The word, chess, whatever it may have signified, was
common in Ireland long before it is ever found in English
annals. The quotation from the Saxon Chronicle, of the Earl of
Devonshire and his daughter playing chess together, refers to
the reign of Edgar, about half a century before Canute played
chess; but in Ireland the numerous references and legacies of
chess-boards are of eight hundred years' earlier date.
Several scholars in Ireland have discussed the question of
probable early knowledge of chess there.
Fitchell, a very ancient game in that country, was uniformly
translated, chess.
O'Flanagan, Professor of the Irish language in the University of
Dublin, writing to Twiss about the end of last century in
Reference to Dr. Hyde's quotations, thought Fitchell meant chess.
J. C. Walker wrote:--"Chess is not now (1790) a common
game in Ireland; it is played at and understood by very few;
yet it was a favourite game among the early Irish, and the
amusement of the chiefs in their camps.
"It is called Fill, and sometimes Fitchell, to distinguish it
from Fall, another game on the Tables, which are called
Taibhle Fill.
"The origin of Fill in Ireland eludes the grasp of history."
The Chess King preserved by Dr. Petrie, L.L.D., bears no small
resemblance to those found in the Isle of Lewis, now in the
British Museum, and which have been graphically reported upon
by Sir F. Madden.
John O'Donovan, Esq., author of our best Irish Grammar, in
"Leabhar na'q Ceart, or the Book of Rights," 1847, from MS.
of 1390 to 1418, frequently refers to the game, and the
legacies of Cathaeir Mor, who reigned 118 to 148, contain,
among other remarkable bequests, thirteen of chess-boards.
Once a set of chess-men is specified--and, again, a chess-board
and white chess-men. The bequests of the said Cathaeir Mor are
also cited by O'Flaherty, who mentions to have seen the
testament in writing, and in Patrick O'Kelly's work, Dublin,
1844, "The History of Ireland, Ancient and Modern," taken from
the most authentic records, and dedicated to the Irish Brigade,
translated from the French of Abbe McGeoghegan (a work of
rather more than a century ago).
Col. Vallancey, in his "Collectanea de Reb. Hib.," seems to
insinuate that the Irish derived it with other arts from the
East. "Phil," says he, "is the Arabic name of chess, from Phil,
the Elephant, one of the principle figures on the table."
In the old Breton Laws we find that one tax levied by the
Monarch of Ireland in every province was to be paid in
chess-boards and complete sets of men, and that every Burgh (or
Inn-holder of the States) was obliged to furnish travellers with
salt provisions, lodging, and a chess-board, gratis. (NOTE. That
must have been very long ago.) In a description of Tamar or Tara
Hall, formerly the residence of the Monarch of Ireland--it stood
on a beautiful hill in the county of Meath during the Pagan
ages--lately discovered in the Seabright Collection,
Fidche-allaigh, or chess-players, appear amongst the officers
of the household.
"Langst ver der Erfindung," says Linde; and again, "Wenn die
ganze geschicte von Irland ein solches Lug-gund Truggewebe
ist, wie das Fidcill Gefasel ist sie wirklich Keltisch."
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