The story of the Irish before the conquest. From the mythical period to the invasion under Strongbow

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

Class

THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST

THE

STORY OF THE IRISH

BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

FROM THE MYTHICAL PERIOD TO THE INVASION
UNDER STRONGBOW.

BY

LADY FERGUSON.

Third Edition, with Maps, Reviaed and Enlarged.

DUBLIN; SEALY, BRYERS & WALKER,

LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS,

EDINBURGH: W. BLACKWOOD & SONS,

1903.

PRINTED BY

SEALY, BRYERS AND WALKER,

MIDDLE ABBEY STREET,

DUBLIN.

THE

STORY OF THE IRISH

BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

BY

LADY FERGUSON.

REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION,
WITH MAPS AND INDEX.

OFTHE

UNIVERSITY

OF

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION,

THE kind reception accorded to this volume when it
first appeared, more than twenty years ago, encourages
me, now that it has long been out of print, to prepare
a new edition, all the more that it may now be enriched
from the ample stores of fresh material which have
accumulated since its first publication.

These stores include studies in History, Archaeology
Art, and Poetry. The historical and archaeological
contributions are to ,be found chiefly in Mr. Skene's
interesting volumes Celtic Scotland, A History of
Ancient Alban, published 1876-80; Dr. Anderson's
instructive works, Scotland in Early Christian Times,
1 88 1, and Scotland in Pagan Times, 1886; Sir Arthur
Mitchell's valuable contribution to Science and
Archaeology, The Past in the Present, published in
I G8o ; The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, edited by
PnWhitley Stokes for the Master of the Rolls' series,
1889; and Sir Samuel Ferguson's dissertation "On
the Patrician Documents,'' appended to The Remains

209980

IV PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, 1888. The most
valuable contributions at once to Archaeology and
Art, are to be found in Edwin Earl of Dunraven's
Notes on Irish Architecture, edited by Miss Stokes,
which appeared in 1875, and in that accomplished
lady's Handbook of Early Christian Art in Ireland,
1887. Mr. Brash's Eeelesiastieal Architecture of
Ireland to the close of the Tivelfth Century, 1875, gives
the result of a competent architect's examination of
existing remains, and the Rev. Canon O'Hanlon's
Lives of the Irish Saints, still in process of publication,
contribute largely to our knowledge of Early Ireland.
These books should be added to the list of learned
works named in the " Note on the Sources and
Nomenclature " which was appended to the first
edition.

Although the still unpublished Tain-Bo-Cuailgne'
supplies more of " Dichtung " than of " Wahrheit,"
it yet throws a vivid light on what I have ventured to
call the Heroic Period of Irish Story. A rendering
of the Tain by the late Mr. D. H. Kelly, which was
by him kindly placed at my disposal, enables me
in this edition to give further specimens of this

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. V

4t Primeval Battle Chaunt of Erin's race." From Mr.
Aubrey de Vere's Foray of Queen Meave. published
in 1882, I have cited another of the legends of
Ireland's heroic age, the Fate of the Children of
Lir — one of the "Three Sorrows" of Celtic song
— as told by this delightful poet. My thanks are also
due to Mrs. Alexander for permission to give her fine
version of St. Patrick's Breastplate, and to Mr.
Larrnonie for extracts from his recently published
volume, Glanlua and other poems.

Other poets from whom I have freely cited have
since I wrote, exercised their genius upon early Irish
material. Sir Samuel Ferguson's Epic Congal appeared
in 1872, and his Poems in 1880. The latest lyric
by the Hon. T. D. M:Gee, lona to Ireland, — in
which is expressed with tenderness and passion the
yearnings of an exile's heart — was penned a few clays
before his death in 1868.

It may be open to question whether the " thread
of poetry" which I have woven into my narrative is a
merit or a defect. If I have erred it has been from the
desire to interest the young and imaginative not only

VI PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

in the history and antiquities but in the poetry illus-
trative of early days in the dear ancestral island.

I desire to dedicate this book to the beloved
memory of my husband.

M C. FERGUSON.

20 North Great George's Street, Dublin.
November t 1889.

OF THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

WE are told, in Ihe Senchus Mor, that, when Saint
Patrick had completed the arrangement of that Digest
of the Laws of the Gael of Ireland, his coadjutor,
Dubtach, who was a Bard as well as a Brehon, " put
a thread of poetry round it." So, the writer of this little
Digest of the Irish Historical Story has endeavoured
to intertwine, with the trite detail of names and succes-
sions already often chronicled, whatever more interest-
ing incidents can be drawn from the new sources of
heroic and picturesque material laid open to the
English reader by the labours of lately-deceased, and
of living, Irish scholars. If it be objected that a some
what too favourable view is taken of a rude age and
savage manners, it may with truth be said that any
errors of sympathy are more than counterbalanced
by the undue contempts of which, for many ages, all
native Irish historic and legendary material has been
the object. And the writer believes that, in forming

Vlll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

an estimate of any national character, it is better to
err, if at all, on the side of sympathy and respect.

The Irish tradition, however rude, is the intellectual
food which has nourished in a long series of generations
the only literary life that has subsisted amongst them.
To the philosophic historian, no less than to the poet
and romance-writer, it is a material full of interest.
But the principal object to be hoped for in these pages
would be achieved, if the work should happily influence
refined and candid minds towards a more tolerant and
sympathizing view of the mental tastes and acquisitions
of several millions of their countrymen.

20 North Great George's Street, Dublin.
December ; 1867,

TABLE OF CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD.

Aborigines preyed on by African pirates — Colony of Fartholan— Colony
of Nemed— Siege of Tor Conaing —Battle of the \Yhite Strand —
Arrival of the Firbolgs— Their works in stone— Arrival of the
Tuath-De-Danaans — Battles of Moyture— Characteristic differences
in Arms— The " Fate of the Children of Lir," one of the "Three
Sorrows" of Celtic Song — Arrival of the Milesian Scoti — Chivalrous
conduct of the Scoti — Battle of Tailti — The Scoti conquer the island
— Its distribution — The laws and social polity of the conquerors —
The remains of these races — Their influence on the West of Europe
— Chronological Table. 1-26

CHAPTER II.

THE HEROIC PERIOD.

The alternate sovereignty of Kimbaoth and his brothers —Ma cha's claim
to succeed her father —Her conquests — Foundation of Emania —
Cova's usurpation — Story of Lavra Maen and Moria — Conor
MacNessa reigning at Emania — The Knights of the Red Branch—
The abdication of Fergus MacRoy — Maev, Queen of Connaught—
Story of the sons of Usnach — Story of the Tain-bo- Guailgnt — The
" Pillow Conversation " of Ailill and Maev— The "Boy Feats " of
Cuchullin — The "Naming of Cuchullin" — How he took arms —
His heroic conduct — His combat with Ferdiah — The heroes of the
Tain-bo- Ciiailgne — His courtship of Eimer — The story of Blanaid —
Cuchullin's combat with his unknown son — Story of Atharne — Story

Table of Contents.

of Mesgedra and Conall Carnach — Chivalrous traits in both
characters — Death of Conor MacNessa — Story of the healing of
Conall Carnach— Chivalrous conduct of Bealcu — Deaths of Conall,
Fergus MacRoy, and Maev — Chronological Table. . . 27-101

CHAPTER III.

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD.
FROM CONARI M6R A.D. I, TO CORMAC MAC ART, 254.

Reign of Conari Mor — He banishes the sons of Donn Dessa — Their
attack on the king and his nobles at the Bruidin Da Derga — Death
of Conari — Reign of Crimthan — Revolt of the Atacotti (Ailheack
Tnathd)) and massacre of the nobles — Usurpation of Carbri Cat-
head— Resignation of the crown by his son Morann to the exiled
legitimate heir — Restoration of the noble caste in the person of
Feredueh — Second expulsion of the nobles — Second restoration in
the person of Tuathal the Acceptable — Crime of Eochaid, King of
Leinster, against Tuathal's daughters, leading to the imposittos
of the Boarian tribute, or Boru of Leinster — Rise of the Northern and
Southern Dynasties — Con Hundred-Battle and Moh Nuad divide
the island — Lea Con and Lea Moha — Battle of Moy Lena — Chival-
rous trait of Goll MacMorna — Ollioll Olum sovereign of Lea Moha —
His descendants — The dream of Eatach — Battle of Moy Mucrive—
Lngaid Laga and the three Ferguses — The Battle of Crinna —
.The Clanna Morna— Chronological Table. . 101-122

CHAPTER IV.

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD.

FROM CORMAC MAC ART A.D. 254, TO NIALL OF THE NlNli
HOSTAGES, 379.

R.ign of Cormac MacArt— Erects the Hall of Tara, and keeps kingly
state there— Story of Cormac and Ethni— The Fiamia, or Militia —
Finn MacCumhal— Story of Dermid and Grania — The death of

Table of Contents. xi

Dermid — Oisin — The Ossianic Poems — King Cormac's water-mill -
His retirement at Cletty — The burial of King Cormac — Reign of
Carbri Lificar, slain in the battle of Gavra — Reigns of his son
Fiachaid, and his grandson Muredach — Banishment of the Three
Collas — Their return, and failure to provoke King Muredach to
avenge his father's death — They destroy Emania — Descendants of
the three Collas — Crime, and disappointed ambition of Mongfinn —
Retrospect— Pictish origins — The sons of Umor, and the Firbolgs
in the West — Niall of the Nine Hostages — His expedition to Alba
(Scotland)— Chronological Table 123-150

CHAPTER V.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD.
FROM NIALL-NAOI-GHIALLACH, A.D. 379, TO DERMID 544.

Niall's expedition to Armorica — Captivity of Patrick — His occupations
and thoughts — His escape — Niall's expedition on the Loire, and
death there— His descendants, the Northern and Southern Hy-Niall
— King Dathi — His expedition into Gaul — Killed by lightning —
Has body carried home and interred at Cruachan — Saint Patrick's
return as Apostle of the Irish— His autobiography, as told in his
authentic writings— His Easter eve at Slane— He preaches before
1 King Laery at Tara — Conversion of Laery's daughters, Ethna and
Felimia — Saint Patrick's breastplate — Revision of the Laws, and
compilation of the Senchus Mor — King Laery killed " by the Wind
and Sun " — Saint Patrick overthrows Crom Cruach and his twelve
sub-gods— Baptizes ^Engus, King of Munster — Diffuses the Gospel
throughout Ireland — Dies at Saul, and is buried at Down Patrick —
The clan system in the early Irish Monasteries — The three orders of
the holy men of Ireland — The burial of Owen Bel, King of Con-
naught — Succeeded by Kellach — Murder of Kellach — Avenged by
his brother Cucongelt— Final settlement of the Dalriads in Scotland
^-Saint Brigid — Saint Kieran — Saint Finnian of Clonard — Saint
Finnian of Moville — Passion for Monastic seclusion — Story of Enda

Table of Contents.

and Saint Fanchea — Monastic remains of Aran — Clonmacnoise
founded by Saint Kieran— MurkertachMacErca— Dermid MacKervil
—Remains at Clonmacnoise— Saint Kevin— Glendalough— Saint
Brendan of Clonfert— His Legend— Chronological Table. 1 5 1 - 1 98

CHAPTER VI.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD.
FROM DERMID MAC KERVIL, A.D. 544, TO AEDH MAC AINMIRF 599.

Saint Columba— His noble birth— A pupil of Saint Finnian— Companion
of Kieran— Kieran's jealousy rebuked— Columba's copy of Penman's
Psalter — King Dermid's judgment in favour of Finnian's copyright
— Leads to the Battle of Cuildrevne — The MS. still in existence —
Formerly the battle-standard of the O'Donnells— The bell of Saint
Patrick the battle-standard of the Kincl-Owen — The crozier of Saint
Grellan the battle-standard of the O'Kellys — Story of the emigrants
of the Clan Colla and Saint Greltan — Poem ascribed to Saint
Columba — He goes into exile to Hy ; I-colm-kill (lona), in penance
for his part in the battle of Cuildrevne — The Columban Rule — Their
time of celebrating Easter — The existing MSS. ascribed to Sainjt
Columba — His metrical dialogue with Cormac — He returns to
Ireland to attend the Synod of Drumceat — Objects of King Aedh
in convening that assembly —The exactions of the Bards — Story pf
King Guary and Sancan, and the quest for the Tain — Saint Columba
intercedes for the Bards — Legend of the bird blown from Ireland to
lona— The Saint aids the Dalriad king Aidan in establishing his
independence— His death — His burial at lona— His shrine— Clan
system in the Columban monasteries — Successors of Colunaba —
Prince Oswald of Northumbria educated at lona- -Sends for instruc-
tors for his people — St. Aidan of lona settles at Lindisfarne— Synod
ol Whitby — Chronological Tnble 199-228

Table of Contents. xiii

CHAPTER VII.

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD.
FROM AEDH MAC A1NMIKE, A.D. 572, TO DONNCHAD 770.

Intellectual progress of the Irish between the convention of Drumceat
and the arrival of the Danes — Comparative paucity of details in the
local annals — Ampler information from continental notices — Great
reputation of Ireland for its Schools and Scholnrs— Defeat and death
of King Aedh at Dunbolg — His son Maelcova resigns the crown to
become a cleric — Sweeny Menu Ard-Righ — Assassinated by Congal
Claen at the instigation of Donall — Dream of King Donall — His
feast at Dun-na-n'geadh — Rebellion of Congal Claen and battle of
>Ioyrath— King Donall' s address to his army — Combat of Conal
with Congal Claen— Story of Cuanna, who gives his death wound
to Congal Claen— His death — Donall's favour to the church — He
founds the Abbey of Cong — Saint Fechin's church and Mill at Fore
— His ecclesiastic establishment on High Island — Buidhe Ckonnaill,
" yellow plague " — Other epidemics — Saint Adamnan visits Ireland
— His account of the Holy Places, from the narrative of the pilgrim-
bishop Arculf- Expedition of Egfrid, King of Northumbria, to
ravage the coasts of Leinster— Saint Adamnan visits York and
obtains the release of Irish captives — His ecclesiastical foundations in
Scotland — The Cain AdJiamJinain — Death of St. Adamnan, A.D! 704
— Story of Kenfalla— Great schools of learning in Ireland — Armagh
"" — Prince Aldfrid's itinerary — Testimony of the Venerable Eede to
the learning and hospitality of the Irish — Poem of Donatus, Bishop
of Fiesole, illustrating the state of Ireland in his day — Testimony of
Eric of Auxerre— Sweeny of Clonmacnoise assists at the foundation
of Oxford — His bell in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy —
Irish " wisdom sellers" at the court of Charlemagne — School of
Lismore — Saint Carthagh— School of Bangor— Saint Columbanus —
His foundations in Burgundy and Italy — His letters — Pre-eminence
of Ireland as the seat of scholastic education, even after the Danish
inroads — Testimony of the author of the life of Sulgen — Opinion of
Camden— Chronological Table. 229-259

xiv Table oj Contents.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DANISH PERIOD.
FROM DONNCHAD, A.D. 770, TO DOMNAL O'NEILL 956.

Invasions of the Northmen— Rise of the Southern Hy-Niall — Generouk
devotion and death of King Niall Caille — Stoiy of Turgesius —
Tyranny of the Danes — Their foundation of the seaport toxvns, and
progress in commerce — Norse influence on the local nomenclature —
Intermarriages between the Northmen and Irish — St. Olaf— Norse
cruelties in the propagation of the faith contrasted with the mild
course of the gospel in Ireland — Ancient tumuli on the Boyne
rifled by the Danes — King Malachy I. desires to moke a pilgrimage
to Rome— King Aedh Finnlialh — King Flann of the Shannon —
Story of his daughter Gormley — Cormac MacCulinan, King-arch-
bishop of Cashel — His Glossary— His Psalter— Rivalry between the
Eugenian and Dalcassian Septs of Munster — State of Minister —
Cormac instigated to war with Leinster by the Abbot Flaherty —
Makes his will — Battle of Ballaghmoone and death of Cormac —
Honourable conduct of King Flann — Penance of Flaherty — After-
wards King of Cashel— Succeeded by Lorcan, father of Kennedy,
father of Brian Boru — Kennedy admits the claim of alternate suc-
cession, according to the will of OJlioll Olum, and yields the throne
of Cashel to Callaghan — Stratagem of the Danish chieftain Si trie —
Callaghan taken prisoner — Kennedy marches the Munster troops to
his rescue — Gallant conduct of Falvy Finn — Death of King Flann
— Niall " Black-knee"— Donogh— Murkertach '• Pell-Cloak "—
His circuit of Ireland— Callaghan's second imprisonment— Donall
O'Neill, son of Murkertach, Prince of Aileach, becomes Ard-righ
— Surnames introduced — The great Sept of O'Neill descendants of
Donall — Cruelties of the Danes — Destruction by them of works of
art — Skill of the Irish in artistic metal work, shrines, bells, croziers,
etc. — Their architecture and sculptured stonework— Their MSS.—
The Book of Kdls— The Book of Deer— Ion*, devastated by the
Danes— Its Abbots subsequent to St. Adamnan — Abbacy transferred
to Kells in the ninth century— Martyrdom of St. Blathmac at lona —

Table of Contents. xv

Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scotland — Removes the shrine of St.
Columba to Dunkeld, and makes its abbot Bishop of Fortrenn —
The Bishopric transferred from Dmnkeld to Abernethy, and subse-
quently to St. Andrews — The monastery of lona restored by Queen
Margaret of Scotland — The Western Isles, including lona, ceded by
King Malcolm to Norway — Mr. Skene on the decay of the old
Celtic Church— Chronological Table 260-293

CHAPTER IX.

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD.
FROM MALACHY II., A.D. 980, TO THE DEATH OF BRIAN BORU, IOI4-

Reign of Malachy II.— Defeats the Danes at Tara, and at Dublin —
His proclamation — Rivalry with Brian Boru — Rise of the Dalcassian
tribe under the leadership of the sons of Kennedy — Struggles of
Mahon and Brian with the Danes — Interview of these princes —
Assembly of the Dal-Gais — Battle of Sulcoit--Sack of Limerick —
Song of triumph for Mahon — His murder — Brian arenges his death
—Rules Munster from Kincora — Battle of Glenmama— Alliances
of Brian — Aspires to the sovereignty — Malachy deserted by the
Northern princes — Submits to Brian — Generous conduct of the
rivals — Administrative genius of Brian — His magnificence — Mael-
murra, King of Leinster, insulted at Kincora — Conspires with the
Danes — Battle of Clontarf — Brian's army — Chivalrous conduct of
the deposed King Malachy— Muster of the Northmen at Clontarf—
Brian's address to his army— Encounter between Plait and Domnall
— Interview between Murrogh, son of Brian, and Dunlang O'Har-
tigan -Conflict of Murrogh and Anrud — Death of Murrogh — His
son Turloch drowned — King Brian in his tent — Is killed by Brodar
— Chronological Table . 294-316

xvi Table of Contents.

CHAPTER X.

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST.

King Brian and his son Murrogh interred at Armagh— Retreat of the
Dal-Gais— The Eugenian tribes separate from the Dal-Gais — The
men of Ossory demand hostages— Heroic conduct of the wounded
Dalcassians — The men of Ossory afraid to attack them — The remnant
of the Dal-Gais reach Kincora — Results of the Battle of Clontarf—
Malachy II. reascends the throne— Donogh O'Brien — Flaherty
O'Neill — Makes a pilgrimage to Rome — Rise of the Leinster family
of MacMurrogh — Turlogh O'Brien deposes his uncle Donogh, who
retires to Rome and dies there— Turlogh sends Irish oak to King
William Rufus— Murkertach Mor O'Brien — Rise of the family of
O'Conor in Connaught— Laxity of ecclesiastical dicipline - Synods
held by Celsus, Gillibert, and St. Malachy — M alachy's conversations
with Pope Innocent II. about the state of Ireland— Pope Adrian IV.
an Englishman — His Bull authorizing the invasion of Ireland by an
English King — Henry Plantagenet unable at the time to avail him-
self of the donation — Abduction of Dervorgilla by Dermid MacMur-
rogh, King of Leinster — He is deposed— Seeks the protection of
King Henry II., who gives him letters of aid— Richard de Clare,
Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow), embraces his cause — The sons and
grandsons of the beautiful Nesta— Henry FitzHenry— Meyler
FitzIIenry — FitzGerald — FitzStephen — FitzBernard — De Barry —
Giraldus Cambrensis— His description of Dermid MacMurrogh—
Effects of the Conquest. . , ,, • . . 3l7~33l

Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. « ; •, 332"33^

INDKX ...:»*«•»••• 339

THE

IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST,

CHAPTER I.

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD.
FROM PARTHOLAN TO KIMBAOTH B.C. 354.

Aborigines preyed on by African pirates — Colony of Partholan — Colony
of Nemed— Siege of Tor Conaing— Battle of the White Strand —
Arrival of the Firbolgs — Their works in stone — Arrival of the
Tuath-De-Danaans— Battles of Moyture— Characteristic differences
in Arms— The "Fate of the Children of Lir," one of the "Three
Sorrows " of Celtic Song — Arrival of the Milesian Scoti — Chivalrous
conduct of the Scoti— Battle of Tailti— The Scoti conquer the island
— Its distribution — The laws and social polity of the conquerors —
The remains of these races — Their influence on the West of Europe
— Chronological Table.

No race which has left its impress on the history of our
globe has preserved its primitive traditions with the same
care as the Celtic, that early swarm from the Japhetic hive
which, the bardic traditions tell us, reached Europe long
before the dawn of authentic history.

Even then, the Celtic story affirms, there wandered through
the pine forests of lerne an aboriginal people. The traces
of a population ignorant of the use of metals and of the
practice of agriculture have been found over all the west
of Europe. In Gaul and Britain the record of their existence
is the bone-cave and the drift-bank, where Nature has sealed
up their knives and hatchets of stone, along with the half

2 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

fossil remains of the elk, the cave-bear, and the elephant.
In addition to similar evidence in Ireland, bardic tradition
tells us that the leader of these autochthones, on the arrival
of Partholan with the first Gaelic swarm from the East, was
named Cical.

Of Cical and his hunter tribes the varied lay began,
And how in Grecian galleys borne Maeonian Partholan,
Sire of great Slange on a day, with sight of sail and oar,
Amazed the dwellers of the woods by Inverskene's shore,
Where first invasion first brought in the arts of life ; and how
Erin untill'd till then, from him received the spade and plough.*

And who was Partholan? and how came he to be dignified
with Greek associations? the reader will ask. The name
whencesoever derived, is imprinted in the old local nomen-
clature of the country. The traveller, taking the direction
of Blessington from Dublin, about five miles out of the
city, passes a decayed village called Tallaght ; and this
name Tarn lacht, signifying a " plague sepulchre," has been,
from time immemorial, understood to be the Tam-lacht of
the people of Partholan. For the tradition is, that the
whole colony brought into Ireland by this chieftain perished
in a great plague, and that a multitude of them were buried
in a common tomb at this spot ; and that this plague had
pursued Partholan as a punishment for the guilt of parricide,
under the sting of remorse for which he had become a
voluntary exile. Similar stories are told of Brutus, the
fabled progenitor of the Britons, and of other mythical
leaders and founders of nations ; and the reader will

From Congal, by Sir S. FERGUSON,

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 3

remember that in this chapter the subject belongs altogeth—
to the Mythical Period.

It is observable, however, that local tradition also had,
from immemorial time, given the name of Slange, son ^
Partholan, to the highest peak of the Mourne mountains
Down, up to the time when Slieve Donard acquired i
present name, from Domangart, a holy person of the six
century, whose hermitage occupied the site of the cairn of
the buried warrior on the mountain summit.

Forgotten Partholan himself lies 'neath his royal mound

On green Moynalty, hushed at eve by drowsy ocean's sound ;

And clangorous song of flocks by night, when through the wintry

air

The wide- winged wild geese to their pools by Liffey's side repair.
But promised Slange, tombed aloft on that great mountain's

head,

Which now, since Domangart hath used the chamber of the dead
For cleric rites, no longer owns its name of old renown, —
Slieve- Slange, — but Slieve-Donard sounds, awaits his calling

down.*

However apocryphal the name of Partholan may now
appear, we must recognise the voice of a remote antiquity
in favour of the story of the parricide ; of the aborigines
whom he invaded and civilized ; and of the avenging plague
before which his race, though not his memory, has been
obliterated.

Even thus early the shores of our Island are said to have
been the resort of organized sea-plunderers, or pre-historic
Vikings, who made their descents from Africa.

* From Congal, by Sir S. FERGUSON.

4 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

They are known in the recollection of our ancestors
under the name of Fomorians. Critical scholars have sur-
mised that this is but another name for Pomerania, and that
for Africa we should read the shores of the Baltic. In the
glossary, however, of King Cormac of Cashel, compiled nof
long after the age of Alfred, in the ninth century of oui
era, the word Fomorian is said to signify "under sea," in
the sense of their ships being descried on the horizon,
rising, as it were, from beneath the rim of the ocean, and
indicating their approach from the Atlantic rather than
the narrow seas. From when cesoe vet they came, they
were expert navigators, and had a fortress upon Tor Inis,
or Tory Island, which, from its name of the Glass Castle,
may possibly have been a vitrified fort. Round its walls,
and on the strand beneath, was waged, we are told,
one of the earliest of the many *' Battles of the White
Strand," which supply the place of the "tale of Troy
divine " in early Irish and Welsh bardic history. Nemed,
of the same race as Partholan, was the next invader, and
subjected to the servile toils of tillage and building, the
remnant of the former population. But the galleys of the
"under sea" invaders still rose on the horizon, and poured
their troops of Fomorian pirates on the thinly-peopled
shores. The tower of Tor Inis was the great stronghold
of the strangers. Nemed with his chief warriors crossed the
turbulent straits and laid siege to the wonderful castle.

Fierce conflicts were waged upon the shore. The com-
batants in their fury disregarded the rising tide which
overwhelmed them, the crew of one ship only of the
Nemedians escaping. Amongst those saved were three

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 5

chieftains of Nemed's blood, who, though now abandonin
the country, were, we are told to believe, destined to i\
people Ireland at a subsequent period.

L They fought ere sunrise at Tor Conainn,

All day they fought on the wild sea-shore ;
The sun dropp'd downward, they fought amain,

The tide rose upward, they fought the more.
The sands were cover'd, the sea grew red,

The warriors fought in the reddening wave ;
That night the sea was the sea-king's bed,

The land -king drifted past cliff and wave.

Great was the rage in those ancient days,

(We were pagans then) in the land of Eire ;
Like eagles, men vanquish'd the noontide blaze,

Their bones were iron, their nerves were wire.
We are hinds to-day ! The Nemedian kings,

Like elk and bison of old stalk'd forth ;
Their name — the sea-kings — for ever clings

To the " Giant Stepping Stones " round the north.* ^

We must endeavour to imagine the island during these
vicissitudes, under successive conditions of populousness
and desertion, rude wealth and sterility, until a third swarm
of adventurers came upon the scene, making their entrance
also by the common avenue of Greece. These are the
Firbolgs, exiles from Thrace. They had been slaves, com-
pelled, under the lash of task-masters, to cultivate the
terraces on the steep sides, it may be, of Pindus or Haemus.
Each man was provided with a leathern bag, in which he
carried up soil to these hanging gardens. Hence, say the
Irish traditions, the name of Firbolg, men of the bag.
They conspired, rose, and fled together, and a new infusion
* From Inisfail by AUBREY DE VERE.

6 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

of Greek characteristics was thus imparted to the Isle of
Destiny. Traces of the Firbolgs remain, not only in the
names given by them to different localities, which are yet
retained, but in the Duns and earthworks which they erected.
The western isles of Aran contain, in admirable preserva-
tion to this day, the great stone fortresses of Dun Conor
and Dun ^Engus, built at a subsequent period by chieftains
of this race, who, as will be seen in the sequel, were them-
selves destined to become a servile population under the
sway of succeeding invaders.

Is Dun ^Engus is a marvellous dry-stone erection. On a
promontory which slopes gradually upwards from the land-
ward side, and terminates in an abrupt cliff which frowns
over the Atlantic, a considerable space of ground has been
enclosed by a massive cyclopean wall. This consists of
three concentric rings of building, each complete in itself,
yet in immediate juxtaposition, and well fitted for defence.
The sloping landward side is thickly studded with pill^r-
stones, firmly fixed in the soil, intended, apparently, to act
as a kind of chei*aux-de-frise, and embarrass the advance
of an enemy on the only avenue of approach.

It is inaccessible from the sea. 1?he cliff rises grandly
above the wild Atlantic waves, which dash themselves
against its base, and threaten its total destruction ere long.
It has evidently been largely undermined already. Part of
the vast edifice has tumbled into the deep water beneath.
That which yet stands overhangs the ocean abysses. A
more grand and impressive scene can scarcely be imagined.
The utter solitude of the spot: the boundless expanse
of ocean, dark-heaving and sublime : the old, old, strong-

THE MYtHICAL PERIOD. 7

hold — more ancient probably than any building now standing
in western Europe, counting its age not by hundreds, but
by thousands of years — powerfully impress the imagination.
The feeling is enhanced by the loneliness of these rarely-
visited and inaccessible islets of the far west, which contain
at present the huts only of simple peasants, and ruins of the
cells and churches of the earliest Christian ecclesiastics.
These are touching in their simplicity and antiquity, yet
appear insignificant and comparatively recent, when com-
pared with Dun ^Engus and Dun Conor, pagan strongholds
of Firbolg chiefs./

These erections belong, as we have said, to the latest
period of Firbolg history, when the colony was closely
pressed by their conquering kinsmen, and forced from the
rich provinces of the south and east, to seek refuge in more
remote and inhospitable districts. The Firbolg blood to
this day exists to an appreciable extent in Connaught, and
the outlying isles of the west. They were a dark-haired and
dark-skinned race, small in comparison with their fair-haired
foemen, whose superior physique, no less than their higher
civilization, and knowledge of arts and metals, assured them
a speedy supremacy.

A fourth and fifth invasion remain to be chronicled.
The Tuath-De-Danaans, like their kinsmen the Firbolgs,
are said to be descended from Nemed through Ibath, his
great-grandson, one of the chieftains who, with the ancestor
of the Firbolg, escaped from the battle of Tor-Conaing. It
is claimed for this people also that they came from Greece,
but by way of Scandinavia. We may imagine them to have
pursued the course of the rivers which flow to the Baltic,

8 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

unless — as their traditions seem to indicate, and for which
some slight probability may be traced in the features of the
country between the Don and the Vistula — that part of
Europe was then under water, and the western portion, from
the Carpathian mountains, virtually an island, and the
passage effected, as the Argo is fabled to have performed
it, by sea. The present form of our continent would thus
result from the gradual elevation of the soil on the low -lying,
flat, alluvial plains of Poland and Russia.

Nuad of the Silver Hand was chieftain of the Tuath-
De-Danaans, when they encountered Eochaid, the reigning
Firbolg monarch, in the battle of Southern Moyture. The
scene of the engagement is supposed to be identified near
Cong. The fugitive Firbolg king was pursued, overtaken,
and slain, at Ballysadare, in the county of Sligo. His cairn
still exists on the strand there, and was formerly deemed
one of the " Wonders of Erin." Indeed the whole of this
district of Sligo, as well as the field of Moyture itself,
abounds with stone monuments — archaic enough to be
co-eval with the scenes and actors of whom we treat. The
conquering Nuad is said to have lost his hand in the battle,
and to have used a silver substitute, framed by the skill of
Credne' Cerd, that is, the Smith. The mutilation, however,
incapacitated him for the throne, in accordance with a law
which, in Ireland, debarred any one who had a personal
blemish from exercising regal functions. The story indicates,
at least, the mechanical skill possessed by the Tuath-De-
Danaans, which was so inexplicable to the vanquished
Firbolgs, that they considered their conquerors to be
necromancers or demons.

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 9

" The Battle of Moyture " has come down to us from
a period long prior to the twelfth century in the form of a
bardic tale; one of those romantic pieces which every
well-instructed poet was expected to have in readiness when
called on to entertain an assembly with song or recitation.
It is one of a large class of similar compositions, but dis-
tinguished from most others by affording tangible evidence
on a question of archaeological interest. In our great
museums the visitor may observe two classes of bronze
weapons, one being of broad, short and comparatively
clumsy proportions ; the other slender, elegant, and of the
leaf-bladed or classic form. The Tale of the Battle of
Moyture affords an unsuspected proof that, at whatever
time it was composed, the popular belief among the Irish
was, that weapons of the former class were peculiar to the
Firbolgs, and of the latter to the Tuath-De-Danaans. It
describes an interview between the scouts of the adverse
armies, who encounter one another in a solitude. They
plant their shields in the ground, and, from behind these
defences, commence their colloquy. Acquiring greater
confidence, they then proceed to examine one another's
arms, when the distinction we have mentioned is referred
to and commented on. Now it is a remarkable fact, that
in all the sepulchral mounds of the kindred Belgic tribes
of Britain, the broad, trowel-like blades only have been
found, while the classic form of weapon is common in
North Britain, through which Irish tradition brings the
De-Danaan invaders.

Two kings of the Tuath-De-Danaan race — Lir and Bove,
have been celebrated in bardic song. The Fate of the

IO THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Children of Lir * one of the "Three Sorrows of Song," has
inspired a poet in whose rendering of the legend the story is
given in modern form — not without an infusion of modern
sentiment — yet with exquisite tenderness and beauty. We
are told of the happy life led by King Lir, his queen, and
their children.

" Beings they seemed reserved for some great fate,
Mysterious, high, elect and separate."

The mother dies. Lir devotes himself to his children, but
after some time re-marries. His bride, the beautiful daughter
of King Bove, is possessor of magical power, and, jealous of
Lir's love for his children, changes them into swans.

" That night in dream King Lir had anguish sore,
And southward, ere the dawn, rode far away
With many a chief to see his babes once more
Beside Lough Derg ; and lo, at close of day
Nighing to Darvra's lake, the westering sun
In splendour on the advancing horsemen shone.

Straightway from that broad water's central stream
Was heard a clang of pinions and swift feet —

Unchanged at heart those babes had caught that gleam :
Instant from far had rushed, their sire to greet,

Spangling the flood with silver spray ; and ere

That sire had reached the margin they were there.

Then, each and all, clamorous they made lament,
Recounting all their wrong, and all their woe ;

And Lir, their tale complete, his garment rent,
Till then transfixed like marble shape ; and lo,

Three times, heart-grieved, that concourse raised their cry,

Piercing the centre of the low-hung sky.

* The Children of Lir, from " The Foray of Queen Meave," by
AUBREY DE VERB.

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. II

But Lir knelt down upon the shining sand,
And cried * Though great the might of Druid charms,

Return and feel once more your native land,
And find once more and fill your father's arms ! '

And they made answer : ' Till the Tailkenn come

We tread not land 1 The waters are our home ! '

But when Finola saw her father's grief
She added thus : ' Albeit our days are sad,

The twilight brings our pain in part relief :
And songs are ours by night that make us glad :

Yea, each that hears our music, though he grieve,

Rejoices more. Abide, for it is eve.'

So Lir and his, couched on the wave-lipped sod
All night ; and ever as those songs up swelled

A mist of sleep upon them fell from God,
And healing spirits converse with them held.

And Lir was glad all night : but with the morn

Anguish returned ; and thus he cried, forlorn :

1 Farewell ! The morn is come ; and I depart :
Farewell ! Not wholly evil are things ill 1

Farewell, Finola ! Yea, but in my heart

With thee I bide : there liv'st thou changeless still ;

0 Aodh ! O Fiacre ! the night is gone : —

Farewell to both ! Farewell, my little Conn.' "

The doom of the children is that they must be tossed
about the stormy waters of the Irish seas, till Christianity
should prevail over Paganism, and bells should sound over
the land to summon the Irish to Christian worship. Before
this blessed consummation three hundred years had to be
passed on the waters of Lake Darvra ; three hundred more
on the stormy seas of Moyle, which separate Scotland from

12 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Ireland ; and the last three hundred in the Atlantic waters
on Ireland's western coast :

" The years ran on : the centuries three went by :

Finola sang : ' The Second Woe is ended ! '
Obedient then, once more they soared on high ;
Next morn on Erin's western coast descended,
While sunrise flashed on misty isles far seen,
Now gold, now flecked with streaks of luminous green.

And there for many a winter they abode,
Harbouring in precincts of the setting sun ;

And mourned by day, yet sang at night their ode
As though in praise of some great victory won :

Some conqueror more than man ; some heavenly crown

Slowly o'er all creation settling down.

So thus those babes, in God's predestined hour,
Through help of Him, the Lord of Life and Death,

Inly fulfilled with light and prophet power,
Believed ; and perfect made their Act of Faith ;

And thenceforth all things both in shade and shine,

To them came softly and with touch benign.

Thenceforth they roamed no more, at Inisglaire
Their change awaiting. In its blissful prime

That island was, men say, as Eden fair,
The swan-soft nursling of a changeful clime,

With amaranth-lighted glades, and tremulous sheen,

Of trees full-flowered on earth no longer seen.

There dwelt those swans ; there louder anthems chanted ;

There first they sang by day — rapt song and hymn,
Till all those birds the western coast that haunted

Came flying far o'er ocean's purple rim,
Scorning thenceforth wild cliffs and beds of foam ;
And made then first, that sacred isle their home."

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 13

At last the great missionary Saint enters on his work and
Erin becomes a Christian land.

" Saint Patrick stretched above the wave his hand

And thus he spake— and wind and wave were stilled —
1 Children of Lir, re-tread your native land,

For now your long sea-penance is fulfilled ! '
Then lo ! Finola raised the funeral cry :
* We tread our native land that we may die ! ' "

The Fate of the Children of Lir forms the subject of one
of Moore's Irish Melodies, " Silent, oh Moyle." Finola is
the speaker :

" Sadly, oh Moyle, to thy winter- wave weeping,

Fate bids me languish long ages away ;
Yet still in her darkness doth Erin lie sleeping,

Yet still doth the pure light its dawning delay.
When will that day-star mildly springing,

Warm our Isle with peace and love ?
When will Heaven, its sweet bells ringing,

Call my spirit to the fields above ? "

A belief in the magical powers of these " God Tribes," as
the Tuath-De-Danaans were entitled, lingers in the country,
where the fairies are still supposed to be their repre-
sentatives. To them tradition ascribes the bringing in of
the Lia fail, or stone of destiny, on which the kings
of Ireland were inaugurated at Tara. The Lia fail is
commonly believed to exist at the present time, under the
coronation chair of the Sovereigns of the United Kingdom
in Westminster Abbey, having been brought thither from
Scone, where it has fulfilled a similar purpose for the
Scottish monarchs. Fergus, king of Scotland, of the

14 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Dalriadic (Irish) dynasty, sent for it from Tara, desiring to
be crowned on this stone of destiny, which secured, that
a sovereign of the Scotic race should never fail to sit on
the throne founde4 on it. The prophecy has not hitherto
failed in its accomplishment ; for Queen Victoria is a true
descendant of the Scotic line. Some of our antiquaries,
however, maintain that the Lia fail still remains at Tara,
and point to a standing pillar stone on a mound yet
remaining as the veritable Stone of Destiny.

For the name of the Green Isle itself, we are indebted to
this people, Eri being the name of a daughter of their race
— forming Erin in the genitive. Ogma, another of the same
family, is presumed to have given name to that species of
writing — called ogham — formed by notches on the edges of
stones : a form of record which certainly was in use about
the time of the introduction of Christianity ; while to the
Dagda, one of their kings, is ascribed the great barbaric tomb
on the banks of the Boyne, known as the mound of New
Grange. This monument still exists in perfect preservation.
It was opened and pillaged by the Danes, in the ninth cen-
tury of our era, in common with its neighbour tumuli of
Knowth and Dowth, and many other sepulchral monuments
in different parts of the country. The gold ornaments which
the ancient Irish buried with their illustrious dead, were, no
doubt, the temptation to the Viking freebooters. This vast
mound, covering nearly two acres in extent, and consisting
of a conical grass-covered cairn of small stones, and still
partly surrounded by a ring of majestic megaliths, is entered
by a passage formed of standing stones of considerable size,
guarded by a beautifully carved cill at the entrance. This

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 15

passage measures sixty-three feet in length, and leads to a
dome-roofed chamber. Almost every stone employed in the
construction of this, and of the smaller chambers which
open from it, is not only wonderful from its bulk, but is
carefully ornamented with carvings in spirals, lozenges, and
other rude, but not ungraceful figures. The plan of the
sepulchre is analogous in general design to the Egyptian
pyramids. The cairn of stones and clay covering the
chambers and passage, corresponds, in the Celtic tomb, with
the angular sloping mass of the pyramid. Bardic tradition
indicates this as the grave of The Dagda and his three sons.
This powerful monarch, " The Great Good Fire," is said to
have ruled for seventy years. His death is stated to have
been the result of a wound received long before at the battle
of the Northern Moytur6. His grandsons, called MacColl,
MacKeact, and MacGrene, because they are said to have
worshipped the hazel-tree (Coll), the ploughshare (Kedcf],
and the Sun (Grian), had for their respective wives, Banba,
Fola, and Eri, from whom our island obtained the names by
which it is known to the Bardic historians. The objects of
worship ascribed to the husbands of these ladies may
indicate an advancing civilization and practice of the arts of
agriculture.

But a fresh invasion of Erin by another swarm of Celto-
Scythic wanderers was impending, and the Tuath-De-Danaan
were now to be superseded as a dominant race, by the
Milesian immigrants, after they had ruled in Ireland for nigh
two hundred years.

The Scoti or Gael, according to their traditions, like the
previous colonizers of Erin, traced their descent from Magog,

1 6 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

son of Japhet. Unlike the Firbolgs and Tuath-De-Danaans,
who passed through Greece on their western route, this
wave of Celtic immigrants from their common home in
Central Asia, claim to have come by way of Scythia, Egypt,
and Spain. Under leadership of Breogan, they won for
themselves a footing in Spain, and founded, say the bards,
the city of Brigantiurn, near Corunna, in Galicia. These
adventurers, according to their descendants' story (for we
must remember we are still in the region of tradition), im-
pelled by famine, which at that time ravaged Spain, resolved
to seek a new country, and as a preliminary step, sent forth
Ith, son of Breogan, to visit Ireland. He is said to have
seen the island, like a cloud on the horizon, from the watch-
tower of Brigantiurn. The solitary vessel of Ith, with its crew
of one hundred and fifty men, landed in the north of Ireland.
He found himself able to converse with the people of the
country in their common Gaelic tongue. He informed them
that he had landed from stress of weather only, without any
intention of settling in the country, but hearing that the three
grandsons of the Dagda, of whom we have already spoken,
were quarrelling among themselves, and desired his services
as umpire, he advanced to meet them, and having made his
award, reproved them for their strife, praising the fruitfulness
of the soil of Erin, and its happy temperature.

Ith had set out on his return to his ship, when the Tuath-
De-Danaan kings, alarmed by his praises of their country,
which they thought indicated a probable return to their shores
with a larger armament, followed, and attacked him on the
shores of Lough Foyle. Ith placed himself in the rear of his
little army, and bravely protected their retreat to the ship,

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 17

He was, however, mortally wounded in the fight, but his
people carried his corpse to Spain, where his kinsmen, the
sons of his nephew Golamh, better known by his bardic name
of Miled, the grandson of Breogan, excited by the outrage,
resolved to avenge his death, and this is the tale of their
expedition as told us by the bards.

The Milesians, with a fleet of thirty ships, each ship carry-
ing thirty warriors, their wives, and attendants, eight of the
leaders being sons of Miled, n eared the Irish coast. The
magical lore of the Tuath-De-Danaans was employed to raise
a mist, and the spell-bound voyagers were compelled to sail
round the island before they were able to land. This
accomplished, they marched on Tara, and there encountered
the three sovereigns, attended by their magicians. They
demanded quiet possession of the country, or battle.
MacColl, MacKeact, and MacGrene, unprepared for either
alternative, offered to abide by the decision of Amergin, one
of the sons of Miled, who pronounced that the Milesians
should again put to sea, for a distance of nine waves or tonns,
and then attempt a landing. Should the Tuath-De-Danaans
fail in preventing this, they were bound by the award of
Amergin to yield the sovereignty of Ireland to the invaders.
The Gael were no sooner on the ocean than their fleet was
scattered by a storm raised by the magical arts of the Tuath-
De-Danaans. The greater number of their ships were
wrecked, and their leader perished in the waves. Eber and
Eremon, surviving sons of Miled, however, effected a land-
ing, and in an engagement at Tailti (supposed to be Teltown
in Meath), completely subdued the Tuath-De-Danaan princes,
who perished with their wives, Eri, Banba, and Fola. Two

C

1 8 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

chieftains of the victorious Gael fell in the pursuit, whose
deaths we record, as they gave names to districts long
celebrated in Irish heroic sLory ; Cuailgnd (now Cooley), in
Louth, and the mountainous tract Slieve Fuad (now the
Fews), in the county of Armagh. Such is the story of the
Milesian or Scotic immigration ; obviously not so old, in its
present form, as the events which it purports to relate, but
still a tale of very high antiquity ; and characterized by one
of the earliest traits of that chivalrous spirit which has so
strongly marked the Romantic school of European literature.
From these invaders the Irish historians deduce the whole
series of their kings, with one temporary interruption only,
down to the end of the native Irish monarchy in the person
of Roderick O'Conor A.D. 1172.

.The victorious leaders of the Scoti partitioned the island.
Munster was assigned to Eber, Leinster and Connaught to
Eremon. while Ulster was given to Eber, son of Ir, who had
survived the shipwreck in which his father was drowned.
Lugaid, son of Ith, the pioneer of the Milesians, had a
territory in Munster assigned to him. It is from these suc-
cessful adventurers that most of our native Irish familes claim
to trace their descent. But it is singular that while these
Milesian representatives abound, and families with Firbolgic
ancestors are not unknown, no race, clan, or family existing
at the present time are reputed to have Tuath-De-Danaan
blood in their veins.

Of the early kings of the Scotic race, the principal are
Er-mon, in whose time a body of Picts. a cousin-tribe of
the Firbolg, arriving in Ireland obtained wives of the ruling
race for their nevy settlements in the north of Britain on the

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 1 9

stipulation that their monarchy should thenceforth descend
in the female as well as in the male line.

Tiernmas, of the race of Eremon, was a prominent king
He is said to have introduced the public worship of idols
Crom Cruach, a hideous idol, surrounded by twelve smallei
divinities, was worshipped with cruel rites on the plain ol
Moy Slaght, in that part of the ancient territory of Breffny
which now constitutes the county of Cavan. Tiernmas
was the introducer of those parti-coloured garments now
represented by the tartan of the Scottish Gael. The dress
of a slave was limited by him to one colour ; a peasant was
permitted to have two; a soldier or a noble, three ; while
four colours were allotted to the keeper of a house of hos-
pitality; five to a chieftain, and six might adorn the robes
of a king or a queen. It is recorded that this sovereign
possessed among his household a refiner of gold, and^we
may not improbably trace to this period some part of that
excellence of workmanship in the precious metals for which
the Irish were so long celebrated, and of which such
numerous and varied specimens exist in our National
Museum. . <jj"J?

A more advanced state of civilization is indicated by the
character of legislator ascribed tp*Qlav^ola, a prince of the
race of Ir, who instituted the Convention of Tara. This
national assembly was held every third year, and to it were
summoned the classes illustrious in rank and learning. The
monarch entertained all comers for six days, endeavouring,
in the exercise of this frank hospitality, to promote good
feeling and friendly relations among his subordinate chief-
tains. An examination and verification of laws, pedigrees

20 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

and annals is said to have been one dutyperformed by the
antiquarians, bards and sages who assembled at the Feis of
Tara, but whether these were recorded in writing or orally
recited does not appear. Other assemblies of the same
character were held at stated periods throughout thft
subordinate territories. Of these the most noted were the
great fairs of Tailtin in Meath, and Carman in Wexford.
Vast multitudes resorted to these (Enactfs, as they were
called, for the sake not only of commerce and amusement,
but for the purpose of having new laws promulgated, local
annals, titles and pedigrees examined, and rival bardic poems
rehearsed. As in Greece, many of these assemblies had
their beginnings in funeral games celebrated at the obsequies
of distinguished personages, as at Tailtin, dating back to the
time of the Tuath-De-Danaan King Lugaid, who established
those games in honour of his deceased Queen Tailti. These
"Lug-nasa" or "games of Lugaid" were celebrated on
the ist of August, which hence takes its designation of
" Lammas " day.

It may readily be supposed that a people, with whom the
transmission of property, and indeed their entire social
system, depended on genealogical accuracy, would guard,
by every possible means, against the intrusion of error or
corruption into the pedigrees, which were the title-deeds of
every freeman. The invariable custom of naming the father,
grandfather, and even more remote ancestor, of each in-
dividual who is the subject of the bard or senachie's pen,
shows how important family descent was held by the Gael.
Their usage of gavelkind, too, while it divided the property
of a deceased parent equally among all his sons, and resulted

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 21

in that minute subdivision which has been, on the whole,
injurious to the progress of civilization and centralization, yet
promoted the free development of the individual, and that
consciousness of equality which has borne fruit in the cour-
teous consideration for others, resulting from self-respect,
which to our own day is so striking in the Celtic races.
Michelet, in speaking of this law of equality and equitable
division, which characterized the Celts of Franc© as well as
those of Ireland and Scotland, observes : " As this 4aw of
precious equality has been the ruin of these races, let it be
their glory also, and secure to them at least the pity and
respect of the nations to whom they so early showed so fine
an ideal."

While the Norman genius developed the feudal system,
the Celtic developed that of the clan, which was formed on
the family type. Their kings were head of the family, and
held in patriarchal fashion their council-courts in the open
air, with the advice and assent of their clansmen, who in the
lands belonging to the tribe had their equal and indefeasible
rights ; nor could the sovereign resort to war without their
aid and concurrence. The sovereignty was elective in person,
though hereditary in blood. When vacant, it was to descend,
according to their law of Tanistry, to '4 the oldest and most
worthy man of the same name and blood." The Tanisf, or
heir-apparent, was generally, but not necessarily, the eldest
son of the reigning monarch, while the younger members of
the family were designated Roydamna, or "king-material."
The Tanist was generally named at the time when the chief
king was elected. To this law of Tanistry may be ascribed,
in part, those violent deaths which closed the career of so

22 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

many Irish kings. This, with that tendency to subdivision
which split the country into several petty states, each with
its separate ruler, who rendered very equivocal allegiance
to the Ard Righy or supreme monarch, resulted in that
turbulence and incessant party strife which, to so great an
extent, form the subject of the Irish and other early West-
European annals.

The professions of Druid, Bard, and Brehon were, in the
main, hereditary. The former combined the offices of priest
and physician; the Bards were the poets and historians;
while the Brehons transmitted and administered that code
of laws which is known by their name, and which, in its
modes of procedure, is found to bear an unexpected re-
semblance in many points to the Common Law of England,
both being probably to a great extent sprung from the same
primitive original.

The custom of fosterage was general, families of rank
undertaking the nursing and training in manly exercises of the
children of their chiefs. The mutual attachments which
sprang up between the foster parents, brothers, and sisters,
and the scion of noble race who had passed his childhood
with them, was one of the strongest feelings of the Irish
heart, and led to innumerable instances of devotion which
are scarcely intelligible to us at the present day.

But it may be inquired, what .tangible remains still exist
of these ancient times ? They are not few nor unsuggestive.
In addition to the bardic traditions which have so far occupied
us, we possess in the Celtic tongue itself, the oldest spoken
language in Europe, a means whereby we can "repeople
the past" Its importance, in a philological point of view,

THE MYTHICAL PEfclOD. 2J

is second only to that of Sanscrit, a kindred tongue ; for we
must not forget that the Hindus are a primitive emanation
of that Aryan race, moving southwards from their cradle in
central Asia, of whom the Celts are the earliest western off-
shoots. Sanscrit ceased to be a spoken language some 300
years before the Christian era, very much about the period
to which we have now brought the history of the Celts of
Ireland. But the valuable knowledge to be gained from the
Irish tongue is not lost to us, for its written literature exists
to our day, and is now, for the first time, diligently studied
by competent scholars, both native and continental. Few,
indeed, are the men qualified to explore the mine of wealth
which belongs to us in the Western Gaelic language. Its
greatest Irish interpreters have recently been removed by
death. < But other labourers daily arise amongst us. German
and French scholars are now pioneering the way for Con-
tinental inquiry, and even taking up their abode in Irish-
speaking districts to familiarize themselves with the use of
this new key to philological and ethnological knowledge.
Let us hope that among ourselves prejudices, ignorances,
and apathetic indifference to Irish subjects may pass away,
and in their stead the desire to do noble work for home
and country inspire in the breasts of Irishmen strenuous
efforts to learn more and do more for the honour of their
native land.

In Ireland, also, to a greater extent thajj elsewhere, exist/-
ing remains, such as raths, forts, duns, caRFels, cairns, and
cromlechs, abound on all sides, to instruct the antiquarian
inquirer. Our National museums and libraries, too, are rich
in objects of interest illustrating this early period -: — stone.

£4 1'HE IRISH BEFORE -THE CONQUEST.

bronze, and iron weapons, gold and silver ornaments, speci-
mens of work in metals, together with manuscripts of great
importance, and among these the most exquisite examples
which Europe can show of illuminated art. On Irish soil
may yet be examined the very oldest erections of western
Europe, from the rude cranogues, or lacustrine habitations,
built on piles artificially planted in shallow lakes, to the
earthern forts and stone Cyclopean duns, of the pagan period,
such as we have already described ; the frequent cromlech,
also, of unhewn stones, sometimes of enormous bulk ; the
tumulus, with its central stone chamber, often adorned with
hieroglyphical carvings, pillar-stones with ogham inscrip-
tions ; Christian churches, cells, stone huts, and graceful
round towers; and sculptured crosses, all works of a
primitive time, and characteristic of a pure, unmixed, and
isolated race.

And not on Irish soil only have the Gael of Ireland left
their traces. From the sixth century of the Christian era,
Irish missionaries have been the evangelizers of Scotland and
of France; have laboured in the spiritual harvest, in England,
Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Italy. The Irish
saint, Columba, was the founder of the monastic establish-
ment on Hy, or lona; "that illustrious island, once the
luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage tribes
and roving barbarians derived the benefits of civilization— the
blessings of religion;" From lona went forth Saint Aidan,
the converter of the Northumbrian kingdom of his day, and
founder of Lindistarne. Saint Columbanus, another Irish-
man, evangelized eastern France. His disciple, Saint Gall,
instructed the Swiss in the truths of Christianity. Colum-

THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 'U4 2$

banus established not only the early seats of piety and
learning at Luxeuil and elsewhere, in Burgundy, but the
Irish monastery also of Bobbio, in Italy. It would be tedious
to extend this enumeration of illustrious names ; the deeds
of these, and other benefactors of the world, will occupy us
in due time, when we have first considered that earlier and
most picturesque period of Irish story, whose pagan tra-
ditions, with " tramp of heroes in them," fill and delight
the imagination.

These enchanting themes, partly true, partly fabulous,
but wholly heroic, poetic, noble, and naive, will form the
subject of succeeding chapters. The race whose deeds we
would chronicle, have been named by the classic writers,
Celts. They did not so designate themselves ; both in Ire-
land and Scotland they called themselves Gael, and have
ever been distinguished by a strong sentiment of nationality.
We shall take leave of them for the present with this
" Salutation " : *

Hail to our Celtic brethren, wherever they may be,
In the far woods of Oregon, or o'er the Atlantic Sea —
Whether they guard the banner of St. George in Indian vales,
Or spread beneath the nightless north experimental sails,

One in name and in fame

Are the sea-divided Gaels.

Tho' fallen the state of Erin, and changed the Scottish land,
Tho' small the power of Mona, tho' unwaked Llewellyn's band ;
Tho' Ambrose Merlin's prophecies degenerate to tales,
And the cloisters of lona are bemoaned by northern gales,

One in name and in fame

Are the sea-divided Gaels.

By the Hon. T. D. M'GEE.

20 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

In northern Spain and Brittany our Brethren also dwell,
Oh ! brave are the traditions of their fathers that they tell ;
The eagle and the crescent in the dawn of history pales,
Before their fire that seldom flags, and never wholly fails.

One in name and in fame

Are the sea- divided Gaels.

A greeting and a promise unto them all we send —
Their character our charter is, their glory is our end —
Their friend shall be our friend, our foe whoe'er assails
The past or future honours of the far-dispersed Gaels.

One in name and in fame

Are the sea-divided Gaels.

Great discrepancies of date exist in the earlier successions.
This will appear the less surprising when it is remembered
that the annalist Tigernach, a writer of the earlier part of the
nth century, declares at the commencement of his work,
that before the date of Kimbaoth all the records of the
Scots were uncertain. For this reason the present chapter
embracing the mythical period, ends with his accession. In
the appended list of the principal events of this early period
the chronology of O'Flaherty is adopted.

B.C.
Arrival of Parthol an ... ... ... ... 1981

„ The Nemedhians ... ... ... 1711

„ The Firbolgs ... ... 1293

„ The Tuath-De-Danaan ... ... ... 1213

„ The Scoti, Gael or Milesians )
reign of Eber and Erimon )
„ Reign of Tiernmas ... ... ... 939

,, Reign of Olav Fola ... ... 714

,, Reign of Aedh Ruidh (Hugh Roe) > ... 368

Dithorba and Kimbaoth ) ... 354

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 27

CHAPTER II.

THE HEROIC PERIOD.
FROM KIMBAOTH B.C. 354, TO CONARI MOR, A.D. I.

The alternate sovereignty of Kimbaoth and his brothers — Macha's claim
to succeed her father— Her conquests — Foundation of Emania —
Cova's usurpation — Story of Lavra Maen and Moria — Conor
MacNessa reigning at Emania — The Knights of the Red Branch — •
The abdication of Fergus MacRoy — Maev, Queen of Connaught —
Story of the sons of Usnach — Story of the Tain-bo- Cuailgn€ — The
" Pillow Conversation " of Ailill and Maev— The " Boy Feats " of
Cuchullin — The "Naming of Cuchullin" — How he took arms —
His heroic conduct— His combat with Ferdiah— The heroes of the
Tain-bo- Cuailgnt— His courtship of Eimer — The story of Blanaid—
-Cuchullin's combat with his unknown son — Story of Atharne — Story
of Mesgedra and Conall Carnach — Chivalrous traits in both
characters — Death of Conor MacNessa — Story of the healing of
Conall Carnach — Chivalrous conduct of Bealcu — Deaths of Conall,
Fergus MacRoy, and Maev— Chronological Table.

WE. have sketched the mythical period of Irish story as far
as the reign of Olav Fola. This wise lawgiver and ruler was
of the race of Ir, that son of Miled or Milesius, who perished
in the storm evoked in the magical arts of the Tuath-De-
Danaans. It will be remembered that, according to the
decision of Amergin, the invaders had again put to sea, and
retired to the distance of " nine waves " from the Irish
coast, when the storm evoked by the magical incantations of
the De-Danaan Druids assailed them.

Ir, we are told, was buried on the Skellig rocks, off the
coast of Kerry. There the cairn which bears his name —
probably one of the oldest sepulchral monuments in the

28 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

western world — may be seen to this day. His posterity, in
common with the descendants of his more fortunate brothers
Eber and Eremon, gave kings to Ireland. From these
three sons of Miled, and their cousin Lugaid, son c.f Ith,
the great Irish families trace their pedigrees. From Lugaid
claim to descend the O'Driscdlls, and other families in the
south of Ireland. Eber is the progenitor claimed by the
Munster Clans, the MacCarthys, O'Briens, &c. From
Eremon, the O'Donnells, O'Neills, O'Conors, MacMurroughs,
and other great races in Ulster, Connaught and Leinster
claim descent : while the Magenises and their kindred who
ruled in that part of Ulster constituting the present counties
of Antrim and Down, then called Uladh or Ulidia, derive
their genealogy from Ir.

About 400 years before Christ, three princes Aedh Ruidh,
or Hugh the Red, Dithorba, and Kimbaoth, the sons of
three brothers, claimed equal right to the throne. A com-
pact, by which it was stipulated that they should rule
alternately for seven years, was confirmed we are told, by
the guarantee of seven Druids, seven Poets, and seven
Champions; "the seven Druids to crush them by their
incantations, the seven Poets to lacerate them by their
satires, the seven young Champions to slay and burn them,
should the proper man of them not receive the sovereignty
at the end of each seventh year." This compact prevailed
till each had reigned three times in his turn. Aedh Roe
was drowned in the cataract of the Erne at Ballyshannon,
where the falls at Assaroe still preserve his name.

His daughter, Macha, the red-haired, claimed her turn of
the sovereignty in his stead, but Dithorba and Kimbaoth

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 29

refused to recognise any claim of succession in a woman.
Macha, an Amazonian princess, raised an army, and defeated
her opponents in battle.. Dithorba was slain, and his sons
exiled. Macha, in her turn rejected their claims to the
succession ; she married Kimbaoth, and so disposed of all
competitors except the exiled princes. She again defeated
them in battle, enslaved and compelled them to erect for
her the great fort of Emania. This spot adjoins Armagh
on the west, and is now called the Navan fort. She
marked out the site for her stronghold, says the tale, with
her golden brooch, from whence one fanciful derivation of
the name Eo-muin, a pin of the neck. After a lapse of more
than two thousand years, the remains of this noble fort —
for part of it has been destroyed by neighbouring farmers,
who coveted the soil for agricultural purposes — still exist,
and cover upwards of eleven acres of land. This space is
enclosed by a rampart of earth, and deep fosse and dry
ditch. On the summit of the elevated and fortified ground
stands a smaller circular fort. Another may also be traced
on a slope of the hill, being both protected by the great
rampart. The spot well repays a visit. From* its elevated
position an extensive prospect of the fine country around
Armagh, stretching far away to the Fews mountains, may be
obtained. Here we stand on a fortress of the Celt, which
has had a history for upwards of two thousand years. The
adjoining townland of Creeve Roe preserves the name,
and designates the site, of the " House of the Red Branch,"
a species of military college in which the Ulster warriors
were wont to assemble in those old heroic days, and were
trained to deeds of prowess and daring.

30 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Macha survived her husband, Kimbaoth seven years, ruling
Ireland in undisputed sovereignty, till she was slain by
Rectaid. Her death was avenged by her foster son, Ugaine
M<5r, or The Great, of the race of Eremon, whose long and
prosperous reign made his name illustrious in the native
annals. If we may credit their testimony, Ugaine levied
tribute in districts of Britain, and even of the continent of
Europe. Knowledge was cultivated in his time, and his
sons were " full of learning ; " one of them being " author of
many bard-maxims." Ugaine endeavoured to secure the
throne to his own family, exacting from his subjects an oath,
" by the sun and moon, the sea, the dew, and colours, and
all the elements visible and invisible," that the sovereignty
of Erin should not be taken from his descendants for ever.
For many generations his offspring, though stained with the
blood of kindred, held the supreme authority ; but after the
lapse of about three hundred years, the races of Ir and Eber
again became paramount.

Leary Lore and Cova, sons of Ugaine' M<5r by Kesair, a
Gallic princess, succeeded him ; Cova obtained the sole
sovereignty by the assassination of his brother, which he
accomplished by treachery of a very base kind. Being af
Dinree on the Barrow, he feigned sickness, and was visited
by Leary, who received his death-blow from Cova's dagger,
as he leaned over the pretended sick man. Cova consum-
mated his cruelty by the murder of Leary's family, sparing
only Maen, who, being dumb, was incapable of reigning.

Maen passed his childhood at Dinree, under the guardian-
ship of Ferkertne the poet, and Grafting the harper of Cova.
AS he grew into manhood he became distinguished for his

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 31

personal beauty, and in a moment of excessive indignation
at an insult offered him by a companion, suddenly acquired
the power of speech. The Bards by a play on the words,
"Labhra Maen!" — (Maen speaks) — derive his subsequent
name of Lavra Maen from this supposed exclamation ,of the
bystanders who witnessed the scene. Cova having heard
of the event, summoned the young prince and his attendants
to Tara, and finding that he was dangerous from his popu-
larity and munificence sent him and his companions into
banishment. The Bards tell a romantic story of his subse-
quent adventures in which Ferkertne and Craftine aid his
fortunes by the combined powers of poetry and music. His
wanderings ended by his obtaining the services of a body of
Gaulish mercenaries at whose head he returned to Ireland,
and having stormed the stronghold of Dinree, to which Cova
had retired, put that cruel king to death, and reigned in his
stead. From his over-sea adventures he is also called
Lavra Loingsech, or " the mariner."

He is claimed as the ancestor of all the Lagenian, or
Leinster families of the race of Eremon, with the exception
of the O'Nolans, who descend from Cova. The province of
Laighen, Leinster, owes its name to him, being so-called
from the Laighn'e or Spears, with broad heads, which his
followers introduced. A story similar to that of King Midas
is told of Lavra. His ears resembled those of a horse ; the
barber, who became aware of the fact, had his life
spared only on promise of inviolable secrecy. Unable to
remain silent, he whispered his tale to a willow.' The willow
was cut down and formed into a harp, and the harp mur-
mured forth the secret, " Lavra Loingsech has the ears of a.

32 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

horse." Other descendants of the great Ugaine, with
occasional successions from the lines of Ir and Eber,
occupied the throne after Lavra's death, of whom there is
nothing memorable to relate, until the advent of Rury, son
of Sitric of the Irian family whose posterity were afterwards-
distinguished as the Rudrician Kings of Ulster. His grand-
son Fathna Fathach (the wise) having been slain by Eochaid-
Feliah, of the Eremonian race, was, according to the custom-
ary course of these times, succeeded by him in the monarchy.
At this epoch as we approach the Christian era, we enter
on events and find ourselves among personages of somewhat
more distinct outline and character. Eochaid having a
daughter Maev (Medf) — the future Semiramis of the Irish
story — who had already been espoused to Conor, King of
Ulster, wedded her afterwards to Tinne, a petty king whom he
set up over the provincial principality of Connaught. He
erected a fort for her residence near the present village of
Tulsk to which, after the name of her mother Cruacha she
gave the name Rath Cruachain, the same Rath Croghan which
may still be seen among the wide-spreading pastures of Ros-
common. The Gamauradii a remnant of the old Firbolg
population of the west of Mayo were the builders, and
afterwards supplied the levies of Maev with some of her
most puissant warriors. At the same time that Connaught
thus recovered its position as one of the parts of the old
Pentarchate, suppressed or obliterated for a time, by Ugaine
M6r, Emania, the chief seat of Ulster, also became the
centre of renewed local power and rude splendour. Here,
after the death of Macha, a succession of petty kings had
continuously held the government of Ulster. Of these

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 33

Fathna had left a beautiful widow, Nessa, and a youthful
son Conor, known by his mother's name as Conor
MacNessa. Fergus, also known by the name of his mother,
as Fergus MacRoy, elected to the succession after Fathna's
death, espoused Nessa, and ruled at Emania, until sup-
planted by the superior abilities of Conor under circum-
stances described in the following verses : —

THE ABDICATION OF FERGUS MACROY.

Once, ere God was crucified,
I was king o'er Uladh wide :
King, by law of choice and birth,
O'er the fairest realm of earth.

I was head of Rury's race ;
Emain was my dwelling-place ;
Right and Might were mine ; nor less
Stature, strength, and comeliness.

* * * *

Such was I, when, in the dance,
Nessa did bestow a glance,
And my soul that moment took
Captive in a single look.

" Lady, in thy smiles to live,
Tell me but the boon to give,
Yea I lay in gift complete
Crown and sceptre at thy feet."

** Not so much the boon I crave :
Hear the wish my soul would have,"
And she cast a loving eye
On her young son standing by.

34 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

" Conor is of age to learn ;
Wisdom is a king's concern ;
Conor is of royal race ;
Yet may sit in Fathna's place,

'• Therefore, king, if thou wouldst prove
That I have indeed thy love,
On the judgment seat permit
Conor by thy side to sit.

" That by use the youth may draw
Needful knowledge of the Law."
I with answer was not slow,
" Be thou mine, and be it so." *

Fergus, happy in the society of the beautiful Nessa,
allowed himself to be gradually superseded by his youthful
substitute ; and ultimately Conor acquired too firm a hold on
the popular favour to be dislodged from the sovereignty.

Conor had taken for his first wife that Maev of whom we
have above spoken. From her he soon separated, and
Maev then united herself with Tinne, and afterwards with
Olliol, or Ailill, successive provincial kings of Connaught.
At Rath Croghan she was surrounded by warriors of the old
Firbolg race, who cherished an hereditary animosity against
the tribes of Ulster. Amongst them were Bealcu (Bayal-cu)
Keth son of Magach, a mighty slinger, and Ferdiah, from
western Erris, a champion of the Gamauradii versed in all
the warlike accomplishments of the period. These Ferdiah
had learned in the school of the Amazon Scathain the north
of Scotland where he had been a fellow-pupil of Cuchullin

* From Lays of the Western Gad, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 35

the most famous of Conor's heroes. To this band of
western warriors, Fergus MacRoy afterwards joined himself.
He had remained faithful to Conor until revolted by the
latter's violation of the guarantee of safe conduct which
Fergus had given to certain exiles whom Conor had recalled
from banishment, in order to possess himself of the person
ofDeirdre, a beautiful damsel, destined for himself, who had
eloped with their leader Naisi, son of Usnach. In the story
of the Sons of Usnach the heroic and pathetic elements are
admirably presented ; the characters are drawn with force,
delicacy and distinctness. Historically, however, it con-
tributes nothing to our knowledge, unless possibly some
explanation of the fact that in the battles which were sub-
sequently waged between Ailill and Maev on one side and
Conor on the other, Fergus and other Ulster warriors took
part against their former sovereign : Conor, on his side, is
represented as having th . support of the military order or
brotherhood of the Knignts of the Red Branch, a powerful
organization numbering in its ranks Leary Buadach (the Vic-
torious), Keltar son of Uitachar (whose stronghold of Rath-
Keltar still exists at Downpatrick), Conall Carnach, and,
most famous of all, Cuchullin, for whom we may fairly
claim an historic existence, as we find him recorded in the
authentic annals under the description of "fortissimus heros
Scotorum."

In the cycle of romance of which King Conor MacNessa
is the central figure, the first of the " woes " of Irish story is
the tale of the " Death of the Children of Usnach," which
"hath delighted more princes, and nobles, and honourable
audiences, then any other story of Milesian times." Its

36 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

heroine is Deirdre, the fair girl whom King Conor brought
up in seclusion for his destined bride. Her name, Deirdre,
signifying alarm, had been bestowed at her birth by the
Druid Cathbad, and was prophetic of the long train of con-
flict and disaster to which her charms gave rise. Notwith-
standing the precautions of Conor, she saw and loved Naisi,
the son of Usnach. He was sitting in the midst of the plain
of Emania, playing on a harp. Sweet was the music of the
sons of Usnach — great also was their prowess; they were
fleet as hounds in the chase — they slew deer with their
speed. As Naisi sat singing on the plain of Emain he
perceived a maiden approaching him. She held down
her head as she came near him, and would have
passed in silence. " Gentle is the damsel who passeth by,"
said Naisi. Then the maiden looking up, replied, " Damsels
may well be gentle when there are no youths." Then Naisi
knew it was Deirdre, and great dread fell upon him. " The
king of the province is betrothed to thee, oh damsel," he
said. " I love him not," she replied ; " he is an aged man.
I would rather love a youth like thee." " Say not so, oh
damsel," said Naisi, "the king is a better spouse than the
king's servant." " Thou sayest so," said Deirdre, " that thou
mayest avoid me." Then plucking a rose from a briar, she
flung it towards him, and said, " Now thou art ever disgraced
if thou rejectest me." *' Depart from me, I beseech thee,
damsel," said Naisi. "If thou dost not take me to be thy
wife," said Deirdre, " thou art dishonoured before all the men
of thy country after what I, have done." Then Naisi said no
more, and -Deirdre took the harp, and sat beside him play-
ing sweetly. But the other sons, of Usnach, rushing forth,

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 37

came running to the spot where Naisi sat, and Deirdre with
him. "Alas!" they cried, "what has thou done, oh
brother? Is not this damsel fated to ruin Ulster?" <ll
am disgraced before the men of Erin for ever," said Naisi,
" if I take her not after that which she hath done." " Evil
will come of it," said the brothers. " I care not," said Naisi.
<4 1 had rather be in misfortune than in dishonour; we will fly
with her to another country." So that night they departed,
taking with them three times fifty men of might, and
three times fifty women, and three times fifty greyhounds,
and three times fifty attendants : and Naisi took Deirdre to
be his wife.

After wandering through various parts of Ireland, " from
Easroe to Ben Edar, and from Dundelgan to Almain," the
fugitives at length took shelter in Scotland, where they found
an asylum on the banks of Loch Etive. The loss of three
warriors of such repute soon began to be felt by the nobles
of Ulster, who found themselves no longer able to make head
with their accustomed success against the southern provinces.
They therefore urged Conor to abandon his resentment, and
recal the fugitives. Conor, with no other intention than
that of repossessing himself of Deirdre, feigned compliance.
But, to induce Clan Usnach (as the fugitives were called) to
trust themselves again in the hands of him whom their leader
had so outraged, it was necessary that the message of pardon
should be borne by one on whose warranty of safe conduct
the most implicit reliance could be placed. After sounding
some of his chief nobles who were of sufficient authority to
undertake the mission, among the rest Cuchullin, and find-
ing that any attempt to tamper with them would be unavailing,

38 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Conor fixes on Fergus, the son of Roy, as a more likely
instrument, and commits the embassy to him. But though
he does not so much fear the consequences of compromis-
ing the safe conduct of Fergus, as of Cuchullin or the others,
he yet does not venture openly to enlist him in the meditated
treachery, but proceeds by a stratagem which, in these days,
may appear somewhat far-fetched, yet probably was not
inconsistent with the manners of that time. Fergus was of
the order of the Red Branch, and the brethren of the Red
Branch were under vow not to refuse hospitality at one
another's hands. Conor, therefore, arranged with Barach,
one of his minions, and a brother of the order, to intercept
Fergus on his return, by the tender of a three days' banquet,
well knowing that the Clan Usnach must in that case proceed
to Emania without the presence of their protector. Mean-
while Fergus, arriving in the harbour of Loch Etive, where
dwelt Clan Usnach in green hunting booths along the shore,
" sends forth the loud cry of a mighty man of chase." Then
follows a characteristic passage : — " Deirdre and Naisi sat
together in their tent, and Conor's polished chessboard
between them. And Naisi, hearing the cry, said, ' I hear the
call of a man of Erin.* * That was not the call of a man of
Erin,' replied Deirdre, 'but the call of a man of Alba.'
Then again Fergus shouted a second time. ' Surely that
was the call of a man of Erin,' said Naisi. 'Surely no,'
said Deirdre ; ' let us play on.1 Then again Fergus shouted
a third time, and Naisi knew that it was the cry of Fergus,
and he said ' If the son of Roy be in existence, I hear
his hunting-shout from the loch ; go forth, Ardan,, my
brother, and give our kinsman welcome,' 'Alas ! ' cried

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 39

Deirdre, 1 1 knew the call of Fergus from the first.' " For
she has a prophetic dread that foul play is intended them,
and this feeling never subsides in her breast from that hour
till the catastrophe. Quite different are the feelings of Naisi ;
he reposes the most unlimited confidence in the safe conduct
vouched for by his brother in arms, and, in spite of the re-
monstrances of Deirdre, embarks with all his retainers for
Ireland. Deirdre, on leaving the only secure or happy home
she ever expects to enjoy, sings a pathetic farewell to fair
Alba, the mountain, cliff, and dun, and her green sheeling on
the shores of Glen-Etive.

Harp, take my bosom's burthen on thy string,
And, turning it to sad, sweet melody,
Waste and disperse it on the careless air.

Air, take the harp -string's burthen on thy breast,
And, softly thrilling soulward through the sense,
Bring my love's heart again in tune with mine.

Bless'd were the hours when, heart in tune with heart,
My love and I desired no happier home
Than Etive's airy glades and lonely shore.

Alba, farewell ! Farewell, fair Etive bank!
Sun kiss thee; moon caress thee ; dewy stars
Refresh thee long, dear scene of quiet days ! *

Barach meets them on their landing, near Dunseverick on
the coast of Antrim, and detains Fergus, who reluctantly
assigns his charge to his two sons, Red Buine Borb and

* From " Deirdre," Poems by Sir S. FERGUSON.

4O THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQtJEST.

Ulan Finn, to conduct them in safety to their journey's end.
beirdre's fears are more and more excited ; she has dreams
and visions of disasters. She urges Naisi to go to
Dunseverick or to Dundelgan (Dundalk, the residence of
Cuchullin), and there await the coming up of Fergus. Naisi
is inflexible. It would injure the honour of his companion
in arms to admit any apprehension of danger while under
his pledge of safe conduct. The omens multiply. Deirdre's
sense of danger becomes more and more acute. Still Naisi's
reply is, " I fear not ; let us proceed." At length they reach
Emania, and are assigned the house of the Red Branch for
their lodging. Calm, and to all appearance unconscious of
any cause for apprehension, Naisi takes his place at the
chess-table, and Deirdre, full of fears, sits opposite. Mean-
while the king, knowing that Deirdre was again within his
reach, could not rest at the banquet, but sends spies to bring
him word " if her beauty yet lived upon her." The first
messenger, friendly to Clan Usnach, reports that she is "quite
bereft of her own aspect, and is lovely and desirable no
longer." This allays Conor's passion for a time; but grow-
ing heated with wine, he shortly after sends another
messenger, who brings back the intelligence, that not only
is Deirdre " the fairest woman on the ridge of the world,"
but that he himself has been wounded by Naisi, who had
resented his gazing in at the window of the Red Branch, by
flinging a chess-man at his head, and dashing out one of his
eyes. This was all that Conor wanted ; he starts up in pre-
tended indignation at the violence done his servant, calls his
bodyguard, and attacks the Red Branch. The defence now
devolves on the sons of Fergus. Clan Usnach scorn to

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 41

evince alarm, or interfere in any way with the duties of their
protectors. But Deirdre cannot conceal her consciousness
that they are betrayed. "Ah me !" she cries, hearing the
soldiery of Conor at the gates, " I knew that Fergus was a
traitor." " If Fergus hath betrayed you," replied Red Buine
Borb, "yet will not I betray you." And he issues out and slays
his " thrice fifty men of might." But when Conor offers him
Slieve Fuad for a bribe, he holds back his hand from the
slaughter, and goes his way. Then calls Deirdre, " Traitor
father, traitor son ! " " No," replied Ulan Finn, " though
Red Buine Borb be a traitor, yet will not I be a traitor.
While liveth this small straight sword in my hand I will not
forsake Clan Usnach ! " Then Ulan Finn, encountering
Fiachra, the son of Conor, armed with Ocean, Flight, and
Victory, the royal shield, spear, and sword, they fight "a
fair fight, stout and manly, bitter and bloody, savage and hot,
and vehement and terrible," until the waves round the blue
rim of Ocean roared, for it was the nature of Conor's shield
that it ever resounded as with the noise of stormy waters
when he who bore it was in danger. Summoned by which
signal, one of King Conor's nobles, coming behind Ulan Finn,
thrusts him through. "The weakness of death then fell
darkly upon Ulan, and he threw his arms into the mansion,
and called to Naisi to fight manfully, and expired." Clan
Usnach at length deign to lay aside their chess-tables, and
stand to their arms. Ardan first sallies out, and slays his
" three hundred men of might \ " then Ainle, who makes
twice that havoc ; and last Naisi himself ; and *' till the sands
of the sea, the dew-drops of the meadows, the leaves of the
forest, or the stars of heaven, be counted, it is not possible to

42 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

tell the number of heads, and hands, and lopped limbs of
heroes that there lay bare and red from the hands of Naisi
and his brothers on that plain." Then Naisi came again into
the Red Branch to Deirdre ; and she encouraged him, and
said, " We will yet escape ; fight manfully, and fear not."
Then the sons of Usnach made a phalanx of their shields,
and spread the links of their joined bucklers round Deirdre,
and bounding forth like three eagles, swept down upon the
troops of Conor, making great havoc of the people. But when
Cathbad, the Druid, saw that the sons of Usnach were bent
on the destruction of Conor himself, he had recourse to his
arts of magic and he cast an enchantment over them, so that
their arms fell from their hands, and they were taken by the
men of Ulster ; for the spell was like a sea of thick gums about
them, and their limbs were clogged in it, that they could
not move. The sons of Usnach were then put to death, and
Deirdre, standing over the grave, sang their funeral song.

The lions of the hill are gone,
And I am left alone— alone.
Dig the grave both wide and deep,
For I am sick and fain would sleep !

The falcons of the wood are flown,
And I am left alone — alone.
Dig the grave both deep and wide,
And let us slumber side by side.

The dragons of the rock are sleeping,
Sleep that wakes not for our weeping.
Dig the grave, and make it ready,
Lay me on my true-love's body.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 43

Lay their spears and bucklers bright
By the warriors' sides aright ;
Many a day the three before me
On their linked bucklers bore me.

Lay upon the low grave floor,
'Neath each head, the blue claymore :
Many a time the noble three
Reddened these blue blades for me.

Lay the collars as is meet
Of their greyhounds at their feet ;
Many a time for me have they
Brought the tall red deer to bay.

In the falcon's jesses throw
Hook and arrow, line and bow ;
Never again by stream or plain.
Shall the gentle woodsmen go.

Sweet companions ye were ever—
Harsh to me, your sister, never ;
Woods and wilds and misty valleys
Were with you as good's a palace.

Oh ! to hear my true-love singing,
Sweet as sound of trumpets ringing ;
Like the sway of Ocean swelling
Rolled his deep voice round our dwelling

Oh ! to hear the echoes pealing
Round our green and fairy sheeling,
When the three, with soaring chorus,
Passed the silent skylark o'er us.

Echo now, sleep morn and even —
Lark alone enchant the heaven ! —
Ardan's lips are scant of breath,
Naisi s tongue is cold in death.

44 'i'HE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Stag, exult on glen and mountain —
Salmon, leap from loch to fountain —
Heron, in the free air warm ye —
Usnach's sons no more will harm ye.

Erin's stay no more you are.
Rulers of the ridge of war !
Never more 'twill be your fate
To keep the beam of battle straight !

Wo is me ! by fraud and wrong,
Traitors false and tyrants strong,
Fell Clan Usnach, bought and sold,
For Barach's feast and Conor's gold !

Wo to Emain, roof and wall !
Wo to Red Branch, hearth and hall !
Tenfold wo and black dishonour
To the foul and false Clan Conor !

Dig the grave both wide and deep.
Sick I am, and fain would sleep.
Dig the grave and make it ready,
Lay me on my true-love's body ! *

So saying, she flung herself into the grave, and expired.

Fergus, at the feast, heard the fury of the elements and
dash of waves, which warned him that the wearer of the
magic shield of Conor was in grievous bodily peril :

Rang the disk where wizard hammers, mingling in the wavy field
Tempest wail and breaker clamours, forged the wondrous Ocean

shield,
Answering to whose stormy noises, oft as clanged by deadly

blows,
All the echoing kindred voices of the seas of Erin rose.

* From Hibernian Nights' Entertainments, First Series, by Sir
S. FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 45

Moaned each sea-chafed promontory ; soared and'wailed white

Cleena's wave,
Rose the surge of Inver Rory, and through column' d chasm

and cave
Reaching deep with roll of anger, till Dunseverick's dungeons

reel'd,
Roared responsive to the clangour struck from Conor's magic

shield

You — remember— red wine quaffing, in Dunseverick's halls of

glee,
Heard the moaning, heard the chafing, heard the thundering

from the sea.
Knew that peril compassed Conor, came, and on Emania's

plain
Found his fraud and your dishonour, — Deirdre ravished, Ulan

slain.*

Indignant at the violation of his safe conduct. Fergus^
having chastised the treachery of Conor, retires into exile,
accompanied by Cormac Conlingas, son of Conor, and by
three thousand warriors of Uladh. They received a hos-
pitable welcome at Cruachan from Maev and her husband,
Ailill, whence they afterwards made many hostile incursions
into Ulster, taking part among others, in the famous fray
called in Irish tradition the Tain Bo Cuailgn6r or cattle
spoil of Cuailgn6 (a district in Louth), which originated in
a dispute between Ailill and Maev. This we shall give in
the quaint and humorous language of the unpublished MS.
translation of the Irish epic:— ^

*' On one occasion that Ailill and Maev had arisen from

* Frorti Lays of the Western Gael, -by. Sir S. FERGUSON*

46 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

their royal bed in Cruachan of Rath Conrach, a pillow-
conversation was carried on between them : —

" 'It is a true saying, O woman,' said Ailill, * that a
good man's wife is a happy creature/

" ' Why do you say so ? ' said Maev.

" ' The reason that I say so,7 said Ailill, * is because you
are happier this day than the day I espoused you/

" ' I was happy before I knew you/ said Maev.

" ' It was a happiness of which we never heard,' said
Ailill, < we only heard of your being in the dependent position
of a woman, whilst your nearest enemies stole and plundered,
and carried off your property/

"* Not so, was I,' said Maev, •' but my father was arch-
king of Erin, that is Eochy Fiedlech, son of Finn, son of
Finnoman, son of Finneon, son of Finnlag (&c.). He had
six daughters of daughters; viz., Derbrin, Eithne, and Ele;
Clothra, Mugain, Maev, myself, who was the most noble and
illustrious of them : I was the best for gifts and presents of
them. I was the best for battle and fight and combat of them.
It was I that had fifteen hundred noble mercenaries, soldiers ;
sons of foreign chiefs ; and as many more of the sons of my
own landholders ; and there were ten (men) with every
soldier of them ; and eight with every soldier, and seven
with every soldier, and six with every soldier, and five
with every soldier, and three with' every soldier, and
two with every soldier, and a soldier with every soldier.
These I had for my ordinary household/ said Maev;
'and for that it was that my father gave me a province
of the provinces of Erin ; viz., the province of Cruachan,
where I am called Maev of Cruachan. And I was sought

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 47

in marriage by Finn, son of Ross Ruadh, King of Laightn,
and by Cairpri Nia Fear, the son of the King of Teamair,
and by Conor, son of Fachna Fathach. And I was sought
by Eochy, son of Luchta; and I did not go, because it
was I that demanded the extraordinary dowry, such as no
woman ever before sought from the men of Erin ; viz., a
man without parsimoniousness, without jealousy, without
fear. If the man who would have me, were parsimonious,
we were not fit to be united in one, because I am good at
bestowing gifts and presents ; and it would be a reproach
to my husband that I were better in gifts than he; and
it would be no reproach now, if we were equally good,
provided that we were both good. If my husband were
timid, we were not the more fit to unite, because I go in
battles, and fights, and combats, by myself alone ; and it
would be a reproach to my husband that his wife were more
active than himself ; and it is no reproach if we are equally
active, but that we were active both of us. If the man who
had me were jealous we were not matched either, because I
was never without having a man in the shadow of another.
I have found that man ; viz., you ; viz., Ailill, the son of
Ross Ruadh, of the men of Laighin. You were not parsi-
monious ; you were not jealous ; you were not timid. I
gave you an engagement and dowry, the best that is
desired of woman ; viz., the array of twelve men, of clothes ;
a chariot, with thrice seven cumhals ; the breadth of your
face of red gold ; the span of your left wrist of carved
silver. Should any one work reproach, or injury, or incan-
tation on you, you are not entitled to Dire* or Eneclannt

* Dire was a fine for any bodily injury.
" t Eneclann was a fine for satire, or reproachful words, etc.

48 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

for it, but what comes to me,' said Maev, 'because a man
in attendance on a woman is what you are.'

"'Such was not my state.' said Ail ill, 'but I had two
brothers, one the king of Temar, and the other king of
Laighin. I left them the sovereignty because of their
seniority. And you were not the better for gifts and presents
than I was. I have not heard of a province of Erin in
woman-keeping but this province alone. I came then and
I assumed sovereignty here in succession to my mother ;
for Mdta of Murisg, the daughter of Magach, was my
mother, and what better queen need I desire to have than
you since you happen to be the daughter of the arch-king of
Erin/

" 4 It happens, however/ said Maev, 4 that my goodness is
greater than yours.'

'"I wonder at that,' said Ailill, * since there is no one
that has more jewels, and wealth, and riches than I have —
and I know there is not/ "

Ailill and Maev then commenced a comparison of their
goods and effects— -*-for women at this time had their dowries
secured to them, and did not lose by marriage their separate
rights of property. Their jewels, their garments, their flocks
were compared, and found to be of equal value and ex-
cellence, with one notable exception only. " There was a
particularly splendid bull of Ailill's cows, and he was the
calf of one of Maev's cows, and Finnbennach (White-horn)
was his name ; but he deemed it not honourable to be in
a woman's dependence, and he passed over to the king's
cows." The queen was indignant, but hearing that Dare,
son of Factna, of Cuailgne, was the possessor of a brown
bull, a still finer animal than the white-horned deserter of

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 49

hei drove, she despatched her courier, MacRoth, to Dare,
requesting of him the loan of the Donn Cuailgne (the Brown
one of Quelny) for a year, and promising to restore him
with fifty heifers to boot, a chariot worth sixty-three cows,
and other marks of her friendship and high consideration*

Dare courteously complied with the request of Maev,
and prepared an entertainment for her envoys. During the
progress of the feast, some surly Connacian, in reply to
an observation on the happy termination of their mission,
observed, that it was as well that the Ultonians had agreed
to send with them the Donn Cuailgne, as, if he had been
refused, they would have carried him back with them by
force. This unprovoked insult excited the just indignation
of Dare. He swore by his " swearing gods," that the
Connaught envoys should not now have the bull, either by
consent or by force.

The messengers returned to Maev, and the disappointed
queen summoned her forces, and called on her friends and
allies, and the Ultonian exiles who had found refuge at her
court, to join in a foray, the object of which should be the
capture of the desired Donn Cuailgne. Fergus MacRoy,
and Conor's own son, Cormac Conlingas, who had left
Emania on the violation of their safe conduct to the sons of
Usnach, brought their contingent to the Connacian army.
It was not without much hesitation and many mental pangs,
that these noble exiles consented to take part in an expedi-
tion directed against their countrymen and former friends.
Maev led her armies in person. " A woman comely, white-
faced, long-cheeked, and large; gold-yellow hair on her; a
short crimson cloak on her ; a gold pin in the cloak over her

5O THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST

breast; a straight, carved-backed spear flaming in her hand."
Such was the appearance of this royal amazon when leading
her hosts to the fray. Ailill and his son Mane, who re-
sembled both parents, are thus described : —

" Two great men with flaming eyes ; with golden crowns
of blazing gold over them ; kingly armour on them ; gold-
liilted, long swords at their girdles, in bright silver scabbards,
with pillows of chequered gold on their outside."

Mane the motherlike, and Mane the fatherlike, as follows :

<l There came to me two soft youths there. They were
both alike : curled hair on the one of them, curled yellow
hair on the other ; two green cloaks wrapped round them ;
two bright pins of silver in these cloaks over their breasts •,
two shirts of smooth yellow silk to their skins ; white-hilted
swords at their sides ; two white shields with fastenings of
fair silver on them ; two fleshy-pointed spears, with bright
silver ferules in their hands."

The itinerary of their journey exists, and is a document
of much interest, as the halting-places and daily route of
the Connaught armies may yet be distinctly traced. Onward
they marched, crossing the Shannon at Athcoltna, and after
many wanderings amid the unexplored central fastnesses of
the present Longford, Leitrim, and Westmeath, arrived on
the borders of Ulster without molestation.

And now appears on the stage the heroic figure of Cuchullin.

When 'mid ford on Uladh's border, young Cuchullin stands alone,
Maev and all her hosts withstanding :— " Now for love of

knightly play,
Yield the youth his soul's demanding — let the hosts their

marchings stay.

THE HEROIC PERIOD,

51

T;ll the death he craves be given, and upon his burial stone
Champion praises duly graven, make his name and glory known ;
For in speech-containing token age to ages never gave
Salutation better spoken than, * Behold a hero's grave.' "

CuchuDin is the preux chevalier of Irish chivalrous story.
As Achilles and Hector in Greek romance, so Cuchullin
stands distinguished among all the other actors in this period
of Irish native story. The prominent trait of his character is
magnanimity. As a boy, he devotes himself to the service of
Cullan, the armourer — whose smithy stood in the wilderness
of Slieve Fuad — in remorse for having slain Cullan' s watch
dog, and so obtained his name Cu-Chullin the " hound of
Cullan." As a youth, overhearing the Druid's prophecy
that he who would take arms on a certain day would be
famous, but short-lived, he presents himself on that day for
admission into the brotnerhood of arms. Going forth on
his adventures he declines the districts inhabited by chiefs
of secondary renown, and drives straight to the pillar-stone
in front of the fortress of the sons of Nechtan from which he
raised the iron ring that served as the token of challenge,
even as in modern romance the young knight touches the
shield of the Templar in Ivanhoe. He returns with the heads
of his adversaries stuck on the spokes of his chariot, eagles
and swans brought down by his sling fluttering overhead,
and the captive stags and wild cattle of the forest bounding
at each side, and at once instals himself as champion of the
province. When mortally wounded at the battle of
Murthevne he expends the last of his strength in binding
himself with his girdle to a pillar-stone, that he may die
standing. It was fortunate for the Ultpnian dynasty that

52 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

such a leader should have arisen, for the elements of hostility

issembled at Rath Cruachain ere long displayed themselves

in a series of border-wars and incursions which have been

ecorded by the annalists and made the subject of much

elebration by the bards.

According to these chroniclers, Cuchullin possessed every
quality of mind and body proper, in the estimation of our
ancestors, for a perfect heroic character.

"These were the several and diverse and numerous gifts
peculiar to Cuchullin : the gift of form ; gift of face ; gift of
symmetry; gift of swimming; gift of horsemanship; gift of
chess-playing and backgammon ; gift of battle ; gift of fight ;
gift of combat ; gift of vision ; gift of eloquence ; gift of
counsel ; gift of blushing ; gift of paling ; gift of best leading
from his own country into a border country."

Cuchullin, in his childhood known as Setanta, was son of
Suailtam, and his mother, Dectire, was the sister of Conor
MacNessa.

While his nephew was still a youth, Conor and a few
select guests were invited to a feast at the Dun of Culian,
the smith, who apologized for limiting his invitations
*' because it was not lands or tenements he had, but his
sledge, and his anvils, and his hands, and his tongs." The
king accepted, and on his way to the abode of Culian,
paused to observe, with Fergus MacRoy who accompanied
him, the feats of his nephew and his companion youths who
•vere sporting on the plain of Emania. Conor invited
Setanta to go with him to the house of the smith. The
adventure which gave the youth his hero name, has thus
been rendered from the Tain.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 55

THE NAMING OF CUCHULLIT.

_ f:| :„ CONOR. ...... ;;:.-, .1 ::

Setanta, if bird-nesting in the woods

And ball-feats on the play-green please thee not \

More than discourse of warrior and of sage,

And sight of warrior- weapons in the forge,

I offer an indulgence. For we go, —

Myself, my step-sire Fergus, and my Bard —

To visit Cullan, the illustrious smith

Of Quelgne. Come thou also if thou wilt.

SETANTA.

Ask me not, good oh Conor, yet to leave

The play-green ; for the ball-feats just begun

Are those which most delight my playmate-youths,

And they entreat me to defend the goal :

But let me follow ; for, the chariot-tracks

Are easy to discern ; and much I long

To hear discourse of warrior and of sage,

And see the nest that hatches deaths of men,

The tongs a-flash, and Cullan's welding blow.

CONOR.

Too late the hour ; too difficult the way.

Set forward, drivers : give our steeds the goad.

CULLAN.

Great King of Emain, welcome. Welcome, thou,

Fergus, illustrious step-sire of the King :

And, Seer arid Poet, Cathbad, welcome too,

Behold the tables set, the feast prepared.

Sit But, before I cast my chain-hound loose,

Give me assurance that ye all be in.

54 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

For, night descends ; and perilous the wild ;
And other watchman none of house or herds,
Here, in this solitude remote from men,
Own I, but one hound only. Once his chain
Is loosened, and he makes three bounds at large
Before my door-posts, after fall of night,
There lives not man nor company of men
Less than a cohort, shall within my close
Set foot of trespass, short of life or limb.

CONOR.

Yea ; all are in. Let loose, and sit secure.
Good are thy viands, Smith, and strong thine ale.
Hark, the hound growling.

CULLAN.

Wild dogs are abroad.

FERGUS.

Not ruddier the fire that laps a sword
Steel'd for a king, oh Cullan, than thy wine.
Hark, the hound baying.

CULLAN.

Wolves, belike, are near.

CATHEAD.

Not cheerfuller the ruddy forge's light
To wayfarer benighted, nor the glow
Of wine and viands to a hungry man,
Than look of welcome pass'd from host to guest-
Hark, the hound yelling 1

CULLAN.

Friends, arise and arm !
Some enemy intrudes 1 Tush ! 'tis a boy.

THE HEROIC PERIOD; 55

SETANTA.

Setanta here, the son of Suailtam*

CONOR.

Setanta, whom I deemed on Emain green
Engaged at ball-play, on our track, indeed 1

SETANTA.

Not difficult the track to find, oh King,

But difficult, indeed, to follow home.

Cullan, 'tis evil welcome for a guest

This unwarn'd onset of a savage beast,

Which, but that 'gainst the stone-posts of thy gate

I three times threw him, leaping at my throat,

And, at the third throw, on the stone-edge, slew,

Had brought on thee the shame indelible

Of bidden guest, at his host's threshold, torn.

CONOR.

Yea, he was bidden : it was I myself
Said, as I passed him with the youths at play,
This morning, Come thou also if thou wilt.
But little thought I,— when he said the youths
Desired his presence still to hold the goal,
Yet asked to follow ; for he said he longed
To hear discourse of warrior and of sage,
And see the nest that hatches deaths of men,
The tongs a- flash, and Cullan's welding blow ; —
That such a playful, young, untutor'd boy
Would come on this adventure of a man.

CULLAN.

I knew not he was bidden ; and I asked,
Ere I cast loose, if all the train were in.
But, since thy word has made the boy my guest, —
Boy, for his sake who bade thee to my board,
I give thee welcome : for thine own sake. no.

56 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

For them hast slain my servant and my friend,

The hound I loved, that, fierce, intractable

To all men else, was ever mild to me.

He knew me ; and he knew my uttered words,

All my commandments, as a man might know •

More than a man, he knew my looks and tones

And turns of gesture, and discerned my mind,

Unspoken, if in grief or if in joy.

He was my pride, my strength, my company,

For I am childless ; and that hand of thine

Has left an old man lonely in the world.

SETANTA.

Since, Cullan, by mischance, I've slain thy hound,
So much thy grief compassion stirs in me,
Hear me pronounce a sentence on myself.
If of his seed there liveth but a whelp
In Uladh, I will rear him till he grow
To such ability as had his sire
For knowing, honouring, and serving thee.
Meantime, but give a javelin in my hand,
And a good buckler, and there never went
About thy bounds, from daylight-gone till dawn
Hound watchfuller, or of a keener fang
Against intruder, than myself shall be.

CULLAN.

A sentence, a just sentence.

CONOR.

Not myself

Hath made award more righteous. Re it so.
Wherefore what hinders that we give him now
His hero-name, no more Setanta called
But now Cuchuliin, chain-hound of the Smith ?

THE HEROIC PERIOD.
SETANTA.

Setanta I, the son of Suailtam,
Nor other name assume I, or desire.

CATHEAD.

Take, son of Suailtam, the offered name.

SETANTA.

Setanta, I. Setanta let me be.

CONOR.

Mark Cathbad.

FERGUS.

Tis his seer-fit.

CATHEAD.

To my ears
There comes a clamour from the rising years,

The tumult of a torrent passion-swollen,
Rolled hitherward ; and, mid its mingling noises,
I hear perpetual voices
Proclaim to laud and fame
The name,
CUCHULLIN !

Hound of the Smith, thy boyish vow
Devotes thy manhood even now,

To vigilance, fidelity, and toil :
'Tis not alone the wolf, fang-bare to snatch.
Not the marauder from the lifted latch

Alone, thy coming footfall makes recoil,
The nobler service thine to chase afar
Seditious tumult and intestine war,
Envy, and unfraternal hate,
From all the households of the state :

5$ THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Great is the land and splendid :

The borders of the country are extended :

The extern tribes look up with wondering awe

And own the central law.

Fair show the fields, and fair the friendly faces

Of men in all their places.

With song and chosen story,

With game and dance, with revelries and races,

Life glides on joyous wing —
The tales they tell of love and war and glory,
Tales that the soft-bright daughters of the land
Delight to understand,

The songs they sing,

To harps of double string,

To gitterns and new reeds,

Are of the glorious deeds
Of young Cuchullinin the Quelgnian foray.

Take, son of Suailtam, the offered name.
For at that name the mightiest of the men
Of Erin and of Alba shall turn pale :
And, of that name, the mouths of all the men
Of Erin and of Alba shall be full.

SETANTA.

Yea, then if that be so - Cuchullin here !*

The prophecy has been realized in Scotland, as in Ireland-
" Great Cuchullin's name and glory " is yet remembered.
The Coolin mountains, named after him— those "thunder-
smitten, jagged Cuchullin peaks of Skye," the grandest
mountain range in Great Britain — attract to that remote island

* From Poems, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 59

.of the Hebrides, worshippers of the sublime and beautiful
in nature, whose enjoyments would be largely enhanced if
they knew the heroic legends which are connected with
the glorious scenes they have travelled so far to witness.
Cuchullin is one of the foremost characters in Macpherson's
Ossian, but the quasi-translator of Gaelic poems places him
more than two centuries later than the period at which he
really lived. The tendency of the public mind at present is
somewhat unjust to Macpherson. The repugnance naturally
felt at any literary falsification blinds many to the poetry and
beauty of his adaptations of the Gaelic legends, which are
associated with the name of Ossian. With the exception of
his alteration of names and localities, framed in order to
connect the traditions of the ancient poet with Scotland
rather than with Ireland, he took few liberties with his
originals that were not fully warranted by the character of the
material with which he had to deal. If he had honestly
claimed for himself the authorship of the book, and acknow-
ledged himself an adapter, rather than a translator, he would
be entitled to high approval ; for amidst much that is turgid
and bombastic, there is grandeur, and pathos, and sublimity,
in the Ossian of Macpherson.

Cuchullin soon after his adventure with the hound, over-
heard, at Emania, Cathbad, the Druid, instructing his pupils,
having eight pupils of the science of Druid ism with him.
One of them asked his tutor, what was the luck and prog-
nostication of that day on which they were. Was it good or
was it evil ? Then Cathbad said :

'The youth who would take arms this day would be
noble and illustrious, but would be unhappy and short-lived.'

6o THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

The hero's choice was made. Cuchullin instantly repaired
to Conor, who gave him the arms he demanded, and on the
entrance of the dismayed Cathbad, justified his choice. .

4t 'Be not you angry now, my master Conor,' said Cuchullin ;
* because it is certain that it was Cathbad that advised me.
For his pupil asked him what luck there was on the day, and
he said, The youth that would take arms in it, would be
noble and renowned, and would be unhappy, and short-lived
too. Glorious fate ! though I were but one day and one
night in the world, provided that my history and my adven-
tures lived after me ! ' "

Cuchullin soon starts in his chariot to seek adventures with
his attendant Ivar. These are described with picturesque
touches in the Tain. The scene on which they looked as
they crossed the "wide-spreading" plain of Meath has not
materially altered since those early days. The Hill of Tara,
the Rath of Teltown, the sepulchral mounds of New-Grange,
and Knowth, are now — as they were 1800 years ago —
objects of interest in the landscape.

"'Well Ivar,' said the youth, 'teach me about Uladh
(Ulster) on every side, for I am not acquainted with the
districts of Uladh.' The servant showed him Uladh on every
side of them, its hills, its plains, its wide-stretching level
country and the mansions of the province. . . . 'Point
me out the mansions and the forts upon that plain/ and the
servant showed him Tara, Tailtin, Cleothra, Cnodhbach
(Knowth), Brugh mic og (New Grange), and the Dun of
fierce M'Neachtain, ... Then after that they entered the
Dun and plundered it, ... and returned to Slieve Fuad
(the Fews mountains) bearing the heads of fierce Nectain's

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 6 1

three sons along with them. And then they saw a wild herd
scattered before them. 4 What multitude of cattle are those ?'
said the youth. ' They are not cattle,' said the servant, * but
the wild deer of the dark places of Slieve Fuad.' * Urge on
the steeds,' said the youth. . . . Nor could they in their
galloping come up with the Royal Stag of the dark glen.
Then the youth got out of the chariot and captured two of
them. . . . And he bound them to the fore part and to
the rere of the chariot. And they went on to the commence-
ment of the Plain of Emain. And they beheld there a flock
of wild geese whiter then any tame ones . , . wild
geese that came from the rocks and islands of the great
sea to graze upon the level plains of the country. . . ,
' Bring those birds with thee, my man,' says the youth. ' That
would be a sorrow to me,' said the servant, . . . ' Were I
to quit the place where we are, the iron wheels of the chariot
would fail me from the bounding and plunging of the steeds.'
'No true champion art thou, Ivar.' 'I will take hold of
the steeds.' . . . And when he took them in his mighty
grasp, they lowered their heads in dread of him, . . . and
they proceeded on to Emain.

"Levarcam, the daughter of Hugh, perceived them. ''There
is a chariot approaching, Conor,' said she. ' And it advances
furiously. The bloody heads of our foes are in that chariot.
And beauteous white birds are fastened to it, and wild deer
able to run are bound to it. And a servant is with him in
the chariot also. And if he be not attended to now, by him
will the Chiefs of Uladh fall.'"

.The most heroic achievements of the _young warrior re-
corded in the Tain were his single-handed combats with the

62 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

picked men of the armies led by Ailill and Maev in person,
when Cuchullin defended the fords, and stopped the onward
march of the Connaught hosts on the borders of Ulster.
He held these passes into the threatened province — for the
chivalrous custom of the times permitted none to refuse a
challenge, nor the host to advance till the result of the
single combats should be known — till the Ultonians had
time to muster their forces, and arrive to give battle to the
armies of Connaught in defence of their land and their
cattle.

The Tain Bo Cuailgne recounts at great length the
combats that ensued, in which Cuchullin was uniformly
victorious.

What, another and another, and he still for combat calls ?
Ah ! the lot on thee, his brother sworn in arms, Ferdiah, falls,
And the hall with wild applauses sobbed like women ere they wist,
When the champions in the pauses of the deadly combat kiss'd.*

Ferdiah was most reluctant to engage in strife with his
former friend and companion, Cuchullin, for " with the same
tutors they learned the science of feats of bravery and valour ;
with Scatha, and with Uatha, and with Aife." The name
of Scatha, their Amazonian instructress, is still preserved in
Dun Sciath in the island of Skye.

The circumstance that these heroes were alike skilled in
the use of arms and arts of combat, made it of importance to
Ailill and Maev to incite Ferdiah to this duel with Cuchullin.
The belief in the withering power of a bardic curse was

*From " The Tain-Quest," Lays of the Western Gcul, by Sir S. FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. . 63

general. Even to a comparatively late period a poet's male-
diction was believed in Ireland to bring misfortune, and so
" Maev and Ailill sent to the Bards to make a great out-
cry and get up an excitement, and raise up a triple barrier ot
scandal and reproach against his name unless he came to
them. Then came Ferdiah to them, for it was better for him
to fall in chivalrous and martial exploit than to fall by the
libels and outcries of the Bards. And when he came, a full
and wondrous joy took possession of Ailill and Maev, and
they promised him abundance of goods if he would go and
encounter exalted Cuchullin, . . . and that he should be
free of imposition of exaction or tribute, and that nothing
should ever be required of him during eternity. And that he
should get for a wife Fionbar the beauteous only daughter of
Ailill and Maev who excelled in beauty and in form all the
women of the world, and that he should take the golden
jewel that was in the cloak of Maev, a talisman of great
virtue." . . .

" Ferdiah took his steeds and mounted his chariot, and
arrived at the field of combat at the rising of the sun. . . .
Then Ferdiah arose and arrayed his body. . . . and re-
mained till they beheld the polished bounding chariot
coming rapidly and actively with his people clad in green,
and with a shaking of stout spears and dexterous blood-thirsty
javelins held up aloft. And two fleet steeds under the chariot
bounding broad-chested, high-spirited, holding high their
heads and arching their long necks. . . . And they were
as a hawk on a sharp blustering day ; or as a whirlwind in a
brisk spring day in March in its course over the lovely wide
marshy plains, Or like a beauteous excellent deer at the

64 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

arst starting of the hounds — such were those two steeds under
the chariot of Cuchullin."

" Ferdiah gave Cuchullin a manly, truly mild welcome.
. . . And then said Cuchullin, <O Ferdiah it was not
meet of thee to come do battle with me at the jealous insti-
gation and complaint of Ailill and of Maev, and for the sake
of their false promises and deceitful gifts. . . . O Ferdiah
and woe is it to thee to have abandoned my friendship for
the friendship of any one woman. Fifty champions have
hitherto fallen by me, and long is it ere I would forsake thee
for the promises of any woman ; for we were together gaining
instruction in chivalry, and together went we to every battle
and conflict, and together pursued we the chase, and together
were we in every desolate place of darkness and sorcery.' . . .

" 4 Dost thou bear in mind, great Cuchullin/ says Ferdiah,
1 the generous exercises we used to go through with Uatha and
Scatha and with Aife ? ' 4 Well do I remember them/ says
Cuchullin. . . . Let us joust with our huge trusty spears.'. . .

<l And they made ready their chariots and did so. And they
began piercing and overthowing one another from the dusky
dawn of the morning till eventide. . . . And after that
they ceased. And they handed their arms to their attend-
ants, and gave each other many a kiss. And their steeds
rested at the same time ; and their attendants were at the
same fire for the night. And two lofty beds of rushes were
made ready for those wounded heroes. The herbs that
assuage pain were brought, and cures to alleviate their
sufferings, and they tended them that night, and every
remedy and every charm that was applied to Ferdiah for his
wounds was equally divided with Cuchullin.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 65

" Thus were they that night, and they arose early in the
morning to go to the field of combat. . . . ' Thou art
looking badly to-day, O Ferdiah,' says Cuchullin, 'for thine
hair has lost its gloss, and thine eyes are heavy, and thine
upright form and sprightliness of action have deserted thee ? '
1 It is neither through fear or dread of thine encounter I am
so,' said Ferdiah, ' for there is not in Erin a champion that
I would not do battle with this day.' * It is a pity, O Ferdiah,
nor is it for thy good to confront thine own comrade and
fellow-soldier and friend at the instigation of any woman in
the world.' ' Pity it is,' said Ferdiah, ' but were I to go
hence without encountering thee I shall be for ever under the
aspersion of cowardice with Maev and with Ailill and with
all the men of Erin.' "

Impelled by these motives Ferdiah fought "for the sake of
his honour, for he preferred to fall by the shafts of valour,
gallantry, and bravery, rather than by the shafts of satire,
censure, and reproach."

At last Ferdiah falls. ' Cuchullin laid Ferdiah down there,
and a cloud, and a faint, and a weakness fell on Cuchullin.
The hero, exhausted by his wounds and long-continued strife,
and still more by the distress of mind caused by the death
of his loved friend, lies long on his bed of sickness, and is
unable to take part in the impending battle between the
Ultonians and the now retreating forces of Ailill and Maev.
His father visits him, and is thus quaintly described in the
poem : —

4< For thus was Suailtam. He was not a bad champion
and he was not a good champion, but he happened to be a
big, good sort of person."

66 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Cuchullin sends him to rouse the Ultonians. He per-
forms his embassy in the following nanner : —

" l You have been plundered by Ailill and Maev,' said
Suailtam; ' your women and your children, and your youths,
your horses, and your studs, your flocks, your herds, and
your cattle have been carried away. Cuchullin is alone
detaining and delaying the four great provinces of Erin, in the
gaps and the passes of the country of Conaille Murthevne.
w . . And if you do not immediately avenge this, it will not
be avenged to the end of time and life.' "

Conor musters his hosts, but Ailill and Maev are already
on their way to Connaught ; the original cause of the war>
the Donn Cuailgm himself, being captured, and led towards
the pastures of Cruachan.

MacRoth, the herald of Connaught, is left to watch the
movements of the foe, who might be expected to harass their
retreat.

"MacRoth went forward to reconnoitre the great wide-
spreading plain of Meath. MacRoth was not long doing so
when he heard something — the sound, and the tramp, and
the clamour, and the noise.

" There was nothing that he could think it to be, unless it
was the falling of the firmament on the face of the earth ; or
unless it were the salmon -abounding blue ocean that flowed
over the face of the world ; or unless it was the earth severed
from its earthly motion ; or unless it was the forests that fell
each tree into the catches and forks and branches of the
other."

This was the advance of Conor's army.

" The Ultonians began collecting upon the plain from tin

UNIVERSITY

OF

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 67

early dusky light of the morning till the full afternoon, in so
much that there was none of the land that was not covered
under them. And each Host of them was under its own
King; and each Division under its own Prince ; and each
Band under its Chief ; and each Lord was at the head of his
own troops." As they appear, Fergus MacRoy, the exiled
ex-king of Ulster, now in the ranks of the invaders from
Connaught, is called on by Ailill and Maev to identify the
leaders of the northern host. Fergus is the reputed author
of the Tain ; however that may be, his portraiture is most
vivid. His heart yearns towards his former subjects, now
his foes. He is proud of his old friends, and accords each
hero warm and generous praise. His step-son and successor
on the throne, Conor MacNessa, is thus depicted : —

"He was of fresh appearance, and his yellow-brown hair
hung down before him. He had an undefiled rosy clear
countenance, and his dark blue eyes lay shaded under their
lashes. And he was terrible and craving for the decapitation
of heads. And the beard of a learned man did he bear, and
it beautifully fell in many a ringlet from his chin. . . .
He grasped his shield of refined silver, and his battle-axe
ornamented with red gold in his hand, whilst he was pro-
tected from his foes by a clean, gold-hilted curiously wrought
sword in his other hand."

Then again the herald announces the advent of *' another
band upon the smooth plain of Meath. They were diligently
plaiting their hair. . . .A chivalrous lovely countenanced
youth was the leader of that band. He had light yellow hair
upon him. And what art he displayed in whirling red
balls."

68 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

" ' Who is that Fergus ?' says Ailill. ' He is the distractor
of his foes. He is vindictive in his skirmishings. He is a
crusher of dragons. He is a raging lion. He is lord over
all arts of poison, and all enemies. He is as a steadfast rock in
his armour, and he is a fierce router of hosts when he turns
upon them — Conall Carnach, son of lofty illustrious
Amergin,' is his name."

MacRoth the herald announces a still more distinguished
arrival.

" There has come another troop upon the smooth plain of
Meath, and their armament is sparkling like fire in their
rapid movement. . . . Their battalions are full and fierce
in their might ; and they have flowery mantles on them ; and
a noise of thunder is the sound of the tramp of their rapid
marching. And a huge, generous terrible warrior is the
champion of that band. He has a great nose ; and like an
apple the ball of his eye. His hair is red, strong, half-grey ;
and a grey-black coat is upon him. And an iron bodkin is
fastened in his cloak over his breast, that reaches from one
shoulder to the other. And he has on a shaggy, curiously-
woven shirt. A grey shield and a huge spear in his hand ;
and his death-dealing sword of seven plates of iron has thirty
rivets in it, and is inlaid over its side and back."

This is the mighty champion Keltar, son of Utechar,
whose rath at Downpatriek is yet standing. The great
earthen fort with its surrounding entrenchments is almost as
perfect to-day as at the commencement of the Christian era
when it was the habitation of Keltar. The spear in his hand
is the Luin Ban Celtchair of necromantic fame, said to thirst
for the blood of enemies.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 69

" He who sits

The midmost of the three, grasps with both hands
A spear of fifty rivets, and so sways
And swings the weapon as a man might think
The very thing had life, and struggled strong
To dash itself at breasts of enemies :
A cauldron at his feet, big as the vat
Of a king's kitchen ; in that vat a pool,
Hideous to look upon, of liquor black :
Therein he dips and cools the blade by times.

The spear

In hands of Duftach is the famous ' lann*
Of Keltar son of Utechar, which erst
A wizard of the Tuath-De-Danaan brought
To battle at Moy Tury, and there lost :
Found after. And these motions of the spear,
And sudden sallies hard to be restrained,
Affect it, oft as blood of enemies
Is ripe for spilling ; and a cauldron then
Full of witch-brewage needs must be at hand,
To quench it, when the homicidal act
Is by its blade expected ; quench it not,
It blazes up even in the holder's hand,
And through the holder, and the door planks through,
Flies forth to sate itself in massacre." *

The high-strung emotion of Fergus MacRoy reaches its
climax when the warriors, from Conaille Murthevne appear
on the field of battle. They are without their leader
Cuchullin who is still incapacitated from wounds received
in his combat with Ferdiah.

* From " Conary," Poems, by Sir S. FERGUSON.

70 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

"'Who are these, Fergus/ asks Ailill. 'They are the
lacerating lions ; they are the brilliant battalions of the
district of MurthevneY he replies ; ' and deep grief is upon
them that they are without their beloved king and leader,
Cuchullin of the victorious-in-fight-destroying bloody sword.
. . . And they will maintain their superiority in to-morrow's
battle, for I have heard a loud shouting from them ; ... it is
that Cuchullin is coming refreshed though with tottering
steps.' "

The armies pass that night on the plains of Slewen. At
dawn of day the battle begins. The disabled Cuchullin,
longing, but unable, to take part in the conflict, charges his
charioteer to give him tidings of the fight.

" Leagh had not remained long looking till he saw the
men of Erin all arising together, snatching up their shields,
and their spears, and their swords, and their helmets, and
pressing, each party the other, forward to the battle.

" The men of Erin began, each of them, to hew, and to
cut down, to partition, to disjoint, to slaughter, and to
destroy each other for a long time.

" ' How is the battle fought now, my master Leagh,' said
Cuchullin.

" ' Manfully is it fought,' said Leagh. * For though I
were to take my chariot, and Eu, Conall's charioteer, were
to take his, and though we were to drive in our two noble
chariots to meet each other through the array of their arms,
neither shoe, nor wheel, nor seat, nor shaft of them could
pass through, for the tightness, and for the firmness, and for
the fastness with which their arms are grasped in the hands
of the warriors at this moment'

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 71

" ' Alas, that I am not of strength to be among them ! '
said Cuchullin ; ' for if I were of strength my breach would
be conspicuous there to-day.'

" ' Hush now, my Hound,' said Leagh. ' It is no disgrace
to your valour — it is no reproach to your honour. You
have done bravely before now. You shall do so again.' "

Meantime a personal encounter took place on the field,
between the injured Fergus, and Conor armed with his
magic shield, which would have been fatal to the latter but
for the interposition of his son Cormac.

" Then Conor went forth to the battle, . . . and he took
up his shield EOchain, with its four gems set in gold, and
its bosses. . . .

"Then Fergus made his onset on the quarter where he
heard that Conor was ; and struck three hostile blows upon
Conor's EOchain. And the shield uttered a loud cry. And
the three principal waves of Erin roared responsive to it •>
the wave of Cleena, the wave of the North, and the wave
of Rory,

" ' Ye men of Erin,' cried Fergus, ' who will stick to this
shield with me in the conflict this day ? — a weapon able to
encounter the entire four provinces of Erin with its outcries
and its shoutings.' . . . Then Fergus grasped his hard
sword with both his hands and made a blow so that the
magic talisman came to the ground."

And as hawk that strikes on pigeons, sped on wrath's un-
swerving wing

Through the tyrant's leaguering legions, smiting chief and smiting
king,

Smote he full on Conor's gorget, till the waves of welded steel,

Round the monarch's magic target rang their loudest larum peal.

72 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Rang the disc where wizard hammers, mingling in the wavy field,
Tempest- wail and breaker-clamours, forged the wondrous Ocean

shield

Answering to whose stormy noises, oft as clang'd by deadly blows,
All the echoing kindred voices of the seas of Erin rose.

Moaned each sea- chafed promontory ; soar'd and wail'd white

Cleena's wave ;
Rose the Tonn of Inver Rory, and through column'd chasm and

cave
Reaching deep with roll of anger, till Dunseverick's dungeons

reel'd,
Roar'd responsive to the clangour struck from Conor's magic

shield.*

" ' Fergus, my master,' said Cormac, son of Conor, as he
clasped both his royal arms around him, ' this is a conflict
amongst friends, and let not Uladh be destroyed this day
by the overwhelming blows of thy mighty strength. Refrain
thy mad, destroying hand. Spare the chieftains of the
host, and suffer thy rage to be assuaged.' "

Cuchullin cannot be kept back even by the entreaties
of his attendant. His wounds are too fresh to permit him
to take an active part in the combat, but he meets his
ancient master and friend, Fergus MacRoy, and adjures
him, by his former promise to that effect, no longer to take
part against his countrymen of Ulster, nor to avenge on
them the wrongs he had sustained from his step-son, Conor.
Fergus, thus appealed to, retires, and the Connacians accept
his retreat as a signal for leaving the field. They send
on before them the Bull which was the original cause of

* "The Tain-Quest," Lays of the Western Gael, by Sir S. FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 73

their foray, and — under the guardianship of Maev, who
courageously protects the rear of her defeated army — retire
towards Cruachan. The finale — as regards the Donn
Cuailgne — is characteristic. " When he saw the beautiful
unknown country " (the rich pasture land of Roscommon)
" he gave three rounds of roars aloud. But the Finnben-
nach of Ai heard him." This was the Bull that had gone
over from Maev's cows because " he deemed it not honour-
able to be in a woman's dependence," and he allowed no
other beast "to dare raise a roar higher than a lowing within
the four fords of Ai." So he raised his head on high and
came forward to Cruachan to meet the Donn Cuailgne.

The Battle of the Bulls was as furious as had been thaT
of the Connacians and Ultonians, on their account. After
a terrible encounter, in which no one ventured to intervene,
the men of Erin <4 saw the Donn Cuailgne coming past
Cruachan, coming from the west, and carrying the Finn-
bennach on his peaks and on his horns."

Having shaken off his defeated antagonist, the Bull
"turned his face to the north, and recognised the country
of Cuailgne, and went towards it."

Let us hope, notwithstanding the tragical end assigned to
him in the romance, where he dashes out his brains in
charging at a rock, that in his native plains of Louth, he
found fresh fields and pastures new, and that the readers
who have followed his adventures in the Tain bo Cuailgnt:
shall be sharers in the blessing invoked at the close of the
poem 4 on every one who shall faithfully study the Tain'

Cuchullin also plays the part of hero in tales of love and
courtship which still exist among the unpublished Irish

74 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

MSS. in our libraries. His wooing of Eimer, the beautiful
daughter of Forgall Monach, a personage who held a court of
general hospitality at Lusk, near Dublin, has many romantic
circumstances attending it. Having heard of the charms
and accomplishments of the Lady Eimer, Cuchullin, ac-
companied by his faithful Leagh, set out from Emania,
and discovered, on reaching her father's abode, the lady
he sought, in the companionship of others of her sex and
station, pursuing her customary sports and occupations.
Eimer was no less gifted than Cuchullin himself. Hers,
we are told, were "the gift of beauty of person, the gift
of voice, the gift of music, the gift of embroidery and all
needlework, the gift of wisdom, and the gift of virtuous
chastity." Her discretion was not inferior to her accom-
plishments. She declined to listen to the addresses of
Cuchullin, alleging that she was but a younger daughter.
She enlarged on the virtues and charms of her elder sister,
and suggested that he should seek her father's sanction, and
become the suitor of that lady.

Forgall was not disposed to part with either of his
daughters. In the guise of a stranger he presented himself
at the court of Conor ; praised the varied feats and accom-
plishments which were exhibited in honour of the stranger's
visit to Emania, by the knights of the Red Branch, including
Cuchullin himself, and suggested to Conor that his young
warriors should complete their military education under the
tuition of Scatha, on the island of Skye. It was thus that
Cuchullin became the pupil of this remarkable instructress,
to whom he so often referred in after-life. His sojourn in
the Hebrides perfected him in all knightly and manly

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 75

exercises, and kept him far removed from Erin, which had
been the secret object of Forgall in recommending the
school of Dun Sciath.

Forgall's project was not so successful as he had hoped.
Eirner and Cuchullin found means of exchanging vows of
constancy, for by this time the hero had won the fair lady's
heart He remained in Scotland till he had acquired all
that Scatha could teach, and then returned to Ireland, to
claim the hand of Eimer. On his homeward route he
played the part of a Perseus to an Andromeda of Rathlin
island, rescuing from certain pirates a damsel exposed on
the shore, and destined to be their captive in lieu of tribute
which the islanders were unable to pay. Declining any
reward for his services in slaying the pirates, Cuchullin
hastened to Lusk, but the Lady Eimer was closely guarded
in her father's fortress. Cuchullin stormed the fort and
carried her off in triumph, not without the penalty of com-
bats with their pursuers at various fords and passes, in the
line of country between Lusk and Armagh.

Another romantic adventure in which Cuchullin was
concerned as one of the knights of the Red Branch, was
an attack on an island called Mana, where resided a most
beautiful damsel named Blanaid. Curoi MacDare', the
leader of the Munster order of chivalry, — the Clan Degaid,
as they were called, — was present on this expedition in the
disguise of a grey-coated clown, and gave valuable aid to the
Ulster champions, on condition that, should he succeed in
procuring for them entrance into the fort, he should have
his choice of all the jewels it contained. Success being
achieved, the clown in the grey garb named Blanaid herself

76 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

as the jewel he would claim, and on Cuchullin disputing
the point with him, Curoi succeeded in carrying her oft" by
stratagem. Cuchullin pursued him towards Munster, buc
being worsted in an encounter with Curoi, — who inflicted
on him the double disgrace of "binding him in five-fold
felter, wrists and ankles; wrists and neck," and cutting oft
his long love-locks, —he was compelled to return to Ulster and
there await the growing of his hair, as this loss was esteemed
disgraceful for a man of Erin.

A year elapsed before Cuchullin's hair had grown, when
he again sought Blanaid. He found her on the banks of
the stream afterwards called the Finglas or Whitebrook, in
Kerry. Curoi's abode still exists, and preserves his name,
on the summit of Cahir-Conree, the grand mountain which
towers over Tralee. Blanaid lamented her fate, and im-
plored Cuchullin to return at an appointed time and rescue
her, at a signal agreed on between them.

"But hearken, dear Cuchullin,
Heed well the words I say,
Gather thy forces far and wide,
And on the thirtieth day,
Encamped in yonder forest,
Watch well the river clear,

When its stream runs white, with main and might
Charge, as thou hold'st me dear." *

The scheme which Blanaid had imagined, was to persuade
Curoi to build for himself a fortress which should surpass
all the royal residences in Erin, and to disperse the Clan
Degaid in search of great stones for the erection of this
cyclopean structure. At the moment when Curoi was alone,

* From Goethe, by E. KENEALY.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 77

and defenceless, Blanaid overturned into the river, pails of
milk which she had prepared for the purpose, thus making
the concerted signal for the attack of the fortress and
capture and death of Curoi. Her treachery did not go
unpunished. Ferkertne, the bard of the murdered Curoi,
followed her to Ulster. He found her in company with
Conor and Cuchullin, on the promontory of Ken-Barra.
He approached her, twined his arms around her, and sprang
with her in this fatal embrace over the brow of the cliff, into
the wild ocean beneath.

Before taking leave of Curoi MacDare, we may mention
that his descendants still hold a high position in his county
of Kerry. O'Connell was a representative of this ancient
champion of the Clan Degaid.

The glory and happiness of Cuchullin were clouded in
his after-life by a tragical occurrence, arising from a sin -of
his youth. During his residence in Skye, he loved, and
abandoned, the Lady Aife. She bore him a son, and
trained her unconscious child to be the actor in the schemes
of vengeance which she nourished against Cuchullin. The
young Conloch was educated in all martial exercises, and
when fully perfected, sent by his mother to Erin, with
injunctions never to tell his name, or refuse to fight a single
combat against the most powerful champion.

" Conloch, haughty, bold, and brave
Rides upon lerne's wave,
Flushed with loud-applauding fame,
From Dunsciaik's walls he came,
Came to visit Erin's coast —
Came to prove her mighty host." *

* Translated from the Irish by Miss BROOKE.

7 8 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CO xN QUEST.

Conloch returned an insolent answer to the messenger sent
by Conor MacNessa, to demand his name and purpose.
He encountered, and defeated, several champions sent by
the king. At last Cuchullin approaches. Conloch is moved
by the yearnings of natural affection, but still declines to tell
his name and lineage to the hero, whom he alone knows to
be his father. They fight, and Conloch falls. Ere he dies,
he reveals the fatal secret, and implores the forgiveness of
his parent. The grief of Cuchullin ends only with his life.
His death occurred ('tis said in A.D. 2) at the battle of
Murthevne, near Dundalk. Here "the manly, beauteous
champion fell; it was not the fall of a dastard." His fort
of Dundealga, near the present town of Dundalk, is still
standing, and is a prominent feature in the landscape. It is
known at present as the Moat of Castletown. Cuchullin's
death was avenged by his kinsman Conall Carnach. When
the event happened Conall was beyond sea; but the
widowed Eimer sent to acquaint him, and to hasten his
return that he might avenge his friend. This great knight of
the Red Branch found the head of the hero used as a hurling-
ball. He contended with, and slew those who had so
insulted the remains of his friend. Cuchullin's head and
right hand are said to have been buried at Tara.

Conall Carnach, this knight of the Red Branch who
avenged Cuchullin, was of the race of Ir, son of Miled. He
was kinsman also to Fergus MacRoy, through their common
ancestor, Rury Mor, king of Ireland — from whom the clan
Rury derive their name. He fills a foremost place in heroic
story at this period — the commencement of the Christian era.
The courage and daring of these doughty champions made
them, as we have seen, very formidable antagonists, and

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 79

their successes tempted them to seek occasion for a display
of their prowess. Nor was this overbearing and aggressive
disposition confined to the warriors of Ulster. Even the
bards of the northern kingdom presumed on the warlike
repute of its heroes, to insult and oppress the less powerful
chieftains of other districts. It is recorded of Atharne,
a poet at the court of Conor, that he set cut on a tour of
visits to the other provincial kings, with the sole object of
"picking a quarrel" on behalf of the Ultonians with their
weaker neighbours. With this object he insolently demanded
the most costly gifts, which were yielded to him for the sake
of peace. Eochaid, king of mid-Erin, actually bestowed on
Atharne his one remaining eye, which the audacious poet
demanded of the already mutilated prince, little expecting
his request to be granted, but intending to fix a quarrel,
should it be refused. Lough Derg (on the Shannon) is said
in the legend to have derived its name (the Lake of the
Red Eye) from this circumstance. In Leinster, Atharne
demanded the gift of one hundred and fifty ladies, seven hun-
dred white cows with red ears, and other cattle. His un-
reasonable petition was accorded with such ready alacrity that
it aroused the poet's suspicions. He therefore sent to Conor,
asking from him an escort of Ultonians, who should meet him
at the boundary of the respective kingdoms, and repel any
attempt at the forced restitution which he anticipated at the
hands of his Limerick escort, the moment they should be at
liberty to attack him without infringing the laws of hospitality.
These laws, which it would have been deemed dishonourable
to violate, protected Atharne and his ill-gotten gains while in
the territory of the men of Leinster. It was at the ford of the

8o THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Liffey at Dubh-linn, the black pool which gives its name to
Dublin, that a causeway of hurdles was thrown across the
river for the transport of the flocks, from which the Irish
capital obtained its name of Ath Cliath^ meaning " Hurdle-
ford." Here — for the Liffey was at this time the boundary
between Leinster and Ulster — as Atharne had anticipated,
his late hosts, the instant he had passed out of their country,
seized upon their women and cattle. A battle ensued, in
which the Ultonians succeeded in forcing their retreat to the
Hill of Howth, and carrying the cattle with them. From
the summit of Ben-Edar, the poet cursed the land he had
left, and a blight fell on all things in Leinster, which lasted
till the outraged Atharne was persuaded to remove his
malignant infliction.

" Sing while you may, nor grieve to know
The song you sing shall also die :
Atharna's lay has perished so,
Though once it thrilled this sky
Above us, from his rocky chair,
There, where Ben Edar's landward crest
O'er eastern Bregia bends, to whore
Dun Almon crowns the west :
And all that felt the fretted air
Throughout the song-distempered clime
Did droop, till suppliant Leinster's prayer
Appeased the vengeful rhyme." *

While the Ultonians, with Atharne', were encamped at
Howth, Conall Carnach made various onslaughts on the
Leinster men, urged by a desire to revenge the deaths of his

* From The Cromlech on Howth, by Sir S. FERGUSON,

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 8 1

brothers who had been slain during the siege. He overtook
and encountered Mesgedra, the King of Leinster, vanquished
him in single combat, cut off his head, and carried the
bleeding trophy with him in his chariot. He had not
travelled far when he met Mesgedra's queen, Biiana, returning
with an escort of fifty ladies, from a visit to Meath. "Thou art
commanded to come with me," said Conall, addressing her.

"Who has commanded me?" replied the queen.

u Mesgedra," rejoined Conall.

" Hast thou brought me any token from him ? " asked
the queen.

" I have brought his chariots and horses," said Conall.

" He makes many presents ? " said the lady,

"Come into my chariot : his head is here too," rejoined
the champion.

" Give me liberty to lament for my husband," said the
bereaved woman, and then she shrieked aloud her grief and
sorrow with such intensity that her heart broke, and she
fell dead from her chariot.

The MS. story of the siege of Howth ( Talland Etair}^
from which we glean these incidents, contains, in the midst
of much that is barbarous and revolting, some traits of
generous sentiment worthy of being called chivalrous, and
well deserving the attention of inquirers into the sources of
mediaeval romantic literature.

Mesgedra, with a single squire, flying from the pursuit of
the Ultonians, reaches the ford of Clane. Here they halt to
snatch a moment's repose. " I shall sleep awhile," said the
charioteer, "and thou canst sleep afterwards." — " It is agree-
able to me," said the king, yielding the privilege of first

82 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

refreshment to his humbler companion. The charioteer
sleeps, and Mesgedra looking at the river, is aware of a
large nut floating towards him. He divides the kernel, keep-
ing one half for the charioteer, and eats the other. At this
moment the charioteer awakens from "an evil vision."
" Is it a nut thou didst eat ? " he demands : " hast thou left
half for me?" — " Catch the horses, gilla" said the king.
Then the charioteer resenting the king's supposed ungen-
erous greediness, exclaims, " He who would eat a little
behind the back of a hungry comrade would eat much,"
and in a rash rage drew his sword, and smote off Mesgedra' s
hand. " Evil is the deed," said Mesgedra. " Open my
hand : the half of the nut is there." When the charioteer
saw that it was so, "he turned the sword against himself, so
that it went out through hie back." At this moment Conall
approaches from the opposite side of the ford : "I am here,"
said Mesgedra. "What then?" said Conall. "What
more," said Megesdra, "save to assail him of whom the
debt is due, whatever be the strait he may be in." —
" Prepare," said Conall. " It is not true valour," said
Mesgedra, "for you to fight with a one-handed man." —
"So it shall be with me also/' said Conall : " my hand shall
be bound to my side," said Conall. Conall's hand was
triple bound to his side. They fought. The river was red
from them: in the end Conall was the stronger. "Lo now,
O Conall," said Mesgedra, "I know that thou wilt not
depart until thou bearest with thee this head : bear, then,
my head on thy head, and my renown on thy renown.''
When it is remembered that this was one of the traditionary
" prime tales " known by every duly qualified bard for ages

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 8j

prior to the twelfth century (for it is one of those enumerated
in the Book of Lemster, and the Book of Leinster was com-
piled in the twelfth century for Dermid MacMurrough
in his youth), it will not appear necessary, in the absence of
evidence, to assume that the Arthurian legend and the
cycle of Armoric romance could not have originated among
the Celtic populations. The old romance has impressed
the imagination of a modern poet who has rendered in the
following stanzas, the combat of Conall with Mesgedra.

MESGEDRA.

" ' Come forth, Mesgedra, from the sheltering tree,

And render fight: 'tis northern Conall calls.'
-Not from an equal combat do I flee,
O Conall, to these green, protecting halls ;

' But, mutilated, weak from many wounds,
Here take I sanctuary where none will dare

With impious wheel o'erdrive my measured bounds.
Or cast a weapon through the spell-wall'd air.'

* No impious man am I ; I fear the Gods ;

My wheels thy sacred precinct do but graze ;
Nor, in the strife I challenge, ask I odds,
But lot alike to each of death or praise.'

* See then, one arm hangs idly by my side :

Let, now, one answering arm put also by
From share of battle, to thy belt be tied ;

So shall thy challenge soon have meet reply,'

Then Conall loosed his war-belt's leathern band ;

Buckle and belt above his arm he closed ;
And, single-handed, to the single hand

Of maimed Mesgedra stood in fight opposed.

84 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

They fought, with clashing intermixture keen
Of rapid sword-strokes, till Mesgedra's blade,

Belt and brass corslet glancing sheer between,
Wide open all the trammelling closure laid.

' Respect my plight : two handed chief forbear ! '
* Behold, I spare ; I yield to thy appeal ;

And bind this hand again ; but, well beware
Again it owe not freedom to thy steel ! '

Again they fought with close commingling hail
Of swifter sword-strokes, till the fated brand

Of doom'd Mesgedra, glancing from the mail,
Again cut loose the dread, man- slaughtering hand.

No prayer might now hot Conall's fire assuage ;

No prayer was uttered ; from his scattered toils
Bounding in headlong, homicidal rage,

He flew, he threw, he slew, and took the spoils :

Then up, all glorying, all imbrued in gore,
Sprang to the chariot-seat and north amain

Chariots and steeds, and ghastly trophy bore

Through murmuring Lififey, o'er the fords of Clane.

There, softly glancing down the hawthorn glades,
Like phantom of the dawn and dewy air,

There met him with a troop of dames and maids,
A lovely woman delicate and fair.

They, at their vision of the man of blood,
Rightward and left fled fluttering in alarm ;

She in his pathway innocently stood
As one who thinks not, and who fears not, harm.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 85

'Who thou, and whence, and who the woman-train ?'

' Biiana, King Mesgedra's wife am I,
From vows returning sped at Tclacta's fane :

These dames and maids my serving company.

' And, one moon absent, long the time appears

Till back in Naas's halls I lay at rest
My dreams ill-omening and my woman's fears

That daily haunt me, on my husband's breast.'

* Mount here. Thy husband speaks his will through me. "
' Through thee ! Thy token of my husband's will ? '

' The royal car, the royal coursers see :
Perchance there rests a surer token still.'

4 My king Mesgedra is a bounteous lord,
And many a war-car doth his chariot-pen,

And many a swift steed do his stalls afford
For oft bestowal upon divers men.'

' See then,' he said, ' my certain warrant here.'
Ah, what a deed ! and showed the severed head.

She paled, she sickened with a mortal fear,

Reached her white arms and sank before him, dead.

No passing swoon was hers : he saw her die ;

Saw death's pale signet set on cheek and brow —
Up through his raging breast there rose a sigh ;

And, ' Sure,' he said, ' a loving wife wast thou ! '

* But now since friendlier death has shut her eyes
From sight of bondage in an alien home,

No law forbids to yield her obsequies,
Or o'er her raise the green sepulchral dome.

86 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

* Or — for her love was stronger than her life —

To place beside her, in her narrow bed —
It's lawful tribute rendered to my knife —
The much-loved, life-lamented kingly head.

' No law forbids— all sanguinary dues

Paid justly — that the heart-wrung human vow

Your sterner rites, dread Deities refuse,
Some gentler Demon's ritual may allow :

* That yet, ere Time of Mankind make an end,

Some mightier Druid of our race may rise ;
Some milder Messenger from Heaven descend;
And Earth, with nearer knowledge of the Skies.

* See, past your sacrificers' grisly bands,

Past all the shapes that servile souls appal,
With fearless vision, from a thousand lands,
One great, good God behind and over all.

'Raise then, her mound :' the gathering hosts he spa" e
That thronging to o'ertake their venturous king,

Poured from the ford through fen and crackling bra* e,
And hailed their hero in acclaiming ring : —

'Raise, too, her stone, conspicuous far and near ;

And let a legend on the long stone tell,
1 Behold, there lies a tender woman here,

Who surely, loved a valiant husband well.'

' And let the earth-heap'd grass renewing tomb,

A time-long token eloquent remain
Of pity and of love for all who come

By murmuring Liffey and the banks of Clane.

* From " Mesgedra," Poems by Sir S. FERGUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 87

Conall buried Biiana, and the head of her husband with
her, having previously, in compliance with a barbarous
custom, extracted the brains, which were mixed with lime,
and made into a ball. This ball was deposited in the House
of the Red Branch, at Emania, and was destined to play an
important part afterwards ; for a prophecy existed that
Mesgedra would avenge himself on the Ulstermen.

On one occasion, Keth MacMagach, a Connaught .hero
aiA nephew of Maev of Cruachan, passing disguised near
Emania, observed two fools of Conor's court playing on the
green with the fatal ball, which they had purloined from the
trophy-house of Creeve Roe. Keth, av/are of the prediction,
possessed himself of it, and always carried it in his girdle,
awaiting an opportunity of using it against Conor. This he
obtained by a characteristic stratagem on a subsequent en-
counter between the Connacians and the Ultom'ans, in
which Conor himself commanded the northern forces.

Conor was vain of his personal symmetry and beauty : "For
there was not upon earth the shape of a person like the shape
of Conchobhar (Conor), namely, in form, and face, and
countenance ; in size, and symmetry, and proportion ; in eyes,
and hair, and whiteness ; in wisdom, and, prudence, and
eloquence j in costume, and nobleness, and mien ; in arms,
and amplitude, and dignity ; in accomplishment, and valour,
and family descent."

The golden colour of Conor's hair is also recorded. The
wound in his head, received in the manner about to be
mentioned, was, according to the story, "stitched with thread
of gold, because the colour of Conchobhar's hair was the
same as the colour of the gold." Thus gifted, and not un-

88 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

willing to display his gifts, Conor unsuspectingly acceded to
a request made by some of the Connacian ladies that he
should approach them between the armies, so that they might
judge whether fame had reported truly of his personal dignity
and martial bearing.

Keth disguised himself in female attire, and with his sling
and Mesgedra's brain-ball, stationed himself among the
women who awaited the approach of the handsome king.
Conor came within reach of the missile. Keth cast the fatal
ball from his sling, and imbedded it deeply in the head of
the monarch.

Conor's physicians hesitated to remove the ball, but
succeeded in restoring him to the use of his faculties, and
permitted him soon to resume his former habits, only caution-
ing him against any violent exertion or emotion, especially
against indulgence in anger. On this circumstance of the
tradition, and the supposed synchronism of Conor's death
with the time of Our Lord's crucifixion, has been founded a
Christian legend of singular but picturesque wildness.
Conor, startled by the supernatural darkness which ac-
companied the Passion of Our Lord, inquires from his Druids
of its cause. They reply, " that Jesus Christ, the Son of the
living God, was at that moment suffering at the hands of the
Jews." "What crime has he committed?" said Conor.
" None," replied they. " Then they are slaying him being
innocent?" asked Conor. "It is so," said the Druids.
Thereupon Conor, bursting into an uncontrollable fury, drew
his sword, rushed into an adjoining wood, and began to
hew and hack the trees, supposing them in his frenzy to be
the obnoxious Jews ; and the legend preserves, in archaic but

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 89

characteristic language, the rhapsody, or rhetoric, as it is
called, pronounced by him on that occasion.

" Good now," said Conchobhar ; " it is a pity that he
(Christ) did not appeal to a valiant high-king, which would
bring me in the shape of a hardy champion, my lips quiver-
ing, until the great valour of a soldier should be witnessed
dealing a breach of battle between two hosts. Bitter the
slaughter by which there would be propitiated free relief.
With Christ should my assistance be. A wild shout has
sprung at large : a full Lord, a full loss is lamented ; the
crucifixion of a king, the greatest body, who was an illustrious,
admirable king. I would complain of the deed to the faith-
ful host of noble feats, whose vigilant, beautiful aid should
be with the merciful God to relieve Him. Beautiful the over-
throwing which I would give. Beautiful the combat which
I would wage for Christ, who is being defiled. I would not
rest, though my body of clay had been tormented by
them ... It crushes my heart to hear the voice of wailing
for my God, and that this arm does not come to reach with
true relief to arrest the sorrow of death — because I am told
that it is dangerous for me to ride in chariots — without
avenging the Creator." In the midst of these excitements,
the ball started from its place, where it had remained im-
bedded in his skull, and Conor fell dead on the spot.
Another tradition ascribes to the visit of Altus, a Roman
centurion sent to demand tribute of Conor, his knowledge
of the incarnation and mission of Christ.

To return to Conall Carnach. His haughty and over-
bearing character displayed itself at a feast given by a
Leinster prince, MacDatho, to the Connaught men and

9<- THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Ultonians. MacDatho, was possessed of a noble hound,
which was envied by Conor MacNessa as well as by Ailill
and Maev, Afraid to offend these rival sovereigns by
yielding the hound to eithei, MacDatho invited them all to
a great feast. His hospitable board was graced by a famous
pig. But who was to carve this dainty dish ? Keth Mac-
Magach and Conall Carnach contended for the honour.
At last it was conceded to the Ulster hero, who helped
his countrymen to the dainty morsels, tossing over the
forelegs of the pig to the Connaught guests. Of course
bloodshed resulted, and the poor hound fell victim to
their swords. We turn from this ignoble strife to a more
gallant combat between Conall and Keth, in which the latter
lost his life, and Conall was all but mortally wounded. The
scene was Slieve Fuad, now the Fews ; the time, winter *
and Conall, though the victor, alone and bleeding amid the
drifting snowstorms, was captured by the Connacian hero,
Bealcu, who restored him to health that he might afterwards
avenge Keth in single combat with Conall. The circum-
stances, with some deviations from the rude original, have
been amplified into a dramatic ballad, commemorative of this
primitive instance of chivalrous generosity.

THE HEALING OF CONALL CARNACH.

O'er Slieve Few, with noiseless tramping through the heavy

drifted snow,

Bealcu Connacia's champion, in his chariot tracks the foe ;
And anon far off discerneth, in the mountain hollow white,
Slinger Keth and Conall Carnach mingling, hand to hand, in

fight.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 91

Swift the charioteer his coursers urged across the wintry glade :
Hoarse the cry of Keth and hoarser seemed to come demanding

aid;
But through wreath and swollen runnel, ere the car could reach

anigh,
Keth lay dead, and mighty Conall bleeding lay at point to die.

Whom beholding spent and pallid, Bealcu exulting cried,

" Oh thou ravening wolf of Uladh, where is now thy northerr:

pride ?
What can now that crest audacious, what that pale defiant

brow,
Once the bale-star of Connacia's ravaged fields, avail thee now ?'

' ' Taunts are for reviling women," faintly Conall made reply.
*• Wouldst thou play the manlier foeman ? end my pain and let

me die !
Neither deem thy blade dishonoured that with Keth's a deed it

share
For the foremost two of Connaught feat enough and fame to

spare."

'No; I will not! Bard shall never in Dunseverick hall make

boast

That to quell one northern riever needed two of Croghan's host ;
But because that word thou'st spoken, if but life enough remains,
Thou shalt hear the wives of Croghan clap their hands above

thy chains.

'' Yea, if life enough but linger, that the leech may make thee

whole,

Meet to satiate the anger that beseems a warrior's soul,
Best of leech-craft I'll purvey thee ; make thee whole as healing

can;
And in single combat slay thee, Connaught man to Ulster man."

92 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Binding him in five-fold fetter, wrists and ankles, wrists and

neck,

To his car's uneasy litter, Bealcu upheaved the wreck
Of the broken man and harness ; but he started with amaze
When he felt the northern war-mace, what a weight it was to

raise.

Westward then through Breiffny's borders, with his captive

and his dead,
Tracked by bands of fierce applauders, wives and shrieking

widows sped ;

And the chained heroic carcass on the fair green of MoySlaught
Casting down, proclaimed his purpose, and bade Lee, the leech,

be brought.

Lee, the gentle-faced physician, from his herb-plot came and

said :
" Healing is with God's permission ; health for life's enjoyment

made;
And though I mine aid refuse not, yet, to speak my purpose

plain,
I the healing art abuse not, making life enure to pain.

"But assure me, with the sanction of the mightiest oath ye know.
That in case, in this contention, Conall overcome his foe,
Straight departing from the tourney by what path the chief shall

choose,
He is free to take his journey, unmolested, to the Fews.

" Swear me further, while at healing in my charge the hero lies,
None shall through my fences stealing, work him mischief or

surprise ;

And if God the undertaking but approve, in six months' spar
Once again my art shall make him meet to stand before a man."

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 93

Crom their God they then attested, Sun and Wind for guarantees,
Conall Carnach unmolested by what exit he might please,
If the victor, should have freedom to depart Connacia's bounds ;
Meantime, no man should intrude him, entering on the hospice
grounds.

Then the burthen huge receiving in his hospice-portal, Lee,

Stiffened limb by limb relieving with the iron fetter-key,

As a crumpled scroll unrolled him, groaning deep, till laid at

length,
Wondering gazers might behold him, what a tower he was of

strength.

Spake the sons to one another, day by day, of Bealcu—
" Get thee up and spy, my brother, what the leech and North-
man do."

" Lee at mixing of a potion : Conall yet in nowise dead,
As on reef of rock the ocean, tosses wildly on his bed."

" Spy again with cautious peeping: what of Lee and Conall

now?"
" Conall lies profoundly sleeping : Lee beside with placid

brow."
* '* And to-day ? " — " To-day he's risen ; pallid as his swathing

sheet,
He has left his chamber's prison, and is walking on his feet."

" And to-day ? " — " A ghastly figure, propped upon his spear he

goes."
" And to-day ? " — A languid vigour through his larger gesture

shows."
"And to-day?"— "The blood renewing, mantles all his clear '

cheek through :
Would thy vow had room for rueing, rashly-valiant Bealcu ! "

94 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

So with herb and healing balsam, ere the second month was past,
Life's increases, smooth and wholesome, circling through his

members vast,
As you've seen a sere oak burgeon under summer's showers

and dew,
Conall, under his chirurgeon, filled and flourished, spread and

grew.

" I can bear the sight no longer : I have watched him moon by

moon ;
Day by day the chief grows stronger, giant-strong he will be

soon.
Oh my sire, rash-valiant warrior ! but that oaths have built the

wall,
Soon these feet should leap the barrier, soon this hand thy fate

forestall."

" Brother, have the wish thou'st uttered : we have sworn, so let

it be;

But although our feet be fettered, all the air is left us free.
Dying Keth with vengeful presage did bequeath thee sling and

ball,
And the sling may send its message where thy vagrant glances

fall.

" Forbaid was a master-slinger ; Maev when in her bath she

sank,

Felt the presence of his finger from the further Shannon bank ;
For he threw by line and measure, practising a constant cast
Daily in secluded leisure, till he reached the mark at last.

" Keth achieved a warrior's honour, though 'twas 'mid a

woman's band,

* When he smote the amorous Conor bo wing from his distant stand.
Fit occasion will not fail ye : in the leech's lawn below,
Conall at the fountain daily drinks within an easy throw."

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 95

" Wherefore cast ye at the apple, sons of mine, with measured

aim ? "
" He who in the close would grapple, first the distant foe should

maim;
And since Keth, his death-balls casting, rides no more the ridge

of war,
We, against our summer hosting, train us for his vacant car."

Wherefore to the rock repairing, gaze ye forth, my children,

tell?"
'"Tis a stag we watch for snaring, that frequents the leech's

well."
" I will see this stag, though, truly, small may be my eyes'

delight."
And he climbed the rock where fully lay the lawn exposed to

sight.

Conall to the green well-margin came at dawn and knelt to drink,
Thinking how a noble virgin by a like green fountain's brink,
Heard his own pure vows one morning, far away and long ago ;
All his heart to home was turning, and his tears began to flow.

Clean forgetful of his prison, steep Dunseverick's windy tower,
Seemed to rise in present vision, and his own dear lady's

bower.
Round the sheltering knees they gather, little ones of tender

years,—
Tell us, mother, of our father — and she answers but with tears.

Twice the big drops plashed the fountain. Then he rose, and

turning round,
As across a breast of mountain sweeps a whirlwind, o'er the

ground
Raced in athlete feats amazing, swung the war-mace, hurled the

spear :
BeaJcu, in wonder gazing, felt the pangs of deadly fear.

g6 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Had it been a fabled griffin, suppled in a fasting den,

Flashed its wheeling coils to Heaven, o'er a wreck of beasts and

men,
Hardly had the dreadful prospect bred his soul more dire

alarms ;
Such the fire of Conall's aspect, such the stridor of his arms.

" This is fear," he said, " that never shook these limbs of mine

till now.

Now I idly mourn that ever I indulged the boastful vow.
Yet 'twas righteous wrath impelled me ; and a sense of manly

shame
From his naked throat withheld me, when 'twas offered to my

aim.

" Now I see his strength excelling : whence he buys it : what

he pays.
'Tis a God who has his dwelling in he fount, to whom he

prays.
Thither comes he weeping, drooping, till the well- God hears his

prayer,
Thence departs he, soaring, swooping, as an eagle through the

air.

" Oh thou God, by whatsoever sounds of awe thy name we

know,

Grant thy servant equal favour with the stranger and the foe !
Equal grace, 'tis all I covet ; and if sacrificial blood
Win thy favour, thou shalt have it on thy very well-brink, God !

" What and though I've given pledges not to cross the leech's

court ?
Not to pass his sheltering hedges, meant I, to his patient's

hurt.

Thy dishonour meant I never : never meant I to forswear
Right divine of prayer wherever Power divine invites to prayer.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 97

" Sun that warm'st me, Wind that fann'st me, ye that guarantee

the oath,

Make no sign of wrath against me: tenderly ye touch me both ;
Yea then, through his fences stealing ere to-morrow's sun shall

rise,
Well-God ! on thy margin kneeling I will offer sacrifice."

" Brother, rise, the skies are ruddy : if we yet would save our

sire,

Rests a deed courageous, bloody, wondering ages shall admire :
Hie thee to the spy-rock's summit : ready there thou'lt find the

sling.
Ready there the leaden plummet ; and at dawn he seeks the

spring."

Ruddy dawn had changed to amber : radiant as the yellow

day

Conall, issuing from his chamber, to the fountain took his way :
There, athwart the welling water, like a fallen pillar, spread,
Smitten by the bolt of slaughter, lay Connacia's champion,

dead.

Call the hosts ! convene the judges ! cite the dead man's chil-
dren both ! —

—Said the judges, " He gave pledges ; Sun and Wind ; and
broke the oath,

And they slew him : so we've written : let his sons attend our
words."—

" Both, by sudden frenzy smitten, fell at sunrise on their
swords."

Then the judges — " Ye who punish man's prevaricating vow,
Needs not further to admonish : contrite to your will we bow,
All our points of promise keeping: safely let the chief go

forth."

Conall to his chariot leaping, turned his coursers to the North :

H

98 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

In the Sun that swept the valleys, in the Winds' encircling

flight,

Recognising holy allies, guardians of the Truth and Right ;
While, before his face, resplendant with a firm faith's candid

ray,
Dazzled troops of foes attendant, bowed before him on his way.

But the calm physician, viewing where the white neck joined

the ear,

Said, " It is a slinger's doing : Sun nor Wind was actor here.
Yet till God vouchsafe more certain knowledge of his sovereign

will.
Better deem the mystic curtain hides their wonted demon's

still.

" Better so, perchance, than living in a clearer light like me,
But believing where perceiving, bound in what I hear and see ,
Force and change in constant sequence, changing atoms,

changeless laws ;
Only in submissive patience, waiting access to the Cause.

" And, they say, Centurion Altus, when he to Emania came
And to Rome's subjection called us, urging Caesar's tribute

claim,

Told that half the world barbarian thrills already with the faith
Taught them by the god-like Syrian Caesar lately put to death.

"And the sun, through starry stages measuring from the Ram

and Bull,

Tells us of renewing ages, and that Nature's time is full :
So, perchance, these silly breezes even now may swell the sail
Brings the leavening word of Jesus westward also to tlv:

Gael." *

* From Lays of the Western Gael, by Sir S. FRROUSON.

THE HEROIC PERIOD. 99

Conall died in exile. He had received a hospitable welcome
at the court of Cruachan, but had slain Ailill by a cast of his
spear, at the instigation of Maev, who was jealous of her
husband. Conall fled, but was pursued and killed by
the " Three Red-Heads," who were in the service of the
king. Fergus MacRoy had previously -fallen a victim
to the not unmerited suspicions of Ailill, as iradition tells
that Maev had borne to the aged hero three sons at a birth,
from one of whom (Ciar) the county of Kerry derives its
name. The occasion on which this access of jealous
hate occurred was when Fergus was swimming in Loch Ein,
in Roscommon, a lake not far from the royal residence at
Rath Cruachan. Maev was seized with a fancy to contend
with him in swimming, which so enraged xViliil that he
commanded one of his kinsmen to cast his javelin at Fergus.
Maev also met her death in the water, though not on this
occasion. She had removed during her widowhood to the
island of Inis-Clothran, in Loch Ree. Here she continued
her natatory habits. Forbaid, son of Conor, learned that it
was her custom to bathe daily at a spring on the coast of
the island. He had the distance measured between this
spot and the opposite shore of Loch Ree. Returning to
Ulster, he set up as a mark at the ascertained distance, an
apple on a stake, and practised daily, till he could truly and
certainly hit it from a sling. Thus, habituated to cast
unerringly at that exact distance, he repaired to the eastern
shore of Loch Ree, watched his opportunity, and aimed a
stone from his sling, which struck Maev on the forehead .
and so died this Amazonian queen, having survived all her
contemporaries, and reigned over Connaught for a period,
it is said, of eighty years.

IOO

THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

During the Heroic Period the chief interest centres — n :>t
in the line of sovereigns but in the provincial kings of
Ulster and Connaught — Fergus MacRoy and Conor Mac
Nessa ruling the northern province, from Emania, near
Armagh, and Maev, of Cruachan, and her husband, Ailill,
ruling Connaught.

The following table gives the succession of the supreme
monarchs, with the line of their descent and date of reign,
according to O'Flaherty : —

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE HEROIC
PERIOD.

Macha, Queen, of the line of Ir ...

Rechtaid „ Eber

Ugaine Mor „ Eremon

Leary Lore ,, Eremon

Cova Gael ,, Eremon

Lavra Loingsech ,, Eremon

Melgi Molbthach ,, Eremon

Magh Corb „ Eber

/Engus Ollamh ,, Eremon

laraun Gleofathach ,, Eremon

Fer Corb „ Eber

Connla ,, Eremon

Olild Cas-fiachlach ,, Eremon

Adamar ,, Eber

Eochaid Folt Leathan ,, Eremon

Fergus Forthamhail „ Eremon

kngus Tuismach ,, Eremon

Conall ,, Eremon

Niadh „ Eber

Enna Aighnech ,, Eremon

Crimthan ,, Eremon

Rudraide ,, Ir ...

B.C. 347

340

33i
301
285
268

254
242

236
229
223
216

212
I87
182

175
163

I3>

126
116
109
105

THE ATACOTT1C PERIOD IOI

Innadmar of the line of Eber ... ... B.C. 88

Bresel „ Ir 85

Lugaid „ Eber ... ... ?6

Congal Claringech ,, Ir ... ... ... 61

Duach Dalta-Degaid ,, Eber ... ... 5^

Factna Fathach ,, Ir ... ... ... 51

Eochaid Feidlech ,, Eremon ... ... 27

Eochaid Aram „ Eremon ... ... 15

Edersgel „ Eremon ... ... 5

Conari Mor Eremon ... •• A.D.I

CHAPTER III.

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD.
FROM CONARI MOR A.D. I, TO CORMAC MAC ART, 254.

Reign of Conari Mor — He banishes the sons of Donn Dessa — Their
attack on the king and his nobles at the Bruidin Da Derga — Death
of Conari— Reign of Crimthan— Revolt of the Atacotti (Aitheach
Tuatha), and massacre of the nobles — Usurpation of Carbri Cat-
head—Resignation of the crown by his son Morann to the exiled
legitimate heir — Restoration of the noble caste in the person of
Feredach — Second expulsion of the nobles — Second restoration in
the person of Tuathal the Acceptable — Crime of Eochaid, King of
Leinster, against Tuathal's daughters, leading to the imposition
of the Boarian tribute, or Boru of Leinster— Rise of the Northern and
Southern Dynasties— Con Hundred-Battle and Moh Nuad divide
the island— Lea Con and Lea Moha — Battle of Moy Lena— Chival-
rous trait of Goll MacMorna — Ollioll Olum sovereign of Lea Moha —
His descendants — The dream of Eatach — Battle of Moy Mucrive —
Lugaid Laga and the three Ferguses— The Battle of Crinna —
The Clanna Morna— Chronological Table.

CONARI MOR, whose accession is made to synchronize with
the birth of our Lord by the learned author of "Ogygia,"
enjoyed a long and prosperous reign, and has the reputa-

102 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

tion of having been a ruler of impartiality and vigour. His
rigorous love of justice eventuated in his own destruction.
Amongst other turbulent nobles whom he condemned to
banishment were his own foster-brothers, the four sons of
Dorm Dessa, a powerful prince of Leinster. The outlaws
took to piracy, and at length returned to their native shores
at the head of a predatory expedition. Landing near
Malahide, they marched towards Tara, laying waste the
country as they went. Conari, returning from a visitation of
Munster, had proceeded as far as Lusk, when, finding the
plain of Meath wrapped in flames, he turned back, and
made his way by Tallaght to the bruidin or Court of Da
Derga. This was one of the six great Houses of Hospitality,
or Common Halls, which then existed in Ireland. Here he
was welcomed and sheltered by his friend, Da Derga ; but
the hospitable house was attacked by the pirates, and, after
an unavailing resistance, sacked and plundered. Conari Mor
and his small retinue were put to the sword. The site where
the court of Da Derga stood, near the source of the river
Dodder, indicated in the name yet retained, Bohernabreena
— Botliar-na-Briiign'e — or the Road of the Court.

The story of this king's death — with which the super-
natural is largely mingled —has been finely rendered in the
poem which bears his name, from which we give a few
extracts.

" Full peace was Erin's under Conary,
Till — though his brethren by the tender tie
Of fosterage — Donn Dessa's lawless sons,
Fer-ger, Fer-gel, and vengeful Fergobar,
For crimes that justly had demanded death,

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 103

By judgment mild, he sent in banishment ;
Yet wrung his own fraternal heart the while.
Whose brothers, Ferragon and Lomna Druth,
Drawn by affection's ties, and thinking scorn
To stay behind while others led the way
To brave adventure, in their exile joined."

Joined with the pirate, Ingcel, the banished men landed
and ravaged Meath during the absence of Conary in the
south. On the king's return journey, he halted with his
chief warriors at the Bruidin Da Derga.

" While thus fared Conary, the pirates' scouts
Who watched the coast, put off to where the fleet
Stayed on the heaving ridges of the main,
Lay off Ben-Edar. Ingcel's galley reached
High on the prow they found him looking forth,
As from a crag o'erhanging grassy lands
Where home-bred cattle graze, the lion glares
A-hungered ; and, behind, as meaner beasts
That wait the lion's onset for their share,
Outlaw'd and reprobate of many a land,
The ravening crew."

• The pirates make for land, and send in advance a spy.
who, on his return, describes the heroes in the Bruidin,
Among these are Conall Carnach.

" ' A single warrior on a separate bench
I saw. Methinks no man was ever born
So stately built, so perfect of his limbs,
So hero-like as he. Fair-haired he is
And yellow-bearded, with an eye of blue.
He sits apart and wears a wistful look,
As if he missed some friend's companionship.'

104 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Then Ferragon, not waiting question, cried,
' Gods ! all the foremost, all the valiantest
Of Erin's champions, gathered in one place
For our destruction, are assembled here !
That man is Conall Carnach ; and the friend
He looks for vainly with a wistful eye
Is great Cuchullin : he no more shall share
The upper bench with Conall ; since the tomb
Holds him, by hand of Conall well avenged.
The foremost this, the mightiest champion this
Left of the Red Branch, since Cuchullin's fall.
Look you, as thick as fragments are of ice
When one night's frost is crackled underfoot,
As thick as autumn leaves, as blades of grass,
Shall the lopp'd members and the cloven half-heads
Of them that hear me, be, by break of day,
Before Da Derga's doors, if this assault
Be given, while Conall Carnach waits within ! '

' Pity to slay that man,' said Lomna Druth,
' That is the man who, matched at fords of Clane
With maimed Mesgedra, though no third was near,
Tied up his own right hand, to fight him fair.
A man both mild and valiant, frank and wise,
A friend of men of music and of song,
Loved of all women : were there only one
Such hero in the house, for that one's sake
Forego this slaughter ! ' "

Conary, the arch-king, is described as " of aspect mild,
benevolent, composed," and one who had brought prosperity
to the realm.

" ' Pity to slay this king,' said Lomna Druth ;
4 Since he has reigned there has not fallen a year
Of dearth, or plague, or murrain on the land ;
The dew has never left the blade of grass
One day of Conary' s time, before the noon ;

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 105

Nor harsh wind ruffled hair upon the side
Of grazing beast. Since he began his reign
From mid- spring to mid- autumn, cloud nor storm
Has dimmed the daily-shining, bounteous sun ;
But each good year has seen its harvests three
Of blade, of ear, of fruit, apple and nut.
Peace until now in all his realm has reigned,
And terror of just laws kept men secure.

But the pirate will not forego his vengeance.

" * No. I stand upon the oaths
Ye swore me ; I demand my spoil for spoil,
My blood for blood.'

' We gave thee licence,' Lomna said,—' and I
Grieve that we gave it, yea, or took the like, —
To take a plunder, but we gave thee not
Licence to take the life, the soul itself
Of our whole nation, as you now would do.
For, slay our reverend sages of the law,
Slay him who puts the law they teach in act ;
Slay our sweet poets, and our sacred bards,
Who keep the continuity of time,
By fame perpetual of renowned deeds ;
Slay our experienced captains who prepare
The youth for martial manhood, and the charge
Of public freedom, as befits a state
Self-governed, self-sufficing, self-contained ;
Slay all that minister our loftier life,
Now by this evil chance assembled here,
You leave us but the carcass of a state,
A rabble ripe to rot, and yield the land,
To foreign masters and perpetual shame.' "

* From " County," Poems by Sir S. FERGUSON.

106 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

The onset is made ; the defenders of the Bruidin sally
forth in their might, but are foiled and baffled by enchant-
ments, and the wiles of supernatural beings. King Conary
is slain.

An interregnum of five years ensued on the death of
Conari. It is worthy of remark that this, and one other, are
the only periods during which the native annalists admit the
throne to have been vacant, during so many successions.
Lugaid "of the red bands," and Crimthan, surnamed
" Nuaid-Nair," next assumed the sovereignty. Unpleasing
stories are told in explanation of those names. Crimthan is
said to have been the reigning king, when our Saviour
Christ was born.

Some " delightful adventures " which befel him while on
a foreign expedition, are recounted in a poem ascribed to
King Crimthan himself. He was brought by a "fairy"
lady into her palace. She bestowed on him a gilt chariot,
a golden chessboard inlaid with transparent gems, a cloak
of divers colours embroidered in gold, a sword ornamented
with serpents, a shield embossed with silver, and various
other treasures which Crimthan brought home with him to
his fort of Dun Criffan, on the Hill of Howth. The dun
was probably situated on that part of the peninsula where
the Bailey lighthouse now stands. He also brought with
him the fairy, Nair, whom he made his queen. He only
lived for a few weeks after his return from his "fortunate"
expedition, having been killed by a fall from his horse.

About the middle of this, the first century of the Christian
era, the Patrician tribes of the Saer Gael, becoming more
ano>more oppressive in their exactions, provoked a serious

THE ATACOiTIC PERIOD. 107

revolt of the poorer Milesians, as well as of the plebeian
remnants of the conquered races. The dominant Scoti
treated these classes as serfs, or villeins. They called them-
selves the " Saer-Clanna " or, Free Tribes, and designated
the others as the " Daer-Clanna," or Base Tribes, and also
as the Aitheach-Tuatha, or, Atacotts. By some Aitheach is
understood to mean the rent-paying tillers of the soil ; but,
whatever its derivation, it served, in that age to designate a
class who lived in a state of oppression, and whose discon-
tents at home led them to seek military service abroad.
The Romans were acquainted with the name, and recruited
their legions from these Atacotti. Under the leadership of
Carbri Kin-Gait, they succeeded for a time in not only over-
throwing the reigning Scotic dynasty, but in setting up a
monarchy of their own. Such revolts are recorded in the
early history of most nations, and a common feature of
legendary histories respecting them, is the device of the
enslaved population to invite their masters to a banquet, and
there slay them. Such also is the story of the Irish Aitheach
Tuatha.

They invited the monarch, the provincial kings, and
great chiefs of the nation to a feast at a place in Connaught,
since called Magh Cru. or the Bloody Plain. For three
years they had stored up of their produce, the materials for
this lavish entertainment. When the guests were enjoying
the banquet and the music of the harp, the plot was con-
summated by the entrance of armed men, who massacred
them. Three ladies only escaped, says the legend, wives
of the provincial kings, Baini, daughter of the King of
Alba (Scotland), Cruiir, daughter of the King of Wales, and

108 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Aini, daughter of the King of Britain. These queens sought
refuge at their fathers' courts, and became the mothers of
Feredach, Corb Olum, and Tibradi Tirech ; and thus the
Massacre of the Atacotti failed in its object, and represen-
tatives of the slaughtered kings were born to inherit the
rights of their fathers. The power of the Scoti being over-
thrown, the plebeians elected Carbri to be their monarch.

Carbri who probably received his name of Kin-Cait, from
being head of the Catredii, a tribe of the Firbolg, reigned for
five years and died a natural death. His ancestors are said
to be of Norse extraction and to have come into Ireland with
Lavra Loingsech.

On Carbri's death the throne was offered to his son
Morann. But Morann, who is represented as a man of great
wisdom and justice, declined the succession, and counselled
that the infant heirs of the former dynasty should be recalled
from exile. If we are to credit the story told by our writers
to account for the acceptance of this advice by the Aitheach
Tuatha, we must ascribe it to the signs of heavenly displea-
sure which showed themselves during Carbri's usurpation.

" Evil was the state of Ireland during his reign ; fruitless
her corn, for there used to be but one grain on the stalk :
fishless her rivers : milkless her cattle : plentiless her fruit,
for there used to be but one acorn on the oak."

The recall took place : and Morann being constituted
guardian and adviser of the infant Feredach, so trained the
young prince by precept and example that Feredach attained
to the distinction of being called " The Just." Morann is
feigned to have had a chain which, when placed round the
neck of a guilty person, suffocated him, while it expanded

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 109

when placed on an innocent man. In another version of
this myth, the collar pinched the throat of the unjust judge,
and sat easily on him while his judgments were righteous.
The " Collar of Morann " is often alluded to in Irish song
and fiction.

To Feredach succeeded Fiathach Finn, an Eremonian
prince from whom the Dal-Fiathach of Ulster trace their
descent. He was followed by Fiacha Finnladh, the victim of
a second revolt, in which the disaffected classes had the aid of
the provincial kings. Fiacha was slain, and his son Teuthal
driven to take refuge in Scotland. Elim, previously the pro-
vincial king of Ulster, assumed the monarchy and held it
amid much turbulence and discontent, until Teuthal
having attained the age of manhood, and procured the means
of fitting out an expedition, returned from Scotland on the
invitation of his adherents, A.D. 130.

Then ensued a series of sanguinary battles extending over
the whole of Ireland between Teuthal and the Aitheach
Tuatha. From the names of the tribes and leaders subdued
by Teuthal in this great war of the Irish Restoration, we are
enabled to judge how great were the numbers of the Firbolg
and other servile classes then remaining in the country.
Teuthal, victorious over these enemies, resumed the sove-
reignty under the flattering title of Techtmar, or " The
Acceptable."

The nobles of the Gael flocked to Tara, and there
swore, according to the oath exacted in former days by
Ugaine' Mdr, that the sovereignty of Ireland should belong
to him and to his posterity for ever. To this king is ascribed
the erection of Meath into a territory, to be the peculiar

110 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

possession of the reigning monarch. Tlacta, Uisnech, Talti,
and Temhair, or Tara, were the capital places of the king-
dom of Meath. The first-named place was the seat of their
worship; at the second a great annual fair was held; at Talti
a fair was held, where marriage alliances were contracted ;
while at Tara, law, history and genealogies were preserved.
The " Psalter of Tara" is alleged to have been an historic
register kept there even at this early period.

Teuthal had a daughter Darinni, who had been wedded
by Eochaid, king of Leinster. On a subsequent visit to
Tara, Eochaid applied for the hand of her sister, Fithir, stat-
ing that Darinni, whom he kept concealed and imprisoned,
was dead. His suit was granted. When he returned to
Leinster with his bride, Fithir discovered that her sister was
living, and died of shame, while the deserted first wife of the
faithless Eochaid died of grief. Teuthal marched into
Leinster to avenge the wrongs of his daughters and the perfidy
of Eochaid. The Lagenians, unable to cope with the forces
of the Ard Righ, submitted to a heavy fine, which was ex-
acted every second year, and was called the Boromean
Tribute, probably from Bo, a cow, as the tribute was paid by
the Leinstermen in kine. The Boromean Tribute afterwards
became a fruitful source of conflict, the Lagenians resisting
its levy whenever they found themselves strong enough to
contend with any chance of success, and submitting only
when they were powerless to resist. It continued to be
levied down to the end of the seventh century, when the then
King Finnachta the Festive, remitted it at the solicitation of
St. Moling, but it was reimposed in the eleventh century by
the great Brian, as a punishment for the aid afforded to the

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. Ill

Danes by the Leinstermen. Brian was thence called Boru,
a name which he has made synonymous with glory and pre-
eminence in the Irish annals.

Teuthal Techtmar fell in battle, aft jr a prosperous reign
of thirty years. He was slain and succeeded by Mai, a
descendant of Conall Carnach. The sovereignty of Ireland
remained in this prince of the Irian line for four years only,
when the race of Eremon re-asserted its supremacy in the
person of Felemy Rectmar,son of Teuthal; and, in the person
of his son, Con of the Hundred Battles, attained a permanent
pre-eminence.

Felemy Rectmar is the root of several great stocks in Irish
family history. He left three sons. Con succeeded him a*
Ard Righ, or supreme monarch. Eochaid Finn settled in
Leinster, and received in fosterage Laeisech, a great-grand-
son of Conall Carnach, whom he educated. This young
prince inherited the martial prowess of his great ancestor,
and ably commanded the united armies of his foster-father
and of Cu Corb, the Leinster king, in a campaign against the
Munstermen, who were at this time expelled from the territory
of Leinster. The grateful king bestowed on his allies some
of the re-possessed districts : Eochaid Finn got a grant of the
Seven Fotharts of Leinster, to him and his posterity for ever.
The families of O' Nolan, and O'Lorcain, now Larkin, are
his representatives. Laeisech received, as his guerdon, that
part of the Queen's County which was named, from him, the
territory of Leix. The sept thus established took at a later
period the name of O'More, from Mordha "the Majestic,"
the twenty-eighth in descent from Conall Carnach. Man)
other privileges were bestowed by Cu Corb, in reward for the

.BRAF-y
or
UNlVLHk.

112 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

services rendered him by Laeisech. He covenanted, for
himself and his successors, that of every ox or swine
slaughtered by the king of Leinster for his own use, the back
and the ham should be given as " curadh-mir," or champion's
portion, to the chieftain of Leix, who was also entitled to be
one of his council, and distributor of his gifts and presents.
He had the privilege of leading the van of the Leinster army
when entering an enemy's country, and to hold in battle the
" bearna baeghail," * or gap of danger. He paid no tribute,
with the exception of seven oxen, to be sent to the hunting-
booth of the sovereign j but he was bound to maintain at his
own cost forty warriors, always ready for the service of the
King of Leinster, who on his part kept in his pay, and in
constant attendance on his person, seven followers of the
chieftain of Leix.

The third son of Felemy Rectmar, Fiachna Sraftine, was
settled in the Desi of Tara, now the Barony of Deece, in the
county of Meath. His sons were afterwards exiled in con-
sequence of one of them, ^Engus, having killed his kinsman,
Kellach, son of King Cormac, by a cast of a spear, in the
presence of the monarch himself, whose eye was also trans-
fixed by the weapon of the angry ^Engus, hence called
" Dreadspear." ^Engus's safe-conduct had been violated by
Kellach, on whom he thus avenged his wrongs. Cormac
MacArt banished this family from Meath. The Desi settled
in Waterford, where their name is still perpetuated. Another
founder of great familes was Felemy's immediate successor
Caher Mdr. He has left his chief impress in Leinster where

* Pronounced Barna Bayal.

THE ATACOT1IC PERIOD. 113

the territory of Offaly preserves the name of his son Rossa
Falgi. His will, however apocryphal as a historic document,
shows what were the objects of wealth held most in esteem
in the second century, flocks and herds, arms, chess-tables,
and ships of burthen.

The eldest son of Felemy Rectmar, was Con of the
Hundred Battles, who commenced his reign A.D. 177. This
monarch found a formidable antagonist in Moh Nuad, or
Owen Mor, a prince of the line of Eber. The great Owen
had passed much of his youth in exile. While in Spain he is
said to have married Momera, a princess of that nation, and
in the wars he had to wage for his patrimony, is stated to have
received valuable assistance from his continental allies. He
defeated Con in several pitched battles, and forced him to
yield the southern half of the isle. The Esker Riada, a chain
of low hills extending from Dublin to Galway, was the division
between the northern Lea-Con (Con's half) and the southern
Lea-Moha, or Moh Nuad's half. With the single exception
of his successor, the posterity of Owen Mor ruled Munster
uninterruptedly for a thousand years, while Con's descendants,
the great families of O'Neill and O'Donnell, held sway in
most parts of Ulster up to the " Plantation " of that province
in the seventeenth century. Owen's prudence saved his sub-
jects from suffering during a famine, the account of which,
however, seems to be framed on the Biblical model. It is
said to have lasted for seven years, and to have been fore-
told by a Druid. Owen, upon hearing of the prophesied
scarcity, made use of his fish and flesh-meat, while he bought
up, to the extent of his revenue, grain, which he preserved
in his granaries. Like Joseph also, he received the submission

114 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

of those who, in the years of scarcity, repaired to him for
food. Owen the Great perished in the battle of Moy Lena,
or, according to some accounts, he was treacherously slain in
his bed on the eve of that engagement, in which Con of the
Hundred Battles was victorious. Con's forces were inferior
in numbers to those of his rival, Owen having a large Spanish
contingent, under the command, as it is said, of an Iberian
prince. The northern monarch determined on a night attack,
to which all his chiefs agreed, with the exception of Goll
MacMorna, the Firbolg chief of the militia of Connaught.
" On the day my arms were put into my hands," said the
gallant Goll, " I swore never to attack an enemy at night, by
surprise, or at any disadvantage. To this day I have adhered
to my promise, and will not break it now." The attack was
commenced without him, but, notwithstanding the advantage
of the surprise, the troops of Moh Nuad fought so well that
Con was nearly discomfited. The morning dawned, and
Goll, no longer bound by his vow, attacked the forces of Lea
Moha, and Owen Mor himself and his Spanish ally fell under
the Atacottic sword. The soldiers of Goll raised the body
of Owen on their shields, and exposed it in triumph to the
armies. The noble Goll interposed : — " Lay down the body
of the King of Munster," he said, " for he died the death of
a hero."

The long and prosperous reign of Con was terminated at
last by treachery. Tibradi Tirech assassinated him while the
old king, who had entered his hundredth year, was preparing
to hold the Feis of Tara.

Conari the Second, son-in-law to Con, whose daughter Sara
he had married, succeeded him. This prince was father of

THE ATACOTTiC PERIOD. 115

the three Carbris ; Carbri Muse, from whom are descended
the tribes of Muskerry ; Carbri Baiscin, the progenitor of noble
families in Clare ; and Carbri Riada, from whom come the
Dal Riadic tribes of the north of Antrim, and their colonies in
Scotland mentioned by the Venerable Bede. The settlement
first acquired by the Irish Gael or Scoti among the Picts of
North Britain, received the name of A irer- Gaedhil, since cor-
rupted into Argyle, this western part of Scotland being the
seat of the Dalriad colony. The blood of this grandson of
Con of the Hundred Battles flows in the veins of her gracious
Majesty, Queen Victoria.

Soive, another daughter of Con of the Hundred Battles,
was twice married. By her first husband she had a son, Mac-
Con, and by the renowned Ollioll Glum, son of Owen Mdr,
her second husband, she was the mother of three sons, pro-
genitors of great Munster families, who have contributed
illustrious names to Irish history, and are not without
distinguished representatives even at the present day. Owen
was the ancestor of the Eugenian line, to which belong the
MacCarthys, the O'Sullivans, O'Keeffes, and O'Callaghans,
with their kindred branches. Cormac Cas, the second son of
Ollioll Olum and Soive, had for his wife a daughter of the
celebrated poet, Oisin or Ossian, son of Finn MacCumhal.
From him come the great Dalcassian race represented by
the O'Briens, MacNamaras, O'Gradys, O'Quinns, and other
eminent native families of Clare and north Munster.

The representatives of Cian, third son of Ollioll Olum,
include, amongst others, the O'Carrolls,O'Meaghers,O' Haras,
and O'Garas. Of the latter family came the illustrious patron
of the O'Clerys, whose compilation, known as the "Annals

Il6 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

of the Four Masters," is dedicated to Fearghal O'Gara, chief
of Cuil O'Finn or Coolavin, in Sligo. "For every good
that will result from this book," wrote Michael O'Clery, in his
dedication, " in giving light to all in general, it is to you, O
noble Fearghal O'Gara, that thanks should be given ; and
there should exist no wonder or surprise, jealousy or envy at
[any] good that you do; for you are of the race of Eber
MacMileadh, from whom descended thirty of the kings of
Ireland and sixty-one saints : and to Tadgh, son of Kian,
son of Ollioll Olum, from whom eighteen of these saints are
sprung, you can be traced generation by generation."

Art the Solitary succeeded his brother-in-law Conari as
Ard Righ. He received his name, Aeinfer^ or the Solitary,
as the only surviving son of Con of the Hundred Battles, all
his brothers having been assassinated. His wife was Maev:
from her is named Rath-Mae v, near Tara. By a left-handed
marriage with a beautiful girl named Eatach, the daughter of
a smith, he became the father of Cormac MacArt, one of the
most illustrious of our early kings. The future fortunes of
Cormac were foreshadowed, according to the story, by a
remarkable dream which his mother had previous to his
birth. She dreamed that her head was severed from her
body, and that from her neck grew a goodly tree, which
overshadowed the land of Erin. This tree was prostrated
by a sea which overwhelmed it, but again from its roots
sprang another stately tree, which was in its turn laid pro-
strate by a whirlwind from the west.

This vision was supposed to be fulfilled by the loss of her
head, her husband, King Art, who shortly after perished in
the battle of Moy Mucrive. The stately tree which over-

THE ATACOTT1C PERIOD. ll\

shadowed Erin symbolized her distinguished son, Cormac,
The destroying sea, that fish-bone by which this king was
choked. The tree which sprang from its rffots, Cormac's
illustrious son, Carbri Linear, who again perished by the
whirlwind which shadowed forth his fate when contending
with the Fianna Eirinn, or revolted Militia, at the momen-
tous battle of Gavra.

The battle of Moy Mucrive, in which Art perished, was
occasioned by the ambition of MacCon, son of Solve,
daughter of Con of the Hundred Battles, by her first
husband. MacCon was consequently step-son to Ollioll
Olum, then King of Munster. This southern kingdom was
ruled alternately by representatives of the races of Eber and
Ith. When the former gave a king to Munster — at that
time in the person of Ollioll Olum — the tribe of Ith, from
whom MacCon was descended, gave the Brehon, and
Tanist, or heir apparent. But this position did not satisfy
the ambition of MacCon. He was obliged, however, to fly
from home — the time being unpropitious for his schemes —
and he was accompanied by Lugaid Laga, brother of
Ollioll, who was displeased at the friendship which existed
between that monarch and Art the Solitary ; for Art's
father, Con of the Hundred Battles, had caused the death
of Ollioll's and Lugaid's father, Owen the Great. These
exiles, aided by foreign allies, returned to Ireland, and in
the pitched battle of Moy Mucrive, gained a signal victory.
Art Aeinfer himself fell by the hand of Lugaid Laga, and
seven of the sons of Ollioll Olum fell beneath the swords of
their half-brother's auxiliary troops.

MacCon, "son of the wolf-hound," for so his name

Il8 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

signifies, — as he was reported to have been suckled by that
animal, — now ascended the throne. He made himself be-
loved by poets and men of learning, to whom he was lavish
in the distribution of gifts ; and met his death at a place in
Tipperary, whose name, Gort-an-oir — the field of gold —
records his munificence. He was transfixed by the javelin
of Fercheas, as he leant against a pillar stone, engaged in
his contributions to the poets and Ollaves. This treachery
was instigated by Cormac MacArt, but he did not at the
time reap any reward from the base act, as Fergus, a
relative of the murdered prince, surnamed " of the black
teeth," seized the crown, and, with his two brothers, also
called Fergus, caused the disqualification of Cormac, for
the time, by depriving him of his hair. The Ferguses
applied a lighted torch to the long tresses of Cormac at a
feast ; and no one having a personal blemish could reign
it Tara.

The injury was not irreparable. In due time the locks of
Cormac grew, and he sought to revenge himself on the three
Ferguses. The story told of the way he accomplished his
object is this— he desired to secure the services of the
greatest champion of the day, Lugaid Laga. This was
that son of Owen the Great who had embraced the cause of
MacCon, and had slain the father of Cormac, King Art,
with his own hand on the field of Moy Mucrive'. Cormac
sought him out, and found Lugaid reposing in his hunting
booth. He pricked him with his spear. " Who wounds
me ? " cried the warrior. " It is I, Cormac MacArt," re-
plied the king. " Thou hast good cause for wounding me,
for it was this hand that killed thy father, Art Aeinfer,"

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. "IIQ

rejoined Lugaid. " Award me an erie for that deed," Kid
Cormac. According to Brehon law, if the family of a
murdered man elected to accept a fine for the blood-
shedding, in lieu of claiming the life of the murderer, they
were at liberty .to make the election ; and, under some cir-
cumstances not explained the law applied to Lugaid. " I
claim a king's head on the battle-field," said Cormac ; —
" the head of my enemy, Fergus of the Black Teeth, who
opposes my accession to the throne of Ireland."

Lugaid Laga was compelled, by the custom of the times,
to comply with this demand of his enemy, Cormac. A
battle ensued, but Cormac took no part in the engagement.
With a few attendants he watched the conflict from a hill
overlooking the field of combat, and while there, exchanged
his royal robes with an attendant, whose garments he
assumed. His champion, Lugaid, forced to pay his eric,
sought out Fergus in the battle, conquered him, and
returned to Cormac — or rather the disguised attendant who
wore his robes — with the bloody trophy. " Is this the head
of Fergus of the Black Teeth," he exclaimed casting down
the bleeding head. " Nay, this is but his brother," said the
attendant, falsely. Lugaid again rushed into the battle,
sought out and killed a second Fergus, and brought his head
also on his spear to the king. " This is not the head of the
King of Uladh," replied the disguised attendant. Lugaid
again sought the field, and bearing away the head of the
surviving Fergus, dashed it against the breast of the sup-
posed Cormac, so that he was killed by the blow. By this
stratagem Cormac disposed of his formidable foes, and the
Battle of Crinna — as this fight was called— paved the way
to his accession to the sovereignty of all Ireland.

120 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Such are the tales with which our bards and seanechies
.jave sought to supply the blanks of our early history. With
this story of the battle of Crinna we close the period which
we have designated the Atacottic, on account as well of the
temporary supremacy of the " Unfree " Tribes, as of the
renewed influence which they had begun to exert under the
title of the Clanna Morna.

The western Tribes have not been unsung in modern verse:

" Borne on her rattling car,

With thunder heard afar,
Macha, the warrior- goddess, rushes by;

And that more awful form

That, save in battle storm,
Shows not its terror unto mortal eye,

Mor-Riga, round whose head the clouds

Of clustering demons cling as mist the mountain

shrouds.
* * * * # *

Vanished long since the walls

Of Cruachan's famous halls ;
But fairer in men's thoughts again they rise,

Than when their haughty queen,

Meave, in the golden sheen
Of battle raiment to her warriors' eyes

Revealed her pale face beautiful,

And led the hosts to war for Quelney's deathless bull.

The torch of epic story

Returns with sudden glory,
Its blazing beacons on a hundred hills :

Far through Atlantic night

Its radiance streaming bright,
The vast waste water with a rapture thrills

More sweet thou cometh from the east, [ceased.

The beams that tell fie western world that night has

THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 12!

Mother of heroes, hail !

What tongue can tell the tale ;
What hand may paint that splendour of thy past ?

Dazzled, my spirit drinks

Light from the bowl, and sinks
In awe of rapture, and wonder at the vast

Host of the heroes and the kings,

That now to sudden life from theirold slumbersprings.

Long for their absence sad

May the land now be glad
With all their presence, and the rivers flow

Clearer, and for their sake

The hills the azure take
Deeper at noontide ; and more richly glow

Those summits that look o'er the wave,

The westward sinking sun gilds for his nightly grave.

And may each fruitful field

A triple harvest yield,
Such as of old the bard exultant sings,

When strove the stalks in vain

To bear their weight of grain,
In the glad days of Erin's righteous kings.

May the like now sustain a race

Strong with the strong of old to take an equal place !

Hero, and bard, and god,

Ye that of old have trod
This soil and made it sacred once again,

Welcome for evermore

To fountain, wood and shore,
To purple mountain and to emerald plain :

From north to south, from east to west,

Your glory make us great, your presence make us
It blest."

From " The Return of the Gods," Glanhia and other Poem*, by
WILLIAM

122

THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE ATACOTTIC
PERIOD.

A.D.
60

73
74
90

95
116
119
126
130
1 60
164
174
177

212
220
250

2«53
254

Nuadath Necht of the

line of Eremon

Conari Mor ,,

Eremon

(Interregnum. )

Lugaid ,,

Eremon

Conor ,,

Eremon

Crimthan Niodh-Nair

Eremon

Carbri „

Fer Bolgs

Feridach „

Eremon

Fiatach „

Eremon

Fiachaid „

Eremon

Elim „

Ir

Teuthal Techtmar „

Eremon

Mai

Ir

Felemy Rechtmar ,,

Eremon

Catheir Mor

Eremon

Con Ced-Catha ,,

Eremon

Conari the Second ,,

Eremon

Art Aeinfer .,

Eremon

Lugaid MacCon ,,

Ith

Fergus

Eremon

Cormac MacArt ,. •

Eremon

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 123

CHAPTER IV.

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD,

FROM CORMAC MAC ART A.D. 2$4, TO NIALL OF THE NINE
HOSTAGES, 379.

Reign of Cormac MacArt— Erects the Hall of Tara, and keeps kingly
state there — Story of Cormac and Ethni —The Fianna, or Militia —
Finn MacCumhal— Story of Dermid and Grania — The death of
Dermid — Oisin — The Ossianic Poems — King Cormac's water-mill —
His retirement at Cletty — The burial of King Cormac — Reign of
Carbri Lificar, slain in the battle of Gavra — Reigns of his son
Fiachaid, and his grandson Muredach— Banishment of the Three
Collas— Their return, and failure to provoke King Muredach to
avenge his father's death — They destroy Emania — Descendants of
the three Collas— Crime, and disappointed ambition of Mongfinn —
Retrospect— Pictish origins — The sons of Umor, and the Firbolgs
in the West — Niall of the Nine Hostages — His expedition to Alba
(Scotland)— Chronological Table.

NOTWITHSTANDING the blemishes on the early career of
Cormac MacArt, his reign is one of the most glorious re-
corded in the Irish annals. He has the reputation of
having been a philosopher and an author. Many institutes
ascribed to him are to be found in the books of the Brehon
laws. He is there treated as the author of the Tegasg Righ,
or book of precepts for kings, alleged to have been after-
wards transcribed by his son, Carbri Linear. In the great
Hall of Tara, erected by him, and of which the foundation*
and fourteen doorways may still be traced, he , kept up the
kingly state with a magnificence unknown before his time.
The splendours of the Hall of Tara have been celebrated
by the bards and described with much detail, and the wel-
come aid of iconographic plans by the antiquarians of the

124 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

twelfth and preceding centuries, and the remains still trace-
able on the spot testify to the substantial accuracy of these
accounts. Manners were still, however, primitive ; and the
story told of Cormac's courtship of his wife Ethni may be
cited as a proof that innocence and simplicity retained
their charms for the imagination.

Cormac was ranging unattended through an oak wood
in the vicinity of Cennanus, or Kells. To this spot had
retired Buiked, a Leinster exile, with his wife and foster-
child, Ethni. They lived in the closest retirement, for
Buiked had impoverished himself, in his Leinster home, by
his open-handed and unbounded generosity. The " cauldron
of hospitality" was constantly on the fire, and all who
entered his house were made welcome. At last he found
all his flocks and herds exhausted ; seven cows and a bul)
representing his remaining wealth. With this slender provi-
sion he retired to the oak wood at Kells, and here, Ethni
tendered her foster-parents, performing for them all servile
offices which were needed, with cheerful alacrity. She was
engaged in milking the seven cows, when Cormac approach-
ed, unperceived, through the wood. The king paused to
contemplate the maiden. She had brought with her two
pails, into one of which she milked the first half-draught
from the cows, and then, taking the second pail, she com-
pleted her task. With these she returned to the hut of her
foster-parents, but speedily reappeared with two other pails
and a horn. She then directed her steps to a stream which
ran through the wood, and with the horn, she filled both
pails — one from the water which ran near the bank, the
other from the middle of the streamlet. These she con-

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 125

veyed to the hut, and again appeared with a sickle in her
hand, and proceeded to cut green rushes, placing those
that were long on one side. While thus employed, and —

" Duteous, in the lowly vale,
Unconscious of the monarch's gaze,

She filled the fragrant pail ;
And, duteous from the running brook,

Drew water for the bath ; nor deem'd
A king did on her labour look,
And she a fairy seem'd— "

love and admiration awoke in the breast of Cormac. He
approached, and asked of her for whom she had made that
selection of milk, and water, and rushes. " The person for
whom I have made it," she replied, " has a right to still
greater kindness from me if it were in my power to render it."

"Of what name is he?" said Cormac.

" Buiked Brughard," she answered.

" Is not that the Leinsterman who was so famed for his
hospitality?"

" It is," replied the maid.

"Then art thou his foster-child Ethni, daughter of Dun-
laing," said the king.

" I am," replied Ethni.

" In a good hour," rejoined the king " for you shall be
my married wife."

"The disposal of me does not rest with myself, but with
my foster-father," said the girl.

Cormac sought the hut of the impoverished Buiked, had
his consent to his marriage with Ethni, and bestowed on
his foster-father lands and gifts.

King Cormac had ten daughters. Two of them, Granit

126 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

and Ailbe, played a memorable part in Irish story. Crania
was affianced by her father to Finn, son of Cumhal, the
great chief of the Fianna Eirinn, or Irish militia, the Finn
MacCool of Irish, and Fingal of Scottish tradition. This
military order, the Clanna Baisgne as they were sometimes
called, was instituted for the defence of the kingdom against
foreign foes. During the winter months this standing army
was quartered upon the people of the country. During the
summer, they lived by the chase, performing at all times the
duties demanded of them by the sovereign, putting down
public enemies, upholding justice, and preventing robberies.
It was no slight honour to be admitted into this brotherhood.
Every candidate had to give proof, not only of his military
skill, and personal activity, but also of intellectual gifts.
He should be a bard, and have mastered the twelve Books
of Poesy ; and four Gesa, or sacred injunctions were laid
upon each person admitted into the Fianna,

The first injunction was, never to seek a portion with a
wife ; but to choose her for good manners and virtue. The
second, never to offer violence to a woman. The third,
never to give a refusal to any mortal, for anything of which
one was possessed. The fourth was, that no single warrior
of the Fianna should flee before nine adversaries.

In addition to these vows of chivalry common to all the
members of the order, each warrior might assume some
particular gets, or obligation, by which he would be
individually bound Their great commander, Finn, in
addition to his warlike accomplishments, is said to have
possessed the gifts of Healing, Poetry, and Second-sight,
which he won by his daring, from a fairy lady, into whose

THE OSSTANIC PERIOD. 127

mansion he had well nigh entered, one hand having passed
her portals before she could close them against the intruder.
Finn, a hero, but no longer a young man, when he was
selected by King Cormac for his son-in-law, failed to find
favour in the eyes of the beautiful Grania. His lieutenant,
the "dark -haired Dermid, of bright face and white teeth,"
reputedly the handsomest man of his time, and bound by
his peculiar obligation to the service of distressed damsels,
attracted the attention of Grania, who, at the marriage-feast
at which she was to be united to Finn, cast herself on his
protection, or, in the language of the romance, laid his
"gesa" on Dermid, who was thus compelled, very
reluctantly, to elope with her. Grania gained the oppor-
tunity for her interview with Dermid, by drugging the wine,
with which, in compliance with the customs of the time, the
lady filled her richest drinking-cup. This was sent by her
to such guests as she desired to pledge. From this honour
she excluded Dermid, and when her drugs had taken effect,
she appealed to his gallantry and manliness, to save her
from the hated bridal by making her his wife.

When Cormac and Finn awoke from their sleep and
found that Dermid and Grania had fled, they pursued them
all over Erin. The lovers, aided by the sympathy of
friends, and their own good fortune, avoided, by many hair-
breadth escapes, a capture. Ignorant tradition lias named
from them, those ancient monuments \\hich abound in our
country, and are popularly called Cromlechs, or Druids'
altars ; and, as the supposed resting-places of thv; fugitive
lovers are called Lezba Diarmada agus Ghrainn'e, the Beds
of Dermid and Grania.

[28 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

King Cormac, thus thwarted in his desire to honour Finn,
consoled him by bestowing on him the hand of his daughter
Ailbo. Dei-mid, after many varying fortunes and pictur-
esque adventures, meets his death on the summit of the
mountain of Benbulben, in the county of Sligo, from the
tusks of a wild boar. Finn arriving on the scene just before
ihe death of his rival, gives occasion to a passage in the
Jrish romance of more than ordinary beauty and pathos, on
which the following poem has been constructed. Dermid
notwithstanding the resemblance of his story to that of
Adonis, is not altogether a fabulous character. The clan
Campbell claim to be of "the race of Brown Dermid, who
:ilew the wild boar," which still figures as the cognizance of
the ducal house of Argyll.

THE DEATH OF DERMID.

Finn on the mountain found the mangled man,

The slain boar by him. " Dermid," said t;ie king,

*•' It likes me well at last to see thee thus.

This only grieves me, that the womankind

Of Erin arc not also looking on :

Such sight were wholesome for the wanton eyes

So oft enamour'd of that specious form :

Beauty to foulness, strength to weakness turned."

DERMID.

'' Yet in thy power, if only in thy will,
Lies it, oh Finn, even yet to heal me."

FINN.

"How?"

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 129

DERMID.

" Feign not the show of ignorance, nor deem
I know not of the virtues which thy hand
Drew from that fairy's half discover'd hall,
Who bore her silver tankard from the fount,
So closely follow'd, that ere yet the door
Could close upon her steps, one arm was in ;
Wherewith, though seeing naught, yet touching all,
Thou grasped'st half the spiritual world ;
Withdrawing a heap'd handful of its gifts,—
Healing, and sight-prophetic, and the power
Divine of poesy : but healing most
Abides within its hollow : — virtue such
That but so much of water as might wet
These lips, in that hand brought, would make me whole.
Finn ! from the fountain fetch me in thy palms
A draught of water, and I yet shall live."

FIN1 NT.

" How at these hands canst thou demand thy life,
Who took'st my joy of life ? "

DERMID.

" She loved thee not :

Me she did love and doth ; and were she here
She would so plead with thee that, for her sake,
Thou wouldst forgive us both, and bid me live."

FINN.

" I was a man had spent my prime of years
In war and council, little bless'd with love ;
Though poesy was mine, and, in my hour,
The seer's burthen not desirable ;
And now at last had thought to have man's share
Of marriage blessings ; and the king supreme,
Cormac, had pledged his fairest daughter mine ;

I3O THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

When thou, with those pernicious beauty-gifts,
The flashing white tusk there hath somewhat spoil'd,
Didst win her to desert her father's house,
And roam the wilds with thee."

DERMID.

11 It was herself,

Grania, the princess, put me in the bonds
Of holy chivalry to share her flight,
* Behold,' she said, * he is an aged man,'
(And so thou art, for years will come to all ;)
' And I, so young ; and at the Beltane games,
When Carbry Liffacher did play the men
Of Brea, I, unseen, saw thee snatch a hurl,
And thrice on Tara's champions win the goal ;
And gave thee love that day, and still will give.'
So she herself avow'd. Resolve me, Finn,
For thou art just, could youthful warrior, sworn
To maiden's service, have done else than I ?
No : hate me not — forgive me — give me drink."

FINN.

" I will not."

DERMID.

" Nay, but, Finn, thou hadst not said
' I will not,' though I'd asked a greater boon,
That night we supp'd in Breendacoga's lodge.
Remember : we were faint and hunger- starved
From three days' flight ; and even as on the board
They placed the viands, and my hand went forth
To raise the wine-cup, thou, more quick of ear,
O'erheard'st the stealthy leaguer set without ;
And yet should'st eat or perish. Then 'twas I,
Fasting, that made the sally ; and 'twas I,

THE OSSIAN1C PERIOD. 131

Fasting, that made the circuit of the court ;
Three times I cours'd it, darkling, round and round ;
From whence returning, when I brought thee in
The three lopp'd heads of them that lurked without —
Thou hadst not then, refreshed and grateful, said
" I will not,' had I ask'd thee, ' Give me drink.' "

FINN.
"There springs no water on this summit bald."

DERMID.

"Nine paces from the spot thou standest on,
The well -eye — well thou knowest it — bubbles clear."

Abash'd, reluctant, to the bubbling well
Went Finn, and scoop'd the water in his palms ;
Wherewith returning, half way, came the thought
Of Crania, and he let the water spill.

"Ah me," said Dermid, "hast thou then forgot
Thy warrior art, that oft, when helms were split
And buckler bosses shattered by the spear,
Has satisfied the thirst of wounded men ?
Ah, Finn, these hands of thine were not so slack
That night, when, captured by the King of Thule,
Thou layest in bonds within the temple-gate
Waiting for morning, till the observant king
Should to his sun-god make thee sacrifice.
Close-pack'd thy fingers then, thong-drawn and squeezed,
The blood-drops oozing under every nail,
When, like a shadow, through the sleeping priests
Came I, and Joos'd thee : and the hierophant
At day-dawn coming, on the altar-step,
Instead of victim straighten'd to his knife,
Two warriors found, erect, for battle arm'd."

132 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Again abash'd, reluctant to the well
Went Finn, and scoop'd the water in his palms,
Wherewith returning, half-way, came the thought
That wrench'd him ; and the shaken water spill'd.

DERM ID.

" False one, thou didst it purposely ! I swear
I saw thee, though mine eyes do fast grow dim.
Ah me, how much imperfect still is man !
Yet such were not the act of Him, whom once
On this same mountain, as we sat at eve —
Thou yet mayst see the knoll that was our couch,
A stone's throw from the spot where now I lie —
Thou showed'st me, shuddering, when the seer's fit,
Sudden and cold as hail, assail'd thy soul
In vision of that Just One crucified
For all men's pardoning, which, once again,
Thou sawest, with Cormac, struck in Rossnaree."

Finn trembled ; and a third time to the well
Went straight, and scoop'd the water in his palms ;
Wherewith in haste half-way returne'd he savv
A smile on Dermid's face relax'd in death.0

When Grania heard of the death of her husband, she uttered
"a long, exceedingly piteous cry/' — "And truly my very
heart is grieved," said Grania, "that I am not myself able to
fight with Finn, for were I so, I would not have suffered
him to leave this place in safety." She summoned her sons,
feasted them with mead, ale, and strong fermented drinks,
and when thus excited, urged them to avenge her wrongs : —
" Oh, dear children," said Grania, in a loud and bright clear

* From Lays of the Western Gael, by Sir S. FERGUSON.

THE OSSTANIC PERIOD. 133

voice, "your father hath been slain by Finn MacCumhal,
against his bonds and covenants of peace with him ; and
avenge ye that upon him well." Thus speaking she bestowed
on them their father's weapons, and dismissed them to learn
feats of arms, till they should be old enough to measure
swords with Finn.

When Finn heard of these projects for avenging the death
of Dermid, he summoned his Fians to concert measures for
repelling the meditated attack, but found his warriors un-
willing to aid him in a cause in which they deemed him
wholly in the wrong. In fact his ungenerous treatment of
Dermid had disgusted his friends, and among them even his
own son Oisin. "According as thou hast planted the tree,
so bend it thyself," replied Oisin, when refusing to bear out
his father in the course into which his jealous rage had led
him. Thus foiled, nothing was left to Finn but to appease
the anger of Crania. In the ancient Irish romance of the
Pursuit of Dermid and Grania^ Firm is represented as endea-
vouring to overcome the enmity of the widowed Crania,
with crafty cunning and sweet words. Crania, in reply, like
the widow of young Plantagenet, assailed him with her keen,
very sharp-pointed tongue. "Was ever woman in this
humour wooed — was ever woman in this humour won ? '' is
a query equally applicable to both. Crania yielded to the
persuasions of Finn, the suitor whose love she had formerly
rejected. She reconciled her sons to her new husband, and
it is recorded by the romance-writer that from thenceforth
Finn and Crania " stayed by one another till they died."

The heroic tales and legends connected with Finn and the
Fians would fill a volume : much of this material is now

134 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

accessible to English readers, through the translations of the
Ossianic society. To Ossian, or Oisin, as his name appears
in Irish story, are ascribed most of the poetic remains
attaching themselves to this epoch. But this mighty bard's
name shelters many compositions of much later date. Con-
versations with St. Patrick, to whose days he is fabled to have
lived, form the subject of some of these poems. He appears
as a very incorrigible convert, his Pagan sentiments strongly
clinging to him. The fasts of the early saints were specially
repugnant to his nature, and he is represented as ever looking
back with regret, on the glorious days of his unregenerate
youth.

" Alas ! were I in strength and vigor,
As I was exultingly at the harbour of Finn-tragh,
I should not be deafened in the church of the bells,
And I would put a stop to their droning.

" Alas ! were I in lusty might,
As I was against Fatha Chonain,
With Finn and his hosts by my side
I should not be listening to these howls."

It was in these disrespectful terms that Oisin is supposed
to have designated the Psalmody of St. Patrick and his dis-
ciples. But after all — such is the force of genius — we con-
ceive of Oisin rather as the Ossian of MacPherson, or as in
that still grander idealization of him, and of our ancient story,
for which we are indebted to a modern poet*

* T. D. MCGEE.

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 135

Long, long ago, beyond the misty space

Of twice a thousand years ;
In Erin old there dwelt a mighty race,

Taller than Roman spears ;
Like oaks and towers they had a giant grace,

Were fleet as deers,
With winds and waves they made their 'biding place,

These western shepherd seers.

Their ocean-god was Mananan MacLir,

Whose angry lips
In their white foam full often would inter

Whole fleets of ships :
Crom was their Day-god, and their Thunderer,

Made morning and eclipse ;
Bride was their queen of song, and unto her

They prayed with fire-touched lips.

Great were their deeds, their passions, and their sports

With clay and stone
They piled on strath and shore those mystic forts,

Not yet o'erthrown ;
On cai.n-crown'd hills they held their council courts,

While youths alone
With giant dogs, explored the elk resorts,

And brought them down.

Of these was Fin, the father of the Bard,

Whose ancient song
Over the clamour of all change is heard,

Sweet voic'd and strong.
Fin once o'ertook Griann, the golden-haired,

The fleet and young ;
From her the lovely, and from him the fcai'J,

The primal poet sprung.

136 THE IRISH BEFORE THE

Ossian ! two thousand years of mist and change

Surround thy name —
Thy Finian heroes now no longer range

The hills of fame.
The very native of Fin and Goll sound strange —

Yet thine the same
By miscalled lake and desecrated grange,

Remains, and shall remain !

The Druid's altar and the Druid's creed

We scarce can trace ;
There is not left an undisputed deed

Of all your race,
Save your majestic song, which hath their speed

And strength, and grace;
In that sole song, they live and love, and bleed ;

It bears them on through space.

Oh, inspir'd giant ! shall we e'er behold

In our own time
One fit to speak your spirit on the wold

Or seize your rhyme ?
One pupil of the past, as mighty soul'd

As in the prime,
Were the fond, fair, and beautiful and bold,

They of your song sublime !

To king Cormac we are said to owe the first erection of a
water-mill in Ireland. Mithridates, king of Cappadocia, is
reputed to have been the inventor of mills, about seventy
years before the commencement of the Christian era. This
memorable invention was celebrated by a Syrian poet, whose
verses have been thus gracefully translated from the Greek : —

" Ye maids who toil'd so faithful at the mill,

Now cease ft jm work, and from those toils be still ;

OSSIANIC PERIOD. 13^

Sleep now till dawn, and let the birds with glee

Sing to the ruddy morn on bush and tree ;

For what your hands performed so long, so true,

Ceres had charged the water-nymphs to do :

They come, the limpid sisters, to her call,

And on the wheel with dashing fury fall,

Impel the axle with a whirling sound,

And make the massy mill-stone reel around,

And bring the floury heaps luxuriant to the ground."

Cormac is said to have brought over Pictish artisans from
Alba to erect his mill at Tara. He had become enamoured
of Carnait, a beautiful maiden of the Cruithni, who had been
carried off from Alba on some plundering expedition. Ethni,
the lawful wife of Cormac, treated Carnait with a severity
inspired by jealousy, and compelled the fair captive to grind,
with a quern, or hand-mill, nine pecks of corn each day.
Carnait, about to become a mother, was unable to perform
this domestic drudgery ; she complained to Cormac, and
probably informed him of the use of mills among her own
people in Scotland. He sent thither for skilled workmen.
To this day a mill — Lismullen — exists on the supposed site
of the ancient erection of Cormac MacArt, and the present
miller claims to be the representative of the Pictish mill-
wright, brought to Tara by that monarch, to relieve the
labours of the beautiful Carnait.

Cormac maintained unwonted state at Tara, and enacted
that for the future the monarch of Erin should keep in constant
attendance on his person, a prince of noble blood, a brehon,
a druid, a physician, a bard, an historian, a musician, and
three stewards. His banquets were on a soale of splendid

138 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

hospitality. " Each king wore his kingly robe upon him,
and his golden helmet on his head, for they never put their
kingly diadems on but in the field of battle only. Magnifi-
cently did Corrnac come to this great assembly. 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
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 stone?,
around him; two golden network 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. The
world was full of all goodness in the time of Cormac, the
grandson of Con of the Hundred Battles : there were fruit
and fatness of the land, and abundant produce of the sea,
with peace and ease and happiness in his time."

But Cormac was forced to abdicate, and leave his royal
palace of Tara, for the comparative seclusion of his House
of Cletty, near the Boyne ; having lost his eye from the cast
of that spear hurled by his kinsman, ^Engus " Dread spear,"
as we have already mentioned : " and it was not deemed by
the nobles of Ireland honourable or auspicious that any king
disfigured by a personal blemish should reign at Tara." It
was in the retirement of this House of Cletty that King
Cormac is said to have composed his regal Institutes, the
Tegasg Righ ; and here after ages have been willing to
believe, abandoned the worship of idols, and refused to pay
homage to any but the one great Creator of Heaven and

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 139

•

Earth. " For I," said Cormac, " will offer no adoration to
any stock or image, shaped by my own mechanic. It were
more rational to offer adoration to the mechanic himself, for
he is more worthy than the work of his hands." His death,
occasioned by the bone of a salmon, which stuck in his
throat, was ascribed by the Druids to the vengeance of their
God, Crom Cruach. Cormac directed that he should not
be buried at Brugh-na-Boinne, the resting-place of his Pagan
ancestors, but at Rossnaree, on the southern bank of the
Boyne, where he had first had his vision of the approaching
light of a purer religion. The struggle between the powers
of light and darkness for the possession of the dead king's
body, is the subject of a characteristic legend on which is
founded

THE BURIAL OF KING CORMAC.

" Crom Cruach and his sub-gods twelve,"
Said Cormac, *' are but carven treene :

The axe that made them, haft and helve,
Had worthier of our worship been.

•' But He who made the tree to grow,

And hid in earth the iron-stone,
And made the man, with mind to know

The axe's use, is God alone."

Anon to priests of Crom was brought—

Where, girded in their service dread,
They ministered on red Moy Slaught —

Word of the words King Cormac said.

They loos'd their curse against the king ;

They cursed him in his flesh and bones ;
And daily in their mystic ring

Thev turned the maledictive stones,

I4O THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Till, where at meat the monarch sate,

Amid the revel and the wine,
He choked upon the food he ate,

At Sletty, southward of the Boyr.e.

High vaunted then the priestly throng
And far and wide they noised abroad

With trump and loud liturgic song
The praise of their avenging God.

But ere the voice was wholly spent

That priest and prince should still obey3

To awed attendants o'er him bent,

Great Cormac gathered breath to say —

" Spread not the beds of Brugh for me
When restless death -bed's use is done :

But bury me in Rossnaree,
And face me to the rising sun.

'* For all the kings who lie in Brugh
Put trust in gods of wood and stone ;

And 'twas at Ross that first I knew
One, Unseen, who is God alone.

" His glory lightens from the east :

His message soon shall reach our shore ;

And idol-god, and cursing priest

Shall plague us from Moy Slaught no more."

Dead Cormac on his bier they laid : —
" He reigned a king for forty years,

And shame it were," his captains said,
" He lay not with his royal peers.

" His grandsire, Hundred-Battle, sleeps
Serene in Brugh : and, all around,

Dead kings in stone sepulchral keeps
Protect the sacred burial-ground.

THE OSSIANIC PERTOLX 141

" What though a dying man should rave

Of changes o'er the eastern sea ?
In Brugh of Boyne shall be his grave

And not in noteless Rossnaree."

Then northward forth they bore the bier,

And down from Sletty side they drew,
With horseman and with charioteer

To cross the fords of Boyne to Brugh.

There came a breath of finer air

That touched the Boyne with ruffling wings ;
It stirred him in his sedgy lair

And in his mossy moorland springs :

And as the burial train came down

With dirge and savage dolorous shews,

Across their pathway broad and brown,
The deep, full- hearted river rose ;

From bank to bank through all his fords,

'Neath blackening squalls he swelled and boiled ;

And thrice the wondering gentile lords
Essayed to cross, and thrice recoiled.

Then forth stepped four grim warriors hoar :
They said, '• Through angrier floods than these

Our link'd shields bore him once before
From Dread-Spear and the hosts of Deece.

" And long as loyal will holds good,

And limbs respond with helpful thews,
Nor flood, nor fiend within the flood,

Shall bar him of his burial dues."

With slanted necks they stooped to lift ;

They heaved him up to neck and chin ;
And, pair and pair, with footsteps swift,

Locked arm and shoulder, bore him in.

142 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

'Twas brave to see them leave the shore ;

To mark the deep'ning surges rise,
And fall subdued in foam before

The tension of their striding thighs.

'Twas brave, when, now a spear-cast out,
Breast-high the battling surges ran ;

For weight was great, and limbs were stout
And loyal man put trust in man.

But ere they reach'd the middle deep,
Nor steadying weight of clay they bore,

Nor strain of sinewy limbs could keep
Their feet beneath the swerving four.

And now they slide, and now they swim,
And now, amid the blackening squall,

Grey locks afloat, with clutchings grim,
They plunge around the floating pall ;

While, as a youth with practised spear,

Through justling crowds bears off the ring,

Boyne from their shoulders caught the bier
And proudly bore away the king.

At morning on the grassy marge
Of Rossnareethe corpse was found,

And shepherds, at their early charge,
Entombed it in the peaceful ground.

A tranquil spot : a hopeful sound

Comes from the ever-youthful stream,

And still on daisied mead and mound
The dawn delays with tenderer beam.

Round Cormac Spring renews her buds;

In march perpetual by his side
Down come the earth-fresh April floods

And up the sea- fresh salmon glide ;

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 143

And Life and Time rejoicing run

From age to age their wonted way ;
But still he waits the risen Sun,

For still 'tis only dawning Day.*

This tradition must be of great antiquity, for it is histori-
cally certain that Cormac's lineal descendant, St. Columba,
in the sixth century, erected a Christian cell at Rossnaree on
the spot where the king's body was then believed to have
been deposited by this supernatural intervention of the
elements.

Carbri Lificar, son of Cormac and Ethni, assumed the

sovereignty of Ireland in the lifetime of his father, whose

blemish unfitted him to sway the sceptre of Tara. He fell

in the Battle of Gavra, A.D. 293. At this fatal engagement

Oscar, the son of Oisin, and grandson of Finn MacCumhal,

perished by the hand of King Carbri, who was himself so

severely wounded by Oscar, that he did not survive the battle.

The Clanna Baisgne had sided with Moh Corb, King of

Munster, who was grandson to Finn, being the son of his

daughter Samhair : she had married Cormac Cas, son of the

great Ollioll Olum, and thus the blood of Finn yet liows in

the veins of the O'Briens, and other families of the Palcassian

stock. Carbri Lificar had summoned to his aid, in his

quarrel with Moh Corb, the Cianna Morna, or militia of

Connaught, rivals of the Tians. Gavra is in the vicinity of

the hill of Skreen near T&.ra in Meath. The battle was

fiercely contested — long ai:d bloody. Oscar was entombed

in the rath which occupied part of the site of the battle-field.

* From Lays ^f the Western Gael, by Sir S FEKG SON.

J44 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUFST.

" The great green rath's ten-acred tomb lies heavy on his
urn."

Carbri Lificar left two sons, Fiachaid and Eochaid Domien.
The former succeeded him, and was again succeeded by his
son Muredach. Eochaid Domien was the parent of three
remarkable sons — the three Collas as they are called in our
annals — Colla Uais, Colla Menn, and Colla De Cree.

King Fiachaid had made his son Muredach commander
of his armies, and presumptive heir to the throne. This
aroused the animosity of his nephews, the three Collas.
While Muredach was absent with his army in Munster, these
princes resolved to give battle to the king, thus deprived of
his most efficient troops. On the eve of one engagement
Fiachaid was told by his Druid, that if any of his nephews
should fall by him or his kinsmen, the posterity of that
nephew should rule in Erin ; but if he himself were slain, his
descendants should triumph. The aged king determined to
die, and preserve the throne of Ireland to his children.

Muredach ascended the throne vacated by the voluntary
death of his father. He banished his cousins to Alba, where
the Collas, with three hundred warriors who followed them
into exile, were well received by the Scottish monarch.
After three years passed in Alba, being warned in a dream
that the time of fulfilling the prophecy had arrived, they
returned to Tara, each bringing with him nine warriors only,
in the hope that Muredach would avenge on them his father's
death, and thus secure for their children, not his, the sway
over Ireland. They presented themselves before the king.
"Have you brought me any news, my cousins?" asked
" We hav$ ^o sadder news to relate/' said they,

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 145

" than the deed which we have ourselves done, namely, the
killing of thy father by our hands." Muredach, however,
knew the prophecy as well as they did, and was resolved not
to forfeit the sovereignty for his offspring, by any deed of
violence. "The news you tell us is already known," replied
the king ; " but it is of no consequence to you now, for no
vengeance shall be wreaked upon you therefor, save that the
misfortune which has already pursued you shall not leave
you." " This is the reply of a coward," said the Collas.
" Be not sorry for it," replied the king, "you are welcome."

It was an object with Muredach to find employment for
these daring and v/arlike kinsmen. He suggested to them
an attack on Ulster, and gave them as an excuse for aggressive
hostilities, the insult which their common ancestor, King
Cormac Mac Art, had received at the hands of the Ultonians,
referring to that burning of his hair and beard, of which we
have already spoken. " That deed," said Muredach, " is
still unavenged."

Thus provided with a casus belli, the Collas marched on
Emania. Fergus Fogha, King of Uladh, was slain, his
capital plundered and burned, and the glories of Emania and
Creeve Roe were extinguished for ever. Thus ended the
Ultonian dynasty, overthrown by the three Collas, after it
had lasted for more than 600 years, A.D. 332. Orgiall, giving
name to the present territory of Oriel, was the name given
to the " Sword Land " so won by the Collas : it comprised
the greater part of the modern Ulster, Antrim and Down
excepted, which remained the patrimony of the Rudrician
race of kings, down to the conquest of Ulster, in the begin-
ning of the thirteenth century, by John de Courcy. The

146 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

descendants of Coll da Cree, — the O'Kellys, afterwards of
Hy-Many, in Connaught, — Maguires, MacMahons, and
others, occupied the district comprising the counties of
Armagh, Monaghan, and Fermanagh, down to the confisca-
tion and settlement of Ulster in the reign of James I.

From Colla Uais are derived the Lords of the Isles, the
Macdonalds of Scotland, and MacDonnells of Antrim, and
their kindred clans; while the ancient inhabitants of
Cremorne, in the County of Monaghan, claim Colla Menn
as their progenitor.

Eochaid, son of Muredach, reigned over Erin for seven
years. He left children by two wives. Mongfinn, or the
fair-haired, had four sons. Of these Brian, from whom are
descended the O'Conors of Connaught, was her favourite.
To pave the way for his elevation to the throne she poisoned
her brother, Crimthan, who had succeeded her husband
Eochaid. She sacrificed her own life to effect her ambitious
schemes for her son, for she drank herself of the poisoned
cup that she might induce Crimthan to taste it Her crime
was unavailing. No descendant of hers ruled Erin till after
a lapse of about eight hundred years. Then, Turlogh Mdr
O'Conor, of whom Mongfinn was ancestress, and his son
Roderick, the last king of Ireland, filled the throne up to the
time of the English Conquest. Crimthan was succeeded by
Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid, by a daughter of
the king of Britain — a stepson, only, of the guilty Mongfinn.

Niall had to fight for the throne thus made vacant. He
found a formidable competitor in Core, King of Munster.
This prince, from whom are descended the O'Donoghue
of the Glens, the O'Mahonys, O'Moriartys, and also the

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 147

Lennoxes and Marrs of Scotland, at length recognised Niall
as sovereign, and received from that monarch, in accordance
with the custom which enjoined such gifts to a former rival,
one thousand steeds, five hundred suits of armour, gold rings
and cups. This peace was granted to the entreaties ofTorna,
the bard of Niall. He filled the endearing position of foster-
father to both these princes, and used his influence with Core
and Niall to secure peace for his country.

The first military expedition undertaken by Niall, as soon
as he found himself firmly seated on the throne of Erin, was
to Alba, and was directed against the Picts or Cruithni, who
had long been settled there, and in aid of their opponents the
Dalriad colony from Ulster. The Picts were a kindred race
who had invaded Alba about the same time that the Milesians
established themselves in Erin. These Cruithni, according
to their own tradition, came from Thrace to Gaul. They had
fled from the oppression of a monarch who sought to insult
the beautiful daughter of their chieftain Gud. They were
well received by the Gallic king, for whom, say their
senachies, they built the city now called Poictiers. The
beauty of Gud's daughter reached the ears of this sovereign
also, and the Cruithnian exiles had again to fly from further
insult. In a few long galleys they reached the Irish shore.
Crimthan Sciathbel, the Firbolg chief of Leinster, under Ere-
mon, was at that time waging war with savage tribes, whose use
of poisoned weapons was fatal to his soldiers. He accepted
these new auxiliaries, making an alliance with the Picts, and
availing himself of the skill of their Druid, Trosdan, who
cured the wounds of Crimthan's army by the simple applica-
tion of a milk bath. Eremon did not encourage the Cruithni

148 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

to settle in Erin, but suggested to them the conquest
of Alba; and as they were unprovided with wives, he supplied
this want on condition that the throne should always be
held by right of the female. This remarkable custom pre-
vailed among the Picts to a late period. They became
eventually amalgamated with the Scoti, or Irish colonists,
who, under the leadership of Carbri Riada had emigrated
from north-eastern Ulster, then known as Dal Riada, and had
settled in Argyllshire, being from time to time re-inforced by
fresh arrivals from Ireland. From this Scotic settlement
the whole of North Britain became ultimately known as
Scotland. The combined inroads of the Picts and Scots on
the defenceless Britons, when the Roman legions evacuated
their country, are familiar to all readers of English history.

" The barbarians drive us into the sea — the sea throws us

<

back upon the barbarians," was the mournful wail of the
Britons to the Consul ^Etius. The Romans returned for
brief periods to Britain to repel these warlike Caledonians,
and aided the Britons by the erection of those mighty
ramparts, whose remains attest the power and mechanical
skill of that great people.

When the Cruithni or Picts settled in Scotland there
already existed there a people of the Firbolgic family. These
early inhabitants of Scotland found themselves, like their
kindred in Ireland after the Milesian conquest, pressed by
the superior race into the extremities of Alba and its outlyirg
isles. From thence, still pressed by the Picts, a number of
them sought refuge in Erin, and, shortly before the commence-
ment of the Christian era, rented lands in Meath, where they
settled under the protection of Carbri Ninfer. This Firbolg

THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 149

colony, called from their leader ^Engus, son of Umor, " the
sons of Umor," finding the rents they were forced to pay
exorbitant, migrated from Meath to Connaught, and were
welcomed by Ailill and Maev, then ruling at Cruachan. The
clan Umor were located along the coasts of Mayo, Galway,
Clare, and established themselves in the Aran, and other
islands of the western shores of Ireland. Their locale may
yet be determined by the names — still extant — of places
called after their leaders. &ngus, son of Umor, was the
founder of Dun ^Engus, that great dry-stone fort which we
have before described, yet standing on the largest of the
Aran islands, off Galway Bay ; Cutra has left his name at
Lough Cooter, near Gort; Adhar, at Moy Adhair, in
Thomond; Measca, at Lough Mask; and several other similar
examples might be added to these. On their settlement in
Meath Carbri Niafer had required and obtained for them the
guarantees of four great heroes, with whose names we have
made our readers already familiar — Keth MacMagach, Ross,
Conall Carnach, and Cuchullin. When the sons of Umor
abandoned his territories for those of Ailill and Maev, Carbri
called on their sureties either to compel their return or to
fight the fugitives ; and accordingly the four heroes demanded
of clan Umor either of these alternatives. The oppressed
and impoverished Firbolgs chose the latter, and selected four
of their mightiest champions to contend with the knights of
the Red Branch and the Connacian and Munster heroes.
Conall the Mild, son of ^Engus, son of Umor, was opposed
to Cuchullin ; Kimi Kethir-Kenn to Conall Carnach ; King
to Ross ; and Irgas-of-many-battles to Keth. The Firbolg
champions were defeated. Conall the Mild and his father

15° THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

were buried under the cairn, called from him Carn-Conaill.
The others were interred in the "delightful plain adjoining
the Rath Umaill? which has given name to the barony
Burnsoole (Burns Umail], in the county of Mayo.

We shall return, in our next Chapter, to Niall of the Nine
Hostages, whose military expedition to Alba to assist his
Scotic kindred of the Dalriads in their wars with the Picts
has led us into this long digression.

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE OSSIANIC
PERIOD.

Eochaid Gunath

Carbri Liffeacher

Fothad Argthach & Fothad Carpthach

Fiacha Sraibtheni

Colla Uais

Muredach Tirech

Caelbad

Eochaid Muigh-medon

Crimthann, son of Fidach

Niall Naoi-ghiallach

A.D.

of the line of Eremon

... 277

,, Eremon

... 278

)thach •,, Ith

... 295

,, Eremon

... 296

,, Eremon

... 327

,, Eremon

.... 331

Ir

••• 357

,. Eremon

... 358

Eber

... 366

„ Eremon

••• 379

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 151

CHAPTER V.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD.
FROM NIALL-NAOI-GHIALLACH, A.D. 379, TO DERMID $44.

Niall's expedition to Armorica— Captivity of Patrick— His occupations
and thoughts— His escape— Niall's expedition on the Loire, and
death there — His descendants, the Northern and Southern Hy-Niall
— King Dathi — His expedition into Gaul — Killed by lightning —
His body carried home and interred at Cruachan — Saint Patrick's
return as Apostle of the Irish — His autobiography, as told in his
authentic writings — His Easter eve at Slane — He preaches before
King Laery at Tara — Conversion of Laery's daughters, Ethna and
Felimia — Saint Patrick's breastplate — Revision of the Laws, and
compilation of the Senchus M6r — King Laery killed " by the Wind
and Sun " — Saint Patrick overthrows Crom Cruach and his twelve
sub-gods— Baptizes ^Engus, King of Munster — Diffuses the Gospel
throughout Ireland — Dies at Saul, and is buried at Down Patrick —
The clan system in the early Irish Monasteries— The three orders of
the holy men of Ireland — The burial of Owen Bel, King of Con-
naught — Succeeded by Kellach — Murder of Kellach — Avenged by
his brother Cucongelt— Final settlement of the Dalriads in Scotland
— Saint Brigid — Saint Kieran — Saint Finnian of Clonard — Saint
Finnian of Moville — Passion for Monastic seclusion — Story of Enda
and Saint Fanchea — Monastic remains of Aran — Clonmacnoise
founded by Saint Kieran — Murkertach MacErca — Dermid MacKervil
— Remains at Clonmacnoise — Saint Kevin — Glendalough — Saint
Brendan of Clonfert— His Legend— Chronological Table.

A STILL more important expedition, if we consider its after
effect on the civilization of Ireland, and through Ireland of
Western Europe, than any we have hitherto recorded, was
that undertaken by Niall against Armorica, as the north-
western district of France was called, in the fourth century.

i$i THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Many captives, including children of noble birth, were
brought back to Erin by King Niall from this plundering
excursion. Among them was a boy of sixteen, Succoth, the
son of the deacon Calphurn, and his wife Conchessa, a near
relative of St. Martin of Tours, with his sisters Darerca and
Lupida. His name, which is'said to signify " brave in battle,"
was afterwards exchanged for that of Patricius, in allusion
to his noble birth. But the boy, destined to become the
patron-saint of Ireland, the great apostle and missionary St.
Patrick, notwithstanding his gentle blood, was sold as a slave,
and employed by his master, Milcho, in feeding cattle on the
mountains of Slieve Mis, in the present county of Antrim.
For many years the youthful Patrick tended, amidst hard-
ships, suffering, and isolation, the flocks of the pagan Milcho.
Amidst the solitudes of his mountain dwelling light broke
in upon his soul. The teachings of his childhood, the
meditations of his lonely youth, the very desolation of his
lot, prepared his mind for the reception of those divine
impulses, those spiritual intuitions which elevate the being
who receives them above the vicissitudes of existence, and
unite the soul to its Creitor.

" When I had come to Ireland," says St. Patrick in his
* Confessions,' t4 1 was employed every day in feeding cattle ;
and frequently in the day I used to have recourse to prayer,
and the love of God was thus growing stronger and stronger,
arid His fear and faith were increasing in me, so that in a
single day I would give utterance to as many as an hundred
prayers, and in the night almost as many. And I used to
remain in the woods, too, and on the mountains, and would
rise for prayer before daylight, in the midst of snow and ice,

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 153

and rain, and felt no injury from it, nor was there any sloth
in me, as I now see, because the Spirit was fervent within
me." And again he writes : " I was not from my childhood
a believer in the only God, but continued in death and
unbelief until I was severely chastened : and in truth I have
been humbled by hunger and nakedness, and it was my lot
to traverse Ireland every day sore against my will, until I
was almost exhausted. But this proved rather a benefit to
me, because by means of it I have been corrected by the
Lord, and He has fitted me for being at this day what was
once far from me, so that I should interest or concern
myself about the salvation of others, when I used to have
no such thoughts even for myself."

To a mind in such intimate communion with heaven, so
elevated above earth, so filled with a desire to labour in the
conversion of others, all things are possible. There is
nothing miraculous when such men are deemed to have
worked miracles, and are themselves convinced that they
have seen visions and dreamed dreams. Patrick — escaped
from his long captivity — restored to his parents — happy in
their love — longs to return as a missionary to the people
among whom he had lived a slave. " I saw in the visions
of the night," he said, — and this passage, from a very
authentic piece of antiquity, strongly supports the claim of
the Irish to an early knowledge of the art of writing — " a
person coming from Ireland with innumerable letters, and
he gave me one of them, and I read in the beginning of the
letter, ' The voice of the people of Ireland,' and I thought
at that very moment that I heard the voice of those who
were near the wood of Focluth, which is adjoining to the

154 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

western sea, and they cried out thus, as it were with one
voice, ' We entreat thee, holy youth, to come and walk still
among us,' and I was very much pricked to the heart, and
could read no further, and so I awoke. Thanks be to Goc\
the Lord who, after very many years, hath granted to them
according to their cry."

While the boy Patrick fed the swine of Milcho on the
mountain of Slemish, King Niall of the Nine Hostages
continued his depredations in Gaul. Hither he summoned
to his aid his friends and allies from Alba ; and an auxiliary
army from the Dalriads of Scotland joined him on the
Loire. Gabran, their leader, was accompanied by Eochaid,
King of Leinster, who had been banished from Erin by
Niall. The exiled prince seized this opportunity of avenging
himself. He transfixed the king with an arrow on the banks
of the Loire. Thus perished the great monarch in the
midst of his victorious career.

Niall of the Nine Hostages left eight sons. From Conall
Gulban are descended the Kinel Conall, or race of Conall,
the great family O'Donnells of Tyr-Conaill. From his twin
brother, Owen, the Kinel-Owen, of Tyr-Owen, or Tyrone,
the illustrious O'Neills. To all the descendants of Niall
belongs the tribe name of Hy-Niall ; but the families of
O'Neill and O'Donnell, representatives of his twin sons,
Owen and Conall Gulban, are distinguished as the Northern
Hy-Niall from the progeny of another son, Conall Criffan,
who are called the Southern Hy-Niall, and who, though
giving some kings to Ireland, never attained the eminent
place in her history which the O'Neills and O'Donnells
filled. Conall Gulban obtained his name from the

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 155

mountain already referred to as the scene of the death of
Dermid. In this locality, and on this singularly formed
and romantic mountain, he had been fostered. He was
slain by the "old tribes" of Moy Slaught, that plain in
Cavan where the idol Crom Cruach and " his sub-gods
twelve" were formerly worshipped. His brother Owen
died of grief. He was buried at Eskaheen, in Inishowen.

It will be remembered that Mongfinn, wife of Eochaid,
the father of Niall, had poisoned her brotherCrimthanto pave
the way to the election of her son, Brian, to the throne, but
that her perfidy, which costher her own life, had failed in
its object, and her step-son, Niall, had become King of
Ireland, to the exclusion of her offspring. Brian, however,
in the lifetime of his half-brother, Niall, had succeeded to
the provincial throne of Connaught, and his brother, Fiachra,
another son of Mongfinn, had become chief of a district in
the west of Ireland. Dissensions arose between the brothers.
Fiachra was defeated in battle by Brian, and delivered into
the hands of Niall as a hostage. Feredach, afterwards
better known by his acquired name of Dathi, son of the
captive Fiachra, avenged his father's wrongs on his uncle
Brian, and restored Fiachra to liberty and rule. Fiachra
left two sons : — Dathi, who became Ard Righ on the death
of his uncle Niall, and Awley, whose rule in Connaught has
left its impress in the name of Tyrawley, in the north-west
of Mayo. It was in the persons of the seven sons of Awley,
converted by Patrick, and baptized with thousands of their
followers by him in the land of Tyrawley, that the vision of
the saint was realized ; for these numerous converts of the
faith were made in the vicinity of that wood of Focluth from

156 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

whence in his dream Patrick had heard the voices entreating
him to " come and walk among them."

Dathi is ancestor of the great Connaught families of
O'Shaughnessy, O'Dowda, and O'Heyne. This king
inherited the military ambition of his uncle Niall, and like
him, made war in Gaul. He had previously undertaken an
expedition into Alba, stimulated by the praises of his Druids.
In the seventeenth year of his reign he found himself at
Assaroe, near Bally shannon, whither he had gone from Tara
to adjust some contentions between his kindred in the west.
He arrived at the estuary of the Erne, at the eve of the great
Gaelic festival of Samhain, which was held on the last day
of October. He commanded the presence of his Arch
Druid, and demanded to know what would happen to himself
and to his country in the year about to commence. " Then,"
said Doghra, the Druid, " if you will send nine of your
noblest chiefs with me from this to the banks of the Moy, I
will reveal something to them." — " It shall be so," said the
king, " and I shall be one of the number myself."

Dathi and his chiefs departed secretly from the camp and
arrived at Rath Archaill, near the Moy, where the Druids'
altars and idols were. Dathi took up his abode at Mulloch
Roe, near Screene, in the barony of Tireragh* County Sligo,
where his queen, Rua, had a palace. At sunrise the Druid
repaired to the chamber of Dathi. "Art thou asleep, O
King of Erin and of Alba ? " asked Doghra. " I am not
asleep," said the monarch ; "but have you made an addition
to my titles ? " — " I have consulted the clouds of the men
of Erin," replied the Druid, " and found that thou wilt soon
return to Tara, and wilt invite all the provincial kings and

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 1$7

chiefs of Erin to the great feast of Tara, and then thou
shalt decide with them upon making an expedition into
Alba, Britain, and France, following the conquering foot-
steps of thy great-uncle Niall, and thy grand-uncle
Crimthan Mor."

The king was delighted with the prediction. He returned
to the camp and imparted it to his chieftains, and in due
time retraced his steps to Tara, and invited, as the Druid
had suggested, the chiefs of Erin to meet him there, at the
approaching festival of Beltaine, which was held on Ma)
Day.

The feast was celebrated on this occasion with unusual
splendour. The fires of Tailti were lighted, and the games,
sports, and ceremonies, usually held there, passed off with
great magnificence. War was resolved on, and Dathi made
a successful foray into Alba, and from thence invaded Gaul,
where he died ; but his body was borne homewards by his
soldiers, and now reposes among the mortal remains of his
ancestors, the ancient kings of Connaught, at the Relig na
Righ, near Rath Cruachan. Tradition ascribes his death at
the foot of the Alps to a stroke of lightning. He fell, it is
said, as he was storming the tower of Parmenius, a royal
recluse, who had lived there secluded from the light of day.
The Pagan monarch of Erin was not deterred by the sanctity
cf the royal hermit, and regarded not the recluse's vow of
living in perpetual darkness. He proceeded to demolish
the tower. When it was unroofed, and Parmenius '* felt the
wind coming to him, God raised him up in a blaze of fire,
and he prayed for King Dathi that his reign might continue
no longer ; and he also prayed that his monument or tomb

158 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

might not be conspicuous." Thereupon a flash of lightning
struck Dathi dead upon the spot, while Parmenius formed
for himself another dwelling lower down on the mountain side.
Such is the wild and scarce intelligible form in which the
story of Dathi has been transmitted from primitive times.
The adventure, whatever may have been its real nature,
took place in the same year in which Pharamond, king of the
Franks, disappears from the page of history, and it has been
suggested that he may have been the hermit king whom
Dathi encountered at Slieve Alpa, probably some part of the
Jura range, in the eastern districts of Gaul ; or — if we may
trust the local nomenclature — the scene of Dathi's death
may be placed in the valley of the Rhine, not far from the
gorge of Pfeffers in Switzerland. The incident has had a
great charm for the Irish imagination, and has been made
the subject of many lyrical compositions, one of which is
subjoined : —

THE EXPEDITION AND DEATH OF KING DATHY.*

King Dathy assembled his Druids and Sages,
And thus he spake them — " Druids and Sages !

What of King Dathy ?
What is revealed in Destiny's pages

Of him or his ? Hath he
Aught for the future to dread or to dree ?
Good to rejoice in, or evil to flee ?
Is he a foe of the Gall-
Fitted to conquer or fated to fall ? "

* J. C. MANGAN.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 159

And Beirdra, the Druid, made answer as thns —

A priest of a hundred years was he—
" Dathy, thy fate is not hidden from us !

Hear it through me !
Thou shalt work thine own will !
Thou shalt slay — thou shalt prey —

And be conqueror still !
Thee the earth shall not harm !
Thee we charter and charm
From all evil and ill !
Thee the laurel shall crown !
Thee the wave shall not drown !
Thee the chain shall not bind 1
Thee the spear shall not find !
Thee the sword shall not slay !
Thee the shaft shall not pierce !
Thou therefore be fearless and fierce.
And sail with thy warriors away

To the land of the Gall,
There to slaughter and sway,

And be victor o'er all ! "

S) Dathy he sailed away — away,
Over the deep resounding sea ;
Sailed with his hosts in armour grey :

Over the deep resounding sea,
Many a night and many a day,

And many an islet conquered he —
He and his hosts in armour grey :
And the billow drowned him not,
And a fetter bound him not,
And the blue spear found him net,
And the red sword slew him not,
And the swift shaft knew him not,
And the foe overthrew him not :

160 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Till, one bright morn, at the base

Of the Alps, in rich Ausonia's regions,

His men stood marshalled face to face
With the mighty Roman legions.
Noble foes !

Christian and heathen stood there among those,

Resolute a1! to overcome,

Or die for the eagles of ancient Rome !

When, behold ! from a temple anear
Came forth an aged priest-like man,

Of a countenance meek and clear,
Who, turning to Eire's Ceann,*

Spake him as thus — " King Dathy, hear !
Thee would I warn !

Retreat ! retire ! Repent in time

The invader's crime,

Or better for thee thou hadst never been born ! "
But Dathy replied, " False Nazarine !

Dost thou, then, menace Dathy, thou ?

And dreamest thou that he will bow
To one unknown, to one so mean,

So powerless as a priest must be ?

He scorns alike thy threats and thee I

On ! on ! my men, to victory ! "

And, with loud shouts for Eire's king,

The Irish rush to meet the foe,
And falchions clash and bucklers ring •

When lo !

Lo ! a mighty earthquake's shock !
And the cleft plains reel and rock ;

* Ceann : — Head ; king.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. l6l

Clouds of darkness pall the skies ;
Thunder crashes,
Lightning flashes,
And in an instant Dathy lies

On the earth a mass of blackened ashes !
Then, mournfully and dolefully
The Irish warriors sailed away
Over the deep resounding sea,
Till, wearily and mournfully,
They anchored in Eblana's Bay.
Thus the Senachies and Sages
Tell this tale of long-gone ages.

And so, by the elements, not by the hand of man, perished
the " fair king of Erin, Dathi, son of Fiachra, a generous
king by sea and land," A.D. 426. His son Avvley took
command of the forces. They commenced their retreat,
carrying with them the dead body of the king, whose very
presence, though in death, served to discomfit their foes.
Ten battles are recorded, won by the retreating host, whose
victories are ascribed to the terror of Dathi's countenance,
still kept turned towards the pursuers. When the army had
reached Ireland, the body, borne by four servants of trust,
crossed the island to Cruachan "with dirge and savage
dolorous shows," and here adjoining the Relig na Right
where his ancestors reposed, was erected the mound, and
its red-pillar stone over the grave of the last of Ireland's
Pagan kings. According to the imprecation of Parmenius,
it was " not conspicuous ; " yet the pillar-stone, a block of
red-grit sand-stone, about nine feet in height, is still standing
on the grassy mound, amidst the earthworks, raths, and

entrenchments, which, to this day, mark the site of the

If

1 62 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

ancient capital of Connaught. Cattle feed around on the
rich pasture lands of Roscommon, but with the exception
of an occasional cottier's house, the place is lonely, un-
marked, and little known, save by the archaeologist, or the
survivors of the peasantry, who still cling fondly to these
traditions of the olden time. More than fourteen hundred
years ago, this red pillar-stone was raised. The years have
rolled on to centuries, and yet it stands unchanged. How
many works of succeeding generations has it not already
outlived, how many yet destined to rise and fall, and
crumble into ruin, may not this simple pillar survive,
erected by his clansmen and soldiers to King Dathi.

Of his descendants we shall have much to speak. His
son, Ollioll Molt, became Ard Righ some years later, and
his grandson Owen Bel, king of Connaught, is the hero of a
very picturesque tradition. Owen Bel was the father of St.
Kellach, whose story we shall return to, but may not now
anticipate.

We resume the thread of the Christian story, laid aside
for a space while recounting the fortunes of the sons of
Niall. This monarch was succeeded by his son Laery, or
Laeghaire. It was in the fourth year of his reign that St.
Patrick commenced his apostolic labours. A.D. 432 is the
date generally agreed on for this event, which had been
preceded by the mission of St. Palladius in the previous year.
A few scattered Christians, principally in the south, were to
be found in Erin before the time of Patrick. It has been
asserted that Saints Ailbe, Declan, Kieran and Ibar, after-
wards consecrated by Saint Patrick to the episcopal office,
had been preaching in Munster before his coming.

THE PATPICTAN PERIOD. 163

In his authentic writings, the Confession and the Epistle
to Coroticus, which furnish what may be called the auto-
biography of the Missionary Saint, St. Patrick tells us of
his estrangement from God, till recalled to Him by his
sufferings as a captive in Ireland *

"Yet these were rather boons to me, because
So chastened by the Lord, I now am made
What once was far from me, that I should care
Or labour for the weal of others
Who then took no thought even for myself."

He describes his subsequent escape in a ship which lay
oft the coast :

" So thereupon I turned myself to flight,
Leaving the man whom I had served six years,
And by the help of God, who shewed me well
The way to go, nought dreading, found the ship."

After a journey of sixty days, he tells that he found
himself " once more amongst the Britons," with his friends,
re-united with his family, who seem to have resided near
Dumbarton, at the northern extremity of what then consti-
tuted the Roman Province. Yet he voluntarily left them to
return to Ireland and preach Christ to the people he had
learned to love when a captive.

" Who compelled me ? Who me bound
In spirit that I should no more behold
Kindred or early friend ? Whence came the sense
Inspiring me with pity for the race
That once were my own captors ?"

* From The Remains of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, The
" Confessio " and '•''Epistle to Coroticus^ Translated into English
blank verse, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.

164 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

St. Patrick was no longer a young man when he returned
to Ireland, the scene of his former captivity, as a Christian
missionary. But — if we may credit the " Lives " written
between the sixth and eleventh centuries, and embodying
early traditions — the interval between his early manhood
and mature life had not been idly spent. Bishops Germanus
and Lupus, we are told, nurtured him in sacred literature,
and ordained him, and made him the chief bishop of their
school among the British and Irish. Thirty-three years has
been assigned as the period of his pastoral labours. He
first landed on the Leinster coast, but re-embarked and
directed his course to that northern district where he had
passed his captivity. Here he laboured to convert to the
faith of Christ his former master Milcho, but without success.
Dichu, a prince of a territory in the present county of
Down, was one of his earliest converts. He erected for the
saint a church, Sabhall Padruic, Patrick's Barn, still called
Saul, which afterwards became the seat of a considerable
monastery. Here the saint, long after, died, and in the
same neighbourhood was buried, though the Irish foundation
of Glastonbury in England also claims the honour of
possessing his remains. Many discrepancies and irreconcil-
able conflicts of testimony may be explained by the supposi-
tion that there were two Saint Patricks ; one generally
distinguished as Sen Patrick, or Patrick the Elder, not
identical with Patrick the Apostle, and to whose labours
may be ascribed the partial reception which Christianity
had already obtained previous to the coming of Niall's
captive. The first missionary tour of the great Apostle
followed the course of the Boyne. and conducted him to

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 165

Tara, and to the presence of King Laery, at the commence-
ment of the Easter festival, A.D. 433. On his journey he
visited, converted, and baptized a family, one of whose
members attached himself from thenceforth to the Apostle,
and was named by him Benignus, on account of the gentle-
ness of his bearing. Benignus, it is said, became his suc-
cessor in the see of Armagh.

St. Patrick, continuing his journey, reached Slane on the
Boyne, on Easter eve. He commenced his preparations for
the festival of the next day, and lighted the paschal fire at
nightfall. The king was holding a high festival at Tara at
the same time, and the law enjoined that no other fire should
be lighted until the great fire should be kindled on the
heights of Tara.

The king is wrath with a greater wrath

Then the wrath of Nial or the wrath of Con !

From his heart to his brow the blood makes path,
And hangs there, a red cloud, beneath his crown.

Is there any who knows not, from south to north,
That Laeghaire to-morrow his birthday keeps ?
No fire may be lit upon hill or hearth,
Till the king's strong fire in its kingly mirth
Leaps upwards from Tara's palace steeps.

Yet Patrick has lighted his paschal fire *

At Slane— it is Holy Saturday—
And bless'd his font 'mid the chanting choir !

From hill to hill the flame makes way ;
While the king looks on it, his eyes with ire

Flash red, like Mars, under tresses gray.*

* From Legends of St. Patrick, by AUBREY DE VERK.

l60 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

When King Laery inquired who had dared thus to infringe
the law, his Druids told him that unless that fire were extin-
guished immediately, it would get the better of their fires,
and occasion the downfall of his kingdom. Laery set out
with a considerable force for Slane, and summoned St. Patrick
to appear before him. He desired that no one should show
the saint the respect of rising to receive him. Ere disobeyed
the injunction, saluted Patrick, received his blessing, and
became a believer. When St. Patrick preached before the
king and nobles at Tara on the following day, Dubtach the
bard in like manner rose, saluted him, and became a zealous
convert. Dubtach was an eminent poet, both as a Pagan
and a Christian. He was the instructor of Fiech, son of Ere,
who afterwards became bishop of Sletty.

This Easter Sunday of the year 433 was an eventful
one.

When the waters of Boyne began to bask,
And the fields to flash in the rising sun,

The Apostle Evangelist kept his Pasch,
And Erin her grace baptismal won ;

Her birthday it was; his font the rock ;

He bless'd the land, and he bless'd his flock.

Then forth to Tara he fared full lowly ;

The staff of Jesus was in his hand ;
Eight priests paced after him chanting slowly,

Printing their steps on the dewy land.
It was the Resurrection morn ;
The lark sang loud o'er the springing corn,
The dove was heard, and the hunter's horn.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 167

Like some still vision men see by night,

Mitred, with eyes of serene command,
St. Patrick moved onward in ghostly white ;

The staff of Jesus was in his hand.
His priests paced after him unafraid,
And the boy, Benignus, more like a maid,
Like a maid just wedded he walked and smiled,
To Christ new plighted that priestly child.

They entered the circle, their hymn they ceased ;

The Druids their eyes bent earthward still ;
On Patrick's brow the glory increased,

As a sunrise brightening some breathless hill.
The warriors sat silent ; strange awe they felt ;
The chief bard Dubtach rose up, and knelt!
Then Patrick discoursed of the things to be,
When time gives way to eternity ;
Of kingdoms that cease, which are dreams not things,
And the kingdom built by the King of kings.

Of Him he spake who reigns from the Cross ;
Of the death which is life, and the life which is loss,
And how all things were made by the Infant Lord,
And the small hand the Magian Kings adored.
His voice sounded on like a throbbing flood
That swells all night from some far-off wood ;
And when it was ended— that wondrous strain —
Invisible myriads breathed low, " Amen ! "

While he spake, men say that the refluent tide
On the shore beside Colpa ceased to sink ;

And they say ths white deer by Mulla's side,
O'er the green r,:arge bending forbore to drink ;

. 1 68 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

That the Brandon eagle forgat to soar,
That no leaf stirred in the wood by Lee,

Such stupor hung the island o'er,
For none might guess what the end would be.

Then whispered the king to a chief close by
" It were better for me to believe than die." *

Yet King Laery remained incredulous, although granting
liberty to the saint to preach and to make converts. Among
the most eminent who embraced Christianity at this time
were the wife and daughters of the king, and his brother
Conall Criffan, the progenitor of the southern Hy-Niall.
Conall wished to become a cleric, but St. Patrick dissuaded
him, telling the prince that the secular, and not the ecclesias-
tical, state was his vocation. He marked with his crozier the
figure of a cross in the shield of Conall, which was ever after
called Sciath Bachlach, or the shield of the crozier. This is
the earliest notice that has been found in Ireland of armorial
bearings.

The conversion by Patrick of Ethna and Felimia, the
daughters of King Laery, has been detailed at length in the
Book of Armagh. These princesses were residing in Con-
naught, near Cruachan, when St. Patrick and his attendants
assembled at sunrise at the fountain of Clebach, at the east
side of the rath.

Thither came the damsels to wash, and found at the well
the holy men. " And they knew not whence they were, or
in what form, or from what people, or from what country, but

* AUBREY DE VEKE.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 169

they supposed them to be Duine Sidhe (fairies), or gods of
earth, or a phantasm.

" And the virgins said unto them, 'Who are ye, and whence
come ye ? '

"And Patrick said unto them, ' It were better for you to
confess to our true God, than to inquire concerning our race.'

" The first virgin said, ' Who is God ?

" And where is God ?

"And of what (nation) is God?

" And where is His dwelling place ?

" Has your God sons and daughters, gold and silver ?

" Is He ever-living ?

" Is He beautiful ?

" Did many foster His Son ?

" Are His daughters dear and beauteous to men of the
world ?

" Is He in heaven or in earth ?

" In the sea ?

" In rivers ?

" In mountainous places ?

"In valleys ?

" Declare unto us the knowledge of Him.

" How shall He be seen ?

" How is He to be loved ?

" How is He to be found ?

" Is it in youth — is it in old age that He is to be found ?' "

" But St. Patrick, full of the Holy Ghost, answered and
said : —

" ' Our God is the God of all men.

" The God of heaven and earth, of the sea and rivers.

170 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

" The God of the sun, the moon and all stars.

"The God of the high mountains, and of the lowly
valleys.

" The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and
under heaven. He hath a habitation in the heaven, and
the earth, and the sea, and all that are therein.

" He inspireth all things.

"He quickeneth all things.

" He is over all things.

" He sustaineth all things.

" He giveth light to the light of the sun.

" And he hath made springs in a dry ground ;

" And dry islands in the sea.

i( And hath appointed the stars to serve the greater lights.

" He hath a Son co-eternal, and co-equal with Himself.

" The Son is not younger than the Father.

" Nor is the Father older than the Son.

" And the Holy Ghost breatheth in them.

"The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not
divided.

" But I desire to unite you to the Heavenly King, inas-
much as you are the daughters of an earthly king — to
believe.'

" And the virgins said, as with one mouth and one heart —

" ' Teach us most diligently how we may believe in the
Heavenly King. Show us how we may see Him face to
face, and whatsoever thou shalt say unto us, we will do.*

" And Patrick said :—

" 'Believe ye, that by baptism ye put off the sin of your
father and your mother ? ' They unswered, ' We believe.'

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 17 I

*' ' Believe ye in repentance after sin ? ' * We believe.'

" ' Believe ye in life after death ? — Believe ye the
Resurrection at the day of Judgment ? ' — ( We believe.'

" ' Believe ye the unity of the Church ? ' — ' We believe.'

" And they were baptized ; and a white garment put upon
their heads. And they asked to see the face of Christ.
And the Saint said unto them, 'Ye cannot see the face of
Christ, except ye taste of death, and except ye receive the
sacrifice.'

" And they answered, ' Give us the sacrifice, that we may
behold the Son, our spouse.'

" And they received the Eucharist of God, and they slept
in death.

" And they were laid out on one bed, covered with
garments ; and (their friends) made great lamentation and
weeping for them."

Before leaving the subject of St. Patrick's visit to Tara,
we shall give his hymn known as the Lorica or " Breastplate,"
composed on this occasion, " to protect himself with his
monks against the enemies unto death who were in ambush
against the clergy. And this is a religious armour to pro-
tect the body and soul against demons, and men, and vices.
Every person who sings it every day with all his attention
on God shall not have demons appearing to his face. It
will be a protection to him against every poison and envy.
It will be a safeguard to him against sudden death. It will
be an armour to his soul after his death. Patrick sang this
at the time that the snares were set for him by Laegaire,
that he might not come to propagate the faith to Temur ;
so that it appeared to those lying in ambush, that they were

172 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

wild deer, and a fawn after them, that is Benen ; and Feth
Fiadha is its name."

This poem is interesting as illustrating the faith, not un-
mixed with credulity, of this great Evangelist of the fifth
century, as well as for its antiquity. It is composed in that
ancient dialect of the Irish in which the oldest tracts, and
the Brehon Laws are written, and has been rendered into
English by the late Dr. Petrie, and more recently by Dr.
Whitley Stokes. His admirable translation is most faithful
to the original.

ST. PATRICK'S HYMN.

1. I join myself to-day to the mighty virtue of
The Invocation of the Trinity.

2. I believe in the Trinity under the Unity of the
Creator of the elements.

3. I join myself to-day

To the virtue of the birth of Christ, with His baptism,
To the virtue of His crucifixion, with His burial,
To the virtue of His resurrection and ascension,
To the virtue of His coming to the sentence of the judge-
ment.

4. I join myself to-day,

To the virtue of the Seraphims' love,

To the virtue that abides in the obedience of angels,

In the hope of resurrection unto the reward,

In the prayers of the Patriarchs,

In the predictions of the Prophets,

In the teachings of the Apostles,

In the faith of the Confessors,

In the innocence of Holy Virgins,

In the deeds of truthful men ; —

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 173

5. I join myself to-day,

To the virtue of heaven, of the light of the sun ;

Of the whiteness of snow, the force of fire,

The swiftness of lightning, the speed of the wind,

The depth of the sea,

The stability of the earth,

The firmness of rocks.

6. I join myself to-day

To God's power to pilot me :

The might of God to uplift me,

The knowledge of God to lead me,

The eye of God to look before me,

The ear of God to hear me,

The Word of God to make me eloquent,

The hand of God to defend me,

The path of God to lie before me.

The shield of God to shelter me,

The host of God to guard me

From the snares of demons,

From the temptations of vice,

From the desires of nature,

From all that meditate evil against me,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in a multitude.

7. So have I invoked all these powers

Between myself and every dangerous merciless power

Opposed unto my body and my soul —

Against the incantations of false prophets, the black laws

of heathendom,

The false laws of heresy, the craft of idolatry,
The spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
And all knowledge that hath defiled the soul of man.

8. Christ defend me this day

Against poison and burning, against drowning and wounds,
Until a multitudinous reward have fallen to me.

174 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

9. Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ below me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left hand,

10. Christ in the hearts of all who think on me ;
Christ in the mouths of all who speak to me •
Christ in every eye that sees me :

Christ in every ear that hears me,

11. I join myself to-day to the mighty virtue of the Invocation

of the Trinity.

12. I believe in the Trinity under the Unity of the Creator of

the elements.

Domini est salus, Domini est salus, Christi est salus
Salus tua Domine, set semper nobiscum. •

Mrs. Alexander's — which we give by her kind permission
— is the most recent version of St. Patrick's Breastplate-
It leaves nothing to be desired in accuracy and poetic
expression.

ST PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE.

1. I bind unto myself to-day

The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

2. I bind this day to me for ever,

By pow'r of faith, Christ's incarnation ;
His baptism in Jordan river ;

His death on Cross for my salvation ;
His bursting from the spiced tomb ;

His riding up the Heav'nly way :
His coming at the day of doom ;

I bind unto myself to-day.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 175

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of Cherubim ;
The sweet " Well done " in judgment hour ;

The service of the Seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,

The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls
All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself to-day

The virtues of the star-lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

5. I bind unto myself to-day

The pow'r of God to hold, and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward
The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

6. Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within

The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place, and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.

176 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

7. Against all Satan's spells and wiles

Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,

Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,

Against the death-wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

8. Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

9. I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity ;
By invocation of the same,

The Three in One, and One in Three.
Of Whom all nature hath creation ;

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word :
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord,*

St. Patrick is said to have borne part in that revision and
purification of the laws of Erin, embodied in the great
Brehon Law tract called the Senchus Mbr. The Irish of
the age of Alfred universally believed that these laws were
reduced to their present form under the immediate inspection
of the Apostle, and that the work of codification was carried
on at Tara in summer on account of the amenity and fresh-

* C. F. ALEXANDER,

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 177

ness of the place ; and at a neighbouring residence in the
winter on account of facilities of shelter and firewood. A
portion of this interesting tract has been published by the
Brehon Law Commissioners, and exhibits an unexpected
analogy to -the rudiments of the Common Law of England,
hitherto supposed to have been derived exclusively from
non-Celtic sources.

Laery was constantly engaged in warfare with the
Leinstermen, the "hated Lagenian race." The exaction
of the Boromean tribute was the occasion of these conten-
tions. In one of these campaigns he was defeated at Ath-
Dam, on the Barrow, and compelled to swear by the
Elements — that dreaded pagan oath — that he would not
again seek to enforce the Boru ; but afterwards, violating
his oath, he was slain "by the Sun and Wind."

" So Laeghaire by the dread God elements swore,

By the moon divine, and the earth and air.

He swore by the wind and the broad sunshine

That circle for ever both land and sea,

By the long-back'd rivers, and mighty wine,

By the cloud far-seeing, by herb and tree,

By the boon spring shower, and by autumn's fan,

By woman's breast, and the head of man,

By night and the noonday Demon he swore,

He would claim the Boarian Tribute no more.

But with years, wrath wax'd ; and he brake his faith : —
Then the dread God-elements wrought his death :
For the Wind and Sunshine by Cassi's side
Came down and smote on his head that he died,
Death sick three days on his throne he sate :
Then he died, as his father died, great in hate.

N

1 78 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

They buried the king upon Tara's hill,

In his grave upright : — there stands he still.

Upright there stands he as men that wade

By night through a castle moat, undismay'd ;

On his head is the gold crown, the spear in his hand,

And he looks to the hated Lagenian land." *

Laery was indeed buried, as described in the poem.
He still

" Looks for his tribute from the brow of Tara's royal hill,
Where, spear in hand and helm on head, they tombed him

stern and tall,
Brass-armed complete for standing fight, in Cahir Laery's wall." t

He was killed by lightning, and interred in the external
rampart of his rath at Tara, with his weapons in his hand,
and his face turned towards the Leinstermen. This was in
accordance with his own directions ; and he assigned this
predetermined hate which was to outlive him, as a cause
why, though convinced by the teaching of St. Patrick, he
could not himself embrace Christianity.

"But my father, Nial, who is dead long since,

Permits not me to believe thy word ;

For the servants of Jesus, thy heavenly prince,

Once dead, lie flat as in sleep, interr'd ;

But we are as men through dark floods that wade : —

We stand in our black graves undismay'd ;

Our faces are turn'd to the race abhorr'd

And ready beside us stand spear and sword,

Ready to strike at the last great day,

Ready to trample them back into clay." J

* From Legends of St. Patrick, by AUBREY DE VE RE.
fFrom Congal, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.
j From Inisfail, by AUBREY DE VEKE.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 179

To St. Patrick is ascribed the destruction of Crom
Cruach, and the smaller idols by which it was surrounded,
on the plain of Moy Slaught, in his progress towards Rath
Croghan, where we have already noticed his conversion of
Ethna and Felimia, daughters of this obstinate Pagan
monarch. Passing thence, he spent the season of Lent on
the mountain of Croagh Patrick, which was named from
this visit of the saint. In Tyrawley he baptized, as we
have already mentioned, the sons and followers of Awley,
brother of Dathi, in the vicinity of the wood of Focluth.
Thence, the Apostle passed through the central district of
Ireland, preaching, baptizing, and founding churches, and
entered Munster. At the royal city of Cash el, he was met
by y£ngus, king of this southern province, who embraced
the faith, and was baptized by Patrick. It is narrated that
during the ceremony the pastoral staft of the saint, which
terminated in a spike, entered the monarch's sandalled foot;
but conceiving this to be part of the rite, king y£ngus re-
mained unmoved, submitting patiently to the pain which
St. Patrick unconsciously inflicted.

Multitudes of people from Ccrca Baiscin, in Clare, crossed
the Shannon in their curraghs, a simple hide-covered boat,
of a kind still used on the western coast of Ireland, and
were baptized by Patrick in the waters of this grandest of
Irish rivers. In compliance with their entreaty, St. Patrick
ascended a hill near Foynes, since called Knoc Patrick, and
blessed the territory of Thomond, the land of the Dalcas-
sians. A more liberal benediction bestowed by the Apostle

l8o THE IRISH BEFORE THE CO^-QURST.

upon Ireland and its inhabitants at large, has been preserved
in the Book of Rights, and is thus translated :

" The blessing of God upon you all,
Men of Eri, sons, women,
And daughters ; prince-blessing,
Weal-blessing, blessing of long life,
Health-blessing, blessing of excellence,
Eternal blessing, heaven-blessing,
Cloud-blessing, sea-blessing,
Fruit-blessing, land- blessing,
Crop-blessing, dew-blessing,
Blessing of elements, blessing of valour,
Blessing of dexterity, blessing of glory,
Blessing of deeds, blessing of honour,
Blessing of happiness, be upon you all
Laics, clerics, while I command
The blessing of the men of Heaven ;
It is my bequest, as it is a PERPETUAL BLESSING."

The year 453 is the date assigned to the founding of the
metropolitan see of Armagh. Daire, a chieftain of the
Orgialla, gave the site for his church to St. Patrick. In the
crypt of that venerable cathedral, the simple wattle outline
of the roofs and doors of this portion of the very old, if not
the original building, can yet be traced. Thither, when he
felt his end approaching, the Apostle of Ireland wished to
turn, to die. He set out from Saul on his journey towards
Armagh, when he was commanded by an angel — so the
tradition goes — to return to Saul. He was buried at Down-
patrick, and the legend, which, however, is shared with many
other Lives of Saints, affirms that the place where his mortal
remains should rest was also decided by heavenly inter-

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. l8l

position. A contest arose between the people of Armagh
and those of Uladh, as to where he should be interred. It
was agreed that two untamed oxen should be harnessed tc
the bier of the saint, sent forth, unguided, and that in the
place where they halted the saint should be committed to
the earth. The oxen rested at Dun-da-leth-glaisse, a fortified
residence of the chieftains of Uladh, since the site of the
present cathedral of Down. To allay the jealous feuds of
the rival clans, each party followed, as they conceived, a bier,
borne by two oxen, but as the Orgallian tribes neared Armagh,
on the banks of a river, the bier and oxen, which they had
followed, mysteriously vanished. The exact time of the
death of the great Apostle of Ireland is a disputed point.
Wednesday, the lyth of March, 493, is the most probable
date.

The marked success of St. Patrick's missionary labours
may be in part ascribed to his wise policy in addressing
himself, in the first instance, to the kings and chieftains of
Erin. The clan readily followed the example of a baptized
leader, and toleration, at least, was secured for Christian
institutions. On his side, St. Patrick had little of the icono-
clastic spirit. He respected, and even adopted, the pagan
festivals, converting them into Christian holydays. The
Beltine and Samhain of the Irish are celebrated to this day,
not unmixed with some superstitious relics of paganism, in
the corresponding festivals of May-day and All-hallow E'en.

The clan system, found and left by him in full oper-
ation, extended itself even to the monasteries. The abbot's
sway was not dissimilar to that of the chieftain : every
monastery was a centre of family influence, and always a

1 82 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

refuge for houseless kin. In all respects, the church founded
by St. Patrick conformed to the political institutions of the
Irish tribes. This church — endowed by the chieftains,
recruited from the ranks of the people — in no way dependent
on foreign aid for its prolonged existence — flourished at home
and became a missionary church abroad, sending forth, dur-
ing the sixth and seventh centuries, indefatigable labourers
in the spiritual vineyard ; to whose exertions we owe the
evangelization of the greater part of Western Europe.

We have traced the useful, noble life of the great Irish
saint, till it was closed in peace. "I protest in truth," says
St. Patrick, in his Confession, " and can rejoice in the thought
before God and His holy angels, that I never had any motive
save the Gospel and its promises, for ever returning to that
people from among whom I had escaped. And I beg of all
that believe in God and seek and fear Him, whoever of them
may be pleased to examine or read this letter, which I,
Patrick — poor sinful and ignorant creature as I am — have
written in Ireland, that no one will ever say that my
ignorance is to have the credit of it, if I have effected or
performed any little matter according to the purpose of God ;
but believe and be assured for certain that it was God who
has done it. And this is my confession before I shall die."

The mighty revolution which St. Patrick accomplished was
inaugurated without bloodshed. No single martyr suffered
for the faith in Erin ; unless that servant of Patrick's, Oran,
who exchanged places with the saint in his chariot, and re-
ceived a death-wound designed for his master, be considered
one. Her kings, though remaining pagan for two generations,
permitted the preaching of the new doctrines, and were

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 183

tolerant even to converts made among the members of their
own families. It speaks well for the state of morals and
manners among the pagan Irish that so mighty a change
was effected with little bitterness, and no sacrifice of human
life. While kings ruled at Tara, surrounded by their Druids,
and worshipping idols, Christian communities were planted
in every corner of the land. The zeal and fervour of St.
Patrick and his disciples gathered to the infant church a
peaceful and rich harvest of souls. Ireland became the
land of saints : nor were these simple and pious men who
belonged to the first and most perfect of the three orders of
saints of the Irish Church, indifferent to secular knowledge.
They did not, as the second and inferior order of saints of a
succeeding age, shun the society of women, for they were
"not afraid of the blast of temptation." The monasteries
they established were schools of learning, whose reputation
was deservedly so high, that students came from Britain and
from the Continent, and received in Ireland gratuitous hos-
pitality, and careful instruction. The Irish monks were the
transcribers of those manuscript copies of Holy Writ, and of
ancient learning, many of which are so exquisitely illuminated
that they have been the wonder and delight of succeeding
ages. These are true art- treasures, evincing the most refined
perception of grace and beauty, with a delicacy of execution
which has never been surpassed, and place Ireland, between
the fifth and ninth centuries — a period when western Europe
was sunk in barbarism — among the foremost seats of piety
and learning, and in a position, as regards the arts of decora-
tion, as applied to manuscripts and ecclesiastical objects, un-
approached by any of the nations of Christendom.

184 THE IRISH BP:FORE THE CONQUEST.

King Leary was succeeded by Ollioll Molt, son of Dathi
who had ruled Connaught for some years previously as
provincial king. Ollioll was grandfather to Owen Bel,
afterwards king of Connaught, whose hatred of the Clanna
Neill of Ulster was as intense as that of Laery for the
Leinstermen. Owen Bel was constantly engaged in conflicts
against the northern clans, with varying success. At the
Battle of Sligo, however, the Connacian army was defeated,
and Owen Bel mortally wounded. He lingered for a week;
and during that time gave directions about his burial.
" Place me in my grave, on the north side of the hill by
which the northerns pass when flying before the army of
Connaught. Place me standing; my face towards the north,
and my red javelin in my hand." The effect ot this inter-
ment of Owen Bel was, that the Clanna Neill were always
defeated, and compelled to fly before the Connacian hosts,
until they came by stealth, disinterred the body of the hero,
carried the corpse northward of the Sligo river, and there
buried him, near the shores of Lough Gill, with his face
downwards. A stone circle, still existing, on the southern
bank of the Sligo river, close by the town, probably marks
the site of the sepulchral cairn from which the men of
Ulster stole the body of the dreaded monarch. .

When Owen Bel found himself dying, he advised his
clan, the Hi-Fiachrach, to elect his son Kellach king of
Connaught, notwithstanding that he had become an ecclesias-
tical student, and was residing at Clonmacnoise under the
tuition of St. Kieran, the founder of that monastic establish-
ment. The youth, at the time, of Owen Bel's second son,
Cucongelt, unfitted him t^ be leader of his tribe. Kellach

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 185

yielded to the persuasions of the messengers sent to him
for this object, impelled by a not unnatural ambition ; but
accompanied them without the permission of St. Kieran,
who pronounced a curse upon Kellach. To this the
credulity of that age has ascribed all his after-misfortunes.

Kellach afterwards made his peace with St Kieran, and
became bishop at Kilmore-Moy, in Tirawiey. His kinsman,
Guary Aidhne, who was then king of Connaught, feared
him as a rival; and bribed four students, who were under
St. Kellach's instruction in a hermitage to which he had
retired on Loch Con, to murder the ex-king and bishop.
This wicked deed was accomplished in a wood, and the
body of the murdered man was secreted in the hollow trunk
of an oak-tree. What added to the enormity of the outrage
was, that the four Maols, as they were called, were foster-
brothers to St. Kellach. They were rewarded by Guary for
their treachery by a grant of land in Tirawiey, on which
they erected a fort at Dun Finn.

Cucongelt, younger son of Owen Bel, and brother to St.
Kellach, went to visit the recluse at Loch Con, and finding
his brother had disappeared, and his four pupils become
possessed of lands at the hands of King Guary, suspected
that Kellach had been murdered. He sought for and
found the body, sadly mangled by ravens and wolves. He
brought the remains in succession to three churches ; but
the clergy, basely afraid of the vengeance of Guary, refused
interment. At last the remains of the hapless prince and
bishop found a resting-place. Cucongelt chanted his funeral
dirge, and vowed to avenge his death. He assembled in
the neighbourhood of Dun Finn his friends and adherents ;

t86 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

obtained entrance in the guise of a swine-herd into the fort,
while the murderers were feasting. He waited till they
had become inebriated, and then, summoning his followers,
captured the fort, and dragged the murderers in chains to a
hill overlooking the River Moy, and since distinguished as
Ard-na-ree, where they were mercilessly put to death.

The monument raised over the Maols is still in existence,
and is called by the people the table of the giants, and
Clock an togbhala, "the raised stone," in Irish. It is a
cromlech, formed by a level stone supported by three pillar-
stones, and is interesting as being considered the only
cromlech in Ireland which can undoubtedly be connected
with history. It is spoken of in the Dinnseanchus, an Irish
MS. oi high antiquity, as the stone of the Maols, Leacht na
Maol.

Ollioll Molt was slain in the Battle of Ocha, and Lugaid,
son of Laery, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages ascended
the throne of Ireland. While this king — who, like his
predecessors, rejected Christianity and remained pagan
— was on the throne, the final settlement of the Dalriads in
Scotland took place. 503 is the date assigned for the
emigration to Scotland of the six sons of Ere, the two
Anguses, the two Loarns, and the two Ferguses. Fergus
MacErc seized on the sovereignty of Scotland. This is the
king who is said to have obtained from his cousin,
Murkertach, the reigning monarch of Erin, who succeeded
Lugaid, the Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, and to have
brought this magical talisman which should secure the
throne for ever to a prince of Scotic blood, from Ireland to
the land named from these Scotic immigrants, Scotland. Jts

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 187

removal to Scone, and from thence to Westminster Abbey,
has been already alluded to; but the Irish, in the i2th
century, believed that the Lia Fail still existed at Tara :
though the stone had ceased to " roar >} under the rightful
king, since the birth of Christ.

Lugaid was succeeded by Murkertach Mor MacErca, the
first king of the Hy-Niall race of Owen son of Niall. This
great family, in its various branches, furnished kings to
Erin, with rare interruptions, for many cemturies.

During his reign St. Brigid, or Bride, died. This celebra-
ted foundress of the monastic establishment at Kildare is, in
common with St. Patrick and St. Columba, a patron saint of
Ireland. She was of noble birth, and claimed descent from
Con of the Hundred Battles. She was remarkable from her
early youth for her piety and charity to the poor. Vowed
to perpetual virginity, she traversed Ireland, founding
convents in various places ; but her name and repute are
chiefly connected with that u Church of the Oak," Kildare,
where she was the foundress of the most famous convent
that ever existed in Ireland. Her humility was such
that she is said to have tended the cattle in her fields ;
she shared all she possessed with the poor, and
scattered among those who surrounded her "the most
wholesome seed of the word of God." She died at the
advanced age of seventy, and was buried at the side of the
altar in the cathedral church of Kildare. The ist of
February, 525, is the date assigned to this event. She was
reverenced, not only in Ireland, but in Scotland also. The
Western Isles, Hv-Brides, are said to have their name from
her. An annual festival in her house was there held in

1 88 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

commemoration of the day of her death, and her name
was invoked by the islanders to confirm their most solemn
oaths.

St. Kieran of Saigliir is called, by his biographer, " the
first-born of the saints of Ireland." His church on Cape
Clear Island is said to have been the earliest Christian
church erected in Ireland. Its ruins, together with a cross
sculptured on an ancient pillar stone, yet exist on this
remote island. He afterwards established the monastery
of Seir-Kieran, on the brink of the well of Saighir, in the
King's County, a spot dedicated to him, according to
tradition, by St. Patrick. Round this a great village, in
those days deemed a city, speedily clustered. He is sup*
posed to have died in Cornwall, and to have been identical
with St. Piran, an Irish saint, whose little church of
Piranzabuloe, or Piran-in-the-sands, has been covered and
so preserved for centuries by the sands which have gained
on that part of the English coast.

St. Finnian of Clonard, and St. Finnian of Moville, were
saints of the second order, and, unlike the saints of the
first order, dispensed with the society of women, separating
them from the monasteries. St. Finnian of Clonard founded
his celebrated school about the year 530. It was a place of
great resort, and numbered among its students many
eminent men, attracted to .Clonard by the learning and
sanctity of its founder. St. Columba, afterwards the
evangelist of the Picts, was among the number.

The passion for a life of monastic seclusion characterised,
to a remarkable degree, the religious Irish at this period.
That ascetic temper of mind which is so much to be con-

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 189

demned, as separating men from the healthful duties of
ordinary life, has some excuses in an age filled with strife and
contention and endless turmoil. Nor can selfishness or in
dolence be justly charged on our Irish recluses, as they were
teachers of learning, secular as well as ecclesiastical, zealous
missionaries among heathen populations, and tillers of the
soil around their monastic establishments. As might
naturally be expected, the people became proud of their
pastors, and sometimes contended for their possession. It
is recorded of St. Ailbe of Emly, that, having converted the
people of Munster, and established the Christian Church in
that part of Ireland, he was about to seek the solitudes of
Iceland when he was coerced by King ^Engus, the convert
of St. Patrick, with all becoming respect, to abandon his
intention.

Between the fifth and seventh centuries were founded
those monastic establishments on the western isles of Aran,
off Galway bay, whose remains yet abound on that sacred
soil. " Aran of the Saints" contains, at this day, abundant
impress of the anchorites of that period. St. Enda obtained
a grant of the largest of the three islands which constitute
the group, and founded his monastic establishment at the
southern extremity of Aranmore. Enda was son of the
petty king of Orgiall, and was an accomplished warrior
before his conversion. He had successfully avenged his
father's death, and chanted a song of triumph as he
happened to pass the cell of Fanchea, a female saint of the
period. She came to the door of her cell, and asked why he
disturbed her meditations. " I have been avenging the death
of my father as becomes a son," he replied, " and I now

IQO THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

sing my song of victory as becomes a warrior." " Knowest
thou where thy father now is ?" rejoined Fanchea. " I know
not," said Enda. " Thy father," said Fanchea, " is now in
hell." She proceeded to contrast the tortures of the
damned with the bliss of the saved, the mournful gloom of
hell with the celestial light of heaven. Her words made
a profound impression on the mind of Enda. He frequently
visited her cell, and listened to her instructions ; but during
these visits became strongly attached to one of Fanchea's
sisterhood, and the novice returned the affection of the young
prince. Fanchea interposed. " Whether wouldst thou have
for spouse," she asked of the novice, " this young King of
Orgiall, whom thou lovest, or that heavenly King whom
I love?" — "Whom thou lovest, Him also will I love,"
replied the girl. She sought her bed, and expired. Enda
was brought by Fanchea to look on the dead face of his
beloved. He renounced the world, travelled to Rome,
returned, accompanied by one hundred and fifty monks,
and founded, in 580, his church at Aran. His name
yet survives in Kilany, but his church has disappeared,
and the pure shining sands cover the adjoining cemetery,
with its one hundred and twenty inscribed tombs of holy
men. The foundations of the round tower only remain ;
but not far from the site of Enda's erections stands, to
this day, the smallest church in Ireland, that of St.
Benignus. Among the ruins of the seven churches in
the north part of Aran, at Kilbrecan, still exists the
tomb of their founder, St. Brecan. On a, spherical black
stone found in his grave, we read the inscription in Irish
" Pray for Brecan the Pilgrim." Another tomb at this

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 19 1

place is inscribed to the memory of the ''seven Romans,"
strangers from distant lands, seeking in this Irish Thebaid
opportunity for indulgence in the contemplative life.

But the glories of the Irish church of this period cul-
minate in the noble foundation of Clonmacnoise on the
Shannon. It was established 548 by St. Kieran, generally
called t( the Son of the Artificer," to distinguish him from
another saint of the same name. Dermid MacKervil,
afterwards King of Ireland, passed his youth in exile,
and was sheltered at Clonmacnoise by St. Kieran, on
whose foundation he subsequently bestowed a grant of
lands. On the banks of the Shannon, a few miles below
Athlon e, amidst verdant meadows, gently rolling hillocks —
and beyond these a vast expanse of level bog, not black
and dreary, but covered with a russet garment of heaths of
the richest hues, and washed by the eddies of the broad
placid river, with its sedgy margin of reeds and bulrushes
— rise the graceful round towers, picturesque and ex-
quisitely sculptured crosses, and other monastic ruins of
Clonmacnoise.

St. Kieran, the original founder, was a descendant of
Core, one of the sons whom Maev of Cruachan bore to the
hero, Fergus MacRoy, and was thus of the Irian stock.
He had been one of the most distinguished pupils of St.
Finnian of Clonard. He had also resided at Aran of the
Saints, acquiring, under the austere rule of St. Enda, those
lessons to be learned in seclusion from the affairs of secular
life, in the comparative isolation of these rocky islets washed
by the mighty waves of the Atlantic. But before entering
into the particulars connected with this great ecclesias-

192 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

tical establishment, which was endowed by King Dermid
MacKervil, we must complete our history of King.
Murkertach MacErca and his successor, Tuathal Mael-
garv, who preceded King Dermid on the throne of Erin.
Murkertach is said, in our annals, to have died a double
death. He was both burned and drowned. He had aban.
doned the society of his queen for that of a beautiful girl
named Sin. Her kindred had been slain by the king in
battle, and Sin devoted her life to revenge them. With
this object she threw herself in the way of the monarch,
captivated him by her charms, and availed herself of oppor-
tunities thus obtained to burn his house at Cletty. Murker-
tach, maddened by his sufferings from fire, plunged into a
butt of wine, in which he was suffocated. Tuathal Mael-
garv succeeded him on the throne. This king banished out
of Meath, a rival claimant, Dermid MacKervil, who is said
to have passed the nine years of his exile in a boat on the
Shannon, befriended by sympathisers pn both sides of the
river. Among these was St. Kieran, then engaged in
founding his church at Clonmacnoise.

On one occasion Dermid was assisting St. Kieran in
thrusting down in the earth one of the pillars or wattles
of the house. He took the saint's hand, as they grasped the
pole, and put it above his own hand in sign of reverence.
Kieran, touched by this mark of humility, fervently besought
God of his great goodness that the hand of Dermid might
have superiority over all Ireland. The prayer brought a
bloody accomplishment. It was heard by the foster-brother
of Dermid, who instantly devised a plan for realizing, by
the murder of the reigning monarch, the saint's petition,

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 1 93

Tuathal, in his hostility to the rival whom he dreaded, had
offered a reward to any one who would bring him the heart
of Dermid. Maelmora, the foster-brother, sacrificed a dog,
placed its heart on a spear, and, mounted on a swift horse,
rode into the presence of the king. When the attendants*
of Tuathal saw the man approaching with the bloody trophy,
they made way, supposing it to be the heart of Dermid
about to be laid at the sovereign's feet. Maelmora, in the
act of presenting it, transfixed Tuathal with his spear. His
own life paid the penalty of his deed, but his object was
won. Dermid was at once proclaimed king at Tara.

Dermid became a liberal benefactor to Clonmacnoise.
Round the little church, in whose foundation he had assisted —
a fact corroborated by the figures of St Kieran and his friend
grasping the pole, carved on one side of the stone crosses
which yet remain to adorn the spot— sprung up in after-
ages those foundations which still stand to evince the piety
and skill of their builders. There are few spots in our land
so rich in interest. The larger of its two round towers was
finished for King Turlogh O'Conor, A.D. 1127. Its crosses
are beautiful specimens of the art of Sculpture, as it existed
among the Irish before the eleventh century. On the great
cross are sculptured inscriptions which read "A prayer for
Flann son of Maelsechlain," and " A prayer for Colman,
who made this cross for the King Flan." Our annals record
that King Flann erected the cathedral at Clonmacnoise,
909 ; and this cross will therefore belong to about the same
'date. The second cross is decorated with the peculiar
interlaced pa'.tern work so familiar in Irish art.

The tombs of kings, saints, and scholars, reposing for

194 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

upwards of one thousand years, can yet be identified at this
favourite burial ground, which most of the princes of the
southern Hy-Niall selected to be their last resting place.
Among them, we may enumerate the stone of Siubhne Mac
Maelhumai, one of the three " most learned doctors of the
Irish," who visited Alfred in the year 891, and assisted at
the foundation of Oxford. His death is recorded, not only
in the Irish annals, but in the Saxon Chronicle, and also by
Florence of Worcester, and Caradoc of Llancarvan.

The remains of the monastic establishment founded by
St. Kevin at Glendalough in the county of Wicklovv, are
familiar to multitudes who visit that mountain valley with
its two lonely lakes : it lies within easy distance of Dublin.
St. Kevin died 6x8 : he had a brother of the same name,
from whom the southern island of Aran took its designa'
tion, that

Rocky eastern isle that bears
The name of blessed Coemhan, who doth show
Pity unto the storm-tossed seaman's prayers.

Another distinguished saint of this period was Brendan,
who became in his advanced years Abbot of Clonfert. He
voyaged, according to a poetic tradition, across the Atlantic
with a few chosen companions in search of the mysterious
island of Hy-Brasail. This enchanted land is supposed to
be visible from the western coast of Ireland every seventh
year. If once touched by fire, even by the flight of a
kindled arrow, it would become subject to the ordinary
laws of existence, and remain a delightful paradise for man,
instead of disappearing with all its glories from the ken of

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD 195

the baffled discoverer. Missionary zeal, and love of dis-
covery, stimulated St. Brendan to venture on the trackless
ocean, in his small hide-covered coracle, with his few com-
panions. He had been nurtured by the shores of the
Atlantic, in his native Kerry, where his name yet lingers in
Brandon mountain near Dingle.

I grew to manhood by the western wave.

Among the mighty mountains on the shore :
My bed the rock within some natural cave ;

My food, whate'er the seas or seasons bore ;
My occupation, morn and noon and night,

The only dream my hasty slumbers gave,
Was Time's unheeding, unreturning flight,

And the great world that lies beyond the grave.

And then I saw the mighty sea expand,

Like Time's unmeasured and unfathomed waves ;
One with its tide-marks on the ridgy sand,

The other with its line of weedy graves ;
And as beyond the outstretched wave of Time,

The eye of Faith a brighter land may meet,
So did I dream of some more sunny clime,

Beyond the waste of waters at my feet.

Some clime where man, unknowing and unknown,

For God's refreshing word still gasps and faints ;
Or happier rather some Elysian zone,

Made for the habitation of His saints ;
Where Nature's love the sweat of labour spares,

Nor turns to usury the wealth it lends,
Where the rich soil spontaneous harvest bears,

And the tall tree with milk-filled clusters bends.

I9& THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

The thought grew stronger with my growing days,

Even like to manhood's strengthening mind and limb .
And often now amid the purple haze,

That evening breathed upon the horizon's rim,
Methought, as there I sought my wished-for home,

I could descry amid the waters green,
Full many a diamond shrine and golden dome,

And crystal palaces of dazzling sheen.

And then I longed with impotent desire,

Even for the bow whereby the Pythian bled,
That I might send one dart of living fire

Into that land, before the vision fled.
And thus at length fix thy enchanted shore,

Hy-Brasail — Eden of the western wave,
That thou again wouldst fade away no more,

Buried and lost within thy azure grave.

But angels came and whispered as I dreamt,

" This is no phantom of a frenzied brain,
God shows this land from time to time to tempt

Some daring mariner across the main ;
By thee the mighty venture must be made,

By thee shall myriad souls to Christ be won !
Arise, depart, and trust to God for aid ! "

I woke, and kneeling cried, "His will be done ! "'

St. Brendan, after preliminary visits to Aran of the saints,
and to the coasts of Connaught, launched his frail bark
boldly on the Atlantic wave, and reached the distant land, it
may be the New England shore. In the quaint language of
the Golden Legend, " Soon after, as God would, they saw a

* From The Voyage of St. Brendan, by D. FLORENCE MACCARTHY.

THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. IQ7

fair island full of flowers, herbs, and trees, whereof they
thanked God of his good grace; and anon they went on land,
and when they had gone long in this, they found a full fayre
well, and thereby stood a fair tree full of boughs, and on
every bough sat a fayre bird. The number of them was so
great, and they sang so merrily, that it was an heavenly noise
to hear. Whereupon St. Brendan kneeled down on his
knees and wept for joy, and made his praises devoutly to our
Lord God, to know what these birds meant." The notes of
these feathered songsters, from the mocking-bird, sweetest,
of singers, to the tiny and brilliantly-coloured humming birds
of America, are charmingly described in the poem from which
we have quoted. In the antique legend the birds are made
to tell St. Brendan, that they are among those fallen angels
who lost Paradise with Lucifer, " millions of spirits for his
fault amerced of heaven, and from eternal splendours flung,
for his revolt ; " but yet, as they were not among the most
guilty, " our Lord hath sent us here, out of all pain in full
great joy and mirth, after his pleasing, here to serve him on
this tree in the best manner we can." St. Brendan
spent seven weeks among them, and continued his journey
inland till he came to a great river flowing east and west, per-
haps the River Ohio. Here he had a vision, and was desired
to return home, as it was reserved to other times and other
teachers to Christianize that pleasant land. Seven years after
the wanderer had left the shores of Ireland, he returned to
his native land, and founded his monastery at Clonfert.
Here he is said to have presided over three thousand
monks, who supported themselves by the labour of their own
hands.

198 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

TABLE OF THE KING? OF IRELAND DURING THE PATRICIAN
PERIOD.

A.D.

of the line of Eremon ... 405

Laegari „ Eremon ... 428

ollio11 Molt „ Eremon ... 463

Lugaid „ Eremon ... 483

(Tnterre^nun lasting 5 years.}

Muikertach MacErca of the line of Eremon ... r\$

Teuthal Maelgarv „ Eremon ... 553

Dermid Mackervil „ Eremon ... 544

FOUNDATIONS OF THE COLUMBAN CHURCH
IN SCOTLAND.

Apurcrosan, Applecross,

Rosmarkyn, Rosemarky.

Royal Fort, Munitio Brudeirgis. 0

A berdoboir, Aberdour,

Deer.

Kilrymobt, St. Andrews;

Abernethyn, Abernethy,

Scone.

Dunkeld.

Dull.

Lochlevyn, Loch Levin.

Dumblane.

Royal Fort of Dalriad Kings, Dunad. 0

Hy, or lona.

Cinngaradh, Kingarth, Bute,

Alclyde, Dumbarton Fort. 0

Edwinsburg, Edinburgh, 0

Inehkeith Island,

Isle of May.

Tyningham.

Lindisfarne.

Metros, Melrose.

Skye, two Monastic establishments.

Tiree, with two Monastic establishments.

The Garveloch Isles,

Lismore Island.;

Eigg Island..

Royal FartfQ)
of ' CbTzcmba

\

OFTHE

UNIVERSITY

THE COLUMBAN Pfc-RJOD. 195

CHAPTER VI.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD.
FROM DERMID MAC KERVIL A.D. 544, TO AEDII MAC AIN'MIRE 599.

Saint Columba — His noble birth— A pupil of Saint Finnian— Companion
of Kieran — Kieran's jealousy rebuked — Columba's copy of Finnian's
Psalter— King Dermid's judgment in favour of Finnian's copyright
— Leads to the Battle of Cuildrevne — The MS. still in existence —
Formerly the battle-standard of the O'Donnells — The bell of Saint
Patrick the battle-standard of the Kinel-Owen— The crozicr of Saint
Grellan the battle-standard of the O'Kellys — Story of the emigrants
of the Clan Colla and Saint Grellan — Poem ascribed to Saint
Columba — He goes into exile to Hy ; I-colm-kill (lona), in penance
for his part in the battle of Cuildrevne— The Columban Rule — Their
time of celebrating Easter — The .existing. MSS. ascribed to Saint
Columba — His metrical dialogue with Cormac — He returns to
Ireland to attend the Synod of Drumceat— .Objects of King Aedh
in convening that assembly— The exactions of the Bards — Stoiy of
King Guary and Sancan, and the quest for the Tain — Saint Columba
intercedes for the Bards — Legend of the bird blown from Ireland to
lona— The Saint aids the Dalriad king Aidan in establishing his
independence — His death — His burial at lona — His shrine — Clan
system in the Columban monasteries — Successors of Columba —
Prince Oswald of Northumbria educated at lona-- Sends for instruc-
tors for his people — St. Aidan of lona settles at Lindisfarne— Synod
of Whitby— Chronological Table.

WE turn from the legendary voyage of St. Brendan to the
very real, energetic, and active life of the greatest of our
Irish saints after Patrick.

Colombkille (Columba of the Churches) was nobly born.
His father, Felimy, and his mother, Ethna, were both of high

200 THE IRISH BEFOKE THE CONQUEST.

rank. He was descended from King Niall of the Nine
Hostages through his son, Conall Gulban, head of the Kinel
Conaill, or branch of the northern Hy-Niall, who gave their
name Tyrconnell to the north-western part of Ulster. Gartan,
near Letterkenny, in the County Donegal, is said to have
been his birthplace. Columba studied in his youth at the
school of St. Finnian of Maghbile (Moville), and is also
claimed as a pupil of St. Finnian of Clonard and of Gemman,
who was probably a Christian bard. It is certain that St.
Columba became a scholar of no mean reputation, well
versed in the Sacred Writings, and himself a poet. Of his
personal appearance we can infer that he was of florid com-
plexion, and his hair red or auburn. His temperament was
tiasty and passionate, yet generous and devoted. He had
many imperfections, and the impetuosity of his temper led
him into much that was inconsistent with Christian duty.
But he was a noble man, and did noble work. He was
great and influential in his own time, and his memory is
blessed and revered by succeeding generations. He
founded in 546 the monastery of Doire-Calgaich, near
Lough Foyle, on land bestowed on him by his kindred,
the princes of Tyrconnell. To this establishment the
town of Derry owes its name and origin. Durrow, in
the King's County, a monastery which soon became very
celebrated, was established by Columba a few years later.
At Kells, a stone-roofed building still bears his name, though
erected at a later period. This house probably served as
a residence while part of the building was used as an oratory.
The round church-towers of Swords. Raphoe, Tory Island,
and Drumclift, and the beautiful sculptured crosses at the

THE CULUMBAN PERIOD. 2O1

latter place, though perhaps of later date, mark other
foundations ascribed to him. He was indeed an indefatig-
able labourer in the cause of Christ in Ireland before those
events occurred which drove him from his native land an
exile to lona. On this remote island of the Hebrides, he
founded the celebrated monastic establishment from whence
he evangelized the Picts, and where he trained his monks
for the arduous missionary work which afterwards dis-
tinguished the community of Hy, as lona in those days
was called.

Among his early companions in study was Kieran, " son
of the Artificer," afterwards illustrious as the founder of
Clonmacnoise. The favour with which Columba was
regarded by their common instructor awakened some
feeling of jealousy in the breast of the young Kieran.
This was allayed by a vision or dream, or, let us rather
suppose, by the conviction of his own mind in moments
of calm reflection. An angel appeared to him — so runs
the legend — and showed him the carpenter's plane and
saw, and other tools of his father's handicraft. With
these were contrasted the insignia of royalty, symbols of
the rank to which the high-born Columba might have
aspired, had he not preferred the vocation of the monk
to the earthly glories of the prince. "Look on these,"
said the angel to Kieran, holding before him the carpenter's
tools : — " These are what thou hast given up for Christ ;
but Columba has made a higher sacrifice ; let this re-
flection moderate thy unworthy thoughts." Kieran never
forgot the lesson, and discarded from his breast all
lingering remains of jealous feeling.

2O2 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

St. Finnian of Moville, in whose school Columba and
Kieran had studied, was possessed of a remarkable copy
of the Gospels, which he had brought with him from
Kome, and valued most highly. it has been suggested
that the MS. was a copy of St. Jerome's translation of
this part of Holy Writ. The saint — who afterwards
returned to Italy, and has 'been identified with Frigidian,
patron saint and Bishop of Lucca— had been requested
to lend this book to St. Fintan of Dunflesk, a pupil at
the time of St. Comgall of Bangor. Finnian refused to
part with his manuscript. Fintan complained of this
churlishness to his master, Comgall, who exhorted the
student to patience, and consoled him, predicting that the
book should yet come into his possession. The very
next day, the story goes, Moville was attacked by pirates,
who carried off, among other spoils, the precious volume
which St. Finnian declined to lend. The plunderers
meditated a further attack on Bangor. Their project
was not carried into execution ; for a storm dispersed
their ships, and St. Fintan found on the shore the
longed-for book, among other spoil, quite uninjured.
Whether he retained it, or returned it, when read, to
its owner, we cannot tell. The surreptitious copying of
another manuscript of St. Finnian's supposed to have
been a copy of the Psalms, led to more serious results,

St. Coltimba is reported, during a "isit h-3 paid to
Moville. to have remained daily in the church when the
congregation had retired, for the study of St. Finnian's
book. He ardently desired to possess a copy of it, and
fearing to be refused should he nsk the owner, made a

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 203

hinritd transcript of this highly-prized volume of the
Psalms. He was observed, and his occupation reported
to St. Finnian, who was highly indignant, and demanded
the copy as his by right, as well as the original. St.
Columba refused to surrender his transcript, and the
matter was referred to King Dermid. The sovereign
who had been so great a benefactor to Clonmacnoise>
pronounced for sentence, " To every cow belongeth her
calf ; so to every book belongeth its copy," and ad-
judged both to Finnian.

" This is an unjust decision, O Dermid," said Columba,
"and I will avenge it on you."

The breach was widened between the king and the
saint by the following circumstance : —

The young son of the King of Connaught, at that
time a hostage at Tara, killed, at a game of hurling, the
son of King Dermid's steward, and fled for sanctuary to
Columba. Dermid had him dragged from the arms of
the saint and put to death" for having desecrated the
precincts of his royal palace. The fiery temper of Columba
was roused bv these insults. King Dermid had placed
a guard on his person to prevent his leaving Tara; but
"the justice of God having thrown a veil of unrecogni-
tion around him," St. Columba made his escape, and
traversed, alone, the mountains which interposed between
Tara and his native wilds of Tyrconnell. Here, in soli-
tude, alone with God, he expresses his confidence and
trust in the protection of the Holy Trinity, and refers to
pagan superstitions still blending with the religion of
Dermid.

J04 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

" Alone am I upon the mountain.

O King of Heaven, prosper my way,

And then nothing need I fear,

More than if guarded by six thousand men.

Our fate depends not on sneezing,

Nor on a bird perched on a twig ;

Nor on the root of a knotted tree.

Nor on the noise of clapping hands.

Better is He in whom we trust,

The Father, the One, and the Son."

The powerful tribes of the Hy-Niall. the Kinel Conaill
and Kinel Owen, near connections of St. Columba, with
Aedh, King of Connaught, whose son had been put to
death by Dermid, challenged that kin^ to battle. The
hostile armies encountered at Cuildrevno, near Sligo.
Columba offered up petitions for the success of his friends

" He will not refuse me —
My Druid — may he be on my side ! —
Is the son of God : with us will He be aiding.'*

St. Finnian is stated to have offered up prayers for King
Dermid. This entire story is doubted, as neither Becle nor
Adamnan, the biographer of St. Columba, makes any mention
of this quarrel between the saints. The battle of Cuildrevne',
A.D. 561, is, however, an historical fact, the king having been
defeated and the friends of St. Columba victorious. One
man only is recorded to have fallen on their side. St.
Columba, calmed and penitent for the blood shed in battle,
sought the counsel of St. Molaise, of Devenish Island, in
Lough Erne. His confessor enjoined on him, as penance for
his fault, that he should leave Ireland, and never again look

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 205

on his native land. Columba obeyed. He set forth with
twelve companions for Scotland, where his kindred, the
Dalriad kings, readily received him. It will be remembered
that his grandfather had married Ere, daughter of Loarn Mdr,
and thus he was nearly connected with the sovereigns of
Scotland as well as with successive kings of Ireland ; for his
cousins, Domnall and Fergus, became joint kings of Erin
on the death of Dermid a few years after the battle of
Cuildrevne.

The copy of the Psalms, which was the original cause of
all this trouble, yet exists, and is preserved as an heir-loom
in the family of the O'Donnells of Newport, representatives
of St. Columba's race. The Ca'ah or Cathach (The
"Battler") "consists of fifty-eight leaves of fine vellum,
written in a small uniform but rather hurried hand, with
some slight attempts at illumination." Of its inner cases
nothing is recorded, but the magnificent external silver-gilt
case, set with precious stones, in which it now reposes, was
made at the expense of Cathbar O'Donnell, Chief of Tyr-
connell, and Donnell O'Rafferty, Abbot of Kells, some
time before the year 1098, at which time this Abbot of Kells
died. The inscription on the shrine or case itself is as
follows :—

" A prayer for Cathbharr O'Donnell, by whom this shrine
was made ; and for Sitric, the son of MacAedha, who made
it ; and for Domhnall Ua Robhartaigh, the Comharba of
Cenannus, by whom it was made." The virtues of the
Ca'ah are thus recounted in the life of St. Columkille by
Manus O'Donnell : —

" The CaLhach, indeed, is the n^me of the book on

2C6 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

account of which the battle was fought ; and it is it that is
Colum Cille's high relic in Tir Conaill : and it is ornamented
with silver, and it is not lawful to open it ; and if it is carried
three times to the right around the army of Cinel Conaill
when going to battle, it is certain that they would come out
of it with victory ; and it is upon the breast of a Comharba,
or a priest without mortal sin upon him (as well as he can),
that it is proper for the Cathach to be, at going round that
army."

The after-fate of this manuscript, written by the pen of
St. Columba, is not without interest. This precious heir-
loom of the O'Donnells received some further decoration
at the hand of Daniel O'Donnell in the year 1723. This
O'Donnell, who had retired to the Continent, is believed to
have fought in the battle of the Boyne. He placed the
Cathach in a monastery in Belgium, with a written injunction
that it should be kept till claimed by the head of the
O'Donnell family. It was noticed by an Irish lady early in
the present century, who spoke of it to Sir Neal O'Donnell,
and he obtained it on satisfying its keepers of his claim to
the chieftainship of the race.

As this warlike sept used to go to battle under their
book-standard, so the Kinel-Owen marched on their wars
under the bell of St. Patrick ; and another great family of
Ulster origin, the O'Kellys of Hy-Many, bore the crozier
of their patron Saint, Grellan, in like manner as a battle-
stnndard.

The story of their coming under the patronage of Grellan
is too characteristic to be omitted. We have spoken before
of the three Collas who destroyed Emania in the three

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 207

hundred and thirty-first year of the Christian era. Maine
Mor, a descendant of Coll da Cree, resolved to migrate from
the central districts of Orgiall to Connaught. " Numerous
are our heroes, and great is our population," reasoned the
chiefs of the clan, at a great family reunion held by them
at Clogher about the end of the fifth century ; " our tribe
having multiplied, and we cannot all find room in any one
province without quarrelling among ourselves, for nobles
cannot well bear to be confined." And they also said :
" Let us see which province of Banba is thinnest in popu-
lation, and in which most Firbolgs remain ; and let us
narrow it on them. The province of Connaught is in the
possession of these Atacots, excepting that they pay tribute
to our relative, and let us attack it."

" These fine hosts suddenly and heroically proceeded in
well-arranged battalions, with their flocks and herds " west-
wards across the Shannon. This formidable inroad on
the territories of the Firbolg chief, Cian, was encountered
by him with promptly raised levies of three thousand men.
Grellan, a bishop in these semi-pagan parts — a strong
favourer of the clan Colla, who had held out to him the
inducement of increased tribute and duteous submission to
his authority — at first endeavoured to mediate. A truce
\vas agreed on, and hostages given to Cian by Maine Mor.
The noblest of these was a son of Maine's who was given
for safe keeping into the hands of Cian's law-giver. But his
wife becoming enamoured of the young captive, the Brehon,
inflamed with jealousy, counselled Cian to put the hostages
to death.

It is alleged that liir, treachery was intended to be carried

208 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

into effect at a feast which Cian prepared for them, but that
St. Grellan, having information of it, and apprehensive that
his guarantee would be violated, called down from heaven
a curse on the Firbolgs. " He obtained his request from
God," says the Irish-written Life of the Saint, "for the great
plain was softened and made a quagmire under the feet of
Cian and his people, so that they were swallowed into the
earth ; and the place received the name of Magh Liach, />.,
the plain of sorrow, from the sorrow of the heroes who were
thus cut off by the holy cleric. Then Maine and his people
came to where St. Grellan was, and bowed down their heads
to him, and he told them how treachery had been designed
for them, and how God and himself had saved them from
those treacherous people. St. Grellan then said to them,
' Take possession of this territory, abominate treachery, and
you shall have my blessing ; observe brotherly love, and
ordain my tribute and my own land for me from this day
forth for ever.' — ' Pass thy own award,' said Maine, 'in what-
ever is pleasing to thee/ &c. — ' I shall,' said St. Grellan, and
he repeated these brief verses following : " —

The saint having enumerated the dues and tributes which
he claimed, thus concludes his chant : —

" While they remain obedient to my will they shall be victorious

in every battle :

Let the warlike chiefs observe the advice of my successor,
And among the Gaels north and south, theirs shall be the

unerring director.

Frequent my sacred church which has protected each refugee :
Refuse not to pay your tribute to me and you shall receive as I

have promised.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 209

My blessing on the agile race, the sons of Maine of chess -boards ;
Tnut race shall not be subdued, so as they carry my crozier :
Let the battle standard of the race be my crozier of true valour,
And battles will not overwhelm them ; their successes shall be
very g-eat."

The chiefs of Hy-Many — as the territory of about two
hundred square miles in Galway and Roscommon, thus
acquired by Maine Mor, was called — bore from thenceforth
the crozier of St. Grellan as their battle standard. This
interesting relic was preserved for centuries in the family of
Cronelly, hereditary coarbs of Grellan. In the year 1836
it still was in the possession of a poor man of the name.
Queen Elizabeth treated with the chiefs of Hy-Many of her
day, and in 1585 made "agreement between the Irish
chieftains and inhabitants of Imany, called the O'Kellie's
country, on both sides of the river of Suek, in Connaught,
and the queen's majesty . . . that they and their heirs
shall henceforth behave themselves like good subjects ; shall
put no ymposition or chardge upon the inhabyters of the
lands, and shall bring uppe their children after the English
fashions, and in the use of the Englishe tounge." •

We return from the long digression into which these
singular ensigns of battle have led us, to the ardent young
scribe of the Cathach. St. Columba was an accomplished
poet, and there is much beauty and interest in his lines on
Ben Edar, the hill of Howih, and his monastic establishment
at Deny, thus rendered from the Irish —

" Delightful to be on Ben n- Edar,
Before going o'er the white-sea ;
The dashing of the waves against its face.
The bareness of its shore and its border.

P

2 10 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

I

Delightful to be on Benn-Edar,

After coming o'er the white-bosomed sea,

To row one's little coracle

Ochone ! on the swift-waved shore.

How rapid the speed of my coracle ;
And its stern turned upon Deny ;
I grieve at my errand o'er the noble sea,
Travelling to Alba of the ravens.

My foot in my sweet little coracle,
My sad heart still bleeding :
Weak is the man that cannot lead;
Totally blind are all the ignorant.

There is a grey eye

That looks back upon Erin ;

It shall not see, during life,

The men of Erin, nor their wives.

My vision o'er the brine I stretch,
From the ample oaken planks ;
Large is the tear in my soft grey eye
When I look back upon Erin.

Upon Erin my attention is fixed ;
Upon Loch Levin ; upon Line,
Upon the lands the Ultonians own ;
Upon smooth Munster : upon Meath.

Numerous in the East are tall champions
Many the diseases and distempers there
Many they with scanty clothes ;
Many the hard and jealous hearts.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 211

Plentiful in the West the apple-fruit ;
Many the kings and princes ;
Plentiful its luxuriant sloes ;
Plentiful its noble, acorn-bearing oaks.

Melodious her clerics, melodious her birds,
Gentle her youths, wise her seniors,
Illustrious her men, noble to behold,
Illustrious her women for fond espousal.

It is in the West sweet Brendan is,
And Colum, son of Crimthann,
And in the West fair Baithin shall be,
And in the West shall Adamnan be.

Carry my inquiries after that
Unto Comgall of eternal life ;
Carry my inquiries after that
To the bold King of fair Emania.

Carry with thee, thou noble youth,
My blessing and my benediction,
One half upon Erin, seven fold ;
And half on Alba at the same time.

Carry my benediction over the sea
To the nobles of the Island of the Gaedliil
Let them not credit Molaisi's words,
Nor his threatened persecution.

Were it not for Molaisi's words
At the cross of Ath-Molaisi,
I should not now permit
Disease or distemper in Ireland.

212 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Take my blessing with thee to the West
Broken is my heart in my breast :
Should sudden death overtake me
It is for my great love of the Gaedhil.

Gaedhil, Gaedhil, beloved name !
My only desire is to invoke it :
Beloved is Cuimin of fair hair ;
Beloved are Cainnech and Comgall.

Were the tribute of all Alba mine,
From its centre to its border,
I would prefer the site of one house
In the middle ot fair Derry.

The reason I love Derry is,
For its quietness, for its purity,
And for its crowds of white angels
From the one end to the other.

The reason why I love Derry is,
For its quietness, for its purity ;
Crowded full of heaven's angels
Is every leaf of the oaks of Derry.

My Derry, my little oak grove,
My dwelling, and my little cell ;
O eternal God, in heaven above,
Woe be to him who violates it !

Beloved are Durrow and Derry ;
Beloved is Raphoe in purity ;
Beloved Drumhone of rich fruits ;
Beloved are Swords and Kells.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 21,3

Beloved to my heart, also in the West,
Drumcliff, at Culcinne's strand.
To behold the fair Loch Feval,
The form of its shores, is delightful.

Delightful is that, and delightful

The salt main on which the sea-gulls cry.

On my coming from Derry afar ;

It is quiet, and it is delightful.

Delightful."

Although, from internal evidences, this charming poem,
in the complete form in which it has come down to us,
may be later than St. Columba's age, yet as it is indeed
" delightful," from its sweetness and tenderness, its love
of nature, and love of country, and, we doubt not, truly
expresses the yearnings of that noble exile's heart ; so we
shall not err in accepting its sentiments as those of the
poet-saint, even if it be not all penned by his own hand.

St. Columba was in his forty-second year when he left
his native land tor the small island of Hy, or lona, off the
coast of Argyll. This retired spot, afterwards called from
him I-Colm-Kill, was bestowed on the saint by his relative
Conall, one of the Dalriad kings of Alba.

St. Columba belonged, as we have already noticed, to
the second order of Irish saints. They had one head —
one Lord, but used different liturgies and rules. They
celebrated Easter on the fourteenth of the moon after the
equinox. They had the eastern tonsure from ear to ear,
instead of the Roman tonsure of the crown. They dis-
pensed with the society of women, and were mainly
presbyters in rank, having few bishops among them — only

*I4 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

such as were required for the laying on of hands — and their
monasteries were ruled by abbots, whose jurisdiction ex-
tended over the entire community, even when including
bishops among them. This order, more national though
more ascetical than the first order of Irish saints, may be
regarded as " the development of a native ministry."

The question as to the time of celebrating Easter was
that on which the Irish and British Christians dissented,
not without much bitterness on both sides, from the other
Christian churches of Europe. The general rule for fixing
the time on which this festival should be held was, that it
should be the Sunday following that fourteenth day of the
moon which fell next after the vernal equinox. The
Eastern Church acquired the opprobrious name of Quarta-
decimans, because they celebrated Our Lord's resurrection
on the fourteenth, or Passover Day itself — on whatever day
of the week that might chance to fall, whether it were
Sunday or not. The Irish observed their Easter on the
Sunday between the fourteenth and twentieth day of the
moon, not always on the Sunday after the Passover, as
celebrated by the Roman Church ; but sometimes on the
day of the Passover itself, when that happened to fall on
Sunday. The Irish also used for their calculations, as to
the moon's age, the cycle of Sulpicius Severus, which con-
sisted of eighty-four years, while Rome adopted the more
accurate cycle of nineteen years, known as the cycle of
Anatolius. On this point endless disputes were waged for
centuries ; the Irish ecclesiastics being unwilling, even for
the sake of conformity, to abandon the habits practised by
their venerated ^aints.

THE coLUMfcAN PERIOD. 215

Worship, labour, study, such were the domestic occupa-
tions of the monks of Hy. St. Columba himself was a
noted scribe. That most beautiful manuscript of western
Europe, the Book of Kells, now preserved in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin, is ascribed to him. Its illuminated
letters are glorious specimens of caligraphic art. The rich
shrine in which it was enclosed had, a few centuries later,
almost proved fatal to this valuable manuscript. It was
stolen by night from the sacristy of the church of Kells. It
was found " after two months and twenty days, its gold
having been stolen off it, and a sod over it." The Book of
Durrow, another Irish MS. of great antiquity, is also
ascribed to Columba. The silver-mounted case has been
lost, but the book, with its beautiful illuminations may be
seen in Trinitv College, Dublin.

Durrow — the field of the oak — sometimes called Ros-
Grencha, was a spot dearly loved by St. Columba. Look-
ing back from the land of his exile to the monastery he had
founded there, and left in care of his friend Cormac, he
exclaims —

" How happy the son of Dimma, — Of the devout church,
When he hears in Durrow, — The desire of his mind,
The sound of the wind against the elms,— When 'tis played,
The blackbird's joyous note, — When he claps his wings,
And listens at early dawn in Ros-Grencha, — To the cattle,
And the cooing of the cuckoo from the tree, — On the brink of

summer.
Three objects I have left, the dearest to me,— On this peopled

world,
Durrow, Derry, the noble angelic land. And Tir Luighdech."

2l6 TilE IRtSH BEFORE THE CONQUF.ST.

In another poem, ascribed to Columba, and, if not from
his pen, at least of great antiquity, a dialogue between the
saint and his friend Cormac is given. The scene is Hy;
and Cormac has escaped the perils of Coire-Brecain, the
whirlpool of Corryvreckan, on the west coast of Scotland,
and other dangers of the ocean. Columba is the first
speaker : —

" Thou art welcome, O comely Cormac,
From over the all-teeming sea ;
What sent thee forth ; where hast thou been
Since the time we were on the same path ?
Two years and a month to this night
Is the time thou hast been wandering from port to port

From wave to wave : resolute the energy

To traverse the wide ocean !

Since the sea hath sent thee hither,

Thou shah have friendship and counsel :

Were it not for Christ's sake, Lord of the fair world,

Thou hadst merited satire and reproach."

CORMAC.

'* Let there be no reproach now,
O descendant of Niall, for we are a noble race ;
The sun shines in the west as in the east :
A righteous guest is entitled to reception."

St. Columba bids him welcome, but expresses surprise
at his leaving Ireland ; and to the regret of Cormac,
predicts to him that his resurrection should be in Durrow.
Cormac does not sympathise in the yearning love which
the exile felt for the soil of Erin. " Death is better,"

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 2iy

exclaims Columba, "in reproachless Erin, than perpetual
life in Alba ! " Cormac, moved doubtless by the earnestness
of his master, expresses his willingness to return to Durrovv: —

*' O Columcille of a hundred graces,
For thou art a prophet, thou art a true poet,
Thou art learned, a scribe, happy, perfect,
And a devout accomplished priest ;
Thou art a king's son of reddened valour,
Thou art a virgin, thou art a pilgrim ;
We shall abide in the west if thou desire it ;
Christ will unfold his mysterious intentions."

COLUMBA.

" O Cormac, beautiful is thy church,
With its books and learning ;
A devout city with a hundred crosses,
Without blemish, without transgression ;
A holy dwelling confirmed by my verse,
The green of Aedh, son of Brenann,
The oak-plain of far-famed Ros-Grencha;
The night upon which her pilgrims collect,
The number of her wise— a fact wide spread —
Is unknown to any but the only God."

Conall, the ruler of the Dalriad colony, in the west of
Scotland, who had sanctioned the settlement of his saintly
kinsman on the outlying Isle of lona, which the missionar)
exile and his companions probably found unclaimed and
unoccupied, died soon after, and was succeeded by his
relative Aidan, who came to lona to be inaugurated at the
hands of St. Columba. By this prince, who was a man of
much vigour and ability, the real foundations of the

2l8 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Scottish monarchy were laid. He repaired to Ireland, and
took part in the convention of Drumceat, near Newtown-
Limavady, in the county of Derry, A.D. 575, and there
obtained the recognition of his independence. For this
success he was indebted to the good offices of Columba,
who also returned for the purpose of bearing a part in
affairs in which, from his near relationship to the princes of
the Hy-Niall dynasties, he also was deeply interested.

Aedh, son of Ainmire, was monarch of Ireland at the
time of the convention of Drumceat. During the reign of
Dermid MacKervil, A.D. 554, Tara had been cursed by St.
Ruadhan of Lorrah, and ceased from that time to be the
residence of the supreme monarch. The kings of the
northern Hy-Niall, who succeeded Dermid, made Aiieach,
near Deny, between Loughs Foyle and S willy, their
residence ; while the princes of the southern Hy-Niall ruled
from Dun-na-Sgaith, on Lough Ennell, near Mullingar.
Donall and Fergus, sons of Murkertach MacErca, were the
successors of Dermid ; and the throne was successively
filledbyEochaidand Baedan, Ainmire, and Baedan II., till
Aedh, son of Ainmire, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland,
A.U. 572.

King Aedh endeavoured to banish the bards from Ire-
land. Their numbers had become excessive, and their
exactions most oppressive. The provincial king of Con-
naught at this period, Guary Aidhne, had been well nigh
impoverished by his gifts to them.

A romantic story is told of this king and the poet
Sancan, which casts some light on the probable age of that
remarkable composition, the Tain Bo Cuailgne, referred to

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 2IQ

in an earlier chapter. The Tain was, says the legend,
originally composed by Fergus MacRoy himself, one of the
chief actors in the foray, who rode beside Maev's chariot
and recounted what had passed before his own eyes. But
in process of time the memory of the piece had been lost,
so that though it was in the list of recitations which might
lawfully be demanded of every bard, even Sancan himselt
was unable to repeat it ; and this blot on the chief bard's
pretensions was well known ; but from a feeling of
reverence, his entertainers were careful not to expose his
deficiency, and the Tain had long ceased to be called for.
At last, on a visit of Sancan with a great retinue of other
bards to Guary, the stores of the king were well-nigh ex-
hausted by the rapacity of his guests, and Guary, to be
relieved of their company, called on Sancan to recite the
Tain. The bard and his compeers retired in extreme indig-
nation ; and his son Murgen undertook a pilgrimage into
"the East"-— that is, to the continent of Europe — in search
of the lost lay. He was accompanied by Eimene, who joined
himself as the companion of his pious wanderings. On
reaching the shores of Loch Ein, in Roscommon, Murgen,
fainting from fatigue, stopped to rest, while Eimene went in
search of a house of entertainment. It will be remembered
it was in Lough Ein that Fergus himself had perished ; and
the story goes that the spot where Murgen lay down to rest
happened to be the grave of the poet warrior. Murgen,
comprehending that he was now close to the very author
of the piece he was in quest of, extemporized an invocation
to the shade of Fergus, so earnest, that presently the grave
gave up its dead.

22O THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Fergus rose ; a mist ascended with him, and a flash was seen
As of brazen sandals blended with a mantle's wafture green :
But so close the cloud closed o'er him, Eimene, returned at

last.
Found not on the field before him but a mist-heap grey and

vast.

Thrice to pierce the hoar recesses faithful Eimene essayed ;
Thrice through foggy wildernesses back to open air he strayed :
Till a deep voice through the vapours filled the twilight far and

near,
And the night, her starry tapers kindling, stooped from heaven

to hear. *

Concealed within the mist-cloud, Murgen learns from the
shade of Fergus the perfect version of the Tain, and restores
his father to the unquestioned supremacy of the bards of Erin.
Such was the order of men in whose favour St. Columba
interposed his authority at Drumceat. Guary's name not-
withstanding his device, was renowned for liberality. He
bestowed gifts with both hands : but the right hand was
the larger, " for with it he gave to the poor."

St. Columba used his influence with the king to persuade
mm, instead of banishing the bards, to reduce their number
only ; and in place of demanding tribute from the kindred
princes of the Dalriad colony in Scotland, which would have
resulted in war, thus to limit his requirements : — " Their
expeditions and hostings to be with the men of Erin always ;
for hostings always belong to the parent stock. Their tributes,

* From " The Tain-Quest," Lays of the Western Gael, by Sir SAMUKI

IV i.* r> j" i : c * XT

FERGUSON.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 221

and gains, and shipping to be with the men of Alba. And
when one of the men of Erin or Alba should come from the
east, the Dal Riada to entertain them, whether few or many ;
and the Dal Riada to convey them on, if they require it."

There is a tradition that when he arrived from lona he
brought with him a sod of grass on which to place his feet,
and wore a bandage over his eyes, in fulfilment of the penance
enjoined on him by St. Molaise never to set foot again, or
even look, on the soil of Erin.

Another pathetic legend tells of the wounded bird carried
by the tempest to the Hebridean isle ; there tended by the
saint and set free to return when the storm had abated.
What St. Columba said to the bird blown over from Ireland
to lona has inspired the latest work of a poet, himself an
exile.*

" Cling to my breast my Irish bird,

Poor, storm-tost stranger, sore afraid !
How sadly is thy beauty blurred —
The wing whose hue was as the curd
Rough as the seagull's pinion made !

Lay close thy head, my Irish bird

Upon this bosom, human still I
Nor fear the heart that still has stirr'd
To every tale of pity heard

From every shape of earthly ill.

For you and I are exiles both ;

Rest you, wanderer, rest you here,
Soon fair winds shall waft you forth
Back to our own beloved north —

Would God, I could go with you dear !

* lona to Ireland. By the Hon. T. D.

222 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Were I as you, then would they say
Hermits and all in choir who join,

' Behold two doves upon their way ;

The pilgrims of the air are they,

Birds from the Liffey and the Boyne ! '

But you will see what I am banned

No more, for my youth's sins to see. —
My Berry's oaks in council stand
By Rosapenna's silver strand —
Or, by Raphoe your flight may be.

The shrines of Meath are fair and far,

White-winged one ! not too far for thee—
Emania, shining like a star,
(Bright brooch on Erin's breast you are)
Which I am never more to see.

You'll see the homes of holy men

Far west upon the shoreless main —
In sheltered vale, on cloudy Ben
Where saints still pray, and scribes still pen
The sacred page, despising gain !

Above the crofts of virgin saints,

There pause, my dove, and rest thy wing

But tell them not our sad complaints !

For if they dreamt our spirit faints
There would be fruitless sorrowing.

Perch as you pass amid their trees

At noon or eve, my travelled dove,
And blend with voices of their bees
In croft, or school, or on their knees —
They'll bind you with their hymns of love !

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. J-\}

Be them to them, O dove ! where'er

The men or women saints are found
My hyssop flying through the air ;
My seven -fold benedictions bear —

To them, and all on Irish ground.

Thou wilt return, my Irish bird—

I, Colum, do foretell it thee.
Would thou could'st speak as thou hast heard
To all I love— O happy bird !

At home, in Eri soon to be ! ''

Columba, having visited the monasteries he had founded
in Ireland, returned to lona, where he died on the gth of
June, 597, in the 77th year of his age, having lived in exile
from his native land for nearly thirty-five years.

Adamnan, a subsequent abbot of lona, wrote a life of his
great predecessor, probably between the years 692 and 697.
This period is assigned for its composition by its learned
translator and annotator, the Bishop of Down and Connor,
Dr. Reeves. He has recorded that, on the last day of his
life, the aged saint had visited the granary of his monastery,
blessed it, and congratulated his brethren on the store of
food which was there laid up. He then, with cautions
of secrecy, told his attendant, Dermid, of his approaching
end. " This day," said he, " is in the sacred volume called
the Sabbath, which is interpreted, Rest : and to-day is verily
a Sabbath for me, because it is the last with me of this
present toilsome life, upon which, after all my toils and
sorrows, I come to enjoy my Sabbath ; and at the approach-
ing hour of midnight, as the hallowed day of the Lord begins,
I shall, as the Scripture saith, be going the way of my fathers.

J24 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

For now my Lord Jesus Christ vouchsafes to invite me to
himself, and when this midnight, as I say, comes, I shall go
at his own bidding to be with him."

He ascended the hill which overhung the monastery, and
" stood at the top of it a little while ; and as he stood there,
with uplifted hands, pronounced a blessing on his community."
On his return, he is recorded to have caressed— as with the
consciousness that it was for the last time — an old white
horse belonging to the community, which, being too feeble
for work, had been permitted to graze in the abbey-close,
and had approached the saint, as if to solicit his notice.
Having returned to the monastery, he spent the afternoon of
that Saturday in his chamber writing the Psalter. He paused,
at evening, at the close of his page, at that verse where it
is written, " They that seek the Lord shall not want any
good thing."

The saint, whose hours on earth were numbered, attended
the Vesper service, and leaving the church, sought a brief
repose on the bare stone which served him for a bed. He
was roused by the midnight bell summoning the community
to their devotions. " Rising up hastily, he goes to the church,
and running before the rest, and coming in alone, he sinks
on bended knees in prayer." His faithful attendant, Dermid,
was the first to follow. He discovered his master in a dying
state, raised him, and supported his head on his breast. The
monks had by this time arrived. Columba, speechless, yet
filled with tender love, raised his feeble right hand to bless
them, " so that he might appear, even with a motion of his
hand, to convey to his brethren that benediction which
he was unable to express orally, from his breath failing him.

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 225

And after having thus imparted to them his solemn blessing,
he immediately breathed forth his spirit. '*

And so died one who is represented by his friend and
biographer as " angelic in aspect, pure in conversation, holy
in his employment, of excellent abilities, so eminent for
wisdom, that, although his dwelling was on earth, yet he
showed himself by his disposition to be fit for the society of
the inhabitants of heaven."

Nor did the influence of St. Columba cease with his life :
the monasteries which he founded were nurseries of learning
and piety. The Venerable Bede has borne testimony on
this point : — " Whatever kind of person he himself was,"
writes the Anglo-Saxon historian, " this we know of him for
certain, that he left successors distinguished for their great
chastity, divine love, and strict attention to their rules of
discipline ; following, indeed, uncertain cycles in their
computation of the time of the great festival (Kaster) ;
because, far away as they were out of the world, no one had
supplied them with the synodal decrees relating to the
Paschal observance ; yet withal diligently observing such
works of piety and chastity as they could find in the pro-
phetic, evangelic, and apostolic writings."

Columba was interred at lona; but after the lapse of years,
probably in the eighth century, his bones were exhumed and
enshrined. Saul, Downpatrick, Durham, and Dunkeld con-
tend for having had possession of the relics of this saintly
man. The shrine, which became " the title-deed of the
Columban community," was from time to time taken over to
Ireland as the warrant for levying religious contributions,

Its rich decorations fatally excited the cupidity of the plun

Q

226 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

dering Northmen ; and when in the ninth century lona was
devastated by these pirates, the shrine was permanently
deposited in Ireland for greater security. In the twelfth
century it was carried off by the Danes of Dublin, but
restored — probably despoiled of its gold and silver — at the
end of a month. Its subsequent history is unknown. The
incursions of the Danes which were frequent during the
ninth century effected the ruin of the missionary settlement
at lona. Of St. Columba's successors the greater number
were his near relati . es ; for the clan system existing in
Ireland prevailed to a large extent in the monastic institu-
tions which Irish monks established abroad. " Founde-s'
kin " had paramount claims. Baithen, who followed St.
Columba as Abbot of lona, was his cousin. Laisren,
Fergna-Brit,— indeed all his successors to the time of
Adamnan— were descendants of Conall Gulban, son of King
Niall Nine Hostages. While Fergna was Abbot, 605-623,
the pagan king of Bernicia — a territory extending from
Northumberland to the Firth of Forth — was defeated and
slain by Edwin of Deira. The sons of King Aidilfrid sought
refuge at lona. The fugitive prince, Oswald, was then but
thirteen years of age, and was at lona " catechised according
to the doctrine of the Scots, and regenerated by the grace of
baptism." In his thirtieth year, Oswald reconquered his
kingdom at the battle of the Heavenly Field, near Hexham,
and sent to the community at lona for teachers for his
subjects. In the words of Bede, " He sent to the seniors
of the Scots, among whom himself and his fellow soldiers,
when in banishment, had received the sacrament of baptism,
desiring they would send him a bishop, by whose instructions

THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 227

and ministry the Anglic nation which he governed might be
taught the advantages of faith in the Lord, and receive its
sacraments. Nor were they slow in granting his request,
but sent him Bishop Aidan, a man of singular meekness,
piety, and moderation." St. Aidan established himself at
Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast, during the sway of
Abbot Segene, the successor of Fergna at lona, A.D. 634.

Abbot Segene was succeeded by Suibhne ; and he was
followed by the nephew of his predecessor, Cummene Ailbe.
This Head of the Family of lona represented it at the
Synod of Whitby, held under the presidency of the Abbess
Hilda, A.D. 664. The monks of Lindisfarne sent their
Bishop Colman, third in succession to St. Aidan, to this
great discussion as to the time of celebrating the Easter
Festival. The Roman method was defended by Wilfrid,
afterwards Bishop of York. Although educated at Lindis-
farne, Wilfrid had journeyed to Rome, and Lyons, and now
laboured to introduce the Roman computation of the time
of Easter. His discussion with Colman was animated and
angry. Colman and his followers withdrew from Whitby ;
and the split between the Celtic Churches of Ireland,
Scotland, and Northumberland, and the English Church,
following the Roman custom, was rendered more definite.

It will be remembered that when St. Columba, with the
cerecloth over his eyes, and a sod from the land of Alba
under his feet, revisited his native land to take part in the
convention of Drumceat, the queen, wife of Aedh, son of
Ainmire, suggested to her sons to receive the saint with
insult. To this advice, our ecclesiastical writers tell us,
her eldest son, Conall, hearkened, but Donall, the younger,

228

THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUFST.

courteously saluted the stranger, and was rewarded by his
blessing, and a prediction that he should fill the throne of
Ireland. Some years after the death of his father, who was
succeeded by sovereigns of little note, this pdnce attained
to the promised position.

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE COLUMBAN
PERIOD.

Fergus and Domnall of the line of Eremon
Eochaid and Baedan „ Eremon

Ainmire ,, Eremon

Baedan II. „ Eremon

Aedh Mac Ainmire Eremon

A I).

565

566
568

57i
572

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS FROM IRELAND.

Iceland "\ -" Papae " Anchorites from Ireland who

Faroe Isles I when in 870 the Norwegians colonized

Shetland Isles f Iceland, -" departed," leaving behind them

Orkney Isles J Books in the Irish tongue, Bells, &c., &c.;

Hebrides or .Western Isles.

Pictland, Northern Scotland.

Western Scotland, colonized from Dal Riada. North Eastern

Ulster,

lona, the seat of the Colomban Mission.
Lindisfarne, an offshoot from lona, St. Aidan's Foundation,
Northumbria.
Belgium and N.E. France, St. Forannan, St. Mac Callin, St,

Fursey, and others.
The Vosges district and Burgundy, St. Columbanus, and St.

Dichuil, of Luxeuil, and others.
Northern Germany, St. Willibrord, educated for 12 years in

Ireland, Apostle of the Frisians and Saxons.
Fran9onia and Thuringia, St. Kilian and others, martyred at

Wurtzberg ; St. Anmchad at Fulda ; St. Swidhert bi

Westphalia.
Southern Germany, Bavaria, Norica, &c., Erhard, Murcher-

tach, Marianus Scotus of Ratisbon, and others.
Eastern Austria, St. Virgil of Salzburg.
Switzerland, St. Gall.
N. Italy, St, Columbanus of Bobbio.
Central Italy, St. Donatus of Fiesole, St..4Frigidian, or Finnian

of Lucca, and others.
Southern Italy, St. Cataldus^

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 S 0 5 10 16 20 26 30 55 40 45

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 22Q

CHAPTER VII.

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD.
FROM AFDH MAC AINMIRE A.D. 572, TO DONNCHAD 770.

Intellectual progress of the Irish between the convention of Drumceat
and the arrival of the Danes — Comparative paucity of details in the
local annals — Ampler information from continental notices — Great
reputation of Ireland for its Schools and Scholars— Defeat and death
of King Aedh at Dunbolg — His son Maelcova resigns the crown to
become a cleric — Sweeny Menu Ard-Righ — Assassinated by Congal
Claen at the instigation of Donall — Dream of King Donall — His
feast at Dun-na-n'geadh — Rebellion of Congal Claen and battle of
Moyrath — King Donall's address to his army — Combat of Conal
with Congal Claen— Story of Cuanna, who gives his death wound
to Congal Claen — His death — Donall's favour to the church — He
founds the Abbey of Cong — Saint Fechin's church and Mill at Fore
— His ecclesiastic establishment on High Island — Buidhe Chonnaill,
"yellow plague" — Other epidemics — Saint Adamnan visits Ireland
— His account of the Holy Places, from the narrative of the pilgrim-
bishop Arculf— Expedition of Egfrid, King of Northumbria, to
ravage the coasts of Leinster — Saint Adamnan visits York and
obtains the release of Irish captives— H4s ecclesiastical foundations in
Scotland— The Cain Adhamhnaiii—'Dzrtk of St. Adamnan, A.D. 704
—Story of Kenfalla— Great schools of learning in Ireland— Armagh
— Prince Aldfrid's itinerary— Testimony of the Venerable Bede to
the learning and hospitality of the Irish— Poem of Donatus, Bishop
of P'iesole, illustrating the state of Ireland in his day— Testimony of
Eric of Auxerre — Sweeny of Clonmacnoise assists at the foundation
of Oxford — His bell in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy —
Irish "wisdom sellers" at the court of Charlemagne — School of
Lismore— Saint Carthagh— School of Bangor— Saint Columbanus—
His foundations in Burgundy and Italy — His letters— Pre-eminence
of Ireland as the seat of scholastic education, even after the Danish
inroads — Testimony of the author of the life of Sulgen — Opinion of
Camden — Chronological Table.

THE period extending from the convention of Drumceat to
the first arrival of the Danes, was the least disturbed, and,

230 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

in intellectual progress, the most flourishing epoch in the
history of Ireland before the Conquest. Yet the native
accounts we have of it are meagre in proportion to the
paucity of those events which were alone thought worthy of
being chronicled — battles, usurpations, and violent deaths.
The local annals being thus barren, we have to look for
the picture of Ireland during this, which we have called the
Scholastic period, by the reflected light of external literature,
which certainly borrowed a great part of its lustre from the
schools for which Ireland began to grow famous shortly after
the regal and ecclesiastical power had cemented their
alliance at Drumceat. Their reputation for learning —
which included the study of Greek as well as of Roman
literature, philosophy, and logic — was so great that students
flocked from Britain and the Continent of Europe, and were
received in Ireland with hospitality, and fed, and instructed
without charge. Armagh, Bangor, Clonard, Clonmacnoise,
Kildare, Cashel, Emly, Lismore, Clonfert, were among the
most celebrated. From these schools issued the mission-
aries who so successfully preached the Gospel of Christ to
•pagan lands ; and, at a somewhat later period, the learned
men who flourished at the court of the Emperor Charle-
magne. One of these philosophers, educated at Bangor,
in the County of Down, Johannes Scotus, was distinguished
for his Greek learning, and was invited to Paris by Charles
the Bald. Here he was known as " Erigena," Erin-gena^
Irish-born,

Before these comparatively halcyon days were attained
to, there remained one grand contest in which all the old
pagan and bardic influences, uniting with provincial jealousy

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 231

of the central government, arrayed themselves for a decisive
struggle against the newly consolidated strength of the
church and crown.

This was the battle of Moy Rath, an event well marked
as an historical fact, and which has been made the subject
of a bardic poem-story, for the better appreciation of which
it will be necessary to trace downward the influence im-
pressed on his generation by St. Columba.

King Aedh's household had received him with insult,
with one exception. This was Donall, a younger son, and
who had then little prospect of the crown which he after-
wards possessed. Twenty years later, King Aedh (or Hugh,
as the name is anglicised) met his death at Dunbolg, in the
county of Wicklow, while endeavouring to exact the Boro-
mean tribute from the then king of Leinster. The stratagem
by which the provincial king, with inferior numbers, defeated
the Ard-Righ, is thus recorded : — He entered the camp
disguised as a leper, and reported that the men of Leinster,
unprepared for resistance, were coming to the king with
overtures of [peace, and stores of provisions for the royal
army. As evening closed in, a drove of bullocks, laden
with leathern bags, approached the camp, and entered
unchallenged, when they announced that they were bearers
of stores and gifts for Aedh. Each sack contained a soldier,
and, when night closed in, they attacked the camp and
killed the king himself. Two princes of the same name,
but not of his immediate family, succeeded. In A.D* 612,
his son Maelcova reigned for a brief period, when he resigned
his authority to Sweeny Menu, and became a cleric.

Sweeny banished from Erin the Donall of whom we have

232 THE IRISH BKFURE THE CONQUEST.

spoken ; and his prospect of the throne predicted for him
by St. Columba, appeared more distant and hopeless than
ever.

Donall sought refuge in Scotland, accompanied by his
foster son, Congal Claen, provincial king of Uladh or Ulster.
The Dalriad monarch was Congal's maternal grandfather,
and he hospitably received the exiles. Here Donall incited
his foster son to attempt the life of King Sweeny Menn,
promising, if he thus became king of Erin, that he would
reinstate Congal in all the lands of Ulster, once ruled by
his ancestors, but of late circumscribed, by the encroach-
ments of the Clan Colla and the Hy-Niall, to the present
counties of Antrim and Down. Congal Claen made the
attempt. He thus recounts the assassination of Sweeny,
which, in those days, seems to have been regarded as a
legitimate exploit : —

" I was nursed by thee," he says to Donall in after years,
"until thou wast expelled by the king of Erin, Suibhne
Menn . . . and thou didst repair to the king of Alba, taking
me along with thee in that exile ; and thou didst receive
great honour from him, and you formed a treaty, thou and
the king of Alba, and he protested to thee that he would
not oppose thee as long as the sea should surround Erin.
Thou didst afterwards return to Erin, and I returned along
with thee, for I was in exile along with thee . . . And what
thou didst say was, that whoever thou shouldst get to
destroy the king of Erin, thou wouldst be bound to restore
his territory to him whenever thou shouldst become king
over Erin. I went on the enterprise, O king, for a promise
that my patrimony should be wholly restored to me, when-

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 233

ever thou shouldst become monarch of Erin ; and I delayed
not until I reached Ailech Neid (the dwelling of the
northern Hy-Niall princes, near Lough Svvilly), where the
king held his residence at that time. The king came out
upon the green, surrounded by a great concourse of the
men of Erin, and he was playing chess amidst the hosts ;
and I came into the assembly, passing, without the permission
of any one, through the crowds, and made a thrust of my
spear, Gearr-Congail, which I held in my hand, at the breast
of the king ; and the stone which was at his back responded
to the thrust, and his heart's blood was on the head of the
javelin, so that he fell dead."

Donall, son of Aedh, son of Ainmire, whose accession to
the throne was thus secured, found himself unable to fulfil
his promise to the " son of Scannlan of the Broad Shield,
the haughty, famous, intelligent, arch-king of Ulster," Con-
gal Claen. The Clan Colla were in too firm possession of
Orgial) (now Armagh and Monaghan), and the Hy-Niall of
the north-western districts of Ulster, to permit of Donali
restoring Uladh to its ancient boundaries.

King Donall fixed his royal habitation at Dun-na-n'-geadh,
on the banks of the Boyne ; Tara having been deserted,
since it was cursed by St. Ruadhan of Lorrah. The attain-
ment of his utmost desires could not secure for the monarcl
tranquil enjoyment In his home, in the beautiful valley ol
the Boyne, his nights were haunted by ill-omened dreams.
To his queen first, and afterwards to his hermit brother, thv
ex-king Maelcova, Donall revealed his visions. Maelcova,
thus interpreted the dream : " A greyhound whelp, in a
dream," said he, " is the same as the king's son ; thou hast

234 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

two foster-sons, O king, Conal Caev, and Congal Claen, the
son of Scannlan of the Broad Shield. Either of these will
rise up against thee, O king, and will bring the plunderers
and the doers of evil of Alba, France, Saxon-land, and Britain
with him to Erin, who will give seven battles to thee and
the men of Erin, so that great slaughter shall be made
between you both, and in the seventh battle which shall be
fought between you, thy foster-son shall fall. Now it is
proper for thee, O king, to prepare a banquet, and to invite
to it the men of Erin, and to obtain the hostages of every
province in Erin, and also to detain in fetters, to the end of
a year, these two foster-sons of thine, because it is one of
them who will rise up against thee, and because the venom
goes out of every dream within the year. Then set them
at liberty, and bestow many jewels and much wealth upon
them."

" This shall not be done by me," said the king : " for
sooner would I quit Erin than deal treacherously by my
own foster-sons, for they will never rise up against me ;
and if all the men of the world should oppose me, Congal
would not."

That part of his brother's advice which related to the
banquet found more favour in the mind of Donall. He
summoned his guests, and sent out purveyors to bring in
store of provisions, for " Donall did not deem it honourable
that there should be in Erin a kind of food that should not
be found at that banquet." These men appropriated for
their purpose a store of goose eggs, the property of Ere of
Slane, an anchorite who passed his days immersed to his
arm-pits in the Boyne, having his Psalter before him on the

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 235

river bank, constantly engaged in prayer ; and whose sole
repast was daily made on cresses of the Boyne and these
goose eggs. When Ere found his store so invaded, he
" cursed the banquet as bitterly as he was able to curse it."

When the ill-omened feast was prepared, Congal, at the
request of the king, went to inspect the arrangements.
He saw the goose eggs, and marvelled at them, and ate a
part of one of them, and took a drink after i*. He then
came out, and said to Donall, " I think," said he, " if the
men of Erin were to remain for three months in the
palace, that there is a sufficiency of food and drink for
them there."

The bishops present at the feast bless the entertainment.
Unfortunately, Congal Claen has eaten already of the eggs
cursed by the hermit Ere. And now the hosts are seated.
" First of all the king sat in the golden couch ; and the
custom and law at this time was, that when the monarch of
Erin was of the southern Hy-Niall, the king of Connaught
should sit at his right hand : but if of the northern Hy-Niall,
the king of Ulster should be at his right hand, and the king
cf Connaught at his left hand." Unhappily this order was
infringed, Malodar Macha, king of Orgiall, being placed at
the king's right hand, the position which belonged to Congal
Claen.

Nor did the mortifications of Congal end here. The
goose egg, presented to each of the other kings in a silver
dish, assumed, in his case, the contemptible form of a hen
egg on a wooden platter. He starts up, angrily recounts
his wrongs, and, followed by the men of Ulster, leaves the
feast. The bishops present, at the request of the king,

236 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUF.ST.

follow to entreat his return. Congal is deaf alike to persua-
sions and curses. " I swear by my valour," said Congal,
"that rot one cleric of you shall reach the king's house
alive, if I or any Ultonian be cursed by you." Terror then
seized the saints, " whereupon Cental went far away from
them, and they cursed him afterwards." The poets are then
sent by the king. Congal receives them graciously, gives
them presents, yet refuses to return. He proceeds to the
abode of his uncle, Cellach, who, though now aged and a
cripple, had been a hero in his youth. His voice was strong
for war. " I pledge thee my word," he exclaimed, disclosing
his weapon, which, unknown to his attendants, he wore
under his gown, when Congal had told his story, *' that
shouldst thou receive any considerations from the king but
a battle, all the Ultonians could not save thee from me,
because I would thrust this sword through thy heart ; for it
is not the custom of the Ultonians to accept of consider,
ations in place of battle until they take revenge for insults.
I have seven pood sons, and they shall go with thee into
the battle, and if I were able myself I would go also, and
the Ultonians should not be defeated while I had life."

Congal continued his journey, and sought for allies, and
auxiliary forces in Scotland, Scandinavia, France and Britain.
With these foreign mercenaries, and aided by the dispersed
remnant of the Bards and Druids, Congal returned to Ulster,
and encountered the forces of King Donall at Moy Rath,
now Moira, in the county of Down. A.D. 636 is the date of
this eventful battle, which may be considered as the expiring
struggle of paganism in Ireland.

The Druids who accompanied the host of Congal could

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 237

not encourage hopes of ultimate success; but "whoever
felt dejection for the battle, it was not the arch-king of
Ulster that was sorrowful, dejected, or pusillanimous at the
approach of this final defeat, and it was in vain for his
Druids to make true magical predictions for him, and it was
not profitable for his clergy to seek instructing him ; for his
friends might as well converse with a rock as advise him."

On the morning of the battle, Congal, lulled to sleep by
the " soft sounds of the musical pipes, and by the warbling
vibrations and melancholy notes" of the stringed instruments,
was aroused by the chant of his Druid : —

O Congal Claen, arise.
Thy enemies approach thee ;
The characteristic of an imbecile is the desire of constantly

lying asleep ;

Sleep of death is an awful omen ;
Little energy forebodes the destruction of the coward ;
The desire of the hero and the watchman is early rising ;
An inciter of valour is a proud and fearless fiery champion ;
Fervour of blood— the characteristic of a hero —
Be to thee, O Congal.

Congal, though hopeless of success, is unflinching in his
determination to fight. "Which of the great descendants of
Ir," he asks, "has got protection against final destruction, or
will live without being killed ? And it is a good king like
Donall, with the arch chieftains of Erin about him, to whom
it belongs by fate to have the killing and slaughtering of
the Ultonians on this occasion," said Congal. " But though
I should attempt to avoid this battle, and save myself from
final destruction (for my Druids are making true predictions

238 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

to me that I shall fall in this battle), yet flight has never
saved a wretch : it is profitless to fly from death."

King Donall, on his side, although deeply lamenting the
necessity of the appeal to arms, cheerfully addresses his
army :

" Arise, arise, O youths ! quickly and unanimously,
firmly and prudently, vigorously and fearlessly, to meet this
attack of the Ultonians and foreigners . . . that so the
battle-reparations which Congal so loudly demands may be
the battle in which his own final destruction shall be wrought;
for a furious enraged bull is not entitled to protection, nor a
man with the daring deeds of a demon to forgiveness, unless
indeed he is purified by repentance (for even though the
beloved nursling of my heart, Congal, should be slain, his
sorrow and regret for his crimes would make me lighter, and
his anguish for past offences would render my wounded
heart calmer). . . . Let the conduct of your heroes be
brave and headstrong to maintain the field of battle ; let the
feet of your mighty men be firm, solid, cemented, and im-
movable on the earth, and let the hands of your champions
be quick, expert, and wounding in using your swords,
lances, and warlike shields, and let none of you go into
the conflict except one who longs to approach it ; for it
would be trusting to shadows in a prince to trust to the
exertions of his heroes unless they were all equally desirous
to rush to the scene of action to defend him."

King Donall further reminds them of the blessing invoked
on his head of yore by St. Columba. His army, thus
animated, performed great feats of valour.

A hand to hand encounter between Conal, who fought on

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 239

the king's side, and the hero Congal Claen, may be cited
from the vivid description of the battle ot' Moy Rath in the

epic of Congal.

"They cast their spears together. Each resounding weapon stood
To socket in the opposing shield; and Congal's point drew blood.
Then forth, to snatch his weapon back, the King of Ulster sprung;
But Conal, with a wrestler's leap, his arms around him flung;
By flank and shoulder taking hold : nor was King Congal slow
With ready- darted hands expert to grapple with his foe,
Shoulder and flank : a moment thus stood either mighty man ;
Then, in a gathering heave, their game the athlete pair began,
With lifts and thrusts impetuous; with swift-reversing pulls,
And solid stands immovable, as young encountering bulls ;
And counter-prancing dizzy whirls ; till, in the rapid round,
The feet of either hero seemed to leave the circling ground,
Though firm as palace-pillars stood their feet beneath them still ;
For neither yet felt any lack of athlete force or skill ;
But each deemed victory his own : for Congal, where he stood,
Saw the fast-falling drops that soon would sink the swelling flood
Of Conal's strength ; and Conal, still unconscious of the waste,
Invoked his glorious sires, and all his loins with rigour braced;
Son of the son of Nindid, son of Fergus, as he was,
Son of great Conal Gulban;— and he pushed him without pause; —
Son of renowned Nine-Hostager ; — and one great heave he gave
Of his whole heroic body, as the sea upheaves a wave,
A long strong-rising wave of nine, that from the wallowing floor
Of ocean, when a storm has ceased, nigh to some beachy shore,
Shows with a sudden black-piled bulk, and swallowing in its sweep
Accumulated water-heaps from all the hollowed deep,
Soars, foams, o'erhangs Its glassy gulfs ; then stooping with a roar
Immeasurable of sea-cascades, stuns all the sounding shore :
With such a heave great Conal rose, rushed onward, overhung
His down-bent foe, and to the earth the King of Ulster flung."*

From Congal, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.

240 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

That Congal's ambition might the more signally be
mortified, he met his death at the hands of an idiot, a
foster-son, as he himself also was, of King Donall. Cuanna
had been sent back to his father's house when his infirmity
had been discovered, because " the king did not think it
becoming to have an idiot as a foster-son." On the day
when the hosts were mustering at Moy Rath, the despised
youth was sent by his step-mother to collect firewood, and
was met by her reproaches for the selection he had made.
" The firewood thou hast brought with thee is a bad present,
O Cuanna," said the woman ; "and it is becoming and like
thyself ; and alas ! thou art not the kind of a son we stand
in need of having here to-day, but (we need) a son who
would assist his father and his fosterer on this day of battle;
for Congal with his Ultonians and foreigners, has been
killing and overwhelming them these six days ; and it was
thy father's turn to fight yesterday, and we know not
whether he has or has not survived."

The despised Cuanna, stung by these reproaches, follows
on the track of the hosts till he reaches Newry, and from
thence continues his route to Moy Rath.

"Cuanna came forward in rapid course, on the strong
track of the hosts, till he arrived at Magh Rath, where he
saw the great forces of both parties attacking each other.
As the men of Erin were there, they saw one lone man in
the plain approaching them from the south-west, and they
ceased till they recognised him. ' He is Cuanna the idiot,'
said one of them ; ' He is Cuanna, the fool,' said a second
man ; * It was no small cause of waiting,' said a third man.
In a short time Cuanna came on to where the King of

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 241

Erin was. The king bade him welcome. ' Good, my dear
Cuanna,' said he; * wherefore hast thou come to us to-day?'
— ' To assist thee, O Monarch,' said Cuanna, ' and to lay
Congal prostrate though he is my foster-brother.' — 'It behoves
thee,' said the monarch of Erin, * though thou knowest it
not, to press thy share of this battle against Congal, fcr he
slew thy father in yesterday's battle.' Cuanna grew red as
he heard this, and said, ' Give me weapons, O monarch, and
I pledge my word that I will repel any fighter of a hundred
men, who is against thee this day.' All gave a great shout
of derision aloud on hearing Cuanna. Cuanna said to them,
* I swear by my word,' said he, ' that if I had arms, or
edged weapons at hand, I would revenge on some of you,
your having mocked me.' — ' Not so,' said Domhnall
(Donall) ; •' take no heed or notice of them ; and here is for
thee the second missile javelin which I have to spare, and it
is the third best spear in Erin, the other two being the spear
which is along with it, and the javelin called Gearr Congail,
fur an erring cast cannot be given with either of them.' The
idiot took the lance, and brandished it in the presence of
the king, and said that he would achieve with it a deed which
would be pleasing to the king."

Congal had vanquished all opponents, and was in the full
flush of his conquering progress, when he encountered his
imbecile foster-brother.

Congal, on seeing his* companion and foster-brother,
" bade him welcome, and said ' Terrible is the enmity, and
heroic is the muster, when fools and madmen are waging
battle against me.' — 4 It is not the act of a prince or a true
hero in thee, indeed,' said Cuanna, ' to cast reflections on

242 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

the son of any good man or good hero who should come to
give his day of battle to assist his relatives in the struggle of
a great battle.' — -'Be not enraged, O Cuanna,' said Congal,
' for I know that it was not for martial achievements, or to
perform feats of arms or valour, thou hast come to Magh
Rath on this expedition.' — ( It is not the saying of an arch-
king for thee to say so,' said Cuanna ; ' why should I not
lend my aid in battle to my tribe, and my monarch? But,
however, I can more easily bear a reproach than forbear
giving assistance to my friends on this day of battle.'
Then Congal passed by the idiot. But Cuanna pressed his
foot against the support and solidity of the earth, and putting
his ringer on the cord of his broad-headed spear, he made
a bold, terrible destructive cast at Congal, and it passed
beyond the angle of his great shield, so that the handspear
pierced the armour of Congal.

" He turned, and might have slain the fool; but Congal's heart

disdained

That weapons of a warrior should with idiot blood be stained.
He laid his glittering weapons on the green grass at his feet,
And with both hands essayed to drag the weapon from its seat,
But failed : a second time he tugg'd with painful sick essay,
And failed : but at the third attempt the javelin came away.
Then round his lacerated side he drew his glittering belt,
Resumed his arms, and stood erect, as though he scarce had felt
The wound that through his vitals was diffusing death the while;
And said,

' It grieves me, Cuanna; that the weak hands imbecile
1 Of one devoid of reason, should have dealt this fatal blow ;
' For, that it is a mortal hurt thou'st given me, well I know :
* And well I knew my death to day at Moyra stood decreed ;
' But thought to fiad my destiny at other hands, indeed.

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD 243

1 Had many-battled Kellach dealt the final blow of fate,
' I by a King, and like a King, had died with mind elate.
' Or Crunvall, to whose royal Sire the stroke of fate I gave,
' To die by him had been to feed the vengeance of the brave :
'But thus at last to perish by thy weak, inglorious spear,
'Forgive me, foolish Cuanna, this is hard indeed to bear.' "

Congal, transported from the field of strife, dies on the
grassy sward of his native Antrim valley.

" A thought came into Congal's mind, — how sent let faith divine, —
He said, ' No man had ever shame or grief compared to mine.
' A fugitive against my will : in sacrilegious feud,
' A proud invader, shamefully by idiot hands subdued.
' But more than for myself I mourn my generous friends deceived,
' And all their wives and little ones of lord and sire bereaved.'
Tears sent from whence the thought had come, — let faith divine

their source —

Rose at the thought to Congal's eyes and pressed with tender force,
Unwonted passage ; and he wept, with many bitter sighs,
In sudden vision of his life and all its vanities.

As when a tempest— which all day, with whirlwind, fire and hail*
Vexing mid-air, has hid the sight of sunshine from the vale —
Towards sunset rolls its thunders up ; fast as it mounts on high,
A flood of placid light re- fills the lately troubled sky ;
Shine all the full down -sliding streams, wet blades and quivering

sprays,

And all the grassy-sided vales with emerald lustre blaze ;
So, in the shower of Congal's tears, his storms of passion pass'd :
So, o'er his long distempered soul came tranquil light at last.

##**#*
'Twas then the long- corroded links of life's mysterious chain
Snapped softly ; and his mortal change passed upon Congal

Claen."*

From Congal, by Sir SAMUEL FERGUSON.

244 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Thus perished the last of the Rudrician kings of Ulster.
Well might the victorious Donall exclaim —

" Alas for him who destroyed all Erin
For a dispute about one egg !"

King Donall was ever a friend to the Church and sub-
missive to ecclesiastics. Under the influence of St. Fechin
of Fore, he became the founder of many monastic establish-
ments. Among these we may pause to mention the Abbey
of Cong, on the neck of land which divides Lough Corrib
from Lough Mask. Cong became, in subsequent times, the
residence and last resting place of several kings of Connaught.
Roderic O'Conor, monarch at the time of the Conquest,
died in that retreat. The ruins which stand on this most
^iteresting spot date probably from his time — the latter part
of the twelfth century.

St. Fechin, himself of noble blood, was a builder of no
mean merit. He erected the beautiful little church at Fore,
which is yet standing ; and to him also is ascribed an ancient
mill which adjoins it, in the green secluded valley in West-
meath, where this anchorite and his community sought for
solitude and holy meditation. The monks of old must have
had an exquisite feeling for nature, at least we may so infer
from the sites they selected for their monasteries and cells.
The ecclesiastical establishment on High Island, off the
coast of Connemara, one of this saint's foundations, though
one of the most secluded of all the Irish lattras, commands
a prospect of wondrous grandeur, the billows of the Atlantic
on one side, the varied outlines of the Connemara coast and
its ^rand mountains on the other.

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 245

St. Fechin died of the Buidhe Chonnaill, or " yellow
plague," a fearful pestilence, which desolated Ireland, as
well as Wales at this period. In both countries the visitation
was impersonated in the popular imagination. The Welsh
prince who shut himself up to avoid the pest was struck by
a glance of the yellow destroyer, which looked in at him
through a chink of the door. The Buidhe Chonnaill of the
Irish fell, like another Python, before a shaft of prayer and
the tinkling of a bell of St. Patrick aimed at it by St.
MacCreiche. Three sovereigns died of the pestilence,
which was followed some years later by a cattle plague, in
the reign of Finnachta the Festive or Hospitable. This
calamity lasted for four years, and was succeeded by a season
so severe that all the lakes and rivers were frozen, and even
the sea between Ireland and Scotland blocked with ice.

To the intercession of another ecclesiastic, St. Moling of
Ferns, is ascribed the remission of the Boromean tribute,
which, after occasioning many ages of strife, was abandoned
about A.D. 690 by this monarch Finnachta. During his
reign Adamnan — eminent among the Abbots of lona —
visited Ireland, and pitched his tent at Tara. Already this
deserted capital, no longer the abode of "chiefs and ladies
bright," was a grass-covered hill, on which, as at the present
day, the ruins only of former royal residences could be
traced. St. Adamnan, like his illustrious predecessor, St.
Columba, of whom, as Abbot of lona, he was the ninth
successor, was of noble Irish blood, being a descendant of
Niall Nine Ilostager, through his son Conall Gulban. His
life of St. Columba is written in Latin of remarkable purity
tor that age. This book, next to the history of the Verier-

246 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

able Bede, is the most valuable specimen we possess of the
literature of his period.

One of the earliest and most authentic accounts of the
holy places of Palestine has been preserved by the learned
diligence of Adamnan, who took down, from the narration
of Arculf, a Saxon bishop, shipwrecked on his return from
Jerusalem and cast ashore on one of the western Scottish
islands, a very detailed and exact account of the holy city
and its chief monuments, including the Chapel of the Holy
Sepulchre, of which the pilgrim bishop gave the abbot of
lona a ground plan, transcribed into the manuscript of
Adamnan.

At the time of which we speak, lona had become widely
celebrated for its sanctity. In its cemetery had been recently
interred Egfrid, King of Northumbria, who had been slain in
war with the Picts and Scots, A.D. 685. This prince had sent
in 683 an expedition to ravage the coasts of Leinster. This
is memorable as the first instance on record of a Saxon raid
into Ireland. During the reign of another Northumbrian
prince, Aldfrid, St. Adamnan visited York, and obtained
by his influence the release of many Irish captives, restored
by these efforts of Christian philanthropy to their native
land. Many ecclesiastical foundations in Scotland were
established by Adamnan. Among these we may mention
Forglen, in which the banner of St. Columba, known as the
Brecbannoch, was preserved. Dull, in the district of Atholl,
and Inchkeith in the Frith of Forth, are associated with his
name. Adamnan was according to the testimony of Bede
" a good and a wise man, and remarkably learned in the
knowledge of the Scriptures." He travelled much, and

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 247

often visited Ireland where his influence was great. At a
Synod held at Tara, 697, in presence of the King, attended
by forty-seven Chiefs of Tribes, the Abbot of Armagh and
thirty-nine ecclesiastics, as well as by the Pictish monarch
Brude, who had accompanied Adamnan ; the influence of
the Abbot of lona prevailed to pass laws called by his
name, Cain Adhamhnain. One among them exempted
women from the burthen of attending " hostings and expedi-
tions " or otherwise engaging in war, as had been customary
in pagan times. Convinced that the cycle of nineteen years,
adopted at Rome, was the true method of computing Easter,
Adamnan, on his return to lona endeavoured to bring the
community "into the way of truth, which he himself had
learned and embraced with all his heart ; but in this he
could not prevail." He died 704, before the monks of
lona were divided on a question then deemed so important.

To return, however, to the text of our chapter, and to its
starting-point at the battle of Moy Rath. Amid much that
is grotesque and fantastic in this story there occur incidental
illustrations of life and manners, valuable as showing what
the early Irish themselves considered to have been the state
of civilization existing in the country at the period com-
memorated. Not the least interesting of these relate to the
progress which had already begun to be made in the wider
diffusion of scholastic education.

Amongst DonalFs warriors in this engagement was one
who afterwards became famous in the peaceful pursuits of
letters, Kenfalla, son of Ollioll. Kenfalla was a scholar;
but, hitherto, not noted for superior intellectual ability.
It was his chance in the fight to encounter the terrible

248 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Congal himself, from whom lie received a sword-cut in
the hinder part of his head which penetrated to the brain.
Being cured of the wound, it was found that his memory
had acquired a wonderful strength and acuteness, and
he afterwards became the Admirable Crichton of his age
and is still remembered traditionally as the Scholar, par
excellence, of early times. Hence the battle of Moy Rath
has been called a triple victory, that is, a victory of truth
over untruth ; a victory of tale-and-story-telling over dull
moments, owing to the multitude of stories founded on the
madness of Sweeny (one of Congal's chiefs, who lost his
reason in the terrors of the conflict) ; and a victory of rough
surgery, "by reason of the taking of the brain of forget-
fulness out of the head of Cennfaeladh."

In the story of the cure of Kenfalla we get a glance at
the nature of the schools — other than ecclesiastical — in
which the Irish youth of the seventh century conducted
their studies. His leech was Bricin of Tomregan, who
resided at the meeting of three roads, neighbouring the
houses of three sa'is or professors ; a sat (sage) of the
Fenechus (or old Brehon) law, a sai of poetry, and a sai of
letters (literally of "legends"); and from frequenting their
classes during his convalescence, he acquired the first great
accession to his stores of knowledge.

These scattered teachers at cross-roads were merely the
outposts of the great hosts of men of learning who about
this time began to congregate in the shelter of abbatial
and episcopal seats ; cities they have been termed, but great
villages would probably be a more accurate designation of
Armagh, Bangor, Clonard, Lismore, and other resorts of pious

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 249

and studious persons. In these central places of learning,
provision was made for the maintenance and instruction of
strangers, and there was a Saxon quarter and an Albanian
quarter in Armagh, just as there still remains a Latin quarter
in Paris. Among other British and Brito-Saxon youths
educated at Armagh, during this period of its growth was
Aldfrid, son of Oswy, who became King of Northumbria,
A.D. 685. He has recorded his experiences in a poem, which
gives a picture of early Irish society — simple, pure, and
joyous — as pleasing and instructive as it will be considered
singular, having regard to the time it was composed. The
translation is one of the most faithful that has proceeded
from the pen of its author, J. C. Mangan : —

" I found in Innisfail the fair,
In Ireland, while in exile there,
Women of worth, both grave and gay men,
Many clerics and many laymen.

I travelled its fruitful provinces round,
And in every one of the five I found,
Alike in church and in palace hall,
Abundant apparel and food for all.

Gold and silver I found, and money,
Plenty of wheat, and plenty of honey ;
I found God's people rich in pity,
Found many a feast, and many a city.

I also found in Armagh the splendid,
Meekness, wisdom, and prudence blended,
Fasting, as Christ hath recommended,
And noble councillors untranscerided.

250 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

I found in each great church, moreo'er,
Whether on island or on shore,
Piety, learning, fond affection,
Holy welcome, and kind protection.

I found the good lay monks and brothers
Ever beseeching help for others,
And in their keeping the holy word
Pure as it came from Jesus the Lord.

I found in Munster, unfettered of any,
Kings and queens, and poets a-many ;
Poets well skilled in music and measure,
Prosperous doings, mirth and pleasure.

I found in Connaught the just, redundance
Of riches, milk in lavish abundance ;
Hospitality, vigour, fame,
In Cruachan's land of heroic name.

I found in the country of Conall the glorious
Bravest heroes, ever victorious ;
Fair-complexioned men and warlike,
Ireland's lights, the high, the starlike.

I found in Ulster from hill to glen,
Hardy warriors, resolute men ;
Beauty that bloomed when youth was gone,
And strength transmitted from sire to son.

I found in the noble district of Boyle
[MS. here illegible.}

Brehons, Erenachs, weapons bright,
And horsemen bold and sudden in fiirht.

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 251

1 found in Leinster the smooth and sleek,
From Dublin to Slewmargy's peak,
Flourishing pastures, valour, health,
Long -living worthies, commerce, wealth.

I found besides, from Ara to Glea,
In the broad rich country of Ossorie,
Sweet fruits, good laws for all and each,
Great vhess players, men of truthful speech.

I found in Meath's fair principality
Virtue, vigour, and hospitality,
Candour, joyfulness, bravery, purity,
Ireland's bulwark and security.

I found strict morals in age and youth,
I found historians recording truth ;
The things I sing of in verse unsmooth.
I found them all— I have written sooth."

In this there may be some interpolations of a later age ;
but the poem is a valuable proof of what at an early period
was the popular belief in both islands regarding the con-
dition of Ireland during the generation which succeeded
the defeat of Congal, and forms at once a commentary on,
and illustration of, the authentic statement of Bede : —
*' There were in that country (Ireland), at the time we
speak of, many of the nobility and also of the middle
classes of the English people ; some of whom devoted
themselves to the monastic profession, while others chose
rather to pay visits to the chambers of the different masters,
and so to carry on their studies ; all of whom the Scots
(Irish) received most cordially, and provided with daily

252 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUF.ST.

food free of charge, as likewise with books to read and
gratuitous instruction."

Another voice from beyond sea, which testifies to the
same enviable condition of the island during these days
of comparative happiness, comes from a greater distance.
Donatus (Donagh), bishop of Fiesole (A.D. 844), saw nothing
in Tuscany fairer or more amiable than the aspect of the
the land and people from amongst whom he had come to
fix his habitation beside the Arno. His verses have the
tenderness of home-affection mingled with a pardonable
pride in his country : —

" Far in the confines of the west
There lies a land of lands the best ;
An island, rich in all good store
Of robe, and gem, and golden ore ;
An isle, in soil, and sun, and wind,
Most healthful to the human kind.
With honey all the land abounds,
With lovely lawns arid pasture-grounds ;
With weeds of peace and peaceful arts,
With arms of war and manly hearts.

And worthy of that blessed spot,
There dwell the nations of the Scot ;
A race of men renowned high
For honour, arms, and courtesy."

The Scots of that day, emigrating from Ireland, obtained
a character for the energetic prosecution of their enterprises,
not dissimilar to that since so honourably earned for them-
selves by the Scots of North Britain. Eric of Auxerre,

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 253

writing of Elias, bishop of Angouleme, an Irishman, who
died A.D. 875, exclaims: "What need to speak of Ireland
setting at nought as it does the difficulties of the sea, and
coming almost in one body to o"r shores, with its crowd of
philosophers, the most intelligent of whom are subjecting
themselves to a voluntary exile ? " The number, indeed, of
travelling Irish was destined ere long, after the repeated
Danish incursions had begun to drive them abroad for
shelter as well as for missionary and scholastic adventure,
to become burthensome to neighbouring countries. The
Council of Chalons on Saone (A.D. 813), and the English
Synod of Calcythe (A.D. 816), both made canons against
these wandering Scots.

The reproach of ingratitude might with some justice be
made against the authors of these canons. But, notwith-
standing occasional opposition of this character, the Irish
Scots continued, for at least another century, to maintain
their place in the foremost British and European seminaries
of learning. Sweeny of Clonmacnoise, whose bell bearing
his name may still be seen in the Museum of the Royal
Irish Academy, was one of the sages who assisted at the
foundation of the University of Oxford ; and the story of the
"Wisdom-sellers" before Charlemagne, introduces us to
Clement, another of the same race and origin, for whom the
honour is claimed of having been one of the first teachers
in the University of Paris. " When the illustrious Charles
had begun to reign alone in the western parts of the world,
and literature was almost forgotten, it came to pass that
two Scots from Ireland, men incomparably learned both in
human knowledge and in the Holy Scriptures, came over

254 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

with some British merchants to the shores of France.5'
These persons, says the writer of the History of the Reign
of Charlemagne, soon attracted attention by standing in the
public market-place, and crying out to the passers-by, " If
any person wishes for wisdom, let him come to us and
receive it, for we have it to sell." There seems no doubt
that both the strangers were well received by the great
monarch, and that both of them were placed over scholastic
seminaries, one at Paris, and the other near Pavia.

The great associations connected with the name of
Armagh have led us so far down the course of the centuries,
that in adverting to the other eminent school at Lismore,
we must return to the commencement of the period in-
augurated at Moy Rath.

There is a beautiful little church at Rathin in Westmeath,
where, about A.D. 650, Carthagh, a descendant of Fergus
Mac Roy, who had adopted a religious life, took up his
abode with other monks of Kerry. " They led so pious a
life in this house, it was said an angel was wont to hold
conversation with every third man of them." The ecclesi-
astics of the Hy-Niall race became jealous of the Munster
monks' superior reputation for holiness, and they appealed
to Blathmaic and Dermid, their joint kings, to expel the
intruders. Blathmaic was in favour of their expulsion •
but Dermid, at the sight of Carthagh, relented, whence his
sobriquet of the "Ruthful. " However, the "holy men of
the ClannaNiall" insisted on the expulsion of the strangers,
and Carthagh (in popular hagiology, St. Mochuda), after a
twelvemonth's negotiation, being finally driven out by the
resolute Blathmaic, went forth and established himself

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 255

among the tribes of the Desi in their new seats in the south,
where he founded the long-celebrated school of Lismore.

Bangor is another name which raises a train of associa-
tions, carrying the mind across a wide tract of Europe, and
through a series of most interesting, though turbulent,
events. St. Columbanus, a pupil of this school, evinced
that fervour of missionary zeal so characteristic of his age
and country. Accompanied by twelve monks of Bangor,
he set forth on his wanderings, and became the evangelizer
of eastern France, and parts of Switzerland and Italy. He
established himself at Luxeuil in Burgundy. Columbanus
warred no less with nature, in the then well-nigh impene-
trable forests of the Vosges and Jura, where his community
toiled, and cleared and cultivated the soil, than with the
stormy passions of those long-haired Merovingian kings of
the Frankish dynasties, who were swayed, at that period,
by the savage impulses of two remarkable and unscrupulous
women. Brunehault, the wife of Sigebert, the grandson of
Clovis, and Fredegonde, the beautiful fury who ruled his
brother Chilperic, have filled a prominent part in French
history. Their very names recall a period of giant crimes,
unregulated passions, and unparalleled bloodthirstiness.
Among these ferocious Franks St. Columbanus preached
and laboured. Expelled from his monastery by the
peremptory orders of Queen Bnmchault, whose sins he had
fearlessly denounced, he dared to return ; and when again
cast forth, turned his steps towards Northern Italy, leaving
to the Helvetians, among whom he tarried some months,
his disciple, the Irish St. Gall, whose name and fame still
survive throughout the northern cantons of Switzerland.

250 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

St. Columbanus died at Bobbio in Italy, where he had
established his confraternity under the protection of Agilulf,
king of the Lombards. He has left behind him a great
refutation as a letter-writer. His famous epistles to Pope
Gregory the Great, and Pope Boniface the Fourth, are yet
extant. So also are his tender addresses to his loved
brethren at Luxeuil ; " his dearest sons, his dearest pupils,
to his brethren in abstinence, to all the monks." In a
letter to the bishops of Gaul he thus speaks : —

" Finally, fathers, pray for us, as we also do, unworthy
though we be, for you : and do not regard us in the light of
aliens; for we are fellow members of one body, whether we
be French, or Britons, or Irish, or whatever be our nation.
Let us then, all nations, rejoice in the acknowledging of
the faith, and confession of the Son of God ; and hasten
forward all of us, to advance to the perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Jesus Christ, in
whom may we love one another, speak well of one another,
correct one another, visit one another, pray for one another,
that with one another we may reign, and have joy in his
presence."

Even the Danish inroads, of which we shall speak in our
next chapter, failed wholly to quench, although they greatly
diminished, the flame of learning in these cultured spots.
A remarkable evidence of the continued reputation of
Ireland for superior intellectual culture, even so late as the
middle of the eleventh century, is afforded by a poem written
by John, son of Sulgen, who was bishop of St. David's about
A.D. 1070. In this piece John tells us that his father went
to Ireland to study the Scriptures, and spent upwards often

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 257

years in that employment. The Latin verses have been
well rendered : —

" With ardent love for learning, Sulgen sought
The school in which his fathers had been taught ;
To Ireland's sacred isle he bent his way,
Where science beamed with bright and glorious ray :
But lo ! an unforeseen impediment
His journey interrupted as he went ;
For, sailing toward the country where abode
The people famous in the word of God,
His bark by adverse winds and tempests toss'd,
Was forced to anchor on another coast ;
And thus the Albanian shore the traveller gained,
And there for five successive years remained.

At length, arriving on the Scottish soil,
He soon applies himself to studious toil.

Then, having gained a literary fame,
Jn high repute for learning home he came,
His gathered store and golden fruit to share
Among admiring friends and followers there."

We have placed under the eyes of our reader the con-
temporaneous evidence of Bede — let us add the testimony
of another learned and candid Englishman, derived from
the wider range of inquiry afforded by the subsequently
accumulated learning of nearly nine hundred years. We
refer to the illustrious William Camden, whose words will
carry the weight of historic truth, as well as the solemnity
of a pious philosophy, to whatever mind will receive them.

258 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

"Our Anglo-Saxons of that day," he says, speaking of
this, which we have ventured to call our Scholastic Period,
" used to flock together to Ireland, as a market of learning ;
whence it is that we continually find it said in our writers
concerning holy men of old, He was sent away to be
educated in Ireland. . . And it would appear that it was
from that country the ancient English, our ancestors, re-
ceived the first instructions in forming letters, as it is plain
they used the same character which is still used in Ireland.
Nor need we wonder that Ireland, which is now (i.e., in A.D.
1607) for the most part wild, half savage, and destitute ot
education, should at that time have abounded in men of
such holiness, piety, and splendid geniuses, while the
cultivation of literature elsewhere in the Christian world lay
neglected and half buried ; since the providence of the
Almighty Ruler of the universe is pleased to scatter the
seeds of holiness and virtues in the different ages of the
world, now among these nations, now among those, as it
were in so many beds and flower knots ; thus producing
blossoms which, as they appear in one place and another
with fresh vigour, may thrive and be preserved, for His own
glory and the benefit of mankind."

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE SCHOLASTIC
PERIOD.

Aedh Slane and Colman, of the race of Eremon ... A.D. 599

Aedh „ Eremon ... 605

Maelcobha „ Eremon ... 612

Suibni Menn „ Eremon ... 615

Domnal „ Eremon ... 628

Conall and Kellach „ Eremon ,,. 642

THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD.

259

Conall

of the race of Eremon

Dermid and Blathmaic

„ Eremon

Sechnasach

„ Eremon

Kennfaeladh

„ Eremon

Finnnachta

„ Eremon

Loingsech

., Eremon

Congal Kenn-Maghair

., Eremon

Fergal

„ Eremon

Fogartach

„ Eremon

Kinaeth

„ Eremon

Flathbertagh

„ Eremon

Aedh Ollav

„ Eremon

Domnal Mac Murchaid

., Eremon

Niall Frasach

Eremon

Donnchad

Eremon

A.D. 658
662
665
67I

675
695
704
711
722
724
727

734
743
763
770

260 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DANISH PERIOD.
FROM DONNCHAD A.D. 770, TO DOMNAL O'NEILL 956.

Invasions of the Northmen— Rise of the Southern Hy-Niall— Generous
devotion and death of King Niall Caille— Story of Turgesius—
Tyranny of the Danes — Their foundation of the seaport towns, and
progress in commerce — Norse influence on the local nomenclature —
Intermarriages between the Northmen and Irish— St. Olaf— Norse
cruelties in the propagation of the faith contrasted with the mild
course of the gospel in Ireland — Ancient tumuli on the Boyne
rifled by the Danes— King Malachy I. desires to make a pilgrimage
to Rome — King Aedh Finnliath — King Flann of the Shannon —
Story of his daughter Gormley — Cormac MacCulinan, King-arch-
bishop of Cashel — His Glossary — His Psalter — Rivalry between the
Eugenian and Dalcassian Septs of Munster— State of Munster —
Cormac instigated to war with Leinster by the Abbot Flaherty-
Makes his will — Battle of Ballaghmoone and death of Cormac—
Honourable conduct of King Flann — Penance of Flaherty — After
wards King of Cashel— Succeeded by Lorcan, father of Kennedy,
father of Brian Boru — Kennedy admits the claim of alternate suc-
cession, according to the will of OJlioll Olum, and yields the throne
of Cashel to Callaghan— Stratagem of the Danish chieftain Sitric —
Callaghan taken prisoner — Kennedy marches the Munster troops to
his rescue — Gallant conduct of Falvy Finn — Death of King Flann
—Niall "Black-knee"— Donogh— Murkertach "Pell-Cloak"—
His circuit of Ireland — Callaghan's second imprisonment — Donall
O'Neill, son of Murkertach, Prince of Aileach, becomes Ard-righ
—Surnames introduced— The great Sept of O'Neill descendants of
Donall — Cruelties of the Danes— Destruction by them of works of
art — Skill of the Irish in artistic metal work, shrines, bells, croziers,
etc. — Their architecture and sculptured stonework— Their MSS.—
The Book of Kells — The Book of Deer—Iona. devastated by the
Danes — Its Abbots subsequent to St. Adamnan — Abbacy transferred

THE DANISH PERIOD. 261

to Kells in the ninth century— Martyrdom of St. Blathmac at lona—
Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scotland— Removes the shrine of St.
Columba to Dunkeld, and makes its abbot Bishop of Fortrenn—
The Bishopric transferred from Dunkeld to Abernethy, and subse-
quently to St. Andrews — The monastery of lona restored by Queen
Margaret of Scotland— The Western Isles, including lona, ceded by
King Malcolm to Norway— Mr. Skene on the decay ot the old
Celtic Church — Chronological Table.

THE eighth century affords little beyond the series of suc-
cessions of kings, to be recorded, until we reach A.D. 795.
From thence extends a period of gloom, in which depression
and disaster characterize the Trish annals. For upwards of
two centuries, learning, piety, almost Christianity itself,
succumbed before pagan invaders. Danes, Northmen,
Scandinavians, whom the Irish writers distinguish according
to their complexions, into Dubh-Galls, or dark, and Finn-
Galls, or fair-haired foreigners, hovered round our coasts, in
ships manned by hardy, but sanguinary pirates. The leaders
— Vikings, as they are called — were brave and daring
adventurers, glad to exchange their barren mountains for
the plunder, and afterwards the colonization, of more fertile
lands. These invaders spared neither age, nor sex, nor
station. The monasteries were ever their first objects of
attack. Here were deposited articles of chiefest value in
the land ; precious manuscripts, which were only prized by
the plunderers for the rich decorations in gold and gems that
graced the cases in which they were enclosed; shrines oi
exquisite workmanship, on which all that was costly and
precious had been lavished, to fit them for receptacles of
the relics of some venerated saint ; illuminated manuscripts,
to produce which had been the life-long labour of pious and

262 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

saintly men, lovers of literature, and decorative artists of no
mean skill : — all these were scattered to the winds by the
ignorant and ruthless hands of these sea-robbers. The Danes
did not confine their ravages to the coasts — they boldly
ascended the rivers, and, secure in the protection of their
ships, descended on the defenceless population when and
where they would, and that so unexpectedly, that they
encountered little or no organized resistance.

The fatal defect of the Irish political system was its want
of centralization. The Ard-Righ, or supreme monarch, was
but nominal ruler of the entire island, and could only act
vigorously in his own patrimony. The provincial kings
were virtually independent, and frequently in open collision,
with the central authority. The power of combination has
ever been deficient among the Gael. Unrestricted individual
freedom has been so much a passion with the race, that
Combined action has been rarely achieved, or sustained for
any considerable length of time. At the period of which we
speak, this difficulty was greatly augmented : for the vigorous
rule of a succession of princes of the northern Hy-Niall line
was, at this time, exchanged for the ascendency of the south-
ern branch of this great family ; and the comparatively
limited patrimony of the southern Hy-Nialls rendered them
less efficient general rulers. The neighbourhood of Mullingar,
in Westmeath, was their place of abode. Malachy of the
Shannon, the first Ard-Righ of this line, in 846 succeeded King
Niall, surnamed of Callan, who met his death while attempt-
ing to save the life of one of his followers, swept away by the
current when entering a ford of the river Callan, in advance
of the king's army. Niall had called in vain for aid for the

THti DANISH PERIOD. 263

drowning man ; and seeing those around him hesitate, had
sprung himself to the rescue of \hzgilly. As he spurred his
horse for the plunge, the bank beneath him gave way, and
rider and steed were precipitated into the river. That is no
ignoble death which is encountered in an act of self-sacrifice
for others, and the name Niall Caille lives, though his other
actions are forgotten.

A romantic but somewhat apocryphal story is told of
Malachy and his Danish neighbour Turgesius. This chief-
tain had established himself in the very heart of Ireland,
and possessed a fleet on the inland waters of Lough Ree.
The youthful daughter of Malachy attracted his regards:
he demanded her from her father, who dared not refuse.
The king proposed to Turgesius to send her to his court,
accompanied by fifteen maids of honour, attendants of her
own age and sex, befitting her rank and birth. Instead of
these, however, he selected fifteen beardless youths, who
carried weapons concealed beneath their feminine garb.
The disarmed and unsuspecting Turgesius was seized ; his
fortress-gates thrown open to the troops of Malachy, who
were prepared, on a given signal, to rush in and possess them-
selves of the fort. Turgesius himself was drowned in Lough
Owel, and the land for a time once more breathed freely.

The dire pressure of Danish tyranny, enforced by the
"Nose-gelt," was felt by each individual, however humble,
as well as by the kings and chiefs of Ireland A soldier was
quartered "over every homestead, and the man of the house
was not allowed the disposal of as much as one egg of his
own property ; and though a family owned but one stripper,
they were not allowed on any night to give its milk to either

264 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

infant or child, but were obliged to keep it up for the use of
the soldier ; and though the man of the house owned but
one in-calf cow, he was forced to kill the same for the use of
his unwelcome guest ; and if he could not satisfy the latter
therewithal, he was compelled to place his inheritance in
pledge for the maintenance of the said soldier. Besides
this, the Lochlannaigh should either get an ounce of gold
each year for every man in Ireland, or they would have the
nose from off his face. Then no lord or lady of the Irish
was allowed to wear any mantles or garments, except the
cast-off clothes of the Lochlannaigh. It was not allowed
to give instruction in letters, nor to live in religious com-
munities, for the Lochlannaigh dwelt in the temples and in
the duns; no scholars, no clerics, no books, no holy relics,
were left in church or monastery, through dread of them :
neither bard, nor philosopher, nor musician, pursued their
wonted professions in the land."

But a time was approaching when these fierce invaders,
themselves succumbing to Christian influences, should
become here and there permanent -dwellers in the land, inter-
marry with the Irish, and even join with them in repelling
marauding assaults of their own countrymen. To the North-
men we may trace the foundation of most of our seaport
towns, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, and others. The
Finn Galls — for the Norse element predominated among
them — showed a great aptitude for trade and commerce.
Their fearlessness at sea, and skill in navigation, fitted them
to become foreign merchants. They had a coinage of their
own. Their nomenclature may be traced in the names of
places, especially on the east coast of Ireland, where their

THE DANISH PERIOD. 265

settlements were most permanent. The Norwegian fiord, or
arm of the sea, reminds us of their presence in the bays of
Strang/m/, Carling/<?r</, Wexford, Waterford, etc. Lamb^>
Ireland's ^, show the Scandinavian affix of Ey, for island.
The names of three out of the four provinces of Ireland
announce the Norse influence, which has changed the Celtic,
Uladh into Ulster, Laighin into Leinjfcr, and Mumhain into
M.unster. They gave much of what we may term municipal
life ; they took in return the Christian faith, and, in a degree,
its humanizing lessons and virtues, in lieu of their stern yet
heroic paganism.

We have alluded to the frequent intermarriage between
Irish and Dane. A singular example, illustrating the con-
nection between Irish and Norwegian history, may be found
even in the case of the great Brian Boru, with whose history
we shall be occupied hereafter. He had married, when a
widower, Gormley, daughter of the king of Leinster, who
became the mother of his sons Tiege and Donogh. By her
former husband, Anlaf the Dane, Gormley was the mother of
Sitric "Silk-Beard" (afterwards the husband of Brian's
daughter Save) and of Olaf Cuaran, Danish king of Dublin.
The Norwegian king and saint, Olaf, was the guest of this
Olaf Cuaran, and received baptism, most probably, in Ireland.
There was an inherent sternness and cruelty in the Norse
character, which indisposed it to the acceptance of the mild
religion of Christ, on the one hand, and to the gentle modes
of inculcating it which had proved so successful among the
Celtic populations, on the other. No contrast can be
imagined more remarkable than that between the conduct
in accepting and propagating the faith, of the Irish and the

266 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Norsemen. Receiving the message of peace from his Irish
instructors, the canonized Scandinavian king carried it into
thejj£pr<£ and fells of Norway, with fire and sword for his
apostles. The poet Longfellow has majestically versified one
of the sagas of Olaf, which presents the difference of character
in question so vividly that we will crave our reader's indulg-
ence for a moment's departure from Irish ground, while
making better acquaintance with the fierce but noble race
of men whose extirpation at Clontarf is so important an
event in the Irish story.

Loud the angry wind was wailing
As King Olaf's ships came sailing
Northward out of Drontheim haven,
To the mouth of Salten Fiord :

Though the flying sea-spray drenches
Fore and aft the rowers' benches,
Not a single heart is craven
Of the champions there on board.

All without the Fiord was quiet,
But within it storm and riot,
Such as on his Viking cruises

Raud the strong was wont to ride ;

And the sea through all its tideways,
Swept the reeling vessels sideways,
As the leaves are swept through sluices,
When the flood-gates open wide.

" 'Tis the warlock ! 'tis the demon
Raud !" cried Sigurd to the seamen ;
" But the Lord is not affrighted
By the witchcraft of his foes ;"

THE DANISH PERIOD. 267

To the ship's bow he ascended,
By his choristers attended ;
Round him were the tapers lighted,
And the sacred incense rose,

On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd,
In his robes, as one transfigured,
And the Crucifix he planted
High amid the rain and mist ;

Then with holy water sprinkled
All the ship ; the mass-bells tinkled ;
Loud the monks around him chanted,
Loud he read the Evangelist.

As into the Fiord they darted,
On each side the water parted :
Down a path like silver molten,
Steadily rowed King Olafs ships ;

Steadily burned all night the tapers,
And the White Christ through the vapours
Gleamed across the Fiord of Salten,
As though John's Apocalypse.

Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling
On the little isle of Gelling :
Not a guard was at the doorway,
Not a glimmer of light was seen ;

But at anchor, carved and gilded,
Lay the dragon-ship he builded ;
'Twas the grandest ship in Norway
With its crests and scales of green.

Up the stairway, softly creeping
To the loft where Raud was sleeping,
With their fists they burst asunder
Bolt and bar that held the door :

268 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Drunken with sleep and ale they found him.
Dragged him from his bed and bound him,
While he stared with stupid wonder
At the look and garb they wore.

Then King Olaf said : " O Sea King,
Little time have we for speaking,
Choose between the good and evil,
Be baptized, or thou shalt die."

But in scorn the heathen scoffer
Answered : " I disdain thine offer ;
Neither fear I God nor devil,
Thee and thy Gospel I defy !"

Then, between his jaws distended,
When his frantic struggles ended,
Through King Olaf s horn an adder,
Touched by fire they forced to glide :

Sharp his tooth was as an arrow,

As he gnawed through bone and marrow ;

But without a groan or shudder

Raud the Strong, blaspheming, died.

Then baptized they all that region,
Swarthy Lap and fair Norwegian,
Far as swims the salmon leaping,
Up the streams of Salten Fiord ;

In their temples Thor and Odin,
Lay in dust and ashes trodden,
As King Olaf onward sweeping,
Preached the gospel with his sword.

Then he took the carved and gilded
Dragon-ship that Raud had builded,
And the tiller single-handed

Grasping, steered into the main :

THE DANISH PERIOD. 269

Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him,
Southward sailed the ship that bore him,
Till at Drontheim haven landed
Olaf and his crew again.*

Among the proofs which still attest the influence on the
popular mind, produced by these inroads, and the deep-
seated terror of the Danish name which they excited, we
may mention the habit of the Irish peasantry of ascribing
to this race the cairns, cashels, forts, and duns of a
more primitive period. So far from being builders of
these monuments, we have on record, both in the Irish
chronicles and the Norse Sagas, that in the year 86 1 the
three earls, Olaf, Sitric, and Ivar, opened, for purposes of
plunder, the sepulchral mounds of New Grange, Dowth,
and Knowth on the Boyne, arid the mound of the wife of
the Gobaun Saer, the mythic builder, or Wayland Smith of
the Irish Celts, still a conspicuous object at Drogheda.
But it may be that the Danes referred to in popular
tradition are those older Tuath-De-Danaan of the
archaic period. To return to the Christian period : we
have in Waterford, in very good preservation, an inter-
esting specimen of the Norwegian art of fortification.
The Round Tower, popularly called Reginald's Tower, is
said to have been built in 1003, by the Scandinavian ruler
of Waterford, Ragnvald. At the time of the Norman in-
vasion of Ireland, Earl Strongbow possessed himself of
it, and kept there as his prisoner the last " Eastman " king
of Waterford, Reginald the Dane.

* From the Saga of King Olaf, by H. W. LONGFELLOW.

270 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

King Malachy after his struggle with the Danes proposed
to make a pilgrimage to Rome. He sent an embassy to
Charles the Bald, then reigning in France, requesting a
safe-conduct through his territories, and acquainting him
with his successes against the Northmen. A friendly inter-
course appears to have been maintained between France
and Ireland up to the time of the English Conquest.
Malachy died without having accomplished this pilgrimage.
He was much regretted : —

" Mournfully is spread the veil of grief over Ireland since
the chieftain of our race has perished/' writes the
chronicler ; " Red wine has been spilled into the valley ;
Erin's monarch has died."

Aedh Finnliath — better known as Hugh of Aileach, son
of Niall of the Callan — succeeded Malachy as Ard-Righ.
He prosecuted the war with the Danes with vigour. He
gained a victory at Lough Foyle, which with its savage
incidents, is thus recorded : —

"After Aedh, King of Ireland, had learned that this
gathering of strangers was on the borders of his country,
he was not negligent in attending to them, for he marched
towards them with all his forces, and a battle was fought
fiercely and spiritedly on both sides between them. The
victory was gained over the foreigners, and a slaughter was
made of them. Their heads were collected to one place in
presence of the king ; and twelve score heads were
reckoned before him, which was the number slain by
him in that battle, besides the numbers of them who were
wounded and carried off by him in the agonies of death,
and who died of their -rounds some time afterwards,"

THE DANISH PERIOD. 271

This king " of the long flowing hair," was a generous,
wise, and staid man, if we are to credit the bard who
uttered his funeral lamentation : —

" Long is the wintry night, with rough gusts of wind ;

Under pressing grief we encounter it, since the red-speared king

of the noble house liveth not.

Fearful it is to watch how the waves heave from the bottom :
To them may be compared all those who with us lament him."

Aedh had to wife Maelmuri, daughter of Kenneth
MacAlpin, the first king of all Scotland. His Irish kinsmen
had aided the Scotic monarch in his final contests with the
Picts. This lady afterwards married Aedh's successor,
Flann of the Shannon, the son of Malachy — thus restoring
the throne to the branch of the Southern Hy-Niall.

Flann had a daughter, Gormley, whose gifts, beauty, and
tragical fate, have made her name celebrated in Irish story.
Many poems of this lady have survived to our day. She
was betrothed, while still very young, to the celebrated
Cormac MacCulinan, King of Cashel ; but when the period
had arrived when he should claim his bride, he failed to
appear, having resolved to lead a life of celibacy. Gormley,
who is said to have been tenderly attached to Cormac, was
married to the King of Leinster against her own inclinations
and for political motives, by her father Flann. Her hated
husband treated her with contumely. Gormley appealed for
redress to her cousin Niall" Black-Knee," afterwards King
of Ireland, who espoused her cause, and on the death of
the King of Leinster, married Gormley. The most touch-
ing of her poems which survive express her maternal

272 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

tenderness for her child, sent by his father Niall, according
to the custom in Ireland, to be fostered. Gormley has re-
corded her grief at this separation from her son, and also
her agonising sorrow when the young prince was afterwards
drowned in Lough Corrib. She long survived her husband
Niall, whose death she also lamented in verse —

" Where is the chief of the western world ?
Where the sun of every clash of arms ?
Sorrowful this day is sacred Ireland,
Without its valiant chief."

This daughter, sister, and wife of kings, is said to have
died of absolute want; having long survived the greatness
of her kindred, and seen other dynasties arise — no longer
near to her in blood and family ties — indifferent to, and
careless of her woes. Her first sorrow — the disclaiming of
her hand by Cormac MacCulinan — was one of the causes
which led to the battle of Belach Mughna (Moone, near
Bally tore, in the county of Kildare), in which her father
King Flann was opposed to the celebrated Cormac
MacCulinan, king-archbishop of Cashel. Cormac was
author of the compilation (Cormac's Glossary), which has
made his name a household word with modern scholars.
The lost Psalter of Cashel was also a work of his. To
understand aright the further circumstances which brought
this great and good man into collision with his suzerain, we
must revert to times long anterior to his age (the latter part
of the ninth century), and remind our readers of the old
compact which divided Erin between Con of the Hundred
Battles, of the race of Eremon, and Owen Mor, the

THE DANISH PERIOD. 27 3

descendant of Eber. The Esker Riada was the boundary —
a range of low limestone ridges extending from Dublin to
Galway.

Hitherto we have been more concerned with the northern
district, Lea-Con, or Con's half ; as the race of Eremon gave
a greater number of kings to Ireland, and filled a more
prominent place in the page of history ; but now we shall
find the foremost historic names belonging rather to the
Munster clans.

We must also bear in mind the will of Ollioll Olum,
which assigned the sovereignty of Munster alternately to the
descendants of his sons Owen and Cormac Cas. . . . The
Eugenians — as the families derived from Owen are called —
MacCarthys and others, ruled in Desmond, or South
Munster; while the Dalcassians — descendants of Cormac
Cas — O'Briens, and others — were lords of Thomond, or
North Munster.

But in process of time it happened that the Dalcassian
family — whose possessions in Clare and Limerick were re-
moved from Cashel, the capital of Lea-Moha — found them-
selves passed by in the succession, which had more and more
fallen into the hands of the Eugenian tribes. To the latter
belonged Cormac MacCulinan, who, in 896, was called to
the throne of Cashel.

The state of Munster during the reign of this " king,
bishop, anchorite, and scribe profoundly learned in the
Scotic tongue," is thus described in the annals : —

" Great was the prosperity of Ireland during his reign ;
for the land became filled with the divine grace, and with
worldly prosperity, and with public peace in his days, so

274 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

that the cattle needed no cowherd, and the flocks no
Shepherd, as long as he was king. The shrines of the
saints were then protected, and many temples and monas-
teries were built; public schools were established for the
purpose of giving instruction in letters, law, and history J
many were the tilled fields, numerous were the bees, and
plenteous the beehives under his rule ; frequent was fasting
and prayer, and every other work of piety ; many houses of
public hospitality were built, and many books written at his
command. And, moreover, when he exacted the per-
formance of any good work from others, he was wont to set
them the example himself, by being the first to practise it,
whether it were a deed of alms, or benevolence, or prayer."
Cormac had applied to his own tribe for " food and
treasures " wherewith to celebrate Easter, but was refused.
The Dalcassians, on hearing of his need, voluntarily supplied
his wants. He then applied to the Eugenians for "jewels
and valuables for the purpose of making presents to
strangers." Here again he found his own kin less liberal
than his Thomond subjects. " Thus did Cormac feel again
most grateful to that tribe, as he tells us himself in the
following verse : —

" May our truest fidelity ever be given
To the brave and generous clansmen of Tal;
And for ever may royalty rest with their tribe,
And virtue, and valour, and music, and song."

Impelled by gratitude, and still more by a sense of justice,
Cormac desired that his successor should be a prince of
Thomond. His efforts were not crowned with success, and

THE DANISH PERIOD. 275

lessened the regards of his own tribe. His unpopularity
with the Eugenians became apparent, when he summoned
them to his standard to wage war with Leinster, and enforce
a demand for chief rents from that principality.

He had reigned peacefully and prosperously for seven
years, when he most reluctantly undertook this war at the
instigation of his nobles, and especially of Flaherty, a man
of royal blood, abbot of Inis-Cathaigh or Scattery Island,
near the mouth of the Shannon. Haunted by presenti-
ments of disaster, Cormac made his will before commencing
the campaign.

" 'Tis time my testament were made,
For danger's hour approacheth fast ;
My days shall henceforth be but few ;
My life has almost reached the goal.

My golden cup of sacrifice
Wherewith I holy offerings make,
I will to Senan's brotherhood
At Inis-Cathaigh's sacred fane.

The bell that calleth me to prayer,
Whilst on the green-robed earth I stay,
Forget not with my friend to leave
At Conall's shrine where Fergus flows,

My silken robe of graceful flow,
O'erlaid with gems and golden braid,
To Roscre, Paul and Peter's fane,
And Cronan's guardianship, I leave.

My silver chessboard of bright sheen,
I will to Uladh's royal chief :
My well-wrought chain of faultless gold,
To thee, Mochuda, I bequeath.

276 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Take thou my amice and my stole,
And take mymanuple likewise,
To Lenin's son who lies at Cluain,
To Colman, who has found his bliss.

My Psalter of illumined leaves,
Whose light no darkness e'er can hide —
To Caisel I for ever leave
This potent gift without recall.

And my wealth I bequeath to the poor,
And my sins to the children of curses ;
And my dust to the earth whence it rose,
And my spirit to Him who has sent it."

We give details of this disastrous campaign, which re-
sulted in the death of Cormac MacCulinan, in the quaint
language of the historian Keating : —

" After this, Cormac, having mustered a large host, and
armed himself, and armed Flathbertach (Flaherty), son of
Inmanen, marched into the territory of the Lcinstermen,
and demanded of them to give him hostages, and to pay
him tribute as king of Munster, upon the grounds that
their country (Leinster) formed part of Lea-Moha. Now
when the host of Munster had come together, and was all
collected into one camp, previous to marching upon the
intended expedition, it happened that Flathbertach, son of
Inmanen, the abbot of Inis-Cathaigh, having mounted upon
horseback, rode through the street of the encampment, and
that whilst he was thus engaged, his horse fell beneath him
into a deep trench. This was esteemed an unlucky omen,
and its consequence was that a large portion both of his
own people and of the whole army retired from the expedi-

THE DANISH PERIOD. 277

tion, having first proposed the adoption of peaceful
measures — so unfavourable a prognostic did they deem the
sudden fall of the holy abbot when he had mounted his steed.
" Then ambassadors arrived from the Leinstermen, and
from Kerball, son of Murighen, charged with proposals of
peace to King Cormac. These proposals were : first, to
have one universal peace maintained throughout Ireland
until the following month of May, for it was then the
fortnight of the harvest ; and for that end to place hostages
in the hands of Maenach, son of Siadal, abbot of Diseit
Diarmada, who was a holy, pious, learned, and wise man ;
and, next, to give a large quantity of jewels and valuables to
Cormac himself, and also to Flathbertach, son of Inmanen,
as a recompense for having assented to such a peace.
Cormac was most willing to grant their request ; whereupon
he immediately proceeded to acquaint Flathbertach that
these ambassadors had come to him from the king of
Leinster demanding peace until the ensuing month of May,
and offering jewels and valuables to them both, from the
people of Leinster, provided they would return home in peace
to their own country. But when Flathbertach had heard him
out, he fell into a violent rage, and he exclaimed, ' How
easily seen is the weakness of thy mind, and the littleness of
thy intellect and thy spirit ! ' And after this fashion he
then addressed much of abusive and contemptuous language
to Cormac. The latter replied to him in the following
words : 4 1 know full well what will be the result of all this,
to wit, a battle will be fought with the men of Leinster, in
which I shall be slain, and in which it is probable that thou
shalt meet thy death likewise.'

278 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

" Having uttered these words, Cormac proceeded, sad
and dejected, to his own tent. When he had taken his
seat therein, a basket of apples was set before him, which
he began to share amongst his attendants, saying, * My dear
friends, I shall never more share any apples amongst you,
from this hour forth.' — 'Dear lord,' said his people, 'thou
has cast us into sadness and grief. Why art thou thus wont
to prophesy evil for thyself?' — 'Believe what I now say,
friends of my heart/ said Cormac, ' for though I am wont
to distribute apples amongst you with my own hands, it
will be little wonder if some one else in my stead should
share them amongst you henceforward.'

" The war proceeded, and a battle was imminent. The
army of Munster was drawn up in three divisions, under
the command of Flaherty, assisted by Kellach, son of the
prince of Ossory; Cormac himself; and Cormac son of the
prince of Desi. The warriors were disheartened by reason
of the multitude of their enemies, and of the fewness of their
own host, for some authors assert that the army of Leinster
was four times more numerous than that of Munster.

11 Woful, indeed, was the tumult and clamour of that
battle ; for there rose the death- cry of the men of Munster
as they fell, and the shouting of the Leinstermen exulting in
the slaughter of their foes. There were two reasons why
the fight went so suddenly against the Munstermen. The
first was because Keilichar, a relative of Kennghegan, a
former king of Munster, jumped hastily upon his steed, and
as soon as he found himself mounted, cried out, ( Flee, O
free clans of Munster, flee from this terrible conflict, and
let the ecclesiastics fight it out themselves, since they would

THE DANISH PERIOD. 279

accept no other condition but that of battle from the people
of Leinster ! ' Having thus spoken, he quitted the field of
strife, followed by many of the combatants. The other
reason why the men of Munster were routed was because
Kellach, son of Kerball, king of Ossory, when he perceived
the carnage that was made amongst his people, jumped
likewise with haste upon his steed, and thence addressed
his host in these words : — ' Mount your steeds,' said he,
'and banish these men who stand up against you.' But
though he used this language he did not mean to encourage
them to drive off their enemies by fighting, but he thus let
them know that it was time for themselves to run away.
The result of these two causes was that the ranks of the men
of Munster were broken, and they were put to sudden and
general rout. Alas ! great indeed was the carnage that
then spread over Magh -n-Ailbi. Neither layman nor ecclesi-
astic found quarter, therein, both were slaughtered indis-
criminately ; and if any man of either class happened to be
spared, he owed his life not to the mercy but to the cupidity
of the vanquishers, covetous of his ransom.

" Hereupon Cormac proceeded toward the van of the
first division, but his horse fell beneath into a ditch, and he
was himself dashed upon the ground. Some of his people,
who were running away from the battle, saw him in this
position, and they came at once to his relief, and replaced
him upon his steed. It was then that Cormac met one of
his own pupils, a free-born man, named Aedh, who was
distinguished for his proficiency in wisdom, laws, and
history, and in the knowledge of the Latin tongue. To
him the royal prelate addressed these words :— * Dear son,'

280 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUKSt.

do not follow me ; but betake thyself hence, as well thou
mayest, and remember that I had said that I should
myself be slain in this battle.'

"Cormac then rode forward, and full of the blood ol
horses and of men was the way before him ; but the slip-
pcriness of that field of carnage soon caused the feet of his
horse to glide from under him, and he reared and fell
backwards, crushing his rider beneath him. The neck and
back of Cormac were broken in that fall, and he died
saying, * Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit ! '
Then some wicked persons came up and pierced his body
with their javelins, and cut off his head."

It is creditable to Flann that, far from insulting his fallen
snemy, he honoured the mortal remains of Cormac of Cashel.
He took the severed head in his hands and kissed it, severely
censuring those who had mutilated the corpse of the prince,
bishop. 4< What heart would not feel saddened at that deed?"
writes the old chronicler; "to wit, the death and mutilation
of so sacred a personage, v?ho was the wisest of the men of
Ireland in his own day ; a learned scholar in the Gaelic and
Latin languages ; an archbishop who was filled with devotion,
and sincerity, and prayer, and chastity, and godliness ; the
head of doctrine and true philosophy, and good morals,
and the chief king of the two pentarchates of Munster ?"

Flaherty, the warlike ecclesiastic who had been the chief
instigator of this campaign, retired to his cell on Scattery
Island, and passed some time in penance and retirement ;
till summoned himself to fill the throne uf Cashel, which
he afterwards resigned to Lorcan.

King Flann, after a long and, on the whole, a prosperous

THE DANISH PERIOD. 2&I

1-eign, died A.D. 916. This " pleasant and hospitable " prince
rebuilt the cathedral church at Clonmacnoise, one of the
chief stone-built edifices of its kind in Ireland at that period.

Amongst the successors of Cormac on the throne of
Munster was the provincial king Callaghan, whose chequered
fortunes will now have our notice. It is said that he owed
the sovereignty of Munster to the influence of his mother, who
appealed to the justice of Kennedy, son of Lorcan, remind-
ing him of the law of Ollioll Olum, which gave alternate rule
to the tribes of Owen and Cormac Cas. Kennedy resigned
his claims, which, at a later period, centered in his son, the
great king of Munster, Brian Boru.

Callaghan waged successful war with the Danes. Their
chief, Sitric, sought to repair his losses by stratagem. Tradl
tion tells us that for this purpose he made overtures of peace
to Callaghan, offering him the hand of his sister in marriage.
The King of Cashel acceded to the proposal, having heard
much of the beauty of Bebinn, as the lady was called ; and
set forth for Dublin, escorted only by a small body of
horsemen, to celebrate the marriage.

The wife of Sitric inquired of her husband why he proposed
this marriage between his sister and his enemy. The
treacherous Sitric told her that his design was to secure the
person of the king of Cashel. The lady had cherished in
secret an attachment for Callaghan, and, alarmed for his
safety, she privately set out to meet him, and warn him of the
snare laid by her husband. But the warning came too late.
When Callaghan endeavoured to retrace his steps he found
himself surrounded by foes, placed in ambush along the path
he had to traverse, and was led into captivity.

282 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Kennedy, son of Lorcan, mustered the clans of Munster,
and marched to the rescue of the prince. The troops were
supported by a fleet, under the command of Falvy Finn, a
Kerry chieftain. Callaghan had been removed from Dublin
to Armagh, and thence, when the Munster forces appeared
before Armagh, was sent to Dundalk. The Danes placed
their prisoner on board ship for security, not anticipating the
arrival of an Irish fleet. Falvy Finn appeared in the Bay of
Dundalk, boarded the Danish ship, freed Callaghan, who
was tied to the mast, but sank himself covered with wounds.
His brave followers, inspired by his example, and conscious
that they should eventually be outnumbered by the Danes,
closed with Sitric and his brothers Tor and Magnus. Each
grappled with a foe, and sprang with his enemy into the
sea. Such was the first liberation of Callaghan of Cashel.

Callaghan found himself a second time a prisoner, as
hostage to Murkertagh, prince of Ail each, under circumstances
which we must now narrate. King Flann, in the latter years
of his life, had to contend with rebellion in his own family.
His sons had been undutiful, but were compelled to sub-
mission by Niall " Black-knee," the husband of his daughter
Gormley. Niall succeeded Flann as Ard-Righ, and died, as
we have already seen, in battle with the Danes, being himself
succeeded, according to the usual course, by Dnnogh, son of
Flann — while his own vigorous son, Murkertagh, filled the
position of Roydamna, or heir-apparent.

Murkertagh, surnamed " Pell-Cloak," or of the Leathern
Cloaks, in A.D. 941 assembled the northern Clans, and, with
a thousand selected troops, commenced a circuit of Ireland,
from Aileach, accompanied by his bard, whose narrative of

THE DANISH PERIOD. 283

the expedition is yet extant. Commencing his journey in
winter, he provided, his troops with cloaks of leather —
whence his name — as a protection from the inclemency of that
season. He "kept his left hand to the sea " till he arrived
at Dublin. Thence he led as a hostage Sitric, a Danish lord,
and carried off Lorcan, king of Leinster, also. He next pro-
ceeded to Cashel, where Callaghan was surrendered to him,
not without his own consent, if we interpret aright the lay
of Cormacan Eigeas : —

We were ... a night at Cashel of Munster ;

There the great injury was inflicted on the men of Mun^ter :

There were arrayed against us three battalions brave,

Impetuous, red, terrible,
So that each party confronted the other,
In the centre of the great plain.

We cast our cloaks off us,
As became the subjects of a good king ;
The comely, the bright Muircheartach was at this time
Engaged in playing his chess.
The hardy Callaghan said, —
(And to us it was victory) : —
*' O men of Munster ! men of renown !

Oppose not the race of Eoghan,
Better that I go with them as an hostage
Than that we should all be driven to battle ;

They will kill man for man,
The noble people of Muircheartach."
We took with us, therefore, Callaghan the just,
Who received his due honour,
Namely, a ring of fifteen ounces on his hand,
And a chain of iron on his stout leg.

This was harsh treatment for Callaghan, for he was the only
hostage who was bound in fetters. Conor, son of the king of

284 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Connaught, was also taken to Aileach, and here Mtirkertagh
and his hostages feasted for five months. He then com-
mitted them to the custody of the Ard-Righ. Two years later
he fell in battle against the Danes. His son, Donall O'Neill,
became Ard-Righ in 956, and was among the first in Ireland
to assume a surname. The prefix Mac implies " son of ; "
O, "descendant of." King Donall assumed the name of his
grandfather Niall, father of Murkertagh, and from him, in
direct descent, were the lords of Tir Owen, closing with
Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, who died in Rome, A.D. 1616, and
also the younger branch of O'Neills of Clanaboy.

The Danes, during this period of their domination, were
almost universally Pagans, and delighted in exhibiting their
contempt for the sacred things of the Christian religion. Thus
it is recorded of Auda, wife of Turgesius, that she made the
Iiigh altar at Clonmacnoise her seat of state for receiving her
courtiers. It is surmised, with some show of probability,
that Turgesius is the Regner Lodbrog of Norse tradition •
and the profaner of Clonmacnoise, that Aslauga to whom he
addressed one of the stanzas of his Death-song, when about
to be cast into the lake which, in the Scandinavian legend,
is supposed to be full of serpents : —

' We have fought with our swords — hurrah 1

How our sons would all be storming,
Aslauga! how they'd roar to-day,

Could they see their sire's deforming !
For, through and through, the serpent blue

Must gnaw me here, 'mong strangers ;~
But I've given my sons a mother, who

Will rear me meet avengers."

THE DANISH PERIOD. 285

The museums of Denmark are now full of objects of rich
and characteristic Celtic, workmanship, drawn from the
sepulchral tumuli of Jutland and Holstein, many of which
were, no doubt, carried off from the shores of Ireland during
this period.

We have alluded to the monastic treasury so attractive to
the cupidity of the pagan Danes. Although many of them
were thus destroyed, and others carried off, yet those which
still remain to us in situ, and those which may be inspected
in our museums and libraries, evince the fine instinct for art
which characterized the Irish in early times. In metal work
they seem to have attained complete mastery of material.
Brooches of delicate workmanship, book covers encrusted
with gems and enamel, croziers elaborately wrought which
encased the walking sticks of venerated saints, shrines for
their bells and for their relics, abound in our museums.
So numerous were the shrines, that Dr. Petrie has observed
of them, " It would appear from the number of references to
shrines in the Irish annals, that previously to the irruption
of the Northmen in the eighth and ninth centuries, there
were few, if any, of the distinguished churches in Ireland
which had not costly shrines."

To a somewhat later period belong the beautiful Ardagh
chalice, and the processional Cross of Cong, made, probably
in 1123, to enshrine a fragment of the true cross presented
to King Turlogh O'Conor. Round the cross itself is engraved
a prayer for the King, for the Bishop, and for the Artificer
by whom it was fashioned.

Of the stone work of early Christian times, Ireland
still possesses forty-five richly sculptured high crosses, and

286 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

upwards of two hundred decorated tombstones. Its Round
Towers numbered at the beginning of this century 118.
Of these 76 are extanct. Among its architectural ruins
prior to the English Invasion, we may name as a lovely
specimen of Irish Romanesque, Cormac's Chapel on the
Rock of Cashel, erected in the twelfth century by Cormac
MacCarthy.

The Illuminated MSS. penned by her scribes, are the
glory of Celtic Art. These are found all over Europe ; for,
wherever the Irish missionaries wandered, they carried their
skilled workmanship with them. For penmanship, for
exquisite fancy in design, and delicate feeling for colour,
these are unsurpassed. The Book of Kells, now in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is admittedly the most
beautiful MS. of Western Europe.

We have in the Book of Deer — a MS. discovered not many
years ago in the University Library at Cambridge, by a
distinguished scholar, the late Henry Bradshaw, and edited
in 1869, by the eminent Scottish Antiquary, the late Dr.
John Stuart — an interesting specimen of the written language
of the Colurnban Church. This early MS. records the gift
to Saint Columba of the Cathair or fort in the district of
Buchan (North Eastern Aberdeenshire) bestowed on the
Saint by the Mormaer of Buchan, and assigned by Columba
to his disciple Drostan for his monastic foundation. Columba
blessed it. " Drostan's tears came on parting with Colum-
cille. Said Columcille, 'Let Deer be its name henceforward.'"
This MS. which belonged to the Columban Church at Deer,
contains portions of the gospels ; the Apostles' Creed ; a
fragment of the office for the visitation of the sick written

THE DANISH PERIOD. . 287

in Latin with Irish rubrics ; and on the blank pages notices
in Gaelic, "unquestionably identic with the written Irish of
the period," which relate the circumstances of the foundation
of the church, and recount its privileges and grants of land
made to the monastery. Dr. Joseph Anderson recapitulates
as follows, the information derived from the Book of Deer :

"It tells us the circumstances in which St. Columba
founded the monastery of Deer, and left his nephew Drostan
in charge of the newly established community. It shows us
the civil condition of the Celtic population, divided into
clans, and recognising the authority of the mormaer as
representing the king, the toisech as the clan chief, and the
brehon or judge . . . Besides all this it discloses something
of the culture that existed in that remote district nearly ten
centuries ago. It tells us that the clerics of Deer still fol-
lowed the example of their first founder, who was famed as
a diligent scribe. It shows us that, besides being expert
caligraphists, having some skill in painting and illumination,
they were educated men . . . This is not much to say
of them, but it is a great deal more than we have it in our
power to say of any other community or institution from
similar evidence, if we except the parent community of lona
itself ... So slowly," adds Mr. Anderson, " do we awaken
to the special interest of the antiquities of our own country
that it is only of recent years, when Assyria, Egypt, Greece,
and Rome, have been well ransacked, that attention has
begun to be directed to the great storehouse of national
history and native art that exists almost unutilized in the
early monumenta of our ancestors."

TO the repeated incursions of the Danes during this period

288 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

which we have called by their name, may also be ascribed
the ruin of the monastic establishment at lona, which, from
the days of its foundation by Columba, A.D. 563, to the death
of Adamnan 704, had been so flourishing. The endeavours
of the ninth abbot to introduce the Roman custom of
Easter had led to schism at lona, and rival abbots for a
time claimed rule in the Columban community.

Breasal elected abbot in 772, held undisputed sway for
thirty years, and kings and princes went on pilgrimage to
lona and died there during his tenure of power. But before
its close the pagan nations from the North had discovered
the treasures of lona and the helplessness of the monks. In
794 the Danes made their first descent, and year after year
these pirates swooped down, burning, slaughtering, and
despoiling the defenceless community.

The successors of Breasal — who had died 80 1 — were
still more unfortunate. Connachtach, " a select scribe and
abbot of lona," saw the monastic buildings burned by the
Danes. These had been constructed of wood and were so
utterly destroyed in the time of the next abbot Cellach, that
he determined to remove from lona to Kells in Ireland.
Here, in the county of Meath a stone-built Columban house
was erected, and Cellach having completed his church,
resigned his charge, and Diarmaid was ordained in his
place. The mortal remains of the founder of the Family of*
lona were conveyed to Ireland, and enshrined; and in 807,
when the Book of Armagh—*. MS. ascribed to that date
and now in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin — was
written, were preserved in the Church of Saint Patrick in
the county of Pown, These shrines, generally encased

THE DANISH PERIOD. 289

with gold and richly decorated, were easily moved from
place to place when required. In 818, Diarmait, returning
to lona, brought back with him the shrine which contained
the relics of St. Columba. The monastic buildings there
had been renewed in stone, but in a less unprotected site, and
the presence of the Saint's body made the spot selected
sacred in the eyes of the community, and conferred all the
privileges belonging to a mother church.

Seven years later, a pilgrim from Ireland, of royal race,
Blathmac — whose name signified " beautiful son," found
himself at lona when the Danes, again in search of spoil,
made a descent on the island. The monks hastily dug a
grave for the shrine of Columba, and covered it with sods.
Blathmac exhorted the brethren : " Ye, O companions, seek
within your own minds whether it be your determination to
endure with me the coming fate, for the name of Christ.
Whoever of you can face it, I pray you arm yourselves with
courage ; but those who are weak at heart and panic-struck,
should hasten their flight, that they may avoid the obvious
danger, arming their hands for better vows. Before us
stands the imminent trial of certain death. May a firm
faith keep us prepared for future events ; may the careful
guardian of the flying protect those less strong."

The martyrdom of St. Blathmac — for he was murdered
by the Danes while concealing the shrine — occurred in 825.
" The rest of the brethren lay commending their souls with
prayers and tears, when, behold, the cursed bands rushed
raging through the unprotected houses, threatening death to
those blessed men, and, furious with rage, the rest of the

brethren being slain, came to the holy father, urging him to

U

2QO THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

give up the precious metals which enclosed the sacred bones
of Saint Colurnba ; . . . but the holy man stood firm with
unarmed hand, by a stern determination of the mind taught
to resist battle and to challenge encounter, unaccustomed to
yield. . . And so Blathmac attained his desire, and was
made ' a martyr for the name of Christ.' "

In 850 Kenneth MacAlpin — King — not of the Picts, nor
of the Scots, merely, but of Scotland, built a church at
Dunkeld and removed thither the relics of St. Columba.
The primacy of lona had been transferred to Kells, and
Kenneth in taking the shrine of Columba to Dunkeld,
thereby constituted it an Annoid or mother church over the
Columbans in Scotland, and made its abbot Bishop of
Fortrenn, and as such recognised head of the Church in
Pictland. Abernethy, also in Perthshire, refounded by St-
Columba in the sixth century, was restored by King Kenneth
MacAlpin to the Irish clergy, and to this time we may
with probability ascribe the erection of its Round Tower.
Kenneth's son and successor, Constantine, seems to have
transferred the bishopric from Dunkeld to Abernethy — which
was again, in 908, transferred to St. Andrews.

We find the relics of St. Columba again in Ireland in 878,
and lona ravaged by Vikings from Norway. Flann, the son
of Maelduin — whose death is recorded 891, is said to have
been the last abbot of lona, who was a descendant of
Conall Gulban, that son of Niall of the Nine Hostages,
whose line had produced so many distinguished saints and
missionaries.

We may note briefly that when Tona, as one of the Western
Isles, fell under the sway of the Scottish monarchs, Saint

THE DANISH PERIOD. 2QI

Margaret, Saxon queen of Malcolm Ceannmor, who, on the
defeat and death of Macbeth, 1057, succeeded to the throne
of his father Duncan, "restored the monastery of lona,
which Columba, the servant of Christ, erected in the time of
Brude, King of the Picts."

Malcolm subsequently ceded the Western Isles, including
lona, to the Norwegians. In 1099 is recorded the death of
Donnchad, grandson of Moenaig, the last of the old abbots
of lona.

" The causes which combined to bring the old Celtic
Church to an end," writes Mr. Skene, "may be classed
under two heads — internal decay and external change.
Under the first head the chief cause was the encroachment
of the secular element upon the ecclesiastical, and the
gradual absorption of the latter by the former. As long as
the old monastic system remained intact there was a vitality
in its ecclesiastical organization which to a great extent
preserved the essential character of these monasteries as
great ecclesiastical foundations ; but this was to some extent
impaired by the assimilation of the Church to that of Rome
in the seventh and eighth centuries, which introduced a
secular element among her clergy ; and the Danish invasions,
with all their devastating and destructive consequences,
completed the total disorganization of the Monastic Church.
The monasteries were repeatedly laid waste and destroyed,
and her clergy had either to fly or to take up arms in self-
defence ; her lands, with their ruined buildings and reduced
establishment, fell into the hands of laymen, and became
hereditary in their families ; until at last nothing was left
but the mere name of abbacy applied to the lands, and of

2 p 2 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

abbot borne by the secular lord for the time. The external
change produced in the Church was the result of the policy
adopted towards it by the kings of the race of Queen
Margaret. It was in the main the same policy as that adopted
towards Ireland by the Norman kings of England. It
mainly consisted, first, in placing the Church upon a territo-
rial in place of a tribal basis, and substituting the parochial
system and a diocesan episcopacy for the old tribal churches
with their monastic jurisdiction and functional episcopacy ;
secondly, of introducing the religious orders of the Church
of Rome, and founding great monasteries as centres of
counter-influence to the native Church ; and, thirdly, in
absorbing the Culdees, now the only clerical element left in
the Celtic Church, into the Roman system, by converting
them from secular into regular canons, and merging them in
the latter order."

Hardly a vestige now remains of the monastic buildings
of the Columban community on the soil of that "illustrious"
Island. The existing ruins are those of the Benedictine
abbey and nunnery introduced into lona in 1203, by the
Lord of the Isles. But local memorials remain in the
fountains which bear the names of saintly men, the fairs yet
held on their " days ; " the old burying places, with fragments
of Celtic crosses, still preferred by the people for their last
resting places, and families holding at the present time some
small portion of lands " as hereditary custodians of the
pastoral staff or other relic '' of the Irish missionaries who
in the sixth century settled on this little island, and made
lona the "luminary of the Caledonian regions."

UNIVERSITY

J

V OF \*/

/

THE

DANISH PERIOD.

293

TABLE OF THE KINGS

OF IRELAND DURING

THE DANISH

PERIOD.

Aedh Ornidhe of the line of Eremon

... A.D. 797

Conor

,, Eremon

819

Niall Caille

,, Eremon

833

Maelsechlainn

,, Eremon

846

Aedh Finn-Liath

,, Eremon

863

Flan Sinna

,, Eremon

879

Niall Glun-dubh

,, Eremon

916

Donncadh

, Eremon

919

Congal

., Eremon

944

Domnall O'Neill

,. Eremon

956

294 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

CHAPTER IX.

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD.
FROM MALACHY II., A.D. 980, TO THE DEATH OF BRIAN BORU, 1014.

Reign of Malachy II.- Defeats the Danes at Tara, and at Dublin —
His proclamation— Rivalry with Brian Boru— Rise of the Dalcassian
tribe under the leadership of the sons of Kennedy — Struggles of
Mahon and Brian with the Danes — Interview of these princes —
Assembly of the Dal-Gais — Battle of Sulcoit — Sack of Limerick —
Song of triumph for Mahon — His murder — Brian avenges his death
— Rules Munster from Kincora — Battle of Glenmama — Alliances
of Brian — Aspires to the sovereignty — Malachy deserted by the
Northern princes — Submits to Brian — Generous conduct of the
rivals — Administrative genius of Brian — His magnificence — Mael-
murra, King of Leinster, insulted at Kincora— Conspires with the
Danes — Battle of Clontarf— Brian's army— Chivalrous conduct of
the deposed King Malachy — Muster of the Northmen at Clontarf—
Brian's address to his army — Encounter between Plait and Domnall
— Interview between Murrogh, son of Brian, and Donogh O'Har-
tigan — Conflict of Murrogh and Anrud — Death of Murrogh — His
son Turloch drowned — King Brian in his tent — Is killed by Brodar
— Chronological Table.

MALACHY II., who ascended the throne in 980, in the com-
mencement of his reign exhibited vigour and ability. He
defeated the Danes at Tara, and again at Dublin. The attack
on the city lasted for three days, and the siege of the castle for
twenty days, "so that they (the Danes) drank no water during
that time but the brine." He carried thence two thousand
hostages, jewels, and other valuables, and freed the country

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 295

from tribute and taxation from the Shannon to the sea. Hi>
proclamation was as follows : — " Every one of the Gaeidhil
(Gael) who is in the territory of the foreigners, in servitude
and bondage, let him go to his own territory in peace and
happiness." It was in these contests that Malachy carried
off "the collar of gold, which he won from the proud
invader."

Unhappily all the wars of this king were not waged with
the foreign foe. A powerful rival to Malachy had appeared in
the person of Brian Bom, son of Kennedy, son of Lorcan,
of the Dalcassian tribe, now rising to great power and im-
portance in Munster. Malachy, alarmed and jealous of the
Dal-Gais,* ravaged Clare, and uprooted the "great tree of
Magh Adair," under which the kings of Thomond had been
inaugurated from time immemorial. This outrage did not
pass unavenged.

A long succession of able and vigorous princes, des-
cended from King Niall of the Nine Hostages, had secured
for this northern clan the sovereignty of Ireland. They
had eclipsed the fame of the Munster families descended
from Ollioll Olum. The will of this great ruler of Lea
Moha — as the southern half of the island was called — had
vested the succession alternately in the descendants of his
sons, Owen and Cormac Gas. At the period at which we
have arrived the Dalcassian tribe, representatives of Cormac
Cas, were emerging from comparative obscurity, under the
leadership of the sons of Kennedy, Mahon, and Brian,
princes of vigour and genius.

* Dal-g'Cais, that is, the Tribe of Cas.

296 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

"There were then governing and ruling that tribe," writes
the contemporary chronicler, " two stout, able, valiant
pillars — two fierce, lacerating, magnificent heroes — two
gates of battle, two poles of combat, two spreading trees oi
shelter, two spears of victory and readiness of hospitality
and munificence of heart, and strength of friendship and
liveliness, the most eminent of the west of Europe, viz.,
Mathgamhain (Mahon),and Brian, the two sons of Cennidigh
(Kennedy), son of Lorcan," etc., etc.

These chieftains, like Alfred of England — with whose
story theirs has many points of resemblance — were trained
in the school of adversity. The Danes had firmly riveted
their chains on Munster. Limerick and Waterford were
strongholds of the hated foreigner. As in England in the
time of Alfred, it seemed hopeless to attempt to dislodge the
Northmen, " because of the greatness of their achievements,
and of their deeds, their bravery, and their valour, their
strength, and their venom, and their ferocity ; and becaase
of the excess of their thirst and their hunger for the brave,
fruitful, nobly-inhabited, cataract-abounding, rivery, bayey,
pure, smooth-plained, sweet-grassy land of Erinn."

But it was not "honourable to the mind, or to the courage,
or to the nature," of the tribe of the Dal-Gais, *' those ani-
mated, high-minded ones, who never brooked injustice or
tyranny from any king of the kings of Erinn ; and not only
that, but who never gave them pledges or hostages in token
of obedience; to submit of their own accord to cruel
slavery from Danars, and from fierce, hard-hearted pirates."
Accordingly the Dalcassians, from the fastnesses and forests
into which they were driven, ceased not to carry on a

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 297

guerilla warfare. But the strength of the Northmen became
so overpowering, that most of the Munster princes — Mahon
among the number — submitted to the Danish domination.

It was not so with Brian. " He was not willing to make
peace with the foreigners, because, however small the injury
he might be able to do to the foreigners, he preferred it to
peace. ... It is not easy to enumerate or tell all that Brian
killed of the foreigners of that garrison in twos, and in
threes, and in fives, and in scores, and in hundreds ; or the
number of conflicts and combats that he frequently and
constantly gave them. Great, on the other hand, were the
hardship and the ruin, the bad food and bad bedding which
they inflicted on him in the wild huts of the desert, on the
hard, knotty wet roots of his own native country ; whilst they
killed his people and his trusty officers and his comrades-
sorrowful, dispirited, wretched, unpitied, weary. For his-
torians say the foreigners cut off his people, so that he had
at last no more than fifteen followers."

His brother, Mahon, became alarmed for Brian's safety.
He visited him secretly, and mourned with Brian ovei
the loss of their brave clansmen. Brian, on his side, ten-
derly reproached Mahon for his submission to the Danes,
a subjection which their father, Kennedy, or their grandfather,
Lorcan, would never have brooked. The chronicler, who is
supposed, with seeming probability, to have been MacLiag,
the bard of Brian, thus describes the conference between the
brothers, and the decision of the whole clan, on the momen-
tous question submitted to them — of peace or war with the
powerful foe.

Mahon said that he " had not the power to meet the

2q$ THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

foreigners, because of the greatness of their followers, and
the number of their army, and the greatness of their cham-
pions, and the excellence of their corslets, and of their
swords, and their other arms in general. And he said, also,
that he would not like to leave the Dal Gais dead in follow-
ing him, as he (Brian) had left the most of his people.

" Brian said that was not a right thing for him (Mahon)
to say, because it was hereditary for him to die, and here-
ditary for all the Dal Gais ; for their fathers and grandfathers
had died, and death was certain to come upon themselves ;
but it was not natural or hereditary to them to submit to
insult or contempt, because their fathers or their grand-
fathers submitted not to it from any one on earth. He said,
also, that it was no honour to their courage to abandon,
without battle or conflict, to dark foreigners, and black grim
Gentiles, the inheritance which their fathers and grandfathers
had defended in battle and conflicts against the chiefs of
the Gaedhil (Gael).

" After this, all the Dal Gais were convened to one
appointed place before Mathgamhain (Mahon) ; and he
asked them what decision they wished to come to, namely,
whether they would have peace or war with the foreigners,
and with the Danars. Then they all answered, both old
young, that they preferred meeting violent death and des-
truction and annihilation, in defending the freedom of their
patrimony, and of their race, rather than submit to the
tyranny and oppression of the pirates, or abandon their
country and their lands to them. And this was the voice of
hundreds, as the voice of one man."

But before they resumed hostilities, their chief proposed

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD 299

#> the Dal Gais to return from their then seats in Clare and
Limerick, in which they appear to have been, themselves,
invaders, to Cashel, the head-quarters of their race. He
said, " That it was better and more righteous to do battle
and combat for their inheritance, and for their native
right, than for land acquired by conquest and the sword."

The Danes of Limerick mustered their forces, with a
contingent of the subject Irish of Munster. Their king,
Ivar, " whose spite was little short of death to him," deter-
mined to extirpate the clansmen of Mahon and Brian, and
so to ravage and depopulate the Dal Gais " that there
should not be left of them a man to guide a horse's head
over a channel, an abbot, or venerable person, who should
not be murdered and put to death, or brought under tribute
and subjection to the foreigners like all others."

The warriors of the Dal Gais and the troops of Ivar met
at Sulcoit, near the present town of Tipperary, A.D. 968.
It was a decisive battle; "bloody, crimsoned, violent, rough,
unsparing, implacable." It lasted from sunrise till mid-day,
and resulted in the utter defeat of the Danes. The foreigners
" were at length routed, and they fled to the ditches, and to
the valleys, and to the solitudes of that great sweet-flowery
plain."

Limerick fell into the hands of the victors. Mahon
divided the spoil among his clansmen, "according to
persons and rights, according to accomplishments and fair
performances, according to bravery and valour."

We obtain an insight into the wealth and trade of the
Danes of Ireland from the enumeration of the spoils of
Limerick. "They carried off their jewels and their best

300 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

property, and their saddles beautiful and foreign ; their gold
and their silver ; their beautifully-woven cloth of all colours
and of all kinds ; their satins and silken cloth, pleasing and
variegated, both scarlet and green, and all sorts of cloths in
like manner. They carried away their soft, youthful, bright,
matchless girls, their blooming silk-clad young women, and
their active, large, and well-formed boys."

A Gaelic song of triumph, a paean for Mahon, thus
concludes : —

" Luimnech (Limerick) was totally ravaged by thee :
Thou didst carry away their gold and their silver ;
Thou didst plunder their fort at that time ;
Thou didst surround it with a wall of fire.

For Mumhain (Munster) hast thou well contended,
O Mathgamhain ! thou great chief !
Thou hast given, O king, a stern defeat,
To banish the foreigners from Erinn.

King of Mumhain methinks thou art,
High king of Caisel (Cashel) renowned : —
Bestow gold on those who merit,
They are many, O Mathgamhain ! "

Mahon did not long survive the victory of Sulcoit. He
was treacherously murdered by Donovan and Mulloy, sons
of the rulers of South Munster, instigated by the Danish
king of Limerick. Jealousy of the growing power of Thomond
was the actuating motive with these scions of the Eugenian
line. Their mode of carrying their treachery into effect was
base in the extreme. Donovan invited Mahon to a banquet,
and finding that the chieftain of the Dal Gais hesitated

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 3OI

to comply, obtained for him a guarantee of safety from the
bishop of Cork and others of the Munster clergy. Thus
assured, Mahon accepted his invitation. His person was
seized and delivered up to a body of troops who lay in
wait.

" Mulloy had ordered his people, when they should get
Mahon into their hands, to despatch him at once ; and this
order was obeyed. A bright and sharp sword was plunged
into his heart, and his blood stained St. Barry's Gospel,
which he held to his breast to protect himself by its sanctity.
When, however, he perceived the naked sword extended
to strike him, he cast the gospel in the direction of the
clergy, who were on an adjacent hillock, and it struck the
breast of one of the priests of Cork ; and those who were
looking on assert that he sent it the distance of a bow-shot
from the one hillock to the other."

When Mulloy, who was within sight of this tragic scene,
observed the flashing of the sword raised to strike the
victim, he understood that the bloody deed was done, and
mounted his horse to depart. One of the clergy who knew
Mulloy, asked him what was to be done. Mulloy replied,
with sardonic sneer, " cure that man if he come to thee,"
and then took his departure. The priest became wroth,
and, cursing him bitterly, predicted that he would come to
an evil end. " Mulloy MacBran was the chief instigator of
this deed ; but it were better for him he had not accom-
plished it, for it afterwards caused him bitter woe and
affliction." When the news of it reached Brian and the
Dal Gais they were overwhelmed with grief; and Brian
vented his grief and rage in an extemporaneous effusion,

302 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

which the chronicler gives in the form of a poem, lamenting
that his brother had not fallen in battle behind the shelter
of his shield before he had relied on the treacherous word
of Donovan. He concludes thus : —

" My heart will burst within my breast
Unless I avenge this great king;
They shall forfeit life for this foul deed,
Or I shall perish by a violent death."

Brian accomplished his revenge. He attacked the Danes
of Limerick, and slew their king, Ivar, who had plotted
against his brother ; and put Ivar's sons also to the sword.
He then turned his victorious arms with like success against
Donovan. Mulloy had previously fallen by the hand of
Murrogh, eldest son of Brian, in conflict at the ford of
Bealach-Leachta. The young prince desired to avenge
with his own hand his uncle Mahon's murder. Brian Born
was now undisputed king of Munster, and fixed his royal
seat at Kincora, not far from the falls of the Shannon at
Killaloe.

Brian's personal rivalry with Malachy did not prevent his
joining the Ard-Righ with his forces in a campaign against
the Danes. The Northmen were defeated at Glen Mama,
near Dunlavin, in the county of Wicklow. Afterwards
Malachy and Brian entered Dublin in triumph, spent a
week in the Danish capital, burned the fortress, expelled
Sitric, and carried off immense spoil in gold, silver, and
prisoners.

This cordial co-operation with Malachy was not of long
continuance. The monarch was gallant, hospitable and

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 303

joyous in temperament; a fearless rider, delighting in a
mettlesome, unbroken steed ; open-handed in his generosity,
but lacking the statesmanlike qualities which distinguished
Brian. This clear-sighted, resolute man had, by the glory
of his achievements and the policy of his alliances, under-
mined the authority of King Malachy. Brian had married,
in succession, daughters of the powerful Connaught clans
of O'Heyne and O'Connor, and thirdly Gormley, sister of
Maelmurra, king of Leinster, who had been previously the
wife of Anlaf, the Danish king of Dublin, and was after-
wards wife of Malachy II. He had a numerous family, for
whom he made alliances which extended his influence.
The daughter of Earl Godwin of Kent became the wife of
one of his sons. His own daughters were married, one to
Sitric, "Silk-Beard," son of Gormley by her former husband,
Danish king of Dublin, and another to a Scottish prince.
His eldest son, Murrogh, was a distinguished man, and
father to a promising boy; and five younger scions gave
stability to this branch of the Dalcassian line.

Brian, deeming himself now strong enough to aspire to
the monarchy, soon after the battle of Glen Mama, marched
on Tara, at the head of the Munster clans, and challenged
Malachy to open battle, or to give hostages in acknowledg-
ment of Brian's supremacy. Malachy, unprepared for
resistance, asked a respite of a month, that he might summon
the provincial chieftains to his aid, promising at the end of
that time either to stake his sovereignty on the event of
battle, or to resign it into the hands of Brian. He stipu-
lated that in the interval Brian snould not devastate Meath.
The Munster hero agreed to these terms.

304 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Malachy, who was himself a prince of the South Hy-Niall
line, sent envoys to the Northern Hy-Niall princes, and to
the chieftains of Uladh and of Connaught, summoning them
to his aid, to fight against Brian. From Aedh O'Neill he
received a reply which indicated how little he had to expect
at the hands of these princes. " Whenever," said Aedh,
" Tara happened to be possessed by the Kinel Owen, they
were themselves wont to defend its rights, and sought no
other aid : therefore let him who holds it now stand up him-
self and fight for its freedom as best he may."

Malachy tried, with no better result, the effect of a per-
sonal interview with the proud chief of Aileach. Having
besought Aedh in vain, he tempted him by the offer of the
sovereignty for himself.

" If thou wilt not fight in defence of Tara for my sake,''
said Malachy, " defend it for thine own, and I shall give
thee hostages, as sureties for my leaving thee in the quiet
possession thereof ; for I prefer that thou shouldst hold it,
rather than Brian." This was a much more attractive pro-
position to the selfish Aedh O Neill. He summoned his
clan, and consulted them on the offers made to him by
Malachy. But they were not willing to encounter the
veterans of Brian. " It was their opinion that it was likely
that very many of them would never return from the war, in
case they should now march against the Dal Gais. For which
reason they declared that it was meet that they should first
acquire an inheritance for their children after them. " Be-
cause," said they, " it is idle to expect that any possessions
or any wealth will ever come to them from our return to our
homes, if we once march against that tribe, namely, the Dal

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 305

Gais, whose warriors are the hardiest and the bravest upon
all battle-fields. Their race has never yet fled before the
Lochlannaigh ; and it is as certain that it will not now flee
before us." Upon these grounds they came to the deter-
mination of demanding from Malachy the one-half of Meath,
together with the district around Tara, for a possession for
themselves and their posterity after them, as the reward of
their going with him upon the present expedition. This
proposal they made known to the monarch, who forthwith
returned home indignant and dissatisfied, and resolved to
reject the services of allies \vho coolly demanded the belter
part of his patrimony of Meath as the price of their
assistance.

Malachy took his resolution. Attended by two hundred
and forty horsemen only, he rode to Tara, and without
condition, surety, or hostage for his personal safety, entered
the presence of Brian. He frankly told him of his dilemma ;
announced that he would have done battle for his crown if
he could, but that, not being in a position to fight, he had
come to submit himself to his rival.

Brian was not to be outdone in generous confidence.
"As thou hast come thus to my dwelling," he said to
Malachy, " without surety or safeguard from me, I now grant
thee a further respite of one year, during which time I shall
demand neither homage nor hostages at thy hands. And in
the meantime I shall pay a personal visit to these northern
people, both Aedh O'Neill and Eochy, son of Ardgal, king
of Ulidia, in order that I may learn what kind of answer
they will make to me. And then, should they give me
battle, thou mayest help them against me if thou wilt."

306 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

The year elapsed ; Brian collected his forces ; demanded
hostages from the provincial kings, and from Malachy him-
self : they were given : the deposed monarch acknowledged
his rival as his sovereign, and Brian Boru became king of
all Ireland, A.D. 1002.

He was an able administrator. Roads, bridges, and other
works of public utility, — schools, churches, monasteries,
sprang up under his fostering care. He loved learning, and
encouraged it in others. He sent " professors and masters
to teach wisdom and knowledge ; and to buy books beyond
the sea." He compelled the submission of the Ulster chief-
tains, and carried some of them as hostages to Kincora.
He vi ited Armagh, and offered, on the altar of its church,
twenty ounces of gold. His name, inscribed in his presence,
may yet be read in its venerable manuscript, the Book of
Armagh. He made his temporary encampment, while in
that neighbourhood, on the rath of Emania. Of the tributes
he collected a third part was allotted to " the professors of
sciences and arts, and to every one who was most in need of
it." His hospitalities at Kincora were unbounded. The
tributes of the provinces, which supported these entertain-
ments, consisted annually of 800 cows and 800 hogs, from
Connaught ; 300 cows, 300 hogs, and 300 loads of iron, and
certain duty-timber, from Leinster; from Ulster, 500 cows,
500 hogs, and 60 loads of iron; while the Danes of Dublin
contributed 154 pipes of wine, and the Danes of Limerick
365 pipes of red wine. The southern clans were exempted
from all tribute. All his subjects were freed from the galling
yoke of slavery ; and the laws were so well administered that
the lady "rich and rare" in gems and beauty did not fear to

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 307

stray, secure that, though " lone and lovely," she might pass
through the length and the breadth of the land unharmed
and unmolested. From the time of Brian Boru we may
date the common use of surnames. The sept of O'Brien,
who are descended from this great king, have many dis-
tinguished representatives at the present day.

It was not to be expected that the Northmen, whose sway
in Ireland had been curtailed by Brian, should acquiesce
without a struggle in this loss of prestige. Their race had
at this period achieved great successes in England, France,
and the islands of Man, the Hebrides, and Orkneys. A
Danish dynasty was impending in England. The followers
of Rollo were firmly settled in Normandy; the Lord of the
Isles was a powerful ruler. The spark which kindled the
flames of war among this combustible material came from an
Irish hand. Maelmurra, king of Leinster, had received what
he deemed an insult at Kincora, at the hands of Murrogh,
son of Brian, who was playing chess with a companion.
Maelmurra counselled a move, which nettled the prince,
who remarked that it was no wonder that the Danes had
been beaten at Glen Mama, since they followed the advice
of so bad a strategist. " If I did give them counsel which
caused their defeat in that conflict," said Maelmurra, "I
shall now give them another counsel, whereby, in their turn,
they shall defeat you." — " Have the yew tree made ready,
then, for yourself," rejoined Murrogh, in taunting allusion
to Maelmurra's place of concealment, out of which he had
himself plucked the king of Leinster after the route at Glen
Mama. Maelmurra's sister Gormley had also previously
reproached him for being Brian's vassal, when he sought her

308 THE IRISH T.EFORE THE CONQUEST.

aid in replacing a silver button on a gold broidered silken
tunic which Brian had given him. The Leinster prince in
conveying three pine-masts to Kincora, had, on the ascent
of a boggy mountain, given his personal assistance in mov-
ing the timber, and in so doing had wrenched the button
from his tunic. Gormley, instead of repairing it, threw the
garment into the fire, uttering, as she did so, expressions of
disdain at the subserviency of Maelmurra. Stung by these
accumulated insults, Maelmurra hastily left Kincora, pro-
claiming his determination to seek redress in arms. Thus
the reproaches of a woman, and the thoughtless pleasantry
of a chess-player, kindled the flame of war throughout Ire-
land. The Leinster chieftain, who had all his life intrigued
with the foreigner, recommenced his machinations, and, in
obedience to his invitation, a host of northern foes assembled
in the Bay of Dublin, to contend for the soil of Erin on the
battle-field of Clontarf. Earl Sigurd of the Orkneys, with a
formidable fleet ; Carl Canuteson, prince of Denmark, with
an array of chosen warriors clad in armour; Brodar, a
redoubted champion, with levies from the Isle of Man ; con-
tingents from Scandinavia — all leagued with the treacherous
Maelmurra in this last and most terrible struggle of North-
man and Gael, of Pagan and Christian, on Irish soil.

Brian, now an aged man, once more assembled the Dal
Gais, and marched on Dublin. The main army rested on
the wood, which at that time clothed the bank of the little
River Tolka where it empties its waters into Dublin Bay.
A detachment had been sent off under command of his son
Donogh, to ravage Leinster. With wonderful fidelity, the
deposed King Malachy had joined Brian, with the forces of

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 309

Meathj Tiege O' Kelly, chief of Hy-Many, was also present
with the Connaught contingent ; while the Munster troops,
which formed the flower of Brian's1 army, were under the
command of his eldest son, the heroic Murrogh. The
arrival of the Hy-Manians was a welcome spectacle.

" Brian looked out behind him, and beheld the battle
phalanx, compact, huge, disciplined, moving in silence,
mutely, bravely, haughtily, unitedly, with one mind, travers-
ing the plain towards them, and threescore and ten banners
over them, of red, and of yellow, and of green, and of all
kinds of colours." It was a proud moment. Great issues
hung in the balance. It was sure to be a conflict to the
death, for the foes were "valiant, active, fierce-moving,
dangerous," and were armed with "heavy, hard striking,
strong, powerful, stout swords."

The northern reach of the Bay of Dublin, from the
estuary of the Tolka, where at that time stood the Fishing-
weir of Clontarf, extending towards the Hill of Howth,
washes the crescent-shaped sands which formed one
boundary of the battle-field. It is a gently-sloping plain. On
the landward side came the army of Brian in three divisions.

On the shore were drawn up the Danish army, protected
by their ships. They also were in three divisions.

Good Friday, the 23rd of April, 1014, was the eventful
day. Brian would gladly have postponed the conflict,
unwilling to make that solemn anniversary a day of carnage
and strife. But the Danes, inspired by a prediction that on
any other day but Friday they would all assuredly perish —
influenced also by the fact that the king's son Donogh was
absent with a large detachment of the Irish army — deter-

3IQ THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

mined to force on the engagement. The Danish and
Leinster forces mustered about 20,000 men. The Irish
army under Brian is also estimated at 20,000. The first
division of the foreigners consisted of the Danes of Dublin,
under Sitric and Dolat and Conmael, with a band of foreign
auxiliaries commanded by Carl and Anrud. Of these
Northmen one thousand were in complete suits of armour.
These were opposed to the first division of the Irish army,
consisting of the Dalcassian troops under the command of
Murrogh, eldest son of Brian. Turlogh, the young son of
Murrogh, though only in his fifteenth year, fought bravely,
and died in battle, as became one of his heroic race ; and
Teige, Donall, Conor and Flann, other sons of Brian,
followed the standard of Murrogh. In reserve were the
troops of Meath commanded by Malachy, for the discrowned
king had rallied his forces to the banner of his successful
rival. In the sacred cause of country he forgot private
animosities and personal wrongs.

" 'Twas a holy time when the kings, long foemen,

Fought, side by side, to uplift the serf;
Never triumphed in old time Greek or Roman
As Brian and Malachi at Clontarf.

* * * *
Praise to the king of ninety years,

Who rode round the battle-field, cross in hand ;
But the blessing of Eire and grateful tears

To him who fought under Brian's command !
A crown in heaven for the king who brake,

To staunch old discords, his royal wand,
Who spurn'd his throne for his people's sake —

Who served a rival and saved the land ! "*

* From Inisfail, by AUBREY DE VKKE.

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 3!:

The second division of the Irish army was led by Brian's
son-in-law, Kian, King of Desmond. He was as remarkable
for the dignity of his person as for his courage and bravery.
Kian " exceeded in stature and beauty all the other men of
Erinn." The Eugenian clans of South Munster followed his
banner, and found themselves opposed to the men of Leinster,
led by the recreant Maelmurra, aided by a band of Northmen.

The remaining Scandinavian contingents, principally from
the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Wales and
Britain, Norway and Denmark, composed the third division
of the foreign army. They were led by the renowned
Brodar, and by Sigurd, son of Lodar, the Orkney chief.
They were opposed by the third division of the Irish army,
comprising the Connaught levies under the leadership of
Tiege O'Kelly, Prince of Hy-Many, and Maelruine O'Heyne,
Lord of Hy-Fiachra-Aidhne. With these were some of the
Munster clans and a contingent from Scotland led by
Domhnall, Maormor, or High-steward of Mar. Thus it was
that the ancestor of the Royal Stewarts and the Gael of
Alba fought at Clontarf, in aid of their Irish kindred, under
the standard of Brian Born.

At daybreak on that memorable Friday the aged anc?
devout Brian appeared on horseback — his golden-hilted
sword in one hand, a crucifix in the other — at the head of
his troops to cheer and animate his army on the eve of
conflict. He reminded them of the cruel ravages of the
Northmen ; of their desecration of churches and monas-
teries ; of the tyranny under which his people had groaned,
and appealed to them as he raised the crucifix aloft, te Was
not Christ on this day crucified for you?" He desired to

312 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

lead them himself to the conflict, but, mindful of his great
age, they implored of him to abandon the idea, and leave to
younger men the brunt of battle. Brian retired to his tent.
From thence he watched the struggle : a series of hand-to-
hand fights : a determined contest between brave champions,
enduring from the time of high water in the morning until
high water in the evening. Though attended by fearful
loss of life on both sides, the combat was redeemed by
deeds of individual bravery and during and indomitable
courage. It was a more noble form of war than the distant
carnage of our own times, when a great engagement is
decided by artillery almost before the opposing forces have
sight of one another. The battle of Clontarf was a series
of duels. The first personal encounter was between Plait,
a Scandinavian warrior clothed in armour, and Domhnall, the
High-steward of Mar. They had challenged each other
the night before, and on the morning of the battle Plait
came forth " from the battalion of the men in armour, and
said three times, ' Faras Domhnall ? ' — that is, * Where is
Domhnall ? ' Domhnall answered and said, * Here, thou
reptile,' said he. They fought then, and each of them
endeavoured to slaughter the other ; and they fell by each
other, and the way that they fell was with 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 that pair
was the first of the battle."

Murrogh, son of Brian, led the van of the Irish army.
As the battalions were forming he " looked to one side, and
beheld approaching him, on his right side, alone, the
heroical, championlike, beautiful, strong, bounding, graceful,

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD, 313

erect, impetuous young hero, Ounlang O'Hartigan ; and
recognised him, and made three springs to meet him, and
he kissed him and welcomed him ; and ' O youth,'
said he, ' it is long until thou comest unto us, and
great must be the love and attachment of some woman
to thee which has induced thee to abandon me, and
to abandon Brian and Conaing and Donnchadh, and
the nobles of Dal Gais in like manner, and the delights
of Erinn until this day.' ' Alas, O king,' said Dunlang,
'the delight that I have abandoned for thee is greater,
if thou didst but know it, namely, life without death,
without cold, without thirst, without hunger, without decay,
beyond any delight of the delights of the earth to me until the
judgment and heaven after the judgment ; and if I had not
pledged my word to thee, I would not have come here ; and,
moreover, it is fated to me to die on the day thou shalt die.'

* Shall I receive death this day, then ? ' said Murchadh.

* Thou shalt receive it, indeed,' said Dunlang, 'and Brian
and Conaing shall receive it, and almost all the nobles of
Erinn, and Toirdhelbach (Turlogh), thy son.' " Dunlang
O'Hartigan had learned this gloomy intelligence from the
guardian sprite of the O'Briens. This Banshee — Aibhell of
Craig Liath — had prepared King Brian also to meet his doom.

Murrogh, though he doubtless shared in the superstition
of his age — and this particular form of superstition is not
yet extinct in Ireland — was by no means depressed or dis-
couraged. He was prepared to meet his mysterious doom,
and was not appalled at death in any aspect. He had cut
down successively two Danish standard-bearers, when he
encountered the Norwegian leader, Anrud. His right arm

3r4 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

was well-nigh powerless from fatigue, but he seized the
prince in the grasp of his yet vigorous left hand. He
shook him so violently that his armour of mail fell from
him as Murrogh hurled him to the earth, and, placing the
point of his sword on the prostrate Northman, he stooped
over Anrud to bring home the death-wound by the weight
of his body on his sword-hilt. As Anrud writhed in the
agonies of death, he seized the dagger which hung by his
ibeman's side and buried it in the heart of Murrogh. Thus
died the eldest son of King Brian, the chief captain of the
Irish in the battle of Clontarf. His young gallant son,
Turlogh, was found drowned in the rising waters of the Tolka,
impaled on one of the weir-stakes, his hands grasping the locks
of two Danes, with whom he had grappled in deadly conflict.
The Connaught chieftains, too, won the renown of valour-
Teige of Hy-Many, and Maelruine of Hy-Fiachra-Aidhne>
both perished on the battle-field, and their gallant clansmen
were decimated, though victorious. Ere nightfall the Danes
were in full retreat, closely pursued by the remnant of the
Irish forces. The combatants had gradually drifted west-
wards, impelled in that direction by the returning tide.
Thus the tent of the king was left undefended, and, indeed,
unthought of. Here Brian had remained throughout the
day, with one attendant only, watching the ever-varying
tide of battle, or engaged in prayer.

While this " spirited, fierce, violent, vengeful, and furious "
battle was waging, the aged king, kneeling on his cushion in
his tent, asked his attendant what was then the condition of
Murrogh's standard. "It is standing," was the reply, "and
many of the Dal Gais are around it : and many heads arc

THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 315

falling around it, and a multitude of trophies and spoils,
with heads of foreigners are along with it."

Brian resumed his prayers, and then again asked his
attendant for tidings of the battalions. "There is not
living on earth one who could distinguish one of them from
the other. For the greater part of the hosts at either side
are fallen, and those who are alive are so covered with
spatterings of the crimson blood — head, body, and vesture •--
that a father could not know his son from any other of them,
so confounded are they."

Brian's cushion was again spread for him ; and again,
after another interval of prayer, he demands, " How goes
it with the battalions ? "— * They appear to me,1 said the
attendant, ' the same as if the wood of Coil Tomar ' (the
wood along the banks of the Tolka) ' were on fire, and that
seven companies had been hewing away its underwood and
its young shoots for a month, leaving its stately trees and
its immense oaks standing. In such manner are the armies
on either side, after the greater part of them have fallen,
leaving a few brave men and valiant heroes only standing.
And their further condition (he said) is, that they are
wounded and dismembered, and disorganized all around,
like the grindings of a r.iill turning the wrong way ; and the
foreigners are now defeated, and the standard of Murrogh
has fallen." — " Sad is this news," said Brian ; " the honour
i-jid valour of Erin fell when that standard fell."

While Brian and his attendant held this colloquy, a party
of the foe, in their retreat passed by the tent thus left
isolated and unprotected. They were led by the Viking
Urodar, who is described in the Norse S;iga as one " who

316 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

had been a Christian man, and a mass-deacon by consecra-
tion, but he had thrown off his faith and become God's
dastard, and now worshipped heathen fiends, and he was
of all men most skilled in sorcery. He had that coat of
mail on which no steel would bite. He was both tall and
strong, and had such long locks that he tucked them under
his belt. His hair was black." One of Brodar's companions
who observed Brian at prayer, pointed to the tent and said,
" Priest, Priest." " No," rejoined the Viking, who recognised
the monarch, " King, King." He turned aside, and entered
the tent of Brian. Its only occupants were the aged king and
his youthful attendant. The monarch had time to grasp his
arms ere he fell in conflict. Brodar issued from the tent.
He waved aloft his reeking double-headed battle-axe. " Let
man tell man," he exclaimed, " that Brodar felled Brian."

So died Brian Boru. Of his six gallant sons but two
survived Clontarf. On that glorious, but to them fatal
uattle field, the noblest blood of his clan was freely shed
" for the love of Fatherland."

" Long his loss shall Erin weep,

Ne'er again his likeness see :
Long her strains in sorrow steep,
Strains of immortality."*

So sang, in the Norse tongue, even the foes of Brian.

TABLE OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND DURING THE DALCASSIA?
PERIOD. A.D.

Maelscchlainn Mor of the race of Eremor. 980

Brian Boromha ,, Eber ... ... 1002

Maelsechlainn Mor (restored) ,, Eremon ... .». 1014

* From GRAY'S version of The Fatal Siiiers, from the Noise Saga of
Burnt Nial.

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 317

CHAPTER X.

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST.

King Brian and his son Murrogh interred at Armagh — Retreat of the
Dal-Gais — The Eugenian tribes separate from the Dal-Gais — The
men of Ossory demand hostages— Heroic conduct of the wounded
Dalcassians— The men of Ossory afraid to attack them— The remnant
of the Dal-Gais reach Kincora— Results of the Battle of Clontarf—
Malachy II. reascends the throne— Donogh O'Brien— Flaherty
O'Neill — Makes a pilgrimage to Rome — Rise of the Leinster family
of MacMurrogh— Turlogh O'Brien deposes his uncle Donogh, who
retires to Rome and dies there— Turlogh sends Irish oak to King
William Rufus— Murkertach Mor O'Brien— Rise of the family of
O'Conor in Connaught— Laxity of ecclesiastical dicipline — Synods
held by Celsus, Gillibert, and St. Malachy — Malachy's conversations
with Pope Innocent II. about the state of Ireland— Pope Adrian IV.
an Englishman — His Bull authorizing the invasion of Ireland by an
English King — Henry Planlagenet unable at the time to avail him-
self of the donation — Abduction of Dervorgilla by Dermid MacMur-
rogh, King of Leinster— He is deposed—Seeks the protection of
King Henry II., who gives him letters of aid — Richard de Clare,
Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow), embraces his cause — The sons and
grandsons of the beautiful Nesta— Henry FitzHenry— Meyler
FitzHenry — FitzGerald — FitzStephen — FitzBernard — De Barry—
Giraldus Cambrensis — His description of Dermid MacMurrogh —
Effects of the Conquest.

THE mortal remains of Brian and his son Murrogh were
conveyed by the monks of Swords to Armagh, and interrec1
with much pomp in the cathedral of that city. Turlogh, the
son of Murrogh, had been drowned in the weir at the estuary
of the Tolka, his hands clutching the hair of a Dane in
whose grasp the young hero and his foe had perished, for

318 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

at Clontarf victors and vanquished had been urged westward
by the in-coming tide. The shattered remnant of Brian's
tribe, under the leadership of the hero's son, Donogh,
retired towards Munster. On the march Kian, king of
Desmond, demanded hostages — equivalent to homage—-
from the Dal-Gais, in conformity with that law of Ollioll
Olum, which conferred the chieftainship alternately on the
Eugenian and Dalcassian tribes. Donogh O'Brien refused ;
and the Desmond contingent separated from the remnant
of the warriors of Kincora.

Thus reduced in number, and encumbered by their
wounded, the gallant tribe who had borne the brunt of battle
at Clontarf, found themselves opposed on their homeward
march by the men of Ossory, who took this opportunity of
freeing themselves from the yoke of subjection imposed on
them by Brian Boru. The envoys of Ossory demanded
hostages, or battle.

" A battle he shall have," said Donogh ; "but it is a sad
thing that I did not meet with a death like that which my
father found, before I suffered the insult of having hostages
demanded from me by the son of Gilla-Padraig." He was
no less indignant when reminded of his powerlessness to
resist.

" Were it ever lawful to punish any ambassadors for the
purport of the message they conveyed," exclaimed the angry
prince, " I would now have had your tongues plucked out of
your heads for this present insolence. For though I had but
one solitary camp-follower to stand by me, I should never
think of refusing to contend in battle with the son of Gilla-
Padraig, and the men of Ossory."

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 319

He at once prepared for action. One third of his available
force was set apart to guard the wounded, and the remainder
ranged in order of battle. But when the wounded men
heard of this emergency, they implored of Donogh to have
stakes thrust into the ground to which they might be tied,
with their weapons in their hands. " Let our sons and our
kinsmen," they continued, " be stationed by our sides, and
let two warriors who are unwounded be placed near each
one of us wounded ; for it is thus that we will help one
another with truer zeal, because shame will not allow the
sound man to leave his position until his wounded and bound
comrade can leave it likewise."

The gallant front which the remnant of Dalcassian war-
riors thus showed to their ungenerous assailants of Ossory,
secured their ultimate safety. So noble a display of courage
dismayed their enemies and averted the attack. The men
of Leinster and Ossory refused to follow their leaders to the
assault. "It is not of marching off, or of running away, or
of breaking their ranks, or of yielding to panic," they ex-
claimed, " that yonder men are thinking, but of doing their
utmost to defend themselves, by making a firm, obstinate
and hand-to-hand fight. For this reason, we will not now
contend with them in battle, for to them life and death are
alike indifferent. Not one man of them can be slain until
five or six of us have first fallen by his hands. And then,
what advantage will result to us from dying in their
company?"

And so, "in want and hardship," the harassed remnant
of the Dal-Gais continued their march toward their own
country. When Donogh O'Brien reached Kincora, but

320 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

eight hundred and fifty remained of the warriors who had
marched under the banner of Murrogh to the victory which
had cost them so dear.

Brian Boru, who had raised his tribe from comparative
obscurity ; who had compelled all Ireland to receive their
supreme monarch from Lea-Moha, and not, as heretofore,
from Lea-Con ; who had set aside, by his vigorous individu-
ality, the claim, which long prescription had almost made
law, of the descendants of Niall to give kings to Ireland —
had died in the moment of achieving a victory — all-
important for his country, but ruinous to his house. The
astute, unscrupulous, ambitious, but patriotic monarch,
had risked too much of the O'Brien blood, and too many
members of an infant dynasty to the chances of a battle
exceptionally bloody, even in that age of carnage. Yet,
before Clontarf, few founders of dynasties could look forward
with more reasonable hope of transmitting a secure authority
to his descendants. He had asserted that supremacy which
his personal qualities justified. He had allayed factions,
and triumphed over all opposition. He had ruled wisely
and well. He was surrounded by a numerous family. His
sons were grown to manhood. His daughters by their
marriages had strengthened his alliances. His eldest son,
Murrogh, was himself the father of a son of hopeful promise.
He might well believe that a dynasty supported by such
princes would bear sway, and give a stability hitherto un-
known to Irish political government. No other man had been
so successful as he had been in combining the whole people
in one national object. He lived late enough into the
afternoon of that Good-Friday at Clontarf to see the power

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 321

of the Northmen in Ireland for ever broken. But the result
of his own sagacity and valour, of the ability and bravery of
his son Murrogh, of the youthful heroism and gallantry of his
grandson Turlogh, were so ordered as to prove ultimately
fatal to his family and clan — and, it may be added, to the
independence of his country also. The example which he
set of successful revolt against the central authority was
followed by others, who emulated his ambition without
possessing his abilities. Other tribes and families aspired to
raise themselves as the O'Briens had done. Prescriptive
rights were set aside, and from the battle of Clontarf to the
period of the Conquest —

" The good old rule, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can — "

became the general law— the right of the strong hand the
sole appeal. Kings "with opposition " go fresabhradh, that
is, kings whose authority is questioned, opposed, disregarded?
are the principal royal personages who from henceforth
appear on the scene.

Malachy II. on the death of Brian reassumed the position
which that powerful rival had wrested from him. He
followed up the victory at Clontarf, captured Dublin, and
broke the power of Maelmurra of Leinster, the Irish ally ot
the Danes. He died in the odour of sanctity on an island
of Lough Ennell, the last king of Irish blood that was
indisputably Ard-Righ of Ireland — " the pillar of dignity
and nobility of the western world."

It has been already mentioned that two sons only, of tht

322 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

numerous progeny of Brian, survived the battle of Clontarf.
Teige and Donogh contended for the chieftainship of the
Dal-Gais. The former fell in conflict with a neighbouring
clan, not without suspicion of foul play on the part of Donogh
who claimed not merely the Munster chieftainship, but the
sovereignty at that time left vacant by the death of Malachy.

Donogh O'Brien was the son of Gormley, that wife of
Brian who was sister of Maelmurra, king of Leinster, and
who had instigated her brother by her reproaches to take
part with the Danes in the alliance which was broken at
Clontarf. By her former husband she was the mother of
Sitric, the Danish ruler in Dublin. She had also been the
wife of Malachy, and the mother of his son Conor.

Donogh O'Brien had married for his second wife a daughter
of Godwin, earl of Kent. When her brother Harold— after-
wards the last Saxon king of England — had to seek an asylum
during the reign of Edward the Confessor, he found welcome
and protection at the court of Donogh. But the sway of
Donogh was recognised in Munster and Connaught only.
Flaherty O'Neill ruled the northern districts from his fort ?t
Aileach. This prince made a pilgrimage to Rome A.D. 1030,
whence his soubriquet "an Trostain? that is, Flaherty
" Pilgrim-staff."

The central districts of the island during this period obeyed
the injunctions of Cuan O'Loghan, an eminent poet, and
Corcran Claireach, a devout anchorite of Lismore, recalling
in some degree the government of the Jews under judges.
Meantime a formidable competitor for the supreme place
assumed the provincial throne of Leinster. Dermid, son of
Mael-na-mbo, was the immediate ancestor of the Mac-

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 323

Murroghs. He married a granddaughter of King Brian, and
became the powerful protector of Tuiiogh, son of Teige, son
of Brian, to whom he stood in the further relation of foster-
father.

Turlogh O'Brien thus become a rival to his uncle Donogh.
After many contests and skirmishes Turlogh, aided by
Dermid of Leinster, defeated the troops of Donogh, led by
his son Murrogh " Short-shield," and compelled Donogh to
resign his crown of Munster.

The deposed king, following the example of Flaherty
O'Neill, made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he died. He is
said to have carried with him the insignia of royalty, and
to have resigned the Irish regalia into the hands of the
then pope, Alexander II.

We shall not further dwell on the disputed rule of Dermid
"of the white teeth, laughing in danger," or of his friend
and foster-son, Turlogh, king of Munster, from whom
William Rufus obtained the Irish oak which he used for the
roofing of one of his great edifices, or of the greater son of
Turlogh, Murkertach Mor O'Brien, except to mention a
characteristic anecdote told of this prince in connection with
William Rufus, but proceed to glance rapidly at the rise of
a new family, hitherto unacquainted with sovereign power.
The story of the Irish ruler and Red William is this : — It
had been reported to Murkertach that the English king,
standing on a high rock, and looking towards Ireland, had
said, " I will bring hither my ships and pass over and con-
quer that land ; " on which the Irish monarch inquired :
" Hath the king in his great threatening said, // /"/ please
God?" Then, learning that Rufus had planned the

324 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

expedition in his own strength only, had rejoined, " I fear
him not."

To proceed with the rise of the O'Conors. — The O'Conors
of Connaught traced their descent from Eremon, and ruled
from Rath Cruachan, the ancient capital of Queen Maev, in
Roscommon. Turlogh O'Conor made many nestings into
Munster, and in the battle of Moanmore inflicted a signal
defeat on the southern clans. Seven thousand of the
" defeated and slaughtered " men of Munster are said to
have fallen in this engagement ; and many Septs had to
lament the loss of both Chief and Tanist. On the side
of the victorious O'Conor fought Dermid MacMurrogh,
second of the name, afterwards distinguished as Diarmaid
na nGall, (t Dermid of the Foreigners," the king of Lein-
ster who invited the English invasion. Turlogh O'Conor
died A.D. 1156, and was buried beside the altar of Kieran at
Clonmacnoise, a man full of charity, mercy, hospitality, and
chivalry. How far this eulogy may be the reward of his
gifts to the church we shall not pause to discuss.

" Great indeed were the legacies which this prince left to
the clergy for the repose of his soul, namely, four hundred
and forty ounces of gold and forty marks of silver, and all
the other valuable treasures he possessed, both cups and
precious stones, both steeds and cattle, and robes, chess-
boards, bows, quivers, arrows, equipments, weapons, armour,
and utensils. And he himself pointed out the manner in
which its particular portion thereof should be distributed to
each church, according to its rank and order."

At this period piety and devotion were still rife among the
Irish princes and persons of distinction ; but ecclesiastical

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 325

government and discipline were at a low ebb. The ravages
of the Danes had struck the first blow at Ireland's seminaries
of learning. The turbulent and lawless times which suc-
ceeded, were not favourable to the systematic observance of
religion. The very isolation and independence of the
Irish Church permitted its adoption of practices inconsistent
with ecclesiastical discipline. A desire for reformation and
closer communion with Rome sprang up, as a natural con-
sequence, in the minds of her leading ecclesiastics. Synods
with this view were held early in the twelfth century, under
the auspices of Celsus, archbishop of Armagh, and Gillibert,
bishop of Limerick. But a greater reformer was yet to arise
in the person of Malachy O'Morgair, better known as St.
Malachy, afterwards archbishop of Armagh, and appointed
by Pope Innocent II. his legate in Ireland. On the occasion
of a visit made by him to Rome, A.D. 1139, the pope " often
and attentively inquired of him, and of those who were with
him, concerning the state of their country, the habits of the
people, the condition of the churches, and the great things
which God had wrought by his means in his native land.''
On his answers probably were grounded some of the
censures of which the Irish people soon after became the
objects.

Malachy, like other Irish saints, has been happy in his
biographer. His life has been written by his friend St. Bernard,
in whose arms he expired while on a visit at Clairvaux, on
the 2nd of November, 1148. He was the introducer of the
Cistercian order of monks into Ireland. Their first found-
ation, the abbey of Mellifont, near Drogheda, bears date
A.B. 1142.

326 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

We are now on the threshold of the English invasion. In
1154, two years before the death of King Turlogh O'Conor,
Nicholas JBreakspere, an Englishman, ascended the papal
chair. No other Englishman, before or since, has wore the
triple tiara. In the same year Henry Plantagenet ascended
the throne of England. Pope Adrian IV., for such was the
new pontiffs title, was naturally disposed to gratify the English
king, and in his celebrated bull authorised King Henry II.
to invade and conquer Ireland. We give this remarkable
document in extenso.

" Adrian, the bishop, a servant of the servants of God, to
his dearest son in Christ Jesus, the illustrious king of England,
sends greeting and apostolical benediction. The desire your
magnificence expresses to extend your glory upon earth, and
to lay up for yourself in heaven a great reward of eternal
happiness, is very laudable and profitable for you, while, as
a good Catholic prince, you endeavour to enlarge the bounds
of the Church, to declare the true Christian faith to ignorant
and barbarous nations, and to extirpate all evil from the
field of the Lord ; which the better to perform, you ask the
advice and encouragement of the apostolical see. In the
accomplishment of this work we trust you will have, by the
assistance of God, a success proportioned to the depth of
counsel and discretion with which you shall proceed ; foras-
much as everything which takes its rise from the ardour
of faith and love of religion is most likely to come to a good
and happy end. There is, indeed, no doubt that (as you
yourself acknowledge) Ireland, and all other islands which
Christ the Sun of Righteousness has illuminated, and which
have received the doctrines of the Christian faith, belong of

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 327

right to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and the most holy Romau
Church, wherefore we more gladly sow in them the seed of
faith, which is good and agreeable to God, as we know that
it will be more strictly required of our conscience not to
neglect it. Since, then, you have signified to us, most dear
son in Christ, that you desire to enter into the island of
Ireland, in order to subdue the people to the obedience of
?aws, and extirpate the vices which have there taken root
and that you are also willing to pay an annual pension to
St. Peter of one penny from every house therein, and to
preserve the rights of the Church in that land inviolate and
entire, we, seconding your pious and commendable intention
with the favour it deserves, and granting a benignant assent
to your petition, are well pleased that, for the enlargement
of the bounds of the Church — for the restraint of vice — the
correction of evil manners — the culture of all virtues, and
the advancement of the Christian religion, you should enter
into that island, and effect what will conduce to the salva-
tion thereof, and to the honour of God. It is likewise our
desire that the people of that country should receive you with
honour, and venerate you as their master : provided always
that the ecclesiastical rights therein remain inviolate and
entire, and reserving to St. Peter and the most holy Roman
Church the annual pension of a penny from every house.
If, therefore, you think fit to put your design in execution,
endeavour studiously to instruct that nation in good morals,
and do your utmost, as well personally as by others whom
you know from their faith, doctrine, and course of life, to be
fit for such a work, that the church may there be adorned,
the Christian religion planted and made to grow, and what-

328 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

soever appertains to the honour of God and the salvation of
fouls so ordered, as may entitle you to an eternal reward
from God, and a glorious name on earth."

King Henry, after receiving this authorization, held a
parliament at Winchester, A.D. 1155, " in which he treated
with his nobles concerning the conquest of Ireland ; but
because the thing was opposed to the wishes of his mother,
the empress, that expedition was put off till another time."

The project thus deferred was not forgotten. Henry had
solicited the grant in order that he might bestow an inheri-
tance on his younger brother, who had been inadequately
provided for by their father's will. His own domestic
troubles, the complications in which his quarrel with Thomas
a-Becket involved him, and other reasons, might have
caused the bull of Pope Adrian to remain a dead letter.
Events, however, gave a new stimulus to the enterprise.

Dervorgilla, the wife of O'Ruarc, lord of Breffny, had been
carried off by Dermid MacMurrogh, king of Leinster. The
abducflon, it is said, had been planned by the lady, between
whom and Dermid an old attachment had existed. The
lovers were at this time of mature age — Dervorgilla in her
forty-fourth year, and Dermid some years older. King
Turlogh O'Conor, and, at a later period, his son Roderic,
avenged the wrongs of O'Ruarc : Dermid was dispossessed
of his terrritory and driven into exile ; while the faithless
Dervorgilla sought to atone for her guilt where her past
munificence had prepared for her a reception in the monastic
seclusion of Mellifont

The discomfited prince sought the presence of King
Henry II., who was at that time in France, but so engrossed

THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 329

by his affairs there and in England, that he was unable to
avail himself of the opportunity which the appeal of Dermid
presented. Yet he listened with a ready and gracious ear to
his representations • and, although declining himself to take
up his quarrel, received his homage, and gave him letters of
aid.

" Henry, king of England, duke of Normandy and
Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou," so the letters ran by which
he authorized Dermid to seek for aid in Britain, " to all his
liegemen, English, Norman, Welsh, and Scotch, and to all
other nations under his dominion, sends greeting. As soon
as the present letters shall come to your hands, know that
Dermid, prince of Leinster, has been received into the
bosom of our grace and benevolence. Wherefore, whoso-
ever within the ample extent of our territories shall be
willing to lend aid towards the restoration of 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."

Thus accredited, Dermid found no difficulty in procuring
auxiliary aid. The promise of the hand in marriage of his
daughter Eva, with the reversion of the crown of Leinster
at his death, as her portion, secured him the alliance of
Richard De Clare, earl of Pembroke and Strigul, better
known by his pseudonym of " Strongbow." Round the
banner of this daring adventurer flocked his kinsmen, the
sons and other near connections of the beautiful Nesta,
daughter of the Welsh prince, Rhys ap Tudor.

This fairest woman of her day was the mother, by King
Henry I., of Robert Fitz Roy, who, as earl of Gloucester, is

330 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

distinguished in English history during the war of succession
between his sister, the Empress Maud, and Stephen of
Blois ; she also bore to this king, Henry Fitz Henry — the
parent of Meyler Fitz Henry, who played so prominent a
part in Irish affairs — and, by a subsequent marriage, was
the mother of Fitz Gerald, the progenitor of the Geraldines,
that princely race whose representatives,, both of the Kildare
and Desmond Branches, fill so eminent a place in Irish
history. By a yet subsequent marriage, Nesta was the
mother of another leader in the conquest of Ireland, Robert
Fitz Stephen ; while from her daughters sprang the families
of De Barri, and Fitz Bernard. Gerald De Barri, better
known as Giraldus Cambrensis, to whose "Topography"
and " Conquest " of Ireland, we owe so much of our infor-
mation touching this period, was grandson of the same
Nesta. He was tutor of Prince John ; was an able, energetic,
and learned man, but one animated, as might be expected
from his near relationship with the conquerers, by a strong
spirit of hostility against the native Irish.

Such were the men by whose aid Dermid, for the brief
remnant of his life, was enabled to return to his patrimony.
He died A.D. 1171, according to the Irish chroniclers,
"as his evil deeds deserved." He has been thus described
by Cambrensis : —

" This Dermicius was a man of tall stature and large
frame, warlike and daring among his nation, and of hoarse
voice, by reason of his frequent and continuous shouting
in battle. He desired to be feared rather than to be
loved ; he oppressed the noble and elevated the lowly ; he
was the enemy of his countrymen ; he was hated by strangers.

THE EVE OP THE CONQUEST. 331

The hand of all men was against him, and his hand was
against all."

On the great event which was now impending, long
designed and ultimately precipitated by the reckless selfish-
ness of this too famous personage, it is not the intention of
the writer here to enter. The historian of the Conquest, and
of the ages which have since elapsed, may have to regret the
rough and tedious process of transition through which the
country was now destined to begin its passage ; but it will
always be a satisfactory reflection that amongst its results
has been our admission to a larger sphere of civilization, to
a share in many peaceful as well as warlike glories, and to
the general use of that noble language in which all the gains
of science and all the highest utterances of modern poetry
and philosophy have found a worthy expression

332 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES AND NOMENCLATURE.

THE Sources from which the material of this volume has been extracted
are, to some extent, in manuscript, and hitherto unpublished. Of these
the principal are — •

O'Currv's Translation of the Tain-bo-Cuailgne, with its " Pre-Tales,"
comprising the "Boy-Feats" of Cuchullin ; for the perusal of which,
and liberty to use the extracts in the text, the author is indebted to the
liberal kindness of the Right Reverend CHARLES GRAVES, Lord Bishop
of Limerick, and of the Rev. JAMES HENTHORNE TODD, D.D., and
J. T. GILBERT, Esq., Secretaries of the Irish Archaeological and Celtic
Society.

Extract from the *' Talland Etair" or Siege of ' Howth, translated from
the Tract in the Book of Leinster, and kindly placed at the author's
disposal by WILLIAM M. HENNESSY, Esq., M.R.I.A.

Collections for the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, deposited in the
Library of the Royal Irish Academy.

With these exceptions, the sources are all accessible to the English
reader in published translations from the Irish and Latin of the original
works. From the dates mentioned below, it will be seen that these
aids to the modern student have all, save one, been furnished since the
first great stimulus tq the study of Irish history and antiquities was
given by the project for an Ordnance Survey Memoir of Ireland, about
thirty years ago. The Irish story is no longer a sealed book ; but, to
select material for a volume reasonably likely to attract a general interest
still requires a considerable range of study. The translated and other
works which have been principally used by the author are —

Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England^ Scotland and
Ireland. By J. J. A. WORSAAE, For. F.S. A. London ; a Royal Com-
missioner for the Preservation of the National Monuments of Denmark,
£c., &c. London, 1852.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES AND NOMENCLATURE. 333

Account of the Tribes and Customs of the District of Fly-Many, com-
monly called Cf Kelly's Country, in the CountiesofGahvay and Rose ommon'
Edited from the Book of Lecan in the Library of the Royal Irish
Academy, in the original Irish ; with a Translation and Notes, and a
Map of Hy- Many. By JOHN O'DONOVAN, LL.D. Published for the
Irish Archaeological Society. Dublin, 1843.

Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland.
By the Four Masters. Prom the earliest period to the year 1616.
Edited from MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy and of
Trinity College, Dublin, with a Translation and copious Notes, by JOHN
O'DONOVAN, Esq., M.R.I.A., Barrister-at-Law. Dublin : Hodges and
Smith, 1851.

Cath Muighi Rath. The Battle of Magh Rath : from an ancient
MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Edited in the original
Irish, with a Translation and Notes, by JOHX O'DONOVAN, LL.D.
Published for the Irish Archaeological Society, Dublin, 1842.

Circuit of Ireland, by Midrcheartach MacNeill, Prince of Aileach ;
a Poem written in the year 942 by Cormacan Eigeas, Chief Poet of th«
North of Ireland. Edited, with a Translation and Notes, and a Map
of the Circuit, by JOHN O'DONOVAN, LL.D., M.R.I. A. Published by
the Irish Archaeological Society. Dublin, 1841.

Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh. The War of the Gaedhil with the
Gaill ; or the Invasions of Ireland by the Danes and other Norsemen.
The original Irish text, edited with Translation and Introduction, by
JAMES HENTHORNE TODD, D.D., M.R.I.A., F.S.A., &c. Published
by the authority of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Trea-
sury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. London, 1867.
In the series of the Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and
Ireland during the Middle Ages, or Rerum Britannicarum Mediczvi
Scriptores.

Columba (Life of Saint). By Adamnan, ninth Abbot of Hy (or
lona). The Latin text taken from a MS. of the early part of the eighth
century, preserved at Schaffhausen ; with various readings, illustrated
by copious Notes and Dissertations. By the Rev. WILLIAM REEVES,
D.D., M.B., V.P.R.I.A., (now Bishop of Down and Connor). With
Maps and coloured Facsimiles of the MSS Published for the Irish
Archaeological and Celtic Society, 1857.

334 THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore. Consisting
of a taxation of those Dioceses compiled in the year 1306. With Notes
and Illustrations by the Rev. WILLIAM REEVES, M.B., M.R.I. A.
Dublin, 1847.

Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, anterior to the Anglo- Norman
Invasion. Comprising an Essay on the origin and uses of the Round
Towers of Ireland. By GEORGE PETRIK, R.H.A., V. P. R.I. A., &c.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 20. Dublin, 1845.

Foras Feasa Ar Eirinn. The History of Ireland from the earliest
period to the English Invasion. By the Rev. GEOFFREY KEATING,
D.D. Translated from the original Gaelic, and copiously annotated
by JOHN O'MAHONY. New York : P. M. Haverty, 1857.

Genealogies, Tribes and Customs of the District of Hy-Fiachrach,
commonly called O'Dowda's Country. Edited from the Book of Lecan,
in the Libraiy of the Royal Irish Academy ; and from a copy of the
MacFirbis MS., in the possession of the Earl of Roden. With a Trans-
lation and Notes, and a Map of Hy-Fiachrach. By JOHN O'DONOVAN,
LL.D. Published for the Irish Archaeological Society, 1844.

History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. By GEORGE PETRIE, Esq.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 18, part 2. Dublin, 1839.

Imtheacht na Tromdhaimhe. Proceedings of the Great Bardic Insti-
tution. Edited by Professor CONNELLAN. Ossianic Society. O'Daly :
Dublin, 1860.

Laoithe Fiannuigheachta : or Fenian Poems. Edited by JOHN O'DALY.
Published by the Ossianic Society. Dublin, 1841.

Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History.
Delivered in the Catholic University of Ireland during the sessions of
1855 and 1856. By EUGENE O'CURRY, M.R.I. A. ; Professoi of Irish
History and Archaeology in the Catholic University of Ireland ; Corres-
ponding Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, &c. Dublin:
Duffy, 1 86 1.

Nennius ( The Irish version of the Hisloria Dritonum of}. Edited
with a Translation and Notes by JAMES HENTHORNE TODD, D.D.,
M.R.I. A. ; Fellow of Trinity College, &c. The Introduction and
Additional Notes by the Hon. ALGERNON HERBERT- Published for
the Irish Archaeological Society. Dublin, 1848.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES AND NOMENCLATURE. 335

Primer of the History of the Holy Catholic Church in Ireland. By
R-IBEKT KING, A.B. Dublin : McGlashan, 1851.

Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. A Memoir of his Life and Mission.
With an Introductory Dissertation on some early usages of the Church
in Ireland, and its historical position from the establishment of the
English Colony to the present day. By JAMES HENTHORNE TODD>
D.D., &c. Dublin, 1864.

Senchus Mor. Introduction to Senchus Mor and Athgabail ; or Law
of Distress as contained in the Harleian MSS. Published under direc-
tion of the Commissioners for publishing the Ancient Laws and Institutes
of Ireland, vol. I. Hodges and Smith, Dublin: Longmans, London,
1865.

Toruigheacht Dhiarmuda ui Dhuibhne agns Ghrainne inghion
Chormuic mhdc Airt ; or an account of the Pursuit of Diarmiud
O'Duibhne and Grace, the daughter of Cormac MacAirt. Edited by
STANDISH HAYES O'GRADY, Esq. Published for the Ossianic Society.
Dublin, 1857.

Transactions of 'the Iberno- Celtic Society. Dublin, 1806.

With respect to the Nomenclature, the author has endeavoured to
present the names of persons in a guise as little repellent as possible to
the eye of the English reader. Their strangeness, their want of asso-
ciation with anything previously known, and their singular difficulty of
pronunciation, constitute, in truth, a very great obstacle to any popular
treatment of the subject. It would seem as if, in primitive times, when
men were sparing of their words, they thought to give increased consi-
deration to all they uttered, and specially to the names of individuals,
by magnifying the forms of expression. In more modern times, men
have had more to say, and seem to have studied how best to abbreviate
and smooth down the old stately but cumbrous forms of expression.
This has been notably the case in the old Irish proper names. Thus
Concobar has been shortened and softened into Conor ; Toirdealbach
into Turlogh ; Flathbeartac into Flaherty; and so with almost all the
longer and more high -sounding names of persons. To mark this process
of softening, the writers of the names have everywhere introduced the
letter h as the sign of aspiration, or " breathing-over," of the slurred
consonants. Hence a new feature of very repulsive aspect to eyes

33^ THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

unaccustomed to Irish- written texts. Under this process, we have the
original sharply-defined names presented in the guise, Conchobar ;
Toirdhealbhach ; Flathbheartach. In the endeavour to avoid these
awkwardnesses, different writers have resorted to different compromises
between the sound and the spelling. Thus has arisen that perplexing
variety of forms in which the same name is presented by different autho-
rities. Thus, O'Kearney, the oldest translator of Keating, gives the
name Conchuvar ; O'Mahony, Concobar ; MacGeoghegan, Conquovar;
and others, Cannogher, Cnogher, Connor, and Conor ^ which last form
has been here adopted from O'Curry. To lay down any other than an
empirical rule of orthography in such a case seems hardly practicable.
What has been here deemed the least objectionable course is, to adhere
to whatever form of spelling best indicates the sound to the English-
educated eye. In some cases this orthography coincides with the Irish,
in others it departs considerably from it. A list of the latter, and much
larger, class of names is subjoined, from which the reader, whose
curiosity may be sufficiently attracted to the subject, will be able to see
the authentic forms of such proper names as have been adapted to
English eyes in the text. Amongst these will be found a few names of
places. But the topographical names in the Celtic dialects are usually
as simple and easy of pronunciation as they are expressive, and, to use the
words of an able English critic, full of " a penetrating and lofty beauty."
In the process of adapting both classes of names to the rapid and
careless modes of utterance of modern times, and among a depressed
race, a great degradation is apparent, and many names at present
esteemed the most vulgar, are found, in their original forms, lofty and
significant of noble qualities.

^Engus Aenghus.

Armagh Ard-Macha.

Awley Amhalghaidh.

Bangor Beannchair.

Barrow Bearbha.

Breffny Breifne.

Brian Boru Brian Bornmha.

Burrisoole Burgeis UiMhaile.

Callaghan Ceallachan.

Clannaboy Clann-Aodha-

bhuidhe.
Clonmacnoise... Cluain-mic-Nois.

Clontarf Cluain-tarbh.

Conari Conaire

Connaught Connacht.

Conor Conchobhar.

Cong Cunga-Feichin.

Cova Cobhthach.

Creeve Roe Craobh Rnaidh.

Criffan Crimthann .

Cz.r\>re]J\hcM...CairbreLiJffeachar. j Cruthnc Cruithnigk.

Cashel Caiseal. I Cuchullin . ...Cuckullain.

NOTE ON THE SOURCES ANT> NOMENCLATURE. 337

Cucongelt ...... Ctichoingealt.

Culinan ......... Cuileanan.

Dalcassians ...... Dal-g'Cais.

Dermid Mac Diarmaid Mac
Kervil ......... Cearbhaill.

Derry ............ Doire- Chalgaigh .

Dervorgilla ...... Dearbhforgaill.

Devenish ......... Daimh-Inis.

Dodder ......... Dot hair.

Donall ............ Domhnall.

Donogh ......... Donnchadh.

Donovan ......... Donnabhan.

Drumceat ...... Druimceta.

Drumcliff ...... Druim-diabh.

Dundelgan ...... Dun-Dealgan.

Dunnascaith ...Dun-na-sgiath.
Durrow ......... Dearmhagh.

Eochaid ......... Each aidh .

Eochy Felia ...Eochaidh Feidh-

leach.
Eugenians ...... Eoganacht.

Falvy ............ Failbhe.

Fathna ............ Fachtna.

Felemy ......... Feidhlimidh.

Ferns ............ Fean-ia-mor-

Maedhoig.
Flah erty ......... Flaithbh ea i tack .

Fola ............... Fodhla.

Fore ............ Fobhar Feichin.

Gael ............... GaeidheL

Gormley ......... Gormfhlaith.

Gowanree ...... Gamhanraidhe.

Inishowen ...... Inis-Eoghain.

Keltar ............ Celtchar.

Kennedy ......... Cenneidigh.

Kevin ............ Caemhghen.

Kildare ......... Cill-dara.

Kimbaoth ...... Cimbaeth.

Kincora ......... Ceann-coradh.

Kinel Owen ...Cinel-Eoghain.

Kenfalla Ccnnfaeladh.

Lavra Labhradh.

Lea Con Leath Cm fin.

Lea Moha Leath Mogha.

Laery Laoghaire.

Leix Laoighis.

Leinster Laighin.

Lough Foyle ...Loch-FebhaiL
Lough Corrib. . . Loch- Oirbsean.

Maelcova Maelcobha.

Maelmurra Maelmordha.

Maev Medhbh.

Mahon Mathghamhain.

Malachy .\faelseachlainn .

Malodar Maelodhar.

Moh Nuad Mogh Nuadhat.

Molaise Molaisi.

Mourn e Mughdhorna.

Moville Magh-bhUe.

Moy Lena Magh Leana

Moy Mucrive ...MaghMucndinhe

Moynalty Magh-n-ealta.

Moy rath Magh -rath .

Moy Slaght ...Magh-sleacht.

Moy ture Magh- Tuireadk.

Mulloy Maelmhuaidh .

Munster Mumha.

r Murkertach . . . Muircheartach .

Murrogh Midreadhach.

Murthevne Muirtheimhne*

O'Conor Ua Conchobair.

O'Hartigan UaK-Artagain.

O Heyne Uah'-Eidhin.

Olav Fola Ollamh Fodhla.

O'Rafferty Ua Robhartaigh .

Oran Odhran.

O'Shaughnessy Ua Seachnasaigh.

Orgiall Oirghiall.

Owen Eoghan.

Raphoe Rathbhoth.

Roderick Ruaidhri.

Roy Roigh.

Rury Ruaidhri.

THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Sancan Senchan.

Saul Sabhall Padniig.

Scoti Scuit.

Slange Slainge.

Sletty ..? Sleibhte.

Sle wen Slemhain.

Slieve Fuad ...Sliabh Ft/a iff.

Sligo Sligech.

Solve Sadhbh.

Sulcoit Sulchoid.

Sweeny Stiibhne.

Swords Sard- Clwhri'n-

chillc.

Tailti

. Tailten.

Tara

. Teamhair.

Teige

. Tadhg.

Thomond

. Tuathmhiiinha.

Tiernmas ....

. Tig/iearnmas.

Tirera

. Tir Fhiackrach

Tolka

. 7'ulcan.

Turing li

. Toirdhealbha-h

Tyrone

7^ir Eoghain.

Ulster

. Uladh.

Umor

.Uathmor.

S. F.

INDEX.

Abernethy, Perthshire, Primacy of Columbian Church, removed thither.

290

Adamar, 100

Adamnan, St., Abbot. of lona, 204, 211, 223, 226, 245, 246, 247, 288
Adhar, 149
Adonis, 128
Adrian IV., Pope, an Englishman, 326

His Bull conferring Ireland on Henry II., 326, 328

Aedh, son of Brenaan, 217

Aedh Roe, 26, 28

Aedh Mac Ainmire, K.I., 218, 227, 228, 231

Aedh Finnlaith, K.I., 270, 271, 293

Aedh Ormidhe, K.I., 293

Aedh, K.I., 258

Aedh Slane, K.I., 258

Aedh Ollaf, K.I., 259

Aedh, King of Connaught, 204

Aedh O'Neill, Chief of Aileach, 304, 305

Aedh " the Scholar," 279

Aengus Ollamh, 100

Aengus, "Dread Spear," 112, 138, 142

Aengus, son of Umor, 149

yEtius, Roman Consul, 148

Agilulf, K. of the Lombards, protects St. Columbanus, 256

Ai, in Roscommon, 73

Aibhill of Craig Liath, Banshee of the O'Briens, 313

Aidan, Dalriad King inaugurated at lona, 217

Aidan, St., 24, 227

Aidilfrid, King of Bernicia, 226

34° INDEX.

Aife, 62, 64

Aine", daughter of the King of Britain, 108

Ailbe, 126, 128

Ailbe, St., 162, 189

Ailill, or Ollioll, King of Connaught, husband of Maev, 34, 55, 45, 46,

47, 48, 50, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 90, 99, 100, 149, 311
Ainle, son of Usnach. 41
Ainmire, K.I., 218, 228

Airer-Gaedhil, Argyll, in Scotland, 115, 128, 148, 213
Aitheach-Tuatha, Atacotti, Unfree Tribes, 107, 108, 109, 114, 120, 207
Alba, ancient name of Scotland, 38, 39, 58, 137, 144, 147, 148, -150,

154, 156, 157, 210, 211, 212, 217, 221, 227, 232, 234
Aldfrid, King of Northumbria, 246, 249

Alexander, Mrs,, her version of St. Patrick's "Breastplate," 174
Alexander II., Pope, Irish Regalia placed in his hands by Donagh

O'Brien, 323 < >

Alfred, King of England, 176, 296
Almain, 37

Alps. — Slieve Alpa, 157, 158, 160

Altus, a Roman Centurion, said to have visited Ireland, 89, 08
America, 197
Amergin, 17, 27, 68

Anatolius, his cycle of 19 years in Roman use for computing Easter, 214
Anderson, Dr. Joseph, quoted, 287
Anglo-Saxon, 225, 227, 234, 246, 258
Angus Tuismach, K.I., loo

Anlaf, the Dane, Father of Sitric, " Silk beard," 265
Annals of the Four Masters, 116

Annoid, or Mother Church of the Columbian Rule in Scotland, 290
Aurud, the Norwegian, 310, 316
Antrim, 28, 39, 115, 145, 152, 232, 243
Aoclh, son of King Lir, 1 1

Arran Islands, off Galway Bay, 6, 149, 189, 190, 191, 194, 196
Arculf, Bishop, 246
Ardan, son of Usnach, 38, 41, 43
Ardagh Chalice, 285
Ardnaree, near Ballina, 186
Ard-Righ, Supreme King ruling from Tara, 22, 116, 162, 231, 261,

282, 284, 302, 321

INDEX. 341

Armagh, 18, 29, 75, 146, 180, 181, 230, 233, 248, 249, 254, 282, 306,

317
. Book of Armagh, see Books

Abbot of Armagh, 247

Archbishop of, 325

Armoric Romance, 83
Armorica, 157

Arno, river in Tuscany, 252

Art Aeinfer, K.I., " The Solitary," 116, 117, 118, 122

Art in Ancient Ireland, 261, 285

Ornaments, 24, 71, 277, 285

Metal Work, 24, 261, 285

Architecture, 286

Illuminated MSS., 24, 183, 261

Arthurian legends, 83

Aryan Race, 23

Assaroe, Eas-roe, Falls of the Erne, near Ballyshanuon; 28, 37, 156

Asia, 23

Aslauga, wife of Regner Lodbrog, 284

Assyria, 287

Atacotts, see Aitheach-Tuatha

Atharna, 79, 80

Ath-Cliath, see Dublin

Athcoltna, 50

Ath-dara, 177

Athlone, 191

Atlantic, 120, 191, 194, 196

Auda, wife of Turgesius, 284

Ausonia, see Italy

Awley, son of Dathi, 161

Awley, son of Fiachra, 155, 179

B

Bsedan, K.I., 218, 228

B<edan II., K.I., 218, 228

Baine, daughter of the King of Alba, 107

Baithen, St., successor of St. Columba, as Abbot of lona, 211, 226

Ballysadare, Co. Sligo, 8

342 INDEX.

Ballyshannon, at the mouth of the Erne river, 28, 156

Baltic Sea, 7

Banba, 15, 17, 207

Bangor, Co. Down, Great Monastic School, 202, 230, 248, 255

Barach, a Red Branch Knight, 38, 39, 44

Bards, Bardic, 22, 52, 63, 79, 120, 121, 126, 134, 137, 200, 218, 219,

220, 230, 236, 264, 271
Barrow River, 30, 177
Barry, St., his Gospel, 301
Battles of

Ath-dara, 177

Bealach-Leachta, 302

Bealach-Mughna, Moone, Co. Kildare. 272

Of the Bulls, 73

Clontarf, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 316, 318, 320, 321, 322

Crinna, 119, 120

Cuildrevne, 204

Gavra, 117, 1 43

Glen Mama, 302, 303

The Heavenly Field, 226

Lough Foyle, 270

Moanmore, 324

Moy-Lena, 113

Moy Rath, or Moyra, 251

Moyture, 8, 9, 15, 69

Moy Mucrive, 116, 117, 118

Marthevne, 51

Ocha, 1 86

Sligo, 184

Sulcoit, 299, 300

Tailti, 17

Tara, 17

The White Strand, 4

Battle Standards, The Cathach, or Book of Columkill, 206

The Crozier of St. Grellan, 206, 209

The Bell of St. Patrick, 206

Bealcu, 34, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95
Bebinn, sister of Sitric the Dane, 281

Bede, the Venerable, 115, 204, 225, 226, 246, 251, 257

INDEX. 34J

Beirdra, the Druid, 159

Belach-Mughna, Moone, near Ballytore, Co. Kildare, 272

Be! ach- Leach ta, 302

Belgic Tribes, 9

Belgium, 206

Bells, St. Patrick's. 206

Sweeny of Clonmacnoise, 253

Beltane Games, etc., held on the Festival of May day, 130, 157, 181

Benbulban Mountain, Co, Sligo, 128

Ben-Edar, the Hill of Howth, 37, 80, 103, 106, 209, 210, 309

Benedictines in lona, 292

Benin, or Benignus, St., 165, 167, 172, 190

Bernard, St., 325

Bernicia, 226

Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr. Reeves, 223

Blanaid, 75, 76, 77

Blathmac, St., 289, 290

Blathmaic, K.I., 254, 259

Bobbio, 25, 256

Bohernabreena, Bot/iar-na-Brui^nc, Road of the Court, 102

Boniface IV., Pope. 256

Books of Annals of the Four Masters, 1 16

Of Armagh, 168, 288, 306

St. Barry's Gospel, 301

Deer, 286

•> Durrow, 215

Kells, 215, 286

Leinster, 83

Psalter of Tara, no

Of Rights, 1 80

Tegasg-Righ. 123, 138

Boromean Tribute, Boru, levied on Leinster, 110, 177, 231, 245

Bove, 9, 10

Boyle, 250

Boyne River, 14, 139, 140, 141, 142, 164, 165, 166, 233, 234, 235, 269

Battle of, 206

Bradshaw, Henry, the late, 286
Brandon Mountain, Co. Kerry, 168, 195
Brea, 130

344 tNDEX.

Breasil, Abbot of lona, 288

Brecan, St., 190

Brecbannock, Banner of St. Columbia, preserved at Forglen, 246

Breendacoga, 130

Breffny Territory, comprising Leitrim, Cavan, etc., 19, 92 328

Bregia, a district on the coast, north of Dublin. 80

Brehon, Brehon Laws, 117, 119, 123, 137, 172, 176, 177, 207, 248,

250, 287

Brendan, St., 194, 195, 196, 197, 199. 211

Breogan, Leader of the Milesians, Mythical Founder of Brigantium, 16
Bresil, 101

Brian, son of Eochaid, K.I. and Mongfinn, 146, 155
Brian Boru, King of Minister, K.I,, no, in, 265, 281, 295, 296,

297, 298, 299, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310

311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 320, 321, 322, 323
Bricin of Tomregan, leech or physician, 248
Bride or Briget, St., of Kildare, 187
Brude, King of the Picts, 247, 291

Brigantium, City of Spain, said to be founded by Breogan, 16
Britain, Britons, British, etc., 9, 30, 114, 146, 148, 157, 163, 164, 183,

233, 234, 236, 249, 253, 254, 256, 311, 329
Brodar, The Viking, Slayer of Brian Boru, 308, 311, 316
Brugh-na-Boinne, Pagan place of interment, 139, 140, 144
Bruidin, or Courts of Hospitality

Da Derga, 102, 103, 106

Lusk, 74

Brunehault, Merovingian Queen, 255

Biiana, Queen of Mesgedra, 81, 85, 87

Buchan, District of Scotland, 286

Buidhe-Chonnaill, " Yellow Plague," 245

Buiked, foster-father of Ethni, Queen ofCormac MacArt, 124, 125

Buini-Borb, son of Fergus MacRoy, 39, 41

Burgundy, a province of France, 25, 255

c.

Caelbad, K.I., 150

Caesar, 98

Cahir-Conree, near Tralee, on summit ofSlieve Mbh, 76

Cain Adhamnain, Law of St. Adaninan, 247

INDEX. 345

Cainnach, St., 21.2

Cairbri-Niafer, son of the King of Ireland, 47, 148, 149

Cairns, 23, 269

Cairn of Ir, son of Milesius, 27

Calcythe, Synod of, 253

Caledonia, Scotland, 24, 148, 292

Callaghan of Cashel, 281, 282, 283

Calphurn, the Deacon, Father of St. Patrick, 152

Camden, the Historian, 257, 258

Campbell, Clan descended from Dermid, 128

Cape Clear Island, 188

Carbris, The Three, 115

Carbri Muse, 115

• Carbri Baiscin, 115

Carbri- Riada, 115, 148

Carbri Kin-Cait, 107, 108, 122

Carbri Linear, K.I., 117, 123, 130, 143, 144, i-o

Carl, 310

Carl Canuteson, Prince of Denmark, 308

Carlingford Bay or Lough, 265

Carman, ancient name of Wexford, Fair of, 20

Cam Conaill, 150

Carnait, 151

Carpathian Mountains, 8

Carthagh, St., founder of the Monastic School of Li^more, 254

Cashel or stone fort, 23, 269

City of Cashel, 179, 230, 271, 272, 273, 276, 280, 281, 283, 284,

299, 300

Castletown, Moat of, see Dundelgan
Cathach, MS. of St. Columba, Battle standard of O'Donnell, 205,

206, 209

Cathairs or Forts, 286

Cathbad the Druid, 36, 42, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60
Catheir-Mor, K.I., 112, 122
Catredii, a Firbolg tribe, 108
Cavan, 19, 155

Cellach, Abbot of lona, removes to Kclls in Ireland, 288
Cellach— see Kellach
Cells, 24, 143

346 INDEX.

Celsus, Archbishop of Armagh, 325

Celtic, Celt, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 83, 177, 265, 285, 287

Celtic Art, 285, 286, 287

Celtic Churches, 227

Cennanus — see Kells

Chalons sur Saone, Council of, 253

Charlemagne, 230, 253, 254

Charles The Bald, 230, 270

Chilperic, King of the Franks. 255

Christian Churches, 24, 189, 306

Missionaries and Missions, 164, 182. 201, 230, 252. 253. 254,

255, 286

Christians in Iteland before the mission of St. Patrick, 162
Cian. 207, 208

Cian, son of Ollioll Olum, 115, 116
Ciar, 99
Cical, i, 2

Cistercian Order introduced into Ireland, 325
Clairvaux, 325

Clane, on the Liffey, 81, 84, 86, 104
Clan Degaid, Munster Order of Chivalry, 75, 76, 77
Clanna Morna, The Western tribes, 120, 143
Clan system in Ireland, 21, 181, 226, 287
Clare, 115, 149, 273, 295, 299
Clebach, 1 68
Clement, 253
Cleothra, 60

Cletty, on the Boyne, 138, 140, 141, 166
Clogher, 207

Clonard, on the Boyne, St. Finnian's School, iSS, 191, 230, 248
Clonfert, near the Shannon, St. Brendan's foundation, 184, 197. 230
Clonmacnoise, on the Shannon, St. Kieran's foundation, 184, 19-1, 192
193, 201,203, 230, 253> 281, 284

Its Cathedral built by King Flann, 281

Clontarf, 266, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 316, 318, 320, 321, 322

Clovis, King of the Franks, 255

Coil-Tomar, a wood on the banks of the Tolka river, 365

Coire Brecain, the Whirlpool of Corry vreckan, 216

Collas, The Three, known as Clan Colla, 144, 145, 206, 207, 232, 233

INDEX. 347

Collas, Colla Uais, 144, 146, 150

Colla Menn, 144, 146

Colla-Da-Cree, 144, 146, 207

Colman, St., 276

Colman, who made the cross for King Flann, 193

Colman, Abbot of lona, 227

Colombkille — see St. Columba

Col pa, 167

Columba, St., 24, 143, 187, 188, 199, 200, 201, 202, 2Oj', 204, 205, 206,

209, 213, 215, 2l6, 217, 2l8, 220, 221, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 231,
232, 238, 245, 246, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290. 291

Columban Church in Scotland, 286, 29-, 292

Community, 288, 292

House at Kells, 288

Columbanus, St., 24, 255, 256

Colum, son of Crimthan, 21 1

Congall, St., 202, 211, 212

Comharba-Coarb, 205, 206, 209

Con "of the Hundred Battles," K.I., in, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117. 122,

138, 187, 272
Con, Lough, i?5

Conaille Murthevne, a district of Louth— see Murthevne
Conaing, 313
Conal Caev, 234

Conal, Hero in the ranks of King Donall, Battle of Moy Rath, 238, 239
Conall, K.I., irv
Conall, K.I., 258, 259
Conall Criflan, K.I., 154, 168
Conall the Mild, 149
Conall Carnach, 35, 68. 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93,

94, 9S» 96, 97, 99, 103.. 104, in, 149, 250
Conall, Daliiad Kings 213, 217
Conall, son of Aedh-mac-Ainmire, 227
Conall Gulban, son of Niall, Nine Hostager, K.I., 154, 200, 226, 239,

245. 290

Conari Mor, K.I., 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 122
Conari II., 114, 116, 122
Ccnchessa, Mother of St. Patrick, 152
"Confessions" of St. Patrick, 152, 153, 163, iS2

348 INDEX.

Cong, 7

Abbey of, 244

Cross of, 285

Congal Claen, 232, 235, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242,

243, 248, 251
Congal Claringech, 101
Congal Kenn-Maghair, K.I., 259
Congal, 293

Conloch, son of Cuchullin, 77, 78
Conn, II

Connactach, Abbot of lona, 288
Connaught, Connacia, 18, 28, 32, 49, 50, 62, 66, 67, 87, 90, 91, 93,

97,99, ioo, 107, 114, 146, 149, 155, 156 157, 162, 168, 184,

196, 203, 207, 218, 235, 244, 250, 303, 304, 306, 309, 311,

314, 322, 324

Connacians, people of Connaught, 72, 73, 87, 88, 89, 90, 149
Connemara, 244
Connla, K.I., ioo
Conmael, 310
Conor, K.I., 122, 293
Conor MacNessa, King; of Ulster, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37. 3^, 39, 40, 4*.

42, 44, 45, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 61, 66, 67, 7*, 72, 74,

77, 78, 79, 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 99, ioo
Conor, son of the King of Connaught, 284
Conor, son of King Brian Bom, 310
Conor, son of King Malachy II. and C-rormley, 322
Constantine, King of Scotland, 290
Continent of Europe, 183, 206, 219, 230, 253, 286
Coolin or Cuchullin Mountains in Skye, 58
Corb Olum, 108
Core, son of Fergus McRoy, 191
Core, King of Munster, 146, 147
Corca-Baiscin, Co. Clare, 179
Corcran Claireach, Anchorite of Lismore, 322
Cork, 264, 301

Cormac Cas, son of Ollioll Olum, 115, 273, 281, 295
Cormac Conlingas, son of Conor Mac Nessa, 45, 49, 71, 72
Coimac Mac Ait, K.I., 112, 116, 117, 118, 119, 122, 123, 1^4, 12^,

126, 127, 128, 132, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 145

INDEX. 349

£ormac MacCulinan, King of Cashel, 271, 272. 273, 274. 275, 276,

277, 278, 279, 280, 281
Cormac's Glossary, 272

Cormac MacCarthy, his chapel on the Rock of Cashel, 286
Cormac, St., son of Dimma, 215, 216, 217
Cormac, son of the Prince of Desi, 278
Cormacan Eigeas, the Bard, 283
Coroticus, St. Patrick's Epistle to, 163
Corrib, Lough, 244, 272
Courcy, Sir John de, 145
Courts of Hospitality — see Bruidin
Cova, K.I., 30, 31, 100
Craftine, the harper of Cova, 30, 31
Cranogues, 24
Credni Cerd, 8

Creeve Roe, " House of the Red Branch," near Armagh, 29, 87
Cremorne, a district in Co. Monaghan, 146
Crimthan, K.I., 146, 153, 157
Crimthan, Sciathbel, Firbolg chief of Leinster, 147
Crimthan, K.I., 100

Crimthan, " Nuaid-Nair," K.I., his Dun on Hill of Howth, 106, 122

Crimthann, son of Ficlach, K.I., 150

Crinna, Battle of, 119, 120

Croagh-Patrick, Mountain in Mayo, 179

Crom-Cruach, Idol worshipped at Moy Slacht, 19, 93, 135, 139, 155,
179

Cromlechs, "Druid's altars" (so called) more properly Dolmens, 23, 24,
127, 186

Cronan, St., 275

Cronelly's, keepers of the crozier of St. Grellan, 209

Crosses, sculptured, 24, 191, 193, 200, 217, 285, 292

Croziers, 209, 285

Cruacha, mother of Queen Maev, 32

Cruachan — see Rath Croghan

Cruifi, daughter of King of Wales, 107

Cruithni — see Picts

Crunvall, 242

Cuailgne, now Cooley, a district of Louth, 18 45, 48, 53, 73

Cuanna, 240, 241

350 INDEX.

Cuchullin, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 50, 51, 52. 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60,

62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 104, 149
Cucongelt, 184, 185
Cu-Corb, King of Leinster, 1 1 1
Cuildrevne, Battle of, 204, 205
Cuil-O'Finn, now Coolavin, Co. Sligo, 116
Cuimin, St., 212
Culcinne, 213
Culdees, 292

Cullan, "The Artificer," 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
Cummene Ailbe, Abbot of lona, 227
Curoi MacDare, 75, 76, 77
Curraghs, hide-covered boats, 179
Cutra, 149

D.

Da-Derga, 102, 104

Daer-Clanna, or Unfree Tribes, 107, 120

Pagda, The Tuatha-De-Danaan Chief, supposed to be buried in the

tumulus of New Grange, 14, 15, 16
Daire gives to St. Patrick the site of Armagh, 180
Dalcassian Race, descended from Cormac-Cas, 115, 143, 179, 273, 274,

295> 296, 3°3> 3io, 318, 319
Dal-g-Cais, The people of the territory of Cormac-Cas, 295, 296, 298,

299, 300, 301, 304, 305, 308, 313, 3I5» 3i8, 319, 322
Dalriads, a colony from Ulster, settled in Scotland, 14, 115, 147, 148,

150, 154, 186, 205, 220, 221, 232
Danes, Daners, Danish incursions, 14, in, 226, 229, 253, 256, 261,

262, 263, 265, 269, 270, 281, 282, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 291,

296, 297, 298, 299, 302, 306, 307, 309, 310, 314, 317, 321, 322,

325

Settled in Ireland ; their wealth and commerce, 299, 300

Dare, a chieftain of Cuailgne in Louth, 48, 49

Darerca, sister to St. Patrick, 152

Darinni, daughter of King Teuthal, no

Darvra, Lough, 10, n

Dathi, K. L, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 179, 184, 198

De Barri, grandsons of Nesta, " Giraldus Cambrensis," 330

Declan, St., of Ardmore, 162

INDEX. 351

Dectire, mother of Cuchullin, 52

Deece, Barony of, in Meath, 112, 141

Deer, Monastery, founded by St. Columba and Drostan, 286, 287

Book of, 286

Degaid — see Clan Degaid

Deirdre, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45

Denmark, 285, 308, 311

Derg, Lough, 10, 79

Dermid, " of the White Teeth," 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135

Dermid, attendant on St. Columba, 223, 224

Dermid, K.I., 254, 259

Dermid, MacKervil, K.I., 191, 192, 193. 198, 263, 204, 205. 218

Dermid MacMurrogh, 83

Dermid, son of Mael-na-mbo, 322, 323

Dervorgilla, wife of O'Ruarc, 328

Desi, Co. Waterford, 112, 225

Desmond, South Munster, 273, 300, 318

Diarmaid, Abbot of lona, 288, 289

Dichu, builds the church of Saul for St. Patrick, 164

Dingle, a district in Kerry, 195

Dinnseanchus, an Irish MS., 186

Dinree, Royal fort on the Barrow, 30, 31

Disert-Diarmada, 277

Dithorba, 26, 28, 29

Dodder River, 102

Doghra, the Druid, 156

Doire Calgaich. Derry, 200, 209, 210, 212, 213, 215, 218, 222

Dolat, 310

Domangart, St., gives his name to Slieve Donard, 3

Domhnall, Maormor of Mar, 311, 312

Domnall, K.I., 205, 228

Domnall MacMurchaid, K.I., 259

Don River, 8

Donall, K.I., 218

Donall O'Neill, K.I., 284, 293

Donall, son of Aedh MacAinmire, K.I., 227. 231, 232. 233, 234

Donall, son of Brian Boru, 310

Donatus, Bishop of Fiesole, his poem 011 Ireland, 252

Donegal, 200

352 INDEX.

Donnchad, K.I., 259, 293

Donnchad, Abbot of lonn, 291

Donnchadh, 313

Donn Cuailgne, The " Brown Bull," 49 66, 73

Donn Dessa, 102

Donogh, K.I., son of Flann, 282

Donogh, son of Brian Boru, 265 308, 309 318, 319 322, 323

Donovan, 300, 301

Down, 28, 145, 164, 230, 232, 236, 288

Down Patrick, 35, 68, 180. 181, 225

Dowth, 14, 269

Drogheda, 269, 325 '

Drontheim in Norway, 266, 267

Drostan, St. , Abbot of Deer, 286, 287

Druids, 11, 22, 28, 51, 59, 86, 88, 113, 136, 137, 139, 144, 156, 157,

158, 1 66, 167, 173, 183. 204, 236, 237
Drumceat, Convention of, 218, 220, 227, 229 230,
Drumcliff, 213
Drumhone, 212
Duach-Dalta-Degaid, 101
Dubh-Galls, " dark foieigners," Danes, 261
Dublin, 74, 80, 113, 161, 194, 226, 250, 264, 273, 282, 283, 302, 306,

308, 310, 321, 322

Bay of, 308, 309

Dubtach, the Bard, 166, 167

Duftach, 69

Duine Sidhe (Fairies), 169

Dull, a Columban foundation, Scotland, 246

Dumbarton, 163

Dun Aengus, 6, 7, 149

Dun Almon, 80

Dunbolg, 231

Duncan, King of Scotland, 291

Dun Conor, 6, 7

Dun Criffan, 106

Dundelgan, Dundalk, 37, 40. 78, 282

Dunflesk, 202

Dun Finn, Co. Mayo, 185

Dunkeld, 225, 290

INDEX. 353

Dunlang O'Hartigan, 313

Dunking, Father of Ethni, 125

Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow, 302

Dun-na-Sgaith, Royal Fort near Lough Enne1!, 218, 233

Dun-Sciath, Isle of Skye, 62, 75, 77

Dunseverick, on the coast of Antrim, 39, 40, 45, 72, 91, 95

Duns, 23, 24, 269

Durham, 225

Durrow, Monastery founded by St. Columba, 200, 212, 215, 216, 217

E
Easter; controversy as to the time of its celebration, 214, 225, 227,

247, 288

Eatach, mother of King Cormac MacArt, 116
Eber, son of Milesius, 17, 18, 28, 30, 32, 100, 101, 113, 116, 117, 150,

273, 3i6

Eblana— see Dublin
Edersgel, K.I., 101

Edward the Confessor, King of England, 322
Edwin, King of Deira. 226

Egfrid, King of Northumbria, buried at lona, 246
Egypt, 1 6, 287
Eimene, 219, 220

Eimer, wife of Cuchullin, 74, 75. 78
Ein, Lough, Co. Roscommon, 99, 219
Elias, Bishop of Angouleme, 253
Elim, K.I., 109, 122
Emania, Royal Fort of Ulster Kings, now " Navan Fort," near

Armagh, 29, 32, 33, 36, 38, 40, 44. 45. 49, 52, 53, 54, 59, 61, 74,

87, 98, 100, 145, 208, 211, 222, 306
Early foundation of St. Ailbe in Minister, 189.
Enda, St., 189, 190, 191
England, 24, 164, 307, 329
English, Englishmen, 251, 257, 258, 329

Invasion, 286, 326

Kings, 322, 323, 326

Enna Aighnech, K.I., 100
Ennell, Lough, 218, 321

Eochaid, Firbolg King, buried at Traigh-Eochaid, near Ballysaclare, 8

A 2

354 INDEX.

Eocbaid gives his eye to the Bard Atharne, 79

Eochaid Feliah, K.I., father of Queen Maev, 32, 46, 101

Eochaid Folt-Leathan, K.I., 100

Eochaid Aram. K.I., IOI

Eochaid, King of Leinster, no

Eochaid Finn, in

Eochaid Domlen, father of the Three Collas, 144

Eochaid, son of Muredach, K.I., 146, 155

Eochaid Gunath, K.I., 150

Eochaid Muigh-Medon, K.I., 150

Eochaid, K.I., 218, 228

Eochaid, King of Leinster, kills Niall, Nine Hostager, 154

Eochy, son of Ardgal, King of Uladh, 305

Ere, Father of St. Fiech, 166

Ere, sons of ; " the two Anguses, the two Loams, the two Ferguses/'

Fergus MacErc becomes King of Scotland, 186
Ere, daughter of Loarn Mor, 205
Ere, St., of Slane, 234, 235
Eremon, son of Milesius, 17, 18, 19, 28, 30, 31, 100, 101, in, 122, 147,

150, 198, 228, 258, 272, 273, 293, 316, 324
Erenach, 250

Eri, a princess giving name to Ireland, 15, 17
Eric, a fine for shedding blood, 119
Eric, of Auxerre, 252
Erin, ancient name of Ireland, 37, 38, 46, 48, 58, 65, 66, 70, 71, 73. 75,

76, 77, 79, 104, 116, 117, 121, 127, 128, 135, 137, 144, 147, 148,

152, 154, 156, 157, 161, 166, 176, 181, 182, 192,210,211,216,

217, 220, 221, 222, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 240, 241, 244,

270, 272, 296, 300, 308, 311, 313. 315

Erne River, 28, 156

Erne Lough, 204

Erris, a district in Mayo, 34

Eskaheen, 155

Esker Riada, the division between N. and S. Ireland, 113, 273

Ethna, mother of St. Columba, 199

Ethna, daughter of King Laery, 168, 179

Ethni, wife of King Cormac MacArt, 124, 125, 137, 143

Etive, Lough, and Glen Scotland, 37, 38, 39

Eu, Charioteer of Conall Carnach, 70

INDEX. 355

Eugenian Line, descendants of Owen Mor, 115, 273, 274, 275, 300,

3H, 3i8

Europe, 22, 30, 151

Eva, daughter of Dermid MacMurrogh and wife of Strongbow, 329
Ey, Scandinavian affix for Island, 205

Fairs, or CEnachs, 20

Falvy-Finn, 282

Fanchea, St., 189, 190

Fathna-Fathach, "the wise," K.T., 32, 33, 34, 47, 101

Fechin, St., of Fore, 244, 245

Felemy, father of St. Columba, 199

Felemy Rectmar, K.I., in, 112, 113, 122

Felemia, daughter of King Laery, converted by St. Patrick, 168, 179

Fercheas, assassinates MacCon, 118

Fercorb, K.I., 100

Ferdiah, 34, 62, 63, 64, 65, 69

Feredach, K.I., 108, 109, 122

Feredach — see Dathi

Fergal, K.I., 259

Fergel, 102

Ferger, 102

Fergna-Brit, Abbot of lona, 226, 227

Fergobar, 102

Fergus MacRoy, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57,

67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 78, 99, 100, 191, 219, 220, 254
Fergus, King of Scotland, 13
Fergus, K.I., 205, 218, 228
Fergus, son of Conall Gulban, 239
Fergus, Forthamhail, K.I., 100
Fergus, K.I., 122

Fergus, Fogha, King of Uladh, slain by the three Collas, 145
Fergus, " of the Black Teeth," 118, 119
Fergus MacErc, King of Scotland, 186
Fergus River, 275
Ferkertne, the Poet, 30, 31, 77
Fermanagh, 136

356 INDEX.

Ferragon, 103, 104

Feudal System, 21

Fiacha Sraibtheni, K.I., 150

Fiacha Finnladh, K I., 109

Fiachaid, K.I., 122

Fiachaid, K.I., son of Carbri Lificar, 144

Fiachna Sraftine, son of Felemy Kectmar, 112

Fiachra, son of Eochaid and Mongfinn, 155

Fiachra, son of Conor MacNessa, 41

Fiacre, II

Fianna-Eirinn, Irish Militia, so named from Finn-MacComhal, 117,

126, 133, 136, 143
Fiathach-Finn, K.T., 109, 122
Fiech, St., 166

Finglas River, Co. Kerry, 76

Finnachta, the Festive, K.I., no, 245, 259

Finn-Bennach, the "white- horned" Bull, 48, 73

Finn-Galls, " Fair Foreigners," 261

Finn-MacComhal, Chief of the Fianna Eirinn, father of Ossian, 115, 126,

127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 143
Finnian, St., of Clonard, 188, 191, 200

Finnian, St., of Moville, 188, 200, 202, 203, 204

Finn-Tragh, "The White-Strand" Ventry, 134

Finola, daughter of King Lir, 10, n, 12, 13

Fintan, St., 202

Fionbar, only daughter of Ailill and Maev, 63

Firbolgs, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 16, 18, 26, 32, 34, 108, 109, 114, 122, 147. 148,

149, 207, 208

Fither, daughter of King Teuthal, 1 10
Fitz-Bernard, 330
FitzGerald, son of Nesta, 330
Fitz-Henry, son of King Henry I. and Nesta, 330
Fitz- Henry- Meyler, 330
FitzStephen, Robert, son of Nesta, 330
FitzRoy, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of Nesta, 329, 330
Flaherty (Flathbertagh), Abbot of Inis Cathaigh (Scattery Islnivl), 275,

276, 277, 278, 280
Flann, Abbot of lona, 290
Flann, son of Maelsechlain, 193

INDEX. 357

Flann-Sinna, "of the Shannon," K.I., 271, 272, 280, 282, 293

Flann, son of Brian Boru, 310

Flathbertach, K.I., 259

Focluth Wood, Co. Mayo, 153, 155, 179

Fogartach, K.I., 259

Fola, a lady from whom Ireland was named, 15, 17

Fomorians, pre-historic invaders of Ireland, 4

Forbaid, a slinger, 94, 99

Fore, St. Fechin's church, 244

Forgall Monach, father of Eimer, 74, 75

Forglen, Scottish ecclesiastical foundation of St. Adamnan, 246

Fortrenn, 290

Forts, 23, 186, 269—866 " Emania," 29, " Creave Roe," 29

Fosterage, Custom of, 22

Fothad Argthach, K.I., 150

Fothad Carpthach, K.I., 150

Foyle, Lough (Feval), 16, 200, 213, 218, 270

Foynes, 179

France, French, 21, 24, 151, 157, 234, 236, 254, 255, 256. 270, 307, 328

Frankish dynasties, 255

Fredegonde, a Merovingian Queen, 255

Frigidian, St., 202

Fuad, Slieve (The Fews Mountains), 18, 29, 41, 51, 60, 61, 90, 92

Q

Gabran, leader of the Dalriads of Scotland, 154

Gael, Gaedhil, 15, 17, 18,20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 98, 109, 115, 211, 212,

262, 295,298, 308,311
Gaelic, 16, 23, 59, 156, 280, 287, 300
Gall, St.,Evangelizer of Switzerland, 24, 255
Gallicia, Spain, 16
Galway, 113, 149, 189, 209, 273
Gamauradii, a Firbolg tribe in Mayo, 32, 34
Gartan, birthplace of St. Columba in Donegal, 200
Gaul, 147, 154, 156, 157, 158, 256
Gavelkind, usage of, 20
Gavra, battle of, 117, 143
Gearr Congail, the spear of Congal-Claen, 233, 241

358 INDEX.

Gelling, island, 267

Gemman, a Christian bard, 200

Gentiles, 238

Geraldines, descendants of FitzGerald, son of Nesta, 330

of Kildare, 330

of Desmond, 330

Germanus, Bishop, 164
Germany, 24

Gesa, " sacred injunctions," considered binding by Pagan Irish, 126. 127

Gill Lough, Co. Sligo, 184

Gilla-Padraig, Prince of Ossory, 318

Gillibert, Bishop of Limerick, 325

Glastonbury, 164

Glendalough, 194

Glen-mama, battle of, 302, 303, 307

Gobaun-Saer, 269

Godwin, Earl of Kent, 303, 322

Golamh, better known as Miled or Milesius, 17

Golden Legend, 196

Goll MacMorna, P'irbolg Chief, 114, 136

Gormley, daughter of King Flann-Sinna, 271, 272, 282

Gormley, wife of King Brian Born, 265, 303, 307, 308, 322

Gort, 149

Gort-an-oir, "Field of Gold," 118

Crania, daughter of King Cormac MacArt, 126, 127, 130, 131, 132,

'33, 135
Great Britain, 58

Greece, Greek, 5, 7, 16, 20, 136,230, 287, 310
Gregory the Great, Pope, 256
Grellan, St., 206, 207, 208, 209

Guary-Aidhne, King of Connaught, 185, 218, 219, 220
Gud, Chieftain of the Ciuithne, 147

Harold, Saxon King of England, brother-in-law to Donagh O'Brien,

322
Hebrides, Western isles of Scotland, 59, 74, 187, 201, 221, 291,

307,3H
Helvetians, converted to Christianity by St. Gall, 255

INDEX. 359

Henry I., King of England, 329

Henry IT., King of England, 326, 328, 329

Hexham, 226

High Island, St. Fechin's foundation, 244

Hilda, Abbess, 227

Hill of How th— see Ben Edar

Hindus, 23

Holstein, 285

Hospitality of the Irish to foreign students, 183

Hy, I-colm-kill or lona — see lona

Hy-Brasail, 194, 196

Hy-Fiachrach, 184

Hy-Many in Connaught, 146, 206, 209, 309, 311, 314

Hy-Niall, territory of the tribe of Niali, 154, 232

Hy-Niall, Northern ; descendants of Owen and Conall Gulban, sons of

Niall, Nine Hostager, 154, 187, 200, 204, 218, 233, 235, 254,

262,. 304
Ily-Niall, Southern; descendants of Conal-Criflan, son of Niall, Nine

Hostager, 854, 168, 194, 218. 235, 262, 271, 304

Ibar, St., 162

Ibath, chieftain of the Tuath de-Danaans, 7

Iberian, Prince, ally of Owen the Great, 114

Iceland, 189

Ulan-Finn, son of Fergus Mac Roy. 40, 41, 45

Inch-Keith, Frith of Forth, Irish Ecclesiastical foundation, 246

Ingcel, 103

Inis-Cathaigh, Scattery Island, 275, 276, 280

Inis-Clothran, an Island in Lough Ree, 99

Inis-Glaire, an Island, off Sligo, 12

Inishowen, between Loughs Foyle and S willy, 155

Inrnanen, father of Flathbertach, Abbot of Scattery, 276, 277

Innocent II., Pope, 325

Tona, Hy, or I-colm-kille, Island off Western Scotland, St. Columba j

foundation, 24, 201, 213, 215, 217, 221, 223, 225, 226, 246, 247,

287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292
Abbots of, 223, 226, 227, 245, 247, 288, 290, 291

360 INDEX.

Ir, son of Miled, line of Kings descended from, 18, 19, 27, 28, 30, 32,
78, TOO, 101, in, 122, 150, 101, 237

Ireland, Irish, 21, 25, 39, 58, 59, 63, 75, 78, 116, 151, 152, 153. 155,
161, 163, 164, 168, 176, 179, 180, 183, 186, 187, 189, 194. 204,
211,216 218, 221, 223, 226, 230, 236, 245, 246 247, 249, 250,
251, 252, 253, 256, 257, 258, 262, 264, 265, 266, 270, 272, 277,
280, 281, 282, 285, 287, 288, 290, 295, 299, 306, 307, 308, 309,
310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 320, 321, 323, 325, 326, 327, 328, 330

Irgas of many battles, 149

Irish Church, 325

Orders of Saints, 183

Monks, transcribers of MSS., 183

Annals, 285

Isle of Destiny, ancient title given to Ireland, 6

Italy, 24, 1 60, 202, 255, 256

Ith, son of Breogan, 16, 18, 28, 117, 122, 150

Ivar, attendant on Cuchullin, 60, 61

Ivar, Danish King of Limerick, 299, 300, 302

Ivar, Danish Earl, opens and plunders New Grange and other
sepulchral mounds on the Boyne, 269

J

Japhet, 16

Jesus, staff of, 166, 167, 250

Jerome, St., 202

Jerusalem, Bishop Arculf's account of, 246

Jews, 88, 322

Johannes- Scotus Erigena, 23

John, son of Henry II., afterwards King of England, 330

Jutland, 285

K

Keating, Geoffrey, the historian, 276

Keilichar, 278

Kellach, son of King Cormac, slain by /Engus, " Dread Spear," 11

Kellach, uncle of Congal Claen, 236

Kellach, K.I., 258

Kellach, chieftain in the Battle of Moy Rath, 243

INDEX. 361

Kellach, prince of Ossory, 278, 279

Kellach, St., 162, 184, 185

Keltar, son of Uitachar, 35, 68, 69

Kells, Co. Meath, 124, 200, 205, 212, 215, 288, 290

Ken-Barra, a promontory in Ulster, 77

Kenfalla, son of Ollioll " The Scholar," 247, 248

Kennedy, son of Lorcan and father of Brian Boru, 281, 282, 295,

296, 297

Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scotland, 271, 290
Kennfaeladh, K.T., 259
Kennghegan, 278
Kerball, 277, 279
Kerry, Co., 99, 195. 254, 282
Kesair, 30

Keth MacMagach, 34, 87, 88 90, 91, 94, 95, 149
Kevin, St., of Glendalough, 194
Kian— see Cian

Kian, King of Desmond, 31 1, 318

Kieran, St., of Clonmacnoise, 184, 185, 191, 192, 193, 201, 202, 324
Kieran, St., of Saighir, 162, 188
Kilany, Church of St. Enda, Aran, 190
Kilbreccan, 190

Kildare, " Churches of the Oak," founded by St. Brigid, 187
Killaloe, 302
Kilmore-Moy, 185
Kimbaoth, K.I., 26, 28, 29, 30
Kimi-Kether-Kenn, a Firbolg chieftain, 149
Kinaeth, K.I., 259

Kincora, Fort of Brian Boru near Killaloe, 302, 306, 307, 308, 318, 319
Kinel Conall, people of Conall Gulban, 1 54, 200, 204, 206
Kinel Owen, people of Owen, 154, 204, 206, 304
King, a Firbolg chieftain, 149
King's County, 188, 200
Knowth, Cnodhbach, sepulchral tumulus on the Boyne, 14, 60, 269

L

Laegari, K.I.. 198

Laeghaire, Laery, K.I., 162, 165, 166, 168, 171, 177, 178, 184, 186

362 INDEX.

Laeisech, great grandson of Conall Carnach, Leix, named after him,

III, 112

Lagenians, people of Leinster, IIO, III, 125, 177, 178, 184
Laisren, Abbot of lona, 226
Lambay Island, 265

Lammas day, games established by King Lugaid, Aug. 1st. 20
Latin language, 279, 280, 287
Lavra Maen, or Loinsech — see Maen
Lea Con, Northern Ireland, 113, 273, 320
Lea Moha, Southern Ireland, 113, 114, 273, 276, 295, 320
Leaba Diarmada, agus Ghrainne, 127
Leagh, Charioteer of Cuchullin, 70, 71, 74
Leary Buadach, Knight of the Red Branch, 35
Leary Lore, K.I., son of Ugaine Mor, 30, 100
Lee river, 168
Lee the physician, 92, 93

Leinster, 18, 28, 31, 47, 48, 79, 80, 89, 102, no, in, 112, 124, 147,
164, 231, 246, 251, 265, 271, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 283, 303, 306,
307» 308, 310, 311. 319, 322, 324, 329
Leitrim, 50

Leix, in Queen's County, in. 112
Lennox, 147
Letterkenny, 200 .
Levarcam, 61
Leven Loch, 210

Lia-Fail, or Stone of Destiny, 13, 14, 186, 187
Libraries, 285

Trinity College, Dublin, 286, 288

University, Cambridge, 286

Liflfey river, 79, 84, 86, 222

Limerick, 79, 264, 273, 296, 299, 300, 302, 306

Lindisfarne, foundation of Irish monks from lona, 24, 227

Lismore, celebrated school founded by St. Carthagh, 230, 248, 254, 255

Lismullen Mill, 137

Lir, story of the children of, 9, 10, II, 13

Llancarvan, Caradoc of, 194

Lochlannaigh, Irish designation of the Northmen and Danes, 264, 305

Lodar, 311

Loingsech. K.I., 259

INDEX. 363

Loire river, 154

Lomna Druth, 103, 104, 105

Longfellow, H. W., 266

Longford, 50

Lorcan, grandfather of Brian Boru, 280, 283, 295, 296, 297

Lord of the Isles, 146, 292, 307

Lorica, St. Patrick's Hymn or "Breastplate," 171

Lough Cooler, 149

Louth, 1 8, 45, 73

Lucca, 202

Lugaid, MacCon, 117, 122

Lugaid, son of Ith, 18, 28

Lugaid, Tuath-De-Danaan King, 20

Lugaid, K.I., 101

Lugaid "of the Red bands," K.I., 106

Lugaid Laga, slays King Art Aeinfer, 117, 118, 119

Lugaid, K.I., son of Laery, 186, 187, 198

Luin Ban Celtchair, the spear of Keltar Mac Uitachar, 35, 68, 69

Lupida, sister of St. Patrick, 152

Lupus, Bishop, 164

Lusk, 74, 75, 102

Luxeuil in Burgundy, foundation of St. Columbanus, 25, 255, 256

M

MacAlpin, Kenneth, first King of Scotland, 271

Macbeth, King of Scotland, 291

MacCarthy, Princes of Munster, 28, 115, 273

MacColl, 15, 17

MacCon, 115, 117, 118

MacCreiche, St., 245

MacDatho, 89, 90

MacDonalds of Scotland, 146

MacGrene, 15, 17

Macha, Queen, erects Emania, 28, 29, 30, 32, 100

Macha, the warrior goddess, 120

MacKeact, 15, 17

MacLiag, Bard of King Brian Born, 297

MacMahon, 146

364 INDEX.

MacMurrogh, 28, 323

Dermid, " na-ngall," King of Leinster, 324, 328, 329, 330

MacNamara, 115

MacRoth, herald of Queen Maev, 49, 66, 68

Maelcova, K.I., 231, 233, 258

Maelduin, 290

Maelmora, slayer of King Tuathal, 193

Maelmurra, King of Leinster, 303, 307, 308, 311, 321, 322

Maelmuri, daughter of Kenneth MacAlpin, 271

Maen, Lavra Loingsech, 30, 31, 32, 100, 108

Msenach, Abbot of Desert Diarmaita, 277

Maev, Queen of Connaught, 32, 34, 35, 45, 46, 48. 49. 62, 63, 64, 65, 66

6?» 73> 87, 90, 94, 99, 100, 120, 149, 191, 219, 324
Maev, wife of Art the Solitary, 116
Magach, father of Keth, 34, 48
Magenis, Chiefs of Iveagh, Co. Down, 28
Magh Adair, 295
Magh Corb, K.I., 100, 143
Magh Cru, " the bloody plain," 107
Magh Liath, " plain of sorrow," 208
Magnus, 282
Magog, 15
Maguire, 146
Mahon, Mathgamhain, son of Kennedy, brother of Brian Born, 295,

296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302
Maine Mor, Chieftain of Hy-Many, 207, 208, 209
Malachy II., "of the Shannon," K.I , 262, 263, 270, 271, 293
Malachy II., Maelsechlain Mor, K.I., 294, 295, 303, 304, 305, 306, 308,

310, 316, 321, 322

Malachy O'Morgair, St., Archbishop of Armagh, 325
Malahide, 102

Mai, K.I., of the Irian line, in, 122
Malcolm Ceannmor, King of Scotland, 291
Maloder Macha, King of Orghiall, 235
Mana Island, 75
Man, Isle of, 307, 308, 311

Manannan MacLir, The Ocean God of the Pagan Irish, 135
Mane, sons of Ailill and Maev, 50
Mangan, J.C., 249

INDEX. 365

Manuscripts, Illuminated, etc., 24, 74, 81, 183, 186, 215, 261, 286

Maols, "The four," murderers of St. Kellach, 185, 186

Margaret, St., Queen of Scotland.. 291, 292

Marr, of Scotland, 147

Martin of Tours, St., 152

Mata, of Murisg, mother of Ailill, King of Connaughr, 48

Maud, the Empress, daughter of Henry I., 330

Mayo, 149

McDonnells of Antrim, 146

Measca, Lough Mask, 149, 244

Meath, 20, 60, 66, 67, 68, 81, 102, 103, 109, 112, 148, 149, 192, 210,

222, 251, 303, 305, 309, 310
Melgi, Molbthach, K.I., 100

Mellifont Abbey, First Cistercian Foundation in Ireland, 325, 328
Merovingians, 255

Mesgedra, King of Leinster, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 104
Metal work in Ireland, 24, 285
Michelet, French historian, quoted, 21
Midas, King, 31

Milcho, St. Patrick's master, 152, 154, 164
Miled, or Milesius, 16, 17, 27, 28, 78
Milesians, invaders of Ireland, led by Miled, 15, 16, 18, 26, 35, 107,

147, 148

Missionaries and Missions from Ireland, 24, 252, 253, 286
Mithridates, King of Cappadocia, said to have invented mills, 136
Moanmore, battle of, 324
Mochuda, St., 275
Mcenaig, 291

Moh Nuad — see Owen Mor
Molaise, St., 204, 211, 222
Moling, St., of Ferns, 1 10, 245
Momera, wife of Owen Mor, 113
Monaghan, 146, 233
Monasteries, 183, 225, 226, 291, 306

Mongfinn, Queen of Eochaid, poisons her brother, 146, 155
Morann, son of Carbri Kin-Gait, refuses the Crown, 108, 109
Mormaor, Celtic title representing the King, 286, 287, 311
Mor-Riga, Goddess of battle, 120
Moville, Celebrated School, Co. Down, St. Finnian's Foundation, 188,20:*

366 INDEX.

Moy Adhair, 149

Moyle, the sea that separates Ireland and Scotland, II, 12, 13

Moy-Lena, battle of, 114

Moy-Mucrive, battle of, 116, 117, 118

Moynalty, the plain near the ?ea, North of Dublin, 3

Moy-Rath, Moira, battle of, 231, 236, 239, 240, 242, 247, 248, 254

Moy River, 156, 186

Moy Slaught, seat of pagan worship, Co. Cavan, 18, 140, 155, 179

Moyture, battle of Northern, 15, 69

Moyture, battle of Southern, 8, 9

Mullingar, 218, 262

Mulloch Roe, Co. Sligo, palace of Rua, Queen of Dathi, 156

Mulloy MacBran, 300, 301, 302

Munster, 18, 28, 75, 76, 102, in, 113, 114, 115, 117, 143, 144, 149. 162,
179, 189, 210, 250, 254, 273, 276, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283,
295, 296, 297, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 309, 311, 318, 322, 323,

324

Muredach, K.I., Banishes the three Collas, 144, 145, 150
Murgen, son of the Bard Sancan, 219, 220
Murighen, 277
Murkertach, 277

Murkertach, Mor MacErca, K.I., 186, 187, 192, 198, 218
Murkertach, "of the Leathern Cloaks," his circuit of Ireland, 282, 283,

284

Murkertach Mor O'Brien, great grandson of Brian Boru, 323
Murrogh, Murchadh, son of Brian Boru, 302, 303, 307, 309, 310, 312,

313, 314, 315, 317, 320, 321

Murrogh, " Short Shield," son of Donagh, son of Brian Boru, 323
Murthevne, a district of Louth, battle of, 51, 66, 69, 70, 78
Museums, 285

Denmark, have objects of Celtic art, the plunder of the

Vikings, 285
Muskerry, its tribes descended from Cabri Muse, 115

N

Naas, 85

Nair, Queen of King Crimthan, 1 06

Naisi, son of Usnach, married to Deirdre, 35. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43

Nechtan, Dun of, destroyed by Cuchullin, 51, 60

INDEX. 367

Nemed, his invasion of Ireland, 4, 5, 7, 26

Nessa, mother of Conor and wife to Fergus MacRoy, 33, 34

Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tudor, 329, 330

New Grange, Tumulus on the Boyne, 14, 60, 269

Newiy, 240

Newtown-Limavady, Co. Deny, 218

Niadh, K.I., 100

Niall, of the Nine Hostages, K.I., 146 147, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155,

156, 157, 162, 164, 165, 178, 186, 187, 200, 216, 226, 239, 245,

290, 295, 320
Niall Frasach, K.I., 259

Niall Caille, "of Callan," K.I., 262, 263, 270, 293
Niall, " Black Knee," K.I., 271, 272, 282, 284, 293
Nindid, 239
Normandy, 307
Norman, 21. 269, 329

Kings of England, 291

Norse, Norwegian, 108, 264, 265, 266, 268, 284, 291

Influence on Irish names, Ey, island. Fiord, Ford, &c., 265

Northmen, 225, 261, 264, 270, 285, 288, 296, 297, 302, 307, 308, 310,

311,314,321

Northumbria, Northumberland, 24, 226, 227, 246
Norway, 266, 267, 290, 311
Nose-gelt, an ounce of gold yearly, on penalty of loss of nose, Danish

tax, 263

Nuad, "of the Silver Hand," Tuath-De-Danaan, Chieftain, 8
Nuadach Necht, K.I., 122

o

O'Briens, 28, 115, 143, 273, 307, 313, 320, 321

O'Callaghans, 115

O'Carrolls, 115

Ocha, battle of, 186

O'Clerys, 115, 116

O'Connors, 18, 28, 146, 324

O'Conor, Turlogh Mor, 146, 193, 285, 324, 326, 328

Roderic, K.I., 146, 244, 328

O'Connor, 303

368 INDEX.

Odin, Norse deity, 268

O'Donnells, 28, 113, 154, 206

O'Donnells, of Newport, possessors of the Cathack, 205

O Donnell, Cathbar, had its shrine made for the Cathach, 205

O'Donnell, Daniel, 206

O'Donnell, Sir Neal, 206

O'Donnell, Manus, 205

O'Donoghue, of the Glens, 146

O'Dowda, 156

O'Driscolls, 28

CEnachs, Fairs, places of commerce and amusement, 20

Offaly, a territory in Leinster, named from Rossa Falgi, 113

O'Flaherty, author of " Ogygia," his chronology, 26, 100, 101

O'Garas, 115, 116

Ogham, a form of writing on the edges of stones, 14, 24

Ogma, of the Tuath-De-Danaan race, 14

O'Gradys, 115

O Haras, 1 1 5

O'Hartigan, Dunlang, hero at the battle of Clontarf, 313

O'Heyne, 156, 303, 311

Maelruine, Lord of Hy-Fiachra-Aidhne, 311, 314

Ohio River, 197

O'Keeffes, 115

O'Kellys, chiefs of Hy-Many, 146, 206

O'Kelly, Tiege, commanded the third division of the Irish army at

Clontarf, 309, 314
Olaf Fola, 19, 26, 27

Olaf, Danish Earl, plundered the Tumuli on the Boyne, 269
Olaf Cuaran, Danish King of Dublin, 265, 303
Olaf, St., King of Norway, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269
Ollaves, Expounders of the Law, 118
Olild Cas-fiachtach, K.I., 100

Ollioll Olum, 115, 116, 117, 143, 273, 281, 295, 318
OlliollMolt, K.I., 162, 184, 186, 198
O'Loghan, Cuan, an eminent Poet, 322
O'Lorcain, descended from Eochaid Finn, in
O'Mahonys, 146
O'More, Sept of, ill
O'Moriartys, 146

INDEX. 3 G<>

O'Meaghers, 115

O'Neills, 28, 113, 154, 184

O'Neill, Flaherty, " an Trostnin," Prince of Aileach, 322, 323

O' Nolans, 31, 311

O'Quinns, 115

O'Rafferty, Abbot of Kells, 205

Oran, 182

Orghiall, a district of Louth, Monaghan and Armagh, 145, 180, 181,

189, 190, 233, 235
Orkney Islands, 307, 308. 311

Ornaments, gold and silver, 23. 67, 71, 138, 147, 205, 225, 274, 288
O'Ruarc, Lord of Breffny, 328
Oscar, son of Ossian, 143
O'Sliaughnessy, 156
Ossian, Oisin, Poet, son of P'inn MacComlial, 115, 133, 134, 136, 143

MacPherson's vers on of, 59, 134

Ossianic Society, 134

Ossory, Ossorie, territory in Kilkenny, 251, 279, 318, 319

O'Sullivans, 115

Oswald, King of Bernicia, educated at lona, 226

Oswy, King of Northumbria, 249

Owel, Lough, 263

Owen, Mor or Moh Nuad, King of Munster, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118,

272, 281
Owen, Eoghan, son of Niall Nine Hostager, 154, 155, 187, 273. 283,

295' 304

Owen Bel, King of Connaught, 162, 184, 185
Oxford, 194

Palestine, The Holy Places described by St. Adamnan. 8th century,

246

Palladius, St., his mission to Ireland, 162
Paris, 249, 253

Parmenius, a Royal recluse, attacked by King Dathi, 157, 158, 161
Parochial system, superceding the Tribal system, 292
Partholan, Traditions about, I, 2, 3, 4, 26

B2

£70 INDEX.

Patrick, St., Apostle of Ireland, 12. 134, 152, 156. 162, 163, 164, 165,
166, 167, 1 68, 169, 170, 171, 176, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183,
187, 188, 189. 19:9/288

his Bell, 245

Patrick, Sen., 164
Pavia, 254

Pedigrees, carefully preserved, the title deeds of every freeman, 20, 28

Peter, St., 327

Petrie, Dr. George, 1 72, 285

Pfeffers, in Switzerland, 158

Pharamond, King of the Franks, 158

Picts, Pictland, 18, 115, 137, I47> M^, 150, I53> '54. 201, 246, 271, 290

Pictish Monarch, Brude, 247

Pillar Stones, 24

Piran, St., of Cornwall, identified with St.Kieran of Saighir, 188

Plait, a Scandinavian warrior at Clontarf, 312

Plantagenet, 133

Plantation of Ulster, 146

Poets, 28, 1 1 8, 200, 217, 236, 250

Poictiers built by the Picts, 147

Poland, Gradual elevation of its soil, 8

Prime Tales, known by every qualified Bard, 82

Psalter, 224, 234

of Cashel, 272, 276

Q

Queen Victoria, descended from the Scotic line, 14, 115

Queen Macha— see Macha

Queen Maev — see Mrev

Quern, a hand mill for grinding corn, 137

R

Raphoe, 202, 212, 222

Rath Archaill, near the River Moy, scene of Idol worship, 156

Rath Croghan, or Cruachan, Royal Fort of Connaught, 32, 34, 45, 46,

52, 66, 73, 87, 91, 99, 100, 120, 149, 157, 161, 168, 179, 191, 219,

250, 324

Rathin, church at, 254
Rathkeltar, near Downpatrick, 35

INDEX. 371

Rathlin Island, off the coast of Antrim, 75

Rath-Maev at Tara, Fort of Art Aeinfer's Queen, 116

Raths, Earthen Forts, the abodes of Kings and Chiefs in ancient

Ireland, 23, 143, 144, 168
Rath Umaill, now Burrisoole, Co. Mayo, 150
Raud, " the strong," a Norway Viking, 266, 267, 268
Rectaid, the slayer of Queen Macha, K.I., 30, 100
Red Branch Knights, House of 29, 35, 38, 40, 42, 44, 74, 75, 78,

87, 104, 145, 149
Red Heads, the Three, 99
Ree, Lough, 99, 263
Reginald, the Dane, 269
Reginald, Ragnvald's Tower, Waterford, 269
Regner Lodbrog, his " death song," 284
Relig-na-Righ, burying place of the Kings, 157, 161
Rhine, River, 158
Robhartaigh, Domnall Ua— see Donnell O'Rafferty

Rollo, Duke of Normandy, 307

Romanesque, Irish, 286

Rome, Romans, 98, 107, 135, 148, 160, 163, 190, 191, 202, 213.
214, 227, 230, 247, 270, 287, 291, 292, 310, 322, 323, 325, 327

Rome, Monasteries in connection with Church of, 292

Rosapenna, 222

Roscommon, 32, 73, 162, 209, 324

Roscre, now Roscrea, 275

Rosgrencha — see Durrow

Rossa Falgi, son of Caher Mor, 113

Rosnaree, on the Boyne, 132, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143

Ross Ruadh, King of Leinster, 47, 149

Roydamna, "King Material," heir apparent, 21, 282

Rua, Queen of Dathi, 156

Ruadhan, St., of Lorrah, 218, 232

Rudrician Race, descendants of Rury Mor, 145, 244

Rury, Rudraide Mor, K.I., 32, 33, 78, 100

Russia, gradual elevation of its plains, 8

s

Sabhall-Padruic, Patrick's Barn, now Saul, Co. Down, 164, 1 80, 225
Saer-Clanna, Free tribes, 107

372 INDEX.

Saer-Gael, the Patrician Tribes of Ireland, 106

Sagas, Norse poems, 269, 315

Saighir, a well in King's Co., where St. Kieran founded his monastery of

Seir-Kieran, 188
Saints of Ireland. Three orders described, 1st order, 181, 183, 187;

2nd order, 188, 189, 191, 194, 197, 213, 225 ; 3rd order, 156,

181

Salten Fiord, Norway, 266, 267, 268
Samhain, Festival held, 3 1st October
Samhair, wife of Cormac Cas, 143
Sancan, the Bard, 218, 219
Sanscrit, 23

Sara, wife of Conary II., 114

Save, daughter of Brian Boru and wife of Sitric, " Silk Beard," 265
Saxon Chronicle, 194

Scandinavia, 7, 24, 236, 261, 266, 269, 284, 308, 311, 312
Scannlan, "of the Broad Shield," 233, 234
Scatha. of the Island of Skye, 34, 62, 64, 74, 75
Scattery Island at the mouth of the Shannon— see Inis Cathaigh
Schools of Ireland, 188, 189, 230, 248, 251, 252, 253,254,255, 256,

257, 258, 274, 306, 325

Armagh, 230, 254

Bangor, 230, 255

Cashel, 230

Clonard, 1 88, 230

Clonfert, 230

Clonmacnoise, 230

Emly, 189, 230

Kildare, 230

Lismore, 230, 254, 255

Moville, 1 88

Sciath-Bachlach, "Shield of the Crozier," 168

Scone, Perthshire, 13, 187

Scoti, Scots of Ireland, afterwards of Scotland, 15, 18, 26, 106, 108,

115, 148, 226, 246, 251, 252,253, 290, 303, 329
Scotic, 1 8, 107, 150, 1 86, 271, 273
Scotland, 21, 24, 25, 34, 37, 58, 59, 75, 109, 115, 137, 148, 154, 186,

187, 204, 216, 217, 220, 232, 236, 245, 290, 311
Screene, Co. Sligo, 156

INDEX. 373

Scythia, 16

Seanechies, Storytellers, 120, 161

Sechnasach, K.I., 259

Segene, Abbot of lona, 227

Seir-Kieran, Monastic Foundation of St. Kieran, " first born of the

Saints of Ireland," 188
Senchus Mor, a Brehon Law Tract, 176
Sepulchral monuments, 8, 14, 15, 23, 24, 27, 85, 86, 269, 285
Setanta, see Cuchullin

Shannon River, 50, 79, 94, 179, 191, 192, 207, 275, 294, 302
Shrines, 261, 274, 285, 288
For Bells, 285

Book of Durrovv, 215

BookofKells, 215

Cathach, 205

Relics of the Saints, 285

St. Columba's relics, 225, 226, 288, 289, 290

Skellig Rocks, off Kerry, 27

Skene, Mr., quoted, 291

Skreen, Hill of, 141

Skye, Island of, 58, 74

Siadal, Abbot of Disert Diarmada, 277

Sigebert, grandson of Clovis, 255

Sigurd, 266, 267

Sigurd, Earl of Orkney Islands, 308, 311

Sin, 192

Sitric, son of MacAodha, maker of Shrine for Cathach, 205

Sitric, "Silk Beard," Danish King of Dublin, 265, 302, 303, 310, 322

Sitric, Earl, plunders the Tumuli on the Boyne, 269

Sitric, a Danish Chief, 281, 282, 283

Slauge, son of I'artholan, 2, 3

Slane, on the Boyne, 165,' 166

Slemish, Slieve Mis, a mountain in Antrim, 152, 154

Sletty, see Cletty

Slewin, in Westmeath, 70

Slewmargy, 251

Sligo, 8, 128, 184, 204

Solve, wife of Ollioll Olum, King of Munster, 115, 117

Spain, Spanish, 16, 17, 113, 114

374 INDEX.

St. Andrews, Fife, 290

Stephen, Earl of Blois, 330

Stewarts, Royal Family of Scotland, 311

Stone of Destiny — see Lia Fail

Stokes, Dr. Whitley, 172

Strangford Bay or Lough, 265

Strongbow, Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, 269, 329

Stuart, Dr. John, 285

Suaillam, father of Cuchullin, 52, 55, 57, 58, 65, 66

Succoth— see St. Patrick

Suibhne MacMselhumai, "most learned doctor of the Irish," assisted at

the Foundation of Oxford, 194 253
Suibhne, Abbot of lona, 227
Sulcoit, Tipperary, Battle of, 299, 300 4.
Sulgan, John, son of, His Poem, 256, 257

Sulpicius Severus, cycle of, used by the early Irish Church, 214
Surnames adopted in Ireland, 307
Sweeny Menn, K.I., 231, 232, 258
Sweeny, lost his reason at the battle of Moy Rath, 248
S willy, Lough, 218, 233
Switzerland, 24, 158, 255
Swords, near Dublin, 200, 212, 317
Synods, 325

Tadgh, grandson of Ollioll Olum, 1 16

Tailkenn, a title for St. Patrick, 1 1

Tailte, Tailten 17, 20, 60, no, 157

Tain-Bo-Cuailgne, 45, 52, 60, 61, 62, 67, 73, 208, 219, 220

Tamlacht, Tallaght, 2, 102

Tanist, Heir apparent, 21, 224

Tanistry, Law of, 21, 117

Tara, Temurt the ancient seat of Royalty, Co. Meath, 13, 17, 31, 47,
48, 60, 78, 102, 109, 1 10, 112, 116, 1 18, 130, 137, 138, 143, 144,
156, 157, 165, 166, 171, 176, 178, 183, 187, 193, 203, 218, 233,
245, 247, 303, 304, 305

Convention or Feisy 19, 20, 114

- — - Psalter of, no

INDEX. 375

Taw, Hall of, 123

Tclacta, 85, no

Tegasg Righ, Institutes of King Cormac, 123, 138 «

Teuthal Techtmar, K.I., 109, no, 111,122

Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 328

Thomond, North Munster, 149, 179, 273, 274, 286, 290, 295, 300

Thor, Norse deity, 268

Thrace, Firbolgs enslaved in, 5, 147

Thule, King of, 131

Tibradi Tirech, 108, 114

Tiege, son of Brian Boru, 265, 310, 322

Tiege O'Kelly, Prince of Hy-Many. 311, 314

Tiernmas, K.I., introduced the worship of idols, 19, 26

Tigernach, a historian of the first century, 26

Tipperary, 118

Tinne, King of Connaught, 32, 34

Tir-Avvley, Tyrawley, Territory of the Race of Avvley, N.W., Mayo,

153, 179, 185
Tir-Conaill, Tyrconnell, Territory of the Race of Conall, 154 200, 203,

205, 206

Tireragh, Co. Sligo, 156
Tir-Luighdech, 215

Tir-Ovven, Tyrone, Territory of the Race of Owen, 154, 284
Toisech, Clan Chief, 287
Tolka River, 308, 309, 314, 315, 317
Tomb-stones, decorated, 286
Tor, 282 .,

Tor-Conaing, Battle of, 5, 7
Tor Inis, Tory island, off Donegal, 4, 200
Torna, Bard of Niall, 147

Towers, Round, 24, 191, 193, 20O . z-,':';'i

Tralee, Co. Kerry, 76
Trinity College, Dublin, 215
Trostan, Pictish Druid, 147
Tuathal Moelgarv, K.I., 192, 193, 198

Tuath-De-Danaans, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2O,,26, 27, 69* -269; :/y?
Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, 32
Tumuli, 14, 15, 24, 60, 86, 269
Turgesius, Leader of the Danes in Ireland, 263, 284.

INDEX.

Turlogh, Toirdhelbach, son of Murrogh, son of Brian Boru, drowned at

the Battle of Clontarf, 310, 314, 317, 321
Turlogh, son of Tiege, son of Brian Boru, 323
Tus«any, 252
Tyrone, Hugh, Earl of, 284

u

Uatha, 62, 64

Ugaine Mor, K.I., 30, 32, 100, 109

Uisnech, Co. Meath, 1 10 .

Uit-aeher, father of Keltar or Celtchar, 35, 68, 69

Uladh, Ulster, or Ulidta, 18, 28, 32, 33, 37, 42, 45, 50, 56, 60, 61, 62,
72, 75. 76, 77, 79, 80, 90, 91, 99, 100, 109, 113, 119, 145, 181, 184,
206, 232, 233, 235, 236, 239, 244, 250, 275, 304, 306

Ultonians, people of Ulster, 62, 65, 66, 73, 79, 80, 81, 87, 90. 145, 210,
236, 237, 238, 240

Umor, sons of, A Firbolg Clan, 149

Unfree Tribes — see Daer-Clanna

Usnach, sons of, 35,36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 49

V

Vikings, Adventurers, on Sea, generally Northmen, 3, 14, 261, 266,

290, 316
Vistula River, 8
Vosges, mountains in Eastern Fran*;, 255

w

Wales, Welsh, 245, 311, 329

Waterford, founded by the Danes, 264, 265, 269, 296

Waves, of Cleena, 71, 72

of the North, 71

of Rory, 71, 72

Weapons of Bronze, 9, 23

of Stone, 23

of Iron, 23

VTestmcath, 50, 244, 254, 262

INDEX. 377

Westminster Abbey, 13, i$7

Wexford, 20, 265

White-Strand, Batttes of, 4

Whitby, Synod of, 227

Wicklow, 194, 302

Wilfrid, Bishop of York. 227

William Rufus, King of England, 323

Winchester, Henry II. holds a Parliament at, 328

"Wisdom Sellers" at the Court of Charlemagne, 253. 254

Worcester, Florence of, 194

York, 227, 246

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS,

(Revue Critique.}

" Un livre destine au grand public. . . . Celle que nous annon^ons
et qui a pour auteur la femme d'un des poetes les plus distingues de
1'Irlande actuelle, raconte 1'histoire legendaire et 1'histoire reelle
d'Irlande avant 1'invasion anglaise. Plusieurs poetes anglo-irlandais
de ce siecle se sont fait un nom dans la litterature anglaise et ont
familiarise le public de la Grande-Bretagne avec les legendes de la
vieille Erin. Des poetes anglais eux-memes puisent a cette mine
feconde ; tel M. Matthew Arnold. ... It est done interessant de
presenter dans leur ensemble et dans leur succession les diflerents cycles
que out inspire 1'ancienne poesie gailique de 1'Irlande et inspirent au-
jourd'hui la litteiature qu'elle s'est creee dans lalangue du conquerant.
... La forme tres-litteraire que Mme. Ferguson a donnee a son livre
. . . suit generalement les meilleures sources et a meme mis a profit
des manuscrits de 1' Academic Royale d'Irlande."

(The Daily Express, February n, 1 868.)

" This clear and well-told history is drawn from varied sources, some
of which are not accessible to the public, while the rest are far less
known than they deserve to be.

" In the compass of 300 pages Mrs. Ferguson has given us what every
Irishman must often have wished for — a popular and interesting sketch
of the dark ages of our own land, written without a shade of religious
or political partizanship, and altogether such as will help men to love
Ireland without falling foul of every lesson of history and prudence. In
fact, it is only by her sympathetic warmth, her love of whatever is pure

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

and of good report in the tale she tells, that we see how truly patriotic
a pleasure the authoress found in her occupation.

"The result is, to our mind, one of the most charming books of the
season . . . this truly valuable history."

(The Nation, February 8th, 1868.)

" In the work quoted at the head of this article, in which is presented
a clear outline of the history of our country . . . and the subject-
matter made as interesting as was possible, by the agency of a pure,
clear style of narrative, ... a spirit of true criticism, . . . command
of language. ... In the course of her most entertaining and instruc-
tive narrative, our authoress having securely laid down the stratum of
genuine contemporary history, makes agreeable excursions to the right
and left, and collects from poem, or romance, or legend, every circum-
stance connected with the current facts, which can serve to render them
interesting, agreeable, and easily remembered,"

(Satinderf News-Letter, Feb. 28th, 1868.)

" We cannot but applaud the admirable perspicuity and orderliness
which characterise the management of details that in hands less skilful
might seem to defy methodical treatment. . . . Her industry and
acumen . . . sensibility and poetic fervour. . . . She has done her
country the great service of vindicating Ireland's position in remote
ages as a powerful element in European civilization. . . . Mrs. Fer-
guson has not approached her perplexing task without conscientious
preparation. Every page of her volume bears evidence of extended
reading, while the rich appendix of books on Irish literature and on its
nomenclature bear ample testimony to diligence and erudition. . . .
We cordially recommend this volume to all Irishmen — and they might
indeed be a little more numerous — who care to know something of the
history of their own country."

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 3

(The Dublin Evening Mail, Feb. 14111, 1868.)

"We must express our sincere thanks to Mrs. Ferguson for opening
up the history of these far-back times, which has hitherto been a sealed
book to all but the most learned antiquarians. It was, we are sure, no
veiy easy task to collect and select the materials for this compact little
volume, and more difficult still, to introduce and sustain the ' thread of
poetry ' among so much dry matter ; but to prove that this has been
successfully carried out, we need only refer the reader to the book itself
in the certainty that it will testify its own merits far more eloquently
than words of ours."

(The Weekly Observer, April i8th, 1868.)

" Mrs. Ferguson has given us a delightful volume. . . . She has
rendered the early story of our country not only readable and fascinating
by scattering through her pages gems of sweetest poetry, but excited
our liveliest sympathies in the fates and history of ... chiefs and
monarchs. . . . Altogether this little volume is by far the most to be
depended on, and popularly written manual we know, of the period of
Irish history of which it so charmingly treats. . . . Most cordially do
we trust that a second and enlarged edition may soon be required."

(The Northern Star and Ulster Observer, July 2Oth, 1871.)

"A beautiful volume ... a series of historic tableaux, each perfect
in itself and perfect in their union ; from the perusal of which the
reader obtains a clear and comprehensive vision of the period of Irish
history passing under review."

(The Cork Examiner, March 3rd, 1868.)

"Mrs. Ferguson, however, has done a great deal more than give us
a readable volume. She has compiled a work which we do not hesitate
to describe as of a most fascinating character, and one which cannot

4 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

fail to attain a wide popularity both in and out of Ireland. . . . Ad-
mirable in its dignified simplicity. . . . With a light and rapid hand
she draws the moral and historical features that marked the particular
time, and throws out into strong relief the figures and character of the
chief actors. She gives us most interesting glimpses of the manners,
the habits, the modes of speech and of thought even of the people who
lived in the dim past. Her work is historical in character, but the fact
does not prevent the display of its personages with dramatic force.
. . . We are glad to express our hearty admiration of the spirit and the
execution of this book. It brings learning and a woman's graceful
genius to the vindication of a race to whom fortune and the world have
never been just."

(The Manchester Examiner and Times, April 8th, 1868.)

" No apology was required for the narrative. The book is full of
romance and chivalry. . . . The interest of the narrative never
flags. ... If this charming narrative of ' The Irish before the Con-
quest' helps us to a more complete knowledge of the traditional
character of the Irish people, its mission will be a noble one."

(The Manchester Guardian, April i6th, 1868.)

"We have read Mr. (sic) Ferguson's volume with real pleasure. . . .
No better or more rational epitome of that little-known period has come
under our notice. . . . No writer, it seems to us, has so well and suc-
cinctly written the traditions of Ireland's mythic age. . . . Mr. (sic)
Ferguson is clear and simple. . . . But there is in his (sic) interesting
volume no parade or pretence, only the hearty enthusiasm of a lover of
Ireland, and the able work of a well-cultured, and even elegant writer."

(The Pilot, April 25th, 1 868.)

"It is a satisfaction to have the whole subject presented in an
accessible and fascinating shape, as it will be found in The Story of the

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 5

Irish before the Conquest, by an Irish lady, M. C. Ferguson. . . . Her
deeply interesting publication .... We have given so full an analysis of
the book, that we have barely room to express our admiration of it, and
to heartily commend it to the attention of our readers."

(The Irish Citizen, March I4th, 1868.)

" One of the most charming of all these is the work of Mrs. Ferguson.
. . . One does not Wonder, then, to have from this lady's hand a
learned and loving book concerning the ancient people of her own
island. . . . The range of the author's labours presents a wide field ;
yet, by judicious distribution of parts, and careful condensation of
matter, she has covered it all, and done it well."

(The Irish Republic, April 4th, 1868.)

"This highly attractive volume, . . . utilizing many new sources of
information. . . . There is something particularly charming in a book
which, thus founded on reliable authorities, unfolds the antique story of
Erie with the interest at once of romance and fact. . . . From the
interesting variety of matter in Mrs. Ferguson's volume, its traditional,
legendary and heroic details, scenes and characters, all derived from an-
cient Celtic literature, and its admirable narrative style, I know no book
on Irish history which is so likely to secure a permanent and wide-spread
popularity among the people. A popular account of the poetry, of the
history, and of the authentic ages, written from the latest sources of in-
formation, is what we have been long looking for ; and here we have
an account . . . written in the most graceful manner, and illustrated
by such new lights as modern research has thrown upon Irish history.
. . . Mrs. Ferguson's ' Irish before the Conquest,' is likely, I should
say, to become a household volume in the Irish homes of the furthest
American West."

6 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

(New York Tablet, March yth, 1868.)

" Of the new books on Irish subjects this is, in all respects, one of the
best entitled to attention. . . . It is a book full of research— of Celtic
research, such as now can only be made among the rich treasures of
MSS. material, accumulated in the various public and private libraries
of Dublin. The work is brief and compendious, but the mass of read-
ing and research it contains must have been very great. We do not at
this moment remember another example of so much genuine Gaelic
information condensed into so small a compass. . . . Mrs. Ferguson
has not failed to adorn her pages with the poems of others who have
been true to the great Celtic themes of song. ... In this respect she
has made her book almost that long desired desideratum, ' A Ballad
History of Ireland.' In her, that band of bards, who have felt the call
of country in their souls, and have found their Castalia in her ' holy
wells,' have gained a gentle and graceful, as well as a learned inter-
preter. . . . This is a specimen of the freshness and true Celticism of
this book. ... It is to the true glory of Ireland still to have left the
materials of such a book ; and for us, of this age, who feel for and com-
prehend the Gaelic inheritance, it binds in an inseparable bond of honour
the names of two of the most devoted labourers upon such material,
Samuel and Mary Ferguson."

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