embark in their +fleets; convenient head-quarters when marauding expeditions to England +or Scotland were in preparation. But the Danes never obtained the same +power in Ireland as in the sister country. The domestic dissensions of +the men of Erinn, ruinous as they were to the nation, gave it at least +the advantage of having a brave and resolute body of men always in arms, +and ready to face the foe at a moment's notice, when no selfish policy +interfered. In 937 Athelstane gained his famous victory over the Danes +at Brunanbriegh in Northumberland, and came triumphantly to reclaim the +dagger[208] which he had left at the shrine of St. John of Beverley. +After his death, in 941, Amlaff returned to Northumberland, and once +more restored the Danish sway. From this time, until the accession of +the Danish King Canute, England was more or less under the dominion of +these ruthless tyrants.[209] + +"The Danes of Ireland, at this period, were ruled by Sitric, son of +Turgesius, whose name was sufficient to inspire the Irish with terror. +Through policy he professed willingness to enter into a treaty of peace +with Callaghan, King of Munster; and, as proof of his sincerity, offered +him his sister, the Princess Royal of Denmark, in marriage. The Irish +king had fallen in love with this amiable and beautiful princess, and he +readily consented to the fair and liberal measures proposed. He sent +word to Sitric he would visit him; and, attended by a royal retinue, to +be followed in a little time by his guards, as escort for his future +queen, proceeded to meet his royal bride. + +"Sitric's project of inveigling the King of Munster into his district, +in order to make him prisoner, under the expectation of being married to +the Princess of Denmark, having been disclosed to his wife, who was of +Irish birth, she determined to warn the intended victim of the meditated +treachery, and accordingly she disguised herself, and placed herself in +a pass which Callaghan should traverse, and met him. Here she informed +him who she was, the design of Sitric against him, and warned him to +return as fast as possible. This was not practicable. Sitric had barred +the way with armed men; and Callaghan and his escort, little prepared +for an encounter, found themselves hemmed in by an overwhelming Danish +force. To submit without a struggle was never the way with the +Momonians. They formed a rampart round the person of their king, and cut +through the Danish ranks. Fresh foes met them on every side; and, after +a bloody struggle, the men of Munster were conquered. Callaghan, the +king, and Prince Duncan, son of Kennedy, were brought captives to +Dublin. Then the royal prisoners were removed to Armagh, and their safe +keeping entrusted to nine Danish earls, who had a strong military force +at their orders to guard them. + +"The news of this insidious act rapidly fanned the ardour of the Munster +troops to be revenged for the imprisonment of their beloved king. +Kennedy, the Prince of Munster, father of Duncan, was appointed regent, +with ample powers to govern the country in the king's absence. The first +step was to collect an army to cope with the Danes. To assemble a +sufficient body of troops on land was easy; but the great strength of +the northern rovers lay in their swift-sailing ships. 'It must strike +the humblest comprehension with astonishment,' says Marmion, 'that the +Irish, although possessed of an island abounding with forests of the +finest oak, and other suitable materials for ship-building--enjoying +also the most splendid rivers, loughs, and harbours, so admirably +adapted to the accommodation of extensive fleets, should, +notwithstanding, for so many centuries, allow the piratical ravages of +the Danes, and subsequently the more dangerous subversion of their +independence by the Anglo-Normans, without an effort to build a navy +that could cope with those invaders on that element from which they +could alone expect invasion from a foreign foe.' This neglect has also +been noticed by the distinguished Irish writer--Wilde--who, in his +admirably executed _Catalogue of the Antiquities in the Royal Irish +Academy_, observes:--'Little attention has been paid to the subject of +the early naval architecture of this country. So far as we yet know, two +kinds of boats appear to have been in use in very early times in the +British Isles--the canoe and the corragh; the one formed of a single +piece of wood, the other composed of wickerwork, covered with hides.' +Larger vessels there must have been; though, from the length of time +which has since elapsed, we have no traces of them now. Kennedy not only +collected a formidable army by land, but 'he fitted out a fleet of +ships, and manned it with able seamen, that he might make sure of his +revenge, and attack the enemy by sea and land.' The command of the fleet +was conferred on an admiral perfectly skilled in maritime affairs, +Failbhe Fion, King of Desmond. + +"When the army of Munster arrived near Armagh, they learnt the prisoners +had been removed thence by Sitric, and placed on board ship. Enraged at +this disappointment, they gave no quarter to the Danes, and advanced +rapidly to Dundalk, where the fleet lay, with the king and young prince +on board. Sitric, unable to withstand the opposing army on shore, +ordered his troops to embark, and resolved to avoid the encounter +through means of his ships. While the baffled Irish army were chafing at +this unexpected delay to their hoped for vengeance, they espied, from +the shore of Dundalk, where they encamped, a sail of ships, in regular +order, steering with a favourable gale towards the Danish fleet moored +in Dundalk bay. Joy instantly filled their hearts; for they recognized +the fleet of Munster, with the admiral's vessel in the van, and the rest +ranged in line of battle. The Danes were taken by surprise; they beheld +an enemy approach from a side where they rather expected the raven flag +of their country floating on the ships. The Munster admiral gave them no +time to form. He steered straight to Sitric's vessel, and, with his +hardy crew, sprang on board. Here a sight met his gaze which filled his +heart with rage; he saw his beloved monarch, Callaghan, and the young +prince, tied with cords to the main-mast. Having, with his men, fought +through the Danish troops to the side of the king and prince, he cut the +cords and set them free. He then put a sword into the hands of the +rescued king, and they fought side by side: Meanwhile Sitric, and his +brothers, Tor and Magnus, did all they could to retrieve the fortunes of +the day. At the head of a chosen band they attacked the Irish admiral, +and he fell, covered with wounds. His head, exposed by Sitric on a pole, +fired the Danes with hope--the Irish with tenfold rage. Fingal, next in +rank to Failbhe Fion, took the command, and determined to avenge his +admiral. Meeting the Danish ruler in the combat, he seized Sitric round +the neck, and flung himself with his foe into the sea, where both +perished. Seagdor and Connall, two captains of Irish ships, imitated +this example--threw themselves upon Tor and Magnus, Sitric's brothers, +and jumped with them overboard, when all were drowned. These desperate +deeds paralysed the energy of the Danes, and the Irish gained a complete +victory in Dundalk bay. + +"The Irish fleet having thus expelled the pirates from their coast, came +into harbour, where they were received with acclamations of joy by all +who witnessed their bravery. Such is a summary of Keating's poetic +account of this day's achievements; and there are extant fuller accounts +in various pieces of native poetry, especially one entitled 'The Pursuit +after Callaghan of Cashel, by the Chief of Munster, after he had been +entrapped by the Danes.'" + +The year 948 has generally been assigned as that of the conversion of +the Danes to Christianity; but, whatever the precise period may have +been, the conversion was rather of a doubtful character as we hear of +their burning churches, plundering shrines, and slaughtering +ecclesiastics with apparently as little remorse as ever. In the very +year in which the Danes of Dublin are said to have been converted, they +burned the belfry of Slane while filled with religious who had sought +refuge there. Meanwhile the Irish monarchies were daily weakened by +divisions and domestic wars. Connaught was divided between two or three +independent princes, and Munster into two kingdoms. + +The ancient division of the country into five provinces no longer held +good; and the Ard-Righ, or chief monarch, was such only in name. Even +the great northern Hy-Nials, long the bravest and most united of the +Irish clans, were now divided into two portions, the Cinel-Connaill and +Cinel-Owen; the former of whom had been for some time excluded from the +alternate accession of sovereignty, which was still maintained between +the two great families of the race of Nial. But, though this arrangement +was persevered in with tolerable regularity, it tended little to the +promotion of peace, as the northern princes were ever ready to take +advantage of the weakness of the Meath men, who were their inferiors +both in numbers and in valour. + +The sovereignty of Munster had also been settled on the alternate +principle, between the great tribe of Dalcassians, or north Munster +race, and the Eoghanists, or southeners. This plan of succession, as may +be supposed, failed to work peaceably; and, in 942, Kennedy, the father +of the famous Brian Boroimhe, contested the sovereignty with the +Eoghanist prince, Callaghan Cashel, but yielded in a chivalrous spirit, +not very common under such circumstances, and joined his former opponent +in his contests with the Danes. The author of the _Wars of the Gaedhil +with the Gall_ gives a glowing account of the genealogy of Brian and his +eldest brother, Mathgamhain. They are described as "two fierce, +magnificent heroes, the two stout, able, valiant pillars," who then +governed the Dalcassian tribes; Mathgamhain (Mahoun) being the actual +chieftain, Brian the heir apparent. A guerilla war was carried on for +some time in the woods of Thomond, in which no quarter was given on +either side, and wherein it was "woe to either party to meet the other." +Mahoun at last proposed a truce, but Brian refused to consent to this +arrangement. He continued the war until he found his army reduced to +fifteen men. Mahoun then sent for him. An interview took place, which is +described in the form of a poetic dialogue, between the two brothers. +Brian reproached Mahoun with cowardice; Mahoun reproached Brian with +imprudence. Brian hints broadly that Mahoun had interested motives in +making this truce, and declares that neither Kennedy, their father, nor +Lorcan, their grandfather, would have been so quiescent towards the +foreigners for the sake of wealth, nor would they have given them even +as much time as would have sufficed to play a game of chess[210] on the +green of Magh Adhair. Mahoun kept his temper, and contented himself with +reproaching Brian for his recklessness, in sacrificing the lives of so +many of his faithful followers to no purpose. Brian replied that he +would never abandon his inheritance, without a contest, to "such +foreigners as Black Grim Gentiles." + +The result was a conference of the tribe, who voted for war, and marched +into the country of the Eoghanists (the present co. Kerry), who at once +joined the standard of the Dalcassians. The Danes suffered severely in +Munster. This aroused the Limerick Danes; and their chieftain, Ivar, +attacked the territory of Dal-Cais, an exploit in which he was joined, +to their eternal shame, by several native princes and tribes, amongst +whom were Maolmuadh (Molloy), son of Braun, King of Desmond, and +Donabhan (Donovan), son of Cathal, King of Ui Cairbhri. The result was a +fierce battle at Sulcoit, near Tipperary, wherein the Danes were +gloriously defeated. The action was commenced by the Northmen. It +continued from sunrise till mid-day, and terminated in the rout of the +foreigners, who fled "to the ditches, and to the valleys, and to the +solitudes of the great sweet flower plain," where they were followed by +the conquerors, and massacred without mercy. + +The Dalcassians now obtained possession of Limerick, with immense spoils +of jewels, gold and silver, foreign saddles, "soft, youthful, bright +girls, blooming silk-clad women, and active well-formed boys." The +active boys were soon disposed of, for we find that they collected the +prisoners on the hillocks of Saingel, where "every one that was fit for +war was put to death, and every one that was fit for a slave was +enslaved." This event is dated A.D. 968. + +Mahoun was now firmly established on the throne, but his success +procured him many enemies. A conspiracy was formed against him under the +auspices of Ivar of Limerick and his son, Dubhcenn. The Eoghanist clans +basely withdrew their allegiance from their lawful sovereign, allied +themselves with the Danes, and became principals in the plot of +assassination. Their motive was as simple as their conduct was vile. The +two Eoghanist families were represented by Donovan and Molloy. They were +descendants of Oilioll Oluim, from whom Mahoun was also descended, but +his family were Dalcassians. Hitherto the Eoghanists had succeeded in +depriving the tribes of Dal-Cais of their fair share of alternate +succession to the throne of Munster; they became alarmed at and jealous +of the advancement of the younger tribe, and determined to do by +treachery what they could not do by force. With the usual headlong +eagerness of traitors, they seem to have forgotten Brian, and quite +overlooked the retribution they might expect at his hands for their +crime. There are two different accounts of the murder, which do not +coincide in detail. The main facts, however, are reliable: Mahoun was +entrapped in some way to the house of Donovan, and there he was basely +murdered, in violation of the rights of hospitality, and in defiance of +the safe-conduct of the bishop, which he secured before his visit. + +The traitors gained nothing by their treachery except the contempt of +posterity. Brian was not slow in avenging his brother. "He was not a +stone in place of an egg, nor a wisp of hay in place of a club; but he +was a hero in place of a hero, and valour after valour."[211] + +Public opinion was not mistaken in its estimate of his character. Two +years after the death of Mahoun, Brian invaded Donovan's territory, +drove off his cattle, took the fortress of Cathair Cuan, and slew +Donovan and his Danish ally, Harolt. He next proceeded to settle +accounts with Molloy. Cogaran is sent to the whole tribe of Ui Eachach, +to know "the reason why" they killed Mahoun, and to declare that no +_cumhal_ or fine would be received, either in the shape of hostages, +gold, or cattle, but that Molloy must himself be given up. Messages were +also sent to Molloy, both general and particular--the general message +challenged him to battle at Belach-Lechta; the particular message, which +in truth he hardly deserved, was a challenge to meet Murrough, Brian's +son, in single combat. The result was the battle of Belach-Lechta,[212] +where Molloy was slain, with twelve hundred of his troops, both native +and foreign. Brian remained master of the field and of the kingdom, A.D. +978. + +Brian was now undisputed King of Munster. In 984 he was acknowledged +Monarch of Leth Mogha, the southern half of Ireland. Meanwhile Malachy, +who governed Leth Cuinn, or the northern half of Ireland, had not been +idle. He fought a battle with the Danes in 979, near Tara, in which he +defeated their forces, and slew Raguall, son of Amlaibh, King of Dublin. +Amlaibh felt the defeat so severely, that he retired to Iona, where he +died of a broken heart. Donough O'Neill, son of Muircheartach, died this +year, and Malachy obtained the regal dignity. Emboldened by his success +at Tara, he resolved to attack the foreigners in Dublin; he therefore +laid siege to that city, and compelled it to surrender after three days, +liberated two thousand prisoners, including the King of Leinster, and +took abundant spoils. At the same time he issued a proclamation, freeing +every Irishman then in bondage to the Danes, and stipulating that the +race of Nial should henceforth be free from tribute to the foreigners. + +It is probable that Brian had already formed designs for obtaining the +royal power. The country resounded with the fame of his exploits, and +Malachy became aware at last that he should either have him for an ally +or an enemy. He prudently chose the former alternative, and in the +nineteenth year of his reign (997 according to the Four Masters) he made +arrangements with Brian for a great campaign against the common enemy. +Malachy surrendered all hostages to Brian, and Brian agreed to recognize +Malachy as sole Monarch of northern Erinn, "without war or trespass." +This treaty was absolutely necessary, in order to offer effective +resistance to the Danes. The conduct of the two kings towards each other +had not been of a conciliatory nature previously. In 981 Malachy had +invaded the territory of the Dalcassians, and uprooted the great +oak-tree of Magh Adair, under which its kings were crowned--an insult +which could not fail to excite bitter feelings both in prince and +people. In 989 the monarch occupied himself fighting the Danes in +Dublin, to whom he laid siege for twenty nights, reducing the garrison +to such straits that they were obliged to drink the salt water when the +tide rose in the river. Brian then made reprisals on Malachy, by sending +boats up the Shannon burning the royal rath of Dun Sciath. Malachy, in +his turn, recrossed the Shannon, burned Nenagh, plundered Ormonde, and +defeated Brian himself in battle. He then marched again to Dublin, and +once more attacked "the proud invader." It was on this occasion that he +obtained the "collar of gold," which Moore has immortalized in his +world-famous "Melodies." + +When the kings had united their forces, they obtained another important +victory at Glen-Mama.[213] Harolt, son of Olaf Cuaran, the then Danish +king, was slain, and four thousand of his followers perished with him. +The victorious army marched at once to Dublin. Here they obtained spoils +of great value, and made many slaves and captives. According to some +accounts, Brian remained in Dublin until the feast of St. Brigid +(February 1st); other annalists say he only remained from Great +Christmas to Little Christmas. Meanwhile there can be but little doubt +that Brian had in view the acquisition of the right to be called sole +monarch of Ireland. It is a blot on an otherwise noble character--an +ugly spot in a picture of more than ordinary interest. Sitric, another +son of Olaf's, fled for protection to Aedh and Eochaidh, two northern +chieftains; but they gave him up, from motives of fear or policy to +Brian's soldiers, and after due submission he was restored to his former +position. Brian then gave his daughter in marriage to Sitric, and +completed the family alliance by espousing Sitric's mother, Gormflaith, +a lady of rather remarkable character, who had been divorced from her +second husband, Malachy. Brian now proceeded to depose Malachy. The +account of this important transaction is given in so varied a manner by +different writers, that it seems almost impossible to ascertain the +truth. The southern annalists are loud in their assertions of the +incapacity of the reigning monarch, and would have it believed that +Brian only yielded to the urgent entreaties of his countrymen in +accepting the proffered crown. But the warlike exploits of Malachy have +been too faithfully recorded to leave any doubt as to his prowess in the +field; and we may probably class the regret of his opponent in accepting +his position, with similar protestations made under circumstances in +which such regret was as little likely to be real. + +The poet Moore, with evident partiality for the subject of his song, +declares that the magnanimous character of Malachy was the real ground +of peace under such provocation, and that he submitted to the +encroachments of his rival rather from motives of disinterested desire +for his country's welfare, than from any reluctance or inability to +fight his own battle. + +But Brian had other chieftains to deal with, of less amiable or more +warlike propensities: the proud Hy-Nials of the north were long in +yielding to his claims; but even these he at length subdued, compelling +the Cinel-Eoghain to give him hostages, and carrying off the Lord of +Cinel-Connaill bodily to his fortress at Kincora. Here he had assembled +a sort of "happy family," consisting of refractory princes and knights, +who, refusing hostages to keep the peace with each other, were obliged +to submit to the royal will and pleasure, and at least to appear +outwardly in harmony. + +These precautionary measures, however summary, and the energetic +determination of Brian to have peace kept either by sword or law, have +given rise to the romantic ballad of the lady perambulating Erinn with a +gold ring and white wand, and passing unmolested through its once +belligerent kingdoms. + +Brian now turned his attention to the state of religion and literature, +restoring the churches and monasteries which had been plundered and +burnt by the Danes. He is said also to have founded the churches of +Killaloe and Iniscealtra, and to have built the round tower of Tomgrany, +in the present county Clare. A gift of twenty ounces of gold to the +church of Armagh,--a large donation for that period,--is also recorded +amongst his good deeds.[214] + +There is some question as to the precise year in which Brian obtained or +usurped the authority and position of Ard-Righ: A.D. 1002, however, is +the date most usually accepted. He was probably about sixty-one years of +age, and Malachy was then about fifty-three.[215] + +It will be remembered that Brian had married the Lady Gormflaith. Her +brother, Maelmordha, was King of Leinster, and he had obtained his +throne through the assistance of the Danes. Brian was Gormflaith's third +husband. In the words of the Annals, she had made three leaps--"jumps +which a woman should never jump"--a hint that her matrimonial +arrangements had not the sanction of canon law. She was remarkable for +her beauty, but her temper was proud and vindictive. This was probably +the reason why she was repudiated both by Malachy and Brian. There can +be no doubt that she and her brother, Maelmordha, were the remote causes +of the famous battle of Clontarf. The story is told thus: Maelmordha +came to Brian with an offering of three large pine-trees to make masts +for shipping. These were probably a tribute which he was bound to pay to +his liege lord. The trees had been cut in the great forest of Leinster, +called Fidh-Gaibhli.[216] Some other tribes were bringing their +tree-tributes at the same time; and as they all journeyed over the +mountains together, there was a dispute for precedency. Maelmordha +decided the question by assisting to carry the tree of the Ui-Faelain. +He had on a tunic of silk which Brian had given[217] him, with a border +of gold round it and silver buttons. One of the buttons came off as he +lifted the tree. On his arrival at Kincora, he asked his sister, +Gormflaith, to replace it for him; but she at once flung the garment +into the fire, and then bitterly reproached her brother with having +accepted this token of vassalage. The Sagas say she was "grim" against +Brian, which was undoubtedly true. This excited Maelmordha's temper. An +opportunity soon offered for a quarrel. Brian's eldest son, +Murrough,[218] was playing a game of chess with his cousin, Conoing; +Maelmordha was looking on, and suggested a move by which Murrough lost +the game. The young prince exclaimed: "That was like the advice you gave +the Danes, which lost them Glen-Mama." "I will give them advice now, and +they shall not be defeated," replied the other. "Then you had better +remind them to prepare a yew-tree[219] for your reception," answered +Murrough. + +Early the next morning Maelmordha left the place, "without permission +and without taking leave." Brian sent a messenger after him to pacify +him, but the angry chief, for all reply, "broke all the bones in his +head." He now proceeded to organize a revolt against Brian, and +succeeded. Several of the Irish princes flocked to his standard. An +encounter took place in Meath, where they slew Malachy's grandson, +Domhnall, who should have been heir if the usual rule of succession had +been observed. Malachy marched to the rescue, and defeated the +assailants with great slaughter, A.D. 1013. Fierce reprisals now took +place on each side. Sanctuary was disregarded, and Malachy called on +Brian to assist him. Brian at once complied. After successfully ravaging +Ossory he marched to Dublin, where he was joined by Murrough, who had +devastated Wicklow, burning, destroying, and carrying off captives, +until he reached _Cill Maighnenn_ (Kilmainham). They now blockaded +Dublin, where they remained from St. Ciaran's in harvest (Sept. 9th) +until Christmas Day. Brian was then obliged to raise the siege and +return home for want of provisions. + +The storm was now gathering in earnest, and the most active preparations +were made on both sides for a mighty and decisive conflict. The Danes +had already obtained possession of England, a country which had always +been united in its resistance to their power, a country numerically +superior to Ireland: why should they not hope to conquer, with at least +equal facility, a people who had so many opposing interests, and who +rarely sacrificed these interests to the common good? Still they must +have had some fear of the result, if we may judge by the magnitude of +their preparations. They despatched ambassadors in all directions to +obtain reinforcements. Brodir, the earl, and Amlaibh, son of the King of +Lochlann, "the two Earls of Cair, and of all the north of Saxon +land,"[220] came at the head of 2,000 men; "and there was not one +villain of that 2,000 who had not polished, strong, triple-plated armour +of refined iron, or of cooling, uncorroding brass, encasing their sides +and bodies from head to foot." Moreover, the said villains "had no +reverence, veneration, or respect, or mercy for God or man, for church +or for sanctuary; they were cruel, ferocious, plundering, hard-hearted, +wonderful Dannarbrians, selling and hiring themselves for gold and +silver, and other treasure as well." Gormflaith was evidently "head +centre" on the occasion; for we find wonderful accounts of her zeal and +efforts in collecting forces. "Other treasure" may possibly be referred +to that lady's heart and hand, of which she appears to have been very +liberal on this occasion. She despatched her son, Sitric, to Siguard, +Earl of the Orkneys, who promised his assistance, but he required the +hand of Gormflaith as payment for his services, and that he should be +made King of Ireland. Sitric gave the required promise, and found, on +his return to Dublin, that it met with his mother's entire approbation. +She then despatched him to the Isle of Man, where there were two +Vikings, who had thirty ships, and she desired him to obtain their +co-operation "at any price." They were the brothers Ospak and Brodir. +The latter demanded the same conditions as the Earl Siguard, which were +promised quite as readily by Sitric, only he charged the Viking to keep +the agreement secret, and above all not to mention it to Siguard. + +Brodir,[221] according to the Saga, was an apostate Christian, who had +"thrown off his faith, and become God's dastard." He was both tall and +strong, and had such long black hair that he tucked it under his belt; +he had also the reputation of being a magician. The Viking Ospak refused +to fight against "the good King Brian," and, touched by some prodigies, +became a convert to Christianity, joined the Irish monarch at Kincora, +on the Shannon, and received holy baptism.[222] The author of the _Wars +of the Gaedhil_ gives a formidable list of the other auxiliaries who +were invited by the Dublin Danes. The Annals of Loch Ce also give an +account of the fleet he assembled, and its "chosen braves." Maelmordha +had mustered a large army also; indeed, he was too near the restless and +revengeful Larmflaith to have taken matters quietly, even had he been so +inclined. + +Meanwhile Brian had been scarcely less successful, and probably not less +active. He now marched towards Dublin, "with all that obeyed him of the +men of Ireland." These were the provincial troops of Munster and +Connaught and the men of Meath. His march is thus described in the _Wars +of the Gaedhil_:--"Brian looked out behind him, and beheld the battle +phalanx--compact, huge, disciplined, moving in silence, mutely, bravely, +haughtily, unitedly, with one mind, traversing the plain towards them; +threescore and ten banners over them--of red, and of yellow, and of +green, and of all kinds of colours; together with the everlasting, +variegated, lucky, fortunate banner, that had gained the victory in +every battle, and in every conflict, and in every combat."[223] The +portion of the narrative containing this account is believed to be an +interpolation, but the description may not be the less accurate. Brian +plundered and destroyed as usual on his way to Dublin. When he had +encamped near that city, the Danes came out to give him battle on the +plain of Magh-n-Ealta.[224] The king then held a council of war, and the +result, apparently, was a determination to give battle in the morning. +It is said that the Northmen pretended flight in order to delay the +engagement. The Njal Saga says the Viking Brodir had found out by his +sorcery, "that if the fight were on Good Friday, King Brian would fall, +but win the day; but if they fought before, they would all fall who were +against him." Some authorities also mention a traitor in Brian's camp, +who had informed the Danes that his forces had been weakened by the +absence of his son Donough, whom he had sent to devastate Leinster. +Malachy has the credit of this piece of treachery, with other +imputations scarcely less disreputable. + +The site of the battle has been accurately defined. It took place on the +plain of Clontarf,[225] and is called the Battle of the Fishing Weir of +Clontarf. The weir was at the mouth of the river Tolka, where the bridge +of Ballybough now stands. The Danish line was extended along the coast, +and protected at sea by their fleets. It was disposed in three +divisions, and comprised about 21,000 men, the Leinster forces being +included in the number. The first division or left wing was the nearest +to Dublin. It was composed of the Danes of Dublin, and headed by Sitric, +who was supported by the thousand mail-clad Norwegians, commanded by +Carlus and Anrud. In the centre were the Lagennians, under the command +of Maelmordha. The right wing comprised the foreign auxiliaries, under +the command of Brodir and Siguard.[226] + +Brian's army was also disposed in three divisions. The first was +composed of his brave Dalcassians, and commanded by his son Murrough, +assisted by his four brothers, Teigue, Donough, Connor, and Flann, and +his youthful heir, Turlough, who perished on the field. The second +division or centre was composed of troops from Munster, and was +commanded by Mothla, grandson of the King of the Deisi, of Waterford, +assisted by many native princes. The third battalion was commanded by +Maelruanaidh (Mulrooney of the Paternosters) and Teigue O'Kelly, with +all the nobles of Connaught. Brian's army numbered about twenty thousand +men. The accounts which relate the position of Malachy, and his conduct +on this occasion, are hopelessly conflicting. It appears quite +impossible to decide whether he was a victim to prejudice, or whether +Brian was a victim to his not unnatural hostility. + +On the eve of the battle, one of the Danish chiefs, Plait, son of King +Lochlainn, sent a challenge to Domhnall, son of Emhin, High Steward of +Mar. The battle commenced at daybreak. Plait came forth and exclaimed +three times, "_Faras Domhnall_?" (Where is Domhnall?) Domhnall replied: +"Here, thou reptile." A terrible hand-to-hand combat ensued. They fell +dead at the same moment, the sword of each through the heart of the +other, and the hair of each in the clenched hand of the other. And the +combat of those two was the first combat of the battle. + +Before the engagement Brian harangued his troops, with the crucifix in +one hand and a sword in the other. He reminded them of all they had +suffered from their enemies, of their tyranny, their sacrilege, their +innumerable perfidies; and then, holding the crucifix aloft, he +exclaimed: "The great God has at length looked down upon our sufferings, +and endued you with the power and the courage this day to destroy for +ever the tyranny of the Danes, and thus to punish them for their +innumerable crimes and sacrileges by the avenging power of the sword. +Was it not on this day that Christ Himself suffered death for you?" + +He was then compelled to retire to the rear, and await the result of the +conflict; but Murrough performed prodigies of valour. Even the Danish +historians admit that he fought his way to their standard, and cut down +two successive bearers of it. + +The mailed armour of the Danes seems to have been a source of no little +dread to their opponents. But the Irish battle-axe might well have set +even more secure protection at defiance. It was wielded with such skill +and force, that frequently a limb was lopped off with a single blow, +despite the mail in which it was encased; while the short lances, darts, +and slinging-stones proved a speedy means of decapitating or stunning a +fallen enemy. + +The Dalcassians surpassed themselves in feats of arms. They hastened +from time to time to refresh their thirst and cool their hands in a +neighbouring brook; but the Danes soon filled it up, and deprived them +of this resource. It was a conflict of heroes--a hand-to-hand fight. +Bravery was not wanting on either side, and for a time the result seemed +doubtful. Towards the afternoon, as many of the Danish leaders were cut +down, their followers began to give way, and the Irish forces prepared +for a final effort. At this moment the Norwegian prince, Anrud, +encountered Murrough, whose arms were paralyzed from fatigue; he had +still physical strength enough to seize his enemy, fling him on the +ground, and plunge his sword into the body of his prostrate foe. But +even as he inflicted the death-wound, he received a mortal blow from the +dagger of the Dane, and the two chiefs fell together. + +The _melee_ was too general for an individual incident, however +important in itself, to have much effect. The Northmen and their allies +were flying hard and fast, the one towards their ships, the others +towards the city. But as they fled across the Tolka, they forgot that it +was now swollen with the incoming tide, and thousands perished by water +who had escaped the sword. The body of Brian's grandson, the boy +Turlough, was found in the river after the battle, with his hands +entangled in the hair of two Danish warriors, whom he had held down +until they were drowned. Sitric and his wife had watched the combat from +the battlements of Dublin. It will be remembered that this lady was the +daughter of King Brian, and her interests were naturally with the Irish +troops. Some rough words passed between her and her lord, which ended in +his giving her so rude a blow, that he knocked out one of her teeth. But +we have yet to record the crowning tragedy of the day. Brian had retired +to his tent to pray, at the commencement of the conflict. When the +forces met, he began his devotions, and said to his attendant: "Watch +thou the battle and the combats, whilst I say the psalms." After he had +recited fifty psalms, fifty collects, and fifty paternosters, he desired +the man to look out and inform him how the battle went, and the position +of Murrough's standard. He replied the strife was close and vigorous, +and the noise was as if seven battalions were cutting down Tomar's wood; +but the standard was safe. Brian then said fifty more psalms, and made +the same inquiry. The attendant replied that all was in confusion, but +that Murrough's standard still stood erect, and moved westwards towards +Dublin. "As long as that standard remains erect," replied Brian, "it +shall go well with the men of Erinn." The aged king betook himself to +his prayers once more, saying again fifty psalms[227] and collects; +then, for the last time, he asked intelligence of the field. Latean +replied: "They appear as if Tomar's wood was on fire, and its brushwood +all burned down;" meaning that the private soldiers of both armies were +nearly all slain, and only a few of the chiefs had escaped; adding the +most grievous intelligence of all, that Murrough's standard had fallen. +"Alas!" replied Brian, "Erinn has fallen with it: why should I survive +such losses, even should I attain the sovereignty of the world?" His +attendant then urged him to fly, but Brian replied that flight was +useless, for he had been warned of his fate by Aibinn (the banshee of +his family), and that he knew his death was at hand. He then gave +directions about his will and his funeral, leaving 240 cows to the +"successor of Patrick." Even at this moment the danger was impending. A +party of Danes approached, headed by Brodir. The king sprang up from the +cushion where he had been kneeling, and unsheathed his sword. At first +Brodir did not know him, and thought he was a priest from finding him at +prayer; but one of his followers informed him that it was the Monarch of +Ireland. In a moment the fierce Dane had opened his head with his +battle-axe. It is said that Brian had time to inflict a wound on the +Viking, but the details of this event are so varied that it is +impossible to decide which account is most reliable. The Saga states +that Brodir knew Brian,[228] and, proud of his exploit, held up the +monarch's reeking head, exclaiming, "Let it be told from man to man that +Brodir felled Brian." All accounts agree in stating that the Viking was +slain immediately, if not cruelly, by Brian's guards, who thus revenged +their own neglect of their master. Had Brian survived this conflict, and +had he been but a few years younger, how different might have been the +political and social state of Ireland even at the present day! The +Danish power was overthrown, and never again obtained an ascendency in +the country. It needed but one strong will, one wise head, one brave +arm, to consolidate the nation, and to establish a regular monarchy; for +there was mettle enough in the Celt, if only united, to resist foreign +invasion for all time to come. + +[Illustration: King Brian Boroimhe killed by the Viking.] + +On Easter Monday the survivors were employed in burying the dead and +attending to the wounded. The remains of more than thirty chieftains +were borne off to their respective territorial churches for interment. +But even on that very night dissension arose in the camp. The chieftains +of Desmond, seeing the broken condition of the Dalcassian force, renewed +their claim to the alternate succession. When they had reached Rath +Maisten (Mullaghmast, near Athy) they claimed the sovereignty of +Munster, by demanding hostages. A battle ensued, in which even the +wounded Dalcassians joined. Their leader desired them to be placed in +the fort of Maisten, but they insisted on being fastened to stakes, +firmly planted in the ground to support them, and stuffing their wounds +with moss, they awaited the charge of the enemy. The men of Ossory, +intimidated by their bravery, feared to give battle. But many of the +wounded men perished from exhaustion--a hundred and fifty swooned away, +and never recovered consciousness again. The majority were buried where +they stood; a few of the more noble were carried to their ancestral +resting-places. "And thus far the wars of the Gall with the Gaedhil, and +the battle of Clontarf." + +The Annals state that both Brian and his son, Murrough, lived to receive +the rites of the Church, and that their remains were conveyed by the +monks to Swords, and from thence, through Duleek and Louth, to Armagh, +by Archbishop Maelmuire, the "successor of St. Patrick." Their obsequies +were celebrated with great splendour, for twelve days and nights, by the +clergy; after which the body of Brian was deposited in a stone coffin, +on the north side of the high altar, in the cathedral. Murrough was +buried on the south side. Turlough was interred in the old churchyard of +Kilmainham, where the shaft of an ancient cross still marks the site. + +Malachy once more assumed the reins of government by common consent, and +proved himself fully equal to the task. A month before his death he +gained an important victory over the Danes at Athboy, A.D. 1022. An +interregnum of twenty years followed his death, during which the country +was governed by two wise men, Cuan O'Lochlann, a poet, and Corcran +Cleireach, an anchoret. The circumstances attending Malachy's death are +thus related by the Four Masters:--"The age of Christ 1022. +Maelseachlainn Mor, pillar of the dignity and nobility of the west of +the world, died in Croinis Locha-Aininn, in the seventy-third year of +his age, on the 4th of the nones of September, on Sunday precisely, +after intense penance for his sins and transgressions, after receiving +the body of Christ and His blood, after being anointed by the hands of +Amhalgaidh, successor of Patrick, for he and the successor of +Colum-Cille, and the successors of Ciaran, and most of the seniors of +Ireland were present [at his death], and they sung masses, hymns, +psalms, and canticles for the welfare of his soul." + +[Illustration: COVER OF ST. PATRICK'S BELL.] + +[Illustration: DESMOND CASTLE AND RATH, LIMERICK.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[208] _Dagger_.--The king visited the shrine on his way to battle, and +hanging up his dagger, the then symbol of knightly valour, vowed to +release it with a kingly ransom if God gave him the victory. He obtained +his desire, and nobly fulfilled his vow. + +[209] _Tyrants_.--J. Roderick O'Flanagan, Esq., M.R.I.A., has permitted +me to extract the account of the battle of Dundalk from his valuable and +interesting _History of Dundalk and its Environs._ Dublin: Hodges and +Smith, 1864. This gentleman has devoted himself specially to elucidating +the subject, and with a kindness which I cannot easily forget, permits +me to avail myself, not only of his literary labours, but even to +transfer to the pages of this work several complete pages from his own. + +[210] _Chess_.--Flann Sionna, Monarch of Ireland, had encamped on this +plain, and ostentatiously commenced a game of chess as a mark of +contempt for the chieftains whose country he had invaded. His folly met +its just punishment, for he was ignominiously defeated. See _Wars of the +Gaedhil_, p. 113, note. + +[211] _Valour.--Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 101. + +[212] _Belach-Lechta_.--The site has not been definitely ascertained. +Some authorities place it near Macroom, co. Cork. + +[213] _Glen-Mama_.--The Glen of the Gap, near Dunlavin. This was the +ancient stronghold of the kings of Leinster in Wicklow. There is a long +and very interesting note on the locality, by the Rev. J.F. Shearman, +R.C.C., in the "Introduction" to the _Wars of the Gaedhil_. He mentions +that pits have been discovered even recently, containing the remains of +the slain. + +[214] _Deeds_.--The origin of surnames is also attributed to Brian +Boroimhe, from a fragment in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, +supposed to be a portion of a life of that monarch written by his poet +Mac Liag. Surnames were generally introduced throughout Europe in the +tenth and twelfth centuries. The Irish gave their names to their lands. +In other countries patronymics were usually taken from the names of the +hereditary possessions. + +[215] _Fifty-three_.--See Dr. O'Donovan's note to Annals, p. 747. + +[216] _Fidh-Gaibhli_.--Now Feegile, near Portarlington. + +[217] _Given_.--The Book of Rights mentions, that one of the rights to +which the King of Leinster was entitled from the King of Ireland, was +"fine textured clothes at Tara," as well as "sevenscore suits of clothes +of good colour, for the use of the sons of the great chieftain."--Book +of Rights, p. 251. From the conduct of Gormflaith, as related above, it +is evident that the tunic was some token of vassalage. + +[218] _Murrough_.--He was eldest son by Brian's first wife, Mor. He had +three sons by this lady, who were all slain at Clontarf. + +[219] _Yew-tree_.--This was a sharp insult. After the battle of +Glen-Mama, Maelmordha had hidden himself in a yew-tree, where he was +discovered and taken prisoner by Murrough. + +[220] _Land.--Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 151. + +[221] _Brodir_.--It has been suggested that this was not his real name. +He was Ospak's _brother_, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper +name. There was a Danish Viking named Gutring, who was an apostate +deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish history. + +[222] _Baptism.--Burnt Njal_, ii. 332. + +[223] _Combat.--Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 157. + +[224] _Magh-n-Ealta_.--The Plain of the Flocks, lying between Howth and +Tallaght, so called from Eder, a chieftain who perished before the +Christian era. + +[225] _Clontarf_.--There is curious evidence that the account of the +battle of Clontarf must have been written by an eye-witness, or by one +who had obtained his information from an eye-witness. The author states +that "the foreigners came out to fight the battle in the morning at the +full tide," and that the tide came in again in the evening at the same +place. The Danes suffered severely from this, "for the tide had carried +away their ships from them." Consequently, hundreds perished in the +waves.--_Wars of the Gaedhil,_ p. 191. Dr. Todd mentions that he asked +the Rev. S. Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, to calculate for him +"what was the hour of high water at the shore of Clontarf, in Dublin +Bay, on the 23rd of April, 1014." The result was a full confirmation of +the account given by the author of the _Wars of the Gaedhil_--the Rev. +S. Haughton having calculated that the morning tide was full in at 5.30 +a.m., the evening tide being full at 5.55 p.m. + +[226] _Siguard_.--Various accounts are given of the disposition of +forces on each side, so that it is impossible to speak with accuracy on +the subject. We know how difficult it is to obtain correct particulars +on such occasions, even with the assistance of "own correspondents" and +electric telegraphs. + +[227] _Psalms_.--To recite the Psalter in this way was a special +devotional practice of the middle ages. + +[228] _Brian_.--_Burnt Njal_, ii. 337. If this account be reliable, +Brian did not live to receive the last sacraments, as other authorities +state. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Distinguished Irish Scholars and Religious--Domestic Feuds--O'Brien's +Illness caused by Fright--Pestilence and Severe Winters--Contentions +between the Northerns and Southerns--Murtough's Circuit of Ireland--The +Danes attempt an Invasion--An Irish King sent to the Isle of +Man--Destruction of Kincora--St. Celsus makes Peace--The Synod of Fidh +Aengussa--Subjects considered by the Synod: (1) The Regulation of the +Number of Dioceses, (2) the Sacrament of Matrimony, (3) the Consecration +of Bishops, (4) Ceremonies at Baptism--St. Malachy--The Traitor +Dermod--Synod at Mellifont Abbey--St. Laurence O'Toole. + +[A.D. 1022-1167.] + + +Domestic wars were, as usual, productive of the worst consequences, as +regards the social state of the country. The schools and colleges, which +had been founded and richly endowed by the converted Irish, were now, +without exception, plundered of their wealth, and, in many cases, +deprived of those who had dispensed that wealth for the common good. It +has been already shown that men lived holy lives, and died peaceful +deaths, during the two hundred years of Danish oppression; we shall now +find that schools were revived, monasteries repeopled, and missionaries +sent to convert and instruct in foreign lands. A few monks from Ireland +settled in Glastonbury early in the tenth century, where they devoted +themselves to the instruction of youth. St. Dunstan, who was famous for +his skill in music, was one of their most illustrious pupils: he was a +scholar, an artist, and a musician. But English writers, who give him +the credit of having brought "Englishmen to care once more for learning, +after they had quite lost the taste for it, and had sunk back into +ignorance and barbarism," forget to mention who were his instructors. + +St. Maccallin, another Irishman, was teaching in France at the same +period; and Duncan, who governed the Monastery of St. Remigius, at +Rheims, was writing books of instruction for his students, which are +still extant. Marianus Scotus, whose chronicles are considered the most +perfect compositions of their times, was teaching at Cologne. St. +Fingen, who succeeded St. Cadroe as Abbot of the Monastery of St. Felix +at Metz, was invested with the government of the Monastery of St. +Symphorian in that city[229]. It was then ordered by the bishop, that +none but Irish monks should be received into his house, unless their +supply failed. In 975 the Monastery of St. Martin, near Cologne, was +made over to the Irish monks in perpetuity. Happily, however, Ireland +still retained many of her pious and gifted sons. We have mentioned +elsewhere the Annals of Tighernach, and the remarkable erudition they +evince. The name of Cormac Mac Cullinan may also be added to the list of +literary men of the period. The poems of Kenneth O'Hartigan are still +extant, as well as those of Eochd O'Flynn. The authorship of the _Wars +of the Gaedhil and the Gall_, has been attributed to Brian Boroimhe's +secretary, Mac Liag; it is, at least, tolerably certain that it was +written by one who witnessed the events described. The obituaries of +several saints also occur at the close of the tenth and commencement of +the eleventh centuries. Amongst these we find St. Duncheadh, Abbot of +Clonmacnois, who is said to have been the last Irish saint who raised +the dead. St. Aedh (Hugh) died in the year 1004, "after a good life, at +Ard-Macha, with great honour and veneration." And in the year 1018, we +have the mortuary record of St. Gormgal, of Ardvilean, "the remains of +whose humble oratory and cloghan cell are still to be seen on that rocky +island, amid the surges of the Atlantic, off the coast of +Connemara."[230] + +Dr. Todd has well observed, in his admirably written "Introduction" to +the _Wars of the Gaedhil and the Gall_, that from the death of Malachy +to the days of Strongbow, the history of Ireland is little more than a +history of the struggles for ascendency between the great clans or +families of O'Neill, O'Connor, O'Brien, and the chieftains of Leinster. + +After the death of Brian Boroimhe, his son Donough obtained the +undisputed sovereignty of Munster. He defeated the Desmonians, and +instigated the murder of his brother Teigue. His next step was to claim +the title of King of Ireland, but he had a formidable opponent in Dermod +Mac Mael-na-mbo, King of Leinster. Strange to say, though he had the +guilt of fratricide on his conscience, he assembled the clergy and +chieftains of Munster at Killaloe, in the year 1050, to pass laws for +the protection of life and property--a famine, which occurred at this +time, making such precautions of the first necessity. In 1033, his +nephew, Turlough, avenged the death of Teigue, in a battle, wherein +Donough was defeated. After his reverse he went on a pilgrimage to Rome, +where he died in the following year, after doing penance for his +brother's murder. The Annals say that "he died under the victory of +penance, in the Monastery of Stephen the Martyr."[231] Dermod Mac +Mael-na-mbo was killed in battle by the King of Meath, A.D. 1072, and +Turlough O'Brien, consequently, was regarded as his successor to the +monarchy of Ireland. Turlough, as usual, commenced by taking hostages, +but he found serious opposition from the northern Hy-Nials. His +principal opponents were the Mac Loughlins of Aileach, and the +O'Melaghlins of Meath. In 1079 O'Brien invaded the territory of Roderic +O'Connor, King of Connaught, expelled him from his kingdom, and +plundered it as far as Croagh Patrick. Next year he led an army to +Dublin, and received the submission of the men of Meath, appointing his +son Murtough lord of the Danes of Dublin. The Annals of the Four Masters +give a curious account of O'Brien's death. They say that the head of +Connor O'Melaghlin, King of Meath, was taken from the church of +Clonmacnois, and brought to Thomond, by his order. When the king took +the head in his hand, a mouse ran out of it, and the shock was so great +that "he fell ill of a sore disease by the miracles (intervention) of +St. Ciaran." This happened on the night of Good Friday. The day of the +resurrection (Easter Sunday) the head was restored, with two rings of +gold as a peace-offering. But Turlough never recovered from the effects +of his fright, and lingered on in bad health until the year 1086, when +he died. He is called the "modest Turlough" in the Annals, for what +special reason does not appear. It is also recorded that he performed +"intense penance for his sins"--a grace which the kings and princes of +Ireland seem often to have needed, and, if we may believe the Annals, +always to have obtained. + +A period of anarchy ensued, during which several princes contended for +royal honours. This compliment was finally awarded to Mac Loughlin, King +of Aileach, and a temporary peace ensued. Its continuance was brief. In +1095 there was a pestilence all over Europe, "and some say that the +fourth part of the men of Ireland died of the malady." A long list is +given of its victims, lay and ecclesiastical. Several severe winters are +recorded as having preceded this fatal event; probably they were its +remote cause. In the year 1096, the festival of St. John Baptist fell on +Friday. This event caused general consternation, in consequence of some +old prophecy. A resolution "of the clergy of Ireland, with the successor +of St. Patrick[232] at their head," enjoined a general abstinence from +Wednesday to Sunday every month, with other penitential observances; and +"the men of Ireland were saved for that time from the fire of +vengeance."[233] + +But the most important event of the period was the contention between +the northern and southern Hy-Nials. Murtough was planning, with great +military ability, to obtain the supreme rule. The Archbishop of Armagh +and the clergy strove twice to avert hostilities, but their interference +was almost ineffectual. "A year's peace" was all they could obtain. In +the year 1100, Murtough brought a Danish fleet against the northerns, +but they were cut off by O'Loughlin, "by killing or drowning." He also +assembled an army at Assaroe, near Ballyshannon, "with the choice part +of the men of Ireland," but the Cinel-Connaill defended their country +bravely, and compelled him to retire "without booty, without hostages, +without pledges." In 1101, when the twelvemonths' truce obtained by the +clergy had expired, Murtough collected a powerful army, and devastated +the north, without opposition. He demolished the palace of the Hy-Nials, +called the Grianan of Aileach.[234] This was an act of revenge for a +similar raid, committed a few years before, on the stronghold of the +O'Briens, at Kincora, by O'Loughlin. So determined was he on +devastation, that he commanded a stone to be carried away from the +building in each of the sacks which had contained provisions for the +army. He then took hostages of Ulidia, and returned to the south, having +completed the circuit of Ireland in six weeks. The expedition was called +the "circuitous hosting." His rather original method of razing a palace, +is commemorated in the following quatrain:-- + + "I never heard of the billeting of grit stones, + Though I heard _[sic]_ of the billeting of companies, + Until the stones of Aileach was billeted + On the horses of the king of the west."[235] + +Murtough appears to have been a not unusual compound of piety and +profanity. We read in one place of his reckless exploits in burning +churches and desecrating shrines, and in others of his liberal +endowments of the same. + +The Danes had now settled quietly in the mercantile towns which they had +mainly contributed to form, and expended all their energies on commerce +instead of war; but the new generation of Northmen, who had not yet +visited Ireland, could not so easily relinquish the old project of +conquering it. About the year 1101, Magnus planned an expedition to +effect this purpose. He arrived in Dublin the following year; a "hosting +of the men of Ireland came to oppose him;"[236] but they made peace with +him for one year, and Murtough gave his daughter in marriage to his son +Sitric, "with many jewels and gifts." The year 1103 was distinguished +for sanguinary conflicts. Murdhadh Drun was killed on a predatory +excursion in Magh Cobha. Raghnall Ua h-Ocain,[237] lawgiver of Felach +Og, was slain by the men of Magh Itha. There was a "great war" between +the Cinel-Eoghain and the Ulidians; and Murtough O'Brien, with the men +of Munster, Leinster, and Ossory, the chiefs of Connaught, and the men +of Meath and their kings, proceeded to Magh Cobha (Donaghmore, co. Down) +to relieve the Ulidians. When the men of Munster "were wearied," +Murtough proceeded to Ard-Macha, and left eight ounces of gold upon the +altar, and promised eightscore cows. The northern Hy-Nials then attacked +the camp of the Leinster men, and a spirited battle was fought. The +Cinel-Eoghain and Cinel-Connaill returned victoriously and triumphantly +to their forts, with valuable jewels and much wealth, together with the +royal tent, the standard, and jewels. + +Magnus, King of Lochlann and the Isles, was slain by the Ulidians this +year. + +It is noticeable that, in the Annals of the Four Masters, obituaries of +saints or good men always occupy the first place. The Annals of this +year are of unusual length; but they commence with the obituary of +Murchadh O'Flanaghan, Arrchinneach of Ardbo, a paragon of wisdom and +instruction, who died on his pilgrimage at Ard-Macha. A priest of +Kildare is also mentioned, and the Tanist-Abbot of Clonmacnois, a +prosperous and affluent man. + +It would appear that the Irish were sufficiently occupied with domestic +wars to prevent their offering assistance elsewhere. This, however, was +not the case. When Harold returned to England, his brother-in-law, +Donough, lent him nine ships; and we find the Irish affording assistance +in several other feuds of the Anglo-Saxons of this period. A deputation +of the nobles of Man and other islands visited Dublin, and waited on +Murtough O'Brien to solicit a king. He sent his nephew, Donnell; but he +was soon expelled on account of his tyranny. Another Donnell O'Brien, +his cousin, was, at the same time, lord of the Danes in Dublin. In 1114 +Murtough O'Brien was obliged to resign the crown in consequence of +ill-health; the Annals say that he became a living skeleton. His +brother, Dermod, took advantage of this circumstance to declare himself +King of Munster. This obliged Murtough to resume the reins of +government, and put himself at the head of his army. He succeeded in +making Dermod prisoner, but eventually he was obliged to resign the +kingdom to him, and retired into the Monastery of Lismore, where he died +in 1119. The Annals call him the prop of the glory and magnificence of +the western world. In the same year Nial Mac Lochlann, royal heir of +Aileach and of Ireland, fell by the Cinel-Moain, in the twenty-eighth +year of his age. He was the "paragon of Ireland, for personal form, +sense, hospitality, and learning." The Chief Ollamh of Ireland, +Cucollchoille ua Biagheallain, was killed by the men of Lug and +Tuatha-ratha (Tooragh, co. Fermanagh), with his wife, "two very good +sons," and five-and-thirty persons in one house, on the Saturday before +Little Easter. The cause of this outrage is not mentioned. The Annals of +the Four Masters and the Annals of Ulster record the same event, and +mention that he was distinguished for charity, hospitality, and +universal benevolence. + +Donnell O'Loughlin died in 1121, in the Monastery of St. Columba, at +Derry. He is styled King of Ireland, although the power of his southern +rival preponderated during the greater part of his reign. In 1118 Rory +O'Connor died in the Monastery of Clonmacnois. He had been blinded some +years previously by the O'Flaherties. This cruel custom was sometimes +practised to prevent the succession of an obnoxious person, as freedom +from every blemish was a _sine qua non_ in Erinn for a candidate to +royal honours. Teigue Mac Carthy, King of Desmond, died, "after +penance," at Cashel, A.D. 1124. From the time of Murtough O'Brien's +illness, Turlough O'Connor, son of the prince who had been blinded, +comes prominently forward in Irish history. His object was to exalt the +Eoghanists or Desmonian family, who had been virtually excluded from the +succession since the time of Brian Boroimhe. In 1116 he plundered +Thomond as far as Limerick. In 1118 he led an army as far as Glanmire +(co. Cork), and divided Munster, giving Desmond to Mac Carthy, and +Thomond to the sons of Dermod O'Brien. He then marched to Dublin, and +took hostages from the Danes, releasing Donnell, son of the King of +Meath, whom they had in captivity. The following year he sailed down the +Shannon with a fleet, and destroyed the royal palace of Kincora, hurling +its stones and timber beams into the river. He then devoted himself to +wholesale plundering, and expelled his late ally and father-in-law from +Meath, ravaging the country from Traigh Li (Tralee) to the sanctuary +lands of Lismore. In 1126 he bestowed the kingdom of Dublin on his son +Cormac. In 1127 he drove Cormac Mac Carthy from his kingdom, and divided +Munster in three parts. In fact, there was such a storm of war +throughout the whole country, that St. Celsus was obliged to interfere. +He spent a month and a year trying to establish peace, and promulgating +rules and good customs in every district, among the laity and clergy. +His efforts to teach "good rules and manners" seem to have been scarcely +effectual, for we find an immediate entry of the decapitation of +Ruaidhri, after he had made a "treacherous prey" in Aictheara. In the +year 1128 the good Archbishop succeeded in making a year's truce between +the Connaught men and the men of Munster. The following year the saint +died at Ardpatrick, where he was making a visitation. He was only fifty +years of age, but anxiety and care had worn him old. St. Celsus was +buried at Lismore, and interred in the cemetery of the bishops. + +We must now give a brief glance at the ecclesiastical history of +Ireland, before narrating the events which immediately preceded the +English invasion. + +In the year 1111 a synod was convened at Fidh Aengussa, or Aengus Grove, +near the Hill of Uisneach, in Westmeath. It was attended by fifty +bishops, 300 priests, and 3,000 religious. Murtough O'Brien was also +permitted to be present, and some of the nobles of his province. The +object of the synod was to institute rules of life and manners for the +clergy and people. St. Celsus, the Archbishop of Armagh, and +Maelmuire[238] or Marianus O'Dunain, Archbishop of Cashel, were present. +Attention had already been directed to certain abuses in ecclesiastical +discipline. Such abuses must always arise from time to time in the +Church, through the frailty of her members; but these abuses are always +carefully reprehended as they arise, so that she is no longer +responsible for them. It is remarkable that men of more than ordinary +sanctity have usually been given to the Church at such periods. Some +have withheld heretical emperors from deeds of evil, and some have +braved the fury of heretical princes. In Ireland, happily, the rulers +needed not such opposition; but when the country had been again and +again devastated by war, whether from foreign or domestic sources, the +intervention of saintly men was especially needed to restore peace, and +to repair, as far as might be, the grievous injury which war always +inflicts on the social state of those who have suffered from its +devastations. + +Lanfranc, the great Archbishop of Canterbury, had already noticed the +state of the Irish Church. He was in constant communication with the +Danish bishops, who had received consecration from him; and their +accounts were probably true in the main, however coloured by prejudice. +He wrote an earnest epistle to Turlough O'Brien, whom he addresses +respectfully as King of Ireland, and whose virtues as a Christian prince +he highly commends. His principal object appears to have been to draw +the king's attention to an abuse, of which the Danes had informed him, +with regard to the sacrament of matrimony. This subject shall be noticed +again. Pope Gregory VII. also wrote to Turlough, but principally on the +temporal authority of the Holy See. + +The synod had four special subjects for consideration: (1) First, to +regulate the number of bishops--an excessive and undue multiplication of +episcopal dignity having arisen from the custom of creating chorepiscopi +or rural bishops. It was now decided that there should be but +twenty-four dioceses--twelve for the northern and twelve for the +southern half of Ireland. Cashel was also recognized as an +archiepiscopal see, and the successor of St. Jarlath was sometimes +called Archbishop of Connaught. The custom of lay appropriations, which +had obtained in some places, was also firmly denounced. This was an +intolerable abuse. St. Celsus, the Archbishop of Armagh, though himself +a member of the family who had usurped this office, made a special +provision in his will that he should be succeeded by St. Malachy. This +saint obtained a final victory over the sacrilegious innovators, but not +without much personal suffering.[239] + +The (2) second abuse which was now noticed, referred to the sacrament of +matrimony. The Irish were accused of abandoning their lawful wives and +taking others, of marrying within the degrees of consanguinity, and it +was said that in Dublin wives were even exchanged. Usher, in commenting +on the passage in Lanfranc's letter which refers to these gross abuses, +observes that the custom of discarding wives was prevalent among the +Anglo-Saxons and in Scotland. This, however, was no excuse for the +Irish. The custom was a remnant of pagan contempt of the female sex,--a +contempt from which women were never fully released, until Christianity +restored the fallen, and the obedience of the second Eve had atoned for +the disobedience of the first. It appears, however, that these +immoralities were almost confined to the half-Christianized Danes, who +still retained many of their heathen customs. The canons of St. Patrick, +which were always respected by the native Irish, forbid such practices; +and the synod, therefore, had only to call on the people to observe the +laws of the Church more strictly. + +Two other subjects, (3) one regarding the consecration of bishops, the +other (4) referring to the ceremonies of baptism, were merely questions +of ecclesiastical discipline, and as such were easily arranged by +competent authority. In St. Anselm's correspondence with the prelates of +the south of Ireland, he passes a high eulogium on their zeal and piety, +while he deplores certain relaxations of discipline, which they were as +anxious to reform as he could desire. + +We have already mentioned that St. Celsus appointed St. Malachy his +successor in the Archiepiscopal See of Armagh. Malachy had been educated +by the Abbot Imar O'Hagan, who presided over the great schools of that +city; and the account given of his early training, sufficiently +manifests the ability of his gifted instructor, and the high state of +intellectual culture which existed in Ireland. While still young, St. +Malachy undertook the restoration of the famous Abbey of Bangor. Here he +erected a small oratory of wood, and joined himself to a few devoted men +ardent for the perfection of a religious life. He was soon after elected +Bishop of Connor. With the assistance of some of his faithful monks, he +restored what war and rapine had destroyed; and was proceeding +peacefully and successfully in his noble work, when he was driven from +his diocese by a hostile prince. He now fled to Cormac Mac Carthy, King +of Desmond;[240] but he was not permitted to remain here long. The See +of Armagh was vacated by the death of St. Celsus, and Malachy was +obliged to commence another arduous mission. It is said that it almost +required threats of excommunication to induce him to undertake the +charge. Bishop Gilbert of Limerick, the Apostolic-Delegate, and Bishop +Malchus of Lismore, with other bishops and several chieftains, visited +him in the monastery which he had erected at Ibrach,[241] and at last +obtained compliance by promising him permission to retire when he had +restored order in his new diocese. + +[Illustration: BANGOR CASTLE.] + +St. Malachy found his mission as painful as he had anticipated. The lay +intruders were making a last attempt to keep up their evil custom; and, +after the death of the usurper who made this false claim, another person +attempted to continue it; but popular feeling was so strong against the +wretched man, that he was obliged to fly. Ecclesiastical discipline was +soon restored; and after Malachy had made a partition of the diocese, he +was permitted to resign in favour of Gelasius, then Abbot of the great +Columbian Monastery of Derry. + +But peace was not yet established in Ireland. I shall return again to +the narrative of domestic feuds, which made it a "trembling sod," the +O'Loughlins of Tyrone being the chief aggressors; for the present we +must follow the course of ecclesiastical history briefly. St. Malachy +was now appointed Bishop of Down, to which his old see of Connor was +united. He had long a desire to visit Rome--a devotional pilgrimage of +the men of Erinn from the earliest period. He was specially anxious to +obtain a formal recognition of the archiepiscopal sees in Ireland, by +the granting of palliums. On his way to the Holy City he visited St. +Bernard at Clairvaux, and thus commenced and cemented the friendship +which forms so interesting a feature in the lives of the French and +Irish saints. It is probable that his account of the state of the Irish +Church took a tinge of gloom from the heavy trials he had endured in his +efforts to remove its temporary abuses. St. Bernard's ardent and +impetuous character, even his very affectionateness, would lead him also +to look darkly on the picture: hence the somewhat over-coloured accounts +he has given of its state at that eventful period. St. Malachy returned +to Ireland after an interview with the reigning Pontiff, Pope Innocent +II. His Holiness had received him with open arms, and appointed him +Apostolic Legate; but he declined to give the palliums, until they were +formally demanded by the Irish prelates. + +In virtue of his legatine power, the saint assembled local synods in +several places. He rebuilt and restored many churches; and in 1142 he +erected the famous Cistercian Abbey of Mellifont, near Drogheda. This +monastery was liberally endowed by O'Carroll, King of Oriel, and was +peopled by Irish monks, whom St. Malachy had sent to Clairvaux, to be +trained in the Benedictine rule and observances. But his great act was +the convocation of the Synod of Inis Padraig. It was held in the year +1148. St. Malachy presided as Legate of the Holy See; fifteen bishops, +two hundred priests, and some religious were present at the +deliberations, which lasted for four days. The members of the synod were +unwilling that Malachy should leave Ireland again; but Eugene III., who +had been a Cistercian monk, was visiting Clairvaux, and it was hoped he +might grant the favour there. The Pope had left the abbey when the saint +arrived, who, in a few days after, was seized with mortal sickness, and +died on the 2nd November, 1148. His remains were interred at Clairvaux. +His feast was changed from the 2nd of November, All Souls, to the 3rd, +by "the seniors," that he might be the more easily revered and honoured. + +In 1151 Cardinal Paparo arrived in Ireland with the palliums which had +been solicited by St. Malachy. The insignia of dignity were conferred +the following year, at the Council of Kells. Tithes were then introduced +for the first time in Ireland, but they were not enforced until after +the English invasion. + +It will be remembered that we turned to ecclesiastical history, after +mentioning the year's truce (A.D. 1128) which had been made, through the +intervention of St. Celsus, between the men of Munster and Connaught. In +1129 the great Church of Clonmacnois was robbed[242] of some of its +greatest treasures. Amongst these was a model of Solomon's Temple, +presented by a prince of Meath, and a silver chalice burnished with +gold, which had been engraved by a sister of King Turlough O'Connor--an +evidence that the ladies of Ireland were by no means behind the age in +taste and refinement. + +After the death of Donnell O'Loughlin, Turlough had full scope for the +exercise of his ambitious projects; but in 1131 he found serious +opposition from Connor O'Brien, who had succeeded his father, Dermod, on +the throne of Munster. Connor now carried off hostages from Leinster and +Meath, and defeated the cavalry of Connaught. The following year he sent +a fleet to the western coast of Ireland. Eventually Turlough O'Connor +was glad to make a truce with his opponents. In 1184 the consecration of +a church at Cashel was celebrated. This is still known as Cormac's +Chapel, and was long supposed to have been erected by the more ancient +monarch of that name. But the good king was soon after treacherously +slain in his own house, by Turlough O'Connor and the two sons of the +O'Connor of Kerry. Turlough was unquestionably somewhat Spartan in his +severities, if not Draconian in his administration of justice. In 1106 +he put out the eyes of his own son, Hugh, and in the same year he +imprisoned another son, named Roderic. The nature of their offences is +not manifest; but Roderic was liberated through the interference of the +clergy. Seven years after he was again imprisoned, "in violation of the +most solemn pledges and guarantees." The clergy again interfered; from +which we may infer that he was a favourite. They even held a public +feast at Rathbrendan on his behalf; but he was not released until the +following year. In the year 1136 we find the obituary of the chief +keeper of the calendar of Ard-Macha, on the night of Good Friday. He is +also mentioned as its chief antiquary and librarian, an evidence that +the old custom was kept up to the very eve of the English invasion. The +obituary of Donnell O'Duffy, Archbishop of Connaught, is also given. He +died after Mass and celebration; according to the Annals of Clonmacnois, +he had celebrated Mass by himself, at Clonfert, on St. Patrick's Day, +and died immediately after. About the same time the Breinemen behaved +"so exceedingly outrageous," that they irreverently stript O'Daly, +arch-poet of Ireland, "of all his clothes." + +In the meantime domestic wars multiplied with extraordinary rapidity. +Dermod Mac Murrough, the infamous King of Leinster, now appears for the +first time in the history of that country which he mainly contributed to +bring under the English yoke. He commenced his career of perfidy by +carrying off the Abbess of Kildare from her cloister, killing 170 of the +people of Kildare, who interfered to prevent this wanton and +sacrilegious outrage. In 1141 he endeavoured to crush the opposers of +his atrocious tyranny by a barbarous onslaught, in which he killed two +nobles, put out the eyes of another, and blinded[243] seventeen +chieftains of inferior rank. A fitting commencement of his career of +treachery towards his unfortunate country! In 1148 a temporary peace was +made by the Primate of Armagh between the northern princes, who had +carried on a deadly feud; but its duration, as usual, was brief. +Turlough O'Brien was deposed by Teigue in 1151. He was assisted by +Turlough O'Connor and the infamous Dermod. The united armies plundered +as far as Moin Mor,[244] where they encountered the Dalcassian forces +returning from the plunder of Desmond. A sanguinary combat ensued, and +the men of north Munster suffered a dreadful slaughter, leaving 7,000 +dead upon the field of battle. This terrible sacrifice of life is +attributed to the mistaken valour of the Dal-Cais, who would neither fly +nor ask quarter. + +In 1157 a synod was held in the Abbey of Mellifont, attended by the +Bishop of Lismore, Legate of the Holy See, the Primate, and seventeen +other bishops. Murtough O'Loughlin, the Monarch of Ireland, and several +other kings, were also present. The principal object of this meeting was +the consecration of the abbey church and the excommunication of Donough +O'Melaghlin, who had become the common pest of the country. He was, as +might be expected, the particular friend and ally of Dermod Mac +Murrough. His last exploit was the murder of a neighbouring chief, +despite the most solemn pledges. In an old translation of the Annals of +Ulster, he is termed, with more force than elegance, "a cursed atheist." +After his excommunication, his brother Dermod was made King of Meath, in +his place. + +At this synod several rich gifts were made to the abbey. O'Carroll, +Prince of Oriel, presented sixty ounces of gold. O'Loughlin made a grant +of lands, gave one hundred and forty cows and sixty ounces of gold. The +Lady Dervorgil gave the same donation in gold, together with a golden +chalice for the altar of Mary, with gifts for each of the other nine +altars of the church. Dervorgil was the wife of Tiernan O'Rourke, Lord +of Breffni, who had been dispossessed of his territories in 1152; at the +same time she was carried off by Dermod Mac Murrough. Her abduction +seems to have been effected with her own consent, as she carried off the +cattle which had formed her dowry. Her husband, it would appear, had +treated her harshly. Eventually she retired to the Monastery of +Mellifont, where she endeavoured to atone for her past misconduct by a +life of penance. + +Another synod was held in the year 1158, at Trim. Derry was then erected +into an episcopal see, and Flahertach O'Brolchain, Abbot of St. +Columba's Monastery, was consecrated its first bishop. The bishops of +Connaught were intercepted and plundered by Dermod's soldiers; they +therefore returned and held a provincial synod in Roscommon. + +In 1162 St. Laurence O'Toole was chosen to succeed Greine, or Gregory, +the Danish Archbishop of Dublin. He belonged to one of the most noble +ancient families of Leinster. His father was chieftain of the district +of Hy-Muirahy, a portion of the present county Kildare. St. Laurence had +chosen the ecclesiastical state early in life; at the age of twenty-five +he was chosen Abbot of St. Kevin's Monastery, at Glendalough. The Danish +Bishop of Dublin had been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, +but the saint received the episcopal office from the successor of St. +Patrick. A synod was held at Clane the year of his consecration; it was +attended by twenty-six prelates and many other ecclesiastics. The +college of Armagh was then virtually raised to the rank of a university, +as it was decreed that no one, who had not been an alumnus of Armagh, +should be appointed lector or professor of theology in any of the +diocesan schools in Ireland. Indeed, the clergy at this period were most +active in promoting the interests of religion, and most successful in +their efforts, little anticipating the storm which was then impending +over their country. + +In 1166 the Irish Monarch, O'Loughlin, committed a fearful outrage on +Dunlevy, Prince of Dalriada. A peace had been ratified between them, +but, from some unknown cause, O'Loughlin suddenly became again the +aggressor, and attacked the northern chief, when he was unprepared, put +out his eyes, and killed three of his leading officers. This cruel +treachery so provoked the princes who had guaranteed the treaty, that +they mustered an army at once and proceeded northwards. The result was a +sanguinary engagement, in which the Cinel-Eoghan were defeated, and the +Monarch, O'Loughlin, was slain. Roderick O'Connor immediately assumed +the reins of government, and was inaugurated in Dublin with more pomp +than had ever been manifested on such an occasion. It was the last +glittering flicker of the expiring lamp. Submission was made to him on +every side; and had he only possessed the ability or the patriotism to +unite the forces under his command, he might well have set all his +enemies at defiance. An assembly of the clergy and chieftains of Ireland +was convened in 1167, which is said to have emulated, if it did not +rival, the triennial _Fes_ of ancient Tara. It was but the last gleam of +sunlight, which indicates the coming of darkness and gloom. The traitor +already had his plans prepared, and was flying from a country which +scorned his meanness, to another country where that meanness was made +the tool of political purposes, while the unhappy traitor was probably +quite as heartily despised. + +[Illustration: ARDMORE ROUND TOWER.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[229] _City_.--Some Irish religious are also said to have lived in amity +with Greek monks, who were established at Tours, in France; and it is +said that the Irish joined them in the performance of the ecclesiastical +offices in their own language. + +[230] _Connemara_.--Haverty's _History of Ireland_, p. 156. See also an +interesting note on this subject in the Chronicum Scotorum. + +[231] _Martyr_.--Page 887. The famine in the preceding year is also +recorded, as well as the cholic and "lumps," which prevailed in +Leinster, and also spread throughout Ireland. Donough was married to an +English princess, Driella, the daughter of the English Earl Godwin, and +sister of Harold, afterwards King of England. During the rebellion of +Godwin and his sons against Edward the Confessor, Harold was obliged to +take refuge in Ireland, and remained there "all the winter on the king's +security." + +[232] _St. Patrick_.--It is observable all through the Annals, how the +name and spiritual authority of St. Patrick is revered. This expression +occurs regularly from the earliest period, wherever the Primate of +Ireland is mentioned. + +[233] _Vengeance_.--See O'Curry, _passim_, for curious traditions or +so-called prophecies about St. John Baptist's Day. + +[234] _Aileach_.--The remains of this fortress are still visible near +Londonderry, and are called Grianan-Elagh. + +[235] _West_.--Annals, vol. ii. p. 969. + +[236] _Him.--Ib._ p 973. + +[237] _Ua h-Ocain_.--Now anglicised O'Hagan. This family had the special +privilege of crowning the O'Neills, and were their hereditary Brehons. +The Right Honorable Judge O'Hagan is, we believe, the present head of +the family. + +[238] _Maelmuire_.--"The servant of Mary." Devotion to the Mother of +God, which is still a special characteristic of the Irish nation, was +early manifested by the adoption of this name. + +[239] _Suffering_.--This abuse was not peculiar to the Irish Church. A +canon of the Council of London, A.D. 1125, was framed to prevent similar +lay appropriations. In the time of Cambrensis there were lay (so called) +abbots, who took the property of the Church into their own hands, and +made their children receive holy orders that they might enjoy the +revenues. + +[240] _Desmond_.--See the commencement of this chapter, for an +illustration of the ruins of its ancient rath and the more modern +castle. These remains are among the most interesting in Ireland. + +[241] _Ibrach_.--Supposed to be Ivragh, in Kerry, which was part of +Cormac Mac Carthy's kingdom. + +[242] _Robbed_.--In MacGeoghegan's translation of the Annals of +Clonmacnois he says:--"The clergy of Clone made incessant prayer to God +and St. Keyran, to be a means for the revelation of the party that took +away the said jewels." The "party" was a Dane. He was discovered, and +hung in 1130. It is said that he entered several ships to leave the +country, but they could get no wind, while other vessels sailed off +freely.--Annals of the Four Masters, vol. ii. p. 1035. + +[243] _Blinded_.--In 1165 Henry II. gratified his irritation against the +Welsh by laying hands upon the hostages of their noblest families, and +commanding that the eyes of the males should be rooted out, and the ears +and noses of the females cut off; and yet Henry is said to have been +liberal to the poor, and though passionately devoted to the chase, he +did not inflict either death or mutilation on the intruders in the royal +forests. + +[244] _Moin Mor_.--Now Moanmore, county Tipperary. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Social life previous to the English Invasion--Domestic +Habitations--Forts--Granard and Staigue--Crannoges and +Log-houses--Interior of the Houses--The Hall--Food and Cooking +Utensils--Regulations about Food--The Kind of Food used--Animal +Food--Fish--Game--Drink and Drinking Vessels--Whisky--Heath +Beer--Mead--Animal Produce--Butter and Cheese--Fire--Candles--Occupations +and Amusements--Chess--Music--Dress--Silk--Linen--Ancient Woollen +Garments--Gold Ornaments--Trade--General Description of the Fauna and +Flora of the Country. + + +Customs which illustrate the social life of our ancestors, are scarcely +the least interesting or important elements of history. Before we enter +upon that portion of our annals which commences with the English +invasion, under the auspices of Henry II., we shall give a brief account +of the habitations, manners, customs, dress, food, and amusements of the +people of Ireland. Happily there is abundant and authentic information +on this subject, though we may be obliged to delve beneath the tertiary +deposits of historical strata in order to obtain all that is required. +English society and English social life were more or less influenced by +Ireland from the fifth to the twelfth century. The monks who had +emigrated to "Saxon land" were men of considerable intellectual culture, +and, as such, had a preponderating influence, creditable alike to +themselves and to those who bowed to its sway. From the twelfth to the +sixteenth century, English manners and customs were introduced in +Ireland within the Pale. The object of the present chapter is to show +the social state of the country before the English invasion--a condition +of society which continued for some centuries later in the western and +southern parts of the island. + +The pagan architecture of public erections has already been as fully +considered as our limits would permit. Let us turn from pillar-stones, +cromlechs, and cairns, to the domestic habitations which preceded +Christianity, and continued in use, with gradual improvements, until the +period when English influence introduced the comparative refinements +which it had but lately received from Norman sources. The raths, mounds, +and forts, whose remains still exist throughout the country, preceded +the castellated edifices, many of which were erected in the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries, principally by English settlers. The rath was +probably used for the protection and enclosure of cattle; and as the +wealth of the country consisted principally in its herds, it was an +important object. Its form is circular, having an internal diameter +averaging from forty to two hundred feet, encompassed by a mound and +outer fosse or ditch. In some localities, where stone is abundant and +the soil shallow, rude walls have been formed: the raths, however, are +principally earthwork alone. Forts were erected for defence, and the +surrounding fosse was filled with water. They were, in fact, the +prototypes of the more modern castle and moat. These forts were +sometimes of considerable size, and in such cases were surrounded by +several fosses and outworks. They were approached by a winding inclined +plane, which at once facilitated the entrance of friends, and exposed +comers with hostile intentions to the concentrated attacks of the +garrison. The fort at Granard is a good example of this kind of +building. It is probably of considerable antiquity, though it has been +improved and rebuilt in some portions at a more modern period. The +interior of it evidences the existence of several different apartments. +An approach internally has been exposed on one side, and exhibits a +wide, flat arch of common masonry, springing from the top of two side +walls, the whole well-constructed. + +Forts of dry-wall masonry, which are, undoubtedly, the more ancient, are +very numerous in the south-west of Ireland. It is probable that similar +erections existed throughout the country at a former period, and that +their preservation is attributable to the remoteness of the district. +The most perfect of these ancient habitations is that of Staigue Fort, +near Derryquin Castle, Kenmare. This fort has an internal diameter of +eighty-eight feet. The masonry is composed of flat-bedded stones of the +slate rock of the country, which show every appearance of being +quarried, or carefully broken from larger blocks. There is no appearance +of dressed work in the construction; but the slate would not admit of +this, as it splinters away under the slightest blow. Still the building +is an admirable example of constructive masonry; it is almost impossible +to dislodge any fragment from off the filling stones from the face of +the wall. A competent authority has pronounced that these structures +cannot be equalled by any dry masonry elsewhere met with in the country, +nor by any masonry of the kind erected in the present day.[245] Some +small stone buildings are also extant in this part of Ireland, but it is +doubtful whether they were used for ecclesiastical or domestic purposes. +The crannoge was another kind of habitation, and one evidently much +used, and evincing no ordinary skill in its construction. From the +remains found in these island habitations, we may form a clear idea of +the customs and civilization of their inmates: their food is indicated +by the animal remains, which consist of several varieties of oxen, deer, +goats, and sheep; the implements of cookery remain, even to the knife, +and the blocks of stone blackened from long use as fire-places; the +arrows, which served for war or chase, are found in abundance; the +personal ornaments evidence the taste of the wearers, and the skill of +the artist; while the canoe, usually of solid oak, and carefully hidden +away, tells its own tale how entrance and exit were effected. One of the +earliest crannoges which was discovered and examined in modern times, +was that of Lagere, near Dunshaughlin, county Meath. It is remarkable +that Loch Gabhair is said to have been one of the nine lakes which burst +forth in Ireland, A.M. 3581. The destruction of this crannoge is +recorded by the Four Masters, A.D. 933, giving evidence that it was +occupied up to that period. In 1246 there is a record of the escape of +Turlough O'Connor from a crannoge, after he had drowned his keepers; +from which it would appear such structures might be used for prisons, +and, probably, would be specially convenient for the detention of +hostages. In 1560 we read that Teigue O'Rourke was drowned as he was +going across a lake to sleep in a crannoge; and even so late as the +sixteenth century, crannoges were declared to be the universal system of +defence in the north of Ireland. + +[Illustration: CELT.] + +Log-houses were also used, and were constructed of beams and planks of +timber, something like the Swiss _chalet_. One of these ancient +structures was discovered in Drumhalin bog, county Donegal, in 1833. The +house consisted of a square structure, twelve feet wide and nine feet +high: it was formed of rough planks and blocks of timber; the mortises +were very roughly cut--a stone celt,[246] which was found lying upon the +floor, was, probably, the instrument used to form them. The logs were +most likely formed by a stone axe.[247] The roof was flat, and the house +consisted of two compartments, one over the other, each four feet high. +A paved causeway led from the house to the fire-place, on which was a +quantity of ashes, charred wood, half-burnt turf, and hazle-nuts. So +ancient was this habitation, that twenty-six feet of bog had grown up +around and over it. It is supposed that this was only one portion of a +collection of houses, which were used merely as sleeping-places. A +slated enclosure was also traced, portions of the gates of which were +discovered. A piece of a leathern sandal, an arrow-headed flint, and a +wooden sword, were also found in the same locality. + +[Illustration: STONE AXE.] + +It is probable that wattles and clay formed the staple commodity for +building material in ancient Erinn. Planks and beams, with rough blocks +of wood or stone, were most likely reserved for the dwelling-place of +chieftains. Such were the material used also for the royal residence in +Thorney Island, a swampy morass in the Thames, secured by its insular +position, where the early English kings administered justice; and such, +probably, were the material of the original _Palais de Justice_, where +the kings of Gaul entrenched themselves in a _pal-lis_, or impaled fort. + +From the description which Wright[248] gives of Anglo-Saxon domestic +architecture, it appears to have differed but little from that which was +in use at the same period in Ireland. The hall[249] was the most +important part of the building, and halls of stone are alluded to in a +religious poem at the beginning of the Exeter Book: "Yet, in the earlier +period at least, there can be little doubt that the materials of +building were chiefly wood." The hall, both in Erinn and Saxon land, was +the place of general meeting for all domestic purposes. Food was cooked +and eaten in the same apartment; the chief and his followers eat at the +same time and in the same place. On the subject of food we have ample +details scattered incidentally through our annals. Boiling was probably +the principal method of preparing meat, and for this purpose the Irish +were amply provided with vessels. A brazen cauldron is lithographed in +the _Ulster Archaeological Journal_, which is a most interesting specimen +of its kind. It was found in a turf bog in the county Down, at a depth +of five feet from the surface; and as this bog has been used from time +immemorial for supplying the neighbourhood with fuel, and is remembered +to have been forty feet above its present level by a generation now +living, the antiquity of the vessel is unquestionable. As a specimen of +superior workmanship, the cauldron has been greatly admired. It is made +of sheets of gold-coloured bronze, evidently formed by hammering: the +rim is of much thicker metal than the rest, and is rendered stiffer by +corrugation--a process which has been patented in England within the +last dozen years, as a new and valuable discovery.[250] + +Cauldrons are constantly mentioned in the Book of Rights, in a manner +which shows that these vessels were in constant use. It was one of the +tributes to be presented in due form by the King of Cashel to the King +of Tara; and in the will of Cahir Mor, Monarch of Ireland in the second +century, fifty copper cauldrons are amongst the items bequeathed to his +family. Probably the poorer classes, who could not afford such costly +vessels, may have contented themselves with roasting their food +exclusively, unless, indeed, they employed the primitive method of +casting red hot stones into water when they wished it boiled. + +The exact precision which characterizes every legal enactment in ancient +Erinn, and which could not have existed in a state of barbarism, is +manifested even in the regulations about food. Each member of the +chieftain's family had his appointed portion, and there is certainly a +quaintness in the parts selected for each. The _saoi_ of literature and +the king were to share alike, as we observed when briefly alluding to +this subject in the chapter on ancient Tara; their portion was a prime +steak. Cooks and trumpeters were specially to be supplied with "cheering +mead," it is to be supposed because their occupations required more than +ordinary libations; the historian was to have a crooked bone; the +hunter, a pig's shoulder: in fact, each person and each office had its +special portion assigned[251] to it, and the distinction of ranks and +trades affords matter of the greatest interest and of the highest +importance to the antiquarian. There can be but little doubt that the +custom of Tara was the custom of all the other kings and chieftains, and +that it was observed throughout the country in every family rich enough +to have dependents. This division of food was continued in the Highlands +of Scotland until a late period. Dr. Johnson mentions it, in his _Tour +in the Hebrides_, as then existing. He observes that he had not +ascertained the details, except that the smith[252] had the head. + +The allowance for each day is also specified. Two cows, and two +_tinnes_,[253] and two pigs was the quantity for dinner. This allowance +was for a hundred men. The places which the household were to occupy +were also specified; so that while all sat at a common table,[254] there +was, nevertheless, a certain distinction of rank. At Tara there were +different apartments, called _imdas_, a word now used in the north of +Ireland to denote a couch or bed. The name probably originated in the +custom of sleeping in those halls, on the benches which surrounded them, +or on the floor near the fire-place. In the ground plan of the +banqueting hall at Tara, the house is shown as divided into five parts, +which are again divided into others. Each of the two divisions extending +along the side wall, is shown as subdivided into twelve _imdas_, which +here mean seats; the central division is represented as containing three +fires at equal distances, a vat, and a chandelier. + +Benches were the seats used, even by persons of rank, until a late +period. In the French Carlovingian romances, even princes and great +barons sat on them. Chairs were comparatively rare, and only used on +state occasions, as late as the twelfth century. Wright gives some +curious woodcuts of persons conversing together, who are seated on +settles, or on seats formed in the walls round the room; such as may +still be seen in monastic cloisters and the chapter houses of our old +cathedrals. Food which had been roasted was probably handed round to the +guests on the spit on which it had been cooked.[255] Such at least was +the Anglo-Saxon fashion; and as the Irish had spits, and as forks were +an unknown luxury for centuries later, we may presume they were served +in a similar manner. The food was varied and abundant, probably none the +less wholesome for being free from the Anglo-Norman refinements of +cookery, introduced at a later period. For animal diet there were fat +beeves, dainty venison, pork, fresh and salted, evidently as favourite a +dish with the ancients as with the moderns--except, alas! that in the +good old times it was more procurable. Sheep and goats also varied the +fare, with "smaller game," easily procured by chase, or shot down with +arrows or sling stones. The land abounded in "milk and honey." Wheat was +planted at an early period; and after the introduction of Christianity, +every monastic establishment had its mill. There were "good old times" +in Ireland unquestionably. Even an English prince mentions "the honey +and wheat, the gold and silver," which he found in "fair Innis-fail." It +is probable that land was cultivated then which now lies arid and +unreclaimed, for a writer in the _Ulster Archaeological Journal_ mentions +having found traces of tillage, when laying out drains in remote +unproductive districts, several feet beneath the peaty soil. Dr. +O'Donovan also writes in the same journal: "I believe the Irish have had +wheat in the more fertile valleys and plains from a most remote period. +It is mentioned constantly in the Brehon laws and in our most ancient +poems."[256] Nor should we omit to mention fish in the list of edibles. +During the summer months, fishing was a favourite and lucrative +occupation; and if we are to believe a legend quoted in the +_Transactions of the Ossianic Society_, the Fenians enjoyed a monopoly +in the trade, for no man dare take a salmon, "dead or alive," excepting +a man in the Fenian ranks; and piscatory squabbles seem to have extended +themselves into downright battles between the Northmen and the natives, +when there was question of the possession of a weir.[257] + +Drinking vessels, of various shapes and materials, are constantly +mentioned in the Book of Rights. There were drinking-horns with handsome +handles, carved drinking-horns, variegated drinking-horns, +drinking-horns of various colours, and drinking-horns of gold.[258] Even +in pagan times, cups or goblets were placed beside the public wells; and +it is related that, in the reign of Conn of the Hundred Battles, Ireland +was so prosperous, so wealthy, and so civilized (_circa_ A.D. 123) that +those cups were made of silver. Brian revived this custom nearly a +thousand years later. The Danes probably carried off most of these +valuables, as there are no remains of them at present. We are able, +however, to give an illustration of a stone drinking-cup, which is +considered a very beautiful specimen of its kind. This great rarity was +found in the Shannon excavations. We give a specimen below of a celt, +and on page 246 of a celt mould, for which we have also to acknowledge +our grateful obligations to the Council of the Royal Irish Academy. + +[Illustration: STONE DRINKING-CUP.] + +Drink was usually served to the guests after meals. Among the seven +prerogatives for the King of Teamhair (Tara) we find: + + "The fruits of Manann, a fine present; + And the heath fruit of Brigh Leithe; + The venison of Nas; the fish of the Boinn; + The cresses of the kindly Brosnach." + +[Illustration: PALSTAVE CELT.] + +Dr. O'Donovan suggests that the "heath fruit" may have been bilberries +or whortleberries, and adds that some of the old Irish suppose that +this, and not the heath, was the shrub from which the Danes brewed their +beer.[259] It would appear that the Celts were not in the habit of +excessive drinking until a comparatively recent period. In the year 1405 +we read of the death of a chieftain who died of "a surfeit in drinking;" +but previous to this entry we may safely assert that the Irish were +comparatively a sober race. The origin of the drink called whisky in +modern parlance, is involved in considerable obscurity. Some authorities +consider that the word is derived from the first part of the term +usquebaugh; others suppose it to be derived from the name of a place, +the Basque provinces, where some such compound was concocted in the +fourteenth century. In Morewood's _History of Inebriating Liquors_, he +gives a list of the ingredients used in the composition of usquebaugh, +and none of these are Irish productions. + +There is a nice distinction between aqua vitae and aqua vini in the Red +Book of Ossory, which was rescued by Dr. Graves from a heap of rubbish, +the result of a fire in Kilkenny Castle in 1839. MacGeoghegan, in his +annotations on the death of the chieftain above-mentioned, observes that +the drink was not _aqua vitae_ to him, but rather _aqua mortis_; and he +further remarks, that this is the first notice of the use of _aqua +vitae_, usquebaugh, or whisky, in the Irish annals. Mead was made from +honey, and beer from malt; and these were, probably, the principal +liquors at the early period[260] of which we are now writing. As to the +heath beer of Scandinavian fame, it is probable that the heather was +merely used as a tonic or aromatic ingredient, although the author of a +work, published in London in 1596, entitled _Sundrie Newe and Artificial +Remedies against Famine_, does suggest the use of heath tops to make a +"pleasing and cheape drink for Poor Men, when Malt is extream Deare;" +much, we suppose, on the same principle that shamrocks and grass were +used as a substitute for potatoes in the famine year, when the starving +Irish had no money to buy Indian corn. But famine years were happily +rare in Ireland in the times of which we write; and it will be +remembered that on one such occasion the Irish king prayed to God that +he might die, rather than live to witness the misery he could not +relieve. + +[Illustration: MOULD FOR CASTING BRONZE CELTS.] + +It would appear that butter was also a plentiful product then as now. +Specimens of bog butter are still preserved, and may be found in the +collection of the Royal Irish Academy. The butter was thus entombed +either for safety, or to give it that peculiar flavour which makes it +resemble the old dry Stilton cheese, so much admired by the modern _bon +vivant_. A writer in the _Ulster Archaeological Journal_ mentions that he +found a quantity of red cows' hair mixed with this butter, when boring a +hole in it with a gouge. It would appear from this as if the butter had +been made in a cow-skin, a fashion still in use among the Arabs. A +visitor to the Museum (Mr. Wilmot Chetwode) asked to see the butter from +Abbeyleix. He remarked that some cows' heads had been discovered in that +neighbourhood, which belonged to the old Irish long-faced breed of +cattle; the skin and hair remained on one head, and that was red. An +analysis of the butter proved that it was probably made in the same way +as the celebrated Devonshire cream, from which the butter in that part +of England is generally prepared. The Arabs and Syrians make their +butter now in a similar manner. There is a curious account of Irish +butter in the _Irish Hudibras_, by William Moffat, London, 1755, from +which it appears that bog butter was then well known:-- + + "But let his faith be good or bad, + He in his house great plenty had + Of burnt oat bread, and butter found, + With garlick mixt, in boggy ground; + So strong, a dog, with help of wind, + By scenting out, with ease might find." + +A lump of butter was found, twelve feet deep, in a bog at Gortgole, +county Antrim, rolled up in a coarse cloth. It still retains visibly the +marks of the finger and thumb of the ancient dame who pressed it into +its present shape. + +Specimens of cheese of great antiquity have also been discovered. It was +generally made in the shape of bricks,[261] probably for greater +convenience of carriage and pressure in making. Wax has also been +discovered, which is evidently very ancient. A specimen may be seen in +the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. According to the Book of +Rights, the use of wax candles was a royal prerogative:-- + + "A hero who possesses five prerogatives, + Is the King of Laighlin of the fort of Labhraidh: + The fruit of Almhain [to be brought to him] to his house; + And the deer of Gleann Searraigh; + To drink by [the light of] fair wax candles, + At Din Riogh, is very customary to the king."[262] + +In this matter, at least, the Irish kings and princes were considerably +in advance of their Anglo-Saxon neighbours. Wright informs us[263] that +their candle was a mere mass of fat, plastered round a wick, and stuck +upon an upright stick: hence the name candlestick. + +It is probable that fire-light was, however, the principal means of +assisting the visual organs after dark in both countries. Until +comparatively recent times, fires were generally made on square, flat +stones, and these could be placed, as appears to have been the case at +Tara, in different parts of any large hall or apartment. There was +sometimes a "back stone" to support the pile of wood and turf. The smoke +got out how best it might, unless where there was a special provision +made for its exit, in the shape of a round hole in the roof. At a later +period a "brace" was sometimes made for conducting it. The brace was +formed of upright stakes, interlaced with twigs, and plastered over, +inside and outside, with prepared clay--the earliest idea of the modern +chimney. + +Macaulay[264] gives us a picture of an ancient Roman fire-side, and the +occupations of those who sat round it. We can, perhaps, form a more +accurate and reliable idea of the dress, amusements, and occupations of +those who surrounded the hall-fires of ancient Tara, or the humble, +domestic hearths of the crannoges or wattled houses. + +The amusements of the pre-Christian Celt were, undeniably, intellectual. +Chess has already been mentioned more than once in this work as a +constant occupation of princes and chieftains. Indeed, they appear to +have sat down to a game with all the zest of a modern amateur. A few +specimens of chessmen have been discovered: a king, elaborately carved, +is figured in the Introduction to the Book of Rights. It belonged to Dr. +Petrie, and was found, with some others, in a bog in the county Meath. +The chessmen of ancient times appear to have been rather formidable as +weapons. In the _Tain bo Chuailgne_, Cuchullain is represented as having +killed a messenger, who told him a lie, with a chessman, "which pierced +him to the centre of his brain." English writers speak of the use of +chess immediately after the Conquest, and say that the Saxons learned +the game from the Danes. The Irish were certainly acquainted with it at +a much earlier period; if we are to credit the Annals, it was well known +long before the introduction of Christianity. Wright gives an engraving +of a Quarrel at Chess, in which Charles, the son of the Emperor +Charlemagne, is represented knocking out the brains of his adversary +with a chessboard. The illustration is ludicrously graphic, and the +unfortunate man appears to submit to his doom with a touching grace of +helpless resignation. + +We may then suppose that chess was a favourite evening amusement of the +Celt. Chessboards at least were plentiful, for they are frequently +mentioned among the rights of our ancient kings. But music was the Irish +amusement _par excellence_; and it is one of the few arts for which they +are credited. The principal Irish instruments were the harp, the +trumpet, and the bagpipe. The harp in the Museum of Trinity College, +Dublin, usually known as Brian Boroimhe's harp, is supposed, by Dr. +Petrie, to be the oldest instrument of the kind now remaining in Europe. +It had but one row of strings, thirty in number; the upright pillar is +of oak, and the sound-board of red sallow. The minute and beautiful +carving on all parts of the instrument, attests a high state of artistic +skill at whatever period it was executed. As the harp is only thirty-two +inches high, it is supposed that it was used by ecclesiastics in the +church services, Cambrensis[265] mentions this custom; and there is +evidence of its having existed from the first introduction of +Christianity. Harps of this description are figured on the knees of +ecclesiastics on several of our ancient stone crosses. + +The subject of Irish music would require a volume, and we cannot but +regret that it must be dismissed so briefly. The form of the harp has +been incorrectly represented on our coins. It was first assumed in the +national arms about the year 1540. When figured on the coins of Henry +VIII., the artist seems to have taken the Italian harp of twenty-four +strings for his model; but in the national arms sketched on the map of +Ireland in the State Papers, executed in the year 1567, the form is more +correct. That the Irish possessed this musical instrument in +pre-Christian times, cannot be doubted. The ornamental cover of an Irish +MS., which Mr. Ferguson considers to date prior to A.D. 1064, contains +five examples of the harp of that period. This, and the sculptured harp +at Nieg, in Rosshire, are believed to be the earliest delineations of +the perfect harp. Dr. Bunting gives a sketch of a harp and harper, taken +from one of the compartments of a sculptured cross at Ullard, county +Kilkenny. This is a remarkable example. The cross is supposed to be +older than that of Monasterboice, which was erected A.D. 830, and this +is believed to be the first specimen of a harp without a fore pillar +that has been discovered out of Egypt. If the Irish harp be really a +variety of the cithara, derived through an Egyptian channel, it would +form another important link in the chain of evidence, which leads us +back to colonization from Egypt through Scythia. Captain Wilford +observes,[266] that there may be a clue to the Celtic word bard in the +Hindoo _bardatri_; but the Irish appellation appears to be of +comparatively modern use. It is, however, a noticeable fact, that the +farther we extend our inquiries, the more forcibly we are directed to +the East as the cradle of our music. Several recent travellers have +mentioned the remarkable similarity between Celtic airs and those which +they heard in different parts of Asia.[267] Sir W. Ouseley observed, at +the close of the last century, that many Hindoo melodies possessed the +plaintive simplicity of the Scotch and Irish. + +A German scholar has written a work, to prove that the pentatonic scale +was brought over by the Celts from Asia, and that it was preserved +longer in Scotland than elsewhere, on account of the isolated position +of that country.[268] The Phoenicians are supposed to have invented the +_kinnor, trigonon_, and several other of the most remarkable instruments +of antiquity. Their skill as harpists, and their love of music, are +indicated by the prophetic denunciation in Ezechiel, where the ceasing +of songs and the sound of the harp are threatened as a calamity they +were likely specially to feel. + +We give at least one evidence that the Irish monks practised the choral +performance of rhythmical hymns. Colgan supplies the proof, which we +select from one of the Latin hymns of St. Columba:-- + + "Protegat nos altissimus, + De suis sanctis sedibus, + Dum ibi hymnos canimus, + Decem statutis vicibus." + +Mr. O'Curry gives the names of all the ancient Irish musical instruments +as follows:--_Cruit_, a harp; _Timpan_, a drum, or tambourine; _Corn_, a +trumpet; _Stoc_, a clarion; _Pipai_, the pipes; _Fidil_, the fiddle. He +adds: "All those are mentioned in an ancient poem in the Book of +Leinster, a MS. of about the year 1150, now in the Library of Trinity +College. The first four are found in various old tales and descriptions +of battles." + +We shall find how powerful was the influence of Irish music on the Irish +race at a later period of our history, when the subject of political +ballads will be mentioned. + +The dress of the rich and the poor probably varied as much in the +century of which we write as at the present day. We have fortunately +remains of almost every description of texture in which the Irish Celt +was clad; so that, as Sir W. Wilde has well observed, we are not left to +conjecture, or forced to draw analogies from the habits of +half-civilized man in other countries at the present day. + +In the year 1821 the body of a male adult was found in a bog on the +lands of Gallagh, near Castleblakeney, county Galway, clad in its +antique garb of deerskin. A few fragments of the dress are preserved, +and may be seen in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. Portions +of the seams still remain, and are creditable specimens of early +needlework. The material employed in sewing was fine gut of three +strands, and the regularity and closeness of the stitching cannot fail +to excite admiration. It is another of the many proofs that, even in the +earliest ages, the Celt was gifted with more than ordinary skill in the +execution of whatever works he took in hand. After all, the skin of +animals is one of the most costly and appreciated adornments of the +human race, even at the present day; and our ancestors differ less from +us in the kind of clothes they wore, than in the refinements by which +they are fashioned to modern use. It is stated in the old bardic tale of +the _Tain bo Chuailgne_, that the charioteer of the hero was clothed in +a tunic of deerskin. This statement, taken in connexion with the fact +above-mentioned, is another evidence that increased knowledge is daily +producing increased respect for the veracity of those who transmitted +the accounts of our ancestral life, which, at one time, were supposed to +be purely mythical. Skin or leather garments were in use certainly until +the tenth century, in the form of cloaks. It is supposed that +Muircheartach obtained the soubriquet "of the leathern cloaks," from the +care which he took in providing his soldiers with them; and it is said +that, in consequence of this precaution, there was not a single man lost +in this campaign. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT BOOT.] + +We give a specimen of an ancient shoe and boot, from the collection of +the Royal Irish Academy. It would appear as if the Celt was rather in +advance of the Saxon in the art of shoemaking; for Mr. Fairholt has been +obliged to give an illustration selected from Irish remains, in his +history, although it is exclusively devoted to British costume. In +illustrating the subject of gold ornaments, he has also made a selection +from the same source. Some curious specimens of shoes joined together, +and therefore perfectly useless for ordinary wear, have also been +discovered. Sir W. Wilde conjectures they may have been used by +chieftains as inauguration shoes.[269] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT SHOE.] + +Saffron was a favourite colour, though it does not appear evident how +the dye was procured. There is no doubt the Irish possessed the art of +dyeing from an early period. Its introduction is attributed to King +Tighearnmas, who reigned from A.M. 3580 to 3664. It is probable the +Phoenicians imparted this knowledge to our ancestors. Although our old +illuminations are not as rich in figures as those from which English +historians have obtained such ample information regarding the early +costume of that country, we have still some valuable illustrations of +this interesting subject. These representations also are found to +correspond faithfully, even in the details of colour, with the remains +which have been discovered from time to time. Our ancient crosses give +immense scope for antiquarian research, though the costumes are +principally ecclesiastical, and hence are not of so much general +interest. But the Book of Rights[270] affords ample information, as far +as mere description, of the clothing of a higher class. While the +peasant was covered with a garment of untanned skin or fur, however +artistically sown together, the bards, the chieftains, and the monarchs +had their tunics [_imar_] of golden borders, their mantles [_leanna_] or +shirts of white wool or deep purple, their fair beautiful matals, and +their cloaks of every colour. If we add to this costume the magnificent +ornaments which still remain to attest the truth of the bardic accounts +of Erinn's ancient greatness, we may form a correct picture of the +Celtic noble as he stood in Tara's ancient palace; and we must coincide +in the opinion of the learned editor of the Catalogue of the Royal Irish +Academy, that "the variegated and glowing colours, as well as the +gorgeous decorations of the different articles of dress enumerated in +the Book of Rights, added to the brilliancy of the arms, must have +rendered the Irish costume of the eighth and ninth centuries very +attractive." + +With a passing glance at our ancient _Fauna_ and _Flora_, and the +physical state of the country at this period, we must conclude briefly. + +It is probable that the province of Ulster, which was styled by statute, +in Queen Elizabeth's time, "the most perilous place in all the isle," +was much in the same state as to its physical characteristics in the +century of which we write. It was densely wooded, and strong in +fortresses, mostly placed on lakes, natural or artificial. Two great +roads led to this part of Ireland--the "Gap of the North," by +Carrickmacross, and the historically famous pass by Magh-Rath. From the +former place to Belturbet the country was nearly impassable, from its +network of bogs, lakes, and mountains. We shall find at a later period +what trouble these natural defences gave to the English settlers. + +Munster so abounded in woods, that it was proposed, in 1579, to employ +4,000 soldiers for the sole purpose of hewing them down. Indeed, its +five great forests were the strongholds of the Earls of Desmond; and +enough evidence still remains at Glengariff and Killarney, to manifest +the value of their sylvan possessions. The cold and withering blasts of +the great Atlantic, appear to have stunted or hindered the growth of +trees in Connaught. In 1210 the Four Masters mention the wilderness of +Cinel-Dorfa, its principal forest; but it was amply provided with other +resources for the protection of native princes. In 1529 Chief Baron +Finglas gave a list of dangerous passes, with the recommendation that +the "Lord Deputy be eight days in every summer cutting passes into the +woods next adjoining the king's subjects." + +[Illustration: HEAD OF OX.] + +In Leinster the forests had been cleared at an earlier period; and the +country being less mountainous, was more easily cultivated. But this +portion of Ireland contained the well-known Curragh of Kildare, which +has its history also, and a more ancient one than its modern visitors +are likely to suppose. The Curragh is mentioned for the first time in +the _Liber Hymnorum_, in a hymn in praise of St. Brigid. The Scholiast +in a contemporary gloss says: "_Currech, a cursu equorum dictus est_." +It is also mentioned in Cormac's Glossary, where the etymology is +referred to running or racing. But the most important notice is +contained in the historical tale of the destruction of the mansion of Da +Derga.[271] In this, Connaire Mor, who was killed A.D. 60, is +represented as having gone to the games at the Curragh with four +chariots. From this and other sources we may conclude, that +chariot-races preceded horse-races in ancient Erinn, and that the +Curragh has been used as a place of public amusement for the last 2,000 +years. It would appear that every province in Ireland possessed an +_Aenach_ or "fair-green," where the men assembled to celebrate their +games and festivals. In an old list of Irish Triads, the three great +_Aenachs_ of Ireland are said to have been _Aenach Crogan_, in +Connaught; _Aenach Taillten_, in Meath; and _Aenach Colmain_, the +Curragh. The last would appear, however, to have been frequented by +persons from all parts of Ireland; and it is not a little strange that +it should still be used in a similar manner as a place of public +amusement. Ireland in the tenth century and Ireland in the nineteenth +form a painful contrast, notwithstanding the boasted march of intellect. +The ancient forests have been hewn down with little profit[272] to the +spoiler, and to the injury in many ways of the native. The noble rivers +are there still, and the mountains look as beautiful in the sunsets of +this year of grace as they did so many hundred years before; but the +country, which was in "God's keeping" then, has but little improved +since it came into the keeping of man; for the poor tenant, who may be +here to-day, and to-morrow cast out on the wayside, has but substituted +ill-fenced and ill-cultivated fields for wide tracts of heather and +moorland, which had at least the recommendation of attractive scenery, +and of not suggesting painful reflections. + +[Illustration: HEADS OF IRISH WOLF DOGS.] + +The most formidable, if not the largest, of the carnivora in this +island, was the brown bear. The wolf lingered on until the beginning of +the last century; and the Irish greyhound has passed with it also. The +gigantic Irish elk, _Cervus megaseros_, belongs more to the +palaeontologist than to the historian, as it is supposed to have existed +only in pre-historic times. A smaller variety has been found in peat +overlaying the clay, from which it is inferred that some species may +have been contemporary with the human race. The horse co-existed with +the elephant. The red deer was the principal object of chase from an +early period. The wild boar found abundant food from our noble oaks; and +the hare, the rabbit, the goat, and the sheep supplied the wants of the +Celt in ancient as in modern times. But the great wealth of Ireland +consisted in her cows, which then, as now, formed a staple article of +commerce. Indeed, most of the ancient feuds were simply cattle raids, +and the successful party signalized his victory by bearing off the +bovine wealth of the vanquished enemy. + +It is impossible exactly to estimate the population of Ireland at this +period with any degree of reliable exactitude. The only method of +approximating thereto should be based on a calculation of the known or +asserted number of men in arms at any given time. When Roderic and his +allies invested the Normans in Dublin, he is said to have had 50,000 +fighting men. Supposing this to include one-fourth of all the men of the +military age in the country, and to bear the proportion of one-fifth to +the total number of the inhabitants, it would give a population of about +a million, which would probably be rather under than over the correct +estimate. + +[Illustration: FERRITER'S CASTLE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[245] _Day_.--Wilkinson's _Geology and Architecture of Ireland_, p. 59. + +[246] _Celt_.--Catalogue of R.I.A. p. 43. This celt is the largest +discovered in Ireland, and is formed of coarse clay-slate. It is 22 +inches long, 1 inch thick, and 3-3/4 broad at the widest part. It was +found in the bed of the river Blackwater, two miles below Charlemont, +county Armagh. + +[247] _Axe_.--Catalogue of R.I.A. p. 80. Sir W. Wilde pronounces this to +be one of the most beautiful specimens of the stone battle-axe which has +been found in Ireland, both for design and execution. It is composed of +fine-grained remblendic sylicite, and is highly polished all over. It +was found in the river at Athlone. + +[248] _Wright_.--_History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments_, p. 11. + +[249] _Hall_.--Hence the term "hall" is still used to denote mansions of +more than ordinary importance. The hall was the principal part of the +ancient Saxon house, and the term used for the part was easily +transferred to the whole. + +[250] _Discovery_.--_Ulster Arch. Journal_, vol. v. p. 83. + +[251] _Assigned_.--Petrie's _Tara_, p. 200. + +[252] _Smith_.--The animals were brought to the smith, who knocked them +down with his big hammer: hence, probably, the name of Smithfield for a +cattle market. He was an important personage in the olden time. In the +Odyssey, as armourer, he ranks with the bard and physician. + +[253] _Tinnes_.--Dr. Petrie does not give the meaning of this word, but +Dr. O'Donovan supplies the deficiency in the Book of Rights, where he +explains it to mean a salted pig, or in plain English, bacon. + +[254] _Table_.--In the earliest ages of Tara's existence, the household +may have been served as they sat on the benches round the hall. The +table was at first simply a board: hence we retain the term a hospitable +board; a board-room, a room where a board was placed for writing on. The +board was carried away after dinner, and the trestles on which it stood, +so as to leave room for the evening's amusements. + +[255] _Cooked_.--Wright's _Domestic Manners_, p. 87. The knights in this +engraving are using their shields as a substitute for a table. At p. 147 +there is an illustration of the method of cooking on a spit; this is +turned by a boy. The Irish appear to have had a mechanical arrangement +for this purpose some centuries earlier. Bellows, which are now so +commonly used in Ireland, and so rare in England, appear to have been a +Saxon invention. + +[256] _Poems_.--_Ulster Arch. Journal_, vol. i. p. 108. It would appear +as if corn had been eaten raw, or perhaps partly scorched, at an early +period, as was customary in eastern countries. Teeth have been found in +crania taken from our ancient tombs, quite worn down by some such +process of mastication. + +[257] _Weir_.--Salt appears to have been used also at a very ancient +period, though it cannot now be ascertained how it was procured. Perhaps +it was obtained from native sources now unknown. + +[258] _Gold_.--Book of Rights, pp. 145, 209, &c. The King of Cashel was +entitled to a hundred drinking horns.--p. 33. + +[259] _Beer_.--Book of Rights, p. 9. + +[260] _Period_.--Accounts will be given later of the use of _aqua vitae_, +or whisky, after the English invasion. The English appear to have +appreciated this drink, for we find, in 1585, that the Mayor of +Waterford sent Lord Burleigh a "rundell of _aqua vitae_;" and in another +letter, in the State Paper Office, dated October 14, 1622, the Lord +Justice Coke sends a "runlett of milde Irish _uskebach_," from his +daughter Peggie (heaven save the mark!) to the "good Lady Coventry," +because the said Peggie "was so much bound to her ladyship for her great +goodness." However, the said Lord Justice strongly recommends the +_uskebach_ to his lordship, assuring him that "if it please his lordship +next his heart in the morning to drinke a little of this Irish +_uskebach_, it will help to digest all raw humours, expell wynde, and +keep his inward parte warm all the day after." A poor half-starved +Irishman in the present century, could scarcely have brought forward +more extenuating circumstances for his use of the favourite beverage; +and he might have added that _he_ had nothing else to "keep him warm." + +[261] _Bricks_.--In an ancient life of St. Kevin of Glendalough, there +is mention made of certain brick-cheeses, which the saint converted into +real bricks, in punishment to a woman for telling a lie. + +[262] _King_.--Book of Rights, p. 15. + +[263] _Informs us_.--_Domestic Manners_, p. 43. + +[264] _Macaulay_.--_Lays of Ancient Rome_.--Horatius. + +[265] _Cambrensis_.--"Hinc accidit, ut Episcopi et Abbates, et Sancti in +Hibernia viri cytharas circumferre et in eis modulando pie delectari +consueverunt."--_Cam. Des._ p. 739. + +[266] _Observes_.--_Asiatic Researches_, vol. ix. p. 76. + +[267] _Asia_.--See Carl Eugen's valuable work on the _Music of Ancient +Nations passim_. + +[268] _Country_.--_Erste Wanderung der aeltesten Tonkunst_, von G.W. +Fruh, Essen, 1831. In Conran's _National Music of Ireland_, he +attributes this to the influence of ecclesiastical music. But an article +by Mr. Darmey, in the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, takes a +much more probable view. The Ambrosian chant, introduced about A.D. 600, +could not have influenced national music which existed for centuries +before that period. + +[269] _Shoes_.--The use of inauguration shoes appears to have been very +ancient in Ireland. It will be remembered how early and how frequently +the shoe is mentioned in Scripture in connexion with legal arrangements. +It was obviously an important object in Eastern business transactions. + +[270] _Book of Rights_.--The great antiquity and perfect authenticity of +this most valuable work, should be remembered. It is admitted that the +original Book of Rights was compiled by St. Benignus, the disciple of +St. Patrick. Dr. O'Donovan thinks there is every reason to believe that +this work was in existence in the time of Cormac, the bishop-king of +Cashel, A.D. 900. It is probable that the present Book of Rights was +compiled about this period, from the more ancient volume of the same +name. + +[271] _Da Derga_.--See an interesting Essay on the Curragh of Kildare, +by Mr. W.M. Hennessy, read before the R.I.A., February 26, 1866. + +[272] _Profit_.--The trustees of the estates forfeited in 1688 notice +this especially. Trees to the value of L20,000 were cut down and +destroyed on the estate of Sir Valentine Brown, near Killarney, and to +the value of L27,000 on the territory of the Earl of Clancarty. Some of +these trees were sold for _sixpence a piece_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The English Invasion--Dermod's Interview with Henry II.--Henry grants +Letters-patent--Dermod obtains the assistance of Strongbow, Earl de +Clare--He returns to Ireland--Arrival of English Forces under +FitzStephen--Fatal Indifference of Roderic, the Irish Monarch--He is at +last roused to action, but acknowledges Dermod's Authority almost +without a Struggle--Strongbow's Genealogy--He obtains a Tacit Permission +to invade Ireland--His Arrival in Ireland--Marriage of Strongbow and +Eva--Death of Dermod Mac Murrough--Strongbow proclaims himself King of +Leinster--Difficulties of his Position--Siege of Dublin--Strongbow's +Retreat--He returns to England. + +[A.D. 1168-1171.] + + +[Illustration: Letter 'U'] + +Until this period (A.D. 1168) the most friendly relations appear to have +existed between England and Ireland. Saxon nobles and princes had fled +for shelter, or had come for instruction to the neighbouring shores. The +assistance of Irish troops had been sought and readily obtained by them. +Irish merchants[273] had taken their goods to barter in English markets; +but when the Norman had won the Saxon crown, and crushed the Saxon race +under his iron heel, the restless spirit of the old Viking race looked +out for a new quarry, and long before Dermod had betrayed his country, +that country's fate was sealed. + +William Rufus is reported to have said, as he stood on the rocks near +St. David's, that he would make a bridge with his ships from that spot +to Ireland--a haughty boast, not quite so easily accomplished. His +speech was repeated to the King of Leinster, who inquired "if the king, +in his great threatening, had added, 'if it so please God'?" The +reporter answered in the negative. "Then," said he, "seeing this king +putteth his trust only in man, and not in God, I fear not his coming." +When Dermod Mac Murrough was driven in disgrace from Ireland, he fled at +once to Bristol. There he learned that Henry was still in Aquitaine, and +thither, with a perseverance worthy of a better cause, he followed the +English king. Henry was only too happy to listen to his complaints, and +forward his views; but he was too much occupied with his personal +affairs to attempt the conquest of a kingdom. Letters-patent were +incomparably more convenient than men-at-arms, and with letters-patent +the renegade was fain to be content. Dermod only asked help to recover +the kingdom from which he had been expelled for his crimes; Henry +pretended no more than to give the assistance asked, and for all reward +only wished that Dermod should pay a vassal's homage to the English +king. Henry may have known that his client was a villain, or he may not. +Henry may have intended to annex Ireland to the British dominions (if he +could), or he may merely have hoped for some temporary advantage from +the new connexion. Whatever he knew or whatever he hoped, he received +Dermod "into the bosom of his grace and benevolence," and he did but +distantly insinuate his desires by proclaiming him his "faithful and +liege subject." The royal letter ran thus:--"Henry, King of England, +Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to all his liegemen, +English, Norman, Welsh, and Scotch, and to all the nation under his +dominion, sends greeting. As soon as the present letter shall come to +your hands, know that Dermod, Prince of Leinster, has been received into +the bosom of our grace and benevolence: wherefore, whosoever, within the +ample extent of our territories, shall be willing to lend aid towards +this prince as our faithful and liege subject, let such person know that +we do hereby grant to him for said purpose our licence and favour." + +In this document there is not even the most remote reference to the Bull +of Adrian, conferring the island of Ireland on Henry, although this Bull +had been obtained some time before. In whatever light we may view this +omission, it is certainly inexplicable. + +For some time Dermod failed in his efforts to obtain assistance. After +some fruitless negotiations with the needy and lawless adventurers who +thronged the port of Bristol, he applied to the Earl of Pembroke, +Richard de Clare. This nobleman had obtained the name of Strongbow, by +which he is more generally known, from his skill in archery. Two other +young men of rank joined the party; they were sons of the beautiful and +infamous Nesta,[274] once the mistress of Henry I., but now the wife of +Gerald, Governor of Pembroke and Lord of Carew. The knights were Maurice +FitzGerald and Robert FitzStephen. Dermod had promised them the city of +Wexford and two cantreds of land as their reward. Strongbow was to +succeed him on the throne of Leinster, and to receive the hand of his +young and beautiful daughter, Eva, in marriage. + +There is considerable uncertainty as to the real date and the precise +circumstances of Dermod's arrival in Ireland. According to one account, +he returned at the close of the year 1168, and concealed himself during +the winter in a monastery of Augustinian Canons at Ferns, which he had +founded. The two principal authorities are Giraldus Cambrensis and +Maurice Regan; the latter was Dermod Mac Murrough's secretary. According +to his account, Robert FitzStephen landed at Bannow, near Waterford, in +May, 1169, with an army of three hundred archers, thirty knights, and +sixty men-at-arms.[275] A second detachment arrived the next day, headed +by Maurice de Prendergast, a Welsh gentleman, with ten knights and sixty +archers. Dermod at once assembled his men, and joined his allies. He +could only muster five hundred followers; but with their united forces, +such as they were, the outlawed king and the needy adventurers laid +siege to the city of Wexford. The brave inhabitants of this mercantile +town at once set forth to meet them; but, fearing the result if attacked +in open field by well-disciplined troops, they fired the suburbs, and +entrenched themselves in the town. Next morning the assaulting party +prepared for a renewal of hostilities, but the clergy of Wexford advised +an effort for peace: terms of capitulation were negotiated, and Dermod +was obliged to pardon, when he would probably have preferred to +massacre. It is said that FitzStephen burned his little fleet, to show +his followers that they must conquer or die. Two cantreds of land, +comprising the present baronies of Forth and Bargy,[276] were bestowed +on him: and thus was established the first English colony in Ireland. +The Irish princes and chieftains appear to have regarded the whole +affair with silent contempt. The Annals say they "set nothing by the +Flemings;"[277] practically, they set nothing by any of the invaders. +Could they have foreseen, even for one moment, the consequences of their +indifference, we cannot doubt but that they would have acted in a very +different manner. Roderic, the reigning monarch, was not the man either +to foresee danger, or to meet it when foreseen; though we might pardon +even a more sharp-sighted and vigilant warrior, for overlooking the +possible consequence of the invasion of a few mercenary troops, whose +only object appeared to be the reinstatement of a petty king. Probably, +the troops and their captains were equally free from suspecting what +would be the real result of their proceedings. + +[Illustration: BARGY CASTLE.] + +The fair of Telltown was celebrated about this time; and from the +accounts given by the Annals of the concourse of people, and the number +of horsemen who attended it, there can be little doubt that Ireland was +seldom in a better position to resist foreign invasion. But unity of +purpose and a competent leader were wanted then, as they have been +wanted but too often since. Finding so little opposition to his plans, +Mac Murrough determined to act on the offensive. He was now at the head +of 3,000 men. With this force he marched into the adjoining territory of +Ossory, and made war on its chief, Donough FitzPatrick; and after a +brave but unsuccessful resistance, it submitted to his rule.[278] The +Irish monarch was at length aroused to some degree of apprehension. He +summoned a hosting of the men of Ireland at Tara; and with the army thus +collected, assisted by the Lords of Meath, Oriel, Ulidia, Breffni, and +some northern chieftains, he at once proceeded to Dublin. Dermod was +alarmed, and retired to Ferns. Roderic pursued him thither. But +dissension had already broken out in the Irish camp: the Ulster chiefs +returned home; the contingent was weakened; and, either through fear, or +from the natural indolence of his pacific disposition, he agreed to +acknowledge Mac Murrough's authority. Mac Murrough gave his son Cormac +as hostage for the fulfilment of the treaty. A private agreement was +entered into between the two kings, in which Dermod pledged himself to +dismiss his foreign allies as soon as possible, and to bring no more +strangers into the country. It is more than probable that he had not the +remotest idea of fulfilling his promise; it is at least certain that he +broke it the first moment it was his interest to do so. Dermod's object +was simply to gain time, and in this he succeeded. + +Maurice FitzGerald arrived at Wexford a few days after, and the recreant +king at once proceeded to meet him; and with this addition to his army, +marched to attack Dublin. The Dano-Celts, who inhabited this city, had +been so cruelly treated by him, that they dreaded a repetition of his +former tyrannies. They had elected a governor for themselves; but +resistance was useless. After a brief struggle, they were obliged to sue +for peace--a favour which probably would not have been granted without +further massacres and burnings, had not Dermod wished to bring his arms +to bear in another quarter. + +Donnell O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, who had married a daughter of +Dermod, had just rebelled against Roderic, and the former was but too +willing to assist him in his attempt. Thus encouraged where he should +have been treated with contempt, and hunted down with ignominy, his +ambition became boundless. He played out the favourite game of traitors; +and no doubt hoped, when he had consolidated his own power, that he +could easily expel his foreign allies. Strongbow had not yet arrived, +though the winds had been long enough "at east and easterly."[279] His +appearance was still delayed. The fact was, that the Earl was in a +critical position. Henry and his barons were never on the most amiable +terms; and there were some very special reasons why Strongbow should +prove no exception to the rule. + +The first member of the Earl's family who had settled in England, was +Richard, son of the Norman Earl Brien, a direct descendant of Robert +"the Devil," Duke of Normandy, father of William the Conqueror. In +return for services at the battle of Hastings, and general assistance in +conquering the Saxon, this family obtained a large grant of land in +England, and took the title of Earl of Clare from one of their +ninety-five lordships in Suffolk.[280] The Strongbow family appears to +have inherited a passion for making raids on neighbouring lands, from +their Viking ancestors. Strongbow's father had obtained his title of +Earl of Pembroke, and his property in the present county of that name, +from his successful marauding expedition in Wales, in 1138. But as he +revolted against Stephen, his lands were seized by that king; and after +his death, in 1148, his son succeeded to his very numerous titles, +without any property commensurate thereto. Richard was not in favour +with his royal master, who probably was jealous of the Earl, despite his +poverty; but as Strongbow did not wish to lose the little he had in +England, or the chance of obtaining more in Ireland, he proceeded at +once to the court, then held in Normandy, and asked permission for his +new enterprise. Henry's reply was so carefully worded, he could declare +afterwards that he either had or had not given the permission, whichever +version of the interview might eventually prove most convenient to the +royal interests. Strongbow took the interpretation which suited his own +views, and proceeded to the scene of action with as little delay as +possible. He arrived in Ireland, according to the most generally +received account, on the vigil of St. Bartholomew, A.D. 1170, and landed +at Dundonnell, near Waterford. His uncle, Hervey de Montmarisco, had +already arrived, and established himself in a temporary fort, where he +had been attacked by the brave citizens of Wexford. But the besieged +maintained their position, killed five hundred men, and made prisoners +of seventy of the principal citizens of Waterford. Large sums of money +were offered for their ransom, but in vain. They were brutally murdered +by the English soldiers, who first broke their limbs, and then hurled +them from a precipice into the sea. It was the first instalment of the +utterly futile theory, so often put in practice since that day, of +"striking terror into the Irish;" and the experiment was quite as +unsuccessful as all such experiments have ever been.[281] + +While these cruelties were enacting, Strongbow had been collecting +forces in South Wales; but, as he was on the very eve of departure, he +received a peremptory order from Henry, forbidding him to leave the +kingdom. After a brief hesitation, he determined to bid defiance to the +royal mandate, and set sail for Ireland. The day after his arrival he +laid siege to Waterford. The citizens behaved like heroes, and twice +repulsed their assailants; but their bravery could not save them in the +face of overpowering numbers. A breach was made in the wall; the +besiegers poured in; and a merciless massacre followed. Dermod arrived +while the conflict was at its height, and for once he has the credit of +interfering on the side of mercy. Reginald, a Danish lord, and O'Phelan, +Prince of the Deisi, were about to be slain by their captors, but at his +request they were spared, and the general carnage was suspended. For the +sake of common humanity, one could wish to think that this was an act of +mercy. But Mac Murrough had his daughter Eva with him; he wished to have +her nuptials with Strongbow celebrated at once; and he could scarcely +accomplish his purpose while men were slaying their fellows in a +cold-blooded massacre. The following day the nuptials were performed. +The English Earl, a widower, and long past the prime of manhood, was +wedded to the fair young Celtic maiden; and the marriage procession +passed lightly over the bleeding bodies of the dying and the dead. Thus +commenced the union between Great Britain and Ireland: must those +nuptials be for ever celebrated in tears and blood? + +Immediately after the ceremony, the army set out for Dublin. Roderic had +collected a large force near Clondalkin, and Hosculf, the Danish +governor of the city, encouraged by their presence, had again revolted +against Dermod. The English army having learned that the woods and +defiles between Wexford and Dublin were well guarded, had made forced +marches along the mountains, and succeeded in reaching the capital long +before they were expected. Their decision and military skill alarmed the +inhabitants--they might also have heard reports of the massacres at +Wexford; be this as it may, they determined to negotiate for peace, and +commissioned their illustrious Archbishop, St. Laurence O'Toole, to make +terms with Dermod. While the discussion was pending, two of the English +leaders, Raymond _le Gros_ and Miles de Cogan, obtained an entrance into +the city, and commenced a merciless butchery of the inhabitants. When +the saint returned he heard cries of misery and groans of agony in all +quarters, and it was not without difficulty that he succeeded in +appeasing the fury of the soldiers, and the rage of the people, who had +been so basely treated. + +[Illustration: Marriage of Eva and Strongbow.] + +The Four Masters accuse the people of Dublin of having attempted to +purchase their own safety at the expense of the national interests, and +say that "a miracle was wrought against them" as a judgment for their +selfishness. Hosculf, the Danish governor, fled to the Orkneys, with +some of the principal citizens, and Roderic withdrew his forces to +Meath, to support O'Rourke, on whom he had bestowed a portion of that +territory. Miles de Cogan was invested with the government of Dublin, +and Dermod marched to Meath, to attack Roderic and O'Rourke, against +whom he had an old grudge of the worst and bitterest kind. He had +injured him by carrying off his wife, Dervorgil, and men generally hate +most bitterly those whom they have injured most cruelly. + +Meanwhile MacCarthy of Desmond had attacked and defeated the English +garrison at Waterford, but without any advantageous results. Roderic's +weakness now led him to perpetrate an act of cruelty, although it could +scarcely be called unjust according to the ideas of the times. It will +be remembered that he had received hostages from Dermod for the treaty +of Ferns. That treaty had been openly violated, and the King sent +ambassadors to him to demand its fulfilment, by the withdrawal of the +English troops, threatening, in case of refusal, to put the hostages to +death. Dermod laughed at the threat. Under any circumstances, he was not +a man who would hesitate to sacrifice his own flesh and blood to his +ambition. Roderic was as good as his word; and the three royal hostages +were put to death at Athlone. + +An important synod was held at the close of this year (A.D. 1170), at +Armagh. We have already mentioned one of its principal enactments, which +deplored and condemned the practice of buying English slaves from the +Bristol merchants. Other subjects shall be more fully entertained when +we come to the Synod of Cashel, which was held two years later. + +In 1171 Dermod MacMurrough, the author of so many miseries, and the +object of so much just reprobation, died at Ferns, on the 4th of May. +His miserable end was naturally considered a judgment for his evil life. +His obituary is thus recorded: "Diarmaid Mac Murchadha, King of +Leinster, by whom a trembling soil was made of all Ireland, after having +brought over the Saxons, after having done extensive injuries to the +Irish, after plundering and burning many churches, as Ceanannus, +Cluain-Iraired, &c., died before the end of a year [after this +plundering], of an insufferable and unknown disease; for he became +putrid while living, through the miracle of God, Colum-cille, and +Finnen, and the other saints of Ireland, whose churches he had profaned +and burned some time before; and he died at Fearnamor, without [making] +a will, without penance, without the body of Christ, without unction, as +his evil deeds deserved."[282] + +But the death of the traitor could not undo the traitor's work. Men's +evil deeds live after them, however they may repent them on their +deathbeds. Strongbow had himself at once proclaimed King of +Leinster--his marriage with Eva was the ground of his claim; but though +such a mode of succession might hold good in Normandy, it was perfectly +illegal in Ireland. The question, however, was not one of right but of +might, and it was settled as all such questions invariably are. But +Strongbow had a master at the other side of the Channel, who had his own +views of these complications. His tenure, however, was somewhat +precarious. His barons, always turbulent, had now a new ground for +aggression, in the weakness to which he had exposed himself by his +virtual sanction of the murder of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and he was +fain to content himself with a strong injunction commanding all his +English subjects then in Ireland to return immediately, and forbidding +any further reinforcements to be sent to that country. Strongbow was +alarmed, and at once despatched Raymond _le Gros_ with apologies and +explanations, offering the King all the lands he had acquired in +Ireland. Henry does not appear to have taken the slightest notice of +these communications, and the Earl determined to risk his displeasure, +and remain in Ireland. + +His prospects, however, were by no means promising. His Irish adherents +forsook him on the death of Dermod; Dublin was besieged by a +Scandinavian force, which Hosculf had collected in the Orkneys, and +which was conveyed in sixty vessels, under the command of Johan _le +Deve_ (the Furious). Miles de Cogan repulsed this formidable attack +successfully, and captured the leaders. Hosculf was put to death; but he +appears to have brought his fate on himself by a proud and incautious +boast. + +At this period the thoughtful and disinterested Archbishop of Dublin saw +a crisis in the history of his country on which much depended. He +endeavoured to unite the national chieftains, and rally the national +army. His words appear to have had some effect. Messengers were sent to +ask assistance from Godfred, King of the Isle of Man, and other island +warriors. Strongbow became aware of his danger, and threw himself into +Dublin; but he soon found himself landlocked by an army, and enclosed at +sea by a fleet. Roderic O'Connor commanded the national forces, +supported by Tiernan O'Rourke and Murrough O'Carroll. St. Laurence +O'Toole remained in the camp, and strove to animate the men by his +exhortations and example. The Irish army contented themselves with a +blockade, and the besieged were soon reduced to extremities from want of +food. Strongbow offered terms of capitulation through the Archbishop, +proposing to hold the kingdom of Leinster as Roderic's vassal; but the +Irish monarch demanded the surrender of the towns of Dublin, Wexford, +and Waterford, and required the English invaders to leave the country by +a certain day. + +While these negotiations were pending, Donnell Cavanagh, son of the late +King of Leinster, got into the city in disguise, and informed Strongbow +that FitzStephen was closely besieged in Wexford. It was then at once +determined to force a passage through the Irish army. Raymond _le Gros_ +led the van, Miles de Cogan followed; Strongbow and Maurice FitzGerald, +who had proposed the sortie, with the remainder of their force, brought +up the rere. The Irish army was totally unprepared for this sudden move; +they fled in panic, and Roderic, who was bathing in the Liffey, escaped +with difficulty.[283] + +Strongbow again committed the government of Dublin to Miles de Cogan, +and set out for Wexford. On his way thither he was opposed by O'Regan, +Prince of Idrone. An action ensued, which might have terminated fatally +for the army, had not the Irish prince received his death-wound from an +English archer. His troops took to flight, and Strongbow proceeded on +his journey. But he arrived too late. Messengers met him on the way, to +inform him that the fort of Carrig had fallen into the hands of the +Irish, who are said to have practised an unjustifiable stratagem to +obtain possession of the place. As usual, there are two versions of the +story. One of these versions, which appears not improbable, is that the +besieged had heard a false report of the affair in Dublin; and believing +Strongbow and the English army to have been overthrown, they surrendered +on the promise of being sent in safety to Dublin. On their surrender, +the conditions were violated, FitzStephen was imprisoned, and some of +his followers killed. The charge against the besiegers is that they +invented the report as a stratagem to obtain their ends, and that the +falsehood was confirmed in a solemn manner by the bishops of Wexford and +Kildare. + +As soon as the Wexford men had heard of Strongbow's approach, they set +fire to the town, and fled to Beg-Erin, a stockaded island, at the same +time sending him a message, that, if he attempted to approach, they +would kill all their prisoners. The Earl withdrew to Waterford in +consequence of this threat, and here he learned that his presence was +indispensable in England; he therefore set off at once to plead his own +cause with his royal master. A third attack had been made on Dublin, in +the meantime, by the Lord of Breffni, but it was repulsed by Miles. With +this exception, the Irish made no attempt against the common enemy, and +domestic wars were as frequent as usual. + +Henry had returned to England, and was now in Newenham, in +Gloucestershire, making active preparations for his visit to Ireland. +The odium into which he had fallen, after his complicity in the murder +of St. Thomas of Canterbury, had rendered his position perilous in the +extreme; and probably his Irish expedition would never have been +undertaken, had he not required some such object to turn his thoughts +and the thoughts of his subjects from the consequences of his +crime.[284] He received Strongbow coldly, and at first refused him an +interview. After a proper delay, he graciously accepted the Earl's offer +of "all the lands he had won in Ireland"--a very questionable gift, +considering that there was not an inch of ground there which he could +securely call his own. Henry, however, was pleased to restore his +English estates; but, with consummate hypocrisy and villany, he seized +the castles of the Welsh lords, whom he hated for their vigorous and +patriotic opposition, and punished them for allowing the expedition, +which he had just sanctioned, to sail from their coasts unmolested. + +[Illustration: THE LOGAN STONE, KILLARNEY.] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT IRISH BROOCH.[285]] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[273] _Merchants_.--Wright says that "theft and unfair dealing" were +fearfully prevalent among the Anglo-Normans, and mentions, as an +example, how some Irish merchants were robbed who came to Ely to sell +their wares.--_Domestic Manners_, p. 78. It would appear that there was +considerable slave-trade carried on with the British merchants. The +Saxons, who treated their dependents with savage cruelty (see Wright, p. +56), sold even their children as slaves to the Irish. In 1102 this +inhuman traffic was forbidden by the Council of London. Giraldus +Cambrensis mentions that, at a synod held at Armagh, A.D. 1170, the +Irish clergy, who had often forbidden this trade, pronounced the +invasion of Ireland by Englishmen to be a just judgment on the Irish for +their share in the sin, and commanded that all who had English slaves +should at once set them free. Mr. Haverty remarks, that it was a curious +and characteristic coincidence, that an Irish deliberative assembly +should thus, by an act of humanity to Englishmen, have met the merciless +aggressions which the latter had just then commenced against this +country.--_Hist. of Ireland_, p. 169. + +[274] _Nesta_.--David Powell, in his notes to the _Itinerary of +Cambria_, states that this lady was a daughter of Rufus, Prince of +Demetia. She was distinguished for her beauty, and infamous for her +gallantries. She had a daughter by Gerald of Windsor, called Augweth, +who was mother to Giraldus Cambrensis. This relationship accounts for +the absurd eulogiums which he has lavished on the Geraldines. Demetia is +the district now called Pembrokeshire, where a colony of Normans +established themselves after the Norman Conquest.--See Thierry's _Norman +Conquest_. + +[275] _Men-at-arms_.--_Hibernia Expugnata_, lib. i. c. 16. + +[276] _Bargy_.--Our illustration gives a view of the remains of this +ancient castle. It was formerly the residence of Bagenal Harvey, a +Protestant gentleman, who suffered in the rebellion of 1798, for his +adherence to the cause of Ireland. + +[277] _Flemings_.--Dr. O'Donovan mentions, in a note to the Four +Masters, that he was particularly struck with the difference between the +personal appearance of the inhabitants of the baronies where they +settled. The Cavanaghs and Murphys are tall and slight; the Flemings and +Codds short and stout. They still retain some peculiarities of language. + +[278] _Rule_.--What the rule of this ferocious monster may have been we +can judge from what is related of him by Cambrensis. Three hundred heads +of the slain were piled up before him; and as he leaped and danced with +joy at the ghastly sight, he recognized a man to whom he had a more than +ordinary hatred. He seized the head by the ears, and gratified his +demoniacal rage by biting off the nose and lips of his dead enemy. + +[279] _Easterly_.--Cambrensis takes to himself the credit of having +advised the despatch of a letter to Strongbow. He also gives us the +letter, which probably was his own composition, as it is written in the +same strain of bombast as his praises of his family.--_Hib. Expug_. lib. +i. c. 12. It commences thus: "We have watched the storks and swallows; +the summer birds are come and gone," &c. We imagine that Dermod's style, +if he had taken to epistolary correspondence, would have been rather a +contrast. + +[280] _Suffolk_.--See Gilbert's _Viceroys of Dublin, passim_. We +recommend this work to our readers. It should be in the hands of every +Irishman at least. It combines the attraction of romance with the +accuracy of carefully written history. + +[281] _Been_.--If we are to believe Cambrensis, Raymond argued against +this cruelty, and Henry in favour of it. + +[282] _Deserved_.--The Annals of Clonmacnois give a similar account; +but in a paper MS. in Trinity College, Dublin, it is said that he died +"after the victory of penance and unction." The old account is probably +the more reliable, as it is the more consonant with his previous career. + +[283] _Difficulty_.--The army was so well supplied, that the English got +sufficient corn, meal, and pork to victual the city of Dublin for a +whole year.--Harris' _Hibernae_, p. 25. + +[284] _Crime_.--So fearful was the unfortunate monarch of a public +excommunication and interdict, that he sent courtiers at once to Rome to +announce his submission. When he heard of the murder he shut himself up +for three days, and refused all food, except "milk of almonds." See +_Vita Quadrip_. p. 143. It would appear this was a favourite beverage, +from the amount of almonds which were brought to Ireland for his special +benefit. See p. 272. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Arrival of Henry II.--Some of the Native Princes pay him Homage--His +Character--Dublin in the time of Henry II.--His Winter Palace--Norman +Luxuries--King Henry holds a Court--Adrian's Bull--Temporal Power of the +Popes in the Middle Ages--Conduct of the Clergy--Irish Property given to +English Settlers--Henry II. returns to England--The Account Cambrensis +gives of the Injuries done to Ireland by his Countrymen--Raymond, +Montmarisco, and Strongbow--The latter is defeated--He recalls Raymond +from Wales--Treaty between Roderic and Henry--Death of Strongbow. + +[A.D. 1171-1176.] + + +[Illustration: H] + +Henry landed in Ireland on the 18th of October, 1171, at Crook, in the +county of Waterford. He was accompanied by Strongbow, William +FitzAldelm, Humphrey de Bohun, Hugh de Lacy, Robert FitzBarnard, and +many other lords. His whole force, which, according to the most +authentic English accounts, was distributed in four hundred ships, +consisted of 500 knights and 4,000 men-at-arms. It would appear the +Irish had not the least idea that he intended to claim the kingdom as +his own, and rather looked upon him as a powerful potentate who had come +to assist the native administration of justice. Even had they suspected +his real object, no opposition might have been made to it. The nation +had suffered much from domestic dissension; it had yet to learn that +foreign oppression was an incomparable greater evil. + +If a righteous king or a wise statesman had taken the affair in hand, +Ireland might have been made an integral and most valuable portion of +the British Empire without a struggle. The nation would have bowed +gratefully to an impartial government; they have not yet ceased to +resent a partial and frequently unjust rule. From the very commencement, +the aggrandizement of the individual, and not the advantage of the +people, has been the rule of action. Such government is equally +disgraceful to the rulers, and cruel to the governed. + +MacCarthy of Desmond was the first Irish prince who paid homage to the +English King. At Cashel, Donnell O'Brien, King of Thomond, swore fealty, +and surrendered the city of Limerick. Other princes followed their +example. The "pomp and circumstance" of the royal court, attracted the +admiration of a people naturally deferential to authority; the +condescension and apparent disinterestedness of the monarch, won the +hearts of an impulsive and affectionate race. They had been accustomed +to an Ard-Righ, a chief monarch, who, in name at least, ruled all the +lesser potentates: why should not Henry be such to them? and why should +they suppose that he would exercise a tyranny as yet unknown in the +island? + +The northern princes still held aloof; but Roderic had received Henry's +ambassadors personally, and paid the usual deference which one king owed +to another who was considered more powerful. Henry determined to spend +his Christmas in Dublin, and resolved on a special display of royal +state. It is to be presumed that he wished to make up for deficiency in +stateliness of person by stateliness of presence; for, like most of the +descendants of Duke Robert "the Devil" and the daughter of the Falaise +tanner, his appearance was not calculated to inspire respect. His grey +bloodshot eyes and tremulous voice, were neither knightly nor kingly +qualifications; his savage and ungovernable temper, made him appear at +times rather like a demon than a man. He was charged with having +violated the most solemn oaths when it suited his convenience. A +cardinal had pronounced him an audacious liar. Count Thiebault of +Champagne had warned an archbishop not to rely on any of his promises, +however sacredly made. He and his sons spent their time quarrelling with +each other, when not occupied in quarrelling with their subjects. His +eldest son, Richard, thus graphically sketched the family +characteristics:--"The custom in our family is that the son shall hate +the father; our destiny is to detest each other; from the devil we came, +to the devil we shall go." And the head of this family had now come to +reform the Irish, and to improve their condition--social, secular, and +ecclesiastical! + +A special residence was erected for the court on part of the ground now +occupied by the southern side of Dame-street. The whole extent of Dublin +at that time was, in length, from Corn Market to the Lower Castle Yard; +and in breadth, from the Liffey, then covering Essex-street, to Little +Sheep-street, now Ship-street, where a part of the town wall is yet +standing.[286] The only edifices in existence on the southern side of +Dame-street, even at the commencement of the seventeenth century, were +the Church of St. Andrew and the King's Mills.[287] College-green was +then quite in the country, and was known as the village of _Le Hogges_, +a name that is apparently derived from the Teutonic word _Hoge_, which +signifies a small hill or sepulchral mound. Here there was a nunnery +called St. Mary le Hogges, which had been erected or endowed not many +years before Henry's arrival, and a place called Hoggen's Butt, where +the citizens exercised themselves in archery. Here, during the winter of +1171, the Celt, the Saxon, and the Norman, may have engaged in peaceful +contests and pleasant trials of skill. + +Henry's "winter palace" was extemporized with some artistic taste. It +was formed of polished osiers. Preparations had been made on an +extensive scale for the luxuries of the table--a matter in which the +Normans had greatly the advantage of either Celt or Saxon. The use of +crane's flesh was introduced into Ireland for the first time, as well as +that of herons, peacocks,[288] swans, and wild geese. Almonds had been +supplied already by royal order in great abundance; wine was purchased +in Waterford, even now famous for its trade with Spain in that +commodity. Nor had the King's physician forgotten the King's health; for +we find a special entry amongst the royal disbursements of the sum of +L10 7s., paid to Josephus Medicus for spices and electuaries. Yet +Henri-curt-mantel[289] was careful of his physical well-being, and +partook but sparingly of these luxuries. Fearing his tendency to +corpulency, he threw the short cloak of his native Anjou round him at an +earlier hour in the morning than suited the tastes of his courtiers, and +took exercise either on horseback or on foot, keeping in constant motion +all day. + +When the Christmas festivities had passed, Henry turned his attention to +business, if, indeed, the same festivities had not also been a part of +his diplomatic plans, for he was not deficient in kingcraft. In a synod +at Cashel he attempted to settle ecclesiastical affairs. In a _Curia +Regis_, held at Lismore, he imagined he had arranged temporal affairs. +These are subjects which demand our best consideration. It is an +historical fact, that the Popes claimed and exercised great temporal +power in the middle ages; it is admitted also that they used this power +in the main for the general good;[290] and that, as monks and friars +were the preservers of literature, so popes and bishops were the +protectors of the rights of nations, as far as was possible in such +turbulent times. It does not belong to our present subject to theorize +on the origin or the grounds[291] of this power; it is sufficient to say +that it had been exercised repeatedly both before and after Adrian +granted the famous Bull, by which he conferred the kingdom of Ireland on +Henry II. The Merovingian dynasty was changed on the decision of Pope +Zachary. Pope Adrian threatened Frederick I., that if he did not +renounce all pretensions to ecclesiastical property in Lombardy, he +should forfeit the crown, "received from himself and through his +unction." When Pope Innocent III. pronounced sentence of deposition +against Lackland in 1211, and conferred the kingdom of England on Philip +Augustus, the latter instantly prepared to assert his claim, though he +had no manner of title, except the Papal grant.[292] In fact, at the +very moment when Henry was claiming the Irish crown in right of Adrian's +Bull, given some years previously, he was in no small trepidation at the +possible prospect of losing his English dominions, as an excommunication +and an interdict were even then hanging over his head. Political and +polemical writers have taken strangely perverted views of the whole +transaction. One writer,[293] with apparently the most genuine +impartiality, accuses the Pope, the King, and the Irish prelates of the +most scandalous hypocrisy. A cursory examination of the question might +have served to prove the groundlessness of this assertion. The Irish +clergy, he asserts--and his assertion is all the proof he +gives--betrayed their country for the sake of tithes. But tithes had +already been enacted, and the Irish clergy were very far from conceding +Henry's claims in the manner which some historians are pleased to +imagine. + +It has been already shown that the possession of Ireland was coveted at +an early period by the Norman rulers of Great Britain. When Henry II. +ascended the throne in 1154, he probably intended to take the matter in +hands at once. An Englishman, Adrian IV., filled the Papal chair. The +English monarch would naturally find him favourable to his own country. +John of Salisbury, then chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, was +commissioned to request the favour. No doubt he represented his master +as very zealous for the interests of religion, and made it appear that +his sole motive was the good, temporal and spiritual, of the barbarous +Irish; at least this is plainly implied in Adrian's Bull.[294] The Pope +could have no motive except that which he expressed in the document +itself. He had been led to believe that the state of Ireland was +deplorable; he naturally hoped that a wise and good government would +restore what was amiss. There is no doubt that there was much which +required amendment, and no one was more conscious of this, or strove +more earnestly to effect it, than the saintly prelate who governed the +archiepiscopal see of Dublin. The Irish clergy had already made the most +zealous efforts to remedy whatever needed correction; but it was an age +of lawless violence. Reform was quite as much wanted both in England and +in the Italian States; but Ireland had the additional disadvantage of +having undergone three centuries of ruthless plunder and desecration of +her churches and shrines, and the result told fearfully on that land +which had once been the home of saints. + +Henry's great object was to represent himself as one who had come to +redress grievances rather than to claim allegiance; but however he may +have deceived princes and chieftains, he certainly did not succeed in +deceiving the clergy. The Synod of Cashel, which he caused to be +convened, was not attended as numerously as he had expected, and the +regulations made thereat were simply a renewal of those which had been +made previously. The Primate of Ireland was absent, and the prelates who +assembled there, far from having enslaved the State to Henry, avoided +any interference in politics either by word or act. It has been well +observed, that, whether "piping or mourning," they are not destined to +escape. Their office was to promote peace. So long as the permanent +peace and independence of the nation seemed likely to be forwarded by +resistance to foreign invasion, they counselled resistance; when +resistance was hopeless, they recommended acquiescence, not because they +believed the usurpation less unjust, but because they considered +submission the wisest course. But the Bull of Adrian had not yet been +produced; and Henry's indifference about this document, or his +reluctance to use it, shows of how little real importance it was +considered at the time. One fearful evil followed from this Anglo-Norman +invasion. The Irish clergy had hitherto been distinguished for the high +tone of their moral conduct; the English clergy, unhappily, were not so +rich in this virtue, and their evil communication had a most injurious +effect upon the nation whom it was supposed they should be so eminently +capable of benefiting. + +Henry did not succeed much better with his administration of secular +affairs. In his _Curia Regis_, at Lismore, he modelled Irish +administration on Norman precedents, apparently forgetting that a +kingdom and a province should be differently governed. Strongbow was +appointed Earl Marshal; Hugh de Lacy, Lord Constable; Bertram de Verdun, +Seneschal; Theobald Walter, Chief Butler; and De Wellesley, Royal +Standard-bearer. It was also arranged that, on the demise of a Chief +Governor, the Norman nobles were to elect a successor, who should have +full authority, until the royal pleasure could be known. Henry did not +then attempt to style himself King or Lord of Ireland; his object seems +to have been simply to obtain authority in the country through his +nobles, as Wales had been subdued in a similar manner. English laws and +customs were also introduced for the benefit of English settlers; the +native population still adhered to their own legal observances. Henry +again forgot that laws must be suited to the nation for whom they are +made, and that Saxon rules were as little likely to be acceptable to the +Celt, as his Norman tongue to an English-speaking people. + +Dublin was now made over to the inhabitants of Bristol. Hugh de Lacy, +its governor, has been generally considered in point of fact the first +Viceroy for Ireland. He was installed in the Norman fashion, and the +sword and cap of maintenance were made the insignia of the dignity. +Waterford and Wexford were also bestowed on royal favourites, or on such +knights as were supposed most likely to hold them for the crown. Castles +were erected throughout the country, which was portioned out among +Henry's needy followers; and, for the first time in Ireland, a man was +called a rebel if he presumed to consider his house or lands as his own +property. + +The winter had been so stormy that there was little communication with +England; but early in spring the King received the portentous +intelligence of the arrival of Papal Legates in Normandy, and learned +that they threatened to place his dominions under an interdict, if he +did not appear immediately to answer for his crime. Queen Eleanor and +his sons were also plotting against him, and there were many who boldly +declared that the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury would yet be +fearfully avenged. Henry determined at once to submit to the Holy See, +and to avert his doom by a real or pretended penitence. He therefore +sailed for England from Wexford Harbour, on Easter Monday, the 17th of +April, 1172, and arrived the same day at Port Finnen, in Wales. We give +the testimony of Cambrensis, no friend to Ireland, to prove that neither +clergy nor laity benefited by the royal visit. He thus describes the +inauguration of that selfish system of plunder and devastation, to which +Ireland has been subjected for centuries--a system which prefers the +interests of the few to the rights of the many, and then scoffs bitterly +at the misery it has created: "The clergy are reduced to beggary in the +island; the cathedral churches mourn, having been deprived, by the +aforesaid persons [the leading adventurers], and others along with them, +or who came over after them, of the lands and ample estates which had +been formerly granted to them faithfully and devoutly. And thus the +exalting of the Church has been changed into the despoiling or +plundering of the Church." Nor is his account of the temporal state of +the kingdom any better. He informs us that Dermod Mac Murrough, the +originator of all those evils, "oppressed his nobles, exalted upstarts, +was a calamity to his countrymen, hated by the strangers, and, in a +word, at war with the world." Of the Anglo-Norman nobles, who, it will +be remembered, were his own relatives, and of their work, he writes +thus: "This new and bloody conquest was defiled by an enormous effusion +of blood, and the slaughter of a Christian people." And again: "The +lands even of the Irish who stood faithful to our cause, from the first +descent of FitzStephen and the Earl, you have, in violation of a treaty, +made over to your friends."[295] His character of Henry is, that he was +more given to "hunting than to holiness." + +The English monarch, however, could assume an appearance of most +profound humility and the deepest piety, when it suited his convenience. +He excelled himself in this department by his submission to the Holy +See, when he found that submission alone could save his crown. + +The Lord of Breffni had been one of Henry's favourite guests at his +Christmas festivities. He possessed the territory of East Meath, and +this territory Henry had coolly bestowed on Hugh de Lacy.[296] The +rightful owner was not quite so dazzled by the sunshine of royal favour, +as to be willing to resign his property without a struggle. The Irish +chieftain, whose name was Tiernan O'Rourke, was persuaded to hold a +conference with the English usurper at the Hill of Tara, near Athboy. +Both parties were attended by armed men. A dispute ensued. The +interpreter was killed by a blow aimed at De Lacy, who fled +precipitately; O'Rourke was killed by a spear-thrust as he mounted his +horse, and vengeance was wreaked on his dead body, for the crime of +wishing to maintain his rights, by subjecting it to decapitation. His +head was impaled over the gate of Dublin Castle, and afterwards sent as +a present to Henry II. His body was gibbeted, with the feet upwards, on +the northern side of the same building.[297] The Four Masters say that +O'Rourke was treacherously slain. From the account given by Cambrensis, +it would appear that there was a plot to destroy the aged chieftain, but +for want of clearer evidence we may give his enemies the benefit of the +doubt. + +Strongbow was now employing himself by depredating the territories which +had been conferred on him. He took an army of 1,000 horse and foot into +Offaly, to lay waste O'Dempsey's territory, that prince having also +committed the crime of wishing to keep his ancestral estates. He met +with no opposition until he was about to return with the spoils; then, +as he passed through a defile, the chieftain set upon him in the rear, +and slew several of his knights, carrying off the Norman standard. +Robert de Quincey, who had just married a daughter of Strongbow's by a +former marriage, was amongst the slain. The Earl had bestowed a large +territory in Wexford on him. + +Henry was at that time suffering from domestic troubles in Normandy; he +therefore summoned De Clare to attend him there. It would appear that he +performed good service for his royal master, for he received further +grants of lands and castles, both in Normandy and in Ireland. On his +return to the latter country, he found that the spoilers had quarrelled +over the spoil. Raymond _le Gros_ contrived to ingratiate himself with +the soldiers, and they demanded that the command should be transferred +from Hervey de Montmarisco, Strongbow's uncle, to the object of their +predilection. The Earl was obliged to comply. Their object was simply to +plunder. The new general gratified them; and after a raid on the +unfortunate inhabitants of Offaly and Munster, they collected their +booty at Lismore, intending to convey it by water to Waterford. + +The Ostmen of Cork attacked them by sea, but failed to conquer. By land +the Irish suffered another defeat. Raymond encountered MacCarthy of +Desmond on his way to Cork, and plundered him, driving off a rich cattle +spoil, in addition to his other ill-gotten goods. Raymond now demanded +the appointment of Constable of Leinster, and the hand of Strongbow's +sister, Basilia. But the Earl refused; and the general, notwithstanding +his successes, retired to Wales in disgust. + +Hervey now resumed the command, A.D. 1174, and undertook an expedition +against Donnell O'Brien, which proved disastrous to the English. Roderic +once more appears in the field. The battle took place at Thurles, and +seventeen hundred of the English were slain. In consequence of this +disaster, the Earl proceeded in sorrow to his house in Waterford.[298] +This great success was a signal for revolt amongst the native +chieftains. Donald Cavanagh claimed his father's territory, and +Gillamochalmog and other Leinster chieftains rose up against their +allies. Roderic O'Connor at the same time invaded Meath, and drove the +Anglo-Normans from their castles at Trim and Duleek. Strongbow was +obliged to despatch messengers at once to invite the return of Raymond +_le Gros_, and to promise him the office he had demanded, and his +sister's hand in marriage. + +Raymond came without a moment's delay, accompanied by a considerable +force. His arrival was most opportune for the English cause. The +Northmen of Waterford were preparing to massacre the invaders, and +effected their purpose when the Earl left the town to join the new +reinforcements at Wexford. The nuptials were celebrated at Wexford with +great pomp; but news was received, on the following morning, that +Roderic had advanced almost to Dublin; and the mantle and tunic of the +nuptial feast were speedily exchanged for helmet and coat-of-mail.[299] +Unfortunately Roderic's army was already disbanded. The English soon +repaired the injuries which had been done to their fortresses; and once +more the Irish cause was lost, even in the moment of victory, for want +of combination and a leader. + +Henry now considered it time to produce the Papal Bulls, A.D. 1175. He +therefore despatched the Prior of Wallingford and William FitzAldelm to +Waterford, where a synod of the clergy was assembled to hear these +important documents. The English monarch had contrived to impress the +Holy See with wonderful ideas of his sanctity, by his penitential +expiations of his share in the murder of St. Thomas a Becket. It was +therefore easy for him to procure a confirmation of Adrian's Bull from +the then reigning Pontiff, Alexander III. The Pope also wrote to +Christian, the Legate, to the Irish archbishops, and to the King. Our +historians have not informed us what was the result of this meeting. Had +the Papal donation appeared a matter of national importance, there can +be little doubt that it would have excited more attention. + +Raymond now led an army to Limerick, to revenge himself on Donnell +O'Brien, for his defeat at Thurles. He succeeded in his enterprise. +Several engagements followed, in which the Anglo-Normans were always +victorious. Roderic now sent ambassadors to Henry II. The persons chosen +were Catholicus, Archbishop of Tuam; Concors, Abbot of St. Brendan's, in +Clonfert; and St. Laurence O'Toole, styled quaintly, in the old Saxon +manner, "Master Laurence." The King and Council received them at +Windsor. The result of their conference was, that Roderic consented to +pay homage to Henry, by giving him a hide from every tenth head of +cattle; Henry, on his part, bound himself to secure the sovereignty of +Ireland to Roderic, excepting only Dublin, Meath, Leinster, Waterford, +and Dungarvan. In fact, the English King managed to have the best share, +made a favour of resigning what he never possessed, and of not keeping +what he could never have held. This council took place on the octave of +the feast of St. Michael, A.D. 1175. By this treaty Henry was simply +acknowledged as a superior feudal sovereign; and had Ireland been +governed with ordinary justice, the arrangement might have been +advantageous to both countries. + +Roderic was still a king, both nominally and _ipso facto_. He had power +to judge and depose the petty kings, and they were to pay their tribute +to him for the English monarch. Any of the Irish who fled from the +territories of the English barons, were to return; but the King of +Connaught might compel his own subjects to remain in his land. Thus the +English simply possessed a colony in Ireland; and this colony, in a few +years, became still more limited, while throughout the rest of the +country the Irish language, laws, and usages, prevailed as they had +hitherto done. + +Henry now appointed Augustin, an Irishman, to the vacant see of +Waterford, and sent him, under the care of St. Laurence, to receive +consecration from the Archbishop of Cashel, his metropolitan. For a +century previous to this time, the Bishops of Waterford had been +consecrated by the Norman Archbishops of Canterbury, with whom they +claimed kindred. + +St. Gelasius died in 1173, and was succeeded in the see of Armagh by +Connor MacConcoille. This prelate proceeded to Rome very soon after his +consecration, and was supposed to have died there. When the Most Rev. +Dr. Dixon, the late Archbishop of Armagh, was visiting Rome, in 1854, he +ascertained that Connor had died at the Monastery of St. Peter of +Lemene, near Chambery, in 1176, where he fell ill on his homeward +journey. His memory is still honoured there by an annual festival on the +4th of June; another of the many instances that, when the Irish Church +was supposed to be in a state of general disorder, it had still many +holy men to stem and subdue the torrent of evil. We shall find, at a +later period, that several Irish bishops assisted at the Council of +Lateran. + +Dermod MacCarthy's son, Cormac, had rebelled against him, and he was +unwise enough to ask Raymond's assistance. As usual, the Norman was +successful; he reinstated the King of Desmond, and received for his +reward a district in Kerry, where his youngest son, Maurice, became the +founder of the family of FitzMaurice, and where his descendants, the +Earls of Lansdowne, still possess immense property.[300] The Irish +princes were again engaging in disgraceful domestic feuds. Roderic now +interfered, and, marching into Munster, expelled Donnell O'Brien from +Thomond. + +[Illustration: RAM'S ISLAND, ARMAGH.] + +While Raymond was still in Limerick, Strongbow died in Dublin. As it was +of the highest political importance that his death should be concealed +until some one was present to hold the reigns of government, his sister, +Basilia, sent an enigmatical letter[301] to her husband, which certainly +does no small credit to her diplomatic skill. The messengers were not +acquainted with the Earl's death; and such of the Anglo-Normans in +Dublin as were aware of it, had too much prudence to betray the secret. +Raymond at once set out on his journey. Immediately after his arrival, +FitzGislebert, Earl de Clare, was interred in the Cathedral of the Holy +Trinity, now called Christ's Church. + +Strongbow has not obtained a flattering character, either from his +friends or his enemies. Even Cambrensis admits that he was obliged to be +guided by the plans of others, having neither originality to suggest, +nor talent to carry out any important line of action. + +The Irish annalists call him the greatest destroyer of the clergy and +laity that came to Ireland since the times of Turgesius (Annals of +Innisfallen). The Four Masters record his demise thus: "The English Earl +[_i.e._, Richard] died in Dublin, of an ulcer which had broken out in +his foot, through the miracles of SS. Brigid and Colum-cille, and of all +the other saints whose churches had been destroyed by him. He saw, he +thought, St. Brigid in the act of killing him." Pembridge says he died +on the 1st of May, and Cambrensis about the 1st of June. His personal +appearance is not described in very flattering terms;[302] and he has +the credit of being more of a soldier than a statesman, and not very +knightly in his manner or bearing. + +The Earl de Clare left only one child, a daughter, as heir to his vast +estates. She was afterwards married to William Marshal, Earl of +Pembroke. Although Strongbow was a "destroyer" of the native clergy, he +appears to have been impregnated with the mediaeval devotion for +establishing religious houses. He founded a priory at Kilmainham for the +Knights of the Temple, with an alms-house and hospital He was also a +liberal benefactor to the Church of the Holy Trinity, where he was +buried.[303] + +An impression on green wax of his seal still exists, pendent from a +charter in the possession of the Earl of Ormonde. The seal bears on the +obverse a mounted knight, in a long surcoat, with a triangular shield, +his head covered by a conical helmet, with a nasal. He has a broad, +straight sword in his right hand. A foot soldier, with the legend, +"Sigillum Ricardi, Filii Comitis Gilleberti," is on the reverse. The +last word alone is now legible. + +[Illustration: KEIM-AN-EIGH.] + +[Illustration: WICKLOW MOUNTAINS.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[285] _Irish Brooch_.--The brooch figured above is of great antiquity. +It was found in the Ardkillen crannoge, near Strokestown, county +Roscommon. The original is in the Royal Irish Academy, and is considered +the finest specimen of bronze workmanship in the collection. + +[286] _Standing_.--Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 5, note _m_. + +[287] _Mills_.--Dame-street derived its name from a dam or mill-stream +near it. There was also the gate of Blessed Mary del Dam. The original +name was preserved until quite recently. In the reign of Charles I. the +Master of the Rolls had a residence here, which is described as being +"in a very wholesome air, with a good orchard and garden leading down to +the water-side."--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. ii. p. 264. In fact, the +residences here were similar to those pleasant places on the Thames, +once the haunts of the nobility of London. + +[288] _Peacocks_.--To serve a peacock with its feathers was one of the +grandest exploits of mediaeval cookery. It was sown up in its skin after +it had been roasted, when it was allowed to cool a little. The bird then +appeared at the last course as if alive. Cream of almonds was also a +favourite dainty. Indeed, almonds were used in the composition of many +dishes; to use as many and as various ingredients as possible seeming to +be the acme of gastronomy. St. Bernard had already loudly condemned the +_bon vivants_ of the age. His indignation appears to have been +especially excited by the various methods in which eggs were cooked. But +even seculars condemned the excesses of Norman luxuries, and declared +that the knights were loaded with wine instead of steel, and spits +instead of lances. + +[289] _Henri-curt-mantel_.--A soubriquet derived from the short mantle +he constantly wore. + +[290] _Good_.--Even the infidel Voltaire admitted that the Popes +restrained princes, and protected the people. The Bull _In Coena Domini_ +contained an excommunication against those who should levy new taxes +upon their estates, or should increase those already existing beyond the +bounds of right. For further information on this subject, see Balmez, +_European Civilization, passim._ M. Guizot says: "She [the Church] alone +resisted the system of castes; she alone maintained the principle of +equality of competition; she alone called all legitimate superiors to +the possession of power."--_Hist. Gen. de la Civilization en Europe_, +Lect. 5. + +[291] _Grounds_.--De Maistre and Fenelon both agree in grounding this +power on constitutional right; but the former also admitted a divine +right.--De Maistre, _Du Pape_, lib. ii. p. 387. + +[292] _Grant_.--See M. Gosselin's _Power of the Popes during the +Middle Ages_, for further information on this subject. + +[293] _Writer_.--_Ireland, Historical and Statistical_. + +[294] _Bull_.--There can be no reasonable doubt of the authenticity of +this document. Baronius published it from the _Codex Vaticanus_; John +XXII. has annexed it to his brief addresed to Edward II.; and John of +Salisbury states distinctly, in his _Metalogicus_, that he obtained this +Bull from Adrian. He grounds the right of donation on the supposed gift +of the island by Constantine. As the question is one of interest and +importance, we subjoin the original: "Ad preces meas illustri Regi +Anglorum Henrico II. concessit (Adrianus) et dedit Hiberniam jure +haereditario possidendam, sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum +diem. Nam omnes insulae de jure antiquo ex donatione Constantini, +qui eam fundavit et dotavit, dicuntur ad Romanam Ecclesiam +pertinere."--_Metalogicus_, i. 4. + +[295] _Friends.--Hib. Expug_. lib. ii. c. 38. + +[296] _Hugh de Lacy_.--In a charter executed at Waterford, Henry had +styled this nobleman "Bailli," a Norman term for a representative of +royalty. The territory bestowed on him covered 800,000 acres. This was +something like wholesale plunder. + +[297] _Building_.--This was the Danish fortress of Dublin, which +occupied the greater part of the hill on which the present Castle of +Dublin stands. See _note,_ Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 5. The Annals say +this was a "spectacle of intense pity to the Irish." It certainly could +not have tended to increase their devotion to English rule. + +[298] _Waterford_.--The English and Irish accounts of this affair differ +widely. The Annals of Innisfallen make the number of slain to be only +seven hundred. MacGeoghegan agrees with the Four Masters. + +[299] _Coat-of-mail_.--Costly mantles were then fashionable. Strutt +informs us that Henry I. had a mantle of fine cloth, lined with black +sable, which cost L100 of the money of the time--about L1,500 of our +money. Fairholt gives an illustration of the armour of the time +(_History of Costume_, p. 74). It was either tegulated or formed of +chains in rings. The nasal appendage to the helmet was soon after +discarded, probably from the inconvenient hold it afforded the enemy of +the wearer in battle. Face-guards were invented soon after. + +[300] _Property_.--Maurice FitzGerald died at Wexford in 1179. He is the +common ancestor of the Earls of Desmond and Kildare, the Knights of +Glynn, of Kerry, and of all the Irish Geraldines. + +[301] _Letter_.--"To Raymond, her most loving lord and husband, his own +Basilia wishes health as to herself. Know you, my dear lord, that the +great tooth in my jaw, which was wont to ache so much, is now fallen +out; wherefore, if you have any love or regard for me, or of yourself, +you will delay not to hasten hither with all speed."--Gilbert's +_Viceroys_, p. 40. It is said that this letter was read for Raymond by a +cleric of his train, so it is presumable that reading and writing were +not made a part of his education. + +[302] _Terms_.--_Hib. Expug._ lib. i. cap. 27. + +[303] _Buried_.--The early history of this church is involved in much +obscurity. It probably owes its origin to the Danes. Cambrensis gives +some interesting details about it, and mentions several miraculous +occurrences which caused it to be held in great veneration in his days. +He specially mentions the case of a young man in the train of Raymond +_le Gros_, who had robbed him of his greaves, and who had taken a false +oath before the cross of that church to clear himself. After a short +absence in England he was compelled to return and confess his guilt, "as +he felt the weight of the cross continually oppressing him." Strongbow's +effigy was broken in 1562, but it was repaired in 1570, by Sir Henry +Sidney. Until the middle of the last century, the Earl's tomb was a +regularly appointed place for the payment of bonds, rents, and bills of +exchange. A recumbent statue by his side is supposed to represent his +son, whom he is said to have cut in two with his sword, for cowardice in +flying from an engagement. A writer of the seventeenth century, however, +corrects this error, and says that "Strongbow did no more than run his +son through the belly, as appears by the monument and the +chronicle."--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. i. p. 113. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FitzAldelm appointed Viceroy--De Courcy in Ulster--Arrival of Cardinal +Vivian--Henry II. confers the Title of King of Ireland on his son +John--Irish Bishops at the Council of Lateran--Death of St. Laurence +O'Toole--Henry's Rapacity--John Comyn appointed Archbishop of +Dublin--John's Visit to Ireland--Insolence of his Courtiers--De Lacy's +Death--Death of Henry II.--Accession of Richard I.--An English +Archbishop tries to obtain Justice for Ireland--John succeeds to the +Crown--Cathal Crovderg--Massacres in Connaught--De Courcy's Disgrace and +Downfall--His Death. + +[A.D. 1176-1201.] + + +News of the Earl's death soon reached Henry II., who was then holding +his court at Valognes, in Normandy. He at once nominated his Seneschal, +FitzAldelm de Burgo, Viceroy of Ireland, A.D. 1176. The new governor was +accompanied by John de Courcy, Robert FitzEstevene, and Miles de Cogan. +Raymond had assumed the reins of government after the death of +Strongbow, but Henry appears always to have regarded him with jealousy, +and gladly availed himself of every opportunity of lessening the power +of one who stood so high in favour with the army. The Viceroy was +received at Wexford by Raymond, who prudently made a merit of necessity, +and resigned his charge. It is said that FitzAldelm was much struck by +his retinue and numerous attendants, all of whom belonged to the same +family; and that he then and there vowed to effect their ruin. From this +moment is dated the distrust so frequently manifested by the English +Government towards the powerful and popular Geraldines. + +The new Viceroy was not a favourite with the Anglo-Norman colonists. He +was openly accused of partiality to the Irish, because he attempted to +demand justice for them. It is not known whether this policy was the +result of his own judgment, or a compliance with the wishes of his royal +master. His conciliatory conduct, whatever may have been its motive, was +unhappily counteracted by the violence of De Courcy. This nobleman +asserted that he had obtained a grant of Ulster from Henry II., on what +grounds it would be indeed difficult to ascertain. He proceeded to make +good his claim; and, in defiance of the Viceroy's prohibition, set out +for the north, with a small army of chosen knights and soldiers. His +friend, Sir Almaric Tristram de Saint Lawrence, was of the number. He +was De Courcy's brother-in-law, and they had made vows of eternal +friendship in the famous Cathedral of Rouen. De Courcy is described as a +man of extraordinary physical strength, of large proportions, shamefully +penurious, rashly impetuous, and, despite a fair share in the vices of +the age, full of reverence for the clergy, at least if they belonged to +his own race. Cambrensis gives a glowing description of his valour, and +says that "any one who had seen Jean de Courci wield his sword, lopping +off heads and arms, might well have commended the might of this +warrior."[304] + +De Courcy arrived in Downpatrick in four days. The inhabitants were +taken by surprise; and the sound of his bugles at daybreak was the first +intimation they received of their danger. Cardinal Vivian, who had come +as Legate from Alexander III., had but just arrived at the spot. He did +his best to promote peace. But neither party would yield; and as the +demands of the Norman knights were perfectly unreasonable, Vivian +advised Dunlevy, the chieftain of Ulidia, to have recourse to arms. A +sharp conflict ensued, in which the English gained the victory, +principally through the personal bravery of their leader. This battle +was fought about the beginning of February; another engagement took +place on the 24th of June, in which the northerns were again +defeated.[305] + +Cardinal Vivian now proceeded to Dublin, where he held a synod. The +principal enactment referred to the right of sanctuary. During the +Anglo-Norman wars, the Irish had secured their provisions in the +churches; and it is said that, in order to starve out the enemy, they +even refused to sell at any price. It was now decreed that sanctuary +might be violated to obtain food; but a fair price was to be paid for +whatever was taken. It is to be feared these conditions were seldom +complied with. The Abbey of St. Thomas the Martyr was founded in Dublin +about this time, by FitzAldelm, at the command of Henry II., one of his +many acts of reparation. The site was the place now called Thomas Court. +The Viceroy endowed it with a carnucate of land, in the presence of the +Legate and St. Laurence O'Toole. After the settlement of these affairs, +Cardinal Vivian passed over to Chester, on his way to Scotland. + +One of Roderic O'Connor's sons, Murrough, having rebelled against him, +Miles de Cogan went to his assistance,--a direct and flagrant violation +of the treaty of Windsor. At Roscommon the English were joined by the +unnatural rebel, who guided them through the province. The King was in +Iar-Connaught, and the allies burned and plundered without mercy, as +they passed along to Trim. Here they remained three nights; but as the +people had fled with their cattle and other moveable property into the +fastnesses, they had not been able to procure any spoil on their march. +Roderic soon appeared to give them battle; but they were defeated +without considerable loss. Murrough was taken prisoner by his father, +and his eyes were put out as a punishment for his rebellion, and to +prevent a repetition of his treachery. + +Another violation of the treaty of Windsor was also perpetrated this +year, A.D. 1177. Henry II. summoned a council of his prelates and barons +at Oxford, and solemnly conferred the title of King of Ireland on his +youngest son, John, then a mere child. A new grant of Meath to Hugh de +Lacy was made immediately after, in the joint names of Henry II. and +John. Desmond was also granted to Miles de Cogan, with the exception of +the city of Cork, which the King reserved to himself. Thomond was +offered to two English nobles, who declined the tempting but dangerous +favour. It was then presented to Philip de Bresosa; but though the +knight was no coward, he fled precipitately, when he discovered, on +coming in sight of Limerick, that the inhabitants had set it on fire, so +determined was their resistance to foreign rule. The territory of +Waterford was granted to Roger le Poer; but, as usual, the city was +reserved for the royal benefit. In fact, Sir John Davies well observed, +that "all Ireland was by Henry II. cantonized among ten of the English +nation; and though they did not gain possession of one-third of the +kingdom, yet in title they were owners and lords of all, as nothing was +left to be granted to the natives." He might have said with greater +truth, that the natives were deprived of everything, as far as it was +possible to do so, by those who had not the slightest right or title to +their lands. + +Meanwhile De Courcy was plundering the northern provinces. His wife, +Affreca, was a daughter of Godfrey, King of Man, so that he could secure +assistance by sea as well as by land. But the tide of fortune was not +always in his favour. After he had plundered in Louth, he was attacked, +in the vale of Newry[306] river, by O'Carroll of Oriel and Dunlevy of +Ulidia. On this occasion he lost four hundred men, many of whom were +drowned. Soon after he suffered another defeat in Antrim, from O'Flynn. +The Four Masters say he fled to Dublin; Dr. O'Donovan thinks that we +should read Downpatrick. The latter part of the name cannot be correctly +ascertained, as the paper is worn away. + +The Irish were, as usual, engaged in domestic dissensions, and the +English acted as allies on whichever side promised to be most +advantageous to themselves. The Annals record a great "windstorm" during +this year, which prostrated oaks, especially at Derry-Columcille, which +was famous for its forest. They also record the drying up of the river +Galliv (Galway), "for a period of a natural day. All the articles that +had been lost in it from the remotest times, as well as its fish, were +collected by the inhabitants of the fortress, and by the people of the +country in general."[307] + +In 1179 Henry gave the office of Viceroy to De Lacy, and recalled +FitzAldelm. The new governor employed himself actively in erecting +castles and oppressing the unfortunate Irish. Cambrensis observes, that +he "amply enriched himself and his followers by oppressing others with a +strong hand." Yet he seems to have had some degree of popularity, even +with the native Irish, for he married a daughter of Roderic O'Connor as +his second wife. This alliance, for which he had not asked permission, +and his popularity, excited the jealousy of the English King, who +deprived him of his office. But he was soon reinstated, although the +Bishop of Shrewsbury, with the name of counsellor, was set as a spy on +his actions. These events occurred A.D. 1181. De Lacy's old companion, +Hervey de Montmarisco, became a monk at Canterbury, after founding the +Cistercian Monastery of Dunbrody, in the county of Wexford. He died in +this house, in his seventy-fifth year. + +In 1179 several Irish bishops were summoned by Alexander III. to attend +the third General Council of Lateran. These prelates were, St. Laurence +of Dublin, O'Duffy of Tuam, O'Brien of Killaloe, Felix of Lismore, +Augustine of Waterford, and Brictius of Limerick. Usher says[308] +several other bishops were summoned; it is probable they were unable to +leave the country, and hence their names have not been given. The real +state of the Irish Church was then made known to the Holy See; no living +man could have described it more accurately and truthfully than the +sainted prelate who had sacrificed himself for so many years for its +good. Even as the bishops passed through England, the royal jealousy +sought to fetter them with new restrictions; and they were obliged to +take an oath that they would not sanction any infringements on Henry's +prerogatives. St. Malachy was now appointed Legate by the Pope, with +jurisdiction over the five suffragans, and the possessions attached to +his see were confirmed to him. As the Bull was directed to Ireland, it +would appear that he returned there; but his stay was brief, and the +interval was occupied in endeavouring to repress the vices of the +Anglo-Norman and Welsh clergy, many of whom were doing serious injury to +the Irish Church by their immoral and dissolute lives.[309] + +Henry now became jealous of the Archbishop, and perhaps was not +overpleased at his efforts to reform these ecclesiastics. Roderic +O'Connor had asked St. Laurence to undertake a mission on his behalf to +the English court; but the King refused to listen to him, and forbid him +to return to Ireland. After a few weeks' residence at the Monastery of +Abingdon, in Berkshire, the saint set out for France. He fell ill on his +journey, in a religious house at Eu, where his remains are still +preserved. When on his deathbed, the monks asked him to make his will; +but he exclaimed, "God knows that out of all my revenues I have not a +single coin to bequeath." With the humility of true sanctity, he was +heard frequently calling on God for mercy, and using the words of the +Psalmist, so familiar to ecclesiastics, from their constant perusal of +the Holy Scriptures. As he was near his end, he was heard exclaiming, in +his own beautiful mother-tongue: "Foolish people, what will become of +you? Who will relieve you? Who will heal you?" And well might his +paternal heart ache for those who were soon to be left doubly orphans, +and for the beloved nation whose sorrows he had so often striven to +alleviate. + +St. Laurence went to his eternal reward on the 14th of November, 1180. +He died on the _feria sexta_ at midnight.[310] His obsequies were +celebrated with great pomp and solemnity, and attended by the Scotch +Legate, Alexis, an immense concourse of clergy, and many knights and +nobles. His remains were exposed for some days in the Church of Notre +Dame, at Eu. + +Henry immediately despatched his chaplain, Geoffrey de la Haye, to +Ireland, not with a royal message of consolation for the national +calamity, but to sequester the revenues of the archiepiscopal see of +Dublin. He took care to possess himself of them for a year before he +would consent to name a successor to the deceased prelate. St. Laurence +had happily left no funds in store for the royal rapacity; the orphan +and the destitute had been his bankers. During a year of famine he is +said to have relieved five hundred persons daily; he also established an +orphanage, where a number of poor children were clothed and educated. +The Annals of the Four Masters say he suffered martyrdom in England. The +mistake arose in consequence of an attempt having been made on his life +there by a fanatic, which happily did not prove fatal.[311] + +The Archbishop of Dublin became an important functionary from this +period. Henry obtained the election of John Comyn to this dignity, at +the Monastery of Evesham, in Worcester, and the King granted the +archiepiscopal estates to him "in barony," by which tenure he and his +successors in the see were constituted parliamentary barons, and +entitled to sit in the councils, and hold court in their lordships and +manors. Comyn, after his election by the clergy of Dublin, proceeded to +Rome, where he was ordained priest, and subsequently to Veletri, where +Pope Lucius III. consecrated him archbishop. He then came to Dublin, +A.D. 1184, where preparations were making for the reception of Henry's +son, John, who, it will be remembered, he had appointed King of Ireland +when a mere child. + +In 1183 the unfortunate Irish monarch, Roderic, had retired to the Abbey +of Cong, and left such empty titles as he possessed to his son, Connor. +De Lacy and De Courcy had occupied themselves alternately in plundering +and destroying the religious houses which had so long existed, and in +founding new monasteries with a portion of their ill-gotten gains. It +would appear that De Lacy built so far on his popularity with the +Anglo-Normans, as to have aspired to the sovereignty of Ireland,--an +aspiration which his master soon discovered, and speedily punished. He +was supplanted by Philip of Worcester, who excelled all his predecessors +in rapacity and cruelty. Not satisfied with the miseries inflicted on +Ulster by De Courcy, he levied contributions there by force of arms. One +of his companions, Hugh Tyrrell, who "remained at Armagh, with his +Englishmen, during six days and nights, in the middle of Lent," +signalized himself by carrying off the property of the clergy of Armagh. +Amongst other things, he possessed himself of a brewing-pan, which he +was obliged to abandon on his way, he met so many calamities, which were +naturally attributed to his sacrilegious conduct.[312] + +John was now preparing for his visit to Ireland, and his singularly +unfelicitous attempt at royalty. It would appear that the Prince wished +to decline the honour and the expedition; for, as he was on the eve of +his departure, Eraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, arrived in England, to +enjoin the fulfilment of the King's vow to undertake a crusade to +Palestine. As Henry had got out of his difficulties, he declined to +fulfil his solemn engagement, and refused permission to his son, John, +who threw himself at his father's feet, and implored leave to be his +substitute. Eraclius then poured forth his indignation upon Henry, with +all the energetic freedom of the age. He informed him that God would +punish his impieties--that he was worse than any Saracen; and hinted +that he might have inherited his wickedness from his grandmother, the +Countess of Anjou, who was reported to be a witch, and of whom it was +said that she had flown through the window during the most solemn part +of Mass, though four squires attempted to hold her. + +John sailed from Milford Haven on the evening of Easter Wednesday, 1185. +He landed with his troops at Waterford, at noon, on the following day. +His retinue is described as of unusual splendour, and, no doubt, was +specially appointed to impress the "barbarous" Irish. Gerald Barry, the +famous Cambrensis, who had arrived in Ireland some little time before, +was appointed his tutor, in conjunction with Ranulf de Glanville. The +bitter prejudice of the former against Ireland and the Irish is a matter +of history, as well as the indefatigable zeal of the latter in pursuit +of his own interests at the expense of justice. + +A retinue of profligate Normans completed the court, whom an English +authority describes as "great quaffers, lourdens, proud, belly swains, +fed with extortion and bribery." The Irish were looked upon by these +worthies as a savage race, only created to be plundered and scoffed at. +The Normans prided themselves on their style of dress, and, no doubt, +the Irish costume surprised them. Common prudence, however, might have +taught them, when the Leinster chieftains came to pay their respects to +the young Prince, that they should not add insult to injury; for, not +content with open ridicule, they proceeded to pull the beards of the +chieftains, and to gibe their method of wearing their hair. + +De Lacy has the credit of having done his utmost to render the Prince's +visit a failure. But his efforts were not necessary. The insolence of +the courtiers, and the folly of the youth himself, were quite sufficient +to ruin more promising prospects. In addition to other outrages, the +Irish had seen their few remaining estates bestowed on the new comers; +and even the older Anglo-Norman and Welsh settlers were expelled to make +room for the Prince's favourites--an instalment of the fatal policy +which made them eventually "more Irish than the Irish." When the colony +was on the verge of ruin, the young Prince returned to England. He threw +the blame of his failure on Hugh de Lacy; but the Norman knight did not +live long enough after to suffer from the accusation.[313] De Lacy was +killed while inspecting a castle which he had just built on the site of +St. Columbkille's Monastery at Durrow, in the Queen's county. He was +accompanied by three Englishmen; as he was in the act of stooping, a +youth of an ancient and noble family, named O'Meyey, gave him his +deathblow, severed his head from his body, and then fled with such +swiftness as to elude pursuit. It is said that he was instigated to +perform this deed by Sumagh O'Caharnay (the Fox), with whom he now took +refuge. + +The Annals mention this as a "revenge of Colum-cille,"[314] they also +say that "all Meath was full of his English castles, from the Shannon to +the sea." Henry at once appointed his son, John, to the Irish +Viceroyalty, but domestic troubles prevented his plans from being +carried out. Archbishop Comyn held a synod in Dublin during this year, +1187; and on the 9th of June the relics of SS. Patrick, Columba, and +Brigid were discovered, and solemnly entombed anew under the direction +of Cardinal Vivian, who came to Ireland to perform this function. During +the year 1188 the Irish continued their usual fatal and miserable +dissensions; still they contrived to beat the common enemy, and +O'Muldony drove De Courcy and his troops from Ballysadare. He was again +attacked in crossing the Curlieu Mountains, and escaped to Leinster with +considerable loss and difficulty. + +In 1189 Henry II. died at Chinon, in Normandy. He expired launching +anathemas against his sons, and especially against John, as he had just +discovered that he had joined those who conspired against him. In his +last moments he was stripped of his garments and jewels, and left naked +and neglected. + +Richard I., who succeeded to the throne, was too much occupied about +foreign affairs to attend to his own kingdom. He was a brave soldier, +and as such merits our respect; but he can scarcely be credited as a +wise king. Irish affairs were committed to the care of John, who does +not appear to have profited by his former experience. He appointed Hugh +de Lacy Lord Justice, to the no small disgust of John de Courcy; but it +was little matter to whom the government of that unfortunate country was +confided. There were nice distinctions made about titles; for John, even +when King of England, did not attempt to write himself King of +Ireland.[315] But there were no nice distinctions about property; for +the rule seemed to be, that whoever could get it should have it, and +whoever could keep it should possess it. + +In 1189 Roderic's son, Connor Moinmoy, fell a victim to a conspiracy of +his own chieftains,--a just retribution for his rebellion against his +father. He had, however, the reputation of being brave and generous. At +his death Connaught was once more plunged in civil war, and after some +delay and difficulty Roderic resumed the government. + +In 1192 the brave King of Thomond again attacked the English invaders. +But after his death, in 1194, the Anglo-Normans had little to apprehend +from native valour. His obituary is thus recorded: "Donnell, son of +Turlough O'Brien, King of Munster, a burning lamp in peace and war, and +the brilliant star of the hospitality and valour of the Momonians, and +of all Leth-Mogha, died." Several other "lamps" went out about the same +time; one of these was Crunce O'Flynn, who had defeated De Courcy in +1178, and O'Carroll, Prince of Oriel, who had been hanged by the English +the year before, after the very unnecessary cruelty of putting out his +eyes. + +The affairs of the English colony were not more prosperous. New Lords +Justices followed each other in quick succession. One of these +governors, Hamon de Valois, attempted to replenish his coffers from +church property,--a proceeding which provoked the English Archbishop +Comyn. As this ecclesiastic failed to obtain redress in Ireland, he +proceeded to England with his complaints; but he soon learned that +justice could not be expected for Ireland. The difference between the +conduct of ecclesiastics, who have no family but the Church, and no +interests but the interests of religion, is very observable in all +history. While English and Norman soldiers were recklessly destroying +church property and domestic habitations in the country they had +invaded, we find, with few exceptions, that the ecclesiastic, of +whatever nation, is the friend and father of the people, wherever his +lot may be cast. The English Archbishop resented the wrongs of the Irish +Church as personal injuries, and devoted himself to its advancement as a +personal interest. We are indebted to Archbishop Comyn for building St. +Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, as well as for his steady efforts to +promote the welfare of the nation. After an appeal in person to King +Richard and Prince John, he was placed in confinement in Normandy, and +was only released by the interference of the Holy See; Innocent III., +who had probably by this time discovered that the English monarchs were +not exactly the persons to reform the Irish nation, having addressed a +letter from Perugia to the Earl of Montague (Prince John), reprimanding +him for detaining "his venerable brother, the Archbishop of Dublin," in +exile, and requiring him to repair the injuries done by his Viceroy, +Hamon de Valois, on the clergy of Leighlin. The said Hamon appears to +have meddled with other property besides that belonging to the Church--a +more unpardonable offence, it is to be feared, in the eyes of his +master. On returning from office after two years viceroyalty, he was +obliged to pay a thousand marks to obtain an acquittance from his +accounts.[316] + +John ascended the English throne in 1199. He appointed Meiller +FitzHenri[317] Governor of Ireland. It has been conjectured that if John +had not obtained the sovereignty, he and his descendants might have +claimed the "Lordship of Ireland." There can be no doubt that he and +they might have claimed it; but whether they could have held it is quite +another consideration. It is generally worse than useless to speculate +on what might have been. In this case, however, we may decide with +positive certainty, that no such condition of things could have +continued long. The English kings would have looked with jealousy even +on the descendants of their ancestors, if they kept possession of the +island; and the descendants would have become, as invariably happened, +_Hibernicis ipsis Hibernior_, and therefore would have shared the fate +of the "common enemy." + +Meanwhile the O'Connors were fighting in Kerry. Cathal Carragh obtained +the services of FitzAldelm, and expelled Cathal Crovderg. He, in his +turn, sought the assistance of Hugh O'Neill, who had been distinguishing +himself by his valour against De Courcy and the English. They marched +into Connaught, but were obliged to retreat with great loss. The exiled +Prince now sought English assistance, and easily prevailed on De Courcy +and young De Lacy to help him. But misfortune still followed him. His +army was again defeated; and as they fled to the peninsula of Rindown, +on Lough Ree, they were so closely hemmed in, that no way of escape +remained, except to cross the lake in boats. In attempting to do this a +great number were drowned. The Annals of Kilronan and Clonmacnois enter +these events under the year 1200; the Four Masters under the year 1199. +The former state that "Cahall Carragh was taken deceitfully by the +English of Meath," and imprisoned until he paid a ransom; and that De +Courcy, "after slaying of his people," returned to Ulster. + +Cathal Crovderg now obtained the assistance of the Lord Justice, who +plundered Clonmacnois. He also purchased the services of FitzAldelm, and +thus deprived his adversary of his best support. The English, like the +mercenary troops of Switzerland and the Netherlands, appear to have +changed sides with equal alacrity, when it suited their convenience; and +so as they were well paid, it mattered little to them against whom they +turned their arms. In 1201 Cathal Crovderg marched from Limerick to +Roscommon, with his new ally and the sons of Donnell O'Brien and +Florence MacCarthy. They took up their quarters at Boyle, and occupied +themselves in wantonly desecrating the abbey. Meanwhile Cathal Carragh, +King of Connaught, had assembled his forces, and came to give them +battle. Some skirmishes ensued, in which he was slain, and thus the +affair was ended. FitzAldelm, or De Burgo, as he is more generally +called now, assisted by O'Flaherty of West Connaught, turned against +Cathal when they arrived at Cong to spend the Easter. It would appear +that the English were billeted on the Irish throughout the country; and +when De Burgo demanded wages for them, the Connacians rushed upon them, +and slew six hundred men. For once his rapacity was foiled, and he +marched off to Munster with such of his soldiers as had escaped the +massacre. Three years after he revenged himself by plundering the whole +of Connaught, lay and ecclesiastical. + +During this period Ulster was also desolated by civil war. Hugh O'Neill +was deposed, and Connor O'Loughlin obtained rule; but the former was +restored after a few years. + +John de Courcy appears always to have been regarded with jealousy by the +English court. His downfall was at hand, A.D. 1204; and to add to its +bitterness, his old enemies, the De Lacys, were chosen to be the +instruments of his disgrace. It is said that he had given mortal offence +to John, by speaking openly of him as a usurper and the murderer of his +nephew; but even had he not been guilty of this imprudence, the state he +kept, and the large tract of country which he held, was cause enough for +his ruin. He had established himself at Downpatrick, and was surrounded +in almost regal state by a staff of officers, including his constable, +seneschal, and chamberlain; he even coined money in his own name. +Complaints of his exactions were carried to the King. The De Lacys +accused him of disloyalty. In 1202 the then Viceroy, Hugh de Lacy, +attempted to seize him treacherously, at a friendly meeting. He failed +to accomplish this base design; but his brother, Walter, succeeded +afterwards in a similar attempt, and De Courcy was kept in durance until +the devastations which his followers committed in revenge obliged his +enemies to release him. + +In 1204 he defeated the Viceroy in a battle at Down. He was aided in +this by the O'Neills, and by soldiers from Man and the Isles. It will be +remembered that he could always claim assistance from the latter, in +consequence of his connexion by marriage. But this did not avail him. He +was summoned before the Council in Dublin, and some of his possessions +were forfeited. Later in the same year (A.D. 1204) he received a safe +conduct to proceed to the King. It is probable that he was confined in +the Tower of London for some time; but it is now certain that he +revisited Ireland in 1210, if not earlier, in the service of John, who +granted him an annual pension.[318] It is supposed that he died about +1219; for in that year Henry III. ordered his widow, Affreca, to be paid +her dower out of the lands which her late husband had possessed in +Ireland. + +Cambrensis states that De Courcy had no children; but the Barons of +Kinsale claim to be descended from him; and even so late as 1821 they +exercised the privilege of appearing covered before George IV.--a favour +said to have been granted to De Courcy by King John, after his recall +from Ireland, as a reward for his prowess. Dr. Smith states, in his +_History of Cork_, that Miles de Courcy was a hostage for his father +during the time when he was permitted to leave the Tower to fight the +French champion. In a pedigree of the MacCarthys of Cooraun Lough, +county Kerry, a daughter of Sir John de Courcy is mentioned. The Irish +annalists, as may be supposed, were not slow to attribute his downfall +to his crimes. + +Another English settler died about this period, and received an equal +share of reprobation; this was FitzAldelm, more commonly known as Mac +William Burke (De Burgo), and the ancestor of the Burke family in +Ireland. Cambrensis describes him as a man addicted to many vices. The +Four Masters declare that "God and the saints took vengeance on him; for +he died of a shameful disease." It could scarcely be expected that one +who had treated the Irish with such unvarying cruelty, could obtain a +better character, or a more pleasing obituary. Of his miserable end, +without "shrive or unction," there appears to be no doubt. + + +[Illustration: STALACTITE CAVE, TIPPERARY.] + +[Illustration: KING JOHN'S CASTLE, LIMERICK.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[304] _Warrior.--Hib. Expug._ lib. ii. cap. 17. + +[305] _Defeated_.--Giraldus gives a detailed account of these +affairs.--_Hib. Expug._ lib. ii. cap. 17. He says the Irish forces under +Dunlevy amounted to ten thousand warriors; but this statement cannot at +all be credited. De Courcy took advantage of some old Irish prophecies +to further his cause. They were attributed to St. Columbkille, and to +the effect that a foreigner who would ride upon a white horse, and have +little birds painted on his shield, should conquer the country. De +Courcy did ride upon a white horse, and the birds were a part of his +armorial bearings. + +[306] _Newry_.--See an interesting note to the Annals (Four Masters), +vol. iii. p. 40, which identifies the valley of Glenree with the vale of +Newry. In an ancient map, the Newry river is called _Owen Glenree +fluvius_. + +[307] _General_.--This is mentioned also by O'Flaherty, who quotes from +some other annals. See his account of Iar-Connaught, printed for the +Archaeological Society. + +[308] _Says_.--_Sylloge_, ep. 48. + +[309] _Lives_.--We give authority for this statement, as it manifests +how completely the Holy See was deceived in supposing that any reform +was likely to be effected in Ireland by English interference: "Ita ut +quodam tempore (quod dictu mirum est) centum et quadraginta presby. +incontinentiae convictos Romani miserit absolvendos."--Surius, t. vi. St. +Laurence had faculties for absolving these persons, but for some +reason--probably as a greater punishment--he sent them to Rome. English +writers at this period also complain of the relaxed state of +ecclesiastical discipline in that country. How completely all such evils +were eradicated by the faithful sons of the Church, and the exertions of +ecclesiastical superiors, is manifest from the fact, that no such +charges could be brought against even a single priest at the time of the +so-called Reformation. + +[310] _Midnight_.--"Itaque cum sextae feriae terminus advenisset, in +confinio sabbati subsequentis Spiritum Sancti viri requies aeterna +suscepit."--_Vita S. Laurentii_, cap. xxxiii. The saint's memory is +still honoured at Eu. The church has been lately restored, and there is +a little oratory on the hill near it to mark the spot where he +exclaimed, _Hoec est requies mea_, as he approached the town where he +knew he should die. Dr. Kelly (_Cambrensis Eversus_, vol. ii. p. 648) +mentions in a note that the names of several Irishmen were inscribed +there. + +[311] _Fatal_.--Dr. O'Donovan gives a long and most interesting note on +the genealogy of St. Laurence O'Toole, in which he shows that his father +was a chieftain of an important territory in the county Kildare, and +that he was not a Wicklow prince, as has been incorrectly asserted. The +family removed there after the death of St. Laurence, when they were +driven from their property by an English adventurer. + +[312] _Conduct_.--This is mentioned even by Cox, who, Dr. O'Donovan +observes, was always anxious to hide the faults of the English, and +vilify the Irish. He calls Hugh Tyrrell "a man of ill report," and says +he returned to Dublin "loaden both with curses and extortions."--_Hib. +Angl._ p. 38, ad an. 1184. + +[313] _Accusation_.--There can be no doubt that De Lacy had ambitious +designs. See Cambrensis, _Hib. Expug._ lib. ii. cap. 20. Henry II. heard +of his death with considerable satisfaction. + +[314] _Colum-cille_.--Dr. O'Donovan remarks that a similar disaster +befell Lord Norbury. He was also assassinated by a hand still unknown, +after having erected a castle on the same _site_ as that of De Lacy, and +preventing the burial of the dead in the ancient cemetery of Durrow. + +[315] _King of Ireland_.--During the reign of Richard all the public +affairs of the Anglo-Norman colony were transacted in the name of "John, +Lord of Ireland, Earl of Montague." Palgrave observes that John never +claimed to be King of the Irish; like Edward, who wrote himself Lord of +Scotland, and acknowledged Baliol to be King of the Scots. + +[316] _Accounts_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 58. + +[317] _FitzHenri_.--His father was an illegitimate son of Henry I. When +a mere youth, FitzHenri came to Ireland with the Geraldines, and +obtained large possessions. + +[318] _Pension_.--One hundred pounds per annum. Orders concerning it are +still extant on the Close Rolls of England.--_Rol. Lit. Clau._ 1833, +144. It is curious, and should be carefully noted, how constantly proofs +are appearing that the Irish bards and chroniclers, from the earliest to +the latest period, were most careful as to the truth of their facts, +though they may have sometimes coloured them highly. Dr. O'Donovan has +devoted some pages in a note (Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 139) to the +tales in the Book of Howth which record the exploits of De Courcy. He +appears satisfied that they were "invented in the fifteenth or sixteenth +century." Mr. Gilbert has ascertained that they were placed on record as +early as 1360, in Pembridge's Annals. As they are merely accounts of +personal valour, we do not reproduce them here. He also gives an extract +from Hoveden's Annals, pars port, p. 823, which further supports the +Irish account. Rapin gives the narrative as history. Indeed, there +appears nothing very improbable about it. The Howth family were founded +by Sir Almaric St. Lawrence, who married De Courcy's sister. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +Quarrels of the English Barons--The Interdict--John crushes and starves +an Archdeacon to Death--King John's Visit to Ireland--He starves the +Wife and Son of Earl de Braose to Death--Henry de Londres--The Poet +O'Daly--Obituaries of Good Men--Henry III.--Regulations about the +Viceroy--The Scorch Villain--Scandalous Conduct of the Viceroys--Three +Claimants for Connaught--Death of Hugh Crovderg--Felim +O'Connor--Henry's Foreign Advisers--Plots against the Earl of +Pembroke--He is wounded treacherously--His Pious Death--Misfortunes of +the Early Settlers--De Marisco's Son is hanged for High Treason, and he +dies miserably in Exile. + +[A.D. 1201-1244.] + + +King John was now obliged to interfere between his English barons in +Ireland, who appear to have been quite as much occupied with feuds among +themselves as the native princes. In 1201 Philip of Worcester and +William de Braose laid waste the greater part of Munster in their +quarrels. John had sold the lands of the former and of Theobald Walter +to the latter, for four thousand marks--Walter redeemed his property for +five hundred marks; Philip obtained his at the point of the sword. De +Braose had large property both in Normandy and in England. He had his +chancellor, chancery, and seal, recognizances of all pleas, not even +excepting those of the crown, with judgment of life and limb. His sons +and daughters had married into powerful families. His wife, Matilda, was +notable in domestic affairs, and a vigorous oppressor of the Welsh. A +bloody war was waged about the same time between De Lacy, De Marisco, +and the Lord Justice. Cathal Crovderg and O'Brien aided the latter in +besieging Limerick, while some of the English fortified themselves in +their castles and plundered indiscrimately. + +In 1205 the Earldom of Ulster was granted to Hugh de Lacy. The grant is +inscribed on the charter roll of the seventh year of King John, and is +the earliest record now extant of the creation of an Anglo-Norman +dignity in Ireland. England was placed under an interdict in 1207, in +consequence of the violence and wickedness of its sovereign. He procured +the election of John de Grey to the see of Canterbury, a royal +favourite, and, if only for this reason, unworthy of the office. Another +party who had a share in the election chose Reginald, the Sub-Prior of +the monks of Canterbury. But when the choice was submitted to Pope +Innocent III., he rejected both candidates, and fixed on an English +Cardinal, Stephen Langton, who was at once elected, and received +consecration from the Pope himself. John was highly indignant, as might +be expected. He swore his favourite oath, "by God's teeth," that he +would cut off the noses and pluck out the eyes of any priest who +attempted to carry the Pope's decrees against him into England. But some +of the bishops, true to their God and the Church, promulgated the +interdict, and then fled to France to escape the royal vengeance. It was +well for them they did so; for Geoffrey, Archdeacon of Norwich, was +seized, and enveloped, by the royal order, in a sacerdotal vestment of +massive lead, and thus thrown into prison, where he was starved to death +beneath the crushing weight. We sometimes hear of the cruelties of the +Inquisition, of the barbarity of the Irish, of the tyranny of +priestcraft; but such cruelties, barbarities, and tyrannies, however +highly painted, pale before the savage vengeance which English kings +have exercised, on the slightest provocation, towards their unfortunate +subjects. But we have not yet heard all the refinements of cruelty which +this same monarch exercised. Soon after, John was excommunicated +personally. When he found that Philip of France was prepared to seize +his kingdom, and that his crimes had so alienated him from his own +people that he could hope for little help from them, he cringed with the +craven fear so usually found in cruel men, and made the most abject +submission. In the interval between the proclamation of the interdict +and the fulmination of the sentence of excommunication (A.D. 1210), John +visited Ireland. It may be supposed his arrival could not excite much +pleasure in the hearts of his Irish subjects, though, no doubt, he +thought it a mark of disloyalty that he should not be welcomed with +acclamations. A quarter of a century had elapsed since he first set his +foot on Irish ground. He had grown grey in profligacy, but he had not +grown wiser or better with advancing years. + +The year before his arrival, Dublin had been desolated by a pestilence, +and a number of people from Bristol had taken advantage of the decrease +in the population to establish themselves there. On the Easter Monday +after their arrival, when they had assembled to amuse themselves in +Cullen's Wood, the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles rushed down upon them from the +Wicklow Mountains, and took a terrible vengeance for the many wrongs +they had suffered, by a massacre of some three hundred men. The citizens +of Bristol sent over new colonists; but the anniversary of the day was +long known as Black Monday. + +The English King obtained money for his travelling expenses by extortion +from the unfortunate Jews. He landed at Crook, near Waterford, on the +20th June, 1210. His army was commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, son to +Henry I., by "Fair Rosamond," of tragic memory. De Braose fled to +England when he heard of the King's movements. Here he endeavoured to +make peace with his master, but failing to do so, he carefully avoided +putting himself in his power, and took refuge in France. His wife was +not so fortunate. After John's return to England, Matilda and her son +were seized by his command, and imprisoned at Corfe Castle, in the isle +of Pembroke. Here they were shut up in a room, with a sheaf of wheat and +a piece of raw bacon for their only provision. When the prison door was +opened on the eleventh day, they were both found dead. + +De Lacy also fled before the King's visit; John took Carrickfergus +Castle from his people, and stationed a garrison of his own there. +Several Irish princes paid homage to him; amongst others we find the +names of Cathal Crovderg and Hugh O'Neill. The Norman lords were also +obliged to swear fealty, and transcripts of their oaths were placed in +the Irish Exchequer. Arrangements were also made for the military +support of the colony, and certain troops were to be furnished with +forty days' ration by all who held lands by "knight's service." The +Irish princes who lived in the southern and western parts of Ireland, +appear to have treated the King with silent indifference; they could +afford to do so, as they were so far beyond the reach of his vengeance. + +John remained only sixty days in Ireland. He returned to Wales on the +26th of August, 1210, after confiding the government of the colony to +John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, whose predilection for secular affairs +had induced the Holy See to refuse his nomination to the Archbishopric +of Canterbury. The most important act of his Viceroyalty was the +erection of a bridge and castle at _Ath-Luain_ (Athlone). He was +succeeded, in 1213, by Henry de Londres, who had been appointed to the +see of Dublin during the preceding year. This prelate was one of those +who were the means of obtaining _Magna Charta_. His name appears second +on the list of counsellors who advised the grant; and he stood by the +King's side, at Runnymede, when the barons obtained the bulwark of +English liberty. It is sometimes forgotten that the clergy were the +foremost to demand it, and the most persevering in their efforts to +obtain it. + +The Archbishop was now sent to Rome by the King to plead his cause +there, and to counteract, as best he might, the serious complaints made +against him by all his subjects--A.D. 1215. In 1213 Walter de Lacy +obtained the restoration of his father's property in Wales and England. +Two years later he recovered his Irish lands; but the King retained his +son, Gislebert, as hostage, and his Castle of _Droicead-Atha_ +(Drogheda). + +The Irish chieftains made some stand for their rights at the close of +this reign. Cormac O'Melaghlin wrested Delvin, in Meath, from the +English. O'Neill and O'Donnell composed their difference _pro tem._, and +joined in attacking the invaders. In the south there was a war between +Dermod and Connor Carthy, in which the Anglo-Normans joined, and, as +usual, got the lion's share, obtaining such an increase of territory as +enabled them to erect twenty new castles in Cork and Kerry. + +The Four Masters give a curious story under the year 1213. O'Donnell +More sent his steward to Connaught to collect his tribute. On his way he +visited the poet Murray O'Daly, and began to wrangle with him, "although +his lord had given him no instructions to do so." The poet's ire was +excited. He killed him on the spot with a sharp axe--an unpleasant +exhibition of literary justice--and then fled into Clanrickarde for +safety. O'Donnell determined to revenge the insult, until Mac William +(William de Burgo) submitted to him. But the poet had been sent to seek +refuge in Thomond. The chief pursued him there also, and laid siege to +Limerick.[319] The inhabitants at once expelled the murderer, who +eventually fled to Dublin. After receiving tribute from the men of +Connaught, O'Donnell marched to Dublin, and compelled the people to +banish Murray to Scotland. Here he remained until he had composed three +poems in praise of O'Donnell, imploring peace and forgiveness. He was +then pardoned, and so far received into favour as to obtain a grant of +land and other possessions. + +The Irish bishops were, as usual, in constant intercourse with Rome. +Several prelates attended the fourth General Council of Lateran, in +1215. The Annals give the obituaries of some saintly men, whose lives +redeemed the age from the character for barbarity, which its secular +literature would seem to justify. Amongst these we find the obituary of +Catholicus O'Duffy, in 1201; of Uaireirghe, "one of the noble sages of +Clonmacnois, a man full of the love of God and of every virtue;" of Con +O'Melly, Bishop of Annaghdown, "a transparently bright gem of the +Church;" of Donnell O'Brollaghan, "a prior, a noble senior, a sage, +illustrious for his intelligence;" and of many others. A great number of +monasteries were also founded, especially by the Anglo-Normans, who +appear to have had periodical fits of piety, after periodical +temptations to replenish their coffers out of their neighbours' +property. We may not quite judge their reparations as altogether +insincere; for surely some atonement for evil deeds is better than an +utter recklessness of future punishment. + +Henry III. succeeded his father, John, while only in his tenth year. +William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was appointed protector of the +kingdom and the King. The young monarch was hastily crowned at Bristol, +with one of his mother's golden bracelets. Had the wise and good Earl +lived to administer affairs for a longer period, it would have been a +blessing to both countries. Geoffrey de Marisco still continued Governor +of Ireland. Affairs in England were in an extremely critical position. +The profligate Isabella had returned to her first husband, Hugh de +Lusignan, whom she had before forsaken for King John. Gloucester, +London, and Kent, were in the hands of the Dauphin of France. Some few +acts of justice to Ireland were the result; but when justice is only +awarded from motives of fear or interest, it becomes worse than +worthless as a mode of conciliation. Such justice, however, as was +granted, only benefited the Anglo-Norman settlers; the "mere Irish" were +a race devoted to plunder and extermination. + +In consequence of complaints from the English barons in Ireland, a +modified form of Magna Charta was granted to them, and a general amnesty +was proclaimed, with special promises of reparation to the nobles whom +John had oppressed. Hugh de Lacy was also pardoned and recalled; but it +was specially provided that the Irish should have no share in such +favours; and the Viceroy was charged to see that no native of the +country obtained cathedral preferment. This piece of injustice was +annulled through the interference of Pope Honorius III. + +In 1217 the young King, or rather his advisers, sent the Archbishop of +Dublin to that city to levy a "tallage," or tax, for the royal benefit. +The Archbishop and the Justiciary were directed to represent to the +"Kings of Ireland," and the barons holding directly from the crown, that +their liberality would not be forgotten; but neither the politeness of +the address[320] nor the benevolence of the promises were practically +appreciated, probably because neither were believed to be sincere, and +the King's coffers were not much replenished. + +Arrangements were now made defining the powers of the Viceroy or +Justiciary. The earliest details on this subject are embodied in an +agreement between Henry III. and Geoffrey de Marisco, sealed at Oxford, +in March, 1220, in presence of the Papal Legate, the Archbishop of +Dublin, and many of the nobility. + +By these regulations the Justiciary was bound to account in the +Exchequer of Dublin for all taxes and aids received in Ireland for the +royal purse. He was to defray all expenses for the maintenance of the +King's castles and lands out of the revenues. In fact, the people of the +country were taxed, either directly or indirectly, for the support of +the invaders. The King's castles were to be kept by loyal and proper +constables, who were obliged to give hostages. Indeed, so little faith +had the English kings in the loyalty of their own subjects, that the +Justiciary himself was obliged to give a hostage as security for his own +behaviour. Neither does the same Viceroy appear to have benefited trade, +for he is accused of exacting wine, clothing, and victuals, without +payment, from the merchants of Dublin. + +In 1221 the Archbishop of Dublin, Henry de Londres, was made Governor. +He obtained the name of "Scorch Villain," from having cast into the fire +the leases of the tenants of his see, whom he had cited to produce these +documents in his court. The enraged landholders attacked the attendants, +and laid hands on the Archbishop, who was compelled to do them justice +from fear of personal violence. When such was the mode of government +adopted by English officials, we can scarcely wonder that the people of +Ireland have not inherited very ardent feelings of loyalty and devotion +to the crown and constitution of that country. + +Such serious complaints were made of the unjust Governor, that Henry was +at last obliged to check his rapacity. Probably, he was all the more +willing to do so, in consequence of some encroachments on the royal +prerogative. + +After the death of the Earl of Pembroke, who had obtained the pardon of +Hugh de Lacy, a feud arose between the latter and the son of his former +friend. In consequence of this quarrel, all Meath was ravaged, Hugh +O'Neill having joined De Lacy in the conflict. + +Some of the Irish chieftains now tried to obtain protection from the +rapacity of the Anglo-Norman barons, by paying an annual stipend to the +crown; but the crown, though graciously pleased to accept anything which +might be offered, still held to its royal prerogative of disposing of +Irish property as appeared most convenient to royal interests. Though +Cathal Crovderg had made arrangements with Henry III., at an immense +sacrifice, to secure his property, that monarch accepted his money, but, +nevertheless, bestowed the whole province of Connaught shortly after on +Richard de Burgo. + +Crovderg had retired into a Franciscan monastery at Knockmoy, which he +had founded, and there he was interred nobly and honourably. After his +death there were no less than three claimants for his dignity. De Burgo +claimed it in right of the royal gift; Hugh Cathal claimed it as heir to +his father, Crovderg; Turlough claimed it for the love of fighting, +inherent in the Celtic race; and a general guerilla warfare was carried +on by the three parties, to the utter ruin of each individual. For the +next ten years the history of the country is the history of deadly feuds +between the native princes, carefully fomented by the English settlers, +whose interest it was to make them exterminate each other. + +The quarrel for the possession of Connaught began in the year 1225. The +Anglo-Normans had a large army at Athlone, and Hugh Cathal went to claim +their assistance. The Lord Justice put himself at the head of the army; +they marched into Connaught, and soon became masters of the situation. +Roderic's sons at once submitted, but only to bide their time. During +these hostilities the English of Desmond, and O'Brien, a Thomond prince, +assisted by the Sheriff of Cork, invaded the southern part of Connaught +for the sake of plunder. In the previous year, 1224, "the corn remained +unreaped until the festival of St. Brigid [1st Feb.], when the ploughing +was going on." A famine also occurred, and was followed by severe +sickness. Well might the friar historian exclaim: "Woeful was the +misfortune which God permitted to fall upon the west province in Ireland +at that time; for the young warriors did not spare each other, but +preyed and plundered to the utmost of their power. Women and children, +the feeble and the lowly poor, perished by cold and famine in this +year."[321] + +O'Neill had inaugurated Turlough at Carnfree.[322] He appears to have +been the most popular claimant. The northern chieftains then returned +home. As soon as the English left Connaught, Turlough again revolted. +Hugh Cathal recalled his allies; and the opposite party, finding their +cause hopeless, joined him in such numbers that Roderic's sons fled for +refuge to Hugh O'Neill. The Annals suggest that the English might well +respond when called on, "for their spirit was fresh, and their struggle +trifling." Again we find it recorded that the corn remained unreaped +until after the festival of St. Brigid. The wonder is, not that the +harvest was not gathered in, but that there was any harvest to gather. + +Soon after these events, Hugh O'Connor was captured by his English +allies, and would have been sacrificed to their vengeance on some +pretence, had not Earl Marshal rescued him by force of arms. He escorted +him out of the court, and brought him safely to Connaught; but his son +and daughter remained in the hands of the English. Hugh soon found an +opportunity of retaliating. A conference was appointed to take place +near Athlone,[323] between him and William de Marisco, son of the Lord +Justice. When in sight of the English knights, the Irish prince rushed +on William, and seized him, while his followers captured his attendants, +one of whom, the Constable of Athlone, was killed in the fray. Hugh then +proceeded to plunder and burn the town, and to rescue his son and +daughter, and some Connaught chieftains. + +At the close of the year 1227, Turlough again took arms. The English had +found it their convenience to change sides, and assisted him with all +their forces. Probably they feared the brave Hugh, and were jealous of +the very power they had helped him to obtain. Hugh Roderic attacked the +northern districts, with Richard de Burgo. Turlough Roderic marched to +the peninsula of Rindown, with the Viceroy. Hugh Crovderg had a narrow +escape near the Curlieu Mountains, where his wife was captured by the +English. The following year he appears to have been reconciled to the +Lord Deputy, for he was killed in his house by an Englishman, in revenge +for a liberty he had taken with a woman.[324] + +As usual, on the death of Hugh O'Connor, the brothers who had fought +against him now fought against each other. The Saxon certainly does not +deserve the credit of all our national miseries. If there had been a +little less home dissension, there would have been a great deal less +foreign oppression. The English, however, helped to foment the discord. +The Lord Justice took part with Hugh, the younger brother, who was +supported by the majority of the Connaught men, although Turlough had +already been inaugurated by O'Neill. A third competitor now started up; +this was Felim brother to Hugh O'Connor. Some of the chieftains declared +that they would not serve a prince who acknowledged English rule, and +obliged Hugh to renounce his allegiance. But this question was settled +with great promptitude. Richard de Burgo took the field, desolated the +country--if, indeed, there was anything left to desolate--killed Donn +Oge Mageraghty, their bravest champion, expelled Hugh, and proclaimed +Felim. + +The reign of this prince was of short duration. In 1231 he was taken +prisoner at Meelick, despite the most solemn guarantees, by the very man +who had so lately enthroned him. Hugh was reinstated, but before the end +of the year Felim was released. He now assembled his forces again, and +attacked Hugh, whom he killed, with several of his relations, and many +English and Irish chieftains. His next exploit was to demolish the +castles of Galway; Dunannon, on the river Suck, Roscommon; Hags' Castle, +on Lough Mask; and Castle Rich, on Lough Corrib; all of which had been +erected by Roderic's sons and their English allies. But the tide of +fortune soon turned. The invincible De Burgo entered Connaught once +more, and plundered without mercy. In a pitched battle the English +gained the day, principally through the skill of their cavalry[325] and +the protection of their coats-of-mail. + +Felim fled to the north, and sought refuge with O'Donnell of +Tir-Connell. O'Flaherty, who had always been hostile to Felim, joined +the English, and, by the help of his boats, they were able to lay waste +the islands of Clew Bay. Nearly all the inhabitants were killed or +carried off. The victorious forces now laid siege to a castle[326] on +the Rock of Lough Key, in Roscommon, which was held for O'Connor by Mac +Dermod. They succeeded in taking it, but soon lost their possession by +the quick-witted cleverness of an Irish soldier, who closed the gates on +them when they set out on a plundering expedition. The fortress was at +once demolished, that it might not fall into English hands again. + +When William Pembroke died, A.D. 1231, he bequeathed his offices and +large estates in England and Ireland to his brother, Richard, who is +described by the chroniclers as a model of manly beauty. Henry III. +prohibited his admission to the inheritance, and charged him with +treason. The Earl escaped to Ireland, and took possession of the lands +and castles of the family, waging war upon the King until his rights +were acknowledged. In 1232 Henry had granted the Justiciary of England +and of Ireland, with other valuable privileges, to Hubert de Burgo. Earl +Richard supported him against the adventurers from Poitou and Bretagne, +on whom the weak King had begun to lavish his favours. The Parliament +and the barons remonstrated, and threatened to dethrone Henry, if he +persevered in being governed by foreigners. And well they might; for one +of these needy men, Pierre de Rivaulx, had obtained a grant for life of +nearly every office and emolument in Ireland; amongst others, we find +mention of "the vacant sees, and the Jews in Ireland." Henry did his +best to get his own views carried out; but Earl Richard leagued with the +Welsh princes, and expelled the intruders from the towns and castles in +that part of the country. + +The King's foreign advisers determined to destroy their great enemy as +speedily as possible. Their plain was deeply laid. They despatched +letters to Ireland, signed by twelve privy counsellors, requiring the +Viceroy and barons to seize his castles, bribing them with a promise of +a share in his lands. The wily Anglo-Normans demanded a charter, +specifying which portion of his property each individual should have. +They obtained the document, signed with the royal seal, which had been +purloined for the occasion from the Chancellor. The Anglo-Normans acted +with detestable dissimulation. Geoffrey de Marisco tried to worm himself +into the confidence of the man on whose destruction he was bent. On the +1st of April, 1232, a conference was arranged to take place on the +Curragh of Kildare. The Viceroy was accompanied by De Lacy, De Burgo, +and a large number of soldiers and mercenaries. The Earl was attended by +a few knights and the false De Marisco. He declined to comply with the +demands of the barons, who refused to restore his castles. The +treacherous De Marisco withdrew from him at this moment, and he suddenly +found himself overpowered by numbers. With the thoughtfulness of true +heroism, he ordered some of his attendants to hasten away with his young +brother, Walter. Nearly all his retainers had been bribed to forsake him +in the moment of danger; and now that the few who obeyed his last +command were gone, he had to contend single-handed with the multitude. +His personal bravery was not a little feared, and the coward barons, who +were either afraid or ashamed to attack him individually, urged on their +soldiers, until he was completely surrounded. The Earl laid prostrate +six of his foes, clove one knight to the middle, and struck off the +hands of another, before he was captured. At last the soldiers aimed at +the feet of his spirited steed, until they were cut off, and by this +piece of cruelty brought its rider to the ground. A treacherous stab +from behind, with a long knife, plunged to the haft in his back, +completed the bloody work. + +The Earl was borne off, apparently lifeless, to one of his own castles, +which had been seized by the Viceroy. It is said that even his surgeon +was bribed to prevent his recovery. Before submitting his wounds to the +necessary treatment, he prepared for death, and received the last +sacraments. He died calmly and immediately, clasping a crucifix, on Palm +Sunday, the sixteenth day after his treacherous capture. And thus +expired the "flower of chivalry," and the grandson of Strongbow, the +very man to whom England owed so much of her Irish possessions. + +It could not fail to be remarked by the Irish annalists, that the first +Anglo-Norman settlers had been singularly unfortunate. They can scarcely +be blamed for supposing that these misfortunes were a judgment for their +crimes. Before the middle of this century (the thirteenth) three of the +most important families had become extinct. De Lacy, Lord of Meath, died +in 1241, infirm and blind; his property was inherited by his +grand-daughters, in default of a male heir. Hugh de Lacy died in 1240, +and left only a daughter. The Earl of Pembroke died from wounds received +at a tournament. Walter, who succeeded him, also died without issue. The +property came eventually to Anselm, a younger brother, who also died +childless; and it was eventually portioned out among the females of the +family. + +It is said Henry III. expressed deep grief when he heard of Earl +Richard's unfortunate end, and that he endeavoured to have restitution +made to the family. Geoffrey de Marisco was banished. His son, William, +conspired against the King, and even employed an assassin to kill him. +The man would have probably accomplished his purpose, had he not been +discovered accidentally by one of the Queen's maids, hid under the straw +of the royal bed. The real traitor was eventually captured, drawn at +horses' tails to London, and hanged with the usual barbarities. + +His miserable father, who had been thrice Viceroy of Ireland, and a peer +of that country and of England, died in exile, "pitifully, yet +undeserving of pity, for his own treason against the unfortunate Earl +Richard, and his son's treason against the King." Such were the men who +governed Ireland in the thirteenth century. + +Treachery seems to have been the recognized plan of capturing an enemy. +In 1236 this method was attempted by the government in order to get +Felim O'Connor into their power. He was invited to attend a meeting in +Athlone, but, fortunately for himself, he discovered the designs of his +enemies time enough to effect his escape. He was pursued to Sligo. From +thence he fled to Tir-Connell, which appears to have been the Cave of +Adullam in that era; though there were so many discontented persons, and +it was so difficult to know which party any individual would espouse +continuously, that the Adullamites were tolerably numerous. Turlough's +son, Brian O'Connor, was now invested with the government of Connaught +by the English, until some more promising candidate should appear. But +even their support failed to enable him to keep the field. Felim[327] +returned the following year, and after defeating the soldiers of the +Lord Justice, made Brian's people take to flight so effectually, that +none of Roderic's descendants ever again attempted even to possess their +ancestral lands. + +The Four Masters have the following graphic entry under the year 1236: +"Heavy rains, harsh weather, and much war prevailed in this year." The +Annals of Kilronan also give a fearful account of the wars, the weather, +and the crimes. They mention that Brian's people burned the church of +Imlagh Brochada over the heads of O'Flynn's people, while it was full of +women, children, and nuns, and had three priests in it. There were so +many raids on cows, that the unfortunate animals must have had a +miserable existence. How a single cow survived the amount of driving +hither and thither they endured, considering their natural love of ease +and contemplative habits, is certainly a mystery. In the year 1238, the +Annals mention that the English erected castles in Connaught, +principally in the territory from which the O'Flahertys had been +expelled. This family, however, became very powerful in that part of the +country in which they now settled. + +As Connaught had been fairly depopulated, and its kings and princes +nearly annihilated, the English turned their attention to Ulster, where +they wished to play the same game. The Lord Justice and Hugh de Lacy led +an army thither, and deposed MacLoughlin, giving the government to +O'Neill's son; but MacLoughlin obtained rule again, after a battle +fought the following year at Carnteel. + +In 1240 the King of Connaught went to England to complain personally of +De Burgo's oppressions and exactions; but his mission, as might be +expected, was fruitless, although he was received courteously, and the +King wrote to the Lord Justice "to pluck out by the root that fruitless +sycamore, De Burgo, which the Earl of Kent, in the insolence of his +power, hath planted in these parts." However, we find that Henry was +thankful to avail himself of the services of the "fruitless sycamore" +only two years after, in an expedition against the King of France. He +died on the voyage to Bourdeaux, and was succeeded by his son, Walter. +In 1241 More O'Donnell, Lord of Tir-Connell, died in Assaroe, in the +monastic habit. In 1244 Felim O'Connor and some Irish chieftains +accompanied the then Viceroy, FitzGerald, to Wales, where Henry had +requested their assistance. + +The King was nearly starved out, the Irish reinforcements were long in +coming over, and the delay was visited on the head of the unfortunate +Justiciary, who was deprived of his office. John de Marisco was +appointed in his place. + +[Illustration: ATHLONE CASTLE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[319] _Limerick_.--We give an illustration, at the head of this chapter, +of King John's Castle, Limerick. Stanihurst says that King John "was so +pleased with the agreeableness of the city, that he caused a very fine +castle and bridge to be built there." This castle has endured for more +than six centuries. Richard I. granted this city a charter to elect a +Mayor before London had that privilege, and a century before it was +granted to Dublin. M'Gregor says, in his _History of Limerick_, that the +trade went down fearfully after the English invasion.--vol. ii. p. 53. + +[320] _Address_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 82, where the address may be +seen _in extenso_. + +[321] _Year_.--Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 227. + +[322] _Carnfree_.--This place has been identified by Dr. O'Donovan. It +is near the village of Tulsk, co. Roscommon. It was the usual place of +inauguration for the O'Connors. See _note d_, Annals, vol. iii. p. 221. + +[323] _Athlone_.--This was one of the most important of the English +towns, and ranked next to Dublin at that period. We give an illustration +of the Castle of Athlone at the beginning of Chapter XX. The building is +now used for a barrack, which in truth is no great deviation from its +original purpose. It stands on the direct road from Dublin to Galway, +and protects the passage of the Shannon. There is a curious +representation on a monument here of an unfortunate English monk, who +apostatized and came to Ireland. He was sent to Athlone to superintend +the erection of the bridge by Sir Henry Sidney; but, according to the +legend, he was constantly pursued by a demon in the shape of a rat, +which never left him for a single moment. On one occasion he attempted +to preach, but the eyes of the animal glared on him with such fury that +he could not continue. He then took a pistol and attempted to shoot it, +but in an instant it had sprung on the weapon, giving him, at the same +time, a bite which caused his death. It is to be presumed that this +circumstance must have been well known, and generally believed at the +time, or it would not have been made a subject for the sculptor. + +[324] _Woman_.--There are several versions of this story. The Four +Masters say he was killed "treacherously by the English." The Annals of +Clonmacnois say that "he came to an atonement with Geoffrey March, and +was restored to his kingdom," and that he was afterwards treacherously +killed by an Englishman, "for which cause the Deputy the next day hanged +the Englishman that killed him, for that foul fact." The cause of the +Englishman's crime was "meer jealousie," because O'Connor had kissed his +wife. + +[325] _Cavalry_.--Horse soldiery were introduced early into Britain, +through the Romans, who were famous for their cavalry. + +[326] _Castle_.--The Annals of Boyle contain a wonderful account of the +_pirrels_ or engines constructed by the English for taking this +fortress. + +[327] _Felim_.--The Four Masters say, when writing of the act of +treachery mentioned above: "They all yearned to act treacherously +towards Felim, although he was the gossip of the Lord Justice."--Annals, +vol. iii. p. 285. He was sponsor or godfather to one of his children. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Age was not all Evil--Good Men in the World and in the +Cloister--Religious Houses and their Founders--The Augustinians and +Cistercians--Franciscans and Dominicans--Their close Friendship-- +Dominican Houses--St. Saviour's, Dublin--The Black Abbey, Kilkenny-- +Franciscan Houses--Youghal--Kilkenny--Multifarnham--Timoleague-- +Donegal--Carmelite Convents and Friars--Rising of the Connaught Men-- +A Plunderer of the English--Battle of Downpatrick--The MacCarthys +defeat the Geraldines at Kenmare--War between De Burgo and FitzGerald. + +[A.D. 1244-1271.] + + +Zeal for founding religious houses was one of the characteristics of the +age. Even the men who spent their lives in desolating the sanctuaries +erected by others, and in butchering their fellow-creatures, appear to +have had some thought of a future retribution--some idea that crime +demanded atonement--with a lively faith in a future state, where a stern +account would be demanded. If we contented ourselves with merely +following the sanguinary careers of kings and chieftains, we should have +as little idea of the real condition of the country, as we should obtain +of the present social state of England by an exclusive study of the +police reports in the _Times_. Perhaps, there was not much more crime +committed then than now. Certainly there were atonements made for +offending against God and man, which we do not hear of at the present +day. Even a cursory glance through the driest annals, will show that it +was not all evil--that there was something besides crime and misery. On +almost every page we find some incident which tells us that faith was +not extinct. In the Annals of the Four Masters, the obituaries of good +men are invariably placed before the records of the evil deeds of +warriors or princes. Perhaps writers may have thought that such names +would be recorded in another Book with a similar precedence. The feats +of arms, the raids, and destructions occupy the largest space. Such +deeds come most prominently before the eyes of the world, and therefore +we are inclined to suppose that they were the most important. But though +the Annals may devote pages to the exploits of De Lacy or De Burgo, and +only say of Ainmie O'Coffey, Abbot of the Church of Derry-Columcille, +that he was "a noble ecclesiastic, distinguished for his piety, +meekness, charity, wisdom, and every other virtue;" or of MacGilluire, +Coarb of St. Patrick, and Primate of Ireland, that "he died at Rome, +after a well-spent life,"[328]--how much is enfolded in the brief +obituary! How many, of whom men never have heard in this world, were +influenced, advised, and counselled by the meek and noble ecclesiastic! + +The influence of good men is like the circle we make when we cast a +little stone into a great stream, and which extends wider and wider +until it reaches the opposite bank. It is a noiseless influence, but not +the less effective. It is a hidden influence, but not the less +efficacious. The Coarb of St. Patrick, in his "well-spent life," may +have influenced for good as many hundreds, as the bad example of some +profligate adventurer influenced for evil; but we are quite sure to hear +a great deal about the exploits of the latter, and equally certain that +the good deeds of the former will not be so carefully chronicled. + +Nor should we at all suppose that piety in this age was confined to +ecclesiastics. The Earls of Pembroke stand conspicuously amongst their +fellows as men of probity, and were none the less brave because they +were sincerely religious. At times, even in the midst of the fiercest +raids, men found time to pray, and to do deeds of mercy. On one Friday, +in the year of grace 1235, the English knights, in the very midst of +their success at Umallia, and after fearful devastations commanded "that +no people shall be slain on that day, in honour of the crucifixion of +Christ."[329] It is true they "plundered and devastated both by sea and +land the very next day;" but even one such public act of faith was +something that we might wish to see in our own times. After the same +raid, too, we find the "English of Ireland" and the Lord Justice sparing +and protecting Clarus, the Archdeacon of Elphin, and the Canons of +Trinity Island, in honour of the Blessed Trinity--another act of faith; +and the "Lord Justice himself and the chiefs of the English went to see +that place, and to kneel and pray there." On another occasion the +"English chiefs were highly disgusted" when their soldiers broke into +the sacristy of Boyle Abbey, and "took away the chalices, vestments, and +other valuable things." Their leaders "sent back everything they could +find, and paid for what they could not find."[330] We must, however, +acknowledge regretfully that this species of "disgust" and reparation +were equally rare. To plunder monasteries which they had not erected +themselves, seems to have been as ordinary an occupation as to found new +ones with a portion of their unjust spoils. + +Although this is not an ecclesiastical history, some brief account of +the monks, and of the monasteries founded in Ireland about this period, +will be necessary. The earliest foundations were houses of the +Cistercian Order and the Augustinians. The Augustinian Order, as its +name implies, was originally founded by St. Augustine, the great +Archbishop of Hippo, in Africa. His rule has been adopted and adapted by +the founders of several congregations of men and women. The great +Benedictine Order owes its origin to the Patriarch of the West, so +famous for his rejection of the nobility of earth, that he might attain +more securely to the ranks of the noble in heaven. This Order was +introduced into England at an early period. It became still more popular +and distinguished when St. Bernard preached under the mantle of +Benedict, and showed how austerity towards himself and tenderness +towards others could be combined in its highest perfection. + +The twin Orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis, founded in the early +part of the thirteenth century--the one by a Spanish nobleman, the other +by an Italian merchant--were established in Ireland in the very lifetime +of their founders. Nothing now remains of the glories of their ancient +houses, on which the patrons had expended so much wealth, and the artist +so much skill; but their memory still lives in the hearts of the people, +and there are few places in the country without traditions which point +out the spot where a Franciscan was martyred, or a Dominican taken in +the act of administering to the spiritual necessities of the people. + +The Abbey of Mellifont was founded A.D. 1142, for Cistercian monks, by +Donough O'Carroll, King of Oriel. It was the most ancient monastery of +the Order in this country, and was supplied with monks by St. Bernard, +direct from Clairvaux, then in all its first fervour. We have already +mentioned some of the offerings which were made to this monastery. The +date of the erection of St. Mary's Abbey in Dublin has not been +correctly ascertained, but it is quite certain that the Cistercians were +established here in 1139, although it was probably built originally by +the Danes. The abbots of this monastery, and of the monastery at +Mellifont, sat as barons in Parliament. There were also houses at +Bectiff, county Meath; Baltinglass, county Wicklow; Moray, county +Limerick; Ordorney, county Kerry (quaintly and suggestively called +_Kyrie Eleison_), at Newry, Fermoy, Boyle, Monasterevan, Ashro, and +Jerpoint. The superiors of several of these houses sat in Parliament. +Their remains attest their beauty and the cultivated tastes of their +founders. The ruins of the Abbey of Holy Cross, county Tipperary, +founded in 1182, by Donald O'Brien, are of unusual extent and +magnificence. But the remains of Dunbrody, in the county of Wexford, +are, perhaps, the largest and the most picturesque of any in the +kingdom. It was also richly endowed. It should be remembered that these +establishments were erected by the founders, not merely as an act of +piety to God during their lifetime, but with the hope that prayers +should be offered there for the repose of their souls after death. Those +who confiscated these houses and lands to secular purposes, have +therefore committed a double injustice, since they have robbed both God +and the dead. + +A great number of priories were also founded for the Canons Regular of +St. Augustine. These establishments were of great use in supplying a +number of zealous and devoted priests, who ministered to the spiritual +wants of the people in their several districts. Tintern Abbey was +founded in the year 1200, by the Earl of Pembroke. When in danger at +sea, he made a vow that he would erect a monastery on whatever place he +should first arrive in safety. He fulfilled his promise, and brought +monks from Tintern, in Monmouthshire, who gave their new habitation the +name of their old home. In 1224 the Cistercians resigned the Monastery +of St. Saviour, Dublin, which had been erected for them by the same +Earl, to the Dominicans, on condition that they should offer a lighted +taper, on the Feast of the Nativity, at the Abbey of St. Mary, as an +acknowledgment of the grant. The Mayor of Dublin, John Decer (A.D. +1380), repaired the church, and adorned it with a range of massive +pillars. The friars of this house were as distinguished for literature +as the rest of their brethren; and in 1421 they opened a school of +philosophy and divinity on Usher's Island.[331] + +The Dominican Convent of St. Mary Magdalene at Drogheda was founded, in +1224, by John Netterville, Archbishop of Armagh. Richard II. and Henry +IV. were great benefactors to this house. Four general chapters were +also held here. The Black Abbey of Kilkenny was erected by the younger +William, Earl of Pembroke. Four general chapters were also held here, +and it was considered one of the first houses of the Order in Ireland. +We shall give details, at a later period, of the destruction and +restoration of this and other monasteries. The Dominicans had also +houses at Waterford, Cork, Mullingar, Athenry, Cashel, Tralee, Sligo, +Roscommon, and, in fact, in nearly all the principal towns in the +country. + +Nor were their Franciscan brethren less popular. The Order of Friars +Minor generally found a home near the Friars Preachers; and so close was +the friendship between them, that it was usual, on the festivals of +their respective founders, for the Franciscan to preach the panegyric of +St. Dominic, and the Dominican to preach the panegyric of St. Francis. +Youghal was the first place where a convent of this Order was erected. +The founder, Maurice FitzGerald, was Lord Justice in the year 1229, and +again in 1232. He was a patron of both Orders, and died in the +Franciscan habit, on the 20th May, 1257. Indeed, some of the English and +Irish chieftains were so devout to the two saints, that they appear to +have had some difficulty in choosing which they would have for their +special patron. In 1649 the famous Owen O'Neill was buried in a convent +of the Order at Cavan. When dying he desired that he should be clothed +in the Dominican habit, and buried in the Franciscan monastery. + +Some curious particulars are related of the foundation at Youghal. The +Earl was building a mansion for his family in the town, about the year +1231. While the workmen were engaged in laying the foundation, they +begged some money, on the eve of a great feast, that they might drink to +the health of their noble employer. FitzGerald willingly complied with +their request, and desired his eldest son to be the bearer of his +bounty. The young nobleman, however, less generous than his father, not +only refused to give them the money, but had angry words with the +workmen. It is not mentioned whether the affair came to a more serious +collision; but the Earl, highly incensed with the conduct of his son, +ordered the workmen to erect a monastery instead of a castle, and +bestowed the house upon the Franciscan fathers. The following year he +took their habit, and lived in the convent until his death. This house +was completely destroyed during the persecutions in the reign of +Elizabeth. + +The Convent of Kilkenny was founded immediately after. Its benefactor +was the Earl of Pembroke, who was buried in the church. Here was a +remarkable spring, dedicated to St. Francis, at which many miraculous +cures are said to have been wrought. The site occupied by this building +was very extensive; its ruins only remain to tell how spacious and +beautiful its abbey and church must have been. It was also remarkable +for the learned men who there pursued their literary toil, among whom we +may mention the celebrated annalist, Clynn. He was at first Guardian of +the Convent of Carrick-on-Suir; but, about 1338, he retired to Kilkenny, +where he compiled the greater part of his Annals. It is probable that he +died about 1350. His history commences with the Christian era, and is +carried down to the year 1349. At this time the country was all but +depopulated by a fearful pestilence. The good and learned brother seems +to have had some forebodings of his impending fate, for his last written +words run thus:--"And, lest the writing should perish with the writer, +and the work should fail with the workman, I leave behind me parchment +for continuing it; if any man should have the good fortune to survive +this calamity, or any one of the race of Adam should escape this +pestilence, and live to continue what I have begun." This abbey was also +one of the great literary schools of Ireland, and had its halls of +philosophy and divinity, which, were well attended for many years. + +In Dublin the Franciscans were established by the munificence of their +great patron, Henry III. Ralph le Porter granted a site of land in that +part of the city where the street still retains the name of the founder +of the Seraphic Order. In 1308 John le Decer proved a great benefactor +to the friars, and erected a very beautiful chapel, dedicated to the +Blessed Virgin, in which he was interred. + +But the Convent of Multifarnham was the great glory of this century. It +was erected, in 1236, by Lord Delemere; and from its retired situation, +and the powerful protection of its noble patrons, escaped many of the +calamities which befell other houses of the Order. The church and +convent were built "in honour of God and St. Francis." The monastery +itself was of unusual size, and had ample accommodation for a number of +friars. Hence, in times of persecution, it was the usual refuge of the +sick and infirm, who were driven from their less favoured homes. The +church was remarkable for its beauty and the richness of its ornaments. +Here were the tombs of its noble founders and patrons; and the +south-eastern window was gorgeous with their heraldic devices. The +convent was situated on Lake Derravaragh, and was endowed with many +acres of rich land, through which flow the Inny and the Gaine. Such a +position afforded opportunity for mills and agricultural labours, of +which the friars were not slow to avail themselves. + +The site, as we have remarked, was secluded, at some distance even from +any village, and far from the more frequented roads. In process of time +the family of the Nugents became lords of the manor, but they were not +less friendly to the religious than the former proprietors. Indeed, so +devoted were they to the Order, that, at the time of the dissolution of +the monasteries, Multifarnham would have shared the common fate, had +they not again and again repurchased it from those to whom it had been +sold by Henry. Even during the reign of Elizabeth it was protected by +the same family. But the day of suffering was even then approaching. In +the October of the year 1601, a detachment of English soldiers was sent +from Dublin by Lord Mountjoy, to destroy the convent which had been so +long spared. The friars were seized and imprisoned, the monastery +pillaged; and the soldiers, disappointed in their hope of a rich booty, +wreaked their vengeance by setting fire to the sacred pile. + +The Convent of Kilcrea was another sequestered spot. It was founded in +the fifteenth century, by the MacCarthys, under the invocation of St. +Brigid. The richness and magnificence of the church, its graceful +bell-tower, carved windows, and marble ornaments, showed both the +generosity and the taste of the Lord Muskerry. Cormac was interred here +in 1495; and many noble families, having made it their place of +sepulture, protected the church for the sake of their ancestral tombs. + +Nor was the Monastery of Timoleague less celebrated. The honour of its +foundation is disputed, as well as the exact date; but as the tombs of +the MacCarthys, the O'Donovans, O'Heas, and De Courcys, are in its +choir, we may suppose that all had a share in the erection or adornment +of this stately church. One of the De Courcy family, Edmund, Bishop of +Ross, himself a Franciscan friar, rebuilt the bell-tower, which rises to +a height of seventy feet, as well as the dormitory, infirmary, and +library. At his death, in 1548, he bequeathed many valuable books, +altar-plate, &c., to his brethren. + +The history of the establishment of the Order at Donegal is amusing +enough, and very characteristic of the customs of the age. In the year +1474 the Franciscans were holding a general chapter in their convent +near Tuam. In the midst of their deliberations, however, they were +unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of the Lady Nuala O'Connor, +daughter of the noble O'Connor Faly, and wife of the powerful chieftain, +Hugh O'Donnell. She was attended by a brilliant escort, and came for no +other purpose than to present her humble petition to the assembled +fathers, for the establishment of their Order in the principality of +Tir-Connell. After some deliberation, the Provincial informed her that +her request could not be complied with at present, but that at a future +period the friars would most willingly second her pious design. The Lady +Nuala, however, had a woman's will, and a spirit of religious fervour to +animate it. "What!" she exclaimed, "have I made this long and painful +journey only to meet with a refusal? Beware of God's wrath! for to Him I +will appeal, that He may charge you with all the souls whom your delay +may cause to perish." This was unanswerable. The Lady Nuala journeyed +home with a goodly band of Franciscans in her train; and soon the +establishment of the Monastery of Donegal, situated at the head of the +bay, showed that the piety of the lady was generously seconded by her +noble husband. Lady Nuala did not live to see the completion of her +cherished design. Her mortal remains were interred under the high altar, +and many and fervent were the prayers of the holy friars for the eternal +repose of their benefactress. + +The second wife of O'Donnell was not less devoted to the Order. This +lady was a daughter of Connor O'Brien, King of Thomond. Her zeal in the +good work was so great, that the monastery was soon completed, and the +church dedicated in 1474. The ceremony was carried out with the utmost +magnificence, and large benefactions bestowed on the religious. After +the death of her husband, who had built a castle close to the monastery, +and was buried within the sacred walls, the widowed princess retired to +a small dwelling near the church, where she passed the remainder of her +days in prayer and penance. Her son, Hugh Oge, followed the steps of his +good father. So judicious and upright was his rule, that it was said, in +his days, the people of Tir-Connell never closed their doors except to +keep out the wind. In 1510 he set out on a pilgrimage to Rome. Here he +spent two years, and was received everywhere as an independent prince, +and treated with the greatest distinction. But neither the honours +conferred on him, nor his knightly fame (for it is said he was never +vanquished in the field or the lists), could satisfy the desires of his +heart. After a brief enjoyment of his ancestral honours, he retired to +the monastery which his father had erected, and found, with the poor +children of St. Francis, that peace and contentment which the world +cannot give. + +In the county Kerry there were at least two convents of the Order--one +at Ardfert, founded, probably, in the year 1389; the other, famous for +the beauty of its ruins, and proximity to the far-famed Lakes of +Killarney, demands a longer notice. + +The Convent of Irrelagh, or, as it is now called, Muckross, was founded +early in the fifteenth century, by a prince of the famous family of +MacCarthy More, known afterwards as _Tadeige Manistireach_, or Teigue of +the Monastery. + +According to the tradition of the county, and a MS. description of +Kerry, written about the year 1750, and now preserved in the Library of +the Royal Irish Academy, the site on which the monastery was to be built +was pointed out to MacCarthy More in a vision, which warned him not to +erect his monastery in any situation except at a place called +Carrig-an-Ceoil, i.e., the rock of the music. As no such place was known +to him, he despatched some of his faithful followers to ascertain in +what part of his principality it was situated. For some time they +inquired in vain; but as they returned home in despair, the most +exquisite music was heard to issue from a rock at Irrelagh. When the +chief was made aware of this, he at once concluded it was the spot +destined by Providence for his pious undertaking, which he immediately +commenced. + +It was finished by his son, Donnell (1440). The convent was dedicated to +the Blessed Trinity. It is said there was a miraculous image of the +Blessed Virgin here, which brought great crowds of pilgrims. The feast +of the Porziuncula was kept here long after the abbey had fallen to +ruins, and the friars dispersed, and was known as the Abbey Day. Until +the last few years stations were held there regularly, on the 2nd of +October. + +Clonmel Monastery was founded, about 1269, by the Desmonds; Drogheda, in +1240, by the Plunkets. + +Some convents of Carmelite friars were also founded in the thirteenth +century, but as yet they have not been fortunate enough to obtain the +services of a historian, so that we can only briefly indicate the sites. +The Convent of Dublin, for White Friars, was founded by Sir Robert +Bagot, in 1274. The date of the establishment of the house at +Leighlin-bridge has not been ascertained; but it was probably erected by +the Carews, at the end of the reign of Henry III. There were also +convents at Ardee, Drogheda, Galway, Kildare, and Thurles. The Convent +of Kildare was the general seminary for the Order in Ireland; and one of +its friars, David O'Brege, is styled "the burning light, the mirror and +ornament of his country." + +In 1248 the young men of Connaught inaugurated the periodical +rebellions, which a statesman of modern times has compared to the +dancing manias of the middle ages. Unfortunately for his comparison, +there was a cause for the one, and there was no cause for the other. +They acted unwisely, because there was not the remotest possibility of +success; and to rebel against an oppression which cannot be remedied, +only forges closer chains for the oppressed. But it can scarcely be +denied that their motive was a patriotic one. Felim's son, Hugh, was the +leader of the youthful band. In 1249 Maurice FitzGerald arrived to crush +the movement, or, in modern parlance, "to stamp it out"--not always a +successful process; for sparks are generally left after the most careful +stamping, which another method might effectually have quenched. Felim at +once fled the country. The English made his nephew, Turlough, ruler in +his place; but the following year Felim made a bold swoop down from the +Curlieus, expelled the intruder, and drove off a cattle prey. After this +proof of his determination and valour, the English made peace with him, +and permitted him to retain his own dominions without further +molestation. Florence MacCarthy was killed this year, and Brian O'Neill, +Lord of Tyrone, submitted to the Lord Justice--thereby freeing the +invaders from two troublesome combatants. The next year, however, the +English, who were not particular about treaties, invaded the north, and +were repulsed with such loss as to induce them to treat the enemy with +more respect for the time. + +Under the year 1249 the Annals mention a defeat which the Irish suffered +at Athenry, which they attribute to their refusal to desist from warfare +on Lady Day, the English having asked a truce in honour of the Blessed +Virgin. They also record the death of Donough O'Gillapatrick, and say +that this was a retaliation due to the English; for he had killed, +burned, and destroyed many of them. He is characterized, evidently with +a little honest pride, as the third greatest plunderer of the English. +The names of the other two plunderers are also carefully chronicled; +they were Connor O'Melaghlin and Connor MacCoghlan. The "greatest +plunderer" was in the habit of going about to reconnoitre the English +towns in the disguise of pauper or poet, as best suited him for the +time; and he had a quatrain commemorating his exploits:-- + + "He is a carpenter, he is a turner, + My nursling is a bookman; + He is selling wine and hides, + Where he sees a gathering." + +The quatrain, if of no other value, gives us an idea of the commodities +bartered, and the tradesmen who offered their goods at Irish fairs in +English towns during the thirteenth century. + +In 1257 there was a fierce conflict between the Irish, under Godfrey +O'Donnell, and the English, commanded by Maurice FitzGerald. The +conflict took place at Creadrankille, near Sligo. The leaders engaged in +single combat, and were both severely wounded: eventually the invaders +were defeated and expelled from Lower Connaught. Godfrey's wound +prevented him from following up his success, and soon after the two +chieftains died. The circumstances of Maurice's death have been already +recorded. The death of O'Donnell is a curious illustration of the +feeling of the times. During his illness, Brian O'Neill sent to demand +hostages from the Cinel-Connaill. The messengers fled the moment they +had fulfilled their commission. For all reply, O'Donnell commanded his +people to assemble, to place him on his bier, and to bear him forth at +their head. And thus they met the enemy. The battle took place on the +banks of the river Swilly, in Donegal. O'Donnell's army conquered. The +hero's bier was laid down in the street of a little village at Connal, +near Letterkenny, and there he died. + +O'Neill again demanded hostages; but while the men deliberated what +answer they should give, Donnell Oge returned from Scotland, and though +he was but a youth of eighteen, he was elected chieftain. The same year +the long-disused title of Monarch of Ireland was conferred on O'Neill by +some of the Irish kings. After a conference at Caol Uisge, O'Neill and +O'Connor turned their forces against the English, and a battle was +fought near Downpatrick, where the Irish were defeated.[332] O'Neill was +killed, with fifteen of the O'Kanes and many other chieftains, A.D. +1260. The English were commanded by the then Viceroy, Stephen Longespe, +who was murdered soon after by his own people. + +In the south the English suffered a severe reverse. The Geraldines were +defeated by Connor O'Brien in Thomond, and again at Kilgarvan, near +Kenmare, by Fineen MacCarthy. The Annals of Innisfallen give long +details of this engagement, the sight of which is still pointed out by +the country people. John FitzThomas, the founder of the Dominican +Monastery at Tralee, was killed. The MacCarthys immediately proceeded to +level all the castles which had been erected by the English; they were +very numerous in that district. Soon after the hero of the fight was +killed himself by the De Courcys. + +The Annals mention an instance of a man who had taken a bell from the +Church of Ballysadare, and put it on his head when attacked by the +enemy, hoping that he might escape with his prize and his life, from the +respect always shown to everything consecrated to God's service; but he +was killed notwithstanding. This incident is mentioned as characteristic +of the age. After the defeat narrated above, Hanmer says, "the +Geraldines dared not put a plough into the ground in Desmond." The next +year, 1262, Mac William Burke marched with a great army as far as +Elphin. He was joined by the Lord Justice and John de Verdun. They +marked out a place for a castle at Roscommon, and plundered all that +remained after Hugh O'Connor in Connaught. He, in his turn, +counterburned and plundered so successfully, that the English were glad +to ask for peace. The result was a conference at the ford of +Doire-Chuire. A peace was concluded, after which "Hugh O'Connor and Mac +William Burke slept together in the one bed, cheerfully and happily; and +the English left the country on the next day, after bidding farewell to +O'Connor." + +After this fraternal demonstration, Burke led an army into Desmond, and +an engagement took place with MacCarthy on the side of Mangerton +Mountain, where both English and Irish suffered great losses. Gerald +Roche, who is said to be the third best knight of his time in Ireland, +was slain by MacCarthy.[333] Burke was soon after created Earl of +Ulster.[334] He and FitzGerald waged war against each other in 1264, and +desolated the country with their raids. The Lord Justice sided with +FitzGerald, who succeeded in taking all Burke's castles in Connaught. + +The quarrels of the invaders now became so general, that even the Lord +Justice was seized at a conference by FitzMaurice FitzGerald, and was +detained prisoner, with several other nobles, for some time. During the +wars between De Burgo (or Burke) and FitzGerald, the good people of Ross +threatened to defend their town from all invaders; and to effect this +purpose the council commanded all the citizens to assist in erecting the +necessary fortifications. Even the ladies[335] and clergy[336] took part +in the works, which were soon and successfully completed. + +An Anglo-Norman poet commemorated this event in verse, and celebrates +the fame of Rose, a lady who contributed largely to the undertaking, +both by her presence and her liberal donations. He informs us first of +the reason for this undertaking. It was those two troublesome knights, +"sire Morice e sire Wauter," who would not permit the world to be at +peace. He assures us that the citizens of New Ross were most anxious for +peace, because they were merchants, and had an extensive trade, which +was quite true; but he adds that they were determined to defend their +rights if attacked, which was also true. + +The poet also compliments the ladies, and thinks that the man would be +happy who could have his choice of them. He also informs us they were to +build a "Ladies' Gate," where there should be a prison in which all who +gave offence to the fair sex should be confined at their pleasure. Of a +surety, New Ross must have been the paradise of ladies in those days. We +have not ascertained whether its fair citizens retain the same potent +sway in the present century. + +Felim O'Connor died in 1265. The Four Masters give his obituary thus: +"Felim, son of Cathal Crovderg O'Connor, the defender and supporter of +his own province, and of his friends on every side, the expeller and +plunderer of his foes; a man full of hospitality, prowess, and renown; +the exalter of the clerical orders and men of science; a worthy materies +[_sic_] of a King of Ireland for his nobility, personal shape, heroism, +wisdom, clemency, and truth; died, after the victory of unction and +penance, in the monastery of the Dominican friars at Roscommon, which he +had himself granted to God and that Order." + +He was succeeded by his son, Hugh, "who committed his regal depredation +in Offaly." It appears to have been considered a customary thing for a +new sovereign to signalize himself, as soon as possible, by some display +of this description. He succeeded so well in this same depredation, that +the Lord Justice was alarmed, and came to assist De Burgo. The latter +proposed a conference at Carrick-on-Shannon; but Hugh O'Connor suspected +treachery, and contrived to get the Earl's brother, William Oge, into +his hands before the conference commenced. The Earl "passed the night in +sadness and sorrow." At daybreak a fierce conflict ensued. Turlough +O'Brien, who was coming to assist the Connacians, was met on his way, +and slain in single combat by De Burgo. But his death was fearfully +avenged; great numbers of the English were slain, and immense spoils +were taken from them. De Burgo died the following year, in Galway +Castle, after a short illness, A.D. 1271. + +[Illustration: CURTAIN CAVE, TIPPERARY.] + +[Illustration: BERMINGHAM TOWER, DUBLIN CASTLE] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[328] _Life_.--Annals, vol. iii. p. 189. + +[329] _Christ_.--Annals, vol. iii. p. 281. + +[330] _Find_.--_Ib._ vol. iii. p. 275. + +[331] _Usher's Island_.--This was once a fashionable resort. Moira House +stood here. It was ornamented so beautifully, that John Wesley observed, +when visiting Lady Moira, that one of the rooms was more elegant than +any he had seen in England. Here, in 1777, Charles Fox was introduced to +Grattan. Poor Pamela (Lady Edward FitzGerald) was at Moira House on the +evening of her husband's arrest; and here she heard the fatal news on +the following morning, her friends having concealed it from her until +then. In 1826 it was converted into a mendicity institution, and all its +ornamental portions removed. + +[332] _Defeated_.--O'Neill's bard, MacNamee, wrote a lament for the +chieftains who fell in this engagement. He states that the head of +"O'Neill, King of Tara, was sent to London;" and attributes the defeat +of the Irish to the circumstance of their adversaries having fought in +coats-of-mail, while they had only satin shirts:-- + +"Unequal they entered the battle, The Galls and the Irish of Tara; Fair +satin shirts on the race of Conn, The Galls in one mass of iron." + +He further deplores the removal of the chief's noble face from Down, +lamenting that his resurrection should not be from amongst the +limestone-covered graves of the fathers of his clan at Armagh. + +[333] _MacCarthy_.--Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 389. + +[334] _Ulster_.--The Annals of Innisfallen say he obtained this title in +1264, after his marriage with Maud, daughter of Hugh de Lacy the +younger. + +[335] + +_Ladies_.--"Tantz bele dames ne vi en fossee, Mult fu cil en bon sire +nee, Re purreit choisir a sa volonte." + + + +[336] + +_Clergy_.--"E les prestres, quant on chante, Si vont ovrir au fosse, E +travellent mut durement, Plus qe ne funt autre gent." + +This ballad has been published, with a translation by W. Crofton Croker. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Reign of Edward I.--Social State of Ireland--English Treachery--Irish +Chieftains set at Variance--The Irish are refused the Benefit of English +Law--Feuds between the Cusacks and the Barretts--Death of Boy +O'Neill--The Burkes and the Geraldines--Quarrel between FitzGerald and +De Vesci--Possessions obtained by Force or Fraud--Why the Celt was not +Loyal--The Governors and the Governed--Royal Cities and their +Charters--Dublin Castle, its Officers, Law Courts--A Law Court in the +Fourteenth Century--Irish Soldiers help the English King--A Murder for +which Justice is refused--Exactions of the Nobles--Invasion of +Bruce--Remonstrance to the Pope--The Scotch Armies withdrawn from +Ireland. + +[A.D. 1271--1326.] + + +It was now nearly a century since the Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland. +Henry III. died in 1272, after a reign of fifty-six years. He was +succeeded by his son, Edward I., who was in the Holy Land at the time of +his father's death. In 1257 his father had made him a grant of Ireland, +with the express condition that it should not be separated from England. +It would appear as if there had been some apprehensions of such an event +since the time of Prince John. The English monarchs apparently wished +the benefit of English laws to be extended to the native population, but +their desire was invariably frustrated by such of their nobles as had +obtained grants of land in Ireland, and whose object appears to have +been the extermination and, if this were not possible, the depression of +the Irish race. + +Ireland was at this time convulsed by domestic dissensions. Sir Robert +D'Ufford, the Justiciary, was accused of fomenting the discord; but he +appears to have considered that he only did his duty to his royal +master. When sent for into England, to account for his conduct, he +"satisfied the King that all was not true that he was charged withal; +and for further contentment yielded this reason, that in policy he +thought it expedient to wink at one knave cutting off another, and that +would save the King's coffers, and purchase peace to the land. Whereat +the King smiled, and bid him return to Ireland." The saving was +questionable; for to prevent an insurrection by timely concessions, is +incomparably less expensive than to suppress it when it has arisen. The +"purchase of peace" was equally visionary; for the Irish never appear to +have been able to sit down quietly under unjust oppression, however +hopeless resistance might be. + +The Viceroys were allowed a handsome income; therefore they were +naturally anxious to keep their post. The first mention of salary is +that granted to Geoffrey de Marisco. By letters-patent, dated at +Westminster, July 4th, 1226, he was allowed an annual stipend of L580. +This was a considerable sum for times when wheat was only 2s. a quarter, +fat hogs 2s. each, and French wine 2s. a gallon. + +Hugh O'Connor renewed hostilities in 1272, by destroying the English +Castle of Roscommon. He died soon after, and his successor had but brief +enjoyment of his dignity. In 1277 a horrible act of treachery took +place, which the unfortunate Irish specially mention in their +remonstrance to Pope John XXII., as a striking instance of the +double-dealing of the English and the descendants of the Anglo-Normans +then in Ireland, Thomas de Clare obtained a grant of Thomond from Edward +I. It had already been secured to its rightful owners, the O'Briens, who +probably paid, as was usual, an immense fine for liberty to keep their +own property. The English Earl knew he could only obtain possession by +treachery; he therefore leagued with Roe O'Brien, "so that they entered +into gossipred with each other, and took vows by bells and relics to +retain mutual friendship;" or, as the Annals of Clonmacnois have it, +"they swore to each other all the oaths in Munster, as bells, relics of +saints, and bachalls, to be true to each other for ever." + +The unfortunate Irish prince little suspected all the false oaths his +friend had taken, or all the villany he premeditated. There was another +claimant for the crown as usual, Turlough O'Brien. He was defeated, but +nevertheless the Earl turned to his side, got Brian Roe into his hands, +and had him dragged to death between horses. The wretched perpetrator of +this diabolical deed gained little by his crime,[337] for O'Brien's sons +obtained a victory over him the following year. At one time he was so +hard pressed as to be obliged to surrender at discretion, after living +on horse-flesh for several days. In 1281 the unprincipled Earl tried the +game of dissension, and set up Donough, the son of the man he had +murdered, against Turlough, whom he had supported just before. But +Donough was slain two years after, and Turlough continued master of +Thomond until his death, in 1306. De Clare was slain by the O'Briens, in +1286. + +In 1280 the Irish who lived near the Anglo-Norman settlers presented a +petition to the English King, praying that they might be admitted to the +privileges of the English law. Edward issued a writ to the then Lord +Justice, D'Ufford, desiring him to assemble the lords spiritual and +temporal of the "land of Ireland," to deliberate on the subject. But the +writ was not attended to; and even if it had been, the lords "spiritual +and temporal" appear to have decided long before that the Irish should +not participate in the benefit of English laws, however much they might +suffer from English oppression. A pagan nation pursued a more liberal +policy, and found it eminently successful. The Roman Empire was held +together for many centuries, quite as much by the fact of her having +made all her dependencies to share in the benefits of her laws, as by +the strong hand of her cohorts. She used her arms to conquer, and her +laws to retain her conquests. + +In 1281 a sanguinary engagement took place at Moyne, in the county Mayo, +between the Cusacks and the Barretts. The latter were driven off the +field. The Annals say: "There were assisting the Cusacks in this battle +two of the Irish, namely, Taichleach O'Boyle and Taichleach O'Dowda, who +surpassed all that were there in bravery and valour, and in agility and +dexterity in shooting."[338] There was a battle this year also between +the Cinel-Connaill and the Cinel-Owen, in which the former were +defeated, and their chieftain, Oge O'Donnell, was slain. This encounter +took place at Desertcreaght, in Tyrone. + +Hugh Boy O'Neill was slain in 1283. He is styled "the head of the +liberality and valour of the Irish; the most distinguished in the north +for bestowing jewels and riches; the most formidable and victorious of +his tribe; and the worthy heir to the throne of Ireland." The last +sentence is observable, as it shows that the English monarch was not +then considered King of Ireland. In 1285 Theobald Butler died at +Berehaven. After his death a large army was collected by Lord Geoffrey +Geneville, and some other English nobles. They marched into Offaly, +where the Irish had just seized the Castle of Leix. Here they had a +brief triumph, and seized upon a great prey of cows; but the native +forces rallied immediately, and, with the aid of Carbry O'Melaghlin, +routed the enemy completely. Theobald de Verdun lost both his men and +his horses, and Gerald FitzMaurice was taken prisoner the day after the +battle, it is said through the treachery of his own followers. The Four +Masters do not mention this event, but it is recorded at length in the +Annals of Clonmacnois. They add: "There was a great snow this year, +which from Christmas to St. Brigid's day continued." + +The two great families of De Burgo and Geraldine demand a special +mention. The former, who were now represented by Richard de Burgo (the +Red Earl), had become so powerful, that they took precedence even of the +Lord Justice in official documents. In 1286 the Earl led a great army +into Connaught, destroying the monasteries and churches, and "obtaining +sway in everyplace through which he passed." This nobleman was the +direct descendant of FitzAldelm de Burgo, who had married Isabella, a +natural daughter of Richard Coeur de Lion, and widow of Llewellyn, +Prince of Wales. Walter de Burgo became Earl of Ulster in right of his +wife, Maud, daughter of the younger Hugh de Lacy. The Red Earl's +grandson, William, who was murdered, in 1333, by the English of Ulster, +and whose death was most cruelly revenged, was the third and last of the +De Burgo Earls of Ulster. The Burkes of Connaught are descended from +William, the younger brother of Walter, the first Earl. + +John FitzThomas FitzGerald, Baron of Offaly, was the common ancestor of +the two great branches of the Geraldines, whose history is an object of +such peculiar interest to the Irish historian. One of his sons, John, +was created Earl of Kildare; the other, Maurice, Earl of Desmond. + +In 1286 De Burgo laid claim to that portion of Meath which Theobald de +Verdun held in right of his mother, the daughter of Walter de Lacy. He +besieged De Verdun in his Castle of Athlone, A.D. 1288, but the result +has not been recorded. De Toleburne, Justiciary of Ireland, died this +year; the King seized on all his property, to pay debts which he owed to +the crown. It appears he was possessed of a considerable number of +horses.[339] + +Jean de Samford, Archbishop of Dublin, administered the affairs of the +colony until 1290, when he was succeeded by Sir William de Vesci, a +Yorkshire man, and a royal favourite. + +In 1289 Carbry O'Melaghlin possessed a considerable amount of power in +Meath, and was therefore extremely obnoxious to the English settlers. An +army was collected to overthrow his government, headed by Richard Tuite +(the Great Baron), and assisted by O'Connor, King of Connaught. They +were defeated, and "Tuite, with his kinsmen, and Siccus O'Kelly, were +slain." + +Immediately after the arrival of the new Lord Justice, a quarrel sprung +up between him and FitzGerald, Baron of Offaly. They both appeared +before the Council; and if Hollinshed's account may be credited, they +used language which would scarcely be tolerated in Billingsgate. +FitzGerald proposed an appeal to arms, which was accepted by his +adversary. Edward summoned both parties to Westminster. FitzGerald came +duly equipped for the encounter, but De Vesci had fled the country. He +was, however, acquitted by Parliament, on the ground of informality, and +the affair was referred to the royal decision. According to Hollinshed's +account, the King observed, that "although de Vesci had conveyed his +person to France, he had left his land behind him in Ireland;" and +bestowed the lordships of Kildare and Rathangan on his adversary. + +Wogan was Viceroy during the close of this century, and had ample +occupation pacifying the Geraldines and Burkes--an occupation in which +he was not always successful. Thomas FitzMaurice, "of the ape," father +of the first Earl of Desmond, had preceded him in the office of +Justiciary. This nobleman obtained his cognomen from the circumstances +of having been carried, when a child, by a tame ape round the walls of a +castle, and then restored to his cradle without the slightest injury. + +The English possessions in Ireland at the close of this century +consisted of the "Liberties" and ten counties--Dublin, Louth, Kildare, +Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Roscommon, and part of +Connaught. The "Liberties" were those of Connaught and Ulster, under De +Burgo; Meath, divided between De Mortimer and De Verdun; Wexford, +Carlow, and Kilkenny, under the jurisdiction of the respective +representatives of the Marshal heiresses; Thomond, claimed by De Clare; +and Desmond, partly controlled by the FitzGeralds. Sir William Davies +says: "These absolute palatines made barons and knights; did exercise +high justice in all points within their territories; erected courts for +criminal and civil cases, and for their own revenues, in the same forms +as the King's courts were established at Dublin; made their own judges, +sheriffs, coroners, and escheators, so as the King's writ did not run in +these counties (which took up more than two parts of the English +colonies), but only in the church-lands lying within the same, which +were called the 'Cross,' wherein the King made a sheriff; and so in each +of these counties-palatine there were two sheriffs, one of the Liberty, +and another of the Cross. These undertakers were not tied to any form of +plantation, but all was left to their discretion and pleasure; and +although they builded castles and made freeholds, yet there were no +tenures or services reserved to the crown, but the lords drew all the +respect and dependency of the common people unto themselves." Hence the +strong objection which the said lords had to the introduction of English +law; for had this been accomplished, it would have proved a serious +check to their own advancement for the present time, though, had they +wisdom to have seen it, in the end it would have proved their best +safeguard and consolidated their power. The fact was, these settlers +aimed at living like the native princes, oblivious or ignorant of the +circumstance, that these princes were as much amenable to law as the +lowest of their subjects, and that they governed by a prescriptive right +of centuries. If they made war, it was for the benefit of the tribe, not +for their individual aggrandizement; if they condemned to death, the +sentence should be in accordance with the Brehon law, which the people +knew and revered. The settlers owned no law but their own will; and the +unhappy people whom they governed could not fail to see that their sole +object was their own benefit, and to obtain an increase of territorial +possessions at any cost. + +On the lands thus plundered many native septs existed, whom neither war +nor famine could quite exterminate. Their feelings towards the new lord +of the soil can easily be understood; it was a feeling of open +hostility, of which they made no secret. They considered the usurper's +claim unjust; and to deprive him of the possessions which he had +obtained by force or fraud, was the dearest wish of their hearts. + +This subject should be very carefully considered and thoroughly +understood, for much, if not all, of the miseries which Ireland has +endured, have arisen from the fatal policy pursued at this period. How +could the Celt be loyal to the Anglo-Norman, who lived only to oppress +him, to drive him from his ancestral home, and then to brand him with +the foul name of rebel, if he dared resist? Had he not resisted, he +would have been branded with a worse name--a coward. + +Such portions of the country as lay outside the land of which the +Anglo-Normans had possessed themselves, were called "marches." These +were occupied by troops of natives, who continually resisted the +aggressions of the invader, always anxious to add to his territory. +These troops constantly made good reprisals for what had been taken, by +successful raids on the castle or the garrison. Fleet-footed, and well +aware of every spot which would afford concealment, these hardy Celts +generally escaped scot-free. Thus occupied for several centuries, they +acquired a taste for this roving life; and they can scarcely be +reproached for not having advanced in civilization with the age, by +those who placed such invincible obstacles to their progress.[340] + +The most important royal castles, after Dublin, were those of Athlone, +Roscommon, and Randown. They were governed by a constable, and supplied +by a garrison paid out of the revenues of the colony. The object of +these establishments was to keep down the natives, who were accordingly +taxed to keep the garrisons. The people quite understood this, and it +was not an additional motive for loyalty. The battlements of the castle +were generally adorned with a grim array of ghastly skulls, the heads of +those who had been slain in the warfare so constantly going on. But the +attempt to strike terror into the Irish utterly failed, and new +candidates passed into the ranks. How, indeed, could they die more +gloriously than in the service of their country? + +The royal cities held charters direct from the crown of England. These +cities were Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, and Cork. Some idea has +already been given of the streets and the size of Dublin. The Castle +was the most important building, at least to the civil portion of +the community. It contained within its walls a chapel, a jail, and a +mill--characteristic of the age. The mill was styled the "King's Mill." +The chaplains had each an annual salary of fifty shillings--not an +insufficient provision, if we calculate that the penny then was nearly +the same value as the shilling now; moreover, they had two shillings +each for wax, and probably fees besides. The chapel was under the +patronage of St. Thomas of Canterbury, who, when he had been martyred, +sent to heaven, and could give no more inconvenient reproofs, stood very +high in royal favour. The Castle was partly encompassed by a moat, +called the "Castlegripe;" the walls were fortified with bastions, and +had various gates, towers, and narrow entrances, which were defended by +strong doors and portcullises. The chief communication with the city was +by a drawbridge on the southern side of Castle-street. Rolls of the +fourteenth century exhibit disbursements for repairs, ropes, bolts, and +rings, from which we gather that everything was kept ready for immediate +service. + +The hostages which were exacted from the Anglo-Norman lords, as well as +from the Irish chieftains, were kept in the Castle at their own expense. +They can hardly have found their position very pleasant, as at any +moment they might be called on to submit to the operation of having +their eyes put out, or to be hanged. The judges and other officials held +their courts in the Castle. In the Court of Exchequer the primitive +method of using counters for calculating[341] was still continued. These +were laid in rows upon the "chequered" cloth which covered the table. +Square hazel rods, notched[342] in a particular manner, styled tallies +and counter-tallies, were employed as vouchers. + +The Red Book of the Exchequer contains a curious sketch of "the +Exchequer of the King of England in Dublin." Six officers of the court +are at the top; to the left, three judges; to the right, three suitors; +a sheriff is seated at the bottom. The crier is in the act of adjourning +the court, exclaiming "_a demain_," showing that even in Ireland +Norman-French was still the language of law, and probably of courtesy. +The officer to the left, supposed to be the Second Remembrancer, holds a +parchment containing the words, "_Preceptum fuit Vice-comiti, per breve +hujus Scaccarii_." The Chief Remembrancer occupies himself with a pen +and an Exchequer roll, commencing "_Memorandum quod X deg. die Maij_," &c.; +while the Clerk of the Pipe prepares a writ, placed on his left knee, +his foot resting on the table. The Marshal of the Exchequer addresses +the usher, and holds a document inscribed, "_Exiit breve Vice-comiti_." +One of the judges exclaims, "_Soient forfez_;" another, _"Voyr dire_." +On the chequered-covered table, before the judges, are the Red Book, a +bag with rolls, the counters used for computation, and a document +commencing with the words, "_Ceo vous_," &c. The sheriff sits at the +bottom, wearing the leathern cap used by such officers when their +accounts were under examination in the Exchequer. Three suitors stand at +the right side of the picture. One, with uplifted hand, says, "_Oz de +brie_;" another, extending his arm, cries, "_Chalange_;" the third, with +sword at his side, laced boots, and ample sleeves, holds the thumb of +his left hand between the fore and middle finger of his right, and +exclaims, "_Soite oughte_." Thus affording us an interesting and +truthful picture of a law court in the fourteenth century. + +The crown revenues and customs were frequently pawned out to +associations of Italian money-lenders; and the "Ricardi" of Lucca, and +"Frescobaldi" of Florence, had agents in the principal towns in Ireland. +The royal treasure was deposited in the Castle, in a coffer with three +locks. The keys were confided to different persons, and no payment could +be made unless the three were present; still, as might be expected from +men, the sole object of whose lives appears to have been to enrich +themselves at the expense of others, the accounts were not always +satisfactory. Even the Viceroys were accused of conniving at and sharing +in frauds, notwithstanding the salary of L500 per annum and their other +emoluments, with the permission to levy provisions of all kinds for "the +king's price," which was far below the current value. + +The Castle garrison consisted of archers and halberdiers; the Constable, +Warders, and Guardian of Works and Supplies, being the principal +officers. The Constable was generally a nobleman of high rank, and +received an annual salary[343] of L18 5s. + +It will be remembered that Sir John Wogan had been appointed Viceroy at +the close of the thirteenth century. He brought about a two years' truce +between the Geraldines and Burkes (De Burgos), and then summoned a +Parliament at Kilkenny, A.D. 1295. The roll of this Parliament contains +only twenty-seven names. Richard, Earl of Ulster, is the first on the +list. The principal Acts passed were: one for revising King John's +division of the country into counties; another for providing a more +strict guard over the marches, so as to "keep out the Irish." The Irish +were not permitted to have any voice in the settlement of the affairs, +of their country, and it was a rebellious symptom if they demurred. +Nevertheless, in 1303, King Edward was graciously pleased to accept the +services of Irish soldiers, in his expedition against Scotland. It is +said that, in 1299, his army was composed principally of Welsh and +Irish, and that on this occasion they were royally feasted at Roxburgh +Castle. + +The O'Connors of Offaly were for nearly two centuries the most heroic, +and therefore the most dangerous, of the "Irish enemies." Maurice +O'Connor Faly and his brother, Calvagh, were the heads of the sept. The +latter had obtained the soubriquet of "the Great Rebel," from his +earnest efforts to free his country. He had defeated the English in a +battle, in which Meiller de Exeter and several others were slain; he had +taken the Castle of Kildare; therefore, as he could not be taken himself +by fair means, treachery was employed. + +The chiefs of Offaly were invited to dinner on Trinity Sunday, A.D. +1315, by Sir Pierce MacFeorais (Peter Bermingham). As they rose up from +table they were cruelly massacred, one by one, with twenty-four of their +followers. This black deed took place at Bermingham's own Castle of +Carbury,[344] county Kildare. Bermingham was arraigned before King +Edward, but no justice was ever obtained for this foul murder. + +In the year 1308, Piers Gaveston, the unworthy favourite of Edward II., +was appointed Viceroy. The English barons had long been disgusted by his +insolence, and jealous of his influence. He was banished to France--or +rather a decree to that effect was issued--but Ireland was substituted, +for it was considered a banishment to be sent to that country. Gaveston, +with his usual love of display, was attended by a magnificent suite, and +commenced his Viceroyalty in high state. He was accompanied by his wife, +Marguerite, who was closely connected with the royal family. + +The Templars had been suppressed and plundered by royal command; but +though this evil deed was accomplished without much trouble, there were +Irish clans whose suppression was not so easily effected. The O'Tooles +and O'Briens, styled by the Anglo-Normans "les Ototheyles et les +Obrynnes," stood their ground so well, that they had put the late +Viceroy to flight this very year, and promised some active employment +for his successor. + +Edward appears to have had apprehensions as to the kind of reception his +favourite was likely to receive from the powerful Earl of Ulster; he +therefore wrote him a special letter, requesting his aid and counsel for +the Viceroy. But De Burgo knew his own power too well; and instead of +complying with the royal request, he marched off to Drogheda, and then +to Trim, where he employed himself in giving sumptuous entertainments, +and conferring the honour of knighthood on his adherents. The favourite +was recalled to England at the end of a year. Edward had conducted him +to Bristol, on his way to Ireland; he now went to meet him at Chester, +on his return. Three years later he paid the forfeit of his head for all +these condescensions. + +In 1309 De Wogan was again appointed Governor. The exactions of the +nobles had risen to such a height, that some of their number began to +fear the effects would recoil on themselves. High food rates and fearful +poverty then existed, in consequence of the cruel exactions of the +Anglo-Normans on their own dependents. They lived frequently in their +houses, and quartered their soldiers and followers on them, without +offering them the smallest remuneration. A statute was now made which +pronounced these proceedings "open robbery," and accorded the right of +suit in such cases to the crown. But this enactment could only be a dead +letter. We have already seen how the crown dealt with the most serious +complaints of the natives; and even had justice been awarded to the +complainant, the right of eviction was in the hands of the nearest +noble, and the unfortunate tenant would have his choice between +starvation in the woods or marauding on the highways, having neither the +_dernier resort_ of a workhouse or emigration in that age. + +The Viceroy had abundant occupation suppressing the feuds both of the +Irish and the colonists. Civil war raged in Thomond, but the quarrels +between the Anglo-Norman settlers in the same province, appear to have +been more extensive and less easily appeased. In a note to the Annals of +Clonmacnois, MacGeoghegan observes, that "there reigned more +dissentions, strife, warrs, and debates between the Englishmen +themselves, in the beginning of the conquest of this kingdome, than +between the Irishmen; as by perusing the warrs between the Lacies of +Meath, John Coursey, Earle of Ulster, William Marshal, and the English +of Meath and Munster, Mac Gerald, the Burke, Butler, and Cogan, may +appear." + +The famous invasion of Ireland by Bruce took place on the 16th of May, +A.D. 1315. On that day Edward landed on the coast of Ulster, near +Carrickfergus, with six thousand men. He was attended by the heroes of +Bannockburn; and as a considerable number of native forces soon joined +them, the contingent was formidable. Although a few of the Irish had +assisted Edward II. in his war against Scotch independence, the +sympathies of the nation were with the cause of freedom; and they gladly +hailed the arrival of those who had delivered their own country, hoping +they would also deliver Ireland. It was proposed that Edward Bruce +should be made King of Ireland. The Irish chieftain, Donnell O'Neill, +King of Ulster, in union with the other princes of the province, wrote a +spirited but respectful remonstrance to the Holy See, on the part of the +nation, explaining why they were anxious to transfer the kingdom to +Bruce. + +In this document the remonstrants first state, simply and clearly, that +the Holy Father was deceived; that they were persuaded his intentions +were pure and upright; and that his Holiness only knew the Irish through +the misrepresentations of their enemies. They state their wish "to save +their country from foul and false imputations," and to give a correct +idea of their state. They speak, truthfully and mournfully, "of the sad +remains of a kingdom, which has groaned so long beneath the tyranny of +English kings, of their ministers and their barons;" and they add, "that +some of the latter, though born in the island, continued to exercise the +same extortions, rapine, and cruelties, as their ancestors inflicted." +They remind the Pontiff that "it is to Milesian princes, and not to the +English, that the Church is indebted for those lands and possessions of +which it has been stripped by the sacrilegious cupidity of the English." +They boldly assert "it was on the strength of false statements" that +Adrian transferred the sovereignty of the country to Henry II, "the +probable murderer of St. Thomas a Becket." Details are then given of +English oppression, to some of which we have already referred. They +state the people have been obliged to take refuge, "like beasts, in the +mountains, in the woods, marshes, and caves. Even _there_ we are not +safe. They envy us these desolate abodes." They contrast the engagements +made by Henry to the Church, and his fair promises, with the grievous +failure in their fulfilment. They give clear details of the various +enactments made by the English, one of which merits special attention, +as an eternal refutation of the false and base charge against the Irish +of having refused to accept English laws, because they were a lawless +race. They state (1) "that no Irishman who is not a prelate can take the +law against an Englishman, but every Englishman may take the law against +an Irishman." (2) That any Englishman may kill an Irishman, "falsely and +perfidiously, _as often happened_, of whatsoever rank, innocent or +guilty, and yet he cannot be brought before the English tribunals; and +further, that the English murderer can seize the property of his +victim." When such was the state of Ireland, as described calmly in an +important document still extant, we cannot be surprised that the people +eagerly sought the slightest hope of redress, or the merest chance of +deliverance from such oppression.[345] In conclusion, the Irish princes +inform his Holiness, "that in order to obtain their object the more +speedily and securely, they had invited the gallant Edward Bruce, to +whom, being descended from their most noble ancestors, they had +transferred, as they justly might, their own right of royal domain." + +A few years later Pope John wrote a letter to Edward III., in which he +declares that the object of Pope Adrian's Bull had been entirely +neglected, and that the "most unheard-of miseries and persecutions had +been inflicted on the Irish." He recommends that monarch to adopt a very +different policy, and to remove the causes of complaint, "lest it might +be too late hereafter to apply a remedy, when the spirit of revolt had +grown stronger." + +The accounts of Bruce's Irish campaign have not been very clearly given. +The Four Masters mention it briefly, notwithstanding its importance; the +fullest account is contained in the Annals of Clonmacnois, which agree +with the Annals of Connaught. Dundalk, Ardee, and some other places in +the north, were taken in rapid succession, and a good supply of victuals +and wine was obtained from the former place. The Viceroy, Sir Edmund le +Botiller, marched to attack the enemy; but the proud Earl of Ulster +refused his assistance, and probably the Justiciary feared to offend him +by offering to remain. Meanwhile, Felim, King of Connaught, who had +hitherto been an ally of the Red Earl, came over to the popular side; +and the English forces suffered a defeat at Connor, in which William de +Burgo and several knights were taken prisoners. This battle was fought +on the 10th of September, according to Grace's Annals, and the battle of +Dundalk on the 29th of July. + +After the battle of Connor, the Earl of Ulster fled to Connaught, where +he remained a year; the remainder of his forces shut themselves up in +Carrickfergus. Bruce was proclaimed King of Ireland, and marched +southward to pursue his conquests. The Earl of Moray was sent to +Edinburgh to invite King Robert over, and the Scotch armies prepared to +spend the winter with the De Lacys in Westmeath. + +When the Christmas festivities were concluded, Bruce again took the +field, and defeated the Viceroy at Ardscull, in the co. Kildare, In the +month of February some of the chief nobles of the English colony met in +Dublin, and signed a manifesto, in which they denounced the traitorous +conduct of the Scotch enemy, in trying to wrest Ireland from their Lord, +"Monsieur Edward," taking special care to herald forth their own praises +for loyalty, and to hint at the compensation which might be required for +the same. + +But the Irish were again their own enemies; and to their miserable +dissensions, though it can never justify the cruelties of their +oppressors, must be attributed most justly nearly all their misfortunes. +Had the Irish united against the invaders, there can be no doubt that, +with the assistance of the Scotch army, they would have obtained a +complete and glorious victory, though it may be doubtful whether any +really beneficial results would have accrued to the country should +disunion continue. When Felim O'Connor joined Bruce, Rory O'Connor and +his clan commenced depredations on his territory. Felim returned to give +him battle, and defeated him with terrible slaughter. Thus men and time +were lost in useless and ignoble strife. Rory was slain in this +engagement--a fate he richly merited; and Felim was once more free to +fight for his country. He was joined by the O'Briens of Thomond, and +they marched together to attack Athenry, which was defended by Burke and +Bermingham. A fierce conflict ensued. The Irish fought with their usual +valour; but English coats-of-mail were proof against their attacks, and +English cross-bows mowed down their ranks. + +The brave young Felim was slain, with 11,000 of his followers; and the +Irish cause was irretrievably injured, perhaps more by the death of the +leader than by the loss of the men. This disaster took place on the 10th +of August, 1316. + +Still the Irish were not daunted. The O'Tooles and O'Byrnes rose in +Wicklow, the O'Mores in Leix. Robert Bruce came over to Ireland. The +Franciscan friars, always devoted to their country, made themselves +specially obnoxious by encouraging their countrymen to die in defence of +their country. They were threatened and cajoled by turns, but with +little effect.[346] Edward Bruce again appeared before Carrickfergus. +The siege was protracted until September, when Robert Bruce arrived, and +found the English so hard pressed, that they ate hides, and fed on the +bodies of eight Scots whom they had made prisoners.[347] In the year +1317, the Scottish army was computed at 20,000 men, besides their Irish +auxiliaries. After Shrovetide, King Robert and his brother crossed the +Boyne, and marched to Castleknock, near Dublin, where they took Hugh +Tyrrell prisoner, and obtained possession of the fortress. There was no +little fear in Dublin Castle thereupon, for the Anglo-Normans distrusted +each other. And well they might. The De Lacys had solemnly pledged their +fidelity, yet they were now found under the standard of Bruce. Even De +Burgo was suspected; for his daughter, Elizabeth, was the wife of the +Scottish King. When the invading army approached Dublin, he was seized +and confined in the Castle. It will be remembered that Dublin had been +more than once peopled by the citizens of Bristol. They were naturally +in the English interest, and disposed to offer every resistance. They +fortified Dublin so strongly, even at the expense of burning the suburbs +and pulling down churches, that Bruce deemed it more prudent to avoid an +encounter, and withdrew towards the Salmon Leap; from whence he led his +forces southward as far as Limerick, without encountering any serious +opposition. + +But a reverse was even then at hand. An Anglo-Irish army was formed, +headed by the Earl of Kildare; famine added its dangers; and on the 1st +of May Robert Bruce returned to Scotland, leaving his brother, Edward, +with the Earl of Moray, to contend, as best they could, against the +twofold enemy. In 1318 a good harvest relieved the country in some +measure from one danger; two Cardinals were despatched from Rome to +attempt to release it from the other. On the 14th October, in the same +year, the question was finally decided. An engagement took place at +Faughard, near Dundalk. On the one side was the Scotch army, headed by +Bruce, and assisted (from what motive it is difficult to determine) by +the De Lacys and other Anglo-Norman lords; on the other side, the +English army, commanded by Lord John Bermingham. The numbers on each +side have been differently estimated; but it is probable the death of +Edward Bruce was the turning point of the conflict. He was slain by a +knight named John Maupas, who paid for his valour with his life. +Bermingham obtained the Earldom of Louth and the manor of Ardee as a +reward for Bruce's head; and the unfortunate Irish were left to their +usual state of chronic resistance to English oppression. The head of the +Scottish chieftain was "salted in a chest," and placed unexpectedly, +with other heads, at a banquet, before Edward II. The English King +neither swooned nor expressed surprise; but the Scotch ambassadors, who +were present, rushed horror-stricken from the apartment. The King, +however, was "right blyth," and glad to be delivered so easily of a +"felon foe." John de Lacy and Sir Robert de Coulragh, who had assisted +the said "felon," paid dearly for their treason; and as they were +Anglo-Normans, and subjects of the English crown, the term was justly +applied to them, however cruel the sentence. They were starved to death +in prison, "on three morsels of the worst bread, and three draughts of +foul water on alternate days, until life became extinct." + +Since this chapter was written, Mr. O'Flanagan has kindly presented me +with his valuable _History of Dundalk_, from which I am permitted to +make the following extracts, which throw much additional light upon the +subject:--[348] + +"'In the ninth year of King Edward's reign,' writes Hollinshed, 'Edward +Bruce, brother to Robert Bruce, King of Scots, entered the north part of +Ireland, with 6,000 men. There were with him divers captains of high +renown among the Scottish nation, of whom were these:--The Earls of +Murray and Monteith, the Lord John Stewart, the Lord John Campbell, the +Lord Thomas Randolf, Fergus of Ardrossan, John Wood, and John Bisset. +They landed near to Cragfergus, in Ulster, and joining with the Irish (a +large force of whom was led out by Fellim, son of Hugh O'Conor). Thus +assisted, he conquered the Earldom of Ulster, and gave the English there +divers great overthrows, took the town of Dundalk, spoiled and burned +it, with a great part of Orgiel. They burned churches and abbeys, with +the people whom they found in the same, sparing neither man, woman, nor +child. Then was the Lord Butler chosen Lord Justice, who made the Earl +of Ulster and the Geraldines friends, and reconciled himself with Sir +John Mandeville, thus seeking to preserve the residue of the realm which +Edward Bruce meant wholly to conquer, having caused himself to be +crowned King of Ireland.' + +"Dundalk was heretofore the stronghold of the English power, and the +head-quarters of the army for the defence of the Pale. At the north, as +Barbour preserves in his metrical history of Robert Bruce: + + "'At Kilsaggart Sir Edward lay, + And wellsom he has heard say + That at Dundalk was assembly + Made of the lords of that country.' + +"It was not, however, within this town that the ceremony of Bruce's +coronation took place, but, according to the best avouched tradition, on +the hill of Knock-na-Melin, at half a mile's distance. + +"Connaught the while was torn with dissensions and family feuds, of +which availing himself, 'the Lord Justice' (to resume the narrative of +Hollinshed) 'assembled a great power out of Munster and Leinster, and +other parts thereabouts; and the Earl of Ulster, with another army, came +in unto him near unto Dundalk. There they consulted together how to deal +in defending the country against the enemies; but, hearing the Scots +were withdrawn back, the Earl of Ulster followed them, and, fighting +with them at "Coiners," he lost the field. There were many slain on both +parts; and William de Burgh, the Earl's brother, Sir John Mandeville, +and Sir Alan FitzAlan were taken prisoners.' Bruce's adherents +afterwards ravaged other parts of the Pale, Meath, Kildare, &c., but met +with much, resistance. At length 'Robert le Bruce, King of Scots, came +over himself, landed at Cragfergus, to the aid of his brother, whose +soldiers most wickedly entered into churches, spoiling and defacing the +same of all such tombs, monuments, plate, copes, and other ornaments +which they found and might lay hands on.' Ultimately 'the Lord John +Bermingham, being general of the field, and having with him divers +captains of worthy fame, namely--Sir Richard Tuiyte, Sir Miles Verdon, +Sir John Cusack, Sirs Edmund, and William, and Walter Bermingham, the +Primate of Armagh, Sir Walter de la Pulle, and John Maupas (with some +choice soldiers from Drogheda), led forth the King's power to the number +of 1,324 able men, against Edward Bruce, who had, with his adherents +(the Lord Philip Moubray, the Lord Walter Soulis, the Lord Allan Stuart, +with three brothers, Sir Walter Lacy, Sir Robert and Aumar Lacy, John +Kermerelyn, Walter White, and about 3,000 others, writes Pembridge), +encamped, not two miles from Dundalk, with 3,000 men, there abiding the +Englishmen to fight with them if they came forward, which they did with +all convenient speed, being as desirous to give battle as the Scots were +to receive it. The Primate of Armagh, personally accompanying the +English power, and blessing the enterprise, gave them such comfortable +exhortation as he thought served the time ere they began to encounter, +and herewith buckling together, at length the Scots fully and wholly +were vanquished, and 2,000 of them slain, together with the Captain, +Edward Bruce. Maupas, that pressed into the throng to encounter with +Bruce hand to hand, was found, in the search, dead, aloft upon the slain +body of Bruce. The victory thus obtained, upon St. Calixtus' day, made +an end of the Scottish kingdom in Ireland; and Lord Bermingham, sending +the head of Bruce into England, presented it to King Edward, who, in +recompense, gave him and his heirs male the Earldom of Louth, and the +Baronies of Ardee and Athenry to him and his heirs general for ever,' as +hereafter noticed. + +"'Edward Bruce,' say the Four Masters, 'a man who spoiled Ireland +generally, both English and Irish, was slain by the English, by force of +battle and bravery, at Dundalk; and MacRory, Lord of the Hebrides, +MacDonell, Lord of the Eastern Gael (in Antrim), and many others of the +Albanian or Scottish chiefs were also slain; and no event occurred in +Ireland for a long period from which so much benefit was derived as +that, for a general famine prevailed in the country during the three +years and a half he had been in it, and the people were almost reduced +to the necessity of eating each other.' Edward Bruce was, however, +unquestionably a man of great spirit, ambition, and bravery, but fiery, +rash, and impetuous, wanting that rare combination of wisdom and valour +which so conspicuously marked the character of his illustrious brother. + +"During the sojourn of Edward Bruce in this kingdom, he did much to +retard the spread of English rule. Having for allies many of the +northern Irish, whose chieftain, O'Neill, invited him to be King over +the Gael in Ireland, and whose neighbourhood to the Scottish coast made +them regard his followers as their fellow-countrymen, he courted them on +all occasions, and thus the Irish customs of gossipred and +fostering--preferring the Brehon laws to statute law, whether enacted at +Westminster or by the Parliaments of the Pale--destroyed all traces of +the rule which the English wished to impose upon the province of Ulster. +Many of the English settlers--Hugh de Lacy, John Lord Bissett, Sir Hugh +Bissett, and others--openly took part with Bruce. + +"The eastern shores of Ulster, Spenser informs us, previous to Bruce's +arrival, bounded a well-inhabited and prosperous English district, +having therein the good towns of Knockfergus, Belfast, Armagh, and +Carlingford; but in process of time became 'outbounds and abandoned +places in the English Pale.' According to the metrical history of +Barbour, Edward Bruce was by no means disposed to continue a subject, +while his brother reigned King; and, though Robert conferred his +hereditary Earldom of Carrick upon him, it by no means satisfied his +ambitious projects:-- + + "'The Erle of Carrick, Schyr Eduward, + That stouter was than a libbard, + And had na will to be in pess, + Thoucht that Scotland to litill was + Till his brother and hym alsua, + Therefor to purpose he gav ta + That he of Irland wold be king.' + +"Shortly after his landing at Carrickfergus he proceeded towards the +Pale. Dundalk, then the principal garrison within the Pale, had all the +Englishry of the country assembled in force to defend it, when the Scots +proceeded to the attack, 'with banners all displayit.' The English sent +out a reconnoitering party, who brought back the cheering news, the +Scots would be but 'half a dinner' to them. This dinner, however, was +never eaten. The town was stormed with such vigour that the streets +flowed with the blood of the defenders; and such as could escape fled +with the utmost precipitancy, leaving their foes profusion of victuals +and great abundance of wine. This assault took place 29th June, 1315. It +was upon this success the Scots crowned Edward Bruce King of Ireland, on +the hill of Knocknamelan, near Dundalk, in the same simple national +manner in which his brother had been inaugurated at Scone. + +"The new monarch, however, was not disposed to rest inactive, and his +troops had many skirmishes with Richard de Burgh, called the Red Earl of +Ulster, who drove them as far as Coleraine. There they were in great +distress; and they would have suffered much from hunger and want, had +not a famous pirate, Thomas of Down, or Thomas Don, sailed up the Bann +and set them free. De Burgh's army were supplied with provisions from a +distance; and one of Bruce's famous leaders, named Randolph, Earl of +Murray, who commanded the left wing at Bannockburn, having surprised the +convoy on its way to De Burgh's camp, equipped his men in the clothes of +the escort, advanced at dusk with his cavalry, and the banner of the +English flaunting in the night wind. A large party of De Burgh's force, +perceiving, as they thought, the approach of the expected provisions, +advanced unguardedly to drive off the cattle, when they were vigorously +assailed by the Scots, shouting their war-cry, and they were chased back +with the loss of a thousand slain. De Burgh's army included all the +chivalry of Ireland--that is, the English portion, viz.:--'The Butlers, +earls two, of Kildare and Desmond; Byrnhame (Bermingham), Widdan +(Verdon), and FitzWaryne, and Schyr Paschall off Florentyne, a Knight of +Lombardy; with the Mandvillas, Bissetts, Logans, Savages, and Schyr +Nycholl off Kilkenave.' _The Ulster Journal_ thinks this list of +Barbour's incorrect; certainly Sir Edmond Butler was not among them, nor +probably either of the Geraldine lords. Some lords of Munster, however, +were present--Power, Baron of Donisle; Sir George Lord Roche, and Sir +Roger Hollywood, of county Meath. + +"On the 10th September, A.D. 1315, De Burgh, being reinforced, marched +to attack Bruce's position; but the Scots, leaving their banners flying +to deceive the Anglo-Irish, fell upon their flank and gained the +victory. This gave them Coleraine; and next day they bore off a great +store of corn, flour, wax, and wine, to Carrickfergus. + +"This success gave to the Gael of the north an opportunity of declaring +their exultation. Bruce, whose royal authority was previously confined +to his Scottish troops, was proclaimed King of Ireland, and addressed as +such. + +"He then sent the Earl of Murray to Edinburgh, where the King of +Scotland kept his court, entreating him to join him in Ireland. + + "'For war thai both in to that land + Thai suld find nane culd thaim withstand.' + +"Robert gladly promised compliance, but was for some time prevented by +the exigencies of his own kingdom. Murray returned with a small +reinforcement, but 500 men, and landed at Dundalk, where Edward Bruce +met him. This was in the December of 1315. + +"In January, 1316, Edward Bruce led his forces into the county of +Kildare, and was stoutly opposed by the Lord Justiciary, or Viceroy, Sir +Edward Butler, who, backed by the Geraldines, under John Fitzgerald, +first Earl of Kildare, bravely repulsed the invaders. They retreated +with the loss of Sir Walter Murray and Sir Fergus of Ardrossan, with +seventy men, as Clyn records. A new ally for the Palesmen arrived at +this juncture--Mortimer, Lord of Meath, in right of his wife, Joan de +Joinville. He assembled a large force, and endeavoured to intercept the +Scots at Kells, but, on the eve of the onset, was deserted by the Lacys +and others, who left him almost defenceless. The season and scarcity +made war against the Scots, and vast numbers perished from hunger. Bruce +was forced to retreat once more northward, where his chief adherents +lay. The citadel of Carrickfergus resisted the attacks of Bruce's army +for a year. It was in this town that (probably in September, 1316) +Robert, King of Scotland, with a strong force, came to his brother's +help. Barbour gives the number who accompanied Robert at 5,000. This was +enough to make the Viceroy take heed for his government. He hasted, +Barbour says: + + "'To Dewellyne, in full gret by, + With othyr lordis that fled him by, + And warnysit both castyls and towness + That war in their possessionnys.' + +"The stout defence of Dublin is already mentioned; and, as on the fate +of this metropolis the duration of English rule depended in Ireland, the +public spirit and intrepidity of the citizens of Dublin ought, according +to Lord Hailes, be held in perpetual remembrance. The citizens took the +defence of the city into their own hands. The chief civic dignity was at +that time most worthily borne by Robert Nottingham, who seems to have +distanced the celebrated Sir Richard Whittington considerably, being +_seventeen times_ Mayor of Dublin. Knowing the close connexion between +the Earl of Ulster and the Bruces (he was father of the Queen of Scots), +the Mayor headed a strong band of citizens, and resolved to make him a +hostage for the safety of the city. This was not effected without loss +of life. The Mayor succeeded, and announced 'he would put the earl to +death if the city was attacked.' This prompt step had the desired +effect. Robert Bruce feared to risk his father-in-law's life, and, +instead of entering the city, turned aside and encamped. Time was +gained, of which the citizens promptly availed themselves. That night +the blazing suburbs told they were ready to anticipate the fire of +Moscow, rather than allow their invaders to possess their capital. They +also worked so hard to strengthen the walls, that the Scots, seeing such +determination, broke up their camp and retired. The value set upon the +earl as a hostage was so great, that, although the King of England +instantly wrote for his liberation, he was detained until the Scots left +the kingdom. + +"Disappointed in their efforts on Dublin, the Scots ravaged the Pale, +burned Naas, plundered Castledermot, passed on to Gowran, and advanced +to Callan; thence they went to Limerick. Sir Edmond Butler followed with +an army of 30,000 well-armed men; but, at the express desire of Roger +Mortimer, Earl of March, the Lord Deputy, who was himself desirous of +having the command against the King of Scots, delayed the encounter. + +"Mortimer did not accomplish this; for, shortly after, Robert hastened +to his own kingdom, leaving a great number of his bravest knights to +carry on the war for his brother. Edward continued in the north for +several months, and once more proceeded south. + + "'For he had not then in that land + Of all men, I trow, two thousand, + Owtane (except) the Kings of Irischery + That in great route raid him by, + Towart Dundalk he tuk the way.' + +"When the Viceroy was aware of the advance of the Scots towards the +Pale, he assembled a great army, said to amount to '20,000 trappit +horse,' and an equal number of foot. + +"The approach of this immensely superior force did not dishearten the +brother of the lion-hearted King of Scotland. He declared he would fight +were they sixfold more numerous. + +"In vain his officers and allies counselled caution; in vain the Irish +chiefs recommended him to avoid a pitched battle, and harass the enemy +by skirmishing. Edward indignantly bade them 'draw aside, and look on,' +which Barbour declares they did. A very interesting account on the +battle on St. Callixtus' day is given in the _Ulster Archaeological +Journal_. The battle was on Sunday, 14th October, 1318. According to +Barbour, Edward Bruce had a presentiment of his death, and would not use +his usual coat-armour. The legend is, that having the idea the fall of +King Edward Bruce would decide the battle, Sir John Bermingham, leader +of the Anglo-Irish army, disguised himself as a friar, passed into the +Scottish camp, and, being shown the king, who was hearing Mass, craved +alms, so as to induce Bruce to look up from his prayer-book. This gave +Bermingham the opportunity of marking well his face, in order to single +him out in the fray. The king ordered relief to be given to the +importunate friar; but the eager glance of the intrusive applicant so +disquieted him--agitated, doubtless, from the idea of his small force +being about to engage at such desperate odds--that he presently caused +the attendants to look for the friar, but he was nowhere to be found. +This caused him to array one Gib Harper in his armour, and appoint Lord +Alan Stewart general of the field. The fight commenced with a rapid +charge on the Scots by the Anglo-Irish under Bermingham. With him were +divers lords and a great army. The force was chiefly composed, however, +of yeomanry, or, as an ancient record says, 'the common people, with a +powerful auxiliary _dextram Dei_.' Bermingham, believing Lord Stewart +was Bruce, singled him out, and, after a terrible combat, slew him, +whereon the Scots fled. According to the _Howth Chronicle_, few escaped, +their loss being 1,230 men. Bruce's death is generally ascribed to John +Mapas, one of the Drogheda contingent. The _Ulster Journal_ +states:--'There can be little doubt that the ancient Anglo-Irish family +of "Mape," of Maperath, in the shire of Meath, was descended from this +distinguished slayer of Edward Bruce.' The heiress of John Mapas, Esq., +of Rochestown, county of Dublin, was married to the late Richard Wogan +Talbot, Esq., of Malahide. After the defeat at Dundalk, the small +remnant of the Scottish invaders yet alive fled northward, where they +met a body of troops sent by King Robert as a reinforcement to his +brother. They could not make head against the victorious troops of +Bermingham, so they made their way to the coast, burning and destroying +the country through which they passed." + + +[Illustration: BUTLER'S TOMB, FRIARY CHURCH, CLONMEL.] + +[Illustration: CARRICKFERGUS.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[337] _Crime_.--We really must enter a protest against the way in which +Irish history is written by some English historians. In Wright's +_History of Ireland_ we find the following gratuitous assertion offered +to excuse De Clare's crime: "Such a refinement of cruelty _must_ have +arisen from a suspicion of treachery, or from some other grievous +offence with which we are not acquainted." If all the dark deeds of +history are to be accounted for in this way, we may bid farewell to +historical justice. And yet this work, which is written in the most +prejudiced manner, has had a far larger circulation in Ireland than Mr. +Haverty's truthful and well-written history. When Irishmen support such +works, they must not blame their neighbours across the Channel for +accepting them as truthful histories. + +[338] _Shooting_.--Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 435. These champions +appear to have been very famous. They are mentioned in the Annals of +Ulster and in the Annals of Clonmacnois, with special commendations for +their skill. The following year O'Dowda was killed by Adam Cusack. It is +hoped that he is not the same person as "the Cusack" whom he had +assisted just before. + +[339] _Horses_.--As votaries of the turf maybe interested in knowing the +appellations of equine favourites in the thirteenth century, we subjoin +a sample of their names: Lynst, Jourdan, Feraunt de Trim, Blanchard de +Londres, Connetable, Obin the Black, &c. + +[340] _Progress_.--The following passage is taken from a work published +a few years ago. It is not a work of any importance, but it had some +circulation in its day; and like many other works then published, was +calculated to do immense mischief, by quoting the false statements of +Cambrensis as authority, and by giving grotesque sketches of Irish +character, which were equally untrue. The writer says: "They [the Irish +chieftains] opposed the introduction of English law, because they had a +direct interest in encouraging murder and theft." The fact was, as we +have shown, that the Irish did their best to obtain the benefit of +English law; but the English nobles who ruled Ireland would not permit +it, unquestionably "because _they_ had a direct interest encouraging +murder and theft." + +[341] _Calculating_.--We derived the word from _calculus_, a white +stone, the Romans having used small white stones for arithmetical +purposes. Probably they taught this custom to the aboriginal English, +whose descendants retained it long after. + +[342] _Notched_.--Quite as primitive an arrangement as the _quipus_, and +yet used in a condition of society called civilized. + +[343] _Salary_.--The value may be estimated by the current price of +provisions: cows from 5s. to 13s. 4d. each; heifers, 3s. 4d. to 5s.; +sheep, 8d. to 1s.; ordinary horses, 13s. 4d. to 40s.; pigs, 1s. 6d. to +2s.; salmon, 6d. each; wheat, corn, and malt varied with the produce of +the season. Most of the details given above have been taken from Mr. +Gilbert's _Viceroys_. + +[344] _Carbury_.--Extensive ruins still mark the site. + +[345] _Oppression_.--The original Latin is preserved by Fordun. +Translations may be found in the Abbe MacGeoghegan's _History of +Ireland_, p. 323, and in Plowden's _Historical Review_. We append one +clause, in which these writers complain of the corruption of manners +produced by intercourse with the English settlers: "Quod sancta et +columbina ejus simplicitas, ex eorum cohabitatione et exemplo reprobo, +in serpentinam calliditatem mirabiliter est mutata." + +[346] _Effect_.--See Theiner, _Vet. Man. Hiber. et Scot._ p. 188, for +the efforts made by the Holy See to procure peace. The Pope's letter to +Edward III. will be found at p. 206. It is dated _Avinione, iii. Kal. +Junii, Pontificatus nostri anno secundo._ + +[347] _Prisoners_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 138. + +[348] _Subject.--History of Dundalk_, pp. 46-58. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The Butlers--Quarrels of the Anglo-Norman Nobles--Treachery and its +Consequences--The Burkes proclaim themselves Irish--Opposition +Parliaments--The Statute of Kilkenny and its Effects--Mistakes of +English Writers--Social Life in Ireland described by a French +Knight--"Banishment" to Ireland--Richard II. visits Ireland. + +[A.D. 1326-1402.] + + +Richard de Burgo, the Red Earl, died in 1326. He took leave of the +nobles after a magnificent banquet at Kilkenny. When he had resigned his +possessions to his grandson, William, he retired into the Monastery of +Athassel, where he expired soon after. In the same year Edward II. +attempted to take refuge in Ireland, from the vengeance of his people +and his false Queen, the "she-wolf of France." He failed in his attempt, +and was murdered soon after--A.D. 1327. + +The Butler family now appear prominently in Irish history for the first +time. It would appear from Carte[349] that the name was originally +Walter, Butler being an addition distinctive of office. The family was +established in Ireland by Theobald Walter (Gaultier), an Anglo-Norman of +high rank, who received extensive grants of land from Henry II., +together with the hereditary office of "Pincerna," Boteler, or Butler, +in Ireland, to the Kings of England. In this capacity he and his +successors were to attend these monarchs at their coronation, and +present them, with the first cup of wine. In return they obtained many +privileges. On account of the quarrels between this family and the De +Burgos, De Berminghams, Le Poers, and the southern Geraldines, royal +letters were issued, commanding them, under pain of forfeiture, to +desist from warring on each other. The result was a meeting of the +factious peers in Dublin, at which they engaged to keep the "King's +peace." On the following day they were entertained by the Earl of +Ulster; the next day, at St. Patrick's, by Maurice FitzThomas; and the +third day by the Viceroy and his fellow Knights Hospitallers, who had +succeeded the Templars at Kilmainham. The Earldoms of Ormonde[350] and +Desmond were now created. The heads of these families long occupied an +important place in Irish affairs. Butler died on his return from a +pilgrimage to Compostella, and was succeeded by his eldest son, +Jacques--"a liberal, friendly, pleasant, and stately youth"--who was +married this year to King Edward's cousin, Eleanor, daughter of the Earl +of Essex. The Desmond peerage was created in 1329, when the County +Palatine[351] of Kerry was given to that family. + +The quarrels of these nobles seemed to have originated, or rather to +have culminated, in an insulting speech made by Poer to FitzGerald, whom +he designated a "rhymer." The "King's peace" did not last long; and in +1330 the Lord Justice was obliged to imprison both Desmond and Ulster, +that being the only method in which they could be "bound over to keep +the peace." The following year Sir Anthony de Lucy was sent to Ireland, +as he had a reputation for summary justice. He summoned a Parliament in +Dublin; but as the barons did not condescend to attend, he adjourned it +to Kilkenny. This arrangement also failed to procure their presence. He +seized Desmond, who had been placed in the care of the Sheriff of +Limerick, and conveyed him to Dublin Castle. Several other nobles were +arrested at the same time. Sir William Bermingham was confined with his +son in the Keep of Dublin Castle, which still bears his name. He was +hanged there soon after. De Lucy was recalled to England, probably in +consequence of the indignation which was excited by this execution.[352] + +The years 1333 and 1334 were disgraced by fearful crimes, in which the +English and Irish equally participated. In the former year the Earl of +Ulster seized Walter de Burgo, and starved him to death in the Green +Castle of Innishowen. The sister of the man thus cruelly murdered was +married to Sir Richard Mandeville, and she urged her husband to avenge +her brother's death. Mandeville took the opportunity of accompanying the +Earl with some others to hear Mass at Carrickfergus,[353] and killed him +as he was fording a stream. The young Earl's death was avenged by his +followers, who slew 300 men. His wife, Maud, fled to England with her +only child, a daughter, named Elizabeth,[354] who was a year old. The +Burkes of Connaught, who were the junior branch of the family, fearing +that she would soon marry again, and transfer the property to other +hands, immediately seized the Connaught estates, declared themselves +independent of English law, and renounced the English language and +customs. They were too powerful to be resisted with impunity; and while +the ancestor of the Clanrickardes assumed the Irish title of Mac William +_Oughter_, or the Upper, Edmund Burke, the progenitor of the Viscounts +of Mayo, took the appellation of Mac William _Eighter_, or the Lower. +This was not the last time when English settlers identified themselves, +not merely from policy, but even from inclination, with the race whom +they had once hated and oppressed. + +In 1334 the English and Irish marched into Munster to attack MacNamara, +and added the guilt of sacrilege to their other crimes, by burning a +church, with 180 persons and two priests in it, none of whom were +permitted to escape. Another outrage was committed by the settlers, who +appear to have been quite as jealous of each others property as the +Irish clans; for we find that one Edmund Burke drowned another of the +same name in Lough Mask, and, as usual a war ensued between the +partisans of each family. After a sanguinary struggle, Turlough O'Connor +drove the murderer out of the province. But this prince soon after +ruined himself by his wickedness. He married Burke's widow, and put away +his own lawful wife; from which it may be concluded that he had avenged +the crime either from love of this woman, or from a desire to possess +himself of her husband's property. His immoral conduct alienated the +other chieftains, and after three years' war he was deposed. + +Edward had thrown out some hints of an intended visit to Ireland, +probably to conceal his real purpose of marching to Scotland. Desmond +was released on bail in 1333, after eighteen months' durance, and +repaired with some troops to assist the King at Halidon Hill. Soon after +we find him fighting in Kerry, while the Earl of Kildare was similarly +occupied in Leinster. In 1339 twelve hundred Kerry men were slain in one +battle. The Anglo-Norman, FitzNicholas, was among the number of +prisoners. He died in prison soon after. This gentleman, on one +occasion, dashed into the assize court at Tralee, and killed Dermod, the +heir of the MacCarthy More, as he sat with the judge on the bench. As +MacCarthy was Irish, the crime was suffered to pass without further +notice. + +In 1341 Edward took sweeping measures for a general reform of the +Anglo-Norman lords, or, more probably, he hoped, by threats of such +measures, to obtain subsidies for his continental wars. The colonists, +however, were in possession, and rather too powerful to brook such +interference. Sir John Morris was sent over to carry the royal plans +into execution; but though he took prompt and efficient measures, the +affair turned out a complete failure. The lords refused to attend his +Parliament, and summoned one of their own, in which they threw the blame +of maladministration on the English officials sent over from time to +time to manage Irish affairs. They also protested strongly against the +new arrangement, which proposed that all the offices then held in +Ireland should be filled by Englishmen having no personal interest +whatever in Ireland. The certainty that they would have a personal +interest in it the very moment there was a chance of bettering their +fortunes thereby, appears to have been quite overlooked. The settlers, +therefore were allowed to continue their career as before, and felt all +the secure for their effectual resistance of the royal interference. + +In 1334 Sir Ralph Ufford, who had married Maud Plantagenet, the widow of +the Earl of Ulster, was appointed Justiciary of Ireland. He commenced +with a high hand, and endeavoured especially to humble the Desmonds. The +Earl refused to attend the Parliament, and assembled one of his own at +Callan; but the new Viceroy marched into Leinster with an armed force, +seized his lands, farmed them out for the benefit of the crown, got +possession of the strongholds of Castleisland and Inniskisty in Kerry, +and hanged Sir Eustace Poer, Sir William Grant, and Sir John Cottrell, +who commanded these places, on the charge of illegal exactions of coigne +and livery.[355] The Viceroy also contrived to get the Earl of Kildare +into his power; and it is probable that his harsh measures would have +involved England in an open war with her colony and its English +settlers, had not his sudden death put an end to his summary exercise of +justice. + +It is said that his wife, Maud, who could scarcely forget the murder of +her first husband, urged him on to many of these violent acts; and it +was remarked, that though she had maintained a queenly state on her +first arrival in Ireland, she was obliged to steal away from that +country, with Ufford's remains enclosed in a leaden coffin, in which her +treasure was concealed. Her second husband was buried near her first, in +the Convent of Poor Clares, at Camposey, near Ufford, in Suffolk. + +The Black Death broke out in Ireland in the year 1348. The annalists +give fearful accounts of this visitation. It appeared in Dublin first, +and so fatal were its effects, that four thousand souls are said +to have perished there from August to Christmas. It was remarked +that this pestilence attacked the English specially, while the +"Irish-born"--particularly those who lived in the mountainous parts of +the country--escaped its ravages. We have already mentioned the account +of this calamity given by Friar Clynn, who fell a victim to the plague +himself, soon after he had recorded his mournful forebodings. Several +other pestilences, more or less severe, visited the country at intervals +during the next few years. + +Lionel, the third son of Edward III., who, it will be remembered, was +Earl of Ulster in right of his wife, Isabella, was now appointed +Viceroy. He landed in Dublin, on the 15th September, 1360, with an army +of one thousand men. From the first moment of his arrival he exercised +the most bitter hostility to the Irish, and enhanced the invidious +distinction between the English by birth and the English by descent. +Long before his arrival, the "mere Irishman" was excluded from the +offices of mayor, bailiff, or officer in any town within the English +dominions, as well as from all ecclesiastical promotion. Lionel carried +matters still further, for he forbid any "Irish by birth to come near +his army." But he soon found that he could not do without soldiers, even +should they have the misfortune to be Irish; and as a hundred of his +best men were killed soon after this insulting proclamation, he was +graciously pleased to allow all the King's subjects to assist him in his +war against the enemy. He soon found it advisable to make friends with +the colonists, and obtained the very substantial offering of two years' +revenue of their lands, as a return for his condescension. + +In 1367 the Viceroy returned to England, but he was twice again +intrusted with office in Ireland. During the last period of his +administration, he held the memorable Parliament at Kilkenny, wherein +the famous "Statute of Kilkenny" was enacted. This statute is another +proof of the fatal policy pursued towards the Irish, and of the almost +judicial blindness which appears to have prevented the framers of it, +and the rulers of that unfortunate nation, from perceiving the folly or +the wickedness of such enactments. + +It was a continuance of the old policy. The natives of the country were +to be trampled down, if they could not be trampled out; the English and +Irish were to be kept for ever separate, and for ever at variance. How, +then, could the Irish heart ever beat loyally towards the English +sovereign? How could the Irish people ever become an integral portion of +the British Empire? Pardon me for directing your attention specially to +this statute. It will explain to you that the Irish were not allowed to +be loyal; it will excuse them if they have sometimes resented such cruel +oppressions by equally cruel massacres and burnings--if they still +remembered these wrongs with that statute before them, and the +unfortunate fact that its enactments were virtually continued for +centuries. + +This statute enacts (1) that any alliance with the Irish by marriage, +nurture of infants, or gossipred [standing sponsors], should be +punishable as high treason; (2) that any man of English race taking an +Irish name, or using the Irish language, apparel, or customs, should +forfeit all his lands; (3) that to adopt or submit to the Brehon law was +treason; (4) that the English should not make war upon the natives +without the permission of Government; (5) that the English should not +permit the Irish to pasture or graze upon their lands, nor admit them to +any ecclesiastical benefices or religious houses, nor entertain their +minstrels or rhymers. (6) It was also forbidden to impose or cess any +soldiers upon the _English_ subjects against their will, under pain of +felony; and some regulations were made to restrain the abuse of +sanctuary, and to prevent the great lords from laying heavy burdens upon +gentlemen and freeholders. + +I shall ask you to consider these statutes carefully; to remember that +they were compiled under the direction of a crown prince, and confirmed +by the men who had the entire government of Ireland in their hands. The +first was an open and gross insult to the natives, who were treated as +too utterly beneath their English rulers to admit of their entering into +social relations with them. The settlers who had lived some time in the +country, were ascertaining every day that its inhabitants were not +savages, and that they considered the ties of honour which bound them to +those whom they "fostered," or for whom they stood sponsors, as of the +most sacred description. Their own safety and interests, if not common +feelings of humanity and affection, led them to form these connexions, +which were now so ruthlessly denounced. But it led them also to treat +the Irish with more respect, and placed them on some sort of social +equality with themselves; and this was clearly a crime in the eyes of +those who governed the country. The second clause had a similar object, +and insulted the deepest feelings of the Celt, by condemning his +language, which he loved almost as his life, and his customs, which had +been handed down to him by an ancestry which the Anglo-Norman nobles +might themselves have envied. The third enactment was an outrage upon +common justice. It has been already shown that the Irish were _refused_ +the benefit of the English law; you will now see that their own law was +forbidden. Some of these laws are at present open to public inspection, +and show that the compilers, who wrote immediately after the +introduction of Christianity into Ireland, and the original lawgivers, +who existed many centuries before the Christian era, were by no means +deficient in forensic abilities. Whatever feuds the Irish may have had +between their clans, there is every reason to believe that justice was +impartially administered long before the English settlement. That it was +not so administered after that settlement, the preceding history, nay, +even the very subject under discussion, sufficiently proves. + +The fourth clause might have been beneficial to the Irish, if it had +been strictly observed. The other enactments were observed; but this, +which required the consent of the Government to make war on the natives, +was allowed to remain a dead letter. In any case, the Government would +seldom have refused any permission which might help to lessen the number +of the "Irish enemy." + +The last enactments, or series of enactments, were simply barbarous. The +Irish were an agricultural nation; therefore they were not permitted to +be agriculturists. Their wealth consisted solely in their flocks; +therefore every obstacle should be placed to their increase. So much for +the poor. The higher classes had formerly some hope of advancement if +they chose to enter the English service in the army; to do so now they +must renounce their Irish name, their language, and their customs. They +might also have chosen the ecclesiastical state; from this now they are +completely barred. + +Most fatal, most unjust policy! Had it been devised for the express +purpose of imbittering the feelings of the Irish Celt eternally against +the Saxon ruler, it could not have succeeded more effectually. The laws +of Draco were figuratively said to have been written in blood: how many +bloody deeds, at which men have stood aghast in horror and dismay, were +virtually enacted by the Statute of Kilkenny? The country-loving, +generous-hearted Celt, who heard it read for the first time, must have +been more or less than human, if he did not utter "curses, not loud, but +deep," against the framers of such inhuman decrees. If Englishmen +studied the history of Ireland carefully, and the character of the +Celtic race, they would be less surprised at Irish discontent and +disloyalty. An English writer on Irish history admits, that while "there +is no room to doubt the wisdom of the policy which sought to prevent the +English baron from sinking into the unenviable state of the persecuted +Irish chieftain, still less is there an apology to be offered for the +iniquity of the attempt to shut the great mass of the Irish people out +from the pale of law, civilization, and religion. The cruelty of +conquest never broached a principle more criminal, unsound, or +unsuccessful."[356] It is to be regretted that a more recent and really +liberal writer should have attempted this apology, which his own +countryman and namesake pronounced impossible. The author to whom we +allude grants "it sounds shocking that the killing of an Irishman by an +Englishman should have been no felony;" but he excuses it by stating, +"nothing more is implied than that the Irish were not under English +jurisdiction, but under the native or Brehon law."[357] Unfortunately +this assertion is purely gratuitous. It was made treason by this very +same statute even to submit to the Brehon law; and the writer himself +states that, in the reign of Edward I., "a large body of the Irish +petitioned for the English law, and offered 8,000 marks as a fee for +that favour."[358] He states that an Irishman who murdered an +Englishman, would only have been fined by his Brehon. True, no doubt; +but if an Englishman killed an Irishman, he escaped scot-free. If, +however, the Irishman was captured by the Englishman, he was executed +according to the English law. If a regulation had been made that the +Englishman should always be punished for his crimes by English law, and +the Irishman by Irish law,[359] and if this arrangement had been carried +out with even moderate impartiality, it would have been a fair +adjustment, however anomalous. + +A little episode of domestic life, narrated by Froissart, is a +sufficient proof that the social state of the Irish was neither so wild +nor so barbarous as many have supposed; and that even a Frenchman might +become so attached to the country as to leave it with regret, though, at +the same time, it was not a little difficult to find an English Viceroy +who would face the political complications which the Statute of Kilkenny +had made more troublesome than ever. Froissart's account runs thus: He +was waiting in the royal chamber at Eltham one Sunday, to present his +treatise "On Loves" to Henry II.; and he takes care to tell us that the +King had every reason to be pleased with the present, for it was +"handsomely written and illuminated," bound in crimson velvet, decorated +with ten silver-gilt studs, and roses of the same. While he was awaiting +his audience, he gossiped with Henry Crystede, whom he describes as a +very agreeable, prudent, and well-educated gentleman, who spoke French +well, and had for his arms a chevron gules on a field argent, with three +besants gules, two above the chevron, and one below. + +Crystede gave him a sketch of his adventures in Ireland, which we can +but condense from the quaint and amusing original. He had been in the +service of the Earl of Ormonde, who kept him out of affection for his +good horsemanship. On one occasion he was attending the Earl, mounted on +one of his best horses, at a "border foray" on the unfortunate Irish, +with whom he kept up constant warfare. In the pursuit his horse took +fright, and ran away into the midst of the enemy, one of whom, by a +wonderful feat of agility, sprang up behind him, and bore him off to his +own house. He calls the gentleman who effected the capture "Brian +Costeree," and says he was a very handsome man, and that he lived in a +strong house in a well barricaded city. + +Crystede remained here for seven years, and married one of the daughters +of his host, by whom he had two children. At the end of this period his +father-in-law was taken prisoner in an engagement with the Duke of +Clarence, and Crystede's horse, which he rode, was recognized. Evidently +the knight must have been a person of some distinction, for he states +that the Duke of Clarence and the English officers were so well pleased +to hear of the "honorable entertainment" he had received from "Brian +Costeree," that they at once proposed to set him at liberty, on +condition that he should send Crystede to the army with his wife and +children. At first "he refused the offer, from his love to me, his +daughter, and our children." Eventually the exchange was made. Crystede +settled at Bristol. His two daughters were then married. One was settled +in Ireland. He concluded the family history by stating that the Irish +language was as familiar to him as English, for he always spoke it to +his wife, and tried to introduce it, "as much as possible," among his +children. + +On the retirement of the Duke of Clarence, in 1367, the Viceroyalty was +accepted by Gerald, fourth Earl of Desmond, styled "the poet." He was +one of the most learned men of the day, and thereby, as usual, obtained +the reputation of practising magic. Yet this refined and educated +nobleman wished to have his son fostered in an Irish family, and, +despite the Statute of Kilkenny, obtained a special permission to that +effect--another evidence that social life among the natives could not +have been quite what the malice of Cambrensis, and others who wrote from +hearsay reports, and not from personal knowledge, have represented it. + +Sir Richard Pembridge refused the office of Viceroy in 1369. He was +stripped of all his lands and offices held under the crown, as a +punishment for his contumacy, but this appears to have had no effect +upon his determination. It was decided legally, however, that the King +could neither fine nor imprison him for this refusal, since no man could +be condemned to go into exile. High prices were now offered to induce +men to bear this intolerable punishment. Sir William de Windsor asked +something over L11,000 per annum for his services, which Sir John Davis +states exceeded the whole revenue of Ireland. The salary of a Lord +Justice before this period was L500 per annum, and he was obliged to +support a small standing army. The truth was, that the government of +Ireland had become every day more difficult, and less lucrative. The +natives were already despoiled of nearly all their possessions, and the +settlement of the feuds of the Anglo-Norman nobles was neither a +pleasant nor a profitable employment. In addition to this, Edward was +levying immense subsidies in Ireland, to support his wars in France and +Scotland. At last the clergy were obliged to interfere. The Archbishop +of Cashel opposed these unreasonable demands, and solemnly +excommunicated the King's collector, and all persons employed in raising +the obnoxious taxes. + +Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, A.D. 1377. As he was only in his +eleventh year, the government was carried on by his uncles. The Earl of +March was sent to Ireland as Justiciary, with extraordinary powers. He +had married Philippa, daughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, by his first +wife, and in her right became Earl of Ulster. One of the Irish princes +who came to his court, was treacherously arrested and thrown into +prison. The injustice was resented, or, perhaps, we should rather say, +feared, by the English nobles as well as the Irish chieftains, who took +care to keep out of the way of such adventures, by absenting themselves +from the Viceregal hospitalities. Roger Mortimer succeeded his father, +and was followed by Philip de Courtenay, the King's cousin. He was +granted the office for ten years, but, in the interval, was taken into +custody by the Council of Regency, for his peculations. + +There was war in Connaught between the O'Connors, in 1384, and fierce +hostility continued for years after between the families of the O'Connor +Don (Brown) and the O'Connor Roe (Red). Richard II. had his favourites +as usual; and in a moment of wild folly he bestowed the sovereignty of +Ireland on the Earl of Oxford, whom he also created Marquis of Dublin. +His royal master accompanied him as far as Wales, and then, determining +to keep the Earl near his person, despatched Sir John Sydney to the +troublesome colony. + +A royal visit was arranged and accomplished soon after; and on the 2nd +October, A.D. 1394, Richard II. landed on the Irish shores. The country +was in its normal state of partial insurrection and general discontent; +but no attempt was made to remove the chronic cause of all this +unnecessary misery. There was some show of submission from the Irish +chieftains, who were overawed by the immense force which attended the +King. Art MacMurrough, the heir of the ancient Leinster kings, was the +most formidable of the native nobles; and from his prowess and success +in several engagements, was somewhat feared by the invaders. He refused +to defer to any one but Richard, and was only prevailed on to make terms +when he found himself suddenly immured in Dublin Castle, during a +friendly visit to the court. + +The King's account of his reception shows that he had formed a tolerably +just opinion of the political state of the country. He mentions in a +letter from Dublin, that the people might be divided into three +classes--the "wild Irish, or enemies," the Irish rebels, and the English +subjects; and he had just discernment enough to see that the "rebels had +been made such by wrongs, and by want of close attention to their +grievances," though he had not the judgment or the justice to apply the +necessary remedy. His next exploit was to persuade the principal Irish +kings to receive knighthood in the English fashion. They submitted with +the worst possible grace, having again and again repeated that they had +already received the honour according to the custom of their own +country. The dealings of the Anglo-Norman knights, with whom they +already had intercourse, were not likely to have inspired them with very +sublime ideas of the dignity. They might, indeed, have been chevaliers +_sans peur_, but the latter part of the flattering appellation could not +be applied. + +The customs of the Irish nobles were again made a subject of ridicule, +as they had been during the visit of Prince John; though one should have +supposed that an increased knowledge of the world should have led to a +wiser policy, if not to an avoidance of that ignorant criticism, which +at once denounces everything foreign as inferior.[360] Richard returned +to England in 1395, after nine months of vain display. He appointed +Roger Mortimer his Viceroy. Scarcely had the King and his fleet sailed +from the Irish shores, when the real nature of the proffered allegiance +of seventy-two kings and chieftains became apparent. The O'Byrnes rose +up in Wicklow, and were defeated by the Viceroy and the Earl of Ormonde; +the MacCarthys rose up in Munster, and balanced affairs by gaining a +victory over the English. The Earl of Kildare was captured by Calvagh +O'Connor, of Offaly, in 1398; and, in the same year, the O'Briens and +O'Tooles avenged their late defeat, by a great victory, at Kenlis, in +Ossory. + +In 1399 King Richard paid another visit to Ireland. His exactions and +oppressions had made him very unpopular in England, and it is probable +that this expedition was planned to divert the minds of his subjects. If +this was his object, it failed signally; for the unfortunate monarch was +deposed by Parliament the same year, and was obliged to perform the act +of abdication with the best grace he could. His unhappy end belongs to +English history. Richard again landed in state at Waterford, and soon +after marched against the indomitable MacMurrough. His main object, +indeed, appears to have been the subjugation of this "rebel," who +contrived to keep the English settlers in continual alarm. A French +chronicler again attended the court, and narrated its proceedings. He +describes MacMurrough's stronghold in the woods, and says that they did +not seem much appalled at the sight of the English army. A special +notice is given of the chieftain's horse, which was worth 400 cows.[361] +The chieftain's uncle and some others had made an abject submission to +the English monarch, who naturally hoped that MacMurrough would follow +their example. He, therefore, despatched an embassy to him, to repair +the "wrongs" which he had inflicted on the settlers, for which he +demanded reparation. The Leinster king, however, could neither be +frightened nor persuaded into seeing matters in that light, and, +probably, thought the term rebel would be more appropriately applied to +those who resisted the native rulers of the country. He declared that +for all the gold in the world he would not submit. + +[Illustration: Interview between MacMurrough and the Officers of Richard +the Strong.] + +Richard's army was on the verge of starvation, so he was obliged to +break up his camp, and march to Dublin. Upon his arrival there, +MacMurrough made overtures for peace, which were gladly accepted, and +the Earl of Gloucester proceeded at once to arrange terms with him. But +no reconciliation could be effected, as both parties refused to yield. +When Richard heard the result, "he flew into a violent passion, and +swore by St. Edward he would not leave Ireland until he had MacMurrough +in his hands, dead or alive." How little he imagined, when uttering the +mighty boast, that his own fate was even then sealed! Had he but the +grace to have conciliated instead of threatened, a brave and loyal band +of Irish chieftains would soon have surrounded him, and the next chapter +of English history would have been less tragic. Disastrous accounts soon +reached him from England, which at once annihilated his schemes of Irish +conquest or revenge. His own people were up in arms, and the +prescriptive right to grumble, which an Englishman is supposed to enjoy +par _excellence_, had broken out into overt acts of violence. War was +inaugurated between York and Lancaster, and for years England was +deluged with blood. + + +[Illustration: BUTTS' CROSS, KILKENNY.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[349] _Carte_.--See his _Life of the Duke of Ormonde_, folio edition, p. +7. + +[350] _Ormonde_.--The name Ormonde is intended to represent the Irish +appellative _Ur-Mhumhain_, or Eastern Munster. This part of the country +was the inheritance of _Cairbre Musc_. + +[351] _Palatine_.--The Lords-Palatine were endowed with extraordinary +power, and were able to exercise a most oppressive tyranny over the +people under their government. + +[352] _Execution_.--Bermingham was related to De Lucy, which perhaps +induced him to deal more harshly with him. De Lucy's Viceroyalty might +otherwise have been popular, as he had won the affections of the people +by assisting them during a grievous famine. See page 329 for an +illustration of the scene of this tragedy. + +[353] _Carrickfergus_.--See illustration at the commencement of this +chapter. + +[354] _Elizabeth_.--This lady was married to Lionel, third son of Edward +III., in 1352. This prince was created in her right Earl of Ulster. The +title and estates remained in possession of different members of the +royal family, until they became the special inheritance of the crown in +the reign of Edward IV. + +[355] _Coigne and livery_.--This was an exaction of money, food, and +entertainment for the soldiers, and fodder for their horses. A tax of a +similar kind existed among the ancient Irish; but it was part of the +ordinary tribute paid to the chief, and therefore was not considered an +exaction. + +[356] _Unsuccessful_.--_Ireland, Historical and Statistical_, vol. i. p. +200. + +[357] _Law_.--_Irish History and Irish Character_, p. 69. + +[358] _Favour_.--_Ibid_. p. 70. + +[359] _Irish law_.--A considerable amount of testimony might be produced +to prove that the Irish were and are peculiarly a law-loving people; +but, in the words of the writer above-quoted, "a people cannot be +expected to love and reverence oppression, because it is consigned to a +statute-book, and called law."--p. 71. The truth is, that it was and is +obviously the interest of English writers to induce themselves to +believe that Irish discontent and rebellion were caused by anything or +everything but English oppression and injustice. Even in the present day +the Irish are supposed to be naturally discontented and rebellious, +because they cannot submit silently to be expelled from their farms +without any compensation or any other means of support, either from +political or religious motives, and because they object to maintain a +religion contrary to their conscience, and which is admitted by its own +members to be "clearly a political evil." See concluding remarks in Mr. +Goldwin Smith's interesting little volume. + +[360] _Inferior_.--While these sheets were passing through the press, we +chanced to meet the following paragraph in an English paper. The article +was headed "International Courtesy," apropos of the affair at +Dinan:--"Prince John pulling the beards of the Irish chiefs is the +aggravated type of a race which alienated half a continent by treating +its people as colonial, and which gave India every benefit but civility, +till Bengal showed that it was strong, and Bombay that it could be +rich," And yet it would be quite as unjust to accuse a whole nation of +habitual insolence to foreigners and dependents, as to blame every +Englishman, in the reigns of John or Richard, for the insults offered to +the Irish nation. + +[361] + +_Cows_.--"Un cheval ot sans sele ne arcon, Qui lui avint conste, ce +disoit-on, Quatre cens vaches, tant estoil bel et bon." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Henry IV.--A Viceroy's Difficulties--The Houses of York and +Lancaster--The Colony almost Bankrupt--Literary Ladies in Ireland--A +Congress of Literati--The Duke of York is made Viceroy--Affection of the +Irish for him--Popularity of the Yorkists in Ireland--A Book given for a +Ransom--Desolating Effects of the Wars of the Roses--Accession of Henry +VII.--Insurrection of the Yorkists--Simnel is crowned in +Dublin--Warbeck's Insurrection--Poyning's Parliament--Poyning's Law and +its Effects--The Earl of Kildare accused of Treason--His Defence and +Pardon--His Quickwitted Speeches--He is acquitted honorably--His Letter +to the Gherardini--Ariosto. + +[A.D. 1402-1509.] + + +A scion of royalty was again sent to administer law--we cannot say +truthfully to administer justice--in Ireland. On the accession of Henry +IV., his second son, Thomas, Duke of Lancaster, was made Viceroy, and +landed at Bullock, near Dalkey, on Sunday, November 13, 1402. As the +youth was but twelve years of age, a Council was appointed to assist +him. Soon after his arrival, the said Council despatched a piteous +document from "Le Naas," in which they represent themselves and their +youthful ruler as on the very verge of starvation, in consequence of not +having received remittances from England. In conclusion, they gently +allude to the possibility--of course carefully deprecated--of "peril and +disaster" befalling their lord, if further delay should be permitted. +The King, however, was not in a position to tax his English subjects; +and we find the prince himself writing to his royal father on the same +matter, at the close of the year 1402. He mentions also that he had +entertained the knights and squires with such cheer as could be procured +under the circumstances, and adds: "I, by the advice of my Council, rode +against the Irish, your enemies, and did my utmost to harass them."[362] +Probably, had he shared the cheer with "the Irish his enemies," or even +showed them some little kindness, he would not have been long placed in +so unpleasant a position for want of supplies. + +John Duke, the then Mayor of Dublin, obtained the privilege of having +the sword borne before the chief magistrate of that city, as a reward +for his services in routing the O'Byrnes of Wicklow. About the same time +John Dowdall, Sheriff of Louth, was murdered in Dublin, by Sir +Bartholomew Vernon and three other English gentlemen, who were outlawed +for this and other crimes, but soon after received the royal pardon. In +1404 the English were defeated in Leix. In 1405 Art MacMurrough +committed depredations at Wexford and elsewhere, and in 1406 the +settlers suffered a severe reverse in Meath. + +Sir Stephen Scroope had been appointed Deputy for the royal Viceroy, and +he led an army against MacMurrough, who was defeated after a gallant +resistance. Teigue O'Carroll was killed in another engagement soon +after. This prince was celebrated for learning, and is styled in the +Annals[363] "general patron of the literati of Ireland." A few years +before his death he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and was honorably +received on his return by Richard II., at Westminster. In 1412 the +O'Neills desolated Ulster with their feuds, and about the same time the +English merchants of Dublin and Drogheda armed to defend themselves +against the Scotch merchants, who had committed several acts of piracy. +Henry V. succeeded his father in 1413, and appointed Sir John Stanley +Lord Deputy. He signalized himself by his exactions and cruelties, and, +according to the Irish account, was "rhymed to death" by the poet Niall +O'Higgin, of Usnagh, whom he had plundered in a foray. Sir John Talbot +was the next Governor. He inaugurated his career by such martial +exploits against the enemy, as to win golden opinions from the +inhabitants of "the Pale." Probably the news of his success induced his +royal master to recall him to England, that he might have his assistance +in his French wars. + +His departure was a general signal for "the enemy" to enact reprisals. +O'Connor despoiled the Pale, and the invincible Art MacMurrough +performed his last military exploit at Wexford (A.D. 1416), where he +took 340 prisoners in one day. He died the following year, and Ireland +lost one of the bravest and best of her sons. The Annals describe him as +"a man who had defended his own province, against the English and Irish, +from his sixteenth to his sixtieth year; a man full of hospitality, +knowledge, and chivalry." It is said that he was poisoned by a woman at +New Ross, but no motive is mentioned for the crime. His son, Donough, +who has an equal reputation for valour, was made prisoner two years +after by the Lord Deputy, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. +O'Connor of Offaly, another chieftain who had also distinguished himself +against the English, died about this time. He had entered the Franciscan +Monastery of Killeigh a month before his death. + +The Irish of English descent were made to feel their position painfully +at the close of this reign, and this might have led the new settlers to +reflect, if capable of reflection, that their descendants would soon +find themselves in a similar condition. The commons presented a petition +complaining of the extortions and injustices practised by the Deputies, +some of whom had left enormous debts unpaid. They also represented the +injustice of excluding Irish law students from the Inns of Court in +London. A few years previous (A.D. 1417), the settlers had presented a +petition to Parliament, praying that no Irishman should be admitted to +any office or benefice in the Church, and that no bishop should be +permitted to bring an Irish servant with him when he came to attend +Parliament or Council. This petition was granted; and soon after an +attempt was made to prosecute the Archbishop of Cashel, who had presumed +to disregard some of its enactments. + +Henry VI. succeeded to the English throne while still a mere infant, +and, as usual, the "Irish question" was found to be one of the greatest +difficulties of the new administration. The O'Neills had been carrying +on a domestic feud in Ulster; but they had just united to attack the +English, when Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, assumed the government of +Ireland (A.D. 1425). He died of the plague the following year; but his +successor in office, Lord Furnival, contrived to capture a number of the +northern chieftains, who were negotiating peace with Mortimer at the +very time of his death. Owen O'Neill was ransomed, but the indignation +excited by this act served only to arouse angry feelings; and the +northerns united against their enemies, and soon recovered any territory +they had lost. + +Donough MacMurrough was released from the Tower in 1428, after nine +years' captivity. It is said the Leinster men paid a heavy ransom for +him. The young prince's compulsory residence in England did not lessen +his disaffection, for he made war on the settlers as soon as he returned +to his paternal dominions. The great family feud between the houses of +York and Lancaster, had but little effect on the state of Ireland. +Different members of the two great factions had held the office of Lord +Justice in that country, but, with one exception, they did not obtain +any personal influence there. Indeed, the Viceroy of those days, whether +an honest man or a knave, was sure to be unpopular with some party. + +The Yorkists and Lancastrians were descended directly from Edward III. +The first Duke of York was Edward's fifth son, Edmund Plantagenet; the +first Duke of Lancaster was John of Gaunt, the fourth son of the same +monarch. Richard II. succeeded his grandfather, Edward III., as the son +of Edward the Black Prince, so famed in English chivalry. His arrogance +and extravagance soon made him unpopular; and, during his absence in +Ireland, the Duke of Lancaster, whom he had banished, and treated most +unjustly, returned to England, and inaugurated the fatal quarrel. The +King was obliged to return immediately, and committed the government of +the country to his cousin, Roger de Mortimer, who was next in succession +to the English crown, in right of his mother, Philippa, the only child +of the Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III. The death of this +nobleman opened the way for the intrusion of the Lancastrians, the Duke +of Lancaster having obtained the crown during the lifetime of Richard, +to the exclusion of the rightful heir-apparent, Edmund, Earl of March, +son to the late Viceroy. + +The feuds of the Earl of Ormonde and the Talbots in Ireland, proved +nearly as great a calamity to that nation as the disputes about the +English succession. A Parliament was held in Dublin in 1441, in which +Richard Talbot, the English Archbishop of Dublin. proceeded to lay +various requests before the King, the great object of which was the +overthrow of the Earl, who, by the intermarrying of his kinsmen with the +Irish, possessed great influence among the native septs contiguous to +his own territory. The petitioners pray that the government may be +committed to some "mighty English lord," and they moderately request +that the said "mighty lord" may be permitted to create temporal peers. +They hint at the Earl's age as an objection to his administration of +justice, and assert that "the Lieutenant should be a mighty, courageous, +and laborious man, to keep the field and make resistance against the +enemy." But the great crime alleged against him, is that "he hath +ordained and made Irishmen, and grooms and pages of his household, +knights of the shire." These representations, however, had but little +weight in the quarter to which they were addressed, for Ormonde was a +stout Lancastrian; and if he had sinned more than his predecessors, his +guilt was covered by the ample cloak of royal partiality. However, some +appearance of justice was observed. Sir Giles Thornton was sent over to +Ireland to make a report, which was so very general that it charged no +one in particular, but simply intimated that there was no justice to be +had for any party, and that discord and division prevailed amongst all +the King's officers. The system of appointing deputies for different +offices was very properly condemned; and the rather startling +announcement made, that the annual expenses of the Viceroy and his +officers exceeded all the revenues of Ireland for that year by L4,456. +In fact, it could not be otherwise; for every official, lay and +ecclesiastical, English and Anglo-Irish, appear to have combined in one +vast system of peculation, and, when it was possible, of wholesale +robbery. Even the loyal burghers of Limerick, Cork, and Galway had +refused to pay their debts to the crown, and the representatives of +royalty were not in a position to enforce payment. The Talbot party +seems to have shared the blame quite equally with the Ormondes, and the +churchmen in power were just as rapacious as the seculars. After having +ruined the "mere Irish," the plunderers themselves were on the verge of +ruin; and the Privy Council declared that unless an immediate remedy was +applied, the law courts should be closed, and the royal castles +abandoned. Further complaints were made in 1444; and Robert Maxwell, a +groom of the royal chamber, was despatched to Ireland with a summons to +Ormonde, commanding him to appear before the King and Council. + +The Earl at once collected his followers and adherents in Drogheda, +where they declared, in the presence of the King's messenger, as in duty +bound, that their lord had never been guilty of the treasons and +extortions with which he was charged, and that they were all thankful +for "his good and gracious government:" furthermore, they hint that he +had expended his means in defending the King's possessions. However, the +Earl was obliged to clear himself personally of these charges in London, +where he was acquitted with honour by his royal master.[364] + +His enemy, Sir John Talbot, known better in English history as the Earl +of Shrewsbury, succeeded him, in 1446. This nobleman had been justly +famous for his valour in the wars with France, and it is said that even +mothers frightened their children with his name. His success in Ireland +was not at all commensurate with his fame in foreign warfare, for he +only succeeded so far with the native princes as to compel O'Connor Faly +to make peace with the English Government, to ransom his sons, and to +supply some beeves for the King's kitchen. Talbot held a Parliament at +Trim, in which, for the first time, an enactment was made about personal +appearance, which widened the fatal breach still more between England +and Ireland. This law declared that every man who did not shave[365] his +upper lip, should be treated as an "Irish enemy;" and the said shaving +was to be performed once, at least, in every two weeks. + +In the year 1447 Ireland was desolated by a fearful plague, in which +seven hundred priests are said to have fallen victims, probably from +their devoted attendance on the sufferers. In the same year Felim +O'Reilly was taken prisoner treacherously by the Lord Deputy; and +Finola, the daughter of Calvagh O'Connor Faly, and wife of Hugh Boy +O'Neill, "the most beautiful and stately, the most renowned and +illustrious woman of all her time in Ireland, her own mother only +excepted, retired from this transitory world, to prepare for eternal +life, and assumed the yoke of piety and devotion in the Monastery of +Cill-Achaidh." + +This lady's mother, Margaret O'Connor, was the daughter of O'Carroll, +King of Ely, and well deserved the commendation bestowed on her. She was +the great patroness of the _literati_ of Ireland, whom she entertained +at two memorable feasts. The first festival was held at Killeigh, in the +King's county, on the Feast-day of _Da Sinchell_ (St. Seanchan, March +26). All the chiefs, brehons, and bards of Ireland and Scotland were +invited, and 2,700 guests are said to have answered the summons. The +Lady Margaret received them clothed in cloth of gold, and seated in +queenly state. She opened the "congress" by presenting two massive +chalices of gold on the high altar of the church--an act of duty towards +God; and then took two orphan children to rear and nurse--an act of +charity to her neighbour. Her noble husband, who had already +distinguished himself in the field on many occasions, remained on his +charger outside the church, to welcome his visitors as they arrived. The +second entertainment was given on the Feast of the Assumption, in the +same year, and was intended to include all who had not been able to +accept the first invitation. The chronicler concludes his account with a +blessing on Lady Margaret, and a curse on the disease which deprived the +world of so noble an example: "God's blessing, the blessing of all the +saints, and every blessing, be upon her going to heaven; and blessed be +he that will hear and read this, for blessing her soul."[366] It is +recorded of her also, that she was indefatigable in building churches, +erecting bridges, preparing highways, and providing mass-books. It is a +bright picture on a dark page; and though there may not have been many +ladies so liberal or so devoted to learning at that period in Ireland, +still the general state of female education could not have been +neglected, or such an example could not have been found or appreciated. +Felim O'Connor, her son, died in the same year as his mother; he is +described as "a man of great fame and renown." He had been ill of +decline for a long time, and only one night intervened between the death +of the mother and the son, A.D. 1451. Calvagh died in 1458, and was +succeeded by his son, Con, who was not unworthy of his noble ancestry. + +In 1449 the Duke of York was sent to undertake the Viceregal dignity and +cares. His appointment is attributed to the all-powerful influence of +Queen Margaret. The immortal Shakspeare, whose consummate art makes us +read history in drama, and drama in history,[367] has commemorated this +event, though not with his usual ability. The object of sending him to +Ireland was to deprive the Yorkists of his powerful support and +influence, and place the affairs of France, which he had managed with +considerable ability, in other hands. In fact, the appointment was +intended as an honorable exile. The Irish, with that natural veneration +for lawful authority which is so eminently characteristic of the Celtic +race, were ever ready to welcome a prince of the blood, each time hoping +against hope that something like ordinary justice should be meted out +from the fountain-head. For once, at least, they were not disappointed; +and "noble York" is represented, by an English writer of the sixteenth +century, as consoling himself "for every kinde of smart," with the +recollection of the faithful love and devotion of the Irish people.[368] + +The royal Duke arrived in Ireland on the 6th of July, 1447. He was +accompanied by his wife, famous for her beauty, which had obtained her +the appellation of the "Rose of Raby," and famous also as the mother of +two English kings, Edward IV. and Richard III. This lady was the +daughter of Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, whose rather numerous family, +consisting of twenty-two children, had all married amongst the highest +families. The Duke was Earl of Ulster in right of Duke Lionel, from whom +he was descended; but instead of marching at once to claim his +possessions, he adopted such conciliatory measures as secured him the +services and affections of a large body of Irish chieftains, with whose +assistance he soon subdued any who still remained refractory. His +popularity increased daily. Presents were sent to him by the most +powerful and independent of the native chieftains. Nor was his "fair +ladye" forgotten, for Brian O'Byrne, in addition to an offering of four +hundred beeves to the Duke, sent "two hobbies"[369] for the special use +of the "Rose of Raby." Indeed, it was reported in England that "the +wildest Irishman in Ireland would before twelve months be sworn +English." Such were the fruits of a conciliatory policy, or rather of a +fair administration of justice. + +The cities of Cork, Kinsale, and Youghal, now sent in petitions to the +Viceroy, complaining bitterly of the way in which the English noblemen +"fall at variance among themselves," so that the whole country was +desolated. The settlers of Waterford and Wexford made similar complaints +against an Irish chieftain, O'Driscoll, whom they describe as "an Irish +enemy to the King and to all his liege people of Ireland." The Duke +pacified all parties, and succeeded in attaching the majority of the +nation more and more to his person and his interests. His English +friends, who looked on his residence in Ireland as equivalent to +banishment and imprisonment, were actively employed in promoting his +return. The disgraceful loss of the English possessions in France, and +probably still more the haughty and unconciliatory policy adopted by the +Queen, had strengthened the Yorkist party, and emboldened them to +action. The Duke was requested to return to England, where the +insurgents in Kent had already risen under the leadership of the famous +Jack Cade, whose origin is involved in hopeless obscurity, and whose +character has been so blackened by writers on the Lancastrian side that +it is equally incomprehensible. He called himself John Mortimer, and +asserted that he was cousin to the Viceroy. A proclamation, offering one +thousand marks for his person, "quick or dead," described him as born in +Ireland. In consequence of the nonpayment of the annuity which had been +promised to the Duke during his Viceroyalty, he had been obliged to +demand assistance from the Irish, who naturally resisted so unjust a +tax. After useless appeals to the King and Parliament, he returned to +England suddenly, in September, 1450, leaving Sir James Butler, the +eldest son of the Earl of Ormonde, as his Deputy. + +The history of the Wars of the Roses does not belong to our province; it +must, therefore, suffice to say, that when his party was defeated in +England for a time, he fled to Ireland, where he was enthusiastically +received, and exercised the office of Viceroy at the very time that an +act of attainder was passed against him and his family. He soon returned +again to his own country; and there, after more than one brilliant +victory, he was slain at the battle of Wakefield, on the 31st December, +1460. Three thousand of his followers are said to have perished with +him, and among the number were several Irish chieftains from Meath and +Ulster. The Geraldines sided with the House of York, and the Butlers +with the Lancastrians: hence members of both families fell on this fatal +field on opposite sides. + +The Earl of Kildare was Lord Justice on the accession of Edward IV., who +at once appointed his unfortunate brother, the Duke of Clarence, to that +dignity. The Earls of Ormonde and Desmond were at war (A.D. 1462), and a +pitched battle was fought between them at Pilltown, in the county +Kilkenny, where the former was defeated with considerable loss. His +kinsman, MacRichard Butler, was taken prisoner; and we may judge of the +value of a book,[370] and the respect for literature in Ireland at that +period, from the curious fact that a manuscript was offered and accepted +for his ransom. + +The eighth Earl of Desmond, Thomas, was made Viceroy in 1462. He was a +special favourite with the King. In 1466 he led an army of the English +of Meath and Leinster against O'Connor Faly, but he was defeated and +taken prisoner in the engagement. Teigue O'Connor, the Earl's +brother-in-law, conducted the captives to Carbury Castle, in Kildare, +where they were soon liberated by the people of Dublin. The Irish were +very successful in their forays at this period. The men of Offaly +devastated the country from Tara to Naas; the men of Breffni and Oriel +performed similar exploits in Meath. Teigue O'Brien plundered Desmond, +and obliged the Burkes of Clanwilliam to acknowledge his authority, and +only spared the city of Limerick for a consideration of sixty marks. + +The Earl of Desmond appears to have exerted himself in every way for the +national benefit. He founded a college in Youghal, with a warden, eight +fellows, and eight choristers. He obtained an Act for the establishment +of a university at Drogheda, which was to have similar privileges to +that of Oxford. He is described by native annalists--almost as loud in +their praises of learning as of valour--as well versed in literature, +and a warm patron of antiquaries and poets. But his liberality proved +his ruin. He was accused of making alliances and fosterage of the King's +Irish enemies; and perhaps he had also incurred the enmity of the Queen +(Elizabeth Woodville), for it was hinted that she had some share in his +condemnation. It is at least certain that he was beheaded at Drogheda, +on the 15th of February, 1467, by the command of Typtoft, Earl of +Worcester, who was sent to Ireland to take his place as Viceroy, and to +execute the unjust sentence. The Earl of Kildare was condemned at the +same time; but he escaped to England, and pleaded his cause so well with +the King and Parliament, that he obtained his own pardon, and a reversal +of the attainder against the unfortunate Earl of Desmond. + +During the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and the usurper Richard, +there was probably more dissension in England than there ever had been +at any time amongst the native Irish chieftains. Princes and nobles were +sacrificed by each party as they obtained power, and regicide might +almost be called common. The number of English slain in the Wars of the +Roses was estimated at 100,000. Parliament made acts of attainder one +day, and reversed them almost on the next. Neither life nor property was +safe. Men armed themselves first in self-defence, and then in +lawlessness; and a thoughtful mind might trace to the evil state of +morals, caused by a long period of desolating domestic warfare, that +fatal indifference to religion which must have permeated the people, +before they could have departed as a nation from the faith of their +fathers, at the mere suggestion of a profligate monarch. The English +power in Ireland was reduced at this time to the lowest degree of +weakness. This power had never been other than nominal beyond the Pale; +within its precincts it was on the whole all-powerful. But now a few +archers and spearmen were its only defence; and had the Irish combined +under a competent leader, there can be little doubt that the result +would have been fatal to the colony. It would appear as if Henry VII. +hoped to propitiate the Yorkists in Ireland, as he allowed the Earl of +Kildare to hold the office of Lord Deputy; his brother, Thomas +FitzGerald, that of Chancellor; and his father-in-law, FitzEustace, that +of Lord Treasurer. After a short time, however, he restored the Earl of +Ormonde to the family honours and estates, and thus a Lancastrian +influence was secured. The most important events of this reign, as far +as Ireland is concerned, are the plots of Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, and +the enactments of Poyning's Parliament. A contemporary Irish chronicler +says: "The son of a Welshman, by whom the battle of Bosworth field was +fought, was made King; and there lived not of the royal blood, at that +time, but one youth, who came the next year (1486) in exile to +Ireland."[371] + +The native Irish appear not to have had the least doubt that Simnel was +what he represented himself to be. The Anglo-Irish nobles were nearly +all devoted to the House of York; but it is impossible now to determine +whether they were really deceived, or if they only made the youth a +pretext for rebellion. His appearance is admitted by all parties to have +been in his favour; but the King asserted that the real Earl of Warwick +was then confined in the Tower, and paraded him through London[372] as +soon as the pseudo-noble was crowned in Ireland. Margaret, Dowager +Duchess of Burgundy, was the great promoter of the scheme. She +despatched Martin Swart, a famous soldier, of noble birth, to Ireland, +with 2,000 men. The expedition was fitted out at her own expense. The +English Yorkists joined his party, and the little army landed at Dublin, +in May, 1487. On Whit-Sunday, the 24th of that month, Lambert Simnel was +crowned in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. After the ceremony he was +borne in state, on the shoulders of tall men to the Castle. One of his +bearers, a gigantic Anglo-Irishman, was called Great Darcy. Coins were +now struck, proclamations issued, and all the writs and public acts of +the colony executed in the name of Edward VI. + +Soon after, Simnel's party conducted him to England, where they were +joined by a few desperate men of the Yorkist party. The battle of Stoke, +in Nottinghamshire, terminated the affair. The youth and his tutor were +captured, and the principal officers were slain. According to one +account, Simnel was made a turnspit in the royal kitchen; according to +another authority[373] he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It +would appear as if Henry was afraid to visit the Earl of Kildare too +heavily for his transgressions, as he retained him in the office of Lord +Deputy. + +The use of fire-arms appears to have become general in Ireland about +this period (1487), as the Annals mention that an O'Rourke was slain by +an O'Donnell, "with a ball from a gun;" and the following year the Earl +of Kildare destroyed the Castle of Balrath, in Westmeath, with ordnance. +The early guns were termed hand-cannons and hand-guns, to distinguish +them from the original fire-arms, which were not portable, though there +were exceptions to this rule; for some of the early cannons were so +small, that the cannonier held his gun in his hand, or supported it on +his shoulder, when firing it.[374] + +In 1488 Sir Richard Edgecumbe was sent to Ireland to exact new oaths of +allegiance from the Anglo-Norman lords, whose fidelity Henry appears to +have doubted, and not without reason. The commissioner took up his +lodgings with the Dominican friars, who appear to have been more devoted +to the English interests than their Franciscan brethren; but they did +not entertain the knight at their own expense, for he complains +grievously of his "great costs and charges." A Papal Bull had been +procured, condemning all who had rebelled against the King. This was +published by the Bishop of Meath, with a promise of absolution and royal +pardon for all who should repent. Edgecumbe appears to have been at his +wit's end to conciliate the "rebels," and informs us that he spent the +night in "devising as sure an oath as he could." The nobles at last came +to terms, and took the proffered pledge in the most solemn manner, in +presence of the Blessed Sacrament. This accomplished, the knight +returned to England; and on his safe arrival, after a stormy passage, +made a pilgrimage to Saint Saviour's, in Cornwall. + +It is quite impossible now to judge whether these solemn oaths were made +to be broken, or whether the temptation to break them proved stronger +than the resolution to keep them. It is at least certain that they were +broken, and that in a year or two after the Earl of Kildare had received +his pardon under the Great Seal. In May, 1492, the Warbeck plot was +promulgated in Ireland, and an adventurer landed on the Irish shores, +who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second son of +Edward IV., who was supposed to have perished in the Tower. His stay in +Ireland, however, was brief, although he was favourably received. The +French monarch entertained him with the honours due to a crowned head; +but this, probably, was merely for political purposes, as he was +discarded as soon as peace had been made with England. He next visited +Margaret, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who treated him as if he were +really her nephew. + +Henry now became seriously alarmed at the state of affairs in Ireland, +and sent over Sir Edward Poyning, a privy counsellor and a Knight of the +Garter, to the troublesome colony. He was attended by some eminent +English lawyers, and what was of considerably greater importance, by a +force of 1,000 men. But neither the lawyers nor the men succeeded in +their attempt, for nothing was done to conciliate, and the old policy of +force was the rule of action, and failed as usual. The first step was to +hunt out the abettors of Warbeck's insurrection, who had taken refuge in +the north: but the moment the Deputy marched against them, the Earl of +Kildare's brother rose in open rebellion, and seized Carlow Castle. The +Viceroy was, therefore, obliged to make peace with O'Hanlon and +Magennis, and to return south. After recovering the fortress, he held a +Parliament at Drogheda, in the month of November, 1494. In this +Parliament the celebrated statute was enacted, which provided that +henceforth no Parliament should be held in Ireland until the Chief +Governor and Council had first certified to the King, under the Great +Seal, as well the causes and considerations as the Acts they designed to +pass, and till the same should be approved by the King and Council. This +Act obtained the name of "Poyning's Law." It became a serious grievance +when the whole of Ireland was brought under English government; but at +the time of its enactment it could only affect the inhabitants of the +Pale, who formed a very small portion of the population of that country; +and the colonists regarded it rather favourably, as a means of +protecting them against the legislative oppressions of the Viceroys. + +The general object of the Act was nominally to reduce the people to +"whole and perfect obedience." The attempt to accomplish this desirable +end had been continued for rather more than two hundred years, and had +not yet been attained. The Parliament of Drogheda did not succeed, +although the Viceroy returned to England afterwards under the happy +conviction that he had perfectly accomplished his mission. Acts were +also passed that ordnance[375] should not be kept in fortresses without +the Viceregal licence; that the lords spiritual and temporal were to +appear in their robes in Parliament, for the English lords of Ireland +had, "through penuriousness, done away the said robes to their own great +dishonour, and the rebuke of all the whole land;" that the "many +damnable customs and uses," practised by the Anglo-Norman lords and +gentlemen, under the names of "coigne, livery, and pay," should be +reformed; that the inhabitants on the frontiers of the four shires +should forthwith build and maintain a double-ditch, raised six feet +above the ground on the side which "meared next unto the Irishmen," so +that the said Irishmen should be kept out; that all subjects were to +provide themselves with cuirasses and helmets, with English bows and +sheaves of arrows; that every parish should be provided with a pair of +butts,[376] and the constables were ordered to call the parishioners +before them on holidays, to shoot at least two or three games. + +The Irish war-cries[377] which had been adopted by the English lords +were forbidden, and they were commanded to call upon St. George or the +King of England. The Statutes of Kilkenny were confirmed, with the +exception of the one which forbid the use of the Irish language. As +nearly all the English settlers had adopted it, such an enactment could +not possibly have been carried out. Three of the principal nobles of the +country were absent from this assembly: Maurice, Earl of Desmond, was in +arms on behalf of Warbeck; Gerald, Earl of Kildare, was charged with +treason; and Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, was residing in England. The Earl +of Kildare was sent to England to answer the charges of treason which +were brought against him. Henry had discovered that Poyning's mission +had not been as successful as he expected, and what, probably, +influenced him still more, that it had proved very expensive.[378] He +has the credit of being a wise king in many respects, notwithstanding +his avariciousness; and he at once saw that Kildare would be more useful +as a friend, and less expensive, if he ceased to be an enemy. The result +was the pardon of the "rebel," his marriage with the King's first +cousin, Elizabeth St. John, and his restoration to the office of Deputy. +His quick-witted speeches, when examined before the King, took the royal +fancy. He was accused of having burned the Cathedral of Cashel, to +revenge himself on the Archbishop, who had sided with his enemy, Sir +James Ormonde. There was a great array of witnesses prepared to prove +the fact; but the Earl excited shouts of laughter by exclaiming: "I +would never have done it, had it not been told me the Archbishop was +within." + +The Archbishop was present, and one of his most active accusers. The +King then gave him leave to choose his counsel, and time to prepare his +defence. Kildare exclaimed that he doubted if he should be allowed to +choose the good fellow whom he would select. Henry gave him his hand as +an assurance of his good faith. "Marry," said the Earl, "I can see no +better man in England than your Highness, and will choose no other." The +affair ended by his accusers declaring that "all Ireland could not rule +this Earl," to which Henry replied: "Then, in good faith, shall this +Earl rule all Ireland."[379] + +In August, 1489, Kildare was appointed Deputy to Prince Henry, who was +made Viceroy. In 1498 he was authorized to convene a Parliament, which +should not sit longer than half a year. This was the first Parliament +held under Poyning's Act. Sundry regulations were made "for the +increasing of English manners and conditions within the land, and for +diminishing of Irish usage." In 1503 the Earl's son, Gerald, was +appointed Treasurer for Ireland by the King, who expressed the highest +approval of his father's administration. He married the daughter of Lord +Zouch of Codnor during his visit to England, and then returned with his +father to Ireland. Both father and son were treated with the utmost +consideration at court, and the latter took an important part in the +funeral ceremonies for the King's eldest son, Arthur. The Earl continued +in office during the reign of Henry VII. An interesting letter, which he +wrote in reply to an epistle from the Gherardini of Tuscany, is still +extant. In this document he requests them to communicate anything they +can of the origin of their house, their numbers, and their ancestors. He +informs them that it will give him the greatest pleasure to send them +hawks, falcons, horses, or hounds, or anything that he can procure which +they may desire. He concludes: + +"God be with you; love us in return. + +"GERALD, Chief in Ireland of the family of Gherardini, Earl of Kildare, +Viceroy of the most serene Kings of England in Ireland." + +Eight years after this letter was written, Ariosto writes thus of a +brave old man, whose fame had passed long before to distant lands: + + "Or guarda gl' Ibernisi: appresso il piano + Sono due squadre; e il Conte di Childera + Mena la pinna; e il Conte di Desmonda, + Da fieri monti ha tratta la seconda." + +[Illustration: ROUND TOWER, DONAGHMORE, CO. MEATH.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF SELSKER ABBEY, WEXFORD.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[362] _Them_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 292. + +[363] _Annals_.--Four Masters, vol. iv. p. 791. + +[364] _Master_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 347. + +[365] _Shave_.--There are no monumental effigies of Henry VI. His +remains were removed several times by Richard III., who was annoyed at +the popular belief that he worked miracles; but the costume of the +period may be studied in an engraving by Strutt, from a scene depicted +in the Royal M.S., 15E 6, which represents Talbot in the act of +presenting a volume of romances to the King and Queen. Henry was +notoriously plain in his dress, but his example was not followed by his +court. Fairholt says: "It would appear as if the English nobility and +gentry sought relief in the invention of all that was absurd in apparel, +as a counter-excitement to the feverish spirit engendered by civil +war."--_History of Costume_, p. 146. + +[366] _Soul_.--Duald Mac Firbis.--_Annals_. + +[367] _History_.--The scene is laid at the Abbey of Bury. A _Poste_ +enters and exclaims-- + +"_Poste_.--Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain, To signify that +rebels there are up, And put the Englishmen unto the sword. Send +succours (lords), and stop the rage betime, Before the wound do grow +uncurable; For being green, there is great hope of help." + +_--King Henry VI. Part ii. Act 3._ + + + +[368] + +_People_.--"I twise bore rule in Normandy and Fraunce, And last +lieutenant in Ireland, where my hart Found remedy for every kinde of +smart; For through the love my doings there did breede, I had my helpe +at all times in my neede." + +--_Mirrour for Magistrates_, vol. ii. p. 189. + +Hall, in his _Union of the Two Noble Houses_ (1548), wrote that York +"got him such love and favour of the country [Ireland] and the +inhabitants, that their sincere love and friendly affection could never +be separated from him and his lineage." + +[369] _Hobbies_.--Irish horses were famous from an early period of our +history. They were considered presents worthy of kings. The name +_hobbies_ is a corruption of _hobilarius_, a horseman. It is probable +the term is derived from the Spanish _caballo_, a horse. There were +three different Irish appellations for different kinds of horses, +_groidh, each_, and _gearran_. These words are still in use, but +_capall_ is the more common term. + +[370] _Book_.--This ancient MS. is still in existence, in the Bodleian +Library in Oxford (Laud, 610). It is a copy of such portions of the +Psalter of Cashel as could then be deciphered, which was made for +Butler, by Shane O'Clery, A.D. 1454. There is an interesting memorandum +in it in Irish, made by MacButler himself: "A blessing on the soul of +the Archbishop of Cashel, i.e., Richard O'Hedigan, for it was by him the +owner of this book was educated. This is the Sunday before Christmas; +and let all those who shall read this give a blessing on the souls of +both." + +[371] _Ireland_.--_The Annals of Ulster_, compiled by Maguire, Canon of +Armagh, who died A.D. 1498. + +[372] _London_.--The Irish Yorkists declared that this youth was a +counterfeit. The Earl of Lincoln, son of Elizabeth Plantagenet, sister +of Richard III., saw and conversed with the boy at the court at Shene, +and appeared to be convinced that he was not his real cousin, for he +joined the movement in favour of Simnel immediately after the interview. +Mr. Gilbert remarks in his _Viceroys_, p. 605, that the fact of all the +documents referring to this period of Irish history having been +destroyed, has been quite overlooked. A special Act of Poyning's +Parliament commanded the destruction of all "records, processes, +ordinances, &c., done in the 'Laddes' name." + +[373] _Authority_.--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 605. The English Parliament +attainted those English gentlemen and nobles who had fought against the +King at Stoke, but they took no notice of the English in Ireland, who +were the real promoters of the rebellion. This is a curious and valuable +illustration of the state of affairs in that country. + +[374] _Firing it_.--A valuable paper on this subject, by Sir S.R. +Meyrick, will be found in the _Archaeologia_, vol. xxii. The people of +Lucca are supposed to have been the first to use hand-cannons, at the +beginning of the fifteenth century. Cannon-balls were first made of +stone, but at the battle of Cressy the English "shot small balls of +iron." For popular information on this subject, see Fairholt, _History +of Costume_. + +[375] _Ordnance_.--In 1489 six hand-guns or musquets were sent from +Germany to the Earl of Kildare, which his guard bore while on sentry at +Thomas Court, his Dublin residence. The word "Pale" came to be applied +to that part of Ireland occupied by the English, in consequence of one +of the enactments of Poyning's Parliament, which required all the +colonists to "pale" in or enclose that portion of the country possessed +by the English. + +[376] _Butts_.--We give an illustration, at the head of this chapter, of +the Butts' Cross, Kilkenny. + +[377] _War-cries_.--That of the Geraldines of Kildare was _Cromadh-abu_, +from Croom Castle, in Limerick; the war-cry of the Desmond Geraldines +was _Seanaid-abu_, from Shannid Castle. + +[378] _Expensive_.--English writers accuse Henry of miserable +avariciousness. He is accused of having consented to the execution of +Sir William Stanley, who had saved his life, for the sake of his +enormous wealth.--Lingard's _History of England_, vol. v. p. 308. He is +also accused, by a recent writer, of having seized the Wealth of the +Queen Dowager, because he chose to believe that she had assisted +Simnel.--_Victoria History of England_, p. 223. + +[379] _Ireland_.--On one occasion, when the Earl and Sir James Ormonde +had a quarrel, the latter retired into the chapter-house of St. +Patrick's Cathedral, the door of which he closed and barricaded. The +Earl requested him to come forth, and pledged his honour for his safety. +As the knight still feared treachery, a hole was cut in the door, +through which Kildare passed his hand; and after this exploit, Ormonde +came out, and they embraced each other. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The Reign of Henry VIII.--The Three Eras in Irish History: Military +Violence, Legal Iniquity, and Religious Oppression--The Earl of +Kildare--Report on the State of Ireland--The Insurrection of Silken +Thomas--His Execution with his five Uncles--First Attempt to introduce +the Reformation in Ireland--Real Cause of the English Schism--The King +acts as Head of the Church--The New Religion enacted by Law, and +enforced by the Sword--How the Act was opposed by the Clergy, and how +the Clergy were disposed of--Dr. Browne's Letter to Henry--The Era of +Religious Persecution--Massacre of a Prelate, Priest, and +Friars--Wholesale Plunder of Religious Property. + +[A.D. 1509-1540.] + + +We have now approached one of the most important standpoints in Irish +history. An English writer has divided its annals into three eras, which +he characterizes thus: first, the era of military violence; second, the +era of legal iniquity; third, the era of religious persecution.[380] We +may mark out roughly certain lines which divide these periods, but +unhappily the miseries of the two former blended eventually with the yet +more cruel wrongs of the latter. Still, until the reign of Henry VIII., +the element of religious contention did not exist; and its importance as +an increased source of discord, may be easily estimated by a careful +consideration of its subsequent effects. Nevertheless, I believe that +Irish history has not been fairly represented by a considerable number +of writers, who are pleased to attribute all the sufferings and wrongs +endured by the people of that country to religious grounds. + +Ireland was in a chronic state of discontent and rebellion, in the eras +of military violence and legal iniquity, which existed some centuries +before the era of religious persecution; but, unquestionably all the +evils of the former period were enhanced and intensified, when the power +which had so long oppressed and plundered, sought to add to bodily +suffering the still keener anguish of mental torture. + +In the era of military violence, a man was driven from his ancestral +home by force of arms; in the era of legal iniquity, he was treated as a +rebel if he complained; but in the era of religious persecution, his +free will, the noblest gift of God to man--the gift which God Himself +will not shackle--was demanded from him; and if he dared act according +to the dictates of his conscience, a cruel death or a cruel confiscation +was his portion. And this was done in the name of liberty of conscience! +While England was Catholic, it showed no mercy to Catholic Ireland; I +doubt much, if Ireland had become Protestant to a man, when England had +become Protestant as a nation, that she would have shown more +consideration for the Celtic race. But the additional cruelties with +which the Irish were visited, for refusing to discard their faith at the +bidding of a profligate king, are simply matters of history. + +Henry succeeded his father in the year 1509. The Earl of Kildare was +continued in his office as Deputy; but the King's minister, Wolsey, +virtually ruled the nation, until the youthful monarch had attained his +majority; and he appears to have devoted himself with considerable zeal +to Irish affairs. He attempted to attach some of the Irish chieftains to +the English interest, and seems in some degree to have succeeded. Hugh +O'Donnell, Lord of Tir-Connell, was hospitably entertained at Windsor, +as he passed through England on his pilgrimage to Rome. It is said that +O'Donnell subsequently prevented James IV. of Scotland from undertaking +his intended expedition to Ireland; and, in 1521, we find him described +by the then Lord Deputy as the best disposed of all the Irish chieftains +"to fall into English order." + +Gerald, the ninth and last Catholic Earl of Kildare, succeeded his +father as Lord Deputy in 1513. But the hereditary foes of his family +were soon actively employed in working his ruin; and even his sister, +who had married into that family, proved not the least formidable of his +enemies. He was summoned to London; but either the charges against him +could not be proved, or it was deemed expedient to defer them, for we +find him attending Henry for four years, and forming one of his retinue +at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Kildare was permitted to return to +Dublin again in 1523, but he was tracked by Wolsey's implacable hatred +to his doom.[381] In 1533 he was confined in the Tower for the third +time. The charges against him were warmly urged by his enemies. Two of +his sisters were married to native chieftains; and he was accused of +playing fast and loose with the English as a baron of the Pale--with the +Irish as a warm ally.[382] Two English nobles had been appointed to +assist him, or rather to act the spy upon his movements, at different +times. One of these, Sir Thomas Skeffington, became his most dangerous +enemy. + +In 1515 an elaborate report on the state of Ireland was prepared by the +royal command. It gives a tolerably clear idea of the military and +political condition of the country. According to this account, the only +counties really subject to English rule, were Louth, Meath, Dublin, +Kildare, and Wexford. Even the residents near the boundaries of these +districts, were obliged to pay "black mail" to the neighbouring Irish +chieftains. The King's writs were not executed beyond the bounds +described; and within thirty miles of Dublin, the Brehon law was in full +force. This document, which is printed in the first volume of the "State +Papers" relating to Ireland, contains a list of the petty rulers of +sixty different states or "regions," some of which "are as big as a +shire; some more, some less." The writer then gives various opinions as +to the plans which might be adopted for improving the state of Ireland, +which he appears to have taken principally from a curious old book, +called _Salus Populi_.[383] Both writers were of opinion that war to the +knife was the only remedy for Ireland's grievances. It was at least +clear that if dead men could tell no tales, neither could dead men rebel +against oppression; and the writer of the report concludes, "that if the +King were as wise as Solomon the Sage, he shall never subdue the wild +Irish to his obedience without dread of the sword." Even this he admits +may fail; for he adds, "so long as they may resist and save their lives, +they will never obey the King." He then quotes the _Salus Populi_, to +show the advantages which England might derive if the Irish united with +her in her wars on foreign countries, and observes, "that if this land +were put once in order as aforesaid, it would be none other but a very +paradise, delicious of all pleasaunce, in respect and regard of any +other land in this world; inasmuch as there never was stranger nor alien +person, great or small, that would leave it willingly, notwithstanding +the said misorder, if he had the means to dwell therein honestly." + +It cannot now be ascertained whether Kildare had incited the Irish +chieftains to rebellion or not. In 1520, during one of his periods of +detention in London, the Earl of Surrey was sent over as Deputy with a +large force. It would appear as if a general rising were contemplated at +that time, and it was then the Earl wrote the letter[384] already +mentioned to O'Carroll. The new Viceroy was entirely ignorant of the +state of Ireland, and imagined he had nothing to do but conquer. Several +successful engagements confirmed him in this pleasing delusion; but he +soon discovered his mistake, and assured the King that it was hopeless +to contend with an enemy, who were defeated one day, and rose up with +renewed energy the next. As a last resource he suggested the policy of +conciliation, which Henry appears to have adopted, as he empowered him +to confer the honour of knighthood on any of the Irish chieftains to +whom he considered it desirable to offer the compliment, and he sent a +collar of gold to O'Neill. About the same time Surrey wrote to inform +Wolsey, that Cormac Oge MacCarthy and MacCarthy Reagh were "two wise +men, and more conformable to order than some English were;" but he was +still careful to keep up the old policy of fomenting discord among the +native princes, for he wrote to the King that "it would be dangerful to +have them both agreed and joined together, as the longer they continue +in war, the better it should be for your Grace's poor subjects here." + +Surrey became weary at last of the hopeless conflict, and at his own +request he was permitted to return to England and resign his office, +which was conferred on his friend, Pierse Butler,[385] of Carrick, +subsequently Earl of Ormonde. The Scotch had begun to immigrate to +Ulster in considerable numbers, and acquired large territories there; +the Pale was almost unprotected; and the Irish Privy Council applied to +Wolsey for six ships-of-war, to defend the northern coasts, A.D. 1522. +The dissensions between the O'Neills and O'Donnells had broken out into +sanguinary warfare. + +The Earl of Kildare left Ireland for the third and last time, in +February, 1534. Before his departure he summoned a Council at Drogheda, +and appointed his son, Thomas, to act as Deputy in his absence. On the +Earl's arrival in London, he was at once seized and imprisoned in the +Tower. A false report was carefully circulated in Ireland that he had +been beheaded, and that the destruction of the whole family was even +then impending. Nor was there anything very improbable in this +statement. The English King had already inaugurated his sanguinary +career. One of the most eminent English laymen, Sir Thomas More, and one +of her best ecclesiastics, Bishop Fisher, had been accused and beheaded, +to satisfy the royal caprice. When the King's tutor and his chancellor +had been sacrificed, who could hope to escape? + +The unfortunate Earl had advised his son to pursue a cautious and gentle +policy; but Lord Thomas' fiery temper could ill brook such precaution, +and he was but too easily roused by the artful enemies who incited him +to rebellion. The reports of his father's execution were confirmed. His +proud blood was up, and he rushed madly on the career of +self-destruction. On the 11th of June, 1534, he flung down the sword of +state on the table of the council-hall at St. Mary's Abbey, and openly +renounced his allegiance to the English monarch. Archbishop Cromer +implored him with tears to reconsider his purpose, but all entreaties +were vain. Even had he been touched by this disinterested counsel, it +would probably have failed of its effect; for an Irish bard commenced +chanting his praises and his father's wrongs, and thus his doom was +sealed. An attempt was made to arrest him, but it failed. Archbishop +Allen, his father's bitterest enemy, fled to the Castle, with several +other nobles, and here they were besieged by FitzGerald and his +followers. The Archbishop soon contrived to effect his escape. He +embarked at night in a vessel which was then lying at Dame's Gate; but +the ship was stranded near Clontarf, either through accident or design, +and the unfortunate prelate was seized by Lord Thomas' people, who +instantly put him to death. The young nobleman is said by some +authorities to have been present at the murder, as well as his two +uncles: there is at least no doubt of his complicity in the crime. The +sentence of excommunication was pronounced against him, and those who +assisted him, in its most terrible form. + +Ecclesiastical intervention was not necessary to complete his ruin. He +had commenced his wild career of lawless violence with but few +followers, and without any influential companions. The Castle of +Maynooth, the great stronghold of the Geraldines, was besieged and +captured by his father's old enemy, Sir William Skeffington. In the +meanwhile the intelligence of his son's insurrection had been +communicated to the Earl, and the news of his excommunication followed +quickly. The unfortunate nobleman succumbed beneath the twofold blow, +and died in a few weeks. Lord Thomas surrendered himself in August, +1535, on the guarantee of Lord Leonard and Lord Butler, under a solemn +promise that his life should be spared.[386] But his fate was in the +hands of one who had no pity, even where the tenderest ties were +concerned. Soon after the surrender of "Silken Thomas," his five uncles +were seized treacherously at a banquet; and although three of them had +no part in the rebellion, the nephew and the uncles were all executed +together at Tyburn, on the 3rd of February, 1537. If the King had hoped +by this cruel injustice to rid himself of the powerful family, he was +mistaken. Two children of the late Earl's still existed. They were sons +by his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Grey. The younger, still an infant, +was conveyed to his mother in England; the elder, a youth of twelve +years of age, was concealed by his aunts, who were married to the +chieftains of Offaly and Donegal, and was soon conveyed to France, out +of the reach of the enemies who eagerly sought his destruction. It is +not a little curious to find the native princes, who had been so cruelly +oppressed by his forefathers, protecting and helping the hapless youth, +even at the risk of their lives. It is one of many evidences that the +antipathy of Celt to Saxon is not so much an antipathy of race or +person, as the natural enmity which the oppressed entertains towards the +oppressor. + +Henry made his first appearance at establishing his spiritual supremacy +in the year 1534, by appointing an Augustinian friar, who had +already[387] become a Protestant, to the see of Dublin. He was +consecrated by Cranmer, always the servile instrument of the royal +pleasure. The previous events in England, which resulted in the national +schism, are too well known to require much observation. It must be +admitted as one of the most patent facts of history, that the English +King never so much as thought of asserting his supremacy in spiritual +matters, until he found that submission to Papal supremacy interfered +with his sinful inclinations. If Pope Clement VII. had dissolved the +marriage between Queen Catherine and Henry VIII. in 1528, Parliament +would not have been asked to legalize the national schism in 1534. Yet +it would appear as if Henry had hesitated for a moment before he +committed the final act of apostacy. It was Cromwell who suggested the +plan which he eventually followed. With many expressions of humility he +pointed out the course which might be pursued. The approbation of the +Holy See, he said, was the one thing still wanting. It was plain now +that neither bribes nor threats could procure that favour. But was it so +necessary as the King had hitherto supposed? It might be useful to avert +the resentment of the German Emperor; but if it could not be obtained, +why should the King's pleasure depend on the will of another? Several of +the German princes had thrown off their allegiance to the Holy See: why, +then, should not the English King? The law could legalize the King's +inclination, and who dare gainsay its enactments? Let the law declare +Henry the head of the Church, and he could, as such, give himself the +dispensations for which he sought. The law which could frame articles of +faith and sanction canons, could regulate morals as easily as it could +enact a creed. + +Such counsel was but too acceptable to a monarch resolved to gratify his +passions at all hazards, temporal or spiritual. Cromwell was at once +appointed a member of the Privy Council. He received a patent for life +of the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, and he was authorized to frame +the necessary bills, and conduct them through the two houses.[388] +Parliament complied without hesitation; the clergy in convocation made a +show of opposition, which just sufficed to enhance their moral +turpitude, since their brief resistance intimated that they acted +contrary to their consciences in giving their final assent. The royal +supremacy in matters ecclesiastical, was declared to be the will of God +and the law of the land. + +The King's mistress was now made his wife, by the same authority which +had made the King head of the Church; and it was evident that the +immediate cause of the separation of the English nation from the +Catholic Church was the desire of the monarch, that his profligacy +should obtain some kind of sanction. But this commencement of the +Anglican Establishment, however true, is so utterly disreputable, that +English historians have been fain to conceal, as far as might be, the +real cause, and to justify the schism by bringing grave charges[389] +against the Church. This, after all, is a mere _petitio principii_. It +has been already remarked that England was demoralized socially to an +extraordinary degree, as a nation always has been by a continuance of +civil war. The clergy suffered from the same causes which affected the +laity, and the moral condition of the ecclesiastical body was not all +that could be desired. These were remote causes, which acted powerfully +as they rolled along the stream of time, and which broke the barriers of +faith like an overwhelming torrent, when an additional impetus was +given. But it should be distinctly remembered (1) that the direct act of +schism was committed when Henry required Parliament and Convocation to +exalt him to the spiritual supremacy; and (2) that the sins of churchmen +and the faith of the Church are two distinct questions. There may have +been more corruption of life and morals, both in the laity and the +priesthood of the Catholic Church at the Reformation, than at any other +period of the Church's history; but the Jews had been commanded to obey +the Scribes and Pharisees, because they sat in Moses' seat, at the very +time when the Lamb of God could find no milder term to describe their +hypocrisy and iniquity than that of a generation of vipers. + +If schism is admitted to be a sin, it is difficult to see how any amount +of crime with which other individuals can be charged, even justly, +lessens the guilt of the schismatic. There can be little doubt that the +members of the Church are most fervent and edifying in their lives, when +suffering from persecution. Ambition has less food when there are no +glittering prizes within its reach. Faith is more sincere when there are +no motives for a false profession, and every natural motive to conceal +religious belief. The Irish clergy were never charged with the gross +crimes which have been mentioned in connexion with some few of their +brethren in England. Those who ministered outside the Pale, lived in +poverty and simplicity. The monasteries were not so richly endowed as +the English conventual houses; and, perhaps, this freedom from the +world's goods, served to nerve them for the coming trial; and that their +purer and more fervent lives saved the Irish Church and people from +national apostacy. + +Soon after Dr. Browne's arrival in Ireland, he received an official +letter from Cromwell, containing directions for his conduct there. He is +informed it is "the royal will and pleasure of his Majesty, that his +subjects in Ireland, even as those in England, should obey his commands +in spiritual matters as in temporal, and renounce their allegiance to +the See of Rome." This language was sufficiently plain. They are +required to renounce their allegiance to the See of Rome, simply because +"the King wills it." The affair is spoken of as if it were some +political matter, which could easily be arranged. But the source of this +prelate's authority was simply political; for Henry writes to him thus: +"Let it sink into your remembrance, that we be as able, for the not +doing thereof, to remove you again, and put another man of more virtue +and honesty into your place, as we were at the beginning to prefer you." +Browne could certainly be in no doubt from whom he had received his +commission to teach and preach to the people of Ireland; but that nation +had received the faith many centuries before, from one who came to them +with very different credentials; and years of oppression and most cruel +persecution have failed in inducing them to obey human authority rather +than divine. + +Dr. Browne soon found that it was incomparably easier for Henry to issue +commands in England, than for him to enforce them in Ireland. He +therefore wrote to Cromwell, from Dublin, on "the 4th of the kal. of +December, 1535," and informed him that he "had endeavoured, almost to +the danger and hazard of my temporal life, to procure the nobility and +gentry of this nation to due obedience in owning of his Highness their +supreme head, as well spiritual as temporal; and do find much oppugning +therein, especially by my brother Armagh, who hath been the main +oppugner, and so hath withdrawn most of his suffragans and clergy within +his see and diocese. He made a speech to them, laying a curse on the +people whosoever should own his Highness' supremacy, saying, that +isle--as it is in their Irish chronicles, _insula sacra_--belongs to +none but the Bishop of Rome, and that it was the Bishop of Rome that +gave it to the King's ancestors."[390] Dr. Browne then proceeds to +inform his correspondent that the Irish clergy had sent two messengers +to Rome.[391] He states "that the common people of this isle are more +zealous in their blindness, than the saints and martyrs were in truth;" +and he advises that a Parliament should at once be summoned, "to pass +the supremacy by Act; for they do not much matter his Highness' +commission, which your lordship sent us over." Truly, the nation which +had been so recently enlightened in so marvellous a manner, might have +had a little patience with the people who could not so easily discern +the new light; and, assuredly, if the term "Church by law established" +be applicable to the Protestant religion in England, it is, if possible, +still more applicable to the Protestant Establishment in Ireland, since +the person delegated to found the new religion in that country, has +himself stated it could only be established there by Act of Parliament. + +The Parliament was summoned in 1536; but, as a remote preparation, the +Lord Deputy made a "martial circuit" of Ireland, hoping thereby to +overawe the native septs, and compel their submission to the royal will +and pleasure. "This preparation being made," _i.e.,_ the "martial +circuit"--I am quoting from Sir John Davies;[392] I request the reader's +special attention to the statement--"he first propounded and passed in +Parliament these Lawes, which made the great alteration in the State +Ecclesiastical, namely, the Act which declared King Henry VIII. to be +Supreme Head of the Church of Ireland; the Act prohibiting Apeales to +the Church of Rome; the Act for first fruites and twentieth part to be +paid to the King; and lastly, the Act that did utterly abolish the +usurped Authoritie of the Pope. Next, for the increase of the King's +Revenew. By one Act he suppressed sundry Abbayes and Religious Houses, +and by another Act resumed the Lands of the Absentees." + +The royal process of conversion to the royal opinions, had at least the +merits of simplicity. There is an old rhyme--one of those old rhymes +which are often more effectual in moving the hearts of the multitude +than the most eloquent sermons, and truer exponents of popular feeling +than Acts of Parliament--which describes the fate of Forrest, the +Franciscan friar, confessor of the King's only lawful wife and the +consequences of his temerity in denying the King's supremacy:-- + + "Forrest, the fryar, + That obstinate lyar, + That wilfully will be dead; + Incontinently + The Gospel doth deny, + The King to be supreme head." + +There is a grand and simple irony in this not easily surpassed. Some +very evident proofs had been given in England, that to deny the King's +spiritual supremacy was "wilfully to be dead," although neither the King +nor the Parliament had vouchsafed to inform the victims in what part of +the Gospel the keys of the kingdom of heaven had been given to a +temporal prince. Still, as I have observed, the royal process was +extremely simple--if you believed, you were saved; if you doubted, you +died. + +With the example of Sir Thomas More[393] before their eyes, the +Anglo-Norman nobles and gentlemen, assembled in Parliament by the royal +command, were easily persuaded to do the royal bidding. But the +ecclesiastics were by no means so pliable. Every diocese had the +privilege of sending two proctors to Parliament; and these proctors +proved so serious an obstacle, that Lords Grey and Brabazon wrote to +Cromwell, that they had prorogued the Parliament in consequence of the +"forwardness and obstinacy of the proctors, of the clergy, and of the +bishops and abbots;" and they suggest that "some means should be +devised, whereby they should be brought to remember their duty better," +or that "means may be found which shall put these proctors from a voice +in Parliament."[394] The means were easily found--the proctors were +forbidden to vote.[395] The Act was passed. Every one who objected to it +having been forbidden to vote, Henry's agents on the Continent +proclaimed triumphantly that the Irish nation had renounced the +supremacy of Rome. A triumph obtained at the expense of truth, is but +poor compensation for the heavy retribution which shall assuredly be +demanded of those who have thus borne false witness against their +neighbour. Men forget too often, in the headlong eagerness of +controversy, that truth is eternal and immutable, and that no amount of +self-deceit or successful deception of others can alter its purity and +integrity in the eyes of the Eternal Verity. + +The Irish Parliament, or, we should say more correctly, the men +permitted to vote in Ireland according to royal directions, had already +imitated their English brethren by declaring the marriage of Henry and +Catherine of Arragon null and void, and limiting the succession to the +crown to the children of Anna Boleyn. When this lady had fallen a victim +to her husband's caprice, they attainted her and her posterity with +equal facility. A modern historian has attempted to excuse Henry's +repudiation of his lawful wife, on the ground of his sincere anxiety to +prevent disputes about the succession.[396] But the King's subsequent +conduct ought surely to have deterred any one from attempting so rash an +apology. To doubt the royal supremacy, or the right of the lady, who for +the time being held a place in Henry's affections, to royal honours, was +an evidence of insincerity in devotion to himself which he could not +easily pardon. + +As it was now ascertained that the Irish people would not apostatize as +a nation, an expedient was prepared for their utter extirpation. It +would be impossible to believe that the human heart could be guilty of +such cruelty, if we had not evidence of the fact in the State Papers. By +this diabolical scheme it was arranged to till or carry away their +cattle, and to destroy their corn while it was green. "The very living +of the Irishry," observes the writer, "doth clearly consist in two +things; and take away the same from them, and they are past power to +recover, or yet to annoy any subject in Ireland. Take first from them +their corn--burn and destroy the same; and then have their cattle and +beasts, which shall be most hardest to come by, and yet, with guides and +policy, they be often had and taken." Such was the arrangement; and it +was from no want of inclination that it was not entirely carried out, +and the "Irishry" starved to death in their own land. + +The title of King of Ireland had not as yet been given to English +monarchs, but the ever-subservient Parliament of this reign granted +Henry this addition to his privileges, such as it was. We have already +seen the style in which the "supreme head of the Church" addressed the +bishops whom he had appointed; we shall now give a specimen of their +subserviency to their master, and the fashion in which they executed his +commands, before returning to secular history. + +Henry's letter to Dr. Browne is dated July 7th, 1537; the Bishop's reply +is given on the 27th September, 1537. He commences by informing his most +excellent Highness that he had received his most gracious letter on the +7th September, and that "it made him tremble in body for fear of +incurring his Majesty's displeasure," which was doubtless the most +truthful statement in his epistle. He mentions all his zeal and efforts +against Popery, which, he adds, "is a thing not little rooted among the +inhabitants here." He assures the King of his activity in securing the +twentieth part and first-fruits for the royal use (what had been given +to God was now given to Caesar), and states what, indeed, could not be +denied, that he was the "first spiritual man who moved" for this to be +done. He concludes with the fearful profanity of "desiring of God, that +the ground, should open and swallow him up the hour or minute that he +should declare the Gospel of Christ after any sort than he had done +heretofore, in rebuking the Papistical power, _or in any other point +concerning the advancement of his Grace's affairs_." + +Such a tissue of profanity and absurdity was seldom penned; but men who +could write and act thus were fitting instruments for a man, who made it +a point of conscience to commit immoral crimes that he might preserve +the succession; who kept his mistress in the same palace with his queen; +and only went through the form of marriage when he found his real or +pretended wishes about the same succession on the point of being +realized in a manner that even he could not fail to see would scarcely +be admitted as legal or legitimate by public opinion, whatever an +obsequious Parliament might do. It is at least certain that such letters +never were addressed by Catholic prelates to the Holy See, and that +those who speak of its tyranny and priestcraft, and the absolute +submission it requires from its subjects, would do well to remember the +trite motto, _Audi alteram partem_, and to inquire whether a similar +charge might not be made more justly against the founders of the +Protestant Establishment. + +Dr. Browne and the Lord Deputy now rivalled each other in their efforts +to obtain the royal approbation, by destroying all that the Irish people +held most sacred, determined to have as little cause as possible for +"the trembling in body" which the King's displeasure would effect. They +traversed the land from end to end, destroying cathedrals, plundering +abbeys, and burning relics--all in the name of a religion which +proclaimed liberty of conscience to worship God according to individual +conviction, as the great boon which it was to confer on the nation. +However full of painful interest these details may be, as details they +belong to the province of the ecclesiastical historian. The Four Masters +record the work of desecration in touching and mournful strains. They +tell of the heresy which broke out in England, and graphically +characterize it as "the effect of pride, vain-glory, avarice, and +sensual desire." They mention how "the King and Council enacted new laws +and statutes after their own will." They observe that all the property +of the religious orders was seized for the King; and they conclude thus: +"They also made archbishops and bishops for themselves; and although +great was the persecution of the Roman emperors against the Church, it +is not probable that so great a persecution as this ever came upon the +world; so that it is impossible to tell or narrate its description, +unless it should be told by him saw it."[397] + +The era of religious persecution was thus inaugurated; and if Ireland +had made no martyrs of the men who came to teach her the faith, she was +not slow to give her best and noblest sons as victims to the fury of +those who attempted to deprive her of that priceless deposit. Under the +year 1540, the Four Masters record the massacre of the Guardian and +friars of the Convent at Monaghan, for refusing to acknowledge the +spiritual supremacy of the King. Cornelius, Bishop of Down, a Franciscan +friar, and Father Thomas FitzGerald, a member of the noble family of the +Geraldines, and a famous preacher, were both killed in the convent of +that Order in Dublin. Father Dominic Lopez has given a detailed account +of the sufferings of the religious orders in Ireland during the reign of +Henry VIII., in a rare and valuable work, entitled, _Noticias Historicas +de las tres florentissimas Provincias del celeste Ordem de la Ssma. +Trinidad_.[398] I shall give two instances from this history, as a +sample of the fashion in which the new doctrine of the royal supremacy +was propagated. In 1539 the Prior and religious of the Convent of +Atharee were commanded to take the oath of supremacy, and to surrender +their property to the crown. The Superior, Father Robert, at once +assembled his spiritual children, and informed them of the royal +mandate. Their resolution was unanimous; after the example of the early +Christians, when threatened with martyrdom and spoliation by heathen +emperors, they at once distributed their provisions, clothing, and any +money they had in hand amongst the poor, and concealed the sacred +vessels and ornaments, so that not so much as a single emblem of our +redemption was left to be desecrated by men professing to believe that +they had been redeemed by the cross of Christ. Father Robert was +summoned thrice to recognize the new authority. Thrice he declined; +declaring that "none had ever sought to propagate their religious tenets +by the sword, except the pagan emperors in early ages, and Mahomet in +later times. As for himself and his community, they were resolved that +no violence should move them from the principles of truth: they +recognized no head of the Catholic Church save the Vicar of Jesus +Christ; and as for the King of England, they regarded him not even as a +member of that holy Church, but as head of the synagogue of Satan." The +conclusion of his reply was a signal for massacre. An officer instantly +struck off his head with one blow. As the prisons were already full of +"recusants," the friars were placed in confinement in private houses, +some were secretly murdered, and others were publicly hanged in the +market-place. These events occurred on the 12th and 13th of February, +1539. + +An almost similar tragedy was enacted in the Trinitarian Convent of +Limerick, where the Prior was coadjutor to the Bishop of that city. He +also assembled the brethren, exhorted them to perseverance, distributed +their few poor possessions, and concealed the sacred vessels. On the +feast of St. John Baptist, 24th June, in the year of grace 1539, he +preached in his cathedral against the new heresy, and exhorted his flock +to persevere in the faith. The emissaries of Government were afraid to +attack him openly; but that evening they visited him at his private +residence, and offered him his choice between death and apostacy. For +all reply the venerable prelate knelt down, and exclaimed: "O Lord, on +this morning I offered to Thee on the altar the unbloody sacrifice of +the body of my Saviour; grant that I may now offer, to Thy greater +honour and glory, the sacrifice of my own life." Then he turned towards +a picture of the most holy Trinity, which was suspended in his room, and +scarce had time to pronounce the aspiration of his Order, "_Sancta +Trinitas, unus Deus, miserere nobis_," ere his head was severed from his +body, and he entered upon the beatific vision of the Three in One, for +Whom he had so gladly sacrificed his life. + +The Protestant Archbishop, Dr. Browne, the Lord Chancellor, and some +other members of the Council, set out on a "visitation" of the four +counties of Carlow, Wexford, Waterford, and Tipperary, in which the +church militant was for the nonce represented by the church military. +They transmitted an account of their expedition, and the novel fashion +in which they attempted to propagate the Gospel, to England, on the 18th +January, 1539. One brief extract must suffice as a specimen of their +proceedings. "The day following we kept the sessions there [at Wexford]. +There was put to execution four felons, accompanied with another, a +friar, whom we commanded to be hanged in his habit, and so to remain +upon the gallows for a mirror to all his brethren to live truly."[399] + +There was One, whom from reverence I name not here, who said, when about +to die, that, when "lifted up, He should draw all men unto Him." +Centuries have rolled by since those most blessed words were uttered, +but they have been verified in the disciples as well as in the Master. +The "lifting up" of a friar upon the gallows, or of a bishop upon the +block, has but served to draw men after them; and the reformations they +failed to effect during their lives, by their preaching and example, +have been accomplished after and because of their martyrdoms. + +The reformers now began to upbraid each other with the very crimes of +which they had accused the clergy in England. When mention is made of +the immense sums of money which were obtained by the confiscation of +religious houses at this period, it has been commonly and naturally +supposed, that the religious were possessors of immense wealth, which +they hoarded up for their own benefit; and although each person made a +vow of poverty, it is thought that what was possessed collectively, was +enjoyed individually. But this false impression arises (1) from a +mistaken idea of monastic life, and (2) from a misapprehension as to the +kind of property possessed by the religious. + +A brief account of some of the property forfeited in Ireland, will +explain this important matter. We do not find in any instance that +religious communities had large funds of money. If they had extensive +tracts of land, they were rather the property of the poor, who farmed +them, than of the friars, who held them in trust. Any profit they +produced made no addition to the fare or the clothing of the religious, +for both fare and clothing were regulated by certain rules framed by the +original founders, and which could not be altered. These rules +invariably required the use of the plainest diet and of the coarsest +habits. A considerable portion--indeed, by far the most considerable +portion--of conventual wealth, consisted in the sacred vessels and +ornaments. These had been bestowed on the monastic churches by +benefactors, who considered that what was used in the service of God +should be the best which man could offer. The monk was none the richer +if he offered the sacrifice to the Eternal Majesty each morning in a +chalice of gold, encrusted with the most precious jewels; but if it were +right and fitting to present that chalice to God for the service of His +Divine Majesty, who shall estimate the guilt of those who presumed to +take the gift from Him to whom it had been given? We know how terrible +was the judgment which came upon a heathen monarch who dared to use the +vessels which had belonged to the Jewish Temple, and we may believe that +a still more terrible judgment is prepared for those who desecrate +Christian churches, and that it will be none the less sure, because, +under the new dispensation of mercy, it comes less swiftly. + +All the gold and silver plate, jewels, ornaments, lead, bells, &c., were +reserved by special command for the King's use.[400] The church-lands +were sold to the highest bidder, or bestowed as a reward on those who +had helped to enrich the royal coffers by sacrilege. Amongst the records +of the sums thus obtained, we find L326 2s. 11d., the price of divers +pieces of gold and silver, of precious stones, silver ornaments, &c.; +also L20, the price of 1,000 lbs. of wax. The sum of L1,710 2s. was +realized from the sale of sacred vessels belonging to thirty-nine +monasteries. The profits on the spoliation of St. Mary's, Dublin, +realized L385. The destruction of the Collegiate Church of St. Patrick +must have procured an enormous profit, as we find that Cromwell received +L60 for his pains in effecting the same. It should also be remembered +that the value of a penny then was equal to the value of a shilling now, +so that we should multiply these sums at least by ten to obtain an +approximate idea of the extent of this wholesale robbery. + +The spoilers now began to quarrel over the spoils. The most active or +the most favoured received the largest share; and Dr. Browne grumbled +loudly at not obtaining all he asked for. But we have not space to +pursue the disedifying history of their quarrels. The next step was to +accuse each other. In the report of the Commissioners appointed in 1538 +to examine into the state of the country, we find complaints made of the +exaction of undue fees, extortions for baptisms and marriages, &c. They +also (though this was not made an accusation by the Commissioners) +received the fruits of benefices in which they did not officiate, and +they were accused of taking wives and dispensing with the sacrament of +matrimony. The King, whatever personal views he might have on this +subject, expected his clergy to live virtuously; and in 1542 he wrote to +the Lord Deputy, requiring an Act to be passed "for the continency of +the clergy," and some "reasonable plan to be devised for the avoiding of +sin." However, neither the Act nor the reasonable plan appear to have +succeeded. In 1545, Dr. Browne writes: "Here reigneth insatiable +ambition; here reigneth continually coigne and livery, and callid +extortion." Five years later, Sir Anthony St. Leger, after piteous +complaints of the decay of piety and the increase of immorality, +epitomizes the state of the country thus: "I never saw the land so far +out of good order."[401] Pages might be filled with such details; but +the subject shall be dismissed with a brief notice of the three props of +the Reformation and the King's supremacy in Ireland. These were Dr. +Browne of Dublin, Dr. Staples of Meath, and Dr. Bale of Ossory. The +latter writing of the former in 1553, excuses the corruption of his own +reformed clergy, by stating that "they would at no hand obey; alleging +for their vain and idle excuse, the lewd example of the Archbishop of +Dublin, who was always slack in things pertaining to God's glory." He +calls him "an epicurious archbishop, a brockish swine, and a dissembling +proselyte," and accuses him in plain terms of "drunkenness and +gluttony." Dr. Browne accuses Dr. Staples of having preached in such a +manner, "as I think the three-mouthed Cerberus of hell could not have +uttered it more viperously." And Dr. Mant, the Protestant panegyrist of +the Reformation and the Reformers, admits that Dr. Bale was guilty of +"uncommon warmth of temperament"--a polite appellation for a most +violent temper; and of "unbecoming coarseness"--a delicate definement of +a profligate life. His antecedents were not very creditable. After +flying from his convent in England, he was imprisoned for preaching +sedition in York and London. He obtained his release by professing +conformity to the new creed. He eventually retired to Canterbury, after +his expulsion from Kilkenny by the Catholics, and there he died, in +1563. + +[Illustration: SCULPTURES AT DEVENISH.] + +[Illustration: BOSS ISLAND.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[380] _Persecution_.--Smith's _Ireland Hist. and Statis_. vol. i. p. +327. + +[381] _Doom_.--See _The Earls of Kildare_, vol. i. p. 106, for Wolsey's +reasons for not removing him from the Viceroyalty, notwithstanding his +dislike. + +[382] _Ally_.--He was charged with having written a letter to O'Carroll +of Ely, in which he advised him to keep peace with the Pale until a +Deputy should come over, and then to make war on the English. The object +of this advice is not very clear. + +[383] _Salus Populi_.--There is a copy of this book in MS. in the +British Museum. The name of the author is not known. + +[384] _Letter_.--The deposition accusing Kildare is printed in the +"State Papers," part iii. p. 45. The following is an extract from the +translation which it gives of his letter to O'Carroll. The original was +written in Irish: "Desiring you to kepe good peas to English men tyll an +English Deputie come there; and when any English Deputie shall come +thydder, doo your beste to make warre upon English men there, except +suche as bee towardes mee, whom you know well your silf." + +[385] _Pierse Butler_.--Called by the Irish, Red Pierse. Leland gives a +curious story about him. He was at war with MacGillapatrick, who sent an +ambassador to Henry VIII. to complain of the Earl's proceedings. The +messenger met the English King as he was about to enter the royal +chapel, and addressed him thus: "Stop, Sir King! my master, +Gillapatrick, has sent me to thee to say, that if thou wilt not punish +the Red Earl he will make war on thee." Pierse resigned his title in +favour of Sir Thomas Boleyn, in 1527, and was created Earl of Ossory; +but after the death of the former he again took up the old title, and +resigned the new. + +[386] _Spared._--It is quite evident from the letter of the Council to +Henry VIII. (State Papers, ciii.), that a promise was made. Henry admits +it, and regrets it in his letter to Skeffington (S.P. cvi.): "The doyng +whereof [FitzGerald's capture], albeit we accept it thankfully, yet, if +he had been apprehended after such sorte as was convenable to his +deservynges, the same had been muche more thankfull and better to our +contentacion." + +[387] _Already_.--Mant describes him as a man "whose mind was happily +freed from the thraldom of Popery," before his appointment.--_History of +the Church of Ireland_, vol. i. p. 111. + +[388] _Houses_.--Lingard, vol. vi. p. 203. + +[389] _Charges_.--Mr. Froude has adopted this line with considerable +ability, in his _History of England_. He has collected certain +statements, which he finds in the books of the Consistory Courts, and +gives details from these cases which certainly must "shock his readers" +considerably, as he expects. He leaves it to be implied that, as a rule, +ecclesiastics lived in open immorality. He gives names and facts +concerning the punishment of priests for vicious lives (_History of +England_, vol. i. pp. 178-180); and asserts that their offences were +punished lightly, while another measure was dealt out to seculars. He +might as well select the cases of scandal given by Protestant clergymen +in modern times from the law books, and hold them up as specimens of the +lives of all their brethren. The cases were exceptions; and though they +do prove, what is generally admitted, that the moral condition of the +clergy was not all that could be desired in individual cases, they also +prove that such cases were exceptional, and that they were condemned by +the Church, or they would not have been punished. With regard to the +punishment, we can scarcely call it a light penance for a _priest_ to be +compelled to go round the church barefoot, to kneel at each altar and +recite certain prayers, and this while High Mass was singing. It was a +moral disgrace, and keener than a corporal punishment. The writer also +evidently misunderstands the Catholic doctrine of absolution, when he +says that a fine of six-and-eightpence was held sufficient penalty for a +mortal sin. + +[390] _Ancestors_.--See the _Phoenix_, a collection of valuable papers, +published in London, 1707; and the _Harleian Miscellany_, &c. + +[391] _Rome_.--This was the invariable practice of the Irish Church. It +will be remembered how letters and expostulations had been sent to the +Holy See in regard to the temporal oppressions of the English settlers. + +[392] _Davies.--Cause why Ireland was never Subdued_.--Thorn's Reprints, +vol. i. p. 694. + +[393] _More_.-Sir Thomas More's son-in-law, Roper, gives the following +account of his condemnation: "Mr. Rich, pretending friendly talk with +him, among other things of a set course, said this unto him: 'Admit +there were, sir, an Act of Parliament that the realm should take me for +king; would not you, Master More, take me for King?' 'Yes, sir,' quoth +Sir Thomas More, 'that I would.' 'I put the case further,' quoth Mr. +Rich, 'that there were an Act of Parliament that all the realm should +take me for Pope; would not you then, Master More, take me for Pope?' +'For answer, sir,' quoth Sir Thomas More, 'to your first case, the +Parliament may well, Master Rich, meddle with the state of temporal +princes; but to make answer to your other case, I will put you this +case. Suppose the Parliament should make a law that God should not be +God, would you then, Master Rich, say that God were not God?' 'No, sir,' +quoth he, 'that I would not, sith no Parliament may make any such law.' +'No more,' quoth Sir Thomas More, 'could the Parliament make the King +supreme head of the Church.' Upon whose only report was Sir Thomas +indicted for high treason on the statute to deny the King to be supreme +head of the Church, into which indictment were put these heinous +words--maliciously, traitorously, and diabolically." + +[394] _Parliament_.--State Papers, vol. ii. p. 437. + +[395] _Vote_.--Irish Statutes, 28th Henry VIII. c. xii. + +[396] _Succession_.--Froude, vol. i. p. 94. He also quotes Hall to the +effect that "all indifferent and discreet persons judged that it was +right and necessary." Persons who were "indifferent" enough to think +that any reason could make a sin necessary, or "discreet" enough to mind +losing their heads or their property, were generally of that opinion. +But Henry's difficulties in divorcing his wife are a matter of history. + +[397] _Saw it_,--Four Masters, vol. v. p. 1445. + +[398] _Trinidad_.--Madrid, 1714. + +[399] _Truly_.--State Papers, vol. iii. p. 108. + +[400] _Use_.--28th Henry VIII. cap. xvi. In Shirley's _Original +Letters_, p. 31, we find the following order from the Lord Protector, +Somerset, to the Dean of St. Patrick's: "Being advertised that one +thousand ounces of plate of crosses and such like things remaineth in +the hands of you, we require you to deliver the same to be employed to +his Majesty's use," &c. He adds that the Dean is to receive "L20 in +ready money" for the safe keeping of the same. + +[401] _Order_.--The original letter may be seen in Shirley, pp. 41, 42. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +Creation of the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickarde--How the King procured +Money--Prayers in English--Opposition of Dr. Dowdall--Accession of Queen +Mary--Joy of the Irish--The Catholic Service restored +Publicly--Accession of Queen Elizabeth--Shane O'Neill obtains his +Dominions--Parliament assembled--Unfair Dealing--Martyrs in the Reign of +Elizabeth--The Protestant Archbishop advises Persecution--Cruelties +enacted by English Officers--Shane O'Neill--The Deputy tries to get him +Poisoned or Assassinated, with the Queen's Concurrence--His Visit to +England--He refuses to Dress in the English Fashion. + +[A.D. 1540-1567.] + + +Every official was now required to take the oath of supremacy, and the +consequences of refusal were too well known to be estimated lightly. It +has been asserted by several historians, that no Irish clergyman +suffered death during this reign; but this statement is quite incorrect. +A careful examination of the State Papers and of the private records of +the religious orders, prove the contrary. In the spring of the year +1540, Lord Leonard Grey was recalled, and Sir William Brereton was +appointed Chief Justice. Grey was soon after committed to the Tower, on +a charge of high treason, and was executed in the following year. The +usual feuds between the Irish chieftains and the settlers were continued +during this period, as well as the usual feuds between the chiefs of +each party. Sir Anthony St. Leger, who was appointed Deputy at the close +of the year 1540, tried to reconcile the Ormondes and the Desmonds, and +describes the latter as "undoubtedly a very wise and discreet +gentleman"--a character which must be taken with some qualifications. + +On the 1st of July, 1543, Murrough O'Brien was created Earl of Thomond +and Baron of Inchiquin; and De Burgo, known by the soubriquet of +Ulich-na-gceann ("of the heads"), from the number of persons whom he +decapitated in his wars, was created Earl of Clanrickarde and Baron of +Dunkellin. These titles were conferred by the King, with great pomp, at +Greenwich; but the Irish chieftains paid for the honour, if honour it +could be called where honour was forfeited, by acknowledging the royal +supremacy. + +The Four Masters record the following events under the year 1545:--A +dispute between the Earl of Ormonde and the Lord Justice. Both repaired +to the King of England to decide the quarrel, and both swore that only +one of them should return to Ireland. "And so it fell out; for the Earl +died in England, and the Lord Justice returned to Ireland." Sir Richard +Cox asserts that the Earl and thirty-five of his servants were poisoned, +at a feast at Ely House, Holborn, and that he and sixteen of them died; +but he does not mention any cause for this tragedy. It was probably +accidental, as the Earl was a favourer of the reformed religion, and not +likely to meet with treachery in England. The Irish annalists do not +even allude to the catastrophe; the Four Masters merely observe, that +"he would have been lamented, were it not that he had greatly injured +the Church by advice of the heretics."[402] + +Great dearth prevailed this year, so that sixpence of the old money was +given for a cake of bread in Connaught, or six white pence in Meath. + +In 1546 they mention a rising of the Geraldines, "which did +indescribable damages;" and two invasions of the Lord Justice in Offaly, +who plundered and spoiled, burning churches and monasteries, crops and +corn. They also mention the introduction of a new copper coin into +Ireland, which the men of Ireland were obliged to use as silver. + +The immense sums which Henry had accumulated by the plunder of religious +houses, appear to have melted away, like snow-wreaths sunshine, long +before the conclusion of his reign. His French and Scotch wars +undoubtedly exhausted large supplies; his mistresses made large demands +for their pleasures and their needy friends; yet there should have been +enough, and to spare, for all these claims. When the monasteries were +destroyed, the English clergy trembled for their own existence. The King +could easily have dispensed with their services, and deprived them of +their revenues. They were quite aware of their precarious tenure of +office, and willingly agreed, in 1543, to give Henry ten per cent, on +their incomes for three years, after the deduction of the tenths already +vested in the crown. Their incomes were thus ascertained, and a loan was +demanded, which, when granted, was made a gift by the ever-servile +Parliament. + +In 1545 a benevolence was demanded, though benevolences had been +declared illegal by Act of Parliament. This method of raising money had +been attempted at an early period of his reign; but the proposal met +with such spirited opposition from the people, that even royalty was +compelled to yield. A few years later, when the fatal result of +opposition to the monarch's will and pleasure had become apparent, he +had only to ask and obtain. Yet neither percentage, nor tenths, nor +sacrilegious spoils, sufficed to meet his expenses; and, as a last +expedient, the coin was debased, and irreparable injury inflicted on the +country. + +On the 28th of January, 1547, Edward VI. was crowned King of England. +The Council of Regency appointed by Henry was set aside, and Seymour, +Duke of Somerset, appointed himself Protector. St. Leger was continued +in the office of Lord Deputy in Ireland; but Sir Edward Bellingham was +sent over as Captain-General, with a considerable force, to quell the +ever-recurring disturbances. His energetic character bore down all +opposition, as much by the sheer strength of a strong will as by force +of arms. In 1549 the Earl of Desmond refused to attend a Council in +Dublin, on the plea that he wished to keep Christmas in his own castle. +Bellingham, who had now replaced St. Leger as Lord Deputy, set out at +once, with a small party of horse, for the residence of the refractory +noble, seized him as he sat by his own fireside, and carried him off in +triumph to Dublin. + +In 1548 O'Connor and O'More were expelled from Offaly and Leix, and +their territory usurped by an Englishman, named Francis Bryan. Cahir Roe +O'Connor, one of the sept, was executed in Dublin, and a number of the +tribe were sent to assist in the Scotch wars. The political cabals in +England consequent on the youth of the King, who nominally governed the +country, occasioned frequent changes in the Irish administration. + +In 1551 the Lord Deputy Crofts succeeded Sir Thomas Cusack, and led an +army into Ulster against the Scotch settlers, who had long been regarded +with a jealous eye by the English Government; but he was defeated both +at this time and on a subsequent occasion. No Parliament was convened +during this short reign, and the affairs of the country were +administered by the Privy Council. Dr. Browne and Dr. Staples were +leading members. The Chancellor, Read, and the Treasurer, Brabazon, were +both English. The Irish members were Aylmer, Luttrell, Bath, Howth, and +Cusack, who had all recently conformed, at least exteriorly, to the new +religion. + +The most important native chieftain of the age was Shane O'Neill. His +father, Con, surnamed Baccagh ("the lame"), had procured the title of +Baron of Dungannon, and the entail of the earldom of Tyrone, from Henry +VII., for his illegitimate son, Ferdoragh. He now wished to alter this +arrangement; but the ungrateful youth made such charges against the old +man, that he was seized and imprisoned by the Deputy. After his death +Shane contended bravely for his rights. The French appear to have made +some attempt about this period to obtain allies in Ireland, but the +peace which ensued between that country and England soon terminated such +intrigues. + +All efforts to establish the new religion during this reign was equally +unsuccessful. On Easter Sunday, A.D. 1551, the liturgy was read for the +first time in the English tongue, in Christ Church Cathedral. As a +reward for his energy in introducing the reform in general, and the +liturgy in particular, Edward VI. annexed the primacy of all Ireland to +the see of Dublin by Act of Parliament. There was one insuperable +obstacle, however, in the way of using the English tongue, which was +simply that the people did not understand it. Even the descendants of +the Anglo-Norman were more familiar with the Celtic dialect, and some +attempt was made at this time to procure a Latin translation of the +Protestant communion service.[403] + +Dr. Dowdall had been appointed, in 1543, to the primatial see of Armagh, +by Henry VIII., who naturally hoped he would prove a ready instrument in +his service; but, to the surprise of the court, he put himself at the +head of the orthodox party, and was one of the most faithful opposers of +the introduction of the Protestant form of prayer. In 1552 he was +obliged to seek refuge on the Continent. On the death of Dr. Wauchop, +petitions were sent to Rome, requesting his appointment to the see of +Armagh. He was proposed in Consistory on the 1st of March, 1553. + +Mary succeeded to the crown in 1553. A Protestant writer explains the +difference between the religious persecutions of her reign, and those +which occurred during the reign of Henry VIII., with admirable +discrimination and impartiality: "The religious persecutions which +prevailed in this reign, proceeded altogether from a different cause +from that which stands as an everlasting blot on the memory of Henry +VIII. In Henry's instance, people were tortured and murdered in the name +of religion, but the real cause was their opposition to the will of an +arbitrary tyrant; whereas those who suffered under Mary, were martyred +because the Queen conscientiously believed in those principles to which +she clung with such pertinacity."[404] One of the principal of these +victims was Archbishop Cranmer, who had already caused several persons +to suffer in the flames for differing from his opinions, and thus almost +merited his fate. It is a curious fact that several Protestants came to +Ireland during this reign, and settled in Dublin; they were subsequently +the founders of respectable mercantile families. + +Although the English people had adopted the reformed religion +nationally, there were still a few persons whom neither favour nor +indifference could induce to renounce the ancient faith; and this brief +respite from persecution tended to confirm and strengthen those who +wavered. In Ireland, always Catholic, the joy was unbounded. Archbishop +Dowdall immediately prepared to hold a provincial synod at Drogheda, +where enactments were made for depriving the conforming prelates and +priests. Happily their number was so few that there was but little +difficulty in making the necessary arrangements. The only prelates that +were removed were Browne, of Dublin; Staples, of Meath; Lancaster, of +Kildare; and Travers, of Leighlin. Goodacre died a few months after his +intrusion into the see of Armagh; Bale, of Ossory, fled beyond the seas; +Casey, of Limerick, followed his example. All were English except the +latter, and all, except Staples, were professing Protestants at the time +of their appointment to their respective sees. Bale, who owed the +Kilkenny people a grudge, for the indignant and rather warm reception +with which they treated him on his intrusion into the see, gives a +graphic account of the joy with which the news of Edward's death was +received. The people "flung up their caps to the battlements of the +great temple;" set the bells ringing; brought out incense and holy +water, and formed once more a Catholic procession, chanting the _Sancta +Maria, ora pro nobis_, as of old. In fact, "on the accession of Mary to +the throne, so little had been done in the interest of the Reformation, +that there was little or nothing to undo. She issued a licence for the +celebration of Mass in Ireland, where no other service was or had been +celebrated worth mentioning, and where no other supreme head had been +ever in earnest acknowledged but the Pope."[405] + +But the Irish obtained no temporal advantages during this reign--an +illustration of the truth of what I have before remarked, that the +nation has suffered almost as much from political as from religious +causes. The work of extermination still went on. The boundaries of the +Pale were increased thereby. Leix was designated the Queen's county, and +the fort of Campa obtained the name of Maryborough, in compliment to the +Queen. Offaly was named the King's county, and the fortress of Daingean, +Philipstown, in compliment to her Spanish consort. + +In the year 1553 Gerald and Edward, the sons of the late Earl of +Kildare, returned from exile, and were restored to the family honours +and possessions. The Four Masters say that "there was great rejoicing +because of their arrival, for it was thought that not one of the +descendants of the Earls of Kildare or of the O'Connors Faly would ever +again come to Ireland." They also mention that Margaret, a daughter of +O'Connor Faly, went to England, "relying on the number of her friends +and relatives there, and her knowledge of the English language, to +request Queen Mary to restore her father to her." Her petition was +granted, but he was soon after seized again by the English officials, +and cast into prison. + +Shane O'Neill made an unsuccessful attempt to recover his paternal +dominions, in 1557. The following year his father died in +captivity,[406] Dublin, and he procured the murder of Ferdoragh, so that +he was able to obtain his wishes without opposition. Elizabeth had now +ascended the English throne (A.D. 1558), and, as usual, those in power, +who wished to retain office, made their religion suit the views of the +new ruler. The Earl of Sussex still continued Viceroy, and merely +reversed his previous acts. Sir Henry Sidney also made his worldly +interests and his religious views coincide. A Parliament was held in +Dublin, in 1560, on the 12th of January. It was composed of seventy-six +members, the representatives of ten counties, the remainder being +citizens and burgesses of those towns in which the royal authority was +predominant. "It is little wonder," observes Leland, "that, in despite +of clamour and opposition, in a session of a few weeks, the whole +ecclesiastical system of Queen Mary was entirely reversed." Every +subject connected with this assembly and its enactments, demands the +most careful consideration, as it has been asserted by some +writers--who, however, have failed to give the proofs of their +assertion--that the Irish Church and nation conformed at this time to +the Protestant religion. This certainly was not the opinion of the +Government officials, who were appointed by royal authority to enforce +the Act, and who would have been only too happy could they have reported +success to their mistress. + +A recent writer, whose love of justice has led him to take a position in +regard to Irish ecclesiastical history which has evoked unpleasant +remarks from those who are less honest, writes thus: "There was not even +the show of free action in the ordering of that Parliament, nor the +least pretence that liberty of choice was to be given to it. The +instructions given to Sussex, on the 10th of May 1559, for making +Ireland Protestant by Act of Parliament, were peremptory, and left no +room for the least deliberation. Sussex had also other instructions +(says Cox) to him and the Council, to set up the worship of God as it is +in England, and make such statutes next Parliament as were lately made +in England, _mutatis mutandis_. [Hist. Angl. Part I. p.313.] It is plain +that her Majesty's command is not sufficient warrant for a national +change of faith, and that a convocation of bishops only is not the +proper or legal representative assembly of the Church. It is also plain +that the acts of an unwilling Parliament, and that Parliament one which +does not deserve the name of a Parliament, cannot be justly considered +as the acts of either the Irish Church or the Irish people."[407] + +The official list of the members summoned to this Parliament, has been +recently published by the Irish Archaeological Society. More than +two-thirds of the upper house were persons of whose devotion to the +Catholic faith there has been no question; there were but few members in +the lower house. No county in Ulster was allowed a representative, and +only one of its borough towns, Carrickfergus, was permitted to elect a +member. Munster furnished twenty members. No county members were allowed +in Connaught, and it had only two boroughs, Galway and Athenry, from +which it could send a voice to represent its wishes. The remaining fifty +members were chosen from a part of Leinster. In fact, the Parliament was +constituted on the plan before-mentioned. Those who were considered +likely to agree with the Government, were allowed to vote; those of +whose dissent there could be no doubt, were not allowed a voice in the +affairs of the nation. + +It might be supposed that, with the exception of a few members of the +upper house, such a Parliament would at once comply with the Queen's +wishes; but the majority made no secret of their intention to oppose the +change of religion, and the penal code which should be enacted to +enforce it. The Deputy was in an unpleasant Position. Elizabeth would +not easily brook the slightest opposition to her wishes. The Deputy did +not feel prepared to encounter her anger, and he determined to avoid the +difficulty, by having recourse to a most unworthy stratagem. First, he +prorogued the house from the 11th of January to the 1st of February, +1560; and then took advantage of the first day of meeting, when but few +members were present, to get the Act passed; secondly, he solemnly swore +that the law should never be carried into execution, and by this false +oath procured the compliance of those who still hesitated. I shall give +authority for these statements. + +The letter of Elizabeth, with her positive instructions to have the law +passed, was dated October 18, 1559, and may be seen _in extenso_ in the +_Liber Munerum Hibernia_, vol. i. p.113. There are several authorities +for the dishonest course pursued by the Lord Deputy. The author of +_Cambrensis Eversus_ says: "The Deputy is said to have used force, and +the Speaker treachery. I heard that it had been previously announced in +the house that Parliament would not sit on that very day on which the +laws against religion were enacted; but, in the meantime, a private +summons was sent to those who were well known to be favourable to the +old creed."[408] Father George Dillon, who died in 1650, a martyr to his +charity in assisting the plague-stricken people of Waterford, gives the +following account of the transaction: "James Stanihurst, Lord of +Corduff, who was Speaker of the lower house, by sending private summons +to some, without any intimation to the more respectable Irish who had a +right to attend, succeeded in carrying that law by surprise. As soon as +the matter was discovered, in the next full meeting of Parliament, there +was a general protest against the fraud, injustice, and _deliberate +treachery_ of the proceeding; but the Lord Justice, having solemnly +sworn that the law would never be carried into execution, the +remonstrants were caught in the dexterous snare, and consented that the +enactment should remain on the statute-book."[409] Dr. Rothe +corroborates these statements, and records the misfortunes which +followed the Speaker's family from that date.[410] Dr. Moran[411] has +very acutely observed, that the day appointed for the opening of +Parliament was the festival of St. Brigid, which was always kept with +special solemnity in Ireland; therefore, the orthodox members would +probably have absented themselves, unless informed of some business +which absolutely required their attendance. + +The Loftus MS., in Marsh's Library, and Sir James Ware, both mention the +positive opposition of the Parliament to pass this law, and the mission +of the Earl of Sussex to consult her Majesty as to what should be done +with the refractory members. If he then proposed the treachery which he +subsequently carried out, there is no reason to suppose her Majesty +would have been squeamish about it, as we find she was quite willing to +allow even more questionable methods to be employed on other occasions. + +The Loftus MS. mentions a convocation of bishops which assembled this +year, "by the Queen's command, for establishing the Protestant +religion." The convocation was, if possible, a greater failure than the +Parliament. If the bishops had obeyed the royal command, there would +have been some record of their proceedings; but until the last few +years, when the _ipse dixit_ of certain writers was put forward as an +argument--for proof it cannot be called--that the Irish Catholic bishops +had conformed to the Protestant religion, so wild a theory was not even +hazarded. It would be impossible here to go into details and proofs of +the nonconformity of each bishop. The work has been already undertaken, +with admirable success, by an Anglican clergyman.[412] I shall, however, +give some of the impediments offered to the progress of the Reformation +in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and of the cruel persecutions which were +inflicted on those who dared to wish for liberty to worship God +according to their conscience. + +Notwithstanding the solemn promise of the Lord Deputy, the penal +statutes against Catholics were carried out. In 1563 the Earl of Essex +issued a proclamation, by which all priests, secular and regular, were +forbidden to officiate, or even to reside in Dublin. Fines and penalties +were strictly enforced for absence from the Protestant service; before +long, torture and death were inflicted. Priests and religious were, as +might be expected, the first victims. They were hunted into mountains +and caves; and the parish churches and few monastic chapels which had +escaped the rapacity of Henry VIII., were sacrificed to the sacrilegious +emissaries of Elizabeth. Curry gives some account of those who suffered +for the faith in this reign. He says: "Among many other Roman Catholic +bishops and priests, there were put to death for the exercise of their +function in Ireland, Globy O'Boyle, Abbot of Boyle, and Owen O'Mulkeran, +Abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, hanged and quartered by Lord +Grey, in 1580. John Stephens suffered the same punishment from Lord +Burroughs, for saying Mass, in 1597; Thady O'Boyle was slain in his own +monastery at Donegal; six friars were slain at Moynihigan; John +O'Calyhor and Bryan O'Freeor were killed at their monastery in Ulster, +with Felimy O'Hara, a lay brother. Eneus Penny was massacred at the +altar of his own parish church, Killagh. Fourteen other priests died in +Dublin Castle, either from hard usage, or the violence of torture." + +Dr. Adam Loftus, the Protestant Archbishop of Armagh, was one of the +most violent persecutors of the Catholics. In his first report to the +Queen, dated May 17th, 1565, he describes the nobility of the Pale as +all devoted to the ancient creed; and he recommends that they should be +fined "in a good round sum," which should be paid to her Majesty's use, +and "sharply dealt withal."[413] An original method of conversion, +certainly! But it did not succeed. On the 22nd of September, 1590, after +twenty-five years had been spent in the fruitless attempt to convert the +Irish, he writes to Lord Burleigh, detailing the causes of the general +decay of the Protestant religion in Ireland, and suggesting "how the +same may be remedied." He advises that the ecclesiastical commission +should be put in force, "for the people are poor, and fear to be fined." +He requests that he and such commissioners as are "well affected in +religion, may be permitted to imprison and fine all such as are +obstinate and disobedient;" and he has no doubt, that "within a short +time they will be reduced to good conformity." He concludes: "And _this +course of reformation_, the sooner it is begun the better it will +prosper; and the longer it is deferred, the more dangerous it will be." +When remember that such words were written, and such deeds were enacted, +by the head of the Protestant Church in Ireland, and sanctioned by the +head of the Protestant Church in England, they may surely be content to +allow modern controversialists the benefit of their pleasant dream that +Catholic bishops conformed. If they had conformed to such doctrines and +such practice, it can scarcely be seen what advantage the Anglican +Establishment could gain from their parentage. + +Seven years later, when the same prelate found that the more the Church +was persecuted the more she increased, he wrote to advise pacification: +"The rebels are increased, and grown insolent. I see no other cure for +this cursed country but pacification, [he could not help continuing] +until, hereafter, when the fury is passed, her Majesty may, with more +convenience, correct the heads of those traitors."[414] The prelate was +ably seconded by the Lord Deputy. Even Sir John Perrot, who has the name +of being one of the most humane of these Governors, could not refrain +from acts of cruelty where Catholics were concerned. On one occasion he +killed fifty persons, and brought their heads home in triumph to +Kilmallock, where he arranged them as a trophy round the cross in the +public square. In 1582 he advised her Majesty "that friars, monks, +Jesuits, priests, nuns, and such like vermin, who openly uphold the +Papacy, should be executed by martial law."[415] The English officers +seem to have rivalled each other in acts of cruelty. One is said to have +tied his victim to a maypole, and then punched out his eyes with his +thumbs.[416] Others amused themselves with flinging up infants into the +air, and catching them on the points of their swords.[417] Francis +Crosby, the deputy of Leix, used to hang men, women, and children on an +immense tree which grew before his door, without any crime being imputed +to them except their faith, and then to watch with delight how the +unhappy infants hung by the long hair of their martyred mothers.[418] + +Father Dominic a Rosario, the author of _The Geraldines_, scarcely +exceeded truth when he wrote these memorable words: "This far famed +English Queen has grown drunk on the blood of Christ's martyrs; and, +like a tigress, she has hunted down our Irish Catholics, exceeding in +ferocity and wanton cruelty the emperors of pagan Rome." We shall +conclude this painful subject for the present with an extract from +O'Sullivan Beare: "All alarm from the Irish chieftains being ceased, the +persecution was renewed with all its horrors. A royal order was +promulgated, that all should renounce the Catholic faith, yield up the +priests, receive from the heretical minister the morality and tenets of +the Gospel. Threats, penalties and force were to be employed to enforce +compliance. Every effort of the Queen and her emissaries was directed to +despoil the Irish Catholics of their property, and exterminate them. +More than once did they attempt this, for they knew that not otherwise +could the Catholic religion be suppressed in our island, _unless by the +extermination of those in whose hearts it was implanted_; nor could +their heretical teachings be propagated, while the natives were alive to +detest and execrate them."[419] + +In 1561 Sussex returned from England with reinforcements for his army, +and marched to Armagh, where he established himself in the Cathedral. +From thence he sent out a large body of troops to plunder in Tyrone, but +they were intercepted by the redoubtable Shane O'Neill, and suffered so +serious a defeat as to alarm the inhabitants of the Pale, and even the +English nation. Fresh supplies of men and arms were hastily despatched +from England, and the Earls of Desmond, Ormonde, Kildare, Thomond, and +Clanrickarde assembled round the Viceregal standard to assist in +suppressing the formidable foe. And well might they fear the +lion-hearted chieftain! A few years later, Sidney describes him as the +only strong man in Ireland. The Queen was warned, that unless he were +speedily put down, she would lose Ireland, as her sister had lost +Calais. He had gained all Ulster by his sword, and ruled therein with a +far stronger hand, and on a far firmer foundation, than ever any English +monarch had obtained in any part of Ireland. Ulster was his _terra +clausa_; and he would be a bold, or, perhaps I should rather say, a rash +man, who dare intrude in these dominions. He could muster seven thousand +men in the field; and though he seldom hazarded a general engagement, he +"slew in conflicts 3,500 soldiers and 300 Scots of Sidney's army."[420] +The English chronicler, Hooker, who lived in times when the blaze and +smoke of houses and haggards, set on fire by Shane, could be seen even +from Dublin Castle, declares that it was feared he intended to make a +conquest over the whole land. + +Even his letters are signed, if not written, in royal style.[421] He +dates one _Ex finibus de Tirconail_, when about to wage war with the +neighbouring sept of O'Donnell; he dates another, _Ex silvis meis_, +when, in pursuance of his Celtic mode of warfare, he hastened into his +woods to avoid an engagement with the English soldiers; he signs himself +_Misi O'Neill_--Me, the O'Neill. As this man was too clever to be +captured, and too brave to be conquered, a plan was arranged, with the +full concurrence of the Queen, by which he might be got rid of by poison +or assassination. Had such an assertion been made by the Irish +annalists, it would have been scouted as a calumny on the character of +"good Queen Bess;" but the evidence of her complicity is preserved in +the records of the State Paper Office. I shall show presently that +attempts at assassination were a common arrangement for the disposal of +refractory Irish chieftains during this reign. + +The proposal for this diabolical treachery, and the arrangements made +for carrying it out, were related by Sussex to the Queen. He writes +thus: "In fine, I brake with him to kill Shane, and bound myself by my +oath to see him have a hundred marks of land to him and to his heirs for +reward. He seemed desirous to serve your Highness, and to have the land, +but fearful to do it, doubting his own escape after. I told him the ways +he might do it, and how to escape after with safety; which he offered +and promised to do." The Earl adds a piece of information, which, no +doubt, he communicated to the intended murderer, and which, probably, +decided him on making the attempt: "I assure your Highness he may do it +without danger if he will; and if he will not do what he may in your +service, there will be done to him what others may."[422] + +Her Majesty, however, had a character to support; and whatever she may +have privately wished and commanded, she was obliged to disavow +complicity publicly. In two despatches from court she expresses her +"displeasure at John Smith's horrible attempt to poison Shane O'Neill in +his wine." In the following spring John Smith was committed to prison, +and "closely examined by Lord Chancellor Cusake." What became of John is +not recorded, but it is recorded that "Lord Chancellor Cusake persuaded +O'Neill to forget the poisoning." His clan, however, were not so easily +persuaded, and strongly objected to his meeting the Viceroy in person, +or affording him an opportunity which he might not live to forget. About +this time O'Neill despatched a document to the Viceroy for his +consideration, containing a list of "other evill practices devised to +other of the Irish nation within ix or tenn yeares past." The first item +mentions that Donill O'Breyne and Morghe O'Breyne, his son, "required +the benefit of her Majesty's laws, by which they required to be tried, +and thereof was denied;"[423] and that when they came to Limerick under +the protection of the Lord Deputy, they were proclaimed traitors, and +their lands and possessions taken from them. Several other violations of +protection are then enumerated, and several treacherous murders are +recorded, particularly the murder of Art Boy Cavanagh, at Captain +Hearn's house, after he had dined with him, and of Randall Boye's two +sons, who were murdered, one after supper, and the other in the tower, +by Brereton, "who escaped without punishment." + +In October, 1562, Shane was invited to England, and was received by +Elizabeth with marked courtesy. His appearance at court is thus +described by Camden, A.D. 1562: "From Ireland came Shane O'Neill, who +had promised to come the year before, with a guard of axe-bearing +galloglasses, their heads bare, their long curling hair flowing on their +shoulders, their linen garments dyed with saffron, with long open +sleeves, with short tunics, and furry cloaks, whom the English wondered +at as much as they do now at the Chinese or American aborigines." +Shane's visit to London was considered of such importance, that we find +a memorandum in the State Paper Office, by "Secretary Sir W. Cecil, +March, 1562," of the means to be used with Shane O'Neill, in which the +first item is, that "he be procured to change his garments, and go like +an Englishman."[424] But this was precisely what O'Neill had no idea of +doing. Sussex appears to have been O'Neill's declared and open enemy. +There is more than one letter extant from the northern chief to the +Deputy. In one of these he says: "I wonder very much for what purpose +your Lordship strives to destroy me." In another, he declares that his +delay in visiting the Queen had been caused by the "amount of +obstruction which Sussex had thrown in his way, by sending a force of +occupation into his territory without cause; for as long as there shall +be one son of a Saxon in my territory against my will, from that time +forth I will not send you either settlement or message, but will send my +complaint through some other medium to the Queen." In writing to the +Baron of Slane, he says that "nothing will please him [the Deputy] but +to plant himself in my lands and my native territory, as I am told every +day that he desires to be styled Earl of Ulster." + +The Lord Chancellor Cusack appears, on the contrary, to have constantly +befriended him. On 12th January, 1568, he writes of O'Neill's +"dutifulness and most commendable dealing with the Scots;" and soon +after three English members of the Dublin Government complain that +Cusack[425] had entrapped them into signing a letter to the unruly +chieftain. There is one dark blot upon the escutcheon of this remarkable +man. He had married the daughter of O'Donnell, Lord of one of the +Hebrides. After a time he and his father-in-law quarrelled, and Shane +contrived to capture O'Donnell and his second wife. He kept this lady +for several years as his mistress; and his own wife is said to have died +of shame and horror at his conduct, and at his cruel treatment of her +father. English writers have naturally tried to blacken his character as +deeply as possible, and have represented him as a drunkard and a +profligate; but there appears no foundation for the former accusation. +The foundation for the latter is simply what we have mentioned, which, +however evil in itself, would scarcely appear so very startling to a +court over which Henry VIII. had so long presided. + +After many attempts at assassination, _Shane-an-Diomais_ [John the +Ambitious] fell a victim to English treachery. Sir William Piers, the +Governor of Carrickfergus, invited some Scotch soldiers over to Ireland, +and then persuaded them to quarrel with him, and kill him. They +accomplished their purpose, by raising a disturbance at a feast, when +they rushed on the northern chieftain, and despatched him with their +swords. His head was sent to Dublin, and his old enemies took the poor +revenge of impaling it on the Castle walls. + +The Earl of Sussex was recalled from Ireland in 1564, and Sir Henry +Sidney was appointed Viceroy. The Earls of Ormonde and Desmond had again +quarrelled, and, in 1562, both Earls were summoned to court by the +Queen. Elizabeth was related to the Butlers through her mother's family, +and used to boast of the loyalty of the house of Ormonde. The Geraldines +adhered to the ancient faith, and suffered for it. A battle was fought +at Affane, near Cappoquin, between the two parties, in which Desmond was +wounded and made prisoner. The man who bore him from the field asked, +tauntingly: "Where is now the proud Earl of Desmond?" He replied, with +equal pride and wit: "Where he should be; upon the necks of the +Butlers!" + +[Illustration: GOLD EAR-RING, TORQUE PATTERN, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE +R.I.A., FOUND AT CASTLEREA, CO. ROSCOMMON.] + +[Illustration: KILCOLMAN CASTLE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[402] _Heretics_.--Annals, vol. v. p. 1493. + +[403] _Service_.--Shirley's _Original Letters_, p. 47. Dr. Browne gives +an account of his signal failures in attempting to introduce the +Protestant form of prayer in his letters to Cromwell. He says one +prebendary of St. Patrick's "thought scorn to read them." He adds: "They +be in a manner all the same point with me. There are twenty-eight of +them, and yet scarce one that favoureth God's Word."--_State Papers_, +vol. iii. p. 6. + +[404] _Pertinacity_.--_The Victoria History of England_, p. 256. + +[405] _Pope_.--_Lib. Mun. Hib_. part i. p. 37. + +[406] _Captivity_.--Lord Chancellor Cusack addressed a very curious +"Book on the State of Ireland" to the Duke of Northumberland, in 1552, +in which he mentions the fearful condition of the northern counties. He +states that "the cause why the Earl was detained [in Dublin Castle] was +for the wasting and destroying of his county." This Sir Thomas Cusack, +who took a prominent part in public affairs during the reign of Queen +Elizabeth, was a son of Thomas Cusack, of Cassington, in Meath, an +ancient Norman-Irish family, who were hereditary seneschals and sheriffs +of that county.--_Ulster Arch. Jour_. vol. iii p. 51. + +[407] _People.--The Irish Reformation_, by the Rev. W. Maziere Brady, +D.D., fifth edition, pp. 32, 33. + +[408] _Creed_.--_Cambrensis Eversus_, vol. iii. p. 19. + +[409] _Book_.--_Orationes et Motiva_, p. 87. + +[410] _Date_.--_Analecta_, p. 387. + +[411] _Dr. Moran_.--_Archbishops of Dublin_, p. 68. Further information +may be obtained also in Curry's _Historical Review_. + +[412] _Clergyman_.--The Rev. W. Maziere Brady, D.D. Mr. Froude remarks, +in his _History of England_, vol. x. p. 480: "There is no evidence that +any of the bishops in Ireland who were in office at Queen Mary's death, +with the exception of Curwin, either accepted the Reformed Prayer-Book, +or abjured the authority of the Pope." He adds, in a foot-note: "I +cannot express my astonishment at a proposition maintained by Bishop +Mant and others, that whole hierarchy of Ireland went over to the +Reformation with the Government. In a survey of the country supplied to +Cecil in 1571, after death and deprivation had enabled the Government to +fill several sees, the Archbishops Armagh, Tuam, and Cashel, with almost +every one of the Bishops of the respective provinces, are described as +_Catholici et Confederati_. The Archbishop of Dublin, with the Bishops +of Kildare, Ossory, and Ferns, are alone returned as 'Protestantes'" + +[413] _Withal_.--Shirley, _Original Letters_, p. 194. + +[414] _Traitors_.--Letter of October 18, 1597.--State Paper Office. + +[415] _Law_.--Letter to the Queen, in _Government of Ireland under Sir +John Parrot_, p.4. + +[416] _Thumbs_.--Despatch of Castlerosse, in State Paper Office, London. + +[417] _Swords_.--O'Sullivan Beare, _Hist. Cath_. p. 238. + +[418] _Mothers_.--_Ibid_. p. 99. + +[419] _Them.--Hist. Cath_. p.133. + +[420] _Army_.--See Dr. Stuart's _History of Armagh_, p. 261. + +[421] _Style_.--In one of the communications from Sussex to O'Neill, he +complains of the chieftain's letters as being "_nimis superbe +scriptae_."--State Papers for 1561. + +[422] _May_.--Moore's _History of Ireland_, vol. iv. p.33. + +[423] _Denied_.--This document has been printed in the _Ulster Arch. +Jour_. vol. ii, p.221, but the editor does not mention where the +original was procured. + +[424] _Englishman_.--Moore, vol. iv. p. 37, has "like a gentleman," but +the above is the correct reading. In 1584 Sir J. Perrot tried to get the +Irish chieftains to attend Parliament clothed in the English fashion, +and even offered them robes and cloaks of velvet and satin. The +chieftains objected; the Lord Deputy insisted. At last one of them, with +exquisite humour, suggested that if he were obliged to wear English +robes, a Protestant minister should accompany him attired in Irish +garments, so that the mirth and amazement of the People should be fairly +divided between them.--_Sir J. Perrot's Life_, p.198. + +[425] _Cusack_.--One reason, perhaps, was that the Chancellor always +treated O'Neill with the respect due from one gentleman to another. +Flemyng mentions, in a letter to Cecil, November 29, 1563, that O'Neill +told him, when about to take the oaths of his people to an agreement +with the Queen, that "Cusack did not give them their oath so, _but let +me give them their oath_." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +Spenser's Castle--Sidney's Official Account of Ireland--Miserable State +of the Protestant Church--The Catholic Church and its Persecuted +Rulers--The Viceroy's Administration--A Packed Parliament and its +Enactments--Claim of Sir P. Carew--An Attempt to plant in +Ulster--Smith's Settlement in the Ards--His Description of the Native +Irish--He tries to induce Englishmen to join him--Smith is killed, and +the attempt to plant fails--Essex next tries to colonize Ulster--He dies +in Dublin--Sidney returns to Ireland--His Interview with +Granuaile--Massacre at Mullamast--Spenser's Account of the State of +Ireland. + +[A.D. 1567-1579.] + + +Kilcolman Castle, with its fair domains, were bestowed on the poet +Spenser, who had accompanied Lord Grey to Ireland in 1579. He has left a +fearful description of the miseries of the country; but it scarcely +exceeds the official report of Sir Henry Sidney, which must first be +noticed. At the close of the month of January, 1567, the Lord Deputy set +out on a visitation of Munster and Connaught. In his official account he +writes thus of Munster: "Like as I never was in a more pleasant country +in all my life, so never saw I a more waste and desolate land. Such +horrible and lamentable spectacles are there to behold--as the burning +of villages, the ruin of churches, the wasting of such as have been good +towns and castles; yea, the view of the bones and skulls of the dead +subjects, who, partly by murder, partly by famine, have died in the +fields--as, in truth, hardly any Christian with dry eyes could behold." +He declares that, in the territory subject to the Earl of Ormonde, he +witnessed "a want of justice and judgment." He describes the Earl of +Desmond as "a man devoid of judgment to govern, and will be to be +ruled." The Earl of Thomond, he says, "had neither wit of himself to +govern, nor grace or capacity to learn of others." The Earl of +Clanrickarde he describes as "so overruled by a putative wife, as +ofttimes, when he best intendeth, she forceth him to do the worst;" and +it would appear that neither he nor his lady could govern their own +family, for their sons were so turbulent they kept the whole country in +disturbance. In Galway he found the people trying to protect themselves, +as best they might, from their dangerous neighbours; and at Athenry +there were but four respectable householders, who presented him with the +rusty keys of their town--"a pitiful and lamentable present;" and they +requested him to keep those keys, for "they were so impoverished by the +extortions of the lords about them, as they were no longer able to keep +that town." + +Well might he designate the policy by which the country had been +hitherto governed as "cowardly," and contemn the practice of promoting +division between the native princes, which was still practised. He adds: +"So far hath that policy, or rather lack of policy, in keeping +dissensions among them, prevailed, as now, albeit all that are alive +would become honest and live in quiet, yet there are not left alive, in +those two provinces, the twentieth person necessary to inhabit the +same." Sidney at once proceeded to remedy the evils under which the +unfortunate country groaned, by enacting other evils. We shall leave him +to give his own account of his proceedings. He writes thus, in one of +his official despatches: "I write not the names of each particular +varlet that hath died since I arrived, as well by the ordinary course of +the law, as of the martial law, as flat fighting with them, when they +would take food without the good will of the giver, for I think it no +stuff worthy the loading of my letters with; but I do assure you the +number of them is great, and some of the best, and the rest tremble. For +most part they fight for their dinner, and many of them lose their heads +before they be served with supper. Down they go in every corner, and +down they shall go, God willing."[426] + +When we remember Sidney's own description of the desolation of country, +and read of the fashion in which he remedied that desolation we cannot +wonder at the piteous account given a few years later by the English +poet; for who could escape the threefold danger of "ordinary law, +martial law, and flat fighting." Nor was the state of religious affairs +at all more promising. The Deputy describes the kingdom as "overwhelmed +by the most deplorable immorality and irreligion;"[427] the Privy +Council, in their deliberations, gives a similar account. "As for +religion, there was but small appearance of it; the churches uncovered, +and the clergy scattered."[428] An Act of Parliament was then passed to +remedy the evils which Acts of Parliament had created. In the preamble +(11th Elizabeth, sess. iii. cap. 6) it mentions the disorders which +Sidney had found, and complains of "the great abuse of the clergy in +getting into the said dignities by force, simony, friendship, and other +corrupt means, to the great overthrow of God's holy Church;" and for +remedy, the Act authorizes the _Lord Deputy_ to appoint, for ten years, +to all the ecclesiastical benefices of these provinces, with the +exception of the cathedral churches of Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and +Cashel. + +But it was soon evident that Acts of Parliament could not effect +ecclesiastical reform, though they might enforce exterior conformity to +a new creed. In 1576, Sidney again complains of the state of the Irish +Church, and addresses himself, with almost blasphemous flattery to the +head of that body, "as to the only sovereign salve-giver to this your +sore and sick realm, the lamentable state of the most noble and +principal limb thereof--the Church I mean--as foul, deformed, and as +cruelly crushed as any other part thereof, only by your gracious order +to be cured, or at least amended. I would not have believed, had I not, +for a greater part, viewed the same throughout the whole realm." He then +gives a detailed account of the state of the diocese of Meath, which he +declares to be the best governed and best peopled diocese in the realm; +and from his official report of the state of religion there, he thinks +her Majesty may easily judge of the spiritual condition of less favoured +districts. He says there are no resident parsons or vicars, and only a +very simple or sorry curate appointed to serve them; of them only +eighteen could speak English, the rest being "Irish ministers, or rather +Irish rogues, having very little Latin, and less learning or +civility."[429] In many places he found the walls of the churches thrown +down, the chancels uncovered, and the windows and doors ruined or +spoiled--fruits of the iconoclastic zeal of the original reformers and +of the rapacity of the nobles, who made religion an excuse for plunder. +He complains that the sacrament of baptism was not used amongst them, +and he accuses the "prelates themselves" of despoiling their sees, +declaring that if he told all he should make "too long a libel of his +letter. But your Majesty may believe it, that, upon the face of the +earth where Christ is professed, there is not a Church in so miserable a +case." + +A Protestant nobleman, after citing some extracts from this document, +concludes thus: "Such was the condition of a Church which was, half a +century ago, rich and flourishing, an object of reverence, and a source +of consolation to the people. It was now despoiled of its revenues; the +sacred edifices were in ruins; the clergy were either ignorant of the +language of their flocks, or illiterate and uncivilized intruders; and +the only ritual permitted by the laws was one of which the people +neither comprehended the language nor believed the doctrines. And this +was called establishing the Reformation!"[430] + +It should be observed, however, that Sir Henry Sidney's remarks apply +exclusively to the Protestant clergy. Of the state of the Catholic +Church and clergy he had no knowledge, neither had he any interest in +obtaining information. His account of the Protestant clergy who had been +intruded into the Catholic parishes, and of the Protestant bishops who +had been placed in the Catholic dioceses, we may presume to be correct, +as he had no interest or object in misrepresentation; but his +observation concerning the neglect of the sacrament of baptism, may be +taken with some limitation. When a religious revolution takes place in a +Catholic country, there is always a large class who conform exteriorly +to whatever opinions maybe enforced by the sword. They have not the +generosity to become confessors, nor the courage to become martyrs. But +these persons rarely renounce the faith in their hearts; and sacrifice +their conscience to their worldly interest, though not without +considerable uneasiness. In such cases, these apparently conforming +Protestants would never think of bringing their children to be baptized +by a minister of the new religion; they would make no nice distinctions +between the validity of one sacrament and another; and would either +believe that sacraments were a matter of indifference, as the new creed +implied, or if they were of any value that they should be administered +by those who respected them and that their number should remain intact. +In recent famine years, the men who risked their spiritual life to save +their temporal existence, which the tempter would only consent to +preserve on his own terms, were wont to visit the church, and bid +Almighty God a solemn farewell until better times should come. They +could not make up their minds to die of starvation, when food might be +had for formal apostacy; they knew that they were denying their God when +they appeared to deny their religion. It is more than probable that a +similar feeling actuated thousands at the period of which we are +writing; and that the poor Celt, who conformed from fear of the sword, +took his children by night to the priest of the old religion, that he +might admit them, by the sacrament of baptism, into the fold of the only +Church in which he believed. + +It is also a matter of fact, that though the Protestant services were +not attended, and the lives of the Protestant ministers were not +edifying, that the sacraments were administered constantly by the +Catholic clergy. It is true they date their letters "from the place of +refuge" (_e loco refugii nostri_), which might be the wood nearest to +their old and ruined parish-church, or the barn or stable of some +friend, who dared not shelter them in his house; yet this was no +hindrance to their ministrations; for we find Dr. Loftus complaining to +Sir William Cecil that the persecuted Bishop of Meath, Dr. Walsh, was +"one of great credit amongst his countrymen, and upon whom (as touching +cause of religion) they wholly depend."[431] Sir Henry Sidney's efforts +to effect reformation of conduct in the clergy and laity, do not seem to +have been so acceptable at court as he might have supposed. His strong +measures were followed by tumults; and the way in which he obtained +possession of the persons of some of the nobles, was not calculated to +enhance his popularity. He was particularly severe towards the Earl of +Desmond, whom he seized in Kilmallock, after requiring his attendance, +on pretence of wishing him to assist in his visitation of Munster. In +October, 1567, the Deputy proceeded to England to explain his conduct, +taking with him the Earl of Desmond and his brother, John, whom he also +arrested on false pretences. Sidney was, however, permitted to return, +in September, 1568. He landed at Carrickfergus, where he received the +submission of Turlough O'Neill, who had been elected to the chieftaincy +on the death of Shane the Proud. + +The first public act of the Lord Deputy was to assemble a Parliament, in +which all constitutional rules were simply set at defiance (January +17th, 1569). Mayors and sheriffs returned themselves; members were sent +up for towns not incorporated, and several Englishmen were elected as +burgesses for places they had never seen. One of these men, Hooker, who +was returned for Athenry, has left a chronicle of the age. He had to be +protected by a guard in going to his residence. Popular feeling was so +strongly manifested against this gross injustice, that the judges were +consulted as to the legality of proceedings of whose iniquity there +could be no doubt. The elections for non-corporate towns, and the +election of individuals by themselves, were pronounced invalid; but a +decision was given in favour of non-resident Englishmen, which still +gave the court a large majority.[432] In this Parliament--if, indeed, it +could be called such--Acts were passed for attainting Shane O'Neill, for +suppressing the name, and for annexing Tyrone to the royal possessions. +Charter schools were to be founded, of which the teachers should be +English and Protestants; and the law before-mentioned, for permitting +the Lord Deputy to appoint persons to ecclesiastical benefices for ten +years, was passed. + +Sir Philip Carew came to Ireland about this time, and renewed the claim +of his family to possessions in Ireland. This plea had been rejected in +the reign of Edward III.; but he now produced a forged roll, which the +corrupt administration of the day readily admitted as genuine. His claim +was made in right of Robert FitzStephen, one of the first adventurers; +his demand included one-half of the "kingdom of Cork," and the barony of +Idrone, in Carlow. Several engagements ensued, in one of which Carew +boasted of having slain 400 Irish, and lost only one man. If his +statement be true, it is probable the engagement was simply a massacre. +The war became so formidable, that the MacCarthys, FitzGeralds, +Cavanaghs, and FitzMaurices united against the "common enemy," and at +last despatched emissaries to the Pope to implore his assistance. It is +strange to find native Irish chieftains uniting with Anglo-Norman lords +to resist an English settler. + +Sidney now began to put his plan of local governments into execution; +but this arrangement simply multiplied the number of licensed +oppressors. Sir Edward Fitton was appointed President of Connaught, and +Sir John Perrot, of Munster. Both of these gentlemen distinguished +themselves by "strong measures," of which cruelty to the unfortunate +natives was the predominant feature. Perrot boasted that he would "hunt +the fox out of his hole," and devoted himself to the destruction of the +Geraldines. Fitton arrested the Earl of Clanrickarde, and excited a +general disturbance. In 1570 the Queen determined to lay claim to the +possessions in Ulster, graciously conceded to her by the gentlemen who +had been permitted to vote according to her royal pleasure in the +so-called Parliament of 1569. She bestowed the district of Ards, in +Down, upon her secretary, Sir Thomas Smith. It was described as "divers +parts and parcels of her Highness' Earldom of Ulster that lay waste, or +else was inhabited with a wicked, barbarous, and uncivil people." There +were, however, two grievous misstatements in this document. Ulster did +not belong to her Highness, unless, indeed, the Act of a packed +Parliament could be considered legal; and the people who inhabited it +were neither "wicked, barbarous, nor uncivil." The tract of country thus +unceremoniously bestowed on an English adventurer, was in the possession +of Sir Rowland Savage. His first ancestor was one of the most +distinguished of the Anglo-Norman settlers who had accompanied De Courcy +to Ireland. Thus, although he could not claim the prescriptive right of +several thousand years for his possessions, he certainly had the right +of possession for several centuries. An attempt had been made about ten +years before to drive him out of part of his territory, and he had +written a letter to "The Right Hon. the Earl of Sussex, +Lieutenant-General of Ireland," asking for "justice," which justice he +had not obtained. He was permitted to hold the Southern Ards, because he +could not be expelled from it without considerable difficulty, and +because it was the least valuable part of his property. + +Smith confided the conduct of the enterprise to his natural son who has +already been mentioned as the person who attempted to poison Shane +O'Neill. The first State Paper notice of this enterprise is in a letter, +dated February, 8, 1572, from Captain Piers to the Lord Deputy, stating +that the country is in an uproar "at Mr. Smith coming over to plant in +the north." There is a rare black letter still extant, entitled, +["Letter by F.B. on the Peopling of the Ardes"] which Smith wrote to +induce English adventurers to join him in his speculation. It is +composed with considerable ability. He condemns severely the degeneracy +of the early English settlers, "who allied and fostered themselves with +the Irish." He says that "England was never fuller of people than it is +at this day," and attributes this to "the dissolution of abbeys, which +hath doubled the number of gentlemen and marriages." He says the younger +sons who cannot "maintain themselves in the emulation of the world," as +the elder and richer do, should emigrate; and then he gives glowing +accounts of the advantages of this emigration. + +Strange to say, one of the principal inducements he offers is that the +"churle of Ireland is very simple and toylsomme man, desiring nothing +but that he may not be eaten out with ceasse [rent], coyne, and +liverie." He passes over the subject of rent without any comment, but he +explains very fully how "the churle is eaten up" with the exactions of +"coyne and liverie." He says these laborious Irish will gladly come "to +live under us, and to farm our ground;" but he does not say anything +about the kind of treatment they were to receive in return for their +labour. His next inducement is the immense sale (and profit) they might +expect by growing corn; and he concludes by relieving their fears as to +any objections which the inhabitants of this country might make to being +dispossessed from their homes and lands, or any resistance they might +offer. He considers it immaterial, "for the country of Lecale [which had +been taken in a similar manner from Savage] was some time kept by +Brereton with a hundred horses, and Lieutenant Burrows kept _Castle +Rean_ [Castlereagh], and went daily one quarter of a mile to fetch his +water, against five hundred Irish that lay again him." + +Smith concludes with "an offer and order" for those who wished to join +in the enterprise. Each footman to have a pike,[433] or halberd, or +caliver, and a convenient livery cloak, of red colour or carnation, with +black facings. Each horseman to have a staffe[434] and a case of +dagges,[435] and his livery[436] to be of the colour aforesaid. + +Strype wrote a life of Sir Thomas Smith, Bart., Oxford, 1620. He +mentions this attempt at colonizing Ulster, having this good design +therein: "that those half-barbarous people might be taught some +civility." He speaks of "the hopeful gentleman," Sir Thomas Smith's son +and concludes with stating how the expedition terminated: "But when +matters went on thus fairly, Mr. Smith was intercepted and slain by a +wild Irishman." + +Before his assassination Smith had written an account of his proceedings +to his father, in which he says that "envy had hindered him more than +the enemy," and that he had been ill-handled by some of his own +soldiers, ten of whom he had punished. He also expresses some fear of +the native Irish, whom he had tried to drive out of their lands, as he +says they sometimes "lay wait to intrap and murther the maister +himself." + +I have given details of this attempted plantation in Ulster, because it +illustrates the subject; and each plantation which will be recorded +afterwards, was carried out on the same plan. The object of the +Englishman was to obtain a home and a fortune; to do this he was obliged +to drive, the natives out of their homes, and to deprive them of their +wealth, whether greater or less. The object of the Irishman was to keep +out the intruder; and, if he could not be kept out, to get rid of him by +fair means or foul. + +It is probable that the attempt of Smith was intended by Government +principally as an experiment to ascertain whether the plantation could +be carried out on a larger scale. The next attempt was made by Walter +Devereux, Earl of Essex, who received part of the signories of Clannaboy +and Ferney, provided he could expel the "rebels" who dwelt there. Essex +mortgaged his estates to the Queen to obtain funds for the enterprise. +He was accompanied by Sir Henry Kenlis, Lord Dacres, and Lord Norris' +three sons. + +Sir William FitzGerald, the then Lord Deputy, complained loudly of the +extraordinary powers granted to Essex; and some show of deference to his +authority was made by requiring the Earl to receive his commission from +him. Essex landed in Ireland in 1573, and the usual career of tyranny +and treachery was enacted. The native chieftains resisted the invasion +of their territories, and endeavoured to drive out the men whom they +could only consider as robbers. The invaders, when they could not +conquer, stooped to acts of treachery. Essex soon found that the +conquest of Ulster was not quite so easy a task as he had anticipated. +Many of the adventurers who had assumed his livery, and joined his +followers, deserted him; and Brian O'Neill, Hugh O'Neill, and Turlough +O'Neill rose up against him. Essex then invited Conn O'Donnell to his +camp; but, as soon as he secured him, he seized his Castle of Lifford, +and sent the unfortunate chieftain a prisoner to Dublin. + +In 1574 the Earl and Brian O'Neill made peace. A feast was prepared by +the latter, to which Essex and his principal followers were invited; but +after this entertainment had lasted for three days and nights, "as they +were agreeably drinking and making merry, Brian, his brother, and his +wife were seized upon by the Earl, and all his people put unsparingly to +the sword-men, women, youths, and maidens--in Brian's own presence. +Brian was afterwards sent to Dublin, together with his wife and brother, +where they were cut in quarters. Such was the end of their feast. This +wicked and treacherous murder of the lord of the race of Hugh Boy +O'Neill, the head and the senior of the race of Eoghan, son of Nial of +the Nine Hostages, and of all the Gaels, a few only excepted, was a +sufficient cause of hatred and dispute to the English by the +Irish."[437] + +Essex visited England in 1575, and tried to induce the Queen to give him +further assistance in his enterprise. On her refusal, he retired to +Ireland, and died in Dublin, on the 22nd September, 1576. It was +rumoured he had died of poison, and that the poison was administered at +the desire of the Earl of Leicester, who soon after divorced his own +wife, and married the widow of his late rival Essex complained bitterly, +in his letter to Sir Henry Sidney, of the way in which he had been +treated in his projected plantation of Clannaboy, and protested against +the injustice which had been done through him on O'Donnell, MacMahon, +and others, who were always peaceable and loyal, but "whom he had, on +the pledged word of the Queen, undone with fair promises." Probably, +only for his own "undoing," he would have had but scant pity for others. + +Yet Essex could be generous and knightly with his friends, kind and +courtly, at least to his English dependents. There are some curious +accounts of his expenses while he was "_Lord-General of Ulster_," in a +State Paper, from which it will appear that he could be liberal, either +from natural benevolence or from policy. The entries of expenditure +indicate a love of music, which he could easily gratify in Ireland, +still famous for the skill of its bards. He gave ten shillings to the +singing men of Mellifont, then inhabited by Edward Moore, to whom it had +been granted at the suppression of monasteries. A harper at Sir John +Bellew's received three shillings; "Crues, my Lord of Ormonde's harper," +received the large sum of forty shillings, but whether in compliment to +the bard or the bard's master is doubtful. The Earl of Ormonde's +"musicians" also got twenty shillings. But there are other +disbursements, indicating that presents were gratefully received and +vails expected. "A boy that brought your lordship a pair of greyhounds" +had a small donation; but "M'Genis, that brought your lordship two +stags," had 13s. 4_d_., a sum equivalent to L7 of our money. Nor were +the fair sex forgotten, for Mrs. Fagan, wife of the Lord Mayor of +Dublin, was presented with a piece of taffeta "for good entertainment." + +Sir Henry Sidney returned to Ireland in 1575. He tells us himself how he +took on him, "the third time, that thanklesse charge; and so taking +leave of her Majesty, kissed her sacred hands, with most gracious and +comfortable wordes, departed from her at Dudley Castell, passed the +seas, and arrived the xiii of September, 1575, as nere the city of +Dublin as I could saufly; for at that tyme the city was greevously +infested with the contagion of the pestilence."[438] He proceeded thence +to Tredagh (Drogheda), where he received the sword of the then Deputy. +He next marched northward, and attacked Sorley Boy and the Scotch, who +were besieging Carrickfergus; and after he had conquered them, he +received the submission of Turlough O'Neill and other Ulster chieftains. +Turlough's wife, the Lady Agnes O'Neill, _nee_ M'Donnell, was aunt to +the Earl of Argyle, and appears to have been very much in favour with +the Lord Deputy. + +In the "depe of wynter" he went to Cork, were he remained from Christmas +to Candlemas. He mentions his entertainment at Barry's Court with +evident zest, and says "there never was such a Christmas kept in the +same." In February he visited Thomond, and subdued "a wicked generation, +some of whom he killed, and some he hanged by order of law." A nice +distinction, which could hardly have been appreciated by the victims. +The Earl of Clanrickarde caused his "two most bade and rebellious +sonnes" to make submission, "whom I would to God I had then hanged." +However, he kept them close prisoners, and "had a sermon made of them +and their wickedness in the chief church in the town." John seems to +have been the principal delinquent. Some time after, when they had been +set at liberty, they rebelled again; and he records the first "memorable +act" which one of them had done, adding, "which I am sure was +John."[439] + +Sidney then marched into the west, and had an interview with the famous +Grace O'Malley, or Granuaile, which he describes thus: "There came to me +also a most famous femynyne sea captain, called Granuge I'Mally, and +offered her services unto me wheresoever I would command her, with three +galleys and two hundred fighting men. She brought with her her husband, +for she was as well by sea as by land more than master's-mate with him. +He was of the nether Burkes, and called by nickname Richard in Iron. +This was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland. This woman did +Philip Sidney see and speak with; he can more at large inform you of +her." Grana, or Grace O'Malley, was the daughter of a chieftain of the +same patronymic. Her paternal clan were strong in galleys and ships. +They owned a large territory on the sea-coast, besides the islands of +Arran. Her first husband was Donnell O'Flaherty. His belligerent +propensities could scarcely have been less than hers, for he is termed +_Aith Chogaid_, or "of the wars." Her second husband, Sir Richard Burke, +or Richard _an Iarainn_, is described by the Four Masters as a +"plundering, warlike, unjust, and rebellious man." He obtained his +soubriquet from the circumstance of constantly appearing in armour. It +would appear from this account that Sidney's statement of the Lady Grana +being "more than master's-mate with him," must be taken with some +limitations, unless, indeed, he who ruled his foes abroad, failed to +rule his wife at home, which is quite possible. The subjoined +illustration represents the remains of one of her castles. It is +situated near the lake of Borrishoole, in the county Mayo. The ruins are +very striking, and evince its having once been an erection of +considerable strength. + +[Illustration: CARRIG-A-HOOLY--GRACE O'MALLEY'S CASTLE.] + +Sir William Drury was made Lord President of Munster, 1576, in place of +Sir John Perrot. Sir Nicholas Malby was installed in the same office in +Connaught; but the barbarities enacted by his predecessor, Fitton, made +the very name of president so odious, that Sidney gave the new Governor +the title of Colonel of Connaught. The Earl of Desmond and Drury were +soon at variance. Sidney says, in his _Memoir_, that the Earl "was still +repyning at the government of Drury." After causing great apprehension +to the governors, the Lord Deputy sent the whole party to Kilkenny, and +found the "Earl hot, wilful, and stubborn; but not long after, as you +know, he and his two brothers, Sir John and Sir James, fell into actual +rebellion, in which the good knight, Sir William Drury, the Lord +Justice, died, and he, as a malicious and unnatural rebel, still +persisteth and liveth." + +In 1577 serious complications were threatened, in consequence of the +pecuniary difficulties of the crown. An occasional subsidy had been +granted hitherto for the support of the Government and the army; an +attempt was now made to convert this subsidy into a tax. On previous +occasions there had been some show of justice, however little reality, +by permitting the Parliament to pass the grant; a scheme was now +proposed to empower the Lord Deputy to levy assessments by royal +authority, without any reference to Parliament. For the first time the +Pale opposed the Government, and resisted the innovation. But their +opposition was speedily and effectually silenced. The deputies whom they +sent to London to remonstrate were committed to the Tower, and orders +were despatched to Ireland that all who had signed the remonstrance +should be consigned to Dublin Castle. + +It is said that Elizabeth was not without some misgivings as to the +injustice with which her Irish subjects were treated, and that she was +once so touched by the picture presented to her of their sufferings +under such exactions, that she exclaimed: "Ah, how I fear lest it be +objected to us, as it was to Tiberius by Bato, concerning the Dalmatian +commotions! You it is that are in fault, who have committed your flocks, +not to shepherds, but to wolves." Nevertheless, the "wolves" were still +permitted to plunder; and any impression made on the royal feelings +probably evaporated under the fascinating influence of her next +interview with Leicester, and the indignation excited by a "rebel" who +refused to resign his ancestral home quietly to some penniless +adventurer. There had been serious difficulties in England in 1462, in +consequence of the shameful state of the current coin; and the Queen has +received considerable praise for having accomplished a reform. But the +idea, and the execution of the idea, originated with her incomparable +minister, Cecil, whose master-mind applied itself with equal facility to +every state subject, however trifling or however important; and the loss +and expenditure which the undertaking involved, was borne by the country +to the last penny. Mr. Froude says it was proposed that the "worst money +might be sent to Ireland, as the general dust-heap for the outcasting of +England's vileness."[440] The standard for Ireland had always been under +that of England, but the base proposal above-mentioned was happily not +carried into execution. Still there were enough causes of misery in +Ireland apart from its normal grievances. The Earl of Desmond wrote an +elaborate and well-digested appeal to Lord Burleigh, complaining of +military abuses, and assuring his Lordship that if he had "sene them +[the poor who were burdened with cess], he would rather give them +charitable alms than burden them with any kind of chardge." He mentions +specially the cruelty of compelling a poor man to carry for five, eight, +or ten miles, on his back, as many sheaves as the "horse-boies" choose +to demand of him; and if he goes not a "good pace, though the poor soule +be overburdened, he is all the waye beaten outt of all measure." + +Cess was also commanded to be delivered at the "Queen's price," which +was considerably lower than the market price. Even Sidney was supposed +to be too lenient in his exactions; but eventually a composition of +seven years' purveyance, payable by instalments, was agreed upon, and +the question was set at rest. The Queen and the English Council +naturally feared to alienate the few nobles who were friendly to them, +as well as the inhabitants of the Pale, who were as a majority in their +interest. + +The Pale was kept in considerable alarm at this period, by the exploits +of the famous outlaw, Rory Oge O'More. In 1577 he stole into Naas with +his followers, and set the town on fire; after this exploit he retired, +without taking any lives. He continued these depredations for eighteen +years. In 1571 he was killed by one of MacGillapatrick's men, and the +Pale was relieved from a most formidable source of annoyance. But the +same year in which this brave outlaw terminated his career, is +signalized by one of the most fearful acts of bloodshed and treachery on +record. The heads of the Irish families of Offaly and Leix, whose +extirpation had long been attempted unsuccessfully, were invited in the +Queen's name, and under the Queen's protection, to attend a conference +at the great rath on the hill of Mullach-Maistean (Mullamast). As soon +as they had all assembled, they were surrounded by a treble line of the +Queen's garrison soldiers, and butchered to a man in cold blood. + +This massacre was performed with the knowledge and approval of the +Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney. The soldiers who accomplished the bloody work +were commanded by Captain Francis Crosby, to whom the chief command of +all the kerne in the Queen's pay was committed. We have already related +some incidents in his career, which show how completely destitute he was +of the slightest spark of humanity.[441] + +Sir Henry Sidney retired from office finally on the 26th of May, 1578. +He dates his _Memoir_ from "Ludlow Castell, with more payne than harte, +the 1st of March, 1582." In this document he complains bitterly of the +neglect of his services by Government, and bemoans his losses in piteous +strains. He describes himself as "fifty-four yeres of age, toothlesse +and trembling, being five thousand pounds in debt." He says he shall +leave his sons L20,000 worse off than his father left him. In one place +he complains that he had not as much ground as would "feede a mutton," +and he evidently considers his services were worth an ampler +remuneration; for he declares: "I would to God the country was yet as +well as I lefte it almost fyve yeres agoe." If he did not succeed in +obtaining a large grant for his services, it certainly was not for want +of asking it; and if he did not succeed in pacifying the country, it was +not for lack of summary measures. Even in his postscript he mentions how +he hanged a captain of Scots, and he thinks "very nere twenty of his +men." + +It seems almost needless to add anything to the official descriptions of +Ireland, which have already been given in such detail; but as any remark +from the poet Spenser has a special interest, I shall give some brief +account of his _View of Ireland_. The work which bears this name is +written with considerable prejudice, and abounds in misstatements. Like +all settlers, he was utterly disgusted with the hardships he endured, +though the poet's eye could not refuse its meed of admiration to the +country in which they were suffered. His description of the miseries of +the native Irish can scarcely be surpassed, and his description of the +poverty of the country is epitomized in the well-known lines:-- + + "Was never so great waste in any place, + Nor so foul outrage done by living men; + For all the cities they shall sack and raze, + And the green grass that groweth they shall burn, + That even the wild beast shall die in starved den."[442] + +Yet this misery never touched his heart; for the remedy he proposes +poses for Irish sufferings is to increase them, if possible, a +thousandfold; and he would have troops employed to "tread down all +before them, and lay on the ground all the stiff-necked people of the +land." And this he would have done in winter, with a refinement of +cruelty, that the bitter air may freeze up the half-naked peasant, that +he may have no shelter from the bare trees, and that he may be deprived +of all sustenance by the chasing and driving of his cows. + +It is probable that Spenser's "view" of Irish affairs was considerably +embittered by his own sufferings there. He received his property on the +condition of residence, and settled himself at Kilcolman Castle. Here he +spent four years, and wrote the three first books of the _Faerie +Queene_. He went to London with Sir Walter Raleigh to get them +published. On his return he married a country girl, named Elizabeth--an +act which was a disgrace to himself, if the Irish were what he described +them to be. In 1598, during Tyrone's insurrection, his estate was +plundered, his castle burned, and his youngest child perished in the +flames. He then fled to London, where he died a year after in extreme +indigence. + +His description of the condition of the Protestant Church coincides with +the official account of Sidney. He describes the clergy as "generally +bad, licentious, and most disordered;" and he adds: "Whatever +disorders[443] you see in the Church of England, you may find in +Ireland, and many more, namely, gross simony, greedy covetousness, +incontinence, and careless sloth." And then he contrasts the zeal of the +Catholic clergy with the indifference of "the ministers of the Gospel," +who, he says, only take the tithes and offerings, and gather what fruit +else they may of their livings. + +[Illustration: THE HOUSE WHERE SIR WALTER RALEIGH LIVED.] + +[Illustration: SALTEE ISLANDS, WEXFORD.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[426] _Willing_.--Sidney's Despatches, British Museum, MSS. Cat. Titus +B. x. + +[427] _Irreligion_.--Mant, vol. i. p.287. + +[428] _Scattered_.--Cox, vol. i. p.319. + +[429] _Civility_.--Sidney's _Letters and Memorials_, vol i. p.112. +Sidney's memoir has been published _in extenso_ in the _Ulster Arch. +Journal_, with most interesting notes by Mr. Hore of Wexford. + +[430] _Reformation_.--_Past and Present Policy of England towards +Ireland_, p. 27. London, 1845. + +[431] _Depend_.--Shirley, p. 219. An admirable _History of the Diocese +of Meath_, in two volumes, has been published lately by the Rev. A. +Cogan, Catholic Priest of Navan. It is very much to be wished that this +rev. author would extend his charitable labours to other dioceses +throughout Ireland. + +[432] _Majority_.--Leland, vol. ii. p.241. + +[433] _Pike_.--This was probably the _Morris pike_ or _Moorish pike_, +much used in the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth. The common pike was +used very generally by foot soldiers until the reign of George II. The +halberd was introduced during the reign of Henry VIII. It was peculiar +to the royal guard, and is still carried by them. In Shirley's comedy, +_A Bird in a Cage_ (1633), one of the characters is asked, "You are one +of the guard?" and replies, "A Poor halberd man, sir." The caliver was +quite recently introduced. It was a light kind of musket, fired without +a rest. It derived its name from the _calibre_ or width of its bore. + +[434] _Staffe._--This was probably a cane staff. We read in _Piers +Plowman's Vision_ of "hermits on a heap with hookyd staves." + +[435] _Dagges._--"Pistols."--"My _dagge_ was levelled at his heart." + +[436] _Livery_--It was usual for all retainers of a noble house to wear +a uniform-coloured cloth in dress. Thus, in the old play of _Sir Thomas +More_, we find: + +"That no man whatsoever Do walk without the _livery_ of his lord, Either +in cloak or any other garment." + + + +[437] _Irish_.--Four Masters, vol. v. pp. 1678-9. Camden mentions the +capture of O'Neill, and says Essex slew 200 of his men; but he does not +mention the treachery with which this massacre was accomplished. + +[438] _Pestilence_.--Memoir or Narrative addressed to Sir Francis +Walsingham, 1583. Ware says he wrote "Miscellanies of the Affairs of +Ireland," but the MS. has not yet been discovered. The Four Masters +notice the pestilence, which made fearful ravages. + +[439] _John_.--He was called _Shane Seamar Oge_, or John of the +Shamrocks, from having threatened to live on shamrocks sooner than +submit to the English. John was the younger of the two De Burgos or +Burkes. + +[440] _Vileness.--Reign of Elizabeth_, vol. i, p. 458. + +[441] _Humanity_.--Dr. O'Donovan, with his usual conscientious accuracy, +has given a long and most interesting note on the subject of this +massacre, in the _Annals of the Four Masters_, vol. v.p. 1695. Dowling +is the oldest writer who mentions the subject, and he expressly +mentions Crosby and Walpole as the principal agents in effecting it. +Dr. O'Donovan gives a curious traditional account of the occurrence, in +which several Catholic families are accused of having taken part. + +[442] _Den.--Faerie Queene_, book iii c. 3. + +[443] _Disorders_.--"In many dioceses in England (A.D. 1561), a third of +the parishes were left without a clergyman, resident or non-resident.... +The children grew up unbaptized; the dead buried their dead." Elizabeth +had to remonstrate with Parliament upon the "open decays and ruins" of +the churches. "They were not even kept commonly clean, and nothing was +done to make them known to be places provided for divine service." "The +cathedral plate adorned the prebendal sideboards and dinner-tables. The +organ pipes were melted into dishes for their kitchens. The organ frames +were carved into bedsteads, where the wives reposed beside their +reverend lords. The copes and vestments were slit into gowns and +bodices. Having children to provide for, the chapters cut down their +woods, and worked their fines ... for the benefit of their own +generation." "The priests' wives were known by their dress in the +street, and their proud gait, from a hundred other women."--Froude, +_Reign of Elizabeth_, vol. i. pp. 465-467. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +FitzMaurice obtains Help from Spain and from Rome--The Martyrs of +Kilmallock--Death of FitzMaurice--Drury's Cruelties and Death--Arrival +of San Jose--His Treachery--Massacre at the Fort del Ore--O'Neill shows +Symptoms of Disaffection--Treacherous Capture of O'Donnell--Injustice to +Tenants--O'Donnell attempts to Escape--O'Neill's Marriage with Mabel +Bagnal--O'Donnell Escapes from Dublin Castle--Causes of +Discontent--Cruel Massacre of Three Priests--Tortures and Death +inflicted in Dublin on Bishop O'Hurley--O'Neill's Insurrection--His +Interview with Essex--He marches to the South--His Fatal Reverse at +Kinsale--The Siege of Dunboy--O'Neill's Submission--Foundation of +Trinity College, Dublin, on the Site and with the Funds of a Catholic +Abbey. + +[A.D. 1579-1605.] + + +Exaggerated rumours were now spread throughout Munster, of the +probability of help from foreign sources--A.D. 1579. James FitzMaurice +had been actively employed on the Continent in collecting troops and +assistance for the Irish Catholics. In France his requests were politely +refused, for Henry III. wished to continue on good terms with Elizabeth. +Philip II. of Spain referred him to the Pope. In Rome he met with more +encouragement; and at the solicitation of the Franciscan Bishop of +Killaloe, Cornelius O'Mullrain, Dr. Allen, and Dr. Saunders, he obtained +a Bull, encouraging the Irish to fight for the recovery of religious +freedom, and for the liberation of their country. An expedition was +fitted out at the expense of the Holy See, and maintained eventually by +Philip of Spain. At the earnest request of FitzMaurice, an English +adventurer, named Stukeley, was appointed admiral. The military command +was bestowed on Hercules Pisano, a soldier of some experience. + +Stukeley was reported to be an illegitimate son of Henry VIII. He was a +wild and lawless adventurer, and entirely unfitted for such a command. +At Lisbon he forsook his squadron, and joined the expedition which +Sebastian, the romantic King of Portugal, was preparing to send to +Morocco. FitzMaurice had travelled through France to Spain, from whence +he proceeded to Ireland, with a few troops. He had three small vessels +besides his own, and on his way he captured two English ships. He was +accompanied by Dr. Saunders,[444] as Legate, the Bishop of Killaloe, and +Dr. Allen.[445] They were entirely ignorant of Stukeley's desertion +until their arrival in Ireland. The squadron reached Dingle on the 17th +of July, 1579. Eventually they landed at Smerwick Harbour, and threw +themselves into the Fort del Ore, which they fortified as best they +could. If the Earl of Desmond had joined his brother at once, the +expedition might have ended differently; but he stood aloof, fearing to +involve himself in a struggle, the issue of which could scarcely be +doubtful. + +A short time before the arrival of this little expedition, three persons +had landed in disguise at Dingle, whom Desmond, anxious to show his zeal +towards the ruling powers, consigned to the authorities in Limerick. +They were discovered to be Dr. Patrick O'Haly, a Franciscan, and Bishop +of Mayo, and Father Cornelius O'Rourke; the name of the third person has +not been ascertained. On Sir William Drury's arrival at Kilmallock, they +were brought before him, and condemned to torture and death. The torture +was executed with unusual barbarity, for Drury was a man who knew no +mercy. The confessors were first placed upon the rack, and then, as if +the agony of that torment was not sufficient, their hands and feet were +broken with large hammers, and other torments were added. When life was +nearly extinct, they were released, and their martyrdom was finally +accomplished by hanging. For fourteen days their bodies remained +suspended in chains, and the soldiers used them as targets in their +shooting exercises. + +The Earl of Desmond, however, soon joined his brother. John Geraldine +allied himself with the movement from its commencement. A second +expedition was fitted out in Spain, which reached Ireland on the 13th of +September, 1580. It was commanded by Colonel Sebastian San Jose, who +proved eventually so fearful a traitor to the cause he had volunteered +to defend. Father Mathew de Oviedo, a member of the Franciscan Order, +was the principal promoter of this undertaking. He was a native of +Spain, and had been educated in the College of Salamanca, then famous +for the learning and piety of its _alumni_. The celebrated Florence +Conry, subsequently Archbishop of Tuam, was one of his companions; and +when he entered the Franciscan novitiate, he had the society of eleven +brethren who were afterwards elevated to the episcopate. Oviedo was the +bearer of a letter from the Roman Pontiff, Gregory XIII., granting +indulgences to those who joined the army. + +On the 18th of August, scarcely a month after he had landed in Ireland, +James FitzMaurice was killed by Theobald and Ulick Burke, his own +kinsmen. Their father, Sir William Burke, was largely rewarded for his +loyalty in opposing the Geraldines; and, if Camden is to be believed, he +died of joy in consequence of the favours heaped upon him. The death of +FitzMaurice was a fatal blow to the cause. John Geraldine, however, took +the command of the force; but the Earl hastened to Kilmallock to +exculpate himself, as best he could, with the Lord Deputy. His apologies +were accepted, and he was permitted to go free on leaving his only son, +James, then a mere child, as hostage with Drury. The Geraldines were +successful soon after in an engagement with the English; and Drury died +in Waterford at the end of September. Ecclesiastical historians say that +he had been cited by the martyrs of Kilmallock to meet them at Christ's +judgment, and answer for his cruelties. + +Sir Nicholas Malby was left in command of the army, and Sir William +Pelham was elected Lord Deputy in Dublin. The usual career of burning +and plundering was enacted--"the country was left one levelled plain, +without corn or edifices." Youghal was burned to the ground, and the +Mayor was hanged at his own door. James Desmond was hanged and +quartered, by St. Leger and Raleigh, in Cork. Pelham signalized himself +by cruelties, and executed a gentleman who had been blind from his +birth, and another who was over a hundred years of age. + +But the crowning tragedy was at hand. The expedition commanded by San +Jose now arrived in Ireland. The Fort del Ore was once more occupied and +strengthened; the courage of the insurgents was revived. Meanwhile Lord +Grey was marching so southward with all possible haste. He soon reached +the fort, and, at the same time, Admirals Winter and Bingham prepared to +attack the place by sea. In a few days the courage of the Spanish +commander failed, and he entered into treaty with the Lord Deputy. A +bargain was made that he should receive a large share of the spoils. He +had obtained a personal interview in the Viceroy's camp,[446] and the +only persons for whom he made conditions were the Spaniards who had +accompanied him on the expedition. The English were admitted to the +fortress on the following day, and a feast was prepared for them. All +arms and ammunition were consigned to the care of the English soldiers, +and, this accomplished, the signal for massacre was given; and, +according to Lord Grey's official[447] account, 600 men were slain in +cold blood. So universal was the reprobation of this fearful tragedy, +that Sir Richard Bingham tried to make it appear that it had not been +premeditated. Grey's official despatch places the matter beyond +question, and Dr. Saunders' letter supplies the details on authority +which cannot be disputed. + +Three persons who had been treacherously given up to the Viceroy, were +spared for special torments; those were--a priest named Lawrence, an +Englishman named William Willick, and Oliver Plunket. They were offered +liberty if they would renounce the faith; but on their resolute refusal, +their legs and arms were broken in three places, and after they had been +allowed to pass that night and the next day in torment, they were hanged +and quartered. The State Papers confirm the account given by Saunders of +these barbarities. The English officers now endeavoured to rival each +other in acts of cruelty to obtain official commendation and royal +favour. Sir Walter Raleigh was especially active in Cork, and brought a +charge of treason against the Barrys and Roches, old English settlers; +but Barry set fire to his castle, and took to the woods, where he joined +Lord Desmond. Lord Roche was taken prisoner, but eventually escaped from +his persecutors. Pretended plots were rumoured in all directions, and +numbers of innocent persons were executed. William Burke was hanged in +Galway, and forty-five persons were executed. The Geraldine cause was +reduced to the lowest ebb by the treachery of Jose. The Earl of Desmond +and his sons were fugitives in their own country. The latter was offered +pardon if he would surrender Dr. Saunders, the Papal Legate, but this he +resolutely refused. Saunders continued his spiritual ministrations until +he was entirely worn out with fatigue, and he died, at the close of the +year 1581, in a miserable hovel in the woods of Claenglass. He was +attended by the Bishop of Killaloe, from whom he received the last rites +of the Church. + +Immense rewards were now offered for the capture of the Geraldine +leaders, but their faithful followers would not be bribed. John was at +length seized, through the intervention of a stranger. He was wounded in +the struggle, and died immediately after; but his enemies wreaked their +vengeance on his remains, which were gibbeted at Cork. The Earl of +Desmond was assassinated on the 11th of November, 1583, and the hopeless +struggle terminated with his death. He had been hunted from place to +place like a wild beast, and, according to Hooker, obliged to dress his +meat in one place, to eat it in another, and to sleep in a third. He was +surprised, on one occasion, while his soldiers were cooking their +mid-day meal, and five-and-twenty of his followers were put to the +sword; but he escaped, and fled to Kerry, where he was apprehended ended +and slain. His head was sent to Elizabeth, and impaled on London-bridge, +according to the barbarous practice of the time. His body was interred +in the little chapel of Kilnamaseagh, near Castleisland. Complaints of +the extreme severity of Lord Grey's administration had been sent to the +English court. Even English subjects declared that he had "left her +Majesty little to reign over but carcasses and ashes." He was therefore +recalled. The administration was confided to Loftus, the Protestant +Archbishop of Dublin, and Sir Henry Wallope, and an amnesty was +proclaimed. Sir Thomas Norreys was appointed Governor of Munster, and +Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of Connaught. In 1584 Sir John Perrot was +made Deputy, and commenced his career by executing Beg O'Brien, who had +taken an active part in the late insurrections, at Limerick, with a +refinement of cruelty, as "a warning to future evil-doers." + +In 1585 Perrot held a Parliament in Dublin, from which, however, no very +important enactments proceeded. Its principal object appears to have +been the confiscation of Desmond's estates. This was opposed by many of +the members; but the crown was determined to have them, and the crown +obtained them. Thus lands to the extent of 574,628 acres were ready for +new adventurers. The most tempting offers were made to induce Englishmen +to plant; estates were given for twopence an acre; rent was only to +commence after three years. No Irish families were to be admitted as +tenants, though their labours might be accepted or compelled. English +families were to be substituted in certain proportions; and on these +conditions, Raleigh, Hatton, Norris, St. Leger, and others, obtained +large grants. The Irish question was to be settled finally, but somehow +it was not settled, though no one seemed exactly prepared to say why. + +Meanwhile Sir Richard Bingham was opposing the conciliatory policy of +the Deputy, and hanged seventy persons at one session in Galway, in +January, A.D. 1586. Perrot interfered; but the Burkes, who had been +maddened by Bingham's cruelties, broke out into open rebellion; and he +pointed to the revolt which he had himself occasioned, as a +justification of his former conduct. The Scotch now joined the Burkes, +but were eventually defeated by the President, the Irish annalists say, +with the loss of 2,000 men. Another bloody assize was held in Galway, +where young and old alike were victims. + +The state of Ulster was now giving considerable anxiety to the English +Government. Hugh O'Neill was just commencing his famous career; and +although he had fought under the English standard in Geraldine war, it +was thought quite possible that he might set up a standard of his own. +He had taken his seat in parliament as _Baron of Dungannon_. He had +obtained the title of Earl of Tyrone. He had visited Elizabeth, and by a +judicious mixture of flattery and deference, which she was never able to +resist he obtained letters-patent under the Great Seal restoring his +inheritance and his rank. He was even permitted, on his return, to keep +up a standing army of six companies, "to preserve the peace of the +north." + +In 1586 a thousand soldiers were withdrawn from Ireland to serve in the +Netherlands; and as the country was always governed by force, it could +scarcely be expected not to rebel when the restraint was withdrawn. +O'Neill manifested alarming symptoms of independence. He had married a +daughter of Sir Hugh O'Donnell, and Sir Hugh refused to admit an English +sheriff into his territory. The Government had, therefore, no resource +but war or treachery. War was impossible, when so large a contingent had +been withdrawn; treachery was always possible; and even Sir John Perrot +stooped to this base means of attaining his end. The object was to get +possession of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, a noble youth, and to keep him as +hostage. The treachery was accomplished thus: a vessel, laden with +Spanish wine, was sent to Donegal on pretence of traffic. It anchored at +Rathmullen, where it had been ascertained that Hugh Roe O'Donnell was +staying with his foster-father, MacSweeny. The wine was distributed +plentifully to the country people; and when MacSweeny sent to make +purchases, the men declared there was none left for sale, but if the +gentlemen came on board, they should have what was left. Hugh and his +companions easily fell into the snare. They were hospitably entertained, +but their arms were carefully removed, the hatches were shut down, the +cable cut, and the ship stood off to sea. The guests who were not wanted +were put ashore, but the unfortunate youth was taken to Dublin, and +confined in the Castle.[448] + +In 1588 Sir John Perrot was succeeded by Sir William FitzWilliam, a +nobleman of the most opposite character and disposition. Perrot was +generally regretted by the native Irish, as he was considered one of the +most humane of the Lord Deputies. The wreck of the Spanish Armada +occurred during this year, and was made at once an excuse for increased +severity towards the Catholics, and for acts of grievous injustice. Even +loyal persons were accused of harbouring the shipwrecked men, as it was +supposed they might have obtained some treasure in return for their +hospitality. FitzWilliam, according to Ware, wished to "finger some of +it himself," and invaded the territories of several Irish chieftains. A +complete history of FitzWilliam's acts of injustice, and the consummate +cruelty with which they were perpetrated, would be so painful to relate, +that they can scarcely be recorded in detail. He farmed out the country +to the highest bidders, who practised every possible extortion on the +unfortunate natives. The favourite method of compelling them to yield up +their lands without resistance, was to fry the soles of their feet in +boiling brimstone and grease. When torture did not succeed, some unjust +accusation was brought forward, and they were hanged. A tract preserved +in Trinity College, Dublin, gives details of these atrocities, from +which I shall only select one instance. A landlord was anxious to obtain +the property of one of his tenants, an Irishman, who had lived +"peaceably and quietly, as a good subject," for many years. He agreed +with the sheriff to divide the spoil with him, if he would assist in the +plot. The man and his servant were seized; the latter was hanged, and +the former was sent to Dublin Castle, to be imprisoned on some pretence. +The gentleman and the sheriff at once seized the tenant's property, and +turned his wife and children out to beg. After a short time, "they, by +their credit and countenance, being both English gentlemen, informed the +Lord Deputy so hardly of him, as that, without indictment or trial, they +executed him."[449] + +It was considered a grave reproach, and an evidence of barbarism, when +Maguire sent word to the Lord Deputy, who wished to send a sheriff to +Fermanagh: "Your sheriff will be welcome, but let me know his eric [the +fine which would be levied on the district if he were killed], that if +my people cut off his head, I may levy it on the country." One other +instance from another source will sufficiently prove that the dread of +an English sheriff was well founded. The chieftain of Oriel, Hugh +MacMahon, had given a present of 600 cows to the Lord Deputy to +recognize his rights. Sir Henry Bagnal the Marshal of Ireland, had his +head-quarters at Newry, where his property had been principally acquired +by deeds of blood, and he wished for a share of the spoil. A charge of +treason was made against MacMahon after the cows had been accepted; a +jury of common soldiers was empannelled to try the case. A few were +Irish, and they were locked up without food until they agreed to give +the required verdict of guilty, while the English jurors were permitted +to go in and out as they pleased. The unfortunate chieftain was hanged, +in two days after his arrest, at his own door; his property was divided +amongst those whom we must call his murderers. The MacMahon sept were, +however, permitted to retain a portion on payment of a "good fine, +underhand," to the Lord Deputy.[450] + +In 1590, Hugh of the Fetters, an illegitimate son of the famous Shane +O'Neill, was hanged by the Earl of Tyrone, for having made false charges +against him to the Lord Deputy. This exercise of authority excited +considerable fear, and the Earl was obliged to clear himself of blame +before Elizabeth. After a brief detention in London, he was permitted to +return to Ireland, but not until he had signed certain articles in the +English interest, which he observed precisely as long as it suited his +convenience. About this time his nephew, Hugh O'Donnell, made an +ineffectual attempt to escape from Dublin Castle, but he was recaptured, +and more closely guarded. This again attracted the attention of +Government to the family; but a more important event was about to +follow. O'Neill's wife was dead, and the chieftain was captivated by the +beauty of Sir Henry Bagnal's sister. How they contrived to meet and to +plight their vows is not known, though State Papers have sometimes +revealed as romantic particulars. It has been discovered, however, from +that invaluable source of information, that Sir Henry was furious, and +cursed himself and his fate that his "bloude, which had so often been +spilled in reppressinge this rebellious race, should nowe be mingled +with so traitorous a stocke and kindred." He removed the from Newry to +her sister's house, near Dublin, who was the wife of Sir Patrick +Barnwell. The Earl followed Miss Bagnal thither. Her brother-in-law +received him courteously; and while the O'Neill engaged the family in +conversation, a confidential friend rode off with the lady, who was +married to O'Neill immediately after. + +But a crisis was approaching; and while this event tended to embitter +the English officials against the Earl, a recurrence of outrages against +the northern chieftains prepared them for revolt. One of their leading +men, O'Rourke, was executed this year (A.D. 1591) in London. He had +taken refuge in Scotland some time before, from those who wished to take +his life, as the easiest method of securing his property, but the Scots +had given him up to the English Government. He was said to be one of the +handsomest and bravest men of his times, and his execution excited +universal pity. The apostate, Miler Magrath, attempted to tamper with +his faith in his last moments, but the chieftain bade him rather to +repent himself and to return to the faith of his fathers. + +Hugh O'Donnell made another attempt to escape from confinement at +Christmas, A.D. 1592. He succeeded on this occasion, though his life was +nearly lost in the attempt. Turlough Roe O'Hagan, his father's faithful +friend, was the principal agent in effecting his release. Henry and Art +O'Neill, sons of Shane the Proud, were companions in his flight. They +both fell exhausted on their homeward journey. Art died soon after, from +the effects of fatigue and exposure, and Hugh recovered but slowly. He +continued ill during the remainder of the winter, and was obliged to +have his toes amputated. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, a +general meeting of his sept was convened, when he was elected to the +chieftaincy, and inaugurated in the usual manner. He then commenced +incursions on the territories occupied by the English; but as the Earl +of Tyrone was anxious to prevent a premature rebellion, he induced the +Lord Deputy to meet him at Dundalk, where he obtained a full pardon for +his escape from Dublin Castle, and a temporary pacification was +arranged. + +In 1593 he collected another army; Turlough Luineach resigned his +chieftaincy to the Earl of Tyrone; and Ulster became wholly the +possession of its old chieftains--the O'Neill and O'Donnell. An open +rebellion broke out soon after, in consequence of the exactions of two +English officers on the territories of Oge O'Rourke and Maguire. Several +trifling engagements took place. The Earl of Tyrone was placed in a +difficult position. He was obliged to join the English side, while his +heart and inclination were with his own people; but he contrived to send +a messenger to Hugh Roe, who had joined Maguire's party, requesting him +not to fight against him. He was placed in a still greater difficulty at +the siege of Enniskillen, which took place the following year; but he +compromised matters by sending his brother, Cormac O'Neill, with a +contingent, to fight on the national side. Cormac met the English +soldiers, who had been sent to throw provisions into the town, almost +five miles from their destination, and routed them with great slaughter. +The site of the engagement was called the "Ford of the Biscuits," from +the quantity of that provision which he obtained there. An Irish +garrison was left at Enniskillen, and the victorious party, after +retaliating the cruelties which had been inflicted on the natives, +marched into northern Connaught to attack Sir Richard Bingham. + +On the 11th of August, in this year, 1594, Sir William Russell was +appointed Deputy in place of FitzWilliam. Tyrone appeared at the Castle +soon after, and complained of the suspicions which were entertained of +his loyalty, not, it is to be supposed, without a very clear personal +conviction that they were well founded. The Viceroy would have received +him favourably, but his old enemy, Bagnal, charged him with high +treason. O'Neill's object was to gain time. He was unwilling to revolt +openly, till he could do so with some prospect of success; and if his +discretion was somewhat in advance of the average amount of that +qualification as manifested by Irish chieftains hitherto, his valour +redeemed him from all possible imputation of having made it an excuse +for cowardice, or any conciliation with the "English enemy," which was +not warranted by motives of prudence. + +Tyrone now offered to clear himself by the ordeal of single combat with +his adversary, but Bagnal declined the offer. The following year (A.D. +1595), the new Deputy took O'Byrne's Castle, at Glenmalure. One of the +Kildare Geraldines revenged the injuries done to this chieftain, by +making nocturnal attacks in the neighbourhood of Dublin; but he was soon +captured, and hanged in Dublin. These and similar outrages excited +popular feeling to an unwonted degree; but there were other wrongs +besides the robberies of chieftains' estates, and their subsequent +murder if they resisted oppression. The men whose lives the Irish nation +have always held even more sacred than those of their most ancient +chiefs, were daily slaughtered before their eyes, and the slaughter was +perpetrated with cruelties which were so utterly uncalled-for, so +barbarously inhuman, that they might well have excited the burning +indignation of a heathen or a Turk. + +These men were the priests of the old faith which the Irish had received +so many hundred years before, and which neither death nor torments could +induce them to forsake. I shall mention but two of these outrages, +premising that there were few places in Ireland where similar scenes had +not been enacted. In the year 1588 three Franciscan fathers were +martyred, who had devoted themselves for some years previously to the +spiritual necessities of the people. Many Catholic families from Carlow, +Wexford, and Wicklow had been obliged to fly into the mountainous +districts of Leinster, to escape further persecution. The three fathers, +John Molloy, Cornelius Dogherty, and Wilfred Ferral, were unwearied in +their ministrations. They spoke to these poor creatures of the true +Home, where all their sufferings should be rewarded with eternal joy--of +how wise it was to exchange the passing things of time for the enduring +goods of eternity; they visited the sick, they consoled the dying; above +all, they administered those life-giving sacraments so precious to the +Catholic Christian; and if, like the holy martyrs, persecuted by heathen +emperors, they were obliged to offer the adorable sacrifice on a rock or +in a poor hut, it was none the less acceptable to God, and none the less +efficacious to the worshippers. These shepherds of the flock were +specially obnoxious to the Government. They preached patience, but they +were accused of preaching rebellion; they confirmed their people in +their faith, but this was supposed to be equivalent to exciting them to +resist their oppressors. The three fathers were at last seized by a +party of cavalry, in a remote district of the Queen's county. They were +tied hand and foot, and conducted with every species of ignominy to the +garrison of Abbeyleix. Here they were first flogged, then racked, and +finally hanged[451], drawn, and quartered. The soldiers, brutalized as +man can be brutalized by familiarity with scenes of blood, scoffed at +the agonies they inflicted, and hardened themselves for fresh +barbarities. But there were men who stood by to weep and pray; and +though they were obliged to conceal their tears, and to breathe their +prayers softly into the eternal and ever-open ear of God, the lash which +mangled the bodies of the men they revered lacerated their souls yet +more deeply; and as they told to others the tale of patient suffering +endured for Christ and His Church, the hearts of the people were bound +yet closer to their faithful pastors, and they clung yet more ardently +to the religion which produced such glorious examples. + +The other execution is, if possible, more barbarous. If the duty of an +historian did not oblige me to give such details, I would but too gladly +spare you the pain of reading and myself the pain of writing them. The +name of Dermod O'Hurley has ever stood prominent in the roll of Irish +martyrs. He was a man of more than ordinary learning, and of refined and +cultivated tastes; but he renounced even the pure pleasures of +intellectual enjoyments for the poor of Christ, and received for his +reward the martyr's crown. After he had taught philosophy in Louvain and +rhetoric at Rheims, he went to Rome, where his merit soon attracted the +attention of Gregory XIII., who appointed him to the see of Cashel. +O'Sullivan describes his personal appearance as noble and imposing, and +says that "none more mild had ever held the crozier of St. Cormac." His +position was not an enviable one to flesh and blood; but to one who had +renounced all worldly ties, and who only desired to suffer like his +Lord, it was full of promise. His mission was soon discovered; and +though he complied with the apostolic precept of flying, when he was +persecuted, from one city to another, he was at last captured, and then +the long-desired moment had arrived when he could openly announce his +mission and his faith. + +When he had informed his persecutors that he was a priest and an +archbishop, they at once consigned him to "a dark and loathsome prison, +and kept him there bound in chains till the Holy Thursday of the +following year (1584)." He was then summoned before the Protestant +Archbishop Loftus and Wallop. They tempted him with promises of pardon, +honour, and preferment; they reasoned with him, and urged all the usual +arguments of heretics against his faith; but when all had failed, they +declared their determination to use "other means to change his purpose." +They did use them-they failed. But these were the means: the Archbishop +was again heavily ironed. He was remanded to prison. His persecutors +hastened after him; and on the evening of Thursday, May 5, 1584, they +commenced their cruel work. They tied him firmly to a tree, as his Lord +had once been tied. His hands were bound, his body chained, and then his +feet and legs were thrust into long boots, filled with oil, turpentine, +and pitch, and stretched upon an iron grate, under which a slow fire was +kindled. The spectacle which was exhibited when the instruments of +torture were withdrawn has been described, but I cannot write the +description. What sufferings he must have endured during that long +night, no words could tell. Again he was tempted with the offer of +earthly honours, and threatened with the vengeance of prolonged +tortures. Through all his agony he uttered no word of complaint, and his +countenance preserved its usual serene and tranquil expression. His +sister was sent to him, as a last resource, to tempt him to apostatize, +but he only bade her ask God's forgiveness for the crime she had +committed. Meanwhile, the cruelties which had been executed on him +became known; public feeling, as far as it was Catholic, was excited; +and it was determined to get rid of the sufferer quietly. At early dawn +of Friday, May 6, 1584, he was carried out to the place now called +Stephen's-green, where what remained of human life was quickly +extinguished, first by putting him again to torture, and then by +hanging. + +O'Neill had hitherto acted merely on the defensive; but the memory of +the events just related was still fresh in the minds of thousands, and +it was generally felt that some effort must be made for freedom of +conscience, if not for deliverance from political oppression. A +conference was held at Dundalk. Wallop, the Treasurer, whose name has +been so recently recorded in connexion with the torture of the +Archbishop, and Gardiner, the Chief Justice, received the +representatives of the northern chieftains, but no important results +followed. + +In 1598 another conference was held, the intervening years having been +spent in mutual hostilities, in which, on the whole, the Irish had the +advantage. O'Neill's tone was proud and independent; he expected +assistance from Spain, and he scorned to accept a pardon for what he did +not consider a crime. The Government was placed in a difficult position. +The prestige of O'Neill and O'Donnell was becoming every day greater. On +the 7th of June, 1598, the Earl laid siege to the fort of the +Blackwater, then commanded by Captain Williams, and strongly fortified. +Reinforcements were sent to the besieged from England, but they were +attacked _en route_ by the Irish, and lost 400 men at Dungannon. At last +the Earl of Ormonde and Bagnal determined to take up arms--the former +marching against the Leinster insurgents; the latter, probably but too +willing, set out to encounter his old enemy and brother-in-law. He +commanded a fine body of men, and had but little doubt on which side +victory should declare itself. + +The contingent set out for Armagh on the 14th of August, and soon +reached the Yellow Ford, about two miles from that city, where the main +body of the Irish had encamped. They were at once attacked on either +flank by skirmishers from the hostile camp; but the vanguard of the +English army advanced gallantly to the charge, and were soon in +possession of the first entrenchments of the enemy. Although Bagnal's +personal valour is unquestionable, he was a bad tactician. His leading +regiment was cut to pieces before a support could come up; his divisions +were too far apart to assist each other. Bagnal raised the visor of his +helmet for one moment, to judge more effectually of the scene of combat, +and that moment proved his last. A musket ball pierced his forehead, and +he fell lifeless to the ground. Almost at the same moment an ammunition +waggon exploded in his ranks--confusion ensued. O'Neill took advantage +of the panic; he charged boldly; and before one o'clock the rout had +become general. + +The English officers and their men fled to Armagh, and shut themselves +up in the Cathedral; but they had left twenty-three officers and 1,700 +rank and file dead or dying on the field. "It was a glorious victory for +the rebels," says Camden, "and of special advantage; for thereby they +got both arms and provisions, and Tyrone's name was cried up all over +Ireland." Ormonde thought that the "devil had bewitched Bagnal," to +leave his men unsupported; the Irish annalists thought that Providence +had interfered wonderfully on their behalf.[452] O'Neill retired for a +time to recruit his forces, and to rest his men; and a revolt was +organized under his auspices in Munster, with immense success. O'Donnell +was making rapid strides; but a new Viceroy was on his way to Ireland, +and it was hoped by the royalist party that he would change the aspect +of affairs. + +Essex arrived on the 15th of April, 1599. He had an army of 20,000 foot +and 2,000 horse--the most powerful, if not the best equipped force ever +sent into the country. He at once issued a proclamation, offering pardon +to all the insurgents who should submit, and he despatched +reinforcements to the northern garrison towns, and to Wicklow and Naas. +He then marched southward not without encountering a sharp defeat from +Rory O'More. Be attacked the Geraldines, without much success, in Fermoy +and Lismore, having, on the whole, lost more than he had accomplished by +the expedition. An engagement took place between O'Donnell and Sir +Conyers Clifford, in the pass of Balloghboy, on the 16th of August, in +which Conyers was killed, and his army defeated. His body was recognized +by the Irish, towards whom he had always acted honorably, and they +interred the remains of their brave and noble enemy with the respect +which was justly due to him. + +Essex wrote to England for more troops, and his enemies were not slow to +represent his incapacity, and to demand his recall: but he had not yet +lost grace with his royal mistress, and his request was granted. The +Viceroy now marched into the northern provinces. When he arrived at the +Lagan, where it bounds Louth and Monaghan, O'Neill appeared on the +opposite hill with his army, and sent the O'Hagan, his faithful friend +and attendant, to demand a conference. The interview took place on the +following day; and O'Neill, with chivalrous courtesy, dashed into the +river on his charger, and there conversed with the English Earl, while +he remained on the opposite bank. It was supposed that the Irish +chieftain had made a favourable impression on Essex, and that he was +disposed to conciliate the Catholics. He was obliged to go to England to +clear himself of these charges; and his subsequent arrest and execution +would excite more sympathy, had he been as amiable in his domestic +relations as he is said to have been in his public life. + +Ulster enjoyed a brief period of rest under the government of its native +princes. In 1600 O'Neill proceeded southward, laying waste the lands of +the English settlers, but promoting the restoration of churches and +abbeys, and assisting the clergy and the native Irish in every possible +way. Having lost Hugh Maguire, one of his best warriors, in an +accidental engagement with St. Leger, the President of Munster, he +determined to return to Ulster. A new Viceroy had just arrived in +Ireland, and he attempted to cut off his retreat ineffectually. + +O'Neill had now obtained a position of considerable importance, and one +which he appears to have used invariably for the general good. The fame +of his victories[453] had spread throughout the Continent. It was well +known now that the Irish had not accepted Protestant Reformation, and it +appeared as if there was at last some hope of permanent peace in +Ireland. + +[Illustration: Interview between Essex and O'Neill] + +Sir George Carew was sent over as President of Munster. He has left an +account of his exploits in the _Pacata Hibernia_, which are not much to +the credit of his humanity, but which he was pleased to consider refined +strokes of policy. The English Government not only countenanced his +acts, but gave the example of a similar line of conduct. James, son of +Gerald, Earl of Desmond, who had long been imprisoned in London, was now +sent to Ireland, and a patent, restoring his title and estates, was +forwarded to Carew, with private instructions that it should be used or +not, as might be found expedient. The people flocked with joy to meet +the heir of the ancient house, but their enthusiasm was soon turned into +contempt. He arrived on a Saturday, and on Sunday went to the Protestant +service, for he had been educated in the new religion in London. His +people were amazed; they fell on their knees, and implored him not to +desert the faith of his fathers; but he was ignorant of their language +as well as of their creed. Once this was understood, they showed how +much dearer that was to them than even the old ties of kindred, so +revered in their island; and his return from prayers was hailed by +groans and revilings. The hapless youth was found to be useless to his +employers; he was therefore taken back to London, where he died soon +after of a broken heart. + +Attempts were made to assassinate O'Neill in 1601. L2,000 was offered to +any one who would capture him alive; L1,000 was offered for his head; +but none of his own people could be found to play the traitor even for +so high a stake. The "Sugane Earl" was treacherously captured about the +end of August, and was sent to London in chains, with Florence +MacCarthy. But the long-expected aid from Spain had at last arrived. The +fleet conveyed a force of 3,000 infantry, and entered the harbour of +Kinsale on the 23rd of September, under the command of Don Juan +d'Aquila. It would appear as if Spanish expeditions were not destined to +succeed on Irish soil for only part of the expedition arrived safely, +and they had the misfortune to land in the worst situation, and to +arrive after the war had ceased. The northern chieftains set out at once +to meet their allies when informed of their arrival; and O'Donnell, with +characteristic impetuosity, was the first on the road. Carew attempted +to intercept him, but despaired of coming up with "so swift-footed a +general," and left him to pursue his way unmolested. + +The Lord Deputy was besieging Kinsale, and Carew joined him there. The +siege was continued through the month of November during which time +fresh reinforcements came from Spain; and on the 21st of December, +O'Neill arrived with all his force. Unfortunately, the Spanish general +had become thoroughly disgusted with the enterprise; and, although the +position of the English was such that the Lord Deputy had serious +thoughts of raising the siege, he insisted on decisive measures; and +O'Neill was obliged to surrender his opinion, which was entirely against +this line of action. A sortie was agreed upon for a certain night; but a +youth in the Irish camp, who had been in the President's service +formerly, warned him of the intended attack. This was sufficient in +itself to cause the disaster which ensued. But there were other +misfortunes. O'Neill and O'Donnell lost their way; and when they reached +the English camp at dawn, found the soldiers under arms, and prepared +for an attack. Their cavalry at once charged, and the new comers in vain +struggled to maintain their ground, and a retreat which they attempted +was turned into a total rout. + +A thousand Irish were slain, and the prisoners were hanged without +mercy. The loss on the English side was but trifling. It was a fatal +blow to the Irish cause. Heavy were the hearts and bitter the thoughts +of the brave chieftains on that sad night. O'Neill no longer hoped for +the deliverance of his country; but the more sanguine O'Donnell proposed +to proceed at once to Spain, to explain their position to King Philip. +He left Ireland in a Spanish vessel three days after the battle--if +battle it can be called; and O'Neill marched rapidly back to Ulster with +Rory O'Donnell, to whom Hugh Roe had delegated the chieftaincy of +Tir-Connell. + +D'Aquila, whose haughty manners had rendered him very unpopular, now +surrendered to Mountjoy, who received his submission with respect, and +treated his army honorably. According to one account, the Spaniard had +touched some English gold, and had thus been induced to desert the Irish +cause; according to other authorities, he challenged the Lord Deputy to +single combat, and wished them to decide the question at issue. In the +meantime, O'Sullivan Beare contrived to get possession of his own Castle +of Dunboy, by breaking into the wall at the dead of night, while the +Spanish garrison were asleep, and then declaring that he held the +fortress for the King of Spain, to whom he transferred his allegiance. +Don Juan offered to recover it for the English by force of arms; but the +Deputy, whose only anxiety was to get him quietly out of the country, +urged his immediate departure. He left Ireland on the 20th of February; +and the suspicions of his treachery must have had some foundation, for +he was placed under arrest as soon as he arrived in Spain. + +The siege of Dunboy is one of the most famous and interesting episodes +in Irish history. The castle was deemed almost impregnable from its +situation; and every argument was used with Sir George Carew to induce +him to desist from attacking it. It was then, indeed-- + + "Dunboy, the proud, the strong, + The Saxon's hate and trouble long."[454] + +But the Lord Deputy had resolved that it should be captured. The Lord +President considered the enterprise would be by no means difficult, for +"he declared that he would plant the ordnance without the losse of a +man; and within seven dayes after the battery was begun, bee master of +all that place."[455] There was considerable delay in the arrival of the +shipping which conveyed the ordnance, and operations did not commence +until the 6th of June. The defence of the castle was intrusted by +O'Sullivan to Richard MacGeoghegan. The chief himself was encamped with +Tyrrell in the interior of the country. The soldiers were tempted, and +the governor was tempted, but neither flinched for an instant from their +duty. The garrison only consisted of 143 fighting men, with a few pieces +of cannon. The besieging army was about 3,000 strong, and they were +amply supplied with ammunition. On the 17th of June, when the castle was +nearly shattered to pieces, its brave defenders offered to surrender if +they were allowed to depart with their arms; but the only reply +vouchsafed was to hang their messenger, and to commence an assault. + +The storming party were resisted for an entire day with undaunted +bravery. Their leader was mortally wounded, and Taylor took the command. +The garrison at last retreated into a cellar into which the only access +was a narrow flight of stone steps, and where nine barrels of gunpowder +were stored. Taylor declared he would blow up the place if life were not +promised to those who surrendered. Carew refused, and retired for the +night, after placing a strong guard over the unfortunate men. The +following morning he sent cannon-ball in amongst them, and Taylor was +forced by his companions to yield without conditions. As the English +soldiers descended the steps, the wounded MacGeoghegan staggered towards +the gunpowder with a lighted candle, and was in the act of throwing it +in, when he was seized by Captain Power, and in another moment he was +massacred. Fifty-eight of those who had surrendered were hanged +immediately; a few were reserved to see if they could be induced to +betray their old companions, or to renounce their faith; but as they +"would not endeavour to merit life"[456] they were executed without +mercy. One of these prisoners was a Father Dominic Collins. He was +executed in Youghal, his native town--a most unwise proceeding; for his +fate was sure to excite double sympathy in the place where he was known, +and, consequently, to promote double disaffection.[457] O'Sullivan Beare +assigns the 31st of October as the day of his martyrdom. + +The fall of Dunboy was a fatal blow to the national cause. The news soon +reached Spain. Hugh O'Donnell had been warmly received there; but the +burst of grief which his people uttered when they saw him departing from +his native land, was his death-keen, for he did not long survive his +voluntary expatriation. The war might now be considered over--at least, +until the victims recovered courage to fight once more for their own; +but the victims had to be taught how dearly they should pay for each +attempt at national independence. Captain Harvey was sent to Carberry, +"to purge the country of rebels"[458] by martial law. Wilmot was sent to +Kerry, with orders to extirpate whole districts, which arrangement is +called "settling the country," in the official document from which I +quote. On one occasion a number of wounded Irish soldiers were found, +who are described as "hurt and sick men;" they were at massacred, and +this is called putting them out of pain.[459] + +Donnell O'Sullivan now found his position hopeless, and commenced his +famous retreat to Leitrim. He set out with about 1,000 people, of whom +only 400 were fighting men; the rest were servants, women, and children. +He fought all the way, and arrived at his destination with only +thirty-five followers.[460] + +O'Neill now stood merely on the defensive. The land was devastated by +famine; Docwra, Governor of Derry, had planted garrisons at every +available point; and Mountjoy plundered Ulster. In August he prepared to +attack O'Neill with a large army, and, as he informs Cecil, "by the +grace of God, as near as he could, utterly to waste the country of +Tyrone." O'Neill had now retired to a fastness at the extremity of Lough +Erne, attended by his brother, Cormac Art O'Neill, and MacMahon. +Mountjoy followed him, but could not approach nearer than twelve miles; +he therefore returned to Newry. In describing this march to Cecil, he +says: "O'Hagan protested to us, that between Tullaghoge and Toome there +lay unburied 1,000 dead." + +The news of O'Donnell's death had reached Ireland; and his brother +submitted to the Deputy. In 1603 Sir Garret More entered into +negotiations with O'Neill, which ended in his submitting also. The +ceremony took place at Mellifont, on the 31st of March. Queen Elizabeth +had expired, more miserably than many of the victims who had been +executed in her reign, on the 24th of March; but the news was carefully +concealed until O'Neill had made terms with the Viceroy. + +Trinity College, Dublin, was founded during this reign. Sir John Perrot +had proposed to convert St. Patrick's Cathedral into an university; but +Loftus, the Protestant Archbishop, would not allow it, because, +according to Leland, "he was particularly interested in the livings of +this church, by leases and estates, which he had procured for himself +and his kinsmen." When the Deputy, whom he cordially hated, had been +withdrawn, he proposed a plan which gave him the credit of the +undertaking without any expenditure on his part. The site he selected +was in what was then called Hogges-green, now College-green; and the +place was the "scite, ambit and presinct"[461] of the Augustinian +Monastery of All Saints, which had been founded by Dermod MacMurrough, +King of Leinster, A.D. 1166. Dr. Loftus, after obtaining this grant, and +such rents as still belonged to the old Catholic monastery, endeavoured +to raise a subscription to supply the further funds still necessary to +complete the work. In this he signally failed; for those to whom he +applied excused themselves on the plea of poverty. Other funds were +therefore sought for, and easily obtained; and the revenues of some +suppressed Catholic houses in Kerry, Mayo, and Ulster, were taken to +endow and erect the Protestant University. + +[Illustration: RUIN--BLACKWATER.] + +[Illustration: TULLY CASTLE, COUNTY FERMANAGH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[444] _Dr. Saunders_.--He has given a full and most interesting account +of this expedition, in a letter to the Roman court. The original has +been printed by Monsignor Moran, in his _Archbishops_, a work which +every reader should possess. + +[445] _Dr. Allen_.--He was a medical man, and was killed in an +engagement immediately after the arrival of the expedition. + +[446] _Camp_.--Dr. Saunders' letter, Moran's _Archbishops_, p. 202. + +[447] _Official_.--Lord Grey says, in his official despatch to the +Queen, dated "From the camp before Smerwick, November 12, 1580:" "I sent +streighte certeyne gentlemen to see their weapons and armouries laid +down, and to guard the munition and victual, then left, from spoil; +_then put in certeyne bandes, who streighte fell to execution. There +were 600 slayn_." After this exploit, "Grey's faith"--_Graia +fides_--became proverbial even on the Continent. Grey appears to have a +touch of the Puritan (by anticipation) in his composition, for we find +him using very unctuous language about one John Cheeke, who "so wrought +in him God's Spirit, plainlie declairing him a child of His elected;" +and he calls the Pope "a detestable shaveling." Raleigh is said to have +had the execution of this butchery; his friend, Spenser, was "not far +off," according to his own account. He has attempted to excuse his +patron, Lord Grey, but his excuse simply shows that the massacre was +reprobated by all persons not destitute of common humanity. + +[448] _Castle._--The Four Masters give a detailed account of this +treachery, taken from the life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, which was written +by one of themselves. A copy of this work, in the handwriting of Edward +O'Reilly, is still preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. + +[449] _Him._--This document was written by Captain Lee, and presented to +the Queen in 1594. It is printed in _Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica_, vol. +ii. p. 91. + +[450] _Deputy._--Four Masters, vol. vi. p. 1878. The State Papers +clearly prove the Deputy's guilt. + +[451] _Hanged_.--It was usual to hang the Franciscans by their own cord, +or to tie them together with their cords and hurl them from the summit +of a tower or from a high rock into the sea. + +[452] _Behalf_.--The Four Masters give copious details of this important +engagement, which O'Donovan has supplemented with copious notes, vol. +vi. pp.2061-2075. + +[453] _Victories_.--The victory of the Blackwater was hailed with salvos +of artillery from S. Angelo. The Pope and Philip III. of Spain +corresponded with O'Neill constantly, the one about the affairs of the +Church, the other with generous offers of assistance. At one time the +Emperor sent him 22,000 crowns of gold. + +[454] _Long--Dunboy and other Poems_, by T.D. Sullivan, Esq. + +[455] _Place--Hibernia Pacata_, vol. ii. p. 559. + +[456] _Life.--Hib. Pac_. vol. ii. p. 578. + +[457] _Disaffection_.--Dr. Moran quotes a letter from Dublin, written +26th Feb., 1603, which says that he imparted great edification to the +faithful by his constancy, and that the whole city of Cork accompanied +him with its tears. + +[458] _Rebels.--_Commission from the Lord Deputy to Harvey.--See the +document _in extenso, Hib, Pac_. vol ii. p. 447. + +[459] _Pain.--Hib. Pac_. p. 659. + +[460] _Followers_.--The father and mother of the celebrated historian, +O'Sullivan were amongst the number of those who reached Leitrim in +safety. Philip, the author, had been sent to Spain while a boy in 1602, +for his education: the whole family joined him there soon after. Dr. +O'Donovan is not correct in his genealogy. It is well known that the +real representative of the family is Murtough O'Sullivan, Esq., of +Clohina, co. Cork. + +[461] _Presinct.--History of the University of Dublin_, by W.B.S. +Taylor. London, 1845. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +Accession of King James--Joy of the Irish Catholics--Their +Disappointment--Bishops, Priests, and Laity imprisoned for the +Faith--Paul V. encourages the Catholics to Constancy--Plot to entrap +O'Neill and O'Donnell--Flight of the Earls--Ulster is left to the Mercy +of the English Nation--The Plantation commences--Chichester's +Parliament, and how he obtained Members--Death of James I., and +Accession of Charles--The Hopes of the Catholics are raised again--They +offer a large sum of Money to obtain "Graces"--It is accepted, and the +"Graces" are treacherously refused--The Plantation of Connaught--How +Obedience was enforced and Resistance punished--Conspiracy to seize +Dublin--Sir Phelim O'Neill-Massacre of Island Magee. + +[A.D. 1605-1642.] + +Great was the joy of the Irish nation when James the First of England +and the Sixth of Scotland ascended the throne. The people supposed him +to be a Catholic in heart, and a prince in feeling. They should have +judged less favourably of one who could see his mother sacrificed +without making one real effort to avert her doom. His weakness, +obstinacy, and duplicity, helped to prepare the way for the terrible +convulsion of English society, whose origin was the great religious +schism, which, by lessening national respect for the altar, undermined +national respect for the throne. + +The Irish Catholics, only too ready to rejoice in the faintest gleam of +hope, took possession of their own churches, and hoped they might +practise their religion openly. The Cathedral of Limerick was +re-dedicated by Richard Arthur, the Cathedral of Cork and Cloyne by +Robert Urigh, the Metropolitan Church of Cashel by Thomas Rachtar, the +churches of Wexford by John Coppinger. Dr. White restored himself the +churches of Clonmel, Kilkenny, and Ross, and other clergymen acted in +like manner in other places. But the most open and remarkable +manifestation of devotion to the old faith was in Cork, always famous +for its Catholicity, for the generosity of its people, and their special +devotion to literature and religion. All the Protestant Bibles and +Prayer-books were publicly and solemnly burned, the churches were +hallowed, and Smith says: "They had a person named a Legate from the +Pope [Dr. Moran, who quotes this passage, supposes him to have been a +Vicar-Apostolic], who went about in procession with a cross, and forced +people to reverence it. They buried the dead with the Catholic +ceremonies; and numbers took the sacrament to defend that religion with +their lives and fortunes."[462] + +But the Catholics were soon undeceived. King James drank "to the eternal +damnation of the Papists"[463] solemnly at a public dinner, no doubt to +convince the sceptical of his Protestantism; and he divided his time +very equally between persecuting the Puritans and the Catholics, when +not occupied with his pleasures or quarrelling with his Parliament. The +Puritans, however, had the advantage; popular opinion in England was on +their side; they were sufficiently wealthy to emigrate if they pleased: +while the Catholics were not only unpopular, but hated, and utterly +impoverished by repeated fines and exactions. + +James' conduct on his accession was sufficiently plain. He was +proclaimed in Dublin on the 28th September, 1605. A part of his +proclamation ran thus: "We hereby make known to our subjects in Ireland, +that no toleration shall ever be granted by us. This we do for the +purpose of cutting off all hope that any other religion shall be +allowed, save that which is consonant to the laws and statutes of this +realm." The penal statutes were renewed, and enforced with increased +severity. Several members of the Corporation and some of the principal +citizens of Dublin were sent to prison; similar outrages on religious +liberty were perpetrated at Waterford, Ross, and Limerick. In some cases +these gentlemen were only asked to attend the Protestant church once, +but they nobly refused to act against their conscience even once, though +it should procure them freedom from imprisonment, or even from death. +The Vicar-Apostolic of Waterford and Lismore wrote a detailed account of +the sufferings of the Irish nation for the faith at this period to +Cardinal Baronius. His letter is dated "Waterford, 1st of May, 1606." He +says: "There is scarcely a spot where Catholics can find a safe retreat. +The impious soldiery, by day and night, pursue the defenceless priests, +and mercilessly persecute them. Up to the present they have only +succeeded in seizing three: one is detained in Dublin prison, another in +Cork, and the third, in my opinion, is the happiest of all triumphing in +heaven with Christ our Lord; for in the excess of the fury of the +soldiery, without any further trial or accusation, having expressed +himself to be a priest, he was hanged upon the spot." + +He then narrates the sufferings of the Catholic laity, many of whom he +says are reduced to "extreme poverty and misery;" "if they have any +property, they are doubly persecuted by the avaricious courtiers." But +so many have given a glorious testimony of their faith, he thinks their +enemies and persecutors have gained but little. Thus, while one party +was rejoicing in their temporal gain, the other was rejoicing in +temporal loss; and while the former were preaching liberty of conscience +as their creed, the latter were martyrs to it. + +Another letter to Rome says: "2,000 florins are offered for the +discovery of a Jesuit, and 1,000 for the discovery of any other priest, +or even of the house where he lives. Whenever the servants of any of the +clergy are arrested, they are cruelly scourged with whips, until they +disclose all that they know about them. Bodies of soldiers are dispersed +throughout the country in pursuit of bandits and priests; and all that +they seize on, they have the power, by martial law, of hanging without +further trial. They enter private house, and execute whom they please, +vieing with each other in cruelty. It is difficult to define the precise +number of those who are thus put to death. All who are greedy and +spend-thrifts, seek to make a prey of the property of Catholics. No +doors, walls, no enclosures can stop them in their course. Whatever is +for profane use they profess to regard as sacred, and bear it off; and +whatever is sacred they seize on to desecrate. Silver cups are called +chalices, and gems are designated as _Agnus Deis_: and all are, +therefore, carried away. There are already in prison one bishop, one +vicar-general, some religious, very many priests, and an immense number +of the laity of every class and condition. In one city alone five of the +aldermen were thrown into prison successively, for refusing to take the +nefarious oath of allegiance, on their being nominated to the mayoralty; +in another city, no less than thirty were likewise thrust into prison at +Easter last, for having approached the holy communion in the Catholic +Church." + +The Catholics protested against this treatment in vain. A petition was +considered an offence, and the petitioners were sent to gaol for their +pains. + +In 1611 the Bishop of Down and Connor was executed in Dublin. He had +been seized, in 1587, by Perrot, and thrown into prison. He was released +in 1593, and, according to Dr. Loftus, he took the oath of supremacy. +This statement, however, is utterly incredible, for he devoted himself +to his flock immediately after his release, and continued to administer +the sacraments to them at the risk of his life, until June, 1611, when +he was again arrested in the act of administering the sacrament of +confirmation to a Catholic family. Father O'Luorchain was imprisoned +with him, and they were both sentenced and executed together. At the +trial the Bishop declared that the oath of spiritual supremacy was +impious, and said that his enemies could not thirst more eagerly for his +blood than he himself was desirous to shed it for Christ his Redeemer. +This venerable prelate had attained his eightieth year, but he was full +of the vigour of saintly heroism. When on the scaffold he asked the +executioner to allow him to be the last victim, as he wished to spare +Father O'Luorchain the terrible spectacle of his sufferings. But the +good priest was not behind the Franciscan bishop in his zeal, and he +exclaimed, with a touching grace of courtesy, which the occasion made +sublime, that "it was not fitting for a bishop to be without a priest to +attend him, and he would follow him without fear." And he did follow +him, for the Bishop went first to his crown. + +There was great difficulty in procuring any one who would carry out the +sentence. The executioner fled, and could not be found when he learned +on whom he was to do his office. At last an English culprit, under +sentence of death, undertook the bloody work, on a promise that his own +life should be granted as his reward. + +Communications with Rome were still as frequent and as intimate as they +had ever been since Ireland received the faith at the hands of the great +Apostle. To be children of Patrick and children of Rome were convertible +terms; and the Holy See watched still more tenderly over this portion of +the Church while it was suffering and persecuted. Paul V. wrote a +special letter to the Irish Catholics, dated from "St. Mark's, 22nd of +September, 1606," in which he mourns over their afflictions, commends +their marvellous constancy, which he says can only be compared to that +of the early Christians, and exhorts them specially to avoid the sin of +attending Protestant places of worship--a compliance to which they were +strongly tempted, when even one such act might procure exemption, for a +time at least, from severe persecution or death. + +On another occasion the same Pontiff writes thus: "You glory in that +faith by which your fathers procured for their country the distinguished +appellation of the Island of Saints. Nor have the sufferings which you +have endured been allowed to remain unpublished; your fidelity and +Christian fortitude have become the subject of universal admiration; and +the praise of your name has long since been loudly celebrated in every +portion of the Christian world."[464] + +O'Neill and O'Donnell may be justly considered the last of the +independent native chieftains. When the latter died in exile, and the +former accepted the coronet of an English earl, the glories of the olden +days of princes, who held almost regal power, had passed away for ever. +The proud title of "the O'Neill" became extinct; his country was made +shire ground; he accepted patents, and held his broad acres "in fee;" +sheriffs were admitted; judges made circuits; king's commissioners took +careful note of place, person, and property; and such a system of +espionage was established, that Davies boasts, "it was not only known +how people lived and what they do, but it is foreseen what they purpose +and intend to do;" which latter species of clairvoyance seems to have +been largely practised by those who were waiting until all suspicions +were lulled to rest, that they might seize on the property, and imprison +the persons of those whose estates they coveted. + +In May, 1603, O'Neill had visited London, in company with Mountjoy and +Rory O'Donnell. The northern chieftains were graciously received; and it +was on this occasion that O'Neill renounced his ancient name for his new +titles. O'Donnell was made Earl of Tyrconnel at the same time. The first +sheriffs appointed for Ulster were Sir Edward Pelham and Sir John +Davies. The latter has left it on record, as his deliberate opinion, +after many years' experience, "that there is no nation of people under +the sun that doth love equal and indifferent justice better than the +Irish, or will rest better satisfied with the execution thereof, +_although it be against themselves, so that they may have the protection +and benefits of the law, when, upon just cause, they do desire it."_ + +A plot was now got up to entrap O'Neill and O'Donnell. Their complicity +in it has long been questioned, though Dr. O'Donovan appears to think +that Moore has almost decided the question against them. Moore's +evidence, however, is hardly complete, while there is unquestionable +authority which favours the opinion that "artful Cecil" was intriguing +to accomplish their destruction. Curry says, in his _Historical Review_: +"The great possessions of these two devoted Irish princes, proved the +cause of their ruin. After the successful issue of the plot-contriving +Cecil's gunpowder adventure in England, he turned his inventive thoughts +towards this country. A plot to implicate the great northern chieftains +was soon set on foot, and finally proved successful. The conspiracy is +thus related by a learned English divine, Dr. Anderson, in his _Royal +Genealogies_, printed in London, 1736: 'Artful Cecil employed one St. +Lawrence to entrap the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, the Lord Delvin, +and other Irish chiefs, into a sham plot, which had no evidence but +his.'" + +The next movement was to drop an anonymous letter at the door of the +council-chamber, mentioning a design, as then in contemplation, for +seizing the Castle of Dublin, and murdering the Lord Deputy. No names +were mentioned, but it was publicly stated that Government had +information in their possession which fixed the guilt of the conspiracy +on the Earl of Tyrone. His flight, which took place immediately after, +was naturally considered as an acknowledgment of his guilt. It is more +probable that the expatriation was prompted by his despair. + +The Four Masters give a touching account of their departure, and +exclaim: "Woe to the heart that meditated, woe to the mind that +conceived, woe to the council that decided on the project of their +setting out on the voyage!" The exiles left Rathmullen on the 14th of +September, 1607. O'Neill had been with the Lord Deputy shortly before; +and one cannot but suppose that he had then obtained some surmise of +premeditated treachery, for he arranged his flight secretly and swiftly, +pretending that he was about to visit London. O'Neill was accompanied by +his Countess, his three sons, O'Donnell, and other relatives. They first +sailed to Normandy, where an attempt was made by the English Government +to arrest them, but Henry IV. would not give them up. In Rome they were +received as confessors exiled for the faith, and were liberally +supported by the Pope and the King of Spain. They all died in a few +years after their arrival, and their ashes rest in the Franciscan Church +of St. Peter-in-Montorio. Rome was indeed dear to them, but Ireland was +still dearer; and the exiled Celt, whether expatriated through force or +stern necessity, lives only to long for the old home, or dies weeping +for it. + +The Red Hand of the O'Neills had hitherto been a powerful protection to +Ulster. The attempts "to plant" there had turned out failures; but now +that the chiefs were removed, the people became an easy prey. +O'Dogherty, Chief of Innishowen, was insulted by Sir George Paulett, in +a manner which no gentleman could be expected to bear without calling +his insulter to account; and the young chieftain took fearful vengeance +for the rude blow which he had received from the English sheriff. He got +into Culmore Fort at night by stratagem, and then marched to Derry, +killed Paulett, massacred the garrison, and burned the town. Some other +chieftains joined him, and kept up the war until July; when O'Dogherty +was killed, and his companions-in-arms imprisoned. Sir Arthur Chichester +received his property in return for his suggestions for the plantation +of Ulster, of which we must now make brief mention. + +There can be little doubt, from Sir Henry Docwra's own account, that +O'Dogherty was purposely insulted, and goaded into rebellion. He was the +last obstacle to the grand scheme, and he was disposed of. Ulster was +now at the mercy of those who chose to accept grants of land; and the +grants were made to the highest bidders, or to those who had paid for +the favour by previous services. Sir Arthur Chichester evidently +considered that he belonged to the latter class, for we find him +writing[465] at considerable length to the Earl of Northampton, then a +ruling member of King James' cabinet, to request that he may be +appointed President of Ulster. He commences his epistle by stating how +deeply he is indebted to his Lordship for his comfortable and kind +letters, and the praise he has given him in public and private. He then +bestows an abundant meed of commendation on his justice in return. He +next explains his hopes and desires. He declares that he wishes for the +Presidency of Ulster, "more for the service he might there do his +Majesty, than for the profit he expects,"--a statement which the Earl no +doubt read exactly as it was intended; and he says that he only mentions +his case because "charitie beginnes with myeselfe," which, indeed, +appears to have been the view of that virtue generally taken by all +planters and adventurers. He concludes with delicately informing his +correspondent, that if he can advance any friend of his in any way he +will be most happy to do so. This letter is dated from the "Castle of +Dublin, 7th of February, 1607." The date should read, according to the +change of style, 1608. The Lord Deputy knew well what he was asking for. +During the summer of the preceding year, he had made a careful journey +through Ulster, with John Davies; and Carte has well observed, that +"nobody knew the territories better to be planted;" and he might have +added, that few persons had a clearer eye to their own advantage in the +arrangements he made. + +[Illustration: CASTLE MONEA, CO. FERMANAGH.] + +The plan of the plantation was agreed upon in 1609. It was the old plan +which had been attempted before, though with less show of legal +arrangement, but with quite the same proportion of legal iniquity. The +simple object was to expel the natives, and to extirpate the Catholic +religion. The six counties to be planted were Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, +Armagh, Fermanagh, and Cavan. These were parcelled out into portions +varying from 2,000 to 4,000 acres, and the planters were obliged to +build bawns and castles, such as that of Castle Monea, county Fermanagh, +of which we subjoin an illustration. Tully Castle[466] was built by Sir +John Hume, on his plantation. Both these castles afford good examples of +the structures erected at this period. The great desiderata were +proximity to water and rising ground--the beauty of the surrounding +scenery, which was superadded at least at Tully Castle, was probably but +little valued. + +Chichester now proposed to call a Parliament. The plantation of Ulster +had removed some difficulties in the way of its accomplishment. The +Protestant University of Dublin had obtained 3,000 acres there, and +400,000 acres of tillage land had been partitioned out between English +and Scotch proprietors. It was expressly stipulated that their tenants +should be English or Scotch, and Protestants; the Catholic owners of the +land were, in some cases, as a special favour, permitted to remain, if +they took the oath of supremacy, if they worked well for their masters, +and if they paid double the rent fixed for the others. Sixty thousand +acres in Dublin and Waterford, and 385,000 acres in Westmeath, Longford, +King's county, Queen's county, and Leitrim, had been portioned out in a +similar manner. A Presbyterian minister, whose father was one of the +planters, thus describes the men who came to establish English rule, and +root out Popery: "From Scotland came many, and from England not a few; +yet all of them generally the scum of both nations, who, from debt, or +making and fleeing from justice, or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping +to be without fear of man s justice, in a land where there was nothing +or but little as yet of the fear of God.... Most of the people were all +void of godliness.... On all hands atheism increased, and disregard of +God; iniquity abounds, with contention, fighting, murder and +adultery."[467] + +It was with such persons as these the lower house was filled. The upper +house was composed of the Protestant bishops and English aristocracy, +who were of course unanimous in their views. Chichester obtained ample +powers to arrange the lower house. Forty new boroughs were formed, many +of them consisting merely of a few scattered houses; some of them were +not incorporated until after the writs were issued. The Catholics were +taken by surprise as no notice had been given, either of the Parliament +or the laws intended to be enacted. Six Catholic lords of the Pale +remonstrated with the King, but he treated them with the utmost +contempt. The house assembled; there was a struggle for the Speaker's +chair. The Catholic party proposed Sir John Everard, who had just +resigned his position as Justice of the King's Bench sooner than take +the oath of supremacy; the court party insisted on having Sir John +Davies. The Catholics protested, and sent a deputation to James, who +first lectured[468] them to show his learning, and them imprisoned them +to show his power. Some kind of compromise was eventually effected. A +severe penal law was withdrawn; a large subsidy was voted. In truth, the +Irish party acted boldly, considering their peculiar circumstances, for +one and all refused to enter the old cathedral, which their forefathers +had erected, when Protestant service was read therein on the day of the +opening of Parliament; and even Lord Barry retired when he laid the +sword of state before the Lord Deputy. We may excuse them for submitting +to the attainder of O'Neill and O'Donnell, for there were few national +members who had not withdrawn before the vote was passed. + +Chichester retired from the government of Ireland in 1616. In 1617 a +proclamation was issued for the expulsion of the Catholic clergy, and +the city of Waterford was deprived of its charter in consequence of the +spirited opposition which its corporation offered to the oath of +spiritual supremacy. In 1622 Viscount Falkland came over as Lord Deputy, +and Usher, who was at heart a Puritan,[469] preached a violent sermon on +the occasion, in which he suggested a very literal application of his +text, "He beareth not the sword in vain." If a similar application of +the text had been made by a Catholic divine, it would have been called +intolerance, persecution, and a hint that the Inquisition was at hand; +as used by him, it was supposed to mean putting down Popery by the +sword. + +James I. died on the 27th March, 1625, and left his successor no very +pleasant prospects in any part of his kingdom. He was pronounced by +Sully to be "the wisest fool in Europe;" Henry IV. styled him "Captain +of Arts and Clerk of Arms;" and a favourite epigram of the age is thus +translated:-- + + "When Elizabeth was England's King, + That dreadful name thro' Spain did ring + How altered is the case, ah sa' me! + The juggling days of good Queen Jamie." + +On the accession of Charles I., in 1625, it was so generally supposed he +would favour the Catholic cause, that the earliest act of the new +Parliament in London was to vote a petition, begging the King to enforce +the laws against recusants and Popish priests. The Viceroy, Lord +Falkland, advised the Irish Catholics to propitiate him with a voluntary +subsidy. They offered the enormous sum of L120,000, to be paid in three +annual instalments, and in return he promised them certain "graces." The +contract was ratified by royal proclamation, in which the concessions +were accompanied by a promise that a Parliament should be held to +confirm them. The first instalment of the money was paid, and the Irish +agents returned home to find themselves cruelly deceived and basely +cheated. Falkland was recalled by the Puritan party, on suspicion of +favouring the Catholics; Viscount Ely and the Earl of Cork were +appointed Lords Justices; and a reign of terror was at once commenced. + +The Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Bulkely, was foremost in +commencing the persecution. He marched, with the Mayor and a file of +soldiers, to the Franciscan[470] church in Cook-street, on St. Stephen's +Day, 1629, dispersed the congregation, seized the friars profaned the +church, and broke the statue of St. Francis. The friars were rescued by +the people, and the Archbishop had "to take to his heels and cry out for +help," to save himself. Eventually the Franciscans established their +novitiates on the Continent, but still continued their devoted +ministrations to the people, at the risk of life and liberty. Their +house in Cook-street was pulled down by royal order, and three other +chapels and a Catholic seminary were seized and converted to the King's +use. Wentworth assembled a Parliament in July, 1634, the year after his +arrival in Ireland. Its subserviency was provided for by having a number +of persons elected who were in the pay of the crown as military +officers. The "graces" were asked for, and the Lord Deputy declared they +should be granted, if the supply was readily voted. "Surely," he said, +"so great a meanness cannot enter your hearts as once to suspect his +Majesty's gracious regards of you, and performance with you, when you +affix yourself upon his grace." This speech so took the hearts of the +people, that all were ready to grant all that might be demanded; and six +subsidies of L50,000 each were voted, though Wentworth only expected +L30,000. In the meanwhile neither Wentworth nor the King had the +slightest idea of granting the "graces" and the atrocious duplicity and +incomparable "meanness" of the King is placed eternally on record, in +his own letter to his favourite, in which he thanks him "for keeping off +the envy [odium] of a necessary negative from me, of those unreasonable +graces that people expected from me."[471] Wentworth describes himself +how two judges and Sir John Radcliffe assisted him in the plan, and how +a positive refusal was made to recommend the passing of the "graces" +into law at the next session. + +"Charles' faith" might now safely rank with Grey's; and the poor +impoverished Irishman, who would willingly have given his last penny, as +well as the last drop of his blood, to save his faith, was again cruelly +betrayed where he most certainly might have expected that he could have +confided and trusted. One of the "graces" was to make sixty years of +undisputed possession of property a bar to the claims of the crown; and +certainly if there ever a country where such a demand was necessary and +reasonable, it was surely Ireland. There had been so many plantations, +it was hard for anything to grow; and so many settlements, it was hard +for anything to be settled. Each new monarch, since the first invasion +of the country by Henry II., had his favourites to provide for and his +friends to oblige. The island across the sea was considered "no man's +land," as the original inhabitants were never taken into account, and +were simply ignored, unless, indeed, when they made their presence very +evident by open resistance to this wholesale robbery. It was no wonder, +then, that this "grace" should be specially solicited. It was one in +which the last English settler in Ulster had quite as great an interest +as the oldest Celt in Connemara. The Burkes and the Geraldines had +suffered almost as much from the rapacity of their own countrymen as the +natives, on whom their ancestors had inflicted such cruel wrongs. No +man's property was safe in Ireland, for the tenure was depending on the +royal will; and the caprices of the Tudors were supplemented by the +necessities of the Stuarts. + +But the "grace" was refused, although, probably, there was many a recent +colonist who would have willingly given one-half of his plantation to +have secured the other to his descendants. The reason of the refusal was +soon apparent. As soon as Parliament was dissolved, a Commission of +"Defective Titles" was issued for Connaught. Ulster had been settled, +Leinster had been settled, Munster had been settled; there remained only +Connaught, hitherto so inaccessible, now, with advancing knowledge of +the art of war, and new means of carrying out that art, doomed to the +scourge of desolation. + +The process was extremely simple. The lawyers were set to work to hunt +out old claims for the crown; and as Wentworth had determined to +invalidate the title to every estate in Connaught, they had abundant +occupation. Roscommon was selected for a commencement. The sheriffs were +directed to select jurors who would find for the crown. The jurors were +made clearly to understand what was expected from them, and what the +consequences would be if they were "contumacious." The object of the +crown was, of course, the general good of the country. The people of +Connaught were to be civilized and enriched; but, in order to carry out +this very desirable arrangement, the present proprietors were to be +replaced by new landlords, and the country was to be placed entirely at +the disposal of the Sovereign.[472] + +It was now discovered that the lands and lordships of De Burgo, adjacent +to the Castle of Athlone, and, in fact, the whole remaining province, +belonged to the crown. It would be useless here to give details of the +special pleading on which this statement was founded; it is an +illustration of what I have observed before, that the tenure of the +English settler was quite as uncertain as the tenure of the Celt. The +jury found for the King; and as a reward, the foreman, Sir Lucas Dillon, +was graciously permitted to retain a portion of his own lands. Lowther, +Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, got four shillings in the pound of +the first year's rent raised under the Commission of "Defective Titles." +The juries of Mayo and Sligo were equally complacent; but there was +stern resistance made in Galway, and stern reprisals were made for the +resistance. The jurors were fined L4,000 each and were imprisoned, and +their estates seized until that sum was paid. The sheriff was fined +L1,000, and, being unable to pay that sum, he died in prison. And all +this was done with the full knowledge and the entire sanction of the +"royal martyr." + +The country was discontented, and the Lord Deputy demanded more troops, +"until the intended plantation should be settled." He could not see why +the people should object to what was so very much for their own good, +and never allowed himself to think that the disturbance had anything to +do with the land question. The new proprietors were of the same opinion. +Those who were or who feared to be dispossessed, and those who felt that +their homes, whether humble or noble, could not be called their own, +felt differently; but their opinion was as little regarded as their +sufferings. + +The Earl of Ormonde's property was next attacked, but he made a prudent +compromise, and his party was too powerful to permit of its refusal. A +Court of Wards was also established about this time, for the purpose of +having all heirs to estates brought up in the Protestant religion; and a +High Commission Court was instituted, which rivalled the exactions of +the Star Chamber in England. + +In 1640 another appeal was made by the King for assistance, and +Wentworth headed the contribution with L20,000. He had devoted himself +with considerable ability to increasing the Irish revenue and the trade +of the country had improved, although the Irish woollen manufacture had +been completely crushed, as it threatened to interfere with English +commerce. The Lord Deputy now saw the advantage of procuring a standing +army in Ireland, and he proceeded to embody a force of 10,000 foot and +1,000 horse. These men were principally Irish and Catholics, as he knew +they would be most likely to stand by the King in an hour of trial, +notwithstanding the cruel persecutions to which they had been subjected. +But the Deputy's own career was nearer its termination than he had +anticipated. When he forsook the popular side in England, Pym had +remarked significantly: "Though you have left us, I will not leave you +while your head is on your shoulders." The Puritan faction never lost +sight of a quarry when once they had it in sight, and it scarcely needed +Stafford's haughtiness and devotion to the King to seal his doom. The +unhappy King was compelled to sign his death-warrant; and the victim was +executed on the 12th of May, 1641, redeeming in some manner, by the +nobleness of his death, the cruelties, injustices, and duplicity of +which he had been guilty during his life. + +The kingdom of England was never in a more critical state than at this +period. The King was such only in name, and the ruling powers were the +Puritan party, who already looked to Cromwell as their head. The +resistance, which had begun in opposition to tyrannical enactments, and +to the arbitrary exercise of authority by the King and his High Church +prelates, was fast merging into, what it soon became, an open revolt +against the crown, and all religion which did not square with the very +peculiar and ill-defined tenets of the rebellious party. In 1641 the +Queen's confessor was sent to the Tower, and a resolution was passed by +both houses never to consent to the toleration of the Catholic worship +in Ireland, or in any other part of his Majesty's dominions. The country +party had determined to possess themselves of the command of the army; +and whatever struggles the King might make, to secure the only support +of his throne, it was clear that the question was to be decided in their +favour. The conduct of Holles, Pym, Hampden, and Stroud was well known +even in Ireland; and in Ireland fearful apprehensions were entertained +that still more cruel sufferings were preparing for that unfortunate +country. + +An insurrection was organized, and its main supports were some of the +best and bravest of the old race, who had been driven by political and +religious persecution to other lands, where their bravery had made them +respected, and their honorable dealings had made them esteemed. Spain +had received a considerable number of these exiles. In June, 1635, an +Irish regiment in the Spanish service, commanded by Colonel Preston, had +immortalized themselves by their heroic defence of Louvain. Wherever +they went they were faithful to the sovereign under whom they served; +and French and Spanish generals marvelled how the English nation could +be so infatuated as to drive their noblest and bravest officers and men +into foreign service. An important official document still exists in the +State Paper Office, which was prepared by a Government spy, and which +details the names, rank, and qualifications of many of these gentlemen. +They were serving in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, and the Low +Countries. Don Richard Burke--strange that the first on the list of +Irish exiles should be of Anglo-Norman descent--was Governor of Leghorn, +and had seen great service in Italy and in the West Indies; "Phellemy +O'Neill, nephew to old Tyrone," lived with great respect in Milan. There +were one hundred able to command companies, and twenty fit to be made +colonels under the Archduchess alone. The list of the names would fill +several pages, and those, it should be remembered, were leading men. +There were, besides, to be considered, an immense number of Irish of the +lower classes, who had accompanied their chiefs abroad, and served in +their regiments. The report says: "They have long been providing of arms +for any attempt against Ireland, and had in readiness five or six +thousand arms laid up in Antwerp for that purpose, _bought out of the +deduction of their monthly pay, as will be proved; and it is thought now +they have doubled that proportion by those means_."[473] + +The reason of the increased sacrifice they made for their country, was +probably the report that the moment was at hand when it might be +available. The movement in Ireland was commenced by Roger O'More, a +member of the ancient family of that name, who had been so unjustly +expelled from their ancestral home in Leix; by Lord Maguire, who had +been deprived of nearly all his ancient patrimony at Fermanagh, and his +brother Roger; by Sir Phelim O'Neill of Kinnare, the elder branch of +whose family had been expatriated; by Turlough O'Neill, his brother, and +by several other gentlemen similarly situated. O'More was the chief +promoter of the projected insurrection. He was eminently suited to +become a popular leader for he was a man of great courage, fascinating +address, and imbued with all the high honour of the old Celtic race. In +May, 1641, Nial O'Neill arrived in Ireland with a promise of assistance +from Cardinal Richelieu; and the confederates arranged that the rising +should take place a few days before or after All Hallows, according to +circumstances. In the meanwhile the exiled Earl of Tyrone was killed; +but his successor, Colonel Owen Roe O'Neill, then serving in Flanders, +entered warmly into all their plans. + +The King was now obliged to disband his Irish forces, and their +commanders were sent orders for that purpose. They had instructions, +however, to keep the men at home and together, so that they might easily +be collected again if they could be made available, as, strange to say, +the so-called "Irish rebels" were the only real hope which Charles had +to rely on in his conflict with his disloyal English subjects. An +understanding was soon entered into between these officers and the Irish +party. They agreed to act in concert; and one of the former, Colonel +Plunket, suggested the seizure of Dublin Castle. The 23rd of October was +fixed on for the enterprise; but, though attempted, the attempt was +frustrated by a betrayal of the plot, in consequence of an indiscretion +of one of the leaders. + +The rage of the Protestant party knew no limits. The Castle was put in a +state of defence, troops were ordered in all directions, and +proclamations were issued. In the meantime the conspirators at a +distance had succeeded better, but unfortunately they were not aware of +the failure in Dublin until it was too late. Sir Phelim O'Neill was at +the head of 30,000 men. He issued a proclamation, stating that he +intended "no hurt to the King, or hurt of any of his subjects, English +or Scotch;" but that his only object was the defence of Irish liberty. +He added that whatever hurt was done any one, should be personally +repaired. This proclamation was from "Dungannon, the 23rd of October, +1641," and signed "PHELIM O'NEILL." + +A few days after he produced a commission, which he pretended he had +received from the King, authorizing his proceedings; but he amply atoned +for this _ruse de guerre_ afterwards, by declaring openly and honorably +that the document was forged. The Irish were treated with barbarous +severity, especially by Sir Charles Coote; while they were most careful +to avoid any bloodshed, except what was justifiable and unavoidable in +war. Dr. Bedell, the good and gentle Protestant Bishop of Kilmore, and +all his people, were protected; and he drew up a remonstrance, from the +tenor of which he appears to have given some sanction to the proceedings +of the northern chieftains. The massacre of Island Magee took place +about this period; and though the exact date is disputed, and the exact +number of victims has been questioned, it cannot be disproved that the +English and Scotch settlers at Carrickfergus sallied forth at night, and +murdered a number of defenceless men, women, and children. That there +was no regular or indiscriminate massacre of Protestants by the +Catholics at this period, appears to be proved beyond question by the +fact, that no mention of such an outrage was made in any of the letters +of the Lords Justices to the Privy Council. It is probable, however, +that the Catholics did rise up in different places, to attack those by +whom they had been so severely and cruelly oppressed; and although there +was no concerted plan of massacre, many victims, who may have been +personally innocent, paid the penalty of the guilty. In such evidence as +is still on record, ghost stories predominate; and even the Puritans +seem to have believed the wildest tales of the apparition of +Protestants, who demanded the immolation of the Catholics who had +murdered them. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT DRINKING VESSEL OR METHER, FROM THE COLLECTION OF +THE R.I.A.] + +[Illustration: TABLE AND CHAIR USED AT THE CONFEDERATION OF KILKENNY.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[462] _Fortunes._--Smith's _History of Kerry_, vol. ii. p. 97. + +[463] _Papists._--Oliver's _Collections_, quoted by Dr. Moran, p. 250. + +[464] _World._--Dr. Rothe, quoted by Monsignor Moran, p. 251. + +[465] _Writing_.--The original is in the Cot. Col. British Museum. + +[466] _Tully Castle_.--See heading of this chapter. + +[467] _Adultery_.--MS. History, by Rev. A. Stuart, quoted in Reid's +_History of the Presbyterian Church_, vol. i. p. 96. + +[468] _Lectured_. The address of the Irish party to James is given in +O'Sullivan Beare's _History_, p. 316, and also the King's reply, p. 323. +A collection made throughout Ireland to defray the expenses of the +delegates. + +[469] _Puritan_--Plowden's _History of Ireland_, vol. i. p. 338. "By his +management and contrivance, he provided the whole doctrine of Calvin to +be received as the public belief of the Protestant Church of Ireland, +and ratified by Chichester in the King's name." Chichester himself was a +thorough Puritan, and a disciple of Cartwright, who used to pray, "O +Lord, give us grace and power as one man to set ourselves against them" +(the bishops). + +[470] _Franciscan_.--An account of the sufferings of the Franciscans +will be found in _St. Francis and the Franciscans_. The Poor Clares, who +are the Second Order of St. Francis, were refounded and established in +Ireland, by Sir John Dillon's sister, about this time, and suffered +severe persecutions. Miss Dillon, the Abbess, was brought before the +Lord Deputy; but her quiet dignity made such impression on the court, +that she was dismissed without molestation for the time. + +[471] _From me_.--Stafford's State Letters, vol. i. p. 331. + +[472] _Sovereign_.--Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. p. 241. + +[473] _Means._--This curious document was first published in the +_Nation_ of February 5th, 1859. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +English Adventurers speculate on Irish Disaffection--Coote's +Cruelties--Meeting of Irish Noblemen and Gentlemen--Discontent of the +People--The Catholic Priests try to save Protestants from their fury--A +National Synod to deliberate on the State of Irish Affairs--The General +Assembly is convened at Kilkenny--A Mint is established--A +Printing-Press set up--Relations are entered into with Foreign States, +and a Method of Government is organized--Differences of Opinion between +the Old Irish and Anglo-Irish--A Year's Treaty is made--Arrival of +Rinuccini--He lands at Kenmare--His Account of the Irish People--His +Reception at Kilkenny--His Opinion of the State of Affairs--Divisions of +the Confederates--Ormonde's Intrigues--The Battle of Benburb--Divisions +and Discord in Camp and Senate--A Treaty signed and published by the +Representatives of the English King--Rinuccini returns to Italy. + +[A.D. 1642-1649.] + + +O'Neill now took the title of "Lord-General of the Catholic army in +Ulster." A proclamation was issued by the Irish Government, declaring he +had received no authority from the King; and the ruling powers were +often heard to say, "that the more were in rebellion, the more lands +should be forfeited to them."[474] A company of adventurers were already +formed in London on speculation, and a rich harvest was anticipated. +Several engagements took place, in which the insurgents were on the +whole successful. It was now confidently stated that a general massacre +of the Catholics was intended; and, indeed, the conduct of those engaged +in putting down the rising, was very suggestive of such a purpose. In +Wicklow, Sir Charles Coote put many innocent persons to the sword, +without distinction of age or sex. On one occasion, when he met a +soldier carrying an infant on the point of his pike, he was charged with +saying that "he liked such frolics."[475] Carte admits that his temper +was rather "sour;" but he relates incidents in his career which should +make one think "barbarous" would be the more appropriate term. The Lords +Justices approved of his proceedings; and Lord Castlehaven gives a +fearful account of the conduct of troops sent out by these gentlemen, +who "killed men, women, and children promiscuously; which procedure," he +says, "not only exasperated the rebels, and _induced them to commit the +like cruelties upon the English_, but frightened the nobility and gentry +about; who, seeing the harmless country people, without respect of age +or sex, thus barbarously murdered, and themselves then openly threatened +as favourers of the rebellion, for paying the contributions they could +not possibly refuse, resolved to stand upon their guard."[476] + +Before taking an open step, even in self-defence, the Irish noblemen and +gentlemen sent another address to the King; but their unfortunate +messenger, Sir John Read, was captured, and cruelly racked by the party +in power--their main object being to obtain something from his +confessions which should implicate the King and Queen. Patrick Barnwell, +an aged man, was also racked for a similar purpose. The Lords Justices +now endeavoured to get several gentlemen into their possession, on +pretence of holding a conference. Their design was suspected, and the +intended victims escaped; but they wrote a courteous letter, stating the +ground of their refusal. A meeting of the principal Irish noblemen and +gentlemen was now held on the Hill of Crofty, in Meath. Amongst those +present were the Earl of Fingall, Lords Gormanstown, Slane, Louth, +Dunsany, Trimbleston, and Netterville, Sir Patrick Barnwell and Sir +Christopher Bellew; and of the leading country gentlemen, Barnwell, +Darcy, Bath, Aylmer, Cusack, Malone, Segrave, &c. After they had been a +few hours on the ground, the leaders of the insurgent party came up, and +were accosted by Lord Gormanstown, who inquired why they came armed into +the Pale. O'More replied that they had "taken up arms for the freedom +and liberty of their consciences, the maintenance of his Majesty's +prerogative, in which they understood he was abridged, and the making +the subjects of this kingdom as free as those of England." Lord +Gormanstown answered: "Seeing these be your true ends, we will likewise +join with you therein." + +On the 1st of January, 1642, Charles issued a proclamation against the +Irish rebels, and wished to take the command against them in person; but +his Parliament was his master, and the members were glad enough of the +excuse afforded by the troubles in Ireland to increase the army, and to +obtain a more direct personal control over its movements. They voted +away Irish estates, and uttered loud threats of exterminating Popery; +but they had a more important and interesting game in hand at home, +which occupied their attention, and made them comparatively indifferent +to Irish affairs. + +Sir Phelim O'Neill was not succeeding in the north. He had been obliged +to raise the siege of Drogheda, and the English had obtained possession +of Dundalk. L1,000 was offered for his head, and L600 for the heads of +some of his associates. Ormonde and Tichburne were in command of the +Government forces, but Ormonde was considered to be too lenient; and two +priests, Father Higgins and Father White, were executed by Coote, the +one without trial, and the other without even the forms of justice, +although they were under the Earl's protection. Carte says that Father +Higgins' case excited special interest, for he had saved many +Protestants from the fury of the Irish, and afforded them relief and +protection afterwards. Indeed, at this period, the Catholic clergy were +unwearied in their efforts to protect the Protestants. They must have +been actuated by the purest motives of religion, which were none the +less sacred to them because they could neither be understood nor +appreciated by those whose whole conduct had been so different. Father +Saul, a Jesuit, sheltered Dr. Pullen, the Protestant Dean of Clonfert, +and his family; Father Everard and Father English, Franciscan friars, +concealed many Protestants in their chapels, and even under their +altars. Many similar instances are on record in the depositions +concerning the murders and massacres of the times, at present in Trinity +College, Dublin; though those depositions were taken with the avowed +object of making out a case against the Catholics of having intended a +general massacre. In Galway the Jesuits were especially active in +charity to their enemies, and went through the town exhorting the +people, for Christ's sake, our Lady's and St. Patrick's, to shed no +blood. But although the Catholic hierarchy were most anxious to prevent +outrages against humanity, they were by no means insensible to the +outrages against justice, from which the Irish nation had so long +suffered. They were far from preaching passive submission to tyranny, or +passive acceptance of heresy. The Church had long since not only +sanctioned, but even warmly encouraged, a crusade against the infidels, +and the deliverance, by force of arms, of the holy places from +desecration; it had also granted[477] similar encouragements and similar +indulgences to all who should fight for "liberties and rights" in +Ireland, and had "exhorted, urged, and solicited" the people to do so +with "all possible affection." The Irish clergy could have no doubt that +the Holy See would sanction a national effort for national liberty. The +Archbishop of Armagh, therefore, convened a provincial synod, which was +held at Kells, on the 22nd of March, 1641, which pronounced the war +undertaken by the Catholics of Ireland lawful and pious, but denounced +murders and usurpations, and took steps for assembling a national synod +at Kilkenny during the following year. + +The Catholic cause, meanwhile, was not advancing through the country. +The Irish were defeated in nearly every engagement with the English +troops. The want of a competent leader and of unanimity of purpose was +felt again, as it had so often been felt before; but the Church +attempted to supply the deficiency, and, if it did not altogether +succeed, it was at least a national credit to have done something in the +cause of freedom. + +The synod met at Kilkenny, on the 10th of May, 1642. It was attended by +the Archbishops of Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam, and the Bishops of Ossory, +Elphin, Waterford and Lismore, Kildare Clonfert, and Down and Connor. +Proctors attended for the Archbishop of Dublin, and for the Bishops of +Limerick, Emly, and Killaloe. There were present, also, sixteen other +dignitaries and heads of religious orders. They issued a manifesto +explaining their conduct and, forming a Provisional Government, +concluded their labours, after three days spent in careful deliberation. + +Owen Roe O'Neill and Colonel Preston arrived in Ireland in July, 1642, +accompanied by a hundred officers, and well supplied with arms and +ammunition. Sir Phelim O'Neill went at once to meet O'Neill, and +resigned the command of the army; and all promised fairly for the +national cause. The Scots, who had kept up a war of their own for some +time, against both the King and the Catholics, were wasting Down and +Antrim; and O'Neill was likely to need all his military skill and all +his political wisdom in the position in which he was placed. + +Preston had landed in Wexford, and brought a still larger force; while +all the brave expatriated Irishmen in foreign service, hastened home the +moment there appeared a hope that they could strike a blow with some +effect for the freedom of their native land. + +The General Assembly projected by the national synod in Kilkenny, held +its first meeting on October 14, 1642,--eleven spiritual and fourteen +temporal peers, with 226 commoners, representing the Catholic population +of Ireland. It was, in truth, a proud and glorious day for the nation. +For once, at least, she could speak through channels chosen by her own +free will; and for once there dawned a hope of legislative freedom of +action for the long-enslaved people. The old house is still shown where +that Assembly deliberated--a Parliament all but in name. The table then +used, and the chair occupied by the Speaker, are still preserved, as sad +mementos of freedom's blighted cause.[478] The house used was in the +market-place, The peers and commoners sat together; but a private room +was allotted for the lords to consult in. Dr. Patrick Darcy, an eminent +lawyer, represented the Chancellor and the judges. Mr. Nicholas Plunket +was chosen as Speaker; the Rev. Thomas O'Quirk, a learned Dominican +friar, was appointed Chaplain to both houses. + +The Assembly at once declared that they met as a provisional government, +and not as a parliament. The preliminary arrangements occupied them +until the 1st of November. From the 1st until the 4th, the committee was +engaged in drawing up a form for the Confederate Government; on the 4th +it was sanctioned by the two houses. Magna Charta, and the common and +statute law of England, in all points not contrary to the Catholic +religion, or inconsistent with the liberty of Ireland, were made the +basis of the new Government. The administrative authority was vested in +a Supreme Council, which was then chosen, and of which Lord Mountgarret +was elected President. + +[Illustration: PARLIAMENT HOUSE, KILKENNY.] + +There were six members elected for each province. For Leinster, the +Archbishop of Dublin, Lords Gormanstown and Mountgarret, Nicholas +Plunket, Richard Belling, and James Cusack. For Ulster, the Archbishop +of Armagh, the Bishop of Down, Philip O'Reilly, Colonel MacMahon, Heber +Magennis, and Turlough O'Neill. For Munster, Viscount Roche, Sir Daniel +O'Brien, Edmund FitzMaurice, Dr. Fennell, Robert Lambert, and George +Comyn. For Connaught, the Archbishop of Tuam, Viscount Mayo, the Bishop +of Clonfert, Sir Lucas Dillon, Geoffrey Browne, and Patrick Darcy. The +Earl of Castlehaven, who had just escaped from his imprisonment in +Dublin, was added as a twenty-fifth member. Generals were appointed to +take the command of the forces--Owen Roe O'Neill, for Ulster; Preston, +for Leinster; Barry, for Munster; and Burke, for Connaught. A seal was +made, a printing-press set up, and a mint established. Money was coined +and levied for the necessary expenses; and a levy of 31,700 men was +prepared to be drilled by the new officers. Envoys were sent to solicit +assistance from the Catholic courts of Europe; and the famous and +learned Franciscan, Father Luke Wadding, applied himself to the cause +with unremitting earnestness. Father John Talbot was employed in a +similar manner in Spain. + +The Assembly broke up on the 9th of January, 1643, after sending a +remonstrance to the King, declaring their loyalty, and explaining their +grievances. The complicated state of English politics proved the ruin of +this noble undertaking, so auspiciously commenced. Charles was anxious +to make terms with men whom he knew would probably be the only subjects +on whose loyalty he could thoroughly depend. His enemies--and the most +cursory glance at English history during this period proves how many and +how powerful they were--desired to keep open the rupture, and, if +possible, to bring it down, from the high stand of dignified +remonstrance, to the more perilous and lower position of a general and +ill-organized insurrection. The Lords Justices Borlase and Parsons were +on the look-out for plunder; but Charles had as yet sufficient power to +form a commission of his own, and he sent the Marquis of Ormonde and +some other noblemen to treat with the Confederates. Ormonde was a cold, +calculating, and, if we must judge him by his acts, a cruel man; for, to +give only one specimen of his dealings, immediately after his +appointment, he butchered the brave garrison of Timolin, who had +surrendered on promise of quarter. + +The Confederates were even then divided into two parties. The section of +their body principally belonging to the old English settlers, were +willing to have peace on almost any terms; the ancient Irish had their +memories burdened with so many centuries of wrong, that they demanded +something like certainty of redress before they would yield. Ormonde was +well aware of the men with whom, and the opinions with which, he had to +deal, and he acted accordingly. In the various engagements which +occurred, the Irish were on the whole successful They had gained an +important victory near Fermoy, principally through the headlong valour +of a troop of mere boys who dashed down with wild impetuosity on the +English, and showed what mettle there was still left in the country. +Envoys were arriving from foreign courts, and Urban VIII. had sent +Father Scarampi with indulgences and a purse of 30,000 dollars, +collected by Father Wadding. It was, therefore, most important that the +movement should be checked in some way; and, as it could not be +suppressed by force, it was suppressed by diplomacy. + +On the 15th of September, 1643, a cessation of arms for one year was +agreed upon; and the tide, which had set in so gloriously for Irish +independence, rolled back its sobbing waves slowly and sadly towards the +English coast, and never returned again with the same hopeful freedom +and overpowering strength. + +The Irish, even those whose wisdom or whose ardour made them most +dissatisfied with the treaty, observed it honorably. The Puritan party +professed to regard the cessation as a crime, and therefore did not +consider themselves bound to observe it. As they were in fact the ruling +powers, the unfortunate Irish were, as usual, the victims. The troops, +who had been trained and collected for the defence of their native land, +were now sent to Scotland, to shed their blood in the royal cause. As +honorable men, having undertaken the duty, they fulfilled it gloriously, +and won the admiration even of their enemies by their undaunted valour. + +The unhappy English monarch was now besieged by petitions and +counter-petitions. The Confederates asked for liberty of conscience; the +Puritans demanded a stern enforcement of the penal laws. Complaints were +made on both sides of the infringement of the cessation; but Munroe was +the chief offender; and Owen O'Neill was summoned to consult with the +Supreme Council in Kilkenny. Lord Castlehaven, who was utterly +incompetent for such an appointment, was given the command of the army; +and O'Neill, though he felt hurt at the unjust preference, submitted +generously. + +In August, 1644, the cessation was again renewed by the General Assembly +until December, and subsequently for a longer period. Thus precious +time, and what was still more precious, the fresh energies and interests +of the Confederates, were hopelessly lost. The King's generals, or +rather it should be said the Parliamentary officers, observed or held +these engagements at their convenience, and made treaties of their +own--Inchiquin and Purcell making a truce between themselves in the +south. As the King's affairs became daily more complicated, and his +position more perilous, he saw the necessity for peace with his Irish +subjects, and for allying himself with them, if possible. Had he treated +them with more consideration, or rather with common justice and +humanity, at the commencement of his reign, England might have been +saved the guilt of regicide and Cromwell's iron rule. Ormonde had +received ample powers from Charles to grant the Catholics every justice +now; but Ormonde could not resist the inclination to practise a little +subtle diplomacy, even at the risk of his master's kingdom and his +master's head. The Confederate commissioners rejected his temporizing +measures with contempt, though a few of their members, anxious for +peace, were inclined to yield. + +When Inchiquin set out to destroy the growing crops early in summer, +Castlehaven was sent against him, and obliged him to retire into Cork. +At the same time Coote was overrunning Connaught and took possession of +Sligo. The Irish forces again recovered the town; but, in the attempt, +the Archbishop and two friars fell into the hands of the enemy, and were +cruelly murdered. Charles now made another attempt to obtain the +assistance of the Catholic party, and sent over Lord Herbert to Ireland +on a secret mission for that purpose. This nobleman and his +father-in-law, the Earl of Thomond, were almost romantically attached to +the King, and had already advanced L200,000 for the support of the royal +cause. He proceeded to Kilkenny, after a brief interview with Ormonde. +England's difficulty proved Ireland's opportunity. Everything that could +be desired was granted; and all that was asked was the liberty to +worship God according to each man's conscience, and the liberty of +action and employment, which is the right of every member of civil +society who has not violated the rules of moral conduct which governors +are bound to enforce. In return for the promise that they should enjoy +the rights of subjects, the Irish Confederates promised to do the duty +of subjects. They had already assisted more than one English King to +rule his Scotch dominions; they were now to assist Charles to rule his +English subjects; and they promised to send him 10,000 armed men, under +the command of Lord Herbert. It was a great risk to trust a Stuart; and +he made it a condition that the agreement should remain secret until the +troops had landed in England. + +In the meantime Belling, the Secretary of the Supreme Council, was sent +to Rome and presented to Innocent X., by Father Wadding, as the envoy of +the Confederate Catholics, in February, 1645. On hearing his report, the +Pope sent John Baptist Rinuccini[479], Archbishop of Fermo, to Ireland, +as Nuncio-Extraordinary. This prelate set out immediately; and, after +some detention at St. Germains, for the purpose of conferring with the +English Queen, who had taken refuge there, he purchased the frigate _San +Pietro_ at Rochelle, stored it with arms and ammunition; and, after some +escapes from the Parliamentary cruisers, landed safely in Kenmare Bay, +on the 21st of October, 1645. He was soon surrounded and welcomed by the +peasantry; and after celebrating Mass in a poor hut,[480] he at once +proceeded to Limerick. Here he celebrated the obsequies of the +Archbishop of Tuam, and then passed on to Kilkenny. He entered the old +city in state, attended by the clergy. At the entrance to the Cathedral +he was met by the Bishop of Ossory, who was unable to walk in the +procession. When the _Te Deum_ had been sung, he was received in the +Castle by the General Assembly, and addressed them in Latin. After this +he returned to the residence prepared for him. + +In a Catholic country, and with a Catholic people, the influence of a +Papal Nuncio was necessarily preponderant, and he appears to have seen +at a glance the difficulties and advantages of the position of Irish +affairs and the Confederate movement. "He had set his mind," says the +author of the _Confederation of Kilkenny_, "on one grand object--the +freedom of the Church, in possession of all her rights and dignities, +and the emancipation of the Catholic people from the degradation to +which English imperialism had condemned them. The churches which the +piety of Catholic lords and chieftains had erected, he determined to +secure to the rightful inheritors. His mind and feelings recoiled from +the idea of worshipping in crypts and catacombs; he abhorred the notion +of a priest or bishop performing a sacred rite as though it were a +felony; and despite the wily artifices of Ormonde and his faction, he +resolved to teach the people of Ireland that they were not to remain +mere dependents on English bounty, when a stern resolve might win for +them the privileges of freemen."[481] + +The following extract from Rinuccini's own report, will show how +thoroughly he was master of the situation in a diplomatic point of view: +"From time immemorial two adverse parties have always existed among the +Catholics of Ireland. The first are called the 'old Irish.' They are +most numerous in Ulster, where they seem to have their head-quarters; +for even the Earl of Tyrone placed himself at their head, and maintained +a protracted war against Elizabeth. The second may be called the 'old +English,'--a race introduced into Ireland in the reign of Henry II., the +fifth king in succession from William the Conqueror; so called to +distinguish them from the 'new English,' who have come into the kingdom +along with the modern heresy. These parties are opposed to each other +principally on the following grounds: the old Irish, entertaining a +great aversion for heresy, are also averse to the dominion of England, +and have Biased, generally speaking, to accept the investiture of Church +property offered to them since the apostacy of the Kings of England from +the Church. The others, on the contrary, enriched with the spoils of the +monasteries, and thus bound to the King by obligation, no less than by +interest, neither seek nor desire anything but the exaltation of the +crown, esteem no laws but those of the realm, are thoroughly English in +their feelings, and, from their constant familiarity with heretics, are +less jealous of differences of religion." + +The Nuncio then goes on to state how even the military command was +divided between these two parties,--O'Neill belonging to the old Irish +interest, and Preston to the new. He also mentions the manner in which +this difference of feeling extended to the lower classes, and +particularly to those who served in the army.[482] + +I have given this lengthened extract from Rinuccini's report, because, +with all the advantages of looking back upon the times and events, it +would be impossible to explain more clearly the position of the +different parties. It remains only to show how these unfortunate +differences led to the ruin of the common cause. + +The Confederates now began to be distinguished into two parties, as +Nuncionists and Ormondists. Two sets of negotiations were carried on, +openly with Ormonde, and secretly with Glamorgan. The Nuncio, from the +first, apprehended the treachery of Charles, and events proved the +correctness of his forebodings. Glamorgan produced his credentials, +dated April 30th, 1645, in which the King promised to ratify whatever +terms he might make; and he further promised, that the Irish soldiers, +whose assistance he demanded, should be brought back to their own +shores, if these arrangements were not complied with by his master. +Meanwhile a copy of this secret treaty was discovered on the Archbishop +of Tuam, who had been killed at Sligo. It was used as an accusation +against the King. Glamorgan was arrested in Dublin, and the whole scheme +was defeated. + +The General Assembly met in Kilkenny, in January, 1646, and demanded the +release of Glamorgan. He was bailed out; but the King disowned the +commission, as Rinuccini had expected, and proved himself thereby +equally a traitor to his Catholic and Protestant subjects. Ormonde took +care to foment the division between the Confederate party, and succeeded +so well that a middle party was formed, who signed a treaty consisting +of thirty articles. This document only provided for the religious part +of the question, that Roman Catholics should not be bound to take the +oath of supremacy. An Act of oblivion was passed, and the Catholics were +to continue to hold their possessions until a settlement could be made +by Act of Parliament. Even in a political point of view, this treaty was +a failure; and one should have thought that Irish chieftains and +Anglo-Irish nobles had known enough of Acts of Parliament to have +prevented them from confiding their hopes to such an uncertain future. + +The division of the command in the Confederate army had been productive +of most disastrous consequences. The rivalry between O'Neill, Preston, +and Owen Roe, increased the complication; but the Nuncio managed to +reconcile the two O'Neills, and active preparations were made by Owen +Roe for his famous northern campaign. The Irish troops intended for +Charles had remained in their own country; the unfortunate monarch had +committed his last fatal error by confiding himself to his Scotch +subjects, who sold him to his own people for L400,000. Ormonde now +refused to publish the treaty which had been just concluded, or even to +enforce its observance by Monroe, although the Confederates had given +him L3,000 to get up an expedition for that purpose. + +In the beginning of June, A.D. 1646, Owen Roe O'Neill marched against +Monroe, with 5,000 foot and 500 horse. Monroe received notice of his +approach; and although his force was far superior to O'Neill's, he sent +for reinforcements of cavalry from his brother, Colonel George Monroe, +who was stationed at Coleraine. But the Irish forces advanced more +quickly than he expected; and on the 4th of June they had crossed the +Blackwater, and encamped at Benburb. O'Neill selected his position +admirably. He encamped between two small hills, with a wood in his rear. +The river Blackwater protected him on the right, and an impassable bog +on the left. Some brushwood in the front enabled him to conceal a party +of musketeers; he was also well-informed of Monroe's movements, and took +precautions to prevent the advance of his brother's forces. Monroe +crossed the river at Kinard, at a considerable distance in the rear of +his opponent, and then advanced, by a circuitous march, from the east +and north. The approach was anticipated; and, on in the 5th of June, +1646, the most magnificent victory ever recorded in the annals of Irish +history was won. The Irish army prepared for the great day with solemn +religious observances. The whole army approached the sacraments of +penance and holy communion, and thus were prepared alike for death or +victory. The chaplain deputed by the Nuncio addressed them briefly, and +appealed to their religious feelings; their General, Owen Roe, appealed +to their nationality. How deeply outraged they had been, both in their +religion and in their national feelings, has been already mentioned; how +they fought for their altars and their domestic hearths will now be +recorded. O'Neill's skill as a military tactician, is beyond all praise. +For four long hours he engaged the attention of the enemy, until the +glare of the burning summer sun had passed away, and until he had +intercepted the reinforcements which Monroe expected. At last the +decisive moment had arrived. Monroe thought he saw his brother's +contingent in the distance; O'Neill knew that they were some of his own +men who had beaten that very contingent. When the Scotch general was +undeceived, he resolved to retire. O'Neill saw his advantage, and gave +the command to charge. With one loud cry of vengeance for desecrated +altars and desolated homes, the Irish soldiers dashed to the charge, and +Monroe's ranks were broken, and his men driven to flight. Even the +General himself fled so precipitately, that he left his hat, sword, and +cloak after him, and never halted until he reached Lisburn. Lord +Montgomery was taken prisoner, and 3,000 of the Scotch were left on the +field. Of the Irish only seventy men were killed, and 200 wounded. It +was a great victory; and it was something more--it was a glorious +victory; although Ireland remained, both as to political and religious +freedom, much as it had been before. The standards captured on that +bloody field were sent to the Nuncio at Limerick, and carried in +procession to the Cathedral, where a solemn _Te Deum_ was chanted--and +that was all the result that came of it. Confusion thrice confounded +followed in the rear. The King issued orders, under the compulsion of +the Scotch, which Lord Digby declared to be just the contrary of what he +really wished; and Ormonde proclaimed and ratified the treaty he had +formerly declined to fulfil, while the "old Irish" everywhere +indignantly rejected it. In Waterford, Clonmel, and Limerick, the people +would not permit it even to be proclaimed. The Nuncio summoned a +national synod in Waterford, at which it was condemned; and a decree was +issued, on the 12th of August, declaring that all who adhered to such +terms should be declared perjurers. Even Preston declared for the +Nuncio; and the clergy and the nobles who led the unpopular cause, were +obliged to ask Ormonde's assistance to help them out of their +difficulty. The Earl arrived at Kilkenny with an armed force; but fled +precipitately when he heard that O'Neill and Preston were advancing +towards him. + +Rinuccini now took a high hand. He entered Kilkenny in state, on the +18th of September, and committed the members of the Supreme Council as +prisoners to the Castle, except Darcy and Plunket. A new Council was +appointed, or self-appointed, on the 20th, of which the Nuncio was +chosen President. The imprisonment of the old Council was undoubtedly a +harsh and unwise proceeding, which can scarcely be justified; but the +times were such that prompt action was demanded, and the result alone, +which could not be foreseen, could justify or condemn it. + +The Generals were again at variance; and although the new Council had +decided on attacking Dublin, their plans could not be carried out. +Preston was unquestionably playing fast and loose; and when the +Confederate troops did march towards Dublin, his duplicity ruined the +cause which might even then have been gained. A disgraceful retreat was +the result. An Assembly was again convened at Kilkenny; the old Council +was released; the Generals promised to forget their animosities: but +three weeks had been lost in angry discussion; and although the +Confederates bound themselves by oath not to lay down their arms until +their demands were granted, their position was weakened to a degree +which the selfishness of the contending parties made them quite +incapable of estimating. + +The fact was, the Puritan faction in England was every day gaining an +increase of power; while every hour that the Confederate Catholics +wasted in discussion or division, was weakening their moral strength. +Even Ormonde found himself a victim to the party who had long made him +their tool, and was ordered out of Dublin unceremoniously, and obliged +eventually to take refuge in France. Colonel Jones took possession of +Dublin Castle for the rebel forces and defeated Preston in a serious +engagement at Dungan Hill soon after his arrival in Ireland. O'Neill now +came to the rescue; and even the Ormondists, having lost their leader, +admitted that he was their only resource. His admirable knowledge of +military tactics enabled him to drive Jones into Dublin Castle, and keep +him there for a time almost in a state of siege. + +In the mean time Inchiquin was distinguishing himself by his cruel +victories in the south of Ireland. The massacre of Cashel followed. When +the walls were battered down, the hapless garrison surrendered without +resistance, and were butchered without mercy. The people fled to the +Cathedral, hoping there, at least, to escape; but the savage General +poured volleys of musket-balls through the doors and windows, and his +soldiers rushing in afterwards, piked those who were not yet dead. +Twenty priests were dragged out as objects of special vengeance; and the +total number of those were thus massacred amounted to 3,000. + +An engagement took place in November between Inchiquin and Lord Taaffe, +in which the Confederates were again beaten and cruelly massacred. Thus +two of their generals had lost both their men and their _prestige_, and +O'Neill alone remained as the prop of a falling cause. The Irish now +looked for help from foreign sources, and despatched Plunket and French +to Rome, and Muskerry and Browne to France; but Ormonde had already +commenced negotiations on his own account, and he alone was accredited +at the court of St. Germains. Even at this moment Inchiquin had been +treating with the Supreme Council for a truce; but Rinuccini, who +detested his duplicity, could never be induced to listen to his +proposals. A man who had so mercilessly massacred his own countrymen, +could scarcely be trusted by them on so sudden a conversion to their +cause; but, unhappily, there were individuals who, in the uncertain +state of public affairs, were anxious to steer their barks free of the +thousand breakers ahead, and in their eagerness forgot that, when the +whole coast-line was deluged with storms, their best chance of escape +was the bold resolution of true moral courage. The cautious politicians, +therefore, made a treaty with Inchiquin, which was signed at Dungarvan, +on the 20th of May. On the 27th of that month the Nuncio promulgated a +sentence of excommunication against all cities and villages where it +should be received, and, at the same time, he withdrew to the camp of +Owen Roe O'Neill, against whom Inchiquin and Preston were prepared to +march. It was a last and desperate resource, and, as might be expected, +it failed signally of its intended effects. Various attempts to obtain a +settlement of the question at issue by force of arms, were made by the +contending parties; but O'Neill baffled his enemies, and the Nuncio +withdrew to Galway. + +Ormonde arrived in Ireland soon after, and was received at Cork, on the +27th of September, 1648, by Inchiquin. He then proceeded to Kilkenny, +where he was received in great state by the Confederates. On the 17th of +January, 1649, he signed a treaty of peace, which concluded the seven +years' war. This treaty afforded the most ample indulgences to the +Catholics, and guaranteed fairly that civil and religious liberty for +which alone they had contended; but the ink upon the deed was scarcely +dry, ere the execution of Charles I., on the 30th of January, washed out +its enactments in royal blood; and civil war, with more than ordinary +complications, was added to the many miseries of our unfortunate +country. + +Rinuccini embarked in the _San Pietro_ once more, and returned to Italy, +February 23, 1649. Had his counsels been followed, the result might have +justified him, even in his severest measures; as it is we read only +failure in his career; but it should be remembered, that there are +circumstances under which failure is more noble than success. + +[Illustration: THOMAS FLEMYNG'S TOMB, COLLEGIATE CHURCH, YOUGHAL.] + +[Illustration: ST. LAWRENCE GATE, DROGHEDA.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[474] _Them_.--Castlehaven's _Memoirs_, p, 28. + +[475] _Frolics_.--Carte's _Ormonde_, vol. i. p. 245, folio edition. + +[476] _Guard_.--Castlehaven's _Memoirs_, p. 30. Coote's cruelties are +admitted on all sides to have been most fearful. Leland speaks of "his +ruthless and indiscriminate carnage."--_History of Ireland_, vol. iii. +p. 146. Warner says "he was a stranger to mercy."--_History of the Irish +Rebellion_, p. 135. "And yet this was the man," says Lord Castlehaven, +"whom the Lords Justices picked out to entrust with a commission of +martial-law, which he performed with delight, and with a wanton kind of +cruelty." + +[477] _Granted_.--This most important and interesting document may be +seen in O'Sullivan's _Hist. Cath_. p. 121. It is headed: "Gregory XIII., +to the Archbishops, Bishops, and other prelates, as also to the Catholic +Princes, Earls, Barons, Clergy, Nobles, and People of Ireland, health +and apostolic benediction." It is dated: "Given at Rome, the 13th day of +May, 1580, the eighth of our pontificate." + +[478] _Cause_.--See illustration at head of this chapter. + +[479] _Rinuccini,_--A work was published in Florence, 1844, entitled +_Nunziatura in Irlanda_, di M. Gio. Battista Rinuccini, &c. This work, +which only forms a portion of the Rinuccini MS., throws much valuable +light upon the history of the period. It is supposed to have been +written by the Dean of Fermo, who attended the Nuncio during his +official visit to Ireland. This volume also contains, in the original +Italian, the report presented by Rinuccini to the Pope on his return +from Ireland. Burke has given some extracts from the MS. in his +_Hibernia Dominicana_, and Carte mentions it also; but otherwise these +very important documents appear to have been quite overlooked. + +Since the publication of the first edition of this work, I have obtained +a copy of a translation of the Nuncio's narrative, which appeared in the +_Catholic Miscellany_ for 1829. This translation was made by a +Protestant clergyman, from a Latin translation of the original, in the +possession of Mr. Coke, of Holham, Norfolk. The Nuncio's account is one +of great importance, but it would demand considerable space if treated +of in detail. There was a very able article on the subject in the +_Dublin Review_ for March, 1845. + +[480] _Hut_.--Some extracts from a curious and interesting letter, +describing the voyage from France and the landing in Ireland of +Rinuccini and his party, were published in the _Dublin Review_ for +March, 1845. It is addressed to Count Thomas Rinuccini, but the writer +is supposed to have been the Dean of Fermo. He gives a graphic +description of their arrival at Kenmare--"al porto di Kilmar" and of the +warm reception they met from the poor, and their courtesy--"La cortesia +di quei poveri popoli dove Monsignor capito, fu incomparabile." He also +says: "Gran cosa, nelle montagne e luoghi rozzi, e gente povera per le +devastazioni fatte dei nemici eretici, trovai pero la nobilta della S. +fede Catolica, giache auro vi fu uomo, o donna, o ragazzo, ancor che +piccolo, che non me sapesse recitar il Pater, Ave, Credo, e i +commandamenti della Santa Chiesa." "It is most wonderful that in this +wild and mountainous place, and a people so impoverished by the +heretical enemy, I found, nevertheless, the noble influence of the holy +Catholic faith; for there was not a man or woman, or a child however +young, who could not repeat the Our Father, Hail Mary, Creed, and the +commands of Holy Church." We believe the same might be said at the +present day of this part of Ireland. It is still as poor, and the people +are still as well instructed in and as devoted to their faith now as in +that century. + +[481] _Freemen_.--_Confederation of Kilkenny_, p. 117. + +[482] _Army,--Nunziatura in Irlanda_, p. 391. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Cromwell arrives in Ireland--He marches to Drogheda--Cruel Massacre of +the Inhabitants after promise of Quarter--Account of an +Eyewitness--Brutality of the Cromwellian Soldiers--Ladies are not +spared--Cromwell's Letters--He boasts of his Cruelties--Massacre and +Treachery at Drogheda--Brave Resistance at Clonmel--Charles II. arrives +in Scotland--The Duplicity of his Conduct towards the Irish--Siege of +Limerick--Ireton's Cruelties and Miserable Death--The Banishment to +Connaught--The Irish are sold as Slaves to Barbadoes--General Desolation +and Misery of the People. + +[A.D. 1649-1655.] + + +Cromwell was now master of England, and ruled with all that authority +which is so freely granted to a revolutionary leader, and so often +denied to a lawful monarch. The great body of the English stood aghast +with horror when they discovered that regicide, and the substitution of +an illegal tyranny for one which at least was legal, was the end of all +their hopes. The new ruler was aware of the precariousness of his +position. The safety of his head, as well as the continuance of his +power, depended on the caprice of the multitude; and he saw that the +sword alone could maintain him in the elevated position to which he had +risen, and the still more elevated position to which he aspired. We +scarcely imagine him to have been more religious or less humane than +many of his contemporaries, though it is evident that he required a +great show of the kind of religion then fashionable to support his +character as a reformer, and that he considered himself obliged to +exercise wholesale cruelties to consolidate his power. + +The rightful heir to the English throne was then at the Hague, uncertain +how to act and whither he should turn his steps. He wished to visit +Ireland, where he would have been received with enthusiastic loyalty by +the Catholics; but Ormonde persuaded him, from sinister motives, to +defer his intention. Ormonde and Inchiquin now took the field together. +The former advanced to Dublin, and the latter to Drogheda. This town was +held by a Parliamentary garrison, who capitulated on honorable terms. +Monck and Owen O'Neill, in the meantime, were acting in concert, and +Inchiquin captured supplies which the English General was sending to the +Irish chief. Newry, Dundalk, and the often-disputed and famous Castle of +Trim[483] surrendered to him, and he marched back to Ormonde in triumph. +As there appeared no hope of reducing Dublin except by famine, it was +regularly blockaded; and the Earl wrote to Charles to inform him that +his men were so loyal, he could "persuade half his army to starve +outright for his Majesty." + +Ormonde now moved his camp from Finglas to Rathmines, and at the same +time reinforcements arrived for the garrison, under the command of +Colonels Reynolds and Venables. The besiegers made an attempt to guard +the river, and for this purpose, Major-General Purcell was sent to take +possession of the ruined Castle of Bagotrath, about a mile from the +camp. Ormonde professed to have expected an attack during the night, and +kept his men under arms; but just as he had retired to rest, an alarm +was given. Colonel Jones had made a sortie from the city; the sortie +became for a brief moment an engagement, and ended in a total rout. The +Earl was suspected; and whether he had been guilty of treachery or of +carelessness, he lost his credit, and soon after left the kingdom. + +Cromwell had been made Lieutenant-General of the English army in +Ireland, but as yet he had been unable to take the command in person. +His position was precarious; and he wished to secure his influence still +more firmly in his own country, before he attempted the conquest of +another. He had succeeded so far in the accomplishment of his plans that +his departure and his journey to Bristol were undertaken in royal style. +He left the metropolis early in June, in a coach drawn by six gallant +Flanders' mares, and concluded his progress at Milford Haven, where he +embarked, reaching Ireland on the 14th of August, 1649. He was attended +by some of the most famous of the Parliamentary Generals--his son, +Henry, the future Lord Deputy; Monk, Blake, Ireton, Waller, Ludlow and +others. He brought with him, for the propagation of the Gospel and the +Commonwealth, L200,000 in money, eight regiments of foot, six of horse, +several troops of dragoons, a large supply of Bibles,[484] and a +corresponding provision of ammunition and scythes. The Bibles were to be +distributed amongst his soldiers, and to be given to the poor +unfortunate natives, who could not understand a word of their contents. +The scythes and sickles were to deprive them of all means of living, and +to preach a ghastly commentary on the conduct of the men who wished to +convert them to the new Gospel, which certainly was not one of peace. +Cromwell now issued two proclamations: one against intemperance, for he +knew well the work that was before him, and he could not afford to have +a single drunken soldier in his camp. The other proclamation prohibited +plundering the country people: it was scarcely less prudent. His +soldiers might any day become his masters, if they were not kept under +strict control; and there are few things which so effectually lessen +military discipline as permission to plunder: he also wished to +encourage the country people to bring in provisions. His arrangements +all succeeded. + +Ormonde had garrisoned Drogheda with 3,000 of his choicest troops. They +were partly English, and were commanded by a brave loyalist, Sir Arthur +Aston. This was really the most important town in Ireland; and Cromwell, +whose skill as a military general cannot be disputed, at once determined +to lay siege to it. He encamped before the devoted city on the 2nd of +September, and in a few days had his siege guns posted on the hill shown +in the accompanying illustration, and still known as Cromwell's Fort. +Two breaches were made on the 10th, and he sent in his storming parties +about five o'clock in the evening. Earthworks had been thrown up inside +and the garrison resisted with undiminished bravery. The besieged at +last wavered; quarter[485] was promised to them, and they yielded; but +the promise came from men who knew neither how to keep faith or to show +mercy. The brave Governor, Sir Arthur Aston, retired with his staff to +an old mill on an eminence, but they were disarmed and slain in cold +blood. The officers and soldiers were first exterminated, and then men, +women, and children were put to the sword. The butchery occupied five +entire days; Cromwell has himself described the scene, and glories in +his cruelty. Another eyewitness, an officer in his army, has described +it also, but with some faint touch of remorse. + +[Illustration: Massacre at Drogheda] + +[Illustration: CROMWELL'S FORT, DROGHEDA]. + +A number of the townspeople fled for safety to St. Peter's Church, on +the north side of the city, but every one of them was murdered, all +defenceless and unarmed as they were; others took refuge in the church +steeple, but it was of wood, and Cromwell himself gave orders that it +should be set on fire, and those who attempted to escape the flames were +piked. The principal ladies of the city had sheltered themselves in the +crypts. It might have been supposed that this precaution should be +unnecessary, or, at least, that English officers would respect their +sex; but, alas for common humanity! it was not so. When the slaughter +had been accomplished above, it was continued below. Neither youth nor +beauty was spared. Thomas Wood, who was one of these officers, and +brother to Anthony Wood, the Oxford historian, says he found in these +vaults "the flower and choicest of the women and ladies belonging to the +town; amongst whom, a most handsome virgin, arrayed in costly and +gorgeous apparel, kneeled down to him with tears and prayer to save her +life." Touched by her beauty and her entreaties he attempted to save +her, and took her out of the church; but even his protection could not +save her. A soldier thrust his sword into her body; and the officer, +recovering from his momentary fit of compassion, "flung her down over +the rocks," according to his own account, but first took care to possess +himself of her money and jewels. This officer also mentions that the +soldiers were in the habit of taking up a child, and using it as a +buckler, when they wished to ascend the lofts and galleries of the +church, to save themselves from being shot or brained. It is an evidence +that they knew their victims to be less cruel than themselves, or the +expedient would not have been found to answer. + +Cromwell wrote an account of this massacre to the "Council of State." +His letters, as his admiring editor observes, "tell their own +tale;"[486] and unquestionably that tale plainly intimates that whether +the Republican General were hypocrite or fanatic--and it is probable he +was a compound of both--he certainly, on his own showing, was little +less than a demon of cruelty. Cromwell writes thus: "It hath pleased God +to bless our endeavours at Drogheda. After battery we stormed it. The +enemy were about 3,000 strong in the town. They made a stout resistance. +I believe we put to the sword the whole number of defendants. I do not +think thirty of the whole number escaped with their lives. Those that +did are in safe custody for the Barbadoes. This hath been a marvellous +great mercy." In another letter he says that this "great thing" was done +"by the Spirit of God." + +These savage butcheries had the intended effect. The inhabitants of all +the smaller towns fled at his approach, and the garrisons capitulated. +Trim, Dundalk, Carlingford, and Newry, had yielded; but Wexford still +held out. The garrison amounted to about 3,000 men, under the command of +Colonel Sinnot, a brave loyalist. After some correspondence on both +sides, a conference took place between four of the royalists and +Cromwell, at which he contrived to bribe Captain Stafford, the Governor +of the Castle. The conditions asked, preparatory to surrender, were +liberty of conscience, and permission to withdraw in safety and with +military honours. Cromwell's idea of liberty of conscience was as +peculiar as his idea of honour. He wrote to the Governor of Ross to say +that he would not "meddle with any man's conscience;" but adds: "If by +liberty of conscience you mean a liberty to exercise the Mass, I judge +it best to use plain dealing, and to tell you now, where the Parliament +of England have power, that will not be allowed of;"[487] which, in +plain English, meant that he professed liberty of conscience, but +allowed it only to such as agreed with himself. Of his estimation of +honour, his dealings at Wexford afford a fair sample. As soon as he had +found that Stafford could be bribed, he denounced the proposals of the +garrison as abominable and impudent. The traitor opened the +castle-gates, and the Parliamentary troops marched in. The besieged were +amazed and panic-struck; yet, to their eternal credit, they made what +even Cromwell admits to have been a "stiff resistance." The massacre of +Drogheda was renewed with all its horrors, and the treacherous General +held in his hand all the time the formal offer of surrender which had +been made by the townspeople and his own reply. He informs the +Parliament that he did not intend to destroy the town, but his own +letter reveals his treachery; and he congratulates his correspondents on +the "unexpected providence" which had befallen them. He excuses the +massacre on the plea of some outrages which had been offered to the +"poor Protestants," forgetting what incomparably greater cruelties had +been inflicted by the Protestants on the Catholics, both for their +loyalty and for their religion. + +MacGeoghegan mentions the massacre of two hundred women, who clung round +the market-cross for protection.[488] His statement is not corroborated +by contemporary authority; but there appears no reason to doubt that it +may have taken place, from what has already been recorded at Drogheda on +unquestionable authority. Owen Roe and Ormonde now leagued together for +the royal cause, but their union was of short duration, for the Irish +chieftain died almost immediately, and it was said, not without +suspicion of having been poisoned by wearing a "pair of russet boots," +sent to him by one Plunket, of Louth, who afterwards boasted of his +exploit. His death was an irreparable loss to the Irish cause; for his +noble and upright conduct had won him universal esteem, while his +military prowess had secured him the respect even of his enemies. New +Ross surrendered to Cromwell on the 18th of October and Luke Taaffe, the +Commander, joined Ormonde at Kilkenny. The garrisons of Cork, Youghal, +Kinsale, and Bandon, revolted to Cromwell, through the intervention of +Lord Broghill, son of the Earl of Cork, who became one of the leading +Parliamentary officers. On the 24th of November, Cromwell attempted to +take Waterford; but finding the place too strong for him, he marched on +to Dungarvan. Here the garrison surrendered at discretion, and his +troops proceeded to Cork through Youghal. + +The Irish had now begun to distrust Ormonde thoroughly; even the +citizens of Waterford refused to admit his soldiers into their town. +Indeed, the distrust was so general, that he had considerable difficulty +in providing winter quarters for his troops, and he wrote to ask +permission from the exiled King to leave the country. The month of +January, 1650, was spent by Cromwell in continuing his victorious march. +He set out from Youghal on the 29th, and approached as near Limerick as +he dared, taking such castles as lay in his way, and accepting the keys +of Cashel and other towns, where the authorities surrendered +immediately. On the 22nd of March he arrived before Kilkenny, to meet a +resistance as hopeless as it was heroic. A fearful pestilence had +reduced the garrison from 1,200 men to about 400, yet they absolutely +refused to obey the summons to surrender, but, after a brave resistance, +they were obliged to yield; and Cromwell hastened on to Clonmel, where +he had to encounter the most formidable resistance he experienced in his +Irish campaigns. The garrison was commanded by Hugh Dubh O'Neill. The +Bishop of Ross attempted to raise the siege, but was taken and hanged by +Broghill, because he would not desire the defenders of Carrigadrohid to +surrender. The first attack on Clonmel took place on the 9th of May, and +O'Neill determined to resist with the energy of despair, and the full +knowledge of the demon vengeance with which the Puritans repaid such +deeds of valour. When the place was no longer tenable, he withdrew his +troops under cover of darkness; and the English General found next +morning that he had been outwitted, and that nothing remained for his +vengeance but the unfortunate townspeople. + +Pressing demands were now made by the Parliament for his return to +England, where the royalists had also to be crushed and subdued; and +after committing the command of his army to Ireton, he sailed from +Youghal, on the 20th of May, leaving, as a legacy to Ireland, a name +which was only repeated to be cursed, and an increase of miseries which +already had seemed incapable of multiplication. In the meantime the +Irish clergy held frequent conferences, and made every effort in their +power to obtain peace for their unfortunate country. Ormonde became +daily more and more distrusted; the people of Limerick and of Galway had +both refused to receive him; and on the 6th of August the clergy met in +synod at Jamestown, in the county Leitrim, and sent him a formal +message, requesting his withdrawal from the kingdom, and asking for the +appointment of some one in whom the people might have confidence. His +pride was wounded, and he refused to retire until he should be compelled +to do so; but the bishops published a declaration, denouncing his +government, and threatening to impeach him before the King. They were +yet to learn that the King, whom they served so faithfully, and in whom, +despite all past disappointments, they confided so loyally, could be +guilty of the greatest duplicity and the basest subterfuge. + +Charles II. landed in Scotland on the 28th of June, 1650, and soon after +signed the Covenant, and a declaration in which he stated the peace with +Ireland to be null and void, adding, with equal untruthfulness and +meanness, that "he was convinced in his conscience of the sinfulness and +unlawfulness of it, and of allowing them [the Catholics] the liberty of +the Popish religion; for which he did from his heart desire to be deeply +humbled before the Lord." Ormonde declared, what was probably true, that +the King had been obliged to make these statements, and that they meant +nothing; but neither his protestations nor his diplomacy could save him +from general contempt; and having appointed the Marquis of Clanrickarde +to administer the Government of Ireland for the King, he left the +country, accompanied by some of the leading royalists, and, after a +stormy passage, arrived at St. Malo, in Brittany, early in the year +1651. The Irish again sacrificed their interests to their loyalty, and +refused favourable terms offered to them by the Parliamentary party; +they even attempted to mortgage the town of Galway, to obtain money for +the royal cause, and an agreement was entered into with the Duke of +Lorraine for this purpose; but the disasters of the battle of Worcester, +and the triumphs of the republican faction, soon deprived them of every +hope. + +It will be remembered that Cromwell had passed by Limerick at a +respectful distance; but the possession of that city was none the less +coveted. Ireton now prepared to lay siege to it. To effect this, Coote +made a feint of attacking Sligo; and when he had drawn off +Clanrickarde's forces to oppose him, marched back hastily, and took +Athlone. By securing this fortress he opened a road into Connaught; and +Ireton, at the same time, forced the passage of the river at +O'Briensbridge, and thus was enabled to invest Limerick. Lord Muskerry +marched to its relief; but he was intercepted by Lord Broghill, and his +men were routed with great slaughter. The castle at the salmon weir was +first attacked; and the men who defended it were butchered in cold +blood, although they had surrendered on a promise of quarter. At length +treachery accomplished what valour might have prevented. The plague was +raging in the city, and many tried to escape; but were either beaten +back into the town, or killed on the spot by Ireton's troopers. The +corporation and magistrates were in favour of a capitulation; but the +gallant Governor, Hugh O'Neill, opposed it earnestly. Colonel Fennell, +who had already betrayed the pass at Killaloe, completed his perfidy by +seizing St. John's Gate and Tower, and admitting Ireton's men by night. +On the following day the invader was able to dictate his own terms. +2,500 soldiers laid down their arms in St. Mary's Church, and marched +out of the city, many dropping dead on road of the fearful pestilence. +Twenty-four persons were exempted from quarter. Amongst the number were +a Dominican prelate, Dr. Terence O'Brien, Bishop of Emly, and a +Franciscan, Father Wolfe. Ireton had special vengeance for the former, +who had long encouraged the people to fight for their country and their +faith, and had refused a large bribe[489] which the Cromwellian General +had offered him if he would leave the city. The ecclesiastics were soon +condemned; but, ere the Bishop was dragged to the gibbet, he turned to +the dark and cruel man who had sacrificed so many lives, and poured such +torrents of blood over the land, summoning him, in stern and prophetic +tones, to answer at God's judgment-seat for the evils he had done. The +Bishop and his companion were martyred on the Eve of All Saints, October +31st, 1651. On the 26th of November Ireton was a corpse. He caught the +plague eight days after he had been summoned to the tribunal of eternal +justice; and he died raving wildly of the men whom he had murdered, and +accusing everyone but himself of the crime he had committed. + +[Illustration: Ireton condemning the Bishop of Limerick.] + +Several of the leading gentry of Limerick were also executed; and the +traitor Fennell met the reward of his treachery, and was also hanged. +Hugh O'Neill was saved through the remonstrances of some of the +Parliamentary officers, who had the spirit to appreciate his valour and +his honorable dealing. + +Ludlow now took the command, and marched to assist Coote, who was +besieging Galway. This town surrendered on the 12th of May, 1652. The +few Irish officers who still held out against the Parliament, made the +best terms they could for themselves individually; and there was a brief +peace, the precursor of yet more terrible storms. + +I have already given such fearful accounts of the miseries to which the +Irish were reduced by confiscations, fines, and war, that it seems +useless to add fresh details; yet, fearful as are the records given by +Spenser of 1580, when neither the lowing of a cow nor the voice of a +herdsman could be heard from Dunquin, in Kerry, to Cashel, in Munster, +there seems to have been a deeper depth of misery after Cromwell's +massacres. In 1653 the English themselves were nearly starving, even in +Dublin; and cattle had to be imported from Wales. There was no tillage, +and a licence was required to kill lamb.[490] The Irish had fled into +the mountains, the only refuge left to them now; and the Parliamentary +officers were obliged to issue proclamations inviting their return, and +promising them safety and protection. But the grand object of the +revolutionary party was still to carry out the wild scheme of unpeopling +Ireland of the Irish, and planting it anew with English--a scheme which +had been so often attempted, and had so signally failed, that one +marvels how it could again have been brought forward. Still there were +always adventurers ready to fight for other men's lands, and subjects +who might be troublesome at home, whom it was found desirable to occupy +in some way abroad. But a grand effort was made now to get rid of as +many Irishmen as possible in a peaceable manner. The valour of the Irish +soldier was well known abroad;[491] and agents from the King of Spain, +the King of Poland, and the Prince de Conde, were contending for those +brave fellows, who were treated like slaves in their native land; and +then, if they dared resist, branded with the foul name of rebels. If a +keen had rung out loud and long when O'Donnell left his native land +never to return, well might it ring out now yet more wildly. In May, +1652, Don Ricardo White shipped 7,000 men for the King of Spain; in +September, Colonel Mayo collected 3,000 more; Lord Muskerry took 5,000 +to Poland; and, in 1654, Colonel Dwyer went to serve the Prince de Conde +with 3,500 men. Other officers looked up the men who had served under +them, and expatriated themselves in smaller parties; so that, between +1651 and 1654, 34,000 Irishmen had left their native land; and few, +indeed, ever returned to its desolate shores. + +But their lot was merciful compared with the fate of those who still +remained. In 1653 Ireland was considered sufficiently depopulated by war +and emigration to admit of a commencement of the grand planting. The +country was again portioned out; again the ruling powers selected the +best portion of the land for themselves and their favourites; again the +religion of the country was reformed, and Protestant prelates were +condemned as loudly, though they were not hunted as unmercifully, as +Popish priests; again the wild and lawless adventurer was sent to eject +the old proprietor, who might starve or beg while the intruder held his +lands, and sheltered himself in his mansion, while a new cruelty was +enacted, a new terror devised, a new iniquity framed, and this by rulers +who talked so loudly of political and religious liberty. It was not +convenient, more probably, it was not possible, to massacre all the +native population who still survived; so they were to be +banished--banished to a corner of their own land, imprisoned there +safely by their ruthless conquerors, and there, without hope or help, it +was supposed they must soon die out quietly. + +This is the official proclamation which was issued on the subject: "The +Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, having, by an Act lately +passed (entitled an Act for the Settling of Ireland), declared that it +is not their intention to extirpate this whole nation ... it is ordered +that the Governor and Commissioners of Revenue ... do cause the said Act +of Parliament, with this present declaration, to be published and +proclaimed in their respective precincts, by beat of drum and sound of +trumpet, on some market-day within ten days after the same shall come +unto them within their respective precincts." + +We may imagine the dismay and anguish which this announcement caused. +The old Irish chieftain and the Anglo-Irish lord still had some kind of +home and shelter on their own estate--it might be but an outhouse or a +barn; it was certainly on the worst and least cultivated portion of +their land, for the old castle had long since been taken from them, and +their broad acres transferred to others. Yet, though they tilled the +soil of which they so lately had been the lords, this little spot was +home: there the wife and mother loved her little ones as tenderly as in +the stately halls which her husband or his fathers had so lately +possessed. It was home, and if not the dear old home, it was, perhaps, +loved all the more for its sorrowful proximity to the ancestral +castle--for the faint hope that the rightful owner might still be +restored. But the trumpet had sounded the nation's doom. Confiscation +and banishment, wholesale plunder and untold iniquity, reigned supreme. +The name of the God of justice was invoked to sanction[492] the grossest +outrages upon justice; and men who professed to have freed their own +nation from the tyranny of kingcraft and of Popery, perpetrated a +tyranny on another nation, which has made the name of their leader a +byword and a curse. + +The majority of the Catholic nobility and gentry were banished; the +remainder of the nation, thus more than decimated, were sent to +Connaught. On the 26th of September, 1653, all the property of the Irish +people was declared to belong to the English army and adventurers, "and +it was announced that the Parliament had assigned Connaught [America was +not then accessible] for the habitation of the Irish nation, whither +they must transplant, with their wives, and daughters, and children, +before 1st May following, under the penalty of death, if found on this +side of the Shannon after that day."[493] It must not be supposed that +this death penalty was a mere threat; I shall give instances to prove +the contrary. Any man, woman, or child who had disobeyed this order, no +matter from what cause, could be instantly executed in any way, by any +of these soldiers or adventurers, without judge, jury, or trial. It was +in fact constituting a special commission for the new comers to +murder[494] all the old inhabitants. + +Connaught was selected for two reasons: first, because it was the most +wasted province of Ireland; and secondly, because it could be, and in +fact was, most easily converted into a national prison, by erecting a +_cordon militaire_ across the country, from sea to sea. To make the +imprisonment more complete, a belt four miles wide, commencing one mile +to the west of Sligo, and thence running along the coast and the +Shannon, was to be given to the soldiery to plant. Thus, any Irishman +who attempted to escape, would be sure of instant capture and execution. + +The Government, as it has been already remarked, reserved the best part +of the land for themselves. They secured the towns, church-lands, and +tithes, and abolished the Protestant Church, with all its officers, +which had been so recently declared the religion of the country. A +"Church of Christ" was now the established religion, and a Mr. Thomas +Hicks was approved by the "Church of Christ" meeting at Chichester +House, as one fully qualified to preach and dispense the Gospel as often +as the Lord should enable him, and in such places as the Lord should +make his ministry most effectual. The Parliament also reserved for +themselves the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Carlow, and Cork; and from +these lands and the church property they were to enrich themselves, and, +with what they could spare, to reward the leading regicides and rebels. +The adventurers were next provided for. They claimed L960,000. This was +divided into three lots, to be paid in lands in Munster, Leinster, and +Ulster. All these were to be drawn by lot; and a lottery was held at +Grocers' Hall, London, which commenced at eight o'clock in the morning, +on the 20th of July, 1653, at which time and place men who professed the +advancement of the Christian religion to be the business of their lives, +openly and flagrantly violated the most solemn and explicit commands of +that very belief which they declared themselves so zealous in upholding. +The soldiers and officers were to obtain whatever was left after the +adventurers had been satisfied. + +A book was written by a Franciscan father, called _Threnodia +Hiberno-Catholica, sive Planctus Universalis totius Cleri et Populi +Regni Hiberniae_,[495] in which the writer states he had heard a great +Protestant statesman give three reasons why this transplantation was +confined to the gentry, and why the poor, who had not been either +transported or hanged, were allowed to remain: (1) because the English +wanted them to till the ground; (2) they hoped they would become +Protestants when deprived of their priests; (3) because the settlers +required servants, or else they should have worked for themselves. + +But the fatal day at length arrived, and those who had dared to linger, +or to hope that so cruel a sentence would not be finally executed, were +at once undeceived. The commissioners had been in trouble all the +winter: the people who were to be driven out of their farms refused to +sow for those who were to succeed them; and the very plotters of the +iniquity began to tremble for the consequences which might accrue to +themselves. They fasted, they prayed, and they wrote pages of their +peculiar cant, which would be ludicrous were it not profane. They talked +loudly of their unworthiness for so great a service, but expressed no +contrition for wholesale robbery. Meanwhile, however, despite cant, +fasts, and fears, the work went on. The heads of each family were +required to proceed to Loughrea before the 31st of January, 1654, to +receive such allotments as the commissioners pleased to give them, and +that they might erect some kind of huts on these allotments, to shelter +their wives and daughters when they arrived. The allotment of land was +proportioned to the stock which each family should bring; but they were +informed that, at a future day, other commissioners were to sit at +Athlone, and regulate even these regulations, according to their real or +supposed affection or disaffection to the Parliament. All this was +skilfully put forward, that the unfortunate people might transplant the +more quietly, in the hope of procuring thereby the good-will of their +tyrants; but the tyrants were quite aware that the stock would probably +die from the fatigue of transportation and the want of food; then the +land could be taken from the victim, and, as a last favour, he might be +allowed to remain in the poor hut he had erected, until misery and +disease had terminated his life also. + +Remonstrances and complaints were sent to the faction who governed +England, but all was in vain. The principal petitioners were the +descendants of the English nobles; they were now, by a just retribution, +suffering themselves the very miseries which they had so ruthlessly +inflicted on the native Irish. The petitioners, says Mr. +Prendergast,[496] were the noble and the wealthy, men of ancient English +blood, descendants of the invaders--the FitzGeralds, the Butlers, the +Plunkets, the Barnwalls, Dillons, Cheevers, Cusacks, names found +appended to various schemes for extirpating or transplanting the Irish, +after the subduing of Lord Thomas FitzGerald's rebellion in 1535--who +were now to transplant as Irish. The native Irish were too poor to pay +scriveners and messengers to the Council, and their sorrows were +unheard; though under their rough coats beat hearts that felt as great +pangs at being driven from their native homes as the highest in the +land. + +One of these English families demands special mention. Edmund Spenser's +grandson was now commanded to transplant, as though he to had been "mere +Irish" and the very estate near Fermoy, which had been confiscated from +the FitzGeralds seventy years before, and which the poet had obtained +thus fraudulently, was now confiscated anew, and granted to Cromwell's +soldiers. William Spenser protested; he pleaded his grandfather's name, +he pleaded his grandfather's services, especially the odium he had +incurred amongst the Irish by the way in which he had written of them; +and lastly, William Spenser declares of himself that he had utterly +renounced Popery since he came to years of discretion. But even +Cromwell's interference could not save him; the soldiers were determined +to have his lands, and they had them. + +The commissioners appointed to conduct the transplanting had a busy +time. They were overwhelmed with petitions: the heads of families +demanding permission to return and save their crops; the women +requesting to remain a few months longer for a similar purpose, when the +men were not permitted to return. Hundreds of petitions were sent from +aged and bedridden persons, to obtain leave to die in peace where they +were. Then there were complaints from the officers who had charge of +driving the people into the plantation; and above all, there was a +charge, a grave charge, against the Irish people--they were as +stiff-necked, wicked, and rebellious[497] as ever, and could not be +brought to see that they were created for no other end than to be +sacrificed for the benefit of English adventurers; and, moreover, they +were declared to be a most treacherous race, for, years after, they +might revenge all this kindness, by murdering the men who had taken +possession of their lands and farms; and some had absolutely refused to +transplant, and preferred death. + +The manner in which these difficulties were met is thus recorded in a +letter which was written for publication in London:-- + + "_Athy, March_ 4, 1664-5. + + "I have only to acquaint you that the time prescribed for the + transplantation of the Irish proprietors, and those that have been + in arms and abettors of the rebellion, being near at hand, the + officers are resolved to fill the gaols and to seize them; by which + this bloody people will know that they [the officers] are not + degenerated from English principles; though I presume we shall be + very tender of hanging any except leading men; yet we shall make no + scruple of sending them to the West Indies, where they will serve + for planters, and help to plant the plantation that General + Venables, it is hoped, hath reduced." + +So examples were made. Mr. Edward Hetherington was hanged in Dublin, on +the 3rd of April, 1655, with placards on his breast and back, on which +were written, "For not transplanting;" and at the summer assizes of +1658, hundreds were condemned to death for the same cause, but were +eventually sent as slaves to Barbadoes. The miseries of those who did +transplant was scarcely less than those of the persons who were +condemned to slavery. Some committed suicide, some went mad, all were +reduced to the direst distress. The nobles of the land were as cruelly +treated and as much distrusted as the poorest peasant. The very men who +had laid down their arms and signed articles of peace at Kilkenny, were +not spared; and the excuse offered was, that the Act of Parliament +overrode the articles. One of the gentlemen thus betrayed was Lord +Trimbleston, and his tomb may still be seen in the ruined Abbey of +Kilconnell, with the epitaph:-- + +"HERE LIES MATHEW, LORD BARON OF TRIMBLESTON, +ONE OF THE TRANSPLANTED." + + +[Illustration: SCULPTURES AT DEVENISH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[483] _Trim_ For an illustration of this castle, see p. 560. + +[484] _Bibles_.--See _The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland_, by John P. +Prendergast, Esq.--a most important work, and one which merits the +careful consideration of all who wish to understand this period of Irish +history, and one of the many causes of Irish disaffection. The scythes +and sickles were to the corn, that the Irish might be starved if they +could not be conquered. + +[485] _Quarter_.--Cromwell says, in his letters, that quarter was not +promised; Leland and Carte say that it was. + +[486] _Tale_.--_Cromwell's Letters and Speeches_, vol. i. p. 456. The +simplicity with which Carlyle attempts to avert the just indignation of +the Irish, by saying that the garrison "consisted mostly of Englishmen," +coupled with his complacent impression that eccentric phrases can excuse +crime, would be almost amusing were it not that he admits himself to be +as cruel as his hero.--vol. i. p. 453. A man who can write thus is past +criticism. If the garrison did consist mainly of Englishmen, what +becomes of the plea, that this barbarity was a just vengeance upon the +Irish for the "massacre." + +[487] _Allowed of_.--_Letters and Speeches_, vol. i. p. 477. + +[488] _Protection_.--Dr. French, the Catholic Bishop of Ferns, has given +an account of the storming of Wexford, in a letter to the Papal Nuncio, +in which he states that the soldiers were not content with simply +murdering their victims, but used "divers sorts of torture." As he was +then in the immediate neighbourhood, he had every opportunity of being +correctly informed. Cromwell must have sanctioned this, if he did not +encourage it. + +[489] _Bribe_.--40,000 golden crowns, and free leave to emigrate where +he chose.--_Hib. Dom._ p. 448. + +[490] _Lamb._.--_Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 16. See also Petty's +_Political Anatomy of Ireland._ + +[491] _Abroad_.--The Prince of Orange declared they were born soldiers. +Sir John Norris said that he "never beheld so few of any country as of +Irish that were idiots or cowards," Henry IV. of France said that Hugh +O'Neill was the third soldier of the age; and declared that no nation +had such resolute martial men.--_Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 22. + +[492] _Sanction_.--See _Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 61, for a specimen +of the "Bible stuff with which they crammed their heads and hardened +their hearts." + +[493] _Day_.--_Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 163. + +[494] _Murder_.--"Whenever any unwary person chanced to pass these +limits he was knocked on the head by the first officer or soldier who +met him. Colonel Astell killed _six women_ in this way."--_Ibid_. p. +164. + +[495] _Hiberniae_.--_The Wail of the Irish Catholics; or, Groans of the +Whole Clergy and People, &c._ By Father Maurice Morison, of the Minors +of Strict Observance, an eyewitness of these cruelties. Insbruck, A.D. +1659. This religious had remained in Ireland, like many of his brethren, +in such complete disguise, that their existence was not even suspected. +In order to minister the more safely to their afflicted people, they +often hired as menials in Protestant families and thus, in a double +sense, became the servants of all men. Father Maurice was in the +household of Colonel Ingolsby, the Parliamentary Governor of Limerick. + +[496] _Prendergast.--Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 34. We can only +recommend this volume to the consideration of our readers. It would be +impossible, in anything less than a volume, to give the different +details which Mr. Prendergast has brought together with so much +judgment, and at the expense of years of research. We might have +selected some cases from his work, but, on the whole, we think it will +be more satisfactory to the reader to peruse it in its entirety. It may +be obtained from our publishers, Messrs. Longmans and Co., +Paternoster-row, London. + +[497] _Rebellious_.--If the subject were not so serious, the way in +which the officials wrote about the feelings of the Irish would almost +provoke a smile. They say: "It is the nature of this people to be +rebellious; and they have been so much the more disposed to it, having +been highly exasperated by the transplanting work." Surely they could +not be expected to be anything else but rebellious and exasperated! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +The Irish transported as Slaves to Barbadoes--The Three Beasts who were +to be hunted: the Wolf, the Priest, and the Tory--Origin and Causes of +Agrarian Outrages--Cases of Individual Wrongs--Lord Roche--Mr. Luttrel +Accession of Charles II.--His Base Conduct towards the Irish +Loyalists--Gross Injustice towards the Irish Catholic Landowners--The +Remonstrance opposed by the Clergy--A Quarrel in the House of Lords The +Popish Plot--Ormonde's Difficulties--Seizure and Imprisonment of the +Archbishop of Dublin--Imprisonment and Execution of the Most Rev. Dr. +Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh. + +[A.D.-1655-1681.] + + +Many of the Irish soldiers who had entered into the service of foreign +princes, were obliged to leave their wives and families behind. When we +recall the number of those who were thus expatriated, it will not seem +surprising that thousands of young children were left utterly destitute. +These boys and girls, however, were easily disposed of by the +Government; and Sir William Petty states, that 6,000 were sent out as +slaves to the West Indies. The Bristol sugar merchants traded in these +human lives, as if they had been so much merchandize; and merchandize, +in truth, they were, for they could be had for a trifle, and they +fetched a high price in the slave-market. Even girls of noble birth were +subjected to this cruel fate. Morison mentions an instance of this kind +which came to his own knowledge. He was present when Daniel Connery, a +gentleman of Clare, was sentenced to banishment, by Colonel Ingoldsby, +for harbouring a priest. Mrs. Connery died of destitution, and three of +his daughters, young and beautiful girls, were transported as slaves to +Barbadoes.[498] + +A court was established for the punishment of "rebels and malignants;" +the former consisting of persons who refused to surrender their houses +and lands, and the latter being those who would not act contrary to +their conscientious convictions in religious matters. These courts were +called "Cromwell's Slaughter-houses." Donnellan, who had acted as +solicitor to the regicides, at the trial of Charles I., held the first +court at Kilkenny, October 4, 1652. Lord Louther held a court in Dublin, +in February, 1653, for the special purpose of trying "all massacres and +murders committed since the 1st day of October, 1641." The inquiries, +however, were solely confined to the accused Catholics; and the result +proved the falsehood of all the idle tales which had been circulated of +their having intended a great massacre of Protestants, for convictions +could only be obtained against 200 persons, and even these were +supported by forged and corrupt evidence.[499] Sir Phelim O'Neill was +the only person convicted in Ulster, and he was offered his life again +and again, and even on the very steps of the scaffold, if he would +consent to criminate Charles I. + +As the majority of the nation had now been disposed of, either by +banishment, transportation, or hanging, the Government had time to turn +their attention to other affairs. The desolation of the country was +such, that the smoke of a fire, or the sign of a habitation, was +considered a rare phenomenon. In consequence of this depopulation, wild +beasts had multiplied on the lands, and three "beasts" were especially +noted for destruction. In the Parliament held at Westminster in 1657, +Major Morgan, member for the county Wicklow, enumerated these beasts +thus: "We have three beasts to destroy that lay burdens upon us. The +first is the wolf, on whom we lay L5 a head if a dog, and L10 if a +bitch. The second beast is a priest, on whose head we lay L10; if he be +eminent, more. The third beast is a Tory, on whose head, if he be a +public Tory, we lay L20; and forty shillings on a private Tory."[500] + +Wolves had increased so rapidly, that the officers who left Ireland for +Spain, in 1652, were forbidden to take their dogs with them, and were +thus deprived of the pleasure and the pride (for Irish dogs were famous) +of this consolation in their exile. Public hunts were ordered, and every +effort made to keep down beasts of prey. But the whole blame was thrown +on the second beast. It was declared solemnly that if there had been no +priests there would have been no wolves.[501] The syllogism ran somewhat +in this fashion:-- + +The Popish priests are the cause of every misery in Ireland; + +The wolves are a misery: + +Therefore the priests are to blame for the existence of the wolves. + +"By a similar process of reasoning," observes Mr. Prendergast, "it is +proved that the Irish have caused the ruin, the plundering, and the +desolation of the country, from the first invasion, for so many ages." +And this is undoubtedly true; for if there had been no Irish, no Irish +could have been plundered; and if there had been no plunder, there could +not have been the misery of the plundered. The number of wolves to be +destroyed may be estimated from the fact, that some lands valued at a +high rate were let for a stipulated number of wolves' heads in lieu of +rent. But the wolves were more easily got rid of than the priests. The +priests were accustomed to be persecuted, and accustomed to be hunted. +They came to Ireland, as a general rule, with the full knowledge that +this would be their fate, and that if they ended their lives, after a +few years' ministration, by hanging, without any extra torture, it was +the best they could hope for, as far as this world was concerned. Some, +however, would have preferred the torture, expecting an additional +recompense for it in the next. But there were parts of the country where +it was incomparably more difficult to hunt out a priest than a wolf; so +the Government gave notice, on the 6th of January, 1653, that all +priests and friars who were willing to transport themselves, should have +liberty to do so for twenty days. But the priests and friars had no idea +of leaving the country. They had gone abroad, at the risk of their +lives, to fit themselves in some of the splendid continental colleges +for their duties, and to obtain authority to administer the sacraments; +they returned, at the risk of their lives, to fulfil their mission; and +they remained, at the risk of their lives, to devote them to their own +people, for whose sakes they had renounced, not only earthly pleasures +and joys, but even that quiet and peaceful life, which, as Christian +priests, they might have had in foreign lands. The people for whom they +suffered were not ungrateful. Poor as they were, none could be found to +take the proffered bribe. Long lists may be found of priests who were +captured and executed, and of the men who received the rewards for their +capture; but you will not see a real Irish name amongst them; you will +perceive that the priest-catchers were principally English soldiers; and +you will remark that the man in whose house the priest was discovered +generally shared his fate. But it was useless. They were hung, they were +tortured, they were transported to Barbadoes, and, finally, such numbers +were captured, that it was feared they would contaminate the very +slaves, and they were confined on the island of Innisboffin, off the +coast of Connemara. Yet more priests came to take the place of those who +were thus removed, and the "hunt" was still continued. + +The number of secular priests who were victims to this persecution +cannot be correctly estimated. The religious orders, who were in the +habit of keeping an accurate chronicle of the entrance and decease of +each member, furnish fuller details. An official record, drawn up in +1656, gives the names of thirty Franciscans who had suffered for the +faith; and this was before the more severe search had commenced. The +martyrdom of a similar number of Dominicans is recorded almost under the +same date; and Dr. Burgat[502] states that more than three hundred of +the clergy were put to death by the sword or on the scaffold, while more +than 1,000 were sent into exile. + +The third "beast" was the Tory. The Tory was the originator of agrarian +outrages in Ireland, or we should rather say, the English planters were +the originators, and the Tories the first perpetrators of the crime. The +Irish could scarcely be expected to have very exalted ideas of the +sanctity and inviolable rights of property, from the way in which they +saw it treated. The English made their will law, and force their +title-deed. The Anglo-Normans dispossessed the native Irish, the +followers of the Tudors dispossessed the Anglo-Normans, and the men of +the Commonwealth dispossessed them all. Still the Celt, peculiarly +tenacious of his traditions, had a very clear memory of his ancient +rights, and could tell you the family who even then represented the +original proprietor, though that proprietor had been dispossessed five +or six hundred years. The ejectments from family holdings had been +carried out on so large a scale, that it can scarcely be a matter of +surprise if some of the ejected resented this treatment. There were +young men who preferred starving in the woods to starving in Connaught; +and after a time they formed into bands in those vast tracts of land +which had been wholly depopulated. The men were desperate. It is +difficult to see how they could have been anything else, when driven to +desperation. They were called robbers; but there was a general confusion +about _meum_ and _tuum_ which they could not understand. Strangers had +taken possession of their cattle, and they did not comprehend why they +should not try to obtain it again in any possible way. Young men, whose +fathers had landed estates of L2,000 a-year, which were quietly divided +amongst Cromwell's Life-Guards, while the proprietor was sent out to +beg, and his daughters compelled to take in washing or do needlework, +could scarcely be expected to take such a change in their circumstances +very calmly. A man who had been transplanted from an estate worth L2,500 +a year near Dublin, which his family had owned for four hundred years, +and whose daughters were given the munificent gratuity of L10 a-piece by +the Council Board, and forbidden for the future to ask for any further +assistance, might certainly plead extenuating circumstances[503] if he +took to highway robbery. Such circumstances as these were common at this +period; and it should be borne in mind that the man whose holding was +worth but L40 a-year felt the injustice, and resented the inhumanity of +his expulsion, quite as much as the nobleman with L4,000. So the Tories +plundered their own property; and, if they could be captured, paid the +penalty with their lives; but, when they were not caught, the whole +district suffered, and some one was made a scapegoat for their crime, +though it did not seem much to matter whether the victim could be +charged with complicity or not. After some years, when even the sons of +the proprietors had become old inhabitants, and the dispossessed +generation had passed away, their children were still called Tories. +They wandered from village to village, or rather from hovel to hovel, +and received hospitality and respect from the descendants of those who +had been tenants on the estates of their forefathers, and who still +called them gentlemen and treated them as such, though they possessed +nothing but the native dignity, which could not be thrown off, and the +old title-deeds, which were utterly worthless, yet not the less +carefully treasured. Yet, these men were condemned by their oppressors +because they did not work for their living, and because they still +remembered their ancient dignity, and resented their ancient wrongs. To +have worked and to have forgotten might have been wiser; but those who +are accustomed to ease are slow to learn labour, even with the best +intentions; and those who had inflicted the wrongs were scarcely the +persons who should have taunted the sufferers with the miseries they had +caused. + +Charles II. commenced his reign _de facto_ in 1660, under the most +favourable auspices. People were weary of a Commonwealth which had +promised so much and performed so little; of the name of liberty without +the reality; of the exercise of kingly power without the appurtenances +or right of majesty. But the new monarch had been educated in a bad +school. Surrounded with all the prestige of royalty without its +responsibilities, and courted most ardently by followers whose only +object was their own future advancement, which they hoped to secure by +present flattery, it is scarcely a matter of surprise that Charles +should have disappointed the hopes of the nation. In England public +affairs were easily settled. Those who had been expelled from their +estates by the Cromwellian faction, drove out[504] by the new +proprietors; but in Ireland the case was very different. Even the +faithful loyalists, who had sacrificed everything for the King, and had +so freely assisted his necessities out of their poverty, were now +treated with contempt, and their claims silenced by proclamation; while +the men who had been most opposed to the royal interest, and most cruel +in their oppression of the natives, were rewarded and admitted into +favour. Coote and Broghill were of this class. Each tried to lessen the +other in opinion of their royal master as they ran the race for favour, +and each boasted of services never accomplished, and of loyalty which +never existed. The two enemies of each other and of the nation were now +appointed Lord Justices of Ireland; and a Parliament was assembled on +the 8th of May, 1661, the first meeting of the kind which had been held +for twenty years. + +The Catholic, or national interest, was certainly not represented; for +there were present seventy-two Protestant peers, and only twenty-one +Catholics; while the House of Commons comprised two hundred and sixty +members, all of whom were burgesses except sixty-four, and the towns had +been so entirely peopled by Cromwell's Puritan followers, that there +could be no doubt what course they would pursue. An attempt was now made +to expel the few Catholics who were present, by requiring them to take +the oath of supremacy. The obsequious Parliament voted L30,000 to the +Duke of Ormonde, whose career of duplicity was crowned with success. It +is almost amusing to read his biographer's account[505] of the favours +bestowed on him, and the laudations he bestows on his master for his +condescension in accepting them. Carte would have us believe that +Ormonde was a victim to his king and his country, and that the immense +sums of money he received did not nearly compensate him for his outlays. +Posterity will scarcely confirm the partiality of the biographer. + +The Bill of Settlement was opposed by the Irish Catholics through their +counsel, but their claims were rejected and treated with contempt. +Charles had told his Parliament, on his restoration, that he expected +they would have a care of his honour and of the promise he had made. +This promise had been explicitly renewed by Ormonde for the King, before +he left for Breda; but the most solemn engagements were so regularly +violated when Irish affairs were concerned, that nothing else could have +been expected. A Court of Claims was at length established, to try the +cases of ejectment which had occurred during the Commonwealth; but this +excited so much indignation and alarm amongst the Protestants, that all +hope of justice was quickly at an end, and the time-serving Ormonde +closed the court. The grand occupation of each new reign, for the last +few centuries, appears to have been to undo what had been done in the +preceding reigns. An Act of Explanation was now passed, and a Protestant +militia raised, to satisfy that party. It was provided by the new Act +that the Protestants were, in the first place, and especially, to be +settled; that any doubt which arose should be decided in their favour; +and that no Papist, who, by the qualifications of the former Act, had +not been adjudged innocent should at any future time be reputed +innocent, or entitled to claim any lands or settlements. It will be +remembered that Ormonde had cut short the sittings of the court to +satisfy Protestant clamour; in consequence of this, more than 8,000 +Catholic claimants were condemned to forfeit their estates, without even +the shadow of an inquiry, but with the pretence of having justice done +to them, or, as Leland has expressed it, "without the justice granted to +the vilest criminal--that of a fair and equal trial."[506] + +Although it would seem to the ordinary observer that the Catholics had +been dealt with severely, the dominant faction were still dissatisfied; +and Ormonde was obliged to threaten a dissolution, and to expel some +members for complicity in a plot to overthrow the English Government, +which had just been discovered, and of which the ringleader was a man +named Blood. It was now ascertained that the Cromwellian distribution of +lands had been carried out with the most shameful injustice towards the +very Government which had sanctioned it; and that the soldiers, who went +with texts of Scripture on their lips, and swords in their hands, to +destroy Popery, had cheated[507] their officers and self-elected rulers +with shameless audacity. + +The famous Remonstrance was drawn up about this time. It was prepared by +Peter Walsh, a Franciscan friar, who was a protege of Ormonde's, and who +devoted more attention to politics than to his religious duties. The +Remonstrance contained expressions which were by no means consonant with +that pure Catholic feeling for which the Irish had been always +remarkable; but it suited the Duke's purpose all the better, and he +induced a considerable number of the nobility, and some of the clergy, +to affix their signatures to it. They were little aware, in giving +expression to the loyalty they so sincerely felt, that they were +supposed to countenance disrespect to the Church which they so deeply +revered. A synod of the Irish bishops and clergy was therefore held in +Dublin, to consider the document, June 11th, 1666. Although +ecclesiastics were then under the penal laws, and liable to suffer at +any moment, Ormonde connived at the meeting, hoping that his ends would +be thereby attained. He has himself left his object on record. It was to +"sow divisions among the clergy;" and Lord Orrery had written to him, +being well aware of his plans, suggesting that this was a fitting time +for their accomplishment. But the clergy were not so easily deceived; +and even the miserable friar has left it on record, that out of 1,850 +ecclesiastics, regular and secular, only sixty-nine signed the +Remonstrance. The synod now prepared another document; and if the +expression of loyalty was all that Ormonde required, he should have been +fully satisfied; but, unfortunately, this was not the case, and he bided +his time to avenge himself bitterly on the men who refused to sacrifice +their conscience to his will. + +During the same year (1660), the Irish sent over a contribution of +15,000 bullocks, to relieve the distress which occurred in London after +the Great Fire. In return for their charity, they were assured that this +was a mere pretence to keep up the cattle trade with England; and +accordingly an Act was passed in which the importation of Irish cattle +was forbidden, and termed a "nuisance," and language was used which, in +the present day, would be considered something like a breach of +privilege. The Duke of Buckingham, whose farming interests were in +England, declared "that none could oppose the Bill, except such as had +Irish estates or Irish understandings." Lord Ossory protested that "such +virulence became none but one of Cromwell's counsellors;" and he being +the eldest of the Duke of Ormonde, and having Irish interests, opposed +it. Several noble lords attempted to draw their swords. Ossory +challenged Buckingham; Buckingham declined the challenge. Ossory was +sent to the Tower; the word "nuisance" remained; some members of the +"Cabal" said it should have been "felony;" and the Irish trade was +crushed. Even the Puritan settlers in Ireland began to rebel at this, +for they, too, had begun to have "Irish interests," and could not quite +see matters relative to that country in the same light as they had done +when at the other side of the Channel. At last they became openly +rebellious. Some soldiers mutinied for arrears of pay, and seized +Carrickfergus Castle--ten of them were executed, and peace was restored; +but the old Cromwellians, both in England and Ireland, gave considerable +anxiety to the Government; and, indeed, it seems marvellous that they +should not have revolted more openly and in greater force. + +So many complaints were made of Ormonde's administration, that he was +now removed for a time. He was succeeded by Lord Berkeley, in May, 1670, +a nobleman whose honest and impartial government earned him the respect +of all who were not interested in upholding a contrary line of conduct. +The Catholics offered him an address, which was signed by two prelates, +who held a prominent position, not only in their Church, but also in the +history of the period; these were Dr. Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, +and Dr. Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin. Colonel Richard Talbot, who was +afterwards created Earl of Tyrconnel by James II., had been, for some +time, the accredited agent of the Irish Catholics at the English court; +he now (A.D. 1671) attempted to obtain some examination into the claims +of those who had been ejected from their estates during the +Commonwealth. After some delay and much opposition, a commission was +appointed; but although the "Popish Plot" had not yet made its +appearance, a wild "no Popery" cry was raised, and the King was obliged +to recall Lord Berkeley, and substitute the Earl of Essex. Even this did +not quiet the storm. On the 9th of March, 1673, an address was presented +to the King by the Commons in England, demanding the persecution of +Papists in Ireland; and the weak monarch, all the more afraid of +appearing to show partiality, because of his apprehension that Popery +might be the true religion, and his still more serious apprehensions +that his people might find out his opinion, at once complied, and even +recalled the Commission of Enquiry. + +In 1677 Ormonde was again appointed Viceroy, and he held the office +during the ensuing seven years, at an advanced age, and a period of +extraordinary political excitement. The "Popish treason" was the first +and the most fearful of these panics. Ormonde was at Kilkenny when he +received the first intimation of the conspiracy, October 3, 1678; but he +had too much knowledge of the world to credit it for a moment. Like +other politicians of that, and indeed of other ages, he was obliged to +keep up his reputation by appearing to believe it in public, while in +private[508] he treated the whole affair with the contempt it merited. +It was soon reported that the plot had extended to Ireland, and +Archbishop Talbot was selected as the first victim. The prelate then +resided with his brother, Colonel Talbot, at Carton, near Maynooth. He +was in a dying state; but although his enemies might well have waited +for his end, he was taken out of his bed, carried to Dublin, and +confined a prisoner in the Castle. He died two years later. "He was the +last distinguished captive destined to end his days in that celebrated +state prison, which has since been generally dedicated to the peaceful +purposes of a reflected royalty."[509] His brother was arrested, but +allowed to go beyond the seas; and a Colonel Peppard was denounced in +England as one of the leading Irish traitors. But the Colonel was quite +as imaginary as the plot. No such person existed, and a _non est +inventis_ was all the return that could be made to the most active +inquiries. There was one illustrious victim, however, who was found, who +was executed, and who was not guilty, even in thought, of the crime of +which he was accused. + +Oliver Plunkett had been Archbishop of Armagh since the death of Dr. +O'Reilly, in 1669. He belonged to the noble family of Fingall; but he +was more respected for his virtues and his office than even for his +rank. He was now accused of being in correspondence with the French; it +was a favourite charge against Catholics at that time, and one which +could be easily brought forward by men who did not mind swearing to a +lie, and not easily disproved by men who could only assert their +innocence. Lord Shaftesbury was the great patron of Titus Oates, the +concocter of the plot, and the perjured murderer of scores of innocent +men. It was a serious disappointment to find that no evidence of a +conspiracy could be found in Ireland. Carte, who certainly cannot be +suspected of the faintest shadow of preference for an Irishman or a +Catholic, says that every effort was made to drive the people into +rebellion. He gives the reason for this, which, from former experience, +one fears must be true. "There were," he says, "too many Protestants in +Ireland who wanted another rebellion, that they might increase their +estates by new forfeitures." "It was proposed to introduce the Test Act +and all the English penal laws into Ireland; and that a proclamation +should be forthwith issued for encouraging all persons that could make +any further discoveries of the horrid Popish plot, to come in and +declare the same." + +Unfortunately for the credit of our common humanity, persons can always +be found who are ready to denounce their fellow-creatures, even when +guiltless, from mere malice. When, to the pleasure of gratifying a +passion, there is added the prospect of a reward, the temptation becomes +irresistible; and if the desire of revenge for an injury, real or +imaginary, be superadded, the temptation becomes overwhelming. In order +to satisfy the clamours of the "no Popery" faction, an order had been +issued, on the 16th of October, 1677, for the expulsion of all +ecclesiastics from Ireland; and a further proclamation was made, +forbidding Papists to enter into the Castle of Dublin, or any fort or +citadel; and so far, indeed, did this childish panic exceed others of +its kind, that orders were sent to the great market-towns, commanding +the markets to be held outside the walls, to prevent the obnoxious +Catholics from entering into the interior. Rewards were offered of L10 +for an officer, L5 for a trooper, and L4 for a soldier, if it could be +proved that he attended Mass; and how many were sworn away by this +bribery it would be difficult to estimate. On the 2nd of December, a +strict search was ordered for the Catholic ecclesiastics who had not yet +transported themselves. Dr. Plunkett had not left the country. At the +first notice of the storm he withdrew, according to the apostolic +example, to a retired situation, where he remained concealed, more in +hope of martyrdom than in fear of apprehension. + +The prelate had never relaxed in his duties towards his flock, and he +continued to fulfil those duties now with equal vigilance. One of the +most important functions of a chief shepherd is to oversee the conduct +of those who govern the flock of Christ under him. There was a Judas in +the college of the Apostles, and many Judases have been found since +then. The Archbishop had been obliged to excommunicate two of his +priests and two friars, who had been denounced by their superiors for +their unworthy lives. The unhappy men resented the degradation, without +repenting of the crimes which had brought it upon them. They were ready +for perjury, for they had renounced truth; and the gratification of +their malice was probably a far stronger motive than the bribe for the +capture of a bishop. The holy prelate was seized on the 6th December, +1679. Even Ormonde wished to have spared him, so inoffensive and +peaceful had been his life. He was arraigned at the Dundalk assizes; but +although every man on the grand jury was a Protestant, from whom, at +least, less partiality might be expected towards him than from members +of his own Church, the perjured witnesses refused to come forward. +Indeed, the prelate himself had such confidence in his innocence, and in +the honorable dealing of his Protestant fellow-countrymen, when their +better judgment was not bewildered by fanaticism, that he declared in +London he would put himself on trial in Ireland before any Protestant +jury who knew him, and who knew the men who swore against him, without +the slightest doubt of the result. + +Jones, the Protestant Bishop of Meath, was, unfortunately for himself, +influenced by fanaticism. He had served in Cromwell's army,[510] and had +all that rancorous hatred of the Catholic Church so characteristic of +the low class from whom the Puritan soldiery were drawn. He was +determined that the Archbishop should be condemned; and as men could not +be found to condemn him in Ireland, he induced Lord Shaftesbury to have +him taken to London. The Archbishop was removed to Newgate, about the +close of October, 1680, and so closely confined, that none of his +friends could have access to him. He spent his time in prayer, and his +gaolers were amazed at his cheerfulness and resignation. His trial took +place on the 8th of June, 1681; but he was not allowed time to procure +the necessary witnesses, and the court would not allow certain records +to be put in, which would have proved the character of his accusers. Six +of the most eminent English lawyers were arrayed against him. The legal +arrangements of the times deprived him of the assistance of counsel, but +they did not require the judges to help out the men who swore against +him: this, however, they did do. + +The prelate was condemned to die. The speech of the judge who pronounced +sentence was not distinguished by any very special forensic acumen. Dr. +Plunkett had been charged by the witnesses with political crimes; the +judge sentenced[511] him for his religious convictions; and, by a +process of reasoning not altogether peculiar to himself, insisted that +his supposed treason was a necessary result of the faith he professed. +The Archbishop suffered at Tyburn, on Friday, July 11, 1681. He went to +his death rejoicing, as men go to a bridal. His dying declaration +convinced his hearers of his innocence; and, perhaps, the deep regret +for his martyrdom, which was felt by all but the wretches who had +procured his doom, tended to still the wild storm of religious +persecution, or, at least, to make men see that where conscience was +dearer than life, conscientious convictions should be respected. It is +at least certain, that his name was the last on the long roll of +sufferers who had been executed at Tyburn for the faith. Blood was no +longer exacted there as the price which men should pay for liberty of +belief. It were well had that liberty been allowed by men to their +fellow-men in after years, without fines or confiscations--without those +social penalties, which, to a refined and sensitive mind, have in them +the bitterness of death, without the consolations of martyrdom. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT PITCHER, FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE R.I.A., FOUND +IN A CRANNOGE, AT LOUGH TAUGHAN, LECALE, CO. DOWN.] + +[Illustration: OLDERFLEET CASTLE, LARNE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[498] _Barbadoes_.--_Threnodia Hib._ p. 287. + +[499] _Evidence_.--In a work written expressly to excite feeling in +England against the Irish, it is stated that they [the Irish] failed in +the massacre.--See _Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 5, for further evidence. + +[500] _Tory.--Cromwellian Settlement_, p. 150. + +[501] _No wolves_--Declaration printed at Cork, 1650. + +[502] _Dr. Burgat.--Brevis Relatio_. Presented to the Sacred +Congregation in 1667. Dr. Moran's little work, _Persecution of the Irish +Catholics_, gives ample details on this subject; and every statement is +carefully verified, and the authority given for it. + +[503] _Circumstances_.--Lord Roche and his daughters were compelled to +go on foot to Connaught, and his property was divided amongst the +English soldiers. His wife, the Viscountess Roche, was hanged without a +shadow of evidence that she had committed the crime of which she was +accused. Alderman Roche's daughters had nothing to live on but their own +earnings by washing and needlework; and Mr. Luttrell, the last case +mentioned above, was allowed as a favour to occupy his _own stables_ +while preparing to transplant. + +[504] _Drove out_.--Carte's _Ormonde_, vol ii. p. 398. + +[505] _Accounts_--Carte's _Ormonde_, vol. ii. pp. 398, 399. He considers +all "bounties" to him as mere acts of justice. + +[506] _Trial_.--Chief Justice Nugent, afterwards Lord Riverston, in a +letter, dated Dublin, June 23rd, 1686, and preserved in the State Paper +Office, London, says: "There are 5,000 in this kingdom who were never +outlawed." + +[507] _Cheated_.--Books were found in the office of the surveyor for the +county Tipperary alone, in which only 50,000 acres were returned as +unprofitable, and the adventurers had returned 245,207.--Carte's +_Ormonde_, vol. ii. p. 307. "These soldiers," says Carte, "were for the +most part Anabaptists, Independents, and Levellers." Equal roguery was +discovered in other places. + +[508] _Private_.--For full information on this subject, see Carte's +_Ormonde_, vol. ii. pp. 476-482. I will give one extract to verify the +statement above. "The Duke of Ormonde had, in truth, difficulties enough +to struggle with in the government of Ireland, to preserve that kingdom +in peace, and yet to give those who wished to imbroil it no handle of +exception to the measures he took for that end."--vol. ii. p. 477. + +[509] _Royalty_.--D'Arcy M'Gee's _History of Ireland_, vol ii p. 560. + +[510] _Army_.--Carte says "he was Scout-Master-General."--_Ormonde_, +vol. ii. p. 473. + +[511] _Sentenced_.--See Dr. Moran's _Memoir of the Most Rev. Dr. +Plunkett_. This interesting work affords full details of the character +of the witnesses, the nature of the trial, and the Bishop's saintly end. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +Glimpses of Social Life in the Seventeenth Century--Literature and +Literary Men--Keating--the Four Masters--Colgan--Ward--Usher--Ware-- +Lynch--Trade--Commerce depressed by the English--Fairs--Waterford +Rugs--Exportation of Cattle forbidden--State of Trade in the Principal +Towns--Population--Numbers employed in different Trades--Learned +Professions--Physicians--Establishment of their College in +Dublin--Shopkeepers--Booksellers--Coffee-houses--Clubs--Newspapers-- +Fashionable Churches--Post-houses and Post-offices established-- +Custom-house--Exchange--Amusements--Plays at the Castle--The First +Theatre set up in Werburgh-street--Domestics Manners and Dress-- +Food-A Country Dinner Party in Ulster. + +[A.D. 1600-1700.] + + +Notwithstanding the persecutions to which the Irish had been subjected +for so many centuries, they preserved their love of literature, and the +cultivated tastes for which the Celt has been distinguished in all ages. +Indeed, if this taste had not existed, the people would have sunk into +the most degraded barbarism; for education was absolutely forbidden, and +the object of the governing powers seems to have been to reduce the +nation, both intellectually and morally, as thoroughly as possible. In +such times, and under such circumstances, it is not a little remarkable +to find men devoting themselves to literature with all the zest of a +freshman anticipating collegiate distinctions, while surrounded by +difficulties which would certainly have dismayed, if they did not +altogether crush, the intellects of the present age. I have already of +the mass of untranslated national literature existing country and in +continental libraries. These treasures of mental labour are by no means +confined to one period of our history; but it could scarcely be expected +that metaphysical studies or the fine arts could flourish at a period +when men's minds were more occupied with the philosophy of war than with +the science of Descartes, and were more inclined to patronize a new +invention in the art of gunnery, than the _chef d'oeuvre_ of a limner or +sculptor. The Irish language was the general medium of conversation in +this century. No amount of Acts of Parliament had been able to repress +its use, and even the higher classes of English settlers appear to have +adopted it by preference. Military proclamations were issued in this +language;[512] or if the Saxon tongue were used, it was translated for +the general benefit into the vernacular. During the Commonwealth, +however, the English tongue made some way; and it is remarkable that the +English-speaking Irish of the lower classes, in the present day, have +preserved the idioms and the accentuation used about this period. Many +of the expressions which provoke the mirth of the modern Englishman, and +which he considers an evidence of the vulgarity of the uneducated Irish, +may be found in the works of his countrymen, of which he is most justly +proud. + +The language of Cromwell's officers and men, from whom the Celt had such +abundant opportunities of learning English, was (less the cant of +Puritanism) the language of Shakspeare, of Raleigh, and of Spenser. The +conservative tendencies of the Hibernian preserved the dialect intact, +while causes, too numerous for present detail, so modified it across the +Channel, that each succeeding century condemned as vulgarism what had +been the highest fashion with their predecessors. Even as Homeric +expressions lingered for centuries after the blind bard's obit had been +on record, so the expressions of Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakspeare, may +still be discovered in provincial dialects in many parts of the British +Isles. I do not intend to quote _Tate and Brady_ as models of +versification and of syntax; but if the best poets of the age did not +receive the commission to translate the Psalms into verse, it was a poor +compliment to religion. We find the pronunciation of their rhymes +corresponding with the very pronunciation which is now condemned as +peculiarly Irish. Newton also rhymes _way_ and _sea_, while one can +scarcely read a page of Pope[513] without finding examples of +pronunciation now supposed to be pure Hibernicism. In the Authorized +Protestant version of the Bible, _learn_ is used in the sense of _to +teach_, precisely as it is used in Ireland at the present day: "If thy +children shall keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall _learn_ +them" and their use of the term _forninst_ is undoubtedly derived from +an English source, for we find it in Fairfax's _Tasso_.[514] + +History and theology were the two great studies of the middle ages, and +to these subjects we find the _literati_ of Ireland directing special +attention. The importance and value of Latin as a medium of literary +intercommunication, had been perceived from an early period: hence that +language was most frequently employed by Irish writers after it had +become known in the country. It is unquestionably a national credit, +that no amount of suffering, whether inflicted for religious or +political opinions, deprived the Irish of historians.[515] Some of their +works were certainly compiled under the most disadvantageous +circumstances. + +None of the writers whom we shall presently enumerate, worked for hope +of gain, or from any other motive save that of the purest patriotism. +Keating, whose merits are becoming more and more recognized since modern +research has removed Celtic traditions from the region of fable to the +tableland of possibility, wrote his _History_ principally in the Galtee +Mountains, where he had taken refuge from the vengeance of Carew,[516] +Lord President of Munster. Although he had received a high education in +the famous College of Salamanca, for the sake of his people he preferred +suffering persecution, and, if God willed it, death, to the peaceful +life of literary quiet which he might have enjoyed there. He wrote in +his mother-tongue, although master of many languages; and in consequence +of this choice his work remained in MS. for many years. When it came to +light, those who were ignorant of the MS. materials of ancient Irish +history, were pleased to suppose that he had invented a considerable +portion, and supplied the remainder from the _viva voce_ traditions of +the country people. Unfortunately, he was not sufficiently master of the +science of criticism to give the authorities which he had used so +carefully, and to prove their value and authenticity. But truth has at +length triumphed. Several of the works from which he has quoted have +been discovered; and it has been shown that, wild as some of his legends +may read in the garb in which he has given them, there is proof that +important facts underlie the structure, though it has been somewhat +overembellished by a redundant fancy. + +[Illustration: TUBRID CHURCHYARD--BURIAL-PLACE OF THE HISTORIAN +KEATING.] + +Keating was also a poet. Many of his pieces are still well known and +highly popular in Munster, and copies of nearly all of them are +preserved by the Royal Irish Academy. One of his ballads has been +"coaxed" into verse by D'Arcy M'Gee, in his _Gallery of Irish Writers_. +It is entitled "Thoughts on Innisfail." I shall give one verse as a +specimen, and as an illustration of the popular feelings of the time: + + "And the mighty of Naas are mighty no more, + Like the thunders that boomed 'mid the banners of yore; + And the wrath-ripened fields, 'twas they who could reap them; + Till they trusted the forsworn, no foe could defeat them." + +[Illustration: INSCRIPTION IN HONOUR OF KEATING.] + +The poet-priest must have died at an advanced age, though the precise +date of his demise has not been ascertained. He has also left some +religious works; and his "Shaft of Death" is well known and much admired +both by divines and Celtic scholars.[517] + +O'Sullivan Beare's history is too well known to require more than a +passing mention. It was said that he wrote as fiercely as he fought. +Archbishop Usher, with whom he had many a literary feud, appears to have +been of this opinion; for, after having described O'Sullivan as an +"egregious liar," he was so sensitive to any counter abuse he might +receive in return, that he carefully cut out every disparaging epithet +which the historian used from the copy of his reply, which at present +lies, with Usher's other works, in the Library of Trinity College, +Dublin. + +The Four Masters are included amongst the Irish writers of this century, +but I have already given ample details of their labours. The _Acta +Sanctorum_ of Colgan, and Ward's literary efforts in a foreign land for +his country, are beyond all praise. Usher and Ware were also amongst the +giants of these days; and, considering the state of political and +religious excitement amongst which they lived and wrote, it is +incomparably marvellous that they should not have dipped their pens +still deeper into the gall of controversy and prejudice. Usher was one +of the _Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores_, for his family came to Ireland with +King John; but he admired and wrote Celtic history with the enthusiasm +of a Celt, and he gathered materials for other men's work with patient +industry, however he may have allowed party spirit to influence and warp +his own judgment in their use. Usher was Ware's most ardent patron. +Habits of indefatigable research did for him, in some degree, what +natural genius has done for others. Nor was he slow to recognize or +avail himself of native talent; and there can be no doubt, if he had +lived a few years longer after his acquaintance with MacFirbis, that +Irish literature would have benefited considerably by the united efforts +of the man of power, who was devoted to learning, and the man of gifts, +who had the abilities which neither position nor wealth can purchase. +John Lynch, the Bishop of Killala, and the indefatigable and successful +impugner of Cambrensis, was another literary luminary of the age. His +career is a fair sample of the extraordinary difficulties experienced by +the Irish in their attempts to cultivate intellectual pursuits, and of +their undaunted courage in attaining their end. Usher has himself +recorded his visit to Galway, where found Lynch, then a mere youth, +teaching a school of humanity (A.D. 1622). "We had proofe," he says, +"during our continuance in that citie, how his schollars profitted under +him, by the verses and orations which they brought us."[518] Usher then +relates how he seriously advised the young schoolmaster to conform to +the popular religion; but, as Lynch declined to comply with his wishes, +he was bound over, under sureties of L400 sterling, to "forbear +teaching." The tree of knowledge was, in truth, forbidden fruit, and +guarded sedulously by the fiery sword of the law. I cannot do more than +name a few of the other distinguished men of this century. There was +Florence Conry, Archbishop of Tuam, and founder of the Irish College of +Louvain. He was one of the first to suggest and to carry out the idea of +supplying Irish youth with the means of education on the Continent, +which they were denied at home. It is a fact, unexampled in the history +of nations, that a whole race should have been thus denied the means of +acquiring even the elements of learning, and equally unexampled is the +zeal with which the nation sought to procure abroad the advantages from +which they were so cruelly debarred at home. At Louvain some of the most +distinguished Irish scholars were educated. An Irish press was +established within its halls, which was kept constantly employed, and +whence proceeded some of the most valuable works of the age, as well as +a scarcely less important literature for the people, in the form of +short treatises on religion or history. Colleges were also established +at Douay, Lisle, Antwerp, Tournay, and St. Omers, principally through +the exertions of Christopher Cusack, a learned priest of the diocese of +Meath. Cardinal Ximenes founded an Irish College at Lisbon, and Cardinal +Henriquez founded a similar establishment at Evora. It is a remarkable +evidence of the value which has always been set on learning by the +Catholic Church, that even in times of persecution, when literary +culture demanded such sacrifices, she would not admit uneducated persons +to the priesthood. The position which the proscribed Catholic priesthood +held in Ireland at this period, compared with that which the favoured +clergy of the Established Church held in England, is curious and +significant. Macaulay says of the latter: "A young levite--such was the +phrase then in use--might be had for his board, a small garret, and ten +pounds a year; and might not only perform his own professional +functions, but might also save the expenses of a gardener or a groom. +Sometimes the reverend man nailed up the apricots, and sometimes he +curried the coach-horses. He cast up the farrier's bills. He walked ten +miles with a message or a parcel. He was permitted to dine with the +family, but he was expected to content himself with the plainest +fare--till he was summoned to return thanks for the repast, from a great +part of which he had been excluded."[519] + +In Ireland there were few learned men in the Established Church, and +even Usher seems to have been painfully indifferent to the necessity of +superior education, as well as regular ordination, for his clergy. In +1623 Dr. Blair was invited to Ireland by Lord Clannaboy, to take the +living of Bangor, vacated by the death of the Rev. John Gibson, "sence +Reformacione from Popary the first Deane of Down." Dr. Blair objected +both to episcopal government and to use the English Liturgy; yet he +"procured a free and safe entry to the holy ministry," which, according +to his own account, was accomplished thus. His patron, Lord Clannaboy, +informed "the Bishop Echlin how opposite I was to episcopacy and their +liturgy, and had the influence to procure my admission on easy and +honorable terms." At his interview with the Bishop, it was arranged that +Dr. Blair was to receive ordination from Mr. Cunningham and the +neighbouring clergy, and the Bishop was "to come in among them in no +other relation than a presbyter." These are the Bishop's own words; and +his reason for ordaining at all was: "I must ordain you, else neither I +nor you can answer the law nor brook the land." In 1627 Blair had an +interview with Archbishop Usher, and he says "they were not so far from +agreeing as he feared." "He admitted that all those things [episcopacy +and a form of prayer] ought to have been removed, but the constitution +and laws of the place and time would not permit that to be done." A few +years later Mr. John Livingstone thus relates his experience on similar +subjects. He had been appointed also by Lord Clannaboy to the parish of +Killinchy; and, "because it was needful that he should be ordained to +the ministry, and the Bishop of Down, in whose diocese Killinchy was, +being a corrupt and timorous man, and would require some engagement, +therefore my Lord Clannaboy sent some with me, and wrote to Mr. Andrew +Knox, Bishop of Raphoe, who told me he knew my errand, and that I came +to him because I had scruples against episcopacy and ceremonies, +according as Mr. Josiah Welsh and some others had done before; and that +he thought his old age was prolonged for little other purpose than to +perform such ceremonies." It was then arranged that he should be +ordained as Dr. Blair and others had been. The Bishop gave him the book +of ordination, and said, "though he durst not answer it to the State," +that he might draw a line over anything he did not approve of, and that +it should not be read. "But," concludes Mr. Livingstone, "I found that +it had been so marked by some others before, that I needed not mark +anything; so the Lord was pleased to carry that business far beyond +anything that I have thought, or almost ever desired."[520] + +Such facts as these were well known to the people; and we can scarcely +be surprised that they increased their reverence for the old clergy, who +made such sacrifices for the attainment of the learning necessary for +their ministry, and who could not minister, even if they would, without +having received the office and authority of a priest by the sacrament of +orders. + +But literary efforts in Ireland were not confined to the clergy; +O'Flaherty and MacFirbis devoted themselves with equal zeal to the +dissemination and preservation of knowledge; and we envy not the man who +can read without emotion the gentle complaint of the former, in his +_Ogygia_: "I live a banished man within the bounds of my native soil--a +spectator of others enriched by my birthright." And again: "The Lord +hath wonderfully recalled the royal heir to his kingdom, with the +applause of all good men; but He hath not found me worthy to be restored +to the kingdom of my cottage. Against Thee, O Lord, have I sinned: may +the Lord be blessed for ever!" + +The customs and dress of the upper classes in Ireland were probably much +the same as those of a similar rank in England.[521] Commerce was so +constantly restricted by English jealousy, that it had few opportunities +of development. In a curious old poem, called the _Libel of English +Policie_, the object of which was to impress on the English the +necessity of keeping all trade and commerce in their own hands, we find +Irish exports thus enumerated:-- + + "Hides and fish, salmon, hake, herring, + Irish wool and linen cloth, falding + And masternes good be her marchandie; + Hertes, birds, and others of venerie, + Skins of otter, squirrel and Irish hare, + Of sheep, lambe, and fore is her chaffere, + Felles of kids, and conies great plentie." + +It will be observed that this list contains only the natural produce of +the country; and had any attempt been made to introduce or encourage +manufactures, some mention would have been made of them. The silver and +gold mines of the country are alluded to further on, and the writer very +sensibly observes, that if "we [the English] had the peace and good-will +of the wild Irish, the metal might be worked to our advantage." In the +sixteenth century the Irish sent raw and tanned hides, furs, and +woollens to Antwerp,[522] taking in exchange sugar, spices, and mercery. +The trade with France and Spain for wines was very considerable; fish +was the commodity exchanged for this luxury; and even in 1553, Philip +II. of Spain paid[523] L1,000 yearly--a large sum for that period--to +obtain liberty for his subjects to fish upon the north coast of Ireland. +Stafford, in speaking of the capture of Dunboy Castle, says that +O'Sullivan made L500 a-year by the duties which were paid to him by +foreign fishermen, "although the duties they paid were very +little."[524] + +Stanihurst has described a fair in Dublin, and another in Waterford, +where he says the wares were "dog-cheap." These fairs continued for six +days, and merchants came to them from Flanders and France, as well as +from England. He gives the Waterford people the palm for commerce, +declares they are "addicted to thieving," that they distil the best +_aqua vitae_, and spin the choicest rugs in Ireland. A friend of his, who +took a fancy to one of these "choice rugs," being "demurrant in London, +and the weather, by reason of a hard hoar frost, being somewhat nipping, +repaired to Paris Garden, clad in one of the Waterford rugs. The +mastiffs had no sooner espied him, but deeming he had been a bear, would +fain have baited him; and were it not that the dogs were partly muzzled +and partly chained, he doubted not he should have been well tugged in +this Irish rug." + +After the plantation of Ulster, Irish commerce was allowed to flourish +for a while; the revenue of the crown doubled; and statesmen should have +been convinced that an unselfish policy was the best for both countries. +But there will always be persons whose private interests clash with the +public good, and who have influence enough to secure their own advantage +at the expense of the multitude. Curiously enough, the temporary +prosperity of Ireland was made a reason for forbidding the exports which +had produced it. A declaration was issued by the English Government in +1637, which expressly states this, and places every possible bar to its +continuance. The Cromwellian settlement, however, acted more effectually +than any amount of prohibitions or Acts of Parliament, and trade was +entirely ruined by it for a time. When it again revived, and live cattle +began to be exported in quantities to England, the exportation was +strictly forbidden. The Duke of Ormonde, who possessed immense tracts of +land in Ireland, presented a petition, with his own hands, against the +obnoxious measure, and cleverly concluded it with the very words used by +Charles himself, in the declaration for the settlement of Ireland at the +Restoration, trusting that his Majesty "would not suffer his good +subjects to weep in one kingdom when they rejoiced in another." Charles, +however, wanted money; so Ireland had to wait for justice. A vote, +granting him L120,000, settled the matter; and though for a time cattle +were smuggled into England, the Bill introduced after the great fire of +London, which we have mentioned in the last chapter, settled the matter +definitively. The Irish question eventually merged into an unseemly +squabble about prerogative, but Charles was determined "never to kiss +the block on which his father lost his head."[525] He overlooked the +affront, and accepted the Bill, "nuisance" and all. One favour, however, +was granted to the Irish; they were graciously permitted to send +contributions of cattle to the distressed Londoners in the form of +salted beef. The importation of mutton, lamb, butter, and cheese, were +forbidden by subsequent Acts, and salted beef, mutton, and pork were not +allowed to be exported from Ireland to England until the general dearth +of 1757. + +The commercial status of the principal Irish towns at this period (A.D. +1669), is thus given by Mr. Bonnell, the head collector of Irish customs +in Dublin: "Comparing together the proceeds of the duties for the six +years ending December, 1669, received from the several ports of Ireland, +they may be thus ranked according to their worth respectively, expressed +in whole numbers, without fractions, for more clearness of +apprehension:---- + +"Rate. Ports. Proportion Rate. Ports Proportion + per cent. per cent. + 1 Dublin 40 { Drogheda 3 + 2 Cork 10 5 { Londonderry 3 + { Waterford 7 { Carrickfergus 3 + 3 { Galway 7 { Ross 1 + { Limerick 5 { Wexford 1 + 4 { Kinsale 5 6 { Dundalk 1 + { Youghal 5 { Baltimore 1 + { Sligo 1" + +"Killybeg, Dungarvan, Donaghadee, Strangford, Coleraine, and Dingle, are +mentioned as "under rate." + +The linen trade had been encouraged, and, indeed, mainly established in +Ireland, by the Duke of Ormonde. An English writer[526] says that +200,000 pounds of yarn were sent annually to Manchester, a supply which +seemed immense in that age; and yet, in the present day, would hardly +keep the hands employed for forty-eight hours. A political economist of +the age gives the "unsettledness of the country" as the first of a +series of reasons why trade did not flourish in Ireland, and, amongst +other remedies, suggests sumptuary laws and a tax upon celibacy, the +latter to weigh quite equally on each sex.[527] Sir William Petty does +not mention the trade but he does mention the enormous amount of +tobacco[528] consumed by the natives. It is still a disputed question +whether the so-called "Danes' pipes," of which I give an illustration, +were made before the introduction of tobacco by Sir Walter Raleigh, or +whether any other narcotizing indigenous plant may have been used. Until +one, at least, of these pipes shall have been found in a position which +will indicate that they must have been left there at an earlier period +than the Elizabethan age, the presumption remains in favour of their +modern use. + +[Illustration: "DANES' PIPES," FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE R.I.A.] + +I shall now give some brief account of the domestic life of our +ancestors 200 years ago, and of the general state of society, both in +the upper and lower classes. Petty estimates the population of Ireland +at 1,100,000, or 200,000 families. Of the latter he states that 160,000 +have no fixed hearths; these, of course, were the very poorest class, +who lived then, as now, in those mud hovels, which are the astonishment +and reprobation of foreign tourists. There were 24,000 families who had +"one chimney," and 16,000 who had more than one. The average number +appears to be four. Dublin Castle had 125, and the Earl of Heath's +house, twenty-seven. There were, however, 164 houses in Dublin which had +more than ten. + +Rearing and tending cattle was the principal employment of the people, +as, indeed, it always has been. There were, he estimates, 150,000 +employed in this way, and 100,000 in agriculture. "Tailors and their +wives" are the next highest figure--45,000. Smiths and apprentices, +shoemakers and apprentices, are given at the same figure--22,500. +Millers and their wives only numbered 1,000, and the fishery trade the +same. The woolworkers and their wives, 30,000; but the number of +alehouse-keepers is almost incredible. In Dublin, where there were only +4,000 families, there was, at one time, 1,180 alehouses and ninety-one +public brewhouses. The proportion was equally great throughout the +country; and if we may judge from the Table of Exports from Belfast +before-mentioned, the manufacture was principally for home consumption, +as the returns only mention three barrels of beer to Scotland, 124 ditto +to the Colonies, 147 to France and Flanders, nineteen to Holland, and +forty-five to Spain and the Mediterranean. There are considerable +imports of brandy and wines, but no imports of beer. We find, however, +that "Chester ale" was appreciated by the faculty as a medicament, for +Sir Patrick Dun, who was physician to the army during the wars of 1688, +sent two dozen bottles of Chester ale, as part of his prescription, to +General Ginkles, Secretary-at-War, in the camp at Connaught, in 1691. He +added two dozen of the best claret, and at the same time sent a "lesser +box," in which there was a dozen and a-half potted chickens in an +earthen pot, and in another pot "foure green geese." "This," writes the +doctor, "is the physic I advise you to take; I hope it will not be +nauseous or disagreeable to your stomach-a little of it upon a +march."[529] It is to be supposed such prescriptions did not diminish +the doctor's fame, and that they were appreciated as they deserved. + +A century previous (A.D. 1566), Thomas Smyth seems to have been the +principal, if not the only English practitioner in Dublin; and although +he sold his drugs with his advice, his business did not pay. However, +Thomas was "consoled" and "comforted," and "induced to remain in the +country," by the united persuasions of the Lord Deputy, the Counsellors +of State, and the whole army. The consolation was administered in the +form of a concordat, dated April 25th, 1566, by which an annual stipend +was settled on him, the whole army agreeing to give him one day's pay, +and every Counsellor of State twenty shillings, "by reason of his long +contynuance here, and his often and chardgeable provision of druggs and +other apothecarie wares, which have, from tyme to tyme, layen and +remained in manner for the most part unuttered; for the greater part of +this contray folke ar wonted to use the mynisterie of their leeches and +such lyke, and neglecting the apothecarie's science, the said Thomas +thereby hath been greatly hyndered, and in manner enforced to abandon +that his faculty."[530] It was only natural that the English settler +should distrust the _leeche_ who gathered his medicines on the hillside +by moonlight, "who invoked the fairies and consulted witches;" and it +was equally natural that the native should distrust the Saxon, who could +kill or cure with those magical little powders and pills, so +suspiciously small, so entirely unlike the traditionary medicants of the +country. In a list still preserved of the medicines supplied for the use +of Cromwell's army, we may judge of the "medicants" used in the +seventeenth century. They must have been very agreeable, for the +allowance of sugar, powder and loaf, of "candie," white and brown, of +sweet almonds and almond cakes, preponderates wonderfully over the +"rubarcke, sarsaparill, and aloes."[531] Mr. Richard Chatham was +Apothecary-General, and had his drugs duty free by an order, dated at +"ye new Customs' House, Dublin, ye 24th of June, 1659." + +Dr. William Bedell was the first who suggested the foundation of a +College of Physicians. On the 15th of April, 1628, he wrote to Usher +thus: "I suppose it hath been an error all this while to neglect the +faculties of law and physic, and attend only to the ordering of one poor +college of divines." In 1637 a Regius Professor of Physic was nominated. +In 1654 Dr. John Stearne was appointed President of Trinity Hall, which +was at this time set apart "for the sole and proper use of physicians;" +and, in 1667, the physicians received their first charter from Charles +II. The new corporation obtained the title of "The President and College +of Physicians." It consisted of fourteen Fellows, including the +President, Dr. Stearne. Stearne was a grand-nephew of Archbishop Usher, +and was born in his house at Ardbraccan, county Meath. He was a man of +profound learning; and although he appears to have been more devoted to +scholastic studies than to physic, the medical profession in Ireland may +well claim him as an ornament and a benefactor to their faculty. The +College of Physicians was without a President from 1657 until 1690, when +Sir Patrick Dun was elected. The cause of this was the unfortunate +illiberality of the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, who refused +to confirm the election of Dr. Crosby, simply because he was a Roman +Catholic. In 1692 the College received a new charter and more extended +privileges; and these, with certain Acts of Parliament, form its present +constitution. + +In medieval cities the castle was the centre round which the town +extended itself. Dublin was no exception to this rule, and in this +century we find High-street and Castle-street the fashionable resorts. +The nobility came thither for society, the tradesmen for protection. +Castle-street appears to have been the favourite haunt of the +bookselling fraternity, and Eliphud Dobson (his name speaks for his +religious views) was the most wealthy bookseller and publisher of his +day. His house was called the Stationers' Arms, which flourished in the +reign of James II. The Commonwealth was arbitrary in its requirements, +and commanded that the printer (there was then only one) should submit +any works he printed to the Clerk of the Council, to receive his +_imprimatur_ before publishing the same. The Williamites were equally +tyrannical, for Malone was dismissed by them from the office of State +Printer, and tried in the Queen's Bench, with John Dowling, in 1707, for +publishing "A Manuall of Devout Prayers," for the use of Roman +Catholics.[532] + +There were also a great number of taverns and coffee-houses in this +street; the most noted was the Rose Tavern, which stood nearly opposite +to the present Castle steps. Swift alludes to this in the verses which +he wrote on his own death, in 1731:-- + + "Suppose me dead; and then suppose + A club assembled at the _Rose."_ + +Political clubs, lawyers' clubs, and benevolent clubs, all assembled +here; and the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick had their annual dinner +at the _Rose_, at the primitive hour of four o'clock, annually, on the +17th of March, having first transacted business and heard a sermon at +St. Patrick's. + +The first Dublin newspaper was published in this century, by Robert +Thornton, bookseller, at the sign of the Leather Bottle, in +Skinner's-row, A.D. 1685. It consisted of a single leaf of small folio +size, printed on both sides, and written in the form of a letter, each +number being dated, and commencing with the word "sir." The fashionable +church was St. Michael's in High-street. It is described, in 1630, as +"in good reparacion; and although most of the parishioners were +recusants, it was commonly full of Protestants, who resorted thither +every Sunday to hear divine service and sermon." This church had been +erected originally for Catholic worship. Meanwhile the priests were +obliged to say Mass wherever they could best conceal themselves; and in +the reign of James I. their services were solemnized in certain back +rooms in the houses of Nicholas Quietrot, Carye, and the Widow O'Hagan, +in High-street.[533] Amongst the fashionables who lived in this locality +we find the Countess of Roscommon, Sir P. Wemys, Sir Thady Duff, and +Mark Quin, the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1667. Here, too, was established +the first Dublin post-house, for which the nation appears to have been +indebted indirectly to Shane O'Neill, of whose proceedings her Majesty +Queen Elizabeth was anxious to be cognizant with as little delay as +possible. In 1656, it having been found that the horses of the military, +to whom postal communications had been confided previously, were "much +wearied, and his Highness' affayres much prejudiced for want of a +post-office to carry publique letters," Evan Vaughan was employed to +arrange postal communications, and was made Deputy Postmaster. Major +Swift was the Postmaster at Holyhead, and he was allowed L100 a-year for +the maintenance of four boatmen, added to the packet boats, at the rate +of _8d_. per diem and 18s. per month for wages. Post-houses were +established in the principal towns in Ireland about the year 1670, by +means of which, for 8_d_. or 12_d_., letters could be conveyed, twice a +week, to the "remotest parts of Ireland," and which afforded "the +conveniency of keeping good correspondence." + +The Dublin Philosophical Society held their first meetings on Cork-hill, +at the close of this century, and it is evident that there were many men +in that age who had more than ordinary zeal for scientific research. Dr. +Mullen has left a detailed account of the difficulties under which he +dissected an elephant, which had been burned to death in the booth where +it was kept for exhibition on the 17th June, 1682. According to Haller, +oculists are indebted to him for some important discoveries connected +with the organs of vision.[534] + +The old Custom-house stood on the site of houses now comprised in that +part of Dublin known as Wellington-quay. Here a locality was selected, +in the reign of James I., for the purpose of "erecting cranes and making +wharves." This street, now so busy and populous, was then in the +suburbs, and is described in the lease, A.D. 1620, as "a certain parcel +of ground, lying in or near Dame-street, street, in the suburbs of the +city of Dublin." A new Custom-house was erected about the period of the +Restoration, with the addition of a council-chamber, where the Privy +Council and Committees of the House of Commons were accustomed to +assemble. By an order of the Privy Council, 19th September, 1662, the +Custom-house-quay was appointed the sole place for landing and lading +the exports and imports of the city of Dublin. In 1683 the public +Exchange of Dublin was transferred from Cork House to the Tholsel, a +building erected early in the reign of Edward II., and described by +Camden as built of hewn stone. Here the Mayor was elected on Michaelmas +Day, and the citizens held their public meetings. A clock was set up in +1560, no doubt very much to the admiration of the citizens. A new +Tholsel or City Hall was erected in 1683, on the same site, and there +was a "'Change," where merchants met every day, as in the Royal Exchange +in London. Public dinners were given here also with great magnificence; +but from the marshy nature of the ground on which the building had been +set up, it fell to decay in 1797, and a new Sessions-house was erected +in Greenstreet. + +Nor did the good people of Dublin neglect to provide for their +amusements. Private theatricals were performed in the Castle at the +latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, if not earlier. The sum of +one-and-twenty shillings and two groats was expended on wax tapers for +the play of "Gorbodne," "done at the Castle," in September, 1601. +Miracle and mystery plays were enacted as early as 1528, when the Lord +Deputy was "invited to a new play every day in Christmas;" where the +Tailors acted the part of Adam and Eve, it is to be supposed because +they initiated the trade by introducing the necessity for garments; the +Shoemakers, the story of Crispin and Crispianus; the Vintners, Bacchus +and his story; the Carpenters, Mary and Joseph; the Smiths represented +Vulcan; and the Bakers played the comedy of Ceres, the goddess of corn. +The stage was erected on Hogges-green, now College-green; and probably +the entertainment was carried out _al fresco_. The first playhouse +established in Dublin was in Werburgh-street, in 1633. Shirley's plays +were performed here soon after, and also those of "rare Ben Jonson." +Ogilvy, Shirley's friend, and the promoter of this enterprise, was +appointed Master of the Revels in Ireland in 1661; and as his first +theatre was ruined during the civil war, he erected a "noble theatre," +at a cost of L2,000, immediately after his new appointment, on a portion +of the Blind-quay. Dunton describes the theatres, in 1698, as more +frequented than the churches, and the actors as "no way inferior to +those in London." The Viceroys appear to have been very regular in their +patronage of this amusement; and on one occasion, when the news reached +Dublin of the marriage of William of Orange and Mary, the Duke of +Ormonde, after "meeting the nobility and gentry in great splendour at +the play, passed a general invitation to all the company to spend that +evening at the Castle."[535] + +The inventory of the household effects of Lord Grey, taken in 1540, +affords us ample information on the subject of dress and household +effects. The list commences with "eight tun and a pype of Gaskoyne +wine," and the "long board in the hall." A great advance had been made +since we described the social life of the eleventh century; and the +refinements practised at meals was not the least of many improvements. A +_bord-clothe_ was spread on the table, though forks were not used until +the reign of James I. They came from Italy, to which country we owe many +of the new fashions introduced in the seventeenth century. In _The Boke +of Curtosye_ there are directions given not to "foule the _bord-clothe_ +wyth the knyfe;" and Ben Jonson, in his comedy of "The Devil is an Ass," +alludes to the introduction of forks, and the consequent disuse of +napkins: + + "The laudable use of forks, + Brought into custom here as they are in Italy, + To th' sparing o' napkins." + +The English edition of the _Janua Linguarum_ of Comenius, represents the +fashion of dining in England during the Commonwealth. The table was +simply a board placed on a frame or trestles, which was removed after +the meal to leave room for the dancers. Old Capulet's hall was prepared +thus: + + "A hall! a hall! give room, and foot it, girls! + More light, ye knaves, and turn the table up." + +The head of the table, where the principal person sat, was called the +"board-end;" and as one long table was now used instead of several +smaller ones, the guests of higher and lower degree were divided by the +massive saltcellar, placed in the centre of the table. Thus, in Ben +Jonson, it is said of a man who treats his inferiors with scorn, "He +never drinks below the salt." The waiters, after settling the cloth, +placed the spoons, knives, forks, bread, and napkins beside the +trenchers. The butler served out the drink from the cupboard, the origin +of our modern sideboard. The "cobbord," erroneously supposed to have +been like our modern cupboard, is specially mentioned amongst Lord +Grey's effects. Lord Fairfax, in his directions to his servants, written +about the middle of the seventeenth century, says: "No man must fill +beer or wine the cupboard keeper," and he should know which of his "cups +for beer and which for wine, for it were a foul thing to mix them +together." There was another reason, however, for this arrangement--much +"idle tippling" was cut off thereby; for as the draught of beer or wine +had to be asked for when it was needed, demand was not likely to be so +quick as if it were always at hand. There were also cups of "assaye," +from which the cupbearer was obliged to drink before his master, to +prove that there was no poison in the liquor which he used. The cupboard +was covered with a carpet, of which Lord Grey had two. These carpets, or +tablecovers, were more or less costly, according to the rank and state +of the owner. His Lordship had also "two chares, two fformes, and two +stooles." Chairs were decidedly a luxury at that day. Although the name +is of Anglo-Norman origin, they did not come into general use until a +late period; and it was considered a mark of disrespect to superiors, +for young persons to sit in their presence on anything but hard benches +or stools. The Anglo-Saxons called their seats _sett_ and _stol_, a name +which we still preserve in the modern stool. The hall was ornamented +with rich hangings, and there was generally a _traves_, which could be +used as a curtain or screen to form a temporary partition. The floor was +strewn with rushes, which were not removed quite so frequently as would +have been desirable, considering that they were made the repository of +the refuse of the table. Perfumes were consequently much used, and we +are not surprised to find "a casting bottel, dooble gilte, for +rose-water," in the effects of a Viceroy of the sixteenth century. Such +things were more matters of necessity than of luxury at even a later +period. Meat and pudding were the staple diet of the upper classes in +1698. Wright[536] gives a long and amusing extract from a work published +by a foreigner who had been much in England at this period, and who +appears to have marvelled equally at the amount of solid meat consumed, +the love of pudding, and the neglect of fruit at dessert. + +We are able, fortunately, to give a description of the fare used during +the same period in Ireland, at least by the upper classes, who could +afford to procure it. Captain Bodley, a younger brother of the founder +of the famous Bodleian Library in Oxford, has left an account of a +journey into Lecale, in Ulster, in 1603, and of the proceedings of his +companions-in-arms, and the entertainment they met with. His "tour" is +full of that gossiping, chatty, general information, which gives an +admirable idea of the state of society. This is his description of a +dinner: "There was a large and beautiful collar of brawn, with its +accompaniments, to wit, mustard and Muscatel wine; there were +well-stuffed geese (such as the Lord Bishop is wont to eat at +Ardbraccan), the legs of which Captain Caulfield always laid hold of for +himself; there were pies of venison and various kinds of game; pasties +also, some of marrow, with innumerable plums; others of it with +coagulated milk, such as the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London almost +always have at their feasts; others, which they call tarts, of divers +shapes, materials, and colours, made of beef, mutton, and veal." Then he +relates the amusements. After dinner they rode, and in the evening they +played cards, and had, "amongst other things, that Indian tobacco of +which I shall never be able to make sufficient mention." Later in the +evening "maskers" came to entertain them; and on one occasion, their +host gave them up his own "good and soft bed, and threw himself upon a +pallet in the same chamber."[537] + +The large stand-bed, or four-post, was then coming into use, and was, +probably, the "good and soft bed" which the host resigned to the use of +the officers, and which, if we may judge by the illustration of this +piece of furniture, would conveniently hold a considerable number of +persons. The pallet was placed on the truckle-bed, which rolled under +the large bed, and was generally used by a servant, who slept in his +master's room. The reader will remember the speech of Mine Host of the +Garter, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," who says of Falstaff's room: +"There's his chamber, his house, his castle, his standing-bed and +truckle-bed." + +However interesting the subject may be, there is not space to go into +further details. The inventory of Lord Grey's personal effects can +scarcely be given as a picture of costume in this century, for even a +few years produced as considerable changes in fashion then as now. +Dekker, in his _Seven Deadly Sinnes of London_, describes an +Englishman's suit as being like a traitor's body that had been hanged, +drawn, and quartered, and set up in several places; and says: "We that +mock every nation for keeping one fashion, yet steal patches from every +one of them to piece out our pride, and are now laughing-stocks to them. +The block for his head alters faster than the feltmaker can fit him, and +hereupon we are called in scorn block-heads." The courtiers of Charles +II. compensated themselves for the stern restraints of Puritanism, by +giving way to the wildest excesses in dress and manners. Enormous +periwigs were introduced, and it became the fashion for a man of _ton_ +to be seen combing them on the Mall or at the theatre. The hat was worn +with a broad brim, ornamented with feathers; a falling band of the +richest lace adorned the neck; the short cloak was edged deeply with +gold lace; the doublet was ornamented in a similar manner--it was long, +and swelled out from the waist; but the "petticoat breeches" were the +glory of the outer man, and sums of money were spent on ribbon and lace +to add to their attractions. + +The ladies' costume was more simple, at least at this period; they +compensated themselves, however, for any plainness in dress, by +additional extravagances in their head-dresses, and wore +"heart-breakers," or artificial curls, which were set out on wires at +the sides of the face. Patching and painting soon became common, and +many a nonconformist divine lifted up his voice in vain against these +vanities. Pepys has left ample details of the dress in this century; +and, if we may judge from the entry under the 30th of October, 1663, +either he was very liberal in his own expenditure, and very parsimonious +towards his wife, or ladies' attire was much less costly than +gentlemen's, for he murmurs over his outlay of about L12 for Mrs. Pepys +and L55 for himself. The country people, however, were attired more +plainly and less expensively, while many, probably-- + + "Shook their heads at folks in London," + +and wondered at the follies of their superiors. + +The arms and military accoutrements of the period have already been +mentioned incidentally, and are illustrated by the different costumes in +our engravings, which Mr. Doyle has rendered with the minutest accuracy +of detail. This subject, if treated at all, would require space which we +cannot afford to give it. The Life Guards were embodied by Charles II, +in 1681, in imitation of the French "Gardes des Corps." The Coldstream +were embodied by General Monk, in 1660, at the town from whence they +obtained their name. + +From an account in the Hamilton MSS., published in the _Ulster_ +_Archaeological Journal_, it would appear that it was usual, or, at least +not uncommon, for young men of rank to go abroad for some time, attended +by a tutor, to perfect themselves in continental languages. It need +scarcely be said that travelling was equally tedious and expensive. A +journey from Dublin to Cork occupied several days; postchaises are a +comparatively modern invention; and Sir William Petty astonished the +good people of Dublin, in the seventeenth century, by inventing some +kind of carriage which could be drawn by horses. With his description of +the condition of the lower classes in Ireland at this period, I shall +conclude this chapter. The accompanying figure represents the costume of +the Irish peasant about the fifteenth century. The dress was found on +the body of a male skeleton, in the year 1824, which was preserved so +perfectly, that a coroner was called to hold an inquest on it. The +remains were taken from a bog in the parish of Killery, co. Sligo. The +cloak was composed of soft brown cloth; the coat of the same material, +but of finer texture. The buttons are ingeniously formed of the cloth. +The trowsers consists of two distinct parts, of different colours and +textures; the upper part is thick, coarse, yellowish-brown cloth; the +lower, a brown and yellow plaid. + +[Illustration] + +"The diet of these people is milk, sweet and sour, thick and thin; but +tobacco, taken in short pipes seldom burned, seems the pleasure of their +lives. Their food is bread in cakes, whereof a penny serves a week for +each; potatoes from August till May; muscles, cockles, and oysters, near +the sea; eggs and butter, made very rancid by keeping in bogs. As for +flesh they seldom eat it. Their fuel is turf in most places." The +potatoe, which has brought so many national calamities on the country, +had been then some years in the country, but its use was not yet as +general as it has become since, as we find from the mention of "bread in +cakes" being an edible during a considerable part of the year. + +[Illustration: CASTLE CAULFIELD, COUNTY TYRONE.] + +[Illustration: SCENE OF THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[512] _Language_--A proclamation in Irish, issued by Tyrone in 1601, is +still extant, with a contemporary English translation.--_See Ulster +Arch. Jour_. vol. vi. p. 57. + +[513] _Pope_.--He rhymes spirit and merit; fit and yet; civil and devil; +obey and tea. + +[514] _Tasso_.-- + +"The land fornenst the Greekish shore he held." + +Chaucer, too, uses _faute_ for _fault_ in the _Canterbury Tales_. + +[515] _Historians_.--Max Mueller--_Lectures on the Science of Language_, +p. 271--states, that labourers in country parishes in England do not use +more than 300 words. A friend of mine, who is an excellent Irish +scholar, assures me the most illiterate Irish-speaking peasant would use +at least 500. + +[516] _Carew_.--The tradition of the country says that this vengeance +was excited by the complaints of a lady, with whom the Lord President +had some gallantries, and whose conduct Keating had reproved publicly. + +[517] _Scholars_.--We have been favoured with an accurate photograph of +this inscription, by William Williams, Esq., of Dungarvan, from which +the engraving given above has been made. The view of Tubrid Churchyard +is also engraved from a sketch with which he has favoured us. It is +hoped that many Irishmen in distant lands will look with no little +interest on these beautifully executed engravings, and breathe a +blessing on the memory of the good and gifted priest. A Keating Society +was established a few years ago, principally through the exertions of +Mr. Williams and the Rev. P. Meany, C.C. A Catechism in Irish has +already appeared, and other works will follow in due time. + +[518] _Brought us_.--Regal Visitation Book. A.D. 1622, MS., Marsh's +Library, Dublin. + +[519] _Excluded_.--_History of England_, People's Edition, part ii. p. +156. + +[520] _Desired_.--See the Hamilton Manuscripts, _Ulster Arch. Jour_. +vol. iii. pp. 155-147. Blair complains also that his patron "would +receive the sacrament kneeling." + +[521] _England_.--"The diet, housing, and clothing of the 16,000 +families above-mentioned [those were the middle class] is much the same +as in England; nor is the French elegance unknown in many of them, nor +the French and Latin tongues. The latter whereof is very frequent among +the poorest Irish, and chiefly in Kerry, most remote from +Dublin."--_Political Anatomy of Ireland_, Petty, p. 58. + +[522] _Antwerp_.--_Descrittione dei Paesi Bassi:_ Anvers, 1567. + +[523] _Paid_.--_The Sovereignly of the British Seas:_ London, 1651. + +[524] _Little_.--_Hib. Pac_. + +[525] _Head_.--The tract entitled _Killing no Murder_, which had +disturbed Cromwell's "peace and rest," and obliged him to live almost as +a fugitive in the country over which he had hoped to reign as a +sovereign, still left its impression on English society. The miserable +example of a royal execution was a precedent which no amount of +provocation should have permitted. + +[526] _Writer_.--_Merchant's Map of Commerce:_ London, 1677. + +[527] _Sex_.--_The Interest of Ireland in its Trade and Wealth_, by +Colonel Lawrence: Dublin, 1682. + +[528] _Tobacco_.--A Table of the Belfast Exports and Imports for the +year 1683, has been published in the _Ulster Arch. Jour._ vol. iii. p. +194, which fully bears out this statement, and is of immense value in +determining the general state of Irish commerce at this period. There +are, however, some mistakes in the quotations of statistics, probably +misprints. + +[529] _March_.--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. i. p. 178. + +[530] _Faculty._--Document in the State Paper Office, Dublin, entitled +_Smyth's Information for Ireland._ + +[531] _Aloes._--_Ulster Arch. Jour._ vol. iii. p. 163. + +[532] _Roman Catholics_.--The noisy and violent opposition which was +made to a Catholic if he attempted to enter either a trade or a +profession, would scarcely be credited at the present day; yet it should +be known and remembered by those who wish to estimate the social state +of this country accurately and fairly. After the Revolution, the +Protestant portion of the Guild of Tailors petitioned William III. to +make their corporation exclusively Protestant, and their request was +granted. + +[533] _High-street_.--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. i. p. 220. + +[534] _Vision_.--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. ii. p. 149. + +[535] _Castle_.--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. ii. p. 69. There is a curious +account in the _Quarterly Journal of the Kilkenny Archaeological +Society_, July, 1862, p. 165, of a comic playbill, issued for a Kilkenny +theatre, in May, 1793. The value of the tickets was to be taken, if +required, in candles, bacon, soap, butter, and cheese, and no one was to +be admitted into the boxes without shoes and stockings; which leads one +to conclude that the form of admission and style of attire were not +uncommon, or there would have been no joke in the announcement. + +[536] _Wright.--Domestic Manners_, pp. 465, 466: "Oh! what an excellent +thing is an English pudding! Make a pudding for an Englishman, and you +will regale him, be he where he will." + +[537] _Chamber_.--This most interesting and amusing journal is published +in the _Ulster Arch. Jour_. vol. iii. p. 73, with a translation and +notes. The original is in Latin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +Accession of James II.--Position of Public Affairs--Birth of an +Heir--Landing of William of Orange--Arrival of King James in +Ireland--The Siege of Derry--Cruelties of the Enniskilleners--Disease in +Schomberg's Camp--The Battle of the Boyne--James' Defeat and Disgraceful +Plight--The Siege of Athlone--The Siege of Limerick--Marlborough appears +before Cork--William raises the Siege of Limerick and returns to +England--The Siege of Athlone, Heroic Valour of its Defenders--The +Battle of Aughrim--Surrender of Limerick. + +[A.D. 1688-1691.] + + +King James' accession again raised the hopes of the Catholics, and again +they were doomed to disappointment; while the Protestants, who had their +fears also, soon learned that policy would bend itself to popularity. +Colonel Richard Talbot was now raised to the peerage as Earl of +Tyrconnel, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the forces, with an +authority independent of the Lord Lieutenant. His character, as well as +that of his royal master, has been judged rather by his political +opinions than by facts, and both have suffered considerably at the hands +of a modern historian, who has offered more than one holocaust to the +manes of his hero, William of Orange. + +The moderate and cautious Clarendon was appointed Viceroy, and did his +best to appease the fears of the Protestants; but he was soon succeeded +by Tyrconnel, whose zeal for Irish interests was not always tempered by +sufficient moderation to conciliate English politicians. He had fought +against O'Neill; he had opposed Rinuccini; he had served in the Duke of +Ormonde's army; he had helped to defend Drogheda against the +Republicans, and had lain there apparently dead, and thus escaped any +further suffering; he was of the Anglo-Irish party, who were so +faithfully loyal to the crown, and whose loyalty was repaid with such +cold indifference; yet his virtues have been ignored, and Macaulay +accuses him of having "adhered to the old religion, like the Celts," +which was true, and of "having taken part with them in the rebellion of +1641," which was not true. + +James commenced his reign by proclaiming his desire for religious +liberty. Individually he may not have been much beyond the age in +opinion on this subject, but liberty of conscience was necessary for +himself. He was a Catholic, and he made no secret of his religion; he +was, therefore, obliged from this motive, if from no other, to accord +the same boon to his subjects. The Quakers were set free in England, and +the Catholics were set free in Ireland. But the Puritan faction, who had +commenced by fighting for liberty of conscience for themselves, and who +ended by fighting to deny liberty of conscience to others, were quite +determined that neither Quakers nor Catholics should worship God as they +believed themselves bound to do. Such intolerance, unhappily, was not +altogether confined to the illiterate. Coke, in a previous generation, +had declared that it was felony even to counsel the King to tolerate +Catholics; and Usher, that it was a deadly sin. The King had neither the +good sense nor the delicacy of feeling to guide him through these +perils. His difficulties, and the complications which ensued, belong to +the province of the English historian, but they were not the less felt +in Ireland. + +The Protestants professed to be afraid of being massacred by the +Catholics; the Catholics apprehended a massacre from the Protestants. +Catholics were now admitted to the army, to the bar, and to the senate. +Protestants declared this an infringement of their rights, and forgot +how recently they had expelled their Catholic fellow-subjects, not +merely from honours and emoluments, but even from their altars and their +homes. + +An event now occurred which brought affairs to a crisis. The King's +second wife, Mary of Modena, gave him an heir, and the heir appeared +likely to live (A.D. 1688). William of Orange, who had long flattered +himself that he should one day wear the crown of England, saw that no +time should be lost if he intended to secure the prize, and commenced +his preparations with all the ability and with all the duplicity for +which his career has been admired by one party, and denounced by the +other, according as political and religious opinions viewed the deceit +under the strong light of the ability, or the ability under the glare of +the deceit. The Protestant party could not but see all that was to be +apprehended if a Catholic heir should succeed to the throne, and they +sacrificed their loyalty to their interests, if not to their principles. + +William arrived in England on the 5th of November, 1688. He professed to +have come for the purpose of investigating the rumours which had been so +industriously circulated respecting the birth of the heir who had barred +his pretensions, and to induce the King to join the league which had +been just formed against France; but he took care to come provided with +an armament, which gave the lie to his diplomatic pretensions; and as +soon as he had been joined by English troops, of whose disaffection he +was well aware, his real motive was no longer concealed. James fled to +France, whither he had already sent his Queen and heir. Still there was +a large party in England who had not yet declared openly for the +usurper; and had not James entirely alienated the affection of his +subjects by his tyrannical treatment of the Protestant bishops, his +conduct towards the University of Oxford, and the permission, if not the +sanction, which he gave to Jeffreys in his bloody career, there can be +little doubt that William should have fought for the crown on English +ground as he did on Irish. + +Ulster was principally peopled by Protestant Presbyterians, from the +north of Scotland. They were not likely to be very loyal even to a +Stuart, for the Irish had been called over to Scotland before now to +defend royal rights; they had not very defined religious opinions, +except on the subject of hatred of Popery and Prelacy. It cannot be a +matter of surprise, therefore, that these men hailed the prospect of a +new sovereign, whose opinions, both religious and political, coincided +with their own. If he, too, had very general views as to the rights of +kings, and no very particular view as to rights of conscience being +granted to any who did not agree with him, he was none the less +acceptable. + +Tyrconnel had neither men, money, nor arms, to meet the emergency. He +had to withdraw the garrison from Derry to make up the contingent of +3,000 men, which he sent to assist the King in England; but they were +immediately disarmed, and the young men of Derry closed their gates, and +thus were the first to revolt openly against their lawful King. The +native Irish had been loyal when loyalty cost them their lives, without +obtaining for them any increased liberty to exercise their religion; +they were, therefore, not less likely to be loyal now, when both civil +and religious liberty might depend upon their fealty to the crown. The +Enniskilleners revolted; and the whole of Ulster, except Charlemont and +Carrickfergus, declared for William of Orange. + +James determined to make an effort to regain his throne; and by this act +rendered the attempt of his son-in-law simply a rebellion. Had the King +declined the contest, had he violated the rules of government so grossly +as no longer to merit the confidence of his people, or had there been no +lawful heir to the throne, William's attempt might have been legitimate; +under the circumstances, it was simply a successful rebellion. The King +landed at Kinsale, on the 12th of March, 1689, attended by some Irish +troops and French officers. He met Tyrconnel in Cork, created him a +duke, and then proceeded to Bandon, where he received the submission of +the people who had joined the rebellion. On his arrival in Dublin, he +summoned a Parliament and issued proclamations, after which he proceeded +to Derry, according to the advice of Tyrconnel. Useless negotiations +followed; and James returned to Dublin, after having confided the +conduct of the siege to General Hamilton. If that officer had not been +incomparably more humane than the men with whom he had to deal, it is +probable that the 'Prentice Boys of Derry would not have been able to +join in their yearly commemoration of victory. The town was strongly +fortified, and well supplied with artillery and ammunition; the +besiegers were badly clad, badly provisioned, and destitute of almost +every thing necessary to storm a town. Their only resource was to starve +out the garrison; but of this resource they were partly deprived by the +humanity of General Hamilton, who allowed a considerable number of men, +women, and children to leave Derry, and thus enabled its defenders to +hold out longer. Lundy, who urged them to capitulate to King James, was +obliged to escape in disguise; and Major Baker, assisted by the Rev. +George Walker, a Protestant clergyman, then took the command. According +to the statements of the latter, the garrison amounted to 7,500 men, and +they had twenty-two cannon, which alone gave them an immense advantage +over the royal army. So much has been already said and written, and sung +of the bravery of the Derry men, that nothing more remains to say. That +they were brave, and that they bravely defended the cause which they had +adopted, there is no doubt; but if polemics had not mingled with +politics in the encounter, it is quite possible that we should have +heard no more of their exploits than of those other men, equally gallant +and equally brave. The Enniskilleners, who have obtained an unenviable +notoriety for their merciless cruelty in war, occupied the King's troops +so as to prevent them from assisting the besiegers. Several encounters +took place between the Derry men and the royalists, but with no other +result than loss of lives on each side. On the 13th of June, a fleet of +thirty ships arrived from England with men and provisions; but the Irish +had obtained the command of the river Foyle, and possession of Culmore +Fort at the entrance, so that they were unable to enter. De Rosen was +now sent by James to assist Hamilton. He proposed and carried out the +barbarous expedition of driving all the Protestants whom he could find +before the walls, and threatening to let them starve there to death +unless the garrison surrendered. His plan was strongly disapproved by +the King, it disgusted the Irish, and exasperated the besieged. The next +day they erected a gallows on the ramparts, and threatened to hang their +prisoners then and there if the unfortunate people were not removed. It +is to the credit of the Derry men that they shared their provisions to +the last with their prisoners, even while they were dying themselves of +starvation. Perhaps the example of humanity set to them by General +Hamilton was not without its effect, for kindness and cruelty seem +equally contagious in time of war. Kirke's squadrons at last passed the +forts, broke the boom, and relieved the garrison, who could not have +held out forty-eight hours longer. It was suspected that English gold +had procured their admittance, and that the officers who commanded the +forts were bribed to let them pass unscathed. The siege was at once +raised; the royal army withdrew on the 5th of August; and thus +terminated the world-famed siege of Derry. + +James now held his Parliament in Dublin, repealed the Act of Settlement, +passed the Act of Attainder, and issued an immense quantity of base +coin. He has been loudly condemned by some historians for these +proceedings; but it should be remembered (1) that the Act of Settlement +was a gross injustice, and, as such, it was but justice that it should +be repealed. Had the measure been carried out, however severely it might +have been felt by the Protestant party, they could not have suffered +from the repeal as severely as the Catholics had suffered from the +enactment. (2) The Act of Attainder simply proclaimed that the +revolutionists were rebels against their lawful King, and that they +should be treated as such. (3) The utterance of base coin had already +been performed by several Governments, and James only availed himself of +the prerogatives exercised by his predecessors. + +The day on which the siege of Derry was raised, the royalists met with a +severe reverse at Newtownbutler. They were under the command of Lord +Mountcashel, when attacked by the Enniskilleners. The dragoons had +already been dispirited by a reverse at Lisnaskea; and a word of +command[538] which was given incorrectly, threw the old corps into +confusion, from which their brave leader in vain endeavoured to rally +them. Colonel Wolseley, an English officer, commanded the +Enniskilleners; and the cruelties with which they hunted down the +unfortunate fugitives, has made the name almost a byword of reproach. +Five hundred men plunged into Lough Erne to escape their fury, but of +these only one was saved. Lord Mountcashel was taken prisoner, but he +escaped eventually, and fled to France. Sarsfield, who commanded at +Sligo, was obliged to retire to Athlone; and the victorious Williamites +remained masters of that part of the country. + +Schomberg arrived[539] at Bangor, in Down, on the 13th of August, 1689, +with a large army, composed of Dutch, French Huguenots, and new levies +from England. On the 17th he marched to Belfast, where he met with no +resistance; and on the 27th Carrickfergus surrendered to him on +honorable terms, after a siege of eight days, but not until its +Governor, Colonel Charles MacCarthy More, was reduced to his last barrel +of powder. Schomberg pitched on Dundalk for his winter quarters, and +entrenched himself there strongly; but disease soon broke out in his +camp, and it has been estimated that 10,000 men, fully one-half of the +force, perished of want and dysentery. James challenged him to battle +several times, but Schomberg was too prudent to risk an encounter in the +state of his troops; and the King had not the moral courage to make the +first attack. Complaints soon reached England of the condition to which +the revolutionary army was reduced. If there were not "own +correspondents" then in camp, it is quite clear there were very sharp +eyes and very nimble pens. Dr. Walker, whose military experience at +Derry appears to have given him a taste for campaigning, was one of the +complainants. William sent over a commission to inquire into the matter, +who, as usual in such cases, arrived too late to do any good. The men +wanted food, the horses wanted provender, the surgeons and apothecaries +wanted medicines for the sick.[540] In fact, if we take a report of +Crimean mismanagement, we shall have all the details, minus the +statement that several of the officers drank themselves to death, and +that some who were in power were charged with going shares in the +embezzlement of the contractor, Mr. John Shales, who, whether guilty or +not, was made the scapegoat on the occasion, and was accused, moreover, +of having caused all this evil from partiality to King James, in whose +service he had been previously. Mr. John Shales was therefore taken +prisoner, and sent under a strong guard to Belfast, and from thence to +London. As nothing more is heard of him, it is probable the matter was +hushed up, or that he had powerful accomplices in his frauds. + +[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF TRIM.] + +Abundant supplies arrived from England, which, if they could not restore +the dead, served at least to renovate the living; and Schomberg was +ready to take the field early in the year 1690, notwithstanding the loss +of about 10,000 men. James, with the constitutional fatuity of the +Stuarts, had lost his opportunity. If he had attacked the motley army of +the revolutionary party while the men were suffering from want and +disease, and while his own troops were fresh and courageous, he might +have conquered; the most sanguine now could scarcely see any other +prospect for him than defeat. He was in want of everything; and he had +no Englishmen who hoped for plunder, no French refugees who looked for a +new home, no brave Dutchmen who loved fighting for its own sake, to fall +back upon in the hour of calamity. His French counsellors only agreed to +disagree with him. There was the ordinary amount of jealousy amongst the +Irish officers--the inevitable result of the want of a competent leader +in whom all could confide. The King was urged by one party (the French) +to retire to Connaught, and entrench himself there until he should +receive succours from France; he was urged by another party (the Irish) +to attack Schomberg without delay. Louvais, the French Minister of War, +divided his hatred with tolerable impartiality between James and +William: therefore, though quite prepared to oppose the latter, he was +by no means so willing to assist the former; and when he did send men to +Ireland, under the command of the Count de Lauzan, he took care that +their clothing and arms should be of the worst description. He received +in exchange a reinforcement of the best-equipped and best-trained +soldiers of the Irish army. Avaux and De Rosen were both sent back to +France by James; and thus, with but few officers, badly-equipped troops, +and his own miserable and vacillating counsel, he commenced the war +which ended so gloriously or so disastrously, according to the different +opinions of the actors in the fatal drama. In July, 1690, some of James' +party were defeated by the Williamites at Cavan, and several of his best +officers were killed or made prisoners. Another engagement took place at +Charlemont; the Governor, Teigue O'Regan, only yielded to starvation. He +surrendered on honorable terms; and Schomberg, with equal humanity and +courtesy, desired that each of his starving men should receive a loaf of +bread at Armagh. + +William had intended for some time to conduct the Irish campaign in +person. He embarked near Chester on the 11th of June, and landed at +Carrickfergus on the 14th, attended by Prince George of Denmark, the +Duke of Wurtemburg, the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, the Duke of Ormonde, +and the Earls of Oxford, Portland, Scarborough, and Manchester, with +other persons of distinction. Schomberg met him half-way between +Carrickfergus and Belfast. William, who had ridden so far, now entered +the General's carriage, and drove to Belfast, where he was received with +acclamations, and loud shouts of "God bless the Protestant King!" There +were bonfires and discharges of cannon at the various camps of the +Williamites. The officers of several regiments paid their respects to +him in state. On the 22nd the whole army encamped at Loughbrickland, +near Newry. In the afternoon William came up and reviewed the troops, +pitching his tent on a neighbouring eminence.[541] The army comprised a +strange medley of nationalities. More than half were foreigners; and on +these William placed his principal reliance, for at any moment a +reaction might take place in favour of the lawful King. The Williamite +army was well supplied, well trained, admirably commanded, accustomed to +war, and amounted to between forty and fifty thousand. The Jacobite +force only consisted of twenty thousand,[542] and of these a large +proportion were raw recruits. The officers, however, were brave and +skilful; but they had only twelve field-pieces, which had been recently +received from France. On the 22nd, news came that James had encamped +near Dundalk; on the 23rd he marched towards Drogheda. On the same day +William went to Newry; he was thoroughly aware of the movements of his +hapless father-in-law, for deserters came into his camp from time to +time. James obtained his information from an English officer, Captain +Farlow, and some soldiers whom he made prisoners at a trifling +engagement which took place between Newry and Dundalk. + +James now determined on a retreat to the Boyne through Ardee. His design +was to protract the campaign as much as possible,--an arrangement which +suited his irresolute habits; but where a kingdom was to be lost or won, +it only served to discourage the troops and to defer the decisive +moment. + +The hostile forces confronted each other for the first time on the banks +of the Boyne, June 30, 1689. The Jacobite army was posted on the +declivity of the Hill of Dunore--its right wing towards Drogheda, its +left extending up the river. The centre was at the small hamlet of +Oldbridge. Entrenchments were hastily thrown up to defend the fords, and +James took up his position at a ruined church on the top of the Hill of +Dunore. The Williamite army approached from the north, their brave +leader directing every movement, and inspiring his men with courage and +confidence. He obtained a favourable position, and was completely +screened from view until he appeared on the brow of the hill, where his +forces debouched slowly and steadily into the ravines below. After +planting his batteries on the heights, he kept up an incessant fire on +the Irish lines during the afternoon of the 30th. But James' officers +were on the alert, even if their King were indifferent. William was +recognized as he approached near their lines to reconnoitre. Guns were +brought up to bear on him quietly and stealthily; "six shots were fired +at him, one whereof fell and struck off the top of the Duke Wurtemberg's +pistol and the whiskers of his horse, and another tore the King's coat +on his shoulder."[543] + +William, like a wise general as he was, took care that the news of his +accident should not dispirit his men. He showed himself everywhere, rode +through the camp, was as agreeable as it was in his nature to be; and +thus made capital of what might have been a cause of disaster. In the +meantime James did all that was possible to secure a defeat. At one +moment he decided to retreat, at the next he would risk a battle; then +he sent off his baggage and six of his field-pieces to Dublin, for his +own special protection; and while thus so remarkably careful of himself, +he could not be persuaded to allow the most necessary precaution to be +taken for the safety of his army. Hence the real marvel to posterity is, +not that the battle of the Boyne should have been lost by the Irish, but +that they should ever have attempted to fight at all. Perhaps nothing +but the inherent loyalty of the Irish, which neither treachery nor +pusillanimity could destroy, and the vivid remembrance of the cruel +wrongs always inflicted by Protestants when in power, prevented them +from rushing over _en masse_ to William's side of the Boyne. Perhaps, in +the history of nations, there never was so brave a resistance made for +love of royal right and religious freedom, as that of the Irish officers +and men who then fought on the Jacobite side. + +The first attack of William's men was made at Slane. This was precisely +what the Jacobite officers had anticipated, and what James had +obstinately refused to see. When it was too late, he allowed Lauzan to +defend the ford, but even Sir Nial O'Neill's gallantry was unavailing. +The enemy had the advance, and Portland's artillery and infantry crossed +at Slane. William now felt certain of victory, if, indeed, he had ever +doubted it. It was low water at ten o'clock; the fords at Oldbridge were +passable; a tremendous battery was opened on the Irish lines; they had +not a single gun to reply, and yet they waited steadily for the attack. +The Dutch Blue Guards dashed into the stream ten abreast, commanded by +the Count de Solmes; the Londonderry and Enniskillen Dragoons followed, +supported by the French Huguenots. The English infantry came next, under +the command of Sir John Hanmer and the Count Nassau. William crossed at +the fifth ford, where the water was deepest, with the cavalry of his +left wing. It was a grand and terrible sight. The men in the water +fought for William and Protestantism; the men on land fought for their +King and their Faith. The men were equally gallant. Of the leaders I +shall say nothing, lest I should be tempted to say too much. James had +followed Lauzan's forces towards Slane. Tyrconnel's valour could not +save the day for Ireland against fearful odds. Sarsfield's horse had +accompanied the King. The Huguenots were so warmly received by the Irish +at the fords that they recoiled, and their commander, Caillemont, was +mortally wounded. Schomberg forgot his age, and the affront he had +received from William in the morning; and the man of eighty-two dashed +into the river with the impetuosity of eighteen. He was killed +immediately, and so was Dr. Walker, who headed the Ulster Protestants. +William may have regretted the brave old General, but he certainly did +not regret the Protestant divine. He had no fancy for churchmen meddling +in secular affairs, and a rough "What brought him there?" was all the +reply vouchsafed to the news of his demise. The tide now began to flow, +and the battle raged with increased fury. The valour displayed by the +Irish was a marvel even to their enemies. Hamilton was wounded and taken +prisoner. William headed the Enniskilleners, who were put to flight soon +after by the Irish horse, at Platten, and were now rallied again by +himself. When the enemy had crossed the ford at Oldbridge, James ordered +Lauzan to march in a parallel direction with Douglas and young Schomberg +to Duleek. Tyrconnel followed. The French infantry covered the retreat +in admirable order, with the Irish cavalry. When the defile of Duleek +had been passed, the royalist forces again presented a front to the +enemy. William's horse halted. The retreat was again resumed; and at the +deep defile of Naul the last stand was made. The shades of a summer +evening closed over the belligerent camps. The Williamites returned to +Duleek; and eternal shadows clouded over the destinies of the +unfortunate Stuarts--a race admired more from sympathy with their +miseries, than from admiration of their virtues. + +Thus ended the famous battle of the Boyne. England obtained thereby a +new governor and a national debt; Ireland, fresh oppression, and an +intensification of religious and political animosity, unparalleled in +the history of nations. + +James contrived to be first in the retreat which he had anticipated, and +for which he had so carefully prepared. He arrived in Dublin in the +evening, and insulted Lady Tyrconnel by a rude remark about the +fleetness of her husband's countrymen in running away from the battle; +to which she retorted, with equal wit and truth, that his Majesty had +set them the example. He left Dublin the next morning, having first +insulted the civil and military authorities, by throwing the blame of +the defeat on the brave men who had risked everything in his cause. +Having carefully provided for his own safety by leaving two troops of +horse at Bray to defend the bridge, should the enemy come up, he +hastened towards Duncannon, where he arrived at sunrise. Here he +embarked in a small French vessel for Kinsale, and from thence he sailed +to France, and was himself the bearer of the news of his defeat. The +command in Ireland was intrusted to Tyrconnel, who gave orders that the +Irish soldiery should march at once to Limerick, each under the command +of his own officer. William entered Dublin on Sunday, July 7th. He was +received with acclamations by the Protestants, who were now relieved +from all fear lest the Catholics should inflict on them the sufferings +they had so remorselessly inflicted on the Catholics. Drogheda, +Kilkenny, Duncannon, and Waterford, capitulated to the victorious army, +the garrisons marching to Limerick, towards which place William now +directed his course. Douglas was sent to besiege Athlone; but the +Governor, Colonel Grace, made such brave resistance there, he was +obliged to withdraw, and join William near Limerick. + +The French officers, who had long since seen the hopelessness of the +conflict, determined to leave the country. Lauzan, after having surveyed +Limerick, and declared that it might be taken with "roasted apples," +ordered all the French troops to Galway, where they could await an +opportunity to embark for France. But the brave defenders of the devoted +city were not deterred. The Governor consulted with Sarsfield, +Tyrconnel, and the other officers; and the result was a message to +William, in reply to his demand for a surrender, to the effect, that +they hoped to merit his good opinion better by a vigorous defence of the +fortress, which had been committed to them by their master, than by a +shameful capitulation. By a skilfully executed and rapid march, +Sarsfield contrived to intercept William's artillery on the Keeper +Mountains, and after killing the escort, bursting the guns, and blowing +up the ammunition, he returned in triumph to Limerick. His success +animated the besieged, and infuriated the besiegers. But the walls of +Limerick were not as stout as the brave hearts of its defenders. William +sent for more artillery to Waterford; and it was found that two of the +guns which Sarsfield had attempted to destroy, were still available. + +The trenches were opened on the 17th of August. On the 20th the garrison +made a vigorous sortie, and retarded the enemy's progress; but on the +24th the batteries were completed, and a murderous fire of red-hot shot +and shells was poured into the devoted city. The trenches were carried +within a few feet of the palisades, on the 27th; and a breach having +been made in the wall near St. John's Gate, William ordered the assault +to commence. The storming party were supported by ten thousand men. For +three hours a deadly struggle was maintained. The result seemed +doubtful, so determined was the bravery evinced on each side. +Boisseleau, the Governor, had not been unprepared, although he was taken +by surprise, and had opened a murderous cross-fire on the assailants +when first they attempted the storm. The conflict lasted for nearly +three hours. The Brandenburg regiment had gained the Black Battery, when +the Irish sprung a mine, and men, faggots, and stones were blown up in a +moment. A council of war was held; William, whose temper was not the +most amiable at any time, was unusually morose. He had lost 2,000 men +between the killed and the wounded, and he had not taken the city, which +a French General had pronounced attainable with "roasted Apples." On +Sunday, the 31st of August, the siege was raised. William returned to +England, where his presence was imperatively demanded. The military +command was confided to the Count de Solmes, who was afterwards +succeeded by De Ginkell; the civil government was intrusted to Lord +Sidney, Sir Charles Porter, and Mr. Coningsby. + +Lauzan returned to France with Tyrconnel, and the Irish forces were +confided to the care of the Duke of Berwick, a youth of twenty, with a +council of regency and a council of war to advise him. Under these +circumstances it was little wonder that there should We been +considerable division of opinion, and no little jealousy, in the royal +camp; and even then the seeds were sowing of what eventually proved the +cause of such serious misfortune to the country. + +The famous Marlborough appeared before Cork with an army of 1,500 men, +on the 22nd of September, and the garrison were made prisoners of war +after a brief and brave resistance; but the conditions on which they +surrendered were shamefully violated. Kinsale was next attacked; but +with these exceptions, and some occasional skirmishes with the +"Rapparees," the winter passed over without any important military +operations. + +Tyrconnel returned to Ireland in January, with a small supply of money +and some provisions, notwithstanding the plots made against him by +Luttrell and Purcell. He brought a patent from James, creating Sarsfield +Earl of Lucan. A French fleet arrived in May, with provisions, clothing, +and ammunition. It had neither men nor money; but it brought what was +supposed to be a fair equivalent, in the person of St. Ruth, a +distinguished French officer, who was sent to take the command of the +Irish army. In the meantime Ginkell was organizing the most effective +force ever seen in Ireland: neither men nor money was spared by the +English Parliament. And this was the army which the impoverished and +ill-provisioned troops of the royalists were doomed to encounter. + +Hostilities commenced on 7th June, with the siege of Ballymore Castle, +in Westmeath. The Governor surrendered, and Athlone was next attacked. +This town is situated on the river Shannon. Its position must be +thoroughly understood, to comprehend the heroic bravery with which it +was defended. It will be remembered that Athlone was one of the towns +which the English of the Pale had fortified at the very commencement of +their invasion of Ireland. That portion of the city which lay on the +Leinster or Pale side of the river, had never been strongly fortified, +and a breach was made at once in the wall. Ginkell assaulted it with +4,000 men, and the defenders at once withdrew to the other side; but +they held the bridge with heroic bravery, until they had broken down two +of the arches, and placed the broad and rapid Shannon between themselves +and their enemies. St. Ruth had arrived in the meantime, and posted his +army, amounting to about 15,000 horse and foot, at the Irish side of the +river. The English had now raised the works so high on their side, that +they were able to keep up an incessant fire upon the town. According to +their own historian, Story, they threw in 12,000 cannon balls and 600 +bombs, and the siege cost them "nigh fifty tons of powder." The walls +opposite to the batteries were soon broken down, and the town itself +reduced to ruins. The besiegers next attempted to cross in a bridge of +boats, but the defenders turned their few field-pieces on them. They +then tried to mend the broken bridge; huge beams were flung across, and +they had every hope of success. _But_ they knew not yet what Irish +valour could dare. Eight or ten devoted men dashed into the water, and +tore down the planks, under a galling fire; and, as they fell dead or +dying into the river, others rushed to take the places of their fallen +comrades, and to complete the work. + +St. Ruth now ordered preparations to be made for an assault, and desired +the ramparts on the Connaught side of the town to be levelled, that a +whole battalion might enter abreast to relieve the garrison when it was +assailed. But the Governor, D'Usson, opposed the plan, and neglected the +order. All was now confusion in the camp. There never had been any real +head to the royalist party in Ireland; and to insure victory in battle, +or success in any important enterprise where multitudes are concerned, +it is absolutely essential that all should act with union of purpose. +Such union, where there are many men, and, consequently, many minds, can +only be attained by the most absolute submission to one leader; and this +leader, to obtain submission, should be either a lawfully constituted +authority, or, in cases of emergency, one of those master-spirits to +whom men bow with unquestioning submission, because of the majesty of +intellect within them. There were brave men and true men in that camp at +Athlone, but there was not one who possessed these essential requisites. + +According to the Williamite historian, Ginkell was informed by traitors +of what was passing, and that the defences on the river side were +guarded by two of the "most indifferent Irish regiments." He immediately +chose 2,000 men for the assault, distributed a gratuity of guineas +amongst them, and at a signal from the church bell, at six in the +evening, on the 30th of June, the assault was made, and carried with +such rapidity, that St. Ruth, who was with the cavalry at a distance, +was not aware of what had happened until all was over. St. Ruth at once +removed his army to Ballinasloe, twelve miles from his former post, and +subsequently to Aughrim. Tyrconnel was obliged to leave the camp, the +outcry against him became so general. + +St. Ruth's ground was well chosen. He had placed his men upon an +eminence, and each wing was protected by a morass or bog. The +Williamites came up on Sunday, July 11th, while the Irish were hearing +Mass. In this instance, as in so many others, it is impossible to +ascertain correctly the numerical force of each army. The historians on +either side were naturally anxious to magnify the numbers of their +opponents, and to lessen their own. It is at least certain, that on +this, as on other occasions, the Irish were miserably deficient in all +the appliances of the art of war, while the English were admirably +supplied. The most probable estimate of the Irish force appears to be +15,000 horse and foot; and of the English 20,000. Ginkell opened fire on +the enemy as soon as his guns were planted. Some trifling skirmishes +followed. A council of war was held, and the deliberation lasted until +half-past four in the evening, at which time a general engagement was +decided on. A cannonade had been kept up on both sides, in which the +English had immensely the advantage, St. Ruth's excellently chosen +position being almost useless for want of sufficient artillery. At +half-past six Ginkell ordered an advance on the Irish right centre, +having previously ascertained that the bog was passable. The defenders, +after discharging their fire, gradually drew the Williamites after them +by an almost imperceptible retreat, until they had them face to face +with their main line. Then the Irish cavalry charged with irresistible +valour, and the English were thrown into total disorder. St. Ruth, proud +of the success of his strategies and the valour of his men, exclaimed, +"Le jour est a nous, mes enfans." But St. Ruth's weak point was his left +wing, and this was at once perceived and taken advantage of by the Dutch +General. Some of his infantry made good their passage across the morass, +which St. Ruth had supposed impassable; and the men, who commanded this +position from a ruined castle, found that the balls with which they had +been served did not suit their fire-arms, so that they were unable to +defend the passage. St. Ruth at once perceived his error. He hastened to +support them with a brigade of horse; but even as he exclaimed, "They +are beaten; let us beat them to the purpose," a cannon-ball carried off +his head, and all was lost. Another death, which occurred almost +immediately after, completed the misfortunes of the Irish. The infantry +had been attended and encouraged by Dr. Aloysius Stafford, chaplain to +the forces; but when "death interrupted his glorious career,"[544] they +were panic-struck; and three hours after the death of the general and +the priest, there was not a man of the Irish army left upon the field. +But the real cause of the failure was the fatal misunderstanding which +existed between the leaders. Sarsfield, who was thoroughly able to have +taken St Ruth's position, and to have retrieved the fortunes of the day, +had been placed in the rear by the jealousy of the latter, and kept in +entire ignorance of the plan of battle. He was now obliged to withdraw +without striking a single blow. The cavalry retreated along the highroad +to Loughrea; the infantry fled to a bog, where numbers were massacred, +unarmed and in cold blood. + +The loss on both sides was immense, and can never be exactly estimated. +Harris says that "had not St. Ruth been taken off, it would have been +hard to say what the consequences of this day would have been."[545] +Many of the dead remained unburied, and their bones were left to bleach +in the storms of winter and the sun of summer. There was one exception +to the general neglect. An Irish officer, who had been slain, was +followed by his faithful dog. The poor animal lay beside his master's +body day and night; and though he fed upon other corpses with the rest +of the dogs, he would not permit them to touch the treasured remains. He +continued his watch until January, when he flew at a soldier, who he +feared was about to remove the bones, which were all that remained to +him of the being by whom he had been caressed and fed. The soldier in +his fright unslung his piece and fired, and the faithful wolf-dog laid +down and died by his charge.[546] + +Ginkell laid siege to Galway a week after the battle of Aughrim. The +inhabitants relied principally upon the arrival of Balldearg O'Donnell +for their defence; but, as he did not appear in time, they capitulated +on favourable terms, and the Dutch General marched to Limerick. + +Tyrconnel died at Limerick, of apoplexy, while he was preparing to put +the city into a state of defence. He was a faithful and zealous +supporter of the royal cause, and devoted to the Irish nation. His +loyalty has induced one party to blacken his character; his haughty and +unconciliatory manner prevented his good qualities from being fully +appreciated by the other. + +The real command now devolved on M. D'Usson, the Governor of Limerick. +Active preparations for the siege were made on both sides. Ginkell +contrived to communicate with Henry Luttrell, but his perfidy was +discovered, and he was tried by court-martial and imprisoned. Sixty +cannon and nineteen mortars were planted against the devoted city, and +on the 30th the bombardment commenced. The Irish horse had been +quartered on the Clare side of the Shannon; but, through the treachery +or indifference of Brigadier Clifford, who had been posted, with a +strong body of dragoons, to prevent such an attempt, Ginkell threw +across a pontoon-bridge, and sent over a large detachment of horse and +foot, on the morning of the 16th, which effectually cut off +communication between the citizens and their camp. On the 22nd he made a +feint of raising the siege, but his real object was to lull suspicion, +while he attacked the works at the Clare end of Thomond-bridge. The +position was bravely defended by Colonel Lacy, but he was obliged to +yield to overpowering numbers; and the Town-Major, fearing that the +enemy would enter in the _melee_ with the Irish, drew up the bridge. The +English gave no quarter, and, according to their own account, 600 men +were slaughtered on the spot. This was the last engagement. Sarsfield +recommended a surrender. Resistance was equally hopeless and useless; it +could only end in a fearful sacrifice of life on both sides. A parley +took place on the 23rd, and on the 24th a three days' truce was +arranged. Hostages were exchanged, and a friendly intercourse was +established. On the 3rd of October, 1691, the Treaty was signed. The +large stone is still shown which was used as a table on the occasion. +What that Treaty contained, and how it was violated, are matters which +demand a careful and impartial consideration. + +[Illustration: THE TREATY STONE, LIMERICK. + +This stone was placed on a handsome pedestal a few years since, by the +then Mayor of Limerick.] + +[Illustration: SITE OF THE BATTLE OF AUGHRIM.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[538] _Command_.--Mountcashel gave the word "right face;" it was +repeated "right about face." Colonel Hamilton and Captain Lavallin were +tried in Dublin by court-martial for the mistake, and the latter was +shot. + +[539] _Arrived_.--The journals of two officers of the Williamite army +have been published in the _Ulster Arch. Jour_., and furnish some +interesting details of the subsequent campaign. One of the writers is +called Bonnivert, and was probably a French refugee; the other was Dr. +Davis, a Protestant clergyman, who obtained a captaincy in William's +army, and seemed to enjoy preaching and fighting with equal zest. + +[540] _Sick_.--Harris' _Life of King William_, p. 254, 1719. Macaulay's +account of the social state of the camp, where there were so many +divines preaching, is a proof that their ministrations were not very +successful, and that the lower order of Irish were not at all below the +English of the same class in education or refinement. "The moans of the +sick were drowned by the blasphemy and ribaldry of their companions. +Sometimes, seated on the body of a wretch who had died in the morning, +might be seen a wretch destined to die before night, cursing, singing +loose songs, and swallowing usquebaugh to the health of the devil. When +the corpses were taken away to be buried, the survivors grumbled. A dead +man, they said, was a good screen and a good stool. Why, when there was +so abundant a supply of such useful articles of furniture, were people +to be exposed to the cold air, and forced to crouch on the moist +ground?"--Macaulay's _History of England_, People's Ed. part viii. p. +88. + +[541] _Eminence_.--Journal of Captain Davis, published in the _Ulster +Archaeological Journal_, vol. iv. + +[542] _Twenty thousand_.--Captain Davis' Journal. + +[543] _Shoulder_.--Davis' Journal The coat was exhibited at the meeting +of the British Association in Belfast, in 1852. It had descended as an +heirloom through Colonel Wetherall, William's aide-de-camp, who took it +off him after the accident. + +[544] _Career_.--_History of the King's Inns_, p. 239. + +[545] _Been.--Life of William III_. p. 327. + +[546] _Charge_.--See the _Green Book_, p. 231, for some curious stories +about this engagement, and for a detailed account of St. Ruth's death. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +Formation of the Irish Brigade--Violation of the Treaty of +Limerick--Enactment of the Penal Laws--Restrictions on Trade--The +Embargo Laws--The Sacramental Test introduced--The Palatines--The Irish +forbidden to enlist in the Army--Dean Swift and the Drapier's +Letters--Attempts to form a Catholic Association--Irish Emigrants defeat +the English in France, Spain, and America--The Whiteboys--An Account of +the Cause of these Outrages, by an English Tourist--Mr. Young's Remedy +for Irish Disaffection--The Peculiar Position and Difficulties of Irish +Priests--The Judicial Murder of Father Nicholas Sheehy--Grattan's Demand +for Irish Independence--The Volunteers--A Glimpse of Freedom. + +[A.D. 1691-1783.] + + +St. John's Gate and the Irish outworks were surrendered to the English; +the English town was left for the Irish troops to occupy until their +departure for France. The men were to have their choice whether they +would serve under William III. or under the French. A few days after +they were mustered on the Clare side of the Shannon, to declare which +alternative they preferred. An Ulster battalion, and a few men in each +regiment, in all about 1,000, entered the service of Government; 2,000 +received passes to return home; 11,000, with all the cavalry, +volunteered for France, and embarked for that country in different +detachments, under their respective officers. They were warmly received +in the land of their adoption; and all Irish Catholics to France were +granted the privileges of French citizens, without the formality of +naturalization. And thus was formed the famous "Irish Brigade," which +has become a household word for bravery and the glory of the Irish +nation. + +The Treaty, as I have said, was signed on the 3rd of October, 1691. The +preamble states that the contracting parties were Sir Charles Porter and +Thomas Coningsby, Lords Justices, with the Baron de Ginkell as +Commander-in-Chief, on the part of William and Mary; Sarsfield, Earl of +Lucan, Viscount Galmoy, Colonel Purcell, Colonel Cusack, Sir J. Butler, +Colonel Dillon, and Colonel Brown, on the part of the Irish nation. The +articles were fifty-two in number. They guaranteed to the Catholics (1) +the free exercise of their religion; (2) the privilege of sitting in +Parliament; (3) freedom of trade; (4) the safety of the estates of those +who had taken up arms for King James; (5) a general amnesty; (6) all the +honours of war to the troops, and a free choice for their future +destination. The articles run to considerable length, and cannot, +therefore, be inserted here; but they may be seen _in extenso_ in +MacGeoghegan's _History of Ireland_, and several other works. So little +doubt had the Irish that this Treaty would be solemnly observed, that +when the accidental omission of two lines was discovered in the clean +copy, they refused to carry out the arrangements until those lines had +been inserted. The Treaty was confirmed by William and Mary, who pledged +"the honour of England" that it should be kept inviolably, saying: "We +do, for us, our heirs and successors, as far as in us lies, ratify and +confirm the same, and every clause, matter, and thing therein +contained." Two days after the signing of the Treaty, a French fleet +arrived in the Shannon, with 3,000 soldiers, 200 officers, and 10,000 +stand of arms. Sarsfield was strongly urged to break faith with the +English; but he nobly rejected the temptation. How little did he foresee +how cruelly that nation would break faith with him! + +Two months had scarcely elapsed after the departure of the Irish troops, +when an English historian was obliged to write thus of the open +violation of the articles: "The justices of the peace, sheriffs, and +other magistrates, presuming on their power in the country, dispossessed +several of their Majesties' Catholic subjects, not only of their goods +and chattels, but also of their lands and tenements, to the great +reproach of their Majesties' Government."[547] These complaints were so +general, that the Lords Justices were at last obliged to issue a +proclamation on the subject (November 19, 1691), in which they state +that they had "received complaints from all parts of Ireland of the +ill-treatment of the Irish who had submitted; and that they [the Irish] +were so extremely terrified with apprehensions of the continuance of +that usage, that some of those who had quitted the Irish army and went +home, with the resolution not to go to France, were then come back +again, and pressed earnestly to go thither, rather than stay in Ireland, +where, contrary to the public faith, as well as law and justice, they +were robbed in their persons and abused in their substance." Let it be +remembered that this was an official document, and that it emanated from +the last persons who were likely to listen to such complaints, or +relieve them if they could possibly have been denied. + +The men who had hoped for confiscations that they might share the +plunder, now began to clamour loudly. It was necessary to get up a +popular cry against Papists, as the surest means of attaining their end. +Individuals who had as little personal hatred to the Pope as they had to +the Grand Turk, and as little real knowledge of the Catholic Faith as of +Mahometanism, uttered wild cries of "No Popery!" and "No Surrender!" +William, whose morals, if not his professions, proclaimed that he was +not troubled with any strong religious convictions, was obliged to yield +to the faction who had set him on the throne. Probably, he yielded +willingly; and was thus able, in some measure, to make a pretence of +doing under pressure what he really wished to do of his own will. + +On the 28th of October, 1692, the Parliament in Dublin rejected a Bill +which had been sent from England, containing restrictions on certain +duties, solely to proclaim their independence. A few days after they +were taught a lesson of obedience. Lord Sidney came down to the House +unexpectedly, and prorogued Parliament, with a severe rebuke, ordering +the Clerk to enter his protest against the proceedings of the Commons on +the journals of the House of Lords. The hopes of the English were +raised, and the Parliament brought forward the subject of the Limerick +articles, with torrents of complaints against the Irish in general, and +the Irish Catholics in particular. William received their remonstrance +coolly, and the matter was allowed to rest for a time. In 1695 Lord +Capel was appointed Viceroy. He at once summoned a Parliament, which sat +for several sessions, and in which some of the penal laws against +Catholics were enacted. As I believe the generality even of educated +persons, both in England and Ireland, are entirely ignorant of what +these laws really were, I shall give a brief account of their +enactments, premising first, that seven lay peers and seven Protestant +bishops had the honorable humanity to sign a protest against them. + +(1) The Catholic peers were deprived of their right to sit in +Parliament. (2) Catholic gentlemen were forbidden to be elected as +members of Parliament. (3) It denied all Catholics the liberty of +voting, and it excluded them from all offices of trust, and indeed from +_all remunerative_ employment, however insignificant.[548] (4) They were +fined L60 a-month for absence from the Protestant form of worship. (5) +They were forbidden to travel five miles from their houses, to keep +arms, to maintain suits at law, or to be guardians or executors. (6) Any +four justices of the peace could, without further trial, banish any man +for life if he refused to attend the Protestant service. (7) Any two +justices of the peace could call any man over sixteen before them, and +if he refused to abjure the Catholic religion, they could bestow his +property on the next of kin. (8) No Catholic could employ a Catholic +schoolmaster to educate his children; and if he sent his child abroad +for education, he was subject to a fine of L100, and the child could not +inherit any property either in England or Ireland. (9) Any Catholic +priest who came to the country should be hanged. (10) Any Protestant +suspecting any other Protestant of holding property[549] in trust for +any Catholic, might file a bill against the suspected trustee, and take +the estate or property from him. (11) Any Protestant seeing a Catholic +tenant-at-will on a farm, which, in his opinion, yielded one-third more +than the yearly rent, might enter on that farm, and, by simply swearing +to the fact, take possession. (12) Any Protestant might take away the +horse of a Catholic, no matter how valuable, by simply paying him L5. +(13) Horses and wagons belonging to Catholics, were in all cases to be +seized for the use of the militia. (14) Any Catholic gentleman's child +who became a Protestant, could at once take possession of his father's +property. + +I have only enumerated some of the enactments of this code, and I +believe there are few persons who will not be shocked at their atrocity. +Even if the rights of Catholics had not been secured to them by the +Treaty of Limerick, they had the rights of men; and whatever excuse, on +the ground of hatred of Popery as a religion, may be offered for +depriving men of liberty of conscience, and of a share in the government +of their country, there can be no excuse for the gross injustice of +defrauding them of their property, and placing life and estate at the +mercy of every ruffian who had an interest in depriving them of either +or of both. Although the seventeenth century has not yet been included +in the dark ages, it is possible that posterity, reading these +enactments, may reverse present opinion on this subject. + +But though the Parliament which sat in Dublin, and was misnamed Irish, +was quite willing to put down Popery and to take the property of +Catholics, it was not so willing to submit to English rule in other +matters. In 1698 Mr. Molyneux, one of the members for the University of +Dublin, published a work, entitled _The Case of Irelands being bound by +Acts of Parliament in England, stated_. But Mr. Molyneux's book was +condemned by the English Parliament; and after a faint show of +resistance, the Irish members succumbed. The next attention which the +English Houses paid to this country, was to suppress the woollen trade. +In 1698 they passed a law for the prevention of the exportation of wool +and of manufactures from Ireland, "under the forfeiture of goods and +ship, and a penalty of L500 for every such offence." The penal laws had +made it "an offence" for a man to practise his religion, or to educate +his children either in Ireland or abroad; the trade laws made it "an +offence" for a man to earn[550] his bread in an honest calling. The +lower class of Protestants were the principal sufferers by the +destruction of the woollen trade; it had been carried on by them almost +exclusively; and it is said that 40,000 persons were reduced to utter +destitution by this one enactment. In addition to this, navigation laws +were passed, which prohibited Irish merchants from trading beyond seas +in any ships except those which were built in England. The embargo laws +followed, of which twenty-two were passed at different periods during +forty years. They forbade Irish merchants, whether Protestant or +Catholic, to trade with any foreign nation, or with any British colony, +direct-to export or import _any article_, except to or from British +merchants resident in England. Ireland, however, was allowed one +consolation, and this was the permission to import rum duty free. I am +certain that none of the honorable members who voted such laws had the +deliberate intention of making the Irish a nation of beggars and +drunkards; but if the Irish did not become such, it certainly was not +the fault of those who legislated for their own benefit, and, as far as +they had the power to do so, for her ruin, politically and socially. + +William had exercised his royal prerogative by disposing, according to +his own inclination, of the estates forfeited by those who had fought +for the royal cause. His favourite, Mrs. Villiers, obtained property +worth L25,000 per annum. In 1799 the English Parliament began to inquire +into this matter, and the Commons voted that "the advising and passing +of the said grants was highly reflecting upon the King's honour." +William had already began to see on what shifting sands the poor fabric +of his popularity was erected. He probably thought of another case in +which his honour had been really pledged, and in which he had been +obliged to sacrifice it to the clamours of these very men. He had failed +in the attempt to keep his Dutch Guards; his last days were embittered; +and had not his death occurred soon after, it is just possible that even +posterity might have read his life in a different fashion. + +Anne succeeded to the throne in 1702; and the following year the Duke of +Ormonde was sent to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant. The House of Commons +waited on him with a Bill "to prevent the further growth of Popery." A +few members, who had protested against this Act, resigned their seats, +but others were easily found to take their places, whose opinions +coincided with those of the majority. The Queen's Tory advisers objected +to these strong measures, and attempted to nullify them, by introducing +the clause known as the "Sacramental Test," which excludes from public +offices all who refused to receive the sacrament according to the forms +of the Established Church. As dissenters from that Church had great +influence in the Irish Parliament, and as it was well known that their +abhorrence of the Church which had been established by law was little +short of their hatred of the Church which had been suppressed by law, it +was hoped that they would reject the bill; but they were assured that +they would not be required to take the test, and with this assurance +they passed the Act. It seems to those who look back on such +proceedings, almost a marvel, how men, whose conscience forbade them to +receive the sacrament according to certain rites, and who, in many +cases, certainly would have resigned property, if not life, sooner than +act contrary to their religious convictions, should have been so blindly +infatuated as to compel other men, as far as they had power to do so, to +violate their conscientious convictions. The whole history of the +persecutions which Catholics have endured at the hands of Protestants of +all and every denomination, is certainly one of the most curious phases +of human perversity which the philosopher can find to study. + +Two of the gentlemen, Sir Toby Butler and Colonel Cusack, who had signed +the Treaty of Limerick, petitioned to be heard by counsel against the +Bill. But appeals to honour and to justice were alike in vain, when +addressed to men who were destitute of both. The petitioners were +dismissed with the insulting remark, that if they suffered from the Act +it was their own fault, since, if they complied with its requirements, +honours and wealth were at their command. But these were men who would +not violate the dictates of conscience for all that the world could +bestow on them, and of this one should think they had already given +sufficient proof. The Bill was passed without a dissentient voice; and +men who would themselves have rebelled openly and violently if the +Sacramental Test had been imposed on them, and who would have talked +loudly of liberty of conscience, and the blasphemy of interfering with +any one's religious convictions, now, without a shadow of hesitation, +imposed this burden upon their fellow-men, and were guilty of the very +crime of persecution, with which they so frequently charged their +Catholic fellow-subjects. + +One Act followed another, each adding some new restriction to the last, +or some fresh incentive for persecution. In 1709 an attempt was made to +plant some Protestant families from Germany in various parts of the +country. These settlements obtained the name of Palatines. But it was +labour lost. Sir John Chichester once observed, that it was useless to +endeavour to root Popery out of Ireland, for it was impregnated in the +very air. A few of the Palatines, like other settlers, still kept to +their own religion; but the majority, as well as the majority of other +settlers, learned to understand and then to believe the Catholic +faith--learned to admire, and then to love, and eventually to amalgamate +with the long-suffering and noble race amongst whom they had been +established. + +It would appear that Queen Anne wished her brother to succeed her on the +throne; but he had been educated a Catholic, and he resolutely rejected +all temptations to renounce his faith. Her short and troubled reign +ended on the 1st of August, 1714. Before her death the Parliament had +chosen her successor. Her brother was proscribed, and a reward of +L50,000 offered for his apprehension. The rebellion in favour of James +III., as he was called on the Continent, or the Pretender, as he was +called by those who had no resource but to deny his legitimacy, was +confined entirely to Scotland; but the Irish obtained no additional +grace by their loyalty to the reigning monarch. A new proclamation was +issued, which not only forbid them to enlist in the army, but offered +rewards for the discovery of any Papist who had presumed to enlist, in +order that "he might be turned out, and punished with the utmost +severity of the law." In the next reign we shall see how the suicidal +effect of this policy was visited on the heads of its promoters. + +The Irish Parliament now came into collision with the English on a case +of appellate jurisdiction, but they were soon taught their true +position, and with becoming submission deferred to their fate. The Irish +Parliament had long been such merely in name; and the only power they +were allowed to exercise freely, was that of making oppressive and +unjust enactments against their Catholic fellow-subjects. It is a poor +consolation, but one which is not unfrequently indulged, when those who +are oppressed by others become themselves in turn the oppressors of +those who are unfortunate enough to be in their power. + +A new phase in Irish history was inaugurated by the versatile talents, +and strong will in their exercise, which characterized the famous Dr. +Jonathan Swift. The quarrels between Whigs and Tories were at their +height. Swift is said to have been a Whig in politics and a Tory in +religion. He now began to write as a patriot; and in his famous +"Drapier's Letters" told the Government of the day some truths which +were more plain than palatable.[551] An Englishman named Wood had +obtained a patent under the Broad Seal, in 1723, for the coinage of +copper halfpence. Even the servile Parliament was indignant, and +protested against a scheme[552] which promised to flood Ireland with bad +coin, and thus to add still more to its already impoverished condition. +There was reason for anxiety. The South Sea Bubble had lately ruined +thousands in England, and France was still suffering from the +Mississippi Scheme. Speculations of all kinds were afloat, and a +temporary mania seemed to have deprived the soberest people of their +ordinary judgment. Dr. Hugh Boulter, an Englishman, was made Archbishop +of Armagh, and sent over mainly to attend to the English interests in +Ireland. But he was unable to control popular feeling; and Swift's +letters accomplished what the Irish Parliament was powerless to effect. +Although it was well known that he was the author of these letters, and +though a reward of L300 was offered for the discovery of the secret, he +escaped unpunished. In 1725 the patent was withdrawn, and Wood received +L3,000 a year for twelve years as an indemnification--an evidence that +he must have given a very large bribe for the original permission, and +that he expected to make more by it than could have been made honestly. +One of the subjects on which Swift wrote most pointedly and effectively, +was that of absentees. He employed both facts and ridicule; but each +were equally in vain. He describes the wretched state of the country; +but his eloquence was unheeded. He gave ludicrous illustrations of the +extreme ignorance of those who governed in regard to those whom they +governed. Unfortunately the state of things which he described and +denounced has continued, with few modifications, to the present day; but +on this subject I have said sufficient elsewhere. + +George I. died at Osnaburg, in Germany, on the 10th of June, 1727. On +the accession of his successor, the Catholics offered an address +expressing their loyalty, but the Lords Justices took care that it +should never reach England. The next events of importance were the +efforts made by Dr. Boulter, the Protestant Primate, to establish +Charter Schools, where Catholic children might be educated; and his +equally zealous efforts to prevent Catholics, who had conformed +exteriorly to the State religion, from being admitted to practise at the +Bar. It may be observed in passing, that these men could scarcely have +been as degraded in habits and intellect as some historians have been +pleased to represent them, when they could at once become fit for +forensic honours, and evinced such ability as to excite the fears of the +Protestant party. It should be remarked that their "conversion" was +manifestly insincere, otherwise there would have been no cause for +apprehension. + +The country was suffering at this period from the most fearful distress. +There were many causes for this state of destitution, which were quite +obvious to all but those who were interested in maintaining it. The +poorer classes, being almost exclusively Catholics, had been deprived of +every means of support. Trade was crushed, so that they could not become +traders; agriculture was not permitted, so that they could not become +agriculturists. There was, in fact, no resource for the majority but to +emigrate, to steal, or to starve. To a people whose religion always had +a preponderating influence on their moral conduct, the last alternative +only was available, as there was not the same facilities for emigration +then as now. The cultivation of the potato had already become general; +it was, indeed, the only way of obtaining food left to these +unfortunates. They were easily planted, easily reared; and to men liable +at any moment to be driven from their miserable holdings, if they +attempted to effect "improvements," or to plant such crops as might +attract the rapacity of their landlords, they were an invaluable +resource. The man might live who eat nothing but potatoes all the year +round, but he could scarcely be envied or ejected for his wealth. In +1739 a severe frost destroyed the entire crop, and a frightful famine +ensued, in which it was estimated that 400,000 persons perished of +starvation. + +In 1747 George Stone succeeded Dr. Hoadley as Primate of Ireland. His +appointment was made evidently more in view of temporals than +spirituals, and he acted accordingly. Another undignified squabble took +place in 1751 and 1753, between the English and Irish Parliaments, on +the question of privilege. For a time the "patriot" or Irish party +prevailed; but eventually they yielded to the temptation of bribery and +place. Henry Boyle, the Speaker, was silenced by being made Earl of +Shannon; Anthony Malone was made Chancellor of the Exchequer; and the +opposition party was quietly broken up. + +An attempt was now made to form a Catholic Association, and to obtain by +combination and quiet pressure what had been so long denied to +resistance and military force. Dr. Curry, a physician practising in +Dublin, and the author of the well-known _Historical and Critical Review +of the Civil Wars of Ireland;_ Charles O'Connor, of Belanagar, the Irish +antiquary, and Mr. Wyse, of Waterford, were the projectors and promoters +of this scheme. The clergy stood aloof from it, fearing to lose any +liberty they still possessed if they demanded more; the aristocracy held +back, fearing to forfeit what little property yet remained to them, if +they gave the least excuse for fresh "settlements" or plunderings. A few +Catholic merchants, however, joined the three friends; and in +conjunction they prepared an address to the Duke of Bedford, who was +appointed Lord Lieutenant in 1757. The address was favourably received, +and an answer returned after some time. The Government already had +apprehensions of the French invasion, and it was deemed politic to give +the Catholics some encouragement, however faint. It is at least certain +that the reply declared, "the zeal and attachment which they [the +Catholics] professed, would never be more seasonably manifested than at +the present juncture." + +Charles Lucas now began his career of patriotism; for at last Irish +Protestants were beginning to see, that if Irish Catholics suffered, +Irish interests would suffer also; and if Irish interests suffered, they +should have their share in the trial. A union between England and +Ireland, such as has since been carried out, was now proposed, and +violent excitement followed. A mob, principally composed of Protestants, +broke into the House of Lords; but the affair soon passed over, and the +matter was dropped. + +George II. died suddenly at Kensington, and was succeeded by his +grandson, George III. But I shall request the attention of the reader to +some remarks of considerable importance with regard to foreign events, +before continuing the regular course of history. The predilections of +the late King for his German connexions, had led him into war both with +France and Spain; the imprudence of ministers, if not the unwise and +unjust policy of colonial government, involved the country soon after in +a conflict with the American dependencies. In each of these cases +expatriated Irishmen turned the scale against the country from which +they had been so rashly and cruelly ejected. In France, the battle of +Fontenoy was won mainly by the Irish Brigade, who were commanded by +Colonel Dillon; and the defeat of England by the Irish drew from George +II. the well-known exclamation: "Cursed be the laws that deprive me of +such subjects!" In Spain, where the Irish officers and soldiers had +emigrated by thousands, there was scarcely an engagement in which they +did not take a prominent and decisive part. In Canada, the agitation +against British exactions was commenced by Charles Thompson, an Irish +emigrant, and subsequently the Secretary of Congress; Montgomery, +another Irishman, captured Montreal and Quebec; O'Brien and Barry, whose +names sufficiently indicate their nationality, were the first to command +in the naval engagements; and startled England began to recover slowly +and sadly from her long infatuation, to discover what had, indeed, been +discovered by the sharp-sighted Schomberg[553] and his master long +before, that Irishmen, from their habits of endurance and undaunted +courage, were the best soldiers she could find, and that, Celts and +Papists as they were, her very existence as a nation might depend upon +their co-operation. + +The agrarian outrages, the perpetrators of which were known at first by +the name of Levellers, and eventually by the appellation of Whiteboys, +commenced immediately after the accession of George III. An English +traveller, who carefully studied the subject and who certainly could +have been in no way interested in misrepresentation, has thus described +the cause and the motive of the atrocities they practised. The first +cause was the rapacity of the landlords, who, having let their lands far +above their value, on condition of allowing the tenants the use of +certain commons, now enclosed the commons, but did not lessen the rent. +The bricks were to be made, but the straw was not provided; and the +people were told that they were idle. The second cause was the exactions +of the tithemongers, who were described by this English writer as +"harpies who squeezed out the very vitals of the people, and by process, +citation, and sequestration, dragged from them the little which the +landlord had left them." It was hard for those who had been once owners +of the soil, to be obliged to support the intruders into their property +in affluence; while they, with even the most strenuous efforts, could +barely obtain what would keep them from starvation. It was still harder +that men, who had sacrificed their position in society, and their +worldly prospects, for the sake of their religion, should be obliged to +support clergymen and their families, some of whom never resided in the +parishes from which they obtained tithes, and many of whom could not +count above half-a-dozen persons as regular members of their +congregation. + +Mr. Young thus suggests a remedy for these crimes, which, he says, were +punished with a "severity which seemed calculated for the meridian of +Barbary, while others remain yet the law of the land, which would, if +executed, tend more to raise than to quell an insurrection. From all +which it is manifest, that the gentlemen of Ireland never thought of a +radical cure, from overlooking the real cause of disease, which, in +fact, lay in themselves, and not in the wretches they doomed to the +gallows. Let them change their own conduct entirely, and the poor will +not long riot. Treat them like men, who ought to be as free as +yourselves; put an end to that system of religious persecution, which, +for seventy years, has divided the kingdom against itself--in these two +circumstances lies the cure of insurrection; perform them completely, +and you will have an affectionate poor, instead of oppressed and +discontented vassals."[554] + +How purely these outrages were the deeds of desperate men, who had been +made desperate by cruel oppression, and insensible to cruelty by cruel +wrongs, is evident from the dying declaration of five Whiteboys, who +were executed, in 1762, at Waterford and who publicly declared, and took +God to witness, "that in all these tumults it never did enter into their +thoughts to do anything against the King or Government."[555] + +It could not be expected that the Irish priest would see the people +exposed to all this misery--and what to them was far more painful to all +this temptation to commit deadly sin--without making some effort in +their behalf. There may have been some few priests, who, in their zeal +for their country, have sacrificed the sacredness of their office to +their indignation at the injury done to their people--who have mixed +themselves up with feats of arms, or interfered with more ardour than +discretion in the arena of politics; but such instances have been rare, +and circumstances have generally made them in some degree excusable. The +position of the Irish priest in regard to his flock is so anomalous, +that some explanation of it seems necessary in order to understand the +accusations made against Father Nicholas Sheehy, and the animosity with +which he was hunted to death by his persecutors. While the priest was +driven from cave to mountain and from mountain to cave, he was the +consoler of his equally persecuted people. The deep reverence which +Catholics feel for the office of the priesthood, can scarcely be +understood by those who have abolished that office, as far as the law of +the land could do so; but a man of ordinary intellectual attainments +ought to be able to form some idea of the feelings of others, though he +may not have experienced them personally; and a man of ordinary humanity +should be able to respect those feelings, however unwise they may seem +to him. When education was forbidden to the Irish, the priest obtained +education in continental colleges; and there is sufficient evidence to +show that many Irish priests of that and of preceding centuries were men +of more than ordinary abilities. The Irish, always fond of learning, are +ever ready to pay that deference to its possessors which is the best +indication of a superior mind, however uncultivated. Thus, the +priesthood were respected both for their office and for their erudition. +The landlord, the Protestant clergyman, the nearest magistrate, and, +perhaps, the tithe-proctor, were the only educated persons in the +neighbourhood; but they were leagued against the poor peasant; they +demanded rent and tithes, which he had no means of paying; they refused +justice, which he had no means of obtaining. The priest, then, was the +only friend the peasant had. His friendship was disinterested--he gained +nothing by his ministration but poor fare and poor lodging; his +friendship was self-sacrificing, for he risked his liberty and his life +for his flock. He it was-- + + "Who, in the winter's night, + When the cold blast did bite, + Came to my cabin door, + And, on the earthen floor, + Knelt by me, sick and poor;" + +and he, too, when the poor man was made still poorer by his sickness, + + "Gave, while his eyes did brim, + What I should give to him."[556] + +But a time came when the priest was able to do more. Men had seen, in +some measure, the absurdity, if not the wickedness, of persecuting the +religion of a nation; and at this time priests were tolerated in +Ireland. Still, though they risked their lives by it, they could not see +their people treated unjustly without a protest. The priest was +independent of the landlord; for, if he suffered from his vengeance, he +suffered alone, and his own sufferings weighed lightly in the balance +compared with the general good. The priest was a gentleman by education, +and often by birth; and this gave him a social status which his +uneducated people could not possess.[557] Such, was the position of +Father Nicholas Sheehy, the parish priest of Clogheen. He had interfered +in the vain hope of protecting his unfortunate parishioners from +injustice; and, in return, he was himself made the victim of injustice. +He was accused of encouraging a French invasion--a fear which was always +present to the minds of the rulers, as they could not but know that the +Irish had every reason to seek for foreign aid to free them from +domestic wrongs. He was accused of encouraging the Whiteboys, because, +while he denounced their crimes, he accused those who had driven them to +these crimes as the real culprits. He was accused of treason, and a +reward of L300 was offered for his apprehension. Conscious of his +innocence, he gave himself up at once to justice, though he might easily +have fled the country. He was tried in Dublin and acquitted. But his +persecutors were not satisfied. A charge of murder was got up against +him; and although the body of the man could never be found, although it +was sworn that he had left the country, although an _alibi_ was proved +for the priest, he was condemned and executed. A gentleman of property +and position came forward at the trial to prove that Father Sheehy had +slept in his house the very night on which he was accused of having +committed the murder; but the moment he appeared in court, a clergyman +who sat on the bench had him taken into custody, on pretence of having +killed a corporal and a sergeant in a riot. The pretence answered the +purpose. After Father Sheehy's execution Mr. Keating was tried; and, as +there was not even a shadow of proof, he was acquitted. But it was too +late to save the victim. + +At the place of execution, Father Sheehy most solemnly declared, on the +word of a dying man, that he was not guilty either of murder or of +treason; that he never had any intercourse, either directly or +indirectly, with the French; and that he had never known of any such +intercourse being practised by others. Notwithstanding this solemn +declaration of a dying man, a recent writer of Irish history says, +"there can be no doubt" that he was deeply implicated in treasonable +practices, and "he seems to have been" a principal in the plot to murder +Lord Carrick. The "no doubt" and "seems to have been" of an individual +are not proofs, but they tend to perpetuate false impressions, and do +grievous injustice to the memory of the dead. The writer has also +omitted all the facts which tended to prove Father Sheehy's innocence. + +In 1771 a grace was granted to the Catholics, by which they were allowed +to take a lease of fifty acres of bog, and half an acre of arable land +for a house; but this holding should not be within a mile of any town. +In 1773 an attempt was made to tax absentees; but as they were the +principal landowners, they easily defeated the measure. A pamphlet was +published in 1769, containing a list of the absentees, which is in +itself sufficient to account for any amount of misery and disaffection +in Ireland. There can be no doubt of the correctness of the statement, +because the names of the individuals and the amount of their property +are given in full. Property to the amount of L73,375 belonged to persons +who _never_ visited Ireland. Pensions to the amount of L371,900 were +paid to persons who lived out of Ireland. Property to the amount of +L117,800 was possessed by persons who visited Ireland occasionally, but +lived abroad. Incomes to the amount of L72,200 were possessed by +officials and bishops, who generally lived out of Ireland. The state of +trade is also treated in the same work, in which the injustice the +country has suffered is fully and clearly explained. + +The American war commenced in 1775, and the English Parliament at once +resolved to relieve Ireland of some of her commercial disabilities. Some +trifling concessions were granted, just enough to show the Irish that +they need not expect justice except under the compulsion of fear, and +not enough to benefit the country. Irish soldiers were now asked for and +granted; but exportation of Irish commodities to America was forbidden, +and in consequence the country was reduced to a state of fearful +distress. The Irish debt rose to L994,890, but the pension list was +still continued and paid to absentees. When the independence of the +American States was acknowledged by France, a Bill for the partial +relief of the Catholics passed unanimously through the English +Parliament. Catholics were now allowed a few of the rights of citizens. +They were permitted to take and dispose of leases, and priests and +schoolmasters were no longer liable to prosecution. + +Grattan had entered Parliament in the year 1775. In 1779 he addressed +the House on the subject of a free trade[558] for Ireland; and on the +19th of April, 1780, he made his famous demand for Irish independence. +His address, his subject, and his eloquence were irresistible. "I wish +for nothing," he exclaimed, "but to breathe in this our land, in common +with my fellow-subjects, the air of liberty. I have no ambition, unless +it be the ambition to break your chain and to contemplate your glory. I +never will be satisfied as long as the meanest cottager in Ireland has a +link of the British chain clinging to his rags; he may be naked, but he +shall not be in irons. And I do see the time is at hand, the spirit is +gone forth, the declaration is planted; and though great men should +apostatize, yet the cause will live; and though the public speaker +should die, yet the immortal fire shall outlast the organ which conveyed +it; and the breath of liberty, like the word of the holy man, will not +die with the prophet, but survive him." + +The country was agitated to the very core. A few links of the chain had +been broken. A mighty reaction set in after long bondage. The +newly-freed members of the body politic were enjoying all the delicious +sensations of a return from a state of disease to a state o partial +health. The Celt was not one to be stupefied or numbed by long +confinement; and if the restraint were loosened a little more, he was +ready to bound into the race of life, joyous and free, too happy to +mistrust, and too generous not to forgive his captors. But, alas! the +freedom was not yet granted, and the joy was more in prospect of what +might be, than in thankfulness of what was. + +[Illustration: Grattan demanding Irish Independence.] + +The Volunteer Corps, which had been formed in Belfast in 1779, when the +coast was threatened by privateers, had now risen to be a body of +national importance. They were reviewed in public, and complimented by +Parliament. But they were patriots. On the 28th of December, 1781, a few +of the leading members of the Ulster regiments met at Charlemont, and +convened a meeting of delegates from all the Volunteer Associations, at +Dungannon, on the 15th of February, 1782. The delegates assembled on the +appointed day, and Government dared not prevent or interrupt their +proceedings. Colonel William Irvine presided, and twenty-one resolutions +were adopted, demanding civil rights, and the removal of commercial +restraints. One resolution expresses their pleasure, as Irishmen, as +Christians, and as Protestants, at the relaxation of the penal laws. +This resolution was suggested by Grattan to Mr. Dobbs, as he was leaving +Dublin to join the assembly. It was passed with only two dissentient +votes. + +The effect of this combined, powerful, yet determined agitation, was +decisive. On the 27th of May, 1782, when the Irish Houses met, after an +adjournment of three weeks, the Duke of Portland announced the +unconditional concessions which had been made to Ireland by the English +Parliament. Mr. Grattan interpreted the concession in the fullest sense, +and moved an address, "breathing the generous sentiments of his noble +and confiding nature." Mr. Flood and a few other members took a +different and more cautious view of the case. They wished for something +more than a simple repeal of the Act of 6 George I., and they demanded +an express declaration that England would not interfere with Irish +affairs. But his address was carried by a division of 211 to 2; and the +House, to show its gratitude, voted that 20,000 Irish seamen should be +raised for the British navy, at a cost of L100,000, and that L50,000 +should be given to purchase an estate and build a house for Mr. Grattan, +whose eloquence had contributed so powerfully to obtain what they hoped +would prove justice to Ireland. + +[Illustration: GOLDSMITH'S WELL.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[547] _Government_.--Harris' _Life of William III_. p. 357. + +[548] _Insignificant_.--A petition was sent in to Parliament by the +Protestant porters of Dublin, complaining of Darby Ryan for employing +Catholic porters. The petition was respectfully received, and referred +to a "Committee of Grievances."--_Com. Jour_. vol. ii. f. 699. Such an +instance, and it is only one of many, is the best indication of the +motive for enacting the penal laws, and the cruelty of them. + +[549] _Property_.--It will be remembered that at this time Catholics +were in a majority of at least five to one over Protestants. Hence +intermarriages took place, and circumstances occurred, in which +Protestants found it their interest to hold property for Catholics, to +prevent it from being seized by others. A gentleman of considerable +property in the county Kerry, has informed me that his property was held +in this way for several generations. + +[550] _Earn_.--One of the articles of the "violated Treaty" expressly +provided that the poor Catholics should be allowed to exercise their +trade. An Act to prevent the further growth of Popery was passed +afterwards, which made it forfeiture of goods and imprisonment for any +Catholic to exercise a trade in Limerick or Galway, except seamen, +fishermen, and day labourers, and they were to be licensed by the +Governor, and not to exceed twenty.--_Com. Jour_. vol. iii. f. 133. + +[551] _Palatable_.--In his fourth letter he says: "Our ancestors reduced +this kingdom to the obedience of England, in return for which we have +been rewarded with a worse climate, the privilege of being governed by +laws to which we do not consent, a ruined trade, a house of peers +without jurisdiction, almost an incapacity for all employments, and the +dread of Wood's halfpence." + +[552] _Scheme_.--The very bills of some of the companies were so +absurd, that it is marvellous how any rational person could have been +deceived by them. One was "for an undertaking which shall be in due time +revealed." The undertaker was as good as his word. He got L2,000 paid in +on shares one morning, and in the afternoon the "undertaking" was +revealed, for he had decamped with the money. Some wag advertised a +company "for the invention of melting down sawdust and chips, and +casting them into clean deal boards, without cracks or knots." + +[553] _Schomberg_.--He wrote to William of Orange, from before Dundalk, +that the English nation made the worst soldiers he had ever seen, +because they could not bear hardships; "yet," he adds, "the Parliament +and people have a prejudice, that an English new-raised soldier can beat +above six of his enemies."--Dalrymple's _Memoirs_, vol. ii. p. 178. +According to the records of the War Office in France, 450,000 Irishmen +died in the service of that country from 1691 to 1745, and, in round +numbers, as many more from 1745 to the Revolution. + +[554] _Vassals_.--Young's _Tour_, vol. ii. pp. 41, 42. It should be +remembered that Mr. Young was an Englishman and a Protestant, and that +he had no property in Ireland to blind him to the truth. + +[555] _Government_,--Curry's _Historical Review_, vol. ii. p. 274, +edition of 1786. This work affords a very valuable and accurate account +of the times, written from personal knowledge. + +[556] _Him_.--The ballad of _Soggarth Aroon_ (priest, dear) was written +by John Banim, in 1831. It is a most true and vivid expression of the +feelings of the Irish towards their priests. + +[557] _Possess_.--While these pages were passing through the press, a +circumstance has occurred which so clearly illustrates the position of +the Irish priest, that I cannot avoid mentioning it. A gentleman has +purchased some property, and his first act is to give his three tenants +notice to quit. The unfortunate men have no resource but to obey the +cruel mandate, and to turn out upon the world homeless and penniless. +They cannot go to law, for the law would be against them. They are not +in a position to appeal to public opinion, for they are only farmers. +The parish priest is their only resource and their only friend. He +appeals to the feelings of their new landlord in a most courteous +letter, in which he represents the cruel sufferings these three families +must endure. The landlord replies that he has bought the land as a +"commercial speculation," and of course he has a right to do whatever he +considers most for his advantage; but offers to allow the tenants to +remain if they consent to pay double their former rent--a rent which +would be double the real value of the land. Such cases are constantly +occurring, and are constantly exposed by priests; and we have known more +than one instance in which fear of such exposure has obtained justice. A +few of them are mentioned from time to time in the Irish local papers. +The majority of cases are entirely unknown, except to the persons +concerned; but they are remembered by the poor sufferers and their +friends. I believe, if the people of England were aware of one-half of +these ejectments, and the sufferings they cause, they would rise up as a +body and demand justice for Ireland and the Irish; they would marvel at +the patience with which what to them would be so intolerable has been +borne so long. + +[558] _Free trade_,--A very important work was published in 1779, called +_The Commercial Restraints of Ireland Considered_. It is a calm and +temperate statement of facts and figures. The writer shows that the +agrarian outrages of the Whiteboys were caused by distress, and quotes a +speech Lord Northumberland to the same effect.--_Com. Res._, p. 59. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +Celebrated Irishmen of the Eighteenth Century--BURKE--- His School and +College Life--Early Hatred of Oppression--Johnson's Estimate of +Burke--_Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful_--Commencement of his +Political Career--Opinions on the American Question-English Infatuation +and Injustice--Irishmen Prominent Actors in the American Revolution--Its +Causes and Effects--Burke on Religious Toleration--Catholic +Emancipation--His Indian Policy--MOORE--His Poetry and +Patriotism--CURRAN--SWIFT--LUCAS--FLOOD--GRATTAN--EARL OF +CHARLEMONT--Irish Artists, Authors, and Actors--SHERIDAN--Scene in the +House of Lords during the Impeachment of Warren Hastings--GOLDSMITH. + +[A.D. 1700-1800.] + + +Each century of Irish history would require a volume of its own, if the +lives of its eminent men were recorded as they should be; but the +eighteenth century may boast of a host of noble Irishmen, whose fame is +known even to those who are most indifferent to the history of that +country. It was in this century that Burke, coming forth from the Quaker +school of Ballitore, his mind strengthened by its calm discipline, his +intellect cultivated by its gifted master, preached political wisdom to +the Saxons, who were politically wise as far as they followed his +teaching, and politically unfortunate when they failed to do so. His +public career demands the most careful consideration from every +statesman who may have any higher object in view than the mere fact of +having a seat in the cabinet; nor should it be of less interest or value +to those whose intellectual capacities are such as to enable them to +grasp any higher subject than the plot of a sensational novel. It was in +this century also that Moore began to write his world-famed songs, to +amaze the learned by his descriptions of a country which he had never +seen, and to fling out those poetical hand grenades, those pasquinades +and squibs, whose rich humour and keenly-pointed satire had so much +influence on the politics of the day. It was in this century that +Sheridan, who was the first to introduce Moore to London society, +distinguished himself at once as dramatist, orator, and statesman, and +left in his life and death a terrible lesson to his nation of the +miseries and degradations consequent on indulgence in their besetting +sin. It was in this century that Steele, the bosom friend of Addison, +and his literary equal, contributed largely to the success and +popularity of the _Spectator_, the _Guardian_, and the _Tatler,_ though, +as usual, English literature takes the credit to itself of what has been +accomplished for it by Irish writers.[559] + +Burke is, however, unquestionably both the prominent man of his age and +of his nation in that age; and happily we have abundant material for +forming a correct estimate of his character and his works. Burke was +born in Dublin, on the 1st of January, 1730. His father was an attorney +in good business, and of course a Protestant, as at that period none, +except those who professed the religion of a small minority, were +permitted to govern the vast majority, or to avail themselves of any +kind of temporal advancement. The mother of the future statesman was a +Miss Nagle, of Mallow, a descendant of whose family became afterwards +very famous as the foundress of a religious order.[560] The family +estate was at Castletown-Roche, in the vicinity of Doneraile; this +property descended to Garrett, Edmund's elder brother. A famous school +had been founded by a member of the Society of Friends at Ballitore, and +thither young Burke and his brother were sent for their education The +boys arrived there on the 26th May, 1741. A warm friendship soon sprang +up between Edmund and Richard Shackleton, the son of his master, a +friendship which only terminated with death. We have happily the most +ample details of Burke's school-days in the _Annals of Ballitore_, a +work of more than ordinary interest written by Mrs. Leadbeater, the +daughter of Burke's special friend. His native talent was soon developed +under the care of his excellent master, and there can be little doubt +that the tolerant ideas of his after life were learned, or at least +cultivated, at the Quaker school. + +One instance of the early development of his talent for humour, and +another of his keen sense of injustice, must find record here. The +entrance of the judges to the county town of Athy was a spectacle which +had naturally special attraction for the boys. All were permitted to go, +but on condition that each of the senior pupils should write a +description of what he had seen in Latin verse. Burke's task was soon +accomplished--not so that of another hapless youth, whose ideas and +Latinity were probably on a par. When he had implored the help of his +more gifted companion, Edmund determined at least that he should +contribute an idea for his theme, but for all reply as to what he had +noticed in particular on the festal occasion, he only answered, "A fat +piper in a brown coat." However Burke's ideas of "the sublime" may have +predominated, his idea of the ludicrous was at this time uppermost; and +in a few moments a poem was composed, the first line of which only has +been preserved-- + + "Piper erat fattus, qui brownum tegmen habebat." + +"He loved humour," writes Mrs. Leadbeater,[561] "and my father was very +witty. The two friends sharpened their intellect and sported their wit +till peals of laughter in the schoolroom often caused the reverend and +grave master to implore them, with suppressed smiles, to desist, or he +should have to turn them out, as their example might be followed, where +folly and uproar would take the place of humour and wisdom." + +His hatred of oppression and injustice was also manifested about this +time. A poor man was compelled to pull down his cabin, because the +surveyor of roads considered that it stood too near the highway. The boy +watched him performing his melancholy task, and declared that, if he +were in authority, such scenes should never be enacted. How well he kept +his word, and how true he was in manhood to the good and holy impulses +of his youth, his future career amply manifests. + +Burke entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1744; Goldsmith entered +college the following year, and Flood was a fellow-commoner; but these +distinguished men knew little of each other in early life, and none of +them were in any way remarkable during their academic career. In 1753 +Burke arrived in London, and occupied himself in legal studies and the +pursuit of literature. His colloquial gifts and his attractive manner +won all hearts, while his mental superiority commanded the respect of +the learned. Even Johnson, who was too proud to praise others, much as +he loved flattery himself, was fain to give his most earnest word of +commendation to the young Irishman, and even admitted that he envied +Burke for being "continually the same," though he could not refrain from +having a fling at him for not being a "good listener"--a deadly sin in +the estimation of one who seldom wished to hear any other voice but his +own. Burke, sir, he exclaimed to the obsequious Boswell--Burke is such a +man, that if you met him for the first time in the street, and conversed +with him for not five minutes, he'd talk to you in such a manner, that, +when you parted, you would say that is an extraordinary man.[562] + +Some essays in imitation of Dr. Charles Lucas, and a translation of part +of the second Georgic of Virgil, which, in finish of style, is, at +least, not inferior to Dryden, were among the earliest efforts of his +gifted pen; and, no doubt, these and other literary occupations gave him +a faculty of expressing thought in cultivated language, which was still +further developed by constant intercourse with Johnson, ever ready for +argument, and his club, who were all equally desirous to listen when +either spoke. His _Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful_, unfortunately +better known in the present day by its title than by its contents, at +once attracted immense attention, and brought considerable pecuniary +help to the author. But the constant pressure of intellectual labour +soon began to tell upon a constitution always delicate. His health gave +way entirely, and he appeared likely to sink into a state of physical +debility, entirely incompatible with any mental exertion. He applied for +advice to Dr. Nugent; the skilful physician saw at once that something +more was required than medicine or advice. It was one of those cases of +suffering to which the most refined and cultivated minds are especially +subjected--one of those instances which prove, perhaps, more than any +others, that poor humanity has fallen low indeed. The master-mind was +there, the brilliant gems of thought, the acute power of reasoning, that +exquisitely delicate sense of feeling, which has never yet been +accurately defined, and which probably never can be--which waits for +some unseen mystic sympathy to touch it, and decide whether the chord +shall be in minor or major key--which produces a tone of thought, now +sublime, and now brimming over with coruscations of wit from almost the +same incidents; and yet all those faculties of the soul, though not +destroyed, are held in abeyance, because the body casts the dull shadow +of its own inability and degradation over the spirit--because the spirit +is still allied to the flesh, and must suffer with it. + +There was something more than perfect rest required in such a case. Rest +would, indeed, recruit the body, worn out by the mind's overaction, but +the mind also needed some healing process. Some gentle hand should +soothe the overstrained chords of thought, and touch them just +sufficiently to stimulate their action with gentlest suasion, while it +carefully avoided all that might irritate or weary. And such help and +healing was found for Burke, or, haply, from bodily debility, mental +weakness might have developed itself into mental malady; and the +irritability of weakness, to which cultivated minds are often most +subjected, might have ended, even for a time, if not wisely treated, in +the violence of lunacy. It was natural that the doctor's daughter should +assist in the doctor's work; and, perhaps, not less natural that the +patient should be fascinated by her. In a short time the cure was +perfected, and Burke obtained the greatest earthly blessing for which +any man can crave--a devoted wife, a loving companion, a wise adviser, +and, above all, a sympathizing friend, to whom all which interested her +husband, either in public or private, was her interest as much as, and, +if possible, even more than his. Burke's public career certainly opened +with happy auspices. He was introduced by the Earl of Charlemont to Mr. +Hamilton in 1759, and in 1761 he returned to Ireland in the capacity of +private secretary to that gentleman. Mr. Hamilton has acquired, as is +well known, the appellation of "single speech," and it is thought he +employed Burke to compose his oration; it is probable that he required +his assistance in more important ways. But the connexion was soon +dissolved, not without some angry words on both sides. Hamilton taunted +Burke with having taken him out of a garret, which was not true, for +Burke's social position was scarcely inferior to his own; Burke replied +with ready wit that he regretted having _descended_ to know him. + +In the year 1765, when Lord Grenville was driven from office by the +"American Question," the Marquis of Rockingham succeeded him, appointed +Burke his private secretary, and had him returned for the English +borough of Wendover. His political career commenced at this period. +Then, as now, Reform, Ireland, and America were the subjects of the day; +and when one considers and compares the politics of the eighteenth and +the nineteenth centuries, the progress of parliamentary intellectual +development is not very encouraging. The speeches of honorable members, +with some few very honorable exceptions, seem to run in the same groove, +with the same utter incapacity of realizing a new idea, or a broad and +cosmopolitan policy. There were men then, as there are men now, who +talked of toleration in one breath, and proclaimed their wooden +determination to enforce class ascendency of creed and of station in the +next. There were men who would tax fresh air, and give unfortunate +wretches poisonous drinks on the cheapest terms. There were men whose +foreign policy consisted in wringing all that could be wrung out of +dependencies, and then, when the danger was pointed out, when it was +shown that those dependencies were not only likely to resist, but were +in a position to resist--to a position in which neither shooting nor +flogging could silence, if it did not convince--they hid their heads, +with ostrich-like fatuity, in the blinding sands of their own ignorance, +and declared there could be no danger, for _they_ could not discern it. + +I have said that there were three great political questions which +occupied the attention of statesmen at that day. I shall briefly glance +at each, as they form a most important standpoint in our national +history, and are subjects of the first interest to Irishmen and to Irish +history; and as Burke's maiden speech in the House of Commons was made +in favour of conciliating America, I shall treat that question first. +The facts are brief and significant but by no means as thoroughly known +or as well considered as they should be, when we remember their +all-important results--results which as yet are by no means fully +developed.[563] The actual contest between the English nation and her +American colonies commenced soon after the accession of George III.; +but, as early as the middle of the eighteenth century, Thomas Pownal, +Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Massachusetts, South Carolina, and +New Jersey came to England, and published a work on the administration +of the colonies. He seems even then to have had a clear view of the +whole case. There is an old proverb about the last grain of rice +breaking the back of the camel, but we must remember that the load was +made up of many preceding grains. The Stamp Act and Tea Duty were +unquestionably the last links of an attempted chain of slavery with +which England ventured to fetter the noblest of her colonies, but there +were many preceding links. Pownal's work affords evidence of the +existence of many. The crown, he said, _in theory_ considered the lands +and plantations of the colonists its own, and attempted a far greater +control over the personal liberty of the subject than it dared to claim +in England. The people, on the other hand, felt that they had by no +means forfeited the rights of Englishmen because they had left England; +and that, if they submitted to its laws, they should at least have some +share in making them. A series of petty collisions, which kept up a +state of constant irritation, prepared the way for the final +declaration, which, flung aside the bonds of allegiance, and freed the +people from the galling chains by which that allegiance was sought to be +maintained. A wise policy at home might have averted the fatal +disruption for a time, but it is doubtful that it could have been +averted for many years, even if the utter incapacity of an obstinate +sovereign, and the childish vindictiveness of a minister, had not +precipitated the conclusion. + +The master intellect of Burke at once grasped the whole question, and +his innate sense of justice suggested the remedy. Unfortunately for +England, but happily for America, Burke was beyond his age in breadth of +policy and in height of honour. Englishmen of the nineteenth century +have very freely abused Englishmen of the eighteenth century for their +conduct on this occasion; and more than one writer has set down the +whole question as one in which "right" was on the side of England, but +he argues that there are circumstances under which right should be +sacrificed to policy. I cannot agree with this very able writer.[564] +The question was not one of right, but of justice; and the English +nation, in the reign of George III., failed to see that to do justice +was both morally and politically the wisest course. The question of +right too often develops itself into the question of might. A man easily +persuades himself that he has a right to do what he has the power and +the inclination to do; and when his inclination and his opportunities +are on the same side, his moral consciousness becomes too frequently +blinded, and the question of justice is altogether overlooked. + +It was in vain that Burke thundered forth denunciations of the childish +policy of the Treasury benches, and asked men to look to first +principles, who could hardly be made comprehend what first principles +were. He altogether abandoned the question of right, in which men had so +puzzled themselves as almost to lose sight of the question of policy. +The King would tax the colony, because his nature was obstinate, and +what he had determined to do he would do. To such natures reasoning is +much like hammering on iron--it only hardens the metal. The minister +would tax the colony because the King wished it; and he had neither the +strength of mind nor the conscientiousness to resist his sovereign. The +Lords stood on their dignity, and would impose the tax if only to show +their power. The people considered the whole affair one of pounds +shillings, and pence, and could not at all see why they should not wring +out the last farthing from a distant colony--could not be taught to +discern that the sacrifice of a few pounds at the present moment, might +result in the acquisition of a few millions at a future day. + +Burke addressed himself directly to the point on all these questions. He +laid aside the much-abused question of right; he did not even attempt to +show that right and justice should not be separated, and that men who +had no share in the government of a country, could not be expected in +common justice to assist in the support of that country. He had to +address those who could only understand reasons which appealed to their +self-interest, and he lowered himself to his audience. The question he +said was, "not whether you have a right to render your people miserable, +but whether it is not your interest to make them happy. It is not what a +lawyer tells me I _may_ do, but what humanity, reason, and justice, tell +me I _ought_ to do." + +The common idea about the separation of the States from England, is +simply that they resisted a stamp duty and a tax on tea; the fact is, as +I have before hinted, that this was simply the last drop in the cup. +Previous to this period, the American colonies were simply considered as +objects of English aggrandizement. They were treated as states who only +existed for the purpose of benefiting England. The case was in fact +parallel to the case of Ireland, and the results would probably have +been similar, had Ireland been a little nearer to America, or a little +further from England. For many years the trade of America had been kept +under the most vexatious restrictions. The iron found there must be sent +to England to be manufactured; the ships fitted out there must be at +least partly built in England; no saw-mills could be erected, no colony +could trade directly with another colony, nor with any nation except +England. This selfish, miserable policy met with a well-deserved fate. +Even Pitt exclaimed indignantly, in the House of Commons: "We are told +that America is obstinate--that America is almost in open rebellion. I +rejoice that she has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all +sentiments of liberty as voluntarily to become slaves, would have been +fit instruments to enslave their fellow-subjects." + +In 1765 an agitation was commenced in Philadelphia, by Mr. Charles +Thompson, an Irishman, who, after ten years devoted to the cause of his +adopted country, was appointed the Secretary of Congress. It has been +well remarked, that the Irish, and especially the Irish Catholics, were, +of the three nationalities, the most devoted to forwarding the +Revolution; and we cannot wonder that it was so, since the Government +which had driven them from their native land, ceased not to persecute +them in the land of their exile.[565] The first naval engagement was +fought under the command of Jeremiah O'Brien, an Irishman.[566] John +Barry, also an Irishman, took the command of one of the first +American-built ships of war. The first Continental Regiment was composed +almost exclusively of Irish-born officers and men, and was the first +Rifle Regiment ever organized in the world. Thompson, its first, and +Hand, its second colonel, were natives of Ireland. At the siege of +Boston the regiment was particularly dreaded by the British. + +In 1764 Franklin came to England[567] for the second time, and was +examined before the House of Commons on the subject of the Stamp Act. He +was treated with a contemptuous indifference, which he never forgot; but +he kept his court suit, not without an object; and in 1783, when he +signed the treaty of peace, which compelled England to grant humbly what +she had refused haughtily, he wore the self-same attire. Well might the +immortal Washington say to Governor Trumbull: "There was a day, sir, +when this step from our then acknowledged parent state, would have been +accepted with gratitude; but that day is irrevocably past." + +In 1774, Burke was called upon by the citizens of Bristol to represent +them in Parliament, and he presented a petition from them to the House +in favour of American independence; but, with the singular inconsistency +of their nation, they refused to re-elect him in 1780, because he +advocated Catholic Emancipation. + +The same principle of justice which made Burke take the side of America +against England, or rather made him see that it would be the real +advantage of England to conciliate America, made him also take the side +of liberty on the Catholic question. The short-sighted and narrow-minded +politicians who resisted the reasonable demands of a colony until it was +too late to yield, were enabled, unfortunately, to resist more +effectually the just demands of several millions of their own people. + +It is unquestionably one of the strangest of mental phenomena, that +persons who make liberty of conscience their boast and their watchword, +should be the first to violate their own principles, and should be +utterly unable to see the conclusion of their own favourite premises. If +liberty of conscience mean anything, it must surely mean perfect freedom +of religious belief for all; and such freedom is certainly incompatible +with the slightest restraint, with the most trifling penalty for +difference of opinion on such subjects. Again, Burke had recourse to the +_argumentum ad hominum_, the only argument which those with whom he had +to deal seemed capable of comprehending. + +"After the suppression of the great rebellion of Tyrconnel by William of +Orange," writes Mr. Morley,[568] "ascendency began in all its vileness +and completeness. The Revolution brought about in Ireland just the +reverse of what it effected in England. Here it delivered the body of +the nation from the attempted supremacy of a small sect; there it made a +small sect supreme over the body of the nation." This is in fact an +epitome of Irish history since the so-called Reformation in England, and +this was the state of affairs which Burke was called to combat. On all +grounds the more powerful party was entirely against him. The merchants +of Manchester and Bristol, for whose supposed benefit Irish trade had +been ruined, wished to keep up the ascendency, conceiving it to be the +surest way of replenishing their coffers. The majority of Irish +landlords, who looked always to their own immediate interest, and had +none of the far-sighted policy which would enable them to see that the +prosperity of the tenant would, in the end, most effectively secure the +prosperity of the landlord, were also in favour of ascendency, which +promised to satisfy their land hunger, and their miserable greed of +gain. The Protestant Church was in favour of ascendency: why should it +not be, since its ministers could only derive support from a people who +hated them alike for their creed and their oppressions, at the point of +the sword and by the "brotherly agency of the tithe-procter," who, if he +did not assist in spreading the Gospel, at least took care that its +so-called ministers should lack no luxury which could be wrung from a +starving and indignant people?[569] + +There were but two acts of common justice required on the part of +England to make Ireland prosperous and free. It is glorious to say, that +Burke was the first to see this, and inaugurate the reign of concession; +it is pitiful, it is utterly contemptible, to be obliged to add, that +what was then inaugurated is not yet fully accomplished. Burke demanded +for Ireland political and religious freedom. Slowly some small +concessions of both have been made when England has feared to refuse +them. Had the grant been made once for all with manly generosity, some +painful chapters of Irish history might have been omitted from this +volume--some moments, let us hope, of honest shame might have been +spared to those true-hearted Englishmen who deplore the fatuity and the +folly of their countrymen. In 1782 the Irish Volunteers obtained from +the fears of England what had been vainly asked from her justice. +Burke's one idea of good government may be summed up in the words, "Be +just, and fear not." In his famous _Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe_, +written in 1792, upon the question of admitting the Catholics to the +elective franchise, he asks: "Is your government likely to be more +secure by continuing causes of grounded discontent to two-thirds of its +subjects? Will the constitution be made more solid by depriving this +large part of the people of all concern or share in the representation?" + +His Indian policy was equally just. "Our dealings with India," says an +English writer, "originally and until Burke's time, so far from being +marked with virtue and wisdom, were stained with every vice which can +lower and deprave human character. How long will it take only to +extirpate these traditions from the recollections of the natives? The +more effectually their understandings are awakened by English efforts, +the more vividly will they recognize, and the more bitterly resent, the +iniquities of our first connexion with them." The Indian policy of +England and her Irish policy might be written with advantage in parallel +columns. It would, at least, have the advantage of showing Irishmen that +they had been by no means worse governed than other dependencies of that +professedly law and justice loving nation. + +I have treated, briefly indeed, and by no means as I should wish, of two +of the questions of the day, and of Burke's policy thereon; of the third +question a few words only can be said. Burke's idea of Reform consisted +in amending the administration of the constitution, rather than in +amending the constitution itself. Unquestionably a bad constitution well +administered, may be incomparably more beneficial to the subject than a +good constitution administered corruptly. Burke's great leading +principle was: Be just--and can a man have a nobler end? To suppress an +insurrection cruelly, to tax a people unjustly, or to extort money from +a nation on false pretences, was to him deeply abhorrent. His first +object was to secure the incorruptibility of ministers and of members of +parliament. When the post of royal scullion could be confided to a +member of parliament, and a favourable vote secured by appointing a +representative of the people to the lucrative post of turnspit in the +king's kitchen, administration was hopelessly corrupt. There were +useless treasurers for useless offices. Burke gave the example of what +he taught; and having fixed the Paymaster's salary at four thousand +pounds a year, was himself the first person to accept the diminished +income. + +He has been accused of forsaking his liberal principles in his latter +days, simply and solely from his denunciations of the terrible excesses +of the French Revolution. Such reprobation was rather a proof that he +understood the difference between liberty and licentiousness, and that +his accusers had neither the intellect nor the true nobility to +discriminate between the frantic deeds of men, whose bad passions, long +indulged, had led them on to commit the crimes of demons, and those +noble but long-suffering patriots, who endured until endurance became a +fault, and only resisted for the benefit of mankind as well as for their +own. + +So much space has been given to Burke, that it only remains to add a few +brief words of the other brilliant stars, who fled across the Channel in +the vain pursuit of English patronage--in the vain hope of finding in a +free country the liberty to ascend higher than the rulers of that free +country permitted in their own. + +Moore was born in the year 1780, in the city of Dublin. His father was +in trade, a fact which he had the manliness to acknowledge whenever such +acknowledgment was necessary. He was educated for the bar, which was +just then opened for the first time to the majority of the nation, so +long governed, or misgoverned, by laws which they were neither permitted +to make or to administer. His poetical talents were early manifested, +and his first attempts were in the service of those who are termed +patriots or rebels, as the speaker's opinion varies. That he loved +liberty and admired liberators can scarcely be doubted, since even later +in life he used to boast of his introduction to Thomas Jefferson, while +in America, exclaiming: "I had the honour of shaking hands with the man +who drew up the Declaration of American Independence." His countryman, +Sheridan introduced him to the Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness +inquired courteously if he was the son of a certain baronet of the same +name. "No, your Royal Highness," replied Moore; "I am the son of a +Dublin grocer." He commenced writing his immortal _Melodies_ in 1807, +soon after his marriage. But he by no means confined himself to such +subjects. With that keen sense of humour almost inseparable from, and +generally proportionate to, the most exquisite sensibility of feeling, +he caught the salient points of controversy in his day, and no doubt +contributed not a little to the obtaining of Catholic Emancipation by +the telling satires which he poured forth on its opposers. His +reflections, addresed to the _Quarterly Review_, who recommended an +increase of the Church Establishment as the grand panacea of Irish ills, +might not be an inappropriate subject of consideration at the present +moment. It commences thus: + + "I'm quite of your mind: though these Pats cry aloud, + That they've got too much Church, tis all nonsense and stuff; + For Church is like love, of which Figaro vowed, + That even _too much_ of it's not quite enough." + +Nor was his letter to the Duke of Newcastle, who was an obstinate +opposer of Catholic Emancipation, less witty, or less in point at the +present time, for the Lords would not emancipate, whatever the Commons +might do: + + "While intellect, 'mongst high and low, + Is hastening on, they say, + Give me the dukes and lords, who go, + Like crabs, the other way." + +Curran had been called to the bar a few years earlier. He was the son of +a poor farmer in the county of Cork, and won his way to fame solely by +the exercise of his extraordinary talent. Curran was a Protestant; but +he did not think it necessary, because he belonged to a religion which +professed liberty of conscience, to deny its exercise to every one but +those of his own sect. He first distinguished himself at a contested +election. Of his magnificent powers of oratory I shall say nothing, +partly because their fame is European, and partly because it would be +impossible to do justice to the subject in our limited space. His +terrible denunciations of the horrible crimes and cruelties of the +soldiers, who were sent to govern Ireland by force, for those who were +not wise enough or humane enough to govern it by justice--his scathing +denunciations of crown witnesses and informers, should be read at length +to be appreciated fully.[570] + +Swift's career is also scarcely less known. He, too, was born in Dublin +of poor parents, in 1667. Although he became a minister of the +Protestant Church, and held considerable emoluments therein, he had the +honesty to see, and the courage to acknowledge, its many corruptions. +The great lesson which he preached to Irishmen was the lesson of +nationality; and, perhaps, they have yet to learn it in the sense in +which he intended to teach it. No doubt, Swift, in some way, prepared +the path of Burke; for, different as were their respective careers and +their respective talents, they had each the same end in view. The +"Drapier" was long the idol of his countrymen, and there can be little +doubt that the spirit of his writings did much to animate the patriots +who followed him--Lucas, Flood, and Grattan. Lucas was undoubtedly one +of the purest patriots of his time. His parents were poor farmers in the +county Clare, who settled in Dublin, where Lucas was born, in 1713; and +in truth patriotism seldom develops itself out of purple and fine linen. +Flood, however, may be taken in exception to this inference; his father +was a Chief Justice of the Irish King's Bench. When elected a member of +the Irish House, his first public effort was for the freedom of his +country from the atrocious imposition of Poyning's Law. Unfortunately, +he and Grattan quarrelled, and their country was deprived of the immense +benefits which might have accrued to it from the cordial political union +of two such men. + +But a list of the great men of the eighteenth century, however brief, +would be certainly most imperfect if I omitted the name of the Earl of +Charlemont, who, had his courage been equal to his honesty of purpose, +might have been enrolled not merely as an ardent, but even as a +successful patriot. He was one of the _Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores_,--one +of those who came to plunder, and who learned to respect their victims, +and to repent their oppressions. It is probable that the nine years +which the young Earl spent in travelling on the Continent, contributed +not a little to his mental enlargement. On his return from countries +where freedom exists with boasting, to a country where boasting exists +without a corresponding amount of freedom, he was amazed and shocked at +the first exhibition of its detestable tyranny of class. A grand +procession of peers and peeresses was appointed to receive the +unfortunate Princess Caroline; but, before the Princess landed, the +Duchess of Bedford was commanded to inform the Irish peeresses that they +were not to walk, or to take any part in the ceremonial. The young Earl +could not restrain his indignation at this utterly uncalled-for insult. +He obtained a royal audience, and exerted himself with so much energy, +that the obnoxious order was rescinded. The Earl's rank, as well as his +patriotism, naturally placed him at the head of his party; and he +resolutely opposed those laws which Burke had designated as a "disgrace +to the statute-books of any nation, and so odious in their principles, +that one might think they were passed in hell, and that demons were the +legislators." In 1766, his Lordship brought a bill into the House of +Lords to enable a poor Catholic peasant to take a lease of a cabin and a +potato-garden; but, at the third reading, the Lords rushed in +tumultuously, voted Lord Charlemont out of the chair, and taunted him +with being little better than a Papist. The failure and the taunt +bewildered an intellect never very clear; and, perhaps, hopelessness +quenched the spirit of patriotism, which had once, at least, burned +brightly. In fear of being taunted as a Papist, like many a wiser man, +he rushed into the extreme of Protestant loyalty, and joined in the +contemptible outcry for Protestant ascendency. + +The eighteenth century was also rife in Irishmen whose intellects were +devoted to literature. It claims its painters in Barrett, who was +actually the founder of the Royal Academy in England, and in Barry, the +most eminent historical painter of his age; its poets in Parnell, +Goldsmith, Wade, O'Keeffe, Moore, and many others; its musician in +Kelly, a full list of whose operatic music would fill several pages; its +authors in Steele, Swift, Young, O'Leary, Malone, Congreve, Sheridan, +and Goldsmith; and its actors in Macklin, Milliken, Barry, Willis, and +Woffington. + +Sheridan was born in Dublin, in the year 1757. He commenced his career +as author by writing for the stage; but his acquaintance with Fox, who +soon discerned his amazing abilities, led him in another direction. In +1786 he was employed with Burke in the impeachment of Warren Hastings. +The galleries of the House of Lords were filled to overflowing; peers +and peeresses secured seats early in the day; actresses came to learn +declamation, authors to learn style. Mrs. Siddons, accustomed as she was +to the simulation of passion in herself and others, shrieked and swooned +while he denounced the atrocities of which Hastings had been guilty. +Fox, Pitt, and Byron, were unanimous in their praise. And on the very +same night, and at the very same time, when the gifted Celt was +thundering justice to India into the ears of Englishmen, his _School for +Scandal_, one of the best comedies on the British stage, was being acted +in one theatre, and his _Duenna_, one of its best operas, was being +performed in another. + +Sheridan died in 1816, a victim to intemperance, for which he had not +even the excuse of misfortune. Had not his besetting sin degraded and +incapacitated him, it is probable he would have been prime-minister on +the death of Fox. At the early age of forty he was a confirmed drunkard. +The master mind which had led a senate, was clouded over by the fumes of +an accursed spirit; the brilliant eyes that had captivated a million +hearts, were dimmed and bloodshot; the once noble brain, which had used +its hundred gifts with equal success and ability, was deprived of all +power of acting; the tongue, whose potent spell had entranced thousands, +was scarcely able to articulate. Alas, and a thousand times alas! that +man can thus mar his Maker's work, and stamp ruin and wretchedness where +a wealth of mental power had been given to reign supreme. + +Goldsmith's father was a Protestant clergyman. The poet was born at +Pallas, in the county Longford. After a series of adventures, not always +to his credit, and sundry wanderings on the Continent in the most +extreme poverty, he settled in London. Here he met with considerable +success as an author, and enjoyed the society of the first literary men +of the day. After the first and inevitable struggles of a poor author, +had he possessed even half as much talent for business as capacity for +intellectual effort, he might soon have obtained a competency by his +pen; but, unfortunately, though he was not seriously addicted to +intemperance, his convivial habits, and his attraction for the gaming +table, soon scattered his hard-won earnings. His "knack of hoping," +however, helped him through life. He died on the 4th April, 1774. His +last words were sad indeed, in whatever sense they may be taken. He was +suffering from fever, but his devoted medical attendant, Doctor Norton, +perceiving his pulse to be unusually high even under such circumstances, +asked, "Is your mind at ease?" "No, it is not," was Goldsmith's sad +reply; and these were the last words he uttered. + +[Illustration: GOLDSMITH'S MILL AT AUBURN] + +[Illustration: BANTRY BAY--SCENE OF THE LANDING OF THE FRENCH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[559] _Writers_.--As a general rule, when Irishmen succeed either in +literature, politics, or war, the credit of their performances is +usually debited to the English; when they fail, we hear terrible +clamours of Irish incapacity. Thackeray commences his "_English_ +Humourists of the Eighteenth Century" with Swift, and ends them with +Goldsmith! I do not suppose he had any intention of defrauding the +Celtic race; he simply followed the usual course. Irishmen are, perhaps, +themselves most to blame, for much of this is caused by their suicidal +deference to a dominant race. + +[560] _Order_.--The Presentation Order was founded by Miss Nano Nagle, +of Cork. + +[561] _Leadbeater.--Annals of Ballitore_, vol. i. p. 50, second edition, +1862. I shall refer to this interesting work again. + +[562] _Man_.--The exact words are: "If a man were to go by chance at the +same time with Burke, under a shed to shun a shower, he would say: 'This +is an extraordinary man.'"--_Boswell's Johnson_, vol. iv. p. 245. +Foster's version is as above. + +[563] _Developed_.--Since this sentence was penned, I find, with great +satisfaction, that a similar view has been taken by a recent writer. See +_Secularia; or, Surveys on the Main Stream of History_, by S. Lucas, p. +250. He opens a chapter on the revolt of the American States thus: "The +relations of Great Britain to its colonies, past and present, are an +important part of the history of the world; and the form which these +relations _may hereafter take, will be no small element in the political +future._ Even our Professors of History ... abstain from noticing their +system of government, or _the predisposing motives to their subsequent +revolt._." The italics are our own. Neglect of the study of Irish +history is, I believe, also, one of the causes why Irish grievances are +not remedied by the English Government. But grievances may get settled +in a way not always satisfactory to the neglecters of them, while they +are waiting their leisure to investigate their cause. + +[564] _Writer_.--Morley. _Edmund Burke, an Historical Study:_ Macmillan +and Co., 1867. A masterly work, and one which every statesman, and every +thinker would do well to peruse carefully. He says: "The question to be +asked by every statesman, and by every citizen, with reference to a +measure that is recommended to him as the enforcement of a public right, +is whether the right is one which it is to the public advantage to +enforce."--p. 146. + +[565] _Exile_.--Maguire's _Irish in America_, p. 355: "It would seem as +if they instinctively arrayed themselves in hostility to the British +power; a fact to be explained alike by their love of liberty, and _their +vivid remembrance of recent or past misgovernment_." The italics are our +own. The penal laws were enacted with the utmost rigour against +Catholics in the colonies, and the only place of refuge was Maryland, +founded by the Catholic Lord Baltimore. Here there was liberty of +conscience for all, but here only. The sects who had fled to America to +obtain "freedom to worship God," soon manifested their determination +that no one should have liberty of conscience except themselves, and +gave the lie to their own principles, by persecuting each other for the +most trifling differences of opinion on religious questions, in the +cruelest manner. Cutting off ears, whipping, and maiming were in +constant practice. See Maguire's _Irish in America_, p. 349; Lucas' +_Secularia_, pp. 220-246. + +[566] _Irishman_.--See Cooper's _Naval History_. + +[567] _England_.--He wrote to Thompson, from London, saying that he +could effect nothing: "The sun of liberty is set; we must now light up +the candles of industry." The Secretary replied, with Celtic vehemence: +"Be assured we shall light up torches of a very different kind." When +the Catholics of the United States sent up their celebrated Address to +Washington, in 1790, he alludes in one part of his reply to the immense +assistance obtained from them in effecting the Revolution: "I presume +that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you +took in the accomplishment of their revolution and the establishment of +their government, or the important assistance they received from a +nation in which the Roman Catholic religion is professed." + +[568] _Morley_.--_Edmund Burke, an Historical Study_, p. 181. + +[569] _People_.--Chesterfield said, in 1764, that the poor people in +Ireland were used "worse than negroes." "Aristocracy," said Adam Smith, +"was not founded in the natural and respectable distinctions of birth +and fortune, but in the most odious of all distinctions, those of +religious and political prejudices--distinctions which, more than any +other, animate both the insolence of the oppressors, and the hatred and +indignation of the oppressed."--Morley's _Edmund Burke_, p. 183. + +[570] _Fully_.--See _Curran's Letters and Speeches:_ Dublin, 1865. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +The Volunteers deserted by their Leaders--Agrarian Outrages and their +Cause--Foundation of the United Irishmen--Cruelties of the +Orangemen--Government Spies and Informers--Lord Moira exposes the +Cruelty of the Yeomanry in Parliament--Mr. Orr's Trial and +Death--Details of the Atrocities enacted by the Military from a +Protestant History--Tom the Devil--Cruelties practised by Men of +Rank--Licentiousness of the Army--Death of Lord Edward FitzGerald--The +Rising--Martial Law in Dublin--The Insurrection in Wexford--Massacres at +Scullabogue House and Wexford-bridge by the Insurgents--How the Priests +were rewarded for saving Lives and Property--The Insurrection in +Ulster--The State Prisoners--The Union. + +[A.D. 1783-1800.] + + +Parliament was dissolved on the 15th of July, 1783, and summoned to meet +in October. The Volunteers now began to agitate on the important +question of parliamentary reform, which, indeed, was necessary, for +there were few members who really represented the nation. The close +boroughs were bought and sold openly and shamelessly, and many members +who were returned for counties were not proof against place or bribes. +But the Volunteers had committed the fatal mistake of not obtaining the +exercise of the elective franchise for their Catholic fellow-subjects: +hence the Irish Parliament obtained only a nominal freedom, as its acts +were entirely in the hands of the Government through the venality of the +members. On the 10th of November, one hundred and sixty delegates +assembled at the Royal Exchange, Dublin. They were headed by Lord +Charlemont, and marched in procession to the Rotundo. The Earl of +Bristol, an eccentric, but kind and warm-hearted character, who was also +the Protestant Bishop of Derry, took a leading part in the +deliberations. Sir Boyle Roche, an equally eccentric gentleman, brought +a message from Lord Kenmare to the meeting, assuring them that the +Catholics were satisfied with what had been granted to them. He had +acted under a misapprehension; and the Bishop of Derry, who was in fact +the only really liberal member of the corps, informed the delegates that +the Catholics had held a meeting, with Sir Patrick Bellew in the chair, +in which they repudiated this assertion. Several plans of reform were +now proposed; and a Bill was introduced into the House by Mr. Flood, on +the 29th of November, and warmly opposed by Mr. Yelverton, who was now +Attorney-General, and had formerly been a Volunteer. A stormy scene +ensued, but bribery and corruption prevailed. The fate of the Volunteers +was sealed. Through motives of prudence or of policy, Lord Charlemont +adjourned the convention _sine die_; and the flame, which had shot up +with sudden brilliancy, died out even more rapidly than it had been +kindled. The Volunteers were now deserted by their leaders, and assumed +the infinitely dangerous form of a democratic movement. Such a movement +can rarely succeed, and seldom ends without inflicting worse injuries on +the nation than those which it has sought to avert. + +The delegates were again convened in Dublin, by Flood and Napper Tandy. +They met in October, 1784, and their discussions were carried on in +secret. Everywhere the men began to arm themselves, and to train others +to military exercises. But the Government had gained a victory over them +in the withdrawal of their leaders, and the Attorney-General attempted +to intimidate them still further by a prosecution. In 1785 a Bill was +introduced for removing some of the commercial restraints of the Irish +nation; it passed the Irish House, but, to satisfy popular clamours in +England, it was returned with such additions as effectually marred its +usefulness. Grattan now saw how grievously he had been mistaken in his +estimate of the results of all that was promised in 1782, and he +denounced the measure with more than ordinary eloquence. It was rejected +by a small majority, after a debate which lasted till eight o'clock in +the morning; and the nationality of the small majority purchased the +undying hatred of the English minister, William Pitt. The people were +still suffering from the cruel exactions of landlords and +tithe-proctors. Their poverty and misery were treated with contempt and +indifference, and they were driven to open acts of violence, which could +not be repressed either by the fear of the consequences, or the earnest +exhortations of the Catholic bishops and clergy.[571] + +In the north some disturbances had originated as early as 1775, amongst +the Protestant weavers, who suffered severely from the general +depression of trade, and the avariciousness of commercial speculators. +Their association was called "Hearts of Steel." The author of the +_United Irishman_ mentions one instance as a sample of many others, in +which the ruling elder of a Presbyterian congregation had raised the +rents on a number of small farms, and excited in consequence severe acts +of retaliation from them.[572] In 1784 two parties commenced agrarian +outrages in Ulster, called respectively Peep-o'-Day Boys and Defenders. +As the Catholics sided with one party, and the Protestants with another, +it merged eventually into a religious feud. The former faction assumed +the appellation of Protestant Boys, and at last became the Orange +Society, whose atrocities, and the rancorous party-spirit which they so +carefully fomented, was one of the principal causes of the rebellion of +1798. The Catholics had assumed the name of Defenders, from being +obliged to band in self-defence; but when once a number of uneducated +persons are leagued together, personal feeling and strong passions will +lead to acts of violence, which the original associates would have +shrunk from committing. + +Pitt was again thwarted by the Irish Parliament on the Regency question, +when the insanity of George III. required the appointment of his heir as +governor of England. The Marquis of Buckingham, who was then Lord +Lieutenant, refused to forward their address; but the members sent a +deputation of their own. This nobleman was open and shameless in his +acts of bribery, and added L13,000 a-year to the pension list, already +so fatally oppressive to the country. In 1790 he was succeeded by the +Earl of Westmoreland, and various clubs were formed; but the Catholics +were still excluded from them all. Still the Catholics were an immense +majority nationally; the French Revolution had manifested what the +people could do; and the rulers of the land, with such terrible examples +before their eyes, could not for their own sakes afford to ignore +Catholic interests altogether. But the very cause which gave hope was +itself the means of taking hope away. The action of the Irish Catholics +was paralyzed through fear of the demonlike cruelties which even a +successful revolution might induce; and the general fear which the +aristocratic party had of giving freedom to the uneducated classes, +influenced them to a fatal silence. Again the middle classes were left +without leaders, who might have tempered a praiseworthy nationality with +a not less praiseworthy prudence, and which might have saved both the +nation and some of its best and bravest sons from fearful suffering. A +Catholic meeting was held in Dublin, on the 11th of February, 1791, and +a resolution was passed to apply to Parliament for relief from their +disabilities. This was in truth the origin of the United Irishmen. For +the first time Catholics and Protestants agreed cordially and worked +together harmoniously. The leading men on the Catholic committee were +Keogh, M'Cormic, Sweetman, Byrne, and Branghall; the Protestant leaders +were Theobald Wolfe Tone and the Hon. Simon Butler. Tone visited Belfast +in October, 1791, and formed the first club of the Society of United +Irishmen. He was joined there by Neilson, Simms, Russell, and many +others. A club was then formed in Dublin, of which Napper Tandy became a +leading member. The fundamental resolutions of the Society were +admirable. They stated: "1. That the weight of English influence in the +government of this country is so great, as to require a cordial union +among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance which is +essential to the preservation of our liberties and the extension of our +commerce. 2. That the sole constitutional mode by which this influence +can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the +representation of the people in Parliament. 3. That no reform is just +which does not include every Irishman of every religious persuasion." + +Tone had already obtained considerable influence by his political +pamphlets, which had an immense circulation. There can be no doubt that +he was tinctured with republican sentiments; but it was impossible for +an Irish Protestant, who had any real sympathy with his country, to feel +otherwise: it had endured nothing but misery from the monarchical form +of government. The Catholics, probably, were only prevented from +adopting similar opinions by their inherent belief in the divine right +of kings. In 1791 the fears of those who thought the movement had a +democratic tendency, were confirmed by the celebration of the +anniversary of the French Revolution in Belfast, July, 1791; and in +consequence of this, sixty-four Catholics of the upper classes presented +a loyal address to the throne. The Catholic delegates met in Dublin in +December, 1792, and prepared a petition to the King representing their +grievances. It was signed by Dr. Troy, the Catholic Archbishop of +Dublin, and Dr. Moylan, on behalf of the clergy. Amongst the laity +present were Lords Kenmare, Fingall, Trimbleston, Gormanstown, and +French. Five delegates were appointed to present the petition, and they +were provided with a very large sum of money, which induced those in +power to obtain them an audience. They were introduced to George III. by +Edmund Burke. His Majesty sent a message to the Irish Parliament, +requesting them to remove some of the disabilities; but the Parliament +treated the message with contempt, and Lord Chancellor FitzGibbon +brought in a Bill to prevent any bodies from meeting by delegation for +the future. + +In 1793 a Relief Bill was passed, in consequence of the war with France; +a Militia Bill, and the Gunpowder and Convention Bills, were also +passed, the latter being an attempt to suppress the Volunteers and the +United Irishmen. A meeting of the latter was held in February, 1793, and +the chairman and secretary were brought before the House of Lords, and +sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of L500 each. The +following year, January, 1794, Mr. Rowan was prosecuted for an address +to the Volunteers, made two years before. Even Curran's eloquence, and +the fact that the principal witness was perjured, failed to obtain his +acquittal. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of +L500. His conviction only served to increase the popular excitement, as +he was considered a martyr to his patriotism. An address was presented +to him in Newgate by the United Irishmen, but he escaped on the 1st of +May, and got safely to America, though L1,000 was offered for his +apprehension. + +The English minister now appears to have tried the old game of driving +the people into a rebellion, which could be crushed at once by the +sword, and would spare the necessity of making concessions; or of +entangling the leaders in some act of overt treason, and quashing the +movement by depriving it of its heads. An opportunity for the latter +manoeuvre now presented itself. A Protestant clergyman, who had resided +many years in France, came to the country for the purpose of opening +communications between the French Government and the United Irishmen. +This gentleman, the Rev. William Jackson, confided his secret to his +solicitor, a man named Cockayne. The solicitor informed Mr. Pitt, and by +his desire continued to watch his victim, and trade on his open-hearted +candour, until he had led him to his doom. The end of the unfortunate +clergyman was very miserable. He took poison when brought up for +judgment, and died in the dock. His object in committing this crime was +to save his property for his wife and children, as it would have been +confiscated had his sentence been pronounced. + +The Viceroyalty of Earl FitzWilliam once more gave the Irish nation some +hope that England would grant them justice. But he was soon recalled; +Lord Camden was sent in his stead; and the country was given up to the +Beresford faction, who were quite willing to co-operate in Mr. Pitt's +plan of setting Protestants and Catholics against each other, of +exciting open rebellion, and of profiting by the miseries of the nation +to forge new chains for it, by its parliamentary union with England. +Everything was done now that could be done to excite the Catholics to +rebellion. The Orangemen, if their own statement on oath[573] is to be +trusted, were actually bribed to persecute the Catholics; sermons[574] +were preached by Protestant ministers to excite their feelings; and when +the Catholics resisted, or offered reprisals, they were punished with +the utmost severity, while their persecutors always escaped. Lord +Carhampton, grandson of the worthless Henry Luttrell, who had betrayed +the Irish at the siege of Limerick, commanded the army, and his cruelty +is beyond description. An Insurrection Act was passed in 1796; +magistrates were allowed to proclaim counties; suspected persons were to +be banished the country or pressed into the fleet, without the shadow of +trial; and Acts of Indemnity[575] were passed, to shield the magistrates +and the military from the consequences of any unlawful cruelties which +fanaticism or barbarity might induce them to commit. + +Grattan appealed boldly and loudly against these atrocities. "These +insurgents," he said, "call themselves Protestant Boys--that is, a +banditti of murderers, committing massacre in the name of God, and +exercising despotic power in the name of liberty." The published +declaration of Lord Gosford and of thirty magistrates, who attempted to +obtain some justice for the unfortunate subjects of these wrongs, is +scarcely less emphatic. It is dated December 28, 1795: "It is no secret +that a persecution, accompanied with all the circumstances of ferocious +cruelty which have in all ages distinguished this calamity, is now +raging in this country; neither age, nor sex, nor even acknowledged +innocence, is sufficient to excite mercy or afford protection. The only +crime which the unfortunate objects of this persecution are charged +with, is a crime of easy proof indeed; it is simply a profession of the +Roman Catholic faith. A lawless banditti have constituted themselves +judges of this species of delinquency, and the sentence they pronounce +is equally concise and terrible; it is nothing less than a confiscation +of all property and immediate banishment--a prescription that has been +carried into effect, and exceeds, in the number of those it consigns to +ruin and misery, every example that ancient or modern history can +supply. These horrors are now acting with impunity. The spirit of +justice has disappeared from the country; and the supineness of the +magistracy of Armagh has become a common topic of conversation in every +corner of the kingdom." + +One should have supposed that an official declaration from such an +authority, signed by the Governor of Armagh and thirty magistrates, +would have produced some effect on the Government of the day; but the +sequel proved that such honorable exposure was as ineffective as the +rejected petition of millions of Catholics. The formation of the +yeomanry corps filled up the cup of bitterness. The United Irishmen, +seeing no hope of constitutional redress, formed themselves into a +military organization. But, though the utmost precautions were used to +conceal the names of members and the plans of the association, their +movements were well known to Government from an early period. Tone, in +the meantime, came to France from America, and induced Carnot to send an +expedition to Ireland, under the command of General Hoche. It ended +disastrously. A few vessels cruised for a week in the harbour of Bantry +Bay; but, as the remainder of the fleet, which was separated by a fog, +did not arrive, Grouchy, the second in command, returned to France. + +Meanwhile, the Society of United Irishmen spread rapidly, and especially +in those places where the Orangemen exercised their cruelties. Lord +Edward FitzGerald now joined the movement; and even those who cannot +commend the cause, are obliged to admire the perfection of his devoted +self-sacrifice to what he believed to be the interests of his country. +His leadership seemed all that was needed to secure success. His gay and +frank manner made him popular; his military bearing demanded respect; +his superior attainments gave him power to command; his generous +disinterestedness was patent to all. But already a paid system of +espionage had been established by Government. A set of miscreants were +found who could lure their victims to their doom--who could eat and +drink, and talk and live with them as their bosom friends, and then sign +their death-warrant with the kiss of Judas. There was a regular gang of +informers of a low class, like the infamous Jemmy O'Brien, who were +under the control of the Town-Majors, Sirr and Swan. But there were +gentlemen informers also, who, in many cases, were never so much as +suspected by their dupes. MacNally, the advocate of the United Irishmen, +and Mr. Graham, their solicitor, were both of that class. Thomas +Reynolds, of Killeen Castle, entered their body on purpose to betray +them. Captain Armstrong did the same. John Hughes, a Belfast bookseller, +had himself arrested several times, to allay their suspicions. John +Edward Nevill was equally base and treacherous. However necessary it may +be for the ends of government to employ spies and informers, there is no +necessity for men to commit crimes of the basest treachery. Such men and +such crimes will ever be handed down to posterity with the reprobation +they deserve. + +Attempts were now made to get assistance from France. Mr. O'Connor and +Lord Edward FitzGerald proceeded thither for that purpose; but their +mission was not productive of any great result. The people were goaded +to madness by the cruelties which were committed on them every day; and +it was in vain that persons above all suspicion of countenancing either +rebels or Papists, protested against these enormities in the name of +common humanity. In 1797 a part of Ulster was proclaimed by General +Lalor, and Lord Moira described thus, in the English House of Lords, the +sufferings of the unhappy people: "When a man was taken up on suspicion, +he was put to the torture; nay, if he were merely accused of concealing +the guilt of another, the punishment of picketing, which had for some +years been abolished as too inhuman even in the dragoon service, was +practised. I have known a man, in order to extort confession of a +supposed crime, or of that of some of his neighbours, picketed until he +actually fainted; picketed a second time, until he fainted again; +picketed a third time, until he once more fainted; and all upon mere +suspicion. Nor was this the only species of torture; many had been taken +and hung up until they were half dead, and then threatened with a +repetition of this cruel treatment unless they made confession of the +imputed guilt. These," continued his Lordship, "were not particular acts +of cruelty, exercised by men abusing the power committed to them, _but +they formed part of a system_. They were notorious; and no person could +say who would be the next victim of this oppression and cruelty." As +redress was hopeless, and Parliament equally indifferent to cruelties +and to remonstrances, Mr. Grattan and his colleagues left the Irish +House to its inhumanity and its fate. + +In the autumn of this year, 1797, Mr. Orr, of Antrim, was tried and +executed, on a charge of administering the oath of the United Irishmen +to a soldier. This gentleman was a person of high character and +respectability. He solemnly protested his innocence; the soldier, stung +with remorse, swore before a magistrate that the testimony he gave at +the trial was false. Petitions were at once sent in, praying for the +release of the prisoner, but in vain; he was executed on the 14th of +October, though no one doubted his innocence; and "Orr's fate" became a +watchword of and an incitement to rebellion. Several of the jury made a +solemn oath after the trial that, when locked up for the night to +"consider" their verdict, they were supplied abundantly with +intoxicating drinks, and informed one and all, that, if they did not +give the required verdict of guilty, they should themselves be +prosecuted as United Irishmen. Mr. Orr was offered his life and liberty +again and again if he would admit his guilt; his wife and four young +children added their tears and entreaties to the persuasions of his +friends; but he preferred truth and honour to life and freedom. His end +was worthy of his resolution. On the scaffold he turned to his faithful +attendant, and asked him to remove his watch, as he should need it no +more. Mr. Orr was a sincere Protestant; his servant was a Catholic. His +last words are happily still on record. He showed the world how a +Protestant patriot could die; and that the more sincere and deep his +piety, the less likely he would be to indulge in fanatical hatred of +those who differed from him. "You, my friend," he said to his weeping +and devoted servant--"you, my friend, and I must now part. Our stations +here on earth have been a little different, and our mode of worshipping +the Almighty Being that we both adore. Before His presence we shall +stand equal. Farewell! Remember Orr!"[576] + +Alas! there was more to remember than the fate of this noble victim to +legal injustice. I have before alluded to that strange phenomenon of +human nature, by which men, who, at least, appear to be educated and +refined, can, under certain circumstances, become bloodthirsty and +cruel. The demon enters into the man, and make him tenfold more +demoniacal than himself. But fearful as the deeds of officers and men +have been in India, where the unhappy natives were shattered to atoms +from the cannons' mouths: or, in more recent times, when men, and even +women, have all but expired under the lash; no deeds of savage vengeance +have ever exceeded those which were perpetrated daily and hourly in +Ireland, before the rebellion of 1798. For the sake of our common +humanity I would that they could be passed over unrecorded; for the sake +of our common humanity I shall record them in detail, for it may be that +the terror of what men can become when they give way to unrestrained +passions, may deter some of my fellow-creatures from allowing themselves +to participate in or to enact such deeds of blood. Historical justice, +too, demands that they should be related. Englishmen have heard much of +the cruelties of Irish rebels at Wexford, which I shall neither palliate +nor excuse. Englishmen have heard but little of the inhuman atrocities +which excited that insurrection, and prompted these reprisals. And let +it be remembered, that there are men still living who saw these +cruelties enacted in their childhood, and men whose fathers and nearest +relations were themselves subjected to these tortures. To the Celt, so +warm of heart and so tenacious of memory, what food this is for the +tempter, who bids him recall, and bids him revenge, even now, these +wrongs! What wonder if passion should take the place of reason, and if +religion, which commands him to suffer patiently the memory of injuries +inflicted on others, often harder to bear than one's own pain, should +sometimes fail to assert its sway![577] + +I shall give the account of these atrocities in the words of a +Protestant historian first. The Rev. Mr. Gordon writes thus, in his +narrative of these fearful times: "The fears of the people became so +great at length, that they forsook their houses in the night, and slept +(if, under such circumstances, they could sleep) in the ditches and the +women were even delivered in that exposed condition, _These facts were +notorious at the time_.... Some abandoned their house from fear of being +whipped; and this infliction many persons appeared to fear _more than +death itself_. Many unfortunate men were strung up as it were to be +hanged, but were let down now and then, to try if strangulation would +oblige them to become informers." He then goes on to relate at length +how the magistrates tortured smiths and carpenters at once, because it +was supposed from their trade they must have made pikes; and how they, +at last, professed to know a United Irishman by his face, and "never +suffered any person whom they deigned to honour with this distinction, +to pass off without convincing proof of their attention." He also +mentions the case of a hermit named Driscoll, whose name and the same +details of his sufferings are given in Clancy's account of the +insurrection. This man was strangled three times, and flogged four +times, because a Catholic prayer-book was found in his possession, on +which it was _supposed_ that he used to administer oaths of disloyalty. + +I shall now give the account of another historian. Plowden writes thus; +"These military savages [the yeomanry corps--it will be remembered what +Lord Moira said of them in Parliament] were permitted, both by +magistrates and officers, in open day, to seize every man they wished or +chose to suspect as a _Croppy_, and drag him to the guardhouse, where +they constantly kept a supply of coarse linen caps, besmeared inside +with pitch; and when the pitch was well heated, they forced the cap on +his head; and sometimes the melted pitch, running into the eyes of the +unfortunate victim, superadded blindness to his other tortures. They +generally detained him till the pitch had so cooled, that the cap could +not be detached from the head without carrying with it the hair and +blistered skin; they then turned him adrift, disfigured, often blind, +and writhing with pain. They enjoyed with loud bursts of laughter the +fiendlike sport--the agonies of their victim. At other times, they +rubbed moistened gunpowder into the hair, in the form of a cross, and +set fire to it; and not unfrequently sheared off the ears and nose of +the unfortunate Croppy." Plowden then details the atrocities of a +sergeant of the Cork Militia, who was called _Tom the Devil_. He +concludes: "It would be uncandid to detail only instances of the +brutality of the lower orders, whilst evidence is forthcoming of persons +of fortune and education being still more brutalized by its deleterious +spirit." He then mentions an instance, on the authority of both an +eyewitness and the victim, in which Lord Kingsborough, Mr. Beresford, +and an officer whose name he did not know, tortured two respectable +Dublin tradesmen, one named John Fleming, a ferryman, the other Francis +Gough, a coachmaker. The nobleman superintended the flagellation of +Gough, and at every stroke insulted him with taunts and inquiries how he +liked it. The unfortunate man was confined to his bed in consequence, +for six months after the infliction. On Whit-Sunday, 1798, these men +were again tortured with pitchcaps by the gentlemen. Other instances +might be added, but these will suffice to show the feeling which +actuated the rulers who permitted, and the men who perpetrated, these +deeds of blood. "With difficulty," says Mr. Plowden, "does the mind +yield reluctant consent to such debasement of the human species. The +spirit which degrades it to that abandonment is of no ordinary +depravity. The same spirit of Orangeism moved the colonel in Dublin, and +his sergeant at Wexford. The effect of that spirit can only be faintly +illustrated by facts. Those have been verified to the author by the +spectator and the sufferer."[578] + +From a letter of Lady Napier's, never intended for publication, and +above all suspicion of any sympathy with the lower order of Irish, it +will be seen how the tenantry of the Duke of Leinster were driven to +revolt. It is dated Castletown, 27th June, 1798, and addressed to the +Duke of Richmond. "The cruel hardships put on his tenants preferably to +all others, has driven them to despair, and they join the insurgents, +saying: 'It is better to die with a pike in my hand, than be shot like a +dog at my work, or to see my children faint for want of food before my +eyes.'" + +Sir Ralph Abercrombie was appointed to command the army in Ireland, in +1797; but he threw up his charge, disgusted with atrocities which he +could not control, and which he was too humane even to appear to +sanction.[579] He declared the army to be in a state of licentiousness, +which made it formidable to every one but the enemy. General Lake, a +fitting instrument for any cruelty, was appointed to take his place; and +Lord Castlereagh informs us that "measures were taken by Government to +cause a premature explosion." It would have been more Christian in the +first place, and more politic in the second place, if Government had +taken measures to prevent any explosion at all.[580] + +On the 12th of March, 1798, the Leinster delegates, who had been long +since betrayed, were seized by Major Swan, in Dublin. Fifteen persons +were present, the greater number of whom were Protestants. Emmet, +MacNevin, Jackson, and Sweetman, were seized the same day. Arthur +O'Connor had already been arrested on his way to France, with Father +Coigley. The latter was convicted on May 22, at Maidstone, and hanged on +evidence so inconclusive, that Lord Chancellor Thurlow said: "If ever a +poor man was murdered, it was Coigley!" The arrest of Lord Edward +FitzGerald occurred soon after. The room in which he was arrested and +the bed on which he lay is still shown, for the brave young noble had +won for himself the heart's love of every true Irishman. The story of +his life would occupy more space than can be given to it. To abridge it +would be to destroy more than half of its real interest. A severe wound +which he received in the struggle with his captors, combined with the +effects of excitement and a cruel imprisonment, caused his death. He was +a chevalier _sans peur et sans reproche_. Even his enemies, and the +enemies of his country, could find no word to say against him. With him +died the best hopes of the United Irishmen, and with his expiring breath +they lost their best prospect of success.[581] + +Lord Edward died on the 4th of June. The 23rd of May had been fixed for +the rising; but informations were in the hands of the Government. +Captain Armstrong had betrayed the Sheares, two brothers who had devoted +themselves to the cause of their country with more affection than +prudence. The base traitor had wound himself into their confidence, had +dined with them, and was on the most intimate social relations with +their family. On the 12th of July he swore their lives away; and two +days after they were executed, holding each other's hands as they passed +into eternity. + +The rising did take place, but it was only partial. The leaders were +gone, dead, or imprisoned; and nothing but the wild desperation, which +suggested that it was better to die fighting than to die inch by inch, +under inhuman torture, could have induced the people to rise at all. The +ferocity with which the insurrection was put down, may be estimated by +the cruelties enacted before it commenced. Lord Cornwallis, in his +Government report to the Duke of Portland, declared that "murder was the +favourite pastime" of the militia. He declared that the principal +persons in the country and the members of Parliament were averse to all +conciliation, and "too much heated to see the effects which their +violence must produce." To General Ross he writes: "The violence of our +friends, and their folly in endeavouring to make it a religious war, +added to the ferocity of our troops, who delight in murder, must +powerfully counteract all plans of conciliation; and the conversation, +even at my table, where you will suppose I do all I can to prevent it, +always turns on hanging, shooting, burning, &c.; and if a priest has +been put to death, the greatest joy is expressed by the whole company." + +On the 23rd of May, Dublin was placed under martial law; the citizens +were armed, the guard was trebled, the barristers pleaded with +regimentals and swords, and several of the lamplighters were hung from +their own lamp-posts for neglecting to light the lamps. The country +people were prepared to march on the city, but Lord Roden and his +Foxhunters soon put down their attempt. The next morning the dead were +exhibited in the Castle-yard, and the prisoners were hanged at +Carlisle-bridge. Sir Watkins Wynn and his Ancient Britons distinguished +themselves by their cruelties. The Homsperg Dragoons and the Orange +Yeomanry equalled them in deeds of blood. The fighting commenced in +Kildare, on the 24th, by an attack on Naas, which was repelled by Lord +Gosport. Two of his officers and thirty men were killed, and the people +were shot down and hanged indiscriminately. "Such was the brutal +ferocity of some of the King's troops," says Plowden, "that they half +roasted and eat the flesh of one man, named Walsh, who had not been in +arms." At Prosperous the insurgents attacked and burned the barracks, +and piked any of the soldiers who attempted to escape from the flames. +This regiment, the North Cork Militia, had been specially cruel in their +treatment of the people, who were only too willing to retaliate. A troop +of dragoons, commanded by Captain Erskine, was almost annihilated at Old +Kilcullen. But reverses soon followed. At Carlow the insurgents met with +a severe defeat; and the defenceless and innocent inhabitants, who fled +into their houses for shelter from the fire, were cruelly and ruthlessly +burned to death in their own habitations by the military. + +A body of 2,000 men, under a leader named Perkins, encamped on the Hill +of Allan, and agreed with General Douglas to lay down their arms. The +General was honorable and humane, but his subordinates were not so. +Major-General Duff, to whom the arms were to have been delivered up, +ordered his troops to fire on the people, when they had assembled for +that purpose. Lord Roden's cavalry cut them down, and an immense number +were slaughtered in cold blood. Another attack took place at Tara, where +the Irish were again defeated. The insurrection now broke out in +Wexford. The people in this part of the country had not joined the +movement in any way, until the arrival of the North Cork Militia, +commanded by Lord Kingsborough. The men paraded in orange ribbons, fired +at the peaceful country people, and employed pitchcaps and torture, +until their victims were driven to desperation. The county was +proclaimed on the 27th of April, by the magistrates; and before any riot +had taken place, Mr. Hunter Gowan paraded through Gorey at the head of +his yeomanry, with a human finger on the point of his sword, which was +subsequently used to stir their punch in the evening. + +On Whit-Sunday, the 27th of May, the yeomen burned the Catholic Chapel +of Boulavogue. Father John Murphy, the parish priest, who had hitherto +tried to suppress the insurrection, placed himself at the head of the +insurgents. The men now rose in numbers, and marched to Enniscorthy, +which they took after some fighting. Vinegar Hill, a lofty eminence +overlooking the town, was chosen for their camp. Some of the leading +Protestant gentlemen of the county had either favoured or joined the +movement; and several of them had been arrested on suspicion, and were +imprisoned at Wexford. The garrison of this place, however, fled in a +panic, caused by some successes of the Irish troops, and probably from a +very clear idea of the kind of retaliation they might expect for their +cruelties. Mr. Harvey, one of the prisoners mentioned above, was now +released, and headed the insurgents; but a powerful body of troops, +under General Loftus, was sent into the district, and eventually +obtained possession of New Ross, which the Irish had taken with great +bravery, but which they had not been able to hold for want of proper +military discipline and command. They owed their defeat to +insubordination and drunkenness. A number of prisoners had been left at +Scullabogue House, near Carrickburne Hill. Some fugitives from the Irish +camp came up in the afternoon, and pretended that Mr. Harvey had given +orders for their execution, alleging, as a reason, what, indeed, was +true, that the royalists massacred indiscriminately. The guard resisted, +but were overpowered by the mob, who were impatient to revenge without +justice the cruelties which had been inflicted on them without justice. +A hundred were burned in a barn, and thirty-seven were shot or piked. +This massacre has been held up as a horrible example of Irish treachery +and cruelty. It was horrible, no doubt, and cannot be defended or +palliated; but, amid these contending horrors of cruel war, the question +still recurs: Upon whom is the original guilt of causing them to be +charged? + +Father Murphy[582] was killed in an attack on Carlow, and his death +threw the balance strongly in favour of the Government troops, who +eventually proved victorious. After the battle of Ross, the Wexford men +chose the Rev. Philip Roche as their leader, in place of Mr. Bagenal +Harvey, who had resigned the command. The insurgents were now guilty of +following the example of their persecutors, if not with equal cruelty, +at least with a barbarity which their leaders in vain reprobated. The +prisoners whom they had taken were confined in the jail, and every +effort was made to save them from the infuriated people. But one savage, +named Dixon, would not be content without their blood; and while the +army and their leaders were encamped on Vinegar Hill, he and some other +villains as wicked as himself found their way into the jail, and marched +the prisoners to the bridge, held a mock trial, and then piked +thirty-five of their victims, and flung them into the water. At this +moment a priest, who had heard of the bloody deed, hastened to the spot; +and after in vain commanding them to desist, succeeded at last in making +them kneel down, when he dictated a prayer that God might show them the +same mercy which they would show to the surviving prisoners. This had +its effect; and the men who waited in terror to receive the doom they +had so often and so mercilessly inflicted on others, were marched back +to prison. + +The camp on Vinegar Hill was now beset on all sides by the royal troops. +An attack was planned by General Lake, with 20,000 men and a large train +of artillery. General Needham did not arrive in time to occupy the +position appointed for him; and after an hour and a-half of hard +fighting, the Irish gave way, principally from want of gunpowder. The +soldiers now indulged in the most wanton deeds of cruelty. The hospital +at Enniscorthy was set on fire, and the wounded men shot in their beds. +At Wexford, General Moore prevented his troops from committing such +outrages; but when the rest of the army arrived, they acted as they had +done at Enniscorthy. Courts-martial were held, in which the officers +were not even sworn, and victims were consigned to execution with +reckless atrocity. The bridge of Wexford, where a Catholic priest had +saved so many Protestant lives, was now chosen for the scene of +slaughter; and all this in spite of a promise of amnesty. Father Roche +and Mr. Keogh were the first victims of the higher classes; Messrs. +Grogan, Harvey, and Colclough were hanged the following day. A mixed +commission was now formed of the magistrates, who were principally +Orangemen, and the military, whose virulence was equally great. The Rev. +Mr. Gordon, the Protestant clergyman whose account I have principally +followed, as above all suspicion, declares that "whoever could be proved +to have saved an Orangeman or royalist from assassination, his house +from burning, or his property from plunder, was considered as having +influence amongst the revolters, and consequently as a rebel commander." +The reward for their charity now was instant execution. The Rev. John +Redmond, the Catholic priest of Newtownbarry, had saved Lord Mountmorris +and other gentlemen from the fury of the exasperated people, and had +preserved his house and property from plunder. He was now sent for by +this nobleman; and, conscious of his innocence, and the benefits he had +rendered him, he at once obeyed the summons. On his arrival, he was +seized, brought before the court, and executed on the pretence of having +been a commander in the rebel army. He had, indeed, commanded, but the +only commands he ever uttered were commands of mercy. Well might Mr. +Gordon sorrowfully declare, that he had "heard of hundreds of United +Irishmen, during the insurrection, who have, at the risk of their lives, +saved Orangemen; but I have not heard of a single Orangeman who +encountered any danger to save the life of a United Irishman." With +equal sorrow he remarks the difference in the treatment of females by +each party. The Irish were never once accused of having offered the +slightest insult to a woman; the military, besides shooting them +indiscriminately with the men, treated them in a way which cannot be +described, and under circumstances which added a more than savage +inhumanity to their crime. + +The next act of the fatal drama was the execution of the State +prisoners. The rising in Ulster had been rendered ineffective, happily +for the people, by the withdrawal of some of the leaders at the last +moment. The command in Antrim was taken by Henry McCracken, who was at +last captured by the royalists, and executed at Belfast, on the 17th of +June. At Saintfield, in Down, they were commanded by Henry Monroe, who +had been a Volunteer, and had some knowledge of military tactics. In an +engagement at Ballinahinch, he showed considerable ability in the +disposal of his forces, but they were eventually defeated, and he also +paid the forfeit of his life. A remnant of the Wexford insurrection was +all that remained to be crushed. On the 21st of June, Lord Cornwallis +was sent to Ireland, with the command both of the military forces and +the civil power. On the 17th of July an amnesty was proclaimed; and the +majority of the State prisoners were permitted eventually to leave the +country, having purchased their pardon by an account of the plans of the +United Irishmen, which were so entirely broken up that their honour was +in no way compromised by the disclosure. + +Several men, however, were executed, in whose fate the country had, for +many reasons, more than ordinary interest. To have pardoned them would +have been more humane and better policy. These were the two Sheares, +M'Cann, and Mr. William Byrne. Their history will be found in the _Lives +of the United Irishmen_, by Dr. Madden, a work of many volumes, whose +contents could not possibly be compressed into the brief space which the +limits of this work demands. + +Some painfully interesting details of this fearful period may be found +in the _Annals of Ballitore_, a work already referred to in this volume. +The writer being a member of the Society of Friends, must be beyond all +suspicion of partiality for rebels or Papists; yet, happily, like many +members of that Society, was distinguished for humanity and toleration +for the opinions of others. Her account of '98, being the annals of a +family and a village, is, perhaps, almost better calculated to give an +exact idea of the state of the times than a work comprising a more +extended range of observation; and yet what was suffered in Ballitore +was comparatively trifling when compared with the sufferings of other +villages and towns. The first trial was the quartering of the yeomen, +"from whose bosom," writes this gentle lady, "pity seemed banished." The +Suffolk Fencibles and the Ancient Britons were next quartered on the +unfortunate inhabitants. Then commenced the cruel torturing, for which +the yeomen and militia obtained an eternal reprobation; the public +floggings, of which she writes thus--"the torture was excessive, and the +victims were long in recovering, and in almost every case it was applied +fruitlessly;" yet these demons in human form never relaxed their +cruelty. "The village, once so peaceful, exhibited a scene of tumult and +dismay; and the air rang with the shrieks of the sufferers, and the +lamentations of those who beheld them suffer."[583] Then follow fearful +details, which cannot be given here, but which prove how completely the +people were driven into rebellion, and how cruelly they were punished. +Reprisals, of course, were made by the unfortunate victims; and on one +occasion, Mrs. Leadbeater relates how Priest Cullen begged the life of a +young man on his knees, and, as a reward of his humanity, was +apprehended soon after, and condemned to death. The most cruel scene of +all was the murder of the village doctor, a man who had devoted himself +unweariedly to healing the wounds of both parties; but because he +attended the "rebels," and showed them any acts of common humanity, he +was taken before a court-martial, and "hacked to death" by the yeomen +with their swords. "He was alone and unarmed when seized," writes Mrs. +Leadbeater, "and I believe had never raised his hand to injure any one." + +The French allies of Irish insurgents appear to have a fatality for +arriving precisely when their services are worse than useless. On the +22nd of August, 1798, Humbert landed at Killala with a small French +force, who, after a number of engagements, were eventually obliged to +surrender at discretion. + +Ireland having been reduced to the lowest state of misery and servitude, +the scheme for which much of this suffering had been enacted was now +proposed and carried out. The first parliamentary intimation was given +in a speech from the throne, on the 22nd of January, 1799; a pamphlet +was published on the subject by Mr. Cooke, the Under-Secretary; but it +required more cogent arguments than either speeches from the throne or +pamphlets to effect the object of Government. Mr. Pitt had set his heart +upon the Union, and Mr. Pitt had determined that the Union should be +carried out at any expense of honour. The majority of the Irish lawyers +protested against it. The Irish people, as far as they dared do so, +opposed it. At a meeting of the Irish bar, on the 9th of December, there +were 166 votes against the Union and only thirty-two in favour of it. +The published correspondence of Lord Cornwallis and Lord Castlereagh has +revealed an amount of nefarious corruption and treachery at which +posterity stands aghast. "These noblemen," writes Sir Jonah Barrington, +"seemed to have been created for such a crisis, and for each other. An +unremitting perseverance, an absence of all political compunctions, an +unqualified contempt of public opinion, and a disregard of every +constitutional principle, were common to both." But Lord Cornwallis had +some compunctions; for he wrote to General Ross, describing his office +as "the most cursed of all situations," and expressing, in language more +forcible than gentlemanly, his ardent desire to "kick those whom his +public duty obliged him to court." + +The immediate arrangements made for carrying out the Union were +extremely simple. A scale of "compensation" was arranged--a word which +could, by a slight perversion of the ordinary meaning of the English +language, be used as a new form of expressing what was formerly called +bribery. Every one was promised everything that he wished for, if he +would only consent to the measure. The Catholics were to have +emancipation, the Protestants ascendency, the bar promotion, the people +higher wages, the boroughmongers magnificent compensation. FitzGibbon, +who had been made Lord Clare, and was then Chancellor, bribed, +threatened, and cajoled the Upper House; Mr. Secretary Cooke employed +himself with equal ability in the Lower House. Grattan had left Ireland; +Flood was in retirement; the members of the bar who had voted against +the Union were dismissed from office, and the Prime Serjeant, Mr. +FitzGerald, was the first victim. The thirty-two who formed the minority +were at once removed. I have not space for the details of the various +attempts which were made to pass the unpopular measure. Barrington has +given a list of the members for the Union, and the rewards they +received. His description of the last night of the Irish Parliament is +too graphic to be omitted:-- + + "The Commons' House of Parliament, on the last evening, afforded + the most melancholy example of a fine, independent people, + betrayed, divided, sold, and, as a State, annihilated. British + clerks and officers were smuggled into her Parliament, to vote away + the constitution of a country to which they were strangers, and in + which they had neither interest nor connexion. They were employed + to cancel the royal charter of the Irish nation, guaranteed by the + British Government, sanctioned by the British Legislature, and + unequivocally confirmed by the words, the signature, and the Great + Seal of their monarch. + + "The situation of the Speaker on that night was of the most + distressing nature. A sincere and ardent enemy of the measure, he + headed its opponents; he resisted with all the power of his mind, + the resources of his experience, his influence, and his eloquence. + It was, however, through his voice that it was to be proclaimed and + consummated. His only alternative (resignation) would have been + unavailing, and could have added nothing to his character. His + expressive countenance bespoke the inquietude of his feeling; + solicitude was perceptible in every glance, and his embarrassment + was obvious in every word he uttered. + + "The galleries were full, but the change was lamentable; they were + no longer crowded with those who had been accustomed to witness the + eloquence and to animate the debates of that devoted assembly. A + monotonous and melancholy murmur ran through benches, scarcely a + word was exchanged amongst the members, nobody seemed at ease, no + cheerfulness was apparent, and the ordinary business, for a short + time, proceeded in the usual manner. + + "At length the expected moment arrived. The order of the day for + the third reading of the Bill for a 'Legislative Union between + Great Britain and Ireland,' was moved by Lord Castlereagh. + Unvaried, tame, coldblooded, the words seemed frozen as they issued + from his lips; and, as a simple citizen of the world, he seemed to + have no sensation on the subject. + + "At that moment he had no country, no God but his ambition: he made + his motion, and resumed his seat with the utmost composure and + indifference. + + "Confused murmurs again ran through the House; it was visibly + affected. Every character in a moment seemed involuntary rushing to + its index--some pale, some flushed, some agitated; there were few + countenances to which the heart did not despatch some messenger. + Several members withdrew before the question could be repeated, and + an awful momentary silence succeeded their departure. The Speaker + rose slowly from that chair which had been the proud source of his + honours and of his high character; for a moment he resumed his + seat, but the strength of his mind sustained him in his duty, + though his struggle was apparent. With that dignity which never + failed to signalize his official actions, he held up the Bill for a + moment in silence; he looked steadily around him on the last agony + of the expiring Parliament. He at length repeated, in an emphatic + tone, 'As many as are of opinion that _this Bill_ do pass, say + aye.' The affirmative was languid but indisputable; another + momentary pause ensued; again his lips seemed to decline their + office; at length, with an eye averted from the object which he + hated, he proclaimed, with a subdued voice, 'The Ayes have it.' The + fatal sentence was now pronounced; for an instant he stood + statue-like; then indignantly, and with disgust, flung the Bill + upon the table, and sunk into his chair with an exhausted spirit. + + "An independent country was thus degraded into a province--Ireland, + as a nation, was extinguished." + +[Illustration: LYNCH'S HOUSE, GALWAY.] + +[Illustration: SWORDS' CASTLE, COUNTY DUBLIN.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[571] _Clergy_.--Barrington says, in his _Rise and Fall of the Irish +Nation_, p. 67, the Catholic clergy had every inclination to restrain +their flocks within proper limits, and found no difficulty in effecting +that object. The first statement is unquestionably true; the second +statement is unfortunately disproved by many painful facts. + +[572] _Them_.--Vol. ii. p. 93. + +[573] _Oath_.--I give authority for these details. In the spring of +1796, three Orangemen swore before a magistrate of Down and Armagh, that +the Orangemen frequently met in committees, amongst whom were some +members of Parliament, who gave them money, and promised that they +should not suffer for any act they might commit, and pledged themselves +that they should be provided for by Government. The magistrate informed +the Secretary of State, and asked how he should act; but he never +received any answer, for further details on this head, see Plowden's +_History of the Insurrection_. + +[574] _Sermons_.--On the 1st of July, 1795, the Rev. Mr. Monsell, a +Protestant clergyman of Portadown, invited his flock to celebrate the +anniversary of the battle of the Boyne by attending church, and preached +such a sermon against the Papists that his congregation fell on every +Catholic they met going home, beat them cruelly, and finished the day by +murdering two farmer's sons, who were quietly at work in a +bog.--Mooney's _History of Ireland_, p. 876. + +[575] _Indemnity_.--Lord Carhampton sent 1,300 men on board the fleet, +on mere suspicion. They demanded a trial in vain. An Act of Indemnity +was at once passed, to free his Lordship from any unpleasant +consequences. + +[576] _Remember Orr_.--_Lives and Times of the United Irishmen_, second +series, vol. ii. p. 380. + +[577] _Sway_.--An important instance of how the memory or tradition of +past wrongs excites men to seize the first opportunity of revenge, if +not of redress, has occurred in our own times. It is a circumstance +which should be very carefully pondered by statesmen who have the real +interest of the whole nation at heart. It is a circumstance, as a sample +of many other similar cases, which should be known to every Englishman +who wishes to understand the cause of "Irish disturbances." One of the +men who was shot by the police during the late Fenian outbreak in +Ireland, was a respectable farmer named Peter Crowley. His history tells +the motive for which he risked and lost his life. His grandfather had +been outlawed in the rebellion of '98. His uncle, Father Peter O'Neill, +had been imprisoned and _flogged most barbarously, with circumstances of +peculiar cruelty_, in Cork, in the year 1798. The memory of the insult +and injury done to a priest, who was entirely guiltless of the crimes +with which he was charged, left a legacy of bitterness and hatred of +Saxon rule in the whole family, which, unhappily, religion failed to +eradicate. Peter Crowley was a sober, industrious, steady man, and his +parish priest, who attended his deathbed, pronounced his end "most happy +and edifying." Three clergymen and a procession of young men, women, and +children, scattering flowers before the coffin, and bearing green +boughs, attended his remains to the grave. He was mourned as a patriot, +who had loved his country, not wisely, but too well; and it was believed +that his motive for joining the Fenian ranks was less from a desire of +revenge, which would have been sinful, than from a mistaken idea of +freeing his country from a repetition of the cruelties of '98, and from +her present grievances. + +[578] _Sufferer_.--Plowden, _Hist_. p. 102. + +[579] _Sanction_.--His son says: "His estimate of the people led him to +appreciate justly the liveliness of their parts. But while he knew their +vices, and the origin of them, he knew that there was in their character +much of the generosity and warmth of feeling which made them acutely +sensitive when they were treated considerately and kindly. His judgment +of the upper classes of society, and of the purity and wisdom of the +government, was less favorable. He saw that the gentry were imperfectly +educated; that they were devoted to the pursuits of pleasure and +political intrigue; and that they were ignorant or neglectful of the +duties imposed on them as landlords, and as the friends and protectors +of those who depended on them for their existence."--_Memoir of Sir +Ralph Abercrombie_, p. 72. + +[580] _All_.--Lord Holland says, in his _Memoirs of the Whig Party_: +"The fact is incontestable that the people of Ireland were driven to +resistance, which, _possibly_, they meditated before, by the free +quarters and excesses of the soldiery, which are not permitted in +civilized warfare, even in an enemy's country." The state prisoners +declared the immediate cause of the rising was "the free quarters, the +house-burnings, the tortures, and the military executions." + +[581] _Success_.--The real betrayer of this brave but unfortunate +nobleman has only been discovered of late years. Dr. Madden was the +first to throw light upon the subject. He discovered the item of L1,000 +entered in the _Secret Service Money-book_, as paid to F.H. for the +discovery of L.E.F. The F.H. was undoubtedly Francis Higgins, better +known as the Sham Squire, whose infamous career has been fully exposed +by Mr. Fitzpatrick. In the fourth volume of the _United Irishmen_, p. +579, Dr. Madden still expresses his doubt as to who was the person +employed by Higgins as "setter." It evidently was some one in the +secrets of Lord Edward's party. The infamous betrayer has been at last +discovered, in the person of Counsellor Magan, who received at various +times large sums of money from Government for his perfidy. See the _Sham +Squire_, p. 114. Higgins was buried at Kilbarrack, near Clontarf. In +consequence of the revelations of his vileness, which have been lately +brought before the public, the tomb was smashed to pieces, and the +inscription destroyed. See Mr. Fitzpatrick's _Ireland before the Union_, +p. 152. + +[582] _Murphy_.--Rev. Mr. Gordon says: "Some of the soldiers of the +Ancient British regiment cut open the dead body of Father Michael +Murphy, after the battle of Arklow, took out his heart, roasted his +body, and oiled their boots with the grease which dropped from +it."--_History of the Rebellion_, p. 212. + +[583] _Suffer.--Annals of Ballitore_, vol. i. p. 227. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +The State of Ireland before and after the Union--Advancement of Trade +before the Union--Depression after it--Lord Clare and Lord Castlereagh +in the English Parliament--The Catholic Question becomes a Ministerial +Difficulty--The Veto--The O'Connell Sept--Early Life of Daniel +O'Connell--The Doneraile Conspiracy--O'Connell as Leader of the Catholic +Party--The Clare Election--O'Connell in the English House of +Parliament--Sir Robert Peel--George IV. visits Ireland--Disturbances in +Ireland from the Union to the year 1834, and their Causes--Parliamentary +Evidence--The "Second Reformation"--Catholic Emancipation--Emigration, +its Causes and Effects--Colonial Policy of England--Statistics of +American Trade and Population--Importance of the Irish and Catholic +Element in America--Conclusion. + +[A.D. 1800-1868.] + + +It is both a mistake and an injustice to suppose that the page of Irish +history closed with the dawn of that summer morning, in the year of +grace 1800, when the parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland +was enacted. I have quoted Sir Jonah Barrington's description of the +closing night of the Irish Parliament, because he writes as an +eyewitness, and because few could describe its "last agony" with more +touching eloquence and more vivid truthfulness; but I beg leave, in the +name of my country, to protest against his conclusion, that "Ireland, as +a nation, was extinguished." There never was, and we must almost fear +there never will be, a moment in the history of our nation, in which her +independence was proclaimed more triumphantly or gloriously, than when +O'Connell, the noblest and the best of her sons, obtained Catholic +Emancipation. + +The immediate effects of the dissolution of the Irish Parliament were +certainly appalling. The measure was carried on the 7th of June, 1800. +On the 16th of April, 1782, another measure had been carried, to which I +must briefly call your attention. That measure was the independence of +the Irish Parliament. When it passed, Grattan rose once more in the +House, and exclaimed: "Ireland is now a nation! In that new character I +hail her, and bowing to her august presence, I say, _Esto perpetua!"_ +period of unexampled prosperity followed. The very effects of a reaction +from conditions under which commerce was purposely restricted and trade +paralyzed by law, to one of comparative freedom, could not fail to +produce such a result. If the Parliament had been reformed when it was +freed, it is probable that Ireland at this moment would be the most +prosperous of nations. But the Parliament was not reformed. The +prosperity which followed was rather the effect of reaction, than of any +real settlement of the Irish question. The land laws, which +unquestionably are _the_ grievance of Ireland, were left untouched, an +alien Church was allowed to continue its unjust exactions; and though +Ireland was delivered, her chains were not all broken; and those which +were, still hung loosely round her, ready for the hand of traitor or of +foe. Though nominally freed from English control, the Irish Parliament +was not less enslaved by English influence. Perhaps there had never been +a period in the history of that nation when bribery was more freely +used, when corruption was more predominant. A considerable number of the +peers in the Irish House were English by interest and by education; a +majority of the members of the Lower House were their creatures. A man +who ambitioned a place in Parliament, should conform to the opinions of +his patron; the patron was willing to receive a "compensation" for +making his opinions, if he had any, coincide with those of the +Government. Many of the members were anxious for preferment for +themselves or their friends; the price of preferment was a vote for +ministers. The solemn fact of individual responsibility for each +individual act, had yet to be understood. Perhaps the lesson has yet to +be learned. + +One of the first acts of the Irish independent Parliament, was to order +the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of the +manufactures of the kingdom, and to ascertain what might be necessary +for their improvement. The hearts of the poor, always praying for +employment, which had been so long and so cruelly withheld from them, +bounded with joy. Petitions poured in on every side. David Bosquet had +erected mills in Dublin for the manufacture of metals; he prayed for +help. John and Henry Allen had woollen manufactories in the county +Dublin; they prayed for help. Thomas Reilly, iron merchant, of the town +of Wicklow, wished to introduce improvements in iron works. James Smith, +an Englishman, had cotton manufactories at Balbriggan; he wished to +extend them. Anthony Dawson, of Dundrum, near Dublin, had water mills +for making tools for all kinds of artisans; this, above all, should be +encouraged, now that there was some chance of men having some use for +tools. Then there were requests for aid to establish carpet +manufactories, linen manufactories, glass manufactories, &c.; and Robert +Burke, Esq., of the county Kildare, prayed for the loan of L40,000 for +seven years, that he might establish manufactories at Prosperous. These +few samples of petitions, taken at random from many others, will enable +the reader to form some faint idea of the state of depression in which +Ireland was kept by the English nation--of the eagerness of the Irish to +work if they were only permitted to do so. + +The Irish revenue for the year 1783 was, in round numbers, L900,000, +which amounted to a tax of about six shillings per annum on each person. +It was distributed thus: + +For the interest of the National Debt, L120,000 +Army and Ordnance, Civil Government, and +other funds, 450,000 +Pensions, grants, bounties, and aids to +manufacturers, 250,000 +Surplus unappropriated, 80,000 + -------- +Total, L900,000 + +More than L200,000 was spent during that year in erecting forts, +batteries, and other public buildings, which gave employment to the +people in certain districts. Large sums were granted to the poor of Cork +and Dublin for coals; and large grants were made to encourage +manufactures. I have observed, however, in carefully examining these +grants, which are by far too numerous for insertion, that they were +principally, and, indeed, I might say exclusively, made to persons in +Dublin and its neighbourhood, in the north of Ireland, and in the +_cities_ of Cork and Limerick. Hence, the prosperity of Ireland was only +partial, and was confined exclusively, though, probably, not +intentionally, to certain districts. This will explain why the misery +and starvation of the poor, in the less favoured parts of the country, +were a principal cause of the fearful insurrection which occurred within +a few short years. + +Lord Clare proclaimed, in the House of Parliament, that "no nation on +the habitable globe had advanced in cultivation, commerce, and +manufactures, with the same rapidity as Ireland, from 1782 to 1800." +_The population increased from three millions to five._ There were 5,000 +carpenters fully employed in Dublin; there were 15,000 silk-weavers. Nor +should we be surprised at this; for Dublin possesses at the present day +substantial remains of her former prosperity, which are even now the +admiration of Europe. All her great public buildings were erected at +this period. The Custom-house was commenced, and completed in ten years, +at a cost of a quarter of a million sterling. The Rotundo was commenced +in 1784. The Law Courts, the most elegant and extensive in the British +Empire, were begun in 1786. In 1788 there were 14,327 dwelling-houses in +Dublin, and 110,000 inhabitants. Two hundred and twenty peers and three +hundred commoners had separate residences. Dublin was fashionable, and +Dublin prospered.[584] + +I have already said that corruption soon did its fatal work. It +sanctioned, nay, it compelled, the persecution of the majority of the +nation for their religious creed; and with this persecution the last +flame of national prosperity expired, and the persecutors and the +persecuted shared alike in the common ruin. In 1792 Lord Edward +FitzGerald denounced the conduct of the House in these ever-memorable +words: "I do think, sir, that the Lord Lieutenant and the majority of +this House are the worst subjects the King has;" and when a storm arose, +the more violent from consciousness that his words were but too true, +for all retraction he would only say: + +"I am accused of having said that I think the Lord Lieutenant and the +majority of this House are the worst subjects the King has. I said so; +'tis true; and I am sorry for it." + +On the 1st of January, 1801, a new imperial standard was exhibited on +London Tower, and on the Castles of Dublin and Edinburgh. It was formed +of the three crosses of St. George, St. Patrick, and St. Andrew, and is +popularly known as the Union Jack. The _fleur de lis_ and the word +France were omitted from royal prerogatives and titles; and a +proclamation was issued appointing the words _Dei Gratia, Britaniarum +Rex, Fidei Defensor_. The _Dublin Gazette_ of July, 1800, contained the +significant announcement of the creation of sixteen new peerages. The +same publication for the last week of the year contained a fresh list of +twenty-six others. Forty-two creations in six months were rather an +extensive stretch of prerogative; and we cannot be surprised if the +majority of the nation had more respect for the great untitled, whose +ancestry were known, and were quite above accepting the miserable bribe +of a modern peerage. + +Strangely enough, from the very day on which the Union was proclaimed, +the Catholic question became a ministerial difficulty. Pitt's +administration failed on this very point, although it had seemed +invincible a few weeks before. The obstinacy of the King, which, indeed, +almost amounted to a monomania, was the principal cause. He made it a +personal matter, declared it the "most jacobinical thing he had ever +heard of;" and he informed the world at large that he would consider any +man who proposed it his personal enemy. Pitt resigned. Opinions varied +as to his motives. He returned to office in 1804, having promised that +he would not again press the subject; and he adhered to his +determination until his death. The Irish nobles, who had worked hardest +to carry the Union, were somewhat disappointed as to the result. Lord +Clare was told by the Duke of Bedford, that the Union had not +transferred his dictatorial powers to the Imperial Parliament. He +retired to Ireland deeply chagrined, and was soon borne to his grave, +amid the revilings of the people whom he had betrayed. Lord Castlereagh, +who had been less accustomed to command, and had less difficulty in +stooping to conquer, succeeded better with his English friends, and in a +few years he ruled the cabinets of Europe; while the Iron Duke, another +Irishman, dictated to their armies. + +In 1803 the flame of insurrection again broke out, and again French aid +was expected, and the expedition ended in disappointment. Napoleon +himself regretted that he had turned his armies towards Egypt, instead +of towards Ireland. Emmet's career was brief, and would probably have +been almost forgotten, but for his famous speech at the moment of +receiving sentence, and for the history of his love and her devoted +attachment to his memory. + +In 1805 Grattan entered the Imperial Parliament, at the request of Fox. +An English constituency was found for him. At the same time, Plunket was +brought into the house by Pitt; and thus these two famous men, the one +so full of the brilliant, and the other so full of the powerful, gifts +of mental science, again pleaded their country's cause together, and in +perfect harmony, though differing on some political points. When Grattan +first rose to address the British Senate, there was a hushed attention +to his every word; as his eloquence kindled with his subject, there were +suppressed murmurs of approbation; when he had concluded, there were +thunders of applause. His subject was a petition from the Irish +Catholics, which was presented to both Houses in 1805. The division gave +339 to 124 against going into committee; still it was something gained, +when Englishmen even listened to Irish grievances, or made some effort +to understand them. + +The _Veto_ was now suggested. The object of this was to allow the crown +a passive voice, if not an active one, in the nomination of Catholic +bishops. Happily for the Catholic Church in Ireland, the proposal was +steadily rejected, though with a determination which brought even +members of the same Church into collision. Connexion with the State +might have procured temporal advantages, but they would have been in +truth a poor compensation for the loss of that perfect freedom of action +so essential to the spiritual advancement of the Church. + +The Duke of Richmond came to Ireland in 1807, with Sir Arthur Wellesley +as Chief Secretary. The young man, whose fame was yet unattained, showed +himself as clearheaded in the cabinet as in the camp. He made every +attempt to suppress the party demonstrations which have been the curse +of Ireland, and induced the Wexford people to discontinue their annual +celebration of the battle of Vinegar Hill. If he could have suppressed a +few other anniversaries in the north, it would have been a blessing to +the United Kingdom. In 1806 Mr. Grattan was returned for Dublin, and +generously refused the sum of L4,000, which his constituents had +collected to pay his expenses. The Catholic question was now constantly +coming up, and more than one cabinet was formed and dissolved according +to the views of the different members on that matter. A new element of +vitality had been introduced by the relaxation of the penal laws. Men +were no longer afraid to ask for a grace which they wanted, lest they +should lose a grace which they had. The people found that they might +speak their real opinions without apprehensions of attempts at +conversion in the shape of pitchcaps and half-hangings; and when the +people were ready for a leader, the leader was ready for the people; and +Daniel O'Connell took the place in the guidance of the Irish nation, +which he will never lose in their memory and in their affections. + +The history of Ireland and the life of O'Connell are convertible terms +for five-and-forty years. O'Connell represented Ireland, and Ireland was +represented by O'Connell. We have had our great men and our good men, +our brave men and our true men; but, to my poor thinking, the greatest +of our men was O'Connell--for who ever approached him in his mighty +power of ruling a nation by moral suasion only? the best of our men was +O'Connell, for who dare assert that he was ever unfaithful to his +country or to his country's faith? the bravest of our men was O'Connell, +equally fearless in every danger, moral or physical; and the truest of +our men was O'Connell, dying of a broken heart in a faraway land, +because he saw his country's cause all but ruined--because he knew that +with his failing breath one of his country's surest helpers would pass +from her for ever. A _thoughtfully_ written "History of the life and +Times of O'Connell," by some one really competent to do justice to the +subject, is much wanted. I believe that posterity will do justice to his +memory as one of the best and noblest patriots which the world has ever +seen--a justice which as yet has been scarcely accorded to him as fully +as he has merited. Had O'Connell accomplished no other work for Ireland +than this--the giving of a tone of nationality and manliness to the +people--he had accomplished a most glorious work. He taught Irishmen +that chains do not make the slave, but rather the spirit in which the +chains are worn. He awoke, in the hearts of his countrymen, that love of +freedom, which is the first step towards making a successful effort to +obtain it. He showed them how they might intimidate their oppressors +without injuring themselves--a lesson eminently necessary where the +oppressors are incomparably more powerful than the oppressed. + +The sept of O'Connell, from which this noble man was descended held a +prominent position among the early Milesian clans. Pure Celtic blood ran +in his veins; the fire of Celtic wit sparkled in his utterances; the +lighthearted happiness of a Celtic spirit guided his actions; and the +undaunted bravery of a Celtic warrior's courage looked out of his clear +beaming eye. A nobleman, in truth, was Daniel O'Connell--a nobleman of +whom any nation might justly be proud--a nobleman to whom we must hope +that Ireland will yet raise some monument of enduring fame. The +O'Connell sept were driven from their ancestral homes, in 1172, by +Raymond, Strongbow's son-in-law. Their territory lay along the Shannon. +They were now compelled to take refuge in a wild and desolate part of +Kerry, too wild and too desolate to attract English cupidity. A MS. is +still preserved in the British Museum, written by one of the O'Connell +family; it is in the Irish language, and bears date 1245. In this +document mention is made of a Daniel O'Connell, who proceeded to the +north of Ireland, at the head of a large body of men, to resist an +invading force. The Celts were successful; and when they had won the +day, the chieftain and his vanquished foes feasted together. In 1586 +Richard O'Connell was High Sheriff of Kerry; but, from the accession of +William III., until the illustrious Liberator obtained some degree of +freedom for his country, all the O'Connells were prescribed from +positions of emolument, for having held with unswerving fidelity to the +old faith. + +O'Connell was born on the 6th of August, 1775, "the very year," as he +himself says, in a letter to the _Dublin Evening Post_, "in which the +stupid obstinacy of British oppression _forced_ the reluctant people of +America to seek for security in arms, and to commence that bloody +struggle for national independence, which has been in its results +beneficial to England, whilst it has shed glory, and conferred liberty, +pure and sublime, on America." He was educated at St. Omers, and it is +said manifested some inclination for the priesthood; but there can be no +doubt that his vocation lay in another direction, as he was incomparably +too deeply religious and too thoroughly honest not to have obeyed the +call of God at any cost, had such a favour been vouchsafed to him. It is +said, whatever his dislike of physical force may have been in +after-life, that he unquestionably knew how to use the _argumentum +baculinum_ in his early days; and that more than one student was made to +feel the effects thereof, when attempting ill-natured jokes on the +herculean Celt. During his residence abroad he had some opportunities of +witnessing the fearful effects of the French Revolution; and it is +probable that a remembrance of these scenes, added to his own admirably +keen common sense, saved him from leading his countrymen on to deeds of +open violence. He was called to the Irish bar in the memorable year of +1798. For some time he failed to obtain practice; for who would confide +their case to a young Catholic lawyer, when the fact of his creed alone +would be sufficient to condemn his client in the eyes of Protestant +juries, judges, and attorneys? His maiden speech was made in opposition +to the Union, even as his life was spent in the most strenuous efforts +to obtain the reversal of that most fatal measure. A meeting was held in +the Royal Exchange, Dublin, at the close of the year 1799, to petition +against it; but even as O'Connell was denouncing, in his most eloquent +language, the new attempt at national degradation, Major Sirr and his +file of military rushed into the apartment, and separated the assembly. +O'Connell now retired into private life, and, with the marvellous +foresight of true genius, devoted himself to storing up that forensic +knowledge which he felt sure he should one day use for the benefit of +his countrymen. + +One of the most important instances in which O'Connell's legal acumen +saved the lives of his countrymen, is known as the "Doneraile +Conspiracy;" and as all the facts are eminently illustrative of the +history of Ireland at that period, and of the character and abilities of +one of her most distinguished sons, I shall relate the circumstances. +Several Protestant gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Doneraile, had been +making those abortive efforts to "convert" their tenants from Popery, +which usually end in no small amount of ill-feeling on both sides; +another of these gentlemen, with equal zeal and equal want of common +sense and common humanity, had devoted himself to hunting out real or +supposed rebels. This gentleman had at last brought on himself an armed +attack, for which he deserved little pity. He contrived, however, to +capture one of his assailants, who, of course, was hung. The gentlemen +having thus excited the unfortunate peasantry, pointed to the results of +their own folly as though these results had been the cause of it; and an +informer came forward, who, with the usual recklessness of his atrocious +class, accused some of the most respectable farmers of the district of +having entered into a conspiracy to murder the Protestant gentlemen,--a +cruel return certainly had it been true, for their earnest efforts to +convert the natives from "the errors of Popery to those of the +Protestant Church." A special commission was sent down; the wildest +excitement prevailed on all sides; and, as was usual in such cases, the +bitterest prejudice against the unfortunate accused. The +Solicitor-General led for the crown: the defence was a simple denial. In +such cases the examination of the approvers is the great point for the +accused, and should be confided to the ablest counsel. One of the +unfortunate prisoners was a respectable farmer, aged seventy, of whom +the highest character was given. But it was all in vain; after five +minutes' deliberation, the jury gave in the verdict of guilty. As the +men were to be made an "example of," they were sentenced to be hanged in +six days. This was on Saturday. The next lot of prisoners was to be +tried at nine o'clock on Monday morning. There was one universal cry for +"O'Connell," from the great multitude who knew these poor victims were +perfectly innocent. On Saturday night a farmer mounted the best horse +that could be found in Cork, and, after a night of incessant riding, he +reached Derrynane Abbey on Sunday morning at nine o'clock. His name was +William Burke: let it be transmitted with all honour to posterity! He +told his errand to one who never listened unmoved to the tale of his +country's sorrows and wrongs; and he assured O'Connell that, unless he +were in Cork by nine next morning, the unfortunate prisoners, "though +innocent as the child unborn," would all be hanged. The great man at +once prepared for his journey; and so wild was the joy of Burke, so sure +was he that there would now be a hope, if not a certainty, of justice, +that only the earnest entreaties of O'Connell could induce him to remain +a few hours to rest his weary horse. On the same good horse he set out +again, and reached Cork at eight o'clock on Monday morning, having +travelled 180 miles in thirty-eight hours. Scouts had been posted all +along the road to watch the man's return: even as he passed through each +little village, there was an anxious crowd waiting the word of life or +death. "O'Connell's coming, boys!" was enough; and a wild cheer, which +rent the very mountains, told how keenly an act of justice could be +appreciated by the most justice-loving people upon earth. And O'Connell +did come. He has himself described the sensations of that midnight +journey, through all the autumn beauties of the most beautiful scenery +in the United Kingdom. And then he exclaims: "After that glorious feast +of soul, I found myself settled down amid all the rascalities of an +Irish court of justice." + +The Solicitor-General was actually addressing the jury, when the shouts +of the excited crowd announced the arrival of one who, by this act of +his life alone, deserves, _par excellence_, the proud and glorious title +of the LIBERATOR. He entered the courthouse, apologized for his +unprofessional attire; and as he had no refreshment, and there was no +time to lose, he requested permission of the judges to have a bowl of +milk and some sandwiches sent to him. The Solicitor-General resumed his +address, but had not proceeded far before the stentorian voice of +O'Connell was heard exclaiming: "That's not law." The bench decided in +his favour. He was rapidly swallowing as much food as was necessary to +sustain nature, and once more, with his mouth full, he exclaims: "That's +no longer law; the Act is repealed." Again the mortified counsel +proceeded with his case, and once more O'Connell's knowledge of law +served him in good stead. "The learned Solicitor," he exclaimed, "has +_no right_ to make such a statement; the crown cannot give such matters +in evidence." For the third time the ruling was in favour of the +Liberator. Then came the all-important cross-examination of the +approvers; and the men who had lied so well and so boldly on Saturday, +prevaricated, cursed, and howled under the searching questions of their +new examiner; Nowlan, the vilest of the lot, exclaiming at last: "It's +little I thought I'd have to meet you, Counsellor O'Connell." Alas! +thrice-wretched man, who thought still less of another Court and another +Judgment. O'Connell won the day. He threatened the very +Solicitor-General with impeachment before the House of Commons, for the +way he conducted the case. He taunted him, bewildered him, scolded him, +laughed at him, as he only could do; and when at last the unfortunate +man came out with some observation about "false _facts_," O'Connell +threw the whole court into a roar of laughter by directing attention to +the bull, and by his inimitable imitation of his English accent. The +jury could not agree, and the men were acquitted. Another trial came on +next day, and it was then discovered that one of the approvers differed +in most important matters from his statements on oath before the +magistrates of Doneraile, and in what he now stated. This was enough; +and the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty, though, on the very +same evidence, a verdict of guilty had been given on Saturday. As an +act, however, of great clemency, the men who had been sentenced to be +hanged in six days, were now _only_ transported. + +During the time of O'Connell's retirement and study, he had but too many +opportunities of knowing how little justice was likely to be meted out +to Irishmen accused, justly or unjustly, of political crimes; and, +doubtless, he directed his studies to those special points most likely +to be helpful hereafter. Robert Emmet's execution took place in October, +1803; and from that hour, until the accession of the Whigs to office, in +1806, Ireland was ruled by martial law. The Habeas Corpus Act and trial +by jury were suspended, and the jails and transport ships were crowded +with the victims of military ferocity and magisterial vengeance. In the +debate of 1805, when the Catholic petition was brought into the House of +Commons by Mr. Fox, and treacherously opposed by Pitt, Mr. Ponsonby +exclaimed, speaking of the Irish Catholics: "I know them well; and I +know, at the same time, that whatever is good in them, they owe to +themselves; whatever is bad in them, they owe to you, and to your bad +government." Mr. Grattan accused the English Tories of "running about +like old women in search of old prejudices; _preferring to buy foreign +allies by subsidies, rather than to subsidize fellow-subjects by +privileges."_ He might have said by justice, for the Irish have never +asked for privileges; they ask simply for the same justice as is shown +to English subjects. Mr. Foster, the last Speaker of the Irish House of +Commons, declared that, "under the Union Act, by compact, the Protestant +boroughs were suppressed, and a compensation of L1,400,000 paid to +Protestant owners, and not one shilling to the Catholics." + +O'Connell came prominently forward as a leader of the Catholic party in +1810. A meeting was held in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, to petition for +Repeal of the Union, at which the High Sheriff of that city presided, +and many distinguished men were present--a proof that, however corrupted +Irish Parliaments may have been by English gold, there was still some +advantage to be gained to the country by possessing even a partial +independence. O'Connell's speech was published, and circulated widely. +To give the full details of his career as a leader of the people, would +require a volume the size of the present work; to give even a +sufficiently comprehensive outline, would require several chapters: I +can but hope that some able hand will take up the subject, and with +equal earnestness do I hope that it may be some one really capable of +doing justice to it. One who would write the "Life and Times of +O'Connell" as such a work should be written, would require to bring more +than ordinary abilities to the task, and would deserve, at the hands of +his countrymen, the highest expression of gratitude which they could +give. Such a work would be incomparably the noblest monument which could +be dedicated to his memory. + +[Illustration: O'Connell refusing to take the Oath.] + +The Clare election is undoubtedly the culminating point in O'Connell's +career. Men stood aghast in amazement at the boldness of the man who +presumed to make such an attempt. Even his friends could scarcely +believe that he was in earnest, or that he was wise. His success was a +splendid example of what the energy and determination of one single man +could accomplish. Well might the Lord Chancellor declare that "this +business must bring the Roman Catholic question to a crisis and a +conclusion." The words were prophetic; the prophecy was realized. On the +5th of March, 1829, Mr. Peel moved a committee of the whole House, "to +go into the consideration of the civil disabilities of his Majesty's +Roman Catholic subjects." The motion was carried by a majority of 188. +On the 15th of May, 1829, O'Connell appeared in the House to take his +seat. He was introduced by Lords Ebrington and Dungannon. The House was +thronged. The very peeresses came to gaze upon the arch-agitator, +expecting to see a demagogue, and to hear an Irish brogue. There were +whispers of surprise when they saw a gentleman, and a man who could +speak, with the versatility of true talent, to suit his audience. The +card containing the oath was handed to O'Connell; he read a portion of +it over in an audible voice--the portion which required him to say that +"the sacrifice of the Mass, and the invocation of the Blessed Virgin +Mary and other saints, as now practised in the Church of Rome, are +impious and idolatrous;" and to deny the dispensing power of the Pope, +which never existed, except in the imagination of its framers. With a +courteous bow he said, in a voice to be heard throughout the House: "I +decline, Mr. Clerk, to take this oath: part of it I know to be false; +another part I believe not to be true." + +Again he sought the votes of the electors of Clare, and again he was +returned by them. On the 13th of April, 1829, the royal signature was +affixed to the Act of Emancipation, and Irishmen were no longer refused +the rights of citizens because they respected the rights of conscience. + +In the year 1812, the late Sir Robert Peel came to Ireland as Chief +Secretary, unfortunately destitute of the enlargement of mind and the +native genius of his predecessor, Sir Arthur Wellesley. His abilities, +however great, were not such as to enable him to understand a +nationality distinct from his own; and hence he could not deal with the +Irish, either to his credit, or for their advantage. From the year 1815 +to 1817 the conduct of the English Parliament towards Ireland was +regulated with the nicest attention to the movements of the General who +ruled the Continent. In 1817 an Act was passed, which, with admirable +policy, excused Catholic officers, naval and military, from forswearing +transubstantiation. In 1821 George IV. visited Ireland. It was the first +time that an English King had come to Ireland as the acknowledged +sovereign of the people. Their hopes were high; and the deference for +royalty, so eminently characteristic of the Celt, had at last found an +opportunity of expressing itself. All that loyalty could do was done; +all that the warmest heart could say was said. The King appeared +impressed by demonstrations so entirely new to him; he wore a large +bunch of shamrocks constantly during his brief stay; but before the +shamrocks were faded, Irish wants and Irish loyalty were alike +forgotten. + +In the year 1824 the subject of Irish disturbances was carefully +inquired into by Select Committees of both Houses of Parliament. Some +extracts from their reports will give the best and most correct idea of +the state of the country from the Union to the year 1834, when another +investigation was made. In 1807 the county Limerick was alarmingly +disturbed. In 1812 the counties of Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, +Limerick, Westmeath, Roscommon, and the King's county, were the theatre +of the same sanguinary tumults. Limerick and Tipperary remained under +the Insurrection Act until 1818. In 1820 there were serious disturbances +in Galway, and in 1821, in Limerick. + +These disturbances are thus accounted for Maxwell Blacker, Esq., +Barrister, who was appointed to administer the Insurrection Act, in +1822, in the counties of Cork and Tipperary: "The immediate cause of the +disturbance I consider to be the great increase of population, and the +fall in the price of produce after the war; the consequence of which +was, that it was impossible to pay the rent or the tithes that had been +paid when the country was prosperous." Sir Matthew Barrington, Crown +Solicitor of the Munster Circuit for seventeen years, was asked: "Do you +attribute the inflammable state of the population to the state of misery +in which they generally are?" "I do, to a great extent; I seldom knew +any instance when there was sufficient employment for the people that +they were inclined to be disturbed; if they had plenty of work and +employment, they are generally peaceable." John Leslie Foster, Esq., +M.P., in his examination, states: "I think the proximate cause [of the +disturbances] is the extreme physical misery of the peasantry, coupled +with their liability to be called upon for the payment of different +charges, which it is often perfectly impossible for them to meet." +Matthew Singleton, Esq., Chief Magistrate of Police in the Queen's +county, said, on his examination: "I have seen, and I know land to be +set one-third above its value." + +It would be useless to give more of this evidence, for the details are +always the same. The people were almost starving. They could scarcely +get a sufficiency of the poorest food, yet they were compelled to pay +rent and tithes far above the value of their land. If they were unable, +they were thrown out upon the wayside to die like dogs. + +There can be no doubt that the outrages thus perpetrated were very +fearful. Every man's hand was against them, and their hand was against +every man. They shot their landlords, and they "carded" the +tithe-proctors. Gentlemen's houses were barricaded, even in the daytime. +Many families of the higher classes lived in a state of siege. The +windows were made bullet-proof; the doors were never opened after +nightfall. It was a fearful state of society for a Christian country, +and the guilt and disgrace of it was surely on those who had caused it. +Yet we do not find that the knowledge of these facts produced any effect +upon the men who heard them, and who alone had it in their power to +apply the remedy. Still something was done; and although it is one of +the stern facts of history, one can scarcely choose but smile at the +simplicity of those who planned and carried out such a scheme for the +improvement of Ireland. + +The "second reformation" was commenced in 1827. The Catholic priests +were challenged to controversy; even laymen interfered. Theology and +theological differences became the town and table-talk of Ireland. +Bibles and tracts were distributed in all directions amongst the +starving poor, food and clothing were occasionally added; yet, +notwithstanding these powerful inducements, the people starved and +remained Catholics. Writs of ejectment were then tried; and the Irish +poor had their choice between the Bible and beggary--but they chose +beggary. + +So far did the Bible craze go, that it almost amounted to a monomania. +One noble lord, to show his reverence for that book, and to convince his +tenantry of the estimation in which he held it, flung every volume of +his library into the lake of his demesne, and with the Bible in his +hand, which commanded him to feed the hungry, refused to feed them +unless they complied with his commands. Moore's satires were, +unquestionably, the best weapons against such fanaticism. Sheil wrote in +the _Gazette de France_, and hundreds of pens wrote in the American +papers. A loud cry of "Shame!" arose in every quarter of the world; the +echo reached the ears of the promoters of the movement; and the force of +public opinion succeeded in suppressing the futile attempt. + +The influence of Irish emigrants in America was already beginning to be +felt. Large sums of money poured in from that country to swell the +Catholic rent, and a considerable portion of the funds were employed by +O'Connell in providing for men who had been ejected by their landlords, +for refusing either to believe a creed, or to give a vote contrary to +their conscience. He even threatened to buy up the incumbrances on some +of these gentlemen's estates, to foreclose their mortgages, and to sell +them out. His threat, added to his well-known determination, was not +without its effect. + +The whole subject of Irish emigration may be safely predicted to be the +key which will unlock the future fate of Great Britain. It is true that, +at this moment, every effort is being made by the English nation to +conciliate America; it remains to be seen how Americans will be disposed +to accept present flattery as a compensation for past injustice, and +scarcely past contempt. A better knowledge of Irish history might +prevent some fatal mistakes on both sides of the Atlantic. I have, +therefore, felt it a duty to devote the concluding pages of this +_History_ to this important subject. + +The great tide of western emigration was undoubtedly caused, in part, by +the sufferings of the famine year; but these sufferings were in +themselves an effect, rather than a cause; and we must look to more +remote history for the origin of the momentous exodus. It has, indeed, +been well observed, that "when a man leaves his country for one subject +to foreign rule, it must, in general, be that he does not care for it, +or that it does not care for him; it must either be that he is so little +attached to the institutions of his own country, that he is willing to +submit to those of another; or that he despises the latter sufficiently +to look forward to replacing them by those of his own."[585] No +unprejudiced person can for a moment doubt which of these causes has +been most active in producing Irish emigration. The Irishman's love of +home and of his native land, is a fact beyond all dispute: his +emigration, then, can have no other cause than this, that his country, +or the country which governs his native land, does not care for him; and +when we find noble lords and honorable members suggesting "the more +emigration the better," we cannot doubt that he is the victim to +indifference, if not to absolute dislike. Undoubtedly, if the Irishman +did not care for his country, and if the Englishman, when planted in +Ireland, did not become equally discontented and rather more indignant +than his predecessors under English rule in Ireland, the arrangement +might be a very admirable one; but Irishmen, to the third and fourth +generation, do not forget their country, neither do they forget why they +have been compelled to leave it. A work has been published lately on the +subject of the Irish in America. It is much to be regretted, that the +very able writer did not give statistics and facts, as well as +inferences and anecdotes. A history of the Irish in America, should +include statistics which could not be disputed, and facts which could +not be denied. The facts in the work alluded to are abundant, and most +important; but they should have been prefaced by an account of the +causes which have led to emigration, and as accurate statistics as +possible of its results. + +Some few English writers have had the honesty to admit that their +colonial policy has not been the most admirable; "nor should we forget," +says the author of the _History of the United States_, "that the spirit +in which these colonies were ruled from England was one, in the main, of +intense selfishness. The answer of Seymour, an English Attorney-General +under William and Mary, or towards the close of the seventeenth century, +to the request of Virginia, for a college, when her delegate begged him +to consider that the people of Virginia had souls to be saved as well as +the people of England: Souls! damn your souls! plant tobacco!" is +scarcely an unfair exponent of that spirit.[586] Another writer says: +"Historians, in treating of the American rebellion, have confined their +arguments too exclusively to the question of internal taxation, and the +right or policy of exercising this prerogative. The true source of the +rebellion lay deeper--in our traditional colonial policy."[587] One more +quotation must suffice: "The legal rights of those colonies have been +perpetually violated. Those which were strong enough were driven to +separation; those which adhered to us in that great contest, or which we +have subsequently acquired or founded, are either denied constitutions, +or, if the local authorities oppose the will of the Imperial Parliament, +find their constitutions changed, suspended, or annulled."[588] It will +be remembered that the original colonists of America were principally +Englishmen, who were driven from their own country by religious +intolerance; yet no sooner had they established themselves in their new +home, than they commenced to practise even more fearful persecutions on +others than those from which they had fled. There was one honorable +exception; the Roman Catholics who fled from persecution in England, +never, even in the plenitude of their power, attempted the slightest +persecution, religious, social, or legal. + +It will be seen, then, that the first emigrants to America from the +British dominions, could not have had any special attachment to the +country they had left; that, on the contrary, their feelings were +embittered against the mother country before their departure from her +shores; and after that departure she did nothing to allay the +irritation, but much to increase it. For several centuries after the +arrival of the "May Flower," the number of emigrants from England and +Ireland were, probably, tolerably equal, and by no means numerous. It +was not an age of statistics, and no accurate statistics can be given. + +The disruption between the States and England, or rather the causes +which led to it, re-opened whatever feelings there may have been against +the mother country, and at the same time increased its bitterness a +hundredfold. The tide of Irish emigration had set in even then--slowly, +indeed, but surely; and it will be remembered that the Irish in America, +few though they were, became the foremost to fan the flame of rebellion, +and were amongst the first to raise the standard of revolt. The States +obtained a glorious freedom--a freedom which, on the whole, they have +used wisely and well; and even their bitterest enemies cannot deny that +they have formed a powerful nation--a nation which may yet rule the +destinies of the world. Let us endeavour now to estimate in some degree +the influence of Irish emigration on American society. If the history of +Ireland were written in detail up to the present day, fully one-fourth +the detail should comprise a history of the Irish in America. Never in +the world's history has an emigration been so continuous or so +excessive; never in the world's history have emigrants continued so +inseparably united, politically and socially, to the country which they +have left. The cry of "Ireland for the Irish," is uttered as loudly on +the shores of the Mississippi as on the shores of the Shannon. It is +almost impossible to arrive at accurate statistics of the number of +Irish in America, but a fair approximation may be obtained. The +population of America, according to a recent writer, was, in 1840, +17,063,353; in 1850, it had risen to 23,191,876; it is now [1868], +35,000,000. In 1842, the imports were in value, $100,162,087; the +exports, $104,691,534; and the tonnage was 2,092,391. In 1859, the +imports were $383,768,130; the exports were $356,789,462; and the +tonnage was 5,146,037. This increase is beyond all historical +precedence, and a future historian, who found such amazing statistics of +increase, and knew nothing of emigration, would be strangely puzzled to +account for it. But if he searched the files of an old English or Irish +newspaper office, whatever might have been the creed or politics of its +proprietors, he would soon arrive at a satisfactory solution. In the +_Irish Times_, the leading Irish paper of the day, he would find the +following reference to the present history of Ireland: "The Emigration +Commissioners notice with some surprise the fact, that, during the past +year [1867], the emigrants from Ireland were better clothed, and carried +with them better furnished kits, than either the English or foreign +emigrants. During the past year, 51,000 Irish emigrants left Liverpool +alone--a regiment nearly one thousand strong every week. The loss of +100,000 persons annually, chiefly of the labouring classes, and +generally strong, active, well-built men, affords matter for serious +consideration. If the Government be contented that 100,000 yearly of the +Irish population _should, increase the power of America_ [the italics +are our own], they have but to refuse those generous and considerate +measures which alone can keep our people at home, by giving them a +chance of progressing as they do in America." + +This is the honestly avowed opinion of a Protestant paper, whose editors +are beyond all suspicion of writing to encourage "Popery," or preach +Fenianism. An admirable parliamentary comment has just occurred in the +rejection of the Protestant Church Suspension Bill by the House of +Lords, though there is no doubt that the good sense and the native +justice of the English nation will at length compel its acceptance. + +The fact is, that at this moment nearly one-half the population of +America are Irish and Catholics. The writer lately quoted, cannot +refrain from a sneer at the "low Irish" in America, to whom he +attributes the "insult and injury" which he is pleased to consider that +Americans manifest to foreign nations, and especially to England; he +forgets the old sources of injury, which no American can forget; and he +forgets, also, how easily the same "low Irish" might have been prevented +from exhibiting the feeling which he attributes to them. + +Let those who wish to understand the present history of Ireland, read +Mr. Maguire's _Irish in America_, carefully and thoughtfully. If they do +so, and if they are not blinded by wilful prejudices, they must admit +that the oft-repeated charges against Irishmen of being improvident and +idle are utterly groundless, unless, indeed, they can imagine that the +magic influence of a voyage across the Atlantic can change a man's +nature completely. Let them learn what the Irishman can do, and does do, +when freed from the chains of slavery, and when he is permitted to reap +some reward for his labour. Let him learn that Irishmen do not forget +wrongs; and if they do not always avenge them, that is rather from +motives of prudence, than from lack of will. Let him learn that the +Catholic priesthood are the true fathers of their people, and the true +protectors of their best interests, social and spiritual. Let him read +how the good pastor gives his life for his sheep, and counts no journey +too long or too dangerous, when even a single soul may be concerned. Let +him judge for himself of the prudence of the same priests, even as +regards the temporal affairs of their flocks, and see how, where they +are free to do so, they are the foremost to help them, even in the +attainment of worldly prosperity. Let him send for Sadlier's _Catholic +Directory for the United States and Canada_, and count over the Catholic +population of each diocese; read the names of priests and nuns, and see +how strong the Irish element is there. Nay, let him send for one of the +most popular and best written of the Protestant American serials, and he +will find an account of Catholics and the Catholic religion, which is to +be feared few English Protestants would have the honesty to write, and +few English Protestant serials the courage to publish, however strong +their convictions. The magazine to which I refer, is the _Atlantic +Monthly;_ the articles were published in the numbers for April and May, +1868, and are entitled "Our Roman Catholic Brethren." Perhaps a careful +perusal of them would, to a thoughtful mind, be the best solution of the +Irish question. The writer, though avowing himself a Protestant, and +declaring that under no circumstances whatever would he be induced to +believe in miracles, has shown, with equal candour and attractiveness, +what the Catholic Church is, and what it can do, when free and +unfettered. He shows it to be the truest and best friend of humanity; he +shows it to care most tenderly for the poor and the afflicted; and he +shows, above all, how the despised, exiled Irish are its best and truest +supports; how the "kitchen often puts the parlour to the blush;" and the +self-denial of the poor Irish girl assists not a little in erecting the +stately temples to the Almighty, which are springing up in that vast +continent from shore to shore, and are only lessened by the demands made +on the same willing workers for the poor father and mother, the young +brother or sister, who are supported in their poverty by the alms sent +them freely, generously, and constantly by the Irish servant-girl. + +[Illustration: Ireland and America] + +Nor have the Catholics of America overlooked the importance of literary +culture. A host of cheap books and serials are in circulation, and are +distributed largely and freely in convent schools, collegiate +establishments, and country parishes; and with a keen appreciation of +the religious necessities of the great mass of non-Catholics, of which, +unfortunately, English Catholics are oblivious, tracts are published in +thousands for general reading, and given to travellers in the railcars, +and steamboats. Nor has a higher class of literature been overlooked. +The gifted superior of the Congregation of St. Paul has been mainly +instrumental in getting up and superintending the labours of the +_Catholic Publication Society_, which, in addition to the multitude of +valuable works it has published, sends forth its monthly magazine, well +entitled _The Catholic World_, which is unquestionably the best serial +of its kind, and may vie with those conducted by the most gifted +Protestant writers of the day, while it is far superior to anything +which has as yet been published by the Catholics of this country. + +Such is a brief outline, and scarcely even an outline, of the _present_ +history of Ireland, in which the hearts of so many of our people are in +one country, while their bodies are in another. There is another phase +of this present history on which I could have wished to have dwelt much +longer; I mean the political union between America and Ireland. So long +as Irish emigration continues--I should rather say, so long as real +Irish grievances are permitted to continue--so long will this state of +things be dangerous to England. Justice to Ireland may be refused with +impunity just so long as there is peace between England and America; but +who shall dare predict how long that peace will continue, when, as must +assuredly happen in a few short years, the Irish in America, or their +direct descendants, shall form the preponderating class, and therefore +guide the political affairs of that mighty people? + +The maps which are appended to this edition of the _Illustrated History +of Ireland_, will, it is hoped, be found not only interesting, but +important. Irishmen in America will see, by a glance at the map of +family names, the territories in Ireland formerly held by their +ancestors. Statistics showing the fearful depopulation of the country, +which, notwithstanding all the boasts of those who advocated it, has not +benefited those who remain, will be found in another map. The third map +is not less important; by that will be seen the immense preponderance of +Catholics to Protestants; and it will suggest, no doubt, to thoughtful +minds, the injustice of sacrificing the multitude to the individual few. + +A few words must also be said about the two full-page illustrations +which have been added to this Edition. One of the most important events +in the life of O'Connell has been chosen for the one; and, alas! one of +the most frequent occurrences in Irish history, from the first English +invasion to the present day, has been chosen for the other. In the +engraving of O'Connell, it was impossible to preserve the likeness, as +the expression demanded by the incident could not be produced from any +of the portraits extant; with regard to the eviction scene, it is +unfortunately true to the life. Those who have read Mr. Maguire's _Irish +in America_, will recognize the special subject represented. Those who +read the Irish local papers of the day, may continually peruse accounts +of evictions; but only an eyewitness can describe the misery, and +despair of the unfortunate victims. When shall the picture be reversed? +When will Irishmen return from America, finding it possible to be as +free and as prosperous here? Finding that a man who is willing to toil +may obtain a fair remuneration for his labour, and that a man may have +the rights of men;--then, and not till then, may we hope that Irish +history will, for the future, be a record of past injustice, amply +compensated for by present equity. + +[Illustration] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[584] _Prospered_.--This gives an average of about eight persons to each +house. There were 22,276 inhabited houses in Dublin in 1861, and the +population was 254,480. This would leave an average of eleven persons to +each house. There are only seventy-five carpenters in _Thom's +Directory_, and sixty-four cabinet makers: if we give them an average of +ten men each in their employment, it would not give more than 680 at the +trade in all. + +[585] _Own_.--_History of the United States_, p. 3. Ludlow and Hughes; +Macmillan, London, 1862. The title of this work is singularly +infelicitous, for it is merely a sketchy and not very clear account of +the late war in America. + +[586] _Spirit_.--_History of the United States_, p. 7. + +[587] _Policy_.--Morley's _Burke_, p. 153. + +[588] _Annulled_.--_Historical and Philosophical Essays_, Senior, vol. +i. p. 197. + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The letter given below, which is from the pen of a distinguished +Protestant clergyman, appears to me of such importance, that I place it +here to be a permanent record for the future historian of Ireland, as an +important opinion on the present history of this country, but too well +supported by facts. + + TO ISAAC BUTT, ESQ., LL.D. + + My DEAR BUTT,--If every other man in the world entertained doubts + of my sincerity, you, at least, would give me credit for honesty + and just intentions. I write to you accordingly, because my mind + has been stirred to its inmost depths by the perusal of your + address in my native city of Limerick. I do not regard the subject + of your address as a political one. It ought to be regarded solely + as a question of humanity, justice, common sense, and common + honesty. I wish my lot had never been cast in rural places. As a + clergyman, I hear what neither landlords nor agents ever heard. I + see the depression of the people; their sighs and groans are before + me. They are brought so low as often to praise and glorify those + whom, in their secret hearts, are the objects of abhorrence. All + this came out gradually before me. Nor did I feel as I ought to + have felt in their behalf, until, in my own person and purse, I + became the victim of a system of tyranny which cries from earth to + heaven for relief. Were I to narrate my own story, it would startle + many of the Protestants of Ireland. There are good landlords--never + a better than the late Lord Downshire, or the living and beloved + Lord Roden. But there are too many of another state of feeling and + action. There are estates in the north where the screw is never + withdrawn from its circuitous and oppressive work. Tenant-right is + an unfortunate and delusive affair, simply because it is invariably + used to the landlord's advantage. Here we have an election in + prospect, and in many counties no farmer will be permitted to think + or act for himself. What right any one man has to demand the + surrender of another's vote I never could see. It is an act of + sheer felony--a perfect "stand-and-deliver" affair. To hear a man + slavishly and timorously, say, "I must give my vote as the landlord + wishes," is an admission that the Legislature, which bestowed the + right of voting on the tenant, should not see him robbed of his + right, or subsequently scourged or banished from house and land, + because he disregarded a landlord's nod, or the menace of a + land-agent. At no little hazard of losing the friendship of some + who are high, and good, and kind, I write as I now do. + + Yours, my dear Butt, very sincerely, + + THOMAS DREW. + + Dundrum, Cough, co. Down, Sept. 7, 1868. + + + +INDEX. + + +A. + +Abbey, the Black, Kilkenny, 318. + of Mellifont, 231. + of St. Mary, 317. + of Holy Cross, 317. + of Dunbrody, 289. + of Tintern, 317. + of St. Saviour's, Dublin, 318. + of St. Thomas the Martyr, 287. + of Boyle, 316. +Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, 623. +Act of Emancipation passed, 647. +Adamnan, St., 172. +Adrian's Bull, 274. +Aedh, St., 221. +Aengus, St., 179 + his Festology, 180 + his Chronicle, 41. +Aengus Grove, Synod at, 227. +Aengus, King, baptism of, 123 + his death, 130 + ancestor of the O'Keeffes, O'Sullivans, O'Callahans, and MacCarthys, 130. +Africa, Phoenician circumnavigation of, 69. +Agrarian outrages and their causes, 613. +Agricola, 95. +Aideadh Chonchobair, legend of, 127. +Ailbhe, Princess, 105. +Ainmire, Hugh, 167. +All Hallows Eve, 88n. +Altan, St., 177. +Amalgaidh, King, and his seven sons, 123. +Amato, prelate who consecrated St. Patrick, 115. +Amlaff the Dane, 195 + in Dublin, 191. +Ancient pitcher, 240. + fireplaces, 240. + shoes, 252. + brooch, 270. + boot, 251. +Andrew, St., Church of, in Henry II.'s time, 272. +Anglo-Irish and old Irish, their differences at Kilkenny, 487. +Annals of Ulster, 39 + compiled by Four Masters, 51 + accounts in, confirmed _ab extra_, 68 + poetry from, 198 + kept with great care, 233 + dedication of, 53 + quotations from, 58, 59, 75, 88, 90, 94, 132, 144, 198, 199, 218, + 232n, 265, 283, 388, 307, 312n. 313. + of Tighernach, 48. + of Innis MacNerinn, 39. + of Innisfallen, 39. + of Boyle, 39. + of Clonmacnois, 60n. + of Loch Ce, 115. + of Ballitore, 630. + preserved by Celtic Race, 67. +Anselm, St., commends the Irish prelates, 229. +Antiquities of pre-Christian Erinn, 148. +Antwerp, Irish soldiers in, 478. +Aqua vini and aqua vitae, 245. +Architecture of Tara, 167. +Ardmore round tower, 237. +Armagh, See of, 114 + founded, 120 + streets of, 187n. +Arnold on pedigree, 85n. + on history taught by verse, 86n. +Athlone, siege of, 568 + castle of, 314 + bridge built, 308n. +Attacotti, revolt of the, 96. +Augustinians, Order of, 316. + + +B. + +Bachall Isu, St. Patrick's, 114 + its wanton destruction, 115. +Ballitore, sufferings in, 630. +Balor of the Evil Eye, 64. +Banbha, the Lady, 43. +Banqueting hall at Tara, 160. +Baptism, ceremonies at, 229. +Baraid, a Scandinavian chief, 195. +Barbadoes, the Irish seat as slaves to, 515. +Bards of Erinn, or files, 40. +Barretts, feud between Cusacks and, 332. +Barrington, Sir Jonah, on the last night of Irish Parliament, 639. +Barry, an Irishman, 601. +Barrys and Roches, 445. +Battle of Magh Tuireadh, 61. + of Sliabh Mis, 75. + at Taillten, 75. + between the Firbolgs and Tuatha De Dananns, 62. + Connor, 343. + of Geisill, 78n. + of Bealagh Mughna (Ballaghmoon), Kildare, 193. + of Dundalk, 201. + of Sulcoit, near Tipperary, 205. + of Belach-Lechta, near Macroom, co. Cork, 207. + of Glen-Mama (Glen of the Gap), near Dunlavin, 208. + of Clontarf, 214. + of Downpatrick, 325. + of Benburb, 493. + of the Boyne, 563. + of Aughrim, 570. + of the Ford of Comar, Westmeath, 160. + of Magh-Rath, 171. + of Almhain (near Kildare), 186. + of Desertcreaght, 332. + of St. Callixtus' day, 352. + of Ford of the Biscuits, 451. +Beare, O'Sullivan, his History, 534. +Beasts, the three, to be hunted, 517. +Bede's account of Ireland, 79 + on Irish saints, 173. +Belgium, MSS. preserved in, 46. +Beltinne, or fire of Baal, 119 + origin of, 164. +Benignus, St., St. Patrick's successor in the See of Armagh. 116. +Berchau, St., 162. +Beresford faction, 616. +Bill, curious, of a play, 547n. +Bishops, Protestant, indifferent about regular ordination, 536. +Black Death. 86. +Blefed or pestilence, 162. +Bog butter and cheese, 246. +Bohun, Humphrey de, 270. +Bonnell, his statistics, 540. +Book, a, given for a ransom, 377. +Books preserved, list of, 39, 44 + list of lost, 39, 40. +Book of Chronicum Scotorum, 39. + of Laws, 40. + of Ballymote, 37. + of Leinster, 40. + of Lecain, 37 + when written, 50n. + Annals of Ulster, 39. + of Innisfallen, 39. + of Boyle, 39. + of Four Masters, 51. + of Tighernach, 39. + of Inis MacNerinn, 39. + of Clonmacnois, 60n. + Speckled, 37. + Cuilmenn, 40. + Saltair of Tara, 39 + when written 40. + of Uachongbhail, 39. + Cin Droma Snechta, 39 + when compiled, 43. + Saltair of Cashel, 39 + when compiled, 44. + Saltair of Cormac, 41. + of St. Mochta, 44. + of Cuana, 44. + of Dubhdaleithe, 44. + Saltair of Temair, 43. + Saltair-na-Rann, 41. + of Leabhar buidhe Slaine, 44. + of Leabhar na h-Uidhre, 44. + of Eochaidh O'Flannagain, 44. + of Inis an Duin, 44. + Short, of St. Buithe's Monastery, 44. + of Flann of St. Buithe's Monastery, 44. + of Flann of Dungeimhin (Dungiven, co. Derry), 44. + of Dun da Leth Ghlas (Downpatrick), 44. + of Doire (Derry), 44. + of Sabhall Phatraic (co. Down), 44. + of Uachongbhail (Navan), 44. + Leabhar dubh Molaga, 44. + Leabhar buidhe Moling, 44. + Leabhar buidhe Mhic Murchadha, 44. + Leabhar Arda Macha. 44. + Leabhar ruadh Mhic Aedhagain, 44. + Leabhar breac Mhic Aedhagain, 44. + of O'Scoba of Cluain Mhic Nois (or Clonmacnois), 44. + of Leabhar fada Leithghlinne, 44. +Book of Invasions, 54. + of Duil Droma Ceata, 44 + of Clonsost, (Queen's county), 44. + of Trias Thaumaturgas, 52. + of Hispania Illustrata, 70, + of Acaill, 104. + of Armagh, 109. + of Rights, 253n. +Boromean Tribute, the origin of, 98 + remitted, 185. +Boulter, Dr., 581. +Bran Dubh, bravery and stratagem of, 168. +Bravery of the Dalcassians, 218. +Breas, the warrior, 62. +Brehon laws, 147 + by whom compiled, 144. +Brendan, St. and his voyages, 169. +Brian Boroimhe, 205 + avenges the death of Mahoun, 207 + deposes Malachy, 209 + his wife, 211 + his death, 217 + romantic ballad of the lady, 209 + originator of surnames, 210n. +Brigid, St., her birthplace, 131. +Briton, origin of name, 60. +Brodir, the apostate Dane, 212 + kills Brian Boroimhe, 217. +Browne, Dr., 395. +Bruce, invasion of, 350. +Bruce's, Edward, campaign, 342 + his death, 345. +Brunehalt, Queen, 173. +Burke, MacWilliam, 299 + head of the Burke family in Ireland, 299. +Burke, MacWilliam, 326 + wars of, with the FitzGeralds, 326 + defeat of, by O'Connor, 328. +Burke, celebrated statesman of 18th century, 593 + his school days, 594 + his hatred of oppression, 595 + his marriage, 596 + becomes secretary, 597 + his maiden speech, 598 + on Indian policy, 604. +Burkes and Geraldines, 333. +Burgat, Dr., his Brevis Relatio, 518n. +Burgo, Richard de, 309. +Burnt Njal, quotations from, 217. +Butlers, the, their history, 354. + + +C. + +Caesar, his accounts of the Druids, 138. +Cairbre, Satire of, 63. +Cairbre, Cinn-Cait, 97. +Cairbres, the three, 102. +Caligraphy, Irish skilled in, 185. +Callaghan of Cashel, 196. +Cambridge, treatise on origin of, 71. +Camden on Ogygia, 72. +Cannibalism, charge of, refuted, 74. +Cannon-balls first used, 381n. +Canons, St. Patrick's, 117. +Carew's, Sir P., claim, 428. +Carhampton, Lord, cruelties of, 617n. +Carmelite monasteries, 323. +Cashel, the Saltair of, 44. + the Synod of, 275. + massacre at, 496. +Castlehaven Memoirs, 482n. +Casts for celts, 246. +Cataldus, St., 178. +Catalogue of lost books, 44. +Cathair Crofinn, a circular fort, 165. +Cathal Carragh, 296. +Cathal Crovderg, 296. +Catholic Emancipation, 647. + worship publicly restored, 411, + Association, 583. + priests, their peculiar position and difficulties, 586. + question, a ministerial difficulty, 639. + delegates met in Dublin, 615. +Catholics, Orangemen bribed to persecute, 616n + penal laws against, 576. +Cauldrons as tribute, 241. +Cavalry, 309n. +Ceann Cruach, great ancient idol of the Irish, 121. +Ceasair, taking of Erinn by, 54 + landing in Ireland of, 57. +Celedabhaill, his quatrains, 198. +Celestine, Pope, sends St. Patrick to Ireland, 115. +Celsus, St., 227 + when buried, 227. +Celtic language, antiquity of, 147 + remains of, 46. +Celtic literature, 37. +Celtic and Roman history, 81. +Celts, description of, 160. +Chariots used in Ireland, 167. +Charlemont, Earl of, his life, 607. +Charles I., reign of, 473 + his "faith," 475. +Charles II., reign of, 520 + his treatment of the loyalists, 521. +Chesterfield and Adam Smith on Ireland, 603. +Chichester, Sir John, 580. +Chichester's Parliament, 471. +Chieftains, Irish, 303. +Child, interment of a, 157n. +Christ, the age of, 94. +Christian missions, 108. +Christianity, introduction of, 112. +Chronicle of Cormac MacCullinan, 41. + of Aengus Ceile De, 41. + of Richard of Cirencester, 139. +Chronicum Scotorum, 58 + compiled by, 50 + account in, 57 + on Partholan's landing in Ireland, 58. +Chronology, difficulties of, 44 + Irish, 80. +Cin Droma Snechta, 39 + quotations from, 43 + on Irish immigration, 58. +Circular forts, 165. +Cistercians, Order of, 316. +Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, 155. +Clanrickarde, Earl of, 356. +Clare, Lord, on Irish cultivation, 638. +Clare election, the, 649. +Clarence, Duke of, 371. +Clergy, state of the Catholic, in the reign of Elizabeth, 426. +Clonmacnois, the Annals of, 60n. +Clubs in the seventeenth century, 545 +Clynn, the annalist, 319. +Cobhthach Cael, 90. +Codex, containing Venerable Bede's works, 47. +Coigley, Father, arrested and hanged, 624. +Colgan, his labours, 52 + mention of, 534. +College of Physicians, establishment of, in Dublin, 543. +Colleges, continental, established for Irish students, 535. +Colonists--Scythians, Greeks, 68. +Colonization, proofs of our early, 55 + the last, 75. +Columba, St., and the Bards, 168. +Columbanus, St., his rule, 173 + on papal supremacy, 176. +Commercial status of Irish towns, 540. +Comyn, John, Archbishop of Dublin, 291 + his imprisonment, 295. +Conchessa, 112. +Confessions, St. Patrick's, 113. +Conaire II., 103 + collects laws, 104. +Conn of the Hundred Battles, 101. +Conn's half of Ireland, 102. +Connaught, ancient, 64 + massacre in, 297 + three claimants for, 307 + rising of the men, 323 + plantation of, 475. +Conor Mac Nessa, legend of, 127 + death of, 128. +Controversy, theological, of the "Three Chapters," 175. +Cooke, Mr., publishes a pamphlet, 631. +Coote's cruelties, 482. +Cork Militia, cruelties of the, 626. +Cormac, author of Saltair of Tara, 104. +Council at Tara, 172. +Courcy, John de, in Ulster, 286 + his valour, 286 + his defeat in Antrim, 288 + his death. 298. +Craftine, the poet, 91. +Crannoges, 159. +Cranmer, Archbishop, 410. +Cremation not usual in Erinn, 155. +Crom Chonaill, the, 162. +Cromlechs, 155 + in the Phoenix Park, 161. +Cromwell arrives in Ireland, 500 + marches to Drogheda, 500 + massacre at Drogheda. 501 + letters, 502 + his cruelties, 503 + brutality of his soldiers, 503 + his massacre at Wexford, 503. +Cromwellian settlement in Ireland, 512n. +Crovderg, Hugh, 307 + his death, 308. +Cruelties of English officers, 417. +Crystede, his account of Ireland, 363. +Cuilmenn, the, 40. +Culdees, the, 182 + question on the 179n. +Curia Regis, held at Lismore, 273. +Curragh of Kildare, 255. +Curran, his life, 606. +Cusack, Sir Thomas. 409 + favours O'Neill, 421. +Custom-house built, 638. + + +D. + +Da Derga, destruction of the court of, 91. +Dagges, 413n. +Dalriada, the Irish, 131. +Danes, Malachy's exploits against the, 207 + in Ireland, 204 + cruelties of the, 190 + divided into Black and White Gentiles, 191 + found sea-port towns, 200 + supposed conversion of, 204 + pipes, 241 + the Dalcassians fight the, 205. +Danish fortress in Dublin, 278n + the first invasion, 188 + attempted second invasion, 224 + pirates, first raid of the, 188 + valour, battle of Clontarf, 215. +Dante, 385. +D'Alton on the Round Towers, 163 + on History, Religion, &c., of Ancient Ireland, 68n. +Dathi, 107. +Defective Titles, Commission of, 475. +Derry, siege of, 558. +Dervorgil, the Lady, 234. +Desmond, Earls of, their ancestors and descendants, 282n. + Castle, 221. + Earl of, his witty reply, 384. +Destruction of the idols, 121. +Details of the atrocities of the military, 621. +Diarmaid, Princess, pursuit of, 106. +Diarmaid's reign, misfortunes of, 167. +Dicho, St. Patrick's first convert, 116. +Dinnseanchus, a topographical work, 164. +Dog, story of a faithful, 571. +Domhnach, Gaedhilic term for Sunday, 121. +Domhnach Airgid, 134n. +Dominican Order in Ireland, 318. +Donatus, St., 178. +Doneraile Conspiracy, 643. +Dowdall, Dr., opposition of, 410. +Downpatrick, battle of, 325. +Drapier's Letters, the, 581. +Dress of the poorer classes in Ireland in seventeenth century, 552. +Drink of the ancient Irish, 243. +Drinking vessels of different kinds, 243. +Druids and their teaching, 137. +Drumceat, first convention held at, 167. +Drury, his cruelties, 443 + his death, 443 +Dubhdaleithe, Book of, 44. +Dublin in the seventeenth century, 544. +Dublin, fashionable and prosperous, 638. +Dubtach salutes St. Patrick at Tara, 121. +Duke of Clarence, Viceroy, 371. +Duke of York, viceroyalty of, 375. +Dunboy, siege of, 460. +Duncheadh, St., 221. +Dundalk, battle of, 201. + + +E. + +Early missionaries. 108. +Eber, 84. +Ecclesiastics, cruelties practised on, 452. +Ecclesiastical property, confiscation of, 403. +Edward I., reign of, 329. +Elizabeth, Queen, accession of, 412 + martyrs in the reign of, 416. +Emania, Palace of, 89. +Embargo laws, 578. +Emmet's career, 640. +Enda, St., 169. +English, invasion of the, 257. + come to Ireland for instruction, 178. + quarrels of, barons, 300. + law refused to Ireland, 362. + writers, mistakes of, 361. + schism, real cause of, 394. + Irish emigrants defeat the, 584. +Enniskilleners, cruelties of the, 559. +Eras, three, in Irish history, 387. +Eremon, reign of, 77 + his death, 78 + families descended from, 84. +Eric, or compensation for murder, 146. +Erinn, St. Patrick's mission to, 112. + ancient chronicles of, 48n. + pre-Noahacian colonization of, 55. + takings of, 57. + early geographical accounts of, 72. + social accounts of, 73. + ancient laws of, 144. + religion of, 137. + customs of, 139. + language of, 147. + antiquities of, 153. + five great roads of ancient, 101. +Essex, Earl of, tries to colonize Ulster, 432 + his interview with O'Neill, 456 + his death, 433. +Ethnea, Princess, 123. +Eva, her marriage with Strongbow, 264. +Exchequer of the King of England in Dublin, fourteenth century, 339. +Exiled Irishmen, 478. + + +F. + +Fairs, Irish, seventeenth century, 538. +Falkland, Lord, suspected of favouring the Catholics, 473. +Fauna, description of, 253. +Fene-men, the, 42n. +Fenian poems and tales, 87 + ascribed to, 105. +Fes, or triennial assembly, 163. +Fethlimia, Princess, 122. +Fiacc's Hymn, Scholiast on, 111. +Fidh Aengussa, the Synod of, 227. +Fifth taking of Ireland, 62, +Fiacre, St., 177. +Finnachta Fleadhach, the Hospitable, 171. +Finnen, St., 162, +Fintan, son of Bochra, the Irish historian, 40. +Firbolg chiefs, division of Ireland by, 60 + battles of, 62. +Fish in Ireland, 80n + anecdote on, 72n. +FitzAldelm, his viceroyalty, 285 + his death, 299. +FitzGerald, war between De Burgo and, 326. +FitzGerald, war between De Vesci and, 333. +FitzGerald, Lord Edward, joins the United Irishmen, 618 + arrest of, 624 + his death, 624. +Fithil, the poet, 40. +FitzMaurice obtains foreign aid, 441 + his death, 443. +FitzStephen, 260. +FitzWilliam, Earl, viceroyalty, of 616. +Flahertach, Abbot, and King of Munster, 194 +Flann, his Synchronisms, 49 + synchronizes the chiefs and monarchs with the kings of Erinn, 50. +Flann, King, his reign, 192. +Flint used to make weapons of defence, 160. +Flood, his life, 607. +Flora, description of, 253. +Foillan, St., 177. +Fomorians, the, 60-64. +Food of the ancient Irish, 241 + of poorer classes in seventeenth century, 553. +Ford of the Biscuits, battle of, 451. +Fothadh of the Canons, 180. +Franciscan Order in Ireland, 319 + their patriotism, 344 + their convents, 312 + remarkable spring, 319 + persecution of, 474. +Friars Preachers, Order of, 318. +Fridolin, St., 178. +Froude's History of England, + quotations from his account of the English clergy, 440. +Fursey, St., 177. + + +G. + +Gall, St., 177. +Galls, description of, 187n. + +Gallic Church, labours of the Irish in 177. +Gaul, the Celts of, 73. + Irish saints venerated in, 183. +Geisill, battle of, 78n. +Genealogies, differences between, and pedigrees, 80-82. + Milesian, 79. + peculiar historical value of, 80. + and pedigrees, 51. +General Assembly at Kilkenny, 485. +Geographical accounts of Ireland, 72 +George I., 582. +Geraldines, rising of, 1534, 390 + ancestor of the, 333 + their wars, 334 + defeated at Kenmare, 325. +Germanus, St., his Canons, 117. +Gertrude, St., daughter of King Pepin, 177. +Gherardini, letter from the, 384. +Gilla Caemhain, an Irish writer, 49 + gives annals of all times, 49. +Ginkell, General, 568. +Glundubh, Nial, lamentation for, 196. +Gold ornaments, 157. +Goldsmith, his life, 609. +Gordon's, Mr., account of the atrocities of the military, 628, 629. +Gormgal, St., 221. +Gormflaith, Brian Boroimhe's wife, 210. +Gospels, the, used by St. Patrick, 134. +Graces, the, 474. +Grammatica Celtica, 46. +Granard and Staigue, 237. +Grattan's demand for Irish independence, 590 + his life, 607 + entrance into the Imperial Parliament, 640. +Grainne, pursuit of, and Diarmaid, 106. +Greeks said to have visited Ireland, 139. +Grey, Lord, desecrates churches, 133. +Grey, John de, 301. +Guaire, his hostility to St. Columba, 167. + + +H. + +Harp, when first used as an emblem, 249. +Haverty's History of Ireland, 221n. +Henry II. lands in Ireland, 270 + produces the Bull, 274 + makes his son Lord of Ireland, 287 + holds a synod at Cashel, 273 + his palace, 272 +Henry IV., his reign, 368 + his death, 294. +Henry V., 369. +Henry VI., Wars of the Roses, 371. +Henry VII., 379. +Henry VIII., 387 + persecutions during the reign of, 401 + Dr. Browne's letter to, 399. +Herodotus, quotations from, 69. +Hibernia, the first buried in, 57. +Himantiliginos, game of, 141. +Himerus and Iberus, 70. +Hispania Illustrata, 70. +Historians of Erinn, 40. +Historians of the seventeenth century, 531. +Historic Tales, 86. +Historical value of genealogies, 80, 87. +History, Ecclesiastical, 227. +History of the Exile, 91. +Hoggen's Butt, and Le Hogges, 272. +Holy wells not superstitious, 143. +Honorius III., 305. +Howth family founded, 298n. +Hua Alta, race of, 125. +Hy-Figeinte (Munster), 125. +Hy-Kinsallagh (co. Carlow), 125. +Hymn of St. Fiacc, 117. + of St. Patrick, 120. +Hy-Nials, contention between the, 223 + palace of, 224 + the northern, 192 + divided into two clans, 204. + + +I + +Idols, worship of, 88. +Immoralities of the reformed clergy, 404. +Imperial standard, 639. +Inchiquin, 488 + massacre at Cashel by, 496. +Innocent I., 100. +Innocent X., 490. +Insult to the Irish peeresses, 608. +Insurrection in Wexford, 626. + in Ulster, 629. +Ireland, climate of, 80, + colonization of, 57. + article on, in Rees' Cyclopaedia, 67. + last colonization of, 75. + ancient laws of, 144. + antiquarian remains in, 153. + first mill in, 165. + fauna and flora of, 253. + literary ladies in, 374. + persecutions in, 388. +Ireland, ecclesiastical property forfeited in, 403. + plantations attempted in, 429, 432. + social life in, seventeenth century, 529. + before the Union, and after, 637. + early geographical account of, 72. + early social account of, 73. + Bede's account of, 79. + the Romans feared to invade, 95. + Saxon invasion of, 185. + first Danish invasion of, 188 + second invasion, 224. + the circuit of, 197. + Murtough's circuit of, 224. + Spenser's account of, 439. + division of, by the Firbolg chiefs, 60. + receives the faith generously, 111. + given the name of Hibernia, 70. + the first writer who names, 71. + called Iernis, 71. +Ireton's cruelties and miserable death, 507. +Irish genealogies, their rise, 85. + keen, 141. + painters, 608. + musicians, 608. + MSS., 45. + authors, 608. + actors, 608. + missionaries, 173. + missionary saints, 178. + poetry, 180. + poets, 605. + bishops at the Council of Lateran, 289. + war-cries forbidden, 383. + pedigrees, their importance, 81. + people transplanted as slaves to Barbadoes, 514. + chronology compared with Roman, 81. + schools and scholars, 183. + alphabet, 152. + butter and cheese, 246. + fireplace, 247. + clothing, 250. + priests, their devotion to the people, 587. + communications with Rome, 490. + old, the, and the new English, 491. + priests, their peculiar position, 586. + history, materials for, 39. + martyr, the first, 125. + saints, 167. + religious, 221. +Irish king sent to the Isle of Man, 225. + Rinuccini's account of the, 491. + Catholic landowners, injustice towards, 509. + Brigade, formation of, 574. +Irishmen, celebrated, of the eighteenth century, 592, +Iron Duke, 639. +Island Magee, massacre of, 481. +Ita, St. 169. + + +J. + +Jackson, Rev. William, his miserable death, 616. +James I., his reign, 463. +James II., his reign, 555 + arrival in Ireland, 557. +Japhet, Milesians descended from, 84. +Jerome's, St., statement on Ireland, 74. +John of the Shamrocks, 434. +John, Prince, receives title of King of Ireland, 287 + his visit to Ireland, 292 + second visit to Ireland, 302 + succeeds to the English crown, 296 + starves a bishop to death, 301 + letter of Innocent III. to, 295 + death, 304. +Josephus, 68. +Judgment of a king, 103. + + +K. + +Kadlubeck, historian of Poland, 48. +Keating, the historian, 531. + on Erinn, 43n. + quotations from, on the division of Ireland, 60. + on descent from the Scythians, 68. + on the battle of Bealagh Mughna, 193. + books referred to by, 45. + on colour, as a distinction of rank, 89n. + on battle of Dundalk, 203. + burial-place, 532. + inscription in honour of, 533. +Kennedy, Prince of Munster, 202. +Kildare, Earl of, and Henry VII., 384. + accused of treason, 384. + last Catholic Earl of, 387. + letter of, 388. +Kildare, Monastery of, 132. +Kilian, St., 177. +Kincora, Brian's "Happy Family" at, 209 + destruction of, 226. +Knights of the Royal Branch, 125. +Kunrann the poet, 187. + + +L. + +Lacy, De, made Viceroy of Ireland, 289 + endeavours to become King of Ireland, 291 + cruel death, 293 + family become extinct, 311. +Lady physicians, 66. +Laeghaire, King, holds a pagan festival, 119 + receives St. Patrick at Tara, 120 + his oath, 129 + his death, 129 + his burial, 129n. +Lammas-day, 164. +Landing of the Picts, 79. + of Partholan, 58. + of Ceasair, 57. +Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 228. +Langton, Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, 301. +Language of ancient Erinn, 147 + writing in pre-Christian Erinn, 148 + Ogham writing, 150. +Laws, the Brehon code of, 144 + its peculiarities, 145. + of the Innocents, 172. + of succession, 146. + of ancient Erinn, 144. +Leix, St. Patrick's visit to, 124 + cruelties of the deputy of, 417. +Lewis, Sir G.C., 85n. +Lhind, quotations from, 95n. +Lia Fail, 76 + or Stone of Destiny, 165 + mention of, 165. +Life, social, previous to the English invasion, 237. +Limerick, siege of, by Ireton. 506 + by William of Orange, 566 + by Ginkell, 571. +Linen trade, 251, 540. +Literary ladies in Ireland, 374 +Literary men of the seventeenth century, 531. +Livin, St., 178. +Londres, Henry de, made Governor of Ireland, 306 + surnamed Scorch Villain, 306. +Louvain collection, 46 + friars, 52. +Loyola, St. Ignatius, 120n. +Lucas, his life, 607. + + +M. + +Macaille, St., 131. +MacArt's, Cormac, Saltair. 40 + his reign, 103 + his death, 105. +Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome, 247n. +Maccallin, St., 221. +MacCarthy, King of Desmond, 229. +MacCarthy More murdered at Tralee, 357. +MacCullinan, Cormac, priest and king, 192 + his reign, 193 + his death, 193n. +MacCumhaill, Finn, 105 + his courtship with the Princess Ailbhe, 105. +MacFirbis, quotations from, 54, 58 + his book on pedigrees, 85 + his pedigrees of the ancient Irish and Anglo-Norman families, 50 + murdered, 51. +MacGilluire, Coarb of St. Patrick, 315. +MacLiag, the poet, 210n. +MacMurrough, Dermod, King of Leinster, 233 + attends synod at Mellifont, 234 + his interview with Henry II., 258 + Henry grants him letters-patent, 259 + his death, 266. +MacMurrough, Art, 367 + his death, 370. +MacNally, advocate of the United Irishmen, 618. +Macutenius on St. Patrick's Canons, 118. +Maelmuire, "servant of Mary," 227n. +Maelruain, St., of Tallaght, 179. +Magna Charta, 305. +Magog and his colony, 68 + his descendants, 84. +Magrath, Miler, the apostate, 78. +Mahoun, brother to Brian, 204 + is murdered, 206. +Mailduf, St., 178. +Malachy, St., 229 + visits Rome, 231 + death of, 231. +Malachy II., 198 + exploits against the Danes, 208 + wins his "collar of gold," 208 + Brian deposes, 209 + his death, 218. +Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, 141. +Marco Polo, 46. +Marisco, De, his treachery, 311 + his death, 312. +Mary, Queen, 410. +Massacre of a prelate, priest, and friars, 402 + of a bishop, 466 + at Wexford-bridge, 628 + at Cashel, 496 + at Wexford, 503 + of three priests, 445 + of three Franciscans, 453 + at Drogheda, 501 + at Mullamast, 438 + at Fort del Ore, 444 + at Scullabogue House, 627. +Mellifont, Abbey of, 231 + Synod at, 231 + founded, 317. +Meloughlin, King of Meath, 191. +Metalogicus, the, of John of Salisbury, 275n. +Milcho, St. Patrick's master in captivity, 116. +Milesian genealogies, 84, 88. +Milesians, landing of the, 75 + they conquer, 77. +Milford Haven, 292. +Milidh, fleet of the sons of, entrance into Ireland, 75. +Mississippi Scheme, 584. +Mochta, St., 151. +Moira, Lord, exposes the cruelty of the yeomanry, 619. +Moling, St., 109. +Monastery of Kildare, St. Brigid's, 132. + Kilcrea, 321. + of Bobbio, 176. + of Timoleague, 321, + of Tallaght, 179. + of St. Columbkille, 293. + of Cluain Eidhneach, 179. + of Donegal, 321 + desolation and plunder of, 189. + of Clonbroney, 188n. + of St. Columba, 230, 234. + of Ibrach (Ivragh), Kerry, 230. + of Lismore, 226. + of St. Kevin, 235. + of Dunbrody, 289. + of St. Peter's of Lemene, near Chambery, 381. + of Clonfert, 170. + of Mellifont, 234. + of Clonmacnois, 221. + Irrelagh (Muckross), 322. + Clonmel, 322. + Drogheda, 322. + Cill-Achaidh, 374. +Montgomery, 584. +Montmarisco, 237 + becomes a monk, 289 +Monroe, 493. +Monroe, Henry, 629. +Moore, his History, 37 + his partiality for Malachy, 209 + on religion, 111 + his life, 605. +Morann the good, and his collar of gold, 97. +MSS. preserved in Trinity College, 44. + of ancient Irish history, 39n. + Celtic, preserved in Belgium, 45. + Continental, 45n. + in British Museum, 46. + Stowe collection of, 45n. +MSS., Latin, 46. + Loftus, 415. + Burgundian, 46. + legendary and historical, of Irish history, 39. +Muckross Abbey, 322. +Muircheartach, first Christian king of Ireland, 131. +Muircheartach, his circuit of Ireland, 197 + killed by Blacaire, 197. +Murphy, Father, killed, 628. +Murrough's game of chess, 211. +Murtough of the Leathern Cloaks, 196. + + +N. + +Neamhnach, the well, 164. +Napier's, Lady, letter respecting the tenantry of Duke of Leinster, 623. +Nathi, King, 116. +National joy at the restoration of Catholic worship, 464. +Nemedh, arrival of, 59. +Nemenians, emigration of, 60, 62. +Nemthur, St. Patrick's birthplace, 110. +Nennius, 69. +Nesta, her beauty and infamy, 259. +Nestor, 48. +Netterville, John, Archbishop of Armagh, 318. +Newspapers in seventeenth century, 545. +Newtownbutler, engagement at, 595. +Nial of the Nine Hostages, 106. +Nial Black Knee, 194. +Nicholas, St., College of, 51. +Niebuhr, his theory of history, 82. + on the story of Tarpeia, 82n. + on learning by verse, 86. +Noah, genealogies from, 58. +Normans, their arrival in Ireland, 257. + their luxurious habits, 272. + Cambrensis' account of them, 277. + the, ridicule the Irish nobles, 293. + feuds of the, in Ireland, 300. + their treachery, 311. + Viceroys, 285. +Nuada of the Silver Hand, 61 + his privy council, 64. +Numa Pompilius, 89. + + +O. + +O'Brien, Turlough, Monarch of Ireland, 222 + his death, 223. +O'Brien, Donnell, King of Thomond, 271. +O'Briens, from whom descended, 84. +O'Clery, Michael, one of the Four Masters, 52 + his literary labours and piety, 54 + his first work, Trias Thaumaturgas, 52 + rewrote the Book of Invasions, 54 + patronized by Fearghal O'Gara, 53. +O'Connell, Daniel, in the House of Parliament, 647 + obtains Catholic Emancipation, 647 + represented Ireland, 641 + his life, 642 + his maiden speech, 643 + Doneraile Conspiracy, 643. +O'Curry, when Moore visited, 37 + his opinion of early Irish civilization, 104 + his labours, 38 + on Erinn, 48n + on Keating's statement of Irish descent, 68 + on Cormac's writings, 104n + on the Bachall Isu, 115 + on Brehon Laws, 145 + on Irish saints, 178 + on musical instruments, 250 + on Irish martyrs, 416. +O'Connor, Hugh, 308. + Felim, 309, 313. + of Offaly, 339. + Roderic, 235. + expelled from Offaly, 408 + returns to Ireland, 411. + Margaret, a literary lady, 374. + Nuala, 321 + establishes the monastery of Franciscans at Donegal, 321 + her death, 322. + Arthur, 624. +O'Connor Faly, Margaret, visits England, 411. +O'Daly, the poet, 303. +O'Donnell, Hugh, entertainment of, at Windsor, 387. +O'Donnell, Hugh Roe, his treacherous capture, 447 + leaves Ireland, 459. +O'Donnell More, died at Assaroe, 313. +O'Donovan, Dr., quotations from, on Brehon laws, 144. +Odran, St., 147. +O'Duffy, Catholicus, 304. +O'Duffy, Donnell, 233. +O'Flaherty, his Chronology, 81. +Ogham writing, 149. +Oghma, Danann prince, invented the writing called Ogham Craove, 76. +Ogygia of the Greeks, 72. +Ogygia, account in, of ancient writings, 148n. +O'Hagan, the Abbot Imar, 229. +O'Hartigan, Kenneth, 221. +O'Hurly, Dr., 453. +Ollamh Fodhla, 89. +Ollamh, office and qualifications of a, 83, 86. +O'Loughlin, Donnell, 226. +O'Loughlins of Tyrone, 231. +O'More, Rory Oge, 437 + Roger, 480. +O'Neill, Donough, 207 +O'Neill, Shane, 409 + feared by the English, 418 + attempts to poison him, 419 + Lord Chancellor Cusack persuades him to forget the poisoning, 420 + he is killed treacherously, 422. +O'Neill, Hugh, marriage of, 450 + his insurrection, 454 + defeats Bagnal, 455 + his interview with Essex, 456 + attempts to assassinate him, 458 + his power decreases, 461 + plot to entrap him, 468 + his flight and death in Rome, 469. +O'Neill, Sir Phelim, 480 + marches against Monroe, 493. +O'Neill, Owen Roe, 480. +O'Neill, Hugh Boy, slain in 1283, 332. +O'Neill, Donnell, 198, +Ormonde, the Duke of. 483 + his intrigues, 492. +Orpheus, first writer who mention Ireland, 71. +Orr, Mr., his trial and death, 620. +O'Toole, St. Laurence, Archbishop of Dublin, 234 + his genealogy, 235 + Abbot of St. Kevin's monastery, at Glendalough, 235 + his patriotism, 267 + his journey to France, 290 + sent as ambassador to Henry II., 281 + his death, 290. +Oirdnidhe, Hugh, the legislator, 179. + + +P. + +Palatines, the, 580. +Palladius, St., mission of, 109. +Palliums, 231. +Partholan, landing of, 58. +Partholyan, English traditions of, 71. +Patrick, St., his birthplace, 112 + visits Tara, 120 + his successful preaching, 123 + relic of his hand, 134 + his copy of the Gospels, 134 + his burial-place, 133 + devotion of his servant, 125 + his death, 126 + his vision, 113 + his prayer for Ireland, 135 + destruction of the idols, 121 + his Hymn, 120 + his captivity, 113. +Peep-o'-Day Boys and Defenders, 613. +Pelasgian remains, 158. +Pembroke, Earl of, plots against, 311. +Penal Laws, enactment of, 576. +Perrot, Sir John, 417. +Petrie, Dr., quotations from, on Brehon laws, 115. +Petty, Sir William, 541. +Philosophical Society, the Dublin, 546. +Phoenician colonization of Spain, 70 + circumnavigation of Africa, 69. +Physicians, establishment of their college in Dublin, 543 +Picts, landing of the, 79. +Pitt, William, 613. +Plantation of Connaught, 510 + of Ulster, 469. +Plowden's account of the atrocities of the military, 602. +Plunkett, Dr., his trial and execution, 528. +Plunkett, Lord, in parliament, 640. +Poyning's Parliament, 379 + law, and its effects, 382. +Presentation Order, 593n. +Priests, cruel massacre of, 496 + their efforts to save Protestants, 483. +Protestant Church, state of, 425. + + +Q. + +Quipus used as a register by the Indians, 150. + + +R. + +Raith Beothaigh (Rath Beagh), an ancient burial-place, 78. +Raleigh, Sir Walter, 439. +Rath at Leighlin, 200 + of the Synods, 165. +Reformation, attempts to introduce the, 415. +Reformed clergy, preaching of, 405. +Religious houses and their founders, 316. +Remonstrance to the Holy See, 341. +Reports on the state of Ireland, 648 +Richard I., accession of, 294. +Richard II., visits Ireland, 365. +Rinuccini, 489n + lands at Kenmare, 490 + reception in Kilkenny, 491 + returns to Italy, 497. +Rock of Cashel, 193. +Rodanus, St., 162. +Romantic Tales, 91. +Rose Tavern, 544. +Rotundo built, 638. +Round Tower controversy, 153. +Rowan, A. Hamilton, 615 +Rufus, William, boast of, 257. + + +S. + +Sacramental test, 579. +Saltair of Temair, 41. + na-Rann, 41. + of Cashel, 44. + of Cormac, 41. +San Jose, arrival of, 443. +Saviour's, St., Dublin, 318. +Schomberg's camp, disease in, 560. +Scots, 69. +Scraball, 164. +Scythian colonists, 68 + Irish claim descent from, 65. +Seanchaidhe, poet, 83n. +Seanchus Mor, language of, 145 + translator of, 145. +Sedulus, St., 178. +Segetius, priest, 115. +Senchan Torpeist, 40. +Severe winters and pestilences in Ireland, 223. +Sheehy, Father Nicholas, judicial murder of, 589. +Sheridan, his life, 608. +Shrines of the three saints, 133. +Sidney's official account of Ireland, 423 + his interview with Granuaile, 434. +Silken Thomas, his rebellion, 391 + his execution, 392. +Silver shields, 89. +Simnel crowned in Dublin, 380. +Simon, Rabbi, 68. +Sitric arrival of, 195 + treachery of, 201. +Smith, Adam, on Ireland, 603. +Smithfield, origin of the name, 241n. +South Sea Bubble, 581. +Spenser's Castle, 423 + grandson, 513 + description of Irish misery, 439. +Sreng, warrior, 62. +Statements in our annals confirmed by a Jewish writer, 68. +Statute of Kilkenny and its effects, 359. +Stierman, 48. +Sterne, Dr., 544. +Strafford, Earl of, 77. +Strongbow, Earl of Clare, arrives in Ireland, 263 + genealogy, 263 + marriage of, and Eva, 264 + proclaims himself king of Leinster, 266 + returns to England. 268 + death of, 282 + his seal, 284. +Succession, law of, 146. +Superstitions, Irish, 142. +Swan, Major, 624. +Swift, Dean, 581 + his writings, 581 + his life, 607. +Swords and chariots of ancient Ireland, 167. + + +T. + +Tacitus, 95. +Tain bo Chuailgne, the expedition of, 92 + the story of, 93. +Talbot, Archbishop, 525. +Tanaiste, 147. +Tandy, Napper, 612. +Tara, account of ancient, 163 + site of, 41 + cursing of, 162. +Taverns and coffee-houses, 544. +Theatre, the first, in Dublin, 547. +Thomas, St., of Canterbury, 266. +Thompson, Charles, Secretary of Congress, 601. +Threnodia Hiberno-Catholica, 511. +Tighernach's Annals, 49 + uses the dominical letter, 49 + mentions the lunar cycle, 49 + quotes historical writers, 49 + his home, 48. +Tighearnmas, 88. +Timoleague, Monastery of, 321. +Tithes introduced into Ireland, 232. +Tom the Devil, 622. +Tone, Theobald Wolfe, 614. +Tradition, its use in history, 40. +Trias Thaumaturgas, 52. +Trinity College, foundation of, 462. +Tuatha De Dananns, fifth taking of Ireland by, 61 + their skill as artificers, 61 + battles of, 62, 75 + dynasty passed away, 76. +Tuathal, reign of, 98. +Tuite, Richard (the great baron), 333. +Turgesius the Dane, 189. +Tussach, St, 126. + + +U. + +Ugaine Mor, reign of, 90. +Ultan, St., 171. +Union, the, 632. +United Irishmen, the, 618. +Usher, Archbishop, 534 + his indifference about orders, 536 + on St. Patrick's Canons, 117 + as an historian, 534. +Usher's Island, 318n. + + +V. + +Veto, the, 643. +Victorious, 113n. +Vinegar Hill, the battle of, 627. +Volunteers, the, 591. +Virgilius, St., 178. +Vivian, Cardinal, 286 + entombs the relics of the three saints anew, 294. + + +W. + +Warbeck's plot, 381. +Ware, 415. +Ward, Father, 52. +Waterford rugs, 539. +Wellesley, Chief Secretary, 640. +Wesley, John, his remark about Moira House, 318n. +Wheat planted early, 243. +White and Black Gentiles, 191. +Whiteboys, the, 584. +Wilde, Sir W., 79n. +Wives purchased in Erinn, 43 + exchanged, 229. +Words and Places, 58n. +Wood's halfpence, 581. +Wren, veneration for the, 140. + + +Y. + +Yeomanry, fearful cruelties of the, 630. +York, house of, 371 + Duke of, made Viceroy, 375. +Yorkists, popularity in Ireland, 376. + insurrection of the, 378. +Youghal, foundation of Convent of, 318 + College of, 378 + burned down, 443. +Young's remedy for Irish disaffection, 585. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND +FROM AD 400 TO 1800*** + + +******* This file should be named 14754.txt or 14754.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/7/5/14754 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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