/ / 
 ' ///,/. 
 
 ,/.-, 
 
 WM* 
 
THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST. 
 
LONDON : PRtHTRD IIT WTU.1AM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STKEKT 
 ANP CHARING CROSS. 
 
THE STORY OF THE IRISH 
 BEFOEE THE CONQUEST. 
 
 FROM THE MYTHICAL PERIOD TO THE INVASION 
 UNDER STRONGBOW. 
 
 BY 
 
 M. C. FEBGUSON. 
 
 LONDON: 
 BELL AND DALDY, YOKE STREET, 
 
 COVENT GAEDEN. 
 
 1868. 
 
MORSE 
 
 STEPHENS 
 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 WE are told, in the Senchus Mor, that, when Saint 
 Patrick had completed the arrangement of that Digest 
 of the Laws of the Gael of Ireland, his coadjutor, 
 Dubtach, who was a Bard as well as a Brehon, " put a 
 thread of poetry round it." So, the writer of this little 
 Digest of the Irish Historical Story has endeavoured to 
 intertwine, with the trite detail of names and succes- 
 sions already often chronicled, whatever more interest- 
 ing incidents can be drawn from the new sources of 
 heroic and picturesque material laid open to the Eng- 
 lish reader by the labours of lately-deceased, and of 
 living, Irish scholars. If it be objected that a some- 
 what too favourable view is taken of a rude age and 
 savage manners, it may with truth be said that any 
 errors of sympathy are more than counterbalanced 
 by the undue contempts of which, for many ages, all 
 native Irish historic and legendary material has been 
 the object. And the writer believes that, in forming 
 an estimate of any national character, it is better to 
 err, if at all, on the side of sympathy and respect. 
 
 509961 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 The Irish tradition, however rude, is the intellectual 
 food which has nourished in a long series of generations 
 the only literary life that has subsisted amongst them. 
 To the philosophic historian, no less than to the poet 
 and romance-writer, it is a material full of interest. 
 But the principal object to be hoped for in these pages 
 would be achieved, if the work should happily influence 
 refined and candid minds towards a more tolerant and 
 sympathizing view of the mental tastes and acquisitions 
 of several millions of their countrymen. 
 
 20 NorQi. Great Georges Street, Dublin. 
 December, 1867. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MYTHICAL PERIOD. 
 
 I 
 
 Aborigines preyed on by African pirates. Colony of Partholan. 
 Colony of Nemed. Siege of Tor Conaing. Battle of the 
 White Strand. Arrival of the Firbolgs. Their works in 
 stone. Arrival of the Tuath De Danaans. Battles of Moy- 
 ture. Characteristic differences in Arms. Arrival of the 
 Milesian Scoti. Chivalrous conduct of the Scoti. Battle of 
 Tailti. The Scoti conquer the island. Its distribution. 
 The laws and social polity of the conquerors. The remains 
 of these races. Their influence on the West of Europe 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HEROIC PERIOD. 
 
 The alternate sovereignty of Kimbay and his brothers. Macha's 
 claim to succeed her father. Her conquests. Foundation of 
 Emania. Cova's usurpation. Story of Lavra Maen and 
 Moria. Conor MacNessa reigning at Emania. The Knights 
 of the Red Branch. The abdication of Fergus MacRoy. 
 Maev, Queen of Connaught. Story of the sons of Usnach. 
 Story of the Tain-bo-Cuailgne. The " Pillow Conversation " 
 of Ailill and Maev. The Boy Feats'* of Cuchullin. How 
 he got his name. How he took arms. His heroic conduct 
 
 a 2 
 
vi Table of Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 in the Tain-bo. His courtship of Eimer. The story of 
 Blanaid. Cuchullin's combat with his unknown son. Story 
 of Atharne. Story of Mesgedra and Conall Carnach. Chi- 
 valrous traits in both characters. Death of Conor MacNessa. 
 Story of the healing of Conall Carnach. Chivalrous con- 
 duct of Bealcu. Deaths of Conall, Fergus MacRoy, and 
 Maev . . 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 
 
 Reigns of Conari Mor and Criffan. Revolt of the Atacotti (Aitftcach 
 Tuatha), and massacre of the nobles. Usurpation of Carbri 
 Cat-head. Resignation of the crown by his son Morann to 
 the exiled legitimate heir. Restoration of the noble caste in 
 the person of Feredach. Second expulsion of the nobles. 
 Second restoration in the person of Tuathal the Acceptable. 
 Crime of Eochy, King of Leinster, against Tuathal's 
 daughters, leading to the imposition of the Boarian tribute, 
 or Born of Leinster. Rise of the Northern and Southern 
 Dynasties. Con Hundred-Battle and Moh Nuad divide the 
 island. Lea Con and Lea Moha. Battle of Moy Lena. 
 Chivalrous trait of Goll MacMorna. Ollioll Olum sovereign 
 of Lea Moha. His descendants . 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OSSIANIC PERIOD. 
 
 The dream of Eatach. Battle of Moy Mucrive. Lugaid Laga and 
 the three Ferguses. The Battle of Crinna. Reign of Cormac 
 Mac Art. Story of Cormac and Ethni. The Fianna, or 
 Militia. Finn MacCumhal. Story of Dermid and Grania. 
 The death of Dermid. Oisin. The Ossianic Poems. 
 King Cormac's water-mill. His retirement at Cletty. The 
 burial of King Cormac. Battle of Gavra. Banishment of 
 the Three Collas. Their return, and failure to provoke King 
 Muredach to avenge his father's death. They destroy 
 Emania. Descendants of the three Collas. Crime, and dis- 
 appointed ambition of Mongfinn. Retrospect. Pictish 
 
Table of Contents. vii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 origins. The sons of Umor, and the Firbolgs in the West. 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages. His expedition to Alba (Scot- 
 land) 100 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 
 
 Niall's expedition to Armorica. Captivity of Patrick. His occu- 
 pations and thoughts. His escape. Niall's expedition on the 
 Loire, and death there. His descendants, the Northern and 
 Southern Hy-Niall. King Dathi. His expedition into Gaul. 
 Killed by lightning. His body earned home and interred at 
 Cruachan. Patrick's return as Apostle of the Irish. His 
 Easter eve at Slane. He preaches before King Laery at Tara. 
 Conversion of Laery 's daughters, Ethnaand Felimia*. Revi- 
 sion of the Laws, and compilation of the Senchus Mor. 
 King Laery killed " by the Wind and Sun." Patrick over- 
 throws Crom Cruach and his twelve sub-gods. Baptizes 
 JSngus, King of Munster. Diffuses the Gospel throughout 
 Ireland. Dies at Saul, and is buried at Down Patrick. The 
 clan system in the early Irish monasteries. The three orders 
 of the holy men of Ireland. The burial of Owen Bel, King 
 of Connaught. Succeeded by Kellach. Murder of Kellach. 
 Avenged by his brother Cucongelt. Final settlement of the 
 Dalriads in Scotland. Saint Brigid. Saint Kieran. Saint 
 Finnian of Clonard. Saint Finnian of Moville. Passion for 
 monastic seclusion. Story of Enda and Saint Fanchea. 
 Monastic remains of Aran. Clonmacnoise founded by Saint 
 Kieran. Murkertach MacErca. Dei-mid MacKervil. Re- 
 mains at Clonmacnoise. Saint Kevin. Glendalough. 
 Saint Brendan of Clonfert. His Legend 132 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 
 
 Saint Columba. His noble birth. A pupil of Saint Finnian. 
 Companion of Kieran. Kieran' s jealousy rebuked. Colum- 
 ba's copy of Finnian's Psalter. King Dermid's judgment in 
 favour of Finnian's copyright. Leads to the Battle of Cuil- 
 drevne. The MS. still in existence. Formerly the battle- 
 
viii Table of Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 standard of the O'Donnells. The bell of Patrick the battle- 
 standard of the Kinel-Owen. The crozier of Grellan the 
 battle-standard of the O'Kellys. Story of the emigrants of 
 the Clan Colla and Saint Grellan. Poem ascribed to 
 Columba. He goes into exile to I-colm-kill (lona), in penance 
 for his part in the battle of Cuildrevne. The Columban 
 Rule. Their time of celebrating Easter. The existing MSS. 
 ascribed to Columba. His metrical dialogue with Cormac. 
 He returns to Ireland to attend the Synod of Drumceat. 
 Objects of King Aedh in convening that assembly. The 
 exactions of the Bards. Story of King Guary and Sancan, 
 and the quest for the Tain. Columba intercedes for the 
 Bards, and aids the Dalriad king Aidan in establishing his 
 independence. His death 176 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE SCHOLASTIC PERIOD. 
 
 Intellectual progress of the Irish between the Convention of Drum- 
 ceat and the arrival of the Danes. Comparative paucity of 
 details in the local annals. Ampler information from conti- 
 nental notices. Defeat and death of King Aedh [at Dunbolg. 
 His son Maelcova resigns the crown to become a cleric. 
 Sweeny Menn Ard-Righ. Assassinated by Congal -Claen 
 at the instigation of Donall. Dream of King Donall. His 
 feast at Dun-na-n'geadh. Rebellion of Congal Claen and 
 battle of Moyrath. Story of Cuanna, who gives his death 
 wound to Congal Claen. Donall's favour to the church. 
 He founds the Abbey of Cong. St. Fechin's church 
 and mill at Fore. His ecclesiastic establishment on High 
 Island. Buidhe Chonnaill, " yellow plague." Other 
 epidemics. St. Adamnaii visits Ireland. His account of 
 the Holy Places, from the narrative of the pilgrim-bishop 
 Arculf. Expedition of Egfrid, King of Northumbria, to 
 ravage the coasts of Leinster. St. Adamnan visits York and 
 obtains the release of Irish captives. Story of Kenfalla. 
 Great schools of learning in Ireland. Armagh. Prince 
 Aldfrid's itinerary. Testimony of the Venerable Bede to 
 the learning and hospitality of the Irish. Poem of Donatus, 
 Bishop of Fiesole, illustrating the state of Ireland in his day. 
 
Table of Contents. ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Testimony of Eric of Auxerre. Sweeny of Clonmacnoise 
 assists at the foundation of Oxford. His bell in the Museum 
 of the Royal Irish Academy. Irish " wisdom sellers " at the 
 court of Charlemagne. School of Lismore. St. Carthagh. 
 School of Bangor. St. Columbanus. His foundations in 
 Burgundy and Italy. His letters. Pre-eminence of Ireland 
 as the seat of scholastic education, even after the Danish 
 inroads. Testimony of the author of the life of Sulgen. 
 Opinion of Camden 202 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DANISH PERIOD. 
 
 Invasions of the Northmen. Rise of the Southern Hy-Niall. 
 Generous devotion and death of King Niall Caille. Story of 
 Turgesius. Tyranny of the Danes. Their foundation of 
 the seaport towns, and progress in commerce.' Norse influ- 
 ence on the local nomenclature. Intermarriages between 
 the Northmen and Irish. St. Olaf. Norse cruelties in the 
 propagation of the faith contrasted with the mild course 
 of the gospel in Ireland. Ancient tumuli on the Boyne 
 rifled by the Danes. King Malachy I. desires to make a 
 pilgrimage to Rome. King Aedh Finnliath. King Flann 
 of the Shannon. Story of his daughter Gormley. Cormac 
 MacCulinan, King-archbishop of Cashel. His church on 
 the Rock of Cashel. His Glossary. His Psalter. Rivalry 
 between the Eugenian and Dalcassian Septs of Munster. 
 State of Munster. Cormao instigated to war with Leinster 
 by the Abbot Flaherty. Makes his will. Battle of Ballagh- 
 moone and death of Cormac. Honourable conduct of King 
 Flann. Penance of Flaherty. Afterwards King of Cashel. 
 Succeeded by Lorcan, father of Kennedy, father of Brian 
 Boru. Kennedy admits the claim of alternate succession, ac- 
 cording to the will of Ollioll Olum, and yields the throne of 
 Cashel to Callaghan. Stratagem of the Danish chieftain 
 Sitric. Callaghan taken prisoner. Kennedy marches the 
 Munster troops to his rescue. Gallant conduct of Falvy 
 Finn. Deathof KingFlann. Niall " Black-knee." Donogh. 
 Murkertach "Pell- Cloak." His circuit of Ireland. 
 
Table of Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Callaghan's second imprisonment. Donall O'Neill, son 
 of Murkertach, Prince of Aileach, becomes Ard-Righ. Sur- 
 names introduced. The great Sept of O'Neill descendants of 
 Donall . .229 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DALCASSIAN PERIOD. 
 
 Reign of Malachy II. Defeats the Danes at Tara, and at Dublin. 
 His proclamation. Rivalry with Brian Boru. Rise of the 
 Dalcassian tribe under the leadership of the sons of Kennedy. 
 Struggles of Mahon and Brian with the Danes. Interview 
 of these princes. Assembly of the Dal-Gais. Battle of 
 Sulcoit. Sack of Limerick. Song of triumph for Mahon. 
 His murder. Brian avenges his death. Rules Munster from 
 Kincora. Battle of Glenmama. Alliances of Brian. Aspires 
 to the sovereignty. Malachy deserted by the Northern 
 princes. Submits to Brian. Generous conduct of the rivals. 
 Administrative genius of Brian. His magnificence. Mael- 
 murra, King of Leinster, insulted at Kincora. Conspires 
 with the Danes. Battle of Clontarf. Brian's army. Chi- 
 valrous conduct of the deposed King Malachy. Muster of 
 the Northmen at Clontarf. Brian's address to his army. 
 Encounter between Plait and Domnall. Interview between 
 Murrogh, son of Brian, and Dunlang O'Hartigan. Conflict 
 of Murrogh and Anrud. Death of Murrogh. His son 
 Turlogh drowned. King Brian in his tent. Is killed by 
 Brodar 255 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 
 
 King Brian and his son Murrogh interred at Armagh. Retreat 
 of the Dal-Gais. The Eugenian tribes separate from the Dal- 
 Gais. The men of Ossory demand hostages. Heroic conduct 
 of the wounded Dalcassians. The men of Ossory afraid to 
 attack them. The remnant of the Dal-Gais reach Kincora. 
 Results of the Battle of Clontarf. Malachy II. reascends 
 the throne. Donogh O'Brien. Flaherty O'Neill. Makes a 
 pilgrimage to Rome. Rise of the Leinster family of Mac 
 
Table of Contents. xi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Murrogh. Turlogh O'Brien deposes his uncle Donogh, who 
 retires to Rome and dies there. Turlogh sends Irish oak to 
 King William Rufus. Murkertach Mdr O'Brien. Rise of 
 the family of O'Conor in Connaught. Laxity of eccle- 
 siastical discipline. Synods held by Celsus, Gillibert, and 
 St. Malachy. Malachy's conversations with Pope Inno- 
 cent II. about the state of Ireland. Pope Adrian IV. an 
 Englishman. His Bull authorizing the invasion of Ireland 
 by the English King. Henry Plantagenet unable at the time 
 to avail himself of the donation. Abduction of Dervorgilla 
 by Dermid MacMurrogh, King of Leinster. He is deposed. 
 Seeks the protection of King Henry II., who gives him 
 letters of aid. Richard De Clare, Earl of Pembroke (Strong- 
 bow), embraces his cause. The sons and grandsons of the 
 beautiful Nesta. Henry FitzHenry. Meyler FitzHenry. 
 FitzGerald. FitzStephen. FitzBernard. De Barry. 
 Giraldus Cambrensis. His description of Dermid Mac 
 Murrogh. Effects of the Conquest 279 
 
 Note on the Sources and Nomenclature 294 
 
THE IRISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 THE MYTHICAL PEEIOD. 
 
 No race which has left its impress on the history of 
 our globe has preserved its primitive traditions with the 
 same tender and jealous care as the Celtic, that early 
 swarm from the Japhetic hive which, the bardic tradi- 
 tions tell us, reached Europe long, long before the dawn 
 of authentic history. 
 
 Even then, the Celtic story affirms, there wandered 
 through the pine forests of lerne an aboriginal people ; 
 and its shores were the resort of Vikings, not from 
 Scandinavia, but Africa. The traces of a population 
 ignorant of the use of metals and of the practice of 
 agriculture have been found over all the west of Europe. 
 In Gaul and Britain the record of their existence is the 
 bone-cave and the drift-bank, where Nature has sealed 
 up their knives and hatchets of stone, along with the 
 half fossil remains of the elk, the cave bear, and the 
 elephant. In addition to similar evidences in Ireland, 
 bardic tradition tells us that the leader of these autoch- 
 

 - ; TftzZfitfi before tlie Conquest [CH. i. 
 
 thones, on the arrival of the first Gaelic swarm from the 
 East was named Cical. 
 
 Of Cical and his hunter tribes the varied lay began, 
 And how in Grecian galleys borne Maeonian Partholan, 
 Sire of great Slange* on a day, with sight of sail and oar, 
 Amazed the dwellers of the woods by Inverskene's shore. 
 Where first invasion first brought in the arts of life ; and how 
 Erin untill'd till then, from him received the spade and plough. 
 
 And who was Partholan ? and how came he to be 
 dignified with Greek associations ? the reader will ask. 
 The name, whencesoever derived, is indelibly imprinted 
 in the old local nomenclature of the country. The 
 traveller, taking the direction of Blessingtonfrom Dublin, 
 about five miles out of the city, passes a decayed village 
 called Tallaght ; and this name Tarn laclit, signifying a 
 " plague sepulchre," has been, from time immemorial, 
 used in the connection of the Tam-lacht of the people of 
 Partholan. For the constant tradition is, that the whole 
 colony brought into Ireland by this chieftain perished 
 in a great plague, and that a multitude of them were 
 buried in a common tomb at this spot; and tradition 
 also tells us that this plague had pursued Partholan as a 
 punishment for the guilt of parricide, under the sting 
 of remorse for which, he had become a voluntary exile. 
 
 Local tradition also had, from immemorial time, given 
 the name of Slange, son of Partholan, to the highest 
 peak of the Mourne mountains in Down, up to the time 
 when Slieve Donard acquired its present name, from 
 Domangart, a holy person of the sixth century, whose 
 hermitage occupied the site of the cairn of the buried 
 warrior on the mountain summit. 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 3 
 
 Forgotten Partholan himself lies 'neath his royal mound 
 
 On green Moynalty, hushed at eve by drowsy ocean's sound ; 
 
 And clangorous song of flocks by night, when through the 
 
 wintry air 
 The wide-winged wild geese to their pools by Liffey's side 
 
 repair. 
 But promised Slangd, tombed aloft on that great mountain's 
 
 head, 
 Which now, since Domangart hath used the chamber of the 
 
 dead 
 
 For cleric rites, no longer owns its name of old renown, 
 Slieve-Slange, but Slieve-Donard sounds, awaits his calling 
 
 down. 
 
 However apocryphal the name of Partholan may 
 now appear, we must recognise the voice of a very 
 remote antiquity in favour of the story of the parricide ; 
 of the aborigines whom he invaded and civilized ; and 
 of the avenging plague before which his race, though 
 not his memory, has been obliterated. 
 
 And what of the African Vikings ? 
 
 They are known in the recollection of those early 
 times under the name of Fomorians. In the glossary 
 of King Cormac of Cashel, compiled not long after the 
 age of Alfred, this word is said to signify " under sea," 
 in the sense of their ships being descried on the horizon, 
 rising, as it were, from beneath the rim of ocean, and 
 indicating their approach from the Atlantic rather than 
 the narrow seas. From whencesoever they came, they 
 were expert navigators, and their famous glass castle 
 upon Tor Inis, or Tory Island, may possibly have be($:n 
 a vitrified fort. Eound these walls of glass, and on 
 the strand beneath, was waged, we are told, one of the 
 earliest of the many " Battles of the White Strand," 
 
4 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. i. 
 
 which supply the place of the " tale of Troy divine" in 
 early Irish and Welsh bardic history. A new colony 
 of adventurers, led by Nemed of the same race with 
 Partholan, issuing from the high table-land of central 
 Asia, the cradle of the Aryan families of mankind, had 
 arrived, and subjected to the servile toils of tillage and 
 building, the remnant of the former population. But 
 the galleys of the " under sea" invaders still rose on 
 the horizon, and poured their troops of Fomorian 
 pirates on the thinly-peopled shores. The glass tower 
 of Tor Inis was the great stronghold of the strangers. 
 It was Neined with his chief warriors who crossed the 
 turbulent straits, and laid siege to the wonderful castle. 
 Fierce conflicts were waged upon the shore. The 
 combatants in their fury disregarded the rising tide 
 which overwhelmed them, the crew of one ship only of 
 the Nemedians escaping. Amongst those saved were 
 three chieftains of Nemed's blood, who, though no v 
 abandoning the country, were destined to re-people'' 
 Ireland at a subsequent period. 
 
 They fought ere sunrise at Tor Conainn, 
 
 All day they fought on the wild sea-shore ; 
 The sun dropp'd downward, they fought amain, 
 
 The tide rose upward, they fought the more. 
 The sands were cover'd, the sea grew red, 
 
 The warriors fought in the reddening wave ; 
 That night the sea was the sea-king's bed, 
 
 The land-king drifted past cliff and wave. 
 
 Great was the rage in those ancient days, 
 (We were pagans then) in the land of Eire ; 
 
 Like eagles, men vanquish'd the noontide blaze, 
 Their bones were iron, their nerves were wire. 
 
CH. i.] Tlie Mijtliical Period. 5 
 
 We are hinds to-day ! The Nemedian kings, 
 
 Like elk and bison of old stalk'd forth ; 
 Their name the sea king's for ever clings 
 
 To the " Giant Stepping Stones " round the north.* 
 
 We must endeavour to imagine the island during 
 these vicissitudes, under successive conditions of popu- 
 lousness and desertion, rude wealth and sterility, until 
 a new swarm of adventurers come upon the scene, 
 making their entrance also by the common avenue of 
 Greece. These are the Firbolg, exiles from Thrace. 
 They had been slaves, compelled, under the lash of 
 task-masters, to cultivate the terraces on the steep 
 sides, it may be, of Pindus or Hagmus. Each man was 
 provided with a leathern bag, in which he carried up 
 soil to these hanging gardens. Hence, say the Irish 
 traditions, the name of Firbolg, men of the bag. They 
 conspired, rose, and fled together, and a new infusion 
 of Greek characteristics was thus imparted to the Isle 
 of Destiny. Traces of the Firbolgs remain, not only in 
 the names given by them to different localities, which 
 are yet retained, but in the Duns and earthworks which 
 they erected. The western isles of Aran contain, in 
 admirable preservation to this day, the great stone 
 fortresses of Dun Conor and Dun .ZEngus, built at a 
 subsequent period by chieftains of this race. 
 
 Dun jEngus is a marvellous dry-stone erection. On 
 a promontory which slopes gradually upwards from the 
 landward side, and terminates in an abrupt cliff which 
 frowns over the Atlantic, a considerable space of ground 
 has been enclosed by a massive cyclopean wall. This 
 
 * From Inisfail, by AUBREY DE YERE. 
 
6 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. i. 
 
 consists of three concentric rings of building, each 
 complete in itself, yet in immediate juxtaposition, and 
 well fitted for defence. The sloping landward side is 
 thickly studded with pillar-stones, firmly fixed in the 
 soil, intended, apparently, to act as a kind of chevaux-de- 
 frise, and embarrass the advance of an enemy on the 
 only avenue of approach. 
 
 It is inaccessible from the sea. The cliff rises 
 grandly above the wild Atlantic waves, which dash 
 themselves against its base, and threaten its total de- 
 struction ere long. It has evidently been largely under- 
 mined already. Part of the vast edifice has tumbled 
 into the deep water beneath. That which yet stands 
 overhangs the ocean abysses. A more grand and im- 
 pressive scene can scarcely be imagined. The utter 
 solitude of the spot : the boundless expanse of ocean, 
 dark-heaving and sublime : the old, old, stronghold 
 more ancient probably than any building now standing 
 in western Europe, counting its age not by hundreds, 
 but by thousands, of years powerfully impress the 
 imagination. The feeling is enhanced by the loneliness 
 of these rarely-visited and inaccessible islets of the far 
 west, which contain at present the huts only of simple 
 peasants, and ruins of the cells and churches of the 
 earliest Christian ecclesiastics. These are touching in 
 their simplicity and antiquity, yet appear insignificant 
 and comparatively recent, when compared with Dun 
 Dingus and Dun Conor, pagan strongholds of Firbolg 
 chiefs. 
 
 These erections belong, as we have said, to the 
 latest period of Firbolg history, when the tribe were 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 7 
 
 closely pressed by their conquering kinsmen, and forced 
 from the rich provinces of the south and east, to seek 
 refuge in more remote and inhospitable districts. The 
 Firbolg blood to this day exists to an appreciable extent 
 in Connaught, and the outlying isles of the west. They 
 were a dark-haired and dark-skinned race, small in 
 comparison with their fair-haired foemen, whose supe- 
 rior physique, no less than their higher civilization, and 
 knowledge of arts and metals, assured them a speedy 
 supremacy. 
 
 For a third invasion remains to be chronicled. The 
 Tuath-De-Danaans, like their kinsmen the Firbolgs, 
 are said to be descended from Nemed through Ibath, 
 his great-grandson, one of the chieftains who, with the 
 ancestor of the Firbolg, escaped from the battle of Tor- 
 Conaing. 
 
 It is claimed for this people also, that they came from 
 Greece, but by way of Scandinavia. We may imagine 
 them to have pursued the course of the rivers which flow 
 to the Baltic, unless as their traditions seem to indicate, 
 and for which some slight probability may be traced in 
 the features of the country between the Don and the 
 Vistula that part of Europe was then under w r ater, and 
 the western portion, from the Carpathian mountains, 
 virtually an island, and the passage effected, as the 
 Argo is fabled to have performed it, by sea. The pre- 
 sent form of our continent would thus result from the 
 gradual elevation of the soil on the low-lying, flat, 
 alluvial plains of Poland and Eussia. 
 
 Nuad of the Silver Hand was the chieftain of the 
 Tuath-De-Danaans, when they encountered Eochy, the 
 
8 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. i. 
 
 reigning Firbolg monarch, in the battle of the Southern 
 Moyture. The scene of the engagement is supposed to 
 be identified near Cong. The fugitive king was pur- 
 sued, overtaken, and slain, at Ballysadare, in the county 
 of Sligo. His cairn still exists, on the strand there, 
 and was formerly deemed one of the "Wonders of 
 Erin." Indeed the whole of this district of Sligo, as 
 well as the supposed field of Moyture itself, abounds 
 with stone monuments archaic enough to be co-eval 
 with the scenes and actors of whom we treat. Nuad is 
 said to have lost his hand in the battle, and to have 
 used a silver substitute, framed by the skill of Credne 
 Cerd, that is, the Smith. The mutilation, however, 
 incapacitated him for the throne, in accordance with a 
 law which prevailed to a comparatively late period, and 
 debarred any one who had a personal blemish from 
 reigning. The story indicates, at least, the mechanical 
 skill possessed by the Tuath-De-Danaans, which was so 
 inexplicable to the vanquished Firbolgs, that they con- 
 sidered their conquerors to be necromancers, or demons. 
 " The Battle of Moyture " has come down to us 
 from a period long prior to the twelfth century in the 
 form of a bardic tale ; one of those romantic pieces 
 which every well-instructed poet was expected to have 
 in readiness when called on to entertain an assembly 
 with song or recitation. It is one of a large class of 
 similar compositions, but distinguished from most 
 others by affording tangible evidence on a question of 
 great archaeological interest. In our great museums 
 the visitor may observe two classes of bronze weapons, 
 one being of broad, short, and comparatively clumsy 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 9 
 
 proportions; the other slender, elegant, and of the 
 leaf-bladed or classic form. The Tale of the Battle 
 of Moyture v affords an unsuspected proof that, at 
 whatever time it was composed, the popular belief 
 among the Irish was, that weapons of the former class 
 were peculiar to the Firbolgs, and of the latter to the 
 Tuath-De-Danaans. It describes an interview between 
 the scouts of the adverse armies, who encounter one 
 another in a solitude. They plant their shields in the 
 ground, and, from behind these defences, commence 
 their colloquy. Acquiring greater confidence, they 
 then proceed to examine one another's arms, when the 
 distinction we have mentioned is referred to and com- 
 mented on. Now it is a remarkable fact, that in all 
 the sepulchral mounds of the kindred Belgic tribes of 
 Britain, the broad, trowel-like blades only have been 
 found, while the classic form of weapon is common 
 in North Britain, through which Irish tradition brings 
 the De-Danaan invaders. A belief in the magical 
 powers of these " God Tribes " lingers in the country, 
 where the fairies are still supposed to be their repre- 
 sentatives. To them tradition ascribes the bringing in 
 of the Liafail, or stone of destiny, on which the kings 
 were inaugurated at Tara. It is popularly believed to 
 exist at the present time, under the coronation chair of 
 the Sovereigns of the United Kingdom in Westminster 
 Abbey, having been brought thither from Scone, where it 
 had fulfilled a similar purpose for the Scottish monarchs. 
 Fergus, king of Scotland, of the Dalriadic (Irish) dy- 
 nasty, sent for it from Tara, desiring to be crowned on 
 this stone of destiny, which secured, that a sovereign 
 
10 The Irish before the Conquest. [cu. i. 
 
 of the Scotic race should never fail to sit on the throne 
 founded on the Liafail. The prophecy has not hitherto 
 failed in its accomplishment, as Queen Victoria is a true 
 descendant of the Scotic line. Some of our antiquaries, 
 however, maintain that the Lia fail still remains at 
 Tara, and point to a standing pillar stone on a mound 
 yet remaining, as the veritable Stone of Destiny. 
 
 For the name of the Green Isle itself, we are indebted 
 to this people, Eri being the name of a daughter of 
 their race forming Erin in the genitive. Ogma, 
 another of the same family, is presumed to have 
 given name to that species of writing called ogham 
 formed by notches on the edges of stones : a form of 
 record which certainly was in use about the time of 
 the introduction of Christianity; while to the great 
 Dagda, one of their kings, is ascribed that marvellous 
 tomb on the banks of the Boyne, the mound of New 
 Grange. This amazing and most interesting monument 
 still exists in perfect preservation. It was opened and 
 pillaged by the Danes, in common with its neighbour 
 tumuli of Knowth and Dowth, and many other sepulchral 
 monuments in different parts of the country. The gold 
 ornaments which the ancient Irish buried with their 
 illustrious dead, were, no doubt, an irresistible tempta- 
 tion to the Viking freebooters of the ninth and tenth 
 centuries of our era. This vast mound, covering nearly 
 two acres in extent, and consisting of a conical grass- 
 covered cairn of small stones, and still partly sur- 
 rounded by a ring of majestic megaliths, is entered by 
 a passage formed of standing stones of considerable 
 size, guarded by a beautifully-carved cill or lintel at 
 
CH. i.] The Mijtliical Period. 11 
 
 the entrance. This passage measures sixty-three feet in 
 length, and leads to a dome-roofed chamber. Almost 
 every stone employed in the construction of this, and 
 of the smaller chambers which open from it, .is not 
 only wonderful from its bulk, but is carefully orna- 
 mented with carvings in spirals, lozenges, and other 
 rude, but not ungraceful figures. The plan of the 
 sepulchre is analogous in general design to the 
 Egyptian pyramids. The cairn of stones and clay 
 covering the chambers and passage, corresponds in the 
 Celtic tomb with the angular sloping mass of the 
 pyramid. The conception is scarcely less grand, though 
 the mechanical skill and mass of material employed by 
 the eastern tomb-builders, were incomparably greater. 
 Bardic tradition seems to indicate this as possibly the 
 grave of The Dagda and his three sons. This powerful 
 monarch, " The Great Good Fire," is said to have ruled 
 for seventy years. His death is stated to have been the 
 result of a wound received long before at the battle 
 of the Northern Moyture. His grandsons, called 
 MacColl, MacKeact, and MacGrene, because they are 
 said to have worshipped the hazel-tree (Coll), the 
 ploughshare (Kedct\ and the Sun (Griari), had for 
 their respective wives, Banba, Fola, and Eri, from 
 whom our island obtained the names by which it is 
 known to the Bardic historians. The objects of 
 worship ascribed to the husbands of these ladies may 
 indicate an advancing civilization and practice of the 
 arts of agriculture ; but a fresh invasion of Erin by 
 another swarm of Celto-Scythic wanderers was impend- 
 ing, and the Tuath-De-Danaan were to be superseded 
 
12 The Irish "before the Conquest. [CH. i. 
 
 as a dominant race, by the Milesian immigrants, after 
 they had ruled in Ireland for nigh two hundred years. 
 
 The Scoti or Gael, according to their traditions, like 
 the previous colonizers of Erin, traced their descent 
 from Magog, son of Japhet. Unlike the Firbolgs and 
 Tuath-De-Danaans, who passed through Greece on 
 their western route, this wave of Celtic immigrants 
 from their common home in Central Asia, claim to have 
 come by way of Scythia, Egypt, and Spain. Under the 
 leadership of Breogan, they won for themselves a footing 
 in Spain, and founded the city of Brigantium, near 
 Corunna, in Galicia. These adventurers, according to 
 their descendants' story (for we must remember we are 
 still in the region of tradition), impelled by famine, 
 which at that time ravaged Spain, resolved to seek 
 fresh fields and pastures new, and as a preliminary 
 step, sent forth Ith, son of Breogan, to visit Ireland. 
 He is said to have seen the island like a cloud on the 
 horizon, from the watch-tower of Brigantium. The 
 solitary vessel of Ith, with its crew of one hundred and 
 fifty men, landed in the north of Ireland. He found 
 himself able to converse with the people of the country 
 in their common Gaelic tongue. He informed them that 
 he had landed from, stress of weather only, without any 
 intention of settling in the country, but hearing that 
 the three grandsons of the Dagda, of whom we have 
 already spoken, were quarrelling among themselves 
 and desired his services as umpire, he advanced to 
 meet them, and having made his award, reproved them 
 for their strife, praising the fruitfulness of the soil of 
 Erin, and its happy temperature. 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 13 
 
 Ith had set out on his return to his ship, when the 
 Tuath-De-Danaan kings, alarmed by his praises of their 
 country, which they thought indicated a probable return 
 to their shores with a larger armament, followed, and 
 gave him battle on the shores of Lough Foyle. Ith 
 placed himself in the rear of his little army, and bravely 
 protected their retreat to the ship. He was, however, 
 mortally wounded in the fight, but his people carried 
 his corpse to Spain, where his kinsmen, the sons of 
 Miled, the grandson of Breogan, excited by the outrage, 
 resolved to avenge his death. 
 
 The Milesians, with a fleet of thirty ships, each ship 
 carrying thirty warriors, their wives, and attendants ; 
 eight of the leaders being sons of Miled, neared the 
 Irish coast. The magical lore of the Tuath-De-Danaans 
 availed to raise a mist, and the spell-bound voyagers 
 were compelled to sail round the island before they 
 were able to land. This accomplished, they marched 
 on Tara, and there encountered the three sovereigns, 
 attended by their magicians. They demanded quiet 
 possession of the country, . or battle. MacColl, 
 MacKeact, and MacGrene, unprepared for either 
 alternative, offered to abide by the decision of Amergin, . 
 one of the sons of Miled, who pronounced that the 
 Milesians should again put to sea, for a distance of 
 nine waves or tonns, and then attempt a landing on 
 Erin. Should the Tuath-De-Danaans fail in preventing 
 this, they were bound by the verdict of Amergin to 
 yield the sovereignty of Ireland to the invaders. The 
 Gael were no sooner on the ocean than their fleet was 
 scattered by a terrific storm raised by the magical arts 
 
14 The Irish before the Conquest. ICH. i. 
 
 of the Tuath-De-Danaans. The greater number of their 
 ships were wrecked, and their leaders perished in the 
 waves. Eber and Eremon, surviving sons of Miled, how- 
 ever, effected a landing, and in an engagement at Tailti 
 (supposed to be Teltown in Meath), completely subdued 
 the Tuath-De-Danaan princes, who perished with their 
 wives, Eri, Banba, and Fola. Two chieftains of the 
 victorious Gael fell in the pursuit, whose deaths we 
 record, as they gave names to districts long celebrated 
 in Irish heroic story ; Cuailgne (now Cooley), in Louth, 
 and the mountainous tract of Slieve Fuad (now the 
 Fews), in the county of Armagh. Such is the story of 
 the Milesian or Scotic immigration ; obviously not so 
 old, in its present form, as the events which it purports 
 to relate, but still a tale of very high antiquity ; and 
 characterized by one of the earliest traits of that 
 chivalrous spirit which has so strongly marked the 
 Eomantic school of European literature. 
 
 The victorious leaders at once proceeded to partition 
 the island. Munster was assigned to Eber, Leinster 
 and Connaught to Eremon, while Ulster was given to 
 Eber, son of Ir, son of Miled, who had survived the 
 shipwreck in which his father was drowned. Lugaid, 
 son of Ith the pioneer of the Milesians, had a territory 
 in Munster assigned to him. It is from these success- 
 ful adventurers that most of our native Irish families 
 claim to trace their descent. But it is singular that 
 while these Milesian representatives abound, and fami- 
 lies with Firbolgic ancestors are not unknown, no 
 race, clan, or family, existing at the present time are 
 reputed to have Tuath-De-Danaan blood in their veins. 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 15 
 
 Among the most prominent Milesian kings we may 
 mention Tiernmas, of the race of Eremon. He is said 
 to have introduced the public worship of idols. Crom 
 Cruach, a hideous idol, surrounded by twelve smaller 
 divinities, was worshipped with cruel rites on the plain 
 of Moy Slaght, in that part of the ancient territory of 
 Breffny which now constitutes the county of Cavan. 
 Tiernmas was also the introducer of those parti-coloured 
 garments now represented by the tartan of the Scottish 
 Gael. The dress of a slave was limited by him to one 
 colour. A peasant was permitted to have two ; a soldier 
 or a noble, three ; while four colours were allotted to 
 the keeper of a house of hospitality ; five to a chieftain, 
 and six might adorn the robes of a king or a queen. It 
 is recorded that this sovereign possessed among his 
 household a refiner of gold, and we may not improbably 
 trace to this period some part of that excellence in the 
 workmanship in the precious metals for which the Irish 
 were so long celebrated, and of which such numerous 
 and varied specimens exist in the museum of the Eoyal 
 Irish Academy. The manufacture of silver shields, 
 designed as gifts to subordinate chieftains, and the 
 casting of silver coin, are recorded in the reigns of 
 successors of this monarch. 
 
 But a far more advanced state of progress is evinced 
 by the legislation of King Olav Fola, a prince of the 
 race of IT, who instituted the Convention of Tara. This 
 national parliament was held every third year, and to 
 it were summoned the classes illustrious in rank and 
 learning. The monarch entertained all comers for six 
 days, endeavouring, in the exercise of this frank hos- 
 
16 The Irish before the Conquest. |_ CH - r - 
 
 pitality, to promote good feeling and friendly relations 
 among his subordinate chieftains, bards, and sages. 
 An inspection of national records, whose accuracy was 
 guarded with the most jealous care, is said to have been 
 one duty performed by the Feis of Tara, indicating that 
 the pagan Irish possessed the art of writing. Nor is it to 
 be supposed that^a people, with whom the transmission 
 of property, and indeed their entire social system, f 
 depended on their genealogical accuracy, would fail to 
 guard, by every possible means, against the intrusion 
 of error or corruption into the pedigrees, which were 
 the title-deeds of every proprietor. The invariable 
 custom of naming the father, grandfather, and even 
 more remote ancestor, of each individual who is the 
 subject of the bard or senachie's pen, shows how import- 
 ant family descent was held by the Gael. Their usage 
 of gavelkind, too, while it divided the property of a 
 deceased parent equally among all his sons, and resulted 
 in that minute subdivision which has been, on the whole, 
 injurious to the progress of civilization and centraliza- 
 tion, yet promoted the free development of the indi- 
 vidual, and that consciousness of equality which has 
 borne fruit in the courteous consideration for others, 
 resulting from self-respect, which to our own day is so 
 striking in the Celtic races. Michelet, in speaking of 
 this law of equality and equitable division, which charac- 
 terized the Celts of France as well as those of Ireland 
 and Scotland, observes : "As this law of precious equality 
 has been the ruin of these races, let it be their glory also, 
 and secure to them at least the pity and respect of the 
 nations to whom they so early showed so fine an ideal." 
 
CH. L] The Mythical Period. 17 
 
 While the Norman genius developed the feudal 
 system, the Celtic developed that of the clan, which was 
 formed on the family type. Their kings were head 
 of the family, and held in patriarchal fashion their 
 council-courts in the open air, with the advice and 
 assent of their clansmen, who in the lands belonging 
 to the tribe had their equal and indefeasible rights ; 
 nor could the sovereign resort to war without their aid 
 and concurrence. The sovereignty itself was elective 
 in person, though hereditary in blood. When vacant, it 
 was to descend, according to their law of Tanistry, to 
 " the oldest and most w r orthy man of the same name and 
 blood." The Tanist, or heir-apparent, was generally} 
 but not necessarily, the eldest son of the reigning 
 monarch, while the younger members of the family 
 were designated Eoydamna, or "king-material." The 
 Tanist was generally named at the time when the 
 monarch was elected. To this law of Tanistry may 
 be ascribed, in part, those violent deaths which closed 
 the career of so many Irish kings. This, with that 
 tendency to subdivision which split the country into 
 several petty states, each with its separate ruler, who 
 rendered very equivocal allegiance to the Ard Righ, or 
 supreme monarch, resulted in that turbulence and 
 incessant party strife which, to so great an extent, form 
 the subject of the Irish and other early West-European 
 annals. 
 
 The professions of Druid, Bard, and Brehon were, in 
 the main, hereditary. The former combined the offices 
 of priest and physician ; the Bards were the poets and 
 historians ; while the Brehons transmitted and adminis- 
 
 o 
 
18 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. i. 
 
 tered that code of laws which is known by their name, 
 and which, in its modes of procedure, is found to 
 bear an unexpected resemblance in many points to the 
 Common Law of England, both being probably to a 
 great extent sprung from the same primitive original. 
 
 The custom of fosterage was general, families of 
 rank undertaking the nursing and training in manly 
 exercises of the children of their chiefs. The mutual 
 attachment which sprang up between the foster parents, 
 brothers and sisters, and the scion of noble race who 
 had passed his childhood with them, was one of the 
 strongest feelings of the Irish heart, and led to in- 
 numerable instances of devotion which are scarcely 
 intelligible to us at the present day. 
 
 But it may be inquired, what tangible remains 
 still exist of these ancient times ? They are not few 
 nor unsuggestive. In addition to the bardic traditions 
 which have so far occupied us, we possess in the Celtic 
 tongue itself, the oldest spoken language in Europe, a 
 means whereby we can "repeople the past." Its 
 importance, in a philological point of view, is second 
 only to that of Sanscrit, a kindred tongue ; for we must 
 not forget that the Hindoos are a primitive emanation of 
 that Aryan race, moving southwards from their cradle 
 in central Asia, of whom the Celts are the earliest western 
 offshoots. Sanscrit ceased to be a spoken language 
 some 300 years before the Christian era, very much 
 about the period to which we have now brought the 
 history of the Celts of Ireland. But the valuable 
 knowledge to be gained from the Irish tongue is not 
 lost to us, for its written literature exists to our day, 
 
CH. i.] The Mythical Period. 19 
 
 and is now, for the first time, diligently studied by 
 competent scholars. Few, indeed, are the men qualified 
 to explore the mine of wealth which belongs to us 
 in the Western Gaelic language. Its greatest Irish 
 interpreters have recently been removed by death. 
 But other labourers in this rich harvest daily arise 
 amongst us. German and French scholars are now 
 pioneering the way for Continental inquiry, and even 
 taking up their abode in Irish-speaking districts to 
 familiarize themselves with the use of this new key to 
 philological and ethnological knowledge. Let us hope 
 that among ourselves prejudices, ignorances, and 
 apathetic indifference to Irish subjects may pass away, 
 and in their stead the desire to do noble work for home 
 and their country inspire in the breasts of Irishmen 
 strenuous efforts to learn more and do more for the 
 honour of their native land. 
 
 In Ireland, also, to a greater extent than elsewhere, 
 existing remains, such as raths, forts, duns, cashels, 
 cairns, and cromlechs, abound on all sides, to instruct 
 the antiquarian inquirer. Our national museums and 
 libraries, too, are rich in objects of interest illustrating 
 this early period : stone, bronze, and iron weapons, 
 gold and silver ornaments, specimens of work in 
 metals, together with manuscripts of great importance, 
 and among these the most exquisite examples which 
 Europe can show of illuminated art. On Irish soil 
 may yet be examined the very oldest erections of 
 western Europe, from the rude cranogues, or lacustrine 
 habitations, built on piles artificially planted in shallow 
 akes, to the earthern forts and stone cyclopean duns* 
 
20 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. i. 
 
 of the pagan period, such as we have already described ; 
 the frequent cromlech, also, of unhewn stones, some- 
 times of enormous bulk ; the tumulus, with its central 
 stone chamber, often adorned with hieroglyphical carv- 
 ings ; pillar-stones with ogham inscriptions ; Christian 
 churches, cells, stone huts, and graceful round towers ; 
 and sculptured crosses, all works of a primitive time, 
 and characteristic of a pure, unmixed, and isolated race. 
 And not on Irish soil only have the Gael of Ireland 
 left their traces. From the sixth century of the Christian 
 era, Irish missionaries have been the evangelizers of 
 Scotland and of France ; have laboured in the spiritual 
 harvest, in England, Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, 
 and Italy. The Irish saint, Columba, was the founder 
 of the monastic establishment on Hy, or lona ; " that 
 illustrious island, once the luminary of the Caledonian 
 regions, whence savage tribes and roving barbarians 
 derived the benefits of civilization the blessings of 
 religion." From lona went forth Saint Aidan, the 
 converter of the Northumbrian kingdom of his day, 
 and founder of Lindisfarne. Saint Columbanus, another 
 Irishman, evangelized eastern France. His disciple, 
 Saint Gall, instructed the Swiss in the truths of 
 Christianity. Columbanus established not only the 
 early seats of piety and learning at Luxeuil and else- 
 where, in Burgundy, but the Irish monastery also of 
 Bobbio, in Italy. It would be tedious to extend this 
 enumeration of illustrious names ; the deeds of these ? 
 and other benefactors of the world, will occupy us in 
 due time, when we have first considered that earlier 
 and most picturesque period of Irish story, whose pagan 
 
OH. i.j The Mythical Period. 21 
 
 traditions, with "tramp of heroes in them," fill and 
 delight the imagination. 
 
 These enchanting themes, partly true, partly fabulous, 
 but wholly heroic, poetic, noble, and naive, will form the 
 subject of succeeding chapters. The race whose deeds 
 we would chronicle, have been named by the classic 
 writers, Celts. They did not so designate themselves ; 
 both in Ireland and Scotland they called themselves 
 Gael, and have ever been distinguished by a strong 
 sentiment of nationality. We shall take leave of them 
 for the present with this " Salutation :" * 
 
 Hail to our Celtic brethren, wherever they may be, 
 In the far woods of Oregon, or o'er the Atlantic sea 
 Whether they guard the banner of St. George in Indian vales, 
 Or spread beneath the nightless north experimental sails, 
 
 One in name and in fame 
 
 Are the sea-divided Gaels. 
 
 Tho' fallen the state of Erin, and changed the Scottish land, 
 Tho' small the power of MOD a, tho' unwaked Llewellyn's 
 
 band ; 
 
 Tho' Ambrose Merlin's prophecies degenerate to tales, 
 And the cloisters ot lona are bemoaned by northern gales, 
 One in name and in fame 
 Are the sea-divided Gaels. 
 
 In northern Spain and Brittany our brethren also .dwell, 
 Oh ! brave are the traditions of their fathers that they tell ; 
 The eagle and the crescent in the dawn of history pales, 
 Before their fire that seldom flags, and never wholly fails. 
 
 One in name and in fame 
 
 Are the sea-divided Gaels. 
 
 * By T. D. M'GEE. 
 
22 The Irish "before the Conquest. [CH. 
 
 A greeting and a promise unto them all \ve send 
 Their character our charter is, their glory is our end 
 Their friend shall be our friend, our foe whoe'er assails 
 The past or future honours of the far-dispersed Gaels. 
 
 One in name and in fame 
 
 Are the sea-divided Gaels. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 23 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE HEROIC PERIOD. 
 
 WE have sketched the mythical period of Irish story 
 as far as the reign of Olav Fola. This wise lawgiver 
 and ruler was of the race of Ir, that son of Miled or Mi- 
 lesius, who perished in the storm evoked by the magical 
 arts of the Tuath-De-Danaans. It will be remembered 
 that, according to the decision of Amergin, the invaders 
 had again put to sea, and retired to the distance of 
 " nine waves " from the Irish coast, when the storm 
 evoked by the magical incantations of the De-Danaan 
 Druids assailed them. Their fleet was dispersed, and 
 many suffered shipwreck when the elements thus fought 
 against them. 
 
 Ir, we are told, was buried on the Skellig rocks, off 
 the coast of Kerry. There the cairn which bears his 
 name probably one of the oldest sepulchral monu- 
 ments* in the western world may be seen to this day. 
 His posterity, in common with the descendants of his 
 more fortunate brothers Eber and Eremon, gave kings 
 to Ireland. From these three sons of Miled, and their 
 cousin Lugaid, son of Ith, the great Irish families trace 
 their pedigrees. From Lugaid claim to descend the 
 O'Driscolls, and other families in the south of Ireland. 
 
24 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 Eber is the progenitor claimed by the Minister Clans, 
 the MacCarthy's, O'Briens, &c. From Eremon descend, 
 as they suppose, the O'Donnells, O'Neills, O'Connors, 
 MacMurroghs, and other great races in Ulster, Con- 
 naught, and Leinster : while the Magenises and their 
 kindred who ruled in that part of Ulster constituting 
 the present counties of Antrim and Down, then called 
 IHadh or Ulidia, derive their genealogy from Ir. It is 
 sometimes significantly asked, where are the descendants 
 of the captains and soldiery, if the existing population 
 are all sprung from the kings ? Obviously at some 
 point of the pedigree it departs from the truth : but it 
 is equally clear that that point is very high up in the 
 series. 
 
 The tribes descended from Ir contributed many 
 heroes whose deeds have a foremost place in ancient 
 story. Kimbay, in whose reign the palace fortress of 
 Emania was K founded an event which is assumed in 
 the annals of Tigernach as the starting-point of authentic 
 Irish history was a monarch of this race. So also 
 was his wife Macha, who caused the great fort to be 
 erected. The earthworks of Emania exist at the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 At this period, about 400 years before Christ, three 
 princes, Hugh Eoe, or Hugh the Red, Dithorba, and 
 Kimbay, the sons of three brothers, claimed equal right 
 to the throne. A compact was made by which it was 
 decided that they should rule alternately -for seven years. 
 This agreement was confirmed by the guarantee of seven 
 Druids, seven Poets, and seven Champions ; " the seven 
 Druids to crush them by their incantations, the seven 
 
CH. IL] The Heroic Period. 25 
 
 Poets to lacerate them by their satires, the seven young 
 Champions to slay and burn them, should the proper 
 man of them not receive the sovereignty at the end of 
 each seventh year/' This compact prevailed till each 
 had reigned three times in his turn. Hugh Roe was 
 drowned in the cataract of the Erne at Bally shannon, 
 where the falls at Assaroe still preserve his name. 
 
 His daughter Macha, the red-haired, claimed her 
 turn of the sovereignty in his stead, but Dithorba and 
 Kimbay refused to recognize any claim of succession in 
 a woman. Macha, so far from acquiescing in this de- 
 cision, raised an army, and defeated her opponents in 
 battle. Dithorba was slain, and his sons exiled. Macha 
 would not acknowledge their claims to the succession, 
 and founded her own rights from henceforth, on the 
 victory she had won. She married Kimbay, and so 
 disposed of all competitors except the exiled princes, 
 sons of Dithorba, whom she again defeated in battle, 
 enslaved, and compelled to erect for her the fort of 
 Emania. She marked out its site, says the tale, with 
 her golden brooch, from whence one fanciful derivation 
 of its name Eo-muin, a pin of the neck. After a lapse 
 of more than two thousand years, the remains of this 
 noble fort for part of it has been destroyed by neigh- 
 bouring farmers, who have used the soil for agricultural 
 purposes still exist near Armagh. ISTavan fort, as it 
 is at present corruptly called, covers upwards of eleven 
 acres of land. This is enclosed by a rampart of earth, 
 and deep fosse and dry ditch. On the summit of the 
 elevated and fortified ground stands a smaller circular 
 fort. Another may also be traced on a slope of the hill, 
 
26 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 being both protected by tlie great rampart. The spot 
 well repays a visit. From its elevated position an ex- 
 tensive prospect of the fine country around Armagh, 
 stretching away to the Fews mountains, may be obtained. 
 Here we stand on a fortress of the Celt, which has had 
 a history for upwards of two thousand years. The ad- 
 joining townland of Creeve Eoe yet preserves the name, 
 and designates the site, of the "House of the Eed 
 Branch," a species of military college in which the Ulster 
 warriors were wont to assemble in those old heroic days, 
 and were there trained to deeds of prowess and daring. 
 Macha survived her husband Kimbay seven years, 
 ruling Ireland in undisputed sovereignty, till she was 
 slain by Kectaid. Her death was avenged by her 
 foster son, Ugaine Mor, or The Great, of the race of 
 Eremon, whose long and prosperous reign made his 
 name illustrious in the native annals, and, if we may 
 credit their testimony, known as a levier of tribute in 
 districts of Britain, and even of the continent of 
 Europe. Literature was cultivated in his time, and 
 his sons were " full of learning ;" one of them was the 
 " author of many ancient bard-maxims." Ugaine en- 
 deavoured to secure the throne to his own family, 
 exacting from his subjects an oath, "by the sun and 
 moon, the sea, the dew, and colours, and all the elements 
 visible and invisible," that the sovereignty of Erin 
 should not be taken from his descendants for ever. 
 For many generations his offspring, though stained 
 with the blood of kindred, held the supreme authority ; 
 but after the lapse of about three hundred years, the 
 races of Ir and Eber again became paramount. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period: 27 
 
 Leary Lore and Cova, sons of Ugaine Mor by 
 Kesair, a Gallic princess, succeeded him ; the latter 
 obtained the sovereignty by the murder of the elder 
 brother and his descendants, which he accomplished 
 by treachery of a very base kind. Cova, who resided 
 at Dinree on the Barrow, feigned sickness, and was 
 visited by his royal brother. Leary received his 
 death-blow from Cova's dagger, as he leaned over the 
 pretended sick man, who consummated his cruelty by 
 the murder of Leary's family : the only member spared 
 was the grandson of the late King, Maen, who, being 
 dumb, was incapable of reigning. 
 
 Maen passed his childhood at Dinree, under the 
 guardianship of Ferkertne the poet, and Craftine the 
 harper, of his grand-uncle Cova. As he grew into 
 manhood he gave promise of great personal beauty and 
 symmetry. In a moment of excessive indignation at 
 an insult offered to him by a companion, Maen re- 
 covered his power of utterance. u Lavra Maen !" 
 (Maen speaks) was the exclamation of those around him, 
 and the name clung to him ever after. Meantime the 
 monarch at Tara heard of the wondrous event, and sum- 
 moned Lavra Maen to appear before him. His jealousy 
 having been increased by hearing from Ferkertne and 
 Craftine that the prince was the most munificent man 
 in Erin, Cova banished them from his dominions. 
 
 " The loss will be greater to you than to us," said 
 the harper. 
 
 " Depart out of Erin," said the monarch. 
 
 " If we can find no refuge in Erin we will," said they. 
 
 The exiles repaired to Munster, and received at the 
 
28 The 'Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 court of the provincial king the customary hospitality, 
 no questions being asked. At length the king in- 
 quired into their story, and hearing that they had 
 been expelled by the Ard Eigh, made them welcome to 
 his care and protection. The king had a beautiful 
 daughter whom he guarded with such jealous care that 
 no opportunity of private conversation with the fair 
 Moria could be found by Lavra Maen, who had soon 
 become captivated by her charms. Craftine, the 
 harper, who was in the confidence of the young prince, 
 according to the romantic legend, took advantage of a 
 grand feast given by the king, and so delighted the 
 monarch and his guests by his music, that the lovers 
 were able to leave the room unperceived. As soon as 
 Craftine thought them out of hearing, he played on his 
 harp an air of so entrancing a nature that the king and 
 his guests were soothed into a profound slumber ; and 
 thus the young lovers had time to exchange vows of 
 mutual affection, and resume their seats at the feast, 
 before their absence had been observed. The queen, 
 remarking the change in her daughter's manner, quickly 
 divined the cause. Moria confessed her attachment to 
 Maen ; and his suit finding favour in the eyes of her 
 parents, the lovers were married, and Lavra Maen, at 
 the head of troops furnished by his father-in-law, 
 attacked and captured Dinree. 
 
 Cova, roused to action, marched from Tara, and 
 Lavra Maen, unable. to cope with him, set sail for 
 Gaul, having sent Moria, under the escort of 
 Craftine the harper, to her father's court. His faithful 
 wife did not forget the exile. She sent the harper with 
 
CH. ii.] Ihe Heroic Period. 29 
 
 valuable jewels to her husband in France. Craftine per- 
 formed his mission, played an enchanting fairy melody 
 on his harp, and sang to it an impassioned lay which 
 Moria had composed to her hero. The Gaulish king, 
 touched by the grief of the young lovers, assisted 
 Lavra Maen with an auxiliary force, and ships to 
 transport them to Ireland. Maen landed at Wexford, 
 and marched on Dinree. He surprised and defeated 
 Cova, and took Dinree by storm. A Druid who was 
 in the fortress asked who had made the attack : " The 
 mariner," cried a voice from without. " Does the 
 mariner speak ?" here joined, and from this circumstance 
 the name of Lavra Loingsech (the mariner speaks) has 
 clung to Maen. This monarch for by the death of the 
 usurping Cova, Maen succeeded to his rightful inherit- 
 ance as heir of Ugaine Mor is claimed as the ancestor 
 of all the true Lagenian, or Leinster families of the race 
 of Eremon, with the exception of the O'Nolans, who 
 are descended from Cova. The province of Laighen 
 Leinster owes its name to him, being so called from 
 the Laighne or Spears, with broad heads, which Maen 
 introduced. A story similar to that of King Midas 
 is told of this monarch. His ears, it was whispered, 
 resembled those of a horse ; the barber, who became 
 aware of the fact, had his life spared only on promise 
 of inviolable secrecy. He whispered his tale to a 
 willow. The willow was cut down and carved into a 
 harp, and the instrument murmured forth the secret, 
 " Lavra Loingsech has a horse's ears." 
 
 Passing over many reigns of the descendants of the 
 great Ugaine, which were not marked by any memor- 
 
30 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 able events, we approach the Christian era, which may 
 be taken as the culminating point of Irish heroic story. 
 At that period Conor MacNessa was reigning over 
 Ulster, at Emania, surrounded by the heroes of Creeve 
 Eoe, the gallant knights of the Red Branch, Fergus, 
 son of Roy his step-father, Naisi, Ardan, and Ainle, 
 sons of Usnach, Conall Carnach, Cuchullin (pro- 
 nounced Ku-Kullin), and many other champions, of 
 whom we shall speak at greater length presently. Maev 
 of Cruachan, the Semiramis of Irish history, was at the 
 same time ruling Connaught from her fort of Rath 
 Croghan, while her throne was defended by her husband 
 Ailill, Keth, son of Magach, Bealcii (pronounced 
 Bayal-Ku), and other Connacian heroes whose histories 
 we must not anticipate. 
 
 We return, therefore, to Fathna the Wise, father of 
 Conor MacNessa. This monarch, of the race of Ir, 
 fell by the hand of Eochy Feliah, a prince descended 
 from Eremon. Fathna left a young and beautiful widow, 
 Nessa, who in due time was wooed and won, on some- 
 what singular conditions, by Fergus MacRoy, the then 
 occupant of the throne of Uladh. 
 
 The legend has been versified, and to it we refer the 
 reader who may care to know the terms on which this 
 haughty widow consented to submit again to the yoke 
 of matrimony. 
 
 THE ABDICATION OF FERGUS 
 
 Once, ere God was crucified, 
 I was king o'er Uladh wide : 
 King, by law of choice and birth, 
 O'er the fairest realm of earth. 
 
CH. n.] The Heroic Period. 31 
 
 I was head of Rury's race ; 
 Emain was my dwelling-place ; 
 Right and Might were mine ; nor less 
 Stature, strength, and comeliness. 
 
 Such was I, when, in the dance, 
 Nessa did bestow a glance, 
 And my soul that moment took 
 Captive in a single look. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " Lady, in thy smiles to live, 
 Tell me but the boon to give, 
 Yea I lay in gift complete 
 Crown and sceptre at thy feet." 
 
 " Not so much the boon I crave : 
 Hear the wish my soul would have," 
 And she cast a loving eye 
 On her young son standing by. 
 
 " Conor is of age to learn ; 
 Wisdom is a king's concern ; 
 Conor is of royal race ; 
 Yet may sit in Fathna's place. 
 
 " Therefore, king, if thou wouldst prove 
 That I have indeed thy love, 
 On the judgment seat permit 
 Conor by thy side to sit. 
 
 " That by use the youth may draw 
 Needful knowledge of the Law." 
 I with answer was not slow, 
 " Be thou mine, and be it so." * 
 
 From Lays of The Western Gael, by SAMUEL FERGUSON. 
 
32 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 Fergus, happy in the society of the beautiful Nessa, 
 suffers himself to be gradually superseded by his 
 youthful substitute ; until Conor has acquired too 
 firm a hold on the popular favour to be dislodged from 
 the sovereignty. 
 
 The supreme king of Ireland at this time was Eochy 
 Feliah, the slayer of Fathna the Wise. He restored the 
 pentarchy, thus setting aside the arrangements made 
 about 300 years before by Ugaine Mor. He was the 
 parent of six daughters, of whom Maev was the most 
 distinguished ; she had been married to Conor 
 MacNessa, but left him and returned to her father's 
 court, who gave her in marriage to Tinne, one of the 
 provincial kings he had appointed in Connaught. He 
 re-edified the rath of Cruachan, employing for the 
 purpose a fierce tribe of Firbolgic origin, the Gowanree, 
 who were compelled to labour unremittingly at the 
 earthworks, and are said to have completed the dyke in 
 one day. Macv named her residence after her mother, 
 Cruacha ; and, on the death of Tinne, ruled Connaught 
 for ten years, with much vigour and ability. She 
 afterwards married Ailill, a Leinster prince, to whom 
 she bore seven sons, who were called the seven Manes, 
 and were distinguished as " Mane the motherlike, 
 Mane the fatherlike, Mane who resembled both, 
 Mane of little valour, Mane of great valour, Mane the 
 silent, and Mane of the boastful words." 
 
 But before we continue the history of Queen Maev, 
 we must advert to certain causes which in the meantime 
 had induced the ex-king of Uladh to seek an asylum at 
 the court of Cruachan. We have already alluded to his 
 
CH. IT.] The Heroie Period. 38 
 
 abdication in favour of his stepson, Conor. This young 
 prince, as he grew up, tarnished his great qualities by 
 cruelty and treachery. He had educated a beautiful 
 damsel, keeping her secluded from all mankind till she 
 should be of an age to become his wife. Her name, 
 Deirdre, signifying alarm, had been bestowed at her birth 
 by. the Druid Cathbad, and was prophetic of the long 
 train of conflict and disaster to which her charms gave 
 rise. Notwithstanding the precautions of Conor, she 
 saw and loved Naisi, the son of Usnach. He was sitting 
 in the midst of the plain of Emania, playing on a harp. 
 Sweet was the music of the sons of Usnach great also 
 was their prowess ; they were fleet as hounds in the 
 chase they slew deer with their speed. As Naisi sat 
 singing on the plain of Emain he perceived a maiden 
 approaching him. She held down her head as she 
 came near him, and would have passed in silence. 
 " Gentle is the damsel who passeth by," said Naisi. 
 Then the maiden looking up, replied, " Damsels may 
 well be gentle when there are no youths." Then Naisi 
 knew it was Deirdre, and great dread fell upon him. 
 "The king of the province is betrothed to thee, oh 
 damsel," he said. " I love him not," she replied ; " he 
 is an aged man. I would rather love a youth like thee." 
 "Say not so, oh damsel," said Naisi, "the king is a 
 better spouse than the king's servant." " Thou sayest 
 so," said Deirdre, " that thou mayest avoid me." Then 
 plucking a rose from a briar, she flung it towards him, 
 and said, " Now thou art ever disgraced if thou rejectest 
 me." " Depart from me, I beseech thee, damsel," said 
 Naisi. " If thou dost not take me to be thy wife," said 
 
 D 
 
34 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n- 
 
 Deirdre, " thou art dishonoured before all the men of thy 
 country after what I have done." Then Naisi said no 
 more, and Deirdre took the harp, and sat beside him play- 
 ing sweetly. But the other sons of Usnach, rushing forth, 
 came running to the spot where Naisi sat, and Deirdre 
 with him. " Alas !" they cried, " what hast thou done, 
 oh brother ? Is not this damsel fated to ruin Ulster ?" 
 " I am disgraced before the men of Erin for ever," said 
 Naisi, " if I take her not after that which she hath done." 
 " Evil will come of it, "said the brothers. " I care not," 
 said Naisi. " I had rather be in misfortune than in 
 dishonour ; we will fly with her to another country." 
 So that night they departed, taking with them three 
 times fifty men of might, and three times fifty women, 
 and three times fifty greyhounds, and three times fifty 
 attendants ; and Naisi took Deirdre to be his wife. 
 
 After wandering through various parts of Ireland, 
 " from Easroe to Ben Edar, and from Dundelgan to 
 Almain," the fugitives at length took shelter in Scot- 
 land, where they found an asylum on the banks of Loch 
 Etive. The loss of three warriors of such repute soon 
 began to be felt by the nobles of Ulster, who found 
 themselves no longer able to make head with their 
 accustomed success against the southern provinces. 
 They therefore urged Conor to abandon his resentment, 
 and recal the fugitives. Conor, with no other intention 
 than that of repossessing himself of Deirdre, feigned 
 compliance. But, to induce Clan Usnach (as the 
 fugitives were called) to trust themselves again in the 
 hands of him whom their leader had so outraged, it 
 was necessary that the message of pardon should be 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 35 
 
 borne by one on whose warranty of safe conduct the 
 most implicit reliance could be placed. After sounding 
 some of his chief nobles who were of sufficient authority 
 to undertake the mission, among the rest Cuchullin, 
 and finding that any attempt to tamper with them would 
 be unavailing, Conor fixes on Fergus, the son of Boy, 
 as a more likely instrument, and commits the embassy 
 to him. But though he does not so much fear the 
 consequences of compromising the safe conduct of 
 Fergus, as of Cuchullin or the others, he yet does not 
 venture openly to enlist him in the meditated treachery, 
 but proceeds by a stratagem which, in these days, may 
 appear somewhat far-fetched, yet probably was not 
 inconsistent with the manners of that time. Fergus 
 was of the order of the Ked Branch, and the brethren 
 of the Eed Branch were under vow not to refuse 
 hospitality at one another's hands. Conor, therefore, 
 arranged with Barach, one of his minions, and a 
 brother of the order, to intercept Fergus on his return, 
 by the tender of a three days' banquet, well knowing 
 that the Clan Usnach must in that case proceed to 
 E mania without the presence of their protector. Mean- 
 while Fergus, arriving in the harbour of Loch Etive, 
 where dwelt Clan Usnach in green hunting booths 
 along the shore, " sends forth the loud cry of a mighty 
 man of chase." Then follows a characteristic passage : 
 " Deirdre and Naisi sat together in their tent, and Conor's 
 polished chessboard between them. And Naisi, hearing 
 the cry, said, ' I hear the call of a man of Erin/ ' That 
 was not the call of a man of Erin,' replied Deirdre, 
 ' but the call of a man of Alba.' Then again Fergus 
 
86 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 shouted a second time. ' Surely that was the call of a 
 man of Erin,' said Naisi. ' Surely no,' said Deirdre ; 
 * let us play on.' Then again Fergus shouted a third 
 time, and Naisi knew that it was the cry of Fergus, and 
 he said, ' If the son of Hoy be in existence, 1 hear his 
 hunting shout from the loch; go forth, Ardan, my 
 brother, and give our kinsman welcome.' ' Alas !' cried 
 Deirdre, ' I knew the call of Fergus from the first.' " 
 For she has a prophetic dread that foul play is intended 
 them, and this feeling never subsides in her breast from 
 that hour till the catastrophe. Quite different are the 
 feelings of Naisi ; he reposes the most unlimited con- 
 fidence in the safe conduct vouched for by his brother 
 in arms, and, in spite of the remonstrances of Deirdre, 
 embarks with all his retainers for Ireland. Deirdre, 
 on leaving the only secure or happy home she ever 
 expects to enjoy* sings a pathetic farewell to fair Alba, 
 the mountain, cliff, and dun, and her green sheeling on 
 the shores of Glen-Etive. 
 
 Barach meets them on their landing, and detains 
 Fergus, who reluctantly assigns his charge to his two 
 sons, Red Buine Borb and Ulan Finn, to conduct them 
 in safety to their journey's end. Deirdre's fears are 
 more and more excited; she has drjeams and visions of 
 disasters. She urges Naisi to go to Dunseverick or to 
 Dundelgan (Dundalk, the residence of Cuchullin), and 
 there await the coming up of Fergus. Naisi is in- 
 flexible. It would injure the honour of his companion 
 in arms to admit any apprehension of danger while 
 under his pledge of safe conduct. The omens multiply. 
 Deirdre's sense of danger becomes more and more acute. 
 
CH. IL] The Herow Period. 37 
 
 Still Naisi's reply is, " I fear not ; let us proceed." 
 At length they reach Emania, and are assigned the 
 house of the Eed Branch for their lodging. Calm, and 
 to all appearance unconscious of any cause for appre- 
 hension, Naisi takes his place at the chess-table, and 
 Deirdre, full of fears, sits opposite. Meanwhile the 
 king, knowing that Deirdre was again within his reach, 
 could not rest at the banquet, but sends spies to bring 
 him word " if her beauty yet lived upon her." The 
 first messenger, friendly to Clan Usnach, reports that 
 she . is " quite bereft of her own aspect, and is lovely 
 and desirable no longer." This allays Conor r s passion 
 for a time' ; but growing heated with wine, he shortly 
 after sends another messenger, who brings back the 
 intelligence, that not only is Deirdre " the fairest 
 woman on the ridge of the world,''' but that he himself 
 has been wounded by Naisi, who had resented his 
 gazing in at the window of the Eed Branch, by flinging 
 a chessman at his head, and dashing out one of his eyes. 
 This was all that Conor wanted ; he starts up in pre- 
 tended indignation at the violence done his servant, 
 calls his body-guard, aiid attacks the Eed Branch. 
 The defence now devolves on the sons of Fergus. Clan 
 Usnach scorn to evince alarm, or interfere in any way 
 with the duties of their protectors. But Deirdre cannot 
 conceal her consciousness that they are betrayed. 
 "Ah me !" she cries, hearing the soldiery of Conor at 
 the gates, " I knew that Fergus was a traitor." " If 
 Fergus hath betrayed you," replied Eed Buine Borb, 
 "yet will not I betray you." And he issues out and 
 slays his " thrice fifty men of might." But when Conor 
 
38 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 offers him Slieve Fuad for a bribe, he holds back his 
 hand from the slaughter, and goes his way. Then 
 calls Deirdre, " Traitor father, traitor son !" " No," 
 replies Ulan Finn, "though Eed Buin Borb be a 
 traitor, yet will not I be a traitor. While liveth this 
 small straight sword in my hand I will not forsake 
 Clan Usnach !" Then Illan'Finn, encountering Fiachra, 
 the son of Conor, armed with Ocean, Flight, and 
 Victory, the royal shield, spear, and sword, they fight 
 " a fair fight, stout and manly, bitter and bloody, 
 savage and hot, and vehement and terrible," until the 
 waves round the blue rim of Ocean roared, for it was 
 the nature of Conor's shield that it ever resounded as 
 with the noise of stormy waters when he who bore it 
 was in danger. Summoned by which signal, one of 
 King Conor's nobles, coming behind Ulan Finn, thrusts 
 him through. " The weakness of death then fell darkly 
 upon Ulan, and he threw his arms into the mansion, 
 and called to Naisi to fight manfully, and expired." 
 Clan Usnach at length deign to lay aside their chess- 
 tables, and stand to their arms. Ardan first sallies 
 out, and slays his " three hundred men of might ;" then 
 Ainle\ who makes twice that havoc; and last, Naisi 
 himself ; and " till the sands of the sea, the dewdrops 
 of the meadows, the leaves of the forest, or the stars of 
 heaven, be counted, it is not possible to tell the number 
 of heads, and hands, and lopped limbs of heroes that 
 there lay bare and red from the hands of Naisi and 
 his brothers on that plain." Then Naisi came again 
 into the Eed Branch to Deirdre ; and she encouraged 
 him, and said, " We will yet escape ; fight manfully, 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 39 
 
 and fear not." Then the sons of Usnach made a 
 phalanx of their shields, and spread the links of their 
 joined bucklers round Deirdre, and bounding forth like 
 three eagles, swept down upon the troops of Conor, 
 making great havoc of the people. But when Cathbad, 
 the Druid, saw that the sons of Usnach were bent on 
 the destruction of Conor himself, he had recourse to his 
 arts of magic, and he cast an enchantment over them, 
 so that their arms fell from their hands, and they were 
 taken by the men of Ulster ; for the spell was like a 
 sea of thick gums about them, and their limbs were 
 clogged in it, that they could not move. The sons of 
 Usnach were then put to death, and Deirdre, standing 
 over the grave, sang their funeral song. 
 
 The lions of the hill are gone, 
 And I am left alone alone. 
 Dig the grave both wide and deep, 
 For I am sick, and fain would sleep ! 
 
 The falcons of the wood are flown, 
 And I am left alone alone. 
 Dig the grave both deep and wide, 
 And let us slumber side by side. 
 
 The dragons of the rock are sleeping, 
 Sleep that wakes not for our weeping. 
 Dig the grave, and make it ready, 
 Lay me on my true-love's body. 
 
 Lay their spears and bucklers bright 
 By the warriors' sides aright ; 
 Many a day the three before me 
 On their linked bucklers bore me. 
 
40 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 Lay upon the low grave floor, 
 'Neath each head, the blue claymore : 
 Many a time .the nohle three 
 Reddened these blue blades for me. 
 
 Lay the collars, as is meet, 
 Of their greyhounds at their feet ; 
 Many a time for me have they 
 Brought the tall red deer to bay. 
 
 In the falcon's jesses throw 
 Hook and arrow, line and bow ; 
 Never again, by stream or plain, 
 Shall the gentle woodsmen go. 
 
 Sweet companions ye were ever 
 Harsh to me, your sister, never ; 
 Woods and wilds and misty valleys 
 Were with you as good 's a palace. 
 
 Oh ! to hear my true-love singing, 
 Sweet as sound of trumpets ringing ; 
 Like the sway of Ocean swelling 
 Rolled his deep voice round our dwelling. 
 
 Oh ! to hear the echoes pealing 
 Round our green and fairy sheeling, 
 When the three, with soaring chorus, 
 Passed the silent skylark o'er us. 
 
 Echo now, sleep morn and even 
 Lark alone enchant the heaven ! 
 Ardan's lips are scant of breath, 
 Naisi's tongue is cold in death. 
 
 Stag, exult on glen and mountain 
 Salmon, leap from loch to fountain 
 Heron, in the free air warm ye 
 Usnach's sons no more will harm ye. 
 
CH. n.] The Heroic Period. 41 
 
 Erin's stay no more you are. 
 Rulers of the ridge of war ! 
 Never more 'twill be your fate 
 To keep the beam of battle straight ! 
 
 Wo is me ! .by fraud and wrong, 
 Traitors false and tyrants strong, 
 Fell Clan Usnach, bought and sold, 
 For Barach's feast and Conor's gold ! 
 
 Wo to Emain, roof and wall ! 
 Wo to Red Branch, hearth and hall! 
 Tenfold wo and black dishonour 
 To the foul and false Clan Conor ! 
 
 Dig the grave both wide and deep, 
 Sick I am, and fain would sleep. 
 Dig the grave and make it ready, 
 Lay me on my true-love's body ! 
 
 So saying, she flung herself into the grave, and expired. 
 Fergus, at the feast, heard the fury of the elements 
 and dash of waves, which warned him that the wearer of 
 the magic shield of Conor was in grievous bodily 
 peril : 
 
 Rang the disk where wizard hammers, mingling in the wavy 
 
 field 
 Tempest wail and breaker clamours, forged the wondrous 
 
 Ocean shield, 
 Answering to whose stormy noises, oft as clanged by deadly 
 
 blows, 
 All the echoing kindred voices of the seas of Erin rose. 
 
 Moaned each sea-chafed promontory ; soared and wailed white 
 
 Cleena's wave, 
 Rose the surge of Inver Rory, and through column'd chasm 
 
 and cave 
 
42 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 Beaching deep with roll of anger, till Dunseverick's dungeons 
 
 reel'd, 
 Roared resjxmsive to the clangour struck from Conor's magic 
 
 shield. 
 
 You remember red wine quaffing, in Dunseverick's halls 
 
 of glee, 
 Heard the moaning, heard the chafing, heard the thundering 
 
 from the sea. 
 Knew that peril compassed Conor, came, and on Emania's 
 
 plain 
 Found his fraud and your dishonour, Deirdre* ravished, Ulan 
 
 slain. 
 
 Indignant at the violation of his safe conduct, Fergus, 
 having chastised the treachery of Conor, retires into 
 exile, accompanied by Cormac Conlingas, son of Conor, 
 and by three thousand warriors of Uladh. They 
 received a hospitable welcome at Cruachan from Maev 
 and her husband, Ailill, whence they afterwards made 
 many hostile incursions into Ulster, taking part among 
 others in the famous fray called in Irish tradition the 
 Tain Bo Cuailgne, or cattle spoil of Cuailgne (a district 
 in Louth), which originated in a dispute between Ailill 
 and Maev. This we shall give in the quaint and 
 humorous language of the unpublished MS. transla- 
 tion of the great Irish epic : 
 
 " On one occasion that Ailill and Maev had arisen 
 from their royal bed in Cruachan of Rath Conrach, a 
 pillow-conversation was carried on between them : 
 
 " ' It is a true saying, woman,' said Ailill, ' that a 
 good man's wife is a happy creature.' 
 
 " ' Why do you say so ?' said Maev. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 43 
 
 " * The reason that I say so,' said Ailill, ' is because 
 you are happier this day than the day I espoused 
 you.' 
 
 " * I was happy before I knew you,' said Maev. 
 
 " ' It was a happiness of which we never heard/ said 
 Ailill ; ' we only heard of your being in the dependent 
 position of a woman, whilst your nearest enemies stole 
 and plundered, and carried off your property.' 
 
 " ' Not so, was I,' said Maev ; ' but my father 
 was arch-king of Erin, that is Eochy Fiedlech, son 
 of Finn, son of Finnoman, son of Finneon, son of 
 Finnlag (&c.). He had six daughters of daughters ; 
 viz., Derbrin, Eithne, and Ele; Clothra, Mugain, 
 Maev, myself, who was the most noble and illus- 
 trious of them : I was the best for gifts and presents of 
 them. I was the best for battle and fight and combat 
 of them. It was I that had fifteen hundred noble 
 mercenaries, soldiers ; sons of foreign chiefs ; and as 
 many more of the sons of my own landholders ; and 
 there were ten (men) with every soldier of them, and 
 eight with every soldier, and seven with every soldier, 
 and six with every soldier, and five with every soldier, 
 and three with every soldier, and two with every soldier, 
 and a soldier with every soldier. These I had for my 
 ordinary household,' said Maev ; * and for that it was, 
 that my father gave me a province of the provinces of 
 Erin ; viz., the province of Cruachan, where I am 
 called Maev of Cruachan. And I was sought in mar- 
 riage by Finn, son of Ross Euadh, King of Laighin, 
 and by Cairpri Nia Fear, the son of the King of 
 Teamair, and by Conor, son of Fachna Fathach. And 
 
44 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 I was sought by Eochy, son of Luchta ; and I did not 
 go, because it was I that demanded the extraordinary 
 dowry, such as no woman ever before sought from the 
 men of Erin; viz.,. a man without parsimoniousness, 
 without jealousy, without fear. If the man who would 
 have me, were parsimonious, we were not fit to be united 
 in one, because I am good at bestowing gifts and pre- 
 sents ; and it would be a reproach to my husband that 
 I were better in gifts than he ; and it would be no 
 reproach now, if we were equally good, provided that 
 we were both good. If my husband were timid, we 
 were not the more fit to unite, because I go in battles 
 and fights, and combats, by myself alone ; and it would 
 be a reproach to my husband that his wife were more 
 active than himself; and it is no reproach if we are 
 equally active, but that we are active both of us. If 
 the man who had me were jealous, we were riot matched 
 either, because I was never without having a man in 
 the shadow of another. I have found that man ; viz., 
 you ; viz., Ailill, the son of Ross Ruadh, of the men 
 of Laighin. You were not parsimonious ; you were 
 not jealous ; you were not timid. I gave you an 
 engagement and dowry, the best that is desired of 
 woman ; viz., the array of twelve men, of 'clothes ; a 
 chariot, with thrice seven cumhals ; the breadth of your 
 face of red gold ; the span of your left wrist of carved 
 silver. Should any one work reproach, or injury, or 
 incantation on you, you are not entitled to Dire* or 
 Eneclann f for it, but what comes to me,' said Maev, 
 
 * Dire was a fine for any bodily injury. 
 
 | Eueclann was a fine for satire, or reproachful words, &c. 
 
CH. IL] The Heroic Period. -J5 
 
 * because a man in attendance on a woman is what you 
 are. 5 
 
 " ' Such was not my state,' said Ailill, but I had 
 two brothers, one the king of Temar, and the other 
 king of Laighin. I left them the sovereignty because 
 of their seniority. And you were not better for gifts 
 and presents than I was. I have not heard of a pro- 
 vince of Erin in woman-keeping but this province 
 alone. 1 came then, and I assumed sovereignty here 
 in succession to my mother ; for Mata of Murisg, the 
 daughter of Magach, was my mother, and. what better 
 queen need I desire to have than you, since you hap- 
 pen to be the daughter of the arch-king of Erin.' 
 
 " It happens, however,' said Maev, ' that my good- 
 ness is greater than yours.' 
 
 " ' I wonder at that,' said Ailill, ' since there is no 
 one that has more jewels, and wealth, and riches than I 
 have and I know there is not.' " 
 
 Ailill and Maev then commenced a comparison of 
 their goods and eifects for women at this time had 
 their dowries secured to them, and did not lose by 
 marriage their separate rights of property. Their jewels, 
 their garments, their flocks were compared, and found 
 to be of equal value and excellence, with one notable 
 exception only. " There was a particularly splendid 
 bull of Ailill's cows, and he was the calf of one of 
 Maev's cows, and Finnbennach (White-horn) was his 
 name ; but he deemed it not honourable to be in a 
 woman's dependence, and he passed over to the king's 
 cows." The queen was indignant, but hearing that Dare, 
 son of Factna, of Cuailgne, was the possessor of a brown 
 
46 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 bull, a still finer animal than the white-horned deserter 
 of her drove, she despatched her courier, MacRoth, to 
 Dare, requesting of him the loan of the Donn Cuailgne 
 (the Brown one of Quelny) for a year, and promising to 
 restore him with fifty heifers to boot, a chariot worth 
 sixty- three cows, and other marks of her friendship and 
 high consideration. 
 
 Dare courteously complied with the request of Maev, 
 and prepared an entertainment for her envoys. During 
 the progress of the feast, some surly Connacian, in 
 reply to an observation on the happy termination of 
 their mission, observed, that it was as well that the 
 Ultonians had agreed to send with them the Donn 
 Cuailgne, as, if he had been refused, they would have 
 carried him back with them by force. This unprovoked 
 insult excited the just indignation of Dare. He swore by 
 his " swearing gods," that the Connaught envoys should 
 not now have the bull, either by consent or by force. 
 
 The messengers returned to Maev, and the disap- 
 pointed queen summoned her forces, and called on her 
 friends and allies, and the Ultonian exiles who had 
 found refuge at her court, to join in a foray, the object 
 of which should be the capture of the desired Donn 
 Cuailgne. Fergus MacEoy, and Conor's own son, 
 Cormac Conlingas, who had left Emania on the viola- 
 tion of their safe conduct to the sons of Usnach, brought 
 their contingent to the Connacian army. It was not 
 without much hesitation and many mental pangs, that 
 these noble exiles consented to take part in an expedi- 
 tion directed against their countrymen and former 
 friends. Maev led her armies in person. " A woman, 
 
CH. n.] The Heroic Period. 47 
 
 comely, white-faced, long-cheeked, and large; gold- 
 yellow hair on her ; a short crimson cloak on her ; 
 a gold pin in the cloak over her breast; a straight, 
 carved-backed spear flaming in her hand." Such was 
 the appearance of this royal amazon when leading her 
 hosts to the fray. Ailill and his son Mane, who re- 
 sembled both parents, are thus described : 
 
 " Two great men with flaming eyes ; with golden 
 crowns of blazing gold over them ; kingly armour on 
 them ; gold-hilted, long swords at their girdles, in 
 bright silver scabbards, with pillows of chequered gold 
 on their outside." 
 
 Mane the motherlike, and Mane the fatherlike, as 
 follows : 
 
 "There came to me two soft youths there. They 
 were both alike : curled hair on the one of them ; 
 curled yellow hair on the other ; two green cloaks 
 wrapped round them ; two bright pins of silver in these 
 cloaks over their breasts ; two shirts of smooth yellow 
 silk to their skins ; white-hilted swords at their sides ; 
 two white shields with fastenings of fair silver on 
 them; two fleshy-pointed spears, with bright silver 
 ferules in their hands." 
 
 The itinerary of their journey exists, and is a docu- 
 ment of much interest, as the halting-places and daily 
 route of the Connaught armies may yet be distinctly 
 traced. Onward they marched, crossing the Shannon 
 at Athcoltna. and after many wanderings amid the un- 
 explored central fastnesses of the present Longford, 
 Leitrim, and Westmeath, arrived on the borders of 
 Ulster without molestation. 
 
48 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 And now appears on the stage the heroic figure of 
 Cuchullin. 
 
 When 'mid ford on Uladh's border, young Cuchullin stands 
 
 alone, 
 Maev and all her hosts withstanding: "Now for love of 
 
 knightly play, 
 Yield the youth his soul's demanding let the hosts their 
 
 marchings stay. 
 
 Till the death he craves be given, and upon his. burial stone 
 Champion praises duly graven, make his name and glory 
 
 known ; 
 
 For in speech-containing token age to ages never gave 
 Salutation better spoken than, ' Behold a hero's grave.',," 
 
 Cuchullin is the preux chevalier of Irish chivalrous 
 story. He possessed every quality of mind and body 
 proper, in the estimation of our ancestors, for a perfect 
 heroic character. 
 
 " These were the several and diverse and numerous 
 gifts peculiar to Cuchullin : the gift of form ; gift of 
 face ; gift of symmetry ; gift of swimming ; gift of 
 horsemanship ; gift of chess-playing and backgammon ; 
 gift of battle ; gift of fight ; gift of combat ; gift of 
 vision ; gift of eloquence ; gift of counsel ; gift of 
 blushing ; gift of paling ; gift of best leading from his 
 own country into a border country." 
 
 We must, however, extract from the epic of the Tain 
 Bo the picturesque incidents it relates of Cuchullin's 
 childhood (his " Boy-feasts," as they are called), before 
 we give the maturer deeds of his chivalrous manhood. 
 His mother, Dectire, was the sister of Conor Mac- 
 Nessa. His father, Sualtain, was a man of mediocre 
 
CH. ii. J The Heroie Period. 49 
 
 talents. Their child. Cuchullin, was a hero from his 
 infancy. 
 
 " The little boy asked of his mother if he would go 
 to sport on the sporting green of Emain. 
 
 " ' This is too early for you, my little son,' said his 
 mother, 'until some champion of the champions of 
 Ulster accompany you, or some guardian of Conor's 
 guardians/to undertake your protection and safety from 
 the youths.' 
 
 " * I think that too long, mother,' said the little 
 boy, then ; ' and I shall not be arguing, but do thou 
 show me where Emain is.' 
 
 " * Far from you,' said his mother, ' is the place where 
 it is. Slieve Fuad is between you and Emain.' 
 
 " * I will myself make a guess of the way, alone,' 
 said he. 
 
 " The boy set forward, taking with him his imple- 
 ments of pleasure. He took his hurl of brass, and 
 his ball of silver, and his shooting arrows, and he took 
 his top-burned spear of frolic, and he began to shorten 
 his way by them." 
 
 The child was rudely handled by the youths who 
 were sporting on the green at Emain. The disturbance 
 reached the ears of Conor who was playing at chess 
 with Fergus MacEoy at the moment when the ag- 
 grieved stranger had turned to bay, and was chasing 
 five of his opponents. The king caught him by the 
 wrists. 
 
 " ' My dear little boy,' said Conor, ' I see no cause 
 that you have to attack the boys.' 
 
 " ' I have great cause,' said the little boy ; ' I have 
 
 E 
 
50 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 not received the recognition of a stranger though I 
 have come from remote lands from the youths on my 
 arrival.' 
 
 " ' Then now, who art thou ?' * said Conor. 
 
 '"I am Setanta, the son of Sualtain ; I am the son 
 of Dectire, thy own sister, and it was not from you I 
 expected to be thus aggrieved.' " 
 
 Conor, with some difficulty, makes peace between 
 the youngsters. The education of his little nephew 
 progressed from this period. The next adventure re- 
 corded of him is as follows : 
 
 The following year Conor and a few select guests 
 were invited to a feast at the Dun of Culann, the smith, 
 who apologized for limiting his invitations " because it 
 was not lands or tenements he had, but his sledge, and 
 his anvils, and his hands, and his tongs." The king 
 accepts, and on his way to the abode of Culann, ob- 
 serves, with Fergus MacRoy who accompanied him, 
 the feats of his nephew and his companion youths who 
 were sporting on the plain of Emania 
 
 " * Alas ! O youths,' said Conor, ' happy the country 
 out of which the little boy that you see has come ; 
 if he knew the manly deeds as well as the boyish deeds.' 
 
 " ' It is not proper to say that,' said Fergus ; * because, 
 in proportion as the little boy grows, so will manly 
 deeds grow with him.' 
 
 " ' Let the little boy be called unto us, that he may 
 come with us to drink of the feast to which we are going,' 
 said Conor. 
 
 " ' I shall not go,' said the little boy. 
 
 " ' Why so ?' said Conor. 
 
CH. IL] The Heroic Period. 51 
 
 " ' Because the youths have not had enough of play 
 and pleasure, and I shall not leave them until they 
 have had enough of play/ 
 
 " ' It would be too long for us to be waiting on thee,' 
 said Conor, ' and we shall not either.' 
 
 " ' Go ye before us,' said the little boy, ' and I shall 
 follow you.' 
 
 " ' You do not know the way,' said Conor. 
 
 " * I shall follow in the track of the company, and of 
 the horses, and of the chariots.' " 
 
 So Conor went to the house of Culann, the smith. 
 The king and his company were served and honoured, 
 according to their degrees, their professions, their privi- 
 leges, their nobility, and their gentle accomplishments. 
 Green, fresh rushes were spread under them. They 
 began to drink and be happy. 
 
 Culann asked of Conor : 
 
 " ' Good, king, hast thou appointed with any one 
 this night to follow thee to this house ?' 
 
 " * I have not appointed indeed,' said Conor, because 
 he forgot the little boy with whom he appointed to 
 follow him. 
 
 " Why so ?' said Conor. 
 
 " ' I have a good chain-hound,' said Culann, ' and 
 when once his hound-chain is loosened, no stranger 
 dare travel within the same cantred with him, visitor 
 or traveller, and he recognizes no one but myself. He 
 has the power of an hundred in him, of strength.' 
 
 " ' Let the chain-hound be set loose, that he may 
 protect for us the cantred.' The chain-hound was 
 then se loose from this hound-chain, and he made a 
 
52 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 quick circuit of the cantred, and returned to the seat 
 where he always kept watch for the mansion. And 
 there he crouched with his head on his paws, and 
 fierce, cruel, churlish, dog-like was he that sat 
 there." 
 
 To return to the youths. "They were in Emain 
 until it was time for them to disperse. Each of them 
 went to the house of his own father and mother, nurse, 
 or tutor. 
 
 " The little boy now set out on the track of the com- 
 pany, till he came to the smith's house. He occupied 
 himself, to shorten the way, with his implements of 
 pleasure. When he came to the green of the house in 
 which Culann and Conor were, he cast all his imple- 
 ments before him but his ball alone. 
 
 " The chain-hound descried the little boy, and howled 
 at him so that the howling of the chain-hound was 
 heard throughout the surrounding territory; and it 
 was not a division of feasting he seemed inclined to 
 make of him, but to swallow him at once into the cavity 
 of his chest, through the capaciousness of his throat 
 and over the cartilage of his breast." 
 
 The child contends with, and kills, the formidable 
 dog. The noise of the conflict recalled to Conor the 
 appointment he had made with his nephew, and he 
 exclaims, in great distress of mind 
 
 " ' The little boy whom I desired to come after me 
 the son of my sister Setanta, the son of Sualtain, is 
 killed by the chain-hound.' 
 
 * They arose together, the renowned Ultonians, and 
 although the door of the court was standing wide open, 
 
CH. IT.] The Heroic Period. 53 
 
 each of them made his nearest way out over the battle- 
 ments of the Dun. 
 
 " Though readily they all reached, quicker did 
 Fergus reach, and whip the little boy from the ground 
 to the rack of his shoulder, and he brought him into 
 the presence of Conor. 
 
 "And Culann came out, and saw his chain-hound 
 in divided fragments. It was a stroke of his heart 
 against his chest to him. He went into the Dun after. 
 
 " ' I am hajfpy at your coming, little boy,' said 
 Culann, ' on account of your mother and your father, 
 but I am not happy at your coming on your own 
 account.' 
 
 " ' What have you against the boy ?' said Conor. 
 
 " i It is not lucky that you have come to me to quaff 
 my ale, and eat my food, for my present hospitality 
 is hospitality cast away, and my life is a lost life. 
 Good was the family-man you have taken from me. 
 He guarded cows and flocks and cattle for me.' 
 
 " ' Be not angry of it, master Culann,' said the 
 little boy, * because I will pronounce a true sentence 
 in this case.' 
 
 " ' What sentence do you pronounce in it, my boy ?" 
 said Conor. 
 
 " ' If there is a whelp of the seed of this hound in 
 Erin, he shall be reared by me until he is of the 
 efficiency of his father. I shall be a hound to protect 
 his flocks, and his cattle, and his territory during that 
 time.' 
 
 " ' Well hast thou pronounced thy judgment, my 
 little boy,' said Conor. 
 
54 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 " ' We would not ourselves,' said Cathbad (Conor's 
 Druid and Brehon) 'pronounce a better; and why 
 should thy name not be Cu-Chulain (Culann's hound) 
 in consequence.' 
 
 " ' Not so,' said the little boy, ' I prefer my own 
 name, Setanta, the son of Sualtain.' 
 
 " ' Say you not that, my little boy,' said Cathbad, 
 ' because the men of Erin and Alba will tremble at 
 that name, and the mouths of the men of Erin and 
 of Alba shall be full of that name.' * 
 
 " ' I like, then, that it be my name,' said the little 
 boy, and it is from this that the famous name of 
 Cuchullin has attached to him." 
 
 The noble nature of the young hero displayed 
 itself the ensuing year, under the following circum- 
 stances i 
 
 " Cathbad, the Druid, was instructing his pupils by 
 Emain on the north-east, having eight pupils of the 
 science of Druidism with him. One of them asked 
 his tutor, what was the luck and prognostication of 
 that day on which they were. Was it good or was it 
 evil ? Then Cathbad said, 
 
 " ' The little boy who would take arms this day 
 would be noble and illustrious, but would be unhappy 
 and short lived.' 
 
 "He Cuchullin heard these words, though he 
 was at his sports on the south-west of Emain ; and he 
 cast away from him his implements of pleasure, and 
 went to the sleeping-house of Conor. 
 
 " * All happiness to thee, King of Champions !' said 
 the little boy. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 55 
 
 " ' That is a salutation of soliciting something from 
 a person,' said Conor ; * what do you ask, my little 
 boy?' 
 
 " * To take arms,' said the little boy. 
 
 " * Who advised you, my little boy ?' said Conor. 
 
 " < Cathbad, the Druid,' said the little boy. 
 
 " * You shall not be deceived therein, my little boy,' 
 said Conor. 
 
 " Conor gave him two spears, and a sword, and a 
 shield. The little boy swung and balanced the arms 
 until he shivered them into crumbs and splinters. 
 
 " Conor gave him two other spears, and a shield and 
 sword. He swung, balanced, shook, and bent them 
 until he shivered them into crumbs and splinters. 
 
 " There were fourteen suits of arms that Conor 
 had for the service of the youths and princes : (when 
 any one of them took up arms, it was Conor that gave 
 him aggressive accoutrements : he had the gift of valour 
 in consequence :) however, this little boy shivered them 
 all into crumbs and splinters. 
 
 " * These indeed are not good weapons, my master 
 Conor,' said the little boy, 'my safety would not 
 come of them.' 
 
 " Conor gave his own two spears, and his shield and 
 sword to him. He swung and balanced, shook and 
 bent them, until he brought their points to their shanks ; 
 and the arms did not break, and they withstood him. 
 
 " ' These indeed are good arms,' said the little boy, 
 'they are my match. Happy the king whose arms 
 and accoutrements these are. Happy the country to 
 which he belongs.' 
 
56 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. n. 
 
 " Then came Cathbad, the Druid, into the pavilion, 
 and said, ' Has he taken these on ?' 
 
 " ' He has, indeed,' said Conor. 
 
 " ' It is not the son of your mother I could wish to 
 see take them on this day,' said Cathbad. 
 
 " ' How now, was it not you that advised him ?' said 
 Conor. 
 
 ' It was not I, indeed,' said Cathbad. 
 
 " ' What did you mean, you fairy sprite ?' said Conor. 
 ' Is it falsehood you have spoken to us?' 
 
 " ' Be not you angry now, my master Conor,' said the 
 little boy ; ' because it is certain that it was he that 
 advised me. For his pupil asked him what luck there 
 was on the day, and he said, The little boy that would 
 take arms in it, would be the noble and renowned, and 
 would be unhappy, and short-lived too. Glorious fate ! 
 though I were but one day and one night in the world, 
 provided that my history and my adventures lived 
 after me !' " 
 
 Cuchullin speedily fleshes his maiden sword. He 
 sets off in his chariot to seek adventures, and returns 
 to Emania with the bloody heads of the three sons of 
 Nectain ; wild deer bound to his chariot, and captured 
 wild birds fluttering around him. 
 
 But the most heroic achievement of the young warrior 
 was his series of single-handed combats with the picked 
 men of the Connacian armies led by Ailill and Maev in 
 person, when he defended the fords, and stopped the 
 onward march of the hosts of the Tain-bo, on the borders 
 of Ulster. He held these passes into the threatened 
 province for the chivalrous custom of the times per- 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 57 
 
 mitted none to refuse a challenge, nor the host to 
 advance till the result of the single combats should be 
 known till the Ultonians had time to muster their 
 forces, and arrive to give battle to the armies of Con- 
 naught in defence of their land and their cattle. 
 
 The Tarn Bo Cuailgne recounts at great length the 
 combats that ensued, in all of which Cuchullin was 
 victorious. 
 
 What, another and another, and he still for combat calls ? 
 Ah ! the lot on thee, his brother sworn in arms, Ferdiah, falls, 
 And the hall with wild applauses sobbed like women ere they 
 
 wist, 
 When the champions in the pauses of the deadly combat 
 
 kiss'd. 
 
 The youthful Ferdiah was most reluctant to engage 
 in strife with his former friend and companion Cuchu- 
 llin, for " with the same tutors they learned the science 
 of feats of bravery and valour ; with Scatha, and with 
 Uatha, and with Aife." 
 
 The name of Scatha, the Amazonian instructress 
 of these youths, is still preserved in Dun Sciath in the 
 island of Skye, where "great Cuchullin's name and 
 glory " yet linger. The Coolin mountains, named 
 after him those " thunder-smitten, jagged Cuchullin 
 peaks of Skye," the grandest mountain range in 
 Great Britain attract to that remote island of the 
 Hebrides, worshippers of the sublime and beautiful in 
 nature, whose enjoyments would be largely enhanced 
 if they knew the heroic legends which are connected 
 with the glorious scenes they have travelled so far to 
 witness. Cuchullin is one of the foremost characters 
 
58 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 in Macpherson's Ossian, but the quasi-translator qf 
 Gaelic poems places him more than two centuries 
 later than the period at which he really lived. The 
 tendency of the public mind at present is somewhat 
 unjust to Macpherson. The repugnance naturally felt 
 at any literary falsification blinds many to the poetry 
 and beauty of his adaptations of the Gaelic legends, 
 which are associated with the name of Ossian. With 
 the exception of his alteration of names and localities, 
 framed in order to connect the traditions of the ancient 
 poet with Scotland, rather than with Ireland, he took 
 few liberties with his originals that were not fully 
 warranted by the character of the material with which 
 he had to deal. If he had honestly claimed for him- 
 self the authorship of the book, and acknowledged 
 himself an adapter, rather than a translator, he would 
 be entitled to high approval ; for amidst much that 
 is turgid and bombastic, there is grandeur, and pathos, 
 and sublimity, in the Ossian of Macpherson. 
 
 But to return to Ferdiah. His aversion to contend 
 with his former companion in arms, is at last overcome 
 by the satirists of Maev : " Ferdiah came with them 
 for the sake of his honour, for he preferred to fall by 
 the shafts of valour, gallantry, and bravery, rather than 
 by the shafts of satire, censure, and reproach." 
 
 The eventful morning of combat is about to dawn. 
 
 " Ferdiah's horses were harnessed, and his chariot 
 was yoked, and he went forward to the ford of battle. 
 And the day with its full lights had now come. 
 
 " ' Gopd, my servant,' said Ferdiah ; * spread for me 
 the cushions and skins of my chariot under me, here, 
 
CH. IL] .The Heroic Period. 59 
 
 until I take my deep rest and sleep, here, because I 
 slept not the end of the night for anxiety about the 
 combat and battle.' 
 
 " The servant unharnessed the horses. He spread 
 the cushions and skins of the chariot under him. 
 
 " Cuchullin arose not at all until the day with all its 
 lights came, because that the men of Erin should not 
 say that it was fear or dread that induced him, if he 
 had arisen. And when day with all its' lights came, 
 he commanded his charioteer that he should harness 
 his horses and yoke his chariot. 
 
 " l Good, my servant,' said Cuchullin ; ' harness our 
 horses for us, and yoke our chariot, for he is an early- 
 rising champion who comes to meet us to-day, Ferdiah 
 MacDaman MicDare.' 
 
 " ' The horses are harnessed, the chariot is yoked ; 
 step you into it, and it will not disparage your 
 valour.' 
 
 " And then the strokeful, featful, battle-winning, red- 
 sworded hero, Cuchullin Mac Sualtain, sprang into 
 his chariot." 
 
 The heroes meet at the ford, and exchange greet- 
 ings, not unmixed with reminiscences of their happy 
 boyish days. 
 
 " * Too long have we remained this way now,' said 
 Ferdiah ; ' and what arms shall we fight with to- 
 day?' 
 
 " ' Thine is the choice of arms till night, this day,' 
 said Cuchullin; 'for it is you that first reached the 
 ford.' 
 
 "'Do you remember at all,' said Ferdiah, 'the 
 
60 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 missive weapons we were used to practise with Scatha, 
 and with Uatha, and with Aife ?' 
 
 " * I remember, indeed,' said Cuchullin. 
 
 " * If you remember, let us resort to them.' " 
 
 Night arrives without any decisive advantage on 
 either side. 
 
 " * Let us desist now for the present, Cuchullin,' 
 said Ferdiah. 
 
 " * Let us, indeed, desist, if the time has come,' said 
 Cuchullin. 
 
 " They stopped. They threw their arms away from 
 them into the hands of their charioteers. Each of 
 them approached the other, and each put his hands 
 round the other's neck and gave him three kisses. 
 
 " Their horses were in the same paddock that night, 
 and their charioteers at the same fire. And their 
 charioteers spread beds of green rushes for them, with 
 wounded-men pillows to them. 
 
 "Their professors of healing and curing came to 
 heal and cure them, and they put herbs of healing and 
 curing into their cuts, and their wounds, and their 
 clefts, and all their wounds. Every herb and every 
 plant of healing and curing that was put to the cuts, 
 and wounds, and clefts, and all the wounds of Cuchullin, 
 he would send an equal division of them from him 
 westwards over the ford to Ferdiah. 
 
 " Every kind of food, and of palatable pleasant 
 intoxicating drink that was sent by the men of Erin to 
 Ferdiah, he would send a fair moiety of them over the 
 ford northward to Cuchullin." 
 
 Day after day the combat is renewed ; great wounds 
 
CH. IT.] The Heroic Period. 61 
 
 are given and received. At last Ferdiah falls. ' Cu- 
 chullin laid Ferdiah down there, and a cloud, and a 
 faint, and a weakness fell on Cuchullin.' The hero, 
 exhausted by his wounds and long-continued strife, 
 and still more by the distress of mind caused by the 
 death of his loved friend, lies long on his bed of sick- 
 ness, and is unable to take part in the impending battle 
 between the Ultonians and the now retreating forces of 
 Ailill and Maev. His father visits him, and is thus 
 quaintly described in the poem : 
 
 " For thus was Sualtain. He was not a bad champion, 
 and he was not a good champion, but he happened to 
 be a big, good sort of person." 
 
 Cuchullin sends him to rouse the Ultonians. He 
 performs his embassy in the following manner : 
 
 "'You have been plundered by Ailill and Maev,' 
 said Sualtain ; ' your women, and your children, and 
 your youths, your horses, and your studs, your flocks, 
 your herds, and your cattle have been carried away. 
 Cuchullin is alone detaining and delaying the four 
 great provinces of Erin, in the gaps and the passes of 
 the country of Conaille Murthevne. * * * And if you 
 do not immediately avenge this, it will not be avenged 
 to the end of time and life.' " 
 
 Conor musters his hosts, but Ailill and Maev are 
 already on their way to Connaught ; the original cause 
 of the war, the Donn Cuailgne himself, being captured, 
 and led towards the pastures of Cruachan. 
 
 MacEoth, the herald of Connaught, is left to watch for 
 the foe, who might be expected to harass their retreat. 
 
 " MacKoth went forward to reconnoitre the great 
 
62 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 wide-spreading plain of Meath. MacRoth was not 
 long doing so when lie heard something the sound, 
 and the tramp, and the clamour, and the noise. 
 
 " There was nothing that he could think it to be, 
 unless it was the. falling of the firmament on the face 
 of the earth ; or unless it were the salmon-abounding 
 blue ocean that flowed over the face of the world ; or 
 unless it was the earth severed from its earthly motion ; 
 or unless it was the forests that fell each tree into the 
 catches and forks and branches of the other." 
 
 The Ultonian hosts advance. The armies pass 
 that night on the plains of Slewen. At dawn of day 
 the battle begins. The disabled Cuchullin, longing, 
 but unable, to take part in the conflict, charges his 
 charioteer to give him tidings of the fight. 
 
 " Leagh had not remained long looking till he saw 
 the men of Erin all arising together, snatching up their 
 shields, and their spears, and their swords, and their 
 helmets, and pressing, each party the other, forward to 
 the battle. 
 
 " The men of Erin began, each of them, to hew, and 
 to cut down, to partition, to disjoint, to slaughter, and 
 to destroy each other for a long time. 
 
 " ' How is the battle fought now, my master Leagh ?' 
 said Cuchullin. 
 
 " ' Manfully is it fought,' said Leagh. * For though 
 I were to take my chariot, and Eu, Conall's charioteer, 
 were to take his, and though we were to drive in our 
 two noble chariots to meet each other through the 
 array of their arms, neither shoe, nor wheel, nor seat, 
 nor shaft of them could pass through, for the tightness, 
 
OH. n.] The Heroic Period. 63 
 
 and for the firmness, and for the fastness with which 
 their arms are grasped in the hands of the warriors at 
 this moment.' 
 
 " ' Alas, that I am not of strength to be among them !' 
 said Cuchullin ; ' for if I were of strength my breach 
 would be conspicuous there to-day.' 
 
 " ' Hush now, my Hound/ said Leagh. * It is no 
 disgrace to your valour it is no reproach to your 
 honour. You have done bravely before now. You 
 shall do so again.' " 
 
 Cuchullin cannot be kept back even by the 
 entreaties of his attendant. His wounds are too fresh 
 to permit him to take an active part in the combat, 
 but he meets his ancient master and friend, Fergus 
 MacEoy, and adjures him, by his former promise to that 
 effect, no longer to take part against his countrymen 
 of Ulster, nor to avenge on them the wrongs he 
 had sustained from his step-son, Conor. Fergus, thus 
 appealed to, retires, and the Connacians accept his 
 retreat as a signal for leaving the field. They send on 
 before them the Bull which was the original cause of 
 their foray, and under the guardianship of Maev, who 
 courageously protects the rear of her defeated army 
 retire towards Cruachan. The finale as regards the 
 Donn Cuailgne is highly grotesque. " When he saw 
 the beautiful unknown country " (the rich pasture land 
 of Eoscommon) "he gave his three rounds of roars 
 aloud. But the Finnbennach of Ai heard him." This 
 was the Bull that had gone over from Maev's cows 
 because " he deemed it not honourable to be in a 
 woman's dependence," and he allowed no other beast 
 
64 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. n. 
 
 " to dare to raise a roar higher than a lowing within 
 the four fords of Ai." So he raised his head on high, 
 and came forward to Cruachan to meet the Bonn 
 Cuailgne. 
 
 The Battle of the Bulls was as furious as had been 
 that of the Connacians and Ultonians, on their account. 
 After a terrible encounter, in which no one ventured to 
 intervene, the men of Erin " saw the Donn Cuailgne 
 coming past Cruachan, coming from the west, and carry- 
 ing the Finnbennach on his peaks and on his horns." 
 
 Having shaken off his defeated antagonist, the Bull 
 " turned his face to the north, and recognized the country 
 of Cuailgne, and went towards it." 
 
 Let us hope, notwithstanding the tragical end 
 assigned to him in the romance, where he dashes out 
 his brains in charging at a rock, that in his native plains 
 of Louth he found fresh fields and pastures new, and 
 that the readers who have followed his adventures in the 
 Tain bo Cuailgne shall be sharers in the blessing invoked 
 at the close of the poem ' on every one who shall faith- 
 fully study the Tain.' 
 
 Cuchullin also plays the part of hero in tales of 
 love and courtship which still exist among the unpub- 
 lished Irish MSS. in our libraries. His wooing of 
 Eimer, the beautiful daughter of Forgall Monach, a 
 personage who held a court of general hospitality at 
 Lusk, near Dublin, has many romantic circumstances 
 attending it. Having heard of the charms and accom- 
 plishments of the Lady Eimer, Cuchullin, accompanied 
 by his faithful Leagh, set out from Emania, and 
 discovered, on reaching her father's abode, the lady he 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 65 
 
 sought, in the companionship of others of her sex and 
 station, pursuing her customary sports and occupations. 
 Eimer was no less gifted than Cuchullin himself. 
 Hers, we are told, were " the gift of beauty of person, 
 the gift of voice, the gift of music, the gift of embroidery 
 and all needlework, the gift of wisdom, and the gift of 
 virtuous chastity." Her discretion was not inferior to 
 her accomplishments. She declined to listen to the 
 addresses of Cuchullin, alleging that she was but a 
 younger daughter. She enlarged on the virtues and 
 charms of her elder sister, and suggested that he 
 should seek her father's sanction, and become a suitor 
 to that lady. 
 
 Forgall was not disposed to part with either of his 
 daughters. In the guise of a stranger he presented 
 himself at the court of Conor ; praised the varied 
 feats and accomplishments which were exhibited in 
 honour of the stranger's visit to Emania, by the knights 
 of the Eed Branch, including Cuchullin himself, and 
 suggested to Conor that his young warriors should 
 complete their military education under the tuition of 
 Scatha, on the island of Skye. It was thus that 
 Cuchullin became the pupil of this remarkable 
 instructress, to whom he so often referred in after-life. 
 His sojourn in the Hebrides perfected him in all 
 knightly and manly exercises, and kept him far removed 
 from Erin, which had been the secret object of Forgall 
 in recommending the school of Dun Sciath. 
 
 Forgall's project was not so successful as he had 
 hoped. Eimer and Cuchullin found means of exchanging 
 vows of constancy, for by this time the hero had won 
 
66 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n- 
 
 the fair lady's heart. He remained in Scotland till he 
 had acquired all that Scatha could teach, and then 
 returned to Ireland, to claim the hand of Eimer. On 
 his homeward route he played the part of a Perseus 
 to an Andromeda of Bathlin island, rescuing from 
 certain pirates a damsel exposed on the shore, and 
 destined to be their captive in lieu of tribute which 
 the islanders were unable to pay. Declining any re- 
 ward for his services in slaying the pirates, Cuchullin 
 hastened to Lusk, but the Lady Eimer was closely 
 guarded in her father's fortress. Cuchullin stormed 
 the fort, and carried her off in triumph, not without 
 the penalty of combats with their pursuers at various 
 fords and passes, in the line of country between Lusk 
 and Armagh. 
 
 Another romantic adventure in which Cuchullin 
 was concerned as one of the knights of the Bed 
 Branch, was an attack on an island called Mana, where 
 resided a most beautiful damsel named Blanaid. 
 Curoi MacDare, the leader of the Munster order of 
 chivalry, the Clan Degaid, as they were called, was 
 present on this expedition in the disguise of a grey- 
 coated clown, and gave valuable aid to the Ulster 
 champions, on condition that, should he succeed in pro- 
 curing for them entrance into the fort, he should 
 have his choice of all the jewels it contained. Success 
 being achieved, the clown in the grey garb named 
 Blanaid herself as the jewel he would claim, and on 
 Cuchullin disputing the point with him, Curoi suc- 
 ceeded in carrying her off by stratagem. Cuchullin 
 pursued him towards Munster, but being worsted in 
 
CH. IL] The Heroic Period. 67 
 
 an encounter with Curoi, who inflicted on him the 
 double disgrace of " binding him in five-fold fetter, 
 wrists and ankles, wrists and neck," and cutting off his 
 long love-locks, he was compelled to return to Ulster, 
 and there await the growing of his hair, as this loss 
 was esteemed disgraceful for a man of Erin. 
 
 A year elapsed before Cuchullin's hair had grown, 
 when he again sought Blanaid. He found her on the 
 banks of the stream afterwards called the Finglas or 
 White-brook, in Kerry. Curoi's abode still exists, and 
 preserves his name, on the summit of Cahir-Conree, the 
 grand mountain which towers over Tralee. Blanaid 
 lamented her fate, and implored Cuchullin to return at 
 an appointed time and rescue her, at a signal agreed on 
 between them. 
 
 " But hearken, dear Cuchullin, 
 Heed well the words I say, 
 Gather thy forces far and wide, 
 And on the thirtieth day, 
 Encamped in yonder forest, 
 Watch well the river clear, 
 
 When its stream runs white, with main and might 
 Charge, as thou hold'st me dear." * 
 
 The scheme which Blanaid had imagined, was to 
 persuade Curoi to build for himself a fortress which 
 should surpass all the royal residences in Erin, and to 
 disperse the Clan Degaid in search of great stones for 
 the erection of this cyclopean structure. Ai the 
 moment when Curoi was alone, and defenceless, 
 Blanaid overturned into the river, pails of milk which 
 
 * From Goethe, by E. KENEALY. 
 
(58 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 she had prepared for the purpose, thus making the 
 concerted signal for the attack of the fortress and 
 capture and death of Curoi. Her treachery did not go 
 unpunished. Ferkertne, the bard of the murdered 
 Curoi, followed her to Ulster. He found her, in 
 company with Conor and Cuchullin, on the promontory 
 of Ken-Barra. He approached her, twined his arms 
 around her, and sprang with her in this fatal embrace 
 over the brow of the cliff, into the wild ocean beneath. 
 
 Before taking leave of Curoi MacDare, we may 
 mention that his descendants still hold a high position 
 in his county of Kerry. O'Connell was a representa- 
 tive of this ancient champion of the Clan Degaid. 
 
 The glory and happiness of Cuchullin were clouded 
 in his after-life by a tragical occurrence, arising from 
 a sin of his youth. During his residence in Skye, he 
 loved, and abandoned, the Lady Aife. She bore him a 
 son, and trained her unconscious child to be the actor 
 in the schemes of vengeance which she nourished 
 against Cuchullin. The young Conloch was educated 
 in all martial exercises, and when fully perfected, 
 sent by his mother to Erin, with injunctions never to 
 tell his name, or refuse to fight a single combat against 
 the most powerful champion. 
 
 " Conloch, haughty, bold, and brave 
 Kides upon lerne's wave, 
 Flushed with loud-applauding fame, 
 From Dunsciaik's walls he came, 
 Came to visit Erin's coast 
 Came to prove her mighty host." * 
 
 Translated from the Irish by Miss BROOKE. 
 
CH. u.] The Heroic Period. 69 
 
 .Conloch returned an insolent answer to the mes- 
 senger sent by Conor MacNessa, to demand his name 
 and purpose. He encountered, and defeated, several 
 champions sent by the king. At last Cuchullin 
 approaches. Conloch is moved by the yearnings of 
 natural affection, but still declines to tell his name 
 and lineage to the hero, whom he alone knows to be 
 his father. They fight, and Conloch falls. Ere he 
 dies, he reveals the fatal secret, and implores the 
 forgiveness of his parent. The grief of Cuchullin 
 ends only with his life. His death occurred ('tis said 
 in A.D. 2) at the battle of Murthevne, near Dundalk. 
 Here " the manly, beauteous champion fell ; it was not 
 the fall of a dastard." His death was avenged by his 
 kinsman Conall Carnach. When the event happened, 
 Conall was beyond sea ; but the widowed Eimer sent 
 to acquaint him, and to hasten his return, that he might 
 avenge Cuchullin. This great knight of the Bed 
 Branch found the head of the hero used as a, -hurling- 
 ball. He contended with, and slew those who had so 
 insulted the remains of his friend. Cuchullin's head 
 and right hand are said to have been buried at Tara. 
 
 Conall Carnach, this knight of the Eed Branch 
 who avenged Cuchullin, was of the race of Ir, son 
 of Miled. He was kinsman also to Fergus MacEoy, 
 through their common ancestor, Eury Mor, king 
 of Ireland from whom the Clan Eury derive their 
 name. He fills a foremost place in heroic story at 
 this period the commencement of the Christian era. 
 The courage and daring of these doughty champions 
 made them very formidable antagonists, and their sue- 
 
70 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 cesses tempted them to seek occasion for a display of 
 their prowess. Nor was this overbearing and aggres- 
 sive disposition confined to the warriors of Ulster. 
 Even the bards of the northern kingdom presumed on 
 the warlike repute of its heroes, to insult and oppress 
 the less powerful chieftains of other districts. It is 
 recorded of Atharne, a poet at the court of Conor, 
 that he set out on a tour of visits to the other pro- 
 vincial kings, with the sole object of " picking a 
 quarrel " on behalf of the Ultonians with their weaker 
 neighbours. With this object he insolently demanded 
 the most costly gifts, which were yielded to him for 
 the sake of peace. Eochy, king of mid-Erin, actually 
 bestowed on Atharne his one remaining eye, which the 
 audacious poet demanded of the already mutilated 
 prince, little expecting his request to be granted, but 
 intending to fix a quarrel, should it be refused. Loch 
 Derg (on the Shannon) is said in the legend to have 
 derived its name (the Lake of the Red Eye) from 
 this circumstance. In Leinster, Atharne demanded 
 the gift of one hundred and fifty ladies, seven hundred 
 white cows with red ears, and other cattle. His un- 
 reasonable petition was accorded with such ready 
 alacrity that it aroused the poet's suspicions. He 
 therefore sent to Conor, asking from him an escort of 
 Ultonians, who should meet him at the boundary of 
 the respective kingdoms, and repel any attempt at the 
 forced restitution which he anticipated at the hands of his 
 Leinster escort, the moment they should be at liberty to 
 attack him without infringing the laws of hospitality. 
 These laws, which it would have been deemed dis- 
 
CH. n.] The Heroie Period. 71 
 
 honourable to violate, protected Atharne and his ill- 
 gotten gains while in the territory of the men of 
 Leinster. It was at the ford of the Liffey at Dubh- 
 linn, the Hack ^pool which gives its name to Dublin, 
 that a causeway of hurdles was thrown across the river 
 for the transport of the flocks, from which the Irish 
 capital obtained its name of Ath CliatJi, meaning 
 " Hurdle-ford." Here for the Liffey was at this 
 time the boundary between Leinster and Ulster as 
 Atharne had anticipated, his late hosts, the instant he 
 had passed out of their country, seized upon ^their 
 women and cattle. A battle ensued, in which the 
 Ultonians succeeded in forcing their retreat to the Hill 
 of Howth, and carrying the cattle with them. From 
 the summit of Ben Edar, the poet cursed the land he 
 had left, and a blight fell on all things in Leinster, 
 which lasted till the outraged Atharne was persuaded 
 to remove his malignant infliction. 
 
 " Sing while you may, nor grieve to know 
 The song you sing shall also die : 
 Atharna's lay has perished so, 
 Though once it thrilled this sky 
 Above us, from his rocky chair, 
 There, where Ben Edar's landward crest 
 O'er eastern Bregia bends, to where 
 Dun Almon crowns the west : 
 And all that felt the fretted air 
 Throughout the song-distempered clime 
 Did droop, till suppliant Leinster's prayer 
 Appeased the vengeful rhyme." * 
 
 * From The Cromlech on Howth, by S. FERGUSON. 
 
72 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 While the Ultonians, with Atharne, were encamped 
 at Howth, Conall Carnach made various onslaughts on 
 the Leinster men, urged by a desire to revenge the 
 deaths of his brothers, who had been slain during the 
 siege. He overtook and encountered Mesgedra, the 
 King of Leinster, vanquished him in single combat, 
 cut off his head, and carried the bleeding trophy with 
 him in his chariot. He had not travelled far when he 
 met Mesgedra's queen, Biiana, returning with an escort 
 of fifty ladies, from a visit to Meath. " Thou art com- 
 manded to come with me," said Conall, addressing her. 
 
 " Who has commanded me ?" replied the queen. 
 
 " Mesgedra," rejoined Conall. 
 
 " Hast thou brought me any token from him ?" asked 
 the queen. 
 
 " I have brought his chariots and horses," said Conall. 
 
 " He makes many presents ?" said the lady. 
 
 " Come into my chariot : his head is here too," re- 
 joined the champion. 
 
 " Give me liberty to lament for my husband," said 
 the bereaved woman, and then she shrieked aloud her 
 grief and sorrow with such intensity that her heart 
 broke, and she fell dead from her chariot. 
 
 The MS. story of the siege of Howth (Talland Etair), 
 from which we glean these incidents, contains, in the 
 midst of much that is barbarous and revolting, some 
 traits of generous sentiment worthy of being called 
 chivalrous, and well deserving the attention of in- 
 quirers into the sources of mediseval romantic liter- 
 ature. 
 
 Mesgedra, with a single squire, flying from the 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 73 
 
 pursuit of the Ultonians, reaches the ford of Clane. 
 Here they halt to snatch a moment's repose. " I shall 
 sleep awhile," said the charioteer, "and thou canst 
 sleep afterwards." "It is agreeable to me," said the 
 king, yielding the privilege of first refreshment to his 
 humbler companion. The charioteer sleeps, and 
 Mesgedra, looking at the river, is aware of a large nut 
 floating towards him. He divides the kernel, keeping 
 one half for the charioteer, and eats the other. At 
 this moment the charioteer awakens from " an evil 
 vision." " Is it a nut thou didst eat ?" he demands : 
 "hast thou left half for me?" "Catch the horses, 
 gilla" said the king. Then the charioteer resenting 
 the king's supposed ungenerous greediness, exclaims, 
 " He who would eat a little behind the back of a 
 hungry comrade would eat much," and in rash rage 
 drew his sword, and smote off Mesgedra's hand. " Evil 
 is the deed," said Mesgedra. " Open my hand : the 
 half of the nut is there." When the charioteer saw 
 that it was so, " he turned the sword against himself, 
 so that it went out through his back." At this moment 
 Conall approaches, from the opposite side of the ford : 
 " I am here," said Mesgedra. " What then ?" said 
 Conall. " What more," said Mesgedra, " save to 
 assail him of whom the debt is due, whatever be the 
 strait he may be in." "Prepare," said Conall. "It 
 is not true valour," said Mesgedra, " for you to fight 
 with a one-handed man." " So it shall be with me 
 also," said Conall : " my hand shall be bound to my 
 side," said Conall. Conall's hand was triple-bound to 
 his side. They fought. The river was red from them : 
 
74 The Irish before the Conquest. [cu. n. 
 
 in the end Conall was the stronger. " Lo now, O Conall," 
 said Mesgedra, " I know that thou wilt not depart 
 until thou bearest with thee this head : bear, then, my 
 head on thy head, and my renown on thy renown.." 
 When it is remembered that this was one of the tra- 
 ditionary " prime tales " known by every duly qualified 
 bard for ages prior to the twelfth century (for it is one 
 of those enumerated in the Book of Leinster, and the 
 Book of Leinster was compiled for Dermid Mac- 
 Murrogh in his youth), it will not appear necessary, 
 in the absence of evidence, to assume that the 
 Arthurian legend and the cycle of Armoric romance 
 could not have originated among the Celtic popula- 
 tions. 
 
 Conall buried Biiana, and the head of her husband with 
 her, having previously, in compliance with a barbarous 
 custom, extracted the brains, which were mixed with 
 lime, and made into a ball. This ball was deposited in 
 the House of the Eed Branch, at Emania, and was 
 destined to play an important part afterwards ; for a 
 prophecy existed that Mesgedra would avenge himself 
 on the Ulstermen. 
 
 On one occasion, Keth MacMagach, a Connaught 
 hero, and nephew of Maev of Cruachan, passing dis- 
 guised near Emania, observed two fools of Conor's 
 court playing on the green with the fatal ball, which 
 they had purloined from the trophy-house of Creeve Roe. 
 Keth, aware of the prediction, possessed himself of it, 
 and always carried it in his girdle, awaiting an oppor- 
 tunity of using it against Conor. This he obtained by 
 a characteristic stratagem, on a subsequent encounter 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 75 
 
 between the Connacians and the Ultonians, in which 
 Conor himself commandeth the northern forces. 
 
 Conor was vain of his personal symmetry and 
 beauty : " For there was not upon earth the shape 
 of a person like the shape of Conchobhar (Conor), 
 namely, in form, and face, and countenance ; in size, 
 and symmetry, and proportion ; in eyes, and hair, and 
 whiteness ; in wisdom, and prudence, and eloquence ; 
 in costume, and nobleness, and mien ; in arms, and 
 amplitude, and dignity ; in accomplishment, and valour, 
 and family descent." 
 
 The golden colour of Conor's hair is also recorded. 
 The wound in his head, received in the manner about 
 to be mentioned, was, according to the story, " stitched 
 with thread of gold, because the colour of Conchobhar's 
 hair was the same as the colour of the gold." Thus 
 gifted, and not unwilling to display his gifts, Conor 
 unsuspectingly acceded to a request made by some of 
 the Connacian ladies that he should approach them 
 between the armies, so that they might judge whether 
 fame had reported truly of his personal dignity and 
 martial bearing. 
 
 Keth disguised himself in female attire, and with 
 his sling and Mesgedra's brain-ball, stationed himself 
 among the women who awaited the approach of the 
 handsome king. Conor came within reach of the missile. 
 Keth cast the fatal ball from his sling, and imbedded it 
 deeply in the head of the monarch. 
 
 Conor's physicians hesitated to remove the ball, but 
 succeeded in restoring him to the use of his faculties, 
 and permitted him soon to resume his former habits, 
 
76 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. 11. 
 
 only cautioning him against any violent exertion or 
 emotion, especially against indulgence in anger. On 
 this circumstance of the tradition, and the supposed 
 synchronism of Conor's death with the time of Our 
 Lord's crucifixion, has been founded a Christian legend 
 of singular but picturesque wildness. Conor, startled 
 by the supernatural darkness which accompanied the 
 Passion of Our Lord, inquires from his Druids of its 
 cause. They reply, "that Jesus Christ, the Son of 
 the living God, was at that moment suffering at the 
 hands of the Jews." " What crime has he committed ?" 
 said Conor. " None," replied they. " Then they are 
 slaying him being innocent ?" asked Conor. " It is so," 
 said the Druids. Thereupon Conor, bursting into un- 
 controllable fury, drew his sword, rushed into an adjoin- 
 ing wood, and began to hew and hack the trees, suppos- 
 ing them in his frenzy to be the obnoxious Jews : and 
 the legend preserves, in archaic but characteristic 
 language, the rhapsody, or rhetoric, as it is called, pro- 
 nounced by him on that occasion. 
 
 " Good now," said Conchobhar ; "it is a pity that 
 he (Christ) did not appeal to a valiant high-king, which 
 would bring me in the shape of a hardy champion, my 
 lips quivering, until the great valour of a soldier should 
 be witnessed dealing a breach of battle between two 
 hosts. Bitter the slaughter by which there would be pro- 
 pitiated free relief. With Christ should my assistance 
 be. A wild shout has sprung at large : a full Lord, a full 
 loss is lamented ; the crucifixion of a king, the greatest 
 body, who was an illustrious, admirable king. I would 
 complain of the deed to the faithful host of noble feats, 
 
CH. ii. j The Heroic Period. 77 
 
 whose vigilant, beautiful aid should be with the merci- 
 ful God to relieve Him. Beautiful the overthrowing 
 which I would give. Beautiful the combat which I 
 would wage for Christ, who- is being defiled. I would 
 not rest, though my body of clay had been tormented 
 by them. ... It crushes my heart to hear the voice of 
 wailing for my God, and that this arm does not come 
 to reach with true relief to arrest the sorrow of death 
 because I am told that it is dangerous for me to ride 
 in chariots without avenging the Creator." In the 
 midst of these excitements, the ball started from its place, 
 where it had remained imbedded in his skull, and Conor 
 fell dead on the spot. Another tradition ascribes to 
 the visit of Altus, a Roman centurion sent to demand 
 tribute of Conor, his knowledge of the incarnation 
 and mission of Christ. 
 
 To return to Conall Carnach. 
 
 His haughty and overbearing character displayed 
 itself at a feast given by a Leinster prince, MacDatho, 
 to the Connaught men and Ultonians. MacDatho was 
 possessed of a noble hound, which was envied by Conor 
 MacNessa as well as by Ailill and Maev. Afraid to 
 offend these rival sovereigns by yielding the hound to 
 either, MacDatho invited them all to a great feast. 
 His hospitable board was graced by a famous pig. 
 But who was to carve this dainty dish ? Keth Mac- 
 Magach and Conall Carnach contended for the honour. 
 At last it was conceded to the Ulster hero, who helped 
 his countrymen to the dainty morsels, tossing over the 
 forelegs of the pig to the Connaught guests. Of course 
 bloodshed resulted, and the poor hound fell victim to 
 
78 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 their swords. We turn from this ignoble strife to a 
 more gallant combat between Conall and Keth, in which 
 the latter lost his life, and Conall was all but mortally 
 wounded. The scene was Slieve Fuad, now the Fews ; 
 the time, winter ; and Conall, though the victor, alone 
 and bleeding amid the drifting snowstorm, was captured 
 by the Connacian hero, Bealcu, who restored him to 
 health that he might afterwards avenge Keth in single 
 combat with Conall. The circumstances, with some 
 deviations from the rude original, have been amplified 
 into a dramatic ballad commemorative of this primitive 
 instance of chivalrous generosity. 
 
 THE HEALING OF CONALL CAKNACH. 
 
 O'er Slieve Few, with noiseless tramping through the heavy 
 
 drifted snow, 
 
 Bealcu Comiacia's champion, in his chariot tracks the foe ; 
 And anon far off discerneth, in the mountain hollow white, 
 Slinger Keth and Conall Carnach mingling, hand to hand, in 
 
 fight. 
 
 Swift the charioteer his coursers urged across the wintry 
 
 Hoarse the cry of Keth and hoarser seemed to come demand- 
 ing aid ; 
 
 But through wreath and swollen runnel, ere the car could 
 reach anigh, 
 
 Keth lay dead, and mighty Conall bleeding lay at point to 
 die. 
 
 Whom beholding spent and pallid, Bealcu exulting cried, 
 " Oh thou ravening wolf of Uladh, where is now thy northern 
 pride ? 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 79 
 
 What can now that crest audacious, what that pale defiant 
 
 brow, 
 Once the bale-star of Connacia's ravaged fields, avail thee 
 
 now ?" 
 
 " Taunts are for reviling women," faintly Conall made reply. 
 " Wouldst thou play the manlier foeman? end my pain and 
 
 let me die ! 
 Neither deem thy blade dishonoured that with Keth's a 
 
 deed it share 
 For the foremost two of Connaught feat enough and fame to 
 
 spare." 
 
 "No; I will not! Bard shall never in Dunseverick hall 
 
 make boast 
 
 That to quell one northern riever needed two of Croghan's host ; 
 But because that word thou'st spoken, if but life enough 
 
 remains, 
 Thou shalt hear the wives of Croghan clap their hands 
 
 above thy chains. 
 
 " Yea, if life enough but linger, that the leech may make thee 
 
 whole, 
 
 Meet to satiate the anger that beseems a warrior's soul, 
 Best of leech-craft I'll purvey thee ; make thee whole as healing 
 
 can; 
 And in single combat slay thee, Connaught man to Ulster 
 
 man." 
 
 Binding him in five-fold fetter, wrists and ankles, wrists and 
 
 neck, 
 
 To his car's uneasy litter, Bealcu upheaved the wreck 
 Of the broken man and harness ; but he started with amaze 
 When he felt the northern war-mace, what a weight it was 
 
 to raise. 
 
 Westward then through Breiffney's borders, with his 'captive 
 
 and his dead, 
 Tracked by bands of fierce applauders, wives and shrieking 
 
 widows sped ; 
 
30 The Irish before the Conquest. - [CH. n. 
 
 And the chained heroic carcass on the fair green of Moy 
 
 Slaght 
 Casting down, proclaimed his purpose, and bade Lee, the leech, 
 
 be brought. 
 
 Lee, the gentle-faced physician, from his herb-plot came and 
 said: 
 
 " Healing is with God's permission ; health for life's enjoy- 
 ment made ; 
 
 And though I mine aid refuse not, yet, to speak my purpose 
 plain, 
 
 I the healing art abuse not, making life enure to pain. 
 
 " But assure me, with the sanction of the mightiest oath ye 
 
 know, 
 
 That in case, in this contention, Conall overcome his foe, 
 Straight departing from the tourney by what path the chief 
 
 shall choose, 
 He is free to take his journey, unmolested, to the Fews. 
 
 " Swear me further, while at healing in my charge the hero lies, 
 None shall through my fences stealing, work him mischief or 
 
 surprise ; 
 
 And if God the undertaking but approve, in six months' span 
 Once again my art shall make him meet to stand before a man." 
 
 Crom their God they then attested, Sun and Wind for 
 
 guarantees, 
 
 Conall Carnach unmolested by what exit he might please, 
 If the victor, should have freedom to depart Connacia's 
 
 bounds ; 
 Meantime, no man should intrude him, entering on the 
 
 hospice grounds. 
 
 Then the burthen huge receiving, in his hospice-portal, Lee, 
 Stiffened limb by limb relieving with the iron fetter-key, 
 As a crumpled scroll unrolled him, groaning deep, till laid at 
 
 length, 
 Wondering gazers might behold him, what a tower he was of 
 
 strength. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 81 
 
 Spake the sons to one another, day by day, of Bealcu 
 '" Get thee up and spy, my brother, what the leech and North- 
 man do." 
 
 " Lee at mixing of a potion : Conall, yet in nowise dead, 
 As on reef of rock the ocean, tosses wildly on his bed." 
 
 " Spv asain with cautious peeping : what of Lee and Conall 
 
 now?" 
 
 " Conall lies profoundly sleeping : Lee beside with placid brow." 
 " And to-day ?" " To-day he's risen ; pallid as his swathing 
 
 sheet, 
 He has left his chamber's prison, and is walking on his feet." 
 
 " And to-day ?" " A ghastly figure, propped upon his spear 
 he goes." 
 
 " And to-day ?" " A languid vigour through his larger ges- 
 ture shows." 
 
 " And to-day ?" " The blood renewing mantles all his clear 
 cheek through : 
 
 Would thy vow had room for rueing, rashly- valiant Bealcu !" 
 
 So with herb and healing balsam, ere the second month was 
 
 past, 
 Life's increases, smooth and wholesome, circling through his 
 
 members vast, * 
 
 As you've seen a sere oak burgeon under summer showers 
 
 and dew, 
 Conall, under his chirurgeon, filled and flourished, spread and 
 
 grew. 
 
 " I can bear the sight no longer : I have watched him moon 
 
 by moon ; 
 Day by day the chief grows stronger, giant-strong he will be 
 
 soon. 
 Oh my sire, rash- valiant warrior ! but that oaths have built 
 
 the wall, 
 Soon these feet should leap the barrier, soon this hand thy 
 
 fate forestall." 
 
 G 
 
82 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 " Brother, have the wish thou'st uttered : we have sworn, so 
 
 let it be ; 
 
 But although our feet be fettered, all the air is left us free. 
 Dying Keth with vengeful presage did bequeath thee sling 
 
 and ball, 
 And the sling may send its message where thy vagrant glances 
 
 fall. 
 
 ' " Forbaid was a master-slinger ; Maev, when in her bath she 
 
 sank, 
 Felt the presence of his finger from the further Shannon 
 
 bank ; 
 
 For he threw by line and measure, practising a constant cast 
 Daily in secluded leisure, till he reached the mark at last. 
 
 " Keth achieved a warrior's honour, though 'twas mid a 
 
 woman's band, 
 When he smote the amorous Conor bowing from his distant 
 
 stand. 
 
 Fit occasion will not fail ye : in the leech's lawn below, 
 Conall at the fountain daily drinks within an easy throw." 
 
 " Wherefore cast ye at the apple, sons of mine, with measured 
 
 aim ?" 
 " He who in the close would grapple, first the distant foe 
 
 should maim ; 
 And since Keth, his death-balls casting, rides no more the 
 
 ridge of war, 
 We, against our summer hosting, train us for his vacant car." 
 
 " Wherefore to the rock repairing, gaze ye forth, my children, 
 
 tell ?" 
 " 'Tis a stag we watch for snaring, that frequents the leech's 
 
 well." 
 " I will see this stag, though, truly, small may be my eyes' 
 
 delight." 
 And he climbed the rock where fully lay the lawn exposed to 
 
 sight. 
 
en. ii.] Ihe Heroic Period. 83 
 
 Conall to the green well-margin came at dawn and knelt to 
 
 drink, 
 
 Thinking how a noble virgin by a like green fountain's brink, 
 Heard his own pure vows one morning, far away and long 
 
 ago; 
 'All his heart to home was turning, and his tears began to 
 
 flow. 
 
 Clean forgetful of his prison, steep Dimseverick's windy tower, 
 Seemed to rise in present vision, and his own dear lady's 
 
 bo wer. 
 Round the sheltering knees they gather, little ones of tender 
 
 years, 
 Tell us, mother, of our father and she answers but with 
 
 tears. 
 
 Twice the big drops plashed the fountain. Then he rose, and 
 
 turning round, 
 As across a breast of mountain sweeps a whirlwind, o'er the 
 
 ground 
 Raced in athlete feats amazing, swung the war-mace, hurled 
 
 the spear : 
 Bea'lcu, in wonder gazing, felt the parigs of deadly fear. 
 
 Had it been a fabled griffin, suppled in a fasting den, 
 Flashed its wheeling coils to Heaven o'er a wreck of teasts 
 
 and men, 
 Hardly had the dreadful prospect bred his soul more dire 
 
 alarms ; 
 Such the fire of Conall's aspect, such the stridor of his arms. 
 
 " This is fear," he said, " that n^ver shook these limbs of 
 
 mine till now. 
 
 Now I idly mourn that ever I indulged the boastful vow. 
 Yet 'twas righteous wrath impelled me ; and a sense of manly 
 
 shame 
 From his naked throat withheld me, when 'twas offered to 
 
84 The Irish before the Conquest. [cu. n- 
 
 - " Now I see his strength excelling : whence he buys it : what 
 he pays. 
 
 Tis a God who has his dwelling in the fount, to whom he- 
 prays. 
 
 Thither comes he weeping, drooping, till the well-God hears 
 his prayer, 
 
 Thence departs he, soaring, swooping, as an eagle through 
 the air. 
 
 " Oh thou God, by whatsoever sounds of awe thy name we 
 
 know, 
 Grant thy servant equal favour with the stranger and 
 
 the foe ! 
 
 Equal grace, 'tis all I covet ; and if sacrificial blood 
 Win thy favour, thou shalt have it on thy very well-brink. 
 
 God! 
 
 " What and though I've given pledges not to cross the leech's 
 
 court ? 
 Not to pass his sheltering hedges, meant I, to his patient's 
 
 hurt. 
 
 Thy dishonour meant I never : never meant I to forswear 
 Right divine of prayer wherever Power divine invites to 
 
 prayer. 
 
 " Sun that warm'st me, Wind that fann'st me, ye that 
 
 guarantee the oath, 
 Make no sign of wrath against me: tenderly ye touch me 
 
 both ; 
 Yea then, through his fences stealing ere to-morrow's sun 
 
 shall rise, 
 Y7ell-Grod! on thy margin kneeling I will offer sacrifice." 
 
 *' Brother, rise, the skies are ruddy : if we yet would save 
 
 our sire, 
 ivests a deed courageous, bloody, Avondering ages shall 
 
 admire : 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 85 
 
 Hie thee to the spy-rock's summit : ready there thou'lt find 
 
 the sling. 
 Ready there the leaden plummet ; and at dawn he seeks the 
 
 spring." 
 
 , Ruddy dawn had changed to amber : radiant as the yellow 
 
 day 
 Conall, issuing from his chamber, to the fountain took his 
 
 way : 
 
 There, athwart the welling water, like a fallen pillar, spread, 
 Smitten by the bolt of slaughter, lay Connacia's champion, 
 
 dead. 
 
 Call the hosts ! convene the judges ! cite the dead man's chil- 
 dren both ! 
 
 Said the judges, " He gave pledges ; Sun and Wind ; and 
 broke the oath, 
 
 And they slew him : so we've written : let his sons attend 
 our words." 
 
 " Both, by sudden frenzy smitten, fell at sunrise on their 
 swords." 
 
 Then the judges " Ye who punish man's prevaricating vow, 
 Needs not further to admonish : contrite to your will we bow, 
 All our points of promise keeping : safely let the chief go 
 
 forth." 
 Conall to his chariot leaping, turned his coursers to the 
 
 North : 
 
 In the Sun that swept the valleys, in the Winds' encircling 
 
 flight, 
 
 Recognizing holy allies, guardians of the Truth and Right ; 
 While, before his face, resplendant with a firm faith's candid 
 
 ray, 
 Dazzled troops of foes attendant, bowed before him on his way. , 
 
 But the calm physician, viewing where the white neck joined 
 
 the car, 
 Said, " It is a slinger's doing : Sun nor Wind was actor here. 
 
86 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. n. 
 
 Yet till God vouchsafe more certain knowledge of his sovereign 
 
 will, 
 Better deem the mystic curtain hides their wonted demon's 
 
 still. 
 
 <{ Better so, perchance, than living in a clearer light, like me, 
 But believing where perceiving, bound in what I hear and 
 
 see; 
 Force and change in constant sequence, changing atoms, 
 
 changeless laws ; 
 Only in submissive patience, waiting accessHo the Cause. 
 
 " And, they say, Centurion Altus, when he to Emania came 
 And to Rome's subjection called us, urging Caesar's tribute 
 
 claim, 
 Told that half the world barbarian thrills already with the 
 
 faith 
 Taught them by the godlike Syrian Caesar lately put to death. 
 
 <c And the sun, through starry stages measuring from the Earn 
 
 and Bull, 
 
 Tells us of renewing ages, and that Nature's time is full : 
 So, perchance, these silly breezes even now may swell the 
 
 sail 
 Brings the leavening word of Jesus westward also to the 
 
 Gael."* 
 
 Conall died in exile. He had received a hospitable 
 welcome at the court of Cruachan, but had slain Ailill 
 by a cast of his spear, at the instigation of Maev, who 
 was jealous of her husband. Conall fled, but was pur- 
 sued and killed by the " Three Red-Heads," who were in 
 the service of the king. Fergus MacEoy had previously 
 fallen a victim to the not unmerited suspicions of Ailill, 
 as tradition tells that Maev had borne to the aged 
 hero three sons at a birth, from one of whom (Ciar) the 
 
 * S. FERGUSON. 
 
CH. ii.] The Heroic Period. 87 
 
 county of Kerry derives its name. The occasion on 
 which this access of jealous hate occurred was when 
 Fergus was swimming in Loch Ein, in Eoscommon, a 
 lake not far from the royal residence at Eath Cruachan. 
 Maev was seized with a fancy to contend with him in 
 swimming, which so enraged Ailill that he commanded 
 one of his kinsmen to cast his javelin at Fergus. Maev 
 also met her death in the water, though not on this 
 occasion. She had removed during her widowhood to 
 the island of Inis-Clothran, in Loch llee. Here she 
 continued her natatory habits. Forbaid, son of Conor, 
 learned that it was her custom to bathe daily at a 
 spring on the coast of the island. He had the dis- 
 tance measured between this spot and the opposite 
 shore of Loch Eee. Eeturning to Ulster, he set up as a 
 mark at the ascertained distance, an apple on a stake, and 
 practised daily, till he could truly and certainly hit it 
 from a sling. Thus, habituated to cast unerringly at that 
 exact distance, he repaired to the eastern shore of Loch 
 Eee, watched his opportunity, and aimed a stone from 
 his sling, which struck Maev on the forehead ; and so 
 died this Amazonian queen, having survived all her 
 contemporaries, and reigned over Connaught for a 
 period, it is said, of eighty years. 
 
88 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. m. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ATACOTTIC PERIOD. 
 
 WE pass from the age of the heroes who surrounded 
 the thrones of Conor MacNessa and of Ailill and Maev 
 of Cruachan, to a period less prolific in chivalrous deeds. 
 The great revolt of the " Un-free " tribes, or plebeians, 
 mainly descendants of the conquered Firbolgs, and 
 sundry dissatisfied branches of the Milesian stock, 
 against the Saer Gael, or free tribes of the Gael, is 
 known in our history as the Revolt of the Atacotti. But 
 between the age of Conor and the civil war of which 
 we are about to speak, two remarkable names, at which 
 we would pause, occur on our list of kings. Conari 
 Mor, ancestor of the Ernaian tribes of Munster, ruled 
 Erin with impartiality and vigour. He banished from 
 his court all those whose disorders impeded justice, 
 not sparing his own foster-brothers, the four sons of 
 Donn Desa, a great Leinster chief. The outlaws took 
 to piracy on the seas between Britain and Ireland, and 
 having landed at Malahide while Conari was in 
 Munster, marched on Tara, devastating the surround- 
 ing country. On his return from the south, Conari 
 found the plain of Meath wrapped in flames. He 
 turned his chariot towards Dublin, and passing through 
 
CH. in.] The Atacottic Period. 89 
 
 Lusk, crossed the Liffey, and repaired to Tallaght, 
 where lay the mansion of the great Brughaidh, or 
 Hospitaller, Da Derga. 
 
 The court of Da Derga, one of the six houses of 
 universal hospitality which then existed in Ireland, was 
 situated on the banks of the Eiver Dodder. Here the 
 monarch was welcomed and sheltered by his friend, Da 
 Derga. But the hospitable house was attacked by the 
 pirates, and, after an unavailing resistance, sacked and 
 plundered. Conari Mor and his small retinue were put 
 to the sword. The site where the court of Da Derga 
 stood is indicated in the name yet retained, Boherna- 
 breena Bothar-na-Bruigne or the Eoad of the Court, 
 in the county of Dublin. 
 
 The second king on whose career we would pause was 
 Criffan Niad-Nair. The " delightful adventures " 
 which befell him while on a foreign expedition, are 
 recounted in a poem ascribed to King Criffan himself. 
 He was brought by a " fairy " lady into her palace. 
 She bestowed on him a gilt chariot, a golden chess- 
 board, inlaid with transparent gems, a cloak of divers 
 colours embroidered in gold, a sword ornamented with 
 serpents, a shield embossed with silver, and various 
 other treasures which Criffan brought home with him 
 to his fort of Dun Criffan, on the Hill of Howth. The 
 dun was probably situated on that promontory of the 
 peninsula where the Bailey lighthouse now stands. 
 He also brought with him the fairy, Nair, whom he 
 made his queen. He only lived for a few weeks 
 after his return from his " fortunate " expedition, 
 having been killed by a fall from his horse. In the 
 
90 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [CH. m. 
 
 eighth year of this monarch's reign, according to the 
 Annals of the Four Masters, or the twelfth, according 
 to Keating, was born, in Judea, Our Saviour, Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 About the middle of the first century of the Christian 
 era, the Patrician tribes of the Saer-Gael, becoming 
 more and more oppressive in their exactions, disgusted 
 the poorer Milesians, as well as the plebeian remnants 
 of the conquered races. The latter banded together, 
 and planned in such profound secrecy an uprising 
 against the dominant race, that no suspicion of their 
 designs was entertained, though their plans were 
 three years in preparation. These Aitheach Tuatha, 
 or Atacotti, invited the monarch, the provincial kings, 
 and great chiefs of the nation to a feast at a place in 
 Connaught, since called Magh Cru, or the Bloody 
 Plain. For three years they had stored up of their 
 produce, the materials for this lavish entertainment. 
 When the guests were enjoying the banquet and the 
 delicious music of the harp, the plot was consummated by 
 the entrance of armed men, who massacred them with- 
 out remorse or pity. Tradition states that three ladies 
 only escaped, wives of the provincial kings, Baini, 
 daughter of the King of Alba (Scotland), Cruifi, 
 daughter of the King of Wales, and Aini, daughter of 
 the King of Britain. These queens sought refuge at 
 their fathers' courts, and became the mothers of Fere- 
 dach, Corb Olum, and Tibradi Tirech; and thus the 
 Massacre of the Atacotti failed in its object, and repre- 
 sentatives of the slaughtered kings were born to inherit 
 the rights of their fathers. Meantime, the plebeians 
 
CH. in.] The Atacottic Period. 91 
 
 had elected Carbri Kin-Gait, or the Cat-headed, to be 
 their monarch. 
 
 " Evil was the state of Ireland during his reign; 
 fruitless her corn, for there used to be but one grain 
 on the stalk : fruitless her rivers : milkless her cattle : 
 plentiless her fruit, for there used to be but one acorn 
 on the oak." 
 
 Carbri, who was an exiled son of the king of Loch- 
 lain (Scandinavia), reigned for five years. On his 
 death the throne was offered to his son, Morann, who 
 was noted for his wisdom and learning. Morann 
 declined the crown, and advised that the three legiti- 
 mate heirs should be recalled from exile. Then 
 followed a Restoration : Feredach was installed Ard 
 Eigh, at Tara of the kings. His descendant in the 
 fourth degree was the celebrated Con of the Hundred 
 Battles. Corb Olum was the ancestor, also in the 
 fourth degree, of Ollioll Olum, the great King of 
 Munster, while Tibradi Tirech reigned over Ulster. 
 Morann, who thus disinterestedly resigned all claim to 
 the throne, acted as chief Brehon, or judge, and, by his 
 wise decisions, won for Feredach the title of the "Just." 
 He is feigned to have had a chain which, when placed 
 round the neck of a guilty person, suffocated him, 
 while it expanded when placed on an innocent man. 
 The " Collar of Morann " is often alluded to in Irish 
 song and fiction. 
 
 Civil contentions were not ended, for a second revolt 
 of the Atacotti took place in this century. The 
 reigning monarch was killed at the instigation of the 
 plebeians, by the provincial kings at the slaughter 
 
J)2 Tlie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. m. 
 
 of Magh Bolg, now Moybologue, in Cavan. Among 
 the names of these provincial kings we recognize a 
 son of Keth MacMagach, Sanb, King of Connaught. 
 The slaughtered monarch, Fiacha, had a posthumous 
 son, born in Scotland, who afterwards played an im- 
 portant part in our history as Tuathal Techtmar, or 
 the Acceptable." 
 
 Tuathal was twenty-five years old when he also was re- 
 called from exile in Alba. He defeated the "Unfree 
 tribes " in twenty-five battles, and convened the general 
 assembly, or Feis, of Tara. The nobles of the Gael 
 flocked to Tara, and there swore, according to the oath 
 exacted in former days by Ugaine Mor, that the sove- 
 reignty of Ireland should belong to him. and to his 
 posterity for ever. To this king is ascribed the erection 
 of Heath into a territory, to be the peculiar posses- 
 sion of the reigning monarch. Tlacta, Uisnech, Talti, 
 and Temhair, or Tara, were the capital places of the 
 kingdom of Meath. The first-named place was the 
 seat of their worship ; at the second a great annual fair 
 was held; at Talti a fair was held, where marriage 
 alliances were contracted ; while at Tara, law, history, 
 and genealogies were preserved. The " Psalter of Tara " 
 is alleged to have been an historic register kept there 
 even at this early period. 
 
 Eochy, King of Leinster, had married Darinni, 
 daughter of Tuathal Techtmar ; but on a subsequent 
 visit to Tara he applied for the hand of her sister, Fithir, 
 stating that Darinni, whom he kept concealed and 
 imprisoned, was dead. His suit was granted. When 
 he returned to Leinster with his bride, Fithir discovered 
 
CH. in.] The Atacottic Period. 93 
 
 that her sister was yet living, and died of shame, while 
 the deserted first wife of the faithless Eochy died of 
 grief. Tuathal marched on Leinster to avenge the 
 wrongs of his daughters and the perfidy of Eochy. The 
 Lagenians, unable to cope with the forces of the Ard 
 Eigh, submitted to a heavy fine, which was exacted 
 every second year, and was called the Boromean 
 Tribute, probably from Bo, a cow, as the tribute was 
 paid by the Leinstermen in kine. 
 
 The Boromean Tribute became a fruitful source of 
 conflict, the Lagenians resisting its levy whenever they 
 found themselves strong enough to contend with any 
 chance of success, and submitting only when they were 
 powerless to resist. 
 
 The tribute was abandoned about the year 680, in 
 the reign of Finnachta the Festive, at the instigation 
 of St. Moling, but was reimposed in the eleventh 
 century by the great Brian, as a punishment for the aid 
 afforded to the Danes by the Leinstermen. Brian was 
 probably thence called Boru, a name of glory and pre- 
 eminence in the Irish annals. 
 
 Tuathal Techtmar fell in battle, after a prosperous 
 reign of thirty years. He was slain and succeeded by 
 Mai, a descendant of Conall Carnach. The sovereignty 
 of Ireland remained in this prince of the Irian line for 
 four years only, when the race of Eremon reasserted its 
 supremacy in the person of Felemy Eectmar, son of 
 Tuathal ; and, in the person of his son, Con of the 
 Hundred Battles, attained a permanent pre-eminence. 
 
 Before we enter on the important reigns of Con of 
 
 his son, Art and his grandson, Cormac we shall speak 
 
94 The Irish before the Conquest [CH. m. 
 
 of the settlements effected by his brothers and their 
 offspring : 
 
 Felemy Eectmar left three sons. Con succeeded 
 him as Ard Righ, or supreme monarch. Eochy Finn 
 settled in Leinster, and received in fosterage Laeisech, 
 a great-grandson of Conall Carnach, whom he educated. 
 This young prince inherited the martial ardour of his 
 great ancestor, and ably commanded the united armies 
 of his foster-father and Cu Corb, the Leinster king, in 
 a campaign against the Munsterrnen, who were expelled 
 from the territory of Leinster. The grateful king 
 bestowed on his allies some of the repossessed districts : 
 Eochy Finn got a grant of the Seven Fotharts of 
 Leinster, to him and his posterity for ever. The 
 families of O'Nolan, and O'Lorcain, now Larkin^ are 
 his representatives. Laeisech received, as his guerdon, 
 that part of the Queen's County which was named, 
 from him, the territory of Leix. The chieftain sept 
 thus established took at a later period the name of 
 O'More, from Mordha " the Majestic," the twenty- 
 eighth in descent from Conall Carnach. Many other 
 privileges were bestowed by Cu Corb, in reward for 
 the important services rendered him by Laeisech. 
 He covenanted, for himself and his successors, that of 
 every ox or swine slaughtered by the monarch of 
 Leinster for his own use, the back and the ham should 
 be given as " curadh-mir," or champion's portion, to 
 the chieftain of Leix, who was also entitled to be one 
 of the privy council of the king, and distributor of his 
 gifts and presents. He had the privilege of leading 
 the van of the Leinster army when entering an enemy's 
 
CH. in.] The Atacottic Period. 95 
 
 country, and to hold in battle the " bearna baeghail," * 
 or gap of danger. The chieftain of Leix paid no tribute, 
 with the exception of seven oxen, to be sent to the 
 hunting-booth of the sovereign ; but he covenanted to 
 maintain at his own cost forty warriors, always ready 
 for the service of the King of Leinster, who on his 
 part kept in his pay, and in constant attendance on his 
 person, seven followers of the chieftain of Leix. 
 
 The third son of Felemy Rectmar, Fiachna Sraftine, 
 was settled in the Desi of Tara, now the Barony 
 of Deece, in the county of Meath. His sons were 
 exiled in consequence of one of them, -ZEngus, having 
 killed his kinsman, Kellach, son of King Cormac, 
 by a cast of a spear, in the presence of the monarch 
 himself, whose eye was also transfixed by the weapon 
 of the angry JSngus, hence called " Dreadspear." 
 JEngus's safe-conduct had been violated by Kellach, on 
 whom he thus avenged his wrongs. Cormac MacArt 
 banished this family from Meath. The Desi settled in 
 Waterford, where their name is perpetuated to our 
 own day. 
 
 Having thus glanced at the settlement of the southern 
 Desi, we return to the eldest son of Felemy Rectmar, 
 Con of the Hundred Battles, who commenced his reign 
 A.D. 123. This monarch found a formidable antagonist 
 in Moh Nuad, or Owen Mor, an able prince of the 
 line of Eber. The great Owen had passed much of 
 his youth in exile. While in Spain he is said to 
 have married Momera, a princess of that nation, and 
 to have received, in the wars he had to wage for his 
 
 * Pronounced Barna Bayal. 
 
96 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. m- 
 
 patrimony, valuable assistance from his continental 
 allies. He defeated Con in several pitched battles, and 
 forced him to yield the southern half of the island. The 
 Esker Eiada, a chain of low hills extending from Dublin 
 to Galway, was the division between the northern 
 Lea Con (Con's half) and the southern Lea Moha, 
 or Moh Nuad's half. With the single exception of his 
 successor, the posterity of Owen Mor ruled Munster 
 uninterruptedly for a thousand years, while Con's 
 descendants, the great families of O'Neill and O'Donnell, 
 held sway in most parts of Ulster up to the " Planta- 
 tion" of this province in the reign of James I. of 
 England and VI. of Scotland. Owen Mor had other 
 and more valuable qualities than those of military 
 genius. His prudence saved his subjects from suffering 
 during a famine, the account of which, however, seems 
 to be framed on the Biblical model ; and, like many 
 other portions of these traditionary tales, may be 
 referred to a comparatively modern origin. It is said 
 to have lasted for seven years, and to have been foretold 
 by a Druid. Owen, upon hearing of the prophesied 
 scarcity, made use of his fish and flesh-meat, while he 
 stored up his corn, and also bought up, to the extent 
 of his revenue, grain, which he preserved in his granaries. 
 Like Joseph also, he received the submission of those 
 who, in the years of scarcity, repaired to him for food. His 
 son, the celebrated Ollioll Olum, inherited much of his 
 father's genius. Owen the Great perished in the battle 
 of Moy Lena, or, according to some accounts, he was 
 treacherously slain in his bed on the eve of that engage- 
 ment, in which Con of the Hundred Battles was victorious. 
 
CH. ra.] The Atacottic Period. 97 
 
 Con's forces were inferior in numbers to those of his 
 rival, Owen having a large Spanish contingent, under 
 the command, as it is said, of an Iberian prince. The 
 northern monarch determined .on a night attack, to 
 which all his chiefs agreed, with the exception of Goll 
 MacMorna,the Firbolg chief of the militia of Connaught. 
 " On the day that my arms were put into my hands," 
 said the gallant Goll, " I swore never to attack an 
 enemy at night, by surprise, or at any disadvantage. 
 To this day I have adhered to my promise, and will not 
 break it now." The attack was commenced without 
 him, but, notwithstanding the advantage of the surprise, 
 the troops of Moh Nuad fought so well that Con was 
 well nigh discomfited. The morning dawned, and 
 Goll, no longer bound by his vow to stand aloof, attacked 
 the forces of Lea Moha, and Owen and his Spanish 
 ally fell under his avenging sword. The soldiers of 
 Goll raised the body of Owen on their shields, and 
 exposed it in triumph to the armies. The noble Goll 
 interposed : " Lay down the body of the King of 
 Munster," he said, "for he died the death of a hero." 
 
 The long and prosperous reign of Con was termi- 
 nated at last by treachery. Tibradi Tirech assassinated 
 him while the old king, who had entered his hundredth 
 year, was preparing to hold the Feis of Tara. 
 
 Conari the Second, son-in-law to Con, whose 
 daughter Sara he had married, succeeded him. This 
 prince was father of the three Carbris ; Carbri Muse, 
 from whom are descended the tribes of Muskerry; 
 Carbri Baiscin, the progenitor of noble families in 
 Clare; and Carbri Biada, giving name to the Dal 
 
 H 
 
98 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. in 
 
 Riadic tribes of the north of Antrim, whose colonies in 
 Scotland are mentioned by the Venerable Bede. The 
 settlement first acquired by the Irish Gael or Scoti 
 among the Picts of Nor,th Britain, received the name of 
 Airer-Gaedhil, the district of the Gael, since corrupted 
 into Argyle, for this western part of Scotland was the 
 seat of the Dalriad colony. The blood of this grand- 
 son of Con of the Hundred Battles flows in the veins 
 of her gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria. 
 
 Soive, another daughter of Con of the Hundred 
 Battles, was twice married. By her first husband she 
 had a son, MacCon, and by the renowned Ollioll Olum, 
 her second husband, she was the mother of three 
 sons, progenitors of great Munster families, who have 
 contributed illustrious names to Irish history, and are 
 not without distinguished representatives even at the 
 present day. Owen was the ancestor of the Eugenian 
 line, to which belong the MacCarthys, the O'Sullivans, 
 O'Keeffes, and O'Callaghans, with their kindred 
 branches. Cormac Cas, the second son of Ollioll 
 Olum and Soive, had for his wife a daughter of the 
 celebrated poet, Oisin or Ossian, son of Finn MacCumhal. 
 From Cormac Cas is descended the great Dalcassian 
 race represented by the O'Briens, MacNamaras, 
 O'Gradys, O'Quinns, and other eminent native families 
 of Clare and Munster. 
 
 The representatives of Cian, third son of Ollioll Olum, 
 include, amongst others, the O'Carrolls, O'Meaghers, 
 O'Haras, and O'Garas. Of the latter family sprang the 
 illustrious patron of the O'Clerys, whose compilation, 
 known as the " Annals of the Four Masters," is dedicated 
 
CH. HI.] The Atacottic Period. 99 
 
 to Fearghal O'Gara, chief of Cuil O'Finn or Coolavin, 
 in Sligo. " For every good that will result from this 
 book," wrote Michael O'Clery, in his dedication, "in 
 giving light to all in general, it is to you, noble Fearghal 
 O'Gara, that thanks should be given ; and there should 
 exist no wonder or surprise, jealousy or envy at [any] 
 good that you do; for you are of the race of Eber 
 MacMileadh, from whom descended thirty of the kings 
 of Ireland and sixty-one saints : and to Tadgh, son of 
 Kian, son of Ollioll Olum, from whom eighteen of these 
 saints are sprung, you can be traced generation by 
 generation." 
 
100 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. rv. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE OSSIANIO PERIOD. 
 
 ART THE SOLITARY succeeded his brother-in-law Conari 
 as Ard Righ, A. D. 166. He obtained his name, Aeinfer, 
 or the Solitary, being the only surviving son of 
 Con of the Hundred Battles, his brothers having 
 been assassinated by their kinsman, Eochy Finn. His 
 wife was Maev, and from her is named Eath-Maev, 
 near Tara. By a left-handed marriage with a beautiful 
 girl named Eatach, the daughter of a smith, he became 
 the father of Cormac MacArt, one of the most illus- 
 trious of our early kings. The future fortunes of 
 Cormac were foreshadowed, according to the story, by 
 a remarkable dream which his mother had previous to 
 his birth. She dreamed that her head was severed 
 from her body, and that from her neck grew a goodly 
 tree, which overshadowed the land of Erin. This tree 
 was prostrated by a sea which overwhelmed it, but 
 again from its roots sprang another stately tree, which 
 was in its turn laid prostrate by a whirlwind from the 
 west. 
 
 This vision was supposed to be fulfilled by the loss 
 of her liead, her husband, King Art, who shortly after 
 perished in the battle of Moy Mucrive. The stately tree 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 101 
 
 which overshadowed Erin symbolized her distinguished 
 son, Cormac. The destroying sea, that fish-bone by 
 which this king was choked. The tree which sprang 
 from its roots, Cormac's illustrious son, Carbri Linear, 
 who again^ perished by the whirlwind which shadowed 
 forth his fate when contending with the Fianna Eirinn, 
 or revolted Militia, at the momentous battle of Gavra. 
 
 The battle of Moy Mucrive, in which Art perished, 
 was occasioned by the ambition of MacCon, son of 
 Soive, daughter of Con of the Hundred Battles, by 
 her first husband. He was consequently step-son to 
 Ollioll Olum, then King of Munster. This southern 
 kingdom was ruled alternately by representatives of 
 the races of Eber and Ith. When the former gave a 
 king to Munster at that time in the person of Ollioll 
 Olum the tribe of Ith, from whom MacCon was 
 descended, gave the Brehon and Tanist, or heir appa- 
 rent. Put this position did not satisfy the ambition of 
 MacCon. He was obliged, however, to fly from home 
 the time being unpropitious for his schemes and he 
 was accompanied by Lugaid Laga, brother of Ollioll, 
 who was displeased at the friendship which existed 
 between that monarch and Art the Solitary ; for Art's 
 father, Con, had caused the death of their father, Moh 
 Nuad, or Owen the Great. These exiles, aided by foreign 
 allies, returned to Ireland, and in the pitched battle of 
 Moy Mucrive, gained a signal victory. Art Aeinfer 
 himself fell by the hand of Lugaid Laga, and seven of the 
 sons of Ollioll Olum fell beneath the swords of their 
 half-brother's auxiliary troops. 
 
 MacCon, " son of the wolf-hound," for so his name 
 

 102 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 ignifies, as he was reported to have been suckled by 
 that animal, now ascended the throne. He made him- 
 self beloved by poets and men of learning, to whom 
 he distributed lavish gifts ; and met his death at a 
 place in Tipperary, whose name, Gort-an-oir the 
 field of gold records his munificence. He was trans- 
 fixed by the javelin of Fercheas, as he was leaning 
 against a pillar stone, engaged in his contributions to 
 the poets and Ollaves. This treachery was instigated 
 by Cormac Mac Art, but he did not at the time reap 
 any reward from the base act, as Fergus, a relative 
 of the murdered prince, surnamed " of the black 
 teeth," seized the crown, and, with his two brothers, 
 also called Fergus, caused the disqualification of 
 Cormac, for the time, by depriving him of his hair. The 
 Ferguses applied a lighted torch to the long tresses of 
 Cormac at a feast ; and no one having a personal blemish 
 could reign at Tara. 
 
 This injury was not irreparable. In due time the 
 locks of Cormac grew, and he sought to revenge him- 
 self on the three Ferguses. There is something very 
 characteristic in the story told of the way in which he 
 accomplished his object. He desired to secure the 
 services of the greatest champion of the day, Lugaid 
 Laga. This was that son of Owen the Great who had 
 embraced the cause of MacCon, and had slain the 
 father of Cormac, King Art, with his own hand, in the 
 battle of Moy Mucrive. Cormac sought him out, 
 and found Lugaid reposing in his hunting booth. He 
 pricked him with his spear. " Who wounds me ?" 
 cried the warrior. "It is I, Cormac Mac Art," re- 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 103 
 
 plied the king. " Thou hast good cause for wounding 
 me, for it was this hand that killed thy father, Art 
 Aeinfer," rejoined Lugaid. " Award me an eric for 
 that deed," said Cormac. According to Brehon law, 
 if the family of a murdered man elected to accept a 
 fine for the blood-shedding, in lieu of claiming the 
 life of the murderer, they were at liberty to make the 
 election ; and, under some circumstances not explained, 
 the law applied to Lugaid. " I claim a king's head on 
 the battle field," said Cormac ; " the head of my enemy, 
 Fergus of the Black Teeth, who opposes my accession 
 to the throne of Ireland." 
 
 Lugaid Laga was compelled, by the custom of the 
 times, to comply with this demand of his enemy, Cormac. 
 A battle ensued, but Cormac took no part in the en- 
 gagement. With a few attendants he watched the 
 conflict from a hill overlooking the field of combat, 
 and while there, exchanged his royal robes with an 
 attendant, whose garments he assumed. His doughty 
 champion, Lugaid, forced to pay his eric, sought out 
 Fergus in the battle, conquered him, and returned to 
 Cormac or rather the disguised attendant who wore 
 his robes with the bloody trophy. " Is this the head 
 of Fergus of the Black Teeth," he exclaimed, casting 
 down the bleeding head. " Nay, this is but his 
 brother," said the attendant, falsely. Lugaid again 
 rushed into the battle, sought out and killed a second 
 Fergus, and brought his head also on his spear to the 
 king. " This is not the head of the King of Uladh," 
 replied the disguised attendant. Lugaid again sought 
 the field, and bearing away the head of the surviving 
 
104 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. TV. 
 
 Fergus, dashed it with such force against the breast of 
 the supposed Cormac, that his representative was killed 
 fyy the blow. By this stratagem Cormac disposed of 
 his formidable foes, and the Battle of Crinna as this 
 fight was called paved the way to his accession to the 
 sovereignty of all Ireland. 
 
 Notwithstanding these blemishes on the early career 
 of Cormac MacArt, his reign is one of the most 
 glorious recorded in the Irish annals. He maintained a 
 princely retinue, and kept kingly state in Tara. He 
 has the reputation also of having been a distinguished 
 author. Many institutes ascribed to him are to be 
 found in the books of the Brehon laws. He is there 
 treated as the author of the Tegasg High, or book of 
 precepts for kings, alleged to have been afterwards 
 transcribed by his son, Carbri Linear. In the great 
 Hall of Tara, erected by him, and of which the founda- 
 tions and fourteen doorways may still be traced, one 
 hundred and fifty warriors stood in his presence when 
 he sat down to the banquet. One hundred and fifty 
 cup-bearers were in attendance with one hundred and 
 fifty jewelled cups of silver and gold ; and yet, with all 
 this taste for magnificence, Cormac, in the choice of a 
 wife, consulted only the dictates of his heart. His 
 wooing of the fair damsel Ethni is highly romantic. 
 
 Cormac was ranging unattended through an oak wood 
 in the vicinity of Cennanus, or Kells. To this spot 
 had retired Buiked, a Leinster exile, with his wife and 
 foster-child, Ethni. They lived in the closest retire- 
 ment, for Buiked had impoverished himself, in his 
 Leinster home, by his open-handed and unbounded 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 105 
 
 generosity. The " cauldron of hospitality " was con- 
 stantly on the fire, and all who entered his house were 
 made welcome. At last he found all his flocks and 
 herds exhausted; seven cows and a bull represent- 
 ing his remaining wealth. With this slender provi- 
 sion he retired to the oak wood at Kells, and here 
 Ethni tended her foster-parents, performing for them 
 all servile offices which were needed, with cheerful 
 alacrity. She was engaged in milking the seven cows, 
 when Cormac approached, unperceived, through the 
 wood. The king paused to contemplate the maiden. 
 She had brought with her two pails, into one of which 
 she milked the first half-draught from the cows, and 
 then, taking the second pail, she completed her task. 
 With these she returned to the hut of her foster-parents, 
 but speedily reappeared with two other pails and a 
 horn. She then directed her steps to a stream which ran 
 through the wood, and, with the horn, she filled both 
 pails one from the water which ran near the bank, 
 the other from the middle of the streamlet. These she 
 conveyed to the hut, and again appeared with a sickle 
 in her hand. She next proceeded to cut green rushes, 
 placing those that were long on one side. While thus 
 employed, and 
 
 " Duteous, in the lowly vale, 
 Unconscious of the monarch's gaze, 
 
 She filled the fragrant pail ; 
 And, duteous from the running brook, 
 
 Drew water for the bath ; nor deem'd 
 A king did on her labour look, 
 
 And she a fairy seem'd " 
 
106 The Irish "before the Conquest. [CH. rv. 
 
 love and admiration and wonder filled the breast of 
 Cormac. He approached her, and asked of her for 
 whom she had made that selection of milk, and water, 
 and rushes. " The person for whom I have made it," 
 she replied, " has a right to still greater kindness from 
 me, if it were in my power to render it." 
 
 " Of what name is he ?" said Cormac. 
 
 " Buiked Brugh," she answered. 
 
 " Is not that the Leinsterman who was so famed 
 throughout Ireland for his hospitality ?" 
 
 " It is," replied the maid. 
 
 " Then art thou his foster-child Ethni, daughter of 
 Dunlaing ?" said the king. 
 
 " I am," replied Ethni. 
 
 " In a good hour," rejoined the king ; " for you shall 
 be my married wife." 
 
 " The disposal of me does not rest with myself, but 
 with my foster-father," said the dutiful girl. 
 
 Cormac sought the hut of the impoverished Buiked, 
 won his consent to his marriage with Ethni, and 
 bestowed on his foster-father lands and gifts. 
 
 King Cormac had ten daughters. Two of them, 
 Grania and Ailbe, played a memorable part in Irish 
 story. Grania, "the golden-haired, the fleet and 
 young," was affianced by her father to Finn, son of 
 Cumhal, the great chief of the Fianna Eirinn, or Irish 
 militia, the Finn MacCool of Irish, and Fingal of 
 Scottish tradition. This military order, the Clanna 
 Baisgne as they were sometimes called, was instituted 
 for the defence of the kingdom against foreign foes. 
 For the winter months this standing army was quartered 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianie Period. 107 
 
 upon the people of Ireland. During the summer, they 
 lived by hunting and the chase, performing at all times 
 the duties demanded of them by the sovereign, putting 
 down public enemies, upholding justice, and preventing 
 robberies. It was no slight honour to be admitted into 
 this order of chivalry. Every candidate had to give 
 proof, not only of his military skill and personal activity, 
 but also of intellectual gifts. He should be a bard, and 
 have mastered the twelve Books of Poesy; and four 
 Gesa, or sacred injunctions, were laid upon each person 
 admitted into the Fianna. 
 
 The first injunction was, never to receive a portion 
 with a wife ; but to choose her for good manners and 
 virtue. The second, never to offer violence to a 
 woman. The third, never to give a refusal to any 
 mortal, for anything of which one was possessed. The 
 fourth was, that no single warrior of the Fianna should 
 flee before nine champions. 
 
 In addition to these vows of chivalry common to 
 all the members of the order, each warrior might 
 assume some particular geis, or obligation, by which he 
 would be individually bound. Their great commander, 
 Finn, in addition to his warlike accomplishments, is 
 said to have possessed the gifts of Healing, Poetry, and 
 Second-sight, which he won by his daring, from a fairy 
 lady, into whose palace he had well nigh entered, one 
 hand having passed her portals before she could close 
 them against the intruder. Finn, a hero, but no longer 
 a young man, when he was selected by King Cormac for 
 his son-in-law, failed to find favour in the eyes of the 
 beautiful Grania. His lieutenant, the "dark-haired 
 
108 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 Dermid, of bright face and white teeth," reputedly the 
 handsomest man of his age, and bound by his peculiar 
 obligation to the service of distressed damsels, attracted 
 the attention of Grania, who, at the marriage-feast at 
 which she was to be united to Finn, cast herself on his 
 protection, or, in the language of the romance, laid his 
 "gesa" on Dermid, who was thus compelled, very 
 reluctantly, to elope with her. Grania gained the op- 
 portunity for her interview with Dermid, by drugging 
 the wine, with which, in compliance with the customs of 
 the time, the lady filled her richest drinking-cup. This 
 was sent by her to such guests as she desired to pledge. 
 From this honour she excluded Dermid, and when her 
 drugs had taken effect, she appealed to his gallantry 
 and manliness, to save her from the hated bridal by 
 making her his wife. 
 
 When Cormac and Finn awoke from their heavy 
 sleep and found that Dermid and Grania had fled, they 
 pursued them all over Erin. The lovers, aided by the 
 sympathy of friends, and their own good fortune, 
 avoided, by many hair-breadth escapes, a capture. Igno- 
 rant tradition has named from them, those ancient 
 monuments which abound in our country, and are 
 popularly called Cromlechs, or Druids' altars ; and, as 
 the supposed resting-places of the fugitive lovers are 
 called Ledba Diarmada agus Ghrainne, the Beds of 
 Dermid and Grania. ' 
 
 King Cormac, thus thwarted in his desire to honour 
 Finn, consoled him by bestowing on him the hand of 
 his daughter Ailbe. Dermid, after many varying 
 fortunes and picturesque adventures, meets his death on 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianie Period. 109 
 
 the summit of the majestic mountain of Benbulben, in 
 the county of Sligo, from the tusks of a wild boar. 
 Finn arriving on the scene just before the death of his 
 rival, gives occasion to a passage in the Irish romance 
 of more than ordinary beauty and pathos, on which 
 the following poem has been constructed. Dermid, 
 notwithstanding the resemblance of his story to that of 
 Adonis, is not altogether a fabulous character. The 
 clan Campbell claim to be of "the race of Brown 
 Dermid, who slew the wild boar," which still figures as 
 the cognizance of the ducal house of Argyll. 
 
 THE DEATH OF DEEMID. 
 Finn on the mountain found the mangled man, 
 The slain boar by him. " Dermid," said the king, 
 " It likes me well at last to see thee thus. 
 This only grieves me, that the womankind 
 Of Erin are not also looking on : 
 Such sight were wholesome for the wanton eyes 
 So oft enamour'd of that specious form : 
 Beauty to foulness, strength to weakness turned." 
 
 DERMID. 
 
 "Yet in thy power, if only in thy will, 
 Lies it, oh Finn, even yet to heal me." 
 
 FINN. 
 
 "How?" 
 DERMID. 
 
 " Feign not the show of ignorance^ nor deem 
 I know not of the virtues which thy hand 
 Drew from that fairy's half-discover'd hall, 
 Who bore her silver tankard from the fount, 
 So closely folio w'd, that ere yet the door 
 Could close upon her steps, one arm was in ; 
 
110 The Irish before the Conquest. |CH. TV. 
 
 Wherewith, though seeing nought, yet touching all, 
 
 Thou grasped'st half the spiritual world ; 
 
 Withdrawing a heap'd handful of its gifts, 
 
 Healing, and sight-prophetic, and the power 
 
 Divine of poesy : but healing most 
 
 Abides within its hollow: virtue such 
 
 That but so much of water as might wet 
 
 These lips, in that hand brought, would make me whole. 
 
 Finn ! from the fountain fetch me in thy palms 
 
 A draught of water, and I yet shall live." 
 
 FINN. 
 
 " How at these hands canst thou demand thy life, 
 Who took'st my joy of life?" 
 
 DERMID. 
 
 " She loved thee not : 
 
 Me she did love and doth ; and were she here 
 She would so plead with thee that, for her sake, 
 Thou wouldst forgive us both, and bid me live." 
 
 FINN. 
 
 " I was a man had spent my prime of years 
 In war and council, little bless'd with love ; 
 Though poesy was mine, and, in my hour, 
 The seer's burthen not desirable ; 
 And now at last had thought to have man's share 
 Of marriage blessings ; and the king supreme, 
 Cormac, had pledged his fairest daughter mine ; 
 When thou, with those pernicious beauty-gifts, 
 The flashing white tusk there hath somewhat spoil'd, 
 Didst win her to desert her father's house, 
 And roam the wilds with thee." 
 
 DERMID. 
 
 " It was herself, 
 Grania, the princess, put me in the bonds 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. Ill 
 
 Of holy chivalry to share her flight. 
 ' Behold,' she said, ' he is an aged man, 
 (And so thou art, for years will come to all ;) 
 And I, so young ; and at the Beltane games, 
 When Carbry Liffacher did play the men 
 Of Brea, I, unseen, saw thee snatch a hurl, 
 And thrice on Tara's champions win the goal ; 
 And gave thee love that day, and still will give.' 
 So she herself avow'd. Eesolve me, Finn, 
 For thou art just, .could youthful warrior, sworn 
 To maiden's service, have done else than I ? 
 No : hate me not forgive me give me drink." 
 
 FINN. 
 " I will not." 
 
 DERMID. 
 
 " Nay, but, Finn, thou hadst not said 
 ' I will not,' though I'd ask'd a greater boon, 
 That night we supp'd in Breendacoga's lodge. 
 Remember : we were faint and hunger-starved 
 From three days' flight ; and even as on the board 
 They placed the viands, and my hand went forth 
 To raise the wine-cup, thou, more quick of ear, 
 O'erheard'st the stealthy leaguer set without, 
 And yet should'st eat or perish. Then 'twas I, 
 Fasti i ig, that made the sally ; and 'twas I, 
 Fasting, that made the circuit of the court ; 
 Three times I cours'd it, darkling, round and round ; 
 From whence returning, when I brought thee in 
 The three lopp'd heads of them that lurk'd without 
 Thou hadst not then, refresh'd and grateful, said 
 ' I will not,' had I ask'd thee, * give me drink.' " 
 
 FINN. 
 
 " There springs no water on this summit bald." 
 
112 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. IT. 
 
 DERMID. 
 
 " Nine paces from the spot thou standest on, 
 The well-eye well thou knowest it bubbles clear." 
 
 Abash'd, reluctant, to the bubbling well 
 Went Finn, and scoop'd the water in his palms ; 
 Wherewith returning, half-way, came the thought 
 Of Grania, and he let the water spill. 
 
 ' ( Ah me," said Dermid, " hast thou then forgot 
 Thy warrior art, that oft, when helms were split 
 And buckler-bosses shatter'd by the spear, 
 Has satisfied the thirst of wounded men ? 
 Ah, Finn, these hands of thine were not so slack 
 That night, when, captured by the King of Thule, 
 Thou layest in bonds within the temple-gate 
 Waiting for morning, till the observant king 
 Should to his sun-god make thee sacrifice. 
 Close-pack'd thy ringers then, thong-drawn and squeezed, 
 The blood-drops oozing under every nail, 
 When, like a shadow, through the sleeping priests 
 Came I, and loos'd thee ; and the hierophant 
 At day-dawn coming, on the altar-step, 
 Instead of victim straighten'd to his knife, 
 Two warriors found, erect, for battle arm'd." 
 
 Again abash'd, reluctant to the well 
 Went Finn, and scoop'd the water in his palms, 
 Wherewith returning, half-way, came the thought 
 That wrench'd him ; and the shaken water spill'd. 
 
 DEEMID. 
 
 " False one, thou didst it purposely ! I swear 
 I saw thee, though mine eyes do fast grow dim. 
 Ah me, how much imperfect still is man ! 
 Yet such were not the act of Him, whom once 
 On this same mountain, as we sat at eve 
 Thou yet mayst see the knoll that was our couch, 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianie Period. 113 
 
 A stone's throw from the spot where now I lie 
 
 Thou showed'st me, shuddering, When the seer's fit, 
 
 Sudden and cold as hail, assail'd thy soul 
 
 In vision of that just One crucified 
 
 For all men's pardoning, which, once again, 
 
 Thou sawest, with Cormac^ struck in Kossnaree." 
 
 Finn trembled ; and a third time to the well 
 "Went straight, and scoop'd the water in his palms ; 
 Wherewith in haste half-way returned he saw 
 A smile on Derrnid's face relax'd in death.* 
 
 When Grania heard of the death of her husband, 
 she uttered " a long, exceedingly piteous cry." " And 
 truly my very heart is grieved," said Grania, " that I am 
 not myself able to fight with Finn, for were I so, 
 I would not have suffered him to leave this place in 
 safety." She summoned her sons, feasted them with 
 mead, ale, and strong fermented drinks, and when thus 
 excited, urged them to avenge her wrongs : " Oh, dear 
 children," said Grania, in a loud and bright clear 
 voice, " your father hath been slain by Finn MacCuinhal, 
 against his bonds and covenants of peace with him; 
 and avenge ye that upon him well." Thus speaking 
 she bestowed on them their father's weapons, and dis- 
 missed them to learn feats of arms, till they should be 
 old enough to measure swords with Finn. 
 
 When Finn heard of these projects for avenging the 
 death of Dermid, he summoned his Fians to concert 
 measures for repelling the meditated attack, but found 
 his warriors unwilling to aid him in a cause in which 
 they deemed him wholly in the wrong. In fact his 
 
 * S. FERGUSON. 
 
114 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [CH. IT. 
 
 ungenerous treatment of Dermid had disgusted his 
 friends, and among them even his own son Oisin. 
 " According as thou hast planted the tree, so bend it 
 thyself," replied Oisin, when refusing to bear out 
 his father in the course into which his jealous rage 
 had led him. Thus foiled, nothing was left to Finn 
 but to appease the anger of Grania. This fickle lady 
 was a prototype of Anne Neville, the widow of 
 Edward Plantagenet, whose wooing, by the murderer 
 of her husband, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, forms 
 so fine a scene in Shakespeare's " King Richard the 
 Third." In this ancient Irish romance of the Pursuit 
 of Dermid and Grama, Finn is represented as endea- 
 vouring to overcome the enmity of the widowed Grania, 
 with crafty cunning and sweet words. Grania, in 
 reply, like the widow of young Plantagenet, assailed 
 him with her keen, very sharp-pointed tongue. " Was 
 ever woman in this humour wooed was ever woman in 
 this humour won?" is a query equally applicable to 
 both. Grania yielded to the persuasions of Finn, the 
 suitor whose love she had formerly rejected. She 
 reconciled her sons to her new husband, and it is 
 recorded by the romance-writer that from thenceforth 
 Finn and Grania " stayed by one another till they 
 died." 
 
 The heroic tales and legends connected with the 
 Fians would fill a volume : much of this material is 
 now accessible to English readers, through the transla- 
 tions of the Ossianic society. To Ossian, or Oisin, 
 as his name appears in Irish story, are ascribed most 
 of the poetic remains attaching themselves to this 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 115 
 
 epoch. But this mighty bard's name shelters many 
 compositions of much later date. Conversations with 
 St. Patrick, to whose days he is fabled to have lived, 
 form the 'subject of some of these poems. He appears 
 as a very incorrigible convert, his Pagan sentiments 
 strongly clinging to him. The fasts of the early 
 saints, were specially repugnant to his nature, and he 
 is represented as ever looking back with regret, on the 
 glorious days of his unregenerate youth. 
 
 " Alas ! were I in strength and vigor, 
 As I was exultingly at the harbour of Finn-tragh, 
 I should not be deafened in the church of the bells, 
 And I would put a stop to their droning. 
 
 " Alas ! were I in lusty might, 
 As I was against Fatha Chonain, 
 With Finn and his hosts by my side 
 I should not be listening to these howls." 
 
 It was in these disrespectful terms that Oisin is 
 supposed to have designated the Psalmody of St. Patrick 
 and his monks. But after all such is the force of 
 genius we conceive of Oisin rather as the Ossian of 
 MacPherson, or as in that still grander idealization of 
 him, and of our ancient story, for which we are 
 indebted to a living poet.* 
 
 Long, long ago, beyond the misty space 
 
 Of twice a thousand years ; 
 In Erin old there dwelt a mighty race, 
 
 Taller than Roman spears ; 
 
 * T. D. McGEE. 
 
116 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 Like oaks and towers they had a giant grace, 
 
 Were fleet as deers, 
 With winds and waves they made their 'biding place, 
 
 These western shepherd seers. 
 
 Their ocean-god was Mananan MacLir, 
 
 Whose angry lips 
 In their white foam full often would inter 
 
 Whole fleets of ships : 
 Crom was their Day-god, and their Thunderer, 
 
 Made morning and eclipse ; 
 Bride was their queen of song, and unto her 
 
 They prayed with fire-touched lips. 
 
 Great were their deeds, their passions, and their sports : 
 
 With clay and stone 
 They piled on strath and shore those mystic forts, 
 
 Not yet o'erthrown ; 
 On cairn-crown'd hills they held their council-courts, 
 
 While youths alone 
 With giant dogs, explored the elk resorts, 
 
 And brought them down. 
 
 Of these was Fin, the father of the Bard, 
 
 Whose ancient song 
 Over the clamour of all change is heard, 
 
 Sweet voic'd and strong. 
 Fin once o'ertook Griann, the golden-haired, 
 
 The fleet and young ; 
 From her the lovely, and from him the fear'd, 
 
 The primal poet sprung. 
 
 Ossian ! two thousand years of mist a.nd change 
 
 Surround thy name 
 Thy Finian heroes now no longer range 
 
 The hills of fame. 
 The very name of Fin and Goll sound strange 
 
 Yet thine the same 
 By miscalled lake and desecrated grange, 
 
 Remains, and shall remain ! 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianie Period. 117 
 
 The Druid's altar and the Druid's creed 
 
 We scarce can trace ; 
 There is not left an undisputed deed 
 
 Of all your race, 
 Save your majestic song, which hath their speed 
 
 And strength, and grace ; 
 In that sole song, they live and love, and bleed ; 
 
 It bears them on through space. 
 
 Oh, inspir'd giant ! shall we e'er behold 
 
 In our own time 
 One fit to speak your spirit on the wold, 
 
 Or seize your rhyme ? 
 One pupil of the past, as mighty soul'd 
 
 As in the prime, 
 Were the fond, fair, and beautiful and bold, 
 
 They of your song sublime ! 
 
 To king Cormac we are said to owe the first erection 
 of a water-mill in Ireland. Mithridates, king of 
 Cappadocia, is reputed to have been the inventor of 
 mills, about seventy years before the commencement of 
 the Christian era. This memorable invention was 
 celebrated by a Syrian poet, whose verses have been 
 thus gracefully translated from the Greek : 
 
 " Ye maids who toil'd so faithful at the mill, 
 Now cease from work, and from those toils be still ; 
 Sleep now till dawn, and let the birds with glee 
 Sing to the ruddy morn on bush and tree ; 
 For what your hands performed so long, so true, 
 Ceres has charged the water-nymphs to do : 
 They come, the limpid sisters, to her call, 
 1 And on the wheel with dashing fury fall, 
 Impel the axle with a whirling sound, 
 And make the massy mill-stone reel around, 
 And bring the floury heaps luxuriant to the ground." 
 
118 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 Cormac is said to have brought over Pictish artisans 
 from Alba to erect his mill at Tara. He had become 
 enamoured of Carnait, a beautiful maiden of the 
 Cruithni, who had been carried off from Alba on 
 some plundering expedition. Ethni, the lawful wife 
 of Cormac, treated Carnait with a severity inspired 
 by jealousy, and compelled the fair captive to grind, 
 with a quern, or hand-mill, nine pecks of corn each day. 
 Carnait, about to become a mother, was unable to per- 
 form this domestic drudgery ; she complained to Cormac, 
 and probably informed him of the use of mills among 
 her own people in Scotland. He sent thither for 
 skilled workmen. To this day a mill Lismullen 
 exists on the' supposed site of the ancient erection 
 of Cormac MacArt, and the present miller claims to 
 be the representative of the Pictish millwright, brought 
 to Tara by that monarch, to relieve the labours of the 
 beautiful Carnait. 
 
 Cormac maintained unwonted state at Tara, and 
 enacted that for the future the monarch of Erin should 
 keep in constant attendance on his person, a prince 
 of noble blood, a brehon, a druid, a physician, a bard, 
 an historian, a musician, and three stewards. His ban- 
 quets were on a scale of splendid hospitality. " Each 
 king wore his kingly robe upon him, and his golden 
 helmet on his head, for they never put their kingly 
 diadems on but in the field of battle only. Magnifi- 
 cently did Cormac come to this great assembly. His 
 hair was slightly curled, and of golden colour; a 
 scarlet shield with engraved devices, and golden hooks, 
 and clasps of silver; a wide-folding purple cloak on 
 
CH. TV.] The Ossianie Period. 119 
 
 him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast; a 
 gold torque around his neck, a white collared shirt, 
 embroidered with gold, upon him ; a girdle with golden 
 buckles, and studded with precious stones, around him ; 
 two golden net-work sandals with golden buckles upon 
 him; two spears with golden sockets and many red 
 bronze rivets, in his hand, while he stood in the full 
 glow of beauty, without defect or blemish. The world 
 was full of all goodness in the time of Cormac, the 
 grandson of Con of the Hundred Battles : there were 
 fruit and fatness of the land, and abundant produce of 
 the sea, with peace and ease and happiness in his 
 time." 
 
 But Cormac was forced to abdicate, and leave his 
 royal palace of Tara, for the comparative seclusion of 
 his House of Cletty, near the Boyne ; having lost his 
 eye from the cast of that spear hurled by his kinsman, 
 uiEngus " Dread spear," as we have already mentioned : 
 ** and it was not deemed by the nobles of Ireland 
 honourable or auspicious that any king disfigured by 
 a personal blemish should reign at Tara." It was in 
 the retirement of this House of Cletty that King 
 Cormac is said to have composed his regal Institutes, 
 the Tegasg High ; and here, after ages have been willing 
 to believe, abandoned the worship of idols, and refused 
 to pay homage to any but the one great Creator of 
 Heaven and Earth. " For I," said Cormac, " will offer 
 no adoration to any stock or image, shaped by my own 
 mechanic. It were more rational to offer adoration to 
 the mechanic himself, for he is more worthy than the 
 work of his hands." His death, occasioned by the bone 
 
120 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 of a salmon, which stuck in his throat, was ascribed 
 by the Druids to the vengeance of their God, Crom 
 Cruach. Cormac directed that he should not be buried 
 at Brugh-na-Boinne, the resting-p]ace of his Pagan 
 "ancestors, but at Eossnaree, on the southern bank of the 
 Boyne, where he had first had his vision of the ap- 
 proaching light of a purer religion. The struggle 
 between the powers of light and darkness for the 
 possession of the dead king's body, is the subject of a 
 characteristic legend on which is founded 
 
 THE BUBIAL OF KING CORMAC. 
 
 " Crom Cruach and his sub-gods twelve," 
 Said Cormac, " are but carven treene : 
 The axe that made them, haft or helve, 
 Had worthier of our worship been. 
 
 " But He who made the tree to grow, 
 
 And hid in earth the iron-stone, 
 And made the man, with mind to know 
 
 The axe's use, is God alone." 
 
 Anon to priests of Crom was brought, 
 Where, girded in their service dread, 
 
 They ministered on red Moy Slaught 
 Word of the words King Cormac said. 
 
 They loos'd their curse against the king ; 
 
 They cursed him in his flesh and bones ; 
 And daily in their mystic ring 
 
 They turned the maledictive stones. 
 
 Till, where at meat the monarch sate, 
 
 Amid the revel and the wine, 
 He choked upon the food he ate 
 
 At Sletty, southward of the Boyne. 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 121 
 
 High vaunted then the priestly throng 
 And far and wide they noised abroad 
 
 With trump and loud liturgie song 
 The praise of their avenging God. 
 
 But ere the voice was wholly spent 
 
 That priest and prince should still obey, 
 
 To awed attendants, o'er him bent, 
 Great Cormac gathered breath to say 
 
 " Spread not the heds of Brugh for me 
 When restless death-bed's use is done ; 
 
 But bury me in Rossnaree, 
 And face me to the rising sun. 
 
 " For all the kings who lie in Brugh 
 Put trust in gods of wood and stone ; 
 
 And 'twas at Ross that first I knew 
 One, unseen, who is God alone. 
 
 " His glory lightens from the east : 
 
 His message soon shall reach our shore ; 
 
 And idol-god, and cursing priest 
 
 Shall plague us from Moy Slaught no more." 
 
 Dead Cormac on his bier they laid : 
 
 " He reigned a king for forty years, 
 And shame it were," his captains said, 
 
 " He lay not with his royal peers. 
 
 " His grandsire, Hundred-Battle, sleeps 
 
 Serene in Brugh ; and, all around, 
 Dead kings in stone sepulchral keeps 
 
 Protect the sacred burial-ground. 
 
 " What though a dying man should rave 
 
 Of changes o'er the eastern sea ? 
 In Brugh of Boyne shall be his grave 
 
 And not in noteless Rossnaree." 
 
122 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. TV. 
 
 Then northward forth they bore the bier, 
 And down from Sletty side they drew, 
 
 With horseman and with charioteer 
 To cross the fords of Boyne to Brugh. 
 
 There came a breath of finer air 
 
 That touched the Boyne with ruffling wings ; 
 It stirred him in his sedgy lair 
 
 And in his mossy moorland springs : 
 
 And as the burial train came down 
 With dirge and savage dolorous shows, 
 
 Across their pathway, broad and brown, 
 The deep, full-hearted river rose. 
 
 From bank to bank through all his fords, 
 
 'Neath blackening squalls he swelled and boiled ; 
 
 And thrice the wondering gentile lords 
 Essayed to cross, and thrice recoiled. 
 
 Then forth stepped four grim warriors hoar : 
 They said, " Through angrier floods than these 
 
 Our link'd shields bore him once before 
 From Dread-Spear and the hosts of Deece. 
 
 " And long as loyal will holds good, 
 And limbs respond with helpful thews, 
 
 Nor flood, nor fiend within the flood, 
 Shall bar him of his burial dues." 
 
 With slanted necks they stooped to lift ; 
 
 They heaved him up to neck and chin ; 
 And, pair and pair, with footsteps swift, 
 
 Locked arm and shoulder, bore him in. 
 
 'Twas brave to see them leave the shore ; 
 
 To mark the deep'ning surges rise, 
 And fall subdued, in foam, before 
 
 The tension of their striding thighs. 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianie Period. 123 
 
 'Twas brave, when, now a spear-cast out, 
 
 Breast high the battling surges ran ; 
 For weight was great, and limbs were stout, 
 
 And loyal man put trust in man. 
 
 But ere they reached the middle deep, 
 Nor steadying weight of clay they bore, 
 
 Nor strain of sinewy limbs could keep 
 Their feet beneath the swerving four. 
 
 And now they slide, and now they swim, 
 And now amid the blackening squall, 
 
 Grey locks afloat, with clutchings grim 
 They plunge around the floating pall ; 
 
 While, as a youth with practised spear, 
 
 Through justling crowds bears off the ring, 
 
 Boyne from their shoulders caught the bier 
 And proudly bore away the king. 
 
 At morning on the grassy marge 
 
 Of Rossnaree the corpse was found, 
 And shepherds, at their early charge, 
 
 Entombed it in the peaceful ground. 
 
 A tranquil spot : a hopeful sound 
 
 Comes from the ever -youthful stream, 
 
 And still on daisied mead and mound 
 The dawn delays with tenderer beam. 
 
 Hound Cormac Spring renews her buds ; 
 
 In march perpetual by his side 
 Down come the earth-fresh April floods 
 
 And up the sea-fresh salmon glide ; 
 
 And Life and Time rejoicing run 
 
 From age to age their wonted way ; 
 But still he waits the risen Sun, 
 
 For still 'tis only dawning Day.* 
 
 * From Lays of the Western Gael. 
 
124 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 This tradition must be of great antiquity, for it is 
 historically certain that Cormac's lineal descendant, 
 St. Columba, in the sixth century, erected a Christian 
 cell at Kossnaree on the spot where the king's body was 
 then believed to have been deposited by this supernatural 
 intervention of the elements. 
 
 Carbri Linear, son of Cormac and Ethni, assumed 
 the sovereignty of Ireland in the lifetime of his father, 
 whose blemish unfitted him to sway the sceptre of 
 Tara. He fell in the Battle of Gavra, A.D. 284. At 
 this fatal engagement Oscar, the son of Oisin, and 
 grandson of Finn MacCumhal, perished by the hand 
 of King Carbri, who was himself so severely wounded 
 by Oscar, that he did not survive the battle. The 
 Clanna Baisgne had sided with Moh Corb, King of 
 Minister, who was grandson to Finn, being the son 
 of his daughter Samhair: she had married Cormac 
 Cas, son of the great Ollioll Olum, and thus the blood 
 of Finn yet flows in the veins of the O'Briens, and 
 other families of the noble Dalcassian stock. Carbri 
 Linear had summoned to his aid, in his quarrel with 
 Moh Corb, the Clanna Morna, or militia of Connaught, 
 rivals of the Fians. Gavra is in the vicinity of the hill 
 of Skreen near Tara in Meath. The battle was fiercely 
 contested long and bloody. Oscar was entombed 
 in the rath which occupied part of the site of the 
 battle-field. " The great green rath's ten-acred tomb 
 lies heavy on his urn." 
 
 Carbri Lificar left two sons, Fiachaid and Eochy 
 Domlen. The former succeeded him, and was again 
 succeeded by his son Muredach. Eochy Domlen 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 125 
 
 was the parent of three remarkable sons the three 
 Collas as they are called in our annals Colla Uais, 
 Colla Menn, and Colla Da Cree. 
 
 King Fiachaid had made his son Muredach com- 
 mander of his armies, and presumptive heir to the 
 throne. This aroused the animosity of his nephews, 
 the three Collas. While Muredach was absent with his 
 army in Munster, these princes resolved to give battle 
 to the king, thus deprived of his most efficient troops. 
 On the eve of one engagement Fiachaid was told by his 
 Druid, that if any of his nephews should fall by him or 
 his kinsmen, the posterity of that nephew should rule 
 in Erin ; but if he himself were slain, his descendants 
 should triumph. The aged king determined to die, and 
 preserve the throne of Ireland to his children. 
 
 Muredach ascended the throne vacated by the volun- 
 tary death of his father. He banished his cousins 
 to Alba, where the Collas, with three hundred warriors 
 who followed them into exile, were well received by 
 the Scottish monarch. After three years passed in 
 Alba, being warned in a dream that the time of ful- 
 filling the prophecy had arrived, they returned to Tara, 
 each bringing with him nine warriors only, in the hope 
 that Muredach would avenge on them his father's 
 death, and thus secure for their children, not his, the 
 sway over Ireland. They presented themselves before 
 the king. "Have you brought me any news, my 
 cousins ?" asked Muredach. " We have no sadder news 
 to relate," said they, " than the deed which we have 
 ourselves done, namely, the killing of thy father by our 
 hands." Muredach, however, knew the prophecy as 
 
126 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [CH. iv, 
 
 well as they did, and was resolved not to forfeit the 
 sovereignty for his offspring, by any deed of violence. 
 " The news you tell us is already known," replied the 
 king ; " but it is of no consequence' to you now, for no 
 vengeance shall be wreaked upon you therefor, save 
 that the misfortune which has already pursued you 
 shall not leave you." " This is the reply of a coward," 
 said the Collas. "Be not sorry for it," replied the 
 king, " you are welcome." 
 
 It was an object with Muredach to find employment 
 for these daring and warlike kinsmen. He suggested 
 to them an attack on Ulster, and gave them as an 
 excuse for aggressive hostilities, the insult which their 
 common ancestor, King Cormac Mac Art, had received 
 at the hands of the Ultonians, referring to that burning 
 of his hair and beard, of which we have already spoken. 
 " That deed," said Muredach, " is still unavenged.'' 
 
 Thus provided with a casus belli, the Collas marched 
 on Emania. Fergus Fogha, King of Uladh, was slain, 
 his capital plundered and burned, and the glories of 
 Emania and Creeve Koe were extinguished for ever. 
 Thus ended the Ultonian dynasty, overthrown by the 
 three Collas, after it had lasted for more than 600 
 years, A.D. 332. Orgiall, giving name to the present 
 territory of Oriel, was the name given to the " Sword 
 Land " so won by the Collas : it comprised the greater 
 part of the modern Ulster, Antrim and Down excepted, 
 which remained the patrimony of the Eudrician race of 
 kings, down to the conquest of Ulster, in the beginning 
 of the thirteenth century, by John de Courcy. The 
 descendants of Coll da Cree, the O'Kellys, after- 
 
OH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 127 
 
 wards of Hj Many, in Connaught, Maguires, 
 MacMahons, and others, occupied the district com- 
 prising the counties of Armagh, Monaghan, and Fer- 
 managh, down to the confiscation and settlement of 
 Ulster in the reign of James I. 
 
 From Colla Uais are derived the Lords of the Isles, 
 the Macdonalds of Scotland, and MacDonnells of 
 Antrim, and their kindred clans; while the ancient 
 inhabitants of Cremorne, in the County of Monaghan, 
 claim Colla Menn as their progenitor. 
 
 Eochy, son of Muredach, reigned over Erin for seven 
 years. He left children by two wives. Mongfinn, or 
 the fair-haired, had four sons. Of these Brian, from 
 whom are descended the O'Conors of Connaught, was 
 her favourite. To pave the way for his elevation to 
 the throne she poisoned her brother, Criffan, who 
 had succeeded her husband Eochy. She sacrificed her 
 own life to effect her ambitious schemes for her son, 
 for she drank herself of the poisoned cup that she 
 might induce Criffan to taste it. Her crime was 
 unavailing. No descendant of hers ruled Erin till after 
 a lapse of about eight hundred years. Then, Turlogh 
 More 0' Conor, of whom Mongfinn was ancestress, and 
 his son Eoderick, the last king of Ireland, filled the 
 throne up to the time of the English Conquest. 
 Criffan was succeeded by Nial of the Nine Hostages, 
 son of Eochy, by a daughter of the king of Britain 
 a stepson, only, of the guilty Mongfinn. 
 
 Nial had to fight for the throne thus made vacant. 
 He found a formidable competitor in Core, King of 
 Munster. This prince, from whom are descended the 
 
128 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv- 
 
 O'Donoghue of the Glens, the O'Mahonys, 0'iAIoriartys, 
 and also the Lennoxes and Marrs of Scotland, at 
 length recognized Nial as sovereign, and received from 
 that monarch, in accordance with the custom which 
 enjoined such gifts to a former rival, one thousand 
 steeds, five hundred suits of armour, gold rings and 
 cups. This peace was granted to the entreaties of 
 Torna, the bard of Nial. He filled the endearing 
 position of foster-father to both these princes, and used 
 his influence with Core and Nial to secure peace for 
 his country. 
 
 The first military expedition undertaken by Nial, as 
 soon as he found himself firmly seated on the throne of 
 Erin, was directed to Alba. He desired to aid his 
 kindred, the Dalriad colony, who had settled in the 
 western district of Scotland, against the Picts or 
 Cruithni. The Irish colonists, aided by Nial, were 
 successful. These Scoti imposed their name on the 
 country, and Alba became from thenceforth known as 
 Scotland. To understand aright the relations of these 
 Dalriads and Picts we must revert to the earlier tradi- 
 tions, and recount the settlement of the Cruithni, whose 
 invasion of Alba is fixed at the period when Eremon, 
 son of Miled, was king of Ireland. 
 
 The Cruithni, according to their own tradition, were 
 a kindred race, and came from Thrace to Gaul. They 
 had fled from the oppression of a monarch who sought 
 to insult the beautiful daughter of their chieftain Gud. 
 They were well received by the Gallic king, for whom, say 
 their senachies, they built the city now called Poictiers. 
 The beauty of Gud's daughter reached the ears of this 
 
CH. IT.] The Ossianie Period. 129 
 
 sovereign also, and the Cruithnian exiles had again to 
 fly from further insult. In a few long galleys they 
 reached the Irish shore. Criffan Sciathbel, the Fir- 
 bolg chief of Leinster, under Eremon, was at that 
 time waging war with savage tribes, whose use of 
 poisoned weapons was fatal to his soldiers. He 
 accepted these new auxiliaries, making an alliance 
 with the Picts, and availing himself of the skill of 
 their Druid, Trosdan, who cured the wounds of Criffan's 
 army by the simple application of a milk bath. 
 
 Eremon did not encourage the Cruithni to settle 
 in Erin, but suggested to them the conquest of Alba ; 
 and as they were unprovided with wives, he supplied 
 this want on condition that the throne should always 
 be held by right of the female. This remarkable 
 custom prevailed among the Picts to a late period. 
 They became eventually amalgamated with the Scoti, 
 or Irish colonists. The combined inroads of the Picts 
 and Scots on the defenceless Britons, when the Koman 
 legions evacuated their country, are familiar to all 
 readers of English history. " The barbarians drive us 
 into the sea the sea throws us back upon the barba- 
 rians," was the mournful wail of the Britons to the 
 Consul JEtius. The Romans returned for brief periods 
 to Britain to repel these warlike Caledonians, and 
 aided the Britons by the erection of those mighty 
 ramparts, whose vast remains yet attest the power and 
 mechanical skill of that great people. 
 
 When the Cruithni or Picts settled in Scotland 
 there already existed there a people of the Firbolgic family 
 These early inhabitants of Scotland found themselves, 
 
130 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. iv. 
 
 like their kindred in Ireland after the Milesian con- 
 quest, pressed by the superior race into the extremities 
 of Alba and its outlying isles. From thence, still 
 pressed by the Picts, a number of them sought refuge 
 in Erin, and, shortly before the commencement of the 
 Christian era, rented lands in Meath, where they settled 
 under the protection of Carbri Niafer. This Firbolg 
 colony, called from their leader JEngus, son of Umor, 
 " the sons of Urnor," finding the rents they were forced to 
 pay exorbitant, migrated from Meath to Connaught, and 
 were welcomed by Ailill and Maev, then ruling at Crua- 
 chan. The clan Umor were located along the coasts of 
 Mayo, Galway, Clare, and the Aran, and other islands 
 of the western shores of Ireland. Their locale may yet 
 be determined by the names still extant of places 
 called after their leaders, jffingus, son of Umor, was 
 the founder of Dun ^Engus, that great dry-stone fort 
 which we have before described, yet standing on Aran 
 More, off Galway Bay; Cutra has left his name at 
 Lough Cooter, near Gort; Adhar at Moy Adhair, in 
 Thomond ; Measca, at Loch Mask ; and several other 
 similar examples might be added. On their settlement 
 in Meath Carbri Niafer had required and obtained for 
 them the guarantees of four great heroes, with whose 
 names we have made our readers already familiar 
 Keth MacMagach, Ross, Conall Carnach, and Cu- 
 chullin. When the sons of Umor abandoned his 
 territories for those of Ailill and Maev, Carbri called 
 on their sureties either to compel their return or to 
 fight the fugitives ; and accordingly the four heroes 
 demanded of Clan Umor either of these alternatives. 
 
CH. iv.] The Ossianic Period. 131 
 
 The oppressed and impoverished Firbolgs chose the 
 latter, and selected four of their mightiest champions 
 to contend with the knights of the Red Branch and 
 the Connacian and Munster heroes. Conall the Mild, 
 son of jiEngus, son of Umor, was opposed to Cuchullin ; 
 Kimi Kethir-Kenn to Conall Carnach ; King to Ross ; 
 and Irgas-of-many-battles to Keth. The Firbolg 
 champions were defeated. Conall the Mild and his 
 father were buried under the cairn, called from him 
 Carn-Conaill. The others were interred in the " de- 
 lightful plain adjoining the Hath Umaill" which has 
 given name to the barony Burrisoole (Burris-UmaiF), in 
 the county of Mayo. 
 
 We shall return, in our next Chapter, to Nial of the 
 Nine Hostages, whose military expedition to Alba to 
 assist his Scotic kindred of the Dalriads in their wars 
 with the Picts has led us into this long digression. 
 
132 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE PATRICIAN PERIOD. 
 
 A STILL more important expedition, if we consider 
 its after effects on the civilization of Ireland, and 
 through Ireland, of Western Europe, than any we have 
 hitherto recorded, was that undertaken by Nial against 
 Armorica, as the north-western districts of France were 
 called, in the fourth century. 
 
 Many captives, including children of noble birth, 
 were brought back to Erin by King Nial from this 
 plundering excursion. Among them was a boy of sixteen, 
 Succoth, the son of the deacon Calphurnius, and Con- 
 chessa, a near relative of St. Martin of Tours, with his 
 sisters Darerca and Lupida. His name, which is said 
 to signify " brave in battle," was afterwards exchanged 
 for that of Patricius, in allusion to his noble birth. But 
 the boy, destined to become the patron-saint of Ireland, 
 the great apostle and missionary St. Patrick, notwith- 
 standing his gentle blood, was sold as a slave, and 
 employed by his master, Milcho, in feeding cattle on 
 the mountain of Slieve Mis, in the present County of 
 Antrim. For many years the youthful Patrick tended, 
 amidst hardship, suffering, and isolation, the flocks of the 
 pagan Milcho. Amidst the solitudes of his mountain 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 133 
 
 dwelling light broke in upon his soul. The teachings 
 of his childhood, the meditations of his lonely youth, 
 the very desolation of his lot, prepared his mind for 
 the reception of those divine impulses, those spiritual 
 intuitions which elevate the being who receives them 
 above the vicissitudes of existence, and unite the soul 
 to its Creator. 
 
 " When I had come to Ireland," says St. Patrick in 
 his * Confessions,' " I was employed every day in 
 feeding cattle ; and frequently in the day I used to 
 have recourse to prayer, and the love of God was thus 
 growing stronger and stronger, and His fear and faith 
 were increasing in me, so that in a single day I would 
 give utterance to as many as an hundred prayers, and 
 in the night almost as many. And I used to remain 
 in the woods, too, and on the mountains, and would 
 rise for prayer before daylight, in the midst of snow 
 and ice, and rain, and felt no injury from it, nor was 
 there any sloth in me, as I now see, because the Spirit 
 was fervent within me." And again he writes : " I 
 was not from my childhood a believer in the only God, 
 but continued in death and unbelief until I was 
 severely chastened : and in truth I have been humbled 
 by hunger and nakedness, and it was my lot to traverse 
 Ireland every day sore against my will, until I was 
 almost exhausted. But this proved rather a benefit to 
 me, because by means of it I have been corrected by 
 the Lord, and he has fitted me for being at this day 
 what was once far from me, so that I should interest 
 or concern myself about the salvation of others, when I 
 used to have no such thoughts even for myself." 
 
134 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 To a mind in such intimate communion with heaven, 
 so elevated above earth, so filled with a desire to 
 labour in the conversion of others, all things are pos- 
 sible. There is nothing miraculous when such men 
 are deemed to have worked miracles, and are them- 
 selves convinced that they have seen visions and 
 dreamed dreams. Patrick escaped from his long cap- 
 tivity restored to his parents happy in their love 
 longs to return as a missionary to the people among 
 whom he had lived a slave. " I saw in the visions of 
 the night," he said, and this passage, from a very 
 authentic piece of antiquity, strongly supports the 
 claim of the Irish to an early knowledge of the art 
 of writing "a person coming from Ireland with 
 innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and 
 I read in the beginning of the letter, 'The voice 
 of the people of Ireland,' and I thought at that very 
 moment that I heard the voice of those who were near 
 the wood of Focluth, which is adjoining to the western 
 sea, and they cried out thus, as it were with one voice, 
 ' We entreat thee, holy youth, to come and walk still 
 among us,' and I was very much pricked to the heart, 
 and could read no further, and so I awoke. Thanks be 
 to God, the Lord who, after very many years, hath 
 granted to them according to their cry." 
 
 While the boy Patrick fed the swine of Milcho 
 on the mountain of Slemish, King Nial of the Nine 
 Hostages continued his depredations in Gaul. Hither 
 he summoned to his aid his friends and allies from 
 Alba ; and an auxiliary army from the Dalriads of 
 Scotland joined him on the Loire. Gabran, their 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 135 
 
 leader, was accompanied by Eochy, King of Leinster, 
 who had been banished from Erin by Nial. The exiled 
 prince seized this opportunity of avenging himself. 
 He transfixed the king with an arrow on the banks of 
 the Loire. Thus perished the great monarch in the 
 midst of his victorious career. 
 
 Nial of the Nine Hostages left eight sons. From 
 , Conall Gulban are descended the Kinel Conall, or 
 race of Conall, the great family O'Donnells of Tyr- 
 Conaill. From his twin brother, Owen, the Kinel - 
 Owen, of Tyr-Owen, or Tyrone, the illustrious O'Neills. 
 To all the descendants of Nial belongs the tribe name 
 of Hy-Niall ; but the families of O'Neill and O'Donnell, 
 representatives -of his twin sons, Owen and Conall 
 Gulban, are distinguished as the Northern Hy-Niall from 
 the progeny of another son, Conall Criffan, who are 
 called the Southern Hy-Niall, and who, though giving 
 some kings to Ireland, never attained the eminent place 
 in her history which the O'Neills and O'Donnells filled. 
 Conall Gulban obtained his name from the mountain 
 already referred to as the scene of the death of Dermid. 
 In this locality, and on this singularly formed and 
 romantic mountain, he had been fostered. He was 
 slain by the " old tribes " of Moy Slaught, that plain 
 in Cavan where the idol Crom Cruach and " his sub- 
 gods twelve " were formerly worshipped. His brother 
 Owen died of grief. He was buried at Eskaheen, in 
 Inishowen. 
 
 It will be remembered that Mongfinn, wife of Eochy, 
 the father of Nial, had poisoned her brother, Criifari, 
 to pave the way to the election of her son, Brian, to 
 
136 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 the throne, but that her perfidy, which cost her her own 
 life, had failed in its object, and her step-son, Nial, 
 had become King of Ireland, to the exclusion of her 
 offspring. Brian, however, in the lifetime of his half- 
 brother, Nial, had succeeded to the provincial throne 
 of Connaught, and his brother, Fiachra, another son of 
 Mongfmn, had become chief of a district in the west of 
 Ireland. Dissensions arose between the brothers. 
 Fiachra was defeated in battle by Brian, and delivered 
 into the hands of Nial as a hostage. Feredach, after- 
 wards better known by his acquired name of Dathi, 
 son of the captive Fiachra, avenged his father's wrongs 
 on his uncle Brian, and restored Fiachra to liberty 
 and rule. Fiachra left two sons : Dathi, who became 
 Ard Righ on the death of his uncle Nial, and Awley, 
 whose rule 4 in Connaught has left its impress in 
 the name of Tyrawley, in the north-west of Mayo. 
 It was in the persons of the seven sons of Awley, 
 converted by Patrick, and baptized with thousands 
 of their followers by him in the land of Tyrawley, 
 that the vision of the saint was realized ; for these 
 numerous converts to the faith were made in the 
 vicinity of that wood of Focluth from whence in his 
 dream Patrick had heard the voices entreating him to 
 " come and walk among them." 
 
 Dathi is ancestor of the great Connaught families 
 of O'Shaughnessy, O'Dowda, and O'Heyne. This king 
 inherited the military ambition of his uncle Nial, 
 and, like him, made war in Gaul. He had previously 
 undertaken an expedition into Alba, stimulated by the 
 praises of his Druids. In the seventeenth year of 
 
CH. v.] ' The Patrician Period. 137 
 
 his reign lie found himself at Assaroe, near Bally- 
 shannon, whither he had gone from Tara to adjust some 
 contentions between his kindred in the west. He arrived 
 at the estuary of the Erne at the eve of the great Gaelic 
 festival of Samhain, which was held on the last day 
 of October. He commanded the presence of his Arch 
 Druid, and demanded to know what would happen to 
 himself and to his country in the year about to com- 
 mence. " Then," said Doghra, the Druid, " if you will 
 send nine of your noblest chiefs with me from this to 
 the banks of the Moy, I will reveal something to 
 them." "It shall be so," said the king, "and I shall 
 be one of the number myself." 
 
 Dathi and his chiefs departed secretly from the 
 camp and arrived at Eath Archaill, near the Moy, 
 where the Druids' altars and idols were. Dathi took 
 up his abode at Mulloch Eoe, near Screene, in the 
 barony of Tireragh, County Sligo, where his queen, Eua, 
 had a palace. At sunrise the Druid repaired to the 
 chamber of Dathi. " Art thou asleep, King of 
 Erin and of Alba ?" asked Doghra. " I am not asleep," 
 said the monarch ; " but have you made an addition to 
 my titles ?" " I have consulted the clouds of the men 
 of Erin," replied the Druid, " and found that thou wilt 
 soon return to Tara, and wilt invite all the provincial 
 kings and chiefs of Erin to the great feast of Tara, 
 and then thou shalt decide with them upon making an 
 expedition into Alba, Britain, and France, following 
 the conquering footsteps of thy great-uncle Nial, and 
 thy grand-uncle Criffan Mor." 
 
 The king was delighted with the prediction. He 
 
138 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 returned to the camp and imparted it to his chieftains, 
 and in due time retraced his steps to Tara, and invited, 
 as the Druid had suggested, the chiefs of Erin to meet 
 him there, at the approaching festival of Beltaine, which 
 was held on May Day. 
 
 The feast was celebrated on this occasion with un- 
 usual splendour. The fires of TaiUi were lighted, and 
 the games, sports, and ceremonies, usually held there, 
 passed off with great magnificence. War was resolved 
 on, and Dathi made a successful foray into Alba, and 
 from thence invaded Gaul, where he died ; but his body 
 was borne homewards by his soldiers, and now reposes 
 among the mortal remains of his ancestors, the ancient 
 kings of Connaught, at the Eelig na Itee, near Eath 
 Cruachan. Tradition ascribes his death at the foot of 
 the Alps to a stroke of lightning. He fell, it is said, 
 as he was storming the tower of Parmenius, a royal 
 recluse, who had lived there secluded from the light of 
 day. The Pagan monarch of Erin was not deterred 
 by the sanctity of the royal hermit, and regarded not 
 the recluse's vow of living in perpetual darkness. He 
 proceeded to demolish the tower. When it was un- 
 roofed, and Parmenius " felt the wind coming to him, 
 God raised him up in a blaze of fire, and he prayed 
 for King Dathi that his reign might continue no longer ; 
 and he also prayed that his monument or tomb might 
 not be conspicuous." Thereupon a flash of lightning 
 struck Dathi dead upon the spot, while Parmenius 
 formed for himself another dwelling lower down on 
 the mountain side. Such is the wild and scarce in- 
 telligible form in which the story of Dathi has been 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 139 
 
 transmitted from primitive times. The adventure, 
 whatever may have been its real nature, took place in 
 the same year in which Pharamond, king of the Franks, 
 disappears from the page of history, and it might be 
 suggested that he may have been the hermit king whom 
 Dathi encountered at Slieve Alpa, probably some part 
 of the Jura range, in the eastern districts of Gaul. The 
 incident has had a great charm for the Irish ima- 
 gination, and has been made the subject of many lyrical 
 compositions, one of which is subjoined 
 
 THE EXPEDITION AND DEATH OF KING DATHY.* 
 
 King Dathy assembled his Druids and Sages, 
 And thus he spake them " Druids and Sages ! 
 
 What of King Dathy ? 
 What is revealed in Destiny's pages 
 
 Of him or his? Hath he 
 Aught for the future to dread or to dree ? 
 Good to rejoice in, or evil to flee ? 
 Is he a foe of the Gall- 
 Fitted to conquer or fated to fall ?" 
 
 And Beirdra, the Druid, made answer as thus 
 A priest of a hundred years was he 
 
 " Dathy, thy fate is not hidden from us ! 
 Hear it through me ! 
 
 Thou shalt work thine own will ! 
 
 Thou shalt slay thou shalt prey 
 And be conqueror still ! 
 
 Thee the cartel shall not harm ! 
 
 Thee we charter and charm 
 
 From all evil and ill ! 
 
 Thee the laurel shall crown ! 
 
 Thee the wave shall not drown ! 
 
 * J. C. MANGAN. 
 
140 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. 
 
 Thee the chain shall not bind ! 
 Thee the spear shall not find ! 
 Thee the sword shall not slay ! 
 Thee the shaft shall not pierce ! 
 Thou therefore be fearless and fierce, 
 And sail with thy warriors away 
 
 To the lands of the Gall, 
 There to slaughter and sway, 
 
 And be victor o'er all !" 
 
 So Dathy he sailed away away, 
 
 Over the deep resounding sea ; 
 Sailed with his hosts in armour grey 
 
 Over the deep resounding sea, 
 Many a night and many a day, 
 
 And many an islet conquered he 
 He and his hosts in armour grey : 
 And the billow drowned him not, 
 And a fetter bound him not, 
 And the blue spear found him not, 
 And the red sword slew him not, 
 And the swift shaft knew him not, 
 And the foe o'erthrew him not : 
 Till, one bright morn, at the base 
 
 Of the Alps, in rich Ausonia's regions, 
 His men stood marshalled face to face 
 
 With the mighty Roman legions. 
 
 Noble foes! 
 
 Christian and heathen stood there among those, 
 Resolute all to overcome, 
 Or die for the eagles of ancient Rome ! 
 
 When, behold ! from a temple anear 
 Came forth an aged priest-like man, 
 
 Of a countenance meek and clear, 
 Who, turning to Eire's Ceann,* 
 
 Ceann: Head; king. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 141 
 
 Spake him as thus" King Dathy, hear ! 
 
 Thee would I warn ! 
 Ketreat ! retire ! Eepent in time 
 The invader's crime, 
 
 Or better for thee thou hadst never been born !" 
 
 But Dathy replied, " False Nazarine ! 
 Dost thou, then, menace Dathy, thou ? 
 And dreamest thou that he will bow 
 
 To one unknown, to one so mean, 
 So powerless as a priest must be ? 
 He scorns alike thy threats and thee ! 
 On ! on, my men, to victory !" 
 
 And, with loud shouts for Eire's king, 
 
 The Irish rush to meet the foe, 
 And falchions clash and bucklers ring, 
 
 When, lo ! 
 
 Lo ! a mighty earthquake's shock ! 
 And the cleft plains reel and rock ; 
 
 Clouds of darkness pall the skies ; 
 Thunder crashes, 
 Lightning flashes, 
 
 And in an instant Dathy lies 
 
 On the earth a mass of blackened ashes ! 
 Then, mournfully and dolefully, 
 The Irish warriors sailed away 
 
 Over the deep resounding sea, 
 
 Till, wearily and mournfully, 
 They anchored in Eblana's Bay. 
 
 Thus the Seanachies and Sages 
 
 Tell this tale of long-gone ages. 
 
 And so, by the elements, not by the hand of man, 
 perished the " fair king of Erin, Dathi, son of Fiachra, 
 a generous king by sea and land," A.D. 4^6. His son 
 Awley took command of the forces. They commenced 
 their retreat, carrying with them the dead body of the 
 
142 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH, v. 
 
 king, whose very presence, though in death, served to 
 discomfit their foes. Ten battles are recorded, won by 
 the retreating host, whose victories are ascribed to the 
 terror of Dathi's countenance, still kept turned towards 
 the pursuers. When the army had reached Ireland, 
 the body, borne by four servants of trust, crossed the 
 island to Cruachan " with dirge and savage dolorous 
 shows," and here, adjoining the Relig na Ree, where 
 his ancestors repose, was erected the mound, and its 
 red pillar-stone, over the grave of the last of Ireland's 
 Pagan kings. According to the imprecation of Par- 
 menius, it was "not conspicuous;" yet the pillar- 
 stone, a block of red-grit sand-stone, about nine feet in 
 height, is still standing on the grassy mound, amidst 
 the earthworks, raths, and entrenchments, which, to 
 this day, mark the site of the ancient capital of 
 Connaught. Cattle feed around on the rich pasture 
 land of Koscommon, but with the exception of an 
 occasional cottier's house, the place is lonely, un- 
 marked, and little known, save by the archaeologist, 
 or the survivors of the peasantry, who still cling fondly 
 to these traditions of the olden time. More than four- 
 teen hundred years ago, this red pillar-stone was raised. 
 The years have rolled on to centuries, and yet it stands 
 unchanged. How many works of succeeding genera- 
 tions has it not already outlived, how many yet destined 
 to rise and fall, and crumble into ruin, may not this 
 simple pillar survive, erected by his "clansmen and 
 soldiers to King Dathi. 
 
 Of his descendants we shall have much to speak. 
 His son Ollioll Molt, became Ard High some years 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 143 
 
 later, and his grandson Owen Bel, king of Connaught, 
 is the hero of a very picturesque tradition. Owen Bel 
 was the father of St. Kellach, whose story we shall 
 return to, but may not now anticipate. 
 
 We resume the thread of the Christian story, laid 
 aside for a space while recounting the fortunes of the 
 sons of Nial. Patrick's captor was succeeded by his 
 son Laery, or Laeghaire. It was in the fourth year 
 of his reign that St. Patrick commenced his apostolic 
 labours. A.D. 432 is the date generally agreed on for 
 this event, which had been preceded by the mission 
 of St. Palladius in the previous year. A few scattered 
 Christians, principally in the south, were to be found 
 in Erin before the time of Patrick. It has been 
 asserted that Saints Ailbe, Declan, Kieran, and Ibar, 
 afterwards consecrated by St. Patrick to the episcopal 
 office, had been preaching in Munster before his coming. 
 
 St. Patrick was no longer a young man when he 
 returned to Ireland, the scene of his former captivity 
 as a Christian missionary. But the interval between 
 his early manhood and mature life had not been idly 
 spent. Bishops Germanus and Lupus, we are told, 
 nurtured him in sacred literature, and ordained him, and 
 made him the chief bishop of their school among the 
 British and Irish. Thirty-three years has been assigned 
 as the period of his pastoral labours. He first landed 
 on the Leinster coast, but re-embarked, and directed 
 his course to that northern district where he had 
 passed his captivity. Here he laboured to convert 
 to the faith of Christ his former master Milcho, but 
 without success. Dichu, a prince of a territory in the 
 
144 TJte Irish before the Conquest. [en. T. 
 
 present county of Down, v/as one of his earliest converts. 
 He erected for the saint a church, Sabhall Padruic, 
 Patrick's Barn, still called Saul, which afterwards 
 became the seat of a considerable monastery. Here the 
 saint, long after, died, and in the same neighbourhood 
 was buried, though the Irish foundation of Glastonbury 
 in England also claims the honour of possessing his 
 remains. Many discrepancies and irreconcilable con- 
 flicts of testimony may be explained by the supposition 
 that there were two Saint Patricks ; one generally 
 distinguished as . Sen Patrick, or Patrick the Elder, 
 not identical with Patrick the Apostle, and to whose 
 labours may be ascribed the partial acceptance which 
 Christianity had already obtained previous to the 
 coming of Nial's captive, The first missionary tour of 
 the great Apostle followed the course of the Boyne, 
 and conducted him to Tara, and to the presence of 
 King Laery, at the commencement of the Easter fes- 
 tival, A.D. 433. On his journey he visited, converted, 
 and baptized a family, one of whose members attached 
 himself from thenceforth to the Apostle, and was 
 named by him Benignus, on account of the gentleness 
 of his bearing. Benignus, it is said, became his suc- 
 cessor in the see of Armagh. 
 
 Patrick, continuing his journey, reached Slane on 
 the Boyne, on Easter eve. He commenced his pre- 
 parations for the festival of the next day, and lighted 
 the paschal fire at nightfall. The king was holding 
 a high festival at Tara at the same time, and the law 
 enjoined that no other fire should be lighted until the 
 great fire should be kindled on the heights of Tara. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 145 
 
 The king is wrath, with a greater wrath 
 
 Than the wrath of Nial or the wrath of Con ! 
 
 From his heart to his brow the blood makes path, 
 And hangs there, a red cloud, beneath his crown. 
 
 Is there any who knows not, from south to north, 
 That Laeghaire-to morrow his birthday keeps ? 
 No fire may be lit upon hill or hearth, 
 Till the king's strong fire in its kingly mirth 
 Leaps upward from Tara's palace steeps. 
 
 Yet Patrick has lighted his paschal fire 
 
 At Slane it is Holy Saturday 
 And bless'd his font, 'mid the chanting choir ! 
 
 From hill to hill the flame makes way ; 
 While the king looks on it, his eyes with ire 
 
 Flash red, like Mars, under tresses gray.* 
 
 When King Laery inquired who had dared thus 
 to infringe the law, his Druids told him that unless 
 that fire were extinguished immediately, it would get 
 the better of their fires, and occasion the downfall 
 of his kingdom. Laery set out with a considerable 
 force for Slane, and summoned St. Patrick to appear 
 before him. He desired that no one should show the 
 saint the respect of rising to receive him. Ere dis- 
 obeyed the injunction, saluted Patrick, received his 
 blessing, and became a believer. When St. Patrick 
 preached before the king and nobles at Tara on the 
 following day, Dubtach the bard in like manner 
 rose, saluted him, and became a zealous convert. 
 Dubtach was an eminent poet, both as a Pagan and 
 a Christian. He was the instructor of Fiech, son of 
 Ere, who afterwards became bishop of Sletty. 
 
 * AUBKEY DE YEEE. 
 
146 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. v. 
 
 This Easter Sunday of the year 433 was an eventful 
 one. 
 
 When the waters of Boyne began to bask, 
 And the fields to flash in the rising sun, 
 
 The Apostle Evangelist kept his Pasch, 
 And Erin her grace baptismal won ; 
 
 Her birthday it was ; his font the rock ; 
 
 He bless'd the land, and he bless'd his flock. 
 
 Then forth to Tara he fared full lowly ; 
 
 The staff of Jesus was in his hand ; 
 Eight priests paced after him chanting slowly, 
 
 Printing their steps on the dewy land. 
 It was the Resurrection morn ; 
 The lark sang loud o'er the springing corn, 
 The dove was heard, and the hunter's horn. 
 
 Like some still vision men see by night, 
 
 Mitred, with eyes of serene command, 
 St. Patrick moved onward in ghostly white ; 
 
 The staff of Jesus was in his hand. 
 His priests paced after him unafraid, 
 And the boy, Benignus, more like a maid, 
 Like a maid just wedded he walked and smiled, 
 To Christ new plighted that priestly child. 
 
 They entered the circle, their hymn they ceased ; 
 
 The Druids their eyes bent earthward still ; 
 On Patrick's brow the glory increased, 
 
 As a sunrise brightening some breathless hill. 
 The warriors sat silent ; strange awe they felt ; 
 The chief bard Dubtach rose up, and knelt ! 
 Then Patrick discoursed of the things to be, 
 When time gives way to eternity ; 
 Of kingdoms that cease, which are dreams not things, 
 And the kingdom built by the King of kings. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 147 
 
 Of Him he spake who reigns from the Cross ; 
 Of the death which is life, and the life which is loss 
 And how all things were made by the Infant Lord, 
 And the small hand the Magian Kings adored. 
 His voice sounded on like a throbbing flood 
 That swells all night from some far-off wood ; 
 And when it was ended that wondrous strain 
 Invisible myriads breathed low, ** Amen !" 
 
 While he spake, men say that the refluent tide 
 
 On the shore beside Colpa ceased to sink ; 
 And they say the white deer by Mulla's side, 
 
 O'er the green marge bending forbore to drink ; 
 That the Brandon eagle forgat to soar, 
 
 That no leaf stirred in the wood by Lee, 
 Such stupor hung the island o'er, 
 
 For none might guess what the end would be. 
 
 Then whispered the king to a chief close by, 
 " It were better for me to believe than die."* 
 
 Yet King Laery remained incredulous, although 
 granting liberty to the saint to preach and to make 
 converts. Among the most eminent who embraced 
 Christianity at this time were the wife and daughters 
 of the king, and his brother Conall Criffan, the 
 progenitor of the southern Hy-Nials. Conall wished 
 to become a cleric, but Patrick refused, telling the 
 prince that the secular, and not the ecclesiastical, state 
 was his vocation. He marked with his crozier the 
 figure of a cross in the shield of Conall, which was 
 ever after called Sciath Bachlacli, or the shield of the 
 crozier. This is the earliest notice that has been found 
 in Ireland of armorial bearings. 
 
 * AUBREY DE VERB. 
 
148 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 The conversion by Patrick of Ethna and Felimia, 
 the daughters of King Laery, has been detailed at 
 length in the Book of Armagh. These princesses were 
 residing in Connaught, near Cruachan, when St. Patrick 
 and his attendants assembled at sunrise at the fountain 
 of Clebach, at the east side of the rath. 
 
 Thither came the damsels to wash, and found at the 
 well the holy men. " And they knew not whence they 
 were, or in what form, or from what people, or from 
 what country, but they supposed them to be Duine 
 SidJie (fairies), or gods of the earth, or a phantasm. 
 
 "And the virgins said unto them, 'Who are ye, 
 and whence come ye ?' 
 
 " And Patrick said unto them, ' It were better for 
 you to confess to our true God, than to inquire con- 
 cerning our race.' 
 
 " The first virgin said, ' Who is God ? 
 
 " And where is God ? 
 
 " And of what (nation) is God ? 
 
 " And where is His dwelling-place ? 
 
 " Has your God sons and daughters, gold and 
 silver ? 
 
 " Is he ever-living ? 
 
 " Is He beautiful ? 
 
 " Did many foster His Son ? 
 
 " Are his daughters dear and beauteous to men of 
 the world ? 
 
 " Is He in heaven or in earth ? 
 
 " In the sea ? 
 
 " In rivers ? 
 
 " In mountainous places ? 
 
ce. v.] The Patrician Period. 149 
 
 " In valleys ? 
 
 " Declare unto us the knowledge of Him. 
 
 " How shall He be seen ? 
 
 " How is He to be loved ? 
 
 " How is He to be found ? 
 
 " Is it in youth is it in old age that He is to be 
 found y " 
 
 " 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 lowly 
 valleys. 
 
 " The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and 
 under heaven. He hath a habitation in the heaven, 
 and the earth, and the sea, and all that are therein. 
 
 " He inspireth all things. 
 
 " He quickeneth all things. 
 
 " He is over all things. 
 
 " He sustaineth all things. 
 
 " He giveth light to the light of the sun. 
 
 " And he hath made springs in a dry ground ; 
 
 " And dry islands in the sea. 
 
 " And hath appointed the stars to serve the greater 
 lights. 
 
 " He hath a Son co-eternal, and co-equal with 
 Himself. 
 
 " The Son is not younger than the Father. 
 
 " Nor is the Father older than the Son. 
 
150 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. v. 
 
 " And the Holy Ghost breatheth in them. 
 
 " The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are 
 not divided. 
 
 " But I desire to unite you to the Heavenly King, 
 inasmuch as you are the daughters of an earthly king 
 to believe.' 
 
 " And the virgins said, as with one mouth and one 
 heart 
 
 " * Teach us most diligently how we may believe in 
 the Heavenly King. Show us how we may see him 
 face to face, and whatsoever thou shalt say unto us, we 
 will do.' 
 
 " And Patrick said : 
 
 " ' Believe ye, that by baptism ye put off the sin of 
 your father and your mother ?' They answered, We 
 believe.' 
 
 " * Believe ye in repentance after sin ?' ' We 
 believe.' 
 
 " ' Believe ye in life after death ? Believe ye the 
 Resurrection at the day of Judgment ?' ' We believe.' 
 
 "'Believe ye the unity of the Church?' 'We 
 believe.' 
 
 " And they were baptized ; and a white garment put 
 upon their heads. And they asked to see the face of 
 Christ. And the Saint said unto them, ' Ye cannot see 
 the face of Christ, except ye taste of death, and except 
 ye receive the sacrifice.' 
 
 " And they answered, ' Give us the sacrifice, that we 
 may behold the Son, our spouse.' 
 
 " And they received the Eucharist of God, and they 
 slept in death. 
 
en. v.] The Patrician Period. 151 
 
 " And they were laid out on one bed, covered with 
 garments ; and (their friends) made great lamentation 
 and weeping for them." 
 
 Before leaving the subject of St. Patrick's visit to 
 Tara, we shall give at length his hymn composed on 
 this occasion, " to protect himself with his monks 
 against the enemies unto death, who were in ambush 
 against the clergy. And this is a religious armour to 
 protect the body and soul against demons, and men, 
 and vices. Every person who sings it every day with 
 all his attention on God shall not have demons appear- 
 ing to his face. It will be a protection to him against 
 every poison and envy. It will be a safeguard to him 
 against sudden death. It will be an armour to his soul 
 after his death. Patrick sang this at the time that the 
 snares were set for him by Laegaire, that he might not 
 come to propagate the faith to Temur ; so that it 
 appeared to those lying in ambush, that they were wild 
 deer, and a, fawn after them, that is Benen ; and Feth 
 Fiadha is its name." 
 
 This poem is interesting as illustrating the faith, 
 not unmixed with credulity, of this great Evangelist of 
 the fifth century, as well as for its antiquity. It is 
 composed in that ancient dialect of the Irish in which 
 the oldest tracts, and the Brehon Laws are written, 
 and commences as follows : 
 
 " At Temur, to-day, I invoke the mighty power of 
 the Trinity. I believe in the Trinity under the unity 
 of the God of the elements. 
 
 " At Temur, to-day (I place) the virtue of the birth 
 of Christ with his baptism, the virtue of his Crucifixion, 
 
152 The Irish before the Conquest. [cu. v. 
 
 with his burial, the virtue of his Kesurrection with His 
 Ascension, the virtue of the coming to the eternal 
 judgment ; 
 
 " At Temur, to-day (I place) the virtue of the love 
 of seraphim ; (the virtue which exists) in the obedience 
 of angels, in the hope of the Resurrection to eternal 
 reward, in the prayers of the noble fathers, in the 
 predictions of the prophets, in the preaching of the 
 apostles, in the faith of the confessors, in the purity of 
 the holy virgins, in the deeds of just men ; 
 
 " At Temur, to-day (I place) the strength of heaven, 
 the light of the sun, the whiteness of snow, the force of 
 fire, the rapidity of lightning, the swiftness of the wind, 
 the depth of the sea, the stability of the earth, the hard- 
 ness of rocks (between ine and the powers of paganism 
 and demons). 
 
 " At Temur, to-day, may the strength of God pilot 
 me, may the power of God preserve me, may the wis- 
 dom of God instruct me, may the eye of God view me, 
 may the ear of God hear me, may the word of God 
 render me eloquent, may the hand of God protect me, 
 may the way of God direct me, may the shield of God 
 defend me, may the host of God guard me against the 
 snares of demons, the temptations of vices, the inclina- 
 tions of the mind, against every man who meditates 
 evil to me, far or near, alone or in company. 
 
 " I place all these powers between me and every evil 
 unmerciful power directed against my soul and my 
 body (as a protection) against the incantations of false 
 prophets, against the black laws of Gentilism, against 
 the false laws of heresy, against the treachery of 
 
en. v.J The Patrician Period. 153 
 
 idolatry, against the spells of women, smiths, and 
 Druids, against every knowledge which blinds the soul 
 of man. May Christ to-day protect me against poison, 
 against burning, against drowning, against wounding, 
 until I deserve much reward. 
 
 " Christ (be) with me, Christ before me, Christ after 
 me, Christ in me, Christ under me, Christ over me, 
 Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ at this 
 side, Christ at that side, Christ at my back. 
 
 " Christ (be) in the heart of each person whom I 
 speak to, Christ in the mouth of each person who speaks 
 to me, Christ in each eye which sees me, Christ in each 
 ear which hears me. 
 
 " At Temur, to-day, I invoke the mighty power of the 
 Trinity. I believe in the Trinity under the unity of 
 the God of the elements. 
 
 " Salvation is the Lord's ; Salvation is the Lord's ; 
 Salvation is Christ's. May thy salvation, Lord, be 
 always with us !" 
 
 St. Patrick is said to have borne part in that re- 
 vision and purification of the laws of Erin, embodied in 
 the great Brehon Law tract called the Senchus Mor. 
 The Irish of the age of Alfred universally believed 
 that these laws were reduced to their present form 
 under the immediate inspection of the Apostle, and 
 that the work of codification was carried on at Tara in 
 summer on account of the amenity and freshness of the 
 place ; and at a neighbouring residence in the winter 
 on account of facilities of shelter and firewood. One 
 portion of this interesting tract has been published by 
 the Brehon Law Commissioners, and exhibits an unex- 
 
154 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 pected analogy to the rudiments of the Common Law 
 of England, hitherto supposed to have been derived 
 exclusively from non-Celtic sources. 
 
 Laery was constantly engaged in warfare with the 
 Leinstermen, the " hated Lagenian race." The exac- 
 tion of the Boromean tribute was the occasion of these 
 contentions. In one of these campaigns he was defeated 
 at Ath-Dara, on the Barrow, and compelled to swear by 
 the Elements that dreaded pagan oath that he would 
 not again seek to enforce the Boru; but afterwards, 
 violating his oath, he was slain " by the Sun and Wind." 
 
 " So Laeghaire by the dread God elements swore, 
 
 By the moon divine, and the earth and air. 
 
 He swore by the wind and the broad sunshine 
 
 That circle for ever both land and sea, 
 
 By the long-back'd rivers, and mighty wine, 
 
 By the cloud far-seeing, by herb and tree, 
 
 By the boon spring shower, and by autumn's fan, 
 
 By woman's breast, and the head of man, 
 
 By night and the noonday Demon he swore, 
 
 He would claim the Boarian Tribute no more. 
 
 But with years, wrath wax'd; and he brake his faith ; 
 
 Then the dread God-elements wrought his death : 
 
 For the Wind and Sunshine by Cassi's side 
 
 Came down and smote on his head that he died, 
 
 Death-sick three days on his throne he sate : 
 
 Then he died, as his father died, great in hate. 
 
 They buried the king upon Tara's hill, 
 
 In his grave upright : there stands he still. 
 
 Upright there stands he as men that wade 
 
 By night through a castle moat, undismay'd ; 
 
 On his head is the gold crown, the spear in his hand, 
 
 And he looks to the hated Lagenian land." * 
 
 * AUBREY DE VERB. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 155 
 
 Laery was indeed buried, as described in the poem. 
 He was killed by lightning, and interred in the external 
 rampart of his rath at Tara, with his weapons in his 
 hand, and his face turned towards the Leinstermen. 
 This was in accordance with his own directions ; and 
 he assigned this predetermined hate which was to 
 outlive him, as a cause why, though convinced by the 
 teaching of St. Patrick, he could not himself embrace 
 Christianity. 
 
 " But my father, Nial, who is dead long since 
 
 Permits not me to believe thy word ; 
 
 For the servants of Jesus, thy heavenly prince, 
 
 Once dead, lie flat as in sleep, interr'd ; 
 
 But we are as men through dark floods that wade : 
 
 We stand in our black graves undismay'd ; 
 
 Our faces are turn'd to the race abhorr'd, 
 
 And ready beside us stand spear and sword, 
 
 Eeady to strike at the last great day, 
 
 Ready to trample them back into clay." * 
 
 To St. Patrick is ascribed the destruction of Crom 
 Cruach, and the smaller idols by which it was 
 surrounded, on the plain of Moy Slaught, in his pro- 
 gress towards Rath Croghan, where we have already 
 noticed his conversion of Ethna and Felimia, daughters 
 of this obstinate Pagan monarch. Passing thence, he 
 spent the season of Lent on the mountain of Croagh 
 Patrick, which was named from this visit of the Saint. 
 In Tyrawley he baptized, as we have already men- 
 tioned, the sons and followers of Awley, brother of 
 Dathi, in the vicinity of the wood of Focluth. Thence, 
 
 * From Inisfail, by AUBREY DE VEKE. 
 
156 The Irish be/ore the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 the Apostle passed through the central district of Ireland, 
 preaching, baptizing, and founding churches, and 
 entered Munster. At the royal city of Cashel, he was 
 met by ^Engus, king of this southern province, who 
 embraced the faith, and was baptized by Patrick. It 
 is narrated that during the ceremony the pastoral staff 
 of the saint, which terminated in a spike, entered the 
 monarch's sandalled foot ; but conceiving this to be 
 part of the rite, king JEngus remained unmoved, sub- 
 mitting patiently to the pain which St. Patrick un- 
 consciously inflicted. 
 
 Multitudes of people from Corca Baiscin, in Clare, 
 crossed the Shannon in their curraghs, a simple hide- 
 covered boat, of a kind still used on the western coast 
 of Ireland, and were baptized by Patrick in the waters 
 of this grandest of Irish rivers. In compliance 
 with their entreaty, St. Patrick ascended a hill near 
 Foynes, since called Knoc Patrick, and blessed the 
 territory of Thomond, the land of the Dalcassians. A 
 more liberal benediction bestowed by the Apostle upon 
 Ireland and its inhabitants at large, has been preserved 
 in the Book of Eights, and is thus translated : 
 
 " The blessing of God upon you all, 
 Men of Eri, sons, women, 
 And daughters ; prince-blessing, 
 Weal-blessing, blessing of long life, 
 Health-blessing, blessing of excellence, 
 Eternal blessing, heaven-blessing, 
 Cloud-blessing, sea-blessing, 
 Fruit-blessing, land-blessing, 
 Crop-blessing, dew-blessing, 
 Blessing of elements, blessing of valour, 
 Blessing of dexterity, blessing of glory, 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 157 
 
 Blessing of deeds, "blessing of honour, 
 
 Blessing of happiness, be upon you all 
 
 Laics, clerics, while I command 
 
 The blessing of the men of Heaven ; 
 
 It is my bequest, as it is a PEKPETUAL BLESSING." 
 
 The year 453 is the date assigned to the founding of 
 the metropolitan see of Armagh. Daire, a chieftain of 
 the Orgialla, gave the site for his church to St. 
 Patrick. In the crypt of that venerable cathedral, the 
 simple wattle outline of the roofs and doors of this por- 
 tion of the very old, if not the original building, can yet 
 be traced. Thither, when he felt his end approaching, 
 the^apostle of Ireland wished to turn, to die. He set out 
 from Saul on his journey towards Armagh, when he was 
 commanded by an angel so the tradition goes to 
 return to Saul. He was buried at Downpatrick, and 
 the legend, which, however, is shared with many other 
 Lives of Saints, affirms that the place where his mortal 
 remains should rest was also decided by heavenly 
 interposition. A contest arose between the people of 
 Armagh and those of Uladh, as to where he should be 
 interred. It was agreed that two untamed oxen should 
 be harnessed to the bier of the saint, sent forth, un- 
 guided, and that in the place where they halted the 
 saint should be committed to the earth. The oxen 
 rested at Dun-da-leth-glaisse, a fortified residence of 
 the chieftains of Uladh, since the site of the present 
 cathedral of Down. To allay the jealous feuds of the 
 rival clans, each party followed, as they conceived, a 
 bier, borne by two oxen, but as the Orgallian tribes 
 neared Armagh, on the banks of a river, the bier and 
 
158 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 oxen, which they had followed, mysteriously vanished. 
 The exact time of the death of the great apostle of 
 Ireland is a disputed point. Wednesday, the 17th of 
 March, 493, is the most probable date. 
 
 The marked success of St. Patrick's missionary 
 labours may be in part ascribed to his wise policy in 
 addressing himself, in the first instance, to the kings 
 and chieftains of Erin. The clan readily followed the 
 example of a baptized leader, and toleration, at least, 
 was secured for Christian institutions. On his side, 
 St. Patrick had little of the iconoclastic spirit. He 
 respected, and even adopted, the pagan festivals, con- 
 verting them into Christian holydays. The Beltine 
 and Samhain of the Irish are celebrated to this day, 
 not unmixed with some superstitious relics of paganism, 
 in the corresponding festivals of May-day and All- 
 hallow E'en. 
 
 The clan system, found and left by him in full 
 operation, extended itself even to the monasteries. 
 The abbot's sway was not dissimilar to that of the 
 chieftain : every monastery was a centre of family 
 influence, and always a refuge for houseless kin. In 
 all respects, the church founded by St. Patrick con- 
 formed to the political institutions of the Irish tribes, 
 as he had adopted himself, though a foreigner, their 
 Gaelic speech. This church endowed by the chief- 
 tains, recruited from the ranks of the people in 
 no way dependent on foreign aid for its prolonged 
 existence flourished at home and became a mis- 
 sionary church abroad, sending forth, during the 
 sixth and seventh centuries, indefatigable labourers 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 159 
 
 in the spiritual vineyard ; to whose exertions we owe 
 the evangelization of the greater part of Western 
 Europe. 
 
 We have traced the useful, noble life of the great 
 Irish saint, till it was closed in peace. "I protest 
 in truth," says St. Patrick, in his Confession, "and 
 can rejoice in the thought before God and his holy 
 angels, that I never had any motive, save the Gospel 
 and its promises, for ever returning to that people 
 from among whom I had escaped. And I beg of all 
 that believe in God and seek and fear Him, whoever of 
 them may be pleased to examine or read this letter, 
 which I, Patrick poor sinful and ignorant creature as 
 I am have written in Ireland, that no one will ever 
 say that my ignorance is to have the credit of it, if I 
 have effected or performed any little matter according 
 to the purpose of God ; but believe and be assured for 
 certain that it was God who has done it. And this is 
 my confession before I shall die." 
 
 The mighty revolution which St. Patrick accom- 
 plished was inaugurated without bloodshed. No 
 single martyr suffered for the faith in Erin ; unless 
 that servant of Patrick's, Oran, who exchanged places 
 with the saint in his chariot, and received a death- 
 wound designed for his master, be considered one. 
 Her kings, though remaining pagan for two genera- 
 tions, permitted the preaching of the new doctrines, 
 and were tolerant even to converts made among tha 
 members of their own families. It speaks well for the 
 state of morals and manners among the pagan Irish 
 that so mighty a change was effected with little 
 
160 The Irish before the Conquest. [en. v. 
 
 bitterness, and no sacrifice of human life. While 
 kings ruled at Tara, surrounded by their Druids, and 
 worshipping idols, Christian communities were planted 
 in every corner of the land. The zeal and fervour of 
 St. Patrick and his disciples gathered to the infant 
 church a peaceful and rich harvest of souls. Ireland 
 became the land of saints : nor were these simple and 
 pious men who belonged to the first and most perfect 
 of the three orders of saints of the Irish Church, in- 
 different to secular knowledge. They did not, as the 
 second and inferior order of saints of a succeeding age, 
 shun the society of women, for they were " not afraid 
 of the blast of temptation." The monasteries they es- 
 tablished were schools of learning, whose reputation 
 was deservedly so high, that students came from Britain 
 and from the Continent, and received in Ireland gratui- 
 tous hospitality, and careful instruction. The Irish 
 monks were the transcribers of those manuscript copies 
 of Holy Writ, and of ancient learning, many of which 
 are so exquisitely illuminated that they have been 
 the wonder and delight of succeeding ages. These 
 are true art-treasures, evincing the most refined 
 perception of grace and beauty, with a delicacy of 
 execution which has never been surpassed, and place 
 Ireland, between the fifth and ninth centuries a 
 period when western Europe was sunk in barbarism 
 among the foremost seats of piety and learning, and in 
 a position, as regards the arts of decoration, as applied 
 to manuscripts and ecclesiastical objects, unapproached 
 by any of the nations of Christendom. 
 
 King Leary was succeeded by Ollioll Molt, son of 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 161 
 
 Dathi, who had ruled Connaught for some years pre- 
 viously as provincial king. Ollioll was grandfather to 
 Owen Bel, afterwards king of Connaught, whose hatred 
 of the Clanna Neill of Ulster was as intense as that of 
 Laery for the Leinstermen. Owen Bel was constantly 
 engaged in conflicts against the northern clans, with 
 varying success. At the Battle of Sligo, however, the 
 Connacian army was defeated, and Owen Bel mortally 
 wounded. He lingered for a week ; and during that 
 time gave directions about his burial. "Place me 
 in my grave, on the north side of the hill by which 
 the northerns pass when flying before the army of 
 Connaught. Place me standing; my face towards 
 the north, and my red javelin in my hand." The 
 effect of this interment of Owen Bel was, that the 
 Clanna Neill were always defeated, and compelled to 
 fly before the Connacian hosts, until they came by 
 stealth, disinterred the body of the hero, carried the 
 corpse northward of the Sligo river, and there buried 
 him, near the shores of Lough Gill, with his face 
 downwards. A stone circle, still existing, on the 
 southern bank of the Sligo river, close by the town, 
 probably marks the site of the sepulchral cairn from 
 which the men of Ulster stole the body of the dreaded 
 monarch. 
 
 When Owen Bel found himself dying, he advised his 
 clan, the Hi-Fiachrach, to elect his son Kellach king 
 of Connaught, notwithstanding that he had become an 
 ecclesiastical student, and was residing at Clonmacnoise 
 under the tuition of St. Kieran, the founder of that 
 monastic establishment. The youth, at the time, of 
 
 M 
 
162 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 Owen Bel's second son, Cucongelt, unfitted him to be 
 leader of his tribe. Kellach yielded to the persuasions 
 of the messengers sent to him for this object, impelled 
 by a not unnatural ambition ; but accompanied them 
 without the permission of St. Kieran, who pronounced 
 a curse upon Kellach. To this the credulity of that 
 age has ascribed all his after-misfortunes. 
 
 Kellach afterwards made his peace with St. Kieran, 
 and became bishop at Kilmore-Moy, in Tirawley. His 
 kinsman, Guary Aidhne, who was then king of Con- 
 naught, feared him as a rival ; and bribed four students, 
 who were under St. Kellach's instruction in a her- 
 mitage to which he had retired on Loch Con, to 
 murder the ex-king and bishop. This wicked deed 
 was accomplished in a wood, and the body of the 
 murdered man was secreted in the hollow trunk of 
 an oak-tree. What added to the enormity of the out- 
 rage was, that the four Maols, as they were called, 
 were foster-brothers to St. Kellach. They were 
 rewarded by Guary for their treachery by a grant 
 of land in Tirawley, on which they erected a fort at 
 Pun Finn. 
 
 Cucongelt, younger son of Owen Bel, and brother to 
 St. Kellach, went to visit the recluse at Loch Con, and 
 finding his brother had disappeared, and his four 
 pupils become possessed of lands at the hands of King 
 Guary, suspected that Kellach had been murdered. 
 He sought for and found the body, sadly mangled by 
 ravens and wolves. He brought the remains in suc- 
 cession to three churches ; but the clergy, basely afraid 
 of the vengeance of Guary, refused it interment. At 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 163 
 
 last the remains of the hapless prince and bishop 
 found a resting-place. Cucongelt chanted his funeral 
 dirge, and vowed to avenge his death. He assembled 
 in the neighbourhood of Dun Finn his friends and 
 adherents ; obtained entrance in the guise of a swine- 
 herd into the fort, while the murderers were feasting. 
 He waited till they had become inebriated, and then, 
 summoning his followers, captured the fort, and 
 dragged the murderers in chains to a hill overlooking 
 the Eiver Moy, and since distinguished as Ard-na-ree, 
 the " hill of executions," where they were mercilessly 
 put to death. 
 
 The monument raised over the Maols is still in 
 existence, and is called by the people the table of the 
 giants, and Clock an togbhala, "the raised stone," in 
 Irish. It is a cromlech, formed by a level stone 
 supported by three pillar-stones, and is interesting as 
 being considered the only cromlech in Ireland which 
 can undoubtedly be connected with history. It is 
 spoken of in the Dinnseanchus, an Irish MS. of high 
 antiquity, as the stone of the Maols, LeacJit na 
 Maol 
 
 Ollioll Molt was slain in the Battle of Ocha, and 
 Lugaid, son of Laery, son of Nial of the Nine Hostages 
 ascended the throne of Ireland. While this king who, 
 like his predecessor, rejected Christianity and remained 
 pagan was on the throne, the final settlement of the 
 Dalriads in Scotland took place. 503 is the date 
 assigned for the emigration to Scotland of the six 
 sons of Ere, the two Anguses, the two Loams, and the 
 two Ferguses. Fergus MacErc seized on the sove- 
 
164 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 reignty cf Scotland. This is the king who is said to 
 have obtained from his cousin, Murkertach, the 
 reigning monarch of Erin, who succeeded Lugaid, the 
 Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, and to have brought 
 this magical talisman which should secure the throne 
 for ever to a prince of Scotic blood, from Ireland to 
 the land named from these Scotic immigrants, Scotland. 
 Its removal to Scone, and from thence to Westminster 
 Abbey, has been already alluded to ; but the Irish, in 
 the 12th century, believed that the Lia Fail still 
 existed at Tara : though the stone had ceased to 
 "roar" under the rightful king, since the birth of 
 Christ. 
 
 Lugaid was succeeded by Murkertach Mor MacErca, 
 the first king of the Hy-Mall race of Owen son of 
 Niall. This great family, in its various branches, 
 furnished kings to Erin, with rare interruptions, for 
 many centuries. 
 
 During his reign St. Brigid, or Bride, died. This 
 celebrated foundress of the monastic establishment at 
 Kildare is, in common with St. Patrick and St. 
 Columba, a patron saint of Ireland. She was of 
 noble birth, and claimed descent from Con of the 
 Hundred Battles. She was remarkable from her early 
 youth for her piety and charity to the poor. Vowed to 
 perpetual virginity, she traversed Ireland, founding 
 convents in various places ; but her name and repute 
 are chiefly connected with that " Church of the Oak," 
 Kildare, where she was the foundress of the most famous 
 convent that ever existed in Ireland. Her humility 
 was such that she is said to have tended the cattle in 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 165 
 
 her fields : she shared all she possessed with the poor, 
 and scattered among those who surrounded her " the 
 most wholesome seed of the word of God." She died 
 at the advanced age of seventy, and was buried at the 
 side of the altar in the cathedral church of Kildare. 
 The 1st of February, 525, is the date assigned to this 
 event. She was reverenced, not only in Ireland, but 
 in Scotland also. The Western Isles, Hy Brides, are 
 said to have their name from her. An annual festival 
 in her house was there held in commemoration of the 
 day of her death, and her name was invoked by the 
 islanders to confirm their most solemn oaths. 
 
 St. Kieran of Saighir is called, by his biographer, 
 " the first-born of the saints of Ireland." His church 
 on Cape Clear Island is said to have been the earliest 
 Christian church erected in Ireland. Its ruins, together 
 with a cross sculptured on an ancient pillar- stone, yet 
 exist on this remote island. He afterwards established 
 the monastery of Seir-Kieran, on the brink of the well 
 of Saighir, in the King's County, a spot dedicated to 
 him, according to tradition, by St. Patrick. Round 
 this a great village, in those days deemed a city, 
 speedily clustered. He is supposed to have died in 
 Cornwall, and to have been identical with St. Piran, 
 an Irish saint, .whose little church of Piranzabuloe, or 
 Piran-in-the-Sands, has been covered and so preserved 
 for centuries by the sands which have gained on that 
 part of the English coast. 
 
 St. Finnian of Clonard, and St. Finnian of Moville, 
 were saints of the second order, and, unlike the 
 saints of the first order, dispensed with the society of 
 
166 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 women, separating them from the monasteries. St. 
 Finnian of Clonard founded his celebrated school 
 about the year 530. It was a place of great resort, 
 and numbered among its students many eminent men, 
 attracted to Clonard by the learning and sanctity of 
 its founder. St. Columba, afterwards the evangelist of 
 the Picts, was among the number. 
 
 The passion for a life of monastic seclusion charac- 
 terised, to a remarkable degree, the religious Irish at this 
 period. That ascetic temper of mind which is so much 
 to be condemned, as separating men from the healthful 
 duties of ordinary life, has some excuses in an age filled 
 with strife and contention and endless turmoil. Nor 
 can selfishness or indolence be justly charged on our 
 Irish recluses, as they were teachers of learning, secular 
 as well as ecclesiastical, zealous missionaries among 
 heathen populations, and tillers of the soil around 
 their monastic establishments. As might naturally 
 be expected, the people became proud of their pastors, 
 and sometimes contended for their possession. It is 
 recorded of St. Ailbe of Emly, that, having converted 
 the people of Munster, and established the Christian 
 Church in that part of Ireland, he was about to seek 
 the solitudes of Iceland, when he was coerced by King 
 .ZEngus, the convert of St. Patrick, with all becoming 
 respect, to abandon his intention. 
 
 Between the fifth and seventh centuries were founded 
 those monastic establishments on the western isles of 
 Aran, off Gal way bay, whose remains yet abound on 
 that sacred soil. " Aran of the Saints " contains, at this 
 day, abundant impress of the anchorites of that period. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 167 
 
 St. Enda obtained a grant of the largest of the three 
 islands which constitute the group, and founded his 
 monastic establishment at the southern extremity of 
 Aranmore. Enda was son of the petty king of Orgiall, 
 and was an accomplished warrior before his conversion. 
 He had successfully avenged his father's death, and 
 chanted a song of triumph as he happened to pass the 
 cell of Fanchea, a female saint of the period. She 
 came to the door of her cell, and asked why he disturbed 
 her meditations. " I have been avenging the death of 
 my father as becomes a son," he replied, " and I now 
 sing my song of victory as becomes a warrior." 
 "Knowest thou where thy father now is?" rejoined 
 Fanchea. " I know not," said Enda. " Thy father," 
 said Fanchea, "is now in hell." She proceeded to 
 contrast the tortures of the damned with the bliss of 
 the saved, the mournful gloom of hell with the celestial 
 light of heaven. Her words made a profound impression 
 on the mind of Enda. He frequently visited her cell, 
 and listened to her instructions ; but during these 
 visits became strongly attached to one of Fanchea's 
 sisterhood, and the novice returned the affection of the 
 young prince. Fanchea interposed. " Whether wouldst 
 thou have for spouse," she asked of the novice, " this 
 young King of Orgiall, whom thou lovest, or that 
 heavenly King whom I love ?" " Whom thou lovest 
 Him also will I love," replied the girl. She sought her 
 bed, and expired. Enda was brought by Fanchea to 
 look on the dead face of his beloved. He renounced 
 the world, travelled to Rome, returned, accompanied by 
 one hundred and fifty monks, and founded, in 580, his 
 
168 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 cliurch at Aran. His name yet survives in Kilany, 
 but his church has disappeared, and the pure shining 
 sands cover the adjoining cemetery, with its one hun- 
 dred and twenty inscribed tombs of holy men. The 
 foundations of the round tower only remain ; but not 
 far from the site of Enda's erections stands, to this day, 
 the smallest church in Ireland, that of St. Benignus. 
 Among the ruins of the seven churches in the north 
 part of Aran, at Kilbrecan, still exists the tomb of 
 their founder, St. Brecan. On a spherical black stone 
 found in his grave, we read the inscription in Irish, 
 " Pray for Brecan the Pilgrim." Another tomb at this 
 place is inscribed to the memory of the "seven Eomans," 
 strangers from distant lands, seeking in this Irish 
 Thebaid opportunity for indulgence in the contem- 
 plative life. 
 
 But the glories of the Irish church at this period 
 culminate in the noble foundation of Clonmacnoise on 
 the Shannon. It was established 548 by St. Kieran, ge- 
 nerally called "the Son of the Artificer," to distinguish 
 him from another saint- of the same name. Dermid 
 MacKervil, afterwards King of Ireland, passed his 
 youth in exile, and was sheltered at Conmacnoise by 
 St. Kieran, on whose foundation he subsequently be- 
 stowed a grant of lauds. On the banks of the Shannon, 
 a few miles below Athlone, amidst verdant meadows, 
 gently rolling hillocks, and beyond these a vast expanse 
 of level bog, not black and dreary, but covered with a 
 russet garment of heaths of the richest hues, and washed 
 by the eddies of the broad placid river, with its sedgy 
 margin of reeds and bulrushes rise the graceful round 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 169 
 
 towers, picturesque" and exquisitely sculptured crosses, 
 and other monastic ruins of Clonmacnoise. 
 
 St. Kieran, the original founder, was a descendant of 
 Core, one of the sons whom Maev of Cruachan bore to 
 the hero, Fergus MacKoy, and was thus of the Irian 
 stock. He had been one of the most distinguished 
 pupils of St. Finnian of Clonard. He had also resided 
 at Aran of the Saints, acquiring, under the austere rule 
 of St. Enda, those lessons to be learned in seclusion 
 from the affairs of secular life, in the comparative isola- 
 tion of these rocky islets washed by the mighty waves of 
 the Atlantic. But before entering into the particulars 
 connected with this great ecclesiastical establishment, 
 which was endowed by King Dermid MacKervil, we 
 must complete our history of King Murkertach MacErca 
 and his successor, Tuathal Mael-garv, who preceded 
 King Dermid on the throne of Erin. Murkertach is 
 said, in our annals, to have died a double death. He 
 was both burned and drowned. He had abandoned the 
 society of his queen for that of a beautiful girl named 
 Sin. Her kindred had been slain by the king in battle, 
 and Sin devoted her life to revenge them. With this 
 object she threw herself in the way of the monarch, 
 captivated him by her charms, and availed herself of 
 opportunities thus obtained to burn his house of Cletty. 
 Murkertach, maddened by his sufferings from fire, 
 plunged iSto a butt of wine, in which he was suffocated. 
 Tuathal Mael-garv succeeded him on the throne. This 
 king banished out of Meath a rival claimant, Dermid 
 MacKervil, who is said to have passed the nine years 
 of his exile in a boat on the Shannon, befriended by 
 
170 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 sympathisers on both sides of the river. Among these 
 was St. Kieran, then engaged in founding his church 
 at Clonmacnoise. 
 
 On one occasion, Dermid was assisting St. Kieran 
 in thrusting down in the earth one of the pillars or 
 wattles of the house. He took the saint's hand, as 
 they grasped the pole, and put it above his own hand, 
 in sign of reverence. Kieran, touched by this mark of 
 humility, fervently besought God of his great goodness 
 that the hands of Dermid might have superiority over 
 all Ireland. The prayer brought a bloody accomplish- 
 ment. It was heard by the foster-brother of Dermid, 
 who instantly devised a plan for realizing, by the 
 murder of the reigning monarch, the saint's petition. 
 Tuathal, in his hostility to the rival whom he dreaded, 
 had offered a reward to any one who would bring him 
 the heart of Dermid. Maelmora, the foster-brother, 
 sacrificed a dog, placed its heart on a spear, and, 
 mounted on a swift horse, rode into the presence of the 
 king. When the attendants of Tuathal saw the man 
 approaching with the bloody trophy, they made way, 
 supposing it to be the heart of Dermid about to be laid 
 at the sovereign's feet. Maelmora, in the act of pre- 
 senting it, transfixed Tuathal with his spear. His own 
 life paid the penalty of his deed, but his object was 
 won. Dermid was at once proclaimed king at Tara. 
 
 Dermid became a liberal benefactor to Clonmacnoise. 
 Round the little church, in whose foundation he had 
 assisted a fact corroborated by the figures of St. Kieran 
 and his friend grasping the pole, carved on one of the 
 stone crosses which yet remained to adorn the spot 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 171 
 
 sprung up in after-ages those foundations which still 
 stand to evince the piety and skill of their builders. 
 There are few spots in our land so rich in interest. 
 The larger of its two round towers was finished for 
 King Turlogh O'Connor, A.D. 1127. Its crosses are 
 beautiful specimens of the art of Sculpture, as it existed 
 among the Irish before the eleventh century. On the 
 great cross are sculptured inscriptions which read " A 
 prayer for Flann, son of Maelsechlain," and " A prayer 
 for Colman, who made this cross for the King Flann." 
 Our annals record that King Flann erected the cathe- 
 dral at Clonmacnoise, 909 ; and this cross will there- 
 fore belong to about the same date. The second cross 
 is decorated with the peculiar interlaced pattern work 
 so familiar in Irish art. 
 
 The tombs of kings, saints, and scholars, reposing 
 for upwards of one thousand years, can yet be identified 
 at this favourite burial-ground, which most of the princes 
 of the southern Hy-Nial selected to be their last resting- 
 place. Among them, we may enumerate the stone of 
 Siubhne MacMaelhumai, one of the three " most 
 learned doctors of the Irish," who visited Alfred in 
 the year 891, and assisted at the foundation of Oxford. 
 His death is recorded, not only in the Irish annals, but 
 in the Saxon Chronicle, and also by Florence of 
 Worcester, and Caradoc of Llancarvan. 
 
 The remains of the monastic establishment founded 
 by St. Kevin at Glendalough, in the county of Wicklow, 
 are familiar to multitudes who visit that mountain 
 valley with its two lonely lakes : it lies within easy 
 distance of Dublin. St. Kevin died 618 : he had a 
 
172 The Irish before tlie Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 brother of the same name, from whom the southern 
 island of Araii took its designation, that 
 
 Rocky eastern isle that bears 
 The name of blessed Coemhan, who doth show 
 Pity unto the storm-tossed seaman's prayers. 
 
 Another distinguished saint of this period was 
 Brendan, who became in his advanced years Abbot 
 of Clonfert. He voyaged, according to a highly poetic 
 tradition, across the Atlantic with a few chosen com- 
 panions in search of the mysterious island of Hy- 
 Brasail. This enchanted land is supposed to be visible 
 from the western coast of Ireland every seventh year. 
 If once touched with fire, even by the flight of a 
 kindled arrow, it would become subject to the ordinary 
 laws of existence, and remain a delightful paradise 
 for man, instead of disappearing with all its glories 
 from the ken of the baffled discoverer. Missionary 
 zeal, and love of discovery, stimulated St. Brendan 
 to venture on the trackless ocean, in his small coracle 
 of hides, with his few companions. He had been 
 nurtured by the shores of the Atlantic, in his native 
 Kerry, where his name yet lingers in Brandon mountain 
 near Dingle. 
 
 I grew to manhood by the western wave, 
 
 Among the mighty mountains on the shore : 
 My bed the rock within some natural cave ; 
 
 My food, whate'er the seas or seasons bore ; 
 My occupation, morn and noon and night, 
 
 The only dream my hasty slumbers gave, 
 Was Time's unheeding, unreturning flight, 
 
 And the great world that lies beyond the grave. 
 
ca. v.] The Patrician Period. 173 
 
 And then I saw the mighty sea expand, 
 
 Like Time's unmeasured and unfa thorn ed waves ; 
 One with its tide-marks on the ridgy sand, 
 
 The other with its line of weedy graves ; 
 And as beyond the outstretched wave of Time, 
 
 The eye of Faith a brighter land may meet, 
 So did I dream of some more sunny clime, 
 
 Beyond the waste of waters at my feet. 
 
 Some clime where man, unknowing and unknown, 
 
 For God's refreshing word still gasps and faints ; 
 Or happier rather some Elysian zone, 
 
 Made for the habitation of His saints ; 
 Where Nature's love the sweat of labour spares, 
 
 Nor turns to usury the wealth it lends, 
 Where the rich soil spontaneous harvest bears, 
 
 And the tall tree with milk-filled clusters bends. 
 
 The thought grew stronger with my growing days, 
 
 Even like to manhood's strengthening mind and limb ; 
 And often now amid the purple haze, 
 
 That evening breathed upon the horizon's rim, 
 Methought, as there I sought my wished-for home, 
 
 I could descry amid the waters green, 
 Full many a diamond shrine and golden dome, 
 
 And crystal palaces of dazzling sheen. 
 
 And then I longed with impotent desire, 
 
 Even for the bow whereby the Pythian bled, 
 That I might send one dart of living fire 
 
 Into that land, before the vision fled. 
 And thus at length fix thy enchanted shore, 
 
 Hy-Brasail Eden of the western wave, 
 That thou again wouldst fade away no more, 
 
 Buried and lost within thy azure grave. 
 
174 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. v. 
 
 But angels came and whispered as I dreamt, 
 
 " This is no phantom of a frenzied brain, 
 God shows this land from time to time to tempt 
 
 Some daring mariner across the main ; 
 By thee the mighty venture must he made, 
 
 By thee shall myriad souls to Christ be won ! 
 Arise, depart, and trust to God for aid !" 
 
 I woke, and kneeling cried, " His will be done !"* 
 
 St. Brendan, after preliminary visits to Aran of 
 the saints, and to the coasts of Connaught, launched 
 his frail bark boldly on the Atlantic wave. Caught, 
 probably, in the current of the Gulf Stream, he reached 
 the distant land, it may be the New England shore. 
 In the quaint language of the Golden Legend, "Soon 
 after, as God would, they saw a fair island full of 
 flowers, herbs, and trees, whereof they thanked God 
 of his good grace ; and anon they went on land, and 
 when they had gone long in this, they found a full 
 fayre well, and thereby stood a fair tree full of boughs, 
 and on every bough sat a fayre bird. The number 
 of them was so great, and they sang so merrily, that 
 it was an heavenly noise to hear. Whereupon St. Bren- 
 dan kneeled down on his knees and wept for joy, 
 and made his praises devoutly to our Lord God, to 
 know what these birds meant." The notes of these 
 feathered songsters, from the mocking-bird, sweetest 
 of singers, to the tiny and brilliantly-coloured humming 
 birds of America, are charmingly described in the 
 poem from which we have quoted. In the antique 
 legend the birds are made to tell St. Brendan, that 
 
 * From The Voyage of St. Brendan, by D. FLORENCE 
 MACCARTHY. 
 
CH. v.] The Patrician Period. 175 
 
 they are among those fallen angels who lost Paradise 
 with Lucifer, " millions of spirits for his fault amerced 
 of heaven, and from eternal splendours flung, for his 
 revolt;" but yet, as they were not among the most 
 guilty, " our Lord hath sent us here, out of all pain in 
 full great joy and mirth, after his pleasing, here to 
 serve him on this tree in the best manner we can." 
 St. Brendan spent seven weeks among them, and con- 
 tinued his journey inland till he came to a great river 
 flowing east and west, perhaps the River Ohio, Here 
 he had a vision, and was desired by a man of command- 
 ing countenance to return home, as it was reserved 
 to other times and other teachers to Christianize that 
 pleasant land. Seven years after the wanderer had 
 left the shores of Ireland, he returned to his native 
 land, and founded his monastery at Clonfort. Here he 
 is said to have presided over three thousand monks, 
 who supported themselves by the labour of their own 
 hands. 
 
176 - The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE COLUMBAN PERIOD. 
 
 WE turn from the legendary voyage of St. Brendan to 
 the very real, very energetic, and active life of the 
 greatest of our Irish saints after Patrick. 
 
 Colombkille (Columba of the Churches) was nobly 
 born. His father, Felimy, and his mother, Ethna, 
 were both of high rank. He was descended from 
 King Nial of the Nine Hostages through his son, Conall 
 Gulban, head of the Kinel Conaill, or branch of the 
 northern Hy-Niall, who gave their name to the north- 
 western part of Ulster, Tyrconnell. Gartan, near Letter- 
 kenny, in the County Donegal, is said to have been 
 his birthplace. Columba studied in his youth at the 
 school of St. Finnian of Maghbile (Moville), and is also 
 claimed as a pupil of St. Finnian of Clonard and of 
 Gemman, who was probably a Christian bard. It is 
 certain that St. Columba became a scholar of no mean 
 reputation, well versed in the Sacred Writings, and him- 
 self a poet. Of his personal appearance we can infer 
 that he was of florid complexion, and his hair red or 
 auburn. His temperament was hasty and passionate, yet 
 generous and devoted. He had many and great faults. 
 The impetuosity of his temper led him into much that 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. Ill 
 
 was inconsistent with Christian duty. But he was a 
 noble man, and did noble work. He was great and in- 
 fluential in his own time, and his memory is blessed and 
 revered by succeeding generations. He founded in 546 
 the monastery of Doire-Calgaich, near Lough Foyle, 
 on land bestowed on him by his kindred, the princes 
 of Tyrconnel. To this establishment the town of 
 Derry owes its name and origin. Durrow, in the 
 King's County, a monastery which soon became very 
 celebrated, was established by Columba a few years 
 later. At Kells, a small stone-roofed building still 
 exists which tradition connects with him. St. Columb's 
 house probably served as a residence while part of the 
 building was used as an oratory. The round church- 
 towers of Swords, Eaphoe, Tory Island, and Drumcliff, 
 and the beautiful sculptured crosses at the latter place, 
 though perhaps of later date, mark other foundations 
 ascribed to him. He was indeed an indefatigable 
 labourer in the cause of Christ in Ireland before those 
 events occurred which drove him from his native land 
 an exile to lona. On this remote island of the Hebrides, 
 he founded the celebrated monastic establishment 
 from whence he evangelized the Picts, and where he 
 trained his monks for the arduous missionary work 
 which afterwards distinguished the community of Hy, 
 as lona in those days was called. 
 
 Among his early companions in study was Kieran, 
 " son of the Artificer," afterwards illustrious as the 
 founder of Clonmacnoise. The favour with which 
 Columba was regarded by their common instructor 
 awakened some feeling of jealousy in the breast of the 
 
178 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 young Kieran. This was allayed by a vision or dream, 
 or, let us rather suppose, by the conviction of his own 
 mind in moments of calm reflection. An angel appeared 
 to him so runs the legend and showed him the car- 
 penter's plane and saw, and other tools of his father's 
 handicraft. With these were contrasted the insignia of 
 royalty, symbols of the rank to which the high-born 
 Columba might have aspired, had he not preferred the 
 vocation of the monk to the earthly glories of the prince. 
 " Look on these," said the angel to Kieran, holding 
 before him the carpenter's tools : " These are what 
 thou hast given up for Christ; but Columba has 
 made a higher sacrifice : let this reflection moderate 
 thy unworthy thoughts." Kieran never forgot the 
 lesson, and discarded from his breast all lingering 
 remains of jealous feeling. 
 
 St. Fimrian of Moville, in whose school Columba 
 and Kieran had studied, was possessed of a remarkable 
 copy of the Gospels, which he had brought with him from 
 Rome, and valued most highly. It has been suggested 
 that the MS. was a copy of St. Jerome's translation of 
 this part of Holy Writ.- The saint who afterwards 
 returned to Italy, and has been identified with Frigidian, 
 patron saint and Bishop of Lucca had been requested 
 to lend this book to St. Fintan of Dunflesk, a pupil at 
 the time of St. Comgall of Bangor. Finnian refused to 
 part with his manuscript. Fintan complained of this 
 churlishness to his master, Comgall, who exhorted the 
 student to patience, and consoled him, predicting that 
 the book should yet come into his possession. The very 
 next day, the story goes, Moville was attacked by pirates, 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 179 
 
 who carried off, among other spoils, the precious volume 
 which St. Finnian had declined to lend. The plun- 
 derers meditated a further attack on Bangor. Their 
 project was not carried into execution ; for a storm 
 dispersed their ships, and St. Fintan found on the 
 shore the longed-for book, among other spoil, quite 
 uninjured. Whether he retained it, or returned it, 
 when read, to its owner, we cannot tell. The surrepti- 
 tious copying of another manuscript of St. Finnian's, 
 supposed to have been a copy of the Psalms, led to 
 more serious results. 
 
 St. Columba is reported, during a visit he paid to 
 Moville, to have remained daily in the church when 
 the congregation had retired, for the study of St. Fin- 
 nian's book. He ardently desired to possess a copy of 
 it, and fearing to be refused should he ask the owner, 
 made a hurried transcript of this -highly-prized volume 
 of the Psalms. He was observed, and his occupation 
 reported to St. Finnian, who was highly indignant, 
 and demanded the copy as his by right, as well as the 
 original. Columba refused to surrender his transcript, 
 and the matter was referred to King Dermid. The sove- 
 reign, who had been so great a benefactor to Clonmac- 
 noise, pronounced for sentence, " To every cow belongeth 
 her calf; so to every book belongeth its copy," and 
 adjudged both to Finnian. 
 
 " This is an unjust decision, O'Dermid," said Columba, 
 " and I will avenge it on you." 
 
 The breach was widened between the king and the 
 saint by the following circumstance : 
 
 The young son of the King of Connaught, at that 
 
180 The Irish before tlie Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 time a hostage at Tara, killed, at a game of hurling, the 
 son of King Dermid's steward, and fled for sanctuary 
 to Columba. Dermid had him dragged from the 
 arms of the saint and put to death for having desecrated 
 the precincts of his royal palace. The fiery temper of 
 Columba was roused by these insults. King Dermid 
 had placed a guard on his person to prevent his leaving 
 Tara ; but " the justice of God having thrown a veil of 
 unrecognition around him," Columba made his escape, 
 and traversed, alone, the mountains which interposed 
 between Tara and his native wilds of Tyrconnell. Here, 
 in solitude, alone with God, he expresses his confidence 
 and trust in the protection of the Holy Trinity, and 
 refers to pagan superstitions still blending with the 
 religion of Dermid. 
 
 " Alone am I upon the mountain. 
 
 King of Heaven, prosper my way, 
 
 And then nothing need I fear, 
 
 More than if guarded by six thousand men. 
 
 Our fate depends not on sneezing, 
 
 Nor on a bird perched on a twig ; 
 
 Nor on the root of a knotted tree, 
 
 Nor on the noise of clapping hands. 
 
 Better is He in whom we trust, 
 
 The Father, the One, and the Son." 
 
 The powerful tribes of the Hy-Niall, the Kinel 
 Conaill and Kinel Owen, near connections of Columba, 
 with Aedh, King of Connaught, whose son had been 
 put to death by Dermid, challenged that king to battle. 
 The hostile armies encountered at Cuildrevne, near 
 Sligo. Columba offered up petitions for the success of 
 his friends. 
 
GH. vi.] The Columban Period. 181 
 
 " He will not refuse me 
 My Druid may he be on my side ! 
 Is the son of God : with us will He be aiding." 
 
 St. Finnian is stated to have offered up prayers for 
 King Dermid. This entire story is doubted, as neither 
 Bede nor Adamnan, the biographer of St. Columba, 
 makes any mention of this quarrel between the saints. 
 The battle of Cuildrevne, A. D. 561, is, however, an 
 historical fact, the king having been defeated and the 
 friends of St. Columba victorious. One man only is 
 recorded to have fallen on their side. St. Columba, 
 calmed and penitent for the blood shed in battle, 
 sought the counsel of St. Molaise, of Devenish Island, 
 in Loch Erne. His confessor enjoined on him, as 
 penance for his fault, that he should leave Ireland, and 
 never again look on his native land. Columba obeyed. 
 He set forth with twelve companions for Scotland, 
 where his kindred, the Dalriad kings, readily received 
 him. It will be remembered that his grandfather had 
 married Ere, daughter of Loarn Mor, and thus he was 
 nearly connected with the sovereigns of Scotland as 
 well as with successive kings of Ireland; for his 
 cousins, Domnall and Fergus, became joint kings of 
 Erin on the death of Dermid a few years after the 
 Battle of Cuildrevne. 
 
 The copy of the Psalms, which was the original 
 cause of all this trouble, yet exists, and is preserved as 
 an heir-loom in the family of the O'Donnells of New- 
 port, representatives of St. Columba's race. The 
 Ca'ah or Cafkach (The " Battler ") " consists of fifty- 
 eight leaves of fine vellum, written in a small, uniform 
 
The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 but rather hurried hand, with some slight attempts at 
 illumination." Of its inner cases nothing is recorded, 
 but the magnificent external silver-gilt case, set with 
 precious stones, in which it now reposes, was made at 
 the expense of Cathbar O'Donnell, Chief of Tyrconnell, 
 and Donnell O'Rafferty, Abbot of Kells, some time 
 before the year 1098, at which time this Abbot of Kells 
 died. The inscription on the shrine or case itself is as 
 follows : 
 
 " A prayer for Cathbharr O'Donnell, by whom* this 
 shrine was made ; and for Sitric, the son of MacAedha, 
 who made it ; and for Domhnall Ua Robhartaigh, the 
 Comharba of Cenannus, by whom it was made." The 
 virtues of the Ca'ah are thus recounted in the life of 
 St. Columkille by Manus O'Donnell : 
 
 " The Cathach, indeed, is the name of the book on 
 account of which the battle was fought; and it is it 
 that is Colum Cille's high relic in Tir Conaill ; and it 
 is ornamented with silver, and it is not lawful to open 
 it ; and if it is carried three times to the right around 
 .the army of the Cinel Conaill when going to battle, it 
 is certain that they would come out of it with victory ; 
 and it is upon the breast of a Comharba, or a priest 
 without mortal sin upon him (as well as he can), that 
 it is proper for the Cathach to be, at going round that 
 army." 
 
 The after-fate of this manuscript, written by the pen 
 of St. Columba, is not without interest. This precious 
 heir-loom of the O'Donnells received some further 
 decoration at the hand of Daniel O'Donnell in the year 
 1723. This O'Donnell, who had retired to the Conti- 
 
OH. vi.] TJie Columban Period. 183 
 
 nent, is believed to have fought in the battle of the 
 Boyne. He placed the Cathach in a monastery in 
 Belgium, with a written injunction that it should be 
 kept till claimed by the head of the O'Donnell family. 
 It was noticed by an Irish lady early in the present 
 century, who spoke of it to Sir Neal O'Donnell, grand- 
 father of the present baronet, and he obtained it on 
 satisfying its keepers of his claim to the chieftainship 
 of the race. 
 
 As this warlike sept used to go to battle under their 
 book- standard, so the Kinel-Owen marched on their 
 wars under the bell of St. Patrick ; and another great 
 family of Ulster origin, the O'Kellys of Hy-Many, bore 
 the crozier of their patron Saint, Grellan, in like manner, 
 as a battle- standard. 
 
 The story of their coming under the patronage of 
 Grellan is too characteristic to be omitted. We have 
 spoken before of the three Collas who destroyed Emania 
 in the three hundred and thirty-first year of the Christian 
 era. Maine Mor, a descendant of Coll da Cree, resolved 
 to migrate from the central districts of Orgiall to Con- 
 naught. " Numerous are our heroes, and great is our 
 population," reasoned the chiefs of the clan, at a great 
 family reunion held by them at Clogher about the end 
 of the fifth century ; " our tribe having multiplied, and 
 we cannot all find room in any one province without 
 quarrelling among ourselves, for nobles cannot well 
 bear to be confined." And they also said : " Let us 
 see which province of Banba is thinnest in population, 
 and in which most Firbolgs remain ; and let us narrow 
 it on them. The province of Connaught is in the 
 
184 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 possession of these Atacots, excepting that they pay 
 tribute to our relative, and let us attack it." 
 
 " These fine hosts suddenly and heroically proceeded 
 in well-arranged battalions, with their flocks and 
 herds" westwards across the Shannon. This for- 
 midable inroad on the territories of the Firbolg chief, 
 Cian, was encountered by him with promptly raised 
 levies of three thousand men. Grellau, a bishop in 
 these semi- pagan parts a strong favourer of the clan 
 Colla, who had held out to him the inducement of 
 increased tribute and duteous submission to his au- 
 thority at first endeavoured to mediate. A truce was 
 agreed on, and hostages given to Cian, by Maine Mor. 
 The noblest of these was a son of Maine's, who was 
 given for safe keeping into the hands of Cian's law- 
 giver. But his wife becoming enamoured of the young 
 captive, the Brehon, inflamed with jealousy, counselled 
 Cian to put the hostages to death. 
 
 It is alleged that this treachery was intended to be 
 carried into eifect at a feast which Cian prepared for 
 them, but that St. Grellau, having information of it, and 
 apprehensive that his guarantee would be violated, called 
 down from heaven a curse on the Firbolgs. " He obtained 
 his request from God," says the Irish- written Life of the 
 Saint," for the great plain was softened and made a quag- 
 mire under the feet of Cian and his people, so that they 
 were swallowed into the earth ; and the place received 
 the name of Magh Liach, i.e., the plain of sorrow, from 
 the sorrow of the heroes who were thus cut off by the 
 holy cleric. Then Maine and his people came to where 
 St. Grellan was, and bowed down their heads to him, 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 185 
 
 and he told them how treachery had been designed for 
 them, and how God and himself had saved them from 
 those treacherous people. St. Grellan then said to 
 them, ' Take possession of this territory, abominate 
 treachery, and you shall have my blessing ; observe 
 brotherly love, and ordain my tribute and my own land 
 for me from this day forth for ever.' ' Pass thy own 
 award,' said Maine, * in whatever is pleasing to thee,' &c. 
 * I shall,' said St. Grellan, and he repeated these brief 
 verses following :" 
 
 The saint having enumerated the dues and tributes 
 which he claimed, thus concludes his chant : 
 
 " While they remain obedient to my will, they shall be vic- 
 torious in every battle : 
 
 Let the warlike chiefs observe the advice of my successor, 
 And among the Gaels north and south, theirs shall be the 
 
 unerring director. 
 
 Frequent my sacred church which has protected each refugee : 
 Refuse not to pay your tribute to me, and you shall receive 
 
 as I have promised. 
 
 My blessing on the agile race, the sons of Maine' of chess- 
 boards ; 
 
 That race shall not be subdued, so as they carry my crozier : 
 Let the battle standard of the race be my crozier of true valour, 
 And battles will not overwhelm them ; their successes shall 
 be very great." 
 
 The chiefs of Hy-Many as the territory of about two 
 hundred square miles in Galway and Roscommon, thus 
 acquired by Maine Mor, was called bore from thence- 
 forth the crozier of St. Grellan as their battle standard. 
 This interesting relic was preserved for centuries in 
 the family of Cronelly, hereditary coarbs of Grellan. 
 In the year 1836 it still was in the possession of a poor 
 
1S6 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 man of the name. Nor is Maine Mor without direct 
 descendants yet possessed of estates on the soil thus 
 conquered nearly thirteen hundred years ago. How 
 bravely this branch of the Clan Colla contended with 
 the foreign foe, in the great national conflict between 
 Irish and Dane at Clontarf, we have yet to chronicle. 
 Queen Elizabeth treated with the chiefs of Hy-Many 
 of her day, and in 1585 made " agreement between the 
 Irish chieftains and inhabitants of Imany, called the 
 O'Kellie's country, on both sides of the river of Suek, 
 in Connaught, and the queen's majesty. . . . that they 
 and their heirs shall henceforth behave themselves 
 like good subjects ; shall put no ymposition or chardge 
 upon the inhabyters of the lands, and shall bring uppe 
 their children after the English fashions, and in the use 
 of the Englishe tounge." 
 
 We now return from the long digression into which 
 these singular ensigns of battle have led us, to the 
 ardent young scribe of the Catliach. Columba was an 
 accomplished poet. 
 
 There is much beauty and interest in these lines 
 on Ben Edar, the hill of Howth, and the saint's favourite 
 dwelling at Derry, thus rendered from the Irish 
 
 " Delightful to be on Benn-Edar, 
 Before going o'er the white sea ; 
 The dashing of the waves against its face, 
 The bareness of its shore and its border. 
 
 Delightful to be on Benn-Edar, 
 
 After coming o'er the white-bosomed sea, 
 
 To row one's little coracle 
 
 Ochone ! on the swift- waved shore. 
 
. vi.] The Columlan Period. 187 
 
 How rapid the speed of my coracle ; 
 And its stern turned upon Derry ; 
 I grieve at my errand o'er the noble sea, 
 Travelling to Alba of the ravens. 
 
 My foot in iny sweet little coracle, 
 My sad heart still bleeding : 
 Weak is the man that cannot lead ; 
 Totally blind are all the ignorant. 
 
 There is a grey eye 
 That looks back upon Erin ; 
 It shall not see, during life, 
 The men of Erin, nor their wives. 
 
 My vision o'er the brine I stretch, 
 From the ample oaken planks ; 
 Large is the tear in my soft grey eye 
 When I look back upon Erin. 
 
 Upon Erin my attention is fixed ; 
 Upon Loch Levin ; upon Line', 
 Upon the lands the Ultonians own ; 
 Upon smooth Munster ; upon Meath. 
 
 Numerous in the East are tall champions ; 
 Many the diseases and distempers there ; 
 Many they with scanty clothes ; 
 Many the hard and jealous hearts. 
 
 Plentiful in the West the apple-fruit ; 
 Many the kings and princes ; 
 Plentiful its luxuriant sloes ; 
 Plentiful its noble, acorn-bearing oaks. 
 
 Melodious her clerics, melodious her birds, 
 Gentle her youths, wise her seniors, 
 Illustrious her men, noble to behold, 
 Illustrious her women for fond espousal. 
 
183 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 It is in the West sweet Brendan is, 
 And Colum, son of Crimthaun, 
 And in the West fair Baithin shall be, 
 And in the West shall Adamnan be. 
 
 Carry my inquiries after that 
 Unto Comgall of eternal life ; 
 Carry my inquiries after that 
 To the bold King of fair Emania. 
 
 Carry with thee, thou noble youth, 
 My Blessing and my benediction, 
 One half upon Erin, seven fold ; 
 And half on Alba at the same time. 
 
 Carry my benediction over the sea 
 To the nobles of the Island of the Gaedhil ; 
 Let them not credit Molaisi's words, 
 Nor his threatened persecution. 
 
 Were it not for Molaisi's words 
 At the cross of Ath-Molaisi, 
 I should not now permit 
 Disease or distemper in Ireland. 
 
 Take my blessing with thee to the West ; 
 Broken is my heart in my breast : 
 Should sudden death overtake me 
 It is for my great love of the Gaedhil. 
 
 Gaedhil, Gaedhil, beloved name ! 
 My only desire is to invoke it : 
 Beloved is Cuimin of fair hair ; 
 Beloved are Cainnech and Comgall. 
 
 Were the tribute of all Alba mine, 
 From its centre to its border, 
 I would prefer the site of one house 
 In the middle of fair Derry. 
 
CH. vi.] The Columlan Period. 189 
 
 The reason I love Derry is, 
 For its quietness, for its purity, 
 And for its crowds of white angels 
 From the one end to the other. 
 
 The reason why I love Derry is, 
 For its quietness, for its purity ; 
 Crowded full of heaven's angels 
 Is every leaf of the oaks of Derry. 
 
 My Derry, my little oak grove, 
 My dwelling, and my little cell ; 
 eternal God, in heaven above, 
 Woe be to him who violates it ! 
 
 Beloved are Durrow and Derry ; 
 Beloved is Raphoe in purity ; 
 Beloved Drumhone of rich fruits ; 
 Beloved are Swords and Kells. 
 
 Beloved to my heart, also in the West, 
 Drumcliff, at Culcinne's strand. 
 To behold the fair Loch Feval, 
 The form of its shores, is delightful. 
 
 Delightful is that, and delightful 
 
 The salt main on which the sea-gulls cry, 
 
 On my coming from Derry afar ; 
 
 It is quiet, and it is delightful. 
 
 Delightful." 
 
 Although, from internal evidences, this charming 
 poem, in the complete form in which it has come clown 
 to us, may be later than St. Columba's age, yet as it is 
 indeed "delightful," from its sweetness and tender- 
 ness, its love of nature, and love of country, and we 
 doubt not truly expresses the yearnings of that noble 
 exile's heart ; so we shall not err in accepting its 
 
190 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 sentiments as those of the poet- saint, even if it be not 
 all penned by his own hand. 
 
 St. Columba was in his forty-second year when he 
 left his native land for the small island of Hy, or 
 lona, off the coast of Argyll. This retired spot, 
 afterwards called from him I-Colm-Kill, was be- 
 stowed on the saint by his relative Conall, one of the 
 Dalriad kings of Alba. 
 
 St. Columba belonged, as we have already noticed, 
 to the second order of Irish saints. They had one 
 head one Lord, but used different liturgies and 
 rules. They celebrated Easter on the fourteenth 
 of the moon after the equinox. They had the eastern 
 tonsure from ear to ear, instead of the Roman tonsure 
 of the crown. They dispensed with the society of 
 women, and were mainly presbyters in rank, having 
 few bishops among them only such as were required 
 for the laying on of hands and their monasteries 
 were ruled by abbots, whose jurisdiction extended 
 over the entire community, even when including 
 bishops among them. This order, more national 
 though more ascetical than the first order of Irish 
 saints, may be regarded as "the Development of a 
 native ministry." 
 
 The question as to the time of celebrating Easter 
 was that on which the Irish and British Christians 
 dissented, not without much bitterness on both sides, 
 from the other Christian churches of Europe. The 
 general rule for fixing the time on which this festival 
 should be held was, that it should be the Sunday 
 following that fourteenth day of the moon which fell 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 191 
 
 next after the vernal equinox. The Eastern Church 
 acquired the opprobrious name of Quarta-decimans, 
 because they celebrated Our Lord's resurrection on the 
 fourteenth, or Passover Day itself on whatever day of 
 the week that might chance to fall, whether it were 
 Sunday or not. The Irish observed their Easter on 
 the Sunday between the fourteenth and twentieth day 
 of the moon, not always on the Sunday after the 
 Passover, as celebrated by the Roman Church ; but 
 sometimes on the day of the Passover itself, when that 
 happened to fall on Sunday. The Irish also used for 
 their calculations, as to the moon's age, the cycle of 
 Sulpicius Severus, which consisted of eighty-four years, 
 while Kome adopted the more accurate cycle of nine- 
 teen years, known as the cycle of Anatolius. On this 
 point endless disputes were waged for centuries ; the 
 Irish ecclesiastics being unwilling, even for the sake of 
 conformity, to abandon the habits practised by their 
 venerated saints. 
 
 Worship, labour, study, such were the domestic oc- 
 cupations of the monks of Hy. Columba himself 
 was a noted scribe. That most beautiful manuscript 
 of western Europe, the Book of Kells, now preserved 
 in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is as- 
 cribed to Columba. Its illuminated letters are glorious 
 specimens of calligraphic art. The rich shrine in which 
 it was enclosed had, a few centuries later, almost 
 proved fatal to this valuable manuscript. It was stolen 
 by night from the sacristy of the church of Kells. It 
 was found "after two months and twenty days, its 
 gold having been stolen off it, and a sod over it." 
 
192 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 The Book of Durrow, another Irish MS. of great an- 
 tiquity, is also ascribed to Columba. The silver- 
 mounted case has been lost, but the book and its 
 beautiful illuminations may be seen in Trinity College, 
 Dublin. 
 
 Durrow the field of the oak sometimes called 
 Eos-Grencha, was a spot dearly loved by St. Columba. 
 Looking back from the land of his exile to .the monas- 
 tery he had founded there, and left in care of his friend 
 Cormac, he exclaims 
 
 " How happy the son of Dimma, Of the devout church, 
 When he hears in Durrow, The desire of his mind, 
 The sound of the wind against the elms, When 'tis played, 
 The blackbird's joyous note, When he claps his wings, 
 And listens at early dawn in Eos-Grencha, To the cattle, 
 And the cooing of the cuckoo from the tree, On the brink of 
 
 summer. 
 Throe objects I have left, the dearest to me, On this peopled 
 
 world, 
 Durrow, Deny, the noble angelic land, And Tir Luighdech." 
 
 In another poem, ascribed to Columba, and, if not 
 from his pen, at least of great antiquity, a dialogue 
 between the saint and his friend Cormac is given. 
 The scene is Hy ; and Cormac has escaped the perils of 
 Coire-Brecain, the whirlpool of Corryvreckan, on the 
 west coast of Scotland, and other dangers of the ocean. 
 Columba is the first speaker : 
 
 " Thou art welcome, comely Cormac, 
 From over the all-teeming sea ; 
 What sent thee forth ; where hast thou been 
 Since the time we were on the same path ? 
 Two years and a month to this night 
 Is the time thou hast been wandering from port to port, 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 193 
 
 From wave to wave : resolute the energy 
 
 To traverse the wide ocean ! 
 
 Since the sear hath sent thee hither, 
 
 Thou shalt have friendship and counsel : 
 
 Were it not for Christ's sake, Lord of the fair world, 
 
 Thou hadst merited -satire and reproach." 
 
 . 
 
 CORMAC. 
 
 " Let there be no reproach now, 
 descendant of Niall, for we are a noble race ; 
 The sun shines in the west as in the east : 
 A righteous guest is entitled to reception." 
 
 Columba bids him welcome, but expresses surprise 
 at his leaving Ireland ; and to the regret of Cormac, 
 predicts to him that his resurrection should be in 
 Durrow. Cormac does not sympathise in the yearn- 
 ing love which the exile felt for the soil of Erin. 
 " Death is better," exclaims Columba, " in reproachless 
 Erin, than perpetual life in Alba !" Cormac, moved 
 doubtless by the earnestness of his master, expresses 
 his willingness to return to Durrow : 
 
 " Columcille of a hundred graces, 
 For thou art a prophet, thou art a true poet, 
 Thou art learned, a scribe, happy, perfect, 
 And a devout accomplished priest ; 
 Thou art a king's son of reddened valour, 
 Thou art a virgin, thou art a pilgrim ; 
 We shall abide in the west if thou desire it ; 
 Christ will unfold his mysterious intentions." 
 
 COLUMBA. 
 
 " Cormac, beautiful is thy church, 
 With its books and learning ; 
 A devout city with a hundred crosses, 
 Without blemish, without transgression ; 
 
194 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 A holy dwelling confirmed by my verse. 
 The green of Aedh, son of Brenann, 
 The oak-plain of far-famed Kos-Grencha; 
 The night upon which her pilgrims collect, 
 The number of her wise a fact wide spread 
 Is unknown to any but the only God." 
 
 Conall, the ruler of the Dalriad colony, in the west 
 of Scotland, who had sanctioned the settlement of his 
 saintly kinsman on the outlying Isle of lona, which the 
 missionary exile and his companions probably found 
 unclaimed and unoccupied, died soon after, and was 
 succeeded by his relative Aidan, who came to lona 
 to be inaugurated at the hands of Columba. By this 
 prince, who was a man of much vigour and ability, the 
 real foundations of the Scottish monarchy were laid. 
 He repaired to Ireland, and took part in the convention 
 of Drumceat, near Newtown-Limavady, in the county 
 of Derry, A.D. 575, and there obtained the recognition 
 of his independence. For this success he was indebted 
 to the good offices of Columba, who also returned for 
 the purpose of bearing a part in affairs in which, from 
 his near relationship to the princes of the Hy-Niall 
 dynasties, he also was deeply interested. 
 
 Aedh, son of Ainmire\ was monarch of Ireland at 
 the time of the convention of Drumceat. During the 
 reign of Dermid MacKervil, A.D. 554, Tara had been 
 cursed by St. Euadhan of Lorrah, and ceased from that 
 time to be the residence of the supreme monarch. The 
 kings of the northern Hy-Niall, who succeeded 
 Dermid, made Aileach, near Derry, between Loughs 
 Foyle and Swilly, their residence ; while the princes of 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 195 
 
 the southern Hy-Niall ruled from Dun-na-Sgaith, on 
 Lough Ennell, near Mullingar. Donall and Fergus, 
 sons of Murkertach MacErca, were the successors of 
 Dermid; and the throne was successively filled by 
 Eochy and Baedan, Ainmire, and Baedan II., till Aedh, 
 son of Ainmire, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, 568. 
 
 King Aedh endeavoured to banish the bards from 
 Ireland. Their numbers had become excessive, and 
 their exactions most oppressive. The provincial king 
 of Connaught at this period, Guary Aidhne, had been 
 well nigh impoverished by his gifts to them. 
 
 A romantic story is told of this king and the poet 
 Sancan, which casts some light on the probable age of 
 that remarkable composition, the Tain Bo Cuailgne, 
 referred to in an earlier chapter. The Tain was, says 
 the legend, originally composed by Fergus MacRoy 
 himself, one of the chief actors in the foray, who rode 
 beside Maev's chariot and recounted what had passed 
 before his own eyes. But in process of time the 
 memory of the piece had been lost, so that though it 
 was in the list of recitations which might lawfully be 
 demanded of .every bard, even Sancan himself was 
 unable to repeat it ; and this blot on the chief bard's 
 pretensions was well known ; but from a feeling of 
 reverence, his entertainers were careful not to expose 
 his deficiency, and the Tain had long ceased to be 
 called for. At last, on a visit of Sancan with a great 
 retinue of other bards to Guary, the stores of the king 
 were well-nigh exhausted by the rapacity of his guests, 
 and Guary, to be relieved of their company, called on 
 Sancan to recite the Tain. The bard and his com- 
 
196 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. vi. 
 
 peers retired in extreme indignation ; and his son 
 Murgen undertook a pilgrimage into " the East " that 
 is, to the continent of Europe in search of the lost lay. 
 He was accompanied by Eimene", who joined himself as 
 the companion of his pious wanderings. On reaching 
 the shores of Loch Ein, in Roscommon, Murgen, faint- 
 ing from fatigue, stopped to rest, while Eimene went in 
 search of a house of entertainment. It will be remem- 
 bered, it was in Loch Ein that Fergus himself had 
 perished; and the story goes that the spot where 
 Murgen lay down to rest happened to be the grave of 
 the poet -warrior. Murgen, comprehending that he was 
 now close to the very author of the piece he was in 
 quest of, extemporized an invocation to the shade of 
 Fergus, so earnest, that presently the grave gave up its 
 dead. 
 
 Fergus rose; a mist ascended with him, and a flash was seen 
 As of brazen sandals blended with a mantle's wafture green : 
 But so close the cloud closed o'er him, Eimene, returned at 
 
 last, 
 Found not on the field before him but a mist-heap grey and 
 
 vast. 
 
 Thrice to pierce the hoar "recesses faithful Eimene essayed ; 
 Thrice through foggy wildernesses back to open air he 
 
 strayed : 
 Till a deep voice through the vapours filled the twilight far 
 
 and near, 
 And the night, her starry tapers kindling, stooped from 
 
 heaven to hear. 
 
 Concealed within the mist-cloud, Murgen learns 
 from the shade of Fergus the perfect version of the 
 
CH. vi.] The Oolumban Period. 197 
 
 Tain, and restores his father to the unquestioned 
 supremacy of the bards of Erin. Such was the order of 
 men in whose favour Columba interposed his authority 
 at Drumceat. Guary's device has not prevented his 
 name continuing to be renowned for liberality. He 
 bestowed gifts with both hands : but the right hand was 
 the larger, " for with it he gave to the poor." 
 
 St. Columba used his influence with the king to 
 persuade him, instead of banishing the bards, to reduce 
 their number only ; and instead of demanding tribute 
 from the kindred princes of the Dalriad colony in 
 Scotland, which would have resulted in war, thus to 
 limit his requirements : " Their expeditions and host- 
 ings to be with the men of Erin always ; for hostings 
 always belong to the parent stock. Their tributes, and 
 gains, and shipping to be with the men of Alba. And 
 when one of the men of Erin or Alba should come from 
 the east, the Dal Biada to entertain them, whether few 
 or many ; and the Dal Riada to * convey them on, if 
 they require it." 
 
 There is a tradition that when he arrived from lona 
 he brought with him a sod of grass on which to place 
 his feet, and wore a bandage over his eyes, in fulfilment 
 of the penance enjoined on him by St. Molaise never 
 to set foot again, or even look, on the soil of Erin. 
 
 Columba, having visited the monasteries he had 
 founded in Ireland, returned to lona, where he died on 
 the 9th of June, 507, in the 77th year of his age, having 
 lived in exile from his native land for nearly thirty- 
 five years. 
 
 Adamnan, a subsequent abbot of lona, has been the 
 
198 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 biographer of St. Columba. He has recorded that, on 
 the last day of his life, the aged saint had visited the 
 granary of his monastery, blessed it, and congratulated 
 his brethren on the store of food which was there laid 
 up. He then, with cautions of secrecy, told his 
 attendant, Dermid, of his approaching end. " This 
 day," said he, "is in the sacred volume called the 
 Sabbath, which is interpreted, Eest : and to-day is 
 verily a Sabbath for me, because it is the last with 
 me of this present toilsome life, upon which, after all 
 my toils and sorrows, I come to enjoy my Sabbath ; 
 and at the approaching hour of midnight, as the 
 hallowed day of the Lord begins, I shall, as the 
 Scripture saith, be going the way of my fathers. For 
 now my Lord Jesus Christ vouchsafes to invite me to 
 himself, and when this midnight, as I say, comes, I 
 shall go at his own bidding to be with him." 
 
 He ascended the hill which overhung the monastery, 
 and " stood at the top of it a little while ; and as he 
 stood there, with uplifted hands, pronounced a blessing 
 on his community." On his return, he is recorded to 
 have caressed as with the consciousness that it was 
 for the last time an old white horse belonging to the 
 community, which, being too feeble for work, had been 
 permitted to graze in the abbey-close, and had ap- 
 proached the saint, as if to solicit his notice. Having 
 returned to the monastery, he spent the afternoon of 
 that Saturday in his chamber writing the Psalter. He 
 paused, at evening, at the close of his page, at that 
 verse where it is written, " They that seek the Lord 
 shall not want any good thing." 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 199 
 
 The saint, whose hours on earth were numbered, 
 attended the Vesper service, and leaving the church, 
 sought a brief repose on the bare stone which served 
 him for a bed. He was roused by the midnight bell 
 summoning the community to their devotions. " Rising 
 up hastily, he goes to the church, and running before 
 the rest, and coming in alone, he sinks on bended knees 
 in prayer." His faithful attendant, Dermid, was the 
 first to follow. He discovered his master in a dying 
 state, raised him, and supported his head on his breast. 
 The monks had by this time arrived. Columba, 
 speechless, yet filled with tender love, raised his feeble 
 right hand to bless them, " so that he might appear, 
 even with a motion of his hand, to convey to his 
 brethren that benediction which he was unable to 
 express orally, from his breath failing him. And after 
 having thus imparted to them his solemn blessing, he 
 immediately breathed forth his spirit." 
 
 And so died one who is represented by his friend 
 and biographer as " angelic in aspect, pure in conversa- 
 tion, holy in his employments, of excellent abilities, 
 so eminent for wisdom, that, although his dwelling 
 was on earth, yet he showed himself by his dis- 
 position to be fit for the society of the inhabitants of 
 heaven. " 
 
 Nor did the influence of Columba cease with his life : 
 the monasteries which he founded were nurseries of 
 learning and piety. The Venerable Bede has borne 
 testimony on this point : " Whatever kind of person 
 he himself was," writes the Anglo-Saxon historian, 
 " this we know of him for certain, that he left sue- 
 
200 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vi. 
 
 cessors distinguished for their great chastity, divine 
 love, and strict attention to their rules of discipline ; 
 following, indeed, uncertain cycles in their computa- 
 tion of the time of the great festival (Easter) ; 
 because, far away as they were out of the world, no 
 one had supplied them with the synodal decrees re- 
 lating to the Paschal observance ; yet withal diligently 
 observing such works of piety and chastity as they 
 could find in the prophetic, evangelic, and apostolic 
 writings." 
 
 Columba was interred at lona ; but after the lapse 
 of years, probably in the eighth century, his bones 
 were exhumed and enshrined. Saul, Downpatrick, 
 Durham, and Dunkeld contend for having had possession 
 of the relics of this saintly man. The shrine, which 
 became " the title-deed of the Columban community," 
 was from time to time taken over to Ireland as the 
 warrant for levying religious contributions. Its rich 
 decorations fatally excited the cupidity of the plun- 
 dering Northmen ; and when in the ninth century 
 lona was devastated by these pirates, the shrine was 
 permanently deposited in Ireland for greater security. 
 In the twelfth century it was carried off by the Danes 
 of Dublin, but restored probably despoiled of its gold 
 and silver at the end of a month. Its after-fate is 
 unknown. 
 
 When Columba, with the cerecloth over his eyes, 
 and a sod from the land of Alba under his feet, 
 revisited his native land to take part in the convention 
 of Drumceat, the queen, wife of Aedh, son of Ainmire, 
 suggested to her sons to receive the saint with insult. 
 
CH. vi.] The Columban Period. 201 
 
 To this advice, our ecclesiastical writers tell us, her 
 eldest son, Conall, hearkened, but Donall, the younger, 
 courteously saluted the stranger, and was rewarded by 
 his blessing, and a prediction that he should fill the 
 throne of Ireland. Some years after the death of his 
 father, who was succeeded by sovereigns of little note, 
 this prince attained to the promised position. 
 
202 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE SCHOLASTIC PEKIOD. 
 
 THE period extending from the convention of Drumceat 
 to the first arrival of the Danes, was the least disturbed, 
 and, in intellectual progress, the most flourishing epoch 
 in the history of Ireland before the Conquest. Yet the 
 native accounts we have of it are meagre in proportion 
 to the paucity of those events which were alone thought 
 worthy of being chronicled battles, usurpations, and 
 violent deaths. The local annals being thus barren, 
 we have to look for the picture of Ireland during this, 
 which we have called the Scholastic, period, by the 
 reflected light of external literature, which certainly 
 borrowed a great part of its lustre from the schools for 
 which Ireland began to grow famous shortly after the 
 regal and ecclesiastical power had cemented their 
 alliance at Drumceat. But, before these comparatively 
 halcyon days were attained to, there remained one 
 grand contest in which all the old pagan and bardic 
 influences, uniting with provincial jealousy of the 
 central government, arrayed themselves for a decisive 
 struggle against the newly consolidated strength of the 
 church and crown. 
 
CH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 203 
 
 This was the battle of Moy Eath, an event well 
 marked as an historical fact, and which has been made 
 the subject of a bardic poem-story, for the better 
 appreciation of which it will be necessary to trace 
 downward the influence impressed on his generation 
 by St. Columba. 
 
 King Aedh's household had received him with 
 insult, with one exception. This was Donall, a younger 
 son, and who had then little prospect of the crown. 
 Twenty years later, King Aedh (or Hugh, as the 
 name is Anglicised) met his death at Dunbolg, in 
 the county of Wicklow, while endeavouring to exact 
 the Boromean tribute from the then king of Leinster. 
 The stratagem by which the provincial king, with 
 inferior numbers, defeated the Ard-Eigh, is thus 
 recorded : He entered the camp disguised as a leper, 
 and reported that the men of Leinster, unprepared 
 for resistance, were coming to the king with overtures 
 of peace, and stores of provisions for the royal army. 
 As evening closed in, a drove of bullocks, laden with 
 leathern bags, approached the camp, and entered un- 
 challenged, when they announced that they were the 
 bearers of stores and gifts for Aedh. Each sack con- 
 tained a soldier, and, when night closed in, they attacked 
 the camp and killed the king himself. Two princes of 
 the same name, but not of his immediate family, suc- 
 ceeded. In 626, his son Maelcova reigned for a brief 
 period, when he resigned his authority to Sweeny Menn, 
 and became a cleric. 
 
 Sweeny banished from Erin the Donall of whom we 
 have spoken ; and his prospects of the throne, predicted 
 
204 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. VH. 
 
 for him by St. Columba, appeared more distant and 
 hopeless than ever. 
 
 Donall sought refuge in Scotland, accompanied by 
 his foster son, Congal Claen, provincial king of Uladh 
 or Ulster. The Dalriad monarch was Congal's maternal 
 grandfather, and he hospitably received the exiles. 
 Here Donall incited his foster son to attempt the life of 
 King Sweeny Menn, promising, if he thus became king 
 of Erin, that he would reinstate Congal in all the lands 
 of Ulster, once ruled by his ancestors, but of late cir- 
 cumscribed by the encroachments of the Clan Colla 
 and the Hy-Niall to the present counties of Antrim 
 and Down. Congal Claen made the attempt. He thus 
 recounts the assassination of Sweeny, which, in those 
 days, seems to have been regarded as a legitimate 
 exploit : 
 
 " I was nursed by thee," he says to Donall in after 
 years, "until thou wast expelled by the king of Erin, 
 Suibhne Menn. . . . and thou didst repair to the king of 
 Alba, taking me along with thee in that exile ; and 
 thou didst receive great honour from him, and you 
 formed a treaty, thou and the king of Alba, and he 
 protested to thee that he would not oppose thee as long 
 as the sea should surround Erin. Thou didst after- 
 wards return to Erin, and I returned along with thee, 
 for I was in exile along with thee. . . . And what thou 
 didst say was, that whoever thou shouldst get to destroy 
 the king of Erin, thou wouldst be bound to restore his 
 territory to him whenever thou shouldst become king 
 over Erin. I went on the enterprise, king, for a 
 promise that my patrimony should be wholly restored 
 
CH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 205 
 
 to me, whenever thou shouldst become monarch of 
 Erin ; and I delayed not until I reached Ailech Neid 
 (the dwelling of the northern Hy-Niall princes, near 
 Lough S willy), where the king held his residence at 
 that time. The king came out upon the green, sur- 
 rounded by a great concourse of the men of Erin, and 
 he was playing chess amidst the hosts ; and I came 
 into the assembly, passing, without the permission of 
 any one, through the crowds, and made a thrust of my 
 spear, Gearr-Congail, which I held in my hand, at the 
 breast of the king ; and the stone which was at his back 
 responded to the thrust, and his heart's blood was on 
 the head of the javelin, so that he fell dead." 
 
 Donall, son of Aedh, son of Ainmire, whose accession 
 to the throne was thus secured, found himself unable to 
 fulfil his promise to the " son of Scannlan of the Broad 
 Shield, the haughty, famous, intelligent, arch-king of 
 Ulster," Congal Claen. The Clan Colla were in too 
 firm possession of Orgiall (now Armagh and Mona- 
 ghan), and the Hy-Niall, of the north-western districts 
 of Ulster, to permit of Donall restoring Uladh to its 
 ancient boundaries. 
 
 King Donall fixed his royal habitation at Dun-na-n'- 
 geadh, on the banks of the Boyne ; Tara, as we have 
 before said, having been deserted, since it was cursed by 
 St. Ruadhan of Lorrah. The attainment of his utmost 
 desires could not secure for the monarch tranquil en- 
 joyment. In his home, in the beautiful valley of the 
 Boyne, his nights were haunted by ill-omened dreams. 
 To his queen first, and afterwards to his hermit brother, 
 the ex-king Maelcova, Donall revealed his visions. 
 
206 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vij. 
 
 Maelcova thus interpreted the dream : " A greyhound 
 whelp, in a dream," said he, " is the same as a king's 
 son ; thou hast two foster-sons, O king, Conal Caev, 
 and Congal Claen, the son of Scannlan of the Broad 
 Shield. Either of these will rise up against thee, 
 O king, and will bring the plunderers and the doers of 
 evil of Alba, France, Saxon-land, and Britain with him 
 to Erin, who will give seven battles to thee and the 
 men of Erin, so that great slaughter shall be made 
 between you both, and in the seventh battle which shall 
 be fought between you, thy foster-son shall fall. Now 
 it is proper for thee, king, to prepare a banquet, and 
 to invite to it the men of Erin, and to obtain the 
 hostages of every province in Erin, and also to detain 
 in fetters, to the end of a year, these two foster-sons of 
 thine, because it is one of them who will rise up against 
 thee, and because the venom goes out of every dream 
 within the year. Then set them at liberty, and bestow 
 many jewels and much wealth upon them." 
 
 " This shall not be done by me," said the king ; 
 "for sooner would I quit Erin than deal treacherously 
 by my own foster-sons, for they will never rise up 
 against me; and if all the men of the world should 
 oppose me, Congal would not." 
 
 That part of his brother's advice which related to 
 the banquet found more favour in the mind of Donall. 
 He summoned his guests, and sent out purveyors to 
 bring in store of provisions, for " Donall did not deem 
 it honourable that there should be in Erin a kind of 
 food that should not be found at that banquet." These 
 men appropriated for their purpose a store of goose 
 
CH. vn.] The Scholastic Period. 207 
 
 eggs, the property of Ere of Slane, an anchorite who 
 passed his days immersed to his arm-pits in the Boyne, 
 having his Psalter before him on the river bank, con- 
 stantly engaged in prayer : and whose sole repast was 
 daily made on cresses of the Boyne and these goose eggs. 
 When Ere found his store so invaded, he "cursed the 
 banquet as bitterly as he was able to curse it." 
 
 When the ill-omened feast was prepared, Congal, at 
 the request of the king, went to inspect the arrange- 
 ments. He saw the goose eggs, and marvelled at 
 them, and ate a part of one of them, and took a drink 
 after it. He then came out, and said to Donall, " I 
 think," said he, " if the men of Erin were to remain for 
 three months in the palace, that there is a sufficiency 
 of food and drink for them there." 
 
 The bishops present at the feast bless the entertain- 
 ment. Unfortunately, Congal Claen has eaten already 
 of the eggs cursed by the hermit Ere. And now the 
 hosts are seated. " First of all the king sat in the golden 
 couch; and the custom and law at this time was, that when 
 the monarch of Erin was of the southern Hy-Niall, the 
 king of Connaught should sit at his right hand ; but if 
 of the northern Hy-Niall, the king of Ulster should 
 be at his right hand, and the king of Connaught at his 
 left hand." Unhappily this order was infringed, Malodar 
 Macha,king of Orgiall, being placed at the king's right 
 hand, the position which belonged to Congal Claen. 
 
 Nor did the mortifications of Congal end here. The 
 goose egg, presented to each o the other kings in a 
 silver dish, assumed, in his case, the contemptible 
 form of a hen egg on a wooden platter. He starts 
 
208 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 up, angrily recounts his wrongs, and, followed by 
 the men of Ulster, leaves the feast. The bishops 
 present, at the request of the king, follow to entreat 
 his return. Congal is deaf alike to persuasions 
 and curses. "I swear by my valour," said Congal, 
 " that not one cleric of you shall reach the king's 
 house alive, if I or any Ultonian be cursed by you." 
 Terror then seized the saints, " whereupon Congal went 
 far away from them, and they cursed him afterwards." 
 The poets are then sent by the king. Congal receives 
 them graciously, gives them presents, yet refuses to 
 return. He proceeds to the abode of his uncle, Cellach, 
 who, though now aged and a cripple, had been a hero 
 in his youth. His voice was strong for war. "I 
 pledge thee my word," he exclaimed, disclosing his 
 weapon, which, unknown to his attendants, he wore under 
 his gown, when Congal had told his story," that shouldest 
 thou receive any considerations from the king but a 
 battle, all the Ultonians could not save thee from me, 
 because I would thrust this sword through thy heart ; 
 for it is not the custom of the Ultonians to accept of 
 considerations in place of battle until they take revenge 
 for insults. I have seven good sons, and they shall 
 go with thee into the battle, and if I were able myself 
 I would go also, and the Ultonians should not be 
 defeated while I had life." 
 
 Congal continued his journey, and sought for allies 
 and auxiliary forces in Scotland, Scandinavia, France, 
 and Britain. With these foreign mercenaries, and 
 aided by the dispersed remnant of the Bards and Druids, 
 Congal returned to Ulster, and encountered the forces 
 
CH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 209 
 
 of King Donall at Moy Bath, now Moira, in the 
 county of Down. A. D. 636 is the date of this eventful 
 battle, which may be considered as the expiring struggle 
 of paganism in Ireland. 
 
 The Druids who accompanied the host of Congal 
 could not encourage hopes of ultimate success ; but 
 " whoever felt dejection for the battle, it was not the 
 arch-king of Ulster that was sorrowful, dejected, or 
 pusillanimous at the approach of this final defeat, and 
 it was in vain for his Druids to make true magical 
 predictions for him, and it was not profitable for his 
 clergy to seek instructing him ; for his friends might 
 as well converse with a rock as advise him." 
 
 On the morning of the battle, Congal, lulled to sleep 
 by the " soft sounds of the musical pipes, and by the 
 warbling vibrations and melancholy notes" of the 
 stringed instruments, was aroused by the chant of his 
 Druid : 
 
 Congal Claen, arise. 
 
 Thy enemies approach thee ; 
 The characteristic of an imbecile is the desire of constantly 
 
 lying asleep ; 
 
 Sleep of death is an awful omen ; 
 Little energy forebodes the destruction of the coward ; 
 The desire of the hero and the watchman is early rising ; 
 An inciter of valour is a proud and fearless fiery-champion ; 
 Fervour of blood the characteristic of a hero 
 Be to thee, Congal. 
 
 Congal, though hopeless of success, is unflinching 
 in his determination to fight. " Which of the great 
 descendants of Ir," he asks, " has got protection against 
 final destruction, or will live without being .killed? 
 
210 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. VH. 
 
 And it is a good king like Donall, with the arch-chief- 
 tains of Erin about him, to whom it belongs by fate to 
 have the killing and slaughtering of the Ultonians on 
 this occasion," said Congal. "But though I should 
 attempt to avoid this battle, and save myself from final 
 destruction (for my Druids are making true predictions 
 to me that I shall fall in this battle), yet flight has 
 never saved a wretch : it is profitless to fly from death." 
 
 King Donall, on his side, although deeply lamenting 
 the necessity of the appeal to arms, cheerfully addresses 
 his army : 
 
 " Arise, arise, youths ! quickly and unanimously, 
 firmly and prudently, vigorously and fearlessly, to 
 meet this attack of the Ultonians and foreigners. . . . 
 that so the battle-reparations which Congal so loudly 
 demands may be the battle in which his own final 
 destruction shall be wrought ; for a furious enraged 
 bull is not entitled to protection, nor a man with the 
 daring deeds of a demon to forgiveness, unless indeed 
 he is purified by repentance (for even though the 
 beloved nursling of my heart, Congal, should be slain, 
 his sorrow and regret for his crimes would make me 
 lighter, and his anguish for past offences would render 
 my wounded heart calmer). . . . Let the conduct of 
 your heroes be brave and headstrong to maintain the 
 field of battle ; let the feet of your mighty men be firm, 
 solid, cemented, and immovable on the earth, and let 
 the hands of your champions be quick, expert, and 
 wounding in using your swords, lances, and warlike 
 shields, and let none of you go into the conflict except 
 one who longs to approach it ; for it would be trusting 
 
CH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 211 
 
 to shadows in a prince to trust to the exertions of his 
 heroes unless they were all equally desirous to rush to 
 the scene of action to defend him." 
 
 King Donall further reminds them of the blessing 
 invoked on his head of yore by St. Columba. His 
 army, thus animated, performed great feats of valour. 
 The doomed Congal fought with equal bravery. 
 
 That Congal's ambition might the more signally be 
 mortified, he met his death at the hands of an idiot, a 
 foster-son, as he himself also was, of King Donall. 
 Cuanna had been sent back to his father's house when 
 his infirmity had been discovered, because " the king did 
 not think it becoming to have an idiot as a foster-son." 
 On the day when the hosts were mustering at Moy 
 Rath, the despised youth was sent by his stepmother 
 to collect firewood, and was met by her reproaches for 
 the selection he had made. " The firewood thou hast 
 brought with thee is a bad present, Cuanna," said 
 the woman ; " and it is becoming and like thyself ; 
 and alas ! thou art not the kind of a son we stand in 
 need of having here to-day, but (we need) a son 
 who would assist his father and his fosterer on 
 this day of battle; for Congal, with his Ultonians 
 and foreigners, has been killing and overwhelming 
 them these six days ; and it was thy father's turn to 
 fight yesterday, and we know not whether he has or 
 has not survived." 
 
 The despised Cuanna, stung by these reproaches, 
 follows on the track of the hosts till he reaches 
 Newry, and from thence continues his route to Moy 
 Rath. 
 
212 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 " Cuanna came forward in rapid course, on the 
 strong track of the hosts, till he arrived at Magh 
 Kath, where he saw the great forces of both parties 
 attacking each other. As the men of Erin were there, 
 they saw one lone man in the plain approaching them 
 from the south-west, and they ceased till they recog- 
 nised him. f He is Cuanna, the idiot,' said one of 
 them ; ' He is Cuanna, the fool,' said a second man ; 
 1 It was no small cause of waiting,' said a third man. 
 In a short time Cuanna came on to where the king of 
 Erin was. The king bade him welcome. * Good, my 
 dear Cuanna,' said he ; ' wherefore hast thou come to 
 us to-day?' 'To assist thee, monarch,' said 
 Cuanna, ' and to lay Congal prostrate, though he is 
 my foster-brother.' ' It behoves thee,' said the 
 monarch of Erin, ' though thou knowest it not, to 
 press thy share of this battle against Congal, for he 
 slew thy father in yesterday's battle.' Cuanna grew 
 red as he heard this, and said, ' Give me weapons, 
 O monarch, and I pledge my word that I will repel 
 any fighter of a hundred men, who is against thee 
 this day.' All gave a great shout of derision aloud on 
 hearing Cuanna. Cuanna said to them, ' I swear by 
 my word,' said he, 'that if I had arms, or edged 
 weapons at hand, I would revenge on some of you 
 your having mocked me.' ' Not so,' said Domhnall 
 (Donall) ; ' take no heed or notice of them ; and here 
 is for thee the second missile javelin which I have to 
 spare, and it is the third best spear in Erin, the other 
 two being the spear which is along with it, and the 
 javelin called Gearr Congail, for an erring cast cannot 
 
CH. vn.] The Scholastic Period. 213 
 
 be given with either of them.' The idiot took the 
 lance, and brandished it in the presence of the king, 
 and said that he would achieve with it a deed which 
 would be pleasing to the king." 
 
 Congal had vanquished all opponents, and was in 
 the full flush of his conquering progress, when he 
 encountered his imbecile foster-brother. 
 
 Congal, on seeing his companion and foster-brother, 
 " bade him welcome, "and said, * Terrible is the enmity, 
 and heroic is the muster, when fools and madmen are 
 waging battle against me.' ' It is not the act of a 
 prince or a true hero in thee, indeed,' said Cuanna, 
 'to cast reflections on the son of any good man or 
 good hero who should come to give his day of battle 
 to assist his relatives in the struggle of a great battle.' 
 'Be not enraged, Cuanna,' said Congal, 'for I 
 know that it was not for martial achievements, or to 
 perform feats of arms or valour, thou hast come to 
 Magh Rath on this expedition.' ' It is not the saying 
 of an arch-king for thee to say so,' said Cuanna ; ' why 
 should I not lend my aid in battle to my tribe, and 
 my monarch ? But, however, I can more easily bear 
 a reproach than forbear giving assistance to my friends 
 on this day of battle.' Then Congal passed by the 
 idiot. But Cuanna pressed his foot against the support 
 and the solidity of the earth, and putting his finger on 
 the cord of his broad-headed spear, he made a bold, 
 terrible, destructive cast at Congal, and it passed be- 
 yond the angle of his great shield, so that the hand- 
 spear pierced the armour of Congal and entered his 
 abdomen, and pierced all the viscera, so that as much 
 
214 T/ie Irish before the Conquest. [CB. vii. 
 
 as would kill a man of its blade was to be seen at the 
 other side of his body, and of the armour which de- 
 fended it. Congal looked on one side, and observed 
 that it was the idiot that wounded him ; and it was in 
 his power to slay him on the spot, but he did not like 
 to see the blood of an idiot on his arms : he laid his 
 heroic weapons on the ground, and made a drag and a 
 mighty pull to draw back the spear, but he failed ; he 
 made a second effort, and failed ; but in the third 
 effort he dragged it out, and he extended his strong 
 warlike hand and drew his belt to close the wound, 
 and took up his arms off the ground, and proceeded to 
 address the idiot, and said to him, ' Woe is me, 
 
 Cuanna,' said Congal, * that it was not a mighty 
 puissant lord, or a hundred-killing champion, that 
 sent that shot to destroy me. It grieves me, more- 
 over, that it was not the mighty, many-battled, 
 populous champion, Cellach, the son of Maelcobha, 
 that has to boast of having first wounded my body. 
 
 1 lament that it was not the pillar, numerously- 
 attended-in-battle, Crummhael, the son of Suibhne, that 
 chanced to wound me, for I slew his father at the 
 instigation of the monarch of Erin, so that, a debtor 
 might not owe the debt of enmity.' ' Desist, Con- 
 gal/ said Cuanna ; ' old is the proverb that his own 
 danger hangs over the head of every rash man.' 
 ' That is not the same, O Cuanna,' said Congal, ' as 
 that I should fall by the deeds of an imbecile idiot 
 without a firm mind, and without a cause for destroy- 
 ing me.' After this Congal recognized that he was 
 neither king of Ulster nor Erin after this one wound." 
 
OH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 215 
 
 Thus perished Congal Claen, the last of the 
 Rudrician kings of Ulster. Well might the victorious 
 Donall exclaim 
 
 Alas for him who destroyed all Erin 
 For a dispute about one egg ! 
 
 Donall was ever a friend to the church and sub- 
 missive to ecclesiastics. Under the influence of 
 St. Fechin of Fore, he became the founder of many 
 monastic establishments. Among these we may 
 pause to mention the Abhey of Cong, on the neck of 
 land which divides Lough Corrib from Lough Mask. 
 Cong became, in subsequent times, the residence and 
 last resting-place of several kings of Connaught. 
 Boderic O'Connor, monarch at the time of the Conquest, 
 died in that retreat. The ruins which stand on this 
 most interesting spot date probably from his time the 
 latter part of the twelfth century. 
 
 St. Fechin, himself of noble blood, was a builder of 
 no mean merit. He erected the beautiful little church 
 at Fore, which is yet standing ; and to him also is 
 ascribed an ancient mill which adjoins it, in the green 
 secluded valley of Westmeath, where this anchorite and 
 his community sought for solitude and holy meditation. 
 The monks of old must have had an exquisite feeling 
 for nature, at least we may so infer from the sites they 
 selected for their monasteries and cells. The ecclesi- 
 astical establishment on- High Island, off the coast of 
 Connemara, one of this saint's foundations, though 
 one of the most secluded of all the Irish lauras, com- 
 mands a prospect of wondrous grandeur, the billows 
 
216 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. VH. 
 
 of the Atlantic on one side, the varied outlines of 
 the Connemara coast and its grand mountains on the 
 other. 
 
 St. Fechin died of the Buidhe Clionnaill, or " yellow 
 plague," a fearful pestilence, which desolated Ireland 
 as well as Wales at this period. In both countries the 
 visitation was impersonated in the popular imagination. 
 The Welsh prince, who shut himself up to avoid the 
 pest, was struck by a glance of the yellow destroyer, 
 which looked in at him through a chink of the door. 
 The Buidhe Chonnaill of the Irish fell, like another 
 Python, before a shaft of prayer and the tinkling of 
 a bell of St. Patrick aimed at it by St. MacCreiche. 
 Three sovereigns died of the pestilence, which was 
 followed some .years later by a cattle plague, in the 
 reign of Finnachta the Festive, or Hospitable. This 
 calamity lasted for four years, and was succeeded by 
 a season so severe that all the lakes and rivers were 
 frozen, and even the sea between Ireland and Scotland 
 blocked with ice. To the intercession of another eccle- 
 siastic, St. Moling of Ferns, is ascribed the remission 
 of the Boromean tribute, which, after occasioning many 
 ages of strife, was abandoned about A.D. 690 by this 
 monarch Finnachta. During his reign Adamnan, the 
 great abbot of lona, visited Ireland, and pitched his 
 tent at Tara. Already this deserted capital, no longer 
 the abode of " chiefs and ladies bright," was a grass- 
 covered hill, on which, as at the present day, the 
 ruins only of former royal residences could be traced. 
 St. Adamnan, like his illustrious predecessor Columba, 
 of whom he was the biographer, was of noble Irish 
 
CH. vn.] The Scholastic Period. 217 
 
 blood. His life of St. Columba is written in Latin, ol 
 remarkable purity for that age. This book, next to 
 the history of the Venerable Bede, is the most valuable 
 specimen we possess of the literature of that time. 
 
 One of the earliest and most authentic accounts of 
 the holy places of Palestine has been preserved by the 
 learned diligence of Adamnan, who took down, from 
 the narration of Arculf, a Saxon bishop, shipwrecked 
 on his return from Jerusalem, and cast ashore on one 
 of the western Scottish islands, a very detailed and 
 exact account of the holy city and its chief monuments, 
 including the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, of which 
 the pilgrim bishop gave the abbot of lona a ground 
 plan, transcribed into the manuscript of Adamnan. 
 
 At the time of which we speak, lona had become 
 widely celebrated for its sanctity. In its cemetery 
 had been recently interred Egfrid, King of Northum- 
 bria, who had been slain in war with the Picts and 
 Scots. This prince had sent in 683 an expedition to 
 ravage the coasts of Leinster. This is memorable as the 
 first instance on record of a Saxon raid into Ireland. 
 During the reign of another Northumbrian prince, 
 Aldfrid, St. Adamnan visited York, and obtained by 
 his influence the release of many Irish captives, re- 
 stored by these efforts of Christian philanthropy to 
 their native land. 
 
 To return, however, to the text of our chapter, and 
 to its starting-point at the battle of Moy Rath. Amid 
 much that is grotesque and fantastic in this story, 
 there occur incidental illustrations of life and manners, 
 valuable as showing what the early Irish themselves 
 
218 2he Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 considered to have been the state of civilization existing 
 in the country at the period commemorated. Not the 
 least interesting of these relate to the progress which 
 had already begun to be made in the wider diffusion of 
 scholastic education. 
 
 Amongst Donall's warriors in this engagement was 
 one who afterwards became famous in the peaceful 
 pursuits of letters, Kenfalla, son of Ollioll. Kenfalla 
 was a professional scholar ; but, hitherto, not noted 
 for superior intellectual ability. It was his chance in 
 the fight to encounter the terrible Con gal himself, 
 from whom he received a sword-cut in the hinder part 
 of his head which penetrated to the brain. Being 
 cured of the wound, it was found that his memory had 
 acquired a wonderful strength and acuteness, and he 
 afterwards became the Admirable Crichton of his age, 
 and is still remembered traditionally as the Scholar, 
 par excellence, of early times. Hence the battle of 
 Moy Rath has been called a triple victory, that is, 
 a victory of truth over untruth ; a victory of tale-and- 
 story-telling over dull moments, owing to the multitude 
 of stories founded on the madness of Sweeny (one of 
 Congal's chiefs, who lost his reason in the terrors of 
 the conflict) ; and a victory of rough surgery, " by reason 
 of the taking of the brain of forgetfulness out of the 
 head of Cennfaeladh." 
 
 In the story of the cure of Kenfalla we get a glance 
 at the nature of the schools in which the Irish youth of 
 the seventh century conducted their studies. His leech 
 was Bricin of Tomregan, who resided at the meeting 
 of three roads, neighbouring the houses of three sdis or 
 
CH. VIL] The Scholastic Period. 219 
 
 professors; a sai (sage) of the Fenechus (or old 
 Brehon) law, a sai of poetry, and a sai of letters 
 (literally of " legends ") ; and from frequenting their 
 classes during his convalescence, he acquired the first 
 great accession to his stores of knowledge. 
 
 These scattered teachers at cross-roads were merely 
 the outposts of the great hosts of men of learning who 
 about this time began to congregate in the shelter of 
 abbatial and episcopal seats: cities they have been 
 termed, but great villages would probably be a more 
 accurate designation of Armagh, Bangor, Clonard, 
 Lismore, and other resorts of pious and studious 
 persons. In these central places of learning, provi- 
 sion was made for the maintenance and instruction of 
 strangers, and there was a Saxon quarter and an Alba- 
 nian quarter in Armagh, just as there still remains a 
 Latin quarter in Paris. Among other British and 
 Brito-Saxon youths educated at Armagh during this 
 period of its growth was Aldfrid, son of Oswy, who 
 became King of Northumbria A.D. 685. He has 
 recorded his experiences in a poem, which gives a 
 picture of early Irish society simple, pure, and 
 joyous as pleasing and instructive as it will be con- 
 sidered singular, having regard to the time it was 
 composed. The translation is one of the most faith- 
 ful that has proceeded from the pen of its author, 
 J. C. Mangan : 
 
 " I found in Innisfail the fair, 
 In Ireland, while in exile there, 
 Women of worth, both grave and gay men, 
 Many clerics and many laymen. 
 
220 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 I travelled its fruitful provinces round, 
 And in every one of the five I found, 
 Alike in church and in palace hall, 
 Abundant apparel and food for all. 
 
 Gold and silver I found, and money, 
 Plenty of wheat, and plenty of honey ; 
 I found God's people rich in pity, 
 Found many a feast, and many a city. 
 
 I also found in Armagh the splendid, 
 Meekness, wisdom, and prudence blended, 
 Fasting, as Christ hath recommended, 
 And noble councillors untranscended. 
 
 I found in each great church, moreo'er, 
 Whether on island or on shore, 
 Piety, learning, fond affection, 
 Holy welcome, and kind protection. 
 
 I found the good lay monks and brothers 
 Ever beseeching help for others, 
 And in their keeping the holy word 
 Pure as it came from Jesus the Lord. 
 
 I found in Munster, unfettered of any, 
 Kings and queens, and poets a-many ; 
 Poets well skilled in music and measure, 
 Prosperous doings, mirth and pleasure. 
 
 I found in Connaught the just, redundance 
 Of riches, milk in lavish abundance ; 
 Hospitality, vigour, fame, 
 In Cruachan's land of heroic name. 
 
 I found in the country of Connall the glorious 
 Bravest heroes, ever victorious ; 
 Fair-complexioned men and warlike, 
 Ireland's lights, the high, the starlike. 
 
CH. VIL] The Scholastic Period. 221 
 
 I found in Ulster, from hill to glen, 
 Hardy warriors, resolute men ; 
 Beauty that bloomed when youth was gone, 
 And strength transmitted from sire to son. 
 
 I found in the noble district of Boyle 
 
 [MS. here illegible.} 
 Brehons, Erenachs, weapons bright, 
 And horsemen bold and" sudden in fight. 
 
 I found in Leinster the smooth and sleek, 
 From Dublin to Slewmargy's peak, 
 Flourishing pastures, valour, health, 
 Long-living worthies, commerce, wealth. 
 
 I found besides, from Ara to Glea, 
 In the broad rich country of Ossorie, 
 Sweet fruits, good laws for all and each, 
 Great chess-players, men of truthful speech. 
 
 I found in Meath's fair principality 
 Virtue, vigour, and hospitality, 
 Candour, joyfulness, bravery, purity, 
 Ireland's bulwark and security. 
 
 I found strict morals in age and youth, 
 I found historians recording truth ; 
 The things I sing of in verse unsmooth, 
 I found them all I have written sooth." 
 
 In this there may be some interpolations of a later 
 age ; but the poem is a valuable proof of what at an 
 early period was the popular belief in both islands 
 regarding the condition of Ireland during the genera- 
 tion which succeeded the defeat of Congal, and forms at 
 once a commentary on, and illustration of, the authentic 
 statement of Bede: "There were in that country 
 
222 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. vn. 
 
 (Ireland), at the time we speak of, many of the nobility 
 and also of the middle classes of the English people ; 
 some of whom devoted themselves to the monastic 
 profession, while others chose rather to pay visits to 
 the chambers of different masters, and so to carry on 
 their studies; all of whom the Scots received most 
 cordially, and provided with daily food free of charge, 
 as likewise with books to read and gratuitous instruc- 
 tion." 
 
 Another voice from beyond sea, which testifies to the 
 same enviable condition of the island during these days 
 of comparative happiness, comes from a greater distance. 
 Donatus (Donagh), bishop of Fiesole (A.D. 844), saw 
 nothing in Tuscany fairer or more amiable than the 
 aspect of the land and people from amongst whom he 
 had come to fix his habitation beside the Arno. His 
 verses have the tenderness of home-affection mingled 
 with a pardonable pride in his country : 
 
 " Far in the confines of the west 
 There lies a land of lands the best ; 
 An island, rich in all good store 
 Of robe, and gem, and golden ore ; 
 An isle, in soil, and sun, and wind, 
 Most healthful to the human kind. 
 With honey all the land abounds, 
 With lovely lawns and pasture-grounds ; 
 With weeds of peace and peaceful arts, 
 With arms of war and manly hearts. 
 
 And worthy of that blessed spot, 
 There dwell the nations of the Scot ; 
 A race of men renowned high 
 For honour, arms, and courtesy." 
 
CH. vn.] The Scholastic Period. 223 
 
 The Scots of that day, emigrating from Ireland, 
 obtained a character for the energetic prosecution of 
 their enterprises, not dissimilar to that since so honour- 
 ably earned for themselves by the Scots of North 
 Britain. Eric of Auxerre, writing of Elias, bishop of 
 Angouleme, an Irishman, who died A.D. 875, exclaims : 
 " What need to speak of Ireland, setting at nought as 
 it does the difficulties of the sea, and coming almost in 
 one body to our shores, with its crowd of philosophers, 
 the most intelligent of whom are subjecting themselves 
 to a voluntary exile ?" The number, indeed, of travel- 
 ling Irish was destined ere long, after the repeated 
 Danish incursions had begun to drive them abroad for 
 shelter as well as for missionary and scholastic adven- 
 ture, to become burthensome to neighbouring coun- 
 tries. The Council of Chalons on Saone (A.D. 813), 
 and the English Synod of Calcythe (A.D. 816), both 
 made canons against these wandering Scots. 
 
 The reproach of ingratitude might with some justice 
 be made against the authors of these canons. But, 
 notwithstanding occasional opposition of this cha- 
 racter, the Irish Scots continued, for at least another 
 century, to maintain their place in the foremost 
 British and European seminaries of learning. Sweeny 
 of Clonmacnoise, whose bell bearing his name may still 
 be seen in the Museum of the Eoyal Irish Academy, 
 was one of the sages who assisted at the foundation 
 of the University of Oxford ; and the story of the 
 " Wisdom-sellers " before Charlemagne, introduces 
 us to Clement, another of the same race and origin, 
 for whom the honour is claimed of having been one of 
 
224 Ihe Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 the first teachers in the University of Paris. " When 
 the illustrious Charles had begun to reign alone in the 
 western parts of the world, and literature was almost 
 forgotten, it came to pass that two Scots from Ireland, 
 men incomparably learned both in human knowledge 
 and in the Holy Scriptures, came over with some 
 British merchants to the shores of France." These 
 persons, says the writer of the History of the Reign 
 of Charlemagne, soon attracted attention by standing 
 in the public market-place, and crying out to the 
 passers-by, " If any person wishes for wisdom, let him 
 come to us and receive it, for we have it to sell." 
 There seems no doubt that both the strangers were 
 well received by the great monarch, and that both of 
 them were placed over scholastic seminaries, one at 
 Paris, and the other near Pavia. 
 
 The great associations connected with the name of 
 Armagh have led us so far down the course of the 
 centuries, that in adverting to the other eminent school 
 of Lismore, we must return to the commencement of 
 the period inaugurated at Moy Rath. 
 
 There is a beautiful little church at Rathin in 
 Westmeath, where, about A.D. '650, Carthagh, a de- 
 scendant K)f Fergus Mac Roy, who had adopted a 
 religious life, took up his abode with other monks of 
 Kerry. " They led so pious a life in this house, it 
 was said an angel was wont to hold conversation with 
 every third man of them." The ecclesiastics of the 
 Hy-Niall race became jealous of the Munster monks' 
 superior reputation for holiness, and they appealed to 
 Blathmaic and Dermid, their joint kings, to expel the 
 
CH. vii.] The Scholastic Period. 225 
 
 intruders. Blathmaic was in favour of their expulsion ; 
 but Dermid, at the sight of Carthagh, relented, whence 
 his sobriquet of the " Euthful." However, the " holy 
 men of the Clanna Niall " insisted on the expulsion of 
 the strangers, and Carthagh (in popular hagiology, Saint 
 Mochuda), after a twelvemonth's negotiation, being 
 finally driven out by the resolute Blathmaic, went forth 
 and established himself among the tribes of the Desi 
 in their new seats in the south, where he founded the 
 long-celebrated school of Lismore. 
 
 Bangor is another name which raises a train of 
 associations, carrying the mind across a wide tract 
 of Europe, and through a series of most interesting, 
 though turbulent, events. St. Columbanus, a pupil of 
 this school, evinced that fervour of missionary zeal so 
 characteristic of his age and country. Accompanied 
 by twelve monks of Bangor, he set forth on his wander- 
 ings, and became the evangelizer of eastern France, 
 and parts of Switzerland and Italy, He established 
 himself at Luxeuil in Burgundy. Columbanus warred 
 no less with nature, in the then well-nigh impene- 
 trable forests of the Vosges and Jura, where his com- 
 munity toiled, and cleared and cultivated the soil, 
 than with the stormy passions of those long-haired 
 Merovingian kings of the Frankish dynasties, who 
 were swayed, at that period, by the savage impulses of 
 two remarkable and unscrupulous women. Brune- 
 hault, the wife of Sigebert, the grandson of Clovis, 
 and Fredegonde, the beautiful fury who ruled his 
 brother Chilperic, have filled a prominent part in 
 French history. Their very names recall a period of 
 giant crimes, unregulated passions, and unparalleled 
 
 Q 
 
226 Tlie Irish before the Conquest. [cu. vn. 
 
 bloodthirstiness. Among these ferocious Franks 
 Golumbanus preached and laboured. Expelled from 
 his monastery by the peremptory orders of Queen 
 Brunehault, whose sins he had fearlessly denounced, 
 he dared to return ; and when again cast forth, turned 
 his steps towards Northern Italy, leaving to the Hel- 
 vetians, among whom he tarried for some months, his 
 disciple, the Irish St. Gall, whose name and fame still 
 survive throughout the northern cantons of Switzerland. 
 
 St. Columbanus died at Bobbio in Italy, where he 
 had established his confraternity under the protection 
 of Agilulf, king of the Lombards. He has left behind 
 him a great reputation as a letter-writer. His famous 
 epistles to Pope Gregory the Great, and Pope Boniface 
 the Fourth, are yet extant. So also are his tender 
 addresses to his loved brethren at Luxeuil ; " his 
 dearest sons, his dearest pupils, to his brethren in 
 abstinence, to all the monks." In a letter to the 
 bishops of Gaul he thus speaks : 
 
 " Finally, fathers, pray for us, as we also do, un- 
 worthy though we be, for you : and do not regard us 
 in the light of aliens ; for we are fellow members of 
 one body, whether we be French, or Britons, or Irish* 
 or whatever be our nation. Let us then, all nations, 
 rejoice in the acknowledging of the faith, and confes- ' 
 sion of the Son of God ; and hasten forward all of us, 
 to advance to the perfect man, to the measure of the 
 stature of the fulness of Jesus Christ, in whom may 
 we love one another, speak well of one another, correct 
 one another, visit one another, pray for one another, 
 that with one another we may reign, and have joy in 
 His presence." 
 
CH. VIL] The Scholastic Period. 227. 
 
 Even the Danish inroads, of which we shall speak 
 in our next chapter, failed wholly to quench, although 
 they greatly diminished, the flame of learning in these 
 cultured spots. A remarkable evidence of the con- 
 tinued reputation of Ireland for superior intellectual 
 culture, even so late as the middle of the eleventh 
 century, is afforded by a poem written by John, son 
 of Sulgen, who was bishop of St. David's about A.D. 
 1070. In this piece John tells us that his father went 
 to Ireland to study the Scriptures, and spent upwards 
 of ten years in that employment. The Latin verses 
 have been well rendered : 
 
 " With ardent love for learning, Sulgen sought 
 The school in which his fathers had been taught ; 
 To Ireland's sacred isle he bent his way, 
 Where science beamed with bright and glorious ray ; 
 But lo ! an unforeseen impediment 
 His journey interrupted as he went ; 
 For, sailing toward the country where abode 
 The people famous in the word of God, 
 His bark by adverse winds and tempests toss'd, 
 Was forced to anchor on another coast ; 
 And thus the Albanian shore the traveller gained, 
 
 And there for five successive years remained. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 At length, arriving on the Scottish soil, 
 He soon applies himself to studious toil. 
 
 * * * * - 
 
 Then, having gained a literary fame, 
 In high repute for learning, home he came, 
 His gathered store and golden fruit to share 
 Among admiring friends and followers there." 
 
 We have placed under the eyes of our reader the 
 contemporaneous! evidence of Bede let us add the 
 
228 Tlie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vn. 
 
 testimony of another learned and candid Englishman, 
 derived from the wider range of inquiry afforded by 
 the subsequently accumulated learning of nearly nine 
 hundred years. We refer to the illustrious William 
 Camden, whose words will carry the weight of historic 
 truth, as well as the solemnity of a pious philosophy, 
 to whatever mind will receive them. 
 
 " Our Anglo-Saxons of that day," he says, speaking 
 
 of this, which we have ventured to call our Scholastic 
 
 Period, " used to flock together to Ireland, as a market 
 
 of learning ; whence it is that we continually find it 
 
 said in our writers concerning holy men of old, He 
 
 was sent away to be educated in Ireland. . . And it 
 
 would appear that it was from that country the ancient 
 
 English, our ancestors, received the first instructions 
 
 in forming letters, as it is plain they used the same 
 
 character which is still used in Ireland. Nor need 
 
 we wonder that Ireland, which is now (f . e. in A.D. 
 
 1607) for the most part wild, half-savage, and destitute 
 
 of education, should at that time have abounded in 
 
 men of such holiness, piety, and splendid geniuses, 
 
 while the cultivation of literature elsewhere in the 
 
 Christian world lay neglected and half buried ; since 
 
 the providence of the Almighty Ruler of the universe 
 
 is pleased to scatter the seeds of holiness and virtues 
 
 in the different ages of the world, now among these 
 
 nations, now among those, as it were in so many beds 
 
 and flower knots; thus producing blossoms which, 
 
 as they appear in one place and another with fresh 
 
 vigour, may thrive and be preserved, for His own 
 
 glory and the benefit of mankind." 
 
CH. viii.] TJie Danish Period. 229 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DANISH PEBIOD. 
 
 THE eighth century affords little beyond the series 
 of successions of kings, to be recorded, until we reach 
 A.D. 795. From thence extends a period of gloom, in 
 which depression and disaster characterize the Irish 
 annals. For upwards of two centuries, learning, piety, 
 almost Christianity itself, succumbed before pagan 
 invaders. Danes, Northmen, Scandinavians, whom the 
 Irish writers distinguish according to their complexions, 
 into Dubh-Galls, or dark, and Finn-Galls, or fair-haired 
 foreigners, hovered round our coasts, in ships manned by 
 hardy, but sanguinary pirates. The leaders Vikings, 
 as they are called were brave and daring adventurers, 
 glad to exchange their barren mountains for the plunder, 
 and afterwards the colonization, of more fertile lands. 
 These ruthless invaders spared neither age, nor sex, 
 nor station. The monasteries were ever their first 
 objects of attack. Here were deposited articles of 
 chiefest value in the land ; precious manuscripts, which 
 were only prized by the plunderers for the rich decora- 
 tions in gold and gems that graced the cases in which 
 they were enclosed ; shrines of exquisite workmanship, 
 on which all that was costly and precious had been 
 
230 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 lavished, to fit them for receptacles of the relics of 
 some venerated saint ; illuminated manuscripts, fo pro- 
 duce which had been the life-long labour of pious and 
 saintly men, lovers of literature, and decorative artists 
 of no mean skill : all these were scattered to the winds 
 by the ignorant and ruthless hands of these sea-robbers. 
 The Danes did not confine their ravages to the coasts 
 they boldly ascended the rivers, and, secure in the 
 protection of their ships, descended on the defenceless 
 population when and where they would, and that so 
 unexpectedly, that they encountered little or no or- 
 ganized resistance. 
 
 The fatal defect of the Irish political system 
 was its want of centralization. The Ard-Eigh, or 
 supreme monarch, was but nominal ruler of the entire 
 island, and could only act vigorously in his own 
 patrimony. The provincial kings were virtually in- 
 dependent, and frequently in open collision with the 
 central authority. The power of combination has ever 
 been deficient among the Gael. Unrestricted individual 
 freedom has been so much a passion with the race, that 
 combined action has been rarely achieved, or sustained 
 for any considerable length of time. At the period of 
 which we speak, this difficulty was greatly augmented ; 
 for the vigorous rule of a succession of princes of the 
 northern Hy-Niall line was, at this time, exchanged for 
 the ascendency of the southern branch of this great 
 
 *f O 
 
 family; and the comparatively limited patrimony of 
 the southern Hy-Nialls rendered them less efficient 
 general rulers. The neighbourhood of Mullingar, in 
 Westmeath, was their place of abode. Malachy of the 
 
CH. VIIL] The Danish Period. 231 
 
 Shannon, the first Ard-Kigh of this line, in 845 succeeded 
 King Niall, surnamed of Callan, who met his death 
 while attempting to save the life of one of his followers, 
 swept away by the current when entering a ford of the 
 river Callan, in advance of the king's army. Niall had 
 called in vain for aid for the drowning man ; and seeing 
 those around him hesitate, had sprung himself to the 
 rescue of the gilly. As he spurred his horse for the 
 plunge, the bank beneath him gave way, and rider and 
 steed were precipitated into the river. That is no 
 ignoble death which is encountered in an act of self- 
 sacrifice for others, and the name of Niall CailU lives, 
 though his other actions are forgotten. 
 
 A romantic but somewhat apocryphal story is told 
 of Malachy and his Danish neighbour Turgesius. 
 This chieftain had established himself in the very 
 heart of Ireland, and possessed a fleet on the inland 
 waters of Lough Eee. The youthful daughter of 
 Malachy attracted his regards : he demanded her from 
 her father, who dared not refuse. The king proposed 
 to Turgesius to send her to his court, accompanied by 
 fifteen maids of honour, attendants of her own age and 
 sex, befitting her rank and birth. Instead of these, 
 however, he selected fifteen beardless youths, who 
 carried weapons concealed beneath their feminine garb. 
 The disarmed and unsuspecting Turgesius was seized ; 
 his fortress-gates thrown open to the troops of Malachy, 
 who were prepared, on a given signal, to rush in and 
 possess themselves of the fort. Turgesius himself was 
 drowned in Lough Owel, and the land for a time once 
 more breathed freely. 
 
232 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 The dire pressure of Danish tyranny, enforced by 
 the " Nose-gelt," was felt by each individual, however 
 humble, as well as by the kings and chiefs of Ireland. 
 A soldier was quartered " over every homestead, and the 
 man of the house was not allowed the disposal of as much 
 as one egg of his own property ; and though a family 
 owned but one stripper, they were not allowed on any 
 night to give its milk to either infant or child, but 
 were obliged to keep it up for the use of the soldier ; 
 and though the man of the house owned but one 
 in-calf cow, he was forced to kill the same for the 
 use of his unwelcome guest ; and if he could not 
 satisfy the latter therewithal, he was compelled to 
 place his inheritance in pledge for the maintenance 
 of the said soldier. Besides this, the Lochlannaigh 
 should either get an ounce of gold each year for every 
 man in Ireland, or they would have the nose from off 
 his face. Then no lord or lady of the Irish was allowed 
 to wear any mantles or garments, except the cast-off 
 clothes of the Lochlannaigh. It was not allowed to 
 give instruction in letters, nor to live in religious com- 
 munities, for the Lochlannaigh dwelt in the temples 
 and in the duns : no scholars, no clerics, no books, no 
 holy relics, were left in church or monastery, through 
 dread of them : neither bard, nor philosopher, nor 
 musician, pursued their wonted professions in the land." 
 
 But a time was approaching when these fierce invaders, 
 themselves succumbing to Christian influences, should 
 become here and there permanent dwellers in the 
 land, intermarry with the Irish, and even join with 
 them in repelling marauding assaults of their own 
 
en. vin.] The Danish Period. 233 
 
 countrymen. To the Northmen we may trace the founda- 
 tion of most of our seaport towns, Dublin, Waterford, 
 Cork, Limerick, and others. The Finn Galls for 
 the Norse element predominated among them showed 
 a great aptitude for trade and commerce. Their fear- 
 lessness at sea, and skill in navigation, fitted them 
 to become foreign merchants. They had a coinage 
 of their own. Their nomenclature may be traced 
 in the names of places, especially on the east coast 
 of Ireland, where their settlements were most per- 
 manent. The Norwegian fiord, or arm of the sea, 
 reminds us of their presence in the bays of Strang/bre?, 
 Carling/orcZ, Wex/ord, Water/ore?, &c. Lambey, Ireland's 
 ey, show the Scandinavian affix of Ey, for island. The 
 names of three out of the four provinces of Ireland 
 announce the Norse influence, which has changed the 
 Celtic Uladh into Ulster, Laighin into Leinsfer, and 
 Mumhain into Munsfer. They gave much of what we 
 may term municipal life; they took in return the 
 Christian faith, and, in a degree, its humanizing lessons 
 and virtues, in lieu of their stern yet heroic pa- 
 ganism. 
 
 We have alluded to the frequent intermarriage 
 between Irish and Dane. A singular example, illus- 
 trating the connection between Irish and Norwegian 
 history, may be found even in the case of the great 
 Brian Boru, with whose history we shall be occupied 
 hereafter. He had married, when a widower, Gormley, 
 daughter of the king of Leinster, who became the 
 mother of his sons Tiege and Donogh. By her 
 former husband, Anlaf the Dane, Gormley was the 
 
234 The Irish before the Conquest. [en. vm. 
 
 mother of Sitric " Silk-Beard " (afterwards the husband 
 of Brian's daughter Save) and of Olaf Cuaran, Danish 
 king of Dublin. The Norwegian king and saint, 
 Olaf, was the guest of this Olaf Cuaran, and received 
 baptism, most probably, in Ireland. There was an 
 inherent sternness and cruelty in the Norse character, 
 which indisposed it to the acceptance of the mild 
 religion of Christ, on the one hand, and to the gentle 
 modes of inculcating it which had proved so successful 
 among the Celtic populations, on the other. No con- 
 trast can be imagined more remarkable than that 
 between the conduct in accepting and propagating the 
 faith, of the Irish and the Norsemen. Receiving the 
 message of peace from his Irish instructors, the canon- 
 ized Scandinavian king carried it into ih& fiords and 
 fells of Norway, with fire and sword for his apostles. A 
 great poet has majestically versified one of the sagas of 
 Olaf, which presents the difference of character in 
 question so vividly that we will crave our reader's 
 indulgence for a moment's departure from Irish ground, 
 while making better acquaintance with the fierce but 
 noble race of men whose extirpation at Clontarf is so 
 important an event in the Irish story. 
 
 Loud the angry wind was wailing, 
 As King Olaf's ships came sailing 
 Northward out of Drontheim haven, 
 To the mouth of Salten Fiord : 
 
 Though the flying sea-spray drenches 
 Fore and aft the rowers' benches, 
 Not a single heart is craven 
 
 Of the champions there on board. 
 
CH. vm.] The Danish Period. 235 
 
 All without the Fiord was quiet, 
 But within it storm and riot, 
 Such as on his Viking cruises 
 
 Eaud the strong was wont to ride ; 
 
 And the sea through all its tideways, 
 Swept the reeling vessels sideways, 
 As the leaves are swept through sluices, 
 When the flood-gates open wide. 
 
 " 'Tis the warlock ! 'tis the demon 
 Eaud !" cried Sigurd to the seamen ; 
 " But the Lord is not affrighted 
 By the witchcraft of his foes ;" 
 
 To the ship's bow he ascended, 
 By his choristers attended ; 
 Eound him were the tapers lighted, 
 And the sacred incense rose. 
 
 On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd, 
 In his robes, as one transfigured, 
 And the Crucifix he planted 
 High amid the rain and mist ; 
 
 Then with holy water sprinkled 
 All the ship ; the mass-bells tinkled ; 
 Loud the monks around him chanted, 
 Loud he read the Evangelist. 
 
 As into the Fiord they darted, 
 On each side the water parted : 
 Down a path like silver molten, 
 Steadily rowed King Olaf s ships ; 
 
 Steadily burned all night the tapers, 
 And the White Christ through the vapours 
 Gleamed across the Fiord of Salten, 
 As through John's Apocalypse. 
 
236 The Irish before the Conquest. |[CH. vm. 
 
 Till at last they reached Hand's dwelling 
 On the little isle of Gelling : 
 Not a guard was at the doorway, 
 Not a glimmer of light was seen ; 
 
 But at anchor, carved and gilded, 
 Lay the dragon-ship he builded ; 
 'Twas the grandest ship in Norway 
 With its crests and scales of green. 
 
 Up the stairway, softly creeping 
 To the loft where Eaud was sleeping, 
 With their fists they burst asunder 
 Bolt and bar that held the door : 
 
 Drunken with sleep and ale they found him, 
 Dragged him from his bed and bound him, 
 While he stared with stupid wonder 
 At the look and garb they wore. 
 
 | Then King Olaf said : " Sea King 
 Little time have we for speaking, 
 Choose between the good and evil, 
 Be baptized, or thou shalt die." 
 
 But in scorn the heathen scoffer 
 Answered : " I disdain thine offer ; 
 Neither fear I God nor devil, 
 Thee and thy gospel I defy !" 
 
 Then, between his jaws distended, 
 When his frantic struggles ended, 
 Through King OlaPs horn an adder, 
 Touched by fire they forced to glide : 
 
 Sharp his tooth was as an arrow, 
 As he gnawed through bone and marrow ; 
 But without a groan or shudder 
 Raud the Strong, blaspheming, died. 
 
CH. vin.] The Danish Period. 237 
 
 Then baptized they all that region, 
 Swarthy Lap and fair Norwegian, 
 Far as swims the salmon leaping, 
 Up the streams of Salten Fiord : 
 
 In their temples Thor and Odin, 
 Lay in dust and ashes trodden, 
 As King Olaf onward sweeping, 
 Preached the gospel with his sword. 
 
 Then he took the carved and gilded 
 Dragon-ship that Raud had builded, 
 And the tiller single-handed 
 
 Grasping, steered into the main : 
 
 Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him, 
 Southward sailed the ship that bore him, 
 Till at Drontheim haven landed 
 Olaf and his crew again.* 
 
 Among the proofs which still attest the influence 
 on the popular mind, produced by these inroads, and 
 the deep-seated terror of the Danish name which 
 they excited, we may mention the habit of the Irish 
 peasantry of ascribing to this race the cairns, cashels, 
 forts, and duns of a more primitive period. So far 
 from being builders of these monuments, we have on 
 record, both in the Irish chronicles and the Norse Sagas, 
 that in the year 861 the three earls, Olaf, Sitric, and 
 Ivar, opened, for purposes of plunder, the sepulchral 
 mounds of New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth on the 
 Boyne, and the mound of the wife of the Gobaun Saer, 
 the mythic builder, or Way land Smith of the Irish Celts, 
 still a conspicuous object at Drogheda. But it may be 
 that the Danes referred to in popular tradition are 
 
 * From the Saga of King Olaf, by H. W. LONGFELLOW. 
 
238 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. vm. 
 
 those older Tuath De Danaan of the archaic period. 
 To return to the Christian period : we have in Water- 
 ford, in very good preservation, an interesting specimen 
 of the Norwegian art of fortification. The Round 
 Tower, popularly called Reginald's Tower, is said to 
 have been built in 1003, by the Scandinavian ruler 
 of Waterford, Ragnvald. At the time of the Norman 
 invasion of Ireland, Earl Strongbow possessed himself 
 of it, and kept there as his prisoner the last " East- 
 man " king of Waterford, Reginald the Dane. 
 
 We must return to King Malachy, and speak here 
 of his desire to make a pilgrimage to Rome. He sent 
 an embassy to Charles the Bald, then reigning in 
 France, requesting a safe-conduct through his terri- 
 tories, and acquainting him with his successes against 
 the Northmen. A friendly intercourse appears to have 
 been maintained between France and Ireland up to the 
 time of the English Conquest. 
 
 Malachy died without having accomplished his pil- 
 grimage. He was much regretted : 
 
 " Mournfully is spread the veil of grief over Ireland 
 since the chieftain of our race has perished," writes the 
 chronicler ; " Red wine has been spilled into the 
 valley ; Erin's monarch has died." 
 
 Aedh Finnliath better known as Hugh of Aileach, 
 son of Nial, of the Callan succeeded Malachy as 
 Ard-Righ. He prosecuted the war with the Danes 
 with vigour. He gained a victory at Lough Foyle, 
 which, with its savage incidents, is thus recorded : 
 
 " After Aedh, king of Ireland, had learned that this 
 gathering of strangers was on the borders of his 
 
CH. vni.] The Danish Period. 239 
 
 country, he was not negligent in attending to them, for 
 he marched towards them with all his forces, and a 
 battle was fought fiercely and spiritedly on both sides 
 between them. The victory was gained over the 
 foreigners, and a slaughter was made of them. Their 
 heads were collected to one place in presence of the 
 king; and twelve score heads were reckoned before 
 him, which was the number slain by him in that battle, 
 besides the numbers of them who were wounded and 
 carried off by him in the agonies of death, and who 
 died of their wounds some time afterwards." 
 
 This king " of the long flowing hair," was a generous, 
 wise, and staid man, if we are to credit the bard who 
 uttered his funeral lamentation : 
 
 " Long is the wintry night, with rough gusts of wind ; 
 Under pressing grief we encounter it, since the red-speared 
 
 king of the noble house liveth not. 
 
 Fearful it is to watch how the waves heave from the bottom ; 
 To them may be compared all those who with us lament him." 
 
 Aedh had to wife Maelmuri, daughter of Kenneth 
 MacAlpin, the first king of all Scotland. His Irish 
 kinsmen had aided the Scotic monarch in his final con- 
 tests with the Picts. This lady afterwards married 
 Aedh's successor, Flann of the Shannon, the son of 
 Malachy thus restoring the throne to the branch of 
 the Southern Hy-Niall. 
 
 Flann had a daughter, Gormley, whose gifts, beauty, 
 and tragical fate, have made her name celebrated in 
 Irish story. Many poems of this lady have survived to 
 our day. She was betrothed, while still very young, to 
 the celebrated Corinac MacCulinan, King of Cashel ; 
 
240 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 but when the period had arrived when he should 
 claim his bride, he failed to appear, having resolved 
 to lead a life of celibacy. Gormley, who is said to 
 have been tenderly attached to Cormac, was married 
 to the King of Leinster against her own inclinations, 
 and for political motives, by her father Flann. Her 
 hated husband treated her with contumely. Gormley 
 appealed for redress to her cousin Niall " Black-Knee," 
 afterwards king of Ireland, who espoused her cause, 
 and, on the death of the King of Leinster, married 
 Gormley. The most touching of her poems which 
 survive express her maternal tenderness for her child, 
 sent by his father Niall, according to the custom in 
 Ireland, to be fostered. Gormley has recorded her 
 grief at this separation from her son, and also her 
 agonizing sorrow when the young prince was after- 
 wards drowned in Lough Corrib. She long survived 
 her husband Niall, whose death she also lamented 
 in verse 
 
 " Where is the chief of the western world ? 
 Where the sun of every clash of arms ? 
 Sorrowful this day is sacred Ireland, 
 Without its valiant chief." 
 
 This daughter, sister, and wife, of kings, is said to 
 have died of absolute want ; having long survived the 
 greatness of her kindred, and seen other dynasties 
 arise no longer near to her in blood and family ties 
 indifferent to, and careless of her woes. Her first 
 sorrow the disclaiming of her hand by Corrnac 
 MacCulinan was one of the causes which led to 
 
CH. viii.] The Danish Period. 241 
 
 the battle of Belach Mughna (Moone, near Bally- 
 tore, in the county of Kildare), in which her father 
 King Mann was opposed to the celebrated Cormac 
 MacCulinan, king-archbishop of Cashel. To this 
 Cormac is ascribed the erection of the beautiful 
 Romanesque church yet standing on the Eock of 
 Cashel. He was author of the compilation (Cormac's 
 Glossary), which has made his name a household word 
 with modern scholars. The lost Psalter of Cashel was 
 also a work of Cormac. To understand aright the further 
 circumstances which brought this great and good man 
 into collision with his suzerain, we must revert to times 
 long anterior to his age (the latter part of the ninth 
 century), and remind our readers of the old compact 
 which divided Erin between Con of the Hundred 
 Battles, of the race of Eremon, and Owen Mor, the 
 descendant of Eber, A. D. 125. The Esker Biada was 
 the boundary a range of low limestone ridges extending 
 from Dublin to Galway. 
 
 Hitherto we have been more concerned with the 
 northern district, Lea Con, or Con's half; as the 
 race of Eremon gave a greater number of kings to 
 Ireland, and filled a more prominent place in the page 
 of history; but now we shall find the foremost his- 
 toric names belonging rather to the Munster clans. 
 
 We must also bear in mind the will of Ollioll Olum, 
 which assigned the sovereignty of Munster alternately 
 to the descendants of his sons Owen and Cormac 
 Cas. . . . The Eugenians as the families derived from 
 Owen are called MacCarthys and others, ruled in 
 Desmond, or South Munster; while the Dalcassians 
 
 B 
 
242 The Irish before the Conquest. [en. vm. 
 
 descendants of Cormac Gas O'Briens, and others 
 were lords of Thomond, or North Minister. 
 
 But in process of time it happened that the Dalcas- 
 sian family whose possessions in Clare and Limerick 
 were removed from Cashel, the capital of Lea Moha 
 found themselves passed by in the succession, which 
 had more and more fallen into the hands of the Eugenian 
 tribes. To the latter belonged Cormac MacCulinan, 
 who, in 896, was called to the throne of Cashel. 
 
 The state of Minister during the reign of this " king, 
 bishop, anchorite, and scribe profoundly learned in the 
 Scotic tongue," is thus described in the annals : 
 
 " Great was the prosperity of Ireland during his 
 reign ; for the land became filled with the divine grace, 
 and with worldly prosperity, and with public peace in 
 his days, so that the cattle needed no cowherd, and the 
 flocks no shepherd, as long as he was king. The 
 shrines of the saints were then protected, and many 
 temples and monasteries were built; public schools 
 were established for the purpose of giving instruction 
 in letters, law, and history ; many were the tilled fields, 
 numerous were the bees, and plenteous the beehives 
 under his rule ; frequent was fasting and prayer, and 
 every other work of piety; many houses of public 
 hospitality were built, and many books written at his 
 command. And, moreover, whenever he exacted the 
 performance of any good work from others, he was 
 wont to set them the example himself, by being the first 
 to practise it, whether it were a deed of alms, or bene- 
 volence, or prayer." 
 
 Cormac had applied to his own tribe for " food and 
 
CH. vni.] The Danish Period. 243 
 
 treasures" wherewith to celebrate Easter, but was 
 refused. The Dalcassians, on hearing of his need, 
 voluntarily supplied his wants. He then applied to 
 the Eugenians for "jewels and valuables for the pur- 
 pose of making presents to strangers." Here again he 
 found his own kin less liberal than his Thomond subjects. 
 " Thus did Cormac feel again most grateful to that 
 tribe, as he tells us himself in the following verse : 
 
 " May our truest fidelity ever be given 
 To the brave and generous clansmen of Tal ; 
 And for ever may royalty rest with their tribe, 
 And virtue, and valour, and music, and song." 
 
 Impelled by gratitude, and still more by a sense of 
 justice, Cormac desired that his successor should be a 
 prince of Thomond. His efforts were not crowned 
 with success, and lessened the regards of his own tribe. 
 His unpopularity with the Eugenians became apparent, 
 when he summoned them to his standard to wage war 
 with Leinster, and enforce a demand for chief rents 
 from that principality. 
 
 He had reigned peacefully and prosperously for 
 seven years, when he most reluctantly undertook this 
 war at the instigation of his nobles, and especially of 
 Flaherty, a man of royal blood, abbot of Inis-Cathaigh 
 or Scattery Island, near the mouth of the Shannon. 
 Haunted by presentiments of disaster, Cormac made 
 his will before commencing the campaign. 
 
 " 'Tis time my testament were made, 
 For danger's hour approacheth fast ; 
 My days shall henceforth be but few ; 
 My life has almost reached the goal. 
 
24:4 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 My golden cup of sacrifice 
 Wherewith I holy offerings make, 
 I will to Senan's brotherhood 
 At Inis-Cathaigh's sacred fane. 
 
 The bell that calleth me to prayer, 
 Whilst on the green-robed earth I stay, 
 Forget not with my friend to leave 
 At Conall's shrine where Fergus flows. 
 
 My silken robe of graceful flow, 
 O'erlaid with gems and golden braid, 
 To Roscre, Paul and Peter's fane, 
 And Cronan's guardianship, I leave. 
 
 My silver chessboard of bright sheen, 
 I will to Uladh's royal chief; 
 My well- wrought chain of faultless gold, 
 To thee, Mochuda, I bequeath. 
 
 Take thou my amice and my stole, 
 And take my manuple likewise, 
 To Lenin's son who lies at Cluain, 
 To Colman, who has found his bliss. 
 
 My Psalter of illumined leaves, 
 Whose light no darkness e'er can hide 
 To Caisel I for ever leave 
 This potent gift without recall. 
 
 And my wealth I bequeath to the poor, 
 And my sins to the children of curses ; 
 And my dust to the earth whence it rose, 
 And my spirit to Him who has sent it." 
 
 Wo give the details of this disastrous campaign, 
 which resulted in the death of Cormac MacCulinan, in 
 the quaint language of the historian Keating : 
 
 " After this, Cormac, having mustered a large host, 
 
on. viii.] The Danish Period. 245 
 
 and armed himself, and armed Flathbertach (Flaherty), 
 son of Inmanen, marched into the territory of the 
 Leinstermen, and demanded of them to give him hos- 
 tages, and to pay him tribute as king of Minister, upon 
 the grounds that their country (Leinster) formed part 
 of Lea Moha. Now when the host of Munster had 
 come together, and was all collected into one camp, 
 previous to marching upon the intended expedition, 
 it happened that Flathbertach, son of Inmanen, the 
 abbot of Inis-Cathaigh, having mounted upon horse- 
 back, rode through the street of the encampment, and 
 that whilst he was thus engaged, his horse fell beneath 
 him into a deep trench. This was esteemed an un- 
 lucky omen, and its consequence was that a large por- 
 tion both of his own people and of the whole army 
 retired from the expedition, having first proposed the 
 adoption of peaceful measures so unfavourable a prog- 
 nostic did they deem the sudden fall of the holy abbot 
 when he had mounted his steed. 
 
 " Then ambassadors arrived from the Leinstermen, 
 and from Kerball, son of Murighen, charged with pro- 
 posals of peace to King Cormac. These proposals 
 were : first, to have one universal peace maintained 
 throughout Ireland until the following month of May, 
 for it was then the fortnight of the harvest ; and for 
 that end to place hostages in the hands of Maenach 
 son of Siadal, abbot of Disert Diarmada, who was a 
 holy, pious, learned, and wise man ; and, next, to give 
 a large quantity of jewels and valuables to Cormac 
 himself, and also to Flathbertach, son of Inmanen, as 
 a recompense for having assented to such a peace. 
 
24:6 The Irish before the Conquest. [en. vm. 
 
 Cormac was most willing to grant their request ; where- 
 upon he immediately proceeded to acquaint Flathber- 
 tach that these ambassadors had come to him from the 
 king of Leinster, demanding peace until the ensuing 
 month of May, and offering jewels and valuables to 
 them both, from the people of Leinster, provided they 
 would return home in peace to their own country. 
 But when Flathbertach had heard him out, he fell into a 
 violent rage, and he exclaimed, ' How easily seen is the 
 weakness of thy mind, and the littleness of thy intellect 
 and thy spirit !' And after this fashion he then addressed 
 much of abusive and contemptuous language to Cormac. 
 The latter replied to him in the following words : * I 
 know fall well what will be the result of all this, to 
 wit, a battle will be fought with the men of Leinster, 
 in which I shall be slain, and in which it is probable 
 that thou shalt meet thy death likewise.' 
 
 " Having uttered these words, Cormac proceeded, sad 
 and dejected, to his own tent. When he had taken his 
 seat therein, a basket of apples was set before him, 
 which he began to share amongst his attendants, 
 saying, 'My dear friends, I shall never more share 
 any apples amongst you, from this hour forth/ ' Dear 
 lord,' said his people, ' thou hast cast us into sadness 
 and grief. Why art thou thus wont to prophesy evil 
 for thyself ?' ' Believe what I now say, friends of my 
 heart,' said Cormac, l for though I am wont to distri- 
 bute apples amongst you with my own hands, it will 
 be little wonder if some one else in my stead should 
 share them amongst you henceforward.' 
 
 " The war proceeded, and a battle was imminent. 
 
CH. viii.] The Danish Period. 247 
 
 The army of Minister was drawn up in three divisions, 
 under the conmmand of Flaherty, assisted by Kellach, 
 son of the prince of Ossory; Cormac himself; and 
 Cormac son of the prince of the Desi. The warriors 
 were disheartened by reason of the multitude of their 
 enemies, and of the fewness of their own host, for some 
 authors assert that the army of Leinster was four times 
 more numerous than that of Munster. 
 
 " Woful, indeed, was the tumult and clamour of that 
 battle ; for there rose the death- cry of the men of 
 Munster as they fell, and the shouting of the Leinster- 
 men exulting in the slaughter of their foes. There 
 were two reasons why the fight went so suddenly against 
 the Munstermen. The first was because Keilichar, a 
 relative of Kennghegan, a former king of Munster, 
 jumped hastily upon his steed, and as soon as he found 
 himself mounted, cried out, * Flee, O free clans of 
 Munster, flee from this terrible conflict, and let the 
 ecclesiastics fight it out themselves, since they would 
 accept no other condition but that of battle from the 
 people of Leinster !' Having thus spoken, he quitted 
 the field of strife, followed by many of the combatants. 
 The other reason why the men of Leinster were routed 
 was because Kellach, son of Kerball, king of Ossory, 
 when he perceived the carnage that was made amongst 
 his people, jumped likewise with haste upon his steed, 
 and thence addressed his host in these words : * Mount 
 your steeds/ said he, ' and banish these men who stand 
 up against you.' But though he used this language he 
 did not mean to encourage them to drive off their ene- 
 mies by fighting, but he thus let them know that it was 
 
248 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vin. 
 
 time for themselves to run away. The result of these 
 two causes was that the ranks of the men of Munster 
 were broken, and they were put to sudden and general 
 rout. Alas ! great indeed was the carnage that then 
 spread over Magh-n-Ailbi. Neither layman nor eccle- 
 siastic found quarter therein, both were slaughtered 
 indiscriminately ; and if any man of either classjiap- 
 pened to be spared, he owed his life not to the mercy 
 but to the cupidity of the vanquishers, covetous of his 
 ransom. 
 
 " Hereupon Cormac proceeded toward the van of the 
 first division, but his horse fell beneath into a ditch, and 
 he was himself dashed upon the ground. Some of his 
 people, who were running away from the battle, saw him 
 in this position, and they came at once to his relief, 
 and replaced him upon his steed. It was then that 
 Cormac met one of his own pupils, a free-born man, 
 named Aedh, who was distinguished for his proficiency 
 in wisdom, laws, and history, and in the knowledge of 
 the Latin tongue. To him the royal prelate addressed 
 these words : ' Dear son, do not follow me ; but 
 betake thyself hence, as well thou mayest, and re- 
 member that I had said that I should myself be slain 
 in this battle.' 
 
 " Cormac then rode forward, and full of the blood of 
 horses and of men was the way before him ; but the slip- 
 periness of that field of carnage soon caused the feet of his 
 horse to glide from under him, and he reared and fell 
 backwards, crushing his rider beneath him. The neck 
 and back of Cormac were broken in that fall, and he 
 died, saying, * Into thy hands, Lord, I commit my 
 
CH. VIIL] The Danish Period. 249 
 
 spirit ! ' Then some wicked persons came up and 
 pierced his body with their javelins, and cut off his 
 head." 
 
 It is creditable to Flann that, far from insulting 
 his fallen enemy, he honoured the mortal remains of 
 Cormac of Cashel. He took the severed head in his 
 hands and kissed it, severely censuring those who had 
 mutilated the corpse of the prince-bishop. " What 
 heart would not feel saddened at that deed?" writes 
 the old chronicler ; "to wit, the death and mutilation 
 of so sacred a personage, who was the wisest of the 
 men of Ireland in his own day ; a learned scholar in 
 the Gaelic and Latin languages ; an archbishop who 
 was filled with devotion, and sincerity, and prayer, and 
 chastity, and godliness ; the head of doctrine and true 
 philosophy, and good morals, and the chief king of the 
 two pentarchates of Munster ?" 
 
 Flaherty, the warlike ecclesiastic who had been the 
 chief instigator of this campaign, retired to his cell on 
 Scattery Island, and passed some time in penance and 
 retirement ; till summoned himself to fill the throne of 
 Cashel, which he afterwards resigned to Lorcan. 
 
 King Flann, after a long and, on the whole, a pros- 
 perous reign, died A.B. 916. This " pleasant and 
 hospitable " prince rebuilt the cathedral church at 
 Glonmacnoise, one of the chief stone-built edifices of 
 its kind in Ireland at that period. 
 
 Amongst the successors of Cormac on the throne of 
 Munster was the provincial king Callaghan, whose 
 chequered fortunes will now have our notice. It is said 
 that he owed the sovereignty of Munster to the in- 
 
250 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 fluence of his mother, who appealed to the justice of 
 Kennedy, son of Lorcan, reminding him of the law of 
 Ollioll Olum, which gave alternate rule to the tribes 
 of Owen and Cormac Cas. Kennedy resigned his 
 claims, which, at a later period, centered in his son, 
 the great king of Munster, Brian Boru. 
 
 Callaghan waged successful war with the Danes. 
 Their chief, Sitric, sought to repair his losses by 
 stratagem. Tradition tells us that for this purpose 
 he made overtures of peace to Callaghan, offering him 
 the hand of his sister in marriage. The king of 
 Cashel acceded to the proposal, having heard much of 
 the beauty of Bebinn, as the lady was called ; and set 
 forth for Dublin, escorted only by a small body of 
 horsemen, to celebrate the marriage. 
 
 The wife of Sitric inquired of her husband why he 
 proposed this marriage between his sister and his enemy. 
 The treacherous Sitric told her that his design was to 
 secure the person of the king of Cashel. The lady 
 had cherished in secret an attachment for Callaghan, 
 and, alarmed for his safety, she privately set out to 
 meet him, and warn him of the snare laid by her 
 husband. But the warning came too late. When 
 Callaghan endeavoured to retrace his steps he found 
 himself surrounded by foes, placed in ambush along the 
 path he had to traverse, and was led into captivity. 
 
 Kennedy, son of Lorcan, mustered the clans of 
 Munster, and marched to the rescue of the prince. 
 The troops were supported by a fleet, under the 
 command of Falvy Finn, a Kerry chieftain. Cal- 
 laghan had been removed from Dublin to Armagh, 
 
CH. VIIL] The Danish Period. 251 
 
 and thence, when the Minister forces appeared before 
 Armagh, was sent to Dundalk. The Danes placed their 
 prisoner on board ship for security, not anticipating 
 3he arrival of an Irish fleet. Falvy Finn appeared in 
 the Bay of Dundalk, boarded the Danish ship, freed' 
 Callaghan, who was tied to the mast, but sank himself 
 covered with wounds. His brave followers, inspired 
 by his example, and conscious that they should even- 
 tually be outnumbered by the Danes, closed with 
 Sitric and his brothers Tor and Magnus. Each grap- 
 pled with a foe, and sprang with his enemy into the 
 sea. Such was the first liberation of Callaghan of 
 Cashel. 
 
 Callaghan found himself a second time a prisoner, 
 as hostage to Murkertagh, prince of Aileach, under 
 circumstances which we must now narrate. King 
 Flann, in the latter years of his life, had to contend 
 with rebellion in his own family. His sons had been 
 undutiful, but were compelled to submission by Niall 
 " Black-knee," the husband of his daughter Gormley. 
 Niall succeeded Flann as Ard-Eigh, and died, as we 
 have already seen, in battle with the Danes, being himself 
 succeeded, according to the usual course, by Donogh, 
 son of Flann while his own vigorous son, Murkertagh, 
 filled the position of Roydamna, or heir-apparent. 
 
 Murkertagh, surnamed "Pell-Cloak," or of the 
 Leathern Cloaks, in A.D. 941 assembled the northern 
 clans, and, with a thousand selected troops, commenced 
 a circuit of Ireland, from Aileach, accompanied by his 
 bard, whose narrative of the expedition is yet extant. 
 Commencing his journey in winter, he provided his 
 
252 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 troops witli cloaks of leather whence his name as a 
 protection from the inclemency of that season. He 
 " kept his left hand to the sea " till he arrived at Dublin. 
 Thence he led as a hostage Sitric, a Danish lord, and 
 carried off Lorcan, king of Leinster, also. He next 
 proceeded to Cashel, where Callaghan was surrendered 
 to him, not without his own consent, if we interpret 
 aright the lay of Cormacan Eigeas 
 
 We were * * a night at Cashel of Munster ; 
 
 There the great injury was inflicted on the men of Munster : 
 
 There were arrayed against us three battalions brave, 
 
 Impetuous, red, terrible, 
 So that each party confronted the other, 
 In the centre of the great plain. 
 
 We cast our cloaks off us, 
 As became the subjects of a good king ; 
 The comely, the bright Muircheartach was at this time 
 Engaged in playing his chess. 
 The hardy Callaghan said, 
 (And to us it was victory) : 
 " men of Munster ! men of renown ! 
 
 Oppose not the race of Eoghan. 
 Better that I go with them as an hostage 
 Than that we should all be driven to battle ; 
 
 They will kill man for man, 
 The noble people of Muircheartach." 
 We took with us, therefore, Callaghan the just, 
 Who received his due honour, 
 Namely, a ring of fifteen ounces on his hand, 
 And a chain of iron on his stout leg. 
 
 This was harsh treatment for Callaghan, for he 
 was the only hostage who was bound in fetters. Conor, 
 son of the king of Connaught, was also taken to 
 
on. viii.] The Danish Period. 253 
 
 Aileach, and here Murkertagh and his hostages feasted 
 for five months. He then committed them to the 
 custody of the Ard-Eigh. Two years later he fell in 
 battle against the Danes. His son, Donall O'Neill, 
 became Ard-Eigh in 954, and was among the first in 
 Ireland to assume a surname. The prefix Mac implies 
 " son of ;" O, " descendant of." King Donall assumed 
 the name of his grandfather Niall, father of Murkertagh, 
 and from him, in direct descent, were the lords of 
 Tir Owen, closing with Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, who died 
 in Eome, A.D. 1616, and also the younger branch of 
 O'Neills of Clanaboy. 
 
 The Danes, during this period of their domination, 
 were almost universally Pagans, and delighted in 
 exhibiting their contempt for the sacred things of the 
 Christian religion. Thus, it is recorded of Auda, wife 
 of Turgesius, that she made the high altar at Clonmac- 
 noise her seat of state for receiving her courtiers. It 
 is surmised, with some show of probability, that Tur- 
 gesius is the Eegner Lodbrog of Norse tradition ; and 
 the profaner of Clonmacnoise, that Aslauga to whom 
 he addressed one of the stanzas of his Death-song, when 
 about to be cast into the lake which, in the Scandinavian 
 legend, is supposed to be full of serpents : 
 
 " We have fought with our swords hurrah ! 
 
 How our sons would all be storming, 
 Aslauga ! how they'd roar to-day, 
 
 Could they see their sire's deforming ! 
 For, through and through, the serpent blue 
 
 Must gnaw me here, 'mong strangers ; 
 But I've given my sons a mother, who 
 
 Will rear me meet avengers." 
 
254 Tlie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. vm. 
 
 The museums of Denmark are now full of objects of 
 rich and characteristic Celtic workmanship, drawn from 
 the sepulchral tumuli of Jutland and Holstein, many of 
 which were, no doubt, carried off from the shores of 
 Ireland during this period. 
 
CH. ix.j The Daleassian Period. 255 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 THE DALQASSIAN PERIOD. 
 
 MALACHT II., who ascended the throne in 980, in the 
 commencement of his reign exhibited vigour and ability. 
 He defeated the Danes at Tara, and again at Dublin. 
 The attack on the city lasted for three days, and the 
 siege of the castle for twenty days, "so that they 
 (the Danes) drank no water during that time but the 
 brine." He carried thence two thousand hostages, 
 jewels, and other valuables, and freed the country from 
 tribute and taxation from the Shannon to the sea. His 
 proclamation was as follows : " Every one of the 
 Gaeidhil (Gael) who is in the territory of the foreigners, 
 in servitude and bondage, let him go to his own ter- 
 ritory in peace and happiness." It was in these con- 
 tests that Malachy carried off "the collar of gold, 
 which he won from the proud invader." 
 
 Unhappily all the wars of this king were not 
 waged with the foreign foe. A powerful rival to 
 Malachy had appeared in the person of Brian Boru, 
 son of Kennedy, son of Lorcan, of the Daleassian 
 tribe, now rising to great powef- and importance in 
 Munster. Malachy, alarmed and jealous of the Dal- 
 
256 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 Gais,* ravaged Clare, and uprooted the " great tree of 
 Magh Adair," under which the kings of Thomond had 
 been inaugurated from time immemorial. This out- 
 rage did not pass unavenged. 
 
 A long succession of able and vigorous princes, 
 descended from King Niall of the Nine Hostages, had 
 secured for this northern clan the sovereignty of 
 Ireland. They had eclipsed the fame of the Munster 
 families descended from Ollioll Olum. The will of 
 this great ruler of Lea Moha as the southern half 
 of the island was called had vested the succession 
 alternately in the descendants of his sons, Owen and 
 Cormac Cas. At the period at which we have arrived 
 the Dalcassian tribe, representatives of Cormac Cas, 
 were emerging from comparative obscurity, under 
 the leadership of the sons of Kennedy, Mahon and 
 Brian, princes of vigour and genius. 
 
 " There were then governing and ruling that tribe," 
 writes the contemporary chronicler, "two stout, able, 
 valiant pillars two fierce, lacerating, magnificent 
 heroes two gates of battle, two poles of combat, two 
 spreading trees of shelter, two spears of victory and 
 readiness of hospitality and munificence of heart, and 
 strength of friendship and liveliness, the most eminent 
 of the west of Europe, viz., Mathgamhain (Mahon), 
 and Brian, the two sons of Cennidigh, son of Lorcan," 
 &e., &c. 
 
 These chieftains, like Alfred of England with 
 whose story theirs has many points of resemblance 
 were trained in the school of adversity. The Danes 
 
 * Dal-g'Cais, that is, the Tribe of Cas. 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 257 
 
 had firmly riveted their chains on Munster. Limerick 
 and Waterford were strongholds of the hated foreigner. 
 As in England in the time of Alfred, it seemed 
 hopeless to attempt to dislodge the Northmen, "because 
 of the greatness of their achievements, and of their 
 deeds, their bravery, and their valour, their strength, 
 and their venom, and their ferocity ; and because of the 
 excess of their thirst and their hunger for the brave, 
 fruitful, nobly-inhabited, cataract-abounding, rivery, 
 bayey, pure, smooth-plained, sweet-grassy land of 
 Erinn." 
 
 But it was not " honourable to the mind, or to the 
 courage, or to the nature," of the tribe of the Dal Gais, 
 " those animated, high-minded ones, who never brooked 
 injustice or tyranny from any king of the kings of 
 Erinn ; and not only that, but who never gave them 
 pledges or hostages in token of obedience ; to submit 
 of their own accord to cruel slavery from Danars, and 
 from fierce, hard-hearted pirates." Accordingly the 
 Dalcassians, from the fastnesses and forests into which 
 they were driven, ceased not to carry on a guerilla 
 warfare. But the strength of the Northmen became so 
 overpowering, that most of the Munster princes 
 Mahon among the number submitted to the Danish 
 domination. 
 
 It was not so with Brian. " He was not willing to 
 make peace with the foreigners, because, however small 
 the injury he might be able to do to the foreigners, he 
 preferred it to peace.' ... It is not easy to enumerate 
 or tell all that Brian killed of the foreigners of that 
 garrison in twos, and in threes, and in fives, and in 
 
 8 
 
258 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. rx. 
 
 scores, and in hundreds ; or the number of conflicts 
 and combats that he frequently and constantly gave 
 them. Great, on the other hand, were the hardship 
 and the ruin, the bad food and bad bedding which 
 they inflicted on him in the wild huts of the desert, on 
 the hard knotty wet roots of his own native country ; 
 whilst they killed his people and his trusty officers and 
 his comrades sorrowful, dispirited, wretched, unpitied, 
 weary. For historians say that the foreigners cut off 
 his people, so that he had at last no more than fifteen 
 followers." 
 
 His brother, Mahon, became alarmed for Brian's 
 safety. He visited him secretly, and mourned with 
 Brian over the loss of their brave clansmen. Brian, 
 on his side, tenderly reproached Mahon for his sub- 
 mission to the Danes, a subjection which their father, 
 Kennedy, or their grandfather, Lorcan, would never 
 have brooked. The chronicler, who is supposed, with 
 seeming probability, to have been MacLiag, the bard 
 of Brian, thus describes the conference between the 
 brothers, and the decision of the whole clan, on the 
 momentous question submitted to them of peace or 
 war with the powerful foe. 
 
 Mahon said that " he had not the power to meet the 
 foreigners, because of the greatness of their followers, 
 and the number of their army, and the greatness of 
 their champions, and the excellence of their corslets, 
 and of their swords, and their other arms in general. 
 And he said, also, that he would not like to leave the 
 Dal Gais dead in following him, as he (Brian) had left 
 the most of his people." 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 259 
 
 " Brian said that that was not a right thing for him 
 (Mahon) to say, because it was hereditary for him to 
 die, and hereditary for all the Dal Gais ; for their fathers 
 and grandfathers had died, and death was certain to 
 come upon themselves; but it was not natural or 
 hereditary to them to submit to insult or contempt, 
 because their fathers or their grandfathers submitted 
 not to it from any one on earth. He said, also, that it 
 was no honour to their courage to abandon, without 
 battle or conflict, to dark foreigners, and black grim 
 Gentiles, the inheritance which their fathers and grand- 
 fathers had defended in battle and conflicts against the 
 chiefs of the Gaedhil" (Gael). 
 
 "After this, all the Dal Gais were convened to one 
 appointed place before Mathgamhain (Mahon) ; and he 
 asked them what decision they wished to come to, 
 namely, whether they would have peace or war with 
 the foreigners, and with the Danars. Then they all 
 answered, both old and young, that they preferred 
 meeting violent death and destruction and annihila- 
 tion, in defending the freedom of their patrimony, 
 and of their race, rather than submit to the tyranny 
 and oppression of the pirates, or abandon their country 
 and their lands to them. And this was the voice of 
 hundreds, as the voice of one man." 
 
 But before they resumed hostilities, their chief 
 proposed to the Dal Gais to return from their then 
 seats in Clare and Limerick, in which they appear to 
 have been, themselves, invaders, to Cashel, the head- 
 quarters of their race. He said, " that it was better 
 and more righteous to do battle and combat for their 
 
260 The Irish lefore the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 inheritance, and for their native right, than for land 
 acquired by conquest and the sword." 
 
 The Danes of Limerick mustered their forces, with 
 a contingent of the subject Irish of Munster. Their 
 king, Ivar, " whose spite was little short of death to 
 him," determined to extirpate the clansmen of Mahon 
 and Brian, and so to ravage and depopulate the Dal 
 Gais " that there should not be left of them a man to 
 guide a horse's head over a channel, an abbot, or 
 venerable person, who should not be murdered and put 
 to death, or brought under tribute and subjection to the 
 foreigners like all others." 
 
 The warriors of the Dal Gais and the troops of Ivar 
 met at Sulcoit, near the present town of Tipperary, 
 A.D. 968. It was a decisive battle ; " bloody, crimsoned, 
 violent, rough, unsparing, implacable." It lasted from 
 sunrise till mid-day, and resulted in the utter defeat of 
 the Danes. The foreigners " were at length routed, 
 and they fled to the ditches, and to the valleys, and to 
 the solitudes of that great sweet-flowery plain." 
 
 Limerick fell into the hands of the victors. Mahon 
 divided the spoil among his clansmen, " according to 
 persons and rights, according to accomplishments and 
 fair performances, according to bravery and valour." 
 
 We obtain an insight into the wealth and trade of the 
 Danes of Ireland from the enumeration of the spoils of 
 Limerick. " They carried off their jewels and their best 
 property, and their saddles beautiful and foreign ; their 
 gold and their silver ; their beautifully-woven cloth of 
 all colours and of all kinds ; their satins and silken 
 cloth, pleasing and variegated, both scarlet and green, 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 261 
 
 and all sorts of cloth in like manner. They carried 
 away their soft, youthful, bright, matchless girls, their 
 blooming silk- clad young women, and their active, large, 
 and well-formed boys." 
 
 A Gaelic song of triumph, a paean for Mahon, thus 
 concludes : 
 
 " Luimnech (Limerick) was totally ravaged by thee : 
 Thou didst carry away their gold and their silver ; 
 Thou didst plunder their fort at that time ; 
 Thou didst surround it with a wall of fire. 
 
 For Mumhain (Munster) hast thou well contended, 
 Mathgamhain ! thou great chief ! 
 Thou hast given, king, a stern defeat, 
 To banish the foreigners from Erinn. 
 
 King of Mumhain methinks thou art, 
 High king of Caisel (Cashel) renowned : 
 Bestow gold on those who merit, 
 They are many, Mathgamhain !" 
 
 Mahon did not long survive the victory of Sulcoit. 
 He was treacherously murdered by Donovan and Mulloy, 
 sons of the rulers of South Munster, instigated by the 
 Danish king of Limerick. Jealousy of the growing 
 power of Thomond was the actuating motive with these 
 scions of the Eugenian line. Their mode of carrying 
 their treachery into effect was base in the extreme. 
 Donovan invited Mahon to a banquet, and finding that 
 the chieftain of the Dal Gais hesitated to comply, 
 obtained for him a guarantee of safety from the bishop 
 of Cork and others of the Munster clergy. Thus 
 assured, Mahon accepted his invitation. His person 
 
262 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 was seized and delivered up to a body of troops who 
 lay in wait. 
 
 " Mulloy had ordered his people, when they should 
 get Mahon into their hands, to despatch him at once ; 
 and this order was obeyed. A bright and sharp sword 
 was plunged into his heart, and his blood stained 
 St. Barry's Gospel, which he held to his breast to 
 protect himself by its sanctity. When, however, he 
 perceived the naked sword extended to strike him, he 
 cast the gospel in the direction of the clergy, who were 
 on an adjacent hillock, and it struck the breast of one 
 of the priests of Cork; and those who were looking on 
 assert that he sent it the distance of a bow-shot from 
 the one hillock to the other." 
 
 When Mulloy, who was within sight of this tragic 
 scene, observed the flashing of the sword raised to 
 strike the victim, he understood that the bloody deed 
 was done, and mounted his horse to depart. One of 
 the clergy who knew Mulloy, asked him what was to 
 be done. Mulloy replied, with sardonic sneer, " cure 
 that man if he come to thee," and then took his de- 
 parture. The priest became wroth, and, cursing him 
 bitterly, predicted that he would come to an evil end. 
 " Mulloy MacBran was the chief instigator of this deed ; 
 but it were better for him he had not accomplished it, 
 for it afterwards caused him bitter woe and affliction." 
 When the news of it reached Brian and the Dal Gais 
 they were overwhelmed with grief; and Brian vented 
 his grief and rage in an extemporaneous effusion, 
 which the chronicler gives in the form of a poem, 
 lamenting that his brother had not fallen in battle 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 263 
 
 behind the shelter of his shield before he had relied 
 on the treacherous word of Donovan. He concludes 
 thus : 
 
 " My heart will burst within my breast 
 Unless I avenge this great king ; 
 They shall forfeit life for this foul deed, 
 Or I shall perish by a violent death." 
 
 Brian accomplished his revenge. He attacked the 
 Danes of Limerick, and slew their king, Ivar, who had 
 plotted against his brother ; and put Ivar's sons also to 
 the sword. He then turned his victorious arms with like 
 success against Donovan. Mulloy had previously fallen 
 by the hand of Murrogh, eldest son of Brian, in con- 
 flict at the ford of Bealach-Leachta. The young prince 
 desired to avenge with his own hand his uncle Mahon's 
 murder. Brian Boru was now undisputed king of 
 Minister, and fixed his royal seat at Kincora, not far 
 from the falls of the Shannon at Killaloe. 
 
 Brian's personal rivalry with Malachy did not pre- 
 vent his joining the Ard-Eigh with his forces in a 
 campaign against the Danes. The Northmen were 
 defeated at Glen Mama, near Dunlavin, in the county 
 of Wicklow. Afterwards, Malachy and Brian entered 
 Dublin in triumph, spent a week in the Danish capital, 
 burned the fortress, expelled Sitric, and carried off 
 immense spoil, in gold, silver, and prisoners. 
 
 This cordial co-operation with Malachy was not of 
 long continuance. The monarch was gallant, hos- 
 pitable, and joyous in temperament ; a fearless rider, 
 delighting in a mettlesome, unbroken steed; open- 
 
264 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 handed in his generosity, but lacking the statesinan-like 
 qualities which distinguished Brian. This clear-sighted, 
 resolute man had, by the glory of his achievements and 
 the policy of his alliances, undermined the authority 
 of King Malachy. Brian had married, in succession, 
 daughters of the powerful Connaught clans of O'Heyne 
 and O'Connor, and thirdly Gormley, sister of Maelmurra, 
 king of Leinster, who had been previously the wife of 
 Olaf Cuaran, Danish king of Dublin, and was afterwards 
 wife of Malachy II. He had a numerous family, for 
 whom he made alliances which extended his influence. 
 The daughter of Earl Godwin of Kent became the wife 
 of one of his sons. His own daughters were married, 
 one to Sitric " Silk-Beard," son of Gormley by her 
 former husband, Danish king of Dublin, and another 
 to a Scottish prince. His eldest son, Murrogh, was a 
 distinguished man, and father to a promising boy ; and 
 five younger scions gave stability to this branch of the 
 Dalcassian line. 
 
 Brian, deeming himself now strong enough to aspire 
 to the monarchy, soon after the battle of Glen Mama, 
 marched on Tara, at the head of the Munster clans, and 
 challenged Malachy to open battle, or to give hostages 
 in acknowledgment of Brian's supremacy. Malachy, 
 unprepared for resistance, asked a respite of a month, 
 that he might summon the provincial chieftains to his 
 aid, promising at the end of that time either to stake 
 his sovereignty on the event of battle, or to resign it 
 into the hands of Brian. He stipulated that in the 
 interval Brian should not devastate Meath. The 
 Munster king agreed to these terms. 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 265 
 
 Malachy, who was himself a prince of the South Hy- 
 Niall line, sent envoys to the Northern Hy-Niall princes, 
 and to the chieftains of Uladh and of Connaught, sum- 
 moning them to his aid, to fight against Brian. From 
 Aedh O'Neill he received a reply which indicated how 
 little he had to expect at the hands of these princes. 
 " Whenever," said he, " Tara happened to be possessed 
 by the Kinel Owen, they were themselves wont to 
 defend its rights, and sought no other aid : therefore 
 let him who holds it now stand up himself and fight 
 for its freedom as best he may." 
 
 Malachy tried, with no better result, the effect of a 
 personal interview with the proud chief of Aileach. 
 Having besought Aedh in vain, he tempted him by the 
 offer of the sovereignty for himself. 
 
 " If thou wilt not fight in defence of Tara for my 
 sake," said Malachy, " defend it for thine own, and I 
 shall give thee hostages, as sureties for my leaving thee 
 in the quiet possession thereof; for I prefer that thou 
 shouldst hold it, rather than Brian." This was a much 
 more attractive proposition to the selfish Aedh O'Neill. 
 He summoned his clan, and consulted them on the 
 offers made to him by Malachy. But they were not 
 willing to encounter the veterans of Brian. " It was 
 their opinion that it was likely that very many of 
 them would never return from the war, in case they 
 should now march against the Dal Gais. For which 
 reason they declared that it was meet that they should 
 first acquire an inheritance for their children after 
 them. ' Because,' said they, ' it is idle to expect that 
 any possessions or any wealth will ever come to them 
 
2G6 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 from our return to our homes, if we once march against 
 that tribe, namely, the Dal Gais, whose warriors are 
 the hardiest and the bravest upon all battle-fields. 
 Their race has never yet fled before the Lochlannaigh ; 
 and it is as certain that it will not now flee before us.' 
 Upon these grounds they came to the determination 
 of demanding from Malachy the one-half of Meath, 
 together with the district around Tara, for a posses- 
 sion for themselves and their posterity after them, as 
 the reward of their going with him upon the present 
 expedition." This resolve was made known* to the 
 monarch, who was seized with great anger, and 
 forthwith returned home exceedingly indignant and 
 dissatisfied at the result of his visit. 
 
 We are not surprised that the indignant and dis- 
 gusted Ard-Eigh should reject the services of allies 
 who coolly demanded the better part of his patrimony 
 of Meath as the price of their assistance. Better was 
 the open enmity of Brian than such friendly aid. 
 
 Malachy took his resolution. Attended by two 
 hundred and forty horsemen only, he rode to Tara, and 
 without condition, surety, or hostage for his personal 
 safety, entered the presence of Brian. He openly told 
 him of his perplexity and dilemma ; announced that he 
 would have done battle for his crown if he could, but 
 that, not being in a position to fight, he had come to 
 submit himself to his rival. 
 
 Brian was not to be outdone in generous confidence. 
 " As thou hast come thus to my dwelling," he said to 
 Malachy, " without surety or safeguard from me, I now 
 grant thee a further respite of one year, during which 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 267 
 
 time I shall demand neither homage nor hostages at 
 thy hands. And in the meantime I shall pay a personal 
 visit to these northern people, both Aedh O'Neill 
 and Eochy, son of Ardgal, king of Ulidia, in order 
 that I may learn what kind of answer they will make 
 to me. And then, should they give me battle, thou 
 mayest help them against me if thou wilt." 
 
 The year elapsed ; Brian collected his forces ; de- 
 manded hostages from the provincial kings, and from 
 Malachy himself: they were given : the deposed 
 monarcn acknowledged his rival as his sovereign, and 
 Brian Boru became king of all Ireland, A. D. 1002. 
 
 He was an able administrator. Roads, bridges, and 
 other works of public utility, schools, churches, 
 monasteries, sprang up under his fostering care. He 
 loved learning, and encouraged it in others. He 
 sent "professors and masters to teach wisdom and 
 knowledge ; and to buy books beyond the sea." He 
 compelled the submission of the Ulster chieftains, and 
 carried some of them as hostages to Kincora. He 
 visited Armagh, and offered, on the altar of its church, 
 twenty ounces of gold. His name, inscribed in his 
 presence, may yet be read in its venerable manuscript, 
 the Book of Armagh. He made his temporary encamp- 
 ment, while in that neighbourhood, on the rath of 
 Emania. Of the tributes he collected a third part 
 was allotted to "the professors of sciences and arts, 
 and to every one who was most in need of it." His 
 hospitalities at Kincora were unbounded. The tributes 
 of the provinces, which supported these entertainments, 
 consisted annually of 800 cows and 800 hogs, from 
 
268 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 Connauglit ; 300 cows, 300 hogs, and 300 loads of iron, 
 and certain duty-timber, from Leinster ; from Ulster, 
 500 cows, 500 hogs, and 60 loads of iron; while the 
 Danes of Dublin contributed 154 pipes of wine, and 
 the Danes of Limerick 365 pipes of red wine. The 
 southern clans were exempted from all tribute. All 
 his subjects were freed from the galling yoke of slavery ; 
 and the laws were so well administered that the lady 
 " rich and rare " in gems and beauty did not fear to stray, 
 secure that, though " lone and lovely," she might pass 
 through the length and the breadth of the land un- 
 harmed and unmolested. From the time of Brian 
 Boru we may date the common use of surnames. The 
 sept of O'Brien, who are descended from this great 
 king, have many distinguished representatives at the 
 present day. 
 
 It was not to be expected that the Northmen, whose 
 sway in Ireland had been so greatly curtailed by 
 Brian, should acquiesce without a struggle in this loss 
 of prestige. Their race had at this period achieved 
 great successes in England, France, and the islands of 
 Man, the Hebrides, and Orkneys. A Danish dynasty 
 was impending in England. The followers of Eollo 
 were firmly settled in Normandy ; the Lord of 
 the Isles was a powerful ruler. The spark which 
 kindled the flames of war among this combustible 
 material came, we grieve to say, from an Irish hand. 
 Maelmurra, king of Leinster, had received a fancied 
 insult at Kincora, at the hands of Murrogh, son of Brian, 
 who was playing chess. Maelmurra counselled a move, 
 which nettled the prince, who remarked that it was no 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 269 
 
 wonder that the Danes had been beaten at Glen Mama, 
 since they followed the advice of so bad a strategist. 
 " If I did give them counsel which caused their defeat 
 in that conflict," said Maelmurra, " I shall now give 
 them another counsel, whereby, in their turn, they shall 
 defeat you." "Have the yew tree made ready, then, 
 for yourself," rejoined Murrogh, in taunting allusion to 
 Maelmurra's place of concealment, out of which he had 
 himself plucked the king of Leinster after the rout 
 consequent on that battle. Maelmurra's sister Gorm- 
 ley had also previously reproached him for being 
 Brian's vassal, when he sought her aid in replacing a 
 silver button on a gold broidered silken tunic which 
 Brian had given him. The Leinster prince in con- 
 veying three pine-masts to Kincora, had, on the ascent 
 of a boggy mountain, given his personal assistance in 
 moving the timber, and in so doing had wrenched the 
 button from his tunic. Gormley, instead of repairing 
 it, threw the garment into the fire, uttering, as she did 
 so, expressions of disdain at the subserviency of Mael- 
 murra. Stung by these accumulated insults, Maelmurra 
 hastily left Kincora, proclaiming his determination to 
 seek redress in arms. Thus the reproaches of a 
 woman, and the thoughtless pleasantry of a chess- 
 player, kindled the flame of war throughout Ireland. 
 The Leinster chieftain, who had all his life intrigued 
 with the foreigner, recommenced his machinations, 
 and, in obedience to his invitation, a host of northern 
 foes assembled in the Bay of Dublin, to contend for 
 the soil of Erin on the battle-field of Clontarf. Earl 
 Sigurd of the Orkneys, with a formidable fleet, Carl 
 
270 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. rx. 
 
 Canuteson, prince of Denmark, with an array of chosen 
 warriors clad in armour ; Brcdar, a redoubted champion, 
 with levies from the Isle of Man; contingents from 
 Scandinavia all leagued with the treacherous Mael- 
 murra in this last and most terrible struggle of North- 
 man and Gael, of Pagan and Christian, on Irish soil. 
 
 Brian, now an aged man, once more assembled the 
 Dal Gais, and marched on Dublin. The main army 
 rested on the wood, which at that time clothed the 
 bank of the little Eiver Tolka where it empties its 
 waters into Dublin Bay. A detachment had been sent 
 off under command of his son Donogh, to ravage 
 Leinster. With wonderful fidelity, the deposed King 
 Malachy had joined Brian, with the forces of Meath ; 
 Teige O'Kelly, chief of Hy Many, was also present 
 with the Connaught contingent; while the Munster 
 troops, which formed the flower of his army, were 
 under the command of his eldest son, the heroic 
 Murrogh. The arrival of the Hy-Manians was a 
 welcome spectacle. 
 
 " Brian looked out behind him, and beheld the 
 battle phalanx, compact, huge, disciplined, moving in 
 silence, mutely, bravely, haughtily, unitedly, with one 
 mind, traversing the plain towards them, and three- 
 score and ten banners over them, of red, and of yellow, 
 and of green, and of all kinds of colours." It was a 
 proud moment. Great issues hung in the balance. It 
 was sure to be a conflict to the death, for the foes were 
 "valiant, active, fierce-moving, dangerous," and were 
 armed with "heavy, hard-striking, strong, powerful, 
 stout swords." 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 271 
 
 The northern reach of the Bay of Dublin, from the 
 estuary of the Tolka, where at that time stood the 
 Fishing-weir of Clontarf, extending towards the Hill of 
 Howth, washes the crescent-shaped sands which formed 
 one boundary of the battle-field. It is a gently-sloping 
 plain. On the landward side came the army of Brian 
 in three divisions. 
 
 On the shore were drawn up the Danish army, 
 protected by their ships. They also were in three 
 divisions. 
 
 Good Friday, the 23rd of April, 1014, was the 
 eventful day. Brian would gladly have postponed the 
 conflict, unwilling to make that solemn anniversary a 
 day of carnage and strife. But the Danes, inspired by 
 a prediction that on any other day but Friday they 
 would all assuredly perish influenced also by the fact 
 that the king's son Donogh was absent with a large 
 detachment of the Irish army, determined to force on 
 the engagement. The Danish and Leinster forces 
 mustered about 20,000 men. The Irish army under 
 Brian is also estimated at 20,000. The first division of 
 the foreigners consisted of the Danes of Dublin, under 
 Sitric and Dolat and Conmael, with a band of foreign 
 auxiliaries commanded by Carl and Anrud. Of these 
 Northmen one thousand were in complete suits of armour. 
 These were opposed to the first division of the Irish army, 
 consisting of the Dalcassian troops under the command of 
 Murrogh, eldest son of Brian. Turlogh, the young son 
 of Murrogh, though only in his fifteenth year, fought 
 bravely, and died in battle, as became one of his heroic 
 race ; and Teige, Donall, Conor, and Flan, other sons of 
 
272 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 Brian, followed the standard of Murrogh. In this first 
 division, also, were the troops of Meath commanded by 
 Malachy. The discrowned king rallied his forces to 
 the banner of his successful rival. In the sacred cause 
 of country he forgot private animosities and personal 
 wrongs. 
 
 " 'Twas a holy time when the kings, long foemen, 
 Fought, side by side, to uplift the serf ; 
 
 Never triumphed in old time Greek or Roman 
 As Brian and Malachi at Clontarf. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Praise to the king of ninety years 
 
 Who rode round the battle-field, cross in hand ; 
 But the blessing of Eire and grateful tears 
 
 To him who fought under Brian's command ! 
 A crown in heaven for the king who brake, 
 
 To staunch old discords, his royal wand ; 
 Who spurn'd his throne for his people's sake 
 
 Who served a rival and saved the land !" * 
 
 The second division of the Irish army was led by 
 Brian's son-in-law, Kian, King of Desmond. He was 
 as remarkable for his person as for his courage and 
 bravery. Kian " exceeded in stature and beauty all the 
 other men of Erinn." The Eugenian clans of South 
 Munster followed his banner, and found themselves 
 opposed to the men of Leinster, led by the recreant 
 Maelmurra, and aided by a band of Northmen. 
 
 The remaining Scandinavian contingents, principally 
 
 from the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, 
 
 Wales and Britain, Norway and Denmark, composed 
 
 the third division of the foreign army. They were led 
 
 * From Inisfail, by AUBREY DE VERB. 
 
OH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 273 
 
 by the renowned Brodar, and by Sigurd, son of Lodar, 
 the Orkney chief. They were opposed by the third 
 division of the Irish army, comprising the Connaught 
 levies under the leadership of Teige 0' Kelly, Prince of 
 Hy-Many, and Maelruine O'Heyne, Lord of Hy- 
 Fiachra - Aidhne. With these were some of the 
 Munster clans and a contingent from Scotland led by 
 Domnall, Maormor, or High-steward of Mar. Thus it 
 was that the ancestor of the Eoyal Stuarts and the 
 Gael of Alba fought at Clontarf, in aid of their Irish 
 kindred, under the standard of Brian Boru. 
 
 At daybreak on that memorable Friday the aged 
 and devout Brian appeared on horseback his golden- 
 hilted sword in one hand, a crucifix in the other at 
 the head of his troops to cheer and animate his army 
 on the eve of conflict. He reminded them of the cruel 
 ravages of the Northmen; of their desecration of 
 churches and monasteries ; of the tyranny under 
 which they had groaned, and appealed to them as he 
 raised the crucifix aloft, "Was not Christ on this day 
 crucified for you ?" He desired to lead them himself 
 to the conflict, but, mindful of his great age, his people 
 implored of him to abandon the idea, and leave to 
 younger men the brunt of battle. Brian retired to his 
 tent. From thence he watched the struggle : a series 
 of hand-to-hand fights: a determined contest between 
 brave and daring champions, enduring from the time 
 of high water in the morning until high water in the 
 evening. Though attended by fearful loss of life on 
 both sides, the combat was redeemed by heroic deeds 
 of individual bravery and daring and indomitable 
 
274 The Irish before the Conquest, [CH. ix. 
 
 courage. Certainly it was a more noble form of war 
 than the distant carnage of our own times, when a great 
 engagement is decided by artillery almost before the 
 opposing forces have sight of one another. The battle 
 of Clontarf was a series of duels. The first personal 
 encounter was between Plait, a Scandinavian warrior 
 clothed in armour, and Domnall, the High-steward of 
 Mar. They had challenged each other the night before, 
 and on the morning of the battle Plait came forth 
 " from the battalion of the men in armour, and said 
 three times, ' Faras Domhnall ?' that is, ' Where is 
 Domhnall?' Domhnall answered, and said, 'Here, 
 thou reptile,' said he. They fought then, and each of 
 them endeavoured to slaughter the other ; and they fell 
 by each other, and the way that they fell was with the 
 sword of each through the heart of the other, and the 
 hair of each in the clenched hand of the other ; and the 
 combat of that pair was the first of the battle." 
 
 Murrogh, son of Brian, led the van of the Irish 
 army. As the battalions were forming he " looked to 
 one side, and beheld approaching him, on his right 
 side, alone, the heroical, championlike, beautiful, 
 strong, bounding, graceful, erect, impetuous young 
 hero, Dunlang O'Hartigan; and he recognized him, 
 and made three springs to meet him, and he kissed 
 him, and welcomed him; and, *0 youth,' said he, 
 * it is long until thou comest unto us ; and great 
 must be the love and attachment of some woman to 
 thee which has induced thee to abandon me ; and to 
 abandon Brian, and Conaing, and Donnchadh ; and the 
 nobles of Dal Gais in like manner, and the delights of 
 
CH. ix.] The Dalcassian Period. 275 
 
 Erinn until this day.' * Alas, king,' said Dunlang, 
 * the delight that I have abandoned for thee is greater, 
 if thou didst but know it, namely, life without death, 
 without cold, without thirst, without hunger, without 
 decay ; beyond any delight of the delights of the earth 
 to me until the judgment, and heaven after the judg- 
 ment ; and if I had not pledged my word to thee I 
 would not have come here ; and, moreover, it is fated 
 to me to die on the day thou shalt die.' 'Shall I 
 receive death this day, then ?' said Murchadh. ' Thou 
 shalt receive it, indeed,' said Dunlang, * and Brian and 
 Conaing shall receive it, and almost all the nobles of 
 Erinn, and Toirdhelbhach (Turlogh), thy son.' " Dun- 
 lang O'Hartigan had learned this gloomy intelligence 
 from the guardian sprite of the O'Briens. This 
 Banshee Aibhell of Craig Liath had prepared King 
 Brian also to meet his doom. 
 
 Murrogh, though he doubtless shared in the super- 
 stition of his age and this particular form of supersti- 
 tion is not yet extinct in Ireland was in no wise 
 depressed or discouraged. He was prepared to meet 
 his mysterious doom, and was not appalled at death in 
 any aspect. He had cut down successively two Danish 
 standard-bearers, when he encountered the Norwegian 
 leader, Anrud. His right arm was well-nigh power- 
 less from fatigue, but he seized the prince in the grasp 
 of his yet vigorous left hand. He shook him so 
 violently that his armour of mail fell from him as 
 Murrogh hurled him to the earth, and, placing the 
 point of his sword on the prostrate Northman, he 
 stooped over Anrud to bring home the death-wound 
 
276 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 by the weight of his body on his sword-hilt. As 
 Anrud writhed in the agonies of death, he seized the 
 dagger which hung by his foeman's side and buried it 
 in the heart of Murrogh. Thus died the eldest son of 
 King Brian, the chief captain of the Irish in the battle 
 of Clontarf. His young gallant son, Turlogh, was found 
 drowned in the rising waters of the Tolka, impaled on 
 one of the weir-stakes, his hands grasping the locks of 
 two Danes, with whom he had grappled in deadly conflict. 
 
 The Connaught chieftains, too, won the renown of 
 many acts of valour. Teige of Hy-Many, and Maelruine 
 of Hy-Fiachra-Aidhne, both perished on the battle-field, 
 and their gallant clansmen were decimated, though vic- 
 torious. Ere nightfall the Danes were in full retreat, 
 closely pursued by the remnant of the Irish forces. The 
 tent of the king was thus left undefended, and, indeed, 
 unthought of. Here Brian had passed many anxious 
 hours, watching the ever-varying tide of battle, or 
 engaged in prayer. 
 
 While this "spirited, fierce, violent, vengeful, and 
 furious " battle was waging, the aged king, kneeling on 
 his cushion in his tent, asked his attendant what was 
 then the condition of Murrogh's standard. " It is 
 standing," was the reply, " and many of the banners of 
 the Dal Gais are around it ; and many heads are falling 
 around it, and a multitude of trophies and spoils, with 
 heads of foreigners, are along with it." 
 
 Brian resumed his prayers, and then again asked his 
 attendant for tidings of the battalions. " There is not 
 living on earth one who could distinguish one of them 
 from the other. For the greater part of the hosts at 
 
CH. ix.] The Daleassian Period. Ill 
 
 either side are fallen, and those who are alive are so 
 covered with spatterings of the crimson blood head, 
 body, and vesture that a father could not know his son 
 from any other of them, so confounded are they." 
 
 Brian's cushion was again spread for him ; and 
 again, after another interval of prayer, he demands, 
 " How goes it with the battalions ?" " They appear to 
 me," said the attendant, " the same as if the wood of 
 Coil Tomar (the wood along the banks of the Tolka) 
 were on fire, and that seven companies had been 
 hewing away its underwood and its young shoots for 
 a month, leaving its stately trees and its immense oaks 
 standing. In such manner are the armies on either 
 side, after the greater part of them have fallen, leaving 
 a few brave men and valiant heroes only standing. 
 And their further condition (he said) is, that they are 
 wounded and dismembered, and disorganized all around, 
 like the grindings of a mill turning the wrong way ; 
 and the foreigners are now defeated, and the standard 
 of Murrogh has fallen." "Sad is this news," said 
 Brian ; " the honour and valour of Erin fell when that 
 standard fell." 
 
 While Brian and his attendant held this colloquy, 
 a party of the foe, in their retreat, passed by the tent 
 thus deserted and unprotected. They were led by the 
 Viking Brodar, who is described in the Norse Saga as 
 one " who had been a Christian man, and a mass- 
 deacon by consecration, but he had thrown off his faith 
 and become God's dastard, and now worshipped heathen 
 fiends, and he was of all men most skilled in sorcery. 
 He had that coat of mail on which no steel would bite. 
 
278 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. ix. 
 
 He was both tall and strong, and had such long locks 
 that he tucked them under his belt. His hair was 
 black." Such was the man who entered the tent of 
 Brian. Its only occupants were the aged king and his 
 youthful attendant. The monarch had time to grasp 
 his arms ere he fell in conflict. Brodar issued from 
 the tent. He waved aloft his reeking double-headed 
 battle-axe.' "Let man tell man," he exclaimed, " that 
 Brodar felled Brian." 
 
 So died Brian Boru. Of his six gallant sons but two 
 survived Clontarf. On that glorious, but to them 
 fatal battle field, the noblest blood of his clan was 
 freely shed " for the love of fatherland." 
 
 " Long his loss shall Erin weep, 
 
 Ne'er again his likeness see ; 
 Long her strains in sorrow steep, 
 
 Strains of immortality." * 
 
 So sang, in the Norte tongue, even the foes of Brian. 
 
 * From GRAY'S version of The Fatal Sisters, from the 
 Norse Saga of Burnt Nial. 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 279 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE EVE OF THE CONQUEST. 
 
 THE mortal remains of Brian and his son Murrogh 
 were conveyed by the monks of Swords to Armagh, 
 and interred with much pomp in the cathedral of that 
 city. The shattered remnant of his tribe, under the 
 leadership of the hero's son, Donogh, retired towards 
 Munster. On the march Kian, king of Desmond, 
 demanded hostages equivalent to homage from the 
 Dal-Gais, in conformity with that law of Ollioll Olum, 
 which conferred the chieftainship alternately on the 
 Eugenian and Dalcassian tribes. Donogh O'Brien 
 refused ; and the Desmond contingent separated from 
 the remnant of the warriors of Kincora. 
 
 Thus reduced in number, and encumbered by their 
 wounded, the gallant tribe who had borne the brunt of 
 battle at Clontarf, found themselves opposed on their 
 homeward march by the men of Ossory, who took this 
 opportunity of freeing themselves from the galling yoke 
 of subjection imposed on them by Brian Boru. The 
 envoys of Ossory demanded hostages, or battle. 
 
 " A battle he shall have," said Donogh ; " but it is 
 a sad thing that I did not meet with a death like that 
 which my father found, before I suffered the insult of 
 
280 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [CH. x. 
 
 having hostages demanded from me by the son of 
 Gilla-Padraig." He was no less indignant when re- 
 minded of his powerlessness to resist. 
 
 " Were it ever lawful to punish any ambassadors for 
 the purport of the message they conveyed," exclaimed 
 the angry prince, " I would now have had your tongues 
 plucked out of your heads for this present insolence. 
 For though I had but one solitary camp-follower to 
 stand by me, I should never think of refusing to con- 
 tend in battle with the son of Gilla-Padraig, and the 
 men of Ossory." 
 
 He at once prepared for action. One third of his 
 available force was set apart to guard the wounded, 
 and the remainder ranged in order of battle. But 
 when the wounded men heard of this emergency, they 
 implored of Donogh to have stakes thrust into the 
 ground to which they might be tied, with their weapons 
 in their hands. " Let our sons and our kinsmen," they 
 continued, " be stationed by our sides, and let two 
 warriors who are unwounded be placed near each one 
 of us wounded ; for it is thus that we will help one 
 another with truer zeal, because shame will not allow 
 the sound man to leave his position until his wounded 
 and bound comrade can leave it likewise." 
 
 The gallant front which the remnant of Dalcassian 
 warriors thus showed to their ungenerous assailants of 
 Ossory, secured their ultimate safety. So noble a 
 display of courage dismayed their enemies and averted 
 the attack. The men of Leinster and Ossory refused 
 to follow their leaders to the assault. " It is not of 
 marching off, or of running away, or of breaking their 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 281 
 
 ranks, or of yielding to panic," they exclaimed, " that 
 yonder men are thinking, but of doing their utmost to 
 defend themselves by making a firm, obstinate, and 
 hand-to-hand fight. For this reason, we will not now 
 contend with them in battle, for to them life and death 
 are alike indifferent. Not one man of them can be 
 slain until five or six of us have first fallen by his 
 hands. And then, what advantage will result to us 
 from dying in their company ?" 
 
 And so " in want and hardship," the harassed rem- 
 nant of the Dal-Gais continued their march towards 
 their own country. When Donogh O'Brien reached 
 Kincora, but eight hundred and fifty remained of the 
 warriors who had marched under the banner of Murrogh 
 to the victory which had cost them so dear. 
 
 Brian Boru, who had raised his tribe from compara- 
 tive obscurity ; who had compelled all Ireland to receive 
 their supreme monarch from Lea Moha, and not, as 
 heretofore, from Lea Con ; who had set aside, by 
 his vigorous individuality, the claim, which long pre- 
 scription had almost made law, of the descendants of 
 Niall to give kings to Ireland had died in the 
 moment of achieving a victory all-important for his 
 country, but ruinous to his house. The astute, un- 
 scrupulous, ambitious, but patriotic monarch, had risked 
 too much of the O'Brien blood, and too many members 
 of an infant dynasty to the chances of a battle excep- 
 tionally bloody, even in that age of carnage. Yet, before 
 Clontarf, few founders of dynasties could look forward 
 with more reasonable hope of transmitting a secure 
 authority to his descendants. He had asserted that 
 
282 TJw Irish before the Conquest. [OH. x. 
 
 supremacy which his personal qualities justified. He 
 had allayed factions, and triumphed over all opposition. 
 He had ruled wisely and well. He was surrounded by a 
 numerous family. His sons were grown to manhood. 
 His daughters by their marriages had strengthened 
 his alliances. His eldest son Murrogh was himself 
 the father of a son of hopeful promise. He might well 
 believe that a dynasty supported by such princes would 
 bear sway, and give a stability hitherto unknown to 
 Irish political government. No other man had been 
 so successful as he had been in combining the whole 
 people in one national object. He lived late enough 
 into the afternoon of that Friday at Clontarf to see 
 the power of the Northmen in Ireland for ever 
 broken. But the results of his own sagacity and 
 valour, of the ability and bravery of his son Murrogh, 
 of the youthful heroism and gallantry of his grandson 
 Turlogh, were so ordered as to prove ultimately fatal 
 to his family and clan and, it may be added, to the 
 independence of his country also. The example which 
 he set of successful revolt against the central authority, 
 was followed by others, who emulated his ambition 
 without possessing his abilities. Other tribes and 
 families aspired to raise themselves as the O'Briens 
 had done. Prescriptive rights were set aside, and 
 from the battle of Clontarf to the period of the Con- 
 quest 
 
 " The good old rule, the simple plan, 
 That they should take who have the power, 
 And they should keep who can " 
 
 became the general law the right of the strong hand the 
 
OH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 283 
 
 sole appeal. Kings " with opposition" go fresdbhradh, 
 that is, kings whose authority is questioned, opposed, 
 disregarded, are the principal royal personages who 
 from henceforth appear on the scene. 
 
 Malachy II. on the death of Brian reassumed the 
 position which that powerful rival had wrested from 
 him. He followed up the victory at Clontarf, captured 
 Dublin, and broke the power of Maelmurra of Leinster, 
 the Irish ally of the Danes. He died in the odour of 
 sanctity on an island of Lough Ennell, the last king of 
 Irish blood that was indisputably Ard-Kigh of Ireland 
 "the pillar of dignity and nobility of the western 
 world." 
 
 It has been already mentioned that two sons only, of 
 the numerous progeny of Brian, survived the battle of 
 Clontarf. Teige and Donogh contended for the chief- 
 tainship of the Dal-Gais. The former fell in conflict 
 with a neighbouring clan, not without suspicion of foul 
 play on the part of Donogh who now claimed not 
 merely the Munster chieftainship, but the sovereignty 
 left vacant by the death of Malachy. 
 
 Donogh O'Brien was the son of Gormley, that wife 
 of Brian who was sister of Maelmurra, king of 
 Leinster, and who had instigated her brother by her 
 reproaches to take part with the Danes in the alliance 
 which was broken at Clontarf. By her former husband 
 she was the mother of Sitric, the Danish ruler in 
 Dublin. She had also been the wife of Malachy, and 
 the mother of his son Conor. 
 
 Donogh O'Brien had married for his second wife a 
 daughter of Godwin, earl of Kent. When her brother 
 
284 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. x. 
 
 Harold afterwards the last Saxon king of England 
 had to seek an asylum during the reign of Edward the 
 Confessor, he found welcome and protection at the 
 court of Donogh. But the sway of Donogh was recog- 
 nised in Munster and Connaught only. Flaherty 
 O'Neill ruled the northern districts from his fort at 
 Aileach. This prince made a pilgrimage to Rome 
 A.D. 1030, whence his soubriquet " an Trostain," that is, 
 Flaherty " Pilgrim-staff" 
 
 The central districts of the island during this period 
 obeyed the injunctions of Cuan O'Loghan, an eminent 
 poet, and Corcran Claireach, a devout anchorite of 
 Lismore, recalling in some degree the government of 
 the Jews under judges. Meantime a formidable com- 
 petitor for the supreme place assumed the provincial 
 throne of Leinster. Dermid, son of Mael-na-mbo, was 
 the immediate ancestor of the MacMurroghs. He 
 married a granddaughter of King Brian, and became 
 the powerful protector of Turlogh, son of Teige, son 
 of Brian, to whom he stood in the further relation of 
 foster-father. 
 
 Turlogh O'Brien thus became a rival to his uncle 
 Donogh. After many contests and skirmishes Turlogh, 
 aided by Dermid of Leinster, defeated the troops of 
 Donogh, led by his son Murrogh " Short-shield," and 
 compelled Donogh to resign his crown of Munster. 
 
 The deposed king, following the example of Flaherty 
 O'Neill, made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he died. 
 He is said to have carried with him the insignia of 
 royalty, and to have resigned the Irish regalia into the 
 hands of the then pope, Alexander II. 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 285 
 
 We shall not further dwell on the disputed rule of 
 Dermid " of the white teeth, laughing in danger," or 
 of his friend and foster-son, Turlogh, king of Munster, 
 from whom William Eufus obtained the Irish oak which 
 he used for the roofing of one of his great edifices, 
 or of the greater son of Turlogh, Murkertach Mor 
 O'Brien, except to mention a characteristic anecdote 
 told of this prince in connection with William Bufus, 
 but proceed to glance rapidly at the rise of a new 
 family, hitherto unacquainted with sovereign power. 
 The story of the Irish ruler and Bed William is this : 
 It had been reported to Murkertach that the English 
 king, standing on a high rock, and looking towards 
 Ireland, had said, " I will bring hither my ships, and 
 pass over and conquer that land ;" on which the Irish 
 monarch inquired: "Hath the king in his great 
 threatening said, if it please God ?" Then, learning 
 that Eufus had planned the expedition in his own 
 strength only, had rejoined, " I fear him not." 
 
 To proceed with the rise of the O'Conors. The 
 O'Conors of Connaught traced their descent from 
 Eremon, and ruled from Bath Cruachan, the ancient 
 capital of Queen Maev, in Boscommon. Turlogh 
 0' Conor made many hostings into Munster, and in the 
 battle of Moanmore inflicted a signal defeat on the 
 southern clans. Seven thousand of the "defeated and 
 slaughtered " men of Munster are said to have fallen 
 in this engagement ; and many Septs had to lament the 
 loss of both Chief and Tanist* On the side of the 
 victorious O'Conor fought Dermid MacMurrogh, 
 second of the name, afterwards distinguished as 
 
286 The Irish before the Conquest. [CH. x. 
 
 Diarmaid na n'Gall, " Dermid of the Foreigners," the 
 king of Leinster who invited the English invasion. 
 Turlogh O'Conor died A.D. 1156, and was buried 
 beside the altar of Kieran at Clonmacnoise, " a man 
 full of charity, mercy, hospitality, and chivalry." 
 How far this eulogy may be the reward of his gifts 
 to the church we shall not pause to discuss. 
 
 " Great indeed were the legacies which this prince 
 left to the clergy for the repose of his soul, namely, 
 four hundred and forty ounces of gold and forty marks 
 of silver, and all the other valuable treasures he pos- 
 sessed, both cups and precious stones, both steeds, and 
 cattle, and robes, chess-boards, bows, quivers, arrows, 
 equipments, weapons, armour, and utensils. And he 
 himself pointed out the manner in which its particular 
 portion thereof should be distributed to each church, 
 according to its rank and order." 
 
 At this period piety and devotion were still rife 
 among the Irish princes and persons of distinction; 
 but ecclesiastical government and discipline were at 
 a low ebb. The ravages of the Danes had struck the 
 first blow at her seminaries of sacred learning. The 
 turbulent and lawless times which succeeded, were not 
 favourable to the systematic observance of religion. 
 The very isolation and independence of the Irish 
 church permitted its adoption of practices inconsistent 
 with ecclesiastical discipline. A desire for refor- 
 mation and closer communion with Rome sprang up, 
 as a natural consequence, in the minds of her leading 
 ecclesiastics. Synods with this view were held early in 
 the twelfth century, under the auspices of Celsus, arch- 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 287 
 
 bishop of Armagh, and Gillibert, bishop of Limerick. But 
 a greater reformer was yet to arise in the person of 
 Malachy O'Morgair, better known as St. Malachy, 
 afterwards archbishop of Armagh, and appointed by 
 Pope Innocent II. his legate in Ireland. On the 
 occasion of a visit made by him to Eome, A.D. 1139, 
 the pope " often and attentively inquired of him, 
 and of those who were with him, concerning the state 
 of their country, the habits of the people, the con- 
 dition of the churches, and the great things which 
 God had wrought by his means in his native land." 
 On his answers probably were grounded some of the 
 censures of which the Irish people soon after became 
 the objects. 
 
 Malachy, like other Irish saints, has been happy in 
 his biographer. His life has been written by his 
 friend St. Bernard, in whose arms he expired while 
 on a visit at Clairvaux, on the 2nd of November, 
 1148. He was the introducer of the Cistercian order 
 of monks into Ireland. Their first foundation, the 
 abbey of Mellifont, near Drogheda, bears date A.D. 
 1142. 
 
 We are now on the threshold of the English inva- 
 sion. In 1154, two years before the death of King 
 Turlogh O'Conor, Nicholas Breakspere, an Englishman, 
 ascended the papal chair. No other Englishman, 
 before or since, has ever worn the triple tiara. In the 
 same year Henry Plantagenet ascended the throne of 
 England. Pope Adrian IV., for such was the new 
 pontiff's title, was naturally disposed to gratify the 
 English king, and in his celebrated bull authorised 
 
288 The Irish he/ore the Conquest. [OH. x. 
 
 King Henry II. to invade and conquer Ireland. We 
 give this remarkable document in extenso. 
 
 " Adrian, the bishop, a servant of the servants of 
 God, to his dearest son in Christ Jesus, the illustrious 
 king of England, sends greeting and apostolical bene- 
 diction. The desire your magnificence expresses to 
 extend your glory upon earth, and to lay up for your- 
 self in heaven a great reward of eternal happiness, is 
 very laudable and profitable for you, while, as a good 
 Catholic prince, you endeavour to enlarge the bounds 
 of the church, to declare the true Christian faith to 
 ignorant and barbarous nations, and to extirpate all 
 evil from the field of the Lord ; which the better to 
 perform, you ask the advice and encouragement of the 
 apostolical see. In the accomplishment of this work 
 wo trust you will have, by the assistance of God, a 
 success proportioned to the depth of counsel and dis- 
 cretion with which you shall proceed; forasmuch as 
 everything which takes its rise from the ardour of faith 
 and love of religion is most likely to come to a good 
 and happy end. There is, indeed, no doubt that (as 
 you yourself acknowledge) Ireland, and all other islands 
 which Christ the Sun of Righteousness has illuminated, 
 and which have received the doctrines of the Christian 
 faith, belong of right to the jurisdiction of St. Peter 
 and the most holy Roman Church ; wherefore we more 
 gladly sow in them the seed of faith, which is good and 
 agreeable to God, as we know that it will be more 
 strictly required of our conscience not to neglect it. 
 Since, then, you have signified to us, most dear son in 
 
CH. x.] TJie eve of the Conquest. 289 
 
 Christ, that you desire to enter into the island of 
 Ireland, in order to subdue the people to the obedience 
 of laws, and extirpate the vices which have there taken 
 root, and that you are also willing to pay an annual 
 pension to St. Peter of one penny from every house 
 therein, and to preserve the rights of the church in 
 that land inviolate and entire, we, seconding your pious 
 and commendable intention with the favour it deserves, 
 and granting a benignant assent to your petition, are 
 well pleased that, for the enlargement of the bounds 
 of the church for the restraint of vice the correction 
 of evil manners the culture of all virtues, and the 
 advancement of the Christian religion, you should 
 enter into that island, and effect what will conduce to 
 the salvation thereof, and to the honour of God. It is 
 likewise our desire that the people of that country 
 should receive you with honour, and venerate you as 
 their master: provided always that the ecclesiastical 
 rights therein remain inviolate and entire, and reserv- 
 ing to St. Peter and the most holy Roman Church the 
 annual pension of a penny from every house. If, there- 
 fore, you think fit to put your design in execution, 
 endeavour studiously to instruct that nation in good 
 morals, and do your utmost, as well personally as by 
 others whom you know from their faith, doctrine, and 
 course of life to be fit for such a work, that the church 
 may there be adorned, the Christian religion planted 
 and made to grow, and whatsoever appertains to the 
 honour of God and the salvation of souls so ordered, 
 as may entitle you to an eternal reward from God, and 
 a glorious name upon earth." 
 
 u 
 
290 The Irish before the Conquest. [OH. x. 
 
 King Henry, after receiving this authorisation, held 
 a parliament at Winchester, A.D. 1155, "in which he 
 treated with his nobles concerning the conquest of 
 Ireland : but because the thing was opposed to the 
 wishes of his mother, the empress, that expedition was 
 put off till another time." 
 
 The project thus deferred was not forgotten. Henry 
 had solicited the grant in order that he might bestow 
 an inheritance on his younger brother, who had been 
 inadequately provided for by their father's will. His 
 own domestic troubles, the complications in which his 
 quarrel with Thomas-a-Becket involved him, and 
 other reasons, might have caused the bull of Pope 
 Adrian to remain a dead letter. Events, however, 
 gave a new stimulus to the enterprise. 
 
 Dervorgilla, the wife of O'Ruarc, lord of Breffhy, 
 had been carried off by Dermid MacMurrogh, king of 
 Leinster. The abduction, it is said, had been planned 
 by the lady, between whom and Dermid an old 
 attachment had existed. The lovers were at this time 
 of mature age Dervorgilla in her forty-fourth year, 
 and Dermid some years older. King Turlogh O'Conor, 
 and, at a later period, his son Eoderic, avenged the 
 wrongs of O'Euarc : Dermid was dispossessed of his 
 territory and driven into exile; while the faithless 
 Dervorgilla sought to atone for her guilt, where her 
 past munificence had prepared for her a reception, in 
 the monastic seclusion of Mellifont. 
 
 The discomfited prince sought the presence of 
 King Henry II., who was at that time in France, but 
 so engrossed by his affairs there, and in England, that 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 291 
 
 he was unable to avail himself of the opportunity 
 which the appeal of Dermid presented. Yet he listened 
 with a ready and gracious ear to his representations ; 
 and although declining himself to take up his quarrel, 
 received his homage, and gave him his letters of aid. 
 
 " Henry, king of England, duke of Normandy and 
 Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou," so the letters ran by 
 which he authorized Dermid to seek for aid in Britain, 
 "to all his liegemen, English, Norman, Welsh, and 
 Scotch, and to all other nations under his dominion, 
 sends greeting. As soon as the present letters shall 
 come to your hands, know that Dermid, prince of 
 Leinster, has been received into the bosom of our 
 grace and benevolence. Wherefore, whosoever within 
 the ample extent of our territories shall be willing to 
 lend aid towards the restoration of this prince, as our 
 faithful and liege subject, let such person know that 
 we do hereby grant to him, for said purpose, our 
 licence and favour." 
 
 Thus accredited, Dermid found no difficulty in pro- 
 curing auxiliary aid. The promise of the hand in marriage 
 of his daughter Eva, with the reversion of the crown 
 of Leinster at his death, as her portion, secured him 
 the alliance of Richard De Clare, earl of Pembroke and 
 Strigul, better known by his pseudonym of " Strongbow." 
 Eound the banner of this noble and daring adventurer 
 flocked his kinsmen, the sons and other near connections 
 of the beautiful Nesta, daughter of the Welsh prince, 
 Ehys ap Tudor. 
 
 This fairest woman of her day was the mother, by 
 King Henry I., of Eobert Fitz Eoy, who, as earl of 
 
292 TJie Irish before the Conquest. [OH. x. 
 
 Gloucester, is distinguished in English history during the 
 war of succession between his sister, the Empress Maud, 
 and Stephen of Blois ; she also bore to this King, Henry 
 Fitz Henry the parent of Meyler Fitz Henry, who 
 played so prominent a part in Irish affairs and, by a 
 subsequent marriage, was the mother of Fitz Gerald, 
 the progenitor of the Geraldines, that princely race 
 whose representatives, both of the Kildare and Desmond 
 branches, fill so eminent a place, even to the present 
 time, in Irish history. By a yet subsequent marriage, 
 Nesta was the mother of another leader in the conquest 
 of Ireland, Eobert Fitz Stephen ; while from her 
 daughters sprang the families of De Barri, and Fitz 
 Bernard. Gerald De Barri, better known as Giraldus 
 Cambrensis, to whose " Topography " and " Conquest " 
 of Ireland, we owe so much of our information touching 
 this period, was grandson of the same Nesta. He was 
 tutor of Prince John ; was an able, energetic, and learned 
 man, but one animated, as might be expected from his 
 near relationship with the conquerors, by a strong 
 spirit of hostility against the native Irish. 
 
 Such were the men by whose aid Dennid, for the 
 brief remnant of his life, was enabled to return to his 
 patrimony. He died A.D. 1171, according to the Irish 
 chroniclers, " as his evil deeds deserved." He has been 
 thus described by Cambrensis : 
 
 " This Dermicius was a man of tall stature and 
 large frame, warlike and daring among his nation, and 
 of hoarse voice, by reason of his frequent and con- 
 tinuous shouting in battle. He desired to be feared 
 rather than to be loved ; he oppressed the noble and 
 
CH. x.] The eve of the Conquest. 293 
 
 elevated the lowly ; he was the enemy of his country- 
 men ; he was hated by strangers. The hand of all men 
 was against him, and his hand was against all." 
 
 On the great event which was now impending, long 
 designed and ultimately precipitated by the reckless 
 selfishness of this too famous personage, it is not the 
 intention of the writer here to enter. The historian 
 of the Conquest, and of the ages which have since 
 elapsed, may have to regret the rough and tedious 
 process of transition through which the country was 
 now destined to begin its passage ; but it will always 
 be a satisfactory reflection that amongst its results has 
 been our admission to a larger sphere of civilization, to 
 a share in many peaceful as well as warlike glories, 
 and to the general use of that noble language in which 
 all the gains of science and all the highest utterances 
 of modern poetry and philosophy have found a worthy 
 expression. 
 
294 The Irish before the Conquest. 
 
 NOTE ON THE SOURCES AND NOMENCLATURE. 
 
 THE Sources from which the material of this volume has been 
 extracted are, to some extent, in manuscript, and hitherto 
 unpublished. Of these the principal are 
 
 'Curry's Translation of the Tain-bo- Cuailgne, with its 
 " Pre-Tales," comprising the " Boy-Feats" of Cuchullin ; for 
 the perusal of which, and liberty to use the extracts in the 
 text, the author is indebted to the liberal kindness of the 
 Right Reverend CHARLES GRAVES, Lord Bishop of Limerick ; 
 and of the Rev. JAMES HENTHORNE TODD, D.D., and 
 J. T. GILBERT, Esq., Secretaries of the Irish Archaeological 
 and Celtic Society. 
 
 Extract from the " Talland Etair" or Siege of Howth, 
 translated from the Tract in the Book of Leinster, and kindly 
 placed at the author's disposal by WILLIAM M. HENNESSY, 
 Esq., M.R.I.A. 
 
 Collections for the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, deposited 
 in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. 
 
 With these exceptions, the sources are all accessible to the 
 English reader in published translations from the Irish and 
 Latin of the original works. From the dates mentioned 
 below, it will be seen that these aids to the modern student 
 have all, save one, been furnished since the first great stimulus 
 to the study of Irish history and antiquities was given by the 
 project for an Ordnance Survey Memoir of Ireland, about 
 thirty years ago. The Irish story is no longer a sealed book ; 
 but, to select material for a volume reasonably likely to attract 
 
Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. 295 
 
 a general interest still requires a considerable range of study. 
 The translated and other works which have been principally 
 used by the author are 
 
 Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland. By J. J. A. WORSAAE, For. F.S.A. London ; 
 a Royal Commissioner for the Preservation of the National 
 Monuments of Denmark, &c., &c. London, 1852. 
 
 Account of the Tribes and Customs of the District of Hy- 
 Many, commonly called (? Kelly's Country ', in the Counties of 
 Galway and Roscommon. Edited from the Book of Lecan in 
 the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, in the original Irish ; 
 with a Translation and Notes, and a Map of Hy-Many. By 
 JOHN O'DONOVAN, LL.D. Published for the Irish Archaeo- 
 logical Society. Dublin, 1843. 
 
 Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of 
 Ireland. By the Four Masters. From the earliest period 
 to the year 1616. Edited from MSS. in the Library of the 
 Royal Irish Academy and of Trinity College, Dublin, with a 
 Translation and copious Notes, by JOHN O'DONOVAN, Esq., 
 M.R.I. A., Barrister-at-Law. Dublin : Hodges and Smith, 
 1851. 
 
 Oath Muighi Rath. The Battle of Magh Rath : from an 
 ancient MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. 
 Edited in the original Irish, with a Translation and Notes, by 
 JOHN O'DONOVAN, LL.D. Published for the Irish Archaeo- 
 logical Society, Dublin, 1842. 
 
 Circuit of Ireland, by Muircheartach MacNeill, Prince of 
 Aileach; a Poem written in the year 942 by Cormacan 
 Eigeas, Chief Poet of the North of Ireland. Edited, with a 
 Translation and Notes, and a Map of the Circuit, by JOHN 
 O'DONOVAN, LL.D., M.R.I.A. Published by the Irish Archa}- 
 ological Society. Dublin, 1841. 
 
 Cogadh Oaedhil re Gallaibh. The War of the Gaedhil 
 with the Gaill ; or the Invasions of Ireland by the Danes and 
 other Norsemen. The original Irish text, edited with Transla- 
 tion and Introduction, by JAMES HENTHOKNE TODD, D.D., 
 M.R.I.A., F.S.A., &c. Published by the authority of the 
 
296 The Irish before the Conquest. 
 
 Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, under the 
 direction of the Master of the Rolls. London, 1867. In the 
 series of the Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and 
 Ireland during the Middle Ages, or Rerum Britannicarum 
 Medicevi Scriptores. 
 
 Columba {Life of Saint}. By Adamnan, ninth Abbot of 
 Hy (or lona). The Latin text taken from a MS. of the early 
 part of the eighth century, preserved at Schaffhausen ; with 
 various readings, illustrated by copious Notes and Disserta- 
 tions. By the Rev. WILLIAM REEVES, D.D., M.B., V.P.R.I.A. 
 With Maps and coloured Facsimiles of the MSS. Published 
 for the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, 1857. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore. 
 Consisting of a taxation of those Dioceses compiled in the 
 year 1306. With Notes and Illustrations by the Rev. 
 WILLIAM REEVES, M.B., M.R.I.A. Dublin, 1847. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, anterior to the 
 Anglo-Norman Invasion. Comprising an Essay on the origin 
 and uses of the Round Towers of Ireland. By GEORGE 
 PETBIE, R.H.A., V.P.R.I.A., &c. Transactions of the Royal 
 Irish Academy, vol. 20. Dublin, 1845. 
 
 Foras Feasa Ar Eirinn. The History of Ireland from the 
 earliest period to the English Invasion. By the Rev. GEOFFREY 
 KEATING, D.D. Translated from the original Gaelic, and 
 copiously annotated by JOHN O'MAHONY. New York : P. M. 
 Haverty, 1857. 
 
 Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of the District of Hy- 
 Fiachrach, commonly called O'Dowda's Country. Edited 
 from the Book of Lecan, in the Library of the Royal Irish 
 Academy ; and from a copy of the MacFirbis MS., in the 
 possession of the Earl of Roden. With a Translation and 
 Notes, and a Map of Hy-Fiachrach. By JOHN O'DONOVAN, 
 LL.D. Published for the Irish Archaeological Society, 1844. 
 
 History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. By GEORGE PETRIE, 
 Esq. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 18, 
 part 2. Dublin, 1839. 
 
 Imtheacht na Tromdhaimhe. Proceedings of the Great 
 
Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. 297 
 
 Bardic Institution. Edited by Professor CONNELLAN. Ossianic 
 Society. O'Daly : Dublin, 1860. 
 
 Laoithe Fiannuiglieachta ; or Fenian Poems. Edited by 
 JOHN O'DALY. Published by the Ossianic Society. Dublin, 
 1841. 
 
 Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of 'Ancient Irish 
 History. Delivered in the Catholic University of Ireland 
 during the sessions of 1855 and 1856. By EUGENE O'CuRRY, 
 M.R.I. A. ; Professor of Irish History and Archeology in the 
 Catholic University of Ireland ; Corresponding Member of the 
 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, &c. Dublin : Duffy, 1861. 
 
 Nennius (The Irish version of the Historia Britonum of). 
 Edited with a Translation and Notes by JAMES HENTHORNE 
 TODD, D.D., M.R.I.A. ; Fellow of Trinity College, &c. The 
 Introduction and Additional Notes by the Hon. ALGERNON 
 HERBERT. Published for the Irish ArchEeological Society. 
 Dublin, 1848. 
 
 Primer of the History of the Holy Catholic Church, in 
 Ireland. By ROBERT KING, A.B. Dublin : McGlashan, 1851. 
 
 Saint Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. A Memoir of his Life 
 and Mission. With an Introductory Dissertation on some 
 early usages of the Church in Ireland, and its historical 
 position from the establishment of the English Colony to the 
 present day. By JAMES HENTHORNE TODD, D.D., &c. Dublin, 
 1864. 
 
 Senchus Mor. Introduction to Senchus Mor and Athgdbail ; 
 or Law of Distress as contained in the Harleian MSS. Pub- 
 lished under direction of the Commissioners for publishing 
 the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland, vol. 1. Hodges 
 and Smith, Dublin : Longmans, London, 1865. 
 
 Toruigheacht Dhiarmuda ui Dhuibhne agus Ghrainne 
 inghion Cuormuic mheic Airt : or an account of the Pursuit 
 of Diarmiud O'Duibhne and Grace, the daughter of Cormac 
 MacAirt. Edited by STANDISH HAYES O'GRADY, Esq. Pub- 
 lished for the Ossianic Society. Dublin, 1857. 
 
 Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society. Dublin, 1806. 
 With respect to the Nomenclature, the author has en- 
 
298 The Irish before the Conquest. 
 
 deavoured to present the names of persons in a guise as little 
 repellent as possible to the eye of the English reader. Their 
 strangeness, their want of association with anything previously 
 known, and their singular difficulty of pronunciation, con- 
 stitute, in truth, a very great obstacle to any popular treatment 
 of the subject. It would seem as if, in primitive times, when 
 men were sparing of their words, they thought to give in- 
 creased consideration to all they uttered, and specially to the 
 names of individuals, by magnifying the forms of expression. 
 In more modern times, men have had more to say, and seem to 
 have studied how best to abbreviate and smooth down the old 
 stately but cumbrous forms of expression. This has been 
 notably the case in the old Irish proper names. Thus Con- 
 cobar has been shortened and softened into Conor ; Toirdeal- 
 bach into Turlogh ; Flathbeartac into Flaherty ; and so with 
 almost all the longer and more high-sounding names of 
 persons. To mark this process of softening, the writers of 
 the names have everywhere introduced the letter h as the 
 sign of aspiration, or "breathing-over," of the slurred 
 consonants. Hence a new feature of very repulsive aspect 
 to eyes unaccustomed to Irish-written texts. Under this 
 process, we have the original sharply- defined names pre- 
 sented in the guise, Conchobhar ; Toirdhealbhach ; Flatli- 
 bheartach. In the endeavour to avoid these awkwardnesses, 
 different writers have resorted to different compromises 
 between the sound and the spelling. Thus has arisen that 
 perplexing variety of forms in which the same name is 
 presented by different authorities. Thus, O'Kearney, the 
 oldest translator of Keating, gives the name Conchuvar; 
 O'Mahony, Concdbar ; MacGeoghegan, Conquovar ; and others, 
 Connogher, Cnogher, Connor, and Conor, which last form has 
 been here adopted from O'Curry. To lay down any other 
 than an empirical rule of orthography in such a case seems 
 hardly practicable. What has been here deemed the least 
 objectionable course is, to adhere to whatever form of spelling 
 best indicates the sound to the English-educated eye. In some 
 cases this orthography coincides with the Irish, in others it 
 
Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. 299 
 
 departs considerably from it. A list of the latter, and nmch 
 larger, class of names is subjoined, from which the reader, 
 whose curiosity may be sufficiently attracted to the subject, 
 will be able to see the authentic forms of such proper names 
 as have been adapted to English eyes in the text. Amongst 
 these will be found a few names of places. But the topo- 
 graphical names in the Celtic dialects are usually as simple 
 and easy of pronunciation as they are expressive, and, to 
 use the words of an able English critic, full of " a penetrating 
 and lofty beauty." In the process of adapting both classes of 
 names to the rapid and careless modes of utterance of modern 
 times, and among a depressed race, a great degradation is ap- 
 parent, and many names at present esteemed the most vulgar, 
 are found, in their original forms, lofty and significant of noble 
 qualities. 
 
 ^Engus Aenghus. 
 
 Armagh Ard-Macha. 
 
 ' Awley Amhalghaidh. 
 
 >r Beannchair. 
 
 Barrow Bearbha. 
 
 Breffny Breifne. 
 
 Brian Bora .... Brian Borumha. 
 
 Burrisoole Burgeis Ui Mhaile. 
 
 Callaghan Ceattachan. 
 
 Carbre Lificar .... Cairbre Liffeachar. 
 
 Cashel Caiseal. 
 
 Clannaboy Clann-Aodha-bhuidhe. 
 
 Clonmacnois .... Cluain-mic-Nois. 
 
 Clontarf. Cluain-tarbh. 
 
 Conari Conaire. 
 
 Connaught Connacht. 
 
 Conor Conchobhar. 
 
 Cong Cunga-Feichin. 
 
 Cova Cobhthach. 
 
300 The Irish before the Conquest. 
 
 Creeve Roe .... Cradbh Ruaidh. 
 
 Crififan Crimthann. 
 
 Cruthne Cruithnigh. 
 
 Cuchullin Cuchullain. 
 
 Cucongelt Cuchoingealt. 
 
 Culinan Cuileanan. 
 
 Dalcassians .... Dal-g'Cais. 
 
 Dermid Mac Kervil. . Diarmaid Mac Cearlhaill. 
 
 Derry Doire-Chalgaigh. 
 
 Dervorgilla .... Dearbhf&rgaitt. 
 
 Devenish Daimh-Inis. 
 
 Disert Diarmada . . . Diseart Diarmada. 
 
 Dodder Dothair. 
 
 Donall Domhnall. 
 
 Donogh Donnchadh. 
 
 Donovan Donnabhan. 
 
 Drumceat Druimceta. 
 
 Drumcliff Druim-cliabh. 
 
 Dundelgan Dun-Dealgan. 
 
 Dunnascaith .... Dun-na-sgiath. 
 
 Durrow Dearmhagh. 
 
 Eochy Eochaidh. 
 
 Eochy Felia .... Eochaidh Feidhleach. 
 
 Eugenians Eoganacht. 
 
 Falvy Failbhe. 
 
 Fathna Fachtna. 
 
 Felemy Feidhlimidh. 
 
 Ferns Fearna-mor-Maedhoig. 
 
 Flaherty . . ... Flaithbheartach. 
 
 Fola Fodhla. 
 
 Fore Fobhar Feichin. 
 
 Gael Gaeidhel 
 
 Gormley Q-ormfhlaith. 
 
 Gowanree . . , Oamhanraidhe. 
 
Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. 301 
 
 Inishowen Inis-Eoghain. 
 
 Kennedy Cenneidigh. 
 
 Kevin Caemhghen. 
 
 Kildare Cill-dara. 
 
 Kirabay Cimbaeth. 
 
 Kincora . . . . . Ceann-coradh. 
 
 Kinel Owen .... Cinel-Eoghain. 
 
 Kenfalla Cennfaeladh. 
 
 Lavra Labhradh. 
 
 Lea Con Leath Cuinn. 
 
 Lea Moha LeatJi Mogha. 
 
 Leary Laoghaire. 
 
 Leix LaoigMs. 
 
 Leinster Laighin. 
 
 Lough Foyle .... Loch-Febhail. 
 
 Lough Corrib . . . Loch-Oirbsean. 
 
 Maelcova Maelcobha. 
 
 Maelmurra Maelmordha, 
 
 Maev MedJibh. 
 
 Mahon MatligTmmhain. 
 
 Malachy MaelseaMainn. 
 
 Malodar Maelodhar. 
 
 Moh Nuad Mogh Nuadhat. 
 
 Molaise Molaisi. 
 
 Mourne Mughdhwna. 
 
 Moville Magh-bhile. 
 
 Moy Lena . . . . . Magh Leana. 
 
 Moy Mucriv^ .... Magh Mucruimhe. 
 
 Moynalty Magh-n-ecdta. 
 
 Moyrath Magh-rath. 
 
 Moy Slaght .... Magh-sleacht. 
 
 Moytur^ Magh-Tuireadh. 
 
 Mulloy Maelmhuaidh. 
 
 Munster Mumha. 
 
302 The Irish before the Conquest. 
 
 Murkertach .... Muircheartach. 
 
 Murrogh Muireadkach. 
 
 Murthevne' Muirtheimhne. 
 
 O'Conor Ua Conchdbair. 
 
 O'Hartigan .... Uatt-Artagain. 
 
 O'Heyne Uah'-Eidhin. 
 
 Olav Fola Ollamh Fodhla. 
 
 O'Rafferty Ua Eobhartaigh. 
 
 Oran Odhran. 
 
 O'Shaughnessy . . . Ua Seachnasaigh. 
 
 Orgiall Oirghiall. 
 
 Owen Eoghan. 
 
 Raphoe fiathbhoth. 
 
 Roderick Euaidhri. 
 
 Roy Eoigh. 
 
 Rury Euaidhri. 
 
 Sancan Senchan. 
 
 Saul Sabhall Padraig. 
 
 Scoti Scuit, 
 
 Slange* Slainge. 
 
 Sletty Sleibhte. 
 
 Slewen Slemhain. 
 
 Slieve Fuad .... Sliabh Fuaid. 
 
 Sligo Sligech. 
 
 Solve Sadhbh. 
 
 Sulcoit Sulchoid. 
 
 Sweeny Suibhne. 
 
 Swords Sord-Choluim-chille. 
 
 Tailti ...... Tailten. 
 
 Tara Teamhair. 
 
 Teige Tadhg. 
 
 Thomond . Tuathmhumha. 
 
Note on the Sources and Nomenclature. 303 
 
 Tiernmas TigTiearnmas. 
 
 Tirera Tir Fhiachrach. 
 
 Tolka Tulcan. 
 
 Turlogh Toirdhealbhach. 
 
 Tyrone Tir Eoghain. 
 
 Ulster Uladh. 
 
 Umor Uathmor. 
 
 S. F. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON : PRINTED BT W1L1JAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD 
 AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
509961 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY