The Ancient Irish

We can only guess, from the dim legends which have been described, what may have been the character, institutions, and customs of the successive races who preceded the Celts in the occupation of Ireland. But we do know what many of the institutions and customs of the Celts were, at the time that authentic history finds them in possession of the island. Over all the people was set the "arch-king," whom they called the "Ard-Righ." The successor of this arch-king was chosen by the people during the arch-king's lifetime, and was called the "roydamna." The roydamna was selected from the arch-king's family, and was usually, though by no means always, his eldest son. There were several causes for which a prince might be excluded from the throne. One of these was physical deformity. A prince who had lost a hand, who was blind, or hump-backed,-could not succeed to the crown. If, after his accession, the arch-king became in any way deformed, he was deposed.

Under the arch-king were a number of princes or chiefs, who divided the government of the various parts of the island between them. These were called "righ," or "kings." Their successors, like those of the arch-kings, were elected by the people from their families, and were called "tanists." One and all of these "righ" were subject to the arch-king's authority. The provinces ruled over by the righ were again subdivided into tribes or clans, which the Irish called "septs."

Each sept comprised a group of families, living in the same neighborhood; and each sept had its popularly elected chief. So, too, each family included in the sept had its chief or head, who owed allegiance to the chief of the sept. Under him, however, the head of the family had absolute power over its several members. Each tribe had its established domain, which its members cultivated, and upon which it dwelt. This domain was divided up, and its various portions were devoted to certain purposes. A part of it was used by all the members of the tribe in common, who cultivated it, pastured their horses, pigs, sheep, and cows upon it, and took their fuel from it. Another part served for the habitations of the tribe, and yet a third part was provided for the use or pleasure of the chief. A portion of the tribal domain, moreover, was occupied by nobles, who had secured it by their prowess, or by services to the tribe or king.

There was no such thing among the ancient Irish as a law of primogeniture; that is, a law, such as long prevailed among the English, which provided that the eldest son of a family should inherit all the lands of his father. When an Irishman died, all his sons took an equal share of the lands he left. This was called the custom of "gavelkind." If a family became extinct, its lands were taken by the tribe and redivided. But little cultivating of the land was done by the ancient Irish. Their main source of support was cattle; and, among cattle, cows were raised to the largest extent. Indeed, the cow played a curious part in the laws and business relations of the Irish. If a man was fined for breaking the laws, he was condemned to pay over so many cows. Land, too, was measured according to its capacity to feed a greater or less number of cows. The Irish also raised a great many pigs, and some horses and sheep.

The ancient Irish usually dwelt in small clusters of dwellings, which were commonly built either upon the islands of the lakes, or upon hills. Around the settlement was erected a thick wall of earth and stone, for purposes of defense; and a fort was also constructed in the center of the settlement, in which the chief of the Sept lived. Sometimes these defenses were of great strength, the walls being twelve or fourteen feet thick. The huts themselves were built of wood or wattles, fifteen or twenty feet long; while the chiefs had much larger dwellings, some of which were built with no little skill and knowledge of architecture. The ancient Irish appear to have had a rude system of writing, by making notches in wood, and sometimes in stone. At a very early period, too, they sent their native ores, and sold slaves, to the seaport towns of the Mediterranean. They are also known to have had much skill in the making of weapons, and in the working of precious metals. These arts they perhaps derived from their Phoenician ancestors.

Some of the laws of the ancient Irish have happily come down to us, and present a curious view of their ideas and customs. They do not seem to have made any clear distinction between what we call crimes, and what we look upon merely as civil injuries. Whether a man committed a theft, or an assault, or only a trespass upon land, his punishment was a fine, to be paid in cows. If the criminal could not pay his fine, it was paid by his family; and, when this was the case, the criminal lost his civil rights, and his share in the common land. Fines were imposed for injuries to women, theft, murder, receiving stolen goods, and swindling, which we call crimes; and also for trespass, slander, negligence, and the failure to pay debts, which we regard, less seriously, as civil wrongs.

In one respect, the ancient Irish laws were much in advance of those of most primitive peoples. The husband and wife were put on a footing of perfect equality as to their rights in the land. The wife had as much to say, in the disposal of the land, as her husband. The old Irish laws, moreover, commanded the people to receive hospitably all comers. They also made rules as to the clothing which each social rank should wear.

DRUID SACRIFICES

The religion of the ancient Irish, like that of the ancient Britons and Gauls, was that known to us as Druidism, and was no doubt derived from the East. The priests of this religion were called Druids, and the worship of fire was one of its main features. The Druids were "priests of the sun." There is some reason to believe that, in the groves where they conducted the rites of their faith, they were in the habit of offering up sacrifices of men and women, on great stone altars erected for the purpose. The chief god was Crom, who was called the god of fire. There were also other gods, who were the special deities of the bards, the champions, the sailors, and the workers in metal. Groves were dedicated to the worship of these gods, which was conducted in the open air. As for the Druids themselves, both the priests and the priestesses, they were held sacred, and revered above all others among the ancient Irish. On all public occasions, they held the place of honor near the king. They consecrated the weapons of the warriors; they dictated whether there should be peace or war; the best products of the earth, and of the artificers, were devoted to their use.

All the principal officers of the Irish realm were chosen from among the Druids. The chief of these officers were the priests, who served at the altars; the Brehons, who were men of learning, and by their wisdom settled all quarrels and disputes, and interpreted and executed the laws; and the Bards, whose task it was to write the histories of events, and to sing the exploits of princes. Below these three higher officers, were the royal doctors, stewards, knights or champions, and the armorers. The farmers were an inferior rank; and the millers, weavers, shepherds, and farm-laborers were, for the most part, slaves, who had been captured in war, or had been bought from the Britons.

In various parts of Ireland are to be seen strange round towers, the origin and use of which can only be conjectured. It is believed by some writers that they were erected by the Druids. Others think that they were built by petty chiefs of clans, who formed a special rank, or caste, among the early Irish.

It was in ancient times, too,—though how ancient, no one knows,—that Ireland was divided into the four great provinces which still retain their boundaries and names. Indeed, there was of old, in eastern Ireland, a fifth province, called Meath. This province was the domain of the arch-king, where he had his residence and held his court. Its people were free from all taxation except such as was imposed by the sovereign. It held a sort of neutral position among the other provinces, and was endowed with special privileges. Its territory is now included in the two counties of Meath and Westmeath. The four other provinces—Ulster, Leinster, Connaught, and Munster—had, geographically, very much the same boundaries that they have to-day. Such, in brief, was the pagan Ireland, which, in the first half of the fifth century, the famous St. Patrick came to win from its idolatries, and convert to Christianity.