The Story of Ancient Irish Civilization Part 2

Angus Mac-an-oge was a mighty magician, who had his glorious palace under the great mound of Brugh [Broo] on the Boyne, now called Newgrange, a little below Slane in Meath. There were many other G.o.ds; and there were G.o.ddesses also. Poets, physicians, and smiths had three G.o.ddesses whom they severally wors.h.i.+pped, three sisters, all named Brigit. There were also many fairy queens, who were considered as G.o.ddesses and wors.h.i.+pped in their several districts, all living in their palaces under fairy mounds or rocks.

Many of these residences are still well known, such as Carrigcleena, a circle of grey rocks near Mallow, where lived Cleena, the fairy queen of south Munster; and Craglea, near Killaloe, where Eevin or Eevil, the guardian fairy queen of the Dalca.s.sians of Th.o.m.ond, resided. The people of several districts had local G.o.ds also, such as Donn, the king of the Munster fairies, who had his airy home on the top of Knockfierna, near Croom in Limerick; John Macananty of Scrabo carn, near Newtownards; and Tierna, the powerful and kindly fairy lord, who lived in his bright palace under the great carn on the hill of Carntierna, over Fermoy.

Besides those that were acknowledged and wors.h.i.+pped as G.o.ds or G.o.ddesses, there were battle-furies who delighted in blood and slaughter; also loathsome-looking witch-hags, and plenty of goblins, sprites, and spectres--some harmless, some malignant--who will be found enumerated and described in either of my two Social Histories.

The idols wors.h.i.+pped by the pagan Irish were nearly all of them stones, mostly pillar-stones, which were sometimes covered over with gold, silver, or bronze. The people also wors.h.i.+pped the elements--that is to say, water, fire, the sun, the wind, and such like. The wors.h.i.+p of wells was very general. Most of those old Pagan fountains were taken possession of by St.

Patrick, St. Columkille, and other early missionaries, who blessed them, and devoted them to baptism and other Christian uses; so that they came to be called holy wells; and though they were no longer wors.h.i.+pped, they were as much venerated by the Christians as they had been by the pagans.

It must not be supposed that each of the objects mentioned above was wors.h.i.+pped by all the people of Ireland. Each person, in fact, wors.h.i.+pped whichever he pleased. And it was usual for individuals, or a tribe, to choose some idol, or element, or pagan divinity, which they held in veneration as their special guardian G.o.d.

There was a belief in a pagan heaven, a land of everlasting youth, peace, and happiness, beautiful beyond conception, called by various names, such as Teernanoge, Moy Mell, I-Bra.s.sil, etc., which is often described as being situated far out in the Western Ocean. It was inhabited by fairies, but it was not for human beings, except a few individuals who were brought thither by the fairies.

There is a pretty story, more than a thousand years old, in the Book of the Dun Cow, which tells how Prince Connla of the Golden Hair, son of the great king Conn the Hundred-Fighter, was carried off by a fairy in a crystal boat to Moy-Mell. One day--as the story relates--while the king and Connla, and many n.o.bles were standing on the western sea-sh.o.r.e, a boat of s.h.i.+ning crystal was seen moving towards them: and when it had touched the land, a fairy, like a human being, and richly dressed, came forth from it, and addressing Connla, tried to entice him into it. No one saw this strange being save Connla alone, though all heard the conversation: and the king and the n.o.bles marvelled, and were greatly troubled. At last the fairy chanted the following words in a very sweet voice: and the moment the chant was ended, the poor young prince stepped into the crystal boat, which in a moment glided swiftly away to the west: and Prince Connla was never again seen in his native land.

THE FAIRY MAIDEN'S CHANT TO PRINCE CONNLA.

I.

A land of youth, a land of rest, A land from sorrow free; It lies far off in the golden west, On the verge of the azure sea.

A swift canoe of crystal bright, That never met mortal view-- We shall reach the land ere fall of night, In that strong and swift canoe: We shall reach the strand Of that sunny land, From druids and demons free; The land of rest, In the golden west, On the verge of the azure sea!

II.

A pleasant land of winding vales, bright streams, and verdurous plains, Where summer all the live-long year, in changeless splendour reigns; A peaceful land of calm delight, of everlasting bloom; Old age and death we never know, no sickness, care, or gloom; The land of youth, Of love and truth, From pain and sorrow free; The land of rest, In the golden west, On the verge of the azure sea!

III.

There are strange delights for mortal men in that island of the west; The sun comes down each evening in its lovely vales to rest: And though far and dim On the ocean's rim It seems to mortal view, We shall reach its halls Ere the evening falls, In my strong and swift canoe: And evermore That verdant sh.o.r.e Our happy home shall be; The land of rest, In the golden west, On the verge of the azure sea!

IV.

It will guard thee, gentle Connla, of the flowing golden hair; It will guard thee from the druids, from the demons of the air; My crystal boat will guard thee, till we reach that western sh.o.r.e, Where thou and I in joy and love shall live for evermore: From the druid's incantation, From his black and deadly snare, From the withering imprecation Of the demon of the air, It will guard thee, gentle Connla, of the flowing golden hair: My crystal boat will guard thee, till we reach that silver strand Where thou shalt reign in endless joy, the king of the Fairy-land![2]

CHAPTER V.

HOW THE IRISH PEOPLE LIVED AS CHRISTIANS.

It is not our business here to tell how the Irish were converted to Christianity; for this has been already related in our Histories of Ireland. Whether St. Patrick was born in Gaul or in Scotland, we know at any rate that he brought with him to Ireland, to aid him in his great work, a number of young Gauls and Britons whom he had ordained as priests.

But soon after his arrival he began to ordain natives also, whom he had converted; so that the hard work of travelling through the country, and preaching to the people, was for some time in the beginning done by foreigners and Irishmen. But as time went on the missionaries were chiefly native-born. St. Patrick loved the Irish people; and he was continually praying that G.o.d would bestow favours on them. And his prayers were answered; for, after the Apostolic times, there never were more devoted or more successful missionaries than those who preached the Gospel in Ireland, and there never were people who received the Faith more readily than the Irish, or who practised it after their conversion with more piety and earnestness.

An old Irish writer who lived about twelve hundred years ago tells us that the saints of Ireland who lived, and worked, and died before his time were of "Three Orders." "The First Order of Catholic saints"--says this writer--"were MOST HOLY: s.h.i.+ning like the sun." They were 350 in number, all bishops, beginning with St. Patrick. For more than thirty years they were led by their great master, with all his fiery and tireless energy; and the preachers of this order continued for a little more than a century. They devoted themselves entirely to the home mission--the conversion of the Irish people--which gave them quite enough to do.

"The Second Order was of Catholic Priests"--continues the old writer--"numbering 300, of whom a few were bishops. These were VERY HOLY, and they shone like the moon." They lasted for a little more than half a century.

The priests of this Second Order were chiefly monastic clergy--that is to say, monks--and during their continuance monasteries were founded everywhere through Ireland. Though there were monks and monasteries here from the time of St. Patrick, they began to spread much more rapidly after the foundation of the great monastery of Clonard in Meath, by St.

Finnen or Finnian--one of the Second Order of saints--about the year 527.

It was the monks belonging to this Order, and their successors, who preached the Gospel in foreign lands with such amazing success, as will be told in Chapter VII.

The monks and students in these establishments led a busy and happy life; for it was a rule that there should be no idleness. Everyone was to be engaged at all available times in some useful work. Some tilled the land around and belonging to the monastery--ploughing, digging, sowing, reaping--and attended to the cattle; some worked as carpenters, tailors, smiths, shoemakers, cooks, and so forth, for the use of the community.

Some were set apart to receive and attend to travellers and guests, who were continually coming and going: to wash their feet, and prepare supper and bed for them. Many were employed as scribes, to copy and ornament ma.n.u.script books; while others made beautiful crosiers, brooches, chalices, crosses, and other works of metallic art; and the most scholarly members were selected to teach in the schools. Besides this, all had their devotions to attend to, which were frequent and often long.

The Third Order of Irish saints consisted of about 100 priests, of whom a few were bishops: "these were HOLY, and shone like the stars"; and they lasted a little more than three-quarters of a century. They were all hermits, living either singly or in monasteries in remote lonely places.

Even when they lived together in numbers they were still hermits, spending their time in prayer and contemplation, each in his own little cell; and they never met together, or had any communication with each other, except at stated times, when all a.s.sembled in the little church for common wors.h.i.+p, or in the refectory for meals.

We know that there were nuns and convents in Ireland from St. Patrick's time, but they increased and multiplied, and flourished more than ever during and after the time of the greatest nun of all--St. Brigit of Kildare.

In the time of St. Patrick, and for long afterwards, the churches were small, because the congregations were small; and they were mostly of wood, though some were of stone. We have, in fact, the ruins of little stone-and-mortar churches still remaining in many parts of the country, built at various times during the four or five centuries after St.

Patrick. In the eleventh and following centuries, however, large and grand churches were built, the ruins of which still remain all over the country.

Near many of the monasteries the monks began to erect tall Round Towers in the beginning of the ninth century, as a protection against the Danes.

They were built with several stories, each story lighted by one little window, and reached by a ladder inside. The door was small, and was usually ten or twelve feet from the ground. The moment word was brought that a party of Danish marauders were approaching, the monks took refuge in the tower with all their valuables and a good supply of large stones, and barred the door and windows strongly on the inside, so that it was impossible to get at them during the short time the robbers were able to stay. In fact the Danes were generally afraid of their lives to approach too close to these towers; for if one of them ventured near enough, a big stone, dropped by one of the monks from a height of sixty or seventy feet, was likely enough to come down right on his skull and make short work of him. We have still remaining many of these old towers.

There was a spring well beside every monastery, either that, or a stream of pure water. The founder never selected a site till he had first ascertained that a well or a stream was near. These fountains served the double purpose of baptising converts and of supplying the communities with water. In most cases they were named after the founders, and retain their names to this day. It has been already stated how the early missionaries often took over the wells the pagans had wors.h.i.+pped as G.o.ds, and devoted them to Christian uses.

We have now Holy Wells in every part of Ireland, and it is with good reason we call them so, for they preserve the memory, and in most cases the very names, of those n.o.ble old missionaries who used the crystal water to baptise their converts. We ought to make it a point, so far as lies in our power, to take care of these holy wells, and to keep them neat and clean, and in all respects in a becoming condition; and also to preserve their old names as our fathers handed them down to us. If there could be such a thing as grief in heaven, an old Irish missionary would certainly feel grieved to look down on the little well he loved, and used, and blessed, now lying unnoticed and neglected.

St. Patrick used consecrated bells in celebrating the Divine Mysteries, and in nearly all other religious ceremonies, and the custom has descended through fifteen centuries to this day. The bells used by the early saints were small handbells, made of iron dipped in melted bronze; but three or four hundred years after St. Patrick's time people began to make them of a better material--bronze melted and cast in moulds. We are told that St. Patrick left a little iron bell in every church he founded; and, to supply the great number he required for this purpose, he kept in his household three smiths whose sole business from morning till night was to make iron bells. The very bell he himself used in his ministrations--commonly called "The Bell of the Will"--may now be seen in the National Museum in Dublin--the most venerable of all our early Christian relics. Beside it in the same gla.s.s-case stands a beautiful and costly shrine, made by an accomplished Irish artist about the year 1100, to cover and protect it, by order and at the expense of Donall O'Loghlin, king of Ireland.

It was usual for the founders of churches to plant trees round the buildings. These "Sacred Groves," as they were called, were subsequently held in great veneration, and it was regarded as a desecration to cut down one of the trees, or even to lop off a branch.

CHAPTER VI.

HOW IRELAND BECAME THE MOST LEARNED COUNTRY IN EUROPE.

In old pagan times, long before the arrival of St. Patrick, there were schools in Ireland taught by druids. And when at last Christianity came, and was spreading rapidly over the land, those old schools were still held on; but they were no longer taught by druids, and they were no longer pagan, for teachers and scholars were now all Christians.

But as soon as St. Patrick came, a new cla.s.s of schools began to spring up; for he and the other early missionaries founded monasteries everywhere through the country, and in connexion with almost every monastery there was a school. These were what are called monastic or ecclesiastical schools, for they were mostly taught by monks; while the older schools, being taught by laymen, were called lay schools.

In lay schools was taught what might be called the native learning--the learning that had grown up in the country in the course of ages. It consisted mainly of the following subjects:--To read and write the Irish language; Irish grammar, and rules of poetical composition--a very extensive and complicated subject; geography and history, especially the topography and history of Ireland; and a knowledge of the poetry, and of the historical and romantic tales of the country: while a great many of the schools were for professions--special schools of law, of medicine, of poetry, of history and antiquities, and so forth. In these last the professional men were educated.

These lay schools, being now within the Christian communion, were not abolished or discouraged in any way by St. Patrick or his successors. They were simply let alone, to teach their own secular learning just as they pleased. They continued on, and were to be found in every part of Ireland for fourteen centuries after St. Patrick's arrival, down to a period within our own memory; but of course greatly changed as time went on. In later times they were much more numerous in Munster than in the other provinces; and they taught--and taught well--cla.s.sics and mathematics; and often both combined in the same school. I was myself educated in some of those lay schools; and I remember with pleasure several of my old teachers: rough and unpolished men most of them, but excellent, solid scholars, and full of enthusiasm for learning--enthusiasm which they communicated to their pupils. In some respects indeed they resembled the rugged, earnest, scholarly Irishmen of old times, who travelled through Europe to spread religion and learning, as described at pp. 54, 55, farther on. But the famine of 1847 broke up those schools, and in a very few years they nearly all disappeared.

But our business here is mainly with the early monastic schools, which became so celebrated all over Europe. Before going farther it is well to remark that these schools also continued, and increased and multiplied as time went on. They held their ground successfully--as the lay schools did--during the evil days of later ages, when determined attempts were made, under the penal laws, to suppress them; and at the present day they are working all over the country quite as vigorously as in days of yore.

To notice all the monastic schools of old that attained eminence would demand more s.p.a.ce than can be afforded here. So we must content ourselves with mentioning the following, all of which were very ill.u.s.trious in their time:--Bangor (Co. Down), Lismore (Co. Waterford), Clonmacnoise, Armagh, Kildare, Clonard (Meath), Clonfert (Galway), Durrow (King's Co.), Monasterboice (near Drogheda), Rosscarbery (Co. Cork), and Derry. Besides these, at least twenty-five others, all eminent, are specially mentioned in our old books. Most of these colleges were working, not in succession, but all at the same time, from the sixth century downwards. When we bear in mind that there were also, during the whole period, the lay schools, which, though smaller, were far more numerous--scattered all over the country--we shall have some idea of the universal love of learning that existed in Ireland in those days, and of the general spread of education.

No other nation in Europe could boast of so many schools and colleges in proportion to size and population.

Many of the monastic colleges had very large numbers of students. In Clonard there were 3,000, all residing in and around the college; and Bangor founded by St. Comgall, and Clonfert founded by St. Brendan the Navigator, had each as many. And there were various smaller numbers--2,000, 1,500, 1,000, 500--down to fifty.