BERKELEY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY Qf 
 CALIFORNIA 
 

 A 
 
THE CELTIC CHURCH 
 IN IRELAND 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/celticchurchinirOOherorich 
 
THE CELTIC CHURCH 
 IN IRELAND 
 
 THE STORY OF 
 
 IRELAND AND IRISH CHRISTIANITY FROM 
 
 BEFORE THE TIME OF ST. PATRICK 
 
 TO THE REFORMATION 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES HERON, D.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN THE 
 ASSEMBLY'S COLLEGE, BELFAST 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE CHURCH OF THE SUB-APOSTOUO AGE," ETC. 
 
 lE/Ontion 
 
 SERVICE (^ PATON 
 
 5 HENILIETTA STREET 
 
 1898 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &* Co, 
 At the Ballantyne Press 
 

 His 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It is beyond question that even among Irishmen 
 much ignorance prevails respecting the history of 
 Ireland. It is nothing short of scandalous that the 
 study of Irish history has been excluded from the 
 programme of the National Schools of the country, 
 with the inevitable result that the larger propor- 
 tion of our young people grow up knowing little or 
 nothing of the formative influences and chequered 
 experiences through which Ireland has passed, and 
 how she has come to be what she is to-day. The 
 primary object of the author in giving the following 
 pages to the public is to awaken or stimulate a 
 keener interest in this subject in the circles to which 
 his volume may have access. Partly for this pur- 
 pose, but also because ecclesiastical history is in- 
 separable from civil, he has combined a picture of 
 the social and civil state of Ireland with the story 
 of the Celtic Church. The work is thus a rapid 
 sketch of Irish affairs generally, with special atten- 
 tion to the ecclesiastical department, through a 
 period of much more than a thousand years. 
 
 Wherever it was in his power to do so, he has gone 
 
 to the sources, and, while he has been careful to avail 
 
 v 
 
 294 
 
PREFACE 
 
 himself of the results of the best and most recent 
 criticism of early documents, he has, at the same 
 time, endeavoured to invest the narrative with as 
 much life and interest as possible. 
 
 The study of the organisation of the Celtic Church 
 in Ireland has suffered greatly from having been 
 pursued almost invariably in the light of modern 
 Church systems, and with a constant effort to recon- 
 cile it with them. The effect has been to obscure or 
 to keep out of sight its altogether unique features. 
 If any justification is needed for another book on 
 Irish history, the best apology the present writer 
 can offer is that he has at least tried his utmost to 
 regard and represent the facts with an unbiassed 
 mind, and from an independent point of view. 
 
 It is right to add that the substance of the 
 chapters that compose this volume was given as a 
 series of lectures in connection with the Carey 
 Foundation during the past winter. The lectures 
 were delivered to somewhat varying audiences, and 
 at considerable intervals; and, as a consequence, a 
 few repetitions occur here and there which might 
 otherwise have been avoided. They did not, how- 
 ever, seem to be of such moment as to require to be 
 cancelled in the proofs. The writer is also conscious 
 that some of the discussions that arise in connection 
 with the life of St. Patrick — such as the attempt to 
 prove that he was not a myth but a real historical 
 personage ; the summary of arguments in support of 
 the genuineness of his reputed writings ; the remarks 
 upon the later Lives of the saint, and the criticism of 
 
 vi 
 
PREFACE 
 
 the evidence adduced in favour of a Roman mission 
 — interrupt somewhat the course of the narrative, 
 may try the patience of the reader, and might have 
 been better relegated to notes or an appendix ; but in 
 addressing an intelligent audience these discussions 
 were found necessary, and not uninteresting; they 
 have been allowed, therefore, to retain their place in 
 the text. 
 
 It only remains to add that the volume is pub- 
 lished in response to the repeated and urgent request 
 
 of those who heard the substance of it. 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Assembly's College, Belfast, 
 September 1897. 
 
 vu 
 
CONTENT 
 
 PART I 
 IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK CAME 
 
 OHJLP. PAQK 
 
 I. RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL OR- 
 GANISATION ..... 3 
 II. EDUCATION, ARCHITECTURE, AGRICULTURE, 
 
 AND RELIGION 28 
 
 PART II 
 THE COMING OF PATRICK 
 
 III. THE SOURCES FOR PATRICK's HISTORY . 53 
 
 IV. FROM PATRICk"'s BIRTH TO HIS CALL . 68 
 V. THE MISSIONARY CAREER OF PATRICK . lOI 
 
 VI. PATRICK*'S TEACHING AND INFLUENCE . II9 
 
 PART III 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK 
 
 VII. THE FUNDAMENTAL FEATURE OF THE 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK ITS MONASTI- 
 
 CISM 131 
 
 VIII. SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES AND MONKS . 151 
 
 ix 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 IX. THE ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH OF 
 
 ST. PATRICK . . . . .161 
 
 X. PROCRUSTEAN METHODS OF TREATING 
 
 EARLY IRISH CHURCH ORGANISATION . 1 92 
 
 XI. THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK . . . 207 
 
 XII. THE MISSIONARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK : BRENDAN AND 
 COLUMBA . . . . . -2x5 
 
 XIII. THE MISSIONARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK : COLUMBANUS . 253 
 
 XIV. DEFECTS IN THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK 274 
 
 PART IV 
 
 LATER FORTUNES OF THE CHURCH OF 
 ST. PATRICK 
 
 XV. THE COMING OF THE DANES . . . 29I 
 
 XVI. THE COMING OF THE ANGLO-NORMANS . 322 
 
 PART V 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY 
 
 'itle " the churci 
 
 land" 355 
 
 XVIII. "apostolical succession'*"' . . . 382 
 
 APPENDIX ....... 408 
 
 INDEX 409 
 
PART I 
 
 IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK CAME 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL 
 ORGANISATION 
 
 " Love of country is to peoples what love of life is Love of 
 to individuals,"" says Lamartine. But as love of life !°^*^ 
 is a self-regarding instinct which does not necessarily to civilised 
 contain any element of generosity in it, I should 
 prefer to say that love of country is to peoples what 
 love of family is to individuals. Love of family 
 withdraws the individual from himself, and prompts 
 to that sacrifice of personal interests for the sake of 
 others, which is recognised as the divinest attribute 
 in human character. Love of country does this on 
 a larger scale, and thus tends to extend the horizon 
 and to broaden the sympathies of a people. Thin 
 and cold must be the civic life that is not enriched 
 and ennobled by this feeling. Without it even the 
 sentiment of loyalty becomes a mere commercial 
 consideration, and has that " curse of hardness *" on it 
 which Mr. Matthew Arnold says rests on the patriot- 
 ism of the typical Ulsterman. A feeling of ardent 
 patriotic devotion attaches the Scotsman to the land 
 that gave him birth, and his loyalty to the throne is 
 not diminished, but stimulated thereby. Why should 
 it not act similarly in the case of Irishmen ? 
 
 What country is better calculated than Ireland to 
 evoke and nourish such a sentiment .? We know of 
 none whose historic past is touched with a more 
 
 3 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 The hiatory pathetic OF enchaining interest. Turn almost where 
 
 of Ireland 
 fitted to 
 
 we may, our feet tread on ground which, to him who 
 excite this brings to its contemplation an educated eye, teems 
 sentiment, ^^j^j^ romantic and stirring associations. What early 
 The Celtic Church of any country has a story more suggestive 
 SeuSd'*' and fascinating than the ancient Celtic Church of 
 especially Ireland ? In many respects it is quite unique, with 
 intere^. ^^^ peculiarities that have almost no parallel elsewhere. 
 As compared with most contemporary Christian 
 communities, it was exceptionally evangelical in its 
 teaching. For many a day it guarded its distinc- 
 tive customs and characteristics with jealous care, 
 and refused to part with its independence. In the 
 centuries of its prime it won a great reputation for 
 the cultivation of both sacred and secular learning, 
 and the world-wide renown of its schools drew 
 numerous students from all parts of Europe. It 
 sent forth distinguished educators and brave and 
 devoted missionary pioneers, who stand out on the 
 page of mediaeval history and contributed in some 
 measure to the making of our modern world. It 
 gave Christianity to a large part of Scotland ; and 
 when, after the Augustinian mission, almost the 
 whole of Anglo-Saxon England had relapsed into 
 paganism, it was Irish missionaries sent from lona 
 that re-evangelised and recovered it.^ It was a 
 powerful Christianising agent on the Continent of 
 Europe ; several European countries turn to it as 
 one of the tributary influences that went to make 
 them what they are ; and German and French 
 scholars are to-day among the most eager students 
 of its history. Shall we incur the reproach of being 
 
 * "Not Augustine, but Aidan, is the true apostle of England," 
 says Bishop Lightf oot. 
 
CHAP, i] RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 content to remain in ignorance of its story and 
 achievements, and leave research in its literature to 
 Frenchmen and Germans ? 
 
 It is to a rapid survey of the planting and planters, 
 the organisation and labours, the earlier and later 
 fortunes of this primitive Church of Ireland — a sur- 
 vey which will afford many glimpses into the civil 
 and social condition of the country — that I invite 
 the reader. But to enable him to appreciate duly 
 the work done by its renowned apostle and founder 
 and his associates and successors, it will be necessary, 
 first, to convey in the briefest way possible some 
 fair idea of the state in which Ireland was when its 
 illustrious evangelist landed on its shores. 
 
 Far back in a remote and legendary past a series Prehistoric 
 of i-aces is represented as having taken possession 
 of the country, each subjugating or driving out 
 its predecessors. Successive colonies, called Partho- 
 lonians, Nemedians, and Fomorians or sea-rovers, 
 are, in the legendary tales, the first to enter and 
 take possession ; but it is far from certain whether 
 they are much more than mythical. It is, by the 
 way, from the legend touching these Fomorians that 
 the Giant's Causeway (of which we have been hearing 
 so much of late) derives its Irish name, Cloch-an- 
 na-hh-Fomharigh, which means the Causeway or 
 Stepping-stones of the Fomorians, who in popular 
 imagination became magnified into giants, and so 
 gave rise to the designation " Giant's Causeway.*" 
 
 Then come in several successive waves the Celtic The Celtic 
 settlers: first, the Firbolgs or Bagmen, so called ^^*^®"* 
 from the leathern wallets in which, when in bondage Firboigs. 
 to the Greeks, they are said to have carried soil 
 from the lowlands to the rocky and rugged hillsides, 
 
 5 
 
dannans. 
 
 IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 and who are supposed to have come from the Belgic 
 coasts across South Britain and Wales; next, the 
 
 2. The De- Dedannans, who came through Caledonia, and who, 
 in Dr. Skene's judgment, answer to the large-limbed, 
 red-haired Caledonians of Tacitus ; ^ and lastly, the 
 
 3. The Milesians, who are said to have come from Spain 
 Milesians, ^jj^^gj. ^}^g command of the eight sons of Miledh or 
 
 Milesius — the dominant and ruling race when legend 
 passes into history. The difference between these 
 three races is noted by MacFirbis in his Book of the 
 Genealogies, in a statement which he says he has 
 taken from " an old book." Here is what it says : — 
 Wherein " Every one who is white (of skin) and brown (of 
 
 lerl±^ hair), bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bounti- 
 ful in the bestowal of property, wealth, and rings, 
 and who is not afraid of battle or combat : they are 
 the descendants of Milesius in Erinn. 
 
 "Every one who is fair-haired, vengeful, large; 
 and every plunderer ; every musical person ; the pro- 
 fessoi*s of musical and entertaining performances; 
 they who are adepts in all Druidical and magical 
 arts : they are the descendants of the Tuatha De 
 Dannan in Erinn. 
 
 " Every one who is black-haired, who is a tattler, 
 guileful, tale - telling, noisy, contemptible ; every 
 wretched, mean, strolling, unsteady, harsh, and in- 
 hospitable person; every slave, every mean thief, 
 every churl, every one who loves not to listen to 
 music and entertainment, the disturbers of every 
 council and every assembly, and the promoters of 
 discord among the people : these are the descendants 
 of the Firbolgs, of the Gailiuns of Liogarne, and of 
 the Fir Domhnaans in Erinn. But, however, the 
 
 * See Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. i. p. 179. 
 6 
 
CHAP, i] RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 descendants of the Firbolgs are the most numerous 
 ofallthese/^i 
 
 The picture here given bears evident marks of 
 having been drawn by a Milesian hand ; but, making 
 due allowance for the bias and prejudice which it 
 betrays, it indicates, along with another not so pro- 
 minent, two distinctly marked and contrasted racial 
 types ; and everywhere these two types are clearly Two types 
 recognisable among the early inhabitants of Ireland : aw?"*' 
 a smaller, slighter, black-haired, dark-eyed, pale- 
 skinned, lithe -limbed, small- boned, aquiline race, 
 quick in perception and fluent in speech, of Iberian 
 and apparently Firbolg origin; and a much taller, 
 bigger-boned, larger, fair-haired, often red-haired 
 race, with blue or grey-blue eyes and more angular 
 features. Dr. Sullivan thinks that, so far as the 
 ancient tales enable us to judge, the Firbolgs, the 
 Dedannans, and the Milesians all alike belong to 
 the second type.^ But there are reasons for believ- 
 ing that the Firbolgs contained an Iberian element. 
 It is significant and noteworthy that the early 
 Spanish records agree with the Irish respecting the 
 fact of an early emigration from Spain to Ireland. 
 Colmenar, in the " Annals of Spain and Portugal,'"* 
 says : " History informs us that two hundred years 
 before Jesus Christ the Biscayans plied on the sea in 
 vessels made of the trunks of trees hollowed and 
 covered with leather, and, with a fleet thus con- 
 structed, they went to Hibernia, now called Ireland, 
 and took possession of it."^ Grimm, moreover, dis- 
 
 ^ O'Curry's " Lectures on MS. Materials," p. 223. 
 
 ^ Introduction to O'Curry's "Manners and Customs of the 
 Ancient Irish," p. Ixxii. 
 
 3 "Annals of Spain," &c., vol. ii. p. 55 ; see also " Proceedings 
 of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. viil p. 371 et seq. 
 
 7 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 covered that the language of Aquitaine in the fourth 
 century had a Gaelic element in it.^ It is curious, 
 however, and not without suggestiveness, that the 
 true Milesian type, the larger, more angular, fair or 
 red-haired race, is said to be best represented not 
 among the native Irish, who have been softened and 
 enlivened by a large infusion of Iberian blood, but 
 among the Scottish colonists in Ulster. 
 The races At any rate, it seems to be quite certain that at 
 ated^atThe ^^^ Opening of the historic period, whatever race 
 opening of distinctions had existed among the inhabitants of 
 period. Ireland were practically obliterated ; the people ap- 
 pear to have spoken one language, to have become 
 in a great degree fused and amalgamated, and, under 
 a common social system, reduced to unity of thought 
 and feeling — a unity strikingly and beautifully ex- 
 pressed in the legend of Nemedh and his sons, which 
 represents the three races as sprung originally from 
 a common ancestor; that after having parted, and 
 been scattered over Europe in three bands, they re- 
 turned, one after the other, at first to fight as foes, 
 but to discover afterwards that they spoke a common 
 language and owned a common lineage, and to be 
 reconciled to each other and to dwell together. 
 
 But the question naturally arises. Where did these 
 
 Celts, of whatever type, originally come from ? 
 
 Whence and At a far-distant prehistoric period Central Asia 
 
 Ceitfc wave ^lust havc been a veritable hive of human life. It 
 
 of migration ^^g j^Yie pressuTC of ffTowinff uumbcrs there, and the 
 
 flowed west- o o ? 
 
 wards. struggle for existence, thereby made more difficult, 
 that, from a date antecedent to the dawn of history, 
 began to propel immense hordes of human beings 
 
 1 Sullivan's Introduction to O'Curry's " Manners and Customs 
 of the Ancient Irish," p. lix. et seq. 
 
 8 
 
CHAP, i] RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 westwards from that centre, in search of new abodes, 
 where they would have more room to live. Issuing 
 from that teeming womb, huge masses of humanity, 
 each driven forward at once by the exigencies of life 
 and by the pressure of other masses from behind, 
 continue through many centuries subject to a con- 
 tinually shifting, perpetual movement, which has 
 been called by German writers " the wandering of 
 the nations" ( Volkerwanderung). One of the earliest 
 waves of this mighty, ever-flowing tide of migration 
 from the east westwards, earlier than that of the 
 Goths and other Teutonic tribes, which at length 
 oven*an and submerged the Roman Empire, was that 
 of a people called Celts {KekTol^ Celtce, Galatce, Galli, 
 Gauls, Gaels). They are mentioned by Herodotus, 
 and when first heard of have found their way to 
 the north-west of Europe, and are occupying a large 
 tract of the Continent west of the Rhine. From 
 this region some of them recross the Rhine, and 
 seek a home on the banks of the Danube; some 
 pass farther westward into a country which, after 
 them, long bears the name of Gaul, and thence 
 spread northwards into Britain and Ireland ; others, 
 making their way southwards, pass over the Alps 
 into Northern Italy, and in 390 b.c. sweep like a 
 deluge over Rome herself, sacking and overthrowing 
 the city ; a few generations later Greece and Mace- 
 donia are oven*un by them ; and a fragment of the 
 same wave about the same time rolls into Asia 
 Minor, settles in its interior, and becomes known 
 to history as Galatians. 
 
 Of the Celts who settled in the British Isles there Two divi- 
 were two main divisions — the Gaelic and the Cymric. ^^^^^^ ?\^^ 
 To the Cymric stock belonged the ancient Britons, Gaelic and 
 
 - Cymric. 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 who were ultimately driven back into Wales and 
 Cornwall, and the Bretons ; while those who settled 
 Two in Ireland belonged to the Gaelic stock. Of the 
 
 of^^is^- Graels, again, there were two branches — the Milesians 
 MUesians and the Cruithne or Picts. The name " Cruithne " 
 *" ° ■ is believed to come from a word which means colour, 
 of which the name " Picti,""" given them by the 
 Romans, seems to have been the Latin rendering. 
 The Cruithne or Picts took possession of Alban and 
 of Ulster, although in Ulster they were at length con- 
 fined to the district called Dalaradia ; the Milesians 
 spread over the other parts of Ireland. It is true that 
 in the "Annals of Ulster"" the Albanian Picts are 
 called "Pictores" and the Irish Picts are named 
 "Cruithne," but in the Irish records generally the 
 name " Cruithne '" is applied indiscriminately to both. 
 Early The Irish people as a whole were in the historic 
 
 SSiL^nd^and P^^'iod called Gaels^ Alilesians, Hiberni, Hiberionaces, 
 the Irish. Scoti. The last two designations are employed by 
 St. Patrick. The country was named by the Greeks 
 Ogygia or leme, by the Romans it was called Scotia, 
 and Hibernia or Hiberio, which latter was only the 
 Latin form of JEriu. " Hiberio, which is the designa- 
 tion of Ireland in the ' Itinerary of Antonine,** " says 
 Dr. Whitley Stokes, " is the Latin form of the native 
 name of Eriu. The b sounding as v gave Iverio 
 {h being omitted as not a distinct letter of the Irish 
 alphabet), and, by a phonetic law, v between two 
 vowels disappearing, it became lerio, leriu, and 
 finally Eriu. The modern Erin is the dative case."" 
 Of course Eire, Eire-lcmd, Ireland, are but different 
 forms of the same word. Besides these, quite a 
 variety of names are in ancient native poetry given 
 to the country, as, for example, Inisfail (or Isle of 
 
CHAP, i] RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Destiny), Inis Ealga (the Noble Island), Inis-na- 
 beeva (Island of the Woods), Inis-na-naomb (Island 
 of the Saints), Inis FodJila and Inis Banhha. There 
 is a legend that when the Milesians came to Ireland 
 they found three kings of the Dedannans ruling over 
 it, that their three queens were Eire, Fodhla, and 
 Banbha, and that the country was called by these 
 several names after them. It is certain that Fodhla 
 and Banbha frequently occur in ancient Irish poetry 
 as names of Ireland. Of course this derivation rests 
 only on a shadowy legend. Dr. Whitley Stokes 
 suggests that Eriu, probably a contracted form of 
 Iberiu or Iveriu, may be connected with the Sanscrit 
 avara, which means posterior, western. But so far 
 as the name " Scotia ^ is concerned, it should not be 
 forgotten that originally it belonged exclusively to 
 Ireland, and the term " Scoti " to the Irish, and to 
 them only. Wherever the words " Scotia ^ and 
 " Scoti "" occur down till about the eleventh century, 
 it is invariably Ireland and the Irish they are in- 
 tended to designate. Subsequently Alba, the country 
 which we now know as Scotland, got the name of 
 " Scotia Minor "" through a portion of it being colo- 
 nised by Scots from Ireland, while Ireland was known 
 as "Scotia Major;"*' for, in fact, Scotland got both 
 her name and, in great part, her Christianity from 
 Ireland ; and, curiously, that thrifty country, which 
 is said not only to keep the Sabbath but everything 
 else she can lay her hands on, at length appropriated 
 the title " Scotia '" to her own exclusive use, and the 
 land from which she took it had to fall back upon 
 and be content with her still earlier name of Erin, 
 or at least the Anglo-Saxon form of it, " Iraland *" 
 or " Ireland."" 
 
 II 
 
modem 
 CelU. 
 
 IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 The char- It is remarkable that in the earliest glimpses we 
 ^^^ent o^^ o^ ^^^ Celtic race, they exhibit the same mental 
 Celts the anj moral characteristics as distinguish them to-day. 
 
 8&ni6 AS 
 
 those of Caesar notes their love of change, and the elder Cato 
 says, " To two things are the Celts most attent : to 
 fighting and adroitness of speech/"* Two modern 
 historians have delineated the more prominent fea- 
 tures of their character in lines fundamentally similar, 
 though with some differences. 
 
 The first of these, Thierry, says in his " History 
 of the Gauls : " " The characteristics of the Gaulic 
 family — those which distinguish it the most, in my 
 opinion, from other human families — may be summed 
 up as follows : personal bravery unequalled amongst 
 ancient nations, a spirit free, impetuous, open to all 
 impressions, remarkably intelligent; but, side by 
 side with this, an extreme susceptibility, want of 
 perseverance, marked dislike to the idea of discipline 
 and order (so strong among the German nations), 
 extreme ostentation, and, in fine, perpetual dissen- 
 sion, the fruit of excessive vanity. If we desire to 
 compare, in a few words, the Gaulic nation with the 
 Germans, of whom we have just been speaking, we 
 might say that among the former the personal senti- 
 ment, the idea of self, is too much developed, and 
 among the latter it is too little so. Thus in every 
 page of the history of the Gauls we find original 
 characters which vividly excite and concentrate upon 
 themselves our sympathies, while they cause us to 
 forget the existence of the masses of the nation. 
 It is otherwise in the history of the Germans, where 
 it is from the masses generally that great national 
 movements originate."" 
 
 The portrait of the Celtic race drawn by Mommsen, 
 
 12 
 
CHAP, i] RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 in his " History of Rome,"" is less sympathetic and 
 more severe : " In the mighty vortex of the world's 
 history, which inexorably crushes all nations that are 
 not as hard and flexible as steel, such a nation could 
 not permanently maintain itself. With reason, the 
 Celts of the Continent suffered the same fate at the 
 hands of the Romans as their kinsmen in Ireland 
 suffer down to our own day at the hands of the 
 Saxon — ^the fate of becoming merged as a leaven 
 of future development in a politically superior 
 nationality. On the eve of parting from this re- 
 markable nation, we may be allowed to call attention 
 to the fact, that in the accounts of the ancients as 
 to the Celts on the Loire and Seine, we find almost 
 every one of the characteristic traits which we are 
 accustomed to recognise as marking the Irish. 
 Every feature reappears; the laziness in the culture 
 of the fields, the ostentation, the droll humour, the 
 hearty delight in singing and reciting the deeds of 
 past ages ; the most decided talent for rhetoric and 
 poetry; the curiosity — no trader was allowed to 
 pass until he had told in open street what he knew 
 or what he did not know ; the extravagant credulity 
 which acted on such accounts; the childlike piety 
 which sees in the priest a father, and asks him 
 for advice in all things ; the unsurpassed fervour of 
 national feeling, and the closeness with which those 
 who are fellow-countrymen cling together, almost 
 like one family, in opposition to a stranger; the 
 inclination to rise in revolt under the first chance 
 leader that presents himself, and to form bands, 
 but at the same time the incapacity to preserve the 
 self-reliant courage, equally remote from presump- 
 tion and from pusillanimity — to perceive the right 
 
 ^3 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 time for waiting and for striking — to attain or even 
 to tolerate any organisation, any sort of fixed military 
 or political discipline. It is, and remains in all 
 times and all places, the same indolent and poetical, 
 irresolute and fervid, inquisitive, credulous, amiable, 
 clever, but, in a political point of view, thoroughly 
 useless nation; and, therefore, its fate has been 
 always and everywhere the same."''' 
 Social or- It is impossible to judge either individuals or 
 S^iyhe- peoples rightly without taking account of the cir- 
 land : the cumstances and surroundings, the institutions and 
 tern'. *^^ customs, that control and regulate their daily life. 
 To appreciate early Irish society and the primitive 
 Church of Ireland, it is of the first importance to 
 observe the principle on which society, both secular 
 and ecclesiastical, was organised. Now the root 
 idea of the Irish social system was kifiship^ blood- 
 relationship. The unit of that system was the 
 family, which consisted in theory of the parents, 
 children, and immediate relatives, but included also 
 slaves, retainers, or sojourners not related by blood. 
 When the father died, the eldest son, or the most 
 capable of his blood, succeeded him, and the family 
 continued in a sort of corporate capacity. A group 
 of families from a common ancestry made a sept; a 
 still larger group was called a clann, which means 
 children ; while a tribe or tuath consisted of several 
 such clanns, septs, and families descended, or sup- 
 posed to be descended, from a common ancestor, 
 with their slaves and retainers, and occupying . a 
 definite territory, which was the common property 
 of the tribe. The right of any one to share in the 
 tribe-land depended on his descent from the common 
 progenitor and his kinship to the other members 
 
 H 
 
CHAP, i] SOCIAL ORGANISATION 
 
 of the tribe. Mere residence within a ten*itory gave 
 no title to it. And so far from being unparalleled 
 and anomalous, " the Irish tribal system was merely 
 the western survival of the original form adopted 
 by all the races of the Aryan branch of the human 
 race." The tribe, however, really consisted of two 
 classes : (a) those who were recognised as real 
 members through kinship, and who were called 
 neme; (b) and those who, not being members of 
 the tribe by blood-relationship, had no recognised 
 rights or position, except through those members 
 of the tribe whose slaves or retainers they were. 
 They were called ^mi. The former were what may 
 be designated " freemen,"*"* the latter the "unfree."*"* 
 As regards the " freemen,"*' the rank and place they 
 took depended on the number of retainers they were 
 able to support, and the number of armed men they 
 could bring into the field on any emergency. The 
 lowest in this class was the " oc-aire," who had a 
 house and some slight claim upon the common 
 pasture. If he owned ten cows, he rose into the 
 next rank, and became a " ho-aire^ or cow-possess- 
 ing freeman. Neither of these grades was recognised 
 as " noble."*"* The " nobles "*' or " flaiths " possessed 
 not only cattle but " deis,'' that is, rights or lord- 
 ship acquired over persons who borrowed cattle from 
 them, and thereby became their dependants. Besides, 
 the " flaiths "" at an early date acquired private pro- 
 perty in land outside that which belonged to the 
 tribe, by means of which they were able to support 
 retainers. Some of this land they held in their own 
 hands, and employed the " unfree "*"* class in its cultiva- 
 tion ; some of it they let to tenants — the beginning 
 of the system of landlord and tenant in Ireland. 
 
 15 
 
king over 
 all 
 
 IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Chiefs and Each gToup, whether sept, clan, or tribe, had its 
 ^ttJj^n, "flaith'' or chief. When the territory occupied by 
 or supreme a tribe was of considerable extent, its chief was 
 called a " Ri **' or king. There were in Ireland one 
 hundred and eighty-four tuaths or tribal territories, 
 which corresponded in a great measure with the 
 modern baronies. Then several tribes combined to- 
 gether made a sub-kingdom; a few sub-kingdoms 
 united to form a provincial kingdom, and at the head 
 of all was the " Ardri,"" or supreme king of Ireland, 
 whose royal palace was at Tara in Meath, and to 
 whom Meath was given as a sort of mensal territory. 
 It was in the second century that Meath was formed 
 into a separate and central realm, by taking a por- 
 tion from each of the four provincial kingdoms of 
 Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connaught. The 
 chieftainships and kingships were in part hereditary 
 and in part elective ; that is to say, while there was 
 a right of selection, the choice was limited to the 
 relatives of the ruling chief or king. The eldest 
 son was not necessarily elected, but generally the 
 ablest and most capable man among the connections 
 of the ruler; the successor was chosen during the 
 lifetime of the existing chief or king, and the person 
 on whom the choice fell was known as the Tanist. 
 
 There was from early times a distinct recognition 
 of the supremacy of the Ardri or over-king of Ireland. 
 Dr. Richey points out that while "the conquest of 
 Britain was effected by numerous and perfectly inde- 
 pendent settlements of Teutonic tribes, and the Hep- 
 tarchy itself represents the consolidation of many 
 previously independent communities, ... it is remark- 
 able that all the Irish legends acknowledge a common 
 nationality and central government. Amidst all the 
 
 x6 
 
CHAP, i] FAMOUS KINGS 
 
 constant hostilities and civil wars wtiich form the 
 staple of Irish history, there is a recognition of the 
 sovereignty of the Ardrigh as the head of a dimly 
 conceived nationality ; and the palace of Tara and 
 the surrounding district of Meath (until the decay 
 of Tara, begun in 565) are in some sense regai*ded 
 as the centre and symbol of the national unity, the 
 metropolis of the Gaelic race.'' ^ But the tribal con- 
 stitution of Irish society was so deep-rooted, and the 
 tribal feelings, feuds, and separations so inveterate, 
 that the central sovereignty was impaired, and in a 
 great measure paralysed. When a strong man like 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, or Brian Boroihme 
 (Boru), the breaker of the Danish yoke, was supreme 
 sovereign, his controlling power was everywhere felt ; 
 but it often happened that a provincial king was, 
 personally and through the combinations he was able 
 to effect, more powerful than the Ardri, in which 
 case the central control was little more than nominal. 
 The full development of Irish nationality and of a 
 strong central government was thus arrested by the 
 greater strength of the tribal system. 
 
 A brief notice of the more prominent and cele- The more 
 brated of the supreme sovereigns of pagan Ireland j*™°^. 
 may interest the reader, and enable him to realise before 
 better the state of things before the light of Chris- ^*^"'^- 
 tianity dawned upon the country. 
 
 The over- king at the opening of the Christian era conary the 
 was Conary the Great, and the chief event that marks ^'■®**- 
 his reign was the seven years' war between Mebh 
 (Maive), Queen of Connaught, and Conor MacNessa, 
 King of Ulster. About two miles west of the city 
 of Armagh is still to be seen an ancient rath called 
 * Richey's •' Short History," p. 34. 
 
 17 a 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [paet i 
 
 Navan Fort. This was the royal fort, and here was 
 the palace of Emain or Emania, where Conor Mac- 
 Nessa resided. From her palace in Croghan — the 
 remains of which are still extant and visible at Rath- 
 croghan near Roscommon — Queen Maive set out to 
 avenge some grudge which she had against the north. 
 With her men of arms she had made her way as far 
 as the region now known as North Louth, then called 
 Cuailnge or Quelne,^ when her progress was arrested 
 by the great hero Cuchullin, who, under King Conor 
 MacNessa, had organised a sort of militia for the 
 defence of the kingdom. They are renowned in Irish 
 story under the name of the Red Branch Knights, 
 and their chief leaders under Cuchullin were Keltar 
 of the Battles, whose residence was at Rath Keltar, 
 a great fort beside where Downpatrick now stands ; 
 the bard Bricriu of the venom tongue, whose fort is 
 still conspicuous on a hill above the lake beside 
 Loughbrickland, which takes its name from him; 
 Conall Kemach, Fergus MacRoig, and the three 
 sons of Usna. Cuchullin's own residence was at 
 Dundalgan, now Castletown Fort, two miles west of 
 Dundalk. After many single-handed combats be- 
 tween Cuchullin and the most stalwart heroes of 
 Queen Maive, the great Ulster chieftgiin was at length 
 enabled so to rally the men of Ulster, who had been 
 hitherto smitten with impotence, that Queen Maive 
 and her invading army were utterly defeated and 
 put to rout. The most famous of all the Irish epic 
 tales, the Tain-bo-Cuailng'e, has for its subject the 
 battles, single combats, and incidents of this great 
 campaign, of which Cuchullin is the chief hero ; much 
 
 * Now Cooley. It derived its name from Cuailnge, a Milesian 
 chief. 
 
 i8 
 
CHAP, i] FAMOUS KINGS 
 
 of the literature connected therewith has been pub- 
 lished by noted scholars both in Germany and France. 
 
 About the beginning of the second century reigned King 
 King Tuathal, by whom the supreme monarchy was the*5?^.*" 
 established on a firmer footing. It was in his time 
 that the new province of Meath was formed, as 
 mensal or demesne land for the maintenance of the 
 Ardri, by appropriating a part of each of the other 
 provinces ; the three forts of Tlachtga near Athboy, 
 Ushnagh in West Meath, and Tailltenn (now Tell- 
 town) between Navan and Kells, were built by him, 
 and great annual fairs instituted at these centres. 
 By this king the famous Feis^ or Triennial Convention 
 of Tara, is said to have been held with exceptional 
 pomp and splendour. According to the " Annals of 
 the Four Masters,"" the Feis at Tara was originated 
 by the monarch Ollamh Fodhla, who also appointed 
 a chief over every barony, and a farmer over every 
 townland. The Few was an assembly of all the 
 kings, chiefs, ollamhs, and other leading men, and 
 lasted for seven days, three days before and three 
 after Saman, i.e. the 1st of November. Matters 
 of importance were discussed, and all who attended 
 were sumptuously banqueted and entertained by the 
 Ardri. A full account of the Feis of Tara will be 
 found in Dr. Petrie's "History and Antiquities of 
 Tara Hill,"" pp. 29 et seq. Of the nature of the 
 gathering the most ancient record, according to 
 Petrie, is that contained in an old poem, quoted by 
 Keating and printed by Petrie. It is as follows : — 
 
 " The Feis of Temur each third year, 
 To preserve laws and rules. 
 Was then convened firmly 
 By the illustrious kings of Erin. 
 ^9 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Cathaoir of sons-in-law convened 
 
 The beautiful Feis of regal Temur ; 
 
 There came with him (the better for it) 
 
 The men of Erin to one place. 
 
 Three days before Saman, always, 
 
 Three days after it — it was a goodly custom — 
 
 The host of very high fashion spent, 
 
 Constantly drinking during the week. 
 
 Without theft, without wounding a man 
 
 Among them during all this time ; 
 
 Without feats of arms, without deceit. 
 
 Without exercising horses. 
 
 Whoever did any of those things 
 
 Was a wretched enemy with lieavy venom ; 
 
 Gold was not received as retribution from him. 
 
 But his soul in one hour." 
 
 Conn of the The next most renowned king of Ireland was Conn 
 Hundred Ced-Cathach, or Conn of the Hundred Battles, who 
 
 Battles. Till 1 1 /^r» XT' 
 
 ascended the throne about a.d. 125. His great 
 enemy was Eoghan-Mor (Owen More), also called 
 Mogh-Nuadhat, King of Munster, with whom he 
 was engaged in interminable war, and to whom he was 
 compelled to yield half of Ireland. They divided 
 the country into two halves, the dividing line having 
 been a low range of sandhills extending from Dublin 
 to Gal way. The northern division was called Leth- 
 Chuinn (Leth Conn), or Conn's Half, and the southern 
 Leth-Mogha (Leth-Mogh), or Mogh's Half. Eoghan 
 was at length defeated and slain, and Conn resumed 
 the sovereignty of the whole country. 
 
 Conaryii. He was Succeeded by his son-in-law, Conary II. 
 
 and cairbre (^j,^ ^57)^ It was Couary's SOU, Cairbre Riada, who 
 led a colony of Scots out of what is now County 
 Antrim into Alban or Caledonia,^ where they settled 
 
 ^ The country north of the wall of Antoninus, extending from 
 the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth, was called Alban or 
 Caledonia ; the whole island south of that wall was called Britain. 
 
 20 
 
CHAP, i] FAMOUS KINGS 
 
 on the western coasts and islands, and subsequently 
 gave the name of Argyleshire {Airer Gael, i.e. the 
 territory of the Gael or Irish) to the region where 
 they settled, and at length the name of Scotland to 
 the whole country. 
 
 By far the most renowned of the Irish kings of the connacMao. 
 pagan period was Cormac Mac Art (a.d. 254), who ^l^^^ ^^<^ 
 was grandson of Conn of the Hundred Battles. As Tara. 
 Cormac appears to have come under Christian influ- 
 ences, I shall have more to say of him and of his 
 exploits when I come to speak of the traces of Chris- 
 tianity in Ireland before the time of Patrick. But 
 as nearly all the still existing remains at Tara belong 
 to the time of Coraiac, it may be fitting here to give 
 some brief account of them. 
 
 The Hill of Tara itself, as Dr. Petrie mentions, 
 is not remarkable for either altitude or picturesque- 
 ness of form. It commands, however, a very exten- 
 sive and pleasant prospect, and excels even the most 
 interesting spots in a country full of scenes of intense 
 interest in the historic memories associated with it. 
 Dr. Petrie compares it in these respects with the 
 Hill of Aileach near Derry, and the Hill of Emania 
 near Armagh, famous residences of the Ulster kings. 
 According to the traditions preserved in the ancient 
 bardic literature, it became the chief residence of 
 the Irish kings on the first establishment of a monar- 
 chical government in Ireland under Slainge, the first 
 king of the Firbolgs.^ 
 
 The most ancient monument still traceable is the 
 Rath-norRiogh (Rath of the Kings), which encircles 
 the southern brow of the hill, and is assigned to the 
 
 * See Dr. Petrie's " History and Antiquities of Tara Hill," in 
 "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. xviii. p. 27. 
 
 21 
 
raELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Firbolgs. Its external diameter is 853 feet, its 
 interior diameter 775 feet. Dr. Petrie supposes the 
 parapet to have been originally built of dry stone, 
 and the name Teamur (Tara) he derives from teach, 
 " a house,""* and mur, " a wall " = " House of the 
 Walls.'*' Within this large rath are several minor 
 ones and other monuments. To the south-east 
 are the ruins of the house of Cormac, facing Rath 
 Laoghaire, which is situated to the south and out- 
 side the Rath-na-Riogh. Alongside of the house 
 of Cormac are the remains of the Forradh, which is 
 thought to be coeval with the Rath-na-Riogh ; and 
 between the Forradh and the house of Cormac is the 
 Mur Tea, or Wall of Tea. In addition to these 
 there are the Mound of the Cow, the Mound of the 
 Hostages, and the Lia Fail, or coronation stone. 
 
 On the east of the hill, and outside the Rath-na- 
 Riogh, is a spring or well {neamhuach) from which 
 a stream flowed, on which Cormac built the first mill 
 in Ireland ; and a mill still stands on the reputed 
 site of the ancient one. 
 
 Immediately to the north of Rath-na-Riogh is the 
 Rath of the Synods (Rath-na-Seanadh), where certain 
 ecclesiastical synods from the time of Patrick are 
 said to have been convened. 
 
 To the east of the Rath of the Synods, and within 
 the boundary of a churchyard, is the shaft of a cross, 
 known as the "Cross of Adamnan;" and not far 
 from this beautiful torques, or twisted circular 
 collars, were found in 1810. They no doubt belong 
 to a period anterior, perhaps long anterior, to the 
 desertion of Tara in the sixth century. 
 
 Farther north still are the foundations of the 
 Banqueting Hall, called the House of Heroes, and 
 
 22 
 
CHAP, i] FAMOUS KINGS 
 
 celebrated in Irish bardic story — an immense hall 
 759 feet in length, and originally 90 feet in breadth. 
 It is stated in the records to have had fourteen 
 doors, and twelve or fourteen doors are still visible. 
 It was here that the Feis, or great assemblies, were 
 held, and here also that the kings and chiefs were 
 feasted and entertained by the Ardri or supreme 
 sovereign. The statements in the ancient literature 
 respecting it are fully corroborated by the ruins. 
 
 Other raths lie to the north-west, such as Rath 
 Caelchu (Caelchu having been a contemporary of 
 King Cormac MacArt) and Rath Graine. Graine 
 was a daughter of Cormac, and wife of the celebrated 
 Finn MacCumhaill, to whom she proved unfaithful, 
 and eloped with Dermot. 
 
 The next most illustrious of the Irish kings was Niaii of 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, who, according to the HoaJlges. 
 "Four Masters,"*"* began to reign in a.d. 379; and 
 the most remarkable event in his reign was the great 
 invasion which he led against Britain. By means 
 of a vast fleet, which the poet Claudian says made 
 "the ocean foam with their hostile oars,"" he landed 
 in Wales and carried off much spoil, but was com- 
 pelled to withdraw by the celebrated Roman general 
 Stilicho. Niall had fourteen sons, eight of whom 
 became the ancestors of many great and illustrious 
 families. Four of them settled in Meath, and their 
 posterity were known as the Southern Hy Niall (i.e. 
 race of Niall), and four secured a territory in Ulster, 
 and their descendants were called the Northern Hy 
 Niall. From this time forward almost all the kings 
 of Ireland were descended from one or other of these 
 branches of the great family of Niall. While leading 
 an expedition to the coast of Gaul, Niall of the 
 
 23 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Nine Hostages was killed by an arrow, said to have 
 been aimed at him by the King of Leinster, on the 
 shore of the river I^oire. His immediate successor 
 
 Dathi. was his nephew Dathi, who was killed by lightning 
 at the foot of the Alps, whither he had gone on a 
 plundering expedition. On his death in 428, a son 
 
 Laoghaire. of Niall, called Laoghaire (Leary), became Ardri. 
 He was reigning sovereign at Tara when St. Patrick 
 went there on his famous visit of evangelisation. 
 
 The ancient Closely related to the social organisation were 
 
 laws of Ire- ^.j^g ancient laws of Ireland, with regard to which 
 a word must here be said. They are generally 
 known as the Brehon Laws, because they were 
 administered by the Brehons, who were the lawyers 
 and judges or arbitrators in primitive Ireland. To 
 qualify him for his profession the Brehon had to 
 go through a long course of training. He needed 
 to be acquainted with all the minute rules and 
 ceremonies necessary to institute an action, as well 
 as with the traditions, customs, and precedents of 
 the tribe, and as these were often very complicated, 
 gi'eat skill was required to interpret and apply them. 
 The Brehons were naturally held in great esteem — 
 in pagan times they were both priests and lawyers ; — 
 kings and chiefs were accustomed to have Brehons 
 attached to them, and free lands were given them 
 for their support. The office was recognised as a 
 very responsible one, for the Brehon was himself 
 liable to a penalty if he gave a wrong or unjust 
 decision. 
 
 These old laws, it should be noted, were not the 
 result of legislation, but had grown up through the 
 accumulation of immemorial customs and of inter- 
 pretations and decisions of the Brehons. And as 
 
 24 
 
CHAP, i] ANCIENT LAWS 
 
 they were not the enactments of any legislative 
 body like our Parliament, so there was no state 
 authority with force at command pledged to ensure 
 obedience. There was no state power behind the 
 laws requiring an offender to submit to the decision 
 of a Brehon. The only compulsion was that of 
 public opinion. Where the parties were strong and 
 influential and jealous of their own rights, the 
 natural, legal, and too common course was to bring 
 their cause to the arbitrament of private war. But 
 the deep reverence for law and the respect for public 
 opinion were ordinarily sufficient to secure submis- 
 sion on the part of litigants. This reverence for 
 law among the Irish was so developed that even 
 in the time of James I., and at a time of much 
 trouble and disturbance, it attracted the attention 
 of Sir John Davies, a not over-friendly, but cool 
 and clear- eyed observer. " I dare affirm,**' he says, 
 " that for the space of five years past there has not 
 been found so many malefactors worthy of death 
 in all the six circuits of this realm (thirty-two 
 shires) as in one circuit of six shires, namely, the 
 Western Circuit, in England. For the truth is that 
 in time of peace the Irish are more fearful to off'end 
 the law than the English, or any other nation what- 
 soever. There is no nation under the sun that doth 
 love equal or indifferent justice better than the 
 Irish, or will rest better satisfied with the execution 
 thereof, although it be against themselves." 
 
 The Brehon system of law knew nothing of a 
 wrong against the state: every offence was against 
 an individual, and, no matter what the offence was, 
 the penalty took the form of a fine, to be paid 
 by the offender, or, if he failed to pay it, by his 
 
 as 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 family. Even for homicide or murder the penalty 
 was a fine, called "mc,""' which was adjusted by 
 the Brehons. It is a prevalent popular opinion that 
 the laws of the Brehon codes were quite peculiar 
 to Ireland, and were unknown elsewhere. This is 
 a complete mistake. As Sir Henry Maine has 
 shown, they are exactly similar to the laws of all 
 the Aryan tribes, including the early English, at 
 the same stage of social progress, modified some- 
 what of course by time and circumstances.^ The 
 ancient laws of Ireland were collected into tracts, 
 the most noteworthy of which are those called the 
 Senchus Mor^ which in a general way may be said 
 to be concerned with civil law ; the " Book of 
 Acaill," which deals with criminal law and law 
 referring to personal injury; and the "Book of 
 Rights," which " gives an account of the rights of 
 the monarchs of all Ireland, and the revenues pay- 
 able to them by the principal kings of the several 
 provinces, and of the stipends paid by the monarchs 
 to the inferior kings for their services. It also 
 treats of the rights of each of the provincial kings, 
 and the revenues payable to them from the inferior 
 kings of the districts or tribes subsidiary to them, 
 and of the stipends paid by the superior to the 
 inferior provincial kings for their services."" ^ 
 
 These ancient laws were, of course, adapted to a 
 primitive state of society, but were on the whole 
 singularly just and sympathetic towards the people, 
 and tended to protect the weak against the strong 
 and the wealthy, opening a way to the highest ranks 
 from the lowest. They are said to have been revised 
 
 ^ Maine's ** History of Ancient Institutions," p. 19. 
 ■ "Book of Rights," Introduction, p. vi. 
 26 
 
CHAP, i] ANCIENT LAWS 
 
 and reorganised by the great reforming king, Cormac 
 MacArt (a.d. 218-260). 
 
 We are informed in the old introduction to the 
 Senchus Mar that after the entrance of Christianity 
 the ancient laws were revised by a committee of nine 
 persons, appointed by King Laoghaire, and that the 
 committee consisted of three kings, namely, Loag- 
 haire himself. Core, King of Munster, and Daire, 
 King of Ulster; three ecclesiastics, namely, Patrick, 
 Benen, and Cairnech ; and three poets and historians, 
 namely, Rossa, Dubhthach, and Fergus. It is stated 
 that this committee of revision removed everything 
 inconsistent with Christian morality and doctrine, 
 and that the revised code was called Senchus Mor 
 or Cain Patrick, le. Patrick's law. This statement, 
 however, has been seriously questioned. Professor 
 Richey, who had given special attention to the sub- 
 ject, and taken part in their publication, says that 
 "the tradition that the Brehon laws were revised 
 and codified on the introduction of Christianity is 
 unsupported by evidence, and improbable in the 
 highest degree ; '*'* yet he admits that " the Church, 
 when once established, affected them to a large ex- 
 tent, and through the influence of the Church and 
 the study of civil law a considerable element of 
 equity was introduced, which largely modified, by 
 the introduction of the ideas of equity, the form of 
 the later Brehon writers.'' ^ 
 
 1 "Short History," chap. iii. p. 57. 
 
 a? 
 
Ireland. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 EDUCATION, ARCHITECTURE, AGRICULTURE, 
 AND RELIGION 
 
 state of The next question that naturally arises is, What 
 IriJe"^ was the state of education in pre-Christian Ireland ? 
 Christian Was there such a thing as literary culture of any 
 sort ? Now there is ample evidence that from very 
 early times learning of a sort was held in high honour 
 in ancient Erin. The person who had attained the 
 highest degree of knowledge, which included law, 
 history, language, but especially the recitation of 
 tales and verses, in which all forms of knowledge 
 were apt to be clothed, was constituted an ollamh 
 (pronounced ollave), or doctor, and many and great 
 were the privileges which that degree brought with 
 it. The ollamh was entitled to sit next the king 
 at table; his person and property were inviolable; 
 he had a stated income secured to him of twenty-one 
 cows and their grass in the chiefs territory ; abund- 
 ant means of support for himself and his retinue to 
 the number of twenty-four, including pupils, tutors, 
 and servants, and a title to be supplied at need with 
 two hounds and six horses. When he travelled, he 
 was accompanied by his pupils, to whom he stood 
 very much in the relation of a parent, and he was 
 not at liberty to accept of hospitality at the house 
 
 28 
 
CHAP, n] STATE OF LEARNING 
 
 of any one below the rank of a flaith or noble. He 
 also carried with him the privilege of sanctuary. 
 But lest he should abuse the rare privileges which 
 he thus enjoyed, he was requii*ed to be not only pure 
 in morals and unstained by crime, but civil of tongue. 
 It was in the infringement of this latter condition 
 that his besetting sin lay. The ollamh was bound 
 to master history and to teach it. He was the legal 
 referee on all points in dispute respecting genealogies, 
 on which rights of property so much depended. To 
 obviate difficulties with regard to the right of suc- 
 cession, he kept the pedigree of the royal family, as 
 well as of the families of the provincial kings and 
 territorial chiefs ; and not only the central monarch, 
 but each provincial king and smaller chief had his 
 ollamh attached to his court. Again, no one could 
 act as a brehon or judge without the degree of 
 an ollamh, whose education extended over a period 
 of twelve years. During these years he had to pass 
 through a successive series of courses, each of which 
 secured an additional degree. Among other things, 
 he was expected to be competent to teach the four 
 divisions of the knowledge of poetry, which included 
 the reciting of tales, skill in the seven kinds of verse, 
 and the gift of improvising vei*ses and reciting them 
 without having thought of them beforehand. The 
 ollamh was indeed a formidable personage. The lash 
 of his satire seems to have been more feared than the 
 blow of the sling-stone or the point of the " broad- 
 green" laighin (or spear), or the edge of the long 
 " flame-flashing sword.'"* The satire of one of them 
 called Laidcenn is said to have had such a scorch- 
 ing influence on his enemy, that, after he had been 
 
 39 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 exposed to it, " neither his corn, grass, nor foliage 
 would grow for a whole year ! '^ ^ 
 
 Conor MacNessa, who was King of Ulster in the 
 first century of our era, was a noted friend and 
 patron of the poets and historians. The taste for 
 learning and poetry had at that time taken such 
 possession of the national mind, that it is said that 
 more than one-third of the men of Erin gave them- 
 selves up to their cultivation ; and by finding entrance 
 into the ranks of the Ollamhs and the Fileadh (or 
 poets), they were invested with legal privileges, which 
 raised them to high rank and secured them a liberal 
 maintenance at the expense of the unlearned portion 
 of the community. The latter soon began to groan 
 beneath the heavy burden of supporting so large a 
 section of the population, and their complaints soon 
 became loud and threatening, especially in the south 
 and west. The chief poets called a meeting of their 
 profession to consider what they should do, when 
 King Conor MacNessa, having heard of their situa- 
 tion, invited them to Ulster with the full consent of 
 his people, where a multitude of the learned men 
 and poets of the time were hospitably and regally 
 entertained for a period of seven years. It was not 
 the only occasion on which the same class found a 
 similar asylum in Ulidia. 
 Irish epic I have Said that one acquirement necessary to the 
 Ollamh was familiarity with a large number of historic 
 and other tales, which he was expected to recite at 
 feasts and other gatherings. He was required to 
 know at least three hundred and fifty such tales, so 
 
 ^ See O'Curry's " Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish His- 
 tory," pp. 2, 3, 204, 239 ; and his " Manners and Customs of the 
 Ancient Irish," p. 70. 
 
 30 
 
 literature. 
 
CHAP, ii] ARCHITECTURE 
 
 as to be able to relate them oft-hand at any moment. 
 It was in this way that so many of these tales, just 
 like the legends of King Arthur and his Table 
 Round, partly based on history and partly legendary, 
 have been — improved doubtless and embellished in 
 their progi'ess — handed down, many of them singu- 
 larly beautiful and impressive. A large number of 
 them cluster around the history and exploits of Conor 
 MacNessa and his Red Branch Knights^ and especially 
 of Cuchullin, the most renowned of the heroes of 
 ancient Irish romance. A second great cycle of tales 
 are those which gather around Finn MacCumhall 
 and his Fianna, who served under King Cormac 
 MacArt, and won much glory in the third century. 
 
 Of the dwellings of the ancient Irish, and of their Pre-ciiris- 
 architecture generally, we have next to speak. It Jecture!^' 
 has been found that on primitive communities pass- 
 ing over from paganism to Christianity, Christian 
 tombs and other structures have, as a rule, been 
 adopted and developed from the buildings to which, 
 as heathen, they have been accustomed. In the new 
 instalment of his work on the " Cities and Bishoprics 
 of Phrygia," just published. Professor W. M. Ramsay 
 states that the evidence of the epitaphs goes to show 
 that the new faith had so fully blended with the old 
 there, that the distinction between Christian and 
 pagan tombs is recognised only by some variation of 
 the symbol or the name. It was precisely so in Ire- 
 land. In cemeteries connected with the earliest Irish 
 monasteries graves after the pagan model are quite 
 common. Cromlechs and cromlech-like tombs, as 
 well as cams surrounded by circular walls, have been 
 found in churchyards. In a graveyard beside an 
 ancient church at St. John's Point, in County Down, 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 and in other places, cists are found arranged in a 
 circle after the pagan method, the feet of the skele- 
 tons pointing to the centre. Ecclesiastical buildings 
 in like manner follow the models with which, before 
 becoming Christians, the Irish were familiar. "Within 
 the stone fort, now become Christian,"" says Miss 
 Margaret Stokes, "or the cashel built in imitation 
 of it, the first Christians found shelter for their little 
 oratories, their round beehive huts, their wells, gar- 
 dens, and leccchta^ or burial-grounds — or leaba-na- 
 mardbham, beds of the dead, as they are called, 
 where the practice of the primitive Irish Church was 
 a transition from the primitive pagan practice of 
 raising a circle of upright stones, for they enclosed a 
 gi*een oblong space with pillar-stones set close to- 
 gether, each stone of the enclosure being marked 
 with a cross. The oratories of this period, and 
 within these cashels, are angular, oblong structures, 
 with walls either sloping in a curve towards the roof, 
 or built in steps, and often formed like up-turned 
 boats. They measure on an average 14 feet by 9 
 feet wide and 12 feet high.'" ^ A few words on the 
 primitive and pre-Christian architecture of Ireland 
 must, therefore, here be added. 
 Cromlechs. The structures which reach back to the most 
 remote antiquity are the megalithic monuments 
 called cromlechs or dolmens. The cromlech con- 
 sists of an immense slab or roof-stone, varying from 
 twelve to thirty feet in length, of considerable 
 breadth and thickness also, and of an average weight 
 of 110 tons, resting on three or more upright blocks 
 of stone, and usually surrounded by a circle or circles 
 
 ^ "Early Christian Art in Ireland," by Margaret Stokes, Part 
 ii. p. 38. 
 
 32 
 
CHAP, n] ARCHITECTURE 
 
 of upright stones from 150 to 160 feet in diameter. 
 There seems no room to doubt that they were erected 
 as sepulchral monuments, and doubtless to the 
 memory of distinguished chiefs. Underneath all 
 the cromlechs that have been examined human bones 
 have been found, with stone hatchets, flint arrow- 
 heads, sling-stones, and rings of shale and jet ; and 
 under some cinerary urns have been found. We 
 have just seen that imitations of cromlechs occur in 
 Christian burying-grounds, confirming the conclusion 
 that their object was such as has been stated. There 
 is evidence that the builders of the cromlechs were 
 acquainted with the use of fire for cooking food and 
 for making pottery, and that they grew cereals and 
 kept domestic animals, so that a certain degi*ee of 
 civilisation had been attained by them. On the 
 other hand, there is no trace in them of sculpture 
 or of ornament. It is doubtful if any metal has 
 been found in a cromlech. 
 
 The cist, cistvaen, or stone chest — a rectangular Ctats. 
 chamber formed by four or more slabs, with rudely 
 flagged floor, roofed with flat stones, and sometimes 
 having the sides formed by similar stones, and con- 
 taining cinerary ^c^iZia — seems to mark a somewhat 
 more advanced stage in the development of the 
 cromlech. Weapons and ornaments of bronze have 
 been discovered in them, proving them to be of 
 later date than the cromlechs. 
 
 The covering of chambers and cists with cams TnmuiL 
 or tumuli, mounds of either stone or earth, seems 
 to mark a still later stage in the development. Not 
 only implements of stone, but beautifully formed 
 weapons of bronze, and articles of iron, glass, and 
 amber have been found in them. The word " cam "" 
 
 33 c 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [paet i 
 
 forms the whole or beginning of the names of three 
 hundred townlands, and there are many others of 
 which it forms the beginning or end. Each of these 
 probably contained a earn, and so originated the 
 name. In the Irish Annals the tumuli or dome- 
 shaped tombs or mounds are described as royal 
 cemeteries. The most remarkable are those of New 
 Grange, Dowth, and Knowth on the banks of the 
 Boyne, and the locality where they stand is called 
 Brugh-^a-Boyne^ which means "the dwelling-place 
 of the Boyne."" There are some twenty mounds 
 altogether in this immediate vicinity, besides raths, 
 caves, circles, and pillar-stones, and the most famous 
 are those just named. New Grange stands on two 
 acres, and Knowth on about an acre of ground. The 
 writer has visited these wonderful monuments, and 
 explored the still more interesting chambers in their 
 interior. That of New Grange is a large dome- 
 shaped chamber formed of great blocks of stone, the 
 roof at the centre, which is the highest point, being 
 about twenty feet from the floor, with three recesses 
 opening off it, and entered by a narrow passage, 
 barely permitting a man to creep in on hands and 
 knees at the entrance, but soon rising to a height of 
 six feet, and sixty-three feet in length from the out- 
 side to the centre of the chamber. Carved on the 
 faces of the slabs which form the walls of the chamber 
 are scribings of cups, circles, concentric circles, spirals, 
 half-moons, zigzags, lozenges, rhomboids, dots, and 
 stars. From the fact that iron has been found in 
 these tumuli in juxtaposition with gold ornaments 
 and Roman coins, and from other circumstances, 
 their date has been assigned to the period between 
 the first century and the third. 
 
 34 
 
CHAP, ii] ARCHITECTURE 
 
 The earliest buildings of a non-sepulchral char- Duns and 
 
 beehive 
 stone huts. 
 
 acter have been assigned by the best authorities ^•®^^® 
 
 to the period between 200 b.c. and the opening of 
 the Christian era. On the western shores of. Kerry, 
 Clare, Galway, Sligo, and also in Mayo, Donegal, 
 and Antrim, great stone forts or duns have been 
 found. These duns or fortresses are amphitheatres 
 encircled by outer walls. The walls, which are in 
 many cases eighteen feet in thickness, are built 
 without moi*tar, of masses of stone, varying in size, 
 but sometimes of great magnitude, and undressed 
 by tools, yet closely fitting and compacted and 
 admirably constructed, the centre of the wall being 
 composed of rubble. In the walls themselves are 
 passages and chambers, and inside the dun in some 
 cases are little stone huts of beehive shape or long- 
 roofed, like boats upturned. The principle of the 
 arch was still unknown to the builders when they 
 were erected. They are supposed to belong to 
 the legendary heroic period before the introduction 
 of Christianity into Ireland, and are associated 
 with iEngus, Conor, Muirbhech Mil, Fergus, and 
 Cuchullin. They continued in use, however, after 
 the introduction of Christianity, and were, in fact, 
 often given by kings or chiefs for Christian purposes. 
 Conall Gulban, brother of King Laoghaire, for 
 example, gave his dun at Tailtenn to St. Patrick, 
 The fortress of Dun Lughaidh was similarly given to 
 him. The cathair or stone fortress of Aodh Finn, 
 the son of Feargna, King of Breffhy, was put at the 
 service of St. Caillin for his monastery, and the 
 Dun of Muirbhech Mil, in the island of An-an, is 
 to this day occupied by the beehive- shaped cells of 
 the early monks. 
 
 35 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Hatha or Ramparts of earth, called raths or Jhrts^ are still 
 
 ^^^^' very numerous in Ireland. It is calculated that 
 
 there are not less than 40,000 of them still existing 
 in the country. Some have a single "ring" or 
 rampart, some two, and some three. The space of 
 ground enclosed within the rampart varies from a 
 rood to five acres. The raths are often popularly 
 spoken of as Danish, but they existed in Ireland 
 many centuries before the Danes were heard of. 
 They continued to be built, however, till the twelfth 
 or thirteenth century. They were, in fact, erected for 
 shelter and protection, the residences of the owners 
 being inside them. These latter were usually made 
 of wood or wattles. The smaller forts with a single 
 rampart appear to have belonged to the wealthier 
 members of the community, and afforded shelter 
 both for their own dwellings and for their flocks 
 and herds : the larger ones, with two or three cir- 
 cumvallations, belonged to the flaiths or chiefs. The 
 cathairs. cosJiels or cothairs differed from the raths in being 
 constructed of stone. Where water was available, 
 the surrounding fosse or ditch was flooded with it. 
 Hence the term lis. There are twenty-eight town- 
 lands called Lissanisky or Lissaniska, which means 
 " the fort of water." A king's residence needed to 
 be a dun, and was required by law to have three 
 Wooden concentric ramparts. Beside the duns or royal 
 houses cS^^ dwellings were usually grouped the wooden or 
 beehive wattlcd houses of their retainers or dependants. 
 The houses were almost all round-shaped, after the 
 beehive pattern. Posts were driven into the ground, 
 and the spaces between the posts filled with woven 
 wattles or wicker-work, stanched and plastered with 
 clay, and covered over with a conical roof of thatch 
 
 36 
 
 pattern. 
 
CHAP, ii] ARCHITECTURE 
 
 of some sort. After the introduction of Christianity, 
 the churches, like the dwellings of the people, were 
 also made of wood and wattles, although from the 
 earliest times there were instances of stone churches, 
 oblong in shape and very small and rude of con- 
 struction. I shall have occasion to note the origin 
 and use of the Round Towers when I come to speak 
 of the Danes. 
 
 To the same period as the " duns " and " raths '*'' soutemdna. 
 belong the souterrains, or subterranean houses, or 
 passages and chambers which most of the raths and 
 cathairs have underneath their interior area, the 
 chambei*s being generally after the beehive pattern, 
 with, in some cases, ventilating shafts. In some 
 instances the chambers are very large. They were 
 evidently intended as keeps for storing treasures and 
 things of value in, and where the residents of the 
 raths might take refuge in case of sudden attack. 
 At a place called Dysart, near Mullingar, what has 
 been called a subterranean village of ten beehive- 
 shaped chambers, with connecting galleries, has been 
 exposed to view by the removal of the surrounding 
 rath and superincumbent earth. These souterrains 
 contain no traces of Christianity, and evidently 
 belonged to the pre-Christian period. Inscriptions 
 in the Ogham character have been found on the 
 walls of many of them, a form of writing which 
 seems to have continued to the period of transition 
 from paganism to Christianity.^ The souterrains 
 
 * Ogham characters consist of groups of incised lines and dots 
 along a stem-line, which stem-line was in many cases the angle 
 of a stone. The consonants are formed by lines of from three 
 to five inches long when above or below the line, or from four 
 to seven inches when across it. The vowels are formed by 
 strong, oval, or round dots on the angle or stem. 
 
 37 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 were indeed known both to the Christians and to the 
 Danish invaders of Ireland. In the Irish Annals 
 we read that in the year 866 Leinster and Munster 
 were plundered by the Danes, and that "they 
 left not a cave there underground that they did 
 not explore . . . neither was there in concealment 
 underground in Erinn . . . anything that was not 
 discovered by these wonderful Denmarkians.*" 
 Crannogs. Still more remarkable was another sort of struc- 
 ture, which was very common in Ireland in primitive 
 times, though not confined to this country. A 
 considerable portion of the population resided in 
 dwellings situated on islands artificially constructed 
 in lakes. Between two and three hundred such 
 island-dwellings have been discovered, and these 
 are believed to be but a small proportion of what 
 at one time existed. It is certain that many of 
 these belong to a very remote antiquity, but many 
 continued to be used till comparatively recent times. 
 Their Irish designation is " crannog,"" from "crann,"" 
 a tree or timber, because trees were so much used 
 in their construction. Much ingenuity and toil 
 must have been expended in the making of them. 
 Posts or stakes were driven into the bottom of the 
 lake so as to form a circle of from fifty to eighty 
 feet in diameter, the stakes being of such a length 
 that they stood up out of the water, and formed 
 a sort of stockade which at once sheltered and 
 defended the island. They were secured to each 
 other and made fast by means of horizontal beams. 
 The space within the circle was then filled up with 
 trunks and branches of trees, stones, gravel, and 
 earth, the whole being stayed and strengthened by 
 piles. Over this was laid a layer of beams similarly 
 
 38 
 
CHAP, n] ARCHITECTURE 
 
 secured, and over it again stones and gravel; and 
 on this, when high enough above the water, the 
 dwelling was erected, slabs of stone being laid down 
 for the hearth. There is clear evidence of the 
 existence of these lake-dwellings at a very remote 
 period, but also that their use has continued far 
 into historic times. Implements of stone, bronze, 
 and iron have been found in them, and several 
 have been discovered buried at the bottom of deep 
 bogs, which have grown over them since they were 
 made. In the Bog of Drumkelin, in County 
 Donegal, one of the most complete of such struc- 
 tures of this character has been discovered, with a 
 dwelling twelve feet in length and width and nine 
 feet in height, made of split logs of oak, and with 
 half-burnt peat, charred wood, and ashes on the 
 hearth. The apartment was divided into two 
 storeys. Its great antiquity appeai-s not only in 
 the implements of flint, stone, and wood that have 
 been found in it, but in the fact that thirty or 
 forty feet of bog had grown up around it since it 
 was constructed. 
 
 But perhaps the most singular of primitive Irish sweat- 
 structures is the Teach-an-alais, or " sweat-house," ^°^®*- 
 in which the Irish were accustomed to have what 
 we now call a " Turkish bath." The " sweat-house" 
 was usually beehive in form, about six feet wide and 
 six feet high, with a low entrance, resembling the 
 stone huts that still remain in cashels. It was filled 
 with peat which was set on fire and burned. When 
 the ashes were removed and the chamber had cooled 
 a little, the floor was covered with rushes, and the 
 person desiring the bath entered, and the door was 
 closed. It seems to have been usually placed near 
 
 39 
 
Transition. 
 
 Aspect of 
 country : 
 covered 
 
 raELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 a pool of clear water, wherein the bather could 
 cool himself by means of a plunge-bath. It was 
 often had recourse to as a cure for rheumatism as 
 well as enjoyed as a luxury. 
 
 It was between the sixth and eighth centuries that 
 the transition took place from undressed stones built 
 without mortar to dressed and chiselled stones built 
 with mortar, which consisted of shells and sea-sand 
 or of mud and gravel. The mortar in a liquid state 
 was at first poured on the top of the wall, whence 
 it filtered downwards, but in the course of the tenth 
 century the stones begin to be laid in a bed of 
 mortar. 
 
 Very different too was the general aspect of the 
 country in the pre-Christian times to which I refer 
 withforeets. from what it is to-day. It should be remembered 
 that a large proportion of it was covered with dense 
 forests, in which oak predominated, and where wild 
 boars and wolves and other wild beasts roamed. It 
 was the vast extent of its forests which in early times 
 gained for Ireland the name of Inis-na-Beeva, or 
 Island of the Woods. It may be inferred that hunt- 
 ing was common, but the arts of agriculture had 
 made some progress. Water-mills existed from a 
 very early period : they are said to have been intro- 
 duced by Cormac MacArt in the third century. 
 There appears to have been one in connection with 
 each hallyhetagh, or ancient townland, owned by a 
 number of the inhabitants in common. The Brehon 
 Code has special laws with regard to them. In 
 almost every house too there was a quern, or hand- 
 mill for grinding corn, in the use of which the female 
 members of the household were expert. And as to 
 roads, they were both better and more numerous 
 
 40 
 
 Agricul 
 ttire. 
 
CHAP, ii] RELIGION 
 
 than any one would imagine. There were five main 
 roads, leading in various directions over the country 
 from Tara, and numerous roads of minor importance, 
 but each known by a distinctive name, are referred 
 to in the Irish Annals. The Brehon laws provide 
 for keeping them in repair. 
 
 But the religion of pre-Christian Ireland now de- The religion 
 mands some brief notice. Ireland? 
 
 The religion of the ancient Irish was Druidical, 
 but the popular idea of that form of heathen religion 
 is quite erroneous. It included belief in the immor- 
 tality of the soul and in the doctrine of a day of 
 judgment — doctrines doubtless which, along with 
 others, made them more ready to accept of Chris- 
 tianity. As the Scandinavian had his Walhalla, so 
 the Irishman had an Elysium of his own, and curi- 
 ously enough the pig was as conspicuous in the 
 Irishman's Elysium as he is to-day in the cabin of 
 the Irish peasant! "There are three trees always 
 bearing fruit; there is one pig there always alive, 
 and another pig ready cooked, and there is a vessel 
 full of excellent ale."" ^ 
 
 The old metrical " Life of St. Patrick,*" ascribed to 
 Fiacc of Sleibhte, says "the Tuatha (or people) 
 adored the Sidhey Who were the Sidhe thus de- 
 scribed as the objects of the people''s worship ? The 
 Sidhe (as appears from the " Book of Armagh "") were 
 supernatural beings, supposed to dwell in the earth, 
 the sea, the rivers, in valleys and hills, in fountains, 
 wells, and trees. Both they and the natural objects 
 in which they were supposed to dwell were invoked 
 and conciliated. The belief still survives in the 
 popular superstition with regard to fairies, and in 
 
 1 " Book of Leinster." 
 41 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 the virtue still ascribed to sacred trees and wells. 
 The supernatural beings were, in fact, the personified 
 powers of Nature, and belief in them was a sort of 
 fetishism which tenanted all natural objects with 
 malignant beings, to whose agency natural pheno- 
 mena were attributed, and who were supposed to be 
 conciliated by the spells and incantations of a sacred 
 caste called Druada or Magi. The Banshee, of which 
 we still hear, is just the bean-sidh (pronounced ban- 
 shee), or female sprite or fairy, the legends about 
 which in Irish story are legion. Mullaghshee, the 
 hill on which the church stands in Ballyshannon, is 
 the hill of the sidh (shee), or fairy palace. Shane is 
 another form of the same word, which occurs con- 
 stantly in combination with the names of places, and 
 points out the places so named as supposed dwelling- 
 places of the fairies. 
 
 Patrick himself, near the close of his " Confession," 
 refers to sun-worship. " For that sun which we see, 
 by command of God, arises daily on our account; 
 but he shall never reign, nor shall his splendour 
 continue; but all even that worship him, wretched 
 persons, shall come unhappily into punishment." 
 Connected with this perhaps were the primitive fire- 
 customs which we know obtained in Ireland. At 
 Tlachtga, in Meath, there was an annual fire-festival, 
 beginning on the eve of the 1st of November, and in 
 the fires then kindled the Druids were accustomed to 
 burn their sacrifices. On Beltane, or May-Day also 
 it was the custom to light bonfires. Such a festival 
 fire was about to be lit at Tara on Easter Eve, when 
 the fire lit by Patrick and his associates was seen 
 ablaze on the Hill of Slane, in violation of the law 
 that while the sacred fire was burning no other, on 
 
 42 
 
CHAP, iij RELIGION 
 
 pain of death, should be kindled throughout the 
 country ; and as a lighted brand from the sacred fire 
 was employed to light all other fires, so still in 
 remote districts if the fire goes out in the house of a 
 peasant before the morning of the 1st of May, he is 
 anxious to get a lighted turf from the priest ^s hearth 
 to kindle it. 
 
 A great fair was held in May of each year in West- 
 meath, and at that time it was usual to light fires 
 all over Ireland, and to drive the cattle through 
 them as a preservative against disease during the 
 ensuing year. Some of these customs still continue. 
 There was a pagan oath by the sun and moon, water 
 and air, day and night, sea and land, an oath which 
 was regarded as being peculiarly solemn, and for 
 violating it King Laoghaire is said to have been 
 *' killed by the sun and wind, and by the other 
 guarantees, for no one dared to dishonour them at 
 the time.'' 1 
 
 The great national idol, called Crom Cruach^ over- 
 laid with gold, stood on the plain called Moy-Skcht 
 (or Plain of Adoration), in what is now known as 
 the County of Cavan. It was sun-ounded by twelve 
 lesser idols. It is stated in the " Book of Leinster " 
 that the Irish people were accustomed to offer their 
 children in sacrifice to this idol. 
 
 I should fail, however, to convey an adequate Traces of 
 idea of the condition of Ireland on the an*ival of ?^j^"*"" 
 its great Christian apostle if I did not intimate Patrick, 
 that there are traces of Christianity having in some 
 degree found its way into the country before he 
 came. 
 
 I have referred already to King Cormac MacArt, 
 1 "Book of the Dun Cow," p. ii8. 
 43 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 Cormac who flourished in the third century, and who was in 
 some respects the greatest of the kings of Ireland. 
 He was distinguished in many ways. The Annals 
 tell us that in the year 222 "the large fleet of Cormac 
 MacArt went over the sea for the space of three years," 
 on an expedition to the British coasts. But his 
 domestic reforms were more important than his 
 attempts at foreign conquest. He established a 
 Military College, a College of Law, and a College of 
 Literature. The " Book of Ballymote '' cites this state- 
 ment from the " Book of Navan,'' which is no longer 
 extant : " The monarch of Erin [the reference is to 
 Cormac] appointed an army over the men of Erin ; 
 and over it he appointed three times fifty royal 
 Fenian officers, for the purpose of enforcing his laws, 
 and maintaining his sovereign rule, and preserving 
 his game ; and he gave the command of the whole 
 and the high stewardship of Erin to Finn na Baiscne 
 (that is, Finn MacCumhal).'' This was none other 
 than the famous Finn MacCumhal, the Fingal of 
 Macpherson"'s"Ossian,''' and the subject of avast collec- 
 tion of ancient bardic literature ; and the army which 
 he commanded was the Feni or Fianna, renowned in 
 story, a sort of police or militia organised by King 
 Cormac MacArt, and from whom the modern Fenians 
 have, with singular incongruity and inappropriate- 
 ness, derived their name. Their purpose seems to 
 have been the preservation of internal order rather 
 than to resist foreign invasion. Finn himself is repre- 
 sented not only as a warrior but as a poet, learned 
 in bardic lore, and with a poefs insight into, and 
 enjoyment of, the world of nature. Here is Mr. 
 Standish O'Grady's version of Ossian's picture of 
 him : " The music that Finn loved was that which 
 
 44 
 
CHAP, ii] RELIGION 
 
 filled the heart with joy and gave light to the coun- 
 tenance, the music of the black bird of Letter Lee, 
 and the melody of the Dord Fian,the sound of the wind 
 in Droum-derg, the thunderstorm of Asseroe, the 
 cry of the hounds let loose through Glen Rah, with 
 their faces outward from the Suir, the Ton Rury 
 lashing the shore, the wash of water against the sides 
 of ships, the cry of Braan at Knock-an-Awr, the 
 murmur of streams at Slieve-Mish, and oh! the 
 blackbird of Derry Carn. I never heard, by my soul, 
 sound sweeter than that. Were I only beneath his 
 nest ! *" ^ Internal dissensions, however, bix)ke out 
 among the Feni. Finn, who was Cormac's son-in-law, 
 with his militia, quarrelled with the king; the 
 people, on whom they were wont to be quartered 
 from November to May, were probably weary of them 
 also; the people sympathised with the king in his 
 effort to overthrow them, and they were finally 
 broken up and dispersed. 
 
 More enduring was the service done by Cormac in 
 the reorganisation and revision of the ancient laws, 
 already hinted at. The " Saltair of Tara,"" a manu- 
 script no longer extant, is ascribed to him, and a 
 portion of the " Book of Aicill," which is part of one 
 of the Brehon law tracts. It is evident that the reign 
 of Cormac made a profound impression on the 
 national mind, both for its well-ordered rule and its 
 general beneficence. "The world was full of all 
 goodness in his time,"" says an old manuscript ; " there 
 were fruit and fatness of the land, and abundant 
 produce of the sea, with peace and ease and happiness 
 in his time. There were no killings nor plunderings in 
 
 1 Mr. Standish O'Grady's '•History of Ireland," vol. i. 
 chap. xii. 
 
 45 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 his time, but every one occupied his lands in happi- 
 ness." 
 Cormac His wise, firm, and kindly rule, and the reforms 
 
 probably a,.,,. ,, i , 
 
 Christian, which he inaugurated, are the more noteworthy 
 because there is good reason to believe that he had 
 adopted the Christian faith. In his expeditions to 
 Britain he was brought into contact with the British, 
 by whom, or through' some of the captives whom he 
 can-ied away to Ireland, he was likely to have the 
 Christian verities pressed on his attention. In what- 
 ever way it was brought about, it is practically 
 certain that he came under Christian influences. In 
 the " Annals of the Four Masters," under the year 
 A.D. 266, we are informed that "forty years was 
 Cormac the son of Ai-t, the son of Conn, in the 
 sovereignty of Ireland when he died at Cleiteach, 
 the bone of a salmon sticking in his throat on 
 account of Siabhradh (genii) which Maelgen the 
 Druid incited against him, after Cormac had turned 
 against the Druids on account of the adoration of 
 God in preference to them. Wherefore a devil 
 attacked him at the instigation of the Druids.**' 
 The representation is that because he forsook Druid- 
 ism and worshipped the true God, the Druids stirred 
 up the evil spirits against him, and brought about 
 his death in the manner recorded. It is also added 
 in the " Annals " that he " told his people not to bury 
 him at Brugh, because it was a cemetery of idolaters ; 
 for he did not worship the same God as any of those 
 \i.e. the pagan kings] interred at Brugh; but to 
 bury him at Ross-na-Righ, with his face to the east. 
 He afterwards died, and his servants held a council, 
 and came to the resolution of burying him at Brugh, 
 the place where the kings of Tara, his predecessors, 
 
 46 
 
CHAP, ii] RELIGION 
 
 were always buried. The body of the king was 
 thrice raised to be carried to Brugh, but the Boyne 
 swelled up thrice, so that they could not cross. 
 They afterwards dug his grave at Ross-na-Righ, as 
 he had ordered." In his "Lays of the Western 
 Gael" Sir Samuel Ferguson has celebrated this 
 occurrence in a picturesque and stirring poem, of 
 which one stanza may be given as a specimen : — 
 
 " Crom Cruach, and his sub-gods twelve, 
 
 Said Cormac, are but lawen treene ; 
 The axe that made them haft or helve 
 
 Had worthier of your worship been ; 
 But He who made the tree to grow, 
 
 And hid in earth the iron stone, 
 And made the man with mind to know 
 
 The axe's use, is God alone." 
 
 Again, the ruins of several primitive churches are 
 still to be seen in Ireland, some of them complete, 
 with walls sloping upwards till they meet, showing 
 that the principle of the arch was still unknown to 
 their builders. The late Dr. Petrie believed these 
 churches to have been the work of Chiistians earlier 
 than the time of Patrick. 
 
 With one attempt to evangelise Ireland prior to Mission of 
 the coming of Patrick history has made us familiar. ^^"*^^"^- 
 Prosper of Aquitaine testifies in his " Chronicon ^ 
 that in a.d. 431 Palladius was "ordained Pope by 
 Celestine, and sent to the Scots believing in Christ 
 as their first bishop." It is known that in this year, 
 431, Prosper was in Rome on business connected 
 with the Church of Gaul, and had thus a special 
 opportunity of obtaining information with regard 
 to the mission of Palladius. In another work of his 
 — the Contra Collatorem — Prosper states that the 
 47 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 result of the mission of Palladius was to " make the 
 barbarous island Christian."" Here, however, Prosper 
 has fallen into error, and set down to the credit of 
 Palladius what was afterwards due to Patrick. The 
 locality where the Irish records represent Palladius 
 as landing in Ireland has been identified as the 
 spot where the town of Wicklow now stands. The 
 Scholiast on Fiacc's hymn affirms that before he left 
 he "founded there some churches,"" but "was not 
 well received by the people, and was forced to go 
 round the coast of Ireland towards the north."" The 
 author of Colgan"'s second "Life of Patrick """* gives 
 the name of the hostile chief as Nathi, specifies the 
 names of the three churches which Palladius founded, 
 and adds that in one of them, whose name is men- 
 tioned, he (Palladius) deposited books and relics 
 which the writer describes as existing " even to the 
 present day."*"* There are some curious coincidences 
 between what is said of Patrick and what is recorded 
 of Palladius, which seem to show that by some early 
 writers the one has been confounded with the other. 
 Thus it is remarkable that St. Patrick, on his first 
 arrival as a missionary in Ireland, is described as 
 landing in the same region in Wicklow, as meeting 
 with a similarly unfavourable reception, as having 
 been driven away by the same chief, Nathi, and 
 compelled to betake himself to his coracles and to 
 sail round the coast northwards. In the " Collec- 
 tions of Tirechan,"" again, we are told that Palladius 
 " was by another name called Patricius." Nor is it 
 less singular that the Roman authorities, such as 
 Prosper and Bede, who record the mission of 
 Palladius, never so much as mention that of Patrick ; 
 that precisely the same success is attributed to the 
 
 48 
 
CHAP, n] RELIGION 
 
 mission of Palladius by Prosper as the Irish Lives 
 assign to Patrick ; that an ancient record quoted 
 by Ussher represents Palladius as having been, like 
 Patrick, a Briton ; that while, according to Prosper, 
 Palladius was concerned in the mission of Germanus 
 to Britain to counteract the Pelagian heresy, the 
 Irish represent Patrick as concerned in it, and that 
 both Palladius and Patrick are, in different writings, 
 said to have brought the very same relics of the 
 Apostles from Rome. For these and other reasons 
 it has been supposed by some that Palladius is only 
 another name for Patrick. If that position is un- 
 tenable, it is at least certain that some things which 
 properly belong to the one have got transferred to 
 the other. 
 
 However that may be, to the Patrick whom we 
 now always recognise by that name belongs the 
 indubitable honour of having been the true "apostle 
 of Ireland," the founder of the Church there, and, as 
 the Tripartite Life expresses it, " the father of the 
 baptism and the belief of the men of Erin." In 
 spite of occasional and isolated efforts, Ireland was 
 virtually unevangelised, Christianity practically un- 
 known when he came: before he died, the gospel 
 was preached, multitudes were converted, ministei*s 
 in great numbei-s ordained, and churches built in all 
 parts of the country. The material was ready for a 
 skilful hand to work in. The bard had long been in 
 the land. Imaginations, already stirred by the tale 
 of heroic deeds, were ready to be moved by a tale 
 still more wonderful, and to be touched to sympathy 
 with a nobler, purer type of moral beauty than they 
 had yet dreamt of. The man destined and prepared 
 of God to awaken and enkindle that interest was 
 
 49 D 
 
IRELAND BEFORE PATRICK [parti 
 
 none other than St. Patrick, the story of whose 
 heroic enterprise, even stripped of its legendary 
 marvels, is intensely interesting — a veritable romance 
 of history. That story I have to tell in the suc- 
 ceeding chapters. 
 
 50 
 
PART II 
 
 THE COMING OF PATRICK 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SOURCES FOR PATRICK'S HISTORY 
 
 It has been said that the best part of the history of Cariyie'a 
 a nation consists in the biography of its great men. the history 
 "Universal history," says Carlyle, "the history of °* *j^p«^p^« 
 what man has accomplished in this world, is at tory of its 
 bottom the history of the great men who have ^^^^ '"^"' 
 worked here. They were the leaders of men, these 
 great ones; the modellers, patterns, and in a wide 
 sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of 
 men contrived to do or to attain ; all things that 
 we see standing accomplished in the world are 
 properly the outer material result, the practical 
 realisation and embodiment of thoughts that dwelt 
 in the great men sent into the world : the soul of 
 the whole world's history, it may justly be con- 
 sidered, were the history of these. . . . Could we see 
 them well, we should get some glimpses into the 
 very maiTow of the world's history."" 
 
 Although Carlyle's way of putting the matter is 
 characteristically exaggerated, there is a considerable 
 amount of truth in the representation. There have 
 been few nations or great national movements in 
 which exceptionally great men have not had a para- 
 mount and controlling influence. We have only to 
 recall the part played by Paul in the fortunes of 
 primitive Christianity, or the work done by Luther 
 
 53 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 in Germany, by Calvin at Geneva, or by Knox in 
 Scotland at the time of the Reformation, to recognise 
 the use which God makes of individual genius and 
 energy in the furtherance of His kingdom. The 
 introduction of Christianity into the different races 
 and nations of Europe, and the organisation of 
 the Churches planted by them, were in each case 
 due primarily to some great and self-consecrated 
 missionary. The predominant spirit and activities 
 of the early Churches were concentrated in and pro- 
 moted by devoted and distinguished leaders, aflame 
 with Christian zeal and piety, and took mould and 
 form at their hands. It was emphatically so in 
 Ireland. Ulphilas is not more fittingly recognised 
 as the apostle of the Goths, or Augustine of Saxon 
 England, or Columba of the northern Picts and 
 Scots, or Boniface of Germany, or Willibrord of 
 Frisia, or Anskar of Sweden and Denmark, than 
 Patrick is of Ireland. As we gaze back into the 
 remote vistas of our country's religious past, his 
 is one of the most conspicuous figures that meet 
 the eye. 
 If any truth If it be true, as Carlyle says, that "great men, 
 must^be* taken up in any way, are profitable company, that 
 profitable we Cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great 
 JSe^o" st^^^ man without gaining something from him," that 
 Patrick. « Jig is the living light-fountain which it is good 
 and pleasant to be near," it cannot be otherwise 
 than quickening and stimulating to us to keep 
 company for a little while with St. Patrick. 
 But his From the circumstance that Patrick is not men- 
 
 caiiS^iT tioned by either Prosper or Bede, who notice the 
 question, mission of Palladius, and for other reasons, the very 
 existence of our apostle has indeed been called in 
 
 54 
 
CHAP. Ill] NOT A MYTHICAL PERSONAGE 
 
 question. In his " Antiquities of Ireland '' I^edwich 
 long ago made a laborious attempt to show that he 
 never existed except as a mythical personage, and 
 the view advocated by Ledwich has been occasionally 
 revived since his time. It may be well, therefore, 
 to make sure that he actually existed before sketch- 
 ing his history. That the sceptical position taken 
 by this writer and a few others is altogether un- 
 tenable, that Patrick was a real person who left 
 his mark deep in the history of Ireland, a brief 
 statement will, I think, be sufficient to convince 
 the unbiassed reader. 
 
 The argument from silence is of little value when The argu- 
 writers have very obvious reasons for their silence, ^femje'or 
 Thus, it is no matter of surprise that while Prosper utue value. 
 of Aquitaine records in his Chronicle that " Palla- 
 dius was ordained by Pope Celestine, and sent to the 
 Scots (i.e. the Irish), believing in Christ as their 
 first bishop,"" he says nothing of Patrick. Prosper 
 was the panegyrist of Celestine and the chronicler 
 of his doings. His silence with respect to Patrick 
 is a good proof that the Irish apostle was not sent 
 by Celestine, that Patrick's mission had no connec- 
 tion with Rome, and that the records that Prosper 
 consulted at Rome had no reference to him : it is 
 no proof that Patrick did not exist. To the ad- 
 vocate of the Roman mission, Prosper'*s silence is 
 indeed a serious difficulty. But if, as we shall see 
 by-and-by, Patrick's mission had no connection with 
 Rome, why should Prosper be expected to refer to 
 it ? To expect this is to forget the purpose Prosper 
 had in view in writing his Chronicle and the 
 materials within his reach. As to Bede, he too 
 was a strong supporter of the Roman obedience, 
 
 55 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 and as such his strong antipathy to the Celtic 
 Christians, who stood aloof from Rome, is con- 
 stantly apparent. It is easy, therefore, to see why 
 in his " Ecclesiastical History " he in a single brief 
 sentence repeats the statement of Prosper with 
 regard to Palladius having been sent by Pope 
 Celestine, but omits reference to Patrick, who not 
 only was not sent from Rome, but whose Church 
 was at the time Bede wrote (he died in 735) in 
 strong antagonism to Rome. But while Bede is 
 thus reticent in his History, we have the means of 
 knowing that he was well aware of the existence 
 of Patrick, and of Patrick's position as the " apostle 
 of Hibernia."" In his Martyrologium, at "XVI. 
 Kal. Apr.," he has these words : " In Scotia S. 
 Patricii Confessoris ; " ^ and in the Calendar in his 
 De Rerum Nahira, he has again at "XVI. Kal. 
 Apr."" the words : " Patricii episcopi et Apostoli 
 Hiberniae."" ^ Even if Bede had been altogether 
 silent, it would prove nothing in the circumstances. 
 Just as contemporary Roman writers refer to 
 Palladius but fail to mention Patrick, so the Irish 
 Annalists, while abundant in their references to 
 Patrick, are equally reticent with respect to Palla- 
 dius. That Patrick did really exist will, I think, 
 be apparent from the following considerations : — 
 That he did (!•) The evidence in favour of the genuineness 
 e^ist of the "Confession" and "Epistle" attributed to 
 
 Droved. 
 
 him is so complete and overwhelming, that scholars 
 generally — it may be even said universally — find it 
 irresistible. That evidence will be placed before 
 
 ^ See Dr. Whitley Stokes' Introduction to the ** Tripartite 
 Life," p. cxx. Of course " Scotia " here means Ireland. 
 2 " Tripartite Life," as before, vol. ii. p. 502. 
 
 56 
 
CHAP. Ill] NOT A MYTHICAL PERSONAGE 
 
 the reader immediately. Now in the " Confession *" 
 and "Epistle"*"* we have a detailed and circumstan- 
 tial account of St. Patrick, his parentage, his early 
 abode, his captivity, his escape from bondage, his 
 wanderings, his return to his relatives, his call, and 
 his work in Ireland, with such a picture of a modest, 
 humble, shrewd, courageous and fearless, generous 
 and energetic missionary, with strong passions under 
 firm control, conscious of imperfect education, and 
 writing in a rude and broken style, yet intensely 
 sensitive to unjust charges, as bears the evidence 
 of its own genuineness on the face of it. 
 
 (2.) We have the Hymn of Sechnall or Secundinus, 
 Patrick"'s own nephew and disciple, also admitted to 
 be genuine by careful and critical scholars generally. 
 It contains a somewhat detailed account of Patrick 
 in twenty-three stanzas of four lines each. The 
 testimonies just mentioned are contemporary, be- 
 longing to the fifth century. 
 
 (3.) In the sixth century we have Columba"'s sub- 
 scription to the "Book of Durrow"*"* in which he 
 appeals to the " holy presbyter Patrick : '"* "I pray 
 thy blessedness, O holy presbyter Patrick, that who- 
 soever shall hold this book in his hand may remember 
 the writer, Columba, who have myself written this 
 Gospel in the space of twelve days by the grace of 
 our Lord.""^ Even suj)posing that the subscription 
 was not written by Columba himself, it is traceable 
 back to an early date. 
 
 (4.) We have Cummian"'s letter written to Segienus, 
 Abbot of lona, in the year 634, expressly referring to 
 
 ^ See Reeves's " Life of S. Columba," p. 242, note, and the 
 Introduction to the " Tripartite Life," by Dr. Whitley Stokes, 
 p. cxiv. 
 
 57 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 the example of " Sanctus Patricius, papa noster ^ 
 (" holy Patrick, our pope ").i 
 
 (5.) We have the record in the Luxeuil Calendar 
 (end of seventh century, according to Piper) : " XVI. 
 Cal. Apr. Depositio S. Patricii episcopi/' ^ 
 
 (6.) We have Muirchu's memoir of St. Patrick 
 in the "Book of Armagh," purporting to be 
 written at the dictation of Bishop ^Edh, who died 
 in 698. 
 
 (7.) We have the Hymn of St. Cummine Fota, 
 assigned by Dr. Whitley Stokes to the seventh 
 century, and making special mention of Patrick.^ 
 
 (8.) We have Adamnan's reference to Patrick in 
 his "Life of Columba,"" in which he describes Maucteus 
 as " Sancti Patricii episcopi discipuliis '' (" a disciple 
 of the holy bishop Patrick).* Adamnan died in 
 A.D. 704. 
 
 (9.) Again, in Fiacc's Hymn, in Ninnine's Prayer, 
 in the Liturgical tract, in Alcuin's Poem, in Bede's 
 " Martyrology " (already mentioned), in the Basel 
 Hymn on Brigit, and in the Catalogue of Saints, all 
 of them assigned by Dr. W. Stokes to the eighth 
 century, we have express references to Patrick. See 
 also the list of numerous Lives and documents 
 relating to Patrick which Stokes gives, belonging 
 to the succeeding centuries.^ It is easy, of course, 
 for a mere special pleader or faddist to make out a 
 case more or less plausible for any theory, but we 
 cannot conceive how any one of fairly balanced mind, 
 
 1 See Ussher's " Sylloge," Ep. xi. 
 
 * See "Tripartite Life," by Dr. W. Stokes, vol. ii. p. 493, 
 
 * *' Tripartite Life," Introduction by Dr. W. Stokes, pp. cxv., 
 czxix. 
 
 * "Vita Sancti Columbse," ed. Keeves, Dublin, 1857, p. 6. 
 *^ " Tripartite Life," p. cxxx. et seq. 
 
 58 
 
CHAP.m] SOURCES FOR HIS HISTORY 
 
 and with a true apprecation of evidence, can, in the 
 face of the evidence thus briefly summarised, and in 
 view of the universal Irish tradition, and of the 
 innumerable traces left by him in the country and 
 in the history of the Church which he founded, deny 
 that Patrick was a real historical personality. 
 
 For the story of Patrick'*s life we must depend The original 
 primarily and chiefly on his own writings, described h^J" niV"^ 
 by the late Sir Samuel Ferguson as "the oldest "the oldest 
 documents in British history."" These are his " Con- in British 
 fession" and his "Epistle" to the Christian subjects ^^^"t^" 
 of Coroticus, now universally admitted to be genuine ; 
 and to these may be added the well-known canticle 
 or hymn attributed to him. Dr. Whitley Stokes 
 has shown that Coroticus is identical with Coirthech 
 regem Aloo, i.e. Coirthech, King of Ail or Ail- 
 Cluade, " Rock of Clyde," of the " Book of Armagh,^ 
 that he was King of Ail-Cluade or Dumbarton, that 
 " he seems to have made a descent on Ireland, killed 
 some neophytes on the day after their baptism, 
 earned oft' prisoners to be sold as slaves, and derided 
 the clerics whom Patrick had sent to implore that 
 part of the plunder or some of the baptized captives 
 might be restored." Dr. Whitley Stokes adds that 
 " the statements of Professor G. T. Stokes (" Ireland 
 and the Celtic Church," p. 28), that ' the Irish in- 
 vaded the principality [of Wales] and conquered it,' 
 that ' Coroticus organised his countrymen,' ' defeated 
 the invaders, and pursued them across the Irish Sea,' 
 are more imaginative than accurate." ^ " Tirechan 
 seems to have had before him a work (now lost) 
 entitled Commemoratio Ldborum^ which was ascribed 
 
 ^ "Tripartite Life," vol. i., Introduction, p. c, and vol. ii. 
 p. 271. 
 
 59 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 Evidence to Patrick himself." ^ The evidence in favour of the 
 neS° * authenticity of the " Confession " and the " Epistle " 
 is so diversified and so strong as to be irresistible. 
 Let me briefly summarise it. 
 
 (1.) Both the « Confession '^ and the "Epistle'' 
 quote from a Latin version of the Bible older than 
 that of Jerome. 
 
 (2.) In his " Epistle " Patrick represents his father 
 as a " decurio," or member of what has been called the 
 "local town council" — a form of local government 
 that obtained in towns and villages under the Empire, 
 and that existed in Britain in the fourth century. 
 When in a.d. 410 the Romans withdrew from Britain, 
 the institution collapsed there. Had this " Epistle "" 
 been written later by a forger, he would have known 
 nothing of such a form of local government. 
 
 (3.) The passage in the " Epistle " which says, " It 
 is the custom of the Roman and Gallic Christians to 
 send holy and suitable men to the Franks," " proves 
 that it must have been written while the Franks were 
 pagans, i.e. before a.d. 496, and before they had crossed 
 the Rhine and settled in Gaul, i.e. before a.d. 428. 
 On the other hand, the references to the apostate 
 Picts point to a date after a.d. 412, when Ninian 
 converted the southern section of that nation." ^ 
 
 (4.) In two different places in the " Confession " 
 Patrick employs the plural form " the Britains." He 
 says : " After a few years I was in the Britains {in 
 Britanniis) with my parents;" and again, "I had 
 been most willingly prepared to proceed to the Bri- 
 tains as to my country and parents." Now, in 
 Patrick's early life Britain was divided into five 
 
 ^ Dr. Whitley Stokes, " Tripartite Life," p. xci. 
 2 Ibid., vol. i. p. ci. 
 
 6o 
 
CHAP.m] SOURCES FOR HIS HISTORY 
 
 provinces — Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, 
 Britannia maxima Ccesariensis, Flavia Ccesariensis, 
 and Valentia — and was habitually designated by the 
 plural form of the word, Britannia;, just as Patrick 
 here designates it. Of course, this method of de- 
 scribing it soon ceased. Here again we have a most 
 striking note of genuineness. 
 
 (5.) Patrick''s father and grandfather were clergy- 
 men, and yet were both man-ied. This certainly 
 would not have been suggested in a forgery at a 
 time when the feeling had grown strong in favour 
 of the celibacy of the clergy. 
 
 (6.) The whole spirit and tenour of the two docu- 
 ments leave on the reader the impression of simple, 
 earnest truthfulness, and at the same time of rugged 
 force, inconsistent with the hypothesis of a forgery. 
 It is inconceivable that any one could have forged 
 the picture of a rude, uncouth, uneducated, but 
 simple and vigorous personality which these writings 
 set before us. 
 
 (7.) The ungrammatical and barbarous Latin in 
 which both these documents are written is exactly 
 what we might expect from a missionary with such 
 an early history as that of Patrick was. 
 
 (8.) While all the later Lives of Patrick abound 
 in the thaumaturgical and the miraculous, the absence 
 of this element from the " Confession '" and the 
 " Epistle " is conspicuous, and is another attestation 
 to their trustworthiness. 
 
 (9.) The scribe who wrote the copy of the " Con- 
 fession "" in the " Book of Armagh '" professes to have 
 transcribed it into the " Book of Armagh '^ from the 
 manuscript which was written by Patrick himself. 
 "Thus far,'' he says, "the volume which Patrick 
 
 6i 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 wrote with his own hand.'" He complains of its 
 having been illegible and difficult. We mention this 
 not because it is in itself convincing, for the credulity 
 of those times was boundless, but as a fact of some 
 interest. 
 The ^ The hymn attributed to Patrick, and said to have 
 or"D^r's been composed by him as a Lorica, or defensive 
 ^•" armour on the occasion of his visit to the court of 
 
 King Laoghaire, has also strong probability in its 
 favour. It was known in early times as " the Deer"'s 
 Cry,*" a title originated by the legend that Patrick 
 and his eight companions escaped the evil designs of 
 King Laoghaire by assuming the form of deer. Dr. 
 Todd points out that " it is written in a very ancient 
 dialect of the Irish Celtic,'" and that "it was evi- 
 dently composed during the existence of pagan usages 
 in the country. . . . Internal evidence is in favour 
 of the antiquity and authenticity of this composition. 
 The prayer which it contains for protection against 
 ' women, smiths, and Druids,' together with the invo- 
 cation of the power of the sky, the sun, fire, lightning, 
 wind, and other created things, proves that, notwith- 
 standing the undoubted piety and fervent Christian 
 faith of the author, he had not yet fully shaken off 
 all pagan prejudices. But this class of superstition 
 lingered longer than any other in men's minds, and 
 was with greater difficulty eradicated." ^ 
 
 Dr. Whitley Stokes, referring to this hymn, says : 
 ''Its references to the 'black laws of heathenism,' 
 the 'craft of idolatry,' and 'the spells of women, 
 smiths, and wizards,' obviously point to a time before 
 Christianity had been fully established in Ireland."^ 
 
 1 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 430. 
 
 2 "Tripartite Life," vol. i., Introduction, p. ci, 
 
 62 
 
CHAP. Ill] SOURCES FOR HIS HISTORY 
 
 Of the hymn itself Dr. Sigerson has said in a recent 
 lecture : " The great devotional feeling of this hymn, 
 its original power, vehement sincerity, and fine lyric 
 rhythm, at once command attention. It was not his 
 only essay in poetry. There are other shorter pieces 
 in which he loves to bless each region of his adopted 
 land. We cannot well overrate this desire for lite- 
 rary expression on the pai-t of the apostle of Ireland. 
 It must unquestionably have given an impulse in the 
 same direction not only to his immediate disciples, 
 but to all their successors for many centuries. "" 
 
 On these writings, then, with the Hymn of Se- 
 cundinus, Patrick"'s nephew and disciple, we must 
 mainly depend for information with regard to the 
 Irish apostle. By these all later representations 
 respecting him must be tested. Later Lives of him The later 
 indeed we have in abundance : never was there a Patrick, 
 better example of the "embarrassment of riches." 
 But the very earliest of them was written nearly two 
 centuries after Patrick's death, most of them several 
 centuries later; all of them have been constructed 
 in a most unhistorical spirit — a spirit of extreme 
 credulity, embellished with the most absurd legends 
 and miracles, and framed with a too obvious purpose 
 of connecting Patrick''s coming to Ireland with a 
 mission from the Roman See. They have to be 
 read with the utmost discrimination and caution. A 
 brief summary of the most notable of them must 
 here be given. 
 
 The two oldest Lives are those contained in the The two 
 « Book of Armagh," which is deposited in Trinity ^vesf their 
 College, Dublin. The earliest of the two is probably date, 
 that by Muirchu Maccumatheni, which claims to have Muirchu's 
 been written at the dictation of ^dh, Bishop of^^^^^- 
 
 63 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 Sleibhte (Sletty). Mdh died in 698. If the claim 
 thus made for it is conceded, this memoir belongs to 
 the end of the seventh century, and was composed 
 more than two centuries after the death of Patrick. 
 The other Life in the " Book of Armagh *" is desig- 
 The coUec- nated by Dr. Whitley Stokes the " Collections of 
 Tirechan. Tircchan." They purport to have been written by 
 Bishop Tirechan from the mouth or book (e/v ore vel 
 lihro) of Bishop Ultan, who died in 657. If they were 
 written about this date, they are still earlier than 
 the memoir of Muirchu. But Dr. Reeves has given 
 valid reasons for believing that they belong to a 
 much later period. True, the manuscript of the 
 " Book of Armagh " itself states that the Gospel of 
 Matthew, which it contains, was finished in Sep- 
 tember 21, A.D. 807. Dr. Petrie, too, has affirmed 
 that " there is no part of the manuscript older than 
 the close of the seventh century, or perhaps than the 
 eighth ; " ^ and he has expressed the opinion that the 
 " Collections "' in the " Book of Armagh " with regard 
 to the life of Patrick were written in the seventh 
 century.^ But, as Dr. Reeves has pointed out, " from 
 the mention made by Tirechan of the removal of St. 
 Columbkille's bones from Britain, compared with the 
 'Annals of Ulster,'' 841, 877, it may be concluded 
 that Tirechan's part of the work was not composed 
 till near the close of the ninth century, and that the 
 transcript in the ' Book of Armagh ' is not earlier 
 than the beginning of the tenth, being executed but 
 a short time before 937, the year in which, according 
 to the ' Four Masters,' the ' Canon Patraic,' or ' Book 
 of Armagh,' was covered." ^ This reference in the 
 
 ^ "Round Towers," p. 330. ^ "Essay on Tara," p. 107. 
 ' Eeeves's " Antiquities," p. 224. 
 
 64 
 
CHAP, m] THE SOURCES FOR HIS HISTORY 
 
 " Collections of Tirechan *" to an event which took 
 place, according to the Annals, in 877, is fatal to 
 the early date to which they have been commonly 
 assigned, and shows, as Dr. Reeves indicates, that 
 they cannot have been composed earlier than the 
 close of the ninth century. 
 
 In addition to the two Lives just mentioned. The seven 
 Dr. John Colgan, a Franciscan of the seventeenth ^^;;^'^^f 
 century, made a collection of seven Lives, which he Thauma- 
 published in 1647 in his Trias Tliaumaturga {i.e. the ^^^^' 
 Wonder-working Triad). The triad were Patrick, 
 Brigit, and Columba. 
 
 (1.) The first of Colgan^s " Seven Lives " is a bio- 
 graphical hymn, which recites the principal events in 
 the career of Patrick. It has been attributed to 
 Fiacc, Bishop of Sleibhte (Sletty), who was a disciple 
 of Patrick. It refers, however, to the desolation of 
 Tara, and could not, therefore, have been written 
 before the middle of the sixth century. Dr. Todd 
 ascribes it to the ninth century ;^ Dr. Whitley Stokes 
 to the eighth. 2 
 
 (2.) The second of Colgan"*s Lives is anonymous. 
 It was written later than the " Book of Armagh," 
 and belongs probably to the ninth or tenth century. 
 
 (3.) The third Life in Colgan"'s collection is also 
 anonymous. It is largely taken from that of Probus, 
 refen'ed to below, and Probus wrote in the tenth or 
 beginning of the eleventh century. 
 
 (4.) The fourth Life, which is anonymous, was 
 written after the " Book of Armagh,"" and belongs to 
 the ninth or tenth century. 
 
 (5.) The fifth Life is by Probus. It belongs to 
 the tenth or eleventh century. It employs the term 
 
 1 "Liber Hymnorum," Part ii. p. 287. ^ "Tripartite," cxxx. 
 65 B 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 * Scotia " as a designation of North Britain, which 
 itself shows that it cannot be earlier than the end of 
 the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century. 
 It combines the two accounts given by Muirchu and 
 Tirechan in the " Book of Armagh.*" 
 
 (6.) The sixth Life, by Jocelyn of Furness, was 
 written between 1183 and 1185. 
 
 (7.) The seventh and last in Colgan's collection 
 is the "Tripartite Life,*" which, according to Dr. 
 Whitley Stokes, cannot be older than the tenth 
 century.^ The "Tripartite Life"*"* is so called from 
 the three parts into which it is divided. It is based 
 on the Life of Patrick in the " Book of Armagh,*" 
 but greatly enlarges on it, and, as indeed the Lives 
 generally do, revels in the miraculous. Dr. Whitley 
 Dr. Whitley Stokes's two volumes entitled "The Tripartite Life 
 editlon^of of Patrick, with other Documents relating to that 
 the " Tri- Saint," published by the authority of the Govern- 
 ment, and under the direction of the Master of the 
 Rolls, is in itself a library of Patrician literature. 
 It is a complete repertory of all documents bearing 
 upon the life of Patrick, and one which no student 
 of his history can aiFord to neglect. 
 Dr. J. H. By far the most elaborate, critical, and scholarly 
 
 Memoir. uiodem Life is that by Dr. James Henthorn Todd, 
 entitled " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, a Memoii 
 of his Life and Mission.'" But Dr. Todd's Memoir 
 is not so much a biography as a very able and 
 detailed criticism of the documents and materials 
 available for his Life. Indeed, the criticism in Dr. 
 Todd's work is out of all proportion to the bio- 
 
 1 Dr. Whitley Stokes shows conclusively that the " Tripartite " 
 was compiled in the eleventh century. See Introduction to 
 *' Tripartite," pp. Ixii.-lxxxix. 
 
 66 
 
CHAP. Ill] THE SOURCES FOR HIS HISTORY 
 
 graphical account of the Saint. It is like Falstaffs 
 two gallons of sack to his one halfpenny-worth of 
 bread. A well-written Life of Patrick, based on a 
 critical and careful estimate of the material, but 
 with the critical processes less obtrusive, is still a 
 desideratum. 
 
 The chronology of Patrick's life is, at least in The chrono- 
 its details, somewhat difficult to determine. Dr. pftdck's 
 Whitley Stokes supposes him to have been born iwe. 
 in 373, to have gone on his mission to Ireland in 
 397, and to have died in 463. When Patrick 
 visited the royal court at Tara, we know that 
 Laoghaire was the reigning over-king there, and that 
 the period of his rule was a.d. 428-458. Taking 
 this as the basis of calculation. Dr. Skene assigns 
 Patrick's birth to the year 387 and his death to 
 461. Dr. Todd suggests a somewhat later series 
 of dates for the Saint's career. Dr. Todd points 
 out that the Irish Annals, which belong to the 
 time of the Roman obedience, assume his mission 
 by Pope Celestine in 432, and are compelled to 
 arrange their chronology with reference to that 
 date ; whereas, he says, there are traces in the older 
 documents of an earlier tradition and a different 
 chronology, guided by which he supposes Patrick 
 to have been born between the years 395 and 415, 
 to have come on his mission to Ireland between 440 
 and 460, and to have died in 495. The reasons 
 given by Dr. Todd for transferring Patrick's first 
 visit to Tara to a time not far from the end of his 
 life are to our mind far from convincing. On the 
 whole, for many reasons which we cannot wait to 
 mention here, we think the earlier dates for the 
 chief events in Patrick's life the most feasible, 
 
 67 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 FROM PATRICK'S BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 Sketch of 
 Patrick's 
 career. 
 
 Names of 
 tbe Saint. 
 
 With the help of such material as I have indicated 
 a rapid sketch of the career of Patrick has now to 
 be attempted, and the most fitting words where- 
 with to begin our narrative are those with which he 
 himself opens his autobiography : — 
 
 " I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and the least of 
 all the faithful, and most contemptible to very many, 
 had Calpornius, a deacon, for my father, son of 
 Potitus, a presbyter, who dwelt in the village of 
 Bannavem Taberniae, for he had a small farm close 
 to the place where I was taken captive. I was then 
 almost sixteen years of age. I did not know the 
 true God ; and was taken in captivity to Ireland 
 with many thousand men, in accordance with our 
 deserts, because we were living far from God, and 
 did not observe His commandments, and were dis- 
 obedient to our priests, who admonished us with 
 regard to our salvation."" 
 
 It may be mentioned here that in quite a number 
 of the documents it is stated that Patrick had been 
 called by four different names — that his baptismal 
 name received from his parents was " Succat," that 
 the name given him when he was in bondage in Ire- 
 land was " Corthraige," that the name " Magonius "" 
 
 63 
 
CHAP. IV] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 was given him in Gaul when with Germanus, and 
 that he was called Patricius at his ordination. 
 
 In the sentences just quoted from the " Confes- 
 sion "" several points demand attention before we can 
 proceed. The first question to be determined is, 
 Where was this village of " Banna vem Taberniae," Birthplace. 
 whence, Patrick tells us, he was carried captive.? 
 Some excellent writers, following the lead of the 
 able Roman Catholic historian Dr. Lanigan, have 
 identified it with Boulogne in Gaul, and much can 
 be said on behalf of that identification. But the 
 case made for it is, in our judgment, outweighed 
 by other considerations. The theory that identifies 
 " Bannavem Taberniae "" with Boulogne requires us 
 to assume that Bannavem is a mistaken reading 
 for Bononia, Tabernia a mistake for Tarabenna, 
 that Nemthur stands for Neustria, and that the 
 plural " Britanniae " is applicable to [that part of 
 Gaul. We cannot but agree with Dr. Skene that 
 it always raises a strong presumption against an 
 argument when it begins by assuming violent emen- 
 dations of the text of documents. In the present 
 instance Patrick''s own words seem to me quite 
 decisive against any place in Gaul, and in favour 
 of Britain as having been at least his native country. 
 He says in his " Confession : " " Though I could 
 wish to leave them (his converts in Ireland), and 
 had been most willingly prepared to go to the 
 Britains, as to my country and parents, and not 
 that only, but even to go as far as to the Gauls, to 
 visit the brethren, and to see the face of the saints 
 of my Lord."" He here clearly distinguishes " the 
 Britains," which he calls his country and the home 
 of his parents, from Gaul. In another place he 
 
 69 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 says: "Again, after a few years, I was in the 
 Britains with my parents, who received me as a 
 son, and earnestly besought me that now at least, 
 after the many hardships I had endured, I would 
 never leave them again." Now in the fourth 
 century, as has been already pointed out, Britain 
 was divided into five provinces — Britannia Prima, 
 Britannia Secunda, Valentia, Maxima Caesariensis, 
 and Flavia Caesariensis — and these were called 
 Britannioe in the plural. The plural designation 
 employed by Patrick is thus historically accurate, 
 can mean no other country than Britain, and as 
 applied to it is a significant mark of genuineness, 
 for shortly after this such a title would have been 
 out of date and inappropriate. Dumbarton, with 
 its great basaltic rock (Dun Bhreatuin^) rising up 
 sheer two hundred feet and more from the banks 
 of the Clyde, so familiar to travellers to Glasgow, 
 was included in the Roman Britannice, standing as 
 it did at the end of the great Roman wall built 
 by Agricola. We see no reason, then, to doubt 
 the testimony of the early writers, who place 
 Bannavem Tabernias in that neighbourhood, and 
 the less so as we know that that was a centre of 
 attack in the predatory expeditions made by the 
 Scoti or Irish, and that a place called Kilpatrick 
 still exists in the neighbourhood, where an ancient 
 church was called after him, and which, as the 
 present writer recently learned on the spot, a local 
 tradition identifies as his birthplace. In the Hymn 
 of Fiacc it is stated that Patrick was born at 
 Nemthur, and the scholiast adds in the margin, 
 that " that is a city which is in North Britain, 
 
 1 Dumbarton = Dun Bhreatuin = fort or city of the Britons. 
 70 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 viz., Ailcluaide,"" or "Rock of Clyde,"" the ancient name 
 of Dumbarton. The " Lebar Brecc *" likewise seems 
 to identify " Nemthor '^ with " Ail-Cluaide." Joce- 
 line (twelfth century) describes Nempthur as being 
 in the valley of the Clyde, and as usually called by 
 the people Dunbreaton, or Mons Britonum, the Hill 
 of the Britons. A very old poem in the " Black 
 Book of Caermarthen '*'' speaks of the same place 
 under the name of Nevtur, while Probus in his Life 
 makes the place of Patrick's birth the village of 
 Bannauc of the Taburnian region in the Roman 
 province {in Britanniis). 
 
 There is evidence that a good deal of intercourse How Patrick 
 went on between Ireland and Britain during the tXn^^ap^ 
 Roman occupation of the latter. Roman coins tive to ire- 
 of the period between the first century and the 
 fifth have been found all round the Irish coast. 
 In 1831 two hundred Roman coins were found at 
 the Giant's Causeway belonging to the years be- 
 tween A.D. 70 and a.d. 160, and in 1854 two 
 thousand such coins of the fourth and fifth cen- 
 turies were discovered at Coleraine, some of them 
 bearing the name " Patricius.*" How in the third 
 century Cormac MacArt undertook expeditions 
 against Britain, we have already seen. In the 
 fourth century especially, when the Roman power 
 was on the wane, sustained and determined attacks 
 were made by the Irish on the British coasts. 
 In the year 360, in conjunction with the Picts, 
 Saxons, and Attacotti, they actually took posses- 
 sion of Britain, and held it for ten years under an 
 Irish king called Crimthann. Suppose they had 
 been able to hold it permanently, how different 
 its future might have been ! How suggestive to 
 
 71 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 think of England groaning for centuries under the 
 oppressions of Irish kings, and pathetically pleading 
 or desperately fighting for self-government ! But 
 Crimthann and his allies were expelled by the Roman 
 general Theodosius in 369. The Roman power 
 indeed did not long maintain its sway in Britain. 
 Troubles nearer home — those barbarian invasions 
 which by this time were approaching the very heart 
 of the empire and threatening the Eternal City 
 herself — compelled the withdrawal of the Roman 
 legions, and left Britain open to those desperate 
 raids of the Irish, in one of which our youthful hero, 
 with many thousands besides, was carried away and 
 consigned to a life of slavery in Ireland — that sea- 
 girt island whose isolation had enabled it to escape 
 the grip of the iron hand of the Caesars, and to 
 retain its native institutions in their primitive sim- 
 plicity, untouched by Roman civilisation. 
 How The reader will have noticed in the sentences just 
 
 fa^thlfand quoted from the "Confession" that both Patrick's 
 grandfather father and grandfather were not only Christians, but 
 Christian office-bearers in the Christian Church, and, as the 
 office- mission of Augustine to the Anglo-Saxons did not 
 
 bearers. , , ^ , '-^ 
 
 begin till 597, two centuries later, may naturally 
 ask how Calpornius and Potitus came by their Chris- 
 tianity, and how there came to be an organised 
 Church at this time in Britain and in the neighbour- 
 hood of Dumbarton. 
 
 Let it be remembered that before the influx of 
 Angles and Saxons, the inhabitants of Britain were 
 Celts, whose religion before they became Chi'istians 
 was, just like that of their Irish kinsfolk, Druidical. 
 It is not possible to fix the exact date of the intro- 
 duction of Christianity into Britain. Its subju- 
 
 72 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 gation to the Romans was completed by Agricola 
 towards the close of the first century, and it could 
 hardly fail that individual members of the Roman 
 legions occupying the country would be Christians, 
 and would take the opportunity to make Christ 
 known to those among whom they lived. It is 
 now practically certain that Pomponia Graecina, 
 the wife of Aulus Plautius, the conqueror of Britain 
 under Claudius (a.d. 43-47), was a Christian. Taci- 
 tus mentions^ that she was aiTaigned before the 
 Senate for a "foreign superstition,'' a phrase em- 
 ployed by him, there is little doubt, to designate 
 the Christian religion. In one of the catacombs at 
 Rome, constructed in the first century, a sepulchral 
 inscription has been found bearing the name of 
 Pomponius Graecinus, while other neighbouring in- 
 scriptions record the names of members of the Pom- 
 ponian gens, or of families allied to it. As Bishop 
 Lightfoot, who discusses the matter with his wonted 
 scholarship and moderation, says, " It is clear that 
 this burial-place was constructed by some Christian 
 lady of rank, probably before the close of the first 
 century, for her fellow-religionists ; and that among 
 these fellow-religionists within a generation or two 
 a descendant or near kinsman of Pomponia Graecina 
 was buried." 2 As Bishop Lightfoot shows, there 
 is little doubt of its having been made by Pomponia 
 Graecina herself. In her, then, we see one example 
 of an agency through which at a very early date 
 the knowledge of Christ might have found its way 
 into Britain. But the Britons were not dependent 
 upon Roman Christians merely for acquaintance 
 
 ^ " Aunals," Lib. xiii. cap. 32. 
 
 ^ "Apostolic Fathers," Part i., "Clement of Rome," vol. i. p. 31, 
 
 73 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 with the gospel. The first really trustworthy tes- 
 timony we have on the subject is that of Ter- 
 tullian, who, writing about the beginning of the 
 third century, states that " places in Britain not yet 
 visited by the Romans were subject to Christ." 
 TertuUian here implies that Christian truth had 
 reached them through other channels than Roman 
 Christians. Many indications make it probable that 
 it was to her kinsmen of the same race in Gaul that 
 Britain chiefly owed her knowledge of Christian 
 truth. Early British Christianity, j ust like early Irish 
 Christianity, differed in many of its usages from the 
 Roman type, and had close affinities with Eastern 
 Christianity, which had, we know, at an early period 
 in the second century, found a firm footing in Gaul. 
 There is hardly any room to doubt that from Gaul 
 it passed into Britain. From the time when both 
 Churches come into the clear light of history there is 
 abundant evidence of close intercourse between them. 
 It is remarkable indeed how little we know of 
 the history of the British Church under the Roman 
 dominion. " Perhaps no Church in the world has 
 left in the region which it once occupied so few 
 traces of its existence " (Cheetham). There is, how- 
 ever, ample proof of the existence of an organised 
 Church in Britain prior to the time of St. Patrick. 
 Gildas mentions St. Alban and other martyrs whom 
 it gave to the Diocletian persecution, although, 
 through the friendly attitude of Constantius, there 
 was no general or prolonged immolation of the Chris- 
 tians. Eusebius refers to it as having its churches. 
 It has been made probable that the British had 
 their own Latin translation of the Scriptures.^ 
 ^ " Councils and Documents," by Haddan and Stubbs, i. 170 ff. 
 74 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 Jerome speaks of Christian pilgrims from Britain 
 visiting the holy places in Palestine from the end of 
 the fouri;h century. Three British bishops attended 
 the Synod of Aries, in Gaul, in 314, and some 
 were also present at the Council of Nicaea in 325. 
 Pelagius, who gave his name to the heresy which he 
 originated, and which gave such trouble to Augus- 
 tine, Jerome, and others, was from Britain, his native 
 name having been Morgan ; while his friend Celestius, 
 whom Jerome in his truculent and abusive style 
 described as " an Alpine cur reared on Scotch por- 
 ridge,^ was an Irishman. It was not by Pelagius, 
 however, but by the son of a Pelagian bishop from 
 Gaul that the heresy was introduced into Britain, 
 when Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus were sent 
 from Gaul to oppose it. About the beginning of 
 the fifth century the British Church had begun to 
 evangelise the still pagan Picts of Galloway. Ninian, 
 who at this time built the church and monastery 
 called Candida Casa in Galloway, is described by 
 Bede as " a holy man of the British nation."" All 
 this enables us to understand how it came to pass 
 that both Patrick"*s father and grandfather were office- 
 bearers in a British Church. 
 
 But it has been noted also that they were not only Patrick's 
 clergymen, but married men with families, and that ^andf^tifer 
 Patrick mentions or implies this as a matter of married 
 course. In fact, the celibacy of the clergy was not ^ ®'"^^™^°" 
 insisted on in Ireland till long after Patrick's time. 
 The canons of an Irish synod gave directions with 
 respect to the dress of a clergyman's wife.^ The 
 Brehon Laws, revised as they were after the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity, constantly assume the marriage 
 * Haddan and Stubbs, vol ii. Part v. p. 328. 
 
 75 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 of the clergy. In the case of a bishop falling into 
 sin, he may be restored to office by doing penance 
 within three days if he is the husband of one wife ; 
 if unmarried, he cannot recover his position/ So 
 that those in a state of matrimony had the advan- 
 tage. This continued to be the law till the twelfth 
 century, when the Irish Church was brought into 
 conformity with the Roman. " Conn of the Poor," 
 Bishop of Clonmacnois, was married,^ and his father, 
 grandfather, and great-grandfather, who were clergy- 
 men, were all married men.^ 
 His father It is also interesting to observe that Patrick's 
 larofficr^ father, though a clergyman, held a secular office. 
 The fact that Calpornius held a farm, and was a 
 decurio or local town-councillor, conflicts in no way 
 with the usages of the time. On the contrary, it 
 is certain that deacons, presbyters, and even bishops, 
 continued in the early centuries to earn their bread 
 by their own toil, as Paul did. We hear of them 
 cultivating farms, keeping shops and banks, acting 
 as physicians, shepherds, smiths, and artificers of 
 all kinds. A record in the Cemetery of Callixtus, 
 in the Roman Catacombs, describes Dionysius, the 
 presbyter, as a physician. We read of one bishop 
 who was a weaver at Maiuma, of another who tended 
 sheep on the mountains of Cyprus, of another who 
 practised in the coui'ts of law, of one presbyter who 
 was a silversmith, and of another who was an inn- 
 keeper at Ancyra. * Patrick's own sister's son, 
 Lugnaedon, though a presbyter, was a pilot; and 
 
 1 "Senchus Mor," i. 55. 
 ^ "Chronicon Scotorum," Rolls ed., p. 209. 
 ^ "Annals of the Four Masters," 1022, 1031, 1056, 1079, 1103, 
 1 128. 
 * See Hatch's "Bampton Lecture," p. 147 et seq. 
 
 76 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 of the presbyters who attended on the apostle, one 
 was a smith and another a maker of book-satchels. 
 Patrick often speaks of his poverty, and of his per- 
 forming the functions of his calling gratuitously, like 
 Paul. In early Christian literature we find no trace 
 of the idea that the pursuit of a secular calling is 
 incompatible with the office of the Christian ministry. 
 Quite the contrary. When the Montanists proposed 
 to pay a fixed salary to their clergy, the proposal 
 was condemned as an innovation alien to Catholic 
 usage. The withdrawal of the clergy from secular 
 callings was part of the same movement that intro- 
 duced enforced celibacy and monasticism. It was 
 one of the higher tidemarks in the progi'ess of sacer- 
 dotalism. 
 
 In the " Confession," as we now possess it, Patrick Patrick's 
 makes no mention of his mother. But the author of °^o^^^^- 
 the fourth Life in Colgan"*s collection quotes the 
 " Confession "" as stating that his mother's name was 
 Conches or Conchessa (which Todd thinks may repre- 
 sent the Latin Concessa or CoTiqicesta). It is possible 
 that an earlier copy of the " Confession *" than any 
 now extant may have contained the statement. This 
 Conchessa is said to have been daughter of Ecba- 
 tius or Ochmus, a Frank. The scholiast on Fiacc's 
 Hymn, Jocelin, and the " Tripartite Life *" also speak 
 of her as sister (the word may mean niece or relative) 
 of St. Martin of Tours, but the testimonies are too 
 late to carry much weight, and all the less because 
 they are not unanimous. An ancient \vriting " On 
 the mothers of the Saints of Ireland,'" attributed to 
 iEngus, the Culdee (ninth century), gives Ondbahum 
 or Gondbaum of the Britons as the name of Patrick's 
 mother. Quite a number of the Lives also refer to 
 
 77 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 the sisters and brothers of St. Patrick. The scholiast 
 on Fiacc states that he had five sisters, namely, 
 Lupait and Tigris, and Liamain or Limania, and 
 Darerca and Cinnenum, and that he had a brother 
 called Sannan. Limania is said to have married 
 Restitutus, a Longobard, by whom she had seven 
 sons, the eldest having been Secundinus, author of 
 the hymn in praise of Patrick, and the youngest 
 Lugna or Lugnaid. In these statements with regard 
 to Patrick's sisters and their sons there is mixed up 
 a vast deal which we know to be blundering and 
 mistaken, and much that is quite fabulous. But 
 they are not to be treated perhaps as entirely and 
 purely legendary. The late Dr. Petrie discovered 
 on the island of Inchaguile, in Loch Corrib, County 
 Galway, a tombstone with an inscription in char- 
 acters not later then the beginning of the sixth 
 century, and in these words : " The stone of Lug- 
 naed, son of Limania.*" It should be added, however, 
 that Dr. Whitley Stokes gives a somewhat different 
 reading. 
 
 I have spoken of the freebooting forays of the 
 North of Ireland Scots upon North Britain in the 
 fourth and fifth centuries, and of the evidence of 
 this still extant in the Roman coins that have been 
 found round the Irish coast. In one of those raids, 
 Patrick informs us, he, with many thousands besides, 
 was carried away captive to Ireland. He was nearly 
 sixteen years old at the time, he says. It was pro- 
 bably about the year 390. Although his father was 
 a Christian and an office-bearer in the Church, and 
 he himself had been brought up in the knowledge of 
 Christianity, his penitent admission is that he was 
 living far from God and in disregard of His precepts. 
 
 78 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 He recognises his captivity as having been a Divine 
 judgment for his sins, and a discipline to bring him 
 to repentance. He was sold to a master called Place of 
 
 . . . Patrick's 
 
 Miliuc, Milchu, or Milcho, son of Hua or Hy Buain, captivity 
 Kinff of North Dalaradia, whose residence was at "®*'" ^ 
 
 . . . Brough- 
 
 the foot of Slemish, in the valley of the Braid, a shane, in 
 little beyond Broughshane, going from Ballymena, JJ^^'^^^ 
 and only a few perches from the Presbyterian church 
 of Buckna. The reader is to distinguish carefully 
 between the ancient Dalaradia and Dalriada. Dala- Dalaradia. 
 radia or Dal-araidhe extended from Slemish or 
 Sliebh Mis in County Antrim to Newry, in the south 
 of Down, and took its name from Fiacha Araidhe, 
 who was King of Ulster in 236. As a territorial 
 designation, however, a considerable part of Down 
 was not included in it, and the name by which 
 this territory was known was the " Country of the 
 Cruithne," or the " Picts.'' 
 
 On the road leading from the town of Antrim to 
 Parkgate, half a mile or so from Dunadry, is a town- 
 land called Rathmore, which derives its name from 
 a large ancient rath or circular entrenchment, locally 
 known as "the Trench,'** measuring inside 138 feet 
 in length and 108 feet at its narrowest part. It 
 was formerly surrounded by a deep fosse, which is 
 now almost filled up. It was in ancient times the 
 residence of the chiefs of the Dalaradian Picts, and, 
 from the frequent references to it in the Annals, was 
 manifestly a place of great importance. Thus we 
 hear of a great battle having been fought there 
 between the army of Ecgfrid, King of Northumbria, 
 under his general Beret, and the Irish, a battle in 
 which Cumasgach, the chief of the Picts, was slain. 
 In the " Annals of Innisfallen ""* it is related that in 
 
 79 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 987 the celebrated Brian Boroimhe paid a visit to 
 it, and carried away with him the hostages of Dala- 
 radia. The "Annals of Connaught"" state that in 
 1315 "Edward, son of Robert Bruce, Earl of Car- 
 rick, came to Ireland [disembarking] in the land of 
 Ulster, in the north, a fleet of 300 ships his number : 
 so that the heroes of valour and fight of all Ireland 
 in general, both Gall and Gael, shook and trembled. 
 And he soon plundered the best part of Ulster ; and 
 he burned Rathmore of Moylinney and Dundalk." 
 There was once a church at the place, for in the 
 "Ecclesiastical Taxation of 1306," given by Dr. 
 Reeves in the " Antiquities,"" " the church of Rath- 
 more,"" as well as the tax imposed on it, are men- 
 tioned. Close by the rath is a garden, one of the 
 fences of which is " a portion of a very ancient wall, 
 which, judging from its position and masonry, ap- 
 pears to have been part of the north wall of a 
 religious edifice."" Colgan, in his Trias Thauma- 
 turga^ also mentions the church by name. 
 Dairiada. Dalriada (written briefly " Riada,"" " Reuta,"' 
 
 " Ruta "" — hence the modern " Route,"" in which the 
 word still survives) is from Dal^ which means " pos- 
 terity,"" " descendants,"" and then " the territory 
 occupied by descendants,"" and " Riada,"" the name of 
 a chief. His full name was Cirbre Righfada or 
 Riada, that is, " Cairbre the long-armed."" He was 
 son of Conaire II., King of Ireland, and flourished 
 near the middle of the third century. His descend- 
 ants and followers settled in, and gave their name 
 to, the whole district, extending from the Ravel, the 
 Clough water, and the Main River to the river Bann. 
 The three rivers first named were the boundaries 
 between Dalaradia and Dalriada. Many of the 
 
 8o 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 descendants of Cairbre Riada passed over to Alba, 
 and settled in what is now called Argyleshire, which 
 became known as the Albanian Dalriada. It was 
 they who also took with them from Ireland the name 
 of "Scotia," which in due time they gave to the 
 whole country. Slemish, at the foot of which Patrick 
 was now to serve a captivity of some six years, was 
 near the boundary between Dalaradia and Dalriada, 
 The passage in which he gives an account of his 
 captivity is exceedingly interesting : — 
 
 " After I had come to Ireland I was wont daily to How 
 feed cattle, and I prayed often during the day ; the f^^t^JJig 
 love of God and His fear increased more and more, captivity. 
 and faith became stronger and the spirit was stirred ; 
 so that in one day I said about one hundred prayers, 
 and in the night nearly the same; so that I used 
 even to remain in the woods and in the mountain 
 {i.e. Slemish); before daylight I used to rise to 
 prayer, through snow, thi'ough frost, through rain, 
 and felt no harm; nor was there any slothfulness 
 in me, as I now perceive, because the spirit was 
 then fervent within me. And there indeed one 
 night, in my sleep, I heard a voice saying to me, 
 ' Thou fastest well ; thou shalt soon go to thy 
 country.' And again, after a very short time, I 
 heard a response saying to me, 'Behold, thy ship 
 is ready.' " 
 
 " There," says Dr. Sigerson, refen-ing to his sojourn 
 in that region, "face to face with nature, in the 
 silence of the hills, his character became strong and 
 spiritualised." Several traces of him are still found 
 in the locality, which I spent a pleasant day in 
 exploring a couple of years ago. His name still 
 survives in the name of a townland which is called 
 
 8i F 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 Ballyligpatrick, or "the town of Patrick's hollow." 
 ITie parish is called " Skerry "" (sciric = " rocky "") 
 from a basaltic hill, which was the site of its 
 ancient church. Tradition represents St. Patrick 
 as the founder of it, and the voice of tradition is 
 supported by some early records. The scholiast 
 on Fiacc's Hymn, already mentioned, and the " Tri- 
 partite Life "*' both refer to it. There are the ruins 
 of a larger and less ancient church; but close 
 beside them are the traces of a smaller building, 
 which the late Dr. Reeves regarded as answering 
 to the primitive one. Colgan, writing of it in 
 1647, calls it, or rather says it was called in his 
 time, Skerry -Patrick^ and states that as a place of 
 pilgrimage it was frequented by a great concourse 
 of people. The site on which the residence of 
 Milchu stood is pointed out in a field near the 
 centre of the valley, and a few perches from Buckna 
 Presbyterian church. A little south of the hill of 
 SkeiTy, on the other side of the Glenarm road, is 
 Tubernacool "Holy Well," called by Colgan ''Jbns 
 miraculosusr 
 
 Ever after, Patrick seems to have regarded this 
 region with feelings of peculiar interest ; and no 
 wonder. It was at once the place of his captivity 
 and of his emancipation — ^the spot where, like the 
 prodigal, he came to himself and said, " I will arise 
 and go unto my father.'" Here, too, during his 
 six years' bondage, he had a good opportunity of 
 seeing the condition of the Irish, learned to speak 
 their language — indeed, his native British tongue 
 was but another dialect of it — and, as both his 
 " Confession " and his life spent in their service 
 aftbrd abundant proof, a deep and abiding sym- 
 
 82 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 pathy and pity for them were awakened in his 
 soul. 
 
 Moved, as we have seen, by a voice which seemed His escape. 
 to address him in vision while he slept, he fled to 
 the sea-coast with a view of returning to his own 
 country, and, after a journey of 200 miles, reached 
 a port where he found a ship which, not without 
 some demur of the captain, who was a pagan, took 
 him on board. After three days' sailing they came 
 to land — somewhere, probably, on the coast of Gaul, 
 for he goes on to say, "After a few years I was 
 in the Britains with my parents,"" implying that the 
 country where he landed was not the Britains — and 
 for twenty-eight days they journeyed through a 
 desert, and he had abundant opportunity of dis- 
 playing his faith in God and of proving the efficacy 
 of prayer. 
 
 Having, " after a few years,'' reached Britain with his 
 again, and been received by his parents as a son, 2^?"^.^^ 
 they besought him that he would never leave them. Britain. 
 He was a man of deeply affectionate nature, who 
 evidently felt keenly the pain of separation from 
 his relatives. But a crisis now aiTived in his his- 
 tory when he heard the voice of duty irresistibly 
 calling him away from home and friends ; and 
 Patrick never for a moment hesitated to prefer 
 what was dutiful to what was agreeable when the 
 two were in conflict. He was a man of simple, 
 childlike faith, full of the primitive Christian spirit. 
 His writings show him to have been in an excep- 
 tional degree familiar with the sacred writings, 
 and imbued with their teaching; and as Scripture 
 speaks much of visions and dreams, and of holy 
 men of God having been much influenced thereby, 
 83 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 so one cannot but be struck with the large place 
 which they had in Patrick's life, and with the 
 determining effect which they had upon him at 
 critical moments in his career. Many in this 
 dry, hard age would set such experiences down to 
 superstition, but Patrick thought he heard in them 
 His call to the voice of God. Accordingly, while he was now 
 geusauon staying with his parents — the " Tripartite Life ^ says 
 of Ireland, he was in his thirtieth year — he beheld in a night 
 vision a man coming as from Ireland, Victoricus by 
 name, who handed him a letter containing the 
 " voice of the Irish " inviting him to Ireland. He 
 thought also that he heard the voice of those near 
 the wood of Foclut, not far from the Western 
 Sea — identified as a place near Killala, in County 
 Mayo — saying, "We entreat thee, holy youth, that 
 thou come and walk among us.'' 
 Did he re- The qucstion here arises. By what external 
 commission authority, if by any except that of his Divine 
 from the Master, did St. Patrick enter on his great enter- 
 °^* prise? Roman Catholic writers allege that before 
 he went to Ireland he repaired to Rome, and re- 
 ceived his commission and episcopate directly from 
 the Pope. The question is not one of any vital 
 importance. No matter how it is decided, no one 
 will change or should change his Church principles 
 in consequence; and even though it did involve 
 principles of the most vital moment, it is a matter 
 to be determined solely in the light of the evidence 
 available on the subject. Prejudice in favour of 
 some particular Church cannot justify one-sided 
 treatment of the evidence. The one question is, 
 In what direction does the weight of the evidence 
 point? 
 
 84 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 There is one recognised rule with respect to An im- 
 historical testimony which, in looking at this matter, criterion of 
 it is necessary to carry with us. Sir George Corne- historical 
 wall Lewis, in his "Enquiry as to the Credibility 
 of Early Roman History ,^^ says: "As all original 
 witnesses must be contemporary with the events 
 which they attest, it is a necessary condition for the 
 credibility of a witness that he be a contemporary ; 
 though a contemporary witness is not necessarily 
 a credible witness."^ In his "Critical History of 
 Early Christian Literature,"" Dr. Donaldson takes 
 similar ground. He lays it down as a fundamental 
 axiom that "the only proper historical evidence 
 is contemporary.*" He says : " As we move away 
 from the particular period into testimony of a 
 later period, we must remember the marvellous 
 proneness of human beings to mistake one thing 
 for another, especially when they are under any 
 influence which may blind them to the naked 
 truth." 2 He might have noted also the tendency 
 in an age of credulity for huge fables and legends 
 to grow up around the simplest facts, and the habit, 
 amounting almost to a law, by which tradition 
 gradually substitutes what it thinks ought to he 
 for what was. In the case before us, not only the 
 contemporary evidence, but all the evidence we 
 possess within the first two centuries and more 
 from the date of his death points unanimously in 
 one direction. The simplest and best course will 
 be to take the witnesses as nearly as possible in 
 chronological order. 
 
 1. First, then, both in chronological order and 
 
 1 "Enquiry," &c., vol. i. p. i6. 
 * "Critical History," vol. i. p. 13. 
 
 8s 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 Patrick's in intrinsic value is the testimony of St. Patrick 
 ^ny^*^*" himself. What he has to say bearing on the ques- 
 tion outweighs a cartload of testimony which dates 
 some centuries later than his time, and which has 
 a too manifest motive behind it. Observe, then, 
 that Patrick's " Confession ''"' is literally an Apologia 
 pro vita sua. His chief object in writing it was 
 to justify his action in entering on so great and 
 holy an undertaking as the evangelisation of Ire- 
 land — to vindicate it in the face of detractors who 
 were branding his coming as a piece of presumption. 
 If the contention on behalf of a Papal commission 
 is just, no vindication could have been so natural 
 or so effective in the circumstances as that he had 
 received his commission from the Pope, or from 
 some representative of his. That, if the Roman 
 advocates are right, should have silenced all gain- 
 sayers. Had he been sent by the Pope, or by 
 some one in his name, he could not have failed 
 to mention it. But he never so much as hints at 
 it. On the contrary, he is careful to affirm that 
 his mission was " from God '' Himself, and he relates 
 in detail the circumstances in which the Divine 
 voice spake to him when he was in the Bri tains 
 with his parents. " I testify in truth and in joy 
 of heart, before God and His holy angels, that I 
 never had any reason, except the gospel and its 
 promises, for ever returning to that people from 
 whom I escaped with difficulty."' How could he 
 have spoken thus had he been commissioned by 
 the Pope.? How could he have failed to refer to 
 such a commission ? The truth is, the independence 
 of the early Irish Church with respect to Rome 
 is one of the most indubitable facts of history — an 
 
 86 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 independence given up only after an intense struggle 
 which continued through centuries. 
 
 But what about the so-called " Irish Canon " so-caiied 
 attributed to Patrick, in which he is represented canoM." 
 as laying down the rule that " if any (questions 
 arise in this i&land, let them be refen-ed to the 
 Apostolic See .'' ^ This " Canon of Patrick '*"' occurs 
 in a collection of sayings, &c., gathered with great 
 want of accuracy from various sources by some com- 
 piler, and first published in 1874 by Wasserschleben 
 under the title Irische KaTwnensammlung. The 
 compiler did not know the original sources from 
 which the extracts are taken, and in many cases 
 wrong authors are given. These " Irish Canons "" 
 were compiled and produced at a time when, and 
 by a person or persons by whom, it was desired 
 to bring the Irish Church into conformity with 
 Rome. For example, one of the canons attributed 
 to Patrick is that "any cleric whose hair is not 
 tonsured after the Roman fashion ought to be 
 excommunicated.*" The introduction of the Celtic 
 tonsure from ear to ear into Ireland is ascribed to 
 the swineherd of Loigaire, son of Neil ! Now Bede 
 and other authorities make it quite certain that 
 this tonsure imputed to the swineherd of King 
 Laoghaire was universal in the Irish Church from 
 the time of Patrick, and that the Roman tonsure was 
 persistently opposed till the beginning of the eighth 
 century. Curious that this so-called Canon of St. 
 Patrick was so utterly set at nought for nearly three 
 centuries! In the same collection there is another 
 Canon, also fathered upon Patrick, condemning ordi- 
 nation by a single bishop, although this is known 
 to have been the practice of the Irish Church all 
 
 87 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 along her history, and although so late as the 
 twelfth century Anselm and Lanfranc feel called 
 upon to denounce it as a still prevalent custom. 
 The same remarks apply to the so-called Canon of 
 Patrick, " that if any questions arise in this island, 
 let them be referred to the Apostolic See." Many 
 questions arose, like the two just mentioned, in 
 which the Irish Church differed from the Roman; 
 and they not only did not think of referring them 
 to the " Apostolic See,"" they strongly resented and 
 resisted its interference. These Canons imputed to 
 Patrick are manifestly the handiwork of some friend 
 or friends of the Roman obedience at a later age, 
 whose desire it was to bring Ireland into line with 
 Rome, and who astutely employed for this purpose 
 the influence of Patrick's grea.t name. As Dr. 
 Whitley Stokes says, they are " certainly not older 
 than the eighth century."" But it may be replied 
 that the same Canon appears in a more enlarged 
 form in the " Book of Armagh.'"" In the " Book of 
 the Angel,'"* contained in the "Book of Armagh,"" 
 we have the following decree : " Whatsoever cause 
 shall arise, very difficult and unknown to all the 
 judges of the Scottish nations, it is rightly re- 
 ferred to the chair of the Archbishop of the Irish, 
 that is, of Patrick, and to the examination of its 
 prelate (hujus antestitis). But if by it with his 
 wise men such a cause of the nature aforesaid can- 
 not be healed, we have decreed that it be sent to 
 the Apostolic See, that is, to the chair of the Apostle 
 Peter, having authority in the city of Rome. These 
 are those who have decreed concerning this, namely, 
 Auxilius, Patricius, Secundinus, Benignus."" Dr. 
 Lanigan admits this to be simply an expansion of 
 
 88 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 the Canon above referred to. Assuming, as it does, 
 the existence of an episcopal hierarchy in the Irish 
 Church, it evidently belongs to a much later age 
 than that of Patrick. Both it and the others just 
 noticed come manifestly from a Romanising source. 
 Hadden and Stubbs refer it to the eighth century.^ 
 
 Of the collection of Canons as a whole, Was- 
 serschleben says: "The compilation of the collec- 
 tion must probably be placed at the end of the 
 seventh or the beginning of the eighth century, at 
 a time at which the Irish Church, after a long 
 struggle, had become more closely related to Rome, 
 and it is not improbable that the author of the 
 collection had endeavoured by the same to secure 
 and maintain as far as possible the acceptance of 
 the national canon law, and the national recognition 
 and approval of the canon and decree of the Roman 
 Church." 
 
 2. The testimony of the next witness is of a The tesu- 
 negative sort, but nevertheless very weighty and ^1^^ 
 significant. It is that of Prosper of Aquitaine, 
 who died a.d. 433, and who, as we have seen, 
 records under the year 431 that "Palladius was 
 ordained by Pope Celestine, and sent to the Scots 
 believing in Christ as their first bishop," but it 
 is absolutely silent with regard to any mission of 
 Patrick by Celestine. Now the significance of 
 Prosper^s silence arises, as has been already sug- 
 gested, from the fact that he was the chronicler 
 of Pope Celestine, and as such sets down ever3rthing 
 he can in praise of him. If Celestine had really 
 ordained and commissioned Patrick, Prosper would 
 have known of it, and could not have failed to record 
 
 1 " Councils and Documents," vol. ii. Part ii. p. 332, note. 
 89 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 it, as, owing to the immensely greater results of 
 Patrick's mission, it would have reflected very 
 much more credit on his master than the sending 
 of Palladius. 
 
 "Liber S. Not less significant is the fact that the writer 
 
 ciL." of the Life of Celestine in the " Liber Pontificalis " 
 is equally reticent with respect to any mission of our 
 apostle by Pope Celestine. 
 
 secundinus. 4. Sechnall, or Secundinus, was St. Patrick's 
 nephew and disciple, as well as his successor at 
 Armagh. The hymn of twenty-three stanzas in 
 praise of his uncle is regarded by scholars generally 
 as a genuine work of his. "The evidence for the 
 antiquity of this hymn is strong," says Dr. Whitley 
 Stokes.^ Now this hymn of Secundinus refers ex- 
 pressly to Patrick's mission to Ireland, but, just 
 like the Saint himself, attributes it exclusively to 
 God, and never hints at a mission from Rome. It 
 states that he "received from God the apostleship 
 of the Church," that "God chose him to teach 
 barbarous nations," that "God chose him to take 
 care of His people," that " God for his merits 
 advanced him to the high-priesthood," that " Christ 
 elected him as His vicar in the land (in terris) 
 of Ireland." Had Patrick been ordained and sent 
 by the Pope, it is most unlikely that Secundinus 
 in this hymn in praise of the apostle would have so 
 utterly ignored it. 
 
 Muirchu. 5. The Life by Muirchu Maccumachtheni, pre- 
 
 served in the "Book of Armagh," claims to have 
 been written about the close of the seventh century. 
 The writer mentions that it was Patrick's inten- 
 tion to go to visit the Apostolic See at Rome, but 
 
 ^ "Tripartite Life," Introd. oil. 
 90 
 
CHAP. IV] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 that, meeting with Germanus in Gaul, he went 
 no farther; that he had already set out on his 
 mission to Ireland without being raised to the 
 pontifical order, because Palladius, who had already 
 gone to Ireland, was a bishop ; that, meeting with 
 certain disciples of Palladius at Ebmoria, who told 
 him of their master^s death, he went out of his way 
 a little to Amathorex, by whom he was ordained 
 a bishop, and then went to Ireland without going 
 to Rome. Here then the legend of a journey to 
 Rome and a commission from the Pope is expressly 
 contradicted. It is true the narrative of Muirchu 
 is full of absurd en'ors and anachronisms and im- 
 possibilities ; but that is true of all the later 
 Lives. 
 
 6. The hymn attributed to Fiacc, another disciple Fiacc's 
 of Patrick, has been shown by Dr. Todd to belong ^^™"" 
 to a much later age, probably the ninth century. 
 Though biographical in character, it has no refer- 
 ence to Pope Celestine or a commission from him. 
 
 It represents Patrick as coming to Ireland through 
 the admonition of an angel, and of a voice in 
 which he seemed to hear the voices of the youths 
 of Ireland from the woods of Fochlut. It is thus 
 an echo simply of what Patrick had stated in his 
 " Confession." 
 
 7. In fine, Bede, who wrote his History about Bede. 
 the year 731, although he is careful to relate how 
 Palladius was sent by Celestine, gives an account 
 also of Ninian, and was most diligent and pains- 
 taking in procuring facts for his History from the 
 Roman archives, never so much as mentions Patrick, 
 
 or hints that there was such a person. Zealous 
 
 friend as he was of the Roman obedience, such 
 
 91 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 silence could not have been maintained by Bede 
 had Patrick been sent from Rome or submitted to 
 her jurisdiction. 
 
 Thus every particle of evidence we have from 
 
 Patrick himself and his contemporaries, and for 
 
 several centuries after him, is against the legend 
 
 of a Roman mission. Let us now turn to the 
 
 writers who affirm it. 
 
 A Roman (1.) The earliest testimony in favour of it is 
 
 affirmed that contained in the " Collections of Tirechan " in 
 
 by "Tire- ^]^g " Book of Armagh." The scribe asserts that 
 
 Chan 8 Col- ° 
 
 lections." Tirechan wrote these notes from the mouth or 
 from the book of Bishop Ultan, who died in 656 
 or thereabout; but the reader has already seen 
 that the "Collections" themselves are inconsistent 
 with so early a date, and that the late Bishop 
 Reeves for good reasons assigns their composition 
 to the close of the ninth century, more than four 
 centuries after the death of Patrick. The writer 
 states that Laoghaire, who died in 463, reigned two 
 or five years after the death of Patrick ; that Patrick 
 was taken captive in his tenth year, served four 
 years, studied thirty years, taught seventy-two 
 years, and died at the age of one hundred and 
 twenty. In four points he resembled Moses, one 
 of them having been his age. Then he adds : " In 
 the thirteenth year of Theodosius the Emperor, 
 Patricius the bishop was sent by Bishop Celestine, 
 Pope of Rome, for the instruction of the Irish, 
 which Celestine was the forty-second bishop of the 
 Apostolical See of the city of Rome after Peter. 
 Palladius the bishop was the first sent, who is 
 otherwise called Patricius, and suffered martyrdom 
 among the Scots, as the ancient saints relate. Then 
 
 92 
 
CHAP. IV] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 the second Patricius was sent by an angel of God 
 named Victor, and by Pope Celestine, by whose 
 means all Ireland believed, and who baptized almost 
 all the inhabitants/' Writing more than four 
 centuries after Patrick's death, at a time when 
 the Irish Church had come into touch with Rome, 
 and when it was felt to be most desirable to connect 
 its gi*eat founder and apostle with Rome, the author 
 of these " Notes "" transfers to Patrick the statement 
 he found applied to Palladius, that he was sent by 
 Celestine. It is impossible to attach the slightest 
 historical value to an assertion which comes so late 
 and in such circumstances. 
 
 (2.) This statement in Tirechan's " Collections " The state- 
 that Patrick was sent by Celestine is of course re- Tirechan 
 peated in the subsequent Lives, as, for example, in repeated bv 
 Colgan's " Fourth Life," which is certainly later writers, 
 than the " Book of Armagh," and which Dr. Todd 
 assigns to the ninth or tenth century. In like 
 manner, the life by Marcus the Anchorite, annexed 
 to Nennius's "History of the Britons," shows 
 acquaintance with the Lives in the " Book of 
 Armagh," and, following Tirechan's "Collections," 
 takes Patrick to Rome, where it says he " remained 
 a long time studying the sacred mysteries of God." 
 It mixes up in the most impossible manner the 
 statements of Muirchu and Tirechan, adding that 
 Patrick was for eighty-five years "apostle of the 
 Irish." Similarly Probus in the tenth century re- 
 produces the account of Muirchu, adding to it 
 that of Tirechan with respect to the Roman 
 mission, but, seeing the inconsistency of the two 
 versions, represents Patrick as in the first instance 
 coming to L*eland without a commission from 
 93 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 Rome, and as, after he had laboured for thirty 
 years to no purpose, at length going to Rome 
 and obtaining the sanction of the Pope, and then 
 returning to Ireland and speedily converting the 
 whole nation. The chronological impossibility of 
 Patrick being thus commissioned by Celestine does 
 not appear to have given any concern to this 
 biographer. The " Third Life " of Colgan is taken 
 from Probus, and was later than the tenth century. 
 The account in Tirechan^s " Collections " is also 
 reproduced in Marianus Scotns (died 1084), as 
 well as in the later Irish Annals. The " Tripartite 
 Life," which its editor. Dr. Whitley Stokes, after 
 an elaborate examination of its statements and 
 vocabulary, demonstrates was compiled in the 
 eleventh century, likewise combines the two records 
 thus : " Patrick went to Rome to have orders 
 given him, and Celestine, Abbot of Rome, he it 
 is that read orders over him, Germanus and 
 Amatho, King of the Romans, being present with 
 them. . . . And when the orders were being read 
 the three choirs mutually responded, namely, the 
 choir of the household of heaven, and the choir 
 of the Romans, and the choir of the children from 
 the wood of Fochlut in Ireland. This is what 
 they all sang : ' All we Irish beseech thee, holy 
 Patrick, to come and walk among us and free us." "" ^ 
 An extraordinary choral union truly! Observe, 
 the writer of the " Tripartite "" brings Germanus, 
 the Bishop of Auxerre, to Rome, and Amathorex, 
 who is represented by Muirchu as a bishop of Gaul, 
 and who is generally identified with Amator, who 
 was Bishop of Auxerre before Germanus, and had 
 ^ " Tripartite Life," pp. 32, 33. 
 94 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CAIX 
 
 died before Germanus succeeded, is also brought to 
 Rome along with Germanus by the " Tripartite,"" 
 which, misled by the termination "r^o?,"" describes 
 him as "King of the Romans!'' The Life by 
 Jocelyn was compiled in 1185, and of course follows 
 its predecessors. 
 
 This simple chronological record of the testimony 
 relating to a Roman mission is quite sufficient to 
 discredit it in the eyes of any unprejudiced inquirer 
 accustomed to test and weigh historical testimony 
 in a scientific spirit. Coming so late, traceable to 
 a common source, and originating at a time when 
 it was felt to be desirable to show that the early 
 Irish Church had a connection with Rome, the 
 testimony in favour of a mission from Rome is 
 altogether outweighed by the earlier testimony. 
 Professor Zimmer connects the genesis of the 
 legend of a Roman mission with the labours of 
 Adamnan, at the close of the seventh century, to 
 introduce the Roman mode of celebrating Easter, 
 which the Irish Church so long and so strenuously 
 opposed. He thinks that Adamnan sought to con- 
 nect Ireland with Rome through St. Patrick.^ 
 
 The " Tripartite " and other Lives allege that Alleged 
 after his call by God, and before setting out to ^^J^y ^ftJ" 
 Ireland, Patrick spent some thirty years in Gaul Continent. 
 or on the Continent under the instruction of certain 
 distinguished teachers, such as Germanus and Martin 
 of Toui's. But this is quite inconsistent with what incon- 
 he himself says at the close of his life about his t^^\^l^ 
 ignorance, rusticity, and rudeness, and his lack of 
 the means of education. He describes himself as 
 "now in his old age, striving after what he did 
 ^ " Keltische Studien," vol. ii. p. 183. 
 
 95 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 not leam in his youth, and as blushing for his 
 ignorance and unskilfulness." And what he says 
 is abundantly confirmed by the rude and ungram- 
 matical character of his writings. How could he 
 have exhibited such rudeness, and so pathetically 
 deplored his lack of means and opportunity of 
 removing it, if he had enjoyed for so many years 
 a course of training in the best and most famous 
 schools of the Continent ? 
 
 Such a delay of thirty years on the part of one 
 so moved by compassion for the Irish, so much 
 aflame with missionary zeal as Patrick evidently 
 was, is indeed inconceivable. We learn, in fact, 
 from several intimations in his writings that he 
 was still a young man when he came to Ireland as 
 its missionary. " You know,'" he says to the Irish, 
 " how I have conducted myself among you from 
 my youth, both in the faith of the truth and in 
 sincerity of heart.''"' He speaks of ' a certain holy 
 presbyter, sent by him on an important embassage, 
 " whom he taught from his infancy,'' showing that 
 at the time when he wrote he must have been 
 some thirty or forty years in Ireland, and that 
 therefore he must have been a comparatively young 
 man when he came. 
 Uncertain As to the person or persons by whom he was 
 ordakied. Ordained there is complete uncertainty. Germanus, 
 Amathorex, Martin of Tours, and others have seve- 
 rally, in different Lives and documents, got credit 
 for it; but when the date and real character of 
 the testimony are examined, it is found to be worth- 
 less. The testimony comes so late, and is so con- 
 flicting and self-contradictory, as to be valueless. 
 The conflict of testimony reflects the complete 
 
 96 
 
CHAP, iv] FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 uncertainty that existed on the subject. He himself 
 does not give us the slightest hint on the matter, 
 except that his "Confession"*' leaves the impression 
 that it was neither in Gaul nor in Rome, but in the 
 Britains that he was ordained to the episcopate. In 
 these circumstances, to assert, as some do very posi- 
 tively, that Patrick's succession can be traced back 
 by sure and certain steps to the Apostles, is to 
 betray a singular want of appreciation of the nature 
 of valid histoncal testimony. 
 
 Patrick mentions that, when he was about to be charge 
 designated to the episcopate, a sin which he had againsUiim 
 committed in boyhood, and which, long before — atwsap- 
 apparently when he was going to be made a deacon to threpis- 
 — he had confessed to an intimate friend, was brought ^^p*^- 
 against him by the friend to whom he had confessed 
 it, so that opposition arose to his being made 
 a bishop. " After thirty years they found me, and 
 brought against me a word which I had confessed 
 before I was a deacon.'' He states that, during the 
 night succeeding the day on which this reproach 
 was brought against him, he seemed in a night 
 vision to have a communication from God, express- 
 ing displeasure with the charge made against him, 
 and assuring him, " He that toucheth you toucheth 
 the apple of mine eye." "I gi-ieve more for my 
 most valued friend," he adds, " to whom I intrusted 
 my life, that we should have deserved to listen to 
 such statements. And I learned from several brethren 
 before that defence (apparently the Divine defence 
 of him), that when I was not present nor in the 
 Britains, nor did it originate with me, that even he 
 in my absence contended for me. He himself said 
 to me with his own mouth, 'Behold, thou art to 
 97 G 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 be granted the dignity of a bishop," of which I was 
 not worthy. Wherefore then did it come to him 
 afterward, that before all, good and bad, he should 
 publicly dishonour me, although before, of his own 
 accord, he joyfully granted that honour to me?" 
 Now, when he says, " After thirty years they found 
 me, and brought against me the word I had con- 
 fessed before I was a deacon, and which I had, through 
 pei-plexity and with a sorrowful mind, made known 
 to my dearest friend, what I had done in my boy- 
 hood on one day, nay, in one hour, because I was 
 not yet to overcome. I know not, God knows, if 
 at that time I was fifteen years of age," the question 
 arises, from what point of time are the thirty years 
 to be reckoned ? From the time of his commission 
 of the sin? or from the time of his confession of 
 it to his friend, a confession which appears to have 
 been made when it was proposed to make him a 
 deacon? It is difficult to determine which is in- 
 tended. If the thirty years are to be counted from 
 his fifteenth year, when he fell into the fault, thirty 
 years added to the fifteen would make him forty-five 
 years old when he was ordained a bishop. This, 
 with the sixteen years of his age when he was carried 
 captive, the six years of captivity, and say three 
 years between his escape from slavery and his call 
 to Ireland, would leave twenty years between his call 
 and his being made a bishop. If, on the other hand, 
 the thirty years are to be calculated from the date 
 of the confession of his sin, and if that confession 
 was made shortly before his appointment as deacon, 
 let us see the earliest date at which that appoint- 
 ment could have occurred. He was sixteen years 
 old when he was taken captive to Ireland ; he was 
 
 98 
 
CHAP, ivj FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS CALL 
 
 six years in captivity; allow three yeai-s for the 
 " few " which came between his escape and his return 
 to his parents when he received the call to Ireland, 
 and seemed to hear the voice of the Irish crying, 
 " We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come and 
 henceforth walk among us."" When he adds, " After 
 very many years the Lord granted to them according 
 to their cry,*" are these " very many years *''' to be taken 
 £Ls including his years of missionary labour in Ire- 
 land, in which they had such an answer to their 
 cry ? This is perhaps more likely than that one so 
 aflame with earnestness and zeal as fi'om the moment 
 of his call he evidently was, should delay for a long 
 series of years before setting out on his mission. It 
 is manifest, too, from what he says of his ignorance 
 and rusticity, that he could not have spent a long 
 series of years in study and preparation in schools 
 on the Continent. If he means that "very many 
 years "''' elapsed before he set out on his mission to 
 Ireland, we cannot allow less than ten for what he 
 describes as "very many years;*" and perhaps ten 
 years are hardly adequate, except that a few years 
 would seem many and long to one so impatient as 
 he must have been to enter on his work. He would 
 in that case be thirty-five years old when he went 
 on his evangelistic enterprise, and we should con- 
 ceive of him as having been made a deacon before 
 going. Indeed, his own words leave the impression 
 that he laboured in Ireland for many years as a 
 deacon, perhaps also as a presbyter, before he was 
 made a bishop. Now, thirty years added to the 
 thirty-five already counted would make him sixty- 
 five years old when he became a bishop. There is 
 nothing impossible in this. His going to Ireland at 
 99 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 thirty-five might perhaps be reconcilable with his 
 own statement, "You know, and God also, how I 
 have conducted myself among you from my youth, 
 both in the faith of the truth and in sincerity of 
 heart."" The impression made by the whole passage 
 from which the foregoing sentences are taken is that 
 it was in the Britains that Patrick received his 
 appointment to the episcopate. 
 
 ICO 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE MISSIONARY CAREER OF PATRICK 
 We can easily see by the spirit of the man as niani- ^^^ ""^^ 
 
 flt.ted 
 
 fest in his writings, as well as by the result of his Patrick was 
 labours, how eminently fitted St. Patrick was for the '°^^^'* °^^^' 
 work to which he now devoted his whole soul and 
 strength. His writings are indeed rude and broken 
 utterances, sometimes setting grammar at defiance ; 
 but, not unlike CromwelPs letters, they reveal a 
 strong and rugged personality, in presence of which 
 even princes and kings are subdued and awed, a 
 decision of character and an intrepidity and mag- 
 nanimity of spirit distinctive of great men, and these 
 set on fire by an intense ardour that no difficulties 
 or discouragements can cool, sustained by an in- 
 domitable courage that can look danger and death 
 in the face without flinching, throbbing with a tremu- 
 lous sympathy and yearning compassion for the 
 objects of his mission, chastened by a deep humility 
 and modesty, and baptized by a spirit of prayer, and 
 a trust in God that to a remarkable degree pervade 
 his whole life. 
 
 Setting out, then, in this spirit on his gi*eat mission Lands at 
 to Ireland, St. Patrick appears to have landed first ^ut^ driven 
 on the coast of Wicklow, at the mouth of the river away.passes 
 
 . .,., 'Ill' northwards 
 
 Vartry, but, as he was received mhospitably, his to county 
 stay there was brief. Sailing northwards round the ^°^°' 
 
 lOI 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 coast, touching at an island off the Skerries, now 
 called, after him, Holmpatrick; calling also for a 
 short time at the mouth of the Boyne, he made his 
 way past Carlingford Bay, and, entering Strangford 
 Lough, he landed in the barony of Lecale, at the 
 mouth of a small river called Slany, about two miles 
 from the place now known as Saul. Here our 
 apostle and his companions were brought into the 
 presence of a chief called Dichu, descendant of an 
 ancient Irish king, who, taking them for pirates, 
 came out against them armed ; but, soon discovering 
 his mistake, Dichu listened while Patrick preached, 
 and he and his whole family became Christians. He 
 gave Patrick a barn (sabhall) to be used as a church, 
 or, according to the more probable account, he gave 
 him ground on which to build a church, which, at 
 Dichu's request, was not turned from west to east, 
 but from north to south, and for some reason became 
 known as Sabhall Padhrig (Saul-Patrick) or Patrick's 
 Barn, and the place is known as Saul to this day. 
 It is about two miles from Downpatrick. This was the 
 first church founded by Patrick. It is remarkable, 
 however, that the same name, sabhall, was applied to 
 a church of similar construction at Armagh. The 
 late Bishop Reeves supposed that it was a technical 
 term for churches with some such peculiarity as 
 marked these two, also called transverse churches. 
 Returns to From Lecale our missionary passed to the scene of 
 early cap- his early captivity at Slemish ; but if there is any 
 tivity. basis of truth in the legend, as doubtless there is, 
 his old master, Milchu, must have feared being over- 
 come by some magical influence on his part, for, 
 according to the story, he set fire to his house and 
 perished in the ruins. To Dr. Whitley Stokes " it 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 seems to be an instance of dhama or of propitiatory 
 self-sacrifice."" The true version of the incident has 
 probably got distorted in its transmission. It is cer- 
 tainly very unlike what one would expect from a 
 rough warlike Irish chieftain that, on seeing the 
 approach of his former slave, he should collect his 
 treasures and store them in his house, and then set 
 fire to it, leap into the flames, and perish in the 
 ruins. Whatever the truth may be, Patrick's visit 
 to that neighbourhood was far from fruitless. 
 Milchu's son, Guasacht, became a bishop at Granard ; 
 two daughters of his became consecrated virgins ; 
 and a grandson — son of a daughter of Milchu — a 
 young man called Mochay, became a bishop and 
 abbot also, and founded a monastery, including a 
 church, on Nendrum, in Strangford Lough, which 
 the late Bishop Reeves identified as Inis Mochaei or 
 Mahee Island, which to this day shows the remains 
 of a round tower, and of a cashel surrounding the 
 foundations of an old church. Mochay survived till 
 497. Another grandson of Milchu, called MacErc, 
 a brother of Mochay, became the founder and first 
 bishop of a church at Donaghmore in County Down, 
 near Newry. 
 
 Patrick soon returned to Maghinis, the region c^mes back 
 near what we now call, after him, Downpatrick, where ^^ labours 
 he had won his first triumph, and whose chief, Dichu, ^^ ^^"^ 
 was so friendly, and remained there for some time 
 {dielms multis, the " Book of Armagh *" says), preach- 
 ing and spreading the faith, until, says the " Tripar- 
 tite Life," "he brought all the Ulster men by the 
 net of the Gospel to the harbour of life."" It is 
 significant and noteworthy that from the time of 
 our apostle churches, monasteries, and bishops were 
 103 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 very numerous in all that district about Strang- 
 ford Lough, where he first landed and laboured, 
 and round Dundrum Bay towards the Mourne 
 Mountains. There was, at a comparatively early 
 date, a monastic establishment and a bishop at 
 Movilla, near Newtownards, another at Mahee Island, 
 another at Killinchy, another at Raholp, where he 
 first landed, three miles north-east of Downpatrick ; 
 another at Downpatrick itself, which of course took 
 its modern name from Patrick ; another at Bright, 
 two or three miles south-east of Downpatrick, and 
 another still at the foot, as well as one on the 
 summit, of Slieve Donard. One of Patrick's disciples 
 in that district was Domhanghart (Donart), son of 
 Eochy, who was king of Ulidia or Ultonia (Ulster) 
 in the time of our apostle. Domhanghart became a 
 bishop and abbot too, and founded two churches (or 
 monasteries rather), one at the place now known as 
 Maghera, not far from the foot of Slieve Donard. 
 Its original name was Rath-Muirbhuilg ; sometimes 
 it was known simply as Rath, and then as Machaire- 
 Ratha (the plain of the fort), hence Maghera. The 
 name " Murlough,'' the modern form of Murbhuilg, 
 is applied to two townlands on Dundrum Bay. At 
 Maghera there still exist the ruins of an ancient 
 church and the stump of a round tower. The other 
 was built on or near the summit of Slieve Donard — 
 as Colgan has it, " in vertice ejusdem altissimi montis, 
 longe ab omni hum ana habitatione posita " — and was 
 still standing a century ago. Han*is says : " On the 
 summit of this mountain are two rude edifices (if 
 they may be so termed), one being a huge heap of 
 stones piled up in a pyramidical figure, in which are 
 formed several cavities, wherein the devotees shelter 
 104 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 themselves in bad weather while they hear mass; 
 and in the centre of this heap is a cave formed by 
 broad flat stones, so disposed as to support each 
 other without the help of cement. The other edifice 
 is composed of many stones, so disposed in rude 
 walls and partitions, called chappeh, and perhaps 
 was the oratory and cell erected by St. Domangard 
 before hinted. Sir William Petty mentions in his 
 maps a chappel on the north-east side of Slieve 
 Donard, which he calls Leniord's Chappel; but, pro- 
 bably for want of due information, he has corrupted 
 the name, and the true name of it is Donard" s 
 ChappeV^^ It was this Domhanghart (Donard) 
 who gave its modern name to the mountain. 
 The ancient name was Slieve Slainge, and it was 
 so called from a bardic hero who was buried on 
 its summit, the cairn raised over him being still 
 a conspicuous object on the top of the mountain, 
 and a goal for tourists. A name intermediate 
 between the two was Beanna Boirche, which means 
 "Boirche''s Peaks."" Boirche was a shepherd who 
 used the surrounding summits as his points of 
 outlook. 
 
 It should be noted that anchorite or monastic 
 establishments were placed in the early time, not 
 only on islands, but for the same reason on high 
 mountain tops and on lofty sea-cliffs. Thus Slieve 
 Gull ion, Slieve Liag, and Brandon Mountain in 
 Kerry are still crowned by the cashels and beehive 
 cells of JEd and Brendan. But the most inac- 
 cessible and singular of the monasteries is that on 
 the Skelligs, supposed to have been founded by 
 Finan. "This rock rises perpendicularly out of 
 
 ^ Harris's "Down," p. 121. 
 105 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 the sea to a great height. It stands twelve miles 
 from the nearest land out in the Atlantic Ocean, 
 and on a ledge or platform of the summit of one 
 shoulder the monastery was erected. It is ap- 
 proached from a landing-place on the north-east 
 side. There are still remaining six hundred steps 
 cut by the monks in the cliff, which rises to 720 
 feet above the level of the sea, the lower part of 
 this ascent being now broken away. The island 
 has been the scene of annual pilgrimages for many 
 centuries, and the service of the Way of the Cross 
 is still remembered here ; different points and turn- 
 ings in the cliffs being named after the different 
 stations, such as the Garden of the Passion, Christ's 
 Saddle, the Stone of Pain, the Rock of Woman's 
 Wailing, &c. The plateau occupied by the monastic 
 buildings is about 180 feet in length, and from 
 80 to 100 feet in width. These buildings consist 
 of the Church of St. Michael, two smaller oratories, 
 and six cells or beehive dwelling-houses, two holy 
 wells and five leachta or burial-grounds, with many 
 rude stone crosses. They are all enclosed by a 
 cashel or wall running along the edge of the preci- 
 pice, which in its whole character strongly resembles 
 the wall of Staigue Fort on the mainland. 'It is 
 astonishing,' writes Lord Dunraven in his 'Notes 
 on Irish Architecture,' vol. i. p. 30, 'to conceive 
 the courage and skill of the builders of this fine 
 wall, placed as it is on the very edge of the preci- 
 pice, at a vast height above the sea, with no possible 
 standing ground outside the wall from which the 
 builders could have worked; yet the face is as 
 perfect as that of Staigue Fort, the interstices of 
 the greater stones filled in with smaller ones, all 
 io6 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 fitted as compactly, and with as marvellous firmness 
 and skill;"! 
 
 The policy of St. Patrick all through his ministry His rule 
 was to approach in the first instance the kings and approach 
 chiefs, and to endeavour to win them over to his chiefs and 
 side, knowing that, as a result of the tribal consti- 
 tution, if they could be secured, the gain of their 
 followers would be easy; but that, if they were 
 hostile, an insuperable barrier would be put in the 
 way of his missionary operations. It is sometimes 
 made a reproach against the early Church that 
 it had no martyrs. The assumption is not con-ect. 
 Patrick's own life was repeatedly threatened, and 
 in one case his charioteer was slain for himself. 
 The Druids were deeply exasperated against him, 
 and he was compelled to travel with an escort, 
 and to surround the churches and monasteries built 
 by him with ramparts or forts for self-defence. He 
 speaks of having been delivered from twelve dangers 
 by which his life was imperilled, and says he daily 
 expected murder, or slavery, or mishap of some 
 kind.2 All the more, had he not secured, as a 
 rule, the countenance and protection of the king 
 or chief, the case would have been worse, and suc- 
 cess almost impossible. 
 
 Acting on this plan, our skilful missionary pilot visits ac 
 now determined to steer his course towards the l^^ r"yaf 
 royal court at Tara, to attack the pagan system in court at 
 its stronghold, effect if possible the conversion of 
 King Laoghaire and his retinue, and obtain their 
 approval and assistance. As has been already in- 
 
 ^ "Early Christian Art in Ireland," p. 42, by Miss Margaret 
 Stokes. 
 2 "Confession," 4, 15 ; 5, 23. 
 
 107 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 dicated, we do not think the reasons adduced by 
 Dr. Todd for postponing Patrick's visit to Tara 
 to the close of his career at all conclusive. Sailing 
 from Strangford Lough round the County Down 
 coast past Carlingford Lough and Dundalk Bay, 
 Patrick and his eight companions landed at the 
 Passes up niouth of the Boyne. Leaving there their coracles, 
 vaiiey'to^ or basket-boats covered with hide, they made their 
 siane. ^^y up the valley of the Boyne past the famous 
 "gi'aves of the sons of Feic," or royal burying- 
 places at Brugh-na-Boyne, to the Hill of Slane. A 
 series of sepulchral mounds, raths, caves, circles, 
 and pillar stones invest this locality, which is within 
 sight of Tara, with intense historic interest. The 
 writer spent a most delightful time in visiting and 
 examining these memorials of a remote antiquity, 
 a few summers ago. He can recommend the reader 
 who wishes a few days"* pleasant and instructive 
 holiday to spend it in this entrancing region, with 
 Sir W. Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne" and Dr. 
 Petrie's "History and Antiquities of Tara Hill" 
 in his hand. As has been already mentioned, the 
 greatest of these huge mounds is that called New 
 Grange, which stands on two acres of ground, the 
 central chamber underneath it being 19 feet 6 inches 
 high at the centre, 22 feet long, and 18 feet wide. 
 It is entered by a low-mouthed, narrow passage, 
 along which at the entrance the visitor has to crawl 
 on his hands and knees, and if he has any tendency 
 to stoutness, I would advise him to be content 
 with an outside view. 
 Where he It is stated that the time when Patrick and his 
 ^tir'i^e! li^^l^ company reached the Hill of Slane was Easter 
 Eve, and that by way of celebrating it they kindled 
 io8 
 
CHAP, vj HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 the Easter fire. It so happened that Laoghaire and 
 his Druids were just then celebrating a great heathen 
 festival, part of the ceremonial of which was the 
 lighting of a fire at Tara; and there was a most 
 stringent law that while the sacred fire was burning 
 no other should be lighted by the people on pain of 
 death. The king, therefore, on seeing the fire on 
 the Hill of Slane, easily visible at Tara, though nine 
 miles distant, was much incensed, and with his hoi*ses 
 and chariots he set out to punish the impious trans- 
 gi'essor of the sacred rule. When he reached Slane, 
 Patrick was summoned to his presence, and com- interview 
 manded to appear at his court next day, and give ^^gan^ 
 an explanation of his profane and daring violation, his court. 
 As he and his attendants proceeded to obey the 
 summons, they are said to have sung the words of 
 the psalm, "Some trust in chariots and some in 
 horses ; but we will remember the name of the Lord 
 our God." It was on this occasion, too, according 
 to the Lives, that Patrick composed his famous hymn 
 as a "Lorica,"" or armour to protect him from his 
 foes, both spiritual and fleshly. There is doubtless 
 much that is legendary in the details of the story of 
 this visit, and of the extraordinary miraculous feats 
 performed by the saint; that, for example, which 
 represents him and his clerics as assuming the form 
 of deer, and as bounding safely through the midst 
 of those who lay in wait for them, who saw only 
 eight deer bounding away and a fawn behind them. 
 But there is no reason to doubt the substance of the 
 story, that Patrick and the clergymen who accom- 
 panied him presented themselves before the king 
 and his assembled courtiers, Druidical priests, and 
 bards, when Dubhthach (Duffa), the chief bard, rose 
 109 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 and welcomed them. Patrick expounded and en- 
 forced the doctrines of Christianity. The priests 
 and magicians did their best to oppose and thwart 
 them in their object, but Dubhthach and many 
 others were converted. The king professed to 
 acquiesce, but his conversion was only nominal. At 
 all events, he not only permitted St. Patrick to 
 preach the gospel throughout his realm, but ex- 
 tended over him the shield of his protection — a 
 boon of which the evangelist was not slow to avail 
 himself. He was a consummate missionary — a man 
 of immense force and energy of character — a man 
 evidently too of intense ardour of spirit, of quick 
 sensitiveness, warm affection, and great magnetic 
 power, which drew men towards him, and through 
 him to his Master, and commanded their reverence, 
 confidence, and love. 
 AtTaUtenn. He and his friends next went to Tailtenn (now 
 Telltown), not far off, where the national games 
 were being celebrated, and where immense multi- 
 tudes assembled continuously for some weeks. On 
 many successive days he preached to the swarming 
 crowds of natives, made many converts, including 
 Conall Gulban, a brother of the king, and ancestor 
 of the celebrated Columba. At a later date we 
 find him at Moy Slecht, in County Cavan, then the 
 seat of the great national idol, called Crom Cruach, 
 which, having won over the people to the Christian 
 faith, he was permitted to demolish. The idol ap- 
 pears also to have been called Cromdubh, and to 
 have given rise to the name of Cromdyff Simday, 
 by which title the last Sunday in summer is known 
 among the Irish. It is certain that the eve of 1st 
 November, the first day of winter, was the festival 
 no 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 of Crom Cruach.^ The Irish Church would seem to 
 have substituted a Christian solemnity for the old 
 pagan festival. 
 
 Our missionary now went to Connaught, where he i" Con- 
 spent seven years, preaching, founding churches and 
 monasteries, and appointing clergy. It is said that 
 in the province of Connaught alone he was the means 
 of converting 12,000 men. 
 
 It was there — in the vicinity of the royal palace Conversion 
 of Croghan — that he had the famous interview with daughters^'' 
 King Laoghaire"'s two daughters, Ethnea the Fair 
 and Fedelma the Ruddy. They had been sent therc, 
 it would appear, to be educated by the Druid priests. 
 The story of the interview is given by Tirechan in 
 the "Book of Armagh^"*; and although it bears 
 marks of having been somewhat touched up and 
 embellished, it is generally accepted by scholars as 
 being true in substance. The simple, artless ques- 
 tions put by them to Patrick, and his answers, are 
 natural and lifelike, and as the incident is pictu- 
 resque and striking, and affords an illustration of 
 the methods of the great Irish missionary, it may be 
 proper to relate it. 
 
 " Whence are you, and whence have you come ? " 
 they said to Patrick and his company, as they found 
 them seated beside a spring to which the maidens 
 had come to wash at break of day. " It were better 
 for you to believe in God than to inquire after our 
 origin," said Patrick. Then the first virgin said: 
 "Who is God.? and where is God.? and of what 
 is God.? And where is His dwelling-place.? Has 
 your God sons and daughters, gold and silver ? Is 
 He ever-living .? Is He beautiful .? Did Mary foster 
 
 1 See Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 128. 
 IIX 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part n 
 
 His Son ? Are His daughters dear and fair to the 
 men of the world? Is He in heaven or in earth? 
 In the sea ? In rivers ? In the mountains ? In 
 valleys? Declare unto us the knowledge of Him. 
 How shall He be seen? How is He to be loved? 
 How is He to be found ? Is it in youth or in age ? " 
 But St. Patrick, full of the Holy Ghost, answered 
 and said : " Our God is the God of all men — the 
 God of heaven and earth, of the sea and rivers, the 
 God of the sun, the moon, and all stars, the God of 
 the high mountains and of the low valleys, the God 
 who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under 
 heaven. He has His dwelling in heaven and earth, 
 and the sea, and all things which are in them. He 
 inspires all things ; He gives life to all things ; He 
 is over all things; He sustaineth all things. He 
 giveth light to the light of the sun, and to the light 
 of the moon. He hath made springs in dry land, 
 and dry islands in the sea, and hath set stars to 
 minister to the greater lights. He hath a Son co- 
 eternal and co-equal with Himself. The Son is not 
 younger than the Father, nor is the Father older 
 than the Son. And the Holy Spirit breathes in 
 them. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost 
 are not divided. But I desire to unite you to the 
 Heavenly King, as you are daughters of an earthly 
 King. Believe in Him.**' And the virgins said; 
 "Teach us how we may believe. Show us how we 
 may see Him face to face.'' Then Patrick taught 
 them repentance and faith, and the life after death, 
 and the resurrection, and the judgment. And they 
 believed, and were baptized, and had white raiment put 
 upon their heads. And they received the Eucharist, 
 and slept in death — by which some understand their 
 
 112 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 death to the world, and their consecration to a 
 religious life. 
 
 It is very manifest that the story in its present 
 form has passed under the hand of the artist. The 
 questions and answers are just a little too finished 
 and elaborate to have taken shape at an incidental 
 interview. But the romantic tale is probably true 
 enough in substance. 
 
 It was during this sojourn in Connaught that Legend of 
 Patrick is said to have paid his memorable AVhit- ^q^. 
 suntide visit to Crochan Aigle, the lofty mountain Patrick, and 
 overhanging Clew Bay, Westport, County Mayo, serpents, 
 now called after him Croagh-Patrick, and to have*°- 
 driven from thence all the sei*pents, venomous rep- 
 tiles, and demons. We have here an excellent 
 example of the manner in which a legend grows 
 with the lapse of time. The visit to Crochan is not 
 recorded at all by Patrick's earliest biographer, 
 Muirchu. In the " Collections of Tirechan "" (ninth 
 century) we are told that Patrick spent forty days 
 and forty nights on Crochan Aigle fasting, and that 
 "noxious birds (graves aves) came about him, and 
 he could not see the face of heaven or earth or sea." 
 The " Tripartite Life "^ (eleventh century) represents 
 the mountain as " filled with black birds, so that he 
 knew not heaven and earth, and he sang maledictive 
 psalms at them ; but they left him riot because of 
 this. Then he strikes his bell at them, so that the 
 men of Erin heard its voice ; and he flung it at them, 
 so that its gap broke out of it, and that bell is 
 * Brigit's Gapling."* Then Patrick weeps till his face 
 and his chasuble in front of him were wet. No 
 demon came to the land of Erin after that till the 
 end of seven years, and seven months, and seven 
 113 H 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part u 
 
 days, and seven nights.*" Observe the circumstantial 
 additions of the "Tripartite,"' its interpretation of 
 the birds as being demons, and their banishment for 
 seven years, seven months, and seven days. But 
 this is not all. According to the "Tripartite," an 
 angel appears to Patrick, from whom the saint makes 
 a series of the most extraordinary requests, all of 
 which are conceded, the whole being framed after the 
 model of Abraham's intercessions for Sodom. Then, 
 more than a century later, comes Joceline, who 
 represents the saint as gathering together all the 
 demons, serpents, and venomous reptiles in Ireland 
 on the top of the mountain, and by means of his 
 baculum or staff driving them into the sea. There 
 is, of course, distinct evidence that long before 
 Patrick's time such reptiles were unknown in the 
 land. Solinus, for example, a Roman writer on 
 geography in the third century, mentions the fact in 
 the 22nd chapter of his " Polyhistor." 
 
 Ulster, Leinster, and Munster were in turn visited 
 by our indefatigable missionary. The kings and 
 chiefs, according to his usual policy, were first won 
 over, and everywhere he went large numbers of 
 people were converted, churches were founded, and 
 a numerous clergy ordained. 
 His work in It is of course quite impossible to go into details ; 
 ^ndDaia- ^^^ ^^ ^ specimen of his method of procedure, as 
 radia. recorded in the "Tripartite Life," I may quote 
 a passage from it with reference to a visit of 
 Patrick to Dalriada and Dalaradia. After refer- 
 ring to "Bishop Olcan of Patrick's household in 
 Airthir Maige,^ a noble city of Dal Riatai," and 
 
 1 Armoy. 
 114 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 to Bishop Mace Nisse, who founded " Condire "" or 
 Connor, the " Tripartite "" proceeds : — 
 
 " Patrick found a welcome in the land with Erc's 
 twelve sons; and Fergus the Great, son of Ere, 
 said to Patrick : ' If my brother respects me in 
 dividing his land, I would give it to thee.** And 
 Patrick offered to Bishop Olcan that part, to wit, 
 Airthir Maige. Said Patrick to Fergus : ' Though 
 thy brother hath not much esteem for thee to-day, 
 it is thou that shalt be king. The kings in this 
 country and over Fortrenn shall be from thee for 
 ever.'' And this was fulfilled in ^dan, son of 
 Gabran, who took Scotland by force.'' 
 
 "Patrick left many churches and cloisters in the 
 district of Dal Riata. He founded Fothrad,^ and 
 left therein two of his household, namely, Pres- 
 bjrter Cathbad and Dimman the monk. And he 
 founded Raith Mudain.^ He left Presbyter Erclach 
 therein. He left Bishop Nehemiah in Telach Ceneoil 
 CEngusa,^ two Cennfindans in Dormach Cainri, in 
 Cothraige,* Enan in Drumman Findich,^ Bishop 
 Fiachra in Cuil Echtrann.^ And Patrick blessed 
 Dun Sobairci,^ and Patrick's well is there, and he 
 left a blessing thereon." 
 
 " After this he went into Dal Araidi. He found 
 Coilbad's twelve sons before him. He proposed to 
 take the place wherein Cell Glass,^ stands now. He 
 was refused, and yet he hath it still. And he left 
 therein two of his household, namely, Glaisinc and 
 Presbyter Libur, and he proposed, moreover, to take 
 
 ^ Now unknown. - Ramoan. 
 
 * Probably Drumtullagh. * The barony of Gary. 
 
 *^ Now probably Drumeeny. *> Culfeightrin. 
 
 ' Now Dunseverick. ® Now unknown. 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 the place in which Lathrach Patraic is now. Therein 
 is Daniel who is called 'the angel,"* and 'Patrick's 
 dwarf/ By him is Patrick's well — Slan (' healthful ') 
 is its name. There Patrick's new key was fomid. 
 Now, Saran, son of Coelbad, expelled him thence, 
 and Patrick deprived him of heaven and earth." 
 
 " Howbeit, Conlae, son of Coelbad, received Patrick 
 with humility, and offered to him Domnach Com- 
 bair.^ And Patrick blessed him, and left as a benedic- 
 tion that there would be kings and princes of his race 
 for ever. And he founded many churches in Dal 
 Araide, namely, Domnach Mor Maige Damoerna,^ 
 and Raith Sithe,^ and in this he left two of his 
 household, and Telach, that is Cell Conadain,* and 
 Gluaire^ in Latharna (Larne) — and Macclessi is 
 therein. And he founded Glenn Indechta,^ and Im- 
 lech Cluane in Semne ^ — Coeman is therein — and 
 Raith Epscuip Findich in the country of the Hui 
 Darcachein." ^ 
 Patrick It was near the close of his career that Patrick, 
 
 Smagh. according to Muirchu and the "Tripartite," laid the 
 foundations of Armagh. Emania, now represented 
 by Navan Fort, near the present city of Armagh, was, 
 as has been already mentioned, the royal residence 
 of the kings of Ulster. Patrick, the " Tripartite " 
 says, went to the fortress of Dare, son of Findchad, 
 son of Eogan, son of Niallan, and asked him for a site 
 
 1 Comber, then in Dalaradia. ^ Magheramorne. 
 
 * Rashee. ■* Possibly St. Cunning, Carncastle. 
 
 ^ Glore is the name by which the old churchyard of Tickma- 
 crevan is commonly known (Reeves). ® Glynn. 
 
 ^ Ransevyn, the ancient name of Island Magee, Reeves thinks, 
 may include the name of " Semne " (Shevny). 
 
 ^ A district, Dr. Reeves thinks, on the confines between Down 
 and Antrim. 
 
 ii6 
 
CHAP, v] HIS MISSIONARY CAREER 
 
 for his cell on a great hill to which he pointed — the 
 hill on which the Protestant Cathedral now stands. 
 Dare at first refused, but gave him a site in a strong 
 rath below, where Patrick founded his cell, and 
 remained for a long time. Later, however. Dare, 
 through the entreaties of his wife, took the death 
 of two horses which ate the grass of the graveyard 
 around the church, and an attack of colic which 
 came upon himself, as an admonition that he had 
 acted wrongly, and so relenting, he gave Patrick the 
 site which he sought on the hill ; and there within 
 an earthen fort was built an oratory, and the usual 
 monastic appurtenances. 
 
 When Patrick began to realise that his departure Patrick 
 was at hand, he is said to have retired to Saul, ^l^^ * 
 the scene of his earliest success, and there to have 
 terminated his gi'eat career. Keen debate has 
 been held over the place of his burial. Muirchu 
 and the third Life in Colgan^s Collection declare 
 that his place of sepulture was Dun-leth-glass 
 {i.e. Downpatrick). Giraldus Cambrensis, writing 
 in the twelfth century, relates how the remains of 
 Patrick, Brigit, and Columba were found, and laid 
 in one grave in Down by John de Courcy, and he 
 quotes the verse : — 
 
 " In burgo Duno, tumulo tumulantur in uno, 
 Brigida, Patritius, atque Columba pins." 
 
 Which has been thus rendered : — 
 
 " Patrick, Columba, Brigit rest in glorious Down, 
 Lie in one tomb, and consecrate the town." 
 
 The whole affair of the discovery and transfer 
 seems to have been a political device of De Courcy. 
 117 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 It is not mentioned by any Irish writer ; indeed, the 
 Annals of the Four Masters tell of a rival discovery, 
 by an Irish primate, of the remains of the three 
 saints, not at Down, but at Saul. Tirechan in his 
 Life says where Patrick's bones are no one knows, 
 but remarks afterwards that Columbkille had, under 
 the guidance of the Spirit, pointed out Saul as the 
 place where he was buried. Nennius also states 
 that his sepulchre was unknown; while the "Tri- 
 partite Life" assigns it, like Tirechan, to Saul, which 
 seems the more likely spot. But amid the conflict 
 of testimony we shall not undertake to decide the 
 question, which is in no sense a vital one. 
 
 ii8 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 PATRICK'S TEACHING AND INFLUENCE 
 
 FiACc's hymn says that at Patrick's death " to a Legend of 
 year''s end bided radiance, this was a long continuous radiance. 
 day. At the battle fought at Bethoron against 
 Canaan**s folk by Nun's son, the sun rested at 
 Gibeon, that is what history tells us. Since the 
 sun rested with Joshua at the death of the wicked, 
 though it be thrice as strong, meet is radiance at 
 the decease of the saints." 
 
 The "Tripartite," as usual, carries the legend 
 further and embellishes it : " For the space of twelve 
 nights, to wit, the time during which the elders of 
 Israel were watching him with hymns and psalms 
 and canticles, there was no night in Maghinis, but an 
 angelic radiance therein. And some say that angelic 
 radiance abode in Maghinis till the end of a year 
 after Patrick's death. And no one doubts this came 
 to pass in order to make manifest the merits of so 
 great a man. And so night was not seen in the 
 whole of that region during the days of lamentation 
 for Patrick, just as, when Hezekiah was sick, the 
 sun went back ten degrees on the sundial of Ahaz, 
 as a manifest sign of his recovery. And even so 
 the sun stood over against Gibeon, and the moon 
 over against the valley of Ajalon." 
 
 ** On the first night the angels of the Lord of the 
 119 
 
doctrine. 
 
 THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 elements were watching Patrick's body with spiritual 
 songs. The odour of divine grace which came from 
 the holy body, and the music of the angels, brought 
 sleep and joy to the elders of the men of Ireland 
 who were watching the body on the nights after- 
 wards." 
 
 This beautiful legend may at all events be taken 
 as a representation of the spiritual radiance which 
 flowed from his teaching, and of the fragrant memory 
 and influence of a holy life which the good man left 
 behind him. 
 Patrick's But to Understand and appreciate these better it 
 
 will be necessary to pause at this point for a little 
 in order to ascertain and note what the doctrine 
 was which was preached by the great Irish apostle. 
 It would indeed be very unjust to our noble evan- 
 gelist to raise our expectations with regard to this 
 too high. Not a few of the great men who have 
 set vast movements agoing, have turned the current 
 of national life in a new direction, and been in an 
 exceptional degree makers of history, have been un- 
 distinguished as writers. They have been content 
 to be actors, and for the most part have left to 
 others the task of reporting and interpreting their 
 actions. St. Patrick was a man of this type. He 
 was not a writer of books, much less of elaborate 
 and systematic theological treatises. What writings 
 of his have come down to us do not extend beyond 
 a few pages. The most important is his "Con- 
 fession,"" which is a short apology for one so un- 
 learned and insignificant as he was presuming to 
 come to Ireland as a missionary. The other is a 
 spirited and at times scathing letter with reference 
 to the cruel conduct of Coroticus, who, while pro- 
 
 I20 
 
CHAP, vi] HIS TEACHING AND INFLUENCE 
 
 fessing to be a Christian, inflicted massacre, rapine, 
 and robbery on some Irish Christians, and carried 
 many away captive. Add to this the hymn attri- 
 buted to him. We cannot expect to find much 
 theology in such short incidental utterances, written 
 for a practical purpose. Yet as Patrick is an earnest 
 Christian man, whose soul is in every word he writes, 
 it is wonderful what insight even these fragments 
 afford us into the innermost thought of the Irish 
 apostle on the great Christian verities. And here, 
 indeed, we come upon one secret of the extraordinary 
 power and influence of his teaching. It had its root 
 in, and drew its inspiration and vitalising energy 
 from, his own personal experience of its saving power. 
 What he had seen and heard and touched and 
 handled of the word of life, that declared he to 
 men. As it was this that gave life and power to 
 his doctrine when he preached it, it is from this 
 also that it derives its interest for us to-day. A 
 rapid survey of the chief truths taught by this 
 successful evangelist may not be devoid of interest. 
 
 His one authoritative standard of appeal for Place as- 
 doctrine and life is Holy Scripture. For him the sSpture. 
 supreme source of authority is not the Bishop of 
 Rome, nor tradition, nor Church councils — he never 
 once hints at any of these as authoritative — but 
 Holy Writ. He is perpetually appealing to it ; his 
 familiarity with it is quite remarkable ; he inter- 
 weaves it constantly with his remarks and exhorta- 
 tions. He is on this account designated " the man 
 of the enduring language, i.e. the Holy Canon."*' ^ 
 When he founded a church, one present he was 
 accustomed to make to it was "the Books of the 
 
 1 " Tripartite Life," ii. $66. 
 121 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 Law and the Books of the Gospel."'' ^ It should be 
 added that he quotes from the Apocryphal books as 
 well as from the canon of inspiration. 
 Teaches the Both in the " Confession " and in the Hymn he 
 toeSuity. applies the term "Trinity" to the Godhead. The 
 expression of his faith in the sacred Trinity con- 
 tained in the " Confession " takes very much the form 
 of a creed, and is perhaps the echo of some early 
 formula, though, as it occurs, it follows a reference 
 to his conversion, and is a warm outpouring of his 
 faith in God. It is as follows : — 
 
 " Because there is no other God, neither ever was, 
 neither before, nor shall be hereafter, except God 
 the Father, unbegotten, without beginning ; uphold- 
 ing all things, as we have said. 
 
 "And His Son Jesus Christ, whom indeed with 
 the Father, we testify to have always been, before 
 the origin of the world, spiritually with the Father, 
 in an inexplicable manner begotten before all begin- 
 ning, and by Himself were made the things visible 
 and invisible, and was made man, and, death having 
 been vanquished, was received into the heavens to 
 the Father. And He has given to Him all power 
 'above every name of those that are in heaven, on 
 earth, and under the earth, that every tongue should 
 confess to Him that Jesus Christ is Lord and God,' 
 in whom we believe, and expect His coming, to be 
 ere long 'the Judge of the living and of the dead,' ' who 
 will render to every man according to his deeds.' 
 
 "And He hath poured upon us abundantly the 
 Holy Spirit, a gift and pledge of immortality, who 
 makes the faithful and obedient to become ' sons of 
 God and joint-heirs with Christ.' 
 
 1 Colgan, "Trias Tbaum.," c. xxiii. p. 521. 
 
 122 
 
CHAP, vi] HIS TEACHING AND INFLUENCE 
 
 "Whom we confess and adore — one God in the 
 Holy Trinity of the sacred name." 
 
 Although the homoousian doctrine is not ex- 
 pressly affirmed in it, this creed of Patrick runs 
 closely parallel to the Nicene, and has several terms 
 and phrases not unlike the Athanasian, which by 
 some good authorities is supposed to have originated 
 in Gaul in the fifth century. 
 
 Patrick''s teaching with respect to the way o/* And the 
 salvation is strikingly evangelical. There is no trace doetrfne^of 
 in it of the doctrine of the merit of good works. 8»"*ce. 
 On the contrary, all goodness in man is traced to 
 the sovereign, free grace of God. He compares 
 himself to a stone lying in the mud, till God by His 
 mercy has raised him out of it, and set him on the 
 wall of the Christian temple. "From God I have 
 received what I have;'"^ "I have no power unless 
 He had given it to me." ^ 
 
 Salvation by faith in Christ is very emphatically 
 taught by him. One text which he is specially fond 
 of quoting is, ' He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be 
 condemned." ^ 
 
 The necessity of regeneration and sanctification 
 by the Spirit is pressed with equal urgency. 
 
 How the Lord's Day is now secularised and dis- Scrupulous 
 honoured thi'oughout Ireland by the express sane- onheL^rda 
 tion and countenance of the Roman priesthood is i>ay- 
 but too well known. By Patrick and the early 
 Irish Church this day was devoted to the Divine 
 service, and its sanctity most carefully guarded. 
 By the Brehon Law the people were required to 
 
 1 "Corot./'i. 2 ♦« Confess., " V. 24. 
 
 ' " Confess.," iv. 17; '• Corot.," ii. 
 123 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 give every seventh day of the year to God's service. 
 The " Tripartite Life " informs us that " from ves- 
 pers on Saturday night until the third hour on 
 Monday, Patrick used not to go out of the place 
 where he was staying." ^ Saturday night, it should 
 be remembered, was in the early Irish Church treated 
 as part of Sunday. " Once when Patrick was resting 
 on the Lord's Day near the sea, he heard a tumultuous 
 noise of heathens who were toiling in forming a rath. 
 St. Patrick, calling them, ordered them not to work 
 on the Lord's Day ; but as they disobeyed his com- 
 mand, the sea broke in and destroyed their work." ^ 
 Celebrates Patrick and the early Celtic Church observed the 
 in^bo°h "^^" Lord's Supper in both kinds. A hymn in the Anti- 
 kinds, phonary of Bangor, sung while the people were com- 
 municating, begins thus : " Come, ye saints, take the 
 body of Christ, drinking His holy blood, by which 
 you were redeemed." In the " Life of St. Moiling 
 of Luachair" it is related how on one occasion he 
 administered the chalice to a person who was a leper. 
 In the " Stowe Missal," the earliest known Irish 
 liturgyi assigned to the eleventh century, it is pre- 
 scribed that the wine should be mixed with water. 
 Even Dr. Lanigan, the Roman Catholic historian, is 
 constrained to admit "that in old times it [Com- 
 munion in both kinds] was practised in Ireland as 
 well as elsewhere." ^ 
 
 Auricular confession, invocation of saints, prayers 
 for the dead, and the doctrine of purgatory are all 
 conspicuous by their absence from the teaching of 
 Patrick and the early Irish Church. How long will 
 the Irish people groan under the oppressive yoke 
 
 1 Vol. i. p. 125. 2 "Tripartite," vol. ii. p. 289. 
 
 3 « History," iii. 310. 
 
 124 
 
CHAP, vij HIS TEACHING AND INFLUENCE 
 
 of a system which their ancestors stoutly and long 
 resisted, which was not indigenous to the Church 
 planted by Patrick, but at a later time imported 
 from Italy, and imposed on them by foreigners ? 
 
 It is true, however, and should be borne in mind, 
 that at the time of St. Patrick's death the whole of 
 the Irish had not accepted of the Christian faith, 
 and that a large proportion of those who had out- 
 wardly accepted of it were far from being what they 
 ought to have been. By several chiefs and tribes 
 he was strenuously opposed and thwarted in his 
 missionary enterprise ; even in Brigid's time — she 
 was ten years old when Patrick died — there were 
 many unconverted heathen, and a large proportion 
 of the conversions were only nominal. Still, making secondary 
 every allowance, his success was certainly remarkable, Patrick's 
 and was helped by several secondary causes. One success. 
 was his policy, already noticed, of skilfully adapting 
 his methods to the tribal system, and the care he 
 took to secure in the first instance the adhesion of 
 kings and chiefs. Another was the appointment 
 from the first of a native clergy, taken largely from 
 the highest ranks of society. 
 
 He did not absolutely confine himself to the 
 native Irish. In the "Catalogue of the Saints of 
 Ireland,"" it is said of the bishops of the first order 
 or period that " all these bishops were sprung from 
 the Romans and Franks, and Britons and Scots." 
 It was no doubt those who came from the Roman 
 province of Britain who are called here Romans and 
 Britons. Many thousands of such, some of whom 
 doubtless were Christians, were carried away captive 
 at the same time as Patrick, and others appear to 
 have accompanied him when he returned on his 
 125 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 mission of evangelisation. By Franks is probably 
 meant persons who had come from Gaul. The 
 extent to which the staff of Irish clergymen was 
 made up of such material appears in the " Litany 
 of Angus.*" As, however, those first referred to 
 had settled in Ireland and intermarried with the 
 Irish, they cannot properly be called foreigners. 
 At any rate, it is quite remarkable how many of 
 Patrick^s clergy were the sons of kings and chiefs. 
 This, by reason of the tribal constitution and the 
 usages of the time, would immensely enhance their 
 influence with the people. But a third explanation 
 of the large number of conversions must be candidly 
 admitted — the toleration of the numerous pagan 
 customs which the converts brought over with them 
 on their conversion. Dr. O'Donovan, a very high 
 authority, says that "Patrick engrafted Christianity 
 on the pagan superstitions with so much skill that 
 he won the people over to the Christian religion 
 before they understood the exact difference between 
 the two systems of belief; and much of this half- 
 pagan, half-Christian religion will be found, not only 
 in the Irish stories of the Middle Ages, but in the 
 superstitions of the peasantry of the present day."" 
 In the serious relapse towards paganism that took 
 place a few generations later, Irish Christianity had 
 to pay dearly for permitting the importation of so 
 many pagan practices. But notwithstanding all 
 drawbacks, the success of Patrick was truly pheno- 
 menal, and, under God, has won for him immortal 
 renown. What need in our time of men with the 
 indomitable faith, and consuming zeal, and self- 
 sacrifice of Patrick ! 
 
 The "Tripartite Life" thus epitomises his char- 
 126 
 
CHAP, vi] HIS TEACHING AND INFLUENCE 
 
 acter : " A righteous man, verily, was this man, with Patrick's 
 
 • 1 • character 
 
 purity of nature like the patriarchs; a true pilgrim, as sum- 
 like Abraham ; mild, forgiving from the heart, like j;^*T^^.J^^. 
 Moses; a praiseworthy psalmist, like David; a student ute Life." 
 of wisdom, like Solomon ; a choice vessel for preach- 
 ing righteousness, like Paul the apostle ; a man full of 
 the gi-ace and favour of the Holy Spirit, like John 
 the child ; a fair herb garden with plants of virtue ; 
 a vine branch laden with fruit ; a flashing fire with 
 fervour to warm and heat the sons of life, to kindle 
 and inflame charity ; a lion for strength and might ; 
 a dove for gentleness and simplicity ; a serpent for 
 prudence and cunning as to good ; gentle, humble, 
 merciful unto the sons of life ; gloomy and ungentle 
 to the sons of death ; a slave laborious and service- 
 able to Christ; a king for dignity and power in 
 binding and loosing."*^ ^ 
 
 The stoi-y is that towards the close of his life His vision 
 our apostle prayed to be certified of the future of ariting in 
 Hibemia, and that in answer he saw the whole uudia. 
 island wrapped in a flame of fire. He looked again, 
 and saw cone-like mountains of fire rising heaven- 
 wards. He looked again, and this time saw candles 
 burning here and there, scanty lights with darkness 
 intervening, and coals lying hidden in their ashes, 
 but still alive. Such, he was assured, would be the 
 future experience of Ireland. Then, weeping bitterly, 
 he cried, " Will God cast off" for ever, and will He 
 be no more entreated ? '" Then he was directed to 
 look towards the north, when, raising his eyes, he 
 saw a tiny light arising in Ulidia, struggling with 
 the darkness, but at length dispersing it, and illu- 
 mining the whole island with its rays. Then the 
 
 » " Tripartite " vol. i. p. 257. 
 127 
 
THE COMING OF PATRICK [part ii 
 
 heart of Patrick was filled with joy, and his tongue 
 with exultation, and he gave thanks for what God 
 had showed him. May Patrick's vision be realised 
 in our time. May there go forth from Ulidia (from 
 Ulster) to Munster, from the north to the south — 
 not spreading clouds of darkness, but the very light 
 of life; not hate, but love; not notes of war, but 
 peace through the Prince of peace. 
 
 12^ 
 
PART TTI 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE FUNDAMENTAL FEATURE OF THE CHURCH 
 OF ST. PATRICK— ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 I HAVE now to try to convey some just idea of the 
 Church that was set up by Patrick and his com- 
 panions, and of the institutions and agencies by 
 means of which it sought to evangelise the people 
 and edify its members. In doing this, it is absolutely 
 necessary to begin with its monasticism, which it is 
 not too much to say was its predominant charac- 
 teristic. To overlook the monastic character of 
 early Irish Christianity were to miss its most funda- 
 mental and comprehensive institution, that which 
 dominated and coloured everything, and brought 
 ever3rthing into subjection to itself — the keystone 
 in the arch of its ecclesiastical order, or rather both 
 arch and keystone, and the most distinctive note of 
 its life. " The entire Church appears to have been 
 monastic, and her whole clergy embraced within the 
 fold of the monastic rule.''^ I have now to speak of 
 this institution as it appeared in Ireland, the pro- 
 bable source whence it was derived, and its more 
 salient features. 
 
 It would be almost impossible to draw too dark a 
 picture of pagan family life at the opening of the 
 Chi'istian era. The marriage bond was lightly set 
 
 1 Skene's " CeJtic Scotland," vol, ii. Bk. ii. p. 42. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part m 
 
 at nought; the ties that bound husband and wife, 
 parents and children, masters and servants, were not, 
 as a rule, ties of affection ; the atmosphere that per- 
 vaded the dwelling — it cannot be called by the 
 sacred word home — was too apt to be impregnated 
 with impurity; and social life had equally lost its 
 savour. Christianity gave men a new sense of the 
 sanctity of marriage and of the family relations; 
 purified, consecrated, and drew closer all family ties ; 
 cultivated the domestic and social affections ; bound 
 men in a common brotherhood, and encouraged a 
 frugal but cheerful use of temporal blessings. From 
 the first it inculcated a severe self-discipline, a sitting 
 loose to worldly advantage, a spirit of self-renuncia- 
 tion, and a readiness, often exemplified, to sell all 
 one's goods to give to the poor. Luxury was con- 
 demned, and a certain aloofness from the amusements 
 of the time distinguished Christians, due chiefly, 
 however, to the fear of getting contaminated with 
 the pagan impurities that were apt to mingle with 
 them. " We are no Brahmins nor Indian Gymnoso- 
 phists,'"* says Tertullian, " no wild men of the woods, 
 nor separatists from life. We are mindful of the 
 gratitude which we owe to the Lord our God, and 
 do not despise the enjoyment of His works. We 
 only so moderate it as to avoid excess and abuse." ^ 
 *' Pleasantry is permissible," says Clement of Alex- 
 andria, "but not frivolity. Whatever things are 
 natural to men we must not eradicate, but impose 
 limits and times. One needs not be gloomy, but 
 only grave." ^ As yet there is no disposition to 
 regard the domestic and social life as an inferior 
 ideal to that of complete withdrawal from the world, 
 
 * " ApoL," 42. 2 «. paed.," Bk. ii. ch. i. 
 
 132 
 
CHAP. Ml] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 renunciation of man'iage and society, and an ascetic 
 self-mortification. But a dualistic philosophy derived 
 from Platonic and Pythagorean, as well as Oriental origin of 
 sources, taught that there exists an irreconcilable ^g^^**^ 
 antagonism between spirit and matter, soul and 
 body, that evil is inseparably connected with matter, 
 and can be got rid of only by an ascetic mortification 
 of the flesh. This philosophy was everywhere and 
 powerfully dominant, and reached deep and far. 
 Outside the Christian pale the ascetic spirit appears 
 in Brahminism, in Buddhist monasticism, in the 
 Indian Gymnosophists, and in the monk-priests of 
 Serapis in Egypt. Within the Christian pale, and 
 deeply affecting the Church, it works through Gnosti- 
 cism and Manicheism. The great Christian teachers, 
 like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and his disciple 
 Hieracas, are profoundly imbued with the Neo- 
 Platonic philosophy, and its leaven spreads. As 
 Professor Sohm well says : " The theory that was 
 the supreme principle of pagan philosophy, that 
 sense as sense is immoral, and that the subjection of 
 the bodily passions through ' ecstasy ,"* that is, through 
 detachment from the body, can alone lead the spirit 
 of the wise man to God — this theory took captive 
 the Christian world also. Asceticism was now de- 
 clared to be a duty of life ; nay, more, to be the 
 highest duty of life, inasmuch as it was a means 
 to the vision and possession of God. Monasticism 
 arose in the moment when this thought was shared 
 by the masses of the people, and multitudes with- 
 drew into the solitude of the deserts that they might 
 make asceticism the calling of their life." ^ The 
 approaches to that stage were, however, gi'adual. 
 * " Kirchengeschichte im Grundriss," p. 67. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part m 
 
 Its gradual We See its beginnings in the esteem in which vir- 
 ™®* ginity has come to be held in the second century, 
 
 and the feehng against second marriages amongst 
 the Montanists and elsewhere.^ This higher sanctity 
 is especially demanded in the clergy, and hence the 
 Canons of the Councils of Elvira, Neo-Caesarea, and 
 Ancyra. Then we find a class of ascetics arising 
 who practise asceticism without external separation 
 from their families, as in the case of Origen and 
 Hieracas, and the society of ascetics he gathers 
 around him. 
 First It was in Egypt that Christian monasticism first 
 
 Em)t^ ^" appeared, and it is deeply significant that, as Wein- 
 garten appears to have established, Pachomius, one 
 of the chief founders of the system, and a contem- 
 porary of Anthony, in the first half of the fourth 
 century, was before his conversion a monk of Ser- 
 apis. It is curious, too, that the form of monasti- 
 cism introduced into Ireland was similar to that of 
 Is brought Pachomius. Athanasius brought the knowledge of 
 it to the West, and it is highly probable that St. 
 Martin of Tours was the medium through whom, 
 indirectly perhaps, Patrick became familiar with it. 
 The tradition that Patrick's mother, Conchessa, was 
 a sister of Martin is exceedingly doubtful, and not 
 generally credited. As Martin appears to have died 
 in 397, it is difficult to fit into any feasible chrono- 
 logy of Patrick's life the tradition that he spent 
 some years under Martin's tuition. But that Ninian, 
 the apostle of the Southern Picts, came in contact 
 with Martin, that it was through Martin that Ninian 
 was enabled to build the church called Ccmdida 
 
 ^ See Athenagoras, "Suppl.," 33 ; Clem, of Alex., "Quis dives 
 salvetur ; " and Tertulliau. 
 
 to the West. 
 
CHAP, vn] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 Casa at Whithorn, dedicated to Martin, and that 
 other monasteries of the same type were established 
 in Britain, there is no doubt. If not in Gaul and by 
 direct contact, at least in Britain, where Martin's 
 monastic system was introduced and extended, Pat- 
 rick could not fail to become familiar with it. That 
 after Patrick''s time close relations were maintained 
 between Irish ecclesiastics and the Magmtm Monas- 
 terium at Whithorn, and that some great and in- 
 fluential abbots were trained there, is well known.^ 
 There was, indeed, one marked difference between 
 Martin's system and that of Patrick. The former 
 was strongly averse to the society and service of 
 <i^omen in the institutions founded by him, while 
 Patrick was just as strongly in their favour. But 
 the difference may have been due to the initiative of 
 the Irish apostle. 
 
 At any rate, that monasticism existed in the Irish introduced 
 Church from the time of Patrick is quite cer- ^^ ^^^'^"^ 
 tain. Both in the Confession and in the Epistle 
 to Coroticus he refers to monks and virgins who 
 had devoted themselves to the religious life as being 
 numerous. In the letter he says : " The sons of the 
 Scots and the daughters of princes are monks and 
 virgins of Christ to an extent I cannot enumerate."" ^ 
 Before long, monastic settlements were established 
 all over the country, and became, as I have said, 
 the most fundamental and all-embracing institutions 
 of the Irish Church. I must now endeavour to give 
 the reader some idea of what an Irish monastery 
 was like. 
 
 If he imagines a large building or cluster of 
 
 * See Skene's •' Celtic Scotland, " vol. ii. Bk. ii. pp. 45 seq. 
 * «♦ Epistle to Corot.," 7. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 buildings in some populous town or city, such as 
 those in which monks now find accommodation, he 
 will be wide of the mark indeed. The primitive 
 Irish monastery was rude and simple, and often 
 in some remote and isolated situation. The most 
 The favour- favourite site appears to have been an island near 
 j^n^teries ^^^ coast, or in some inland loch, or on the summit 
 wereisiands. of a lofty mountain. I have already spoken of the 
 monastery on Nendrum, now Mahee, in Strangford 
 Lough. Similar institutions were set up on Rathlin, 
 or Rechran (still called Raghery by the natives), oif 
 the Antrim coast, on another Rachrain (now Lam- 
 bay) off the coast of County Dublin, on the three 
 islands of Arran in Galway Bay — the largest of 
 these, now called Arran of the Saints, having had 
 no fewer than ten monasteries erected on it. On 
 five islands in Lough Erne there were as many 
 monasteries. In Lough Ree, formed by the Shannon, 
 there were also five, and in Lough Derg, formed by the 
 same river, and Lough Corrib, there were five more. 
 Islands were chosen not only on account of their 
 isolation and solitude, but for the sake of the greater 
 safety and freedom from molestation which they 
 afforded. The larger establishments, however, as a 
 rule, appear to have been placed upon the main- 
 land. In the latter case, a rath was sometimes given 
 by a chief for the purpose, or a site was found on 
 the outskirts of a forest, which had first to be cleared 
 How the of its trees and brushwood. The monks needed to 
 WM blmt?^ be handy with the axe and other tools, and so many 
 of them were. We read of a bishop, for example, 
 who always went abroad with his axe slung over 
 his shoulder. The next step was the erection of 
 a church or oratory, which was wont to be very 
 136 
 
CHAP, vii] n^S MONASTICISM 
 
 small, and rarely built of stone; most generally it 
 was made of wood or wattles. We are told of 
 Mochai, the abbot of Nendrum (Mahee Island), 
 that on one occasion he went with seven score 
 young men to cut wattles wherewith to make the 
 ecclais or church.^ It was in this manner, we are 
 informed, that St. Kieran of Saigir constructed his 
 church and the huts for his monks; and it is 
 eminently characteristic of the monkish method of 
 writing history when it is added, that when he 
 went into the forest to procure the materials, a 
 wild boar assisted him by biting off with his teeth 
 the branches which he required. Both church and 
 hut were constructed on the simplest plan. Stakes 
 were driven into the ground, rods or wattles were 
 woven between the stakes, very much as baskets 
 are made, only in ruder fashion ; moss was stuffed 
 between the wattles, and the Avhole stanched and 
 plastered with clay. Stone buildings were rare till 
 the end of the eighth centuiy, when the Danes began 
 to penetrate and ravage the country, and to burn 
 the wattled or wooden houses. But in addition to The monaa- 
 the little church, there would also be the common !^**^ ^"^^^' 
 room or refectory, in which the monks took their 
 meals, and off it the kitchen. They generally took 
 care to settle by a stream of water, beside which 
 they would build a mill, with a kiln for drying the 
 corn. Grouped around would be the cells or bee- 
 hive huts, made of wattles, each by itself, and very 
 small, in which the monks lived. For shelter and 
 protection the whole group of huts would be sur- 
 rounded by a rampart or circular enclosure made 
 of earth or stones. The number of huts woukl vary 
 ^ ** Martyrology of Donegal," p. 177. 
 
 m 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part m 
 
 with the number of monks and their pupils to be 
 accommodated : the smallest of which we hear con- 
 tained 150. The monastery on Nendrum, under 
 the rule of Mochai, contained "nine times fifty 
 monks." In cases where the monastery became 
 famous as a seminary, the numbers in residence 
 would rise to thousands. The great monastery of 
 Clonard in Meath, when Finian presided over it 
 (a.d. 530), is said to have contained 3000, while 
 Bangor, under the rule of Comgall (a.d. 550), 
 contained 4000. Indeed, there was no limit to the 
 accommodation, so far as residence was concerned. 
 When a new pupil arrived, he had only to go to 
 the neighbouring wood, cut down some wattles, and 
 his hut would be completed in an hour or two. 
 Such were the students'* chambers of those days ! 
 It was in such huts, in which they could hardly 
 stand erect, with no light but what came from the 
 door, and no table but the knee, on which the book 
 in which they wrote rested, that the beautiful Irish 
 manuscripts were written and illuminated. 
 How the How were the monks sustained ? It is a problem 
 
 how the innumerable hives of monks with which the 
 land swarmed found support in such a poor country. 
 But their mode of life was simple and abstemious. 
 A single rough garment, a little coarse bread made 
 from the corn grown on the patch of ground which 
 their own hands cultivated, an ^gg from the fowl 
 they kept, a few watercresses, and some water, 
 solved the problem of living. Ere, one of Patrick's 
 disciples who lived beside the Boyne, kept a flock 
 of geese, and the half of one of their eggs did him 
 for twenty-four hours. (We are here reminded how 
 the monks sometimes tamed the wild animals and 
 
 138 
 
 monks 
 Uved. 
 
CHAP, vnj ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 birds of the wood, and turned them into pets. It 
 is related of St. Kieran of Saigir that a fox, a wolf, 
 a badger, and a wild boar were thus domesticated 
 by him, and that he was wont to call them his 
 monks, and himself their abbot. They were in 
 such subjection that when the fox committed a 
 theft, and St. Kieran required him to do penance, 
 he submitted as if he knew all about it ! St. Kevin 
 of Glendalough is said to have had a blackbird that 
 laid her eggs and hatched her brood in his hand ! 
 But this is only by the way.) When anything more 
 than their own resources supplied was needed, it was 
 got gratuitously from the neighbourhood. When 
 Adamnan, as a youth, was attending the great 
 monastic school of Clonard, he was one day carry- 
 ing a cask on his back. He was overtaken by the 
 king and his cavalcade, when, huriying to get out 
 of the way, he fell, and the cask was broken, 
 and the milk spilled which it contained. As he 
 appeared greatly troubled, the king asked him 
 what vexed him. He explained that there were 
 three noble students, and three lads (of whom he 
 was one) who attended on them, each going round 
 the neighbourhood in turn to collect provisions. It 
 was his turn that day, but what he had procured 
 was lost, and the vessel, which he had borrowed, 
 was broken. The king comforted the lad by more 
 than compensating him for the loss. Here were six 
 students whose wants were supplied by the bounty 
 of the surrounding neighbourhood. 
 
 Besides those referred to, there was, it should be The Brehon 
 remembered, another source of revenue secured by ^©a.^^*^^ 
 law. According to the Brehon law, " the right of 
 the Church from the tiuith or tribe is tithes and 
 139 
 
The muin- 
 tir or 
 famUia. 
 
 How em- 
 ployed. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 first-fruits and firstlings : these are due to a church 
 fr'om her members."''' It is probable that the law 
 with regard to tithes dates from a comparatively 
 late period. The law of first-fr'uits and firstlings 
 appears to have belonged to an earlier time. The 
 firstling is defined to mean every male animal that 
 opens the womb. " First-fruits are the fruit of the 
 gathering of every new produce, whether small or 
 great, and every first calf and every first lamb which 
 is brought forth in the year.*" ^ 
 
 The total number of monks connected with a 
 monastery was called its muintir or famUia, al- 
 though the term is applied sometimes not only to 
 the community in each monastery, but to all the 
 monasteries of which it is the parent, and over which 
 it exercises jurisdiction. The monastic community 
 was also called the " city '"* (civitas) of its founder. 
 Thus the monastery founded by Brigid at Kildare 
 is called the " city '*' of Brigid.^ Those members of 
 the monastic community who were advanced in life 
 seem to have been chiefly occupied in conducting 
 the devotional exercises, and in reading and tran- 
 scribing the Scriptures. Thus of the sixty " seniors " 
 under Mochta in the monastery of Lughmagh (Louth) 
 it is said : — 
 
 *' Threescore psalm-singing seniors 
 Were his household, royal the number ; 
 Without tillage, reaping, or kiln-drying, 
 Without work, except reading." ^ 
 
 But the brethren not yet enfeebled by age found 
 ample scope for their energy. Almost every sort 
 
 ^ " Ancient Laws of Ireland," vol. iii. pp. 39 seq. 
 
 2 See Todd's " St. Patrick," p. 22. 
 
 3 Cf. " Martyrology of Donegal," and Adamnan's " Vit. S. Col.," 
 Bk. iii. ch. iv. 
 
 140 
 
CHAP, vii] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 of industry known at that time was prosecuted. 
 Even in the Jinnilia of Patrick himself, which was 
 not stationary, we hear not only of his chaplain 
 and hishop and priest and psalmist and bell-ringer, 
 but of Bishop Ere his judge, of Bishop MacCair- 
 thinn his champion, of Coeman his chamberlain, 
 of Athcen his cook, of Presbyter Mescan his brewer, 
 of Presbyters Catan and Acan his waiters, of Odran 
 his charioteer, of Presbyter Manach his woodman, 
 of Rottan his cowherd, of MacCecht, Laeban, and 
 Fortchem his smiths, of Essa, Bite, and Tassach his 
 artisans, and of Lufait, Ere, and Cruimthiris his 
 embroideresses. Both mechanical employments within 
 doors, and the humblest forms of husbandry in the 
 fields, occupied the monks. It is evident that the 
 Irish monasteries must have been largely self-sup- 
 porting, as they were also able to minister to the 
 poor and the destitute. 
 
 In the earlier period, too, the society and service Society and 
 of women were not refused, but welcomed and women°' 
 turned to account. The Irish monks, far from welcomed, 
 being compelled to exclude the gentler sex from 
 their society, were permitted to admit them, enjoy 
 their intercourse, and profit by their ministrations. 
 There appear to have been many women, like those 
 just named, who employed their skill in embroidery 
 and other feminine arts, and in the general service 
 of the brotherhood. 
 
 All these facts should be borne in mind when we Wsh 
 speak of the Irish Church as having been dominated gj^'f^^^jju. 
 and controlled by monastic institutions. After all, cationai, 
 they partook more of the social, educational, and 
 industrial spirit than they did of the monastic ; at 
 least the monastic element was modified, mitigated, 
 141 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 and humanised by these other influences. The Irish 
 monasteries were really industrial colonies, devoted 
 in a large degi-ee to productive labour and to the 
 cultivation of the useful arts — to some extent even 
 of the fine arts and of learning, as well as to the 
 practice of the rules of the " religious life.*" 
 Church But to obtain an adequate idea of the position of 
 
 aflSted^by" ^^^ monastery as related to other institutions an- 
 the secular other most important feature in its constitution has 
 ment ^^^ to be noticed. History has come to recognise 
 
 in recent times, as it had not done before, to what a 
 great extent church organisation has been affected 
 by the external environment, and, in particular, by 
 the constitution of the secular society in the midst 
 of which it finds itself. Every one knows how the 
 organisation of what we call the '' Catholic Church " 
 of the early centuries was laid on the lines and 
 reflected the political divisions and subdivisions of 
 It was so in the Empire. Hatch, in his " Growth of Church 
 Em^e™^° Institutions," has amply shown this. "The Con- 
 titution of the Church,"' says Professor Rudolph 
 Sohm, in his admirable little " Kirchengeschichte 
 im Grundriss,"" " was in the main modelled on the 
 organisation of the Empire."*"* He is speaking not of 
 the primitive Apostolic Church, but of" Catholicism."" 
 "In its old age,"*** he says, "the Roman Empire 
 bequeathed its constitution to the young Church, 
 struggling upward with all the forces of a new life. 
 It was its last great legacy to the future. In the 
 form of an ecclesiastical constitution, the imperial 
 constitution outlived the fall of the Empire. To 
 this day the diocese of the Catholic bishops is the 
 copy of the Roman 'civitas"*; the province of the 
 Catholic archbishop the copy of the Roman imperial 
 142 
 
CHAP, vn] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 province; and the Catholic Church, under a Pope, 
 declared omnipotent by law, the copy of the ancient 
 Roman Empire, with its Caesars, who claimed the 
 world as its possession.*" Similarly, the organisation itwaasoin 
 of the Celtic Church of Ireland adapted itself to the 
 civil and social condition of the people whom it 
 sought to influence. Just as the whole Church was 
 under the rule of the monks, so the monks in turn, 
 and the whole monastic system, were in Ireland 
 dominated by the tribal spirit and customs which, 
 a^ we have seen, then reigned supreme over Irish 
 society. As the unit of Irish society was the tribe. The church 
 the members of which were bound together by ^fftcted by 
 common interests and customs, and occupied a defi- the tribal 
 nite territory under the chief, and as the tribes "^^ ^™' 
 were often in conflict with one another, and inter- 
 course between them impossible, Patrick and his 
 successors were compelled to adapt the external 
 framework and organisation of the Church to the 
 tribal constitution of Irish society. As Montalem- 
 bert puts it: "The monasteries in Ireland were 
 nothing else, to speak simply, than clans reorganised 
 under a religious form. From this cause resulted 
 the extraordinary number of their inhabitants, which 
 were counted by hundreds and thousands, and from 
 this also came their influence and productiveness, 
 which were still more wonderful.""* As Professor 
 Richey points out, the monastic family became an 
 artificial tribe, of which its founder was the chief; 
 with the land granted to the founder were conveyed 
 all the rights of the chief of the clan ; and " the 
 family of the monastery comprised as well the monks 
 as the clansmen, vassals, and serfs living on the 
 territory of the Coarb.'' The artificial tribe thus 
 143 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 created was governed by the Coarb, or heir of the 
 saint who founded it, who enjoyed all the rights of 
 the original chief as well as the spiritual authority 
 of the abbot, although the temporal and spiritual 
 functions of the office were often divided. The 
 grant of land on which a monastery was situated 
 was, of course, obtained from the head of the tribe 
 to which the land belonged, and, as a rule, the eccle 
 siastic who founded the monastery placed it within 
 the territory of his own tribe. It was, however, not 
 always so. Sometimes he belonged to a different 
 tribe from that in whose territory he planted it. 
 When the founder belonged to the same family as 
 the owner of the land on which his monastery was 
 placed, the abbacy was always hereditary in that 
 family ; that is, some one was provided from among 
 its members who was qualified to take the place of 
 Coarb or successor on each vacancy of the abbacy. 
 But when the saint founding the monastery belonged, 
 as sometimes happened, to a different family from 
 that of the head of the tribe owning the land, the 
 Coarbship or succession to the abbacy was enjoyed 
 by the clan or family to which the saint belonged. 
 Here is how the Brehon law dealt with cases wherein 
 " the tribe of the land " and " the tribe of the saint *" 
 were different : — 
 
 "The Church of the Tribe of the Saint ; that is, 
 the tribe of the saint shall succeed in the church as 
 long as there shall be a person fit to be an abbot of 
 the tribe of the saint ; even though there should be 
 but a psalm-singer of these, it is he that will obtain 
 the abbacy. Where this is not the case, it is to be 
 given to the tribe of the land until a person fit to be 
 an abbot of the tribe of the saint shall be found ; 
 144 
 
CHAP, vii] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 and when he is, it is to be given to him if he be 
 better than the abbot of the tribe of the land who 
 has taken it. If he be not better, he shall take it 
 only in his turn. If a person fit to be an abbot has 
 not come of the tribe of the saint or of the tribe 
 of the land, the abbacy is to be given to the tribe 
 of the monks, until a person fit to be an abbot of 
 the tribe of the saint or of the tribe of the land 
 shall be found ; and where there is such, he is pre- 
 ferable. If a person fit to be an abbot has not 
 come of the tribe of the saint, or of the tribe of 
 the land, or of the tribe of the monks, the Annoit 
 (i.e. the parent monastery) shall take it in the fourth 
 place ; the Dalta (or affiliated or disciple monastery) 
 shall take it in the fifth place ; the Compairche (or 
 monastery in the same ' parochia "*) shall take it in 
 the sixth place ; the nearest Cill (or Cella) shall take 
 it in the seventh place. If a person fit to be an 
 abbot has not come in any of these seven places, 
 the Deoruid De (God's stranger or pilgrim, i.e. the 
 anchorite who lived apart from his brethren) shall 
 take it in Ihe eighth place. If a person fit to be an 
 abbot has not arisen of the tribe of the saint, or of 
 the land, or of the monks together, and the Annoit, 
 or the Dalta, or the Compairche, or the nearest Cill, 
 or the Deoruid De, has the wealth, it must be given 
 to the tribe of the saint, for one of them fit to be 
 an abbot goes for nothing. The abbacy goes from 
 them.*" ^ We have seen already how the monastery or 
 Church could claim certain rights from the tribe — 
 the right of tithes, first-fruits, and firstlings ; but so, 
 on the other hand, could the ttuith or tribe claim 
 certain rights from the Church. " The right of the 
 ^ " Ancient Laws of Ireland," voL iii. p. 75. 
 145 K 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 tuath or tribe against the Church" is: "they can 
 demand baptism and communion and requiem of 
 soul, and the offering from every church to every 
 person after his proper behef, with the recital of the 
 Word of God to all who listen to it and keep it." ^ 
 A tract on the legal constitution and rights of 
 privileged classes, in MS. in the British Museum, 
 says : " It is no tuath or tribe without three free 
 dignitaries — the eclais, or church ; the ^aith, or lord ; 
 and the Jile, or poet." 
 
 It thus appears how intimately the monastic 
 Church of Ireland was interwoven with, and was 
 made to adapt itself to, the tribal constitution to 
 which Irish society was subject. 
 Themonas- In those evil, rude, and troubled times, [when 
 a^Timnfor ^^g^^ often took the place of right, and violence 
 those in ran riot, it cannot but have been an immense ad- 
 prSiiegeof vantage to have the quiet and safe shelter of the 
 sanctuary, monastery to flee to when danger threatened. The 
 monastery possessed the privilege of sanctuary, and 
 this privilege was most jealously guarded. According 
 to a story told in a " Life of Columba " by Manus 
 O'Donnell, Diarmaid, king of Ireland and head of 
 the Southern Hy Neill, took Curnan, son of ^Edh, 
 king of Connaught, by force from under the pro- 
 tection of Columba in his monastery, and slew him. 
 Thereupon Columba, who was also dissatisfied with 
 Diarmaid for a decision which he gave respecting 
 the ownership of a transcript of a copy of the Book 
 of Psalms, stirred up the race of the Northern Hy 
 Neill, to which both Curnan and Columba belonged, 
 to punish Diarmaid for his violation of the privilege 
 of asylum which belonged to the monastery, the 
 
 ^ '* Ancient Laws," vol. iii. p. 33. 
 146 
 
CHAP.vn] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 result of which was the great battle of Cooldrevny 
 (Culdremhne), in which Diarmaid was defeated. 
 This was not the only instance of a violation of 
 the right of sanctuary by this same Diarmaid. A 
 certain transgi-essor of the law called Guaire, a pro- 
 vincial king, had tried to escape the hand of justice 
 by taking refuge with Ruadhan, abbot of Lothra, 
 one of the " twelve apostles of Ireland ; "" but Diar- 
 maid pursued him, and, in spite of the privilege of 
 sanctuary, which he naturally thought only abused 
 in such a case, he seized the offender, and carried 
 him off to his palace at Tara. Having refused to 
 surrender him, "Roadanus and a bishop that was 
 with him took their bells that they had, which they 
 rang hardly, and cursed the king and place, and 
 prayed God that no king or queen ever after should 
 or could dwell in Tarach, and that it should be waste 
 for ever, without court or palace, as it fell out 
 accordingly." So undoubtedly it "fell out."*"* The 
 belief in the efficacy of the curse worked out its 
 fulfilment, and so, as an ancient Irish poem has it — 
 
 " From the judgment of Ruadhan on his house 
 There was no king at Teamreagh or Tara."* 
 
 An incident related in Adamnan**s "Life of 
 Columba "" affords another illustration of the way in 
 which the monastery served to befriend persons in 
 distress or danger. Referring to Columba, Adamnan 
 says : " When the holy man, while yet a youth in 
 deacon's orders, was living in the region of Leinster, 
 learning divine wisdom, it happened one day that 
 an unfeeling and pitiless oppressor of the innocent 
 was pursuing a young girl, who fled before him on a 
 
 1 See Petrie's "Antiquities of Tara Hill," pp. 125, 127. 
 147 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [partiii 
 
 level plain. As she chanced to observe the aged 
 Gemman, master of the aforesaid young deacon, 
 reading on the plain, she ran straight to him as fast 
 as she could. Being alarmed at such an unexpected 
 occurrence, he called on Columba, who was reading 
 at some distance, that both together might defend 
 the girl from her pursuer ; but he immediately came 
 up, and, without any regard to their presence, 
 stabbed the girl with his lance under their very 
 cloaks, and leaving her lying dead at their feet, 
 turned to go back. Then the old man, in great 
 affliction, turning to Columba, said, 'How long, 
 holy youth Columba, shall God, the just Judge, 
 allow this horrible crime and this insult to us to 
 go unpunished ? ' Then the saint at once pro- 
 nounced this sentence on the perpetrator of the 
 deed : ' At the very instant the soul of this girl 
 whom he hath murdered ascendeth into heaven shall 
 the soul of the murderer go down into hell ; ' and 
 scarcely had he spoken the words when the murderer 
 of the innocent, like Ananias before Peter, fell down 
 dead on the spot before the eyes of the holy youth. 
 The news of this sudden and terrible vengeance was 
 soon spread abroad throughout many districts of 
 Ireland, and with it the wonderful fame of the holy 
 deacon." Indeed it was not "wonderful" in the 
 circumstances ! But the reader need not believe all 
 the details of the story unless he pleases. 
 Themonas- There were other directions, however, in which 
 exSnpiVof ^^^ influence of the monastery, and of the industrial 
 industry community which it sheltered, was calculated to be 
 deniaL less equivocal and more wholesome and salutary. 
 In those rude and rough times, when the rights of 
 different septs, families, and individuals were in 
 148 
 
CHAP, vn] ITS MONASTICISM 
 
 almost perpetual conflict, and when the temptations 
 to a selfish, idle, but predatory and violent life were 
 powerful, it was of immense advantage to a people 
 addicted to such a mode of living to have set before 
 them from day to day the example which they saw 
 in the monastic community. That community lived 
 and moved before them continually as a little indus- 
 trial Christian colony of persons who had severed 
 the ties that bound them to earthly friends and 
 interests, and lived a life of stringent self-discipline 
 and self-denial. They were, as a rule, a pattern of 
 purity, temperance, and self-control. The time that 
 was not spent in religious exercises was given to 
 reading, writing, teaching, preaching, or busy in- 
 dustry at some trade or handicraft, and the means 
 which they acquired by gift of others or by their 
 own diligence and thrift they spent in works of 
 charity and benevolence. It was inevitable that 
 they should command the respect and reverence of 
 both chiefs and people, and that they should do 
 much to mitigate the evils and abate the injustices 
 and cruelties of the time, and wield on the whole 
 a civilising influence. In course of time another But also 
 element was added to their influence, which was «^^^^^^^ 
 
 super- 
 
 neither so legitimate in its nature nor so wholesome stmous 
 in its eff*ect. " We know how readily a rude and 
 primitive people invest with superstitious and super- 
 natural power those claiming superior sanctity, and 
 the newly converted people soon surrounded these 
 saints, as they termed them, with the same old halo 
 of reverence and awe which had belonged to their 
 pagan priests, such as they were. The power with 
 which the latter were supposed to be endowed of 
 influencing the action of their native gods was 
 149 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 transferred to the Christian missionary, who was 
 believed to exercise a similar power with regard 
 to the Christian Deity. Their intercession was 
 sought for, their malediction dreaded, and the claims 
 and rites of the Christian Church invested with 
 superstitious sanctions which brought the people 
 more readily and universally into subjection to 
 her/'i 
 
 1 Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. p. 74, 
 
 150 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES AND MONKS 
 
 Patrick'*s immediate disciples, and the monasteries Patrick's 
 or churches founded by them, can be referred to <^i»cipie8. 
 only in the briefest terms. Most prominent among 
 these was Mochay, son of Bronach, daughter of 
 Milchu, already mentioned. Mochay was converted 
 by Patrick about 433, founded his monastery on 
 Nendrum or Mahee island, in Strangford Lough, 
 about 450, and died in 497. In this monastery 
 education was combined with monastic discipline. 
 Finnian, the founder of Moville, and Colman, the 
 founder of Dromore, both got their training under 
 Mochay. Six brothers of his were ecclesiastics, one 
 of them having been Bishop Mac Ere of Donagh- 
 more, in County Down. Then there was Mochta, a 
 Briton, who founded a monastery at Louth, which 
 contained 300 presbyters, 100 bishops, and 60 or 
 80 singers, who "ploughed not, reaped not, dried 
 not corn, laboured not save at learning only." 
 There was Benen or Benignus of Kilbennan, near 
 Galway, where the ruins of a monastery and a 
 round tower are still to be seen. He was one of 
 the nine said to have been appointed to revise the 
 laws. There was Fiacc of Sleaty (Sleibhte), to whom 
 a hymn in praise of Patrick is ascribed. There was 
 Lomman, son of Gollit, a Briton, and of Darerca, 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 sister of Patrick, and therefore at once Patrick's 
 nephew and disciple, who founded a church at 
 Trim. He had four brothers — Manis, who was a 
 bishop in Forgney, County Longford ; Broccaide, 
 whose church was at Imleach Each, in County Mayo; 
 Brocan and Mugenog, whose churches were in the 
 great plain of Bregia, in Meath. There was Mel, 
 also said to have been a nephew of Patrick, who 
 became abbot and bishop of Ardagh. There was 
 Sechnall or Secundinus, still another nephew of 
 Patrick, son of Restitutus and Liamain or Limania, 
 a sister of the saint. Dunshaughlin takes its name 
 from Sechnall. He was a bishop in Armagh, and 
 had six brothers — Necktan, a bishop; Dabonna, a 
 presbyter ; Mogornan, a presbyter ; Rioc, a bishop ; 
 Auxilius, a bishop ; and Lugna, a presbyter ; and 
 there was Cianan or Keenan, founder of Duleek, 
 near Drogheda. 
 
 It is of course impossible even to mention by 
 name the almost innumerable monasteries that were 
 established in Ireland in the centuries succeeding 
 Patrick. But a few were so powerful and influential, 
 and acquired such fame for the educational and 
 evangelistic work accomplished by them, that a brief 
 notice of them is necessary to a right appreciation 
 of the history of the time. 
 St. Brigid 1- Kildare- — Next to St. Patrick, the highest place 
 in Irish hagiology and in the veneration of the Irish 
 people is assigned to St. Brigid. The two principal 
 Lives of her are attributed, the one to Bishop Ultan, 
 and the other to Cogitosus. According to Dr. Petrie 
 — and Dr. Todd agrees with him — the period when 
 Cogitosus wrote was within the years 800-835. 
 
 Brigid was born about the year 455. Her father, 
 152 
 
 founds 
 Kildare. 
 
CHAP, viii] SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES 
 
 whose name was DufFack, was a chief of the race of 
 Ugaine Mor (Hugo the great), king of Ireland, 
 but she was an illegitimate child, her mother having 
 been DufFack's slave. The jealousy of his wife com- 
 pelled him to part with the slave, whom he sold to 
 a Druid, and so it was that Brigid was born on a 
 farm belonging to this Druid at Faughart, between 
 Newry and Dundalk. The locality derives further 
 historical interest from another event which happened 
 there. It was beside Faughart that, near the begin- 
 ning of the fourteenth century, a great and decisive 
 battle was fought between Edward Bruce and the 
 Irish on the one side and the English on the other. 
 Bruce was defeated and slain, and, according to tradi- 
 tion, his dust lies in a little graveyard picturesquely 
 situated on the summit of the hill on whose slopes 
 the battle was fought. 
 
 Brigid grew up to be a most kindly and earnest 
 Chi'istian maiden; her heathen master and mistress 
 were converted through her agency; she obtained 
 her freedom from them, and then gave herself to a 
 " religious "" life. It is thought not improbable that 
 it is to her Patrick refers in his " Confession "" when 
 he says : " There was one blessed Scotic maiden, 
 very fair, of noble birth and of adult age, whom I 
 baptized ; and after a few days she came to me, 
 because, as she declared, she had received a response 
 from a messenger of Grod desiring her to become a 
 virgin of Christ and to draw near to God. Thanks 
 be to God, on the sixth day from that she with 
 praiseworthy eagerness seized on that state of life 
 which all the virgins of God now adopt." From this 
 time Brigid laboured with great earaestness and suc- 
 cess for the conversion of those still in heathenism. 
 153 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 It seems to have been between the years 480-490 
 that she laid the foundation of her great monastery 
 in Leinster at a spot then called Drumcree. Her 
 first church and hut were erected under the shadow 
 of a large oak, whence they took the name by which 
 the place is still known, Kildare (or Church of the 
 Oak). Cogitosus states that innumerable people of 
 both sexes flocked to her "from all the provinces 
 of Ireland,""* bringing their voluntary offerings, and 
 that thus she was enabled to raise on the plain of 
 Liffey a monastery " which is the head of nearly all 
 Irish churches, and the pinnacle towering above all 
 monasteries of the Scots, whose jurisdiction, spread 
 throughout the whole Hibernian land, reaches from 
 sea to sea." In many parts of Ireland monasteries 
 arose acknowledging Brigid^s j urisdiction. How wide- 
 spread her influence was may be inferred from the 
 fact that, extending over all the four provinces of 
 Ireland, there are thirty-five parishes and townlands 
 called Kilbride {Cill-Bhrighde), or Brigid's Church. 
 In connection with her monastery in Kildare, two or 
 three points of interest may be noted. It is worthy 
 of notice that the community that resided in it was 
 composed of both sexes. In this age, marked by 
 such a strenuous assertion of women's rights, it is 
 interesting to observe the high place and privilege 
 given voluntarily to woman in the early Irish Church, 
 and that offices and dignities were open to her not 
 yet conceded by modern society with all our vaunted 
 progress. 
 
 The author of the " Scholia " on the Martyrology 
 
 of ^ngus the Culdee mentions the singular fact that 
 
 Brigid was ordained a bishop by St. Mel or Moel, 
 
 Bishop of Ardagh ; and this accords strikingly with 
 
 154 
 
CHAP, viii] SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES 
 
 an expression of Cogitosus in his Life of her when 
 he speaks of "her episcopal and virginal chair'' 
 {cathedra episcopalis et puellaris). It is not less 
 singular to learn that she chose an anchorite "to 
 govern the church with her in episcopal dignity." 
 Who the anchorite was is not stated, but there is 
 no reason to doubt that it was Condlaed, who was 
 also her principal artificer in gold, silver, and other 
 metals; and yet this Condlaed was very decidedly under 
 her control, and came and went only at her bidding. 
 He wanted very much to pay a visit to Rome, pro- 
 bably in connection with his art, but Brigid per- 
 emptorily forbade him ; and when he set out without 
 her leave, it is related that he was devoured of wolves, 
 and that " because he tried to go to Rome in viola- 
 tion of an order of Brigid." She died about 525, 
 and became enshrined in the veneration of the early 
 Irish Church as a sort of divinity. They applied to 
 her the same titles as are now conferred on the Virgin 
 Mary — "the mother of the Lord," "one of the 
 mothers of the Lord," " the Queen of the true God," 
 and " the Queen of Queens." 
 
 A singular custom was observed in the monas- 
 tery at Kildare. Giraldus Cambrensis, writing in the 
 twelfth century, refers to a "perpetual fire" that 
 was kept burning at Kildare, and had never been 
 permitted to go out from the time of Brigid till the 
 date at which he wrote. In Irish histoi-y there are 
 many references to such perpetual fires as being kept 
 up in other places. There can be no doubt the 
 custom was originally a heathen one. 
 
 2. Clofiard. — The founder of the great monastery FinnUn 
 of Clonard was Finnian, who is said to have been of Qonard 
 the race of the Cruithne or Picts, to have been 
 155 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 instructed in early life by Fortchem of Trim and 
 Caiman of Darinis, an island in Wexford Bay, to 
 have crossed the Irish Channel in his thirtieth 
 year to Wales, where he came in contact with " the 
 three holy men*" — David, Gildas, and Docus. For 
 thirty years, it is stated, he remained in Britain, 
 and then, accompanied by several British evange- 
 lists, he returned to Ireland "to gather together 
 a people acceptable to the Lord."' After building 
 many churches, he at length settled at Clonard 
 (Cluain-Erard), a retired and beautiful spot on the 
 river Boyne, where the great monastery arose, and 
 continued to grow till it contained three thousand 
 monks, and became one of the most famous centres of 
 training and education in Ireland. Clonard appears 
 to have been founded about a.d. 530 ; but prior to 
 that time there had set in a sad decay of the faith 
 in Ireland and a widespread relapse towards Pagan 
 customs and superstitions. In the " Life of Gildas '' 
 it is stated that he took a chief part in reviving and 
 restoring the faith in Ireland, and the part he took, 
 there is little doubt, was accomplished chiefly through 
 his great disciple, Finnian, and the pupils who were 
 trained at Clonard by Finnian in turn. Twelve of 
 those disciples became known as " the twelve apostles 
 of Erin," and doubtless they were so designated 
 because of the great work which they did in re- 
 evangelising Ireland, in planting monasteries all over 
 the country, and in infusing a new spirit of life and 
 missionary zeal into the Church — a, spirit which, as 
 we shall see later, bore rich and memorable fruit. 
 In the " Martyrology of Donegal,'"* Finnian is char- 
 acterised as a " doctor of wisdom and a tutor of the 
 saints of Ireland in his time ; for he it was that had 
 
 156 
 
CHAP, vm] SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES 
 
 three thousand saints at one school at Cluain-Erard, 
 as is evident in his Life ; and it was out of them the 
 twelve apostles of Erin were chosen.*" The " twelve 
 apostles of Erin"" were Kieran of Saigir, in Munster; 
 and Kieran, " the son of the artificer,'"* who in 548 
 founded the famous monastery of Clonmacnois in 
 King"'s County ; Columba, son of Crimthan, who 
 founded Terryglass in Tipperary; Mobhi, of Glas- 
 nevin; Ninnidh and Sinnell, who founded monasteries 
 on islands in Loch Erne, the one on Inis-mac-Saint, 
 and the other on Cleenish ; the two Brendans, Brendan 
 of Birr, and Brendan who founded the monastery of 
 Clonfert, and became renowned for his seven years' 
 voyage in search of the land of promise ; Molaise of 
 Devenish ; Canice of Aghaboe ; Ruadan of Lorrha ; 
 and lastly, the greatest and most distinguished of the 
 twelve, the great Columba, who went to lona and 
 became " the apostle of the northern Picts."*"* 
 
 3. Bangor. — But not less renowned than Clonard comgaii 
 was the monastery of Bangor in County Down, the ^^^^^ 
 founder of which was Comgall. Tigemach says that 
 he was born in the year 517. He was a native of 
 Magheramorne near Lame, a region then occupied 
 by the Cruithne or L*ish Picts, and Adamnan repre- 
 sents Columba as describing this people as ComgalPs 
 relations according to the flesh. It was about 559 
 that Comgall laid the foundations of the monastery 
 at Bangor, which in course of time gi'ew to be the 
 largest in all Ireland, embracing no less than four 
 thousand monks. St. Bernard describes it as " pro- 
 ducing many thousands of monks, the head of many 
 monasteries, a holy place fruitful in saints, one of 
 whom, named Luan, alone is reputed to have been 
 the founder of a hundred monasteries."" The ancient 
 157 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part in 
 
 service-book of the Abbey of Bangor is still extant 
 in the Ambrosian Library at Milan. It is entitled, 
 Antiphonarium Benchorense, or "Antiphonary of 
 Bangor," and is a deeply interesting survival from 
 a remote past. At the close of it, among other 
 hymns, is one entitled Memoria Ahhatum Nos- 
 trorum, in which the names of fifteen abbots are 
 recorded and commemorated, abbots who lived prior 
 to the year 691. This ancient service-book has been 
 (as Dr. Reeves points out) away out of Ireland for 
 more than a thousand years, and yet the record 
 it contains exactly corresponds with the register 
 contained in the "Annals," the two being quite 
 independent of one another. Let me present a 
 specimen of this ancient " In Memoriam " poem : — 
 
 "The holy valiant deeds of sacred fathers, 
 Based on the matchless church of Benchor ; 
 The nohle deeds of abbots, their number, times, and names, 
 Of never-ending lustre — Hear, brothers, great their deserts, 
 Whom the Lord hath gathered to the mansions of His 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 Christ loved Comgill ; well, too, did he the Lord 
 He held Beogna dear ; He graced the ruler Mdh ; 
 He chose the holy Lilian, a famous teacher of the world, 
 Whom the Lord hath gathered to the mansions of His 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 He made Finten accepted, an heir generous, renowned ; 
 He rendered Maclaisre illustrious, the chief of all abbots ; 
 With a sacred torch He enlightened Segene, 
 A great physician of Scripture, 
 
 Whom the Lord hath gathered to the mansions of His 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 Bercenus was a distinguished man; Cumine also had 
 
 grace ; 
 Columba, a congenial shepherd ; Aidan, without complaint ; 
 
 158 
 
CHAP, viii] SOME FAMOUS MONASTERIES 
 
 Baithene, a worthy ruler ; Cretan, a chief president, 
 Whom the Lord hath gathered to the mansions of His 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 To these so excellent succeeded Caman, a man to be 
 
 beloved by all ; 
 Singing praises to Christ, he now sits on high. That 
 
 Cronan, 
 The fifteenth, may lay hold on life, the Lord preserve him, 
 Whom the Lord will gather to the mansions of His 
 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 The truest merits of these holy abbots, 
 
 Meet for Comgill, most exalted, we invoke. 
 
 That we may blot out all our offences, 
 
 Through Jesus Christ, who reigns for ages everlasting." * 
 
 Cronan, the last of the fifteen, was still living 
 when this poem was written. He died, we know, on 
 November 6, 691, so that it must have been written 
 prior to that date. 
 
 If for nothing else Bangor deserved distinction, 
 the illustrious men whom it trained and sent forth 
 would be enough to win renown for it. It was at 
 the monastery of Bangor that Columbanus, who 
 founded the famous abbeys of Luxeuil, in Burgundy, 
 and Bobbio, in the Apennines; and Gallus, who 
 founded St. Gall, in Switzerland; and Scotus Eri- 
 gena, who astonished the scholars and thinkers of 
 Europe with his genius, were trained and inspired. 
 Comgall died in 602. 
 
 The " Annals of Innisfallen,"" under the year 810, 
 which answers to 824 according to our modem 
 reckoning, have this record : " Bangor laid waste 
 by the Danes, and the shrine of Comgall broken 
 open by them, and its learned men and bishops were 
 
 ^ Reeves's "Antiphonary of Bangor." 
 
Another 
 Finnian 
 founds 
 Movilla. 
 
 Other dis- 
 tinguished 
 founders. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 smitten by the sword.'"* It seems never to have 
 recovered again its early prosperity. 
 
 4. Movilla. — The monastery at Movilla (Maghbile), 
 near Newtownards, was founded by Finnian or Find- 
 baiT, who is to be distinguished from Finnian of 
 Clonard. He was connected with the royal family 
 of Ulidia (Ulster), and was first sent to Nendrum to 
 be instructed under Mochay ; but from Nendrum he 
 went to the " Magnum Monasterium "" of Whithern, 
 founded by Ninian, in Galloway, where for several 
 years he was trained and instructed in the monastic 
 life. It was about 540 that he founded the abbey 
 at Movilla, and it was there that the celebrated 
 Columba was for a time one of his pupils. The 
 " Annals of Innisfallen '"' refer the death of Finnian to 
 the year 572. 
 
 But I cannot pursue this monastic history farther 
 in detail. Time would fail me to tell of Carthach 
 and his monastery in Lismore, of world-wide fame, 
 celebrated by Moronus in striking verses; or of 
 Brendan and his monastery at Clonfert; or of his 
 namesake of Birr; or of the two Molaises, him of 
 Inishmurray, in Sligo Bay, and him of Leighlin ; or 
 of St. Kevin and his establishment at Glendalough, 
 with its seven churches ; or of St. Kieran and Clon- 
 macnois; or of Mobhi and Glasnevin; or of St. 
 Buite or Boetius of Monasterboice, with its magni- 
 ficent ruins of two churches, a round tower, and 
 three exquisitely carved stone crosses ; and of a mul- 
 titude besides which I cannot even name. Their 
 work, influence, and history may be measured and 
 appreciated by conceiving a repetition of those I 
 have described. 
 
 i6o 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH 
 OF ST. PATRICK 
 
 It now becomes our duty to examine more closely 
 than we have yet done into the form given to the 
 Church founded by the Irish apostle ; how its officials 
 were related to one another ; where the paramount 
 authority resided; in a word, how it was governed 
 and its affairs administered. It is a most interesting in entering 
 study, but one of a somewhat difficult and delicate gt" dy'we 
 nature, which requires us resolutely to divest our "'ist divest 
 
 Olir86lV68 of 
 
 minds of every vestige of prepossession and prejudice, dreposses- 
 To many people the difficulty of conceiving of an ^*°"- 
 ecclesiastical order radically different from their own, 
 a state of things which ignores or subverts princi- 
 ples which they have been accustomed to regard as 
 essential, is almost insuperable. That difficulty 
 exists in this case. The organisation of the primi- 
 tive Church of Ireland was widely and radically dif- 
 ferent from that of any Church which exists to-day, 
 and its abnormal and quite remarkable features have 
 been hopelessly obscured and distorted by regarding 
 them thi'ough denominational spectacles, and by the 
 effort to construe and colour them in a denomina- 
 tional interest. Dr. Bright, the Regius Professor of 
 Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, in his recent book 
 on "The Roman See in the Early Church," very 
 i6i L 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 appropriately describes the work which he is critici- 
 sing — " The Primitive Church and the See of Peter,^"* 
 by the Rev. Luke Rivington, an advocate of the 
 Roman claim — as "a bold attempt to Vaticanise 
 antiquity.''"' The same thing may be said, mutatis 
 mutandis, of the treatment to which the early eccle- 
 siastical history of Ireland has been subjected. The 
 Roman Catholic historian " Vaticanises " it, and sees 
 in it an exact copy of his own relation to the Papacy. 
 The Protestant Episcopalian " Anglicises " it, read- 
 ing into it the forms of modern Episcopacy. 
 Presbyterians, I am sorry to say, have tried to make 
 it speak in their language, and in theirs exclusively, 
 and have written books or pamphlets to prove that 
 St. Patrick was a true blue Presbyterian. I happen 
 to have in my possession a volume of considerable 
 bulk written by an American Baptist, who demon- 
 strates to his own satisfaction that Patrick was an 
 out and out Baptist ; and in view of the evangelical 
 warmth and fervour of our Irish apostle, I am not 
 sure that our Methodist friends would not have 
 equally valid grounds to claim him as a forerunner 
 of John Wesley. But, seriously, to treat the facts 
 thus — to ignore them when they are inconvenient 
 and do not suit our theory, or to twist and colour 
 them to make them conform to our modern Church 
 patterns — is not to write history, but to pervert it, 
 and to make real insight into ancient affairs and 
 institutions impossible. And after all, what is gained 
 by such methods? We may depend upon it that 
 sooner or later somebody will have eyes to see and 
 honesty to reveal the true state of the case. The 
 organisation of the primitive Church of Ireland was 
 in many respects quite unique. It had peculiarities 
 162 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 that have no parallel in any modern Church, and no The organi- 
 modern Church whatever can claim that it repro- early irieh 
 duces or resembles them. Episcopal fmvernment was ch"*"<=^ 
 
 r r o unique : no 
 
 absolutely unknomn in it. It was governed by abbots, modem 
 who were frequently presbyters, and sometimes lay- pJlJIJucerit. 
 men ; and the office of abbot was in a sense heredi- 
 tai*y, that is, it continued in the family of the 
 original founder. It was not in submission to the 
 Roman See, and in many points both of doctrine 
 and practice it differed from the Roman ecclesiastical 
 type. But, on the other hand, as it was funda- 
 mentally monastic, no Protestant Church now 
 existing corresponds to it. If we are to have any 
 real insight into the state of things which obtained 
 in the Church founded by St. Patrick, if its study is 
 to be of any practical value to us, we must frankly 
 take the facts as we find them, and not force them 
 to conform to our preconceptions, or with much 
 ingenuity read into them the modern institutions 
 with which we are familiar. In this spirit must we 
 enter on this study. 
 
 Taking a broad and comprehensive as well as a 
 close and intimate view of the organisation of the 
 early Irish Church, one cannot but be struck with 
 the absence of such hierarchical grades and dignities 
 as constitute to-day the most salient feature in the 
 Church of Rome and in the Anglican Churches. 
 
 1. It is necessary, however, to be more particular. Papal 
 and to note in the first place that in the primitive no"recog°" 
 Church of Ireland there was no Papal jurisdiction^ "^sed in 
 and no submission to the authority of the Roman 
 See. I have already touched on this point when 
 dealing with St. Patrick. But the independence of 
 the Irish Church in relation to Rome was main- 
 
 163 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 tained long after Patrick's time. It has been shown 
 in a previous chapter that the so-called "Irish 
 Canons,"' including the one that states that " if any 
 questions arise in this island, let them be referred to 
 the Apostolic See," belong to a much later age than 
 that of Patrick, and are the manifest handiwork of a 
 writer or writers anxious to bring the Irish Church 
 into conformity with Rome. It is very significant 
 of Irish independence that the first Roman legate in 
 Ireland of whom we have any record is Gillebert, 
 who lived in the twelfth century. St. Bernard in his 
 " Life of Malachi " states that Gillebert was regarded 
 as the first legate who represented Rome in Ireland. 
 Cardinal Baronius in his "Ecclesiastical Annals," 
 under the year 566, and referring to the time of 
 Columba, says that "the bishops of Ireland were 
 all schismatics, separated from the Church of Rome." 
 The extant Irish Liturgies show that even in the 
 matter of liturgical forms respecting the celebration 
 of the Lord's Supper, Baptism, and other rites and 
 services, there was a marked difference between the 
 Irish and the Roman Uses.^ It has been already 
 pointed out how in the Irish Church the Eucharist 
 was administered in both kinds. So late as the 
 twelfth century Gillebert, as he mentions in the 
 prologue to his book '^ De Usu Eccksiastico,''^ set 
 down in that work " the Canonical custom in saying 
 of hours, and in performing the office of the whole 
 ecclesiastical order," "to the end that those diverse 
 and schismatical orders, wherewith in a manner all 
 Ireland is deluded, may give place to one Catholic 
 and Roman office." ^ And St. Bernard in his " Life 
 
 ^ See Warren's "Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church." 
 
 * Ussher's " Religion of the Ancient Irish," chap. iv. 
 
 164 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 of Malachi '' relates how the effort of Gillebert was 
 seconded by Malachi, who "established in all the 
 churches the apostolical constitutions and the de- 
 crees of the holy fathers, but especially the customs 
 of the holy Church of Rome.'" ^ 
 . The long-continued controversy between the Celtic 
 Church — Irish and British — on the one side, and the 
 Anglo-Saxon Church representing Rome on the 
 other, with regard to Easter and other usages, the 
 persistent refusal of the Celtic Church to submit to 
 the Roman customs, and the embittered relations 
 between them — the refusal of the one to have any 
 communion with the other — are among the most 
 familiar and indubitable facts of history. Bede 
 testifies that the British not only deviated from 
 Rome in their mode of celebrating Easter, but 
 "were in the habit of doing several other things 
 which were against the unity of the Church ; " and 
 that when Augustine, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and agent of Rome, met with the British bishops at 
 the place afterwards known as Augustine''s Oak, with 
 a view to persuade them to " preserve Catholic unity 
 with him,"" they "preferred their own traditions 
 before all the churches in the world ; "" and when, on 
 a later occasion, he besought them to act " according 
 to the custom of the holy Roman and Apostolic 
 Church,"*"' they refused to do so, or to submit to his 
 jurisdiction.^ Augustine"'s successor, Laurentius, in 
 the opening of the seventh century, writes thus to 
 the Irish bishops and abbots : " When the Apostolic 
 See, according to the universal custom which it has 
 followed elsewhere over the globe, sent us to these 
 
 ^ Ussher's " Religion of the Ancient Irish," chap. iv. 
 * See Bede's "Eccles. Hist.," ii. 2. 
 
 165 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 western parts to preach to pagan nations, we hap- 
 pened to come into this island, which is called Bri- 
 tain, without possessing any previous knowledge of 
 its inhabitants. We held both the Britons and the 
 Scots [Irish] in great esteem for sanctity ; but when 
 we came to know the Britons, we supposed the Scots 
 must be superior to them. We have, however, learned 
 from Bishop Dagan [an Irish bishop], coming into 
 this island [Britain], and the abbot Columbanus, 
 coming into France, that the Scots [or Irish] differ 
 not at all from the Britons in their behaviour. For 
 Bishop Dagan, when he came to us, not only refused 
 to eat with us, but even to take his repast in the 
 same house with us."'"' Bede immediately adds : " The 
 same Laurentius and his fellow-bishops wrote a letter 
 also to the priests of the Britons, worthy of his high 
 station, in which he endeavoured to persuade them 
 to Catholic unity ; but how much he gained by these 
 efforts the state of things to this present day suffi- 
 ciently shows." ^ This was about 606. In the letter 
 just quoted Laurence says that "the Scots [i.e. the 
 Irish] were in no respect different from the Britons 
 in their ways."" What these " ways *" were we learn 
 from a poem written about the year 620 by the 
 chief of the bards of the Britons, in which these 
 lines occur : — 
 
 " Woe be to him that doth not keep 
 From Romish wolves his sheep 
 With staif and weapon strong."'^ 
 
 About the middle of the seventh century in the 
 south of Ireland, and at the opening of the eighth 
 century in the north, the Irish Church was at length 
 
 ^ Bede's "Eccles. Hist.," ii. 4, 98. 
 
 * See Ussher's "Religion of the Ancient Irish," chap. x. 
 
 166 
 
CHAP, ixj ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 induced to conform with the Roman method of ob- 
 serving Easter; and from this time forward there 
 is a Roman party in the Irish Church, and a gradual 
 approximation to Roman customs. It was not, how- 
 ever, till much later that the Roman jurisdiction was 
 definitely recognised and the Roman hierarchical 
 organisation introduced, and this recognition began 
 among the Danish invaders when they became Chris- 
 tianised. Farther on in the history we shall have 
 the opportunity of seeing how the Danes, who were 
 kinsmen of the Normans of England, took steps to 
 connect themselves with the Anglo-Norman Church, 
 which, of course, was subject to the Roman See. 
 
 2. Not only was there no Papal, there was no No metro 
 metropolitan jurisdiction in the Irish Church. The j^\^8drction 
 abbot of Armagh was regarded as Patrick's Coarb or 
 successor, and as such he was held in honour; but, 
 as Dr. Todd has shown in his Memoir of St. Patrick, 
 he had "no primatial jurisdiction." "There was no 
 special jurisdiction in Armagh,"" he points out.^ The 
 abbot of Armagh had no jurisdiction over other 
 abbots, such as those of Clonard or Bangor. He might, 
 as Dr. Todd indicates, exercise a moral influence, 
 but " this did not amount to a primatial jurisdiction."" 
 We shall see in a moment that the rulers of the Celtic 
 Church of Ireland were the abbots, that the bishops 
 were entirely subject to them, and that there was no 
 such thing as episcopal j urisdiction, or, in other words, 
 that episcopal church government was absolutely 
 unknown in it. Even the Coarb or successor of St. 
 Patrick in Armagh was not necessarily a bishop, but 
 was often a presbyter, and even a layman. The 
 word " Ard-bishop "*' does sometimes occur in Irish 
 
 ^ " St. Patrick," Introduction, pp. 43, 94. 
 167 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 records; but, as Dr. Todd makes clear, this word 
 "did not imply anything of jurisdiction," but "de- 
 notes only an eminent or celebrated bishop."" There 
 might be several " ard-bishops "' in the same place.^ 
 A Synod of the English Church, held at Cealcythe 
 in 816, refused permission to the Irish clergy to exer- 
 cise their ministry in any of their dioceses, because it 
 was uncertain whether or by whom they were ordained 
 {quia incertum est nobis, unde, et an ah aliquo ordin- 
 entu?'), and also because they had no metropolitan 
 jurisdiction (cum quibus nullus ordo metropolitanis). 
 
 From this passage Dr. Todd concludes that the 
 peculiarity of the Irish Church, " that there were no 
 dioceses properly so called, no regular episcopal or 
 archiepiscopal jurisdiction, and no limit or canonical 
 restraint upon the consecration of bishops,"' was 
 well known in England. " And," he adds, " we 
 know this to have been the case from the native 
 records of Irish Christianity."^ Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis affirms positively that " there were no arch- 
 bishops in Ireland "" till the time of John Paparo.^ 
 „ ,. 3. What will perhaps surprise the reader still 
 
 No diocesan .-.-,.. 
 
 episcopacy, more IS that diocesan episcopacy was equally un- 
 known. The word bishop now means a prelate 
 who rules over a district called a diocese, and over 
 the parochial clergy included in it. In that sense 
 episcopacy had no existence in the early Irish 
 Church. Episcopal writers are agreed in frankly 
 admitting this. In the work already quoted Dr. 
 
 1 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. i6. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 43. 
 
 ' " Archiepiscopi vero in Hibernia nuUi fuerant." — "Topo- 
 graph. Hibern.," distinct. 3. cap. 17. Cf. also Ussher's "Religion 
 of the Ancient Irish," c. viii. p. 320. 
 168 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 Todd says : " The normal state of episcopacy in Ire- 
 land was, as we have described, non-diocesan^ each 
 bishop acting independently, without any archi- 
 episcopal jurisdiction, and either entirely independent, 
 or subject only to the abbot of his monastery, or in 
 the spirit of clanship to his chieftain. The con- 
 sequence of this system was necessarily a great 
 multiplication of bishops. There was no restraint 
 upon their being consecrated. Every man of 
 eminence for piety or learning was advanced to the 
 order of bishop as a sort of degree or mark of 
 distinction " (p. 27). Again he says : " We know 
 this to have been the case from the native records 
 of Irish Christianity : ^' " that there were no dio- 
 ceses properly so called, no regular episcopal or 
 archiepiscopal jurisdiction.'"'^ Skene says: "There 
 was episcopacy in the Church, but it was not dio- 
 cesan episcopacy."" 2 The most recent writer on 
 " The Church of Ireland,^' the Rev. Thomas Olden, 
 Vicar of Ballyclough, writes to the same effect. 
 " From this it will be seen," he says, " that diocesan 
 episcopacy did not exist in the early Church, and 
 no attempt was made to introduce it until the 
 Synod of Rathbreasil in 1118, which proposed a 
 division of Ireland into dioceses. There were, in 
 fact, neither dioceses in the ordinary sense, nor 
 parishes, until the twelfth century."*"* ^ The diocesan 
 system was introduced through the Danish invaders 
 at the same time as the Roman jurisdiction, and as 
 part of the hierarchical system of Rome. The first 
 bishop of the Danes of Dublin was Dunan, and, as 
 
 1 Todd's " St. Patrick," p. 43. 
 
 ' Skene's " Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. Bk. ii. c. ii. p. 44, 
 ' "The Church of Ireland," chap. vii. p. 117. 
 169 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Mr. Olden says, "Dunan was the first bishop in 
 Ireland who possessed diocesan jurisdiction, limited 
 as it was." ^ Somewhat later, at the Synod of Rath- 
 breasil in 1118, called and presided over by Gille, 
 the Papal legate, Ireland was divided into twenty- 
 four dioceses, with two archbishops, and so the 
 diocesan system, first begun among the Danes, was 
 extended to the whole of Ireland. Diocesan episco- 
 pacy thus came in with the Papal system, and was 
 set up in Ireland by the Pope's representative. 
 
 4. That there were bishops of a sort in Ireland, 
 however, from the time of Patrick is quite certain ; 
 and what manner of officials they were we have 
 now to ascertain. This will be best learned from 
 a simple statement of the facts as they are set 
 forth in ancient Irish records. 
 Bishops (1.) Now the first thing that strikes the inquirer 
 
 is the vast number of the bishops in the early Irish 
 Church in proportion to the population. 
 
 There is a remarkable document, assigned by 
 Dr. Todd and others to the middle of the eighth 
 century, and believed to be the work of Tirechan, 
 entitled "A Catalogue of the Saints in Ireland 
 according to their different periods," first published 
 by Ussher. It divides the time between the age of 
 St. Patrick and the year Q6Q into three periods, 
 describing the character of each. The first period 
 extended over about one hundred years from the 
 time of Patrick till about 543 a.d. ; and here is 
 what the " Catalogue " says of it : " The first order 
 of Catholic saints was in the time of Patrick; and 
 then they were all bishops, famous and holy, and 
 full of the Holy Ghost, 350 in number, founders 
 
 1 " The Church of Ireland," p. 192. 
 170 
 
 very 
 numerous. 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 of churches. They haid one head, Christ ; and one 
 leader, Patrick.'"' It is added that " they rejected not 
 the service and society of women.""* "The second 
 order was of Catholic presbyters. For in this order 
 there were few bishops and many presbyters, in num- 
 ber 300. . . . They refused the services of women, 
 separating them from the monasteries."" This second 
 period or order continued from 543 to 572. This 
 was the time when so many distinguished mission- 
 aries, such as Columba and Columbanus, went forth 
 to evangelise Europe. " The third order of saints 
 was of this sort. They were holy presbyters, and a 
 few bishops, one hundred in number, who dwelt in 
 desert places, and lived on herbs and water, and the 
 alms ; they shunned private property."" It is worthy 
 of note, too, that the first period, when the bishops 
 were most numerous, 350 in number, is represented 
 as superior to the others. The first is " most holy "" 
 {sanctissimus\ the second " very holy "" (sanctior), and 
 the third only " holy "" (sanctus). 
 
 Several early writers agree substantially with the 
 " Catalogue "" respecting the number of bishops and 
 churches. In an ancient poem in the Leahhar 
 Breac, attributed to Aileran, who died a.d. 664 
 at a very advanced age, Patrick is said to have 
 ordained 350 bishops and 300 presbyters, and to 
 have consecrated 700 churches. The writer of the 
 " Tripartite Life "" puts the number at 370 bishops 
 and 5000 presbyters. Nennius states that Patrick 
 founded 365 churches and ordained 365 bishops. 
 But the "Four Masters"" give the number as 700 
 churches, 700 bishops, and 3000 presbyters. 
 
 The statements of these early writers with respect 
 to the large number of bishops in the Celtic Church 
 171 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 of Ireland are abundantly confirmed from other 
 sources; as, for example, by the facts and figures 
 culled by the late Bishop Reeves from ancient docu- 
 ments and annals, and given to the public in his 
 "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and 
 Dromore."*"* Let me lay before the reader a few 
 examples gleaned from this scholarly work. From 
 the evidence printed in it we find that there was a 
 bishop at Downpatrick ; another at Raholp, three 
 miles north-east of Downpatrick ; another at Bright, 
 two or three miles south-east of Downpatrick ; 
 another at Maghera, on the Newcastle side of it ; 
 and another on Mahee Island, off Killinchy in Strang- 
 ford Lough. Here were five bishops in the same 
 immediate neighbourhood. Again, Loughbrickland 
 and Donoughmore in County Down closely adjoin 
 each other ; there was a bishop in each. Passing 
 to County Antrim, there was a bishop in Coleraine ; 
 one at Armoy ; one at Ramoan ; one at Culfeightrin 
 close by ; and one on the adjoining island of Rathlin.^ 
 There was a bishop at Kilroot ; another at Rashee, 
 the next parish ; another at Connor, the parish next 
 to that; and another at Muckamore, only a few 
 miles off. Very significant results surely from the 
 scanty records that are extant. Dr. Reeves himself 
 states that, in addition to five others whose names 
 he gives, " there are within the jurisdiction of the 
 modern see of Meath sixteen churches which are 
 recorded as having been the seats of bishops ; " that 
 is, twenty -one altogether. ^ 
 
 It has been computed by Sir William Petty that at 
 
 ^ There were other bishops, too, in the same neighbourhood, 
 at places which cannot now be identified. 
 - "Antiquities," p. 128. 
 
 172 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 the time of the English invasion in the twelfth 
 century the population of Ireland was little above 
 300,000. Covered as the country then was with 
 extensive forests and unreclaimed bogs and marshes, 
 it could hardly have been so great in the time of 
 Patrick. That is to say, the population of all 
 Ireland was hardly equal to the population of Belfast 
 or Dublin at the present time ; and yet a population 
 hardly so large as we have now in Belfast had more 
 bishops than Belfast has of clergy of all denomina- 
 tions, even taking the lowest number of 350 given 
 above as the number of bishops in ancient Ireland. 
 St. Bernard was, therefore, within the mark when he 
 said "that one episcopal district was not content 
 with one bishop, but almost every church had its 
 separate bishop."^ Lanfranc adds that "in towns 
 or cities many (plures) bishops were ordained ;'''' ^ 
 and Anselm complains that " bishops were made 
 without any fixed place at all."^ Skene remarks 
 that " he (Patrick) appears to have placed a bishop 
 consecrated by himself in each church which he 
 founded,"" and calls the system established by him 
 "a congregational and tribal episcopacy.'"'^ This 
 accords with what is implied in the statements 
 already given from early writings which represent 
 the number of bishops as corresponding with the 
 number of churches. The " Annals of the Four 
 Masters "*' give the names of upwards of one hundred 
 churches, each of which had a bishop.^ 
 
 ^ **Ita ut unus episcopatns uno non esset contentus, sed 
 singulae pene Ecclesiae Singulos haberunt episcopos." — "De 
 Vita Malachiae," c. x. 
 
 - See Ussher's "Religion of the Ancient Irish," p. 322. 
 
 ' Ibid. * "Celtic Scotland," Bk. ii. c. i. pp. 21, 22. 
 
 ^ Reeves's "Antiquities," p. 126, note. 
 173 
 
Many 
 groups 
 of seven 
 bishops 
 each living 
 together. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part in 
 
 But the whole facts are not yet before the reader. 
 I have now to direct attention to a series of facts 
 still more singular. One is a little surprised at dis- 
 covering that a provincial king (^Engus, king of 
 Munster) had two bishops and ten priests in his house- 
 hold ; ^ and that, as Lanfranc testifies, towns or cities 
 had many bishops. More remarkable still were the 
 immense number of bishops that lived together in 
 groups of seven, all the seven being connected with a 
 single church. The "Martyrology of Donegal" 
 mentions six such groups, each group containing 
 seven bishops, who were connected with a single 
 church, the seven in each of three of these groups 
 being brothers, sons of one father. "The Litany 
 of ^Engus the Culdee," contained in the Leabhar 
 Breac and in the " Book of Leinster,**"* gives 153 such 
 groups of seven each, and here too in very many 
 instances the seven are sons of one father ; and the 
 testimony of the " Litany of iEngus '' with regard to 
 this has striking corroboration from other sources.^ 
 In addition, the "Litany of TEngus"*" mentions 
 (according to Mr. Olden) two sets, each of 150 
 bishops, and two more of 350. And more mar- 
 vellous still, St. Mochta, the abbot of Louth, a 
 disciple of St. Patrick, is described in the same work 
 as having with him in his monastery, and as part of 
 his " family " there, one hundred bishops. It would 
 seem from these figures that those writers who speak 
 of 700 as the number of bishops ordained by St. 
 
 ^ Reeves's "Antiquities," p. 123. 
 
 2 See Todd's "St. Patrick," pp. 32-34, and Skene's "Celtic 
 Church of Scotland," vol. ii. Bk. ii. p. 25. The number of groups 
 mentioned by ^ngus is differently represented. Skene states 
 it to be 153, Todd 141, and Olden 138. 
 174 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 Patrick are nearer the mark than those who put it 
 at 350. 
 
 In the facts and figures I have just adduced there 
 is much food for reflection, which, however, it will 
 be better to reserve till the whole case is before the 
 reader. Inductions which fail to recognise and 
 embrace all the phenomena are valueless. 
 
 In the meantime, the (question naturally occurs How the 
 and solicits an answer, How came there to be, go^'^^e-^'^^ 
 with such a sparse population and in such a rude rous : every 
 
 , . .^. ^ . / ^ V • 1 ^flrat-born 
 
 and primitive society, such an immense supply oi belonged to 
 bishops and other clergy as at this time not only ^^^ Church. 
 swarmed the Irish Church at home, but, as St. 
 Bernard says, sent them " like a flood ""' over other 
 countries ? The answer is at hand. It was due in 
 part to the earnest religious spirit that prevailed 
 and the high regard for the clerical office ; but, as 
 a fruit of this, there was a remarkable law in the 
 Brehon Code, unparalleled, so far as we know, in 
 any other Church in Christendom, a law which 
 declared "that every first birth of every human 
 couple, the mother being a lawful wife,''"' belonged 
 to the Church; and that if there were eleven or 
 more children, of whom less than ten are sons, the 
 Church was entitled to a second son.^ It was mani- 
 festly a republication in the Christian Church of 
 the Mosaic law, which declared that the first-bom 
 of every creature, including the first-born of man, 
 was to be presented to the Lord, and given to Aaron 
 and his successors (Exod. xiii. 2; Numb, xviii. 15). 
 And this law was no dead letter in the Irish Church. 
 From its operation there were no exemptions. It 
 applied to the sons of kings and chiefs, as well as to 
 ^ "Senchus Mor," vol. iii. p. 57. 
 175 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 the humblest in the land. And the young, dedi- 
 cated to God in pursuance of this law, were put 
 under training in the great monastic schools, which 
 were the colleges of that time. Let me give a case 
 in point. It is related that Kellach, son of Eoghan 
 Bel, king of Connaught, was put under the care of 
 St. Kieran of Clonmacnois, in accordance with this 
 law. But his father was mortally wounded in battle, 
 and, having no other son or relative old enough to 
 take his place, the chieftains asked St. Kieran to 
 permit the young man to leave the monastery and 
 become king. Kieran declined to give the per- 
 mission sought ; but Kellach, at the instance of the 
 chiefs, left clandestinely, and was cursed by the 
 saint. After a time, the young man repented, re- 
 turned to Clonmacnois, was received by St. Kieran, 
 and became eminent for sanctity, but (according to 
 the story) the curse could not be removed, and at 
 last he died a violent death. The editors of the 
 Senchus Mor truly remark that "rights such as 
 these were never claimed as against the whole body 
 of the laity by any other Christian Church in 
 Europe." 
 The bishops (2.) The bishops of the primitive Church of Ire- 
 J^^l^^j*^"^' land had no jurisdiction. We have seen that they 
 had no dioceses. "Dioceses and diocesan episco- 
 pacy had no existence at all" in it.^ It should 
 never be forgotten by any one who wishes to realise 
 and to appreciate the organisation of the Irish 
 Church that its government was not in the hands 
 of the bishops, but in quite other hands. There it 
 nothing more absolutely certain than that the govern- 
 
 1 Professor G. T. Stokes in "Ireland and the Celtic Church," 
 
 p. 338. 
 
 176 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 Tnent of the primitive Church of' Ireland was not the 
 episcopal form of government. The bishops had no 
 governmental power. The real rulers were the abbots, 
 or Coarbs, as they were called, who were often only 
 presbyters, and sometimes laymen. This is a fact 
 of prime significance in connection with early Irish 
 Church organisation, and authorities are happily una- 
 nimous with regard to it. It was the abbots who The abbots 
 exercised jurisdiction, and the bishops were in com- ^arruiers 
 plete subordination to them. 13ede says of lona that ^^ ^^^ 
 " that island was wont to have always as ruler a 
 presbyter-abbot, to whose jurisdiction the whole 
 province, and even the bishops themselves, were, 
 contrary to the usual method, bound to submit, 
 according to the example of their first teacher, who 
 was not a bishop, but a presbyter and monk."^ 
 Again, in his " Life of Cuthbert," he says, in reference 
 to Lindisfarne, of which lona was the parent : " All 
 the presbyters, with the deacons, cantors, lectors, 
 and other ecclesiastical orders, along with the bishop 
 himself, were subject in all things to monastic rule."^ 
 But the state of things which thus obtained at lona 
 and Lindisfarne was simply a reproduction of what 
 we know obtained throughout the whole Church in 
 Ireland. Even when the head of a monastery was 
 a woman, the bishops and other clergy were subject 
 to her. In the case of Brigid, who founded and 
 ruled over the monastery of Kildare, although it 
 included both men and women, we have an instance 
 in point. She made Condlaed a bishop, but he was 
 entirely under her jurisdiction, and could do nothing 
 but as she directed. He was, as we have seen, chief 
 
 1 Bede's "Eccl. Hist.," Bk. iii. c. 4. 
 
 2 Bede's " Life of Cuthbert," c. 16. 
 
 177 M 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 worker or artificer in gold and silver and other 
 metals, and it would seem, in connection with his 
 art, wished to pay a visit to Rome, but she refused 
 permission, and when he persisted in going, contrary 
 to her desire, a Divine judgment is represented to 
 have come upon him by way of punishment. As 
 Skene says, referring to Ireland : " The entire 
 Church appears to have been monastic, and her 
 whole clergy embraced within the fold of the 
 monastic rule.""^ In the words of Mr. Olden, the 
 most recent writer on the subject : " The true 
 heads of the Church were the Coarbs. . . . The 
 Coarbs of the principal monasteries formed a council, 
 who debated questions, and spoke the voice of the 
 Church."" He then goes on to justify this state- 
 ment by evidence.^ 
 How the (3.) As the bishops in the Irish Church at the 
 
 were^em- ^""^ ^ speak of had no jurisdiction, as its govem- 
 pioyed. ment was in the hands of the abbots, the question 
 naturally arises. How did such a vast number of 
 bishops find employment ? 
 
 Mr. Olden makes the curious remark that their 
 duties were " exclusively spiritual." ^ By this he 
 seems to refer especially to their "transmission of 
 orders,"' which Dr. Reeves describes as " the essence 
 of their office." Now, if this was "the essence of 
 the office," and if, as we know it was, ordination 
 by a single bishop was recognised as valid, it is 
 strange to find so many bishops often in the same 
 neighbourhood, connected with the same monastery, 
 and even with the same church. If this was their 
 
 1 "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. Bk. ii. p. 42. 
 
 2 "The Church of Ireland," p. 117. 
 8 Ibid. 
 
 178 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 essential and chief duty, very few of them can have 
 had the opportunity of performing it at all ; an idle 
 time of it they must have had, and very unneces- 
 sarily burdened with such an army the Celtic Church 
 must have been. For the purpose of ordaining and 
 of consecrating churches and the like, one out of 
 every fifty would have easily sufficed. 
 
 But where do we learn that the " transmission of 
 orders *" is the essence of the office of the bishop as 
 distinct from that of presbyter? To see what the 
 "essence of the office" was originally conceived to 
 be, we naturally turn to the title employed to describe 
 it. Now eViV/toTTo? means literally an " overseer ,''' 
 and undoubtedly oversight was one of the essential 
 duties of a bishop, although it brought with it 
 others, such as teaching. To the elders of Ephesus, 
 Paul says : " Take heed unto yourselves, and to all 
 the flock in which the Holy Ghost hath made you 
 bishops, to feed \lit. to sJiepherd, to act the part of 
 pastors to] the Church of God, which He hath 
 purchased with His own blood '*"' (Acts xx. 28). 
 Again Peter says : " The elders, therefore, among 
 you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder . . . Tend [lit. 
 shepherd] the flock of God which is among you, 
 taking the oversight'' [or episcopate — iTnaKoirovvre^] 
 (1 Peter v. 2). In 1 Tim. iii. 2, 4, 5, both teachiiig 
 and ruling are clearly indicated as belonging to the 
 office of a bishop; compare also 1 Tim. v. 17 and 
 Titus i. 9, where the bishop is required to " hold to 
 the faithful word which is according to the teaching, 
 that he may be able both to exhort in the sound 
 doctrine and to convict the gainsayers.'" Oversight, or 
 rule, and teaching are thus regarded by both Peter 
 and Paul as the " essential " duties of the episcopal 
 179 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 office. And as to ordination, or what Dr. Reeves 
 calls " the transmission of orders,^' where is it said to 
 be the essence of the office of the bishop as distinct 
 from the presbyter? In the passages just quoted, 
 " presbyter "" and " bishop " are names for the same 
 officers, and the functions of the episcopate are to 
 be discharged by the presbyters. Nay, this very 
 function of ordination or "transmission of orders" 
 is expressly stated to belong to and to have been 
 performed by presbyters (1 Tim. iv. 14), and con- 
 tinued to be performed by them long after the time 
 of the Apostles. Bishop Lightfoot shows that in 
 Alexandria and Egypt, down to the beginning of 
 the fourth century, the bishop was ordained by the 
 presbyters ; ^ and Canon Gore is, under the irresis- 
 tible pressure of the evidence, constrained to admit 
 the validity of presbyterial ordination.^ The idea 
 that ordination belongs exclusively to the bishop as 
 distinct from the presbyter is post-apostolic ; it is a 
 later ecclesiastical development, and belongs to the 
 sacerdotal and hierarchical accretions that began 
 to grow and accumulate upon apostolic Christianity 
 towards the end of the second century, and as a 
 result in large measure of its contact with Paganism. 
 In any case, it is certain that ordination or the 
 " transmission of orders " formed but a very small 
 part of the duties that devolved on the great army 
 of bishops that belonged to the Church founded by 
 Patrick. 
 
 How then were so many of them employed ? There 
 is one duty of a spiritual kind which, according to 
 
 ' "Philippians," p. 231. 
 
 2 See Gore's "Ministry of the Christian Church," pp. 73, 
 
 324, 339. 
 
 180 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 the New Testament, is an essential duty of the epis- 
 copal office, and which there is no doubt some of 
 the Irish bishops at all events performed, namely, 
 the work of the preacher and evangelist. Bede in- 
 forms us how the English king, Oswald, asked " the 
 elders of the Scots "" at lona to send him a bishop to 
 minister to his people, and how an " assembly of the 
 elders "" turned their eyes towards Aidan, and " con- 
 cluded that he deserved to be made a bishop, and 
 ought to be sent to instruct the unbelievei-s and 
 unlearned, since he was found to be endued with the 
 grace of a singular discretion, which is the mother 
 of other virtues, and so ordaining him they sent him 
 to preachy ^ Aidan, we know, too, did go and preach 
 and evangelise among the English, and there is no 
 doubt that a good many bishops were similarly 
 employed in Ireland. 
 
 There was one rather remarkable functionary in 
 the Irish Church, called the Anamchara or " Soul- 
 friend," who acted the part of a spiritual adviser, 
 and gave counsel in perplexing circumstances. After 
 the battle of Cooldreevny, and after Columba (accord- 
 ing to the story) had been excommunicated by the 
 Synod of Telltown, he sought the advice of his 
 " soul-friend,'*' and on his advice it was that Columba 
 went, with his companions, on his mission to lona. 
 It was quite common for kings and chiefs to have 
 their " soul-friend " residing with them. Sometimes 
 the " soul-friend " was a presbyter, sometimes, as in 
 the case of Aidan, the " soul-friend " was a woman — 
 Molua, the mother of Choche "" — but very often the 
 
 ^ "Sicque ilium ordinantes ad praedicandnm miserunt." — Bede's 
 •• Eccl. Hist.," Bk. iii. c. 5. 
 
 181 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 office was filled by a bishop. Many bishops were 
 employed thus. 
 
 Not a few, again, were engaged in the communica- 
 tion of sacred learning, and, so far as we can gather, 
 of secular knowledge also. Reference has been made 
 to the great monastic schools, which reached the 
 zenith of their fame in the eighth century. This 
 was another department of work in which bishops 
 occupied themselves. 
 
 In those early times, before printing was invented, 
 the copying and illumination of manuscripts of the 
 Sacred Scriptures and of other books were regarded 
 as a work of very great importance, one of the most 
 honourable tasks in which any one could engage. 
 Only those who have seen such manuscripts as the 
 " Book of Kells,'' the " Book of Durrow,'' or the 
 " Book of Armagh,"" can form any idea of the ex- 
 quisite beauty of their ornamentation and illumina- 
 tion, and of the patient artistic skill expended on 
 them. The work of transcribing and preserving 
 ancient records was a necessary work, and its necessity 
 brought about the evolution of a special functionary 
 devoted to it, who was known as the Scribhnidh or 
 Scribe. Bishops, in many instances, found employ- 
 ment in the practice of the scribe's art. 
 
 The making of shrines, reliquaries, bells, covers of 
 sacred books, and other ornaments, was regarded as 
 hardly less honourable, and was almost exclusively 
 in the hands of the clergy. It is beyond question 
 that bishops devoted themselves to such work. Cond- 
 laed, the bishop appointed by Brigid, was her 
 "principal artist,"' that is, her artificer in metal- 
 work of gold or silver. Bishop Ere, of Slane, acted 
 in the capacity of a Brehon or judge. Bishop 
 
 182 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 Etchen was engaged as a ploughman in the field 
 when Columba went to him for ordination.^ But 
 the most singular post which we have found filled 
 by a bishop is that of " Champion,"" or strong man. 
 St. Patrick, in his missionary journeys, we are told 
 by Joceline and in the " Tripartite,'"' ^ was accom- 
 panied by a "champion,"" or strong man, who, in 
 his old age, carried him on his shoulders and de- 
 fended him in |3eril ; and the " champion " who 
 attended St. Patrick was Bishop MacCarthinn, who 
 at length got tired of the work, complained that he 
 had been "a long time on the pad,"' asked to be 
 relieved, and to have a church assigned to him, as 
 some of his comrades had. Patrick yielded to his 
 request, appointed him to Clogher, and gave him a 
 copy of the Gospels, which may still be seen in the 
 Royal Irish Academy of Dublin. Life was exposed 
 to such risks in those times, and fighting so common, 
 that even ecclesiastics found it expedient to learn the 
 art of self-defence, and monasteries had their cham- 
 pions and armed retainers ; but it is startling to our 
 modern notions to find bishops acting in that capacity. 
 
 It should not be forgotten that in rank and dig- 
 nity the bishop held a subordinate position in Ireland, 
 and was regarded as inferior not only to the abbot, 
 but even to the lector. Dr. Skene points out that 
 " inferior functionaries of the monastery . . . appear 
 to have united the functions of a bishoj) with their 
 proper duties.""' 
 
 In view of such facts as I have recited, it is surely 
 putting it rather strongly, and in a way calculated 
 
 1 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 71. 
 
 2 See Stokes's "Tripartite," p. 175. 
 
 3 "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. Bk. il c. ii. p. 44. 
 
 ■83 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 to mislead, to say that the duties of the bishop were 
 " exclusively spiritual." I believe it was the Marquis 
 of Dufferin who, when Chancellor of the Duchy of 
 Lancaster, described himself as the " maid-of-all- 
 work " to the Government. The bishop held a some- 
 what analogous position in the Irish Church. He 
 was very much the " maid-of-all-work " to the monas- 
 tic community, and a great deal of the work imposed 
 on him appears to have been secular. 
 Ordination A word with regard to ordination in the Irish 
 Church. '^ Church. And what strikes one here is what may 
 be called the laxity which characterised the rite. In 
 view of the rules generally regarded as canonical, 
 the Church in Ireland was certainly not rigorous or 
 stringent. Ordination to the episcopate was not 
 regarded as being irregular when it took place per 
 saltum^ that is, without requiring the person ordained 
 to have been previously a deacon and a presbyter. 
 Again, one bishop was thought sufficient to confer 
 it. Still more extraordinary, women were not ex- 
 cluded from the episcopate. It is stated by the 
 author of the "Scholia" on the Martyrologyof JEngus, 
 that " the form of ordaining a bishop was read over 
 Brigit by Bishop Mel," and that she was actually 
 ordained a bishop — a statement confirmed by her 
 biographer, Cogitosus, who speaks of her " episcopal 
 and virginal chair " {cathedra episcopalis et puellaris). 
 Then we have the case of Findchan and ^Eedh Dubh. 
 Findchan was an Irish ecclesiastic, a presbyter abbot, 
 who founded a monastery on the island of Tiree. 
 He had brought with him from Ireland a person 
 called ^dh (Hugh), whose previous reputation had 
 been somewhat shady. But Findchan thought he 
 had induced him to quit his bad ways, and brought 
 
 184 
 
CHAP, ixj ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 a bishop to have him ordained a presbyter. When 
 the ceremony was about to be performed, the bishop 
 insisted that Findchan, who was only a presbyter, 
 should lay his hands on the head of the candidate 
 first, the bishop then laying on his. The canonical 
 rule was that when a presbyter was ordained the 
 bishop's hand was to be first laid upon his head, 
 and then the presbyters present were to lay their 
 hands beside the bishop's. It is evident that the 
 Irish ecclesiastics were not confined to methods else- 
 where regarded as canonical. Much has been written 
 on the case of Aid an, to which reference has been 
 made already. When Oswald became king of Eng- 
 land, Bede tells us that he " sent to the elders of the 
 Scots" at lona, among whom he himself had been 
 well received and instructed in the faith, desiring 
 them to send him a bishop who would labour among 
 the English. The person first sent, however, was of 
 too severe a temper to be acceptable to the English. 
 At " an assembly of the elders '"* {conventu seniorum) 
 in lona it was debated what was to be done; but 
 Aidan having addressed the council, "all who sat 
 with him, turning on him their eyes, began diligently 
 to weigh what he had said," and finally decided on 
 sending him, " and so ordaining him, they (the elders) 
 sent him to preach " (sicque ilium ordinantes, ad prce- 
 dicandum miset'unt). 
 
 Over these words there has been much and keen 
 debate. To the present writer it is a matter of 
 complete indifference what conclusion is drawn 
 from them : his mind is perfectly open on the 
 subject. But the conclusion must not outrun the 
 evidence. It is quite possible that the "assembly 
 of elders" at lona called in a bishop to ordain 
 
 185 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part in 
 
 Aidan. It is remarkable, however, that this is not 
 stated — that what is stated is that the "assembly 
 of elders '"* or " seniors '"* " ordained him and sent him 
 to preach.*" " It seems only reasonable to suppose,'' 
 says Dr. Reeves, "that one or more bishops were 
 constantly resident at Hy, or that they were sent for 
 from the neighbouring coast when it was required to 
 confer the orders of the ministry, otherwise a forced 
 interpretation will be put upon Bede's words.'' ^ As 
 Bede states that Aidan was ordained by the assembly 
 of elders, it is difficult to see how a forced interpre- 
 tation would be put upon his words by supposing 
 that they mean literally what they say — that he was 
 ordained by the "assembly of elders," and not by 
 a bishop. Is it not rather a forced interpretation 
 to make them state that Aidan was ordained by a 
 bishop or bishops without a particle of evidence that 
 there was a bishop at lona at this time ? " It seems 
 only reasonable to suppose," says Dr. Reeves, " that 
 one or more bishops were constantly resident at Hy." 
 On the contrary, the inference seems most unreason- 
 able in view of the evidence which Dr. Reeves himself 
 supplies. On a succeeding page he admits the want 
 of evidence to support his statement : " That Columb- 
 kille associated a bishop with the brotherhood is not 
 expressly mentioned, but that bishops from Ireland 
 occasionally visited lona is directly stated in Adam- 
 nan's Life of that saint," he affirms. But in the 
 " Chronicon Hyense," given in the Appendix to Dr. 
 Reeves's " Adamnan," there is no trace of a bishop 
 residing at Hy from the arrival of Columha in 563 
 till long after the ordination of' Aidan. Aidan was 
 ordained in 635 and died in 651. And the first 
 1 "Eccl. Antiq.," p. 131. 
 
 186 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 resident bishop we hear of in this Chronicle of Hy 
 is Cellach, of whom we are told : " 654. Cellach, 
 relicto episcopatu, reversus est ad insulam Hii.'** 
 Cellach had been labouring as bishop among the 
 Mercians and Midland Angles. The "Chronicon 
 Hyense"*"* contains a record not only of Hy, but of 
 the monastic communities connected with it. We 
 do read in Adamnan''s " Life of Columba""* of the visit 
 of Bishop Cronan from Munster. It is quite true 
 also that in a few instances in Ireland or in North 
 Britain, where ordination is referred to, a bishop is 
 described as being called in to take part in it ; but 
 one of these instances — the ordination of Columba 
 by Bishop Etchen — is characterised by Dr. Reeves 
 himself as " the fiction of a later age,"*' and Dr. Todd 
 takes the same view of it. It is not safe, where 
 Ireland is concerned, to impute the custom of a later 
 age to an earlier. In the case of ^dh Dubh, the 
 bishop called in by Findchan insisted on the latter, 
 who was a presbyter, laying his hand first on the 
 head of the candidate, showing great laxness from 
 the canonical point of view. It should be remem- 
 bered farther that in the early period ordination by 
 presbyters was recognised as valid, and continued at 
 Alexandria and in Egypt, as Bishop Lightfoot has 
 shown, till the beginning of the fourth century. 
 Besides, the power of ordination appears to have 
 been expressly given to presbyter-abbots by more 
 than one monastic rule. In the Rule of Aurelian, 
 a French bishop contemporary with Columba, it is 
 laid down that "when the abbot wishes, he has 
 power to ordain.'*''^ The Rule of Benedict gave 
 
 ' "Et quando (abbas) voluerit, ordinandi habeat potestatem," 
 cap. 46.— Migne, "Patrol.," Curs. Ixviii. 392. 
 
 187 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 the same power. ^ Cassian speaks of a monk called 
 Daniel as having been ordained first a deacon, and 
 then a presbyter, by the presbyter-abbot Paphnutius.^ 
 An old ritual, in use before the time of Theodore 
 of Canterbury, assumes that abbots ordained.^ As 
 regards the case of Aidan, therefore, it seems better, 
 in view of all the facts, not to be too positive either 
 way, and not to allow denominational predilec- 
 tions to tempt us to conclusions which outrun the 
 evidence. 
 
 THE LAW OF SUCCESSION IN THE 
 IRISH CHURCH. 
 
 The There is one other point in connection with this 
 
 here^ditary. subject of Church Organisation which must not be 
 overlooked — the singular law of succession which 
 obtained in the Celtic Church of Ireland. Many 
 of our readers will be surprised to learn that the 
 most important Church offices were hereditary^ and 
 yet this was literally true. The chief functionaries 
 and real rulers of the early Church of Ireland were 
 the abbots, and the abbots succeeded one another, 
 not by election, but by a hereditary law. What 
 that law was has been already indicated. When a 
 monastery was founded, a portion of land, or in 
 some cases a royal rath, was made over by the head 
 of the tribe to which it belonged to the founder, 
 who was usually connected with the same tribe. 
 In that case the abbacy always remained in the 
 family, and the abbot was provided from among 
 
 1 Ecg., cap. Ixv., Migne's "Latin Fathers." 
 
 2 Cassian, " CoUatio," iv. cap. i. 
 
 •* ••Patrol.," Curs. clvi. 1113, ed. Migne. 
 188 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 its members. When the founder belonged to a 
 different tribe from the chief by whom the site was 
 granted, the succession to the abbacy was always 
 retained by the family to which the first abbot 
 belonged, and the successive abbots were called the 
 " coarbs *" — i.e. the heirs or successors of the original 
 founder. For many generations, for example, the 
 coarbs, or heirs, or successors of Comgall, who 
 founded the great monastery of Bangor, were lineal 
 descendants of the family to which he belonged. 
 The hereditary })rinciple came to have an extended 
 application in Ireland. Even the office of Brehon 
 became hereditary in certain families, although all 
 who held it had to comply with certain fixed condi- 
 tions of study and preparation. Free election of the 
 abbot by a monastic community was unknown, and, 
 as we have seen, the abbot was often not a bishop, but 
 only a presbyter, or a layman. " It did not follow,"' 
 says Dr. Todd, "that these coarbs were always 
 bishops, or even priests. In the case of Kildare the 
 coarbs were always females ; and there is an instance 
 on record, although in a different sense, of a female 
 coarb of St. Patrick at Armagh. But it is evident 
 that the abbot or coarb, and not the bishop as such, 
 inherited the rights of chieftainship and property, 
 and was, therefore, the important personage in the 
 ecclesiastical community. Hence we have in the 
 Annals a nearer approach to a correct list of the 
 abbots or coarbs than to a correct list of the bishops. 
 The bishop or bishops — for there were often more 
 than one bishop connected with the monastery, or 
 with what afterwards became the episcopal see — were 
 in subjection to the coarb-abbot, and did not neces- 
 sarily succeed each other, according to our modern 
 T89 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part in 
 
 A regular notions of episcopal succession. There were frequent 
 of bSprin breaks in the chain." [Dr. Todd refers here to 
 i^eia°djit is Reeves, "Ecd. Ant.;' p. 136 in proof.] . . . "Con- 
 to trace. siderable difficulty," Dr. Todd proceeds, " has there- 
 fore been created by the attempt to make out a 
 regular succession of bishops in Armagh and else- 
 where. The truth is there was no such thing. The 
 names handed down to us as successors of Patrick 
 are many of them called abbots. Some are called 
 bishops as well as abbots, some are styled bishops 
 only, and some coarbs of St. Patrick. But there is 
 nothing in this last title to indicate whether the 
 personage so designated was a bishop, a priest, or a 
 layman." ^ 
 
 " Hence," also remarks the Rev. Thomas Olden, 
 " catalogues of successive bishops of Irish sees, from 
 their founder to the present day must be illusive." ^ 
 
 Hence also, we may add, the absurdity of assert- 
 ing in the most cocksure manner, as many do, that 
 they are able to trace tlieir apostolical succession up 
 to St. Patrick, and through him to the apostles. The 
 confidence with which such assertions are made is 
 usually in inverse proportion to the information of 
 those who make them. A course of reading in early 
 Irish Church history would considerably abate their 
 confidence. 
 
 How the state of things which thus existed in 
 the Irish Church was regarded in England we have 
 seen from the decision of the Synod of Cealcythe 
 to exclude the Irish clergy from their dioceses ; how 
 they were regarded by contemporary ecclesiastics on 
 the Continent we learn from St. Bernard. In his 
 
 ^ Todd's "St. Patrick," pp. 171, 172. 
 * "The Church of Ireland," c. vii. p. 120. 
 190 
 
CHAP, ix] ITS ORGANISATION 
 
 " Life of Malachi '*'* he says : " There had been intro- 
 duced by the diabolical ambition of cei*tain people 
 of rank a scandalous usage whereby the Holy See 
 (Armagh) came to be obtained by hereditary suc- 
 cession. For they would allow no person to be pro- 
 moted to the bishopric except such as were of their 
 own tribe and family. Nor was it for any short 
 period that this succession had continued, nearly 
 fifteen generations having been already exhausted 
 in this course of iniquity.'' He mentions that before 
 the time of Celsus eight of these coarbs, or successors 
 of St. Patrick in Armagh were married, and not in 
 orders at all — mere laymen. He appears to have 
 regarded the case of Armagh as quite exceptional, 
 whereas we have abundant evidence to show that 
 the law of succession was the same everywhere 
 throughout Ireland. 
 
 191 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 PROCRUSTEAN METHODS OF TREATING EARLY 
 IRISH CHURCH ORGANISATION. 
 
 The facts which I have been recounting with re- 
 gard to the constitution of the early Irish Church 
 — its thoroughly monastic character; the universal 
 rule over it of the abbots ; the complete absence of 
 anything in the shape of episcopal government ; the 
 vast number of bishops in proportion to the popula- 
 tion; their connection in so many instances with 
 single churches; their absolute subjection to the 
 abbots, and (where the two offices of abbot and 
 bishop were not combined) their inferior and 
 humble status in the monastery — have been a sore 
 Laborious trial to some writers. Instead of taking the facts 
 to^reconciie ^^ ^^^.Y ^^^ them, a certain class of historians have 
 the facts put forth painfully laborious efforts to reconcile 
 modern them with modem church systems. The ingenuity 
 Church ^}ia^ }ias been expended in reading Anglicanism, 
 with its diocesan episcopacy and hierarchical grades, 
 into the organisation of the Celtic Church of Ireland, 
 and in making out the former to be identical with 
 the latter, might have yielded magnificent results 
 had it been brought to bear on some fruitful field 
 of study. To any one whose eyes have once been 
 opened to the real state of the case they are as 
 puerile as they are futile. But by a species of 
 
 192 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 "apostolical succession ■*' the most extraordinary 
 analogies and arguments to this end are handed 
 down from one writer to another. Dr. Todd and 
 Dr. Reeves get hints from Bishop Lloyd ; the in- 
 genuities of Dr. Todd and Dr. Reeves are appro- 
 priated by minor compilers ; and the comic futilities 
 of compilers are retailed by other scribes still as 
 heaven-inspired oracles. 
 
 The late Bishop Reeves has done immense service, valuable 
 especially in his learned volumes on the " Ecclesias- of d^*^^^" 
 tical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore,^** Raeves. 
 and in his edition of "Adamnan's Columba," in 
 collecting and making available to the reader from 
 out-of-the-way and often obscure sources so much 
 that serves to throw light on the early ecclesiasti- 
 cal history of this country. For the patient labour 
 which he devoted to this task, and for the valuable 
 fruit of it embodied in these volumes and in other 
 publications, he has earned the gratitude of every 
 student of Irish history. But when Dr. Reeves quits 
 research and proceeds, as he does in the Appendix to Hisexpiana- 
 his " Antiquities,'" to explain the anomalies of the an "nmiies 
 primitive Irish Church organisation, and to reconcile i»» the early 
 them with modern Anglicanism, his success is not notsati^*^ 
 conspicuous. It may be interesting and instructive 'a^tory. 
 to notice briefly some of the ways in which he seeks 
 to account for the peculiarities of the Celtic Church. 
 
 1. One reason which he gives for the extraordinary BishopB 
 multiplication of bishops is that it was " more the hTsay^.^to' 
 object to secure to the Church the perpetuity of ^^'^^^^ p***- 
 
 11 1 • . 1 1 o petuityof 
 
 orders than to parcel it out mto accurately denned orders. 
 dioceses."'* ^ So far as we have means of knowing, the 
 "securing to the Church the perpetuity of orders'" 
 * " Antiquities," p. 123. 
 
 193 N 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 seems to have given those old Irish ecclesiastics 
 precious little anxiety — much less than it does to a 
 modern Anglo-Catholic — much less than it did to 
 their English Papal contemporaries, who refused to 
 admit them into their dioceses, and declared by a 
 solemn synodical canon that it was quite " uncertain 
 by whom they were ordained, or whether they were 
 ordained at all.'"' " To secure to the Church the per- 
 petuity of orders," was it necessaiy to have a bishop 
 in every church, where the churches were not more 
 than a mile or two apart ? Was it necessary for this 
 purpose, from the " Catholic "" point of view, to have 
 a series of 140 or 150 collegiate churches, with seven 
 bishops attached to each, and to have not one, but 
 in some cases a numerous staff of bishops in each 
 monastery ? " The perpetuity of orders," if that had 
 been the object, could have been secured quite as 
 well, as it was elsewhere, at a much cheaper rate — 
 by at least one out of every fifty of the staff of 
 bishops that was kept up. 
 Patrick 2. Dr. Reeves reproduces, and appears to adopt, 
 
 suffra"^t ! ^^^hop Lloyd's suggestion that, besides the bishops 
 ordained by St. Patrick, he appointed as many 
 suffragans as there were rural deaneries at a later 
 time.^ But to conceive of " suffragans "" as existing 
 in the early Celtic Church is to perpetrate a very 
 palpable anachronism, which it is strange that Dr. 
 Reeves should for a moment countenance. The 
 metal which an astronomer once imagined he de- 
 tected in one of the heavenly bodies turned out to 
 be but an element in his own atmosphere, or a part 
 of his own spectroscope, which had to be removed 
 before he could see the orb truly. The "bishops' 
 
 1 "Antiquities," p. 124. 
 194 
 
cHAP.x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 sees "" and " suffragans," with which Dr. Lloyd credits 
 the primitive Church of Ireland, were but motes 
 floating in that good Bishop^s atmosphere. AVe must 
 remove these from our line of vision before we can 
 see just as they were past times and institutions. 
 
 3. Conscious that the explanation just given was Sudden 
 far from satisfactory. Dr. Reeves next supposes the oriSge" 
 great multiplication of bishops to be " due to the numbers 
 sudden accession of gi*eat numbers to Christianity '"' explain the 
 in Patrick^s time.^ Now, if the Irish bishops were, J^rge^"^^- 
 as they seem to have been, very much like ordinary bishops. 
 clergy of our own time, missionaries or ministers of 
 congregations, the sudden accession of large numbers 
 
 to the Chiistian faith would no doubt make their 
 increase necessary. But if they were anything like 
 modem bishops, with similar duties, no such multi- 
 plication was required as took place. There was the 
 same sudden accession of great multitudes of con- 
 verts in England through the mission of Augustine ; 
 there was a like sudden and vast accession in many 
 Continental countries, but in none of them did it 
 lead to the appointment of such an immense army 
 of bishops. It necessitated an increase in the staff 
 of the ordinary clergy. 
 
 4. The next cause to which Dr. Reeves attributes a more 
 the large proportion of bishops in the Irish Church explanation 
 is a much more feasible one. He thinks that " the 
 
 civil condition of the country " — its division and sub- 
 division into so many tribes and principalities — may 
 have had much to do with it.^ Dr. Todd assigns a 
 similar reason for their increase : " When one of the 
 petty kings or chieftains embraced Christianity, he 
 
 * "Antiquities," p. 125. ^ Ibid., p. 126. 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 provided a bishop, sometimes more than one bishop, 
 and other clergy for the benefit of his clan. The 
 district which owed allegiance to the chieftain, and 
 was inhabited by his followers, became the proper 
 field of labour to his bishops and clergy, and this 
 was the first approach made to a diocesan or terri- 
 torial jurisdiction in the Church of Ireland.*"^ And 
 Dr. Skene makes a like remark. Patrick, he says, 
 "founded churches wherever he could obtain a grant 
 from the chief of the sept, and appears to have 
 placed in each tuath, or tribe, a bishop ordained 
 by himself, who may have had one or more presby- 
 ters with him. It was, in short, a congregational 
 and tribal episcopacy, united by a federal rather 
 than a territorial tie under regular jurisdiction.'^^ 
 Now it is no doubt perfectly true that the ecclesi- 
 astical arrangements and the distribution of monas- 
 teries and clergy were much affected by the tribal 
 divisions, and these divisions might have been ade- 
 quate to account for the multiplication of bishops had 
 the bishops in Ireland been only as numerous as the 
 tribes or septs, each tribe or sept having its bishop ; 
 but its insufficiency to explain the appointment of 
 so many bishops appears from the fact that there 
 was often quite a number of them within the terri- 
 tory of a single sept — in the extract from Dr. Todd 
 given above, he unwittingly but quite correctly speaks 
 of the district of the chieftain becoming the proper 
 field of labour to his bishops, not his bishop ; that 
 we find a large number of bishops in a single monas- 
 tery where one would have been sufficient for con- 
 ferring orders, consecrating churches, and the like ; 
 
 1 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 38. 
 
 2 Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. Bk. ii. p. 22. 
 
 196 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 that in adjacent churches in the same immediate 
 neighbourhood we find a bishop in each, and that 
 in a multitude of instances we have seven bishops 
 attached to a single church. The seven could not 
 have been all needed for the purposes just indicated. 
 
 5. Once more, following Dr. Lanigan, Dr. Reeves Explained 
 attributes the large number of bishops in the Church aueged 
 
 of St. Patrick to "the existence of the order of existence of 
 Chorepiscopi, or country bishops.*"^ But there is coin/ 
 no trace whatever in the early records of any differ- 
 ence in this respect between country bishops and 
 city bishops. On the contrary, it is the express 
 complaint of Lanfranc that " in towns or cities many 
 bishops were ordained ^^ {quod in villis, vel civitatibus 
 plv/res ordinantur). But in this reference to the 
 Chorepiscopi Dr. Reeves appears to me to have been 
 on the track which would have led him to the natural 
 solution of the problem had he pursued it far enough. 
 The numerous Chorepiscopi, which synods of the 
 fourth century passed decrees to reduce or suppress, 
 were a survival of a primitive state of things to be 
 noticed presently, in which each bishop was simply 
 the chief minister of a congregation. "There is 
 good reason to believe,'^ says Dr. Todd, "that the 
 ancient Chorepiscopi, although enjoying the name, 
 and in part exercising the jurisdiction of bishops, 
 were in reality no more than presbyters.*" ^ 
 
 6. But Dr. Reeves is conscious that he has not a sixth at- 
 yet hit on the true secret of such a multiplication of expiana- 
 bishops, and feels it necessary to look around to see ***^"' 
 
 if he cannot find other causes. "The increase of 
 bishops in Ireland,*" he says, " was further owing to 
 
 ^ " Antiquities," p. 127. 
 2 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 76. 
 197 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 the custom which prevailed from the commencement, 
 of combining the episcopal and abbatial offices in 
 the founders or superiors of religious houses, or of 
 associating a bishop in the brotherhood where the 
 rector was only a priest.'*' This, however, goes but 
 a short way in accounting for the state of things 
 which has been laid before the reader. It in no way 
 accounts for the presence of a number of bishops in 
 the same monastery or church, nor the presence of 
 a bishop in each of a number of closely adjacent 
 churches. 
 A seventh 7. Both Dr. Reeves and Dr. Todd ascribe the 
 attempt. consecration of so many bishops without sees to the 
 missionary character of their duties.^ Now, it is 
 quite true that some bishops went abroad as mis- 
 sionaries, and others doubtless laboured at home in 
 that capacity, although it is not to be forgotten that 
 some of the greatest, most eminent, and successful 
 missionaries, like Columba and Columbanus, were 
 not bishops but presbyters. But what needs to be 
 explained, and what all that has hitherto been 
 adduced fails to explain from the episcopal point of 
 view, is the existence of so many bishops who were 
 not "ambulatory," but fixed to particular churches, 
 which in many cases were quite near to one another. 
 The true ex- 8. At one point Dr. Reeves seems to me to light 
 the^Wshops ^P^^ t^e true solution of the problem, although he 
 of the fails in some measure to appreciate its full signi- 
 chSch^pas- ficance. When he quotes Bingham for the purpose 
 tors of con- ^f showiuff that the nearer you go back to primi- 
 
 gregations. ... ./ o i 
 
 tive times bishops are found to be relatively more 
 numerous, he has really got his hand on the clue to 
 
 * "See Reeves's "Antiquities," pp. 134, 135 ; and Todd's "St. 
 Patrick," pp. 36, 47. 
 
 198 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 the labyrinth. The chief explanation of the mystery, 
 which after all is no mystery at all, is doubtless to 
 be found here. All through the second century, 
 and in many (juarters even in the third century, the 
 bishop was simply the presiding pastor of a single 
 congregation. There is extant a very notable law- 
 book of the Egyptian Churches, entitled "The 
 Apostolic Canons,''' or "Apostolic Church Order."" 
 It has been edited by Dr. Harnack, and discussed by 
 him with gi*eat knowledge and acumen. The work 
 is a compilation, and as such is assigned by Dr. 
 Harnack to the year 300 or thereabouts, but it is 
 made up of some earlier documents, among others 
 of portions of the Didache. Here is a suggestive 
 passage from it : " If there are in one place few men 
 and not twelve pei*sons who are fit to vote at the 
 election of a bishop, the neighbouring churches 
 should be written to, where any of them is a settled 
 one, in order that three selected men may come 
 thence and examine carefully if he is worthy." 
 Here, then, it is laid down that even where there are 
 less than twelve Christimis in a place competent to 
 vote, a bishop must he chosen by them. Direction is 
 given also respecting the appointment of presbyters, 
 and also deacons, readers, and widows. But other 
 things even more striking come out in this old " Code 
 of Discipline." I prefer to give them in the words 
 of Dr. Harnack. " From its statements it appears 
 without doubt," he says, " that the bishop, at least 
 in one view, although primus inter pares, is con- 
 sidered the superior of the presbyters." But on the 
 other hand. Dr. Harnack shows that there is a 
 superintendence of the bishop by the presbyters. "It 
 is to be observed that of the relation of the pres- 
 199 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 byters to the bishop the same word is used 
 (irpovoeiorOaL) which shows their relation to the 
 congregation. This is the technical term for the 
 function of the care and of the ' rule,^ and that of 
 the presbyters." [In a note Dr. Harnack gives evi- 
 dence of this from both profane and ecclesiastical 
 inscriptions.] " Thus also the hishop stands under the 
 care of the presbytery. That is information of the 
 first importance; for what we hithei-to might only 
 have guessed at, we now receive incontestable proof 
 of. We discover that even in the time when from 
 a plurality of bishops there has come to be only one, 
 a kind of supervision by the presbyters over the 
 bisJwp'*s actions ha^ continued. The episcopal 
 monarchy has thus not yet had, even at the be- 
 ginning, the significance of an autocracy; rather 
 has the supreme control of the presbyters continued 
 at times."' The bishop is described as " the pastor, 
 the liturgist, and representative of the congregation 
 to the outer world.*" ^ We have already seen that 
 in Egypt the bishop was ordained by the presbyters. 
 The immense number of bishops as compared with 
 the population in Proconsular Africa and in other 
 countries, has been often noticed, and was itself 
 sufficient to suggest that each bishop must have 
 been the presiding pastor of a single community or 
 congregation. At a conference in Carthage between 
 the Donatists and the Catholics there were present 
 altogether 565 bishops from a comparatively limited 
 area, and of course there must have been many 
 absent. Somewhat later a contemporary, who was 
 himself a sufferer, mentions that 466 Catholic 
 
 1 Harnack's "Sources of the Apostolic Canons," pp. 29, 32, 
 
 33. 
 
 200 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 bishops presented themselves on one occasion before 
 the king of the Vandals at Carthage. Dupin 
 reckons up about 690 bishops in Africa about 
 this time ; the greater number of these must have 
 been in the position of pastors in small towns and 
 villages. 
 
 This is precisely the position of the Ignatian 
 bishop : he is the chief pastor of a congregation, 
 with his presbyters and deacons around him. He 
 presides and administers the sacraments just as, for 
 example, any non-Episcopal minister does. Candid 
 Episcopal scholars fully admit what is implied in 
 these facts. "The whole position of the bishop,*" 
 says Professor Sanday, " was very similar to that of 
 the incumbent of the parish church in one of our 
 smaller towns.**' Dr. Sanday is perhaps, since the 
 death of Bishop Lightfoot, the highest Episcopal 
 authority on this subject. He adds that in some 
 respects "the Nonconformist communities of our 
 own time furnish a closer parallel to the primitive 
 state of things than an established Church can 
 do. Christianity itself was an instance of non- 
 conformity."" ^ Later still, Dr. Sanday says : " The 
 Church passed through a congregational stage, and 
 (if we exclude the activity of the apostles as some- 
 thing exceptional) it passed through a presbyterian 
 stage. If any one wishes to single out these stages, 
 and to model the society to which he belongs upon 
 them, he is zealous for a pure and primitive polity ; 
 he clings to the Bible and what he finds in the Bible ; 
 he will not allow himself to wander far from that 
 ideal which he thinks Christ and His apostles have 
 left him. Can we condemn him for this ? Shall 
 
 » "The Expositor," Feb. 1887, p. 113. 
 201 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 we not rather say, 6vBoki/jl6lt(o koX eml rovroi'?'''' Dr. 
 Sanday very justly thinks that he sees here the 
 basis of an eirenicon between the Churches. One 
 of the most recent AngHcan Church historians, who 
 is by no means of so scientific a spirit as Dr. Sanday, 
 and who often exhibits an Anglican bias and gives 
 an Anglican colouring to the facts, nevertheless 
 fully admits the congregational character of episco- 
 pacy in the early period. He says : " Every city 
 [he might have said every village] in which a church 
 was formed had its bishop, whose position in many 
 respects resembled that of the rector of a parish 
 surrounded by his assistant clergy rather than that 
 of the modern bishop of a diocese, containing per- 
 haps several large towns. To him it belonged to 
 preside over the assemblies, whether of the presbyters 
 or of the brethren at large ; to decide finally on the 
 reception or exclusion of members ; to grant com- 
 mendatory letters to members of his flock passing 
 into other dioceses ; to maintain correspondence 
 with other churches : to ordain, to preach, to ad- 
 minister the sacraments ; the two latter offices he 
 might, and often did, delegate in case of necessity 
 to his presbyters.'"* ^ Why, this is just the position 
 of a Presbyterian minister. He is the "pastor*" of 
 the congregation ; there can be no regular meeting 
 of the elders without him in the chair ; he only can 
 ordain and administer the sacraments. 
 
 Now the primitive Church of Ireland was detached 
 and isolated from the empire, cut off from the in- 
 fluences and changes at work in the great " Catholic 
 Church*" throughout the empire. Some features of 
 the primitive organisation, therefore, persisted longer 
 
 ^ Cheetham's "Church History," p. 128. 
 202 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 in Ireland than in most other countries. What need 
 is there to travel farther afield than this to account 
 for the fact that in the Celtic Church of Ireland 
 the bishops were so numerous — as numerous as the 
 churches.? If, along with this, one recognises the 
 effect of the tribal system, and the predominant and 
 controlling influence of the monasteries and their 
 abbots, what more is needed to read the riddle of 
 early Irish Church organisation ? 
 
 And may we not find here the basis of an eirenicon 
 between Episcopal and non-Episcopal denominations, 
 a common meeting - ground where Episcopalians 
 cannot but be delighted to stand beside their non- 
 Episcopal brethren.? As Episcopalians, of course, 
 they have a warm admiration for bishops — such a 
 love for them and such a faith in them that they 
 cannot object to increase their number. Now what 
 I suggest is, that they should multiply their bishops 
 till they are as numerous relatively as they were in 
 primitive times — till they are as numerous as the 
 congi'egations, and every pastor is a bishop. Our 
 Episcopalian friends cannot object to that. In view 
 of their own contention that their Church polity is 
 identical with that of the early Church, wherein 
 Episcopacy was congi-egational and bishops as 
 numerous as the churches, they cannot hesitate to 
 welcome the proposal. It would be a union, too, on 
 the basis of the " historic Episcopate.**' Why then 
 should we not have it .? 
 
 9. There was one feature in the ancient Church of subordina 
 Ireland which has given gi-eat scope to the inventive "i^J^o ^s to 
 faculty of some writers — the fact that its bishops presbytei- 
 had no dioceses, no jmisdiction, no part in the anaTogies 
 government of the Church, were in such complete adduced. 
 203 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 and universal subjection to the abbots, and held such 
 a humble place. Dr. Reeves refers to a supposed 
 parallel instance adduced by Bishop Lloyd, who 
 points out that the government of the University of 
 Oxford is exclusive of the Bishop of Oxford, that the 
 Chancellor and his deputy have precedence of the 
 Bishop, and that the students are exempt from his 
 cognisance and jurisdiction.^ Dr. G. T. Stokes re- 
 produces Bishop Lloyd'*s instance in a slightly modi- 
 fied form. He supposes a fellow or professor of the 
 University of Dublin appointed a bishop while still 
 retaining his fellowship or professorship. As pro- 
 fessor or fellow, he would be subject to the provost, 
 though the latter were merely a presbyter (or, for 
 that matter, though he were merely a layman), who, 
 however, would acknowledge his superiority as bishop. 
 Dr. Stokes also cites the case of a returned Colonial 
 bishop acting as curate to a rector who is only a 
 presbyter, and, as his curate, subject to the presby- 
 ter. And such instances are sufficient to prove, it 
 seems, that modern diocesan episcopal government 
 is substantially identical with that of the early Irish 
 Church ! — Q.E.D. ! It strikes an ordinary mind 
 that, accepting the instances as they are given, the 
 parallel is slightly imperfect, and scarcely sufficient 
 to bear the weight of the inference. No doubt some 
 odd cases like those adduced may now and then occur 
 as a quite abnormal and exceptional arrangement. 
 To make the parallel complete and to justify the 
 inference, the exception must become the rule, the 
 abnormal instance universal. Let us suppose this 
 taking place. Suppose all primatial, archiepiscopal, 
 and episcopal jurisdiction to be done away with, not 
 
 1 Reeves's "Antiquities," p. 133. 
 204 
 
CHAP, x] PROCRUSTEAN TREATMENT 
 
 in one or two exceptional cases only, but in the 
 whole Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland ; that 
 dioceses and diocesan bishops were completely abo- 
 lished, and deans, canons, and the like entirely swept 
 away ; that there was no such thing as episcopal govern- 
 ment left in it ; that the government of the Church 
 was put entirely into the hands of the heads of uni- 
 vereities ; that the functionaries known as " bishops "*"' 
 wei-e simply pastors of congregations, or missionaries, 
 or humble servants of the provost, who employs 
 them in teaching, or in copying old manuscripts, or 
 in brewing his ale, in cultivating his garden, cutting 
 down his trees, rowing his boat, grinding his corn, 
 driving his carriage, or, if he is old, carrying him 
 about on their back — then you would have a parallel, 
 or something approaching a parallel, to the ecclesias- 
 tical polity and government of the ancient Church 
 of Ireland ; but the change that should bring that 
 state of things about would he a revolutimi, in which 
 episcopal government would be utterly swept away ! 
 To argue that, because the subordination of a modern 
 bishop to the provost of a university, or to the rector 
 of a parish for whom he acts as curate, might occur 
 as an abnormal and isolated arrangement, therefore 
 the modern Episcopal Church is in government and 
 polity identical with one in which such a system was 
 universal, is only to trifle with the subject. To 
 establish identity, the exception must become the 
 rule, and in making the exception the rule you do 
 away with episcopal government altogether. If it 
 be alleged that there were the three orders of 
 "bishop," "presbyter,"" and "deacon'"* in the early 
 Irish Church, the reply is that the very same dis- 
 tinction is made in other Churches. Tliere is a wide 
 205 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 and deeply-marked difference, for example, between 
 the Presbyterian minister and his presbyters or elders. 
 He only can preside, ordain, and administer the 
 sacraments. We are inclined to share in the regret 
 of a friend, who is a master in these matters, that 
 Calvin did not reserve for him the sole right to the 
 title of "bishop.^^ 
 
 206 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 
 
 Reference has been made to the schools or colleges Endowed 
 set up by the illustrious King Cormac Mac Art in co"iIg"8*^^ 
 the third century. But Professor O'Curry shows and inter- 
 that even during the Christian period there were ™hooi8 in 
 endowed educational establishments, which were in primitive 
 
 •in • T • /• 1 Ireland. 
 
 fact great national colleges, quite distinct from the 
 ecclesiastical schools of the time.^ Such a system 
 was devised by Dalian Forgaill, the ard-oUamh, chief 
 poet and doctor of Ireland. The scheme received 
 the approval of the great convention of Drumceatt 
 in 574, and provided that there should be what 
 O'Curry describes as equivalent to a modern univer- 
 sity in each of the five provinces, and something 
 like what we now call an intermediate school in each 
 titath, or territory of a tribe, and they were well 
 endowed. To each ollamh were assigned free lands 
 from his chief, fiis well as free common lands for the 
 gratuitous education of such men of Erin as were 
 without means of their own. It reminds us some- 
 what of the system of universities, of colleges in the 
 chief provincial towns, and of parish schools pro- 
 
 1 O'Curry's "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," 
 
 pp. 77. 78. 
 
 207 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 jected, and to some extent set up, in Scotland by 
 Knox. 
 
 With regard to such public schools in Ireland, the 
 Brehon laws had the following among other pre- 
 scriptions : — 
 Relation " The poet (or tutor) commands his pupils. The 
 
 teacher and ^^^ from whom education is received is free from 
 pupil. the crimes of his pupils, if they be the children of 
 
 natives [i.e. of the district], even though he feeds 
 and clothes them, and they pay him for their learn- 
 ing. He is free, even though it be a stranger he 
 instructs, feeds, and clothes, provided it is not for 
 pay, but for God that he does it. If he feeds and 
 instructs a stranger for pay, it is then he is account- 
 able for his crimes.'"* ^ 
 
 "However it may surprise us,'' says Sir Henry 
 Maine, "that the connection between pupil and 
 teacher was regarded as peculiarly sacred by the 
 ancient Irish, and as closely resembling natural 
 fatherhood, the Brehon tracts leave no room for 
 doubt on the point. It is expressly laid down that 
 it created the same patria potestas as actual pa- 
 ternity, and the literary foster-father, though he 
 teaches gratuitously, has a claim through life upon 
 portions of the property of the literary foster-son. 
 Thus the Brehon with his pupils constituted not a 
 school in our sense, but a true family. While the 
 ordinary foster-father was bound by the law to give 
 education of some kind to his foster-children — to the 
 sons of chiefs instruction in riding, shooting with 
 the bow, swimming, and chess-playing, and instruc- 
 tion to their daughters in sewing, cutting out, and 
 
 ^ O'Curry's "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," 
 vol. ii. p. 79. 
 
 208 
 
CHAP.xi] EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS 
 
 embroidery — the Brehon trained his foster-sons in 
 learning of the highest dignity, the lore of the chief 
 literary profession. He took payment, but it was 
 the law which settled it for him. It was part of his 
 status, and not the result of a bargain."' ^ 
 
 It may be added that the staff of masters or pro- staff of. 
 fessors in a lay school or college included (according p"^"'®^^"- 
 to Professor Eugene O'Curry) the following : — 
 
 "1. The Caogdach, or 'fifty man;' who was the 
 lowest, having only to chant the 150 Psalms. 
 
 "2. The Foghlantidh, or scholar; who taught 
 ten out of the twelve books of the college course or 
 native education. 
 
 "3. The Staraidh, or historian; who had also, 
 besides history, thirty lessons of divinity in his 
 course. 
 
 " 4. The Foircetlaidh, or lecturer ; who professed 
 grammar, orthography, criticism, enumeration, the 
 com-ses of the year, and the courses of the sun and 
 moon {i.e. astronomy). 
 
 " 5. The Saoi Canoine^ or professor of divinity ; 
 who taught ' the canons, and the Gospels of Jesus, 
 that is, the Word of God, in the sacred place in 
 which it is; that is, who taught the Catholic 
 Canonical Wisdom.' 
 
 " 6. The DrunwhH, or chief head ; a master who 
 knew the whole course of learning." ^ 
 
 But our business just now is with the monastic The great 
 schools, which, it should be remembered, imparted "^^^1^*^ 
 secular as well as religious education. It was quite 
 common for the sons of chiefs and kings at home 
 
 ^ Sir Henry Maine's "Early History of Institutions," Lect. 
 viii. p. 242. 
 ' "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," vol. ii. p. 84. 
 209 O 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 and abroad to receive their training in them. As 
 Dr. Skene says, the monasteries generally were 
 "educational establishments to which the youth of 
 the tribe were sent, not only to be trained to 
 monastic life, but also to receive secular education. 
 Each monastic institution had, besides its com- 
 munity of monks, a body of young people who 
 received secular education. Even in the smaller 
 monasteries the number of scholars was usually 
 fifty. In the larger, of course, a much greater 
 number were taught.*" ^ It is highly interesting to 
 The sons of learn that it was to Ireland that the better classes, 
 nobiutf *^^ and even the nobility and royal families in England, 
 educated in sent their sons to be educated. Referring to the 
 schools ; year 664:, Bede says : " There were many of the 
 nobility, and of the middle classes too of the English 
 people, who, in the time of Bishops Finan and 
 Colman, had left their native isle and retired thither 
 [i.e. to Ireland], either for the purpose of studying 
 the Word of God, or to live a stricter life. And 
 some devoted themselves to the monastic life, others 
 chose to apply themselves to study, going about 
 from one master"'s cell to another. The Scots [i.e. 
 the Irish] most cordially received them all, and 
 took care to supply them gratuitously with daily 
 food, as also to furnish them with books to read 
 and instruction without charge. Among these were 
 iEdilhun and Ecgbert, two youths of excellent parts, 
 of the English nobility. The former was brother 
 to ^Edilvini, a man no less beloved of God, who 
 himself also afterwards went over to Ireland for the 
 sake of study, and having been well instructed, 
 
 ^ Skene's " Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. p. 75. 
 
 2IO 
 
CHAP, xi] EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS 
 
 returned to his own country.*"^ Similarly, Bede 
 says of Aldfrid, son of King Oswin, afterwards king 
 of Northumbria, that " he was a man most learned 
 in Scripture,'' that " he at that time lived in exile 
 in the islands of the Scots for the sake of studying 
 letters,^ and that before he came to the throne " he 
 had for a considerable time gone into voluntary 
 exile in the regions of the Scots [or Irish], for the 
 sake of acquiring learning, through the love of 
 wisdom."" 
 
 But it was not from England only that students and 
 flocked in those times to Irish schools, but from all come*'^ 
 parts of Europe. It might be thought that Italy *rom aii 
 was at the very source and centre of light in the continent. 
 days of which I speak, and yet even Italy sent large 
 numbers to be educated and trained in Ireland. In 
 the " Life of Senan "" we read of " fifty Roman monks 
 who came to Ireland for the purpose of leading a 
 life of stricter discipline, or improving themselves in 
 the study of the Scriptures, then much cultivated 
 in Ireland, and became pupils of those holy fathers 
 who were most distinguished for sanctity of life and 
 the perfection of monastic discipline.'"* ^ There is no 
 doubt whatever that of all the countries of Europe, 
 the remote island of Ireland was the one which was 
 regarded as holding the highest place for learning 
 and devotion. How great must have been the fame 
 of the great monastic school of Lismore to justify 
 these words of Moronus, who, it should be noted, 
 was not an Irishman, but a foreigner. They are 
 quoted by Ussher, and have been thus rendered : — 
 
 1 Bede'^5 " Eccl. Hist.," Bk. iii. c. 27. 
 » *'Colgan, "A.SS.,"p. 533. 
 211 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [paet hi 
 
 " Now haste Sicambri from the marshy Rhine ; 
 Bohemians now desert their cold north land ; 
 Auvergne and Holland, too, add to the tide ; 
 Forth from Geneva's frowning cliffs they throng. 
 Helvetia's youth by Rhone and by Saone 
 Are few : the Western isle is now their home. 
 All these from many lands, by many diverse paths, 
 Rivals in pious zeal, seek Lismore's famous seat." 
 
 In fact, the Irish monastic schools appear to have 
 been crowded with students. There were three 
 thousand at one time under Finnian at Clonard. 
 The city of Armagh was divided into three parts, 
 and one of them was called Trian Saxon, from the 
 great number of Saxon students who dwelt in it. 
 We learn again that in the eighth century seven 
 streets of a town called Kilbally, in King's County, 
 were wholly occupied by Galls and foreigners who 
 had come to attend its school.^ 
 The sort of Nor are we without the means of becoming 
 givTn in"" acquainted with the sort of knowledge which Irish 
 them. scholars at that time possessed. Fergil, known on 
 
 the Continent as Virgilius, and bearing the honour- 
 able title of "the geometer,"" originally abbot of 
 Aghaboe in Queen's County, was great both as a 
 man of science and as a missionary. On the Conti- 
 nent he came into serious collision with Boniface, 
 the " apostle of Germany," and incurred the con- 
 demnation of Pope Zachary himself for affirming 
 the rotundity of the earth and the existence of the 
 antipodes ; but he was held in high honour by Pepin, 
 who made him bishop of Salzburgh. Sedulius in 
 the eighth century wrote on a great variety of sub- 
 jects, on grammar, on government, and on theology, 
 and his works prove him to have been familiar with 
 
 ^ "Petrie's "Round Towers," p. 355. 
 212 
 
CHAP, xi] EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS 
 
 Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In his commentaries he 
 is able to quote with freedom both the Latin and 
 Greek Fathers. Clement, an Irishman, was employed 
 by Charlemagne along with Alcuin in his great 
 palace school and for the promotion of learning in 
 his realm ; another Irishman, Albinus, he sent to 
 Italy to establish a school near Pavia ; and Dicuil, a 
 third Irishman, the author of a geography entitled 
 Liber de Mensura Tcrroc, in which he gives evidence 
 of wide and singularly accurate information, was not 
 improbably a teacher under Charlemagne also. Nor 
 should Johannes Scotus Erigena, the brilliant genius 
 and wit, the profound thinker and scholar, who has 
 left ample proof on record of his knowledge of Greek, 
 be forgotten. He appears to have been educated in 
 the monastic school of Bangor, in County Down. Of 
 the cultivation of both Greek and Hebrew learning 
 in the Irish schools. Dr. G. T. Stokes has given copious 
 proof and illustration.^ 
 
 No wonder, then, that the monastic schools of 
 Ireland and their teachere were held in the highest 
 respect by the great scholars of the Continent. 
 
 The gi'owth and development of education in Ire- 
 land seem to have created the necessity for a new 
 functionary, who appears to have superseded the 
 scribe. This was the Ferleighinn^ a word composed 
 of two terms, which mean "a man of erudition." 
 Colgan renders it by the word " Prcrlector, vel potius 
 scholasticiusy One of the earliest to whom the title 
 is applied was Colcu of Clonmacnois in the eighth 
 century — the " Annals of the Four Masters'" connect 
 his death with the year 789 — and he is there described 
 
 * See his "Ireland and the Celtic Church," Lect. xi., and 
 the •* Expositor " for June and August 1889. 
 
 213 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part in 
 
 as the " supreme moderator (or head) and praelector 
 of the school of Clonmacnois," while it is added that 
 " he had arrived at such eminence in learning that 
 he was called chief scribe and master of the Scots in 
 Ireland/' ^ A letter is still extant addressed to this 
 Colcu by Alcuin, the renowned English scholar, who 
 was employed by Charlemagne as his trusted friend 
 and counsellor, and chief adviser in all ecclesiastical 
 and educational affairs. Alcuin addresses Colcu as 
 " lector in Scotia," calls him " pater sanctissime," and 
 himself as "filius tuus;"*' employs other language 
 which implies deep veneration and respect; men- 
 tions that " all thy friends who are with us serve 
 the Lord in prosperity," and sends to certain persons 
 whom he mentions a present of money from King 
 Charles, himself, and others.^ There could be no 
 more striking proof of the high esteem in which 
 Irish scholars were held by the most distinguished 
 men of the time. 
 
 ^ " Annals of the Fonr Masters," vol. i. p. 396, note e. 
 " See Ussher's " Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge, 
 Epistola xviii., where the letter is given in full. 
 
 214 
 
CHAPITER XII 
 
 THE MISSIONARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK 
 
 The noble service done by the Irish Church, not for 
 Ireland only, but for Europe, in the department of 
 education, has been briefly touched on. But the 
 Irish monasteries were not more renowned for their 
 seminaries of learning than for the missionary zeal 
 which they inspired, and the bands of earnest and 
 successful missionaries they sent forth to evangelise 
 those still living in sin and ignorance, and to cany 
 their peculiar type of Christianity to both North 
 and South Britain, and over the broad Continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 If one of the surest signs of life in a Church is her if mission- 
 missionary spirit — her desire to share the blessings i^ sJgn o? 
 which she herself eniovs with those less privileged li'e, the 
 
 . ... Irish Church 
 
 in other lands — this symptom of spiritual vitality was a living 
 and energy was now exhibited in the Irish Church ^'"'<'h- 
 to an extraordinary degree. It was very natural, 
 too, that the first to awaken her benevolent ardour 
 and move her to self-denying missionary enterprise 
 should have been her own kinsmen who had crossed 
 the Channel and settled on the opposite coasts and 
 islands of North Britain. Soon, however, her ope- 
 rations were extended beyond these to the Picts of 
 
 the North, and before long the whole Continent of 
 
 2ic; 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Europe was being traversed by missionaries from 
 Ireland. They generally went in companies of 
 twelve. 
 
 I. ST. BRENDAN. 
 
 St. Brendan The first who went forth from his own country 
 search of ou such an errand appears to have been St. Brendan 
 mrse^Land ^^ Clonfert (483-577). He was born at Annagh, 
 near Tralee, and, like so many Irish ecclesiastics, 
 was descended from a noble ancestry. He is said to 
 have been brought up under the care of St. Ita, and 
 to have been educated and ordained by Bishop Ere, 
 having spent some time with St. Jarlath at Tuam. 
 On the occasion of his ordination he would seem to 
 have been profoundly impressed by the words of our 
 Lord, "There is no man that hath left house, or 
 parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the 
 kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive mani- 
 fold more in this present time, and in the world to 
 come life everlasting;'"* and in the spirit of these 
 words he resolved to spend the remainder of his life. 
 One night, according to his biographer, he dreamt 
 that an angel appeared to him and said, "Arise, O 
 Brendan, for God hath given thee what thou sought- 
 est, even the land of promise." He then arose, 
 ascended the mountain close by, looked forth, and 
 saw the vast ocean stretching out on every side, and 
 imagined that away in the mists of the far distance 
 he caught a sight of the veritable Land of Promise. 
 He determined to set out in search of it, and the 
 voyage on which he now entered (it is said to have 
 been in 54<5) with the hope of reaching it earned for 
 him the name of " the Navigator."" Having made a 
 wicker vessel, strong and firm, and carefully covered 
 
 2l6 
 
CHAP, xn] ST. BRENDAN 
 
 it with skin, " in this,'' according to the story, hav- 
 ing induced some friends to accompany him, "he 
 sailed over the wave-voice of the strong-maned sea, 
 and over the storm of the green-sided waves, and 
 over the mouths of the marvellous, awful, bitter 
 ocean, where they saw the multitude of the furious 
 red-mouthed monsters, with abundance of great sea- 
 whales/' 
 
 Such is the pretty romance that poetry, in the 
 form of legend, has created out of an earnest 
 missionary life. One poet, Cumin of Connor, re- 
 presents him as spending seven years on a whale's 
 back, remarking naively that "it was a difficult 
 mode of piety ! " Let us not attempt to vulgarise 
 the story by stripping it of its poetry. Does not 
 every true missionary still set out in his "coracle" 
 in search of the " Promised Land " ? Do not we 
 all, at one time or another in our lives, sally forth 
 in search of our Promised Land ? Nay, are we not, 
 most of us, every day going out in quest of it.? 
 Those especially still in the morning of life, are 
 they not, even in their waking dreams, forming 
 visions of a "Promised Land," and preparing for 
 a voyage of exploration ? Let them be thankful 
 that, instead of the coracle and the whale's back, 
 they have now the railway train, and the motor- 
 carriage, and the steamship to carry them ! If 
 nothing else will do but to divest this exquisite 
 legend of its poetic halo, then the reader must 
 be told in sober prose that the solid kernel of 
 truth at the heart of this romance about Brendan Brendan 
 is that it is beyond question, and a well-ascertained churches 
 fact of history, that he did literally go to the *" <^he 
 Western Islands of Alba, evangelising their inha- islands. 
 217 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 bitants, and planting churches and monasteries on 
 them, as Columba went and did a little later. In 
 one island, for example, he founded a monastery 
 called Ailech, and in another, which is described 
 as having been " in Britain in the region of Heth,"" 
 we are informed that he built a church with its vil- 
 lage of huts around it. Bishop Reeves has shown, in 
 his edition of " Adamnan^'s Life of Columba,"" that 
 this was the island of Tiree. The situation of the 
 other is not definitely known; but the name of 
 Brendan is connected with several of the Western 
 Islands. Fordun, in his Chronicle, tells us that St. 
 Brendan constructed a booth and shrine on the island 
 of Bute. His name still survives in the Kilbrandan 
 Sound. The principal church in the island of Sail, 
 off the coast of Lorn, is dedicated to Brendan, 
 and one of the group of Garveloch isles bears the 
 name of Culbrandan, or the retreat of Brendan. 
 The last-named island is next to that called Eilean- 
 na-Naoimh, or the Island of the Saints, which 
 appears also to have been called Elachnave. This 
 was probably the place on which Brendan built the 
 monastery of Aileach, referred to a moment ago. 
 You see, in Brendan's voyage of discovery in quest 
 of his Promised Land it was no mere "will o"* the 
 wisp,"" or fiction of a holy grail that he was pur- 
 suing, but a sober Christian purpose of giving 
 the benefits that had come to him to his fellow- 
 men. 
 Founds On his return to Ireland he is said to have founded 
 
 oonfert, ^^^ monasteries of Clonfert and Annadown, and to 
 have built many cells and monasteries throughout 
 Ireland. His Life, edited by Bishop Moran, states 
 that he was in his seventy-seventh year when he 
 
 218 
 
 4&C 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 founded Clonfert. As he was bom in a.d. 583, this 
 would make the date of the foundation of Clonfert 
 to be A.D. 560. It is remarkable that the " Annals 
 of Innisfallen "^ fix the date of its foundation on the 
 very day of the battle of Culdreimnhe, which took 
 place in 561. 
 
 II. COLUMBA. 
 
 The most illustrious name in the Irish Church 
 after Patrick's is that of Columba, described by the 
 "Four Masters'" as "the apostle of Alba, head of 
 the piety of the most part of Ireland and Alba after 
 Patrick,"" depicted in the old Irish Life as " the 
 renowned presbyter of the island of the Gael"" (or 
 Irish), "the battlebrand endowed with talents and 
 various gifts of the Holy Ghost,*" " the bright, clear 
 luminary," " eminent above all clerics,'" but generally 
 designated by modems as "the apostle of the 
 Northern Picts.'*'' In learning and culture, and pro- 
 bably also in intellectual power, Columba was 
 superior to Patrick. From his biogi*aphers we learn 
 that he was a man of majestic and commanding 
 presence, tall and stately, of pleasing countenance — 
 Adamnan says "he had as it were the face of an 
 angel "' — with a voice at once soft and sonorous, and 
 so powerful that it could be heard distinctly chanting 
 a psalm a mile and a half away, and sounding the same 
 whether near or far, — the symbol of a pei*sonality at 
 once gentle and strong, combining the stern, fierce 
 qualities of a soldier with the mildness of a saint, 
 endowed with a poetic genius which was sensitive 
 to the tenderest feelings and touched to the finest 
 issues, yet surging with restless practical energy, 
 and capable of being stirred into tempestuous 
 
 219 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iit 
 
 The legend- 
 ary charac- 
 ter of the 
 Lives of 
 Columba. 
 
 Cumine's 
 Life. 
 
 Adamnan's 
 Life. 
 
 passion ; a master-mind, a born leader of men, who 
 would have come to the front in any age and in any 
 department of human activity. It is of him that I 
 am now to speak. 
 
 In dealing with Columba, we labour under the 
 same difficulty as that which we had to encounter 
 in the case of Patrick. It was the fate of every 
 man and woman of any note in Ireland, and espe- 
 cially of the most distinguished, that in the minds 
 of their superstitious admirers of succeeding genera- 
 tions a huge mass of legendary matter of the most 
 puerile and absurd sort grew up around their name, 
 rank and copious as ivy on an old ruin ; and their 
 successive monkish biographers, steeped to the lips 
 as they were in superstition and credulity, have so 
 interwoven the legendary and miraculous with the 
 authentic facts of their lives, that it is no easy, in 
 some cases an impossible, task to disentangle what 
 is fictitious from what is genuine history. This is 
 true of all the biographies we possess of Columba, 
 from the earliest to the latest. His two earliest 
 biographers, who were both successors of his at 
 lona, were indeed sufficiently near his own time 
 to gather up and embody in their works the chief 
 events of his career; one of them, Cumine, having 
 become abbot of lona sixty years and the other, 
 Adamnan, eighty-two years after Columba's death. 
 Even they, however, are panegyrists rather than 
 historians, and seek to glorify their hero by imput- 
 ing to him all sorts of stupendous prodigies in the 
 way of prophecy and miracle, many of which would 
 be the reverse of creditable if they were true. 
 Adamnan's Life is in three books, the first book 
 being a record of some fifty " prophecies " delivered 
 220 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 by Columba, the second an account of about the 
 same number of "miracles"''' wrought by him, and 
 the third book a record of more than twenty 
 " visions of angels "" seen by him. It is out of 
 such a legendary heap of prophecies, miracles, and 
 visions that we have to sift the grains of fact that 
 are mixed up with them. On scores of interesting 
 questions and mattei*s of fact Adamnan is wholly 
 silent. "What were the predisposing causes which 
 led to this great movement [the acceptance of the 
 faith by whole nations] among the Gothic and 
 Celtic tribes? What was the condition of their 
 own belief? What were to them the attractive 
 elements in the new religion ? What were the 
 arguments addressed to them by Columba? . . . 
 It is really afflicting that Adamnan gives us no 
 ray of light on these questions, so interesting and 
 so profoundly dark,"*"* says the Duke of Argyll. As the 
 Duke adds, " the imperishable interest of Adamnan 's 
 book lies in the vivid though incidental touches of 
 life and manners which he gives us in the telling of 
 his tales — of life and manners as they were in that 
 obscure but most fruitful time." 
 
 This also is the character of what is known as the The " oid 
 " Old Irish Life," which has been translated by Mr. ^'^^i^^' 
 W. M. Hennessey, M.R.I.A., and appended to the 
 second volume of Dr. Skene^s " Celtic Scotland." It 
 is a discourse which was composed. Dr. Reeves 
 thinks, as early as the tenth century, and delivered 
 as a eulogy of Columba on the occasion of his 
 festival. The Life of the saint by Manus O'Donnell, }^,^^ ^y „ 
 
 •^ ' O Donnell. 
 
 compiled in 1532, professes to be made up from all 
 previously existing records. Where it supplements 
 and embellishes the facts in the earlier Lives, as it 
 
 221 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [pakt hi 
 
 does to a considerable extent, we are safe in largely 
 discounting the later accretions. Adamnan's " Life 
 of Columba *" has been edited by the late Dr. Reeves, 
 with most learned and valuable notes and discussions, 
 which, however, are somewhat hard reading to any 
 but scholars specially interested in the subject. In 
 Skene's second volume, just referred to, and in Dr. 
 Fowler's recent edition of Adamnan's "Life of 
 Columba," there is an excellent digest of the re- 
 searches of Dr. Reeves. By careful criticism it is 
 not difficult to separate what is legendary in these 
 lives from what is true and trustworthy, and to ob- 
 tain a vivid portraiture of Columba and his romantic 
 career. And altogether what the Duke of Argyll 
 says may be taken as correct : " Not one historical 
 character of the time is in any similar degree known 
 to us. On one spot, and one spot only, of British 
 soil, there shines in this dark time a light more vivid 
 even than the light of common history — the light 
 of personal anecdote and of domestic narrative. 
 When we land upon lona, we can feel that we are 
 treading in the very footsteps of a man whom we 
 have known in voice, in gesture, in habits, and in 
 many peculiarities of character; and yet of a man 
 who walked on this same ground before the Hept- 
 archy, when Roman cities still stood in Britain, and 
 when the ancient Christianised Celts of Britain 
 were maintaining a doubtful contest with Teutonic 
 heathenism." ^ 
 
 His birth Columba was born at Gartan, a townland and 
 
 parish in the barony of Kilmacrennan, in County 
 Donegal. It was on December 7, 521. The name 
 given him was Colum, which in its Latin form is 
 
 1 The Duke of Argyll's " lona," p. 56. 
 222 
 
 and educa 
 
 tiOD, 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 Columba, but later he became known as Columkille, 
 or "Colum of the Church,"*** either because of his 
 constant attendance at the chui'ch of Tulach 
 Dubh-g'laise, now Temple Douglas, near where he 
 was born, or because so many churches were founded 
 by him. His mother, Eithne, was descended from 
 a famous Leinster king; his father, Fedhlimidh, 
 was the son of Fergus, who was the son of Conall 
 Galban, brother of Laoghaire, the over-king at 
 Tara at the time of Patrick^s visit. He was thus the 
 great-gi'eat-gi-andson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 
 scion of the royal house of Niall, and a near kinsman 
 of the reigning families in Ireland. The " Old Irish 
 Life "" informs us that he was not only " eligible to 
 the kingship of Erin according to family, but that 
 it was actually offered to him, only he had abandoned 
 royal honour's for God."*^ 
 
 Having spent his childhood and youth under the AtMovUia. 
 guardianship of a priest or presbyter called Cruith- 
 nechan, he went to Maghbile (now Movilla, near New- 
 townards), where he became a pupil of Finnian, or 
 FinnbaiT, of whom I have already spoken. Here 
 he was ordained a deacon. Thence he passed to 
 Leinster, where he studied under Gemman, an aged under 
 bard, of whom we know but little, but to whom ^'^™™"^- 
 doubtless he was drawn by his innate love for poetry, 
 in the cultivation of which Gemman would at once 
 stimulate and guide him. Leaving Gemman, we 
 find him next under the famous Finnian at the 
 great monastic seminary of Clonard, near the source At cionard. 
 of the Boyne, of which Ussher has said : " From the 
 school of Clonard (Clicain-Eraird) scholars of old 
 came out in as great numbers as Greeks from the side 
 of the horse of Troy.**** The usual number of pupils in 
 223 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 attendance is set down at 3000, so that the ancient 
 Annalists call St. Finnian himself a " doctor of 
 wisdom and tutor of the Saints of Ireland in his 
 time." Here Columba was trained as one of that 
 famous band, already spoken of, who afterwards 
 became known as "the twelve apostles of Erin." 
 Both here and at Movilla he no doubt perfected 
 himself in the art of copying and illuminating 
 manuscripts, in which we learn that he was specially 
 proficient. It is stated that he wrote with his own 
 hand three hundred copies of the New Testament, 
 one of which he gave to each of the churches which 
 he founded. It was at this stage in his career 
 that he is said to have been ordained a presbyter. 
 Hisordina- The story (as related in the Scholia or Annotations 
 on the Martyrology of JEngus) is, that Columba 
 was sent to Etchen, bishop of Clonfad, in West 
 Meath, to be ordained to the episcopate. Having 
 found Etchen ploughing in the field, Columba, it is 
 said, duly tested him by giving him the opportunity 
 to work some miracles. He was then ordained a 
 presbyter by Etchen, although, according to the 
 legend, it was the order of a bishop that Columba 
 wished to have conferred; yet, having been made a 
 presbyter, he would not permit the error to be 
 rectified, but remained a presbyter to the end of 
 his life. Adamnan, however, knows nothing of the 
 legend; and, as Todd suggests, "it was most pro- 
 bably framed to account for the fact that so eminent 
 a saint as Columkille had never risen beyond the 
 rank of a presbyter; and that he had vowed, as 
 was believed, never to accept episcopal consecration, 
 or to permit any of his abbots to be bishops."^ 
 
 1 Todd's "St. Patrick," p. 72. 
 224 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 The double impulse which Columba must have 
 received, first under Finnian of Movilla, and next 
 under Finnian of Clonard, should be taken into 
 account to understand his later career. Through 
 Finnian of Moville he would get at second hand Gets a 
 the impulse that Finnian himself had derived from J^^J"""' 
 the great monastic centre of Candida Casa; and 
 from Finnian of Clonard he would share in the 
 reviving influence which we know the latter had 
 obtained from David, Gildas, and Cadoc in Wales. 
 Bidding farewell to Finnian and Clonard, as the 
 " Old Irish Life ''' puts it, he went to the monastery 
 of Glassnaoidhen (Glasnevin) near Dublin, which At oiaa- 
 had been founded by Mobhi (Movi), one of his "^^*"' 
 fellow-disciples at Clonard, and where he also found 
 his old Clonard companions Kieran and Cainnech, 
 as well as Comgall, the future founder of Bangor. 
 The " Old Irish Life " mentions that Movi warned 
 his proteges to leave his monastery on account of a 
 terrible and deadly plague that was approaching. 
 It was called the Buid Chonaill or Crom Clionaill, 
 that is, the "yellow plague,"" and appears to have 
 been exceptionally fatal, and to have swept over 
 and desolated the country between the years 543 
 and 560. Mobhi himself died of it in 545. But 
 just before the advent of this terrible pestilence 
 Columba had left Glasnevin, and was about to enter 
 on a career of extraordinary activity. 
 
 What immediately follows is best told in the Enters on 
 "Old Irish Life'' of Columba. Leaving Glasnevin ^"^' ^"^ 
 (it says), he "proceeded to Cenel-Conaill [i.e. the 
 district now known as County Donegal, then called 
 Tir-Conaill, or territory of Conaill. The Conaill 
 from whom it took its name was Conaill Gulban, 
 225 p 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Columba's great-grandfather, who had taken up 
 his abode there]. The way he went was across 
 the river, the name of which is Biur. [Dr. Reeves 
 has identified this river with the Moyola, which 
 flows into Lough Neagh.] Colum-Cille went after- 
 Founds wards to Daire [i.e. Derry, then called Daire Calgaig, 
 Derry. ^^, < Calgach'^s oak-wood 'J, namely, the royal dtm of 
 Mdh, son of Ainmire. He was king of Erin at that 
 time. The king offered that dun to Colum-Cille, 
 and he refused it because of Mobhi's command. 
 As he was coming out of the dun, however, he 
 met with two of Mobhi's people, and they had 
 Mobhi^s girdle for him, and permission to accept 
 a grant of land, Mobhi having died. . . . Colum- 
 Cille then settled in the fort of ^Edh, and founded 
 a church there.'"' This ^dh, who was king of Erin, 
 was a near kinsman of Columba, who was cousin- 
 german of his father, Ainmire. In that royal fort 
 given him by Mdh, surrounded by an oak-wood, 
 which belonged originally to some chief called Cal- 
 gaich, and hence called Daire-Calgaich, Columba 
 founded his first monastery, and at the same time 
 laid the foundations of the city now called London- 
 derry. Six hundred years after Columba's time the 
 oak-wood from which the city took its name was still 
 standing ; for at the year 1178 the " Four Masters " 
 have this record : " A violent windstorm occurred 
 this year ; it caused a great destruction of trees ; it 
 prostrated oaks. It prostrated 120 trees in Derry- 
 Colum-Kille."" The old pagan name of the place 
 was, as I have said, Daire-Calgaich, and this name 
 it retained till the tenth or eleventh century, when 
 it began to be called Derry-Columkille, after its 
 Christian founder, and this name it continued to 
 226 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 bear till James I. gave it to a company of London 
 merchants, and in the charter which contained the 
 grant imposed on it the name of "Londonderry."" 
 Thus from two different sources this city has derived 
 a title to distinction which other towns might envy ; 
 one of them, the heroic defence by her own citizens 
 against the famous siege, characterised by Macaulay 
 as " the most memorable in the annals of the British 
 Isles;*" the other the laying of her foundations in 
 the year 546 by the renowned and royal missionary 
 Columba. At two remote points in her history 
 that famous city was the centre of two great deliver- 
 ances. From Derry it was that Columba "sailed 
 away"" to Alba to emancipate the Northern Picts from 
 the yoke of pagan bondage and degradation, and, 
 through his successors at lona, a large portion of 
 Anglo-Saxon England ; while, by their heroic de- 
 fence and glorious victory, the besieged residents 
 of Derry broke the chains of political despotism 
 and ecclesiastical tyranny by which it was sought 
 to enslave these British and Irish lands. 
 
 Columba seems to have had a special attachment hib love for 
 to Derry. The " Old Irish Life "" says he "loved that " ^''^^^^ 
 
 Derry. 
 
 city very much ; "*"* and in one of his poems he him- 
 self thus hymns its praise : — 
 
 •* Were all the tributes of Scotia mine, 
 From its midland to its borders, 
 I would give all for one little cell 
 In my beautiful Derry. 
 For its peace and for its purity, 
 For the white angels that go 
 In crowds from one end to the other, 
 I love my beautiful Deny 
 For its quietness and purity, 
 For heaven's angels that come and go 
 
 227 » 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Under every leaf of the oaks, 
 I love my beautiful Derry, 
 
 My Derry, my fair oak grove, 
 My dear little cell and dwelling, 
 O God, in the heavens above ! 
 Let him who profanes it be cursed. 
 Beloved are Durrow and Derry, 
 Beloved is Raphoe the pure, 
 Beloved the fertile Drumhome, 
 Beloved are Swords and Kells ! 
 But sweeter and fairer to me 
 The salt sea where the seagulls cry, 
 When I come to Derry from far. 
 It is sweeter and dearer to me — 
 Sweeter to me." 
 
 Let us hope that the maiden city by the Foyle is 
 still true to her ancient character as Columba here 
 portrays it, that she has not lost altogether her 
 "peace and purity,'' and that she is still "full of 
 angels white '"* ! 
 
 Founds It was about this time that Columba founded the 
 
 ^P^""^' church of Raphoe (Rath-Both), where the Irish 
 Life represents him as resuscitating from death the 
 carpenter, who had been drowned in the mill-dam, 
 and as performing other miracles. 
 
 and Ten years after establishing the institution at 
 
 Derry, he founded what Bede calls the "noble 
 monastery of Durrow,"" in County Meath. With 
 Durrow also he must have had pleasant associations ; 
 for in after years, when residing on the sea-girt 
 island of lona with his monks, his mind (he tells us) 
 often wandered back to Durrow with wistful longing, 
 and his memory recalled the wind sighing among 
 its oak-groves, and the notes of the cuckoo and the 
 
 and Kells; blackbird. At Cenandas, or Kells, in Meath, the 
 king gave him his own dun, where he set up a 
 228 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 monastery, and it is said marked out the form or 
 outline of the city that would be built there. At 
 Clonmore in County Louth, on Rechra, now Lambay, 
 off the coast of Dublin, at DrumclifFe near Sligo, 
 at Swords in County Dublin, on Tory Island, oft* 
 the coast of Donegal, and at many other places and many 
 too numerous even to name, Columba founded 
 monasteries and churches. He is said to have 
 erected three hundred in Ireland altogether. As a 
 poem quoted in the Irish Life says : — 
 
 " Three hundred he measured without fault, 
 Of churches fair, 'tis true ; 
 And three hundred splendid, lasting books, 
 Noble-bright he wrote." 
 
 Columba was a born poet. Weird strains often Hia poetic 
 break from him, which reveal a spirit of true poetry. ^®*"' 
 "One day Colum-Cille and Cainnech were on the 
 sea-shore. There was a great storm on the sea. 
 'What sings the wave.?' said Cainnech; which 
 reminds us of little Dombey's query to his sister, 
 'What are the wild waves saying?"* 'My people 
 were in peril on the sea a while ago,'' said Colum- 
 Cille, ' and one of them has died ; and the Loixi will 
 bring him to us in the morning to-morrow, to this 
 shore on which we are.'' That, Columba told his 
 companion, was the sad and dirgeful song of the 
 wave. 
 
 But Columba has now arrived at a great turning- 
 point in his career, which the " Old Irish Life " thus 
 approaches and refers to : " When Colum-Cille had 
 made the circuit of all Erin, and when he had sown 
 faith and religion ; when numerous multitudes had 
 been baptized by him ; when he had founded 
 229 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 churches and establishments, and had left in them 
 seniors and reliquaries and relics of martyrs, the 
 determination that he had determined from the 
 beginning of his life came into his mind, namely, to 
 Meditates a go on pilgrimage. He then meditated going across 
 »cro88™h? the sea to preach the Word of God to the men of 
 8®** Alba, and to the Britons, and to the Saxons. He 
 
 went, therefore, on a voyage. His age was forty- 
 two when he went." 
 
 Here we are told that from the beginning of his 
 life he had determined on the expedition to Alba 
 on which he now set out. A very different reason 
 for his going is given by some of the later Lives, 
 especially that of Manus CDonnell. 
 hib motive A bloody battle was fought at a place called 
 Culdreimhne (Cooldreevny), near the boundary be- 
 tween Ulster and Connaught. On the one side 
 was the Northern Hy Niall under their respective 
 chiefs, and on the other was Diarmid or Dermot, 
 king of Ireland, and head of the Southern Hy 
 Niall. The latter was defeated, and the slaughter 
 was great and terrible. By Manus O'Donnell the 
 battle is attributed to Columba, who, according to 
 O'Donnell, had a double grievance against Diarmid. 
 O'Donnell states that in a visit paid by Columba 
 to Finnian of Mo villa, Columba secretly made a 
 copy of a Latin Psalter which Finnian valued 
 highly, and the use of which Columba had obtained 
 from him. When Finnian became aware of what 
 Columba had done, he claimed the copy that the 
 latter had taken, which, however, he refused to 
 surrender. It was agreed to leave the matter to 
 the arbitration of King Diarmid, who decided 
 against Columba on a principle contained in the 
 230 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 Brehon Code, that as to every cow belongs its 
 calf, so to every book belongs its copy. The re- 
 presentation is that Columba was deeply offended 
 at King Diarmid because of this veixlict. But a 
 still deeper cause of offence is said to have been 
 given him by the latter. It has been alrcady 
 referred to in another connection. At a royal feast 
 at Tara, Curnan, son of the king of Connaught, 
 had a quarrel with another young man and killed 
 him, and then fled to Columba and put himself 
 under his protection in the monastery where he 
 was; but the king pursued Curnan, and, in spite 
 of the sanctuaiy which Columba offered him, 
 seized him and inflicted the punishment which 
 he thought he deserved. It is alleged that 
 Columba was deeply wounded by Diarmid's hostile 
 action in connection with both these incidents, 
 and stirred up his kinsmen of the Northern 
 Hy Niall, and united all their leaders in a de- 
 termination to inflict chastisement on the king. 
 But soon after a Synod was convened at Taillten 
 which held Columba guilty of the blood spilled at 
 the battle of Cooldreevny, and laid on him the 
 obligation of delivering as many souls from pagan 
 darkness as had been slain in it; and the penance 
 put upon him was perpetual exile from Erin, and 
 that his eyes should never again look upon its hills, 
 nor his feet tread its strands. It is added that, when 
 he departed for the Western Isles, he first disem- 
 barked on Colonsay, but finding that from its heights 
 Ireland could be seen, he then made for lona, where 
 he was out of sight of his native country. The 
 tradition of the quari'el between Columba and Fin- 
 nian of Movilla about the copy of the Psalter seems 
 231 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 to be purely legendary. It is quite inconsistent with 
 the cordial feelings of mutual esteem and love which 
 continued to be cherished between him and Finnian. 
 Adamnan does mention that Columba was excom- 
 municated by a Synod at Taillten, but he speaks of 
 the charge as trivial and unjust, and of the excom- 
 munication as not being persisted in. It is possible, 
 and even probable, that Columba may have had some 
 hand in the bloody conflict at Cooldreevny. The 
 right of sanctuary was a much-prized privilege in the 
 Celtic Church of Ireland. Columba would naturally 
 resent the action of King Diarmid. The former 
 belonged to the royal line, was a man of imperious 
 and even passionate nature, and may have been too 
 active in inciting to revenge. It is thought that 
 the Irish temperament even to this day delights in 
 nothing more than a good sturdy fight. It is certain 
 that in those times clergymen, and even women, took 
 part in battle. " The clergy of Ireland,"' MacFirbis 
 says in his "Annals," "went to their synods with 
 weapons and fought pitched battles."" Such a battle 
 was fought, we know, between the monasteries of 
 Clonmacnois and Durrow. It is thus not impro- 
 bable that Columba may have felt himself justified 
 in active interference against Diarmid. But the 
 whole history of Adamnan and of the earlier Lives 
 goes to contradict anything like a sentence of per- 
 petual exile against Columba. Not less than ten 
 different visits of his to his native shore after he had 
 gone to lona are recorded by Adamnan, and he is 
 always received with the greatest reverence and 
 honour. Thus when, after an absence of many 
 years, he paid a visit to Clonmacnois, Adamnan tells 
 us : " As soon as it was known that he was approach- 
 232 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 ing, the whole people flocked from their lands near 
 the monastery, and joining those who were within it, 
 followed with enthusiasm the Ahbot Alitherus ; then 
 passing beyond the enclosure of the monastery, they 
 went forth, united as one man, to meet Columba, as 
 if he were an angel of the Lord ; humbly bowing 
 down with their faces to the earth, they kissed him 
 very reverently, and singing hymns and praises as 
 they went, they conducted him with honour to the 
 church. And that the holy abbot Columba might 
 not be troubled by the pressure of the multitude 
 thronging on him, a canopy of wood was upheld 
 over him as he walked by four men keeping step by 
 his side.'" ^ 
 
 He was probably influenced by a twofold motive His motive 
 in the mission to Alba on which he now embarked, twofold^ 
 Let it be remembered that he was closely related to <i) ^^ ''s^*"* 
 the colony of Scots from Dalriada, who now occupied 
 Cantyre and the Western Isles of what we now call 
 Scotland, from these very Irish Scots. [Curious rever- 
 sal of things ; we now call those who have come from 
 Scotland to settle in Ireland "Scotch-Irish.''] Of 
 their settlement in North Britain the venerable 
 Bede thus informs us : " In process of time Britain 
 received, in addition to the Britons and Picts, a 
 third nation, the Scots, who, migrating from Ireland 
 under their leader, Reuda, secured for themselves 
 those settlements among the Picts which they still 
 possess. From the name of their commander they 
 are to this day called Dalreudini; for in their 
 language dal means a part. Ireland, in breadth, 
 and for wholesomeness and serenity of climate, far 
 surpasses Britain; for the snow scarcely ever lies 
 
 * Adauman's "Life," Bk. i. c. 3. 
 233 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 there above three days; no man makes hay in the 
 summer for winter's provision, or builds stables for 
 his beasts of burden. No reptile is found there, and 
 no snake can live there; for, though often carried 
 thither out of Britain, as soon as the ship nears the 
 shore, and the scent of the air reaches them, they 
 die.'** Then he tells how the Scots, migrating from 
 Ireland, settled in Britain to the north of the bay 
 on which stands Alcluith, the strong city of the 
 Britons. Some of my readers, no doubt, have 
 stood on Fairhead, near Bally castle, which was in 
 the Irish Dalriada, and looking across the narrow 
 channel of only sixteen miles, have distinctly seen 
 the white houses sparkling in the sunlight on the 
 Mull of Cantyre in Argyleshire. It is probable, 
 therefore, that pretty constant intercourse was kept 
 up between the Irish Dalriadians and their kindred 
 across the channel. Just about the time when 
 Columba was born, another band of them passed over 
 from the Antrim coast, under the leadership of six 
 sons of Ere, namely, two Ferguses, two Lorns, and 
 two MacNisis, also descendants of Cairbre Riada, 
 driven from Ireland apparently by the pressure of 
 both plague and famine, and settled in the same 
 region. The district colonised by them became 
 known by the name of Airer-Gaedhil, i.e. the 
 territory of the Gael or Irish ; and the name still 
 survives in the abbreviated form of Argyle, a 
 living, extant witness to that early colonisation. 
 The descendants of the two Lorns, sons of Ere, were 
 called Cinel-Lorn, i.e. the race or family of Lorn, 
 from whom the Marquis of Lome derives his title. 
 It was from this colony of Irish Scots (as I have 
 said) that Scotland got its name. 
 
 234 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 Now, after the withdrawal of the Romans the 
 whole country was exposed to the desolating in- 
 cursions of the Northern Picts, who were still 
 heathens. In Columba's time they had a powerful 
 king called Brude, whose royal residence was near 
 where Inverness now stands. In the year 560 this 
 Pictish sovereign had inflicted a heavy blow on the 
 Scots in Alba, slain their king, and threatened to 
 drive them from the country. The battle of Cool- 
 dreevny took place in 561, and in the same year 
 we find Columba residing in Cantyre with his re- 
 lative King Conall, the successor of Gabran, who 
 had been slain by the Picts. Adamnan says it was 
 " in the second year after the battle of Culdreimhne, 
 that is, in the year 56S, and in the forty-second of 
 his age, that Columba, resolving to seek a foreign 
 country for the love of Christ, sailed from Scotia 
 or Ireland to Britain." It was no doubt partly 
 to assist and cheer his brethren in their difficulties, 
 but also with a view to evangelise and convert their (2) To evan- 
 terrible enemies the Picts, that he had turned his f}^^ '^® 
 back on his native land, and had taken up his resi- 
 dence in Britain. 
 
 We have seen that in Ireland the favourite site lona. 
 for a monastery was an island. It was such a spot 
 that Columba now selected as the site of the church 
 and monastery he wished ;to found, and as the centre 
 of his operations. lona, or Hi (Dr. Reeves has 
 shown that " lona *" was the mistake of some tran- 
 scriber for loua, the ancient name having been " I,*" 
 " Hi,''"' or some form of this) — lona, I say, a little ^g extent, 
 island three and a half miles lonff and one and a »°<* »^^<'- 
 
 11/.. I, II' •! n* -!»«- 1 ability for 
 
 half mile broad, lymg a mile on Mull, on the west coiumbas 
 coast of Scotland, was admirably situated for his p'^po"®- 
 235 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 purpose, with its picturesque little bays and beauti- 
 ful white strand, quiet dells, hills both green and 
 rugged, and fruitful plains. From its higher eleva- 
 tions some thirty islands are in sight, and Mull seems 
 like the mainland, for which possibly in the first 
 instance Columba mistook it. 
 
 Here Columba would have many an opportunity 
 of indulging that delight in the ever-varying aspect 
 and music of the sea to which he gives expression 
 in one of his poems (see Skene, p. 92). There is 
 a certain rocky elevation on the island which is 
 The called "Torr-Abb,'' or the "Abbot's Knoll,^ on 
 
 Knoll:" which the saint was wont to take his stand, and 
 umba was to ^^ survey the scene that spread out before him. 
 see from it " From its isolated position,"' says the Duke of 
 Argyll, " from its close proximity to St. Oran's 
 Chapel and to the ancient place of sepulture — 
 from its rising beside the old path which runs 
 along the foot of the rocky hills, from the splendid 
 view it commands over the sacred objects close at 
 hand, over the sloping fields, the sound, the oppo- 
 site coast, and the distant mountains — this knoll 
 must have been a favourite resort of all the genera- 
 tions of men who lived and worshipped on lona. 
 . . . How often from this very hill must the monks 
 have watched for their abbot's returning barque 
 rounding the red rocks of Mull from the south- 
 ward, or speeding with longer notice of approach 
 from the north. From the same spot, we may be 
 sure, has Columba often watched the frequent sail — 
 now from one quarter, now from another, bringing 
 strange men on strange errands, or old familiar 
 friends to renew the broken intercourse of youth. 
 Hither came holy men from Erin to take counsel 
 236 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 with the saint on the troubles of clans and monas- 
 teries, still dear to him. Hither came also bad men, 
 red-handed from blood and sacrilege, to make con- 
 fession and do penance at Columba''s feet. Hither, 
 too, came chieftains to be blessed, and even kings to 
 be ordained, for it is curious that on this lonely 
 spot, so far distant from the ancient centres of 
 Christendom, took place the first recorded case of a 
 temporal sovereign seeking from a minister of the 
 Church what appears to have been very like formal 
 consecration. . . . Nor can we fail to remember with 
 the ' Reilig Oran ' at our feet, how often the beau- 
 tiful galleys of that olden time came up the sound 
 laden with the dead — ' their dark freight a vanished 
 life.' A grassy mound, not far from the present 
 landing-place, is known as the spot on which bodies 
 were laid when they were first carried to the shore. 
 We know from the account of Columba's own burial 
 that the custom was to wake the body with the 
 singing of psalms during three days and nights before 
 laying it to its final rest. It was then borne in 
 solemn procession to the grave. How many of such 
 processions must have wound along that path that 
 leads to the ' Reilig Oran ** ! How many fleets of 
 galleys must have ridden at anchor on that bay 
 below us, with all those expressive signs of mourning 
 which belong to ships, when kings and chiefs who 
 had died in distant lands were carried hither to be 
 buried in this holy isle ! "" 
 
 Those who have read BoswelPs " Life of Johnson "^ 
 will not forget the account therein given of the visit 
 of Johnson and his biographer to this island in 1773. 
 There was then no landing-place, and through the 
 tide they had to be carried on the backs of natives 
 237 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Johnsons to the shore. Boswell informs us that Johnson was 
 ofR)na."" "much affected" on the occasion. His words are 
 well worth recalling : " We are now treading," said 
 the great lexicographer and literary king, "we are 
 now treading that illustrious island, which was once 
 the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whose savage 
 clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of 
 knowledge and the blessings of religion. . . . That 
 man is little to be envied whose patriotism would 
 not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, or 
 whose piety would not grow warmer amid the ruins 
 of lona.*' 
 The monas- The ruins now seen by the visitor are the remains 
 inmates. of buildings which have been erected on the island 
 long subsequent to the time of Columba, and during 
 the Roman Catholic period. His were formed chiefly 
 of wood and wattles, and have disappeared long 
 since, although the outlines of the original monas- 
 tery, its rampart, its kiln, its mill-dam and stream, 
 its ancient cemetery, are still traceable. The monas- 
 tery established by him in lona consisted, as appears 
 to have been usual in island monasteries, of 150 
 monks. The old Irish Life thus describes them : — 
 
 " Illustrious the soldiers that were in Hii, 
 Thrice fifty in monastic rule, 
 With their curacies across the sea ; 
 And for rowing threescore men." 
 
 The community ov Jhmilia of lona consisted of 
 three classes : the seniors, who read and copied the 
 Scriptures and led the religious services ; the working 
 brethren, who cultivated the fields, looked after the 
 cattle, or prepared the food, and plied the necessary 
 trades within doors ; and the pupils, or alumni, who 
 
 238 
 
CHAP, xn] COLUMBA 
 
 were under training. Their dress was a white tunic 
 or under-garment, and an upper garment which was 
 made of wool, and which constituted an overcoat 
 and hood in one. Sandals were worn upon the feet 
 in travelling. A part of each day seems to have been 
 given to the recitation of the Psalter, and on the 
 Lord''s Day and on stated festivals the Eucharist 
 was celebrated. A severe penitential ascetic dis- 
 cipline was imposed upon the brethren ; and in 
 government, as in all else, the usages of the mother- 
 church in Ireland were reproduced. The words in 
 which Bede describes the mode of ecclesiastical rule 
 have been already given, but may be repeated here : 
 "That island is always accustomed to have for its 
 governor a presbyter-abbot, to whose authority both 
 the whole province, and even the bishops themselves, 
 by an unusual constitution, owe subjection, after 
 the example of their first teacher, who was not a 
 bishop, but a presbyter and a monk.'" 
 
 The first two years appear to have been spent 
 by Columba and his community in labouring among 
 the rural population near him in Mull, and what 
 Adamnan calls the "stony region'''' of Ardna- 
 murchan, Morven, and Lochaber. It was in the 
 year 565, two years after his ai-rival at lona, that 
 he made his way to the royal residence of Brude, coiumba 
 the Pictish sovereign, which Adamnan describes ^on^rt^^ 
 as having been situated near the river Ness. The Brude, the 
 exact site of it is not certain. Dr. Skene conjectures kJog" 
 that it may have been on a gravelly ridge called 
 Torvean, a mile south-west of Inverness, and which 
 is still in part encircled with ditches and ramparts ; 
 or an eminence east of Inverness called the Crown, 
 which tradition regards as the site of its most 
 239 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [paet hi 
 
 ancient castle. The pagan system of these northern 
 Picts was Druidical, and in no way differed from 
 that which preceded the introduction of Christianity 
 in Ireland. Just as in the case of Patrick's first visit 
 to Tara, so Columba'*s attempt to find access to the 
 Pictish king is in the Lives generally attended by a 
 series of miraculous feats on the part of the saint, 
 feats by which, of course, all barriers are broken down. 
 According to Adamnan, King Brude refused to open 
 the gates of his fortress, but " the blessed man 
 approached the folding doors with his companions, 
 and having first formed upon them the sign of the 
 Cross, he knocked, and laid his hand upon the gate, 
 which instantly flew open of its own accord, the 
 bolts having been driven back with great force. 
 The saint and his companions then passed through 
 the gate thus speedily opened." ^ His associates 
 were Comgall of Bangor and Cainnech of Achaboe. 
 They were both of the race of the Irish Picts, and 
 Columba had no doubt got them to accompany him 
 because of the greater influence they were likely 
 to have with a king of their own blood. Adam- 
 nan adds that " when the king learned what had 
 occurred, he and his councillors were filled with 
 alarm, and immediately setting out from the palace, 
 advanced to meet with due reverence the blessed 
 man, whom he gently addressed in the most con- 
 ciliatory language. And ever after from that day, 
 as long as he lived, the king held this holy and 
 reverend man in very great honour, as was due." 
 We may assume that no greater external miracle 
 occurred than that due to the impressive presence 
 and speech of three great ecclesiastics, whose visit, 
 
 1 Adamnan, Bk. ii. c. 36. 
 240 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 by the blessing of God''s Spirit, ended in the con- 
 version and baptism of the king. How interesting 
 it would have been to possess a record of the 
 address given by Columba to the royal company, 
 and to have had some details of the manner in 
 which the missionaries pressed the claims of the 
 Christian faith ! But not a hint is given with 
 regard to it. To put on record legends of incre- 
 dible miracles was more in the line of the monkish 
 biogi'aphers. 
 
 Columba and his monks continued to spread the 
 faith far and wide among the Pictish tribes. In 
 the year 574 — nine years after the conversion of 
 Brude — Conall, king of British Dalriada, died, and 
 was succeeded by Aidan, who, Adamnan tells us, 
 was ordained to the kingly office by Columba laying 
 his hand upon his head and giving him his bene- 
 diction. It was very shortly ' after this, that is, in Coiumba 
 the year 575, that Columba, accompanied by Aidan grS1»t-*^^^^ 
 and several of his clergy, went to Ireland to attend sembiy at 
 the great convention, which in that year was held 
 at Drumceatt, a mound now called Daisy Hill, on 
 the river Roe, near Limavady. The convention 
 was summoned by iEdh, son of Ainmire, king of 
 Ireland, and was attended by all the petty kings 
 and chiefs as well as abbots of Erin ; and as British 
 Dalriada was a subject colony to Ireland, King 
 Aidan, Columba, and their retinue attended it also. 
 An ancient record mentions that Columba had Three 
 three reasons for attending this great national attending' 
 assembly. One was in order to procure the release it- 
 of Scannlan Mor, son of the king of Ossory, with 
 whom he had gone in pledge; another was to 
 intercede for and prevent the banishment or sup- 
 241 Q 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 pressioii of the ancient order of Ollamhs or Bards. 
 They had degenerated, and become very burden- 
 some in exacting what was called their coinmed 
 or refection for themselves and servants from the 
 tribes, and abused their privilege by lampooning 
 any who did not purchase their good-will by liberal 
 presents. It was proposed accordingly to suppress 
 or banish them ; but Columba, who was himself 
 a poet, and had some touch of sympathy with his 
 fellow-bards, interposed on their behalf, remarking 
 that the wheat should not be pulled up with the 
 tares. The sentence of banishment was revoked, 
 but the number of their retinue was reduced, and 
 stricter rules were imposed on them. 
 
 But the main object of his going to the con- 
 vention was connected with the interests of the 
 British Dalriada. As a subject state to Ireland, it 
 was liable to the same tribute as was payable by 
 the various principalities in Ireland. This was 
 felt to be a burden ; and what Columba and its 
 king, Aldan, sought, was exemption from this 
 burden and relief from the subjection in which 
 they were to the king of Ireland. They secured 
 this object ; from this date onward British Dalriada 
 became an independent kingdom, but continued in 
 friendly alliance with their kinsfolk in Ireland. 
 Aidan's descendants reigned over British Dalriada 
 till the year 842, when Kenneth MacAlpine, a 
 prince of the same line, united Picts and Scots, 
 Highlanders and Lowlanders, under one sovereign. 
 I may add that Aidan, who was himself a descen- 
 dant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, was an ancestor 
 of Queen Victoria, so that her Irish subjects are 
 rendering allegiance to a sovereign in whose veins 
 242 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 flows the blood of their own ancient and most 
 famous royal line. 
 
 During the thirty-four yeai*s of his life in lona, 
 Columba and his fellow - labourers succeeded in 
 establishing monasteries and churches in the 
 Western Isles and among the Northern Picts 
 throughout the Highlands. And an event which 
 at first may have seemed adverse was the means 
 of opening the way to a still wider field of labour. 
 On the death of King Brude in 584, he was 
 succeeded by Gartnaidh, who belonged to the 
 Southern Picts, and whose royal residence was on 
 the river Tay. The Southern Picts (we have 
 seen) had been in some measure evangelised by 
 Ninian in the previous century, but almost all 
 trace of Christianity had disappeared from among 
 them. But there is clear evidence that Columba, coiumba 
 assisted by his friend Cainnech from Achaboe in IyiT^^ "^^ 
 Ireland, co - operated with King Gartnaidh in southern 
 planting churches and monasteries among the 
 Southern Picts also, in what we call the Lowlands 
 of Scotland. lona, however, remained the parent 
 monastery, to whose jurisdiction all the others 
 were subject. The little island church is said to 
 have been the mother of a thousand similar in- 
 stitutions. It thus became a centre of light and 
 Christian influence to the greater part of North 
 Britain. It has been affirmed, apparently on good 
 grounds, that were beacon fires kindled on a 
 winter night on the hills adjacent to the various 
 centres of the mission enterprise which was carried 
 on from lona, there would be a complete chain 
 of lights, visible one to another, extending from 
 the H umber in the south to the Orkney Islands 
 243 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 in the north, and from Aberdeenshire in the east 
 to the remotest Hebrides in the west. The 
 Church thus founded by Columba was the national 
 Church of Scotland for one hundred and fifty 
 years. 
 Coiumbas The story of Columba's last day on earth is 
 earth. eminently characteristic and very touching. With 
 Diormet, his attendant, he had paid a visit to the 
 barn where the monks stored their corn, and having 
 bestowed his blessing on it, he added : " I heartily 
 congratulate my beloved monks that this year also, 
 if I am obliged to depart from you, you will have 
 a sufficient supply for the year."" As he made his way 
 back to the monastery, he found it necessary in his 
 weakness — he was now seventy-seven years old — to sit 
 down and rest when about half-way. While resting 
 there, an old white horse, which was employed to 
 carry the milk vessels from the byre to the monas- 
 tery, came up to him and put its head on his 
 shoulder, while it foamed and wailed, its eyes moist 
 with tears. Diormet, seeing this, began to drive it 
 away; but the saint said, "Let it alone, as it is so 
 fond of me ; let it pour its grief into my bosom."" 
 Then ascending a hillock that overlooked the monas- 
 tery, he stood for a time upon its summit, and lift- 
 ing up his hands, he blessed the institution. After 
 this he returned to his cell, and resumed the occu- 
 pation in which he so much delighted— that of 
 transcribing the Psalter. He was engaged in copy- 
 ing the 34th Psalm. When he came to the 10th 
 verse — "Inquirentes autem Dominum non deficient 
 omni bono '"* — he said, " I think I can write no more : 
 let Baithen finish it." It was Saturday night, June 
 9, 597. He then passed into the church to cele- 
 244 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 brate the vigils for the Lord's day, and returning 
 to his cell, lay down on his couch of stone. He 
 counselled the brethren who gathered round him 
 to have " peace always and unfeigned charity among 
 themselves,"" adding, "The Lord, the Comforter of 
 the good, will be your helper.""' When the midnight 
 bell rang he rose hastily, went to the church, and, 
 running more quickly than the others, reached the 
 altar, and knelt down in prayer beside it. Diormet, Hia death. 
 his attendant, entering, cried, " Where art thou, 
 father ? " and feeling his way in the darkness, found 
 him prostrate. He raised him up a little, and 
 sitting down beside him, laid his head against his 
 breast. Meantime the rest of the brethren came 
 in, and seeing their father dying, burst into lamenta- 
 tions. He then moved his hand as if to give them 
 his benediction, turned on them a look of radiant 
 joy, and so passed away, Adamnan says, with a face 
 calm and sweet, like that of a man who in his sleep 
 had seen a heavenly vision. 
 
 His character has been often portrayed. Let me Three word- 
 present the reader with three brief but vivid word- coi^ba,"' 
 pictures of him. The first is by one who knew him 
 personally. Dalian Forgaill was the chief of the (i) That of 
 order of the bards, whom Columba befriended at the po^aui 
 National Synod of Drumceatt. As an expression of 
 gratitude for Columba"'s aid, Dalian wrote a poem 
 in praise of him, called the " Amra."*"* In this poem 
 Dalian Forgaill describes him as " the souPs light, 
 and learned one "" of his people, as " a harp without 
 a base chord, a perfect sage, who believed in Christ ; 
 he was learned, he was chaste, he was charitable, he 
 was an abounding benefit to guests ; he was eager, 
 he was noble, he was gentle, he was the physician of 
 245 
 
(2) That of 
 Adamnan. 
 
 3) That of 
 Montalem- 
 bert. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 the heart of every age ; he was to persons inscrutable, 
 a shelter to the naked, a consolation to the poor ; 
 there went not from the world one who was more 
 continuous in the remembrance of the cross." ^ 
 
 The next picture is from Adamnan, his bio- 
 grapher, who says of him : " From his boyhood he 
 had been devoted to the service of Christ and the 
 study of wisdom, and by the grace of God had so 
 preserved the soundness of his body and the purity 
 of his soul, that, though dwelling on earth, he ap- 
 peared to live like the saints in heaven. For he 
 had, as it were, the face of an angel, was polished 
 in speech, holy in work, excellent in disposition, and 
 great in counsel ; he lived during thirty-four years an 
 island soldier. He never could spend the space even 
 of one hour without study or prayer or writing, or 
 even some manual labour. So incessantly was he 
 engaged night and day in the unwearied exercise of 
 fasting and watching that the burden of each of 
 these austerities would seem beyond the power of 
 all human endurance. And still, in all these he was 
 beloved by all, for a holy joy ever beaming on his 
 face revealed the joy and gladness with which the 
 Holy Spirit filled his inmost soul."" 
 
 Along with these, perhaps, I ought to give the 
 portrait drawn by a most eloquent modern writer, 
 Montalembert, who, however, accepts without ques- 
 tion all those representations of Manus O^Donnell 
 which modern criticism has discounted, and has 
 therefore given his picture a dash of truculence 
 and fierceness which the earlier Lives do not 
 justify. You require to bear this in memory in 
 surveying it. 
 
 1 From Mr. O'Beirne Crowe'y translation. 
 246 
 
CHAP, xii] COLUMBA 
 
 " He was vindictive,"" says Montalembert, " pas- 
 sionate, bold, a man of strife, bom a soldier rather 
 than a monk, and known, praised, and blamed as a 
 soldier — so that even in his lifetime he was involved in 
 fight ; and continued a soldier, insulanms miles^ even 
 upon the island rock from which he rushed forth to 
 preach, convert, enlighten, reconcile, and reprimand 
 both princes and nations, men and women, laymen 
 and clerics. He was at the same time full of con- 
 tradictions and contrasts — at once tender and 
 iiTitable, rude and courteous, ironical and com- 
 passionate, caressing and imperious, grateful and 
 revengeful, led by pity as well as by wrath, ever 
 moved by generous passions, and, among all passions, 
 fired to the very end of his life by two which his 
 countrymen understand the best — the love of poetry 
 and the love of countiy. Little inclined to melan- 
 choly when he had once surmounted the gi-eat 
 sorrow of his life, which was his exile; little dis- 
 posed, save towards the end, to contemplation or 
 solitude, but trained by prayer and austerities to 
 triumphs of evangelical exposition ; despising rest, 
 untiring in mental and manual toil ; born for elo- 
 quence, and gifted with a voice so penetrating 
 and sonorous that it was thought of afterwards 
 as one of the most miraculous gifts that he had 
 received from God ; frank and loyal ; original and 
 powerful in his words as in his actions ; in cloister 
 and mission and parliament, on land and sea, in 
 Ireland as in Scotland, always swayed by the love 
 of God and his neighbour, whom it was his plea- 
 sure to serve with an impassioned uprightness — 
 such was Columba."^ 
 
 ^ "Monks of the West," vol. iii, p. 269. 
 247 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 He had great faults, but still greater virtues. 
 Some tares, no doubt, mingled with the seed which 
 his hand scattered far and wide, but rich and 
 lasting was the harvest it produced. 
 
 " Who are these who rise and hail him ' father,' 
 Soldier-sons and all the lands ingather, 
 
 Isle and island, height and highland, shore and shore? 
 'Neath the shade of our great spirit parted, 
 Mightier shadow of the mighty-hearted, 
 Strives a seed, and lives a deed for evermore." 
 
 — Skrine'S " Columha:' 
 
 III. IRISH MISSIONARIES IN ENGLAND. 
 
 Irish 
 
 mission 
 
 Aidan. 
 
 How King Oswald, on the defeat of Penda, became 
 ariesfrom king of NorthumbHa, and how, on finding almost 
 fnE^giand^ all traces of Christianity obliterated, he sent to lona, 
 where he himself in his exile had found hospitable 
 shelter and education, for a missionary of the Scots 
 [Irish] there, to restore his people to the faith, and 
 how, in response, they sent him Aidan, after ordain- 
 ing him a bishop, has been already related. Oswald 
 assigned him the little island of Lindisfarne, now 
 called Holy Island, on the east coast, a little south 
 of Berwick, and not far from what is now known as 
 the border between England and Scotland. It was 
 then in the kingdom of Northumbria, which ex- 
 tended northwards as far as the Firth of Forth. 
 " On the arrival of the bishop,'"' Bede says, " the 
 king appointed him his episcopal see in the Isle 
 of Lindisfarne, as he himself desired ; which place, 
 as the tide flows and ebbs twice a day, is enclosed 
 by the waves of the sea like an island, and again 
 twice in the day, when the shore is left dry, becomes 
 contiguous to the land.'' Here, then, Aidan esta- 
 248 
 
CHAP, xii] AIDAN 
 
 blished a monastic institution after the model of 
 lona, and from this centre he directed the exten- 
 sive operations of the Irish mission among the 
 Anglo-Saxons. Bede, who does not attempt to 
 conceal his strong antipathy to the Irish type of 
 Christianity, is constrained to speak of Aidan in 
 the warmest terms. " It was the highest com- 
 mendation of his doctrine with all men,'*'* he says, 
 "that he taught no otherwise than he and his 
 followers lived; for he neither sought nor loved 
 anything of this world, but delighted in distri- 
 buting among the poor whatever was given him 
 by kings or rich men of the world. He was 
 wont to traverse both town and country on foot, 
 never on horseback, unless compelled by some 
 urgent necessity, and wherever in his way he saw 
 any, either rich or poor, he invited them, if un- 
 believers, to embrace the mystery of the faith ; or, 
 if already believers, he sought to strengthen them in 
 the faith, and to stir them up by words and actions 
 to alms and good works. His course of life was so 
 different from the slothfulness of our times, that all 
 those who bore him company, whether they were 
 shorn monks or laymen, were employed in medita- 
 tion, that is, either in reading the Scriptures or 
 committing psalms. This was the daily employment 
 of himself, and all that were with him, wherever 
 they went; and if it happened, which was seldom, 
 that he was invited to eat with the king, he went 
 with one or two ecclesiastics, and having taken a 
 small repast, made haste to be gone with them, 
 either to read or to pray."^ Aidan died in 651, 
 and was succeeded by Finan, who lived to see the Finan. 
 
 1 Bede's "Ecol. Hist.," iii. 5. 
 249 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 
 Christian faith everywhere restored in those northern 
 parts, and died in 661. And not in Northumbria 
 only, but also in Wessex, Essex, and East Anglia, 
 through the labours of the Irish missionaries, the 
 Irish form of Christianity became the accepted form. 
 In fact, only one of the seven kingdoms of the Anglo- 
 Saxon confederation, namely, Kent, owed its conver- 
 sion exclusively to Rome. In the case of three of 
 them, the efforts of the Roman and Celtic Churches 
 were combined ; while the remaining three, compris- 
 ing two-thirds of the whole extent of the country, 
 owed their Christianisation entirely to the Celtic 
 Church. At one period Christianity in its Celtic 
 form was quite in the ascendant in England, and 
 looked as if it was going to oust the Roman form 
 introduced through the mission of Augustine. " For 
 a time it seemed,'' says Green, "as if the course of 
 the world's history was to be changed, as if the 
 older Celtic race that Roman and German had 
 swept before them had turned to the moral con- 
 quest of their conquerors, as if Celtic and not 
 Latin Christianity was to mould the destinies of 
 the Churches of the West.''^ But it fell out 
 otherwise. 
 Controversy In the time of Finan, Aidan's successor, a con- 
 EaXr!*"° troversy broke out between the Celtic missionaries 
 and certain ecclesiastics from Kent concerning the 
 mode of celebrating Easter. Finan was succeeded 
 at Lindisfarne by Colman, who had been " sent out 
 of Scotia "" (i.e. Ireland), and under him the contro- 
 versy became intensified. King Oswald's successor, 
 Oswy, who had also received his education at lona, 
 was in like manner in sympathy with its customs. 
 1 Green's "Short History," chap. i. sec. 3. 
 250 
 
CHAP, xii] FINAN 
 
 But Oswy's queen, Eanfled, was a daughter of the 
 Kentish king, where the Roman usage obtained, 
 and both she and her son, Alfrith, were ardently 
 attached to it. It was no doubt through their 
 influence that a synod was convened at Whitby for 
 the purpose of discussing and trying to settle 
 the differences between the adherents of the Celtic 
 and the advocates of the Roman usage. The 
 chief leader on the one side was Colman, who had 
 succeeded Finan at Lindisfame, and the champion 
 of the Roman practice was Wilfrith. Wilfrith had 
 himself been brought up at Lindisfame, but anxious 
 to conform the customs of his Church with those 
 of the great Catholic world, he had gone to Rome 
 to study them, and came back aglow with zeal for 
 the Roman observances. Wilfrith insisted on the 
 authority of Peter, and asked if Columba, whom his 
 opponents followed, was to be prefeiTed to the great 
 apostle on whom Christ had built His Church and 
 given him the keys of the kingdom of heaven ? 
 The king said he would not like to oppose the 
 person who held the keys, "lest, perchance, when 
 I arrive at the gates of the kingdom of heaven, 
 there should be none to open to me, because I 
 have made an enemy of him who has been 
 proved to possess the keys.**'' The result was 
 that Oswy and his people went over to the side 
 of Rome, and " Colman, perceiving that his doc- 
 trine was rejected and his sect despised, took 
 with him such as were willing to follow him and 
 would not comply with the Catholic Esuster and 
 the coronal tonsure — for there was much contro- 
 versy about that also — and went back into Scotia, 
 or Ireland, to consult with his people what was to 
 251 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 be done in this case.'"*^ About thirty years later 
 a large portion of the Irish Church itself — the 
 southern portion — was (through the agency of 
 Adamnan, Columba''s biographer) brought over to 
 the adoption of the Roman usage. In a short 
 time indeed Picts and Scots as well as the Britons 
 of Wales submitted and conformed to Rome, and 
 the English Church, although it never altogether 
 lost the spirit of independence derived from Celtic 
 Christianity, became in some respects, till the time 
 of the Reformation, among the most zealous and 
 devoted subjects of the Pope. 
 
 1 Bede's "Eccl. Hist.," Bk. iii. c. 26. 
 
 252 
 
CHAPITER XIII 
 
 THE MISSIONARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE 
 CHURCH OF ST. VATRICK— continued 
 
 IV. COLUMBANUS. 
 
 But the missionary activity of the early Irish Church 
 was not confined to Alba or to England. It was 
 pre-eminently a Mission Church — in that respect not 
 unlike the Moravians of modem times — and it sent 
 forth its sons, on fire with unquenchable Christian 
 ai*dour, and in the face of innumerable perils and 
 hardships, far beyond the confines of the British 
 Isles, to evangelise the Continent of Europe. 
 
 I have now to speak of the brave and indomitable 
 leader of a missionary band who went on this wider 
 and more distant mission, and one hardly less 
 famous than Columba. I refer to Columbanus, 
 who, though bearing a name so closely resembling 
 that of Columba, is a very different person, to be 
 carefully distinguished from Columba, who was his 
 older contemporary. Columbanus was bom twenty 
 year later than the other (in 543), and whereas 
 Columba hailed from the north, Columbanus was 
 of southern origin, having been bom in Leinster, 
 and, as so many of the Irish ecclesiastics were, of 
 noble parents. 
 
 We are fortunate in possessing a " Life of Colum- 
 253 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part iii 
 Life by banus *" written by a contemporary of his own, 
 
 Jonas, a con- -^ i r>ii'p'ii • i 
 
 temporary, ^onas, who was tirst his iriencl and. companion, and 
 then his successor in the Italian monastery of 
 Bobbio, where Columbanus finished his career. His 
 own writings also, a good many of which are still 
 extant, are a valuable source of information with 
 regard to him. 
 Educated at His early education he received in a monastery 
 S^^ujh ^^ Cleenish, an island of Lough Erne, where, Jonas 
 Erne ; says, he soon became proficient in " grammar, rhe- 
 
 toric, geometry, and the range of the Divine Scrip- 
 tures ; " and as evidence of his progress he mentions 
 that "while yet a very young man he wrote an 
 exposition of the ' Book of Psalms ' in elegant 
 language . . . and he also composed many other 
 pieces suitable for singing or profitable for com- 
 municating instruction."' The commentary still 
 exists. 
 and at From Cleenish he betook himself to the great 
 
 Co."i)own. monastery of Bangor, in County Down, where, under 
 Comgall, a very liberal education must have been 
 given. Columbanus wrote excellent Latin verse 
 (some of which is still extant), and such as only 
 a well-grounded Latin scholar could produce. He 
 knew Greek also, and shows himself familiar with 
 the Greek poets. It is manifest that he was con- 
 versant, not only with the Greek and Latin fathers, 
 but with the chief writings of classical antiquity. 
 He appears even to have numbered Hebrew among 
 his accomplishments, and all this learning he 
 must have acquired in the two Irish monasteries I 
 have named, for on leaving Ireland for the Conti- 
 tinent his life was too busy and eventful to admit 
 of his acquiring it there. Indeed, he had reached 
 254 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 middle age before his departure from the Irish 
 shores. 
 
 He was more than forty years old when, pro- 
 bably stimulated and fired by the splendid ex- 
 ample of Columba, who was an intimate friend of 
 his abbot, Comgall, and had summoned Comgall 
 over to Britain to assist him in his work, when 
 he (Columbanus) determined, with a company of 
 twelve companions, to set out for the shores ofseuoutfor 
 Gaul, and to devote the remainder of his life to ^*'^' 
 the Christianisation of the vast populations of the 
 Continent still in heathen darkness, or, if nominally 
 Christian, living in practical paganism. This was 
 about the year 585. 
 
 Landing in the north of Gaul, the little com- Makes his 
 pany of pilgrims went about disseminating the ^uJg^ndy. 
 faith, but at length made their way southwards 
 till they came to Burgundy. A picturesque band 
 they must have been, that could not fail to excite 
 the interest of the rude inhabitants of the regions 
 through which they passed. It is not hard to 
 pictui'e them with their coaree, undyed woollen 
 upper garment, in colour the same as when it 
 grew upon the sheep''s back, on their head a cowl 
 of the same material, and sandals on their feet, 
 with forehead tonsured in front to a line drawn 
 from ear to ear in the way I have already de- 
 scribed, and the long hair flowing down behind ; 
 a wallet on their back, which constituted at once 
 their pantry and their library, wherein both bread 
 and books, both material and spiritual nourish- 
 ment, were stowed ; with a staff in the hand, and 
 a leathern water-bottle by the side. As they 
 journeyed, the biographer of Columbanus informs 
 
 255 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [i art hi 
 
 us, " the venerable man took care to preach the 
 word of the Gospel in whatever places they came 
 to. . . . Whatever persons'* houses he was staying 
 in for any time, he was sure to turn the atten- 
 tion of all the inmates to their improvement in 
 religion."" ^ 
 Mistake of It is in this connection that Milman makes the 
 strange statement that Columbanus "at the outset 
 was no missionary, urged by a passionate or de- 
 termined zeal to convert pagan nations to the 
 cross of Christ. . . . He and his followers seemed 
 only to seek a safe retreat in which he might 
 shroud his solitary devotion." But Milman in 
 effect answers himself when he speaks of Ireland 
 at that time as "a kind of Hesperian Elysium 
 of peace and piety."" If it was simply retirement 
 that he sought for, Columbanus might have found 
 it "not less secure against secular intrusion, as 
 wild, as silent, as holy in the yet peaceful Ireland, 
 or in the Scottish islands, as in the mountains of 
 the Vosges or the valleys of the Alps." Milman 
 is, in fact, misled by the circumstance that wherever 
 they went the Irish missionaries first established a 
 monastery in some secluded, lonely spot, because a 
 cloister was the one fundamental feature of the 
 church organisation with which they were fami- 
 liar ; but from that central point they never 
 failed to extend their evangelistic operations over 
 the surrounding territory. It was so in this case. 
 The wild Nowhere could they have found a region more in 
 
 wSthey ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ civilising. Christianising influence than 
 settled. that into which our missionaries now came. It 
 would be hardly possible to draw too dark a picture 
 
 ^ Jonas, c. iv. 
 256 
 
(HAP. xiii] COI.UMBANUS 
 
 of society in France under the Merovingian kings. 
 The Franks had indeed been nominally converted 
 under Clovis, but in their case the conversion seems 
 to have been even more supei*ficial than the whole- 
 sale conversions of that time generally were, " The 
 Franks were sad Christians,"" says the eloquent 
 biographer of the Monks of the West. "While 
 they respected the freedom of the Catholic faith, 
 and made external profession of it, they violated 
 without scruple all its precepts, and at the same 
 time the simplest laws of humanity. After having 
 prostrated themselves before the tomb of some holy 
 martyr or confessor ... we see them, sometimes in 
 outbreaks of fury, sometimes by cold-blooded cruelty, 
 give full vent to the evil instincts of their savage 
 nature. Their incredible perversity was most ap- 
 parent in the domestic tragedies, the fratricidal 
 executions and assassinations, of which Clovis gave 
 the first example, and which marked the history 
 of his son and grandson with an ineffaceable stain. 
 Polygamy and perjury mingled in their daily life 
 with a semi-pagan superstition, and in reading these 
 bloody biographies, scarcely lightened by some 
 transient gleams of faith or humility, it is difficult 
 to believe that in embracing Christianity they gave 
 up a single pagan vice or adopted a single Christian 
 virtue."^ The picture is drawn in dark and re- 
 pulsive colours, but it in no way exaggerates the 
 evils of the society in which Columbanus and his 
 companions now found themselves on arriving 
 in Burgundy. They were indeed well received 
 by Guntram, the least vicious of the grandsons of 
 Clovis, and they might have found a comparatively 
 
 » "Monks of the West," by Montalembert. 
 
 257 B 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 pleasant and easy field of labour had they remained 
 with him. But it was not ease or comfort they 
 were in search of. " Over a range of sixty leagues 
 and a breadth of ten or fifteen," says Montalembert, 
 "nothing was to be seen but parallel chains of in- 
 accessible defiles divided by endless* forests, whose 
 bristling pinewoods descended from the peaks of the 
 highest mountains to overshadow the course of the 
 rapid and pure streams of the Doubs, the Desoubre, 
 and the Loue."" It was here, amid the wild and 
 desolate ranges of the Vosges Mountains, on the 
 borders between Burgundy and Austrasia, now in- 
 cluded in the department of Saone, in the province 
 of Franche-Comte, that they found a congenial abode. 
 Fixes his In the ruins of the old Roman fort of Annegray 
 ow Roman^ they took up their residence. Nowhere could they 
 fort of have found better scope for self-denial or surround- 
 nnegiay. ^^^^ better fitted to inure them to privation and 
 hardship. " It is an ugly thing,'' says Charles Kings- 
 ley, "even for an armed man to traverse without 
 compass the bush of Australia or New Zealand, 
 where there are no wild beasts. But it was uglier 
 still to start out under the dark roof of those 
 primeval forests. Knights, when they rode thither, 
 went armed cap-d-pie, like Sintram through the 
 dark valley, trusting in God and their good swords. 
 Chapmen and merchants stole through it by a few 
 tracks in great companies, armed with bill and bow. 
 Peasants ventured into it a few miles to cut timber 
 and find forage for their swine, and whispered wild 
 legends of the ugly things therein, and sometimes, 
 too, never came home. Away it stretched from the 
 far Rhineland, wave after wave of oak and alder, 
 beech and pine, God alone knew how far, into the 
 258 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 land of night and wonder, and the infinite unknown, 
 full of elk and bison, bear and wolf, lynx and glutton, 
 and perhaps of worse beasts still/"* ^ 
 
 Amid such environments, then, in the solitary 
 haunts of the bear, the lynx, and the wolf, did our 
 missionaries now pitch their tents, clear a portion of 
 the forest, and raise a monastery after the model 
 with which we are already familiar. At fii-st they 
 suffered from a sciircity of even the barest necessaries 
 of life, but Columbanus " bore in mind that man 
 doth not live by bread only, but that they who 
 satiate themselves with the Word of life enjoy an 
 abundant and continual feast" (Jonas, c. v.). But 
 sufficient land was soon reclaimed from the trees and 
 brushwood of the forest to grow their corn, and 
 produce at least the necessaries of existence. Very 
 plain and scanty these were at the best. The ordi- His severe 
 nary food of the community consisted of coarse ^^p^"®- 
 bread, herbs, and meal and water. Columbanus 
 himself was exceptionally abstemious in his mode 
 of life. He would subsist for weeks on the herbs of 
 the field and the wild hemes of the woods. And 
 the rule drawn up by him for his monks reflected 
 the severity of his personal self-discipline. Here is 
 a specimen of it : " Let the monk live under the dis- 
 cipline of one father and in the society of many, that 
 from the one he may learn humility, from the other 
 patience ; from the one silence, from the other gentle- 
 ness ; let him never gratify his own wishes ; let him eat 
 whatever he is bidden; let him possess only what 
 he receives; let him perform his allotted task with 
 diligence; only when wearied out let him retire 
 to bed; let him be compelled to rise before he 
 
 * " The Monks and the Heathen," Good Words, January 1863. 
 259 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 has slept sufficiently; when he is injured, let him 
 hold his peace ; let him fear the head of the mona- 
 stery as a master, and love him as a father; let 
 him believe that whatever he orders is for his 
 good, and obey him without question, seeing that 
 he is called to obedience, and to fulfil all that is 
 right ; let his fare be homely and sparing, sufficient 
 to support life without weighing down the spirit — 
 a little bread, vegetables, pulse, or flour mixed 
 with water.'" To the question, " What are the 
 limits of obedience?"" the answer is, "Even unto 
 death ; for unto death Christ submitted Himself 
 to the Father for us."" " If any brother be dis- 
 obedient, let him be two days on one biscuit and 
 water. If any say, ' I will not do it,"* or break 
 a command or regulation, let him be two days on 
 one biscuit.'' In some cases corporal punishment 
 was inflicted. If any one failed to say "Amen" 
 when grace was said, the penalty was six stripes, 
 and any one who refused to observe the rule of 
 silence at meals was taught by the application of 
 the same number of lashes that silence, if not 
 golden, was preferable to a smarting back. " Who- 
 ever coughs at the beginning of the psalm, and 
 does not sing out well, six stripes; whoever smiles 
 during the prayer, six stripes." Probably, how- 
 ever, the disciplinary rules were for the most part 
 willingly submitted to, and the echoes of the 
 forest glades were awakened to the voice of hearty 
 praise and prayer, of measured chant and solemn 
 litany. And the brethren were never idle. While 
 some held the plough, others built the mill, or 
 trained the vine, or planted the apple-tree, and 
 others stiU transcribed and illuminated manu- 
 260 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 scripts, or educated the young, or tended the sick, 
 or dispensed alms to the destitute. A time came 
 when monasteries ceased to serve the purpose for 
 which they were designed, and became haunts of 
 laziness and nurseries of selfishness and vice. But 
 in their earlier history, and especially in the hands 
 of men like Columbanus, they were hives of in- 
 dustry, schools of self-discipline and self-denial, 
 and, even on their industrial side, to the too often 
 lawless and idle populations amidst which they 
 were planted they afforded a stimulating and 
 elevating example. It was this aspect of their 
 work that impressed the great missionary, David 
 Livingstone. " The monks,"" he says, " did not "^at 
 disdain to hold the plough ; they introduced fruit- thou^t "° 
 trees, flowers, vegetables, in addition to teaching «' ^^ 
 and emancipating the serfs; their monasteries were 
 mission-stations, which resembled ours in being 
 dispensaries for the sick, almshouses for the poor, 
 and nurseries of learning. Can we learn nothing 
 from them in their prosperity as the schools of 
 Europe, and see nought in their history but the 
 pollution and laziness of their decay?""' In the 
 instance before us, the Franks, both heathen and 
 nominally Christian, were profoundly affected by 
 the example of Columbanus and his companions, 
 came in large numbers to receive instruction, and 
 were encouraged to follow their example. And 
 before long they grew to such dimensions that 
 they had to hive off* and erect other similar insti- 
 tutions, one at Luxeuil (on the ruins of Luxovium, 
 an old fortified Roman town), eight miles from 
 Annegray, and another at Fontenay in the same 
 neighbourhood. For some twenty years Colum- 
 261 
 
clergy. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [paut iii 
 
 banus and his monks laboured in those regions, 
 making many disciples, and exerting a powerful 
 and most salutary influence on the people among 
 whom they lived. And all classes were reached 
 by them. It is said that among the disciples of 
 Columbanus the sons of the nobility were numbered 
 by hundreds. 
 Comes in But he was not permitted to pursue his work 
 
 with^the ^^ peace. He was too stern a disciplinarian and 
 Frankish too faithful a monitor not to make determined 
 enemies. His blameless life and stern discipline 
 rebuked the laxity of the Frankish clergy and 
 awakened their hostility ; and particularly his attach- 
 ment to the Irish method of observing Easter, and 
 the other Irish usages, brought him into direct 
 and sharp collision with their leaders. In 602 or 
 603 the bishops convoked a synod, and summoned 
 him to appear. He did not attend their council, 
 but sent a letter, which is still preserved, explaining 
 and defending his action. "I am not the author 
 of those differences,'^ he said. " I came as a stranger 
 amongst you, in behalf of our common Lord and 
 Master, Jesus Christ. In His name I beseech your 
 holinesses to let me live in peace and quiet, as I 
 have lived for twelve years in the depths of these 
 forests, beside the bones of my seventeen departed 
 brethren. Let us live in the same land with you 
 here as, if we are worthy, we hope to live together 
 in the same heaven hereafter. ... I have judged 
 it better that you should know what are the subjects 
 that we here handle and study with one another. 
 For these are our canons, the commandments of the 
 Lord and of the Apostles. In these is our faith; 
 these are our arms, our shield and sword; these 
 262 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 are our defence ; these it is that have influenced us 
 to leave our native land ; these we struggle in our 
 lukewarm way to observe ; in these we desire to 
 pray that we may persevere until death, as we have 
 seen our eldere do before us."' He suggests either 
 that each should abide in the mode of life wherein 
 he hath been called, " or else that the books should 
 he read on both sides with peace and humility, 
 and without anything of a contentious spirit, and 
 whatever system accords most with the Old and 
 New Testaments that that should be observed with- 
 out ill-feeling on the part of any one."''' 
 
 He also addressed a letter to Pope Gregory the writes to 
 Great vindicating his practices in very outspoken q°q® ^ 
 terms : " How is it that you with all your wisdom, 
 you, the brilliant light of whose sanctified talents 
 is shining abroad throughout the world, are induced 
 to support this dark Paschal system ? I wonder, I 
 confess, that the erroneous practice of Gaul has not 
 been long since abolished by you. . . . You are 
 afraid, perhaps, of incurring the charge of a taste 
 for novelty, and are content with the authority of 
 your predecessors, and of Pope Leo in particular. 
 But do not, I beseech you, in a matter of such 
 importance, give way to the dictates of humility 
 or gravity only, as they are often mistaken. It 
 may be that in this affair a living dog is better than 
 a dead Leo, [He has the effrontery in writing one 
 Pope to pun on the name of another.]. . . . Let your 
 vigilance then be careful . . . that there be no dis- 
 agreement between yourself and Jerome. . . . For I 
 confess to you plainly that the man who contradicts 
 the authority of Jerome will be looketl upon as a 
 heretic, and rejected with scorn by the Churches of 
 263 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 the West. For as far as the Divine Scriptures 
 are concerned, they entertain sentiments decidedly 
 and wholly accordant with his."" This singular 
 epistle ends thus : " If, as I have heard from your 
 pious friend Candidus, you are disposed to give 
 me this answer, that what is established by the 
 authority of antiquity cannot be altered, certainly 
 error can lay claim to antiquity, but the truth which 
 condemns it is always of higher antiquity still. "" 
 straight In his letter to Pope Boniface IV., written later, 
 
 face iv^°°^ but which may be noticed here, Columbanus adopts 
 even the language of rebuke, and writes in a way 
 that must make the flesh of a modern Roman 
 Catholic creep. He calls on Boniface to " purge 
 the chair of Peter from all error." " And that I 
 may say out all (not to seem to flatter even yourself 
 unduly), it is also a painful thing to reflect on that 
 you, the party possessed of the legitimate power, 
 were not the first to come forward, influenced by 
 zeal for the faith, and, after first proving the purity 
 of your own faith, to condemn or excommunicate 
 the party that dared to defame the principal See 
 relative to the orthodoxy of its faith." 
 
 He calls upon the Pope to "remove the cloud 
 of suspicion from St. Peter's chair." " Convoke, 
 therefore, an assembly, that you may clear away 
 the charges alleged against you ; for it is no child's 
 play that you are accused of. For it is the re- 
 ceiving of heretics, as I am informed, that you are 
 charged with, though far be it from gaining credit, 
 as a thing having occurred, or existing, or likely to 
 happen. They say, however, that Eutyches, Dios- 
 corus, Nestorius, old heretics, as we know them to 
 have been, were countenanced by Virgilius in some 
 264 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 Fifth Synod. See there the cause of the entire 
 scandal, as they say, if you, too, as they assert, 
 countenance the same persons ; or, if you know 
 that VirgiliuwS died so infected, why do you bring 
 forward his name in a manner at variance with a 
 good conscience ? "" 
 
 It does not appear from this that Columbanus 
 beHeved much in Papal infallibility. He evidently 
 thought the Pope as liable to error and as much 
 in need of wholesome advice as any one ; nor is he 
 over-respectful in the terms in which he tenders it. 
 
 His collision with the royal court of Burgundy uis collision 
 was, however, much more serious than his brush ^^'y^ ^mu-t 
 with the prelates and the Pope. It shows us very 
 clearly what manner of man he was — that he was 
 not a reed shaken by the wind. 
 
 When Clovis died, his realm was divided among 
 his four sons, but, on the death of three of them, was 
 re-united under the survivor, Clotaire, but again 
 distributed a second time among the four sons of 
 Clotaire, Charibert becoming ruler of that kingdom 
 of which Paris was the capital, Chilperic of Soissons, 
 Sigebert of Austrasia, the designation of the German 
 or eastern division, and Guntram of Burgundy. On 
 the death of Sigebert of Austrasia he was succeeded 
 by his son Hildebert, who, on the death of his uncle 
 Guntram, inherited Burgundy as well. But Hilde- 
 bert also dying, his two sons succeeded him, Theode- 
 bei-t in Austrasia, and Theoderic (or Thierry) in 
 Burgundy. The sons were youths, however, when 
 their father died, and were entirely under the direc- 
 tion of their grandmother, Brunehild, who has been 
 described as another Jezebel. Ultimately expelled 
 from the court of the king of Austrasia, she took 
 265 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 up her abode with Thierry, who was living a licen- 
 tious and immoral life. In order to retain her 
 mfluence and power, and lest, should he wed a 
 lawful wife, she should lose her ascendency, Brune- 
 hild encouraged him in his immorality, and opposed 
 any attempt on his part to marry a lawful queen 
 and put away his concubines. Columbanus had 
 acquired considerable influence over Thierry, and 
 more than once succeeded in getting him to promise 
 to abandon his vicious habits. But in so doing he 
 only incurred the displeasure of Brunehild. On one 
 occasion, when he was at court, she desired him to 
 bestow his blessing on the four illegitimate children 
 of Thierry; but he indignantly refused to do so. 
 Thenceforward she began a series of petty persecu- 
 tions against Columbanus and his communities, and 
 at length she succeeded in inducing Thierry to banish 
 
 Driven from him from the kingdom. By a company of soldiers 
 
 Burgundy, j^^ ^^^ seized, and, with a few of his companions, 
 taken down the Loire to Orleans and then to Nantes, 
 where he was put on board a ship bound for Ireland. 
 But driven back by a storm, he next found himself 
 on the coast of Neustria. The king of Neustria, 
 Clotaire II., besought him to remain, but, anxious 
 no doubt to return to his community, he went to 
 the court of Theodebert, king of Austrasia, who 
 received him kindly. But finding return impossible, 
 he and his associates embarked upon the Rhine, up 
 which they made their way as far as the Lake of 
 Zurich, and, after a short stay at Zug, they went on 
 
 Passes to to Brcgeuz, on the Lake of Constance in Switzerland. 
 
 fand^^^ Here they found a ruined Roman city and the ruins 
 of a Christian church. Callech, now better known 
 as St. Gall, one of the companions of Columbanus, 
 266 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 was able to preach to the people in their own 
 language, and was so far successful that he ventured 
 to break their idols and fling them into the lake. 
 Many believed and were baptized, but others were 
 filled with anger and a desire for revenge. For 
 three years the missionaries tarried here, rebuilding 
 the ancient church and founding a monastery. St. 
 Gall was a skilful angler, and met the wants of the 
 little conmiunity by fishing on the lake, which 
 still abounds with a great variety of fish. One 
 night while he was so engaged, he heard (we are 
 told) the Spirit of the Mountains call to the Spirit 
 of the Waters: "Arise and hasten to mine aid. 
 Behold, strangers have come, and driven me from 
 my temple. Come, and help me to expel them from 
 the land ! " To which responded the S})irit of the 
 Waters : " Lo, even now one of them is busy on 
 my surface, but I cannot injure him. Often have I 
 desired to break his nets, but as often I am baffled 
 by his invocation of the all-prevailing Name in which 
 he is always praying.'*'' 
 
 Their human foes were not so easily defeated ; one 
 of the native chieftains formed a confederation of the 
 heathen against the missionaries, and Columbanus 
 determined on withdrawing. St. Gall fell sick and st. oaii 
 was left behind, and was the means ultimately of apostle of " 
 reclaiming the people of that whole region from this region, 
 barbarism, teaching them both the duties of religion 
 and the arts of agriculture, giving his name to the 
 town and canton of St. Gall, and becoming, in short, 
 the apostle of Switzerland. 
 
 Meanwhile, Columbanus crossed the Alps into Coiumbanus 
 Northern Italy, went to the court of Agilulf, king Aipa ; 
 of the Lombards, by whom he was cordially received, 
 267 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 and granted territory on which he might reside. 
 With the king's consent, he founded in a lonely 
 defile of the Apennines, between Genoa and Milan, 
 and founds the famous monastery of Bobbio, which, with its 
 precious library, rose into great celebrity, and con- 
 tinued till modern times, and where some most 
 valuable manuscripts, both of the Bible and of other 
 works, have been found. It was there that the 
 famous Muratorian fragment on the canon of the 
 New Testament was discovered ; and Muratori, the 
 scholar who discovered it, made out a catalogue 
 of seven hundred manuscripts which the convent 
 possessed in the eighteenth century. From this 
 catalogue we learn that the library at Bobbio con- 
 tained the writings of Origen, Cyprian, Athanasius, 
 Eusebius, Augustine, Chrysostom, Hilary; Greek 
 and Latin classics, such as Homer, Virgil, Horace, 
 Lucan, Juvenal, Cicero ; books on geography, mathe- 
 matics, and the like ; and, as might have been ex- 
 pected, works of Irish and English origin, such as 
 "The Antiphonary of Bangor," the writings of 
 Adamnan, and the works of Bede. The convent 
 of St. Gall, founded by Callech or Gallus, was 
 exceptionally rich in its manuscript treasures. 
 Some valuable manuscripts of the New Testament 
 have been found there, one of them containing the 
 Epistles of the Apostle Paul. On the margin of 
 this manuscript writing was observed which was for 
 some time an enigma to Continental scholars; but 
 the late Dr. John CDonovan, an eminent Celtic 
 scholar, found that the language of the writing was 
 early Irish, the work no doubt of Irish monks. One 
 of these marginal notes is at once amusing and sug- 
 gestive. It was evidently written by some Irishman 
 268 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 who had paid a visit to Rome, had called at St. Gall 
 on his way home, and took the opportunity of noting 
 down on the blank margin of the manuscript what 
 he thought of the great ecclesiastical metropolis. 
 His remarks were couched in verse, of which this 
 has been given as a literal rendering : — 
 
 To come to Rome, to come to Rome, 
 
 Much of trouble, little of profit ; 
 
 The thing thou seekest here, 
 
 If thou brine not with thee, thou findest not. 
 
 Great folly, great madness, 
 Great ruin of sense, great insanity, 
 Since thou hast set out for death, 
 
 That thou shouldst be in disobedience to the Son of 
 Mary." » 
 
 This Irishman, like Luther, and many another, 
 went to Rome manifestly with great expectations, 
 but returned home disappointed. 
 
 When Columbanus settled at Bobbio, the Arian 
 heresy prevailed among the Lombards in Northern 
 Italy. While he sought to diffuse the light of 
 Christianity among those still in pagan darkness, 
 he laboured to counteract error by setting forth the 
 truth. It was now that he wrote to Boniface IV. 
 But not even Bobbio was destined to see his end. 
 On the opposite shore of Trebbia he found a cave 
 which he transformed into a sort of church. There 
 he spent his last days, and there his long, chequered, hib death, 
 and eventful pilgrimage ended on the 21st of Nov- 
 ember 615. 
 
 There is no doubt his influence went deep and 
 
 ^ See *• Expositor" for June 1889. 
 269 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 far. His followers were numerous, were much de- 
 voted to his Rule, and propagated far and wide the 
 Irish type of Christianity which he transplanted to 
 the Continent. 
 His char- He was a man of great strength of character, and 
 
 of great firmness and resoluteness of purpose. The 
 extraordinary boldness and energy with which he met 
 the difficulties and perils that beset his path, the 
 intrepid faithfulness with which he denounced vice 
 and crime, even in royal personages at whose mercy 
 he was, alike unsoftened by their smiles and unin- 
 timidated by their frowns, show that he was no 
 feeble reed shaken by the breeze, but rather, like 
 the rugged oak of his native Erin, standing firm 
 and fast, and holding its head erect against the 
 storm. The monastic rule which he promulgated 
 reveals the temper of a stern disciplinarian and a 
 strong and exacting ruler of men. But he was a 
 man of large nature and varied gifts and aptitudes, 
 in whom a love of his native country, which he 
 never forgot and never was ashamed of among 
 Franks or Lombards, a scholar'*s love of learning, 
 the sensitive and gentle genius of the poet, and the 
 resolute discipline of a strong ruler, blended with 
 the pitying compassion, continuous self-sacifice, and 
 unwearied activity and labour of a great missionary. 
 We must be strangely constituted if we refuse him 
 the tribute of our respect and admiration. 
 
 other Irish Here, however, our sketch of early Irish mission- 
 mission- ^^ enterprise must terminate. To touch, however 
 briefly, on the work of the other celebrated mission- 
 aries sent forth from the shores of Ireland ; to sketch 
 270 
 
 anes. 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 the labours of St. Dichuil (Deicolus), brother of St. 
 Gallus, at Luthra, now Lure, in Besancon, where, 
 under the patronage of Clotaire II., he reared a 
 monastery and did an important work, and exerted 
 an influence which causes his name to be still cher- 
 ished there with veneration ; to accompany St. Fursa 
 in his earnest and indefatigable mission, first among 
 the East Angles, where, as Bede tells us, he was 
 instrumental in converting many unbelievers and 
 in confirming many Christians in the faith, and 
 afterwards in France, preaching with such eloquence 
 that Bede mentions the case of a monk who, when 
 giving an account of his sermon, broke out into a pro- 
 fuse perspiration through the terror which the mere 
 recollection of it created, though he was thinly clad 
 and it was the coldest time of winter; or to go 
 with Mailduf to England, and see him rear a great 
 monastic establishment at a spot which was called 
 after him, Maidulfshurg or Mahieshury ; or to 
 follow St. Kilian in his missionary labours in Fran- 
 conia, where, after leading multitudes, including not 
 a few nobles, to forsake paganism and embrace 
 Christianity, he at last, while engaged with others 
 in the very act of worship, met with a martyr'*s 
 death; to note even in the briefest manner the 
 outstanding events in the career of Fergil (Virgilius) 
 in Bavaria, and his conflict with Boniface with re- 
 gard to the administration of baptism, and touching 
 the opinion expressed by him that the earth was 
 round, and that men lived on the other side of it, 
 and enjoyed, like ourselves, the benefit of sun, moon, 
 and stars, an opinion which the "infallible" Pope 
 Zachary declared to be "the wicked and perverse 
 271 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 doctrine of that individual," and directed Boniface 
 to "assemble a council and expel him from the 
 Church,""* having previously degraded him from the 
 honour of the priesthood ; how, nevertheless, later 
 he became, through the influence of King Pepin, 
 bishop of Saltzburg, and did a great work, not only 
 in Bavaria, but in giving the knowledge of the truth 
 to Carinthia as well, and thus gained the title of 
 " the Apostle of Carinthia ; " or to tell of Willibrord, 
 who, though born in Northumberland, went for edu- 
 cation and inspiration to the Irish schools, where, 
 says his biographer, the illustrious Alcuin, he "at- 
 tached himself to the society of the reverend persons " 
 who taught there, "in order that, like some very 
 skilfjil bee, he might be able to taste the honey- 
 dropping flowers of piety and build the sweet comb 
 of virtues in the hive of his own breast, and where for 
 twelve years this young man, that was afterwards to 
 become a preacher to many nations, received instruc- 
 tion from the first masters of devoted piety and 
 sacred learning, until he came to the state of a 
 perfect man, and to the age of the fulness of Christ,'"" ^ 
 and then went abroad to spread the Christian faith 
 among the heathen inhabitants of Batavia, Friesland, 
 and Westphalia ; or to follow those zealous and in- 
 defatigable missionaries to the region of perpetual 
 snow to which they penetrated, to accompany them 
 to Iceland, where the first Norwegian missionaries 
 who came there found that Irish missionaries had 
 been before them, and had left behind them Irish 
 books, bells, crosiers, and other traces of an early 
 Irish mission ; to relate the details of all this vast 
 
 1 Alcuin, "Vit. Willibrord." 
 272 
 
CHAP, xiii] COLUMBANUS 
 
 and widespread mission enterprise would carry us too 
 far out of our way at present, and transgress the 
 limits I have set myself, although the whole story 
 of early Irish missions would make a volume as in- 
 teresting as a romance, and would be well worth the 
 telling. 
 
 ^73 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DEFECTS IN THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK 
 
 So far we have regarded the Early Irish Church 
 chiefly on its most favourable side. But history is 
 worse than useless if it does not hold the mirror up 
 to nature. Whether the facts agree or not with our 
 own predilections, whether they are creditable or the 
 reverse, the historian has no option but to represent 
 them as they are. He is both short-sighted and 
 disloyal to truth who tries to cover with his white- 
 wash the defects and stains that disfigure ancient 
 institutions. One of the chief uses of history, which 
 is to note blemishes and to trace them to their 
 cause, is thereby missed; and what should be one 
 of our greatest and most effective teachers becomes 
 thus a delusion and a snare. We have now before 
 us, then, the disagreeable but imperative duty of 
 noticing the deformities which too soon appeared in 
 Irish Christianity. 
 
 We have seen that in at least one feature the 
 Early Irish Church approximated to the Church of 
 Apostolic times. It was comparatively evangelical 
 in its teaching. Any one who reads the acknow- 
 ledged writings of St. Patrick cannot but be struck 
 with theu- evangelical tone, and their general freedom 
 from the corruptions and superstitions which so 
 soon began to debase mediaeval Christianity. Yet 
 274 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 it must not be disguised that from an early date 
 even the Irish Church began to be adulterated with 
 base alloy. The ointment which the box of its 
 organisation held was soon spoiled by the presence 
 of more than one dead fly. From the very outset, 
 indeed, deleterious elements were admitted which 
 tended deeply and seriously to vitiate and corrupt 
 its practical influence for good. 
 
 How many of their old pagan customs and super- Irish chris- 
 stitions the converts made by Patrick himself were Jeriorated 
 allowed to carry over along with them, we have '""om the 
 already had occasion to note. A considerable num- mixture of 
 ber of them survive to this hour. Then, in the p*^* " 
 
 . customs. 
 
 monastic spirit, which from its start dominated the 
 Irish Church, a leaven was introduced essentially 
 at variance with New Testament Christianity, and 
 which could not but work injuriously. Again, in 
 spite of her independence, influences from without, 
 and especially from Roman ecclesiasticism, told on 
 the Irish Church ; and Irish Christianity deteriorated 
 — became less evangelical and more superstitious — 
 in proportion as she came under Roman domination. 
 One fact in particular is not to be overlooked. A 
 consensus of testimony bears witness that in the 
 sixth and seventh centuries there was a most serious 
 decline in the religion of the Irish, that, in fact, such 
 a relapse took place among the people generally to 
 their old pagan ways, that some writers do not 
 hesitate to call it an apostasy. It is noteworthy 
 that the same thing took place in England, and 
 from the same cause. In connection with the con- 
 version of the Anglo-Saxons by Augustin and his 
 associates. Pope Gregory the Great expressly wrote 
 that pagan forms of worship might be profitably 
 275 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 preserved if modified to Christian uses, and that 
 even sacrifices of oxen might continue if they were 
 offered on saints' days. The result was what might 
 have been expected, that before long there was on 
 Relapse the part of the people a wholesale relapse to pagan- 
 ism ^^^*" ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ great difficulty, and chiefly 
 through the agency of Irish missionaries, that they 
 were at length reclaimed. An occurrence some- 
 what similar now took place in Ireland. In the 
 " Life of Gildas,*" a Welsh ecclesiastic, it is related 
 that in the time of Ainmire, king of Ireland (568- 
 571), almost all the people forsook the Christian 
 faith, and that Ainmire sent for Gildas and others 
 to recover them. From that relapse Irish Chris- 
 tianity seems never to have properly recovered, for 
 an immense number of the old pagan observances 
 continue to this day among the native Irish. 
 An inferior It thus came to pass that the type of practical 
 onistianity Christianity that prevailed and became popular in 
 survived. Ireland was a very inferior one. Both monks and 
 people came to be more than half pagan in their 
 ideas and ways. Irish Christianity was in a very 
 great degree paganism baptized, with saints in the 
 place of gods. It would certainly not be much 
 of an exaggeration to say that the saints were 
 Druidical priests with a slight Christian varnish. 
 Just as the Druids professed to possess preternatural 
 powers, and by means of spells and incantations 
 to work all sorts of wonders, similar miraculous 
 feats without number are ascribed to the Irish 
 saints in their Lives, written by the monks. Let 
 me give some specimens. 
 
 A thief stole Patrick's goat. He denied the 
 theft, but Patrick made the sign of the cross, and 
 276 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 the goat bleated from the thiefs stomach. Patrick a specimen 
 and his companions on their first visit to Tara ^les attri- 
 are threatened with massacre ; they instantly, at '^'>t**i ^ 
 Patrick'^s word, take the form of deer and escape. 
 At the same place a Druid dropped poison into 
 Patrick''s cup of ale. Patrick made the sign of 
 the cross over it, and the ale became ice. He 
 turned the cup upside down, and the poison 
 dropped on the table. He made the sign of the 
 cross again, the ale became liquid, and he drank 
 it oif. The monkish writers do not scruple to 
 impute to the saint gross breaches of the moral 
 law, and imagine that they are glorifying their 
 hero. Thus the "Tripartite Life'' represents him 
 as going to Rome after he laid the foundations 
 of Armagh, and as actually carrying off from 
 thence, by what the Life calls " a pious fraud or 
 theft, whilst the keepers of the sacred places were 
 asleep and unconscious," a large quantity of relics 
 of apostles and martyrs — " three hundred and three- 
 score and five relics, together with the relics of 
 Peter and Paul and Laurence and Stephen, and 
 many others. And a sheet (or towel) was among 
 them stained with Christ's blood, and some of the 
 hair of the Virgin."" " O wondrous deed ! O rare 
 theft of a vast treasure of holy things, committed 
 without sacrilege, the plunder of the most holy 
 place in the world ! " the writer exclaims in rapt 
 admiration of this gross violation of the eighth 
 commandment. Returning from Rome after his 
 first visit, the Lehar Brecc (thirteenth century) 
 represents Patrick as entering a vessel on the 
 strand of the sea of Britain. A leper sought per- 
 mission to accompany him, but there was no room 
 277 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 for him on board. " So Patrick put out before him 
 to swim in the sea the portable stone altar whereon 
 he used to make offering every day. But for all that, 
 God wrought a great miracle here, to wit, the stone 
 went not to the bottom, nor did it stay behind 
 them, but it swam round about the boat with the 
 leper on it, until it arrived in Ireland." ^ A some- 
 what similar feat is attributed to Molaise. Molaise, 
 sailing from Rome, met a leper on the open sea, 
 sailing along complacently on a big stone. " Change 
 places,"*"* said Molaise. They changed places, and 
 Molaise sailed on the stone till he came to the 
 island of Arran, where the stone may still be seen ! 
 St. Brendan sailing for seven years on a whalers back 
 is a trifle compared to that. 
 
 One of the customs retained from Druidical times 
 was the " perpetual fire."*"* In the monastery of St. 
 Kieran of Saigir, the sacred fire, from which all 
 other fires were kindled, was allowed to go out, 
 and the weather was bitterly cold. St. Kieran 
 went forth, spread out his hands and prayed, where- 
 upon there fell a thunderbolt by means of which 
 he rekindled the fire. Another saint, Molua, wanted 
 to see Rome. St. Aidan of Ferns took him up in 
 his chariot, and they were both invisible till the 
 following day. Molua was quite familiar with the 
 eternal city from that day forward. Hugh, the 
 swarthy king of Breifne, asked St. Caillin to make 
 him fair, like St. Rioch of Inis-bo-finne. The 
 saint prayed, and next morning he and St. Rioch 
 were exactly alike. After Columba left Clonard, 
 he went for a time, as the reader has seen, to the 
 monastery of his friend St. Mobhi, of Glasnaoidhen 
 
 1 "Tripartite Life," vol. ii. pp. 447, 448. 
 278 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 (Glasnevin), on the east bank of the Tolka. The 
 huts of the pupils were on the west side of the 
 river. One morning, when the bell rang for matins, 
 there was a keen frost, and the river was frozen 
 over, but Columba passed through it. "Bravely 
 thou hast acted, O son of Niall,"" said St. Mobhi. 
 " God is able to get us out of this difficulty,"' said 
 Columba. And so, on the return of the pupils 
 from church, they found all the huts removed and 
 planted beside the church on the east bank of the 
 river. But not earth only, but heaven and hell 
 were equally at command, and a personal service 
 to a saint secured the one, as a personal slight 
 ensured the other. Columba gave heaven to the 
 king of Ossory, because the king pulled off his 
 boots ! Adamnan threatened to send Finnachta, 
 the king of Ireland, to hell, if he did not rise in- 
 stantly from the chess -table at which he sat and 
 come to him. Of course Finnachta at once rose 
 and came ! 
 
 Such is the sort of stuff with which the " Lives 
 of the Saints'" abound! Of course, the earlier 
 saints did not themselves claim such supernatural 
 powers. Patrick, in his genuine writings, never 
 hints at his possessing them. But the legends that 
 grew up around them in the minds of their monkish 
 biographers show us what manner of pei-sons those 
 monks were, and the religious ideal which filled 
 their imagination. The miracles attributed to the 
 saints are at best capricious, prodigious, and gro- 
 tesque, such as Puck might be supposed to delight 
 in ; but, as often as otherwise, they are spiteful, 
 revengeful, and vicious in the motive that inspires 
 them. Any one who looked crooked at those saints, 
 279 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 according to their biogi-aphers, ran the risk of being 
 sti'uck dead on the spot. 
 Cursing There was one accomplishment especially in 
 
 flM^art ^* which the Irish saints were adepts, and in which 
 no one we have ever heard of could compete with 
 them — except perhaps the Pope. They had re- 
 duced cursing to a fine art. The " Tripartite Life *" 
 represents St. Patrick himself as inflicting his curses 
 on all who opposed him in any way, and as cursing 
 localities, rivers, trees, and the like, as well as 
 human beings. He curses Inver Domnan and Inver 
 Ainge because he found no fish in them, and 
 " both are barren ; " he curses even churches.^ The 
 cursing sometimes took the remarkable form of 
 " fasting against "" the person on whom it was de- 
 sired to invoke the Divine judgment. In the 
 " Tripartite Life *" Patrick is described as " fasting 
 against '^ a certain local king or chieftain called 
 Trian, for oppressing his slaves. "And Patrick 
 fasted against him. Trian did nothing for him. 
 Patrick turned on the morrow from the fortress. 
 He cast his spittle on the rock which lay on his 
 road, and the rock broke into three. A third 
 part of the spittle (or perhaps the rock) was then 
 flung a thousand paces. Patrick said : ' Two-thirds 
 of the fasting on the rock, a third on the king, 
 and on the fort, and on the district. There will 
 be of Trian's children neither king nor crown 
 prince. He himself shall perish early, and shall 
 go down to bitter hell.'"^ It fell out accordingly. 
 Dr. Whitley Stokes identifies this practice of " fast- 
 ing against" persons with the Brahmanic practice 
 called in Hindi dharna. Later saints employ the 
 
 1 Stokes's "Tripartite," i. 159. ^ ibid., p. 219. 
 
 280 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 weapon with equal freedom. St. Kieran curses 
 Kellach, and, in spite of the repentance of Kellach, 
 he dies prematurely. Columba curses Black Hugh, 
 and the curse takes effect. JEdh^s son, Conall, 
 flings mud at the clergy as they enter the assembly 
 at Drumceatt. Columba rang his bells and solemnly 
 cursed Conall, who was thenceforward stricken with 
 insanity; and his mother and her maid, who en- 
 couraged him, turned into herons, condemned to be 
 ever watching their prey at the ford of the river 
 near Drumceatt. See too his curse upon the male- 
 factor of "the royal race of Gabhran"*"* recorded in 
 Adamnan's "Life of Columba,"' ii. 22. Ruadan, 
 again, curses Tara and its king, and from that day 
 a blight falls on both. When we hear Erin glorified 
 as " an island of saints "*"* and as a sort of " Hesperian 
 Elysium," the recollection of the character of these 
 saints as portrayed by their admiring biographers 
 is calculated to dispel some illusions. 
 
 Even the best of them, such as Columba, appear The best of 
 to have been passionate and vindictive, and to "^*^ ^'^*"*'* 
 
 „ ^ , , . . . passionate 
 
 have given free rem to their passions at times, ami vin- 
 Witness Columba''s action in forming a league ^'^"^®- 
 against Diarmid, and in inciting the North to war 
 against him; for it seems impossible to question 
 that part of the story. The monks themselves 
 shared in the feuds which raged between their 
 tribes, were much addicted to fighting, were liable 
 to be called out to military service, and were too 
 apt to be swayed and agitated by those fierce and 
 turbulent passions which such a life tended to 
 inspire and foster. The bishop-king of Munster, 
 Feidhlimidh (Phelim), devastated the sacred cloisters 
 of Clonmacnois. In 673 a desperate battle was 
 281 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 fought between the monasteries of Clonmacnois and 
 Durrow, and two hundred were slain. In 816 
 four hundred were slain in a similar engagement. 
 "The clergy of Ireland went to their synods with 
 their weapons, and fought pitched battles, and 
 slew many persons therein."" So the "Annals of 
 MacFirbis "" assure us. 
 The meaner Such scenes might at least cultivate vigour and 
 asTying!^^^ valour, and the sterner and hardier traits of char- 
 and de- acter generally. But alas ! the meaner vices appear 
 gloried in. to have been rife among the monks, and to have 
 been much admired by them. In the formation 
 of strong character there are no traits more vital 
 and fundamental than integrity and truth. Equi- 
 vocation, deceit, lying, the monks appear to have 
 cultivated as virtues. Ruadan and Molua, both 
 great saints, gained their ends by equivocation, and 
 gloried in it. Adamnan kept a monk to lie for 
 him. Sir James Stephen, in his essay on Hilde- 
 brand, scornfully remarks that "nature has given 
 horns to bulls, and to priests deceit and dissimula- 
 tion.*" Certainly this was verified in the Irish 
 clergy. And the bards, who still retained much of 
 the old spirit, did not spare their double-dealing 
 and general un trust worthiness. 
 Celtic The New Testament lays the utmost stress on the 
 
 i^^rSami'^ ethical part of Christianity. It demands truthful, 
 ethically honest, upright lives. Our Lord^s word is, "By 
 their fruit ye shall know them."' And His servant 
 requires the pursuit of " whatsoever things are true, 
 whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are 
 just, whatsoever things are pure, and whatsoever 
 things are lovely." Tried by this standard, it must 
 be confessed that Irish Christianity does not rank 
 
 282 
 
CHAP. xTv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 high. The fact is, that soon after Patrick's time it 
 became weak in the ethical department, strong in 
 the superstitious and ceremonial. In his "Early 
 History of Institutions," Sir Henry Maine gives 
 ample proof of the low state of morals among the 
 Irish. In the tenth century, the temporary coha- 
 bitation of the sexes, he shows, was part of the 
 accustomed order of society. Not a moment too 
 soon did the Northmen come with a fresher, purer, 
 and more vigorous blood in their veins, more truth 
 on their lips, and more honesty in their lives. No 
 true friend of Ireland can disguise these plain facts. 
 
 It cannot be concealed either that the monks The monks 
 employed the power possessed by them to the poli- anli'poiiucai 
 tical ruin of their country. How they came to ruin. 
 have such enormous political as well as ecclesi- 
 astical influence it is not hard to see. To see it, it is 
 only necessary to remember that such a monastery 
 as Bangor had in connection with it many cells 
 and monasteries, not in Ulster only, but throughout 
 the other provinces of Ireland. Many other monas- 
 teries were similarly extended, and the power of 
 their abbots reached to all the remote dependent 
 institutions. ITie heads, or coarbs, of the mother- 
 houses thus came to wield an immense influence. 
 They not only ruled the Church, as we have seen ; 
 they sat at the right hand of kings in all assemblies. 
 Possessed not only of much territory and great 
 wealth, but invested, as was supposed, with super- 
 natural powers, no one dared to contradict or oppose 
 them. The princes and kings thus found themselves 
 compelled to cultivate the good-will of the coarbs, 
 and dared not thwart their wishes even in secular 
 and political affairs. 
 
 283 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Now there are some people who say that ecclesi- 
 astics as a class are indifferent politicians. They 
 are too apt to look at civil affairs from one point 
 of view, and incline to be narrow and impracticable. 
 It is certain that the monks were the means of 
 inflicting an irreparable injury on the best civil 
 interests of Ireland. It came about in this way. 
 
 With so many petty kings and conflicting in- 
 terests, public order and justice in Ireland depended 
 on the central power, the power of the Ardri or 
 over-king, being upheld and strengthened. King 
 Diarmid, the over-king in the time of Columba, did 
 obtain from his parliament a law enabling him to 
 dismantle the fortifications of the sub-kings, so as to 
 permit law and justice to run freely all through his 
 realm. It is known that in this matter Ireland was 
 in advance of all contemporary European nations. 
 The system of Eric, that is, of atoning for wrongs 
 and crimes, such as murder, by payment to the 
 persons wronged, payment privately made, gave 
 place to the maintenance of public justice at an 
 earlier date in Ireland than elsewhere. It was this 
 public justice that Diarmid was bent on maintaining. 
 But in his attempt to execute it he was resisted by 
 a provincial king called Guaire, who killed the 
 king'*s officer. Thereupon the king of Ireland pro- 
 ceeded to chastise Guaire, and defeated and routed 
 him in the encounter. Being now an outlaw, 
 Guaire took refuge with Ruadan of Lorrha, one 
 of the great abbots of the time. The very existence 
 of the national life and the reign of law throughout 
 his realm depended on Diarmid's being enabled 
 to put down such rebellious opposition as that 
 of Guaire, and any one who sought to shield the 
 284 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 latter was aiming a blow both at the national 
 life and the pubHc justice of the country. If law 
 and oixler were to prevail, Ruadan was clearly 
 not entitled to protect an insurgent vassal of the 
 over-king, who very properly seized Guaire and 
 di-agged him from his hiding-place. Now, how- 
 ever, enraged at what he called his right of sanc- 
 tuary having been violated, Ruadan got all the 
 great coarbs and several discontented petty kings 
 to join him, unitedly demanding the surrender of 
 Guaire. Diarmid showed them that the great in- 
 terests of public order and justice, and even their 
 own personal interests, were inconsistent with such 
 a claim, and forewarned them that if, instead of 
 supporting their over-king and upholding his hands 
 in such a case, they did all they could to weaken 
 and paralyse his efforts, the result would soon 
 be anarchy and internecine war. His warning, 
 although every word of it came out true, fell upon 
 deaf ears. They proceeded to curse the king of 
 Ireland and his army ; and as Tara was the centre 
 of the royal power, and was regarded as being 
 peculiarly sacred, "Ruadan and a bishop that was 
 with him took their bells that they had, which they 
 rang hardly, and cursed the king and place, and 
 prayed God that no king or queen ever after should 
 or could dwell in Tara, and that it should be waste 
 for ever, without court or palace, as it fell out 
 accordingly." Such was the extraordinary power of 
 the monks, and such the dread in which their curse 
 was held, that Diarmid had no option but to sub- 
 mit. From that day a blight fell on the ancient 
 royal palace, on the power of the over-king, and 
 on the unity and strength of the national life of 
 
THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK [part hi 
 
 Ireland. From that day the royal residence of Tara 
 began to fall into decay, the kings had to live each 
 in his own province, and the central kingly power 
 was broken. Tara was blighted, and the national 
 unity broken by the monks. 
 
 The harp that once in Tara's halls 
 
 The soul of music shed, 
 Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
 
 As if that soul were fled." 
 
 With infinite and melting pathos that sweet air 
 is sung. The patriot who sings it does not always 
 remember whose hand it was that broke the chords 
 of that harp, and»left it mute on Tara''s palace 
 walls; nor does he recall whose voice it was that 
 brought desolation upon Tara. It ivas the monks 
 that did it ! 
 
 What remained of Diarmid''s power was shattered 
 by another monk, Columba, and in a way that has 
 been told already in another connection. The great 
 annual fair of Tailtenn was being held. On such 
 occasions, to draw a weapon or inflict an injury on 
 another was visited with death. A passionate young 
 man, son of a petty king, drew his weapon and 
 killed another. He then ran to Columba, who was 
 present, and put himself under his protection. The 
 king, however, quite properly insisted on inflicting 
 the usual penalty for homicide on the offender. 
 Columba was mortally off*ended, according to the 
 story, stirred up a rebellion, got his royal relations 
 in the North to league together, and at the battle 
 of Cooldreevny they defeated Diarmid and effectually 
 broke his power. Thus it was that among the 
 
 286 
 
CHAP, xiv] ITS DEFECTS 
 
 worst enemies the national existence and prosperity 
 of Ireland ever had were the monks. It would be 
 hard to say whether they or Rome herself inflicted 
 the most deadly blow on the growth of a true 
 national life. But the part taken by Rome belongs 
 to a later chapter in the history. 
 
 287 
 
PART IV 
 
 LAl^R FORTUNES OF THE CHURCH OF 
 ST. PATRICK 
 
 289 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 When Britain fell a prey first to the Roman and 
 later to the Saxon invader, Ireland was permitted 
 to go unscathed, and thus so long continued to 
 retain her native laws and institutions intact, 
 unaffected by the intrusion of either Roman or 
 Teutonic civilisation. Her immunity was due in 
 part, perhaps, to her supposed insignificance, but 
 chiefly to her remote situation in the extreme west 
 of Europe, from which she was isolated by the 
 intervening sea, and lying out as she was amid the 
 rolling Atlantic billows. But when the Danes, or The sea not 
 Northmen rather, from their Scandinavian fiords ^ut a wgh-^' 
 began to move southwards into Gaul, and west- '^^y ^" ^^® 
 wards into England, the sea, instead of proving a 
 barrier, provided an easy and inviting highway for 
 those adventurous sea-rovers, long inured to the 
 perils of stormy oceans, and at an early date carried 
 them to our Irish coasts. 
 
 These Norsemen we are apt to picture as mere i-he Norse- 
 savage and barbarous destroyers. In their own 
 northern homes, on the contrary, they were not only 
 industrious and thrifty, toiling hard to wring a 
 scanty subsistence from a cold and barren soil under 
 an ungenial wintiy sky, and so living from year to 
 year not far from the grim possibility of famine; 
 
 291 
 
 men at 
 home. 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 but gentle, hospitable, and justice-loving, noted for 
 fidelity to friends and a rare cleanness of life. But 
 residing on the narrow strips of land that ran round 
 their long- winding bays or fiords, and lay between 
 the sea and the great mountain range which, near 
 the western coast, runs up through the Scandinavian 
 peninsula, they were accustomed from early years 
 to a seafaring life, and were compelled to cultivate 
 familiarity with danger, hardiness, and self-reliance, 
 to which were soon added sturdy independence, 
 strong individuality of character, and love of adven- 
 ture. As their patches of land seldom yielded 
 enough for their support, they had to betake them- 
 selves to the sea to supplement the produce of a 
 niggard soil. It was soon apparent that beneath a 
 calm exterior volcanic passion slumbered, needing 
 only the occasion to be stirred into berserker rage, 
 which found fierce enjoyment in the excitement, 
 violence, and bloodshed of the battlefield. The 
 basest of sins known to their moral code was the 
 forgiveness of injuries, revenge the foremost of the 
 virtues, and no indignity or cruelty was too humi- 
 liating to inflict upon an enemy. The brave who fell 
 in battle went to Walhalla, where, in company with 
 the gods, he would go forth to fight by day, and 
 return to feast and carouse by night; and the 
 cowardly would go to Niflheim, to sit alone as a 
 shadow in presence of all that was fitted to excite 
 disgust and loathing. 
 Unsettled Two causes at this juncture conspired to unsettle 
 causes. them in their Scandinavian abodes, and to send 
 them forth on a predatory manner of life. One was 
 the discovery that on other shores, within easy reach 
 of their barks, was a richer harvest of plunder than 
 292 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 their native haunts afforded , and the other was the 
 setting up over them in their own country of an 
 authority which they abhorred. They had been 
 used hitherto to a free, self-regulated, independent 
 mode of life. And rather than submit to the royal 
 yoke which Harald Haaifagr sought to impose upon 
 them, they rose in large numbers, left their fields 
 and homesteads, and entered on that series of raiding 
 incursions on the coasts and up the rivers of Grer- 
 many, France, Spain, Sicily, as well as England and 
 Ireland, which continued through so many genera- 
 tions. With their upbringing, it was nothing loath 
 that they launched out upon the deep : they were 
 used to it from childhood : it might be almost de- 
 scribed as their native element. The name " Viking,"" 
 by which they have been designated, is from vik, 
 "a bay,"" and suggests the sort of life which they 
 pursued and delighted in. 
 
 The Norsemen from whose ravages Ireland suffered "Finn- 
 for the first fifty yeai*s or so after their first coming .. white"^ 
 were fair-haired Norwegians or Swedes, known as strangers 
 "Finn-Galls'' or "White Strangers.'' About theoX-or 
 middle of the ninth century hosts of "Duv-Galls," ^^^^^^ 
 or "Black Strangers," swarthy in complexion and 
 dark-haired, began to come, attacking and over- 
 coming the "Finn-Galls," who by that time had 
 founded and established the commercial towns of 
 Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. These 
 were the Danars (i.e, the Danes properly so called) 
 from Denmark. The two afterwards united and 
 coalesced. The two hundred years and more through 
 which the story of their efforts to obtain a firm 
 footing in Ireland runs divide themselves into three 
 periods: (1) The period of intermittent piratical 
 293 
 
LATER FORTUNES [paet iv 
 
 Three incursion, during which they make sudden and un- 
 
 St"i)anish expected raids, and having made a rapid descent on 
 invasion, some monastery near the coast or on the banks of 
 one of the larger rivers, they ravage it, carry off 
 the spoils, and disappear. (2) The period when they 
 have succeeded in effecting permanent settlements in 
 the country, establish sea-board towns and colonies, 
 and begin to carry on active commercial enterprise ; 
 and (3) The period when, under the great Brian 
 Boroihme (Boru), the chief sections of the Celtic 
 population unite to break the power of the Danes, 
 and prove successful at the great battle of Clontarf. 
 A brief and rapid survey must be given to each of 
 these periods. 
 1. Period of 1. The piratical expeditions of the first of these 
 and de^ periods Were directed chiefly against the monastic 
 suitory in- institutions, and it was they for the most part that 
 suffered. The monasteries were the depositories of 
 many valuable treasures, and being comparatively 
 without defence, offered a strong temptation to such 
 lawless plunderers. But it has been suggested that 
 the raiders had other motives besides that of obtain- 
 ing booty — that they were animated by positive and 
 special hostility to the monasteries as Christian 
 institutions. These pirates from the far north were 
 not only heathen ; they had just witnessed in their 
 native regions a determined and ruthless attempt to 
 force Christianity on the people at the point of the 
 sword. Charlemagne had put forth a persistent 
 effort, continued for thirty-three years, to subdue 
 the Saxons who occupied what we now call Hanover, 
 Oldenburg, Brunswick, and Westphalia, and to 
 compel them to become Christians on pain of 
 extermination. The most cruel atrocities were 
 294 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 inflicted on them in the name of Christianity. In 
 782, only a few yeai-s before the first appearance of 
 the Danes in Ireland, 4500 captive Saxons were 
 massacred at Verdun in a single day. No wonder 
 that the religion which came to them in the guise 
 of a tyrannical and cruel despotism, which laid 
 waste their territory with fire and sword, sought to 
 crush their independence, and even threatened their 
 extermination, was regarded with hatred and resent- 
 ment. Their king, Witikind, was son-in-law of 
 Sigefroi, the Danish sovereign, and, driven into 
 Danish territory as many of them were, they could 
 hardly fail to inspire their Scandinavian friends with 
 a feeling kindred to their own. 
 
 The first appearance of the Danes in Ireland of First 
 which we have any notice is thus recorded in the fn Ireland,* 
 " Annals of the Four Masters "" opposite the year ^^o- 
 790 : " Rechrain was burnt by the Gentile pirates, 
 and its shrines destroyed."" By the " Annals of Ulster "" 
 this event is connected with the year 794, which 
 would be 795 of the common era. It is noteworthy 
 that their first appearance in England is chronicled 
 under the year 787, when the crews of three pirate 
 barks from the North slew a king's officer who at- 
 tempted to seize them. It was the premonitory 
 thunder - shower announcing a terrible and pro- 
 tracted tempest which would leave devastation and 
 ruin in its track. The name "Rechrain"''' was ap- 
 plied to three different islands — to what is now 
 called Rathlin, off the Antrim coast, near Bally- 
 castle; to an island in Lough Neagh, and to an 
 island off the coast of County Dublin, now known 
 as Lambay. Several historians take the place first 
 attacked by the Noi*semen to be Lambay, off County 
 295 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 Dublin. Dr. Reeves, we think rightly, identifies it 
 with Rathlin, off the Antrim coast.^ 
 Their From this date onward the attacks of the North- 
 
 creas?in° "^^^ increase in frequency, and are at first concen- 
 frequency. trated on the island monasteries, or on those near 
 the coast; but soon they made their way up the 
 larger rivers, such as the Bann, the Boyne, the 
 Liffey, the Shannon, and penetrate far into the 
 country, ravaging and destroying wherever they 
 come. Here is a record in the "Annals of Innis- 
 fallen *" opposite the year 810 : " Bangor wasted 
 by the Danes, and the shrine of Comgall broken 
 open by them, and its learned men and bishops 
 were smitten by the sword.'"* Again, opposite the 
 year 822, the " Annals of the Four Masters " say : 
 "Bangor plundered by the Danes and its oratory 
 destroyed, and the reliques of Comgall scattered 
 from the shrine which contained them." Mo villa, 
 in County Down, suffered about the same time; 
 and from this time forward we hear a continuous 
 tale of burnings, plunderings, and slaughterings, 
 whereby numerous monasteries and churches are 
 pillaged and demolished, their shrines broken, their 
 books or manuscripts "drowned"" (i.e. thrown into 
 river or lough), and their goods carried off. 
 2. Period 2. So far they came in small and detached 
 
 meS^and P^^'^i^^j without any attempt at united action, 
 coioniaa- But in 832, under a great leader called Turgesius, 
 who has been identified (though not indubitably) 
 with the renowned Scandinavian hero Ragnar 
 Lodrog, they were combined together, and three 
 fleets, apparently operating in concert under him, 
 appeared, one on Lough Neagh, another in Dun- 
 
 ^ "Antiquities," p. 249. 
 296 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 dalk Bay, and a third on Lougli Ree, on the 
 
 Shannon. Armagh, the chief ecclesiastical centre 
 
 in the north, was three times attacked by him in 
 
 a single month, the abbot, Forannan, driven away 
 
 to Munster, and the Christian form of worship 
 
 displaced by the pagan. In the course of the 
 
 next century and a half or so Armagh was again 
 
 honoured by their unwelcome visits and ravages 
 
 not much less than twenty times. We soon find 
 
 Turgesius with his fleet on Lough Ree, where he 
 
 plundered Clonmacnois, and set up his wife as a 
 
 sort of priestess, and had pagan sacrifices offered 
 
 upon the altar. He also pillaged the monasteries 
 
 of Clonfert, Lorrha, Terryglas, and the numerous 
 
 churches and monasteries in that region. Having 
 
 ravaged the north, the west, and the south-west, 
 
 he turned his hand to a more notable and fruitful 
 
 achievement. Where Dublin now stands there was They found 
 
 then nothing but a ford across the LifFey, with ^'*^^^'** 
 
 perhaps a few scattered huts. It was then called 
 
 Al-Cliath. Turgesius saw at once the importance 
 
 of the position, and to guard the ford built a dun 
 
 or fortress. The " Annals of the Four Masters *" 
 
 give the date as a.d. 840. Here, too, he laid the 
 
 foundations of a Danish kingdom, and in due time 
 
 the city of Dublin grew up around the fortress 
 
 under the hands of the Danes. The real founder 
 
 of Dublin was thus the Danish king, Turgesius. 
 
 But strong ruler and conquering hero though he 
 
 was, he fell before the charms that have laid so 
 
 many strong men low. He fell in love with the 
 
 daughter of Malachi, the king of Meath, and 
 
 when he and his friends were being entertained 
 
 by her on an island in Lough Owel, near Mullin- 
 
 297 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 gar, they were slain by the daggers of fifteen 
 young men disguised in female attire, and their 
 bodies thrown into Lough Owel. 
 Their It may be asked. How was Turgesius enabled to 
 
 as8istr°^ gain such a footing in the country ? Had anything 
 by the in the nature of a combined effort been made by 
 of the Irish the Irish, they might have easily resisted him. But 
 the answer is found in the dissensions and mutual 
 jealousies of the native chiefs. It is significant that 
 in many instances the feeling of hostility towards 
 one another was more intense than against the 
 foreign invader. This is well exemplified in the 
 case of Feidlimidh (Phelim) MacCriffan, the king of 
 Cashel, that is, of Munster, who, like some other 
 kings of the same province, was a bishop as well as 
 a king, but an ambitious and unscrupulous person- 
 age, who wished to be regarded as the supreme king 
 of Ireland, and had on this account a special quarrel 
 with the king of Meath. Instead of helping the 
 latter against Turgesius, he took advantage of their 
 prostration by the Norsemen to attack his brethren, 
 and, strange to say, his worst depredations were com- 
 mitted against the monasteries and the ecclesiastics. 
 In many instances grants of land had been given 
 to churches and monasteries, and to many of these 
 ecclesiastical territories (which were called Termon 
 lands, from terminus^ a boundary) the privilege of 
 sanctuary belonged, so that they were regarded as 
 sacred asylums which were safe against intrusion. 
 But Feidlimidh more than once violated the Termon 
 lands of Clonmacnois, burned down the monastic 
 buildings, and slew the clergy ; and the monasteries 
 of Durrow, Kildare (where the Coarb of Armagh 
 and his clergy had taken refuge), and even Armagh 
 298 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 itself, were similarly treated by him. It is sug- 
 gestive that his whole strength was employed ex- 
 clusively against his brother chiefs, and in not a 
 single instance against the Northmen. 
 
 In 852 a fleet of Black Strangers, or Danars, iTie " Black 
 appeai-ed at Dublin, and defeated the Finn-Galls, ai^fve^and 
 or White Strangers, who had already settled there, take the 
 Soon after, the struggle was renewed at Carlingford, 
 another Danish settlement, and after a desperate 
 and bloody conflict, which lasted for three days, the 
 Finn- Gal Is were again overthrown. After this the 
 two sections of the Northmen for the most part 
 united their forces. 
 
 Thus with varying fortunes afiairs went on for Red ruin 
 some 200 years, the Danes at times victorious, but 
 the Irish chiefs at other times inflicting on them 
 severe reverses. The history of Ireland during 
 this period is a history of endless conflict and red 
 ruin, when anarchy ran riot, and social disorganisa- 
 tion and moral deterioration went on apace. The 
 Danish inhabitants of Dublin became Christians 
 about the middle of the tenth century, but their 
 conversion does not appear to have appreciably 
 abated their fierce violence. We still hear of them 
 continuing to plunder and demolish monasteries and 
 churches, and carrying oft' captives and treasures. 
 
 Deadly must have been the terror spread amongst and terror 
 the Irish by the cruel outrages of the Danes, a jJ^^^^J^^ 
 dread the memory, or at least the tradition, of 
 which still lingers among the peasantry. The 
 late Dr. lieeves in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology 
 relates an incident which serves to give us some 
 idea of it. When early in the present century the 
 Ordnance Survey began its opei*ations in this 
 299 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 country, a number of sappers and miners appeared 
 suddenly one day on a little island which lies 
 between Mourne and Carlingford, which had been 
 a principal landing-place and colony of the Danes 
 in early times. The news spread like wildfire 
 throughout the district that the Danes were coming 
 again, and the sensation and panic produced by 
 the appalling tidings were immense ! 
 Emigration In the early time the terror was not imaginary, 
 Continent, ^ut real, and one effect of it was that there set 
 in a tide of emigration to the Continent, especially 
 on the part of those devoted to the pursuit of 
 learning. A Continental writer of the ninth 
 century says that almost all Ireland, despising the 
 perils of the sea, passed over to our shores with 
 her crowd of philosophers.^ Among these were 
 Dungai. Dungal, who became head of the great school of 
 John scotus Pavia under Charlemagne, and John Scotus Erigena 
 ngena. . (Erin-gena), the greatest genius and most profound 
 philosopher of his day — in fact, the most remark- 
 able man of his age. After leaving Ireland he 
 became connected with the court of Charles the 
 Bald (840-877), where he must have been on easy 
 terms if the story told of him is true. When 
 Charles once asked him across the dinner-table, 
 " What is the difference between a Scot [an Irish- 
 man] and a sot ? " his quick retort was, " The 
 table, your Majesty ! " But he was not merely the 
 most brilliant wit of his time, but its most clever 
 dialectician and deepest thinker. He was a diligent 
 student of the Greek Fathers and of Neo-Platonism, 
 had a tendency to pantheistic ideas, and anticipated 
 not a little in Spinoza and Hegel ; but his original, 
 
 ^ Haddan's " Remains," p. 285. 
 300 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 powerful, and naturally speculative intellect was 
 too much held in bounds by the teaching of the 
 Scriptures and the Christian view of the world to 
 allow his philosophical principles to carry him to 
 their natural conclusion. Even as it was, however, 
 he surprised and disturbed the placid and stagnant 
 thought of the ninth century with his nineteenth- 
 century ideas. A great many of the statements 
 of the Bible with regard to God which are apt to 
 be taken literally, he ascribed to anthropomorphism, 
 and according to him the true body and blood are 
 not present in the sacrament, the bread and wine 
 being only a memorial of Christ's body and blood. 
 He thus rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation. 
 Whereas the Schoolmen were, as a rule, sticklers for 
 orthodoxy, this genuine and irrepressible Irishman 
 was profoundly heretical. Hincmar, who had en- 
 listed his service in a controversy on predestination, 
 found him a very compromising and inconvenient 
 ally, and denounced his teaching as a concoction 
 of " Scotch porridge " (pultes scotorum) ; and at a 
 later time Honorius III. described his great work 
 De Divisione Natvroe as " teeming with the vermin 
 of heretical depravity '^ ! 
 
 It was in the lull that took place after the first cioio- 
 great outbreak of the storm of Norse invasion that R^^d 
 Cloictheachs or Round Towers began to be erected. Towers. 
 and that they were reared as a means of protection 
 against the Danes, as places of refuge for the monks, 
 and as keeps or safe storehouses for their books, 
 bells, and other treasures, is now practically certain. 
 Till then, stone buildings were very rare in Ireland. 
 The earliest reference to the cloictheach thus occurs 
 in the " Annals of the Four Masters,'" a.d. 948 : 
 501 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 *' The Cloictheach of Slane was burned by the Danes, 
 with its full of reliques, with Caonechair, reader 
 of Slane, and the crozier of the patron saint, and 
 a bell — the best of bells."" It was erected, possibly, 
 a considerable time before the date mentioned. 
 Respecting the origin and object of the Round 
 Towers, there has been no end of conjectures, but 
 the late Dr. Petrie in his work on the subject has 
 put it beyond question that their purpose was what 
 has been just indicated. "Though the abbey and 
 all its buildings blazed around," he says, " the tower 
 disregarded the fury of the flames; its extreme 
 height, its isolated position, and the diminutive 
 doorway, elevated so many feet above the ground, 
 placed it beyond the reach of the destroyer." The 
 case of Slane just mentioned, however, shows that 
 in some instances even the Round Tower was not 
 always proof against the fury of the Northmen. 
 In the " Life of Tenenan " of Brittany, by Legrand, 
 there is a statement which throws much light both 
 on the object of the Round Towers and the date 
 at which they began to be erected in Western 
 Europe. Of St. Tenenan his biographer says : 
 " He exhorted the people to penitence and amend- 
 ment of life, and, providing for their defence and 
 preservation, he appointed a chief man of their 
 troop as their captain, recommending him to erect 
 a little round tower near the church of Ploabennec, 
 wherein to deposit the silver-plate and treasure of 
 the same church, and protect them against the 
 sacrilegious hands of the barbarians, should they 
 wish to pillage the same church. This he accord- 
 ingly did. Meanwhile the barbarians approached, 
 and St. Tenenan hastily carried the sacred vessels 
 302 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 into the tower, wherein the captain entered, and 
 resolved to defend it at the cost of his blood.*" ^ 
 Here we have not only the use of the Round Towers 
 expressly defined, but their existence in Brittany 
 as early as the seventh century recorded. The 
 original type of the Round Tower, there is no 
 doubt, came from the East, whence it was brought The idea of 
 by Justinian to Constantinople in the sixth century. J*!f,"gjjt 
 From Constantinople it was carried westwards to from the 
 Ravenna, and a little later it is found at Pisa, '** * 
 Venice, Strassburg, in Switzerland and Belgium. 
 The Cathedral of Aix-la- Chapel le, built under 
 Charlemagne and Eginhard about a.d. 800, has 
 two round towers. From Ravenna, too, the idea 
 appears to have been carried to the north and west 
 coasts of France, and thence to Ireland, with which 
 France was at this time in close friendly relations. 
 Merovingian and other French coins have been 
 found in Ireland. Lord Dunraven seems to have 
 traced the type from Ireland through France to 
 Ravenna, and so to Constantinople and the East. 
 It is just possible indeed, that the idea may have 
 come still more directly from the East. It appears 
 from the Litany of ^ngus the Culdee that during 
 the eighth century many Eastern ecclesiastics found 
 refuge in Ireland. It refers to seven Egyptian 
 monks as having been buried in one place. 
 
 In the beginning of the present century, accord- 
 ing to Miss Stokes, 118 of these structures were still 
 in existence; at present, according to Lord Dun- 
 raven, there are seventy-six still standing. The 
 doorways faced the entrances of the churches to 
 which they belonged, and the position of the tower 
 ^ See •• Early Christian Art," p. 56, by Miss Margaret Stokes. 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 was, as a rule, about twenty feet to the north-west 
 end of the church. They have been assigned to 
 three periods : — the earliest from 890 to 927 ; the 
 next from 973 to 1013; and the latest from 1170 
 to 1238 ; and these divisions are marked by a very 
 distinct progress and improvement in the archi- 
 tecture. Miss Stokes has an interesting table classi- 
 fying the Irish Round Towers according to their 
 different styles, showing a gradual advance from 
 the earlier to the later and more improved style. 
 3. The 3. At length, at the close of the tenth and the 
 
 defeat and opening of the eleventh century, there came a crisis 
 overthrow, jj^ ^]^g history of the northern invaders. By the 
 arrival of a great fleet of their kinsmen from across 
 the sea, the Danes of Limerick had a large accession 
 made to their number, and the south of Ireland was 
 more than ever ravaged and oppressed by them. 
 Danish kings and chiefs, stewards, and bailiffs were 
 set over every territory, and a royal rent levied from 
 the people. "And such was the oppressiveness of 
 the tribute, that there was a king from among the 
 foreigners over every territory, a chief over every 
 chieftaincy, an abbot over every church, a steward over 
 every village, and a soldier in every house ; so that 
 none of the men in Erinn had power to give even the 
 milk of his cow, nor so much as the clutch of eggs of 
 one hen, in succour to the aged or a friend, but was 
 forced to preserve them for the foreigner ; and though 
 there were but one milk-giving cow in the house, she 
 durst not be milked, but kept for the foreigner, and 
 however long absent he might be, his share durst not 
 be lessened. Although there was in the house but 
 one cow, it must be killed for the meal of one night, 
 if the means of supply could not be otherwise 
 304 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 obtained ; and the tribute of an ounce of silver was 
 paid for every head, and he who had not the means 
 to pay himself went into slavery. No Irish chief was 
 able to give them deliverance from the foreigner 
 because of the excellence of their armour, the great- 
 ness of their achievements, their strength and valour, 
 and the excess of their thii-st for the fruitful, grassy 
 lands of Erinn.'' ^ 
 
 One of the tribes that suffered most from these Br«an 
 oppressions was that of the Dal-Cais, in Munster, 
 whose chiefs were bound to support the king of 
 Cashel against invasion by the Hy Nialls, and were 
 also entitled to the kingship of Cashel at every alter- 
 nate succession. At the time of which I speak the 
 head of the tribe was Mathgamhain (Mahon), whose 
 younger and much abler brother was Brian, known 
 as Brian Boroihme (Boru). Rather than submit to 
 the Danish yoke, the two brothei-s led their followers 
 across the Shannon into the woods and solitudes of 
 Clare, whence they sallied forth in sudden and fierce 
 attacks on their oppressors. Mahon at length grew 
 weary of this sort of life, and, much to the vexation 
 of Brian, made peace with the Danes; but Brian 
 earned on the conflict till he was reduced to the last 
 extremity. Mahon sought an interview with his 
 brother, who pleaded that death was preferable to 
 submission, and that such was the motto of their 
 tribe. On an appeal being made to the tribe, they 
 gave their voice unanimously for war, for which they 
 rallied on their own tribe-land. The Irish fought 
 on very unequal terms with their opponents, who 
 were much better trained and disciplined, more com- 
 pact, clad in coats of mail, and armed with superior 
 ^ 'Wars of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," p. 49. 
 305 U 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 weapons. The latter, too, reinforced by some Irish 
 chiefs, put forth all their strength. Yet in a decisive 
 battle near the town of Tipperary the Danes were 
 thoroughly defeated. Limerick was taken, plundered, 
 and burned ; those fit for war slain, and the rest en- 
 slaved, and the Danish power in the south shattered. 
 Mahon having been treacherously assassinated by a 
 conspiracy of Irish and Danish chiefs, the cause of 
 the conspirators was not helped, but harmed by the 
 treachery. In the person of Brian a much more 
 powerful and formidable foe succeeded to the king- 
 ship, who speedily avenged his brother's death on 
 both the native chiefs and the Danes, inflicting on 
 them a crushing defeat. He received also the 
 homage of the king of Leinster, who, however, in 
 the year 1000 formed an alliance with the Dublin 
 Danes. But the allies were completely overthrown 
 by Brian in a great battle at Glen Mama in County 
 Wicklow, and Maelmorda, king of Leinster, was cap- 
 tured by Brian's son Murchadh (Murrogh) in a yew- 
 tree in which he was concealed. Dublin was taken 
 and the Danes made subject to their conqueror. Here 
 is how the result is described in the " Wars of the 
 Gaedhil with the GailP' (p. 117): "Ill-luck was it 
 for the foreigners when Brian was born, for it was 
 by him they were destroyed and enslaved. There 
 was not a winnowing-sheet from Howth to Kerry 
 that had not a foreigner in bondage, nor was there 
 a mill without a foreign woman. No son of a 
 soldier or officer of the Gaedhil deigned to put his 
 hand to a flail or any other labour, nor did a 
 woman deign to put her hands to the grinding-mill 
 or to wash her clothes, but had a foreign man or 
 woman to work for them." 
 306 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 The titular king of all Ireland just now (1002) 
 was Malachi II., but Brian by right of conquest 
 became supreme sovereign of the country, and 
 Malachi submitted without a struggle. 
 
 Brian proved a strong, wise, and just ruler, no Brians rule, 
 less fitted for the piping times of peace than for the 
 exigencies and stress of war. A strong central 
 government was maintained by him ; crime and 
 disorder were repressed; vigorous steps were taken 
 to repair the i-uin that had been wrought by the 
 Danes ; and before long a reign of peace, order, and 
 prosperity was established such as had not been 
 known since the days of Cormac MacArt. " By 
 him,"*' says the work already quoted (" Wars of the 
 Gaedhil with the Gaiir**), "were erected in Erinn 
 noble churches and their sanctuaries. He sent 
 professoi's and masters to teach wisdom and know- 
 ledge, and to buy books, beyond the sea and the 
 great ocean, because the writings and books in 
 every church and sanctuary had been destroyed 
 by the plunderers; and Brian himself gave the 
 price of learning and the price of books to every 
 one separately who went on this service. Many 
 churches were built and repaired by him, bridges 
 and roads were made, the fortresses of Munster 
 were strengthened. . . . He continued in this way 
 prosperous, peaceful, hospitable, just-judging, vene- 
 rated, with law and rule among the clergy, with 
 honour and renown among the laity ; powerful, 
 secure for fifteen years in the chief sovereignty of 
 Ireland." The legend embodied by Moore in the 
 song " Rich and rare were the gems she wore "" of a 
 young and beautiful maiden, richly clad, adorned 
 with jewels, and having a ring of countless value on 
 307 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 her wand, passing alone and unattended through all 
 Ireland from north to south unharmed, is intended 
 to represent the secure and happy state of things 
 under the rule of Brian. 
 The note of But uow, as ever, the worst foes to the prosperity 
 sounSby ^nd peace of Ireland and the best friends of anarchy 
 Maeimorda. y^^^Q the local chieftaius. Maelmorda, the hero of 
 the yew-tree, was twitted by his sister Gormlaith 
 for his pusillanimity in submitting to be Brian's 
 vassal. This Gormlaith had had large matrimonial 
 experience. She had been married first to the 
 Danish king of Dublin, and was mother of the 
 present Danish king, Sitric, then she became wife 
 of Malachi, the king of Ireland, who divorced her, 
 whereupon she united her fortunes with those of our 
 hero Brian, but a short trial of her by Brian was 
 enough. The Norse Saga describes her as very fair, 
 but adds that " she did all things ill over which she 
 had any power.'' ^ Soon after Maelmorda's inter- 
 view with his sister, angry words arose at a game 
 of chess between him and Brian's son Murchadh 
 (Murrogh), who exasperated Maelmorda by stinging 
 allusions to the incident of the yew-tree. The latter 
 withdrew in deep wrath, roused Leinster into 
 rebellion, and secured the alliance of the Danish 
 king, Sitric, whose wife was a daughter of Brian (so 
 mixed up by marriage were they), and Sitric in turn 
 obtained the aid of Sigurd, the Danish king of 
 Orkney, and his followers, as well as the assistance 
 of other Vikings, to each of whom he secretly 
 promised to give both his mother and the kingdom ! 
 While Maelmorda was organising the Leinster 
 men in three great battalions in and around Dublin, 
 
 1 "Burnt Njal," ii. 323. 
 308 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 and the black barques of the Danes were gathering 
 and swarming in Dublin Bay, Brian and his son 
 Donogh were not less alert and active. After re- 
 lieving Malachi, who was first attacked, they marched 
 to Dublin, burning and laying waste the territory 
 of the enemy, and encamped at Kilmainham. 
 
 The field of battle extended from what is now The great 
 Upper Sackville Street along the shore towards c*ontarf. 
 Clontarf. The Danes and their allies stood along 
 the shore with their back towards the bay, and 
 Brian and his army faced them. Brian was now 
 an old man, and was induced to leave the chief 
 command to his son Murrogh. It was Good Friday, 
 23rd April 1014. From sunrise till sunset, without 
 a moment's pause, the battle raged. A body of 
 1000 Danes, clad in coats of mail, were literally 
 hewed to pieces by the battle-axes of the Dal- 
 Cassians. But the interest of the carnage centred 
 in the feats of individual prowess. Fearful was 
 the havoc wrought by MuiTough, as, with a heavy 
 sword in each hand, he mowed do\vn the Danes^ 
 till he reached the bearer of the famous raven 
 banner, and laid him low. It was seized by another 
 Dane, who met with a similar fate. Others having 
 refused to carry the fateful standard, it was grasped 
 by Earl Sigurd himself, whose helmet was struck off 
 by MulTogh^s right-hand sword, while the left smote 
 him dead. At length the Danes gave way and their 
 host took to flight. They tried to reach their ships, 
 but the tide had risen, and they were riding far out 
 in the bay. At this moment Malachi, who seems 
 not to have been engaged hitherto, swept upon 
 them with his army, and the greater number of 
 them fell before his onset, or were driven into the 
 309 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 sea, and perished in the waves. The Danish king, 
 Sitric, had remained in the castle or fortress of 
 DubHn to guard the city. As from the battlements 
 they watched the progress of the struggle, and saw 
 the first rush of Earl Sigurd's men, " Well do the 
 foreigners reap the field; many a sheaf do they 
 cast from them,"' cried Sitric. "The result will 
 be seen at the end of the day," said his wife, Brian's 
 daughter. When the Danes began to flee, her turn 
 came. "It seems to me,"' she said, "that the 
 foreigners have gained their patrimony." "What 
 meanest thou, woman ? " said the king. " Are they 
 not rushing into the sea, which is their natural 
 inheritance ? They are like a herd of cows careering 
 over the plain, maddened by the heat and the gad- 
 flies, and not waiting to be milked." His unkingly 
 answer was a blow upon her face. 
 
 But the victory won by the Irish was gained at a 
 great cost. Murrogh, unarmed, was attacked by a 
 Danish leader, described as "the head of valour 
 and bravery of Lochlann," but he wrested from the 
 Dane his sword, and thrust him through with it, 
 though the other in falHng inflicted a mortal wound 
 on Murrogh. His heroic son, Turlough, a boy of 
 fifteen, fought all day, and after the battle was 
 found drowned at the fishing -weir of the Tolka, 
 with his hands grasping the hair of a Dane whom 
 he had pursued into the tide. A furious Viking 
 leader, fleeing from the field, rushed with his battle- 
 axe upon Brian himself. The brave old monarch 
 cut him down with a single blow of his heavy sword, 
 but the Dane as he fell clove the King's head in 
 twain with his axe. 
 
 The fame of the battle and its horrors spread 
 310 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 rapidly over Europe. The " Annals of Ulster " Result 
 record that 7000 Danes and 4000 Irish were laid victo^. 
 low, and almost all the leaders on both sides. 
 Malachi resumed the sceptre of Ireland, and i*eigned, 
 in name at least, for eight years. The power of the 
 Danes was broken, but they continued to occupy the 
 seaboard towns and colonies they had founded until, 
 on the arrival of their Latinised kinsmen, the Anglo- 
 Normans, in the twelfth century, they made common 
 cause with them. They did not a little to promote 
 commercial enterprise, and they brought an infusion 
 of new blood, fresh energy, and the beginning of a 
 new civilisation into Ireland. But for the present it 
 availed little. No ruler arose strong enough to wield 
 Brian's sceptre and to complete the work so well 
 begun by him ; and till the coming of the Normans 
 the history of Ireland was one monotonous tale of 
 intestine strife, anarchy, and chaos. 
 
 It remains to tell briefly the story of the Church 
 during this period. 
 
 We have already seen that in the time of Patrick The church 
 and his successors there is no evidence of the slight- oanS'^* 
 est value of submission to the Roman See, or of any period, 
 organic connection with the Latin Church. On the 
 contrary, there is abundant evidence of the free, 
 independent spirit of the Irish Church, and of a long 
 and most determined struggle against the efforts of 
 ecclesiastics in sympathy with Rome to assimilate it 
 to the Roman pattern. In many important matters ita diver- 
 of organisation, doctrine, and ritual it differed widely ^"^^'^3 
 from the contemporary Church of Rome. In the early inde- 
 comparatively evangelical character of its teach- p®°^®"*^®- 
 ing, in the complete absence of episcopal jurisdic- 
 tion and government, in the universal subordination 
 311 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 of the bishops and other clergy to the abbots, who 
 were often presbyters, in the fact that the bishops 
 were as numerous as the churches, and that in very 
 many instances there were seven bishops connected 
 with a single church, as well as in the rules affecting 
 ordination, the Irish Church was widely divergent 
 from the Roman. It is deeply significant in this 
 connection that foreign Continental synods of the 
 Latin Church are unattended by representatives of 
 the Church of Ireland. But not less marked were 
 the points of ritual in which they stood apart. Not 
 only in the matter of the Easter celebration, and the 
 tonsure, and the marriage of the clergy, and the 
 scrupulous observance of the Lord's day, and the 
 place given to the Scriptures, care being taken to 
 supply each church with a copy, but even in the 
 ritual of the Eucharist and of baptism, the Irish 
 Liturgies and other records supply clear evidence 
 of striking divergencies.^ Even Irish ecclesiastics 
 abroad were noted for their freedom and independ- 
 ence of thought and practice, and often appear in 
 sharp collision with Roman ecclesiastics, and even 
 with the Pope himself. 
 Organic It is, of course, quite conceivable that a remote 
 
 repudiated ^^^ detached Church like the Irish might develop 
 on both differences in minor matters, and yet maintain on 
 the whole organic connection with and subordination 
 to the Latin Church. But such connection was in 
 fact repudiated on both sides. Thus Laurence, the 
 successor of Augustin in the Archbishopric of 
 Canterbury, in a letter addressed to the Irish abbots 
 and bishops, and referred to in a previous chapter, 
 
 ^ See "The Church of Ireland," by the Rev. T. Olden, p. 139 
 seq.y for some of these differences. 
 312 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 says : " We have been informed by Bisliop Dagan, 
 coming into this aforesaid island, and by the abbot 
 Columbanus in France, that the Scots in no way 
 differ from the Britons in behaviour; for Bishop 
 Dagan, coming to us, not only i-efused to cat with 
 us, but even to take his repast in the same house 
 where we were entei-tained.'' ^ How Roman ecclesi- 
 astics were regarded by the British Church has 
 already appeared from a stanza I have given from 
 a poem written by the chief bard of the Britons; 
 and how, on the other hand, the Irish Church was 
 regarded by the Romanised Anglo-Saxon Church 
 I have shown by a decree of the English Church 
 Synod of Cealcythe in 816, refusing permission to 
 the Irish clergy to exercise their ministry in any 
 of their dioceses because it was uncei*tain by whom 
 they were ordained, or whether they were ordained 
 at all. 
 
 Candid Roman Catholic historians admit these 
 facts. Thus Baronius in his " Ecclesiastical Annals,"" 
 referring to the time of Columba, affirms that " the 
 bishops of Ireland were all schismatics, separated 
 from the Church of Rome."" 
 
 But from the seventh century onwards, intercourse intercourse 
 with the Continent, and with the ancient city on the Jl^cJl^r^ 
 seven hills became more common, and the familiarity from 
 of the Irish clergy with the ways of its gi-eat Church centul^. 
 increased. Laserian, abbot of Old Leighlin, for 
 example, visited Rome in the time of Gregory the 
 Great, and later in the time of Pope Honorius, by 
 whom he is said to have been ordained a bisliop, 
 and commissioned to bring the Irish into submission 
 to the Roman See. Honorius himself wrote to the 
 * See Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," Bk. Hi. c. 4. 
 313 
 
The North 
 holds out 
 against 
 Borne 
 longest. 
 
 LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 Irish exhorting to conformity about the year 630; 
 it was the first communication of a Pope with 
 the Irish Church. But Laserian tried in vain to 
 induce an Irish synod to conform. Cummian, too, 
 a Columban monk, who had been educated at 
 Durrow, but who had been brought into sympathy 
 with the Roman usage, about the same time (630) 
 attended a synod at Magh Lene for the same object, 
 and in a letter to Segene, abbot of lona, sought 
 to justify his action. We cannot go into details, 
 and must be content with stating that, as a result 
 of the influences at work, the Roman method of 
 observing Easter was adopted in the South of 
 Ireland about a.d. 650. 
 
 It is remarkable that the North held out against 
 the change for more than half a century longer. 
 From an early date Ireland was divided into two 
 halves. The division is said to have been made by 
 Conn of the hundred battles and Eoghan Mor in 
 A.D. 166, although it was in some measure aided 
 by nature. A range of gravel hills extends right 
 across the centre of Ireland from Dublin to Galway, 
 dividing it into two nearly equal parts. The 
 northern part was known as Leth Chuinn, or 
 Conn's half, and the southern as Leth Mhoga, 
 or Mogh's half. Whatever the cause may have 
 been, the people of the North were from early 
 times distinguished from those of the South by 
 marked differences of character. Giraldus Cam- 
 brensis, who was not an Irishman, and not partial 
 to either, says of them : " We find the people of 
 the North of Ireland were always warlike, while 
 those of the South were subtle and crafty. The 
 one coveted glory, the other was steeped in false- 
 st 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 hood; the one trusted to their arms, the other to 
 their arts; the one was full of courage, the other 
 of deceit." Others bear similar testimony, and 
 speak of the superior vigour and independence of 
 the Northerns, and of the national sentiment having 
 been more deeply rooted and more persistent in 
 them. Thus it was that in the gi-eat Easter contro- 
 versy the clergy and people of the North were far 
 more stout and stubborn in their resistance to the 
 new custom than the more flexible and conciliatory 
 South, just as later, both in the attempt to subject 
 the Irish Church to Rome, and Ireland itself to the 
 English king, the North held out with greater 
 sturdiness and was the last to yield. But at length, 
 early in the eighth century, the opposition even of 
 the Northerns to the new method of observing 
 Easter gave way. 
 
 But as yet, be it observed, there was no general 
 submission to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of 
 Rome. In quite a variety of matters the Irish 
 continued to walk in their old paths. There is 
 as yet no trace of auricular confession or the in- 
 vocation of saints, which first appears in the Litany 
 of ^ngus in the tenth century, or of extreme 
 unction, the earliest reference to which occurs in 
 the opening of the twelfth centuiy, or of the worship 
 of the Virgin, which is not fully developed till the 
 same century ; and communion in both kinds still 
 continues to be observed. 
 
 But the conversion of the Danes marks a most 
 important epoch in the history of the Irish Church, 
 both in its relation to Rome and in its general organi- 
 sation. The Dublin Danes became Christians, as 
 has been noted, in a.d. 948; and it was through 
 
Conversion 
 of Danes 
 marks an 
 epoch in 
 history of 
 relation of 
 Irish 
 
 Church to 
 Rome. 
 
 The Roman 
 rule intro- 
 duced 
 
 through the 
 Danes. 
 
 LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 them that an organic connection was first estab- 
 lished with the Roman Church, and that the hier- 
 archical arrangements of that Church were introduced 
 into this country. The first bishop of the Danes 
 of Dublin of whom we hear was Donat or Dunan, 
 whose appointment belongs to the year 1038. It was 
 he who laid the foundations of the Church of the 
 Holy Trinity, now Christ Church Cathedral, which 
 was endowed by Sitric, the Danish king of Dublin, 
 with certain lands in the territory of the Danes. 
 Sitric had himself made a pilgrimage to Rome. 
 In 1072, Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 a native of Pavia in Italy, claimed jurisdiction over 
 the Irish Church at a synod in Winchester. Two 
 years later, when, on the death of Dunan in 1074, 
 the Dublin Danes elected a person named Patrick to 
 be their bishop, he was sent to Lanfranc for consecra- 
 tion, and, on being consecrated in St. PauFs, promised 
 submission to Lanfranc. It was quite natural that 
 the Danes should thus desire connection with their 
 Latinised kinsmen the Normans. This was really 
 the first step towards the formal introduction of the 
 Roman rule into Ireland^ and tozvards organic relation- 
 ship ivith Rome. The other Danish towns speedily 
 followed the example thus set them. In 1096, 
 Malchus, formerly a monk of Winchester, was sent 
 from Waterford for consecration to Anselm (also an 
 Italian), Lanfranc's disciple and successor in Canter- 
 bury; and in this case, Murtough, the king of 
 Ireland, some Irish chiefs, such as the 0"*Briens, the 
 great sept of the Dal-Cais, and several Irish bishops, 
 united in the request. In 1106, Gille, commonly 
 called Gillebert or Gilbert, was similarly made 
 316 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 bishop of* the Danish city of Limerick. He is note- 
 worthy as the fii'st person who held the office of 
 Papal legate in Ireland. And as Papal legate he 
 was the means ofi introducing a most important and 
 memorable measure for assimilating the Irish to the 
 Latin Church. It was he who called and presided Diocesan 
 over the famous synod of Rathbreasil (1118), at ^^^'X''' 
 which diocesan episcopacy was first set up in Ireland, the synod of 
 
 _,, - 11 1 1 ^, 1 Rathbreasil, 
 
 The synod was attended, among others, by Celsus, a.d. iiis. 
 the Coarb of St. Patrick from Armagh. By this 
 synod the country was divided into twenty-four 
 dioceses, with two archbishoprics — Armagh and 
 Cashel — and church endowments were transferred 
 to the bishops. But Malchi O'Morgair, who was 
 first abbot of Bangor, then Bishop of Connor, and 
 afterward Archbishop of Armagh, the friend of St. 
 Bernard of Clairvaux, who has written his biography, 
 warmly espoused the Papal cause, became Papal 
 legate after Gille, and, St. Bernard tells us, laboured 
 diligently, and was more successful than any of his 
 predecessors, in establishing in all the churches in 
 Ireland "the apostolic sanctions and the usages of 
 the Holy Church of Home."" He retired from the 
 primacy in 1137, and Gelasius was chosen to be his 
 successor at Armagh. Malachi at that date went to 
 Down, but died at Clairvaux in 1148. A few yeai-s 
 later. Cardinal Paparo arrived in Ireland with the cardinal 
 Palls, for which formal request had been made at a J^^u'lg^tj,,. 
 synod called by Malachi. A "General Council of Palis, 
 the Church of Ireland^ was held at Kells in 1152. 
 According to the " Four Masters,*" Gelasius and the 
 Cardinal presided at it, and it was attended by 
 twenty-two bishops, five bishops-elect, and three 
 317 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 thousand other ecclesiastics. It added two new 
 archbishoprics — Dublin and Tuam — to those already 
 founded, increased the number of sees to thirty-four, 
 and passed enactments against marriage and the 
 concubinage of the clergy. 
 
 It should be mentioned that Malachi was also 
 the means of introducing the Cistercian order into 
 Ireland; that in 1142 the Abbey of Mellifont, near 
 Drogheda, was founded, and that before long other 
 abbeys of the same order were erected. 
 Change of In the Writings of Irish ecclesiastics from the 
 writers with eighth or ninth century and onwards, there is, as 
 respect to you might expect from what has just been stated, 
 a very manifest change of tone with respect to Rome, 
 and a cessation of that freedom of speech, and even 
 antagonism, which had previously appeared. Thus 
 the writers of the "Lives of Patrick,"' from the 
 time of the "Collections or Annotations of Tirechan,'"* 
 assigned by Dr. Reeves to the ninth century, are 
 anxious to connect Patrick with Rome, and cannot 
 conceive of him otherwise than as having received 
 his commission from Rome, or from a source in 
 sympathy therewith. This feeling, of course, deepens 
 in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, espe- 
 cially after organic connection has been established 
 with the Roman See. It is significant, for example, 
 that the Irish interpretation which in the eleventh 
 century was put upon Patrick''s vision of the light 
 spreading from the north to the south, was that 
 during the rule of Gurmund and Turgesius Ireland 
 would be restored to the Roman obedience by 
 Celsus of Armagh. During this period, too, there 
 are many indications of a growing conformity to 
 
 318 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 the Roman ritual. It is evident from the Stowe 
 Missal that, at the time when it was composed, * 
 
 i.e, in the eleventh century, the Roman canon had 
 already come into partial use in Ireland, and this 
 Missal contains even a prayer for " our Pope." 
 Bishop Donald, who was one of those concerned 
 with the sending of Malchus in 1096 to be con- 
 secrated by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, is 
 described in the " Annals of the Four Masters "" as 
 " a doctor of both orders (or liturgies), Roman and 
 Irish.'^ In the opening of the twelfth century, An- 
 selm writes to Gille, the Bishop of Limerick and 
 Roman legate in Ireland, pressing him to get the 
 Irish to desist from their peculiar usages, and Gille 
 compiled a work, already referred to, the object of 
 which was to supersede the " schismatical "" Irish 
 liturgies, and to secure that " one Catholic and 
 Roman office *" should take their place.^ Ancient Ancient re- 
 religious usages, even in the smallest matters of JJf^°"gi^l^^iy 
 ritual and the like, are indeed always slowly and s'^^n up. 
 reluctantly given up. Some of the old Celtic cus- 
 toms still lingered even in the Anglo-Norman period. 
 But then- ultimate abandonment was a mere ques- 
 tion of time. Vain is the attempt, when new in- 
 fluences are at work, to chain the future to the 
 past. In human affaii-s, where life is, there is move- Butimpos- 
 ment. One thing gives places to another ; to-day chiJn'the 
 is never quite as yesterday. It is so especially in ^^^^^^ ^ 
 such a crisis and cataclysm as Ireland had now been 
 passing through. It was not possible that a vast 
 and powerful institution like the Church of Rome, 
 with her lustrous past and imposingly majestic and 
 ^ Ussher's Works, iv. 274. 
 319 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 splendid present, and her world-wide, dominating 
 authority, could come in contact with a little com- 
 munity like the Irish Church without affecting it. 
 It was not possible that a strong people like the 
 Northern Vikings could land on Irish shores and 
 enter into Irish life and society without disturbing 
 it. But after all, even amid disturbance, the past 
 lives on. As Carlyle says somewhere, nothing that 
 is worthy in it perishes : it lives and works through 
 endless change. The body only dies; under the 
 mortal body lives a soul which is immortal. True, 
 the Danes brought anarchy, but what is anarchy 
 (as the same writer says in effect) but increased 
 resources which the old methods are not able to 
 administer — new wealth which the old coffers will 
 not contain? Even through anarchy the Danes 
 made an important contribution to Irish history. 
 They brought new blood, new life, new energy into 
 the Irish race, and some much-needed moral ele- 
 ments. For good or evil they did much to end 
 the isolation and singularity of Irish Christianity, 
 and to connect it with the great ecclesiastical em- 
 pire whose seat is on the Tiber. For good or evil 
 they did much to prepare the way for the coming 
 of their relatives, the Anglo-Normans, and so to 
 link the destinies of Ireland with England. Such 
 events and movements as we have been rapidly and 
 imperfectly surveying, the superficial may regard 
 with unconcern and treat with flippancy. For our 
 part, as we contemplate the great turning-points 
 and crises, the decisive events and formative in- 
 fluences in our history, we feel ourselves in presence 
 of mysteries whose key is as yet hidden from us; 
 320 
 
CHAP. XV.] THE COMING OF THE DANES 
 
 we are filled with awe and wonder as we follow the 
 ways of Providence with nations as with indivi- 
 duals ; but we await in faith and hope that spiritual 
 emancipation and moral elevation that will give 
 our country a larger life and a nobler destiny than 
 she has yet known. 
 
 321 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE COMING OF THE ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 After The state of Ireland — civil, social, and religious — 
 
 ciontarf. ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^le battle of Clontarf was little 
 better, as has been indicated, than a state of 
 anarchy. The sceptre that fell from the hand of 
 Brian was, like the bow of Ulysses, so mighty an 
 instrument that no successor of his was found 
 strong enough to wield it ; and the prestige of 
 the Niall dynasty had suffered such a blow from 
 him that to retrieve it was impossible. Whatever 
 show of national unity had persisted up till then 
 practically disappeared. There were, indeed, chiefs 
 who called themselves, and were recognised to some 
 extent as kings of Ireland, but they are signifi- 
 cantly dubbed in the Annals as "kings with op- 
 position."' From the date named till the coming 
 of the Anglo-Normans the history of Ireland was 
 little better than a series of petty conflicts be- 
 tween provincial chiefs, sometimes one and some- 
 times another in the ascendant. Amid the turmoil 
 and uncertainty of civil strife, violence, and blood- 
 shed, which now became the normal condition of 
 the country, the pursuits of peace and civilisation 
 were impossible. The monasteries, where art and 
 industry, learning and religion, had hitherto found 
 an asylum, and where the tribes had set before 
 322 
 
CHAP. XVI.]. COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 them an ideal, far from perfect, yet not altogether 
 sordid, or selfish, or violent, had been laid in ruin 
 by the Danes. It was a time of perpetual unrest, 
 of much evil, and of immeasurable social suffering 
 and misery — of both moral and material deteriora- 
 tion. It is not so strange, then, as has been sug- 
 gested, that the Anglo-Normans came and took 
 possession of Ireland at the time they did, as that 
 they, or some other adventurers, did not seize so 
 tempting a prize sooner. 
 
 That the Anglo-Normans would come sooner or The Angio- 
 later was almost inevitable. They were of the ^"™'^"'- 
 same blood, stirred by the same spirit of enter- 
 prise and ambition, as the Norsemen or Danes 
 already settled in the country. In all directions 
 these sturdy Northmen had at this time been ex- 
 tending their dominions, and reducing even strong 
 peoples into subjection to their rule. Ruric and 
 his brothers, who penetrated to the interior of 
 what we now call Russia, and organised and ruled 
 over the Slavonic and Finnish tribes they found 
 there, and laid the foundations of the present 
 Russian Empire, were Northmen from the Baltic 
 coasts. Other bands of them had sailed north- 
 wards to the Faroe Islands, to Iceland and Green- 
 land, and thence to a region which they called 
 Vinland, but which is now believed to have been 
 the coast of New England, so that they antici- 
 pated the discovery of the American Continent 
 by Columbus nearly five hundred years later. 
 How they took possession of a large portion of 
 Gaul, and gave their name to the great province 
 of Normandy, is too familiar to need more than 
 to be mentioned. In France, it is true, they 
 323 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 underwent considerable change. They mingled, 
 and to some extent intermarried, with the Franks, 
 adopted the more civilised forms of life which 
 they found prevalent among the Franks, and had 
 grown into a great mail-clad aristocracy, resid- 
 ing in their castles, and welded together by the 
 laws of feudalism. But, under a more civilised 
 exterior, the old passion for adventure and con- 
 quest remains. In the eleventh century we find 
 them making their way to Southern Italy, where, 
 in 1059, Robert Guiscard is recognised by Pope 
 Nicholas II. as Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and 
 a little later as lord of all Lower Italy, while Sicily 
 is conquered and occupied by his brother. When, 
 in 1066, the Normans, under William the Con- 
 queror, passed over from France and became masters 
 of England, it was only a question of convenience 
 when Ireland would be added to their dominions. 
 Ilie troubles and questions demanding urgent atten- 
 tion in their now wide-spread realm alone prevented 
 William and his immediate successors from annex- 
 Henry ii. ing Ireland. Henry II. was beset with the same 
 difficulties. His realm had been even enlarged. 
 He was not only king of England, but Duke of 
 Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou. 
 That means that he was ruler of a third part, 
 and that the finest part, of France. He had re- 
 sided, in fact, much more in France than in Eng- 
 land, could not speak English, and in all his ideas 
 and sympathies was much more a Norman than 
 an Englishman. But he was a strong, far-seeing 
 ruler, intent on building up a firm and vigorous 
 government. "There was something in his build 
 and look,'"* it has been said, "in the square, stout 
 324 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 frame, the fiery face, the close-cropped hair, the 
 prominent eyes, the bull neck, the coarse, strong 
 hands, the bowed legs, that marked out the keen, 
 stin-ing, coarse-fibred man of business. ' He never 
 sits down,' said one who observed him closely; 'he 
 is always on his legs from morning till night."* 
 Orderly in business, careless in appearance, sparing 
 in diet, never resting or giving his servants rest; 
 chatty, inquisitive, endowed with a singular charm 
 of address and strength of memory ; obstinate in 
 love or hatred, a fair scholar, a great hunter; 
 his general air that of a rough, passionate, busy 
 man, Henry'*s personal character told directly on 
 the character of his reign."'' 
 
 It is not surprisinff that from the opening year Henry ii. 
 
 « , . . 11 1 TT has his eye 
 
 of his reign such a ruler as we know Henry was on Ireland, 
 had his eye on Ireland. Already, indeed, the rela- 
 tions between England and Ireland had been draw- 
 ing the two countries closer to each other. Through 
 the Danes in the first instance, the Churches of 
 Ireland and England, as we have seen, had been 
 brought into organic connection with one another, 
 and a freer intercoui-se established between them. 
 An active commerce was being caiTied on between 
 the Danish cities in Ireland and some English towns, 
 such as Bristol. One of the articles of commerce 
 is rather remarkable. There was a considerable 
 slave-trade between the two countries. Ireland 
 is described as being full of Englishmen who had 
 been kidnapped and sold as slaves into Ireland. 
 An Irish synod, somewhat later, in accounting for 
 the evils that had come upon their unhappy country, 
 represent them as a judgment of Heaven for the 
 iniquitous traffic in slaves which they had been 
 325 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 maintaining. In view of these facts — of the proxi- 
 mity of Ireland to the EngHsh shores, and of the 
 unsettled and anarchical condition of the*country — 
 it was natural that Henry II. should desire to draw 
 the bonds of union still closer. It is certain that 
 at the very opening of his reign this purpose had 
 Obtains the taken shape in his mind. He ascended the throne 
 wonlo' ws' in 1154, and in 1155, only a few months after his 
 project. coronation, he laid the matter before a council at 
 Winchester, and sent his chaplain, John of Salis- 
 bury, to obtain the Papal sanction to his project 
 of taking possession of Ireland. In a great measure 
 through the gigantic efforts of Hildebrand, the 
 Papal See had been raised to such a pitch of 
 influence that even secular rulers were glad to 
 obtain the countenance of the Pope to their larger 
 undertakings. Thus even William the Conqueror 
 was well pleased to have the approval of Pope 
 Alexander II. in his conquest of England. In 
 other cases also quite as striking, the Pope's bless- 
 ing had been got. Over all islands in particular 
 he claimed a special jurisdiction. Able and power- 
 ful ruler though Henry II. was, he therefore 
 thought it prudent to have the Pope's assistance 
 in the step which he contemplated. It was thus 
 that he now applied to Pope Adrian IV. — Nicholas 
 Breakspeare, the only Englishman who ever sat 
 in the Papal chair — and received in response the 
 following Papal Bull, which is of sufficient interest 
 to be given in full : — 
 The Papal " Adrian, the bishop, the servant of the servants 
 ^"*^ of God, to his most dearly beloved son in Christ, 
 
 the illustrious king of England, sendeth greeting 
 with the apostolical benediction. Your Majesty 
 
 326 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 laudably and profitably considers how you may best 
 promote your glory on earth, and lay up for your- 
 self an eternal reward in heaven, when, as becomes 
 a Catholic prince, you labour to extend the borders 
 of the Church, to teach the truths of the Christian 
 faith to a rude and unlettered people, and to root 
 out the weeds of wickedness from the field of the 
 Lord. For this purpose you crave the advice and 
 assistance of the Apostolic See, and in so doing, 
 we are pei-suaded that the higher are your aims, 
 and the more discreet your proceedings, the greater 
 under God will be your success. For those who 
 begin with zeal for the faith and love for religion 
 may always have the best hopes of bringing their 
 undei*takings to a prosperous end. It is beyond 
 all doubt, as your Highness acknowledgeth, that 
 Ireland and all the other islands on which the 
 light of the gospel of Christ has dawned, and which 
 have received the knowledge of the Christian faith, 
 do of right belong to St. Peter and the Holy Roman 
 Church. Wherefore we are the more desirous to 
 sow in them the acceptable seed of God'*s Word, 
 because we know that it will be strictly required 
 of us hereafter. You have signified to us, our 
 well-beloved son in Christ, that you propose to 
 enter the island of Ireland in order to reduce the 
 people to obedience unto laws, and to root out 
 from among them the weeds of sin ; and that you 
 are willing to yield and pay yearly from every 
 house the pension of one penny to St. Peter, and 
 to keep and preserve the rights of the churches 
 in that land whole and inviolate. We, therefore, 
 regarding your pious and laudable design with due 
 favour, and graciously assenting to your petition, 
 
 327 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 do hereby declare our will and pleasure that, for 
 the purpose of enlarging the borders of the Church, 
 setting bounds to the progress of wickedness, 
 reforming evil manners, planting virtue, and in- 
 creasing the Christian religion, you do enter that 
 island, and execute therein whatsoever shall be for 
 God's honour and the welfare of the same. And 
 further, we do also strictly charge and require that 
 the people of that land shall accept you with all 
 honour, and reverence you as their lord, saving 
 only the rights of the churches, which we will have 
 inviolably preserved, and reserving to St. Peter and 
 the Holy Roman Church the yearly pension of one 
 penny from each house. If, therefore, you bring 
 your purpose to good effect, let it be your study 
 to improve the habits of that people, and take 
 such orders by yourself, or by others whom you 
 shall think fitting for their lives, manners, and 
 conversation, that the Church there may be adorned 
 by them, the Christian faith planted and increased, 
 and all that concerns the honour of God and the 
 salvation of souls be ordered by you in like manner ; 
 so that you may receive at God's hands the blessed 
 reward of everlasting life, and may obtain on earth 
 a glorious name in ages to come." 
 The Bull That for his invasion and subjection of Ireland 
 
 document. Henry should have had the express authorisation of 
 the Pope has been felt in certain quarters to be 
 an ugly and awkward fact. Various attempts have 
 therefore been made to represent the Bull as a 
 forgery. But they have been signally unsuccessful, 
 and are now practically given up as hopeless. The 
 evidence of its genuineness is so clear and cogent 
 as to leave no reasonable room for doubt. The 
 328 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 grant of Adrian was expressly confirmed by his 
 successor, Alexander III. Honorius III. in a letter 
 to his legate speaks of "the English entiy into 
 Ireland by the mandate of the Apostolic See, 
 and subjugating it to the obedience of the 
 Roman Church.'^ Indeed, candid Roman Catholics 
 frankly admit its genuineness. "Never did there 
 exist a more real or authentic document,'*'' says 
 Dr. Lanigan. One cannot help reading the Pope'*s 
 testimony, as given in this document, to Henry''s 
 piety in the light of his real character. People 
 have come to take testimonials generally with 
 considerable abatement. This one of Adrian to 
 King Henry is absurdly beside the mark, and does 
 not tend to strengthen one's faith in the Papal 
 infallibility. Of Henry, history informs us that 
 he " whispered, scribbled, and looked at picture- 
 books during mass, never confessed, and cursed 
 God in wild frenzies of blasphemy.'*'* But Henry 
 undertook to bring Ireland into submission to 
 Rome, to secure " from every house the pension 
 of one penny to St. Peter,'*'* and "to reduce the 
 people to obedience unto laws.^ How, therefore, 
 could the Pope refuse to testify to the king''s high 
 religious character, or withhold his blessing from 
 his " pious and laudable design '*'* .? Just then, 
 however, Henry had quite enough business in hand 
 in maintaining order both in his English and 
 Continental dominions, and his " pious and laudable 
 design '*' had to be postponed. 
 
 It was not, in fact, till 1171 that he found a fit Occasion 
 occasion of carrying out his purpose, and it came coming'!^ ^ 
 about in this way. 
 
 Dermot MacMun'ough, the king of Leinster, 
 329 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 The exile of was a chief of great ability, of huge size, and warHke 
 
 Dermot 
 MacMur 
 
 propensities, whose voice had gi'own hoarse shout- 
 rough, ing his war-cry to his followers in battle, a man 
 of tyrannical, cruel, and even savage and ferocious 
 temper, whose fierce and repulsive aspect terrified 
 both friends and foes. His character may be 
 inferred from an incident related by the historian 
 of the conquest, Giraldus Cambrensis. Turning 
 over the heads of his enemies as he found them 
 lying slain on the battlefield, " among them was 
 the head of one he mortally hated above all the 
 rest, and taking it by the ears and hair, he tore 
 the nostrils and lips with his teeth in a most savage 
 and inhuman manner."" Early in his career he had 
 attacked Kildare, slew the inhabitants of the town 
 and the monastery, and forced the Abbess to 
 many one of his followers. Another feat of his 
 was, but apparently with her own connivance, to 
 carry off Devorgil, daughter of the king of Meath, 
 and wife of Tiernan O'Rourke, king of Breifny, 
 a tall, gaunt, powerful warrior, who had lost an 
 eye in war, as Dermot had lost his voice. Her 
 taste in men seems to have been peculiar. But 
 O'Rourke, with the aid of Turlough O'Connor, king 
 of Connaught, defeated Dermot, recovered his 
 precious Devorgil, and returned home triumphant. 
 Yet for all this Dermot was after the manner of 
 the time highly religious, and had made what was 
 then regarded as very exemplary atonement for his 
 moral peccadilloes by founding quite a large number 
 of abbeys and religious houses. At a later period 
 he was not only hopelessly defeated, but driven 
 across the sea an exile by this same Tieman in 
 conjunction with Turlough''s son and successor, 
 
 330 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 Roderick O'Connor, the last Irishman who claimed 
 to be and was generally regarded as king of Ire- 
 land. In his desperate plight Dermot now deter- King 
 mined to seek the assistance of King Henry ofyiaiteKing 
 England against his enemies. For this purpose Henry. 
 he went to Bristol, but on learning that the king 
 was in Southern France, our distressed exile re- 
 paired thither. Henry was just then in the thick 
 of his conflict with Thomas a Becket, as well as 
 with the king of France, and could not personally 
 go to Dermot's aid, but he gave him letters patent 
 authorising any of his subjects to assist him in his 
 object. Dermot had done homage and t"-ken the 
 oath of fealty to the king. 
 
 Richard de Clare, better known as Strongbow, Procures 
 was a Norman noble descended from the same line anteTf * 
 as William the Conqueror, and consequently of the strongbow, 
 same royal stock as Heniy himself, but having 
 taken the opposite side from that of Henry, he 
 had lost the confidence of the king and been 
 deprived of his inheritance. He was now, therefore, 
 quite ready for any enterprise which might promise 
 to improve his fortunes. Dermot found him in 
 his castle near Bristol, besought his aid in the 
 effort to recover his lost kingdom of Leinster, and 
 by way of reward offered him his daughter Eva 
 in maiTiage, and the right of succession to the 
 kingdom of Leinster at his (Dermot's) death. 
 Richard of course closed with the bargain. 
 
 Robert Fitz-Stephen, a Noraian -Welsh knight, and the 
 Maurice Fitz-Gerald, and other members of the ^"'■^^•""'• 
 Geraldine family, Dermot secured by the off'er of 
 the town of Wexford and the surrounding district 
 to be held in fee. To be sure this town and 
 
 331 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 territory were then, and had long been, in the 
 possession of the Danes ! But that made no barrier 
 to either the giver or receiver. To be sure, also, 
 Dermot had no right, according to the Irish laws, 
 to dispose even of his own kingdom, from which 
 his own tribe had deposed him, in this feishion, 
 much less was he entitled to give away what never 
 belonged to him. In this rude and systematic 
 violation of Irish laws and usages, and the intro- 
 duction of feudal principles now begun, we see 
 one prolific source of the misery in store for Ire- 
 land. Indeed, according neither to Celtic nor to 
 feudal ideas was it competent for Dermot to deal 
 ' with the tribal rights and possessions as if they 
 were his own private estate. Yet this was the 
 manner in which he disposed of them. Having 
 completed these arrangements and made other 
 preparations, Dermot secretly returned to Ireland, 
 and spent the winter of 1168-69 in seclusion in a 
 monastery at Ferns, one of the monasteries founded 
 by himself. 
 The Gerald- The first of the foreigners to come were Robert 
 we'xf^rd. Fitz-Stephen and the Fitz-Geralds. They landed at 
 Bannow Bay, twenty-five miles from Wexford, on 
 the 1st of May 1169. The next day they were 
 joined by some others, and a little later by Dermot 
 with as many followers as he could muster; and 
 Wexford was attacked. In the slight attempt at 
 resistance made by the inhabitants one picturesque, 
 or rather one grotesque, incident is recorded. The 
 attack was led by Robert de Barry, one of the Fitz- 
 Geralds, and as he stood upon the wall which he 
 had just scaled clad in splendid armour, and his 
 helmet, shield, and battle-axe shone and sparkled 
 
 332 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 with dazzling brilliance, the conspicuous figure 
 which he made was as tempting as it was menacing 
 to the citizens. One of them, no doubt an Irishman, 
 whose unknightly ideas must have been very disgust- 
 ing to the Normans, seeing the beautiful mark, 
 seized a large stone, and taking careful aim, hit the 
 proud armour-clad knight such a vigorous blow with 
 it on the side of the head, that he fell headlong into 
 the ditch, and his brother, Giraldus Cambrensis, 
 relates that, in token of the vigour put into the 
 blow, his double teeth all fell out at once many 
 years after. The incident was one he was not 
 likely to forget, and the Normans were so dis- 
 couraged that for the time they retired, but only for 
 a time. The inhabitants, soon perceiving that 
 continued resistance was hopeless, surrendered, and 
 town and territory were made over to the Fitz- 
 Geralds. 
 
 Having left a garrison at Wexford, and Dermot Dermot 
 having received considerable accessions to his forces Jf"|J.,nan8 
 from the Irish tribes, they marched against the king attack the 
 of Ossory, towards whom the king of Leinster had o'ssory. 
 an old grudge. They suffered several reverses, but 
 at length succeeded in crushing him, and in ravaging 
 other districts as well. Roderick O'Connor, king of The king 
 Connaught,and also king of Ireland, becoming alarmed meete^them 
 at the success of Dermot and his allies, summoned at Ferns, 
 what chiefs and followers he could gather, and set 
 out to meet them at Ferns. It was highly character- 
 istic that, while Roderick did his best by the offer of 
 liberal bribes to induce Fitz-Stephen to withdraw, 
 he made a secret agreement with Dermot that the 
 latter should have all Leinster, and should submit to 
 Roderick as Ardri, paying the annual homage and 
 333 
 
Ka,ymond le 
 Gros and De 
 Clare take 
 Waterford. 
 
 Dablin 
 
 taken by 
 Dermot 
 and the 
 Normans. 
 
 Alarm of 
 the Irish. 
 
 LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 service, and stipulating that no more foreigners 
 should be brought over from England. It was about 
 a year after the earliest invaders came that another 
 band arrived under Raymond le Gros, a nephew of 
 Fitz-Stephen. They were attacked by the men of 
 Waterford, and were in great straits, when De Clare 
 himself landed with two hundred men at arms, and 
 other forces to the number of 10,000, marched on 
 Waterford, and after a desperate struggle took it, 
 and was soon after, in fulfilment of a previous 
 promise, married to Eva, the daughter of King 
 Dermot, who from this time forward was little more 
 than a puppet in the hands of the Normans. 
 
 But Dublin, which had by this time risen into 
 considerable importance, and whose commanding 
 position was early recognised, was made the chief 
 object of attack, and King Roderick, O'Rourke of 
 Breifny, and the other Irish chiefs, combined with 
 the Danish inhabitants in its defence. It was, 
 however, taken by the united armies of Dermot and 
 the Normans, now raised to a formidable magnitude 
 and strength, and although two successive and 
 strenuous attempts were made to recover it by 
 the Danes and the Irish, they were unsuccessful. 
 Dermot soon after died, and De Clare, according 
 to arrangement, succeeded to the kingdom of 
 Leinster, and proceeded to organise it on feudal 
 principles. 
 
 It is evident that the Irish people were beginning 
 to take serious alarm at the state of servitude to 
 which they were being reduced by the Normans; 
 and this alarm found significant expression in a 
 resolution passed by a synod of Irish clergy at 
 Armagh. It is thus referred to by Giraldus Cam- 
 
 334 
 
CHAP. XVI.] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 brensis : " It was unanimously resolved that it 
 appeared to the synod that the Divine vengeance 
 had brought upon them this severe judgment for 
 the sins of the people, and especially for this, that 
 they had long been wont to purchase natives of 
 England, as well from traders as from robbers and 
 pirates, and to reduce them to slavery; and that 
 now they also by reciprocal justice were reduced to 
 servitude by that very nation. It was, therefore, 
 publicly decreed by the before-mentioned synod, 
 and publicly proclaimed by universal accord, that 
 all Englishmen throughout the island who were in a 
 state of bondage should be restored to freedom."" 
 
 But the English king had been noting with hardly Misgiving 
 less misgiving the progress of the Norman adven- Hgnry.^ 
 turers; he was very doubtful of their loyalty and 
 fidelity to himself, and feared an attempt on their 
 part to set up independent kingdoms in Ireland. 
 He went so far as to cut off supplies and reinforce- 
 ments and to recall their followers ; and having at 
 length recognised the expediency of coming over 
 himself, he prepared an extensive armament for that 
 purpose. De Clare, of whom he was specially sus- 
 picious, and who had been summoned to the king''s 
 presence in England, met him at Gloucester, re- 
 newed his oath of fealty, and undertook to hold 
 Leinster as Henry's vassal. The king, after most 
 elaborate preparations, landed at Waterford in 
 October 1171 with a fleet of 400 ships, 500 knights, Henry 
 a large body of cavalry and archers, with great Waterford, 
 stores of arms and provisions — an army numbering October 
 probably altogether not less than 10,000 men. "'''* 
 The express sanction already given to his enterprise 
 in the Bull of Pope Adrian had borne good fruit 
 335 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 in securing for him the good -will of the Irish clergy. 
 Welcomed Roger de Hoveden informs us that " there came to 
 clergy, "^^the king at Waterford all the archbishops, bishops, 
 and abbots of the whole of Ireland, and acknow- 
 ledged him as king and lord of Ireland, taking the 
 oath of fealty to him and to his heirs, and admitting 
 his and their right of reigning over them for all 
 time to come/** 
 The Irish The king then marched to Dublin, where he was 
 
 chiefs sub- • i • 1 1 i j_ ^ i i i 
 
 mit, and are received With due state, where a temporary palace 
 entertained ^^g erected foT him just outside the walls of the city, 
 Dublin. and where with munificent hospitality and splendid 
 pageantry he entertained and feasted both the Irish 
 and Norman chiefs. Here the Irish chiefs, with the 
 exception of O'Neill of Ulster, made submission, took 
 the oath of fealty, and were confirmed in the posses- 
 sion of their several territories. No resistance what- 
 ever was attempted. Perhaps by some writers a little 
 too much has been made of this. It has been said 
 that he got possession of Ireland without striking a 
 blow, that the chiefs voluntarily submitted to him, 
 and that it is therefore wholly inappropriate to speak 
 But a real of his iuvasion as a conquest ; but a conquest it was 
 conquest. £^^ ^jj ^^g^^ q^j^g Contemporary historians, who in- 
 variably so represent it, have a truer instinct than 
 the modern political pamphleteers. Many hard 
 battles had been already fought and won by the 
 Norman knights and their armies who had preceded 
 Henry. If the Irish, with the assistance of the 
 Danes, were unable, after strenuous and stubborn 
 attempts at resistance, to withstand the earlier bands 
 of Norman adventurers, how could they hope to 
 defeat Henry with such an army as he brought 
 ~ with him, and that army augmented by the Norman 
 
 336 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 forces already in the country ? The Irish were too 
 quick-witted not to see that resistance under such 
 circumstances would be worse than useless. They 
 therefore at once, and wisely, submitted, because 
 they could do no otherwise. But while the rights 
 of the Irish chiefs generally were recognised, they 
 were required to hold their territories as vassals of 
 the king of England, while wide tracts were given 
 to the Norman knights without regard to the rights 
 of those already in possession. The ancient laws and 
 customs of the country were wholly disregarded and 
 completely set at nought. 
 
 Henry summoned a synod of the clergy, which The Synod 
 met at Cashel in 1172, under the presidency of 1172" ^' 
 Christian, bishop of Lismore, the Papal legate, and 
 was attended by three archbishops and other bishops 
 and clergy ; the North only having no representatives 
 at it. The synod passed a series of resolutions, which 
 concerned for the most part minor points of disci- 
 pline, and which were very particular in guarding the 
 temporal interests of the Church. The most impor- 
 tant of these measures was the following : " That 
 Divine offices shall be henceforth celebrated in every 
 part of Ireland according to the forms and usages 
 of the Church of England. For it is right and just 
 that, as by Divine Providence Ireland has received 
 her lord and king from England, she should also 
 submit to a reformation from the same source. 
 Indeed, both the realm and Church of Ireland are 
 indebted to this mighty king for whatever they 
 enjoy of the blessings of peace and the gi'owth of 
 religion ; as before his coming to Ireland all soi-ts 
 of wickedness had prevailed among this people for a 
 long series of years, which now, by his authority and 
 337 Y 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 care of the administration, are abolished.^' This last 
 statement as to the religious prosperity consequent 
 on the king"'s coming and administration was, to say 
 the least, singularly premature. The decrees of this 
 synod were, in fact, an undisguised attempt to Angli- 
 cise the Irish Church even more completely than had 
 yet been done. From this time forward the English 
 king found in the higher clergy in Ireland his most 
 loyal servants and supporters. 
 Henry Having spent the winter months at Dublin, 
 
 departs. Henry took his departure for England in the be- 
 ginning of March. He left Hugh de Lacy as in 
 some sense his Justiciary or Viceroy, but had taken 
 no effective measures to carry out the principles 
 which he had introduced. As Sir John Davies 
 puts it : " He departed from Ireland without striking 
 one blow, or building one castle, or planting one 
 garrison among the Irish; neither left he behind 
 him one true subject more than those he found 
 there on coming over, which were only the English 
 adventurers of before, who had gained the port 
 towns in Leinster and Munster, and possessed some 
 scopes of land thereunto adjoining, partly by Strong- 
 bow'*s alliance with the Lord of Leinster, and partly 
 Changes his by plain invasion and conquest.'' Henry's earlier 
 ^°^^^^' policy had been to play off the Irish chiefs against 
 the Normans, to keep the latter in check by means 
 of the former ; and so he was at first quite friendly 
 and conciliatory with the Irish, received them as 
 his vassals, and treated them as on an equality 
 with the Norman leaders. But for some reason, not 
 very clear, his policy towards them was completely 
 changed. From this time forward his aim was to 
 rule Ireland through his Norman colonists, and to 
 33^ 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 govern the Irish, not by a conciliatory and friendly Rules 
 treatment, but by conceiving and designating them JJomans!^^ 
 as " enemies,"" ignoring any rights possessed by them, a"d treats 
 and robbing and oppressing them by measures of •< enemies" 
 the most unjust and violent character. He pro- T*^^"° 
 ceeded to treat them as if they had no existence 
 except as aliens, granting their territories as if 
 those territories had no owners, or as if the owners had 
 no right to them. In his grant of Meath to Hugh 
 de Lacy, he ignores O'Rourke, the Irish chief of that 
 territory. Similarly, although Roderick O'Connor 
 had been allowed to retain Connaught as vassal to 
 the king, and although O'Connor had been guilty of 
 no treason, Connaught was now given to Fitz-Adhelm 
 (De Burgo) and his heirs. In like manner the lord- 
 ship of Ulster was granted to John de Courcy, a 
 discontented follower of De Burgo; and, in the 
 face of the most determined resistance on the part 
 of the Ulidian chiefs and people, he proceeded 
 through fire and slaughter to take possession of 
 it. And so with other regions. And along with 
 these conquests the feudal system was brought into 
 operation, with all the evils incident to it, and 
 bereft of all its advantages. The power of the 
 Crown, for example, was not at hand to keep in 
 check the excesses and oppressions of the Norman 
 barons, who acted as independent princes. The 
 general result was that at first the Anglo-Normans The result 
 took possession of the plains and more fertile lands, 
 and the native Irish were fain to retire largely to the 
 boglands and mountainous regions, where they still 
 retained their old social organisation and laws. With 
 the exception of five Irish families who were known 
 as the " five bloods "' — namely, O'Neill, O'Melaghlin, 
 
 339 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 O'Connor, O'Brien, and MacMurrough — the Celtic 
 population were henceforward regarded as aliens 
 and enemies, and could not sue in the king's courts. 
 A " mere Irishman " could not bring an action 
 against an Englishman ; he was " out of the king's 
 peace," and to kill him was not recognised as an 
 offence by the law : indeed, this plea was habitually 
 set up. It is true the English Government still 
 needed the Irish to enable them to keep in proper 
 restraint their rebellious vassals, and often sought 
 to employ them for this purpose, although the 
 Government had done its best to make them both 
 impotent and untrustworthy. The Normans, on the 
 other hand, received no effective support from Eng- 
 land, and soon the native Irish began to encroach 
 on the districts occupied by the Normans, and to 
 resume possession of them; and the power of the 
 English Crown became little more than nominal 
 Reasons of in Ireland. The reasons why the English Govern- 
 of the ^^ ment so completely failed to subdue Ireland are so 
 English ^eii stated by the late Professor Richey in his 
 to subdue " Short History," and so important, that it may be 
 Ireland. worth while briefly to summarise them : — 
 
 1. The large extent comprised in the grants made 
 to the first colonists led to such a dispersion of the 
 Norman nobles over the fertile portions of the 
 country, that the English colony never formed one 
 compact body capable of combined action, while 
 the districts occupied by the English were sparsely 
 populated by the colonists, and had never been quite 
 abandoned by the original inhabitants. 
 
 2. The military equipment of the Normans, and 
 their mode of carrying on war, rendered their forces 
 wholly inefficient, when, leaving the flat country, 
 
 340 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 they attempted to penetrate the fastnesses of the 
 native tribes. 
 
 3. From the absence of any central government, 
 civil wars continually arose between the several 
 Norman lords, who often called in the assistance 
 of the Irish. The power of the colonists was thus 
 frittered away in dissensions. 
 
 4. The English Government continually called 
 upon the Irish barons for aids and military service, 
 to be employed in wars elsewhere than in Ireland. 
 
 5. Many of the estates of the Norman nobles 
 descended to heiresses, who married Englishmen 
 already possessing estates in England ; hence arose 
 absenteeism. The castles of the absentee lords be- 
 came exclusively garrisoned by Irish mercenaries, 
 commanded by an Irish seneschal, both of whom 
 revolted on the first opportunity. 
 
 6. Even the lords who resided constantly on their 
 Irish estates gradually lost their Norman habits, 
 and tended to assimilate themselves to the manners 
 and to adopt the language of the Irish. Thus arose 
 intermarriages and fostering, which tended to fiase 
 the Normans with the Irish, seduced them from 
 their original allegiance, and taught them to regard 
 their Celtic neighbours as friends and compatriots 
 rather than hereditary enemies. 
 
 7. The Irish Channel, though wide enough to 
 check colonisation and render military organisations 
 in Ireland difficult and costly, afforded no insuper- 
 able obstacle to the passage and return of those 
 who repaired to Ireland to seek their fortune, or 
 who, having failed there, desired to return to Eng- 
 land. Hence the constant arrival of fresh adven- 
 turers, who sought to enrich themselves by grants 
 
 341 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 from the Crown and legalised plunder, but rarely 
 desired to make Ireland their permanent home. Un- 
 principled foreign speculators and beggarly court 
 favourites afflicted Ireland, and were the instigators 
 and sharers in the constant confiscations of the estates 
 of Norman and Celt alike.^ 
 
 As is suggested in the fourth reason given 
 above, the condition of Ireland in its relations with 
 England came to be much affected by the difficulties 
 of England at home and her conflicts with other 
 countries. The English sovereign, for example, was 
 so much preoccupied by his struggle with the English 
 baronage, and with the war of Scottish independence 
 in the time of Edward I., as seriously to weaken his 
 power in Ireland. In the war with Robert Bruce, 
 Edward reinforced his army from Ireland, and the 
 success of Bruce in asserting Scottish independence 
 at Bannockburn not only lessened the prestige of 
 Invasion of England, but had other effects in Ireland. It was 
 Bruce! natural, too, that the Scottish king should adopt 
 some means of cutting off' the supplies sent to the 
 English army from the Irish tribes, as well as find 
 some occupation for his brother Edward, who might 
 give trouble in Scotland. An agreement was thus 
 come to between Bruce and the Irish chiefs to make 
 a determined effort to overthrow the English power 
 in Ireland, and to make Edward the Bruce, Robert\s 
 brother, king over the Irish. The Irish chiefs, how- 
 ever, in their design of freeing Ireland from English 
 domination, thought it prudent to seek the aid of 
 The Popes the Roman pontiff: With this object in view they 
 addressed a remarkable letter to Pope John XXII., 
 
 sanction 
 sought, 
 
 1 See Richey's "Short Historv of the Irish People," pp. 179- 
 186. 
 
 342 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 setting out their grievances. It begins : " To our 
 most Holy Father in Christ, the Lord John, by the 
 grace of God Supreme Pontiff, his attached chil- 
 dren, Donald O'Neyl, king of Ulster, and rightful 
 hereditary successor to the throne of Ireland, as well 
 as the princes and nobles of the same realm, with 
 the Irish people in general, present their humble 
 salutations, approaching with kisses of devout hom- 
 age to his sacred feet. . . . With loud and imploring 
 cry we would convey to your holy ears in the con- 
 tents of the present appeal an account of our first 
 origin, and of the condition in which our affairs at 
 this moment stand, and also of the cruel injuries to 
 us and our forefathers, inflicted, threatened, and to 
 the present hour continued, by successive kings of 
 England, and their wicked ministers and Anglican 
 barons of Irish birth." Referring to the state of 
 their country under its native princes, they trace 
 its subjugation and misery to "the unrighteous 
 obsequiousness of Pope Adrian," and state that, as 
 a result of his Bull, " upwards of fifty thousand 
 persons of both nations had perished by the sword, 
 independently of those who were worn out by famine 
 or destroyed in dungeons." They then describe the 
 evils inflicted on the Church, also how they have 
 been deprived of their laws, and how, " with a view 
 to the extermination of our people, infamous laws 
 of the most abandoned and unprincipled character," 
 which they proceed to specify, have been imposed on 
 them. They point out how no Irishman can bring 
 any action at law whatsoever ; how when any English- 
 man kills an Irishman, even an Irish prelate, he is 
 liable to no penalty, but is the more honoured, that 
 it is held to be "no more sin to kill an Irishman 
 
 343 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 than a dog or any other brute animal/' They state 
 that an appeal had been made to the English king 
 for the removal of these evils, but to no purpose; 
 that they were inviting to their assistance " Edward 
 de Bruce, the illustrious Earl of Carrick, brother- 
 german of the most illustrious Lord Robert, by the 
 grace of God king of the Scots, and descendant of 
 some of the most noble of our own ancestors," and 
 they conclude by praying the " Most Holy Father, 
 out of a regard for justice and the public peace, 
 mercifully to sanction their proceedings." 
 and The Pope returned no answer to this appeal, 
 
 except to send the letter of the Irish chiefs to 
 Edward II., the English king, and to issue Bulls 
 to the Irish bishops, requiring them to excom- 
 municate all who should take up arms in behalf 
 of Bmce or give him any help in Ireland. 
 Edward Edward Bruce landed at Carrickfergus in May 
 
 at^Carrick- 1^1 5? with six thousand men, including many of the 
 fergus, and best Scottish soldiers, and in the following years 
 victories, inflicted a series of severe defeats on the Viceroy 
 and on other leaders of the English colonists. At 
 the close of 1316 Robert Bruce himself came over, 
 and, in company with his brother and their Irish 
 allies, entered on a new campaign, bent on exter- 
 minating the Anglo-Norman power in Ireland. 
 Their progress from Ulster to Munster was one 
 continuous career of devastation, in which they are 
 described as " burning, slaying, plundering, sacking 
 towns, castles, and even churches, going and re- 
 turning." But Robert Bruce having gone back to 
 Scotland, the colonists united under Jean de Ber- 
 mingham, and, with a force much superior to that 
 which Edward Bruce then commanded, took up a 
 344 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 strong position at Faughard, near Dundalk. Bruce 
 was advised to avoid a battle just then, but eighteen 
 successive victories had made him over-confident. But is 
 He suffered a severe and decisive defeat, he and and aiain at 
 his chief officers were slain, and what remained of ^a"^^*'"'^ 
 his army was glad to escape to Scotland. 
 
 ITie state of things in Ireland now became more The English 
 deplorable than ever. The English power in that ^eTand" 
 country, and its capacity to preserve order, grew feebler than 
 even feebler than it had been ; the Anglo-Norman 
 lords become more independent and irresponsible, 
 some of them without disguise throwing off their 
 allegiance to the English Crown, adopting the Irish 
 dress and language, and substituting the Irish laws 
 for the English. Within sight of the royal garrison 
 on the banks of the Shannon, the De Burgos of 
 Connaught stripped off their Norman dress and arms, 
 and put on the saffron robes of the Irish, becoming 
 more Celtic than the Irish themselves. The Govern- 
 ment had now to be content to confine its efforts 
 to maintain order within the district afterwards 
 known as the Pale, and which was already greatly 
 circumscribed. Even Eastern Ulster, under the 
 0"'Neills, was practically withdrawn from English 
 rule. The fact, already noted, that " many English The statute 
 of the said land (Ireland), forsaking the English ''^^"^'""^ 
 language, manners, mode of riding, laws, and usages, 
 live and govern themselves according to the manners, 
 fashion, and language of the Irish enemies, and 
 also have made divers marriages and alliances be- 
 tween themselves and the Irish enemies afoi-esaid,'"' 
 led to the passing of the famous Statute of Kil- 
 kenny, from the preamble of which the words just 
 quoted are taken. This statute provided that " no 
 345 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 alliance by mamage, gossipred, fostering of children, 
 concubinage, or by amour, nor in any other manner, 
 be henceforth made between the English and Irish 
 of the one part, or of the other part ; and that no 
 Englishman nor other person, being at peace, do 
 give or sell to any Irishman, in time of peace or 
 war, horses or armour, nor any manner of victuals 
 in time of war; and if any shall do to the con- 
 trary, and thereof be attainted, he shall have judg- 
 ment of life and member, as a traitor to our lord 
 the king/' Every Englishman was required to use 
 the English language, and the English custom, 
 fashion, mode of riding and apparel ; and any 
 English, or Irish living among the English, not using 
 these was liable to severe penalties. Irishmen were 
 also prohibited from enjoying livings or being re- 
 ceived into monasteries situated among the English ; 
 and many other prohibitions in a like spirit were 
 included in the statute. 
 Its object: The object of this legislation was to build an 
 wauof^'* impassable wall of separation between the English 
 partition and the Irish, who all through the sections of the 
 English and statute are designated " the Irish enemies " ; " where- 
 the Irish, ^y ^^ jg manifest,*''' says Sir John Davies in his 
 " Discoverie,"" " that such as had the government 
 of Ireland under the Crown of England did intend 
 to make a perpetual separation and enmity between 
 the English and Irish — pretending (no doubt) that 
 the English in the end should root out the Irish ; 
 which the English not being able to do, did cause 
 a perpetuall warre between the two nations, which 
 continued four hundred and odd years."" 
 But a dead As a matter of fact, the statute was little better 
 ^^^^^^' than a dead letter. It could not be put into 
 
 346 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 operation. Human nature was too strong for it, 
 and the fusion of races went on in spite of it. 
 The colonists themselves found it intolerable, and 
 obtained licenses enabling them to evade it. 
 
 " The English government during this period,'"' character 
 says Professor Richey, one of the fairest and most govern- 
 moderate of historians, " was a source of unmixed "^ent. 
 evil to the country. The English kings had prac- 
 tically abandoned the exercise of sovereign power 
 in Ireland. The English executive neither fulfilled 
 the duty of a government nor permitted any other 
 to be established. Their highest aim was self- 
 presei*vation, and the means by which they sought 
 it were the fomenting of civil war between the 
 barons and chiefs outside the Pale, the rendering 
 of assistance to any pretender who promised to 
 embarrass or depose a tribal chieftain, and frequent 
 razzias, equally barbarous and futile.''' ^ By the open- 
 ing of the fifteenth century the " Irish enemies " 
 had retaken a large part of the territory of which 
 they had been deprived, and at this time parts only 
 of the four shires of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and 
 Louth submitted to English rule. The lords of 
 Kildare, Desmond, and Ormonde acted as independ- 
 ent sovereigns. " The stringent and ferocious 
 statutes,*" says Richey, " which down to Henry 
 VIIL's reign are to be found in our statute-book, 
 are evidence of fear and helplessness, not acts of 
 overbearing force."^ And summing up the results 
 at the accession of Henry VIII. he says, "The 
 Celtic population had found the rule of England 
 scarcely less injurious to them than the invasions 
 of the Danes. . . . Every trace of English govern- 
 ' Richey's "Short History," p. 218. 
 347 
 
LATER FORTUNES [part iv 
 
 ment, save the miseries which it had caused, had 
 passed away from Ireland. The English king had 
 no force in Ireland, nor any ally, save the heredi- 
 The English tary enemies of the house of Kildare. The English 
 fauure^^ * conquest was confessedly a failure. The Anglo- 
 Norman colony had disappeared, or been absorbed 
 in the Celtic population. If the king of England 
 were any longer to be lord of Ireland, the conquest 
 of the island must be commenced again."" ^ 
 The Church Some indications have been given as we proceeded 
 ^SoZtn^^""' «^ *^^ condition of the Church in Ireland during 
 period. this period, but a few words additional are necessary 
 
 on the subject. 
 Foreign Several foreign orders of monks were brought to 
 
 orders intro- Ireland, and many new monasteries, chiefly Cister- 
 duced. cian, but some Benedictine and Augustinian, were 
 founded, and the new establishments in most cases 
 were erected on the sites of ancient Celtic monas- 
 teries, thus securing whatever advantage arose from 
 the associations connected with them. 
 Thepoiiti- It was inevitable that the political division made 
 createTtwo between the two sections of the population by the 
 sections in Crown should Create a like ecclesiastical division. 
 They required each a separate clergy of its own, 
 the one speaking French and English, and the other 
 speaking Irish. Irish clergy and monks were, as we 
 have seen, excluded from Anglo-Norman benefices 
 and abbeys, and vice versa. "There was discord 
 almost universally among the poor religious of 
 Ireland,"" says Friar Clynn in his Annals, "some 
 of them upholding and cherishing the part of their 
 own nation, blood, and tongue ; others of them 
 canvassing for the office of prelates and superiors."" 
 
 1 Richey's "Short History," pp. 238, 239. 
 348 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 Even the Pope himself gave his countenance, not 
 only to the ostracism of the Irish generally, but 
 to the exclusion of Irish ecclesiastics from English 
 churches and monasteries. Thus a Bull of Leo X. 
 in 1515 expressly excluded all of Irish blood and 
 manners from St. Patrick'*s Cathedral in Dublin. 
 
 It is not to be inferred, however, that these two Not two 
 sections of the population constituted two Churches ^"^wo*' 
 or communions. It is true that the Irish of this factions in 
 period still retained some of their old Celtic peculiari- 
 ties and usages. But none the less they, as well as 
 the English, acknowledged the Papal jurisdiction. 
 In doctrine they were at one. In the numerous 
 statutes against the Irish, neither Irish clergy nor 
 people are ever charged with being heretics or 
 schismatics. In fact, the stringent laws excluding 
 Irish clergy from English livings were in cases of 
 difficulty relaxed and Irish clergy admitted. Thus, 
 an Act of the second year of Richard III., 1485, 
 states that " as divers benefices of the diocese of 
 Dublin are situated among the Irish enemy . . . 
 and as no Englishman can inhabit said benefices, 
 and divers English clerks who are enabled to have 
 cure of souls are inexpert in the Irish language, 
 and such of them who are expert disdain to inhabit 
 among the Irish people, and others dare not inhabit 
 among them, by which means Divine service is 
 diminished and cure of souls neglected,"" it was 
 enacted "that Walter Fitz-Symond, Archbishop of 
 Dublin, for two years do collate Irish clerks to the 
 said benefices, without any impeachment from the 
 king, his heii's or ministers, provided that such 
 beneficers be sworn to allegiance."'' Both the Rev. 
 Thomas Olden and Professor G. T. Stokes frankly 
 349 
 
LATER FORTUNES [pari iv 
 
 admit this. Mr. Olden says : " They became divided 
 into two factions, though belonging to the same 
 Church, and in the main accepting the same doc- 
 trines."" Again : " The two sections of the Church 
 stood apart, somewhat as those religious bodies in 
 America, who, though belonging to the same com- 
 munion, are yet divided in North and South by the 
 question of colour.^' ^ " I do not intend to convey," 
 says Professor G. T. Stokes, "that there were two 
 Churches in Ireland then, as there are two Churches 
 in Ireland now, with competing bishops in every 
 see, and competing incumbents in every parish. . . . 
 Henceforth there were two parties in the Irish 
 Church. There was the Celtic party, and there 
 was the Anglo-Norman party. They taught in the 
 main the same doctrines, acknowledged the nominal 
 supremacy of the same Pope, and yet were as distinct 
 from one another, and hated one another with as 
 perfect a hatred, as if they rejoiced in the designation 
 of Protestant or Papist, or the still more modern 
 one of Orangemen and Nationalists.'*'' ^ 
 iTie higher But the higher clergy especially, who were generally 
 clergy, with Aufflo-Norman, were, as has already appeared, the 
 
 the sanction <=> ' ' J rr ^ ^ 
 
 of the Pope, most loyal servants and supporters of the English 
 agentr/or Crown. Inspired and encouraged from Rome, they 
 the Crown, sympathised with the conquering race, aided them in 
 their political designs, and formed so many English 
 garrisons planted among the Irish. " The English 
 ecclesiastics appointed by the Crown or the Papal 
 See to bishoprics in Ireland were then, as subse- 
 quently,'" says Richey, " political appointments, and 
 
 1 See Olden's *' Church of Ireland," pp. 251, 289. 
 ' "Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church," Lect. xv. p. 343. 
 
CHAP, xvi] COMING OF ANGLO-NORMANS 
 
 constituted part of the English gamson ; they filled 
 official positions; they sat at the council board; 
 they furnished men and arms to the English deputy ; 
 they not unfrequently commanded them in the 
 field ; and, if it were necessary, they were ever 
 willing and anxious to minister and exercise all 
 kind of ecclesiastical censures against the wild Irish.*"* 
 While the Lord Deputy was engaged in "taming 
 the Irish,'"' the Dublin clergy twice a week prayed 
 for his success. 
 
 And through the agency of the Church the Irish oppressive 
 were made to groan under the burden of oppressive exacUons. 
 exactions in the shape of taxation. As early as 
 1229 a tax was levied on the Irish by Pope Gregory 
 IX. to enable him to carry on his contest with the 
 Emperor Frederick. With regard to this tax 
 Hanmer says, "The clergy sent after their money 
 Irish curses, for they were driven at the worst 
 hand to sell unto the merciless merchants their 
 cows, hackneys, caddows (i.e. blankets), and aqua 
 vitcB to make present payment, and were driven 
 to that extremity to pawn and sell their cups, 
 chalices, copes, altar-cloths, and vestments."" In 
 1240 an emissary came to Ireland from the same 
 Pope demanding the twentieth of the whole land, 
 besides donations and gratuities for the same war, 
 under pain of excommunication. In 1251 there 
 was a levy of "Saladin'*s tenths,"*"* as they were 
 called, for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 Another levy was made in 1270 to enable the Pope 
 to carry on war with the king of Arragon. In 
 1288 a grant of the six years"* tenths which had 
 been collected, as well as the tithes of the following 
 
 351 
 
FORTUNES OF THE CHURCH [part iv 
 
 six years, was made over to Edward I. It would 
 be hard to say whether the Roman Pontiff and his 
 clergy or the English Crown were most to blame 
 for the iniquities and oppressions inflicted on the 
 Irish throughout the Anglo-Norman period. 
 
 352 
 
PART V 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY 
 
 353 
 
CHAPITER XVII 
 
 ON THE TITLE "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND"* 
 
 If in the course of this lecture a single word escapes 
 me depreciatory of any Christian work which the 
 Church that calls itself "The Church of Ireland'' 
 has done or is doing in this country, it will be very 
 far from my purpose. For everything in it which 
 consists with and makes for the progress of the 
 kingdom of our common Master I am sincerely 
 thankful. The one point with which I am here 
 concerned is the propriety of the title assumed by 
 it, and not so much the title itself as the exclusive 
 claim that lies behind it, and which it is intended 
 to assert ; but even this question I hope to discuss 
 in an academical spirit, and without any breach of 
 Christian charity. 
 
 When the Church in question enjoyed the privi- The title ex- 
 lege of being a State establishment, and as such thrchurch 
 had this title affixed to it, its members had a good *»» ^stab- 
 excuse for wearing the designation. But the justi- 
 fication that could be pleaded thirty years ago is 
 available no longer. From the place of privilege 
 to which the State had raised it the same power 
 has deposed it, and set it on a level with the other 
 denominations. Yet to the old title and symbol 
 
 ^ This chapter and the next were given as public lectures at 
 the opening and closing of a College session, 
 355 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 of superiority it clings more fondly and displays 
 it more obtrusively than ever. It may be said, 
 perhaps, "What'*s in a name?"" and that "that 
 which we call a rose by any other name would 
 smell as sweet." But in the circles where this title 
 is current Juliet's philosophy in the matter of names 
 is not appreciated. It is evidently thought that 
 The claim there is a great deal in a name. It is, in fact, the 
 underlying ^laim which in this case underlies the name that 
 
 the title : . . . 
 
 that the gives it importance. The claim is, that, in a sense 
 Ep^copai which is true of no other, which excludes every 
 Church is other, the Episcopal communion is " The Church 
 with the of Ireland.'** When that Church was set up in this 
 cCch^^*''' country by Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, 
 we are told, it was no foreign institution imported 
 from England, but the revival and continuation of 
 the ancient Irish Church founded by St. Patrick; 
 that the modern Episcopal Church is thus identical 
 with the early Celtic Church and sole heir to its 
 prestige; that through St. Patrick, moreover, it is 
 lineally connected with the Apostles, enjoys the 
 priceless privilege of the true " Apostolical succes- 
 sion," and (although it includes but a fraction of 
 Irish Christianity) has thus an indefeasible and ex- 
 clusive claim to the title " The Church of Ireland." 
 Other denominations are but unauthorised intruders 
 within the domain of the one legitimate Church of 
 the country. 
 
 The claim thus put forward is of course essen- 
 tially a High Church one, advanced by men who 
 set vital store by "episcopal succession," and are 
 imbued with the Cyprianic idea which makes the 
 prelatical bishop of the essence of the Church, and 
 affirms that there can be no Church, and no Church 
 
 356 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 continuity, without him. And yet I have repeatedly The claim, a 
 heard it endorsed by Episcopalians who call them- one, based * 
 selves Evangelical, but habitually speak of members »" *^e 
 of their own communion as " Church people.'*"' They Apostolical 
 profess to abhor sacerdotalism, but in thus implying ^"Jf^u *J|Jj"b 
 that the members of other denominations are not other de- 
 " Church people," and in effect unchurching them, JJong"*' 
 they are most effectually disseminating sacerdotal 
 doctrine, and rolling its vocabulary as a sweet morsel 
 under their tongue. 
 
 The aggressive boldness with which in recent a challenge 
 times this claim to be the lineal successor of the [^Jown 
 ancient Celtic Church, and to be alone entitled down to 
 to the designation " The Irish Church," has been minationT 
 advanced, must have struck the least observant. 
 The denominational organs of Episcopacy are never 
 tired of reiterating it. At every Episcopal Church 
 Conference, as on the occasion of the last Conference 
 here in Belfast, a prominent place is assigned to it. 
 The newspapers are almost daily flaunting it in 
 our face. A challenge is thus thrown down to the 
 other denominations which not only justifies but 
 compels examination into the grounds on which the 
 pretension rests. If we now proceed to investigate The claim 
 the merits of the claim, those who have flung down ®^^™"*^*^- 
 the gage have the least reason to complain. The 
 advocates of the view in question appeal to history. 
 It is fortunate that history has as little respect for 
 denominations as for persons. At her bar ecclesias- 
 tical fictions meet with no more indulgence than any 
 other sort of fictions. If the claim referred to has 
 any real basis in fact, if it is not a fond creation of 
 the ecclesiastical imagination, history will tell us. 
 To history then we turn. It is not necessary to 
 357 
 
The funda- 
 mental 
 features of 
 the Celtic 
 Church 
 wanting 
 in the 
 Protestant 
 Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 1. The one 
 self-govern- 
 ing; the 
 other a 
 creation of 
 the State. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 ask permission to state honestly and frankly the 
 facts which history has recorded. 
 
 The contention is that the Church set up by 
 Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth was a con- 
 tinuation of the early Irish Church, and substantially 
 identical with it. The first question for our con- 
 sideration, then, is : How far were the essential 
 features of the ancient Irish Church reproduced in 
 the Church set up by the Tudors ? Is the resem- 
 blance between them such as to justify the assertion 
 of identity and continuity. 
 
 1. In reply to which I have to ask you to note 
 first that the early Irish Church was a self-governing 
 community. The shape assumed by it, and the laws 
 by which its affairs were regulated, were not due to 
 any external authority whatever. From the twelfth 
 century onwards the English king, in conjunction 
 with the Pope, did exercise control in the direction 
 of its affairs, but in the early period the Irish Church 
 was free from the interference of both Pope and 
 king. Its independence of Rome, and its refusal for 
 ages to submit to the Roman jurisdiction, is one of 
 the commonplaces of history. The late Cardinal 
 Newman describes it as "vehemently opposed'"* to 
 the Roman Church. " It is not too much to say,'*" 
 he adds, " that through the influence of the Scottish 
 Church and of the Celtic civilisation, of which Ire- 
 land was the centre, Christendom reached the very 
 verge of a tremendous schism, almost reaching in 
 extent to the unhappy sacrilege of the sixteenth 
 century."^ But what I desire here to emphasise is 
 that the doctrine of the royal supremacy was as 
 little recognised by the early Irish Church as the 
 1 "Life of Wilfrid, Archbishop of York." 
 
 358 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 doctrine of the Papal supremacy. The abbots sat 
 at the right hand of kings and often inspired their 
 policy, but no Irish king ever claimed to be the 
 supreme head or governor of the Celtic Church, or 
 to have power to legislate in its spiritual affairs. 
 This, I need not say, was the primary and funda- 
 mental feature of the Church set up by Henry VIII. 
 and Elizabeth — that to which it owed its creation 
 and the form assumed by it. Henry VIII. was con- 
 stituted "the only supreme head on earth of the 
 whole Church in Ireland,"" with "full power and 
 authority "" in spiritual affairs. Elizabeth took the 
 title of "supreme governor,'" with like authority. 
 Nor were these empty titles, worn for ornament; 
 they meant real governmental power. As Professor 
 Richey points out, the sovereign in this case "claimed 
 and exercised powers which the Papacy in the time 
 of its greatest influence had never pretended to 
 possess."" " The king sitting in London, surrounded 
 by his English council, was to alter and modify the 
 creed and forms of the Church, according to his 
 varying views on these subjects, . . . and the 
 grounds proposed by him for such alterations in the 
 Church were not the principles of morality or the 
 teaching of the Scriptures, but simple obedience to 
 the will of the sovereign and the enforcement of the 
 statute law.""i Only once before in the history of 
 Christianity, Dr. Richey adds, had such arbitrary 
 interference been attempted by any sovereign, and 
 that was when the Isaurian Emperors sought to 
 impose their own will in matters of faith upon their 
 subjects. 
 
 [Let me here say, parenthetically, that all the 
 ^ Richey's "Short History," pp. 367, 368, 371. 
 359 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 main statements I have to make in this lecture I 
 shall base upon the "Calendars of State Papers'' 
 and other authoritative documents. Where these 
 are not expressly referred to, I shall support what 
 is advanced by Episcopal authorities of recognised 
 weight, such as Todd's "St. Patrick," and for the 
 later period Richey's " Short History." The latter 
 especially I shall cite often and of set purpose, as 
 an able, careful, and moderate writer, who supports 
 his affirmations by abundant quotations from the 
 original documents, and who was besides a professor 
 in Trinity College and an Episcopalian.] 
 
 Keep this in mind throughout, then — the new 
 
 Church set up in Ireland in the sixteenth century 
 
 was exactly what the will of the Tudor sovereigns 
 
 made it. We shall see by-and-by that the very 
 
 last thing they dreamt of was to revive the early 
 
 Irish Church or anything Irish. 
 
 2.iThe hier 2. He7' graduated hierarchy, consisting of primate, 
 
 gradeTof archhishops, diocesan bishops, deans, ^c, the Irish 
 
 the Irish Episcopal Church derived not Jrom the early Irish 
 
 Church de- ChuTch, hut directly Jrom the Church of Rome. 
 
 rived from Xhese hierarchical trades and dignities were ab- 
 
 Rome, and , *^ . c> 
 
 non-axis- solutely uuknown in the ancient Church of Ireland. 
 eSitic" *^^ '^^^ ^^^ Irish Primate was described in the news- 
 church. papers the other day as "the 111th successor of 
 St. Patrick in the primatial See of Ireland." Such 
 a statement is the result of a "plentiful lack" of 
 historical information. The Celtic Church of Ire- 
 No Primate land had neither "archbishop" nor "primate" in 
 OiSch!'^^'' the modern sense. In his " Life of St. Patrick " Dr. 
 Todd demonstrates that the Abbot of Armagh had 
 no primatial jurisdiction, that "there was no 
 special jurisdiction in Armagh," that "there was 
 360 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND '^ 
 
 no such thing as a regular succession of bishops in no arch- 
 Armagh or elsewhere ; "" that, in fact, the coarbs or ^*^^°p- 
 successors of St. Patrick at Armagh were abbots, 
 many of them presbyters, some laymen, and at least 
 one of them a woman. ^ 
 
 And the diocesan bishop was as conspicuous by No diocesan 
 his non-existence in the Church of St. Patrick as * **^' 
 was the modern archbishop and primate. "The 
 normal state of Episcopacy in Ireland was non- 
 diocesan.''"' 2 " Diocesan Episcopacy did not exist in 
 the early Church,"'*' says the Rev. Thomas Olden, 
 " and no attempt was made to introduce it until the 
 Synod of Rathbreasil in lllS.*"^ It was this Synod 
 of Rathbreasil in the twelfth century, presided over 
 by Gille, the first Papal legate who appeared in this 
 country, which made the earliest attempt to divide 
 Ireland into dioceses and to set up diocesan Episco- 
 pacy. Diocesan Episcopacy was thus introduced 
 into this country at the date named as an essential 
 part of the constitution of the Church of Rome, 
 and as an institution entirely new to Ireland. 
 
 And when you look at the bishops of the early 
 Irish Church and compare them with the prelates 
 of the Tudor Church, you see that the relation 
 between them is not one of resemblance, but of 
 contrast. 
 
 (a.) First, as regards number. Early authorities Celtic Epis- 
 represent the number of bishops as coiTesponding CTegationai 
 with the number of the churches. Tii-echan, in 
 the " Book of Armagh "'"' (eighth century), gives the 
 number of bishops appointed by Patrick at 350. 
 
 * See Todd's "St. Patrick," pp. i6, 94, 171, 172. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 27. 
 
 » "The Church of Ireland," p. 117. 
 
 361 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 The Catalogue of Saints (supposed to be by Tire- 
 chan) mentions the same number, all founders 
 of churches. Nennius says Patrick founded 365 
 churches and ordained 365 bishops. The "Annals 
 of the Four Masters'"' represent him as founding 
 700 churches and appointing 700 bishops. Accord- 
 ingly St. Bernard affirms that in his time " almost 
 every church had its separate bishop" in Ireland 
 ("De Vita Malachiae, c. x.). Lanfranc says that 
 "in towns and cities many (plures) bishops were 
 ordained."^ Hence Skene's remark that Patrick 
 "appears to have placed a bishop in each church 
 which he founded,'" and his designation of the system 
 as " Congregational Episcopacy." The facts col- 
 lected by the late Dr. Reeves in his " Antiquities " 
 bear out these statements. From the documents 
 quoted by him we learn that in the neighbourhood 
 of Downpatrick there were not much less than half- 
 a-dozen bishops within a radius of a few miles, and 
 so in other districts. A state of things even more 
 remarkable still is brought out in some ancient 
 writings, from which we learn that a very common 
 arrangement was to have a group of seven bishops 
 connected with a single church. The " Martyrology 
 of Donegal " mentions six such groups with seven 
 bishops each, the seven being in each of three 
 of the groups sons of one father. " The Litany of 
 Angus the Culdee" (written before a.d. 800) gives 
 Many 141 such groups of scveu each to a single church, 
 
 had^seven ^^^ mentions in addition two sets of 150 bishops 
 bishops each, and two more of 350. If in proportion to 
 the population, Ireland had as many bishops now 
 as she had then, she would have at the present time 
 
 ^ Ussher's "Keligion of the Ancient Irish," p. 322. 
 362 
 
 each. 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 more than 10,000 bishops. Belfast alone would 
 have probably not less than 1000 bishops — more 
 than all the clergy of all denominations. 
 
 True, there were presbyters as well as bishops 
 in the Celtic Church, but the difference between 
 the Celtic bishop and the presbyters was cei-tainly 
 not greater than, apparently not so great as, that 
 between the Presbyterian minister and his presbyters 
 or elders. The Presbyterian minister alone can 
 ordain and administer the sacraments, he preaches 
 and presides, and in fact there can be no regular 
 meeting of the presbyters without him in the chair, 
 while of course he claims to be a New Testament 
 bishop. But in matters of this sort we must not 
 allow ourselves to be imposed on by mere words, 
 but must look at things as they exist apart from 
 the names applied to them. 
 
 (b.) And the bishops of the Celtic Church, as they I'he 
 
 11 !• ij**i*j.' i_i l)i8hop8 had 
 
 had no dioceses, had no jurisdiction, no governmental no jurisdic- 
 power. The real rulers of that Church were the """• 
 abbots, who were generally not bishops, but presby- 
 ters, often laymen, and even women. The bishops 
 were in complete subordination to the abbots, and 
 were regarded as inferior even to the lectors. In 
 fact, as Skene shows, "the inferior functionaries of 
 the community appear to have united the functions 
 of a bishop with their proper duties."" The bishop 
 appeai-s to have been a sort of " maid-of-all-work " 
 to the community. You find him ploughing, car- 
 pentering, making shrines, teaching, sometimes even 
 acting as the " champion '*'' of the abbot, carrying 
 him on his back when he journeyed, and when neces- 
 sary fighting in his defence. 
 
 (c.) And bear another fact in mind. As Dr. Todd 
 363 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 And no shows : " There was no such thing as a succession of 
 Bfon"inthe bishops '** in the early Irish Church.^ "Hence cata- 
 modem logues of successive bishops of Irish sees from their 
 founder to the present day must be illusive." ^ It is 
 a fact of deep significance that for this reason the 
 contemporary Churches in England and on the Conti- 
 nent refused to recognise the validity of orders in 
 the Irish Church. The Council of Chalons-sur-Saone 
 in 813 declared the orders conferred by the Scotic — 
 that is, the Irish — bishops to be null and void, and 
 questioned the validity of their episcopacy. In like 
 manner, the synod of the contemporary English 
 Church held at Cealcythe in 816, presided over by 
 Wilfrid, Archbishop of Canterbury, enacted that 
 no person of Scotic (i.e. Irish) race should be per- 
 mitted to exercise his ministry in any English diocese, 
 the first reason given being — Quia incertum est nobis, 
 unde et an ah aliquo ordinentur — " because it was 
 uncertain by whom they were ordained, or whether 
 they were ordained by any one."*' The advocates of 
 the theory under consideration are quite certain that 
 they derive their orders from the Apostles through 
 St. Patrick and the bishops who succeeded him. 
 The contemporary Churches in England and on the 
 Continent, which knew the facts vastly better, had 
 no such confidence. On the contrary, they were 
 uncertain by whom they were ordained, or whether 
 they were ordained at all. In an inquisition taken 
 at " Lymmavaddy '' in 1609 by a jury on oath acting 
 for the then County of Coleraine, the remarkable 
 statement occurs that Donell M'Hugh O'Neale, king 
 of Ireland, who reigned, according to the "Four 
 
 ^ Todd's "St. Patrick," pp. 171-172. 
 2 Olden's " Church of Ireland," c. vii. p. 120. 
 364 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 Masters,"" from 624 till 639, "did long before any 
 Imshopps were made in the said kingdom of Ireland, 
 give unto certain holy men whom they called sancti 
 patres several portions of land and a third part of 
 all the tithes,'' that certain proportions were given 
 by them to tenants, called " Corbes *" or " Herenaghs,'' 
 and that this state of things continued " until the 
 Church of Rome established busshopps in this king- 
 dom."" The inquisitions for Donegal, Fermanagh, 
 and Cavan are to the same effect. These old jurors 
 were men of discernment. The bishops of the earlier 
 time were so different from the bishops constituted 
 by the Roman Church that these ancient inquisi- 
 tions refuse to call the earlier officials " bishops "" at 
 all, and reserve the title for the modern diocesan 
 dignitaries.^ 
 
 Note, then, that the ancient Irish Church had no 
 primate, no metropolitan, no archbishop (in the 
 modern sense), no diocesan bishop, and that the 
 Celtic bishop differed from the modem diocesan 
 bishop in almost everything but name. 
 
 3. The most fundamental and characteristic fea- The Celtic 
 ture of the early Irish Church was its monasticism, based on 
 which beffan with Patrick himself. " The entire monasti- 
 
 '-' . cisni ; the 
 
 Church appears to have been monastic, and her whole Irish Epis- 
 clergy embraced within the fold of the monastic ^ef up^nTts 
 rule.'' ^ Through the abbots or coarbs, as they were ruins. 
 called, who were often presbyters, and sometimes 
 laymen or women, and who, it should be carefully 
 remembered, were the real rulei-s of the Irish Church, 
 the whole Church was brought under the control of 
 monasticism, leavened by its spirit and moulded to 
 
 ' See Reeves' "Antiquities," &c., p. i6i. 
 « Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol il Bk. ii. p. 42. 
 365 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 its forms. The great predominant feature in the 
 organisation of the ancient Church of Ireland was 
 its monasticism. To want this is to lack the most 
 essential quality of the early Irish organisation, 
 that which dominated and coloured everything, the 
 keystone in the arch of its order, and the most dis- 
 tinctive note of its life. But not only does the 
 Irish Episcopal Church lack this ; in the act of creat- 
 ing that Church Henry dissolved the monasteries 
 and abolished monasticism. The Church which over- 
 threw monasticism can hardly be identical in form 
 or order with that which cherished it as its most 
 central, distinctive, and all-controlling institution. 
 Much which 4. Closely akin to that just mentioned was 
 Church ^^ another feature which distinguished early Celtic 
 prized the Christianity. "We know," says Dr. Todd, "that 
 
 Church of , .-r-i . . . /., i-i i 
 
 Elizabeth the ancicut Irish ecclesiastics oi the highest rank 
 demolished, ^-j ^^^ consider it beneath their dignity to work 
 as artificers in the manufacture of shrines, reli- 
 quaries, bells, pastoral staffs, croziers, covers for 
 sacred books, and other ornaments of the Church 
 and its ministers.^ Brigid's bishop, Condlaed, was 
 a noted artificer of such ornaments. But by the 
 agents of Elizabeth they were completely de- 
 molished. All " monuments of superstition,'^ and 
 in particular " all shrines, and all other monuments 
 of feigned miracles, pilgrimages, and superstition"*' 
 were denounced and abolished by the 97th Irish 
 canon. The Church which so treated them is 
 not quite the same as that which prized them as 
 her dearest treasures ! 
 
 5. The last two points referred to suggest 
 another, namely, that the ideal of religious life in 
 
 1 "■ St. Patrick," p. 26. 
 3^6 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 the Celtic Church is not, I should hope, the ideal Their 
 of our Protestant Episcopal brethren. Any one [^g^jg^*^* 
 who reads the acknowledged writings of St. Patrick diflferent. 
 cannot but be struck with the evangelical doctrine 
 and spirit which pervade them, and their general 
 freedom from the thaumaturgical and superstitious. 
 Yet from an early date the Irish Church began 
 to be debased and coiTupted by these elements. 
 Patrick^s converts brought over with them from 
 Paganism numerous Druidical customs and beliefs, 
 many of which survive to this day. One result of 
 this was a most serious relapse to the old Pagan 
 observances — a relapse from which Irish Christianity 
 seems never to have recovered. Thus it came 
 about that the prevailing and popular type of 
 practical Christianity in Ireland was decidedly in- 
 ferior. As the Druids claimed preternatural powers, 
 and professed to work wonders by means of spells 
 and incantations, similar miraculous feats without 
 number are attributed to the Irish saints by their 
 monkish biographers. I wish I had time to give 
 you a specimen of the miracles ascribed to them, 
 which are not only childish and absurd, but 
 capricious and prodigious, often spiteful and re- 
 vengeful. There were two other accomplishments 
 which they had reduced to a fine art, but which 
 I can only mention in passing — cursing and equi- 
 vocation. Sir Henry Maine, in his " Early History 
 of Institutions," gives ample proof of the low state 
 of morals amongst the Irish. They seem to have 
 been as weak in the ethical line as they were strong 
 in the superstitious and thaumaturgical. Do our 
 Episcopal friends claim to represent the religious 
 and moral ideal of the Celtic Church.? 
 367 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 I trust not ; and I repeat that the two Churches 
 — the ancient Irish and the Protestant Episco- 
 pal — are related to one another, both in organisa- 
 tion and moral ideal, by contrast rather than by 
 resemblance, and that the differences which distin- 
 guish them are broad, radical, and profound. 
 
 I must now advance to the second stage of the 
 inquiry, and invite you to look at the actual links 
 which are said to connect the modern Episcopal 
 Church with the Church of St. Patrick, and to 
 make the former the lineal descendant of the latter. 
 Several points here invite attention. 
 The theory 1. It has been alleged that from 1171 to 1535 
 Churches in ^^^ Churches existed in Ireland, one of them the 
 the Anglo- original Irish Church, to which the old Celtic 
 period un- population adhered, and the other the Church oi 
 tenable. Rome, introduced through the Danish and Norman 
 invaders ; that these two Churches continued separate 
 till the Reformation, when Henry VIII. threw off' 
 the Papal supremacy, expelled the foreign intrusive 
 Roman Church, and reinstated the ancient Irish 
 Church, which is none other than the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of our time. The only drawback 
 to this representation is that it is pure fiction, 
 contradicted by the most patent facts. In the 
 first place, it is not correct to say that from 1171 
 to 1535 there were two Churches in Ireland. There 
 were two factions of one Church, divided by racial 
 and political rather than by ecclesiastical differences. 
 Professor Richey, who pours deserved ridicule on 
 this pretension, points out that the Irish were 
 never reproached during this period for being 
 schismatics or heretics. In spite of such enact- 
 ments as those in the Statute of Kilkenny, special 
 368 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND^' 
 
 licences were granted permitting Irishmen to accept 
 of benefices under the Anglo-Normans. In the 
 second place, to suppose that the Irish people 
 outside the Pale, or inside the Pale for that matter, 
 adhered to the new Anglican Church which it was 
 sought to force on them, is equally fictitious. It 
 was accepted only, as we shall see presently, by 
 the official class, chiefly Anglo-Norman, and even 
 by them only nominally, for they changed back- 
 wards and forwards with the sovereigns and govern- 
 ments they represented. But, as Mr. Brewer shows, 
 the immediate result of the dissolution of the 
 abbeys was to throw the whole spiritual guidance 
 of the Irish people into the hands of the preaching 
 Friars, a class of ecclesiastics who professed no 
 obedience to the bishops, who were at once the 
 greatest enemies of England and the warmest 
 friends of the Pope — " barefooted emissaries of 
 the Pope,'' Mr. Brewer calls them. By their 
 influence, and not less by the exactions, confisca- 
 tions, treacheries, and attainders promoted by the 
 new Anglican Establishment, the Irish people were 
 effectually alienated both from it and from the 
 power that upheld it.^ 
 
 2. But, we are assured again, the bishops and The Uneai 
 clergy of the Irish Episcopal Church can trace their froceTbir*^ 
 lineal succession through indubitable links back to 
 St. Patrick, and through him to the Apostles. Now, 
 the main link by which this connection is held 
 to be maintained is the Elizabethan Archbishop 
 Curwin. Curwin was an Englishman, originally one 
 of Queen Mary's bishops, who had been consecrated 
 
 ^ See " The Calendar of State Papers," Carew, vol. ii. p. xxiii., 
 vol. iii. p. xiv. 
 
 369 2 A 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 in London in 1555 by the infamous Bonner, Bishop 
 of London, Thirlby, Bishop of Ely, and Griffin, 
 Bishop of Rochester, all Englishmen. But among 
 the consecrators of Bonner was Richard Sampson, 
 Bishop of Rochester; among the consecrators of 
 Sampson was John Voysey, Bishop of Exeter, and 
 among the consecrators of Voysey was Thomas 
 Halsey, Bishop of Leighlin, an Irish bishop. Thus 
 when an English bishop, consecrated by English 
 bishops, and whose predecessors for three genera- 
 tions had been ordained by English bishops, goes 
 to Ireland as a bishop of the Anglican Church, set 
 up there by the will of the sovereign, that Church, 
 composed almost entirely of Englishmen, is trans- 
 formed into " The Church of Ireland,"" and the 
 legitimate daughter and heir of the ancient Irish 
 Church, by the remote touch of an Irish bishop^s 
 hand upon a predecessor of his in England four 
 generations back ! — an attenuated thread of connec- 
 tion truly ! A friend to whom I was mentioning 
 the point described the amount of Irish virtue thus 
 percolating as homoeopathic ! But alas ! even that 
 is not available ; for the late Dr. Maziere Brady 
 has shown that the said Halsey was an Englishman, 
 that he had been ordained at Rome, and that he 
 never once visited his Irish diocese, or had the least 
 connection with the Irish episcopate.^ 
 
 As to that precious link, Curwin himself, it may 
 be added that he was an unprincipled time-server, 
 who was able to meet the varying demands of Henry 
 VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, and was 
 branded by Archbishop Loftus as a man guilty of 
 
 1 See Brady's "Irish Reformation," Introduction, xix. ; Harris's 
 " Ware," i. 460. 
 
 370 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 "open crimes."" But even supposing it proved to 
 demonstration that an Irish bishop had consecrated 
 Curwin, or any other bishop of the AngHcan Church 
 set up in Ireland, that would be far from proving 
 lineal descent from Patrick, and from making that 
 Church "The Church of Ireland." For (1) many 
 of the Irish bishops, from the eleventh century on- 
 wards, were consecrated some in England and others 
 in Rome. (2) As Dr. Todd shows, "the Irish 
 bishops had no regular succession," and the attempt 
 to make out a succession at Armagh or elsewhere 
 is absurd. (3) Besides, it would prove too much 
 for the purpose in view. The succession in such 
 a case would be derived thrmtgh Roman bishops 
 in Ireland. If Roman bishops have the true suc- 
 cession, and if Church continuity depends on that 
 succession, then the Church of Rome both has the 
 succession and has the vast majority of tlie Irish 
 people, and therefore on this theory must be "The 
 Church of Ireland," and the true successor of the 
 ancient Church. But this raises the question — 
 Wherein, according to New Testament teaching, 
 does Church continuity consist.'^ And the discus- 
 sion of that question I must reserve for another 
 occasion — perhaps the beginning of next session. 
 
 3. Just one other point remains for considera- The model 
 tion — What were the source and model of the ^! ^^^ , 
 
 Church set 
 
 Church set up in Ireland by Henry VIII. and up by the 
 Elizabeth ? Was it the early Celtic Church revived JheTeiuf 
 and reinstated ? or was it simply Anglicanism church but 
 tmnsferred to Ireland ? I have said enough to can. "^ ' 
 convince any candid mind that it was not the 
 former — that the new establishment created by the 
 Tudors differed widely and profoundly from the 
 371 
 
land. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY [iart v 
 
 Celtic Church of Ireland. On what pattern, then, 
 was it fashioned ? We have not to travel far to 
 discover. 
 
 What the central and steady aim of the Tudor 
 policy, both civil and ecclesiastical, in relation to 
 this country was is too notorious to require demon- 
 stration. Even the most superficial student of the 
 The Tudor history of the period knows — it was to Anglicise 
 ^^"Ingi- ^^^^'^^ •' to extirpate and proscribe everything Irish, 
 cise'iie- and to impose the laws, customs, and institutions 
 of England upon Ireland. It was no new policy 
 on their part, but the continuation of the old policy 
 begun on the conquest of Ireland by the Normans 
 under Henry II. in 1172. The object of the Anglo- 
 Norman rulers was to bring Ireland under the con- 
 trol of English ideas and laws, and so displace the 
 old Irish laws and customs ; and the aim of assimila- 
 ting Ireland to England extended to ecclesiastical 
 as well as to civil and social affairs. By the Synod 
 of Cashel (1172), at which a Papal legate presided, 
 it was decreed, at the instance of the king, that 
 "the Divine offices shall henceforth be celebrated 
 in every part of Ireland according to the laws and 
 usages of the Church of England.'''' For, remember, 
 the policy of " Anglicising " Ireland was carried on 
 with the warm approval and express sanction of 
 Rome and the Irish Roman Catholic hierarchy. 
 But it was a complete failure. Even the Anglo- 
 Norman settlers became more Irish than the Irish 
 themselves. Then came the famous Statute of Kil- 
 kenny (the first of a long series on the same lines), 
 which outlawed the Irish, described and treated 
 them as " enemies not in the King's peace,'' deprived 
 them of all legal rights, so that it was held to be 
 
 372 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 " no more sin to kill an Irishman than to kill a dog 
 or any other brute animal ; "' prohibited all marriage, 
 gossipred, fostering of children, and commerce of 
 every sort with the Irish, and required the Irish 
 living amongst the English to dress and shave like 
 the latter, and to assume English names and usages. 
 The chief supporters of this statute were the Roman 
 Catholic hierarchy, who in the Act itself pledged 
 themselves to excommunicate its violators. 
 
 Now the Anglicising policy of Henry II. and his 
 successors was continued and extended by Henry 
 VIII. The Parliament of 1536 repeated the worst 
 provisions of the Statute of Kilkenny, and extended 
 them to the whole country. Irish laws and customs 
 were to be displaced by English law, English land 
 tenure, the English language, English dress, and 
 English modes of life.^ " Indifferent to the con- 
 dition, the wants, and the wishes of the broad mass 
 of the population,"" says Mr. Brewer, "the Tudor 
 sovereigns merely sought how to force the Irish into 
 compliance with English manners, English habits, 
 dress, and customs, and when the task proved im- 
 possible, nothing remained except to retreat or to 
 ride rough-shod over all obstacles to good govern- 
 ment and improvement.^ The weight of the law was 
 brought to bear against forelocks and moustaches ; 
 it regulated the size of noblemen's and gentlemen''s 
 shirts, and took under its protection hats, caps, 
 French hoods and tippets. Saffron cloth and em- 
 broidery were little better than constructive treason.*" 
 No maid or single woman was permitted " to wear 
 or put any great roll or kercher of linen cloth upon 
 
 * See Act of 28 Henry VIII., c. 15, as given by Richey, p. 39. 
 - Carew, "Calendar of State Papers," 1 575-1 588, p. 27. 
 
 373 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 their heads, neither any great smock with great 
 sleeves, but to put on hats, caps, French hoods, 
 tippets, and the like.'"' ^ 
 This in- But One of the main items in the " Anfflicisine: "" 
 
 eluded the nT T. 1 • . . .1 
 
 "AiiKiicis- process, as Mr. Brewer also points out, was the 
 chm-ch^^^ setting up of the Anglican Church in Ireland. The 
 there. preamble of the Act establishing it shows that the 
 
 primary object was to assimilate the Church in Ire- 
 land to that of England. " Peace, religion, loyalty, 
 or civility could not exist in Ireland ^ until the 
 whole religious and social state of the country 
 had been completely changed from the Celtic to the 
 English mode." The revival or continuation of the 
 Primitive Celtic Church was the very last thing in- 
 tended by the sovereigns and their agents. They 
 had as much idea of reviving the Celtic Church as 
 they had of setting up Mahommedanism ! Their 
 aim was to extirpate and abolish everything Celtic. 
 The Irish language itself was proscribed. Instead of 
 the Bible being translated into Irish, or pains being 
 taken to address the people in their own tongue, 
 its use was forbidden, and only such as could speak 
 English appointed to livings. This was much the 
 same as to enact that only Englishmen were eligible. 
 "The Anglicising system," says Richey (p. 389), 
 "was extended to Church preferments, and an attempt 
 made to substitute an English for the native priest- 
 Hemy VIII. hood. By the S8th of Henry VIII., c. 15, sect. 7, 
 it was enacted that all persons possessing Church 
 patronage should appoint to such persons as can 
 speak English, and to no other person or persons, 
 unless there be no person or persons who can speak 
 
 ^ "Calendar of State Papers," as before. 
 2 Richey, *' Short History," p. 319. 
 374 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 English that will accept and take the same."" And 
 the English clergy instituted were, as a rule, the 
 most worthless of their class. " Those of the clergy 
 of England who could be induced to take livings in 
 Ireland were neither the best nor the most eligible 
 for the task,'" says Richey. Henry's chief agent, 
 Archbishop Browne, Richey describes as "a mere 
 official tool, whose writings, conduct, and actions 
 were admirably adapted to discredit the principles 
 and mar the success of the Reformation in Ireland."^ 
 He accompanied the judges on circuit, and made it 
 his chief business to publish the king's injunctions and 
 the king's supremacy. As Mr. Brewer remarks, the 
 Gospel offered to the Irish appeared to them " garbed 
 in the guise of the executioner, armed with manacles 
 and instruments of torture." ^ " Could a country be 
 evangelised," asks Richey (p. 383), "by a process which 
 equally resembled a gaol delivery and an episcopal visi- 
 tation ? " After a detailed review of the ecclesiastical 
 action of Henry VIII. and his representatives, the 
 latter concludes : " Thus the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church was planted in Ireland, not by any Irish 
 party, nor for the benefit of any Irish party, nor 
 with reference to Irish interests, but as a portion of 
 the policy of England, and as part of the great 
 scheme of Anglicising this country." ^ 
 
 After Henry VIII. had been " gathered to his Edward vi 
 wives," the same policy was continued under Edward 
 VI. llie English Prayer-Book was introduced by 
 an order of the king. " This measure " Richey de- 
 scribes as " part of the established policy of assimi- 
 lating Ireland to England, without the slightest 
 
 ^ Carew, "Calendar of State Papers," 1575-1588, p. 25. 
 
 2 "Short History," p. 386. 
 
 375 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 reference to the feelings or wants of the people.**' 
 The Deputy called together the Irish bishops, " not 
 for the purpose of taking their opinions, but simply 
 to receive his Majesty's orders." ^ " ITie Government 
 willed that Ireland should be reformed according to 
 the English pattern. This change was not to be 
 effected by persuading or winning over the masses ; 
 it was to be accomplished by the appointment of 
 English Protestant bishops, and the pronmlgation of 
 English formulae. No argument was addressed to 
 the people save the simple declaration, 'The king 
 so wills it."* '' 
 Elizabeth. The process of " Anglicising "" Ireland was " acce- 
 lerated and completed "" under Elizabeth. " Ireland 
 was to be a second England ... in which the 
 sovereign's will or caprice was supreme, in which 
 every subject, with slavish adulation upon his lips, 
 altered his creed, political and religious, with the 
 opinions of the ruler." ^ The Earl of Sussex, the 
 Viceroy, was ordered to " set up the worship of God 
 as it is in England, and to make such statutes next 
 Parliament as were lately made in England, mutatis 
 mutandis^ Sussex had acted as the agent of Queen 
 Mary in restoring Roman Catholicism, but he was 
 now equally ready to can-y out the will of Elizabeth. 
 He might have said with another official of that 
 age, Ortus sum ex salice, non ex quercu — " I am sprung 
 not from the oak, but from the willow ! " Now, 
 as before, the Government "aimed rather at the 
 introduction of English forms than the establish- 
 ment of an Irish Protestant Church." ^ Only such 
 as could speak the English tongue (which virtually 
 
 * " Short History," p. 400. ^ Richey, p. 492. 
 
 ' Richey, p. 497. 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 meant only Englishmen) were eligible to livings. 
 It was enacted that none could act as masters 
 in the diocesan schools but Englishmen or men 
 of English birth. " The Government which passed 
 this statute,'" says Richey, "desired to establish 
 not a Protestant, but an English Church — not to 
 convert the people from Romanism, but from 
 Irishism "" (p. 499). Yet the Church whose origin 
 and history are such is alone exclusively entitled to 
 the designation " The Irish Church **' ! The clergy 
 appointed appear, as a rule, to have been, if possible, 
 even more worthless than those of Henry VIII. 
 Their chief aim seems to have been to seize the 
 revenues of the Church and appropriate them 
 permanently to their own use and that of their 
 families. The poet Spenser describes the bishops 
 in remote parts as "not bestowing the benefices 
 which are in their own donation upon any, but 
 keeping them in their own hands, and letting their 
 own servants and potboys take up the tithes and 
 fruits of them.""* "Whatever disoixlers you see in 
 the Church of England, you may find there (in 
 Ireland) and many more,'' says Spenser — "namely, 
 gi'oss simony, greedy covetousness, fleshly incon- 
 tinency, careless sloth, and generally all disordered 
 life in the common clergyman.'"* ^ 
 
 Later still, the Thirty-nine Articles were, at the Charles i. 
 instance of Charles I., Went worth, Laud, and 
 Bramhall, accepted in 1634 " for the manifestation 
 of agi'eement with the Church of England in the 
 confession of the same Christian faith and the 
 doctrine of the sacraments."" Ussher and others 
 demuiTed and opposed, but in vain. Wentworth 
 ' "State of Ireland," p. 529. 
 377 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 " would not endure that the Articles of the Church 
 of England should be disputed." " Some hot spirits, 
 sons of thunder," moved to petition the Deputy 
 " for a free synod ; but, in fine, they could not 
 agree among themselves who should put the bell 
 about the cat's neck ! " So Wentworth had his way. 
 Charles II. Froude states that in the time of Charles II. 
 "there were not a hundred episcopally ordained 
 clergy in Ireland," and Richey affirms that "but 
 for the Plantation the Established Church would 
 have gradually died out." "The Anglicanism which 
 in England had a meaning," says Froude, "in 
 Ireland was never more than an exotic ; and until 
 the newcomers in the North of Ireland had intro- 
 duced another spirit, the Church of Ireland had 
 existed only to give point to the sarcasm of the 
 Catholics." 
 TheAngii- The Anglican Church in Ireland, in short, was 
 in Ireland never ill any real sense the Church of the Irish 
 never the people, ucver in any true sense national. " National 
 t\LQ Irish religion, as I understand it," said the late Lord 
 peopu. Selborne, then Sir Roundell Palmer, in the Irish 
 Church debate in Parliament on March 22, 1869, 
 "is not the profession of forms and ceremonies 
 made by those at the head of the Government, but 
 it is the religion of the people^ who constitute the 
 Church." On this principle the Anglican Church 
 in Ireland was never in any true sense the 
 "National" Church of the country. The Irish 
 people as a body were, and still are, outside of it. 
 As Richey shows, its doctrine was not "preached 
 by missionaries, or supported by any popular 
 movement ; it was introduced into the country 
 officially by Acts of Parliament and bishops acting 
 
 378 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 under royal authority.'"^ So far as the mass of 
 the population was concerned, the statutory measures 
 were a dead letter. In the words of Richey, " they 
 were Acts of Parliament sitting in Dublin, and had 
 no more result than numerous other Acts of similar 
 Parliaments relative to secular affairs'" (p. 361). So 
 far as membei*ship was concerned, the new Church 
 extended very little beyond the Government officials, 
 and was very far from including even the whole of 
 these. "Tlie great majority of offices continued 
 to be filled by Roman Catholics; for had it not 
 been so, they had remained empty." ^ 
 
 Thus the Anglican Church in Ireland was wanting 
 in the essential element of a National Church — 
 namely, the people. It consisted of a staff of 
 officers who had no regiments to follow them, a 
 set of shepherds without flocks, who, however, 
 enriched themselves by fleecing the alien flocks of 
 " the Irish enemy." And, as it was not the Church 
 of the Irish people, it never showed the slightest 
 sympathy with their condition as a people. On 
 the contrary, it was one of the most active agents 
 in crushing and oppressing them with the terrible 
 j^enal laws. As Privy Councillors and Lord Justices, 
 and also as members of the House of Lords, the 
 bishops took a most active and influential part in 
 riveting the galling chains of those penal statutes 
 on the limbs of the Irish, and to the last resisted 
 every attempt to relax them. 
 
 Such is the history of the Church that claims to 
 
 be alone deserving of the title "The Church of 
 
 Ireland ! " I suppose that never since history began 
 
 has a claim been set up and a title assumed with 
 
 ^ " Short History," p. 360. ^ Richey, p. 362. 
 
 379 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 so little warrant, or a fiction foisted on the world 
 as history with so infinitesimal a nucleus of fact. 
 The case sought to be made for it is at every stage 
 in the history contradicted, discredited, and made 
 ridiculous by the real facts. If there be one title 
 more absurdly inappropriate than another from 
 every point of view it is the one in question. 
 When you want to flout or ridicule a person, you 
 fasten on him some designation which conveys the 
 reverse of what he is. To apply the title " The 
 Church of Ireland'" to the institution set up by 
 the Tudor sovereigns seems to any one who knows 
 its history like a cruel attempt at irony or satire. 
 It recalls a past which its best friends should desire 
 to have forgotten. 
 
 The Church in question will act more wisely to 
 take its stand upon its modern rather than upon 
 its ancient history. Its career in recent times is 
 at least respectable. Its ministers and people have 
 been doing good work, which gives them an honour- 
 able place among the denominations of the country. 
 Let them be content with that. Let them give 
 up the childish attempt to grasp at superiority 
 and exclusiveness, and at a title that denotes them. 
 It is certain that in no sense that consists with 
 truth or reality can the institution whose creation 
 and early career I have been tracing be called the 
 Church either of St. Patrick or of Ireland. Not 
 St. Patrick, but a " saint "' of a very different 
 pattern, namely, Henry VIII., is its true parent 
 and founder, and if it wants a name that will 
 record its real origin and history, that name is 
 "The Anglican Church in Ireland." 
 
 In a single sentence let me say in closing, that 
 380 
 
CHAP, xvii] "THE CHURCH OF IRELAND" 
 
 in no modern Church have we an exact transcript No modern 
 of the organisation of the old Celtic Church. It produces 
 was ruled by abbots, and governed by them neither ®^Jf "^ ^^'^ 
 as bishops nor as presbytei*s, for in some cases they cimrch. 
 were neither the one nor the other, but only laymen, 
 and, as I have said, women. But according to the 
 New Testament, external organisation is not of 
 the essence of what constitutes the Church. The 
 Church is the body of Christ. This it is that 
 continues from age to age ; and the body of Christ 
 is the whole conmiunity of believers, by whatever 
 name they are called. Every Christian Irishman 
 who has the same Lord and the same faith as St. 
 Patrick, the same baptism, the same God and 
 Father, who is above all, and through all, and in 
 all; who is animated by the same Spirit of life 
 and, love, and sustained by the same immortal 
 hope, is a member of the one body of Christ, which 
 continues through all the ages, and belongs, there- 
 fore, to the same Church as the great apostle of 
 Ireland. 
 
 38« 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 In the public lecture which it fell to me to give 
 at the close of last session, I discussed from a 
 historical point of view the claim of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of this country to be the lineal 
 successor and only modern representative of the 
 ancient Celtic Church of Ireland, and to be alone 
 entitled to the designation " The Church of Ire- 
 land." 
 is"Apos- In that lecture I promised to discuss now, at 
 
 tolical 
 
 succession' the opening of this session, the theory of Church 
 the true continuity which underlies the claim in question. 
 Church Now the bond by which, according to this view, 
 continuity? (;;jjuj,(.jj continuity is maintained is that with which 
 we are familiar under the name of " Apostolical or 
 episcopal succession. ''"* As defined by the leading 
 exponents of this doctrine, the Church is a visible 
 corporate unity which continues through all the 
 ages, and the continuity of this one visible body 
 depends on an unbroken episcopal succession coming 
 down from the apostles to the prelates of our own 
 time. The Holy Spirit and the grace which He 
 imparts, including fellowship with God and with the 
 life of God, are transmitted only through this suc- 
 cession, and through ministers episcopally ordained, 
 who constitute thus a special and privileged priest- 
 382 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 hood.^ Of " Apostolical succession,"' thus defined, 
 Canon Gore affirms that it is " a permanent and essen- 
 tial element of Christianity,'' and Palmer that it is " a 
 note of the true Church," and that " no conmiunity 
 which is without it can be a Church of Christ." If this 
 theory is sound, the larger half of Protestant Chris- 
 tendom is unchurched by it, and cut off' from fellow- 
 ship in the gi*ace of the Spirit, the life of the Son, 
 and the love of the Father, which the Church can 
 enjoy only through the medium of this succession. 
 
 In the brief time at my command to-day an 
 exhaustive treatment of this subject in all its bear- 
 ings is impossible. I can only glance rapidly at 
 some of its more important aspects and assumptions. 
 But before proceeding to do so, two remarks of a 
 general and preliminary kind suggest themselves. 
 
 1. The theory is incapable of proof. It requires incapable 
 that we should be able to trace the succession link ^ ^"^ * 
 by link from the prelates of our own time up to the 
 Apostles. Ignorance respecting a single link would 
 be fatal to that certainty about the true Church 
 which the succession is supposed to give. Yet no 
 competent and candid historian would affirm that 
 every link is traceable by sound historical evidence 
 to Apostolic times. The earliest successors of the 
 Apostles at Rome and elsewhere were, as we shall 
 see by-and-by, presbyter-bishops. Then, who would 
 undertake to trace the successions, and to prove 
 that there is no flaw in them, through the wild 
 ecclesiastical disorders of the tenth century, in- 
 cluding the time of " the Papal Pornocracy," when 
 ^ See Palmer on •' The Church of Christ," Part i. c. viii., sec. 5 ; 
 Haddon's "Apostolical Succession," c. i. ; Carter's "Doctrine 
 of Priesthood," c. v. p. 31 ; Gore's "Ministry of the Christian 
 Church," c. ii. pp. 70, 94, 120. 
 
 383 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 for a long series of years three women " of highest 
 rank and lowest character"" filled the Papal chair 
 with their paramours and bastards, and when in- 
 trigue, lawlessness, rapine, lust, and murder every- 
 where ran riot both in Church and State ? Precious 
 links in the chain of succession truly ! Singular 
 channels for the conveyance of the Holy Spirit 
 and His grace, even if we were sure that there 
 was no flaw in their consecration ! But who can 
 guarantee that their ordination in every case was 
 regular? And, remember, a single break in the 
 chain would vitiate the whole succession. What 
 folly to rest the very existence of the Church on 
 an external act which, human nature being what 
 it is, might easily fail to be performed ! The late 
 Cardinal Newman gave up the task of tracing the 
 succession as hopeless, and found the warrant of the 
 true succession in the present living authoritative 
 voice of the Church. When Canon Gore admits 
 the weakness and inadequacy of the "antiquarian'** 
 or " genealogical'" proof, but relies upon a special 
 Providence to preserve the succession, Newman has 
 answered him by anticipation. "If it is presum- 
 able,"" says Newman, "that a special Providence 
 precludes such flaws or compensates for them, they 
 (the Anglicans) cannot take the benefit of that pre- 
 sumption to themselves ; for to do so would be 
 claiming to belong to the true Church to which 
 the high Providence is promised, and this they 
 cannot do without arguing in a circle, first proving 
 that they are in the true Church because they have 
 valid orders, and then that their orders are valid 
 because they are in the true Church." i 
 
 ^ "Essays Critical and Historical," vol. ii. p. 89. 
 384 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 2. The so - called " Episcopal succession '" fails Fails to 
 to secure the very object for which the theory has ^^^^^^ 
 been framed. Its advocates are for ever insisting corporate 
 on the i^'mble corporate unity of the Church, of "'" ^' 
 which prelatical succession is the bond. Has it, 
 however, secured such unity ? Three different com- 
 munions claim to possess the Episcopal succession 
 — the Roman, the Greek, and the Anglican. But 
 these do not constitute one Church, or even three 
 " branches "*'' of one Church having visible corporate 
 union and communion ; they are three Churches com- 
 pletely severed from one another, not only not in com- 
 munion with one another, but refusing, most of them, 
 to recognise the others as true Churches at all. The 
 " visible corporate unity '^ and continuity are con- 
 spicuous by their absence. Now, if there is but one 
 visible corporate body, separation from it under any 
 circumstances is of course quite unlawful ; separation 
 from it is schism. 
 
 But we have deeper and more serious objections 
 to this doctrine. If, as Canon Gore affirms, Epis- 
 copal succession is "a permanent and essential ele- 
 ment of Christianity,'"' we may expect to have it 
 clearly and emphatically inculcated by the authori- 
 tative exponents of Christian truth. But not only 
 is there not a solitary word or line from our Lord 
 or His Apostles that lends countenance to this 
 theory : I must now proceed to show you that it 
 goes right in the teeth of the most vital and 
 fundamental teaching of the New Testament, and 
 that the clear testimony of early Christian history 
 equally condemns it. 
 
 1. No one can read the New Testament without 
 perceiving that Christianity is pre-eminently a 
 385 2 fl 
 
This theory 
 reverses the 
 New Testa- 
 ment prin- 
 ciple, which 
 sets 
 
 supreme 
 value on the 
 spiritual 
 and moral, 
 secondary 
 value on 
 forms. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 spiritual religion, a " ministration of the Spirit,"*' ^ 
 and that Christian ministers are " ministers of the 
 new covenant, not of the letter which killeth, but 
 of the Spirit which giveth life." It sets supreme 
 value on the spiritual and the moral, and reduces 
 external forms to a minimum. If there is one 
 thing which Scripture affirms more plainly than 
 another, it is the sovereign, free agency of the 
 Divine Spirit, who "divideth to every man sever- 
 ally as He will,''2 and of whom it is written, 
 " Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."" ^ 
 " As many as received Him, to them gave He power 
 to become the sons of God, even to them that 
 believe on His name ; which were born, not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 
 of man, but of God."*"** For as "the wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
 but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it 
 goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."'"' ^ 
 We shall see in a moment that the Holy Spirit 
 was given to the Church as a whole, and is pro- 
 mised to " them that ask Him,"" irrespective of 
 any connection on their part with a prelate. To 
 affirm that the grace of the Spirit and all the 
 blessings of salvation can reach the Church and 
 its individual members only through the manual 
 touch of a prelatical bishop, or rather only through 
 an unbroken series of such touches reaching back 
 to the Apostles, is to set a value on the external 
 and the arbitrary which the New Testament sets 
 only on spiritual and moral action ; it is to put 
 the Church and all its members at the mercy of 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 8. 
 ^ John i. 12, 
 
 I Cor. xii. i: 
 
 3B6 
 
 3 2 Cor. iii. 17. 
 ** John iii. 8. 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION'' 
 
 a few weak and erring men, and to seek to en- 
 slave the infinite, sovereign, free Spirit of the 
 living God to the will of ecclesiastics, who are 
 frail at the best, often capricious, and sometimes 
 have been even wicked and depraved. 
 
 2. This doctrine contradicts the New Testament it contra- 
 idea of the Church. "No bishop, no Church." ^^"^^,^^^ 
 How contrary this is to the teaching of the New mentideaof 
 Testament, whei*ein the office-bearers, as such, are 
 distinguished from the Church or Christian com- 
 munity, and the Christian community apart from 
 
 the officers is designated the Church.^ " Where two 
 or three are gathered together in My name, there 
 am I in the midst of them,*" says Christ.^ Theii* 
 being gathered together in the name of Christ, not 
 their being gathered around a prelatical bishop, is 
 what secures Christ's presence and constitutes them 
 a part of His Church. " I am the door [the door, 
 i.e. of the sheepfold, which is another name for 
 the Church]; by Me if any man enter in [not if 
 any man enter through the bishop], he shall be 
 saved, and shall go in and out, and find pas- 
 ture." ^ Who are described by Paul as being " no 
 more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens 
 with the saints, and of the household of God"? 
 Those who connect themselves with an Episcopal 
 community .'* Nay ; but those who " in Christ Jesus 
 are made nigh by the blood of Christ, and through 
 Him have access by one Spirit into the Father."* 
 The doctrine of Episcopal succession perverts the 
 Scriptural idea of the Church. 
 
 3. What is worse, it perverts the terms of salva- 
 
 ^ See Acts xx. 28 ; i Cor. xii. 28 ; i Tim. iii. 15. 
 * Matt, xviii. 20. ' John'x. 9. ^ Ephes. ii. 12-22. 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 It perverts tion, and adds a new condition of which there is 
 saivatiMi! ^ ^o hint in the Bible. All through the New Testa- 
 ment salvation is made to turn on faith in Christ 
 and union with Christ by faith. "If any man be 
 in Christ, he is a new creature."" " There is, there- 
 fore, now no condemnation to them that are in 
 Christ Jesus.*" " Come unto Me, all ye that labour 
 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.*" 
 " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
 be saved."" " Whosoever shall call on the name of 
 the Lord shall be saved."*"* The refrain of the High 
 Churchman, on the other hand, is — '' No salvation 
 without subjection to the bishop."*"* " As well might 
 one out of the ark of Noah have escaped the flood 
 as one out of the Church [i.e. the Episcopal fold] be 
 saved, because she alone is the bearer of the Holy 
 Spirit and of all grace. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus.'*'' 
 Such is the teaching of Cyprian in his De Unitate 
 Ecclesice, the Magna Charta of High Churchmen. 
 Voluntary separation from the Episcopal Church 
 Palmer describes as " a sin which, unless repented 
 of, is eternally destructive of the soul.'"* And this, 
 too, is substantially the teaching of Canon Gore 
 in the work referred to. Where Scripture puts 
 Christ, the High Churchman puts the Church, the 
 Episcopal organisation. He thrusts the bishop, the 
 priest, between the sinner and his Saviour. What 
 an audacious perversion of New Testament teach- 
 ing! It is not Christianity, but, as it has been 
 well called, Churchianity, and the great apostle of 
 it is not Peter or Paul, but Cyprian. 
 
 4. The idea of the ministry which this theory 
 involves is equally at variance with Scripture. 
 
 (1.) It represents the Christian ministry as a 
 ^88 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 sacerdotal caste, through whom alone the gifts ofitisntvarf- 
 Divine grace are transmitted. Now in the New the New 
 Testament there is no trace of, and no room left Teatement 
 
 rcDrcscntA* 
 
 for, a sacerdotal caste. The word " priest "" (hwretis) uon in its 
 is never applied in it to Christian ministers. They v*^^f^^e 
 are called " elders,'" " bishops," " pastors," " ambas- miniutry. 
 sadors," "stewards," but never "priests." They 
 are to teach, preach, watch, tend, rule; but they 
 are nowhere invested with exclusive "guardianship 
 of the grace by which Christians live " (Gore). The 
 spirit of all grace is given not to officials merely, 
 but to the whole Church. The passage in John xx. 
 21, 23 — " As my Father hath sent Me, even so send 
 I you. And when He had said this, He breathed 
 on them, and saith unto them. Receive ye the Holy 
 Ghost : Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are for- 
 given," &c., — is often cited in support of the claim 
 in question. It is certain, however, that others 
 besides the Apostles were present on the occasion, 
 for in Luke's account of the incident we hear not 
 only of " the eleven," but of " them that were 
 with them." "The commission must be regarded 
 as the commission of the Christian society," says 
 Bishop Westcott, " and not as that of the Christian 
 ministry." i " It must be noticed," says Plummer, 
 in his Commentary in the Cambridge Bible for 
 Schools and Colleges, " that it (the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost) is given to the whole company present, 
 not to the Apostles alone. . . . The commission in 
 the first instance is to the Christian community as 
 a whole, not to the ministry alone." So also Alford, 
 Lightfoot, Plumptre, Maclear, and, indeed, exegetes 
 generally. We thus see on what solid Scriptural 
 ^ See his ''Commentarj on the Gospel of John," p. 295. 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 ground the Reformers based their teaching that all 
 Church power resides in the last resort in the 
 Christian community as a whole, and not in the 
 episcopate. Even Hooker grants this, that " the 
 whole Church visible is the true original subject 
 of all power."" ^ Were it otherwise, did the Church 
 depend upon the episcopate, and were the episco- 
 pate to become, as it has often been, heretical and 
 corrupt, the chief Shepherd would be leaving His 
 sheep in the power of persons described by the 
 Apostle as "wolves." He has not done so; nor 
 has He anywhere invested the Christian ministry 
 with an exclusive priesthood, or informed them that 
 to offer propitiatory sacrifice is one of their pre- 
 rogatives. The great propitiatory sacrifice has been 
 offered "once for all,"" and does not need to be 
 repeated.^ Hooker also admits that the offering 
 of sacrifice is " no part of the Church ministry."'"' ^ 
 " The word presbyter,"*"* he says, " doth seem more 
 fit, and in propriety of speech more agreeable than 
 priest with the drift of the whole gospel of Jesus 
 Christ." * I may add that in the sub-apostolic 
 literature there is just as little trace of a sacerdotal 
 ministry as in the New Testament. It is only, as 
 Lightfoot well shows, "towards the close of the 
 second century we discern the first germs appearing 
 above the surface."" "But," he adds, "as Cyprian 
 crowned the edifice of Episcopal power, so also was 
 he the first to put forward, without relief or disguise, 
 these sacerdotal assumptions."" And the rise and rapid 
 growth of sacerdotalism Lightfoot traces to heathen 
 influences, and to "the increasing mass of heathen con- 
 
 1 "Eccles. Pol.," vii. 14. ^ Heb. ix. 28 ; x. 12-14. 
 
 » "Eccles. Pol.," V. 73. •» Ibid., v. 73. 
 
 390 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 verts who were incapable of shaking off their sacer- 
 dotal prejudices and appreciating the free spirit of 
 the Gospel."*^ ^ It was only two years after his conver- 
 sion from heathenism that Cyprian became a bishop. 
 
 Now the great English Reformers who founded the Sacerdot«i- 
 Church of England repudiated sacerdotalism. The jftlT/by'the 
 conception of Christianity as a sacramental and sac- English 
 rificial system, and of the ministry as a sticertlotal also. 
 caste, they emphatically rejected. In the " Institu- 
 tion of a Christian Man,'' drawn up and signed by 
 Archbishop Cranmer, the Archbishop of York, eleven 
 bishops, twenty-three doctors of theology and profes- 
 sors of canon law, and approved by the king and both 
 houses of Parliament, this order was issued : " As 
 touching the sacrament of holy orders, we will that 
 all bishops and preachers shall instruct and teach our 
 people . . . that in the New Testament there is no 
 mention of other degrees but of deacons or ministers, 
 and of presbyters or bishops,'' and that " power and 
 authority of any one bishop over another were and 
 be given them by the consent, ordinances, and posi- 
 tive laws of men only, and not by any ordinance of 
 God in Holy Scripture." ^ With good i-eason, then, 
 the Pope's Bull, issued the other day, directs atten- 
 tion to the view entertained of the Christian ministry 
 by the English Reformei's, and to the action taken by 
 them in the new ordinal which they framed. The 
 question which the Pope had to determine was. Does iiie Pope's 
 the Anglican Church possess true sacerdotal ordei*s ? [,^ed^on"" 
 He answers by an exceedingly emphatic " No," and thisrepudia- 
 one reason he assigns is that " whatever set forth the 
 
 * Dissertation on "The Christian Ministry " in '* Commentary 
 on Philippians," pp. 244-269. 
 
 '^ See Burnet's " History of Reformation," vol. i., Appendix. 
 591 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 dignity and office of the priesthood in the CathoHc 
 rite was deliberately removed from the Edwardine 
 ordinal at the Reformation." " In the whole ordinal,'' 
 he says, " not only is there no clear mention of the 
 sacrifice, of consecration, of the sacerdotium, and of 
 the power of consecrating and offering sacrifices, but 
 every trace of these things which were in the Catholic 
 rite was deliberately removed and struck out,**"* and 
 the rite of episcopal consecration was also " stripped 
 of the words which denote the summum sacerdotium.'^ 
 The addition in 1662 — a century later — of the words 
 "for the office and work of a priest,*" only shows 
 "that the Anglicans themselves perceived that the 
 first form was defective and inadequate.'*^ But even 
 if this latter form had been sufficient, which, accord- 
 ing to the Pope, it was not, he points out that it 
 came too late, for during the previous century the 
 hierarchy had become extinct. The Pope's Bull, 
 therefore, " pronounced and declared that ordina- 
 tions carried out according to the Anglican rite have 
 been and are absolutely null and utterly void." In 
 fact, as Cardinal Vaughan reminds them, "neither 
 Jansenist, Russian, Greek, nor any of the Eastern 
 sects who possess valid orders, had ever been able or 
 willing to recognise the validity of Anglican orders." 
 It is highly edifying in these circumstances to hear 
 the soft-hearted Cardinal express his deep concern 
 and profound sympathy with those who thus stand 
 " shivering in their insular isolation, disowned within 
 their own communion, as well as by the immense 
 majority of the English people " ! How cruel is the 
 irony of history ! Here are those who have been 
 wholesale unchurching others themselves severed 
 from the Catholic corporate unity, and left shivering 
 392 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 in the cold, in the position of miserable schismatics ! 
 No wonder Dr. Parker recently congratulated himself 
 and his hearers on this immense accession to the 
 ranks of the " dissenters *" in England. 
 
 (2.) But this doctrine is equally at variance with This theory 
 New Testament teaching with respect to Church with New 
 organisation. The place held by the Apostles as ?i*j!j™^"on 
 founders of the Church was in many respects unique, church or- 
 (fl) They had their commission immediately from Kan'^tion- 
 Christ, (b) It was essential that they should have 
 seen Christ after He had risen from the dead, to 
 enable them to bear witness of His resurrection, 
 (c) The gift of working miracles was also possessed 
 by them ; (d) and as Lightfoot indicates, their com- 
 mission was chiefly missionary in its import. " The 
 opinion,*" says that great scholar, " that the officers of 
 the Church who were first called apostles came after- 
 wards to be designated bishops is baseless. If the two 
 offices had been identical, the substitution of the one 
 name for the other would have required some ex- 
 planation. But, in fact, the functions of the apostle 
 and the bishop differed widely. The apostle, like the 
 prophet or the evangelist, held no local office. He 
 was essentially, as the name denotes, a missionary 
 moving about from place to place, founding and con- 
 firming new brotherhoods. . . . It is not, therefore, to 
 the apostle that we mtist look for the prototype of the 
 bishopr ^ It is obvious that in most of their essen- 
 tial characteristics the Apostles had no successors; 
 but in so far as they had successors in the work of 
 administering and governing the Church, those suc- 
 cessoi-s were presbyter-bishops. In this connection 
 
 ^ Lightfoot's dissertation on " The Christian Ministry " in his 
 '• Commentary on Philippians," pp. 195, 196. 
 393 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 they take the position of elders, and so designate 
 themselves. "The elders which are among you I 
 exhort, who am also an elder." ^ John also calls 
 himself an elder .^ Accordingly, in matters of Church 
 government, as at the Council of Jerusalem, the 
 Apostles associate the elders with themselves, and 
 co-operate with them.^ Hence, before the Apostles 
 had passed away, the power of governing the Church, 
 including ordination, had been given to presbyters, 
 and descended from them to other presbyters. For 
 observe that the presbyters are not only called 
 bishops, but exercise the so-called episcopal func- 
 tions of ordaining and ruling. Peter exhorts the 
 elders to " feed the flock of God, taking the episco- 
 pate thereof." * Timothy is ordained by " the laying 
 on of the hands of the presbytery"^ as Paul and 
 Barnabas are ordained to their missionary work by 
 the laying on of the hands of the "prophets and 
 teachers " at Antioch.^ The only local office-bearers 
 regarding whose appointment directions are given in 
 the pastoral epistles, wherein the Apostle is making 
 provision for the future government of the Church, 
 are presbyter-bishops and deacons. No directions 
 whatever are given with regard to prelatical bishops, 
 no provision is made for their appointment or con- 
 tinuance, nor is there any trace of them in the 
 literature of the first century. Timothy and Titus 
 were of course not local office-bearers at all. As 
 Lightfoot says, " It is the conception of a later age 
 which represents Timothy as bishop of Ephesus and 
 Titus as bishop of Crete. St. Paul's own language 
 
 1 I Peter v. i. ^ z John i. ; 3 John i. 
 
 2 Acts X. 44, 47 ; Acts xv. 6, 22 ; Acts xxi. 18, 19. 
 
 ^ I Peter v. i, 2. ^ i Tim. iv. 14. ^ Acts xiii. 1-3. 
 394 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 implies that the position which they held was only 
 temporary.'" As Hooker puts it, "Timothy and 
 Titus were presbyters of principal sufficiency, whom 
 the Apostles sent abroad and used as agents in eccle- 
 siastical affairs wheresoever they saw need.'" 
 
 If we pass for a moment from the New Testament The Episco- 
 into the literature of the sub-apostolic period, we Jeiop^ent 
 find all this abundantly confirmed. Scholars gener- 'rom the 
 
 . . Presbyter- 
 
 ally agi-ee with Lightfoot when he says : " The ate. 
 Episcopate xvasjbrmed not out of' the apostolw order 
 by localisation, hut out of' the Presbyter cd by elevation, 
 and the title which was originally common to all 
 came at length to be appropriated by the chief 
 among them."" ^ What a demolition, what a collapse 
 the " Apostolical succession "" theory suffers from this 
 one unquestionable fact, stated and proved by Light- 
 foot, that the episcopate was a development out of 
 the presbyterate ! Its significance in this connec- 
 tion has not been sufficiently accentuated. That 
 the fact was so is put l)eyond peradventure by the 
 evidence. We have this to begin with, that all 
 through the New Testament period "bishop"" and 
 "presbyter'^ were names for the same officer, and 
 used interchangeably. Then, from the Epistle of 
 Clement and from other sources, we know there was 
 no bishop in the later sense at Rome at the end of 
 the first century, but only presbyter- bishops and 
 deacons. Bishop Lightfoot admits that Linus, 
 Anacletus, and Clement were nothing more than 
 presbyter-bishops. Lipsius, who has made the list 
 of Roman bishops a matter of special study, con- 
 cludes, after a careful and critical examination of 
 the evidence, that Linus, Anacletus, and Clement 
 ^ Lightfoot's " Philippians," p. 196. 
 395 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 before the close of the first century, and Evaristus 
 and Alexander in the early part of the second 
 century, were presbyter -bishops in the Roman 
 Church, and that it was only after a.d. 139 that 
 monarchical episcopacy appeared there. Langen, 
 an Old Catholic, carries the line of presbyter-bishops 
 at Rome down to Alexander (a.d. 109-119). Such 
 also was the state of things at Corinth, as Clement's 
 Epistle puts beyond doubt, at the end of the first 
 century. Similarly, the Didache knows only of the 
 two orders of local officials in the region to which 
 it belongs. Polycarp's Epistle proves that there 
 were only the same two orders at Philippi, that 
 monarchical episcopacy was non-existent, and that 
 Polycarp saw no need for it at Philippi; and the 
 researches of Professor Ramsay in Asia Minor dis- 
 close a similar state of things there so late as at 
 the middle of the second century. Even in the 
 time of Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, to- 
 wards the end of the second century, the transition 
 to monarchical episcopacy is still in progress. As 
 Lightfoot says, though Irenaeus "views the episco- 
 pate as a distinct office from the presbytery, he does 
 not regard it as a distinct order." He constantly 
 speaks of the succession from the Apostles as "a 
 succession of presbyters." As the same scholar 
 points out, " the same estimate of the office appears 
 in Clement of Alexandria. The functions of the 
 bishop and presbyter are thus regarded as sub- 
 stantially the same in kind, though different in 
 degree, while the functions of the diaconate are 
 different from both." ^ To other facts equally im- 
 portant and significant the scholarly Bishop directs 
 ^ Lightfoot's " Philippians," pp. 226, 282. 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 attention. "At Alexandria,"" he says, "the bishop 
 was nominated and apparently ordained by the 
 twelve presbyters out of their own number.'' Jerome 
 states that " from the days of St. Mark the Evan- 
 gelist down to the episcopate of Heraclas and 
 Dionysius, the presbyters at Alexandria used always 
 to appoint as bishop one chosen out of their num- 
 ber and placed in the higher grade."*' ^ Hilary and 
 Eutychius take this appointment as including ordi- 
 nation. Hilary elsewhere affirms that "there is 
 one ordination for the bishop and the presbyter,"" 
 the bishop being simply qui inter preshyteros primus 
 est. Jerome, the greatest scholar in Latin Christen- 
 dom, positively affirms that "among the ancients 
 presbyters and bishops were the same; but little 
 by little, that all seeds of dissension might be 
 plucked up, the whole care was devolved on one. 
 As, therefore, the presbyters know that by the 
 custom of the Church they are subject to him who 
 is their president, so let bishops know that they are 
 above presbyters more by the custom of the Church 
 than by any actual ordinance of the Lord."^ All 
 these facts, and others of a like kind, put it beyond 
 reasonable doubt that the monarchical episcopate 
 was a development out of the presbyterate. If this 
 was so — and scholars generally accept of it — then 
 the first links in the chain of succession after the 
 Apostles were presbyters^ and thus the theory of an 
 " unbroken episcopal succession "" breaks down at 
 the very outset. 
 
 Unable to resist the force of these facts. Canon 
 
 Gore candidly succumbs to them. " No one, of 
 
 whatever pai-t of the Church,'"* he says, " can main- 
 
 ^ Ep. 146 ad Evang. ^ Jerome on Titus, 1-5. 
 
 397 
 
Canon Gore 
 admits the 
 true episco- 
 pacy of 
 presbyter- 
 bishops. 
 
 And thus 
 surrenders 
 his central 
 position. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 tain that the existence of what may be called, for 
 lack of a distinctive term, mon- Episcopacy, is 
 essential to the continuity of the Church **' (p. 73). 
 Referring to "the view (which is undoubtedly 
 supported by the Epistle of Polycarp, taken alone) 
 that the Churches in the West were governed 
 simply by a council of presbyters, who had no 
 superiors over them, and who therefore must be 
 supposed to have handed on their own ministry," 
 Canon Gore says that " there is no objection on the 
 ground of principle to this conclusion, viewed in 
 the light of the Apostolical succession, as has been 
 sufficiently explained already. These presbyter- 
 bishops legitimately 'ordained' and fulfilled epis- 
 copal functions because those functions belonged to 
 the equal commission they had all received. Sub- 
 sequently, at later ordinations, this full commission 
 was confined to one of their number, and the rest 
 received the reduced authority which belonged to 
 the presbyterate of later Church history " (p. 324). 
 Referring again to Jerome's testimony that one 
 of the presbyters at Alexandria succeeded to the 
 episcopate by the appointment of his fellow-pres- 
 byters. Canon Gore explains that "this would only 
 mean that the Alexandrian presbyters were by the 
 terms of their ordination bishops in posse '"* (p. 339). 
 Thus by the irresistible force of stern facts Canon 
 Gore is driven to surrender the very centre and 
 citadel of the position which his book was written 
 to defend. His argument in behalf of " Episcopal 
 succession'' comes to grief and utterly collapses 
 the moment it comes into close quarters with the 
 evidence. If all through the first century and far 
 into the second presbyterial ordination was suffi- 
 393 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 cient, it cannot be inadequate now, nor can pre- 
 latical ordination rise higher than its source in 
 presbyterial ordination. 
 
 5. The idea of Church continuity which this The scrip- 
 theory assumes is not the Scriptural idea. Far be conJinuh;y" 
 it from me to deny continuity in the Church; on 
 the contrary, I affirm it; only I maintain with 
 Scripture that it depends on the persistence not of 
 external accidental matters, but of things spiritual 
 and essential. The idea of continuity has taken 
 large possession of modern thought. It has been 
 called "the law of laws,*" the law by which other 
 laws act. We see it in the principle of the con- 
 servation of energy, according to which the amount 
 of energy in the universe is constant, although its 
 form may vary ; in the law of gravitation, by which 
 matter is affected wherever it exists; and in the 
 law of biogenesis, the law of life from pre-existent 
 life, and the law by which the plant or animal 
 preserves its type. It operates in the still higher 
 domain of character, which persists through the life- 
 time of the individual, and raises (as the authors 
 of the " Unseen Universe *" maintain) a strong pre- 
 sumption in favour of its continuation beyond the 
 grave, while it is bequeathed to futui-e generations. 
 It enters the field of history, and secures that each 
 successive epoch is in great measure the result of 
 antecedent influences and forces, making history 
 thus a living growth, and not a mere mechanical 
 succession of events manipulated by kings or govern- 
 ments. It would be strange if it did not obtain 
 also in the sphere of religion. There has un- 
 doubtedly been a continuity of the Church of 
 Christ from the beginning of its history till now. 
 399 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [paut v 
 
 Amid many external divisions, through profound 
 convulsions and vast changes, in the dissolution 
 and fall of empires, through times of weltering 
 chaos, when the foundations of society seemed to 
 be giving way, even in seasons of eclipse, when its 
 own light gTew dim and its own life ebbed low, its 
 continuity has not been broken. But the Church 
 or Body of Christ which is thus continuous is the 
 society of the faithful. Pastors and teachers have 
 been given "for the edifying of the body,^' but it 
 would continue to exist although not a prelate or 
 presbyter remained on earth, for every member of 
 it is himself a priest, with as full and immediate 
 access through Christ to God as that enjoyed by 
 the venerable tenant of the Vatican. Let no one 
 say that the Church, thus regarded, is a body with 
 out an organism, and therefore a contradiction 
 in terms. It has an organism more perfect and 
 effective than any external one could be, and of 
 which that of the natural body is but a faint and 
 imperfect image. It is " knit together *" or arti- 
 culated by "joints and bands," but its ligaments 
 are not an unbroken Episcopal succession, but 
 faith and love. The one essential bond of union 
 is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who unites the 
 members by faith to Christ, the Head, animates 
 them with one life from Him, makes them one 
 family or brotherhood, and fills them with love to 
 one another. It is "by one Spirit they are all 
 baptized into one body."^ The unity is, therefore, 
 Spiritual — "the unity of the Spirit" — "the unity 
 of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 God." " There is one body, and one Spirit, even as 
 
 1 I Cor. xi). 13. 
 4po 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION^' 
 
 ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, 
 one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, 
 who is above all, and through all, and in you all."" 
 The unity is Spiritual, and real just because it is 
 Spiritual ; whereas the unity secured by any exter- 
 nal organisation is only seeming. While it excludes 
 gi'eat multitudes whose characters and lives prove 
 that they are true disciples of Christ, genuine mem- 
 bers of His body, the external organisation, by the 
 admission of the exponents of Episcopal succes- 
 sion, embraces large numbers who are not true 
 Christians at all, not real members of Christ's body. 
 But while the " unity '"* of this theory is only seem- 
 ing, that which Paul expounds is real and genuine. 
 Being thus a living organism, the Church " increases 
 with the increase of God,"*' grows up into Him in all 
 things which is the Head, even Christ, " from whom 
 the whole body fitly joined together and compacted 
 by that which every joint supplieth, according to 
 the effectual working in the measure of every part, 
 maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of 
 itself in love.'"*^ This is the Church or body of 
 Christ which continues from age to age, and these 
 are the essential elements of its continuity. It is 
 beyond question that a ministry has been instituted 
 in the Church by our Lord and His Apostles, that 
 clear directions have been given for their continuance, 
 and that ordinarily that continuance is secured by 
 their election by the people and their ordination by 
 ministers already duly constituted; and, further, 
 that the only local office-bearers of whom we have 
 any trace in the New Testament are presbyter- 
 bishops and deacons. But this ministry is not a 
 
 1 Eph. iv. i6. 
 
 401 2 c 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 sacerdotal caste, and has no other or higher priest- 
 hood than that which belongs to Christians generally. 
 The transmission of the Holy Spirit and His grace 
 is not confined to them, but, with all Church power, 
 belongs to the whole Church, so that should a ministry 
 fail or become corrupt, the Church could originate 
 and appoint a new one. Thus, while the Christian 
 ministry exists for the well-being of the Church, it is 
 not essential to its being, nor any necessary part of 
 its continuity. The essential elements of its con- 
 tinuity lie, as we have seen, deeper. 
 The 6. The test of a Christian society which the 
 
 test oSrue doctrine I am examining requires is not the test 
 Church. which ScHpture recommends. Scripture does not 
 ask you by antiquarian research to find a Church 
 whose prelatical succession you can trace back step 
 by step through nineteen centuries to the Apostles ; 
 for Scripture does not expect you to perform an 
 impossibility. The most erudite historian that ever 
 lived would not be equal to the task, for the necessary 
 evidence is not extant ; or rather, there is more than 
 ample evidence to disprove the assumption. A much 
 more simple and effective criterion is prescribed. 
 "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,'' says our 
 Lord Himself, " neither can a corrupt tree bring forth 
 good fruit. . . . Wherefore by their fruits ye shall 
 know them.'' ^ " By this shall all men know that ye 
 are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."^ 
 "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of His." ^ Not any mere external, mechanical 
 qualification, such as circumcision or prelatical suc- 
 cession, but qualities spiritual and moral — a "new 
 creation," " faith working by love," and the " keep- 
 
 1 Matt. vii. 15-20. 2 John xiii. 35. ^ Rom. viii. 9. 
 
 402 
 
CHAP, xviii] " APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION " 
 
 ing the commandments of God "" — are the evidence 
 required to prove that men are "in Christ Jesus."" 
 "The individual life can enjoy fellowship with God 
 only through membership in the one body and by 
 dependence on sacraments of regeneration, confir- 
 mation, communion, absolution, of which minis- 
 ters episcopally ordained are the appointed instru- 
 ments ; " this is the teaching of Canon Gore. " If 
 we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk 
 in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth ; but if we 
 walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have 
 fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus 
 Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin ; ""* this is 
 the teaching of the Apostle John.^ He adds — 
 " Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep 
 His commandments ; '" ^ " We know that we have 
 passed from death unto life because we love the 
 brethren ; ''* and much more to the same effect. 
 
 What a splendid opportunity is thus offered to 
 the advocates of this doctrine ! They allege that 
 prelates only, and those prelatically ordained, are 
 " guardians of the gi'ace by which Christians live *" ; 
 that we can have the life of Christ and fellowship 
 with God only through them. If this be so — if 
 they only are the Divinely authorised channels of 
 Divine grace, if they only can give Christ's body 
 and blood to men for their life and nourishment, the 
 fact will be glaringly apparent in the lives of those 
 who enjoy this privilege — apparent in their pre- 
 eminent faith and love and holiness, and self- 
 sacrificing zeal, and no less apparent in the moral 
 degradation and spiritual barrenness of those miser- 
 able beings who live in communities where prelates 
 ^ I John L 6-7. 2 I John ii 3. 
 
 403 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 are unknown. Here is a short, practical, and de- 
 cisive method of settling this question. Is the 
 Word of God quick and powerful, fruitful in faith 
 and holy living only when preached by men pre- 
 latically ordained.? Are they who enjoy their 
 ministry, and they only^ good and true, gentle and 
 patient, temperate and virtuous, self-sacrificing and 
 Christ-like ? I make bold to affirm that in Chris- 
 tian faith and love, in purity of life, in philan- 
 thropic labours, and in missionary enterprise, and 
 in missionary success too, the non-Episcopal com- 
 munions will bear favourable comparison with those 
 which possess the extraordinary advantage of pre- 
 latical ordination. 
 Appeal of In connection with this question I cannot but 
 Alexander, refer in closing to some words spoken the other 
 day by the venerable primate. Dr. Alexander. "Are 
 we for ever to hold out hands in vain,*" he said, 
 " to our separated brethren ? '** We are not sure 
 whether Presbyterians are included in this appeal, 
 for, of course, as they never belonged to the Epis- 
 copal Church, they never " separated '^ from it, and 
 cannot appropriately be called " separated brethren ^^ 
 any more than Episcopalians themselves. If the 
 genial Primate meant to include us, I must frankly 
 own that I for one was not previously aware that 
 his hands and those of his clergy generally had been 
 so warmly and so wistfully held out to us, unless the 
 offer to absorb us into the " historic Episcopate " be 
 so regarded. In fact, some of us were under the 
 impression that till very lately many hands were being 
 held out in quite a different direction. If, however, 
 the good Primate and his brethren are now ready to 
 hold out friendly hands, and on equal terms, I 
 404 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION'' 
 
 believe there is not, as there never has been, any 
 obstacle on our side to friendly Christian fellowship 
 and co-operation. But we should like to know 
 more definitely what the kindly Primate means by 
 holding out his hands. Does he mean that he is 
 ready to recognise the ordination of our ministers as 
 valid, and to admit them to his pulpits ? Or does 
 he mean that before they can be admitted they 
 must be reordained, and so brought within the pale 
 of the "Apostolical succession"? If that is what 
 he means, I fear that for some time yet his hands 
 will be held out in vain. He speaks in glowing 
 terms of Protestantism, but it is open to grave ques- 
 tion whether any one who holds the doctrine of 
 "Apostolical succession'"* is in the original and 
 proper sense of the term a Protestant. The prin- 
 ciples involved in that doctrine are just the prin- 
 ciples which lie at the root and basis of the Papal 
 system, the very principles against which the Re- 
 formers protested and battled with all their might. 
 The so-called Protestant who accepts of them is not 
 the genuine article ; his is not the Protestantism of 
 the Reformers; he has already surrendered and 
 betrayed what the Reformers regarded as the funda- 
 mental principles of Protestantism. The one serious 
 and insuperable barrier to union and communion be- 
 tween Anglicanism and the non-Episcopal Churches 
 is just this doctrine of " Apostolical succession,"" and 
 the denial of the validity of the orders of the latter 
 by the former. It is a denial, indeed, which affects 
 Anglicans themselves much more than it does us. 
 As we don"*t believe in "prelatical succession,"" we 
 cannot regard it as any great loss or hardship to be 
 without it. If some Continental State denied to 
 405 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY [part v 
 
 England the right to call herself a nation, England 
 would not be much the worse, and if that State 
 presumed too much on the denial, she might discover, 
 to her surprise, that England is not without some of 
 the essential attributes of a nation. In the same 
 way the denial that we are a Church of Christ really 
 does not trouble us since we are quite convinced of 
 it ourselves. But such denial does affect those who 
 unchurch us. "To refuse to recognise those as 
 Christians who are Christians ; to refuse communion 
 with those in whom Christ dwells by His Spirit ; to 
 unchurch the living members of His body ; to with- 
 hold sympathy, fellowship, and co-operation from 
 those devoted to His service and crowned with His 
 blessing and recognition, is a great sin. It is that 
 sin of schism which all churchmen profess to regard 
 with special abhorrence." Besides, such excom- 
 munication cannot but react injuriously upon its 
 authors. It tends to foster spiritual pride and a 
 sense of superiority which is not salutary. The 
 Jews regarded themselves as special favourites of 
 Heaven because of their descent from Abraham, 
 and irrespective of character and life, and that belief 
 made them proud, self-righteous, bigoted and in- 
 tolerant. And the moderns who repeat the old 
 cry, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the 
 Lord, the temple of the Lord are we,"" are in 
 imminent peril of being as exclusive and contemp- 
 tuous as those who first uttered it. How momentous 
 in every point of view, gentlemen, that you should 
 rise above the narrow, exclusive, materialistic con- 
 ception of the Church on which I have been com- 
 menting — a conception which owes its genesis and 
 debasement to Pagan influences — that you should 
 406 
 
CHAP, xviii] "APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION" 
 
 learn to think of Christians everywhere, by whatever 
 name they are called, as brethren in Christ, of the 
 Church as the whole company of believers, and, like 
 the great Apostle, widen and enlarge your sympathies 
 till they include " all that in every place call upon 
 the name of Jesus Christ our Lord*" — the only 
 sense in which the Church can be properly called 
 " Catholic." 
 
 407 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 NOTE TO CHAPTER XVII 
 
 In a paper read before a clerical society by the Rev. L. A. 
 Pooler, M. A., and afterwards published, an elaborate attempt 
 is made to neutralise the facts set forth in the lecture con- 
 tained in Chapter XVII. Not because of the intrinsic import- 
 ance of the arguments presented in that paper, but because 
 complete silence with regard to them would be misunder- 
 stood, it may be proper here briefly to exhibit their real 
 character. 
 
 The method adopted by the critic in reviewing the first 
 part of the lecture in question is to minimise and obscure as 
 far as possible the numerous and fundamental points of dif- 
 ference, and to magnify to the uttermost the infinitesimal 
 and almost invisible points in common between the ancient 
 Celtic Church of Ireland and the Irish Protestant Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 I had pointed out that Henry VIII. was declared by statute 
 to be the ^^ supreme head," and Elizabeth the ^'supreme 
 governor" of the Church set up by them in Ireland in the 
 sixteenth century. My critic does not see how this affects 
 the matter at issue. It aifects it in this way. The titles 
 thus assumed by them were not nominal merely, but meant 
 real '' headship " and " government." The Church set up 
 by them was their own creation. The form given to it was 
 due, as Richey amply proves, not to the Irish people and 
 clergy, but simply to the will of the sovereigns (see ante, 
 pp. 359, 373-376, and the references to authorities in proof 
 of it). And attention was called to this to prepare the way 
 for what is fully demonstrated in a subsequent part of the 
 lecture (pp. 373-377, ante), namely, that what Henry VIII. 
 and Elizabeth attempted was not to revive the Celtic Church, 
 408 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 but to " Anglicise " the Church then existing. As Professor 
 Richey shows^ " The Protestant Episcopal Church was planted 
 in Ireland, not by any Irish party, nor with reference to 
 Irish interests, but as a portion of the policy of England, and 
 as part of the great scheme of Anglicising this country."^ 
 T\\e critic is wisely silent on this most vital part of the 
 question. 
 
 I had shown that the ancient Irish Church had no hier- 
 archical grades — no primate, no archbishop, no diocesan 
 bishop ; that these came into Ireland from a Roman source 
 in the twelfth century ; that the Celtic bishop was connected 
 with a single church, and that his position at best was no 
 other than the presiding minister of a congregation. This, 
 it seems, is quite immaterial. The addition of a hierarchy, 
 including diocesan Episcopacy, was, however, a tremendous 
 change upon the Celtic Church. Let it be done away with 
 in what now calls itself " ITie Church of Ireland ; " let pri- 
 mate, archbishop, diocesan bishop be abolished, and the 
 bishops be at the utmost ministers of congregations, and what 
 vital difference will then remain between that Church and 
 the non-Episcopal Churches, whose ministers are bishops, 
 ordain, and administer the sacraments ? It is this systematic 
 attempt to conceal the magnitude of the change from the 
 organisation of the Celtic Church to the modern hierarchical 
 organisation, and thus to hoodwink the public, that makes 
 much in Irish ecclesiastical history so worthless. 
 
 Ah ! but the essential thing is that the Celtic Church had 
 the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, says Mr. 
 Pooler. Let us not delude ourselves with mere words ; let 
 us rather scrutinise closely the things denoted by them. 
 Now the Celtic bishop was not a diocesan ; he had no juris- 
 diction over other clergy ; he was associated with a single 
 church, and was not more, at highest, than a congregational 
 bishop. True, a difference was made between him and the 
 presbyters. But in non-Episcopal Churches — in the Presby- 
 terian Church, for example — quite as great a difference is 
 made between the minister and his elders or presbyters. 
 True, the Celtic bishop ordained ; but in like manner in the 
 Presbyterian Church the minister only may ordain. It is 
 
 1 Richey's "Short History," p. 386. 
 409 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 his prerogative not only to ordain, but preside in the congre- 
 gation, preach, and administer the sacraments. He is, in 
 fact, a congregational bishop, and bears a much closer re- 
 semblance both to the second-century bishop and to the 
 Celtic bishop than the modern diocesan bishop does. It has 
 been shown, moreover, that the later diocesan bishop was a 
 development from the presiding presbyter-bishop of the first 
 century (see aw/e, pp. 393-398). 
 
 " Although the diocesan system did not exist, and could 
 not have existed," says Mr. Pooler, " yet there arose a state 
 of things more or less corresponding to it." But the ruler 
 of the so-called " spiritual diocese " in this case, that is, the 
 abbot, was not necessarily a bishop, but as often a presbyter. 
 ^^ Gradually," Mr. Pooler adds, ^^a further approximation 
 was made to the diocesan divisions, when bishops began to be 
 appointed to tribes." Then he quotes the " Lebar Brecc" 
 to the eifect that ^' there was to be a chief bishop for every 
 chief tribe in Ireland for ordaining ecclesiastics, consecrating 
 churches, &c. Now the '^Lebar Brecc" is a compilation, 
 according to Professor O'Curry, of the end of the fourteenth, 
 according to Dr. Whitley Stokes, of the fifteenth century. 
 It is a compilation of documents of various dates. The par- 
 ticular extract quoted by Mr. Pooler is assigned by Dr. 
 Whitley Stokes to the thirteenth century ! Diocesan Epis- 
 copacy had been already introduced in the beginning of the 
 twelfth century, although the earlier state of things persisted 
 more or less even after that. A document of this sort be- 
 longing to the thirteenth century is not of much value in 
 determining the state of things in the fourth or fifth ! In 
 the study of history it is of vital importance to attend to the 
 dates of documents. 
 
 I had shown that there was ^^ no regular succession of 
 bishops in the Irish Church," and that, in the words of Mr. 
 Olden, "the catalogues of successive bishops of Irish sees 
 must be illusive." This is admitted by all scholars, nor does 
 Mr. Pooler attempt to deny it ; but he goes on to aflfirm that 
 '' Armagh was never without a bishop." It is a pity that he 
 simply makes the statement, and gives not a particle of evi- 
 dence in support of it. I challenge him to produce the 
 evidence. Dr. Todd in his '^ Memoir of St. Patrick " gives 
 from a MS. in the " Book of Leinster " a list of the kings 
 410 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 of Ireland, with notices of the deaths of the abbots and bishops 
 at Armagh. In a few instances the coarbs of Patrick in this 
 catalogue are described as bishops, and in one or two other 
 cases the names of bishops occur, but in the great majority 
 of the records in this list there is no mention whatever of a 
 bishop, and no trace of one having existed. Dr. Todd states 
 that four ancient lists of the coarbs of St Patrick have been 
 preserved, and in fact gives the lists, but says, ''They all 
 bear evidence of having been drawn up at the close of the 
 eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century, when archi- 
 episcopal and diocesan jurisdiction was introduced ; and it is 
 probable," he adds, '' that their authors were influenced by 
 a wish to establish a claim to a regular episcopal succession, 
 at least at Armagh;" but the only semblance to such a 
 succession they could make out was a list of coarbs, who, as 
 a rule, were not bishops at all. Indeed, both Dr. Todd and 
 Dr. Reeves admit that there is no record of a series of 
 bishops at Armagh.^ 
 
 TTie enactment of the Synod of Cealcythe that '' no person 
 of Scotic (i.e. Irish) race should be permitted to exercise his 
 ministry in any English diocese, the first reason given being 
 'because it is uncertain by whom they were ordained, or 
 whether they were ordained by any one,' " Mr. Pooler con- 
 strues as a precaution against cases of fraud or imposture. 
 This only shows that Mr. Pooler has not really examined the 
 record of the decree on which he pronounces. It is true that 
 some four centuries later than this we do hear of pseudo- 
 bishops, pretending to be Irish, undertaking to perform 
 episcopal functions in England ; but in this case there is 
 absolutely no suspicion or suggestion of fraud. The reasons 
 for the enactment are expressly mentioned, one being that 
 given above, and the other because their orders are not 
 derived from metropolitan or diocesan bishops. 
 
 I had shown that the fundamental feature of the early 
 Irish Church was its monasticism ; that its real rulers were 
 the abbots ; that to lack this is to lack the most essential 
 feature of early Irish Church organisation ; and that the 
 Church which overthrew monasticism can hardly be identical 
 
 1 See Todd's " St. Patrick," p. 172, and Reeves's " Antiquities," 
 p. 136. 
 
 411 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 in form or order with that which cherished it as its most 
 distinctive and all - controlling institution. Mr. Pooler's 
 crushing reply is the somewhat peevish query, ''How can 
 this affect the question ? " We rather think that most people 
 not blinded by prejudice will admit that it affects it a good 
 deal. 
 
 I had referred to the value set on shrines, relics, and the 
 like in the Celtic Church, and to the 97th Canon of the 
 Church set up by the Tudors, which denounces these as 
 ''monuments of superstition." I of course touched on this 
 in passing to show that not in organisation only, but in 
 deeper matters still the modern Church differs from the ancient 
 one. To notice it at all was, it seems, to " mistake accidents 
 for essentials." 
 
 For the same purpose I had spoken of " the moral and reli- 
 gious ideal of the Celtic Church " as different, happily, from 
 that of our Protestant Episcopal brethren. Though I imagined 
 I had made clear what I meant by this (see p. 367^ ante), 
 Mr. Pooler has some strangely irrelevant remarks on the 
 subject. What the ideal was appears in the legends that 
 grew up in the minds of the monks as to the spiteful 
 miracles, and the lying, deceit, cursing, &c., which they im- 
 pute to the "saints." Then he adds : "It will be a great 
 day not merely for the Church of Ireland, but for Christen- 
 dom at large, when the ideal of Christendom shall be again 
 as high as was the ideal" of certain Irishmen whom he men- 
 tions. Any one who turns to Chapter XIV. of this volume 
 will see what I meant by " the moral and religious ideal of 
 the Celtic Church," how inadequate Mr. Pooler's knowledge 
 of that Church seems to be, and how foolish are his aspira- 
 tions. Of course I do not deny that in such men as Columba 
 and Columbanus there is much to admire. 
 
 In the critic's remarks on the Anglo-Norman period there 
 is nothing that calls for notice. It is satisfactory to find him 
 admitting that there was only one Church in Ireland dur- 
 ing that period. On the subject of what, from the New 
 Testament and Christian point of view, constitutes Church 
 continuity, I refer to Chapter XVIII. of this volume. It is 
 there shown that it is certainly not "apostolical succession." 
 
 We come now to the Reformation period. 
 
 I had shown that Curwin, the fountain of orders for the 
 412 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Tudor Church, was an Englishman, .ind ordained by Eng- 
 lishmen. Mr. Pooler answers : " Irish orders are not distinct 
 from the orders of the Christian Church. What we have to 
 show is not that Irish orders are distinctively Irish without 
 intermixture, but that they are Christian ; and when a man 
 holding Christian orders works legally [italics not mine] in 
 the Church of Ireland, he is a member of the Church of 
 Ireland, and of the ministry of the Church of Ireland." Mr. 
 Pooler thus abandons the citadel of the position, that to which 
 all the advocates of the theory I was meeting attach vital 
 importance. In writings and speeches without number it 
 has been asserted that the Protestant episcopal succession is 
 traceable through Irish bishops up to St. Patrick, and on 
 this alleged fact the claim to be truly " Irish " is based. If 
 this claim is abandoned, I have of course nothing more to say 
 on this part of the subject. I am not now concerned to deny 
 the derivation of orders from an English bishop or bishops. 
 Even if the orders had been derived from an Irish source, 
 that would not constitute a handful of English officials into 
 an Irish Church. But if they are not Irish, and the great 
 body of the Irish people remained outside it, as they did, on 
 what ground does the Tudor Church claim the title " The 
 Church of Ireland " } Is a mere legal enactment, forced on 
 Ireland by the will of despotic rulers, enough to make such 
 a handful of English officials "The Irish Church" in any 
 real sense.'' Is the basis of the claim then a mere ''legal" 
 fiction.'* 
 
 Passing by some things that are irrelevant, I now come to 
 what is by far the choicest morsel in the paper I am review- 
 ing. Mr. Pooler says: ''There was no scliism in the Church 
 of Ireland during the reign of Henry VIII. There was only 
 one Church, and Browne the Reformer, and Cromer and Dow- 
 dall, who opposed the Reformation, were members" (p. 17). 
 Again, " We now come to the first schism in the Church 
 of Ireland. Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, and for 
 eight years the only Church in this country was the Church 
 of Ireland. But in the year 1567 the Pope established a 
 branch of the Roman Church in this country, under the 
 control of persons who are known as ' titular bishops,' and 
 who are the origin of the Roman bishops as at present exist- 
 ing in this land " (p. 22). 
 
 413 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Many amusing attempts have been made to make out a 
 case for the Church set up in Ireland by the Tudors. For a 
 good while it M'as a favourite expedient to maintain that from 
 1171 to 1535 two Churches existed in Ireland^ one of them 
 the Celtic Church, to which the native Irish adhered, and 
 the other the Church of Rome, the Church of the Anglo- 
 Norman invaders ; and that what Henry VIII. did was to 
 push aside the intrusive Anglo-Norman Church, and to rein- 
 state the old Irish Church. But the facts were too stubborn 
 for this theory, and it had to be abandoned. Mr, Pooler 
 himself has thrown it over. To say that the new theory 
 announced by Mr. Pooler is the most ridiculous and puerile 
 of all, and a most barefaced perversion of the patent facts of 
 history, is a mild way of putting it. It is the last desperate 
 shift of a cause in extremis. 
 
 In the first place, both Henry VIII. and Elizabeth had 
 broken oiF from the Roman Communion. If there is any- 
 thing at all in the principle of^ unbroken visible corporate 
 unity," a principle which is the very core and centre of 
 High Churchism, the complete severance both in England 
 and in Ireland from Rome was a violation of that '^ visible 
 corporate unity," and, from the High Church point of view, 
 a case of gross and palpable schism. 
 
 In the next place, the Church set up in Ireland by Henry 
 VIII. and Elizabeth was, as I have shown already (see ante^ 
 pp. 369, 379 seq. ), accepted only by the official class, chiefly 
 English, and only nominally by them. The great body of 
 the Irish people and clergy never for a moment ceased from 
 communion with Rome, and all through stood completely 
 aloof from the Tudor structure. As Professor Richey shows, 
 the statutory measures were a dead letter as regarded the 
 mass of the population. "They were," he says, "Acts of 
 Parliament sitting in Dublin, and had no more result than 
 numerous other Acts of similar Parliaments relative to 
 secular affairs." ^ The new Church, as he points out, extended 
 ittle beyond the Government officials, and was far from in- 
 cluding the whole of these. This is put beyond doubt by 
 the Calendars of State Papers edited by Mr. Brewer.^ In 
 
 1 "Short History," p. 361. 
 
 2 See the vol. for 1515-1574, and the vol. for 1575-15S8. 
 
 414 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 his Introduction to the second of the volumes mentioned 
 below, Mr. Brewer shows that "preachers and people re- 
 mained equally obstinate." As regards " the mass of the 
 population," he says : '* In their estimation it was reason 
 sufficient to condemn whatever England approved, to hate a 
 doctrine propagated by English bishops, to whom they had 
 never been accustomed to listen, and with whose residence 
 among them they had associated much of their miseries and 
 misfortunes. If Irish Catholics had been lukewarm before, 
 this alone was enough to inflame their zeal in defence of 
 their ancient faith ; to bring out in prominent relief the 
 Papal tendencies of Ireland ; to induce them to regard their 
 priests, whether of their own nation or of other nations, with 
 a veneration and respect they had never paid even to their 
 chiefs."^ Again, ^^ Is it surprising that the mass of the 
 Irish people, who had never known what it was to be ruled 
 by a king, to whom the supremacy of the Pope had been 
 the mainstay of their religion, above all, who had never been 
 prepared for the change, should have obstinately resisted.'* 
 Is it strange that their obstinacy should have grown in pro- 
 portion to the severity of the measures employed to enforce 
 the obnoxious maxim .^ In vain the highest ecclesiastical 
 preferments in Ireland were offered to the most able and 
 most uncompromising advocates of the new doctrine. Few 
 in number, unaided by their clergy, coldly supported in 
 general by the Deputy, the cardinal doctrine of English 
 Protestantism fell unheeded from the lips of a few right 
 reverend preachers. Received with menaces and defiance 
 even in the Cathedral of Dublin, guarded as it Mas by the 
 Deputy and his soldiers, it found no hearers beyond those 
 walls, it made no proselytes." ^ 
 
 But now, w hat about the Irish bishops ? Mr. Pooler, re- 
 ferring to Mr. Froude's assertion on this subject, describes 
 him as an imaginative writer. Here is what Mr. Froude 
 wrote in a letter to Dr. Maziere Brady : " I have examined, 
 I believe thoroughly, all the Irish State Papers in the 
 Record Office during and from the time of Henry VIII. to 
 1674, and it is from them, in connection with the voluminous 
 
 ^ "Calendar of State Papers (Carew), 1575- 1588," Introd. p. 
 xvii. 2 Ibid., p. xii. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 MSS. in Spain on the same subject, that I draw my con- 
 clusion respecting the supposed conversion of Irish bishops 
 and clergy to the Reformation. / am thoroughly convinced 
 that {with the exception of the Archbishop of Dublin) not one of 
 Queen Marys bishops, nor any one of the clergy beyond the 
 Pale went over to the Reformation" (italics not mine). The 
 mere assertion that Mr. Froude was imaginative is not 
 enough, without some evidence, to set aside this state- 
 ment of his. The case of Field will be referred to in a 
 moment. 
 
 But Mr. Pooler writes as if we depended in this matter on 
 the sole testimony of Mr. Froude. It is not so. The late 
 Dr. Maziere Brady investigated the question with great 
 learning and industry, and has given the result in several 
 treatises, especially in his work " The Alleged Conversion of 
 the Irish Bishops to the Reformed Religion at the Accession 
 of Queen Elizabeth ; and the Assumed Descent of the Pre- 
 sent Established Hierarchy in Ireland from the Ancient Irish 
 Church Disproved" (Longmans, Green & Co., 1806). In 
 this work the old stale misstatements on this subject, which 
 are repeated afresh by Mr. Pooler, are completely refuted. In 
 the preface Dr. Brady says that in collecting materials for the 
 '' Clerical and Parochial Records of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross," 
 he was engaged for many years in examining the published 
 works and unpublished archives relating to the Reformation 
 period, and could not fail to remark that no documentary 
 evidence was forthcoming to verify the received opinions 
 touching the asserted conversion of the Irish bishops, and 
 the descent of the Reformed Episcopate from the ancient 
 Irish Church. He sought admission, he says, to the archives 
 at Rome, found the researches of Theiner, and had the use 
 of unpublished transcripts from the Roman archives by Dr. 
 Moran, then Vice-Rector of the Irish College at Rome. In 
 Cotton's ^' Fasti Ecclesias Hibernicae," in the State Paper 
 Office in London, in the Patent Rolls of Ireland, and in 
 Theiner's '' Vetera Monumenta," he found much assistance ; 
 and the evidence of the Roman archives he was able to verify 
 by manuscripts in the Bodleian Library and the State Paper 
 Office. In minute detail he goes over all the Sees, adducing 
 clear evidence with regard to each, and the general result he 
 sums up in the declaration that " there is not a particle of 
 416 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 evidence upon record to prove that any of the Marian bishops, 
 except Curwin, became Protestants. . . . I am thoroughly 
 convinced that (with the exception of the Archbishop of 
 Dublin) not one of Queen Mary's bishops, nor any one of 
 the clergy beyond the Pale, went over to the Reformation. 
 Of the clergy scarcely any within the Pale went over. . . . 
 Not one of Queen Mary's prelates, except Hugh Curwin, 
 can be proved to have had any part in the consecration of 
 an Elizjibethan bishop. Indeed, Usher, Ware, and Harris, 
 although fully alive to the importance of such a discovery, 
 were unable even to name a single Irish bishop who could be 
 said to have assisted Curwin, and to have thus transmitted a 
 dubious claim to the Irish succession. ... As Curwin was 
 English by consecration and birth, the present episcopate of 
 the Reformed Anglican Church in Ireland cannot now be 
 connected, as far as consecrations are concerned, with the 
 pre-Reformation Irish hierarchy. All the more modern 
 bishops in Ireland, except those who have been translated 
 from English Sees, must trace their ecclesiastical pedigree 
 backwards to one or other of those eight bisho))s who formed 
 at the Restoration in 1660 the entire episcopate of the Estab- 
 lished Church in Ireland." 'flien he traces the consecration 
 of each, and finds as a result that " of the eight bishops of 
 1660, some were Scotsmen, some were Englishmen, one was 
 a Welshman, but not one was of an Irish family." He shows 
 that " of the twenty-six bishops alive in 1558, twenty-five 
 were natives of Ireland, and continued Roman Catholics." 
 
 Even in the case of those who took the oath of supremacy, 
 and were put on commissions by Elizabeth, Dr. Brady proves 
 that they continued Roman Catholics. This was so even 
 as regards Field or O'Fihel of Leigh lin, mentioned by Mr. 
 Pooler. He, with the other Marian bishops, except Curwin, 
 is denounced as "Irishe" by a Royal Commission. Dr. Brady 
 adds, that " the oath of supremacy and abjuration was offered 
 and taken within the Pale, but with modifications, and a free 
 use of the maxim that oaths are to be interpreted ej: armno 
 imponenth: Outside the Pale it was not offered during the 
 first part of Elizabeth's reign, for enough law did not prevail 
 beyond tlie limits of the English colony." He quotes many 
 authorities in support of these various statements ; and also 
 of the fact that bishops deprived by the Queen continued to 
 act as bishops, and ruled their dioceses, and that, although 
 
 417 2 D 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 employed by the Queen in [various ways, bishops continued 
 Roman Catholics. As an introduction to the study of this 
 subject, I recommend to Mr. Pooler the perusal of this and 
 other treatises by Dr. Maziere Brady. 
 
 Mr. Pooler wrote to Mr. Gladstone to ask whether he 
 intended to interfere with the title of the Church disestab- 
 lished by him. Here is Mr. Gladstone's answer : " In ap- 
 proaching- the question of Irish disestablishment my leading 
 idea was this — We were about to carry the Established 
 Church of Ireland out of an existence defined by statutory 
 conditions into one purely voluntary and severed from State 
 authority. Our duty, as it appeared to us, was this — (1) To 
 make that severance complete. (2) To take care that, in 
 effecting it, we did not lacerate nor in any way impair the 
 means of action belonging to her as a Church, and we left 
 her the fullest liberty to assert any and every claim she 
 might consider herself to possess on other than statutory 
 grounds. So far as our intention went, it was not our busi- 
 ness to provide her with a title." (Italics mine.) Mr. Pooler 
 is entitled to all the comfort he can extract from these words ! 
 But observe, Mr. Gladstone's duty was to " make the sever- 
 ance from State authority complete," and to take care in 
 effecting it to give her the fullest liberty to assert any claim 
 she might possess "on other than statutory grounds." I have 
 shown that "on other than statutory grounds" she has no 
 claim whatever to the title " The Church of Ireland." I may 
 add that Earl Spencer, as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under 
 Mr. Gladstone's Government, stated to a deputation from 
 the General Assembly of the Irish Presbyterian Church, that 
 the Attorney-General for England and the Attorney-General 
 for Ireland had both given the Irish Government the opinion 
 that the disestablished Episcopal Church was not entitled to 
 the designation " The Church of Ireland," and that the Irish 
 Government could not use it. When the Conservatives came 
 into power a counter-opinion was got from their law-officers. 
 Any one who reads the latter opinion, as given by Mr. Pooler, 
 will see on what flimsy " statutory " grounds the opinion is 
 based — namely, on incidental references to the disestablished 
 Church in the Irish Act of 1869 and subsequently, refer- 
 ences which, to be understood, had to describe the Church 
 in such terms as are employed. What a basis on which to 
 rest the justification of the title, " The Church of Ireland " ! 
 418 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbots, the real rulers of the 
 
 Irish Church, 167, 177 
 Abbot's Knoll, 236 
 Adamnan, 22, 58, 139, 221, 279 
 Adrian IV., Pope, Bull of, 326; 
 
 his obsequiousness, 343 
 ^dh, king of Ireland, 241 
 JEdh, Bishop, 63 
 -S]dh Dubh, ordination of, 184 
 -ffidilhun, 210 
 
 ^ngus, king of Munster, 174 
 Africa, proconsular, 200 
 Aidan, the apostle of England, 
 
 4; his ordination, 185 seq.; his 
 
 work in England, 248 
 Aidan, king of British Dalriada, 
 
 241 
 Aileach, Hill of, 21 
 Ailech, monastery of, 218 
 Ailcluaide, 59, 71 
 Alban or Caledonia, 20 
 Alban, St., 74 
 Albanian Ficts, 10 
 Albinos, 213 
 Alcuin, 58, 213, 214, 272 
 Aldfrid, 211 
 
 Alexander, Archbishop, 404 
 Amator, 94 
 
 Anamchara or "soul-friend," 181 
 Anglican Church in Ireland, 
 
 192, 378 
 Anglican orders. Pope's Bull on, 
 
 391 
 
 4»9 
 
 Anglo-Norman Church, two sec- 
 tions of, 348, 368 
 
 Annadown, 218 
 
 Annegray, old Roman fort of, 
 258 
 
 Annoit, the, 145 
 
 Anselm, 88, 319 
 
 Antiphonary of Bangor, 1 24, 1 58 
 
 " Antiquities " of Bishop Reeves, 
 64 
 
 Aodh Finn, 35 
 
 Apostles, their place in primitive 
 Church, 393 ; had properly no 
 successors, 393 
 
 Apostles, twelve, of Erin, 157 
 
 Apostolic canons, 199 
 
 "Apostolical succession," the 
 theory defined, 382 ; incapable 
 of proof, 383; Newman on, 
 384 ; corporate unity not 
 secured by, 385 ; contradicts 
 New Testament, 385 ; repudi- 
 ated by the Reformers, 391 
 
 Archbishops, modern, unknown 
 in Celtic Church, 360 
 
 Architecture, 31 
 
 Ardbishops, 168 
 
 Ardnamurchan, 239 
 
 Ardri, 16 
 
 Argyleshire (Airer Gael), 20, 234 
 
 Argyll, Duke of, on Columba, 
 222 
 
 Aries, Synod of, 75 
 
INDEX 
 
 Armagh, ii6, 212, 297 
 
 Armoy (Airtlier Maige), 114 
 
 Arran, 35 
 
 Aryan tribes, 26 
 
 Aspect of ancient Ireland, 40 
 
 Attacotti, 71 
 
 Augustin, his mission, 72 ; his 
 
 interview with the British 
 
 bishops, 165 
 Aulus Plautius, 73 
 Auricular confession, 124, 315 
 
 Ballybetagh, 40 
 
 Ballyligpatrick, 82 
 
 Ballyshannon, 42 
 
 Bangor, 157, 296 
 
 Bannavem Taberniae, 68-69 
 
 Banshee, 42 
 
 Baronius, 164, 313 
 
 Basel Hymn, 58 
 
 Bede, 55, 56, 91, 165, 177, 249 
 
 Beehive houses, 36 
 
 Beltane, 42 
 
 Benen, 27, 151 
 
 Beret, 79 
 
 Bernard, St., 164, 173, 317 
 
 Bishops in Celtic Church, 170- 
 
 205 
 Blur, the river, 226 
 Bobbio, 268 
 Book of Acaill, 26, 45 
 Book of Armagh, 63-64, 182 
 Book of Ballymote, 44 
 Book of Durrow, 182 
 Book of Kells, 182 
 Bregenz, Columbanus at, 266 
 Brehon laws, 24 seq., 75, 139 
 Brehons, 24, 29 
 Brendan (of Birr), 1 57 
 Brendan (of Clonfert), 157, 216 
 Brian Boroimhe, 17, 80, 305, 
 
 307 
 Bricriu, 18 
 
 Bright, 104, 172 
 Brigid, St., 152 seq., 157 
 Britains, the (Britanniae), 60, 70, 
 
 83 
 
 British Christianity derived from 
 East, 74 
 
 Britons, the early, 10; when 
 Christianised, 72-75 
 
 Brocan, 152 
 
 Broccaide, 152 
 
 Bruce, Edward, 80 ; his invasion 
 of Ireland, 342, 344 seq. ; de- 
 feated at Faughard, 345 
 
 Bruce, Robert, 342 
 
 Brude, 235, 239 
 
 Brugh-na-Boyne, 34, 108 
 
 Brunehild, 265 
 
 Buckna, 82 
 
 Buid chonaill (yellow plague), 
 225 
 
 Bull of Adrian IV., 326; its 
 genuineness, 328 
 
 Cabrmarthen, Black Book of, 
 
 71 
 Caesar, 12 
 
 Caillin, St., 35, 278 
 Cain Patrick (Patrick's law), 27 
 Cainnech, 229 
 Cairbre Riada, 20, 80 
 Cairnech, 27 
 Caledonia or Alban, 20 
 Callech {see Gallus) 
 Calpornius, 72 
 Canice, 157 
 Canon Patraic (Book of Armagh), 
 
 64 
 Cantyre, 235 
 Carlingford, 299, 300 
 Carlyle, dictum of, 53 
 Cams or tumuli, 33, 34 
 Cashel, decree of Synod of, 337 
 Cashels (or Cathairs), 36 
 
 420 
 
INDEX 
 
 Castletown Fort, i8 
 
 Catalogue of Saints, 58, 170 
 
 Cathbad, 115 
 
 Catholicism, Professor Sohm on, 
 142 
 
 Cato on Celts, 12 
 
 Cealcythe, Synod of, 168, 411 
 
 Celestine, Pope, 47, 55, 75, 89 
 
 Celsus, 317 
 
 Celtic Church, its story interest- 
 ing. 4 
 
 Celts, 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 13 
 
 Champion, 183 
 
 Cheetham on primitive Episco- 
 pacy, 202 
 
 Chorepiscopi, 197 
 
 Christ Church Cathedral, 316 
 
 Christian, Bishop of Lismore, 
 
 337 
 Chronicle of Prosper, 47 
 Chronicon Hyense, 186 
 Chronology of Patrick's life, 67 
 Church, true test of the, 402 
 Church continuity, 399 
 "Church of Ireland," claim to 
 
 the title examined, 355 
 Church organisation, 142 
 Cianan, 152 
 Cinnenum, 78 
 Cists (or cistvaens), 33 
 Clann, 14 
 Claudian, 23 
 Claudius, 73 
 Clement, 213 
 Clergy, married, in Irish Church, 
 
 75 ; held secular ofiices, 76, 
 
 232 
 Clonard, 155, 223 
 Clonmacnois, 160, 232 
 Clontarf, battle of, 309, 322 
 Coarb (heir or successor), 143- 
 
 145 
 Coarb, Patrick's, 167 
 Coilbad, 115 
 
 Colcu, 213 
 
 Coleraine, 172 
 
 Colgan, 65, 93, 94 
 
 Colman, Bishop, 25 
 
 Colmenar, 7 
 
 Columba, Lives of, 220 ; his birth, 
 222 ; education, 223 ; erects 
 three hundred churches, 229 ; 
 sets out for lona, 230; his 
 motive, 230 ; visits Brude, 240 ; 
 his death, 244 ; his character, 
 245 ; reputed miracles, 278, 279 
 
 Columba (son of Crimthan), 157 
 
 Columbanus, Life of, by Jonas, 
 253 ; birth, 253 ; education at 
 Cleenish and Bangor, 254 ; sets 
 out on mission and reaches 
 Burgundy, 255 ; appearance of 
 the missionary band, 255 ; 
 region where settle in Vosges 
 Mountains, 256-258 ; his severe 
 discipline, 259, 260 ; collision 
 with Frankish clergy, 262 ; 
 letter to Gregory, 263 ; letter 
 to Boniface IV., 264 ; expul- 
 sion by Brunehild and Thierry, 
 265, 266 ; at Bobbio, 268 ; 
 death, 269 ; character, 270 
 
 Comber, 116 
 
 Comgall, 157 
 
 Commemoratio Laborum, as- 
 cribed to Patrick, 59 
 
 Committee to revise laws, 27 
 
 Communion in both kinds, 124, 
 
 315 
 Compairche, the, 145 
 Conaire II., 20, 80 
 Conall Giilban, 35, no 
 Conall Kemach, 18 
 Conary the Great, 1 7 
 Condlaed, 155 
 Conchessa, 77 
 Conn-Ced-Cafhach (Conn of the 
 
 Hundred Battles), 20, 314 
 
 421 
 
INDEX 
 
 Conn of the Poor, 76 
 
 Connaught, Patrick visits, 1 1 1 
 
 Connor, 115 
 
 Conor MacNessa, 17, 18, 30 
 
 Constantius, 74 
 
 Contra Collatorem, 48 
 
 Cooldreevny, battle of, 147, 231, 
 
 23s 
 Core, 27 
 Cormac MacArt, 21, 26, 40, 44- 
 
 47 ; a Christian, 43 seq., 71 
 Coroticus, 59 
 Crann, 38 
 Craanogs, 38 
 Crimthann, 71, 72 
 Criterion of historical testimony, 
 
 85 
 Croagh-Patrick, 113 
 Croghan, 18 
 Crom Cruach, 43, no 
 Cromdubh, no 
 Cromlech (or dolmen), 32, 33 
 Cronan, 159 
 Cruithne or Picti, 10 
 Cruithnechan, 223 
 Cuailnge (Cooley), 18 
 CuchuUin, 18, 31, 35 
 Cnlbrandan, 218 
 Culfeightrin, 115 
 Cumine, Life of Columba by, 220 
 Cummian, 57, 314 
 Curnan, slain by Diarmaid, 146, 
 
 231 
 Cursing in Irish Church, 280, 
 
 281 
 Curwin, Archbishop, 369 
 
 Dabonna, 152 
 Dagan, Bishop, 166 
 Daire, 27, 116, 
 Daire-Calgaich, 226 
 Dalaradia, 10, 79, 115 
 Dal-Cais, the, 305 
 
 Dalriada, 80, 1 15 ; British, 242, 243 
 
 Dalta, the, 145 
 
 Danars, 293, 299 
 
 Danes, the coming of the, 291 ; 
 first appearance in Ireland, 
 295 ; aided by Irish dissen- 
 sions, 298 ; terror caused by, 
 299 ; oppressions of, 304 ; de- 
 feated by Brian Boru, 306 ; 
 conversion of, 315 ; Church 
 under, 311 ; unite with Church 
 of Rome, 316 
 
 Danish invasions, three periods 
 in the, 294 
 
 Darcachein, the Hui, 116 
 
 Darerca, 78 
 
 Dathi, 24 
 
 De Barry, Robert, 332 
 
 De Burgo, 339 
 
 De Burgos, the, don saffron 
 robes, 345 
 
 DeCourcy, 117, 339 
 
 "De Rerum Natura" of Bede, 56 
 
 Decurio, 60, 76 
 
 Dedannans, 6 
 
 Deis or rights, 15 
 
 Deer's cry, 62 
 
 Dermot, 23 
 
 Dermot MacMurrough, king of 
 Leinster, 329, 331 
 
 Derry, 226, 227 
 
 Diarmaid, 147, 230 
 
 Dichuil, 213, 271 
 
 Dignitaries, three free, 146 
 
 Dimman, 115 
 
 Diocesan Episcopacy, unknown 
 in early Irish Church, 168, 361 ; 
 Todd, Skene, Olden on, 169 
 
 Diocletian, his persecution, 74 
 
 Doctrine, Patrick's, 120-124; 
 of Scripture, 121 ; of the 
 Trinity, 122; of grace, 123; 
 of Lord's day, 123 ; of the 
 Lord's Supper, 124 
 
 422 
 
INDEX 
 
 Dolmens (or Cromlechs), 32, 33 
 Domhanghard (Donard), 104, 105 
 Donaghmore, 103 
 Donald, Bishop, 319 
 Donaldson, Dr., on historical 
 
 evidence, 85 
 Donogh, 309 
 Dowth, 34 
 
 Druada or magi, 42, 46 
 Druidical priests, 109 
 Drumceatt, Convention at, 241 
 Drumcliffe, 229 
 Drumeeny, 115 
 DrumtuUogh, 115 
 Dubhthach, 27, 109, no 
 Dublin, founding of, 297 ; taken 
 
 by Normans, 334 
 Duffack, 153 
 
 Dumbarton (Ail Cluaide), 59, 70 
 Dunan, 316 
 Dundalgan, 18 
 Dundalk Bay, 299 
 Dungal, 300 
 Dun-leth-glass (Downpatrick), 
 
 117 
 Danlagaidh, 35 
 Dunraven, Lord, 106 
 Duns, 35, 36 
 Dunsverick, 115 
 Durrow, 228, 232 
 Duv-Gralls, 293, 299 
 Dysart, Souterrains at, 37 
 
 Easter Controversy, 165, 167, 
 
 251 
 Easter Eve, 42 
 Ecbatius, 77 
 Ecgbert, 210 
 Ecgfrid, 79 
 Education in early Ireland, 
 
 207 
 Edward I., 342 
 Edward II., 344 
 
 I Egypt, monasticism first appears 
 
 in, 134 
 Eithne, mother of Columba, 223 
 Elysium, Irish, 41 
 Emain or Emania, 18, 21 
 Eoghan Mor (or Mogh Nuadhat), 
 
 20 
 Epic literature, Irish, 30 
 Episcopacy in early Irish Church 
 
 173 ; St. Bernard on, 362 ; 
 
 Lanfranc on, 362 
 Episcopate developed from the 
 
 Presbyterate, 395 
 Ere, Patrick's disciple, 1 38 
 Erc's sons, 115 
 Eric, 25 
 Eriu, 10, II 
 Etchen, 224 
 Ethnea the Fair, in 
 Eusebius on British Church, 74 
 Extreme unction, 315 
 
 Fauqhart, 153 
 Fedelma the Ruddy, 1 1 1 
 Fedhlimidh, father of Columba, 
 
 223 
 Feidhlimidh, bishop-king, 281 
 Feidhlimidh MacCriJffan, king of 
 
 Cashel, 298 
 Feis, the, established by Ollamh 
 
 Fodla, 19, 23 
 Fergil (Virgilius), 212, 271 
 Fergus, 35, 115 
 Ferguson, Sir Samuel, 47^ 
 Ferleighinn, 213 
 Fiacc's Hymn, 58, 65, 70, 91, 151 
 Fianna, 31 
 Fileadh, 30 
 Findchan, 184 
 Finn-Galls, 293, 299 
 Finnian (of Clonard), 155, 223 
 Finnian (of Maghbile), 160 
 Finn MacCumhaill, 23, 31, 44, 45 
 
 423 
 
INDEX 
 
 Firbolgs, 5 
 
 Fitzgeralds, the, 332 
 
 Fitzstephen, Robert, 332, 333 
 
 Five Bloods, the, 339 
 
 Flaiths (or nobles), 15 
 
 Foclut, 84 
 
 Fomorians, 5 
 
 Fontenay, 261 
 
 Forests, 40 
 
 Forradh, 22 
 
 Fothrad, 115 
 
 Franks, 50; and Romans, 125 
 
 Friar Clynn, 348 
 
 Fursa, St., 271 
 
 Gaels, two branches of, 10 
 
 Gailiuns of Liogarne, 6 
 
 Gallus (St. Gall), 159, 266, 268 
 
 Gartan, 222 
 
 Gartnaidh, 243 
 
 Gelasius, 317 
 
 Gemman, 148, 223 
 
 Germanus, 75, 94 
 
 Giant's Causeway, 5, 71 
 
 Gildas, 74 
 
 Gillebert, 164, 316 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, 168, 314 
 
 Glasnevin, 160 
 
 Glen Mama, 306 
 
 Gluaire, 116 
 
 Glynn, 116 
 
 Gore, Canon, admits the episcopal 
 
 functions of presbyters, 398 
 Gormlaith, 308 
 Graine, 23 
 
 Great men, influence of, 53, 54 
 Gregory IX., Pope, 351 
 Grimm, 8 
 Guntram, 257 
 
 Haddon and Stubbs, 74, 75 
 Harald Haarfagr, 293 
 
 Harnack, Dr. Adolph, on primi- 
 tive Church organisation, 199 
 
 Harris, 104 
 
 Henry II., 324 seq. ; gets Papal 
 sanction to his conquest of 
 Ireland, 326 ; occasion of his 
 coming, 329 ; lands at Water- 
 ford, 335 ; welcomed by the 
 clergy, 336; at Dublin, 336; 
 change of policy, 338 
 
 Henry VIII. supreme head of 
 Irish Church, 359 ; his aim to 
 Anglicise Ireland, 372, 373 ; 
 which included the Angli- 
 cising of the Church, 374 seq. 
 
 Herenaghs, 365 
 
 Hiberio, 10 
 
 Hiberionaces, 10 
 
 Hiberni, 10 
 
 Hierarchical grades of modern 
 Church unknown in Celtic 
 Church, 300 
 
 Hildebrand, 326 
 
 Hill of Slane, 42, 108 
 
 Honorius, Pope, 313 
 
 House of Heroes, 22, 23 
 
 Hymn of St, Cummine Fota, 58 
 
 Hymn of St. Patrick, 62 
 
 Iberian origin, some Irish of, 
 
 17 
 Iceland, Irish mission to, 272 
 Ideal of moral and religious life 
 
 in Irish Church, 276, 366 
 lerne, 10 
 Inchaguile, yS 
 Inis Banba, 1 1 
 Inis Ealga, 1 1 
 Inis Fail, 10 
 Inis Fodla, 1 1 
 Inis-na-Beeva, 11, 40 
 Invocation of saints, 124, 315 
 Inverness, 240 
 
 424 
 
INDEX 
 
 lona, name and aspect of island, 
 235 ; Duke of Argyll on, 236 ; 
 its monastery, 238 ; centre of 
 influence, 243 
 
 Ireland, early names of, 10, 11 
 
 Irish Christianity, early, defects 
 in, 274 ; relapse into paganism, 
 276 
 
 Irish Church, relation to Rome 
 in early period, 163-167, 311- 
 320 ; wherein it differed from 
 Rome, 312 ; early independ- 
 ence, 163, 312, 358 
 
 Irish clergy excluded from Eng- 
 lish livings, 349 
 
 " Irish enemies," 306, 340, 349 
 
 Irish liturgies, 164 
 
 Irish missionaries, 270 
 
 Irish races, 6, 8 
 
 Island Magee, 116 
 
 Ita, St., 216 
 
 Jablath, St., 216 
 
 Jerome on British Christians, 
 75 ; on Pelagius, 75 ; on epis- 
 copacy, 397 
 
 Jocelyn, 66, 95, 114 
 
 John XXIII., Pope, 342 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, on lona, 
 238 
 
 Kkllach and St. Kieran, 176 
 Kells, founding of, 228 ; Synod 
 
 of, 317 
 Keltar, Rath, 18 
 Keltar of the Battles, 18 
 Kieran, St., of Saigir, 139, 157, 
 
 278 
 Kieran, St., the Artificer, 157 
 Kilbally, 212 
 Kilbrandan Sound, 218 
 Kilbride, 154 
 
 Kildare, 152 »eq. 
 
 Kilkenny, Statute of, 345 ; its 
 
 object, 346 
 Killinchy, 104 
 Killmacrennan, 222 
 Kilroot, 172 
 Kinship, root idea of Irish social 
 
 system, 14 
 Knowth, 34 
 
 Lacy, Hugh de, 338, 339 
 
 Lamartine, saying of, 3 
 
 Lambay, 229 
 
 Landlordism in Ireland, origin 
 of, 15 
 
 Lanfranc, on Irish ordinations, 
 88; claims jurisdiction in 
 Ireland, 316 
 
 Langen on early Roman bishops, 
 396 
 
 Lanigan, Dr., 69, 124, 319 
 
 Laoghaire, King, 24 ; his daugh- 
 ters, III 
 
 Laserian, 313 
 
 Laurentius, 165, 166 
 
 Laws, ancient, 24, 25, 26 
 
 Leachta, 32 
 
 Learning in pre-Christian Ire- 
 land, 28 
 
 Lebar Brecc, 71, 171 
 
 Lecale (or Maghinis), 102, 103 
 
 Ledwich, 55 
 
 Leth Chuinn, or Conn's Half, 20, 
 
 314 
 Leth Mogha, or Mogh's Half, 20, 
 
 314 
 Lewis, Sir G. Comewall, his 
 
 test of credibility, 85 
 Lia Fail, 22 
 
 " Liber Pontificalis," 90 
 Lightfoot, Bishop, on Aidan, 4 ; 
 
 on Pompon ia Graecina, 73 ; on 
 
 early Roman bishops, 395 
 
 425 
 
INDEX 
 
 Limania, or Liamain, 78 
 
 Lindisfarne, 248 
 
 Lipsius on early Roman bishops, 
 
 395 
 Lis, 36 
 Lismore, 160 
 Lissanisky, 36 
 Litany of ^ngus, 174 
 Liturgical Tract, 58 
 Livingstone, David, on early 
 
 monasticism, 261 
 Lochaber, 239 
 Loire, 23 
 Lough Corrib, 78 
 Lomman, 151 
 Lorica (or Hymn) of Patrick, 62, 
 
 109 
 Lome, 234 
 Lough Neagh, 296 
 Lough Owel, 297 
 Lough Ree, 297 
 Loughbrickland, 18, 172 
 Love of country, 3 
 Lugnaid, 78, 152 
 Lupait, 78 
 Luxeuil, 261 
 Luxeuil Calendar, 58 
 Lymmavaddy, Inquisition at, 364 
 
 MacErc, 103 
 
 MacFirbis, his Book of Gene- 
 alogies, 6 
 MacNisse, Bishop of Connor, 1 1 5 
 Macroig, Fergus, 18 
 Maelmorda, 306, 308 
 Magh Lene, 314 
 Maghera, 104, 172 
 Magheramorne, 116 
 Maghinis (Lecale), 103, 119 
 Mahee Island, 103, 104, 151 
 Mahon, 305 
 Mailduf, 271 
 Maine, Sir Henry, 26 
 
 Malachi, Archbishop of Armagh, 
 
 165, 317 
 
 Malachi, king of Ireland, 307, 
 308, 309, 3" 
 
 Malchus, 316 
 
 Malmesbury, 271 
 
 Manis, 152 
 
 Marcus, Life of Patrick by, 93 
 
 Marriage of Patrick's father and 
 grandfather, 61 
 
 Martin, St., of Tours, 134 
 
 Martyrologium, Bede's, 56 
 
 Martyrology of Donegal, 174 
 
 Meath, 16, 172 
 
 Mebh (Maive), 17, 18 
 
 Mel, 152 
 
 Mellifont, 318 
 
 Merovingian kings, 257 
 
 Metropolitan jurisdiction, early 
 Irish Church without, 167 
 
 Milesians, 6, 8 
 
 Miliuc or Milchu, 79, 82, 102, 
 103 
 
 Milman, 256 
 
 Miracles, absence of, from Pat- 
 rick's "Confession," 61 
 
 Miracles by Irish saints, speci- 
 mens of, 277, 278, 279 
 
 Missionary achievements, 215 
 
 Mobhi, 157, 225 
 
 Mochay, 151 
 
 Mochta, 151 
 
 Mogh Nuadhat, 20 
 
 Molaise, 157, 225 
 
 Molua, 278 
 
 Mommsen on characteristics of 
 Celts, 12, 13 
 
 Monasterboice, 160 
 
 Monasteries, Irish, 136-149 
 
 Monasticism in Irish Church, 131 
 seq., 365 
 
 Moronus on monastic school of 
 Lismore, 211 
 
 Morven, 239 
 
 426 
 
INDEX 
 
 Mound of Cow, 22 
 
 Mound of Hostages, 22 
 
 Movilla, 160, 296 
 
 Moylinney, 80 
 
 Moyslecht, 43, no 
 
 Muckamore, 172 
 
 Mugenog, 152 
 
 Muintir or familia, 140 
 
 Muirbhech Mil, 35 
 
 Muirchu, his memoir of Patrick, 
 
 58, 63, 90 
 Mull, 236 
 MuUaghshee, 42 
 Mur Tea, 22 
 Murrogh, 306, 308, 309, 310 
 
 Nathi, 48 
 
 Nationality, Irish, 16, 17 
 
 Navan Fort, 18 
 
 Neambuach, 22 
 
 Nektan, 152 
 
 Nemedh, legend of, 8 
 
 Nemedians, 5 
 
 Nemthur, 70, 71 
 
 Nendrum, 103, 137 
 
 Nennius, 93 
 
 Neo-Platonism, 133 
 
 New Grange, 34, 108 
 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, 17, 
 
 23 
 Ninnine's Prayer, 58 
 Ninnian, 75 
 Ninnidh, 157 
 
 Norman conquests, 323, 324 
 Norsemen at home, 291 ; how 
 
 driven away, 292 ; Irish towns 
 
 founded by, 293 
 Northern Hy Niall, 23 
 
 O'Connor, Turlough, 330 
 O'Curry, lectures on MS. materi- 
 als, quoted, 6 ; on education, 
 207 seq. 
 
 O'Donnell, Manus, his Life of 
 
 Columba, 221, 230 
 O'Donovan, Dr., 126 
 Ogham inscriptions, 37 
 Olcan, Bishop of Armoy, 114 
 Olden, Rev. Thomas, 178, 350 
 Ollamhs, 28, 29, 242 
 Ondbahum, 77 
 Oran's, St., Chapel, 236 
 Ordination in early Irish Church, 
 
 87, 184, 241 
 Organisation of early Irish 
 
 Church, 16, 162, 163, 192 
 O'Rourke, Tiernan, 330, 339 
 Ossian's picture of Finn Mac 
 
 Cumhal, 45 
 Oswald, King, 248 
 Oswy, King, 251 
 
 Palladius, 47, 48, 49 
 
 Papal exactions, 351 
 
 Papal jurisdiction, early Irish 
 Church free from, 163 
 
 Paparo, Cardinal, 317 
 
 Partholonians, 5 
 
 Patrick, the true apostle of Ire- 
 land, 49, 53 ; his existence 
 questioned and proved, 54-56 ; 
 names of, 68 ; birthplace, 69 ; 
 how he came to be a Christian, 
 72 ; his mother, 77 ; his sisters, 
 78; captivity, 68, 78, 81, 82; 
 escape, 83 ; his call, 84 ; source 
 of his commission, 84 seq. ; al- 
 leged residence on Continent, 
 95 ; by whom ordained uncer- 
 tain, 96; his character, loi, 
 127; his usual policy, 107; 
 often in peril, 107 ; interview 
 with King Laoghaire, 109; 
 with Laoghaire's daughters, 
 III; his death, 117, 119; 
 where buried, 117; his doc- 
 
 427 
 
INDEX 
 
 trine, 120 seq. ; causes of suc- 
 cess, 125, 126 ; reputed mira- 
 cles, 276 ; and curses, 280 
 
 Patrick, a Danish bishop, 316 
 
 Pelagius, 75 
 
 Perpetual fire, 155 
 
 Petrie, Dr., 19, 78 
 
 Petty, Sir W. , on population of 
 Ireland, 172 
 
 Picts, 10, 75, 79 
 
 Pig, the, 41 
 
 Pomponia Graecina, 73 
 
 Pope, was Patrick commissioned 
 by the, 84 seq. 
 
 Potitus, 72 
 
 Primatial jurisdiction, early 
 Irish Church without, 167 
 
 Promised land, 217 
 
 Probus, 65, 93 
 
 Prosper of Aquitaine, 47, 49, 55, 
 89 
 
 Queens, 40 
 
 Radiance, a year's, after Pat- 
 rick s death, 119 
 Raholp, 172 
 Ramoan, 172 
 Ramsay, Professor, 31 
 Raphoe (Rath-Both), 228 
 Rasbee, 116, 172 
 Rath Caelchu, 23 
 Rath Graine, 23 
 Rath Laoghaire, 22 
 Rath Muirbhuilg, 104 
 Rath of Synods, 22 
 Rathbreasil, Synod of, 169, 170, 
 
 317 
 
 Rathlin, 136, 172, 295 
 Rathmore, 79 
 Rath-na-Riogh, 21 
 Raths, 36 
 Raymond le Gros, 334 
 
 Red Branch Knights, 18, 31 
 
 Reeves, Bishop, 57, 58, 64, 80, 
 82, 193 
 
 Reilig Oran, 237 
 
 Religion of pre-Christian Ireland, 
 41 scq. 
 
 Restitutus, 78 
 
 Ri or king, 16 
 
 Richey, Professor, on ancient 
 Irish laws, 27 
 
 Rights, Book of, 26 
 
 Rioc, 152 
 
 Roads, 40 
 
 Roman coins found in Ireland, 71 
 
 Roman See, change of tone to- 
 wards, 318 
 
 Romans withdrawn from Britain, 
 72 
 
 " Romish wolves," 166 
 
 Rossa, 27 
 
 Ross-na-Righ, 47 
 
 Round Towers, 301, 303 
 
 Route, 80 
 
 Ruadhan, 147, 157 
 
 Ruric, 323 
 
 Saints, Irish, their character, 
 
 281 seq. 
 Saladin's tenths, 351 
 Salisbury, John of, 326 
 Saltair of Tara, 45 
 Saman, 19 
 Sanday, Professor, on primitive 
 
 Episcopacy, 201 
 Sannan, 78 
 Saul, 102, 117 
 Scanlan Mor, 242 
 Schools, endowed secular, 207- 
 
 209 
 Schools, monastic, 209-211 
 Scoti, 10, II 
 Scotia, ancient name of Ireland, 
 
 10, II 
 
 428 
 
INDEX 
 
 Scotia Major, 1 1 
 
 Scotia Minor, ii 
 
 Scotland, origin of name of, 20 
 
 Scots from Dalriada go to 
 
 Cantyre, 223 
 Scotus Erigena, 159, 213, 3CX) 
 Scribe, 182 
 Scribings, 34 
 Secundinus (Sechnall), 57, 90, 
 
 152 
 Sedulius, 212 
 Senchus Mor, 26, 27 
 Sept, a group of families, 14 
 Sepulchral mounds, 33, 34, 108 
 Serpents, legend of expulsion of, 
 
 "3 
 
 Seven bishops, groups of, 174 
 
 Shane, 42 
 
 Shrines, &c., 366 
 
 Sidh (Shee), 41 
 
 Sigefroi, 295 
 
 Sigerson, Dr., 81 
 
 Sigurd, 308, 309 
 
 Sinnell, 157 
 
 Sitric, 308, 310 
 
 Skene, Dr., 66, 69 
 
 Skelligs, 105, 106 
 
 Skerry, 82 
 
 Slane, 108, 302 
 
 Slany, the river, 102 
 
 Slavery in Ireland, 325 
 
 Slemish, 79, 81, 102 
 
 Slieve Donard, 104 
 
 Slieve Slainge, 105 
 
 Social organisation of early 
 
 Irish, 14 
 Solinus, 114 
 
 Sources for Patrick's life, 59 seq. 
 Souterrains (subterranean 
 
 houses), 37, 38 
 Southern Hy Niall, 23 
 Stilicho, 23 
 
 Stokes, Dr. Whitley, 66 
 Stokes, Margaret, 32 
 
 Stokes, Professor G. T., 59, 350 
 " Stowe Missal," 124, 319 
 Strongbow (Richard de Clare), 
 
 331-334 
 
 Succession in Irish Cliurch, law 
 of, 188 ; no regular succes- 
 sion of bishops, 190, 364 ; St. 
 Bernard on, 191 ; alleged lineal 
 descent of the modern Irish 
 Episcopal Church from St. 
 Patrick, 369 
 
 Suffragans unknown in early 
 Irish Church, 194 
 
 Sullivan, Dr., on early Irish 
 races, 7 
 
 Sullivan's Introduction to 
 O'Curry's " Manners and Cus- 
 toms of Ancient Irish," 8 
 
 Sun-worship, 42 
 
 Sweat-houses, 39 
 
 Swords, 229 
 
 Tacitus, 6, 73 
 
 Tailltenn, 19, 35, no, 232 
 
 Tain-bo-Cuailnge, 18 
 
 Tanist, 16 
 
 Tara, 17, 19, 21-22, 107, 147, 
 
 284-286 
 Teach -an -alais (sweat-houses), 39 
 Tenenan, 302 
 Termon lands, 298 
 Tertullian on evangelisation of 
 
 Britain, 74 
 Theodosius, 72 
 Theodosius, the Emperor, 92 
 Thierry, King, 265 
 Thierry on characteristics of the 
 
 Celts, 12 
 Tigris, 78 
 Tirechan, Collections of, 64, 92, 
 
 III, 113, 118 
 Tiree, 218 
 Tithes, 140 
 
 429 
 
INDEX 
 
 TIachta, 19, 42 
 
 Todd, Dr., his memoir of St. 
 Patrick, 66, his chronology of 
 Patrick's life, 66 
 Tonsure, Irish, 87 
 Torques, 22 
 Torr Abb, 236 
 Torvean, 239 
 Tory Island, 229 
 Transition in architecture, 40 
 Trebbia, death of Columbanus 
 
 at, 269 
 Trias Thaumaturga, 65 
 Tribal constitution of society 
 impaired the central sove- 
 reignty, 17 
 Tribe, the, 14-15 
 Tribe -land, right to, 14 
 Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, 49, 
 
 66,94, 113 
 Tuath, 14, 146 
 Tuathal, King, 19 
 Tubernacool, holy well, 82 
 Tumuli (or Cams), 33, 34 
 Turgesius, 296, 297 
 Turlough, 310 
 
 Types, two distinct, of early 
 Irish, 7 
 
 Ulidia, 30, 127 
 
 Ulster patriotism, M. Arnold on, 3 
 
 Ultan, Bishop, 64, 92 
 
 " Vaticanising " antiquity, 162 
 Vaughan, Cardinal, on Anglican 
 
 orders, 392 
 Viking, 293 
 Vinland, 323 
 Virgin, worship of the, 315 
 
 Walhalla, Scandinavian, 41 
 Wasserschleben's " Irish Can 
 
 ons," 87, 89 
 Watermills, 40 
 Wattled houses, 36 
 Whitby, Synod at, 251 
 Wicklow, Palladius lands at, 48 ; 
 
 Patrick lands at, loi 
 Wilde's, Sir W., "Beauties of 
 
 the Boyne," 108 
 Wilfrith, 251 
 
 William the Conqueror, 326 
 Willibrord, 272 
 Witikind, 295 
 
 Yellow plague, 225 
 
 ZiMMER on genesis of the le- 
 gend of a Roman Mission of 
 Patrick, 95 
 
 Zug, Columbanus at, 266 
 
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 MAR 2 9 2004 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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