Condition of the Irish People

More than a century and a half elapsed between the defeat of the Danes at Clontarf, and the invasion of Ireland by another branch of the same warlike northern race, the Normans, under "Strongbow." King succeeded king, each having to fight for his crown, and many of them laying down their lives in the fierce civil conflicts.

Malachy the Second, who succeeded Brian as king of Ireland, was the last sovereign for many generations, who held undisputed sway over the whole island. The arch-royal family of O'Neil had long since ceased to be the unquestioned possessors of the Irish crown. In this century and a half of almost perpetual wars, many lofty, heroic figures appear on the scene of Irish history. Brilliant battles are fought; the tide of conflict flows this way and that; the old martial valor of the Irish, whetted by the long struggles with the Danes, has revived, and is often called into play beneath the banners of the royal and rival O'Briens, O'Neils, and O'Connors. During this period the ancient Irish laws and customs, and the code established by St. Patrick, rapidly gave way before the power of nobles and chieftains at the head of submissive clans.

No longer was the land everywhere held in common, for common uses. It had become, to a large degree, the domain of powerful lords, and was cultivated by the serfs, whom these lords had subdued to their service. Slavery continued to be one of the features of Irish society. The slaves were employed in tilling the land, and in the most menial labors. There were three ways in which men and women were reduced to slavery. They were either prisoners taken in war, or were condemned to slavery as a punishment for crime, or were bought in the slave-markets, chiefly those of Britain. It was the custom of the Irish, even at this early period, to hold fairs, or markets, at certain stated places and periods. At these fairs goods were exchanged, many kinds of games amused the people, and the great lords contended with each other in spirited chariot-races.

The principal articles of commerce in which the Irish of this period dealt were slaves, timber (especially Irish oak), and the products of the soil. The mechanic arts seem to have made little progress, and were only followed by the lowest classes. The armorers, who fashioned the weapons and armor of the chiefs and their soldiers, were the most highly regarded of all artisans. The literature of the time was composed, for the most part, of the ancient legends, and the teachings and narratives of the fathers of the church. The race of bards still survived; and the people delighted in the strange tales, which, with the accompaniment of the harp, were sung to them of fairy horses, speaking trees, the influence of the stars on human destiny, and the wonders wrought by giants, ogres, and gnomes. Music, as always, had a great charm for the Irish. Besides the harp, they had trumpets, horns, and bagpipes; and people of every rank prided themselves upon their skill in performing on these instruments. Even as late as the twelfth century, young men came from every part of Europe, to Ireland, to be taught music. The game of chess was a very popular pastime of the Irish of this period. We hear of the chess-boards inlaid with gold and silver, and the finely carved kings and bishops that were used in wealthy Irish households.

In process of time, several great roads had been built in Ireland; so that, at the period of the Anglo-Norman conquest, the island was traversed by highways and crossroads in many directions. Five highways radiated from Tara to different remote points. The great highways were constructed so as to admit the passage of two chariots abreast, and the law ordained that they should be repaired three times a year. When a fair, or a gathering for the playing of the national games, was about to take place, these roads swarmed with a motley multitude of nobles and bishops in chariots, attended by slaves; of the common people in rude attire; and often of foreigners who came to see the sports, and sometimes to contend for the prizes. These occasions were not seldom attended by scenes of violence and even of bloodshed, but otherwise were full of noisy amusements.

Under the barbaric rule of the Danes, not only had the monasteries and schools been well-nigh swept out of Ireland, but the religious fervor of the Irish had been almost quenched. The spirit of the people changed from a love of peace and quiet occupation, to something of the ferocity which marked the Irish of pagan times. The kings and princes became brutal and cruel. The morals of the people suffered a like decline. Marriage was no longer as sacredly regarded as it had once been. Men easily divorced themselves from their wives, and some of the princes took to themselves several wives. Many of the priests themselves had become loose in their habits, and the common people were naturally degraded into following the example of their rulers and religious teachers.

At last, in the twelfth century, the deplorable condition of the Irish church and of Irish morals, aroused the zeal of some holy men, who grieved to see the "Isle of Saints" so far fallen from its former religious glory. St. Bernard, from his bleak monastery in the Alps, sent forth solemn denunciations against the degenerate race; and the Irish "saints"—Celsus, Malachy, and Lawrence—sought to bring about a revival of piety in its midst.

The pope of Rome, too, was resolved that a nation so fervid in its religious zeal should be restored to the fold of the Church. He sent a cardinal, Papiron, to Ireland, to reform the abuses which had crept into the priesthood and the religious houses, and to arouse the Irish to a better life. Papiron went from place to place, creating new bishoprics, enjoining a more strict observance of the sacred rites and practices, and condemning the too common sins of simony, usury, drunkenness, and disregard of the marriage-tie. So it was that on the eve of the Anglo-Norman invasion, the Irish church was restored to something like its former influence and power; that the old religious ardor began to shine again; and that monasteries and churches were replanted where they had been destroyed in the long era of Danish ascendancy and fierce civil wars.

This revival of religion was attended by a similar revival of scholarship and learning. Once more the monasteries became the home of diligent, studious monks, absorbing the lore of nations, copying and illuminating books of parchment with patient toil, compiling histories, and collecting annals. At this period, not a few Irish scholars achieved a fame which has preserved their names to our own day. Two monks, Tiernan O'Broin and Scotus, wrote histories, gave the dates of eclipses, quoted from Greek and Latin writers, and left works of value and authority. The "Four Masters," as they were called, of the abbey of Donegal, left important chronicles of Irish history. Flan of the monastery, another learned monk, added much to the stock of Irish learning; and the teachers of the schools of Lismore and Armagh were long celebrated for the fullness of their learning. Of Lismore at this period, an old British chronicler quaintly wrote: "It is a famous and holy city, half of which is an asylum into which no woman dares enter. But it is full of cells and monasteries, and religious men in great abundance abide there."

Thus Ireland seemed on the point of again becoming a pious and studious land, to which the world might once more look for enlightenment. But the long feuds and wars of rival princes had done their work; and, as in the time of the Danish invasion, had paved the way for another foreign conqueror. Christianity, which had been so nearly extinguished by the Danish worshippers of Odin and Thor, had at least once more taken root; and although Ireland after the twelfth century never regained the religious lead of Europe which she had held in the days of Columbkill, the great mass of her people adhered to the Christian faith, and to the authority of the Roman popes.