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A 
 
 HIbTORY OF IRELAND.V/r 
 
 CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL, 
 
 ixm i\t (Bvtlmi %mn 
 
 TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY II. 
 
 •T TnC LATX 
 
 REV. D. FALLOON, DD., LL.D. 
 
 EDITED BY REV. JOHN IRWIN, A.M., 
 Sanmktiit at ^t. faJu'», JPRontml. 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN LOVELL^ 
 
 ■T. NIOBOLAS BTUBT. 
 
 . 1863. 
 

co:n^tents. 
 
 Prkfacb 
 
 r" 
 
 ' CHAPTER I. 
 Origin, Manners, and Customs of tho Ethnic Irish 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Religion of the Ethnic Irish 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Irish Monarchy anterior to the mission of St. Patrick. . 44 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 Conversion of the Irish to Christianity gg 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 CI 'stianity in Ireland till the death of St. Columba 92 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Monachlsm in Ireland .«» 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Ciyil and Military History till the Northern Inrasion 126 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 The Irish Church till the commencement of the Ninth Cen- 
 '""^ 141 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 First Invasion of the Northmen Ig2 
 
 ^ CHAPTER X. 
 The Second Danish War 19^ 
 
*^ CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BrienBoroihme.. . 
 
 214 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Events subsequent to the death of Brien Boru 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ^^' O'Conw"'"''^ '^'**'"°' '° '^' Ascension of Roderic 
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Irish Church from the Danish Invasion till the Acces- 
 sion of Roderick O'Connor 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Invasion of Ireland by English Adventurers gjo 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 341 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Events subsequent to Henry's personal Invasion of Ireland 
 tUl the time of his Death. . . 
 
 . 363 
 
 Appe.vdix 
 
 399 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 To write history is at all times a diflScult task, but to wnte 
 a history of the Irish nation is more than commonly difficult. 
 This ari'v^s, to an important degree, from the prejudices 
 engenderea by a diversity in race and in religion amongst those 
 to whon'., it migfit be presum d, that such a performance 
 would be chiefly interesting. But the difficulty is greatly 
 enhdnced by the paucity of ancient and authentic records, 
 whifih, in a work like the present, should not only serve for 
 reference and authority, but be, in fact, the basis of a 
 reliable historical narrative. It in unfortunate, in the case 
 of Ireland, that the confuoiou and devastation which 
 attended the Danish invasion produced, amongst other 
 results, the almost total destruotioii of those manuscript 
 records of preceding ages, which, whether they referred tx) 
 the times preceding the introduction of Christianity into 
 the island or those succeeding that event, were preserved in 
 the monastic seats ' f learning, and, therefore, in the destruc- 
 tion of the latter, xell a prey to the ferocity of ignorant 
 and pagan invaders. The belief is, in some quarters, 
 entertained that the Norman conquerors imitated, in this 
 respect, the conduct of the Danes, destroying, as far as 
 possible, what had escaped the notice or the violence of 
 these ruthless pirates : but, whatever were the faults of the 
 Normans, and how atrocious soever was their conduct 
 towards Ireland, the charge in question can hardly be sub- 
 stantiated. It is, indeed, to be regetted that for an account 
 of the events succeeding their invasion we are so dependent 
 on one of their own historians, Giraldus Cambrensis, whose 
 transparent hatred of the Irish people make his statements, 
 
 in relation to their 
 always reliable. 
 
 character and habits at that era, not 
 
7y 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 »tu2 :^sti%^tsr '? '^^"-"^-^ ^y the 
 
 adverted to, sufficien fadJil'^" ^T '^' ^"«««« Ju«t 
 
 Pon^poteru and willing to '^'^J^'" V' !['"^^^ ''"^^ ^^^ 
 
 impartial i^ea of that ancirnt Ir f *^'°' *« ^0=^ an 
 
 fwm which, in lat.r a<^" having If '?' /'''^^ P^PJe, 
 
 . the aspect of civiJ anarchy wi J^it^ ?^'^' '^''^ P^««««ted 
 
 i^J!g«ou8 results, as their norl ''^"?^^l»«nt «ocial and 
 
 covered. A mere JisfJ !l •' * *^^''' '"espective eras be di^. 
 ened for onrZlllV^''' "«"^«« ^o^d be toSlc^eth 
 
 necessary, since^riSTf'tir ''!'^^'' ^' ^* S 
 that Its lamented author L^-^ I^!"-'"^ ^^^' Perceive 
 
 particular subjects to the authorliv^ .^'' ^^^^^'"^"^ on 
 these writers. In the notes w^ll hf/ '^i ''^''■^' "'^^"gst 
 such references, made orl^ it ^""^ «« abundance of 
 left his native country, anrwhenLlf 7 '^"!" ^'^''^ ^e 
 for this work at his command 1 11^"^^^^" '"^^^"aJs ' 
 referred to, have been satisfactor Jv 1 w -T authorities 
 since the manuscript of his hT2 '"^*'.^ ^^ '^^ editor 
 and the accuracy of the rest t'v^.^T' '"^" ^^« ^ands, 
 taken for granted. They w II .?' '\^''J'^ be.Hef, be 
 who were acquainted with th. "''"'i^dly be so hy those 
 deceased autLr, asl7as Xl.TiT^'^ habitsVthe 
 character of his mind ^J^e judicious and impartial 
 
 for a somewhat dram?f?I ^ ^''''° *^« general desire 
 the a tfa has nl,? d r t / dr/'?:i ^^^^^' ^t X 
 that his book will be fonnH ! • ' ,^"^ yet, we think 
 most critical attention to t^. "'"'"^^tly readable. If S 
 an e.act and log c rm^thod ^"T '''''''' '' information 
 ncaJfact.andhif deductions frlJh ^^^"g^^^t of histo' 
 occasionally scintillatesTts bStnP ''° ^^^^^^nee which 
 
 " "''Shitless even through dull 
 
PREFACB. 
 
 vii 
 
 hiatoriwl details, form a claim to popularity — then this 
 History of Ireland ought to be popular. There is neither 
 the learned profundity of Robertson, the majestic grandi- 
 loquence of Gibbon, nor the fluent racinossof Macaulay in 
 the author's mode of treating his subject; but there are 
 qualities of perhaps greater value to the general reader, 
 transparent in the book. It is besides a timely production 
 on this side of the Atlantic, and clearly manifests the fatal 
 injury which divisions amongst the people and their leaders, 
 insubordination to established authority, and the want of 
 true patriotism are inevitably calculated to produce. 
 
 In preparing for the press the materials left to his discre- 
 tion, the editor has sought to preserve, as far as possible, the 
 phraseology of the lamented author, so that his friends may 
 generally recognize his accustomed style— a style, at 
 once imaginative and eloquent, classical and pure. In a 
 book which, according to the design of its author, must be 
 brief, brevity might appear to be almost incompatible with 
 clearness,* but both will be found delectably conjoined in 
 this volume. It will no doubt, be regretted by many 
 lovers of Irish History that comparatively so little is giveu 
 respecting the life and times of Conoover MacNessa(p. i9) ; 
 of Conn "of the hundred battles" (p. 56); of Tmn 
 MacCoul (p. 59) ; of Nial "of the nine hostages'' (p. 66.) ; 
 and, at a period still later, of Brian Boru. who was at once 
 the Solon and the Epaminondas of his country. A^^ain 
 in the ecclesiastical portions of the volume, regret will 
 probably be felt that more copious details are not fur- 
 nished ; but it must be remembered that all these things 
 could not be introduced into a popular " handbook " of Irish 
 History : whilst the dissertation on Ancient Irish Philoso- 
 phy in Chapter VI,, the calm and judicio'is remarks on 
 the constitution of the Irish monarchy occasionally inter- 
 persed through the earlier portion of the book, the sum- 
 mary of the Lives of St. Patrick, (p. 80), of Columba,t 
 
 • Horace, Epislola ad Pisones, 26. 
 
 t Or Colum-kill " the dove of the Churches." 
 
TllJ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 anTaratt'r?^^^^^^ (Chap. XIV) * 
 
 Btudenta of the iclesllrafi'nS h to^^Ti °[ ^'''' 
 Some regrets have been eiDre8«.H Il\r i?^ ''^ ^'"^''''''J- 
 late lamented friend had not Tom^ ^' 'u^'*°' ^^"^ »>« 
 Ireland down to the present time rt'^' History of 
 necessary in a work Kl 1 ' ^^'^ ^^ the less 
 
 History of IreUdhJtl P'"^"*' ^"^'""^'^ as t^ 
 since tJe Notttt^Lr^^^ ^^nglan'd 
 
 from partisan opinions become more ntJ^ • "" ""?"« 
 as we advance towards our own tTmes pl *. P'"^"*'"" 
 author might well have felt liki fJ" • ^^^ '■^«*' *»>« 
 
 of Rome: " Ut le<,^^L j • *^? ^°*^'«"' historian 
 
 • Vide Hallam'8 Middle -Aces Vol n IZ" 
 ediUon. Also "Literature of Cpe - v"'/' 'lo' ''°*' '' ^'^' 
 Tit. Livii. Histor. PrefaUo. 
 
HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Obiqin, Manners, and Customs op the Ethnic Irish. 
 
 To what precise point in the scale of ohro..jlogy we are 
 to refer the time when Ireland first received ita inhabitant*, 
 can never bo determined with any d(^ee of certainty; but 
 it is admitted that a succession of colonists of different 
 origin arrived at a very early period and formed settlements 
 in the island, though it is difficult to ascertain whence thoy 
 came, and the order in which they respectively appeared. 
 
 From the uniform traditions, however, of the people 
 themselves, we learn that the principal and most important 
 inhabitants of Ireland, in early times, were descendants of 
 a colony from CeWc Spain; that those were either preceded, 
 or more probably followed, by another of the Belgae, denomi- 
 nated, in the early history of the country, Firbolgs, who 
 might have come either from Britain or immediately from 
 Gaul ; that, in addition to these, the Danaans, or, as they 
 Were Latinized, the Damnonii, together with a variety of 
 othar colonists from the northern parts of Europe, who 
 were called by various names,* settled in the ibland at 
 
 • The Irish called them Fumharnigk or foreigners, and their 
 country Fmoir$. For theii probable origin, sec O'FUt/ierti/'s 
 Ogyg, p. 303. 9 
 
I( I 
 
 10 
 
 HtSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 There w«re no less than ten kinra in Tt,«,».i ^- ^' 
 •o Homer, .. the time of the TZnll^lT^"^ 
 n««i «>d ilmost eve.7 portion of .nIL G^^^IIT"" 
 oeUed out into regal districts Tf ;- ♦!, "/^"^ ^'"^ Pw- 
 
 nature of their respective lerritori.. »,™ '"7 hnuted 
 Mun,^ ^one eont^e. inXTl Z^^. Z'Z'Z 
 eiSkleen kingdoms. Su of lhe» wore in .L 
 county of Cork; f„«r, in the conn" of ^n^^rfct J^Tf 
 -«o^« eight, in Her^, Wate A Os:;"td*;:ltf 
 
 of Munster, for, Ldes the .lginZ~^r' 
 nowadverted^the whole island .1 divi« iTZ^^ 
 
 • Seo Littleton'8 Hen. II. Vol Iir «« ic i-, r. . 
 lUdwich'. AoU,„iti.. if wlJi.""- "■ ''■ '""'• '"■ 
 
ORiaiN, WiO.y Of THE EltHlttC iBISfl. H 
 
 inoes, each having a prince of its own, who was lord pant- 
 mount to theyZai^i, or chief, of every sept within his province ; 
 whilst a monarch ohoeen from a particular stock,* had at 
 least a nominal authority over the whole island. 
 
 Tliat a monarchy was founded in Ireland, at some very 
 remote period of its history, in which the sovereign was 
 elective and greatly Umited in his power, is admitted by 
 every authority to whioh we can possibly appeal; and that 
 it was necessary he should be choaen from a particular 
 family, is in accordance with all the traditions of the Irish 
 nation. The same rule was foUowed in making choice of 
 ihe provincial dynasts, and even of the flath or chief of 
 every sept. 
 
 In the election and inauguration of the monarch gresii 
 care was taken to ascertain that he was of pure Mil^ian 
 extraction. After his election was declared, and before the 
 ceremony of inauguration was performed, the chie£ senachie 
 or antiquarian, stepped forward, and having bent his kne^ 
 to the monarch elect, proclaimed aloud to the people his 
 genealogy, through every successive generation, in a lon^ 
 catalogue of names, most of them real, but others perhaw 
 ficttious, up tQ Milesius himself. The king was then 
 placed upon a stone, w hioh commonly stood upon a hill,t 
 
 'By the lawof Tani.try the person elected wa. to bT^^^^t 
 or worthiest of the family; and this rule was followed b;^ th. 
 Germans, Sazons, Swedes, and Norwegians, at the verr earl W 
 -tages of their bistory.-S.e Pink. Scot, vllI^Z 
 
 tSome of the stones used for this purpose bore the impress of 
 
 or chief, as the case may be.-5e« Sven»^r>, r,-..„ .^,i. o°° . 
 Ireland. ' ■ - ■ ~~ ^ ^'^ "i^ic o/^ 
 
12 
 
 mSTORY OP IBBLAND. 
 
 and there took a solemn oath to observe and maintain the 
 old laws and customs of the country. A white wand ms 
 then presented to him by a proper officer as a bad^ of his 
 authority; and bearmg this in his hand, he descended from 
 the stdfee and turned himself round thrice forward and 
 tnnce backward. 
 In order also that a duo provision should be made for 
 
 ttl^'T f ^^^'^^ «^^*^^rity, without any interruiv 
 tion from faction or intrigue, a successor called the bZ- 
 ^mna * was appointed to the monarch during his HfetiZ, 
 Who, on his demise, was to ussum^ the fiinctions of his 
 predecessor and exercise the power and authority of the 
 supreme ruler of the island. 
 
 It woul^ be impossible, at a period which does not come 
 mthm the limits of authentic histoiy, to txace wiUi accu- 
 racy the ongin and progress of the Iridh monarchy The 
 well-known annalist of Glonmacnoise, who lived in the 
 eleventh century, and whose character stands high for faith^ 
 fulness and veracity, pronounces all the records of the Irish 
 uncertain before the reign of Kimbaoth, the founder of the 
 palace of Eamania in the province of Ulster f 
 
 From this prince there is a formidable host of monarchs 
 given us by the bardic historians ; but to account for this 
 It IS only necessary to remember the number of kings of 
 different grades for which Ireland was remarkable dSng 
 the earher portion of its histoiy. From such a profusion 
 therefore of royal ma terials a faciUty was afforded to the 
 
 • See O'Oon. Oiaflert., note p. 48. 
 t?!!!: "T'.!'™*^ ^^' ^''^'^^^ ^lea m the year 1088.-S,. 
 
ORIOIN; ETC.» OP TBB ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 13 
 
 bards, ds well as a strong temptation, to fabricate their list 
 of reigning monarcbs, and, without tinj fear cJ detection, 
 to give a succession of kings to the whole island, togetiier 
 with a corresponding system of chronology far exceeding 
 the bounds of credulity and truth. 
 
 Besides, if the statement be true that all these potentates 
 had pursued each other with eagerness along the sanguinary 
 stage of an elective monarchy ; — that, by the constitution, 
 minors being incapable of governing, no prince could be- 
 come a candidate for the throne before ho had arrived at 
 the age of twenty-five ; — that revolutions were also frequent \ 
 and that in a contest between two rivals for the sovereignty, 
 the question was alw:xys decided by the sword, it must be 
 obvious tiut the writer who ascribes, under all these circum 
 stances, a reign of sizty or seventy years to 5ome of the 
 Irish monarchs, and asserts that one of them lived to the 
 advanced age of one hundred end fifty, invalidates his own 
 testimony, and renders it impossible that his authority 
 should be taken for anything as certain, in the earlier stages 
 of Irish history. 
 
 Were we able to give an authentic account of the aocet- 
 sion and death of every monarch that filled the imperial 
 throne of Ireland during the reign of Druidism, it would 
 be found that the greater number of those princes, who got 
 the title of monarohs, have left nothing behind them but 
 merely their names, anu most frequently the record of their 
 premature death. They pass before us in rapid succession, 
 like iho shadow of clouds drifted over a harvest^field, 
 but their evanescent career is ma) ked by very few incidents 
 of political or national importance. 
 
u 
 
 I : i 
 
 V 
 
 I If 
 
 « 
 
 I 
 
 HISTOaY OF IRBLAifji, 
 
 a»t ite mona^hy could p^ZT^'i" ""*™l>««ib'e 
 ■»»«on and discord where ^7 .*™ """"'^ "■»" 
 «'"««tly comf,^ into .^117"^"'™"' »««»-*» we« 
 
 Oiffercnt provinc^^cSrJr '' '."'' *^ ""^ "^ ^ 
 
 "«;« by the death of S rei^" " *' '*«»» »»°«. 
 
 «g=»toed ia ,ie Irish r^e„,d"*; ''^ '«'™"y 
 •ie battlefield, aa well asT -tddl u "/" *' S"""* »f 
 the «.ilitarye^i^„f»-o™derablo degree of akill i„ 
 
 «ord, the javelin, and thThoa^^r "^ »' "l^"*- ">» 
 
 '•"""" r*^-* "-o^ '-ployed .^„" ' T "■' f"""^ 
 
 tte uae of which they appeL toT 1 "°^' "<' «* 
 ^ The n>Uit.r, fo„^ ^^ ^^'« become very f.«uii«.. 
 
 been «n.etin,i deacrilef k, f • 7"'^ '^'"•'"od ha. 
 »th„,ia™ that «.ch" ™b^ 'r*^ '^* ll «■« 
 
 It wa. denonunated F^l'ti^ ''^'^ '« i«pi«. 
 »-i b.d probably ita n^ltTil*^ '^'' "^'^^ 
 of adventurers who had vwS tJT ' °"*<™ "U 
 
 I«n«<i, .nd who arc aupp^J^"" "' " «7 «riy 
 
 ""PfMed la have been th. nri™.,i 
 
dBiaiN, ETC., OP THE ETHlfIC IRISH. 
 
 16 
 
 inhabitauta of Scandinavia.* The bravery of these bardy 
 sons of the north, as well as the duty imposed upon them 
 of guarding the ooasts from their marauding countrymen, 
 induced the Irish to appiy the word Feat to a military corps 
 of any description, though it n>ight be altogether composed 
 of natives and without any connexion with the foreigners 
 to whom it was originally and exclusively applied. 
 
 The Irish militia were divided into legions, and the chief 
 commander of each province was denominated Ricjh Fionn, 
 or king of the military, to whom they took an oath of 
 fidel'ty and obedience. Some of these troops were generally 
 employed in North Britain to assist the PJcts, their allies in 
 that country, in making inroads upon the Roman provinces 
 in the southern division of the island ; and they were hence 
 styled, by old writers, the Fene Albyn, or Albanian legions.f 
 
 The soldiers were supported by billeting them on the 
 country from November till May; and each house was 
 obliged to supply one of them with certain necessaries. 
 During the rest of the year they were employed in fishing 
 and hunting, or in finding provisions for themselves in some 
 other way consistent with the dignity of the military pro- 
 fession. Singular activity being required of each of them, 
 the exercise of hunting was one means of preserving them 
 in health and vigour,^ atji the red deer, then so numerous 
 
 * These Scandinavian rovers were divided into various clang, 
 denominated Scritofins, Rerefins, Finwedi, Finwridi, and several 
 others that rstained the name of Fin as indicative of the coun- 
 try from which they bad originally emigrated. — Set Led. Jnt., 
 p. 16. 
 
 t O'Hal. Hist., Vol. II, B. VI, Chap. III. 
 
 with so much avidity as the Irish nation in general." — QCon. 
 JHwri.^f.XW, 
 

 16 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 presened in tho pl«d worn J,v ^^ j '''^ "^ «'" 
 Highland, vf North Brirr t^. "j'" ,^'««'"Janta i„ the 
 in society had it, numCrfcoI!^^ '>"''7''Wol. each grade 
 
 remote .n«,,ity bj^ZTof^^ ^"f ^"^ *" «"«' 
 
 Except 1 Ltf J™ Jltr"'^ "''""■"•* 
 ela«C8, the,» waa a co^L^m! "?" ''^ ""*» '«*-« 
 »>■• higher and lo^^^l'^2''^'i '" "^ "«*"«■> 
 P<»" from the carrin-o^ ^ ^"^ *^»". « «I^ 
 
 -^o were often i„ Z'S^' ^ ittid "'• "^"^ 
 Me change during the lapse . 4^ 1^ ""^r""™"? 
 wittoat much variation h» nn„ . " •'"nmitted 
 
 "~ ™oh «, admitted of l»Tf T"*'™ •" »■«'«'<'• » 
 or the wearer, J wJiI^^ST/"""''"'' ''»'-' 
 g^Xe-t poeaiWe ad^tase o»^ *"'. »PP>««"» to the 
 
 «Wy .0 tho lege S^^.^:tCZf " '" ''"«' 
 — — °J ' ^*'"" *^e piece annexed to 
 
 •0'HaI.IIi8t,B.IIl.0h«n V 
 
ORIGIN, ETC., OF THE ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 17 
 
 it, called the Braccm,^ was so contrived as to cover and 
 protect the breast, much better than any article of the kin'i 
 designed for the same nse in modem times. The close 
 sleeves also gave the wearer the full use of his arms without 
 any impediment ; and the Bared, or covering of the head, 
 was made of the same material, and rose conically liko the 
 cap worn in more modem times by a grenadier. A wide 
 cloak, called a FaUung, which was put on over the whole, 
 was also sometimes used as a bed, in the long, or field-tent, 
 which was pitched in the time of war, or in hunting expe- 
 ditions. 
 
 The Celtes, or woodlanders, as their name is supposed to 
 intimate,! generally took up their residence in forests, and 
 never made use of fortifiea towns for their defence, or even 
 of permanent edifices for their own accommodation. Th^ 
 were in the habit, however, in Ireland of impaling occasion- 
 ally their Longpharts, or camps, to prevent surprise ; and 
 this temporary habitation they called a Dun. It was made 
 up of thick ditcaes of earth, impaled with wooden stakes, 
 and surrounded with a deep trench. The area within the 
 dun they raised high, that they might annoy an attacking 
 enemy with the greater advantage. These duns were in 
 general but small, and suited only for the defence of a few 
 
 •The word brae, in Celtic, signifying anything speckled or 
 partly coloured, it is probable that this article of dress had its 
 name from the ornamental matenals of which it vrou composed. 
 
 t The learned Joseph Mede takes the Oeltes to have been c 
 colony of the Cimmerians who settled in ancient Oaul, and we.« 
 called by the Oraeks TaKaToi, which was contracted afterwards 
 into KcXtcu, and that hence the Celtea had their aame.«-^iSr«c 
 Mtdt'i Works^ p. 383. 
 
18 
 
 HISTOHr OF IRELAND. 
 
 fort" aro ttiH u, ^^^ .^' ""'"■' "f -.nj of ftew 
 
 .•"""ts of fairies, net /^ f°^r^ '" •» "«' !«»«"• 
 '^»da.7 tradition, rf 2 Zt T''"' '""•^ "^ *• 
 
 The wars wliioh the IriJl. »>,■«• 
 
 ""ging with eaeh other we«t.°M^r """ «'°«»>»% 
 8^o»»% ended i„ o„; S^f "' """O-""", .nd 
 protracted campaign it {^2^ !»«»«»™»t. Dari.g . 
 «« ««rifioed bv di«ale ir^'^ ^^1*°" «"« more men 
 .l""! i« ., often'lrreVo: ft'\*' fT' •»<' «■«« «■ 
 'eoW blast of oontagiorast™ ,"?""' ^^ *» !»»«- 
 
 ;^;';^ogth; buttbrwixt".::^^*--..™. 
 
 We have instances, however of » v ^"* '^^'f*^. 
 -v-al days before 'the S^llT Z]^ "'^^^ ^-*«^ 
 l>^nning to the end of the ^- J ?^'^' *°'^' ^''^"^ the 
 •^aroely one instance of any t^7f *'^ "^«°°- ^e have 
 b« diadem.* *"^ "^^°°^«h surviving the loss of 
 
 -tt":s*br=r*^^"-*--'-^" 
 
 ?««es in these wa^topZS '""'*'"'' *« '««^»» 
 Celtio i«e, on some occasions n,ri >•..'""" "f «>« 
 
 i-_ 
 
OBIQIN, BTO., OF THE ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 19 
 
 ritorial possessions of an inferior tcparoh, probably confined 
 the rage of the belligerent parties to a very contracted circle ; 
 and hence, the enmity which was generated by the collision 
 of petty interests most frequently assumed the utmost yiru- 
 lence of personal animosity. Accustomed to act under the 
 immediate impulse of their own wishes, some of the Irish 
 princes, like the stubborn oak, which disdains to bend and is 
 dashed headlong to the ground by the impetuosity of the 
 storm, brought certain and immediate destruction upon 
 themselves; whilst a few others, possessing more policy and 
 discretion, contrived to accomplish their respective objects 
 by measures that were of a more political and less sangui- 
 nary nature. 
 
 But whilst the martial genius and institutions of the 
 ancient Irish make the most conspicuous figure in their 
 early history, their civil policy, as fiur as it can now be 
 known, is not without its share of interest and instruction. 
 It is to be regretted, however, that our knowledge of this 
 subjeot is necessarily so limited, as only a few fragments of 
 the Brehon laws, by which the people were governed, have 
 come down to our time ; and it is now impossible to deter- 
 mine, with any d^ree of certainty, the diffident periods at 
 which they were enacted. The person who administered 
 those laws was called a Breathamh, or Brehon. He sat on 
 the summit of a hill, or on its acclivity, to hear causes ; and 
 exercised a discretional power in his decisions on every sub- 
 ject. One of these ancient seats of judgment, occupied by 
 this functionary, is still to be seen on the hiH of Kyle in 
 the Barony of Ossary and Queen's county. It is very near 
 the top of the hill, on the side ijext the east, is formed froift 
 
» 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAlfD. 
 
 «^e BoUd rook, and i, oonunonly oaiJed h. .k 
 the fairy chair." * ' °**^^ ^J t'le peagantry 
 
 "'o-J »pon hy u, ■ .„„ I'^riZ^" ^-^a-t which w„ 
 well a. by various otie, n.tiS^^J'ET "°"' ^ "^^ " 
 
 T-., during Ho tl>u ofl^"", "^"^ '"'^"ed .1 
 Whon murder orZT ^^"^ """Tontion. 
 
 tt'prioo. himself, hoX^trr?'^-"','*^- ^» 
 hud upon hia domiuiou. in^. ° .""""'' *' *« "« 
 fisher of his people, ,i^ ,^^,1 /" *°^^'»«J *« 
 to him. '^^ no were all therefore equally ,el.ted 
 
 ""PKfeot. t But as SZaT.^ ■■'fonm.tiou is very 
 ■jnder the u«ue of WWle IS," *° '"*'"' '^''ion^ 
 «h« wbjeets of an„.h„ »e« J ' "°7"'"« '™«J -Pon 
 » oertaiu weight of g'id T^^T'^' ■"*" '■» °«"e^or 
 
 •I;ed. Ant., p. 279. 
 
 + '^rom the testimony of To«-» 
 
 '"•^r .b.„ ,1.. of .°i ircr 'r,'"" ""•p»b.M, 
 
 ... ..... V,«^._ ^1;.^/=,' 
 
OBIGXN, ETO., OP TBS DiUNIC IRISH. 
 
 21 
 
 niary oiroulating mediom, snoh as has been sometimes 
 Inscribed to them. That the ports of Ireland were visited 
 at an early period by the Scandinavians for the purpose of 
 traffic, cannot be doubted ; but the gold and silver that these 
 northern traders gave to the natives for such commodities 
 as they purchased, were not coins, but rings, necklaoes, and 
 other ornaments of a similar nature. Even the Boman 
 money acquired by thelrish in their predatory incursions 
 into Britain did not circulate as a medium of commerce,* 
 but jKiB probably manufactured into various oraaments 
 then in use, and which have been frequently found in the 
 bogs in Ireland, inasmuch as no Boman coins have been 
 discovered in the island. 
 
 Little CHU be said respecting the agriculture of the coun- 
 try, in the earlier stages of its history ; but, from some traces 
 still remaining even in the greatest wilds,t it appears prob- 
 able ihal it was earned on to a more considerable extent 
 than is generally supposed. Whilst the wealth of the nation 
 consisted chiefly in numerous herds of cattle, the progress 
 of industry also produced superfluities, and these the inhabi- 
 tants bartered for the commodities of the northern coun- 
 tries, as well as for those of Oaul, which was possessed of 
 superior wealth. 
 
 Whilst we are thus able to take an imperfect view of some 
 of the national characteristics of the ancient Irish, we have 
 but little information respecting their moral and social 
 qualities in private life. An invincible courage, contempt 
 of death, and ardent feelings both of love and hatred, seem 
 to have been the distinguishing features of the national 
 charaoter. 
 
 •See Led. Ant., pp. in, 132. 
 
 t O'OoQ. Daisert. p. 125 ; O'Hal., Vol. I, p. 128. 
 
The importanca of order In *k • 
 •Ppears to have impreesed !I« ^ •°'""*^^»' •^«'o- 
 *^e -cient Irish sj ^^^^^I^ .f *^« ^l^^om of 
 •Pf for the pn)per^IZ!^' "^ "^'^ ^'^ » oourt set 
 ^^ the a^i4 b^ndT^Ll:'^'/'^^"^^'* connected 
 the nation at Tara.* ' '" "'^ 8^ Aon«)h, or assembly of 
 It ia manifest, however t),.* u • 
 
 *"«>»rt,t and ibu th. tit ' fc ^ ""^ '■' "» '«" of 
 Ciri-tuu. „|^,„. '" """"i for th. i^„„„ ^ ^^ 
 
 But notwiUutandino' tk. 
 ■^•0 tie ciZtCr^^r '''*'■*'■»'"" -o 
 »"y in ft. State to wur rt T^"" "«7 «mk and Z 
 
 M«n-'"go indeed appo J^ W^ '"^"^ '".of «Ki„ty, 
 '•"on among.t fte ^0 ,^ °°T' " '""-J"' "f '.gi 
 of the pe«„„ J i„^ J^°^ 1"* -nerdj for fte .dj^tol^ 
 
 "njoat ft.t He children Sd t "' " " "" ''»«»od 
 P^nalUe,, „, even disabSittr^ ^r""*" "'«' P""" »d 
 no actual partioip.ti„,. '"*" '^' ""»«- '" "i^ol. ftey b,d 
 
 ike predilecUon which t'.n r.-,i. . 
 >°5 to^t^. above that Ct,., t; ""'.?^«' «" mnaic 
 ■"•jona, i, .]<« univenj ' """"<' - °>«.t other 
 
 T^r-r — ^ZLl^J^gnage ha. been 
 
 tOOon.Disaert,, p ,,, 
 
OHlOtK, BtO., 09 THB KtHNtC IKISH. 
 
 2d 
 
 oAan admired by some of the best judges that have referred 
 to the snbjeot ; aod its singular adaptation to poetry remain* 
 » perpetual monument of the national taste; and has, no 
 doubt, oontribttted to the oelebri^ of the Irish bards in 
 pagan, as well as in Christian timee. Every family of di«* 
 tinotion retained a poet and a harper; and the poet's person 
 and residence were alwaye esteemed sacred, in the midst of 
 all the turbulence which sometimes prevailed.* 
 
 One duty of the bard was to attend his patron in the 
 field of battle; to animate him during the engagement; and 
 to celebrate his exploits in poetic numbers. The ode com- 
 posed on such occasions was called Rotg-CatKa^ or the eye 
 of battle. A great number of these odes are preeerved in 
 ancient manuscripts, add are said to oe not only bsatitifiil, 
 but animating to the highest degree. The effect may be 
 easily conceived which they were calculated to produce on 
 the minds of ambitious and imperfectly civilized chieftains 
 when engaged with an enemy; and the veneration in which 
 this order of men were universally iield by the people was 
 almost without precedent in any other country. 
 
 Nor was it merely in the time of war that the services 
 of the bard werj required by his patron, but the funeral 
 obsequies could not be properly performed without his aid. 
 It was the peculiar cffioe of the bard to compose the funeral 
 dirge, which was chanted by a chorus of minstrels who were 
 retailed for such services. The heroism of the departed, 
 and his supposed virtues, were celebrated in affecting strains ; 
 whilst the solemnity of the proccsfiion to the last resting- 
 place of the defunct could not fill to produce an extensive 
 effect upon the minds of the spectators. 
 
 •MacPheri. Crit. Dissert., Dia. XIX. 
 
24 
 
 flISl'ORY OF mJLAND. 
 
 ! m 
 
 No custom appears to have been more ancient than a 
 fijstematio wailmg over the remains of the departed as we 
 find It practised by the Hebrews, the Greeks, aid the 
 Romans, m every stage of their history. But the Irish have 
 been more tena^jious of the practice than any other people; 
 and the female chorus k continued to the present daVove; 
 the dead; but sometimes so debased by discordant tones, as 
 
 mlZ ^ t' ^"""^"^l^'^^^^^ efiusions of ignorant ^d 
 ^Iterate performers, that there is but little similarity 
 between the present custom and the original institution. 
 
 The regulation of the different modes of interment 
 amongst the Irish is ascribed to die monarch Eochy X sur- 
 named 0/ the Grave.* He directed, it is said,'u.a; the 
 head be placed to the west, the feet to the east, and a leacht 
 or monument of stone, raised over the whole 
 
 Some of iJie nobility had graves dug, the bottom of which 
 was of smooth marble, the sides built with brick and cement, 
 m the form of a modern coffin, and finished with such inge^ 
 nuity at the top, that a large stone fitted it so exactly as to 
 eave no room for the entrance of dust or any other adven- 
 titious substances. In this the corpse was laid, with his 
 armour on and his sword by his side; and inscriptions 
 were raised round the moulding of the coffins, some of 
 which may be still seen, after the lapse of so many ages 
 exhibiting, by the beauty of the letters, the artistic skTof 
 the sculptors of a period so remote. 
 
 • O'Hal., Vol. II, p. 168. 
 
 I! 
 
onAPTEB n. 
 
 RxuoioN or TBI £thni< Iribii. 
 
 It is probable that the sncestors of tLe original inhabi- 
 tants of Ireland at first received the principles of their 
 religion from the Phconioians in Spain ; which may account 
 for the obviooB orientalism of raany of its pcouliaritiee. 
 Subsequent colonists, however, from ihe north of Europe,* 
 may have introduced, at different times, customs amongst 
 them, which, having some aflbity with those abready preva- 
 lent in the island, wore very easily engrafted on the existing 
 creed. 
 
 Descended ae the original Irish were from that Celtic 
 stock, which, at a period no* no^ reducible to any precise 
 point in chronology, snpplie i Gaui^ Britain, and Spain with 
 their original population, it is to be inferred that the 
 religion which they brought into Ireland, and which went 
 by the general name of Druidism, was the same with that 
 which the a^ate branches of the same race professed in 
 other parts of the west of Europe. 
 
 An ancient writer states thit among the Gauls, three 
 classes were more particularly held in veneration, the Bards 
 Vates, and Druids.f The Bards were not properly a 
 
 • The explanation of many of our antiquities must deptad upon 
 tho customs and mannera of the northern colonies b«ia« well 
 uadetsvood. — f'uvmaiPi Wrrtatofofio, Voi. JI, p. 260. 
 
 tStrabo,»LIb. IV. 
 
26 
 
 IIISIOSY OF IHEIAND. 
 
 religious order knt^ero composers of horoie rKK,:^ ode- 
 bratod the exploit, of their patroBs, made birLay\^» 
 and poured forth poo.o laa,entatioa» over thema Jof the' 
 J^taousdead. The Vat^s assisted. ..e «.«riiioes, eot 
 P««d sacred poems or hymns, played upon .nstrumoits of 
 musio upon ewrj, *>lemu oeoasion, and were ,„pp„«d to 
 prediot future eveuts. The Druids were the divines and 
 phJosophers and performed aB the services of relimon 
 <«cept fto«, that were peouliar to the Vales. They oeeupied 
 
 Ztf^T """J «»g«iled plaee amount aU the 
 Celtio tribes were ehosen out of the best famiUes; and the 
 honour of the„ birth, joined with that of their fonetion 
 p^^red for the. tl,e highest degree of popular venerat^^n' 
 They are supposed to have derived their name <V„ni thei^ 
 ylvan hfe, a. weU as from a superstitious veneration wUeh 
 «he, showed for the oak, which in the ancient 0011117,1 
 guijge w^ caUed deru; but a, they were denomina^ in 
 Irebnd Draiike, which signifies a soothsayer, or onrwho 
 predicts future events,* the name by which ieir oriert 
 known may have originated in somethirg different from 
 that which 19 so generally supposed. 
 
 Like the soribee among the Jews, they we^ commonly 
 airayed in long garmento, carried a waud in their h«id « 
 a badge of their sacred office, and wore a kind of ornTeu" 
 euchaaed in gold about their necks, called the dZTZ 
 Thejr necks were likewise decorated with goU chains Z 
 Hieur hands and arms with bracelets; they wore their W 
 v^ short and their beards remarkably tog " 
 
 • In the Irish version 0/ the Bible, th^ mo»;„- * ™ 
 
 caUad ...he Druids of Eg^pf (=«£ ol v ^ "Vn/S''."' 
 men hr maffj fr-^m fKA „.»♦ :^ „ , .. , "• ^^^ ' *°<^ the wise 
 
RBLiaiON OP THE ETHNIC IMSH. 
 
 27 
 
 The religion of every country must always have a consid- 
 erahle influence on its government and political institu- 
 tions ; but that of the Celtic race, wherever they were found 
 to exist, constituted one of the most essential parts of their 
 national policy. The authority of the Druids amongst the 
 Gnuls and Britons was almost unlimited. It was not merely 
 confined to the direation of religious duties, but extended 
 as well to all the civil and military affairs of the nation. 
 Their presence was necessary at the performance of every 
 religious rite;* and it is said that "frequently during hos- 
 tilities, when armies were approaching each other with 
 swords drawn and lances extended, these men, rushing 
 between them, put an end to their contentions, taming them 
 as tney would tame wild beast8."f 
 
 The Druids made religion also subservient to the main- 
 tenance of their power in every transaction both public and 
 private, so that nothing could be done without their sanc- 
 tion ; and so absolute was their authority, that magietrates 
 and kings were only the meie creatures and obsequious 
 instruments of their order. This irresponsible power they 
 exercised also in the courts of ju-'tice; and whoever refused 
 to submit to their decisions were excluded from the public 
 services, which, on account of the consequences that fol- 
 lowed it, was considered the greatest punishment that 
 could be inflicted.| 
 
 • Caes. Comment., Lib. VI. 13. ' 
 
 t D'odorua Siculns, V. 31. 
 
 I Haec poena apud eoa eat gravissima, Quibus ita est intordic- 
 tum, ii numero impiorum ac aceleratorum habontur : iip omnea 
 decddant, aditum eorum aernonemque dcfugiunt, ne quid ex 
 contagione incommodi ftccipiant ■ neaue iia prif«if -K-s -Uj^ 
 redditur, neque honog ujlus commnumXnt.^Cat, Comment 
 lib. VI. 13. 
 
29 
 
 HISTORY OP IRBLAITD. 
 
 fi 
 
 j! 
 
 But besides the Druids, who officiated in the pubUc ser. 
 Tioee of religion, there existed amongst the Ethnic Irish 
 an order of religious females or D/uidesses, who had devoted 
 themselyes to a life of perpetual oelibacy. This order of 
 vestals seems to have been common to all those nations 
 Tffhose religion was of Celtic or Soytho-Oeltic origin. In 
 the northern nations of Europe these religious females 
 were called AUruiKB ; and it is worthy of remark, that in 
 Irish the word Alirmaighe signifies a wise person, or onw 
 acquainted with secrets and mj&teries. 
 
 There ^ras at Tara, ia ae county of Meath, an establish- 
 ment of these vestals, which was called Claaim-Feart, or 
 the pl<*c9 of retirement until death j because the inmates 
 never quitted the precincts of the house, from their first 
 reoeptkci. These virgins wore a particular kind of habit; 
 and the duty imposed upon them was to keep up constantly 
 the sacred fire of Bel, the supreme god of the country. 
 
 With a confide ^ peculiar to a certain class of antiqua- 
 rians, it hap been i quently asserted that the Irish Druids 
 had no letters. But this opinion is very far from l)eiag the 
 result of either reason or an acquaintance with their his- 
 tory. It is true that none of the writings of the Druids of 
 any of the Celtic nations have survived the wreck of their 
 institutions, but this is no conclusive evidence that such 
 writings did not exist. 1 he policy of the Romans induced 
 them to use every means in their power to obliterate any 
 vestige that might happen to remain of the former state of 
 those whom they had conquered, and this might account 
 for the absence of Druidical writings in Gaul and Britain. 
 With regard to the Irish priests of that order, we learn 
 from the uniform testimonv of .*^ 'tr'n^'- h- »--« 
 
RELIGION OF TBS BTHNIC IRISn. 
 
 29 
 
 that the 2eal of that missionary and his oolleagtiee destroyed 
 about one ^' ^red and eighty Druidical tracts in one day. 
 
 Caosar, t *ote from his own knowledge of the Druids 
 of Gaul, expressly states that they not only possessed let' 
 ters, but that they employed them for every purpose both 
 public and private, except in recording their religiious mys- 
 teries, which they deemed too sacred to be committed to 
 writing. =^ They also instructed, he says, their disciples in 
 the motion of the science of the stars and the magnitu'le of 
 the earth, which most manifestly implied that they possessed 
 some skill in astronomy. The same writer informs us, that 
 such of the Qauls as wished to study diligently the doctrines 
 of Druidism repaired to Britain for th^tt purpose, which 
 country, he intimates, was the prime seat of this ancient 
 system of superstition. 
 
 As Ireland was styled by the ancient geographers, one 
 of the British isles,t it is highly probable that it was the 
 country to which the Gauls resorted to receive that instruc- 
 tion of which Caesar speaks. But whether this supposition 
 be well founded or not, the feet mentioned by this Roman 
 writer ought to be sufficient evidence that their instructors, 
 at least, could not have been ignorant of some kind of alpha- 
 betic writing. There is however no theory, hov? baseless 
 soever it may be, that the caprices of talent will not be able 
 to embellish, in order to acconunodate the very best authen- 
 ticated facts to its own visionary speculations. 
 
 • Comment., Lib. VI. U. 
 
 t Thas Ptolomy the geographer, Tkt Britith Atlands arc two i 
 one cJled Jllbion, the other Jerne. KustatiuB, the Greek interpre- 
 ter of Dion jaiuB, sava. there nre two BritUh hland*. Quemia and 
 Mowin, or Bimia and Albion." O'Hal. Vol. I, p. U.—Set aha 
 Cimd9n'$ Britannia. 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 leall 1 r '^"^ ^^'"^ *^^ '"^^^'^^ I"«»^ ^-^^ for 
 earning and literary aoquiremente, immediately after the 
 
 mtroduo^on of Christianity amongst them, affori a Ing 
 pr^mptzve evidence that they were not altogether an illi^ 
 I7jrfl':'^^l'^'' ^"^^^"* event. Besides, ha^ 
 Chrir. " ^" ^"^^ ^"^'^^ ^''"6 the; by 
 
 thaUt ITrT"' r ^"^ ^^^ ^^PP^'-^^' ^t - plain 
 that It niust have been those that were used by the Latins 
 
 whch they taught them. But it is evident, th'at^e o2 
 
 ZlZ^r^^V'''' "'"" '' ^^« Irish'charaoters d ! 
 fered widely from tnose of the Roman alphabet. The Irish 
 
 ^W r^-'"^- """^ ""'""S^^ ''' «»» °^«r P^'^liar to them- 
 selves,* beginning with the consonants and having the 
 
 mmiW, whilst the Roman alphabet contained twonty-four • 
 
 want of ^nity with those that the Latins had m use in 
 any period of their history, au m use m 
 
 in !^r^"'? tWIves, with real Celtic pertinacity, even 
 n writing Latin words, after the Roman alphabet hid been 
 
 f tfat:SnhZ^^•'^' "^'^"^ ^ ^^^^'^ ^^y ^^--^er 
 of that alphabet which was not to be found in their own 
 
 Beth-luis-nion. For instance, whenever the letter Xoc- 
 
 cured instead of using it they employed ,, or c as a sut 
 
 titute, for no other reason bnt because it did not exist in 
 
 their own pnmitive alphabet.f 
 
 Nor could it be reasonably supposed that the system of 
 
 thZ ? '°"T **''"^°'''' '••**' ^ *^«^« ^*8 no prototype to cony 
 
 t See Literature of the Tri«»i «ftn- ♦»,-:> -^_- . ' %.'"■ 
 tianity. Collect. No. 6. vunv^rsion w Oiirw- 
 
 
RELIOION OP THE ETHKIC IRISH. 
 
 81 
 
 philosophy which was taught by the Irish in the middle 
 ages, was introduced into their country by their first evan- 
 gelical instructors, as it was widely di£ferent from that which 
 was then prevalent in any of the Christian nations of Europe. 
 It is admitter. that the Irish in the seventh and eighth 
 cimturies maintained the doctrine of the plurality of rrorlds, 
 of the earth's rotundity, and oonsequentfy that evory place 
 had its antipodes ; * and thiu system of philosophy, it is 
 well known, was pronounced to be heretical by the highest 
 dignitaries of the Latin church at the time. In fact so far 
 were the first preachers of Christianity in Ireland fros} 
 introducing such sentiments amongst their converts, that, 
 wo are told, they destroyed all the Druidical writings on 
 physics and astronomy, as well as on relij^ion, of which they 
 could get possessioB ; judging them to be repugnant to the 
 principles of that faith which it was the object of their 
 mission to propagate. 
 
 It is a well-ascertained fact, fhat during the existence of 
 Druidism the science of astronomy was cultivated with far 
 greater iieal in Ireland than in any other nation in the 
 western parts of the world. The Qauls had then no measure 
 for their annual festivals but the lunations or revolutions 
 of the moon ; but this was not the case with the Irish, as 
 by the intervention of intercalary days they made some 
 attempt, though now confessedly imperfect, at reconciling 
 the difference between the lunar and solar year. This is 
 evident from the order of their annual festivals, as well as 
 from the words in the Irish language signifying a year, tfie 
 aodiao, and the solstitial points.f Nothing therefore could 
 
 ■ See Httl.j Vol. I, p. 93. 
 
 t The year was called by the Irigh, BliadhoHf or Bel-am, whiQ|i 
 
82 
 
 niSTOBT OP laBLAHD. 
 
 
 I! 
 
 M 
 
 fw more prcpoflterc-Ts than to flupDoscth.ttiin'n -^ . 
 their Mligioas wonhic • 31;^^/ ' '"'" ''''■'<*^ "^ 
 
 p^i .0 be th«r°;:Sir " "^ '^ ™ ""^ 
 o™;~ 3-:^;;4^t^r ^"° "' 
 
 « momorial rfin- „ - 7 "pography, still prosorro 
 
 «-mZr^of ^Tf «';'^ of ™I»«titi„o; i^itte 
 ponncu ot (man or of £rf are names of this descrintinn 
 »d«m„,d us of thepraodooof theaborigines^ria^^.' 
 t o^B.0 primaq, otj^t ,f thej ^Hgo^s^n respeo. 
 
 »/. ,.-, ..dica,./.,Xr <W^V,"5.^ IHjM,^^„ 
 
 ."Sir f:;:i'^;s:-rr«»» »'«--nTrar 
 
fiSLlOlOM OF THE BTHNIC Iiasn. 
 
 8d 
 
 It wad asaal, at the foBtival of Bel, for the priosto to light 
 ap tho holy fire, and all oulinary fires wore to be eztin- 
 guiahad until this was kindled.* We have no means of 
 asoertaining in what manner the sacret^ fire was lighted in 
 Ireland ; but the Scandinavians and North Britons differed 
 in the mode in which it was excited. Among tho latter, 
 planks were mbbed together unti' the friction caused them 
 to blaio;t but tho former employed flints, which arc still to 
 to bo found about the old altars in the northern countries 
 of Europe. 
 
 The adoration of fire seems to have been engendered hj 
 the worship of the sun, and held a prominent place in the 
 religious system of the ancient Irish. It is probable that 
 those round-iowers which are so numerous in Ireland, and 
 are to be found in every section of the island, were origi- 
 nally connected with this t'opartment of religious worship. 
 Their height varies from eighty to one hundred and twenty 
 feet, and they are uniformly of tho same constxniction, hav- 
 ing a door about tr dve or sixteen feet from the ground, 
 and four openings at tho top directed to the cardinal points 
 of the heavens. They are all circular, and to a spectator, 
 who enters one of them, it presents the appearance of a 
 huge gigantic chimney ; but their history stands so far back 
 wiihin the thickening shades of antiquity that it is impos- 
 ftble to determine at what period of time they were erected. 
 
 This subject has been so perplexed by the conflicting 
 speculations of modern antiquaries, that little room is left 
 for anything satisfactory upon it. That these towers were 
 built by the Danes in the ninth century, as some have 
 
 * ITBaer., p, 849 : Walsh's Froa., p, 430, 
 
 t MartiA'0 West, Islaods, p. 113 i Led. Ant., p. 387. 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF miLAND. 
 
 
 I 
 
 «i*W,* .pp««, highly impn,b.We. P„, fc^ m, been 
 
 «..^^,e.h..e:c:^;.^r:r,t 
 
 th^T'u' *''"' P^^'^Ji^rities, however, connected with 
 
 ana real use, yet to prove that thev conW nn* », i. 
 erertPfl Kir *^.^ a j- . •' °""* °o* «ave been 
 
 ofthe.onhpi„^.ronL!:a ^e:^^^^^^^^ 
 
 have been the case. There wm,U i,.l i, "^"'^ °°'P<»s'' ^7 
 those other oo„n trios whioh were infested by 4o 1^,^/ 
 
 Another peouliarity of these towe« is, that, however they 
 ».y d.ffer m s« .nd locality, they iave nnifoIL the 
 same shape, and are obviously constmotp^ ™ .i 
 
 ' Led. Ant., pp. 284-300. 
 
 Ii I 
 
RBLIQION OP THE ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 16 
 
 travellore in Persia, India, and several other regions of Ae 
 east,* but are not to be found in any of the modem coun- 
 tries in Europe. 
 
 Without therefore entering into any of the various and 
 oonflicting theories Dtarted by antiquarians on this subject, 
 the most probat'e conjecture is, that these towers were 
 appropriated by the Irish to some use similar to that of those 
 Persian temples in which the inextinguishable fire was pre- 
 served. This opinion will be found strengthened by observ- 
 ing, that, as the sacred fire was to be kept from every kind 
 of pollution of mtui and beast, the entrance to these towers 
 is raised to such a height as rendered the access to them 
 circuit, and secured them the more effectually from such 
 pollution as might arise from accident or any other cause. 
 
 It is admitti * that some of the first Christian mission- 
 aries, in order to enlist the prejudices of their converts in 
 their fovour, generally converted those places which had 
 been ^^teemed holy in pagan times to the purposes of 
 religious worship under the gospel. Hence to these fire- 
 temples was subsequently appended a wooden church, and 
 the towers themselves were employed as belfries.f This will 
 also account for their having been called "ecclesiastical 
 towers," at a more recent period,^ as well as for the crosses 
 upon the otps of many of them, and Christian symbols 
 in the body of the structure of others ; as these are mani- 
 
 • See Han way's Travels into Persia, Vol. I, and Lord Valencia's 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. II. 
 
 t In consequence of this accommodated us», the towers were 
 called in Irish, Cloch-thtachs, or bell-houses ; doc or clog signify- 
 ing a beil, Andiheach, a house.— Tf'a/sA's Pros., p. 417. 
 
 t Gambrens, Topog., p. 720. 
 
u 
 
 niCTORY OF IRSLAND. 
 
 TO geaorJl, supped to acroiso. *''' "'™' 
 
 "".h.d been .Xn^ .o "1*1;^^^^ r" 
 
 r.:r^rrre-^frS?'9^ 
 
 captive in the time of war • b^t^n u ^""^ **^"" 
 
 .w.„/.4f4rru r^e "rsr-r '^^ 
 
 * Oaasar informa tip i.„* *u . ~ 
 
 sacrifice- on thi» ve^^ rciartb'Tr' •"!'"'' ^''^''^'^^^ ^''°'" 
 
 - -'^^i -tte. J/, «c/. 16. 
 
 I 
 
BiqjOIOlV OF TUB BTHKIO XBISH. 
 
 87 
 
 to Molooh,* in saorifioing to him their first-born children, 
 rras bj the Irish offered ap to their chief idol, called Grom- 
 Gnuoh, or blaok Crom. To this doity there were rappoeed 
 lo be sabordinai''! certain genii, or &irie6, that were called 
 Sidho, and wo~o eaid to inhabit pleasant hilb ; f and in the 
 same class a well known antiquarian places the Ban-tidl^ 
 or Banshee, — " a young demon," he says, " supposed to 
 attend each family, and to give notice of the death of a 
 relation to persons at a distance/' | 
 
 The frightful image of this monstrous divinity, whose 
 head was of gold, stood surrounded by twelve smaller idols,§ 
 representing, it is most probable, the twelve signs of the 
 zodiac ; as the connexion of the worship of the sun with 
 the science of astronomy was maintained in every country 
 in which that superstition prevailed. 
 
 Tighernmas, the monarch who Trecl^d this fi. lous idol, 
 it is said, having been attending a sacrifice on the eve of 
 Samhain, was killed, with most of his attendants, by a stroke 
 of lightni i;, in a thunderstorm which occurred at the time. 
 
 Similar to the religious adoration of fire was that which 
 was genera ^j paid to rater. Besides the information 
 derived from traditional testimony. Ho sacred fountain and 
 holy well, which are still frequented in many parts of Ire- 
 land, bear ample testimony to this fact, and show with what 
 pertinacity the descendants of the Geltes still cling to their 
 ancient customs. We are told of a certain Pruid, or magut, 
 
 *See Rollia'g accoant of the Cartha^ian Religion in his 
 Jncient Hittory, Vol. 11. 
 tLanigan'a Eccles. His. of Ireland, Vol. I, Gbap. T. 
 t Yallancey'a Yind. of Ancient History. 
 § Jocelyn, Yit. S. Patricii, cap. 66. 
 
:m^-mm 
 
 38 
 
 tttSTORV OP IREIAKD. 
 
 a» he » called, who regarded water alon^ „ .n object of 
 Henoe, u ,« added, that, a, hi, own ,e,a«t, he wi b^ed 
 
 ^hth.*?;:!",'^' ■°""""'''" *" ~»-'7"mT™ 
 whioh had been long venerated b, the people and odled bv 
 them " the king of the waters." ^ 
 
 The worship of the moon, under the saored name of Jfe 
 was nearly eonneoted with that of the mn, and ™, 1*' 
 t«ed to a similar extent amongst the ancient Irish.^^^ 
 ornaments in the form of a orient, that, with good ^^n 
 a« thonght to have been employed in the woiS^oTZj 
 uminu7, have been frequently found in the bogs in SI 
 
 tomed te celebrate the ceremony of cropping t^e^uZ^ 
 and as these ornameiite arc generall, of ™„r! ■ ' 
 
 represent the moon at th«t f„ !~!^ of such a size ae to 
 
 wL carried bytJe ptsJt iT?"^ ""' *"' 
 oe^^onicsas^ usuSTthl: ,1^ ""-"^ °"""^ 
 
 n J„ ♦h t*"" 'f ° ^'"'" "^ *' '«"" ~«'™. 'Wol. grows 
 TL *°.°*^' ""* " P'ob'Wy propagate! by he ag^nTTf 
 
 rr^.LCbL"i::^n^r"rnir^rV^^^^^^ 
 
 .c«y of cropping th^ wl' ructn^^ S 
 
 S wl Ui!n L:r.^' "J""^ ^'''"'7-t ^ -Wte 
 ^«were taken, and then- horns having been tied for the 
 
 •iMigan's EcclM. His, Vol. I, Chap V 
 
RELIGION OF THB ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 39 
 
 first time, they were brought under the venerated oak on 
 which that plant grew. One of the Druids then climbed the 
 tree, and with a golden knife pruned oflF the plant, to receive 
 which another Druid was prepared at the foot of the tree 
 with a white woollen cloth. They then saorificed the white 
 bulls, and entreated the gods for their heavenly benedic- 
 tion. While performing all these ceremonies, they wore 
 a white surplico, which they used in all the services of 
 religion. 
 
 From the sanctity of the oak, everything near which it 
 grew was esteemed holy; and therefore a multitude of holy 
 places, wells, lakes, caves, and groves, were to be found in 
 every part of the country. 
 
 In order to prevent any person from entering between 
 the trees of a consecrated grove, it was fenced round with 
 stones, and the passages which were left open were guarded 
 by some inferior Druids, lest any stranger should intrude 
 into their mysteries. These groves were of different forms, 
 but generally quite circular. Within these circles were 
 several smaller ones, surrounded with lai^e stones; and 
 near the centre of these smaller circles were stones of a 
 prodigious size, some of which were obviously altars, whilst 
 others may have answered the purpose of such ritual obser- 
 vances as were prescribed in their religious ceremonies. 
 S6me of these stones are still remaining, not only in Ireland^ 
 but in Englan4j Wales, and the island of Ang' jsey ; and 
 are of such an amazing magnitude, that it has been super- 
 stitiously thought that the demons who were supposed to 
 attend upon that manner of worship, must have assisted in 
 bringing and rearing them, aa no mechanical (power which 
 
40 
 
 JnSIOST OF IBBLAlro. 
 
 ii 
 
 St'^fle'::^^ ' '^ ^" >-« -i^ ^ ^' .oeom. 
 
 priBuy object of theirTS^"^ »<« mantfestly, in tho 
 
 by xme eminent wiTrat ^^ ^ "^^ *"' ™''J«« 
 *7 were n«ed wh™ n^eT "^r™^"";,'' « l"^" «»« 
 
 rememborinB that „„jJ?r ®^J "<*"'"" «» this bj 
 a.e-.eerdotS,^^,,'^^ "?.'°;'™' "y-ten^ of ,e,igi„„^ 
 
 i" ao same p^S ^d ti Z!^"'^ '*"°''°'" "«« '^ 
 w|.o we« .1.^:^7 „'^;'™-'-a for the priest.. 
 Klres of the *ivaa^o of I! '"'\^' J""%08, to avail then. 
 «WI and i«dicir«^^^fr '"^'"S »»" ""ooiating their 
 of an othei, d«lX''ltr , ''""""'" ^"^ ^ "^ 
 . The CronJeehs ^l^^^'^Jl ^ ™»' ""'r-t 
 to moamnents, a, the/C^ t,^ °"°™'"' "^ "^^ ««»■ 
 P<^ of Europ;, bnt i„Tn 1 ^'S"" ""'^ '» '«'«»1 
 of the Ph«,nS;„,\tl^fj-^»d»theve,yregioa 
 placed in the &shioii of a table LJ' •"" ^'^ "ones 
 
 place and fa secnrely an !„„ v " '"™'^ oasierto 
 
 Port«« t'..n on fr^^^^'^'" "^l" on three su,. 
 
 caomou, rock, to .he B^mm^^J''^"'^" '««' b/ rolltag 
 
 S«« Kitto'a note, fc, ii, uS ', p'"' 7*"*'" ■«"«?.««. 
 J BorIa,6'« 4-..V..I,. .™'-°' Palest.. Vol. r „- ^». ... 
 
RELIGION OF THE ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 41 
 
 The name of Cromlech signifies an inclining stone,^ 
 according to some British antiquarians, but has a diflfcrent 
 meaning attached to it by the Irish.f Such tabular rocks 
 are sometimes found isolated, but more usually in the centre 
 of a Druidical circle, or in some way connected with it. 
 Some have thought them to be sepulchral monuments, be- 
 cause human remains, ashes, and bones have been frequently 
 found under them ; but as it is admitted that the Druids 
 were in the habit of offering human sacrifices, these discoT- 
 eries might with as much propriety indicate that they 
 were altars, as that they were the ordinary receptacles of 
 the dead. Besides, as many of them stand on the solid and 
 unbroken rock, they must at once appear to be unsuited to 
 sepulchres. 
 
 The general use of sacred stones, in the ritual of the 
 Druidical religion, is one of those numerous ii lications 
 that we have of its eastern origin ; but the sepulchral monu- 
 ments of the Irish appear to have passed from that region 
 to them, not directly, like many of their other rites, but 
 through the northern nations of Europe.^ One use, how- 
 ever, that was mtde of particular stones was, that either at 
 them or on them the princes and chiefs of this race were 
 generally inaugurated.g Indeed a marked instance of this 
 
 * From llie British words crum, bowed or inclined, and llech, a 
 broad flat stone. 
 
 t See O'Connor'3 Di»seit. aons ou the Hist, of Ireland, p. 98. 
 
 X The mode of burial and the specie* of sepulchral monument 
 at New Grange may be traced through Denmark, Sweden, Rus- 
 sia, Poland, and the Steppes of T:a.rt&ry.—Powmill'tJirchaohgia, 
 Vol. n, ,^ 250. 
 
 § Spencer's View of Ireland. 
 
4-2 
 
 JIISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 use of a .tode is evinced in the case of that which was 
 called in Ireland Zt«-/«.7, but which has been Latinized 
 into sa^umfatale, or the stone ofdctiny,^ which was once 
 held m such veneration by the Christian princes of the 
 reigning families, as well as by their pagan ancestors. Both 
 th^ classes uf rulers acem to have considered it as the pal- 
 ladium of their empire, and to have supposed that thdr 
 dynasty was secure as long as they could keep possession of 
 It. This stone was probably kept at Tara, where the Irish 
 monarchs were elected and inau-^urated. It was customary 
 with the candidates for the thrcne to sit over this oracle in 
 the sanctuary in which it was placed ; and by some contri- 
 vance of the Druids, such sounds were emitted as pro- 
 nounced the destiny of the person incumbent. 
 
 At what time this oracular relic was removed to Scotland 
 cannot now be determined with certainty. Mr. O'Flaheriv 
 thought that it was sent thither by Hugh Finliath, theson- 
 in- aw of Kenneth M.cAlpine, to asst; re him of the subjection 
 Of the Picts,t whom he had conquered some years before 
 It was kept >7ith the greatest veneration at the abbey of 
 Scone, the royal seat of the Pictish and subsequently of the 
 Scottish kings ; until Edward I of England had it removed 
 m the year 1300, to W stminster, where, it is said, it still 
 lies under the coronation-chair. It is commonly called 
 Jacob s stone, from a notion that has prevailed that it was 
 a fragment of that which Jacob used as a pillow upon the 
 first night of his flight from Beersheba to Padanaram. 
 
 Notwithstanding taat the Irish Druids are not supposed to 
 have possessed at any time that unlimited authority which 
 
 •See O'Connor'a Dissert, on the History of Ireland, p. 10.^ 
 fOgyg. p. 45 ; OCon. Dissert, p. 104. 
 
RELIGION OF THE ETHNIC IRISH. 
 
 43 
 
 their brethren exercised amongst the Gauls, yet the progress 
 of events for ages had a tendency to increase their power 
 to such an extent, that some enlightened men of the first 
 rank sometimes endaavoured to check their encroachments. 
 Conla, a brehon, in the province of Coninaught, appeared a 
 zealous and persevering opponent of their superstitions, as 
 well as of that arbitrary powtir at which they were continu- 
 ally grasping. Comiac O'Cuinn also carried on a contro- 
 versy with them in favour of theism, or the unity of the 
 divine essence ; whilst several of the Jileas , taking part in 
 the contest, proposed new schemes of truth, and were equally 
 zealous for some favourite hypothesis. The great body of 
 the people, however, took no part in this polemical waifave; 
 but the spirit of inquiry that was thereby engendered had 
 a good efiect, as it prepared men's minds for the reception 
 of the Gospel when it was afterwards preached to them by 
 Christian missioiiaries. 
 
 W 
 
'i ' 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I'Hii Irish Mowarcht anterior to the missiox of 
 
 St. Patrick. 
 
 It is more than probable that the leaders of some of the 
 first settlers in Ireland were two chieftains named Heber 
 and Heremon, of the family of a Spanish adventurer, whose 
 real name was Gollamh, but who was called by his descen- 
 dants Mzle-Espagne, or the Spanish soldier, Latinized 
 atterwards into Milesius. 
 
 An indistinct tradition of the history of these chieftains 
 had no doubt, reached the bards of later ages and formed 
 the groundwork of some of their fanciful amplifications. 
 But, admitting as we do, their real existence, in some age 
 too remote to come within the range of any authentic recoil 
 we are altogether unable to determine the precise period of 
 
 sorThTwi: ".J'^ '"^'""*^- ^-ngst theirsucces- 
 Bors, however, there were some great men, even in the 
 
 darkest periods of heathen superstition, whose actions and 
 nstitutions made a permanent impression on the affairs of 
 the nation, and whose foot-printa upon the sands of time 
 have been so obvious, that neitVr the lapse of ages, nor 
 • the inauspicious circumstances under which the^nLnes 
 have been a«ociated with fable, can bury their memorv in 
 perpetual oblmon, or wholly extinguish the lustre wHch 
 !^t;ter^"^^'^-«^^^"P-*^^P^-clin 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 45 
 
 The most celebrated of the Irish kings, during this agt 
 of darkness and uncertainty, was that monarch knovn by 
 the name of OUamh Fodhla, or the Learned Doctor, under 
 whose administration the monarchy gained a considerable 
 d^ree of stability and consistency. Possessing no ordi- 
 nary talents for legislation, he is said to have summoned 
 the princes, the druids and bards, together with other 
 great men in his dominions, to meet him at Teamor,* 
 for the purpose of adopting such measures as might con- 
 duce to the public good. This great Fes, or convention, 
 he rendered permanent ; and decreed that it should meet 
 triennially in the same nlace for the despatch of business. 
 He is also said to have been the founder of the Mur-OUam- 
 han, or college of the learned, near his own residence at 
 Tara, and which was celebrated afterwards as the princi- 
 pal Druidic establishment for literary purposes. 
 
 A brilliant picture is given us by the bards of the solem- 
 nity and magnificence with which the great assembly of the 
 states was usually opened; but the colouring is too ob- 
 viously taken from the usages of more modern times to 
 comport with that simplicity which might be expected in 
 the mere infancy of the social system. To this council an 
 appeal was made, when any chieftain or other person was 
 treated tinjustly by his prince, or when any of the provin- 
 cial kings acted contrary to the laws, or oppressed a weaker 
 power. To OUamh Fodhla is also f Hributed that ancient 
 
 • Teamor was the ancient name of Tara : which was derived 
 from Tea, a house, and mor, signifying great or large. Proba- 
 bly in reference to the monarch's own residence, or from the 
 grr,^* }5-^n eal'.fiil Moidli-Cuaita in which the triennial fes wag 
 usually held. 
 
46 
 
 HISTOBY OP IRELAND. 
 
 lav of Ireland by which certain offices an,! r,mf • 
 we.e rendered heredita^ in particuif W ^, ^/Xh 
 national us^ continued in existence to a coL. Jaliv y 
 recent period amongst the Irish people. "^P^'^'^^^^J 
 
 Ihe uncertainty of ancient chronology leaves aninl« 
 
 whTn th'i: r 'f "°^^ '' '^''''^^ reSctinT^eTi^ 
 wten this monarch ascended the throne; * but the re^ 
 
 ot which he was the acknowledged founder. 
 
 of a brimr; ""T"'. "' '""^ P"°" ^'^ "ke the course 
 
 but is instantly swalot'ek un bv tT ^' ^^^"""^ "^^'' 
 Wp hav^ „ 1 ""^^^^^"^ up by the surrounding darkness 
 VVe have a long succession of kings subseoupnfl5 .^^' 
 however, we can learn very littleTf ?^ • k ^ ^'""^^ "'^" 
 they all with on. . ^ *^^''' ^'«*«^> hut that 
 
 end AsTo ' J ' '"''P*^''^^' ^^^ *<> ^ Premature 
 ena. AS no regard seems to have been nai,! ♦/*!, • .• 
 
 _7'° ""'™ " ">agiiifi<!ei,t palace contignoM 
 
 nagar to about 600 • w},n«f w " ^°°°°'' °^ ^a^e- 
 
 dynasty itself, of 7^0^ h '?'' "'''** *'« ^^^^ ^^ t^e 
 
 cannot; at the utml L ."'. '^'^t-guished an ornament, 
 
 cent .; before ou7eta ' "' '''■^'*'^ '^'^^ ^^^ ^^^ --nd 
 
THB IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 47 
 
 to the site of the present city of Armagh, in his own here- 
 ditary province, from which his successors in Ulster were 
 called kings of Eamania ; and not/arfrom this edifice wis 
 the house of Craobh-Ruadh, or the seat of the celebrated 
 knights of the Red Branch, the equestrian order of the 
 
 province * 
 
 As the earlier portions of Irish history were delivered in 
 verse it but naturally followed that the heroic and mar- 
 vellois had no smaU share in them, and truth frequently 
 suffered by the luxuriance of poetry. The splendour of 
 the palace of Eamania, and rhe exploits of the knights of 
 the Red Branch, have therefore been triumphanUy sung 
 by many a bard, and the reign of Kimbaoth has been made 
 an acknowledged starting point for the senachies in making 
 their records of the transactions of those early times. 
 
 A simUar picture is presented of the power both 1/ sea 
 and land of Uugor. More, who succeeded to the monar- 
 chy aDout twenty seven years after the death of Kimbaoth. 
 But without any reference to his military exploits, the civil 
 and political effects of his accession render his name as cele- 
 brated as that of any of his successors. He had sufficient 
 address, we are told, to prevail upon the provincial dynasts 
 to relinquish their right of succession to the monarchy, and 
 to take a solemn oath never to accept of a monarch but one 
 of his own family: and to secure the more efficiently the 
 accomplishment of his designs, he abolished the pentarchy, 
 parcelled out the whole island into twenty-five dynasties, 
 and thus weakened the undue preponderance of the provin- 
 cial kings, who had hitherto proved the most pertinacious 
 disturbers of the monarchy. 
 
 • O'Hal. Vol. ii, p. 74. 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 These improvements made by Hutronv in th. 
 t-n, how arbitrarily soever thej m^hav 1^;^^^^ 
 were attended with considerable o^ \ ^^*^^ ^' 
 
 in force for several ^ene'^^^^^^^^ 1^^' ^°' '°°*'°""^ 
 however was at lengTrev tld and th' ''"";^ ^ ^-^^^^^t 
 b. Eoch, Fe,loch,UTrt m^tf :^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 M no revolution wa^ better calcukr/. '*'''^'' 
 
 ral character a verv f?on<J o«^ k ^, ^ ^^« '° his gene- 
 tie thron. - . «,^ereigB ruler On. nffi. » ''°"' 
 
 father. ThU ^Z t,^"^''' f "■' ■»«"« "^ ", 
 
 r?tv of tb. f ^'^'"''' ^^' *'^'« i°J"«tice and sev " 
 
 nty ot the monarch, his nalinn of t^ 
 
 burned i^ fi,„ , P *^ "^^ ^^^ was soon after 
 
 • Mant. A. D. 2. 
 
• TII£ IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 49 
 
 by one Hangtcil, arrived suddenly in Ireland, marched 
 directly to the royal residence at Tara, put all the inm'ites 
 to the sword, ana the monarch himself feU a victim to their 
 vengeance. 
 It is i'eafling, however, after recording such an instance 
 ' personal revenge, to be able to mark the progress of civi- 
 lization amongst the people, by a measure rendered neces- 
 sary through a flagrant abuse of power on the part of the 
 literary ordei , and which gave to the Irish the first rudi- 
 ments of that code of laws by which they wet.- subse- 
 quently governed. 
 
 By the political constitution of the country, besides the 
 other privileges possessed by the fileas, or literary order, 
 they had been for ages the dispensers of laws, and the 
 whole nation had submitted to their decisions.* But at 
 a subsequent period, having grea degenerated in their 
 judicial capacity, the indignation of the people was so far 
 roused against them in the first century, that they were 
 obliged to seek the protection of Concovar Mac Nessa, in 
 Ulster, as their order was threatened with total extermi- 
 nation. 
 
 Mac Nessa, whose heroic actions and patronage of learn- 
 ing made some amends to the public for great personal 
 failings, and who felt interested in the cause of the fileas, 
 not only afforded them a tempor ry protection, but em- 
 ployed the most eminent men he co^'-ld procure to effect an 
 extensive reformation in their ordtr. Fochern,t assisted 
 
 • Leland's Prelim. Disc. VIII. 
 
 t While Bojourn'ng at Eamania, Fochern wrote his Book 
 railed Uraiceackt rut Neaevof-. or " The nrecepta of the poeti,' 
 containing one hundred kinds of poetical compositiona. Ste 
 O'Con. p. 132. 
 
50 
 
 HI8T0KY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
 kwf * " t^"'"' °^ ^'"^^^'^ '^^^ '^P - ^ig««t of the 
 aw. * ,n such a manner as reudered the course of jus- 
 
 !r It. ""'*''' '^'"^"^«' ^"^^ '^^ compilation 0/ 
 which they were the authors got the name of Celestial Judg- 
 
 Z th"^ f r^r*^ '' P^^^ ^"^"^ » «P^* of wis. 
 dom that must have been breathed trom above.f By 
 
 ihis means the fileas recovered their reputation, and the 
 danger to which they had been exposed had a salutar. 
 effect upon their subsequent conduct. - 
 
 But no reform of this nature was sufficiently efficacious 
 to give peace and tranquillity to a nation so pregnant with 
 he seeds of strife and contention. A new se'rS therel; 
 of bloodstained successions is presented by the Annaliste 
 rnd the usual factions and seditions which had so long pre- 
 yaJed in the country, continued to harrass and distreL the 
 mhabitents to an extensive degree. In this disordered 
 T r 15'°^"' '' '' "^^ '^'' ^°^ '^ *^« ^*<7 Pr^'^ces of 
 
 feud, addressed himself to Agricola the Roman general 
 who was then m Britain, and encouraged him to make a 
 descent upon his countrymen, assuring him that a single 
 legion, with a few auxiliaries, would suffice to conquer and 
 '^''J^^^^^^^}^^^^±JB^^ mo 
 
 • Opygiap. 217. Cambrens. Evers. p 157 
 
 h Vn"f^.,f"'"^' '*'' namegiyea to this digest is rendered 
 by Mr. O'Reilly, .'The Laws of the Nobles," instead of "CeTe^ 
 tial Judgments :" but in this he differs from every other autLt 
 
 V^Chap. VI. Lnder the same title several codes were after- 
 wards drawn ur at different times, even so late as the eighth 
 century. See O'Con. Ditsert. p. 135. ^ 
 
 t Tac. Vit. Agric. Cap, xxiv. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 61 
 
 tive we cannot say, failing to avtul himself of this offer, 
 instead of dreading an invasion of his dominions by the 
 Romans, the Irish monarch Criomthan crossed the Chan- 
 nel to the assistance of che Picts, led an irruption into the 
 Roman settlements in Britain, and returned to his own 
 country laden with the spoils of his enemies.* 
 
 But notwithstanding the partial successes of some of the 
 Irish monarchs, the evils which necessarily resulted from 
 an elective monarchy were alwayn ^cient to eclipse any 
 glory which they might have gained. Hitherto the people 
 were perfectly satisfied that no person had ever ascended the 
 sovereign throne but such as was t. -tained to have sprung 
 from the royal blood of Milesius. But on the death of 
 Criomthan, a conspiracy was set on foot, and a monarch of 
 the Danaan race for the first time usurped the sovereignty. 
 
 The ambition of the Heremonians had long emb: oiled 
 the country in a continued series of wars and contentions ; 
 and had produced much sIL satisfaction throughout the pro- 
 vinces. The civil contest - hich resulted from this state of 
 things, and which was carried on for several years, has 
 been denom lated the Attacotic or plebeian wax.f The 
 
 • That the Hibernian Scota took an active part in those 
 predatory incursions made at this time upon the Roman settle- 
 "tents, we learn from Glaudian in his poem written some cen- 
 turies afterwards. 
 
 ■ - Totam cum Scotus lernen 
 Movit et infesto spumavit remige Tethyg. 
 
 t Attacots, who gave this narr") to the war, were a turbu- 
 lent and warlike Irish tribe, who afterwards settled in Britain, 
 and were taken into the servi-.e of the Romans at a subsequent 
 period. Use Finder. Enquiry, p. It. c. 2, 
 
■■■*m'- 
 
 ^2 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 >! 
 
 II 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Damnona perceiving that in every measure adopted by the 
 predominant party, their own ruin was intented, found il 
 
 and both entered into a conspiracy to counteract the in- 
 fluence of their common oppressors, by wresting the sove- 
 reign authontj out of their hands. The time Elected for 
 the «ccomphshment of the design was when the princes 
 and great men of the kingdom were assembled at Tara for 
 ^e purpose of electing a successor to the deceased monarch 
 Having therefore made every arrangement for carrying their 
 project mto effect, the conspirators marched to Tara slaueh 
 iered the unsuspecting Milesian chiefs, together with their 
 followers, and proclaimed Carbry Catkean, their leader 
 monarcn of Ireland.* ' 
 
 The reign of this Damnonian prince, however, lasted 
 only four years : and, after his death, his followers elected 
 his son Moran to succeed him; but this virtuous and un- 
 ambitious patriot refused the crown thus tendered to him- 
 and employed all his influence so effectually for the resto^ 
 ration of the constitutional line, th t Fearadach, the son of 
 Criomthan was called to the throne of his ancestors with- 
 out any opposition. 
 
 Nor were the exertions of Moran confined merely to the 
 restoration of the legitimate line of monarchs, but he ob- 
 tained a general amnesty for past political offences, and 
 was him.self appointed chief brehon or judge, an office 
 whui as virtues had so eminently qualified him to fill. 
 
 * Some hare placed the Aitacotic war in thereigu of Fiacha 
 hnthj far the most reliable autbonties in tbe present connexion' 
 
 The author.tjr „f Giolla Caomhairs," ,»y. O'Halloran. " fi^,., 
 mc to this last opinion/' Hist. Book r. Chap. iv. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 53 
 
 Such was the popular impression respecting this great man's 
 incorruptible integrity, that the collar which he wore around 
 his neck was believed to possess an extraordinary virtue ; 
 and 90 great is the pertinacity with which the Celtic race 
 •ling to their ancient traditions, that it is still deemed a 
 very solemn oath to swear " By the collar of Moran." It 
 was worn by all his successors ; and the people were taught 
 to believe that whoever pronounced an unjust sentence 
 with this round his neck, was sure to be compressed by it, 
 in proportion t-o his departure from the principles of recti, 
 tude. It was also placed, it is said, about the necks of wit- 
 nesses in giving their evidence ; and, if so, it is probable 
 that the apprehenpion which they felt of its preternatural 
 eflfeots was a powerful means of eliciting the truth.* 
 
 After the death of Fearadach, on whom the epithet of 
 Jutt was bestowed, contentions broke out again, which 
 issued in the assassination of his successor, and the usur* 
 pation of the monarchy by Elim, king of Ulster. The in- 
 surrection which brought about this revolution is that 
 which Irish historians have denominated the second Atta- 
 •otic or Plebeian war. The partizans, however, of Fiacha, 
 the deceased monarch, invited Tuathal, his son, who had 
 fought an asylum in North Britain on the death of his 
 father, to return to his native land ; assuring him of every 
 assistance to restore him to the throne of his ancestors. 
 Encouraged by this assurance, and supplied with a select 
 body of troops by his grandfather, the Pictish king, he 
 landed in Ireland, proceeded to Tara with such forces as 
 
 • A collar or breastplate of gold was found several years 
 ftgo in a bog la liie cuualjr uf LliueiUk, whlcii Geaeral Y allaaccj 
 luppostd to be that of Moran. Collect. Hiber., No. 13. 
 

 V) 
 
 '1.1 
 If'-' 
 
 54 
 
 m 
 
 HISTORY OF IRT^LAND. 
 
 he had collected, and the chiefs of his house having as- 
 a"i:r'" '''-' ^""^^ '"^ -arch with geferal 
 
 .lace t7'""'^^' f ^' ^^'-^ ^PP""^ °^ ^^^^ ^-^ '-^^- 
 pkce at rara, collected an amy to oppose, his competitor; 
 
 tought, A D 130, which terminated the dispute, as Elim 
 was numbered amongst the slain. 
 
 Successful in this attempt against his antagonist, Tuathal 
 having assembled a general convention of the estates at 
 rara, procured the enactment of a law by which the suc- 
 
 iamilj. The readiness with which the national council 
 ^ognised the revival of the Hugonian constitution evinces 
 how sensible they were of the evils attending on an elec- 
 tive form of government ; but the manners and customs of 
 the age would not admit of the establishment of a succession 
 hat was purely hereditary. Unable to abolish entirely 
 the e^st^ng pentarchy, Tuathal had recourse to a measurl 
 wnich had a tendency to augment the power and influence of 
 
 themonarchywhilstitweakened those oftheprovincial kings 
 From each of the provinces governed by their respective 
 dynasto he took a large district, and uniting these portions 
 
 T At !T ,' ^°^^' ^^"^^^ ^^i«^ ^^ ^terwards 
 called the Mensal Lands of the Monarchs of Ireland "* 
 He IS a^o said to have established in each of these a spe- 
 cial seat for the transaction of all affairs of important 
 connected with the civil and religious pcUcy of the nation. 
 
 • Fearon Buird Righ Erion. O'Hal. Vol. II. p. 220. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 55 
 
 In the temple of Tlachta, which he erected near Drogheda * 
 and which was sacred to Samhain, every matter relative to 
 religion was regulated ; at Uisneach, a mountain in West- 
 meath, whatever regarded internal commerce ; at Taltion 
 matrimonial alliances and family economy : and at Tara, 
 the great Fes, or convention of the states, in which laws 
 were enacted, and every affair of national importance ex- 
 amined and determined. 
 
 To this monarch has also been nttributed the important 
 arrangement of classifying the mechanics of the country 
 into companies, governed by their committees, very nearly 
 resembling the corporate institutions of modern burghs ; f 
 and he is said to have made several other regulations for 
 the improvement of his people, and the proper discharge 
 of the administration of justice : and, from the wise and 
 judicious measures which he adopted, as well as from his 
 having been the deliverer of the nation from a tyrannical 
 usurper, he got the name of Teachtmer, or the Acceptable. 
 But, nolwithstanding the possession of great abilities both 
 in a civil and military capacity, Tuathal was not secure 
 from those troubles which sometimes spring from causes 
 that are not suspected. Eochy, the king of L^inster, had 
 married his eldest daughter ; but, having conceived a crimi- 
 nal desire for the enjoyment of her sister also, he succeeded 
 in having his wishes gratified by practising the most heart- 
 less and unprincipled imposition on her father. Both the 
 ladies are said to have lost their lives by the transaction ; 
 
 • "This sanctuary, in tlie county of East meath, is still remain- 
 ing, being the tumulus at New Grange near Drogheda, Beau . 
 ford's Ancient Topography of Ireland." O'Connor's Dissert., p.42 
 t Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen. Edited by 
 Mr. Wills, p. 39. 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 and the matter was laid before the national estates by the 
 monarch. The affair however was ultimately arranged 
 between the parties, by the imposition upon the people of 
 Leinster of that famous tax, called the Boarian or Boro- 
 mean tribute, which was to be paid every second year, and 
 which brought so much evil upon the country for five suc- 
 ceeding centuries. 
 
 The reign of this monarch, which is said to have lasted 
 thirty-four years, w«d one of great national prosperity : but 
 he was slain by Mail, king of Ulster, who seized on the 
 vacant throne, notwithstanding the constitution which had 
 been so reoently established. The usurper, however, did 
 not long enjoy the object of his ambition, as he lost both 
 his life and crown at the end of four years, when Feidhlim, 
 the son of the late monarch =)« succeeded to the throne, 
 and governed his people with wisdom and equity. 
 
 But the most remarkable prince of this period was Conn, 
 the son of Feidhlim, who was surnamed Cead-Catha, or of 
 the hundred battles, upon account of the numerous wars 
 in which he was engaged during his reign. One of the 
 most tedious and sanguinaiy contests which he carried on 
 was that which he had with Mogha-Nuagat, better known 
 by the name of Eogan. A dispute having arisen between 
 Eogan and some other princes about the throne of Munster 
 one of the latter, named Aongus, applied to the monarch for 
 assistance, which was readily granted. Opposed thus by a 
 formidable force Eogan was at length obliged to quit the 
 kingdom and to fly into Spain j but returning soon after 
 
 • " Tuathal's posterity reigned to the preaching of St. Patrick 
 through ten lineal descenta. Each son reigned, and f!\ch vrn^ 
 interrupted in turn, by a rival, who obtained the supreme autho- 
 rity." CfCon. Ditsert.f p. 189. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 57 
 
 with a number of foreigners, whom he had collected in his 
 exile, he not only recovered Munster, but compelled Conn 
 to make a division of Ireland with him, known, in after ages, 
 by the names of Leath-Conn and Leath-Mogha. 
 
 Bogan, however, in less than a year, met with a signal 
 defeat from the monarch, on the plains of Margh-Lena, in 
 the King' County: and, in that engagement, it is said, he 
 fell with his body pierced in a hundred places. By his 
 death, the crown of Munster devolved upon Mac Niad, who 
 marriU his antagonist's daughter, and the latter acknow- 
 ledged the independence of Leath-Mogha in the most un- 
 qualified manner. 
 
 On the death of Conn, who was assassinated about two 
 years after the battle of Lena, he was succeeded by Conary 
 the second, a prince of the Degaid family of Munster. He 
 was married to Seraid, the second daughter of the late mo- 
 narch, and had by her three sons, called, by old writers, 
 Carbry Muse, Carbry Baisean, and Carbry Riada.* from 
 the different principalities which they respectively governed. 
 His reign, however, was of short duration, as he meL the 
 fate of his predecessor, and the throne was occupied by Art, 
 the son of the late monwch Conn. 
 
 During the administration of Conary, and on the death 
 of Maxv-Niad, the crown of Munster had I'-volved on Olliol 
 Olum, the son of Eogan, a prince so celel jd, for having 
 by his last will, been the founder of that singular law of 
 alternate succession which disturbed the southern provinces 
 for so many centuries. Notwithstanding his father had 
 
 • From Carbry Riada, the rojal line of Scotland, and th« 
 present royal family of England, are descended. Set Dutert 
 pp. 205, 206. 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 '^■J ' 
 
 ^en by the sword of Conn, OUiol had married the daughter 
 of that famous warrior ; at which hia brother Lugha Leagha 
 taking oflFence, he left the kingdom accompanied by Mac 
 Conn, the chief brehon of Munster ; but in a short time 
 returned with a number of Welshmen, headed by Beine 
 Bnot their local chieftain, and being met by the monarch 
 at Mmcruimhe, near Athonry, a battle ensued, in which 
 Art himself, the king of Connaught, and seven sons of 01- 
 hol Olum fell in the encounter. By the issue of this battle 
 Mao Conn found it easy to take possession of the vacant 
 throne ; but like most of the Irish kings, he did not enjoy 
 that dignity long, as he was stabbed in his chariot whilst 
 passing through Leinster to his palace at Tara and in- 
 stantly expired. ' 
 
 Cormac, the son of Art, who ascended the throne about 
 A. D. 254, was a prince of great abiUties, not only as a 
 legislator, but as a philosopher of conaiderable acquire- 
 ments. The ^ivid halo which the bards and senaohies have 
 cast around his character would seem to justify the most 
 glowing eulogies that have been passed upon him by some 
 modern writers.* He is said to have enlarged the great 
 hall caUed Moidh-Cuarta, and to have founded and endow- 
 ed three academies at Tara: one in which the science of 
 war was taught: another for historical Uterature: and a 
 third for the cultivation of jurisprudence. But notwith- 
 standing the great mental powers possessed by this prince 
 the same fatal propensitv for the effusion of huiiian blood' 
 that so signally marked the career of most of his prede-' 
 cessors, was exhibited in his conduct towards some of his 
 subjects. His military opera tions were numerous, but they 
 
 • See O'Uon. Dissert., p. 103. O'Hal. B. VI. Chap. u. 
 
THE IRISH MONAECHT. 
 
 69 
 
 were generally successful. He sent a fleet to the coast of 
 North Britain, which gained some successes in that quarter ; 
 and he gave the army of Munster many signal overthrows. 
 The kings of Connaught also, as well as those of Ulster, 
 gave him some trouble ; but he was dble to repress their 
 Lsolence, and to convince them of the superiority of hi? 
 
 arms. 
 
 The close, however, of this monarch's reign, which lasted 
 twenty-five years, was marked by misfortunes of various 
 kinds and from different quarters. Instigated by evil coun- 
 sellors, he made war upon the king of Munster, because the 
 latter had refused the payment of an unjust tribute. But he 
 was defeated, and obliged to renounce all claims upon the 
 kings of Munster in future ; to make good to the people of that 
 province whatever losses they had sustained by his inva- 
 sion ; and to give hostages for the faithful performance of 
 this covenant. 
 
 The reign of Cormac is rendered famous by the courage 
 and legislative wisdom of his illustrious son-in-law, Finn 
 Mac Cumhal, the general of the Irish militia; and whose 
 great strength of body, unparalleled feats of arms, and pecu- 
 liar tact in training his followers, have been sung by many 
 a bard, and celebrated with such a degree of enthusiasm as 
 the subject was calculated to inspire. 
 
 Cumhal, the father of this famous general, was the ion 
 of Trien-More, a descendant of the royal family of Leinster. 
 To him Finn succeeded in the command of the militia ; 
 and his wisdom and valour soon recommended him to the 
 attention of the monuroh, who consulted him in all the 
 affairs of importance connected with his kingdom. But 
 from th( early alliance of his history with poetry, his cha- 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 i J 
 
 racter has been so much exaggerated by the bold and capri- 
 oious pen of fiction, that the reality of his very existence 
 has been sometimes called in quesUon, and his name nearly 
 blotted out of the pages of history as a real personage. 
 
 Whether the monarch Cormac was a convert to the Chris- 
 tian faith or not is a matter that we are at this period 
 wholly unable to determine : but it is certain that he main- 
 tamed the existence and superintendence of one uncreated 
 eterna^ and omnipotent Being, in opposition to the populai 
 mythology of the time in which he lived. 
 
 It is stated, upon the best authority that we have for 
 the transactions of those early times * that during the 
 reign of *his prince, he was engaged in no less than thirty 
 srx battles. But having had the misfortune to lose one of 
 his eyes, in resisting a rebellious attack that was made on 
 his pala<;e, this blemish by an ancient law of the kingdom 
 rendered iim incapable of governing any longer; so that 
 he was obliged to abdicate the throne; and his son, not 
 having ^nved at the age of twenty-five, was ineligible to 
 succeed him. The estates therefore elected Eochy Gonnah 
 the^grandson of the monarch Fergus, to fiU the vacanJ 
 
 The plaxje of Cormac's retirement, after his resignation 
 was a thatched cabin at Aide, or Kells, where he conti- 
 nued to support that dignity of character which he had 
 always evinced m a public capacity. Some of his writings 
 are still extant; amongst which is a treatise for the use of 
 his son, t called an "Advice to a King," in which the 
 
 • Annals of Tigarnach. ~~ 
 
 t ''This work," aays.O'Halloran." has been nr«».„.^ „_,.g 
 Chap r^'''^' ''""'"' " '"'^ "^^'•*^'* ' have!" ^ jyii^BookVl! 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 61 
 
 duty of a king is considered as a legislator, a soldier, a 
 statesman, and a scholar : and from its style, and the na- 
 ture of its composition, it bears evident marks of an age of 
 genuine simplicity 
 
 A. D. 279. Thi accession of Carbry, surnamed LiflFey- 
 car, for whom this treatise is supposed to have been written, 
 was interrupted only one year : and in his reign the famous 
 battle of Gabhra was fought near Tar 'ith Moghcarb, 
 king of Leath Mogha. The object of this battle was pro- 
 bably the subjugation of the southern province to the power 
 of the monarch ; and as it was one of the most sanguinary 
 recorded in Irish history, it has been the subject of many 
 a romantic tale and poetical effusion at a subsequent period. 
 From the colouring and incidents thus bestowed upon it by 
 the bards, together with additions, amendments, and un. 
 scupulous fabrications of his own, Macpherson was after- 
 wards able to raise that fabric of literary imposture which 
 is contained in the poems ascribed to Ossian. 
 
 The two Fathachs, grandsons of Mac Conn, who, after 
 the battle of Gabhra laid claim to a joint-monarchy, did 
 not enjoy that honor a single year; and Fiacha, called 
 Streabhthuine, the son of Carbry, succeeded to the sove" 
 reign throne. 
 
 Undismayed by the fate of several of his ancestors in 
 making similar attempts, this monarch was resolved, on the 
 death of Fearcorb the king of Leath Mogha, to subjugate 
 that province to his power and authority. For this pur" 
 pose he sent his son Muredach to invade Munster, whilst 
 he encamped himself with a body of reserves, on the plains 
 of Tara. nreoared to afford his assistance when necessity 
 required. But his brother's sons, known by the name o* 
 
62 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the three Collas, wishing to secure, if possible, the succes- 
 sion to themselves, and taking advantage of the state of 
 public affaire, collected a numerous band of followers, attack- 
 ed the monarchs forces suddenly in the field, and Fiacha 
 himself feU a victim to their treachery in the thirtieth 
 year of his reign. 
 
 As Muredach was absent in the south at the time of his 
 father^s death, Colla Ua- the eldest of the brothers, suc- 
 ceed. ' in having himself seated on the sovereign throne. 
 But when the former was apprised of what had happened, ho 
 immediately repaired to Tara in order to assert his right to 
 the monarchy. He found it, however, more prude°nt to 
 enter upon negociations with his rival; and on condition of 
 his relinquishing every claim to the throne, the latter pro- 
 mised to assist him in seizing upon the crown of Connaught. 
 as the Danaan power was sinking apace iu that province, 
 But, notwithstanding this design was carried into effect, it 
 appears that about four years afterwards, the sou of Fiacha 
 was called to the vhrone, whether by the death or expulsion 
 of the reigning monarch is uncertain. 
 
 Dreading the resentment of the new sovereign, the two 
 brothere of Colla Uaa fled to the court of their uncle, the 
 kmg of the Picts; and at length, through the influence of 
 that pnnce, a pardon was granted them by the Irish mo- 
 narch. Maredach, not only received them again graciously 
 at Tara, but as their former possessions had been alienated 
 upon account of their rebeUion, he laid a plan for theii 
 acquisition of a considerable part of the province of Ulster. 
 Under pretence that the laws of hospitality had been vio- 
 lated by the grandfather of Fergus the kina of Eamania 
 towards bis own great-grandfather, Cormae,^he furnished 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 68 
 
 the two brothers with an army to invade the northern pro- 
 vince which they entered; slew Fergus the king of that 
 dynasty, the remains of the knights of the Red Branch 
 and most of the great men of that ancient kingdom ; burned 
 the famous palace of Eamania, so celebrated for its heroic 
 princes during the lapse of ages ; at twk pos^ssion of 
 that tract of land, which from this perioa was called Orgial, 
 and subsequently Uriel, comprehending the present coun- 
 ties of Louth, Monaghan, and Arn^agh. 
 
 After this act of violence and injustice we find Colbach, 
 a prince of the injured house of Eamania, taking ample 
 vengeance upon the real author of this catastrophe. He 
 not only defeated the monarch's army in the field, but 
 kUled Muredach himself in single combat ; and having 
 usurped the sovereign authority, he was himself -filain in an 
 engagement, before the close,of the same year by the son of 
 his predecessor. 
 
 On the death of this Ultonian prince, Eochy, the son of 
 Muredach, who succeeded him, soon found hiiaself engaged 
 with Eana, the king of Leinster, aided by Luagh of the 
 Bloody Hand, the king of southern Ireland, in a war which 
 was by no means successful on his part. And as each of 
 the posterity of Tuathal was regularly interrupted in his 
 accession to the throne by a rival claimant, this prince was 
 succeeded A. D. 360, by Criomthan, a most successful 
 plunderer of the Roman settlements in Britain. It is also 
 said that he carried his successes as far as Gaul; but on 
 his return home, he was poisoned by his own sister, at 
 Sliabh Vidhe, near Limerick, and was succeeded, A. D. 
 375, by Niall the Great, the youngest son of Eochy, the 
 ate monarch. 
 
64 
 
 ttMTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 So early as the reign of the monarch Art, the firat regu- 
 lar Iriah settlement had been made in North Britain by 
 Carbry Riada. Before this period, in the frequent viaita 
 of the Irish to that country, many of them had, at various 
 times, remained behind, from the close affinity between 
 them and the Picta ; but they had not been formed into 
 any regular or independent community. They had taken 
 up their residence there rather as individuals than as colon- 
 ists, untU Carbry led a number of his foUowers thither, and 
 established a settlement in Argyleshire,* which is supposed 
 to have derived its name of Dalriada from him. 
 
 From the first establishment of this colony, it had gra- 
 dually increased, and, at the accession of Niall, had become 
 so powerful that the Picts themselves began to regard the 
 settlers with a jealous eye. Considering themselves the 
 original proprietors of the country, they resolved either to 
 expel the Irish from their possessions, or to reduce their 
 power, so as to oblige them to acknowledge themselves tri- 
 butaries to tneir more ancient neighbours. The Irish 
 colonists, however, had become too strong to submit to this 
 state of subordination ; and they applied to their own 
 monarch for assistance which he readily afforded them. 
 The Picts were therefore compelled to acknowledge the 
 Irish settlers as independent of them, and were obliged to 
 ike a peaceable partition of the co-ntry, by which 
 Argyle, Cantire, and several other districts became the por- 
 tion of the colonists.f This colony, which was at first 
 
 • Bed. Hist. Eccles. Brit. Lib. 1, Cap. 1. 
 
 t For an account of the origin and progress of this colony the 
 reader may consult Cambrtnais, Cambdtn. and other Br'iii^ 
 urittra. 
 
THB IRIPH MONARCHY. 
 
 65 
 
 confined to f i north of Scotland, became at length »o 
 powerful that eventually, under Kenneth Mao Alpine, in the 
 ninth century, it swaUowed up the Piotiah power and ex- 
 tended its dominion over the whole of North Britain. 
 
 Niall's reign was one of enterprise and heroic action. 
 Besides the aid he gave to the Irish colonists when 
 menaced by their Pictish neighbours, he subsequently 
 evinced that his ambition was not to be confined, like that 
 of hi^ predecessors, within the circumscribed limits of pro- 
 vincial enterprise : for in the twelfth year of his reign he 
 led his troops into Gaul, and after distressing and plunder- 
 ing the inhabitants of that country, he carried away cap- 
 tive a numerous band of CaUic youth, amongst whom was 
 Succathus, so well known in Irish history afterwards by 
 the name of St. Patrick. His object in returning at this 
 time to his own country was to chastise some supposed in- 
 solence of Eochy, the provincial dynast of Leinsier. whose 
 province he overran, levied the usual mbute upon his peo- 
 ple, and declared he would reduce the whole country to 
 ashes, should they refu^ to deliver up their king into J 
 hands. Eochy, however, contnved to. make his escape ir 
 Scotland, and obtained an asylum with his kinsman 
 Gabhra, the chief of the Dalriada. 
 
 Having been thus driven from his native country, the 
 king of Leinster immediately began to form schemes of 
 revenge upon the Irish monarch. Nor was it long before 
 he had an opportuuity of reducing to practice his contem- 
 plated project. Having been admitted as a volunteer to 
 follow his friend, who accompanied the monarch of Ireland 
 on another expedition into Gaul, he found the latter sit- 
 ting one day unattended ou the banks of the river Loire, 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 iM •- 
 
 ;.i 
 
 and stimulated bj revenge, he discharged an arrow at him 
 from a thicket on the other side, which pierced him through 
 the heart, and he instantly expired. 
 
 Satisfied with thr vengeance he had thus treacherously 
 taken, Eochy immediately returned to Ireland, took posses- 
 sion again of the throne of Leinster, and reigned in that 
 province for many years afterwards. 
 
 Niall, the late monarch, was also surnamcd of the Nine 
 Hostages, because he is said to have detained so many at 
 Tara, from different parts of Ireland and North Britain at 
 the same time. His descendants were very numerous. 
 He had eight sons, from whom are descended many ancient 
 families of distinction in Ireland ; and as their posses- 
 sions lay partly in Ulster, and partly in Meath, they were 
 subsequently distinguished into the Northern and Southern 
 Hy-Nialls. 
 
 A. D. 406. The same uncepsing hostilities towards the 
 inhabitauts of South Britain, that had occupied so large 
 a portion of the late raoLych's time and attention, conti- 
 nued to be practically pursued by Dathy, his nephew and 
 succe^^or, during the whole of that period in :vhich he sat 
 upon the sovereign throne. This prince, who was distin- 
 guished fur the sprightliness and vivacity of his temper, as 
 well as for his strer -th and agility, not only made several 
 inroads upon the Romish settlements in Britain, but pur- 
 sued the object of his resentment into Gaul, where he was 
 killed by a flash cf lightning at the foot uf the Ai^..-. His 
 body was brought home by his followers, and bur d in the 
 ancient cemetery of the Irish kings, caUed Koilig-na-Kiogh, 
 near Cruacham in the province of Connaught; and with 
 him ended the heathen monarchs of Ireland. 
 
 !l 
 
S If 
 
 THE IRISH MONARCHY. 
 
 67 
 
 In reviewing this part of the history of that ancient and 
 in many respects, peculiar people, the evils attendant upon 
 an elective form of .-rovernment must be forcibly impressed 
 upon our mind». The pen uncnt maintenance, however, 
 of the Irish maiarchy, through so many ages of insujordi- 
 nution and blood, proves that it was not an institution 
 originating in the mere transient impulse of a fickle popu- 
 lace, but in a national conviction that it was the best 
 means of insur a ji.at equipoise amongst the subordinate 
 powers that foru.ed so many di°'=nct members of the Irish 
 commonwealth. "Dixring tl reign of the last two heathen 
 nionarchs we can perceive also that the line of isolation by 
 which the country was in a great measure shut out from the 
 rest of Eu-ope, was broken through, and a communication 
 opened between it and the continent ; which, how inauspi- 
 cious soever i', may appear in the commencement, b^scame 
 afterwards so beneficial to the interests of religion, and pro- 
 duced those effects which may be perceived in the sub- 
 sequent part of Irish history. 
 
 rith 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Conversion op the Irish to Christianitt. 
 
 By whom the gospel was first introduced into Ireland 
 cannot be determined with any degree of certainty : but it 
 was most probably by missionaries sent from the east* In 
 the second and third centuries, Christianity had made a 
 considerable progress in the southern provi.nce of the island 
 Numerous churches had been founded and schools esta- 
 blished in which not only the natives, but many foreigners 
 were instructed in sacred and polite letters.f 
 
 Amongst the numerous conjectures about the particular 
 places which respectively gave birth to some of those eminent 
 men that have distinguished themselves, either for good or 
 evil, m the church, it has been supposed by some that Pe- 
 lagius, the heresiarch, though generally reputed a British 
 monk, was a native of Ireland;! but, whatever truth there 
 
 o.?'»K*?" ^''*" P- 359 -"The constant enmity," says O'Hal- 
 
 kind of :r ''" "'^'^^^^ "''' ''"'''^' Rome,';revented any 
 
 atly from I ' TT'"' '''''' '''''*"°« ''^^^ -* --^i^ 
 ate y from thence here, but from the churches of Asia • and thi. 
 
 TZT '"*:ir -^--^^— -cL' Cat 
 toca, Chmto vero subdita—O Hal., Book V'l Chap I 
 
 t Uflser. Primord., p. 801. '' ' 
 
 f'Pelagius professiope monachus, natione non Gallus Brito 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 69 
 
 may be in this conjecture, there is no doubt that his disciple 
 Celestius, who is denominated by St. Jerome, " the leader 
 of the whole Pelagian army," * was an Irisliman by birth, 
 and scarcely less celebrated than his preceptor for his great 
 abilities in theological disputation. Some of his letters to 
 his parents in Ireland are still extant, and one written at a 
 later period "on the knowledge of Divine Law," which is 
 said to be manifestly imbued with the heresy of his master.f 
 
 But notwithstanding Christianity had made some pro- 
 gress in Munster, and the Irish (Jhurch had produced Cat- 
 haldus, Kiaran, Ib^r, Declan, and other divines of consi- 
 derable note, there had been no general ingathering of the 
 people to Ihe Christian fold : and as the mission of Palla- 
 dius, who was sent by Celestine, the Bishop of Rome,| in 
 the year 431, and whose labours seem to have been con- 
 fined principally to that tract which now comprehendo the 
 counties of Wexford and Wicklow, was a complete failure, 
 the honour of the general conversion of the people to the 
 Christian faith was reserved for St. Patrick, who has been 
 justly denominated "the Apostle of Ireland." 
 
 Different attempts have been made to account for the 
 failure of Palladius. Nennius observes, that no man can 
 receive anything upon earth, unless it be given him from 
 heaven. Probus remarks, the Irish were wild and barbar- 
 ana would not receive the doctrine of Palladius. 
 
 ous. 
 
 Joceline says, because they would not believe his preaching 
 
 • Jerome is sonietimes coarse in his abrse of Celestins, and 
 with bitterness remarks t'^at " he was made fat with Scotch flum- 
 mery." — Scotorum, pultibus pragravatus. Hier. Prtef, t., Lib. I, 
 
 t Gennad. Cap. 44. Cited by Dr. Ledwich, Ant. p. 358. ' 
 
 j Bed. Hist. Eccies., Lib. 1. Cap. 13. 
 
70 
 
 HISTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 i :^:! 
 
 but most obstinately opposed him, ho departed from their 
 country. But these are aU mere evasions of the truth 
 The reason of hit, failure assigned by O'Halioran is proba- 
 bly the true one, when he says, " Palladius presumed too 
 much on his mission from Rome, and wanted to extort a 
 gr'.ater reverence and obedience from the Irish clergy than 
 they thought him entitled to."* He was, in fact, an in- 
 truder into a church which was complete and independent: 
 the people therefore would neither respect his foreign com- 
 mission, nor obey an extroruational jurisdiction ; and this 
 IS the tenor of the ecclesiastical history of the country till 
 the twelfth century, •}• 
 
 While St. Patrick was still alive, one of his intimate 
 friends, Fieob, Bishop of Sletty in the county of Carlow 
 comprehended the most material events of his Life in an 
 Irish pcem of thirty-four stanzas,t which was translated 
 into Latin, and »ubsequently pubUshed with the Irish by 
 John Colgan. But as Piech died before his patron him- 
 self, this poem is incomplete when viewed as a biography 
 There are, however, three productions of St. Patrick's own 
 pen still extant; and in one of these, which is called his 
 Confe%swn, he gives some aeoount of his travels, adventures 
 and feelings under different circumstances. And from the 
 poem which we have already mentioned, as well as from 
 this document, together with the testimony of some early 
 writers, it is not difficult to collect a well-authenticated 
 statement respecting his missionary labours and subsequent 
 success. 
 
 • O'Hal. Hist., Book VII. Chap. II. 
 
 t Ledwich's Autiquities. 
 
 + Ware. Arciifaiaiiops of Armagh. St. Patrick 
 
CONVKISION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 71 
 
 The place of the nativity, as well as tLe year of the birth 
 of this einin©Qt misaionary is uncertain : but it is most pro- 
 bable, from his own account,* that he was born in Armorio 
 Brittany, in the north-west of France, about the year of our 
 Lord 387, and was therefore of Celtic origin. He was the 
 son of Calphornius a deacon, and tae grandson of Potitus 
 a priest ; and, we may add, that his original name was 
 Succathus, which, according to an ancient custom that was 
 sometimes followed, was changed to that of Magonius 
 when he first received holy orders, and to that of Patri- 
 cius when he was consecrated a Bishop. f The sanctity of 
 his aspect and the patrician dignity of his manners and ap- 
 pearance having su^ested the name of Patricius to Ger- 
 manus, the Bishop by whom he was consecrated. 
 
 In the sixteenth year of his age Succathus, as he was 
 then called, having been taken captive in one of the preda- 
 tory excursions of the Irish monarch upon the maritime 
 coasts of Graul, was sold to a person named Milcho, an in- 
 habitant of that district now forming the county of An- 
 trim, in the province of Ulster During the period of his 
 servitude, he was employed by his master in the care of 
 his sheep ; and in his solitary rambles over the mountain 
 of Sliebh Mis he cultivateu daily that spirit of devoticm 
 for which he was so distinguished at a more mature age. 
 
 • His own words are, — " Patrem habui Calpharnium diaco- 
 num, filium quondam Potiti presbyteri, qui fait in vico Bonavem 
 Taberniae : villulam Enon prope habuit, ubi capturam dedi." 
 Confetsio. — It may be observed that Bonavem Tabernice was the 
 same town that has since been called Boulogne-sur-Mer, in Pi- 
 cardy. See Lan. Eccles. Hitt. C. III. 
 
 t Liyeg of IIIus. and Disiiii. Irlsb&icu, p. S3. 
 
Ef 
 
 i 
 
 »l ^ ! 
 
 i , i 
 
 72 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 His clear and scriptural account of his own feelings at this 
 time, and of his fervency and perseverance in prayer ; to- 
 gether with the strain of pure evangelical piety which runs 
 through the whole of his Narrative, affords iucontestible 
 evidence, that it must have been written at a period of very 
 superior light and knowledge, and must have come from the 
 pen of a man who was habitually conversant with the 
 oraoles of God. 
 
 In the seventh year after his capture, in consequence 
 of an old law of Ireland which limited a state of servitude 
 to that period,* he obtained his freedom ; and immediately 
 made his way to the searside that he might return to h^ 
 own country. But when he had arrived there, a serious 
 diflSculty presented itself, as the master of the vessel in 
 which he intended to sail refu-^ed to take him on board 
 because he was without money, and therefore unable to pay 
 for his passage.f Disappointed thus in his fondest hopes 
 and wishes, he went in search of a cottage where he might 
 remain till some other opportunity should pree-jnt itself of 
 returning to his friends, and in the meantime he betook 
 himself to prayer, the usual means of his comfort and con- 
 solation : but while he was thus engaged, it is said, that the 
 sailors sent after him to effect his return, took him on 
 board, and immediately set sail for their destination.^ 
 
 After much diflBculty and some additional misfortunes, 
 he at length joined i he circle of those friends with whom 
 
 • " There seems to have been a law in Ireland, agreeable to 
 the institution of Moses, that a servant should be released the 
 seventh /ear." Ware. 
 
 t Prob. Vit S. Patrick. Li!. 1. Csiy.. 4. 
 
 i Ware, Archbishops of Armagh. St. Pathiok. ' 
 
CONVIRSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 73 
 
 he had passed the morning of life : but his devotional habits 
 soon induced him to reUnquisb their society, and associate 
 himself with the inmates of a monastery founded at Tours, 
 by St. Martin, his maternal uncle. During his state of 
 religious seclusion in this place, he was surprised, he says, 
 one night in a dream, by the appearance of a messenger, 
 who brou^-ht him a great number of letters, in one of which 
 he saw the words, " The Voice of the Irish," and at the 
 same moment he thought he heard the inhabitants near 
 the Western ocean crying out to him with one voice, 
 " to come and walk among them." 
 
 Impressed with a vivid recollection of this singular dream, 
 his resolution was soon formed, and it became the fixed 
 purpose of his mind to embrace the first opportunity of 
 uoing to assist in the conversion of the Irish. By his 
 piety and zeal, a. weU as by his knowledge of the country 
 and language, he was eminently qualified lor such an under- 
 taking- but for several years we can learn so little ol his 
 history that we are unable to say what prevented him from 
 carrying into immediate effect the project which he had in 
 contemplation. The first matter of importance in which 
 wc find him engaged, was when he accompanied Germanus 
 and Lupus, two of the Bishops of Gaul, who were sent by 
 their brethren in that country into Britain for the purpose 
 of checking the growth of Pelagiani.m in the British 
 
 '^Inlhe course, bowevev, of about three years afterwards 
 
 . Vidi in vi8«, nocte, virum venientem quasi de Hibcrione cui 
 „o„J Victoriciu. cun. epistulis innumerabilibu., el dedU xnau 
 IZL ex iUis. «t legi princirium epistul. conUnenteu.. Vox li,- 
 
 BERIONACUM.— Cofl/eSS. 
 
 F 
 
74 
 
 mSTOBY OP IRELAND. 
 
 i 
 \l 
 
 :i 
 
 ' '..i;: 
 
 I ■ I 
 
 B! ' 1.. 
 
 he was consecrated to the episcopal office, at Ebaria,* by 
 Gennanus, and proceeded on the mission that had occu< 
 pied his thoughts for so many years. He first landed at 
 a port in the territory of the Evoleni,t called Jubher-Dea, 
 now the port of Wicklow ; and notwithstanding the opposi- 
 tion of a chieftain in that place, named Nathi, one of the 
 persecutors of Palladius in the preceding year, he was the 
 honored instrument of the conversion of Sinell-t a de- 
 scendant of Cormac, king of Leinster. 
 
 Having next visited Rath-Jubher, near the mouth of the 
 river Bray, he sailed along the coast till he reached an is- 
 land contiguous to the county of Dublin, since called Inis- 
 Phadruig; but hav;' ig been repelled by some of the natives, 
 he proceeded northward, and, with his associates, again dis- 
 embarked at a landing place near Strangford in the county 
 of Down. The appearance of so large a company, and all 
 apparently foreigners, as they proceeded from the vessel, 
 naturally alarmed the inhabitants for their own safety; and 
 they instantly concluded that they were a gang of pirates 
 who had entered the country for the purpose of plunder- 
 ing the neighbourhood and carrying oflF their booty to the 
 ship. Intelligence, therefore, having been speedily con- 
 
 • It has been asserted, without any sufficient authoritj, that 
 fit. Patrick was consecrated by the Bishop of Rome who had 
 sent Palladiu: ato Ireland : but as the latter died on the 15th 
 of December, 431, and Celestine on the 6th of April following, 
 it is not probable that this should have occurred in the short 
 space of time which elapsed between these two periods. See 
 Lireg, &c., p. 89. 
 
 t Prob. Lib. 1. Cap. 21. 
 t IJsser, Pritnord. n. «4fi. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IBIBH. 
 
 76 
 
 Tcyed to Dicho, the chieftain of that district, he hastened 
 to the spot with a number of armed followers, in order to 
 oppose the aggression of the foreigners. But finding them 
 unarmed, and being struck with the venerable appearance 
 of the Bishop, his indignation was turned into curiosity, 
 and he enquired for what purpose they had entered the 
 country. As soon as St. Patrick had infonned him of 
 his great design, and had obtained permission to explain 
 the nature and principles of Christianity, he preached the 
 gospel to the people in their own language, in such a forci- 
 ble and zealous manner, that not only numbers of the in- 
 habitants of the district, but the chieftain himself and all 
 his family were converted to the Christian faith, and received 
 baptism at the hands of the missionaries. It is also said, 
 that in gratitude for the mercy he had received, Dicho 
 dedicated to God the ground upon which this first sermon 
 was preached ; and that the house in which divine service 
 was celebrated on this occasion was afterwards called Sabhul 
 Fhadruig or Patrick's Barn.* 
 
 The scenes of former years were no doubt revivified in 
 the mind of the Bishop by his visit to the northern pro- 
 vince ; and it was quite natural for him, while he was in 
 the vicinity, to feel considerable anxiety about his former 
 master, and to make some attempt to rescue him from the 
 idolatry and superstition in which he knew he had been 
 educated: but his pious intention was most painfully dis- 
 appointed. His former owner having heard of his arrival 
 and of his design respecting himself, refused to see him or 
 to listen to his instructions, and he was therefore obliged 
 to relinquish his benevolent purpose. 
 
 • Ware. Arcabjsbops of Armagh. St. Patrick. 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ill 
 
 I ! 
 
 Ell 
 
 I 
 
 8< juj» •luie after the arrival of the missionarief), a great 
 I .;' . invention was about to be held at Tara, and St. 
 Patriok was resolved to attend that meeting that he might 
 have an opportunity of preaching to the monarch and 
 assembled chieftains the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 Having thcrefbro «t oiU for this purpose, he arrived at the 
 mouth of the Boyne, where he left his boat, and proceeded 
 with his associates to the plain of Br^, contiguous to the 
 site of the ancient city of Tara. Here they lighted a very 
 large fire at the place where they had taken up their tem- 
 porary residence, either forgetting that it was the eve of 
 one of the great Druidical festivals, and therefore unlawful 
 to kindle a fire except from that which was lighted by the 
 priests ; or else being resolved to break through that super- 
 stitious custom, and to show their abhorrence of the sys- 
 tem of idolatry with which it was connected. 
 
 No sooner was this fire kindled than it was seen from 
 the heights of Tara, notwithstanding the intervening dis- 
 tance was about eight miles* and the Druids enraged at 
 the contempt thus poured upon their authority, preferred 
 their complaint to the monarch, before whom St. Patrick 
 was summoned to appear the next day. To this summons 
 he gladly responded — appeared before the convention — 
 and when questioned by Laogary, the king, he replied, 
 " that he had entered the island under the banner of love 
 and universal benevolence, to raise him up a new people, 
 through a warfare which was purely spiritual ; and that 
 he had no other object in view, but to render his people 
 better men and better subjccts."t 
 
 • Ware ut supra. 
 
 t M.S.— Life of St. Patrick, quoted by Mr. O'Connor. 
 sert.f p, IOC. 
 
 Dh^ 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 77 
 
 Lao<^ry, vvho knew that he had numerous enemies 
 amons^hls nominal subjects, Wiis probably pleased to hear 
 this and therefore the more readily gave permission to the 
 missionaries to explain and defend their doctrines. It is 
 not certain, however, that he was himself among the con- 
 verts made on this occasion, but it is said, that his two 
 daughters and a vast number of other persons enrolled 
 themselves at that time among the disciples of Christ. 
 
 Encouraged by their success and stimulated by the 
 ardour of their zeal, like rivers that wind and wander in 
 their course in order to diffuse their bcneacial influence 
 the more extensively, the missionaries continued their pro- 
 gress to other parts of the island ; and having left Meath, 
 they proceeded westward, St. Patrick being desirous of vis- 
 itin- the wood of Fochlut in the county of Mayo,* bor- 
 deri°ng on the western ocean from which he had heard, 
 several years before, so many voices in his dream. In his 
 journey thither, however, he devisSled from his direct route, 
 that he might visit that place of horror in the county of 
 Leitrim, where, for many centuries, the great idol, called 
 Crom-cruach, stood. Oi his theatre of a sanguinary 
 superstition the missionaries instantly unfurled the banner 
 of the Prince of Peace : and such was their success that 
 they had the satisfaction of witnessing not only the sub- 
 version of the idolatrous system of worship practised at 
 that place, but the total destruction jf the idol itself, and 
 the erection of a Christian church in its stead. 
 
 It would be impossible to descr ibe the success which at- 
 
 . «The wood of Fochlut stood in the territory of Tir-Amal- 
 gftid, now the barony of Tirawley, west of the river May, which 
 empties itself into the sea at Killala." Ware. 
 
 I 
 
.78 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 -*1 ll 
 
 i p. 
 
 1 m 
 
 . 1 
 
 
 
 tended the effortH of these eminent men as they prooeeded 
 in their work and labour of love. There were aJw many 
 singular eoincidenoes which marked their progress that can- 
 not fail to be recognized as so many signal proofs of the 
 special interference of Providenoe in their behalf. 
 
 Having arrived contiguous to the wood of Fochlut, at a 
 time when a vast number of people were assembled to sa- 
 lute a now chieftain of that territory, St. Patrick preached 
 to the assembled multitude ; and it is said that in a short 
 time he baptized " many thousands,"* including the new 
 toparch and his brothers, who all became decided ind zeal- 
 ous advocates of the holy cause ir which he was engaged. 
 
 For the space of sixteen years, tnis indefatigable man, 
 with his companions, was employed in the northern and 
 western parts of the island, before he made any attempt to 
 visit the southern province. The bishops of Munst»jr, 
 when they had been previously visited by Palladius, who, 
 in addition to his ignorance of their language, very pos- 
 sibly claimed some kind of jurisdiction over them, declared 
 most unequivocally to that missionary, that their church 
 had never been subject to any foreign or extra-nat'onal pu 
 thority , and that therefore they could not suffer any foreigi ler 
 to deprive them of their rights.f But notwithstanding 
 the existence of this church, which had produced many 
 holy and eminent men, there had been no general convdr- 
 sion of the people to the Christian faith, even in that pro- 
 vince; and St. Patrick having at length arrived in llun 
 ster, the same success attended his ministry as had been 
 witnessed in the north. Numbers were convinced of the 
 
 • S. Patric. Confess, p. 19. 
 t Usaer. Primord, p. 801. 
 
-'♦VERSION OF tHB IRISH. 
 
 79 
 
 truth au'.r 1.. . ^rewhing, including .n.ong.t them all the 
 "rf Z V . -province. Beside, ,-h.t w« of .».nt» 
 Z.ZI V, . -elftre of the rising -""■"»-. P'*^ 
 unders^r^' w« brought .bout between ho.™""?""' 
 Z^L c .ud the bUhop, who h«l dre^ly ,«nBd.ct,on 
 
 in that part of the island. ' r-^Ur.? he 
 
 H.vin7.pent «,en years in the 'outh of Irel«d>e 
 
 prcceeded, about the ye«r 455, to the province of ^'»»^'' 
 Ld in this tour visited the city of Dubhn *hen com™nly 
 called Be.li»>liath, where b, his preaching * f"^ jj, 
 Ung of that Urritory, was converted t» the Chn^T/"*; 
 t^d was baptised with all his people in a fountam near 
 the present site of St. Patrick's cathedral. 
 
 It was probably after his southern tour ^''^e fonned 
 the design of establishing an episcopal see at Ann«gMhe 
 
 '"ir^enr:jrhttrdortitror.*;?- 
 sr: cthS!:.rbushed . »^'-»^/-::,t,r 
 
 Diocese which, in process of timc,beo««e the Metropol.tan 
 Me of the whole island. . 
 
 From this period he spent the greater part of to «me 
 between Armagh and Sabhul in the ^-f "[^"''^^i 
 where he had preached his hrst sermon in Ul'tor ana 
 :h::: appears t! have been ever after his Vav-n^;^-^ 
 At Armagh he held several synods of the de^ ' 
 which canons and constitutions were V^J'''^^^ 
 vemment of the Church. To these were add^ afe"^^^ 
 several others that were decreed at a later date, but there 
 
 . Han. Chron. p. 35, O'Hal. Hist., Book VII., 0. 2. 
 t Prob. Vit. S. Pitrlc, Lib. H, Cap. 1. 
 
 ^m^ 
 
:'■-*• 
 
 80 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 I^i 
 
 can be no reasonable doubt of the autbcnticity of those 
 that are ascribed to St. Patri ;k himself. 
 
 It was during this state o' comparative retirement, that 
 he is supposed to have written his Confession or Narrative, 
 as a memorial of the singular success with which God had 
 blessed him. It is written in a homely and characteristic 
 style in the Latin tongue, for which he apologizes, as he 
 had been in the habit of speaking only in Irish for so many 
 years. He seems to have had some presentiment of his 
 death while engaged in this work: and de accordingly 
 closed his apostolical labours at Sabhul, as he died on the 
 17th of March A.D. 465, in the seventy-eighth year of his 
 age and thirty-third of his ministry in Ireland. 
 
 As soon as it was known that the great apostle of Ire- 
 land was dead there was a general concourse of the Bishops 
 and clergy at Sabhul to assist at his funeral, and to evince 
 their affectionate respect for their venerable father in 
 OhrLst. Ilis mortal remains were interred at Downpatrick,* 
 with all due solamnity, where he rest^ from his labours 
 while liis works follow him. 
 
 Ilis character is be&t exliibited by the salutary revolution 
 which he was enabled to accomplish in the religion of the 
 nation. To have been the instrument employed by the 
 great Head of the Church for tne conversion of almost a 
 nation of pa^^ans to the faith of one Redeemer, and to have 
 cstabPslied a Church amongst his converts upon so firm a 
 basis, were achievements incomparably more honorable than 
 to liavo conquered mighty nations, and to have established 
 
 * " All the early Irish writers affirm that Si. Patrick was 
 buried at Down, 'n Ireland ; and it ia from such authorities that 
 the truth muat he drawn." — Ware. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISIT. 
 
 81 
 
 tho mo.'t powerful dynasty that ever existed in the present 
 world There can be no doubt that ministry oi men 
 whose natural talents could not be said to rise above medio- 
 crity, h^s been fre(iuently blessed and made the mstrument 
 of extensive good. But still their success has not been of 
 that particular kind which attended the preaching ot bt. 
 Patrick Wlienever he obtained a hearing, whct}>er betore 
 rulers or their subjects, he seldom failed to convi.,ce his 
 auditors of the truth and importance of his doctrine, and 
 the natural inference is that he was a powerful and per- 
 suasive preacher * It is also probable that he possessed a 
 happy talent of illustrating his subjects by sd-^tions from 
 the kingdom of nature. It is said, that in attempting to 
 simplify the mysterious .bctrinc of the Trinity to his un- 
 taught auditors, he plucked up a sprig of the treM. or 
 shamrock, and 8how3d them from its three expanded leaves 
 ...owing out of one stem, and partaking of the same nature, 
 how three subsistences in one essence exist in the God 
 head • and hence his followers very naturally adopted the 
 .hamrock as their national emblem, in commemoration of 
 the prime article of the faith in which he had instructed 
 
 them. . , . ii. ^„„ 
 
 No individual hi., suffered more in his posthumous 
 
 rcpatation than St Patrick has done, or has been more 
 
 nearly reduced to a mere fictitious personage by the puerile 
 
 . '.Ifwe^rouldjudge by the writings ascribed to this niia- 
 .ionarv he was vastly inferior to his coicmporaries, Eierome he 
 Tonk Ambro e of Milan, and Augustine of Hippo ; but to judge 
 Tftm by his success in preaching, he excelled the Jhr- -'I 
 appears to be as successful a missionary as Uved since the apos 
 tolic age.'— 0' Con. Dis.,p. 195. 
 
82 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 inventions of his mediaeval biographers. The writers of 
 his life were so numerous in the middle ages, that when 
 Joceline, the monk, in the twelfth century, set about the 
 task of giving to the world an additional biography of this 
 distinguished missionary, he found that no less than sixty- 
 six writers had preceded him in a similar undertaking* 
 Had all their productions survived the wreck of the north- 
 ern invaaion, it would probably be found, that imagination 
 had employed her creative powers in every successive bio- 
 graphy, and that fresh miracles were to be found recorded 
 in each of them as having been wrought by the superna- 
 tural powers with which he was supposed to have been 
 invested. 
 
 Joceline informs us, that from four of the Lives of St. 
 Patrick which had not been destroyed by the Dares, he 
 selected such facts as he could find deservinsr of credit :+ 
 and hence we may fairly conclude, he rejected such state- 
 ments as he deemed to be unworthy of belief. But even 
 after such an expurgatorial process, we are gravely in- 
 formed by this monk, that St. Patrick, while an infant, 
 brought a new river from the earth, which gave sight to 
 the blind — that he produced fire from ice — that he raised 
 his nurse from the dead — that he cast a devil out of a 
 heifer — and performed a variety of other miracles, equally 
 surprising, and some of them as useless as they were ex- 
 travagant. 
 
 But in adverting to the miracles which this writer has 
 professed to consider credible, we ought not to omit one of 
 
 • Vit. S. Patric. p. 81. 
 
 t Qusecumque fid* digna reptrira potui. 
 
 Fit. S. Pat. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 83 
 
 the most popular of the wonders which he has recorded 
 and towhiVh the physical properties of the soU andcUma;. 
 of Ireland have contributed to give a degree ot creC 
 which the other miracles, ascribed to St. Patrick cannot 
 
 ' Tis stated, that in the season of Lent, he was accus- 
 tomed to spend much of his time, upon the solitary sum- 
 ^of a mountain in the county of Mayo, which is still 
 known by the name of Croagh Patrick: and that on one 
 LcaBion,'.saboon to his converts, hecollect^da^^^^^^ 
 serpents snakes, and venomous reptUes in he Island and 
 by an authoritative mandate drove them all headlong into 
 the Atlantic Ocean * But unfortunately for the credit 
 of this popular tradition, the ancient gf>g;?^^'^' 7^^ 
 wroto abTut two hundred years before the birth of St 
 Patrick, mention as a natural curiosity, that no snake or 
 reptile of the serpent kind had any existence at that time 
 in Ireland. So that to what cause soever this exemption 
 may be attributed, there is no ground for ascnbing it to 
 the supernatural powers supposed to have been possessed 
 
 bv the Irish Apostle. , 
 
 Such are a few specimens of the monstrous fic^^ns wUh 
 which the writers of the dark ages have interlarded the 
 biography of this excellent missionary: but to the Christ- 
 Tn who peru^eB Ws history impartially, it must be evident 
 that -ork which he accomplished afforded a more sig- 
 nal proot .aat the hand of M was with him. than all .^ 
 miraculous powers ascribed to him would ha -e done n.d 
 be really exercised them in the way that some ot his 
 
 biographers have stated. 
 
 • Joceline Vit. S. P»tric. 0»p. 170. 
 
 »e 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY- OF IRELAND. 
 
 ! 'J 
 
 The anile credulity of the mediaeval writers, in giving 
 currency to the legends recorded of St. Patrick, induced 
 Dr. Ledwich and some others of very inferior note, to 
 contend for the non-existence of St. Patrick, and to ascribe 
 the- whole of his hi.story to the imaginative qualities of the 
 monks of the middle ages. But a little consideration, if 
 accompanied with the slightest degree of candour, will soon 
 dissipate the mists of this historical scepticism, and place 
 the reality of his history in its proper light. 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century, Dr. Syves, one of the 
 Masters in Chancery, having had. occasion to consider 
 minutely the ancient history of the Irish Church, first sug- 
 gested the idea of the non-existence of St. Patrick, and 
 questioned the account of the conversion of the Irish peo- 
 ple to the Christian faith by means of his ministry. Pro- 
 bably the doctor was an interested party in this view of the 
 question, as the cause which he had then in hands might 
 have been more easily decided could his suggestions have 
 been fully established. Being contemporary with Usher 
 and Cambden, the two great luminaries of Irish and Bri- 
 tish antiquities, he communicated his objections in a letter 
 to the former, and requested he would lay them before Mr. 
 Cambden, and obtain his opinions upon their force and va- 
 lidity. Usher accordingly enclosed the letter to his friend, 
 and the result was, after mature deliberation, that these 
 two great antiquarians came to the same cruclusion, that 
 the objections were groundless, and that the existence of 
 St. Patrick was as well established as that of any other per- 
 sonage recorded in the history of the time in which he lived.* 
 
 • Dr. Ledwich, in hi3 usual strain of Insolence, impeaches the 
 moral honesty of thee two eminent men for their decision on 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 85 
 
 Had the biography indeed of thi« eminent missionary 
 been altogether a literary fabricatior of the middle ages, it 
 is obvious that it must have been forged to answer ^ome par- 
 ticular purpose; but what this purpose was has never 
 yet been discovered. It docs - ot appear prirm /tctc to 
 have been the mere figment of a sportive imagination which 
 was never intended to be received as a grave portion of the 
 ecclesiastical history of Ireland ; and all the circumstances 
 in it (the miraculous agency ascribed to the missionary 
 excepted) exhibit the strongest evidence, that from what 
 source soever it may have had its origin, it could not have 
 been fabricated by any writer of the middle ages. 
 
 The first work which narrates the principal events otfet 
 Patrick's Life is that poem to which we have already alluded 
 >v-.ttcn by St. Fiech,one of his own discipies* and ad- 
 vuDced by him to the episcopal dignity. These incidents, it 
 is true, have been overlaid, by subsequent biographers 
 with the most extravagant fictions; but, even arrayed with 
 tlicse contemptible embellishments, they give evident proots 
 that, if ever they were forged, it must have been at a period 
 anterior to the erection in Ireland of the papal system with 
 its incidental appendages. 
 
 We are told in his Confession that he was th.^, son ot a 
 deacon and the grandson of a priest ; and it is not likely that 
 such a statement as this should have been invented in the 
 
 tl,i3 subject. " On the present occasion," says he "our learn 
 ed rrimale a.ul l.is excellent IVien.l deviate strangely from sUict 
 yeAcLy" .I'd-^V- ^^'^- l^''^ the judicious reader will know 
 how to eslinmle the respective merits of these two great anti- 
 ■Hiarians and of their dogmatical opponent. 
 • Vide S. Patrick Opusc. 
 
86 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 I! ^ It 
 
 i) Mr 
 
 midslle ag©?, or made at all, had not the writers been con- 
 fined to facts that could not be suppressed. To reconcile 
 therefore the account of his parentage with the celibacy of 
 the clergy enjoined in iter ages, Joceline was obliged to 
 assume that they had taken orders after the birth of their 
 children. But this is a gratuitous asumption and based 
 upon a false supposition that the celibacy of the clergy was 
 an original institution of the Church. 
 
 The writings of St. Patrick, as collected hj Sir James 
 Ware,* consist of three parts. The first, which is called his 
 Confession, contains in itself such internal evidence of its 
 authenticity as to set the captious objections that have been 
 raised against it at defiance. The general agreement of its 
 contents with those of the history of the time in which he 
 is averred to have lived, aflfords a strong presumptive evi- 
 dence in its favour ; an agreement which could not have 
 been the result of literary imposture. Besides there is such 
 a consistency in its several statements as could hardly be 
 found in a mere historical forgery. At the time of his con- 
 secration, in the year 432, he says that a friend of his re. 
 proached him with asn of which he had been guilty thirty 
 years before, when he had scarcely/ attained to the fifteenth 
 year of his age. This would make him therefore about 
 forty-five at the time of his consecration. Now as the 
 expedition of Niall the great into Gaul, in which St Patrick 
 was taken captive, occurred about the year 403, it must 
 have happened just twenty-nine years before his elevation 
 to the episcopal office : a»d when we deduct twenty-nine 
 from forty-five we have a remainder of sixteen, which is the 
 
 • St. Patrick's Works were coUbcted and published in London 
 by Sir James Ware, ia 1656 
 
s-i-^^ 
 
 CONVERSION OF THE HUSH. 
 
 87 
 
 precise age he is stated to have been at the time of his 
 captivity. It is highly improbable therefore, that his 
 biographers should have succeeded so well in making all 
 their dates, taken in what order soever they might be, 
 harmonize in this manner, and that too, without appearing to 
 have any such object in view, had his Confession been, as 
 asserted by Dr. Ledwich, " the juvenile exercise of some 
 monk of the eleventh or twelfth century."* 
 
 The strain of pure evangelical piety also which rune 
 through the Confession, so inconsistent with the theology 
 of the cloistered ecclesiastics of the middle ages, presents 
 no slight indication of the age in which it was written. 
 The simple facts too recorded in this production, when 
 compared with the miracles ascribed to him by the writers 
 of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, will be found to 
 strengthen the cogency of the foregoing observatlu. ; and 
 
 are sufficient to satisfy the candid and ingenuous that both 
 could not have originated from the same source. 
 
 The second part of his works is a tract entitled De Tri- 
 bus HaUtaculis, which deserves to be specially noticed, as 
 containing internal evidence of the impossibility of ita 
 having been produced by any of the mediaeval writers. In 
 this he treats of the joys of heaven and the torments of 
 hell, but there is not the slightest allusion in it to any other 
 receptacle for the souls of the departed. Hence it may be 
 inferred that this tract was written in an age before the 
 doctrine of purgatory became prevalent in the Western 
 church, and consequently that it could not have been 
 forged in the middle ages by any of the monks of the 
 church of Rome. 
 
 •Led. Ant. Ire. P. 161. 
 
88 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Besides, one circumstance mentioned by Ware should 
 not be overlooked in judging of the authenticity of those 
 works ascribed to St. Patrick. The t«xts of Scripture 
 cited in them are all translations from the Septuagint, 
 and not quotations directly from the Vulgato ; and this 
 circumstance would of itself, in the mind of every scholar, 
 determine the time in which they were written to the 
 age in which St. Patrick lived. 
 
 The third part of these works contains several constitu- 
 tions and canons ascribed to St. Patrick, together with 
 others that were subsequently added. The number of 
 ecclesiastical enactments collected by Ware, Dachery and 
 others, would form a very large and curious volume, and 
 throw much light upon the civil and ecclesiastical history 
 of Ireland. Several of the canons of the Irish church 
 enacted in the eigth, ninth, and tenth centuries, were adopted 
 not only in England where the Irish ecclesiastics had such 
 extensive influence,* but even by several of the prelates 
 on the continent. Some of those canons are peculiarly 
 remarkable and interesting. One of them commands that 
 no curse or maledictionf should be pronounced against 
 the excommunicated, though they were ordered to be repelled 
 from th society of the faithful. Another, that in taking 
 an oath, God the Creator is alone to be adjured ; and 
 quotes the authority of St. Paul, that an oath being the end 
 of all strife, should be made only to the Almighty. In 
 the next, swiiaring on the gospels is mentioned : a mode of 
 
 • In 750, Ecgbriht, Arclibishcp of York, inserted five of the 
 Irish Canons among liis Kxerptions which were compiled for 
 the use of his diocese. 
 
 t N<ni maledices. — S. Patric. Opusc p. 32. 
 
CONVERSION OF THE IRISH. 
 
 89 
 
 app^g to the Searcher of Hearts indicative of the punty 
 of theancient religion of the Irish, but inconsistent with 
 the custom subsequently introduced of sweanng on beUs, 
 crosiers, and the reUcs of saints. One of the Canons in 
 Dachery enacts, that he who has lived irreproachably from 
 his youth to his thirtieth year, contented with one m\e 
 that had been a virgin,-who had been a sub-deacon five 
 years, and'as many a deacon,-may in his fortieth year be 
 a priest, and at fifty a bishop. Another anathematizes those 
 who exalt celibacy above the married state; and agr^s m 
 this with the sentiments and practice of the clergy m the 
 first and purest ages of the church. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 Christianity in Ireland till the Death op St. 
 
 COLUMBA. 
 
 The conversion of the Irish nation to tho religion of 
 Christ was a signal triumph oyer the sanguinory system 
 of superstition which hod prevailed for so many ages 
 amongst the people : but it had little effect upon the 
 constitution and laws by which all their civil affairs were 
 regulated. 
 
 Absorbed as the Irish writers of a subsequent period 
 were in ecclesiastical matters, they seem to have overlooked 
 for a time the civil history of their country ; and from this 
 cause their account of the latter is very meagre and 
 imperfect. Besides as it was some centuries after their 
 conversion, before the Irish adopted the computation of time 
 by the Christian era, their chronology in the interim is 
 very uncertain and inaccurate. 
 
 The change in the habits and moral conduct of the 
 people, which the Christian religion is always known to 
 effect, appears to have had but little influence in checking 
 the effusion of human blood ; and in the back ground of 
 the picture drawn of the piety and virtue which adorned 
 the character of so many of the professors of the new faith, 
 we can perceive the same lust of power, as well as the same 
 treachery and ferocity, though probably not to the same 
 extent, as that which disgraced some of the Irish princes 
 under the gloomy superstition to which they were formerly 
 subject. 
 
T> J%;V?^ 
 
 CimiSTTANITY IN IRELAND. 
 
 91 
 
 Tho Buccc88ful exertions of St. Patrick and his associ- 
 ates f?ivo a brilliant lustre to tho reign of that nionarcli dur- 
 i„.r whose administration the Irish Church was planted 
 and consolidated. Lao-ary, however, was not so fortunate 
 in his civil transactions as to transu.it his name to posterity 
 with respect and celebrity ; for having entered Leinst^jr m 
 u hostile manner, in order to enforce the payment of the 
 IJoromean tribute, he was met by Criomthan, the king of 
 that province, at Atha-Dara in the county of Kildare ; 
 and in tlic battle which ensued, the monarch's torccs were 
 defeated with considerable slaughter. He was also taken 
 prisoner himself, and in order to regain his liberty, was 
 obli-ed to swear by the sun, the wind, and the elements, 
 that" he would exonerate the Lagcnians from all future 
 demands of this nature. 
 
 Comnelled to submit to this humiliating condition, no 
 sooner had the monarch regained his freedom than he pro- 
 tested against all proceedings and pronnses into which he 
 had been forced during his captivity: but as he ended his 
 career in a short time afterwards, he was unable to take 
 any decisive action on the resolution which he then had 
 formed. He is said to have reigned thirty years as monarch 
 of Ireland ; and to have died by an immediate visitation 
 of God, as a punishment for the breach of his oath to the 
 
 Lagcnians.* 
 
 • In the annals of the Four Masters we have the following 
 entry on this subject : 
 
 A D 458 Postquam fuiaset XXX annis in regimine Hiber- 
 nia> ' Laogarius fili.is Nialli Novi-obsidum, occisus est prope 
 cassiam inter Erin et Albaniam (i. e.) duos coUes qui sunt i^ 
 regione Faolan, et sol et vent-ii occiderunt eum quia temeravit 
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92 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 Whether Laogary embraced the Christian faith or not 
 before his death is uncertain ; but it is a matter which 
 admits of no doubt that some of the provincial princes 
 during his reijrn received the Sacrament of Baptism at the 
 hands of St. Patrick and his associates. 
 
 A. D. 463. No prince ever ascended a throne under 
 more favourable circumstances than Ollial Molt, the son of 
 Dathy, wb now succeeded to the monarcliy. His kindred, 
 the sons and grandsons of Niall the Great, being not yet 
 sufficiently established in their respective principalities, 
 consented to his election ;* and he was accordingly chosen' 
 to succeed the late monarch on the sovereign throne. 
 Several conyentions of the states were assembled, during 
 >ils reign, at Tara; and almost all the princes and 'nobility 
 of the kingdom had received baptism at the hands of the 
 missionaries. But Lugad, the son of Laogary, who had 
 been in his minority at the time of bis father's death, and 
 therefore incapable of succeeding him, having now arrived 
 at the age re.juired by the law, resolved to' seize on the 
 monarchy or die in the kttempt. Having therefore leagued 
 with some other princes, he soon appeared at the head of 
 an army sufficiently powerful to support his pretensions to 
 the throne. 
 
 A. D. 483. The monarch, being aware of his proceed- 
 ings, and of the formidable force he had been enabled to 
 procure, made every preparation to resist his claims, and 
 having collected all his friends and dependants to his 
 standard, he met the army of his rival upon the plains of 
 Ocha, in tiie county of Meath. The battle was so well 
 sustained on both sides, and the c>irnagc was so extensive 
 
 • See O'Connor'a Dissert, p. 205. 
 
CHRISTIANITY IN IRELAND^ 
 
 9S 
 
 in which many of the prime nobility, aa well as the 
 monarch himself, were slain, that the senachies b^an to 
 reckon a new era f-om it, as they generally did from any 
 event that was peculiarly remarkable or intereating. 
 
 By the issue of the battle of Ocha, the elder branch of 
 the Tuathalian line was set aside and confined to the pro- 
 vincial government of Connaught : whilst the Hy-Nialls 
 got possession of the supreme government, which they held 
 without any effectual interruption for more than five hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 Notwithstanding the reign of Lugad, which extended to 
 twenty years, was distinguished by many bloody battles, 
 yet the obscurity which rests upon all the political transac- 
 tions of this period renders it impossible for us to ascer- 
 tain the causes that gave rise to these sanguinary contests. 
 Towards the close, however, of his administration, the Hy- 
 Nialls added to the eclat of the nation by assisting the 
 Dal-Riad race to establish a new sovereignty of Scots in 
 North Britain. Several acquisitions had been made by Irish 
 chieftains in Albany, from their first settlement there ; but 
 these chieftains having belonged to different rival septs in 
 the mother country ; and having been generally engaged 
 in their own family disputes at home, did not regard suffi- 
 ciently their mutual interests in North Britain ; and there- 
 fore they were residing in the latter country without any 
 common bond of union. A permanent establishment, how- 
 ever, was ultimately given to the Scots in their adopted 
 country by the enterprising spirit of the six sops of Ere,* 
 who founded that monarchy which not only extended its 
 
 • " They were known by the names of the two Angupes, the 
 two Lome, and the two Ferguses." Keating. 
 
94 
 
 mSlOBY OF IHBLAND. 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 dominion, in the course of a few centaries, over the whole 
 of modern Scotland, but transmitted through the house of 
 Stuart, a long succession of monarchsto Great Britain. (*) 
 
 Lugad is said, not only to have been indifferent to 
 Christianity, but an enemy to the faith which was pro- 
 fessed in his dominions. His death occurred about the 
 year 506, and was foUowed by an inter-regnum of five 
 years, but from what cause we are unable to ascertain. 
 
 A. P. 513. Mortogh MacErea, the next monarch, who 
 was the third in descent from Niall the Great, is remarka- 
 ble for having lived and died a professor of the Christian 
 religion. Sabina, his queen, had also received the doctrines 
 of the gospel, and had become so eminent for her piety 
 and practical adherence to the faith she had embraced that 
 her name found a place, afterwards, in the calendar of Irish 
 saints. His reign, which lasted for twenty-one years, was, 
 like that of most of his predecessors, a continued scene of 
 bloodshed and civil commotion ; and he is said to have 
 been obliged to fight five great battles, in one year, in sup- 
 port of his own authority. It is needless to record that 
 his death was a violent one, though some controversy exists 
 as to the mode of it. 
 
 After a reign of nearly eleven years, in which several 
 battles were fought, Tuathal Maolgarb, who had succeeded 
 Mortogh, was assassinated by the foster-brother of Diar- 
 muid, to open the way for that prince to the throne : but 
 the regicide suffered the punishment which was due to his 
 crime, as he was immediately cut to pieces by the monarch's 
 
 guards. 
 
 A. D. 544. On the death cf Tuathal, Diarmuid, who 
 
 • O'Connor's Dissert., p. 206. 
 
CHRISTIANITY IN IRELAND. 
 
 95 
 
 stood precisely in the saaie relation as the two preceding 
 princes to the celebrated Niall the Great, succeeded to the 
 crown of Ireland ; and in the second year of his reign, 
 Fergus and Donald, two princes of the Niallian race, in- 
 vaded ♦Jie territories of the Conacians ; slew OlUal, their 
 king, and completely defeated the forces of the Wer.tem 
 province. In thb instance, ps well ae in many others that 
 have been left on record, it may be perceived that it was 
 usual for the subordinate princes of Ireland to wage war 
 Tvith each other without the sanction or approbation of the 
 monarch. Although his regal supremacy was acknowledged 
 in the nation, it is obvious that his power was greatly 
 circumscribed ; and that he was accustomed to act in his 
 sovereign capacity only when called i^n by the national 
 
 vwce. 
 
 During the reign of Diarmuid a circumstance occurred 
 at a convention of the states, the fatal effects of which were 
 probably not anticipated by the person with whom it origi- 
 nated. A regulation had been made at an early period, 
 which must be admitted to have been of a most salutary 
 kind amongst a people so remarkable for their mercurial 
 temperament as the Irish have been in every stage of 
 their history, that to offer violence to any person at Tara 
 during the convention should be punished by the death of 
 the offender. Cuornane MacHugh, notwithstanding this 
 law, had, in some private dispute, killed another gentleman, 
 and apprehensive of the consequences, had fled to Fergus 
 and Donald for protection : but knowing their inability to 
 screen him themselves from the penalty he had incurred, 
 they sent him to their kinsman, the celebrated St. Columba, 
 entreating that ecclesiastic to grant him an asylum m 
 
96 
 
 HI8T0BT OF IRELAin>. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 his monastery. This, however, was of little avail ; for 
 the monarch had the homicide seized and put to death, not- 
 withstanding the inflnenoe of his protectors. 
 
 This insult offered to a person so popular as St. Co- 
 lumha, aroused his kinsmen, the Northern Hy-Nialls, to 
 take vengeance on the [monarch ; and under the command 
 of Fergus and Don^Jd they engaged his forces ai Culdremni, 
 whom they defeated with great slaughter. Diarmuid him- 
 self with difficulty escaped ; and the people in general 
 were easily led to believe that this victory was owing to the 
 influence of St. Columba's prayers, rather than to the 
 courage and intrepidity of the forces that espoused his 
 cause. ' 
 
 The loss which the monarch sustained by the issue of 
 this battle was scarcely recruited when he was again in- 
 volved in a war with Guaire, or (Jeary, king of Connaught, 
 the latter, in all probability, having refused to acknowledge 
 his title, or to pay the provincial tribute which had been 
 always claimed by the monarch. Having therefore collect- 
 ed a powerful force, he marched along the banks of the 
 Shannon, where St. Comin is said to have used every 
 means in his power, though without effect, to pacify the 
 contending parties, and to bring about a reconciliation. 
 Guaire was inflexible and rejected with determination all 
 the remonstrances of the pious ecclesiastic. Diarmuid's 
 troops, however, having plunged into the Shannon, gained 
 the opposite shore in spite of all the efforts of the Conaci- 
 ans, and by their bravery the latter were compelled to give 
 way in every direction. Finding himself therefore unable 
 to carry on the contest with such a pcweaful antagonif t, 
 Guaire, on the following day, was obliged to surrender 
 himself to the mercy of the monarch. 
 
cnRlSTUNTTY IN TKELkSD. 
 
 97 
 
 The ceremony which is recorded aa having taken place 
 upon this occasion hetween the two kings was probable 
 one that was practised on rebeUious chieftains when re- 
 stored to the favour of the monarch against whom tbey 
 had waged a seditions warfare. It is said that Guaire ap- 
 proached the monarch's tent, and faUing on his knees, 
 presented him with his sword, acknowledging his cnme 
 and imploring forgiveness. Diarmnid arose, drew the 
 sword from its sheath, and commanded the Conaoian 
 prince to lie down on his back ; and then, placing his foot 
 on hib breast, and the point of his sword between his 
 teeth, he obliged Guaire, in this posture, to confess his dis- 
 loyalty, and to swear fidelity and obedience during the 
 residue of his life. This ceremony having been performed, 
 a splendid entertainment followed, and Itese two princes 
 continued in the closest amity for ever after.* 
 
 Diarmuid is represented on the whole as a pnnce of 
 the strictest justice, most sincere piety and unbounded 
 munificence. He was cut off in the year 56:, after a 
 reign of twenty-one years, by the sword of Hugh Dubt 
 MacSwiney, king of Ulster, and was interred in the 
 lurch of Clonmaonoise, near Roscrea, which he himself 
 
 uad founded. 
 
 Amongst the numerous persons that distinguished them- 
 selves in this age thete was none that occupied a more 
 prominent pla«e than the cel^brat^d St. Columba, who is 
 more generally known among the Irish by the name of St. 
 Colum-kiUe, and to whose popularity we have ahready ad- 
 vetted. This eminent man was born of iUustrious parents. 
 
 •O'Hal. HiBt., B. VIII. C. IV. 
 
98 
 
 HISTOBY OP niKlLAND. 
 
 in that part of tJ^v, county of Donegal which now forms 
 the barony of Kilmaorsnan,* about the year 522. He 
 was a descendant of Niall the Great, and his mother wae 
 also of royal extraction, being of a distinguished and 
 princely house of Leinster. He received the first rudi- 
 ments of knowledge under St. Fridian, afterwards Bishop 
 of Lucca in Italy : and having finished his school educa- 
 tion, he put himself under the care of St. Finian, whose repu- 
 tation as a teacher was at that time of the most extensive 
 celebrity. Under the judicious guidance of this teacher 
 at Clonard, Columba is said to have improved himself 
 so much that his pkill in exj^ounding the holy scriptures 
 excited the highest degree of admiration amongst his coun- 
 trymen. The custom of the agd, as well as the natural 
 disposition of his own mind, led him to the formation of 
 those habits which fitted him fcr a life of seclusion and 
 austerity. Monachism had already taken deep root in Ire- 
 land, and was, in the commencement of his career, flour- 
 ishing in c<>nsequence of its numerous professors and learned 
 academical institutions. At Clonard, Columba was there- 
 fore assiduously engaged in the study and acquisition of 
 that knowledge which was afterwards so extensively useful to 
 the cause of rel^ion both in Britain and Ireland. Here he 
 became a parfeot master of the letirned languages, and 
 applied himself with such perseverance and success in the 
 study of theology and other branches of learning, that his 
 
 •St. Columba founded an Abbey afterwards in Kilmacreniin 
 which was richly endowed ; and O'Donnel founded a small 
 bouse on the site of the ancient Abbey for friars of the order 
 of St. Francis. Near the village there is a rock on which the 
 O'Donnels, princes of Tyrconnel, were always inaugurated. 
 Seward's Topographia Hibernica. 
 
CHRISTIANITY IN IBELAND. 
 
 99 
 
 reputation was scarcely inferior to that of the most cele- 
 brated men of his time. 
 
 Having completeij his monastic education, he immedi- 
 ately commenced, with zeal and assiduit^, Aose laboa'^ 
 which have rendered hia name so justly celebr«+4^d. 
 His favourite residence appears to have been a monasUry 
 of his own foundation near Lough Foyle, called Doii'i 
 Calgach, from which the citjr of Perry derives its nAme ; 
 and such was his attachment to this place, that Lie is said 
 to have expressed a desire that the trees forming a beauti- 
 ful grove near the monastery, iii which he Was aocilstom- 
 ed to read and pray, should for ever Iremtdn uncut. Jour- 
 neying southward he likewise founded a religious hou<3e at 
 Lurragh,* and established such a system of discipline 
 for the monks under his superintendence that they soon 
 became as famous for their learning as their piety, and 
 were thenceforward distinguished by the honourable appel- 
 lation of Culdees, or servants of God. 
 
 Possessed as Columba was of a powerful and command- 
 ing eloquence, of talents of the first order, ahd of zeal the 
 most persevering, he rose rapidly in the estimation of his 
 countrymen : and it being impossible that such brilliant 
 parts and splendid acquirements should be confined within 
 the limited precincts of a monastic cell, he was sotnellmes 
 called forth to settle the affairs of his country, and in this 
 he evinced a decided superiority over his contemporaries. 
 Harassed, however, with the incessant feuds, animosities, 
 and tyrannies of his friends, as well as of his enemies, and 
 stimulated by the ardour of his Zeal to make known the doc- 
 
 •I<ed. Ant., p. 59. 
 
100 
 
 BISTORT OF IRBLAND. 
 
 trinefl of the cross to pagan nations ; in the forty-third year 
 of his age he forsook his native land, where he had gained 
 so mnch celebrity by his talents, and undertook a mission 
 to the unconverted Picte, \t that time be most powerful 
 people in North Britain. 
 
 Having arrived in that country, Columba was courteously 
 received by his kinsman, Conall, the king of the Dal- 
 Riada ; and that prince bestowed on him the allodium of 
 the isle of Hy, one of the Hebrides, now caDed lona, or 
 Icolumkille, and destined henceforth to become one of the 
 most distingtiished seats of learning and religion in the 
 British islands during that and the subsequent age.* 
 Here he established his principal monastery ; and thence 
 with his foUowers, whom he h>\d brought with him from 
 Ireland, he entered the country of the Picts, and by his 
 evangelical labours and apostolic zeal, succeeded in bring- 
 ing that people to a knowledge of the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 After Columba had spent many years in North Britain, 
 it was found necessary for him to visit his native country 
 once more. In the various stru^les and contests for the 
 crown of Ireland, which had taken place, many disorders 
 had crept into the government, and the country was niuch 
 distracted by the great license assumed by some classes of 
 the community. In order therefore to remedy these evils, 
 Hugh I., the reigning monarch at that time, summoned a 
 
 • Dr. Johnscn, in his visit to this island, obseryes : — " We 
 are now treading that illuatrious island which wae once the 
 luminary of the Caledonian regions. That man is little to be 
 envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of 
 Marathon, or whose piety wonld not grow wanner among the 
 ruins of lona."— See Journey to the Western hlands. 
 
 w 
 
CERISTIANITT IN IRELAND. 
 
 101 
 
 great national assembly to meet at Drumceat, in the prov- 
 xnco of Ulster. Of this convention, it is said, that notices 
 were sent to the different princes of Ireland, to Albany to 
 tbc Hebrides, and to the Isle of Man : and that the names 
 of the chiefs who attended it .re still on record;* amon-st 
 whom were Aidan, the king of the Albanian Scots, and 
 Columba, with some of the bishops and cler^zy who accom- 
 pained the latter. 
 
 The first subject recorded as occupying the attention of 
 this assembly, which continued its sessions for fourteen 
 months, was the reformation of abuses which had crept 
 into the order of filens, who had been a privileged class 
 from the eariiest period of the Irish monarchy. In the 
 reign of Concovar MacNessa in Ulster, that prince had 
 saved the order from total destruction by his timely inter- 
 ference : but it was then that class of the fileas that were 
 intrusted with the administration of the laws, which, by 
 exceeding their proper functions, had incurre<^ the resent- 
 ment of the nation. In the present instance, however, it 
 was the bards or poets who had caused considerable dis- 
 turbance by their arrogance and unprincipled abuse of the 
 privileges of their body. 
 
 In the schools of Ireland at this priod, poetry, on 
 account of the various kinds of metre which prevailed in 
 the country, was a particular and laborious study. The 
 Irish seminaries, besides having been instituted for the 
 instruction of the higher grades of society, received also a 
 certain number of students who devoted their attention to 
 divinity, history, an^ poetry; and the immunities they 
 enjoyed induced numbers of idlers to enrol themselves 
 
 • O'Hal. Hist., Vol. III. p. 80. 
 
102 
 
 niSTORT OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 amongst theta, who by this mcnns found an opportunity of 
 gratifying both their indolonco and their vanity. 
 
 During the time of vacation in these colleges, which waa 
 from May to Michaelmas, whilst the joung nobility and 
 gentry retired to enjoy the society of their friends, the 
 registered students, like the military, were quartered on the 
 country : and such was their iusohnce, as well as their num- 
 ber, that they became a real burthen and annoyance to the 
 nation. Not content with leading a life of contemptible 
 idleness, these literary mendicants frc(iuently perverted the 
 talent of rhyming which they had acquired, by satirizing 
 those who had neglected to show them the respect which 
 they claimed, or who refused to gratify them in the demands 
 ■which they were pleased to make upon them. 
 
 The monarch's intention at first was to banish these 
 poets from his dominions, as a real nuisance to his people ; 
 but at the intercession of Columba he agreed to reduce 
 their number and degrade the rest : and this regulation 
 having been proposed to the assembly, was passed into a law 
 which subsisted as long as the domestic monarchy of the 
 island. The monarch himself, every provincial king, and 
 the lord of every territory, equal to what is called a cantred, 
 were each to retain a poet, in order to record the exploits 
 and preserve the genealogies of their respective iamilies ; a 
 salary was to be settled upon these poets, sufficient to afford 
 them an honourable maintenance ; and they were to instruct 
 the youth of their se/eral districts in history, poetry, and 
 antiquities. An archpoet, as president, was set over the 
 whole body, who was to examine the abilities and qualifica- 
 tions of the several candidates, on a vacancy, and to nomi- 
 nate those whom he judged to be the most deserving. The 
 

 CTTRISTIANTTY IN IRELAND. 
 
 103 
 
 rcvonnes wMigncd for their support were exempted, as bo- 
 fore, from tax and plunder ; their peraonu were also privi- 
 leged, and besides their stated salaries, they were to be paid 
 for erory poem by their patron aooording to its meritB. 
 
 But whilst the monarch was thus sucoessful in reform- 
 ing the abuses which had crept into the schools, he could 
 not obtain the concurrence of the meeting in other matters 
 which were subsequently brought before them. Soanlan 
 More, a chieftain i:: the district of Ossory, had refused to 
 pay the quota of revenue due by that territory to the 
 monarch of Ireland ; and because the son of this chieftain 
 appeared to be more obsequious to his will, Hugh wished 
 to place him in his father's position in the government of 
 that district, and for this purpose had the latter imprisoned. 
 His designs, however, were frustrated by the superior 
 influence and eloquence of St. Columba, and Scanlan was 
 released from prison and restored to his former position and 
 dignity. 
 
 Nor was the monarch more successful in obtaining the 
 concurrence of the convention in compelling the Dai-Kiad 
 princes in North Britain to pay that tribute which had 
 been exacted from them by several oi his predecessors. As 
 Columba was the spiritual father of this people, it was per- 
 fectly natural for him to feel an interest in the issue of this 
 question. He therefore represented to the assembly the 
 long disuse of the tribute, the indulgence which had been 
 shown to that colony by former monarchs, — how unnatural 
 it would be for the Irish to wage war upon their own de- 
 scendants for such a cause as was now under conaideratioa, 
 and the readiness of the Albanian Scots to assist their 
 mother country still with all their forces against an enemy. 
 
 I 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY OF IRULAND. 
 
 E! 7 
 
 All the eloquence, however, of this talented and influential 
 ecolesiastio was lost upon the Irish monarch, and he ex- 
 pressed his determination, notwithstanding the arguments 
 which had been so powerfully urged upon him; to perse- 
 vere in his purpose of exacting the tribute in question. 
 But although he appeared inflexible on this point, he was 
 unable to prevail upon the assembly to espouse his cause. 
 Through the influence of Columba, as well as owing to the 
 extensive power of the Dal-Biada both in Ireland and 
 Albany, the Albanian Scots were d-^olared independent, and 
 instead of being subjects and tributaries, were ever after to 
 be considered only as the allies and friends of the mother 
 country ; and thus, by the decision of this famous assembly, 
 the Irish munarchy was in future to be confined to the 
 precincts of its own island. 
 
 The mission of Columba to this convention on behalf of 
 the Albanian Scots, is taker as a proof of the high estima- 
 tion in which he was held by that people. His extensive 
 labours and genuine piety had established his cha'^cter for 
 sanctity amongst his followers, whibt his brilliant talents 
 and profound judgment had given him extraordinary influ- 
 ence in the councih? and public affairs of that kingdom. 
 His presence, however, at this national assembly in Ireland 
 does not appear to have been the result of any election in 
 North Britain by either the prince, the clergy, or the laity, 
 held for the purpose of appointing their own representative 
 to the meeting, but of the fact of his being by birth an Irish 
 prince, and in that capacity entitled to claim the privilege 
 of being present. 
 
 After the business of the meeting was concluded, Colum- 
 ba returned to his monastery at Hy and resumed his 
 
CHRISTIANITY IN IRELAND. 
 
 106 
 
 labours : but worn out at length in the service of his 
 Master, he died at that establishment in the year 597 
 being in the seventy-fifth year of his age. ' 
 
 Having been forewarned, it is said, in his dream, of the 
 time when his death was to take place, he arose, on the 
 morning of the day before, and, ascending a small eminence 
 lifted up his hands and solemnly blessed the monastery! 
 Returning thence, he sat down in a hut adjoining, and 
 there occupied himself in copying part of the Psalter, till, 
 having finished a page with a passage of the thirty-third 
 Psalm, he stopped and said, "Let Baithen write the 
 remainder." Baithen waa one of those companions who had 
 originally accompanied him from Ireland, and had been 
 named by him as his successor. After attending the even- 
 ing service in the ch'uch, he returned to his cell and 
 recUning on his bed of stone, delivered some instructions 
 to his attendant to be communicated to the brethren 
 When the bell rang for midnight prayer he hastened to 
 the church and was the first to enter it. Throwing h.mself 
 upon his knees, he began to pray, but his strength failed 
 him ; and his brethren, arriving soon after, found their 
 beloved superior recUning before the altar, and at the point 
 of death. Assembling all around him, they stood silent 
 and weeping, while the dying saint, opening his eyes, with 
 an expression full of cheerf-ulness, made a slight movement 
 of his hand, as if to give them his parting benediction, and 
 in that effort breathed his last. 
 
 The character of this great and good man is indicated 
 by the success which attended his labours. It is said 
 that in the early part of his career, his tamper was irascible] 
 and that his conduct was haughty and imperious. But 
 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 this, if true, which is by no means certain, is only admit- 
 ting thafr he was human and that he was not free from 
 those infirmities that are common to our nature. His con- 
 duct, however, taken altogether, without dwelling on any 
 particular portion of it with a scrutiny too severe, exhibits 
 to the world a man wholly devoted to the cause of his 
 Divine Maater, and one who most cheerfully relinquished 
 his right to an earthly throne, to which he had an un- 
 doubted title, that he might eztend the limits of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom and propag the doctrines of the cross 
 which he continued to preach ^^ ^ . earnestness and sincerity. 
 
 t 
 
CHAPTEK VI. 
 MoNAOHisM IN Ireland. 
 
 In an age in which it was customary to convert several 
 pagan institutions to Christian purposes, as well as in a 
 country in which Druidism had so long prevailed, it is not 
 surprising that as soon as the people of Ireland were con- 
 verted to the Christian faith, they should become remark- 
 able for the multiplication and establishment of monastio 
 houses and fraternities. 
 
 Monachism had its origin in the east, and was at first 
 confined to the hermits or anachorets, who in the time of 
 persecution had taken refuge in unfrequented caves and 
 mountains, or such other places of concealment as the wild- 
 erness afforded for their safety and protection. But about 
 the beginning of the fourth century they were formed into 
 regular communities ard had certain rules prescribed for 
 their conduct by St. Anthony; and hence they have been 
 denominated .e^^^ar,, from the Lat.n word r.^«Za, which 
 signifies a rule.* 
 
 Prolific in the east, the institution soon began to bear 
 abundant fruit m the west, and numerous anachorets were 
 found afterwards in different parts of Europe. In the 
 year 347, when Athanasius was driven into exile bv his 
 Frsecutors, h e^firsUaught th^hermits of Italy and Rome 
 
 ' The firat orders of monks were nndeMhl^^^^^^tTTi^. 
 joaofthe Bishopa, but about the end of the seventh ~ 
 they were exempted from Episcopal rule by the Roman nont.J 
 See Du Pm EccUs, Hist., Vol. 1, ;,. 677. Dublin Edition.^ 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Ill 
 
 to live together in societies. Some time after this, St. 
 Martin, Lhe Bishop of Tours, and maternal uncle of the 
 Irish Apostle, erected the first monastery in Gaul, where 
 the institution made such rapid progress that in the year 
 400, no less than two thousand monks, from the vicinity 
 of Tours, attended his funeral.* 
 
 From Gaul, it is probable, monachism was introduced 
 into Ireland by St. Patrick, who had spent some time in 
 St. Martin's establishment at Tours ; and hence, as soon as 
 the institution gained a footing in the island, the multi- 
 plication of monastic houses in Ireland quickly surpassed 
 that of any other nation in Europe. It is to be remember- 
 ed, however, that they were never employed amongst the 
 Irish of this period as the asylums of sloth and indolence, bu* 
 were rendered a most efficient part of the ecclesiastical ma- 
 chinery in promoting thu general interests of religion. "Mon- 
 asteries," says Dr. Warner, in speaking of those of Ireland, 
 *' were the only nurseries of discipline, and the chief schools of 
 learning ; and, therefore wherever a bishopric was erected 
 a monastery was usually founded near the si*€ of it ; 
 as well for the habl Lotion and support of the Bishop, as of 
 those who were to attend religious offices in the cathedral, 
 or to preach the gospel in the neighbouring parishes. These 
 bodies, properly speaking, were colleges of priests ; who, in 
 after ages, were distinguished by the name of secular 
 canons, and were under no vow of perpetual celibacy. Nor 
 was this the case of those only who were settled in cathedral 
 monasteries, but those also known by the name of monks and 
 nuns were allowed to marry when they saw fit. But yet in 
 th: histories of those times, all these societies * * * pass 
 
 • See Led. Ant., p. 403. 
 
MONAOHISM IN IBELAND. 
 
 109 
 
 under tho general name of monasteries; which frequently mis- 
 leads the reader to judge of these foundations by those of later 
 age«. From such societies the bishops were, for the most 
 m, chosen; hither they retired as occasion or inclination 
 led them, wthcr for study or devotion; and hence were 
 drawn m general the lower orders of the clergy." 
 
 These various schools and colleges of learning, which all 
 seem at this time to have adopted the general name of 
 monasteries, are admitted to have produced some of the 
 most laborious, zealous, and indefatigable missionaries : but 
 this could not have been the object of establishing houses for 
 female recluses, as the latter were most obviously engen- 
 dered by that predilection for the ascetic life which had so 
 long prevailed in the country during the existence of 
 Druidism. 
 
 In imitation of the sisterhood of vestals which had been 
 BO long establighed ^.t Cluan Feart, near Tara, a nunnery 
 was founded by St. Bridget (which was for ages the most 
 promment one on the island). This celebrated and extraor- 
 dinary woman was nearly contemporary with St. Patrick 
 himself: and her high reputation, exemplary life, and numer- 
 ous foundations have rendered her name better known than 
 that of any other religious female in the age in which 
 she lived. Her fame soon spread over every country in 
 Europe, and both churches and monasteries without number 
 were dedicated to her throughout England, France, Spain, 
 Portugal, and Italy, as well as in Ireland.* 
 
 •It IS probable that at one time the greater part of the Western 
 
 Islands of Scotland were consecrated to her honour, as He-brides 
 
 or £y-6rWcs signifies "the iilands of Bridget." MacPhers. Crit 
 Dissert. 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ill! 
 
 St. Bridget was, according to her biographers, a native 
 of the country of Louth, and devoted herself early in life 
 to the austerities of monastic seclusion. She lived for the 
 most part in the nunnery which she had erected at Kildare, 
 or "the cell of the oak," so called, from a very high oak 
 t'-ee which grew near the spot.* This was the commence- 
 ment of her famous establishment, as well ?s of the 
 ancient city of Kildare. In order to do honour to her 
 memory, the religious females of that house preserved a 
 perpetual fire which they consecrated under the name of 
 St. Bridget's fire ; and which through the connivance of th^ 
 Bishops of Kildare, was kept burning till the thirteenth 
 century. According to the legend, though constantly sup- 
 plied with fuel, it never increased in ashes ; and to keep 
 it free from any casual pollution, it was surrounded with 
 a wattled orbicular fence, within which no male presumed 
 to enter, whilst the fire was never to be blown with the 
 mouth, but with vans of bellows. 
 
 This singular woman, it is said, died about the year 510, 
 in the seventy-first year of her age. Her festival is celebrated 
 on the first day of February ; and her mortal remains 
 were probably entombed at Down-pairick,f though that has 
 been as warmly contested as if it was a matter of prime 
 importance to the church and nation. 
 
 But whatever some may think of the expediency or 
 
 • Ilia jam cella Scotice dicitur Kill-Dara, Latine yero sonat 
 Cella Quercus. Quercua eulm altissima ibi erat, cujua stipes 
 adhuc manet. S. Bri^id. Vita. 
 
 tCambden quotes the following couplet which fixes upon 
 Down as the place of her interment :— 
 
 Hi tres in Duno tumulantur tumulo in uno, Brigida, Patricius, 
 atqueColumbapius. 
 
MONACHISM IN IRELAND. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Utility of such establishments as that which was founded by 
 St. Bridget, there ought to be but one opinion respecting 
 the celebrated institution of St. Columba in the isle of Hy, 
 to which we have already adverted. It was in the genuine 
 spirit of monachism that he selected an island* for the 
 place of his residence, as it afforded his establishment a 
 considerable degi-ee of protection from the intrusion of 
 visitors and the impertinence of the curious. This island 
 is about three miles in length and one in breadth. The 
 name of Hy, by which it was distinguished by the Scots, is 
 obviously the Gothic Ai or Ei, referring to its oval or egg- 
 like figure. It was named Onas by the Picts, and from 
 both these names was compounded that Oi' lonas, or lona, by 
 which it still continues to be called. The name, which was 
 thus accidentally formed, signifying in Hebrew a dove, as 
 Columba does in Latin, did not escape the notice of the 
 learned inmates of that distinguished establishment; and 
 from the reiaarks of Adamnanus, one of ita abbots, it is 
 evident that that seminarywas not without the acquirements 
 of Greek and Oriental literature.f 
 
 The venerable Bede, notwithstanding he has taken no 
 notice of the great apostle of the Irish nation, or of his 
 • -precedented success, gives the following account of 
 Columba's mission to the Picts, as well as his profession of 
 thelifJBofamonk: "In th e year," says he, " of our Lord's 
 
 • A Latin poet, of the fifth century writes thus :— 
 Processu pelagi Jam se Capraria tollit, 
 Squalet lucifugis insula plena viris, 
 Ipsi se monachos, Graio cognomine, dicunt, 
 Quod soli nullo vivere teste volunt. 
 
 1 A J XT, , « Rutil. Itiner., Lib. I, 
 
 t Adam, In Exord. Se?, Prsef. 
 
112 
 
 HISTORT OF TIELAITD. 
 
 ' K .' 
 
 incarnation five hundred and sixty-five, there came out of 
 Ireland into Britain, h presbyter and abbot, a monk in life 
 and habit, very renowned, by name Columba, to p»c«,ch the 
 word of God to the northern Picts. This Columba came 
 into Britain when king Brudeus, son of Meilochan, reigned 
 over the Picts. It was in the ninth year of his reign, that 
 by his preaching and example he converted this nation to 
 the faith of Christ."* 
 
 It was about the time of his death that the mission of 
 Augustine was commenced in England under the auspices 
 of Gregory the Great ; and it was in a great measure owing 
 to the Culdees, his foliowers, that the liberties and religious 
 services of the Irish church were so long preserved and 
 perpetuated in opposition to every attempt that was subse- 
 quently made upon them. His zeal as a monk was xjvince'^ 
 in the numerous foundations which originated with him in 
 Ireland ; but that of Hy seems to have been the most cele- 
 brated both at home and abroad. The abbots who succeeded 
 Columba in Hy, were Baithen in 597 ; Fergnanus in 598; 
 Segien'is in 623 ; Suibney in 652 ; Cummineus in 657 ; 
 Failbeus in 669 ; Adamnanus in 679 ; Conain in 704 ; and 
 Dunchad in 710. At length Naitan, king of the Picts, 
 instigated by some of the enemies of this noble order, ex- 
 pelled the Culdees from Hy, A. D. 717 ; and thus sacrificed 
 the most illustvious fraternity that was then known in the 
 west of Europe, j- 
 
 • Bede, Lib. III. Cap. 4. 
 
 t Education soon became the great object to which the succes- 
 sors of €olumba devoted themselves. To them resorted the young 
 from all the adjacent continents ;— from Scotland, from Ireland, 
 and England, and even from Scandinavia, to acquire the learning 
 and study the discipline of the Columban Church." — Scotland in 
 the Middle Agcs. By Professor Innes. 
 
MONACHISM IN IRELAND. 
 
 113 
 
 Persecution naturally Mowed this act of injustice and 
 ^olence: and lu everyplace in which the Columban monks 
 
 ^lln^Trr''^'^ " ''^^^'^^"S *^^°^««^^««' *h«y were 
 flowed by tne most relentless intolerance and rancorous 
 (^^sition. In a charter granted by Dayid, king of Scot- 
 M It IS recited that he had given to the canons of St 
 i^drew the Isle of Lochleven to institute there the 
 
 shuld they think fit to conform to that rule, Uve iZably 
 an m subjection to the canons, might continue there; but 
 If tey rejected these terms, they were to be expelled. It 
 coul not be expected that men who had evinced such an 
 ToIlTr^ ^P"^\*^^^^« -y -novation upon the 
 Sint "'"' *^^y-- therefore driven from their 
 
 early i^od afforded the persecuted order an opportunity of 
 
 sfaSr '^\ '*''T' '^^P^^'^^ ^^ '^'^ own eccle- 
 siasticafcdependence. In imitation of the Jewish Passover 
 
 the pnn^ve Christians had instituted a similar festival in 
 commemjtion of the resurrection. It was at the tiLe f 
 the pasclt solemnity, which was celebrated on the four- 
 teenth dayf the noon in the first month, that the Saviour 
 
 elrarir rff/ t' *'^^ ^^^^'^"^^*-- ^^^^- 
 
 Tie of cilr".. ^^''' ^'"^''''' ''"°^^^°g *^*^ *^^« 
 TalLr adontitiV"^ r" ^"^^^^'"^^^y of the resurrection was 
 rather adoptinthe Jewish feast than ordaining a new one 
 
 onheirown^ferrad the celebration to the Sunday Jer, 
 • ^"^ ^^'^'^ ^'''^. Vo!. I. P. ^4. Dr^. Ed. ' 
 
 \ 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ii 
 
 
 unless that day fell upon the fourteenth. Lut the Asi&io 
 and African Churches still adhered to the former custom of 
 celebrating the festival according to its first institution. 
 
 This want of uniformity in practice soon produce< p 
 spirit of mutual recrimination between the two parties ; md 
 for a long time continued to agitate the eastern and wesem 
 churches. Nor was it found possible, notwithstanding the 
 interference of some of the mos'. learned and celeb»ted 
 prelates, to settle this apparently insignificant disputemtil 
 the subject was taken up in the year 325 by the Coupil of 
 Nice. 
 
 As the time of observing this feast depended on <itron- 
 omical calculation, it was rssolved that the Bishop oAlex- 
 andria should consult the Egyptian astronomers ever year, 
 and make known the result of their observationsto the 
 eastern churches ; and that he should also comiunicate 
 the same to the Bishop of Kome, who wa- to annunoe it 
 to those in the west. The Roman method of c»ulation, 
 h /ever, did not agree with the Alexandrian, as^e cycle 
 employed ^n the former contained eighty-four ear:, and 
 that which was used in the latter nineteen. lence the 
 limits of the equinoctial lunation were fixed ■J different 
 days ; and it was therefore impossible to matain a uni- 
 formity between the eastern and western cb'ohes in the 
 observance of this solemnity.* 
 
 This dispute was carried on for o consid^We time with 
 much acrimony, and great zeal was evince/^ making pro- 
 selytes to the respective parties. With f Asiatics, not- 
 
 • In the yea tl7, Easter was celebrated ^o^e <>« tl»e 25th 
 of March, and at Alexandria on the 22nd -Ap"!- — See Ling. 
 Jlnt., p. 35, Note G3. 
 
 i i 
 
MONACHISM IN IRBLAND. 
 
 115 
 
 Hthscanding tho Roman custom had been sanctioned by 
 th. Council of Nice, and its decrees enforced by the com- 
 mand of the emperor Constantino, the British and Irish 
 clej^ still adhered to the practice of their ancestors,* and 
 refised to submit to a mandate which the^ considered as 
 infzngmg upon the rights and privileges of their respec- 
 tiveahurches. *^ 
 
 Gnsiderable importance was also attached by some of (he 
 earljCImstians to the particular mode of wearing the ec- 
 clesifctical tonsure, which did not fail to widen the breach 
 that hd been already made by other differences of prac- 
 tice btwcen the religious litigants of this period. The ap- 
 parenitaagnitude of controversial subjects in different ages 
 of thechurch will be found frequently to vary according 
 to thetnedium through which tlicy are viewed; and it 
 otten ht,pen8 that the enthusiastic polemic, in the efferves- 
 cence ofhis zeal, may be seen imitating a child, who will 
 eave thtoiost serious and needful occupation to pursue 
 the dowDjf the thistle that drives past him. That a con- 
 troversy aould not only exist about a point so intrinsically 
 absurd asthat of the clerical cut of the hair, but be 
 pursued w?i such ardour and interest by men of leaniing 
 and piety,^nnot fail to excite surprise in the present 
 enhghtened^e of the world. But, perhaps, when the 
 ecclesiastica\tonsure is viewed in connexion with the 
 independenciof a national church, and when the change 
 attempted to^ forc ed upon the clergy even in this 
 
 mi dly ezhibued\ the following words :-"Utpoie quibus longe 
 creia prorexerai. -^^^ ^jj, j|j q^^ ^ 
 
116 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 trifling matter is looked upon as a mark of their subjecion 
 tea foreign power, it will appear iu a very different ligit. 
 
 By the Roman monks the upper p-rt of the head was 
 shaved, which was surrounded with a cirele of hair ii im- 
 itation of the crown of thorns put upon the head 
 of the Redeemer, by his enemiea; whilst the Irish 
 and British, allowing the hair to grow on the rown, 
 shaved the front of the head in the form of a cresent.* 
 Each party being surprised and shocked 9 the 
 uncanonical appearance of the other, appealed toamquity, 
 and to the precedent of their respective founden cither 
 real or supposed ;t and refused to make the slighest con- 
 cession upon this apparently trifling and unimpomnt sub- 
 ject. 
 
 The celebrated controversy afterwards on ^hat was 
 called "The three Chapters," which involvedin impor- 
 tant point of doctrine, served to cast a deeper i*de upon 
 the character of the Irish clergy and to fumia/their ene- 
 mies with materials for attacking them, as m^ who were 
 extensively tainted with fundamental errors To enter 
 into a particular history of this subject whicl^ave rise to 
 sc much litigation in the church would not top>rt with 
 our present design : suflice it to say, that |fe conduct of 
 the clergy of Ireland on this occasion, thou^ by no means 
 justifiable, affords the most convincing evfence of their 
 
 1 no^m C 
 
 •Bed. Lib. III., Cap. 25. Ling. Ant., 
 
 t " Numquid," says Colman, "patrem no^m Oolumbam, et 
 
 successores ejus divinis paglnis contrarijJlpuisse vel egisse 
 
 credendum est ? q^ofl ego sanctos esse J dubitans, ssmper 
 
 eorum vitam, mores, et disciplinam seq. ^on desisto."--.Bc(i 
 
 Lib. III. Cap. 25. ' '' 
 
MONACHISM IN IRELAND. 
 
 117 
 
 irresponsibility to any foreign power in the church, respect- 
 ing either doctrine or discipline. 
 
 The pieces that were distinguished by the name of " The 
 Three Chapters," were certain productions which had been 
 published upon the Nestorian Controversy,* and on 
 which the Irish and Roman churches took opposite sides of 
 the question : and notwithstanding an edict was published 
 in 553, condemning these writings, yet the authortiy of the 
 Council of Constantinople, seconded by that of the emper- 
 or, had no effect upon the minds uf the Irish ecclesiastics, 
 and they persevered in the view they had originally 
 taken.f Of the merits of the subject of debate we are not 
 called upon to determine. 
 
 From the extensive multiplication of monastic establish- 
 ments in Ireland during this age we may form some opin- 
 ion of the state of learning and education in the country, 
 as well as of the cause which produced so many men of 
 zeal and erudition that distinguished themselves iu almost 
 every country in Europe during the seventh and eighth 
 centuries. The Irish monasteries, as we have ab-eady seen 
 were so many schools of learning and discipline; and their 
 inmates having devoted themselves to the pursuits of lit- 
 
 St. Mosh. C^nt VI, Part. II. 
 
 ; " .-ll the Irish Bishops," says Cardinal Baronius, "zeal- 
 ously joined in defence of ' The Three Chapters.' On being con- 
 demned by the Church of Rome, and finding the sentence con- 
 firmed by the fifth council, they added the crime of schism ; and 
 separating themselves from it, they joinud the schismatics of 
 Italy and Africa and other regions— exalting themselves in the 
 vain presumption that they were standing up for the Catholic 
 faith." Baron. AnnaU^ 
 
118 
 
 mSTORr OP IBEIANO. 
 
 emwe a„d piety, it w.« cjuitc natural that they ,hould 
 brmg forth abundantly ™oh salutiferon, fruit. ^ '' 
 
 an oxtcn«ve improvement in the literature of the nation 
 .na«m„oh as the n,i„i„nariea necessarily introduced ho 
 Latm lansnage, though without that purity or cWant 
 wh,„h d.st,„guished the L. tin liters of'an eUr pZ 
 In the eompostfons of the natives themselves, in the^r own 
 language, there is to be found no indication of th^r 
 quamtanee with the Greek or Latin classics, .s their Pro 
 
 to Whom the clasieal auftors were probably unknown- 
 Wt they employed the Latin tongue fn theLdyoflho 
 Holy Sonptures and of the works of ,«n>e of the carfe 
 dmncs m the church. earner 
 
 The ferocious cruelty practised towards the abori^-incs of 
 Bntatn by the Anglo-Saxons was peculiarly ealamiC to 
 the h^rrture of that country; but the fife havtalLn 
 forbtddeu to burn on the usual altar, sought every t^e 
 
 places. Driven from thetr own country by the trench 
 wmcn pea. tul and studious men are so mnch indisnosed 
 
 i^^Xcoifd ,r„" bt: t: '--'T^^^ 
 ■^ by.s,iLgthe:i„'^ :^grx^,:^ 
 
 • O'Con. D-'ssert., pp. 197^ iqq^ 
 
MONACHISM IN IRELAND. 
 
 119 
 
 of their literary institutions * In the sixth century learn- 
 ing was in a flourishing state in Wales ;t as that country 
 could then boast of men of extensive acquirements and 
 literary fame: and the indiscriminate admiraion of learned 
 men, either Britons or Irish, to the government of monas- 
 teries and schools, which waa common in this age,J would 
 justify the inference, that whatever learning either of them 
 acquired was communicated to the other; for this must 
 have been a natural consequence of that fraternal intercourse 
 which was invariably maintained between the leading men 
 of their respective establishments. 
 
 Of the system of education adopted throughout Europe 
 at this time we ought not to think lightly, when we consi- 
 der the disadvantages under which men were obliged to 
 kbour. The Encyclopaedia of the Greeks and the liberal 
 Art« of the Romans, which were generally taught in the 
 schools, differed at first in number, but were at length 
 fixed to Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Music, 
 Geometry, and Astronomy : and each of these was formed 
 into an elementary treatise, more or less perfect, according 
 to the abilities of the composer. 
 
 The first stage of these sciences was Grammar, which 
 was followed successively by Rhetoric and Logic. These 
 three branches were denominated the Trivium;% and when 
 
 • Usser, Primord., pp. 563, 564. Led. Ant., p. 160. 
 t Still. Brit. Churches, pp. 202-346. 
 t For instances see Led. Ant., p. 164. 
 
 iJZiLl^'^t""'.^''^ * *^™ invented in the times of barbarism 
 to express the three sciences that were first learned In the 
 ^hAll' <^!:*°»'°". Rl^etoric, and Logic; and the schools in 
 which these sciences alone were taught, were called TriviaUs 
 The g«a<im.,«,R comprehended the four mathematical scienop'" 
 xT ■ PMt" Tr''^' ' ^«onietry and Astronomy." Mosh. Cent. 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 i'l 
 
 the young student had completed the study of these and 
 wished to pursue his literary progress still farther, he was 
 conducted slowly through the quadrivium, the masteiy of 
 which placed him at the very summit of literary honour. 
 
 From the writings of Aristotle and his isciples an 
 acquaintance with the rules of Logic was generally ac- 
 quired ; and by the precepts of that celebrated 
 master, the Logician was initiated into ' the art of 
 disputation. But the difficulty attendant updh the 
 computation of numbers surpassed that of every thing 
 .se m the whole circle of the sciences. To the ingenuity 
 of the Arabians we are indebted tor the invention of our 
 present numeral characters, which have so faciUtated the 
 acquisition of Arithmetic as to render it famiUar even to 
 the capacity of children ; but this waa far from being the 
 CMC with our less favoured ancestors. Being strangers 
 to an invention so valuable, they were obliged to perform 
 every Arithmetical operation with the assistance of these 
 seven letters which were employed by the Komans ; and it 
 must be obvious that in such protracted calculations as 
 difficult problems sometimes require it was almost impos- 
 sible to form the necessary combinations. Embarrassed by 
 this tedious and difficult mode of calculation, the operator 
 instead of making use of numerical signs, was frequently 
 obhged to write out at full length the numbers which he 
 wished to employ. The management of fractions also 
 increased his embarrassment, as this was still more Jifficult 
 than that of whole numbers ; and the inconvenience of 
 the different plans that had been devised to facilitate the 
 science of computation having been severely felt, a kind of 
 manual arithmetic was at length adopted, in which by 
 
MOIfAOHIaP! IN IRELAND. 121 
 
 iiigiy vaiuable, inasmuch as it ffives ha o «,v r. x, 
 useiDthr^.! '""" oentoy it was iD general 
 
 of the aoco.p,Uh: it Ro^T ,"'' °''""''' 
 
 Bition is strengtheaed bv its h!.T t '^ '^'' '"PP^" 
 
 titl!j TT"^ °^i^' *''''*^^^^' ^"**«^ by Bede, one en 
 
 itled i?e mucra Rcrum, and the other DeTem'ZZ 
 
 tione, may be seen the puerile svstem of nlT ^ .' 
 
 • Ling. Ant., p. 330. 
 t Led. Ant., p. 165, 
 
 ■ ^'"-"'^ E"^^^- fiJst. Vol. in, pp. 403, 405. 
 
 I 
 
122 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 eminent writer admitted the four elements of fire, air, water, 
 and earth. The inexhaustible prolificacj of nature, as well 
 as the various properties of bodies, he attributed to the dif- 
 ferent combinations of these elements, with the additional 
 aid of the four primary qualities of heat, coid, moisture, 
 and aridity. The atmosphere of the earth he supposed to 
 be immediately surrounded by the orbits of the seven plan- 
 ets and the firmament of the fixed stars. From the diurnal 
 motion of the heavenly bodies, which describe concentric 
 circles of a smaller diameter as they approach towards the 
 north, he inferred that the immense assemblage of celestial 
 globes in the stellar regions daily revolves with ame^ing 
 rapidity round the earth, on an imaginary axis, Oi ^Thich 
 the two extremities are called the northern and southern 
 poles.* 
 
 To account for the twofold and opposite motions of the 
 planets, in accoi dance with the existing theory, was a task 
 too great for the utmost efforts of human ingenuity. It 
 was admitted that the natural direction of their orbits lay 
 from west to east ; but as that was not the direction in 
 which they moved daily, it was thought that their progress 
 was constantly opposed by the more powerful rotation of 
 the fixed stars which compelled them to perform a diurnal 
 revolution round the earth in a contrary direction. Being 
 altogether unacquainted with the ingenious invention of 
 epicycles, most of the inequalities observed in the planet- 
 ary motions were ascribed by this learned monk to the 
 more or less oblique action of the solar raj 3, by which they 
 were sometimes accelerated, sometimes retarded, and some- 
 times entirely suspended. 
 
 Bed. de Nat. Rer., Chapto'"} I-VIII. 
 
. MONACHISM IN IRELAND. 123 
 
 The sun he supposed to be a globular mass c , t,ar 
 tick^s preserved in a state of ignition by perpetu . .ou Ion • 
 and to account for the supply which he would requhe "r 
 the exhaustion caused by the continual emission of the 
 rays of hght and heat, he supposed that the losses iLh 
 were thus sustained were quickly repaired from the numer- 
 ous exhalatxonsof the ocean situated under the torrid zle * 
 
 Py h.agoras had taught, nearly five centuries before the 
 thr^txan era, the doctrine of the antipodes and of the 
 
 Z^Lt::l7 '""• ^'^ I^y^t^orean hypothesis 
 
 was also too repugnant to the daily illusions of the senses 
 to obtain credit ; and for many centuries that theory was 
 tTm:tu'^':^^^ foundation of the PtoJeaL;! 
 wa" define] k' "'^^^„«"PP-^d '^<^ -rth to be a plane, 
 was defended by many lUustrious philosophers and conti 
 nued to prevail till Copernicus revived the'old ^ne 
 
 Ihe Irish however, formed an honourable exception to 
 that general prostration of intellect before preconceived 
 
 of Zo" hTr " ^^^^"^' "^^^^ - *^^ '«- - ns 
 ot JLurope had become so prevalent Kvnn nf fi,- T 
 
 uty of ho earth, but were able so to account for the pL" 
 
 invaders, and many calamitous circumstances that sub 
 »^;i;-%occurrod, deprive us of the m,an, of firing »»! 
 
 of ..a:;XuSSw7';'r°^^^^ 
 
 S»iuu CiiUiCii, pp. 331-336, i--ic_ tj i.„c Angio- 
 
 I 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 hi . ; ' 
 
 m 
 
 a condensed epitome of the philosophy of the Iri?^i as we 
 have been able -: present of that of the venerable Bede. 
 A few facts, however, that will appear in our Biographical 
 Notices of Irish missionaries, together with some foreign 
 testimonies, will be found suflScient to justify the state- 
 ment we have made. " That the Hibernians were lovers 
 of learning," says Mosheim, " and distinguished them- 
 selves ir. tliose tim ? of ignorance, by the culture of the 
 sci3nce3 beyond all other European nations, travelling 
 through the most distant lands, with a view to improve and 
 to communicate their knowledge, is a fact with whi"ih I 
 have been long acquainted, as we see them in the most 
 authentic records of antiquity, dischnrging with the 
 highest reputation and applause the function of doctors, in 
 France, Germany, and Italy, both during this t.nd the 
 following century. But that these Hibernians were the first 
 teachers of scholastic theology in Europe, and so early as 
 the eighth century, illustrated the doctrines of religion by 
 the principles of philosophy. I learned but lately from the 
 testimony of Benedict, abbot of Aniane, in the province 
 of Langueuoc, who lived in this period, and some of whose 
 productions are published by Baluzius in the fifth tome of 
 his Miscellanea." 
 
 After quoting the testimony, Mosheim adds, " that the 
 Irish, who in the eighth century were known by the name 
 of Scots, were the only divines who refused to dishonour 
 their reason by submitting it implicitly to the dictates of 
 authority : naturally subtle and sagacious, they applied 
 their philosophy to the illustration of the truths and doc- 
 trines of religion, a method which was almost generally 
 abhorred and exploded in all other nations." 
 
MONACmSM IN IRELAND. 
 
 125 
 
 From this statement of the German Hisiorian, we can 
 perceive the fallacy of the common opinion, that scholastic 
 theology had its origin in the eleventh century, aa the 
 Irish divines had cultivated it three centuries b fore 
 though condemned and abhorred by tie other ecclesiastics 
 of Europe. 
 
 On the whole we may learn that in this age, notwith- 
 standing the secluded position of Ireland, it was the prime 
 seat .,f learning and scientific knowledge to other nations.* 
 Hither the sciences had fled for protection, and were 
 cultivated with a degree of zeal and assiduity unpareUeled 
 m an age of general darkness and ignorance. This liter- 
 ary brilliancy by which the west of Europe was so long 
 enlightened, was owing in a great measure to the monks of 
 St. Columba, whose labours were unremitting amidst all 
 the storms which their adversaries were continually raising 
 against them. The Irish monasteries were then the only 
 nurseries of discipline and the chief schools of learning ; 
 and their number before the end of the eighth century is 
 almost incredible, considering the extent and population of 
 the country. 
 
 • Of Alfred king of Northumbria, Bede, in his Life of St. 
 Cuthbert, speaks in the following manner :— 
 
 Scotorum qui turn versatus finibus hospes, 
 Caelestam intento spirabat corde sophiam. 
 Nam patriae fine et dulcia liquerat arva, 
 Sedulus ut Domini mysteria disceret exul. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 It 
 
 • I fa 
 
 Civil and 3Iilitart History till the Northern 
 
 Invasion. 
 
 In the history of most countries the principal plane is 
 given either to foreign and domestic wars, or to those civil 
 and political transactions in v^hich statesmen are usually 
 engaged, whilst the aiFairs of the church and the progress 
 of literature are narrated as matters of minor consideration 
 and worthy to form only a secondary subject of detail. 
 But this order will be found to be reversed in the early 
 history of Ireland, as the civil and political concerns of the 
 nation are either altogether neglected or but very imper- 
 fectly sketched in its pages, whilst ecclesiastical matters, 
 with the lives and actions of men of learning and eminence 
 in the church, are nan ated with such pleonastic detail, that 
 the superficial and unthinking reader might be induced to 
 view them as I'brming the entire, history of the country 
 from the mission of St. Patrick, till the close of the eighth 
 century. 
 
 The four monarchs who immediately succeeded Olioll 
 Molt, had received the diadem at Tara, the place that had 
 been set apart by the constitution for the inauguration of 
 the kings of Ireland. But during Diarmuid's reign some 
 criminal having taken refuge in the monastery of St. Ruan 
 of Lothra, and having been dragged thence to Tara and 
 put to death, it was supposed that the abbot had pro- 
 nounced a malediction on its walls, as from that time the 
 glory of Tara began to be eclipsed, and olher places were 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 127 
 
 appointed thenceforward, discretionally, for conferring the 
 royal dignity and for holding the national conventions. 
 
 A. D. 565.— On the death of Diarmuid, Fergus and 
 Donald, the two sons of Murtogh, ascended the throne, 
 and reigned conjointly for one year. During this short 
 period they were enga,2jed in war with the king and people 
 - of Leinster, occasioned by the usual source of bloodshed in 
 that province; and in a battle fought at Gabra Liffe no less 
 than four hundred of the Leinster nobility and warriors 
 were killed. Whether the two monar^hs were mortally 
 wounded in this engagement or came to their end by 
 natural death, ia uncertain ; but as they both died at the 
 same time, shortly after, the former supposition is the more 
 probable. Neither is there any satisfactory account of the 
 next three successions, but that Achy the son of Donald, 
 and Baodan the son of Murtogh reigned conjointly for two 
 years, and were slain ; that the sarae fate attended Aj *ni- 
 roy, the next monarch of the same family, ia three years , 
 and that his successor, Baodan II, held the crown but one 
 year before he was treacherously murdered. 
 
 A. D. 572. The reign of Hugh I, who was called to 
 "'^ throne on the death of Baodan, is rendered remarkable 
 by the meeting of that great national convention at Drum- 
 ceat, of which we have given an account in the preceding 
 chapter. After that meeting, and the reformation effected 
 in consequence of its decisions, Hug'a seems to have pro- 
 ceeded in his government witaout much disturbance. 
 
 The factions, however, which prevailed at this period 
 and for some time previously, amongst the Hy-Nialls were 
 an inexhaustible scurco of misery and affliction to the people 
 at large. Divided amongst themselves, this ra<?e united 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF IREL/.ND. 
 
 I? ; 
 I 
 
 only to disturb the lieighbouring provinces; and Leinster 
 in particular felt their oppressive tyranny in the exaction 
 of the long litigated and vexatious tribute. The convention 
 of Drumceat had neglected the imperative duty of applying 
 a remedy to this evil, which they would not have done had 
 the Lagenians had in thdt assembly such an advocate as 
 Columba proved to be in behalf of the Albanian Scots. 
 Brandubh, the king of Leins+er, was therefore obliged to 
 make every effort to defend by the law of arms his own 
 rights, as well as those of his subjects, and having met the 
 monarch's forces at Dunbolg, the latter were cut to pieces, 
 and Hugh himself tell by the swo .d of Brandubh in the 
 twenty-seventh year of his reign. 
 
 By the issue of this battle the northern and soutLem 
 branches of the royal family were for some time united, 
 under the joint admi^-.stration of Hug'a II, surnamed 
 Slaney, a son of Diarmuid, who reigned in 565, and Co'e- 
 man Kimidh, king of Meath, son of Baodan, who reigned 
 in 568, both of them being lineally descended froni Niall 
 the Great. These coparf ners in the monarchy, we are told, 
 assisted Aidan, king of the Albanian Scots, then at war 
 with Etbelfrid, king of the Northumbrians; while at the 
 same time they were meditating an attack upon his half- 
 brother Brandubh, whom they defeated in the battle of 
 Slabhry in Leinster, and thereby established the Hy-Niall 
 powc ver all the provinces. 
 
 Having thus overcome the common danger, the northern 
 and southern branches of this race revived their old animo- 
 sities, and satiated their revenge, either in the open field, 
 or by private assassination. The treachery of Conall Guth- 
 binn, prince of Meath, who plotted and executed the mur- 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 129 
 
 der of the two reigning monarchs, in the sixth yctrof their 
 administration, gave the nation an utter dislike to the 
 southern branch of the Ily-Niall race; and therefore the 
 northern family obtained the soveieign throne withouf. 
 much opposition, 
 
 Hugh III, having been elected monarch, was killed in 
 battle at Da Fertha, near the river Boyne, in the year 612; 
 and the throne was seized by Maolcova son of Hugh I, who 
 held it for three years, when he was cut off by the sword 
 of his successor Suivney Mcuun, great grandson of the 
 monarch Murtogh ; and he again after a reign of thirteen 
 years, by Congal Claon of the Rudrician race of Ulster. 
 
 A. D. 628. The first act of the administration of 
 Donald, the brother of Maolcova, who next ascende,' he 
 throne, was to take V2L«,eance on the prince who had slain 
 his predecessor. He d.^feated Congal Claon in the battle 
 of Dunkehern, and obliged him to seek an asylum in 
 Britain, where he remained an exile for the space of nine 
 years. 
 
 This prince was a man of insinuating address, of the most 
 consummate hypocrisy, and unscrupulous about the means 
 by which he sought popularity. His physical courage could 
 not be called in question, but his moral principle wa° weak 
 and vacillat: jg. He therefore sought the favour of those 
 amongst whom his lot was cast without much regard to 
 their real worth or his own dignity of character. During 
 his exile he had sufficient address to promote his own 
 designs both at home and abroad ; and when the time was 
 come for action, Saxons, Britons, Albanian Scots, and Picts 
 flocked to his standard. His domestic partisans prepared 
 for his reception, and he landed with safety on the coast of 
 Down, 
 
:30 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 MM 
 
 The monarch, however, was not taken by surprise, when 
 his dominions were thus invaded by a motley aggregate of 
 foreigners: and having collected his forces, he encouoto.ed 
 the enemy at i.Ioyrath,* and commenced a battle which 
 continued with various success "or six days. But on tho 
 seventh, Congal's forces began to give way, and were at 
 length not only routed, but their leader himself was num- 
 bered amongst the slain. 
 
 Encouraged by his success in the defeat of the Invaders, 
 Donald was by no jaeans displeased at having another 
 oppcru nity of taking the field against an enemy whose 
 injustice was calculated to give considerable popularity to 
 his cause. The -iouthern Ky-Nialls having by degrees 
 encroached upon the Mensal Lands of the monarch at Tara, 
 and finding negociation useless, he resolved to have recourse 
 to arms, for the purpose of restoring those lands to the 
 crown. With this object in view he therefore raised a for- 
 midable force, and at its head marched into Meath. But 
 the sons of Hugh Slaney, the c'aefs of the southern Hy- 
 Nialls, being sensible that the?, troops were much inferior 
 to the monarch's both in number and discipline, and there- 
 fore dreadinj;, an engagement, had recourse to Si. Fechin, 
 an abbot descended from their own house, that he might 
 assist them by his prayers, or interpose with the monarch 
 on their behalf. Donald, however, rejected the mediation of 
 this ecclesiastic, and was threatened with divine vengeance 
 for his resolute inflexibility : but this menace had little 
 effect upon his mind. Despising the presumptuous threats 
 
 • Moyralli, which is now written Moira, is situated in the 
 Barony of luuagh in the County of Down and province of Ulster. 
 Topog, Hibern., Moira. 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 181 
 
 of his enemies oa much as ho did the imbecUo foree whieh 
 had been arrayed against him, he resolved to persevere in 
 the prosecution of the object which he had in view. But 
 the subsequent evening an unusual lall of snow whirh hap- 
 pened to come on, was taken to be an indication of that 
 wrath which had been denounced by the saint; and an 
 aurora horealis, which followed this, convinced even the 
 queen herself that Heaven had espoused the cause of the 
 opposite party. The monarch was therefore obliged to 
 make peace upon the best terms he could obtain, or to 
 carry on the war without troops, as ho found his army 
 resolved not to fight against an enemy that had been taken 
 under the protection of a patron so powerful. Articles 
 were accordingly soon agreed upon by the contending par- 
 ties and the monarch Aras obliged to relinquish his design. 
 A. D 642. Donald was succeeded by his two nephews 
 Conall Claon and Kellack (or Kelly), sons of his prede- 
 cessor Maolcova; who governed conjoinUy for ," t space of 
 twelve years, when KeUach lost his life by an accident in 
 a bog in the -oighbourhood cS Trim ; und ConaU cc.anued 
 to rei-n alone for four years longer, when he was killed by 
 Diarmuid one of his successors. 
 
 The latter prince, in conjunction with his brother Blath- 
 mac, now seized on the monarchy. They were the sons of 
 Hugh Slaney, and must have been far advanced in years 
 at the time of their accession. In the month of May A D 
 665, being in the seventh year of their reign, an eelips^ 
 of the sun occurred, which was followed by a very fatal 
 disease called I]uive CJu>naill, or the yellow plague, which 
 carried oflF great numbers in its ravages, and even the reign- 
 
132 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ing monarchs themselves fell victims in the general visi- 
 tation.* 
 
 Seachnasach, the son of Binthmac, succeeded peaceably 
 to the monarchy, on '.^ *, j of his father and of his 
 fraternal coUea^e. Bu' - *th th^ exception of some preda- 
 tory visits paid to the northern province by the Picts, we 
 have no account of his administration, until he was killed 
 in the sixth yea^ of his reign and was succeeded by his 
 brother. 
 
 Nor are the four years during which Cionnfala, his suc- 
 cessor, swayed the sceptre less barren of historical records. 
 
 The county of Down was again visited by the Picts, 
 who, besides pillaging the country, burned the famous 
 monastery of Bangor, and put to the sword or dispersed 
 the inmates of that noble establishment. Shortly after, 
 the monarch himself shared the same fate of most of 
 the Irish kings, as he was killed in the year 675, by his 
 successor. 
 
 Fionachta Fladhach, who now got possession of the 
 throne, was the grandson of Hugh I., and a very favour- 
 able representation is given of the justice and uprightness 
 of his character. His reign commenced inauspicicusly by 
 an invasion of the province of Leinster in order to enforce 
 the payment of that impost which had been so long exacted 
 from the Lagenians by his predecessors. But having been 
 opposed by the provincialists, a battle was fought" nrar 
 Kells, in which the latter were defeated with great .>*laugh- 
 ter. After the battle, however, St. Moling, the Bi.shop'of 
 Ferns, a prelate of noble blood, went out at the lioad of 
 
 • Keating, Vol. IL, p. 135. 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 133 
 
 his clergy to meet the victors. In addressing the monarch 
 the Bishop most pathetically deplored the distresses and 
 hardships of his country, and the quantity of blood that 
 had been shed from time to time, for so many centuries, to 
 enforce the payment of a tribute in itself both unjust and 
 oppressive. He observed that its continuance for such a 
 length of time was in manifest antagonism with the express 
 word of God, which declares that the sins of the parents 
 shall not be visited upon the children beyond the third 
 and fourth generation ; and, upon the whole, made such a 
 iorcible appeal to the conscience of the monarch that the 
 latter solemnly exonerated the Lagenians from any further 
 demand of this oppressive and iniquitous tribute. 
 
 The severe treatment which the people of Ulster and 
 Lemster received at different times from the hands of the 
 Hy-Niall princes induced them frequently to call in the 
 Brxtains and Saxons to their assistance.* Two princes of 
 the Picls, Cathusach and Ultan, had leagued with the Bri- 
 tons to invade Ireland, but were defeated by the Hy-Nialls 
 m a decisive battle. In about two years after, Egfrid, the 
 king of the Northumbrians, sent an army into Ulster 
 against the Northern Hy-Nialls, where Bertus, who had the 
 command of the expedition, committed great devastations 
 sparing neither the churches nor seats of learning in his 
 desolating course.f Fioaachta, however, came up with 
 the Northumbrians and cut some of them off : but Bertus 
 succeeded in making good his retreat, and carried off most 
 of the plunder on board of his ships. 
 
 • Vide Bed. Eccles. Hist Lib. IV. Cap. 26. 
 
 t "Bertus,- says Bede, " vastavit gentem innocentem misere. 
 et nationi Anglorum amir.jj'siiijain " 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ii. 
 
 Soon after this defeat of the Saxons, Adamnanus, the 
 abbott of Ily, was sent from the Scottish isles to Alfrid, 
 who had succeeded his brother on the throne of 'Torthum- 
 bria, to demand satisfaction for the outrage, which was 
 immediately granted by that prince. 
 
 The Irish records mention some other invasions by the 
 Welch and Picts which took place during this age, most 
 probably by the encouragement or instigation of some of 
 the native princes, whose ambition or revenge induced them 
 to meditate designs so inimical to the interests of their 
 owr country. Fionachta reigned twenty years, and was 
 killed in 695, when he was succeeded by Longseach the 
 grandson of Donald the second. 
 
 This monarch's reign, which continued for nine years, 
 was disturbed by further inroads of the Welch. On the 
 first occasion they were successful in carrying off their 
 plunder, but having subsequently returned they were met 
 by the Ultonians at a place called Magh Cullin, and almost 
 cut to pieces. His reign, however, terminated in the usual 
 way, as he was killed in A. D. 704, at the battle of Car- 
 min, which he fought with Kellach, the son of Kagallach, 
 king of Connaught. Hia successor, Congal Kinmagher, 
 was his cousin and reigned seven years, during wh ich time 
 he gave many signal proofs of the badness of his heart as 
 well as of the weakness of his intellect. 
 
 The interposition of St. Moling in favour of the Lage- 
 nians, it appears, brought only a temporary relief to that 
 unhappy and cruelly oppressed people : for subse- 
 quently to the expulsion of their foreign enemies, Congal 
 the monarch forced them to accept of some new regulations of 
 his own, which, it seems, were as oppressive as the former. 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY fllSTORT. 
 
 135 
 
 He IS also said tc have burned the famous religious estab- 
 lishment at Kildaro, and to haye been during the whole 
 ot his reign an unrelenting persecutor of the clergy His 
 death, which took place in the year 711, was sudden, but 
 trcm what cause we are not informed. 
 
 Fergall, his successor, followed in his footsteps in his 
 treatment of the Lag^ aians; and for the purpose of reviv- 
 ing his claim to the vexatious tribute, he invaded Leinster 
 at the head of an army consisting of twenty-one thousand 
 chosen men. Morrogh Mac Broin, the king of that pro- 
 vince, having had no previous notice of such an invasion, 
 was able to muster only nine thousand, with which he en- 
 gaged the monarch's ^rces at Almhuin, and defeated them 
 with incredible slaughter, the monarch himself, with some 
 of his nobility, being numbered among the slain. 
 
 Fogarty, the next sovereign reigned but one year, when 
 he was killed by Kimbaoth, his rival and successor, and 
 he in his turn met the same fate at the battle of Drum 
 Curran in three yearo afterwards by the hand of Flaherty, 
 the son of Longseach, who succeeded him. To the moQ. 
 nanimity of this monarch Hugh IV. surnamcd jV.llan, owed 
 his elevation to the throne. Having enjoyed the monarchy 
 for the space of seven years, and without any cause but an 
 inward conv^otion of its propriety, Flaherty resigned the 
 crown with its cares and its honours to a Tyrone prince, 
 over whom he had . oen victorious in the field ; and sacri- 
 ficed the future grandeur of his family to the prospect of 
 serv-ng his country by lessening the number of competitors 
 for the throne.* 
 
 O'Con. Dissert, p. 215. 
 
136 
 
 flISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ilr 
 
 r •'^m this period a r'^'7 order of government took place 
 by alterhite succession in two i jal families, for two hun- 
 dred and sixiy-eight years, in the race of the Clan Colmans 
 newly established, and in that of the Kinol Eogans newiy 
 restored. Hugh Allan's re'.j^u commenced in 734, and lasted 
 nine years. The tar, Known ay the name of St. Patrick's 
 Revenue, and which was afterwards collected through- 
 out the kingdom, has been ascribed to this monarch acting 
 in concert with Cathall king of Munster, who made this ar- 
 rangement better for the support of the clergy, as tithes were 
 unknown at the time in Ireland. Hugh was, however, cut oflF 
 in a battle near Kells, and was succeeded by Donald III, who 
 governed the kingdom for the space of twenty years, but 
 whose reign ^as attended with no event of national impor- 
 tance. He had the unusual good fortune to die a natural 
 death, and was succeeded in the year 763 by Niall II, sur- 
 named Frassach. But this prince, it is said, finding him- 
 self unable to repress the factions that prevailed in the 
 provinces, like his predecessor Flaherty, resigned the crown 
 in the eighth year of his reign, and died at the monastery 
 of Hy, A. p. 778, where he was buried in the tomb of the 
 kings of Ireland.* 
 
 A variety of uncommon phenomena, which are said to 
 have taken place about this time, were viewed by the cre- 
 dulous and superstitious as formidable indications of ap- 
 proaching judgments, and as harbingers of those calamities 
 by which the Irish nation was subsequently so long and so 
 grievously afflicted. We are told that in the reign of 
 Hugh Slancy the appearance of fleets and armies was seen 
 
 • O'Hal. Hist., B. IX, Chap. V. 
 
CtViL AI^D MILITARY HISTORY. I37 
 
 in the heavens; that at a subsequent period a monstrous 
 serpent seemed to float in the air: but in the reign 
 of Niall Frassach those calamities were announced as 
 making a nearer approach by . shower of blood, which fell 
 at M^h Laighion. This is said to have been followed by 
 dreadful earthquakes in different parts of the island; and 
 
 bers of the inhabitants. 
 
 During the reign of Donchad, or Donogh, who was 
 chosen t« succeed to the throne on the resignation of Niall 
 and who enjoyed that dignity for the space of twenty! 
 seven years, he subdued by arms the rebellious provinces 
 which his predecessor could rot reclaim by milder mea- 
 sures. His administration lasted till the year 797 when 
 he was succeeded by Hugh V., surnamed Ornid.i, the 
 son of Niall Frassach. Among many of the regulations 
 drawn up by this monarch, was an order iu the convention 
 of the states, for exempting the clergy in future, from that 
 military service which they had always been obli-ed to 
 perform m the time of his predecessors. But his°other 
 designs for the good of his country were frustrated by the 
 factious temper evinced in the provinces, and were reduced 
 to practice only when he was able by the superiority of his 
 arms to force his refractory subjects into obedience to his 
 will. 
 
 During the civil commotions, an invasion of the Isle of 
 Rechrin to the north of the county of Antrim, by some 
 foreign pirates, is noticed in the .unnals of Ulster and 
 according to Usher* these were the first Danish invaders' 
 whose cruelty an d oppression, at a subsequent period, form 
 
 • Usser, Primord., p. 968. 
 
138 
 
 lllSTOnV Ot* IRELAND. 
 
 
 such a prominent feature in the history of Ireland. The 
 divided state of the nation and the chronic anarchy, both 
 political and social, which so long reigned in it, gave them 
 a decided advantage over the Irish i ^ople, which they did 
 not want either courage or skill to improve until they had 
 made themselves masters of nearly the wh9le island. 
 
 This rapid sketch of the Irish monarchy, anterior to the 
 northern invasion, contains most of what can be gleaned of 
 au authentic nature from the annals of this period ; and 
 will be found to justify what we have already stated 
 respecting many of the kings of Ireland, that they have 
 left nothing behind them except their names and most 
 frequently the record of their premarure death. 
 
 If it be true that the confusions manifested in the out- 
 ward condition of a state are but the reflex of the moral 
 disorders which exist in the minds of the citizens, it might 
 be fairly concluded that society in Ireland at this period 
 was thoroughly demoralized ; but such an inference would 
 be manifestly contrary to matter of fact. No country in 
 Europe at this time contained within it more sterling and 
 enlightened piety than was to be found amongst the clergy 
 and laity of this island. Their religious establishments 
 — their schools and colleges, and their evangelical labours 
 in other countries, evince that from whatever cause the 
 disorders which afflicted the people might have sprung, 
 they had not their origin in any peculiar state of demor- 
 alization to which they had been reduced. Perhaps if the 
 annalists had been more particular in giving us the circum- 
 stances which may be considered as the mainsprings of 
 the events which were continually taking place, we might 
 bo enabled to form a more correct judgmcsit on the real 
 
CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 139 
 
 f 
 
 State of every particular case. But little that is worthy 
 of record can be extracted from the mutilated history of 
 an age in which the political concerns of the countr. are so 
 obviously placed in the back ground, and ecclesiastical insti- 
 tutions alone occupy a position so prominently conspicuous. 
 The desolating current of time and the storms of revo- 
 lutionaiy changes that have so frequently overswept the 
 island, have carried away much of the evidence of the 
 ancient order of things, and left a fair field for the most 
 absurd and fanciful conjectures ; whilst the legendary tradi 
 ions of saints, and the establishnient of religious foun.'a- 
 tions are all that remain tofiU up the chasms that appear 
 in Insh history. These, however, when divested of that 
 
 sumed m the hands of the media)val writers, present a pleas- 
 ing contrast with the frightful picture of party rage, intes- 
 *me wars, and local distractions, which we are still able to 
 perceive aa occupying a place in the politics of the country 
 Ihe anomalous combination of extreme barbarism with 
 high literary and intellectual acquirements which the his- 
 tory of Ireland presents at this period, would almost seem 
 to cast a doubt on its authenticity, were it not that we have 
 such incontestible evidence of both the one and the other, as 
 to set at defiance all the cavils of both prejudice and scep- 
 . tieisn. The rancorous malignity of contending chieftains^ 
 he desolating incursion, made by one rival prince upon 
 he persons and properties of the subjects of another, and 
 the unrelenting spirit of revenge which seems to have per- 
 vaded most classes of the laity, afford a melancholy demon- 
 stration of the former: and, not only the testimony of 
 oreign writers, as well as of the Irish themselves, but th? 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 numerous monuments which the ruins of Glendalogh, 
 Clonmacnoise, and many other places in Ireland, present to 
 the eye of the traveller, evince beyond doubt, that at this 
 period a considerable degree of refinement and civilization 
 must have been attained by those who had the direction of 
 ecclesiastical affairs.* 
 
 • " The ancient fields of Glendaloch and Clonmacnoise, the 
 venerable remains of Kildare, and hundreds of other venerable 
 ruins, confirn the legends and traditions of ancient times; 
 although the dwellings of civil strength, the homes of princes, 
 the palaces of monarchs, and the halls of ancient national power 
 have melted away, as the flesh is mouldered from the bones of 
 other generations." Wills's Lives, pp. 159, 160. 
 
 .Ml 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Irish Church till the commencement op the 
 Ninth Century. 
 
 The ecclesiastical constitution of the ancient Irish, which 
 they maintained as lon^ as their monarchy lasted, was 
 most obviously domestic and independent of any foreign 
 jurisdiction. They acknowledged no superior but the great 
 Head of the Church ;* nor had they any rule of faith 
 and practice but the written word of God. 
 
 ^ From St. Patrick's ordinations, as well as from the whole 
 history of his mission, it is also manifest that the Irish 
 Church was originally episcopal j its hierarchy including 
 bishops, presbyters, and deacons, or the tL.ee c: 'lolic 
 orders in the Christian ministry. It is Crue there were also 
 sab-deacons in it, but this order was only a preparatory 
 step to the deaconship. 
 
 The number of Bishops at this early period in Ireland 
 IS almost incredible when we consider the extent of the 
 island. But It is to be remembered that the country was 
 diyded into innumerable petty toparchies, and that every 
 chieftain had a Bishop or more to preside over the church 
 that he had e stablished amongst his people.f Besides, the 
 
 •Unum Caput Christum^ unum ducem Patricium habebant " 
 Vid. Usser. 
 
 t St. Bernard observes at a later period respecting the Irish 
 Church :— " Mutabantur et multiplicabantur episcopi pro libitu 
 Metropolitaai ; ita ut .nus episcopatus uno non esset contentus 
 sed sin eulae Dene EcoIeai;e aJntrtji^o »,«u^»— * „_.•-. .. J 
 
 Bernard. Vtt. Malach. p. 1937.-But there were no metronolitans 
 m the ancient Irish Church. 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Irish prelates were in the habit of conferring the episcopal 
 order on some of their most eminent divines ^rithout their 
 appointment to any pirticular see. This was frequently 
 the case with the heads of schools and the founders of 
 monasteries, so that the number of Bishops in Ireland, it 
 is said, amounted sometimes to three hundred. 
 
 To the episcopal order alone the great offices of religion 
 were exclusively confined ; and therefore as the extension 
 of Christianity was thought to depend upon their multi- 
 plication, every church in its infantile state required a 
 greater number of bishops than when it became more 
 matured and was regularly established. Besides, as the 
 episcopal dignity was lessened in the public estimation by 
 the number of vili_ge bishops that existed in early t. ' ' 
 their ordination was at length restrained by the canons 
 of different councils. But as these canons had no opera- 
 tion in Ireland, and as no foreign power had as yet been 
 acknowledged by the Irish, as having any authority to 
 compel them to submission or conformity, they continued 
 to preserve the plan of episcopacy established amongst 
 them by their first evangelical instructors, and which they 
 at length relinquished with considerable reluctance. 
 
 The number of Bishops that St. Patrick himself is said 
 to have consecrated during his residence in Ireland might 
 appear somewhat surprising on a superficial acquaintance 
 with the history of the infant church in his time. Dis- 
 cretion had guided this eminent missionary in all his pro- 
 ceedings ; and his care to avoid whatever could alarm the 
 national pride, or alter the established policy of the king- 
 dom, increased extensively that influence which his piety 
 and zeal bad given him over the first fruits of bis labours. 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 143 
 
 Besides the present /)38e8sor of a sacred dignity amongst 
 the Druids, a coadjutor, who was also to succeed liim, was 
 at the same time* nominated ; and in imitation c" this cus- 
 tom, as soon m\ the Christian bishop supplanted the Druid 
 flamen in his sti\tion and dignity he also had his assistant 
 and successor appointed ; by whi.,.i means, on every demise, 
 the new pastor was well acquainted with his flock and 
 with his own duly. He was called a Comharba, or partner 
 in the church lands, and ranked as a bishop. Of this 
 order of men several are said to have died in the same see, 
 during the time of St. Patrick's ministry in the island. So ' 
 that when we reflect on the length of his mission, a.v.1 the 
 number of those trular bishops that must have been 
 appointed during that time, the consecrations ascribed to 
 him will not appear cither improbable or surprising. 
 
 The mode in which the Irish Bishops conducted the 
 government and supervision of the Church is illustrated by 
 the antiquities of some of the ma^t ancient sees that were 
 established in this early age. The Church of Aghaboe is 
 noticed by Adamnanus in the seventh century ; and it is 
 probable that its circumstances were similar to those of 
 several others existing at that age. Twelve surrounding 
 rectories within an irregular figure, containipg about sixty 
 thousand acres, were subjected to its inspection. Residing 
 in the mother church with a few clerks, the Bishop and 
 his assistants were perfectly able to attend to all the sacred 
 ministrations to be performed in his diocese. For this 
 purpose the people were accustomed to assemble at places 
 marked by stone crosses, which became the site of so many 
 churches at a subsequent time. 
 
 When a bishopric was once erected, the vanitjr and ambi 
 
144 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 II 
 
 ■»ij 
 ill 
 
 tion of the sept under whose patronage it was held, were 
 enlisted for its perpetuation ; nor was the power of the 
 Roman pontiff himself able, at the time that his authority 
 was acknowledged in the island, to divest them of this 
 right, or to dissolve a see which it was the interest of the 
 sept to preserve.* 
 
 According to St. Bernard, tithes were not established in 
 the Irish Church ; but besides the tax railed St. Patrick's 
 revonu-*, the clergy were probably supijorted by those obla- 
 tions which in primitive times w^re given in lieu of titiies.f 
 Moat of the Irish sees having neither cathedrals, deans, or 
 chapters, were deambulatory. Parishes had their beginning 
 from the suppression of the chor-episcopal sees about the 
 middle of the twelfth centur And, as soon as parochial 
 churches were erected, a portion of the ecclesiastical 
 revenue waa set apart for keeping them in repair and for 
 othei purposes connected with Jivine service. 
 
 As the Church in Ireland was episcopal, so it was also 
 manifestly independent of any foreign jurisdiction. The 
 controversy about Eaater, the ecclesiastical tonsure, and the 
 Three Chapters, afforded her ecclesiastics an opportunity of 
 protesting against any infringement upon their rights, ^nd 
 of evincing their determination to resist the subjugation of 
 their hierarchy to any extra-national power or authority. 
 Several efforts were made at different times to break down 
 that independence, but they always proved unavailing. A 
 
 • After the consolidation of Dublin and Glendalough in the 
 12th century, we find the O'Tooles, the original proprietaries, 
 subsequently retained the title and right of presentation to the 
 bishoprick for upwards of three hundred years. Led. Jlnt. 
 
 t Tanquam dccimas ex fructibua, — Cyp, Ejmt.^ 64. 
 
TUB CHURCU TILL TUE NINTU CENTURY. 145 
 
 tract, addressed by Gisclbcrt, bishop of Limerick, A. D. 
 1090, who was appoiated the Pope's legate to the dissi- 
 dent bishops and presbyters of Ireland, was manilestly 
 intended to induce them to comply with the requisitions of 
 tht pontiff, and to instruct them in the discipline of the 
 Church of Rome. In the prologue he says, " at the request 
 and even command of many of you, dearly beloved, I have 
 endeavoured to set down in writing the canonical custom 
 in saying of hours and performing the office of the whole 
 ecclesiastical order; not presumptuously but through desire 
 to serve your most godly command ; to the tnd that those 
 divers and schismatical orders wherewith, in a manner, all 
 Ireland is deluded, may give piace to one Catholic and 
 Roman office."* 
 
 In perfect unison with this attempt was that which had 
 been made, a little before, by Lanfranc, the archbishop of 
 Cai. ./crbury, lo induce the Irish monarch Turlogh to exer 
 cise his authority in bringing about a conformity between 
 the services then used in the Irish Church and those of the 
 Roman communion. He complained to Tu'-'ogh of the 
 disc'^^line of the Irish, and desired him to assemble a synod 
 of his Bishops and clergy for the purpose of making those 
 changes which were necessary to assimilate the Irish to the 
 Roman Church. But whilst the archbishop of Canterbury 
 was th'is interfering with the concerns of the Irish, he was 
 furnishing to posterity a pregnant proof of the independence 
 of both their church and monarchy, and intimating that 
 neither their ecclesiastical nor civil institutions were subject 
 to the control of the papal legate or even of the pope him- 
 
 ' Vide Led. Ant.^ pp. 433, 434. 
 
m 
 
 |r«. N 
 
 146 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 self. In matters of disaipline, the Irish boldy opposed the 
 custom of their ancestors to the authority of Home, whilst in 
 faith and morals they refused to acknowledge any authori- 
 tative standard but the written word of God. They main- 
 tained and practised the free and unrestricted use of the 
 Holy Script ares, inculcated the eflScacy of the sacrifice and 
 intercession of Christ, without any intermixture of the 
 superstitions of the dark ages — celebrated divine service 
 in a variety of forms and were governed by a hierarchy com- 
 posed ■>! married men, who acknowledged no allegiance to 
 any power except to their respective princes. 
 
 Notwithstanding the number of pious and learned men that 
 Ireland produced, and who obtained the title of saints during 
 the first ages of Christianity in that country, the monks of 
 St. Columba, from whose ranks they were generally duwn 
 never dedicated their churches to any of those saints, 
 although of their own order, but to the Holy Trinity.* 
 Spelman mentions his having a psalter, written about the 
 middle of the eighth century, with a prayer annexed to 
 many of the psalms, and that there were one hundred and 
 ieventy-one such prayers in the book, yet, that not one of them 
 was addressed to the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles, or any 
 other of the saints.f 
 
 There is a curious old catalogue of Irish saints preserved 
 by archbishop Usher,| which was probably written by one of 
 the remnant of the Culdees sometime in the twelfth century, 
 and which is extremely valuable as it presents us with an 
 epitome of the ancient ecclesiastical history of the country, 
 
 • Dalrymple's CoUec. for Scotland. P. 248, 
 t Spel. Cone, Vol. I, p. 219. 
 I Usser, Primord, p. 9 J 3, 
 
 " t 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 147 
 
 y 
 
 and exhibits somethinj]' tf the spirit and practices of the 
 clergy during the age to which it applies. 
 
 The first class, the writer states, were principally of the 
 episcopal order, and, " were the holiest." " They had one 
 head who was Christ ; one leader who was St. Patrick ; and 
 one tonsure from car to ear. They had one mass,* one 
 celebration, and one Easter, the fourteenth of the month 
 after the vernal equinox. Whoever was anathematized by 
 one Church was so by all. They did not reject the atten- 
 dance and company of women, because being founded on 
 Christ their rock they did not fear the wind of temptation." 
 They continued, he says, from A. D. 433 to 534. 
 
 The second class was composed chiefly of presbyters, and 
 were about three hundred in number. " They had one 
 hoad which was our Lord ; they celebrated divers masses, 
 and had various rules ; they rejected the society of women, 
 separating them from their monasteries. ' ' These continued 
 from A. 1>. 534 to 598, and, the writer says, "were less 
 holy." 
 
 The third was also made up chiefly of presbyters, having 
 but few bishops in it. " They inhabited deserts, lived on 
 herbs, water, and alms : possessed nothing of their own : 
 had different rules, masses, and tonsures, some with their 
 
 • In the ancient churches, the public services, at which the 
 > catechumens were periuitted to be present, were called Mista 
 catechumenoruin, because at the close of them proclamation wag 
 made thus : Ite, missa est, sc. eccletia. Then followed the com- 
 munion service, which was called mism fidelium ; and which 
 under the name of mism.^ or the mass, still constitutes the prin- 
 cipal part of public worship in the Roman Catholie Churches." 
 Murdoch. It is evident that Mass in the passage signifies merely 
 iLtt Cur»us ot Liturgy used in the Uhurch. 
 
148 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 crowns shaven, others with long hair. They celebrated 
 the paschal feast, some on the fourteenth, others on the six- 
 ceenth of the month ;" and are said to have been " ho!v." 
 If the writer of this catalogue was a Culdee, he acted 
 agreeably to the characteristic uprightness of his order by 
 placing Columba in the second claas. But whether he 
 belonged to that order or not, it is obvious that he did not 
 entertain very high ideas of clerical celibacy, or he ^ould 
 have exalted the second and third classes of saints over the 
 first : but it appears that he thought them very inferior in 
 sanctity to those ecclesiastics who " did not reject the atten- 
 dance and company of women." 
 
 Learning and zeal, in the meantime, still continued to 
 give lustre to the establishments of the Irish Church, and 
 in nothing was this more clearly exhibited than in the mis- 
 sionary spirit which seems at this time to have pervaded 
 the whole hierarchy. 
 
 About the latter end of the sixth century, Columbanus 
 a native of Ireland, who had been educated at Bangor, under 
 St. Congall, with twelve companions selected out of the 
 same house, emigrated to France, and founded for himself 
 and his followers the monastery of Luxeuil, in a thick part 
 of the forest, at the foot of the Vosges ; to which was after- 
 wards added that of Fontaines,* so named from the abun- 
 dance of springs existing in the neighbourhood. In this 
 retreat, notwithstanding the Koman custom was observed 
 amongst those by whom he was surrounded, he continued 
 to celebrate the paschal festival according to the practice of 
 his own church. This dw^nt from the usages of the neigh- 
 bourin gcbrgy could not fail to bring upon him the censure 
 
 • Fleurjr's Hist. Eccles., Tom. VIIL pp.* 18, 19, 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 149 
 
 of the Gallic ecclesiastics, and they complained to Gregory 
 the Great of the schismatical conduct of this famouo Hi- 
 bernian. Several councils were therefore called, and Colum- 
 banus was cited to appear before them ; but he refused to 
 abandon the practice of his ancestors. He appealed, how- 
 ever, to the Roman pontiff with great learning, modesty, 
 and discretion, defended his own opinions and those of 
 his countrymen, and at the same time wrote to the Gaul- 
 ish bishops assembled in council. He observed that the 
 practice of the Irish Church was established by St. John, 
 the beloved disciple, by St. Philip and the Churches of Asia : 
 that it was proved by the calculations of Anatolius, con- 
 firmed by St. Jerome j and adds, that " whosoever opposes 
 his authority to that of Jerome, will be rejected as an her- 
 etic by the Western Church." But as he still remained 
 obstinate in this particular, he was tTithlessly expelled from 
 his abbey, which he had possessed for twenty years, and 
 banished out of the country. 
 
 It was not, however, solely because of his dissent from 
 the Roman Church, that he was treated with such severity, 
 as his faithfulness in reproving the vices of Thierry, the 
 young king of Burgundy, had a considerable share in 
 exciting that persecution against him which was carried to 
 such an extremity. 
 
 Brunehaut, the queen dowager, a wicked and vindictive 
 woman, appears to have been the principal agent in exciting 
 tLe malice and rousing the resentment of her son against 
 this faithful and intrepid champion of religion and morality. 
 On one occasion, when she »aw him entering the royal 
 courts upon some business with the king, she brought four 
 of the illegitimate children of the latter t^ meet him^ and 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 at the same time saying, with the most consummate hypo- 
 crisy, " They arc the king's children, and are come to ask 
 your blessing." - These children, " replied Columbanus, 
 shall never reign : they are the offspring of unlawful sen- 
 sual indulgence. " This stern reply of the abbot roused 
 the resentment of the queen ; and by way of retaliation she 
 succeeded in having some of the privileges of the Irish 
 monasteries withdrawn. But this was not sufficient to 
 satisfy her vindictive spirit, and she soon found other means 
 by which to bring Columbanus into disrepute with the 
 king. The rules of his monasteries were naturally in ac- 
 cordance with those of the house in which he had been 
 educated himself; and by one of these access to the inte- 
 rior Qf the monastery was restricted. The queen, being 
 aware of this, induced Thierry to assert his right of en 
 trance. At the head of some of his nobles he repaired to 
 Luxeuil; forced his way as far as the Refectory; and 
 addressing Columbanus, he said, " If you desire to derive 
 any benefit from our bounty, these places must be thrown 
 open to every comer." To which the abbot, with chara^j- 
 tenstic intrepidity, replied, "If you endeavour to violate the 
 discipline here established, know that I dispense with 
 your ;r-esence; and if you now come hither to disturb the 
 monasteries of the servant? of God, I tell you that your 
 kingdom shall be destroyed, and with it all your royal 
 
 Terrified by the denunciation of a man, whom he knew 
 to be a faithful minister of Christ, and reproached most 
 probably by his own conscience for the life of debauchery 
 and lewdness which he had been living, this semi-barbar- 
 ous potentate withdrew from the monastery; and, instead 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 151 
 
 of uttering menaces as might naturally be expected, he 
 only observed, " I perceive you hope that I shall give you 
 the crown of martyrdom j but I am not so unwise as to 
 commit so heinous a crime. As your system, however, dif- 
 fers from that of all other times, it is but right tbat you should 
 return to the place from whence you came Accordingly 
 he was subsequently driven from his monastery by a party 
 of soldiers sent for that purpose by his persecutors ; and 
 was accompanied by such of the brethren as were Irishmen 
 and Britons ; none of the rest, though willing, being permitr 
 ted to follow him in his exile. 
 
 After travelling through various parts of France and 
 Germany with his companions, he retired at length into 
 Italy, in order to avoid falling into the hands of his per- 
 secutors again. Arriving at Milan, at the court of Agi- 
 lulph, king of the Lombards, he was courteously received 
 by that prince and his amiable consort Theodelinda. 
 Under the auspices of these two royaJ personages, who at 
 the time were considered as schismatics by the Koman 
 party, he selected a spot amidst the Apennines, and found- 
 ed there the monastery of Babbio; where he passed the 
 brief remainder of his days, as he died on the twenty-first 
 of November, A.D. 615. He wrote commentaries on seve- 
 ral of the Psalms, a book against the Arians, several tracts 
 on the Paschal Controversy, thirteen Homilies, some epis- 
 tles and poems, a Rule for Monks, and two letters to Boni- 
 face III. His severity in addressing the pontiflF proved 
 that he had no great respect for the arrogant claims of 
 that ecclesiastic ; and he speaks of Vigilius, his predecessor, 
 with bitter and, in some respects, deserved reproach. Be- 
 sides these productions of hi« pen, he wrote an apology 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 for himself; addressed to the provincial synod in France, 
 before whom he was cited to appear for his tenacious adhe- 
 rence to the customs of the Irish Church. 
 
 Of this celebrated and distinguished divine, both Cave 
 and Du Pin speak in the highest terms. They, represent 
 him as a man of singular simplicity and of unbending and 
 indexible uprightness, which led him to censure with free- 
 dom and sometimes with asperity, the highest dignitaries 
 of the Church. Du Pin, who carefully examined, and with 
 his usual ability epitomized his Works, declares they are 
 written with much wisdom and elegance, and with a pro- 
 found knowledge of ecclesiastical history. 
 
 The next distinguished Irishman, in order of time 
 though perhaps not inferior t» this abbot in worth and learn- 
 ing, was Bishop Aidan, who for a considerable time was 
 an inmate of the monastery of Hy. To the missionary 
 exertions and pious care of this prelate, the conversion of 
 the Northumbrians in the north of England is, under God 
 to be entirely ascribed. At the same time that Bede gives 
 him an excellent character, as a man of wonderful humi- 
 lity, ^eat zeal and probity, as weU as goodness of heart 
 he adds that his zeal was without knowledge, because he 
 observed the paschal festival according to the custom of 
 his own country, and refused to submit to the authority 
 of the Bishop of Rome. But, notwithstanding this censure 
 passed upon him by the Anglo-Saxon monk, nothing can 
 exceed the commendations which he has given him for 
 hohness of life. He governed the chunjh of Northumbria 
 tor almostseventeen years; erected schools for the instruction 
 of men and children in learning and religion ; wrote com- 
 mentanes on the Scriptures, sermons, and homilia. • and 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE OTTH CENTURY. 153 
 was not „„Iy .„ h„..„„ to ii, „,y,^ ^^__ 
 benefactor to the English nation, „ ,eU as „ o^aSTn 
 of the age m which he lived. Hi« miniatry waa ^^T 
 
 wa» but .mperfeotly acquainted with the Anglo-Saioo 
 ton^e the king U„,aelf, who at an earlier age l^,^" 
 mu h of t, t, i„ r„,^^^ ^__^ ,^^__^ thc^lan^aTi 
 that co^try, became hU interpreter to the people" Turn 
 
 Ma dandHv""" ;'^'^"^™'' " '"--'»'«»- fZ 
 ire and and H, ; and such was their auocesa that thecroaa 
 
 •f the Kedeemer triumphed over the impure rilea „f IT 
 den, and Christianity was established th,^ngho"uhe luW 
 dom of Norlhumbria. Aidan died A D651,n^„*': 
 to that reward which await, the faithful lab^LTin I 
 nneyard of his Master. ° *" 
 
 Pinan, another native of Ireland, was called iiom th. 
 «ame mou^te,^ of Hy, to succeed Aidan in the ^ee rf 
 Holy Island, which had become vacant by the death ^ff. 
 atter ; and while in this eha^ he was 'the ho„onr:d fn 
 
 to the Court of Oswy. His instructions had also th. 
 «une success with Peada, a prince of Me«U a„^ 1 
 attendauH with whom he sentLe of his cS^' .o ptal 
 to the people of that kingdom. But as the old «nTrorerst 
 about Easter »., sUl, carried on between the nlaS 
 and the members of the ancient church, and asFkan 
 eould not be brought to conform to the R™"" c'st^m a 
 countryman of his oWn who had been bred in F^'cc 
 where that custom prevailed, waa considered the mo! 
 el.8.ble mstrument.to effect a change in his ...ind.Td 
 
 K 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 was therefore sent to him for that purpose. This attempt, 
 howe-er, proved ineffectual ; and Finan, instead of being 
 convinced, was still more firmly established in his own 
 opinion. He wrote a treatise on the ancient usage of the 
 Passover ; was a pious and exemplary man ; and departed 
 this life, A. D. 661. 
 
 Furseus, a monk, who, according to the predilection of 
 those times, had founded three monasteries in his native 
 country, went over to England to preach the gospel among 
 the Anglo-Saxons ; and in his labours met with great suc- 
 cess among the inhabitants of East Anglia. Bede extols 
 him very highly, and Sigebert the East Anglian king, who 
 was, as we have already observed, a Christian himself gave 
 him a courteous recfeption, and promoted with all his in- 
 fluence the object of his mission. He founded a monastery 
 in Suffolk which was largely endowed at several times by 
 the East Anglian kings. He next retired to l-Vanoe 
 where he erected the monastery of Lagny in the Diocese 
 of Paris, near the Seine. He wrote a book on the Monas- 
 tic Life ; and an Irish prophecy is ascribed to him, but 
 without any foundation. 
 
 Dinma was another Irish ecclesiastic who made some 
 figure in the Anglo-Saxon Church during the seventh cen- 
 tury. He had received episcopal consecration at the hands 
 of Bishop Finan, and took charge of the episcopate of 
 Mercia and the East Angles, which he conducted prosper- 
 ously for several years: after which he was succeeded by 
 CeoUa, another Culdee, who for some reason resigned his 
 charge and retired to the monastery in Hy. Indeed it is 
 principally to the apostolic labours of the Culdean mission- 
 aries that the northern English were indebted for their con- 
 
 
THE cnuRcH mL the nisth centuby. 155 
 
 Zd °b'v Thd " '"""'"? "" "'"S"" '™* «« Propa- 
 gated by their means throughout various other countrie. 
 on the continent of Europe.* eountnes 
 
 But whilst the Irish divines were thus engaged in dis 
 pensing Uie word of life to their fellow-men th^„ . 
 we« indefatigable in their .eal to ^'a ^.f^rtC 
 own news on those points whieh had bin pLouslv the 
 uljectof somuch eontroversj. For this purSnoru 
 the Roman pontiir, addressed a letter .„ theU^r!™' 
 
 versal Chureh. Induced by this epistle to reconsider th. 
 
 Ch':;d .t tLb-T, '''"""^ '-''"■ " 'y^^ "f *X 
 
 was held at Legh-Lene, near the river Barrow Lasritl 
 appeared .0 defend the Komau custom, called in the Zd, 
 of the synod, He ne», ordinance; and Munnu, the fZder 
 
 Throuit^irf ^"''"""'^ """-"^^ '*''^"t 
 
 Ihe only ac .on, however, taken by this meeting was L 
 appoint certain persons to visit n„.«. ■ ,"-'""s was to 
 
 if anything fX could ^1^7.0 Jut ttTri" 
 alter the established customs of tfetlr h ni"!, ,^ 
 g..*s remained three years in that city Tud du]„Tthet 
 
 title of "Scottish uLt' nil I ^^ '^" ambiguous 
 
 Scots from Ireland fdistilcL^^ ' ""''' ''' '"* "'^-^ ^«r« 
 other contin.n J J,|te' '"'''"" "^^^^^ ""^^^ ^^^ French and 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 of the adoption of the Roman custom in celebrating the 
 Eastor festival. 
 
 At this time Cummian, surnamed Albus, or the WTiite, 
 who is said to have been a descendant of the same family 
 with St. Columba, retired from every other pursuit, in the 
 monastery of Hy, to examine whatever had been advanced 
 on thiri subject by Hebrews, Ejryptians, Greeks, and Latins. 
 His tract written upon this occasion would, t any time, be 
 esteemed argumentative and learned. Besiaes his examin- 
 ation of the various cycles that had been previously in use 
 he quotes the canons of the Church in such a manner as 
 to show that he was well acquainted with ecclesiastical dis- 
 cipline. This treatise, short as it is, comprehends a variety 
 of learned subjects, and clearly points out the studies of the 
 Irish at this period ; their advances in literature ; and how 
 well their libraries must have been supplied with books on 
 every subject worthy of investigation. But the extensive 
 erudition of this remarkable man had but very little effect 
 upon the men whom he wished to convince. The monks of 
 Hy resented with indignation his defection from the usages 
 of his ancestors, Jind- treated him as an apostate and a 
 heretic,* because he had adopted what they deemed to be 
 the innovations of the Roman school. 
 
 Nor did any opportunity occur in which the clergy of 
 the Irish Church failed to discover the same irreconcileable 
 hostility to innovations whenever they were made on their 
 ecclesiastical customs. Dagan, an Irish bishop, who was 
 reputed a man of great piety, and who had taken an active 
 part in the Easter controversy, in a visit which he paid to 
 
 • Usser. Syllog. Eplst. Hib. Epist. xi. 
 O'Hal. Hist. Vol. III., p. 115. 
 
 Harria' "Writers, p. 31. 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 157 
 
 archbishop Laurence, the successor of Augustine in the see 
 of Canterbury finding him opposed to the practice of the 
 Irish m the celebration of Easter, refused notonJy to J at 
 one table with bin., but even in the same hoL* In 
 adopting this apparent want of toleration, the Irish prelate 
 was acting only in conformity with the canonsf of his own 
 Church, and consequently it may be inferred that the Irish 
 considered all their opponents on this controversy as unTer 
 sentence of excommunication. 
 
 , Nor was this the isolated act of one over-zealous eccle- 
 u^tic as both the Britons and Irish acted invariab yTn 
 the sa^e principle We have the testimony of Bede Lt 
 the Britons would no more communicate with the Anglo- 
 Saxons than with pagans."! " The British priests," slys 
 iUdhehn I'puffed up ^ith a conceit of their own purity, 
 do exceedingly abhor commuoion with us, insomuch thai 
 they will neither join in prayers with us in the church nor 
 m communion, nor will they enter into society with us at 
 table ; the fragments we leave after refection, they will not 
 ^uch but throw them to dogs. The cup's also, 1 of 
 which we have drunk, they will not use until they have 
 cleansed them with sand and ashes. They refuse aU civil 
 ^lutations and wiU not give us tho kiss of pious fraternity. 
 Moreover if any of us go to make our abode among them 
 they will not vouchsafe to admit us till we are compiled t^ 
 spend forty days in penance." i^ «u w 
 
 • Bede, Lib. II. Cap. 4. 
 
 t " A communione et mensa a missa et pace." Again — " Qui 
 cunque clericua ab aliquo excommunicatus fuerit e aliu. ^1 
 susceperit ambo co^quali pcBnitentia utantL " ^ 
 
 t Bede, Lib. II. Cap. 10. 
 
 i 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Thin controverHy roHpccting tlic panchal Holeiimity, us may 
 bo supposed, proved a considerable obstacle to the labours 
 of the Irish missionaries in other countries; and, after it 
 had been carried on for a considerable time, a synod was 
 called, A. D. 661, at a monastery named Strcaneshalch,* 
 in the kingdom of Northumbria, to determine whether the 
 ancient discipline of the British and Irish churches should 
 be retained, or implicit submission should be enjoined 
 in reference to the Roman custom. Wilfrid, an ^l^vc of 
 Rome, supported the latter, as Colman, a native of Ireland 
 and educated among the Culdees at Hy, who was then 
 bishop of Lindisfcrn, maintained the custom of his ances- 
 tors. '' The Easter I keep," said Colman, " I received 
 from my elders, who sent me bishop hither; the same which 
 all our forefathers, men beloved of God, are known to have 
 kept, and which they celebrated after the same manner : 
 and, that the same may not appear to any contemptible or 
 worthy to be rejected, it is the same which St. John the 
 evangelist and the churches over which he presided, 
 observed."! ' 
 
 This intrepid champion who appeared in the synod at 
 the head of the Irish clergy to defend the custom of his 
 forefathers, having been defeated by a majority who took part 
 with the king when the lattor dec jd himself in favor of 
 the Roman usages, resigned his bishopric in disgust, rather 
 than swerve from the discipline of his own church or 
 acknowledge the authority of foreign decrees, and returned 
 to his native country with some English monks as well as 
 
 • This was the old name of Whitby. See Hody's Hist, of Eng. 
 Ooun. Parti, p. 21. 
 t Bede, Lib. Ill,, Cap. 25. 
 
as 
 
 THE CIIURCU TILL THE NINTH CENTURY. 159 
 
 all the Irish whom he ha*? brought thither, and spent the 
 remainder of his life at a place called Innisboffin. Here 
 he built a monastery for the monks who had accompanied 
 him ; but as some dispute arose between the Saxon and 
 Celtic inmates of this establishment, he erected another for 
 the English at Mayo. He wrote a book in defence of his 
 custom of keeping Easter; another on the tonsure of eccle- 
 siastics; and an exhortation to the inhabitants of the 
 Hebrides. 
 
 Amongst the distinguished missionaries who were engaged 
 in preaching the gospel in Germany, during the eighth cen- 
 tury, was the celebrated Virgilius, a native of Ireland, and 
 whose real name was most probably Feargil, latim'zed into 
 that by which he was known on the continent* Having quit- 
 ted his native land, he arrived in France, where he remained 
 for two years, and afterwards visited Bavaria. Here he 
 laboured for some time in his sacred calling, until a dispute 
 arose between him and Boniface, archbishop of Mentz, 
 whose jurisdiction then extended over that country, as well 
 as over many other parts of Germauy. That prelate, who 
 had given orders that such as had received Baptism at the 
 hands of an ignorant priest should be re-baptized, because 
 the formula had been pronounced in bad Latin, was 
 Of ^sed by Virgilius, who insisted that the validity of the 
 sacrament did not depend on the grammatical knowledge 
 of the officiating minister, provided he was duly ordained, 
 and had performed the office in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity. The priest, being ignorant of Latin, had used 
 the words:— "Baptize te in nomine Patria, et Filia, et 
 Splritua Sancta;' inste ad of Patris, Filii, et Spiritiis 
 
 * Lanigan'g Hist. Chap. XIX, Note 12t. 
 
160 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Sancti:' Thisdifference of opinion between the Irish and 
 Saxon ecclesi-tftics led to an appeal to tb'i Roman pontiif ; 
 and Zachary had candour enough to decide in favour of the 
 former.* 
 
 This decision of the pontiff, which was praiseworthy, con- 
 sidering that Yirgiiius belonged to a church that did not 
 acknowledge his authority, together with the Irishman's 
 superior accomplishments as a scholar, inflamed the jealousy 
 and reused the resentment of Boniface, and with all the 
 bitterness of religious prejudice he carried on a persecution 
 against hie rival. He denounced the Hibernian ecclesiastic 
 to the pope as a man who taught that many of the stars in 
 the heavens were habitable worlds ; that the earth was no 
 plane but of a globular form ; and that the very part of the 
 earth on which he trod had its antipodes I The pope, in 
 his answer, which was written in the year 748, dir^ted 
 that, if these facts were proved before a council, Virgilius 
 should be degraded. But the Irish divine paid little regard 
 to the papal mandate; nor was he degraded, but was 
 first made Rector of St. Stephen's abbey, by Otilo, Duke 
 of Bavaria, and afterwards Bishop of Saltsburg. 
 
 It is remarkable, that what was called herecy in the 
 eighth century has in svcceeding ages become the generally 
 received opinion ; and, ir the present advanced state of 
 astronomical knowledg<5, the philosophy of the Irish in 
 this century corresponds with the system now adopted by 
 every man of real learning in thi world. It is universally 
 Jmitted that the opinion maintained by Virgilius was no 
 other than the true doctrine of the antipodes, a doctrine 
 
 • Epist. Zachar. Vet, Ep. Hib. Sylloge. 
 
 tl 
 
THE CHURCH TILL THE NINTH CENTUKY. 161 
 
 founded on the sphericity of the earth, and which, in our 
 days, even schoolboys are acquainted with; but in that 
 «^ge, it was entirely new to the learned men of the contin- 
 ent, and was taught only in the Irish schools. 
 
 The seventh and eighth centuries were brilliant, periods 
 in the history of Irish literature : and we might multiply 
 biographical notices of the learned men of this age far 
 boyond the bounds which our present object wou) -^rrs it. 
 But as our design is to give some idea of the state i learn- 
 ing at this early period in the Irish Church, as well a£ of the 
 zeal, piety, and extensive usef\ilncss of her miesionaries, 
 we must content ourpelves with those detailf which we have 
 already laid before the realer ; and proceed to enter upon 
 a period the most calamitous and gloomy that the nation 
 had ever experienced from the first settlement cf the island. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 First Invasion op the Northmen. 
 
 About the close of the eighth century, the reign of Hu-h 
 surnamed Oirnidhe, was marked by the dreadful devaste- 
 aons of those northern pirates who at that period became 
 so formidable to several of the nations of Europe These 
 foreigners, to whom the names of Danes, Northmen, Ost- 
 men, and EasterUngs were common, were a motley aggre- 
 gate of the descendants of the Goths, composed of Saxons 
 Frisians, Livonians, Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes, whose 
 proximity to the German sea and to the Baltic gave them an 
 early predilection for excursions on the watery elemenf 
 The different names by which they have been distinguished 
 prove that they were of various nations, and that they 
 differed from each other in complexion, as ^ell as in their 
 respective manners and habits. 
 
 The early history of the Scandinavians, like that of most 
 other nations, is shrouded in darkness; and, were it worth 
 mvesugation, could not be elicited without considerable 
 difficulty. Even the proceedings of Odin himself, though 
 the main incidents of his life are generally agreed upon, 
 are but dimly seen through the hazy medium of Scaldic 
 tradition taken in connexion with the well-authenticated 
 history of other nations. 
 
 This chieftain, some time in the century immediately 
 preceding the Incarnation, had been forced to seek an asy. 
 lum in the frozen regions of the north, with a numoroi,.. 
 
FIRST INVASION OP THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 163 
 
 band of followers of Indo-Scythian extraction.* The suc- 
 cess of Pompey and his victorious legions against Mithri- 
 dates, the king of Pontus, had obliged a number of fugi- 
 tives to escape from the districts of Armenia, Cappadocia, 
 Iberia, and other Persian provinces, and to withdraw to 
 the more impenetrable regions of Scythia, where they might 
 form settlements beyond the reach of their domineering 
 invaders. At the head of a powerful tribe of these fugi- 
 tives, a chieftain named Sigge had placed himself; and hav- 
 ing led them into the northern regions of Europe, he sub- 
 jugated the aborigines of each country, as he passed along, 
 and established his sons in the soveieii'ntY.of the different 
 kingdoms which he had conquered. Possessing both cour- 
 age and address, he gave, in this manner, kings to Saxony, 
 Westphalia, Franconia, and part of Russia ; and having 
 proceeded as far as Scandinavia, he acquired absolute 
 dominion over Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Encouraged 
 by the success of his arms, and the dismay which pervaded 
 all the nations round che Baltic, he not only superseded 
 their ancient religion, which was probably Draidism, by 
 the introduction of that of his own country, but assuming 
 the title of Odin or Woden the supreme divinity of bat- 
 tle, he claimed and received divine hcnom^ from those 
 barbarous princes whom he had subjugated to his authority. 
 The object of Odin's institutions, as may be learned from 
 the ancient icligion of the Saxons and Scandinavians, was 
 to form the character of a warlike people, and to insTiire 
 his followers with a contempt of death, as well as a predi- 
 lection for war and rsnine. The substructure of his system 
 
 Suurro'tf Hialory of Norway. 
 
164 
 
 HISTUilY OF IRELAND. 
 
 must have been laid in easU^rn mythology; but the addi- 
 tions and enlargements of it, which originated with himself 
 were such as to produce those effects that were intended by' 
 his policy. It IS said, that when about to die, Odin, having 
 r^olved not to take his exit like inferior mortlus, as;emblel 
 
 inflicted on himself nine wounds in the form of a circle! 
 Thus having crowned his brilliant achievements by an exam- 
 P^ of invincible fortitude, he informed them that he was 
 about to return into Scythia, in order to take his pll " 
 the banquet of the gods, and that he would be ready to 
 
 field of battle, with that ^onour which was due to >heir 
 courage and intrepidity. 
 
 The subsequent history of the nations of the north for 
 abou eleven hundred years, is but imperfectly knJwn. 
 Their priucipal employment was piracy and war; and, as 
 Udin and his sons were the chief divinities, they were 
 taught to believe that the most pleasing sacrifice they could 
 offer them was the death of an enemy. Most of the 
 nor hern princes afterwards were reputed the descendants 
 of these ^chieftains, and the two brothers, Hengist and 
 Horsa who led the Saxons into Britain, are said to have 
 Deen the great-grandsons of Odin.* 
 
 Inspired with these sentiments, the northerners were inva- 
 riably prodigal of their blood and ready to embark in any 
 enterprise the danger of which might recommend them to 
 the object of their worship. Hence, the hazards and perils 
 of the deep gave a quickening impulse to their superstition • 
 
 • Bed, Lib. I, Can. XY. " 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 165 
 
 the booty which they procured or the traffic which they 
 carried on with more south^/n countries. 
 
 But, notwithstanding this became the established charac- 
 ter of the Scandinavians, it is difficult to determine the 
 cause which produced, at the time of which we treat, the 
 sudden bursting forth of these barbarians, in such large 
 numbers ; covering the European seas with lawless pirates 
 for about two centuries, and which occasioned their differ- 
 ent depredations to begin almost everywhere about the 
 same time, and to cease at nearly an equal period. The 
 usual hypothesis upon which this phenomenon is accounted 
 for, is not only defective, but diametrically opposed to mat- 
 ter of fact. It has been asserted that the northern regions 
 are more prolific than those of the south ; and that hence 
 the Scandinavian peninsula soon became so overstocked 
 with inhabitants as to oblige numerous colonies to seek, in 
 other countries, those settlements which the excess of 
 population refused them in their own. This assumption, 
 however, is perfectly gratuitous ; for it is by no means diffi- 
 cult to demonstrate that population has been, at every 
 period, greater in southern than in northern climates. The 
 cities of the north, even down to the present time, are infe- 
 rior in extent, and in the number of their inhabitants, when 
 compared with those of more southern countries ; and no 
 physical cause can be assigned why it should in any case 
 be otherwise.* Besides the extensive tracts of unre- 
 
 • " The Paris Moniteur," says tho Toronto Leader, writing in 
 1859, has " published recently some interesting statistics regard- 
 ing the p gress of the European populations. One thing ap- 
 pears to be established by these figures ; that climate, more than 
 all other causes, Influences the progress ofpopulation ; the highest 
 fecundity being in the south and the iowest in the noriL,' 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 claimed ground, covered with wood, which Denmark, 
 Norway, and Sweden still contain, exhibit incontostible 
 proofs that they never possessed a superabundance of inhab- 
 itants. Had the north been more prolific than other regions, 
 and population been more increasingly numerous in cold 
 than in warm climates, it would still be difficult to say why 
 Nature should deviate so far from her accustomed uniform- 
 ity as to produce, at one period, such an amazing conflux of 
 people, and not at every other. On the whole, it must be 
 obvious that the supposition on which the extraordinary 
 migrations of the Northmen in this age have been accounted 
 for, is, in the highest d^ree, unsatisfactory. 
 
 Some historians, however, have assigned a more proba- 
 ble reason for this unprecedented movement of the Scan- 
 dinavian pirates ; and have supposed that they were influ- 
 enced by mixed motives in their predatory excursions upon 
 the sea. The misdirected zeal of the Emperor Charlemagne, 
 (though he was naturally generous and humane,) had 
 induced him to adopt some severe measures against the 
 pagan Saxons in Germany, whom he had previously sub- 
 jugated. By the most rigorous edicts, as well as by the 
 most unjustifiable military severities, he had obliged them 
 to receive the sacrament of baptism at the hands of his 
 priests, and to make at least an outward profession of the 
 Christian faith. This monstrous injustice and iniquitous 
 method of making converts, very naturally roused the 
 indignation of the Germans, and the more generous and 
 warlike among them fled northward into Jutland, in order 
 to escape the fury of the empc-or.* Received in that 
 
 Hume's History of England, Chap. 11. 
 
FIRST INVASION OP THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 167 
 
 country with cordiality by a people of similar manners and 
 sentiments, and perceiving that the religion of their perse- 
 cutors was as inimical to the latter as their swords, they soon 
 b(^an to form a general confederacy against both, and to 
 stimulate the natives of their adopted country to concur 
 with them in their enterprises, for the purpose of defending 
 their religion and liberties as far as they were able.* Ac- 
 cordingly they first invaded the provinces of France, where 
 they were known under the general name of Normans ; and 
 soon afterwards they found their way into Britain, which 
 gi'oaned for a considerable time under their intolerable cruel- 
 ties and oppressions.f But as the Irish missionaries had 
 taken such an active part in promoting the conversion of 
 their brethren in Germany, they visited Ireland also in a 
 few years aftenvards, and wreaked their vengeance upon 
 the inhabitants of a country that had given birth to such 
 obtrusive and indefatigable ecclesiastics. 
 
 A wish for revenge and retaliation may, therefore, have 
 boen the moti/e which at first called forth these formidable 
 hosts from their own frozen and inhospitable r^ons, but 
 the desire of plunder soon gave an additional impetus to 
 their proceedings. The booty which the first adventurers 
 were enabled to bring back with them to their own country 
 had the natural tendency to induce others to try their for- 
 tune in a similar manner. The situation of their native 
 land, and the abundance of materials for fitting up ships 
 with which it was replete, enabled them to prosecute their 
 designs with vigor and success ; and being able to sweep 
 
 • Mezeray, Hist, de la France, Tom. I, page 165. 
 
 t The first appearance of the Danes in Britain was. in the year 
 '8?; Chron. Srx. page 64. 
 
168 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Ill 
 
 along the coasts of the neighbouring nations, not in single 
 ships only but in whole fleets, they became the terror of 
 every land that had the misfortune to come within the 
 range of their destructive and unexpected visits. 
 
 Enriched by these predatory excursions, and accustomed 
 to brave the dangers of the sea, the Scandinavians contin- 
 ued to pour forth innumerable swarms of fresh adventur- 
 ers ; and such was the effect produced upon the cupidity of 
 their countrymen that even the northern kings themselves 
 were sometimes induced to take a part in these enterprises. 
 In accordance with the general ferocity of their character* 
 their manner of making war was unlike the conduc. of a 
 more civilized or generous enemy. They not only pOlaged 
 every place which they happened to visit in their progress, 
 but burned or destroyed Wuatever they were unable to con- 
 vert immediately to their own purposes. Divided into sev- 
 eral independent bodies, according to the ability which they 
 possessed of equippiag themselves, it frequently happened 
 that one band of these ferocious adventurers was no sooner 
 gone than another appeared on the coast; and their enter- 
 prises being too uncertain and desultory to be met by any 
 uniform and systematic resistance, the inhabitants could 
 enjoy no permenent respite from their incursions. The 
 leaders of these barbarians, moreover, having no authority 
 one over another, (being the respective chiefs oi so many 
 distinct piratical associations,) it was impracticable to eater 
 into any treaty with them, unless the natives could multi- 
 ply treaties according to the number of chieftains or par- 
 ties that were to be found amongst their invaders. 
 
 Nor was this the worst feature of .he melancholy state 
 to which Ireland was reduced at this gloomy period of it,s 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 169 
 
 History ; for the native princes being almost continually at 
 variance with each other, were frequently found acting in 
 conjunction with the common enemy, merely for the pur 
 pose of either diminishing the preponderating power of a 
 hated rival, or of taking revenge for some real or imaginary 
 insult. That the miserable defence which the native Irish 
 made against the Danes for so long a period was not owing 
 to any want of courage is evitced by their warlike achieve- 
 ments amongst themselves, as well as by the figure which 
 they made abroad amongst the French, the English, and 
 the Picts. Their own intestine divisions alone produced 
 their weakness, and rendered them an easy prey to a for- 
 eign enemy. 
 
 The year 795 is that in which, according to some writers, 
 the coasts of Ireland began to be infested with the Danes ;' 
 and particularly the island of Raghlin,* off thenor thern 
 coast of :he county of Antrim, which they plundered and 
 laid waate. About three years after, or in the second of 
 the reign of Hugh Omidhe, the west of Munster was 
 invaded by a large body of these freebooters called Loch- 
 Lannics, who for some time ravaged the coast, destroying 
 churches and monasteries, and putting all the clergy they 
 could find immediately to the sword. As soon as intelli- 
 gence of their landing was brought to Airtre, the king of 
 that province, he collected the provincial troops with aU 
 possible expedition, engaged them in a pitehed battle, de- 
 
 • This island has been known by a variety of names " It ii 
 called Rimia by Pliny, Ridnia by Ptolemy, Ridum by Antoniug, 
 and Recarn or Recrain by the Irish historians ; Raclinda by Bu- 
 chanan, Rachri by Mackenzie, Raghlin by Ware, and Rathlin by 
 the modern map makers." Seward. Topo", 
 
 h 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 feated them with considerable B^rr,*» "ir via forced them 
 to fly to their ships with grea* co.ifusion and precipitation. 
 Meanwhile the mutual disbi;nBions of the native princes 
 seem to have sufifered no interruption by the danger which 
 now threatened their common country, both in thf tK,ith 
 and in the south. Instead of summoning the prinues of 
 the kingdom to assist him in driving the barbarians from 
 his dominions, the monarch upon account of some dispute 
 which he had had with the people of Leinster, raised an 
 army in the year 799 with which he invaded that prov- 
 ince ; and with an unsparing hand spread desolation and 
 slaughter amongst his own subjects wherever he went. A 
 practice at that time prevailed in Ireland, as weU as in other 
 countries, of compelling the bishops and abbots to attend 
 the royal army during the military expeditions of their 
 sovereign ; and amongst others, the monarch was accompa- 
 nied, on this occasion, by Conmac, the Bishop of Armagh, 
 and Fothadius, a learned abbot, whose great knowledge in 
 the canon laws procured for him the name of De Canonibus. 
 The royal army having arrived at the borders of Leinster, 
 Conmac, at the head of his clergy, complained to the king 
 and remonstrated with him upon the impropriety and 
 indecency of seeing the ministers of peace, on all occasions, 
 witnesses of the horrors of war and desolation j and prayed 
 for himself and his brethren in the ministry, as well ai 
 for his successors, that a service so unbecoming their sacred 
 profession might not be imposed upon them for the future. 
 The monarch listened to the remonstrance of the clergy 
 with becoming attention and referred the matter to the 
 judgment of Fothadius, who drew up his opinion in writ- 
 ing, in which he stated that a service so unclerical should 
 
PmST INVASION OP THE NORTHMEN. 171 
 
 not be imposed upon such as were in holy orders ; and, 
 accordingly, it was decreed that their attendance in future 
 should not be required, but that they should forever be 
 exempted from this unpleasant duty.* 
 
 Whilst a spirit of patriotism appears to have had no in- 
 fluence over the minds of the princes of Ireland in general, 
 the Scandinavians stUl continued to infest the country, and 
 to direct their rage more especially against the clergy' and 
 religious establishments In 802, they entered the Isle of 
 Hy, and set fire to the monastery of St. Columba, when 
 many of the monks were consumed in the flames. About 
 four years after this they entered it again, and such was 
 their rage against the inmates of that once illustrious seat 
 of learning, that, it is said, sixty-eight monks were slaugh- 
 tered without mercy, and the number of its members 
 reduced to sixty-four. The following year they succeeded 
 in effecting a landing on the west coast of Ireland , and 
 having penetrated as far as Roscommon, they destroyed it, 
 and laid waste the surrounding country.f About the same 
 time, or perhaps something earlier, they made another at- 
 tempt upon the province of Ulstor, where they practised 
 the most wanton and unprecedented cruelties upon the 
 inhabitants. They destroyed the famous abbey of Bangor, 
 plundered it of all it contained, and carrying with them 
 the rici.^ shrine of St. Congall, they slaughtered with savage 
 cruelty the abbot and about nine hundred of his monks 
 The king and people of Ulster having been roused by the 
 enormities of these barbarians, collected aU their forces 
 
 • Ware's Writers at Fothadics. Har. Ed, 
 t Ware's Ant., Cap. XXIV, 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 together, attacked the enemy with great resolution, and after 
 the loss of twelve hundred of their men, they effected, aa 
 usual, an escape to their ships. 
 
 The imperfect accounts that have been transmitted to 
 us of the numerous and sudden incursions of the Danes do 
 not enable us to give a perfect history of all the outrages 
 which they committed at this period ; but it may be ob- 
 served that their proceedings were invariably marked with 
 the same cruelty and barbarity and were carried on in 
 such a way as to evince more especially their inveterate 
 hostility to the religion and sacred institutions of the 
 country. Nor is it unworthy of notice, that whilst the 
 ravages of the Danes were of themselves an affliction which 
 was almost intolerable, the very elements seemed to con- 
 spire with the enemy to complete the ruin of this distracted 
 and unhappy nation. Whilst the remembrance was fresh 
 in the minds of the people of the slaughter and conflagra- 
 tion which had overspread the land, thoy were terrified 
 with the most dreadful tempests that had hitherto visited 
 the country, and which were attended with consequences 
 the most awfully fatal and alarming. On the northern 
 side of the Shannon, in the month of March A. D,. 816, 
 such a violent storm of thunder and lightning burst forth, 
 that above a thousand persons were destroyed by it in one 
 territory. The sea, at the same time, having broken down 
 its banks with great violence, overflowed a considerale part 
 of the country, and swept everything before its overwhelm- 
 ing inundation. 
 
 But the most formidable attempt that the Danes made 
 upon Ireland, aa well as the most fatJ in its consequences, 
 was that which was made about the year 815, by Turge- 
 
'f^'%^\ 
 
 FIRST INVASION OP THE NORTHS 
 
 173 
 
 Bias,* who arrived at that time with - fleet "cav .mndred 
 and twenty ships, and anumeroup .orce of bia .r ^ . jymen. 
 Although the whole of the proceedings ( *" thi' '»irbarian, 
 both as an enemy and a king, arc enveloped diderable 
 
 obscurity and present the most gloomy aspect cf consum- 
 mate tyranny and o^^pression, we have suflBcient informa- 
 tion to convince us that he possessed much of the craft of a 
 wily politiciru, rnd that his plans were laid with such pre- 
 caution as to insure the successf.il issue of his periloub en- 
 vorprise. Apprised of the numerous weak points of Irish 
 policy, but especiaiiy of the prevalent divisions of the nar 
 tive chie^lains, he employed all his ingenuity and address 
 to gain some of them over to his cause, and to induce them 
 to co-operate with him in his plans for forming u Danish 
 settlement in the country. It is not without reason sup- 
 posed, that it was by the counsel and assistance of some of 
 these traitors he was enabled to possess himself of many 
 strong positions, in ^>aich he was suffered to form settle- 
 ments with his followers, and to fortify them in £uch a 
 manner as to rende • their security as permanent as possi- 
 ble. One tning l certain that he ultimately subdued the 
 Irish, castellated anc garrisoncl their country, and with a 
 triuraphant army, for many years, held the sovereign sway in 
 that kingdom. 
 
 Turgesius is said by some to have bee i one of the sons 
 of Harold Harfager, the king of Norway, on whom that 
 prince conferred the regal ntle and assigned him a part of 
 
 • There is r great difiFerence of opinion respecting the precise 
 time of the arrival of this northern chieftain. Ware aud O'Fla- 
 herty, however, are agreed that it was in 815, Ware Ant. Chap. 
 XX ^V. O'Flahcriy's 0§yg.^ Pari III, Chap. XCIII. 
 
:%* • :■ 
 
 174 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 his dominions. But it is probable they have no other 
 foundation for such a conjecture than merely the name of 
 this chieftaii . The son of Harold is introduced in the 
 Icelandic Chronicles, under the name of Thorgils ; but as 
 the Irish did not use H as a letter, except as a mere aspi- 
 rate,* and were accustomed to drop one where two conso- 
 nats came together, they made from Thorgils, Torgis. which 
 was easily Latinized into Turgesitis.f These Chronicles, 
 however, made Harold divide his dominions among his sons 
 A. D. 903, which would by no means synchronise vdth the 
 time of the arrival of Turgesius in Ireland. 
 
 No sooner had this chieftain landed in Ireland and been 
 joined by his countrymen, tiian he set himself to bear down 
 every opposition, and to subjugate the whole island to his 
 dcm' * 1. In order to strike the natives with terror, and 
 to s. ,3 them to divide their strength as much as possible, 
 he separated Lis army into diflFerent bodies, and disposed 
 of them in such a manner as seemed most likely to produce 
 the desired eflfect. He also adopted a similar lite of policy 
 along the coast, by dividing his fleet into three diflFerent 
 squadrons, and ordering all his forces, both by sea a'^.d 
 land, to spare neither age nor sex, but to ravage the country 
 with fire and sword wherever they came : a mandate which 
 was punctually obeyed even beyond the letter, by the rapa- 
 cious barbarians that were under his command. 
 
 Whilst these cruelties were being carried on by the com- 
 mon enemy, the spirit of disunion was still producing its mel- 
 ancholy eflfects amongst the natives. This unhappy circum- 
 
 • O'Brien's Irish Diet. Letter C. Lhuyd's Arch. p. 300. 
 t See Led. Ant. p. 28. 
 
 11^ 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 176 
 
 stance was perhaps as much the result of the aristocratical 
 form of government which prevailed in the country, as of 
 the irascible disposition of its princes and chiefs. Even at 
 this very tim&, when almost half the island was possessed 
 by the enemy, the monarch of Ireland, instead of joining 
 with the provincialiste in attacking the Danes, marched all 
 his forces against some of his own people, and after a 
 troublesome reign of about twenty-two years, was slain in 
 the battle of Defearta by the Conacians. 
 
 During the administration of Connor, his successor, 
 which commenced about A. D. 819, the country was per- 
 petually infested by the cruel and persevering ravages of 
 the foreigners. Nor was the worthless prince who had now 
 succeeded to the monarchy likely to give any check to their 
 constant depredations and rapacity. Instead of trying to 
 reconcile the petty feuds of his subjects, he appears rather 
 to have sanctioned them by his own example, as in the face 
 of his bleeding country, he fought a pitched battle with 
 Some of the northern chiefs, on the trifling pretext of hav- 
 ing received oflFence, and on no oocasior during his reign, 
 which lasted fourteen years, does he appear to have taken 
 any energetic measures to resist the common foe. It is 
 therefore by no means surprising, from the intolerable rage 
 of faction which prevailed amongst the Irish themselves, 
 that wherever the invaders came they were received with 
 joy by the weakest party : for none of the Irish factions of 
 this time made any scruple to join with the common enemy 
 against their own countrymen, provided they had thereby 
 a prospect of either plunder or revenge. 
 
 In the meantime the monks of St. Columba in the Isle 
 of Hy, notwithstanding^ their secluded position, shared 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 i*4j 
 
 Iroquently in the suflFerings to which their brethren were 
 exposed in the mother country. In one of those predatory 
 invasions made by their pagan enemies, about A. D. 824, 
 St. Blaithmac is said to have been murdered by a plunder- 
 ing party that arrived in that bland. He was descended 
 of a royal family in Ireland, most probably some branch of 
 the southern Hy-Nials. Having, however, retired from 
 the world and embraced the monastic profession, he subse- 
 quently went over to Hy to visit his countrymen in that 
 establishment ; but was not long in the island when a party 
 of Danes approached it. Considering it to be inconsistent 
 with his profession to shrink from danger, Blaithmac 
 resolved, whatever might be the issue, not to think of flight, 
 bat to abide in the monastery. Others were induced to 
 follow his example, but such as were unwilling to encounter 
 the impending danger he advised to make their escape 
 immediately. Accompanied by his intrepid companions, 
 he repaired to the church in order to celebrate divine ser- 
 vice, and while thus engaged, the Danes rushol into the 
 aisle, and having cut down all that came in their way, came 
 up to him, and asked for the precious metal belonging to 
 the monastery. The sacrod utensils, however, of any value 
 had been concealed under ground, and Blaithmac was 
 really ignorant of the spot in which they had been deposited. 
 But believing that it would be a dereliction of duty to 
 plead even this ignorance for the purpose of saving his own 
 life, he replied that he did not know where they were, but 
 if he did, he would not make the discovery they required. 
 The barbarians finding that they were unable to overcome 
 his obstinacy, immediately put him to death,* and thus 
 
 • Jan. 19, 824. Colgan. Act. Sanct. at Jan. 19, 
 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 177 
 
 conferred upon him the crown of martyrdom, which some 
 think he was very anxious to obtain. 
 
 It would be needless to enter into a distinct detail of all 
 the atrocities committed by the Scandinavian immigrants in 
 Ireland, under the government of such a tyrant as Turgo- 
 sius, who seems to have been completely dead to every good 
 feelitg of the human heart. Esteeming it the soldier's 
 right to be indulged in the most licentious excesses, he set 
 no limits to the brutal conduct of his followers; and in their 
 progress, wherever they went, the monuments of munificent 
 piety, the seats of learning, and the residences of princes, 
 were either reduced to ashes or levelled with the ground.* 
 
 Meanwhile in the midst of these troubles, Connor, the 
 monarch, after an inglorious reign of fourteen years, de- 
 parted this life ; and the crown devolved, in 833, upon Niall, 
 sumamed Calne, the son of Hugh Ornidhe, during whose 
 reign the same calamities continued to afflict the unhappy 
 inhabitants of Ireland. The northern marauders had been 
 suffered to overrun a great part of Leinster and Connaught ; 
 whilst no united effort was made by the natives to oppose 
 them. The Lagenians were the first that seemed to have 
 roused themselves from this lethai^ ; nnd headed by their 
 gallant prince, Lorcan, they collected a considerable force, 
 and attacked them at Druim-Conla. The contest waa very 
 bloody, and for a long time doubtful ; but at length the pro- 
 vincialists were obliged to give way befor* » :t>erior force ; 
 and for the first time were the Irish defeateu in the field 
 by these aliens, with the loss of the bravest and most enter- 
 prising of their troops. 
 
 • Ware ut supra. 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 i 
 
 Had the Lagenians been supported by the rest of their 
 countrymen upon this occasion, the result of this desperate 
 struggle might have been widely different ; but the time of 
 their deliverance was not yet at hand: and the Danes pur- 
 sued their victory with increased violence and rapacity. 
 In the south, numerous hordes of these barbarians landed 
 and spread terror and desolation throughout all the southern 
 districts. The city of Lismore was completely destroyed, 
 and its ancient seat of learning, so famous throughout all 
 Europe, with its valuable library, was left in ruins by the 
 savage fury of the relentless enemy. The schools at Clon- 
 ard and Caahel shared the same fate ; whilst such of the 
 clergy as had not concealed themselves were put Jo the 
 sword without any feeling of mercy. Unlearned and bar- 
 barous themselves, the Danes had no respect for learning in 
 other m6n ; and they swept all before them indiscriminately 
 with a cruel and unrelenting fury. 
 
 It is said that whilst his country was beset with dangers 
 on every hand, and after a course of the most violent and 
 cruel proceedings, Feidhlim, the dynast of Munster, retired 
 from his throne and embraced a monastic life. This prince, 
 for the gratification of his own ambition and the extension 
 of his power, had taken advantage of the miseries of his 
 country, and had followed with unrelenting ferocity the 
 footsteps of the northern spoilers. Untrammelled by a spirit 
 of patriotism, and completely free from the restraints of 
 religion, he had learned to imitate the ruthless sacrilege 
 of the Danish invaders; and allured by the wealth of the 
 monastic estab.'ishments, he had visited those sacred retreats, 
 and, besides laying waste their lands, either slaughtered the 
 inoffensive inmates or carried them away captive and 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 179 
 
 reduced them to the condition of slaves.* Encouraged by 
 his success and confiding in his military talents, he next 
 revived a dispute between the provinces of Connaught 
 and Munster, about the possession of a territory which 
 is now comprehended in the county of Clare; and hav- 
 ing been opposed by the monarch, he not only defeated 
 the royal forces, but entered Meath with an army and 
 carried off Niall's daughter with her female attendants. 
 But his guilty career soon came to a termina- 
 tion. Smitten by his own conscience, and apprehen- 
 sive that he might be suddenly hurried to his final 
 account, he relinquished his throne, was transformed into 
 an anchoret, and died, apparently, a penitent after all his 
 excesses.f 
 
 On Feidhlim's abdication, Olcnubhar MacKinede, the 
 abbot and bishop of Emly, contrived to get himself raised 
 to the provincial throne, without laying aside his episcopal 
 charjicter ; and was the first Irish prince in whom the sceptre 
 and crosier were united.J This belligerent divine, being 
 concerned for the fate of his unhappy country, about the 
 year 848, attacked the Danes in the country of the Deaaies, 
 with a degree of heroism worthy of the sacred cause in which 
 he was engaged. In this engagement the foreigners were 
 put to a shameful flir^ht, after a most frightful carnage, in 
 which they lost two of their chiefs, Tomar and Eric, besides 
 
 • See Livca of lUust. and Dist. Irishmen, p. 1T5. 
 
 t Annals of Innisfallen, at A.D. 847. 
 
 t It has been stated by some writers that B'eidhlim was a 
 bishop as well as a king, but this is a mistake as he never received 
 episcopal consecration, but spent the latter part of bis life in 
 religious seclusion, 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF IRBLAND. 
 
 If " 
 
 an incredible number of the flower of their army. The 
 Munster troops also, it is said, suffered considerably ; and 
 amongst others, many of th>^ p.liDe nobility of the provir/'Q 
 fell a sacrifice that day to the fury of the invaders. 
 
 In order to stTcure themseWes against any attempt of the 
 natives, the Danes had erected fortifications and castles in 
 different parts of the country, ,w that if any of those whom 
 they had driven from their habitations vcutured to return, 
 they must do so on terms of submission to ihem. 
 
 The Irish perceiving these preparations, and knowing 
 that the D ^nea were meditating nothing less than a complete 
 conquest of their country, sometimes recovered their ancient 
 spirit and roused themselves from their lethargy ; and wher- 
 ever they engaged the foreigners they were generally vic- 
 torious. But when once revenge witl its lighted torch had 
 kindled the flame of resentment in their breasts, nothing 
 could induce them to lay aside their dissensions, and 
 unite with those who happened to belong to a rival faction 
 against the common enemies of their cout try. Accustomed 
 to consider a coward as the most despicable of cha*ac- 
 ters, and enthusiastic in their opinion of martial valour, as 
 in their views of family and personal hoLOur, they could 
 scarcely ever be reconciled to each other, after a quarrel had 
 taken place between them. For dreading the charge of a 
 want of courage, should they be the first to make any over- 
 ture of peace to an opjwsing antagonist, neither party could 
 be persuaded to come upon any terms of accommodation ; 
 and therefore the quarrel continued from one generation to 
 another, and very seldom ended but with the entire extinc- 
 tion of one of the fami ies. Had their government been 
 purely hereditary, many of those occasions of strife and 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 181 
 
 animosity would have been avoided; but as the monarchy 
 itself, as well as the provincial dynasties, was elective, in a 
 country in which so many families had pretensions that 
 were nearly equal, a spirit of faction was not only engen- 
 dered and maintained, but from the disposition of the peo- 
 ple it was such a spirit as could not be easily appeased. 
 
 Surrounded with all those difficulties which the state of 
 Ireland at that time presented, it was not an easy thing for 
 the monarch to determine what line of conduct he ought to 
 pursue. Having engaged the invaders in two dififercnt 
 places, and defeated them with considerable slaughter, Niall 
 endeavoured to unite the jarring interests of the kingdom 
 in one common effort to drive them entirely out of the island. 
 For this purpose, it is said, he visited Leinster in the year 
 846 ; but coming to the banks of the river Calluin,* wliich 
 he intended to ford, and finding it swollen- to a great height 
 with some heavy rains that had fallen, he directed one of 
 his attendants to try the depth of it, before he would ven- 
 ture in himself with the whole of his retinue. The stream, 
 however, was too rapid, the man was washed off his horse, 
 and a degree of timidity having discovered itself in his 
 attendants, the monarch himself pushed his horse boldly to 
 the side of the river where the man was struggling in the 
 stream ; but as the ground had been undermined by the 
 washing of the water, it immediately gave way, and he was 
 unfortunately drowned at a time when his life was of so 
 much moment to his distracted country.f 
 
 The premature death of Niall Calne, as well as the dis- 
 
 * It is said by the Four Masters that it was from the name of 
 this river the surname of the monarch was derived, 
 t Vide O'Flaher., Ogyg, Part III, c.93. 
 
182 
 
 mSTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ordered state of the country, rendered it impossible that 
 his successor should be elected with the usual solemnity ; 
 but it is generally agreed that Malachy, the king of Meath, 
 and the nephew of the late monarch Connor, waa nomina- 
 ted to the vacant throne. This nomination, however, waa 
 confined to his own countrymen, for Turgesiua himself 
 assumed the title of monarch, and was probably proclaimed 
 as such by his Danish and Norwegian foUowers. In the 
 various encounters which followed, for they can scarcely be 
 called battles, the Danes, though frequently defeated, had 
 resources which the natives at that period did not possess. 
 Besides the continual influx of their countrymen from their 
 own frozen and barren soil, they were able, by their supe- 
 riority both in Britain and France, to recruit upon emergen- 
 cies their forces more expeditiously from thence, than to 
 wait for new sucoours from the shores of the Baltic. The 
 forces of Turgesius were therefore so numerous and well 
 appointed, that they were able to take the lead of the Irish, 
 and to carry on the war with considerable advantage. The 
 vanqusihed natives, in addition to the loss of their property, 
 were compelled to relinquish their liberty and submit to be 
 governed by the will of their conquerors. Under a govern- 
 ment established in this manner by a pagan ♦ 'rant, the reli- 
 gion and liberties of the nation were speedily overturned, and 
 she herself divested of her ohiefest ornaments, sat hke a 
 foriorn, disconsolate widow in her weeds. The native Irish 
 were forced into captivity, and such as remained were 
 obliged to conceal themselves in the woods and deserts in 
 order to ei^cape from the grinding oppression of their foreign 
 masters. 
 
 The haughtj tyrant, who was now acknowledged mon- 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 183 
 
 arch by his own followers, having brought the whole island 
 into subjection, endeavoured, with the tenacious grasp of a 
 falcon, to keep possession of that authority which he had 
 acquired, and lor the purpose of giving stability to his 
 power he introduced a new order of things amongst the 
 inhabitants of the oppressed and unhappy country. Every 
 district in the island, in which an Irish Taoiseach or lord, 
 resided, was obliged to entertain a Danish chief ufader the 
 title of king,* to whom the native chieftain was compelled 
 to subnat, and from whom he was to receive orders upon 
 every subject connected with the government of the people. 
 Into every town or parish, besides its old magistrates, was 
 placed a military captain ; every village had a sergeant, and 
 in every farm-house a private soldier was lodged. The sea 
 coasts of the countrj' were ravaged wtih impunity, by sending 
 different parties round the island in boats, and it is im- 
 possible to depict the various forms of misery and oppres- 
 sion which the helpless inhabitants were obliged to undergo. 
 Fire and sword, rape and plunder, violence and captivity, 
 marked in every place the usurpation of Turgesius ; whilst 
 the apparent impossibilty of emancipating themselves from 
 this galling yoke, contributed most extensively to break the 
 spirit of the Irish and to sacrifice their hopes upon the altar 
 of despair. 
 
 As pillc^ing adventurers, the Danes had, from the begin- 
 ning, sufficiently proved their barbarity ; but at length their 
 oppressions and exactions began to assume a sterner and 
 more peremptory aspect from the license of authority. In 
 order to collect the revenues with which the monasteries 
 
 Warn. Vol. II, p. i.Ol. 
 
184 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 had been endowed, a Danish agent had now his residence 
 in every one of them that had not been reduced to ashes, 
 and even near the ruins of such as had been destroyed. 
 The bishops and clergy were obliged to conceal themselves, 
 and all orders in the state were entirely laid aside. The 
 different literary establishments with which the island 
 abounded were filled with soldiers ; churches and monas- 
 teries with heathen priests ; and a country, which was for- 
 merly so celebrated in other lands for the learning and zeal 
 of its ecclesiastics, was rendered a theatre of the most bar- 
 barous and revolting cruelties which the minds of savage 
 oppressors were able to invent. 
 
 The nation which had been shorn of her strength and 
 deprived of her right by her former civil broils and conten- 
 tions, was now unable to make any resistance to these 
 accumulated evils ; and might be compared to the solitary 
 oak that throws out its shattered and unprotected branches 
 against the full sweep of the tempest. All the books that 
 could be discovered by the barbarians were either burned 
 or torn to pieces ; religion and letters were interdicted ; and 
 the inhabitants were not permitted to teach their children 
 to read, or any other useful or ornamental accomplishment. 
 Even the decencies of society and of domestic life were 
 trampled under foot ; and every bridegroom was obliged to 
 purchase the virginity of his bride from the Danish captain 
 of the district, by a certain tax imposed upon him on the 
 day of his marriage. No man, whatever his rank in society 
 might be, could call anything his own of all his possessions. 
 His cattle, his com, and all his provisions were at the dis- 
 posal of a rapacious soldiery. As one of the Danish mili- 
 tary was quartered in every house and cottage throughout 
 
FIRST INVASION OF TUB NORTHMEN. 
 
 185 
 
 the kingdom, he was not only a spy upon every action, 
 word, and look of the inmates, but the absolute master of 
 the house and of every person in it. The righiful owner was 
 not permitted to ^^it down to his meals in his own habita- 
 tion, nor partake of the fruit of his own industry, till his 
 military guest was satisfied; and whatever might be the 
 wish of the latter, his entertainer dared not refuse him, as 
 such a refusal would expose him to consequences that might 
 be fatal to himself and to his family. The natives were 
 not allowed to kill even a chicken, or make use of a little 
 milk, until liberty from the resident soldier was first 
 obtained; and neither the sufferings of the diseased, the 
 supplications of the needy, nor the cries of infancy itself, 
 could soften the hard and obdurate heart of this inhuman 
 and inexorable tyrant.* 
 
 Before the spirit of the Irish was completely subdued, 
 several of them had refused to comply with the demands of 
 these oppressors; but the soldiers of the neighbouring 
 houses, having joined together, dragged the recusants by 
 violence to the nearest guard, and there, under the most 
 cruel circumstances, they were imprisoned, until they had 
 made satisfaction to their guest for their disobedience, and 
 promised to be more obsequious for the future. None of 
 the gentry or nobility was permitted to wear any clothes, 
 but such as the Danes had first worn out and laid aside ; 
 and the sons of the Irish chiefs were forbidden the use of 
 arms, lest at any time they might be prompted to make 
 ■onie effort for the emancipation of their afflicted country- 
 men. The very ladies themselves became the subject of 
 
 • See Warner, Vol. 11., pp. 102, 103, &c. 
 
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 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Danish legislation, and were not permitted to work with the 
 needle, or to receive an education suitable for their station 
 in society. The master of every house in the land was 
 obliged to pay an annual tribute to certain receivers 
 appointed by Turgesius, and this was exacted with so much 
 ngour and cruelty, that such as were remiss in the payment 
 whether through inability or otherwise, were to forfeit their 
 noses,* or become slaves to their ferocious oppressors. 
 
 This mere outline of the intolerable state of bond^e in 
 which the native Trish were held at that period, is in perfect 
 accordance with the records of the times, the colouring 
 and incidents which it presents being by no means height- 
 ened m the sketch we have given. Like the pestilence • 
 under whose malignant influence joy is blasted and nature 
 sickens, the Scandinavian power continued for many years 
 to harass and oppress the afflicted inhabitanta of this unhappy 
 island. But the days of the northern tyrant were abeady 
 numbered; and his oppressive cruelty, by a retributive 
 providence was subsequently visited upon his own head. 
 
 Malachy had for a considerable time been meditating the 
 deliverance of his country, but bj what means it was to be 
 eflFected he was unable to determine. The Danish police, as 
 well as the constant dissensions among his own people 
 raised insurmountable obstacles in his way. It appears* 
 however, that he kept upon some terms of intimacy with 
 the tyrant, lest he should be suspected and his designs be 
 altogether defeated. It is said,t that, on one occasion he 
 proposed a question to Turgesius, most probably to deter 
 
 •Hence this tax was called Mrgid-Srone, or " noBe-money ' 
 OHal., Hist., B. X., Chap. III. ^' 
 
 t Cauabrens. Topog. Hib. Dist. iii. 0. 42. 
 
FIRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 187 
 
 mine the line of conduct which he ought to pursue. " What " 
 said he, " shall we do to clear the country effectually of a 
 parcel of foreign birds, lately come among us, and that are 
 of a most pestiferous nature ? " Ignorant of the real tend- 
 ency of the question proposed, and never imagining that 
 the Irish cionarch designed to apply it to himself and his 
 followers, the Danish chieftiau replied, " If they build nests 
 you can never hope to root them out without destroying their 
 nests everywhere." The Lint was not lost upon Malachy, 
 for he saw at once that in order to root out the Scandina- 
 vian power from his dominions, he must destroy the castles 
 and strongholds which his enemies had erected in the land. 
 
 A. D. 859. Meanwhile Turgesius, \n the course of his 
 predatory excursions, entered Armagh, and seized upon 
 Forannan, the Bishop of that see, together with the clergy 
 of the city and the students of the college, and had them 
 conveyed to the Danish fleet in Limerick : but by some con- 
 trivance not authentically related, he was in the same year 
 made a prisoner, by Malachy, and by his orders was drowned 
 in Loch Annin contiguous to the tyrant's own residence. 
 
 There is a romantic story told of this transaction,* upon 
 the authority of Cambrensis, which like much of what that 
 writer has stated respecting Ireland, is most probably but 
 a mere fabrication. It is said, that accustomed to the most 
 passive obedience, and wantonly indulging every lawless 
 passion, Turgesius had conceived a most dishonourable pas- 
 
 • Dr. Warner haa given a detailed account of this event in his 
 history, vol. ii. pp. 104-107; but neither the Four Masters, the 
 Annals cf Ulster, or of Innisfallen have anything about the 
 fifteen beardless young men by whom, it is stated, Turgesius was 
 made prisoner. 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ;:l ■ "I' 
 
 li i 
 
 11 
 
 sion forMelcha, the Irish monarch's daughter, and that he 
 had found means to make his desires known to her; but his 
 proposals were rejected with disdain. He next addressed 
 himself to her father, and demanded her as his mistress at 
 the hand of that monarch ; but Malachy, who would 
 have resented this offensive and indecent proposal with a 
 becoming mixture of indignation and abhorrence, had 
 circumstances permitted, suppressed his resentment and 
 counterfeited compliance for the time; in order that he 
 might with the greater certainty bring ruin and destruc- 
 tion upon his enemies. 
 
 Malachy, in whose breast neither patriotism nor ambition 
 was ^ predominant passion, had now all the feelings of a 
 father lacerated ; and those passions, which neither the love 
 of his country nor of glory could move, burst forth and issued 
 in deep and deadly projects of revenge. He was not 
 deficient in abilities, genius, or courage; and in order to carry 
 his project into effect, he requested of Turgesius two days 
 to prepare his daughter for entering the mansion of that 
 pagan usurper. In return for this act of condescension, he 
 engaged that she should be accompanied by fifteen of the 
 finest virgins in Meath, whom he might dispose of among 
 his principal favourites. This being conceded, Malachy 
 retired to his palace, to consider more at leisure the con- 
 duct he should pursue. The shortness of the time, as well 
 as the number of Danish enemies who had est^iblished such 
 a perfect system of espionage in his kingdom, could not 
 deter him from the undertaking which he now proposed to 
 himself. Witli the utmost secrecy, he therefore procured 
 fifteen beardless young men, who were enthusiastically 
 attached to the cause of their oppressed 'country : and these 
 disguised in female attire, having each of them a dirk con' 
 
 -'-^..v-jr.T,:?-.-. ves*^ 
 
HRST INVASION OF THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 189 
 
 cealed under his garment, \^ere to accompany the princess 
 to the residence of the Danish tyrant. He, at the same 
 time, ventured 4u call together a few of his most faithful 
 adherents, and communicated to them his intentions. Des- 
 patches were also secretly sent from prince to prince and 
 from one chieftain to another, directing them ererywhere 
 to fall upon the Danes simultaneously, on the day appoint- 
 ed ; that by such means they might be unable to afford 
 assistance to each other. 
 
 The fatal evening arrived, and the princess with her 
 attendants proceeded to the castle of the Dane ; whilst the 
 Irish monarch prepared with his forces to follow. The 
 young men had previously received inst- 'tions, that at 
 the moment they saw the Dane advancing towards the 
 princess, they should seize and bind him, but by no means 
 take his life. A sign .was agreed upon, and, when given, 
 the gates were to be burst open, and Malachy and his party 
 were to rush in, and to put the garrison to the sword. All 
 this plan was therefore carried into effect ; and the foreign 
 tyrant was led in fetters from his mansion amidst the exul- 
 tations of the Irish party, who had so successfully executed 
 the orders of their legitimate sovereign. 
 
 Nor were the princes and chieftains in other parts of the 
 kingdom remiss in obeying the orders which they had re- 
 ceived. The Danes everywhere fell a prey to the enraged 
 Irish ; and in a short time, it is said, an armed Dane was 
 not to be seen in the land. Their castles were demolished, 
 their strongholds taken possession of, and in the presence 
 of the remnant of his people who had by some means 
 escaped the general slaughter, as well as in the presence of 
 the Irish, Turgesius" was tlirown into Loch-Annin, bound 
 hand and foot, according to the monarch's directions. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Second Danish War, 
 
 The death of Turgesius was an event wliich produced 
 an extensive effect upon Irish affairs. A convocation of 
 the states was assembled and the monarchical crown was 
 solemnly as well as gratefully secured to Malachy; and, 
 for a time, peace and liberty were restored to the inhabit-^nts 
 of a long oppressed and almost ruined coiintry. In a 
 short time the kingdom was cleared of these hostile bands, 
 who had hitherto infested it, and had been chiefly sus- 
 tained by the energy and political ialants of their leader. 
 Such of the surviving foreigners as were unable to effect 
 their escape to their ships were obliged to seek for quarters 
 at the hands of natives. The clergy, who had concealed 
 themselves during the usurpation of the tyrant, came forth 
 from their hiding places, and several of those that had 
 fled to the continent returned to their native country. The 
 churches and religious houses which had been der-olished 
 were rebuilt ; the seats of learning were restored ; .^d such 
 works as had escaped the fury of the oppressors were care- 
 fully collected by the vigilant industry of the remaining 
 ecclesiastics.* " 
 
 But whilst in this convention all the ancient rights of both 
 the princes and the people, as well as all the functions of 
 the goverment, were restored, there were no efficient meaa 
 ures adopted for securing the public safety from foreign 
 
 * O'Hal. Book X, Cap. IV. 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 191 
 
 invasion ; and the conscqacncc of this omission they were 
 soon obliged to lament. 
 
 A temporary peace, however, having been happily restored 
 to the country, the people everywhere rejoiced in their 
 nawly-recovered privileges. Had they only learned by 
 their recent calamities the fatal effect of their own dissen- 
 sions, the evils of their late subjngation would have been 
 attended with the most salutary consequences. But, un- 
 happily, the Irish were not a people that received instruc- 
 tion even from their own experience; and, awaro of this 
 unfortunate propensity, the Danes, notwithstanding they 
 had been so signally vanquished, returned in the .year 849 
 with a fleet of one hundred and forty ships, and renewed 
 the contest.* This invasion is what is called by some 
 Irish writers "the Second Danish War;" but, in fact it 
 was like the former made up of a variety of petty wars 
 and rencounters, which lasted for the space of nearly a 
 centur; and a half. 
 
 The native princes, the scanty circumference of --^hose 
 actions was always bounded by their own personal or local 
 interests, had soon lost ♦hat sense of a common danger with 
 v^hich the recent circumstances of their country might 
 have fully impressed them. Accustomed to view nothing 
 beyond the narrow circle of their own immediate connex- 
 ions, and like the niggardly wretch whose aims are all turned 
 inward and meanly terminate upon himself, they were ready 
 at all times, on the slightest call of private passion, to 
 desert the public cause, and to league with an enemy whose 
 object was the goneral ruin of the nation ; provided such 
 
 '■' Annals of Ulster, A. D. 848. WarC; Ant., Cap. XXIV. 
 
192 
 
 HISTORt OF IRELAND. 
 
 .^ 
 
 a ooilition oiilj promised to gratify their own immediate 
 ambition and revenge. 
 
 Nor was this disposition confined to the inferior toparchs 
 whose petty dissensions had embroiled their respective ter- 
 ntones m interminable strife and animosity; but even the 
 laonarch himself, instead of endeavouring to add a more 
 vigorous tone to the activity of the nation, and thereby to 
 repair the decays of its enfeebled constitution, was sometimes 
 obliged, from the pressure of untoward circumstances, to avail 
 himself of the ready arms of the common enemy, and by 
 this raeuns to retain his station against the encroachments of 
 some of his own tributaries. This state of aflFairs could not 
 faU to give a decided advantage to the foreigners, who 
 during the protracted struggle which ensued, employed evei^ 
 means m their power to increase amongst the natives the 
 fiery tumults of feverish excitement, and to ally themselves 
 with the stronger party in every broil, that they might 
 aecomplish their own purpose through the instrumentality 
 of their enemies. 
 
 For a short time after the restoration of their government 
 no opportunity occurred to induce the native princes to take 
 the field against each other. But at length, even in the 
 sight of a returning enemy, they began to indulge this fatal 
 propensity; and it was probably owing to this cause, that 
 the monarch was obliged to make peace with the invaders 
 the year after their arrival, and to employ them in an expe- 
 dition against some of his enemies. 
 
 During the course of that tedious and indecisive warfare 
 which was kept up so long between the natives and the 
 foreign settlers, and in which some slight alterations took 
 place in the mutual feelings and relative position of the 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 193 
 
 parties, the character of the latter was changed from that 
 of a horde of pirates and -jbbers into the more respectable 
 form of a number of trading and commercial coioniatH. 
 By various means, they had sufficient address in obtain 
 possession of the principal maritime stauouu in tub inland, 
 and tq secure those advantages of which their more simple 
 neighbours, the Irish, seem to have been completely igno- 
 rant. But the permanence of their security w»s soon dis- 
 turbed, and rendered for a time exceedingly precarious, by 
 the cupidity and lov3 of plunder whitli exist<;d amongst 
 some of their own countrymen in the north. 
 
 The shores of the Baltic, as we have already seen, were 
 most prolific in adventurers, whose predilectioxx for rapine, 
 both by sea and land, gave an effective impulse to all their 
 movements; but they were of distinct races and tribes, and, 
 though always ready to unite with each other for the sake 
 of mutual advantage, they had their own interests and pur- 
 suits respectively, which they were unwilling concede to a 
 rival clan even of their own countrymen. 
 
 The Norw^an tribes, hitherto the princi U people that 
 resorted to the Irish coasts, were called by the natives 
 i^m-gals, or White Foreigners, whilst another description of 
 Northmen, little known in Ireland till about the middle of 
 the ninth century, were denoipinated Dubh-gala, or Black 
 Foreigners. In the year 851, Dublin, which was possessed 
 by the former, was attacked by a considerable body of 
 the latter, who arrived on the Irish coast, and plundered 
 this settlement of their countrymen with the greatest 
 rapacity. Tbo following year a party of these marauders 
 entered Armagh upon Easter Sunday, and the depredations 
 which theycommitted on that occasion are conjectured to 
 
i .J,' 
 
 194 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELASD. 
 
 hare caused the death of Diermod, the bi«hop of the mc, 
 which 18 recorded as having taken place that year. But the 
 Jiu-gals having collected their foroes, and received rein- 
 forcementfl ^-rom their native country, attacked the intruders 
 with such spirit, that they regained the city of Dublin ; and, 
 in a battle which lasted for three days and three nights' 
 the Dubhs were completely defeated and slaughtered 
 without mercy.* 
 
 Notwithstanding these predatory visits to Ireland were 
 attended with much danger, the foreigners do not seem to 
 nave been intimidated by the losses which their country- 
 men TO frequently sustained. Scandinavia had an inex- 
 haustible store of materials for shipping; and its hardy 
 sons were naturally possessed of an invincible spirit of 
 enterpnse. About the year 853,t therefore, a Norwegian 
 prince named Amlave, or AulifFe, accompanied by his two 
 brothers, Sitric and Ivar, arrived in Ireland, and was 
 hailed as their chief by aU his countrymen, by which means 
 he was enabled to exact contributions from the native inhab- 
 itants. Such, however, was not the ostensible purpose for 
 which he directed his course at first to the shores of this 
 country. If Cambrensis can be credited, the three brothers 
 fitted out a considerable fleet loaded with merchandise 
 m which a great quantity of arms were concealed ; and, 
 in order to avoid exciting the suspicion of the Irish, they 
 
 •Ware, Ant, Cap. XXIV. 
 
 f'AuIiffe, the King of Norway's son, came this yeir into 
 Ireland, accompanied in that expedition by his two brothers 
 Sitric and Jobhar. The Danes and Norwegians submitted to him 
 and he was also paid tribute by the Irish."--0'i?c,7/y's Transla- 
 tion of the Jlnmls of Innisf alien. 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 105 
 
 divided Uienisslves into three Bqaadrons. One sailed up 
 the Shannon to Limerick, commandeJ by Ivar, who hav- 
 ing waited on the King of North Munster, and presented 
 hiui with some rare curiositief*, obtained permission fi'om 
 him to settle in that city, for commercial purposes. Under a 
 similar pretence, Amlave was allowed to take ap his resi- 
 dence in Dublin, and Sitric in Waterford. 
 
 Having thus obtained a footing in Ireland, the northern 
 chieftains paid their court with the utmost assiduity to 
 those princes in whose territories they had severally settled. 
 They soothed their passions, entered into their interests, 
 and promised them their aid whenever it was required. 
 Allured by these artifices, and far from suspecting their 
 intentions, the Irish princes permitted them to purchase 
 land, and to erect castles and strongholds for their own 
 security. But instead of proving the friends and allies of 
 their respective patrons, as they had promised at first, they 
 soon began to entertain hopes of acquiring the same autho- 
 rity over the Irish as their predecessors had enjoyed. Such 
 was the insolence with which they subsequently acted to- 
 wards the native inhabitants, that in the year 856, Malachy 
 was obliged to raise a powerful army and to give them bat 
 tie. Great numbers were slain on both sides, but the 
 Danes were completely vanquished, and the greater part 
 of those that were quartered at Dublin were put to the 
 sword. The monarch, however, did not long enjoy the 
 fruits of his victory, as, after a reigii of trouble and vexa- 
 tion, he died in the year 863 ; and by the assistance of 
 Amlave and his followers, Hugh Finley, son of the monarch 
 Niall who bad been drowned in the river Calluin nearly 
 seventeen years before, contrived to succeed to the vacant 
 throne. 
 
196 
 
 HIBTORT OP IRELAND. 
 
 li-: 
 
 il 
 
 But notwithstanding Hugh was indebted to Amlave for 
 hvi elevation to the monarchy, it does not appear that 
 he considered himself bound thereby to the foreigners by 
 any tics of amity or friendship : for, in three years after 
 his accession, we find him joining Kieran, the son of 
 Ronan, and the Kinel-Eogain, or people of Tyrone, in a 
 battle against them, near Lough Foyle in the county of 
 Donegal, in which, victory crowned the efforts of the Irish 
 and they came off triumphant with the heads of two hun' 
 dred and forty of the northern chiefs.* 
 
 Nothing intimidated by the disastrous issue of this 
 engpigement, the foreigners, in three years after, under the 
 conumind of Amiave, entered Armagh, and, after plunder- 
 ing the churches and sacred places of all that was in them 
 burned the town and killed or captured about one thousand 
 persons.f 
 
 But amidst these calamities, which were continually 
 coming upon their common country, the Irish princes found 
 frequent opportunities of waging war upon each other, and 
 of evincing a spirit of revenge as diabolical as that which 
 was exhibited by their ferocious invaders. Taking advan- 
 tage of the absence of Amiave and Ivar in North Briton, in 
 the year 870, the monarch, by no means softened by the 
 misfortunes of hb people, laid waste the Lagenian territo- 
 ries from Dublin to Gowran ; and, as the Danes knew well 
 how to take advantage of those times in which the people 
 were engaged in preying upon each other, the consequences 
 might have been fatal to himself, had not Amiave died the 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, a: A. 866. 
 
 t Ibid., at A. 869. Ware Ant., Cap. 24. 
 
 «/. 
 
IBB SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 197 
 
 following jear, soon after his return to Ireland with 
 a fleet of two hundred ships. By this event Ivar beoamo 
 the chief of all the Northmen in that country ; but he also 
 ended his earthly career about two yeai's after the demise of 
 his brother, and so left their mutual projects to be carried 
 out by some other of their countrymen. 
 
 Meanwhile the Danes of Dublin, — taking advantage of 
 the defenceless state of Munster, while Donogh, the son of 
 Dubhdavorean, king of Caahel. and Carroll, prince of 
 Ossory, were laying waste Connaught, — entered the southern 
 province and plundered and destroyed the Momonians 
 wherever they arrived. Little more is recorded respecting 
 the events of this reign, till the death of the monarch, 
 which happened on the 20th of November in the year 
 879. 
 
 Instead of employing their time in securing and forti- 
 fying those places that were so frequently visited by the 
 marauding foe, the nlers of the Irish nation had contracted 
 such a propensity for military enterprise, that they could 
 not resist the temptation which a little respite from their 
 foreign enemies presented to their view : and no sooner 
 was Flann Sionna, the son of Malachy, chosen to succeed 
 the late monarch than, for some cause which is unknown 
 to us, he invaded the province of Munster, which had been 
 sufficiently harassed before by the Danes. The provincial 
 king, having been taken by surprise, was quite unprepared 
 for this hostile invasion of his dominions ; and his subjects 
 were, in consequence, plundered without mercy, and many 
 of them carried away into captivity. The king of Ulster 
 was, about the same time, murdered in an inhuman manner 
 by his own subjects ; and several other cases of cruelty 
 
T 
 
 MW'A 
 
 Mil- 
 
 198 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 1^ t 
 
 ) ■!-' 
 
 tarnished that period, in which the country was enjovine a 
 httle respite from the atrocities of their foreign enemies 
 
 Notwithstanding the Scandinavian power was at this 
 time gradually diminishing, the Northmen were stiU able to 
 embroil the natives in continual trouble and embarrassments. 
 In the year 884 they entered Kildare, and, after plundering 
 It carried away Suibhne, the prior, a prisoner to their 
 ships, besides two hundred and eighty other persons * In 
 three years after, they laid waste and pillaged Ardbraccan, in 
 Meath ; and about the same time they engaged the forUs 
 of the mo^iarch and gained a complete victory over them 
 A few years subsequently, they plundered Kildare again 
 laid waste Clonard, and, having entered Armagh and set 
 fire to the town, they cdrried off with them seven hundred 
 and ten captives. They were, however, defeated by the 
 men of Tyrconnell in an engagement, in which two of their 
 chieftains, named Amlane and Gluntradna, were slain.f 
 
 I. would be impossible to pursue theie ruthless incen- 
 diaries through all the scenes of murder, rapine and deso- 
 lation in which they were so often engaged ; as they lost ~ 
 no opportunity that was afforded them, either by the fac- 
 tions of the natives, or by the crazy state of the government 
 to carry terror and destruction into every part of the country 
 that lay open to their incursions. 
 
 The most celebrated prince that flourished in Ireland 
 about this time was Cormac Mac Cuillenan, of whose 
 talents and piety much has been said by the writers of the 
 I)eriod in which he lived. He was born about the year 
 
 • See Lanigan'a Eccles. Hist., Vol. III., p. 346, 
 t Annals of Innisfallen, A. D. 896, 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 199 
 
 837 ; and was of the Eugenian branch of the royal house 
 of Munster ; but of his juvenile years we have nothing 
 recorded. It is obvious, however, from his literary acquire- 
 ments, that his youth must have been spent in the retire- 
 ment of a coll^iate life. Before his elevation to the throne 
 of Munster he had been consecrated Bishop of Cashel ; and 
 thus united the crosier with the sceptre, as he continued 
 to retain the episcopal office to the end of his life.* 
 
 Some time after Cormac's accession to the throne of 
 Munster, which took place in the year 902, we are informed 
 that the monarch Flann, accompanied by Carroll, king of 
 Leinst«r, uiarched an army towards the southern province- 
 and laid waste the whole country between Gowran and 
 Limerick.f The cause of this outrage was a quarrel which 
 had taken place between the Momonian and Lagenian 
 princes, in which the latter had applied to the monarch 
 for redress but the former had refup'^d to yield to Flann's 
 determination 4 Cormac, however, instigated by his con- 
 fidential adviser Flaherty, the abbot of Inniscathy, an 
 eloquent, artful, and ambitious man, set out with the forces 
 of Munster and marched into the country of the south 
 Hy-Niall. Apprised of this movement of the Momonian 
 army, the monarch lost no time in collecting his troops, and 
 quickly met the invaders t)n the heath of Moy-Lena, in 
 the King's County. The battle soon commenced, and 
 Flann was defeated by the provincialists, and was obliged 
 to give hostages to Cormac for his fui .re line of conduct 
 
 * See Lanigan, ut supra, p. 349. 
 t Annals of Innisfallen, A. D. 906. 
 I O'Con. Dissort., p. 23%. 
 
200 
 
 ^HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 1 
 
 
 ,jl 
 
 1. ■ 
 
 f'l 
 
 II 
 
 i'i 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 r* 
 
 towards the Momonians. But the troops of the latter 
 made an insolent use of their victory, for they proceeded 
 westward towards Koscommon ; and, having ravaged that 
 country and plundered the island of Lough-Ree, together 
 with a fleet that lay there, they compelled the Conacians 
 and some of the Hy-Nialls to submit and give hostages. 
 Even the king's own hereditary domains in Meath did not 
 escape their resentment. 
 
 A. D. 908. Goaded by the . insolence of a triumphant 
 ecclesiastic, the monarch of Ireland made every effort to 
 repai] s disgrace. In conjunction with the princes of 
 Conn;> .t, Leinster, and the south Hy-Niall, he raised a 
 great army and met the forces of his enemy at Ballymoon, 
 in the county of Carlow. The troops of Munster were 
 completely defeated in the battle which ensued; and 
 Cormac himself was killed, together with a great number 
 of chieftains and nobles ; besides about six thousand of his 
 followers.* His head was carried to Flann, after the 
 battle, by some of the soldiers; but that generous prince, 
 far from enjoying a spectacle so disgusting, ordered 
 those that brought it out of his presence, wept over it, 
 and, according to some, went even so far as to kiss it. He' 
 then commanded his body to be sought for, and when 
 found, it is said, that it was conveyed to Cashel and interred 
 there, f 
 
 There is -luch, that is fabulous connected with both the 
 life and death of this royal ecclesiastic. Some state that 
 he was killed by the Danes; others that his death wa. 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, A. D. 908. 
 t Ware, nt supra, 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 201 
 
 occasioned by his falling with his horse down a precipice 
 made slippery by the blood of the slain ; while a third party 
 assort that he did not engage in the battle at all, but, having 
 retired to pray for the success of his army, he was put 
 to death by a herdsman who happened to come up at the 
 time.* 
 
 This celebrated prince, who was reluctantly drawn into 
 collision with the momarch by the belligerent abbot of 
 Inniscathy, has been considered as one of the most eminent 
 men in Ireland at this period. His historical remains, 
 entitled the Psalter of Cashel, in which he treated of the 
 history and antiquities of Ireland, were in the hands of 
 Sir James Ware and of several ar.fiquarians of the seven- 
 teenth century ;t but are now probably lost, with the 
 exception of some fragments that have b^en preserved by 
 the industry of later writ«rs.t The beautiful little church 
 now called Conn c's Chapel, which stands on the rock of 
 Cashel, and which is certainly one of the most curious of 
 Irish rums, is said by popular tradition to have been erected 
 by this prince. But whether it was intended fur a cathe- 
 dral, for which it appears to have been too small, or merely 
 for a royal chapal annexed to the residence of the king, 
 which was situated also on the summit of the rock, is a 
 matter which we are now altogether unable to determine. 
 
 • See Ware's Bishops, at Cormac. 
 
 t Ware's Ant., Cap. 21, and Bishops of Cashel : Cormac. 
 
 I The Psalter of Cashel " has been considered as of the highes: 
 authority, and was still extant entire in the 17th century, and 
 if probably so somewhere at present ; although I know only 
 of some part, of it which are to be round." Lan. EccUt. Hi*t, 
 V. III., P. 3«5, 
 
202 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 :lli: 
 
 Amongst the prisoners that were taken hx the battle in 
 which Cormac lost his life, the abbot of Inniscathy, the 
 principal instigator of the war, was the most distinguished. 
 
 It is said that the people of Leinster were so much exas- 
 perated against him fcr his conduct that they upbraided 
 him, as he was led along, in the most opprobrious language. 
 
 He was imprisoned and treated with considerable severity 
 during the life of Carroll. When released from his confine- 
 ment, he retired to his monastery and continued there till 
 the throne of Munster became vacant by the death of 
 Cormac' s succeesor, to which he was then called as the 
 
 next heir.* 
 
 The monarch Flann, a short time after his accession to 
 the throne, had espoused Malmaria, the widow of his pre- 
 decessor, and the daughter of the famous Kenneth Mac 
 Alpine, the king of the Albanian Scots.f By her first 
 marriage she had become the mother ^f Niall Glundubh,J: 
 who in 916, succeeded Flann, after a long reign of upwards 
 of thirty-six years. This prince came to the throne 
 with considerable advantages ; but these were counterbal- 
 anced by fresh invasions from the Northmen to aid their 
 friends, already too powerful in Ireland. The unsound 
 policy of Niall's predecessor had given the foreigners full 
 leisure to establish their power ; and, as they clearly per- 
 ceived, from the dissensions that prevailed amongst the 
 
 • Warner, Vol. 11., p. 138. 
 
 I " By tlu3 alliance with each of the main alternate branches 
 of the Hy-Niall family, the Tyronian, Clancolman, and Slanian 
 branches were re-united, to the exclusion of the Tyrconnel 
 branch." Wills' Lives^ c. p. 184. 
 
 % O'Conor's Dissert., p. 234. 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 203 
 
 native princes, that the times were favourable to their 
 designs, they only waited for reinforcements from their 
 own country, to attempt th3 reduction of the kingdom once 
 more to a state of slavery and subjection. 
 
 Buoyant with hope and sanguine in their expectations 
 the Northmen soon fitted out a fleet and directed their 
 couree to the shores of Ireland. A part of them arrived 
 in Lister; but they were quickly met by the monarch at 
 the head of a considerable force. In the battle which ensued 
 the foreigners were defeated with great slaughter. The' 
 victorious natives, however, purchased the day very dearly 
 most of their principal officers and the flower of their trooM 
 having fallen in'the combat. The following vear a fresh 
 party of Danes entered the harbour of Dublin ; 'and, havin- 
 been joined by such of their countiymen as could be mu^ 
 tered upon the occasion, they invaded the province of 
 Leinster .nd spread terror and desolation everywhere 
 around^them. A battle was fought between them and the 
 provincidists on the plains of Kinfuad, near Timolin in 
 the country of Kildare,* in which the Lagenians were 
 deteated with great carnage ; and many princes and nobles 
 ot the greatei t distinction were sacrificed to the fury of the 
 invaders. 
 
 Animated by the success which attended their arms 
 the Scandinavians invited more of their countrymen t<; 
 their assistance, and having received fresh supplies from 
 the shores of the Baltic they began to contemplate the 
 entire conquest of the kingdom. Their fleet, which ap- 
 Fared in the harbour of Dublin, in 919, was commanded 
 
 • See Seward's Topog. Hibern : Kinfuad, 
 
«: !' 
 
 ■if. 
 
 
 'IWl 
 
 Till , 
 
 ;' .11 
 
 I- 
 f 
 
 204 
 
 UISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 by Godfrey, the son of Ivar, to whose superior capacity 
 they had been indebted for their late victory. Uniting 
 therefore all their forces, they attacked Dublin with incred- 
 ible fury, and, after a gallant resistance, that city was taken 
 sword in hand, and the garrison cut to pieces without any 
 quarter. 
 
 These uncommon successes of an enemy whom the natives 
 had seldom engaged without a certainty of victory soon 
 alarmed ; all the provinces and the most hostile factions 
 began at length to coalesce in support of their common 
 country, ^var and Sitric, who commanded the foreigners, 
 having changed their operations into a defensive war, made 
 strong entrenchments about Dublin, which was their capital 
 hold, and were resolved to abide the issue of any attack of 
 the native Irish. But the monarch, in attempting to take 
 the city by storm at Kilmosamog,* had the whole of his 
 forces cut to pieces, and lost his own life in the attempt. 
 
 The death of the monarch, however, was amply avenged 
 on the enemy in the following year by Donogh, the son of 
 Flann Sionna, and the second monarch of that name, who 
 had succeeded to the imperial government of the kingdom. 
 When called to the throne he gave some indicatir j of 
 spirit and energy, but his people were subsequently disap- 
 pointed in their expectations respecting him. Having 
 collected and reinforced his troops, his first care was to 
 lead them forth without any loss of time against the common 
 enemy of his country. Elated with their recent successes, 
 the Danes were by no means unwilling to engage in the 
 
 * Kiimosaruog waa formerly a church and parish which lay 
 S. W. of the city.— 0' Con, Dissert., p. 236. 
 
m' 
 
 THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 205 
 
 contest. They even marched into Meath to meet the 
 monarch's forces ; but were routed in so complete a manner, 
 notwithstanding the great abilities of Ivar their general, 
 thai their loss in this battle amply compensated for that of 
 the Irish in the preceding year.* In order to cut off their 
 retreat, Donogh dispatched flying parties that intercepted 
 them in their flight. He succeeded also in destroying all 
 their garrisons and strongholds, so that nothing remained 
 to them in Lcinster and Meath but the city of Dublin, 
 which was too well fortified, and had a garrison that was 
 too formidable for him to attempt its reduction at that 
 time. 
 
 Meanwhile thepr:>vince of Munster was greatly disturbed 
 by the collision of different parties who contended for the 
 throne. Had a spirit of patriotism, in the slightest degree, 
 influenced the minds of these belligerent factions, they 
 might have easily settled their disputes in a more amicable 
 manner than by shedding the blood that ought to havs 
 been expended in the expulsion of their oppressors. But, 
 amongst the most extraordinary characters of this time, 
 Ceallachan, who ascended the provincial throne during the 
 reign of this monarch, and Murkertacb, or Murtogh, the 
 roydamna of the kingdom, occupy a prominent and con- 
 spicuous place. 
 
 Having obtained the crown of Munster to the prejudice 
 of Ktanedy, the son of Lorcan, Ceallachan was called at 
 once to repel the bold and insolent incursions of the Danes. 
 He called his chieftains together, exhorted them to arm 
 everywhere against the foreigners, and, at the head of the 
 
 • Annals of Innist'allen, at A. D. 920. 
 
m 
 
 i»iiiii 
 
 206 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 forces of Munster, defeated the Northmen in two battles 
 one m the country of the Deaaics and the other in Ossory' 
 in which two thousand u. their troops were kiUed * In' 
 these and several other engagements which followed ea<;h 
 other rapidly, the advantage waa on the sideof the provincial 
 troops ; and in one of them the wife and sister of the Danish 
 general were taken prisoners, and were treated by Cealla- 
 chan with great politeness till their release. By these 
 misfortunes the Northmen were reduced to such diffi- 
 culties that the greater part of them at length relinquished 
 the province of Munster and joined their countrymen in 
 Dubhn and its adjacent territories, appointing Sitric their 
 general, to be their king.f 
 
 But notwithstanding these partial efforts on the part of 
 the king of Munster to oppose T e Northmen in the south- 
 ern province, he appears to have been no real friend of his 
 county. Destitute of those high principles of rectitude 
 which lend an ornament to grandeur, and make even royalty 
 itsetf more magnificent, he not on'y sometimes leagued 
 with the common enemy, but was frequently found imita- 
 ting that sacrilegious example which they had set him bv 
 the plunder of the temples of the most High, and the oppres- 
 sion and persecution of those who had devoted themselves 
 to hi. service. Possessed of a considerable degree of craft 
 and insinuation, he contrived to render himself popular • 
 but the whole of his career is marked with that abject subjec- 
 tion to his own domineering passions which indicates a 
 bad man and a worse ruler. Having pillaged the venerable 
 
 • Ibid., at A. D. 914. 
 
 t "Waruer.VoI. II., p. Hi. 
 
XHE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 207 
 
 monastery of Clonmacnoise, he invaded Meath in the follow 
 ing year, in which he was assisted by the Danes; and 
 without any regard to that veneration with which sacred 
 things should be always esteemed, this sacrilegious chieftain 
 plundered the abbey of Clonenagh and the church of Cilia- 
 chin, or Cillaice,* from both of which he carried off the 
 abbots. 
 
 The conduct of.Ceallachan forms a striking <ontra8t with 
 that of Murtogh, the roydamna, by whom he was checked 
 in his career of violence, and reduced to a condition of the 
 most abject humiliation. This latter prince, who was the 
 son of Nial Glundubh, had signalized himself as much by 
 sacrificing every just resentment to the interests of his 
 country, as by the numerous splendid victories he obtained 
 over its enemies. Generous and sincere, he sometimes laid 
 himself open to the artifices of the designing, and Ceal 
 lachan endeavoured to ensnare him by negociation, but he 
 became the victim of his own treachery. Murtogh having 
 entered his territories, seized upon his person, and with a 
 numerous train of other captives led him to Tyrone, and 
 delivered him a prisoner into the hands of the monarch. 
 This brave prince, of whom has been justly said, that 
 " of all enemies, he was the most generous — of all com- 
 manders the most affable," f— was killed at Ardee, in a 
 battle with the Danes, and his rank as roydomna devolved 
 on Congalach, the son of Maohnitheach. 
 
 The history of Ceallachan and of his military exploit 
 forms a prominent feature in tho records of those times, 
 
 • Seward's Topog. Hib. Ciilaick. 
 I 0' Con. Dissert, p. 238. 
 
208 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 and, had his charactc-^ been untarnished by his own nelfish 
 passions, these exploits would no doubt have placed him very 
 high up m the hst of fame. It is said, but upon very arxZ 
 tionable authority, that Sitrie, with the apprVbation of the 
 monarch, formed a deep-laid conspiracy, undor the pretence 
 of a marnage witn his sister, to get the king of Munster into 
 his hands, and succeeded in the attempt. But the Momon- 
 lans, having collected all their forces, marched first to 
 Armagh and afterwards to Dundalk, whither the royal pri- 
 soner had been removed; and after a most desperate naval 
 engagement at the latter place between the Danish fleet 
 and that of Munster, the latter succeeded in rescuing their 
 king and brought him back in triumph to his dominions * 
 Jor some time after the accession of Donogh, the reignin/* 
 monarch, he had raised the expectations of his people, and 
 they hoped that he would prove the deliverer of his country 
 from the iron grasp of its foreign oppresso;g; but in th^ 
 they were dreadfully dissappointed. He had it in his 
 power to do much towards this desirable end, but he had 
 neither the courage nor the patriotism to make the effort He 
 acted merely as a passive spectator while his dominions were 
 being plundered, his people oppressed beyond measure, and 
 every thing that was holy or valuable in the land was becom- 
 ing a prey to a ruthless horde of barbarians. The people 
 themselves, it is true, sometimes ro.sc with resistless energy 
 against their oppressors, but they received no encoura^^e- 
 ment from the cample of their monarch. One of the most 
 remarkable instan.es of desperate bravery on the part of 
 the populace occurred in the reign of this monarch at the 
 
 • O'Hal. Hist., Book XI , Cbap. UJ. 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 20C 
 
 p-cat annual fair held at Roscreaonthe29th of JuneA.D. 
 942. As the concourse of people was always great upon 
 such occasions, the Danes of Limerick and of Connaught 
 entered into a conspiracy to attack them suddenly, and 
 after a general massacre to make themselves masters of. the 
 booty which they reasonably expected to find then in the 
 place. At their approach to Roscrca, under the cortiniand 
 Olfinn, one of their most ferocious and daring leaders, the 
 people were unsuspectingly engaged in their usual pursuits. 
 They had, however, owing to the danger of the times, in 
 some measure prepared for a treacherous attack by arming 
 themselves for their own defence. The first intimation 
 they received of the proximity of the Danes, was from some 
 flying peasants of the neighbouring country; and they 
 instantly resolved to meet them manfully, and stand in 
 their own defence. They therefore received tl^p attack of 
 the enemy with firmness, and returned it with such vigour 
 and impetuosity that the Danes were thrown into confusion, 
 and by following up the impression they had made, the 
 Irish soon reaped the reward of their bravery ; and their 
 opponents abandoned the field, leaving, it is said, no less 
 than four thousand of their number dead behind them, 
 among whom was Olfinn, their daring and ferocious leader. 
 By the sudden death of Donogh, the monarch, after 
 a useless reign o*" twenty-five years, the throne of Ireland 
 being left vacant, Congalach, a grandson of Flann Sionna's 
 on the mother's side, and the sixth ?n descent from Hugh 
 Slaine, succeeded, in 944, to the monarchy. Hiscloseconnex- 
 ion with the Tyrone and Cian-Colman families facilitated 
 his accession to the t-overeignty of Ireland, although his 
 family, by bis father's side, had been excluded from that 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 i 
 
 honour for two hundred and seventeen years. Roderick 
 
 rrrC' "" ''^^ *^'° ""^ *^« ^'^^ of the other 
 excluded house of Tyrconnel, was a man of preat genius 
 and possessed of sufficient power to support those preten! 
 Bions which he had set up. For some time ho joined with 
 CongaJach m carrying on a war with the Danes; but aftoV 
 they had laid waste Dublin, ,nd killed an incredible 
 number of foreigners in the field, he turned his arms 
 against the monawh himself, drove him out of his heredi- 
 tary country of Meath, got himself, by a military election 
 proclaimed king of Ireland, and received the homage of 
 some of the provincial princes. He next marched his 
 forces to Dublin, where he obtained a signal victory over 
 the Northmen; but Roderick was acbidentally slain at the 
 close of the victory.* 
 
 Relieved from the usurper of his regal dignity, 
 Congalach hastened to take vengeance on the people of 
 Munster for their ready submission to Roderick. But not 
 having made a sufficient provision for the security of his 
 possessions at home, the Danes of Dublin, taking advantage 
 of this neglect, plundered and laid waste the country of the 
 Hy-Nialls without mercy. As soon as the monarch was 
 informed of these proceedings, he returned from Munster 
 to dnve off the invaders; but he drew upon K sr^^* the 
 arms of Domnall O'Niall, who had hitherto refr-.iurrj from 
 all hostihty towards him. At length the L'^-.^aiuud and 
 
 fi 
 
 • Annala of Innisfallen at A.D. 950.-«< The Four Masters." 
 says Dr. Lanigan, "assign this battle to 948. They gwe 1 
 the number of the Northmen that fell to 6,C00, too great a mul- 
 titude, I think, for the battles of those times."-£cc/e.. Hist., 
 (^hap. xxii. Nou (141.) ' 
 
THE SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 211 
 
 the foreigners of Ulster and Leineter, having entered into 
 a conspiracy against him, he held a council of his follow- 
 ers on the hanks of the Liffey, and marched thence to 
 the city of Dublin. Here the Scandinavians amused him 
 with a show of submission to his demands, and their policy 
 iiad the dcshred effect. But falling upon him unawares at 
 Toi-Gio^hrana, they slew him, and cut to pieces a conside- 
 rable part of his army. 
 
 Congalach was an active and enterprising prince ; but 
 the period of his government, which lasted upwards of 
 twelve years, was one of constant disturbance, principally 
 through the unceasing activity of the Danes ; but also in a 
 great measure, in consequence of the dissensions that pre- 
 vailed amongst the Irish princes themselves. He was 
 capable of rendering great services to his country, had not 
 his accession to the throne, contrary to the established usage 
 of the kingdom, involved him in difficulties which rendered 
 his reign unfortunate. Of the last six years of his adminis- 
 tration the records are imperfect; but they must have 
 given birth to events of much historical interest, inas- 
 much as the Danes had become excedingly formidable from 
 an alliance which they had formed with some of the 
 Leinster prince?. Under the command of Godfrey, a son 
 of Sitric, both the Danes and Irisli plundered and destroyed 
 many districtb of the kingdom, and failed not to rob the 
 churches and monasteries wherever they went ; whilst the 
 monarch was unable to give them that effectual resistance 
 waich he so obviously desired. 
 
 Nor was the brave prince Domnall 0'Nial,who succeeded 
 him in 957, (although his right of succession was undoubted) 
 more successful in commanding the ubudiouce of the 
 
212 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 ll 
 
 refractory princes over whom he presided. He was the 
 grandson of Niall Glundubh, by his son Murtagh ; and soon 
 after his inauguration, Daniel, the son of the late monarch 
 Congalach, leagued with the Danes and Lagenians for the 
 purpose of supporting his own pretensions to the throne. 
 In this; however, he was unsuccessful ; but still the reigning 
 monarch learned thereby that his possession of the sove- 
 reignty was insecure and precarious. During twenty-four 
 years he was harassed from every quarter of his dominions j 
 and such was the deplorable state to which the nation was 
 reduced, that all public harmony became absolutely lost. 
 The kings of Munster, Connaught, and Leinster, all in their 
 turn, disturbed his administration; and even the Clan 
 Colman race sometimes took up arms againit him. Feeling 
 therefor, at length tired out with the mere pageantry of 
 royalty and disgusted with the world, he resigned his crown 
 and retired to a monastery in Armagh, where he ended his 
 days as a monk, and was succeeded by Malachy the Second, 
 the son of Domnald, prince of Meath, and grandson to the 
 monarch Donogh.* 
 
 During the reign of Congalach, and whilst Ceallachan 
 the king of Munster was employed in pillaging the churches 
 and monasteries, it is said, the Danes of Dublin embraced 
 Christianity,! and sent their first bishop to Canterbury 
 to receive the episcopal consecration. 'This event is 
 worthy of attention, as in time it eflPected a change which 
 all the flattery of princes and prelates had been hitherto 
 
 O Hal. Hist. Book xi. Chap. V.— Domnald O'Niall was the 
 sixteenth and last monarch of the Tyrone line, and the forty- 
 sixth of the Hy-Niall rac«. 
 
 t Thia year the Danes of Dublin received the Christian reli- 
 gion and were baptized." jin. of Innisf alien at A. D. 948. 
 
 &^_ 
 
THP. SECOND DANISH WAR. 
 
 2lS 
 
 unable to accomplisli. The schibm, which commenced by 
 the engraftment of a foreign branch of the church on the 
 reli^on of the ancient Irish, was for many generations 
 acknowledged by both the natives and the foreigners; and 
 the spirit it engendered, in all probability, exists amongst 
 the people, Without understanding its real merits, to the 
 
 present day. 
 
 It is possible that individuals of these foreigners may 
 have received the doctrines of the gospel previously to this 
 period. Some of them also m«y have become acquainted 
 with its truths in their native land ; for as early as the 
 year 829, Christianity had been introduced into Sweden 
 by Anscharius, the Bishop of Bremen ; but the Danes of 
 Dublin were the first of their nation that, in any large body 
 in Ireland, made a profession of the Christian faith. This 
 event was commemorated by their founding the abbey of 
 St. Mary's near Dublin, the same year in which it took 
 place. Their conversion, however, appears to have been 
 only nominal, as it did not prevent tbem from carrying on 
 that system of plunder, massacre, and general devastation, 
 which in the time of their predecessors, had prevailed in 
 every part of the land. But two years after their supposed 
 conversion they plundered and burned Slane, sothat many 
 persons assembled in its belfry, or cloictheach, perished in 
 the flames.* In a short time after we find theji excr< 
 cisin- their wonted cruelties in Meath, and robbing the 
 churches and monasteries of that country which they after- 
 wards burned to the ground. In fine the same thirst 
 for blood and plunder which influenced their pagan prede- 
 cessors, was found in the breasts of those supposed converts 
 
 to the religion of Christ. ______———— 
 
 • Ware'8 Ant., C. XXIV. 
 
214 
 
 HISIORr OP tRELAm. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Baitu BoaoiHMi, 
 Whilst the Northmen were en».„„j • . , 
 oppressing the people of wJdT 'V'"'"'^"°S "^ 
 le fa more cooffloV calM B„^"™ '7''™''. <>': ■« 
 •naals of those times w^™!; ™.' "" "*'*''"'«' '" *« 
 distinguished oare?whTIr°"°'"8 *"' S'''™-^ "'1 
 
 - i» the Eov:tn.e!: "n "h M^sr''" '"' '"'^' 
 great valour and intrepiditv n f ' ""^ * P™"* "^ 
 
 upon .he throne of &.*"""* n " *™ "■"' >■' »' 
 kabitof annoying and nl!'.! ''"'' ^'^ '■" "-e 
 
 Xxt "^r r ''-%:Cdr :s 
 
 devastation. FiXtl 'r 'Tr*" °' '''™<'- ""d 
 Md.Mahon,for sot'ttaralisl't ^! rV^" '" '^' 
 l^oppoH..i,y that pr~ t^X-The"'""'"''^'' 
 surprising and outling off their ^iff /f ''""1""« "^ 
 «»d such was the sue^eT atln ^™' "'^'^''^d P^r'ies ; 
 oanjing on the waTTh.t ^" "^■' *'' »"«'°<i »f 
 ^eoveiy day r„:, «!';;."'"'"- -<■ -O-nce 
 
 "■".Of Bealach Jt„, in Ossm S , *°T "'"""'"'"'J' "» 
 »"« Of Caro. Baisain.:, CX"' vd ^f™ ^:?*'"'""'' :'■' '" 
 
 - / • U.J p, 202, 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 215 
 
 A. D. 968. Alarmed by the measures adopted by the 
 king of Munster, the foreigners who had settled in Cork, 
 Limerick, and Watcrford, entered into a confederacy to 
 crush, if possible, that power which had begun to prove so 
 fatal to their enterprises ; and for this purpose, three thou- 
 sand chosen men were placed under the command of Muiris, 
 one of their chieftains. While this body of men were on 
 their march from Cashel to Limerick, the troops of Tho- 
 mond hovered about them ; and embraced every opportu- 
 nity, in front and rear, of harassing them as they advanced. 
 At length, at a not^d pass named Sulchoid, perceiving an 
 advantage favourable to their designs, they attacked the 
 Northmen with such res^tless fury and impetuosity, that 
 the latter were driven into confusion ; and, notwithstanding 
 all the efforts of their leaders to re-animate them, they began 
 to give way on every side. This trepidation was consider- 
 ably increased by the slaughter that ensued. Immense 
 numbers of the foreigners were cut to pieces, their principal 
 leaders and officers were lost; and the remaindoi, having 
 made their escape towards Limerick, were pursued so closely 
 and eagerly ^y the Irish, that the latter entered tho town 
 together with themselves; and having put all to the sword 
 who seemed disposed to make any resistance, they broke 
 down the waUs in several places, and set fire to all the gates 
 
 of the city.* 
 
 Mahon's g .:bscqucnt success against the Concacians, the 
 Danes, and the Martini of Munster, after he had become 
 king of the whole province, excited the envy of some of 
 the inferior princes of the tribe of the Eoganachts ; and 
 
 Auuala of iGoiafailca, at A.D. 966. 
 
216 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 i i 
 
 partaularljr that of Maohnuadh, the «>„ „f Brie- who 
 eonld not bear to ^ him «, well secured in "the p«la"„„ 
 of the prov,„o«l thro-e. He found that Maho^. .„!" 
 .or.„trep,d,tygavehim a decided advantage overdl"^, 
 
 that when heh.n.«lf had leagued with the Zmon enemy, 
 
 1 En d!f .°f ^l™'""'"^'"'«"""'«I«'»tion,, 
 aa Mahon defeated their whole eombiued forces in two 
 
 fot'h "d •* ''"'^"°=" ''^^^'"^ of ancl; o^n 
 for«, he nad recourse to treachery; and having ^t the 
 
 k.ng mto h,s power under »e pretence of jettlinf their 
 differenoes amicably, he hr.i him seized and earrie! offto 
 
 t.r^i'^^rrr^-'"'^-'--^-"' 
 ^tfdrthi:':„rrteit"tnri^^^^^^ 
 
 ately to the state of the province Hi ««,* '"''"^*'^ 
 a«oV „ • A ^ M . P^viQce. Hi tirst care was to 
 seek a just retnbnt.on for the murder of Mahon and 
 to avenge Ao treachery by which that criTe had b^„ 
 accomphshed. The place of Mahon's death was aloneZ 
 
 ITZrTJ'rf'" '"' '""^'^ "'-' MacroomTard 
 in this secluded and inaccessible wUd Maolmn.db T.A 
 
 entrenched himself, hoping by the assista llf the Dant 
 
 IM h mself by the defeat of a rival who wa, the obieet of 
 ^"^red^^^ddetest^^ y„^ ^ Zl^^l^, 
 
 • O'Hal, Vol. III., p. 233, 
 
 t Annals of J,mi.fal!.n at An. 870. 
 
BRIEN BOROMMB. 
 
 217 
 
 had long been accustomed to t^- -^ecies of warfare which 
 was carried on in the mountai? forests of the southern 
 
 provinoe, possessed too much skill and dexterity to be 
 baffled in his designs upon this occasion ; and having ascer- 
 tained that a rtrong reinforcement under the command of 
 O'Donoyan, which was expected by Maolmuadh, had not 
 yet come up to his assistance, he contrived to intercept 
 them and gained a-^ complete victory over them before 
 they couH form a junction with their perfidious ally 
 Then with the rapidity of an eagle pouncing on her prey 
 and with purposes of inexorable vengeance existing in his 
 breast, he turned upon the principal object of his resent- 
 ment; defeated his party with incredible slaughter; and 
 Maolmuadh himself fell by the hand of Brien's heroic son 
 Morrogh, on the very spot on which had been committed 
 that deed of treachery and blood which was the cause of 
 the present engagement. 
 
 Brien, -rho was familiar with dangers and a stranger to 
 fear, was not content with taking vengeance upon a 
 petty toparch, or punishing the treachery of an obscure 
 chieftain, but his next regard was to the interests of the 
 province, over which he had been placed by the death of 
 his brother. All the islands in the Shannon were at this 
 time in the hands of the Danes; and the country on both 
 sides of that river was constantly harassed by their sudden 
 predatoiy excursions from these insular retreats. The beauti- 
 ful little island of Scattery,then called Innis-Catha, rendered 
 venerable in the eyes of tlxe natives by a thousand recollec- 
 tions, had long been in their possession. It had been fcrnijrly 
 a Bishops see, said to have been founded in the fifth 
 century by 8t. tJenanus, and still presents some of the 
 
 o 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 remains of the tomb of that prelate. The ruins of the 
 Cathedral, eleven churches, and several cells are still to be 
 seen on the eastern extremity of the island, together with a 
 round tower, one hundred and twenty feet higii, which 
 forms a very attractive object, as well as a useful landmark 
 in the mouth of the Shannon.* This island Brien was 
 resolved to rescue from the hands of the Danes, and there- 
 fore, having prepared a number of boats and larger vessels, 
 at the head of a strong body of men chosen from the tribe 
 of the Dalgais, he landed in the island, and defeated the 
 possessors with prodigious slaughter. Taking advantage 
 of the temporary prostration caused amongst his enemies 
 by this successful enterprise, as well as of the lively 
 feeling which it propagated throughout his own party, he 
 seized and plundered all the islands which the foreigners 
 possessed in the Shannon, laid waste their settlementa, and 
 made himself master of the spoils. 
 
 A. D. 979, Brien's success in military enterprises, 
 before he had ascended the throne of Munster, had fre- 
 quently excited the envy of some of the princes of that pro- 
 vince ; and it was probably owing to the same cause that 
 Donald O'Faolan, prince of the Deasies, having leagued 
 with the Danes of Waterford, invaded the territories of 
 the king of Munster, and with all the rancorous malignity 
 of a bitter foe, spread terror and desolation amongst the 
 inhabitants. xJrien, however, having received intelligence 
 of these hostilities collected his troops together and came up 
 with the enemy at a place called Fanmacurra ; and after a 
 vigoroup but short resistance they were entirely routed. 
 
 • Fitzg«rald apd McGregor's Hist, of Lim. Yol. II., p. 626. 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 219 
 
 Perceiving the bad success of his forces, the prince of the 
 Deasies began to seek his safety by flight; but Brien's 
 troops, pot content with the victory they had gained, pur- 
 sued his followers vigorously to the city of Waterford, 
 and, entering the town together with the fugitives, they 
 put them -all to the s^'ord ; in which indiscriminate slaugh- 
 ter O'Faolan himself was numbered with the slain. The 
 city was then sacked and plundered by the conquerors, and, 
 after the booty had been sent away, it was set on fire in 
 many places and consumed to ashes. 
 
 The fame of this exploit soon added to the celebrity 
 which Brien had already acquired. He got hostages from 
 all the chiefs and princes of Munster ; and every part of 
 the province submitted to his sway.* Having thus* secured 
 the internal peace and good order of his dominions his next 
 care was to give vigour to the laws, and to improve the 
 face and cir;umstances of the country. The churches, 
 monasteries, bridges, and public roads were objects of imme- 
 diate and sedulous attention. The lands, of which the 
 natives had been dispossessed by the Danes, were restored 
 to the heirs of their original proprietors ; and such of the 
 foreigners as did not choose to embrace the Christian 
 religion were allowed twelve months to settle their affairs 
 and to quit the kingdom. f 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, at A.D. £ n~9l9. 
 
 t " So exact was his police, that it stands on record that a 
 beautiful virgin travelled from one extremity of the province to 
 another, with a gold ring on the top of a white wand, without 
 receiving the least injury or molestation ! Probably Brien him- 
 self might have directed the experiTn<*nt to be made." — O'Hal. 
 Hist. Fb/. J//.,p. 241. 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 When. Malachy had succeeded to the sovereign throne, 
 his first object was to lead his troops against the Danes, 
 who had invaded Meath with a powerful army ; and having 
 vanquished them in the field, he laid waste the district 
 of Fingal, advanced to Dublin, and in conjunction with 
 Donogh, the king of Ulster, he took that city by assault on 
 the third day of the si^. Such was his success at this 
 time, against the foreigners, that he obliged them to accept 
 whatever terms he pleased to impose upon them; espe- 
 cially that of giving up all the captives in their power, 
 and amongst the rest, Congal Claon, king of Leinster, an 
 inooastant, seditious man, who returned the services ren- 
 dered him on this occasion in the basest and most 
 ungenerous manner. A proclamation was then issued in 
 the monarch's name, for the deliverance of such of his sub- 
 jects as were in servitude ; and public thanksgiving to God 
 was ordered throughout his do;uinions for the success of 
 his arms.* 
 
 But, notwithstanding that the triumph of the Irish over 
 their foreign enemi&i must have been highly gratifying to the 
 monarch, his jealousy was excited by the growing power 
 and influence of the king of Munster. In the first year 
 of Malachy's reign, Brien marched into Ossory, made Mac- 
 Gilla-Patrick, the chief of that territory, prisoner and com- 
 pelled ail the Ossorian chieftains to deliver him hostages for 
 their future good behaviour. The follow* ig year, he 
 reduced the Lagenians to the necessity of acknowledging his 
 authority in the same manner, and the kings of that prov- 
 ince were obliged to submit to him. He next marched 
 
 ♦ See O'Couora Diasert., p. 243. 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 221 
 
 to Cork and chastised the citizens for their rchellion, altered 
 the magistrates of that city, and carried away hostages from 
 them. 
 
 A.D. 982. The rapid success of this heroic and enterpris- 
 ing prince soon stimulated the envy and jealousy of the mo- 
 narth intd overt acts of violence and outrage, witho t any 
 provocation that could justify such a line of conduct. He 
 invaded Munster, plundered the hereditary property of 
 Brien, cut down the ancient and venerable tree in the plain 
 of Adair, uuder the spreading branches of which the Dal- 
 cassian princes had always been inaugurated, and returned 
 to Tara loaded with the spoils of the Momonians. • 
 
 These outrages would have been sufficient of themselves 
 to rouse the resentment of the king of Munster ; but the 
 monarch seemed not to have been content with what he 
 had already done, for in the following year he ravaged 
 Leinster which was then under the immediate' protection 
 of tlie southern dynast. Incensed vy hese provocations, 
 Brien made every preparation for invading Meath and 
 Connaught. He marched against Malachy with a powerful 
 army, and forced him to agree to a treaty, by which it was 
 stipulated that the n^ on arch should make restitution for the 
 outrages committed in the late invasion of Munster ; that 
 Brien should be recognized as king of Leath Mogha, or the 
 southern half of Ireland; that the king of Leinster and 
 the Danes of Dublin should be subject to him ; and that 
 Malachy .'hould govern Leith Cuin, or the northern half of 
 the kingdom.* 
 
 Between these two princes, whose quarrel was heredi- 
 
 * Annals of Innisfallea, at A.D. 981-983. 
 
•»1 
 
 222 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 tary, no trc^aty could give any permanent and lasting peace ; 
 and the; carried on various wars with each other at dif- 
 ferent times, in which Brien had generally the advantage 
 of the monarch. Malachy was by no means satisfied that 
 the power of this provincial potentate had ri<.en to so great 
 a height, "but he found himself unable to contend \rith a 
 prince so wise in council and so able in the field. He 
 gained a victory, however, over Brien in 994 ; but the lat- 
 ter refcUiated on him in the subsequent year by a complete 
 and decisive overthrow. At length a peace wa . concluded 
 between them, and Malachy was again obliged to acknow- 
 ledge Brien'd title to the sovereignty of the southern half 
 of the kiagdora. The two kings then united and con- 
 jointij attacked the Northaj-n in several places from 
 whom they obtained hostages for their future peaceable 
 demeanour. They routed the Danes of Dublin with incred- 
 ible slaughter, and put several of their chieftains of the 
 first quahty and distinction to the sword.* But notwith- 
 standing their success ^.^ «n great, the foreigner^ were not 
 completely subdued; for in the following year they were 
 found assisting Maolmurry in compelling Donogh 
 the king of Leinster, to resign his crown to him. They 
 also plundered Kildare the same year ; but Brien, havin- 
 marched to Dublin, chastised them for their insolence- 
 burned many of their houses ; banished their king Sitric ' 
 and, having remained in the city for a week, carried off 
 much booty which he took from the marauders, f 
 Meanwhile the monarch began to sink into a spirit of 
 
 • See Annala, ut supra at A.D. 984-998. 
 t Ware Ant., 6. 24. 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 223 
 
 indolence and apathy, which formed a striking contrast with 
 the vigour and enei^ of his southern rival, as well as with 
 his own conduct during the first fivo years of his adminis- 
 trations. His time was no longer employed in recruiting 
 the nc^iuber of bis f-:4k>wer8 in arms, re-animating their 
 courage, fostering their spirit of hravt 7, and preparing for a 
 speedy and determined advance on the enemy. It is true that, 
 after a temporary reconciliation with Brien, he sometimes 
 exhibit^nl a fitfiil energy in opposition to the common 
 enemy of his people ; but this spirit soon died away, and 
 whilst he gave way vy his ownindole^jt habits,. he left Brien 
 to guard the safet}- of the country from the unceasing 
 inroads of its vigilant foes. 
 
 The oontrast which the magnanimity, justice, and 
 pati atism of Brien Boru formed h the character and 
 coniluct of such a monarch, oould not fail to make a 
 powerful impreasion upon the i iinds of all who had the 
 interest* of their country at 'heart. Continually in arms 
 against the foreigners and their Irish aseooiates, Brien 
 was generally victwious ; and he not only obliged them to 
 acknowledge his authority in his own dominions, but he 
 assisted the Conaoians against them, so that four thousand 
 Danes are said to have fallen in the battle of Suoca alone.* 
 With such a king as this at the head of the nation the 
 princes and chieftains in the diflFerent provinces 
 began to hope that the whole people would soon 
 experience those blessings of peace and subordination 
 which were then confined to the limits of Leath-Mogha. 
 They saw the spirit of infatuation that had seized on their 
 
 • O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 246. 
 
224 
 
 HIStORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 p-«ve and tomponsing monarch, and, being convinced of 
 
 t wIT:!^ *"''"" ^"^^ "^"^ ""•^--<'*' • --reign, 
 It wa. agreed in a meetii,g of i}u, ..fferent atate^ of cL 
 
 naught and Monster, to requeat Jrien ^ ^ul the 
 
 monarchjr ; and a resolution waa entered into to support hil 
 
 thetr d«„res. Deputies were, in conaequenoe of tLdet^r 
 minaUoo, sent to inform Malaohy, that, aa be neit^r 
 
 protect hia people from oppression and injury it was the 
 
 d^« of the States that he should resign hL^wnTot 
 who was more worthy and better qualified to wear it for 
 the goou of the country. 
 
 Malachy who had theyear before committed some depre- 
 daUons xn Leinster, and had thereby provoked his Jore 
 powerful nval, heard this proposal with amixtur. of inT 
 nation and anxiety ; but, conceaUng tL. iatter, he decW^ 
 his intenUon of maintaining iii« right against any prince 
 who sho'^d attempt to deprive him of his crown and ditr- 
 mty. His conduct, however, had beeu such as determined 
 Bnen with regard to the course ^hich he was now iu porsue. 
 At the b^d of a considerable force, composed of Comwiana 
 ana Danes, as well as the iroops of his own province, he 
 marched towards Tara, and having come up with the main 
 body of his antagonist's army, the latter found itadviseable 
 not to depend upon the issue of a battle, but yielded at 
 once to the terms he proposed, and pr, :ra, .d him hostages 
 for the punctual fulfilment of all his «. -a^ments 
 
 Malachy, it is obvious, only sought upon this occasion 
 an immediate respite from the dangers which threatened 
 mm; and had no intention of provin" hi^Hn^ :- a..,^ 
 
BRIEN BOK^IHME. 
 
 226 
 
 to the stipulated agreement. He endeavoured immediately 
 on Brien'e departure to engage the princes of Connaught 
 and Ulster in his favour. He tJik-Ml every argument to 
 induce Hugh O'NiJl, at that time the most powerful chief- 
 tain in the north, to eapouse his cause ; and even the 
 Abbot of BiiDgor remoHstrated with the former on behalf of 
 the monarch : but O'Niall's answer was such as convinced 
 Malaohy that it was in vain for him to struggle in opposition 
 to the tide of populai feeling which had set in so strongly 
 against him. That chieftain observed, "that when the crown 
 of Tara wa« poBsossed by his ancestors of the house of 
 Tyrone, they bravely defended it against all claimants ; that 
 Brien was :; prince, whose virtues, bravery, and patriotism, 
 merited the applause of all good men ; and that he could 
 nou think of unsheathing his .:word against the gallant tribe 
 of the Dalgais, whose military prowess he had so long 
 admired. 
 
 A. D. 1001. In the meantime Brien, who was fully 
 apprised of the monarch's movements, as well as of the feelings 
 of the p«pp^e that ^ere so strong *n his own favour, marched 
 with an army again into Meath, and appearing in the plai.is 
 of Tara, compelled Malachy, not only to submit and give him 
 hostages, but, in the presence of the princes and chiefs of 
 the land, to make a formal surrender of the crown and 
 r^alia of Ireland to him, and to content himself with his 
 own principality of Meath.* Thus did Brien become 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, at A. D. 1000, 1001. O'Connor gives 
 credit to MalacLy for resigning the crown voluntarily to Brien ; 
 but every circumstance connected with the whole transaction 
 proves the reverse. Smt O'Con. DisterLj pp. 244, 245. 
 
Wi^FS^i 
 
 it 
 
 f 
 
 iH* 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 
 1 
 
 226 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 king ol a 1 Ireland, by an extraordinary revolution, witl. 
 out any bloodshed or even the least civil commotion; and 
 the following year he proceeded to AtWoL. and received 
 : c .«n of the kings and princes of Connaught and 
 'J ^ -r who acquiesced in the deposition of their former 
 ---arch whatever might have been their private feelin.^ 
 conoermng it ^""o" 
 
 ThiB revolution, so unprecedented in all its cinjum- 
 stances at lea.t in Ireland, has given rise to vari- 
 ous conflicting opinions. Brian's accession to the throne 
 has been cabled an usurpation, by some; and with the hi 
 of supposed motives, the whole of his conduct has been 
 irrf as the result of principles of the most selfil 
 and dishonourable description; whilst by others his 
 
 ZTT '' '\^'^^'^'y ^- been laudi as the onl^ 
 means of saving the country from that ruin to which it 
 appeared to be rapidly approaching. 
 
 It niust be granted that the Heremonian family had for 
 several ages previously, limited the right of successioi to 
 themselves; but it is equally certain that the Irish 
 monarchy had been always elective; and that from the 
 beginning no r^ard had been paid at any time to heredi- 
 tary right. Even the Hei^monians themselves had 
 ^variably pleaded this when any claim was made by the 
 Hebenan branch upon account of it,s seniority. It mav 
 also be remarked, that there is no proof that the motion 
 for deposing the reignmg monarch come from the king of 
 Leath-Mogha, or that the latter proposed himself as the 
 
 nlTJr Tu '^" ^'"P'"^ ^'^^'"^ ^«« "^ ^ conferred. 
 He was then in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and it is 
 not hkely that a crown of thorn,, as that of 1r Ud w^ 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 227 
 
 at the time, could have many attractions for a man whose 
 attention ought to have been fixed rather upon one that 
 wius incorruptible. The inference is therefore obvious, 
 that the provincial dynasts, and inferior toparchs, reflecting 
 on the melancholy and distressed condition of the nation 
 through the luxury and supineness of a nominal sovereign, 
 who sought his own happiness in a life of contemptible 
 oscitancy, without any regard for the welfare of his people, 
 first formed the resolution to depose him ; and for the 
 same reason this determination was seconded by the united 
 voice of the people. Resolved therefore to accomplish this 
 design, at all events, their application was made to Brien 
 to take the reins of government into his hands; and they 
 hoped by this means to obtain the same blessings for the 
 whole nation which that incomparable prince had procured 
 for his own subjects in the south of Ireland. Had the 
 latter led an indolent and inglorious life of pleasure, while 
 the common enemy was depopulating and laying waste his 
 country, he would never have been called "to assume the 
 throne of monarchy ; and had Malaxshy continued the same 
 active zeal which characterized the earlier part of his 
 administration, he would never have been called upon to 
 reUnquish his crown and dignity to one whose numerous 
 virtues pointed him out as worthy of them. The talented 
 Editor of " Lives of Illustrious and distinguished Irish- 
 men," who has taken an unfavourable view of Brien's 
 character,* at least in this transaction, should have recol- 
 lected, that had Malaohy been that brave and vigilant 
 prince which his advocates assert him to have been, it would 
 
 • See WUU' Lives, p. 204. 
 
S.:;6 
 
 228 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 have been impossible that when his rival marched to Tara at 
 the head of a strong force, there should be " neither help for 
 the monarch in his weak- .ds nor pity in his misfortunes." 
 The Irish nation was never so devoid of generosity 
 towards a deserving object, nor is there any *hing in the 
 previous history of the king of Leath Mogha that would 
 justify the inference that he had ever suffered his ambition 
 to triumph over his love of strict justice and the welftre 
 of his subjects. Brien's conduct, in whatever light we 
 view it, will appear to be great, noble, and patriotic ; and 
 when his subsequent career is duiy considered, it will be 
 found that he was influencd solely by a love his country 
 m fee i»rt which he took upon this occasion. 
 
 Notwithstanding Brien's accession was followed by a 
 general acknowledgment of his authority throughout the 
 island, there were some petty princes in different places, 
 that opposed themselves to the -eneral voice and reftised to 
 acknowledge him as their lawful sovereign. The energy of 
 his firm and capacious mind, however, as well as the prom- 
 titude with which he was accustomed to act, gave them no 
 time to form themselves into confederacies, or to acquire any 
 strength in that opposition which they were disposed to 
 give to his government. H( despatched his son Morrogh, 
 with a body of the provincial troops of Munster and 
 Leinster, against some of the malcontents • and he marched 
 himself at the head of aconsir rable force against others, 
 whom he soon reduced to obedience. In his progress, on 
 one of these occasions,* he visited Armagh, where Marinus, 
 the successor of St. Patrick, at the head of his clergy* 
 
 • Annals of Innisfailen, at A, 1004. 
 
BRIEN BOROIHMB. 
 
 229 
 
 acknowledged his auwhority : and, it is said, that the mon- 
 aFch having received the holy communion at the hands of 
 that prelate, left as an offering on the great altar of the 
 cathedral, a golden collar, weighing twenty ounces. 
 
 Having established himself in the quiet possession of 
 the throne, Brien's first care was to correct those disorders 
 which were then so generally prevalent throughout the 
 kingdom. The imbecility of several of his immediate 
 predecessors had consigned the strength of the monarchy to 
 a temporary annihilation ; and by the preposterous stupidity 
 of some of them, »8 well as by the want of firmness and 
 energy in others,, the legislative power had been completely 
 unhinped, and the civil economy quite disconcerted. The 
 throne of Tara ha/i been frequently occupied by monarchs 
 that may be seen to pass and repass in unsubstantial images 
 along the gallery of history without becoming, as they 
 ought to have done, the prime actors in those scenes either 
 of warfare or politics which involved so many consequences 
 that were most momentous to the nation. Disorders 
 therefore of a very disastrous nature were the result of this 
 state of things, and required a prudent and vigorous 
 policy in order that they uiight be so rectified as to restore 
 and perpetuate the public good. That he might therefore 
 accomplish his purpose with the greater facility, Brien 
 endeavoured to keep the different princes and chieftains in 
 te- per, by confirming them in all their ancient privil^es 
 and prerogatives, and by bestowing upon eich of them 
 such presftnts and honours as were suitable to their 
 rank and dignity. He next summoned the clergy of 
 every order, and having ostored them to their former 
 fanctioi»!» he established on their old foundations those 
 
280 
 
 BISmEr OP IKELAND. 
 
 TT^ which had b«„ alienated to other p„rp<«e, 
 oy the Danes. He recalled the exiled member, rf^r 
 pate soceties and restored then, to their for J 1^!^: 
 
 urn K,er.l places throughout the island ,h»ro it 
 appeared that such establishment, were requMte In 
 ftese schools were taught, in addition to theology tt libe 
 ral sconces together with the various branches^f ^i|^ 
 phy and pohto hteratnro. He established public i^ZZ 
 for accommodation of such p«,r students as wer^^unlr^ 
 provd. b«,ks for themselves, and supported „ Z^Mtc 
 "7 P-^toyoung men of genius andSent, who« I'ld 
 
 neut professors were procured for his academies- and 
 
 ng m hB dominions, he had the satisfaction of witnesZ, 
 the salutary effect of the measu«s he had ^^M^^"^ 
 
 In the reign of this monareh, it is -.-d ,k», .u 
 custom of giving certain surnames 4 famUcsrfdi,^ . 
 began tobc^nerally prevalent in Iieland Thtt^ C 
 b«n practised at a v,.^ earfj ^^ ;„ „^^ p^Tc^ 
 but 1 was chiefly confined to a very few f«„ilie, „^^ 
 
 aarity. I„ tlus reign, however, it came into generall 
 and erory chief began to be called after «>me dbti^dshS 
 nccs^r, whose particular virtues were caloulated^ S 
 him of his origin Accordingly de«,endants of the pre^° t 
 ^^oh^^^l-d^^maena^^ ^^^^ul 
 
 ' These Ulle, were >o highly e8Uem,lrt ij, ,r,,..A .... T" 
 "w. known.„acer..ia.,,ia.te reign of He^^^ttTE^ht;: 
 
BRIEN BOROraME.^ 
 
 281 
 
 I 
 
 of his brother Mahon were called MacMahon. The O'Neils 
 were so called from Niall the great ; and in the same man- 
 ner all the other families received their surnames. The 
 adjunct of O', or Mac, which signified the son or descendant 
 of him whose name was given to the family, was prefixed to 
 the cognomen ; and the chief of each family was distin- 
 guished from its branches by preserving the sumame only, 
 whilst to all the rest the Christian name was added. 
 
 The royal seat of Kincora, about a mile from Killaloe, 
 which had been so celebrated when Brien governed the 
 province of Munster, he ordered to be taken down, and 
 erected a more splendid one at a place some distance from 
 it, which is sti'^ known by the name of Bal-Boroihme. 
 
 As the Danfife were a commercial people, and consequently 
 an a'^vantage to the country, when disposed to live peace- 
 ably, such of them as were settled in the principal seaports 
 were suflfered to remain unmolested, upon condition of giving 
 security for their allegiance and a large annual tribute 
 for the monarch's protection. All the rest of the foreigners 
 were expelled from the island; and, having witnessed the 
 advantages these strangers had dc ived from their garrisons, 
 Brien made use of the latter for his own purposes, and erected 
 other fortifications wherever he judged them necessary. 
 And thus, by the wisdom, the justice, and the pious care 
 of this monarch, Ireland was restored to a state of peace, 
 
 that O'Brien bad rejected his for the more degrading one of Earl 
 of Thomond, the chiefs of his own blood set fire to his noble 
 mansion at Cluanroad, near Ennia, and would have consumed 
 him in the flames, but for the timely interposition of MacC.unchy 
 a chief justice of Norfli Munaler." O'Halioran, Vol. III., p. 254. 
 
282 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 tranquility, and happiness to which she had hitherto been 
 a 'Complete stranger.* 
 
 A.D. 1013. But whUst the monarch was thus laying 
 plans for the welfare and prosperity of his people, a storm 
 was gathering, which, like the thunder awfully grumbling 
 in the distant clouds, soon burst forth with incredible fury 
 and menaced with destruction the best interests of the 
 country Maolmurry, the king of Leinster, who had usurp- 
 ed the Uxrone of that province in 999, having received some 
 insult, eiUier real or supposed, at the court of the monarch 
 marched into Meath at the head of a powerful army of 
 Lagemans and Danes, and laid wast« the country, piL. 
 ing the inhabitants and carrying oflF an immens^Lty. 
 Incensed by this unwarrantable outrage, Malaohy, who stUl 
 ret^ned the title of king of Meath, in retaliation, set fire 
 to the neighbouring district of Fingal, but having been met 
 by Maolmurry, accompanied by Sitrio, king of Dublin bo 
 wa^ defeated with considerable loss. Finding hin^elf 
 unable, with his own forces, to resist the aggressions of his 
 enemies, Malachy waa obliged to apply to Brein for assi^ 
 tance gainst the Danes and Lagenians. The monarch, sen- 
 sible of the justice of his complaint, resolved to give him 
 the assistance he required; and, having set out with his 
 forces, he laid wa^te Ossory on his way, and encamped at 
 KUmamham, near Dublin, where he remained for almost 
 four months without being able to bring either the Danes 
 
 ''•Equally vigilant to control disaffection and turbule^ 
 and to co.cihate opinion-equally politic to select the means 
 and powerful to enforce them-his reign was the most prosper- 
 
 Z ?' u"n r ' ''' '°"*'^' ^^'^•^'^^ »««"'"- *-*N 
 record. '—»■»//«• lives, see p. 205. ~ ' 
 
 I'if' 
 
BKIEN BOROIEME. - 
 
 2^3 
 
 or Lagenians to battle. In the meantime a large body of 
 Northmen entered the harbour of Cork, and, Lrving sur- 
 prised the city, burned it to the ground, but before they 
 could regain their ships, Iho. greater part of them fell in the 
 enterprise, together with the most valiant and distinguished 
 of their leaders. 
 
 A.D. 1014. The approach of winter having rendered it 
 necessary for the monarch tad his forces to return to Mun- 
 ster, Maolmurry and his partisans, taking advantage of his 
 absence, used their utmost exertions to collect troops and 
 auxiliaries from every quarter, for the purpose of renewing 
 the war with more energy than ever. A ^eat number, 
 therefore, of adventurers poured into the different parts in 
 Leinster, from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Normandy, Bri- 
 t£un, the Orkneys, and every other northern settlement. 
 Maolmurry, in the meantime, was indefatigable, not only 
 in raising new levies, but '.n using every means in his 
 power to detach several of the native princes and chieftains 
 from the interests of their country. Never was there a 
 more energetic movement amongst the enemies of Ireland 
 than on this occasion ; and never was there a firmer deter- 
 mination on the part of the Irish to resist them with vigour 
 and intrepidity. 
 
 As an indication of his wish that none of his family or 
 name should survive the liberties of his country, the Irish 
 monarch wah attended by his five sons, his grandsou, 
 fifteen of his nephews, and the whole tribe of the Dalgais, 
 with all the chiefs of North Munster. The southern Momo- 
 nians were equally conspicuous in the cause of liberty, 
 not one prince absenting himself from the standard of his 
 0OY«reigu« vi 
 
 LVU A«l< 
 
 
 
234 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 who, with their intrepid followers, swelled the ranks of the 
 Irish army aod resolved to make common cause against 
 such enemies of the lives and liberties of mankind. 
 
 As Brien passed through Meath, he was joined by 
 Malachy and the forces of that principality. But revenge, 
 like some poisonous plant replete with baneful juices, still 
 rankled in the heart of the king of Meath. He had not 
 forgotten that Brien had deprived him of the monarchy; 
 and perceiving that he had now an opportunity of gratify- 
 ing his revenge, which he preferred to the interests of his 
 country, he resolved to act the part of a traitor as soon as 
 the conflict should have commenced. In pursuance of this 
 resolution, it is said, he gave information to the king of 
 Leinster of some of the monarch's plans and proceedings, 
 and promised to desert with his followers on the day of 
 battle. This intelligence determined the enemy to attack 
 Brien before his son Donogh, whom he had sent to ravage 
 leinster, should come up to his assistance. The Danes 
 and Lagenians formed themselves into three divisions • 
 which being perceived by the monarch, he regulated the 
 disposition of his own troops accordingly. The first divi. 
 sion of the enemy consisted of the Danes of Dublin under 
 Dolat and Conmaol, and of one thousand Northmen, en- 
 cased in coats of mail, commanded by two Norwegian 
 princes, Carolus and Anrud. The second was composed 
 of the flower of Leinster, about nine thousand in number 
 headed by Maolmurry, their king, together with a large 
 number of Danes. The third division was composed partly 
 of Northmen and partly of Britons, under the command 
 of Lodai, Earl of tie Orkneys and Bniadair, admiral of 
 
 i\l0 fl'^e* fV-4- 1 1 V— —I. A Al- - - - 'I* _j . -r • 1 .w,, . 
 
 ti — 1.CCI .liai z;a-a MiwUj^iiv vUw aUZiU&ildS lO H'eiaUti, I'lUH 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 235 
 
 arrangement, it was supposed, would excite a spirit of emu- 
 lation amongst the troops, by placing them under their 
 respectiye leaders. 
 
 The monarch was well aware of the formidable force 
 that he had now tc encounter ; but dividing his army 
 likewise into three divisions, he was resolved to depend 
 upon *' the God of battles " for the issue of this impor- 
 tant contest His first division was under the command 
 of his son Morrogh, and Sitric, prince of Ulster; and was 
 composed of his household troops, filled up with the prime 
 nobility of Munster. Malachy, with the forces of Meath, 
 was also in this division. The troops of Desmond and 
 South Munster, under their different chiefs, with those of 
 the Deasies, formed the central division, and were com- 
 manded by Cian and Donald, two princes of the Euge- 
 nian line. In the division com 7X)sing he left wing, the 
 Conacians were placed i.oder Teige O Connor as chief 
 commander ; but as it did not form a line so extensive as 
 that of their antagonists, several detachments were added 
 to it, from different parts of Tipperary, Limerick, Clare, 
 and other places, commanded by their respective chief- 
 tains.* 
 
 The object of the foreigners, who might still be consi- 
 dered in their pagan state, was to crush for ever the power 
 of the Irish, and to become the absolute possessors of the 
 whole kingdom. Of this the inonarch being convinced, he 
 perceived, when too late, his own imprudence in suffering 
 them to possess the principal seaports in his dominions 
 when he could have driven them entirely out of the coun- 
 
 / 
 
 Annala of Innisfallen, at A.D. 1014. 
 
236 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 I 
 
 try : and he was now resolved to strike that blow which 
 would render them unable to disturb the peace of his sub- 
 jects any more. Had the treacherous Irish allies of the 
 Danes possessed the same spirit of patriotism, this design 
 could have been easily accomplished ; but their unnatural 
 confederacy with these foreigners rendered the matter, in 
 the present instance, doubtful in the extreme. 
 
 The insular levies under the command of Bruadair, who 
 had arrived in Dublin on Palm Sunday, insisted that 
 the battle should be fought on good Friday, to which 
 they knew that the Irish monarch would have a strong, 
 religious objection. It is said that Bruadair had been 
 informed by a pagan oracle, that should the battle 
 be fought on Friday, the victory woidd be certain to 
 the Danes ; * and it is probijie that this v as a rtrong 
 inducement to urge them to the contest upon tha' day. 
 Compelled therefore to take the field, even on Good Friday, 
 Brien rode through the ranks with u crucifix f in one 
 hand, and his drawn sword in the other ; and exhorted his 
 followers, aa he passed along, to do their duty as soldiers 
 and Christians in the cause of their religion an J their 
 country. He reminded them of what their ancestors had 
 suffered firom these foreigners, and assured them that the 
 men they were now about to engage in battle were ready 
 to renew the same scenes of devastation and cruelty : " and, 
 
 * Johnstone's Ant. Celto^cand. Lanigan Chap. XXIII. 
 Note 71. 
 
 t Since the days of Constantine this was the symbol chosen 
 by a Christian army in all their wars against pagans : whether 
 it Tffts ftTST^rftnriftte or not everT rft&der must form 9.n oninlftn for 
 ^iuiself. 
 
 ■i :^ 
 
BRIEN BOROmME. 
 
 237 
 
 by wa^ of anticipation, ' * said he, " they have fixed on the very 
 day on which Christ was crucified, to destroy the country of 
 hid greatest votaries ; but that G' J, for whose cause you 
 are to fight this daj, will ^-^ present with you, and deliver 
 hiti enemies into y - hamis." 
 
 The two armies met on the plains of Clontarf in all the 
 |)omp of military array : whilst swords, battle axes, and 
 other instruments of human destruction, were exhibited 
 by the combatants in formidable magnificence. Aft«r 
 haranguing his troops, the monarch was proceeding to 
 lead them forward, but his great age induced the chiefs 
 of the vrmy, with one consent, to request that he would 
 retire f om the field, and leave the chief command to his 
 gallant son Mormgh. A.^ soon as the conflict had com- 
 menced, Malachy with his followers, retired suddenly . -m 
 the scene of action and remained mere spectators, while 
 the rest of their countrymen were exposed to a far superior 
 number of enemies. This defection, however, though 
 treacherous and ungrateful, was far from dismaying the 
 undaunted forces of the Irish monarch. Like the moun- 
 tains that are not to be shaken by conflicting AJemnntn^ 
 their intrepidity was not diminished by this exhibition of 
 meanness and deceit. Though Malachy's secession ren- 
 dered the division in which he had been placed far ' ife- 
 rior in numbers to that of the enemy with which they 
 were to engage, Morrogh, with great presence of mind, 
 cried out to his brave Dalcassians " that* this was the time 
 to distinguish themselves, as they alone would have the 
 unrivalled glory of cutting off that formidable body of the 
 enemy." 
 
 Never was there greater intrepidity, perseverance, or 
 
238 
 
 raSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 m: 
 
 skill diflplayed in any battle than in that of Clontarf. The 
 plains upon which this engnf^ment took place admitted of 
 no ambuscades or other stratagems ; and the belligerents 
 on both si4es fought man to man with a d^ee of courage 
 and dexterity almost unparalleled in the history of any 
 country. From sunrise till the evening nothing was heard 
 but the din of arms, the groans of the dying, and all the 
 heady tumult of ancient warfare. Morrogh and his gallant 
 associates flew from place to place, and left the sanguinary 
 traces oi' their courage and intrepidity whererer they came. 
 No quarters were given ; nor were they expected on either 
 side of the field. The tide of battle seemed to flow sometimes 
 towrds the Daniba and sometimes towards the Irish extre- 
 mity of the plains, as the one or the other party prevailed. 
 Such was the valour displayed on both sides, that the issue of 
 the d?y remained doubtful until near four o'clock in the 
 afternoon ; when the Irish, collecting all their energies and 
 roused into resistless fury, mac"^ general attack with 
 such impetuosity upon the enemy, that the latter, whose 
 princip 1 leaders had already fallen, b^an to give way on 
 every side. Their loss upou this occasion has been variously 
 estimated ; but certain it is, it must have been very consi- 
 derable. Those men that wore coats of mail, and that were 
 considered the flower of the Northmen, are said to have 
 been completely cut to pieces, together with their comman- 
 ders, Carolus and Anrud, as well as Dolat, and Conmaol 
 who commanded the Danes of Dublin. Amongst the slain, 
 were also the traitorous Maobnurry, the Scandinavian 
 admiral Bruadair, together with an incredible number of 
 native and foreign chieftains. But notwithstanding the 
 victory was decisive in favour of the Irish, it was deai;ly 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 289 
 
 purchasod by the loss they sustained during the course of 
 the df.y. Besides a great number of Irish troops, the 
 monarch himself, his son Morrogh, and his grandson 
 Turlogh, together with several princes of Munster and 
 Connaught, were numbered with tne slain. It is said that 
 Morrogh was treacherously stabbed by Anrud, one of the 
 Danish commanders, who was lying on the ground, and in 
 the act of being relieved by him. Amongst the yR 'ous 
 and contradictory accounts that are given of his Cat. r's 
 death, perhaps the best is that which states, that Bruadair, 
 who had fled into a wood v^ith a party of his followers, 
 happening to see the king in a retired spot attenaed by 
 only a few men, rushed upon him unawares and slew him 
 on the spot. 
 
 The following account of the monarch's death, extracted 
 from an ancient Irish manuscript, and translated by Mr. 
 O'Donovan, whether it be strictly correct in its details or 
 not, cannot fail to interest the reader : 
 
 " The confusion became general through the Danish 
 army, and they fled on every de. Laidin, the servant of 
 Bryan, observing the confusion, feared Ihat the imperial 
 army wad defeated, he hastily entered the tsut of 
 Bryan, who was on his knees before a crucifix, and requested 
 that he would immediately take a horse and flee. " No," 
 says Bryan, " it was tc conquer or die I came here ; bu*. 
 do you and my other attendants take my horses to Armagh, 
 and communicate m;; will to the successor of St. Patrick : 
 that I bequeath my soul to God, my bcdy to Armagh, 
 and my blessing to my son Donogh. Give two hundred 
 cows to Armagh along with my body ; ana go directly to 
 Swords of Columkille, and order them to come for my 
 
240 
 
 HISTORY or mELAND. 
 
 If' !i 
 
 •iii 
 
 body to-morrow and conduct it to Duleek of St. Kiaran, 
 and let thsm convey it to Lowth ; whither let Maehnurry, 
 the son of Eochy Comharb, of St. Patrick, come with the 
 family of Armagh, and convey it to their cathedral." 
 " People are coming towards us," says the servant. " What 
 sort of people are they ?" says Bryan. " Green, naked 
 people," says the servant. " They are the Danes in 
 armour," says Bryan ; and he rose from his pillow, seized 
 his sword, and stood to await the approach of Broder and 
 some of his followers : and he saw no part of him without 
 armour, except his eyes and his feet. Bryan raised his 
 hand, and gave him a blow, with which he cut oflF his left 
 leg from the knee, and the right from the ancle; but 
 Broder's axe met the head of Bryan and fractured it. 
 Bryan, however, with all the fury of a dying warrior 
 beheaded Broder, and killed a second Dane by whom he 
 was attacked, and then gave up the ghost." 
 
 At the battle of Clontarf, which was of such essential 
 moment to the Irish nation, this great and magnanimous 
 monarch died, in the eighty-eighth year of his age and the 
 thirteenth of his monarchy. Great men, who have rendered 
 signal services to their country, have sometimes left behind 
 them, in the characters they hav9 created, a sort of 
 shadowy army which fights for their reputation, even if 
 there is scarcely a shred of it remaining ; but this was 
 not the case with Brien, whose character it is very difficult 
 to draw without seeming to be chargeable with giving it 
 too high a colouring. 
 
 In the early part of his life, which was spent in the tents 
 of strife and the territories of disorder, his inclination led 
 him to engage fre'iueutiy in military exploits and the 
 
BRIEN BOROIHME. 
 
 241 
 
 exercises of the field ; but this predilection did not tend 
 to dimini^' his love of the arts and sciences. His taste 
 for literary pursuits increased with his years ; and the 
 endowments of his mind were almost incredible when the 
 disadvantages under which he constantly laboured are duly 
 considered. To the Church he was not only a bountiful 
 benefactor, but by his own pious and upright example, 
 amidst ail the inconvenience and turmoil of a military life, 
 he endeavoured to diffuse a spirit of piety and religion 
 throughout every grade in society. 13 rbane in his manners, 
 condescending in his deportment, and at all times easy of 
 access, he exhibited no inflexibiUty of character in any 
 thing except in the administration of justice. To the 
 clergy he was a powerful protector and patron, and gave 
 them every encouragement in the discharge of the sacred 
 duties of their office. As illustrious examples are the most 
 winning incitements to virtue, he effected, by his coun- 
 tenance and support of men of piety and letters, an exten- 
 sive change in the manners and dispositions of his people. 
 Dign'ficd in his concessions, as well aa in every act of 
 regal authority, he avoided the charge of meanness on the 
 one h-ind, and of severity on the other. The pleasantry 
 of his conversation in the hours of leisure and social 
 enjoyment, was equal to the courage and greatness of his 
 mind in the time of danger and alarm. 
 
 Nor were his bodily endowments inferior to tl^ose of his 
 great and enlightened soul, as at the age of fourscore years 
 he was able to undergo the rudest fatigues of war, and to 
 set an example to his troops of vigilance and intrepidity. 
 In short as a soldier, a statesman, a legislator, a Christian, 
 and a scholar, he liad few equaiS and, p«r...ips, no superiors 
 among the princes of his day. F-ngland has been justly 
 
242 
 
 B i: 
 
 ,1! 
 
 HISTORY or IRiLAND. 
 
 proud of her Alfred and Eomo of «,me of her C»8.rs, but h 
 true mapianinuty of charaoter, infl«ible We of urtiee 
 chastened by experience, and an intimate Icnowledge of 
 mankind a hero^m almost r^manUc, which „Jl,ll 
 
 for that Be.ng b, whom .Idngs reign and princes decree 
 
 judged, the character of Brien Boru stands on an elevation 
 far above the level of any of hia contemporaries. oTer 
 pnnces may have adopted various methods of bribing the 
 vote of fame, or of purchasing a little posthumous r^lLT 
 but an uninterrupted series of splendid and gS 
 «l.ons ,s the I^ble inscription of this monarch Id his 
 ensunng, by his wise administration, the best int^rste of 
 hs co^t^ is .be piatethat .til, eon'tinues to eSt it te 
 
 According to the directions of the dyins; monarch th- 
 
 ^ his body, for the purpose of forwarding it to Armagh 
 Having brought it to their abbey, it was removed the nai 
 
 to Lour ?""'• """ "'^■'" ''' "-^ P'^P'-f *at pie 
 to Louft, where it was met by the Bishop and del of 
 
 Armagh, who conveyed it to their own cathedral, ^he 
 
 body of Morrogh and the head of Conaing his cousin were 
 
 abo carried with the remains of the king,*that they mlj 
 
 »: b r/ "'^ ™'° P'""'- ^'"' f™''" obsequLTere 
 celebrated with great pomp and magniecenee ; and S 
 
 the body was deposited in a stone coflin at the nort ,^de 
 01 the cathedra , while that of Morrogh and the head of 
 Conaing were placed at the south side. The other chieftains 
 who fell at the battle of Clontarf w«re interred at the 
 monastery of Kilmainham, *° 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Events Subsequent to tee Death op Bbien Boru. 
 
 As soon as the battle of Clontarf was concluded, Teige, 
 one of the sons of Brien Boru, withdrew with the rem- 
 nant of the Irish army to the camp at Kilmainharo, and 
 was joined at that place on the following day by his bro- 
 ther Donogh. But scarcely had the Momonians, under 
 their respective leaders, proceeded about twenty miles on 
 their march towards their own country, before a dispute 
 arose between the Eugenian and Dalcassian princes about 
 their respective claims upon the provincial throne of Mun- 
 
 ster« 
 
 Desirous of regaining the sovereignty of their province, 
 
 the Eugenians, fihding that the Dalgais had suffered so 
 much in the battle, and that their own force was now greatly 
 superior, thought this a proper opportunity to revive their 
 pretensions to the crown of Munster ; and accordingly Cian, 
 the son of Maolmuadh, sent a formal embassay on the second 
 morning of their march, to the sons of Brien, inform- 
 ing them of his intention ; and not only requesting of 
 them the same support and assistance which he had afforded 
 to their father, but demanding submission from them as 
 their chief, and hostages for their future good behaviour. 
 He pleaded the disposal of the crown, according to the wUl 
 of their great ancestor, OlioU Olum, by alternate succession ; 
 but received s spirited and resolute answer from the two 
 princes, refusing to acknowledge his claim ; and, as Cian 
 found himself, notwithstanding his supposed advantage, 
 
Iip=, 
 
 244 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 unable to support his pretensions, the former w.-^re suffered 
 to march off quietly with the remnant of their intrapid and 
 patriotic band. 
 
 The contrasl; which the situation of these two princes 
 now formed with that in which they had stood but a few 
 days before, depicts most powerfully the fluctuating uncer- 
 tainty to which all terrestrial things are subject. Their 
 own public services, as well as those of their illustrious 
 father, were ahnost instantly forgotten ; and the men who 
 had heretofore been received with the plaudits of an 
 admiring multitude, and whose frown waa dreaded by the 
 most powerful chieftains, were doomed to suffer, even on 
 their march from the plains of Clontarf, the most mortify- 
 ing trials, before they could reach the mansion of their 
 ancestors. As soon as they approached the borders of Ossory, 
 Fitjspatrick, the chief of that district, moved by hereditary 
 hostility towards the sons of Brien, with the most consum- 
 mate insolence and presumption, sent a messenger to them 
 requiring hostages for the good behaviour of their troops 
 as they marched through his territories. Had they ever 
 been his equals this might have been pardonable; or had 
 they been reduced to their present distressed situation by 
 plundering and laying waste their country like so many 
 other princes of Ireland it might have been justifiable, but 
 under the existing circumstances it waa neither the one nor 
 the other. In the meantime, Fitzpati-ick had not only 
 assembled his own followers, but had collected a strong body 
 of auxiliaries from Leinster; and was resolved to enforce 
 his demand, should the two princes refuse to comply with 
 the terms he proposed. 
 Incensed wivh rage and indignation at the insolence of 
 
^m 
 
 EVENTS AFTER THE DEATH OP BRIEN. 245 
 
 this message, the sons of Brien expressed their astonish- 
 ment at the presumption of the prince of Ossory, to the 
 hei-ald ; and said, that, notwithstanding their power was 
 now greatly diminished by their recent sufferings in the 
 cause of their country, they were still able with the rem- 
 nant of their troops, to puni'-^ a dastardly chief like him, 
 who meanly availed himself *f the distressed position in 
 which they were placed. 
 
 Apprehensive of the consequences of a conflict, and 
 foreseeing that the dejtruction of this band of patriots was 
 inevitable, should a battle then ensue, the herald ventured 
 to remonstrate with the princes, and entreated them not to 
 send an answer to his master so ill adapted to their present 
 situation: but the intrepid Donogh, unaccustomed to 
 such language even from princes, was so enraged with the 
 presumption of the herald that he declared, if the law of 
 nations had not secured his person, he would order his 
 tongue to be cut out for his insolence, and commanded him 
 to repair immediately to his master with the answer he had 
 received.* " At what period of time," said he, " did any 
 one of my ancestors do homage, or deliver hostages to an 
 Ossorian ? That the posterity of Eogan should sometimes 
 make such demands, is not surprising, being the issue of 
 the eldest son of our great ancestor; but there never has 
 been an instance, except the present, in which the chief of 
 Ossory darod to demand hostages from the posterity of 
 Olioll Olum." 
 
 But the opposition of Fitzpatrick, which proceeded 
 solely from feelings of personal resentment, was paralyzed 
 
 ♦ Warner, Vol. 11. p. Zi8. 
 

 246 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 til- 
 
 by the subsequent conduct of his own followera. Moved 
 either by fear or sympathy, they absolutely refused to en- 
 counter the forces of North Munster in their present situ- 
 ation ; and the sons of Brien were suffered to proceed on 
 their march homewards without any further molestation. 
 With the usual fatuity, however, attendant upon the con- 
 duct of Irish chieftains towards each other, these two 
 princeb quarreUed before the end of this memorable year, 
 a battle was fought between their respective followers, and 
 in the issue of the contest, Teige was victorious.* 
 
 Meanwhile the sovereign throne having been left vacant, 
 by the death of Brien Boru, Malachy, the king of Meath' 
 notwithstanding the proofs he had given of his unfitness for 
 that dignity, had the address to get himself reinstated in 
 the monarchy.! About thirteen years before this event, 
 he had procured his own deposition, by his indolence and 
 inattention to the protection of his people: and, in no 
 instance, during that period, had he proved himself worthy 
 of public confidence. Forgetful of the allegiance which 
 he had professed to the sovereign who succeeded him, as 
 well as of the duty which he owed to his country, he had 
 basely and treacherously deserted his station at the battle 
 of Clontarf, and hazarded the public ruin for the gratifi- 
 cation of his own private jealousy and revenge. It is true 
 he conducted himself quietly, without making any attempt 
 to disturb the public peace, during the pc ■ .od of his depo- 
 sition ; but this was owing rather to the valour, good con- 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, at A. D. 1014. 
 
 t Malachy'3 title, notwithstanding his assumption of the men- 
 
 archy, was never acknowl«/lff«<i h^tu^ nin-:— ., _=u, .t. ,_ 
 
 Of Munater.— Zamjan, Chap, XXIII. 
 
EVENTS AFTEH THE DEATH OF BRIEN. 
 
 2*1 
 
 duct, and great popularity of the reigning monarch, than 
 to any meritorious disposition on his part. Such a char- 
 acter, therefore, could not have beea an object of national 
 esteem ; and had not the circumstances of the country been 
 such as to. prevent the states from pursuing their usual 
 course, he would not have laid hold on a crown so easily 
 which he had forfeited by his base and unworthy conduct. 
 Perceiving, however, no formidable rival in his way, and 
 being at the head of a body of troops that had suffered 
 nothing in the previous engagement, he succeeded in having 
 himself proclaimed monarch by his own immediate parti- 
 sans. 
 
 A. D. 1015. Whatever opinion maybe formed of Mala- 
 chy's patriotism or principle, notwithstanding his defection 
 on the plains of Clontarf, he appears to have been by no 
 means friendly to those foreigners who had been so long 
 the oppressors of his countrymen. As soon therefore as 
 he found himself once more seated upon the throne in secu- 
 rity, he led an army, in conjunction with his Northern 
 ally, Hugh O'Neill, against such of the Danes of Dublin as 
 had survived the late battle ; plundered and burned almost 
 the whole city ; and by this means endeavoured to remove 
 at least part of that odium which still rested on his char- 
 acter. But in the following year these foreigners, under 
 the command of Sitric their king, took ample vengeance 
 for this visitation, by plundering and destroying the adja- 
 cent country, and putting all the inhabitan'>s to the sword, 
 without any regard to age, sex, or condition.* 
 
 The frequent recurrence in the Irish annals of such 
 
 Annals of Innisfallen, at A. D. 1015, 1U16. 
 
>ll 
 
 \ i 
 
 248 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 entries as record the total extirpation of the Danes, and 
 their immediate appearance again in the work of desolation, 
 would naturally induce the reader to distrust the veracity 
 of the annalist, were he not to make a due allowance for 
 the hyperbolical mode of expression which the Irish chron- 
 iclers generally employed upon such occasions.* The 
 "total extirpation " of the foreigners signifies no more in 
 these records than the signal overthrow ; because their forces 
 were never so completely ruined as to prevent their rally- 
 ing again, and resuming their wonted course of plunder 
 and destruction. 
 
 A.D. 1018. The inhabitants of Leinster, who had 
 formerly joined in a confederacy against the liberties of 
 their country, were soon convinced that little confidence 
 could be reposed in the friendship of the ungrateful and 
 irreclaimable traitors that the Danes had always proved 
 themselves to be. Besides ^he- usual depredations that 
 they were accustomed to commit in thoje parts of the prov- 
 ince which lay contiguous to Dublin, it is said that Sitric, 
 their king, upon some dispute, had the eyes of Bran, the 
 son of Maolmurry, put out ;t and thus visited upon that 
 prince the treachery and baseness of which his father had 
 been guilty. The monarch also invaded the Lagenians, 
 
 • ' A figure of the Irish language, which, when translated, 
 has the appearance of Tiolent misrepresentation, but is really no 
 mon than the species of hyperbole, of which the modern appli- 
 cation of the word 'kilt' is an example. The 'total extir- 
 pation" is used precisely in the same sense, and is to be under- 
 stood as no more or less than 'a good beating.' Wills' Livet, 
 *c., p. 196. 
 
 t Ware's Aat., Cap. XSIV. 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE DEATH OF BRIEN. 
 
 249 
 
 and chafitised them for their refusal to submit to his author- 
 ity. The same line of conduct he pursued towards some 
 of the petty princes of Ulster, and by the terror of his 
 arms he caused hims<>If to be fean^d, if not respected, 
 throughout all the provinces, except that of Munster. 
 
 A. D. 1022. Having sacrificed much that he might 
 regain the monarchy, Malachy, when it was too late, began 
 to blame himself for the course which he had hitherto 
 pursued. Being now far advanced in years, and feeling the 
 infirmities of old age coming rapidly upon him, he became 
 sensible of his inability to discharge the duties connected 
 with the important station which he now filled. The fac- 
 tions and intestine broils which continued to prevail were 
 too much for his declining years. He therefore commenced 
 the dedication of his remaining days to works of piety 
 and public utility. He rebuilt and repaired several 
 churches and monasteries whieh had fallen into decay : and 
 made provision, in the different seminaries of learning 
 throughout the kiugdom, for the maintenance and educa- 
 tion of three hundred poor students. After a second 
 reign of eight years, he departed this life, in the seventy- 
 second year of his age, without being much regretted — 
 except by his own immediate followers. 
 
 With Malachy the Second ended the government of the 
 Hy-Niall race ;* and the confusion which ensued, has- 
 tened the dissolution of the monarchy itself. For, notwith- 
 standing some of the provincial kings assumed the supreme 
 title, and exercised the power connected with it amongst 
 their respective parties, they were not monarchs of Ireland 
 
 • O'Conor'a Dissert., p. 251. 
 Q 
 
260 
 
 lil 
 
 HISTOEY OF IRBLAND. 
 
 in the true and legitimate sense of the word.* Nor wu 
 there any prince after Malachy, for many years, who eyen 
 claimed the sovereignty of the whole island. When this 
 dignity was restricted to the alternate succession of the 
 Clan-'Jolman and Tyrone houses, it was intended thereby 
 to lessen the number of competitors for the crown, as well 
 as to repress, in the several provinces, the insolence and 
 domineering spirit of ♦he aristocracy. Lat this end was 
 not fully answered, at east to the extent that was antici- 
 pated by its projectors. The monarchy was rendered for 
 some time, indeed, more respectable by such a restriction ; 
 but no addition was thereby made to the power of the 
 erown. So one centre of union was wanted, round which 
 the diflFerent contending parties, into which the kingdom 
 was so unhappUy divided, might occasionally rally ; but so 
 limited was the power which the moaaroh reaUy possessed, 
 that the sovereign throne proved but a feeble cement to' 
 the heterogeneous materials of which the naUon was com- 
 posed. 
 
 In this state of things it is not very surprising that a 
 foreign enemy, like the Danes, accustomed ito rapine and 
 scenes of desolation, should take advantage of the divisions 
 and factious feuds of the Irish people, and succeed so far 
 as to n^ake formidable setUementa upon the sea-coast, and 
 even to penetrate into the heart of the country. From the 
 
 • Those princes, who assumed the title of monarch without a 
 due election were "stigmatized by our Senachies as Righ, go 
 Freazabhra, or kings by force and violence, in opposition to 
 thoso who were legally elected, and whom they called Luin Righ, 
 jr kmgs m the complete sense of the word." 0>Hal ut ,««r« 
 Chap. II, " •" ' 
 
 , L 
 
EVENT3 AFTER THE DEATH OF BRIEN. 
 
 251 
 
 difiFcrent engagementa between the natives and the North- 
 men, it is easy to perceive, that it was not for want of cour- 
 age the Irish were so frequently subdued : for had they 
 only cultivated union amongst themi^lves, they could 
 easily have expelled these freebooters from their coasts. 
 But a spirit of discord, like a sullen and malignant cloud 
 which refuses to depart, but envelopes the face of the 
 country, and intercepts the prospect, still continued to ope- 
 rate upon the conflicting elements of which the nation was 
 composed, and the foreigners gained ground rather by ally- 
 ing themselves with oppressed and oppressing chieftains, 
 and by taking advantage of the various disputes that from 
 time to time occurred between the native princes, than by 
 any superior courage or abilities which they displayed in 
 the field The provincial kings became every day more 
 independent of the supreme authority, and even set up their 
 own assemblies in opposition to the national Aonach, or 
 meeting of the states of Tara;* and thus, by the seductions 
 of fraud, or the assaults of violence, they became formidable 
 rivals of the monarchs themselves. 
 
 The intercourse and alliances of the Northmen with the 
 French and English, as well as with the inhabitants of Ire- 
 land itself, during the course of more than a century, had 
 tended in some measure to soften their manners and to pro- 
 mote their civilization ; whilst their conversion to the 
 Christian religion, though it had not altogether eradicated 
 their disposition for plunder and oppression, had an exten- 
 sive influence in improving their morals and correcting 
 their former habits of vice and depravity. But whilst 
 
 • O'OoD. Dissert., p. 253. 
 
262 
 
 HISTORY or IBELAND. 
 
 'ftt 
 
 111 rf- """ '^""^"^ bytheirrMidencein 
 
 nl^'v' '. f.""""'.""''*"'"' *■" ""'""e .time with the 
 natives tended considerably to render the latter both vieiou, 
 and eormpt Their example, like the peaUlenoe which 
 «atto« ten thousand poisons from its baneful wings had 
 ^nted the morals and infected the principles of the^pl 
 with whom the, associated. The extinction of pubuTand 
 prtvate ,.rt«, „„s the consequence of that iguoranoe and 
 barbansm wh.eh they had introduced ; and, notwithstanding 
 Ireland could still boast of her literary luminaries, it is 
 obvtous that learning began to decline throughout the 
 
 Through ^asional alliances with these foreigners, the 
 proyiucul . kmgs frequently increased their own power 
 whUst that of the monarch was diminished in p^poSn .' 
 but notw.thstand.„g all these confederacies and a'lSiances 
 with the domestic malcontents, the Northmen still eon- 
 
 fZ-K r"'""',''"'"" f^P'^- C'-ta-t'y remind 
 from the Krren and frozen r^ons of Scandinavia, the, 
 w re able to keep the Irish monarchs perpetuall, i'„ the 
 aeld and the natives in an unceasing ferment' I„ the J„ 
 ac^l b ™8° "'^'''-'■^ *^ Second, this monai^hfad 
 t was reserved f.. Brien Born to crush their power effectual- 
 1, andtoemane . ^te his countiynien, though he sacrificed his 
 own We ,„ that patriotic enterprise. But notwithstanding 
 Bnens accession to the sovereign throne proved ruinoni 
 
 mof iTh"""""""."' "" """'^' " •«-»» •«"«?» 
 mo., so to his own subjects. The destruction of the 
 
 opened to the provincial kings a way to the highest station 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE DEATH OP BRIEN. 
 
 253 
 
 of authurity and dignity ic the kiDgdom, and awakened 
 pretensions which had lain dormant for so many ages. 
 And when the coercive encrc^ of that mighty mind which 
 had, for a time, confined the impetuouH courses of refrac- 
 tory chieftains within certain limits ceased to operate, 
 division and usurpation, like a destructive cancer, fastened 
 their envenomed teeth in the vitals of the constitution, 
 and the malignant infl'i'^nce was felt from the centre to 
 the circumference of the whole island. 
 
 On the death of Mala«.hy, as a revolution had been 
 already eflFected, no prince appeared to have stronger claims 
 to the throne of Ireland than the sons of Brien Boru. 
 The signal services rendered to the nation by their illus- 
 trious father, the part which they had taken themselves in 
 humbling the oppressive enemies of their country, and 
 their own magnanimity and courage, all united to give their 
 pretensions more than ordinary weight. But the unnatural 
 jealousies and dissensions which prevailed between them 
 deprived the nation of this advantage : and the people were 
 doomed to experience all the miseries and calamities of 
 those civil wars which ensued about the succession to the 
 monarchy. 
 
 A. I). 1023. The two princes who had acted so nobly in 
 the cause of their country, and who had escaped from the 
 carnage of the plains of Clontarf, had immediately after their 
 return home, as we have seen, turned their arms against each 
 other ; and, though they afterwards united against a common 
 enemy, and seemed to be mutually reconciled, the reconcilia- 
 tion of such indomitable spirits was like the turbulent and 
 outrageous tempest which sometimes seems to be assuaged, 
 but only intermits its fury for the purpose of increasing 
 
254 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 
 ita Hti'onf.th and future inipctuoHity. I'orcoivinK thu^ wlijlst 
 his elder brother Tci-c lived, he could only fill uHecondary 
 station, Donogh contrived to effect that by treachery which 
 he was unable to accomplish in any other way. He there- 
 fore sent for the chief of Kly, and, by specious prouiises, 
 as well a.s by large presents, prevailed upon him t j surprise 
 his brother the following night, and to carry him off pris- 
 oner to Ormond, where ho was treacherously murdered a 
 short tune after by the people of that country.* 
 
 Alarmed at the rising power of the Heberians, and at 
 the same time unable to agree among themselves about a 
 successor, the Clan Colman suffered the principality of 
 Mcath, witli some of the adjoining districts, on the death 
 of Malachy, to fall under the administration of Cuun 
 O'Lochain, arch-poet and chief antiquary of Ireland ; and 
 after him to be governed by u clergyman nam'^d Corco"an,t 
 for what reason it is now very dilEcult to conjecture. The 
 power, however, of each of these incumbents ksted but a 
 short time ; as the former was killed by the people of 
 Lemster m the second year of his administration ; and the 
 latter is said to have become an anachoret, and to have 
 died at Lismore some years after. 
 
 A. D. 1026. Meanwhile Donogh O'Brien began to make 
 some show of royalty, and to assume .he regal title as 
 soon as uis elder brother was taken out of his way. Of 
 the southern half of Ireland he was recognized as the 
 sovereign ; J and the following year, at the head of a 
 
 m i;:^ 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, at AD. 1023. 
 t Seo Lan. Eccles. Hist., Chap. XXiri. 
 i Annaisof InnisfaPien, at A. D. 102(3. 
 
■^w 
 
 KVENTS AFTKK THE 1)KA.TH OF IIUIEN. 
 
 
 numorouB force, ho invaded Meath, where he received ho»- 
 tagcfl from the Clan Colman. He next prnceoded to Dablin, 
 and not only received the homage and Bibmismon of the 
 citizens, but raised large contributionn in tluit cit^ . From 
 J)ublin he returned through LcinHfor to Kincora, compel- 
 ling the Lageuians and Ossorians, in hifl way, to pny him 
 tribute, and to give him securitien for their future peace- 
 able demeanour * Ho next entercf' Connaught, and re- 
 ceived from the ConaoianB the homa ind tribute liBually 
 paid to the monarchfl of Ireland. But whilst he was t' "a t« 
 exhibit, not only in the two Munsters, but also in iicinster, 
 Connaught, and Meatl:, the ensigns of sovereignty, and t4) 
 assume the title of monarch, a powerful league was being 
 formed against him, which ultiu.ately proved too strong to 
 be ovetcome either by his abilities pv address. 
 
 Turlogh O'Brien, the son of Tcige, soon after the mur- 
 der of his father, had fled from Munster to Foarkall, the 
 reHidenoe of bis near relative, Dennod Mac Malnambo, 
 where he was received with mvch kindness and cordiality. 
 This pr nco, whose territories embraced the district which 
 is now know: by the name of the King's County, formed 
 a Htrong party in favour of bis kinsman ; and, in oppo- 
 sition to Donogh, his exiled nephew assumed the title of 
 monarch of Ireland, and was acknowledged as such by his 
 own partisans and friends. In addition to this mortifica- 
 tion, which of itself would have been sufficient to wound 
 the ambitious and treacherous fratricide to the heart, the 
 Lagenians, whose territories he had so recently entered in 
 the character of monarch, collected all their forces, and by 
 
 O'Hal., Book XII., Chap. II. 
 
* 
 
 255 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 the way of reprisal, carried hostilities into the province 
 Waterford, and brought away with them a great number 
 
 1:1117: " "'"' ^^'^"^" ^'^^ ^^^^ ^^^ *^^- - 
 
 To enter into a detail of the proceedings of these two 
 nval monarch, and of their respective parties, wridt 
 quite unnecessary for any purpose of historical importance 
 For many years Ireland was a scene of outr^e and 
 violence committed by both parties according as the scale 
 turned in their favour. In A. D. 1054^ at the Tead 
 of an army supplied by the kings of Connaught and 
 Leinster, Turlogh invaded Munster and gained many 
 advantages over his uncle : but Donogh did not fail ^ 
 retaliate whenever an opportunity presented itself. la 
 order to lessen the number of his enemies, he agreed in A. D. 
 1058, to exonerate the people of Connaught from the 
 claims which he had made upon them, provided they wouia 
 withdraw their forces from tlie assistance of his competitor • 
 and two yea^ after, he ma le a similar concession to the 
 Lagenians. But Turlogh's influence had become too strong 
 to be injured or impeded by the defection of these provin 
 ciahsts At length Donogh made one effort more to expel 
 his nephew from the province. He collected all his forces 
 and, at the foot of Ardagh mountain, met the army of his 
 antagonist, but received a complete overthrow in that 
 engagement. By these repeated defeats, his kingdom w^s 
 ^adually reduced to the province of Munster, and even 
 that also he lost m the following year, A. 1). 1064 • for 
 
 • Warner, Tol. 11, p. 230. 
 
EVENTS AFTER TfiE t)EATH OF BRIEN. 
 
 257 
 
 the Momonians had suffered so much in their unnatural 
 contests, that they deserted his standard, and gave hostages 
 to the other monarch for their future loyalty and allegiance 
 
 to him. 
 
 Nothing is so effectual as conscious rectitude to inspire 
 a dignity of mind superior to transitory events, or to 
 create a calmness of temper unappalled by even death 
 itself; but of this consolation Donogh had already deprived 
 himself. Oppressed by the numerous misfortunes ha had 
 experienced in his declining years, and tormented by his 
 own conscience for the injuries he had done to his nephew, 
 as well as for the murder of his brother, his only hopes 
 were placed in some extra-national power to restore him to 
 that authority of which both his friends and his enemies 
 had deprived him. In this state of his affairs he made a 
 journey to Rome, and, it is said, carried the crown of Ire- 
 land with him, which he laid at the feet of Alexander II., 
 the reigning pontiff ; but, finding that he could obtain no 
 help from that quarter, he renounced the world, took upon 
 him the hubit of a monk, and died in the monastery of 
 St. Stephen, a short time after, in the eighty-eighth yea? of 
 
 his age.* 
 
 This donation of ihe crown of Ireland to the pope has 
 been supposed, by some, to lender valid the grant that was 
 afterwards made of the sovereignty of the island by that 
 prelate to Henry the Second of England. '* But," as Mr. 
 O'Halloran observes, " admitting that he surrendered his 
 crown to the see of Rome, it is evident it could not be the 
 imperial crown, because he was neither elected nor crowned 
 
 • Annal3 of Innisfallen, at A. D. 1064. 
 
258 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAN1>. 
 
 monarch. It could not be the crown of Leath-Mogha, as 
 
 dZ'^Try.'"""'^' '' 'PP^^'"^' '^^' ^' pea^^eably surren- 
 dered that to his nephew. Bui let us for once suppose 
 
 7o™.ir/°'/J' '"^' "^"^^^' *^^' ^'-'^^ -'de a 
 
 iZ . '^' "'^° '^^''^'''^ ^ '^' ^^ ' «-ld the 
 
 latter, or his successors, from this donation, found any claim 
 
 whatever to the sovereignty of Ireland ? Could an exile 
 
 an usurper, a^ Donogh undoubtedly wa., transfer to any othe; 
 
 a power which he had already surrendered to the legal 
 
 propnetor But, for ailment's sake, let us admit hir^to 
 
 be acknowledged a. monarch in the fullest sense of the 
 
 word. a ,hat, in this character, he made a formal sur 
 
 render of his c«,wn and dignity to this pope, or to any 
 
 other ^.ov^nce; still, by the laws of Ireland, tie moment 
 
 ot his death put a period to his delegation."* 
 
 T>onogh Brien could have given him no colour of pi^- 
 tence for claiming such a power. 
 
 If the most powerful prince in those' times of anarchy 
 and con usion when the constitution of the country was so 
 flagrantly violated, might be considered as the reigning 
 monarch, Dermod. the king of Leinster, had an undoubted 
 claim to that title upon the abdication of Donogh. This 
 dignity, however, is not conceded to him, and^Turlogh 
 hough never elected to the monarchy in due form, ass Jed 
 the sovereign power, as soon s. his uncle had quitted 
 the kmgdom. It is true, Mortogh, the son of Donogh, a 
 
 ' O'Hal., ut supra. 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE DEATH OF BRIEN. 
 
 259. 
 
 very valiant prince, made an unsuccessful attempt to dis- 
 pute the crown of Munster with him ; but Turlogh, with 
 the assistance of his kinsman and ally, the Lagenian king, 
 soon crushed this rebellious movement, received hostages 
 from the Momonians, chased Mortogh into Connaught, and, 
 for giving- him shelter, reduced the king of that province 
 to the necessity of purchasing a precarious peace at his 
 own pleasure and that of his Lagenian ally. But the 
 latter having, in the beginning of February, A. D. 1072, 
 entered Meath in a hostile manner, which he had wasted 
 several times before with great cruelty, he was defeated by 
 Connor, the prince of that territory ; and, in the bloody 
 battle of Odhba, he fell a victim to his own temerity, as 
 he was numbered aiaongst the slain.* 
 
 Being now left without a rival, Turlogh's first public 
 act was to march into Ossory, Hy-Kins^ )lagh, and other 
 parts of Leinster, and to receive hostages from the differ- 
 ent princes and chieftains of that province. His army 
 halted at Kilmainham ; and there Gothric, or Godfrey, the 
 Danish king waited on him and acknowledged himself 
 as his vassal. After this he entered the city, the gates 
 having been thrown open, and was received iu form by the 
 magistrates and citizens as their sovereign. Some time 
 after he marched into Connaught, where he received homage 
 and hostages from O'Conor the king of that province, 
 from O'Rourk, prince of Breffny, from O'Reilly, O'Kelly, 
 Mac Dermod, and several other princes and chieftains. 
 Thence he proceeded to Ulster, but met with an effectual 
 repulse from the Ultonians. But finding that the Danish 
 
 • Annals of Innisfallen, at A.D. 1072. 
 
m 
 
 I 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELATO. 
 
 i^^Ll,"'""'"':'"'''^^''^"-^ ""= --"»"»» with 
 
 the^UrnT^*^ fcy 'he failure of Turlogh', atte,.pt „p,„ 
 the Ultonians, and ™hing to assert their own inde^ 
 
 ,L ■ ■ '^"' """'"S """^e » »»dden descent noon 
 that proTince, he surprised their king seized al„^" 
 Per«.n,.nd obliged hi. to give fresh h^^esX h 
 future peaceable behariour, before he would SaT him 
 <•"« h,s captivity. He next subdued the pe^pb o^Wh 
 
 Priree wltel ^'^l°'^''f' ^^ '" «>» year 1082 that 
 prince waited on him at his palace in Limerick wi h his 
 pnucipj nobility, to thank him, and to do him holl " 
 
 . : ttnd" ""' ^""^'^ "°""™^ graduallytoald to 
 IS preponderance over different parts of the kingdom 
 
 Wand ,r' i "' ''"«"■ ^ ''y'ed truly monarch ffTll 
 Ireland, though never elected to that dignitjt 
 
 wafdVthtTl"';"^" »r of worldly prosperity can 
 
 eTnt when tt / 1 ''''"'' "' ""''f""^ "'» «"« »'"■»' 
 event when the hnal summons has once arrived This 
 
 whTt f' Tf "^ '""""""^ underachronMsorde 
 which at length deprived him of his life at Kincora,T D.' 
 
 • O'Hal., ui supra, Chap. III. 
 
 t -Annals of laaisfalien, at A.D. 1073-1088. 
 
EVENTS AFTER THE DEATH 01" BRIEN. 261 
 
 1086, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, and the twenty- 
 second of his reign.* 
 
 The character of Turlogh O'Brien stands high in the 
 pages of history for justice, humanity, and generosity. 
 These principles, however, which were undoubtedly asso- 
 ciated in his mind, and which shed a lustre upon his 
 actions in general, were sometimes sunk into a phase of 
 obscurity, by the unhappy circumstances in which he 
 was placed. The turbulence of the times, as well as the 
 refractory disposition of the provincial dynasts and other 
 princes, obliged him sometimes to resort to measures of 
 seeming severity : but he never employed his power for 
 the purpose of oppressing any of his people, or of depriving 
 those princes under him of their legitimate or hereditary 
 rights. He appears to have imitated the example of bis 
 grandfather, Brien Boru, as far as the distraction of ihe 
 times would permit, in the establishment of good laws, 
 the punishment of those who transgressed them, and in 
 the piotection and reward of merit, wherever it was to be 
 found.t In a letter which he received from Lanfranc, 
 the archbishop of Canterbury, that prelai* says : " That 
 God has bestowed his blessing upon the kingdom of 
 Ireland, when he raised your excellency to the regal 
 dignity of that kingdom, is evident to every considering 
 person : our brother and fellow-bishop Patrick J has related 
 
 • Ibid., at A. D.1086. 
 
 t Warner, Vol. II., p. 233. 
 
 t Patrick was the second bishop of the Canes of Dublin 
 after their conversion to Christianity. He had been consecrated 
 by this Norman Archbishop of Canterbury himself. 
 
262 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 «> many great and good things concerning the pious 
 humihty of your grandeur towards the good, strict severity 
 against the bad, and your most discreet equity with regard 
 to every description of persons, that, although we have 
 never seen you, yet we love you aa if we had, and wish to 
 consult your interest, and to render you our most sincere 
 service as if wo had seen you and intimately known you."* 
 In this letter, which was obviously designed to enlist the 
 IK>wer and influence of the Irish monarch in bringing over 
 he church m his dominions to a state of subjectiTnl the 
 see of Rome, as well as in forwarding his plans for establish- 
 
 styles him, the magnificent king of Ireland," and uses 
 such flattering expressions as would lead to a strong sus- 
 picion of the sincerity of his feelings. However, l the 
 character which he has given of this prince corresponds 
 wi h his general conduct, we need not be surprised aV the 
 eulogies thus passed upon his administration. Had he not 
 possessed a large share of wisdom and discretion, as jrellas 
 a noble and generous nature, he could never have governed 
 a people free even to licentiousness, with popularity and 
 approbation at a time when the nation waa rent asunder 
 by facUon his own title called in question by tiie greater 
 part ofjhe people, and his enemies both powerful and 
 
 • Usser. Sjllog. Bpist. Hib., Ep. xxvii. 
 
 J'; 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Irish Monarchy Anterior to the Ascension 
 OP RoDERio O'Conor. 
 
 The death of Turlogh O'Brien proved another signal 
 for faction to I'aise its head over the Irish nation. The 
 monarchy had now become a mere name, without either 
 vitality or prestige. The people were, therefore, accustomed 
 for some time, to look upon this royal figment as upon an 
 old banner over a tomb, in which all the muscular machin- 
 ery of a strong man is passing into dust. The constitution 
 was totally disregarded; the estates were not called togeth- 
 er, nor had any regular election of a monarch taken place 
 since the death of Brien Boru. Malachy had been restored 
 to the throne by his own partisans in Meath, without any 
 appeal to tLe constitutional electors ; and Donogh, smitten 
 by his own conscience, dared not appear as a candidate 
 before a national assembly. In consequence of this state 
 of affairs, every feudatory prince formed an independent 
 interest, and felt unwilling to be eclipsed by another : 
 so that the historians of this time have been obliged to con- 
 sider the prince uf the greatest power, as the nominal mon- 
 arch of the country. 
 
 Immediately after the death of Turlogh, his son Mor- 
 togh* was proclaimed king of Leath-Mogha, and is ranked 
 
 • " Turlogh had four sons ; Teige, who died soon after his 
 f<^^))P^ f^t. (lin-Corradh . Mortochj who was his immediate suc- 
 cessor ; Dermod, who succeeded Murtogh ; and Donogh, slain in 
 Meath." O'Hal., Vol. Ill, p. 295. 
 
it 
 
 II !! 
 
 t li 
 
 264 
 
 riSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 next amorcr t.'.e .. n-,;,, of Ireland. But he had a power- 
 ful rival ,n Oc.aid O'Lochluin, who was also a candidate 
 for thj H-voreign throne; and the rival claims of these two 
 princes soon embroiled the country in a civil war the 
 former putting forward bis p-et^nsions under the sanction of 
 the new order of things, wnich had introduced the provin- 
 cial kings in the person of his great ancestor, Brien Boru • 
 and the latter claiming a long prescriptive right of succes^ 
 «on for many ages, in the royal Ily-Niall family, of which 
 he was now the head. 
 
 To insure his power, as soon as his father was dead 
 Mortogh, having first banished his brother Dermod led an 
 aravy into Leinster, to receive the homage and acknow- 
 ledgments of the Lagenians. Gothric, the fomer Danish 
 king of Dubhn, in whose stead Mortogh had been appointed 
 by his father, had resumed the command of the city in 
 his absence; but having been made acquainted with his 
 approach, Gothric again fled from the country, and Mor- 
 togh appointed his eldest son, Donald, to the office of gov- 
 ernor of that city. ^ 
 
 Encouraged by this acquisition of the sovereignty of 
 Leins er and Meath, Mortogh next carried his hostilities 
 into Ulster, and compelled the petty chiefs of that province 
 to pay him tribute. But Donald, prince of Tyrconnel 
 embraced this opportunity of causing a diversion in Mun- 
 ster ; and at the invitation of Dermod, the exiled brother 
 of the monarch, proceeded through Connaught with his 
 army into the southern province, burned the palace of 
 Kincora,* the city of Limerick, and several o ther towns; 
 
 retalra ed by causing the palace of Aileach to be razed to ita 
 foundation. Wills' Lives, &c., p. 241. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEFORE RODEiirC. 
 
 265 
 
 and, with a number of prisoners, and the spoils of the 
 Momonians, returned to his own dominions in the north. 
 
 To pursue these princes through all their various attacks 
 and reprisals would be unnecessary : suffice it to say, that, 
 for more than twenty years, they carried on a destructive 
 contest, and the public interest was sacrificed to their wild 
 ambition. The one generally possessed the so/ereign com- 
 mand of the northern, and the other of the southern half of 
 the kingdom ; and in the protracted conflict which they 
 carried on, sometimes the one, and sometimes the other 
 party prevailed. Each of them being intent upon the object 
 of his own ambition, they had many furious contests in the 
 field ; and many others were prevented by the intervention 
 of the clergy, who endeavoured frequently, though some- 
 times in vain, to reconcile their jarring interests.* Every 
 year, almost, produced the same series of ravages and plun- 
 der, the same bloody contests, and the same devastation of 
 different parts of the country ; and that which casts a deeper 
 shade of gloom upon the aspect of these wars, is, that they 
 were generally carried on against the property the inno- 
 cent and unoffending. By dt;stroying commercial security, 
 they struck off the wheels of business, and cut asunder the 
 sinews of industry. There could be little encouragement, 
 under such circumstances, to cultivate any portion of the 
 ground, or to take pleasure in improvements of any descrij,- 
 tion, when everything lay at the mercy of lawless power ; 
 whilst tyranny, like a ravenous harpy, was ready to snatch 
 the cup from the lips of indu try, or wrest it, by violence, 
 from the hand of liberty. 
 
 • O'Conors Dissert., p. 255. 
 B 
 
266 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 i= 
 
 In the dreadful struggle between these two princes, they 
 were sometimes in turn reduced, by each other, to the very 
 brink of ruin ; and again they compounded their differ, 
 ences, and seemed to part good friends. But their amity 
 was neither lasting nor sincere. In the year 1099, Mor- 
 togh invaded Ulster with all the forces he was able to 
 command ; and was met on the plains of Muirtheimne, in 
 the county of Down, by Donald, with the whole power of 
 Ulster ; but when the two armies were just about to engage 
 in a dreadful contest, the bishops of Armagh and Caahel, 
 with several other eminent ecclesiastics, threw themselves 
 between them, and, through their intervention, the two 
 parties were restored to peace. The result ot luic recon- 
 ciliation was, that Donald was acknowledged as king of 
 Leath-Cuin, and Mortogh, as king of Leath-Mogha ; but 
 it is probable that the latter reserved to himsell* the nom- 
 inal title of Ard-Righ, or monarch of Ireland.* 
 
 By the wisdom and bravery which Mortogh had always 
 evinced, his fame spread throughout the neighbouring 
 states ; and a short time after the consecration of Anselm 
 to the archbishopric of Canterbury, he addressed a letter 
 " To Mortogh, the magnificent king of Ireland," in which 
 he compliments him very highly for his prudence, fortitude 
 and justice.f Some time after this, according to the chron- 
 icles of the Isle of Man, L^man, the king of that island, 
 after abdicating the throne, having gone on a pilgrimage 
 to Jerusalem, and his brother Olave being a minor, the 
 nobility of the island despatched ambassadors to Mortogh, 
 
 • O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 297. 
 
 t Usser. Syllog. Epiat. Hib., Ep. XXXVI. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCH'' 
 
 'RE.RODERIC. 267 
 
 requesting him to send ih^xi wrie diligent man of royal 
 extraction, to rule jTer th "■.■ 'ng the minority of the 
 young prince, in compliance ■ ih this request, the mon- 
 arch sent Donald, the sou rf ' .Ire, enjoining him to gov- 
 ern the kingdom with clem^ucy and justice. But as soon 
 as he was Seated on the throne, he began to act the part of 
 a tyrant, and behaved with so much cruelty and outrage, 
 that the inhabiiants, unable to endure his oppression, con- 
 spired against him, rose up in arms, and obliged him to fly, 
 for safety, to his own country.* 
 
 It has also been asserted, upon the same authority, that 
 Magnus, king of Norway, amongst other conquests, had 
 subjugated the Isle of Man, sent his shoes to Mortogh, 
 commanding him to carry them on his shoulders through 
 the middle of his house, on Christmas day, in tlie presence 
 of hiS messengers, as .. mark of subjection and vassalage : 
 that, though the Irish received this command with the 
 grer*est indignation, the monarch bin: ^ If, conscious of his 
 own weakness, meanly replied, that he would not only 
 cjirrv the shoes, but even eat them, rather than to provoke 
 Magnus to destroy one province of Ireland : that he accord- 
 ing ;ly complied with the mandate, treated the messengers 
 wivh great respect, and sent them back with presents for 
 th ;iv i^a^'ter.t 
 
 The incredibility of these circumstances, detailed by the 
 Manks Chroniclers, and the conduct imputed to the Irish 
 monarch, ^eing at such variance with Mortogh's character 
 on every other occasion, the whole account has been reck- 
 
 * Camb. Brit, from the Chronicon Mannioe. 
 t Wood'3 Account of the Isle of Man, p. 341, 
 
268 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ■■'■\ 
 
 oned as a mere fabrication, unworthy of notice in the hi; 
 tory of this period.* The truth, however is, that Magnu 
 did send such a message to the king of Ireland ; but th 
 details of the account seem to have been but imperfectl 
 known by either tho chroniclers of Man or the writers o 
 Irish history. Mortogh's daughter had been married t 
 Sigurd, a Norwegian prince, and her father had enterc( 
 into a certain agreement with Magnus upon that occasion 
 but the impression which the terms of this treaty had madi 
 on the mind of the Irish monarch, was only as the trace o 
 an arrow through the penetrated air, or the path of a kee 
 in the furrowed wave. With the accustomed faithlessness o: 
 that period, he had violated his engagement, and Magnus was 
 resolved to make a descent upon his dominions, in order tc 
 indemnify himself and his son. He had already been sue 
 cessful, not only in the conquest of the Island of Man itself 
 but of the Orcades, the Hebrides, and the island of Angle 
 sea :t and he hoped, from the divided and distracted state 
 of the Irish people, to be equally so in his attempt upon them 
 also. His message was, therefore, designed to be merely a 
 challenge to the Irish monarch, as he could not have expected 
 that Mortogh would comply with it. But instead of receiv- 
 ing his messengers with respect, as has been asserted, that 
 monarch ordered their ears to be cut off, in the presence of 
 his court, and desired them to inform theii master, that 
 this was the only p,nswer he would return to his insolent 
 demand.^ 
 
 • See Warn., Vol II., p. 238. 
 
 t Wood, il supra, pp. 340, ?41. 
 
 t Bruodin Chronicle, quoted by O'Halloran. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEFORE RODERIC. 269 
 
 A. D. 1101. Not only incensed with the manner in 
 which his messengers had been treated, but learning, upon 
 inquiry, so much of the salubrity of the climate, the fer- 
 tility of the soil, and the beauty of the country, Magnus 
 turned his thoughts wholly upon the conquest of Ireland, 
 as a valuable addition to those he had already made. He, 
 therefore, gave orders for the preparation of a large fleet, 
 as well as of a considerable body of land forces ; and in the 
 mean time, sailed, with sixteen vessels, that he might take 
 a view of the country himself. But, having incautiously 
 left their ships, his party were surrounded by the indignant 
 Irish, who lay in ambush to receive them ; and Magnus 
 hunself, with nearly all his followers, fell a sacrifice to the 
 fury of the incensed natives. 
 
 The ravages and distresses which th<; ambitious conduct 
 of the two rival monarchs,— the one in the north and the 
 other in the south,— had brought upon Ireland, appear to 
 have made, at length, an indelible impression on their 
 own minds, in the latter part of their lives. Men of little 
 minds frequently cast the blame of their conduct upon 
 others ; or, if they find no better means of clearing them- 
 selves, they endeavour, by specious re .sons or false pre- 
 tences, to justify their own proceedings. But this was not 
 the case with these two potentates. It is said that they 
 both became great penitents, and endeavoured to make 
 some compensation to the public, and especially to the 
 Churcn, for all the evils which their crimes had brought 
 upon their unhappy country. Mortogh, we are informed, 
 convened the estates of Munster at Cashel, after his 
 reconciliation with his powerful rival, and with tlieir con- 
 sent alienated for ever that city from the provincial crown, 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF IBELAND. 
 
 and appropuated it to the church * The subsequent part 
 of his reign was marked with the same solicitude for the 
 interests of the puUic : but being in a declining state of 
 health, he solemnly renounced the crown of Munster in 
 favour of his brother Dermod, A. D. 1116, and retired to 
 the monastery of St. Carthagh, at Lismore, where he died 
 a great penitent, in the month of March, 1119, and was 
 buried with much funeral pomp at KiUaloe.f His great 
 Ultonian rival survived him lut two years. The latter 
 having entered the monastery of St. Columba at Derry 
 died there in the seventy-third year of his age. 
 
 A- ^1 ^'Z^^^' ^^^^^'^^ *^e conclusion of a monarchy thus 
 . dmded between two rival princes, Turlogh, the young king 
 ot Connaught, surnamed the Great, had set himself in 
 opposition to them both ; and, on the death of the latter he 
 was almost without a competitor in his pretensions to the 
 sovereignty of the whole kingdom. Ho was not, however 
 left to enjoy that dignity without a considerable degree of 
 molestation and disturbance. It is reasonable to suppose 
 that he grasped at sovereign authority as soon as Donald 
 had departed this life, but he was so far from really posses- 
 sing the power of a monarch, that some writers reckon seven- 
 
 if 
 
 em hHf r rf T '" ^'''^'' of Leath Mogha, orthesouth- 
 e n half of Ireland, was held at Cashel, at which Murtogh 
 
 the nlustnou, bishop and chief senior of Ireland attended, and 
 on which occasion Murtogh O'Brien made such an offering as 
 king never made before him, namely, Cashel of the Kings, which 
 he bestowed on the devout, without the intervention of a laic 
 or an ecclesiastic, but for the use of th. religious of Ireland in 
 general."-./?«„aZs of the Four Masters, at A. 1101 
 t See Annals of Innisfallen at the respective dates. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEFORE RODERIC. 271 
 
 teen years of an interregnum, from the death of Mortogh 
 tiU the accession of Turlogh to the throne of Ireland. 
 
 Turlogh was the son of Roderic 0' Conor, the king of 
 Connaught, and was a descendant of the Hy-Brune* 
 branch of the Heremonian race. From this branch were 
 likewise descended the O'Flahertys and O'Maillys of 
 Connaught; the O'Reillys of Eastern BrefFny ; the 
 O'Fallons or Falloons of Clan-Madach ; the O'Flins, and 
 many other families of considerable repute. The cognate 
 branch of this illustrious family was the Hy-Fiaorasf of 
 Tir-Fiacra and Tir-Awly. Besides these names, so distin- 
 guished in Irish history, the Hy-Brunes are the ancestors 
 of the O'Conor Don, the O'Rourkes, who for a time obtained 
 the sovereignty of Connaught ; and the Mac Dermots, who 
 were hereditary mareschals of the western province. 
 
 Turlogh O'Conor was the first of his family, since the 
 reign of Eochy Maymedon in the fourth century, who, 
 from being king of Connaught had aspired to the mon- 
 archy. At a time when faction and turbulence carried 
 every thing before them, and when the estates were not 
 assembled at Tara, as the constitution required in order to 
 proceed to a regular election, the succession to the national 
 throne was generally determined by the sword. Connor 
 
 • " So called from Brian, the eldest son of Eochy Maymedon, 
 king of Ireland, A. D. 35 ""his Eochy was the father of Niall 
 the Great, and king of Conu^aght before his election to the 
 Teamorian throne."— 0' Con. Dissert., Note at p. 282. 
 
 \" So called fi. ' Fiacra, another son of Eochy Maymedon, 
 and the father of L iiiy, the last of our heathen monarchs, kiljed 
 in Lombardy, and buried in Relig-na-ri, near Cruachain "— 
 (yCon., ut supra, p. 282, 
 
272 
 
 M' 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAxVD. 
 
 O'Brien, called Slaparsalach, or of the dirtv mK. i, a 
 succeeded his father Dermod in ll4 nn .^^ lu' 
 Leath-Moeha • -inA h.- ' °" *^® *^'"o°e of 
 
 places in Munsl/rr »» Cashel, L.smore, and other 
 unoffendl! inh^,,;, ? ""'^y ^"'^i-S the innocent and 
 
 defeaTS ^T""' ™ ""' '" ^ disheartened by such a 
 berfollo. \ "ow received ; and, in the monti, o/Cem 
 
 tn^nr^'''-"^-^--^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 wrt-';,:*rf "'"''""' '"'"'™ ^"""8 that .i'n,e hi 
 he had i tew On ° r"""'"* ""^ »!>»-' "bjec. which 
 
 :n::rti^~^^ 
 
 princes enterpH ,'«*« • : several other iLugenian 
 
 f y^s, entered into a private treaty with Turln^i, t> x 
 notw..„.a„di„g hi., sncce. on thi, '^'l^^l/^l 
 
 .1 
 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEFORE RODERIC. 273 
 
 Dalgais, so long as they continued to be united, were still a 
 formidable body, and that it was therefore necessary to sow 
 the seeds of dissension among them. When Connor had 
 been proclaimed king of Leath-Mogha, his ne^l brothe.-, 
 Turlogh, succeeded to the throne of Thomond ; but, at the 
 instigation of the king of Connaught, Teige Gle O'Brien, 
 a younger brother, who treacherously seized his person, 
 had him conveyed to the camp of the Conacians, and 
 usurped the title and dignity of which he contrived to 
 deprive him. The Dalcassians were by this means divided ; 
 and, by supporting Donogh MacCarthy against his elder 
 brother CormaAj, the cunning Conacian prince sowed 
 similar dissepBicas among the Eugenians. 
 
 A. D. 1122. Sensible that in a time of anarchy and 
 public discord every thing is to be effected by promptitude 
 and intrepidity, Turlogh proceeded to compel the people of 
 Leinster, Meath, and Dublin, to give him hostages ; and, 
 in the following year, he entered Ulster at the head of a 
 gallant and well appointed army, and, having overrun 
 Tyrone and Tpconnel, he obliged the chiefs of these two 
 great houses, together with several others, to submit to his 
 power and to acknowledge his authority. 
 
 A. D. 1127. Having resolved to crush the power of 
 JTanster, Turlogh collected all his forces, and, in 1127, 
 crossed the Shannon at Athlone, and marched without 
 opposition as far as Cork. Here he was joined by Donogh 
 MacCarthy and other Eugenian princte, who became more 
 closely attached to his interest from his deposing Cormac, 
 the elder brother, and causing Donogh to be proclaimed 
 king of Desmond. Having thus placed Tiege O'Brien on 
 the throne of Thomond, and Donogh MacCarthy on that 
 

 274 
 
 HISTOBY OF IBELAND. 
 
 Of South Munster, he thereby circumscribed the power of 
 Connor, the king of Leath Mogha ; but the latter, after 
 taking such steps aa strengthened his own interest, marched 
 nis army into Desmond, recalled Cormac from the monas- 
 tery of Lismore, whither he had retired, restored him to hii 
 throne and drove Donogh and his party into Connaught. 
 A. D. 1132. Having established his authority at home 
 Connor nezt compelled the Lagenians to return to thei^ 
 duty and to acknowledge him as their chief; invaded 
 Connaught, and defeated the Coaacians in a battle fought 
 near Athlone, in which he was met by the collected foroes 
 ot tha province. Similar success attended his arms in 
 the following year; but having entered Connaught again 
 in some time after, with a determination to subdue Tur' 
 logh, or to perish in the attempt, a peace was concluded 
 between them, through the interference of the clergy in 
 which Connor was acknowledged as king of Leath-Mogha 
 and Turlogh king of Leath-Cuin, perhaps reserving t^^ 
 himself the title of Ard-Righ, or nominal monarch of the 
 country. 
 
 Connor, who was a prince of consid rable policy as well 
 a« ot invincible courage, did not dismiss his auxiliaries as 
 was usual on such occasions, but marched at their head 
 into Ulster, carrying on a war in that province rather of 
 depredation than of conquest.* Alarmed by his proceed- 
 ings, and fearing the loss of such things as were valuable 
 Uie people of Tyrone had their effects of this description' 
 deposited m the church of Derry, and other sacred edifices 
 as places of the greatest safety. The people of Tyrconnel 
 
 • O'Hal., Book XII., Chap. Y, 
 
THE IRISH MONABCHY BEIORE RODERIC. 275 
 
 had imitated their example, and lodged theirs in the 
 cathedral of Raphoe. But Connor had little regard for 
 the sanctity of such places; and, in his progress, he plun- 
 dered all the churches and monasteries as he passed along, 
 and appropriated all he could seize to his own use. Nor 
 did he cease to be the scourge and vexation of his country, 
 until death put an end t* his ambition and cupidity, 
 in the month of November, A. D. 1142, and thus freed 
 his great western rival from that incessant annoyance which 
 he occasioned in the kingdom. 
 
 But, notwithstanding Turlogh O'Conor was delivered 
 from a powerful antagonist by the death of Connor O'Brien, 
 Turlogh O'Brien, the brother and successor of the latter, 
 bid fair to be as troublesome to him as his predecessor had 
 been. Amidst all the opposition, however, which this 
 monarch experienced, he not only maintained his own 
 ground but generaUy subdued those princes and chieftains 
 that op'posed him. Dermod Mac Murchad, the king of 
 Leinster, a man whose name is associated with the total 
 disgolution of the Irish monarchy, and who was at this 
 time hated by his own subjects, was a prince whom he 
 frequently chastised : and indeed all the provinces felt the 
 weight of his resentment. But, towards the end of his 
 reign, he found in Mortogh O'Lachluin, prince of the 
 north Hy-Nialls, and grand-nephew of the late Donald 
 O'Lochluin, a powerful and influential antagonist. They 
 attacked each other with various success both by sea and 
 land ;* and, it is said, that the monarch's power was so 
 much humbled by this northern dynast, that he was obliged 
 
 • O'Con. Dissert., p. 257. 
 
276 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 to give him hostages as a security for his peaceable 
 behaviour, even six years before he died. The latter who 
 brought the remains of the Danes and the naval power of 
 North Britain to support him in the contest, was, however 
 defeated in the end. But the death of Turlogh put a 
 period to this collision of conflicting interests, and delivnred 
 into ^he hands of Mortogh the sovereignty of the greater 
 part of the whole island. 
 
 The true character of Turlogh O'Conor could be but 
 imperfectly exhibited in the distracted state of public 
 affairs during the whole period of his administration. He 
 was a prince of great abilities and resolution ; but whm it 
 IS. asserted that he died "in the highest estimation for 
 piety, * the intelligent reader will scarcely give credit to 
 the statement. No monarch ever experienced more of the 
 uncertainty and versatility of professed friends, nor defeated 
 the designs of his enemies with greater success. His 
 simulation and dissimulation were most unscrupulous 
 whenever he had any particular object to accomplish; and 
 such was the command which he possessed over his own 
 temper that he had always the advantage of his most 
 powerful opponents. 
 
 But Turlogh, thougl exhibiting failings of a very grave 
 character, was not without his virtues both as a man and 
 a ruler. As well as the distraction of the times would 
 permit, he reformed the civil constitution; and his efforts 
 for the good of the nation, under the most inauspicious 
 circumstances, like well-disposed shades in painting, threw 
 an additional lustre on the more ornamented parts' of his 
 
 • See O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 316. 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEEORE RODERIC. 
 
 277 
 
 character. His piety seems to have consisted, in repairing 
 the cathedral of Tuarn, erecting a spacious hospital in that 
 city ; and there, as well as in other places, evincing the 
 most liberal munificence to the church.* He also repaired 
 the public roads, threw two spacious bridges over the 
 Shannon, one at Athlone, and another at Ath-Crochta, 
 besides a bridge which he built across the river Suck. His 
 love of justice, and his inflexibility in punishing those who 
 dared to violate the laws, were so great, that when Roderic, 
 his own son, was imprisoned for some offence, he refused 
 to release him for the course of a year ; and, even then, 
 it required the united influence of some of the most 
 distinguished ecclesiastics to prevail upon him to exercise 
 his royal clemency in the liberation of the delinquent. In 
 short, had this prince been placed under less inauspicious 
 circumstances, or had he been born two or three centuries 
 earlier, his talents would have raised him to an equality 
 with the most distinguished monarch that ever ruled the 
 Irish nation ; . nd then, perhaps, he might have been 
 entitled, with some degree of justice," Turloghthe Great." 
 A. D. 1156. The change of circumstances which so 
 considerably augmented Mortogh's power, seemed to promise 
 the restoration of the Hy-Niall family to the sovereignty 
 of Ireland ; but the prevalence of faction, and the contu- 
 macy of those who were sensible that their own influence 
 ^ould be abridged by the existence of a regular monarchy. 
 
 • " But say, ye casuists, did he, or his formidable rival, 
 Connor O'Brien, really merit this epithet (pious) so liberally 
 bestowed on both ? Will the erecting of a few churches and 
 monasteries atone for the immature death of thousands, and the 
 ruin of as many more ?"— O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 316. 
 
278 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 > U 
 
 disappointed the expectations of such as had the real 
 interests of their country at heart. Perhaps the impetu- 
 osity of this prince, as well as the advice of evil counsel- 
 lors, had an extensive influence in producing this effect. 
 Like a woman of fierce vindictive hate who finds her 
 affections first a matter of speculation and subsequently of 
 outrage, this monarch was resolved to humble and punish 
 those princes, who had acted a double part towards him- 
 self during the lifetime of his Conacian antagonist A 
 short time, therefore after the death of his rival, he was 
 to be seen marching his army in triumph through different 
 territories, and receiving the submission of their respective 
 chiefs. In the year after his assumption of the monarchy 
 having first overrun Ulster, Meath, and Leinster he' 
 entered Munster, encamped before Limerick, and obliged 
 the princes of both Munsters, as well as the people of 
 that city, to do him homage, and to deliver him hostages 
 for their future fidelity. 
 
 The only prince of distinction who was able te dispute 
 his authority, or to give him any disturbance, was Roderic 
 Conor, the son of Turlogh the Great, who had succeeded 
 his father on the Conacian throne, and now bid defiance 
 to the power that Mortogh had assumed. Having invaded 
 the monarch's own territory of Tyrone, he ravaged the 
 whole country, and laid waste the most fruitful and 
 cultivated places in that district, as indifferent to the 
 miseries wliich he was then creating as is the dancing 
 brook to the overshadowing willow. In the same manner 
 he visited Munster, Leinster, and Meath, receiving hos- 
 tages from their princes, and trampling upon the rights and 
 liberties of the people. Meanwhile Mortogh was by no 
 
THE IRISH MONARCHY BEFORE RODERIC. 279 
 
 means inactive, either in giving opposition to the king of 
 Connaught, or in subduing those princes who refused to 
 acknowledge his authority. Every province in Ireland, 
 and almost every considerable territory, was visited by the 
 royal army, and the most signal success generally attended 
 Mortogh's standard. Even Roderic himself felt the 
 effects of his power upon some occasions ; and, in 1162, 
 was obliged to submit to the terms of a peace which were 
 highly honourable to the monarch. Had the calm which 
 ensued for a short time been real, or the result of measures 
 which could promise its permanence, it could not have 
 failed to give pleasure to all the lovers of their country ; 
 and as the rainbow glows with the greatest beauty when 
 appearing on the darkest cloud, so the disastrous circum- 
 stances which had immediately preceded it would have had 
 a tendency to set it off to the greater advant^e. But 
 this delusive peace was rather like that listless languor 
 which sometimes ensues when the animal functions are 
 clogged, and the powers of nature cease to act with their 
 accustomed energy • and subsequent events soon ruffled 
 the stillness of this repose, and scenes of blood marked 
 the conclusion of the reign of this impetuous and injudi- 
 cious monarch. 
 
 Intoxicated with success, and stimulated by the advice 
 of evil counsellors, on a slight offence given him by Eochy, 
 an Ultonian prince, Mortogh entered his dominions with 
 an armed force, committing various depredations amongst 
 his people, and carried away captive many of his vassals. 
 A peace, however, through the mediation of the successor 
 of St. Patrick in the see of Armagh, and the prince of 
 Orgial, was concluded between the mona'ioh and this 
 
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 280 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 , dy „a.t ; and was «obmnly ratified by oath in the presence of 
 that prelate and other witnesses. But the very next year 
 from what motive it is impossible to ascertain, having seked 
 upon Eochy, Mortogh caused his eyes to be' put ouHnd 
 three of his chief confidants to be assassinated. Enra^^d 
 at so flagrant a violation of public faith, the king of 
 Orgial, who had been one of the guarantees of the peace 
 coUected all his forces, rushed suddenly into Tyrone and 
 m the eng^ement which ensued, and which the Irish 
 annalists call the battle of Litterluin, defeated the few 
 tumultuary troops which Mortogh was able to collect on 
 such a surprise, and the monarch himself was found buried 
 under heaps of his enemies. 
 
 A. D. 1166. Thus, after a reign of ten years, Mortogh, 
 fell a sacnfice to the vengeance of a much-injured peoj^e 
 and the Hy-Niall interest having sunk with him to rise no 
 more, a way was opened to Koderic O'Conor to ascend the 
 sovereign throne, which was occupied but a short time when 
 the Irish monarchy itself arrived at its final dissolution 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Irish Church from the Danish Invasion 
 
 TILL the accession OP RODERICK O'CONOR. 
 
 The Danish invasion proved highly detrimental to the 
 interests of the Irish Church, and the subsequent events 
 conaected with the conversion of the invaders to Christian- 
 ity ultimately led to the final subjugation of its hierarchy, 
 to the dominion and authority of the Roman pontiff. It 
 was impossible that any country should have been invaded 
 by such barbarous and uncivilized enemies, its schools of 
 learning destroyed, and its most eminent ecclesiastics 
 obliged either to conceal themselves in various secluded 
 retreats or to seek an asylum in foreign lands, without feeling 
 the deteriorating effects of such a visitation. Such was the 
 vast emigration of learned men from Ireland which took 
 place in the ninth century, that almost every country in 
 Europe began to reap immediate benefits from it. " Why 
 should I mention Ireland," says Eric of Auxerre, " almost 
 the whole nation, despising the dangers of the sea, resort to 
 our coasts with a numerous train of philosophers, of whom 
 the most learned enjoin themselves a voluntary exile, to be 
 in the service of our most sagacious Solomon."* 
 
 * " Quid Eiberniam memorem, ccntempto pelagi discrimine, 
 pene totam, cum grege philosophorum, ad litora nostra migran- 
 tem ? Quorum qu'squis peritior est ultro sibi indicit exilium, ut 
 Solomoni sapientissimo famuletur ad rotum." — Prce/at. Act. S. 
 German, 
 
ijM. 
 
 ?• I 
 
 -T^ff^, it ■ ] 
 
 282 
 
 ,HISTORy OP IRELAND. 
 
 Nor was it merely in the diflfusion oi" learning and 
 religion that they conferred benefits on those countries that 
 afforded them an aaylum : but as a French historian 
 observes, the face of the country where they took up their 
 abode was changed by the very labour of their hands. " It 
 must be acknowledged." says he, « that these crowds of 
 holy men were highly useful to France, considered merely 
 in a temporal light. For the long incu^iiions of the bar- 
 barians having quite desolated the country, it was still in 
 many places covered with woods and thickets, and the low 
 grounds with marshes. These pious religious, who devoted 
 themselves to the service of God, not to a life of indolence, 
 laboured with their own hands to grub up, to reclaim, to 
 till, to plant, and to build, not so much for themselves, 
 who Uved with great frugality, but to feed and cherish the 
 poor; insomuch, that uncultivated and frightful deserts 
 soon became agreeable and fruitful dwellings. The heavens 
 seemed to favour the soil reclaimed and cultivated by 
 hands so pure and disinterested. I shall say nothing of 
 their having preserved almost all that remains of the 
 hi.'tory of those times."* 
 
 Amongst the numerous lettered emigrants of this age 
 whose names have been transmitted to posterity by foreign 
 writers, as well as by their own countrymen, Johannes 
 Scotus Erigena was the most prominently celebrated. He 
 was born some time in the early part of the ninth century, 
 and was a most learned and accomplished scholar before 
 he fled to France, in 846, t<-gether with some of his coun- 
 trymen wlio had escaped the fury of the Danes at that 
 
 • Mezer, Hist. d« la France, Tom. I., p. 117. 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 283 
 
 calamitous period. Of this distinguisLed and eminent 
 man, a well knovm ecclesin^tical historian observes : " The 
 philosophy a* i logic that were taught in the European 
 schools in the ninth century, scarcely deserved such honour- 
 able titles, and were little better than an empty jargon. 
 There were, however, to be found in various places, parti- 
 cularly among the Irish, men of acute parte and esiensivc 
 knowledge who werej perfectly well entitled to the appella- 
 tion of philosophers. The chief of these was Johannes 
 Scotus Erigena, a native of Ireland, the friend and com- 
 panion of Charles the Bald. Scotus was endowed with an 
 excellent and truly superior geniuSj and was considerably 
 versed both in Greek and Latin erudition. He expl, i ncd to 
 his disciples the philosophy of Aristotle, for which he was 
 singularly well qualified by his thorough knowledge of the 
 Greek language : but as his genius was too bold and aspi- 
 ring to confine itself to the authority and decisions of the 
 Stagyrite, he pushed his philosophical researches yet fur- 
 ther, dared to think for himself, and ventured to pursue 
 truth without any other guide than his own reason. We 
 have extant, of his composition, five Books concerning the 
 divisions of nature, an intricate and subtle production in 
 which the causes and principles of ail things are investi- 
 gated with a considerable degree of sagacity, and in which 
 also the precepts of Christianity are allegorically explained ; 
 yet in such a manner as to show, that their ultimate end 
 is the uuion of the soul with the Supreme Being. He was 
 the first who blended the scholastic theology with the 
 mystic, and formed them into one system."* 
 
 • Mosheim'a Eccles. Hist., Cent. IX. 
 
284 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 m ' ■! 
 
 Scotus, whoso character was acknowleged to be excellent 
 even by his enemies, was admitted to the friendship of 
 Charles the Bald upon account of his various and 
 manifold accomplishments. This prince was so much 
 pleased with his learning, eloquence, and wit, that he kept 
 him constantly with himself, and honoured him with a 
 place at his own tabic-. The works attributed to 
 Dionysius the Areopagite had in that age excited much 
 interest amongst the French, owing to an opinion which 
 thBn prevailed th.t he was the same as St. Denis, the first 
 Bishop of Paris. As Scotus was well skilled in the Greek 
 language, he was commissioned by the king to translate 
 these works into Latin , a task which he performed with 
 such ability and accuracy as to give great satisfaction to his 
 royal paferon, to whom he dedicated the performance.* 
 Of this work, Anastatius, Librarian of the Koman see, 
 about seven years after its publication, in a letter written 
 to the king, remarks:—" It is wonderful how that bar- 
 barousf man, who, placed at the extremity of the world, 
 might, in proportion as he was remote from the rest of 
 mankind, be supposed to be unac(iuainted with other 
 languages, was able to comprehend such deep things an» 
 to render them in another tongue. I mean John the 
 Scotigena, whom I have heard spoken of as a holy man in 
 every respeet. But he has greatly diminished the advantage 
 that might be derived from such an undertaking, having 
 been over-cautious in giving word for word— which! think 
 
 • Usser. Ep. Hib. Sjllog., Nos. 22, 23. 
 
 t Usser. Ibid., No. 24 -With tho most coiaummate arrogance 
 It was usual for Roman writers in ifcat age, to denominate 
 every man barbarous who was not a Greek or Roman. 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 285 
 
 he had no other reason for than that, as he vf.ia an humble 
 man, he did not presume to deviate from the precise 
 meaning of the words, lest he might in any wise injure 
 the truth of the text."' 
 
 In the meantime a question in polemic Divinity which 
 iiad before disturbed the peace of the Church, respecting 
 predestination and the efficacy of divine grace, was.revived 
 in France by the writings of a monk named Godescalcus ; 
 and, after various disputants had appeared in the field, 
 Hincmar, the Archbishop of Rheims, and Pardulus, the 
 Bishop of Laon, applied to Scotus to draw up a treatise 
 upon this subject. With this request he complied, and 
 some time before the year 852, he published his work in 
 nineteen chapters. In this book, which he dedicated to 
 the two prelates who had induced him to undertake the 
 task, he professed to follow closely the doctrine of the most 
 celebrated of the Fathers, but notwithstanding this pro- 
 fession, it was condemned by the tl.lrd council of Valence, 
 about three years after its publication, and represented by 
 the divines of that synod as being replete with impertinent 
 syllogisms, containing inventions of the Devil rather than 
 any proposition of faith.* It was also warmly attacked by 
 several of the predestinarians, amongst whom the names of 
 Prudentius, Bishop of Troyes, and Florus, a Deacon of 
 the Church of Lyons, were the more conspicuous.f 
 
 * "In quibus commentnm diaboli potius quam arguraentum 
 aliquod fidei deprehenditur."— i^eur. Lib. XLIX. Sect. 33. 
 
 t " In their answers, they charge Scotus with the doctrines of 
 Pelagius ; and it would seem by them, as if his writings were 
 not only condsmned, but he himself confined for publishing them. 
 (yHal., Vol. III., p. 194. 
 
286 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 mi 
 
 i j 
 
 
 Nor were the subsequent publications which issued from 
 the pen of Scotus less offensive to some of his theological 
 opponents than this treatise on the doctrine of predestina- 
 tion. During the ninth century a controversy respecting 
 the Eucharist engaged the attention and exercised the 
 ingenuity of some of the most eminent scholars in France. 
 Haimo, Bishop of Halberstad, and hia followers maintained 
 that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper contained neither 
 sign nor mystery, inasmuch as the sign was necessarily 
 excluded by the reality. This argument, which was the 
 legitimate offspring of the doctrine of the corporal pres- 
 ence, did not satisfy the minds of others; and Hincmar, 
 Paschasius, and some other divines of more moderate 
 views, admitted both the sign and the reality; whilst a 
 third party, with Bertramn, or Katramn, a monk of 
 Corbie, at their head, contended for a triple distinction of 
 the body of Christ ;* namely, his natural body which was 
 born of the Virgin, his sacramental body contained in the 
 Eucharist, and his mystical body the Church. In the 
 disputes which were carried on by these subtle theologians, 
 each party in turn made frequent appeals to the king ; and 
 it was probably owing to this circumstance that Scotus was 
 induced to involve himself in the controversy. As his 
 Book on the Eucharist is not now extant, it is impossible 
 to say with certainty what were the exact shades of opinion 
 advanced by the author, but certain i is, they were 
 opposed to the doctrine of the corporal presence, or that 
 which is called in more modern times transubstantiation.f 
 
 • LiDgard's Antiq. of the Anglo^axon Church, p. 496. 
 t Ascelin, who lired in the eleventh centurj, and who had 
 read his treatise, says, that "like a poisoner, he presented some 
 
•<l'"^' 
 
 THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 287 
 
 Iff 
 
 The intrepidity with which Scotus supported his opinions 
 on this question against so many p^ ;<rerful pnd influential 
 opponents evinces a degree of moral courage which few 
 men have possessed, even under more favourable ci'-cum- 
 stanoes. Not only had his fo/mer works been condfciuned 
 by two councils and a pope, but his t-anslation of the 
 works of Dionysius, though rendered so literally as to 
 incur censure, was exposed to the same suspicion and 
 animadversion. It is said that Nicholas, the Roman 
 pontiff wrote to his royal patron aboi;t this performance, 
 complaining that the author, though a msm of erudition, 
 was suspected strongly of heterodoxy ; and that therefore 
 the book should have been sent to him, for ids approbatitjn 
 before it was published :* but what action the king took 
 inconsequence of this letter is not known with certainty. 
 
 When, or in what manner Scotus died is not authenti- 
 cally recorded:! but whilst his great erudition reflected 
 honour upon his native country, and his knowledge not 
 only of the Greek and Latin, but also of the Oriental 
 languages, proved the flourishing state of l(itters am igst 
 the Ir'ah in that age, his great humility ana moral circum- 
 spection extorted even from his enemies the reluctant 
 acknowledgment that he was a man of sterling worth and 
 exemplary piety. Other countries have claimed the honour 
 
 things appareutly sweet, but which would produce death ; and 
 thit, though he alleged passages of the Fathers, he spoiled them 
 by his glosses." — Lanigan'$ Ecclet. Hist., Vol. III., Chap. XXI., 
 Note 93. 
 
 • Spottiawoode's Church History. 
 
 t O'Halloran says " he returned to Ireland in 864, and died 
 there in 874 ;" but upon what'authority we know not. 
 
288 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 of his l)irtli,* but that he was a native of Ireland hia 
 name sufficienly evinces, and the testimony of foreigners 
 who ):new him personally, puts it beyond all doubt. His 
 works are numerous ; for besides those already mentioned 
 he translated the Greek Scholia of St. Maximus on difficult 
 passages of Gregory Nazianzen ; and is likewise considered 
 to have been the author of a tract upon the differences and 
 agreements of the Greek and Latin'Verbs.f 
 
 The number of learned ecclesiastics who flocked from 
 Ireland to the continent of Europe in this age, and their 
 obvious dissent from those churches that were under the 
 jurisdiction of ihe Roman pontiff, could not fail to excite 
 the apprehensions of those who in more modern times 
 would be denominated the Ultramontane party ; and in 
 the year 813, a decree was passed, in a council held at 
 Chalons-sur-Saone, forbidding certain Irishmen who gave 
 themselves out to be Bishops, to ordain priests or deacons 
 without the consent of the Ordinary.]: Nor was this alarm 
 confined to one particular locality, but it extended itself to 
 almost every place to which the Irish emigrants had direc- 
 ted their course. So early as the latter part of the seventh 
 century, Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, had decreed 
 that they who were consecrated by Irish or British 
 bishops, should be consecrated anew by a Catholic one; 
 and in the year 816, the council of Cealc-hy ordained 
 '• that none of the Irish extraction" should be permitted to 
 usurp to himself the sacred ministry in any one's diocese, 
 nor should he be allowed to touch any thing which belonged 
 
 * See Led. Ant,, pp. 176, 177. 
 t Usser, Ep. Hib. Sjllog., No. XXIII. 
 t Fleur, Hist. Eccles., Lib. XL VI. Sect. 5. 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 289 
 
 to those of the holy order ; that the laity should not receive 
 anything from him in Baptism, or in the celebration of 
 the mass, nor were such priests to administer the Eucharist 
 to the people, ** because" say the Council, " we are not 
 certain how, or by whom they were ordained. We know 
 it is enjoined in the canons, that no bishop, or presbyter, 
 invade the parish of another without the bishop's consent ; 
 so much the rather should we refuse to receive the sacred 
 ministrations from other nations, where there is no such 
 order as that of metropolitans, nor any rcg<ird paid to the 
 other orders." * 
 
 In England, it appears, an objection was raised to the 
 validity of Irish orders, because the hierarchy of the 
 country had no metropolitans, nor was it in conformity 
 with the Roman model, with its incidental titles and 
 appendages. But in France, other ground was taken, as 
 it was said that the ordinations performed in that country 
 by the Irish were irr«^lar and most simoniacal : the 
 latter calumny, however propagated only by their interested 
 detractors, is sufficiently silenced by an appeal to the 
 character of the eminent divines and indefatigable mission- 
 aries who have been thus so recklessly traduced. 
 
 The conversion of the Danes to Christianity, about the 
 middle of the tenth century, gave the first effectual stroke 
 to the independence and purity of the ancient Church of 
 Ireland. Before the invasion of these foreigners, she had 
 nobly adhered to the doctrines and discipline which had 
 been established in that country by St. Patrick and his 
 successors. The plausible fictions which ultimately super- 
 
 • Led. Ant., p. 393. 
 
290 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 seded them wore unknown in Ireland under its ancient 
 polity, and continued to be so in the remoter diatricts till, 
 by the influence of priestly intrigue and the united policy 
 of England and Rome, a complete spiritual revolution was 
 effected at a subsequent period. 
 
 The fir^t of the Scandinavian settlers that, in any great 
 number, embraced the Christian faith were those of Dublin ; 
 but it does not appear that their change of profession made 
 any alteration in their predatory habita, or their predi- 
 lection for murder and robbery * The perpetual wars 
 excited by these barbarians had been as inimical t»> literary 
 repose as they had been destructive of literary memorials ; 
 and, instead of joining with the natives, after their conver- 
 sion, to revive those institutions which their remorse- 
 less fury had nearly annihilated, they were the means of 
 subverting, in part, the independence of the Irish Church, 
 and introducing the Benedictine order,t with its usual 
 concomitants of superstition and ignorance. 
 
 In the eleventh century these strangers had kings in 
 almost every part of the island. Sitrio, the king of Dublin, 
 erected a see witb^n the walls of that city, over which 
 Donatus was appointed to preside as their first bishcp.J 
 The mutual hostilities, which had been continually carried 
 on between the native Irish and these foreigners, became a 
 
 ♦ See Ware. Ant., C. XXIV. 
 
 t Led. Ant., p. 427. 
 
 t The first bishop of Dublin wai called Dunan, or perhaps 
 Donogh, which was Latinized into Donates. Doctor Ledwich 
 says he was a Dane. (Ant. Ire., p. 428.) But judging from his 
 name, he was most probably an Irishman.— See Lanigan, Vol 
 III., p. 433, Note 135. 
 
THE CHITRCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 291 
 
 l»!»rrier in any friendly jntercouse with each other afterwards 
 in religious matters : and, it is said, that this first prolate 
 in the sec of Dublin was oonsocrated by the archbishop of 
 Canterbury and not by any of the bishops of the Irish 
 Church. It is certain, however, that the city of Dublin 
 received the episcopal dignity from the English primate ;* 
 and thus was a church erected in the island under 
 the immediate jurisdiction of that dignified ecclesiastic, 
 iind without any connexion with the Patrician hierarchy so 
 long established amongst the Irish people. To Donatus 
 was granted by this Danish prince the site on which Christ's 
 Church Cathedral now stands, for the erection of that 
 sacred edifice : lands were also appropriated for its endow- 
 inent,f and an episcopal residence was built adjoining to it, 
 on the spot where the old " Four Courts" formerly stood, 
 together with the chapel of St. Michael in the same neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 On the death of Donatus,! the clergy and people of 
 Dublin elected a priest named Patrick as his successor, 
 and recommended him to Lanfranc, the archbishop of 
 Canterbury, for consecration. In their letter of recom- 
 mendation, in which they "offec due obedience" " to the 
 venerable metropolitan of the holy church of Canterbury," 
 they style Dublin, "the metropolis of the island of 
 Ireland ; " for what reason it is difficult to determine, as 
 
 • " Anteceasorum enim vestrorum magiaterio eemper nostros 
 libenter subdimus a quo recordamur nostros accepisse dignitatem 
 ecclesiasticam."— t/s»er, Syllog., p. 100, 
 
 t Lan., Vol. III., p. 434. 
 
 X A. D. 1074. See Ware's Bishops. 
 
292 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the new see was confined to the city, its bishops having 
 no power except over the Danes of Dublin, and consequently 
 no jurisdiction over any portion of the Irish bishops. 
 Hitherto the successor of St. Patrick in the see of Armagh 
 had been considered the primus amongst the bishops of 
 Ireland, but they had no metropolitan in the strict sense of 
 the word ; for, as we have already seen, the English objected 
 to their orders on that account * But the bishops of Armao-h 
 had continued the unjustifiable custom of hereditary succes- 
 sion, had refused to submit to the authority of the canon law, 
 andhadevincea a disposition to maintain the independence 
 of the Irish Church, all which must have been very offensive 
 to the English primate, who was a Norman by birth and a 
 rigid disciplinarian ; he therefore hailed with delight this 
 opportunity of humbling the Armachian prelates for their 
 long continued obstinacy, by acknowledging the metro- 
 political dignity to belong to another who was likely to be 
 more obsequious to his wishes in chaining the Irish Church 
 to the foot of the papal throne. 
 
 The consecration of the new bishop of Dublin, which 
 took place in St. Paul's Church, London, was preceded 
 by a profession of obedience, in which the spiritual supe- 
 riority of the English primate was explicitly acknowledged. 
 It was in the following form :— " Whoever presides over 
 others ought not to scorn to be subject to others, but rather 
 make it his study to humbly render, in God's name, to his 
 superiors the obedience which he expects from those, who 
 are placed under him. On this accounc, I, Patrick, elected 
 prolate to govern Dublin the metropolis of Ireland, do, 
 
 * Sec Led. Ant. Ire., p. 393. 
 
THE CHTKCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION 293 
 
 revcrened Father Lanfranc, primate of the Britons, and 
 archbishop of the holy Church of Canterbury, offer thee 
 this charter of my profession ; and I promise to obey thee 
 and thy successors in all things appertaining to the Chris- 
 tian religion." 
 
 By this profession of obedience the new bishop of 
 Dublin became a suffragan of the see of Canterbury ; and 
 on his icturn to Ireland, Lanfranc gave him a written 
 testimonial of his consecration, together with two private 
 letters, one addressed to Gothric, sometimes called Godred 
 Mac Regnal, in which he Styles him " the glorious king of 
 Ireland ; " and another to Turlogh, ** the magnificent king 
 of Ireland." In his letter to the former, this prelate 
 adverts to some customs wh^ch, it is probable, still pre- 
 vailed amongst the foreigners, notwithstanding their 
 nominal profession of the Christian religion, and which he 
 desires that prince to correct, such as the marriage of 
 women too near akin either by affinity or cunsanguinity, 
 the separation of wives from their lawful husbands,* and 
 also the exchange of wives, which they sometimes prac- 
 tised. 
 
 A similar complaint is reiterated m his letter to Turlogh, 
 but this is no proof that these practices prevailed amongst 
 the native Irish. Although Gothric is called king, he 
 was at that time a vassrl to the monarch, having submitted 
 to him as his liege sovereign in 1073 ; and notwithstanding 
 Lanfranc speaks of these evils as existing jp Turlogh's 
 dominions, it is most probable he alluded to that part of 
 the kingdom which was held by Gothric under him.f 
 
 * Vide Usaer. Syllog., p. 10. 
 tJSee^Lanigan, ut tupra, p. 476. 
 
294 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 With respect to marriages contracted within the pro- 
 hibited degrees of affinity or consanguinity, it may be 
 observed that the Irish Church had no rule of ndth and 
 practice but ^e written word of Grod.* Her members 
 therefore paid no attention to those prohibitions that were 
 contained merely in the canon law, but contented them- 
 selves with the precepts of the Divine law on this subject 
 ae laid down in tho eighteenth chapter of Leviticus. 
 This was therefore the ground of Lanfranc's chaise against 
 the Irish <*'prgy respecting their uncanonical marriages. 
 
 Other tioes of the Irish, of which the Archbishop 
 complains n. these letters, were such as no enlighteued 
 divine, even of 'he Church of Kome, could absolutely 
 condemn. He says that bishops were c<mseorated by but 
 one, and that children were baptized without chrism ; and 
 he represents these as contrary to evangelical and apostolical 
 authority as well as repugnant to the injunctions of the 
 sacred canons. But he overlooked the circumstance that 
 Augustine, his predecessor, notwithstanding the presence 
 of at least three prelates was required at the consecration 
 of a bishop, had been exempted from this obligation by 
 Gregory his patron, and permitted by him to perform the 
 ceremony alone without any assistants. It is true, that 
 this relaxation of the discipline of the Church was to 
 
 ! 
 
 • In the Irish canon entitled, " Of consanguinity in marriage," 
 which is the 29lh of what is denominated the Synod of St. Patrick, 
 we have these words : Intelligite quid l«x loquitur, non minuc nee 
 plus. "Understand what the law says, not less nor more." 
 This was the uniform language of all the i' ish ecclesiastics oo 
 every other subiect. 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 
 
 295 
 
 cease with the circumstances which rendered it necossaiy,* 
 but it was an acknowledgement that, even in the opinion' 
 of that pontic, consecration by but one bishop was perfectly 
 valid. With respect to the baptism of children without 
 chrism, it is too puerile a subject to require any observa- 
 tions. 
 
 In order to remedy these supposed evils, Lanfranc 
 advises Turl(^h to assemble a synod of his bishops and 
 clergy, at which he and his nobles might attend,t that 
 they might correct these irr^ularities, as well as put a 
 stop to all others that were in opposition to the sacred laws 
 of the Church. 
 
 The insinuating address and artful manner of this crafty 
 prelate soon produced the desired effect upon some of the 
 clergy of Ireland. Many of them became dissatisfied with 
 the simplicity and unostentatious observances of their 
 mother church, and were disposed to make some innova- 
 tions on her rituals and discipline ; whilst others, probably 
 terrified by the success of the Normans against their 
 English neighbours, judged it better on this occasion to 
 endeavour the conciliate a fo:'midable power than to pro- 
 voke a contest in which their own success must have 
 proved extremely doubtful. Influenced therefore by a 
 variety of motives, they are said,J towards the beginning 
 of the twelfth century, to have admitted Giselbert, or 
 Gilbert, the bishop of Limerick as legate f.om the Ro^an 
 pontiff. 
 
 •* Bed. Hist., Lib. I., Cap. XXVII. ; Ling. Ant., p. 230.. 
 
 t Usser. Syllog., p. 72. 
 
 I S. Bernard. Yit. Maiacb, 1693. 
 
296 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 No prelate could have posseased the legatine authority who 
 waa better qualified to push forward the objeot of hia misrion 
 than this Ostman divine. He had become acquainted at 
 Bouen, with Anselm,* who succeeded Lanfr&nc, and having 
 imbibed the principles of tbat well-known ecclesiastic, he 
 soon proved himpelf to be the obsequious instrument of 
 the court of Borne. There is a small tract preserved by 
 Archbishop Usher, which was written by Giselbert for the 
 use of the Irish, and obviously desi^oied to give them a 
 relish for the Romish hierarchy, as well as to instruct them 
 in the principles upon which it was constructed. This 
 production was accompanied by an allegorical drawing 
 formed of three arches. The highest was co\ered with 
 birds, representing the angels in heaven ; the middle, or 
 this world, was filled With men ; and the lowest, or infernal 
 r^on, was crowded with animals and reptiles, types of its 
 inhabitants. He likewise describes the Church under the 
 form of a pyramid. The base represents the laity, then 
 succeed monks and the lowest clerical orders j their head is 
 the priest. Above him are bishops, archbishops, and pri- 
 mates ; and the pope is seated upon the apex, as indicative 
 of his supremacy over the whole. There is some ingenuity 
 in tJiis design ; but perhaps, as he wanted to establish the 
 principles of the Roman hierarchy, it would have been 
 more expressive of what he intended had he inverted the 
 order of his materials, and placed the pontiff in the position 
 which he assigned to the laity, making him the basis or 
 foundation upon which the superstructure rested. 
 
 In the struggle which was carried on in England 
 
 iii. 
 
 * Uaaer. b^vilog., p. 88. 
 
 iif 
 
' THE CmmCH APTBR THB DANISH INVASION. 297 
 
 between the king and the archbishop of Canterbury about 
 the right of investitures, the Church having been ultimately 
 successful * the Bishop of Limerick is said to have sent a 
 present of twenty-five pearls to Anaelm as the champion 
 of their common order, and to have congratulated him 
 xipon that criminal triumph which he had obtained over 
 his sovereign and the laws of his country.f Encouraged by 
 this token of the good will of such an influential prelate as 
 the Bishop of Limerick, and having his hopes exciied by 
 the admission of a papal legate into Ireland, the English 
 primate in the following year addressed a letter to his 
 reverend fellow-bishops in Ireland, in which he exhorts 
 them to vigilance and severity in ecclesiastical discipline, 
 and tells them that if any disputes respecting the consecration 
 of bishops or other causes could not be settled canonically 
 among themselves, to have the matter brought before him 
 for decision. 
 
 This apparent vant cf humility and modesty, on the 
 part of the English archbishop, was not so culpable as 
 some might be disposed *o imagine, since the prerogatives 
 of the Irish monarchy had been virtually and voluntarily 
 compromised, when Turlogh recommended to that prelate 
 a bishop for the new see of Dublin.^ Nor had his son 
 Mortogh, who succeeded him, acted a more dignified tnd 
 independent part when he joined his nobility and clergy in 
 a similar line of conduct by sending Malchus to be con- 
 secrated at Canterbury. Embroiled not only in family 
 
 • Hume's Hist, of Bng., Chap. VI. 
 
 t A. D. 1094. ; Usser. SjUog. p. 88. ; Led. Ant., p. 435. 
 
 1 Dc-e liarns a-- jJvr.C: . ■-■ • -=— r 
 
298 
 
 HISTORY OP IRBLAND. 
 
 disputes, but in contentions with provincial kings, the 
 monarch hoped fo" assictancc from England, and therefore 
 felt disposed to conciliate every agent in that country that 
 he thought might be serviceable to his erase. Anselm, 
 who knew well how to take advantage of every circumstance 
 in his own favour, perceiving that an opportunity now 
 presented itself for the augmentation of his power, was 
 resolved to embrace it with that adroitness which was 
 peculiar to his character ; and for the purpose of accom- 
 plishing this object, he addressed two epistles to the 
 monarch, in which he applies the flr ttering appellation of 
 Lis "glorious sou and most beloved in God."* His com- 
 plaints respecting the uncanonical state of the Irish Church 
 were similar to those to which Lanfranc, his predecessor, 
 had formerly given utterance ; and he advises Mortogh to 
 call a council in which ecclesiastical matters might undergo 
 the necessary revision and amendment. 
 
 In compliance with this expressed desire of the arch- 
 bishop, the Irish monarch, A. D. 1111, assembled a council 
 of the nobility and clergy at a place called Fiadh-^ngusa; 
 or Angus's Grove, in Meath, where, according to the 
 Chronicon Scotorum, fifty-eight bishops, three hundred 
 and seventeen priests, and sixty deacons, with several othei.. 
 who filled the inferior oflBces of the church, assembled. As 
 this was the first instance that had ever occurred in which 
 a papal legate was permitted to preside over a council of 
 Irish bishops ; and as the monarch and chiefs of the knd 
 were tc be in attendance, the conflux of clergy and others 
 was probably the greater. O'Halloran, who affects to think 
 
 • " Qlortoie fili et in Deo carisaime."— t/»»«r. Syllof, p. 98. 
 
m 
 
 THE CHURCH AFTER TtiE DANISH INVASION. 299 
 
 that a reformation was greatly "wanted, gives us a summary 
 of the supposed evils that prevailed in the country, which 
 this council was designed to correct; and as the more 
 impartial mode of exhibiting their real nature, we shall 
 make our statement in his own words ;* — 
 
 " First, it is certain," says he, " that bishops were 
 multiplied amongst us at the will of the metropolitan,! and 
 often without any fixed places of residence : secondly, 
 the power of nominating bishops to certain dioceses was 
 reserved to certain royal and noble families, in different 
 parts of the kingdom, and to them only : thirdly, though 
 the Church of Ireland was in exact conformity with that of 
 Rome, in the doctrines of fiith,J and submitted to her 
 decisions in many instances of discipline, as in the tonsure, 
 the celebrating of Easter, &c., yet it does not appear that 
 the popes ever enjoyed any direct power or authority what- 
 ever over that church. We have seen briefs and letters 
 directed to the Irish bishops ; but I cannot find that they 
 deemed themselves schismatics,§ when they thought fit to 
 
 • O'Hal., Vol. III., pp. 300, 301. 
 
 f There were no Metropolitans in the Irish Ghnrch before this 
 time ; and as we hare already seen, hj the decision of the conn- 
 cil of Cealc-hythe, the English had objected to the orders of the 
 Irish clergy on that ground. 
 
 i This is more than apocryphal. " Thb thrbi Chapters" 
 were altogether doctrinal, and yet the Irish Church opposed most 
 strenuously the decisions of Rome on the doctrines which they 
 contained. ^ 
 
 § It is certain the Irish bishops did not consider thenuelves 
 schismatics when they refused to obey the Roman pontiff, 
 bficanaa they knew he had no iicriptural or legitimate anthority 
 over them. But what did the popes of those times think of their 
 conduct ? Did they consider them schismatics or not ? 
 
300 
 
 HISTOEY OF IRBLANOi 
 
 if 
 
 ir 
 
 refuse'the decisions of Rome, as they did for more tlian two 
 centuries with respect to the f<fast of Easter: — fourthly, 
 in some instances* bishops have been married men ; bntjno 
 proofs whatever can be produced tliat the popes nominated 
 to bishoprics amongst us; — and, fifthly, it appears evi- 
 dently, that the Irish bishops enjoyed no exclusive privileges 
 whatever; though Columba formerly strongly contended for 
 the Church's being an asylum. On the contmry, the Irish 
 clergy were subject to temporal laws, and temporal taxa- 
 tions. They were obliged in person to attend the royal 
 standard; and I take it for granted that as feudal lords, 
 tbey were obliged to bring a certain quota of troops into 
 the field also ; yet, with all this, in no part of the world 
 were the clergy more respected ; but to the exemplary lives 
 they led, they owed this. Synodu uA council they held 
 from time to time, to correct abuses in the church, but the 
 archbishop of Armagh constantly presided as patriarch, 
 and their decisions were, for near two centuries, received 
 in England, add, until the twelfth ceutuiy in Scotland."t 
 These matters having all been settled in the council to 
 the entire satisfaction of the legate, and the ■ number of 
 bishoprics in Ireland having been reduced to twenty 
 eight, the council was dismissed. Two objects, it will be 
 perceived, were kept in view by those who had the manage' 
 
 * It would have been but fair to have stated that from the 
 days of St. Patrick the bishops and inferior clergy had never had 
 any vow of celibacy imposed upon them, and were s-3«r«»Hy 
 married men. 
 
 t " From this account," says O'Halloran, after making the 
 
 in ecclesiastical discipline." — Hist., Vol. III., p. 301. 
 
THE CBTJROH APTBE THE DANISH INVASION. 301 
 
 ment of the synod ; namely, that, the number of bishops 
 being diminished, the whole hierarchy might be rendered 
 more manageable by the pope, and his agents ; and that by 
 the reduction of the nunber of dioceses, and the consequent 
 augmentation of episcopal reTenues, the clergy might be 
 rendered more respectable. But to effect such an exten- 
 sive change in the economy of the Irish Church required 
 some time ; and the proceedings of this synodical assembly 
 were only the commencement of that work which was 
 ultimately accomplished. 
 
 The ancient Irish writers have given to the place at which 
 this council assembled three different names, and having 
 used them indiscriminately, some of the modems, being 
 ignorant of the ancient topography of the country, have 
 supposed that there were three different councils called, 
 and held respectively at Fiadh-^ngusa, Uisneach, and 
 Rath-Bresail. But every one acquainted with the early 
 topography of Ireland knows that Uisneach was a moun- 
 tain in the centre of Meath, on which the temple of Bel 
 stood in pagan times. This sacred edifice, as all druidical 
 houses were, was erected in the middle of a large grove, 
 called Fiadh-Aengusa, and a fort adjoining it was named 
 Rath-Bresail ; so that these three names were applicable 
 to the same place. Their indiscriminate use has therefore 
 been the origin of that groundless supposition to which we 
 
 have referred.* 
 
 The activity of the Irish monarch in bringing about 
 these measures, which had now received the sanction of 
 abont one-sixth of the national clergy, proceeded, no doubt. 
 
 * O'Hal., ut tupra, p. 303. 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 a IE! I 
 
 from a secret motive. Henry I, of EngUnd, having, on 
 the death of WilUfxm Ilufus, usurped Uie throne, in the 
 absence of his elder brother Robert, a combination of 
 some of the principal nobility was formed against him in 
 favour of the latter. Amongst these were Robert, earl of 
 Shrewsbury and Arundel, and Arnulf de Montgomery, his 
 brother.* Arnulf is said to have solicited Mortogh for his 
 daughter, and some assistance ; but though he obtained the 
 former, it is probable that the monarch had too much to 
 contend with at home to give him any aid in his perilous 
 enterprise. The failure, however, of the plan to place 
 Robort on the throne obliged Arnulf to seek an asylum at 
 the court of the Irish monarch ; and, in a letter to Anselm, 
 Mortogh thanks him for interceding for his son-in-law, 
 and adds, " be assured I will obey your commands." This 
 gave an impetus to Mortogh's zeal ; and as Anselm could 
 always improve most skilfully such a favourable oppor- 
 tunity of promoting his own purposes, it is probable that 
 he used his influence at this particular juncture to induce 
 the monarch to make those changed in ecclesiastical matters 
 which he wished to bring about in Ireland. 
 
 The clergy in the latter country, however, could not 
 altogether Jorbear from showing some dissatisfaction at the 
 subversion of their own independence as a national hier- 
 archy. They perceived that the church of their forefathers 
 had been basely m^Mgned and misrepresented ;t that under 
 
 • Hume's Hist. Eng., Vol. I., Cap. VI. 
 
 t In general f.he discipline of the Irish Church had so little 
 correspondence with that of the Roman, "that it received several 
 hard names from the papal writers of the 12th century. Pope 
 Alexander nnd ('anjhrensis call it /!Z^*l.' .• Ansfilm .and friln."?* 
 schismatka. , iiemard, barbarous, and 'almost pagan. — Phelan't 
 Policy^ Sfc. 
 
THE CHURCH ATTIR THI DAlftSH INVASION. 
 
 303 
 
 the specious name of reform, their ancient discipline was 
 now about to bereduc -d to a mere nonentity; and that an 
 extensive change was now in progress in their ecclesiastioal 
 polity by which they must shortly be placed, without any 
 appeal, under a foreign jurisdiction. It ir therefore no 
 wonder that their jealousy ehould have been excited, and their 
 national spirit roused, by those measures which had been 
 adopted in the councU so recently held for the purpose of 
 bringing about those changes. Aware of this feeling 
 which so generally prevailed, the clergy and burgesses of 
 Dublin sometime afterwa-ds informed Anseim's successor 
 in the primacy of England, that the Bishops of Ireland, 
 and especially Celsus of Armagh, had evinced the greatest 
 indignation towardn them, because they had shown a 
 desire to be under h^^ spiritual jurisdiction, and had not 
 submitted to receive ordination from those prelates that 
 belonged to the national Church of Ireland * Had this 
 laudable and patriotic spirit been roused in time, it might 
 have prevented much of the evU which ensued, but it was now 
 too late to attempt to oppose the tide which was settling in 
 so nowerfiUly against them. The Irish primate, as he may 
 henceforward be called, was not himself much opposed to the 
 religion of Rome, nor had he any great objection to the 
 power and authority of the pope, but he was unwilling w 
 3eparate from his wife and chUdreo,-a measure which had 
 now become a sine qua non with the Romish party. 
 
 As soon as Malachy O'Morgair, who succeeded Celsus, 
 found himself in possession of his new dignity, he is 
 said to have solicited the archiepiscopal pall from Pope 
 
 • Uss?r. ^'/Uog ; P- lOOj 
 
804 
 
 HISTORY OF niELAND. 
 
 Icnooent II.; but from prudential motives the pontiff 
 declined conferring this distinguished honour upon him at 
 that time.* He wa" -veil aware that the great body of the 
 Irish clergy were still tenacious of the independence of 
 their national church ; and until they should be sufficiently 
 prepared to acknowledge the plenitude of his authority, 
 the pall, so far from commanding respect, would probably 
 expose the wearer, and consequently the authority of the 
 donor, to insult and derision. Upon this ground alone it 
 is probable the pope refused to comply with Malachy's 
 request ; for it is obvious that the latter stood very high in 
 the favour and approbation of the court of Rome. 
 
 Notwithstanding Malachy was only three years in pos- 
 session of his see, having been compelled to relinquisli it 
 to an hereditary claimant, he still continued to use every 
 exertion for advancing the papal cause in his native 
 country. Influenced and directed by St. Bernard, who 
 was afterwards his biographer, he introduced, about the 
 year 1140, the Cistercian order into Ireland, and founded 
 establishments for them at Newry, Mellifont, Bective, 
 Boyle, Baltinglas, Nenagh, and Cashel. Thus by the 
 unwearied and persevering exei 'ions of papal agents (the 
 princes of Ireland having lost much of the spirit and 
 power of their predecessors, and internal dissensiona »re- 
 vailiag throughout the nation), the ancient relirK-na 
 system of the Irish people was gradually undermined ; and 
 encouraged by these circumstances, the Roman portiflF 
 thought proper in 1155, to send John Paparo, Cardinal 
 of St. Laurence in Damaso, into Ireland with legatine 
 
 • S. Befaufd. Vit. Maiach., Cap. XJ. 
 
 EM 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASION. 
 
 806 
 
 authority, for the purpose of Bettling the Irbh hierarchy 
 upon a new and more permanent basis. 
 
 Immediately after the arrival of this foreign eocle- 
 siastio, a council was convened at KeUa * in which Chris- 
 tian, Bishop of Lismore, presided;— a man who had 
 received ais education under the tuition of St. Bernard at 
 Clairvaux, and who was consequently inclined to promote 
 the power and influence of the pontiff with all the energies 
 he was capable of commanding. Nor was it without an 
 object worthy of the papal cause that the cardinal had been 
 sent on this mission, armed with legatine authority. The 
 power of the pope was at this time unlimited in other 
 countries, and the existence of a church in any part of 
 Europe that would not yield implicit obedience to his 
 commands must have been highly offensive to a prelate 
 whose claims had become so unlimited in their extent. To 
 prepare the way, therefore, for the unreserved submission 
 of the Irish Church to the authority of the pope ; to new- 
 model her hierarchy so as to make It more manageable by 
 papal agents ; and to lay the foundation of a revenue in 
 future which was expected to flow into the Roman treasury, 
 were the principal objects of Paparo's mission. It was 
 impossible, however, to accomplish any of these designs 
 unless an ext^^.nsive change could be effected in the consti- 
 ■ r,t:on of the Church in Ireland ; but a step having been 
 taken already in this direction, by the reduction made iu 
 the number of the Irish bishoprics, the cardinal, in order 
 
 • The names of the prelates who were present at this assembly 
 are given by both Ware and Keating, but it is highly probable 
 that the list ia incorrect, if not aa absolute forgery. 
 
306 
 
 HISTORY OF IRBLAOT). 
 
 HI i 
 
 to compass his ends with the greater facility, bestowed four 
 archiepiscopal palls upon the bishops of Armagh, Dublin, 
 Caahel, and Tuam ; and these, together with the bulla for 
 the other bishops, were the means of raising a considerable 
 sum for recruiting his resources. He is also said to have 
 established the pa^yment of tithes,* and to have endeav- 
 oured to extirpate simony, than which no vice had been 
 more prevalent in Europe during the middle ages.f It 
 was usura for the great lords, who had erected sees and 
 endowed them out of their own estates, to bequeath them 
 to their wives and children, or to dispose of them publicly 
 to the highest bidder. This traffic however was almost 
 wholly unknown amongst the Irish in the earlier stages of 
 their ecclesiastical history. Bad as the system of hereditary 
 succession was, it proved while it existed a powerful pre- 
 servative from the evils of simony : for those Irish lords 
 who had now embraced the Romish party and adopted their 
 measures, found that by the change they had made, a more 
 extensive market was opened for the sale of ecclesiastical 
 livings than that which they had enjoyed when the posses- 
 sion of the see was confined to their own sept or clan. 
 
 By the depredation^ of the Danes, and a variety of other 
 untoward circumstances, the sources of learning and in. 
 formation had been long since almost totally destroyed in 
 Ireland; and, as a necessary consequence, ignorance, 
 superstition, and immorility, began to take the place of 
 
 • For the origin of tithes, and whether they should be con- 
 sidered of divine right, see Father raul'a treatise of EccUs. 
 and Beruf. Rev., Cap. XI. and XXI. They had not been establish- 
 ed in Ireland before this time. 
 
 t ;See Mosh. ISccles. Hist., Cent. XI. 
 
 si-^ 
 
THE CHURCH AFTER THE DANISH INVASICN. 307 
 
 true religion amongst a large proportion of the inhabitants 
 of the country. Uniting the vices of their ancestors ynth 
 those of their bloodthirsty invaders, they became, during 
 the tenth and eleventh centuries, a comparatively degraded 
 and degenerate race. Many of the people who had either 
 retained or revived some of the superstious rites of their 
 pagan ancestors, and who had only transferred the tute- 
 lage of sacred wells, fountains, and groves from the imagi- 
 nary deities to whom they had been originally dedicated, to 
 some patron saint, either of foreign or native extraction, 
 were now sunk in ignorance and superstition: and it 
 was an easy matter, under these circumstances, to impose 
 upon their simplicity and to fetter their minds with those 
 terrors which the dreams of religious enthusiasts were 
 calculated to inspire. 
 
 In this process of religious deterioration, the Irish were 
 helped forward to a considerable degree by the cunning 
 ingenuity and unscrupulous tutelage of some of the English 
 monks. An impious fiction was invented about this time in 
 order to work upon the hopes and the fears of the credulous 
 multitude. In 1153, the very year after the meeting of 
 the council of Kells, Mat. Paris relates the visions of Owen, 
 an Irish soldier, which the latter saw in St. Patrick's Purga- 
 tory, on an island in Lough Derg ;— a place that is still 
 frequented by a great number of pilgrims, who fancy thct 
 by the observance of a round of performances prescribed 
 at that station, they can purify themselves from all the 
 defilements of sin, and purchase a good reward in the life 
 that is to come. 
 
 Lough Derg lies in the southern part of the country of 
 Donegal, near the borders of Fermanagh an^^, Tyrone, and 
 
808 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 ?!' 
 
 is surrouDclcd on every side by bleak,barren hills, w red with 
 heath and almost entirely destitute of any hcman habita- 
 tion.* Its locality was well calculated to work upon the 
 imagination of a credulous and simple-hearted people ; and 
 the story of the Irish aoldit. was swallowed with avidity by 
 Henry, a Cistertian monk, and embellished with all the 
 ingenuity that he was capable of displaying. " Christ," says 
 he, " appeared to St. Patrick, aad, leading him to a desert 
 place, showed him a deep hole, and told him whoever re- 
 pented and wafl armed with true faith, and, entering that pit, 
 continued there a night and day, should be purged of all his 
 sins ; and also during his abode there, should not only see the 
 pains of the damned but the joys of the blessed." It is 
 added that St. Patrick immediately built a church on the 
 spot, and placed therein regular canons of St Austin.f 
 
 Notwithstanding a large accession had been made to the 
 ranks of the papacy by the circumstances to which we 
 have adverted, and more es^>ecially by those changes which 
 had attended the mission of Paparo, yet the Roman pontiff 
 b^n to think that his success in the complete subjugation 
 of the Irish church was still highly problematical ; and 
 consequently he deemed it prudent to entrust the manage- 
 ment of this affair to a more potent as well as an equally 
 
 • For an interesting account of this ancient seat of ;i foolish 
 and degrading superstition, the <*ader is referred to Hardy's 
 Holy Wells of Ireland, pp. 1-26. 
 
 t Led. Ant,, p. 446. The anachtonism in it spoils the whole of 
 this story. Regular canons were unknown to St. Patrick, as 
 they had no existence in any part of the church before the tenth 
 Century.— Sec Spanheim, Toin. IL, p. 482; Mosh. Cent. XI. 
 
 I 
 
THB CHtJRCH AFTER THE l)ANt«?H INVASION. 
 
 309 
 
 interested agent. He therefore issued in the year 1155 a 
 hvii in which, after claiming the sovereignty of the island, 
 he bcK^owed Ireland on Henry II. of Kngbnd, that he 
 might extend the borders of the church and of religion 
 extirpate vice, and reform evil manners, provided he should 
 pay yearly to St. Peter a penny for ea^h house, and preserve 
 the rights of churches. The consequences, however, of this 
 donation, and all the calamities which ensued to the Irish 
 people, may be best learned from the authenticated detaUs 
 of the .iubsequent part of this history. 
 
■ T". 
 
 If 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Invasion op Ireland by English Adventurers. 
 
 The death of Mortogh and the powerful influence which 
 Roderic O'Connor had already obtained over the different 
 states of the nation, gave him great facility in assuming 
 the sovereignty and in having hu title acknowledged 
 almost universally throughout the kingdom. The Princes 
 and Chieftains were assembled at Dublin, and though there 
 was nauch insincerity in the part which they took upon this 
 occasion, they appeared unanimous in the election of 
 Roderic ;* and he was accordingly acknowledged in the most 
 solemn manner as the supreme rule of the whole island. 
 But this Prince soon found, notwithstandi • his power 
 in his own province, the interest of his family, id the repu- 
 tation which he had acquired in arms, that such a recog- 
 nition, when it was rather extorted from the factious state 
 of divided provinces than won from the affections of a loyal 
 and devoted people, was but a feeble securiiy to the per- 
 manence of his administration. From the time of the battle 
 of Clontarf and the death of the renowned monarch that 
 fell upon that occasion, the nation had been making rapid 
 strides towards its own destruction ; and when Roderic suc- 
 ceeded to the monarchy, the measure of its iniquity was 
 nearly full Notwith landing the unanimity with which 
 he seemed to be elected, he had reason, from his own expe- 
 
 (u'Con. Dia, 259.) 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 sn 
 
 rlence, to 8USJ)eot the facility with which i* was done ; and, 
 at the head of his troops, he made a through the 
 
 greater part of the island, receiving hosta^jca tKoa the several 
 princes, and making presents in return, according to the 
 custom observed upon mch occcasions. It was not long, 
 however, before several of them revolted, and those who, 
 a little before, had been emulous in making professions 
 of loyalty to the new monarch, soon laid him under 
 the necessity of chastising them for their seditious 
 conduct, and extorting from them that submission which 
 they were otherwise unwilling to yield to his authority. 
 
 1167. Whilst Roderic was engaged in making preparations 
 for the complete subjugation of the territories of Tyrone 
 under the Hy-Niall princes, a circumstance occurred which 
 retarded the accomplishment of thisobject.and laid the foun- 
 dation for that extraordinary revolution which followed, 
 and which for a long period proved so fatal to the Irish 
 nation. Dermod Mac Murchad, the provincial dynast of 
 Leinstev, had long conceived a violent affection for Dear- 
 bbargil, daughter to the King of Meath ; and, though she 
 hadbeen married to Tighernan O'Ruarch, prince of Breffny, 
 his passion had not been cooled nor put under that restraint 
 which such circumstances would demand. The lovers 
 therefore contrived to carry on a clandestine correspondence 
 with each other ; and in the absence of O'Ruarch, who 
 being obliged to visit a distant part of his territory, had 
 left his wife secure, as he thought, .n an island surrounded 
 by a bay, Dermod, at the lady's request, entered Breffny, 
 seized upon her person, and h^i her conveyed to Ferns, 
 
 • O'Hal. vol. in. p. 328-9. 
 
312 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 the capital of Hy-Kinselagh * This outrage committed in 
 X' flagrant a manner against a prince who had been most 
 devoted to the interest of O'Connor, could not fail to excite 
 just indignation in the mind of the monarch when he heard 
 it ; but, if this feeling had been wanting on Roderic's part 
 the following letter addressed to him by the prince of Breffny 
 would, no doubt, have contributed to awaken him to a sense 
 '>f his duty ; — 
 
 " O'Ruarch to Roderic the Monarch, health : 
 
 " Though I rm sensible, roost ^'llustrious prince, that 
 human adversities should be always supported with firmness 
 and equanimity,and that a virtuous man ought not to distress 
 or afflict himself on account of the levity and inconstancy 
 of an imprudent female, yet, as this most horrible crime 
 (of which I am fully satisfied) must have reached your 
 ears, before the receipt of any letter, and as it is a crime 
 hitherto so unheard of, as far as I can recollect, as never 
 to have been attempted against any Irish king— severity 
 impels me to seek justice, whilst charity admonishes me 
 to forgive the injury. If you consider only the dishonour; 
 this I confeiis is mine alone : if you reflect on the cause; it 
 is common to us both ! For what confidence can we place 
 in our subjects, who are bound unto us by loyal authority, 
 if this lascivious adulterer, or rather destroyer of chastity' 
 shall escape unpunished, after the commission of a crime so 
 flagitious. Tiie outrages of princes so publicly and so 
 notoriously committed, if not corrected, become precedents 
 of pernicious example to the people. In a word, you are 
 
 • Cambreas., p. 760. 
 
 ia- 
 
THE ENCtLISH INVASION. 
 
 315 
 
 thoroughly convinced of my aflfection and attachment to 
 you. You behold me wounded wiih the shafts of fortune, 
 affected by numberles? inconveniences, and sorely distressed 
 with the greatest afflictions ! It only remains for me to 
 request, as I am entirely devoted to you, that you will not 
 only with your counsels assist but with your arms revenge 
 those injuries which torment and distract me. This, when 
 you will, and as you will, I not only ask but earnestly beg 
 at your hands. Farewell." 
 
 As soon as the monarch received this letter, he resolved 
 upon giving assistance to the injured prince ; and imme- 
 diately dispatched a body of troops, which, together with his 
 own forces and those of Meath and Ossory, enabled him to 
 inarch to Dermod's residence, and to make such a success- 
 ful attack upon him, as to oblige him to make his escape to 
 Bristol with about sixty of his followers. The castle of 
 Ferns soon surrendered; for Dermod, before his escape, 
 had been deserted by the nobility of Leinster, the military, 
 and even by his own principal favourites and dependents. 
 Hy-Kinselagh was therefore divided between the prince of 
 Ossory, and Murcha, a chieftain of the same family with 
 the e-iled provincial ; and seventeen hostages were brought 
 to the monarch as security for the future good behaviour 
 of his former subjects.* 
 
 When the demands of public justice and national honour 
 had Deen thus far complied with, Rodoric prepared to ex- 
 ecute his previously contemplated enterprise against the 
 house of Tyrone. At the head of a well-appointed army, in 
 
 • Hal., Vol. III., p. 331^2.) 
 
314 
 
 BISTOH^ OF IRELAND. 
 
 oonjurijtion with a numerous fleet which scoured the seas 
 and cut off supplies from North Britain, ho marched into 
 Ulster, and compelled the Hy-Niall chieftain to pay him 
 homage, and to deliver hostages into his hands for his future 
 loyalty and good behaviour. After his return to Connaught, 
 and in the same year, he assembled the states of Leath-Cuin 
 at Athboy, in the county of Meath, where many wholesome 
 laws were made, as well for the government of the churoh 
 as the slate. (This assembly, which was numerously atten- 
 ded, was the last of the kind that was ever held by 
 the Irish monarchs. How long it continued we are not 
 informed ; but besides Roderic himself and 13,000 horse, it 
 'was honoured with the presence of O'Malachy, king of 
 Meath, O'Ruark and O'Reily, princes of the two Breffnys, 
 O'Dunlevy, King of Ulida, O'Felan, prince of the Deasies' 
 an ! many other chieftains, together with the archbishops 
 of Armagh, Dublin, and Tuam, and a great number of 
 bishops, abbots, and inferior clergy.) 
 
 1 168. The crazy state of the government, notwithstandii^g 
 the splendid display of regal pomp made at this meeting, waa 
 at this time sufficiently apparent in the disorders and out- 
 rages which occurred in different parts of the kingdom 
 In the beginning of the following year, Murrogh O'Brien 
 king of Thomond, was killed, by his own cousin Connor, or 
 by the people of Desmond, and was succeeded by his brother 
 Domhnal, in the throne of North Munster. A sh.rt time 
 after this outrage the people of Dealbhna, attacked O'Fen- 
 nelan, their natural lord ; and, together with a number of 
 his adherents, he fell by their hands. Several other acts 
 of violence proclaimed that the inhabitants of this country 
 were ripe for a visitation of Providence; and, had that change 
 
IHE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 315 
 
 which followed conferred upon them the oenefits of any r^- 
 ular system of government, it ought to have been viewed 
 as a blessing rather than as a calamity, by the candid his- 
 torian who woxild attempt to record the eventa of this time. 
 But, whilst do'jaestic feuds and intestine animosities, which 
 had already dislocated the bands of society, were arming 
 one party against another, events were preparing the way, 
 in another country, for that change in the government of 
 Ireland, which, for ages afterwards, was attended with the 
 most deplorable con8e][uences, but which Divine Providence 
 no doubt intended for the ultimate happiness and true 
 interest of the people of that island. 
 
 Henry Plantagenet, the first of the Anjou race that 
 filled the English throne, and a prince of such unbounded 
 ambition that he considered the whole world little enough 
 for the dominion of one sovereign, had long contemplated 
 the extension of his power over Ireland and Scotland ; 
 but circumstances had hitherto been unf. or-able for 
 accomplishing his design. The crazy state of the Irish 
 constitution, and the continual disorders which had so 
 long prevailed amongst the people, exposed the country to 
 the attempts of any ambitious potentate ; but Henry's pre- 
 decessors had been incapacitated by their own domestic 
 weakness to avail themselves of the advantage which these 
 circumstances presented to their attention. During the 
 existence of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, the same causes 
 which would have exposed Ireland to a successful invasion 
 from the other side of the channel, operated as powerfully 
 in England itself ; and scarcely were these petty states 
 united in the ninth century under the dominion ot 
 Egbert, ^hcn tho Scaadinsvian adventurers, the common 
 
316 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 BCOTJ'^ of tbe west of Europe, began to infest the coasts 
 of England, and to oblige the inhabitants to take measures 
 for their own defence, rather than to seek for advantages 
 against their Hibernian neighbours. Scarcely had these 
 nortnern freebooters ceased from their predatory wars, and 
 coalciced with the natives of the country, when England 
 was again reduced to a state of deplorable slavery by a new 
 host of adventurers, more advanced indeed in the arts of 
 life, and under a less irr^ular government, but hardly less 
 cruel and insolent than its former invaders. 
 
 Harassed, in common with other countries, by the 
 desolating incursions of the northern pirates, the Trench 
 were obliged, in 911, to cede tue provinces of Neustria and 
 Bretagne to Rollo, one of their leaders, whose followers, 
 called by the French Normans, settled in the country, 
 and, from its new inhabitants, Neustria received the name 
 of Normandy. William, surnamed tne Bastard, who, about 
 a century and a half after this settlement, had inherited 
 the ducal diadem of Normandy, demanded, on the decease 
 of Edward the Confessor, the crown of England, in conse- 
 quence of a will which, he averred, had been made in his 
 favour by that weak prince ; but his claim was rejected, 
 and with the concurrence of the people of England, Harold, 
 a great and warlike nobleman, ascended the throne. 
 William, however, being resolved that his claim should not 
 be set aside with so much facility, assembled an army of 
 resolute adventurers, invaded England in 1066, and at the 
 famous battle of Hastings, decided the fate of that kingdom 
 by the death of his rival, and the subsequent maltreatment 
 of the unfortunate inhabitants. To this prince, now sur- 
 named the Conqueror, his second son, William Rufus, 
 
THE BNaLISH INVASION. 
 
 317 
 
 succeeded ; and to him, by usurpation, his younger brother 
 Henry, to the exclusion of Robert, the e'dest son of the 
 conqueror ; to Henry, hb nephew Stephen, usurper of the 
 throne from Henry's daughter, Matilda; and o Stephen, 
 in the year 1154, Hmry the Second, the son of Matilda, 
 by Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou. 
 
 This prince, whose designs against Ireland had been 
 long in contemplation, found several obstacles in his way, 
 arising from a combination of circumstances over which, 
 notwithstanding his great abilities, he had little control. 
 However, as the 'njustice of his cause was not araongst the 
 number, by the assistance of John of Salisbury, an intrig- 
 uing ecclesiastic, he found msjvns of overcoming every 
 difficulty ; and an alliance with the court of Rome, from a 
 preicnded zesi for religion, and a real, t: igh latent, 
 design of violating all its laws, was agreed upon, in order 
 to give this zeal some colour, even in that age, dark and 
 ignorant as it was * This alliance with a power which he 
 hated, was mortifying to all the feeling of the English 
 monarch, but he felt it was necessary towards the accom- 
 plishment of his wishes ; and, it is probable, he secretly 
 resolved to overreach the Roman court, if possible, in her 
 own lucrative bargain. To Adrian IV, therefore, his 
 ap-^lication was made ; and that pontiff, besides being an 
 Englishman and amicable to the king, was glad of an 
 opportunity of augmenting the papal power, and ihore fully 
 reducing the Irish to the authority of a church, of which 
 they had been long the strenuous and successful opponents. 
 A bull was accordingly issued by his holiness in favour of 
 
 • O'CoQ. Dissert, p. 2G1. 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 the English monarch, a ring was presented to him in token 
 of his investiture as rightful sovereign of the Irish, and 
 ' Henry was commissioned, like anotW Josuua, to enter 
 Ireland in a hostile manner, and to pjit the inhahit.-nts to 
 the sword for the good of religion and the reformation of 
 manners. IJut whilst the eradication of irre%ion and 
 immorality wa^. made the plea for this invasion, a stipula- 
 tion was required from the king on the part of hiw holiness, 
 for the annual payment of one penny from every house in 
 the island to the pope, as the sacccssor of St. Peter ; which 
 money was denominated Peter's pence * 
 ^ Notwithstanding this bull was issued in the year 1156, 
 the insurrections and contested claims in his French prov- 
 inces, he unsettled state of affairs in England, and, above 
 all, his protracted dispute with Thomas \ Becket, prevented 
 the king from setting about the prosecution of his extra- 
 ordinary mission ; and it was not until subsequent occur- 
 rences gave him p.i opportunity, that he set about reducing 
 to practice a w ttter to which he had been so long directing 
 his attention. When Dermod Mac Murchad had been 
 obliged to fly from his nature country for the enormity oi 
 his offences, he had taken refuge in Bristol ; and, after 
 remaining some time in that city, he proceeded to Guienne, 
 where Henry then was, to crave his assistance in restoring 
 him to his principality; and offered, on that event, to hold 
 his kingdom in vaspalage under the crown of England. 
 The English monarch, whose views had been a' ci-u/ turned 
 towards making acquisitions in Ireland, list ncd to his 
 
 • Vide Mat. Paris, p. 67. Spelman's Concilia, Vol. II., p. 61. 
 Caiabresj., ui supra. 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION 
 
 819 
 
 Btetement with considerable courtesy ; but being at that 
 time embarrassed by the insurrcotions of his French subjeots, 
 as well as by his disputes with the clergy, he declined for the 
 present embarking in the enterprise, and gave Dermod no 
 further aasistance than a letter of credence addressed to 
 all his subjecta, by which he empowered them to. aid the 
 king of Leinster in the recovery of his dominions* 
 
 Elated by hw favourable reception, Dermod returned to 
 Bristol, and the letter of the English monarch was frequently 
 read in that and the adjoining cities accompanied with the 
 sound of a trumpet. But notwithstanding his magnificent 
 promises, lavished on those who should enlist under his 
 banners, and assist the friend and vassal of their sovereign, 
 his efforts were attended with but little success. Having 
 therefore spe-t a month at Bristol without being able to 
 procure any assistance, Dermot was induced by the situa- , 
 tion of affairs in South Wales to pay his court to Eome of 
 the Norman chieftains in that country, hoping to engage 
 them in his desperate enterprise. 
 
 Wales, to which the ancient Britons had rctl^-ed from 
 the lary of their Saxon oppressors, was, about the end of 
 the sixth century, under the divided government of six 
 princes, independent of each other, but acknowledging the 
 supremacy of one of their number residing in North Wales. 
 In process of time, however, the whole principality became 
 united under one sovereign in the person of Roderic, sur- 
 namedthe Great.f This prince, who consented to pay a 
 regular tribute to the king of England, divided his 
 
 • Cambr., p. 760. 
 t Gard., Yul. I., p. 
 
 71. 
 
wmm^mm^^ 
 
 320 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 dominions into three principalities, which were inherited 
 by his three sone. Subsequent division- with the civil 
 commotJons attendant upon them, gave an advantage to the 
 kingr oi ^ .„/land ; and, in 1063, the Welsh prince was 
 redact ' > a ^'^mporary vassalage, by Harold, who then 
 commanded the forces of Edward the Confessor. More 
 permanent inroads were afterwards made in the reign 
 of William Rufus, when several of the Norman nobles 
 obtained possessions in Wales, and acted with almost regal 
 authority, under the title of the Lords of the Marches. 
 In the beginning of the 12th century, a colony of Flemings 
 had also been planted in the county of Pembroke, as an 
 additional security to the English interest in that country. 
 But, notwithstanding all these inroads made by the English 
 upon the Welsh territories, the inhabitants of Wales had 
 never been completely a conquered people Unable to 
 resist their more powerful neighbours, they sometimes sub- 
 mitted to pay tribute to the crown of England; but, when- 
 ever they found themselves in a condition to make any 
 successful resistance, they did not scruple to take up arms 
 in their own defence, and were sometimes able even to 
 storm the Anglo-Norman castles, and to make ruinous incur- 
 sions into the adjoining counties. The princes of North 
 Wales continued to govern their native subjects, and, 
 though generally obliged to acknowledge the supremacy of 
 the kings of England, they kept their own courts, and 
 acted as independent sovereigns in their own dominions. 
 
 About the time of Dermod's expulsion from Ireland, 
 and his application for assistance to the English monarch,' 
 a revolt was in contemplation against Henry's authority 
 in South Wales j and Rice ap Griffith, a chieftain who 
 
■w^ 
 
 THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 321 
 
 commanded in the country about Pembroke, had impris- 
 oned Robert Fitz-Stephen * the governor of Cardigan, 
 because he refused to join them in their intended revolt. 
 Amongst those who were prepared to engage in any bold 
 and hazardous undertaking, either at home or abroad, was 
 Richard, earl of Strigul, commonly called Strongbow, upon 
 account of his feats of archery ; an influential young noble- 
 man of dissipated, manners and desperate tortune. To this 
 chieftain, who was of the illustrious house of Clare, Der- 
 mofl applied for assistance ; and even went so far at last 
 as to promise him his daughter Eva in marriage, and the 
 reversion of his kingdom after his death, if by his means 
 and the aid of his associates he should bo restored to his 
 dominions.! Though Strongbow treated the proposals of 
 the Irish prihce with apparent coldness at first, so tempt- 
 ing an offer made to a young nobleman who had impaired 
 his fortune by expensive pleasures, was not to be resisted ; 
 and the Welshman at length entered deeply into all the 
 schemes of the expatriated prince. A treaty was accord- 
 ingly signed between them, and ratified by a solemn oath 
 taken by both parties. But whatever right Dermod might 
 have had to give his daughter in marriage to Strongbow, 
 
 • « Very few of my readera can require to be informed, that 
 the syllable FUz, prefixed to the names of several South- 
 British chieftains famous in Irish history, is a term of Norman 
 French, corrupted from the Latin word filius, and signifiying 
 $(m, as Fitzstephen implies the son of Stephen. Among the 
 Welsh the particle ap, derived by the idiomatic pronunciation 
 of that people .'rom the Latin ab, has been applied to a similar 
 use." Gard., Vol. I., p. 7T. 
 
 fCambrens., p. 761- 
 
322 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 his grant of his dominions after his death, was, according 
 to the laws of Ireland, a mere nullitv, since hereditary 
 succession was not observed, th right of election being 
 vested in the chiefs of the couniry, and none could be put 
 in nomination for the crown of Leinster but a prince of 
 the family of Cathair More. 
 
 By Strongbow's advice, Dermod next waited on Rice 
 ap Griffith, in order to procure the enlargement of Fitz- 
 stephen, whom the former considered a fit person to aid 
 in the intended enterprise; and through the mediation of 
 the bishop of St. David's, he obtained liberty from that 
 chieftain for his prisoner to transport himself, wi i his 
 friends f.nd followers, to Ireland for the nurpose of 
 engaging in the service of the king of Leinster. To this 
 man, and his maternal brother, Maurice Fitzgerald, he 
 promised to give up the town of Wexford with two caa- 
 treds* of land adjoining, on condition of their support and 
 assistance. Having thus far succeeded in his negociations 
 and received solemn promises from Fitz-stephen and 
 Fitzgerald of their sailing to; his assistance in the ensuing 
 spring, Dermod set sail for Ireland, with his own imme- 
 diate followers and as many volunteers as he could collect on 
 this occasion. Having landed priva cely on the Irish coast. 
 
 • A cantred, century, or hundred, as it was called in England, 
 was not a determinate measure of land, I, at varied in diflFerent 
 places according to circumstances. According to the divUion 
 afterwards made of Ireland, "Munster counted 70 cantreds, 
 Leinster 31, Connaught 30, Ulster 35, and Meath 18. Each 
 cantred had 30 townlands, every townland could feed 300 cows, 
 and each townland contained 8 carucates or plough-lands'' 
 Led., p. 216. 
 
IHE ENQLISE INVASION. 
 
 323 
 
 he continued to pass unobserved to a monastery which he 
 had founded at Ferns, where he remained some time in 
 concealment, waiting the arrival of his transmarine allies. 
 From this place of seclusion he gave notice to some of his 
 most faithful adherents, that he had arrived with some 
 forces, which were soon to be followed by a more consiaerable 
 reinforcement, and he conjured them to repair immediately 
 to his standard.* 
 
 Hated as he was by his subjects in general, he neverthe- 
 less mustered as many friends as enabled him to seize that 
 part of his former dominions, known by the name of 
 Hy-Kinselagh, but Roderic apprised of this audacious 
 attempt, suddenly collecting some forces, with his faithful 
 associate O'Ruark, marched into that country to reduce 
 the bold and refractory prince.f Diffident of his own 
 subjects, and knowing he was unable to cope with such 
 an enemy, Dermod, axler some slight skirmishing with his 
 assailants, in orde. to gain time, had recourse to negocia- 
 ticn, and made the most abject offers of submission to 
 the monarch. He conjured him to interpose his good 
 offices, to bring about a reconciliation between him and 
 O'Ruark, whom he confessed hfe had greatly injured. 
 That he was still making expiations for the horrid crime 
 he ^•\d committed, as the unhappy lady had long since 
 sought an asylum amongst Lhe holy nuns of St. Bridget at 
 Kildare, and hoped that he would not drive an -mfor- 
 tunate prince to indigence and despair, but allow him some 
 small portion of the possessions of his ancestors to support 
 
 • C&mbrens., ut supra, p. T61. 
 t Let&ad, B. I., Cap. I. 
 
324 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 
 *,- — ii-^ 
 
 w 
 
 : : 11 
 
 mm 
 
 M 
 
 HISTORY OP ISaLAND. 
 
 the remainp of a miserable life."* Roderic, whose atten- 
 tion was tailed b- more pressing circumstances to other 
 parts of his dominions, listened to his proposals favourably, 
 accepted his insidious submission, and, upon paying 100 
 ounces of pur3 gold to O'Ruark, as an eric for the Irijury 
 he had d-..e him, and delivering up seven hostages to the 
 mc^arch for the fulfilment of his promises, Dermod was 
 permitted to retain ten cantreds of the lands of Hy- 
 Kinselagh, in vassalage under the monarch himself 
 
 ll(i9. Time, as well as a solid settlement at home, having 
 been thus artfully gained, Dermod despatched xMaurice 
 Regan, his confidential secretary, into Wales, to remind 
 his allies of their solemn engagements, to hasten their 
 pi-eparations, and to inform them that he was ready to 
 receive them as soon as they could come to his assistance. 
 Accordingly in the month of xMay, Fitzstephen, Fitzgerald, 
 Barry, Hervey, and several other adventurers, landed near 
 Wexford, with thirty knights, sixty esquires, and three 
 hundred archers, who were next day joined by Maurice 
 de Prendergast, at the head of ten knights and two 
 hundred archers. 
 
 On the news of their ariival, numbers who had aban- 
 doned the party of the king of Leinster, returned to his 
 standard; and that prince, whom neither oaths nor 
 treaties could bind, hastened to join his allies as soon as he 
 received the Urst intimation of their landing.f Under his 
 natural son Donald, a youth of distinguished valour, he 
 
 • O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 336. 
 
 t Their arrival was noUfied to him bv letters dated May 11 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 325 
 
 sent forward five hundred men, whom he followed himself 
 at the head of his infantry. The first enterprise pknned, 
 after the meeting of the two parties, was an attack upon 
 the town of Wexford, about twelve miles distant from the 
 place of debarkation. The contempt with wh'ch the 
 garrison, composed of Irish and Danes, had been accus- 
 tomed to treat the influence which Dermod possessed in 
 raising a force sufficient to take their town by storm, in- 
 duced^them to think they were strong enough to disperse this 
 troop of invaders in the field; and they accordingly 
 marched some distance in order to give them battle. But 
 when they saw an enemy quite different in number and 
 discipline from thax which they had expected they very 
 prudently declined the engagement; but, being resolved to 
 defend their city to the last extremity, ^hey set fire to the 
 suburbs and adjacent villages, and retiree within the walls. 
 Encouraged by this retreat of the Irish, the leaders of 
 the assailants instantly gave orders that a general assault 
 should be made on the town ; but they were opposed with 
 such determination by the garrison that they were obliged 
 to retire after having sustained the loss of some of the 
 bravest of their men. Regardless, however, of the dejec- 
 tion of spirits occasioned amongst his allies by this repulse, 
 and apprehensive that his followers might desert him and 
 return to their own country, Fitz-stephen instantly retired 
 to the sea, and set fire to all the ships in the harbour, in 
 order that his men might perceive that they had no alter- 
 native for the future but conquest or death. After an 
 inspiriting harangue, and the solemn ceremony of divine 
 service, he again advanced to the assault; but forthrte 
 successive days his efforts were attended with uu Detter 
 
326 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 success At length the bishop and clergy of Wexford, the 
 only order of men in Ireland with whom Dermod had any 
 mfluem-e, persuaded the garrison to capitulate; and after 
 much negociation between the two parties, the king of 
 Lemster consented to accept their proposals. They accor- 
 dingly renewed their oaths of fidelity to this prince 
 entered into his service,.and put into his hands four of their 
 principal burgesses as hostages for the faithful fulfilment 
 of the promises they had made. 
 
 As soon as Dermod had possessed himself of the town 
 of Wexford, according to his previous agreement, he made 
 over the lordship of the city and its domain to Fitz- 
 Stephen and Fitz-gerald, though the latter had not arrived 
 yet to his assistance ; and on Hervey of Mountmorres he 
 bestowed two districts on the coast between the towns of 
 Wexford and Waterford.* 
 
 The success of the allied forces in the reduction of the 
 town of Wexford greatly increased the reputation of the 
 king of Leinster; and numbers of the Lagenians began 
 to resort to his standard, as the only means of saving 
 themselves from the effects of his resentment. Having 
 spent three weeks at Ferns, and received a considerable 
 
 From this donation made to Hervey is commonly supposed 
 to have originated the colonization of the Bargey and Forth 
 baronies, where dwells a people distinct from their neighbours 
 particularly in a peculiur dialect of the Gothic language • but 
 these are probably in part the descendants of ancient Belgians 
 known to the Roman geographers under the name of Menapii' 
 intermixed in after ages with some Dane«, or Norwegians, and 
 on this occasion also with a great proportion of English colo- 
 
 nistB, and Flemings from Pemhmjj^'ahjra » Qa-d V 1 
 
 I., p. 82. 
 
THE ENOLISfl INVASION. 
 
 327 
 
 augmentation to his array, he resolved to take vengeance 
 upon Mao-Gilla-Patrick, prince of Ossory, on whom p^rt 
 of his territories had been bestowed by the monarch. 
 This chieftain had not only revolted from Dermod in his 
 distress and associated with his enemies, but had formerly 
 possessed himself of a son of the king of Leinster, as 
 a hostage, and conceiving some suspicions of him as hold- 
 ing an unlawful intercourse with his wife, seized him 
 in a fit of jealousy, and, with a cruelty not then peculiar to 
 Ireland, ordered his eyes to be put out.* The unhappy 
 youth expired under the operation ; and the father har- 
 boured the most violent and implacable resentmen , which 
 he now resolved should burst forth with all its fury upon 
 the devoted head of the prince of Ossory. 
 
 Stimulated by the hope of plunder, and willing to 
 engage in any enterprise however nefarious or urgent, 
 Dermod's allies expressed their willingness to engage in 
 this expedition as soon as that prince had made the propo- 
 sal ; and, having collected all his forces, with a considerable 
 body from Wexford, he marched toward the territories of 
 the Ossorian dynast, but was obliged to encounter greater 
 difficulties than he had experienced in storming the town 
 of Wexford. The Ossorians, about 5,000 in number, 
 occupying a most advantageous position amid woods and 
 morasses, were able to repel the reiterated attacks of their 
 assailants; and, after three days spent in constant skirmish- 
 ing, the troops of the king of Leinster found that their 
 utmost eflForts were repeatedly foiled. Encouraged by 
 their success, and transported by the ardour of victory, the 
 
 See Lelaiid., B. I., C&p. I. 
 
328 
 
 mSTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 \h: 
 
 OsMoriaus foolishly resolved to relinquish the place of 
 Beourity which they had hitherto occupied, and to attack 
 the invaders in the open field ; but being much inferior in 
 number, they were soon obliged to give way, and Dermod 
 granted unbounded liberty to his troops, to burn, plunder,, 
 and destroy the whole country without mercy. In the 
 slaughter which ensued upon the rout of the Ossorians, it 
 is said, that the Irish in the service of Dermod, brought 
 three hundred heads of the slaughtered Ossorians and pre- 
 sented them to their prince; and that this royal barbarian, 
 when he recognized amongst the number, the head of 
 an inveterate enemy, seized the ghastly visage with his 
 teeth, and mangled it in a paroxysm of rage and malignity ! * 
 Satisfied with the present defeat of the Ossorians, and 
 with the devastations committed amongst them, Dermod 
 returned to Ferns without completing the conquest of that 
 territory which he had intended to subdue. Meanwhile 
 the succfiss of the Lagenlans and their allies became an 
 alarming a£Fair to the monarch. He perceived, that should 
 Dermod be able to hold the kingdom of Leinster, without 
 doing homage to him for the tenure of it, his own power 
 as nionarch of Ireland must thereby become very preca- 
 rious. Donald O'Brien, also, who was king of Thomond 
 and Ormond, was son-in-law to Dermod ; and Roderick 
 
 • This account is given by Cambrensis and seems to be too 
 horrid to gain credit or belief. " Surely," says Dr. Leland, « the 
 humane and generous Britons could not have been witnesses of 
 such an action I" But, though it is true that humanity and 
 geneiosity have Plways been distinguishing characteristics of 
 genuine Britons, yet the Irisn adventurers -were outcasts of 
 Britain, and complete strangers to either of these virtues. 
 
THE ENQLISH INVASION. 
 
 329 
 
 began to dread his power and to suspect his fidelity. 
 Infiuenoed by these considerations, though occupied 
 elsewhere with a multiplicity of business, he judged an 
 expedition, for the purpose of crushing the king of Leinster, 
 absolutely necessary; and accordingly summoned a 
 meeting of all his friends and tributaries at Tara, to take 
 their advice in the present crisis of Irish aflFairs.* The 
 result of this confere'ce was, that messengers were sent to 
 Fitz-stephen and his followers, to demand, " by what right 
 or authority they presumed to invade this land in a hostile 
 manner, or to display their banners in it ; and ordering 
 them to quit the country immediately, or to expect to be 
 treated as pirates and robbers, who had taken up arms 
 without the sanction of their lawful sovereign." The 
 monarch also offered to furnish them with the means of 
 transporting themselves to Wales; but Jie adventurers 
 found themselves in no situation to 'imbrace so huxnane and 
 so generous a proposal. Fitz-stephen, their leader, had 
 been liberated from prison, on the condition of his quitting 
 his native country for ever ; and, it is probable, that most 
 of those who had embarked with him in his undertaking, 
 were not in a much more respectable situation. Being 
 therefore outcasts from society and reduced to a state of 
 the most desperate extremity, they chose rather to perse- 
 vere in their perilous enterprise in Ireland, and rejected 
 every o.Ter that was made them to return to their native 
 land. 
 
 Meanwhile Roderic was making every preparation to give 
 effectual resistance to the invaders, in case of their refusal ; 
 
 O'Con. Dissert, p. 264. 
 V 
 
330 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 and having assembled a great body of troops at the hill of 
 Tara, he marched with celerity towards the south. But^ 
 susp Ksting the fidelity of the northern chieftains, from 
 their attachment to the Hy-Niall family, he was obliged to 
 dismiss them and their followers, when he arrived at 
 Publin, pretending that the service was too insignificant to 
 require the inconvenience of their longer detention * 
 The vast superiority, however, of his remaining forces, 
 consisting of the troops of Connaught, Breffhy, Thomond^ 
 and some lords of Leinpter with their followers, struck 
 terror into his enemies ; and Bermod's troops being unable 
 » to encounter such a formidable force, retired from post to 
 post, until they reached the fastnesses of the country about 
 F<^rns, which they strongly fortified, doping to protract the 
 war until they should receive further dssistance from heir 
 friends in Wales. 
 
 Entrenched amidst morasses, precipices and woods, the 
 king of Leinster waited the onset of the roy«i army with 
 considerable coolness and perseverance. Roderio divided 
 his forces into difiFerent detachments, appointed the troops 
 that were to attack the different posts, and those that were to 
 support them ; and addressing them in an animating speech, 
 he called upon them to march onwards to certain victory. 
 The critical conjuncture of political wisdom, as well as of 
 political safety, was now in his hands : but without improv- 
 ing the one, or giving the public any reasonable security 
 for the other, he yielded to the weak counsels of some of 
 the principal ecclesiastics of Leinster, and took hostages for 
 the future fidelity of Dermod ; a man whom no principle of 
 
 • Gard., Vol. I., p. 85, 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 331 
 
 religion, nor Ue of nature, could bind, and who had dis- 
 turbed and tormented his country for thirty years tof^ther.* 
 By the treaty into which the two parties p .tered, Dermod 
 was to be acknowledged king of T '>inflter, and was to do 
 homage to the monarch for ^ "<i tenitoriee, as holding them 
 in vassalage under him. He was to dismiss all the 
 foreigners, with proper rer uneration for their services, and 
 to admit no more British adventurers intc his country. The 
 stipulations of this treaty were all ratified by oath before 
 the great altar of the church of St. Maidag at Ferns ; and 
 Dermod delivered his son Art as a hostage into the Lands 
 of the monarch, for the faithful performance of all his 
 engagements. 
 
 Conscious that he was univertally detested oy his own 
 people, and apprehensive of falling a sacrifice to their 
 resentment, Dermod willingly entered into this treaty, but 
 had no intention of faithfully observing its stipulations. 
 His principul object was to gain time ; knd as soon as the 
 monarch had retired to his own domain, under various 
 pretences, he delayed the fulfilment of his engagements. 
 Encouraged, however, by the arrival of Mauriv^e Fitzgerald, 
 at Wexford, with ten knights, thirty esquires, and one hund- 
 red archers, he resolved to take vengeance upon the citizens 
 of Dublin, who had treacherously mvrdered his father, and 
 had buried the carcase of a dog with his body, aa a mark of 
 their hatred and contempt.f Dublin, at this time, was 
 under a chieftain who sometimes acknowledged and some- 
 times disclaimed allegiance tx) the king of Leinster : it 
 
 • O'Cou. Dis. 264. 
 
 t Cambrens., ut supra. Leland., B. I., Gap. I. 
 
882 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 1! 
 
 formed a distinct state, and possessed a territory consisting 
 principally of what was called Fingal ; and as soon as 
 Dermod appeared before it, the citizens under the chieftain 
 Hcsculph-Mac-Torcal, terrified by his approach, agreed to 
 give him hostages, and a considerable sum of money, which 
 was probably the primary object of this expedition. 
 
 The success of the Lagenians and their confederates upon 
 this occasion tended greatly to inflame the ambition of 
 Dermod : and he began to meditate schemes of assuming 
 the monarchy of the whole island. His son-in-law, Donald 
 O'Brien, king of Thomond, perceiving with pleasure the 
 errors which the monarch had committed, and hoping to 
 extend his power . nd t} A of his house, at Roderic'g 
 expense, ren anced his allegiance to the latter, and entered 
 into a private treaty with Dermod, by which they engaged 
 to support each other.* Animated by this accession to his 
 power and influence, the king of Leinster, in order to 
 complete the subversion of Roderic's authority, and to 
 raise himself if possible to the sovereign thione, sent pres- 
 sing letters to Strongbow urging the performance of his 
 promises in the ensuing spring. Meanwhile Roderic, to 
 punish the king of Thomond for his rebellion, invaded his 
 terriiories ; but the latter, having received assistance from 
 his father-in-law under the command of Fitzstephen, was 
 enabled to make a stand against the invaders, so that the 
 monarch, called away by more pressing engagements, was 
 obliged *^ relinquish his enterprise for the present. 
 
 While Dermod and his party in Ireland were actively 
 engaged in strengthening themselves, Str jngbow was using 
 
 • O'Hal.. Vq!. III., p. 344, 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 333 
 
 every exertion on the other side of the ohannol to raise as 
 considerable a force as he was able for his intendwl expedi- 
 tion. But, fearing to embark in an undertaking of such 
 moment without the particular license of Lis sovereign, he 
 repaired to Henry to solicit this favour. Tired with his 
 importunities, and perhaps unwilling that any extensive 
 conquests should be made in Ireland except under his own 
 immediate command, the English monarch at length con- 
 temptuously answered, " that he might go as far as his feet 
 could carry him ; nay, if he could get the wings of DaedfJus, 
 as far as he could fly." Strongbow, affe'^ting to understand 
 this equivocal and insulting reply as the requested pormis- 
 sion, returned home and i lade preparations for the Irish 
 expeditions ; sending before him Raymond Le Gros, with 
 ten knights and about one hundred archers, as his vanguard 
 to announce to Dermod when he intended himself to land, 
 that he might be ready to support him. 
 
 A.D. 1171. This band of adventurers, in the mouw of 
 May 1171, larded about four miles from Waterford,^ ut * 
 place called by the old historians Dondonolf, and imme- 
 diately took possession of an old neglec^od fortress, which 
 they repaired, and then sallied out on a predatory expedi- 
 tion. Having collected a great number of horned cattle from 
 the adjoin* ag district, they compelled the countrymen to 
 drive them before them ; but O'Felan, O'Ryan, and some 
 of the principal citizeud of Wateiford, being joined by the 
 neighbouring peasants, fonixed a tumultuary band of about 
 three thousand men, and rushea with disorderly precipita- 
 tion to retake the cattle and to punish the invaders. The 
 
 • Cambrens.j p= 767, 
 
*^f-:: 
 
 334 
 
 HISTORY OF IRBLAND. 
 
 Briions who at first despised such a mob of assailants, soon 
 perceived that they were in imminent danger ; and it was 
 with some difficulty that a part of the guard succeeded in 
 gaining the fortress and securing the cattle. The remainder 
 of the fugitives, being closely pressed by their pursuers, 
 were in a fair way of being cut off, when the gigantic 
 Raymond, with great resolution sallied forth and slew with 
 his own hand the leader of the hostile troops. During 
 the state of irresolution which ensued on the part of the 
 Irish, by the death of O'Ryan, Raymond, with great pres- 
 ence of mind, ordered the cattle to be driven against the 
 assailants, whilst his troops made an instant sally and 
 completed the disorder of their opponents. The wounded 
 beasts nished with impetuobity through the midst of the 
 Irish, and aU was instantly in confusion and dismay. 
 Raymond and his troops gave them no time to form or 
 rally. Some wore slaughtered, others were drowned in the 
 sea, and seventy of the principal citizens were captured, 
 with whom the Britons marched back in triumph to their 
 fortress. This victory, however, \<as tarnished by a deed 
 of most deliberate and hardened cruelty. Raymond, it is 
 said, immediately called a council of war, to decide upon 
 the fate of the prisoners ; and it was resolved that they 
 should first have their logs broken, and then be precipitated 
 into the sea ; which was forthwith put into execution.* 
 The news of Strongbow's preparations having reached 
 
 • This cruelty, practised on the citizens of Waterford, wps, 
 "either, according to Regan, iu revenge for a friend of Baymoad'a 
 killed in the battle, or, according to Girildus Cambrensis, at the 
 instigation of Heryey of Mouatraorres, to strike terror into the 
 mvaded people." Gordon, Vol. /., p. 89. 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 335 
 
 the king, that nobleman was surprised by a positive com- 
 mand from his sovereign, when he was just about to 
 embark his troops at Milford, to desist from his intended 
 enterprise, under the penalty of forfeiting his lands and 
 honours, as a rebel against his king, and to return to court 
 immediately to give an account of himself But this 
 adventurer had already gone too far, and the tenor of the 
 message itself seemed too menacing to abide its conse- 
 quences. Hoping, therefore, to evade or deprecate the resent- 
 ment of the king, he weighed anchor, and in a few hours 
 after, arrived in the bay of Waterford, on the 23rd of 
 August, at the head of two hundred knights and twelve 
 hundred archers. His arrival was attended by the king of 
 Leinster and his British associates with their respective 
 forces ; and a council of war having been held, it was 
 resolved to make an immediate attack upon the city of 
 Waterford. Preparations were accordingly made to assault 
 it the next day, as their critical situation rendered promp- 
 titude and dispatch absolutely necessary. But being twice 
 repulsed b^ the intrepid bravery of the garrison, Raymond, 
 who commanded as general in the siege, became very 
 doubtful of the issue of the contest. Having, however, 
 carefully examined aU the walls and approaxjhes to the 
 town, he observed a house projecting beyond the wall in 
 the eastern angl., the beams of the floor of which were 
 lod-ed in fch« wall, and wooden posts fixed in the ground to 
 support this airy mansion. Silently in the night, he had these 
 supporters cut through, and, according U> his anticipations, 
 the house fell down with a violent crash, and drew with it 
 such a portion of the wall aa made a breach sufficiently 
 practicable. A bodv of troops, therefore, prepared for the 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 purpose, rushed into the town with irresistible fury and 
 traversing the walls in every direction, they slaughtered 
 indiscriminately aU they could meet. Proceeding next to 
 the gates, they threw them open for the admission of their 
 companions. The city was soon one scene of carnage and 
 cruelty; and the Hcentious soldiers plundered, without any 
 restraint, the inhabitants of the place. 
 
 Dead to every feeUng of humanity, and regardless of 
 the miseries which he had brought upon his unhappy 
 countrymen, the relentleas Dermod, as soon as the uproar 
 of indiscriminate slaughter had subsided, sent an express 
 to Ferns for his daughter Eva, had her stipulated nuptials 
 mth Strongbow solemniaed in the city of Waterford, 
 and the confederates marched immediately thence to' 
 J>ubUn, in order to chastise a supposed or real defection of 
 its inhabitants. 
 
 Apprised of the movement of the enemy, the monarch 
 was obUged for a time to reUnquish his design upon 
 Thomond, and to repair with precipitation to stop the 
 progress of the invaders. He caused all the passes and 
 defiles in the road towards DubUn to be fortified and 
 manned, and the road itself to be broken up in several 
 places, in order to retard the march of the hostile troops; 
 but the invaders, taking a less frsquented route than 
 that which lay directly to the object of their expedition 
 crossed the mountains of Glendalogh, got the start of the 
 royal army, and intrenched themselves near the walls of 
 Dublin, before their adversaries were aware of the progresc 
 thoy had made. Defeated therefore in the objeci they had 
 in view, the difFerent chiefs that accompanied the monarch, 
 demanded their dismissal, and returned home, leaving 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 337 
 
 Dublin, exposed to all the horrors of war and desolation.* 
 The citizens of Dublin, being previously aware that 
 this attack of the enemy was intended, were making pre- 
 parations for their own defence ; but the chiefs of the 
 confederates, who had suflFered corsiderably from the 
 obstinate valour of the inhabitants of Wexford and Water- 
 ford, wished to be in possession of Dublin upon easier 
 terms than that effusion of blood which they now antioi- 
 pated.f In the name of his master, the king of Leinster, 
 therefore, 0' Regan summoned the citizens to surrender, 
 and promised to preserve their immunities, and to pass a 
 general act of oblivion for all past offences. An accidental 
 fire, which had destroyed one of their principal gates, 
 rendered the citizens the more willing to embrace the 
 proposals of their besi^ers ; and they sent a solemn depu- 
 tation conducted by their archbishop, Laurence O'Toole, 
 to enter into a treaty with the enemy. Numerous difficul- 
 ties, however, notwithstanding bis former proposals, were 
 started by Dermod, in order to protract the negociation, 
 whilst Raymond Le Gros and Milo de Cogan were carefully 
 examining the walls of the city to find out the most 
 likely place of assaulting it with success. Revenge being 
 the primary object which the king of Leinster had in view, 
 while he was amusing the deputies in the camp, and their 
 fellow citizens were impatiently waiting their return, the 
 two generals, pretending thpt the time for parley had 
 expired, led their troops to the lowest and least defensible 
 part of the walls, and effected an entrance before the 
 
 • Leland. B. I., Cap. 2. 
 t O'Hal., Vol. III., p. 349. 
 
338 
 
 HISTORT OP IRELAND. 
 
 inhabitants were aware of the treachery which had been 
 practised upon them. The success of the besiegers was 
 scon followed by the most unrestrained and licentious 
 cruelty. The houses of the citizens, after having been 
 plundered of everything valuable, were set on fire, and 
 an indiscriminate slaughter of all the inhabitants ensued. 
 
 Whilst the city w«s thus one scene of blood and 
 desolation, and whilst matrons and virgins wrre being 
 violated in the presence of their expiring husbands and 
 fathers, Dermod and Strongbow entered in triumph, and 
 the latter was immediately invested with the lordship of 
 Dublin. Committing the charge of the town to De Cogan, 
 tibese two chieftains next marched into Meath ; and, with a 
 degree of cruelty to which it would be difficult to apply a 
 suitable epithet, burned, despoiled, and wasted the country 
 wherever they came. 
 ^ fioderic, in the mean time, disabled by dissensions from 
 giving eflFectual resistance to this invasion, sent a message 
 t-o the king of Leinster, complaining of this breach of 
 treaty, and threatening the death of his son, who was then 
 held as a hostage by the monarch, if he did not imme- 
 diately withdraw his troops and make compensation to 
 O'Ruark for the devastations and murders committed in 
 the country. But to this message he received an answer of 
 defiance from Dermod, who, far from acknowledging him- 
 self the liegeman of O'Connor, declared he would not lay 
 down his arms until he had subjugated all Ireland to his 
 authority. Koderic, enraged with the insolence of this 
 reply, took the only revenge which was then in his power, 
 and immediately beheaded three of his hostages, among 
 whom was youner Art, the kins' of Leinster's own |?na, 
 
THE ENGLISH INVASION. 
 
 339 
 
 Alanned by the success of an enemy completely devoid 
 of every principle of honour or humanity, a general 
 council of tlie olei^ waa convened at Armagh to deliberate 
 upon the state of pulac affairs ; and, after a solemn 
 deliberation, they came to tfxe conclusion, that the calamities 
 which had fallen on the Irish nation hn*' originated in the 
 sins of the people, and that Provide ce had brought on 
 them the chastisement of the English arms, because of 
 their still countenancing an unnatural traffic with England, 
 which consisted in purchasing their children and relations 
 as slaves. By the Anglo-Saxons, in earlier times, tiiis 
 abominable species of commerce had been carried on to 
 such a degree as to sell any persons in their power, even 
 their own children, to the merchants of the continent 
 without any scruple :* but it is probable, as this barbarous 
 custom had sunk before the benignant influence of Chris- 
 tianity, the number of slaves of that nation waa but small 
 at this period in Ireland. The immediate liberation, 
 however, of all these and their restoration to their country 
 and friends were decreed by this council as the most 
 effectual means of averting the vengeance of Heaven, and 
 procuring a deliverance from those calamities with which 
 the Divine Being was now visiting the guilty land. 
 
 The fame of Dermod's exploits, assisted by his British 
 associates, was soon wafted as far as Aquitain ; and the 
 English monarch heard, with a considerable degree of 
 indignation and jealousy, that the king of Leinster, not 
 content with the recovery of his own territories, had laid 
 claim to the sovereignty of the whole Island, and that 
 
 • See Ling., Ant. of the Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 
 
 30. 
 
840 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 Strongbow was declared presumptive heir to the crown of 
 Leinster. Perceiving that the peace of his own dominions 
 might be endangered if his subjects in Wales should be led to 
 fonntoo high an estimate of theirown power and importance, 
 ne issued a proclamation, prohibiting the exportation of 
 any supplies from England of men, arms, or provisions for 
 Strongbow's treops, and commanding all his subjects de- 
 laying in Irelaad to return home before the ensuing 
 festival of Easter, under the penalty of the forfeiture of 
 all their lands, and banishment for ever* 
 
 This act of jealous power, which gave a mortifying and 
 unexpected blow to the ambitious projects of Strongbow 
 ind his partisans, was quickly followed by the sickness and 
 death of Dermod, their protector, in his capital of Ferns, 
 where he ended his guilty career in a manner which 
 rendered him an odious and offensive spectacle of misery. 
 His body, it is said, became covered with fetid sores; 
 he was attacked with morbus pedicularis ; was deserted in 
 his extremity by every friend ; and expired without any 
 spiritual comfort, in a state of horrible impenitence. 
 
 • Cambrena,, p. 770. 
 
 t O'Hal., Vol. ni., p. 352. 
 
341 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. % 
 
 Proowdings op Stbongbow, and Invasion bt 
 Henry II op Enqiand. 
 
 The death of this prince was followed by still more 
 calamitous consequences to the cause of the adventurers, 
 for it detached from their interest, Donald O'Brien, who 
 presently made peace with the monarch ; and, except a chief 
 named Donald Kavanagh and a few others, most of their 
 Irish allies followed his example. In this forlorn state of 
 his affairs, Strongbow called together his most faithful 
 friends, who resolved on the only expedient which sound 
 sense could dictate. In order to concUiate the king of 
 England, and to avert, if possible, the consequences of his 
 displeasure, Raymond Le Gros was dispatched with a letter 
 to Henry, in which the Welsh chieftain states, that he 
 eame into 'this land, as far as he could remember, with his 
 majesty's leave and favour, to aid his servant Dermod Mac 
 Murchad ; that of what he had won by the sword he made 
 a tender to him, and that he was his Majesty's " life and 
 
 living." . . 
 The affairs of the English monarch, at the time this 
 letter was presented to him, had been reduced to a very 
 distressing situation. He had been engaged for some time in 
 a vexatious and even perilous contest with Thomas i Becket, 
 archbishop of Canterbury, who, encouraged and nrotected by 
 the Roman pontiff, had violently opposed the Constitutions 
 of Clarendon, a bouy oi reguiatiuuD .vui^n -^r^-^ >••-•-- -^ 
 
342 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 up in the year 1164, for the independence of the civil on 
 tie ecclesiastical authority. The insolence of this ambitious 
 ecclesiastic, after a protracted contest, and ultimately a 
 Beemmg accommodation, had forced some passionate excla- 
 maUons of complaint from the king, in consequence of 
 which the archbishop was assassinated in church, during the 
 toime of divine service, by four knights who had come to 
 England for that purpose.* The report of this unfortunate 
 event, which now threatened to bring all the thunders of 
 the papal power to bear upon the king, had just arrived at 
 his court m the south of France, while Raymond Le Gros 
 was petitioning his Majesty in favour of Strongbow. This 
 ambassador from the earl had presented hisletter to Henry 
 but was received with marks of high displeasure, and 
 after a long attendance, was obliged to return to Ireland 
 without any answer. Besides the fears which the king 
 entertained of the pope's resentment, he perceived that to 
 accept the offers of Strongbow was to involve himself in 
 a war with Ireland, and in the present juncture of affairs 
 the issue of this might be very precarious. He therefore 
 resolved, for the present, to give no decided answer to 
 Strongbow's letter, but to wait a more favourable opportu- 
 nity of prosecuting his long-meditated designs against 
 Ireland with more glory to himself and less obligation to 
 the earl and his associates. 
 
 . On the first arrival of the British adventurers, the 
 archbishop of Dublin, a prelate highly esteemed for the 
 dignity of his birth, as weU as for his reputed piety had 
 enaeavoured in vain to persuade the different chieftains to 
 
 • Hume'8 Hist, of Eng., Cap. VIII. 
 
INVASION BY HENRY H. 
 
 S43 
 
 lay aside their factioufl disputes and to unite against their 
 common enemy; and now the desperate condition of 
 Strongbow's forces gave him another opportunity of renew- 
 ing his exhortations to that effect. With a patriotic zeal 
 for the interests of his oountiy, and an inveterate hatred 
 towards its invaders, he ran from tribe to tribe, and used 
 every exertion in his power to rouse the different chieftains 
 and their followers, and to convince them of the expediency 
 of laying hold on the present opportunity of either extermi- 
 nating or expelling the British invaders. By the exertions 
 of this prelate, Boderic was once more enabled to appear in 
 arms, at a time that seemed to give him peculiar advantages. 
 The period set in Henry's proclamation had now elapsed ; 
 Strongbow and his adherents were proscribed in Britain ; 
 whilst their insatiable cupidity and unprecedented inhu- 
 manity had rendered them the objects of universal detesta- 
 tion in Ireland. The monarch, therefore, summoning his 
 friends and allies to his standard, appeared at the head of 
 a large army on tho plains near Dublin, whilst a fleet of 
 thirty Danish vessels blockaded tne harbour to prevent any 
 succours from being received by the garrison. 
 
 Meanwhile the British leaders within the city were not 
 idle in making preparations to withstand the assault of the 
 Irish • they called in their outposts, and drained their 
 other garrisons to strengthen that of Dublin. But having 
 been surrounded by a host of enemies for two months, and 
 oppressed by famine and disease, they at length saw their 
 affairs coming speedily to a crisis, and their dejection was 
 increased by intelligence that Fitz-stephen was besieged in 
 the fortress of Carrick by the men of Wexford, and, if 
 not relieved before the end of three days, muct inevitably 
 
844 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 fall into the hands of his enemies. In this distressed 
 situdtfon, Strongbow caUed a council of war *c deliberate 
 on what should be done, and it was unanimously agreed 
 that proposals should bo made to the Irish monaich, through 
 the archbishop of DubUn, who at that time commanded a 
 body of troops in the Irish army, signifying their wish that 
 btrongbow should acknowledge him as their sovereign and 
 hold the kingdom of Leinster in -assalage under him. But 
 when the proposals of the besiege, were formally discussed 
 they were found inadmissible. Another prince had been 
 elected to the provincial throne, of the race of Cathair 
 More ; and those chiefs whose territories had been unlaw- 
 fully usurped, now put forward their claims that they 
 should be restored to their respective governments. The 
 only terms which the Irish were wiUing to jrj-ant ♦^-c 
 besieged were, that as soon as they should mal:e a pea^- 
 a^le surrender of the city of Dublin, with the iDorts of 
 Waterford, Wexford, and other strongholds, the/ should 
 be provided with transports to convey themselves and their 
 effects to their own country, without the least hurt or 
 injury : but, if they should not comply with this requisitiou 
 that a general assault should be made, and the garrison put 
 to the sword.* *^ 
 
 On the return cf the archbishop with this answer, which 
 was probably made so favourable through his intercession 
 the besieged were at once aware of the critical position in 
 which thoy now stood. They had been proclaimed traitors 
 already in Britain ; and their own sovereign had not only 
 rejected the offers they made him, but had given them up 
 
 * OHai., V. III., p. 355. 
 
INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 345 
 
 as a people devoted to certain destruction. In this situation 
 they came to a resolution worthy of gallant men who had 
 no alternative but death or victory. Milo de Cogan 
 declared that he would rather die in battle t>'««n deliver 
 himself into the hands of a cruel and vindictive foe ; and 
 Maurice Fitz-gerald, whose wife and children had been 
 left with Fitz-stephen in the fortress of Carrick, made an 
 animated speech, in which he avowed his determination to 
 act in a similar manner. 
 
 The spirit of these warriors was quickly caught by the 
 whole assembly ; and they agreed unanimously to make a 
 desperate sally on the following day, and to fall on the 
 monarch's own quarters, which, they naturally supposed, 
 would be left carelessly guarded while this negociation was 
 being carried on. The archbishop was in their hands ; and 
 whilst that prelate, as well as the troops of the Irish 
 monarch, imagined they were deliberating on tl e message 
 that had been brought them, they were all busily engaged 
 in arming for the sortie. Before day-light they attacked 
 the monarch's quarters ; and such was the consternation 
 into which the besiegers were thrown, that they concluded 
 the garrison had received a large reinforcement from 
 England, whilst their surprise and fear induced them to 
 magnify the danger. Everything was instantly thrown 
 into confusion ; and Roderic himself, who was just preparing 
 for a bath, was obliged half-naked to join his flying 
 troops, the whole of his forces having been driven from 
 their ground with terrible slaughter at the very first onset. 
 Actuated by no sense of a commo . interest, and influ- 
 enced by no attachment to their sovereign or friendship 
 for each other, the Irish princes who had accompanied the 
 
 nl 
 
 iA 
 
 * 
 
346 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 monarch and occupied different posta around the city, au 
 soon as they perceived the rout of the Connaught forces, 
 broke up their camps and fled to their respective territories, 
 leaving behind them, besides other spoils, a 8ufl5cient 
 quantity of provisions to support the garrison for a whole 
 year. Nor was this the only advantage gained by the rout 
 of the royal forces ; for as soon as the Danish fleet perceived 
 that their stay any longer would be perfectly useless, they 
 returned home and left the sea as well as tae land, open to 
 the adventurers. 
 
 Whilst the desperate state of Strongbow's affairs, and 
 the inevitable ruin which then menaced himself and hia 
 followers, were the very means of his triumphant success, 
 the defenders of Carrick, were by a different line of con- 
 duct brought to destruction. The ruins of this little for- 
 tress, which waa founded on a rock, are still to be seen about 
 two miles above Wexford, on the eastern bank of the river 
 Slaney. Fenced on all sides naturally by precipices and a 
 deep stream, it was at this time furnished with a slender 
 garrison, as Fitz-stephen had sent a considerable part of his 
 men for the defence of his associates in the city of Dublin. 
 Repulsed, however, by this little band that remained, the 
 assailants found themselves unable to take the fortress 
 expect by stratagem : ar Mn their ardour for the reduction 
 of this stronghold of thv enemy, they employed an artifice 
 dishonourable to their memory, by which they got Fitz- 
 stephen into their hands, whom they loaded with chains, 
 whilst they so inhumanly tortured and maimed his follow- 
 ers, that most of them expired under the violence of their 
 sufferings. 
 
 On the rout of Eoderic's forces at Dublin. Stronobow 
 
tNVAfllON BY HBNRT H. 
 
 847 
 
 who inarched instantly for the relief of _arrick, was placed 
 in imminent dangei by an ambuscade which was laid for 
 him, in a territory called at that time Hy-Drone, in the 
 modern county of Carlow. Bu( having defeated his 
 assailants and advanced towards Wexford, he had the morti- 
 fication of hearing that Fitz-stcphen was in the hands of his 
 enemies, and that affairs were reduced to such a situation 
 as rendered his relief at present impracticable. Having 
 heard of the approach of Struugbow's forces, and appre- 
 hensive of the effects of their rage and resentment, the men 
 of Wexford, after setting fire to their town, had retired 
 with their surviving prisoners to a small island in the har- 
 bour called Holy Island, whence they sent a message to 
 Strongbow, declaring, if he should offer them any hostility 
 in that place, they would instantly put every one of their 
 prisoners to death. Influenced by this menace, and dread- 
 ing that it would be carried into immediate effect, Strongbow 
 relinquished his designs upon the people of Wexford ; and 
 having marched to Waterford, where he transacted some 
 business, he returned in a short time to Ferns, the r^al 
 seat of the Lagenian princes. 
 
 Meanwhile the kingdom had been broken into factions 
 on the dispersion of the monarch's forces at Dublin ; and 
 by his irresolute <ind temporising spirit Roderic had lost 
 the confidence of the people. Donald O'Brien, who had 
 deserted the cause of the adventurers, again renounced the 
 monarch's authority, and entered into a fresh treaty with 
 Strongbow. Still it is reasonable to suppose, that the latter 
 would gladly have sacrificed much to be admitted to the 
 favour of his own sovereign ; and it is prooable he con- 
 
 ?''i 
 
 ■^fff 
 
 
 But Henrv 
 
348 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND, 
 
 had his own objects in view ; and as soon as these could be 
 safely accomplished, he was rosolved to avail himself of the 
 assistance of this nobleman to bring about the ambitious 
 designs which he was meditating against Ireland. 
 
 While Strongbow was regulating his affairs at Ferns, and 
 j/unishing his enemies among the toparchs of Leinstei , he re- 
 ceived a summons from Henry, commanding him to appear 
 immediately before him. The vigilance and abilities of 
 this talented monarch had warded off the blow that was 
 IcvoUed at him by his enemies in the papal court ; and at 
 length, having found leisure to embark in his meditated 
 iproject against Ireland, he had arrived in his own dominions ; 
 and to confirm his disavowal of the earl's proceedings, had 
 issued this summons for Strongbow's appearance. 
 
 Strongbow, fearing to persevere in his obstinacy, and 
 dreading the king's resentment, after having appointed gov- 
 ernors to the several garrisons thai were in his possession, 
 repaired instantly to England, and waited on the iing at 
 Newnham, near Gloucester. Here he made a full surren- 
 der to his sovereign of all his maritime fortresses, with a 
 territory about Dublin, and, through the influence of 
 Hervey of ' Mountmorres, he was restored to the royal 
 favour as well as to his estates In England an ' Normandy, 
 and declared steward of Ireland.* 
 
 Whatever dislike or hostility the king might have con- 
 ceived towards this nobleman, it was bis interest to soothe 
 and flatter him, and it was equally incumbent on the latter 
 to seem persuaded of his good intentions. From the infor- 
 mation which Henry received in those conferences which 
 
 (O'Hal. Vol. III., p. 351,) 
 
INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 349 
 
 he held with the earl about the reduction of Irclaad, he had 
 no doubt about the ultimate uuccess of his project, and 
 Strongbow was permitted to retain in penvetuity v Jer 
 Henry and his heirs all his Irish posseeuons, except those 
 which he had already surrendered to the king. 
 
 The preparations which the English monarch was making 
 during the whole of the summer for the invasion of Ireland 
 werlwell known in that country ; but su( "as *he infatua- 
 tion of the inhabitants that no attempt .^as made upor- 
 their part to oppose his landing, or ^ven tc retake ^hoise 
 cities which had fallen into the hands of the adventurers. 
 A fruitless attempt had indeed t:8n made on the city of 
 Dublin by O'Ruark of Breffny, but he had been repelled 
 by Milo de Cogan, the governor, with the loss of many on 
 both sides, including a son of O'Rua-k's, who fell in the 
 conflict.* 
 
 Nothing can account for this apathy of the Irish people, 
 but the unhappy condition to which the political state of 
 their country had been reduced by the collision of factious 
 chieftains. It was not for want of courage in the natives 
 that the Britons had been hitherto so successful in this coun- 
 trr, but for want of that union whi;.h vr^Wd have forced the 
 latter to contend with the power of the nation. For, how- 
 ever the historian may speak of Ireland at this time as one 
 collected state, it is obvious the inhabitants had but faint 
 idfcao of a national cause or a national force.f Their 
 dif .rent septs were respectively zealous for their own 
 interest or the honour of their own arms; but little 
 
 ♦ \t\sLni, B. I., C. 2. 
 t Leland, B, I., Cap. I. 
 
 mi 
 
 M 
 
 ii 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 m 
 
 jif( 
 
 k 
 
 concerned about the fortune of a distant province, and 
 little affected by the disgrace or defeat of any chieftain 
 but their own. Koderic had lost the confidence of his peo- 
 ple, as he had been obliged, by want of union amongst his 
 subjects, to let slip several opportunities of annihilating his 
 enemies; and the Irish chitftains in general, unconscious 
 of a common interest, regarded with indifference, pe^aps, 
 with maligna.it pleasure, the approaching downfall of their 
 nominal sovereign. Those from whom the nation had 
 reason to look for protection, confining their hopes and fears 
 to their own local concerns, had publicly betrayed its cause. 
 The two Munsters after having renounced the authority 
 of Roderic, had entered into a treaty with Strongbow ; and, as 
 the sequel would seem to prove, were privately encouraging 
 the designs of the English monarch, since Mac Carthy and 
 O'Brien were among the first to render him T'omage imme- 
 diately after his landing. The men of Wexford, conscious 
 of their own former perfidy in securing the fortress of 
 Carrick, and dreading the resentment of their enemies when 
 they should arrive under more favourable circumstances, 
 had sent a message to Henry before his embarkation for 
 Ireland, tendering their allegiance to him as their sovereign, 
 and complaining of the conduct of Fitz-stephen, whom they 
 had taken, they said, in arms as a traitor to his king, and 
 had reserved for his majesty's own judgment and disposal. 
 Henry, though sensible f>f the insincerity of all these pro- 
 fessions,with that policy for which he was ever distinguished, 
 commended highly the conduct of the AYeifbrdians, and 
 assured them that this chieftain, as well as the rest of his 
 offending subjects, should be brought to punishment and 
 suffer the due reward of his crimes. Having therefore 
 
INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 351 
 
 made every necessary preparation, the king, accompained 
 by Strongbow, proceeded through South Wales to Pembroke, 
 and after performing his devotions in the Church of St. 
 David's, and imploring the divine blessing on his arms em- 
 ployed under the authority, and in the cause of the Church, 
 he embarked at Milford Haven, and in a few hours entered 
 the harbour of Waterford * 
 
 This fleet, consisting of two hundred and forty ships, 
 and conveying an army of 400 knights, and about 4000 
 inferior soldiers, waa a formidable ebiect to *hose on whose 
 coast it appeared; and as no previous preparation had been 
 made to oppose his landing, any renstance now on the part 
 of the natives would have been not only unsuccessful, but 
 the means of exposing them to the resentment of a powerful 
 and dangerous foe. The ostensible purpose for which 
 Henry paid this visit to Ireland, being not to conquer, but 
 to take possession of a kingdom that was his by a grant of 
 the sovereign pontifiF, he affected to believe that his sovereign 
 authority could not be disputed but ought to be acknow- 
 Iclged and obeyea without the least difficulty or reluctance. 
 Amidst the acclamations of joy at the arrival of this new 
 sovereign, with his splendid train of Norman barons. Strong- 
 bow made a formal surrender of the city of Waterford, and 
 did homage to Henry for the principality of Leinster.f 
 Here, also, the men of Wexford, as an indication of 
 the?" c::tiaordinary zeal in his cause, waited on his 
 majesty, and produced Fitz-Stephen, their prisoner, 
 whom the king with a stem rebuke remandeu to prison. 
 
 P 
 
 ^1 
 
 • Art. 18. 1172. 
 t Cambrens., i>. 775. 
 
352 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 11' 
 
 as if intending to inflict a severer punishment on him when 
 he should be mor-^ at leisure to take his particular case into 
 consideration. 
 
 Meanwhile the southern chieftains who, probably from 
 disgust with their own monarch, had secretly encouraged the 
 invasion, came emulously forward to make their submission 
 to their new sovereign. The very next day after his land- 
 ing, Dermod Mac Carthy, the prince of Desmond, presented 
 him the keys of his capital city of Cork and rendered him 
 homage as monarch of Ireland. Having remained for a 
 few days in Waterford, Henry next proceeded with his army 
 ^ to Lismore, where he rested for two days and gave orders 
 for the erectionof a fort, and then proceeded to Cashel • at 
 which city, l^onald O'Brien, prince of Thomond, waited on 
 him tendered him the keys of the city of Limerick, and 
 did him homage for his other territories. The example of 
 these princes of North and South Munster was soon after 
 toUowed by Fitzpatrick, prince of Ossory, O'Felan, chief of 
 the Dc asies, and other inferior toparchs of Munstor. Thence 
 he marched to Wexford, and, as it was now no longer ne- 
 cessary to keep up the appearance of resentment towards 
 Fitz-stephen, hepremitted his barons to intercede for him 
 as a brave subject, who had not willingly or intentionally 
 offended, for whose fidelity they were all ready to become 
 sureties, and who was himself prepared to give the best 
 security for his allegiance, by a formal resignation of all his 
 Irish possessions to his sovereign. Having therefore re- 
 ceived from that chieftain a surrender of the town of Wex- 
 ford and its territory, the king not only Coc him at liberty, 
 but granted him the investiture of all his other possessions. 
 Having provided for tne security ofMuns.er, and placed 
 
INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 353 
 
 garrisons in the cities of Cork, Limerick, Waterford and 
 Wexford, Henry next resolved to proceed to Dublin to take 
 formal possession of this city which had been ahready surren- 
 dered by Strongbow. To strike the inhabitants with the 
 splendour and magnificence of his anny,a8 well as to give their 
 chieftains ap opportunity of repairing to his camp, and of 
 acknowledging his sovereignty, he led his forces through the 
 district of Ossory in a slow and stately procession. In the 
 course of his progress, the great lords and chieftains of 
 Leinster acknowledged themselves in due form his vassals. 
 Even 0' Ruark of Breffny, hitherto the determined enemy 
 of the English and the steady and unwavering friend of 0' 
 Connor, was carried away by the general defection, and 
 tendered his submission wiih the rest of his compatriots. 
 The indifference of these chieftains to the interests of their 
 native monarch, which had increased with hit declining 
 fortune, had, no doubt, to an extensive degree contributed 
 to produce this effect : but the appearance of a formidable 
 army hovering about the districts of each petty toparch, 
 when each was left to his own resources for defence, was 
 a still more powerful stimulus, to quicken the resolutions 
 they had aheady formed, and to induce them to submit to 
 the authority of the invader. 
 
 Harassed by the factions of his own hereditary province, 
 and afflicted by the unatural dissensions of his sons, Roderic 
 0' Connor beheld with grief and indignation, though not 
 with dismay, the defection of his tributaries and the for- 
 midable progress of the English monarch. But resolving 
 that his own territory at least should not be sacrificed to 
 the ambition of the invader, he collected his provincial 
 troops, and entrenched himself upn the banks of the 
 
354 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Shannon, where ho encouraged himself with a hope of 
 hemg able to withstand any onset of the enemy. As his 
 reduction, however, was a matter of prime importance to 
 Henry, while he was preparing a splendid entertainment 
 for those Irish chieftains who had become his vassals, he 
 dispatched Hugh de Lacy and William Fitzandelm, with 
 a body of troops against Roderic, in order either to per- 
 suade or force him to a submission. But all the efforts of 
 these two experienced warriors proved unsuccessful in ac- 
 complishing the object of their mission.* 
 
 Roderic, with his Conacian followers, having chosen his 
 
 , ground with considerable judgment, had begun to act in a 
 
 spirit and with a dignity more suitable to his station, and 
 
 could neither be forced into submission, nor attacked by 
 
 the invader with any hopes of success. 
 
 Henry, being thus compelled to relinquish for the pre- 
 sent his designs against his western rival, according to 'his 
 stipulations with the pope, next turned his attention to 
 ecclesiastical affairs. He summoned at Cashel, a general 
 
 • Giraldus indeed asserts that Roderic yielded at the instance 
 of De Lacy and Fitzandelm, swore allegiance to Henry, and 
 gave hostages as a security for the faithful payment of his 
 tribute. But the Irish annalists acknowledged no such submis- 
 sion ; and the abbot of Peterborough declares ingenuously that 
 the King of Connaught still continued to maintain his indepen- 
 dence, agreeing in this with the artle>,s historical strictures of 
 Ireland, which distinctly mark the extent of Henry's present 
 acquisition., without the least appearance of disguise or par- 
 tiality, and represent their monarch as still exercising an inde- 
 pendent sovereignty, opposing the invaders, and at length 
 treating with Henry at the time and in the wauuer i^l^led ou 
 record.— ie/and, Vol. I., p. V2. 
 
INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 356 
 
 assembly of the clergy of Ireland, or at least of that part 
 that had submitted to his authority, and there exhibited the 
 bull of Pope Adrian by which the sovereignty of this 
 island was transferred from all the branches of Irish royalty 
 to an entire stranger, for the good of the Church and the 
 complete eradication of vice and corruption. In this synod, 
 which was numerously attended by the clergy of Leinster 
 and Munster, Christian, bishop of Lismore presided as the 
 pope's legate ; and it was also attended by the lords who 
 had submitted themselves to the English monarch; but was 
 not sanctioned by Gelasius, the primate, nor by a consider- 
 able portion of the Irish ecclesiastics. The bull of Pope 
 Adrian having been produced was then road, and was to 
 the following effect : — 
 
 " Adrian, bishop and servant of the servants of God, to 
 his most dear son in Christ, the illustrious king of 
 England, greeting; health, and apostolical benedic- 
 tion." 
 " Thy greatness, as is becoming a Catholic prince, is 
 laudably and successfully employed, in thought and inten- 
 tion, to propagate a glorious name upon earth, and lay up 
 in heaven the rewards of a happy eternity, by extending the 
 boundaries of the church, and making known to nations 
 which are uninstructed, and still ignorant of the Christian 
 faith, its truths and doctrine, by rooting up the seeds of 
 vice from the land of the Lord: and to perform this more 
 efficaciously, thou seekest the counsel and protection of the 
 apostolical see, in which undertaking, the more exalted thy 
 design will be, united with prudence, the more propitious, 
 we trust, will be thy progress under a benign Providence, 
 
356 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 since a happy issue and end are always the result of what 
 has been undertaken from an ardour of faith, and a love of 
 religion. 
 
 " It is not, indeed, to be doubted, that the kingdom of 
 Ireland, and every island upon which Christ the sun of right- 
 eousness hath shone, and which have received the principles 
 of the Christian faith, belong of right to St. Peter, and to 
 the holy Roman Church, (which thy majesty likewise 
 admits,) from whence we the more fully implant in them 
 the seed of faith, that seed which is acceptable to God and 
 to which we, after a minute investigation, consider that a 
 conformity should be required by us vl^e more ri-idly 
 Thou, dearest son in Christ, hast likewise signified to us' 
 that for the purpose of subjecting the people of Ireland to' 
 laws, and eradicating vice from among them, thou art 
 desirous of entering that island; and also of paying for 
 each house an annual tribute of one penny to St Peter- 
 and of preserving the privileges of its churches pure and 
 undefiled. We, therefore, with approving and favourable 
 views commend thy pious and laudable desire, and to i.'.^ 
 thy undertaking, we give to thy petition our grateful and 
 wiUmg consent, that for the extending the boundaries of 
 the church, the restraining the prevalence of vice the im 
 provement of morals, the implantin- of virtue, and propa- 
 gation of the Christian religion, thou enter that island 
 and pursue those things which shall tend to the honour of 
 God, and salvation of his people ; and that they may 
 receive thee with honour, and revere thee as their lord • the 
 privilege of their churches continuing pure and unres- 
 trained, and the annual tribute of one penny from each 
 house remaining secure to 8t, Peter, uud the hol^ Komaq 
 
Invasion by henry n. 
 
 35t 
 
 Church. If thou, therefore, deem what thou hast projected 
 in mind possible to be completed, study to instil good 
 morals into that people, and act so that thou thyself, and 
 such persons as thou wilt judge competent, from their faith, 
 words, and actions, to be instrumental in advancing the 
 honour of the Irish Church, propagate and promote religion, 
 and the faith of Christ, to advance thereby the honour of 
 God, and salvation of souls, that thou mayest merit an 
 everlasting reward of nappiness hereafter, and establish on 
 earth a name of glory, which shall last for ages to come. 
 Given at Rome, &c." 
 
 This bull so unfounded in its charges against the Irish 
 Church, has been justly the subject of much animadversion, 
 even by those writers who are willing to acknowledge the 
 spirtual supremacy of the Roman pontiff. They have given 
 an enumeration of those eminent prelates and other eccle- 
 siastics in Ireland who distinguished themselves in this 
 very age for their piety and learning; but as one of them 
 has justly remarked, " it would have been better for the 
 nation had they been able to mention a Brian, a Kennedy, 
 or a Ceallachan, who, with the sword, would have at 
 once cut through the fascination 1 "* But the time of 
 Ireland's military glory had passed away ; and through the 
 intrigues of an artful monarch and the insolent assumption 
 of a foreign ecclesiastic, she was now, and for ages afterwards, 
 doomed to suffer those calamities, wHch formed the most 
 prominent feature in her subsequent history. 
 The injustice of the charges contained in this bull, and 
 
 • O'Hal. 
 
358 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 their glaring inappiicaH]' > to the Irish Church, havo 
 induced some of tl..- /.ovous sil.iders for the honour of the 
 papacy, to call in -idesuon its authenticity, and to sup- 
 pose It impossibl" tnat it could have proceeded from the 
 apostolic see. But how unjust soever this papal document 
 may appear to the world, we h.A.. ♦;• , ,.,o.st irrefragable 
 proofs that it could not have been a forgery. The follow- 
 ing confirmation of it by Pope Alexander III, which was 
 published in the lifetime of that pontiflF by Cambrensis, is 
 ot Itself sufficient evidence upon this subject. 
 
 "Alexander, bishop, servant 0/ the servants of God, to his 
 , most dear son in Christ, the illustrious king of Eng. 
 land, health and apostolical henediction. 
 
 " Forasmuch as those things which are known to have 
 been reasonably granted by our predecessors, deserve to be 
 confirmed in lasting stability, we, adhering to the foot- 
 steps of Pope Adrian, and regarding the result of our gift 
 to you, (the annual tax of one penny from each house 
 being secured to St. Peter and the holy Roman Church,) 
 confirm and ratify the same, considering that its impurities 
 being cleansed, that barbarous nation which bears the name 
 of Christian, may, by your grace, assume the comeliness of 
 morahty; and that a system of discipline being introduced 
 into her heretofore unregulated church, she may, through 
 you, effectually attain, with the name, the benefits of Christ- 
 ianity." 
 
 Through the powerful influence of the various engines 
 which were now at work, the bull of the pontiff was re- 
 ceived by the Synod, and the sovereignty of Ireland was 
 
INVASION BY HENRY H. 
 
 359 
 
 conferred on the English monarch and his heirs for ever, by 
 the reverend fathers composing this assembly. The refor- 
 mation of the Irish Church was next discussed ; and eight 
 canons or ordinances passed for the purpose of carry- 
 ing into effect the pious intentions of the king ! 1. That 
 the people should not marry within the prohibited 
 degrees of affinity or consanguinity. 2. That chUdren 
 should be catechised outside the church door, and infants 
 baptised at the font. 3. That tithes of cattle and corn 
 should be paic. to the church. 4. That church lands and 
 all ecclesiastical property should be exempt from secular 
 exactions. 5. That the clergy should be released from 
 eric, or retribution, on account of murder or other crimes, 
 committed by their relations. 6. That all true sons of 
 the church should have power by will to distribute their 
 effects in due proportion between their wives and chil- 
 dren. 7. That Christians when dead should be brought to 
 the church, and decently interred in hallowed ground; and 
 8. That divine service in the Church of Ireland should 
 for the future be in all things conformable to that of the 
 Church of England. " For it is meet and just," says m- 
 brensis, who has given us an account of this synod, " that 
 as Ireland has by Providence received a lord and king from. 
 England, so she may receive from the same a better form 
 of living. For to his royal grandeur are both the church 
 and realm of Ireland indebted for whatever thoy have 
 hitherto obtained, either of the benefits of peace, or the 
 increase of religion. Since, before his coming into Ireland, 
 evils of various kinds had from old times gradually over- 
 spread the nation, which by his power and gooduess are 
 now abolished." 
 
 lift i. 
 
 ■it m 
 
360 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 i 
 
 These regulations, the greater part of which are set down 
 for mere parade, having been adopted by the council, the 
 great object of Henry's mission was accomplished, at least 
 as far as the church was concerned : but the civil subjec- 
 tion of this island to the crown of England was far from 
 being attained. The king of England, by the public sub- 
 missions of the princes of Munster, Leinster, Ossory, and 
 the Deasies, as well as through the influence of the clergy 
 of their respectives territories, became sovereign of Leath- 
 Mogha, or the southe n half of Ireland ; but still Roderic 
 O'Connor, and O'Nial. the powerful dynas* of the north, 
 were as much as ever his open and avowed enemies. His 
 stay in Ireland was for several months, during which tur ■ 
 nothing remarkable happened, except the submission of 
 the princes of the south, and a fatal plague which followed 
 soon after, by which thousands perished.* 
 
 But whilst meditating plans for securing and extending 
 his conquests as soon as the season would permit, Henry 
 was informed at Wexford, that Albert and Theodine, two 
 cardinals, who had been sent by the pope to inquire into 
 the causes of the murder of the Archbishop of Cantcrbuiy, 
 were long expecting his arrival in Normandy, and had sum- 
 moned him to appear before them under pain of excommu- 
 nication and of an interdict on his dominions. The earlier 
 arrival of this alarming piece of intelligence had been pre- 
 vented by a tempestuous winter; and being sensible of 
 the danger to which he would be exposed by the acts of 
 spiritual power, he embarked at the festival of Easter, 
 1173, and having made some arrangements for the admin- 
 
 • O'Hal. 377. 
 
■r.y *■ ■>. 
 
 INVASION BY HENRY II. 
 
 361 
 
 istration of affairs In his absence 'uc haup<' from Wexford, 
 arrived in Pembrokeshire, and sec out f T Normandy with 
 ail the precipitation whir', his cir^ u. isr* oes required. 
 
 The people of Ireland after this pei\v.u became severally 
 subject to two very different forinr. „ • government. The 
 British colonists, placed in the same political si^xation 
 with their fellow-subjects in England, were governed by 
 English laws ; whilst the condition of the Irish princes 
 who had submitted to a new sovereignty, underwent no 
 change, but by their professing allegiance to the king of 
 England instead of their own sovereign. Their ancient 
 Brehon jurisprudence was as much in force as ever ; and 
 whilst they continued to observe their ancient customs 
 and modes of succession, they acted as independent poten- 
 tates in waging wax with each other, and entering into 
 their usual alliances offensive and defensive. Of the ter- 
 ritories acquired by himself and his British subjects in 
 Ireland, and which when afterwards enlarged and divided 
 into countijs were denominated the English pale, Henry 
 reserved, as his own immediate property, the maritime 
 towns, aod some districts. The rest of the surrendered 
 lands 1 e divided amongst the leaders of his troops, which 
 they wero to posse^J in military tenure as feudal right, 
 being bovnd, not only to do homage to their sovereign for 
 their respecti/e holdings, and to pay him tribute, but to 
 Support a certain number of \nights and inferior soldiers 
 for his service. These leaders, who, in every other 
 respect, were ab»olute and hereditary lords and princes in 
 their respective territories, parcelled out their lands in 
 like manner to certain knights or gentlemen, who, instead 
 of rent, gave military service, each furnishing, when required, 
 
 X 
 
362 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 a number of soldiers in proportion to the quantity of land 
 he possessed. 
 
 Henry, while in Ireland, amoagst his other act' of regal 
 authority, granted the city of Dublin, by a charter, to the 
 citizens of Bristol with the same privileges as those which 
 they enjoyed at home.* In like manner the city of Water- 
 ford was granted to the Ostmen or Danes, where they were 
 to enjoy axl the rights of English subjects, and all the 
 advantages of the laws of England. By a statute enacted 
 by the king in council, in order to make a provision for 
 the uninterrupted administration of affairs in his absence, 
 the chancellor, treasurer, chief justices, chief baron, keeper 
 of the rolls, ard the king's sergeant at law, were empowered 
 to elect, with the consent of the nobles of the land, a suc- 
 cessor to the chief governor in case of his death, vested 
 with the full authority of the king's vicegerent, until the 
 I'oyal pleasure should in that paidcular be notified. The 
 office of chief governor was conferred on Hugh de Lacy, 
 who had Kobert Fitzstephen ar?i Maurice Fitzgerald 
 appointed as his coadjutors. The territory of Meath, already 
 in possession of English troops, was granted to De T^acy : 
 and to John de Courcey, an adventurous baron, the whole 
 promce of Ulster was assigned, provided he should be able 
 to subjugate the Ultonians, and take possession of *.heir 
 lands. 
 
 * See Leland, Book I, Cap. 3^ witl; the authorities he cites. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Events subsequent to Henuy's personal Invasion 
 OF Ireland till the time op his Death. 
 
 On Henry's departure from Ireland, it was soon found, 
 that he had not left behind him in this countr;y one true 
 subject more than ho had found in it at his first arrival.* 
 The unsettled state in which he had been obliged to leave 
 his Irish acquisitions, began to appear in a short time after 
 his departure from that country. Strongbow having 
 marched Into Ofally to enforce the payment of his tribute 
 from a toparch named O'Dempsy, was attacked by the na- 
 tives while returning, and his rear-guard obliged to sustain 
 a furious assault, with the loss of some men, particularly 
 Robert de Quiny, his standard-bearer and son-in-law. 
 O'Ruark of Breffny was killed on the hill of Tara, with 
 many of his followers, where he had met Hugh de Laoy 
 in conference, in order to settle some disputes, and had, 
 according to the account of English writers, prepared an 
 ambuscade for the destruction of the chief g<" vernor, which 
 was prevented by prudent precautions, but, according to 
 that of the Irish, he fell by the treachery and bl«od-thirsty 
 disposition of the foreigners. Besides these petty hostilities, 
 almost all the native chieftains who had sworn allegiance 
 to the Eng'*sh monarch rose in arms, and encouraged by 
 
 • See Sir John Davis' Discovery of the causes why Ireland was 
 never entirely subdued until the beginning of the «ign of 
 James the First, 
 
364 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the embarrassments of the king elsewhere, raised various 
 insurrections in different parts of the country. 
 
 Henry, to whose crown a numerous progeny of sons and 
 daughters had given both lustre and authority, had evinced 
 an imprudent but affectionate zeal in giving splendid 
 establishments to the several branches of his family, but 
 his paternal kindness met with an ungrateful return 
 from his sons. He had appointed Henry, the eldest, to be his 
 successor in the kingdom of England, granting him the duchy 
 of Normandy, and the counties of Anjou, Maine, and Tou- 
 raine : to Richard, his second son, he had assigned the 
 duchy of Guienne and county of Poictou : Geoffry, his 
 'third son, inherited, in right of his wife, the duchy of 
 Britanny : and the new conquest of Ireland was destined 
 for the appanage of John, his fourth son.* In order to 
 insure the succession to his eldest son, this monarch had 
 made him his associate in the throne by a solemn corona- 
 tion : but the young prince being afterwards allowed to 
 pay a visit to his father-in-law, Lewis the seventh of 
 France, that crafty and imperious monarch persuaded him 
 that he had a right to the immediate enjoyment of sovereign 
 power, by virtue of the royal unction which he had received ; 
 and that his father could not, without injustice, exclude 
 him from the immediate possession of the whole, or at 
 least, a part of his dominions.f In consequence of these 
 extravagant ideas, when the English monarch refused to 
 accede to the wishes of the young prince, the latter attempt- 
 ed to enforce his unrighteous claims by an appeal to the 
 
 • Hume. Hlat. Cap. IX. 
 t Ca«bren8, p. 782. 
 
 I 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OP HENRY. 
 
 365 
 
 sword ; and in this unnatural rebellion he was assisted by 
 his brothers, who also claimed the immediate possession of 
 the territories assigned them. In the dangerous war thus 
 excited against the king, the alacrity with which Strongbow 
 fled to his assistance in Normandy, gained the confidence 
 of that monarch to such a degree that he appointed him 
 chief governor of Ireland, and sent him back with dis- 
 cretionary powers for the management of the turbulent 
 aflFairs of that country. 
 
 1174. On his arrival in Ireland, Strongbow found the 
 army, which had been entrusted to the command of Hervey 
 of Mountmorres, so mutinous and discontented with their 
 leader, that he was obliged to transfer the supreme military 
 authority to Raymond le Gros, who began immediately to 
 act with vigour, r-'>withstanding the great diminution of 
 his forces, by the assistance which the new chief governor 
 was obliged to render his royal master in other parts of 
 his dominions. Having ravaged Ofally and Lismore, 
 Raymond marched back along the coast to Waterford, 
 conveying his booty in some vessels which he had found 
 at anchor ; and though he was attacked in his progress 
 both by sea and land, he was victorious on both elements. 
 Acquainted with his proceedii\s;s, and encouraged by a 
 contrary wind which prevailed for some time, thie men of 
 Cork, resolved if possible to destroy his transports, and to 
 wreak their vengeance on hi. ; ' wers towards whom they 
 entertained the most inveterate hostility. The king's 
 necessities had obliged him to withdraw the English gar- 
 rison from the city of C . ; which, upon its evacuation, had 
 been re-occupied by MacCarthy ; and now the inhabitants, 
 in order to evince their zeal in the cause of their native 
 
 H 
 
 k 
 
 
366 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 1::!' 
 
 chicftaiu, hastily fitted out thirty barka, and fell with the 
 utmost fury on tlie English transports, which had not yet 
 weighed anchor. This sudden and unexpected assault was, 
 however, sustained with considerable intrepidity ; and 
 such was the success of the English on this occasion that 
 they took eight vessels from the enemy, and sailed in 
 triumph to their place of destination. Raymond, apprised 
 of this atteii pt to destroy his little fleet, was hastening to 
 their assistance,when he found himself suddenly encountered 
 by the forces of the prince of Desmond, but succeeded in 
 putting the followers of that chieftain to a shameful flight. 
 I Elated by their success in these trivial engagements, 
 the British soldiers were confirmed in the high opinion 
 they had formed of their new leader : but Raymond being 
 disgusted by Strongbow's refusal to give him his sister 
 Basilia in marriage, resigned the command of the troops 
 in Ireland, and retired into Wales, leaving them to be 
 conducted by their former general. 
 
 Sensible of the obscurity into which his own character 
 had been thrown by the superior lustre of his rival, Hervey 
 now resolved by some brilliant exploits to signalize himself 
 as a military leader, and to emulate the successes of his 
 predecessor in command. He represented to the chief 
 governor the necessity of directing all his energies against 
 that spirit of insubordination which had been evinced by the 
 princes of Munster ; and urged that, by chastising their 
 revolt as well as by reducing them to obedienqe, he might 
 strike terror into those who were disaffected, but had not 
 dared to commence hostilities. These plausible representa- 
 tions had the desired effiect upon the mind of the chief 
 governor whose genius was better fitted to dopt and execute 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 36T 
 
 the project of others than t^ form new plans of operation 
 for himself. In conjunction with Mountmorres he led a 
 considerable body of forces to the city of Cashel, where 
 they reviewed their troops, and received information of the 
 general stateof the enemies with whom they had to coL^nd. 
 But either diffident of their own forces, or wishing to give 
 their armament a more brilliant and formidable appearance, 
 they dispatched orders to Dublin, for a considerable party 
 of the garrison, consisting of Ostmen who had engaged in 
 the service of the English, to gain their main body without 
 delay. O'Brien of Thomond, apprised of the advance of 
 this detachment, and implacably hostile to the invaders of 
 his country, resolved to intercept them in their march, and 
 by cutting them oil, to give a severe and disheartening blow 
 the sanguine expectations of the enemy. He permitted 
 the Ostmen to advance as for as Thurles and there to 
 encamp in a state of careless security; but fallir ^ suddenly 
 upon them, he routed the whole detachment, and left their 
 four principal commanders, with about four hundred of 
 their men dead upon the field. , . ^ • 
 
 To complete the triumph of the Momonian chieftain, 
 'as soon as Strongbow received the intelligence of this mis- 
 fortune, he retreated with all the precipitation of a defeated 
 general and was obliged to throw himself into Water- 
 ford, as a place of security from the rage of his enemies. 
 Tiie report of this misfortune was quickly spread through- 
 out the country; t the Irish chieftains rose everywhere 
 
 • Leland. B. I., Cap 4. 
 
 t «' The Irish auualists assure us, that on the report ot 
 Strougbow's raarch into Munster, Roderic advanced with an 
 
 i 
 
SG8 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 In arms : and even those who hau lately made their sub- 
 
 missions, and bound themselves to the service of the 
 
 English monarch, now openly disclaimed all their former 
 
 engagements. Donald Kavanagh himself, a son of the 
 
 late Dermod Mac Murchad, and a chieftain who had 
 
 hitherto faithfully adhered to the cause of the invaders, 
 
 now asserted his title to the kingdom of Leinster, and 
 
 deserted tiie interests of his former allies ; whilst Roderic 
 
 O'Connor, embracing the favourable opportunity, used 
 
 every exertion to unite the princes of Ulster, the native 
 
 chieftains of Meath, and other toparchs, against the com- 
 
 _mon enemy of their country. 
 
 Perceiving the error into which he had fallen by offend- 
 ing Le Gros, and sensible of the loss he had sustained 
 by the resignation of that chieftain, Strongbow, without 
 the least hesitation or delay, gent into Wales, entreating 
 Raymond to return to Ireland with such forces as he 
 could procure, and freely offering to gratify him in all his 
 late demands. Such an application was too flattering to the 
 vanity of the retired general to be resisted ; and with all 
 the promptitude which the mingled emotions of love, 
 pride, and ambition could inspire, he made his preparations, 
 
 army into Ormond, in order to oppose him : that the news of 
 his approach determined the English leader to send to Dublin 
 for a reinforcement; that this reinforcement arriving safe, 
 Strongbow led his forces to the plain of Durlus ; that he here 
 engaged O'Brien and Dal-cais, the army of Jer-Connaught, 
 and the invincible army of Gil-Muiredhy, under the command 
 of Connor Moenmay, son of Roderic, and was defeated with 
 the loss of seven hundred (or seventeen hundred) men." 
 Leland, ut supra. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OP HENRY. 
 
 369 
 
 and steered his course for Waterford, accompanied by 
 thirty leaders of his own kindred, one hundred horsemen, 
 and three hundred hardy and well-appointed archers. 
 
 As soon as Le Gros arrived in Waterford, and had an 
 interview with the chief governor, it was mutually agreed 
 th&y should march immediately to Wexford, and that the 
 marriage of the former with Strongbow's sister should be 
 performed without delay. The citizens of Waterford, 
 naturally averse to the English invaders, and rendered 
 still more hostile by their rigorous oppressions, as soon 
 as the chief governor was gone^ formed the desperate 
 resolution of freeing themselves from their insolent 
 masters by a general massacre of the garrison. The latter, 
 little suspecting any violence or treachery within the walls, 
 felt that confidence and security in which men generally 
 indulge who are surrounded by their friends and adherents, 
 and thus afford a more favourable opportunity for the 
 execution of the designs of their secret enemies. Their 
 commander, while crossing the river Suir, was, with his 
 few attendants, murdered by the mariners who conveyed 
 them; and as soon as intelligence of this event was 
 carried to the city, all the English who could be found 
 unarmed, were suddenly assailed, and slaughtered with- 
 out distinction of age, sex, or condition. Such of the 
 garrison as were able, on this emergency, to take up arms, 
 joined their associates in the citadel called Reginald's 
 Tower ; and there not only succeeded in defending them- 
 selves, but at length drove their assailants from the city, 
 and obliged them to sue for peace and accept it on the 
 most rigorous terms. 
 
 Meanwhile the town of Wexford was a scene of joyful 
 
370 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 i: i 
 
 mirth and splendid festivity: Strongbow'a sister Baailia 
 had arrived thither from Dublin, with a magnificent t/ain, 
 and had been solemnly espoused by Le Gros who 
 received a large portion of lands as her dowry, and was 
 invested with the office of constable and standard-bearer 
 of Leinst«r. But such was the urgency of public affairs 
 that on the following day, after the nuptials were per- 
 formed, the bridegroom was obliged to commence his 
 march for Meath, in which territory Roderic O'Connor 
 had demolished the English fortresses, and wasted the 
 lands of such as professed allegiance to the English 
 monarch. But the Irish chieftains, actuated by sudden 
 and transient impressions of passion, rather than by any 
 reasonable and settled principle of duty or public spirit, 
 having deserted O'Connor, that prince had commenced 
 his retreat into his own province, before the arrival of the 
 British forces, and, though pursued by the enemy, he lost 
 only about one hundred and fifty men, who were killed in 
 the rear of the fugitive Conacians. 
 
 The success of the English in re-establishing their 
 settlements in Meath, and the death of Donald Kavanagh, 
 who fell in an engagement with a party of Irishmen 
 employed in the English servi ., had an extensive influence 
 upon the minds of the disaffected in Leinster, and an 
 appearance of order and tranquillity was established 
 throughout the English territories. But O'Briea, the 
 valiant and influential prince of Thomond, was still 
 unsubdued ; and the cliief governor now saw the necessity 
 of directing his aims against that refractory and revolted 
 chieftain. Limerick, the capital of North Munster, sit- 
 uated on the Shannon, about sixty miles from the sea, 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 371 
 
 was ill hia -possession, and appeared to bid defiance to 
 the utmost efforts of the enemy, as the river intervened 
 and the bridges had been previously broken. Raymond, 
 by whom its siege was undertaken, with a chosen band of 
 six hundred men, advanced to its attack ; and, discovering 
 a place where the stream was fordable, though extremely 
 dangerous, he succeeded in gaining the opposite side with 
 the loss of only three of his men ; and such was the effect 
 produced upon the Irish by this desperate act of intre- 
 pidity that they fled in all directions, whilst the troops of 
 the British commander entered the city in triumph, having 
 slaughtered numbers of the fugitives without any resist- 
 ance.* 
 
 A. D. 1175. In the meantime, Roderic O'Connor, who, 
 amidst various afflictions, had held out for four years, and 
 retained his hereditary dominions in Connaught, per- 
 ceiving that no efficient aid was to be expected from those 
 Irish princes and chieftains that still professed allegiance 
 to him, and dreading an attack ^from the English by a 
 force superior to his own, resolved* to save his own prov- 
 ince at least from the depredations of an incensed and 
 victorious enemy, by a timely suomission to the Enghsh 
 monarch. This resolution was strengthened by the success 
 which had attended the arms of the latter in other parts 
 of his dominions, where, by the wisdom and vigorous 
 execution of his plans, he had vanquished his unnatural 
 
 • (I 
 
 > With the forcing of this passage, the fragmentlenda ab- 
 ruptly of Irish history left us by Maurice Regan, the secretary 
 of Dermod, which generally agrees with the more full relations 
 of Giraldus Cambrensis." Gordon. Vol. I., p. 11.2. 
 
 I 
 
372 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 0- 
 
 at 
 
 m 
 
 ■»£ 
 
 sons, and their numerous abettors and allies. Accordingly 
 t^ee commisssioners from Roderic, his chancellor, styled 
 m the old English manner, Master Lawrence ; Catholicus 
 archbishop of Tuam; and the abbot of St. Brandon' 
 waited on Henry at Windsor, where a treaty of peace 
 was concluded between the two parties. The terms of 
 this peace and concord are comprised in four articles. 
 Kj the first, on Roderic agreeing to do homage to the 
 king of England, and to pay him a certain tribute, he was 
 to possess his kingdom of Connaught in as full and ample 
 a manner as before the arrival of Henry in Ireland. By 
 the second, Henry was engaged to support and defend the 
 king of Connaught in his territories; and the latter was 
 to pay to Henry a tenth of all the merchantable hides 
 from the lands of Ireland. The third article excepts 
 trom this condition all such domains as pertained to the 
 Enghsh monarch himself, or his barons. And the fourth 
 article declares, that such of the Irish as had fled from 
 the lands held by the English barons, might return in 
 peace, on the payment of the above tribute, or such other 
 services as they were anciently accustomed to perform 
 for their tenures, at the option of their lords.* 
 
 This treaty, in which Henry treated with Roderic not 
 merely as a provincial prince, but as monarch of Ireland,! 
 
 ♦ 'Hal. 
 
 t That the Irish entertained this idea of the treaty is evident 
 from the following extract which Dr. Leland makei from the 
 ^nnaUo/Leimter:^'' An. 1175. Catholicus O'Dubhy came out 
 of England from the empress's son; with the peace of Ireland 
 and the royal sovereignty of a« Ireland, to Rory O'Connor and 
 his own ioigtdh) province to each provincial king in Ireland 
 and their rents to Rory."— ./?nn. Lagen. M.S. ' 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 373 
 
 was solemnly ratified in a grand council of prelates and 
 temporal barons, among whom the archbishop of Dublin 
 was one of the subscribing witnesses. That artful prince, 
 who had hitherto paid little regard to the claims of the 
 king of Connaught upon the monarchy of Ireland, now 
 seemed anxious that his supremacy should be acknow- 
 ledged, in order that the present submission might appear 
 to be virtually the submission of all the subordinate 
 princes, so as to invest himself with the complete sovereign- 
 ty of the whole island. The marks, however, of this sov- 
 ereignty were no more than merely the payment of hom- 
 age and tribute ; for in every other particular the regal 
 rights of Roderic were left inviolate. The English laws 
 and government were evidently to be enforced only in the 
 English pale; and even within this district the Irish 
 tenant might live in peace, as the subject of the Irish 
 monarch, bound only to pay his quota of tribute, and not 
 to take arms against the king of England.* 
 
 A. D. 1176. But a people who were guided by the uncer- 
 tain impulses of their own passions were not to be influenced 
 by treaties such as this, especially as they had long since 
 lost every idea of their obligations to obey their own nomi- 
 nal sovereign. Accordingly, the following year, O'Brien 
 of Thomond, the vigorous and formidable enemy of the 
 English power, laid siege to Limerick, and when Raymond 
 le Gros marched for the relief of that city, the Irish 
 chieftain, abandoning the siege, took post with his army 
 in a defile near Cashel in order to intercept him. But the 
 British leader, with a force consisting of eighty knights, 
 
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 • Leland ut supra. 
 
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 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 two hundred inferior cavalry, and throe hundied archei^ 
 forced the entrenchments of the enemy, and received ho8^ 
 tog^ from O'Brien, as a security for his future allegiance. 
 At the same time, Roderio O'Connor, in pursuance of his 
 /ate treaty, repaired to Raymond, to deUvei his hostages, 
 and to take the oath, of fealty: so that in one day Le 
 Gros had the honour of receiving the submission of the 
 king of Connaught an well as of the prince of Thomond.* 
 Invited by MacCarthy, whose eldest son, Cormac had 
 usurped hir principality, acd thrown his father into prison 
 Raymond next led his forces into Desmond, and restored' 
 Ae injured prmoe to his provincial throne, for which service 
 he received an extensive tract of land in that pait of the 
 country. MacCarthy, enraged with the unnatural conduct 
 of his son, and to requite him for his baseness, had him cast 
 into that prison from which he had been so recently res- 
 cued himself, and soon after put him to death, as a traitor 
 to his prince and an usurper of his father's throne 
 ^ llaymond had scarcely accomplished this laudable task 
 in D^mond, wien he received a letter from Basilia, his 
 wife, informing him that " her great tooth which had been 
 «) long aching was at last faUen from the socket." and in- 
 treating him to return to Dublin with all imaginable speed, 
 ^e death of Strong^ being thus mysteriously expreVsed, 
 
 t D Kr r\' ^- ^'^^"^P^'' ^^ «^* '^' immediatei; 
 for Dublin, after having given the city of Limerick in 
 
 ?T *^ ? "'"' ^'^°S ^"^^^^ ^°^We to spare any of 
 lus English troops for its garrison. But, notwithstanding 
 the prmce of Thomond upon this occasion took a solemn 
 
 * L«laQd ut supra. 
 
BVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 376 
 
 oath, to guard the city for the king of England, and to re- 
 store il. to thij representatives of that monarch at the royal 
 pleasure, he mi fire to it in four different quarters, as soon 
 as the Britiah commander had taken his departure, and 
 declared that this town should no longer continue to he 
 the nest of foreigners. By Eva, the daughter of Dermod, 
 whom he espoused, Stronghow left only one surviving 
 child, a daughter four years of age, who, about ten years 
 afterwards, became the wife of WiUiam, Earl Marshal of 
 
 England. 
 
 Previously to Raymond's late expedition to Limerick, 
 Henry, whose jealousy had been excited through the envy 
 of Hervey of Mountmorres, had summoned the former into 
 England; but as the troops refuted to march under any 
 other general, and the four commissioners delegated for 
 that purpose were convinced of the extreme urgency of 
 aflWrs, they had suspended the execution of the summons ; 
 and, influenced now by motives of a similar nature, on the 
 death of Strongbow, they concurred with the council, by 
 whom Le Gros was elected chief governor until the royal 
 pleasure should be known upon that appointment. But 
 notwithstanding the very favourable account of his com- 
 miusioners, the English monarch continued to evince the 
 diffidence he felt in Raymond's integrity, and he deputed 
 to the office William Fitz-Andelm, a nobleman allied to him 
 by blood,* and a man who is said to have been prepos- 
 
 • Arlotta, mothw of the conqueror, was married to Harlowen 
 de Burgo, by whom she had Robert, Earl of Cornwall, whose 
 two BOM were Andelm and John. Andelm had Lwue this Wil- 
 liam FitB-Andelm ; John was the father of Hubert de Bargo, 
 chief juBticiary of England.—Cox. 
 
 ;^ 1 
 
 "m 
 

 876 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 eeaaed against the original adventarere, unfit for vigorous 
 measures, rapacious, and more intent upon his own gain 
 and that of his adherents, than on the interests of the 
 English colony in general. 
 
 A. D. 1177. With a numerous train, amongst whom were 
 Vivian, the pope's legate, and Nicholas Wallingford, an 
 English ecclesiastic, with the brief of pope Alexander, lately 
 granted to the king in confirmation of his title to Ireland, 
 Fitz-Andehn landed at Wexford, where Le Gros was in 
 readiness to receive him. At this interview, the now chief 
 governor is said to have looked with a malignant eye upon 
 the number and gallant appearance of Raymond's train ; 
 ^d, turning to his followers, was weak enough to threaten 
 that he would soon find means of humbling their pride 
 and ostent'ition.* He b^an his administration by a state- 
 ly progress along the coast, in order to inspect the forts 
 and cities immediately vested in the king; while the eccle- 
 siastics were on their part active in the service of their 
 master. In a synod of the Irish clergy, which was held in 
 the city of Waterford, the brief lately granted by Alexander 
 III, and the former bull of Pope Adrian, were solemnly 
 promulged ; the English monarch waa formally proclaimed 
 Lord of Ireland ; and the censures of the church were de- 
 nounced, with the most dreadful fulminations, against all 
 who should call in question the validity of the grant, or 
 presume to impeach the authority of the illustrious repre- 
 sentative of the pontiff in that island.f 
 
 ' Cambrensis, Lei. B. 1, ch. 4. 
 
 t See O'Connor'B Historical Address, Vol 1, pp. 65, 86. 
 igan'K Bccles. Hist, of Ireland, Vol. IV, p. 222. 
 
 Lan< 
 
EVENTS TILL TH« DEATH OP HENRY. 377 
 
 Fita-Andelm's first care, as soon as he had assumed the 
 reins of government, was by craft or violence to dispossess 
 the original adventurers of their best settlements, and to 
 engross to himself and his dependants whatever was valu- 
 able within the pale. Discouraged therefore by the rapa- 
 city of the chief governor, as well as by the jealousy and 
 suspicion of their sovereign, the most enterprising of the 
 colonists engaged in two expeditions in quest of new settla- 
 ments, the one into Connaught under the leadership of 
 Milo de Cogan ; and the other into Ulster, un'^er John De 
 
 Courcey. 
 
 The invasion of Connaught by De Cogan, notwithstand- 
 ing the treaty of peace which had b^^en agreed upon at 
 Windsor, appears to have been without any plausible pre- 
 text whatever ; but its complete failure renders it the less 
 prominent in those acts of injustice committed against the 
 natives, at this period, by the rapacity and inhumanity of 
 the British adventurers. De Cogan, however, was prob- 
 ably induced to undertake this expedition by the magni- 
 ficent promises of Murrogh, a son of Roderic O'Connor, 
 who had already, by his own ambitious projects, involved 
 hii family and province in considerable disorder. Milo's 
 forces, consisting of forty knights, two hundred horsemen, 
 and three hundred archers,. proceeding on their expedition, 
 were reinforced at Roscommon by the junction of Mur- 
 rogh's followers; but the allied troops were defeated 
 without even a battle. Alarmed by this unexpected inva- 
 sion of their province, the Conacians drove away their 
 cattle, deposited their provisions in places of concealment, 
 and even burned their churches,— an act of profanation 
 altogether new to the Irish : and thus in a short time ren- 
 
 Y 
 
378 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 dered the whole country a perfect desert, without anvthinK 
 valuable to excite the cupidity of their invaders. 
 
 Before this time, amidst the violence and rapacity of 
 domestic feuds, the churches In Ireland were considered as 
 saoMd and inviolable sanctuaries, where provisions of every 
 kind, as well as the most valuable effects, might U depo- 
 rted, without the danger of their being disturbed by the in- 
 cursions of an enemy. But the English, far from entertain- 
 ing the same respect for the sanctity of those sacred asy- 
 luL^, had not only seized upon the goods that were laid 
 up m the churches, but had committed innumerable other 
 depredations whenever their conduct met with any resist- 
 aiioe. AS the clergy of Leinster had now become the ob- 
 sequious instruments of their new masters, a synod that 
 was convened at Dublin-by Vivian, the pope's legate, gave 
 liberty to the English troops, by an ordinance, to furnish 
 them»3lve8 with necessary provisions from the churches 
 upon the payment of their just value. De Cogan's follow- 
 ers, however, being deprive of this resource upon the pres- 
 ent occasion by the measures which the natives adopted 
 were obliged to relinquish their undertaking, and to return' 
 home, lest an inglorious end by famine si old effect that 
 which theur enemies at the time were unable to accom- 
 plish. Being pursued without much effect by the Cona- 
 oUns, they succeeded in reaching their destination J^ wWlst 
 MuTiogh, by whom they had been invited into Con'naught 
 WIS left to the re?<!ntment of his countrymen, who sen- 
 tenced him, with the concurrence of his own father to 
 have his eyes put out, a? a punishment for his treachery 
 m atteiapUng to betray las country into the hands of it^ 
 enonies. 
 
EVENTS TTLL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 
 
 379 
 
 But the expedition of De Coiircey was not so unBnoccssfiil 
 in Ulster, notwithstanding thr^ spirit with which he was 
 opposed by the gallant TJltonians. This leader, who pos- 
 sessed a robust constitution and great strength of body, 
 was ardent and impetuous in all his undertakings; and by 
 his marriage with the daughter of Godred, king of Man, 
 and a feudatory of the crowa of Denmark, he strengthened 
 his own influence, and secured himself from the danger of 
 Danish opposition. Addicted, however, to an imbecile 
 superstition, he had learned from the prophecies of MerUn 
 that the conquest of Ulster was reserved for his sword ; 
 and his Irish followers soon found out another prcphet, 
 who declared that Down, the immediate object of his en- 
 terprise, was to be subdued by a stranger mounted on a 
 white horse, with a shield charged with painted birds. 
 Having accoutred himself according to thia description 
 and arrived at Down, with a band of about five hundred 
 men, he seized up. a that town, and putting it in a state 
 of defence, evinced a determination to maintain the pos- 
 sessions he had acquired. 
 
 Included in the treaty at Windsor which the Wng of Eng- 
 land had made with the whole body of the Irish people, in 
 the person of their monarch, the Ultonianshad neither dread- 
 ed nor expected any hostilities from the English settlers; but 
 De Courcey, relying on the grant which that monarch had 
 previously made him of the province of Ulster, provided he 
 could conquer it, would listen to no remonstrance and 
 proceeded in his course of unwarrantable aggression. Vivian, 
 the pope's legate, was then residing at Down, to whom appli- 
 cation was made by Dunlene, the prince of that territory; 
 and after that ecclesiastic had remonstrated in vain with 
 
880 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the BntiBh mvader, he is said to have been so provoked 
 with this act of injustice and so affected by the sufferings 
 of an unoffending people, that although the chief part of 
 his commission was to prevail on the Irish to acknowledge 
 the title of the king of England, he now boldly advis^ 
 Dunlene to have recourse to arms, and to exert himself as 
 a brave prince, in order to rescue his territories from these 
 rapacious invaders.* 
 
 Impelled by the necessity of his circumstances, and 
 encouraged by the advice of the legate, Dunlene, with the 
 aid of some confederate lords took up arms in defence of 
 his territory, and three battles were fought; in which victory" 
 le^ed to the side of the English. In the last of these 
 engagements, however, De Courcey and his followers were 
 placed in the most imminent danger of total extermination 
 Having been engaged in ravaging the lands of MacMahon 
 a revolted chieftain, they were attacked suddenly by 
 the Irish in a dangerous deWe and suffered great loss in 
 their retreat to a more eligible situation. Here however 
 where they must shortly have fallen victims either to the rag^ 
 of their enemies or to the want of provisions, they resolved 
 upon surprising the Irish by night, as the Ultonians were 
 found in a state of unguarded security by Armoric of St 
 Laurence, a valiant knight, who had with much peril 
 explored their position. Stimulated by the desperate cir 
 cumstances under which tL.ywere placed, De Courcey s 
 forces made a furious onset with loud uproar upon the 
 enemy, and such was the confusion which this unexpected 
 aasault created that the Irish were slaughtered without 
 
 • Leland ut supra. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 
 
 381 
 
 resistance, scarcely :'fO hundred of them escaping, whilst 
 the assailanta lost only two men in the enterpnse. Having 
 gained this advantage over the nativeSj De Courcey 
 continued ai'terwardd to niaintuin uis grouuu lu the north, 
 though defeated in two battles by a prince of the territory 
 of Orgial, who had burned a rthip of his,, near Newry, and 
 massacred all the crew.* 
 
 A. D. 1178. Through the jeajousy of the English monarch 
 excited against Kaymcnd le Gros, Fitzaudelm haC, at first, 
 been sent into Ireland, but Henry at length btccming sensible 
 of the evils of his administjfition, removed him from the 
 office of chief governc^r, and appointed Hugh de Lacy iu 
 his stead, with the ticle of lord procurator-general. This 
 nobleman, who was eminently qualified to iill tho impor- 
 tant office to which he had been appointed, laboured to 
 repair the losses, as well as to extend the force of the 
 English colony. De Cogan and Fitistephen, to whom t"he 
 lands of Desmond had been granted by their sovereign, with- 
 out any r^ard to the stipulations f the treaty made 
 with Roderic, entered into an agreement wJth the prince 
 of that territory; and the latter having surrendered 
 to them seven cantreds of land contiguous to the city 
 of Cork, was allowed to continue lord of the remaining 
 twenty-four. But Philip de Borassa, who had received a 
 similar grant of Limerick, fled to Cork with considerable 
 trepidation, when he found that the chieftans of Thomond 
 baing resolved to oppose him, had, on his approaching Lime- 
 rick, sei, lire to what remained, or had been repaired, of 
 that unfortunate city. 
 
 ]! ; 
 
 • Annals of Leinster at 1178. Ldand, B. I., Cap, 5. 
 
882 
 
 HISTORY OF IBELAND. 
 
 By the vigilance of De Lacy, as well as his prudence in 
 managing the aff;tirs of the colony, matters soon began to 
 wea ' a more promising appearance. He bad retarded the 
 English power in Meath, which had been lost during the 
 administration of his predecessor, and had encouraged a 
 coalition of English and Irish by his marriage with the 
 daughter of Roderic O'Connor, but having been assailed 
 by the calumnies of the envious, he was recalled by his 
 sovereign, and the govemqjent was oommitted to John, 
 constable of Cheshire, and the bishop of Coventry, two 
 strangers to the country, and little qualified for this 
 important trust. However, in the short space of three 
 months, the king was convinced of the impolicy of this 
 appointment, as well as of the injustice of his suspicions 
 respecting the late chief governor ; and De Lacy was res- 
 tored to his office, notwithstanding the eflForts of his 
 enemies to the contrary. 
 
 The weakness of the colonial government in its infantile 
 state afforded many opportunities to the native princes of 
 overturning it altogether j but involved in the perpetual 
 surge and eddy of their own dissensions they continued 
 regardless of everything that was not immediately con- 
 nected with their own local concerns. To that spirit of 
 retaliation which was evinced from the earliest period by 
 the Irish chieftains, the interests of their country had 
 always been sacrificed, and a succession of outrages had 
 been perpetuated which remain as so many blots upon 
 the pages of that national history. Nor did such feuds 
 now rage with less violence than formerly, when those 
 toparchs might have perceived the general calamity which 
 their divisions had brought upon their common country. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 
 
 383 
 
 "A young prince of the Hy-Niall race, and heir apparent 
 to the rights of that famUy, fell by the hand of a rival 
 lord : this rival was killed in revenge. The partisans on 
 each side as the several powers prevailed, were butchered 
 with every circumstance of triumphant barbarity. In 
 Connaught the bUnded son of Roderio was rescued from 
 prison by his partisans, and the flame of dissension kindled.* 
 Other sons of that unfortunate monarch, who had long 
 proved the implacable disturbers of his government, were 
 engaged in the most desporate hostiUties ; and such was 
 the violence with which faction raged among the Conacians 
 that sixteen young lords fell in one battle, the heirs apparent 
 of the ruling famiUes in the western provinoe.t Desmond 
 and Thomond were in a similar state of intestine commo- 
 tion ; and the ohieflains of Leinsier were animated by 
 mutual jealousies, as well as by the deadliest hatred towards 
 
 each other. 
 
 Whatever opinion may be formed of the justice of 
 Henry's claim to the sovereignty of Ireland, it is cause of 
 regret that the whole island could not at this time be re- 
 duced to one regular system of government; and that some 
 plan could not have been devised to prevent those evils which 
 distracted the nation and rendered the country a per- 
 petual scene of carnage and desolation. Had the English 
 monarch been faitiiful to the promises he made when he 
 first visited Ireland, and secured to the people that 
 form of government which some say be made them swear 
 to uphold, no revolution could have been more happy to 
 
 • Gordon. 
 
 t See Leland. Book I., Cap. 5, 
 
384 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the nation, nor any act more glorious to the monarch him 
 self. How attached aoever the nativea might have been by 
 long habita to their own institutions, they could not but 
 have felt the heavy, grievous, and arbitrary exactions of 
 their lords; and from these they would have been exon- 
 erated by the establishment of English laws. It is true the 
 feudal incidents were severe enough, but still they wetc 
 certain and fixed ; and it is probable had the English system 
 been introduced into Ireland at this period, its superiority to 
 that which prevailed would have recommended it to 
 the people, and that they would have thankfully received 
 It, notwithstanding their national prejudices and predelic- 
 tions. But the EngUsh monarch, far from acting such a 
 generous part, having made extensive grants to his Norman 
 adventurers and raised them to the rank of independent 
 prinoes, only added to the causes of part,y collision, and 
 reduced the country to a more grievous state of warfare and 
 anarchy than it had hitherto suffered since the time of the 
 Danish invasion. 
 
 A. D. 1181. Amldflt the vast political and social changes 
 which were going forward in his native country, and 
 while he himself was an exile in Normandy by the' com- 
 mand of his new sovereign, Lawrence O'Toole, the 
 archbishop of Dublin departed this life in the winter of 
 the year 1 1 81 . This prelate was a native of Leinster, and 
 in his early years had been delivered by his father, a 
 Lagenian chieftain, as a hostage to Dermod Mac Murchad, 
 who then filled the provincial throne. Committed to the 
 charge of the abbot of GlendaJogh, at that period in life 
 
 • See O'Con., Dissert, p. 268. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 
 
 386 
 
 when the hsbita of the niiud receive their incipient ten- 
 dency, he soon contracted a taste for monastic Bec'usion : 
 and by the sanctity of his manners, and his devotional 
 austerities, he was recommended to that high Bt*tion in 
 the church which he afterwards filled, as archbishop of 
 Dublin. The nobility of his birth, as well as the esteem 
 in which he was held by his countrymen for piety and 
 zeal, soon attracted the attention of every grade in society, 
 and he was necessarily called forth to take a part in 
 public affairs. To Roderic O'Connor in all his difficulties 
 he had proved a valuable counsellor, as well as a diligent 
 and faithful emissary ; and his zeal for his country must 
 appear the more amiable, as it was marked with a degree 
 of moderation which was seldom to be found amongst the 
 Irish of that unhappy period. The part which he acted 
 in the synod of Cashel, and his apparent desertion of the 
 cause of his former master, have been the subject of severe 
 animadversion by some intemperate writers ;* but perhaps 
 the culpability which seenas to attach to him has been too 
 highly coloured by partiality and prejudice. Affected by 
 the wrongs which his countrymen sustained, and the 
 iniquitous proceedings of some of the king s representatives 
 in Ireland, even after he had found it necessary to 
 submit to Henry, he made a journey to England for the 
 purpose of laying before that prince those injuries and 
 
 • Dr. Phelan calls him a " manifold traitor to his church, bin 
 country, his natire prince, and the sovereign of his own election,*' 
 but perhaps he formed this opinion from a very partial view of 
 the whole of his conduct. See Phelan't Vol. of the Church of 
 Borne in Ire., p. 19. 
 
 C 
 
386 
 
 HISTOBY OF IRELAND. 
 
 hi 
 
 m 
 
 oppressions.* Summoned from that countiy to attend 
 the council of Lateran, in the year 1179, he obtained the 
 king's permission to attend; but not until he had taken 
 a solemn oath to do nothing at that meeting which would 
 be prejudicial to the interests of the English monarch.f 
 Oaths, however, in that gloomy age of superstition and 
 immorality had but Uttle influence upon mankind in 
 gen'^ral, when their interest was concerned, especially when 
 they were taken under the influence of fear or coercion. 
 Toole displayed therefore his zeal against the injustice 
 ct the English governors in Ireland, and made the most 
 affecting representations in this council of the wrongs and 
 cJMamities of his countrymen. It is asserted by some 
 Irish writers,! that the archbishop on this occasion obtained 
 a revocation of the papal grant of Ireland which had been 
 made to the English monarch ; but, be that as it may it 
 IS certain tJiat Us loud and vehement complaints were weU 
 received by the members of tha ecclesiastioal assembly 
 Cambrensis observes, that " he exerted himself with all the 
 »eal of his nation, for the privileges of the church and 
 
 On this -ccaaion, we are told, that an extraordinary anfi 
 whimsical mcident had well nigh proved fatal to the prelaU 
 He was officiating in the church of Canterbury, when a man of 
 unsound mind, struck suddenly by the circumstances of the 
 place the appearance, and the occupation of the arcubishop, 
 seized the thought of honoring him with the crown of martyr' 
 dom; and for this purpose assaulted him with the utmost 
 Tio.euce; nor was Lawrence rescued from his attack till he had 
 been desperately wounded in the head."— £e/«nd, ut tupra. 
 
 t Lanigan, Vol. IV., p. 238. 
 
 I O'SulUvan, Beare's Catholi* Bist., p. 62. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OP HENRY. 387 
 
 against the king's authority ;" and, in acknowledgment 
 of his eminent services, he was raised by his holiness to 
 the dignity of Apostolic legate. But he was never per- 
 mitted to exercise this newly-acquired authority : for, on 
 his return to Ireland, arrayed in this ecclesiastical panoply, 
 he was prevented by the king, and was obliged to spend 
 the remainder of his days in Normandy. 
 
 O'Toole was succeeded in the archiepiscopal chair by 
 John Comyn, an Englishman, whom Henry had recom- 
 mended to the olei^y #f Dublin, and whose election had 
 been confirmed by Lucius the Roman pontiff. Ireland at 
 this time required men of abilities to repair the loss of 
 some of the most distinguished of the original adventurers ; 
 and it is probable that Comyn was promoted to his new 
 dignity rather for his vigour and abilities in temporal 
 affairs than for those virtues which were necessary in the 
 character of a Christian bishop. 
 
 A. D. 1182. By the desolating current of time, and the 
 mutation of human affairs, the original adventurers were 
 being swept off the stage on which they had acted so 
 prominent a part, and it became necessary that their place 
 should be supplied by others whose attachment to the 
 interests of the English monarch would be the best security 
 for the permanence and stability of the colony. I'ive 
 years had now elapsed since De Coganand Fitz-stephen had 
 established themselves in Desmond ; and the latter, though 
 deeply affected by the death v,f a favourite son, seemed to 
 have the prospect of a peaceable repose provided for his old 
 age. But such is the uncertainty and transitory nature of 
 all human enjoyments, that his hopes were soon blasted 
 by a scries of unexpected and untoward circumstances. 
 
388 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 While journeying from Cork to the tow.i of t^innore in 
 order to confer with some of the citizens of Waverford De 
 Cogan was assassinated with six others, one of whom'was 
 his son-in-law and a son of Fitz-stephen's ; by Mac Tire, an 
 Irishman, whom he had regarded as a trustworthy friend 
 ^d who had invited him and his company to his hous^ 
 with the strongest professions of hospitality that he might 
 have an opportunity of perpetrating this infamous deed * 
 Mac Carthy of Desmond instantly attacked the city of 
 Cork with all the forces he was able to as«emble; and 
 tz-stephen, overcome by soitow for the murder of his 
 ^ 3nds, was unable to take any vigorous measures for its 
 immediate defence. The garrison, however, having been 
 remforced by troops which Raymond Le Gros had conveyed 
 by sea from Wexford, obliged MacCarthy to submit to his 
 enemies, but an accumulated load of sorrows had produced 
 ite effect upon the mind of Fitz-stophen,and on tne arrival 
 of tiiese troops his reason had resigned its throne 
 
 By the death of some, and the retirement of others, the 
 original adventurers had now nearly all departed from the 
 former thea^e of their exploits : and amongst thoee whom 
 tfie king had sent to supply their place were Richard de 
 Cogan, broUier to Milo, and Philip Barry, both officers of 
 
 TT^r^ uT"'''°'' ^"^^^^ accouipanied by his 
 broth^ Girald, better known by the name of Cambrensis 
 an ecclesiastic high in the king's favour, and whom he had 
 appointed as tutor toprince John, his youngest son. The 
 end for which Cambrensis is said to have paid this visit to 
 Ireland, waa to inspect the state of the countiy for the 
 
 * filtwhronoia T nl.^j .1 ^ 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRT. 
 
 m 
 
 information of the young prince, whom his father intended 
 to conotitute its governor. The insolence of this Welsh 
 ecclesiast^e, together with that of the new archbishop 
 of Dublin, towards the Irish clergy was little calculated to 
 conciliate a nation already but too much prepossessed against 
 the British name and authority : and the mutual recrimi-' 
 nations of the two parties in their ecclesiastical synods 
 were by no means serviceable to the cause of religion in 
 general. By the Irish clei^ the English were accused 
 of every species of lewdness and immorality ; whilst the 
 latter retorted the chai^ of barbarism, falsehood, and 
 treachery, upon the Irish. A reply is preserved made by 
 Maurice, archbishop of Cashel, to Cambrensis, when the 
 latter contemptuously remarked that among all the saints 
 of this country there could not be found one martyr. " It 
 is true," replied the prelate, "our country boasts of 
 numbers of holy men and scholars, who have enlightened 
 not only Ireland, but all Europe ; but we have ever held 
 piety and learning in too much reverence to injure, much 
 less to destroy the promoters of either. Perhaps now, sir," 
 added he, " that Englishmen have settled in our island, 
 and your master holds the monarchy in his hands, we 
 shall be enabled to add martyrs to our catalogue of saints." 
 To add political to religious discontent, the government 
 was transferred from De Lacy to Philip do Barossa, who 
 distinguished himself in rotlung but ?otB of rapacity and 
 oppression, until he was superseded by another whose mal-' 
 administration nearly brought ruin upon the English colony 
 in this country. 
 
 A. D. 1185. Prince John, the youngest son of Henry the 
 Second, had been nominated Lord of Ireland by his father 
 
 n 
 
390 
 
 HISTORT OF mELAKD. 
 
 in a couaoil of barons and prelate^, so early as the year 
 
 1178; and no^ having attained the age of eighteen, he 
 
 prepared to enter upon the functions of that dignity with 
 
 which he had been invested. In order to remind the 
 
 English monarch and his son, upon this occasion, of hiu 
 
 own supreme dominion over this island, as well as to cast 
 
 perhaps a d^ree of saroasn. on the foppish imbecility of 
 
 the juvenile governor, the Roman pontiff is said to have 
 
 sent him a curious diadem of peacock's feathers hallowed 
 
 by his own benediction, as a token of his investiture. 
 
 Accompanied by a train of Norman courtiers, and several 
 
 grave churchmen,* John embarked with a fleet of sixty 
 
 s^iips, and after a prosperous voyage arrived in Waterford. 
 
 On his arrival as chief governor of the country, such was 
 
 the alacrity and cheerfulness with which even the most 
 
 refractory of the Irish lords hastened from all parts to 
 
 make their submissions to hiy that important consequences 
 
 might have resulted from a little prudent management 
 
 in the administration of this prince. But John possessed 
 
 no single requisite qualification lor this office, and the 
 
 • Amongit the ecclesiastics who attended upon the youngprince 
 was Cambrensis, who has left us a history of the proceedings 
 of his countrymen in Ireland at this time, erroneously styled a 
 Hittory of the Conquest of Ireland. 
 
 "What I would aay on the whole is, that if hatred, enmity, 
 open professed hostility, special interest and actual engagement 
 in the destruction of the ancient Irish nation ; if ignorance of 
 their language and wUful passing their history, even the most 
 authentic of their records : if these can reader Cambrensis an 
 author of credit, then no writer however idle, unwarrantable, in- 
 credible, false or injurious is to be rejected." Preface to Walth'* 
 
 Fro 
 
 •jrptct , 
 
EVENTS TILL tSE DEATH OP HENRY. 
 
 301 
 
 result was soon such as disappointed the expectations of the 
 people in general. 
 
 Those chieftains of Leinster, who had from the begin- ' 
 ning espoused the cause of the English monarch, were 
 naturally the foremost in giving expression to 'heir feelings 
 of regard and submission to their youthfU chief governor. 
 The national garb of the Irish * so diflFcrent from that of 
 the foppish young noblemen in the prince's train, at first 
 excited the merriment of the latter ; and when the Irish 
 lords, according to the cordiality of their own established 
 customs, advanced without any ceremony to kiss the young 
 prince, they were rudely pushed back by his attendanis, 
 who were as great strangers to true politeness, as they were 
 to prudence and sound policy. And, aa i f this insult were 
 not sufficient to men entertaining such high ideas of their 
 own rank and respectability, the whole company burst into 
 loud laughter, plucked their beards in derision, and treated 
 them in other respects with a degree of indignity that was 
 well calculated to rouse every feeling of resentment in the 
 breast; of the native chieftains. 
 
 Enraged with the treatment they had received, and medi- 
 tating vengeance in their hearts, the Irish lords retired from 
 the court, and meeting with others of their countrymen, 
 who were hastening to the prince, they informed them 
 
 • Of the drew of the Irish, one of our historiana remarks : 
 " Tf the women were attentiye to adorn their persona, the men 
 affected rather a warlike aspect : their thick beards, and great 
 whiskers, their glibhs or bushy hair hanging careless over their 
 visage, joined with an athletic body, gave them a fierce and evtn 
 hideona anDeamnce." Lei. Prelim. Disc. XXXVI, 
 
 
 
S92 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 how they had been requited for their former loyalty and 
 pre^nt zeal. The intelligence was rapidly difPused, and 
 produced a most powerful effect upon the nation in gene- 
 ral. It was justly remarked, that when the firm allies and 
 friends of the English monarch were treated with such 
 intolerable indignity, little favour could be expected 
 from the new chief governor towards those who had been 
 inveterately hostile to the English government. But had 
 this act of impmdence on the part of the Normans been 
 likely to be forgotten, their subsequent conduct was well 
 calculated to cause the resentment of the people to bum 
 against them with still greater fury. The minions of the 
 young prince, who were as rapacious as they were insolent, 
 seized the lands of tuose Irish who held them by English 
 tenure under the lords of the pale, and attempted also, by 
 pretended grants and legal frauds, to treat the early British 
 colonists in a similar manner. 
 
 Resolved to take vengeance on the oppressors of their 
 country, as well as influenced by the indignity with which 
 they had been treated themselves, the insulted lords and 
 dispossed tenants of Leinster fled to their countrymen in 
 Connaught and elsewhere, and made such jpresentations 
 of the conduct of the English, as induced ine native chief- 
 tains to lay aside for the present, their private diasensions, 
 and to unite their forces against the common enemy. A 
 storm therefore, from all quarters, burst at once upon the 
 British settlements, whilst the foppish courtiers and effemi- 
 nate soldiery that had come from England with the young 
 prince, shrunk from the danger ; and, seeking their own 
 safety in fortified places, left the defence of those settle- 
 
 T_ iU^c i /•ic— ^ U 
 u luc ursv i.\Xfj v.'i ttssauiC, 
 
 --1 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 393 
 
 the carnage and desolation that were spread in every 
 quarter presented a scene revolting and horrible. The 
 forces of the settlers, with their leaders at their head, fell 
 beneath the fury of their excited antagonists, as the garri- 
 son of Ardfinnan, the troops of Robert Barry at Lismoro, 
 those of Robert de la Poer in Ossory, and those of Canton 
 and Fitz-hngh in other places. By the intrepidity of 
 Theobald Fitz-walter, the founder of the noble family of 
 Ormond, Cork was preserved in this general visitation ; and 
 Meath was, to a considerable extent, protected by tho 
 valour and prudence of William Petit. 
 
 The prevalence of these disorders throughout the country 
 had produced a baneful effect upon th' prosperity of the 
 English settlements. In Meath the lands of Hugh de 
 Lacy had sustained considerable damage from the devas- 
 tations of the natives, but as soon as tranquillity was, in any 
 measure, restored, that nobleman set about repairing it 
 with indefatigable perseverenco. Intent upon this object 
 he proceeded to erect new forts in every situatioa which 
 required places of strength, or to repair the old ones wher- 
 ever that was practicable. In carrying on these important 
 works he was acoi'.stomed to oversee the labourers himself, 
 among whom were many of his Irish tenants, to give them 
 such directions as were necessary, and frequently to labour 
 in the trenches with his own hands. But erecting a for- 
 tress upon the site of an ancient monastery, named Darrome, 
 said to have been founded by St. Columba, one of his own 
 workmen shocked even to madness, at such profanation of 
 this ancient seat of devotion, seized the moment when De 
 Lacy was employed in the trenches; and as he stooped 
 down to explain bis orders, drew out the battie-axe, wuioh 
 
3»4 
 
 HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 had been coDoealed under his long mantle, and at one 
 vigorous blow sn<o(e otf his head.* The assassin was too 
 muoh favnared by his compatriots not to effect his escape, 
 and he fled to his countrymen in arms, exulting in the merit 
 of having thus taken vengeance for the sacrilegious conduct 
 of his victim. 
 
 1186. Embarrassed by weightier matters in other parts 
 of his dominions, the English uionarch had shown almost 
 as much imbecility in the management of Ireland as he had 
 of ability in conducting the affairs of his territories in Eng- 
 land and France, ^t length, being informed of the ruin- 
 ous effects produced in that country, by the maladministra- 
 tions of his son, he recalled the young prince, after eight 
 months of rueful disorder ; and John De Courcy was ap- 
 pointed chief governo. in his stead. Had the Irbh princes 
 remained united, the term of this office, as well as the very 
 existence of English rule in Ireland, would have been ren- 
 dered extremely precarious ; but, after the first fury of 
 their assault on the Britisli settlements, the revival of their 
 former feuds left room for De Courcy to uake arrange- 
 ments for the defence of the colonbts. In Connaught the 
 sons of Roderic O'Connor had taken up arms against 
 their father ; and completed the misfortunes of that aged 
 monarch. Forced by Conquovar, his eldest son, to resigi* 
 his provincial government, Roderic took refuge in the 
 monastery of Cong, where he spent the remaining iwelve 
 years of his life, and died in 1198, in the eighty-second 
 year of his age. 
 
 This prince has been blamed because he did not make » 
 
 • LeUnd, citing from Aaonymous Annala iu MJS.^ B. 1. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OF HENRY. 
 
 395 
 
 more vigorous effort in defence of his territories when the 
 sovereignty of the nation was wrested from his hands. But 
 when we consider the circumstances under which he was 
 placed, and over which he could have had no control, his char- 
 acter must be viewed in a much more favourable light. In 
 the earlier part of his life, his failings, which were con- 
 spicuously prominent, received but little amelioration from 
 their neighbouring good qualities. Possessing all the 
 haughtiness of an Irish prince, and at the same time 
 devoted to voluptuous enjoyment, his youth was spent in a 
 course of conduct which, even if no other causes had inter- 
 fered, would have ultimately produced the most ruinous 
 consequences. Rash and precipitate he generally showed 
 himself repulsive to those who would faithfully reprove his 
 juvenile licentiousness, whilst the ductility of his temper, 
 and the easiness of his disposition became a snare to him 
 in his path, and placed his passions under the direction of 
 bad men who flattared his vices and endeavoured to make 
 them the means of promoting their own advantage. With 
 a degree of severity which was, perhaps, not altogether jus- 
 tifiable, his father, Turlogh the Great, attempted to break 
 this ungovernable spirit, and, for this end, had him put fre- 
 quently under confinement : but this had little effect upon 
 his general conduct until more serious reflection produced 
 its own effect, and so far convinced him of his error that 
 he soon forgot the over-rigorous treatment he had received, 
 and was wholly reconciled to his royal fether. Bred up 
 in the camp almost from his infancy, his mUitary skill was 
 by no means contemptible ; and notwithstanding his licen- 
 tiousness in private l^fe, he never devoted to pleasures the 
 ume wuicii tfic pui/uc oi^rvtvc icvj^uii-.M ■-•.- i— 
 
 
896 
 
 HISTORY OP IREaijlNiy. 
 
 in the cabinet or in the fielu. With increasing years hiis 
 better qualities^^became predominant. By his aflfabiiitj 
 and sincerity, as well as by his generosity, he gained many 
 friends who adhered closely to his interest amidst all the 
 trials and vicissitudes he experienced. The deplorable 
 state to which the nation had been reduced by the preva- 
 lence of faction, when his administration of the sovereign 
 attihority commenced, necessarily created for him a number 
 of avowed, as well as of secret enep^ies ; and notwithstand- 
 ing he was able sometimes to repress their insolence, they 
 leagued with tha invaders in the hour of his distress, and, 
 very justly, became the first victims of their own treacnery. 
 Nor was it in the time of comparative prosperity that he 
 evinced his zeal for the good of the nation, but his con- 
 stancy in the public service when fortune cast a lowering 
 cloud over the destinies of his country appeared in that 
 fortitude, equanimity, and passive courage which dignified 
 the last scene of his administration. Such was Roderia 
 O'Connor, the king of Connaught, and the last, as well as 
 by far the most unfortunate of the native monarchs of 
 Ireland. 
 
 The disordered state of Connaught after the resignation 
 of Roderic invited the attention of De Courcey, and from a 
 defensive warfare, which hp was obliged at first to maintain, 
 he resolved to attempt the subjugation of the province. Hav- 
 ing r arched, however, into that country, and finding the 
 forces collected to oppose him too formidable, he made an 
 inglorious retreat, which he effected with considerable diffi- 
 culty and the loss of some of the bravest of his knights.* 
 
 * See Leland, ut supra. 
 
EVENTS TILL THE DEATH OP HENRI. 
 
 897 
 
 Meanwhile disturbances prevailed everywhere in Ulster, 
 and several of the chieftains of that province lost their lives 
 in the petty disputes which they carried on with each other, 
 as well as with the English settlers and with the chief 
 governor himself. Nor had the lat« attempt n^gon Con- 
 naught calmed in the least the ceaseless vortex of internal 
 strife. Conquovar Moienmay, who after the resignation of 
 his father had gained the ascendancy, was subsequently 
 murdered by one of his own brothers, and that brother 
 again fell by the hands of a son of the murdered dynast. 
 Distracted by party rage, and torn asunder by the violence 
 of its rulers, the province remained for some time in a 
 state of anarchy, till at length Cathal, sumamed of the 
 Bloody-hand, one of the sons of the late monarch, estab- 
 lished for a time his authority over Connaught, and 
 threatened to restore the Irish monarchy which had been 
 lost by the misfortunes and miscarriages of his father. 
 Amidst all these commotions De Courcey was enabled to 
 maintain the authority of the English government, and to 
 protect the settleuient, not more by his own vigour and abi- 
 lities than by the dissensions of his enemies ; until the 
 death of Henry the Second, which took place in July, 
 1189. Tbe changes which followed put an end to his 
 vigorous administration. 
 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 TLe difficulty of pronouncing the Celtic names of places 
 and persons mentioned in the foregoing history, has sug- 
 gested to the editor the expediency of making a few 
 remarks which may tend, partially, to remove it. No 
 general directions can be supplied which would enable the 
 reader, who may be entirely ignorant of the Irish language, 
 to pronounce such names with unfailing accuracy; some 
 ability to read and pronounce the language is absolutely 
 required, in order to ensure auch a result ; and even in 
 the case of a person so qualified, names are spelled so dif- 
 ferently by different authors, that it is not always easy to 
 recognize words as the' same, which may nevertheless 
 designate the same place or person. The reason of this 
 diversity is obvious when we consider that the Celtic lan- 
 guage, "till spoken in many parta of Ireland, has almost 
 no surviving literature. 
 
 Nevertheless, it may be a little help to the reader to 
 remember that when two or more vowels oc Ji t^'^^ether in 
 any word he should rarely pronounce mofo tli*^. i one ot 
 them; thus, the name AENGHUS is pronounced ANGUS, 
 the vowel E being elided. It may here, also, be observed 
 that the letter H has frequently no power appreciable or 
 capable of being rendered into a customary sound in 
 Englis! The letter C if invariably pronounced like the 
 Eugllsh K. The coaoonanta BIX, and MH, are pro- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 399 
 
 nounced like V. In fact when the language is wntten or 
 printed in the ancient Celtic character, the H doea not 
 Lur, and a mark or dot is placed over the preceding 
 consonant U> indicate the proper sound. Thus, also, GH 
 iB pronounced nejirly like W. , , , • , .u • 
 
 A few words used in the volume are added, with their 
 pronunciation annexed, which will shew the general sys- 
 tem perhaps more effectually than more lengthened remarks 
 
 on this subject. 
 
 Pronounced 
 
 Sabhul (the place where St. Patrick died), Saul. 
 Feidhlim (a proper name), ^elim, 
 
 Ban-sidhe (a name occurring in connexion 
 
 with a popular superstition), Banshee. 
 
 Boroihme (an adjunct to the name of the 
 
 celebrated king of Munster), Boru. 
 
 Teamhra (the palace of the Irish monaichs, 
 
 as occasionally spelled), Tara. 
 
 The foregoing examples of pronuncUtion are given not 
 M exact but with the view of rendering the sounds, .in 
 English 'letters, as nearly as ail practical purposes require 
 In a language like the Irish, consisting, properly of ody 
 eighteen letters, of which one-third are vowds, the diffi- 
 culty which we have stated and exempUfied is easily 
 accounted for. Correctness and harmony of pronuncia- 
 tion are attainable only by an adept.