VOLUME XIV SLICE VII Ireland to Isabey, Jean Baptiste (continued 3)

The social and political condition of Ireland, and the pastoral occupation of the inhabitants, were unfavourable to the development of foreign commerce, and the absence of coined money among them shows that it did not exist on an extensive scale. The foreign articles of luxury (dress, ornaments, wine, &c.) required by them were brought to the great oenachs or fairs held periodically in various parts of the country. A flourishing commerce, however, soon grew up in the Scandinavian towns; mints were established, and many foreign traders—Flemings, Italians and others—settled there. It was through these Scandinavian trading communities that Ireland came into contact with the rest of Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. If evidence were needed it is only necessary to point to the names of three of the Irish provinces, Ulster, Leinster, Munster, which are formed from the native names (Ulaid, Laigin, Muma-n) with the addition of Norse staðr; and the very name by which the island is now generally known is Scandinavian in form (Ira-land, the land of the Irish). The settlers in the Scandinavian towns early came to be looked upon by the native Irish as so many septs of a tribe added to the system of petty states forming the Irish political system. They soon mixed in the domestic quarrels of neighbouring tribes, at first selling their protection, but afterwards as vassals, sometimes as allies, like the septs and tribes of the Goidel among themselves. The latter in turn acted in similar capacities with the Irish-Norwegian chiefs, Irish tribes often forming part of the Scandinavian armies in Britain. This intercourse led to frequent intermarriage between the chiefs and nobility of the two peoples. As an instance, the case of Cerball, king of Ossory (d. 887), may be cited. Eyvindr, surnamed Austmaðr, “the east-man,”8 son of Björn, agreed to defend Cerball’s territory on condition of receiving his daughter Raforta in marriage. Among the children of this marriage were Helgi Magri, one of the early settlers in Iceland, and Thurida, wife of Thorstein the Red. Three other daughters of Cerball married Scandinavians: Gormflaith (Kormlöð) married Grimolf, who settled in Iceland, Fridgerda married Thorir Hyrna, and Ethne (Edna) married Hlöðver, father of Earl Sigurd Digri who fell at Clontarf. Cerball’s son Domnall (Dufnialr) was the founder of an Icelandic family, whilst the names Raudi and Baugr occur in the same family. Hence the occurrence of such essentially Irish names as Konall, Kjaran, Njall, Kormakr, Brigit, Kaðlin, &c., among Icelanders and Norwegians cannot be a matter for surprise; nor that a number of Norse words were introduced into Irish, notably terms connected with trade and the sea.

The obscure contest between the Norwegians and Danes for supremacy in Dublin appears to have made the former feel the need of a powerful leader. At any rate, in 851-852 the king of Lochlann (Norway) sent his son Amlaib (Olaf the White) to assume sovereignty over the Norsemen in Ireland and to receive tribute and vassals. From this time it is possible to speak of a Scandinavian kingdom of Dublin, a kingdom which lasted almost without interruption until the Norman Conquest. The king of Dublin exercised overlordship over the other Viking communities in the island, and thus became the most dangerous opponent of the ardrí, with whom he was constantly at variance. Amlaib was accompanied by Ivar, who is stated in one source to have been his brother. Some writers wish to identify this prince with the famous Ivar Beinlaus, son of Ragnar Lodbrok. Amlaib was opposed to the ardrí Maelsechlainn I. (846-863) who had overcome Turgeis. This brave ruler gained a number of victories over the Norsemen, but in true Irish fashion they were never followed up. Although his successor Aed Finnliath (863-879) gave his daughter in marriage to Amlaib, no better relations were established. The king of Dublin was certainly the most commanding figure in Ireland in his day, and during his lifetime the Viking power was greatly extended. In 870 he captured the strongholds of Dumbarton and Dunseverick (Co. Antrim). He disappears from the scene in 873. One source represents him as dying in Ireland, but the circumstances are quite obscure. Ivar only survived Olaf two or three years, and it is stated that he died a Christian. During the ensuing period Dublin was the scene of constant family feuds, which weakened its power to such an extent that in 901 Dublin and Waterford were captured by the Irish and were obliged to acknowledge the supremacy of the high-king. The Irish Annals state that there were no fresh invasions of the Northmen for about forty years dating from 877. During this period Ireland enjoyed comparative rest notwithstanding the intertribal feuds in which the Norse settlers shared, including the campaigns of Cormac, son of Cuilennan, the scholarly king-bishop of Cashel.

Towards the end of this interval of repose a certain Sigtrygg, who was probably a great-grandson of the Ivar mentioned above, addressed himself to the task of winning back the kingdom of his ancestor. Waterford was retaken in 914 by Ivar, grandson of Ragnall and Earl Ottir, and Sigtrygg won a signal victory over the king of Leinster at Cenn Fuait (Co. Kilkenny?) two years later. Dublin was captured, and the high-king Niall Glúndub (910-919) prepared to oppose the invaders. A battle of prime importance was gained by Sigtrygg over the ardrí, who fell fighting gallantly at Kilmashogue near Dublin in 919. Between 920 and 970 the Scandinavian power in Ireland reached its zenith. The country was desolated and plundered by natives and foreigners alike. The lower Shannon was more thoroughly occupied by the Norsemen, with which fact the rise of Limerick is associated. Carlow, Kilkenny and the territory round Lough Neagh were settled, and after the capture of Lough Erne in 932 much of Longford was colonized. The most prominent figures at this time were Muirchertach “of the leather cloaks,” son of Niall Glúndub, Cellachan of Cashel and Amlaib (Olaf) Cuarán. The first-named waged constant warfare against the foreigners and was the most formidable opponent the Scandinavians had yet met. In his famous circuit of Ireland (941) he took all the provincial kings, as well as the king of Dublin, as hostages, and after keeping them for five months at Ailech he handed them over to the feeble titular ardrí, showing that his loyalty was greater than his ambition. Unlike Muirchertach, Cellachan of Cashel, the hero of a late romance, was not particular whether he fought for or against the Norsemen. In 920 Sigtrygg (d. 927) was driven out of Dublin by his brother Godfred (d. 934) and retired to York, where he became king of Northumbria. His sons Olaf and Godfred were expelled by Æthelstan. The former, better known as Amlaib (Olaf) Cuarán, married the daughter of Constantine, king of Scotland, and fought at Brunanburh (938). Born about 920, he perhaps became king of York in 941. Expelled in 944-945 he went to Dublin and drove out his cousin Blákáre, son of Godfred. At the same time he held sway over the kingdom of Man and the Isles. We find this romantic character constantly engaged on expeditions in England, Ireland and Scotland. In 956 Congalach, the high-king, was defeated and slain by the Norse of Dublin. In 973 his son Domnall, in alliance with Amlaib, defeated the high-king Domnall O’Neill at Cell Mona (Kilmoon in Co. Meath). This Domnall O’Neill, son of Muirchertach, son of Niall Glúndub, was the first to adopt the name O’Neill (Ir. ua, ó = “grandson”). The tanists or heirs of the northern and southern Hy Neill having died, the throne fell to Maelsechlainn II., of the Cland Colmáin, the last of the Hy Neill who was undisputed king of Ireland. Maelsechlainn, who succeeded in 980, had already distinguished himself as king of Meath in war with the Norsemen. In the first year of his reign as high-king he defeated them in a bloody battle at Tara, in which Amlaib’s son, Ragnall, fell. This victory, won over the combined forces of the Scandinavians of Dublin, Man and the Isles, compelled Amlaib to deliver up all his captives and hostages,—among whom were Domnall Claen, king of Leinster, and several notables—to forgo the tribute which he had imposed upon the southern Hy Neill and to pay a large contribution of cattle and money. Amlaib’s spirit was so broken by this defeat that he retired to the monastery of Hí, where he died the same year.

The Dalcais Dynasty.—We have already seen that the dominant race in Munster traced descent from Ailill Aulom. The Cashel dynasty claimed to descend from his eldest son Eogan, whilst the Dalcassians of Clare derived their origin from a younger son Cormac Cas. Ailill Aulom is said to have ordained that the succession to the throne should alternate between the two lines, as in the case of the Hy Neill. This, however, is perhaps a fiction of later poets who wished to give lustre to the ancestry of Brian Boruma, as very few of the Dalcais princes appear in the list of the kings of Cashel. The Dalcassians play no prominent part in history until, in the middle of the 10th century, they were ruled by Kennedy (Cennétig), son of Lorcan, king of Thomond (d. 954), by whom their power was greatly extended. He left two sons, Mathgamain (Mahon) and Brian, called Brian Boruma, probably from a village near Killaloe.9 About the year 920 a Viking named Tomrair, son of Elgi, had seized the lower Shannon and established himself in Limerick, from which point constant incursions were made into all parts of Munster. After a period of guerrilla warfare in the woods of Thomond, Mathgamain concluded a truce with the foreigners, in which Brian refused to join. Thereupon Mathgamain crossed the Shannon and gained possession of the kingdom of Cashel, as Dunchad, the representative of the older line, had just died. Receiving the support of several of the native tribes, he felt himself in a position to attack the settlements of the foreigners in Munster. This aroused the ruler of Limerick, Ivar, who determined to carry the war into Thomond. He was supported by Maelmuad, king of Desmond, and Donoban, king of Hy Fidgeinte, and Hy Cairpri. Their army was met by Mathgamain at Sulchoit near Tipperary, where the Norsemen were defeated with great slaughter (968). This decisive victory gave the Dalcais Limerick, which they sacked and burnt, and Mathgamain then took hostages of all the chiefs of Munster. Ivar escaped to Britain, but returned after a year and entrenched himself at Inis Cathaig (Scattery Island in the lower Shannon). A conspiracy was formed between Ivar and his son Dubcenn and the two Munster chieftains Donoban and Maelmuad. Donoban was married to the daughter of a Scandinavian king of Waterford, and his own daughter was married to Ivar of Waterford.10 In 976 Inis Cathaig was attacked and plundered by the Dalcais and the garrison, including Ivar and Dubcenn, slain. Shortly before this Mathgamain had been murdered by Donoban, and Brian thus became king of Thomond, whilst Maelmuad succeeded to Cashel. In 977 Brian made a sudden and rapid inroad into Donoban’s territory, captured his fortress and slew the prince himself with a vast number of his followers. Maelmuad, the other conspirator, met with a like fate at Belach Lechta in Barnaderg (near Ballyorgan). After this battle Brian was acknowledged king of all Munster (978). After reducing the Dési, who were in alliance with the Northmen of Waterford and Limerick, in 984 he subdued Ossory and took hostages from the kings of East and West Leinster. In this manner he became virtually king of Leth Moga.

This rapid rise of the Dalcassian leader was bound to bring him into conflict with the ardrí. Already in 982 Maelsechlainn had invaded Thomond and uprooted the venerable tree under which the Dalcais rulers were inaugurated. After the battle of Tara he had placed his half-brother Gluniarind, son of Amlaib Cuarán, in Dublin. This prince was murdered in 989 and was succeeded by Sigtrygg Silkiskeggi, son of Amlaib and Gormflaith, sister of Maelmorda, king of Leinster. In the same year Maelsechlainn took Dublin and imposed an annual tribute on the city. During these years there were frequent trials of strength between the ardrí and the king of Munster. In 992 Brian invaded Meath, and four years later Maelsechlainn defeated Brian in Munster. In 998 Brian ascended the Shannon with a large force, intending to attack Connaught, and Maelsechlainn, who received no support from the northern Hy Neill, came to terms with him. All hostages held by the over-king from the Northmen and Irish of Leth Moga were to be given up to Brian, which was a virtual surrender of all his rights over the southern half of Ireland; while Brian on his part recognized Maelsechlainn as sole king of Leth Cuinn. In 1000 Leinster revolted against Brian and entered into an alliance with the king of Dublin. Brian advanced towards the city, halting at a place called Glen Mama near Dunlavin (Co. Wicklow). He was attacked by the allied forces, who were repulsed with great slaughter. Maelmorda, king of Leinster, was taken prisoner, and Sigtrygg fled for protection to Ailech. The victor gave proof at once that he was not only a clever general but also a skilful diplomatist. Maelmorda was restored to his kingdom, Sigtrygg received Brian’s daughter in marriage, whilst Brian took to himself the Dublin king’s mother, the notorious Gormflaith, who had already been divorced by Maelsechlainn. After thus establishing peace and consolidating his power, Brian returned to his residence Cenn Corad and matured his plan of obtaining the high-kingship for himself. When everything was ready he entered Mag Breg with an army consisting of his own troops, those of Ossory, his South Connaught vassals and the Norsemen of Munster. The king of Dublin also sent a small force to his assistance. Maelsechlainn, taken by surprise and feeling himself unequal to the contest, endeavoured to gain time. An armistice was concluded, during which he was to decide whether he would give Brian hostages (i.e. abdicate) or not. He applied to the northern Hy Neill to come to his assistance, and even offered to abdicate in favour of the chief of the Cinél Eogain, but the latter refused unless Maelsechlainn undertook to cede to them half the territory of his own tribe, the Cland Colmáin. The attempt to unite the whole of the Eremonian against the Eberian race and preserve a dynasty that had ruled Ireland for 600 years, having failed, Maelsechlainn submitted to Brian, and without any formal act of cession the latter became ardrí. During a reign of twelve years (1002-1014) he is said to have effected much improvement in the country by the erection and repair of churches and schools, and the construction of bridges, causeways, roads and fortresses. We are also told that he administered rigid and impartial justice and dispensed royal hospitality. As he was liberal to the bards, they did not forget his merits.

Towards the end of Brian’s reign a conspiracy was entered into between Maelmorda, king of Leinster, and his nephew Sigtrygg of Dublin. The ultimate cause of this movement was an insult offered by Murchad, Brian’s son, to the king of Leinster, who was egged on by his sister Gormflaith. Sigtrygg secured promises of assistance from Sigurd, earl of Orkney, and Brodir of Man. In the spring of 1014 Maelmorda and Sigtrygg had collected a considerable army in Dublin, consisting of contingents from all the Scandinavian settlements in the west in addition to Maelmorda’s own Leinster forces, the whole being commanded by Sigurd, earl of Orkney. This powerful prince, whose mother was a daughter of Cerball of Ossory (d. 887), appears to have aimed at the supreme command of all the Scandinavian settlements of the west, and in the course of a few years conquered the kingdom of the Isles, Sutherland, Ross, Moray and Argyll. To meet such formidable opponents, Brian, now an old man unable to lead in person, mustered all the forces of Munster and Connaught, and was joined by Maelsechlainn in command of the forces of Meath. The northern Hy Neill and the Ulaid took no part in the struggle. Brian advanced into the plain of Fingall, north of Dublin, where a council of war was held. The longest account of the battle that followed occurs in a source very partial to Brian and the deeds of Munstermen, in which Maelsechlainn is accused of treachery, and of holding his troops in reserve. The battle, generally known as the battle of Clontarf, though the chief fighting took place close to Dublin, about the small river Tolka, was fought on Good Friday 1014. After a stout and protracted resistance the Norse forces were routed. Maelsechlainn with his Meathmen came down on the fugitives as they tried to cross the bridge leading to Dublin or to reach their ships. On both sides the slaughter was terrible, and most of the leaders lost their lives. Brian himself perished along with his son Murchad and Maelmorda. This great struggle finally disposed of the possibility of Scandinavian supremacy in Ireland, but in spite of this it can only be regarded as a national misfortune. The power of the kingdom of Dublin had been already broken by the defeat of Amlaib Cuarán at Tara in 980, and the main result of the battle of Clontarf was to weaken the central power and to throw the whole island into a state of anarchy. Although beaten on the field of battle the Norsemen still retained possession of their fortified cities, and gradually they assumed the position of native tribes. The Dalcassian forces had been so much weakened by the great struggle that Maelsechlainn was again recognized as king of Ireland. However, the effects of Brian’s revolution were permanent; the prescriptive rights of the Hy Neill were disputed, and from the battle of Clontarf until the coming of the Normans the history of Ireland consisted of a struggle for ascendancy between the O’Brians of Munster, the O’Neills of Ulster and the O’Connors of Connaught.

From the Battle of Clontarf to the Anglo-Norman Invasion.—The death of Maelsechlainn in 1022 afforded an opportunity for an able and ambitious man to subdue Ireland, establish a strong central government, break up the tribal system and further the gradual fusion of factions into a homogeneous nation. Such a man did not arise; those who afterwards claimed to be ardrí lacked the qualities of founders of strong dynasties, and are termed by the annalists “kings with opposition.” Brian was survived by two sons, Tadg and Donnchad, the elder of whom was slain in 1023. Donnchad (d. 1064) was certainly the most distinguished figure in Ireland in his day. He subdued more than half of Ireland, and almost reached the position once held by his father. His strongest opponent was his son-in-law Diarmait Mael-na-mBó, king of Leinster, who was also the foster-father of his brother Tadg’s son, Tordelbach (Turlough) O’Brian. On the death of Diarmait in 1072 Tordelbach (d. 1086) reigned supreme in Leth Moga; Meath and Connaught also submitted to him, but he failed to secure the allegiance of the northern Hy Neill. He was succeeded by his son Muirchertach (d. 1119), who spent most of his life contending against his formidable opponent Domnall O’Lochlainn, king of Tír Eogain (d. 1121). The struggle for the sovereignty between these two rivals continued, with intervals of truce negotiated by the clergy, without any decisive advantage on either side. In 1102 Magnus Barefoot made his third and last expedition to the west with the express design of conquering Ireland. Muirchertach opposed him with a large force, and a conference was arranged at which a son of Magnus was betrothed to Biadmuin, daughter of the Irish prince. He was also mixed up in English affairs, and as a rule maintained cordial relations with Henry I. After the death of Domnall O’Lochlainn there was an interregnum of about fifteen years with no ardrí, until Tordelbach (Turlough) O’Connor, king of Connaught, resolved to reduce the other provinces. Munster and Meath were repeatedly ravaged, and in 1151 he crushed Tordelbach (Turlough) O’Brian, king of Thomond, at Moanmor. O’Connor’s most stubborn opponent was Muirchertach O’Lochlainn, with whom he wrestled for supremacy until the day of his death (1156). Tordelbach, who enjoyed a great reputation even after his death, was remembered as having thrown bridges over the Shannon, and as a patron of the arts. However, war was so constant in Ireland at this time that under the year 1145 the Four Masters describe the island as a “trembling sod.” Tordelbach was succeeded by his son Ruadri (Roderick, q.v.), who after some resistance had to acknowledge Muirchertach O’Lochlainn’s supremacy. The latter, however, was slain in 1166 in consequence of having wantonly blinded the king of Dal Araide. Ruadri O’Connor, now without a serious rival, was inaugurated with great pomp at Dublin.

Diarmait MacMurchada (Dermod MacMurrough), great-grandson of Diarmait Mael-na-mBó, as king of Leinster was by descent and position much mixed up with foreigners, and generally in a state of latent if not open hostility to the high-kings of the Hy Neill and Dalcais dynasties. He was a tyrant and a bad character. In 1152 Tigernan O’Rourke, prince of Breifne, had been dispossessed of his territory by Tordelbach O’Connor, aided by Diarmait, and the latter is accused also of carrying off Derbforgaill, wife of O’Rourke. On learning that O’Rourke was leading an army against him with the support of Ruadri, he burnt his castle of Ferns and went to Henry II. to seek assistance. The momentous consequences of this step belong to the next section, and it now remains for us to state the condition of the church and society in the century preceding the Anglo-Norman invasion.

Although the Irish Church conformed to Roman usage in the matter of Easter celebration and tonsure in the 7th century, the bond between Ireland and Rome was only slight until several centuries later. Whatever co-ordination may have existed in the church of the 8th century was doubtless destroyed during the troubled period of the Viking invasions. It is probable that St Patrick established Armagh as a metropolitan see, but the history of the primacy, which during a long period can only have been a shadow, is involved in obscurity. Its supremacy was undoubtedly recognized by Brian Boruma in 1004, when he laid 20 oz. of gold upon the high altar. In the 11th century a competitor arose in the see of Dublin. The Norse rulers were bound to come under the influence of Christianity at an early date. For instance, Amlaib Cuarán was formally converted in England in 942 and was baptized by Wulfhelm of Canterbury. The antithesis between the king of Dublin and the ardrí seems to have had the effect of linking the Dublin Christian community rather with Canterbury than Armagh. King Sigtrygg founded the bishopric of Dublin in 1035, and the early bishops of Dublin, Waterford and Limerick were all consecrated by the English primate. As Lanfranc and Anselm were both anxious to extend their jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland, the submission of Dublin opened the way for Norman and Roman influences. At the beginning of the 12th century Gilbert, bishop of Limerick and papal legate, succeeded in winning over Celsus, bishop of Armagh (d. 1129), to the reform movement. Celsus belonged to a family which had held the see for 200 years; he was grandson of a previous primate and is said to have been himself a married man. Yet he became, in the skilful hands of Gilbert and Maelmaedóc O’Morgair, the instrument of overthrowing the hereditary succession to the primatial see. In 1118 the important synod of Rathbressil was held, at which Ireland was divided into dioceses, this being the first formal attempt at getting rid of that anarchical state of church government which had hitherto prevailed. The work begun under Celsus was completed by his successor Maelmaedóc (Malachy). At a national synod held about 1134 Maelmaedóc, in his capacity as bishop of Armagh, was solemnly elected to the primacy; and armed with full power of church and state he was able to overcome all opposition. Under his successor Gelasius, Cardinal Paparo was despatched as supreme papal legate. At the synod of Kells (1152) there was established that diocesan system which has ever since continued without material alteration. Armagh was constituted the seat of the primacy, and Cashel, Tuam and Dublin were raised to the rank of archbishoprics. It was also ordained that tithes should be levied for the support of the clergy.

Social Conditions.—In the middle ages there were considerable forests in Ireland encompassing broad expanses of upland pastures and marshy meadows. It is traditionally stated that fences first came into general use in the 7th century. There were no cities or large towns before the arrival of the Norsemen; no stone bridges spanned the rivers; stepping stones or hurdle bridges at the fords or shallows offered the only mode of crossing the broadest streams, and connecting the unpaved roads or bridle paths which crossed the country over hill and dale from the principal dúns. The forests abounded in game, the red deer and wild boar were common, whilst wolves ravaged the flocks. Scattered over the country were numerous small hamlets, composed mainly of wicker cabins, among which were some which might be called houses; other hamlets were composed of huts of the rudest kind. Here and there were large villages that had grown up about groups of houses surrounded by an earthen mound or rampart; similar groups enclosed in this manner were also to be found without any annexed hamlet. Sometimes there were two or three circumvallations or even more, and where water was plentiful the ditch between was flooded. The simple rampart enclosed a space called lis11 which contained the agricultural buildings and the groups of houses of the owners. The enclosed houses belonged to the free men (aire, pl. airig). The size of the houses and of the enclosing mound and ditch marked the wealth and rank of the aire. If his wealth consisted of chattels only, he was a bó-aire (cow-aire). When he possessed ancestral land he was a flaith or lord, and was entitled to let his lands for grazing, to have a hamlet in which lived labourers and to keep slaves. The larger fort with several ramparts was a dún, where the rí (chieftain) lived and kept his hostages if he had subreguli. The houses of all classes were of wood, chiefly wattles and wicker-work plastered with clay. In shape they were most frequently cylindrical, having conical roofs thatched with rushes or straw. The oratories were of the same form and material, but the larger churches and kingly banqueting halls were rectangular and made of sawn boards. Bede, speaking of a church built by Finan at Lindisfarne, says, “nevertheless, after the manner of the Scots, he made it not of stone but of hewn oak and covered it with reeds.” When St Maelmaedóc in the first half of the 12th century thought of building a stone oratory at Bangor it was deemed a novelty by the people, who exclaimed, “we are Scotti not Galli.” Long before this, however, stone churches had been built in other parts of Ireland, and many round towers. In some of the stone-forts of the south-west (Ir. cathir) the houses within the rampart were made of stone in the form of a beehive, and similar cloghans, as they are called, are found in the western isles of Scotland.

Here and there in the neighbourhood of the hamlets were patches of corn grown upon allotments which were gavelled, or redistributed, every two or three years. Around the dúns and raths, where the corn land was the fixed property of the lord, the cultivation was better. Oats was the chief corn crop, but wheat, barley and rye were also grown. Much attention was paid to bee-keeping and market-gardening, which had probably been introduced by the church. The only industrial plants were flax and the dye-plants, chief among which were woad and rud, roid (a kind of bed-straw?). Portions of the pasture lands were reserved as meadows; the tilled land was manured. There are native names for the plough, so it may be assumed that some form of that implement, worked by oxen, yoked together with a simple straight yoke, was in use in early times. Wheeled carts were also known; the wheels were often probably only solid disks, though spoked wheels were used for chariots. Droves of swine under the charge of swineherds wandered through the forests; some belonged to the rí, others to lords (flaith) and others again to village communities. The house-fed pig was then as now an important object of domestic economy, and its flesh was much prized. Indeed, fresh pork was one of the inducements held out to visitors to the Irish Elysium. Horned cattle constituted the chief wealth of the country, and were the standard for estimating the worth of anything, for the Irish had no coined money and carried on all commerce by barter. The unit of value was called a sét, a word denoting a jewel or precious object of any kind. The normal sét was an average milch-cow. Gold, silver, bronze, tin, clothes and all other kinds of property were estimated in séts. Three séts were equal to a cumal (female slave). Sheep were kept everywhere for their flesh and their wool, and goats were numerous. Horses were extensively employed for riding, working in the fields and carrying loads. Irish horsemen rode without saddle or stirrups. So important a place did bee-culture hold in the rural economy of the ancient Irish that a lengthy section is devoted to the subject in the Brehon Laws. The honey was used both in cooking and for making mead, as well as for eating.

The ancient Irish were in the main a pastoral people. When they had sown their corn, they drove their herds and flocks to the mountains, where such existed, and spent the summer there, returning in autumn to reap their corn and take up their abode in their more sheltered winter residences. This custom of “booleying” (Ir. buaile, “shieling”) is not originally Irish, according to some writers, but was borrowed from the Scandinavians. Where the tribe had land on the sea-coast they also appear to have migrated thither in summer. The chase in the summer occupied the freemen, not only as a source of enjoyment but also as a matter of necessity, for wolves were very numerous. For this purpose they bred dogs of great swiftness, strength and sagacity, which were much admired by the Romans.

The residences within enclosing ramparts did not consist of one house with several apartments, but every room was a separate house. Thus the buildings forming the residence of a well-to-do farmer of the bó-aire class as described in the Laws, consisted of a living-house in which he slept and took his meals, a cooking-house, a kiln for drying corn, a barn, a byre for calves, a sheep-fold and a pigsty. In the better classes the women had a separate house known as grianán (sun-chamber). The round houses were constructed in the following manner. The wall was formed of long stout poles placed in a circle close to one another, with their ends fixed firmly in the ground. The spaces between were closed in with rods (usually hazel) firmly interwoven. The poles were peeled and polished smooth. The whole surface of the wicker-work was plastered on the outside and made brilliantly white with lime, or occasionally striped in various colours, leaving the white poles exposed to view. There was no chimney; the fire was made in the centre of the house and the smoke escaped through a hole in the roof, or through the door as in Hebridean houses of the present day. Near the fire, fixed in a kind of holder, was a candle of tallow or raw beeswax. Around the wall in the houses of the wealthy were arranged the bedsteads, or rather compartments, with testers and fronts, sometimes made of carved yew. At the foot of each compartment, and projecting into the main room, there was a low fixed seat, often stuffed with some soft material, for use during the day. Besides these there were on the floor of the main apartment a number of detached movable couches or seats, all low, with one or more low tables of some sort. In the halls of the kings the position of each person’s bed and seat, and the portion of meat which he was entitled to receive from the distributor, were regulated according to a rigid rule of precedence. Each person who had a seat in the king’s house had his shield suspended over him. Every king had hostages for the fealty of his vassals; they sat unarmed in the hall, and those who had become forfeited by a breach of treaty or allegiance were placed along the wall in fetters. There were places in the king’s hall for the judge, the poet, the harper, the various craftsmen, the juggler and the fool. The king had his bodyguard of four men always around him; these were commonly men whom he had saved from execution or redeemed from slavery. Among the miscellaneous body of attendants about the house of a king or noble were many Saxon slaves, in whom there was a regular trade until it was abolished by the action of the church in 1171. The slaves slept on the ground in the kitchen or in cabins outside the fort.

The children of the upper classes in Ireland, both boys and girls, were not reared at home but were sent elsewhere to be fostered. It was usual for a chief to send his child to one of his own sub-chiefs, but the parents often chose a chief of their own rank. For instance, the ollam fili, or chief poet, who ranked in some respects with a tribe-king, sent his sons to be fostered by the king of his own territory. Fosterage might be undertaken out of affection or for payment. In the latter case the fee varied according to rank, and there are numerous laws extant fixing the cost and regulating the food and dress of the child according to his position. Sometimes a chief acted as foster-father to a large number of children. The cost of the fosterage of boys seems to have been borne by the mother’s property, that of the daughters by the father’s. The ties created by fosterage were nearly as close and as binding on children as those of blood.

There is ample evidence that great laxity prevailed with regard to the marriage tie even after the introduction of Christianity, as marrying within the forbidden degrees and repudiation continued to be very frequent in spite of the efforts of the church. Marriage by purchase was universal, and the wealth of the contracting parties constituted the primary element of a legitimate union. The bride and bridegroom should be provided with a joint fortune proportionate to their rank. When they were of equal rank, and the family of each contributed an equal share to the marriage portion, the marriage was legal in the full sense and the wife was a wife of equal rank. The church endeavoured to make the wife of a first marriage the only true wife; but concubinage was known as an Irish institution until long after the Anglo-Norman invasion, and it is recognized in the Laws. If a concubine had sons her position did not differ materially in some respects from that of a chief wife. As the tie of the sept was blood, all the acknowledged children of a man, whether legitimate or illegitimate, belonged equally to his sept. Even adulterine bastardy was no bar to a man becoming chief of his tribe, as in the case of Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone. (See O’Neill.)

The food of the Irish was very simple, consisting in the main of oaten cakes, cheese, curds, milk, butter, and the flesh of domestic animals both fresh and salted. The better classes were acquainted with wheaten bread also. The food of the inhabitants of the Land of Promise consisted of fresh pork, new milk and ale. Fish, especially salmon, and game should of course be added to the list. The chief drinks were ale and mead.

The dress of the upper classes was similar to that of a Scottish Highlander before it degenerated into the present conventional garb of a highland regiment. Next the skin came a shirt (léine) of fine texture often richly embroidered. Over this was a tightly fitting tunic (inar, lend) reaching below the hips with a girdle at the waist. In the case of women the inar fell to the feet. Over the left shoulder and fastened with a brooch hung the loose cloak (brat), to which the Scottish plaid corresponds. The kilt seems to have been commonly worn, especially by soldiers, whose legs were usually bare, but we also hear of tight-fitting trousers extending below the ankles. The feet were either entirely naked or encased in shoes of raw hide fastened with thongs. Sandals and shoes of bronze are mentioned in Irish literature, and quite a number are to be seen in museums. A loose flowing garment, intermediate between the brat and lend, usually of linen dyed saffron, was commonly worn in outdoor life, and was still used in the Hebrides about 1700. A modified form of this over-tunic with loose sleeves and made of frieze formed probably the general covering of the peasantry. Among the upper classes the garments were very costly and variously coloured. It would seem that the number of colours in the dress indicated the rank of the wearer. The hair was generally worn long by men as well as women, and ringlets were greatly admired. Women braided their hair into tresses, which they confined with a pin. The beard was also worn long. Like all ancient and semi-barbarous people, the Irish were fond of ornaments. Indeed the profusion of articles of gold which have been found is remarkable; in the Dublin Museum may be seen bracelets, armlets, finger-rings, torques, crescents, gorgets, necklets, fibulae and diadems, all of solid gold and most exquisite workmanship.

The principal weapons of the Irish soldiers were a lance, a sword and a shield; though prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion they had adopted the battle-axe from the Scandinavians. The shields were of two kinds. One was the sciath, oval or oblong in shape, made of wicker-work covered with hide, and often large enough to cover the whole body. This was doubtless the form introduced by the Brythonic invaders. But round shields, smaller in size, were also commonly employed. These were made of bronze backed with wood, or of yew covered with hide. This latter type scarcely goes back to the round shield of the Bronze age. Armour and helmets were not generally employed at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion.

In the Brehon Laws the land belongs in theory to the tribe, but this did not by any means correspond to the state of affairs. We find that the power of the petty king has made a very considerable advance, and that all the elements of feudalism are present, save that there was no central authority strong enough to organize the whole of Irish society on a feudal basis. The tuath or territory of a rí (represented roughly by a modern barony) was divided among the septs. The lands of a sept consisted of the estates in severally of the lords (flathi), and of the ferand duthaig, or common lands of the sept. The dwellers on each of these kinds of land differed materially from each other. On the former lived a motley population of slaves, horse-boys, and mercenaries composed of broken men of other clans, many of whom were fugitives from justice, possessing no rights either in the sept or tribe and entirely dependent on the bounty of the lord, and consequently living about his fortified residence. The poorer servile classes or cottiers, wood-cutters, swine-herds, &c., who had a right of domicile (acquired after three generations), lived here and there in small hamlets on the mountains and poorer lands of the estate. The good lands were let to a class of tenants called fuidirs, of whom there were several kinds, some grazing the land with their own cattle, others receiving both land and cattle from the lord. Fuidirs had no rights in the sept; some were true serfs, others tenants-at-will; they lived in scattered homesteads like the farmers of the present time. The lord was responsible before the law for the acts of all the servile classes on his estates, both new-comers and senchleithe, i.e. descendants of fuidirs, slaves, &c., whose families had lived on the estate during the time of three lords. He paid their blood-fines and received compensation for their slaughter, maiming or plunder. The fuidirs were the chief source of a lord’s wealth, and he was consequently always anxious to increase them.

The freemen were divided into freemen pure and simple, freemen possessing a quantity of stock, and nobles (flathi) having vassals. Wealth consisted in cattle. Those possessed of large herds of kine lent out stock under various conditions. In the case of a chief such an offer could not be refused. In return, a certain customary tribute was paid. Such a transaction might be of two kinds. By the one the freemen took saer-stock and retained his status. But if he accepted daer-stock he at once descended to the rank of a vassal. In this way it was possible for the chief to extend his power enormously. Rent was commonly paid in kind. As a consequence of this, in place of receiving the farm produce at his own home the chief or noble reserved to himself the right of quartering himself and a certain number of followers in the house of his vassal, a practice which must have been ruinous to the small farmers. Freemen who possessed twenty-one cows and upwards were called airig (sing, aire), or, as we should say, had the franchise, and might fulfil the functions of bail, witness, &c. As the chief sought to extend his power in the tuath, he also endeavoured to aggrandize his position at the expense of other tuatha by compelling them to pay tribute to him. Such an aggregate of tuatha acknowledging one rí was termed a mórthuath. The ruler of a mórthuath paid tribute to the provincial king, who in his turn acknowledged at any rate in theory the overlordship of the ardrí.

The privileges and tributes of the provincial kings are preserved in a remarkable 10th century document, the Book of Rights. The rules of succession were extraordinarily complicated. Theoretically the members of a sept claimed common descent from the same ancestor, and the land belonged to the freemen. The chief and nobles, however, from various causes had come to occupy much of the territory as private property: the remainder consisted of tribe-land and commons-land. The portions of the tribe-land were not occupied for a fixed term, as the land of the sept was liable to gavelkind or redistribution from time to time. In some cases, however, land which belonged originally to a flaith was owned by a family; and after a number of generations such property presented a great similarity to the gavelled land. A remarkable development of family ownership was the geilfine system, under which four groups of persons, all nearly related to each other, held four adjacent tracts of land as a sort of common property, subject to regulations now very difficult to understand.12 The king’s mensal land, as also that of the tanist or successor to the royal office appointed during the king’s lifetime, was not divided up but passed on in its entirety to the next individual elected to the position. When the family of an aire remained in possession of his estate in a corporate capacity, they formed a “joint and undivided family,” the head of which was an aire, and thus kept up the rank of the family. Three or four poor members of a sept might combine their property and agree to form a “joint family,” one of whom as the head would be an aire. In consequence of this organization the homesteads of airig commonly included several families, those of his brothers, sons, &c. (see Brehon Laws).

The ancient Irish never got beyond very primitive notions of justice. Retaliation for murder and other injuries was a common method of redress, although the church had endeavoured to introduce various reforms. Hence we find in the Brehon Laws a highly complicated system of compensatory payment; but there was no authority except public opinion to enforce the payment of the fines determined by the brehon in cases submitted to him.

There were many kinds of popular assemblies in ancient Ireland. The sept had its special meeting summoned by its chief for purposes such as the assessment of blood-fines due from the sept, and the distribution of those due to it. At larger gatherings the question of peace and war would be deliberated. But the most important of all such assemblies was the fair (oenach), which was summoned by a king, those summoned by the kings of provinces having the character of national assemblies. The most famous places of meeting were Tara, Telltown and Carman. The oenach had many objects. The laws were publicly promulgated or rehearsed; there were councils to deal with disputes and matters of local interest; popular sports such as horse-racing, running and wrestling were held; poems and tales were recited, and prizes were awarded to the best performers of every dán or art; while at the same time foreign traders came with their wares, which they exchanged for native produce, chiefly skins, wool and frieze. At some of these assemblies match-making played a prominent part. Tradition connects the better known of these fairs with pagan rites performed round the tombs of the heroes of the race; thus the assembly of Telltown was stated to have been instituted by Lugaid Lámfada. Crimes committed at an oenach could not be commuted by payment of fines. Women and men assembled for deliberation in separate airechta or gatherings, and no man durst enter the women’s airecht under pain of death.

The noble professions almost invariably ran in families, so that members of the same household devoted themselves for generations to one particular science or art, such as poetry, history, medicine, law. The heads of the various professions in the tuath received the title of ollam. It was the rule for them to have paying apprentices living with them. The literary ollam or fili was a person of great distinction. He was provided with mensal land for the support of himself and his scholars, and he was further entitled to free quarters for himself and his retinue. The harper, the metal-worker (cerd), and the smith were also provided with mensal land, in return for which they gave to the chief their skill and the product of their labour as customary tribute (béstigi).

Authorities.—The Annals of the Four Masters, ed. J. O’Donovan (7 vols., Dublin, 1856); Annals of Ulster (4 vols., London, 1887-1892); Keating’s Forus Feasa ar Éirinn (3 vols., ed. D. Comyn and P. Dinneen, London, 1902-1908); E. Windisch, Táin Bó Cúalnge (Leipzig, 1905), with a valuable introduction; P. W. Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland (2 vols., London, 1903), also A Short History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1608 (London, 1895); A. G. Richey, A Short History of the Irish People (Dublin, 1887); W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland (3 vols., Edinburgh, 1876-1880); J. Rhys, “Studies in Early Irish History,” in Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. i.; John MacNeill, papers in New Ireland Review (March 1906-February 1907); Leabhar na gCeart, ed. O’Donovan (Dublin, 1847); E. O’Curry, The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, ed. W. K. Sullivan (3 vols., London, 1873); G. T. Stokes, Ireland and the Celtic Church, revised by H. J. Lawlor (London6, 1907); J. Healy, Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars (Dublin3, 1897); H. Zimmer, article “Keltische Kirche” in Hauck’s Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche (trans. A. Meyer, London, 1902), cf. H. Williams, “H. Zimmer on the History of the Celtic Church,” Zeitschr. f. celt. Phil. iv. 527-574; H. Zimmer, “Die Bedeutung des irischen Elements in der mittelalterlichen Kultur,” Preussische Jahrbücher, vol. lix., trans. J. L. Edmands, The Irish Element in Medieval Culture (New York, 1891); J. H. Todd, St Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland (Dublin, 1864); J. B. Bury, Life of St Patrick (London, 1905); W. Reeves, Adamnan’s Life of Columba (Dublin, 1857; also ed. with introd. by J. T. Fowler, Oxford, 1894); M. Roger, L’Enseignement des lettres classiques d’Ausone à Alcuin (Paris, 1905); J. H. Todd, The War of the Gædhil with the Gall (London, 1867); L. J. Vogt, Dublin som Norsk By (Christiania, 1897); J. Steenstrup, Normannerne, vols. ii., iii. (Copenhagen, 1878-1882); W. G. Collingwood, Scandinavian Britain (London, 1908).

(E. C. Q.)

History from the Anglo-Norman Invasion.

According to the Metalogus of John of Salisbury, who in 1155 went on a mission from King Henry II. to Pope Adrian IV., the only Englishman who has ever occupied the papal chair, the pope in response to the envoy’s “Bull” of Adrian IV. prayers granted to the king of the English the hereditary lordship of Ireland, sending a letter, with a ring as the symbol of investiture. Giraldus Cambrensis, in his Expugnatio Hibernica, gives what purports to be the text of this letter, known as “the Bull Laudabiliter,” and adds further a Privilegium of Pope Alexander III. confirming Adrian’s grant. The Privilegium is undoubtedly spurious, a fact which lends weight to the arguments of those who from the 19th century onwards have attacked the genuineness of the “Bull.” This latter, indeed, appears to have been concocted by Gerald, an ardent champion of the English cause in Ireland, from genuine letters of Pope Alexander III., still preserved in the Black Book of the Exchequer, which do no more than commend King Henry for reducing the Irish to order and extirpating tantae abominationis spurcitiam, and exhort the Irish bishops and chiefs to be faithful to the king to whom they had sworn allegiance.13

Henry was, indeed, at the outset in a position to dispense with the moral aid of a papal concession, of which even if it existed he certainly made no use. In 1156 Dermod MacMurrough (Diarmait MacMurchada), deposed for his tyranny from the kingdom of Leinster, repaired to Henry in Aquitaine (see Early History above). The king was busy with the French, but gladly seized the opportunity, and gave Dermod a letter authorizing him to raise forces in England. Thus armed, and provided with gold extorted from his former subjects in Leinster, Dermod went to Bristol and sought the acquaintance of Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, a Norman noble of great ability but broken fortunes. Earl Richard, whom later usage has named Strongbow, agreed to reconquer Dermod’s kingdom for him. The stipulated consideration was the hand of Eva his only child, and according to feudal law his sole heiress, to whose issue lands and kingdoms would naturally pass. But Irish customs admitted no estates of inheritance, and Eva had no more right to the reversion of Leinster than she had to that of Japan. It is likely that Strongbow had no conception of this, and that his first collision with the tribal system was an unpleasant surprise. Passing through Wales, Dermod agreed with Robert Fitzstephen and Maurice Fitzgerald to invade Ireland in the ensuing spring.

About the 1st of May 1169 Fitzstephen landed on the Wexford shore with a small force, and next day Maurice de Prendergast brought another band nearly to the same spot. Dermod joined them, and the Danes of Wexford soon The invasion of Strongbow. submitted. According to agreement Dermod granted the territory of Wexford, which had never belonged to him, to Robert and Maurice and their heirs for ever; and here begins the conflict between feudal and tribal law which was destined to deluge Ireland in blood. Maurice Fitzgerald soon followed with a fresh detachment. About a year after the first landing Raymond Le Gros was sent over by Earl Richard with his advanced guard, and Strongbow himself landed near Waterford on the 23rd of August 1170 with 200 knights and about 1000 other troops.

The natives did not understand that this invasion was quite different from those of the Danes. They made alliances with the strangers to aid them in their intestine wars, and the annalist writing in later years (Annals of Lough Cé) describes with pathetic brevity the change wrought in Ireland:—“Earl Strongbow came into Erin with Dermod MacMurrough to avenge his expulsion by Roderick, son of Turlough O’Connor; and Dermod gave him his own daughter and a part of his patrimony, and Saxon foreigners have been in Erin since then.”

Most of the Norman leaders were near relations, many being descended from Nesta, daughter of Rhys Ap Tudor, prince of South Wales, the most beautiful woman of her time, and mistress of Henry I. Her children by that king were called Fitzhenry. She afterwards married Gerald de Windsor, by whom she had three sons—Maurice, ancestor of all the Geraldines; William, from whom sprang the families of Fitzmaurice, Carew, Grace and Gerard; and David, who became bishop of St David’s. Nesta’s daughter, Angareth, married to William de Barri, bore the chronicler Giraldus Cambrensis, and was ancestress of the Irish Barries. Raymond le Gros, Hervey de Montmorency, and the Cogans were also descendants of Nesta, who, by her second husband, Stephen the Castellan, was mother of Robert Fitzstephen.

While waiting for Strongbow’s arrival, Raymond and Hervey were attacked by the Danes of Waterford, whom they overthrew. Strongbow himself took Waterford and Dublin, and the Danish inhabitants of both readily combined with their French-speaking kinsfolk, and became firm supporters of the Anglo-Normans against the native Irish.

Alarmed at the principality forming near him, Henry invaded Ireland in person, landing near Waterford on the 18th of October 1172. Giraldus says he had 500 knights and many other soldiers; Regan, the metrical chronicler, says he had 4000 men, of whom 400 were knights; the Annals of Lough Cé that he had 240 ships. The Irish writers tell little about these great events, except that the king of the Saxons took the hostages of Munster at Waterford, and of Leinster, Ulster, Thomond and Meath at Dublin. They did not take in the grave significance of doing homage to a Norman king, and becoming his “man.”

Henry’s farthest point westward was Cashel, where he received the homage of Donald O’Brien, king of Thomond, but he does not appear to have been present at the famous synod. Christian O’Conarchy, bishop of Lismore and papal Henry II. in Ireland. legate, presided, and the archbishops of Dublin, Cashel and Tuam attended with their suffragans, as did many abbots and other dignitaries. The primate of Armagh, the saintly Gelasius, was absent, and presumably his suffragans also, but Giraldus says he afterwards came to the king at Dublin, and favoured him in all things. Henry’s sovereignty was acknowledged, and constitutions made which drew Ireland closer to Rome. In spite of the “enormities and filthinesses,” which Giraldus says defiled the Irish Church, nothing worse could be found to condemn than marriages within the prohibited degrees and trifling irregularities about baptism. Most of the details rest on the authority of Giraldus only, but the main facts are clear. The synod is not mentioned by the Irish annalists, nor by Regan, but it is by Hoveden and Ralph de Diceto. The latter says it was held at Lismore, an error arising from the president having been bishop of Lismore. Tradition says the members met in Cormac’s chapel.

Henry at first tried to be suzerain without displacing the natives, and received the homage of Roderick O’Connor, the high king. But the adventurers were uncontrollable, and he had to let them conquer what they could, exercising a precarious authority over the Normans only through a viceroy. The early governors seemingly had orders to deal as fairly as possible with the natives, and this involved them in quarrels with the “conquerors,” whose object was to carve out principalities for themselves, and who only nominally respected the sovereign’s wishes. The mail-clad knights were not uniformly successful against the natives, but they generally managed to occupy the open plains and fertile valleys. Geographical configuration preserved centres of resistance—the O’Neills in Tyrone and Armagh, the O’Donnells in Donegal, and the Macarthies in Cork being the largest tribes that remained practically unbroken. On the coast from Bray to Dundalk, and by the navigable rivers of the east and south coasts, the Norman put his iron foot firmly down.

Prince John landed at Waterford in 1185, and the neighbouring chiefs hastened to pay their respects to the king’s son. Prince and followers alike soon earned hatred, the former showing the incurable vices of his character, and pulling the beards of the chieftains. After eight disgraceful months he left the government to John de Courci, but retained the title “Dominus Hiberniae.” It was even intended to crown him; and Urban III. sent a licence and a crown of peacock’s feathers, which was never placed on his head. Had Richard I. had children Ireland might have become a separate kingdom.

Henry II. had granted Meath, about 800,000 acres, to Hugh de Lacy (d. 1186), reserving scarcely any prerogative to the crown, and making his vassal almost independent. De Lacy sublet the land among kinsmen and retainers, and to his grants the families of Nugent, Tyrell, Nangle, Tuyt, Fleming and others owe their importance in Irish history. It is not surprising that the Irish bordering on Meath should have thought De Lacy the real king of Ireland.

During his brother Richard I.’s reign, John’s viceroy was William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, who married Strongbow’s daughter, and thus succeeded to his claims in Leinster. John’s reputation was no better in Ireland than in King John. England. He thwarted or encouraged the Anglo-Normans as best suited him, but on the whole they increased their possessions. In 1210 John, now king, visited Ireland again, and being joined by Cathal Crovderg O’Connor, king of Connaught, marched from Waterford by Dublin to Carrickfergus without encountering any serious resistance from Hugh de Lacy (second son of the Hugh de Lacy mentioned above), who had been made earl of Ulster in 1205. John did not venture farther west than Trim, but most of the Anglo-Norman lords swore fealty to him, and he divided the partially obedient districts into twelve counties—Dublin (with Wicklow), Meath (with Westmeath), Louth, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary. John’s resignation of his kingdom to the pope in 1213 included Ireland, and thus for the second time was the papal claim to Ireland formally recorded.

During Henry III.’s long reign the Anglo-Norman power increased, but underwent great modifications. Richard Marshal, grandson of Strongbow, and to a great extent heir of his power, was foully murdered by his own feudatories—men Henry III. (1216-1272). of his own race; and the colony never quite recovered this blow. On the other hand, the De Burghs, partly by alliance with the Irish, partly by sheer hard fighting, made good their claims to the lordship of Connaught, and the western O’Connors henceforth play a very subordinate part in Irish history. Tallage was first imposed on the colony in the first year of this reign, but yielded little, and tithes were not much better paid.

On the 14th of January 1217 the king wrote from Oxford to his justiciary, Geoffrey de Marisco, directing that no Irishman should be elected or preferred in any cathedral in Ireland, “since by that means our land might be disturbed, Objections to Irish clergy. which is to be deprecated.” This order was annulled in 1224 by Honorius III., who declared it “destitute of all colour of right and honesty.” The pope’s efforts failed, for in the 14th century several Cistercian abbeys excluded Irishmen, and as late as 1436 the monks of Abingdon complained bitterly that an Irish abbot had been imposed on them by lay violence. Parliament was not more liberal, for the statute of Kilkenny, passed in 1366, ordained that “no Irishman be admitted into any cathedral or collegiate church, nor to any benefice among the English of the land,” and also “that no religious house situated among the English shall henceforth receive an Irishman to their profession.” This was confirmed by the English parliament in 1416, and an Irish act of Richard III. enabled the archbishop of Dublin to collate Irish clerks for Separation of the two races. two years, an exception proving the rule. Many Irish monasteries admitted no Englishmen, and at least one attempt was made, in 1250, to apply the same rule to cathedrals. The races remained nearly separate, the Irish simply staying outside the feudal system. If an Englishman slew an Irishman (except one of the five regal and privileged bloods) he was not to be tried for murder, for Irish law admitted composition (eric) for murder. In Magna Charta there is a proviso that foreign merchants shall be treated as English merchants are treated in the country whence the travellers came. Yet some enlightened men strove to fuse the two nations together, and the native Irish, or that section which bordered on the settlements and suffered great oppression, offered 8000 marks to Edward I. for the privilege of living under English law. The justiciary supported their petition, but the prelates and nobles refused to consent.

There is a vague tradition that Edward I. visited Ireland about 1256, when his father ordained that the prince’s seal should have regal authority in that country. A vast number of documents remain to prove that he did Edward I. (1272-1307). not neglect Irish business. Yet this great king cannot be credited with any specially enlightened views as to Ireland. Hearing with anger of enormities committed in his name, he summoned the viceroy, Robert de Ufford (d. 1298), to explain, who coolly said that he thought it expedient to wink at one knave cutting off another, “whereat the king smiled and bade him return into Ireland.” The colonists were strong enough to send large forces to the king in his Scottish wars, but as there was no corresponding immigration this really weakened the English, whose best hopes lay in agriculture and the arts of peace, while the Celtic race waxed proportionally numerous. Outwardly all seemed fair. The De Burghs were supreme in Connaught, and English families occupied eastern Ulster. The fertile southern and central lands were dominated by strong castles. But Tyrone and Tyrconnel, and the mountains everywhere, sheltered the Celtic race, which, having reached its lowest point under Edward I., began to recover under his son.

In 1315, the year after Bannockburn, Edward Bruce landed near Larne with 6000 men, including some of the best knights in Scotland. Supported by O’Neill and other chiefs, and for a time assisted by his famous brother, Bruce Edward II. (1307-1327). gained many victories. There was no general effort of the natives in their favour; perhaps the Irish thought one Norman no better than another, and their total incapacity for national organization forbade the idea of a native sovereign. The family quarrels of the O’Connors at this time, and their alliances with the Burkes, or De Burghs, and the Berminghams, may be traced in great detail in the annalists—the general result being fatal to the royal tribe of Connaught, which is said to have lost 10,000 warriors in the battle of Templetogher. In other places the English were less successful, the Butlers being beaten by the O’Carrolls in 1318, and Richard de Clare falling about the same time in the decisive battle of Dysert O’Dea. The O’Briens re-established their sway in Thomond and the illustrious name of Clare disappears from Irish history. Edward Bruce fell in battle near Dundalk, and most of his army recrossed the channel, leaving behind a reputation for cruelty and rapacity. The colonists were victorious, but their organization was undermined, and the authority of the crown, which had never been able to keep the peace, grew rapidly weaker. Within twenty years after the great victory of Dundalk, the quarrels of the barons allowed the Irish to recover much of the land they had lost.

John de Bermingham, earl of Louth, the conqueror of Bruce, was murdered in 1329 by the Gernons, Cusacks, Everards and other English of that county, who disliked his firm government. They were never brought to justice. Edward III. (1327-1377). Talbot of Malahide and two hundred of Bermingham’s relations and adherents were massacred at the same time. In 1333, William de Burgh, the young earl of Ulster, was murdered by the Mandevilles and others; in this case signal vengeance was taken, but the feudal dominion never recovered the blow, and on the north-east coast the English laws and language were soon confined to Drogheda and Dundalk. The earl left one daughter, Elizabeth, who was of course a royal ward. She married Lionel, duke of Clarence, and from her springs the royal line of England from Edward IV., as well as James V. of Scotland and his descendants.

The two chief men among the De Burghs were loth to hold their lands of a little absentee girl. Having no grounds for opposing the royal title to the wardship of the heiress, they abjured English law and became Irish chieftains. As such they were obeyed, for the king’s arm was short in Ireland. The one appropriated Mayo as the Lower (Oughter) M‘William, and the earldom of Mayo perpetuates the memory of the event. The other as the Upper (Eighter) M‘William took Galway, and from him the earls of Clanricarde afterwards sprung.

Edward III. being busy with foreign wars had little time to spare for Ireland, and the native chiefs everywhere seized their opportunity. Perhaps the most remarkable of these aggressive chiefs was Lysaght O’More, who reconquered Leix. Clyn the Franciscan annalist, whose Latinity is so far above the medieval level as almost to recall Tacitus, sums up Lysaght’s career epigrammatically: “He was a slave, he became a master; he was a subject, he became a prince (de servo dominus, de subjecto princeps effectus).” The two great earldoms whose contests form a large part of the history of the south of Ireland were created by Edward III. James Butler, eldest son of Edmund, earl of Carrick, became earl of Ormonde and palatine of Tipperary in 1328. Next year Maurice Fitzgerald was made earl of Desmond, and from his three brethren descended the historic houses of the White Knight, the knight of Glin, and the knight of Kerry. The earldom of Kildare dates from 1316. In this reign too was passed the statute of Kilkenny (q.v.), a confession by the crown that obedient subjects were the minority. The enactments against Irish dress and customs, and against marriage and fostering proved a dead letter.

In two expeditions to Ireland Richard II. at first overcame all opposition, but neither had any permanent effect. Art MacMurrough, the great hero of the Leinster Celts, practically had the best of the contest. The king in Richard II. (1377-1399). his despatches divided the population into Irish enemies, Irish rebels and English subjects. As he found them so he left them, lingering in Dublin long enough to lose his own crown. But for MacMurrough and his allies the house of Lancaster might never have reigned. No English king again visited Ireland until James II., declared by his English subjects to have abdicated, and by the more outspoken Scots to have forfeited the crown, appealed to the loyalty or piety of the Catholic Irish.

Henry IV. had a bad title, and his necessities were conducive to the growth of the English constitution, but fatal to the Anglo-Irish. His son Thomas, duke of Clarence, was viceroy in 1401, but did very little. “Your son,” wrote the Henry IV. (1399-1413). Irish council to Henry, “is so destitute of money that he has not a penny in the world, nor can borrow a single penny, because all his jewels and his plate that he can spare, and those which he must of necessity keep, are pledged to lie in pawn.” The nobles waged private war unrestrained, and the game of playing off one chieftain against another was carried on with varying success. The provisions of the statute of Kilkenny against trading with the Irish failed, for markets cannot exist without buyers.

The brilliant reign of Henry V. was a time of extreme misery to the colony in Ireland. Half the English-speaking people fled to England, where they were not welcome. The Henry V. (1413-1422). disastrous reign of the third Lancastrian completed the discomfiture of the original colony in Ireland. Quarrels between the Ormonde and Talbot parties paralysed the government, and a “Pale” of 30 m. by 20 was all that remained. Even the walled towns, Kilkenny, Ross, Wexford, Kinsale, Youghal, Clonmel, Kilmallock, Thomastown, Fethard and Cashel, were almost starved Henry VI. (1422-1461). out; Waterford itself was half ruined and half deserted. Only one parliament was held for thirty years, but taxation was not remitted on that account. No viceroy even pretended to reside continuously. The north and west were still worse off than the south. Some thoughtful men saw clearly the danger of leaving Ireland to be seized by the first chance comer, and the Libel of English Policy, written about 1436, contains a long and interesting passage declaring England’s interests in protecting Ireland as “a boterasse and a poste” of her own power. Sir John Talbot, immortalized by Shakespeare, was several times viceroy; he was almost uniformly successful in the field, but feeble in council. He held a parliament at Trim which made one law against men of English race wearing moustaches, lest they should be mistaken for Irishmen, and another obliging the sons of agricultural labourers to follow their father’s vocation under pain of fine and imprisonment. The earls of Shrewsbury are still earls of Waterford, and retain the right to carry the white staff as hereditary stewards, but the palatinate jurisdiction over Wexford was taken away by Henry VIII. The Ulster annalists give a very different estimate of the great Talbot from that of Shakespeare: “A son of curses for his venom and a devil for his evils; and the learned say of him that there came not from the time of Herod, by whom Christ was crucified, any one so wicked in evil deeds” (O’Donovan’s Four Masters).

In 1449 Richard, duke of York, right heir by blood to the throne of Edward III., was forced to yield the regency of France to his rival Somerset, and to accept the Irish viceroyalty. He landed at Howth with his wife Cicely Richard of York in Ireland. Neville, and Margaret of Anjou hoped thus to get rid of one who was too great for a subject. The Irish government was given to him for ten years on unusually liberal terms. He ingratiated himself with both races, taking care to avoid identification with any particular family. At the baptism of his son George—“false, fleeting, perjured Clarence”—who was born in Dublin Castle, Desmond and Ormonde stood sponsors together. In legislation Richard fared no better than others. The rebellion of Jack Cade, claiming to be a Mortimer and cousin to the duke of York, took place at this time. This adventurer, at once ludicrous and formidable, was a native of Ireland, and was thought to be put forward by Richard to test the popularity of the Yorkist cause. Returning suddenly to England in 1450, Richard left the government to James, earl of Ormonde and Wiltshire, who later married Eleanor, daughter of Edmund Beaufort, duke of Somerset, and was deeply engaged on the Lancastrian side. This earl began the deadly feud with the house of Kildare, which lasted for generations. After Blore Heath Richard was attainted by the Lancastrian parliament, and returned to Dublin, where the colonial parliament acknowledged him and assumed virtual independence. A separate coinage was established, and the authority of the English parliament was repudiated. William Overy, a bold squire of Ormonde’s, offered to arrest Richard as an attainted traitor, but was seized, tried before the man whom he had come to take, and hanged, drawn and quartered. The duke only maintained his separate kingdom about a year. His party triumphed in England, but he himself fell at Wakefield.

Among the few prisoners taken on the bloody field of Towton was Ormonde, whose head long adorned London Bridge. He and his brothers were attainted in England and by the Yorkist parliament in Ireland, but the importance Edward IV. (1461-1483). of the family was hardly diminished by this. For the first six years of Edward’s reign the two Geraldine earls engrossed official power. The influence of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, whom Desmond had offended, then made itself felt. Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, became deputy. He was an accomplished Oxonian, who made a speech at Rome in such good Latin as to draw tears from the eyes of that great patron of letters Pope Pius II. (Aeneas Sylvius). But his Latinity did not soften his manners, and he was thought cruel even in that age. Desmond was beheaded, ostensibly for using Irish exactions, really, as the partisans of his family hold, to please Elizabeth. The remarkable lawlessness of this reign was increased by the practice of coining. Several mints had been established since Richard of York’s time; the standards varied and imitation was easy.

During Richard III.’s short reign the earl of Kildare, head of the Irish Yorkists, was the strongest man in Ireland. He espoused the cause of Lambert Simnel (1487), whom the Irish in general seem always to have thought a Richard III. Henry VII. (1485-1509). true Plantagenet. The Italian primate, Octavian de Palatio, knew better, and incurred the wrath of Kildare by refusing to officiate at the impostor’s coronation. The local magnates and several distinguished visitors attended, and Lambert was shown to the people borne aloft on “great D’Arcy of Platten’s” shoulders. His enterprise ended in the battle of Stoke, near Newark, where the flower of the Anglo-Irish soldiery fell. “The Irish,” says Bacon, “did not fail in courage or fierceness, but, being almost naked men, only armed with darts and skeins, it was rather an execution than a fight upon them.” Conspicuous among Henry VII.’s adherents in Ireland were the citizens of Waterford, who, with the men of Clonmel, Callan, Fethard and the Butler connexion generally, were prepared to take the field in his favour. Waterford was equally conspicuous some years later in resisting Perkin Warbeck, who besieged it unsuccessfully, and was chased by the citizens, who fitted out a fleet at their own charge. The king conferred honour and rewards on the loyal city, to which he gave the proud title of urbs intacta. Other events of this reign were the parliament of Drogheda, held by Sir Edward Poynings, which gave the control of Irish legislation to the English council (“Poynings’s Act”—the great bone of contention in the later days of Flood and Grattan), and the battle of Knockdoe, in which the earl of Kildare used the viceregal authority to avenge a private quarrel.

Occupied in pleasure or foreign enterprise, Henry VIII. at first paid little attention to Ireland. The royal power was practically confined to what in the previous century had become known as the “Pale,” that is Dublin, Henry VIII. (1509-1547). Louth, Kildare and a part of Meath, and within this narrow limit the earls of Kildare were really more powerful than the crown. Waterford, Drogheda, Dundalk, Cork, Limerick and Galway were not Irish, but rather free cities than an integral part of the kingdom; and many inland towns were in the same position. The house of Ormonde had created a sort of small Pale about Kilkenny, and part of Wexford had been colonized by men of English race. The Desmonds were Irish in all but pride of blood. The Barretts, Condons, Courcies, Savages, Arundels, Carews and others had disappeared or were merged in the Celtic mass. Anglo-Norman nobles became chiefs of pseudo-tribes, which acknowledged only the Brehon law, and paid dues and services in kind. These pseudo-tribes were often called “nations,” and a vast number of exactions were practised by the chiefs. “Coyne and livery”—the right of free-quarters for man and beast—arose among the Anglo-Normans, and became more oppressive than any native custom. When Henry took to business, he laid the foundation of reconquest. The house of Kildare, which had actually besieged Dublin (1534), was overthrown, and the Pale saved from a standing danger (see Fitzgerald). But the Pale scarcely extended 20 m. from Dublin, a march of uncertain width intervening between it and the Irish districts. Elsewhere, says an elaborate report, all the English folk were of “Irish language and Irish condition,” except in the cities and walled towns. Down and Louth paid black rent to O’Neill, Meath and Kildare to O’Connor, Wexford to the Kavanaghs, Kilkenny and Tipperary to O’Carroll, Limerick to the O’Briens, and Cork to the MacCarthies. MacMurrough Kavanagh, in Irish eyes the representative of King Dermod, received an annual pension from the exchequer. Henry set steadily to work to reassert the royal title. He assumed the style of king of Ireland, so as to get rid of the notion that he held the island of the pope. The Irish chiefs acknowledged his authority and his ecclesiastical supremacy, abjuring at the same time that of the Holy See. The lands of the earl of Shrewsbury and other absentees, who had performed no duties, were resumed; and both Celtic and feudal nobles were encouraged to come to court. Here begins the long line of official deputies, often men of moderate birth and fortune. Butler and Geraldine, O’Neill and O’Donnell, continued to spill each other’s blood, but the feudal and tribal systems were alike doomed. In the names of these Tudor deputies and other officers we see the origin of many great Irish families—Skeffington, Brabazon, St Leger, Fitzwilliam, Wingfield, Bellingham, Carew, Bingham, Loftus and others. Nor were the Celts overlooked. O’Neill and O’Brien went to London to be invested as earls of Tyrone and Thomond respectively. O’Donnell, whose descendants became earls of Tyrconnel, went to court and was well received. The pseudo-chief MacWilliam became earl of Clanricarde, and others reached lower steps in the peerage, or were knighted by the king’s own hand. All were encouraged to look to the crown for redress of grievances, and thus the old order slowly gave place to the new.

The moment when Protestantism and Ultramontanism are about to begin their still unfinished struggle is a fit time to notice the chief points in medieval Irish church history. Less than two years before Strongbow’s arrival Pope The Irish Church. Eugenius had established an ecclesiastical constitution in Ireland depending on Rome, but the annexation was very imperfectly carried out, and the hope of fully asserting the Petrine claims was a main cause of Adrian’s gift to Henry II. Hitherto the Scandinavian section of the church in Ireland had been most decidedly inclined to receive the hierarchical and diocesan as distinguished from the monastic and quasi-tribal system. The bishops or abbots of Dublin derived their succession from Canterbury from 1038 to 1162, and the bishops of Waterford and Limerick also sought consecration there. But both Celt and Northman acknowledged the polity of Eugenius, and it was chiefly in the matters of tithe, Peter’s pence, canonical degrees and the observance of festivals that Rome had still victories to gain. Between churchmen of Irish and English race there was bitter rivalry; but the theory that the ancient Celtic church remained independent, and as it were Protestant, while the English colony submitted to the Vatican, is a mere controversial figment. The crown was weak and papal aggression made rapid progress. It was in the Irish church, about the middle of the 13th century, that the system of giving jurisdiction to the bishops “in temporalibus” was adopted by Innocent IV. The vigour of Edward I. obtained a renunciation in particular cases, but the practice continued unabated. The system of provisions was soon introduced at the expense of free election, and was acknowledged by the statute of Kilkenny. In the more remote districts it must have been almost a matter of necessity. Many Irish parishes grew out of primitive monasteries, but other early settlements remained monastic, and were compelled by the popes to adopt the rule of authorized orders, generally that of the Augustinian canons. That order became much the most numerous in Ireland, having not less than three hundred houses. Of other sedentary orders the Cistercians were the most important, and the mendicants were very numerous. Both Celtic chiefs and Norman nobles founded convents after Henry II. ’s time, but the latter being wealthier were most distinguished in this way. Religious houses were useful as abodes of peace in a turbulent country, and the lands attached were better cultivated than those of lay proprietors. Attempts to found a university at Dublin (1311) or Drogheda (1465) failed for want of funds. The work of education was partially done by the great abbeys, boys of good family being brought up by the Cistercians of Dublin and Jerpoint, and by the Augustinians of Dublin, Kells and Connel, and girls by the canonesses of Gracedieu. A strong effort was made to save these six houses, but Henry VIII. would not hear of it, and there was no Irish Wolsey partially to supply the king’s omissions.

Ample evidence exists that the Irish church was full of abuses before the movement under Henry VIII. We have detailed accounts of three sees—Clonmacnoise, Enaghdune and Ardagh. Ross, also in a wild district, was in rather better case. But even in Dublin strange things happened; thus the archiepiscopal crozier was in pawn for eighty years from 1449. The morals of the clergy were no better than in other countries, and we have evidence of many scandalous irregularities. But perhaps the most severe condemnation is that of the report to Henry VIII. in 1515. “There is,” says the document, “no archbishop, ne bishop, abbot, ne prior, parson, ne vicar, ne any other person of the church, high or low, great or small, English or Irish, that useth to preach the word of God, saving the poor friars beggars ... the church of this land use not to learn any other science, but the law of canon, for covetise of lucre transitory.” Where his hand reached Henry had little difficulty in suppressing the monasteries or taking their lands, which Irish chiefs swallowed as greedily as men of English blood. But the friars, though pretty generally turned out of doors, were themselves beyond Henry’s power, and continued to preach everywhere among the people. Their devotion and energy may be freely admitted; but the mendicant orders, especially the Carmelites, were not uniformly distinguished for morality. Monasticism was momentarily suppressed under Oliver Cromwell, but the Restoration brought the monks back to their old haunts. The Jesuits, placed by Paul III. under the protection of Conn O’Neill, “prince of the Irish of Ulster,” came to Ireland towards the end of Henry’s reign, and helped to keep alive the Roman tradition. Anglicanism was regarded as a symbol of conquest and intrusion. The Four Masters thus describes the Reformation: “A heresy and new error arising in England, through pride, vain glory, avarice, and lust, and through many strange sciences, so that the men of England went into opposition to the pope and to Rome.” The destruction of relics and images and the establishment of a schismatic hierarchy is thus recorded: “Though great was the persecution of the Roman emperors against the church, scarcely had there ever come so great a persecution from Rome as this.”

The able opportunist Sir Anthony St Leger, who was accused by one party of opposing the Reformation and by the other of lampooning the Sacrament, continued to rule during the early days of Edward VI. To him succeeded Edward VI. (1547-1553). Sir Edward Bellingham, a Puritan soldier whose hand was heavy on all who disobeyed the king. He bridled Connaught by a castle at Athlone, and Munster by a garrison at Leighlin Bridge. The O’Mores and O’Connors were brought low, and forts erected where Maryborough and Philipstown now stand. Both chiefs and nobles were forced to respect the king’s representative, but Bellingham was not wont to flatter those in power, and his administration found little favour in England. Sir Francis Bryan, Henry VIII.’s favourite, succeeded him, and on his death St Leger was again appointed. Neither St Leger nor his successor Sir James Croft could do anything with Ulster, where the papal primate Wauchop, a Scot by birth, stirred up rebellion among the natives and among the Hebridean invaders. But little was done under Edward VI. to advance the power of the crown, and that little was done by Bellingham.

The English government long hesitated about the official establishment of Protestantism, and the royal order to that effect was withheld until 1551. Copies of the new liturgy were sent over, and St Leger had the communion The Reformation. service translated into Latin, for the use of priests and others who could read, but not in English. The popular feeling was strong against innovation, as Edward Staples, bishop of Meath, found to his cost. The opinions of Staples, like those of Cranmer, advanced gradually until at last he went to Dublin and preached boldly against the mass. He saw men shrink from him on all sides. “My lord,” said a beneficed priest, whom he had himself promoted, and who wept as he spoke, “before ye went last to Dublin ye were the best beloved man in your diocese that ever came in it, now ye are the worst beloved.... Ye have preached against the sacrament of the altar and the saints, and will make us worse than Jews.... The country folk would eat you.... Ye have more curses than ye have hairs of your head, and I advise you for Christ’s sake not to preach at Navan.” Staples answered that preaching was his duty, and that he would not fail; but he feared for his life. On the same prelate fell the task of conducting a public controversy with the archbishop of Armagh, George Dowdall, which of course ended in the conversion of neither. Dowdall fled; his see was treated as vacant, and Cranmer cast about him for a Protestant to fill St Patrick’s chair. His first nominee, Dr Richard Turner, resolutely declined the honour, declaring that he would be unintelligible to the people; and Cranmer could only answer that English was spoken in Ireland, though he did indeed doubt whether it was spoken in the diocese of Armagh. John Bale, a man of great learning and ability, became bishop of Ossory. There is no reason to doubt his sincerity, but he was coarse and intemperate—Froude roundly calls him a foul-mouthed ruffian—without the wisdom of the serpent or the harmlessness of the dove. His choice rhetoric stigmatized the dean of St Patrick’s as ass-headed, a blockhead who cared only for his kitchen and his belly.

The Reformation having made no real progress, Mary found it easy to recover the old ways. Dowdall was restored; Staples and others were deprived. Bale fled for bare life, and his see was treated as vacant. Yet the queen Mary (1553-1558). found it impossible to restore the monastic lands, though she showed some disposition to scrutinize the titles of grantees. She was Tudor enough to declare her intention of maintaining the old prerogatives of the crown against the Holy See, and assumed the royal title without papal sanction. Paul IV. was fain to curb his fiery temper, and to confer graciously what he could not withhold. English Protestants fled to Ireland to escape the Marian persecution; but had the reign continued a little longer, Dublin would probably have been no safe place of refuge.

Mary scarcely varied the civil policy of her brother’s ministers. Gerald of Kildare, who had been restored to his estates by Edward VI., was created earl of Kildare. The plan of settling Leix and Offaly by dividing the country between colonists and natives holding by English tenure failed, owing to the unconquerable love of the people for their own customs. But resistance gradually grew fainter, and we hear little of the O’Connors after this. The O’Mores, reduced almost to brigandage, gave trouble till the end of Elizabeth’s reign, and a member of the clan was chief contriver of the rebellion of 1641. Maryborough and Philipstown, King’s county and Queen’s county, commemorate Mary’s marriage.

Anne Boleyn’s daughter succeeded quietly, and Sir Henry Sidney was sworn lord-justice with the full Catholic ritual. When Thomas Radclyffe, earl of Sussex, superseded him as lord-lieutenant, the litany was chanted in Elizabeth (1558-1603). English, both cathedrals having been painted, and scripture texts substituted for “pictures and popish fancies.” At the beginning of 1560 a parliament was held which restored the ecclesiastical legislation of Henry and Edward. In two important points the Irish Church was made more dependent on the state than in England: congés d’élire were abolished and heretics made amenable to royal commissioners or to parliament without reference to any synod or convocation. According to a contemporary list, this parliament consisted of 3 archbishops, 17 bishops, 23 temporal peers, and members returned by 10 counties and 28 cities and boroughs. Some of the Irish bishops took the oath of supremacy, some were deprived. In other cases Elizabeth connived at what she could not prevent, and hardly pretended to enforce uniformity except in the Pale and in the large towns.

Ulster demanded the immediate attention of Elizabeth. Her father had conferred the earldom of Tyrone on Conn Bacach O’Neill, with remainder to his supposed son Matthew, created baron of Dungannon, the offspring of a Rebellion of Shane O’Neill. smith’s wife at Dundalk, who in her husband’s lifetime brought the child to Conn as his own. When the chief’s legitimate son Shane grew up he declined to be bound by this arrangement, which the king may have made in partial ignorance of the facts. “Being a gentleman,” he said, “my father never refusid no child that any woman namyd to be his.” When Tyrone died, Matthew’s son, Brian O’Neill, baron of Dungannon, claimed his earldom under the patent. Shane being chosen O’Neill by his tribe claimed to be chief by election, and earl as Conn’s lawful son. Thus the English government was committed to the cause of one who was at best an adulterine bastard, while Shane appeared as champion of hereditary right (See O’Neill). Shane maintained a contest which had begun under Mary until 1567, with great ability and a total absence of morality, in which Sussex had no advantage over him. The lord-lieutenant twice tried to have Shane murdered; once he proposed to break his safe-conduct; and he held out hopes of his sister’s hand as a snare. Shane was induced to visit London, where the government detained him for some time. On his return to Ireland, Sussex was outmatched both in war and diplomacy; the loyal chiefs were crushed one by one; and the English suffered checks of which the moral effect was ruinous. Shane diplomatically acknowledged Elizabeth as his sovereign, and sometimes played the part of a loyal subject, wreaking his private vengeance under colour of expelling the Scots from Ulster. At last, in 1566, the queen placed the sword of state in Sidney’s strong grasp. Shane was driven helplessly from point to point, and perished miserably at the hands of the MacDonnells, whom he had so often oppressed and insulted.

Peace was soon broken by disturbances in the south. The earl of Desmond having shown rebellious tendencies was detained for six years in London. Treated leniently, but grievously pressed for money, he tried to escape, and, First Desmond Rebellion, 1574. the attempt being judged treasonable, he was persuaded to surrender his estates—to receive them back or not at the queen’s discretion. Seizing the opportunity, English adventurers proposed to plant a military colony in the western half of Munster, holding the coast from the Shannon to Cork harbour. Some who held obsolete title-deeds were encouraged to go to work at once by the example of Sir Peter Carew, who had established his claims in Carlow. Carew’s title had been in abeyance for a century and a half, yet most of the Kavanaghs attorned to him. Falling foul of Ormonde’s brothers, seizing their property and using great cruelty and violence, Sir Peter drove the Butlers, the only one among the great families really loyal, into rebellion. Ormonde, who was in London, could alone restore peace; all his disputes with Desmond were at once settled in his favour, and he was even allowed to resume the exaction of coyne and livery, the abolition of which had been the darling wish of statesmen. The Butlers returned to their allegiance, but continued to oppose Carew, and great atrocities were committed on both sides. Sir Peter had great but undefined claims in Munster also, and the people there took warning. His imitators in Cork were swept away. Sidney first, and after him Humphrey Gilbert, could only circumscribe the rebellion. The presidency of Munster, an office the creation of which had long been contemplated, was then conferred on Sir John Perrot, who drove James “Fitzmaurice” Fitzgerald into the mountains, reduced castles everywhere, and destroyed a Scottish contingent which had come from Ulster to help the rebels. Fitzmaurice came in and knelt in the mud at the president’s feet, confessing his sins; but he remained the real victor. The colonizing scheme was dropped, and the first presidency of Munster left the Desmonds and their allies in possession. Similar plans were tried unsuccessfully in Ulster, first by a son of Sir Thomas Smith, afterwards by Walter Devereux, earl of Essex, a knight-errant rather than a statesman, who was guilty of many bloody deeds. He treacherously captured Sir Brian O’Neill and massacred his followers. The Scots in Rathlin were slaughtered wholesale. Essex struggled on for more than three years, seeing his friends gradually drop away, and dying ruined and unsuccessful.

Towards the end of 1575 Sidney was again persuaded to become viceroy. The Irish recognized his great qualities, and he went everywhere without interruption. Henceforth presidencies became permanent institutions. Sir William Drury in Munster hanged four hundred persons in one year, Sir Nicholas Malby in reducing the Connaught Burkes spared neither young nor old, and burned all corn and houses. The Desmonds determined on a great effort. A holy war was declared. Fitzmaurice landed in Kerry with a few followers, and accompanied by the famous Nicholas Sanders, who was armed with a legate’s commission and a banner blessed by the pope. Fitzmaurice fell soon after in a skirmish near Castleconnell, but Sanders and Desmond’s brothers still kept the field. When it was too late to act with effect, Desmond himself, a vain man, neither frankly loyal nor a bold rebel, took the field. He surprised Youghal, then an English town, by night, sacked it, and murdered the people. Roused at last, Elizabeth sent over Ormonde as general of Munster, and after long delay gave him the means of conducting a campaign. It was as much a war of Butlers against Geraldines as of loyal subjects against rebels, and Ormonde did his work only too well. Lord Baltinglass raised a hopeless subsidiary revolt in Wicklow (1580), which was signalized by a crushing defeat of the lord deputy, Lord Grey de Wilton (Arthegal) in Glenmalure. A force of Italians and Spaniards landing at Smerwick in Kerry, Grey hurried thither, and the foreigners, who had no commission, surrendered at discretion, and were put to the sword. Neither Grey nor the Spanish ambassador seems to have seen anything extraordinary in thus disposing of inconvenient prisoners. Spenser and Raleigh were present. Sanders perished obscurely in 1581, and in 1583 Desmond himself was hunted down and killed in the Kerry mountains. More than 500,000 Irish acres were forfeited to the crown. The horrors of this war it is impossible to exaggerate. The Four Masters says that the lowing of a cow or the voice of a ploughman could scarcely be heard from Cashel to the farthest point of Kerry; Ormonde, who, with all his severity, was honourably distinguished by good faith, claimed to have killed 5000 men in a few months. Spenser, an eye-witness, says famine slew far more than the sword. The survivors were unable to walk, but crawled out of the woods and glens. “They looked like anatomies of death; they did eat the dead carrion and one another soon after, insomuch as the very carcasses they spared not to scrape out of their graves; ... to a plot of watercresses or shamrocks they flocked as to a feast.”