CHAPTER I

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AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND FROM AD 400 TO 1800

by

MARY FRANCES CUSACK

'The Nun of Kenmare'

Illustrations by Henry Doyle

1868

TO THE

RIGHT HONORABLE JUDGE O'HAGAN,

AND TO

HIS SISTER MARY,

FOUNDRESS AND ABBESS OF SAINT CLARE'S CONVENT, KENMARE,

THIS VOLUME

IS AFFECTIONATELY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

By

The Author.

List of Full-Page Illustrations

ETC.

THE EMIGRANTS' FAREWELL

SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT IRISH MANUSCRIPTS

ST. PATRICK GOING TO TARA

KING BRIAN BOROIMHE KILLED BY THE VIKING

MARRIAGE OF EVA AND STRONGBOW

INTERVIEW BETWEEN MACMURROUGH AND THE OFFICERS OF RICHARD II.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN ESSEX AND O'NEILL

MASSACRE AT DROGHEDA

IRETON CONDEMNING THE BISHOP OF LIMERICK

GRATTAN'S DEMAND FOR IRISH INDEPENDENCE

O'CONNELL REFUSING TO TAKE THE OATH

IRELAND AND AMERICA

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A demand for a Second Edition of the "Illustrated History of Ireland,"

within three months from the date of the publication of the First,

consisting of 2,000 copies, is a matter of no little gratification to

the writer, both personally and relatively. It is a triumphant proof

that Irishmen are not indifferent to Irish history--a fault of which

they have been too frequently accused; and as many of the clergy have

been most earnest and generous in their efforts to promote the

circulation of the work, it is gratifying to be able to adduce this fact

also in reply to the imputations, even lately cast upon the

ecclesiastics of Ireland, of deficiency in cultivated tastes, and of

utter neglect of literature.

Nor, as a Catholic and a religious, can I fail to express my respectful

gratitude and thankfulness for the warm approbation which the work has

received from so many distinguished prelates. A few of these

approbations will be found at the commencement of the volume--it was

impossible to find space for all. It may be, however, well to observe,

that several of the English Catholic bishops have not been less kind and

earnest in their commendations, though I have not asked their permission

to publish their communications. Some extracts are given from the

reviews, which also are necessarily condensed and limited; and, as the

Most Rev. Dr. Derry has observed, the press has been most favorable in

its criticisms. Even those who differed from the present writer _toto

coelo_, both in religion and politics, have not been less commendatory,

and, in some instances, have shown the writer more than ordinary

courtesy.

Nor should I omit to acknowledge the encouragement which so many

gentlemen, both English and Irish, have given to the work, and the

assistance they have afforded in promoting its circulation. In a

circular, quite recently published in London, and addressed to the

members of a society for the republication of English mediæval

literature, gentlemen are called on by the secretary, even at the risk,

as he himself admits, of "boring them, by asking them to canvass for

orders, like a bookseller's traveller," to assist in obtaining

additional subscribers to the series, and he requests every subscriber

"to get another at once." I am happy to say that, without such

solicitation on our part, many Irish gentlemen have done us this

kindness, and have obtained not one, but many orders from their friends.

I confidently hope that many more will exert themselves in a similar

manner, for the still wider dissemination of the Second Edition. It is a

time, beyond all others, when Irish history should be thoroughly known

and carefully studied. It is a disgrace to Irishmen not to know their

history perfectly, and this with no mere outline view, but completely

and in detail. It is very much to be regretted that Irish history is not

made a distinct study in schools and colleges, both in England and

Ireland. What should be thought of a school where English history was

not taught? and is Irish history of less importance? I have had very

serious letters complaining of this deficiency from the heads of several

colleges, where our history has been introduced as a class-book.[A]

There are some few Irish Catholics who appear to think that Irishmen

should not study their history--some because they imagine that our

history is a painful subject; others, because they imagine that its

record of wrongs cannot fail to excite violent feelings, which may lead

to violent deeds. I cannot for one moment admit that our history is

either so very sorrowful, or that we have cause to do anything but

rejoice in it. If we consider temporal prosperity to be the _summum

bonum_ of our existence, no doubt we may say with truth, like the

Apostle, that of all peoples we are "most miserable;" but we have again

and again renounced temporal advantages, and discarded temporal

prosperity, to secure eternal gain; and we have the promise of the

Eternal Truth that we shall attain all that we have desired. Our

history, then, far from being a history of failures, has been a history

of the most triumphant success--of the most brilliant victories. I

believe the Irish are the only nation on earth of whom it can be truly

said that they have never apostatized nationally. Even the most Catholic

countries of the Continent have had their periods of religious

revolution, however temporary. Ireland has been deluged with blood again

and again; she has been defeated in a temporal point of view again and

again; but spiritually--NEVER! Is this a history to be ashamed of? Is

this a history to regret? Is this a history to lament? Is it not rather

a history over which the angels in heaven rejoice, and of which the

best, the holiest, and the noblest of the human race may justly be

proud?

On the second count, I shall briefly say that if Irish history were

taught in our Irish colleges and schools to children while still young,

and while the teacher could impress on his charge the duty of

forgiveness of enemies, of patient endurance, of the mighty power of

moral force, which has effected even for Ireland at times what more

violent measures have failed to accomplish, then there could be no

danger in the study. Perhaps the greatest human preservative of the

faith, for those whose lot may be cast hereafter in other lands, would

be to inculcate a great reverence for our history, and a _true_

appreciation of its value. The taunt of belonging to a despised nation,

has led many a youth of brilliant promise to feel ashamed of his

country, and almost inevitably to feel ashamed of his faith. A properly

directed study of Irish history would tend much to remove this danger.

During the debate on the Irish Church question, Mr. Maguire, M.P. for

Cork, significantly remarked on the effect produced by the "deliberate

exclusion" of any instruction in Irish history from National schools. It

does seem curious that national history should be a forbidden subject in

National schools, and this fact makes the appellation of "National" seem

rather a misnomer. The result of this deliberate exclusion was

graphically described by the honorable member. The youth comes forth

educated, and at a most impressible age he reads for the first time the

history of his country, and burns with indignant desire to avenge her

many wrongs. The consequences are patent to all. It is, then, for the

advantage of England, as well as of Ireland, that Irish history should

be made the earliest study of Irish youth; nor is it of less importance

that Irish history should be thoroughly known by Englishmen. It is the

duty of every Englishman who has a vote to give, to make himself

acquainted with the subjects on which his representative will give, in

his name, that final decision which makes his political opinion the law

of the land. I suppose no one will deny that the Irish Question is the

question of the day. The prosperity of England, as well as the

prosperity of Ireland, is involved in it. No educated man, however

humble his station, has a right to assist in returning a member to

Parliament without clearly comprehending the principles of his

representative. But unless he has some comprehension of the principles

themselves, it is of little use for him to record his vote. I do not say

that every English voter is bound to study Irish history in detail, but

I do say that, at the present day, he is bound to know what the Irish

themselves demand from England; and if he considers their demands

reasonable, he should record his vote only for those who will do their

utmost to obtain the concessions demanded. A man is unworthy of the

privilege of voting, if he is deficient either in the intellect or the

inclination to understand the subject on which he votes.

But it is of still more importance that members of Parliament should

read--and not only read, but carefully study--the history of Ireland.

Irishmen have a right to _demand_ that they shall do so. If they

undertake to legislate for us, they are bound in conscience and in

honour to know what we require, to know our past and our present state.

Englishmen pride themselves on their honour; but it is neither honorable

to undertake to govern without a thorough knowledge of the governed, or

to misrepresent their circumstances to others whose influence may decide

their future.

It was manifest from the speech of her Majesty's minister, on the night

of the all-important division on the Irish Church question, that he

either had not studied Irish history, or that he had forgotten its

details. If his statements are correctly reported by the press, they are

inconceivably wild. It may be said that the circumstances in which he

found himself obliged him to speak as he did, but is this an excuse

worthy of such an honorable position? The Normans, he is reported to

have said, conquered the land in Ireland, but in England they conquered

completely. The most cursory acquaintance with Irish history would have

informed the right honorable gentleman, that the Normans did _not_

conquer the land in Ireland--no man has as yet been rash enough to

assert that they conquered the people. The Normans obtained possession

of a small portion, a very small portion of Irish land; and if the

reader will glance at the map of the Pale, which will be appended to

this edition, at the proper place, he will see precisely what extent of

country the English held for a few hundred years. Even that portion they

could scarcely have been said to have conquered, for they barely held it

from day to day at the point of the sword. Morally Ireland was never

conquered, for he would be a bold man who dared to say that the Irish

people ever submitted nationally to the English Church established by

law. In fact, so rash does the attempt seem even to those who most

desire to make it, that they are fain to find refuge and consolation in

the supposed introduction of Protestantism into Ireland by St. Patrick,

a thousand years and more before that modern phase of religious thought

appeared to divide the Christian world.

But I deny that Ireland has ever been really conquered; and even should

the most sanguinary suggestions proposed in a nineteenth-century serial

be carried out, I am certain she could not be. Ireland has never been

permanently subdued by Dane or Norman, Dutchman or Saxon; nor has she

ever been _really_ united to England. A man is surely not united to a

jailer because he is bound to him by an iron chain which his jailer has

forged for his safe keeping. This is not union; and the term "United

Kingdom" is in fact a most miserable misnomer. Unity requires something

more than a mere material approximation. I believe it to be _possible_

that England and Ireland may become united; and if ever this should be

accomplished, let no man forget that the first link in the golden chain

issued from the hands of the right honorable member for South

Lancashire, when he proposed equality of government on religious

questions--the first step towards that equality of government which

alone can effect a moral union of the two countries. It might be

treasonable to hint that some noble-hearted men, who loved their country

not wisely but too well, and who are paying in lifelong anguish the

penalty of their patriotism, had anything to do with the formation of

this golden chain--so I shall not hint it.

I believe the Fenian movement, at one time scouted as a mere ebullition,

at another time treated as a dangerous and terrible rebellion, has done

at least this one good to England--it has compelled honest and honorable

men to inquire each for himself what are the grievances of Ireland, and

why she continues disaffected to English rule. For men who are honest

and honorable to make such inquiries, is the first step, and a certain

step, towards their remedy; and as I glanced down the list of the _ayes_

in the division, I could see the names of men who, in England, have been

distinguished during years for their private and public virtues, and who

have been lavish in their charities whenever their own countrymen

required their assistance.

There can be little doubt that a new era has dawned upon old Erinn's

shores. It remains to be proved if her sons shall be as faithful in

prosperity as they have been in adversity. It remains to be proved, if

opportunities are afforded us of obtaining higher intellectual culture

without the danger of the moral deterioration which might have attended

that culture under other circumstances, whether we shall avail ourselves

of them to the full. May we not hope that Ireland will become once more

famous both for learning and sanctity. The future of our nation is in

the hands of the Irish hierarchy. No government dare refuse anything

which they may demand perseveringly and unitedly. The people who have

been guided by them, and saved by them for so many centuries, will

follow as they lead. If their tone of intellectual culture is elevated,

the people will become elevated also; and we shall hear no more of those

reproaches, which are a disgrace to those who utter them, rather than to

those of whom they are uttered. Let our people be taught to appreciate

something higher than a mere ephemeral literature; let them be taught to

take an interest in the antiquities and the glorious past of their

nation; and then let them learn the history of other peoples and of

other races. A high ecclesiastical authority has declared recently that

"ecclesiastics do not cease to be citizens," and that they do not

consider anything which affects the common weal of their country is

remote from their duty. The clergy of the diocese of Limerick, headed by

their Dean, and, it must be presumed, with the sanction of their Bishop,

have given a tangible proof that they coincide in opinion with his Grace

the Archbishop of Westminster. The letter addressed to Earl Grey by that

prelate, should be in the hands of every Irishman; and it is with no

ordinary gratification that we acknowledge the kindness and

condescension of his Grace in favouring us with an early copy of it.

This letter treats of the two great questions of the day with admirable

discretion. As I hope that every one who reads these pages possesses a

copy of the pamphlet, I shall merely draw attention to two paragraphs in

it: one in which Fenianism is treated of in that rational spirit which

appears to have been completely lost sight of in the storm of angry

discussion which it has excited. On this subject his Grace writes: "It

would be blindness not to see, and madness to deny, that we have entered

into another crisis in the relation of England and Ireland, of which

'98, '28, and '48 were precursors;" and he argues with clearness and

authority, that when Englishmen once have granted justice to Ireland,

Ireland will cease to accuse England of injustice.

To one other paragraph in this remarkable letter, I shall briefly

allude: "I do not think Englishmen are enough aware of the harm some

among us do by a contemptuous, satirical, disrespectful, defiant,

language in speaking of Ireland and the Irish people." From peculiar

circumstances, the present writer has had more than ordinary

opportunities of verifying the truth of this statement. The wound caused

by a sarcastic expression may often fester far longer than the wound

caused by a hasty blow. The evil caused by such language is by no means

confined entirely to Protestants. There are, indeed, but few English

Catholics who speak contemptuously of Ireland, of its people, or of its

history; but, if I am to credit statements which have been made to me on

unquestionable authority, there are some who are not free from this

injustice. A half-commiserating tone of patronage is quite as offensive

as open contempt; and yet there have been instances where English

Catholic writers, while obliged to show some deference to Ireland and

the Irish, in order to secure the patronage and support of that country

for their publications, have at the same time, when they dared, thrown

out insinuations against peculiarities of Irish character, and made

efforts to discredit Irish historical documents.

I had intended, in preparing the Second Edition of the "Illustrated

History of Ireland," to omit the original Preface, in order to leave

more space for the historical portion of the work. When this intention

was mentioned, several laymen and ecclesiastics expostulated so

earnestly against it, that I have been obliged to yield to their

request. I am aware that some few persons objected to my remarks on the

state of land laws in Ireland, or rather on the want of proper land

laws; but the opinion of those interested in maintaining an evil, will

always be averse to its exposure; and I cannot conceive how any one who

desires an injustice to be removed, can object to a fair and impartial

discussion of the subject. An English writer, also, has made some

childish remarks about the materials for Irish history not being yet

complete, and inferred that in consequence an Irish history could not

yet be written. His observations are too puerile to need refutation. I

have been informed also that some objection has been made to a

"political preface;" and that one gentleman, whose name I have not had

the honour of hearing, has designated the work as a "political

pamphlet." Even were not Irish history exceptional, I confess myself

perplexed to understand how history and politics can be severed. An

author may certainly write a perfectly colourless history, but he must

state the opinions of different parties, and the acts consequent on

those opinions, even should he do so without any observation of his own.

I never for a moment entertained the intention of writing such a

history, though I freely confess I have exercised considerable

self-restraint as to the expression of my own opinion when writing some

portions of the present work. You might as well attempt to write an

ecclesiastical history without the slightest reference to different

religious opinions, as attempt to write the history of any nation, and,

above all, of Ireland, without special and distinct reference to the

present and past political opinions of the different sections of which

the nation is composed. Such suggestions are only worthy of those who,

when facts are painful, try to avert the wound they cause by turning on

the framer of the weapon which has driven these facts a little deeper

than usual into their intellectual conception; or of those uneducated,

or low-minded, even if educated persons, who consider that a woman

cannot write a history, and would confine her literary efforts to

sensation novels and childish tales. I am thankful, and I hope I am not

unduly proud, that men of the highest intellectual culture, both in

England and Ireland, on the Continent of Europe, and in America, have

pronounced a very different judgment on the present work, and on the

desire of the writer to raise her countrywomen to higher mental efforts

than are required by the almost exclusive perusal of works of fiction.

If women may excel as painters and sculptors, why may not a woman

attempt to excel as an historian? Men of cultivated intellect, far from

wishing to depreciate such efforts, will be the first to encourage them

with more than ordinary warmth; the opinions of other persons, whatever

may be their position, are of little value.

On the Irish Church question I feel it unnecessary to say more than a

word of congratulation to my countrymen, and of hearty thanks for the

noble conduct of so many Englishmen at this important crisis. Irish

Protestants have been quite as national as Irish Catholics; and now that

the fatal bane of religious dissension has been removed, we may hope

that Irishmen, of all classes and creeds, will work together

harmoniously for the good of their common country: and thus one great

means of Irish prosperity will be opened. The Irish are eminently a

justice-loving people. Let justice once be granted to them, and there is

that in their national character which will make them accept as a boon

what others might accept as a right.

In concluding the Preface to this Edition, I cannot omit to express my

grateful thanks to Sir William Wilde, and other members of the Royal

Irish Academy, through whose kindness I obtained the special favour of

being permitted to copy some of the most valuable illustrations of Irish

antiquities contained in their Catalogue, and which has enabled the

reader, for the first time, to have an Irish history illustrated with

Irish antiquities--a favour which it is hoped an increase of cultivated

taste amongst our people will enable them to appreciate more and more.

To John O'Hagan, Esq., Q.C., I owe a debt of gratitude which cannot

easily be repaid, for the time he bestowed on the correction of the

proofs of the First Edition, and for many kind suggestions, and much

valuable advice. I am indebted, also, to M.J. Rhodes, Esq., of

Hoddersfield, for a liberal use of his library, perhaps one of the most

valuable private libraries in Ireland, and for permitting me to retain,

for a year and more, some of its most costly treasures. The same

kindness was also granted by the Rev. D. M'Carthy, Professor of Sacred

Scripture and Hebrew at Maynooth, who is himself doing so much for its

ecclesiastical students by his valuable literary labours, and who was

one of the first to urge me to undertake this work. In preparing the

Second Edition, I am not a little indebted to the Rev. James Gaffney,

C.C., M.R.I.A., of Clontarf, who, even during the heavy pressure of

Lenten parochial duties, has found time to give me the benefit of many

important suggestions, and to show his love of Ireland by deeming no

effort too great to further a knowledge of her glorious history. I am

also indebted to the Rev. John Shearman, C.C., M.R.I.A., of Howth, for

the valuable paper read before the R.I.A., on the "Inscribed Stones at

Killeen Cormac;" and to many other authors who have presented me with

their works; amongst the number, none were more acceptable than the

poems of Dr. Ferguson, and the beautiful and gracefully written _Irish

before the Conquest_, of Mrs. Ferguson, whose gifts are all the more

treasured for the peculiar kindness with which they were presented.

To my old friend, Denis Florence MacCarthy, Esq., M.R.I.A., who should

be the laureate of Ireland--and why should not Ireland, that land of

song, have her laureate?--I can only offer my affectionate thanks, for

his kindnesses are too numerous to record, and are so frequent that they

would scarcely bear enumeration. At this moment, Roderick O'Flanagan,

Esq., M.R.I.A., has found, or rather made, leisure, amongst his many

professional and literary occupations, to prepare the valuable and

important map of Irish families, which will be given _gratis_ to all

subscribers, and in which W.H. Hennessy, Esq., M.R.I.A., at present

employed by Government on the important work of publishing ancient Irish

MS., will also give his assistance.

To many of the gentlemen in Cork, and principally to Nicholas Murphy,

Esq., of Norwood, and Eugene M'Sweeny, Esq., I cannot fail to offer my

best thanks, for the generous help they have given in promoting the sale

of the First Edition, and for over-payments of subscriptions, made

unasked, and with the most considerate kindness, when they found the

heavy cost of the First Edition was likely to prove a loss to the

convent, in consequence of expenses which could scarcely be foreseen in

the increased size of the work, and the high class of engravings used,

which demanded an immense outlay in their production. The subscribers to

the Second Edition are indebted to not a few of the subscribers to the

First, many of them priests with limited incomes, for the generosity

which has enabled them to obtain this new issue on such favourable

terms. It is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that I add also the

names of the Superioresses of nearly all the convents of the order of

Our Lady of Mercy and of the order of the Presentation, to the list of

our benefactors. With the exception of, perhaps, two or three convents

of each order, they have been unanimous in their generous efforts to

assist the circulation of the Irish History, and of all our

publications; and this kindness has been felt by us all the more deeply,

because from our own poverty, and the poverty of the district in which

we live, we have been unable to make them any return, or to assist them

even by the sale of tickets for their bazaars. Such disinterested

charity is, indeed, rare; and the efforts made by these religious--the

true centres of civilization in Ireland--to promote the education and to

improve the moral and intellectual tone of the lower and middle classes,

are beyond all praise, combined, as these efforts are, with

never-ceasing labour for the spiritual and temporal good of the poor in

their respective districts. Nor should I omit a word for the friends

across the wide Atlantic, to whom the very name of Ireland is so

precious, and to whom Irish history is so dear. The Most Rev. Dr.

Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati, has pronounced the work to be the

only Irish history worthy of the name. John Mitchel has proclaimed, in

the _Irish Citizen_, that a woman has accomplished what men have failed

to do; and Alderman Ternan, at a banquet in New Fork, has uttered the

same verdict, and declares that there, at least, no other history can

compete with ours, although Moore and D'Arcy Magee have preceded us in

their efforts to promote the knowledge of what Ireland has been, and the

hope of what Ireland may yet become.

M.F.C.

ST. CLARE'S CONTENT, KENMARK, CO. KERRY,

May 8th, 1868.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] The Rev. U. Burke, of St. Jarlath's College, Tuam, has a note on

this subject, in a work which he is at this moment passing through the

press, and which he kindly permits me to publish. He says: "This book

[the "Illustrated History of Ireland"] ought to be in the hands of every

young student and of every young Irish maiden attending the convent

schools. Oh, for ten thousand Irish ladies knowing the history of

Ireland! How few know anything of it! The present volume, by Sister

Francis Clare, is an atoning sacrifice for this sin of neglect."

I am aware that the price of the "Illustrated History of Ireland," even

in its present form, although it is offered at a sacrifice which no

bookseller would make, is an obstacle to its extensive use as a school

history. We purpose, however, before long, to publish a history for the

use of schools, at a very low price, and yet of a size to admit of

sufficient expansion for the purpose. Our countrymen must, however,

remember that only a very large number of orders can enable the work to

be published as cheaply as it should be. It would save immense trouble

and expense, if priests, managers of schools, and the heads of colleges,

would send orders for a certain number of copies at once. If every

priest, convent, and college, ordered twelve copies for their schools,

the work could be put in hands immediately.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The history of the different races who form an integral portion of the

British Empire, should be one of the most carefully cultivated studies

of every member of that nation. To be ignorant of our own history, is a

disgrace; to be ignorant of the history of those whom we govern, is an

injustice. We can neither govern ourselves nor others without a thorough

knowledge of peculiarities of disposition which may require restraint,

and of peculiarities of temperament which may require development. We

must know that water can extinguish fire, before it occurs to us to put

out a fire by the use of water. We must know that fire, when properly

used, is a beneficent element of nature, and one which can be used to

our advantage when properly controlled, before we shall attempt to avail

ourselves of it for a general or a particular benefit. I believe a time

has come when the Irish are more than ever anxious to study their

national history. I believe a time has come when the English nation, or

at least a majority of the English nation, are willing to read that

history without prejudice, and to consider it with impartiality.

When first I proposed to write a History of Ireland, at the earnest

request of persons to whose opinion. I felt bound to defer, I was

assured by many that it was useless; that Irishmen did not support Irish

literature; above all, that the Irish clergy were indifferent to it, and

to literature in general. I have since ascertained, by personal

experience, that this charge is utterly unfounded, though I am free to

admit it was made on what appeared to be good authority. It is certainly

to be wished that there was a more general love of reading cultivated

amongst the Catholics of Ireland, but the deficiency is on a fair way to

amendment. As a body, the Irish priesthood may not be devoted to

literature; but as a body, unquestionably they are devoted--nobly

devoted--to the spread of education amongst their people.

With regard to Englishmen, I cannot do better than quote the speech of

an English member of Parliament, Alderman Salomons, who has just

addressed his constituents at Greenwich in these words:--

"The state of Ireland will, doubtless, be a prominent subject of

discussion next session. Any one who sympathizes with distressed

nationalities in their struggles, must, when he hears of the

existence of a conspiracy in Ireland, similar to those combinations

which used to be instituted in Poland in opposition to Russian

oppression, be deeply humiliated. Let the grievances of the Irish

people be probed, and let them be remedied when their true nature

is discovered. Fenianism is rife, not only in Ireland, but also in

England, and an armed police required, which is an insult to our

liberty. I did not know much of the Irish land question, but I know

that measures have been over and over again brought into the House

of Commons with a view to its settlement, and over and over again

they have been cushioned or silently withdrawn. If the question can

be satisfactorily settled, why let it be so, and let us conciliate

the people of Ireland by wise and honorable means. The subject of

the Irish Church must also be considered. I hold in my hand an

extract from the report of the commissioner of the Dublin

_Freeman's Journal_, who is now examining the question. It stated

what will be to you almost incredible--namely, that the population

of the united dioceses of Cashel, Emly, Waterford, and Lismore is

370,978, and that of those only 13,000 are members of the

Established Church, while 340,000 are Roman Catholics. If you had

read of this state of things existing in any other country, you

would call out loudly against it. Such a condition of things, in

which large revenues are devoted, not for the good of the many, but

the few, if it does not justify Fenianism, certainly does justify a

large measure of discontent. I am aware of the difficulties in the

way of settling the question, owing to the fear of a collision

between Protestants and Catholics; but I think Parliament ought to

have the power to make the Irish people contented."

This speech, I believe, affords a fair idea of the opinion of educated

and unprejudiced Englishmen on the Irish question. They do not know much

about Irish history; they have heard a great deal about Irish

grievances, and they have a vague idea that there is something wrong

about the landlords, and something wrong about the ecclesiastical

arrangements of the country. I believe a careful study of Irish history

is essential to the comprehension of the Irish question; and it is

obviously the moral duty of every man who has a voice in the government

of the nation, to make himself master of the subject. I believe there

are honest and honorable men in England, who would stand aghast with

horror if they thoroughly understood the injustices to which Ireland has

been and _still is_ subject. The English, as a nation, profess the most

ardent veneration for liberty. To be a patriot, to desire to free one's

country, unless, indeed, that country happen to have some very close

connexion with their own, is the surest way to obtain ovations and

applause. It is said that circumstances alter cases; they certainly

alter opinions, but they do not alter facts. An Englishman applauds and

assists insurrection in countries where they profess to have for their

object the freedom of the individual or of the nation; he imprisons and

stifles it at home, where the motive is precisely similar, and the

cause, in the eyes of the insurgents at least, incomparably more valid.

But I do not wish to raise a vexed question, or to enter on political

discussions; my object in this Preface is simply to bring before the

minds of Englishmen that they have a duty to perform towards Ireland--a

duty which they cannot cast aside on others--a duty which it may be for

their interest, as well as for their honour, to fulfil. I wish to draw

the attention of Englishmen to those Irish grievances which are

generally admitted to exist, and which can only be fully understood by a

careful and unprejudiced perusal of Irish history, past and present.

Until grievances are thoroughly understood, they are not likely to be

thoroughly remedied. While they continue to exist, there can be no real

peace in Ireland, and English prosperity must suffer in a degree from

Irish disaffection.

It is generally admitted by all, except those who are specially

interested in the denial, that the Land question and the Church question

are the two great subjects which lie at the bottom of the Irish

difficulty. The difficulties of the Land question commenced in the reign

of Henry II.; the difficulties of the Church question commenced in the

reign of Henry VIII. I shall request your attention briefly to the

standpoints in Irish history from which we may take a clear view of

these subjects. I shall commence with the Land question, because I

believe it to be the more important of the two, and because I hope to

show that the Church question is intimately connected with it.

In the reign of Henry II., certain Anglo-Norman nobles came to Ireland,

and, partly by force and partly by intermarriages, obtained estates in

that country. Their tenure was the tenure of the sword. By the sword

they expelled persons whose families had possessed those lands for

centuries; and by the sword they compelled these persons, through

poverty, consequent on loss of property, to take the position of

inferiors where they had been masters. You will observe that this first

English settlement in Ireland was simply a colonization on a very small

scale. Under such circumstances, if the native population are averse to

the colonization, and if the new and the old races do not amalgamate, a

settled feeling of aversion, more or less strong, is established on both

sides. The natives hate the colonist, because he has done them a

grievous injury by taking possession of their lands; the colonist hates

the natives, because they are in his way; and, if he be possessed of

"land hunger," they are an impediment to the gratification of his

desires. It should be observed that there is a wide difference between

colonization and conquest The Saxons conquered what we may presume to

have been the aboriginal inhabitants of England; the Normans conquered

the Saxon: the conquest in both cases was sufficiently complete to

amalgamate the races--the interest of the different nationalities became

one. The Norman lord scorned the Saxon churl quite as contemptuously as

he scorned the Irish Celt; but there was this very important

difference--the interests of the noble and the churl soon became one;

they worked for the prosperity of their common country. In Ireland, on

the contrary, the interests were opposite. The Norman noble hated the

Celt as a people whom he could not subdue, but desired most ardently to

dispossess; the Celt hated the invader as a man most naturally will hate

the individual who is just strong enough to keep a wound open by his

struggles, and not strong enough to end the suffering by killing the

victim.

The land question commenced when Strongbow set his foot on Irish soil;

the land question will remain a disgrace to England, and a source of

misery to Ireland, until the whole system inaugurated by Strongbow has

been reversed. "At the commencement of the connexion between England and

Ireland," says Mr. Goldwin Smith, "the foundation was inevitably laid

for the fatal system of ascendency--a system under which the dominant

party were paid for their services in keeping down rebels by a monopoly

of power and emolument, and thereby strongly tempted to take care that

there should always be rebels to keep down." There is a fallacy or two

in this statement; but let it pass. The Irish were not rebels then,

certainly, for they were not under English dominion; but it is something

to find English writers expatiating on Irish wrongs; and if they would

only act as generously and as boldly as they speak, the Irish question

would receive an early and a most happy settlement.

For centuries Ireland was left to the mercy and the selfishness of

colonists. Thus, with each succeeding generation, the feeling of hatred

towards the English was intensified with each new act of injustice, and

such acts were part of the normal rule of the invaders. A lord deputy

was sent after a time to rule the country. Perhaps a more unfortunate

form of government could not have been selected for Ireland. The lord

deputy knew that he was subject to recall at any moment; he had neither

a personal nor a hereditary interest in the country. He came to make his

fortune there, or to increase it. He came to rule for his own benefit,

or for the benefit of his nation. The worst of kings has, at least, an

hereditary interest in the country which he governs; the best of lord

deputies might say that, if he did not oppress and plunder for himself,

other men would do it for themselves: why, then, should he be the loser,

when the people would not be gainers by his loss?

When parliaments began to be held, and when laws were enacted, every

possible arrangement was made to keep the two nations at variance, and

to intensify the hostility which already existed. The clergy were set at

variance. Irish priests were forbidden to enter certain monasteries,

which were reserved for the use of their English brethren; Irish

ecclesiastics were refused admission to certain Church properties in

Ireland, that English ecclesiastics might have the benefit of them.

Lionel, Duke of Clarence, when Viceroy of Ireland, issued a

proclamation, forbidding the "Irish by birth" even to come near his

army, until he found that he could not do without soldiers, even should

they have the misfortune to be Irish. The Irish and English were

forbidden to intermarry several centuries before the same bar was placed

against the union of Catholics and Protestants. The last and not the

least of the fearful series of injustices enacted, in the name of

justice, at the Parliament of Kilkenny, was the statute which denied,

which positively refused, the benefit of English law to Irishmen, and

equally forbid them to use the Brehon law, which is even now the

admiration of jurists, and which had been the law of the land for many

centuries.

If law could be said to enact that there should be no law, this was

precisely what was done at the memorable Parliament of Kilkenny. If

Irishmen had done this, it would have been laughed at as a Hibernicism,

or scorned as the basest villany; but it was the work of Englishmen, and

the Irish nation were treated as rebels if they attempted to resist. The

confiscation of Church property in the reign of Henry VIII., added a new

sting to the land grievance, and introduced a new feature in its

injustice. Church property had been used for the benefit of the poor far

more than for the benefit of its possessors. It is generally admitted

that the monks of the middle ages were the best and most considerate

landlords. Thousands of families were now cast upon the mercy of the new

proprietors, whose will was their only law; and a considerable number of

persons were deprived of the alms which these religious so freely

distributed to the sick and the aged. Poverty multiplied fearfully, and

discontent in proportion. You will see, by a careful perusal of this

history, that the descendants of the very men who had driven out the

original proprietors of Irish estates, were in turn driven out

themselves by the next set of colonists. It was a just retribution, but

it was none the less terrible. Banishments and confiscations were the

rule by which Irish property was administered. Can you be surprised that

the Irish looked on English adventurers as little better than robbers,

and treated them as such? If the English Government had made just and

equitable land laws for Ireland at or immediately after the Union, all

the miseries which have occurred since then might have been prevented.

Unfortunately, the men who had to legislate for Ireland are interested

in the maintenance of the unjust system; and there is an old proverb, as

true as it is old, about the blindness of those who do not wish to see.

Irish landlords, or at least a considerable number of Irish landlords,

are quite willing to admit that the existence of the Established Church

is a grievance. Irish Protestant clergymen, who are not possessed by an

anti-Popery crochet--and, thank God, there are few afflicted with that

unfortunate disease now--are quite free to admit that it is a grievance

for a tenant to be subject to ejection by his landlord, _even if he pays

his rent punctually_.

I believe the majority of Englishmen have not the faintest idea of the

way in which the Irish tenant is oppressed, _not by individuals_, for

there are many landlords in Ireland devoted to their tenantry, but by a

system. There are, however, it cannot be denied, cases of individual

oppression, which, if they occurred in any part of Great Britain, and

were publicly known, would raise a storm, from the Land's End to John o'

Groat's House, that would take something more than revolvers to settle.

As one of the great objects of studying the history of our own country,

is to enable us to understand and to enact such regulations as shall be

best suited to the genius of each race and their peculiar circumstances,

I believe it to be my duty as an historian, on however humble a scale,

not only to show how our present history is affected by the past, but

also to give you such a knowledge of our present history as may enable

you to judge how much the country is still suffering from _present

grievances_, occasioned by past maladministration. Englishmen are quite

aware that thousands of Irishmen leave their homes every year for a

foreign country; but they have little idea of the cause of this

emigration. Englishmen are quite aware that from time to time

insurrections break out in Ireland, which seem to them very absurd, if

not very wicked; but they do not know how much grave cause there is for

discontent in Ireland. The very able and valuable pamphlets which have

been written on these subjects by Mr. Butt and Mr. Levey, and on the

Church question by Mr. De Vere, do not reach the English middle classes,

or probably even the upper classes, unless their attention is directed

to them individually. The details of the sufferings and ejectments of

the Irish peasantry, which are given from time to time in the Irish

papers, and principally in the Irish _local_ papers, are never even

known across the Channel. How, then, can the condition of Ireland, or of

the Irish people, be estimated as it should? I believe there is a love

of fair play and manly justice in the English nation, which only needs

to be excited in order to be brought to act.

But ignorance on this subject is not wholly confined to the English. I

fear there are many persons, even in Ireland, who are but imperfectly

acquainted with the working of their own land laws, if, indeed, what

sanctions injustice deserves the name of law. To avoid prolixity, I

shall state very briefly the position of an Irish tenant at the present

day, and I shall show (1) how this position leads to misery, (2) how

misery leads to emigration, and (3) how this injustice recoils upon the

heads of the perpetrators by leading to rebellion. First, the position

of an Irish tenant is simply this: he is rather worse off than a slave.

I speak advisedly. In Russia, the proprietors of large estates worked by

slaves, are obliged to feed and clothe their slaves; in Ireland, it

quite depends on the will of the proprietor whether he will let his

lands to his tenants on terms which will enable them to feed their

families on the coarsest food, and to clothe them in the coarsest

raiment If a famine occurs--and in some parts of Ireland famines are of

annual occurrence--the landlord is not obliged to do anything for his

tenant, but the tenant _must_ pay his rent. I admit there are humane

landlords in Ireland; but these are questions of fact, not of feeling.

It is a most flagrant injustice that Irish landlords should have the

power of dispossessing their tenants if they pay their rents. But this

is not all; although the penal laws have been repealed, the power of the

landlord over the conscience of his tenant is unlimited. It is true he

cannot apply bodily torture, except, indeed, the torture of starvation,

but he can apply mental torture. It is in the power of an Irish landlord

to eject his tenant if he does not vote according to his wishes. A man

who has no conscience, has no moral right to vote; a man who tyrannizes

over the conscience of another, should have no legal right. But there is

yet a deeper depth. I believe you will be lost in amazement at what is

yet to come, and will say, as Mr. Young said of penal laws in the last

century, that they were more "fitted for the meridian of Barbary." You

have heard, no doubt, of wholesale evictions; they are of frequent

occurrence in Ireland--sometimes from political motives, because the

poor man will not vote with his landlord; sometimes from religious

motives, because the poor man will not worship God according to his

landlord's conscience; sometimes from selfish motives, because his

landlord wishes to enlarge his domain, or to graze more cattle. The

motive does not matter much to the poor victim. He is flung out upon the

roadside; if he is very poor, he may die there, or he may go to the

workhouse, but he must not be taken in, even for a time, by any other

family on the estate. The Irish Celt, with his warm heart and generous

impulses, would, at all risks to himself, take in the poor outcasts, and

share his poverty with them; but the landlord could not allow this. The

commission of one evil deed necessitates the commission of another. An

Irish gentleman, who has no personal interest in land, and is therefore

able to look calmly on the question, has been at the pains to collect

instances of this tyranny, in his _Plea for the Celtic Race._ I shall

only mention one as a sample. In the year 1851, on an estate which was

at the time supposed to be one of the most fairly treated in Ireland,

"the agent of the property had given public notice to the tenantry that

expulsion from their farms would be the penalty inflicted on them, if

they harboured _any one_ not resident on the estate. The penalty was

enforced against a widow, for giving food and shelter _to a destitute

grandson of twelve years old_. The child's mother at one time held a

little dwelling, from which she was expelled; his father was dead. He

found a refuge with his grandmother, who was ejected from her farm for

harbouring the poor boy." When such things can occur, we should not hear

anything more about the Irish having only "sentimental grievances." The

poor child was eventually driven from house to house. He stole a

shilling and a hen--poor fellow!--what else could he be expected to do?

He wandered about, looking in vain for shelter from those who dared not

give it. He was expelled with circumstances of peculiar cruelty from one

cabin. He was found next morning, cold, stiff, and dead, on the ground

outside. The poor people who had refused him shelter, were tried for

their lives. They were found guilty of manslaughter _only_, in

consideration of the agent's order. The agent was not found guilty of

anything, nor even tried. The landlord was supposed to be a model

landlord, and his estates were held up at the very time as models; yet

evictions had been fearfully and constantly carried out on them. Mr.

Butt has well observed: "The rules of the estate are often the most

arbitrary and the most sternly enforced upon great estates, the property

of men of the highest station, upon which rents are moderate, and no

harshness practised to the tenantry, who implicitly submit." Such

landlords generally consider emigration the great remedy for the evils

of Ireland. They point to their own well-regulated and well-weeded

estates; but they do not tell you all the human suffering it cost to

exile those who were turned out to make room for large dairy farms, or

all the quiet tyranny exercised over those who still remain. Neither

does it occur to them that their successors may raise these moderate

rents at a moment's notice; and if their demands are not complied with,

he may eject these "comfortable farmers" without one farthing of

compensation for all their improvements and their years of labour.

I have shown how the serfdom of the Irish tenant leads to misery. But

the subject is one which would require a volume. No one can understand

the depth of Irish misery who has not lived in Ireland, and taken pains

to become acquainted with the habits and manner of life of the lower

orders. The tenant who is kept at starvation point to pay his landlord's

rent, has no means of providing for his family. He cannot encourage

trade; his sons cannot get work to do, if they are taught trades.

Emigration or the workhouse is the only resource. I think the efforts

which are made by the poor in Ireland to get work are absolutely

unexampled, and it is a cruel thing that a man who is willing to work

should not be able to get it. I know an instance in which a girl

belonging to a comparatively respectable family was taken into service,

and it was discovered that for years her only food, and the only food of

her family, was dry bread, and, as an occasional luxury, weak tea. So

accustomed had she become to this wretched fare, that she actually could

not even eat an egg. She and her family have gone to America; and I have

no doubt, after a few years, that the weakened organs will recover their

proper tone, with the gradual use of proper food.

There is another ingredient in Irish misery which has not met with the

consideration it deserves. If the landlord happens to be humane, he may

interest himself in the welfare of the _families_ of his tenantry. He

may also send a few pounds to them for coals at Christmas, or for

clothing; but such instances are unhappily rare, and the alms given is

_comparatively_ nothing. In England the case is precisely the reverse.

On this subject I speak from personal knowledge. There is scarcely a

little village in England, however poor, where there is not a committee

of ladies, assisted by the neighbouring gentry, who distribute coals,

blankets, and clothing in winter; and at all times, where there is

distress, give bread, tea, and meat. Well may the poor Irish come home

discontented after they have been to work in England, and see how

differently the poor are treated there. I admit, and I repeat it again,

that there are instances in which the landlord takes an interest in his

tenantry, but those instances are exceptions. Many of these gentlemen,

who possess the largest tracts of land in Ireland, have also large

estates in England, and they seldom, sometimes _never_, visit their

Irish estates. They leave it to their agent. Every application for

relief is referred to the agent. The agent, however humane, cannot be

expected to have the same interest in the people as a landlord _ought_

to have. The agent is the instrument used to draw out the last farthing

from the poor; he is constantly in collision with them. They naturally

dislike him; and he, not unnaturally, dislikes them.

The burden, therefore, of giving that relief to the poor, which they

always require in times of sickness, and when they cannot get work,

falls almost exclusively upon the priests and the convents. Were it not

for the exertions made by the priests and nuns throughout Ireland for

the support of the poor, and to obtain work for them, and the immense

sums of money sent to Ireland by emigrants, for the support of aged

fathers and mothers, I believe the destitution would be something

appalling, and that landlords would find it even more difficult than at

present to get the high rents which they demand. Yet, some of these same

landlords, getting perhaps £20,000 or £40,000 a-year from their Irish

estates, will not give the slightest help to establish industrial

schools in connexion with convents, or to assist them when they are

established, though they are the means of helping their own tenants to

pay their rent. There are in Ireland about two hundred conventual

establishments. Nearly all of these convents have poor schools, where

the poor are taught, either at a most trifling expense, or altogether

without charge. The majority of these convents feed and clothe a

considerable number of poor children, and many of them have established

industrial schools, where a few girls at least can earn what will almost

support a whole family in comfort. I give the statistics of one convent

as a sample of others. I believe there are a few, but perhaps only a

very few other places, where the statistics would rise higher; but there

are many convents where the children are fed and clothed, and where work

is done on a smaller scale. If such institutions were encouraged by the

landlords, much more could be done. The convent to which I allude was

founded at the close of the year 1861. There was a national school in

the little town (in England it would be called a village), with an

attendance of about forty children. The numbers rose rapidly year by

year, after the arrival of the nuns, and at present the average daily

attendance is just 400. It would be very much higher, were it not for

the steady decrease in the population, caused by emigration. The

emigration would have been very much greater, had not the parish priest

given employment to a considerable number of men, by building a new

church, convent, and convent schools. The poorest of the children, and,

in Ireland, none but the very poorest will accept such alms, get a

breakfast of Indian meal and milk all the year round. The comfort of

this hot meal to them, when they come in half-clad and starving of a

winter morning, can only be estimated by those who have seen the

children partake of it, and heard the cries of delight of the babies of

a year old, and the quiet expression of thankfulness of the elder

children. Before they go home they get a piece of dry bread, and this is

their dinner--a dinner the poorest English child would almost refuse.

The number of meals given at present is 350 per diem. The totals of

meals given per annum since 1862 are as follows:--

During the year 1862 ...... 36,400

" " 1863 ...... 45,800

" " 1864 ...... 46,700

" " 1865 ...... 49,000

" " 1866 ...... 70,000

" " 1867 ...... 73,000

_______

Making a total of 320,900

There were also 1,035 _suits_ of clothing given.

The Industrial School was established in 1863. It has been principally

supported by English ladies and Protestants. The little town where the

convent is situated, is visited by tourists during the summer months;

and many who have visited the convent have been so much struck by the

good they saw done there, that they have actually devoted themselves to

selling work amongst their English friends for the poor children.

The returns of work sold in the Industrial School are as follows:--

£ s. d.

Work sold in 1863 ..... 70 3 6-1/2

" " 1864 ..... 109 18 5

" " 1805 ..... 276 1 3-1/2

" " 1866 ..... 421 16 3

" " 1867 ..... 350 2 4-1/2

______________

Making a total of £1,228 1 10-1/2

The falling off in 1867 has been accounted for partly from the Fenian

panic, which prevented tourists visiting Ireland as numerously as in

other years, and partly from the attraction of the French Exhibition

having drawn tourists in that direction. I have been exact in giving

these details, because they form an important subject for consideration

in regard to the present history of Ireland. They show at once the

poverty of the people, their love of industry, and their eagerness to do

work when they can get it. In this, and in other convent schools

throughout Ireland, the youngest children are trained to habits of

industry. They are paid even for their first imperfect attempts, to

encourage them to go on; and they treasure up the few weekly pence they

earn as a lady would her jewels. One child had in this way nearly saved

up enough to buy herself a pair of shoes--a luxury she had not as yet

possessed; but before the whole amount was procured she went to her

eternal home, where there is no want, and her last words were a message

of love and gratitude to the nuns who had taught her.

The causes of emigration, as one should think, are patent to all.

Landlords do not deny that they are anxious to see the people leave the

country. They give them every assistance to do so. Their object is to

get more land into their own hands, but the policy will eventually prove

suicidal. A revolutionary spirit is spreading fast through Europe.

Already the standing subject of public addresses to the people in

England, is the injustice of certain individuals being allowed to hold

such immense tracts of country in their possession. We all know what

came of the selfish policy of the landowners in France before the

Revolution, which consigned them by hundreds to the guillotine. A little

self-sacrifice, which, in the end, would have been for their own

benefit, might have saved all this. The attempt to depopulate Ireland

has been tried over and over again, and has failed signally. It is not

more likely to succeed in the nineteenth century than at any preceding

period. Even were it possible that wholesale emigration could benefit

any country, it is quite clear that Irish emigration cannot benefit

England. It is a plan to get rid of a temporary difficulty at a terrific

future cost. Emigration has ceased to be confined to paupers.

Respectable farmers are emigrating, and taking with them to America

bitter memories of the cruel injustice which has compelled them to leave

their native land.

Second, _How misery leads to emigration_. The poor are leaving the

country, because they have no employment. The more respectable classes

are leaving the country, because they prefer living in a free land,

where they can feel sure that their hard earnings will be their own, and

not their landlord's, and where they are not subject to the miserable

political and religious tyranny which reigns supreme in Ireland. In the

evidence given before the Land Tenure Committee of 1864, we find the

following statements made by Dr. Keane, the Roman Catholic Bishop of

Cloyne. His Lordship is a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and of

more than ordinary patriotism. He has made the subject of emigration his

special study, partly from a deep devotion to all that concerns the

welfare of his country, and partly from the circumstance of his

residence being at Queenstown, the port from which Irishmen leave their

native shores, and the place where wails of the emigrants continually

resound. I subjoin a few of his replies to the questions proposed:--

"I attribute emigration principally to the want of employment."

"A man who has only ten or twelve acres, and who is a

tenant-at-will, finding that the land requires improvement, is

afraid to waste it [his money], and he goes away. I see many of

these poor people in Queenstown every day."

"I have made inquiries over and over again in Queenstown and

elsewhere, and I never yet heard that a single farmer emigrated and

left the country who had a lease."

Well might Mr. Heron say, in a paper read before the Irish Statistical

Society, in May, 1864: "Under the present laws, no Irish peasant able to

read and write ought to remain in Ireland. If Ireland were an

independent country, in the present state of things there would be a

bloody insurrection in every county, and the peasantry would ultimately

obtain the property in land, as _they have obtained it in Switzerland

and in France_." That the Irish people will eventually become the

masters of the Irish property, from which every effort has been made to

dispossess them, by fair means and by foul, since the Norman invasion of

Ireland, I have not the slightest doubt. The only doubt is whether the

matter will be settled by the law or by the sword. But I have hope that

the settlement will be peaceful, when I find English members of

Parliament treating thus of the subject, and ministers declaring, at

least when they are out of office, that something should be done for

Ireland.

Mr. Stuart Mill writes: "The land of Ireland, the land of every country,

belongs to the people of that country. The individuals called landowners

have no right, in morality or justice, to anything but the rent, or

compensation for its saleable value. When the inhabitants of a country

quit the country _en masse_, because the Government will not make it a

place fit for them to live in, the Government is judged and condemned,

It is the duty of Parliament to reform the landed tenure of Ireland."

More than twenty years ago Mr. Disraeli said: "He wished to see a public

man come forward and say what the Irish question was. Let them consider

Ireland as they would any other country similarly circumstanced. They

had a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, an alien Church,

and, in addition, the weakest executive in the world. This was the Irish

question. What would gentlemen say on hearing of a country in such a

position? They would say at once, in such case, the remedy is

revolution--not the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. But the

connexion with England prevented it: therefore England was logically in

the active position of being the cause of all the misery of Ireland.

What, then, was the duty of an English minister? To effect by policy all

the changes which a revolution would do by force." If these words had

been acted upon in 1848, we should not have had a Fenian insurrection in

1867. If a peaceful revolution is to be accomplished a few persons must

suffer, though, in truth, it is difficult to see what Irish landlords

could lose by a fair land law, except the power to exercise a tyrannical

control over their tenants. I believe, if many English absentee

landlords had even the slightest idea of the evil deeds done in their

names by their agents, that they would not tolerate it for a day. If a

complaint is made to the landlord, he refers it to his agent. It is

pretty much as if you required the man who inflicted the injury to be

the judge of his own conduct. The agent easily excuses himself to the

landlord; but the unfortunate man who had presumed to lift up his voice,

is henceforth a marked object of vengeance; and he is made an example to

his fellows, that they may not dare to imitate him. The truth is, that

the real state of Ireland, and the real feelings of the Irish people,

can only be known by personal intercourse with the lower orders.

Gentlemen making a hurried tour through the country, may see a good deal

of misery, if they have not come for the purpose of not seeing it; but

they can never know the real wretchedness of the Irish poor unless they

remain stationary in some district long enough to win the confidence of

the people, and to let them feel that they can tell their sorrows and

their wrongs without fear that they shall be increased by the

disclosure.

Third, one brief word of how this injustice recoils upon the heads of

the perpetrators, and I shall have ended. It recoils upon them

indirectly, by causing a feeling of hostility between the governors and

the governed. A man cannot be expected to revere and love his landlord,

when he finds that his only object is to get all he can from him--when

he finds him utterly reckless of his misery, and still more indifferent

to his feelings. A gentleman considers himself a model of humanity if he

pays the emigration expenses of the family whom he wishes to eject from

the holding which their ancestors have possessed for centuries. He is

amazed at the fearful ingratitude of the poor man, who cannot feel

overwhelmed with joy at his benevolent offer. But the gentleman

considers he has done his duty, and consoles himself with the reflection

that the Irish are an ungrateful race. Of all the peoples on the face of

the globe, the Irish Celts are the most attached to their families and

to their lands. God only knows the broken hearts that go over the ocean

strangers to a strange land. The young girls who leave their aged

mothers, the noble, brave young fellows who leave their old fathers, act

not from a selfish wish to better themselves, but from the hope, soon to

be realized, that they may be able to earn in another land what they

cannot earn in their own. I saw a lad once parting from his aged father.

I wish I had not seen it. I heard the agonized cries of the old man: "My

God! he's gone! he's gone!" I wish I had not heard it. I heard the wild

wailing cry with which the Celt mourns for his dead, and glanced

impulsively to the window. It was not death, but departure that prompts

that agony of grief. A car was driving off rapidly on the mountain road

which led to the nearest port. The car was soon out of sight. The father

and the son had looked their last look into each other's eyes--had

clasped the last clasp of each other's hands. An hour had passed, and

still the old man lay upon the ground, where he had flung himself in his

heart's bitter anguish; and still the wail rung out from time to time:

"My God! he's gone! he's gone!"

Those who have seen the departure of emigrants at the Irish seaports,

are not surprised at Irish disaffection--are not surprised that the

expatriated youth joins the first wild scheme, which promises to release

his country from such cruel scenes, and shares his money equally between

his starving relatives at home, and the men who, sometimes as deceivers,

and sometimes with a patriotism like his own, live only for one

object--to obtain for Ireland by the sword, the justice which is denied

to her by the law.

I conclude with statistics which are undeniable proofs of Irish misery.

The emigration _at present_ amounts to 100,000 per annum.

[Illustration: The Emigrants' Farewell.]

From the 1st of May, 1851, to the 31st of December, 1865, 1,630,722

persons emigrated. As the emigrants generally leave their young children

after them for a time, and as aged and imbecile persons do not emigrate,

the consequence is, that, from 1851 to 1861, the number of deaf and dumb

increased from 5,180 to 5,653; the number of blind, from 5,787 to 6,879;

and the number of lunatics and idiots, from 9,980 to 14,098. In 1841,

the estimated value of crops in Ireland was £50,000,000; in 1851, it was

reduced to £43,000,000; and in 1861, to £35,000,000. The number of

gentlemen engaged in the learned professions is steadily decreasing; the

traffic on Irish railways and the returns are steadily decreasing; the

live stock in cattle, which was to have supplied and compensated for the

live stock in men, is fearfully decreasing; the imports and exports are

steadily decreasing. The decrease in cultivated lands, from 1862 to

1863, amounted to 138,841 acres.

While the Preface to the Second Edition was passing through the press,

my attention was called to an article, in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, on

the Right Rev. Dr. Manning's Letter to Earl Grey. The writer of this

article strongly recommends his Grace to publish a new edition of his

Letter, omitting the last sixteen pages. We have been advised, also, to

issue a new edition of our HISTORY, to omit the Preface, and any remarks

or facts that might tend to show that the Irish tenant was not the

happiest and most contented being in God's creation.

The _Pall Mall Gazette_ argues--if, indeed, mere assertion can be called

argument--first, "that Dr. Manning has obviously never examined the

subject for himself, but takes his ideas and beliefs from the universal

statements of angry and ignorant sufferers whom he has met in England,

or from intemperate and utterly untrustworthy party speeches and

pamphlets, whose assertions he receives as gospel;" yet Dr. Manning has

given statements of facts, and the writer has not attempted to disprove

them. Second, he says: "Dr. Manning echoes the thoughtless complaints of

those who cry out against emigration as a great evil and a grievous

wrong, when he might have known, if he had thought or inquired at all

about the matter, not only that this emigration has been the greatest

conceivable blessing to the emigrants, but was an absolutely

indispensable step towards improving the condition of those who remained

at home;" and then the old calumnies are resuscitated about the Irish

being "obstinately idle and wilfully improvident," as if it had not been

proved again and again that the only ground on which such appellations

can be applied to them in Ireland is, that their obstinacy consists in

objecting to work without fair remuneration for their labour, and their

improvidence in declining to labour for the benefit of their masters. It

is the old story, "you are idle, you are idle,"--it is the old demand,

"make bricks without straw,"--and then, by way of climax, we are assured

that these "poor creatures" are assisted to emigrate with the tenderest

consideration, and that, in fact, emigration is a boon for which they

are grateful.

It is quite true that many landlords pay their tenants to emigrate, and

send persons to see them safe out of the country; but it is absolutely

false that the people emigrate willingly. No one who has witnessed the

departure of emigrants dare make such an assertion. They are offered

their choice between starvation and emigration, and they emigrate. If a

man were offered his choice between penal servitude and hanging, it is

probable he would prefer penal servitude, but that would not make him

appreciate the joys of prison life. The Irish parish priest alone can

tell what the Irish suffer at home, and how unwillingly they go abroad.

A pamphlet has just been published on this very subject, by the Very

Rev. P. Malone, P.P., V.F., of Belmullet, co. Mayo, and in this he says:

"I have _seen_ the son, standing upon the deck of the emigrant ship,

divest himself of his only coat, and place it upon his father's

shoulders, saying, 'Father, take you this; I will soon earn the price of

a coat in the land I am going to.'" Such instances, which might be

recorded by the hundred, and the amount of money sent to Ireland by

emigrants for the support of aged parents, and to pay the passage out of

younger members of the family, are the best refutation of the old

falsehood that Irishmen are either idle or improvident.

AN

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND.

[Illustration: IRISH HISTORY.]

CHAPTER I

Celtic Literature--Antiquity of our Annals--Moore--How we should

estimate Tradition--The Materials for Irish History--List of the Lost

Books--The Cuilmenn--The Saltair of Tara, &c.--The Saltair of

Cashel--Important MSS. preserved in Trinity College--By the Royal Irish

Academy--In Belgium.

The study of Celtic literature, which is daily becoming of increased

importance to the philologist, has proved a matter of no inconsiderable

value to the Irish historian. When Moore visited O'Curry, and found him

surrounded with such works as the _Books of Ballymote and Lecain_, the

_Speckled Book_, the _Annals of the Four Masters_, and other treasures

of Gaedhilic lore, he turned to Dr. Petrie, and exclaimed: "These large

tomes could not have been written by fools or for any foolish purpose. I

never knew anything about them before, and I had no right to have

undertaken the _History of Ireland_." His publishers, who had less

scruples, or more utilitarian views, insisted on the completion of his

task. Whatever their motives may have been, we may thank them for the

result. Though Moore's history cannot now be quoted as an authority, it

accomplished its work for the time, and promoted an interest in the

history of one of the most ancient nations of the human race.

There are two sources from whence the early history of a nation may be

safely derived: the first internal--the self-consciousness of the

individual; the second external--the knowledge of its existence by

others--the _ego sum_ and the _tu es_; and our acceptance of the

statements of each on _matters of fact_, should depend on their mutual

agreement.

The first question, then, for the historian should be, What accounts

does this nation give of its early history? the second, What account of

this nation's early history can be obtained _ab extra_? By stating and

comparing these accounts with such critical acumen as the writer may be

able to command, we may obtain something approaching to authentic

history. The history of ancient peoples must have its basis on

tradition. The name tradition unfortunately gives an _a priori_

impression of untruthfulness, and hence the difficulty of accepting

tradition as an element of truth in historic research. But tradition is

not necessarily either a pure myth or a falsified account of facts. The

traditions of a nation are like an aged man's recollection of his

childhood, and should be treated as such. If we would know his early

history, we let him tell the tale in his own fashion. It may be he will

dwell long upon occurrences interesting to himself, and apart from the

object of our inquiries; it may be he will equivocate unintentionally if

cross-examined in detail; but truth will underlie his garrulous story,

and by patient analysis we may sift it out, and obtain the information

we desire.

A nation does not begin to write its history at the first moment of its

existence. Hence, when the chronicle is compiled which first embodies

its story, tradition forms the basis. None but an inspired historian can

commence _In principio_. The nation has passed through several

generations, the people already begin to talk of "old times;" but as

they are nearer these "old times" by some thousands of years than we

are, they are only burdened with the traditions of a few centuries at

the most; and unless there is evidence of a wilful object or intent to

falsify their chronicles, we may in the main depend on their accuracy.

Let us see how this applies to Gaedhilic history. The labours of the

late lamented Eugene O'Curry have made this an easy task. He took to his

work a critical acumen not often attained by the self-educated, and a

noble patriotism not often maintained by the gifted scions of a country

whose people and whose literature have been alike trodden down and

despised for centuries. The result of his researches is embodied in a

work[1] which should be in the hands of every student of Irish history,

and of every Irishman who can afford to procure it. This volume proves

that the _early_ history of Ireland has yet to be written; that it

should be a work of magnitude, and undertaken by one gifted with special

qualifications, which the present writer certainly does not possess; and

that it will probably require many years of patient labour from the

"host of Erinn's sons," before the necessary materials for such a

history can be prepared.

The manuscript materials for ancient Irish history may be divided into

two classes: the historical, which purports to be a narrative of facts,

in which we include books of laws, genealogies, and pedigrees; and the

legendary, comprising tales, poems, and legends. The latter, though not

necessarily true, are generally founded on fact, and contain a mass of

most important information, regarding the ancient customs and manner of

life among our ancestors. For the present we must devote our attention

to the historical documents. These, again, may be divided into two

classes--the lost books and those which still remain. Of the former

class the principal are the CUILMENN, _i.e._, the great book written on

skins; the SALTAIR OF TARA; the BOOK OF THE UACHONGBHAIL (pron. "ooa

cong-wall"); the CIN DROMA SNECHTA; and the SALTAIR OF CASHEL. Besides

these, a host of works are lost, of lesser importance as far as we can

now judge, which, if preserved, might have thrown a flood of light not

only upon our annals, but also on the social, historical, and

ethnographic condition of other countries. The principal works which

have been preserved are: the ANNALS OF TIGHERNACH (pron. "Teernagh");

the ANNALS OF ULSTER; the ANNALS OF INIS MAC NERINN; the ANNALS OF

INNISFALLEN; the ANNALS OF BOYLE; the CHRONICUM SCOTORUM, so ably edited

by Mr. Hennessy; the world-famous ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS; the BOOK

OF LEINSTER; the BOOK OF LAWS (the Brehon Laws), now edited by Dr. Todd,

and many books of genealogies and pedigrees.

For the present it must suffice to say, that these documents have been

examined by the ordinary rules of literary criticism, perhaps with more

than ordinary care, and that the result has been to place their

authenticity and their antiquity beyond cavil.

Let us see, then, what statements we can find which may throw light on

our early history, first in the fragments that remain of the lost books,

and then in those which are still preserved.

The CUILMENN is the first of the lost books which we mentioned. It is

thus referred to in the Book of Leinster:[2] "The _filés_ [bards] of

Erinn were now called together by _Senchan Torpéist_ [about A.D. 580],

to know if they remembered the _Táin bó Chuailgné_ in full; and they

said that they knew of it but fragments only. Senchan then spoke to his

pupils to know which of them would go into the countries of _Letha_ to

learn the _Táin_ which the _Sai_ had taken 'eastwards' after the

_Cuilmenn_. Eminé, the grandson of Nininé, and Muirgen, Senchan's own

son, set out to go to the East."

Here we have simply an indication of the existence of this ancient work,

and of the fact that in the earliest, if not in pre-Christian times,

Irish manuscripts travelled to the Continent with Irish scholars--Letha

being the name by which Italy, and especially what are now called the

Papal States, was then designated by Irish writers.

The SALTAIR OF TARA next claims our attention; and we may safely affirm,

merely judging from the fragments which remain, that a nation which

could produce such a work had attained no ordinary pitch of civilization

and literary culture. The Book of Ballymote,[3] and the Yellow Book of

Lecan,[4] attribute this work to Cormac Mac Art: "A noble work was

performed by Cormac at that time, namely, the compilation of Cormac's

Saltair, which was composed by him and the Seanchaidhe [Historians] of

Erinn, including Fintan, son of Bochra, and Fithil, the poet and judge.

And their synchronisms and genealogies, the succession of their kings

and monarchs, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities, from

the world's beginning down to that time, were written; and this is the

Saltair of Temair [pron. "Tara," almost as it is called now], which is

the origin and fountain of the Historians of Erinn from that period down

to this time. This is taken from the Book of the Uachongbhail."[5]

As we shall speak of Cormac's reign and noble qualities in detail at a

later period, it is only necessary to record here that his panegyric, as

king, warrior, judge, and philosopher, has been pronounced by almost

contemporary writers, as well as by those of later date. The name

_Saltair_ has been objected to as more likely to denote a composition of

Christian times. This objection, however, is easily removed: first, the

name was probably applied after the appellation had been introduced in

Christian times; second, we have no reason to suppose that King Cormac

designated his noble work by this name; and third, even could this be

proven, the much maligned Keating removes any difficulty by the simple

and obvious remark, that "it is because of its having been written in

poetic metre, the chief book which was in the custody of the _Ollamh_ of

the King of Erinn, was called the _Saltair of Temair;_ and the Chronicle

of holy Cormac Mac Cullinan, _Saltair of Cashel;_ and the Chronicle of

Aengus _Ceilé Dé_ [the Culdee], _Saltair-na-Rann_ [that is, Saltair of

the Poems or Verses], because a Salm and a Poem are the same, and

therefore a _Salterium_ and a _Duanairé_ [book of poems] are the

same."[6]

[Illustration: SITE OF TARA.]

The oldest reference to this famous compilation is found in a poem on

the site of ancient Tara, by Cuan O'Lochain, a distinguished scholar,

and native of Westmeath, who died in the year 1024. The quotation given

below is taken from the Book of Ballymote, a magnificent volume,

compiled in the year 1391, now in possession of the Royal Irish

Academy:--

Temair, choicest of hills,

For [possession of] which Erinn is now devastated,[7]

The noble city of Cormac, son of Art,

Who was the son of great Conn of the hundred battles:

Cormac, the prudent and good,

Was a sage, a filé [poet], a prince:

Was a righteous judge of the Fené-men,[8]

Was a good friend and companion.

Cormac gained fifty battles:

He compiled the Saltair of Temur.

In that Saltair is contained

The best summary of history;

It is that Saltair which assigns

Seven chief kings to Erinn of harbours;

They consisted of the five kings of the provinces,--

The Monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.

In it are (written) on either side,

What each provincial king is entitled to,

From the king of each great musical province.

The synchronisms and chronology of all,

The kings, with each other [one with another] all;

The boundaries of each brave province,

From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.

From this valuable extract we obtain a clear idea of the importance and

the subject of the famous Saltair, and a not less clear knowledge of the

admirable legal and social institutions by which Erinn was then

governed.

The CIN OF DROM SNECHTA is quoted in the Book of Ballymote, in support

of the ancient legend of the antediluvian occupation of Erinn by the

Lady _Banbha_, called in other books Cesair (pron. "kesar"). The Book of

Lecan quotes it for the same purpose, and also for the genealogies of

the chieftains of the ancient Rudrician race of Ulster. Keating gives

the descent of the Milesian colonists from Magog, the son of Japhet, on

the authority of the Cin of Drom Snechta, which, he states, was compiled

before St. Patrick's mission to Erinn.[9] We must conclude this part of

our subject with a curious extract from the same work, taken from the

Book of Leinster: "From the Cin of Drom Snechta, this below. Historians

say that there were exiles of Hebrew women in Erinn at the coming of the

sons of Milesius, who had been driven by a sea tempest into the ocean by

the Tirrén Sea. They were in Erinn before the sons of Milesius. They

said, however, to the sons of Milesius [who, it would appear, pressed

marriage on them], that they preferred their own country, and that they

would not abandon it without receiving dowry for alliance with them. It

is from this circumstance that it is the men that purchase wives in

Erinn for ever, whilst it is the husbands that are purchased by the

wives throughout the world besides."[10] The SALTAIR OF CASHEL was

compiled by Cormac Mac Cullinan King of Munster, and Archbishop of

Cashel. He was killed in the year 903. This loss of the work is most

painful to the student of the early history of Erinn. It is believed

that the ancient compilation known as Cormac's Glossary, was compiled

from the interlined gloss to the Saltair; and the references therein to

our ancient history, laws, mythology, and social customs, are such as to

indicate the richness of the mine of ancient lore. A copy was in

existence in 1454, as there is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud,

610) a copy of such portions as could be deciphered at the time. This

copy was made by Shane O'Clery for Mac Richard Butler.

The subjoined list of the lost books is taken from O'Curry's _MS.

Materials_, page 20. It may be useful to the philologist and interesting

to our own people, as a proof of the devotion to learning so early

manifested in Erinn:--

"In the first place must be enumerated again the _Cuilmenn_; the

Saltair of Tara; the _Cin Droma Snechta;_ the Book of St. Mochta;

the Book of _Cuana_; the Book of _Dubhdaleithe_; and the Saltair of

Cashel. Besides these we find mention of the _Leabhar buidhe

Sláine_ or Yellow Book of Slane; the original _Leabhar na

h-Uidhre;_ the Books of _Eochaidh O'Flannagain_; a certain book

known as the Book eaten by the poor people in the desert; the Book

of _Inis an Duin_; the Short Book of St. Buithe's Monastery (or

Monasterboice); the Books of Flann of the same Monastery; the Book

of Flann of _Dungeimhin_ (Dungiven, co. Derry); the Book of _Dun da

Leth Ghlas_ (or Downpatrick); the Book of _Doiré_ (Derry); the Book

of _Sabhall Phatraic_ (or Saull, co. Down); the Book of the

_Uachongbhail_ (Navan, probably); the _Leabhar dubh Molaga_, or

Black Book of St. Molaga; the _Leabhar buidhe Moling_, or Yellow

Book of St. Moling; the _Leabhar buidhe Mhic Murchadha_, or Yellow

Book of Mac Murrach; the _Leabhar Arda Macha_, or Book of Armagh

(quoted by Keating); the _Leabhar ruadh Mhic Aedhagain_, or Red

Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar breac Mhic Aedhagain_, or Speckled

Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar fada Leithghlinne_, or Long Book of

Leithghlinn, or Leithlin; the Books of O'Scoba of _Cluain Mic Nois_

(or Clonmacnois); the _Duil Droma Ceata_, or Book of Drom Ceat; and

the Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the Queen's County)."

[Illustration: (A) MS. in the "_Domhnach Airgid,_" [R.I.A.] (temp. St.

Patrick, circa A.D. 430.)]

[Illustration: (B) MS. in the "_Cathach_," (6th century MS attributed to

St. Colum Cillé)]

Happily, however, a valuable collection of ancient MSS. are still

preserved, despite the "drowning" of the Danes, and the "burning" of the

Saxon. The researches of continental scholars are adding daily to our

store; and the hundreds of Celtic MSS., so long entombed in the

libraries of Belgium and Italy, will, when published, throw additional

light upon the brightness of the past, and, it may be, enhance the

glories of the future, which we must believe are still in reserve for

the island of saints and sages.[11]

The list of works given above are supposed by O'Curry to have existed

anterior to the year 1100. Of the books which Keating refers to in his

History, written about 1630, only one is known to be extant--the

_Saltair-na-Rann_, written by Aengus Céile Dé.

The principal Celtic MSS. which are still preserved to us, may be

consulted in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the Library

of the Royal Irish Academy. The latter, though founded at a much later

period, is by far the more extensive, if not the more important,

collection. Perhaps, few countries have been so happy as to possess a

body of men so devoted to its archæology, so ardent in their

preservation of all that can be found to illustrate it, and so capable

of elucidating its history by their erudition, which, severally and

collectively, they have brought to bear on every department of its

ethnology. The collection in Trinity College consists of more than 140

volumes, several of them are vellum,[12] dating from the early part of

the twelfth to the middle of the last century. The collection of the

Royal Irish Academy also contains several works written on vellum, with

treatises of history, science, laws, and commerce; there are also many

theological and ecclesiastical compositions, which have been pronounced

by competent authorities to be written in the purest style that the

ancient Gaedhilic language ever attained. There are also a considerable

number of translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. These are

of considerable importance, as they enable the critical student of our

language to determine the meaning of many obscure or obsolete words or

phrases, by reference to the originals; nor are they of less value as

indicating the high state of literary culture which prevailed in Ireland

during the early Christian and the Middle Ages. Poetry, mythology,

history, and the classic literature of Greece and Rome, may be found

amongst these translations; so that, as O'Curry well remarks, "any one

well read in the comparatively few existing fragments of our Gaedhilic

literature, and whose education had been confined solely to this source,

would find that there are but very few, indeed, of the great events in

the history of the world with which he was not acquainted."[13] He then

mentions, by way of illustration of classical subjects, Celtic versions

of the Argonautic Expedition, the Siege of Troy, the Life of Alexander

the Great; and of such subjects as cannot be classed under this head,

the Destruction of Jerusalem; the Wars of Charlemagne, including the

History of Roland the Brave; the History of the Lombards, and the almost

contemporary translation of the Travels of Marco Polo.

There is also a large collection of MSS. in the British Museum, a few

volumes in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, besides the well-known,

though inaccessible, Stowe collection.[14]

The treasures of Celtic literature still preserved on the Continent, can

only be briefly mentioned here. It is probable that the active

researches of philologists will exhume many more of these long-hidden

volumes, and obtain for our race the place it has always deserved in the

history of nations.

The Louvain collection, formed chiefly by Fathers Hugh Ward, John

Colgan, and Michael O'Clery, between the years 1620 and 1640, was widely

scattered at the French Revolution. The most valuable portion is in the

College of St. Isidore in Rome. The Burgundian Library at Brussels also

possesses many of these treasures. A valuable resumé of the MSS. which

are preserved there was given by Mr. Bindon, and printed in the

Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy in the year 1847. There are also

many Latin MSS. with Irish glosses, which have been largely used by

Zeuss in his world-famed _Grammatica Celtica_. The date of one of

these--a codex containing some of Venerable Bede's works--is fixed by an

entry of the death of Aed, King of Ireland, in the year 817. This most

important work belonged to the Irish monastery of Reichenau, and is now

preserved at Carlsruhe. A codex is also preserved at Cambray, which

contains a fragment of an Irish sermon, and the canons of an Irish

council held A.D. 684.

[Illustration: DOORWAY OF CLONMACNOIS.]

[Illustration: CLONMACNOIS.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Work._--_Lectures on the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History_.

This work was published at the sole cost of the Catholic University of

Ireland, and will be an eternal monument of their patriotism and

devotion to literature. A chair of Irish History and Archæology was also

founded at the very commencement of the University; and yet the "Queen's

Colleges" are discarding this study, while an English professor in

Oxford is warmly advocating its promotion. Is the value of a chair to be

estimated by the number of pupils who surround it, or by the

contributions to science of the professor who holds it?

[2] _Leinster._--Book of Leinster, H.2.18, T.C.D. See O'Curry, p. 8.

[3] _Ballymote._--Library R.I.A., at fol. 145, a.a.

[4] _Lecan._--Trinity College, Dublin, classed H.2.16.

[5] _Uachongbhail_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, p. 11.

[6] _Same_.--Ibid. p. 12. The Psalms derived their name from the musical

instrument to which they were sung. This was called in Hebrew _nebel_.

It obtained the name from its resemblance to a bottle or flagon.

Psaltery is the Greek translation, and hence the name psalm.

[7] _Devastated_.--This was probably written in the year 1001, when

Brian Boroimhé had deposed Malachy.

[8] _Fené-men_.--The farmers, who were not Fenians then certainly, for

"Cormac was a righteous judge of the _Agraria Lex_ of the Gaels."

[9] _Erinn._--Keating says: "We will set down here the branching off of

the races of Magog, according to the Book of Invasions (of Ireland),

which was called the Cin of Drom Snechta; and it was before the coming

of Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed."--See Keating,

page 109, in O'Connor's translation. It is most unfortunate that this

devoted priest and ardent lover of his country did not bring the

critical acumen to his work which would have made its veracity

unquestionable. He tells us that it is "the business of his history to

be particular," and speaks of having "faithfully collected and

transcribed." But until recent investigations manifested the real

antiquity and value of the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History, his

work was looked on as a mere collection of legends. The quotation at

present under consideration is a case in point. He must have had a copy

of the Cin of Drom Snechta in his possession, and he must have known who

was the author of the original, as he states so distinctly the time of

its compilation. Keating's accuracy in matters of fact and

transcription, however, is daily becoming more apparent. This statement

might have been considered a mere conjecture of his own, had not Mr.

O'Curry discovered the name of the author in a partially effaced

memorandum in the Book of Leinster, which he reads thus: "[Ernín, son

of] Duach [that is], son of the King of Connacht, an _Ollamh_, and a

prophet, and a professor in history, and a professor in wisdom: it was

he that collected the Genealogies and Histories of the men of Erinn in

one book, that is, the _Cin Droma Snechta_." Duach was the son of Brian,

son of the monarch _Eochaidh_, who died A.D. 305.

[10] _Besides._--O'Curry, page 16.

[11] _Sages._--M. Nigra, the Italian Ambassador at Paris, is at this

moment engaged in publishing continental MSS.

[12] _Vellum._--The use of vellum is an indication that the MSS. must be

of some antiquity. The word "paper" is derived from _papyrus_, the most

ancient material for writing, if we except the rocks used for runes, or

the wood for oghams. Papyrus, the pith of a reed, was used until the

discovery of parchment, about 190 B.C. A MS. of the _Antiquities of

Josephus_ on papyrus, was among the treasures seized by Buonaparte in

Italy.

[13] _Acquainted_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, page 24.

[14] _Collection_.-A recent writer in the _Cornhill_ says that Lord

Ashburnham refuses access to this collection, now in his possession,

fearing that its contents may be depreciated so as to lessen its value

at a future sale. We should hope this statement can scarcely be

accurate. Unhappily, it is at least certain that access to the MSS. is

denied, from whatever motive.