Ireland, Historic and Picturesque
by
Charles Johnston
Part 4 out of 4
the king of England and the forces of the English Parliament. This
battle was the signal for division of counsels in the new Assembly. The
Norman lords of Leinster, who stood on the ground of feudalism, and
lived under the shadow of royal authority, were strongly drawn to take
the side of the king against the English Parliament, and overtures of
negotiation were made, which came near gaining a recognition and
legalization of the General Assembly by the English Crown.
While the leaders at Kilkenny were being drawn towards the royalists of
England, Owen Roe O'Neill was successfully holding Ulster against the
Puritan forces under Monroe and Leslie, with their headquarters at
Carrickfergus. Thus matters went on till the autumn of 1643, when we
find him inflicting a serious defeat on the English army under Monk and
Moore at Portlester in Meath, in which Moore was killed and his forces
driven back within the walls of Drogheda.
The General Assembly continued to exercise sovreign authority at
Kilkenny, collecting revenues, maintaining courts of justice in the
provinces, and keeping several armies in the field, most effective of
which was undoubtedly that of Owen Roe O'Neill. We find matters still in
this condition three years later, in May, 1646, when Monroe and the
Scottish forces prepared to inaugurate an offensive campaign from their
base at Carrickfergus. General Robert Monroe had about seven thousand
men at Carrickfergus; his brother George had five hundred at Coleraine;
while there was a Scottish army at Derry, numbering about two thousand
men. It was decided to converge these three forces on Clones, in
Monaghan, and thence to proceed southwards against the government of the
General Assembly, then centered at Limerick. Clones was sixty miles from
Derry, and rather more from Coleraine and Carrickfergus, the two other
points of departure.
Owen Roe O'Neill was then at Cavan, fourteen miles south of Clones, with
five thousand foot and five hundred horse, all "good, hopeful men," to
use his own words. General Robert Monroe, starting from Carrickfergus,
and marching by Lisburn and Armagh, expected to reach Glasslough, some
sixteen miles from Clones, on June 5th. By a forced march from Cavan,
Owen Roe O'Neill reached Glasslough a day earlier, and marching along
the northern Blackwater, pitched his camp on the north bank of the
river. Here he was directly in the line between the two Monroes, who
could only join their forces after dislodging him; and Robert Monroe,
who by that time had reached Armagh, saw that it would be necessary to
give battle without delay if the much smaller forces from the north were
not to be cut off.
Robert Monroe began a movement northwards towards Owen Roe's position at
dawn on June 5th, and presently reached the Blackwater, to find himself
face to face with Owen Roe's army across the river. The two forces kept
parallel with each other for some time, till Robert Monroe finally
forded the Blackwater at Caledon, Owen Roe then retiring in the
direction of the current, which here flows north. Owen Roe, in his
movement of withdrawal, brought his army through a narrow pass, which he
left in charge of one of his best infantry regiments, with orders to
hold it only so long as the enemy could be safely harassed, meanwhile
carrying his main body back to the hill of Knocknacloy, the position he
had chosen from the first for the battle, and to gain which he had up to
this time been manoeuvering.
At Knocknacloy he had the center of his army protected by the hill, the
right by a marsh, and the left by the river, so that, a flanking
movement on Monroe's part being impossible, the Scottish general was
forced to make a frontal attack. Under cover of the rearguard action at
the pass, which caused both delay and confusion to Monroe's army, Owen
Roe formed his men in order of battle. His first line was of four
columns, with considerable spaces between them; his cavalry was on the
right and left wings, behind this first line; while three columns more
were drawn up some distance farther back, behind the openings in the
front line, and forming the reserve. We should remember that not only
was Owen Roe's army outnumbered by Monroe's, but also that Owen Roe had
no artillery, while Monroe was well supplied with guns.
Meanwhile Monroe's army came into touch with Owen Roe's force, and the
Scottish general opened fire with guns and muskets, to which the muskets
of Owen Roe as vigorously replied. The Scottish artillery was planted on
a hillock a quarter-mile from Owen Roe's center, and under cover of its
fire an infantry charge was attempted, which was brilliantly repulsed by
the pikemen of Owen Roe's army. A second attack was made by the Scottish
cavalry, who tried to ford the river, and thus turn the left flank of
the Irish army, but they were met and routed by the Irish horse. This
was about six in the evening, and the sun, hanging low in the sky, fell
full in the faces of the Scottish troops. Owen Roe promptly followed up
the rout of the Scottish horse by an advance, making a sweeping movement
from right to left, and thereby forcing Monroe towards the junction of
two streams, where he had no space to move. At this point Owen Roe's
army received a notable accession of strength in the form of four
squadrons of cavalry, sent earlier in the day to guard against the
possible approach of George Monroe from Coleraine.
At a signal from Owen Roe, his army advanced upon Monroe's force, to be
met by a charge of the Scottish cavalry, instantly replied to by a
charge of the Irish cavalry through the three open spaces in the front
infantry line of Owen Roe's army. Monroe's first line was broken, and
the Irish pikemen, the equivalent of a bayonet charge, steadily forced
him backwards. It was a fierce struggle, hand to hand, eye to eye, and
blade to blade. The order of Owen Roe's advance was admirably preserved,
while the Scottish and English forces were in confusion, already broken
and crowded into a narrow and constricted space between the two rivers.
Finally the advancing Irish army reached and stormed the hillock where
Monroe's artillery was placed, and victory was palpably won. The defeat
of the Scottish and English army became an utter rout, and when the sun
set more than three thousand of them lay dead on the field.
It is almost incredible that the Irish losses were only seventy, yet
such is the number recorded, while not only was the opposing army
utterly defeated and dispersed, but Monroe's whole artillery, his tents
and baggage, fifteen hundred horses, twenty stand of colors, two months'
provisions and numbers of prisoners of war fell into the hands of Owen
Roe; while, as a result of the battle, the two auxiliary forces were
forced to retreat and take refuge in Coleraine and Derry, General Robert
Monroe escaping meanwhile to Carrickfergus. It is only just to him to
say that our best accounts of the battle come from officers in Monroe's
army, Owen Roe contenting himself with the merest outline of the result
gained, but saying nothing of the consummate generalship that gained it.
For the next two years we see Owen Roe O'Neill holding the great central
plain, the west and most of the north of Ireland against the armies of
the English Parliamentarians and Royalists alike, and gaining victory
after victory, generally against superior numbers, better armed and
better equipped. We find him time after time almost betrayed by the
Supreme Council, in which the Norman lords of Leinster, perpetually
anxious for their own feudal estates, were ready to treat with whichever
of the English parties was for the moment victorious, hoping that,
whatever might be the outcome of the great English struggle, they
themselves might be gainers. At this time they were in possession of
many of the abbey lands, and there was perpetual friction between them
and the ecclesiastics, their co-religionists, who had been driven from
these same lands, so that the Norman landowners were the element of
fatal weakness throughout this whole movement, willing to wound, and yet
afraid to strike. While praying for the final defeat of the English
parliamentary forces, they dreaded to see this defeat brought about by
Owen Roe O'Neill, in whom they saw the representative of the old tribal
ownership of Gaelic times, a return to which would mean their own
extinction.
Matters went so far that the Supreme Council, representing chiefly these
Norman lords, had practically betrayed its trust to the Royalist party
in England, and would have completed that betrayal had not the
beheading of King Charles signalized the triumph of the
Parliamentarians. Even then the Norman lords hoped for the Restoration,
and strove in every way to undermine the authority of their own general,
Owen Roe O'Neill, who was almost forced to enter into an alliance with
the Puritans by the treachery of the Norman lords. It is of the greatest
interest to find Monroe writing thus to Owen Roe in August, 1649: "By my
own extraction, I have an interest in the Irish nation. I know how your
lands have been taken, and your people made hewers of wood and drawers
of water. If an Irishman can be a scourge to his own nation, the English
will give him fair words but keep him from all trust, that they may
destroy him when they have served themselves by him."
On November 6, 1649, this great general died after a brief illness,
having for seven years led his armies to constant victory, while the
Norman lords, who were in name his allies, were secretly plotting
against him for their own profit. Yet so strong and dominant was his
genius that he overcame not only the forces of his foes but the
treacheries of his friends, and his last days saw him at one with the
Normans, while the forces of the Parliamentarians in Ireland were
calling on him for help.
We sea, therefore, that for full eight years, from the beginning of 1642
to the close of 1649, Ireland had an independent national government,
with a regularly elected Representative Assembly, and a central
authority, the Supreme Council, appointed by that Assembly, with judges
going circuit and holding their courts regularly, while the Supreme
Council held a state of almost regal magnificence, and kept several
armies continuously in the field. While Owen Roe O'Neill lived, that
part of the army under his command was able not only to secure an
unbroken series of victories for itself, but also to retrieve the
defeats suffered by less competent commanders, so that at his death he
was at the summit of power and fame. If regret were ever profitable, we
might well regret that he did not follow the example of the great
English commander, his contemporary, and declare himself Lord Protector
of Ireland, with despotic power.
After his death, the work he had done so well was all undone again, in
part by treachery, in part by the victories of Oliver Cromwell. Yet ten
years after the Lord Protector's arrival in Ireland, his own work was
undone not less completely, and the Restoration saw once more enthroned
every principle against which Cromwell had so stubbornly contended.
XIV.
THE JACOBITE WARS.
A.D. 1660-1750.
The Restoration saw Cromwell's work completely undone; nor did the class
which helped him to his victories again rise above the surface. The
genius of the Stuarts was already sowing the seeds of new revolutions;
but the struggle was presently to be fought out, not between the king
and the people, but between the king and the more liberal or more
ambitious elements of the baronial class, who saw in the despotic
aspirations of the Stuarts a menace to their own power.
These liberal elements in England selected as their champion Prince
William of Nassau, before whose coming the English king found it
expedient to fly to France, seeking and finding a friend in that apostle
of absolutism, Louis XIV. We have already seen how the interests of the
feudal lords of Ireland, with the old Norman families as their core,
drew them towards the Stuarts. The divine right of the landowner
depended, as we saw, on the divine right of kings; so that they
naturally gravitated towards the Stuarts, and drew their tenants and
retainers after them. Thus a considerable part of Ireland was enlisted
on the side of James II, and shared the misfortunes which presently
overtook him--or in truth did not overtake him, as the valiant gentleman
outran them and escaped. Nothing is more firmly fixed in the memories of
the whole Irish people than a good-natured contempt for this runaway
English king, whose cause they were induced by the feudal lords to
espouse. We shall follow the account of an officer in the Jacobite army
in narrating the events of the campaigns that ensued.
James, having gained courage and funds from his sojourn at the court of
Louis XIV, presently made his appearance in Ireland, relying on the
support of the feudal lords. He landed at Kinsale, in Cork, on March 12,
1688, according to the Old Style, and reached Dublin twelve days later,
warmly welcomed by Lord and Lady Tyrconnell. The only place in the
country which strongly declared for William was the walled city of
Derry, whence we have seen the Puritan forces issuing during the wars of
the preceding generation. James, this officer says, went north to Derry,
in spite of the bitterness of the season, "in order to preserve his
Protestant subjects there from the ill-treatment which he apprehended
they might receive from the Irish," and was mightily surprised when the
gates were shut in his face and the citizens opened fire upon him from
the walls.
[Illustration: Tullymore Park, Co. Down.]
James withdrew immediately to Dublin, assembled a Parliament there, and
spent several months in vain discussions, not even finding courage to
repeal the penal laws which Queen Elizabeth had passed against all who
refused to recognize her as the head of the church. James was already
embarked on a career of duplicity, professing great love for Ireland,
yet fearing to carry out his professions lest he might arouse animosity
in England, and so close the door against his hoped-for return.
Enniskillen, on an island in Lough Erne, dominated by a strong castle,
was, like Derry, a settlement of Scottish and English colonists brought
over by the first of the Stuarts. These colonists were up in arms
against the grandson of their first patron, and had successfully
attacked his forces which were besieging Derry. James, therefore, sent a
small body of troops against them; but the expedition ended in an
ignominious rout rather than a battle, for the Jacobite army seems
hardly to have struck a blow. The Irish leader, Lord Mountcashel, who
manfully stood his ground in the general panic, was wounded and
taken prisoner.
The armies of James, meanwhile, made no headway against the courageous
and determined defenders of Derry, where the siege was degenerating into
a blockade, the scanty rations and sickness of the besieged being a far
more formidable danger than the attacks of the besiegers. James even
weakened the attacking forces by withdrawing a part of the troops to
Dublin, being resolved at all risks to protect himself.
So devoid of resolution and foresight was James that we only find him
taking means to raise an army when Schomberg, the able lieutenant of
William, was about to invade the north of Ireland. Schomberg landed at
Bangor in Down in August, 1689, and marched south towards Drogheda, but
finding that James was there before him, he withdrew and established a
strongly fortified camp near Dundalk. James advanced to a point about
seven miles from Schomberg, and there entrenched himself in turn, and so
the two armies remained; as one of Schomberg's officers says, "our
General would not risk anything, nor King James venture anything." The
long delay was very fatal to Schomberg's army, his losses by sickness
and disease being more than six thousand men.
Early in November, as winter was already making itself felt, James
decided to withdraw to Dublin; as our narrator says, "the young
commanders were in some haste to return to the capital, where the ladies
expected them with great impatience; so that King James, being once more
persuaded to disband the new levies and raising his camp a little of the
soonest, dispersed his men too early into winter quarters, having spent
that campaign without any advantage, vainly expecting that his
Protestant subjects of England who were in the camp of Schomberg would
come over to him. And now the winter season, which should be employed in
serious consultations, and making the necessary preparations for the
ensuing campaign, was idly spent in revels, in gaming, and other
debauches unfit for a Catholic court. But warlike Schomberg, who, after
the retreat of James, had leisure to remove his sickly soldiers, to bury
the dead, and put the few men that remained alive and were healthy into
winter quarters of refreshment, took the field early in spring, before
Tyrconnell was awake, and reduced the castle of Charlemont, the only
place that held for James in Ulster, which was lost for want of
provisions; and the concerns of the unfortunate James were ill-managed
by those whom he entrusted with the administration of public affairs."
We come thus to the spring of 1690. Derry was still holding out
valiantly against the horrors of famine and sickness, the blockade being
maintained, though nothing like a determined storm was attempted. A
little of the courage shown by the apprentices of Derry, had he
possessed it, might have revived the drooping fortunes of the fugitive
English king. It seems, however, that even Schomberg's withdrawal to
Carrickfergus failed to arouse him to more vigorous and valiant
measures. It is clear that he was ready to abandon his Irish allies,
hoping by their betrayal to gain favor with his "subjects in England,"
whom he confidently expected to recall him, as they had recalled his
brother Charles thirty years before. James found an able lieutenant in
Tyrconnell, who thoroughly entered into his master's schemes of
duplicity; and it is fairly clear that these two worthies, had occasion
offered, would have betrayed each other with a perfectly good grace.
Thus matters dragged on quite indecisively until June, 1690, when King
William landed at Carrickfergus with a mixed force of English, Scottish,
Dutch, Danish, Swedish and German troops, and joined his forces to the
remnant of Schomberg's army. James, as we saw, had disbanded his army on
breaking up his camp in the previous autumn, and had made no effective
effort to get a new army together. Nor could he have used a strong army,
had he possessed one. Nevertheless James marched north with such troops
as were available, leaving Dublin on June 16th. He took up a strong
position on the borders of Ulster and Leinster, thus blocking William's
way south to the capital, only to abandon it again on the news of
William's approach, when he retired to Drogheda and encamped there. He
thus gave the whole advantage of initiative into the hands of his
opponent, a brave man and a skillful general.
James seems to have hoped that William's army would be mowed down by
disease, as Schomberg's had been in the preceding campaign. And there is
reason to believe that Tyrconnell, foreseeing the defeat of James,
wished to avoid any serious fighting, which would be an obstacle in his
way when he sought to patch up a peace with the victor and make terms
for himself. But his opponent was inspired by a very different temper,
and William's army advanced steadily southwards, to find James encamped
on the southern bank of the Boyne.
There were several fords by which William's army would have to cross on
its way south. But James was such an incapable general that he did not
even throw up trenches to defend the fords. William's army arrived and
encamped on the north bank of the river, and the next day, June 30th,
was employed in an artillery duel between the two armies, when
considerable injury was inflicted on William's forces, although he was
far stronger in artillery than his opponent. During that night, James,
already certain of defeat, sent away most of his artillery to Dublin,
leaving only six guns with his army on the Boyne.
It seems tolerably certain that, when the battle began again next day,
William's army numbered between forty-five and fifty thousand, with the
usual proportion of cavalry,--probably a tenth of the whole. James, on
the other hand, had from twenty to twenty-five thousand men, about a
tenth of them, probably, being mounted; he had, by his own fault, only
six guns against about fifty in William's batteries. William's line of
battle was formed, as usual, with the infantry in the center and the
cavalry on the wings. He gave the elder Schomberg command of the center,
while Schomberg's son, with the cavalry of the right wing, was sent four
or five miles up the river to Slane, to cross there and turn the left
flank of the opposing army. William himself led the cavalry on the left
wing, and later on in the battle, descending the river, crossed at a
lower ford. He could thus attack the right flank of his opponent; the
infantry composing the center of his army advancing, meanwhile, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire, and forcing the fords of the Boyne.
The river is shallow here, and in the middle of summer the water is
nowhere too deep for wading, so that it was a very slight protection to
the army of James. A better general would at least have chosen a
stronger position, and one which would have given him some manifest
advantage. Such positions were to be found all along the road by which
William had advanced from Carrickfergus. The country on both sides of
the Boyne is flat; rolling meadows with the shallow river dividing
them--a country giving every opportunity to cavalry.
William's right, under the younger Schomberg, made several unsuccessful
attempts to cross the river at Slane, being repeatedly beaten back by
Arthur O'Neill's horse. Finally, however, the way was cleared for him by
a vigorous cannonade, to which O'Neill, having no cannon, was unable to
reply, and William's right wing thus forced the passage of the Boyne.
William's center now advanced, and began the passage of the river, under
cover of a heavy artillery fire. Every foot of the advance was
stubbornly contested, and such headway was made by the Irish troops that
Schomberg's bodyguard was scattered or cut to pieces, and he himself was
slain. The center of William's army was undoubtedly being beaten back,
when, crossing lower down with eighteen squadrons of cavalry, he
fiercely attacked the right flank of the Irish army and thus turned the
possibility of defeat into certain victory. That the Irish troops,
although outnumbered two to one and led by a coward, fought valiantly,
is admitted on all sides. They charged and re-charged ten times in
succession, and only gave way at last under pressure of greatly superior
numbers. The retreat of the Irish army was orderly,--the more so,
doubtless, because the former king of England was no longer among them,
having most valiantly fled to Dublin, and thence to Kinsale, where he
took ship for France, leaving behind him a reputation quite singular in
the annals of Ireland.
Within a week after the battle, the Irish army, which had preserved
order and discipline even in the face of the flight of James, occupied
Limerick, and made preparations to hold that strong position, with the
untouched resources of the western province behind them, and the hope,
unshaken by their rude experience, that the runaway king might reinforce
them by sea. Through all the events that followed, presently to be
narrated, it must be understood that Tyrconnell was steadily seeking to
undermine the resolution of the Irish army, hoping the sooner to make
his peace with King William, to secure his Irish estates, and, very
possibly, be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, under the new king.
William meanwhile brought his army southwards, being welcomed to Dublin
by the large English element there, and presently continued his march to
Waterford, which was surrendered to him, as was alleged, by Tyrconnell's
orders. He also reduced Kilkenny, to which Tyrconnell had failed to
send reinforcements, though repeatedly appealed to by its commander.
About this time, on July 28th or a day or two later, the brave garrison
of Derry was relieved by some of William's ships, which broke the line
of blockade across the river and brought abundant provisions to the
emaciated defenders.
A section of William's army under Douglas was sent to take Athlone, the
strong fortress which guarded the ford, and later the bridge across the
Shannon--the high road from Leinster to the western province of
Connacht, beyond the river. Douglas, after a fierce attack lasting seven
days, was compelled to retreat again to the main army encamped at
Waterford. The French auxiliaries under Lauzun, who had not hitherto
greatly distinguished themselves for valor, losing less than a score of
men at the Boyne, now deserted Limerick and retreated to Galway, taking
with them, if the fugitive king may be credited, a great quantity of
ammunition from the fortress of Limerick.
[Illustration: Thormond Bridge, Limerick.]
Finally, on August 9th, William's army appeared before Limerick, and the
famous siege began. Tyrconnell signalized himself by deserting the fords
over the Shannon and departing to Galway, declaring that the town would
certainly surrender within a week. The city, however, was of a
different opinion. The garrison, under Sarsfield, made vigorous
preparation for a defence, and a party under Sarsfield himself cut off
one of William's convoys from Dublin, destroying the siege-train which
was being brought for the attack on the city. William's cavalry, taking
advantage of Tyrconnell's retreat, crossed the ford of the Shannon to
complete the investment of the city on that side, but they presently
returned, having done nothing effective.
We hear of more attempts by Tyrconnell to undermine the resolution of
the army, and of attacks by William's force, which gave him possession
of the outworks, so that he was able presently to begin cannonading the
walls, to make a breach for an assault. The officer in the Irish army
whom we have already quoted, gives this account of the siege: "Never was
a town better attacked and better defended than the city of Limerick.
William left nothing unattempted that the art of war, the skill of a
great captain and the valor of veteran soldiers could put in execution
to gain the place; and the Irish omitted nothing that courage and
constancy could practice to defend it. The continual assaults of the one
and the frequent sallies of the other consumed a great many brave men
both of the army and the garrison. On the nineteenth day, William, after
fighting for every inch of ground he gained, having made a large breach
in the wall, gave a general assault which lasted for three hours; and
though his men mounted the breach, and some even entered the town, they
were gallantly repulsed and forced to retire with considerable loss.
William, resolving to renew the assault next day, could not persuade his
men to advance, though he offered to lead them in person. Whereupon, all
in a rage, he left the camp, and never stopped till he came to
Waterford, where he took shipping for England; his army in the meantime
retiring by night from Limerick."
During this first siege of Limerick the garrison numbered some twenty
thousand, by no means well armed. William's besieging army was about
forty thousand, with forty cannon and mortars. His loss was between
three and four thousand, while the loss of the defenders was about half
that number.
William, presently arriving in England, sent reinforcements to his
generals in Ireland, under Lord Churchill, afterwards famous as the Duke
of Marlborough. Tyrconnell had meantime followed his runaway king to
France, as was involved in a maze of contradictory designs, the one
clear principle of which was the future advantage of Tyrconnell. Louis
XIV, who had reasons of his own for wishing to keep the armies of
William locked up in Ireland, was altogether willing to advise and help
a continuance of hostilities in that country. James seems to have
recognized his incapacity too clearly to attempt anything definite, or,
what is more probable, was too irresolute by nature even to determine to
give up the fight. Tyrconnell himself sincerely wished to make his peace
with William, so that he might once more enjoy the revenues of his
estates. The Irish army was thoroughly determined to hold out to
the end.
With these conflicting desires and designs, no single-hearted and
resolute action was possible. Matters seem to have drifted till about
January, 1691, when Tyrconnell returned; "but he brought with him no
soldiers, very few arms, little provision and no money." A month later a
messenger came direct to Sarsfield, then with the army at Galway, from
Louis XIV, promising reinforcements under the renowned soldier Saint
Ruth. This letter to a great extent revealed the double part Tyrconnell
had been playing at the French court, and did much to undermine his
credit with the better elements in the Irish army.
The French fleet finally arrived at Limerick in May, 1691, under Saint
Ruth, bringing a considerable quantity of provisions for the Irish army;
but it is doubtful whether this arrival added any real element of
strength to the army. The Irish army, soon after this, was assembled at
Athlone, to defend the passage of the Shannon. Much vigorous fighting
took place, but Ginkell, William's general, finally captured that
important fortress in June. The road to Galway was now open, and
Ginkell's army prepared to march on that important city, the strongest
place in Connacht. Saint Ruth prepared to resist their approach, fixing
his camp at Aughrim, The Hill of the Horses, some eighteen miles from
Athlone and thirty-five from Galway. We may once more tell the story in
the words of an eye-witness:
"Aughrim was then a ruined town, and the castle was not much better,
situated in a bottom on the north side of the hill, where the Irish army
encamped. The direct way from Ballinasloe was close by the castle, but
there was another way about, on the south-east side of the hill. The
rest of the ground fronting the camp was a marsh, passable only for
foot. The army of Ginkell appeared in sight of Aughrim on July 12th. The
Irish army, composed of about ten thousand foot, two thousand
men-at-arms, and as many light horse, was soon drawn up by Saint Ruth in
two lines; the cavalry on both wings flanking the foot; and having
placed Chevalier de Tesse on the right wing of the horse, and Sarsfield
on the left, and giving their several posts to the rest of the chief
commanders, Saint Ruth obliged himself to no certain place, but rode
constantly from one side to another to give the necessary orders where
he saw occasion. Ginkell being now come up at so near a distance that
his guns and other battering engines might do execution, he ordered them
to be discharged, and as he had a vast number of them he made them play
incessantly on the Irish army, hoping by that means to force them from
the hill, which was of great advantage. But the Irish, encouraged by the
presence and conduct of Saint Ruth, kept their ground and beat the
English as often as they advanced towards them. The fight continued from
noon till sunset, the Irish foot having still the better of the enemy;
and Saint Ruth, observing the advantage of his side, and that the
enemy's foot were much disordered, was resolved, by advancing with the
cavalry, to make the victory complete, when an unlucky shot from one of
the terrible new engines, hitting him in the head, made an end of his
life, and took away the courage of his army. For Ginkell, observing the
Irish to be in some disorder, gave a notable conjecture that the general
was either killed or wounded, whereupon he commanded his army to
advance. The Irish cavalry, discouraged by the death of Saint Ruth, and
none of the general officers coming to head them in his place, gave
back, and quitted the field. The foot who were engaged with the enemy,
knowing nothing of the general's death or the retreat of the cavalry,
continued fighting till they were surrounded by the whole English army;
so that the most of them were cut off, and no quarter given but to a
very few; the rest, by favor of the night then approaching, for Saint
Ruth was killed about sunset, made their escape."
To this we may add the testimony of the runaway monarch: "The Irish
behaved with great spirit. They convinced the English they had to do
with men no less resolute than themselves. Never assault was made with
greater fury nor sustained with greater obstinacy. The Irish foot
repulsed the enemy several times, particularly in the center. They even
looked upon the victory as certain.... The Irish lost four thousand
men. The loss of the English was not much inferior."
The army of Ginkell, thus in possession of the key of Connacht, advanced
upon its most important city, arriving before Galway a few days after
the battle of Aughrim. Galway, however, was full of divided counsels,
and speedily surrendered, so that Limerick alone remained. Limerick was
greatly weakened, now that Galway, and with Galway the whole of Connacht
to which alone Limerick could look for supplies, was in the hands of the
enemy. Ginkell turned all his efforts in the direction of Limerick,
appearing before the city and pitching his camp there on August 25,
1691. Beginning with the next day, our narrator tells us, "he placed his
cannon and other battering engines, which played furiously night and day
without intermission, reducing that famous city almost to ashes. No
memorable action, however, happened till the night between September 15
and 16, when he made a bridge of boats over the Shannon, which being
ready by break of day, he passed over with a considerable body of horse
and foot on the Connacht side of the river, without any opposition. This
so alarmed Sheldon, who commanded the cavalry at that time, that without
staying for orders, he immediately retired to a mountain a good
distance from Limerick, and marched with such precipitation and
disorder, that if a hundred of the enemy's horse had charged him in the
rear, they would in all likelihood have defeated his whole party, though
he had near upon four thousand men-at-arms and light horse; for the man,
if he was faithful, wanted either courage or conduct, and the party were
altogether discouraged to be under his command. But Ginkell did not
advance far, and after showing himself on that side of the bridge,
returned back into his camp the same day. Yet Sheldon never rested till
he came, about midnight, fifteen miles from the Shannon, and encamped in
a fallow field where there was not a bit of grass to be had: as if he
had designed to harass the horses by day and starve them by night....
Ginkell, understanding that the Irish horse was removed to such a
distance, passed the river on the twenty-third day with the greatest
part of his cavalry, and a considerable body of foot, and encamped
half-way between Limerick and the Irish horse camp, whereby he hindered
all communication between them and the town. On the twenty-fourth, the
captains within Limerick sent out a trumpet, desiring a parley," and as
a result of this parley, a treaty was ultimately signed between the two
parties, Limerick was evacuated, and the war came to an end. This was
early in October, 1691.
The war had, therefore, lasted nearly four years, a sufficient testimony
to the military qualities of the Irish, seeing that throughout the whole
period they had matched against them greatly superior numbers of the
finest troops in Europe, veterans trained in continental wars, and at
all points better armed and equipped than their adversaries.
What moves our unbounded admiration, however, is to see the troops
displaying these qualities of valor not only without good leadership,
but in face of the cowardice of the English king, and of duplicity
amounting to treachery on the part of his chief adherents. Foremost
among these time-servers was Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, whose name
shows him to have sprung from one of the Norman families, and we see
here the recurrence of a principle which had worked much harm in the
eight years' war of the preceding generation. The Duke of Ormond, sprung
from the Norman Butlers, was then the chief representative of the policy
of intrigue, and many of the reverses of both these wars are to be
attributed to the same race.
It is tragical to find the descendants of the old Norman barons, who at
any rate were valiant fighters, descending thus to practices quite
unworthy; yet we can easily understand how the fundamental injustice of
the feudal principle on which they stood, not less than the boundless
abuse of that already bad principle under the first Stuarts, could not
fail to undermine their sense of honor and justice, preparing them at
length for a policy of mere self-seeking, carried on by methods always
doubtful, and often openly treacherous.
The old tribal chieftains lived to fight, and went down fighting into
the night of time. Owen Roe O'Neill, last great son of a heroic race,
splendidly upheld their high tradition and ideal. No nobler figure, and
few more gifted captains, can be found in the annals of those warlike
centuries. The valor of Cuculain, the wisdom of Concobar, the chivalry
of Fergus--all were his, and with them a gentle and tolerant spirit in
all things concerning religion, very admirable in an age when so many
men, in other things not lacking in elements of nobility, were full of
bitter animosity, and zealous to persecute all those who differed from
them concerning things shrouded in mystery.
It may be said, indeed, that Owen Roe is in this only a type of all his
countrymen, who, though they suffered centuries of persecution for a
religious principle, never persecuted in return. Their conduct
throughout the epoch of religious war and persecution was always
tolerant and full of the sense of justice, contrasting in this, and
contrasting to their honor, with the conduct of nearly every other
nation in Christendom.
The history of Ireland, for the half century which followed this war,
offers few salient features for description. The Catholics during all
this time were under the ban of penal laws. The old tribal chiefs were
gone. The Norman lords were also gone. The life of the land hardly went
beyond the tilling of the fields and the gathering of the harvests. And
even here, men only labored for others to enter into their labor. The
right of private taxation, confirmed by law, and now forfeited by the
feudal lords, was given as a reward to the adherents of the dominant
party in England, and their yearly exactions were enforced by an armed
garrison. The more vigorous and restless elements of our race, unable to
accept these conditions of life, sailed in great numbers to the
continent, and entered the armies of many European powers. It is
estimated that, during the half century after the Treaty of Limerick,
fully half a million Irishmen fell in the service of France alone.
XV.
CONCLUSION.
A.D. 1750-1901.
The Treaty of Limerick, signed when the army of Sarsfield came to terms
with the besiegers, guaranteed equal liberty to all Ireland, without
regard to difference of religion. There is no doubt that William of
Nassau, scion of a race which had done much for liberty, a house that
had felt the bitterness of oppression, would willingly have carried this
treaty out in a spirit of fidelity and honor. But he was, helpless. The
dominant powers in England and Ireland were too strong for him, and
within the next few years the treaty was violated in letter and spirit,
and the indigenous population of Ireland was disarmed, deprived of civil
rights, reduced to servitude.
It is best, wherever possible, to secure the word of witnesses who
cannot be suspected of prejudice or favor. We shall do this, therefore,
in describing the condition of Ireland during the eighteenth century. We
find the Lord Chancellor of England declaring, during the first half of
that period, that "in the eye of the law no Catholic existed in
Ireland." The Lord Chief Justice affirms the same doctrine: "It appears
plain that the law does not suppose any such person to exist as an Irish
Roman Catholic." The law, therefore, as created by England for Ireland,
deprived of all civil, religious, intellectual and moral rights
four-fifths of the whole population, and gave them over as a lawful prey
to the remaining fifth: a band of colonists and adventurers, who favored
the policy of the party then dominant in England. This was the condition
of the law. We shall see, presently, what was its result on the life of
the nation. It should be a warning, for all time, of the dangers which
arise when one nation undertakes to govern another. For it must be
clearly understood that the Sovreign and Parliament of England believed
that in this they stood for honor and righteousness, and had a true
insight into the spirit and will of the Most High. It was, indeed, on
this superior knowledge of the divine will that they based their whole
policy; for what else is the meaning of legal discrimination against the
holders of a certain form of faith?
[Illustration: Salmon Fishery, Galway.]
In the second half of the eighteenth century, in 1775, the Congress of
the United States sent its sympathy in these words to the people of
Ireland: "We know that you are not without your grievances; we
sympathize with you in your distress, and we are pleased to find that
the design of subjugating us has persuaded the administration to
dispense to Ireland some vagrant rays of ministerial sunshine. Even the
tender mercies of the government have long been cruel to you. In the
rich pastures of Ireland many hungry parasites are fed, and grow strong
to labor for her destruction."
Three years later, in 1778, Benjamin Franklin wrote thus to the Irish
people: "The misery and distress which your ill-fated country has been
so frequently exposed to, and has so often experienced, by such a
combination of rapine, treachery and violence as would have disgraced
the name of government in the most arbitrary country in the world, has
most sincerely affected your friends in America, and has engaged the
most serious attention of Congress."
It must be assumed that the men who drew up the Declaration of
Independence knew the value of words, and that when they spoke of misery
and cruelty, of rapine, treachery and distress, they meant what they
said. Franklin's letter brings us to the eve of the Volunteer Movement,
of which much has been said in a spirit of warm praise, but which seems
to have wrought evil rather than good. This Movement, at first initiated
wholly by the Scottish and English colonists and their adherents, was
later widened so as to include a certain number of the indigenous
population; and an armed force was thus formed, which was able to gain
certain legislative favors from England, with the result that a
Parliament sitting in Dublin from 1782 to 1799 passed laws with
something more resembling justice than Ireland was accustomed to.
But this Parliament was in no sense national or representative. It was
wholly composed of the Scottish and English colonists and their friends,
and the indigenous population had no voice in its deliberations. It is,
therefore, the more honor to Henry Grattan that we find him addressing
that Parliament thus: "I will never claim freedom for six hundred
thousand of my countrymen while I leave two million or more of them in
chains. Give the Catholics of Ireland their civil rights and their
franchise; give them the power to return members to the Irish
Parliament, and let the nation be represented." At this time, therefore,
four-fifths of the nation had neither civil rights nor
franchise,--because they differed from the dominant party in England as
to the precedence of the disciples of Jesus.
It may be supposed, however, that, even without civil or religious
rights, the fate of the people of Ireland was tolerable; that a certain
measure of happiness and well-being was theirs, if not by law, at least
by grace. The answer to this we shall presently see. The Volunteer
Movement, as we saw, included certain elements of the indigenous
population. The dominant party in England professed to see in this a
grave danger, and determined to ward off that danger by sending an army
to Ireland, and quartering troops on the peasants of all suspected
districts. We must remember that the peasants, on whom a hostile
soldiery was thus quartered, had no civil rights as a safeguard; that
the authorities were everywhere bitterly hostile, full of cowardly
animosity towards them.
The result we may best describe in the words of the English generals at
the head of this army. We find Sir Ralph Abercrombie speaking thus: "The
very disgraceful frequency of great crimes and cruelties, and the many
complaints of the conduct of the troops in this kingdom--Ireland--has
too unfortunately proved the army to be in a state of licentiousness
that renders it formidable to everyone except the enemy." Sir Ralph
Abercrombie declared himself so frightened and disgusted at the conduct
of the soldiers that he threw up his commission, and refused the command
of the army.
General Lake, who was sent to take his place, speaks thus: "The state of
the country, and its occupation previous to the insurrection, is not to
be imagined, except by those who witnessed the atrocities of every
description committed by the military,"--and he gives a list of
hangings, burnings and murders.
Finally, we have the testimony of another English soldier, Sir William
Napier, speaking some years later: "What manner of soldiers were these
fellows who were let loose upon the wretched districts, killing, burning
and confiscating every man's property? ... We ourselves were young at
the time; yet, being connected with the army, we were continually among
the soldiers, listening with boyish eagerness to their experiences: and
well remember, with horror, to this day, the tales of lust, of bloodshed
and pillage, and the recital of their foul actions against the miserable
peasantry, which they used to relate."
The insurrection against this misery and violence, which began in May,
1798, and its repression, we may pass over, coming to their political
consequences. It is admitted on all hands that the morality and religion
of England reached their lowest ebb at this very time; we are,
therefore, ready to learn that the Act of Union between England and
Ireland, which followed on the heels of this insurrection, was carried
by unlimited bribery and corruption. The Parliament of Ireland, as we
know, was solely composed of Protestants, the Catholics having neither
the right to sit nor the right to vote; so that the ignominy of this
universal corruption must be borne by the class of English and Scottish
settlers alone.
The curious may read lists of the various bribes paid to secure the
passage of the Act of Union in 1800, the total being about six million
dollars--a much more considerable sum then than now. And it must be
remembered that this entire sum was drawn from the revenues of Ireland,
besides the whole cost of an army numbering 125,000 men, which England
maintained in Ireland at the time the Act was passed. What the amenities
of the last three years of the eighteenth century cost Ireland we may
judge from these figures: in 1797, while the hangings, burnings and
torturings which brought about the insurrection of the following year
were in an early stage, the national debt of Ireland was under
$20,000,000; three years later that debt amounted to over $130,000,000.
It is profitless to pursue the subject further. We may close it by
saying that hardly can we find in history a story more discreditable to
our common humanity than the conduct of England towards Ireland during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The French Revolution wrought a salutary change of heart in the
governing class in England, for it must in justice be added that the
tyranny of this class was as keenly felt by the "lower orders" in
England as in Ireland itself. It is fairly certain that only the Reform
Bill and the change of sovreigns which shortly followed prevented an
insurrection of the peasants and servile classes in England which would
have outdone in horrors the French Revolution itself. The Reform Bill
was the final surrender of the baronial class in England; a surrender
rather apparent than real, however, since most of the political and all
the social power in the land still remains in the hands of the
same class.
[Illustration: O'Connell's Statue, Dublin.]
Through the salutary fear which was inspired by the horrors of the
French Revolution, and perhaps through a certain moral awakening, the
governing classes in England came to a less vicious mind in their
dealings with Ireland. They were, therefore, the more ready to respond
to the great national movement headed by Daniel O'Connell, with his
demand that Irishmen might all equally enjoy civil and political rights,
regardless of their form of faith. In 1829, as the result of this great
movement, the Catholics were finally relieved of the burden of penal
laws which, originally laid on them by the Tudors, were rendered even
more irksome and more unjust by Cromwell and William of Nassau,--men in
other things esteemed enlightened and lovers of liberty.
Thus the burden of persecution was finally taken away. To those who
imposed it, the system of Penal Laws will remain a deep dishonor. But to
those who bore that burden it has proved a safeguard of spiritual purity
and faith. The religion of the indigenous race in Ireland was saved from
the degeneration and corruption which ever besets a wealthy and
prosperous church, and which never fails to engender hypocrisy, avarice
and ambition. In England, the followers of the Apostles exercise the
right to levy a second tax on the produce of all tilled lands, a second
burden imposed upon the conquered Saxons. As a result, the leaders of
the church live in palaces, while the people, the humbler part of their
congregation; have sunk into practical atheism. In France, the reaction
against a like state of things brought the church to the verge of
destruction, and led the masses to infidelity and materialism. The
result to the moral life of the people is too well known to need remark.
Not less evil consequences have flowed from the enriching of the church
in other lands. That wealth has always carried with it the curse, so
prophetically pronounced, against those who trust in riches. For the
ministers of religion, in a supreme degree, the love of money has been
the root of evil.
We may, therefore, see in the spirituality and unworldliness of the
native church in Ireland a result of all the evil and persecution the
church suffered during almost three hundred years. From this
purification by fire it comes that the people of Ireland are almost
singular throughout Christendom in believing sincerely in the religion
of gentleness and mercy--the kingdom which is not of this world.
In 1829 the Catholics were at last freed from the galling burdens which
had weighed on them since 1537, when they failed to recognize Henry VIII
as the representative of God on earth. They were still, however, under
the shadow of a grave injustice, which continued to rest on them for
many years. When their church lands were confiscated and their faith
proscribed by law under the Tudors, a new clergy was overlaid on the
country, a clergy which consented to recognize the Tudors and their
successors as their spiritual head. As a reward, these new ministers of
religion were allowed to levy a second tax on land, exactly as in
England; and this tax they continued to collect until their privilege
was finally taken away by Gladstone and the English Liberals. Needless
to say that through three centuries and more four-fifths of this tax was
levied on the indigenous Catholics, in support of what was to them an
alien, and for most of the time a persecuting church.
One heavy disability still lay on the whole land. With its partial
removal a principle has emerged of such world-wide importance in the
present, and even more in the future, that we may well trace its history
in detail.
The Normans, as we saw, paid themselves for conquering the Saxons and
Angles by assuming a perpetual right to tax their produce; a right still
in full force, and forming the very foundation of the ruling class in
England. The land tenure thus created was, under the Tudors and the
first Stuarts, bodily transferred to Ireland. In Ireland the land had
ever been owned by the people, each tribe, as representing a single
family, holding a certain area by communal tenure, and electing a chief
to protect its territory from aggression. For this elective
chieftainship the English law-courts substituted something wholly
different: a tenure modeled on the feudal servitude of England. This new
principle made the land of the country the property not of the whole
people but of a limited and privileged class: the favorites of the
ruling power--"hungry parasites" as the Congress of 1775 called them.
This "landed" class continued to hold absolute sway until quite
recently, and it was this class which succumbed to bribery in 1800, and
passed the Act of Legislative Union with England. The clergy of the
Established church were little more than the private chaplains of the
"landed" class, the two alien bodies supporting each other.
Folly, however, was the child of injustice; for so shortsighted were
these hungry parasites that they developed a system of land-laws so bad
as to cause universal poverty, and bring a reaction which is steadily
sweeping the "landed" class of Ireland to extinction and oblivion. The
fundamental principle of these bad land-laws was this: the tenant was
compelled to renew his lease from year to year; and whenever, during the
year, he had in any way improved the land in his possession,--by
draining marshes, by reclaiming waste areas, by adding farm-buildings,
the "owner" of the land could demand an enhanced rent, as the condition
of renewing the lease. The tenant had to submit to a continually
ascending scale of extortion, sanctioned by law and exacted by armed
force; or, as an alternative, he had to give up the fruit of his
industry without compensation and without redress.
Anything more certain to destroy energy, to cut at the roots of thrift,
to undermine all the best qualities of manhood, it would be impossible
to imagine. The slave on the plantation could in time purchase his
freedom. The tiller of the soil in Ireland found, on the contrary, that
the greater his industry, the greater was the sum he had to pay for the
right to exercise it. We saw that there never was any pretence of free
contract in the feudal land-tenure of England; that there never was any
pretence of an honest bargain between farmer and landlord, for their
mutual benefit. The tenant paid the landlord for services rendered, not
to him, but to his Norman conqueror. So it was, in an even greater
degree, in Ireland. There was no pretence at all that tenant and
landlord entered into a free contract for their mutual benefit. Nor did
either law, custom, religion or opinion require the landlord to make any
return to his tenants for the share of the fruit of their toil he
annually carried away.
The tiller of the soil, therefore, labored from year to year, through
droughts and rains, through heat and cold, facing bad seasons with good.
At the end of the year, after hard toil had gathered in the fruit of the
harvest, he saw the best part of that fruit legally confiscated by an
alien, who would have been speechless with wonder, had it been suggested
to him that anything was due from him in return. Nor was that all. This
alien was empowered, and by the force of public opinion incited, to
exact the greatest possible share of the tiller's produce, and, as we
saw, he was entitled to the whole benefit of whatever improvements the
tiller of the soil had made; and could--and constantly did--expel the
cultivator who was unable or unwilling to pay a higher tax, as the
penalty for improving the land.
It may be said that bad as this all was, it was not without a remedy;
that the cultivator had the choice of other occupations, and might let
the land lie fallow, while its "owner" starved. But this only brings to
mind the fact that during the eighteenth century England had legislated
with the deliberate intention of destroying the manufactures and
shipping of Ireland, and had legislated with success. It should be added
that this one measure affected all residents in Ireland equally,
whatever faith or race. There was practically no alternative before the
cultivator. He had the choice between robbery and starvation.
It would be more than miraculous if this condition of things had not
borne its fruit. The result was this: it ceased to be the interest of
the cultivator of the land to till it effectively, or to make any
improvement whatever, whether by drainage, reclaiming waste land, or
building, or by adopting better agricultural methods. In every case, his
increase of labor, of foresight and energy, would have met with but one
reward: when the time came to renew the lease, he would have been told
that his land had doubled in value during the year, and that he must,
therefore, pay twice as much for the privilege of tilling it. If he
refused, he at once forfeited every claim to the fruit of his own work,
the whole of his improvements becoming the property of the land owner.
The cultivators, as an inevitable consequence, lost every incentive to
labor, energy, foresight and the moral qualities which are fostered by
honestly rewarded work. They worked as little as possible on their
farms, and the standard of cultivation steadily declined, while the mode
of living grew perpetually worse. If it were intended to reduce a whole
population to hopeless poverty, no better or more certain way could
be imagined.
The steady lowering of the arts of cultivation, the restriction of
crops, the tendency to keep as close as possible to the margin of
sustenance, thus zealously fostered, opened the way for the disastrous
famine of 1846 and 1847, which marks the beginning of a rapid decline in
population,--a decrease which has never since been checked. The
inhabitants of Ireland shortly before the famine numbered considerably
over eight millions. Since that time, there has been a decrease of about
four millions--a thing without parallel in Christendom.
The amendment of the land-laws, which were directly responsible for
these evil results, was by no means initiated in consequence of the
famine. It was due wholly to a great national agitation, carried out
under the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell, which led to the
land-acts of 1881 and 1887. These new laws at last guaranteed to the
cultivator the fruit of his toil, and guarded him against arbitrary
increase of the tax levied on him by the "owner" of the land. But they
did not stop here; they initiated a principle which will finally make
the cultivator absolute owner of his land, and abolish the feudal class
with their rights of private taxation. This cannot fail to react on
England, so that the burdens of the Angles and Saxons will at last be
lifted from their shoulders, as a result of the example set them by the
Gaels, for generations working persistently, and persistently advancing
towards their goal. Nor will the tide thus set in motion spread only to
Saxon and Angle; its influence will be felt wherever those who work are
deprived unjustly of the fruit of their toil, whether by law or without
law. The evils suffered by Ireland will thus be not unavailing; they
will rather bring the best of all rewards: a reward to others, of
whatever race and in whatever land, who are victims of a like injustice.
The story of Ireland, through many centuries, has thus been told. The
rest belongs to the future. We have seen the strong life of the prime
bringing forth the virtues of war and peace; we have seen valor and
beauty and wisdom come to perfect ripeness in the old pagan world. We
have seen that old pagan world transformed by the new teaching of
gentleness and mercy, a consciousness, wider, more humane and universal,
added from above to the old genius of individual life. With the new
teaching came the culture of Rome, and something of the lore of Hellas
and Palestine, of Egypt and Chaldea, warmly welcomed and ardently
cherished in Ireland at a time when Europe was submerged under barbarian
inroads and laid waste by heathen hordes. We have seen the faith and
culture thus preserved among our western seas generously shared with the
nascent nations who emerged from the pagan invasions; the seeds of
intellectual and spiritual life, sown with faith and fervor as far as
the Alps and the Danube, springing up with God-given increase, and
ripening to an abundant harvest.
To that bright epoch of our story succeeded centuries of growing
darkness and gathering storm. The forces of our national life, which
until then had found such rich expression and flowered in such abundant
beauty, were now checked, driven backward and inward, through war,
oppression and devastation, until a point was reached when the whole
indigenous population had no vestige of religious or civil rights; when
they ceased even to exist in the eyes of the law.
The tide of life, thus forced inward, gained a firm possession of the
invisible world, with the eternal realities indwelling there. Thus fixed
and founded in the real, that tide turned once again, flowing outwards
and sweeping before it all the barriers in its way. The population of
Ireland is diminishing in numbers; but the race to which they belong
increases steadily: a race of clean life, of unimpaired vital power,
unspoiled by wealth or luxury, the most virile force in the New World.
It happens very rarely, under those mysterious laws which rule the life
of all humanity, the laws which work their majestic will through the
ages, using as their ministers the ambitions and passions of men--it
happens rarely that a race keeps its unbroken life through thirty
centuries, transformed time after time by new spiritual forces, yet in
genius remaining ever the same. It may be doubted whether even once
before throughout all history a race thus long-lived has altogether
escaped the taint of corruption and degeneration. Never before, we may
confidently say, has a single people emerged from such varied
vicissitudes, stronger at the end in genius, in spiritual and moral
power, than at the beginning, richer in vital force, clearer in
understanding, in every way more mature and humane.
For this is the real fruit of so much evil valiantly endured: a deep
love of freedom, a hatred of oppression, a knowledge that the wish to
dominate is a fruitful source of wrong. The new age now dawning before
us carries many promises of good for all humanity; not less, it has its
dangers, grave and full of menace; threatening, if left to work
unchecked, to bring lasting evil to our life. Never before, it is true,
have there been so wide opportunities for material well-being; but, on
the other hand, never before have there been such universal temptations
toward a low and sensual ideal. Our very mastery over natural forces and
material energies entices us away from our real goal, hides from our
eyes the human and divine powers of the soul, with which we are
enduringly concerned. Our skill in handling nature's lower powers may be
a means of great good; not less may it bring forth unexampled evil. The
opportunities of well-being are increased; the opportunities of
exclusive luxury are increased in equal measure; exclusion may bring
resentment; resentment may call forth oppression, armed with new
weapons, guided by wider understanding, but prompted by the same corrupt
spirit as of old.
In the choice which our new age must make between these two ways, very
much may be done for the enduring well-being of mankind by a race full
of clean vigor, a race taught by stern experience the evil of tyranny
and oppression, a race profoundly believing the religion of gentleness
and mercy, a race full of the sense of the invisible world, the world of
our immortality.
We see in Ireland a land with a wonderful past, rich in tradition and
varied lore; a land where the memorials of the ages, built in enduring
stone, would in themselves enable us to trace the life and progress of
human history; we see in Ireland a land full of a singular fascination
and beauty, where even the hills and rivers speak not of themselves but
of the spirit which builds the worlds; a beauty, whether in brightness
or gloom, finding its exact likeness in no other land; we see all this,
but we see much more: not a memory of the past, but a promise of the
future; no offering of earthly wealth, but rather a gift to the soul of
man; not for Ireland only, but for all mankind.
INDEX.
Abbey-Dorney, 303
Abbey-feale, 303
Abbey-leix, 303
Abbey of Ballintober, 305
Abbey-quarter, 29
Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, words of, 369, 370
Achill Island, 30
Act of Union, 371
Aed Allan, 225, 231
Aed Finnliat, 247
Aed Roin, 225
Aed, son of Colgan, 226
Ailill, 130, 131, 132, 141, 142, 146, 147, 152
Aiterni, 150
Alfred, king of the Northumbrian Saxons, 232
Alfred, king, ode of to the country he visited, 232, 233
Alny, 120, 129
Amargin, 150
Ambigatos, 103
Ancient seats of learning, 221
Ancient seats of learning, studies therein, 221, 222
Anglicans, 322
Angus, the Young, 92, 95, 96, 173
"Annals," history of the times as recorded in the, 235, 252
"Annals," quotations from, 224, 244, 264, 277, 293
Antrim, 5, 196
Archaic Darkness, 11
Archaic Dawn, 12
Ardan, 120, 129
Ard-Maca, 200
Armagh, 200, 208, 232, 241
At-Cliat, 242, 243, 275
Athlone, 140, 350, 354
Ath-uince, 163
Aughrim, 354, 355
Ballinasloe, 354
Ballysadare, 27, 87, 90
Balor of the Evil Eye, 90, 91, 93
Bangor, 221, 239, 240, 250, 342
Bann, 146
Bantry Bay, 104
Barrow, valley of the, 42
Battle of Kinvarra, 162
Battle of the Headland of the Kings, 13
Battle-verses, 248, 249
Bay of Murbolg, 143
Bay of Sligo, 29
Bective Abbey, 301
Bede, Venerable, 218
Belgadan, 85
Beltane, festival of, 47
Beltaney, 47
Black Lion Cromlech, 46
Blackwater, 39, 82
Bonamargy Abbey, 306
Book of Kells, 209, 249
Boyne, the, 5, 150, 242, 350
Brandon Hill, 42
Breagho, 34
Breas, 83, 84, 99, 91, 105
Breg, 149
Brehon Laws, the, 206
Brehon Laws, changes of, effected by St. Patrick, 207, 316
Bruce, Edward, invasion by, 292
Bruce, Edward, death of, 293
Brugh, on the Boyne, 93, 95
Bundoran, 29
Cael, 163, 165, 194, 262
Cael, poem of, 164, 165
Caher, 161
Caherconree, 32
Cailte, 162, 166
Cairbre, 89, 167, 168, 173, 241
Cairpre Nia Fer, 146, 147, 132
Callan River, 199
Calpurn, 182
Cantyre, 119, 123, 143
Carlingford Lough, 241
Carlingford Mountains, 44
Carrickfergus, 331, 344, 345, 347
Carrowmore, 27, 29
Cataract of the Oaks, 87, 90, 91
Catbad, 141, 142, 150
Cavan, 46
Cavancarragh, 35, 66
Cealleac, 224
Charlemont, castle of, 343
Chevalier de Tesse, 355
Chiefs of Tara, 82
Chieftain of the Silver Arm, 91
Chronicler's record of battles fought, 210, 211, 212, 217, 218
Chronicles of Ulster, 218
Church architecture, 298
Ciar, 104
Cistercian Abbey, 306
Clare, 31, 62
Clare Abbey, 306
Clidna, 166
Clocar, 161
Clondalkin, 241
Clonmacnoise, 208
Cluain Bronaig, 226
Coleraine, 331
Colum Kill, 208, 212
Colum Kill, death of, 215
Colum Kill, verses written by, 213, 214
Colum of the Churches, 223, 237
Conall Cernac, 149, 151
Concobar, 13, 113, 114, 117, 121, 122, 123, 124, 129, 130, 131, 141,
142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 177, 194, 246, 258,
262, 360
Conditions existing in early years, 219, 220, 221, 222
Congus the Abbot, 225
Connacht, 5, 88, 133, 140, 144, 350, 357
Connemara, 85
Conn, lord of Connacht, 162
Conn of the Five-Score Battles, 88, 162
Copyright decision, an early, 213
Cork, 5
Cormac, 167, 171, 172
Cormac, precepts of, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171
Coroticus, 195
Corrib, 85
Crede of the Yellow Hair, 163, 178, 194, 262
Crimtan of the Yellow Hair, 162
Cromlech-builders, the, 51, 68
Cromlech of Howth, 43
Cromlech of Lisbellaw. 47
Cromlech of Lough Rea, 46
Cromlechs, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 37, 39, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52. 53,
54, 55, 56, 57, 58
Cromwell, 334, 339
Croom, 161
Cruacan, 131, 141, 146
Cryptic Designs on cromlechs, 47
Cuailgne, 132
Cuigead Sreing, 88
Culdaff, 47
Cumal, 162
Curlew hills, 37, 131
Cuculain, 13, 14, 15, 16, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 143, 144,
145, 152, 155, 181, 194, 246, 262, 360
DAGDA Mor, 96, 148
Dagda, the Mighty, 92, 95
Daire, 132, 133, 200, 262
Danes, conversion of the, 275
Danish Pyramid of Uby, 97
Dark Ages, the, 260, 261, 262
Day of Spirits, 140
De Danaans, the, 77, 79, 80, 82, 84, 86, 87, 89, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96,
97, 98, 99, 103, 105, 106, 112, 132, 148
De Courcey, 277
De Courceys, the, 319
Deer-park, 29
Deirdre, 13, 14, 15, 115, 123, 124, 129, 130, 178, 262
Deirdre, the fate of, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122
Deirdre, the Lament of, 125
De Lacys, the, 319
Deny, 331, 341, 342, 344, 350
Devenish, 250
Devenish Island, 221
Diarmuid, 171, 172, 173
Dicu, 240
Dingle Bay, 104
Dinn-Rig by the Barrow, 146
Dissenters, 322
Domnall, 211, 231
Donaghpatrick, 208
Doncad, 231, 232
Donegal, 29, 47
Donegal Highlands, 26
Donegal ranges, 5
Douglas, 350
Douin Cain, 81
Down, 5, 46
Downpatrick, 198, 240
Drogheda, 342, 345
Druids, 140
Druim Dean, 162
Drumbo, 46
Dublin, 5, 252, 340, 345
Dublin Parliament, 368
Duke of Ormond, 359
Dundalathglas, 240
Dundalk, 342
Dundelga, 143
Dundrum, 146
Dundrum Bay, 44, 45
Durrow, 221, 250
Early churches, 208
Early schools of learning, tongues first studied in, 208
Eclipses of the sun and moon, record of, 218
Edgehill, battle of, 326
Elias, Bishop of Angouleme, France, testimony of, 250, 251
Elizabeth, Queen, 321, 341
Emain, Banquet-hall of, 111
Emain of Maca, 13, 110, 112, 115, 122, 123, 129, 131, 140
Engineering skill ten thousand years ago, 43
Enniskillen, 34, 35, 341
Eocaid, son of Erc, 81, 84, 86, 87
Eocu, 146
Erin, 141, 144
Established Church, clergy of the, 376
Etan, 89
Evangel of Galilee, the, 16
Factna, son of Cass, 113
Fair Head, 143
Feidlimid, 242
Ferdiad, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140
Fergus mac Roeg, 13, 15, 16, 113, 114, 121, 122, 123, 124, 129, 130,
131, 133
Fergus the Eloquent, 166, 177, 262, 360
Fermanagh, 33
Feudal system, the, 289
Feudal ownership, 291
Find, ode to Spring of, 156
Find, son of Cumal, 14, 16, 155, 161, 162, 163, 166, 167, 171, 172,
173, 177, 194, 246, 262
Find, son of Ros, 146, 147, 152
Finian, school of learning and religion founded by, 212
Finvoy, 46
Firbolgs, 60, 61, 69. 70, 77, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 105, 106
Flann, 248
Fomorians, 69, 70, 77, 81, 90, 91, 92, 93, 106, 246
Ford of Ferdiad, Ath-Fhirdia, 140
Ford of Luan, 140
Ford of Seannait, 226
Ford of the Hurdles, 242, 243, 246
Ford of the river, 14
Franklin, Benjamin, letter of to Irish people, 367
French Revolution, the, 372
Gairec, 140
Galian of Lagin, 144
Galtee Mountains, 161
Galway, 5, 62, 350, 357
Galway Bay, 31, 162
Galway Lakes, 31
Gauls, the, 103
Giant Stones, 30
Ginkell, 354, 355, 357, 358
Gladstone, 375
Glanworth, 39
Glendalough, 208, 221
Glen Druid, 42
Gold Mines River, 109
Golden Vale, 161
Goll Mac Norna, 162
Grania, 15, 171, 172, 173, 178
Grattan, Henry, address of, to Dublin Parliament, 368
Gray Lake, 37
Grey Abbey, 302
Headland of the Kings, 148
Hill of Barnec, 162
Hill of Howth, 239, 252
Hill of Luchra, 146
Hill of Rudraige, 44
Hill of Tara, 155
Hill of the Willows, 200
Hill of Ward, 140
Holycross Abbey, 304
House of Delga, 143
House of Mead, 199
Howth, 239
Howth Head, 43
Hyperboreans, 60, 61, 62, 64, 69
Iarl Strangbow, 275
Indec, son of De Domnand, 90, 91
Inis Fail, the Isle of Destiny, 21
Inismurray, 237, 238, 239
Iona, 215
Ireland, art of working gold in, 108, 178
Ireland, causes of uprising in, 320
Ireland, condition of, in the eighteenth century, 365, 366, 367
Ireland, English influence in, 318
Ireland, life in, two thousand years ago, 177, 178, 179, 180
Ireland, national debt of, 372
Ireland, sympathy of U. S. Congress for people of, 366, 367
Ireland, traditions of, 110
Ireland, the Insurrection of, 370, 371, 372
Ireland, visible and invisible, 3
Irgalac, 149
Iriel, 149
Irish writing, earliest forms of, 177
Islay, 143
Islay Hills, 119
James II., 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 353
Jura, 119, 123, 143
Kenmare, 39
Kenmare Kiver, 39, 104
Kerry, 5, 62
Kildare, 210, 221, 232
Kilkenny, 42, 325, 326, 349
Killarney, 36, 39, 163
Killee, 34
Killmallock Abbey, 303
Killteran Village, 43
Kinsale, 340, 349
King Gorm's Stone, 97
King William, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 352, 365
Knock-Mealdown Hills, 161
Knockmoy Abbey, 306
Knocknarea, 30
Lake, General, statement of, 370
Lake of Killarney, 161
Lakes of Erne, 81
Lambay, 236, 239, 241
Land of the Cromlech-builders, 57
Land of the Ever Young, 95, 96
Land tenure, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380
Laogaire, 199, 240
Lame, 143
Lauzun, 350
Legamaddy, 45
Leinster, 5, 162, 225, 226, 232, 345, 350
Leitrim, 81
Leitrim Hills, 26
Lennan in Monaghan, 46
Life of the Cromlech-builders, 68
Liffey, the, 242
Limerick, 349, 350, 351, 354, 357
Leinstermen, 232, 238
Loing Seac, 224
Lough Erne, 341
Loch Etive, 119, 121
Lough Foyle, 247
Lough Garra, 37
Lough Gill, 29
Lough Gur, 38, 39
Lough Key, 37
Lough Leane, 161, 163
Lough Mask, 85
Lough Neagh, 110, 200
Lough Ree, 140
Loughcrew Hills, 43
Louis XIV, 337, 340, 353
Lug, surnamed Lamfada, the Long-Armed, 92, 93
Lusk, 241
Maca, Queen, 110
Maelbridge, 217
Mag Breag, 223
Mag Rein, 81
Mag Tuiread, 85, 87, 246
Mangerton, 162
Marlborough, Duke of, 352
Mask, 85
Mayo, 5, 62
Mayo Cliffs, 26
Meave, Queen of Connacht, 13, 14, 15, 25, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134,
136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 146, 147, 178, 262
Meath, 155, 242
Men of Oluemacht, 144
Message of the New Way, 264
Messenger of the Tidings, 182
Mide, 149
Miocene Age, the, 58
Modern form of old Irish names, 234
Monasterboice, 221
Monk, 326
Molana Abbey, 306
Molaise, 237
Monasteries and religious schools, 221
Monroe, 324, 326, 327, 323, 329, 330, 331, 333
Monument of Pillared Stones, 30
Moore, 326
Mount Venus Cromlech, 42
Mountcashel, Lord, 342
Mountains of Mourne, 44, 94, 146, 193, 231
Mountains of Storms, 26, 87
Moville, 221, 239, 262
Moytura, 31, 85
Munster, 5
Munstermen of Great Muma, 144
Murcad, 238
Naisi, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 129, 130
Napier, Sir William, testimony of, 370
Nectain's Shield, 232
Nemed's sons, 87
Nessa, 15, 113
Norsemen, waning of the, 284
Northern Cromlech Region, 54
Northmen, 234, 235, 236, 243, 251
Nuada, the De Danaan king, 85, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93
O'Connell, Daniel, 373
O'Donnell, 321, 322
O'Neill, Owen Roe, 321, 322, 323, 324, 332, 333, 334, 338
O'Neill, death of, 333
O'Neill, defeat of English army by, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 360
Ogma, of the Sunlike Face, 92, 95, 96
Oscar, son of Ossin, 14
Oscur, 155, 171
Ossin, son of Find, 14, 15, 16, 155, 161, 162, 167, 171, 172, 177, 181,
194, 246, 262
Ox Mountains, 87
Parliament at Dublin, 323
Parliament of Ireland, 371
Parnell, Charles Stewart, 380
Patricius, 182
Patricius, appeal of, to fellow-Christians of Coroticus, 195, 196
Patricius, birthplace of, 182
Patricius, letter of, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,
192, 193
Patrick, 17
Patrick, his first victory commemorated, 198
Patrick, the dwelling of, 198
Peat, age of, 34, 36
Peat, rate of growth of, 33, 35, 66, 67
Penal Laws, the system of, 373
Plain of Nia, 85
Plain of the Headland, 82
Plain of the Pillars, 85
Plain of Tirerril, 91
Plantation of Ulster, 322
Poem of Ossin, 156
Potitus, 182
Prince William of Nassau, 339, 340, 342
Private taxation, 291
Pyramids of stone, 93, 94
Quoyle River, 198, 240
Ragallac, 217
Raid of the Northmen, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243
Raids on islands of Irish coast, 257, 258, 259
Raphoe, 47
Rathcool, 162
Rath-Laogaire, 199
Rath of Badamar, 161
Red Hills of Leinster, 162
Reform Bill, the, 372
Restoration, the, 339
Roderick O'Conor, 61
Ros Ruad, 152
Ros, son of Rudraige, 112
Rudraige, 44, 112
Rudraige, hill of, 44, 231
Runnymead, 317
Saint Adamnan, 223, 224
Saint Bernard, 298
Saint Brigid, 210
Saint Camin's "Commentary on the Psalms," 222
"Saint Colum of the Churches," 212
Saint Dominick, 298
Saint Francis of Assisi, 298
Saint Mansuy, 60
Saint Patrick, body of laid at rest, 201
Saint Patrick, delivery of message by, to King Laogaire, 199
Saint Patrick, visit of to kings of Leinster and Munster, 200
Saint Patrick, work of, 199, 205
Saint Ruth, 354, 355
Saint Ruth, death of, 356
Saint Samtain, 226
Saint Samtain, epitaph of the saintly virgin, 226, 227
Sarsfield, 351, 353, 355
Saul, 208, 221
Schomberg, 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348
Second Epoch, 13
Senca, 144
Shannon, the, 5, 32, 37, 130, 141, 146, 350, 354, 357
Sheldon, 357, 358
Slane, 347, 348
Slieve Callan, 31, 39
Slieve League, 26, 90
Slieve Mish, 104, 132, 196
Slievemore Mountain, 30
Slieve na Calliagh, 95, 97
Slieve-na-griddle, 45, 46
Sligo, 25, 29, 90, 91
Sligo Hills, 26
Sons of Milid, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 112, 132
Sound of Jura, 119, 123
Southern Cromlech Province, 53
Sreng, 82, 83, 84, 91, 93, 105
Stone Circles, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 45, 46, 47, 51, 52,
53, 55, 72
Stone Circles, clue to their building, 40
Stone Circles, measure of their years, 40
Strand of Tralee, 161
Strangford, 45
Strangford Lough, 198
Stuarts, the, 339
Sualtam, 13
Succat, 182
Suir, 161
Sullane River, 39
Summit of Prospects, 146
Tailten, 106, 132
Talbott, Earl of Tyrconnell, 359
Tara, 81, 84, 106, 146, 147, 198
Tara, Banquet-hall of, 112
"The Church of the Oak-woods," 210
The Gravestones of the Sons of Nemed, 87
Thenay Relics, the, 58
Third Epoch, 14
Three Waves of Erin, the, 146
Tigearnac, 265
Toppid Mountain, 35, 36
Traig Eotaile, 87
Tralee, 32
Treaty of Limerick, 361, 365
Tuata De Danaan, 79, 84
Twelve Peaks of Connemara, 31
Tyrconnell, Lady, 340
Tyrconnell, Lord, 340, 343, 344, 345, 349, 351, 352, 353
Uince, 162
Ui-Neill, the, 225, 232
Ulad, 113, 130, 131, 133, 141, 151
Ulaid, 113, 145, 150, 152
Ulaid, Councils of the, 113
Ulaid, men of the, 130
Ulster, 5, 345
Upper Erne, 32
Usnae, 115
Venice of Lough Rea, 37
Volunteer Movement, the, 367, 369
Waterford, 349, 350, 352
Water of Luachan, 146
Wave of Clidna, the, 146, 151
Wave of Rudraige, the, 146, 151
Wave of Tuag Inbir, the, 146, 151
Waves of Erin, the three, 146, 151
Weight of Cromlech-stones, 56
Wexford Harbor, 42
Wicklow, 5
Wicklow Gold-mines, the, 108, 109
Yellow Ford of Athboy, 140
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