| LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF
ICALI.-MK IA
. SAN if. GO ,
!
THE WOMEN
OF
THE GAEL
By
JAMES F. CASSIDY, B. A.
1922
THE STRATFORD COMPANY
Publishers
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Copyright, 1922
The STRATFORD CO., Publishers
Boston, Mass.
The Alpine Press, Boston, Mass., U. S. A.
The author wishes to thank The Mac Millan
Publishing Company, Messrs. Funk and Wagnalls, Mr.
Padraic Colum and Mr. Seumas Mac Manus for per-
mission to reprint certain poems included in this
Volume.
Contents
Chapter Page
Introduction 1
I In the Pagan Tales of Love and War . . 7
II The Social Dignity of Women . ; . 18
III The Objects of Men's Reverence . . 30
IV Feminine Morality in Pagan Days . . 43
V When Saints Were Numerous . . .54
VI Women of Action from the Ninth to the
Seventeenth Century . . . .74
VII Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to
Elizabeth . . . .... 100
VIII Devotion to Letters from the Sixth to the
Eighteenth Century . . . .122
IX Heroines from Elizabeth to the Present Day 132
X Womanly Morality and Honour from the
Sixteenth Century Onwards . . . 169
XI Writers of the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries 181
XII The Mothers and Daughters of To-day . 198
Prefatory Note
IT IS proper that a country that has taken for itself the
most feminine representation should have a book devoted
to the eulogy of its womanhood. "The Women of the
Gael" renders justice — even romantic justice — to the woman-
hood of the country whose representations are Dark Rosaleen,
and Kathleen ni Houlihan, and The Poor Old Woman. Its
writer has made of it a long roll of honor, a roll of women with
beautiful names who have been remembered for their piety,
their learning, and their patriotism : It is distinctly a Legend
of Good Women.
Little is said of another type of woman that has been
celebrated from f ar-of times in Ireland — the woman whose
virtue was in her overflowing energy, the woman whose type
is Queen Maeve, bearer of warrior children, herself a warrior
and a great lover. And naturally in a Legend of Good Women
nothing would be said of that woman of the O'Briens who, on
coming back to her castle, finds the women lamenting for her
husband slain in battle, and says "Dead men are no use to us
here," and rides back to the battle-line, and there and then
marries the general of the opposing army. Little is said of the
women of that type : The Women of the Gael who are spoken
of have their names on the roll for being guardians of the
national virtue and custodians of the Gaelic civilization.
The conquest of Ireland — or rather, the repeated half-
conquests of the country — inflicted an especial wrong upon
the Women of the Gael. Peculiarly fitted as they were for a
brilliant social life and for artistic enterprise of every kind,
they were, with the exception of privileged ones, deprived
of a life that might have such manifestations. It was
theirs to spiritualize as harsh conditions as were any-
where. A single glimpse is often revealing, and we have
seen Connacht women come in from working in the fields.
The Women of the Gael
stand by a little window, and with hands that have labored out-
side, work the delicate lace that is to become the possession of
some radiant lady at the other side of the ocean. And we have
often heard from women who have finished such double tasks
such wit and poetry as one would listen for in vain in the
drawing room of the radiant lady. That clever observer of
European life, Max O'Rell, placed Europe's most charming
women in Hungary and in Ireland. "In the drawing rooms of
Buda-Pesth," he said. And he was compelled to add "In the
potato-fields of Ireland."
The conquest of Ireland is being repealed, and the democ-
racy of Ireland is emerging towards the brilliant social life and
the artistic enterprise that the women of Ireland are so well
fitted for. And, as Father Cassidy has shown, the women of
the Gael well deserve a place in that redeemed democracy, for
it is largely due to them — to their inspiration, their heroic
memory, their courage, their actual combativeness, that the
emancipation has been achieved. It it due to them that Ireland
has remained Irish and Gaelic. The women always had more
than a single share of the racial heritage, and the Norse and
the Normans and the English who married with them found
that their children had it in them to become "Kindly Irish of
the Irish."
Another observer of Europe — Dr. Brandes, I think — has
noted that in Germanic countries the men, in terms of per-
sonality, are superior to the women; that in Latin countries
men and women are equal, and in Slavonic countries — he was
thinking especially of Poland — the women are superior to the
men. Ireland in this regard is like Latin Europe — indeed in
some parts she is close to Slavonic Europe. Again let us go
to the most Gaelic part of Europe — to Connacht. There the
men are certainly not superior to the women; the women, in
terms of personality have the ascendency. This may be due,
not to a racial heritage, but to local circumstances, for the
smallness of the fields in a place where one works only with
the spade, gives the man little room for development. How-
ever that may be, the women in Connacht have the ascendency.
Prefatory Note
and this ascendency has left a spiritual mark — in the beautiful
and poignant songs that express the woman's side in love, and
in the number of words in the language the use for the things
that are especially in the woman's care — the number of words
for "child" for instance. The Gaelic civilization as we see it
in Connacht is distinctly a feminine civilization.
Even if we had no record in history of the status of women
in Ireland, we could judge that it was high from saga and
romance, and from those naive reconstructions of history that
early peoples make. The epic tale and the sagas show women
moving with more freedom than they have in Homer and more
freedom than they have in the Germanic sagas. The very
names for Ireland — Eire, Banba, Fodhla, were taken from
the three queens that the Milesian adventurers found in
Ireland. All this would show that the status was high and
free. But we have an actual law promulgated in 694-5 that
gives a notable franchise to women.
Before that time, in a disturbed epoch, there must have
been great hardships inflicted on the women of Ireland. They
had to take part in war and in battle. But in Ireland there
were men who were revolted by these conditions, and that dis-
tinguished scholar and statesman, Adamnan, abbot of lona
and friend of the Venerable Bede, undertook to win a status
for them.
He was travelling with his mother and he offered to carry
her on his back. She refused his help, saying she would not be
carried by an undutiful son. Where had he failed in his duty?
Adamnan asked. She told him he had failed because he had
not freed the women of Ireland from their political bondage.
There and then he undertook to do it, going on a hunger-strike
until the Kings would come to terms with him. "It shall not
be in my time if it is done," said the King, Loingsech Bregban,
speaking like the conservative of all time, "an evil time when
a man's sleep shall be murdered for women, that women should
live men should be slain. Put the deaf and dumb to the
sword who asserts anything but that women shall be in ever-
The Women of the Gael
lasting bondage to the brink of Doom." Seven kings supported
Loingsech, but, by the power of God, Adanman overcame them.
Thereafter Adamnan's law was accepted, and the securities for
its fulfilment were — The Sun and the Moon and all the other
elements of God, Peter, Paul, Andrew and all the other
Apostles, together with the Irish saints. Those who violated
the law drew on themselves the maledictions of those great
powers. Adamnan also inserted a curse in the daily service
against those who put themselves against the spirit of the law.
After that the women of Ireland had unquestioned status.
They had control of their own property. Those who drew them
into battle were punished severely. If a man slew a woman
he was condemned to two-fold punishment. If a woman was
slain by part of an army every fifth man up to the three
hundredth was condemned to a severe penalty. Even for in-
sult the penalty was made heavy. "If it be by making a
gentlewoman blush by imputing unchastity to her, or by throw-
ing doubt on the legitimacy of her offspring a fine of seven
cumals shall be exacted."
The position of women in Ancient Ireland is revealed by
the apostrophe of the writer of the tenth century treatise on
"Adamnan's Law." "Adamnan suffered much harship for your
sake, 0 women, so that ever since Adamnan's time one half
of your house is yours, and there is a place for your chair in
the other half; so, that your contract and your safeguard are
free. And the first law made in Heaven and on Earth for
women is Adamnan's Law." So, very long ago, women in
Ireland had a position that was formally recognized.
It is very just that at this time a writer should make a
record for the women of Ireland, reminding us of what that
clever cosmopolitan observer who has been quoted before, Max
O'Rell, once said. "There will be no one to tell it, but bear this
in mind: If ever Ireland come to anything it will be because
of her women." Well, Ireland, has come to something. And
there has been one to tell us why: It is because of the faith,
the courage, the wisdom and the wit of THE WOMEN OF
THE GAEL.
PADRAIC COLUM.
Introduction
THE WOMEN OP THE GAEL
ANY national biography that seriously ne-
glects the role of woman in a people's life
must be condemned as dwarfed and incom-
plete. It is a repudiation of an element of a na-
tion's existence that is most vitally fundamental
and forceful. It lacks that medium through which
the eye of the interpretative searcher after truth
can behold the mystic depths of a nation's soul
and reveal with a sense of substantial realism the
glory, beauty and strength which live and operate
in the corporate individuality of a people. Nation-
hood is a most delicately fashioned and intricate
thing and defies with ease all human efforts to ac-
complish its ultimate and perfect analysis. The
clearest conception of its nature can only be
attained by a study of the simplest yet most endur-
ing and far-reaching factors on which its perplex-
ing labyrinth is constructed. At the fountain-head
whence the stream of life has issued must the stu-
dent labour to acquire a reasonably successful
knowledge of the secrets of a people's evolution
and there he shall find that the greatest and most
Introduction
life-giving element of this nutritive spring is
woman.
Nationhood is primarily the product of spirit-
ual forces. Divorced from the mastery of the soul
a people may constitute for itself a world hege-
mony through the power of its artillery or the
multitude of its merchant-men but it cannot boast
of fidelity to that part of its nature which alone
has the most enduring influence upon the future
of itself and of all mankind. It is for this reason
that woman is more essentially responsible for
the development of the ideas that make for the per-
petuity of national life. She is the main worker
in the garden of the souls of children whence the
nation must extract its spiritual nutrition. She
is more constantly and familiarly in contact with
the sacredness of the child soul than man. Hence
her knowledge of the precious beings confided to
her care endows her with limitless power to win
their confidence and mould their character. When
she points the way to the ruling verities of the in-
visible world the impressionable heart of the child
naturally heeds her words for it trusts the one it
knows best and, above all, the one whose feminine
delicacy is a most efficient interpreter of the
spiritual world for the young and tender soul.
If this feminine contribution to the greatness
of nations is an indubitable fact that can not be
overlooked it is especially so in the case of Ire-
land. Nowhere does woman exert a greater influ-
ence than in that island outpost of western
[2]
Introduction
Europe. Several influences conspire to create for
her therein an atmosphere most congenial for the
operation of her nature. Of these we will cite a
few of the most potent. The manhood of the Irish
Celt has a decidedly supernatural bent which has
established within it a sympathetic comprehen-
sion of woman born of a striking kinship with her
being. The feminine factor in the Irishman's
make-up begets a remarkable harmony of thought
and feeling between him and his racial sister which
resulting in unbounded trust in her gives her an
honoured position as mother, wife and maiden that
is scarcely paralleled in any other country. Then,
too, he is an idealist and hungers for an idol to wor-
ship, for some worthy object to absorb the highest
energy of his soul : this he finds in a pure woman-
hood. Yet, despite the delicacy of his nature the
Irishman is as manly a type as breathes. On this
account he finds in the extreme femininity of the
daughters of the Gael a most suitable complement
of his own sturdy manliness. The sheer force of
contrast draws him towards her with a sense of
passionate reverence and a vivid conception of the
many qualities of her being that are admirably cal-
culated to fill many a void in his nature and
contribute to its strength and happiness.
Fully cognisant of this dominating position of
woman in Irish life the writer with a sense of duty
as well as pleasure has assumed the task of paying
a more extensive tribute to the daughters of the
Gael than has hitherto appeared in print. This we
[3]
Introduction
do not intend to accomplish by elabourate accounts
of distinguished individuals in severe isolation
from the common mass of Irish womanhood. We
hope that the nature of our work shall be such
that the reader can see in the women who enter
into our narrative great and brilliant personalities
dependent for their nobility on the wine of in-
spiration which they derived from the secret vin-
tage of character which is the heritage of the
whole body of the daughters of Erin. The great-
ness of the relatively few with whom we have to
deal shall be symbolic of the greatness of the
many because it would have been impossible had
not the common properties of feminine Gaeldom
been wholesome and enduring. The distinguished
daughters of Ireland are the bright-crested
billows of the vast sea of the womanhood of their
race dependent for their might and beauty on
the ever bounteous depths of the source that pro-
duced and sustained them. They are no freakish
exceptions but the continuous and unfailing prod-
ucts of their race and civilisation.
And just as truly as their lives reveal traits
that are the property of the race rather than
qualities inhering in a mere group of abnormally
gifted individuals so they also manifest attributes
that are primarily in consonance with all that is
womanly. They are rarely sexually unsphered
when doing the work of Ireland. Sometimes, in-
deed, feminine activity assumes an aggressiveness
that savours of masculinity in the field of battle,
[4]
Introduction
the diplomatic arena and the sphere of the agi-
tator. Even in these instances Irish women pri-
marily forge their way to success because they
are women. No matter what masculinity of fibre
is discoverable in their personalities it is not such
as to unsex them and deprive them of that spirit-
uality of appeal which feminine character flings
out to an impressionable and soulful manhood.
In other words, womanhood is practically in its
entirety valuable to Ireland as an indirect rather
than a direct force. It furnishes a light of ideal-
ism in which the manhood of the nation sees
many incentives for the maintenance of its
patriotic endeavours and the deeds it inspires
by its spirit-influence are far more important
than anything that results from its own direct
participation in acts that are more suited for
manly hands to do. It wins for itself a respect
that compels men to regard it as an intimate and
most sacred part of that national heritage for
which they were in honour bound to struggle and
die.
[5]
CHAPTER I
IN THE PAGAN TALES OF LOVE AND WAE
IN THE tales of old, be they of a mythical or
quasi-mythical nature, there is much em-
balmed that is founded on the rock of fact. A
man may regard with the eyes of a skeptic the exis-
tence of gods and heroes but he can not deny that
the milieu of thought and sentiment which en-
velopes them must reveal most interesting aspects
of the creative brain whence they emanated. In-
deed, peoples in their infancy give in their literary
creations a more real expression of racial prin-
ciples than any bald scientific enumeration of facts
can furnish. As a well-known writer states:
"the mythical heroes which a race creates for
itself, the aspirations which it embodies and
illustrates, the sentiments which it immortalises
in story and ballad, will help us to under-
stand the real character of the race better
than it could be expounded to us by any
collection of the best authenticated statistics."
Mere figures have only an incomplete mathe-
matical value whilst the vital and human
currents of thought-electricity that vivify the
pages of ancient story are a more reliable index
* Irish Literature, ed Justin MaOarthy. Vol. 1 p. i.
[7]
The Women of the Gael
of the qualities that reside in the power-house of
that section of humanity to which they owe their
existence.
Bearing this in mind we go back to the twilight
of Gaelic story for our initial views of Irish
womanhood. Here we find the feminine section
of the Gael enjoying a conspicuous place in the
world of letters. Kindling in the hearts of men
the fires of tenderness or rousing within them the
tempests of battle-fury these ancient heroines are
worthy subjects of epic masterpieces. The spell
that is associated with their majesty of manner
is as potent to hypnotise and woo to sympathetic
mood, the reader as is the magic charm of their
alluring and delicate femininity.
Who that knows aught of literature has not
heard of Deirdre, that sorrow-burdened woman
symbolic of suffering Eire? She is the central
figure of the tragic tale that bears her name and
so magnificent is the woe that encircles her therein
that Dr. Sigerson deems this piece of literature
"the first tragedy outside the classics in Europe."
It is certainly the finest, most pathetic and deftly
executed of all the ancient tales of Ireland.
And the greatness that is Deirdre 's is not rooted
in conquering malice but a resplendent nobility.
The helpless prey of a malign destiny she permits
the surges of woe to inundate and overwhelm her
without ever losing her queenly dignity. Like a
luminous symbol expressive of the sorrow and
unflinching heroism of the Celt she concentrates
[8]
In the Pagan Tales of Love and War
in her personality the twin and constant heritage
of the race, grief ever mating with invincible
majesty of mien. Honourable principle and
sweetest tenderness form in her a combination
that constitute her one of the most sublime women
of myth. True to the bond of affection that binds
her to her brothers she fears not to accompany
them whithersoever they may go, though the
threatening clouds of impending disaster tell this
child of prophecy of the inevitable fate that is
hers. She leaves the pleasant ways of Alba be-
hind her where the raptures of the cuckoo's voice
on bending bough and the glory of scenic beauty
held her soul enthralled and faces with fortitude
the stern future of her visions. When utter grief
had become her lot and cruel perfidy brought her
lover, Naoisi, and her brothers, Annla and Ardan
to their violent deaths she mourns them with a
titanic sorrow that is intensely expressive of the
Irishwoman's loyalty to family and kin. Listen
to her as the torrent of lament pours forth through
the floodgates of her soul while she stands by the
grave of the beloved three and you can not but
feel admiration for the infant genius of the Gael
that could create in the utterance of this far-off
lonely figure so human and time-defying an
appeal :
"0 man who diggest the new grave
Make not the grave narrowly;
Beside the grave I will be —
Making sorrow and lamentations.
[9]
The Women of the Gael
I was not one day alone,
Till the day of the making of the grave
Though oftentimes have I myself
And yourself been lonely.
I am Deirdre without pleasure
And I in the end of my life ;
Since it is grievous to be after them,
I will myself not be long.
Turning from dignified sorrow to the stern field
of war we find a female character strong with the
strength of the Gael's pride. This is Maeve, the
peerless warrior queen of Connaught. She is one
of the leading personalities of the Tain, which is
numbered amongst the greatest prose epics of
antiquity. All the tempestuous scenes of strife,
wild cattle forays and deathless deeds of chivalry
that live in the womb of the Tain are not deemed
too terrible or splendid to find their source in the
pride of a woman of the Gael. The Greeks built
the masterpiece of the Illiad on the weakness of
Helen but the Irish evolved the Tain from the
massive and unbending fibre of royal Maeve 's
character.
Yet for all her stubborn strength she had the
heart of a woman. Verses still survive to show
that when that husband over whom she towered
lay still in death she gave vent to a truly feminine
lament indicative of a sense of loss created by
the departure from her life of one whom the soul
[10]
In the Pagan Tales of Love and War
of a woman needed. "Kindly king'* she ex-
claimed,
" who liked not lies,
Rash to rise to fields of fame,
Raven black his brows of fear,
Razor-sharp his spear of flame."
It is little wonder that her fascination for literary
minds is cosmopolitan and that — to mention one
of many notables of the pen — she captivated the
inspired eye of Spenser who deemed her worthy
of a place in his masterpiece, the Faerie Queene.
But it is in the tales that are burdened with
the eternal message of love, that key to the gate-
way of power, which woman wields with sovereign
skill that the daughters of ancient Eire play the
most conspicuous part. In this type of literature
which is so vitally dependent for inspiration on a
true study of womanhood the Irish took an es-
pecial interest. A considerable portion of the
early heroic literature is devoted to the subject
of love and the power that woman wields through
it to move great men to deeds that claim the
tribute of a nation's admiration. No less than
thirteen courtships and twelve elopements enjoy
the company of Ireland's other ancient tales. We
have it from no less an authority than Eleanor
Hull that the first story of the human race telling
of the activities of passionate hearts came from
the brain of the Gael. It was Ireland first
glorified the mysteries veiling and the beauty in
The Women of tine Gael
forming the magnetism of woman 's heart for man
and the noble efforts of the latter to be worthy
of the admiration of the gentler sex. The country
was fortunate in the selection of the subject to
which she was to give special attention for she
manipulated it with a rare success. In her early
literature of love, heroines possess a variety of
type and a distinctness and individuality of char-
acter that surpass what is best even in the
Arthurian legend.
One of the tenderest love tales ever penned is
the Wooing of Etain, which deals with the lure
there was in the heart of a lady of no mortal
lineage for a monarch of Ireland. It is permeated
by a singular detachment from debased motive
and a certain platonism in the immaterial hunger
of soul for soul that is generally the attribute of
all kindred themes in Gaelic letters. The heart
of a monarch is subdued by the vision of a woman
whose ruling attraction is the spiritual beauty of
her form and the life she enjoys in Tir na N-Og,
the land of pure though passionate hearts. Yet
for all the spirit influence of Etain she embodies
much that is human and feminine.
The most primitive attempt of the Gael to tell
in song of love is found in Fand's Farewell to
Cuchulainn. In it there dwells a pathos most
striking and delicate for so early an age. In
spirituality of feeling it is akin to the "Wooing
but its human tenderness and heart searching
potency is its supreme asset. It is in this dom-
[13]
In the Pagan Tales of Love and War
inant characteristic that its guarantee of im-
mortality resides for there is little doubt but that
in the words of Dr. Sigerson the music of its
passionate chimes shall "vibrate in the human
heart till mankind is no more."
In the Fenian cycle of saga there is bountiful
evidence of the love-impetuosity of the Celt.
Caoilte's Urn yields a proof of the impulsive
readiness of heroic Ireland to respond to the at-
tractions of women when their mode of appeal
was even decidedly intellectual. Finn, the arch-
hero of the knightly Fenians, becomes at first
sight the prey of the beauty of the daughter of
Eanna. But the fair damsel did not rely on mere
physical attractions and she took into her service
the power of music to aid her symmetry of form
in its onslaught on the soul of the rugged warrior.
Thus her mode of wooing is elevated and subtle.
She brings to her assistance her father, a noted
harpist, whom the old Celtic writer with all the
wealth of his perfervid imagination describes as
unsurpassable. Speaking of the wondrous airs
this musician could manipulate, he says: "if the
deft goltarghleas were played for the kings of the
melodious world, all that might hear, though sor-
rowless, would feel a lasting sorrow. If the clear
gantarghleas were played for the grave kings of
the earth, all that might hear without contempt
would be forever laughing. If the full suantargh-
leas were played for the kings of the bright world,
all that might hear (a wondrous way) would fall
The Women of the Gael
into a lasting sleep."* Thus did maidenhood in
those days enlist the aid of the tearful, laughing,
dreamy strains of the wizard of the harp to win
its heart's desire. Is it little wonder that with
such an ally it rarely failed to search all that
was best in the inmost being of its beloved and
batter down his last fortress of hesitancy?
A few other kindred tales there are worthy of
some notice here. In Baile, the Sweet-Spoken,
we meet with a most poignant picture having for
its background a sublime passion. But the sword
of sorrow that pierces as we read it borrows a
terrible beauty from the love that produced it.
The tragic glory with which it is endowed is but
an index of the splendid fire of love in which its
penetrating steel was tempered. Two passionate
hearts grow cold in death through sheer grief for
one another caused by the false news of mutual
dissolution. The rumour was untrue but the
credence given it made a reality of a non-existent
tragedy.
Not so tragic but highly complimentary to
woman is Diarmuid and Grainne, one of the finest
of the Fenian tales. It is replete with the heroic
efforts of a gallant knight to face unflinchingly all
trials that might beset him to save and honour
his intended bride. The fury of the jealous and
relentless Finn menaced him on every side but
the staunch young Diarmuid never failed to suc-
cour his beloved Grainne and the feats by which
* The Book of the Lays of Finn. J. MacNeill. p. 147.
[14]
In the Pagan Tales of Love and War
he ofttimes rescued her from the most perilous
situation illumine the story with an almost con-
stant brilliancy of soul-stirring adventure.
Tales there are, too, that deal not specifically
with love or war, though these in miniature
appear, where woman is the pivotal point of in-
terest. One is so preoccupied with a feminine
problem that its title tells the reader that the
actions of women is its sole theme; it is called
The Women's War of Words. A banquet was
provided by a noted entertainer named Bricriu
for all that was most knightly in the Red Branch
ranks. With the heroes came their ladies priding
in their distinguished husbands. As the guests
were about to take their places at the festive
board the women sought positions in consonance
with the rank of their lords. The result was a
violent controversy for each lady contended for
priority of place. As the debate waxed louder
and more vehement it reached the ears of the ban-
queting nobles. The sound of the combatting
voices roused them to battle-fury and only diplo-
macy kept them from red slaughter for their
ladies' sake. They knew the unyielding pride of
their womanhood rooted in the domestic virtue of
devotion to their husbands and were ready to a
man to vindicate it to the utmost.
A like principle of manly loyalty to womanhood
is in evidence in the Burning of Finn's house.
The women folk of this famous stead, in the ab-
sence of their husbands, raised a false cry of
The Women of the Gael
alarm that they might behold an aged man named
Garaid whom in his sleep they had bound by hair
and beard to the hostel endeavoring to come to
their rescue. The old warrior discovering the in-
sult offered him, set fire to the house and com-
mitted them to a dreadful death. The story in-
deed manifests most primitive savagery on the
part of the enraged warrior and crude wantonness
on the part of the women. Yet the readiness with
which they anticipated a response to their outcry
shows their faith in the men of the Gael whilst
the old man's vindictiveness is somewhat atoned
for by his alertness of action for the sake of
woman in distress. Garaid has the untamed pas-
sion of the early Gaelic fighting man which knows
no checks in the presence of falsehood. Only
where truth and honor clamoured for support in
the service of womanhood did that wild tempera-
ment become submissive yoked to the service-
chariot of the gentler sex.
Closely associated with the feminine ideals that
permeate so much of the literature of love and
war is that patriotic instinct which was the prop-
erty of the women of the Gael. It pervades their
domestic relations and lends a glamour to the
tragedies of conflict. In the Death of Cuchulainn
the solicitude of his wife and other ladies for
his safety is prompted by their pride in him as
prime champion of their land as well as by their
womanly admiration for a magnificent type of
manhood. When the sons of Galatin, in one of
[16]
In the Pagan Tales of Love and War
the most dramatic incidents of the story, in league
with the mystic agencies of the druids endeavor
to secure the ruin of this champion of the Gael
these ladies render futile their attempts and pre-
serve him for the future glory of their country.
In the touching song of Crede, daughter of Guaire
the generous, the red fire of a woman's patriotic
passion is kindled at the sight of the ruddy wounds
that mar the figure of her father stricken in de-
fense of his people. While she thinks of these,
the angel touch of sleep cannot soothe her for
their haunting presence are as "arrows that mur-
der sleep in the bitter cold night." Thus might
we enumerate instance after instance to demon-
strate the ancient Irish belief in the patriotism
of the women of Erin. The sayings of ladies are
manifold displaying the 'amor patriae* that
burned in their bosoms. It is even this sense of
patriotism that contributes to the elevated moral
principles of Irish womanhood in pagan days
when they consider adultery one of the gravest
of crimes. They regard it as a national as well
as a moral stain on the soul of the guilty one for
it strikes at that purity of race that is one of the
most treasured possessions of the Celts. And if
it is the spiritual and the poetic in the Irishman
as well as his ruggedness of soul that rivet his
being to his motherland it is only reasonable that
these characteristics which are emphatically pres-
ent in his very feminine sisterhood should bind it
passionately to its country.
[17]
CHAPTER II
THE SOCIAL DIGNITY OF WOMEN
DEPARTING from the rose-tinged world of
romance to a more prosaic discussion of
the public and social position accorded
woman in ancient Ireland there is an abundance
of data at hand to render the fruits of our search
highly creditable to our subject. Just as she has
charm and influence where the finest and most
soul-searching things of life are in demand, so she
owns sterner qualities which procure her an
honourable entrance to the place where clarity
of intellect, robustness of spirit and fortitude of
a high calibre adorn her actions and add lustre
to her nation.
A vari-coloured evidence taken broadly from
the different angles from which old writers regard
her, shows their general acceptance of her capacity
for shouldering public burdens. A prominence
is commonly given therein to the role of woman
in civic life that, in the literature of the Teutons
is usually handed over to man. Eleanor Hull
who is intimately acquainted with old Celtic writ-
ings ably summarises for us the evidence she
discovers in favour of the social dignity of the
daughters of the Gael. She tells us how marked
[18]
The Social Dignity of Women
strength, and conquering ambition together with
a subtle beauty and sunniness of temperament
wins for Irish women the respect they covet. ' ' The
Irish women," she says, "belong to an heroic
type. They are often the counsellors of their hus-
bands and the champions of their cause; oc-
casionally, as in Maeve's case, their masters.
They are frequently fierce and vindictive, but
they are also strong, forceful and intelligent. In
youth they possess often a charming gaiety ; they
are full of clever repartee and waywardness and
have a delightful and wayward self-confidence.
Emer, especially has a great deal of the modern
woman about her; she is no lovelorn maid to be
caught by the words of a wooer's tongue, even
though her lover is Cuchulainn; she is gay, petu-
lant and not too readily satisfied. He thinks to
win his cause simply by the fame of his name and
the splendour of his appearance, but she makes
larger demands ; nor will she listen to his suit until
she has won from him respect and admiration
as well as affection."
The nation seems to have been aware of the
presence of these strong qualities and accordingly
has recourse to unique methods to recognize its
debt to its women. Some of the most distinguished
amongst them are given a special prominence
in the genealogical strata of which a tribal com-
monwealth was intensely jealous and proud.
Oftentimes the names of noted men enshrined
* A Text Book of Irish Literature, p. 78.
The Women of the Gael
those of their mothers thus linking the glory of
maternal parents with that of their sons for all
time. In this wise did the illustrious warrior of
the North, King Conor Mac Nessa honour the
one who bore him. Sometimes they are pursued
even to their last long resting-place by the solic-
itude of the people. There are recorded instances
of cemeteries for the burial of women alone where
enduring sleep might hold them in honourable
seclusion from the other sex and where the peril
of having their memory obliterated through the
intrusion of greater masculine celebrities might
be obviated. But surpassing every tribute of re-
spect to the women of the race is that of the
writer who says that "after Mary, the Mother
of God, the six best women in the world were
Maeve, Saiv, Sarait, Ere, Emer and Achall. ' ' He
feared not to compare the product of his land in
its pagan state with the best that any other clime
produced even under the tutelage of Christianity.
Considering more specifically the various de-
partments in which the women of old won re-
nown we find that in the councils which control
the destinies of embattled hosts they were often-
times conspicuous figures. Maeve of Connaught
is the superior of her husband in the intellectual
as well as the physical leadership of their armies.
It was the strength of her arm and the virility
of her mind that made the chieftains of three
provinces with their troops hearken to her will.
And when the manhood of three-fourths of Erin
[20]
The Social Dignity of Women
met together under her banner to carry red war
into Ulster to wrench from it the pride of its
steers, the Dun Bull of Cooley, it was her master
intellect that grappled with the problems of or-
ganization and strategy incidental to the enter-
prise. Hers was a commanding and invincible will
that never quailed before obstructing forces and
tested to its utmost the ingenuity of Cuchulainn
himself. Sometimes when Ailill in the face of
peril hesitated, his imperious queen brushed him
aside and made her will triumphant with words
of stern reproof and grim resolves such as,
"Coward! .... If you don't decide, I will." And
as in war, so in peace, her statesmanship and
strength were evident. With a far-seeing power
of vision she provided for the stability of her
kingdom by measures of wisdom such as marriage
alliances.
Women too, there were whose technical knowl-
edge of the machinery then used in war and of
the drill that should befit a champion of the battle-
field was renowned. One of these entrusted with
the preparation of the weapons for the Battle of
Moytura was a woman. This proves that long
before the feminine element became important in
the Great War of 1914 as makers of munitions
the Irish relied on the ability of women to fashion
war's engines of destruction. A certain Eachtach
was so conversant with the use of weapons that
she braved the prowess of Finn himself and
matched her skill against his by the "music of
[21]
The Women of the Gael
her round spears." And the men of Ireland
honoured her for her military science by a dis-
tinguished burial place at her death. Then there
was Ciachni who 'radiated beauty' yet feared not
to expose her loveliness to the hardships asso-
ciated with prominence in the field of battle. The
mother of Conor Mac Nessa was almost as noted
as her famous son as a leader of men. Cuchulainn,
the arch-hero of the Gael, confided himself to the
tutelage of Scathach for the acquirement of
special dexterity in the manipulation of arms.
Missions that demanded the intelligence of the
counsellor and the courage of the warrior were
often entrusted to women. They were frequently
employed as ambassadors capable of being en-
trusted with messages of high import the exe-
cution of which often involved much peril. Three
female runners were part of the official household
of Finn Mac Cool. Lavercam who was a poetess
was also an envoy of kings. She with another noted
envoy had once the coveted distinction of seeking
for Conor Mac Nessa when deep melancholy
seized him some lady within the seas of Erin
whose charms should dispel the heaviness of his
heart.
As they were deemed worthy of sharing in the
deliberations of high councils of state it is no
cause for wonder that they were intimately asso-
ciated with the legislative life of the land. They
were regarded as eligible for the office of brehon
or judge in a country which demanded rigid and
[22]
The Social Dignity of Women
lengthy preparation for that position. A period
of study ranging from ten to twenty years was
required for candidates having judicial ambitions,
for the mind of the country was decidedly a
justice-loving one and could not tolerate poor in-
tellectual equipment in the person responsible for
the preservation of this virtue in the land. So
well did women meet the requirements of the na-
tion in this regard that some of those who were
privileged to be brehons rose far beyond the com-
monplace in the execution of their duties and left
the memory of their names an enduring one in
Irish legal tradition. The decisions, for instance,
of Brigh Brugaid determined as precedents in
law cases in Gaelic courts for centuries.
But it was as objects of legal solicitude that we
know most about them. Anyone who consults the
Senchus Mor cannot fail to realise that they were
well provided for in the enactments of the
brehons. This was especially remarkable where
marriage was in question. Irish women, unlike
their sisters of Rome and Germany, we are in-
formed by De Jubainville, retained for themselves
their marriage dowry and thus provided them-
selves with a check on masculine tyranny. When
her life partner was so unfortunate as to have
no property the housewife was the ruling one in
the home. Sometimes a less appreciable disparity
between the possessions of wife and husband was
sufficient to give the former control of domestic
affairs if she had a commanding character. This
[23]
The Women of the Gael
seems to have been realised in the case of Maeve
who occasionally in anger claimed to be superior
to her husband. Addressing her lord in the Tain
she says:
"A man upon a woman's maintenance
Is what thou art, 0 Ailill."
Maeve 's status, however, was not regarded as an
ideal to be generally aimed at in married life.
' ' Marry a wife who is your equal " is an aphorism
that tells of the wisdom of being mated with a
partner who is fitted for one by endowments of
wealth and character; yet almost in the same
breath another proverb says "rule your wife,"
implying that the law of nature which gives the
human leadership of the household to the husband
must not be dethroned. It seems to have been
the hope of the Gaelic legislator that this basis
of a woman's marriageable suitability for a man
whilst not interfering with the proper repository
of authority should make for domestic concord
by giving the housewife the right to be consulted
in all important decisions affecting the home.
When her property was equal to her husband's
the wedded pair constituted a council of two
whose unanimity was necessary for the validity
of all such contracts. But no matter what her
possessions might have been there were certain
contracts into which her husband could not enter
without her consent. In the Ancient Laws of
Ireland there is evidence of several privileges
[24]
The Social Dignity of Women
accorded to women independently of their wealth.
"And every woman in general,'* says the ancient
book, "may give the presents which are men-
tioned in the book called 'Cin' to her poor friends
every year." Besides she could go security for
others, make loans and entertain half the number
of guests that fell to the lot of her husband to
manage at a reception. In a word, the domestic
rights and privileges of women were such that
masculine absolutism was a very rare occurrence
in the homes of ancient Erin for should every safe-
guard that the law provided fail to keep the evil of
incurable discord from the family heads, the
mother was free to separate from the father tak-
ing with her a fair division of the property. Where
such procedure was necessary she found in the
laws several reasons to enable her to obtain
justice.
And the care that was manifested for the mar-
ried woman did not surpass that bestowed upon
the young lady in anticipation of wedlock. Until
her heart and hand merited the protection of
some young man she was completely under her
father's protection. This was done not for the
purpose of curbing her personal liberty but that
paternal care might contribute to the preservation
of her dignity. For education by fosterage her
father was bound to provide and when this
reached completion and her nuptial hour ap-
proached it was his duty to see that no inferior
was honoured by her wedded hand. Age of course
[25]
The Women of the Gael
was another important matrimonial factor and
that advanced years might not prove an obstacle
to a marriageable maiden custom expected the
eldest daughter of the family to make her great
adventure before her younger sisters showed like
daring. Parents could not neglect her even
though a younger daughter might possess far
greater attractions, for in proportion to their in-
terest in the latter should be their solicitude for
the oldest who while unmarried was a stumbling
block in the former's road to nuptial success. It
has been often objected that parents in Ireland
seriously erred by artificially made matches at
the great festive gatherings where the individual
tastes of the young lady were in no wise con-
sulted. This seems an unjustifiable assumption
for there is little positive evidence that the in-
stincts of romance were not taken into account.
Parental influence was exerted as far as we can
judge as a guiding and corrective rather than a
destructive force. It was there to superintend
rather than eliminate romance.
As the system of fosterage attended to the edu-
cation of the young woman within domestic
circles so there are grounds for believing that
the state had public institutions where a more
complete knowledge was imparted. Back in the
twilight of the second century we hear of a
college at Tara, the seat of national government,
solely devoted to the training of the feminine
mind. There are records of great female phy-
[26]
The Social Dignity of Women
sicians and lawyers whose proficiency in their
professions was not with likelihood acquired by
private tutelage. Even if this were possible it
is improbable that they would receive govern-
mental recognition without some official guarantee
of their ability. Besides, in literature, music and
architecture there were several accomplished
ladies who in all probability were educated in
national institutions. There were many female
rhymers and harpists who were recognised
throughout the land at the festive and cultural
gatherings of the people. In architecture Macha
showed the might of her brain in such
distinguished fashion that she is worthy of special
note. Supposed to have lived three hundred years
before the Christian era she planned the historic
palace of Emain after her warrior hand had made
the throne of Ulster her own. Some idea of the
spaciousness and splendour of that edifice may be
obtained from the following description: "In the
King's house there were three times fifty rooms,
and the walls were made of red yew with copper
rivets, but in Conor's own room, which was in
the front of the house, and large enough for
thirty warriors, the walls were inlaid with bronze,
wrought with silver on it, and carbuncles and
precious stones, and great gold birds, with
jeweled eyes, so that day and night were equally
light therein."*
* The Romance of Irish Heroines. L. M. McOraith. p. 5.
[27]
The Women of the Gael
It was for such intellectual leadership as well
as for their strictly feminine graces that women
were recognised as one of the prime adornments
of every brilliant scene whether it was legislative,
literary or festive. In such places they were
seated with their own people in the special places
set apart for the representatives of their respec-
tive tribes. They had also councils of their own
from which all men were excluded where subjects
solely relating to the welfare of their sex were
discussed. Many descriptions of the women pres-
ent at these purely feminine and mixed assemblies
have come down to us. In these the writer usually
takes special pains to depict in colourful words
the beauty of mind and body that characterised
the women folk. Emphasis is laid upon their
Celtic sense of honour, the delicate workmanship
of nature on their forms and the riot of rich and
scintillating colour that dwelt in their apparel.
It is little wonder they were conscious of
their dignified position and often exulted in it.
It was only where such conditions prevailed that
a lady could have the towering self-reliance and
hauteur of Maeve when chafing under insult she
sought to match her might with a great warrior
monarch of her time and supremely humble him.
"I thought that iny high pride of mind and spirit
Would ne 'er recover from this seemed hurt
Until I should behold red-sworded Conor
Pale in his death before me. ' '
[28]
The Social Dignity of Women
It was a like spirit that in the Women's War of
Words prompted the speech of the lady who
gloried in the race that exalted her, in the family
of which she was the ornament and in her own
intrinsic worth for her nation and her lord. It
was this, which was the basis of the custom by
which women claimed after wedlock the privilege
of being still known by that maiden name which
was the hallmark of their family and clan. The
nation, indeed, honoured them officially and
socially and they manifested to the nation their
answering pride and gratitude.
CHAPTER III
THE OBJECTS OF MEN 's REVERENCE
THE Irish woman's sense of self-respect won
for her deep reverence from the nation:
that attitude of respect was considerably
strengthened by the unusual innate bent of the
Irishman to protect what is worthy and needful
of his guardianship. Religious, speculative, emo-
tional, imaginative and aggressively masculine he
has found in woman food for his spiritual appe-
tite, for the idealism that haunts him, for the af-
fectionate impulses of his being, for his hunger
for the aesthetic and for his craving to protect
the weak and defenceless.
It has been said and with much truth that the
world is as much indebted to Ireland for the
romantic as it is to Greece for the philosophical
and Rome for the juridical. It is equally true to
assert that the chivalrous which is so closely asso-
ciated with the romantic proceeded in its earliest
and most conspicuous form from the poetic soul
of the western Gael. The most primitive serious
attempt to propound with something like com-
pleteness, canons regulating knightly conduct is
traceable to the Celtic race. Chivalry in the old
Irish tales has an importance that can not be
[30]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
located in the kindred literature of Greece and
Eome. It has a prominence that brands it as an
outstanding feature of the Gaelic myth while its
presence in the classics, may fail to arrest the at-
tention or at least but feebly challenge it.
As one of the mainsprings governing the knight-
ly action of all time has been the idea of service
born of the lure of the aesthetic, the desire for
self-sacrifice in behalf of some beautiful human
being, it is little wonder that the Irishman with his
vivid conception of the glory that resides in sym-
metry of form became an ardent worshipper in
the temple of chivalry. "For beauty and amour-
ousness, the Gaels," says an old Irish proverb,
maintaining that the aesthetic was the principal
objective towards which its emotionalism im-
pelled the heart of the pagan Gael. Perhaps in
none of the literatures of the world is there any-
thing like the homage which the Irish paid to the
form which beauty inhabited. Minutely painted
pictures glowing with the light of an exuberant
imaginativeness tell the reader constantly of the
lure there was in human beauty for the Celt. Such
a description is Cathbad's account of Deirdre
whose cheeks were
"Crimson like fox-gloves, and a faultless treasure
Of teeth like autumn snow, and two curved lips
Red like red-rowan fruit o 'er shining snow. ' '
Even in a man beauty was adored. This was
as much part of Cuchulainn as his might of arm.
The Women of the Gael
In the Intoxication of the Ultonians the warriors
would not " wound him because of his beauty,"
for according to a proverb, beauty as well as
wealth and worth was cogent enough to transform
the hatred of an enemy into love. Aye, over the
very sprites of the viewless world it could cast its
spell for when Carmun died the hosts of fairy
hovered over her prostrate form to sing their
weird laments desiring because of the "delight
of her beauty to keen and raise the first wailing
over her." The aesthetic in fact all over the
broad face of nature, animate as well as inani-
mate, appealed to the old Irish. Moy Mel, their
pagan Elysium, as depicted in the sagas is a be-
wildering maze of scintillating beauty where
everything is crowned with loveliness from the
trees in perennial bloom to the maiden mated with
all the glories that flesh and blood and gorgeous
robes can confer.
Impelled by this idealism men went to great
lengths to serve the fair sex. Kespect for woman
was part of the knightly vow of Red Branch and
Fenian heroes. No matter how tumultuous the
anger that vexed the soul of Cuchulainn, a suppli-
ant woman could dispel by song or prayer the
fury that raged within him. He was wont to speak
of the honour of his wife as one of the dearest
things in life to him. He considered the "pre-
cedence of his wife over all Ultonia's ladies" as
worthy of his ambition as the sovereignty of Erin
and the champion's portion. He put her highest
[32]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
interests on the same plane as the attainment of
that pride of position and honour for which his
soul most hungered. For the mere sake of giving
pleasure to ladies he oftentimes performed deeds
of wonder. Once as he was faring to royal
Cruachan in the west with a gentlemanly instinct
that is quite modern he executed special feats to
destroy the monotony of the journey for some
fair attendants. It was such courtesy which
doubtless contributed to his being of "victory-
loving women beloved." Men were prepared to
go to any extreme, even to the point of losing their
lives for the sake of a lady's fair regard. Witness
the promise of love of the diplomatic Findabair,
daughter of Maeve, forging battle-fury in the
hearts of heroes in an episode of the Tain. The
very terms they used when speaking of their wives
told of a striking delicacy of attitude towards
women in an age of untamed prehistoric vigour.
When Groll bade farewell to his wife he spoke
of her as the "clear one of rosy cheeks'* and
"gentle one of red lips" whose soulful songs
coming from the "red mouth that was musical"
so often brought peace to his heart.
Not only did men act through this inspiration
with special zest under the impulse of duty or
politeness but they sometimes seemed neglectful
of patriotic and other principles when seized by
its intoxicating influence. Cuchulainn himself
who was always so unswerving on the path of
honour momentarily neglected his staunch loyalty
[33]
The Women of the Gael
to his beloved Uladh out of tender feeling for
Maeve. With diplomatic acuteness she pitted his
sense of chivalry against his warrior zeal for
Ulster appealing to him to shield her retreating
army even though it was his foe, and she proved
victor. At the Feast of Bricriu the very ring of
the contending voices of women was capable of
generating in a warrior band a lust for battle
that was more instinctive than rational. With
aimless rage they swung their mighty swords and
dealt stout blows to one another knowing no
prompting motive save that in some confused way
they felt their ladies grieved. Their passionate
tumult seemed a natural responsive echo to the
excited cries of their women folk. It was this
spiritual chivalry too, which gave the Gael the
idea of making mortal man seek a fairy lover
whom in defiance of nature's dictates and manly
tradition, he should be content to recognise as his
superior within his homestead.
When these canons of chivalry were violated
by a man, popular sentiment marked him out as
fated for bitterness. A standard example of the
curse thus supposed to fall upon the erring one
was that which overtook the whole province of
Ulster for a display of serious rudeness towards
a lady. The blight of a perennial malediction
rested on the Ulstermen for forcing Macha in her
travail to vie in speed with a racing chariot. Thus
was a tradition embedded in ancient lore that a
periodic debility overcame the inhabitants of a
[34]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
whole province for want of gentleness to a woman
that it might be a signal warning to all the land
that in the sanctum of the Irish heart the fair
sex held a shrine protected by most precious safe-
guards and any serious slight offered to its
dignity would be punished as a sacrilege before the
high altar of the national honour.
But the nation went still further along the way
of idealism when paying its homage to women.
She was given an honoured niche within the
temple of the national cult where the most sacred
and symbolic treasures of the race were guarded.
Men saw in her so much of the wine of national
inspiration and realised that she embodied in an
emphatic manner so much of what was character-
istically Celtic that they elevated her to the realm
wherein she became the mystic and luminous
symbol of their land and the pure, white, delicate
object of the amourous cravings of all patriotic
spirits.
Some samples of these mystic imaginings are
worthy of production here. When Niall, son of
Eocaid, in the daring of his heart went through
the ordeal of accepting a kiss from a mysterious
hag of dreadful mien his courage was repaid by
a most pleasing change in the appearance of this
creature. The hideous form that confronted him
vanished, supplanted by that of a maiden of sur-
passing loveliness. The wonderful metamorphosis
was seemingly effected to convey the lesson that
[35]
The Women of the Gael
those who wish for the cherished affection of the
great lady, Eire, whom this figure symbolised,
must shirk no horrors for her sake. "I am the
sovereignty of Erin," said the new wooer of Niall.
She is described as having "two blunt shoes of
white bronze between her little snow-white feet
and the ground. A costly full-purple mantle she
wore, with a broach of white silver in the clothing
of the mantle. Shining pearly teeth she had, an
eye large and queenly, and lips red as rowan-
berries."
Other striking evidence exists of the use of
woman as a symbol of Ireland. The ancient
name of Ireland is identical with that of a mythical
goddess or queen and' the attributes of this lady
have frequently been applied in mystic language
to that country. This fascinating conception has
roamed through the souls of poets and called
forth the fine-frenzied expression of their visions
for centuries. Some of the most heart-searching
verses of the land have had this tender mysticism
as their highest and most enduring note. See
what passionate tenderness lives in the lines of
Fergusin 's Cean Duv Deelish, symbolic of Ireland,
as they tell of the pure fire of the patriot lover
for the Dear Black Head.
' ' Put your head darling, darling, darling,
Your darling black head my heart above ;
O mouth of honey with the thyme for fragrance,
Who with heart in breast could deny you love ?
[36]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
0 many and many a young girl for me is pining,
Letting her locks of gold to the cold winds free,
For me, the foremost of the gay young fellows,
But I'd leave a hundred, pure love for thee."
Look at the exquisite intermingling of wrestling
sorrow and buoyant hope that subsists beneath the
glowing passion of Shiela-Ni-Gara, the songful
symbol of Ethna Carbery.
Shiela-Ni-Gara, it is lonesome where you bide,
With plovers circling over and the sagans spreading
wide,
With an empty sea before you and behind a wailing
world,
Where the sword lieth rusty and the banner blue is
furled.
Is it a sail you wait, Shiela? Yea, from the westering
sun.
Shall it bring you joy or sorrow? Oh ! joy gladly won.
Shall it bring peace or conflict? The pibroch in the
glen
And the flash and crash of battle round a host of fight-
ing men.
Green spears of hope rise round you like grass blades
after drouth
And there grows a white wind from the East, a red
wind from the South
A brown wind from the West, Agra, a brown wind from
the West —
But the black winds from the Northern hills — how can
you love it best?
[37]
The Women of the Gael
Said Shiela-Ni-Gara, ' ' 'Tis a kind wind and true,
For it rustled soft through Aeleach's halls and stirred
the hair of Hugh
Then blow wind and snow wind ! What matters storm
to me
Now I know the fairy sleep must break and set the
sleepers free."
Thus have writers thought in prose or sung
in poetry from the earliest historic days of
Ireland's story until the present time. This note
of inspiration has been especially distinct after
the Anglo-Norman invasion in the Jacobite songs
of the eighteenth century and the meditative
verses of the nineteenth and twentieth century
Celtic Eenaissance literature. These periods
have been remarkable for a resurgence of Celtism
and it is noteworthy that the prominence of
woman as a symbol should have entered so in-
timately into the warp and woof of literary
thought in its typically racial phases. We shall
present to the reader one more example of this
symbolic verse and we believe ourselves pardon-
able in doing so, for it is one of the most recent
and sublimely inspired poems of that type that
has yet appeared. It comes from the pen of
Joseph Mary Plunkett who in Easter Week of
1916 gave his life for Ireland. Its intense per-
sonal feeling and apparent note of destiny exalt
its literary qualities to the level of first class
poetry. Addressed to Cathleen Ni Houlihan, its
title is The Little Black Rose shall be Red at Last.
[38]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
"Because we share our sorrows and our joys
And all your dear and intimate thoughts are mine
We shall not fear the trumpets and the noise
Of battle, for we know our dreams divine,
And when my heart is pillowed on your heart
And ebb and flow of their passionate flood
Shall beat in concord love through every part
Of brain and body — when at last the blood
O'er leaps the final barrier to find
Only one source wherein to spend its strength
And we two lovers, long but one in mind
And soul, are made one only flesh at length ;
Praise God if this my blood fulfils the doom
When you dark rose, shall redden into bloom. ' '
There is yet another department of Irish tra-
dition which cannot be neglected in dealing with
the process of Gaelic idealism of woman; that is
fairy lore. In this there is abundant material
whence the student of folk-lore may extract the
most honeyed thought relative to the adoring
attitude of the Irish towards the feminine world.
The realm of spirits is peopled with attractive
maidens who combine the sublimity and winning
elusiveness of creatures of intangible essence with
most human attributes. Woman is spiritualised
in them without being dehumanised.
From the misty land of immortal beauty came
these spirit-maidens to woo the souls of men. One
of the most fascinating of all spirit lovers in all
literature is Etain the Beloved. With beauty of
form transcending far the best that earth could
boast of, she came to make a certain Midir a
[39]
The Women of the Gael
prisoner in the net of her loveliness. With
promises that were seductive, but pure, she told
him that with her he would find all that was fairest
in colour, most enduring in joy and attractive in
melody in the mystery land whence she came. ' ' 0
fair one, wilt thou come with me," she said, "to
a wonderful land that is mine, a land of sweet
music ; there primrose blossoms on the hair, and
snow-white the bodies from head to toe. There no
one is sorrowful or silent; white the teeth there,
black the eyebrows the hue of the fox-glove
on every cheek." Her appeal proved resistless.
Bound together in deathless bondage with a
silvery chain between them the amorous pair left
the land of Erin in the transfigured shape and
grace of two white swans for the scenes of their
paradisal honeymoon.
The same lady in the History of Ailill and
Etain, won the heart of Eochaid, King of Ireland.
Here, too, despite her spirit nature she was Irish
and feminine for she loved the monarch for his
skill as a raconteur and the splendid symmetry of
his form. Strong and resistless as the growing
strength of a hurricane was the affection this fairy
lover aroused within Eochaid. Its limits were
unknown, its power almost effaced individuality
and the end towards which it tended was the ec-
static freedom of the spirit. In the quaint, pithy
and fanciful concreteness of the olden writer it
was ' ' deeper every year .... endless like the sky
a battle against a shade a drowning in
[40]
The Objects of Men's Reverence
water ... a course to heaven .... a love to an
echo. " We wonder not at this love-distress of the
King when we read the rapturous description of
Etain in the Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel.
Her beauty gleamed with the purity of azure skies
and the cold glory of a northern landscape.
" White as the snow of one night were the two
hands .... and as red as fox-glove were the two
clear-beautiful cheeks. Dark as the back of a stag-
beetle the two eyebrows. Like a shower of pearls
were the teeth in her head. Blue as a hyacinth
were the eyes. Red as rowan-berries the lips ....
The bright radiance of the moon was in her noble
face: the loftiness of pride in her smooth eye-
brows : the light of wooing in her regal eyes ....
Verily of the world's women 'tis she was the
dearest and loveliest and justest that the eyes of
man had ever beheld."*
Spirits other than messengers of love were
also pictured as women. Death was represented
by an optimistic people as a beautiful maiden
stripped of everything that might be forbidding
and clothed with the richest tints of fancy. In
reality she was regarded as an envoy of veiled
love for the happy nature of the Celt always be-
held the brightness of God's smile behind the
darkest clouds of life. There is every reason to
believe that he looked with eyes of affection on
the messenger who came to lead him through the
dark way to the glory of the unseen world with
* Revue Oeltique. Vol. 22. pp. 15-16.
The Women of the Gael
which in spirit he was so familiar. It was to Moy
Mel he hoped to go whether the entry thereto was
through the gates of life or death. Once arrived
there, no matter how he journeyed thither, unfail-
ing life was to be his. Whether the lure of beauty
or the voice of death called him to the Isles of the
Blessed, "the Land of Women, " the personage
who accompanied him thither was always a maiden
whose soul spoke of love in the mystic land where
the best of his race should receive its supreme
reward.
[43]
CHAPTER IV
FEMININE MOBAUTY IN PAGAN DAYS
BEFORE we leave the days of heroic story
one of the brightest features of that epoch
must claim our attention. The flower of
highest grade in the garden of Irish womanhood
has yet to display its glory to us. That flower is
the splendid fealty of the women of the ancient
Gael to moral principles.
Some sayings exist which are indicative of the
Irish feminine sense of moral honour, and the Gael
seldom elevated a dictum to the plane of a proverb
which he did not regard as capable of verification
in his national life. It was for him as rationally
sacrosanct as an axiom for "it is impossible to
contradict a proverb." Some of these treasured
sayings we will quote. One of them makes purity a
woman's prime asset, for, it states that "modesty
is the beauty of women. ' ' The other synthesises
the glories of a woman as embracing a "proud
spirit, ' ' a spirit that accepts no dishonour, as well
as physical shapeliness.
That there was a basis justifying the race which
formulated such proverbs as applicable to women
we have every reason to believe. Emer, the wife
of Cuchulainn, was given premier place in the
[43]
The Women of the Gael
world by Bricriu on account of the goodness of
her reputation. We have the extraordinary spec-
tacle of a pagan maiden the daughter of Aengus,
seeking perfection of continence for she loved
"the lot of virginity." There are instances of
heroic fortitude and infinite delicacy of conscience
associated with the preservation of this virtue.
Fial was said to have purchased death for herself
through pangs resulting from a sheer sense of
shame when her modesty was in peril. A certain
Luaine met a similar fate because of an insult
offered to her for "she died of shame and bash-
fulness." A maid named Gile on whom mascu-
line eyes accidentally fell as she bathed "died of
shame and found death in the well. ' ' Eithne, we
are told, was miraculously sustained in life by the
true God without partaking of any food, as a
reward for her purity. When Ailill wooed and
won Etain another mysterious intervention is sup-
posed to have saved her when her honour was
seriously menaced.
So characteristic was this feminine virtue that
the greatest in Ireland regarded it as essential in
a marriageable woman. It was the fidelity of
Emer to her husband that roused his spell-bound
spirit from the enthrallment of the fairy Fand
as with tear-strewn face she besought him to be
faithful to one who had been loyal to him. And
he was true to Emer when he remembered that
one of the arch qualities for which he grew en-
amoured of her was her love of maiden honour.
[44]
Feminine Morality in Pagan Days
When Art, son of Conn, in a fairy island "full of
wild apples and lovely birds, with little bees ever
beautiful on the tops of the flowers" met a
maiden who captured his fancy and was deemed
worthy to be his wife she was one "fair .... in
chastity." Eochaid would not have Etain when
he sought her hand merely because of her sen-
suous appeal to him; he demanded that she have
steadfastness and honour. "With thee alone will
I live," he exclaimed, "so long as thou hast
honour. ' '
So sacred, indeed, did women deem the mar-
riage bond that rather than be untrue to their
wedded lords they welcomed death itself if it
saved them from dishonour. When the sword of
Conall Cernach overcame Mesgegra the wife of
the doomed hero, true to his memory and her
womanhood, surrendered her spirit to her God
rather than sacrifice her good name. With a
mighty effort of soul she rent her heart asunder
for in the quaint words of the writer she lifted
up "her cry of lamentation .... and she cast her-
self backwards and she dead." Even the mere
memory of a deceased husband was sometimes
sufficient to force a widow to pay the toll of death.
This supreme sacrifice was regarded as a fitting
recognition of the unbounded affection that dwelt
in the soul of the Gaelic wife for her husband.
Almu died of grief for the one that wed her and
the arrows of love were fatal to Etar when she
saw her dead lord in a dream.
[45]
The Women of the Gael
«
So highly did the nation value this virtue of its
womanhood that it ordained grievous penalties
for those who tarnished it. A grave offense in
this matter was sometimes deemed sufficient to
deprive a monarch of his throne. This happened
in the case of Mac Da Cherda who was considered
unworthy to preside over his people since he knew
not how to respect what the people most revered.
Within the province of Ulster anyone who brought
to shame a maiden soul had to face the withering
ire of Cuchulainn for "every maiden and every
single woman that was in Ulster, they were in his
ward till they were ordained for husbands. ' ' One
of Ireland's greatest national woes had its origin
in an insult offered to a woman. Its story is re-
plete with suffering. The daughter of Tuahal
of Meath married the King of Leinster. The lat-
ter, tiring of his wife, sought the hand of her sis-
ter Fithir under the pretence that he was a
widower. His base scheme was successful until
Fithir arrived at his palace. Then learning how
cruelly she had been victimized she lost her life
in a sea of shame. But Leinster paid a terrible
price for the deed. It was compelled to give a
constant tribute to the Ard-Ri as a penitential
recompense, an exaction which spelt destruction
for national solidarity for many a day.
But punishment for woman's infidelity was not
always confined to men. If she had been a willing
victim of crime the law demanded that she suffer
for her action. Occasionally the wildest barbaric
[46]
Feminine Morality in Pagan Days
wrath was loosed against such hapless creatures.
To cite but one example, in the Battle of Cnucha
we find a fierce old chieftain condemning to the
tortures of the fiery stake the mother of Finn
whom he adjudged guilty of impurity.
That the mind of the race demanded and was
cognisant of this prime adornment of womanhood
is apparent even in the descriptive passages of the
tales which are concerned with women and are
steeped in an atmosphere of purity. The Tain
presents us with a picture of Fedelm, the fairy
prophetess, which illustrates our contention.
" Folded round her shape,
A bratt of leafy green, chequered and pied
Was held by a full fruit-like, heavy clasp
Over her breast. Her face was rosy bright.
Her eyes were laughing, blue ; and her two lips
Were shapely, thin and red. Within her lips
Her teeth were glistering, pearly — glimmering —
One might have deemed a white rain shower of pearls
Had rained in there. Her bright long yellow hair
Divided ; three gold tresses of it wound
About her head ; another long, gold tress
Fell round her
Her nails were trim and sharp and crimson-stained,
Whiter than snow in one night softly fallen,
The whiteness of her flesh was, where it shined
And gleamed athwart her quivering, blown apparel. ' ' *
There is nothing of the sensual in this but a
cold brilliancy and richness that is suggestive of
* p. 94. Mary A. Hutton.
[47]
The Women of the Gael
the vigorous beauty of northern lands rather than
the enervating glory of southern climes. Though
oriental in its riot of glistening, bewitching colour
its rays of influence reach us through a crystal,
chastening atmosphere. There is something of an
elemental freshness in it which smacks of the
wild freedom of Celtic breeses that have no wan-
tonness but soothing tenderness.
If an explanation is to be sought for this moral
rectitude of Ireland's daughters no surer reason
can be found than their devotion to the principles
of home life. The domestic circle was the nursery
where the seedlings of the national oak of Irish
feminine purity were planted and cared for.
To verify this we have only to consider how de-
voted woman was in the old Gaelic home to her
husband. This is the acid test of feminine domes-
tic rectitude and the pivotal point round which
most of the family happiness revolves. Without
it there is an influence absent which is absolutely
essential for true family life.
Over and over again instances of deep matronly
and domestic instincts can be encountered in the
heroines of the tales. This sense of domesticity
shone most clearly in the sense of bereavement
which women manifested when their husbands
entered the shadowland of death. Take for ex-
ample the lament of Crede, so expressive of in-
curabe loss, when she consigned to the grave her
life-mate. The simplicity of her words coupled
with their ebb and flow of repetition produces a
[48]
Feminine Morality in Pagan Days
note of sincerity clearly indicative of great and
lasting woe. "Sore suffering and 0 suffering
sore is the hero's death, his death who used to lie
by me. ' ' The same sentiment is seen in the lament
of Emer over Cuchulainn when the fatal spear slew
her valiant lord. Raising a keen over him she let
the waves of distress inundate her soul and died in
the clasp of a sea of grief.
In other respects, also, the importanceof wom-
an 's household position was apparent. One of the
qualities of Emer most highly lauded by her hus-
band was her proficiency in attending to the sim-
ple art of home business: and Cuchulainn seldom
praised but what was great and impressive as a
national asset. The same lady won laudatory re-
marks from Bricriu for the wisdom that adorned
her domestic life. In the War of Words we have
already seen that the cause of feminine agitation
was solicitude for the happiness of their husbands
on the part of the women and the belief of each
noble dame that her lord had no peer in all the
land. Herein Emer lauds her husband with imag-
inative exuberance giving him a countenance like
unto the sun and a soul dowered with a nobility
that no other mortal possessed. There is a world
of primitive conjugal affection in Goll when he
bade his wife farewell. With barbaric crudeness he
mingled his blood with hers to show how thorough
and fundamental he believed her loyalty to him
to be and how in payment for that affection
no nuptial promises to any other woman should
[49]
The Women of the Gael
ever stain his manhood. The name of the river
Liffey perpetuates the memory of a woman, Life,
whose loyalty to her lord was so striking that his
mourning heart burst in twain as a tribute to her
fidelity.
Though we have not been attempting to convey
the idea that Irish women in the olden days were
perfect or anything approaching that, we did wish
to maintain that in what we have produced there
is evidence of a singularly high moral standard
in their lives considering the dim beacon of re-
ligious guidance that their pagan faith provided.
Furthermore, in the light of this contention, we
think ourselves justified in believing that the
facts substantiating moral laxity and disrespect
for women are not sufficiently weighty to warrant
a serious attack upon the exalted virtue of the
fair sex of pagan Ireland.
In spite of the fact that the tales provide many
instances of concubinage we must admit that it
was mainly prevalent in the ranks of the nobility.
Whilst its presence amongst the common people is
but very meagerly attested the lofty principles
governing sex relations are so frequently encoun-
tered and so soaring in dignity that they could not
be accounted for, had not the roots of national life
been embedded in a soil of very considerable prac-
tical morality. Abduction, indeed, was rather
frequent, but it was rather the outcome of sheer
wildness of the primitive spirit that loved bravado
and acts that tried the soul of courage than a han-
[50]
Feminine Morality in Pagan Days
kering for things that were sensual. Besides, with
the seizure was always intertwined a fight for the
honour of the smuggled woman which proved the
battling mettle and uprightness of the defending
party as well as the unrestrained spirit of the
abductor. Aodh, for instance, in the Abduction
of Eargna, roused by the banter of Finn fought a
fierce dual with Conan who sought by violent
means to woo a maiden.
Hence we cannot accept Pflugk-Hartung's
statement that "the position of the wife and
daughter" in ancient Ireland " was one of supreme
subjection" in a moral or a fortiore in a social
sense. True, indeed, statements hostile in a gen-
eral way to womanhood are to be found in Irish
literature but these should not invite serious preju-
dice against it. Such as these are discoverable in
all literature and in Irish letters any unfavourable
attitude they might create should be practically
eliminated by the vastly superior array of fine
tributes lined up in support of the ladies of the
Gael. Besides some of these when contextually
interpreted do not seem to be uttered in a serious
mood but were dictated by the racial desire for
pungent wit and rich humour.
Just to give some idea of what they were like
we will produce a few of them here. From a piece
called Eve 's Lament we take the excerpt ' * so long
as they endure in the light of day, so long women
will not cease from folly. ' ' This condemnation is
so vague that it carries with it no special bitterness
[si]
The Women of the Gael
and leaves only the impression of minor deficien-
cies rather than any damning vices. The com-
mand rings out ' ' rule your wife, ' ' but this is mere-
ly equivalent to advocating a preservation of the
natural social order of the homestead. Perhaps
some of the most blighting of all anti-feminine
dicta are those ascribed to King Cormac in his
instructions to his son Carbery. " Silly coun-
sellors," he calls all womankind: "steadfast in
hate, forgetful of love, on the pursuit of folly, bad
among the good, worse among the bad. ' ' The con-
demnatory character of this advice is so sweeping
and universal that by the very force of its ex-
aggeration it dispels all likelihood of veracity.
Another says "do not give your wife authority
over you, for if you let her stamp on your foot
to-night, she will stamp on your head to-morrow. > '
This seems bitter until we read in the same text
"reprove your wife as you would your son or
your friend:" then one feels that its harshness
is only apparent and formulated with a view to
impress forcibly the need of preserving nature's
authority in the home. Taking, then, evidence
as a whole into account there seems to be vastly
more truth in the words of M. Gaston Paris when
he praises that loyalty of the Irishwoman to the
dictates of morality which would be impossible
under the slavish conditions imposed upon her by
Pflugk-Hartung. "The oldest Irish literature,"
says the French Celtist, "furnishes evidence of
the fidelity of the betrothed to her lover, of the
[5*]
Feminine Morality in Pagan Days
wife to the husband and of the widow to her dead
mate, whom she laments and to whom she remains
faithful."* There were dark spots in the sun-
light of Irish pagan morality as in everything on
earth but the gloom they induce was of little ac-
count when compared with the brilliancy that en-
veloped them.
* Rev. Celt. Vol. 15. p. 407.
[53]
CHAPTEE V
WHEN SAINTS WERE NUMEROUS
LEAVING the golden grey of saga landscape
we now pass on to scenes more definite and
historical in feature though scarcely less il-
lumined by the glorifying aureole of the romantic.
We go from the glamour of the pagan period to
the captivating beauty and innocence of the
neophyte nation newly introduced to the mysteries
of Christianity. Here we shall behold how when
the message of the Master 's Gospel rang out over
the hills and dales of Erin and the people with
longing hearts hearkened to its welcome notes,
the women of the Gael were throbbing with ardour
for the treasure that had appeared in their midst.
They furnished some of the most saintly minds
of the early church and some of the most capable
spirits that were allied with sanctity in that youth-
ful institution.
That greatness of intellect and valuable material
for citizenship should go hand in hand with saint-
liness was naturally to be expected. The qualities
that forged the way towards Christian perfection
were those which were fundamentally neces-
sary for national wholesomeness. Eespect for
authority, justice, sobriety, self-denial and purity
[54]
When Saints Were Numerous
of life which are always associated with those who
seek first the Kingdom of God, are the soundest
pillars of any kingdom that man may construct.
Their absence can only be justified by materialism
of outlook and the nation that has only this vision
is fetid at the core and doomed to an early death.
Their presence means the controlling hand of
idealism at the nation's helm, a force that must
lead it triumphantly against all brute influences
into final success.
This effectiveness of the saint as a national
factor was especially appreciable in Ireland. The
dominant note of early Celtic Christianity was
monastic and this was closely associated with the
social and governmental machinery that prevailed
in the commonwealth. The system upon which
Irish civilisation was erected was that of tribal-
ism. With the government of the church rigidly
fashioned after and largely dependent on this it
was only natural to expect a considerable mingling
of interest between church and state and a marked
unanimity of purpose in the pursuit of the ideals
of both organizations. The limits of the diocese
which was ruled by a monastic head had to be
coterminous with those of the tribe-lands. The
head of the monastery had to be selected from
some member of the clan so that the bond of
blood gave him an interest in the temporalities
as well as the spiritual needs of the people over
whom he presided. Other affinities existed be-
tween the ecclesiastical and civil institutions all
[55]
The Women of the Gael
of which tended to make the fire of the love of
God breeding-ground for the fire of patriotism in
the soul of the saint.
What was true of the tribal character of the
monastery for men was likewise verified in its
kindred establishment for women. The convent
was an intimate part of tribal life whilst the im-
portance of its inmates was augmented by their
feminine hold upon the racial sense of reverence
for woman as well as by its official connection with
the existing mode of civilisation. Its inmates
wielded a powerful influence as women of the
Gael and as Irish saints.
Though countless numbers of Irish maidens are
to be met with in the early days of the church's
history who showed in their lives a sublimity
worth recording we must content ourselves with
presenting the few whose careers are in a marked
degree representative of those of the many.
To begin with Patrician times we find that some
of the most attractive episodes in the life of the
national apostle were based on the guileless char-
acter and lofty ideals of women. In these first
fruits reaped by the great reaper there was, as
it were, a symbolic guarantee of the elevating in-
fluence which the Christian daughters to come
would wield within the land of Erin. In the
western part of the country two maiden figures,
fresh as the flowers of the field and taintless as
unstained rivulets, were wafted in upon the path-
way of the missionary as if to refresh his weary
[56]
When Saints Were Numerous
soul and give him the strength of a magnificent
hope in the Christian future of the nation that
could present such early flowers to the garden of
the Lord. Of royal birth they were and of royal
mind as was well shown in their thirst for truth
and the effusive manner in which Patrick willed
to satisfy their well-meant curiosity. He was ques-
tioned as to the nature of his God: he told them
that He was the Being who would satisfy the de-
mand of their Celtic natures by the expression of
his power and grandeur through the energy and
beauty of all that their senses perceived in the
spaces of the heavens and the expanses of the
earth, His God made the rushing waters of the
river, the light of the sun, the beauty of the sleep-
ing valleys, the majesty of the adoring mountains
and the isleted gems of the sea.
On another occasion the daughter of Daire
brought an element of romance into the story of
early Irish Christianity which though earthly was
pure and merited to be elevated by the prayers
of the apostle to the realm of the supernatural.
With Patrick always went Benignus whom he
loved for his innocence and sweet singing and it
was this youth whose attractions won the affec-
tion of an Irish maiden. So violent did her love
for him become that a deadly sickness settled upon
her. Patrick saved her life, purified her affections
and directed them into heavenly channels. Her
passion was terrestrial but untainted and Patrick
deemed it worthy of transformation into
[57]
The Women of the Gael
supernatural fidelity to the Supreme Lover. Her
awakening from the spells of worldly love is pre-
served in verse for us by Aubrey De Vere.
" One day through grief of love
The Maiden lay as dead ; Benignus shook
Dews from the fount above her, and she woke,
With heart emancipate that outsoared the lark,
Lost on the blue heavens. She loved the Spouse of
souls. ' '
In another woman we are provided with a
splendid example of that spirit of self-sacrifice
which is so necessary for working of Christian
principles in the human soul. This was the wife
of Laoghaire, the High King of Ireland. Though
the monarch refused to desert the pagan religion
his wife embraced the new faith and manifested
her gratitude to the apostle for the gift he had
given her by a permanent donation to the church.
"She bound herself to give a sheep out of every
flock sbe possessed each year and a portion of
every meal she should take during her life to the
poor of God."* A like tribute to the church she
ordained every property owner in Ireland should
give.
That these were not exceptions in their virtuous
behaviour we know from the testimony of Patrick
himself. He states that the women of Ireland in
general displayed a magnificent attitude towards
the new message of self-sacrifice that he brought
* Irish Texts Society. Vol. 9. p. 41.
[58]
When Saints Were Numerous
them. He tells how in spite of all opposition they
unhesitatingly became Christians and lived up to
the teachings of their new faith in the midst of
temptation. " Their parents," those remaining
pagans, no doubt, "instead of approving of it,
persecute and load them with obloquy; yet their
number increases constantly; and, indeed, of all
those that have been thus born in Christ, I cannot
give the number, besides those living in holy
widowhood, and keeping continency in the midst
of the world."*
There is another name which was closely asso-
ciated with that of Patrick but which needed no
such distinguished affiliation to enable it to endure
in history. That is the name of Brigid which was
held by the premier member of Ireland's early
saintly womanhood. Her memory is as much part
and parcel of the national and ecclesiastical tra-
dition as is that of Patrick himself. Interest and
pride in her glory is confined within no provincial
limitations but maintain an equal hold upon every
section of the country. Her name when borne
by a woman is regarded in foreign parts as dis-
tinct a badge of Irish origin as is that of the
national apostle when its honours a man.
A potent reason for this universal esteem for
Brigid is the fact that though wedded to Heaven
she was never divorced from Ireland. She was
not that type of saint whose celestial tendencies
make mental absentees from the ordinary life of
* The Irish Race, Aug. Thebaud. Quotation, p. 36.
[59]
The Women of the Gael
earth. She was as practical in citizenship as she
was mystic in religion.
When the blood of her countrymen became
stirred and heated for action her love of peace
and her liberal conception of nationalism inspired
her to hesitate at no saintly effort that might heal
wounded pride and introduce serenity where
serious strife might have been. For this reason
great men sought her aid. She was visited by
Conall, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, who
sought her protection against his brother Carbery
whose malice menaced him for the sake of a
kingdom. With a solicitude that was truly mater-
nal mingled with an element of romanc that was
mediaeval she covered with her protecting
presence the troops of Conall as they marched to
the field of battle. A clash was frustrated and
the would-be contestants were compelled to depart
with a kiss of peace whilst the name of Brigid as
a peacemaker and a benefactor of the policy of
national unity was universally applauded.
However where diplomacy failed to adjust a
dispute on a basis of fairness she was not the one
to prevent the arms of the warrior seeking a vin-
dication of principle. On this same Conall for
whom she obtained peace from Carbery she after-
wards bestowed her benediction and relying on
its sustaining power he led his men to triumph on
the field of strife. In the Battle of Allen a singular
tale is narrated which, whatever its worth may
be in the realm of sober history, is decidedly in-
[60]
When Saints Were Numerous
teresting as a medium for the study of the
national belief in Brigid 's local patriotism. Herein
as a Leinster woman she championed the cause
of her native province against external aggression,
and though her action may not redound to her
credit as a nationalist because of its encourage-
ment of provincial strife it showed the warmth
of her tribal sentiments which amongst the Gael
as a race were the secret of intellectual national
unity even though they were a stumbling block in
the way of the organic solidarity of the common-
wealth. The followers of the 0 'Neill were waging
war on the men of Leinster whilst in the language
of Whitley Stokes ' ' Columbkille and Brigid ' ' were
4 'heartening, like Homeric heroes their respective
clans in battle. ' ' As the tide of conflict ebbed and
flowed, according to the old writer, great was the
agitation of the saintly scion of the race of Niall
who feared with a great fear when he perceived
that the great woman of Kildare was pitted
against his Ulster clansmen. "Now in that battle
the mind of Columbkille did not rest or stay for
the Hy Neill, for above the battalion of Leinster
he saw Brigid terrifying the hosts of Conn's half. ' '
Thus did the popular imagination summon her
from the realm of the dead to shield the martial
honour of the province she loved so well in life
and to match her saintly influence against that of
Columbkille, the most noted masculine saint of
Irish stock.
In more reposeful scenes than these Brigid won
[61]
The Women of the Gael
renown. Ireland in her day was noted far be-
yond its shores for the hospitality of its people.
The providing of good cheer for the friend and
the stranger was long the custom there before the
coming of Patrick and the monastic usage of
maintaining a public guest-house did not accom-
plish a social revolution in the life of the Gael
but simply gave the sanction of religion to a well-
established habit. Hospitality was a part of the
business of the state ; it was the glory of the palace
and the pride of the humblest home. Brigid as
the head of a great monastery shone as the dis-
penser of good cheer and as an entertainer of
guests. She received with the kindliness native
to her race men distinguished for spirituality,
statecraft and various branches of learning whilst
the sunshine of her comforting smile warmed the
cold hearts of the poor and the outcast. Kings
sought her counsel and favour and bishops learned
wisdom at her feet whilst erring ones went away
consoled.
Even for literature she found time despite all
her responsibilities. A poem in her native tongue
on 'The Virtues of St. Patrick' is attributed to
her. In prose she is supposed to have written a
small treatise entitled 'The Quiver of Divine
Love' and an Epistle to St. Aid of Degill. She
encouraged others to love letters and by her ad-
vice and example helped to make the monastery of
Kildare as remarkable for its culture as for its
piety.
[62]
When Saints Were Numerous
It is, however, in religion that her supreme hold
upon the mentality of the Gael is rooted. Her
name, with that of Patrick and Columbkille, has
always been accepted as completing that trinity
of Ireland's greatest saints and as sacred to tra-
dition as the memory of the most successful of
national apostles and that of the noblest of the
Hy Neill who had the most patriotic heart that
ever beat within the bosom of a saint. Thus have
the Irish people erected through Brigid an en-
during memorial in their literature and tradition
to one of the noblest of their womankind, to one
who so proudly partook of the work of developing
the highest aspect of the national mentality, its
keenness of vision of the spiritual world. Actuated
by such a desire we find a writer in the Leabar
Breac paying a rapturous tribute to the surpassing
mastery of things spiritual that was Brigid 's
heritage. "There was not in the world one of
more bashfulness of modesty than this holy virgin
She was abstinent, unblemished, fond of
prayer, patient, rejoicing in God's commands,
benevolent, forgiving, charitable And hence
in things created her type is the Dove among
birds, the Vine among the trees, and the sun above
the stars."* She was regarded, above all, as the
national protectress of that virtue so treasured
by Ireland, purity. In the Felire of Aengus, all
the virgins of Ireland were confided to the pro-
tection of Brigid that in her inspiring example
* Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars. Healy. Quot. p. 1S5.
[63]
The Women of the Gael
they might find that feminine nobility necessary
for the welfare of their souls and the moral sound-
ness of the commonwealth.
As an ecclesiastical ruler she also did much to
make her name endure in the religious traditions
of Ireland. Many houses of piety outside the
monastery of Kildare obeyed the Brigidine rule,
while evidence is not lacking for the assumption
that she and some of her successors invaded the
domain of church officialdom proper to men and
claimed in some respects the obedience due to
high dignitaries. It seems very likely that some
of the Abbesses of Kildare enjoyed marked juris-
diction within the diocese of that name in things
that pertained to the episcopal office. On
the authority of Archbishop Healy we have it that
"the lady-abbesses of Kildare enjoyed a kind of
primacy over all the nuns of Ireland and, more-
over, were in some sense independent of episcopal
jurisdiction, if indeed, the Bishops of Kildare
were not to some extent dependent on them."
And even if all these facts of ancient times were
consigned to oblivion the vital influence of her
memory in the world of the modern Gael would
be quite sufficient to prove that the personality
from which it emanated centuries ago must have
been a commanding one. Irish manhood re-
members her as the acme of glory of its woman-
hood and it feels stronger and more sanguine
* Ibid. p. 187.
[64]
When Saints Were Numerous
every day in the face of all difficulties bolstered
up by the sustaining reflection that the companions
of its joy and sorrow and ultimate triumph is the
feminine factor of which Brigid is the spiritual
and patriotic archetype. Multitudes of societies
pledged to the support of the twin ideals of faith
and nationality act under the patronage of her
protection. Her memory survives in the names
of a host of parishes and townlands throughout
the country. Churches, ancient and modern,
within and beyond the seas of Ireland preserve
her name. The very topography of Ireland con-
spires to keep the memory of Brigid ever fresh
in the soul of the Gael. Her holy fountains strew
the land where her devotees come in crowds to
seek her healing power for wound of soul and
body. In a word all that lives of her in the Gaelic
memory helps to wield with powerful force the
hammer that drives home conviction of woman's
domineering part in the spiritual regeneration of
the Irish race. It tells too of the need of un-
swerving adherence to the spiritual tenets of
Brigid for the preservation of sterling nationality
for it shows the potency of a woman to help
that essentially Celtic attribute of immaterialism
of outlook which has ultimately wrested many and
many a time the nation from its death grasp, and
preserved intact its corporate sense of racial dis-
tinctness and individuality. It is a reminder that
the nation which for six and a half centuries,
[65]
The Women of the Gael
according to Cambrensis, kept a mysterious fire
continually burning at Kildare in honour of
Brigid, has still the fire of admiration in its heart
for one of its greatest benefactors.
Another saintly woman who bore a striking
resemblance to the great one of Kildare was St.
Ita, the Mary of Munster. Of illustrious lineage she
proved herself in the assumed humility of her life
to possess a magnitude of soul exceeding that of
any of her ancestors. She loved the things of the
spirit but did not cut herself adrift from the
mundane things of her island home. She was a
saint not only for heaven but for Ireland and
sought to give a spiritual elevation to the tem-
poral activities of her countrymen. When the
Hy-Conall clan appealed to her for victory in
battle, won by affection for her kin and the un-
sullied honour of her tribe, she girt the clansmen
around with the conquering weapons of her
prayers.
For learning, too, she had a strong desire. In
the Felire there lives a beautiful hymn of which
she was the author. It reveals a rare simplicity
of soul, a touching familiarity of treatment of the
spiritual and the Celtic tribalism of conception
which intertwines happily with warmth of feeling.
"Little Jesus, little Jesus,
Shall be nursed by me in my dear Disert:
Though a cleric may have many jewels,
All is deceit but little Jesus.
[66]
When Saints Were Numerous
A nurseling I nurse in my house,
It is not the nurseling of a low-born clown,
It is Jesus with his heavenly host,
That I press to my heart each night.
The fair Jesus, my good life,
Demands my care and resents neglect
The King who is Lord of all,
To pray him not we shall be sorry.
It is Jesus, the noble, the angelical,
Not at all a tear-worn cleric,
That is nursed by me in my dear Disert,
Jesus, the Son of the Hebrew maiden.
The sons of chiefs, the sons of Kings,
Into my district though they may come,
It is not from them that I expect wealth,
More hopeful for me is my little Jesus.
Make ye peace, 0 daughters,
With him to whom your fair tributes are due,
He rules in his mansion above us,
Though he be little Jesus in my lap."
And as she loved learning for herself so she
desired to communicate it to others, and her
efforts in this respect produced some very notable
results. To mention but one there is St. Brendan.
For his early mental development she was
responsible. Thus was she intellectual mother of
as masterly and daring a soul as early Christian
Ireland can claim. As fearless of the elements as
he was strong in virtue he cared not for the terrors
[67]
The Women of the Gael
of the Atlantic. Drawn on by that peculiar desire
of the Celt to probe the depths of the unknown
he is credited with being bold and clever enough
to have probably discovered America by the very
crude means at his disposal. No doubt much of
that vigour of mind and manliness was the product
of the fostering care of Ita and we cannot help
feeling that if she accomplished nothing else her
share in the development of Brendan would be
sufficient to mark hers as a queenly intellect
donating a good to her native Munster spiritually
and temporarily that can be measured by no
miserly calculations.
In a different sphere from that of Brigid and
Ita lived and worked Ronnat, the pious mother of
St. Adamnan. Determining to remain in the
world she became instrumental in giving to her
country one of the greatest of its saintly citizens.
She moulded the infant mind of him who in
maturity was to preserve for us in the Life of
Columba that human and fascinating picture of
his beloved master. But besides that she was the
indirect means of effecting a social revolution
freighted with far-reaching benefits for her nation.
As late as her time the women of the Gael revelling
in the young vigour of the race oftentimes
cherished the excitement of the battle-field and
fought side by side with their men. This was
without doubt degrading to the feminine nature
even though it was often inspired by heroic sen-
timents. It was one of these debasing features
[68]
When Saints Were Numerous
of the custom which was responsible for the action
of Ronnat which culminated in the elimination of
her sex from the field of battle. On one occasion,
when travelling with her son, seeing the harrowing
results of feminine strife she was stricken with
horror and pleaded with her child to emancipate
women. Her request met with success for the
voice of Adamnan raised in protest won for all
time exemption from the duty of carrying arms
for the women of Erin.
As if to show the sublimity of this task old
literature tells us that before Adamnan could in
this respect become the liberator of women he had
to prove himself worthy by the cleansing force of
great suffering. Furthermore we are informed
that Heaven itself took special notice of the prob-
lem that was his. In Adamnan 's Law in the Book
of Raphoe there is recorded a supernatural inter-
ference in behalf of the women of the Gael. The
story is replete with delicate sentiments towards
womanhood and insists upon its supernatural dig-
nity and domestic sacredness. "After fourteen
years," it says, "Adamnan obtained this law from
God and this is the cause. On Penecost eve a
holy angel of the Lord came to him, and again at
Pentecost after a year, and seized a staff and
struck his side and said to him: Go forth into
Ireland and make a law in it that women be not
in any manner killed through a slaughter or any
other death .... Thou shalt establish a law in
Ireland and Britain for the sake of the mother
[<*>]
The Women of the Gael
of each one, because a mother has borne each one,
and for the sake of Mary, mother of Jesus Christ,
through whom all are .... The sin is great when
anyone slays the mother and sister of Christ's
Mother, and her who carries the spindle and who
clothes everyone."
Other individuals to whom we would like to
devote more space were it available, we must
briefly mention. About the domestic life of the
mother of Columbkille facts are very silent. But
can we not without doing violence to our fancy
picture the patriotic nobility of Ethne who
moulded the mind of the greatest saintly worker
for national honour, tradition and civilisation that
Ireland has produced. Indeed, no sanctified mem-
ber of the church in any age or clime could outdo
the child of this mother in affection for his native
land. Before Enda founded the noted monastic
and scholarly institution of Aran he was a rough
tribal leader revelling in wild forays and blood-
shed. The sweet and firm influence of his sister,
Fanchea, robbed him of his rudeness and con-
verted him into a mystic lover of peaceful ways.
Several others there were of this calibre to whom
only a special chapter could do justice.
Oftentimes not only individuals but even fam-
ilies possessed striking sanctity and nobility of
heart. In the lives of the saints and the martyr-
ologies there are many instances of the collective
holiness of a high grade of all the girls in a
family. We read in the martyrology of Tallaght
[70]
When Saints Were Numerous
that the daughters of Baith in the plain of the
river Liffey were so distinguished for their piety
as to be honoured by a special festival on the
second of January when a church was dedicated
in their honour. Considering the disturbed state
of public life the possibility of finding such a
domestic serenity is little short of marvellous. It
could only occur in a country where the highest
respect for the sacrosanct character of the family
and the fundamental value of its wholesomeness
for the nation at large overshadowed all inter-
tribal broils and jealousies. It is noteworthy too,
that in most cases this type of family was the
product of woman's rather than man's influence.
Such splendid replicas of the homestead at
Nazareth were bound to be not only luminous
centres of religion but beacon-lights calling the
nation to safest anchorage within the harbour
of domestic sanctity. There it would find the
truest antidote for disintegrating forces and the
best guarantee of continued loyalty to the dictates
of its highest self.
Before parting with the saints we must say
a word about that virtue of chastity which was the
very core of their moral and mental greatness
and the ultimate basis of their usefulness to the
nation. We have seen at length how even in pagan
days it was honoured and in this chapter we have
occasionally seen the glory of its presence
amongst the early exponents of Christianity. Here
we would like to dwell on it more at length but
The Women of the Gael
we must content ourselves with the production
of a few facts that shall illustrate the rigid
and oftentimes harsh principles governing its
maintenance.
St. Patrick, who usually showed himself to be
so kind and forgiving, did not think that his
people should consider him too severe when he
ordered even his sister, who was accused of sin,
to be run down near Armagh by his charioteer.
"Drive the chariot over her," he bade him, "and
the chariot went over her three times." Even if
the historicity of this tale be challengeable its
preservation in tradition manifests the national
scrupulousness where this virtue was in question.
Who has not heard of the violent methods of St.
Kevin of Glendalough, when he sought to guard
himself against the attentions of a fair Irish
Cathleen? "We have no reason for believing that
there was anything gravely immoral in her
actions, and yet the story did not hesitate to make
the saint plunge her into the depths of a lake as
a punishment for her folly.
In customs as well as in the lives of individuals
there is evidence of the national delicacy where
this virtue was concerned. So conservatively did
the saints treasure woman's reputation that not
merely monasteries but certain tracts of land were
declared unlawful ground for feminine footsteps.
Within the watery boundaries of Inniscathy no
woman's presence was tolerated. These prevent-
ative measures, of course, were taken for the or-
[72]
When Saints Were Numerous
dinary woman and should not be interpreted as
indicative of narrowness of mind and undue dis-
trust of and disrespect for women. Where the
sanctity of men and women was of such a high
grade as to render both parties, humanly speaking,
immune from grave sin, no wall of exclusiveness
was set up between them. On the contrary com-
munication was encouraged, and some of the
greatest men and women saints frequently met
and were on terms of intimate friendship with
one another. There were to be found, even,
monasteries of such a unique type that close asso-
ciation of the sexes was a matter of daily life.
This was due to the fact that the inmates of these
houses were the first order of saints whose holi-
ness of life reached a high degree of excellence.
In these places "women were welcomed and
cared for ; they were admitted, so to speak, to the
sanctuary; it was shared with them, occupied in
common. Double or even mixed monasteries, so
near to each other as to form but one, brought
the two sexes together for mutual edification; men
became the instructors for women; women of
men." * The Irish were, indeed, severely sound
but not irrational in their zeal for the noblest
ornament that womanhood could possess.
* A, Thebwid, Op. CSt p. 1O4.
[73]
CHAPTER VI
WOMEN OF ACTION FROM THE NINTH TO THE SEVEN-
TEENTH CENTURY
WITH the passing of the eight century the
women of Ireland found themselves in
the presence of a problem that was en-
tirely new to them. Hitherto all their activity
was confined to questions merely affecting their
nation from within but now there came the men-
ace of an external force that threatened to destroy
all the most treasured possessions of their land.
The first grim clouds of invasion swept down from
the cold lands of the Northmen over Irish skies
glowing with the warmth of Christian fervour,
and menaced by their malignant pagan lightnings
the serenity of the atmosphere created by the
mating of the doctrines of Patrick with the civ-
ilisation of the Gael. The new situation furnished
a striking contrast to that of the golden era of
the three preceding centuries and was calculated
to test the most sterling fund of heroism that the
nation possessed. It was a challenge not merely
to the local sense of honour of a clan but to that
common feeling of pride that welded the whole
congeries of clans into that spiritual common-
wealth called Ireland. It was an hour when the
[74]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
the presence of a strong womanhood could act as
a mighty leverage to exalt the soul of the people
above all fear of final destruction.
That Irish women did not live up to their past
in the face of this new peril we have no ground for
assuming. The records of this period are very con-
servative in the giving of information about men
or women but the little they provide when prop-
erly interpreted shows that the daughters of Erin
fought a creditable fight. Very little beyond
obits are mentioned in the annals in the case
of individuals in the early and mediaeval centur-
ies and as we know from other sources that some
of these who are dismissed thus hastily were peo-
ple of distinction it seems only reasonable to as-
sert that others for whose fame we have not such
corroborative evidence were in all likelihood im-
portant personalities. In a word the mere fact of
mention in the annals seems the hall-mark of
distinction for those whose memory is thus pre-
served. We hope that the reader will keep this
in mind as an aid towards a sympathetic under-
standing of the position of woman in the centuries
that antedate the Tudor era.
In the Annals of the Four Masters, several wom-
en of the ninth century are recalled as possessing
a prominence equal to that of most of their broth-
ers of distinction if the number of words that com-
memorate them has any worth as a measure of
greatness. But besides these we have a few in-
stances where more lengthy accounts are given
[75]
The Women of the Gael
of the activities of women. In the reign of
Domnacad, Ard-Ri, a dispute for the sovereignty
of Munster arose between Cumeide and Ceallachan.
Things were looking stormy and a bloody clash
seemed to be impending when the wisdom of a
woman in council won the day. Keating tells us
that the mother of Ceallachan travelled from
Cashel to where the contestants met and besought
them "to remember the agreement come between
Fiachaidh Muilleachan and Cormac Gas that the
descendants of both should alternatively inherit
Munseer .... And as a result of the woman's
discourse Cumeide left the sovereignty of Munster
to Ceallachan. ' ' * The fact that the person for
whom this noble lady pleaded was her son in
favour of whom she might have been prejudiced
did not tell against her for her argument was
founded on justice which the glamour of a throne
could not force her opponent to resist.
Into the life of the same Ceallachan there en-
tered the heroism of another woman. This time
his enemy was Sitric, a Danish prince, who plotted
to effect by treachery the death of the Munster
king. Mor, the Irish wife of the foreigner, hear-
ing of the scheme saved the life of the intended
victim by a timely warning. She was wedded to
her land and kin before all things and she faced
the wrath of an angry husband rather than see
them injured. Like her Muirgel, in A. D. 882,
won fame in dealing with another of the leaders
* Irish Texts Society. Vol. 9. p. 228.
[76]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
of the Northmen. This latter lady, the daring
daughter of royal Maelseachlainn, slew a chieftain
of the foreigners that her country might get rid
of a powerful and most troublesome foe.
In this same period there is evidence of an-
other kind that demonstrates the loyalty of woman
to kith and kin and country. Women were made
the special target of the wrath of the foreigners
in such a general way as to show that they were
regarded as a valuable national asset. True, in-
deed, libertinism to a large extent inspired this
policy of the pagans but their wholesale deporta-
tion of women to foreign parts is strongly sugges-
tive of the Cromwellian anti-racial movement that
centuries afterwards sent many a cargo of fem-
inine victims to the Barbadoes. Of the Danes it
is stated in the Annals of Clonmacnoise that in the
year 830 ' * as many women as they could lay hands
on, noble or ignoble, young or old, married or un-
married, whatsoever birth or age they were of,
were by them abused most beastily and filthily,
and such of them as they liked best, were by them
sent over seas into their own country there to be
kept by them to use their unlawful luste."* An-
other ancient writer with a weeping pen tells of
the harassed virtue and beauty of those tur-
bulent days. "Many were the blooming, lively
women; and the modest, mild, comely maidens
.... whom they carried off into oppression and
bondage over the broad, green sea. Many and
* Dublin. 1896. ed. Rev. D. Murphy SJ.
[77]
The Women of the Gael
frequent were the bright and brilliant eyes that
were suffused with tears at the separation of ....
daughter from mother. ' ' *
During the next century the goading of the
Northmen became more venomous and serious and
yet their augumented tortures elicited only a grow-
ing resistance from the nation and an increase in
number of the women who merited special atten-
tion from the chronicler for pronounced value to
the commonwealth. For this they continued to
suffer from the invader. Their hostile incursions
were frequently unannounced and many a time
no sex was spared by the ruthless sword of the
pirates of the North.
There was one, however, who did not suffer
for she was conspicuous rather for malicious
greatness than studied patriotism. Yet we must
not pass her over for she displayed an ability
in intrigue and rank-seeking that was out of the
ordinary even though it wore the apparel of evil.
Her soaring ambition led her into three provinces
where in succession she pledged herself in wed-
lock to Olaf Cuaran of Dublin, Malachy of Tara
and Brian the Great of Kinkora. It was with the
last of these monarchs that she manifested the
greatness of her vindictiveness. Gormlai, for
this was her name, was a fit companion in sheer
intellectuality for the able lord of the Dalcassians
but her duty as a wife was lost in her overweening-
pride. Ill-brooking the vision of her family in
* Wars of the Gael and Gall. ed. J. H. Todd. London. 1867. p. 43.
[78]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
subjection even to her husband she inserted the
poison of jealousy in the heart of her brother and
made him the defiant enemy of Brian. Impelled
still further along her serpentine ways and heed-
less of plighted troth and her marriage vow she
offered her hand in wedlock to Sigurd in return
for his aid against the grandson of Malachy whom
her wounded pride wished to vanquish. Wider
and wider she spread her tentacles of secret
scheming until she held within them the forces
that paved the way for the Battle of Clontarf.
That conflict drove the Dane from Ireland but its
benefit was very dubious for on its fatal field fell
the most statesmanlike and constructive mon-
arch that the country knew for centuries. From
it there resulted disputed successions to the sov-
ereignty of the High King which might have been
avoided had Brian lived. He would have be-
queathed to his family a leadership that foes
might fear to dispute and to his country a sense
of national government and organic solidarity
which might have expelled the invading legions of
the second Henry of England.
As the trouble-haunted years of the eleventh
and twelfth centuries wing their feverish flight
into the silence of the past the little brightness
that is hidden in them is scarcely noticeable. It
is a fitful, twinkling light in a wilderness of dark-
ness and chaotic waters. Yet we have no doubt
that the tradition of a noble womanhood still en-
dured and helped to keep within the nation that
[79]
The Women of the Gael
latent strength which manifested itself in days
of resurgence. Such an item as that which rec-
ords the death of Bevinn in 1134, who was a fe-
male erenach of Derry Columbkille, serves to
strengthen that conviction. The office which the
lady held entailed responsibility for the manage-
ment of church temporalities. In the case of
Derry it must have been especially onerous for
this was one of the most important ecclesiastical
establishments in the country. Yet in the midst
of political distraction sufficient faith in woman
still resided amongst the people to entrust to one
of her sex the civil administration of Derry 's
church property. Another significant proof of
the prevailing respect of the Ireland of this time
for woman's ability came from the pen of Giolla
Modhuda O'Cassidy, Abbott of Ardbraccan in
County Meath who died about 1143. This man
who combined considerable learning with poetic
powers wrote a History of Women from the earl-
iest times to his own day. He who had written long
historical poems on the monarchs of Ireland be-
lieved the wives and mothers of these rulers as
worthy of a scholar's attention as the sovereigns
themselves. His action must have been inspired
by the presence of a capable womanhood in his
own time.
Sweeping onward we find the land imperilled
by a new invader. This time the stranger gave
every sign of intending to make himself a per-
manent dwelling place within the island to which
[80]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
he had been introduced. The Anglo-Norman had
arrived and four decades had not elapsed ere he
began a systematic framing of machinery of gov-
ernment through which to secure his new posses-
sions. Unlike the Dane the Anglo-Norman with
stolid deliberations and methodic action settled
down almost from the beginning in his acquired
territory as if it had been the cradle of his race
and was intended by nature to be his for all time.
This was something that the Gael had never be-
fore encountered and its very novelty was a fresh
tax upon his determination to defend his ancient
heritage.
Nothing daunted, the daughters of Ireland re-
mained faithful and did their part where the fight
was sternest. When they could, they employed
all the weapons they had in their armoury of fas-
cinations to make the trans-channel visitor a sym-
pathetic member of their national family and
when success was not assured by such strategy
they did a lion's share in the work of keeping
those beyond the pale of conversion from enjoying
the confidence of their people. When for instance
the daughter of Hugh O'Connor, King of Con-
naught, in 1226, was forcibly detained in Dublin by
the English, we can feel sure that they were not so
attached to her presence on account of her Anglo-
phile tendencies. We have to travel but the space
of another decade to find a Mac Maurice manifest-
ing his interest in a similar manner in Irish women.
Occupying the chief executive position within the
[81]
The Women of the Gael
territory where Saxon writs ran, he thought it a
necessary imperialist move to keep many respect-
able women in bondage where their protection was
very questionable and their nationalist efforts were
eliminated.
Despite officialdom, however, the sunbeams of
Irish life slowly but surely bridged the rampart of
darkness that prevented the amalgamation of the
races and the " degeneracy " of the " superior"
Saxon was certainly becoming an unpleasant real-
ity. To check this mingling of " polluted" Irish
waters with the " limped" stream of the invading
flood new methods were strictly urgent. The first
Edward was an enthusiastic supporter of such
tactics and in 1295 statutory bayonets were lev-
elled at the breasts of any who dared to retain
or acquire anything that suggested Gaelic civili-
zation. Yet twelve months had scarcely vanished
before the royal ears could hear the revolting
news that even an Irish maiden had no respect for
England's decrees. The deathless song of the
Coolin which is supposed to date from 1296 is a
monument in music commemorating the defiance
hurled at these statutes by a woman. It was a
high crime and misdemeanour for an Irishman to
wear long locks. To one who fell under this ban
the maid in question was about to offer her heart
and hand when with doubtful love he consented
for her sake to save himself from Saxon vengeance
by submitting his locks to the imperialist scissors.
Such a selfish surrender to aggression she would
[82]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
not for a moment entertain and proudly told him
she would have him with his flowing hair and its
attendant perils, but never with a cropped head
and Anglicised security.
The years that ensued saw Edward and his
statutes little more than a memory whilst their
would-be prey even of the weaker sex still waved
the banner of indignant repudiation of things op-
pressive. English dominion was now rushing to-
wards the precipice which lay between it and de-
struction and instead of turning back and becom-
ing aggressive was striving frantically to check
the speed of its retreat. To add to its weakness
there came a king, Edward III, who thought
France a more satisfactory field for the glutting
of his martial vanity than Ireland and left his
subordinates in the sister isle to maintain their
hold there with little encouragement from his
royal self. In the midst of these happenings Irish
women who forced the reticent pen of the chron-
iclers into eulogy became more and more numer-
ous. In 1316, Dervorgill, the wife of Hugh
0 'Donnell, procured for herself a force of gallow-
glasses and she did not maintain them for fancy
manoeuvres or to help the Viceroy. "We hear of
a Barrel 0 'Donnell in 1343, of whom it was said
that "there never was a woman of the tribe who
surpassed her in goodness" and we feel sure that
her primacy of merit amongst the daughters of
Tirconnell was not obtained without very sub-
stantial service to her clansmen. "Within ten more
[83]
The Women of the Gael
years our attention is f ocussed on another woman
of this tribal stock named Gormlai than whom
there ''was not in her time a woman of greater
fame or renown."
Not long after this the English government de-
termined to reapply the methods of Edward I for
the purpose of reclaiming the Irish from their
' ' savage ' ' ways. In 1367 the Statute of Kilkenny
reaffirmed the policy of proclaiming all manners
and customs of the Gael illegal. However there
were ladies who seemed to care naught for its
sanctions, for twenty years later there is record
of a daughter of Hugh O'Neill, "a lady that far
surpassed all the ladyes of Clanna Neales, in all
good parts requisite in a noble matron." Knowing
what the past history of that famous clan was we
can easily imagine that this noble dame must have
grievously sinned against the decrees that eman-
ated from the Marble City. Away in the west, a
scion of the royal house of O'Connor, seemed
equally heedless of the crusade preached from
Kilkenny. Her name was Cobhlai Mor and by
1395 she had established a national reputation for
herself as a hostess and her mode of entertaining
was not inspired by any Saxon code of etiquette.
Further and further away ebbed the tide of
English civilisation as the fourteenth century
fared rapidly towards approaching dissolution.
Then suddenly Richard II burst in upon the re-
treating waters endeavouring by a display, and
nothing more, of sheer majesty and power to stem
[84]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
their progress. Content with this he hastily re-
turned to England only to hear that the waters
continued to rise and threatened to engulf be-
neath them every remnant of foreign dominion.
To this new avalanche the feminine element
added impetus and weight. Women continued to
appear as good practical housewives who re-
garded it as their prime duty to preserve that fam-
ily sobriety and sense of hospitality which should
keep the source of Irish energy and anti-Saxon
aggressiveness strong and wholesome. There went
to her everlasting reward in 1421 a great matron
of Connaught, Mor, wife of Walter Burke, the
"most distinguished woman in her time in Leath
Mogha, for knowledge, hospitality, good sense
and piety." In the same province it is recorded
there lived in the next generation a certain Celia
Burke who was the wife of another of the Gaeli-
cised strangers and ' ' was the most preeminent of
the women of Connaught." This preeminence in
the west at this time was an impossibility unless
it had been based on hostility to England. A con-
temporary of these Connaught dames was Catli-
leen, the "old countess of Desmond" who was
born in 1464 and continued to live until the reign
of James I. Her longevity was most remarkable
but her ability to sustain and surmount suffering
was equally striking. She traversed faithfully
all the valleys of affliction through which her fam-
ily passed and fought for it with unsubdued
spirit. When the first Stuart reached the throne
[85]
The Women of the Gael
she, who had known days of abundance, was re-
duced to utter destitution. But even then within
a stooped and aged frame she had a soul of
adamant. She never lost hope, and carrying her
weak daughter on her back, she made her final
journey to the court of James in London where
she wrenched justice from the monarch in person.
"Whilst her ultimate surrender as a suppliant be-
fore English sovereignty was regrettable it was
somewhat palliated by the extremity of her age
and her loyalty to a family that had now become
part and parcel of Gaeldom.
With the destruction of feudal aristocratic pow-
er through the wars of the Eoses there leaped
into being the dynasty of the Tudors. The new
house was destined to have vigorous and am-
bitious monarchs who were well able to manipu-
late the vast strength which was snatched from
the prostrate barons. That power was soon di-
rected towards the reconquest of the Irish lands
that had been forfeited through domestic strife
in England. There was instituted a campaign of
aggressiveness against everything Irish that
brought untold misery to the people and cul-
minated in the utter undoing of their polity
and laws.
To the elimination of the native government,
however, the Saxon victory was confined. The
soul of the land and that vast heritage of tradi-
tion that went to sustain it remained substantially
unchanged. And it is our high pleasure to be able
[86]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
to state that during this period as always, woman-
hood did its part in sustaining the vital breath
within the nation. The increased rigour of the
foreign government and the augmented weight
of sorrow which it piled upon the Gael did not
make the tender soul of its womanhood hesitate
to do its duty. On the contrary, the added bitter-
ness of the new calvary only found an ever-grow-
ing number of voluntary victims to court its gall
and vinegar. Whilst those amongst them who
had not come into contact with the foreigners'
wild ways did their part as of yore in sustaining
by championship of ancient manner and custom
that spirit bond of nationhood that no tyrant
steel could sunder.
Beginning with the bleak and iron-ribbed prin-
cipality of the 0 'Sullivan in the southwest we
find towards the close of the fifteenth century
its chieftains still deeming their ladies' civic use-
fulness worthy of considerable remuneration. All
the standing rent due to the Lord of Beare from
his crag and rock continued to be given to his
wife for her idle expenses. A proof of the merit
that won this hereditary recompense may be wit-
nessed in the heroism of the daughters of Beare,
humble as well as great, after the disasters of a
hundred years had brought red ruin to their prin-
cipality. When after desperate resistance the
proud keep of Dunboy fell into the hands of the
English the staunchness of the women defenders
brought them the stern revenge of the enemy's
[87]
The Women of the Gael
sword. "Some ran their swords up to the hilt
through the babe and mother who was carrying it
on her breast," says a most reliable writer, de-
scribing the activities of the foe after the fall of
the castle. * The hangman's rope, too, did its
deadly work upon several women with Carew su-
perintending operations. Those who escaped the
steel and the strangling noose threw in their lot
with the brave 0 'Sullivan in his heroic retreat to-
wards the North. In this the trials were so exact-
ing upon the courage and physique of the sturdy
band of men that some of their bravest were lost
through lack of staying power. Yet hear what
O 'Sullivan says of the manner in which their sis-
ters on the march bore themselves. "I am aston-
ished," he says, "that .... women of delicate
sex, were able to go through their toils, which
youths in the flower of age and height of their
strength were unable to endure. ' ' *
Moving northward into deep-vallied Munster
we encounter many a true sister of the women of
Beare. In 1524 all Thomond knew of a Mor
O'Brien who did her best to keep a buoyant and
robust spirit within the warlike and the cultured
in "an open house of hospitality. ' ' 1548 the wife
of O 'Dwyer was such an influence within her hus-
band's territory that when it sent a payment of
tribute to the White Knight her consent was vital
to the transaction. Spenser in Pacata Hibernia
* Ireland under Elizabeth. O'Sullivan Beare. Dub. 1903. p 156.
* Op. Oit. p. 173.
[88]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
dwells regretfully on the ''treacherous" action
of the Lady of 0 'Brien, Lord of Lixnaw, which re-
sulted in the death of a certain Maurice Stack.
That there was perhaps some element of good, at
least for the Irish, in a deed where the gentle poet
saw nothing but rampant foulness does not seem
unlikely When we hear that the victim was a
"worthy subject (more worthy than whom there
was no one of Ireland birth of his quality. ) ' '
Crossing into the broad domains of the lord of
Desmond there is abundance of feminine ability
and patriotism to greet us. This is especially ap-
parent in the history of the Desmond family itself.
As soon as the feudal aristocracy had been crushed
in England the nobles in Ireland were marked
out for destruction. But in the latter country the
great lords had become far more like independent
Gaelic princes than vassals of any king and hence
their subjugation was not only a crown but a
national policy of the Tudors. Desmond was one
of the greatest of the "degenerate" nobles and
his defeat was a long and tedious business. Be-
fore that was accomplished many noble ladies
showed as much prowess in the struggle as their
lords.
The staunchest and most distinguished of the
galaxy of fighting dames was she who was mated
in suffering glory with the last Earl of that
Munster house. She stood by him unto the last
even when the pardon and protection of the
British Crown was proffered her and when in the
[89]
The Women of the Gael
words of Holinshed ' * whoever did travel from one
end of Minister to the other, would not meet any
man, woman or child, saving in towns or cities;
and would not see any beast. ' ' It was this sterling
loyalty to her land and husband that wrung from
Malbie the bitter statement that she was "an in-
famous woman" and "the greatest worker of
these wicked rebellions on the Pope's behalf"
and hence was beyond the pale of amnesty. When,
at last, the Desmond 's sun of hope had set forever
his Countess braved in futile effort the wrath of
Sir Warham of St. Leger to get from him a pardon
for her heroic lord. And that fervent loyalty that
was hers pervaded the hearts of even the lowliest
of her servants. We cannot forget Mary Sheehy,
her devoted maid, who faced the perils of the
lonely road in those lawless days for her mistress '
sake only to find herself at the end of her journey
in the prison of the Queen 's President of Munster.
Close by Desmond was the chieftaincy of the
Mac Carthy of Muskerry. Here we are reminded
of the self-sacrificing Eleanor Mac Carthy who at
one time in its history saved the leading house of
the Kildare Geraldine from extinction. After the
abortive revolt of Silken Thomas and Henry VIII
had produced the grim exhibition of six Geraldines
dangling at the end of a rope on Tyburn Hill only
one Fitzgerald of that line escaped the royal
clutches. This was Gerald Fitzgerald, the heir to
the house of Kildare, who succeeded in eluding
the royal endeavour to entrap him through the ef-
[90]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
forts of the noble Eleanor. Taking him under her
protection, for he was then but a boy of twelve,
she kept him in Muskerry whilst the arm of a
Mac Carthy could shield him. When his haven of
safety in Muskerry was menaced she brought her
protegee through many perils to the land of
O'Donnell in the North. Here she married the
chieftain of Tyrconnell for the sole purpose of
making the position of the young Geraldine all the
more secure. But her spouse was faithless and
realising his treacherous designs upon the boy she
abandoned him and his unworthy scheming.
Knowing now that nowhere on Irish soil could
young Gerald find safety she effected his escape
to the Eternal City where papal friendship
shielded him.
Leaving the Geraldine we transfer our attention
to the Ormond family. Here woman appears as a
doer of great deeds and a giver of wise counsel.
The most illustrious woman in the history of that
Earldom was the Countess Margaret. In her the
eighth Earl of Desmond found a life companion
who shouldered the greater part of his burdens of
state and disposed of them in a masterly fashion.
Her husband had many enemies and the aid of her
vigorous and constructive mind must have been a
tower of support for him when he sought in spite
of external aggression to maintain a strong and
orderly rule at home. That this was at his disposal
we know from the authority of Campion, the
Jesuit, who says that she "was a rare and noble
The Women of the Gael
woman and able for wisdom to rule a realm. ' ' To
this we can add the tribute of another old writer
who says that her husband "bare out his honours
and the charge of his government very worthily,
through the singular wisdom of his Countess, a
lady of such port that all estates in the realms
crouched unto her, so politique that nothing was
thought substantially debated without her ad-
vice. ' ' Her mental astuteness she was able 'to
complement by the weapon of force. She was
fashioned in such a rugged mould that in feats of
physical prowess she could put the ruler of
Ormond to shame and could levy blackmail on
her neighbours by an armed band that she main-
tained for her personal aims.
Yet in the avocations that tell of a finer fibre
in her character she was not deficient. Moved by
a feeling of nationalism as well as appreciation of
the aesthetic she found pleasure in patronising
the arts. At her invitation artificers crossed the
seas from Flanders to impart to her people the
mysteries of the tapestry-making in which they
excelled. Her admiration for letters led her to
erect a school where those who hungered for the
food of the mind got what their souls desired. In
brief, the life-task which she accomplished was so
remarkable that her memory is still a vivid and
prized possession of the inhabitants of Kilkenny
City whilst that of her husband is dimmed by the
mist-inducing lapse of centuries.
* Romance of Irish Heroines. McOraith. Quot. p, 41.
[92]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
In the neighbourhood of Ormond there are other
instances of feminine worth that merit production.
In 1535 there is record of a Janet Eustace who was
a persona ingrata in the eyes of Dublin Castle. The
Saxon gave her the hospitality of a prison for ' ' be-
ing the great causer of the insurrection of Thomas
Fitzgerald and of her son James Delahide."
Nearly half a century later an official was deeply
angered by the sister of Simon MacDavid and his
anger was due to loyal official reasons. When he
had arrested her his words were: "if she do not
stand by me in steede I mean to execute her. ' ' A
little later the wife of Sir Barnaby Fitzpatrick,
Baron of Upper Ossory, was evidently in sym-
pathy with the sentiments of an anti-English hus-
band and for that reason was forced to change
with his her residence for the most austere apart-
ments of a Dublin prison, when the Elisabethan
kidnappers secured for their mistress in the castle
prison of the Metropolis the youthful Hugh
Roe O'Donnell the strategy of a woman con-
tributed to his rescue. This was Rosa O'Toole
who cooperated with her brother Felim and her
husband, Fiach 0 'Byrne, in the liberation of the
young chieftain of Tyrconnell. The work she par-
ticipated in, cost England many a man and dollar
and gave Ireland one of the most efficient and pic-
turesque of its leaders.
How bitterly the minions of England regarded
these activities of the womenfolk in this part of
Ireland may be estimated by their savage treat-
[93]
The Women of the Gael
ment of many of their sex. The sword and stran-
gling rope were used unsparingly to crush this very
unbecoming spirit in the souls of Irish ladies. It
was regarded as an effective way of procuring the
extermination of the race as well as of telling
women that their traitorous guilt was equal to
that of men. Coote, a true son of the infamous
President of Connaught, amused himself at Black-
hall, Kildare, according to the author of Cam-
brensis Eversus, by massacring women and trans-
fixing their infant children on their breasts. He
liked to dispatch the child with the mother for it
was one of his principles of political philosophy
that "a bad crow from a bad egg" was an in-
dubitable law of nature. On one occasion he
committed to the rope a noble lady who was his
host and taking the unborn babe from her womb
strangled it by the hair of the martyred mother.
He had an eminent rival in butchery in Cosby,
governor of Leix, who resorted to similar methods
for the civilisation of the wild Irish.
As we direct our vision from the Southwest
to the land of Owen and Connell in the North
where the Gael by the shield of his might saved
the sanctuary of his ancient heritage until the
bitter end from the sacrilegious legions of
Elisabeth, we cannot but expect to find some
staunch defenders of his strongest fortress
amongst the ranks of women. Knowing how thor-
oughly the government at London set itself to in-
ject an English mind into the great Hugh of
[94]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
Tyrone and how for a time it seemed to have par-
tially succeeded we cannot but feel that if his wife
was influential in his home she must have con-
tributed to the strength of his grim resolve when
he challenged to the combat all the forces of
England. But we know from the confession of an
English official that his wife was Mary O'Neill
"the Lady ... by whom he is most ruled" and are
not therefore basing our former conclusions on
premises of imaginary origin. Speaking of the
O'Neills reminds us of another lady, the wife of
Nelan 0 'Neill, who was one of the official plenipo-
tentiaries engaged to settle the disputes between
her husband and the O'Neill. Then there was the
lady of the famous Thurlugh Lynagh O'Neill who
was a very worthy partner of the stout old chief-
tain. She stood staunchly by the side of her war-
harassed husband where her ability won for her
special attention from English officialdom. Malby,
from the security of the land he had conquered, is-
sued an ominous warning to his government lest
her leadership might make his subject province an
unsafe place for Englishmen. His words were that
"she had already planted a good foundation, for
she in Tyrone, her daughter in Tyrconnell, and
Sorley Boy in Clandaboy, do carry all sway in the
North and do seek to creep into Connaught. ' ' '
She was evidently the master mind not only within
her own domains but of an alliance that held in its
grasp the power of a province.
* O'Grady. Cat. of MSS in British Museum, p. 404.
[95]
The Women of the Gael
Close by in gallant Tyrconnell were high-souled
dames who bade fair to outdo their sisters of
Tyrone in the service of Uladh. Queenly and true
loom forth the figures of Ineen Duv, the mother
of Hugh Roe 0 'Donnell, and her daughter, Nuala,
who aided in masterly fashion the young eagle of
the North to hold for many a year in his mighty
talons his native territory against overwhelming
odds. Ineen was Scotch by birth, being the daugh-
ter of the Lord of the Isles, but was Gaelic by des-
cent from the race of Colla Uais and was certainly
loyal to her ancient blood when she heard its call
in the land of Connell. Her advice was ever valued
by her able son and many a time befriended him
in the hour of need. When the dauntless Hugh
left the warders of Dublin prison wondering how
the elusive chieftain had escaped from their toils
and in his native Tyrconnell summoned his people
together for a conference on questions vitally af-
fecting their destiny, his mother was one of the
dominant counsellors of the assembly. She clari-
fied their deliberations by the logic of her argu-
ments and by pointing out to them the severe and
honourable path of duty she added by her display
of fortitude to the unyielding attitude of their
resolute souls. As the olden writer puts it ' l it was
an advantage that she came to the gathering, for
she was the head of advice and counsel of the
Cinel-Conail, and though she was slow and very
deliberate and much praised for her womanly qual-
ities, she had the heart of a hero and the soul of a
[96]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A.D.
soldier, inasmuch as she exhorted in every way
each one that she was acquainted with, and her
son especially, to avenge his injuries and wrongs
on each one according to his deserts." That she
could face the sterness of war as well as the en-
tanglements of the council-chamber we know from
the fact that she fought against a son of 0 'Donnell
by a former wife- on whom in the interest of her
own children she inflicted a defeat. For such
emergencies as this she had always ready at hand
a mixed force of Irish and Scots. And her daugh-
ter, Nuala, had been so apt a student in the school
of her mother that all through life she never wav-
ered in her devotion to the cause that was so dear
to the heart of Ineen. She fought for it while a ray
of hope shone over it, and she went with it
into exile in 1607 when that sorrow-laden ship
brought the best that Ulster had to the land of the
stranger.
Eer we part with the days of Elisabeth, so often
called spacious, and certainly so characterised by
vastness in the ruin which it measured out to the
polity and civilisation of the Gael, we must pay
our respects to the greatest Irish lady that ever
maintained the honour of her race against the
Lady of Windsor. This was Grace O'Malley,
' * Grainuaile, " the glory of Connaught and the
most abiding and absorbing subject of song and
story in the West since the days of Maeve.
When we think of Grace we primarily associate
with her name things dared and done on the sea.
[97]
The Women of the Gael
Belonging to a clan which was noted for centuries
for its love of the wild waves, Grace, though a
woman resolved to maintain this primal attach-
ment of her ancestors. This decision gave to the
O 'Malley tribe as distinguished a sea leader as its
history could unfold. Soon she found herself at
the head of a little fleet that for many a year
under her captaincy was to rule the wild seas
off the western coast with as free a hand as the
winds that buffeted them. With her three galleys
and two hundred fighting men, the terror of her
name entombed more lightnings for unwelcome
intruders upon the Connaught coast than did that
of her husband, Eichard-in-Iron Burke, for "she
was as much by sea as by land more than Mrs.
Mate with him." Sidney expressed in 1575 his
dislike of her when he condemned her to Elisabeth
as "a terror to all merchantmen that sailed the
Atlantic." Her galleys were, no doubt, an un-
welcome vision for Saxon merchantmen out for
the destruction of Irish commerce and the de«
velopment of British imperialism on the seas.
Such as thwarted that nefarious work were surely
pirates in English eyes, though the orbs that saw
in them this malice belonged to the greatest robber
mariners of those days. But, then as now, what
was virtue in the Saxon was crime in the Gael.
However, Grace could boast that no English buc-
caneer ever forced her to land. Day and night
she kept vigil over her fleet, for tradition has it
that, even in her hour of rest, in her castle tower
[98]
Women of Action, 900-1700 A. D.
in Clare Island, a cable through a shaft in the wall
was always at hand to summon her to her ships.
As the might of Elisabeth had little terror for
her in her native West, so it failed to awe her in
the very palace of the English Queen. It is said
that she once paid a visit to London, where she
interviewed her Brittanic Majesty. On this oc-
casion the lure of an English title was held out
to her in the hope that she might forget that she
was Grace O'Malley and be henceforth the loyal
and exalted Countess of somewhere. Grace knew
her own dignity and duty, and did not hesitate to
inform her would-be benefactor that she would
never be the titled servant of another and that the
position she enjoyed as Lady Chieftain of the
0 'Malleys was as royal and orthodox as that which
Elisabeth herself could claim.
With Grace O'Malley we part for the present
with the heroines of Ireland. They fought a splen-
did fight and the sun of their lives set in glory
with the dying Irish state. If they did not succeed
in keeping brehonism in the land and the law of
Saxondom away, they kept alive what created
brehonism and Irish civilisation, the dauntless be-
lief of the people that they had an immortal na-
tional soul that sooner or later would resurrect
their departed polity over a land free to mould
its future as it willed.
[99]
CHAPTER VII
ViBTTJOUS AND NOBLE FBOM THE DANE TO ELIZABETH
WHEN last we dealt with those character-
istics which are peculiar to noble woman-
hood we were pondering on centuries of
luminous virtue unchallenged by little that was
hostile. So numerous were those who then sought
moral perfection that they created not merely
within their own individual souls but also within
the nation an atmosphere of religion that con-
tributed all the advantages of a nursery to every
single flowering of virtue. It is true that the com-
mon resultant of a highly standardised Christianity
was the product of individual effort, but this
should not lead us to forget that once this atmos-
phere was created, it had powerful reactionary in-
fluences upon each wayfarer along the path of
the Christian life. The exalted public sense of the
beauty of a strictly Christian life furnished a
strong incentive for individual hunger for virtue,
whilst it eliminated many possible factors that
might militate against it.
But the centuries that succeeded the golden age
of the saints introduced factors that were to with-
draw many of the elements that hitherto made
noble living relatively easy. The clear skies that
[100]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
gave the warmth of their sun-lit features to flower-
ing virtue were to be veiled by many a darksome
cloud girt round by chilling blasts. Foreign ag-
gression was to throw the shadow of its ugly head
above the untroubled horizons of Gaelic Chris-
tianity, and prove by its unwholsome presence
whether the ideals that Patrick brought were
merely hot-house plants or robust growths capable
of withstanding adverse atmospheric conditions.
That they withstood, if not with consummate
success, at least with a degree of victory that was
unique, the hostile elements encountered, is a fact
in the history of the nation at large that there is
no denying. And as women as an integral part of
the nation inevitably participated in the triumph
of the whole there is no need to prove their con-
tinuity of noble living by citing endless numbers.
We will only endeavor to unearth the prominent
ones with a view to procuring material for a con-
clusion relative to type and the standard of
wholesome living maintained by the whole femi-
nine section of the nation. That that brand of
virtue continued to be of a very elevated and
unique type we believe to be the case.
In the period we are considering, the evidence
in general of the native records bears rare and
inappreciable testimony to moral decline in
womanhood whilst it provides abundant proof
of sterling loyalty to moral principles. Where
slurs are cast on the good name of Irish women
the sources are usually so prejudiced that they
[101]
The Women of the Gael
merit little respect. Besides, the few black sheep
of genuine wickedness that are met, there files in
far-surpassing numbers the fair ones with clean
and snow-white fleeces. Throughout the march of
the centuries good and true noble souls greet us
like so many stellar glories flashing their hopeful
gleams into the hearts of the oppressed and con-
veying to them the exhortation to be steadfast
till the storm-swept skies became fair again.
Starting with the period of Danish incursions
we behold a veritable reign of terror launched
upon all that was peaceable and good. Churches
were plundered, schools destroyed and families
slaughtered in cold blood. Society was thrown
into a state of violent disorder and the peace
that nourished pious and noble life was menaced
on every side. Yet despite this chaos women of
highly Christian and refined calibre are often men-
tioned in the annals as the product of the ninth
century. As disorders thickened in the years that
ensued, ladies of this type became more numerous.
With rare exceptions those recorded were of noble
rank and of a nobility of mind that was an orna-
ment to their positions. One of these, Gormlai, in
the tenth century, was a queen in dignity and in
heart. Her conjugal fidelity was so impressive
that it caused the old writer to give an unusually
elabourate account of her. A way of thorns was
her progress through life, but her sorrows only
served as a foil to set off the tenderness and
strength that her soul enshrined. She had to
[102]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
lose the companionship of the princely and noble
Cormac Mac Culinan, when the call to the epis-
copal dignity joined his royal sceptre of Cashel
to the ecclesiastical crozier of that kingdom.
Subsequently, her marriage to Carroll of Leinster
brought her nothing but woe. Cormac fell in
battle by the hand of her second husband. As he
lay in death the vilest indignities were offered
him by Carroll. Gormai dared to reproach her
ruthless husband for his deed, and for her devotion
to a noble soul was violently hurled to the ground.
Later on, happiness momentarily seemed to
beam on her when Niall of Aileach became her
spouse. But its life was short, for the maw of
battle claimed him as he fought a patriot's fight
against the Danes at Eathfarnham. When the
hour of burial came, the sorrow-stricken widow
called forth a funeral lament in honour of the
dead. And when the sod was over him and she
had departed from the grave to face a lonely life,
she never lost vision of her faithful husband.
Finally this fidelity to his memory cost her life
itself. One night as she lay asleep, her haunted
fancy summoned the departed to her side; when
rushing with a flood of eagerness to embrace him,
she suffered a mortal wound from the headpost
of the bed. Thus nobly did she close her troubled
career, and go in manner most pathetic to link
her spirit with that of one to whose memory she
paid the tribute of a martyr's homage.
[103]
The Women of the Gael
At last a brief lull came in the terrible struggle
with external aggression. The raven of battle was
hushed for some years by the army of Brian, and
the dove of peace remained undisturbed. During
this period we behold a feminine self-respect so
impressive that a lone lady could traverse the
length of Ireland without fear of molestation. It
is true that Brian 's control over the island con-
tributed to this lady's security, but such remark-
able immunity from attack in those days would
have been most improbable, had woman not im-
planted by her previous noble bearing a genuine
respect for her sex in the soul of the nation. It
showed a universality of respect that was rooted
in a universality of merit on the part of women
that overwhelms the critic who seeks in the licen-
tious temperament of a chieftain, or the undis-
ciplined mind of a royal maiden material
condemnatory of the moral status of the nation's
womanhood.
A rather long passage in the Wars of the Gall
and the Gael tells this story. Here it would likely
have been confined to students of history had not
the genius of Moore popularised and immortalised
it in his musical lyric, "Rich and Rare." We
think its reproduction here is pardonable.
"Rich and rare were the gems she wore
And a bright gold ring on her hand she bore ;
But oh ! her beauty was far beyond
Her sparkling gems and snow-white wand.
[104]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elisabeth
" 'Lady, dost thou not fear to stray,
So lone and so lovely through this bleak way ?
Are Erin's sons so good or so cold,
As not to be tempted by woman or gold?'
" Sir Knight! I feel not the least alarm,
No son of Erin will offer me harm :
For though they love women and golden store,
Sir Knight ! they love honour and virtue more. ! '
On she went and her maiden smile
In safety lighted her round the green isle ;
And blest forever is she who relied
On Erin's honour and Erin's pride.
When the years of peace passed away with the
great monarch of Kinkora, and endless dynastic
strife ensued between the claimants of his throne,
the women, praised by the annalists for goodness
of heart towards the poor and the church and
for love of the penetential, grew more numerous
than ever. To distant Rome went the Queen of
the Gailenga in 1051 seeking nTpenance a secure
passage to the world beyond. What trials she
must have endured to satisfy her pious cravings
at the heart of the Christian world! A less am-
bitious journey did Bibinn, daughter of Brian
the Great, undertake when in 1073 she carried the
pilgrim's staff to Armagh, Patrick's city. Here
she sojourned in self-denial till death brought her
quiet and peace. Four years later there passed
away Gormlai, the wife of Toird, who left behind
her a great benefactor 's name. She ' ' distributed, ' '
The Women of the Gael
says the annalist, "much wealth amongst cells
and churches and the poor of the Lord for the
welfare of her soul. ' ' To the favourite monastery
of Columbkille, Derry Mor, the daughter of King
Murtagh O'Brien, betook herself, where in 1137
she passed away in most edifying manner. There
was another king's daughter some decades later,
whose conduct was not so calculated to win our
admiration as was that of the 0 'Brien lady. Yet
it had not all the malice that many give it for,
though Dervorgilla deserted her husband for the
King of Leinster, she was induced to do so by the
cruelty of her own lord and the encouragement of
her brother. And so much did public opinion
deem the action of the Leinster King responsible
for her fall, and so high was its standard of
female morality that its armed forces drove the
delinquent monarch from his realm to a Saxon
shelter. That her sin was due to weakness rather
than malice seems likely, for so keenly did she
feel the gravity of her lapse that she endeavored
to atone for it for the rest of her life in monastic
seclusion. And this was not the only remarkable
manifestation of goodness with which history has
associated her name. Her gifts to the church were
oftentimes very considerable, and on one occasion
they eclipsed those of all generous givers before
her. In 1158 her donation to the clergy on the
occasion of the consecration of Mellifont Abbey
was sixty ounces of gold, triple the amount con-
tributed to the premier see of Armagh by Brian
[106]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
Born, whose munificence towards the church was
one of his prime characteristics.
Dervorgilla reminds us of Roderick O'Connor,
the Ard-Ei, who espoused the cause of her injured
husband. In the High King's life there is other
evidence of the rigid moral rectitude of con-
temporary women. The provisions he caused to
be made for its preservation were so stringent and
so efficient, they demonstrate that only high
merit on the part of those protected could deserve
such serious attention from the nation. He con-
vened a great meeting of prelates and lords at
Athboy in Meath in 1167, where laws were passed
guaranteeing, as in the days of Brian the im-
munity of woman from attack throughout the
length and breadth of Ireland. How well the
nation responded to the demands of the assembly
we know from Dr. Lynch, who says they were
''so salutary, that a woman might safely travel
through all Ireland, which then enjoyed such tran-
quillity as Northumbria is said by Bede to have
had under the royal sway of Edwin."*
It was during the reign of this Ard-Ri that the
Anglo-Norman came in the guise of a religious
reformer. If his plea had any basis of sincerity
he should have seen that there were many in the
land far better qualified to reform him than he
them. Amongst these, the ladies alone could prove
the hypocrisy of the would-be evangelists. They
continued to furnish, after English occupation,
* Op. Oit. p. 71-2&
[107]
The Women of the Gael
conspicuous examples of virtue that could very
favourably bear comparison with that of their
sisters across the Irish sea. It is all in vain for
apologists of the Saxon intrusion to seek in some
anti-Irish comments of St. Bernard a justification
of this invasion. If the statements of St. Bernard
were true in relation to Ireland, we are justified
in assuming that they were also applicable to
England. He has said far harsher things of the
latter country than he has uttered about Ireland.
He has stated, for instance, that immorality was
rampant in England, whilst he has spoken only of
some cases of concubinage in Ireland. Besides,
there is abundance of evidence to substantiate his
onslaught on English morals, whilst there is little
of real weight to support his anti-Irish utterances.
When we hear of the Bernardine accusations,
we must remember the noble women that Irish
homes still continued to provide. When the first
marauding barons crossed the seas, there lived in
the palace of the Munster King his daughter
Etain, who some years later was to die in pil-
grimage at Derry. Fifty years afterwards the
compiler of the Annals of Kilronan paid tribute
to the goodness of Failge of the house of Conor
Mac Dermott. Her passport to immortality was
a comeliness of soul in consonance with that of an
attractive appearance, whilst her generosity
threw open the portals of her home to all who
sought to make happy in a becoming way the
fleeing hour. A contemporary of hers was the
[108]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
wife of the King of Aeleach, who was famed for
like characteristics. The Annals of Clonmacnoise
relate the religious ardour that, linked with a
quickness of intellect and sunniness of disposition,
gave Ireland in 1269 the remarkable Christina
0 'Neachtain. She was, says the annalist, ' * a right
exceeding beautiful woman, well hymned, bounti-
ful in bestowing, chaste of her body, and ingenious
and witty delivery of mind, devout in her prayers,
and finally she was inferior to none other of her
time for any good parts requisite in a noble gentle-
woman. ' ' In the West she had one who vied with
her in uprightness of character. This was
Lasareena, the daughter of the famous King
Cathal O'Connor of the 'Wine-Bed Hand' who
was called "the noblest in Ireland in her time."
With women of this type presented to the
stranger, whilst for the first hundred years,
through lack of intimate acquaintance with Irish
life he still cherished dreams of the religious re-
formation of Ireland, it is little wonder that, when
circumstances threw him into closer contact with
the native race, all his doubts about the moral
greatness of the women of the Gael were dispelled.
As the fourteenth century grew beyond the stage
of infancy, various causes, which need not be enu-
merated here conspired to effect the amalgamation
of Irish and Anglo-Irish. The settlers were com-
pelled by the force of events to fraternise with
the natives, and the knowledge thus acquired dis-
pelled their misapprehensions. Intermarriage of
[109]
The Women of the Gael
the two races became frequent, and that one which
regarded itself as religiously the superior of the
other became the rapid prey of the latter 's civil-
isation. It was surely a marvel to witness this
conquest of the foreigners by the life and man-
ners of a people whom, in the highest department
of life, they regarded as sorely in need of refor-
mation. The marvel needs no comment, save that
it clearly proves that such a fascination could not
have emanated from Irish life, had it not been
better than that of the race it vanquished.
In the face of these facts it is interesting to
know something of some of the leading women
who participated, by the dignity of their lives, in
this conquest of the heart. One of these we find
to be Derbail O'Connor, who in the first half of
the fourteenth century was reputed to be "the
best woman that ever came of her own tribe."
She had during her lifetime a worthy rival in
goodness in Duthalach Mac Diamarda, who is
known to us as " a choice woman without dispute. ' '
The house of Aiffric O'Rahilly lost in 1364 a lady
of whom it is handed down that " there was no
stint to her goodness up to the time of her
decease. " The land of Breffney sorrowed in 1367
for the death of Derbail O'Rourke than whom
"there was not since Una, daughter of the King
of Lochlannn, a woman of greater beneficence."
The year in which the last-named lady went to
her reward witnessed a weak and extreme legis-
lative effort to stem the tide of * degeneracy' that
[no]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elisabeth
had been let loose upon the Anglo-Irish by inter-
course with such social purity -and brightness as
has just been revealed in the persons of some of
the leading ladies of the country. It failed to
realise its end, for the same clear and laughing
waters of Gaelic life flowed on unabated as before
and continued to woo the thirsty foreigner to their
sweetness. And reformers still continued to be
reformed.
In 1371 the clan Mac Carthy bewailed the loss
of Joan, who had contributed to that victory of
Irish honour by a life of charity and lavish hos-
pitality. There came an honourable end to an
honourable career when, in 1378 Mor O'Farrell,
' ' an excellent woman with dispute, died a death of
Unction and Penance and was buried honourably
in Cluain-Conmaicne. " She had as contempo-
raries the wife of O'Rourke, who was "an ex-
cellent woman," and Nuala O'Farrell, whose
entertaining habits rendered her name so fascin-
ating for those of English blood as to compel the
government to give her the hospitality of a prison.
The sweet song of Eileen Aroon, which so capti-
vated a genius like Handel, was inspired by the
'Treasonable' nobility of Eileen Kavanaugh, a
woman of this period. The Countess of Desmond
of this time was no friend of England, for the
sunshine of her palace-life was provokingly Celtic.
Then came Richard II, hoping by the mag-
nificience of his majesty and the terror of his arms
to eclipse that Celtic glamour that so hypnotised
[in]
The Women of the Gael
his Saxon subjects. His very transient glory was
of little avail, for when it departed with him the
power of the olden spell seemed to reassert itself
upon the colonists with redoubled vigour. The
avalanche of Irish life increased in velocity and
bulk, as it bore menacingly nearer and nearer the
rapidly waning strength of the fortress of the
stranger in Dublin; and the feminine elements in
that avalanche assumed a speed and massiveness
that entitled them to a substantial part in its
growing ability for destruction.
In 1419 the annalist takes note of Finmehain Ua
Manchain for the purity that dwelt in her soul,
and the honesty that was hers was well worth re-
cording. Finmehain could visit Thomond and feel
pride in meeting Mor, daughter of the king who
ruled there, for plenty of womanly sense and
virtue was her store. She was "best of her name
in gerorosity, sense and piety that was in Ireland
in her time. ' ' She could pay a visit to the land of
Breffney also, and take delight in the company of
Gormlai 0 'Rourke, whose beauty of soul and body
was the glory of her sect. She could include in
her itinerary the residence of Una O'Eourke, for
there the most hospitable and religious atmos-
phere of any home in lower Connaught would greet
her. Above all, she could not afford to neglect the
princely home of Margaret O'Connor of Offaly
which, owing to the matron who directed its life,
had earned the esteem of all Ireland as a centre
of beneficence. In another place we hope to
[112]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
dwell more at length on the munificence of
Margaret, especially towards the learned. Here
we will content ourselves with a few words on the
spirit of fidelity towards the Christian religion
that actuated her. High churchmen were her most
trusted councillors and most honoured guests.
Her wealth and time were liberally devoted to
the erection of churches and their becoming adorn-
ment. For the orphan and the homeless she had
nothing but the tenderest love and solicitude.
The next generation which linked that of which
the great Offaly lady was the finest product with
the time of greatest debility in the history of
Dublin Castle, emulated the religious and civic
worth of the womanhood that has just preceded
it. In its ranks we find in 1444 Duthalai Mac
Cahill, who cheered many a poverty-stricken soul
by her generosity. Twenty-two years later the
quaint language of the annalist informs us that
death dealt a serious blow to Erin by depriving
it of Grace Maguire for "a great tale in Ireland
was the death of this good woman." Two other
ladies of the same name and time, Margaret and
Ailbe, were well known for their exemplary
Christianity. The latter ended by transferring
herself and her property to the monastery of
Lisgabail. These daughters of Fermanagh had
a worthy neighbour in Aiff ric 0 'Neill of Tirowen,
"a superior woman without defect." Close by in
Tirconnell they had another rival in virtuous and
civic activity in Finola 0 'Brien, the wife of Hugh
["3]
The Women of the Gael
Eoe O'Donnell. "As regarded both body and
soul, she had gained more fame and renown
than any of her contemporaries." An act for
which she can never be forgotten was the building
of the famous monastery of Donegal. She was as
much responsible for the execution of this work
as was her distinguished husband.
Irish monks had not long been chanting their
psalms in this sacred edifice of the Northwest ere
a critical era in the history of their native land
had manifested itself. The first of the Tudors
came to the throne of England, and with his
arrival the tide that threatened to engulf the last
vestiges of English power in Ireland was finally
halted. Little by little a variety of circumstances
forced it to retreat until the government of Dublin
was once again on a secure and aggressive
position. The victory that had been all but com-
pleted had gradually to be relinquished until the
decease of Elisabeth witnessed the decisive over-
throw of the tribal state.
Yet, nothing daunted the womanhood of Ireland,
who continued to maintain the same unyielding
attitude that had characterised it heretofore in
the face of adversity. It held tenaciously to the
bitter end its old ideals of elevated living, though
the much relaxed grasp of another style of living
had reasserted itself with an ever-growing
strength and deadliness.
In the ranks of this never-ceasing procession
of daughters of the Gael pledged to God and
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elizabeth
country there comes Margaret 0 'Flanagan, at the
close of the fifteenth century, who cooperated with
her husband to " build a chapel in honour of God
and Mary in Achadh-Mor." Marching into the
new century that was so momentous in the history
of Ireland we discover in Grace Maguire
of Fermanagh one whom an age of innovations
found staunchly adhering to the tradition of piety,
philanthropy and humanity that was so prized by
many a spirited dame in the history of her house.
The stripling century could lay claim to Margaret
0 'Rourke, whose skill, ranging from the womanly
science of home-keeping to the sublime ambition
of the church-builder, was the common knowledge
of all the race of the Gael. She was "the unique
woman who, of what were in Ireland of her time,
was of best fame and hospitality and house-
keeping .... was buried in a magnificent and
richly endowed church "built by herself for the
Friars Manor close by Dromahair." It could
also boast before its youth had vanished of the
Lady of Hugh O'Neill, whose matronly ways and
social respectability were admirably based on a
singular fidelity to the precepts of her Maker.
And ere yet this stage of its life had vanished it
could furnish "the Dark Damsel, wife of
O'Donnell, whose mated virtue and wit few could
afford to dispute. ' '
Then came a challenge from across the waters
to Irish loyalty not only to fatherland, but also
to faith. Religious scruples that were mat-
["5]
The Women of the Gael
rimonially very convenient severely afflicted
Henry VIII and finally resulted in his severence
from the church of Rome. Not content with re-
formation of creed in himself, he sought to extend
his change of conscience to Ireland as well. With
what hostility the nation received his suggestion
is well known. It beheld in it a more pernicious
menace to its life and civilisation than had hitherto
been essayed, and treated it as such. It saw in
the new assault a deadly thrust at a faith which
had become an integral part of its ancient mode
of life, and had entered into its every part purify-
ing, strengthening and glorifying it. It is in this
new concept of the novel features of this Saxon
campaign that the real key to the secret of Irish
resistance must be sought, for the nation sus-
tained its faith not merely for its Christian, but
for its Gaelic value and its civilisation not solely
for its temporal but for its eternal preciousness.
In the teeth of this new gale of imperial vin-
dictiveness, the heroic hardihood evinced by the
women who aided the nation to survive the storm
becomes more and more interesting. While Henry
was preoccupied with the business of transforming
himself into a Saxon pope Judith O'Donnell, the
wife of the cultured Manus, continued as of old
to display in a prominent way her devotion to the
precepts that emanated from the 'old-fashioned'
papacy of Rome and the generous traditions of
her fathers. When with more radical projects in
view Elisabeth intensified the policy of her father
[116]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elisabeth
she found one who little heeded her schemes for
the religious and social 'betterment' of the Irish
people. This was Grace O'Malley, the mariner
Queen of the West. Sturdy of soul and unyielding
as the billows that harassed her native shores,
she was like them pure at heart. The Lady of
Windsor might ravage monasteries, confiscate
ecclesiastical property and destroy the shrines of
the saints, but Grace would prove her religious
conservatism by a contructive policy in the spheres
where Elisabeth's was destructive. A monastery
on Clare Island still bears testimony to the fact
that Grace loved to bestow her wealth on the
temples and shrines that Elisabeth despised. And
that the race which produced so many church-
builders might continue to preserve its wonderful
vigour and vitality, she gave all the weight of her
encouragement to the practice of early marriages
and the rearing of healthy children who would be
a bulwark against the enemies of faith and father-
land.
In later years, while the Elisabethan fury
raged at its worst there was one in Breffny,
Gormlai O'Rourke, who maintained the ideals of
munificence towards the church which character-
ised Grace. Her festive board, too, served to keep
some of the old love of the ancient life and some
of the warmth of hope in the hearts of her clans-
men. A little later lived Mor O'Brien, who was
' ' a woman praiseworthy in the ways of woman, ' '
when the ravagers of Ireland did so much to strip
The Women of the Gael
Irish femininity of its self-respect. Aye, even
towards the close of the Elisabethan era of
'frightf ulness,' Joan Maguire, the pride of
Fermanagh, was herself a living proof that the
conquest effected by the sword and famine left
the Gaelic soul of Irish womanhood unvanquished.
When famine stalked throughout the land claim-
ing thousands of victims and leaving some places
tenanted only by wolves, and when many a
daughter of the Gael was left fatherless and
brotherless, she did what she could for the widow,
the orphan and the penury-stricken and outlawed
clergy. In the words of the analist she "was the
pillar of support and maintenance of the indigent
and the mighty, of the poets and exiled, of widows
and orphans, of the clergy and men of science, of
the poor and the needy."
Before parting with the noble women whose
lives contributed such staying power to the nation
in its attachment to Gaelic traditions in this most
critical of centuries in Irish history, we intend
to give some further general evidence to substan-
tiate what has been revealed in the careers of the
women who have been recorded.
We will begin with the testimony of Captain
Cuellar, a Spaniard, who has provided us with
some impressions he received from a journey
through Ireland. There is reason for believing
that this gentleman was in no way prejudiced in
favour of the Irish, for in his account he did not
hesitate to record some incidents that were not
[118]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elisabeth
creditable to Ireland. Happily, there is every
reason for believing that these were isolated and
abnormal, and in no way indicated anything like
a universality of prevalence. Neither did he
leave behind him any statement condemnatory in
a general way of the people amongst whom he
fared. But a statement has survived in favour of
Irish women. He pays a tribute to their fine in-
stinct for the management of the home, saying
that, as a body, they were " great workers and
housekeepers after their fashion."* In this pithy
assertion there is much more than might appear
at first sight. Where a hard-working womanhood
obtains there is little opportunity for anything
save moral strength and civic integrity. When the
home is the central sphere of that labour, it in-
contestably proves the existence of an upright
and useful womanhood.
Confirming and developing Cuellar's statement
comes the testimony of Dr. Lynch. He informs
us of his belief in the splendid loyalty of Irish
women to their marriage vows and a modesty of
bearing which characterised their domestic ac-
tivity. With regard to matrimonial life he states :
''nothing can induce me to believe that promis-
cuous lusts were indulged and that the marriage
tie was disregarded by the Irish when I
reflect that this same people, when yet pagans,
paid such respect to their women, that they would
not allow them to intermarry with the Picts, with-
* Adventures, ed. Allingham. p. 62.
The Women of the Gael
out the express stipulation that the maternal line
should be preferred to the paternal in the royal
succession."** This connubial purity and loyalty
seemed to be indicated in the sense of decorum
and studied simplicity manifested in their external
appearance. "They did not polish their cheeks
with rouge nor borrow fair complexions from
ceruse. If they were handsome they studied more
to be inviolably faithful to their husbands than to
heighten their beauty by ornament; if they were
not handsome they did not aggravate the defect
by deformity of soul."***
But perhaps the most indestructible argument
he provides us for their moral integrity was their
affection for their children. Where the maternal
instinct is pure and strong a loose conception of
marriage obligations is a very rare abnormality.
That this was preeminently realised in Irish
mothers has been asserted by Lynch. "There is
no quarter of the world," he says, "where the
infant is attended with more affectionate solicitude
than in Ireland at the present day." And the
energy, valour and strength of the manhood of
that time was in itself no feeble revelation of the
veracity of the author of Cambrensis E versus.
In the light of all this favourable evidence it is
interesting to consider for a moment the accusa-
tion of excessive love of drink that many English
writers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
* Op. Git. p. 853-4.
* Dr. Lynch, Op. Oit. p. 223.
[120]
Virtuous and Noble from the Dane to Elisabeth
level at Irish womanhood. In the first place, if the
Saxon assertions were perfectly true, it is certain
that that standard of morality which from other
sources we know to have been the property of
Irish women could not possibly have existed.
Secondly, slanderous language about Irish char-
acter was no unusual thing in those days, and by
no means helps the veracity of these English
writers who speak of Irish feminine affection for
strong liquor. Thirdly, their accusations are in no
way substantiated by any of the native records.
Perhaps their 'high conception' of Irish civilisa-
tion unduly affected their teeming imaginations
and led them to assume the existence of more pro-
nounced bibulous tendencies in Ireland than in
England, where they could contemplate those pot-
houses half-full of tippling women whom their
own literature portrayed.
With this we must bring this chapter to a close.
We do so feeling confident that the matter con-
tained therein demonstrates that the strength of
purity and the sunshine of geniality which made
their home in the soul of Irish womanhood from
the Danish to the Elisabethan troubles played no
inconsiderable part in the work of keeping the
spirit of Ireland elevated, self-reliant and unsub-
dued when the grandeur of its civilisation had been
humbled to the dust.
CHAPTER VIII
DEVOTION TO LETTERS FROM THE SIXTH TO THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
THERE are many who contend that a life
devoted to high intellectual emprises ex-
tracts all that is most womanly and best
from woman. Whatever amount of truth may be
contained in this theory there is no doubt that the
radical exclusion of woman from the sphere of
literature can mean for a nation the loss of a
substantial influence that might be highly con-
ducive to its moral and mental betterment.
Whether woman be the intellectual inferior of
man or not she is from the numerical standpoint
as important a fraction of the nation as man, and
the amount of mental power residing in her as a
part of the national entity must always be very
considerable. Besides, her donation to the printed
page is calculated to embody in a more marked
degree certain educational qualities which are of
rather rare occurence in the products of the mas-
culine literateur.
With this in mind we cannot help feeling regret
that so many centuries of the world's history
passed away with woman as a negligible quantity
in literature. In Ireland, however, we do not dis-
[122]
Devotion to Letters, 600-1800 A. D.
cover such a notable absence of woman from
things literary. Though in this country, as in
every other, women writers were very rare until
the centuries that history calls modern, interest
in letters and learned men attained a degree of
intensity and continuity that can scarcely be
paralleled elsewhere.
This Irish feminine delight in letters manifested
itself in the desire of mediaeval women to acquire
several languages. It could be seen in the fact
that even in the earliest stages of the history of
Christian Ireland, women of the world as well as
those who had assumed the garb of religion had
the ambition to transmit their thoughts in both
prosaic and poetic form to the guardianship of the
manuscript. Above all, it was apparent in the
history of that long line of noble ladies whose
patronage and encouragement sheltered and stim-
ulated within the precincts of their homes the
* literati' of their land.
Earlier in this book we had occasion to speak
of woman's literary activity within the cloister
during the golden age of Irish Christianity. We
can go back to the same period and find her sister
in secular life essaying similar work. In the sixth
century the mother of King Branduff had a writ-
ing style which was evidently utilised on wax
tablets. We are not compelled to deduce from
meagre fact the common ability of her sisters of
the Gael to manipulate the pen. It is distinctly
stated in the old record that ladies were ordinarily
[123]
The Women of the Gael
able to accomplish such a feat. Before we leave
the era of the saints, we find the daughter of the
King of Culann betaking herself to the great
school of Clonard to learn to read the psalms in
Latin. Thus she displayed a desire not only to
have a direct knowledge of the scriptures, but to
acquire a working grasp of one of the learned
languages of antiquity. It shows also that young
ladies had the same privilege as boys seeking cul-
ture at the learned institutions of the time. Very
likely it was due to such training that the lady
nurse of Cuicamne was able to utter in bardic
fashion over him whose impromptu verses which
paid tribute to the learning which was his whilst
he lived.
Later on, while the Danish storm was raging,
some poems exhaling a delicate intermingling of
joy and sorrow are supposed to have come from
the pen of Gormlai. In her, Ireland can probably
claim to have given birth to the earliest historical
woman writer, and one too who, as the world's
feminine literary pioneer, was the author of a
considerable amount of verse, for according to the
Annals of Clonmacnoise she " composed many
pitifiul and learned ditties." Her " Lament for
Niall" was her best production, being character-
ised by originality and sincerity and a passion
that knows a striking restraint in its greatest
fervour. Its poignancy was aggravated by the
fact that it arose from hearing the joyful sounds
of a wedding which, kindling within her a remin-
Devotion to Letters, 1600-1800 A.D.
iscent mood, sent her back in fancy to happy days,
the glory of which when contrasted with her pres-
ent state of bereavement led to a splendid sorrow.
With this knowledge of woman's association
with literature in the early centuries of the Chris-
tian era we can, with high expectation of finding
that relationship continued, transfer our attention
to the middle ages. And we are not to suffer dis-
appointment, for we find women so vigorous in
the prosecution of their literary avocations that
the English government regarded them as worthy
of its persecuting attention. A Presentment of the
Grand Jury at Cork in the fourteenth century
mentioned in an unfavourable light as "poets,
chroniclers and rhymers" the names of Mary
O'Donoughue and Mary Clancy. Another who
might merit similar notice of the enemy of Irish
learning was Fionnuala Mac Finghinn, who was
known about the middle of this century as "the
woman who was best that was in Ireland in her
own sphere as the wife of a learned man. ' ' There
yet remains one lady, Aine Mac Keon, who de-
serves recognition as one of the distinguished
women of this century. She can not have escaped
the fascination of letters, for she was married to
Matthew 0 'Eogain, who, according to the Annals
of Ulster was "fourteen years continuously in
Oxford delivering lectures. ' ' If then as the wife
of this cultured man she was the "chief entertainer
and tribe-head of her ilk," it is no farfetched con-
The Women of the Gael
elusion that her services were usually at the
disposal of those who experienced the hypnotism
of their ancient lore.
Following the highway of learning into the next
century we continue to find amid the bardic com-
panies that trod thereon ladies who joined in the
procession to encourage or participate in its work.
Fioumraala 0 'Kelly, well-known for her piety,
thought she was doing work of a supernatural
quality when her patronage went out to the
'literati'. She was "a woman that was a gen-
eral protection to the learned companies of Ire-
land." The next generation produced a lady,
Maragaret O'Connor of Offaly, in whose per-
sonality the spirit of mediaeval literary patronage
reached its apogee. The munificent attitude she
displayed in this matter is sufficient to enthrone
her as one of the most illustrious personages in
all the history of the principality of Offaly. The
receptions she provided for the learned ones had
a vastness and splendour that was truly regal.
Her invitation was not circumscribed even by the
four seas of her native land, for her noble hand
preferred hospitality to the children of the Gael
in exile, as well as at home. The numbers that
responded to her call were immense, but no one
left her princely residence unsatisfied.
We can not part with this noble woman without
giving that enthusiastic description of one of her
great receptions, which Mac Firbis has handed
[126]
Devotion to Letters, 600-1800 A. D.
down to us. We are told that twice in the year
1434 whilst a dreadful famine searched the vitals
of the land did generous Margaret open her home
to the learned of Ireland and those who dwelt in
Scotland. With Mac Firbis as narrator, let us
listen for a moment to his tale of the splendid
pageantry of intellectualism that distinguished
one of these occasions. "All persons, Irish and
Scottish, or rather Albans" were welcomed by
Margaret, "as it is recorded in a Roll to that
effect, and the account was made thus, that the
chief kins of each family of the learned Irish
was by Gilla-na-Naemh Mac Egan's hand, the chief
judge to O'Connor, written in the Eoll, and his
adherents and kinsmen, so that the aforesaid
number of 2700 was listed in the Roll with the
arts of dan or poetry, music and antiquity
And Margaret on the garrets of the great church
of Da Sinchell clad in cloth of gold, her dearest
friends about her, her clergy and judges too,
Calvage himself on horseback by the church 's out-
ward side, to the end that all things might be done
orderly and each one served successively
As it was we never saw nor heard neither the like
of that day nor comparable to its glory and solace.
And so we have been informed that the
second day in Rathangan (on the feast of the
Assumption in harvest) was nothing inferior to
the first day. And she was the only woman that
had made most of preparing all manner of
The Women of tine Gael
things possible to serve God and her soul, and not
that only, but while the world stands her very
many gifts to the Irish and Scottish nations shall
never be numbered. God's blessing, the blessing
of all saints and every other blessing from
Jerusalem to Inis Gluair be on her going
to Heaven, and blessed be he that will hear and
read this for blessing her soul."* Well, indeed,
did the lady responsible for such a scene merit
the eulogy of Thomas D'Arcy Magee when he
says:
' ' She made the bardic spirit strong to face the evil days.
To the princes of a feudal age she taught the might of
love,
And her name, though woman's shall be scrolled their
warrior names above."
A few others in this century who befriended the
'literati' we should like to place in this book in
the company of Margaret of Offaly. There died
in 1447 Sarah 0 'Mulchonry, who so tenderly loved
the bards that she was called a " nurse to all the
learned." In the following generation lived
Slaine, the wife of Mac William Burke of
Clanrickard, whose bounty towards ' sons of learn-
ing' was almost as ambitious as Margaret's. She
"was general protector of the (bardic) bands of
Ireland and Scotland and a woman who was of
best charity and humanity that was in her time. ' '
And before the century had vanished into the past
it could lay claim to Margaret 0 'Rahilly, a scholar
* Mrs. Green. Op. Oit. Quot. pp. 346-7.
[128]
Devotion to Letters, 600-1800 A.D.
of considerable ability, for she was "learned in
Latin and in English and in Irish."
Coming to the age of the Tudors, which wit-
nessed so much intellectual brilliancy in England,
and yet so much Saxon antagonism towards the
development of any such cultural magnificence in
Ireland, we find the women of the Gael still help-
ing, as far as in them lay, those who had con-
secrated themselves to the high emprises of the
poet, chronicler and raconteur. In the first part
of this age the lady of Hugh 0 'Neill was as noted
for her affection for 'folk of learning' as for her
ardent piety. Whilst this lady entertained in the
North, the wife of Eory Mac Dermott in the West
performed a kindred labour of love towards the
devotees of literature. In her home at Lough
Key she cooperated enthusiastically with her hus-
band to make cheerful the lot of those men of
letters who were the target of the persecuting
Saxon. The tradition of generosity she upheld
was sustained in the ensuing generation within
the province where Lough Key was situated, by
Sheela Mac William Burke. No man of letters,
whatever his tribe might be, came unwelcomed to
her homestead, for it was "the resort of bards
from the Liffey side, of the Dalcassions' choice
poets, of the schoolmen from near Barnasmore, of
the tale-reciters and of minstrels out of every airt
in Ireland."* A contemporary of hers was the
* O'Grady. Cat. of MSS in British Museum. 404.
[129]
The Women of the Gael
wife of Brian Mac Manns, whose all-embracing
hospitality was as powerfully focussed upon the
literary man as the pilgrim and the penury-
stricken wanderer. As the annalist states it, she
was "truly hospitable to the poor of God and to
the (bardic) bands and retinues, and to pilgrims
and to permanent beggars, to erudite and to
ollaves, to every one of those that were wont to
be seeking largess throughout Ireland. ' '* In 1583
died Margaret O'Donnell, who won the praise of
the poet, Teigue Ball, for the protection she be-
stowed on men of learning. And even as late as
the year 1600, when the polity that had encouraged
and endowed the learned orders had gone down
in defeat, there was a Jean Maguire of
Fermanagh, who was "the pillar of support and
maintenance .... of the poets and of men of
science. ' '
Noble, indeed, was the part which the women
of Ireland played in the preservation of the
learned tradition of the land. No national ad-
versities divorced them from fidelity to that
cause, and though despite their efforts the "bardic
bands ' ' followed almost in their entirety the fun-
eral train of the civilisation of the brehons to its
seventeenth century grave, they helped to preserve
through centuries of bardic effort the abiding
impress of the old tradition upon the national
soul, an impress that no slayers of bard or brehon
* Annals of Ulster, ed. Hennessy. Dub. 1580.
[130]
Devotion to Letters, 600-1800 A. D.
could eradicate. That spirit had to languish for
many years to come behind prison bars, but it
knew no fear of death, and only awaited the day
when the slightest liberalism of the oppressor
should enable it to reassert itself with resurrected
glory in a literature the progress of which shall
never be interrupted until full freedom greets it
in the land of its production.
CHAPTER IX
HEROINES FROM ELIZABETH TO THE PRESENT DAY
WHEN at the dawn of the seventeenth
century we parted with the last of those
heroic women whose activities were asso-
ciated with the last agony of the Gaelic system of
government, we saw in the glory of their vanishing
forms the assurance that a something essential
to nationhood yet abided, and could not, like the
organism of a governmental system, be reduced
by gun and sword to inanimate helplessness. We
are now about to consider how the women who
came after them received the deathless ideals that
had been transmitted to them by the ladies who
held them aloft over the ruin accomplished by
the Tudors, and fought for that soul-heritage
until our present time.
The reigns of James I and Charles I passed
away leaving little of particular interest in fem-
inine activity to be recorded. During this period
the patriotic energy of women had, for the most
part, to be confined to the inner recesses of their
hearts. For its outward display there was but
meagre opportunity left, for the aggressive
forces of their land were temporarily shattered.
With the rest of the nation, they found them-
[132]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
selves utterly helpless in the hands of the spolia-
tors, who came to complete by wholesale
confiscation of the landed patrimony of the tribes
the work of infamy that Elizabeth had per-
petrated. With a wave of ejection from the
stronghold of their fathers sweeping over the
country, the only sphere left them for heroism
was within the domain of the mind, which they
might still hold intact, despite the hell of ruth-
lessness that was raging round them. They could
still preserve the determination never to be evicted
from the world of Gaelic ideals, though deprived
of their ancestral halls and lands. That this was
the case their heroic activity in an approaching
age was to manifest.
The era that was to show their fidelity arrived
when the parliament of England threw down the
gage of battle to Charles I. The worthless king
permitted the nation he had persecuted to arm
itself on his behalf when, taking advantage of the
civil war in England, it might with far more utility
for itself, have endeavoured to get rid of both
cavalier and roundhead. However, it was nation-
ally sincere in the policy it adopted, for, when
Charles was losing in England it hoped to appro-
priate him as the ruler of an independent anti-
Cromwellian Ireland. Besides, he was of Celtic
stock, and was not regarded as an intruder into
the family life of the Gael, provided he severed
all connections with the sovereignty of the Saxon.
[133]
The Women of the Gael
A crucial test of Irish loyalty to its own ideals
whilst advocating the cause of the Stuart, was the
treatment meted out to the nation when the Iron-
sides of the Protector of England won the day
against royalty. That is a fact well known to
readers of history. Here we intend to show how
conspicuously the womanhood of Ireland shared
the punishment for staunchness to its Celtic past.
We will open the bitter, yet glorious, tale with
a recital of some instances of the blood-lust of
the Puritans and the indiscriminate venting of its
fury upon women as well as men. When heroic
Drogheda capitulated after a wonderful resis-
tance, the number of women who share with the
men the tender ' mercy ' of the Puritan sword eas-
ily exceeded the thousand mark. In the vault of one
church, where a large number of women had taken
refuge, not a single lady escaped a cruel death.
When Coote plundered and destroyed the town
of Clontarf he, as admitted by Lord Clarendon,
massacred the women and "three suckling
infants." In the same week the ladies of the
village of Bullock, fearful of sharing the fate of
their sisters of Clontarf, betook themselves in
boats to sea. Thither Colonel Clifford pursued
them where, being " overtaken, they were all
thrown overboard. ' ' Who does not know of how
the heartless soldiery butchered three hundred
women as they knelt round the cross in the market
place of Wexf ord town t Worse than any we have
[134]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
recounted, perhaps, was the massacre of Island
Magee, where the naked steel and the jagged
precipice were the weapons used by the Cromwel-
lian ruffians to dispatch helpless women. After
multitudes of them had been done to death in
their beds, the remnant was driven at the bayonet
point over the Gobbins cliffs, where the lacerating
rocks and the icy waves completed the work of
the murdering steel. The vision of surging woe
and infamy that the tale of that night's crime
produced in the fancy of Ethna Carbery has re-
sulted in as fierce a song of vengeance as Ireland's
poetic anthology contains. We make no apology
for giving it in its entirety.
"I am Brian Boy Magee —
My father was Eoghan Ban —
I was awakened from happy dreams
By the shouts of my startled elan ;
And I saw through the leaping glare
That marked where our homestead stood,
My mother swing by her hair —
And my brothers lie in their blood.
In the creepy cold of the night
The pitiless wolves came down —
Scotch troops from the Castle grim
Guarding Knockf ergus town ;
And they hacked and lashed and hewed,
With musket and rope and sword,
Till my murdered kin lay thick,
In pools, by the Slaughter Ford.
[135]
The Women of the Gael
I fought by my father's side,
And when we were fighting sore
We saw a line of their steel
With our shrieking women before ;
The red-coats drove them on
To the verge of the Gobbins gray,
Hurried them, God, the sight !
As the sea foamed up for its prey.
Oh ! tall were the Gobbin cliffs,
And sharp were the rocks, my woe !
And tender the limbs that met
Such terrible death below ;
Mother and babe and maid
They clutched at the empty air,
With eyeballs widened in fright,
That hour of despair.
(Sleep soft in your heaving bed,
0 little fair love of my heart !
The bitter oath I have sworn
Shall be of my life a part ;
And for every piteous prayer
You prayed on your way to die,
May I hear an enemy plead,
While I laugh and deny.)
In the dawn that was gold and red,
Ay, red as the blood-choked stream,
1 crept to the perilous brink —
Great Christ ! was the night a dream ?
In all the island of gloom
I only had life that day —
Death covered the green hill-sides,
And tossed in the Bay.
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
I have vowed by the pride of my sires —
By my mother's wandering ghost —
By my kinsfolk's shattered bones
Hurled on the cruel coast —
By the sweet, dead face of my love,
And the wound in her gentle breast
To follow that murderous band,
A sleuth hound who knows no rest.
I shall go to Phelim O'Neill
With my sorrowful tale and crave
A blue-bright blade of Spain,
In the ranks of his soldiers brave,
And God grant me strength to wield
That shining avenger well —
When the Gael shall sweep his foe
Through the yawning gates of Hell.
I am Brian Boy Magee !
And my creed is a creed of hate;
Love, Peace, I have cast aside —
But Vengeance, Vengeance, I wait !
Till I pay back the fourfold debt
For the horrors I witnessed there,
When my brothers moaned in their blood,
And my mother swung by her hair. ' '
These bewildering orgies of blood were surely
not inspired by the mere royalist creed of their
victims. Cromwell did not wade to power
through any such welter of blood in England. He
did so in Ireland because the daughters of the
Gael were not merely advocates of the Stuart
cause, but true champions of the national gospel.
[137]
The Women of the Gael
But methods even worse than these were re«
sorted to, that a noble womanhood might taste of
the most diabolic suffering that a perverted human
ingenuity could devise for it. They were torn in
thousands from th'e bosom of their native land
and sent into exile to become the prey of the
swinish desires of their Saxon masters. English-
men, with their astute commercial instinct, saw
a new field for enterprise in the ranks of Irish
womanhood, and discussed the question of its
manipulation with their government in terms of
pounds, shillings and pence. A systematic
' rounding-up ' of Irish ladies resembling the slave
hunts of the African wilds became a favorite
pastime of efficient traders, that their sugar plan-
tations in the West Indies might have a bountiful
supply of physical and moral slaves. Those alone
could consider themselves immune from the
hunters ' toils whose loyalty to England had been
proved to be unimpeachable. Should those who
were caught in the venatorial net decide; after
capture, on the Anglicising of their minds, they
had a fair chance of escaping the most degrading
outrages, for such a perversion was a most
savoury dish for the Saxon imperial appetite.
This is clearly demonstrated in the correspondence
of some of those responsible for the success of the
slave mart. They did not object to helping to
preserve Irish feminine goodness, provided it
merited such liberal treatment by a previous dis-
play of affection for England. Stimulated by this
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
pious motive, it has been estimated that Cromwell
sent twenty thousand Irish, of whom a large per-
centage were women, into the Virginian colonies
and the West Indies.
Another proof, if proof were needed, of the
sterling Gaelic spirit and heroism of the women
of those days, may be seen in the marriage laws
enacted by the Cromwellian legislators. Men
marrying transplantable, in other words, truly
Irish ladies, ipso facto exposed themselves to the
peril of a similar fate. Soldiers of the Common-
wealth were forbidden to marry Irish ladies unless
they became Protestant, which at least in those
days meant English, lest the Puritan brand of
Christianity and patriotism might fade away
before the conquering influence of Gaelic fidelity
to God and country.
So much for the evidence of the Irishwoman's
hardihood of soul in the treatment which she
received from those who looked with keen dis-
relish on the type of fortitude she prized. We
can not part with Cromwellian days without
citing one shining example of woman's heroism.
This was Rose O'Doherty, the wife of the great
Owen Eoe O'Neill. It was her entreaties that
were largely responsible for the transference of
his Spanish blade from the Continent to Ireland.
It was thus considerably due to her patriotic heart
that Ireland wooed back from the military
glamour of Europe one of the ablest soldiers that
her history can claim. Were it not for most
[139]
The Women of the Gael
unlocked for circumstances, the man whom Rose
persuaded to come to Ireland would in all prob-
ability have accomplished the emancipation of his
people. She is assuredly deserving of a dignified
position in the pantheon of Irish memory. For
this reason we like to believe that patriotic grati-
tude enshrined her name in the music of Ireland,
where the knowledge of its honour should make
doubly dear the haunting melody of Eoisin Dubh.
With Eose we leave the blood and iron rule of
the dour Puritan behind us, and after watching
the sway of Charles II pass away, we find England
again thrown into the confusion of a civil war.
William of Orange was invited to dethrone the
Catholic James, and soon, with the aid of
Protestant England, he compelled the last of the
Stuart kings to fly to Ireland for safety. The
Gael again, with much more sentimentality and
generosity than the instinct of national self-
preservation should have permitted, took to his
bosom the good-for-nothing royal fugitive because
of his racial stock and faith. In the struggle that
ensued between Ireland and the Orange leader,
the resurrected chance of smiting the Saxon ap-
pealed to Irish women. Many instances of their
heroism might be recounted, but the valour they
displayed at one great moment of that struggle
throws sufficient light on the tenacious and long-
suffering patriotism of Irish femininity. That deed
of heroic calibre the walls of Limerick witnessed.
Every other fortified city had succumbed to the
[140]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
Williamite attacks, when the Irish troops deter-
mined to make their last great fight at the city
on the Shannon. The struggle here was one of the
most bitter of the whole war. But no ferocity
could quell the fortitude of its inhabitants, women
as well as men. And when the ranks of the de-
fending manhood grew thinner as the siege pro-
gressed, and the stout walls were reeling to ruin
before the Williamite assaults, the heroic women
of that city rallied many a time their hard-pressed
men and side by side with them, smote with any
weapon at hand the onrushing troops of the
Orange leader. If, finally Limerick yielded to
the attacker, no one can say it was for lack of
battling spirit in its feminine population.
Though the heroines of this southern city gazed
on the battered and stormed defense works that
had been their pride, and the star of their leader,
Sarsfield, had set behind Irish skies, the work
they had done gave a new fascination to that
appeal of the Poor Old "Woman to her future
daughters to abide in truth and fidelity. How
clamorous and persistent that appeal was to be
in the immediate future, and how generously
responsive to its voice womanhood was to prove
itself, the eighteenth century can tell.
The fall of Limerick rang the death knell of the
Stuart cause in Ireland, but its sanguine and ima-
ginative adherents continued to dream and sing
for many a day of the return of a Jacobite king,
for whom a resurrected land might once more fly
[HI]
to arms. In these reveries and songs there was
entombed an imagery that could have risen only
from the soul of a nation where women's heroic
instinct still lived on unimpaired, and its arrest-
ing nature had seized the popular worshipping
tendency with all its pristine vigour. When the
people spoke in verse of their national destiny,
they saw in the pitiful plight of their land all the
appealing characteristics of a lady of ideal beauty
in distress, and the urgent duty of the chivalry
of the nation's manhood coming to her rescue.
The bards say visions of Erin robed in the delicate
and alluring mysticism of a symbolic Granuaile,
Kathleen ni Houlihan or Dark Eosaleen, and made
the thoughts that arose therefrom a controlling
feature of eighteenth century poetry.
This wave of idealism bearing woman on its
crest swept onwards through this century until, in
its latest years, the trend of political developments
gave many a noble lady an opportunity of verify-
ing by stern activity the recitude of the people
that had made her sex a glorified symbol of the
national being. The organization of the society of
United Irishmen paved the way for the heroic role
that the daughters of Ireland played during the
eventful years of the last nineties.
In speaking of the women of that period, we can
begin with no nobler individual than Sarah
Curran, whose devotion to Robert Emmet and
the cause for which he stood, has immortalised
her name, and made her one of the leading types
[142]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
of Irish feminine fidelity to the call of a nation
and its manhood. A romance of exquisite beauty
might be constructed from the story of Miss
Curran's relations with Robert Emmet, but, how-
ever tempting the subject may be, we are com-
pelled for lack of space to deal with it briefly in
this book. The intensity and steadfastness of her
life-long devotion to the man who loved his
country before all things, has scarcely been sur-
passed in history. It has been worthily com-
memorated in Moore's immortal musical eulogy,
' * She is Far from the Land. ' ' This most plaintive
of melodies with its armoury of soul-searching
weapons tells how the allegiance to her patriot
lover never waned, and no distraction could dull
the sense of loss experienced, when the law of the
Saxon deprived her of him. In foreign climes,
like a Siren voice, the music of his memory sang
her to death, the death of a woman who died of
the passion of a patriot for a patriot lover. Listen
to Moore as he tells the sweet, sad story :
She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps,
And lovers around her are sighing;
But coldly she turns from their gaze and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying.
He had lived for his love, for his country he died,
They were all that to life had entwined him ;
Nor soon shall the tears of his country be dried,
Nor long will his love stay behind him."
The Women of the Gael
That which has been stated in prose and verse of
the unflinching loyalty of Miss Curran to Emmet
is unwarrantable, many people contend. They
believe they find justification for the maintenance
of this attitude towards Miss Curran in the fact
that she got married after Emmet's death. It is
our opinion that, if the circumstances surrounding
that marriage are honestly considered, they com-
pletely exonerate Sarah Curran from the charge
of infidelity to the memory of the Irish patriot.
Her family and friends persistently urged her, if
for no other reason, for the sake of her health, to
wed someone who would take a husband's care
of her. It was only after many entreaties that
she yielded to their wishes, and when she did so,
she seemed to manifest a lack of interest in her
action that could only be accounted for by the
all-absorbing devotion of her soul to the one she
had lost. Besides, the marriage did not accom-
plish what her friends desired, for, despite every
attention on the part of her husband, she died
soon afterwards in a foreign clime.
Linked in honour with the fate of Emmet, was
the life of his servant, Anne Devlin, socially
humble, but kin in a spirit of the grandees of the
soul. She inherited the daring, ingenuity and
energy of her uncle, Michal Dwyer, the famous
Wicklow outlaw, who for so long a time defied and
outwitted the hunters of the English crown. She
actively participated in the preparations for the
'98 insurrection, helping to forge the engines of
[J44]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
war. And, when at last her master was caught
in the meshes of the law, no torture could enduce
her to surrender any secret which could facilitate
the conviction of her beloved chief. What suffer-
ings she vanquished to establish her loyalty to
Dark Eosaleen are told us in that most striking
tribute which Dr. Madden has paid to her memory.
"The extraordinary sufferings endured, and the
courage and fidelity displayed by this young
woman, have few parallels, even in the history of
those times which tried people's souls, and called
forth the best, occasionally, as well as the basest
of human feelings. She was tortured, frightfully
maltreated, her person goaded and pricked with
bayonets, hung up by the neck, and was only
spared to be exposed to temptations, to be sub-
jected to new and worse horrors, than any she
had undergone, to suffer solitary confinement, to
be daily tormented with threats of further priva-
tions, till her health broke down and her mind was
shattered, and after years of suffering in the same
prison .... she was turned adrift on the world
without a house to return to, or friends or rela-
tions to help or succour her. ' '* Did nothing sur-
vive but this solitary passage of Dr. Madden it
should suffice to make the name of Anne Devlin
one to be treasured by a people fashioned in a
mould of chivalry.
Before dismissing the name of Emmet, we, can
not afford to forget the wife of Thomas Addis
* United Irishmen, p. 335.
[MS]
The Women of the Gael
Emmett, the brother of Robert. Gently nurtured
and unaccustomed to the commonplace trials of
life, she was fated to encounter circumstances of
such a forbidding character as might be calculated
to overcome even one trained in the school of
adversity. But they could not cow the spirit of
Jane Emmett. She beheld her happy home in
Stephen's Green invaded by a brutal soldiery,
and the menacing steel pointed at the innocent
children in their cots, whilst no domestic privacy
was respected and her husband was removed to
Newgate prison. Thither she pursued him and,
eluding the vigilence of the guards she, who had
1 'never waked but to a joyful morning" endured
with him the austerites of a cell but twelve feet
square. Discovered, she was ordered to leave, but
her "mind was made up," and her womanly
steadfastness forced the prison authorities
to submit to her presence.
Later on, Thomas Addis was removed to Fort
George in Scotland and here, too, the heroism of
his wife brought him her company to cheer his
cell. There she continued to administer to her
patriot husband all the consolation of a faithful
wife, until they tasted freedom on American soil.
In the land of the free she enjoyed the honours
that her sufferings merited. Having survived her
husband nineteen years she, in the words of Dr.
Madden, "terminated in a foreign land a long
career, chequered by many trials, over which a
virtuous woman's self-sacrificing devotion, the
[146]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
courage and constancy of a faithful wife, the force
of a mother 's love eventually prevailed. ' '
Thinking of the Emmets inevitably directs
one 's attention to Theobald Wolfe Tone, and that
one most intimately associated with him, his wife.
The part Mrs. Tone had in the making of the
patriotic career of her husband in its initial stages
forcibly reminds one of Rose O'Doherty and her
responsibility for the services rendered by Owen
Roe to Ireland. As Rose persuaded the great
leader of the seventeenth century to draw his
sword for his native land, so Mrs. Tone trans-
ferred the attention of her husband from farming
in the United States to sowing the seeds of insur-
rection in Ireland. He had purchased an estate
for himself at Princeton, New Jersey, that there
he might have that liberty which Ireland could
not provide, and the bliss of unperturbed family
life. But, Mrs. Tone preferred the high and
arduous way along which the patriot must fare,
and with a sacrificial spirit denied herself the
haven of peaceful home life for the comradeship
of one ever threatened by the law that seeks to
stifle in martyr blood the deathless voice of a
nation. Through her, indeed, America lost a dis-
tinguished citizen, but Ireland obtained one
worthy of her most select niche in the temple of
her great ones, and an inspiration for her
principle-loving sons for all time.
Once Tone had embarked on the enterprise that
was to lead him through terrible seas to the haven
['47]
The Women of the Gael
of death, she never for a moment forsook him.
How intimately she entered into his life during
that period of grievous anxiety and how greatly
he prized her sympathy and aid, we learn from
the words of Tone himself. His great confidence
in her ability, as well as her will to sustain him
and his cause, should be most convincing, since it
emanates from a mind such as his. Inferior
women may sometimes be the mates of great men,
but when distinguished husbands, after the inti-
mate study of their wives that married life affords
them attribute to their partners considerable
credit for their own success, the objects of their
praise invariably deserve it.
Such, we believe, to have been verified in the
case of Mrs. Tone, for her masterly husband never
ceases to eulogise her. There is nothing more
beautiful in the world of domestic literature than
the compliments which Tone paid his wife in the
epistolary exchanges between them. Obsessed with
the feeling of her grandeur of character he pro-
claims her * ' the light of my eyes and the pulse of
my heart." He told her that she was as indis-
pensable to his life and its strength as the nurtur-
ing rays of the sun are to the oak of the forest,
before the day of storm. In his Autobiography he
said that in his work he always relied on her assis-
tance and received it. " Women in general," he
said, "I am sorry to say are mercenary, and,
especially, if they have children, they are ready
to make all sacrifices to their establishment. But
[148]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
my dearest love had bolder and juster views. On
every occasion of my life I consulted her ; we had
no secrets one from the other, and I unvaryingly
found her think and act with energy and courage
.... If ever I succeed in life and arrive at any-
thing like station and eminence, I shall consider
it due to her counsels and example."*
Confirming Tone 's appreciation of her are those
of Lucien Bonaparte and Dr. Madden. The
brother of Napoleon when addressing the French
Directory on her behalf compared her to " those
women of Sparta, who on the return of their
countrymen from battle, when, with anxious looks,
they ran over the ranks, and missed among them
their sons, their husbands and their brothers,
exclaimed : * * He died for his country ; he died for
the republic!" We cannot refrain from giving
the bouquet of praise with which Dr. Madden has
adorned her memory. * t She was a faithful, noble-
minded, true-hearted and generous woman," he
states, "utterly divested of selfishness, ready to
make any sacrifices, and endure any suffering for
her husband, her children and her country.
Always cheerful, trustful and hopeful in her hus-
band's destiny, and strongly impressed with the
goodness of his heart, and the brilliancy of his
talents, and his devotedness to his cause, she was
the solace of his life, the never-failing comfort of
it, the courageous partner and partaker of his
trials in adversity, and the support of his weari-
* Autobiography, p. 66.
[149]
The Women of the Gael
ness of mind in all his struggles, labours and
embarassments. "**
In the noble company to which Mrs. Tone
belonged we must also include Lady Lucy
Fitzgerald, the sister of Lord Edward. Akin to
her brother in many aspects of temperament, she
was like him, too, in the fervour of her devotion
to the Dear Dark Head. She loved the cause he
advocated, and she loved him especially because
of his loyalty to that cause. Two quotations from
her letters are sufficient to convey to the reader
the spirit that was her 's. They are shot through
and through with pride of race, admiration of the
patriotic passion of her brother, a courage that
quailed before no foe of her land, and an immov-
able confidence in the ability of her nation to
march with dignity to freedom. "Irishmen," she
exclaims, . . . . "it is Edward Fitzgerald's sister
who addresses you: It is a woman, but that
woman is his sister : she would therefore die for
you as he did. I don't mean to remind you of
what he did for you .... He was a Paddy and no
more; he desired no other title than this. He
never deserted you — will you desert yourselves ?
.... Will you forget the title which it is still in
your power to ennoble? .... "Will you make it
the scoff of your triumphant enemies, while 'tis
in your power to raise it beyond all other glory
to immortality? Yes, this is the moment, the
precious moment which must either stamp with
* Op. Cit. vol. HI. p. 252.
[ISO]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
infamy the name of Irishmen and denote you
forever wretched .... or raise the Paddies to
the consequence which they deserve, and which
England shall no longer with-hold, to happiness,
freedom, glory." Again she tells in trumpet
tones of the perfect mingling of the waters of
Edward's love and her's, as they rushed ever
onward to their ocean receptacle, Ireland. In
her "he met a soul, twin to his own" because each
breathed and loved alike their object, Ireland;
Ireland, where each had first drawn breath —
Ireland, greater in her misfortunes, in her wrongs
than the most favoured country of the earth ....
Ireland, whom neither falsehood could entice nor
interest bribe to apostacy, suffering through suc-
cessive ages from the oppression of a nation
inferior to Herself in all but in one of the adven-
titious circumstances of fortune."
Just as heroic as Lady Lucy was Mary Anne,
the sister of Henry Joy McOracken. In fact, if
we wanted to be skeptical of any evidence of
courage short of positive acts, we should be
inclined to make her far superior in fortitude to
the sister of the Geraldine. When the cause which
was dear to the heart of Henry met with failure
in Antrim, she was with him to keep him strong
in an atmosphere of defeat, and when the last
grim circumstances attending his exit from mortal
life became a reality, she failed not to be with him
until the very end. We will let herself tell in
her unostentatious way how her magnificent
[151]
The Women of the Gael
sisterly love poured honey into the vinegar and
gall of poor Henry's final progress towards his
calvary. "About five p. m., he was ordered to the
place of execution, the old market-house, the
ground of which had been given to the town by
his great, great grandfather. I took his arm, and
we walked together to the place of execution, where
I was told it was the general 's orders that I should
leave him, which I peremptorily refused. Harry
begged I would go. Clasping my hands around
him (I did not weep till then) I said I could bear
anything but leaving him. Three times he kissed
me, and entreated I would go ; and looking around
to recognise some friend to put me in charge of,
he beckoned to a Mr. Boyd, and said, 'He will take
charge of you.' Mr. Boyd stepped forward; and
fearing my further refusal would disturb the last
moments of my dearest brother, I suffered myself
to be led away." These simple words of Mary
Anne, and the act to which they testified, establish
her beyond all doubt a queen in the realm of
heroism. It is no wonder that Madden should say
of her that her name "has become associated in
the North with that of her beloved brother. The
recollection of every act of his seems to have been
stored up in her mind, as if she felt the charge
of his reputation had been committed to her
especial care. In that attachment there are traits
to be noticed indicative not only of singleness of
hearts and benevolence of disposition, but of a
noble spirit of heroism, strikingly displayed in the
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
performance of perilous duties, of services ren-
dered at the hazard of life, at great pecuniary
sacrifice, not only to that dear brother, but at a
later period to his faithful friend, the unfortunate
Thomas Russell."
The nobility of soul that was Miss McCracken's
was typical of that of many another sister, wife
and mother of these trying times. With these,
we are compelled to deal more briefly, because a
certain needless repetition would be involved in
the lengthy recital of their activities, for the roads
of heroic endeavor they traversed were very like
in nature to that trodden by the sister of Mc-
Cracken. There was Julia Sheares, the sister of
John and Henry, whose unremitting solicitude for
her brother 's welfare was lauded in the last letter
of one of them to her. There was the sister of
Myles Byrnes, who, when the savagery of the
soldiery drove the people of Wexford to the
mountains, was the most prominent of a large
number of women who braved the perils of the
hills to keep their kin informed of the movements
of the troops. Of the wife of Samuel Neilson,
Mrs. Concannon has said that no woman of '98
"has suffered so much," yet, when she came to
the end of her sorrowful life she deserved this
epitaph on her tomb : " a woman who was an orna-
ment to her sex ; who fulfilled in the most exemp-
lary manner, the duties of a daughter, wife and
mother." What Irishman cannot feel proud of
the patriotic fervour of the mother of the
[153]
The Women of the Gael
Teelings? She prided in her noble ancestry, and
the gallant actions of some of them that were so
creditable to their rank. She knew all the elegance
and happiness of a cultured home, and yet she
did not hesitate to offer on the altar of patriotism
the two sons, who were the very light of her life.
Who that loves liberty, and feels the thrill of that
enchantment that comes from the shackled beauty
of a national spirit that would feign, with un-
fettered pinions, wing its way in an atmosphere of
its own creation, can think without admiration of
Mrs. Michael O'Dwyer, who left ignoble security
for the perils of that defiant freedom on the moun-
tains of Wicklow, with her noted outlaw husband?
Here she stood by him when the bloodhounds of
England were hot on his trail, and when at last
he was taken and sent into exile she bore with him
the sorrows of his prison ship, and gave him,
during the few years of life that remained to him
on foreign soil, the solace of a brave woman's
care. Two other women, not as well known as
those whom we have already placed to the credit
of the eighteenth century, but girt round with as
deathless a valour as any of them, were Eose
Hope and Betsey Gray. Eose, who was the wife
of James Hope, was a valuable aid to her husband
whenever his patriotic work demanded the ser-
vices of a courageous and resourceful supporter.
Before the rebellion in the North, she did good
work by helping to get arms and ammunition to
the United Irishmen, whilst apparently plying the
[154]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
innocent business of a marketer. She did the same
in the old city on the Liffey, though her efforts
were attended by some hairbreath escapes. Many
of her other adventures, telling of the dauntless
soul that lived in this daughter of Erin, might
be recounted. To the North, too, belonged Betsey
Gray, for she came from the vicinity of Bangor.
She, not content with being a purveyor of am-
munition, sought the more satisfactory work of
helping to use it on the Saxon. When the men of
Down came out to do battle in '98, she found a
place in their ranks. But poor Betsey, with her
brother and sweetheart, were overpowered by a
party of yeomen before they could do much for
their country. She received, however, the death
she longed for, and her spirit must feel joyful if
it knows that her honourable end has kept her
memory green in the popular fancy of the neigh-
borhood. The local folk love to picture her clad
in green, and, mounted on her charger as, with
glistening blade, she smote the foe of her land.
With Betsy we say farewell to the heroines of the
eighteenth century, and the threads of golden
story they have woven into the fabric of their
country's history.
In the wake of the death blow that was given to
the dream of '98 came the destruction* of Irish leg-
islative independence. Thus English statesmen
intended to consign to a grave that harboured no
ray of hope that sanguine idealism in which Irish
strivings of centuries for national emancipation
The Women of the Gael
had been rooted. They were destined, as usual,
to be disillusioned. Ireland, ever fruitful of
leadership, did not grow sterile now. She soon
produced O'Connell, who plumbed the depths of
national self-consciousness, and reawakened the
dormant appetite for freedom. That energy
which the Emancipator stirred and loosed was
destined to know but little rest, until it brought
those ideals of liberty from which it sprang so
close to realisation as they are to-day.
Pursuing that role which women played in this
resurgent activity for liberty, we find nothing that
can justify production in this book, until about
the middle of the nineteenth century. By this,
we do not mean to imply that they slumbered dur-
ing the years between the Union and this period
without feeling the throb of the reinvigorated
national impulse. This they certainly did, for the
great women of the second generation of this
century would have been an impossibility, had not
their mothers, who linked them with the days of
'98 been admirers of the heroism furnished by the
ladies of that time. However, until the spirit of
Young Ireland manifested itself, the patriotic
activity of women was almost completely unosten-
tatious, and the great work it accomplished was
within the quiet purlieus of the home.
With Catholic Emancipation a reality, and
Eepeal of the Union almost an accomplished fact,
the nation, sniffing so much of the air of liberty
became restless, until it could enjoy it without
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
check or limit. The Young Ireland Movement,
having for its object no mere legislative freedom
but the absolute right of the Irish people to regu-
late every department of their life as they thought
best, gripped the country. Into this movement,
the women of the country leaped with an eager-
ness and courage which would do justice to the
patriotic instinct of the daughters of Ireland, in
the most thrilling days of the past.
Amongst these Young Ireland women of action
there were two who deserve space for individual
attention, 'Eva' and 'Speranza' of the 'Nation.'
What * Eva ' preached in the newspapers of Young
Ireland, fearlessness and patriotic passion, she
clearly manifested in her own actions. Who that
has heard of it can forget that memorable scene
when, in a moment of supreme trial, she surren-
dered him who was dearest to her, that Dark
Eosaleen, whose claims on his affection she
regarded as immeasureably more sacred than
hers, might suffer no injury. As her sweetheart,
Kevin 0 'Doherty, stood on the dock charged with
the high crime of fealty to his mystic lover, 'Eva'
was close beside him to confirm his loyalty to that
passion. She told him before a crowded court-
house, to proclaim his patriotism like a man, and
take whatever penalty such a noble confession
entailed. Kevin did so, and for ten long years in
prison the silver sound of her heroic words, "be
thou faithful, I'll wait," kept chiming a message
of hope in his heart, until the day of his liberation.
The Women of the Gael
He was not disappointed by 'Eva' for she had
waited, and gave him the reward of her wedded
affection for the love that had wedded his soul to
Ireland.
In the sisterhood pledged to patriotic endeavor,
'Eva' had a worthy comrade in 'Speranza.'
Crowned with beauty, youth and intellectuality,
she was a brilliant luminary in the social firma-
ment of Dublin, but no empty glamour of the
drawing-room could divorce her from the great
service to which she was pledged.
From her pen a message of courage and truth
challenging every knavish foe of her land ever
leaped forth. With truth as with a sword of light
she bade her countrymen
"Go war against evil and sin,
'Gainst the falsehood and meanness and seeming
That stifle the true life within.
Your bonds are the bonds of the soul,
Strike them off and you spring to the goal."
What her pen espoused she never feared to
support in her own person. The most remarkable
occasion on which she showed that she could
practice what she preached was at the trial of
Gavan Duffy. We will let A. M. Sullivan describe
her action in his enthusiastic and dramatic way.
"When the struggle was over, and Gavan Duffy
was on trial for high treason among the articles
read against him was one from the suppressed
number of the Nation, entitled " Jacta Alea Est."
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
It was without example as a revolutionary appeal.
Exquisitely beautiful as a piece of writing it
glowed with fiery incentive. It was in fact a prose
poem, a wild war song, in which Ireland was
called upon that day in the face of earth and
Heaven to invoke the ultima ratio of oppressed
nations. The Attorney-General read the article
amidst breathless silence. At its close there was
a murmur of emotion in the densely-crowded
court, when suddenly a cry from the ladies' gal-
lery startled everyone. "I am the culprit if crime
it be," was spoken in a woman's voice. It was
the voice of queenly 'Speranza.' " The woman
that uttered those words was certainly one who
would not be a failure even if she had to grapple
with more stern fact.
The armed efforts of the Young Irelanders
proved abortive but the national atmosphere
remained charged with the lightnings of rebellion
until it assumed a most menacing aspect a few
years later. The Fenians believed in the use of
the same weapons as Young Ireland. They were
ready like their mythical ancestors of old to court
almost certain death in battle against the armed
might of England. Amongst them there were to
be found members of the gentle sex who were as
brave as the bravest of their manhood. Typically
such was Ellen O'Leary, the sister of the lion-
hearted John, who took almost as intimate and
fearless a part in the Fenian conspiracy as her
dauntless brother. In this work she was as clever
[159]
The Women of the Gael
as she was energetic. One of the deeds that prove
her ingenuity was the efficient part she took in the
rescue of Stephens from prison. She is indeed
worthy of being forever associated in the memory
of her countrymen with the name of her patriot
brother.
The Fenians ' plans for an uprising were nipped
in* the bud by the arrest of many of the leaders
and as a result the armed effort that was made to
attack the forces of the Crown was absolutely
futile. Their complete failure brought the coun-
try back to parliamentary methods of seeking
redress for its grievances until it chanced upon
the able leadership of Charles Stuart Parnell.
When in the nineties "the Chief" as the people
liked to call him had levelled the heaviest artillery
of statesmanship he could devise at the fortress
of Saxon domination some of the best purveyors
of ammunition that he had were to be found
amongst the women of his day. Chief of these
were his sisters Fanny and Anne.
Anyone who has read what Fanny Parnell 's
pen produced cannot fail to see what intense
sympathy there was in her heart for the agonis-
ing heart of Ireland. Pondering on that calvary
of her nation, she contributed most substantially
to that avalanche of patriotic emotion that was
bearing down upon those who had violated the
rights of a sovereign people. John Boyle 0 'Reilly
speaking of the manner in which she championed
through her Land League Songs the rights of an
[160]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
ancient race says that the sweeping messages of
her songful utterances were * * crushed out like the
sweet life of a bruised flower." They were "the
very cry of a race. ' ' In this relentless crusade of
pen and ink she invaded even America where
through the medium of the Boston Pilot she won
the sympathy of many a heart for her long-
suffering land. The ringing command of her
"Hold the Harvest" entered a Saxon court of
justice where a judge had it read at a state trial
to show what a menace it voiced for English
power. One glorious verse of it we give.
"Oh! by the God who made us all —
The seignior and the serf —
Rise up ! and swear this day to hold
Your own green Irish turf;
Rise up ! and plant your feet as men
Where now you crawl as slaves,
And make your harvest fields your camps,
Or make of them your grave."
It is little wonder that Davitt called it "the
Marseillaise" of the Irish peasant, the trumpet
call of the League to the Celtic people to remem-
ber the hideous crimes of an odious system, and
with trust in God 's eternal justice to rise and give
battle to the death against the imported curse of
their country and their homes. ' ' *
As an organiser she displayed as much capacity
for patriotic work as in the printed page. It was
she who initiated the movement for the creation
* The Pall of Feudalism, p. 292.
[161]
The Women of the Gael
of a Ladies' Land League. Despite the frowns
of many skeptics and ultra-conservatives who
should be friendly she made a success of this
enterprise. She made of this society an engine
of war that forced Buckshot Forster, one of the
worst enemies of the oppressed tenant-farmers,
to retreat to his native England.
With Fanny went hand in hand her fighting
sister Anne. The latter owned a warrior fire that
could not be extinguished and a strength of will
that might have adorned the personality of the
most masculine of men. She fought "with all
her brother's intense application to any one thing
at a time, and with more than even his resolute-
ness of purpose in many enterprises that might
enlist her interest and advocacy, together with a
thorough revolutionary spirit. * * To have out-
Parnelled Parnell in this the ruling feature of his
character was an achievement of which the great-
est of women might be pardonably proud.
Unfortunate circumstances deprived Ireland of
Parnell ere he could win a striking victory for
her. Political strife became the thing of the hour
till John Redmond was permitted without opposi-
tion to take the dead "Chief's" place. Under the
new leadership many good concessions were made
to the national demands. In the meantime, how-
ever, a new idea was gradually taking hold of the
country. That idea was Sinn Fein, a system of
political philosophy which maintained that the
* Davitt. Op. Cit. p. 300.
[162]
Heroines From Elisabeth to the Present Day
time was ripe for Irishmen to discard the Parlia-
ment of Westminster and win national freedom
by a self-reliant development of Ireland itself.
Young Ireland with startling rapidity became
enamoured of the new policy and in the Battle
of Dublin in 1916 proved its willingness to die for
an Irish Republic which the principle of * * Ireland
for the Irish" demanded.
This brings us to the latest phase of Irish
feminine heroism. The most commonplace knowl-
edge of the fight of Easter Week must convince
even the most inimical that Irish women are yet
true to the spirit of their sisters of the dead cen-
turies. Everything that a man could do must be
placed to the credit of heroic daughters of Ireland
during that greatest week that Dublin ever knew.
Their services to their brothers in arms embraced
every department of war work from the man-
ipulation of a rifle to the merciful labours of Bed
Cross nurses. No better picture of their activity
has yet been presented than that given by an
English Red Cross nurse whose testimony has
every right to be regarded as impartial. ''On
Easter Sunday" she says, " which was the day
first appointed for the Volunteers' manoeuvres,
and for which all the men were mobilised the
women in the movement were also mobilised and
ordered to bring rations for a certain period. It
was only at the last moment and for sufficiently
dramatic reasons that the mobilisation of the men
and women was cancelled. These Irish women
[163]
The Women of the Gael
who did their work with a cool and reckless cour-
age unsurpassed by any man, were in the firing
line from the first to the last day of the rebellion.
There were women of all ranks from titled ladies
to shop assistants, and they worked on terms of
easy equality, caring nothing, apparently, but for
the success of the movement. Many of the women
were snipers, and both in the Post Office and in the
Imperial Hotel, the present writer, who was a
Red Cross nurse, saw women on guard with rifles
relieving worn out volunteers. Cumann na mbam
girls did practically all the despatch carrying;
some of them were killed They did Bed
Cross work — I saw them going out under the
deadliest fire to bring in wounded volunteers. They
cooked, catered and brought in supplies; they
took food to men under fire at barricades; they
visited every volunteer's home to tell his people
of his progress. I never imagined that such an
organisation of determined fighting women could
exist in the British Isles. These women could
throw hand grenades, they understood the use of
bombs ; in fact they seemed to understand as much
of the business of warfare as their men."
Such heroism would be a worthy theme for a
special volume. Here, however, we cannot afford
to be individualistic in our treatment of these
ladies, with the exception of a few. Those we
propose to favour thus are the Countess
Markievicz and the mother of the two Pearses.
* The New York Sun. May 22nd.
[I64]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
The Countess being the only woman in charge
of a fighting unit and her name having won inter-
national recognition we think that she is entitled
to individual treatment here. To gain a proper
idea of the debt of honour that her country owes
her we must call to mind what barriers she had
to burst through in earlier days before she won
her way to an understanding of the rights of
Irish nationhood. She was born within a circle
which the clear light of Dark Rosaleen's counten-
ance could never penetrate. But the honesty of
her heart was too powerful for these instruments
of darkness and it emancipated her from their
control to such an extent as to make her one of
the most ardent supporters of Irish Republican
liberty.
When the blood-test of this revived republican-
ism was in operation in 1916 she was in the midst
of the ordeal with her brave Fianna or Irish Boy
Scouts. These she had founded years before and
had fashioned them into a splendidly organised
body of young martial spirits who treasured a
career of arms as the boy Cuchulainn loved it of
old. Leading these throughout the fray she
evinced a marked sense of leadership coupled with
a courage that nothing could daunt. We can not
refrain here from giving the magnificent tribute
bestowed on her by Sidney Gifford when her fight
had been fought and lost. The consequent forti-
tude and nobility to which he bears testimony
exceeded those of the hour of battle for now the
[165]
The Women of the Gael
wild storm of strife had ceased, her fight-fervour
had abated and she was face to face with the calm
reality of death. We will let Gifford tell how she
faced this new situation. "She was sentenced to
death by court-martial but the sentence was
altered to imprsionment for life. It is reported
that she made a vigorous protest when the change
of sentence was announced. She had fought side
by side with the fifteen men who were shot. She
would have shared in their glory if they had been
successful. She longed to share their fate, to die
rather than suffer the living death of imprison-
ment for life. To Countess Markievicz, proud-
spirited, fiery, accustomed all her days to un-
trammelled freedom, the very embodiment of both
mental and physical energy, imprisonment for
life is a far more bitter fate than death itself. ' ' *
It is little wonder that such heroism drew George
Russell from his cooperative farming schemes
and the mysteries of the spheres to sing the glories
of the Countess and the women of the land she
represented.
"Here's to the women of our blood
Stood by them in the fiery hour,
Rapt lest some weakness in their mood
Rob manhood of a single power —
You, brave as such a hope forlorn,
Who smiled through crack of shot and shell,
Though the world look on you with scorn,
Here's to you, Constance, in your cell."
The glories of Ireland, ed. Maurice Joyce. Quotation, pp. 359-60.
['66]
Heroines From Elizabeth to the Present Day
With the Countess we wish to associate in hon-
ourable mention the mother of the two Pearses,
Patrick and William. She took no positive part
in the rebellion but she gave to it all that her
heart held dearest, her two magnificent sons. She
gave to God and Ireland two of the most beautiful
characters that her land had ever known and she
gave them with the unwavering faith that she
was only doing her duty. That such was her sub-
lime creed we know from the words she uttered
at her last sad interview with her son, Willie,
after Padraic had gone the martyr's way. Her
motherly heart, because it was so motherly and
good, was weighted with a most bitter natural
sorrow, yet turning to her son she said: " Thank
God they are taking you. When I heard they had
taken Pat I hoped you, too, would go because I
would rather that the two go than leave one be-
hind to, bear the sorrow. I am more content to
bear the sorrow to the end of my life when I
know that as you were always together in child-
hood, in boyhood and manhood, you are united
together in death. ' ' Then turning to the English
officer present she said: "You have taken my
darling son Padraic and now you are about to take
my second and only remaining son Willie. Gladly
do I offer them to die for Jesus and for Ireland. ' '
Well, indeed, did she prove herself to be that ideal
patriot mother on whose lips Padraic put the
sacred and sacrificial words:
The Women of the Gael
"I do not grudge them: Lord, I do not grudge
My two strong sons that I have seen go out
To break their strength and die, they and a few,
In bloody protest for a glorious thing,
They shall be spoken of among their people,
The generations shall remember them,
And call them blessed ;
But I will speak their names to my own heart
In the long nights ;
The little names that were familiar once
Round my dead hearth.
Lord, thou art hard on mothers :
We suffer in their coming and their going ;
And though I grudge them not, I Weary, weary
Of the long sorrow — And yet I have my joy :
My sons were faithful and they fought."
With the mother of the Pearses we say fare-
well to the women of action whose deeds have
adorned the story of Ireland. We see in her, one
of the latest heroic products of the land, a
guarantee of the indestructibility of Irish nation-
hood. Whilst a nation possesses such mothers
as she it is endowed with a nationalising alchemy
that can never cease to make soldiers of men
who shall not hesitate to seek honour on the
death-haunted battle-field whilst the Gael has life
and consciousness.
['68]
CHAPTER X
WOMANLY MORALITY AND HONOUR FROM THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY ONWARDS
WE HAVE seen what a record of noble
living in the domestic sense of the words
had been the property of Irish women
until the destruction of that polity at the close
of the sixteenth century, which had protected
piety and had encouraged so many of those vir-
tues which are the prime ornament of family life.
We have likewise observed the steadfastness
with which since the collapse of that common-
wealth Gaelic feminity had aided in preserving
the national soul of Ireland. We think it will be
interesting to consider, in this chapter, how
faithfully the women of Ireland adhered to the
tradition of exalted living handed down to them
until the sixteenth century, for in the quietude
that hovers round the hearth they were more
fundamentally potent in shaping the destiny of
the nation than in the council chamber, or in the
theatre of heroic deeds.
As the family is, so to a large extent the nation
must be, in patriotism and general self-respect.
That the Irish home must have been a nursery
of morality and civic virtue in the seventeenth
[169]
The Women of the Gael
century, we know from the fact of the large fam-
ilies it reared, and the piety that was the orna-
ment of its women. To these two features of Irish
life several writers of that age bear testimony,
but here we content ourselves with giving that
of two foreigners who were eyewitnesses of what
they relate. These were Massari and Malasana,
the companions of the Nuncio, Einnucini, who
assert that the women of Ireland, despite the dis-
turbed state of the country, bestowed their tender
care on large families, and did themselves "with
comeliness combine matchless modesty and
piety, by which their native attractions were
enhanced."*
Not only in prose but in poetry we hear lauda-
tory words bestowed on the women of this
century. The sorrowful and suffering remnant
of the bardic class made the moral loftiness and
beautiful home life of many a lady the theme of
songful outpourings. To give but one noted
example, the well-known harpist, 0 'Carolan, paid
tribute in several immortal airs to the nobility
of the women of his day. And well he might, for
the truest friend he had was Madame Mac
Dermot, who so loved the tuneful songs of the
blind minstrel, that she gave him every help at
her command, and wept bitter tears when the
silence of the grave enfolded him.
In addition to this evidence of womanly worth
there is some also of an indirect nature which,
* The Irish People. B. Hogan. SJ. quot. p. 55.
Womanly Morality and Honour
in no mean measure, testifies to the feminine
self-respect of this period. We have already had
occasion to dwell at length on the cruelty exer-
cised towards Irish ladies in Cromwellian days,
and pointed out how it was in revenge for their
patriotic activities. Here we wish to cite one
noted instance of Cromwellian barbarism, which
seems to have been dictated by the hellish desire
to expose to the basest insults not merely pride
of race, but the most delicate feminine modesty.
A low scoundrel named Hurd, who was governor
of Galway in 1655, took fiendish delight in mak-
ing a laughing-stock of the women of that city by
ordering them to discard their Irish cloaks, know-
ing well they had little else save ludicrous apparel
to shelter them from the public eye. Yet, the
efforts they put forth to shield their womanly
sense of propriety, even at the cost of social
dignity, must redound forever to the fair name of
Galway. On the day subsequent to Hurd's orders
there could be seen on the streets "most of the
women appearing in men's coats — high-born
ladies who had been plundered of all their prop-
erty by the rapacious soldiers, sinking their shame
before the gaze of the public, with their ragged or
patched clothes, and sometimes with embroidered
table-covers, or a stripe of tapestry torn from the
walls, or some lappets cut from the bed-curtains,
thrown over their head and shoulders. Other
women covered their shoulders only with blankets
The Women of the Gael
or sheets, or table clothes, or any other sort of
wrapper they could lay their hands on. You
would have taken your oath that all Galway was
a masquerade, the unrivalled home of scenic
buffons, so irresistibly ludicrous were the varied
dresses of the poor women."* Kurd's poisoned
arrows reached the target of their Irish pride,
but failed to do anything to their modesty save
glorify it.
Notwithstanding the butcheries and acts of
shame directed by the Cromwellians against Irish
womanhood, the men of the Gael, whose souls were
harrowed by the sight of these atrocities, could
not get themselves to revenge their outraged
wives and daughters by disrespectful treatment
of the ladies of the Saxon. The fact that in this
respect they maintained a noble reputation speaks
volumes of praise for their innate reverence for
womankind, and shows that this attitude must
have been largely the resultant of a truly moral
and honourable native femininity. The testimony
we deduce in favour of this noble bearing of Irish-
men we get from the lips of a Privy Counsellor of
Ireland. His statement is that " though unarmed
men, women and children, were killed in thousands
by command of the Lords Justices, the Irish sent
multitudes of our people, both before and since
these cruelties were done, as well officers and
soldiers as women and children, carefully con-
* Cam. Ever. ed. Kelly. Dub. 1848. vol. II. p. 207.
Womanly Morality and Honour
veyed, to the sea-ports and other places of
safety."*
Of the purity of woman's life during the next
century we are told by men who were strongly
antagonistic to Irish patriotic endeavor. Such
an eminent authority as Lecky has paid splendid
compliments to the moral integrity of eighteenth
century Irish women, and the purifying and
elevating effect it had upon the nation. His
testimony is all the more valuable seeing that his
highly reputable veracity as a historian forced
him to admit, despite his anti-Catholic bias, the
existence of something admirable within a church
organisation which he despised. In like manner,
Arthur Young, an Englishman, in his Tour of
Ireland in 1776, gave a very favourable report of
womanly morality. Amongst the gentry, indeed,
he observed considerable moral laxity, but the
general body of the people furnished a woman-
hood that was exemplary in its fidelity to its
noblest instincts.
But even in his criticism of the gentry, we find
that Young was far too severe. We have already
glanced into the attractive home life and shining
civic virtues of the women who adorned the last
troubled years of this century, and we must not
forget that for the most part they belonged to
upper class society, and to the Protestant faith
to boot. Some of them, too, were the products of
the city, and surely, if their womanly grandeur
* Cromwellian Settlement. Prendergast. Dub. 1875. p. 71.
[173]
The Women of the Gael
survived the temptations of their surroundings, it
is not far-fetched to assume that they had, in the
pure atmosphere of the countryside, many a lady
of high standing in society, with a moral character
akin to theirs.
Passing on to the nineteenth century, we find
ourselves flooded with a mass of material testify-
ing to the goodness of Irish womanhood. Volumes
based on that material might be written, but here
we can not afford, in a general survey of Irish
women, to sin against the rules of proportion by
giving relatively more space to the ladies of this
period than to those of other days. In this par-
ticular instance this is especially true, because so
much evidence has been produced in print from
statistics and otherwise to show the morality of
Irish women of recent times, and the world is so
universally convinced of the fact, that there is
scarcely any need of reasserting its truth.
However, we cannot pass it over in perfect
silence. Beginning with citations from author-
ities, we find Count d'Aveze, early in the century,
noting in the west the very soul of honour and
queenliness of spirit reflected in the countenances
of Irish women. * ' While contemplating, ' ' he says,
"these poor women, for the moment, I confess
that their titles of nobility seemed to radiate from
their brows, and I gave way to the idea that they
were really descended from the blood of kings."
Dr. Brown pays a high tribute to the Irishwoman's
[174]
Womanly Morality and Honour
religion and love of children, and the large fam-
ilies they have reared and continue to rear as an
incontrovertible proof of both these character-
istics. Dr. Brownson, an American, attributed in
1873 the strength of Irish manhood to a large
extent "to the pure and virtuous lives of the
women of the race for which they have been
distinguished in all ages. ' ' Elie Reclus, a French-
man, asserts that "there are few countries of
Europe whose women possess so much dignity
and self-respect" as those of Ireland. George
Petrie, speaking in 1821, says that he saw in his
travels through the island "young and unmarried
women, with cloaks carelessly disposed in pic-
turesque draperies, whilst their attitude bespoke
the presence of youthful affection and innocent
simplicity." Finally, the Rev. William Maxwell,
a Protestant divine, tells us that in certain parts
of Ireland despite a rather abnormal affection for
drink on the part of the men, "deceived and
deserted females are seldom seen. ' '
This nobility of Irish women has been the theme
of countless songs throughout the century. For
the most part, it is found interwoven with the
great basic virtue of love that radiates purity and
strength. Many pages might be filled with
selections illustrative of poetry's passion for this
theme. We are compelled to limit ourselves to
two, one of which was written early in the century,
and the other quite recently.
[175]
The Women of the Gael
The first we give is that intensely passionate
yet sublime address to love by 0 'Curnain, entitled
Loves Despair.
"Love that my life began,
Love that will close life's span,
Love that grows ever by love-giving:
Love from the first to last,
Love till all life be past,
Love that loves on after living.
Bear all things evidence
Thou art my very sense,
My past, my present and my morrow.
All else on earth is crost,
All in the world is lost —
Lost all — but the great love gift of sorrow."
The woman that could create in the soul of a poet
such a spark of heavenly passion could not but
be magnificent.
The other poem we take from a book of Padraic
Colum's verse. It is a lullaby that reveals the
world of exquisite tenderness entombed in the
heart of the twentieth century Irish mother for her
child. It shows how rigidly her eyes are rivetted
on the sanctum of the cradle, and how sacred she
regards the atmosphere which surrounds it, whilst
in other parts of the world 'progressive ideas'
would seek to rid it of much of this * superstitious '
character and exchange its 'folly' for the more
up-to-date demands of materialist eugenics.
[176]
Womanly Morality and Honour
"0! Men from the fields !
Come gently within.
Tread softly, softly,
0 ! Men coming in.
Mavourneen is going
From me and from you,
Where Mary will fold him
With mantle of blue!
From reek of the smoke
And cold of the floor,
And the peering of things
Across the half-door.
0! Men from the fields!
Soft, softly come through
Mary puts around him
Her mantle of blue."
There is also another type of poetry, the poetry
of architecture, that lives in the sculptured marble
and the chiseled beauty of stone-work of many
a sacred edifice, that proclaims the grandeur of
soul of modern Irish womanhood. Rivalling the
princely church-builders of old, who gave to
Ireland so many of those abbeys of meditative
loveliness, are the daughters of the Gael, who have
worked since the days of Catholic emancipation
for the construction of churches to replace the
confiscated and plundered ones of their ancestors.
In one sense they have surpassed the women of
old, for unlike them, they are for the most part
[177]
The Women of the Gael
poor in the world's goods, though doubtless the
blood of many of them has been derived from a
noble ancestry, whose broad lands the hireling and
the stranger possess. They could not, however,
be robbed of the gold of generosity and the price-
less heritage of their faith. Even the Irish servant
girl has established an envious reputation for
herself as a generous donor of funds for the erec-
tion of churches. Hundreds of sacred edifices in
the English-speaking world almost completely
owe their existence to the hard won money of the
humble daughters of Ireland. They adorn not
only their own land, but the Republic of the Starry
Flag, the continent of the Southern Cross, mute
but majestic witnesses of the loyalty of Irish
womanhood to the twin inspirations of the voice
of their Maker, and the traditions of their race.
The zeal that has upreared so many churches
continues to provide in abundance maidens for the
rigours of convent life. Every year hundreds
dedicate themselves to this cloistered existence
where their spiritual work for the nation's youth
is very considerable. Since this has rarely been
questioned, we see no need for dwelling at length
on it here. There are many, however, who main-
tain that the good conferred on the people by
their hidden life of religion is solely spiritual, and
that in it all secular and civic usefulness are lost.
With these we decidedly disagree.
To prove our contention, we will select one
feature of secular life, the industrial, in which
[178]
Womanly Morality and Honour
Sisterhoods have done solid patriotic work for
their country. In several important centres Irish
nuns are in control of industries which provide
employment for many hundreds, for whom other-
wise emigration would be the only alternative.
The thriving Youghal Needlelace Industry owes
its origin in the famine-swept days of 1847 to the
noble efforts of Sister Mary Anne Smyth. Very
few who have learned the work of this institution
have ever been lured from the services of their
country to foreign climes. In the same year the
Sisters of Mercy in Sligo started a cookery and
laundry, by which several were rescued from
starvation and death. This institution still
flourishes, and since 1880 has added to its work
the teaching of hosiery-making. Since 1900 the
Sisters of St. Louis have directed some of the
energy of Bundoran towards the making of the
well-known Carrickmacross lace. Instances like
these might be enumerated for several towns in
Ireland to show that the modern daughters of the
ancient faith are, in their attention to the needs
of the body, as well as those of the soul, true to
the tradition that has come down to them from
the great Abbess of Kildare.
Thus it is apparent that the public heroism
which has marked the story of Irish womanhood
during the last three centuries has been the off-
spring of that silent heroism that has dwelt in
woman's soul, whether by the hearth-stone or in
the cloister. The numberless humble ones who, by
The Women of the Gael
Christian principles and industrial habits, have
supplied the fuel that kept the fires of a nation
burning, shall never be known, but the work they
have accomplished is none the less glorious than
that of those whom the searchlights of publicity
have consigned to the everlasting reverence of a
people.
CHAPTER XI
WRITERS OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH
CENTURIES
WHEN last we parted with the women
friends of letters at the close of the
eighteenth century we saw them en-
deavoring under the blight of many forces
inimical to intellectual culture to keep up the hon-
ourable tradition of their land as patrons rather
than writers of literature. The confinement of
their literary efforts to this sphere was neces-
sitated by the penal laws which reigned in their
country and threatened with prosecution and pun-
ishment all possible flowerings of the national
genius. The old learning which expressed the
soul of the Gael was forced to seek a refuge in
the hedge-school or the secrecy of a few great
homes whilst England's brand of enlightenment
arrayed in imperial garb was offered in its stead
to an enslaved people. All that could be done
in such circumstances was to prevent the national
soul from becoming the prey of the imperial
schoolmasters by keeping it true to its ancient
cult in the " catacombs. " This Ireland did and
we have seen what a part woman played in the
defensive struggle.
[181]
The Women of the Gael
That work merited for the feminine mind of
Ireland an opportunity in later times of display-
ing what it could achieve within the world of
literary production which hitherto it was com-
pelled merely to protect and patronise. How it
availed itself of this opportunity that the destruc-
tion of penal statutes brought it we are about to
show by presenting to the reader a procession of
the leading women writers of the nineteentli and
twentieth centuries. In this pageant of the
devotees of the pen there shall march a body of
Irish ladies whose literary output bears favour-
able comparison with that of their masculine
rivals. A few striking individuals in the ranks
of manhood have far surpassed the best women
authors of Ireland but the average lady-writer
can lay claim to as meritorious work as the aver-
age labourer within the ranks of manhood can
boast of.
Giving priority of position to poetry the first
worker in that field in the early part of the nine-
teenth century to claim our attention is Lady
Dufferin. Her genius was probably a heritage as
well as a personal endowment for her grandfather
was none other than the reknowned Richard
Brindsley Sheridan. Her poems were primarily
songs and every song was a melody of tear- jewels
revealing the sad beauty of a suffering race. One
of these that will forever keep her memory fresh
is the Irish Emigrant, which so simply and spon-
taneously tells of the pangs of exile endured by
[182]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
the children of the Gael sundered from home and
kin. It does not seem rash to state that few
who have read it in boyhood days do not think
with tenderness of its creator and bless her for
the reminder she gave them of the loyalty they
owe whether at home or abroad to that Dark
Bosaleen whom in impressionable years they were
taught to cherish. Bearing a like message is
Terence's Farewell. It mingles the pathos of
exile with sweet strains of love whilst its dancing
humour shows the everlasting sunshine that no
sorrow could expel from the Irish heart.
Resembling her muse was that of Mrs. Julia
Crawford who was a distinguished daughter of
County Cavan. From her prolific pen came over
a hundred songs and amongst them that musical
gem, Kathleen Mavourneen. For this song alone
the poetess has earned the undying thanks of
her people for it can never fail to charm them
whilst they treasure the gold of a haunting air
and the magic interwoven with pure true love.
In Young Ireland days appeared Lady Wilde
wielding a more robust and stormy pen in the
interests of patriotism than any of those we have
mentioned. In early life she had been so com-
pletely outside the pale of national belief that
when she saw the funeral of Thomas Davis pass-
ing she confessed her complete ignorance of the
dead patriot to whom the last honours of death
were being paid. Her presence in Young Ireland
ranks was therefore due to a radical conversion
The Women of the Gael
from the modes of thought of her girlhood. Like
most of those great spirits which have leaped
from the darkness of error into the white light
of consciousness of fealty to a sacred faith and
ideal she carried with her new creed an invincible
vehemence and fire in its advocacy. The energy
and sincerity of the convert forged upon the
printed page a supply of verbal weapons calcu-
lated to stir the most phlegmatic of her readers.
Side by side with her worked Mrs. Kevin Izod
O'Doherty, "Eva" of the Nation whose heroism
we have already referred to. This young lady's
patriotic poems remind one of that vigorous
freshness and vitality which live in the winds
that buffet the coast of her native Galway. They
vent their clean fury on all that is foul and cry
with an elemental strength against the unjust
political structures that are the handiwork
of man.
With these two stormy petrels of Young Ireland
verse there was also associated Ellen Downing,
"Mary of the Nation," whose voice of poetic in-
dignation though not as rugged, was none the less
firm and determined than, theirs. With the calm
vision of the saint she scanned all the mountain
summits whereon patriotic right is seated and in
sweet but unfaltering accents bade her country-
men toil through woe and weal until all storms
vanquished they reached those serene heights
and could gaze down from the majesty thereof on
a land where the quietude of justice had resumed
[184]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
its sway. The atmosphere of gracefulness and
devout feeling upon which these directions were
borne girt them round with that strength in
appeal which always accompanies the dictates of
a pure and gentle yet indomitable conscience.
For many years longer she might have pro-
longed her good work but a sore disappointment
crept into her life and dried up the founts of her
inspiration. One whom she had loved with a sin-
cere Irish love forsook her and she left the
troubled ways of the world for the reposeful soli-
tude of the convent. There she prayed for her
beloved land but never again wrote patriotic
verse. * ' She put by the lyre and in utter seclusion
from the world lingered for a while; but ere long
the spring flowers blossomed on her grave."
Advancing into the latter half of the nineteenth
century we greet that poetic embodiment of Irish
patriotism, Ethna Carbery. Coming from the
land of Tyrconnell where the mystery-laden mists
so love to hold in their embrace the brows of the
mountains and endow them with that Celtic and
fairy-like fascination which lives in the grey
cloudiness of Irish landscapes her soul drank in
great draughts of the secrets of her native hills
and under the influence of their intoxication sang
in strains of weird beauty of the old old message
of Eire to her children. Nature, in fact, seemed
to be almost the sole source of her patriotic inspir-
ation for she found in everything in her native
place a medium through which to express the irre-
The Women of the Gael
pressible story of the ages associated with it. She
appeared to feel the imminence of a national
spirit in the very winds that fanned into vigour
her beloved Donegal and she took up the pen
not to create a beautiful fabric of words but to
find an outlet for the patriotic fire that consumed
her. That the alpha and omega of her songful
inspiration was a sense of patriotism appears
not only in her verse but in the testimony of her
distinguished husband, Seumas Mac Manus.
"From childhood," he says, "till the closing
hour every fibre of her being vibrated with the
love of Ireland. Before the tabernacle of poor
Ireland's hopes she burned in her bosom a per-
petual flame of faith. Her great warm heart
kept the door of its fondest affection wide open
to all who loved Ireland — and in her heart of
hearts was sacredly cherished the memory of the
holy dead who died for Ireland."
As a result a tender simplicity and sincerity
characterised all her poetry. Her folk songs were
unsophisticated but this quality was their pass-
port to her heart of a people close to nature, a
people whom she loved to fancy as fellow-sharers
with her of a love of their past and their beauti-
ful present. No checks of technique injured the
flow of her feeling. She spoke directly to her
countrymen because she liked a heart to heart
melody. The pity is that she ceased to speak so
soon and that death smiled on her at an early
age and called her from her soulful chantings.
[186]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
A prominent writer of the same generation as
Ethna Carbery is Catharine Tynan Hinkson.
Like the latter poetess she is gifted with a fascin-
ating spontaneity. As some critic so well phrased
it she is "an authentic singer with the true lyric
note that she seems to have caught from the birds
of the trees." The buoyancy of the heart-song
constantly abides in her poetry and yet for all
its sunshine we miss in it the sweetness of mourn-
ing for a sacred cause that hovers o 'er the stanzas
of Ethna.
One, however who reminds us more of the
Donegal songstress is Alice Furlong. She is a
product of the City of Dublin yet there is little
of the artificial atmosphere of urban life in her
verse. She gives utterance to a music as deli-
cately pathetic as the sighing of the wind amongst
the reeds on the rim of a bleak Irish lake. Yet
for all its sadness it is never foresaken by sweet-
ness. To her generation we might also assign
Alice Milligan who hails from the North of
Ireland. In the land of the O'Neills she was born
and there she found much of the mental pabulum
that resulted in the breezy ballads she has given
to Ireland.
Belonging to the latest flowering of Irish poetry
are many of the group of young writers of today.
With the exception of Dora Sigerson who died
recently they are relatively young and may yet
bequeath a large crop of thought to their land.
Though death did not find Dora Sigerson in
The Women of the Gael
the ripeness of old age she left behind her a con-
siderable amount of verse. She was destined by
living in England to be divorced from the con-
stant influence of her native soil yet her mind
always clung to the land of her birth. A decidedly
Celtic atmosphere envelops her writing and this
is the fundamental reason of its best literary
characteristics. The fascinating weirdness of her
poems revealing the doings of distinctively Celtic
sprites, the fairies, makes us forget her mere
technical deficiencies. She may err in metrics
and in style but she handles with a deft hand that
familiarity which exists between Irish character
and the invisible world. She makes us love the
fairies despite all their elfish malice because she
makes them so human without robbing them of
their supernatural anchorage. They are so Irish
in all their ways that we insinctively forgive them.
In addition her diction is admirably adapted
to her subject. The rhythmic swing of her ballads
is as free and airy as the goblins that are its
theme. The familiarity and homeliness of expres-
sion with which they reach out to the heart are
akin to that atmosphere of kindly relations which
they seek to generate in us towards the world of
the spiritual.
Very close in character to the poetry of Dora
Sigerson is that of Nora Hopper. It has a like
clinging mysteriousness of thought whilst the
weird apparel of its words intensifies the uncan-
niness of its conceptions. Though extensive the
[188]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
fecundity that characterises it it does not seem to
lower the standard of its poetic quality. It is
always as fresh as the dew on an Irish hillside
and tenderness and gems of fancy seldom abandon
it. No less an authority than Mr. Yeats, perhaps
Ireland 's greatest singer in the English language,
has acclaimed her ''Ballads of Prose" as an
adeptly woven fabric of mystic thought and
symbol. "They delight us," he says, "by their
mystery, as ornament full of lines, too deeply in-
terwoven to bother us with discoverable secret,
delights us with its mystery; and as ornament is
full of strange trees and flowers that were once
the symbols of great religions, and are now mix-
ing one with the other, and changing into new
shapes, this book is full of old beliefs and stories,
mixing and changing in an enchanted dream."
For the next writer we go to the County of
Antrim. This is Moira O'Neill. She has given
pleasant glimpses of the peasant soul of Ireland
and she has not spoiled their sincerity by any
vulgarity of literary artifice. But Irish literature
is most of all indebted to her for her masterpiece,
" Corrymeela, " where she sings with a lambent
fluency of the mysteries of the dawn reminiscent
of the free limpid progress of her native hill-
rimmed rivulets in the Glens of Antrim.
And last of all treading the ways of mysticism
come Susan Mitchell and Ella Young. They have
gazed into the wondrous worlds which George
[189]
The Women of the Gael
Russell has pointed out and more distinctly than
any of their sisters of the pen have attempted to
fashion visions for themselves like unto his. With
these we part with the daughters of poesy and
turn to those who were content to labour in the
literature of prose.
In this department of letters, especially romance,
Irish women in modern days have climbed into
high favour and carried off many laurels from the
men. In this respect, too, it is our belief they have
displayed far more talent than those of their sisters
who used poetry as a medium of expression.
In discussing these ladies we can make a very
dignified start with Maria Edgeworth who is the
doyen of them all and as a novelist holds a high
place amongst kindred writers of the English
speaking world of her day. Her 1 1 Castle Rackrent ' '
with its beaming humour cleverly mingled with
exquisite pathos is generally recognised as her
masterpiece. Looking at her work as a whole she
accomplished for the Ireland of her day some-
thing worthy of her comparison with what Scott
achieved for his native land. The folk-lore and
feelings of her country she made tribuary to
her pen and utilised them to produce works of
high artistic value. So self-sacrificing was she
and so sacred a conception had she of her literary
duty towards her native land that she refused her
hand in marriage to one whom she deeply loved
that her activity as an author might not be
checked. She sacrificed him and everything else
[190]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
that her heart desired when they were deemed
inimical to the interests of her country.
She was not, however, a solitary prose luminary
in her age. There was Lady Morgan who worked
at fiction and wrote novels that were fearless and
honest and rooted in a soul that loved its country.
She was one of the best literary supporters that
the Emancipator had. To the early nineteenth cen-
tury Dublin gave Anna Jameson, who was the au-
thor of some tales and a vigorous pen exponent of
the rights of women. Caroline Norton who laboured
so arduously for the betterment of woman 's status
and the condition of the poor was a romantic
writer of high standing and in this sphere dis-
played a power of repartee that was not surpassed
by her zeal as a doer of good deeds. From the
Marble City came Mary Costello to whom Ireland
is indebted for sketches of Dublin which are vivid
and worthy of remembrance. Lismore was hon-
oured by being the birthplace of Julia Crotty who
attained distinction by portrayals of Irish char-
acter. Her pictures sometimes caused offense to
sensitive readers but she quailed not before
criticism for she justified herself on the grounds
of realism. Mrs. Sadlier in her enthusiasm for
the moral uplift of her countrymen used with con-
siderable success the novel as a means to attain
her end. Castle Daly, one of the best of Irish
stories owes its existence to Annie Keary.
We now pass on to a group of novelists who
primarily belong to a later period. The first we
[191]
The Women of the Gael
select for consideration is Jane Barlow whose
name is a very respectable one in Irish literature.
In her work there gleams a wealth of peasant
character that bespeaks marked gentleness and
simplicity on the part of the writer. Silvered
streaks of humour and golden veins of pathos are
everywhere in scintillating evidence. A wit that
leaps forth from picturesque and musical lan-
guage is constantly present to endow with a peren-
nial freshness the creations of the artist. To sum
up in the words of George Green in the Treasury
of Poetry, "it may be doubted, indeed, whether
anyone has, to the same extent, sounded the depths
of Irish character in the country districts and
touched so many chords of sympathy, humour and
pathos as Jane Barlow. ' '
With an object kindred to that of Miss Barlow,
Elisabeth Blackburne Casey devoted herself to
romantic literature. Amid the pasture lands of
Meath she found many interesting peasant
subjects for her pen. In the manipulation of these
she exhibited certain dramatic powers which lent
a striking vitality to her tales. Coupling with this
an attractive and picturesque background, she
succeeded in producing sketches of the peasant
soul endowed with uncommon brilliancy and
vividness.
At a distance from pastoral influences in the
City of Dublin Mrs. Blundell first saw light.
However, as she advanced in years, she found
[192]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
herself in surroundings more congenial to her
nature. She left the "madding crowds," and the
places where the artificial and material knock so
loudly at the gates of the heart for the romantic
and mystery-haunted highlands of Donegal.
There, despite the ravages of a long and painful
disease, she held her ear ever open to receive the
whisperings of wonder. The pleasure that these
messages from a marvel world afforded her she
told of in sweet tales brimming over with Arabian-
like magic. She wrote them especially for the
perusal of children who are always so near to
the wonder-world and who wreathe with glory
"that never was on land or sea" what to mature
eyes seem the most commonplace realities.
In a part of the country, similar to Donegal
because of its remarkable immunity from the
artificialities of life, did Emily Lawless find food
for her novels. Revelling in the gaunt, wild
scenery of West Clare and Galway, she extracted
from the granite-sheathed hills and the wind-vexed
precipices material for the construction of some
of the best novels that Ireland possesses. Here,
in this hinterland of the Gael, she witnessed how
close the heart of man was to the throbbings of
nature's heart, and what a harmony prevailed
between them. Into her novels she introduced
with marked success this intimacy between man
and nature to which she attached the weird adorn-
ment of the grand terrors of the West mingling
dramatically with its embracing pity.
The Women of the Gael
In the same inspiring West did Rosa Mulholland
find fuel for the fire of a writer 's soul. From the
mountains there came to her the voice of a
romance, coupled with that message of mysticism
that gives a distinctly religious tinge to her writ-
ings. Yet, for all her hankering after the mys-
terious, she loves a serene simplicity, which seems
to have been dictated by her love for children, for
whom she intended so many of her books.
Rosa brings us to the end of the writers of
romantic works. A few others still remain who
devoted themselves to a literature of a different
type, and to 'these we must devote a few pages,
before our final farewell to women literateurs of
Ireland.
In dramatic literature there is a distinguished
representative in Lady Gregory, who has done as
much, perhaps, for the Irish stage, as anyone in
the history of Ireland. Her name must be forever
linked with that revival in dramatic art, which
began with the last decade of the nineteenth
century. Living in the western Gaelthacht, she
was closely in touch with that folklore which pro-
vided material for the most successful type of
play that the dramatic movement has produced.
Utilising this, she has produced stage literature
of high merit. To the sphere of a writer, however,
she has not limited herself. She has worked
zealously for the success of the Abbey Theatre,
and has never failed to encourage all aspiring
writers who are endeavoring to produce dramatic
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
literature that might lend lustre to that playhouse
and their country.
In the more sober subject of history, Sarah
Atkinson displayed in periodical literature a mind
of no mean calibre. In her footsteps has followed
Mrs. John Richard Green, who is a worthy wife
of a distinguished husband, and one of the most
scholarly historians that Ireland has produced.
Her contributions to the story of her land reveal
a cultured intellect, steeped in the lore of the past.
For the economic and educational department of
their history which had been so badly neglected,
Irishmen are especially indebted to the labours
of Mrs. Green.
Another lady, Frances Power Cobbe, invaded
a realm that is closely associated with that of the
historian. She delved into the problems of
sociology, and herein won considerable respect
for herself by the able manner in which she cham-
pioned the rights of women in public life. She did
this, too, through the medium of a style that was
fresh and attractive. Thus, the readable character
of her writings, as well as the interesting material
they contained, won for her a very large circle
of readers.
In a sphere partly historical and partly liter-
ary, three other ladies laboured with considerable
success. Eleanor Hull has done much for early
romantic history, and her work on the ancient
tales has largely contributed to their being more
sympathetically and widely known. Miss Stokes,
The Women of the Gael
the sister of the well-known authority on Celtic
literature, has done a good deal for the cause of
Gaelic scholarship. In Irish scenery and its his-
torical associations, Mrs. S. C. Hall found especial
interest, and her work in this respect has added
largely to that fascination which the physical
contour of a country, viewed in the light of the
past, always holds for a nation that reveres the
great days gone by.
But, the most sublime path of all was reserved
for the literary foot-prints of Agnes Mary Clarke.
Clad in the robes of the astronomer, she sought
the mysteries of the firmament. In this capacity
she exhibited an acute power of observation, for
her thought was characterised by a profundity
and accurateness that shone to fullest advantage
through a clear medium of expression. Yet, for
all the depths plumbed by her mind, she managed
to speak of her scientific researches in a manner
that was highly attractive.
We can not let the curtain down on the women
devotees of literature without mentioning the
Countess of Blessington. Though a novelist of
some note, she primarily deserves to be remem-
bered for the kindness she bestowed on all who
loved a life of letters. Belonging to hospitable
Tipperary, she was as noble an ornament of that
county as was Margaret O'Connor in mediaeval
days of the principality of Offaly. For fourteen
years her spirit of hospitality welcomed to her
home wit and genius, whenever they sought an
[196]
Writers of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
entry. From beyond the seas, as well as from
different parts of her own land, learned men were
lured to the pleasing atmosphere of her home. In
the words of Mr. Proctor, "men famous for art
and science in distant lands sought her friend-
ship, and the historians and scholars, the poets
and the wits, and painters of her own country
found an unfailing welcome in her ever hospitable
home. ' ' She maintained in the nineteenth century
that tradition of devotion to the elevated and im-
materialistic concept of civilisation, which is the
only explanation of what Mr. Gr. K. Chesterton
calls the ' miracle' of Ireland's survival as a
nation.
[197]
CHAPTER XII
THE MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS OF TODAY
HITHERTO we have, for the most part,
devoted our attention to that section of
Irish womanhood which has come prom-
inently before the public eye; we now intend to
swing the censer of praise before the shrine of
the multitudes of great ones who, in the secret
places of their quiet homes, keep kindled the fires
that contribute to the perpetuity of the nation's
life.
It is a truism, yet one that never grows stale
by repetition, that as the family is, so the nation
shall be. If this is true of nations that live the
most artificial of lives and do greatest violence to
family traditions, it is especially verifiable
amongst a people like the Irish who are still so
close to nature, and considerably influenced in
their national activity by the precepts and cus-
toms of their sires. It is evident, then, that the
force that moulds in such a community the life
of the family possesses an extraordinary potency
to shape the destiny of the nation. Such a force
we believe to be primarily the property of Irish
mothers.
The Irish mother is as true to her God-given
[198]
nature as any that breathes on earth, for she dedi-
cates herself with the most sacrosanct sense of
fidelity to the most essential work of motherhood,
the care of the child.
This solicitude for her offspring is most in
evidence in the Irish mother 's clinging love of the
cradle. She gives personal attention to the child
at the most troublesome stage of its existence, and,
wealthy or poor, rarely deems any other hand
than her own worthy of watching by the infant 's
cot. And what a care she lavishes on the little
one that God has sent her! Who that has ever
heard an Irish mother whisper in tenderest accents
her love to her little one, or fling the caresses of
her dream-song round the infant fancy, can fail
to realise what a world of maternal affection
dwells within her bosom? She has the sweetest
lullabies that any mother can boast of wherewith
to lull to sleep the baby mind. Her slumber songs
are so sleep-inducing, that rarely does childish
restlessness fail to surrender to their crooning
magic. For this reason she seldom needs those
artificial methods of the more 'cultured' mothers
of humanity to hand over her child to the
strengthening repose of slumberland. She gives
a peace by the sheer overflow of her maternal
feeling and the music of her soul to her infant care
that nothing else can provide.
This solicitude for the infant she may have to
manifest for many a year, for her affection for
children is not alienated as her married life
The Women of the Gael
advances by the frivolous objects that entertain
the foolish attention of so many women in
countries where science is developed to the detri-
ment of morality. Yet, she fears not the trouble
that every new child-gift from the Almighty may
occasion her, for she has not succumbed to any
materialistic creed that cherishes physical comfort
more than the dictates of duty. She knows the
value of the child soul, which is the most precious
thing that heaven could give to earth. As a true
Christian she knows the necessity and worth of
self-sacrifice as a means of attaining any end that
is great and sublime, whether in the spiritual or
temporal order. Accordingly, she understands
that if she is to entertain the hope of having sons
and daughters who shall be her pride and her
glory, she must be ready to endure the suffering,
mental and physical, that is associated with the
rearing of a family. This is distinctly her spirit,
and it rarely fails to reap the reward of the
splendid self-denial on which it is based. The
average Irish family is large, and seldom disloyal
to the one mainly responsible for its moral and
physical well-being.
Next to the religious motive, some merely
natural attributes of the Celt contribute to the
strength of the maternal instinct in the Irish
woman. The element of the affectionate is uni-
versally admitted to be one of the leading con-
stituents of Irish character. It manifests itself
in a thousand different ways, and largely explains
The Mothers and Daughters of Today
the position of universal esteem which the Irish
race enjoys amongst every people that feels its
warmth. If this is true of the nation as a whole it
is decidedly so of its womanhood, which finds in
motherhood an opportunity of expressing the
strongest and purest human love that warms our
terrestrial globe. Even the terms of endearment
with which she addresses her child bespeak in the
Irish mother the refined and intense passion which
consumes her. Such love-expressions as 'pulse
of my heart,' 'vein of my heart,' 'my share of the
world thou art' reveal the shrine that maternal
love possesses in the inmost recesses of the Irish
mother's being. This affectionate bent of her
nature is reenf orced by her racial imaginativeness
and romanticism. The possibilities that the future
holds for the child, and the dreams she weaves
round its developing mind very often provide her
with a powerful incentive to bestow on it her most
jealous care. Then, she has that intense Celtic
pride of family, which urges her to rear children
who shall be worthy of the best traditions of those
who came before her. And finally, she is endowed
with an instinctive conservatism which is a strong
barrier against all temptations to abandon the
home for more 'up-to-date' activities outside it.
This love of the home makes her dwelling-place
not a mere inhabitable edifice of brick and mortar
and furniture. It is not so much mere property,
to be arbitrarily bartered for money. It entombs
[201]
The Women of the Gael
a something which cannot be purchased. It is, in
a word, a home in the truest, and, if you will, the
most old-fashioned sense of the word. It is the
centre of all the most treasured memories of her
own and her family's life. It has wound itself so
intimately into her fancy, and has, so to speak,
absorbed so much of the family soul by constant
association with it, that it cannot be abandoned
without doing violence to an integral part of the
mother's spiritual existence. Thus does her innate
conservatism transform the prosaic house of stone
and mortar into the poetic and spiritual entity
called the home, and bind her heart to it by the
strongest of bonds.
Where such devotion to the home exists, there
must be present a high standard of morality. This
is certainly realised in the feminine head of the
Irish household. Her devotion to religion is re-
vealed in several ways, to only a few of which we
can here pay attention. She is strongly attached
to prayer. In fact, her daily existence is, to a
large extent, immersed in an atmosphere of
prayer. Prayerfulness is manifest in most of her
daily actions. During the day her ordinary con-
versation is shot through and through with the
names of things sacred. And when the special
time for prayer arrives at night, the whole family
must faithfully assemble, to lay the wreathe of
the Rosary at Mary's feet. Not content with this,
she arranges a program of prayers at the con-
[202]
The Mothers and Daughters of Today
elusion of the Rosary, which begs the Creator's
aid for the entire world, and especially for those
in the throes of suffering and distress. Friends
and enemies, poor and rich, Christians and un-
believers, all find themselves commended to the
mercy of the Most High, by the pitiful, devotional
soul of the Irish mother.
And the virtues she exalts in her prayers she
strives to practise. She is no mechanical utterer
of pious phrases. She walks along a high path
of virtue, especially that of purity. She is a model
of modesty, and her marked devotion to her mar-
riage vow saves Ireland from those disgraceful
scenes which disfigure the moral and social life of
so many other countries. Not only has her husband
no cause for complaint in this respect, but her
uprightness is a considerable factor in the preser-
vation of her partner 's moral integrity. Drink is
the greatest vice with which the Irishman has to
contend, and many an Irish husband has been kept
from rushing over its precipice to destruction by
the angel efforts of a good wife. Oftentimes it
occasions the wife a veritable white martyrdom
to accomplish this, but she considers the victory
gained a sufficient recompense for the sufferings
endured.
Still more beneficial, perhaps, is her influence
over her sons and daughters, for it is reenforced
by an authority which they dare not disrespect.
Oftentimes her sons remain with her until they
are mature men, for late marriages have become
[203]
The Women of the Gael
the custom in Ireland, yet they are always her
'boys' and follow her guidance with a boyish
instinct. Very likely, it is this submission to long
maternal tutelage that engenders more than aught
else in the Irishman that deep-seated respect for
womanhood, of which his nation is so proud. For
her daughters, she is a worthy example of
womanly modesty and piety. Her vigilance care-
fully shields them, and many liberties that are
ordinarily granted to young ladies of other coun-
tries are denied these. Their relations with young
men are most rigidly scrutinised, for the maternal
instinct treasures most of all that virtue that has
been the glory of the daughters of the Gael for
all time. Assuredly, when we think of the honour
and purity of Irish youth, we cannot fail to see
how nobly the Irish mother fulfills the high
mission entrusted to her by Providence. We can
not resist endorsing the beautiful tribute paid
the Irish mother by a recent writer, when he says :
* * She is the foremost among the hidden saints of
earth. A follower of Christ, whose cloister is
within the four walls of the home. A lover of
Christ, whose little kingdom comprises the
treasured souls whom God has given her to guide.
A ruler of Christ, who draws her subjects to her
by sanctity and love. . Her told-worn hands that
clasp the old, brown rosary, are eloquent of
strength to seize and lift to good all souls they
meet; her lips are moulded to lines of peace by
years of unending prayer, and murmured benisons
[204]
The Mothers and Daughters of Today
over sleeping babes ; upon her brow eternal calm
and resignation sit enthroned."*
If the Irish mother's love for the beauty of the
moral order is so intense and sublime, her admira-
tion for the God-given love of country is none the
less insistent. Today she is manifesting a heroism
in the cause of her land that bids fair to emulate
that of Irish matrons in the most trying days of
the past. Only a few years ago, she manifested
a fortitude that might grace the story of Ireland
in the days of its greatest sacrifices. In that
glorious week of 1916, when the husband and son
went forth against overwhelming odds to battle
for their country, Irish wives and mothers offered,
with sorrow-rent and dauntless hearts, their men
to the great mother of them all, the Poor Old
Woman. Many of these husbands and sons made
the supreme sacrifice of their lives, and hundreds
of them endured the tortures of a prison existence,
whilst their women-folk had to bear the terrible
anguish of the mind as they pondered, in the lone-
liness of their homes, on the miseries suffered by
their patriot men. Yet, they could not be broken,
and though natural sorrow played havoc with their
spirits, their will to stand by the manhood of their
homes remained unconquerable. And, at this
moment, their heroic patience and encouragement
are some of the greatest aids that a manhood
struggling against a militaristic tyranny could
have. In the martyrdom of the spirit which they
* The Soul of Ireland. W. J. Lockington. SJ. p. 110.
[205]
nobly bear, their men find a strength and inspira-
tion that nerve them for any martyrdom of the
body which foreign despotism may impose upon
them.
From the mothers of to-day we turn for a
moment to their daughters, to see how the seed
of maternal example and teaching produces fruit
in their character.
The young women of Ireland can perhaps carry
off the premier prize of the world for maidenly
modesty and purity. They are as bountifully
dowered as the daughters of any land with those
natural gifts which, if not properly used, prove
seriously detrimental to morality. They are as
attractive, physically, as any that breathe, for the
Divine Artist has endowed their forms with a
beauty that cannot be surpassed anywhere. They
have as keen a sense of the joie de vivre, and as
generous a fund of the sunniness of life as can
be claimed by the girlhood of any nation. Yet,
they know where to set up the barriers between
true and false pleasure, and rarely seek enjoyment
at the expense of morality. There is a lower per-
centage of illegitimate births in Ireland than in
any other country in the world. Whenever a child
is born outside wedlock, so shocked is the public
sense by the very unusual occurrence, that it
brands with an irreparable stigma, and, to a large
extent, excommunicates the woman guilty of the
crime. The Irish girl's most prevalent mode of
[206]
The Women of the Gael
amusement is a type of dance that, perhaps of all
the dances in the world, is the most innocent,
though inferior to none in vigour and variety. She
takes part in this solely to find an outlet for the
music of her soul, and the Celtic energy that
hungers for the poetry of rythmic movement.
When she dreams of a partner in life, the romantic
and imaginative in her calls forcibly for the pres-
ence of the aesthetic in the future husband, but
her primary desire is that her bridegroom have
a fair heart and an honourable conscience. She
longs with a feminine longing for attractive
apparel, but her dress must not sacrifice a sense
of maidenly decorum for the false allurements that
unbecoming fashions may hold.
As, like her mother, the Irish maiden is moral,
so, like her too, she is patriotic. She is an active
member of many societies, the avowed aim of
which is the emancipation of her country. She is
a prominent element in the Gaelic League, that
has done and continues to do, so much for the
preservation of the ancient Gaelic tongue, for the
slain industries of Ireland, and for the resurrected
vitality of the manners and customs that sprang
from the genius of the Irish Celt. She is a staunch
supporter of Sinn Fein, and is always ready, as
she was at Easter Week, to offer the testimony of
her blood to prove the creed that is in her. She
is, in a word, as true to-day to the ancient heritage
of her people as any generation of women who
[207]
The Mothers and Daughters of Today
have preceded her, and clings as staunchly to the
century-long hope that, when freedom abides
again with Eire, its benisons will come in full
measure to those who have been and ever shall be,
loyal "Women of the Gael."
THE END
[208]
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