Robert Bell - "Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of England"

Durant Drake - "Problems of Conduct"

E. M. Forster - "The Longest Journey"

John Lothrop Motley - "History of the United Netherlands, 1595"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: A Popular History of Ireland V1

T >> Thomas D\'Arcy McGee >> A Popular History of Ireland V1



This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from
Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.





A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest
Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics

by Thomas D'Arcy McGee

In Two Volumes

Volume I




PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

Ireland, lifting herself from the dust, drying her tears,
and proudly demanding her legitimate place among the
nations of the earth, is a spectacle to cause immense
progress in political philosophy.

Behold a nation whose fame had spread over all the earth
ere the flag of England had come into existence. For 500
years her life has been apparently extinguished. The
fiercest whirlwind of oppression that ever in the wrath
of God was poured upon the children of disobedience had
swept over her. She was an object of scorn and contempt
to her subjugator. Only at times were there any signs of
life--an occasional meteor flash that told of her olden
spirit--of her deathless race. Degraded and apathetic as
this nation of Helots was, it is not strange that political
philosophy, at all times too Sadducean in its principles,
should ask, with a sneer, "Could these dry bones live?"
The fulness of time has come, and with one gallant sunward
bound the "old land" comes forth into the political day
to teach these lessons, that Right must always conquer
Might in the end--that by a compensating principle in
the nature of things, Repression creates slowly, but
certainly, a force for its overthrow.

Had it been possible to kill the Irish Nation, it had
long since ceased to exist. But the transmitted qualities
of her glorious children, who were giants in intellect,
virtue, and arms for 1500 years before Alfred the Saxon
sent the youth of his country to Ireland in search of
knowledge with which to civilize his people,--the legends,
songs, and dim traditions of this glorious era, and the
irrepressible piety, sparkling wit, and dauntless courage
of her people, have at last brought her forth like.
Lazarus from the tomb. True, the garb of the prison or
the cerements of the grave may be hanging upon her,
but "loose her and let her go" is the wise policy of
those in whose hands are her present destinies.

A nation with such a strange history must have some great
work yet to do in the world. Except the Jews, no people
has so suffered without dying.

The History of Ireland is the most interesting of records,
and the least known. The Publishers of this edition of
D'Arcy McGee's excellent and impartial work take advantage
of the awakening interest in Irish literature to present
to the public a book of _high-class history_, as
cheap as _largely circulating romance_. A sale as
large as that of a popular romance is, therefore, necessary
to pay the speculation. That sale the Publishers expect.
Indeed, as truth is often stranger than fiction, so Irish
history is more romantic than romance. How Queen Scota
unfurled the Sacred Banner. How Brian and Malachy contended
for empire. How the "Pirate of the North" scourged the
Irish coast. The glories of Tara and the piety of Columba.
The cowardice of James and the courage of Sarsfield. How
Dathi, the fearless, sounded the Irish war-cry in far
Alpine passes, and how the Geraldine forayed Leinster.
The deeds of O'Neil and O'Donnell. The march of Cromwell,
the destroying angel. Ireland's sun sinking in dim eclipse.
The dark night of woe in Erin for a hundred years.
'83--'98--'48--'68. Ireland's sun rising in glory. Surely
the Youth of Ireland will find in their country's records
romance enough!

The English and Scotch are well read in the histories of
their country. The Irish are, unfortunately, not so; and
yet, what is English or Scottish history to compare with
Irish? Ireland was a land of saints and scholars when
Britons were painted savages. Wise and noble laws, based
upon the spirit of Christianity, were administered in
Erin, and valuable books were written ere the Britons
were as far advanced in civilization as the Blackfeet
Indians. In morals and intellect, in Christianity and
civilization, in arms, art, and science, Ireland shone
like a star among the nations when darkness enshrouded
the world. And she nobly sustained civilization and
religion by her missionaries and scholars. The libraries
and archives of Europe contain the records of their piety
and learning. Indeed the echoes have scarcely yet ceased
to sound upon our ears, of the mighty march of her armed
children over the war-fields of Europe, during that
terrible time when England's cruel law, intended to
destroy the spirit of a martial race, precipitated an
armed torrent of nearly 500,000 of the flower of the
Irish youth into foreign service. Irish steel glittered
in the front rank of the most desperate conflicts, and
more than once the ranks of England went down before "the
Exiles," in just punishment for her terrible penal code
which excluded the Irish soldier from his country's
service.

It was the Author's wish to educate his countrymen in
their national records. If by issuing a cheap edition
the present Publishers carry out to any extent that wish,
it will be to them a source of satisfaction.

It is impossible to conclude this Preface without an
expression of regret at the dark and terrible fate which
overtook the high-minded, patriotic, and distinguished
Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee. He was a man who loved
his country well; and when the contemptible squabbles
and paltry dissensions of the present have passed away,
his name will be a hallowed memory, like that of Emmet
or Fitzgerald, to inspire men with high, ideals of
patriotism and devotion.

CAMERON & FERGUSON.




[Note: From 1857 until his death, McGee was active in
Canadian politics. A gifted speaker and strong supporter
of Confederation, he is regarded as one of Canada's
fathers of Confederation. On April 7, 1868, after
attending a late-night session in the House of Commons,
he was shot and killed as he returned to his rooming
house on Sparks Street in Ottawa. It is generally believed
that McGee was the victim of a Fenian plot. Patrick
James Whelan was convicted and hanged for the crime,
however the evidence implicating him was later seen to
be suspect.]




CONTENTS--VOL. I.


BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.--The First Inhabitants

CHAPTER II.--The First Ages

CHAPTER III.--Christianity Preached at Tara--The Result

CHAPTER IV.--The Constitution, and how the Kings kept it

CHAPTER V.--Reign of Hugh II.--The Irish Colony in
Scotland obtains its Independence

CHAPTER VI.--Kings of the Seventh Century

CHAPTER VII.--Kings of the Eighth Century

CHAPTER VIII.--What the Irish Schools and Saints did in the
Three First Christian Centuries


BOOK II.

CHAPTER I.--The Danish Invasion

CHAPTER II.--Kings of the Ninth Century (Continued)--
Nial III.--Malachy I.--Hugh VII

CHAPTER III.--Reign of Flan "of the Shannon" (A.D. 879
to 916)

CHAPTER IV.--Kings of the Tenth Century--Nial IV.--
Donogh II.--Congal III.--Donald IV

CHAPTER V.--Reign of Malachy II. and Rivalry of Brian

CHAPTER VI.--Brian, Ard-Righ--Battle of Clontarf

CHAPTER VII.--Effects of the Rivalry of Brian and Malachy
on the Ancient Constitution

CHAPTER VIII.--Latter Days of the Northmen in Ireland


BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.--The Fortunes of the Family of Brian

CHAPTER II.--The Contest between the North and South--
Rise of the Family of O'Conor

CHAPTER III.--Thorlogh More O'Conor--Murkertach of
Aileach--Accession of Roderick O'Conor

CHAPTER IV.--State of Religion and Learning among the
Irish previous to the Anglo-Norman Invasion

CHAPTER V.--Social Condition of the Irish previous to
the Norman Invasion

CHAPTER VI.--Foreign Relations of the Irish previous to
the Anglo-Norman Invasion


BOOK IV.

CHAPTER I.--Dermid McMurrogh's Negotiations and Success--
The First Expedition of the Normans into
Ireland

CHAPTER II.--The Arms, Armour and Tactics of the Normans
and Irish

CHAPTER III.--The First Campaign of Earl Richard--Siege
of Dublin--Death of King Dermid McMurrogh

CHAPTER IV.--Second Campaign of Earl Richard--Henry II.
in Ireland

CHAPTER V.--From the Return of Henry II. to England
till the Death of Earl Richard and his
principal Companions

CHAPTER VI.--The Last Years of the Ard-Righ, Roderick
O'Conor

CHAPTER VII.--Assassination of Hugh de Lacy--John
"Lackland" in Ireland--Various Expeditions
of John de Courcy--Death of Conor Moinmoy,
and Rise of Cathal, "the Red-Handed"
O'Conor--Close of the Career of De Courcy
and De Burgh

CHAPTER VIII.--Events of the Thirteenth Century--The
Normans in Connaught

CHAPTER IX.--Events of the Thirteenth Century--The
Normans in Munster and Leinster

CHAPTER X.--Events of the Thirteenth Century--The
Normans in Meath and Ulster

CHAPTER XI.--Retrospect of the Norman Period in
Ireland--A Glance at the Military Tactics
of the Times--No Conquest of the Country
in the Thirteenth Century

CHAPTER XII.--State of Society and Learning in Ireland
during the Norman Period


BOOK V.

CHAPTER I.--The Rise of "the Red Earl"--Relations of
Ireland and Scotland

CHAPTER II.--The Northern Irish enter into Alliance with
King Robert Bruce--Arrival and First Campaign
of Edward Bruce

CHAPTER III.--Bruce's Second Campaign and Coronation at
Dundalk--The Rising in Connaught--Battle of
Athenry--Robert Bruce in Ireland

CHAPTER IV.--Battle of Faughard and Death of King Edward
Bruce--Consequences of his Invasion--
Extinction of the Earldom of Ulster--Irish
Opinion of Edward Bruce


BOOK VI.

CHAPTER I.--Civil War in England--Its Effects on the
Anglo-Irish--The Knights of St. John--
General Desire of the Anglo-Irish to
Naturalize themselves among the Native
Population--A Policy of Non-Intercourse
between the Races Resolved on in England

CHAPTER II.--Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Lord Lieutenant--
The Penal Code of Race--"The Statute of
Kilkenny," and some of its Consequences

CHAPTER III.--Art McMurrogh, Lord of Leinster--First
Expedition of Richard II. of England to
Ireland

CHAPTER IV.--Subsequent Proceedings of Richard II.--
Lieutenancy and Death of the Earl of March--
Second Expedition of Richard against Art
McMurrogh--Change of Dynasty in England

CHAPTER V.--Parties within "the Pale"--Battles of
Kilmainham and Killucan--Sir John Talbot's
Lord Lieutenancy

CHAPTER VI.--Acts of the Native Princes--Subdivision of
Tribes and Territories--Anglo-Irish Towns
under Native Protection--Attempt of
Thaddeus O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, to
Restore the Monarchy--Relations of the
Races in the Fifteenth Century

CHAPTER VII.--Continued Division and Decline of "the
English Interest"--Richard, Duke of York,
Lord Lieutenant--Civil War again in England--
Execution of the Earl of Desmond--
Ascendancy of the Kildare Geraldines

CHAPTER VIII.--The Age and Rule of Gerald, Eighth Earl of
Kildare--The Tide begins to turn for the
English Interest--The Yorkist Pretenders,
Simnel and Warbeck--Poyning's Parliament--
Battles of Knockdoe and Monabraher

CHAPTER IX.--State of Irish and Anglo--Irish Society
during the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries

CHAPTER X.--State of Religion and Learning during the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries


BOOK VII.

CHAPTER I.--Irish Policy of Henry the Eighth during
the Lifetime of Cardinal Wolsey

CHAPTER II.--The Insurrection of Silken Thomas--The
Geraldine League--Administration of Lord
Leonard Gray

CHAPTER III.--Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy--
Negotiations of the Irish Chiefs with
James the Fifth of Scotland--First Attempts
to Introduce the Protestant Reformation--
Opposition of the Clergy--Parliament of
1541--The Protectors of the Clergy
Excluded--State of the Country--The Crowns
United-Henry the Eighth Proclaimed at
London and Dublin

CHAPTER IV.--Adhesion of O'Neil, O'Donnell, and O'Brien--
A new Anglo-Irish Peerage--New Relations
of Lord and Tenant--Bishops appointed by
the Crown--Retrospect


BOOK VIII.

CHAPTER I.--Events of the Reign of Edward Sixth

CHAPTER II.--Events of the Reign of Philip and Mary

CHAPTER III.--Accession of Queen Elizabeth--Parliament of
1560--The Act of Uniformity--Career and
Death of John O'Neil "the Proud"




HISTORY OF IRELAND


BOOK I.


CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST INHABITANTS.

Ireland is situated in the North Atlantic, between the
degrees fifty-one and a half and fifty-five and a half
North, and five and a quarter and ten and a third West
longitude from Greenwich. It is the last land usually
seen by ships leaving the Old World, and the first by
those who arrive there from the Northern ports of America.
In size it is less than half as large as Britain, and in
shape it may be compared to one of those shields which
we see in coats-of-arms, the four Provinces--Ulster,
Connaught, Leinster, and Munster--representing the four
quarters of the shield.

Around the borders of the country, generally near the
coast, several ranges of hills and mountains rear their
crests, every Province having one or more such groups.
The West and South have, however, the largest and highest
of these hills, from the sides of all which descend
numerous rivers, flowing in various directions to the
sea. Other rivers issue out of large lakes formed in the
valleys, such as the Galway river which drains Lough
Corrib, and the Bann which carries off the surplus waters
of Lough Neagh (_Nay_). In a few districts where
the fall for water is insufficient, marshes and swamps
were long ago formed, of which the principal one occupies
nearly 240,000 acres in the very heart of the country.
It is called "the Bog of Alien," and, though quite useless
for farming purposes, still serves to supply the surrounding
district with fuel, nearly as well as coal mines do in
other countries.

In former times, Ireland was as well wooded as watered,
though hardly a tree of the primitive forest now remains.
One of the earliest names applied to it was "the wooded
Island," and the export of timber and staves, as well as
of the furs of wild animals, continued, until the beginning
of the seventeenth century, to be a thriving branch of
trade. But in a succession of civil and religious wars,
the axe and the torch have done their work of destruction,
so that the age of most of the wood now standing does
not date above two or three generations back.

Who were the first inhabitants of this Island, it is
impossible to say, but we know it was inhabited at a very
early period of the world's lifetime--probably as early
as the time when Solomon the Wise, sat in Jerusalem on
the throne of his father David. As we should not altogether
reject, though neither are we bound to believe, the wild
and uncertain traditions of which we have neither
documentary nor monumental evidence, we will glance over
rapidly what the old Bards and Story-tellers have handed
down to us concerning Ireland before it became Christian.

The _first_ story they tell is, that about three hundred
years after the Universal Deluge, Partholan, of the stock
of Japhet, sailed down the Mediterranean, "leaving Spain
on the right hand," and holding bravely on his course,
reached the shores of the wooded western Island. This
Partholan, they tell us, was a double parricide, having
killed his father and mother before leaving his native
country, for which horrible crimes, as the Bards very
morally conclude, his posterity were fated never to
possess the land. After a long interval, and when they
were greatly increased in numbers, they were cut off to
the last man, by a dreadful pestilence.

The story of the _second_ immigration is almost as vague
as that of the first. The leader this tune is called
Nemedh, and his route is described as leading from the
shores of the Black Sea, across what is now Russia in
Europe, to the Baltic Sea, and from the Baltic to Ireland.
He is said to have built two royal forts, and to have
"cleared twelve plains of wood" while in Ireland. He
and his posterity were constantly at war, with a terrible
race of Formorians, or Sea Kings, descendants of Ham,
who had fled from northern Africa to the western islands
for refuge from their enemies, the sons of Shem. At length
the Formorians prevailed, and the children of the second
immigration were either slain or driven into exile, from
which some of their posterity returned long afterwards,
and again disputed the country, under two different
denominations.

The _Firbolgs_ or Belgae are the _third_ immigration.
They were victorious under their chiefs, the five sons
of Dela, and divided the island into five portions. But
they lived in days when the earth--the known parts of it
at least--was being eagerly scrambled for by the overflowing
hosts of Asia, and they were not long left in undisputed
possession of so tempting a prize. Another expedition,
claiming descent from the common ancestor, Nemedh, arrived
to contest their supremacy. These last--the _fourth_
immigration--are depicted to us as accomplished soothsayers
and necromancers who came out of Greece. They could quell
storms; cure diseases; work in metals; foretell future
events; forge magical weapons; and raise the dead to
life; they are called the _Tuatha de Danans_, and by
their supernatural power, as well as by virtue of "the
Lia Fail," or fabled "stone of destiny," they subdued
their Belgic kinsmen, and exercised sovereignty over
them, till they in turn were displaced by the Gaelic, or
_fifth_ immigration.

This fifth and final colony called themselves alternately,
or at different periods of their history, _Gael_, from
one of their remote ancestors; _Milesians_, from the
immediate projector of their emigration; or _Scoti_, from
Scota, the mother of Milesius. They came from Spain
under the leadership of the sons of Milesius, whom they
had lost during their temporary sojourn in that country.
In vain the skilful _Tuatha_ surrounded themselves and
their coveted island with magic-made tempest and terrors;
in vain they reduced it in size so as to be almost
invisible from sea; Amergin, one of the sons of Milesius,
was a Druid skilled in all the arts of the east, and led
by his wise counsels, his brothers countermined the
magicians, and beat them at their own weapons. This
Amergin was, according to universal usage in ancient
times, at once Poet, Priest, and Prophet; yet when his
warlike brethren divided the island between them, they
left the Poet out of reckoning. He was finally drowned
in the waters of the river Avoca, which is probably the
reason why that river has been so suggestive of melody
and song ever since.

Such are the stories told of the _five_ successive hordes
of adventurers who first attempted to colonize our wooded
Island. Whatever moiety of truth may be mixed up with
so many fictions, two things are certain, that long before
the time when our Lord and Saviour came upon earth, the
coasts and harbours of Erin were known to the merchants
of the Mediterranean, and that from the first to the
fifth Christian century, the warriors of the wooded Isle
made inroads on the Roman power in Britain and even in
Gaul. Agricola, the Roman governor of Britain in the
reign of Domitian--the first century--retained an Irish
chieftain about his person, and we are told by his
biographer that an invasion of Ireland was talked of at
Rome. But it never took place; the Roman eagles, although
supreme for four centuries in Britain, never crossed the
Irish Sea; and we are thus deprived of those Latin helps
to our early history, which are so valuable in the first
period of the histories of every western country, with
which the Romans had anything to do.




CHAPTER II.

THE FIRST AGES.

Since we have no Roman accounts of the form of government
or state of society in ancient Erin, we must only depend
on the Bards and Story-tellers, so far as their statements
are credible and agree with each other. On certain main
points they do agree, and these are the points which it
seems reasonable for us to take on their authority.

As even brothers born of the same mother, coming suddenly
into possession of a prize, will struggle to see who can
get the largest share, so we find in those first ages a
constant succession of armed struggles for power. The
petty Princes who divided the Island between them were
called _Righ_, a word which answers to the Latin _Rex_
and French _Roi_; and the chief king or monarch was called
_Ard-Righ_, or High-King. The eldest nephew, or son of
the king, was the usual heir of power, and was called
the _Tanist_, or successor; although any of the family
of the Prince, his brothers, cousins, or other kinsmen,
might be chosen _Tanist_, by election of the people over
whom he was to rule. One certain cause of exclusion was
personal deformity; for if a Prince was born lame or a
hunchback, or if he lost a limb by accident, he was
declared unfit to govern. Even after succession, any
serious accident entailed deposition, though we find the
names of several Princes who managed to evade or escape
this singular penalty. It will be observed besides of
the _Tanist_, that the habit of appointing him seems to
have been less a law than a custom; that it was not
universal in all the Provinces; that in some tribes the
succession alternated between a double line of Princes;
and that sometimes when the reigning Prince obtained the
nomination of a _Tanist_, to please himself, the choice
was set aside by the public voice of the clansmen. The
successor to the Ard-Righ, or Monarch, instead of being
simply called _Tanist_, had the more sounding title of
_Roydamna_, or King-successor.

The chief offices about the Kings, in the first ages,
were all filled by the Druids, or Pagan Priests; the
_Brehons_, or Judges, were usually Druids, as were also
the _Bards_, the historians of their patrons. Then came
the Physicians; the Chiefs who paid tribute or received
annual gifts from the Sovereigns, or Princes; the royal
stewards; and the military leaders or Champions, who,
like the knights of the middle ages, held their lands
and their rank at court, by the tenure of the sword. Like
the feudal _Dukes_ of Prance, and _Barons_ of England,
these military nobles often proved too powerful for their
nominal patrons, and made them experience all the
uncertainty of reciprocal dependence. The Champions play
an important part in all the early legends. Wherever
there is trouble you are sure to find them. Their most
celebrated divisions were the warriors of the _Red
Branch_--that is to say, the Militia of Ulster; the
_Fiann_, or Militia of Leinster, sometimes the royal
guard of Tara, at others in exile and disgrace; the
_Clan-Degaid_ of Munster, and the _Fiann_ of Connaught.
The last force was largely recruited from the Belgic race
who had been squeezed into that western province, by
their Milesian conquerors, pretty much as Cromwell
endeavoured to force the Milesian Irish into it, many
hundred years afterwards. Each of these bands had its
special heroes; its Godfreys and Orlandos celebrated in
song; the most famous name in Ulster was Cuchullin: so
called from _cu_, a hound, or watch-dog, and _Ullin_,
the ancient name of his province. He lived at the dawn
of the Christian era. Of equal fame was Finn, the father
of Ossian, and the Fingal of modern fiction, who flourished
in the latter half of the second century. Gall, son of
Morna, the hero of Connaught (one of the few distinguished
men of Belgic origin whom we hear of through the Milesian
bards), flourished a generation earlier than Finn, and
might fairly compete with him in celebrity, if he had
only had an Ossian to sing his praises.

The political boundaries of different tribes expanded or
contracted with their good or ill fortune in battle.
Immigration often followed defeat, so that a clan, or
its offshoot is found at one period on one part of the
map and again on another. As _surnames_ were not generally
used either in Ireland or anywhere else, till after the
tenth century, the great families are distinguishable at
first, only by their tribe or clan names. Thus at the
north we have the Hy-Nial race; in the south the Eugenian
race, so called from Nial and Eoghan, their mutual
ancestors.