A Reading Book in Irish History Part 1

A Reading Book in Irish History.

by P. W. Joyce.

PREFACE.

As this little book is intended chiefly for children, the language is very simple. But to make matters still easier, all words and allusions presenting the smallest difficulty are explained either in footnotes or in the "Notes and Explanations" at the end.

Advantage has been taken of the descriptions under the several Ill.u.s.trations to give a good deal of information on the customs and usages of the ancient Irish people.

Although the book has been written for children, it will be found, I hope, sufficiently interesting and instructive for the perusal of older persons.

The book, as will be seen, contains a mixture of Irish History, Biography, and Romance; and most of the pieces appear in their present form now for the first time. A knowledge of the History of the country is conveyed, partly in special Historical Sketches, partly in the Notes under the Ill.u.s.trations, and partly through the Biography of important personages, who flourished at various periods from St. Brigit down to the Great Earl of Kildare. And besides this, the Stories, like those of all other ancient nations, teach History of another kind, very important in its own way.

Ancient Irish Ma.n.u.script books contain great numbers of Historical and Romantic Tales; and the specimens given here in translation will, I am confident, give the reader a very favourable impression of old Irish writings of this cla.s.s.

I make the following acknowledgments of a.s.sistance, with pleasure and thanks:--

To the Council of the Royal Irish Academy I am indebted for the use of the blocks of many Ill.u.s.trations in Wilde's "Catalogue of Irish Antiquities."

I owe to the Council of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland several Ill.u.s.trations from their Journal.

Colonel Wood-Martin has given me the use of the blocks of several of the Ill.u.s.trations in his "Pagan Ireland."

Lord Walter FitzGerald has given me permission to reproduce the drawing of the old Chapter House door in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, from the "Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society."

And lastly, Messrs. Macmillan & Co. have permitted me to print portions of Lord Tennyson's poem, "The Voyage of Maildune."

I.

LEGENDS AND EARLY HISTORY.[1-1]

In our ancient books there are stories of five different races of people who made their way to Ireland in old times, with very exact accounts of their wanderings before their arrival, and of the battles they fought after landing. But these narratives cannot be depended on, for they are not real History but Legends, that is stories either wholly or partly fabulous. Of the five early races, the two last, who were called Dedannans and Milesians, were the most remarkable; and they are mixed up with most of the old Irish tales.

[1-1] It is necessary to know the substance of this first sketch in order to understand the rest of the book.

The Dedannans, coming from Greece, landed in Ireland; and having overcome the people they found there, became masters of the country.

They had the name of being great magicians; and ancient Irish writings are full of tales of the marvellous spells of their skilled wizards.

They remained in possession for about two hundred years, till the Milesians came, as will now be related.

For many generations the Milesians, before their arrival in Ireland, journeyed from one part of Europe to another, seeking for some place of settlement. And becoming at length weary of this state of unrest, they consulted their chief druid, who was a skilful seer, and bade him find out for them when they were to end their wanderings, and where they were to settle down. The druid, having thought the matter over for a while, told them that far out on the verge of the western sea was a lovely green island called Inisfail,[2-1] or the Island of Destiny, which was to be their final home and resting-place. So they set out once more, and fared on from land to land, keeping the Isle of Destiny ever in mind, thinking of it by day and dreaming of it by night. At last they arrived in Spain, where they lived for a time. Here they were under the command of the renowned hero "Miled of Spain,"[2-2] or Milesius, from whom they came to be called Milesians.

[2-1] Inisfail, one of the old names of Ireland.

[2-2] Miled, p.r.o.nounced _Mee-le_ (two syllables).

Some old Irish writers say that while they dwelt in Spain, their chiefs, as they gazed wistfully over the waters northwards, one clear winter's night, from the top of a tower at the place now called Corunna, saw Inisfail like a dim white cloud on the sea, in the far distance.

However this may be, the eight sons of Milesius, after their father's death--many centuries before the Christian era--set sail with a fleet, and soon arrived on the coast of Ireland. But before they could land, the Dedannans, by their spells, raised a furious tempest, which wrecked the fleet and drowned five of the brothers with most of their crews. The remaining three landed with their men; and having defeated the Dedannans in battle, they took possession of Ireland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A fairy hill: an earthen mound at Highwood, near Lough Arrow, in Co. Sligo. A fairy moat is also figured at page 15, and a cairn at page 97.]

When the Dedannans found that they were no longer able to hold the country, the legend tells us that they retired to secret dwellings under old forts, moats, cairns, and beautiful green little hills: and they became fairies, and built themselves glorious palaces in their new underground abodes, all ablaze with light, and glittering with gems and gold.

From that period forward, till the time of the Danes, there were no more invasions; and the Milesian kings and people were left to make their own laws and manage the country as they thought best, without any interference from outside.

In the History of Ireland from the settlement of the Milesian Colony down to the time of St. Patrick, that is, to the fifth century of the Christian Era, there is a mixture of legend and fact; and it is often hard to disentangle them, so as to tell which is truth and which is fable. As we advance, the truth and certainty increase, and the legend grows less, till we arrive near the time of St. Patrick. From about this period forward, we are able to tell the main history of the country without any mixture of fable.

For a long time in the beginning the Irish people were all pagans; and the kind of religion they had will be presently described.

As early as the third or fourth century--long before St. Patrick's arrival--there were some Christians in Ireland; and it is believed that the knowledge of Christianity was brought to them from Britain: but on this point there is no certainty. Their numbers gradually increased as time went on; and when St. Patrick arrived he found some small Christian congregations scattered here and there through the country. But the main body of the people were pagans; and to St. Patrick belongs the glory of converting them. The history of his life-work need not be told here, as it will be found set forth in one of the Chapters of the "Child's History of Ireland." It is enough to say that he arrived in the year A.D. 432, with many companions to aid him; and that after thirty-three years of constant toil, he died in 465, leaving the great body of the people Christians, and the country covered with churches. St. Patrick was a man of strong will, of great courage--fearing no danger while doing his Master's work--and possessing mighty power over those he mixed with and addressed. He was more successful than any other missionary after the time of the Apostles.

Some years before St. Patrick's arrival, a great king ruled over Ireland (from 379 to 405) called Niall of the Nine Hostages. From him were descended most of the kings who reigned over Ireland after his time till the Anglo-Norman Invasion.[5-1]

[5-1] The Anglo-Norman Invasion will be found described at page 175.

From the earliest ages the Irish of Ulster were in the habit of crossing the narrow sea to Alban or Scotland, which can be seen plainly from the sea-cliffs of Antrim; and many settled there and made it their home. In the year 503, nearly forty years after St. Patrick's death, a great colony of Irish--men, women, and children--crossed over, commanded by three princes, brothers, named Fergus, Angus, and Lorne. In course of time the posterity of these people mastered all Scotland; and from Fergus, who was their first king, the kings of Scotland were descended.

At that time Ireland was generally known by the name of Scotia, and the Irish were called Scots; and from them Alban got the name of Scotland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stone Hammers, used when metal was still scarce, or not known at all. A wooden handle was fixed in the hole. Iron was known in Ireland from the beginning of the Christian era, and gold, silver, copper, and bronze, long before it.]

In old times there were five provinces in Ireland:--Leinster, Ulster, Connaught, Munster, and Meath. Meath, which stretched from the Shannon eastwards to the sea, and from Kildare on the south to Armagh on the north, was about half the size of Ulster. It was the last formed of the five, and later on it disappeared as a province altogether. The present counties of Meath and Westmeath occupy only about half of it. In those times, the county Louth belonged to Ulster, and Cavan and Clare to Connaught.

There was a king over each of the five provinces, and over these again was a king of all Ireland, called the Over-king or head king. The kings of Ireland had their chief palace on the Hill of Tara in Meath; where many of the forts and other remains of the old buildings are still to be seen. But Tara was deserted as a royal residence in the sixth century, after which the kings of Ireland lived elsewhere.

II.

THE SONG OF INISFAIL.

I.

They came from a land beyond the sea, And now o'er the western main, Set sail, in their good ships, gallantly, From the sunny land of Spain.

"Oh, where's the Isle we've seen in dreams, Our destined home or grave?"-- Thus sung they, as by the morning's beams They swept the Atlantic wave.

II.

And lo, where afar o'er ocean shines A sparkle of radiant green, As though in that deep lay em'rald mines, Whose light through the wave was seen.

"'Tis Inisfail--'tis Inisfail!"