Condition of the Irish People

Irish history, during the period included between the invasion of the Normans, or English, and the close of the Wars of the Roses,—that is, between 1169 and 1485,—takes little account of the common people. We only know of them that they were, to a large degree, peasants, living in wretched huts, tilling the soil, and tending the herds and flocks; reduced, oftentimes, to beggary, and wandering along the roads pleading for alms. It is said that the slave-trade was abolished by a church council at Armagh, towards the close of the twelfth century. But it is probable that the holding of slaves in Ireland, as laborers and domestics, continued for a long period after that time.

In the thirteenth century, there were two classes of farmers in Ireland. One class, called the "biataghs," held the lands they cultivated free of rent, on condition that they lodged and fed travelers, and received the soldiers of the chiefs when they were on the march. The other and lower class was that of the "brooees," who both paid rent and were subject to be called upon for military service. The brooee, moreover, was obliged to keep at least a hundred laborers, and a hundred of every species of domestic animals, on his farm.

Many of the ancient Irish habits and customs still lingered in the fifteenth century. The bards, poets, and minstrels, though they had been persecuted at intervals, and were even forbidden by the English law to enter the houses of the people, retained their hold tenaciously upon the popular affection and veneration. They were favored in many ways by the princes and chiefs. They held seats of honor at the feasts, and received presents, often of great value. One bard, it is related, received from King Brian, as a reward for one of his poems, gold and clothing and twenty cows. Another received "twenty horned cows," and "the blessing of the king of Erin." In course of time, indeed, the bards and poets became more subject to the will of the chiefs than they once had been. But their office continued to be an hereditary one, descending from father to son; and many of them held large estates, and lived lives of dignity and ease. The singing of the bards, and the recitation by the poets of verses celebrating the deeds of heroes, was a conspicuous feature of Irish life even under English rule.

Both the bards and the native judges (Brehons) were still regarded as sacred in their persons. The curse of the bard of Usnagh was believed to have cost Sir John Stanley his life. The murder of a Brehon judge by Irial O'Farrell was avenged, it was said among the people, by the long series of misfortunes which befell the murderer's children.

The bards continued to be under the special protection of the chiefs. An O'Neil, who gave many presents to the bards, and had the largest collection of poems in Ireland, is specially named and praised in the chronicles of his time. The love of learning had never been extinguished among the Irish, even by the repeated ravages of war or the desperate struggles against foreign conquest. Whenever there was a lull in these storms of conflict, Irish scholarship revived. In the thirteenth century the famous Franciscan and Dominican friars, who brought about a great religious revival in England, extended their labors to Ireland also; and at the end of that century, had established fifty or sixty monasteries of their orders in Ireland.

These monasteries became places of asylum to the Irish scholars, whither they could retreat from the turmoil of the civil commotions. They gave to the scholars, moreover, another advantage besides that of studying in safety and quiet. The Dominicans and Franciscans had similar monasteries, which were not less seats of learning than religious houses, scattered through the European cities. A student who had attached himself to one of the monasteries was freely admitted into any of the others. So it was that Irish scholars, sometimes in great numbers, were found pursuing their studies in England, Paris, Naples, and other foreign places. Some of them became very noted for their profound learning. One was a professor at Oxford in the reign of Edward the Second. Another, John Scotus of Down, was famous in the schools of Paris and Cologne for the extent of his scholarly accomplishments. In the latter part of the thirteenth century, there was a large number of Irish students in the Oxford colleges.

The Irish had not lost, in the lapse of time, those attractive traits of hospitality, of respect for women, and of social cheer, which they are known to have possessed even in the remote age of the Druids. These were always, and are still, prominent characteristics of the Irish race. They made freely welcome visitors of all ranks and of every social grade. The freest and most bountiful hospitality marked the homes of the princes and chiefs; and even the lowest class of the Irish lavished such humble good-cheer as they could afford upon their guests. Henry O'Neil is said to have "given every-thing that came into his hands to all manner of men." It is related of one of the great chiefs of the O'Kellys, that he invited all the bards, poets, and even poor people, who chose to come, to abide with him throughout the Christmas holidays; and feasted them every day in quite royal fashion. A rich dame of rank, Margaret O'Carroll, twice a year opened her house to all the bards and poets, both of England and of Ireland, who would accept her lavish hospitalities. A violation of hospitality was always regarded by the Irish as an odious action; and he who showed inhospitality was doomed to the scorn of his neighbors for the rest of his life. The respect of the Irish for women, and their chivalrous protection of them are to be seen in all periods of their career. The wife retained her maiden name, adding to it that of her husband. If she were of equal rank with her husband, she shared his authority equally with him, and he was in no sense her master. The Irish women, indeed, often took part in public affairs; and the names of many of them have come down in history. We find Margaret O'Carroll celebrated, not only for her great hospitality, but for her energy and active piety. She exchanged prisoners in the wars, herself conducting them from place to place, and that "without the knowledge of her husband." She built roads, bridges, and churches, and gave to the churches many books and ornaments.

Another famous Irish dame was Margaret Fitzgerald, wife of the Earl of Ormond. She is said to have been "a lady of such port, that all the estates of the realm couched to her; and so politic, that nothing was thought fully debated without her counsel." When she was dying, and the priest urged her to restore some lands which she had unjustly seized, threatening her with eternal punishment if she refused, she grimly replied, that "it was better that one old woman should burn for eternity, than that the Butlers (earls of Ormond) should be curtailed of their estates."

The Irish chiefs of the fifteenth century usually lived in frame-houses on a well-fortified island, or on some jutting peninsula which projected into a lake, so that the water formed for them a natural defense. Some of the greater chiefs, however, imitated the English lords, and built strong castles of stone, in which they dwelt in a rude sort of state. High walls surrounded these castles, within which were built the stables, as well as cottages for the chief's immediate retinue and servants. Each castle, too, had its open space, or "green." Sometimes this was outside, and sometimes within, the castle walls. The green was often the scene of merry-making, of boisterous pastimes and athletic contests. The Irish, like the English, have always been fond of sturdy out-of-door sports. At stated periods of the year, several clans would gather at one of the castles; and chiefs and vassals would witness, together, the trials of strength which took place on the green between the rival clansmen.

The Irish of the fifteenth century were, perhaps, scarcely less superstitious than were those of the fifth. They were quick to believe in omens, portents, and signs; and many proverbs interpreting the freaks of nature, or happenings among the people, were extant. They believed in ghosts and ghostly legends, and were intensely moved by the weird tales of haunted places, and of strange events, sung to them by the bards. But the superstition of the early Irish rarely showed itself in cruel forms. They did not, like the English, doom supposed witches to barbarous methods of persecution. There seems good reason to believe that the fear and the severe punishment of witchcraft were introduced into Ireland by the English settlers. The first example of such a persecution in Ireland occurred early in the fourteenth century, when Lady Alice Kettel and her son were accused of "black magic." They were, however, found not guilty, and released. In later times, so-called witches were condemned in Ireland, but usually by the English.

Although the religion of the Irish and of the English was the same, the two churches were not united in Ireland. The bishops in the districts still held by the Irish were, as of old, chosen by the election of the clergy. But the Irish church had long submitted to the power of the pope; and, as each bishop was elected, he was careful to receive the pope's sanction before he entered upon the duties of his sacred office. The bishops of those parts of Ireland held by the English, on the other hand, were named by the English sovereigns, who, through several reigns, had denied the right of the pope to appoint or confirm bishops in England. Indeed, the English Parliament had passed severe laws, punishing those priests, who, whether in England or in Ireland, claimed to act under an appointment from the pope. In the border districts, where neither Irish nor English had full control, such as Meath and Louth, there were often two rival bishops, one deriving his office from election by the clergy with the papal sanction, and the other from the appointment of the English crown. The bishops of Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Limerick, were the nominees of the crown; those of Ulster, Connaught, and part of Munster, were the elect of the native clergy. Constant conflicts arose, therefore, between the two churches. Hatreds and jealousies grew up; and, in spite of many attempts to reconcile them, their dissensions long crippled the religious usefulness of both.

Ireland was not only rent, during the fifteenth century, by the conflicts between the two races, but was also the frequent scene of bitter family feuds, and petty wars between clan and clan. Acts of violence, fierce revenges and retaliations, were of very frequent occurrence. The Irishman always carried his battle-axe with him, not only when he traversed the lonely roads, but also when he went to mass, on a hunting expedition, or to a gay festival. He was quick to fight, and fought ferociously. But it must also be said, that assassination and treachery were not conspicuous among the crimes of the Irish at that period. A poisoner, or secret murderer, was looked upon with horror by the people, who treated him as an outcast; while the man who slew his enemy in open fight was held in honor. Some of the punishments imposed upon criminals or enemies, indeed, were barbarously cruel. They were sometimes maimed in limbs, and their eyes were sometimes put out. But, in this respect, the Irishman was neither worse nor better than other races in that dark age.