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IC^rturpH 0n Jnsl| I|tst0rg 
 
COPYRIGHT 1915 
 
 BY MESSENGER PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
A 
 
 COURSE OF LECTURES ON 
 IRISH HISTORY 
 
 ARKANGED BY 
 
 THOMAS A. McAVOY 
 
 STATE HISTORIAN ANCIENT ORDER HIBERNIANS 
 FOR MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE HALL OF THE 
 
 ANCIENT ORDER HIBERNIANS 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE MESSENGER PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 1915 
 
 BOSTON (JOLLKGK LI BRAKY 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. 
 
TO ALL 
 
 AMERICANS 
 
 OF 
 
 IRISH DESCENT 
 
 ^'^S'S»^ 
 
 .ir2506 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Publishing the following Lectures in book form 
 needs no apology nor formal introduction. The An- 
 cient Order of Hibernians have ever stood steadfast for 
 the rights of the Irish people, and they have very zeal- 
 ously labored in season and out of season in all parts of 
 the world to make better known and appreciated Ire- 
 land's proud chapter in the history of the world. As 
 an important aid in this good work the Order, assem- 
 bled in national convention, appointed a chairman on 
 Irish history in every state in the union to further this 
 good work — to urge the teaching of Irish history in the 
 schools, the introduction of works upon Irish history 
 into public libraries, to refute and rebuke vile slanders 
 and malicious falsehoods in the public press, and to dis- 
 seminate authentic information relative to Ireland and 
 the Irish people by means of public lectures. The state 
 historian for this state has been very active along these 
 lines, and his efforts have been highly successful and 
 productive of much good. As an important contribu- 
 tion to this good work he planned and brought to suc- 
 cessful issue an admirable course of lectures which 
 were delivered in the A, 0. H. hall in the city of Wor- 
 cester, Mass., during the winter of 1913-14. These lec- 
 tures were largely attended and they received heartiest 
 words of appreciation and praise from large audiences 
 and from the thoughtful and discerning when they ap- 
 peared in the public press of the city when delivered. 
 Many people in the higher walks of intellectual life pro- 
 nounced them too important and valuable not to be giv- 
 en wider circulation in more permanent form, and yield- 
 ing to their urgent appeals they are now launched upon 
 the great book-world ocean where it is hoped that they 
 will be as favorably received and with the same bene- 
 ficial results as when they were delivered. 
 
Ancient Order of Hibernians in At 
 
 NATIONAL OFnCEDS 
 
 JAMES J REGAN. P.^ ■ Si P.uI M.oi. 
 
 JOSEPH McLaughlin, v p,o Ph,i^. p. 
 
 CHAS J. FOY. CM«ii.ii VPm..Pcnl..Oiu.Cu. 
 P J SULLIVAN. S«,, . Tk«mp««..,Il,. Com, 
 Hoo T H MALONEV. Tvat. Council Blu«.. U. 
 
 NATIONAL DIRECTORS 
 
 REV WM T McLaughlin, Un.on Hill. N.J 
 PATRICK T MORAN Wuhmjio.. O C 
 
 M F POWERS . • Ci.cid R^kU, M,ch 
 WM J DOHERTY . Lk,c«b. HI 
 
 MICHAEL J BARRY - Colunbo.. Oh» 
 
 RIGHT REV JOHN P CARROLL. Bi^op 
 
 . MooUOA. ChapUi 
 
 ST. PAUL, MINTN., July ■'2, loH. 
 
 C. J. Crahan, Janager, 
 Catholic Messenger, 
 .Vorchester, Maes. 
 
 Decir tir. Crahan: 
 
 I am pleased .to eajr that at a meetlnp of the 
 National Cfficere and Board of Directors of the Ancient Order- 
 of Hibemlans In America, held during the National Conventlor 
 at Norfoia, firelnia. In July 1914, it was unanimouslv voted 
 that the National President be authorized upon behaltf of the 
 Board to endorse and commend the book to be published by the 
 ilessenger Printing and Publishing Company, of -Voroester, 
 JaEtachusetts, which will contain the series of lectures on Irish 
 Hisitory and-kindred subjects which were delivered In the Irish 
 History course of the, Worceoter Hibernians during the fall and 
 winter of 1913-1914 at V/orceeter, UaBsachusetts. It Is there- 
 fore with pleasure that I hereby unqualifiedly indorse and 
 recoranend the said book to all the members of our glorious 
 order and to all the lovers of our beloved motherland in 
 America as a most excellent summary of I'-ish History for 
 popular reading among our people. 
 
 Frateannlly yours. 
 
OH. 
 
 Ladles' iluxiiiarv. jfMcicBi (^titr of |)ibcrRian$ 
 
 fN AMERICA 
 
 NA TIONAL orricEKS 
 
 MR3 eLLE-J RV*M JOLL 
 
 WI6S S A UABONeY. VIC 
 
 URS. AOCLIA OBRISTV. StcAKfAKI 
 
 :*» Deckef Areooa Cles* 
 
 MftS- MARy C CONNELLY. TatxSOi 
 
 NATIONAL DIRECTOftS 
 
 I. Sy. 
 
 Fasrt-aoiret , R. I. 
 Janoary 20, 1315. 
 
 Uaaseager Printlag aod publishing Co. 
 fforcsster, Meas, 
 
 Gentleiaen:- 
 
 It la with a great degree of pleasure that I 
 offloially endorse your Irish Leotare Books I feel tr.at by 
 eo doing I em dolig no more than this exoellect wors deaerves, 
 I had the good fortana to attend se7eral of the leotcres and 
 etiggeeted on more than one occasion that they ahojld be pat 
 In book form In order chat all those of the true blood might 
 have an opportunity to become faiiiliar trith the ccciderful 
 lessona they tsaeh. 
 
 The official endorsement given the Lectures at 
 the Annual Convention of the Order at Baltimore, after the 
 Committee on Irish Elstory had unqualifiedly endorsed them, la 
 In itself the best tribute they oonld receive. 
 
 I hope that every Hibernian sister in the Dnited 
 States and Canada will purchase a copy of the book when It la 
 placed on the market, and that you 5?111 be forced to print 
 many editions of eo brilliant a work, 
 
 I wish yoa sacoess in the enterprlaa you have 
 80 nobly displayed. 
 
 Touxa in the oausa - 
 
 national President 
 
Thomas A. McAvoy 
 
 Thomas A. McAvoy was born in Worcester, Mass., 
 son of .James McAvoy and Jane (Connolly) McAvoy. 
 He was educated in the pnblic schools of his native 
 city, graduating from the Worcester Classical High 
 School. After graduation he was employed as a book- 
 keeper. Thereafter he entered Yale University and 
 was graduated from the College in 1902. While pur- 
 suing his law studies he was admitted to the Massachu- 
 setts Bar in August, 1904. After graduation from 
 Harvard Law School in 1905 he opened his office in 
 AVorcester, where he has since practiced. 
 
 Mr. McAvoy has been a member of Division 34, A. 
 0. H., of Worcester, for several years. He served as 
 chairman of the United A. 0. H. Societies of Worces- 
 ter in 1909. In 1913, Mr. McAvoy was appointed Chair- 
 man of the Massachusetts Committee of the A. 0. H. 
 on Irish History. He arranged for the course of six- 
 teen lectures on Irish History given in A. 0. H. Hall, 
 Worcester. The first took place on September 14, 1913, 
 and the closing lecture was given April 12, 1914. 
 
J^_.^^ "^^a^^^ 
 
John J. Rogers 
 
 John J. Kogers was born in Ballyfarnon, County 
 Eoscommon, Ireland, March 22, 1869, and was educat- 
 ed in the schools of his native town. At the age of sev- 
 enteen he emigrated to the United States. He obtained 
 employment at the Crompton Loom Works, Worcester, 
 Mass., and mastered the machinist trade, at which he 
 worked for several years. In 1903 he became proprie- 
 tor of the Waldo House, Worcester, and has remained 
 in the hotel business. Mr. Rogers was married July 
 12, 1904, to Kathryn Theresa Morrilly, daughter of 
 Thomas and Kathryn (Mulkeen) Morrilly of Fitehburg, 
 Mass. 
 
 Mr. Rogers has been a member of the A. O. H. for 
 more than a quarter of a century, having held member- 
 ship in Division 3 of Worcester since 1888. Has been 
 Captain of Co. A, Hibernian Rifles of Worcester, for 
 many years, and for six years was president of the 
 Worcester County A. 0. H. August 29, 1906, he was 
 elected president of the Massachusetts A. 0. H., and 
 has been Adjutant General of the military branch of 
 the A. 0. H. for several vears. 
 
John T. Flanagan 
 
 John T. Flanagan is a native of Worcester, Mass. 
 He was born May 25, 1869, son of Edward Flanagan 
 and Hannah M. (Mahoney) Flanagan. Both parents 
 are natives of Ireland. Mr. Flanagan was educated in 
 the grammar schools and the Worcester Classical High 
 School. For seventeen years he was connected with 
 the T. H. Buckley Company. In 1909 he entered the 
 nndertaking business. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan has been a member of the Worcester 
 Democratic City Committee and served as Representa- 
 tive in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1911, 1912, 
 1913 and 1914, from the 16th AVorcester District. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan became a member of Division 3, A. 
 0. H., of Worcester in 1897. He was president in 1911 
 and 1912. Was treasurer of the United Divisions, A. 
 0. H. of Worcester in 1910 and 1911, and was chosen 
 president of the Worcester County A. 0. H. in 1912. 
 On Julj^ 30, 1902, Mr. Flanagan was married to Eliza- 
 beth Frances Tansey, daughter of Michael and Julia 
 (Hanahan) Tansey. 
 
^m^ -- •« 
 
 
 '^ru^^ 
 
 *^:z<^ 
 
Rev. Edward J. Fitzgerald 
 
 Rev. Edward J. Fitzgerald, pastor of the Church 
 of the Holy Rosary, Clinton, Mass., was born in Wor- 
 cester, Mass., March 4, 1868, son of Michael R. and 
 Anastatia (Cohen) Fitzgerald. He attended the gram- 
 mar schools and completed his studies at the Worcester 
 Classical High School in 1885. He graduated from 
 Holy Cross College in 1888. His theological studies 
 Vv'ere made at Brighton Seminary. He took a post- 
 graduate course at the Catholic University, Washing- 
 ton, 1892-1894. 
 
 In 1892, Father Fitzgerald was ordained priest in 
 St. Michael's Cathedral, Springfield, Mass., by Right 
 Reverend Thomas D. Beaven, Bishop of Springfield. 
 This was the first class Bishop Beaven ordained after 
 liis consecration as head of the Springfield Diocese. 
 Father Fitzgerald was stationed for seven years at 
 the Church of the Holy Name, Chicopee, Mass., and ten 
 j^ears at St. John's Church, Clinton, Mass., as assistant 
 priest, and was appointed the first pastor of the Church 
 of the Holy Rosary, Clinton, Oct., 1910. 
 
 For sixteen years, Father Fitzgerald has been 
 chaplain of Division 8, A. 0. H., of Clinton. He has 
 been spiritual advisor of the Worcester County A. 0. 
 H., and in 1912 was appointed chaplain o^ iho Massa- 
 chusetts A. 0. H. 
 
<i^^^>^r^-tf^ 
 
J^agan JrrlanJi 
 
 B. C. TO 532-3 A. D. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 
 
 No nation lias suffered so much from the ''conspiracv 
 against truth," which is known as modern history a 5 the Irish 
 nation. For centuries every writer has taken his shy at Ireland, 
 reading into her history his own prejudices, presuming that be- 
 cause of adverse political conditions and loyalty to a proscribed 
 religion the Irish nation of today and yesterday has been the 
 supply for the "huers of wood and the drawers of water" — that 
 this nation and great ethnic family that it represents., !he Celtic, 
 has in it no greatness and has always occupied the inferior po- 
 sition it today is just emerging from. 
 
 Learned college professors, in learned books, overladen 
 with pseudo learning, will tell you that the Celt has not the pow- 
 er to build politically an enduring national life, that lie can but 
 serve others, he cannot, because of a certain lack in his national 
 character, be a leader. Yet history tells us in the golden period 
 of Ireland's life that she was a leader, and that for centuries 
 she preserved and disseminated the learning that she rescued 
 from the cataclysm of the tottering Eoman domination. School 
 histories will dilate upon the great work of civilization that 
 England and Scotland have done, but Ireland, if mentioned at 
 all, is spoken of only as a place for exploitation by Cromwell, 
 who so kindly brought to Ireland the blessings and benefits of 
 civilization, or a field in which the robber Saxon king might 
 stop the clamor of his hungry camp followers by awarding them 
 lands he never owned or conquered. 
 
 But our task tonight is to speak of the ancient j.agan Ire- 
 land, so long neglected, and to try and reconstruct ber ancient 
 pagan life so that we may see from what modern Ireland sprung 
 
18 PAGAN IRELAND 
 
 and find in her ancient pagan life an explanation of niach of her 
 Christian and modern development, and also lack of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 We have plenty of data for onr inquiry which of late years 
 have been made the subject of close scrutiny. The i?ianuscript 
 remains of Ireland, more numerous than of any other European 
 country, have given us not only a true picture of ancient Ireland 
 but also of the great Celtic family of which Ireland is the most 
 distinguished modern development. To be sure these manu- 
 scripts are not earlier than the eighth century of onr era, l)at 
 they record events and customs of pre-Christian times, and al- 
 though, like documents of their kind, they need the discriminat- 
 ing critic who can separate the truth from the chaff of mythical 
 fancy, yet when this work has been done we have historical doc- 
 uments that merit and have received the attention and credence 
 of the scholar world. This work has been done and is being 
 clone today not only by that race to whom it is a labor of love, 
 but by the German and French scholars as well. 
 
 Eugene 'Curry, in those epoch-making lectures which he 
 delivered before the student body of the short-lived Irish uni- 
 versity, presided over by the great English churchman, has 
 given us ample historical data upon which to reconstruct the 
 ancient Irish life, and the work ho so brilliantly began has been 
 carried on till today and the A. 0. H. chair of Celtic in the 
 Catholic University of AVashington will soon contribute to this 
 great work by the publication of a critical edition of the Tain- 
 Bo-Cuailnge, the great Irish Illiad. 
 
 It will be upon such sources, properly weighed and critic- 
 ally appreciated, as they are the only original and autiientic 
 so-.irces, that we will base our remarks tonight. 
 
 To be sure, to try and tell the story of a nation within the 
 compass of a single hour's talk, would be futile. Asl that can 
 be hoped is to give a sketch, the merest outline of the home, 
 political, religious and intellectual life of a people. Ireland 
 has had many names in her long history, some fanciful and po- 
 etic, others merely geographical. Hibernia, Inisfail, the Isle of 
 Destiny, Scotia and later Scotia Major, to distinguish it from 
 Scotland, Banba and Erin are the best known . The name Sco- 
 tia comes from the name of the Eg^qitian wife of one of the 
 early Irish chieftans, Scota, and the name Miletians from a 
 chief of the name ]\Iiledth. and from Graidel, another famous 
 chief, the Irish people receive the appelation Gails. The An- 
 nals of the four masters gives this origin for the Irish nation. 
 
 The first colony of Ireland was planted by the Parthalon- 
 ians, who, 2500 years before Christ, came from Greece. They 
 
REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 19 
 
 Tvere followed by the Nemedians, who took possessioti after the 
 island was depopulated by a terrible plague and had remained 
 a solitude for thirty years. The Nemedians were harassed by 
 the Formorians, a band of sea robbers and pirates from Africa, 
 who eventually obtained the upper hand. 
 
 The Firbolgs were the third colony, coming to Ireland from 
 Northern Greece and were a recolonization, for thes' were the 
 descendants of Simon Brec, a Nemedian chief, who had fled 
 from Ireland to escape the cruelty of the Formorian invasion. 
 Enslaved in Greece they were obliged to bring soil from the rich 
 lowlands to enrich the rocky highlands of their adopted coun- 
 try in leather bags, hence their name Fribolgs or bag men. Tir- 
 ing of their servitude, they fled from Greece under the five sons 
 of Dela and conquered Ireland and divided it into fi\ e provinc- 
 es, one for each brother, a division that has perseveicd till to- 
 day. They held sway for less than half a century, to be succeed- 
 ed by the De Dannans, who likewise came from Greece as a re- 
 colonization, being descended from the Nemedian Cliief Ibach, 
 who, fleeing from the Formonian pirates, had settled about 
 Athens. They returned to Ireland by way of Scandinavia and 
 Scotland and by magic in which they were adepts, gained en- 
 trance to the country and eventually conquered it. 
 
 The Miletians followed. Coming from Scythia their first 
 migration was to Eg^^^t. Then after many viccissHudes they 
 came to Spain, where they dwelt many years, and finally under 
 the eight sons of Miled they came to Ireland and eventually 
 conquered the De Dannans, and from thenceforth Miletian king? 
 ruled Ireland till Eoderick O'Connor. 
 
 These accounts are of course largely mythical and fabulous, 
 except the Firbolgs, who existed and were probably kindred to 
 the warlike Belgae of Gaul, whom Caesar eucountere I in battle, 
 and the ]\Iiletians, who are certainly historical; the rest of the 
 peoples and their story belong to the realms of fancy The date 
 of their coming to Ireland is uncertain. They wero Celts and 
 probably ca4ne from Gaul to Britain and from Britain to Ire- 
 land rather than directly from Spain, says D 'Alton. I give this 
 account of the old analist because while much of it is fabulous 
 it has formed the basis of so many of the tales and poems of 
 Ireland that at least the nomenclature and origki is of some in- 
 terest. 
 
 Though the Irish were pagans they were spared Hie degra- 
 dation that overtook cultured and refined Greece. The pagan 
 Irish had not the debasing worship of impure love. The Irish 
 worshipped the celestial bodies with minor gods, u:ount?ains, 
 trees, etc. They offered sacrifice to their gods, but the charge 
 
20 PAGAN IRELAND 
 
 that they offered human sacrifice has never been established. 
 Their temples were the oak groves oi which Ireland boasted 
 in the pagan davs. They had a belief in a future life and in the 
 immortality of the soul, and were not degraded by tijeir relig- 
 ion to an extent that they could not appreciate the licauties of 
 a higher code of belief and practice when it was exposed to 
 them. The wholesome sweet worship of nature gave them a 
 love for the world in which they lived and a great joy in the 
 ''out of doors" which to them was their temple and their God. 
 The progress upward from nature to nature's God then was no»; 
 difficult when the message of tidings of great joy was delivered 
 to them by the saintly Patrick. 
 
 "Whether the pagan Irish were acquainted with the art of 
 writing is a question that is now difficult or impossible to deter- 
 mine," says Dr. Joyce, speaking of the manners, customs and 
 ancient institutions of the Irish. The coming of St. Patrick 
 found many circumstances that indicated literary activity. All 
 authorities concur that there were in the country literary and 
 professional men, druids, poets and antiquarians. It is certain 
 that immediately after the establishment of Christianity in the 
 fifth century the Irish committed to writing in their native lan- 
 guage not only the laws, bardic or historical, and poems, etc., 
 of their own times, but those which had been preserved from 
 times preceding whether traditionally or otherwise, says Petrie. 
 This general widespread use of writing would be hard to ac- 
 count for were there not a previous knowledge of letters. 
 
 D 'Alton indeed says without restriction that beside the Og- 
 ham writings there was had a knowledge of letters. But the 
 best opinion seems to be that precluding from the Ogham script 
 the pagan Irish did not have writing. The Ogham writing was 
 invented by the Irish themselves and founded with considerable 
 skill upon the Latin and antedated any of the vellums or manu- 
 script. It was used particularly for inscriptions on monuments 
 and gravestones. It answered well for lapidary inscriptions, 
 but was too cumbersome for the facile creation of a literature 
 though the professional jDoets may have carried with them on 
 the tablet-staves, as the manuscripts call them, the catch words 
 of many j^oems, sagas and genealogies. More than 200 Ogham 
 inscriptions exist today. Ogham was criptic also; intended only 
 for the initiated, and to make it more unintelligible to the out- 
 siders, inversion of syllables, introduction of extra letters, etc., 
 was practiced. However, with the introduction of Christianity 
 Roman letters were introduced and with the whole power and 
 authority of the Church behind it, soon became universal in its 
 use. 
 
REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 21 
 
 Tlie law system of the Irish was complete and detailed at 
 a very early age. Committed to writing as it was in the time 
 of Patrick it was revised under his auspices and purged of the 
 pagan features and Christianized. This work was done by three 
 kings, three Bishops, of whom Patrick was one, and three poets 
 and antiquarians. The original Brehon law was the law of na- 
 ture and was set forth probably in verse. The Brehon or ex- 
 pounder of the law was obliged to give long years of prepara- 
 tion for his task, and the pleading of a case was an intricate 
 and difficult matter; moreover the Brehon was liable for dam- 
 ages for any unjust decision he might make. At first the legal 
 profession was open to all who would give the required time to 
 its study and acquirement, but in later times the profession 
 became hereditary but never ceased to demand long and care- 
 ful preparation on the part of the aspirant to judicial honors. 
 The Brehons were a very influential class of men attached to 
 the chief's retinue and receiving from him land which remain- 
 ed in their family for generations. Some were not attached to 
 any house and lived from their fees, and it is related that many 
 Brehons waxed rich from their fees alone. 
 
 Many quaint and interesting stories are told on the old 
 Brehon lawyers who administered the law not according to 
 justice. One was said to show mottled spots on his cheeks, and 
 another of the first century used to wear a metal ring about his 
 neck, and when he delivered an unjust decision the ring tight- 
 ened until it all but choked him, while when he dealt justly with 
 the case it relaxed and allowed him full freedom to breath and 
 talk. 
 
 The Brehon law was crude, of course, but was far above 
 the law of retaliation which prevailed elsewhere, and whose 
 dictum was ' ' an eye for an eye. ' ' As there was no central gov- 
 ernment strong enough to enforce the law there was no offence 
 against the State or crime as we know it today, but all offence 
 was against the individual, torts, and had to be prosecuted by 
 the individual or his friends, else the oft'ender got away scot- 
 free. 
 
 The houses of the ancient Irish were of wood, strong posts 
 being set in the ground and the wall formed of interlaced wat- 
 tles, some times of stout planks. The wickerwork sides were of- 
 ten plastered and the plaster was whitened and some times 
 tinted. The roofs were conical supported by a central pillar 
 and thatched. The Irish had no knowledge of cement, and all 
 their stone work was laid dry. They also, like the Greeks, did 
 not know the principle of the arch, iDut in spite of these handi- 
 caps they built many huge works in stone, some of which re- 
 
22 PAGAN IRELAND 
 
 main today to testify to their genius as builders. The houses 
 were grouped together and were surrounded usually for pur- 
 poses of defense with a clay wall thrown up from a deep circu- 
 lar trench which was filled with water as an additional protec- 
 tion when possible. The house consisted of one large room us- 
 ually, for the men at least, and around the sides of the room 
 were sleeping couches. This room was used for sleeping, eat- 
 ing, and lounging. Seats were provided and the nicest and most 
 exact etiquette was observed in seating the inmates, the rights 
 of precedence being very rigidly enforced. Separate rooms 
 for the women were had frequently in the most sheltered and 
 sunny part of the abode and sometimes separate buildings were 
 erected for the women alone. The remains of the old circum- 
 vallations exist today, but the wooden houses have of course 
 decayed. Often times, too, carefully constructed subterranean 
 vaults lined with stone have been unearthed in these Duns, 
 which were probably storehouses used while the place was be- 
 sieged. 
 
 The army was a prominent activity with the early Irish. 
 The troops were of two sorts — heavy armed Gallowglasses and 
 light armed Kerns — a division found also among the Greeks, 
 as every schoolboy reader of Xenephon knows. The former 
 were mighty men encased in armor sometimes, though not al- 
 ways, for the old chroniclers tell us the Irish used to deem it 
 more honorable to fight in a saffron colored jerkin than encased 
 in bronze. Their special weapon was the battle axe, which they 
 wielded with one hand, guiding the stroke with the finger ex- 
 tended along the handle, and in later times no steel armor could 
 resist the stroke of the Gallowglasses' axe. A thigh fully en- 
 cased in steel armor has been sheered oif by a single blow of 
 these dread weapons. The Kerns had their short swords 
 and javelins. That the early Irish had bows and arrows 
 and could use them with skill we know, for we have in our mu- 
 seums flint arrow-heads and bronze arrow-heads, but very little 
 mention, if any, is made of them in the early manuscripts. 
 
 The early Irish had no cavalry division of their army, 
 though the chiefs were mounted and were very discriminating 
 in horseflesh. The chariot, however, was well known in early 
 Irish warfare, sometimes scythe-bearing, sometimes not. The 
 chief was attended by his charioteer when he went to battle and 
 the general use of the chariot in warfare as well as in peaceful 
 pursuits acquaints us with the fact that all over Ireland there 
 were good roads, of course for the times. The Irish soldier in 
 pagan times, as today, was of the highest valor and address. 
 The political arrangement of the country, however, robbed him 
 
REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 23 
 
 of much of the fruits of his valor. The clan and tribe system 
 of the Celt kept the country in a constant turmoil and the inter- 
 necine strife that was continued for centuries robbed Irish valor 
 of its dearest right, a fatherland safe from invasion, and al- 
 though oceans of the best and bravest blood was poured out it 
 was for the aggrandizement of some ambitious, restless prince- 
 ling, rather than the permanent advancement of the nation. 
 Hostile critics, however, are at one in bearing testimony to the 
 valor and address of the Irish soldiers and had Erin boasted a 
 Philip of Macedon, an Alexander the Great, or a Caesar, as an 
 Ard-ri and organizer, the exploits of Brennus or Breunan the 
 Celt, who captured and sacked Kome with his unmatched sold 
 iery, we might have had permanent results. The old chroniclers 
 give us a description of an Irish king at a feis of Tara, and when 
 we recall that there were 250 such with their retinue or tails, we 
 may easily conclude that the sight of the Irish army assembled 
 in union and concord was a sight for gods and men. 
 
 The description referred to is in an old manuscript, quoted 
 in the Book of Bally wote, 'Curry gives us a Bardic picture of 
 an Ard-ri of Ireland, Cormac-mac-art, and although the bard's 
 fancy has colored the picture some, still it remains substantial- 
 ly true. The writer tells us that Cormac's hair was slightly 
 curled and of golden color; he carried a scarlet shield with en- 
 graved devices and golden hooks and clasps of silver; a wide 
 folding purple cloak covered him, with a gem set gold brooch 
 over his breast, a gold torque was around his neck, a white col- 
 lared shirt embroidered with gold upon him; a girdle with gold- 
 en buckles studded with precious stones encircled him; two 
 spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets were in 
 his hands, while he stood in the full glow of beauty, without de- 
 fect or blemish, you would think it was a shower of pearls that 
 were set in his mouth; his lips were rubies; his symmetrical 
 body was as white as snow, his cheeks were like the mountain 
 ash-berry; his eyes were like the sloe; his brows and eye lashes 
 were like the sheen of a blue-black lance. 
 
 Another manuscript, Tam-Bo-Cooley, describes a King 
 Conair Mor, as a "tall illustrious chief with cheeks dazzling 
 white with a tinge like that of dawn upon stainless snow, 
 sparkling black pupils in blue eyes glancing and curling yellow 
 hair." It is historically certain that any bodily blemish unfit- 
 ted a man for chief place among the Irish, and any one who has 
 read the requirements of head, foot and body demanded for 
 entrance to the Feena or national militia founded by Finn Mc- 
 Cool, the strong man of Cormac-mac-art, need fear no contradic- 
 tion when he says that on that Easter morning, 433, 8t. Patrick 
 
24 PAGAN IRELAND 
 
 stood ill the presence of as fine a body of men, glowing with 
 every physical manly charm, as ever the, sun looked upon. 
 
 The land question was always a crux for Ireland, and even 
 hi pagan times the system of land tenure kept Ireland back 
 from the development she should have reached. The land was 
 held in commoUj for the most part, by the tribe, although cer- 
 tain private grants were made to individuals and the king him- 
 self had his private estates. Then there took place at uncertain 
 intervals a redistribution of all the tribal lands which robbed 
 the individual of all ambition and initiative and checked the 
 progress of the nation in consequence. This communistic ex- 
 l)erience of the ancient Irish, together with their tribal arrange- 
 ment and the excessive and exaggerated loyalty to house and 
 tribe, kept Ireland from being the strong power she might have 
 become had she been blessed with a strong central government, 
 and an Ard-ri in fact as in name, for while theoretically the 
 subordinate kings paid deference and tribute to the high king, 
 yet in practice they paid such deference only when the high 
 king was strong enough to ''come and take it." 
 
 The art of Ireland in pagan times was crude and meagre. 
 k5ome skill in building, a rather high development in metal 
 work, gold, silver and enamel, and a very remarkable skill in 
 music are her chief claims to an artistic reputation. Her mar- 
 velous skill in manuscript illumination was of Christian origin 
 and of painting and sculpture we have no records. Her build- 
 ings we have already described, noted for their solidity perhaps 
 rather than for any special beauty. In metal work, however, 
 even in pagan times, the Irish excelled, and splendid carved 
 spear heads, sword hilts and blades, brooches, etc., testify to 
 this. The later development in crosses, chalices, etc., which 
 Isave aroused the admiration of the art loving world, do not be- 
 long to our period, but found their germ no doubt in pagan 
 times and are but the growth and development of this native 
 ability. In music, however, the Irish native, pagan and Chris- 
 tian has a special endowment from God. It is somewhat diffi- 
 cult to distinguish between poetry and music in the old ac- 
 counts, as the words are used interchangeably and the musician 
 was most always the poet as well. The Irish poetry was the 
 most melodious of all poetry. The meter and rhythm was most 
 intricate, resembling the double acrostic. It was musical to a 
 degree, but was so artificial in form that the sense was sacri- 
 ficed to mere sound too often, and the poet was hampered and 
 prevented from great flights of imagination. 
 
 • Of course there were no long sustained musical pieces like 
 the modern opera, oratorio or sonata. The tunes were short 
 
REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 25 
 
 and while tliey boasted a harmony it was of a simple sort but 
 very exquisite by reason of the perfect blending of sound. The 
 favorite instrument was the harp, and from the very earliest 
 dawn of historical record the harp is closely allied with the 
 Irish national life. The harp was of 30 strings, played upon 
 with the fingers or finger nails, and was of various sizes from 
 the small hand harp to the bardic harp of six feet in height. 
 The bagpipes were also well known in early times, but the pipes 
 were rather the instrument of the poorer people, while the harp 
 was the instrument of the nobility, and it was part of the ac- 
 complishment .of every noble gentleman to be able to sing a 
 sonnet to his lady's eyebrow to the accompaniment of the harp. 
 
 While there was in the old Irish music a tendency to sad- 
 ness, yet the great majority of Irish music and song was glad- 
 some. It fell into three classes; the musical compositions to 
 arouse merriment, dance music, etc., those to arouse sadness, 
 the keens and death tunes, and the slumber songs and lulla- 
 bies. The Irish had also occupational tunes which accompanied 
 them at their work. The ploughman had his quaint, soothing 
 whistle which gave peace and content to the plough horse, the 
 milkmaid had her sweet, melancholy milking song, under whose 
 ^•entling influence the cows submitted all the more willingly 
 in the milking barns. The blacksmith had his song, which echo- 
 ed and re-echoed with the clang of the hammer and the ster^ 
 torous pufifing of the bellows, etc. This music was never writ- 
 ten, of course, and much of it perished, but much of it remains, 
 being set down in later days and put to new^ words, and many 
 a popular song today masquerading in modern dress is but an 
 old Irish motif developed according to the modern musical 
 science of harmony. 
 
 Public assemblages of the people for purposes of trade and 
 pleasure and culture was a custom of the early Irish. These 
 assemblages or fairs, called Aenach, were annual or triennial, 
 as the case might be, and had their origin in the funeral games 
 that were common in ancient Ireland, as also they were cus- 
 tomary in Greece. At first they were held in ancient cemeteries 
 in which were interred the bones or ashes of some noted king, 
 <3hief or hero of history or legend. In pagan times the Druids 
 conducted some sort of religious services, kindling the sacred 
 fire and burning the sacrifices. Important affairs of various 
 kinds, national or local, were transacted at these meetings. 
 Laws were promulgated, councils and courts were held to con- 
 sider various questions of right and privilege, disputes about 
 property, taxes, etc., were settled. Acts of tyranny of the pow- 
 erful over the weak were righted, the repair of the roads, the 
 
26 PAGAN IRELAND 
 
 levying of army enlistment, etc., all these and nnmerons other 
 questions were considered and settled by these unofficial ple- 
 becita. Athletic games also formed a part of the gatherings of 
 the people, horse racing, contests in music and poetry being 
 common. It was a great place to settle marriage also, bachelors 
 and maidens being kept apart till the parents had bargained for 
 the marriage settlement, the dot, and had arranged the details. 
 
 The feis or convention at Tara triennially held, was of an- 
 other sort. Originally it was connected with funeral rites and 
 games, for there was a famous cemetery at Tara. Although it 
 was supposed to be triennial in fact it was held only once in 
 the reign of the Ard-ri, usually at his inauguration into office. 
 The feis was a convention of the leading persons, as the aenacli 
 was a convention of the common people. The provincial kings, 
 the minor kings and chiefs, the distinguished representatives 
 of the learned professions, the ollaves or doctors of history, 
 law and poetry made up the gathering. For seven clays they 
 convened and the formal matters of consideration were dis- 
 cussed in the banquet hall. Elaborate precautions to prevent 
 quarreling were taken. Anyone who struck another, wounded 
 another, used insulting words even, or stole anything, was lia- 
 ble to death. 
 
 Besides the athletic games and contests in soldierly skill 
 and adeptness, mention is made very early of the game of chess 
 in many manuscripts, and a chess board and a finely carved set 
 of men was a gift fit for a king or a popular poet who had sung 
 the glories of a chief or his house to the satisfaction of the clan. 
 The funeral rite which had so much to do with Irish life, being 
 the occasion, as we have said, in the early times, of the aenachs 
 and the consequent intercourse and recreation that the fairs 
 were the occasion of, were of varied sorts. Three modes pre- 
 vailed of disposing of the dead: inhumation as at present, the 
 body being laid to rest recumbent, burial of a king or hero 
 standing upright or astride a horse fully accoutred and armed, 
 defying his enemies even in death, and incineration or crem.a- 
 tion, the body being reduced to ashes and the ashes placed in an 
 urn of baked clay. These urns were placed in rude ,stone cof- 
 fins sometimes, or under huge burial chambers made by great 
 stone slabs superimposed upon upright stones, the whole called 
 cromlechs, which remain today scattered all over Ireland, and in 
 which are found skeletons and burial urns containing burnt 
 bones. Over the graves of many heroes great heaps of stones 
 called cairns were reared, each friend, clansman or passerby 
 furnishing a stone to the structure. 
 
 "Let me write a couutrv's songs and I care not who writes. 
 
REV. EDWARD J. FITZGERALD 27 
 
 her laws," is the seutmient of a modern writer. Some such 
 conviction seems to have been deep rooted in the ancient Irish, 
 for the poet's office was held in the highest veneration among 
 them, and the head bard ranked as high if not higher than the 
 head Brehon, though the two offices were often combined, as 
 the most ancient form of the Brehon law was versified. The 
 office of bard was no sinecure. Eleven years of severe study 
 was the preparation demanded for the bard. A comx~>lete knowl- 
 edge of poetical form, thousands of verses committed to mem- 
 ory, and the ability to improvise on the spur of the moment, 
 made the iJards ever welcome to the chief's board, where he 
 could entertain the chief's guests and flatter the family pride 
 of his patron at the saiue time. Not the greatest hero but the 
 best sung hero is the one the world crowns. Fontenoy outranks 
 Cremona because a Davis took it for the theme of one of his 
 most stirring poems; Balaklava, an insignificant engagement, 
 outranks the charge of the Cuirassiers at Waterloo because a 
 poet laureate chanted "Half a league, half a league, half a 
 league onward." Who has not heard of Paul Eevere and his 
 midnight ride because Longfellow sang his deed of daring, but 
 who knows of William Dawes, who dared as much and more, 
 because he followed a more diflicult and dangerous route, on 
 the 18th of April in '75 f 
 
 Many an old pagan chieftan is remembered today because 
 some old saga or bardic remains has handed his name down to 
 posterity. The bards were not unmixed blessings, however. 
 While they could perpetuate the grand deeds of valor and cast 
 a glamor about them even when somewhat commonplace, they 
 were an irritable, touchy lot, and could satirize as well as praise 
 when the mood was on them. They increased in numbers and 
 arrogance and became a real incubus upon the land, demanding 
 shelter, food and largess as a right, not a privilege. Many 
 moves were made to put an end to the order, but they were 
 never put into execution. During the Anglo-Norman invasion 
 they were proscribed by the law, but the people sheltered them 
 and they finally expired with Carolan, the last of the bards. 
 We might consider some other institutions peculiar to the an- 
 cient Irish, fosterage, right of sanctuary, etc., but perhaps we 
 have seen enough to construct a picture fairly complete and 
 historically correct. 
 
 The ancient Irish, then, were a pastoral people of splendid 
 physique, living close to nature, in which they found an an- 
 swer to all the higher religious aspirations of their being, and 
 trained in the hard school of adversity to a strength, persever- 
 ance and courage that adversity alone can give. Of an un- 
 
Rev. Bernard S. Conaty 
 
 Eev. Bernard S. Conaty, pastor of St. Joseph's 
 Church, Pittsfield, Mass., was born in Taunton, Mass., 
 October 14, 1855. His early education was received in 
 tbe schools of his native city. For three years he was 
 at Montreal College for his classics, then at Holy Cross 
 College for a short period, but completed these studies 
 in the College of Propaganda, Borne. For reasons of 
 health. Father Conaty, in May, 1878, was obliged to go 
 from Eome to Aix en Provence, France. His theolog- 
 ical studies were finished in the Grand Seminar j^ of that 
 place. 
 
 April 11, 1882, Father Conaty was ordained priest 
 by Archbishop Forcade. He served from November 4 
 of that year to March 3 of the next, as assistant priest 
 at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Gardner, Mass. He 
 was next assigned to St. Mary's Church, Spencer, 
 Mass., and in 1888 was appointed rector of St. Mich- 
 ael's Cathedral, Springfield, Mass. In January, 1897, 
 he became pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart, 
 Worcester, Mass., remaining there until July, 1913, 
 when he was transferred to the Pittsfield Church. 
 
 For a number of years Father Conaty was Director 
 of the Worcester Free Public Library. For more than 
 a quarter of a century he has been a member of the 
 Springfield Diocesan C. T. A. Union and was president 
 in 1899, and again in 1907 and 1908. 
 
3nt0 Jr^lani 
 
 433—597 
 BY 
 
 REV. BERNARD S. CONATY 
 
 When I was kindly asked some time ago by the gentleman 
 who so graciously presides at this gathering if I would consent 
 to prepare an evening's talk on some interesting period of Irish 
 history, I must confess that my first strong natural impulse was 
 to decline. 
 
 I feel indeed how poorly equipped I am to speak intelli- 
 gently and interestingly on a subject so seemingly foreign to my 
 every day work. I could not, however, refuse whatever en- 
 couragement my feeble voice and mj still more inexperienced 
 pen may lend to so high and noble an educational plan as that 
 so wisely outlined by those who have inaugurated this series of 
 popular lectures. 
 
 I console myself with the thought that in this forum of the 
 people even an itinerant "soggarth" like my humble self may 
 be vouchsafed a hearing. "The introduction of Christianity 
 into Ireland and its marvelous development under St. Patrick" 
 is the subject assigned to me. It is one that might easily af- 
 fright a greater than I, so sublime is its character and so far- 
 reaching its scope. 
 
 I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that to paint a perfect 
 morning scene requires more of the exquisite genius-like touch 
 of the master artist than any other of Nature's myriad won- 
 ders. 
 
 To reproduce upon the canvas the dazzling splendor of that 
 perfect King of day as slowly, yet majestically, he appears 
 above his mountain or ocean couch, scattering, as he ascends 
 
30 THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO IRELAND 
 
 along the heavenly highway with a wantonly lavish hand, liis 
 nncoiintable wealth of warmth and light bedecking earth and 
 sky with the most gorgeous robe of beauty, making instinct with 
 life and joy the whole creation, has time and again baffled the 
 best directed efforts of many a patron of palette and brush. 
 
 But I ask you what think you of man 's efforts to faithfully 
 picture not the glories of a dawning day, in which the physical 
 world is alone portrayed, arrayed in the vari-colored tints of 
 the material sun of earth, but that all divinely beauteous morn 
 when over the restless crest of ocean and above the lofty moun- 
 tains there rose upon that Western Isle of Erin the eternal Sun 
 of Justice — Christ — with an effulgence borrowed from the very 
 bosom of the Almighty? Eloquently and in the most becoming 
 manner, Fr. Fitzgerald, a fortnight ago, described to you the 
 singularly peaceful and advanced civilized condition of the Irish 
 people prior to the time of which I am to speak, the fifth centur^^ 
 of our era. He showed you how in a most admirable manner 
 God was preparing the way for the coming of the great apostle 
 of the Irish race, St. Patrick, unconquered by Eoman arms, the 
 Irish, while sleeping in the dark night of paganism, yet held to 
 certain teachings that helped them to welcome the dawning of 
 the day of perfect light, belief in one God, in the immortality 
 of the soul and in reward and punishment in an after life were 
 safe beacon lights leading them on the haven of truth. 
 
 The high sense of personal and civic honor and justice as 
 displayed in their private lives and incorporated into their gov- 
 erning codes formed a natural national character upon which 
 the more easily the divine life and spirit of Christ could be en- 
 grafted. 
 
 It would be erroneous to suppose that the heaven born 
 blessings of Christianity were totally unknown and unenjoyed 
 in Ireland before the fifth century. IVhile it is true that the en- 
 tire nation did not come under the beneficient sway of Christ 
 and His church until that period, yet there were Christians 
 found among the Irish from the very earliest Christian days, 
 verifying the saying of Tertullian, that there were localities in 
 the far off British Isles inaccessible to the Eoman arms where 
 Christ found willing subjects. 
 
 While we have ample historical evidences of Christianity 
 in Ireland even in the early ages of the church, at least in indi- 
 vidual cases, and while the number of Christ's true followers 
 had considerably augmented by the beginning of the fifth cen- 
 tury, yet the great body of the people were at that period pa- 
 gans. 
 
 In 431 we find Pope Celestine consecrating a Eoman-dea- 
 
REV. BERNARD S. CONATY 31 
 
 con, by name Palladiiis, and with a band of zealous missionaries 
 sending him "to the Scots" (that is the Irish) "to be their first 
 bishop. ' ' 
 
 After effecting a landing and laboring for a short while in 
 Wicklow such opposition arose that St. Palladius and his band 
 were forced to seek refuge in the land of the Picts, where the 
 holy bishoi3 soon afterwards died. Celestiue, nothing daunted, 
 looked for another who might take up the glorious work of 
 evangelizing the Irish nation and winning it to Christ. The 
 new apostle chosen by the Vicar of Christ was St. Patrick. He 
 was selected to be God's true light bearer to the Irish people. 
 Through his blessed apostolic zeal Pagan Ireland under God's 
 merciful grace soon became Christian Ireland ever to remain. 
 
 It would carry us too far afield to even attempt to consider 
 the details of the marvelous work wrought under God in a few 
 short years by St. Patrick. 
 
 There are characters in the world's history that have so 
 impressed themselves upon their time as to elicit the admira- 
 tion of all the people and of all times. Such is St. Patrick, 
 yet whence came his power of conquest? He had been a lowly 
 slave on the very hilltops of Erin. He gathered not about him 
 the strength of multitudes. He commanded no invading army. 
 He was simply God's annointed sent by the successor of the 
 humble fisherman of Galilee bearing the uplifted cross of 
 Christ and surrounded by a few lowly clerics. 
 
 Boldly he kindled on one of the hill tops the Easter fire in 
 honor of Christ's victory over sin and death. It was this bright 
 light in whose glorious shining the apostle made his triumphal 
 march as a captive of Christ to the very hall of the Kings and 
 the sages there, like Paul at Athens, to win a hearing for his 
 crucified Master. Would we pause here to inquire avIio this 
 Envoy to the Irish nation might be and what were his antece- 
 dents"? 
 
 Like the apostle of England, Augustine, and the Apostle of 
 Germany, Boniface, nothing absolutely definite is known as to 
 the exact locality or even country where St. Patrick was born. 
 The late Cardinal i\roran, a most learned Irish scholar, inclined 
 strongly to the belief that he was born at Dumbarton, in Scot- 
 land. Dr. Langigan, a renowned church historian, with many 
 others, clings to the belief that the apostle saw the light of day 
 in BoulogTie Sur-Mer, in sunny France. In his Confession — a 
 document written by his own hand — we read the following: 
 
 "I, Patrick, a sinner the most unlearned and the last 
 of all the faithful, and held in contempt by very many, had Cal- 
 phurnius, a deacon, for my father, the son of Potitus, who lived 
 
32 THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO IRELAND 
 
 in Bennaven Taberniae. He had close by a small villa, where I 
 was taken captive when I was nearly sixteen years of age." 
 
 Just where Bennaven Taberniae was is a tangle in the skein 
 that neither you nor I can unravel. His captivity was in An- 
 trim in Ireland and lasted six years. These were years of ex- 
 traordinary youthful piety and of consequent jDreparation of 
 heart and mind for his future apostolate. With the burning- 
 love for Christ consuming his very soul he besought the Lord 
 to hasten the day of deliverance from the slavery of paganism 
 of the Irish nation. Once freed he set himself to the task of fit- 
 ting himself to become a missionary of the church of Jesu& 
 Christ among those children of the Gael whose mysterious 
 pleadings for his return among them he strangely heard. 
 
 He received the most careful training under his kinsman, 
 St. Martin of Tours, and in the great monastic schools of Lerius 
 Marmoutier, as well as under the saintly guidance of St. Ger- 
 manus of Auxerre. Such was the high esteem in which St. Ger- 
 manus held the saintly learning and zeal of his beloved pupil, 
 Succat, or Patrick, that he recommended him to Pope Celestine 
 for the Irish missions. As he set out on his journey to Eome 
 Probus tells us that St. Patrick prayed thus : 
 
 ''0, Lord Jesus Christ, lead me, I beseech Thee, to the seat 
 of the holy Eoman Church, that receiving authority to preach 
 with confidence Thy truths, the Irish nation may through my 
 ministry, be gathered to the fold of Christ." 
 
 The four masters write : ' ' St. Patrick was ordained to the 
 Episcopacy by the Holy Pope Celestine the First, who com- 
 missioned him to come to Ireland and preach and give to the 
 Irish the precepts of faith and religion." The period of pre- 
 paration for this glorious missionary work covered a period of 
 over thirty years so that the apostle, according to the best au- 
 thorities, had reached at least sixty years of age when in the 
 autumn of 431 he landed on Ireland. What marvels were 
 wrought during the sixty years of extraordinary apostolate! 
 Peruse the pages of the glorious history of the church and find 
 if you can any parallel record. The north, the east, the west, 
 the south, all the land visited by the intrepid apostle of Christ 
 — clan after clan yields to the mastery of the cross, struggles 
 there were beyond computing, while it is singularly true that 
 the apostolic martyr's blood crimsoned the virgin soil of Erin's 
 church, yet it would be folly to contend that the cause of Christ 
 triumphed without encountering fierce storms. 
 
 Yet what was the spectacle the great apostle beheld be- 
 fore he closed his eyes to the things of earth on that blessed 
 17th of March, 493? When he landed on Ireland, the people,. 
 
REV. BERiNARD S. CONATY 33 
 
 with few exceptions, professing the Holy Koman Catholic faith 
 dotted the fair land everywhere — bishops and priests ordained 
 and settled among all the clans and striving after virtue in its 
 very highest forms — the sowing in a year of a divinely product- 
 ive seed when were germinating already Saints of the most 
 ascetic type. Who can look upon Ireland in this marvelous 
 apostolic period and not recall the early church when all were 
 of one mind and one heart — praising God and giving thanks 
 for the one great blessing of the faith of Jesus Christ? 
 
 To speak of St. Patrick and not to mention St. Bridget 
 (the Mary of Ireland) his spiritual daughter, would be not to 
 complete the story of Ireland's glories in the fifth century. 
 This Irish maid was inspired with burning love of Christ, re- 
 ceiving a snow white habit as a nun. Together with a few other 
 young virgins of Erin, she foimded the first Irish convent at 
 Kildare, and thus began that remarkable religious woman apos- 
 tolate of Ireland, that continues so marvelously the world over 
 to this very day. 
 
 But I must not weary you longer. One thought — It is bor- 
 rowed from that historical incident related in St. Patrick's life. 
 We are told that among the first converts of St. Patrick in Ire- 
 land, was a handsome youth named Benignus. As St. Patrick 
 journeyed to Tara he became exhausted and threw himself up- 
 on the bare ground near the banks of a river. As he slept, Be- 
 nignus, under an impulse of love for the saint, gathered all the 
 fragrant flowers he could and placed them in the bosom of the 
 sleeping saint. St. Patrick awoke, and caught by the innocence 
 and guileless simplicity of the boy, foretold his future sanctity 
 and greatness, and said, * ' He will be the heir of my kingdom. ' ' 
 He did become the successor of St. Patrick in the see of Ar- 
 magh. 
 
 Again it is related that when St. Patrick visited the home 
 of the parents of this boy, Benignus, as the child would rest no 
 more but at the saint's feet, which he tenderly kissed, and how 
 when morning came and the saint rose to depart, Benignus 
 again embraced his feet and with many tears implored permis- 
 sion to follow him, and from that hour he became the companion 
 of the apostle in his labors and triumphs. 
 
 May we in our honest, childlike simplicity of deei) intelli- 
 gent faith, imitate Benignus; gathering flowers to place fre- 
 quently with all our heart's warmest affections upon the bosom 
 of the great saint to whom under God, we are indebted for the 
 pearl without price, our Holy Roman Catholic faith, and may 
 ever seek to sit at His holy feet and accompany Him through 
 life that we may inherit His Kingdom above. — The Catholic 
 Messenger, Worcester, Mass. 
 
2II|^ ^atttta nnh ^rljnkra 
 
 (IRELAiND IN HER GLORY) 
 600—800 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JOHN J. KEATING 
 
 One bright summer day in the latter part of the eighth 
 century, two learned Irish scholars, Clement and Albinus, land- 
 ing in a great seaport city of France, went through the market- 
 place, attracting the attention of the bartering crowd in a very 
 novel way by calling out loudly, "Hear! hear! Whoever wants 
 wisdom let him come to us; for 'tis we that have it to sell!" 
 
 This questionably modest boast, which the great Emj^eror 
 Charlemagne afterwards found to be borne out by the scholarly 
 erudition of the travellers in this particular case, might well 
 have been the advertising copy of all the great Irish schools in 
 those days, had international advertising been so well establish- 
 ed then as now, for the schools that flourished in Erin during 
 the period from the sixth to the ninth centuries, which we are 
 about to consider, have left a glorious record of golden gifts 
 bestowed alike with open-hearted Irish generosity upon all 
 classes of the Irish people and upon the learned world-weary 
 strangers who sought the scholastic quiet of Ireland's saintly 
 shore. Well might the poet sing the praises of those ancient 
 schools : 
 
 ' ' I would the great world grew like thee 
 Who grewest not alone in power 
 And knowledge, but by year and hour 
 In reverence and in charity." 
 
 Reverence for the laws of God and man, reverence for all 
 rightly constituted authority; charity for friend and foe, — these 
 have ever been the ideals in schools under Irish patronage. 
 
Rev. John J. Keating 
 
 Rev. Joliu J. Keating was born December 4, 1879, 
 in Worcester, Mass. A product of Worcester schools, 
 he was graduated from the English High School as 
 orator of the class of 1899. After receiving his degree 
 at Holy Cross College in 1903, he went to Montreal for 
 a year of study in French and philosophy at the Maison 
 de Philosphie, an institution under the direction of the 
 Sulpician Fathers, and affiliated with the Montreal 
 (fraud Seminary. 
 
 In 1904, Father Keating was sent to Belgium by 
 Eight Eeverend Thomas D. Beaven, Bishop of Spring- 
 field, for a three years' course in theology at the Ameri- 
 can College, one of the many institutions of the Univer- 
 sity of Louvain. In 1906, a Gaelic Class was organized 
 with headquarters at the American College, and Father 
 Keating was among those enrolled. Father Keating- 
 was ordained a priest in Louvain, July 14, 1907. He is 
 now assistant to the Eev. William H. Goggin, LL. D., 
 in St. Paul's Parish, Worcester, Mass. 
 

 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 35 
 
 Religion played a leading part in their origin and devel- 
 opment, as nearly all the great schools of this period were ec- 
 -clesiastical. Such, for example, were those founded even before 
 the seventh century by St. Benignus at Kilbennan, St. Mel at 
 Ardagh, St. Ciaran at Clonmacnoise, St. Ibar in Ulster, St. De- 
 clan at Ardmore, St. Ida at Killeedy, and St. Bridgid in Kil- 
 dare, where St. Finnen taught and preached before he founded 
 Clonard. Many of the masters are numbered among the Irish 
 saints, some of whom undoubtedly received popular rather than 
 formal canonization. The most learned scholars of the day ap- 
 plied themselv>es to the study and teaching of the Gospel and 
 their auditors were both clergy and laymen. 
 
 The curriculum of these early Christian schools did not, 
 however, stop short with theology and scripture. While we may 
 point with pride to the theological attainments of great Irish 
 minds of this period like Sedulius and Donatus who taught in 
 Italy, we must also remember that literature and the fine arts 
 were not forgotten. Music was cultivated by scholars and peo- 
 ple; psalmody in the schools and traditional tunes among the 
 layfolk. The Irish scholars seem also to have been in demand 
 as teachers of music. In the seventh century, Gertrude, the 
 daughter of Pepin, engaged Saints Foillan and Ultan, brothers 
 of Irish St. Fursa of Perrone, to teach psalmody to the religious 
 of her convent at Nivelle in France. In Charlemagne 's time, the 
 cloister schools of St. Gall with their Irish monks were famous 
 for their teaching of Gregorian music. In the latter half of the 
 ninth century, the same schools, under the direction of Maen- 
 gal, an Irishman, acquired a high reputation for music studies 
 and later produced Notker Balbulus, one of the most celebrated 
 of mediaeval musicians. 
 
 The classical languages were taught in most of the schools^ 
 ■^ * The Renaissance, ' ' says Darmesteter, ' ' began in Ireland seven 
 hundred years before it was known in Italy." At a period 
 when so learned a man as Gregory the Great had little or no 
 knowledge of the Greek classics, Ireland had such men as Col- 
 umbanus, born in the year 543, of whom the great French phil- 
 ologist, Arbois de Jubainville, says: ''It is sufficient to glance 
 at his writings immediately to recognize his marvelous super- 
 iority over Gregory of Tours and the Gallo-Romans of his time. 
 He lived in close converse with the classical authors " Such 
 was the passion of Irish students for Greek that they often 
 transcribed the Latin of the Scriptures in Greek characters. It 
 was the classical culture of the ninth century that made possible 
 the scholarship of the Irishman, John Scotus Erigena, the most 
 learned man of his day in Europe, and the only scholar in Paris 
 
3€ THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS 
 
 who was able to translate the Greek writings of the pseudo- 
 Dionysius. 
 
 Geography and history were taught in Gaelic poetry. There 
 is extant an interesting geographic poem in Irish written by 
 one of the teachers of the school of Eoss in Northwest Munster 
 in the tenth century. It was intended to be learned by heart,- 
 and the poetry is probably better than the geography judged 
 by present day standards. The ' ' Navigatio Brendani, ' ' a man- 
 uscript which relates the adventures of St. Brendan during his 
 seven years' voyage in the Atlantic, is a writing that attracted 
 much attention on the part of the mediaeval scholars. Manu- 
 script copies of the work are found in Paris, Leipzig and the 
 Vatican Library dating variously from the ninth to the thir- 
 teenth centur}^ Brendan was one of the "Twelve Apostles of 
 Ireland." He founded the famous Irish School of Clonfert on 
 the Shannon about 556, and is said to have made the seven 
 years' voyage in three vessels, carrying one hundred twen- 
 ty men, who set out to find the Beautiful Island of the Western 
 Sea, spoken of in old pagan traditions. It has been claimed by 
 some that he discovered America, but the claim must be ranked 
 with other improbable geographic legends of pre-Columbian 
 discoveries of our continent. 
 
 The history of Ireland had been preserved for the Christ- 
 ian schools by the bards, who, from the earliest days, had sung 
 the name and fame of their kings or chieftans. The writings 
 of the monks added to these records the lives of the Irish and 
 foreign saints. 
 
 Calligraphy, the art of making beautifully decorated man- 
 uscripts, was highly cultivated in the Irish monasteries from the 
 time of Columba. Hundreds of monks were occupied day by 
 day in the work of transcribing the Holy Scriptures as well as 
 the teachings of the Early Fathers of the Church and in writing 
 the lives of the saints. Copies of these works were dispersed 
 throughout Europe by monks who came from England and the 
 Continent to borrow the priceless parchments or to make copies 
 for their own monastic libraries. Nor were the Greek and Latin 
 authors slighted by the calligraphers. Beautifully illuminated 
 manuscripts of these classics were reproduced, sometimes with 
 a commentary in Irish, like that priceless copy of Horace which 
 modern research has discovered in the library of Berne. The 
 greatest archeologists and philologists of modern times, like 
 Zeuss, Keller and Beeves, have studied, admired and quoted 
 the Irish manuscripts that are found in Continental and Anglo- 
 Saxon libraries. Jubainville states that one thousand nine 
 Gaelic manuscripts copied before the year 1600, are found iu 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING W' 
 
 Continental and British libraries, not counting those in private 
 collections nor those destroyed. The vastness of the destruction 
 may be surmised from the fact that the School of Clonard alone 
 was plundered and destroyed twelve times and burnt, either 
 wholly or in part, fourteen times. What must have been the 
 destruction of valuable documents in this case alone! Douglas 
 Hyde quotes a German authority as estimating that the liter- 
 ature of Irish production before the year 1600 would fill one 
 thousand octavo volumes, — law, medicine and science being 
 therein comprised. 
 
 Shall we s^y that these schools had elective courses'? In 
 the sense of "snap courses," they had none; but there were 
 certain men who specialized in some particular branch. One 
 of these was Dungal, the Astronomer, who elicited the admira- 
 tion of Charlemagne in the early part of the ninth century, by 
 addressing a treatise on the solar eclipse to that famous patron 
 of learning who had already put our old friends Clement and 
 Albinus in charge of two of his seminaries. Many of the early 
 saints, like Bishop Fortchern, were skilled artificers in bronze 
 and metal. In fact, so much is to be said of the arts of calli- 
 graphy, carving, metallurgy and architecture, that a complete 
 lecture on the subject has been arranged for in this series. 
 
 The prime purpose of the monastic schools was to prepare 
 men for the priesthood; consequently Holy Scripture and theol- 
 ogy were the principal studies. As a foundation for deeper 
 study, they had to learn all the psalms by heart. Reciting these, 
 day by day in choir, and meditating upon their beauties as ex- 
 pounded by the learned fathers of the monastery, the Irish 
 monks came to a knowledge and understanding of the Sacred 
 Scriptures that could not be attained by mere technical exe- 
 gesis. Their eighth and ninth century manuscripts of the New 
 Testament, "covered with Irish glosses, and Irish poems and 
 Irish notes," says Prof. Stokes, "have engaged the attention 
 of paleographers and students of the Greek texts for the last 
 two centuries." They form the basis of Dr. Eeeves' assertion 
 that the Irish school of this time ' ' was unquestionably the most 
 advanced of its day in Sacred Literature. ' ' 
 
 We cannot too strongly emphasize the fact that lessons 
 were conducted in the Gaelic tongue during the sixth century, 
 when in no other country of Europe had the vernacular been 
 sufficiently cultivated to be a suitable medium for literary and 
 scientific instruction. Remember that Ceadmon, the Anglo- 
 Saxon poet whose name is associated with our earliest English 
 literature, belonged to a monastery that was not founded till 
 657; Dante, the morning star of Italian literature, will not shine 
 
3-8- THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS 
 
 forth till the end of the thirteenth century ; Chaucer is not born 
 till 1340; yet, in the sixth century, Ireland is thronged with 
 scholars who come to hear her learning poured forth in the 
 Irish tongue. All the early saints and masters had been educat- 
 ed from boyhood in the Gaelic, and the most distinguished 
 teachers were at the same time poets who wrote in Gaelic. 
 
 The scope of the great monastic schools of the sixth and 
 especially of the seventh century was broad enough to meet 
 the wants of the layman who desired to become an ollamh or 
 master in literature, architecture, law, history or medicine. 
 This fact explains the recorded accounts of the large number of 
 lay students who joined with the clergy in seeking wisdom. 
 Thus we have record of 3000 monks and students at one time in 
 the sixth century, attending the School of Bangor in Ulster and 
 living under the rule of St. Comgall; and in Cork, Eoss-Ailithir, 
 *Hhe wood of the pigeons," received its name from the throng 
 of students that flocked hither, while Emiligh under St. Ailbhi 
 had so many students about the year 740, in the reign of Cathal 
 (i. e. Cahill) McFinguine, that 'Hhey were forced to live in huts 
 in the neighboring fields." Indeed it may be safely said that 
 the students of many Irish schools in the sixth century and for 
 some time after found lodging in individual tent-like houses or 
 huts constructed somewhere in the vicinity of the master's cell 
 or oratory. Even the great monastic schools of a much later 
 date were not at all like the mediaeval monastic settlement, 
 * ' a noble pile of buildings with stately church rising in the cen- 
 ter surrounded by beautiful cloisters, doimitories and kitchen," 
 — the cottages of the villagers clustered close to the protecting 
 monastery walls. Some authorities say that stone buildings 
 were not at all common in Ireland even in the seventh century, 
 and that the majority of the churches were built of wood, al- 
 though there are some few stone churches that date from the 
 sixth century. But there was no need of college buildings such 
 as libraries, laboratories and gymnasia. The instruction in the 
 sixth century Irish school was chiefly oral. There were no 
 books and the manuscripts were but few and highly prized. In- 
 struction was often given in the open air, the preceptor taking 
 his stand on the summit of a hill, his auditors seated round on 
 its slopes — thus hundreds and even thousands could be accom- 
 modated. 
 
 Many of the students were transients, travelling from 
 school to school, and getting their food and lodging from the 
 country folk in return for entertainment. Many's the bit of his- 
 tory and folk-lore was passed on from generation to generation 
 through these travelling scholars. Those who stayed on at the 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 39 
 
 school throughout the year built their own huts, planted, herd- 
 ed the cattle or ground corn at the quern between study periods. 
 Many a saint intending to spend his life in solitude soon found 
 his cell in the wilderness surrounded by the huts of scholars 
 brought hither through the fame of his learning to become his 
 disciples. 
 
 The sons of gentlemen were trained by their tutors in horse- 
 manship, chess, swimming and the use of the spear. Football 
 and polo were not yet developed, but there was plenty of athlet- 
 ic exercise even in the comparatively peaceful days of the sev- 
 enth and eighth centuries. Parties of noble youth would some- 
 times leave the school and ride away into the neighboring 
 countryside to chastize someone who had insulted or injured 
 some member of the clan. Thus we read of Prince Cathal (Ca- 
 hill), the second son of the king of Connacht, leaving Clonard 
 in the year 645 at the head of a party of twenty-seven students of 
 his own people to avenge the murder of his father. The monks 
 themselves, when occasion demanded, could lay aside books for 
 bucklers and were not at all averse to taking part with their 
 students and clansmen in whatever battle was waging for the 
 honor of the clan. So, peaceful as the seventh and eighth cen- 
 turies were, no student or warrior need die of ennui if he pre- 
 ferred to die of a spearwound. It was only in the year 697 that 
 Adamnan, the tenth abbot of lona, secured the passage of the 
 Law of the Innocents, forbidding women to enter battle. 
 
 How tame and peurile are the college rivalries of modern 
 days, when we read that in the eighth century two hundred men 
 of the school of Darrow perished in a battle with the neighbor- 
 ing scholars of Clonmacnoise; and the old annalists record that 
 eight hundred monks took part in a battle that was fought in 
 the year 816. 
 
 A passage from the Brehon laws leads us to surmise that 
 there may have been quite a few ''gayboys" among the college 
 students even in those days. The law relates to the wearing of 
 brooch-pins, and you members of the legislature will observe 
 that there is nothing original in the new hatpin law which our 
 gallant guardians of the peace permit to be ^'more honored in 
 the breach than in the observance;" for what do we find the 
 farsighted lawyers on ancient Erin setting forth in the sixth 
 century law code but the following: ^'Men are guiltless of pins 
 worn upon their shoulders, provided they do not project too 
 far; but if they should, the case is to be adjudged by the crimin- 
 al law. ' ' Now what sweet consolation to any twentieth century 
 lady who has ever been informed by a hyper-observant member 
 of the traffic squad that the Damascus blades of her headgear 
 
iOk THE SAINTS AND SCHOLiARS 
 
 are unsheathed! We trust that the women of that day took 
 exceptional care to see that the law was enforced — on the men. 
 
 At the Feis of Drom Ceata in 575, the laws and the general 
 system of education were revised so as to conform more closely 
 to the Christian standards set forth by St. Columba (Colum- 
 cille) and one hundred twenty of his monks whom King Aedh 
 (i. e. Hugh) had called from the island monastery of lona to 
 participate in the discussion. A feis in those days was a gen- 
 eral council, and the great question of the Feis of Drom Ceata 
 was the fate of the bards. The bardic schools were distinct 
 from the monastic and far more ancient than Christianity itself 
 in Ireland; but the bards had deteriorated and finally had be- 
 come a crowd of educated vagabonds and a heart-scald to the 
 country. So thought King Aedh and he had fully determined to 
 suppress them and to revoke their ancient privileges; but the 
 bards' cause was championed by St. Columba before whose im- 
 passioned eloquence the king and his advisers were forced to 
 retreat. 
 
 The deliberations of the Feis resulted in the formation of 
 a new system of schools intended to dit^use the learning of the 
 bards throughout the kingdom. Twenty bishops, forty priests, 
 besides Columba 's retinue, thirty deacons, a multitude of other 
 clerics, a vast throng of bards and many nobles were at hand 
 to be heard from and to offer suggestions. Not mine to picture 
 that flow of eloquence! But, after some months, special oUamhs 
 of teaching or doctors of literature were assigned to the mon- 
 arch, the provincial kings, and to the chiefs and lords of terri- 
 tory. To each ollamh they granted free lands and inviolability 
 of person. The Royal Poet Eochaidh, who afterwards wrote 
 the ''Elegy on the Death of Columba," was appointed head of 
 the system; and, assigned to the different provinces as super- 
 visors were Aedh or Hugh the Poet for Meath, Urmael for 
 Munster, Seanchan (i. e. Slianahan) MacCuairfertaigh for Con- 
 nacht and Ferfirb MacMuiredhaigh (Murray) for Ulster. En- 
 dowments were also placed at the disposal of the ollamhs or 
 masters to afford gratuitous education to those men of Erin 
 who desired to become learned. Who says, then, that the Irish 
 hadn't college scholarships in the sixth century? Moreover, at 
 lay schools, where several pupils lodged at the master's house, 
 the sons of the tenant class waited on the sons of the gentry, 
 receiving tuition and maintenance. So, waiting on college ta- 
 ble for tuition is a tradition of early Irish college days. ^ 
 
 An extract from one of the law manuscripts in Trinity Col- 
 lege, Dublin, will show the relations established by law between 
 teacher and pupil. ''The union," says the legal writer, "which 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 41 
 
 is recognized between the pupil and the tutor, or instructing 
 father, as he is called, is this: the tutor bestowed instruction 
 without reservation and correction without violence upon the 
 pupil; and he supplied him with food and clothing as long as 
 he continued to pursue his legitimate studies if he did not re- 
 ceive them from anyone else." The pupil, on his part, was 
 legally bound to assist or relieve his tutor in case he was needy 
 in his old age. The tutor was entitled to the profits arising 
 from literary or other work of the pupil during his time of 
 schooling, and to the first fees of the ollamh's professional 
 career. 
 
 An interesting reference to these filial duties is found in a 
 text of Aengus the Culdee, dating from the early part of the 
 ninth century. As explained by a very ancient scholist, it gives 
 a pleasing instance of kindly obedience to the law, bidding pu- 
 pils cherish the old age of their instructors. Maelruan (Mul- 
 rooney) of Tallaght near Dublin, had been the master of Aengus 
 who thus alludes to the tender care lavished on the aged mas- 
 ter by his former pupils: 
 
 ^'Maelruan, after our nursing him, 
 
 The shining sun of Meatli 's southern border, 
 
 At his undefiled sepulchre 
 
 The wounds of all hearts are healed. ' ' 
 
 Here is an extract from the Brehon Law showing the in- 
 demnity of the master for damage done by his charges: ''The 
 poet commands his pupils. The man from whom education is 
 received is free from the crimes of his pupils if they be children 
 of natives, even though he feeds and clothes them and that they 
 pay him for his learning. He is free, even though it be a 
 stranger that he instructs, feeds and clothes, provided it is for 
 God that he does it. If he feeds and instructs a stranger for 
 pay, it is then that he is accountable for his crimes.'' That's 
 what you may call a "law of hospitality!" 
 
 This warm Irish hospitality was appreciated and accept- 
 ed. ' ' For three centuries, Ireland was the asylum of the higher 
 learning which took sanctuary there from the uncultured states 
 of Europe. At one time, the religious capital of Christian Ire- 
 land was the metropolis of civilization. ' ' The quotation is from 
 Hyde's Literary History of Ireland. The Litany of Aengus the 
 Culdee invokes the name of many a saintly and scholarly 
 stranger who had come to Erin's classic shore to find such peace 
 as Dante sought within the cloister of Era Hilario. Romans, 
 *Gauls, Germans and Britons find mention in this document, and 
 
42 THE SAINTS AiND SCHOLARS 
 
 even Egyptian monks, of whom seven are listed. The greatest 
 number of foreign students came from Great Britain. They 
 came in '^ fleet-loads," according to a letter written about the 
 year 705 by Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne to Eadfrid, Bishop 
 of Lindisfarne. The Venerable Bede, himself an English priest, 
 tells us that the scholars of his country went over to Ireland in 
 great number in the year 664, the time of the great i^lague, and 
 were warmly received by the Irish, who provided them with 
 food and gratuitous education. 
 
 In the ninth century we find Alcuin sending letters from 
 the court of Charlemagne to his friends at the school of Clon- 
 macnoise. Dagobert II, King of France, spent eighteen or twen- 
 ty years of his youth in the School of Slane in Meath, near the 
 residence of the high kings of Ireland. The English prince, 
 Albert of Northumbria, was educated in Erin, and Aldhelm 
 the Abbot of Malmesbury, expressed the sentiment of other 
 English scholars when, in a Latin epistle, he congratulated the 
 king on his good fortune in obtaining an Irish education. The 
 same Aldhelm is also authority for the statement that the Eng- 
 lish scholars were swarming like bees to the Irish schools, while 
 the great school of Canterbury was far from overcrowded. King 
 Aldfrid, when leaving Ireland, composed the following poem: 
 
 ''I found in Inisfail the Fair 
 In Ireland, while in exile there. 
 Women of worth, both grave and gay men. 
 Learned clerics, heroic laymen. 
 
 I travelled its fruitful provinces round, 
 And in every one of the five I found. 
 Alike in church and palace hall 
 Abundant apparel and food for all." 
 
 St. Willibrord, a noble Saxon educated in Ireland, became 
 the Archbishop of LTtrecht. Agilbert, a Frank by birth, became 
 Bishop of Paris after his studies in Ireland. And now, just a 
 little pedagogical touch before we come to speak of Columba. 
 
 The Irish schoolmaster has always been a firm believer in 
 the efficacy of corporal punishment as a balm to the feelings of 
 both master and pupil. From the days when the saints them- 
 selves were teachers down to the days of the hedge schoolmas- 
 ter who made some of our more proximate ancestors smart, the 
 sentiment of Irish instructors has been thoroughly in accord 
 with the latest findings of a great pedagogical authority as re- 
 cently made known to the teachers at their convention in Chi- 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 43 
 
 cago. It might be given to the pedagogical world as the an- 
 cient golden precept of Irish school discipline: Swat while 
 your ire is hot! 
 
 An application of said rule and an illustration of its bene- 
 ficent results comes to hand in the story of St. Baothin. When 
 this young scion of a noble race, — for in truth he was a nephew 
 of St. Columba, — was studying in the school of St. Colman Ela, 
 his voluntary dullness so tried the patience of the saint that one 
 day the latter without word or warning suddenly smote the 
 young blockhead hard upon the jowl and was endeavoring to 
 make even more of an impression, when Baothin, taking the 
 first blow for marching orders, quickly hied him to the 
 neighboring woods. There he became interested in the work of 
 a man who was building a house by weaving rods one after 
 another between posts that had been set up in the ground. 
 Baothin moralized on the manner in which the house was rising 
 slowly but surely through the rods being woven in one by one, 
 and thought how he, too, might have built the edifice of learn- 
 ing had he but applied himself to the work. Came a rain storm, 
 and the Desolate Baothin, standing in the shelter of an oak 
 tree, observed the rain, falling drop by drop from one leaf upon 
 a particular spot, and pressing his heel upon this spot he made 
 a hollow which soon filled up by the constant dripping of the 
 rain. Then he spoke this lay: 
 
 ''Of drops a pond is filled, 
 
 Of rods a house is built ; 
 
 The house which is favored of God, 
 
 More and more numerous will be its family. 
 
 ''Had I attended to my own lessons 
 At all times and in all places. 
 Though small my progress at a time. 
 Still I would acquire sufficient learning. 
 
 "It is the single rod which the man cuts 
 And which he weaves upon his house: 
 The house rises pleasantly, 
 Though singly he sets the rod. 
 
 ' ' The hollow which my heel hath made, 
 Be thanks to God and St. Colman, 
 Is filled in every shower by the single drop; 
 The single drop becomes the pool. 
 
44- THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS 
 
 "I make a vow that while I live 
 
 I will not henceforth my lessons abandon; 
 
 Whatever the difficulty may be to me, 
 
 It is cultivating learning I shall always be," 
 
 We may well suppose that the poem, and especially the 
 resolution, restored the youthful Baothin to the good graces of 
 St. Colman; and we have convincing evidence that the resolu- 
 tion was kept, for when the great abbot and founder of lona 
 was laid to rest, it was Baothin who became head master of the 
 school and abbot in his stead. 
 
 The greatest man of this period, and probably the great- 
 est Irishman known to history, is St. Columcille, or Columba. 
 Unlike St. Patrick, he was an Irishman, born in Garten, County 
 Donegal, Dec. 7, 521. He was of royal blood, being a descendant 
 of Niall of the Nine Hostages, that restless warrior king of Ire- 
 land who ravaged Britain in the fourth century. Columba was 
 a poet, a statesman, a warrior and a great missionary saint. 
 * ' His name, ' ' says Healey, ' ' is dear to every child of the Scotic 
 race in Erin and in Alba, — and, what is stranger still, monk and 
 priest though he was, his memory is cherished" by Catholic 
 and Protestant alike. In his youth he was sent to the monastic 
 school at Moville, for Ireland, since the death of Patrick some 
 half century previous, had produced a large number of such 
 small colleges. Here he stayed imtil ordained deacon; then went 
 to study in Leinster under the bard Gemman, and hence to 
 Clonard to St. Finnian, who had studied in Wales and who 
 taught Columba the traditions of the Welsh church. 
 
 Clonard was a famous school in Columba 's day. It had 
 been founded by St. Finnian about 520, the fact being com- 
 memorated in the breviary on St. Finnian 's feast by an old Lat- 
 in hymn whose jingling metre would fit it perfectly to the tune 
 of one of our popular patriotic songs, — 
 
 "Reversus in Clonardiam 
 Ad cathedram lecturae 
 Apponit diligentiam 
 Ad studium scripturae," 
 
 Finnian is rightly called the ''Tutor of the Irish Saints." 
 From his school came the Twelve Apostles of Ireland: Ciaran 
 of Clonmacnoise and Ciarn of Saigher; Brendan of Birr, "the 
 Prophet," and Brendan of Clonfert, "the Navigator;" Columba 
 of the Churches, i. e. Colum-cille of whom we are speaking, and 
 Columba of Tir-da-Glas; Mobhi of Glasnevin and Rodan of 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 45 
 
 Lorrha; Senanus of Inniseatliy, Ninnidh of Lock Erne, Lasser- 
 ian and finally St. Cainnech of Kilkenny, known in Scotland as 
 St. Kenneth. It was men of this type that Columba met at Clon- 
 ard, engaged in study, labor, prayer and fasting. It is related 
 that one day Finnian said to his beloved disciple Senachus, * ' Go 
 and see what each of my disciples is doing at this moment." 
 Senachus went on his errand and found them all busy at their 
 various tasks. ''Some were engaged in manual labor," says 
 the ancient manuscript, ' ' some were studying the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, and others, especially Columba of Tir-da-Glas, he found 
 engaged in prayer with his hands stretched out to heaven and 
 the birds came and alighted on his shoulders. ''He it is," said 
 Finnian, "who shall offer up the Holy Sacrifice for me at the 
 hour of my death, "^ — for his, it seems, was pre-eminently the 
 spirit of holy prayer and meekness. 
 
 Leaving Clonard, Columba went to the school of Mobhi at 
 Glasnevin near Dublin, where some fifty students were at work. 
 Driven thence by the plague, he went northward to the home of 
 his cousin, the Prince of Aileach, near Derry. The Prince of- 
 fered him the so-called Island of Derry, a rising plot of ground 
 of oval shape, covering some two hundred acres, along the- 
 slopes of which flourished a splendid forest of oak trees, giving 
 the place its name of Derry or the Oak Grove. This grove was 
 a perpetual joy to Columba, who was a great lover of the beau- 
 tiful in nature. He changed the intended position of his church 
 when he found that some of the trees must be felled if the orig- 
 inal plan of placement were carried out. He gave strict orders 
 that his successor should spare the lovely grove and that if any 
 of the trees should be blown down, part of the wood should be 
 stored as fuel for their own guest-house and the rest be given 
 to the poor. 
 
 Years after, on the desolate island of lona, Columba re- 
 called the peaceful, happy days spent at this, the first monas- 
 tery of his founding, and wrote the poem on Derry: 
 
 "That spot is the dearest on Erin's ground 
 For the treasures that peace and that purity lend, 
 For the hosts of bright angels that circle it round 
 Protecting its border from end to end. 
 
 "My Derry, my Derry, my little oak grove. 
 My dwelling, my home and my own little cell, 
 May God the Eternal in Heaven above 
 Send death to thy foes and defend thee well. ' ' 
 
4 6 THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS 
 
 Columba was only twenty-five when he founded Derry. 
 Within the next seventeen years he established the still more 
 celebrated schools of Durrow in King's County and Kells in 
 JMeath. A description of him at this time is given by an an- 
 <;ient writer who says he was "a man well formed with power- 
 ful frame; his skin was white; his face was broad and fair and 
 radiant, lit up with large, gray, luminous eyes; his large and 
 well shaped head was crowned with close and curling hair, ex- 
 cept where he wore his frontal tonsure. His voice was sweet 
 with the sweetness of the bards, clear and resonant so that he 
 could be heard at 1500 paces ' ' — what would be his record with 
 a modern megaphone! In temijerament he was quick and 
 passionate. His activity was wonderful. ' ' Not a single hour of 
 the day, ' ' says Adamnan, * ' did he leave unoccupied without en- 
 gaging in prayer or in reading or in writing or in some other 
 work." He took jDart in the manual labor of the monastery, 
 cooking or looking after his ploughmen. He was an unwearied 
 scribe and poetry was his delight. His followers were ever oc- 
 cupied in transcribing his literary works, and we read in his 
 Irish life that he himself wrote "three hundred gifted, lasting, 
 illuminated, noble books." 
 
 Scotland became the home of Columba in 563. His motive 
 in leaving his native Ireland is given by his ninth century suc- 
 cessor and most noted biographer, Adamnan, as "the desire to 
 carry the Gospel to a pagan nation and to win souls to God." 
 Other authorities enter into more detail and declare with con- 
 siderable probability that Columba was carrying out a severe 
 penance imposed on him by his confessor, St. Molaise: to leave 
 Ireland and preach the gospel so as to win for Christ as many 
 souls as had perished in the battle of Cooldrevney, where Col- 
 umba 's clansmen the NeilPs, supported by his prayers and in- 
 cited by his counsels, had defeated the warriors of King Diar- 
 mait in the year 561. With twelve companions Columba crossed 
 the sea in a currach of wickerwork covered with hides, and land- 
 ed on the barren, craggy island of lona on the eve of Pentecost, 
 May 12, 563. For the next 600 years lona was virtually an Irish 
 island occupied by Irish monks and scholars. As soon as Co- 
 lumba and his followers had built their monastery, they went 
 forth to preach Christianity to the Northern Picts. Many me- 
 morials of their saintly work are found in Northern Scotland, 
 the Great Glen and the country to the eastward into Aberdeen- 
 shire. Montalembert 's "Monks of the West" furnishes a 
 wealth of information on Columba 's missionary work. His 
 feast is kept in Scotland on the ninth of June, for Holy Mother 
 Church observes the feast day of a saint not on the date of his 
 
REV. JOHN J. KEATING 47 
 
 birth, which marks his entrance into "this vale of tears," but 
 on the date of his death, which marks the triumphal ending of 
 his time of probation. 
 
 On the eve of his death, which occurred in 597, he was en- 
 gaged in the work of transcription. Earlier in the day he had 
 viewed the gardens and buildings of the monastery in com- 
 pany with Diarmait, his attendant; he had blessed the work of 
 his followers for the last time and was returning from the barn 
 to the monastery when he was overcome with fatigue and sat 
 down by the roadside to rest. And the chronicler tells us that 
 " as he sat there resting his aged limbs, the old white horse that 
 used to carry the milkpails from the byre to the monastery 
 came up and put his head on the saint's shoulder as if the ani- 
 mal knew that his master was to leave him. The saint, deeply 
 moved, blessed the poor, faithful horse and said, 'It is God that 
 has made known to him through instinct that he will see me no 
 more. ' ' ' Entering the cloister he went directly to his cell and 
 sat there copying the Psaltery. But as soon as he came to the 
 eleventh verse of the thirty-third psalm in the Vulgate, where 
 it is written : ' ' Inquirentes autem Dominum non deficient omni 
 bono, ' ' he laid down the pen and said, * ' Here I must stop ; Boa- 
 thin will write the rest. ' ' At the midnight hour, when the bell 
 for matins summoned the monks to chapel, they found their dy- 
 ing abbot prostrate in prayer before the altar; they raised him 
 gently, and in a few moments he expired in the arms of his com- 
 panion Diarmait, breathing blessings on lona and his disciples. 
 
 The best history of Columba's life is the Latin one written 
 by Adamnan, his ninth successor in the abbacy of lona. "It 
 is, ' ' says Pinkerton, ' ' the most complete piece of such biography 
 that all Europe can boast, not only at so early a period, but even 
 through the whole Middle Ages." This admirable work has 
 been preserved to us through the scholarship and research of 
 Stephen White, a learned Irish Jesuit Father of the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 lona became a celebrated shrine. Kings and princes come 
 hither on pilgrimages as Columba has foretold. Niall Frassach 
 gave up his crown, took the pilgrim's staff and died at lona in 
 778. Artgal, son of Cathal, King of Connaught, camo here to 
 "make his soul" in 791; and many princes of the Picts and 
 Saxons did the same in later years. 
 
 The spiritual linage of Columba numbers one hundred 
 twelve saints. Would that time permitted us to enter into an 
 account of some of these great lives, — the martyr St. Blaith- 
 mac, the exegesist Marianus Scotus, Flathbhertach O'Brol- 
 chain of Derry, St. Comgall of Bangor, St. Columbanus, St. Mai- 
 
48 THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS 
 
 achy, and Dungall, the theologian, astronomer and poet, would 
 well repay our study. From the School of Cork we should take 
 St. Finbar; St. Fintan and Aengus the Culdee, from the School 
 of Clonenagh; St. Kevin and St. Moling from Glendalough; Sts. 
 Colman and Gerald from the School of Mayo ; St. Jarlath from 
 Tuam; St. Nessan from Mungret, St. Cronan from Koscrea and 
 St. Coimin from the School of Inniscaltra. 
 
 The Irish scholars abroad in this period would furnish an- 
 other interesting and illuminating chapter, from Virgilius,. 
 Archbishop of Salzburg, to Sedulius the theologian in Italy. 
 For an account of these, we refer the student to Healy's valua- 
 ble work, ** Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars." 
 
 It would be unpardonable to close this sketch without sum- 
 marizing the work of the great Irish missionaries of the period. 
 Their highest compliment and the most unprejudiced estimate 
 of their work comes from the populace of those nations to whom 
 they devoted their lives. Let us present it on the authority of 
 the scholarly Stephen White, S. J. *'The nations they con- 
 verted, edified and civilized have placed upon the altars of the 
 churches where they labored 150 of these saints, of whom 36 
 were martyrs, in Germany; 45, of whom 6 were martyrs, in 
 Gaul ; 30 in Belgium ; 13 in Italy ; 8, all martyrs, in Norway and 
 Iceland ; ' ' and Montalembert quotes an ancient writer enumerat- 
 ing the monasteries founded by Irish monks on foreign soil as 
 13 in Scotland, 12 in England, 7 in France, 12 in America, 7 in 
 Lorraine, 10 in Alsatia, 16 in Bavaria, 15 in Ehetia, Helvetia 
 and Allemania; — there were many in Thuringia and the left 
 bank of the lower Ehine, and finally 6 in Italy. 
 
 For a profound study of this important period, scholars 
 may be referred to 'Curry's Manuscript Material for Ireland's 
 Ancient History, La Revue Celtique, and the recent articles of 
 Morris in Irish periodicals; for the general reader there is a 
 long list of interesting works to be had in our own excellent 
 public library; and for all of us who are proud of our Irish 
 blood, the i^resent very imperfect survey will amply vindicate 
 the claim of Ireland to that title which she received centuries 
 ago from the learned men of the world: *' Insula Sanctorum 
 et Doctorum," — "Island of the Saints and Scholars." — The 
 Catholic Messenger, Worcester, Mass. 
 
Thomas E. McEvoy, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Thomas E. McEvoy is a native of Hopkinton, 
 Mass., and was born July 27, 1859, son of Patrick Mc- 
 Evoy and Mary (Daw) McEvoy. He attended the 
 grammar schools and was prepared for college at Phil- 
 i])s Exeter Academy, from which he was graduated in 
 1886. He entered Yale College, graduating in 1890, 
 and was graduated from Yale Medical School in 1892. 
 
 Dr. McEvoy is a member of the Massachusetts 
 Medical Society. In 1896 he served as a member of 
 the School Committee, Worcester, Mass. He joined 
 Division 1, A. 0. H., of Worcester, in 1896, and for 
 twelve years was physician for the Division. June 12, 
 1900, Dr. McEvoy was married to Mary Spencer 'Day, 
 daughter of James and Margaret Spencer of Worces- 
 ter. 
 
yC^-</ ^. M^(t.^ %o 
 
 
®I|^ g^truggb Mitlj tlj^ ian^s 
 
 800 — 1169 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 
 
 The period of Irish History that falls within the beginning 
 of the ninth and the middle of the twelfth century is, perhaps, 
 the most fruitful for study than that of any other period of the 
 annals of Ireland. For, up to this time, our Irish people with 
 slight or no influence from without met those problems, incident 
 to the development of a people from barbarism to a position of 
 the most enlightened of the known world, and solved those 
 problems in such a manner as to leave its impress upon the 
 character of our people, which impress can be discerned in our 
 time, though at an interval of one thousand years. 
 
 Ireland at the beginning of the ninth century had an es- 
 tablished form of government, excelled in her institutions of 
 learning, eminent in art, law, illumination of manuscripts, metal 
 working, music, while a most commendable attempt in a native 
 school of architecture, assiduously developed during this peri- 
 od which we are considering, to a beautiful promise is very evi- 
 dent from the few but inspiring examples of the so-called IRISH 
 ROMANESQUE style of architecture. It was during this period 
 that Ireland furnished that famous scholar, the most learned 
 man of his time, John Scotus Erigena, who is considered to 
 have founded an Irish School of Philosophy. It was during 
 this period, furthermore, that Ireland's fame as the land of 
 saints and scholars was spread broadcast through all Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 What was the rest of Europe occupied with at this time? 
 Charlemagne had just secured the Western Empire for himself, 
 an achievement made possible by Charlemagne's grandfather, 
 Charles Martel, with his Catholic Christian army, who, in 732, 
 at Poitiers, checked the hitherto onward march of Moslemism 
 
50 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 and saved Europe from oriental civilization. Ever since the 
 fall of Eome, in the latter part of the fifth century, until the 
 commencement of the ninth, the continent of Europe knew no 
 uniform system of government and, consequently, disorganiza- 
 tion of society took place. Christianity's problem became not 
 to teach the word of God only, but it had to teach husbandr}", 
 agriculture, secular learning and special sciences, as medicine, 
 and to inspire the great barbarian host to unite and to repel 
 Moslemism, at the same time to accept the teachings of Christ 
 as the foundation of their social fabric. Into this work, with 
 exceptionally well equij^ped missionaries, Ireland pushed with 
 such zeal a.^d energy that it is well within the truth to main- 
 tain that Ireland's influence was the breakwater that walled 
 off the threatened inundation of paganism and saved for Europo 
 the Christian civilization which we all now enjoy. 
 
 Before leaving this cursory review of conditions in other 
 lands than Ireland, a word about the neighbor, England, across 
 the channel, may not be out of place. England's plight was 
 worse than that of the continent. Charlemagne brought peace 
 to the Western Empire. The English people and the tribes of 
 the Angles were divided and warring among themselves, to 
 such an extent that in vain did Alcuin, the great English monk, 
 spread a written appeal to the English to make common cause 
 against the pagan Danish invaders. The Britons were shut up 
 in Cornwall and Wales, while the rest of England was divided 
 into seven kingdoms, called the Heptarchy. These seven king- 
 doms, while at war with one another, suffered from internal 
 strife, each in its own kingdom, a hopeless condition, until in 
 824, when Egbert, king of Wessex, united the seven kingdoms 
 under his rule. During all this bloodshed, the Christian relig- 
 ion, through its monks, nobly struggled to introduce and make 
 permanent Christian civilization among these barl^arians, the 
 Angles and the Saxons; for the seven kingdoms or heptarchy 
 was composed of tliese peoples. Having some idea of the an- 
 archy, barbarity, ignorance and atrocity of these times in the 
 countries other than Ireland, it will enable us to understand 
 why Ireland's condition is of so great interest. 
 
 Politically, Ireland was divided into five provinces, Lein- 
 ster, Munster, Connaught, Meath and Ulster. These provinces 
 were divided in turn, into tuaths, or sections containing aliout 
 177 square miles. In some instances, several tuaths would com- 
 bine and were known as a mortuath. The tuaths, mortuaths, 
 and provinces were ruled by petty kings, while the high king, 
 or Ard-ri, ruled over all. The kings of the provinces ruled over 
 the kings of the tuaths and mortuaths in their respective prov- 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 51 
 
 inces. In all Ireland at this period, there were about 184 tuaths. 
 
 The kings of the provinces paid tribute to the Ard-ri and 
 were obliged to give service in time of war. These kings, from 
 the Ard-ri to the petty king, were subject to law like their own 
 subjects. The tuaths and mortuaths paid tribute and gave ser- 
 vice in time of war to the provincial kings. Thus, we see, that 
 the Ard-ri was a limited monarch. Under this systematized gov- 
 ernment, Ireland, throughout the centuries preceding the Dan- 
 ish invasion, progressed in all lines of industry, made constant 
 progress in the arts and sciences, and in both civil and religious 
 life. In industry, Ireland had intercourse with foreign nations 
 through commerce from the days of Tacitus, the first century 
 of the Christian era, exporting and importing commodities just 
 as we do at the present time. The exports consisted in part, of 
 furs, wool and woolen goods, linens, cereals, fish and salted 
 hogs. They imported, for their own use, articles of luxury, 
 dresses, gold and silver ornaments, swords, shields and staves. 
 There were to be found mills for grinding corn, persons occu- 
 pied with carding, spinning, weaving and dyeing of wool, the 
 art of embroidery, leather tanning, manuscript writing, tilling 
 and pastoral duties and the casting and bronzing of metals. 
 
 The civil life is well illustrated by the Brelion laws admin- 
 istered by the Brehons, or judges, and these laws regulated the 
 obligations of the free tiller of the land. These laws take their 
 beginning before the advent of Christianity, their roots lying 
 deeply hidden in pagan times. The Book of Eights was pre- 
 pared under the auspices of St. Patrick, and was considered 
 by all Erin, in due course of time, as the supreme law of the 
 land. The Book of Eights bore the same relation to the Brehon 
 Laws as the United States Constitution and the constitutions 
 of the several states bear to the great body of the law of the 
 land. 
 
 Chastity and modesty were highly prized among the an- 
 cient Irish people of this epoch. The husband and wife were 
 on terms of equality in regard to property and also in a Brehon 
 Court. AVomen were to be found among the physicians and 
 judges. Polygamy was very rare. 
 
 Ireland's development of architecture, during this period, 
 took on a most noble promise, and it is well to notice reached 
 the height of its peculiar Eomanesque style. If we compare the 
 temple of St. Molaise, at Inniscurry, Sligo, St. Finian's oratory 
 at Innisf alien. Temple Senin of Aranmoore, with Cormac's 
 cha]:)el, on the rock of Casliel, the beautiful ruin of Devenish Is- 
 land, Lough Erne, the truth of this statement can easily be seen. 
 There, one can study the development of the so-called Irish Eo- 
 
52 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 manesque Style of Architecture. Closely allied to this subject 
 is the industry of stone carving, and masonry; the one seen in 
 Celtic crosses still preserved, while the art of masonry is well 
 exemplified in the existing round towers with their conical tops, 
 beautiful symmetry, and wonderful stability. 
 
 The wonderful art of illuminating manuscripts, in which 
 our ancestors were pre-eminent, claim our admiration as works 
 of this period. Previous to the eleventh century, books were 
 very prevalent, a partial list of which is as follows: — 
 
 Book of the Dun Cow. 
 
 The Yellow Book of Slane. 
 
 The Book of Innis. 
 
 The Book of Monasterboice. 
 
 The Book of Flann. 
 
 The Book of Dun Given. 
 
 The Book of Downpatrick. 
 
 The Book of Derry. 
 
 The Book of Sab-ha Patrick. 
 
 The Book of 8t. Mologa. 
 
 The Yellow Book of Mailing. 
 
 The Yellow Book of MacMurrough. 
 
 The Yellow Book of Armagh. 
 
 The Bed Book of MacEgan. 
 
 Long Book of Leinster. 
 
 The Book of Scoba and Clonmacnoise. 
 
 The Book of Clonsost. 
 
 In these books are found beautiful specimens of illuminat- 
 ive art. This art has been divided into four groups: The Geo- 
 metrical Design, Zoomorphic Design, Phyllomorphic Design, 
 Figure Design. The geometrical ornament relates to the varie- 
 ties of straight, curved and broken lines. The zoomorphic de- 
 signs are the representation of animal life. The phyllomorphic 
 design is illustrative of plant life. The figure design depicts 
 the human form. 
 
 Celtic illuminative art is at once the pride and delight of 
 the student of history. It ranks today as it ranked at the be- 
 ginning of the eleventh century, as the very highest type of il- 
 luminative art in the world. The oldest of all these books, ac- 
 cording to Joyce, is the book of the Dun Cow, transcribed by 
 Mail Muri Mac Kelleher, who died at Clonmacnoise in 1106. 
 Interlinear notes pervade the whole work. This book contains 
 134 folio pages, a mere fragment of the original work. Sixty- 
 five pieces of various kinds, several of which are imperfect on 
 account of missing leaves, are f oi\|id ; a copy of Amra, or elegy 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 53 
 
 on St. Columbkille, composed by Dallon Forguil, about 592, and 
 an imperfect copy of the voyage of Mail Dunne. 
 
 In our city library, in the reference department, are many 
 volumes illustrating these beautiful books, especially the book 
 of Durrow. The subject of these books leads us up to the great 
 monastic establishments, their cloisters and schools. These es- 
 tablishments were the most renowned, best equipped, just pre- 
 vious to the invasion of the Danes, of any in existence. The 
 schools of Bangor, Clonard, Clonmacnoise, St. Malaise, St. 
 Oobban and Glpnfert are worthy examples. Oswald and Alfred, 
 kings of Northumbria, England, and Dagobert, king of France, 
 were educated at some of these noted institutions, in this man- 
 ner demonstrating the wide influence of Irish Culture. In aii 
 parts of the country, were monasteries with schools attached to 
 the greater number. In these schools and monasteries, were 
 the libraries containing the books and manuscripts. History 
 narrates that several of these schools had each a registration of 
 three thousand pupils, very many, from one thousand to fifteen 
 hundred each, and so on down to St. Mobi, with but fifty pupils. 
 From this, you can infer what a large number of books must 
 have been written yearly to supply these monastic libraries. 
 
 From these schools, there went forth between the eighth 
 and tenth centuries, such missionaries as Alcuin, Clement, John 
 Scotus Erigena, Dungal the Poet, theologian and astronomer, 
 whose letter to the Emperor Charlemagne discloses his knowl- 
 edge of the inclination of the plane of the moon's orbit to the 
 plane of the ecliptic, and asserted that for an eclipse to occur, 
 whether of the sun or moon, it is necessary for the moon to be 
 in the plane of the ecliptic. He was a lecturer at the school of 
 Charlemagne, and afterwards founded and became head of the 
 school of Pavia. In 825, an Irish scholar, Dicuil, wrote a com- 
 plete geography of the world so far as it was then known, and 
 this work has recently been published by the Royal Irish Acad- 
 emy. Virgilius, Bishop of Saltzberg, publicly taught the world 
 was a sphere and that people dwelt at the antii3odes. Angus, 
 the culdee, the great poet, St. Malachy, the noted physicians 
 O'Callahans of Desmond, O'Briens of Thomond, O'Cassidys of 
 Fermanagh, O'Lees of Connaught, Kennedys of Ormond and 
 the McNamarahs of Clare, were of this period. The reputed 
 author of the chronicle of the Scots, MacLaig, the poet and close 
 friend of Brian Boru, with the co-operation of Errard MacNoise 
 compiled the chronicle, ' ' The Wars of the Gael With the Gaul. ' ' 
 This work contains 121 chapters. 
 
 D 'Alton writes that metal working was an industry in Ire- 
 land long before Christianitv was introduced and continued on 
 
54 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 down through the centuries to the period under consideration 
 and became so well developed that the bell and its shrine, the 
 croziers beautifully wrought swords and brooches, now extant, 
 amjily testify. The chariots were ornamented with gold and 
 silver and fitted with iron tires. The arms for warfare and in 
 some cases, covers for the books, were of metal, likewise chal- 
 ices and crosses. The shrines for the books of Durrow and 
 Kells have been lost, but that of St. Malaise is still preserved 
 in the Museum of Science and Art in Dublin. The bells made in 
 the tenth and eleventh centuries, such as the bell of Cumosach, 
 were made of caste bronze. The shrines were made of brass, 
 gold, silver and ornamented with precious stones and inlaid 
 with fine threads of gold and silver. The brooch of Tara is a 
 fine specimen of the brooches, of which there must have been a 
 countless number, as they were worn by all. 
 
 Ireland was well in the forefront of Christian civilization, 
 previous to the advent of the Danes, and devoted to those arts 
 which shed an everlasting glory on our forbears. As for music, 
 the beautiful melodies are still preserved for us, together with 
 the harp, bag pipe, violin and trumpet, while in other lands were 
 to be found teachers of music from Ireland. Yet, through it all, 
 Ireland was continually torn with civil strife between the pro- 
 vincial kings and the petty kings. For instance — in Munster, 
 the king of Desmond fought with the king of Thomond, and 
 the struggle was handed on to their successors. One fruitful 
 cause of strife was the imposition of a tribute on the conquered, 
 putting the obligation to collect it on the victor. A noted in- 
 stance of this custom is that of the tribute imposed on Leinster. 
 Twice in the eighth century, was Leinster at war with the Ard- 
 ri Fergal and his successors on account of it. Thus, the country 
 was divided in sentiment, though a homogeneous people, when 
 the foreigner was about to enter their land, the first time in 
 history, for the purpose of conquest. These foreigners were the 
 Danes ,or Northmen, whose home was in the Scandinavian Pen- 
 insula and Denmark. The coasts of France, Scotland, England 
 and Ireland were the objective points of their attacks. They 
 were pagan pirates, whose sole object in Ireland at first seems 
 to have been plunder. Ireland's reputation for wealth can be 
 grasped frotn the following description taken from a French 
 writer of the tenth century: — 
 
 "That very wealthy country, in which there were twelve 
 bishoprics and a king, and which had its own language and 
 Latin Letters." 
 
 On came these iron clad robbers in the year 795, whose 
 gods were the gods of silver and whose gods were the gods of 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 55 
 
 gold. The island of Lambay was looted and thereupon followed 
 the plundering of Downpatrick, 798, lona 806, when 68 monks 
 were put to death. 
 
 In 807, Innismurray was sacked. In 811, islands oft" the 
 coast of Kerry, 812, the county of Mayo was invaded. The coast 
 line from Wexford to Cork and Kerry was devastated in the 
 year 822. The famous school of Bangor was pillaged in the 
 year 824 and nine hundred of its monks were killed. To show 
 that the Danes did not tind everything easy for them, Egin- 
 hard, the tuto^* of Charlemagne, who was living at this time, 
 records, ''The fleet of the northmen, having invaded Hibernia, 
 the island of the Scots, after a battle had been fought with the 
 Scots, and after no small number of the Norsemen had been 
 slain, they basely took flight and returned home." Many sim- 
 ilar examples might be quoted. This defeat took place near 
 Killarney, in 812. Armagh, Louth and the greater part of Ul- 
 ster were ravaged in 830. Up to this time, the purpose of the 
 Danes was plunder and slaughter, with no e^adent desire of 
 gaining a foothold in the country. Their method was to enter 
 some exposed point with their shallow vessels, upon which they 
 made their home, sack and ravage that section, quickly with- 
 draw to their boats when danger threatened, sail away, only to 
 appear suddenly at some distant part of the country and repeat 
 their killing and robbing" the people who, usually, were wholly 
 unjDrepared, or, as in many instances, were monks who offered 
 but a passive resistance. 
 
 As the voice of Alcuin failed to unify the inhabitants of 
 England to meet effectively the invading Danes, so, likewise, in 
 Ireland, interprovincial warfare rendered abortive any attempt 
 to unite all Ireland to meet this brave, daring, cruel stranger 
 from the north. As an example at this time, we find the Danes 
 established at Limerick and on the Clare side of the Shannon 
 making incursions into Munster, while the provinces of Mun- 
 ster, itself, Thomond and Desmond, were at war with one an- 
 other. Again, the exaction from Leinster of the tribute, which 
 consisted annually of 150 cows, 150 sheep, 150 pieces of cloth, 
 150 caldrons, 150 couples, male and female, for servitude, and 
 150 maidens, one of whom must be a daughter of the king of 
 Leinster, kept Leinster at war with the Ard-ri. With these 
 drawbacks, however, the northmen were defeated off the coast 
 of Kerry in 811, at Hy Kinsella in 827, again at Shanna Golden 
 in Munster. 
 
 In 832, the war under the Dane Turgesius, took on the form 
 of conquest. Turgesius brought all the Danes in Ireland under 
 his leadership and then conceived the idea of subduing the 
 
56 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 whole country and bringing it under his rule. He first pushed 
 into the north where he made his headquarters. In West Meatli, 
 within two miles of Castle Pollard, still stands a circular fort 
 which was once occupied as a residence by Turgesius. From 
 Dundalk to Limerick and up the Shannon, the boats of Tur- 
 gesius swept sacking all Connaught, the kingdom of Meath, and 
 capturing Dublin in 832. That he did not succeed in his set pur- 
 pose, is due to the Ard-ri, Malachy the First, into whose hands 
 Tergesius fell, and who drowned the Dane in the river Shannon 
 about the year 845. 
 
 During the first century of the Danish wars, a fleet would 
 arrive from the north at an interval of about eight years. Ev- 
 ery battle ground was a shamble, where lay the flower of both 
 defenders and invaders. Victory for the Danes meant transpor- 
 tation for the young of Ireland. Those remaining were pil- 
 laged and placed under tribute, their schools, churches and mon- 
 asteries sacked. Every eight years during this century of wor- 
 fare, the men of Erin had to face fresh arrivals coming in 
 hordes from the northern seas in this seemingly endless strug- 
 gle. 
 
 The churches and monasteries, besides being rich in their 
 own possessions, were used as safety deposits for the people, 
 because these were held as sacred precincts. From the death of 
 Tergesius until 879, the Danish arms suffered many reverses 
 and then succeeded an interval of 35 years of comparative free- 
 dom from foreign invasions. 
 
 It must be understood that nowhere in the world was there 
 such a thing as a nation in the modern sense. The present na- 
 tions of the world had not come into being, and it is not sur- 
 prising to find the idea of Ireland for her people not even dawn- 
 ing upon our forefathers. And so, instead of ]n'ofiting by ex- 
 perience, hopeless discord occurred during this respite. Flann, 
 the son of Malachy, attacked and overran Munster. Connaught 
 was at war with ^leatli, and Ossory was at war with the Diesii. 
 In 906, a battle was fought between Cormac, king of Munster, 
 and the combined forces of Flann and the king of Leinster, 
 where Cormac was defeated with a loss of 6000 men. Thus, can 
 be appreciated the short sighted policy pursued by our ances- 
 tors. Fresh swarms of northmen invaded Ireland in 915 under 
 Eagnal. Munster was plundered and the fight unto death went 
 on as before. Dublin was again captured, the Ard-ri Nial Glen- 
 duff was killed and the whole country, described by Mac Laig, 
 as follows: — 
 
 "They killed the kings and the chieftans, the heirs to the 
 crown and the royal princes of Erin; they killed the brave and 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 57 
 
 i;lie valiant and the stout champions and soldiers and young 
 lords; and the greater part of the heroes and warriors of the 
 Gael; and brought them under servitude and tribute. They re- 
 duced them to bondage and slavery. Many were the blooming 
 women and comely maidens and blue eyed young women and 
 well brought up youths and valiant champions they carried in- 
 to bondage over the broad green sea. Also, many and frequent 
 were the bright and brilliant eyes that were suffused with tears 
 and dimmed with grief and despair at the separation of son 
 from father, aijd daughter from mother, and brother from broth- 
 er, and relatives from their race and tribe." The leading men 
 of the Danes met the same fate as the leaders of their foe, and 
 it is not an uncommon occurrence to find families for three gen- 
 erations furnishing leaders for the invaders whose bodies were 
 all left on the battlefield of Erin. The son of Nial Glenduff 
 fought the Danes for twenty years, obtaining a soldier's death 
 at the battle of Arobe. He was succeeded by his son, Congal- 
 acli, who fell fighting in 956. Then, came a respite from strife 
 until 980, a period of twenty-four years, whereupon, Malachy 
 the Second became Ard-ri. The Danes, for the first time, felt 
 the heavy hand of a master. Olaf, king of Dublin, was forced 
 to withdraw to lona, where he died a Christian' s death, and the 
 Danes in Dublin were put under tribute. At this time, Tho- 
 mond, the north province of Munster, was ruled over by Mahon, 
 the son of Kennedy, the grandson of Lorcan. Mahon had a 
 younger brother named Brian. For a long time, this province 
 had been a prey for the Danes of Limerick, so much so that 
 Mahon proposed peace with the Danes. Brian, the younger 
 brother, would not consent to a treaty of peace with their tra- 
 ditional enemy, and, from a small band of fifteen followers, be- 
 came sufficiently strong in numbers so that he slowly but surely 
 overcame the Danes of Limerick, and the province of Thomond 
 regained its position of power in Munster. His brother, Mahon, 
 was treacherously put to death by one Donovan, and Brian be- 
 came king of all Munster, in 978, by defeating the king of Des- 
 mond. 
 
 Brian now made known his determination to become high 
 king of all Ireland by gradually extending his dominion until he 
 aroused the sus]^icion of the Ard-ri Malachy the Second. It was 
 not until 1002 that Brian became Ard-ri, and in 1005, after 
 marching through Ireland, disbanded his army. He immediate- 
 ly set about repairing the damage to the country of two centur- 
 ies of war. This was the period of |)eace and plenty, and respect 
 for law and order prevailed. Moore's poem entitled, ''Rich and 
 Eare Were the Gems She Wore," was inspired by Warner's de- 
 
58 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 scription of this period of Brian's reign. There was one act of 
 Brian that sowed the seed for future trouble. He re-imposed 
 the tribute on Leinster, and hence he is sometimes called ^ ' Brian 
 of the Tribute, of Brian Boru." This drove Leinster to throw 
 in its lot with the Danes and with whatever enemies the Ard-ri 
 had among his own subjects. This action brought about con- 
 cord and harmony between Malachy the Second and Brian. 
 
 In 1014, clouds began to darken the pleasant prospect of 
 peace, and the great test of strength occurred at Clontarf, 
 Leinster, when the Danes collected from Dublin, Isle of Man, 
 the Orkneys, Norway, Sweden, Shetland Islands, Northumbria, 
 Skye, Lewis, Cantire, and Cornwall, threatened Ireland. The 
 forces of Brian were strengthened by Donal, Great Steward of 
 Mar from Scotland. The Danes wore armor, using as weapons 
 the spear, sword, shield, bow and arrow and the battle-axe. The 
 Irish soldier wore no armor. His weapons consisted of the 
 bow and arrow, long and short spears, the mace, the battle-axe 
 i]]'A the shield. He was protected by a leathern corselet, leath- 
 ern greaves and a leathern hemlet. They did not make use of 
 cavalry. The soldier, at this period, was the kern, or light 
 aiujed infantry man. These battles were hand to hand en^ 
 gagements, frightful slaughter resulting from the blows of the 
 battle-axes. The forces at Clontarf were about equally divided, 
 twenty thousand, or thereabout, in each army. 
 
 It may well be said that the great commander of the fight- 
 ing men of Erin at this time spent his whole life from the cradle 
 to the grave opposing the Dane. His father, Kennedy, met his 
 death fighting the northmen in the province of Thomond in 
 949. His grandfather, Lorcan, met a soldier's death in this 
 Danisli strr^ggle. His brother, Malion, like himself, inherited 
 the piracy of the Danes on the borders of his province, and con- 
 stant fighting was his portion. Brian was of the Dalcassian 
 strain, whose founder was Cormac Cas, the grandson of Owen 
 More. Owen More was the rival of Con of the hundred battles 
 in the second century for the position of high king of Ireland. 
 They settled their dispute by dividing Ireland into two por- 
 tions, north and south. The dividing line was from Dublin to 
 Galway Bay. The province of Thomond came to the O'Brien's 
 by inheritance. 
 
 The greatest representative of the Dalcassian race must 
 have realized very early in his career the great need of the 
 time, namely, the concentration of the sovereign power in the 
 hands of one person. This he had accomplished before the men 
 of Erin met the foreigrn army on that Good Friday morning nine 
 hundred years ago. Both armies were drawn up facing one one 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 53 
 
 another with the width of a four horse chariot between them. 
 The Daleassians, under Murdach, son of Brian, held the centre 
 130sition. Brian's nephew, Conaing, commanded the left wing, 
 while the men from Connaught held the right wing. There are 
 several accounts of this battle, which can be obtained at the pub- 
 lic library. One of these is supposed to be Malachy's account 
 of it. The contest lasted until darkness set in, when the Danes 
 ran for their boats, whereupon, the daughter of Brian is report- 
 ed to have said to the Danish king's sou, "It appears to me that 
 the foreigners have gained their inheritance." ''"What mean- 
 est thou. Oh woman?" said Amlalf 's son. "The foreigners are 
 going into the sea, their national inheritance. I wonder is it 
 heat that is upon them; but they tarry not if it is," 
 
 It is estimated that 7000 lives were lost by the enemy, and 
 4000 Irish soldiers, and these the very best in all Ireland. Brian 
 was 88 years of age, and, while not taking an active part in the 
 battle, he remained in the rear of his army, where he received 
 reports and gave his orders during the battle. Brian met his 
 death while at j^rayer for the success of his army, at the hands 
 of a retreating Danish chieftan. In the hearts of the Irish peo- 
 ple, no doubt, Brian was first in war, first in peace, and per- 
 haps, first in the hearts of his countr^Tuen. His son and his 
 nephew were both killed and Malachy became Ard-ri again, 
 high king of all Ireland. Brian Boru's defeat of the Danes is in 
 marked contrast to the success of the Danish arms in England 
 and France. Three years after the battle of Clontarf, the Eng- 
 lish people were overpowered, and Canute, the Dane, became 
 King of England in 1017. In France, under Eollo, they ob- 
 tained the province of Normandy in 911. It is, then, with all 
 honor to the valor of our forefathers, that after two and a half 
 centuries of fighting, they accomplished what neither England 
 nor France had been able to do. The danger from Danish sub- 
 jugation of Ireland had now passed. Malachy died in 1022, 
 his reign being marked by constant war with Leinster and its 
 allies. The Danes in Ireland became incorporated with the Irish 
 people, had become Christianized, devoted themselves to com- 
 merce, and henceforth are to be considered as part of the Irish 
 people. 
 
 The interval between the victory of Clontarf and the invas- 
 ion of the Normans, D 'Alton describes as a long period of dis- 
 cord. While the kings of the various provinces were at war 
 with one another, the tuaths, or petty kings, found sufficient 
 cause, or liberty, if you will, to engage in war between them- 
 selves. Brian's two surviving sons, Donogh and Teige, fought 
 one another for the kingship of Munster. Teige met his death 
 
60 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE DANES 
 
 in this quarrel and Donogh became king of Munster and tried 
 to become Ard-ri, high king. In 1023, he became king of Meath, 
 Bregia, Leinster, Ossory and Munster. In 1024, he conquered 
 Breffni, Connaught in 1060. He died at Rome in 1064. The 
 :grandson of Brian, Teige, succeeded Donogh, but remained a 
 provincial king. He died in 1086. His fame, however, spread 
 to England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, of those days, de- 
 :scribed him as the Magnificent King of Ireland. From the 
 death of Malachy then, until the great king of Connacht, Roder- 
 ic O'Connor became Ard-ri about 1169, there had been no liigli 
 king of Ireland. The period was marked by continuous strife, 
 no petty king being powerful enough to succeed Malachy. The 
 Fourmasters record, "That Ireland was a trembling sod." 
 
 However, Ireland continued to send her great teachers to 
 the continent of Europe, among whom might be mentioned Mar- 
 ianus Scotus, or IMarion the Irishman, who established an Irish 
 Monastery at Ratisbon, from which as a parent monastery were 
 formed monasteries at Wurtzburg 1143, Nurnberg 1140, Con- 
 stanz 1142, St. George in Vienna 1155, Eichstadt 1183, St. Maria 
 in Vienna 1200. 
 
 The monasteries of Clonmacnoise, Lismore and Derry 
 enjoyed a moderate degree of prosperity during this stormy 
 time. In 1132, there came into the religious life of Ireland 
 Malachy O'Morgair, known afterwards as Malachy, Archbishop 
 of Armagh. Civil and religious life suffered a great deal in its 
 contact of two and a half centuries with the Danes. The peo- 
 ])le lost regard for their institutions and traditions of their 
 former greatness and in many instances became despoilers of 
 their own schools and churches. In some cases, the princes as- 
 sumed control of large church sees, appropriated the revenues 
 for their own private ends, and possessed mistresses as well as 
 wives. The church became so demoralized that D 'Alton, in con- 
 trasting the condition with its former grandeur, says that in 
 the days of Columba, or Columbkille, "The Irish church of that 
 day might be likened to a splendid ship equal to the most ardu- 
 ous voyage and fearing neither wind nor tide. In the twelfth 
 century, she had become a battered hulk aimlessly drifting in 
 the sea." St. Malachy gave his life to reforming the church, 
 restoring to the church the sees taken away, brought harmony 
 between the church and the rest of Christendom, and finally 
 strengthened and placed the church in that high position which 
 she has ever since maintained. He became papal legate and as 
 such traveled all over Ireland, settling disputes, checking strife, 
 introducing the Cistercian order into Ireland and building for 
 them a monastery at Mellifont in 1142. He made two pilgrim- 
 
THOMAS E. McEVOY, M. D. 61 
 
 ages to Rome. In 1152, Cardinal Paparo, special representative 
 of the Pope, was present at the synod of Kells and conferred 
 four palliums on the Archbishops of Armagh, Cashel, Dublin 
 and Tuam, and at this sjTiod, thirty-eight dioceses were estab- 
 lished. St. Malachy died at Clairvaux while on a pilgrimage to 
 Rome. St. Bernard, of Clairvaux, a warm personal friend of St, 
 Malachy, wrote a biography of him, a copy of which is in the 
 public library. In this work the description of the church at 
 this time in Ireland has been rather darkly drawn. In regard 
 to which, the late John Henry Newman, the Cardinal, wrote as 
 follows : — 
 
 ''We are far indeed from taking to the letter all that he 
 says of the Irish. We believe that, as in other passages of his 
 history, his ardent temper carried him beyond the truth. We 
 believe that the statements contained in his well known life of 
 St. Malachy are exaggerations. Still, it must not be forgotten 
 that he was a personal friend of St. Malachj^, who had visited 
 him at Clairvaux on his way to and from Rome, whither St. 
 Malachy repaired expressly on the Ecclesiastical affairs of Ire- 
 land." None the less, can we get away from the fact that the 
 people became brutalized to a certain degree, and had fallen 
 away from that steady progress so well marked at the beginning 
 of the Danish invasion. The most marked effects during this 
 long period were the utter lack of a strong centralized govern- 
 ment; the constant civil strife in the presence of a powerful 
 enemy; the custom of exacting tribute from one another's prov- 
 inces; no sign of anything like a national idea; failure to meet 
 the invaders on sea as well as on land. 
 
 Brian Boru, while checking the Danish threatened usurpa- 
 tion, in other respects left affairs as he found them; internal 
 strife, pillaging of churches, besides establishing the ]">recedent 
 of seizing the sovereign power by force. Nothing that was 
 worthy in Irish life, the arts, sciences, industries, and religious 
 life, escaped the blighting effect of the invaders. All that was 
 near and dear in their social life suffered profound changes, 
 leaving deep traces when Ireland was called upon to face the 
 one struggle which she is still carrying on and which has so 
 embittered the last seven centuries of Ireland's history. 
 
 The record of our forefathers has been preserved in an al- 
 most miraculous manner. It is to be found not only in Ireland 
 in her relics and ruins, but also in very many thousands of man- 
 uscripts scattered through the libraries of the world. We know 
 but a fragment of this record, for manuscripts, covered with the 
 dust of centuries, await the scholars to lay before us their hid- 
 den secrets, and silence the slander to be found on the page of 
 
Hon. John H. S. Hunt 
 
 John H. S. Hunt was born March 14, 1879, in Wor- 
 cester, Mass., the son of Frederick P. Hunt and Bridget 
 (Cosgrove) Hunt. He studied in the Worcester public 
 schools and was graduated from the Worcester English 
 High School, in 1898. Mr. Hunt received his legal edu- 
 cation at the Boston University Law School and was 
 admitted to the practice of his profession in 1904. He 
 is a member of the American Bar Association and of 
 the Massachusetts State Bar Association. 
 
 Mr. Hunt represented the First Worcester District, 
 ^rhich comprises the larger part of his native city, in 
 the Massachusetts State Senate during 1911 and 1912. 
 He has been a member of the Worcester Democratic 
 City. Mr. Hunt has held membership in Division 3, 
 A. 0. H., of Worcester, for several years. 
 
Qlnnt^at Utth tl|^ Nnrmana 
 
 1169—1367 
 BY 
 
 » HON. JOHN H. S. HUNT 
 
 The arrival of the Normans in Ireland was the introduction 
 of the feudal system. A comparison of this system and the Irish 
 tribal system will throw a light on the Norman invasion, an in- 
 vasion which never reached the dignity of a conquest, an in- 
 vasion which differed from the Norman conquest of England in 
 one particular at least, in that the invaders were assimilated by 
 the Irish people and in time drank in some of the aspiration of 
 the Irish people, and came under the influence of its traditions 
 so that they in turn fought for the perpetuation of Irish ideals. 
 To understand the conflict between the Irish and the Anglo- 
 Normans you mus-t search out the differences between the trib- 
 al system as it existed in Ireland under the Brelion laws down 
 to its subjugation and the feudal system. 
 
 In Ireland land was owned in common by each clan or sept 
 of the same name, and a chief or leader (the toparch) was elect- 
 ed to ruie over them. He alloted the land among the different 
 families according to the number of children they possessed. 
 The state being dependent upon the perpetuation of the family 
 life, it was recognized even then by the Irish race that race 
 suicide was detrimental to the life of the tribe and nation, and 
 so in this manner they furnished an incentive for large families. 
 The land was held to be the foodstock of the whole people, a 
 common heritage in which every household had the right of use 
 in proportion to the number of its inmates. No man could own 
 land save the man who cultivated it, and he only so much as 
 his domestic responsibility entitled him to. A portion of the 
 land was marked off as in common for grazing, and another 
 portion with a large house built thereon, for the reception and 
 care of every traveler, where he could be assured of food and 
 shelter. The occupants of the land paid a fixed tax of tribute 
 
64 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 apart from service duty rendered the chief and a share of the 
 farm might be sublet. Agriculture had always been the pride 
 of the Irish people. It has been the fashion to regard the tribal 
 system as the mark of a barbarous people. This was not true 
 of the Celtic people. Their idea of a state or a nation may have 
 been different from that of the mediaeval world of Europe, but 
 it was not uncivilized. The law of the people was the law of 
 the nation. How modern that sounds. Yes the people did rule. 
 They never lost their faith in the law of the people and they 
 never exalted a central authority, for their law did not need 
 the sanction of a central authority. The administration of the 
 law of the land was parceled out among different self-govern- 
 ing communities. All through its history to this time the forc- 
 es of union have not been material but spiritual, and the life of 
 the people consisted not in its military cohesion but in its joint 
 spiritual inheritance. Such an instinct of national life does not 
 lose but rather gains by comparison with the much praised 
 feudalism of the middle ages in Europe. It must at least be 
 conceded that the Irish tribal scheme of government contained 
 as much promise as the feudal scheme which became the politi- 
 cal creed of England, but never of Ireland. Of a different age 
 and different conditions, yet the make up of the political system 
 of Ireland bears a similarity to the make up of the United 
 States. Each tribe, as each state, was supreme within its own 
 borders, and in those affairs of local application; it elected its 
 own chief and could depose him if he acted against the law, 
 thus giving us an early example of the method of impeachment 
 and recall. The chief had no power over the soil save as the 
 elected trustee of the people. The privileges of the various 
 chiefs, judges, captains, historians, poets, and so on, were hand- 
 ed down from one generation to another. 
 
 The Ard-ri, or high king, was a representative of the 
 whole national life, but his power rested on the consent of the 
 tribes and the people. He could impose no new law; he could 
 demand no service outside of the law. 
 
 Separate and independent as the tribes were, yet all accept- 
 ed the one code which had been fashioned in the course of ages^ 
 by the genius of this great people. The same law was recited in 
 every tribal assembly. The traditions and the learning of the 
 nation were preserved by a class of learned men; the law was 
 expounded by schools of law. Learning, it can be truly said^ 
 was exalted by the Irish people, a people who were held to- 
 gether loosely in a political union, but who, as all history has 
 shown, were bound hard and fast in a spiritual union. The 
 weak points of such a system are quite apparent. A country 
 
HON. JOHN H. 3. HUNT 65 
 
 divided in government in those times was weakened for pur- 
 poses of oifence, or for joint action in military matters. Riots 
 and forays there were, among a martial race and strong men of 
 hot passions, bnt this was qnite common, throughout the med- 
 iaeval world. Local feuds were no greater in Ireland than ex- 
 isted in England, even long after the Norman Conquest. 
 
 Starting in the latter part of the twelfth century, there 
 came crashing into this country, the aggressive and highly or- 
 ganized military force of the Anglo-Normans bent on conquest 
 and spoliation, and bent on im])osing the feudal system on Ire- 
 land. It is quite evident no two forms of social life could show 
 more contrast than the tribal and the feudal systems. The 
 Eoman Empire engraved on the minds of its subject races the 
 notion of a state held together, defended, governed and policed 
 by a central body or ruler. The sovereign was supreme in the 
 domain of matters pertaining to force and the maintenance of 
 order. The essential life of the nation and its directive force 
 came m turn to be expressed in the will and power of its ruler. 
 The feudal system was a complicated political and military or- 
 ganization. In the feudal system the land belonged not to the 
 tribe as a whole, but to the Crown absolutely. The Crown per- 
 mitted certain individuals by virtue of a contract to possess 
 the land in a limited ownership. The lord ruled his vassals by 
 virtue of his ownership of the land, not as being of their kin or 
 by their election. The vassals had no connection among them- 
 selves, save the accident of standing in the same relation to 
 one lord. They held their lands, not as their own, but upon the 
 performance of military duties and other specified duties. The 
 whole system formed a vast hierachy extending from the sov- 
 ereign at its summit, to the lowest vassal at its base, each oc- 
 cupying a definite position; the system possessing qualities of 
 organization and compactness as a political and military force 
 unknown to the tribal system. 
 
 This, then, was the system launched by the English kings 
 at the Irish people in the latter part of the twelfth century. 
 
 ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION 
 
 Roderic O'Connor at the beginning of this period was rec- 
 ognized as the high king or Ard-ri of all Ireland. He was 
 the last of the long line of Irish monarchs. This king had not 
 been distinguished among his fellow chief tans by virtue of his 
 courage or activity. .But in conmion with the princes and lead- 
 ers of those days in all countries, he did possess at times qual- 
 ities so ferocious as to have led him to commit acts of great 
 
66 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 cruelty. Upon tins monarch devolved a tremendous task of 
 grappling with problems, the solution of which was to have a 
 far-reaching effect upon the subsequent history of Ireland, and 
 which was to determine largely the happiness or sorrow of the 
 Irish people. He failed. And the history of mankind was pre- 
 sented with the spectacle of a nation arrested in the develop- 
 ment of her national genius, her national aspirations; prevent- 
 ed from bringing to fruition the great latent powers and quali- 
 ties of her civilization. A sad spectacle, 9 piteous one, yet one 
 that, in the heart and soul of the man who has Irish blood in 
 his veins, arouses, as he traces the hideous events of the suc- 
 ceeding centuries, first, a feeling of sadness, then of despair, 
 and finally of noble rage, as he sees a proud, learned, loving 
 people driven to the verge of madness by wrongs, prosecu- 
 tions and proscriptions. 
 
 The reign of Roderic O'Connor began in an auspicious way. 
 He governed with moderation and wisdom. Shortly after he 
 became king he convened a sjTiod at Athboy.in Meatli, where 
 there were gathered 1300 men. Laws and regulations were 
 passed and the policing of the land was so effectively carried 
 out that it might be said of the kingdom that a woman with a 
 new-born infant might travel over the whole island from one 
 sea to the other, without fear of insult. Mindful of the essen- 
 tial part that amusements played in the life of a people^, the 
 king in 1168 re-established the games at Tailton, and in 1169 
 he founded a professor's chair at Armagh. It was during his 
 reign that an event occurred that brought in its train a series 
 of events fatal to the natural development of the Irish people. 
 Dermot MacMurrough was king of Leinster at the time Roderic 
 O'Connor became high king of Ireland. A description of Der- 
 mot at this time would not be out of place. He was a tall man 
 and quite strongly built; a soldier whose valiant heart was in 
 the fray, held valiant among his own nation. From often 
 shouting his battle cry, his voice had become hoarse. He was 
 a man who liked better to be feared by all than loved by any. 
 One thing that could be said of him is that he was prone to 
 oppress his greater vassals while he raised to high stations 
 men of lowly birth. A tyrant to his own subjects he was hated 
 by strangers; his hand was against every man, and every man's 
 hand against him. He had become king of Leinster in 1135. 
 There had always been more or less friction between him and 
 Tiernan O'Ruarc, the lord of Breffney, in the eastern part of 
 Connaught. This hostility between the two had been intensi- 
 fied by the frequent collisions between their respective clans, 
 and finally an event took place that raised the feeling of animos- 
 
HON. JOHN H. 3. HUNT 67 
 
 ity to its highest pitch and was a potent factor in bringing 
 about a series of events fatal to Ireland. 
 
 It seems that before her marriage to Prince O'Ruarc, the 
 fair Dervorgilla, the wife of Prince O'Ruarc, had a sweet and 
 kindly feeling for Prince Dermot. By a secret understanding 
 between Dervorgilla and Prince Dermot, while Prince O'Ruarc 
 was away on one of his military expeditions, the parties eloped. 
 The wronged husband appealed to Tordelvach, who was then 
 high king of Ireland. The Irish people have always taken great 
 pride in the purity of their family relations, and this act stirred 
 the nation to its depths. The king marched an army the fol- 
 lowing year into Leinster and recaptured the fair Dervorgilla 
 from her lover and sent her to her relatives in Meath. She sub- 
 sequently retired to a monastery. Some historians place this 
 event in 1166, but as a matter of fact, the affair happened in 
 1153. So long as King Tordelvach lived, O'Ruarc was sure of 
 a powerful friend, but at his death and as soon as O'Lochlin 
 succeeded to the headship of the Irish people, Dermot 's for- 
 tunes took a leap upward, and he let no opportunity pass with- 
 "out heaping some wrong or insult upon his rival. 
 
 However, as soon as Roderic O'Connor became king in 
 1166 he extended his friendship to O'Ruarc. This read the 
 downfall of Dermot. Here was a prince who had been a founder 
 of religious houses and at Ferns, where he had his own resi- 
 dence, he had built many large and richly endowed monaster- 
 ies and abbys; yet, because of his cruelty and insolence, his 
 munificence was forgotten, and many whom he had trodden on 
 in his prosperity now took advantage of the turn of the wheel 
 of his fortune. He was assailed and attacked from all quarters. 
 Deserted even by his own vassals he retired to Ferns, there 
 practically with his back to the wall, he took the desperate 
 resolution to call to his aid foreigners to retrieve his fallen for- 
 tune. He set fire to the town of Ferns, took flight privately, 
 and embarked for England. 
 
 He made his way to Aquitaine in France, to obtain the as- 
 sistance of Henry the Second, of England. He was willing to 
 make any promise or sacrifice to secure his restoration. Henry 
 the Second at that time was not ready to enter personally, but 
 the project pleased him. Here was an opportunity for which 
 he had been looking and waiting. He had for some time looked 
 longingly upon the kingdom of Ireland, and he did not desire 
 to lose such an opportunity to invade Ireland. He gave letters 
 to Dermot authorizing him to recruit adventurers within his 
 jurisdiction. In return for this recommendation, Dermot swore 
 fealty to Henry the Second. 
 
68 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 Armed with this letter, Dermot fixed himself in Bristol, 
 England, endeavoring to raise recruits. Here he fell in with 
 Eichard deClaire, known as * ' Strongbow, " whose fortunes were 
 in a bad way, and who was ripe to enter upon any venture 
 worth while to mend his fortunes. His name and unquestioned 
 abilities enabled him to gather round him characters of like 
 daring and high courage. It was finally agreed between the 
 contracting parties, the king, Eichard and Dermot, that, in the 
 ensuing Spring, Eichard should lend his aid for the recovery of 
 Dermot 's kingdom, upon the condition of obtaining the hand 
 of Dermot 's daughter and the succession to Dermot 's kingdom. 
 
 About May 1st, 1170, Eobert Fitzstevens landed near Wex- 
 ford, and on the next day Maurice DePrendergast, an independ- 
 ent adventurer with a force of about six hundred men, marched 
 on Wexford. This town, after a short resistance, submitted to 
 Dermot and his allies. Dermot granted the town and the sur- 
 rounding country to Fitzstevens and Maurice. He also granted 
 to others land and possessions lying between Wexford and 
 Waterford to hold to them and their heirs forever. Now arises 
 a singular situation. Here was a tribal chief of the Celts of 
 Leinster, who under the tribal laws of Ireland had no other 
 rights in the land than those he held by consent of the people 
 who had dethroned him, conferring upon two Normans a town 
 and district then occupied by a Danish population as vassals 
 to him and his heirs. The attention of King Eoderic O'Connor 
 was drawn to these movements of Dermot and his allies. He 
 called his chiefs together, and after counsel, resolved to make 
 war upon Dermot. Dermot, alarmed, was eager to make peace. 
 After a conference it was agreed that Leinster should be left 
 under his dominion and rule, and that he in turn should submit 
 to Eoderic as chief king, paying the usual homage and service. 
 There was a secret agreement that no more foreigners should 
 be brought over, and that those in Ireland should be sent back. 
 That was easier said than done. The harm was done and the 
 current of adventurers once set in motion could not be checked. 
 Gradually a large force of Normans gathered in Ireland. Wa- 
 terford was captured. Eichard deClare married Eva, the daugh- 
 ter of Dermot. Here was a situation now confronting the na- 
 tives; a Norman lord claimed succession to the crown of Lein- 
 ster, by a right utterly repugnant to all Celtic law and tradi- 
 tion, and which could only be established by an enforced change 
 in the ideas and customs of the natives, their subjection to the 
 condition of serfs, or their expulsion from the districts. As for 
 Dermot, he thought to use the foreigners, but as time went on 
 he became a mere puppet in their hands, and in the expedition 
 
HON. JOHN H. 3. HUNT 69 
 
 against Dublin, which was captured by a treacherous surprise, 
 and other expeditions, he found himself merely accompanying, 
 while his allies conducted the expeditions. 
 
 The whole national mind was alarmed by these events, and 
 the clergy gathered at Armagh to search into the sins of their 
 people. As a result of this s\Tiod, it was resolved: "That it 
 appeared to the S^iiod that the Divine vengeance had brought 
 upon them this severe judgment for the sins of the people and 
 especially for this, that they had long been wont to purchase 
 natives of England, as well from traders as from robbers and 
 pirates, and to reduce them to slavery, and that now they also, 
 by reciprocal justice, were reduced to servitude by that very 
 nation. It was, therefore, publicly decreed by the afore men- 
 tioned Synod, and publicly proclaimed by universal accord, 
 that all Englishmen throughout the island, who were in a state 
 of bondage, should be restored to freedom." 
 
 What was the trouble? Was the possession of English 
 slaves the cause of this paralysis which seemed to seize upon the 
 energies of the Irish people, making them incapable of stem- 
 ming this invasion? Was it not rather the absence of unity of 
 action, and the ever active presence of individual friction, jeal- 
 ousy and hostility that constantly thwarted the attempt to or- 
 ganize an efficient government along the lines of their national 
 character, and which paralyzed their national action and re- 
 duced the power of the chief king to insignificance. At this 
 crisis of their faith and existence, the Celtic people did not 
 seem to realize that the insubordination of the chiefs, the in- 
 capacity or powerlessness of their kings, their perpetual civi' 
 wars, and their utter political disorganization were strong cases 
 which now rendered these foreigners so formidable. Mark you, 
 it must not be held to their discredit, however, that because 
 by virtue of their political structure they were in those times 
 and under those conditions unable to forge an instrument of 
 offence to meet the trained, mailed-clad military force of the 
 Anglo-Norman. No, as the years rolled on, they were to over- 
 come and disintegrate this military organization and defeat it 
 in detail by the all powerful weapon of assimilation. It took 
 years, but it succeeded. Personal force and attraction more 
 than military or political force move the world. The Irish 
 used that more persuasive and powerful force. 
 
 In 1170 when Strongbow came and captured Waterford, 
 matters were becoming more serious. The Ard-ri immediately 
 gathered a large force and marched into Leinster. Dermot and 
 his allies covered Dublin in a rapid march. He found the citizens 
 prepared, and so proposed a parley. Led by the other patriotic 
 
70 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 clergy and willing to avoid bloodshed, the citizens met the lead- 
 ers of the beseiging army in their camp. While there deliber- 
 ating, a jDicked body of men from the enemy issued forth, made 
 their way into the city and turned it over to pillage. By means 
 of this treachery, Strongbow obtained a firm footing in the 
 kingdom, and this footing ever remained the center of English 
 activity. 
 
 Instead of attacking Strongbow at once, King Eoderic 
 drew off his forces for the purpose of supporting O'Ruarc in 
 his possession and marched them into Meath. Dermot, actuat- 
 ed by the desire to further humiliate his old enemy O'Ruarc, 
 sent Strongbow with a large force into Meath, with the intention 
 of following later with a large force. The course of these allies 
 was marked with the destruction of churches and the ruthless 
 killing of the Irish people. The Irish King was helpless to 
 prevent the fiendish acts of the scourge. Strongbow 's progress 
 was a series of successes. By this time Henry the Second had 
 begun to grow jealous of the successes of his vassals in Ireland. 
 Although two of the chief cities in Ireland had fallen, the Irish 
 people had not abandoned the struggle. Ulster and most of 
 Connaught remained within the Irish control, and even in Mun- 
 ster and Leinster, there was a considerable resistance to the 
 Anglo-Norman. In all the battles with the Anglo-Normans, the 
 Irish warriors, clad in cloth, armed with a short sword, the 
 javelin and battle axe, the last of which was a terrible weapon 
 for close fighting, found it a hard task to oppose men clad in 
 steel armor from head to foot, and armed with formidable wea- 
 pons of office and destruction. But even this handicap would 
 have been overcome had they been united against a common foe. 
 
 Because of the fears of Henry the Second, Strongbow was 
 ordered to return to England. Henry, seeing the pos- 
 sibility of a rich prize slipping from his grasp, collected a pow- 
 erful fleet and army and set sail from England in October, 
 1171. He landed in Waterford, toward the latter part of Octo- 
 ber, where he was received by Strongbow, w^ho did homage as a 
 vassal. This was the serious moment of the Irish life as a na- 
 tion. From this moment dates Ireland's subjugation. Had 
 these Norman invaders united with the Irish people then as 
 they did later, and repelled Henry and his forces, and kept 
 Ireland for themselves, they would, in the end, have become a 
 factor in the uplift and growth of the nation, but the landing 
 of Henry put an end to such a hope. He began immediately to 
 make a royal progress to the partially subjugated parts of 
 Munster and Leinster. Many of the princes gave Henry the 
 ''kiss of peace." In his tour the king was wise enough to ex- 
 
HON. JOHN H. S. HUNT 71 
 
 hibit a papal bull, alleged to have been given by Adrian the 
 Fourth, who, by the way, was the only Englishman ever elevat- 
 ed to the head of the Holy See. This bull ceded to the English 
 people the kingdom of Ireland. Now, whether this bull was 
 genuine or not, and there is strong evidence that it was a for- 
 gery, it is amusing that it is the only papal utterance for which 
 the English people express any gratitude. This bull caused 
 some of the clergy to take no decisive or resolute stand against 
 Henry's claim. A desire for peace and a realization that Hen- 
 ry's claim implied a mere recognition of his titular sovereignty 
 and not in admission of his claim to the land, led them to advise 
 King Eoderic to sign a treaty with King Henry, which was 
 done. 
 
 Henry the Second was a born politician, and while he was 
 throwing flattery around among the clergy and talking about 
 the ten commandments, he had in his train a number of needy 
 and hungry barons, among whom he proceeded to parcel out 
 the entire island in royal grants. 
 
 He gave away to DeLacy the entire kingdom of Meath, 
 comprising about 800,000 acres. When O'Euarc demanded 
 that he be heard, he was invited to attend the conference, 
 where he was murdered by a kinsman of DeLacy. While princes 
 and clergy were waited on by this king, who was to bring 
 law and order to this distracted country, there was at least one 
 shining exception. The patriotic archbishop of Dublin, St. 
 Lawrence 'Toole, who seemed to be alone in his comprehen- 
 sion of what this Norman invasion meant to his people, by his 
 advice and counsel, encouraged King Eoderic to resist. But to 
 what avail ! One man could not make the princes of the people 
 heal their feuds, but, had all the prelates preached a war of 
 extermination, the people would have forced their princes to 
 combine and Ireland would have thrown off its yoke. King 
 Eoderick, despite his errors, yet merits honor for his patriotic 
 spirit, for his intentions at least were good. 
 
 Leaving his followers to seize on whatever portions of 
 Leinster they could hold, where their work was to spread ruin 
 and dissension for centuries, Henry returned to England. It 
 does seem strange that a few thousand adventurers could ac- 
 complish what they did. But bear in mind, under the makeup 
 of the country and the nature of its social life, it was the fash- 
 ion of every tribe to tight its own battles. When Eoderic made 
 a treaty with Henry the Second it was only the Ard-ri who 
 made the treaty, and when his authority was threatened it was 
 the Ard-ri 's, and not the authority of the individual tribes; for 
 what cared they? . 
 
72 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 Henry was no sooner out of the country than the barons 
 began to live up to their true character. Fearless and martial 
 as they were, yet they were nothing but reckless broilers and 
 spoilers. In a short time they had the people up in arms and 
 the tables were turned on them. Strongbow himself was locked 
 up in Waterford and his co-workers were shut up in Dublin, 
 Drogheda and Wexford, and affairs in general began to look 
 bad. As a result of this, a commission was sent over to Eng- 
 land to investigate, after which an Irish delegation went to 
 London. A treaty was entered into between King Eoderic and 
 King Henry by which the former acknowledged the sover- 
 eignty of Henry, and Roderick was recognized as high king 
 of Ireland, except those portions held by the Normans under 
 Henry. 
 
 This treaty was soon violated by Henry. A bitter and 
 fierce re]»ellion on the part of the Southern and Western Irish 
 was crushed. Now occurred one of those acts of an individual 
 which, at all times, has aroused the indignation and condemna- 
 tion of the Irish people. Prince ^lurrough O'Connor, thinking 
 his father should be satisfied with the title of high king, rose 
 in revolt, and endeavored to seize the crown of Connaught; 
 but the old king was sustained by his people. Murrough was 
 defeated and in his bitterness of defeat, he allied himself with 
 the Norman DeCogan. King Roderic, his heart wrung with 
 sorrow at the crime of his son, and depressed and disgusted 
 with the hopeless condition of Irish affairs, retired to the mon- 
 astery in Galway, and there, after twelve years, he died on the 
 29th day of November, 1198, in his 82nd year. He was a good 
 man and a noble king, but the times demanded a man of brain, 
 blood and iron, another Brian Boru. 
 
 Meanwhile, every year a fresh swarm of greedy, land-hun- 
 gry adventurers came to Ireland, carrying with them royal 
 patents, granting them large slices of Irish territory for service 
 rendered and to be rendered. 
 
 The history of Ireland for the next two centuries is in no 
 wise notable except to show the animus of the English throne 
 toward the Irish people. The sword made good the fiction of 
 titles to land. Kings carved out estates for their nobles. These 
 in turn, had to conquer the territories granted them, and there 
 was to be no trade with the Irish; no intercourse, no relation- 
 ship, no use of their dress, speech or laws, no dealings save 
 those of slaughter and conquest. 
 
 Wherever there was a contest between native princes, the 
 fire was fed. Often the Norman would take one side, and when 
 the other was defeated would turn around and overwhelm the 
 
HON. JOHN H. S. HUNT 73 
 
 M"ctor. It came to pass that, in law, the Irish were aliens in 
 their own land, and were refused the protection of English law. 
 Shut out from tlie king's ])eace and court were the people who 
 had carried the light and fire of a spiritual religion over Eng- 
 land and Europe, who for four hundred years poured mission- 
 aries through Europe, their monasteries forming rest-houses 
 for the travelers of Europe. This people to which civilization 
 was indebted, this people whose monks taught the Picts to com- 
 pose hymns in their own tongue, who trained the first English 
 poets; this people now saw a political church bearing the sword 
 of the conquerbr planted among them. 
 
 From Henry II on, the purpose and aim of the English 
 government was consistently the same. The land of Ireland was 
 a King's land according to English law, but not in fact. So long 
 as the Irish claimed one foot, the war must go on. At no mo- 
 ment was any peace possible for the Irish except by entire re- 
 nunciation of their rights to the actual soil of their country. 
 For the next 200 years, the country was shaken by civil wars, 
 encouraged in a large part by the government officials who 
 represented the English crown. Every Irish chief, surrounded 
 by dangers, was bound to turn his court into a place of arms, 
 thronged by men ready to meet any attack. No tribe dared to 
 disarm, any more than the European countries of today. 
 
 But there was a force working to defeat the purpose of the 
 English Crown. This force or power was the great power of 
 assimilation of the Irish people. The Norman Colonists and 
 the English Colonists, after a little experience, found the coun- 
 ts y delightful and the people anything but barbarians. They 
 were attracted by the intelligence of its inhabitants. They took 
 to Irish dress and language. They recognized Irish land ten- 
 ures. They employed Irishmen in offices of trust. As the years 
 rolled on, "English born in Ireland," degenerate English, be- 
 came as much feared by the King as the ' ' mere Irish. ' ' 
 
 Norman lords liacl married daughters of Irish chiefs all 
 over the country, and had made treaties with every province. 
 Many settlers changed their names to an Irish form, and tak- 
 ing up the clan system melted into the Irish population. Grad- 
 ually, Irish names entered into the town houses of the business 
 men. Almost to the gate of Dublin, the center of pure English 
 bigotry, the merchants went riding Irish fashion, in Irish dress, 
 and making merry with their forbidden Irish clients. So, what 
 has been called the Anglo-Norman Conquest of Ireland was not 
 a conquest. The great strength that lay in the spiritual ideal of 
 the life of the Irish peo])le was subjecting the minds of the in- 
 vaders. So long as the Irish language preserved to the people 
 
74 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 their own culture, they never failed to absorb into their life 
 every people that came among them. The fusing of the Irish 
 and the Normans brought about and added impetus in Irish 
 trade and commerce. Together they took a prominent part in 
 the commerce that was broadening over the world. Besides ex- 
 porting law materials, Irish made linen and cloth and cloaks 
 and leather, were carried as far as Russia and Naples. Norman 
 lords and Irish chieftans took in exchange, velvets, silks and 
 satins, cloth of gold and embroidery. Irish goldsmiths made 
 the rich vessels that adorn the tables of both Normans and of 
 Irish, 
 
 While the relations between the Irish and the invading 
 Normans were becoming closer, the attitude of the English 
 government became more cruel and unjust toward the Irish 
 people. It had taken legal possession of the land, but it found 
 Irish hands and Irish battle blades in the way, preventing the 
 delivery of that property. In order to get possession, the Eng- 
 lish government had to root out the Celtic race. It passed leg- 
 islation prohibiting the marriage of English and Irish. If an 
 Englishman was put in possession of land, he had the right to 
 trespass upon his Irish neighbors. They passed a law declaring 
 that the killing of an Irishman was no felony. Some specific 
 instances on record will point out clearly the attitude of the 
 English law towards the Irish people. At the assizes at Water- 
 ford in the 29th year of Edward the first, a certain Thomas 
 Butler brought an action against Robert de Alwain to recover 
 goods that Robert had stolen from him. It was admitted that 
 he was a thief. The defense put in was that Butler was an 
 Irishman. The issue was submitted to the jury as to whether 
 Thomas was an Irishman or an Englishman. The jury found 
 that Thomas was an Englishman, and so Robert, the thief, was 
 obliged to return the goods. Another case happened in Water- 
 ford. A man named Robert Welch killed an Irishman, John 
 McGilmore. He was tried for manslaughter. Welch admitted 
 that he committed the act, saying, "Yes, I did kill him; you 
 cannot try me for it, however, as he was only an Irishman." 
 Instantly he was led out of the dock, on condition — since the 
 dead Irishman had at the time of his death been in the employ 
 of an English master — he should pay whatever he compelled 
 him to pay for the loss of his services, and the confessed mur- 
 derer might go free. The Irish were forbidden to buy land. If 
 an Irishman made a will and left an acre of land to an Irishman, 
 the moment it was proved he was an Irishman, the property 
 was forfeited to the Crown of England. At one time, a Mrs. 
 Catherine Dowdoll made a will and left some land for charita- 
 
HON. JOHN H. S. HUNT 75 
 
 ble purposes to her chaplain, and the land was forfeited because 
 the priest was an Irishman. Further to keep the English in an 
 atmosphere where they would not become affected by Irish 
 charm, it was necessary to fence them up. A part of the land 
 around Dublin consisting of one-half the counties of Dublin, 
 Kildare, Meath, Louth, were set apart and all within that 
 charmed place was called the "pale." Within this fence, no 
 Irishman was allowed to enter; if found there he was killed, 
 and a reward was offered for killing him. Now the culmina- 
 tion of all thes^ restrictive measures came in 1367 when the in- 
 famous and foolish statute of Kilkenny was passed. This stat- 
 ute was directed against those English and Anglo-Normans who 
 had adopted the laws and the costume of the natives, and it is 
 .saturated with that penal spirit that has infected for centuries 
 the legislation of the English. This statute provides that inter- 
 marriages with natives, or any connection with them in the way 
 of fostering should be considered and punished as high treason. 
 Fostering was something that rankled in the minds of the Eng- 
 lish as it tended to produce strong ties and relationship between 
 the Irish and the English, 
 
 It further stated that any man of English race, assuming 
 an Irish name, or using the Irish language, apparel, or customs, 
 should forfeit all his lands and tenements; that to adopt or sub- 
 mit to the Brehon or Irish law was treason; that without per- 
 mission of the government the English should not make war 
 upon the natives. But of what avail were their statutes and 
 their laws! The trend of events was too strong; again were the 
 Celts the conquerors. For three hundred years they had 
 fought Danes, they who had been unconquerable in every land 
 they had invaded, fought them and disputed with them every 
 inch of their land, filled every valley in the land with their dead 
 bodies, and in the end drove them back into the sea and wrest- 
 td their land from the dominion of the Danes. Now, confronted 
 by a force with a vastly superior military and political organ- 
 ization, the}' had exposed courageous bodies and dauntless 
 hearts as a bulwark for the preservation of their land, their 
 traditions and their patronomy, and by the nobleness of their 
 character, by the lofty grandeur of their ideals, by the woman- 
 liness of their women, tliey at first attacked and then conquered 
 the hearts and the affections of the martial and fearless Nor- 
 mans who, intended as a weapon for the destruction of the Irish 
 race, became a part of the very woof and fibre of the Irish peo- 
 ple. 
 
 Truly the God who watches over the destiny of nations, 
 the God of St. Patrick, Columbkille and Columbas, was mindful 
 
76 CONTEST WITH THE NORMANS 
 
 of the great service rendered humanity and in his honor and 
 glorj^ by the Irish people. He moves in mysterious ways his 
 wonders to perform. Wonderful indeed is the story writ large 
 across the pages of the Irish nation. In tracing the rise and 
 fall of the various nations of earth, the rise to splendor of the 
 Gregian cities, the majestic march of Rome and her various 
 institutions, while we view them with admiration, yet when we 
 contemplate this little nation, handicapped by an imperfect po- 
 litical equipment, giving to the world the finest example of a 
 spiritual union that has annihilated time and space, that has 
 drawn within its exalting influence men who have responded to 
 the call of the blood; overcoming measures and methods that 
 have reduced other people to the condition of serfs and slaves, 
 this mighty spirit of the Irish race has breathed over many 
 nations of the earth, and in its sons and daughters has been a 
 valiant sword for the right and a fortress of rest in times of 
 spiritual doubt and unrest, fulfilling even to the present day, the 
 mission for which God intended her, a spiritual leaven for the 
 human race. 
 
Thomas H. Sullivan 
 
 Thomas H. Sullivan was born November 12, 1868, 
 in Millbnry, Mass., son of Jeremiah T. Sullivan and 
 Johanna (Horgan) Sullivan. He was educated in the 
 Millbury High School, Holy Cross College, and Boston 
 University Law School. He was graduated from Holy 
 Cross in 1891 and was a Commencement speaker. He 
 received the honor "Magna Cum Laude" at Boston 
 iTniversity Law School. April 18, 1910, Mr. Sullivan 
 married Mary A. Barrett, daughter of Thomas Barrett, 
 of Worcester, Mass. 
 
 Mr. Sullivan was the Democratic candidate for 
 District Attorney for the Middle District of Massachu- 
 j'etts, which includes Worcester County, in 1910 and 
 1913, and reduced the normal Eepublican majority of 
 about 14,000 to 3,000 in 1910 and to 700 in 1913. Mem- 
 ber of the School Committee in Millbury for sixteen 
 years, and chairman for ten years. 
 
 Mr. Sullivan is a member of Division 9, A. 0. H., 
 of Millbury, and was president for two years. Has 
 served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Committee of 
 the A. 0. H. on Irish History, and is president of the 
 Past Presidents ' Organization of the Worcester Coimty 
 A. 0. H. 
 
^■^^rfC^jg*^ 
 
®1)? iFtgljt Itttn i^atlf 
 
 1367—1607 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS H. SULLIVAN 
 
 The subject which has been allotted to me for this evening's 
 lecture seems at once easy and hard. It is easy because nothing 
 ought to be more agreeable to the son of Irish parents than to 
 speak of his ancient race when he is assured that his hearers 
 are ever anxious to listen to the recital of the glorious deeds 
 of bravery accredited to an illustrious people of which they are 
 descendants. 
 
 It is hard because it has been treated so often and by men 
 of such brilliant parts that any attempt on the part of the 
 speaker will fall far short of the high ideals and memorable 
 speeches which have placed Irish eloquence in the enviable po- 
 sition of being unsurpassed. 
 
 No tongue can tell nor mind picture the brilliancy ^ of the 
 achievement of the noble sons of Erin, who, generation after 
 generation, stood firm against alluring promises of bribery and 
 advancement if they would betray their countrjinen and re- 
 ligion. They endured privations too cruel to enumerate, the ty- 
 rant's dungeons and the enemy's steel that their country might 
 be free that they might worship God. according to the dictates 
 of their conscience. 
 
 The period assigned for tonight is from 1367 to 1607 and 
 includes the reigns of the following English monarchs: Ed- 
 ward III, Richard II, Henrys IV,V,VI, Edward IV, Richard 
 III, Henrys VII, VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth and the 
 beginning of that of James I. 
 
 The last lecture brought us to the time of the enactment of 
 the Statute of Kilkenny which re-enacted the prohibition of 
 marriage and foster-nursing, rendered obligatory the adoption 
 of the English language and customs, forbade the national 
 
78 THE FIGHT UNTO DEATH 
 
 games of ' ' Imrlings and quoitings, ' ' and the use of the ancient 
 Gaelic code; a code by which the native brehons or judges, of 
 the Irish septs had decided causes among them since the time 
 of the conversion of the race to Christianity in the fifth century. 
 It may assist us at the outset if we go back in our minds' eye 
 and view Ireland is it was at the beginning of the period. 
 
 Without going into detail as to the names of the chiefs and 
 the localities over which they held sway, it will answer our pur- 
 pose to state that at the beginning of the fifteenth century Ire- 
 land was divided into two districts- — one known as the English 
 Pale, which comprised the four shires, as they were called, of 
 Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Louth — which was a narrow strip 
 some fifty miles long and twenty miles broad; this was the only 
 part that was in any sense English — the other, the rest of the 
 island, was parcelled among about sixty independent chiefs, 
 who acknowledged no sovereignty but that of strength ; beyond 
 the borders of the Pale the common law of England was of no 
 authority and the King's writ was but a strip of parchment. 
 
 Under these conditions it is evident that unrest and upris- 
 ings were the natural order and of frequent occurrence. While 
 the various chiefs fought among themselves they often united 
 against the ursupation of their rights by their common enemy 
 of English government. 
 
 Parliament enacted laws; the chiefs and their peoples re- 
 fused to recognize the authority and resisted the execution of 
 these laws by force. Hence, during this period there were 
 many clashes of arms and many persecutions, under the 
 pretense of due process of law, where death and plunder re- 
 sulted. 
 
 Time will permit but a cursory glance of some of the im- 
 portant events that history has recorded. Art MacMurrogh 
 Kavanagh was born A. D. 1377 and died A. D. 1417. He was 
 King of Leinster while Richard II and Henry IV and Henry V 
 sat on the English throne. When eighteen years of age he was 
 elected King; he married the daughter of Maurice Fitzgerald, 
 fourth earl of Kildare, and by this marriage violated the Stat- 
 ute of Kilkenny. On this account shortly after the accession of 
 Eichards, the black rents were stopped and the English author- 
 ities seized his wife's estates. Art MacMurrogh resented this 
 and at once set about devastating and burning many districts 
 of Leinster. Things were going from bad to worse in Ireland: at 
 length King Eichard resolved to visit Ireland in person and 
 bring with him an army that would strike terror into the Irish 
 outlaws and compel obedience to his laws by force. He landed 
 at Waterford in the fall of 1394 with an armv of 34,000 men. 
 
THOMAS H, SULLIVAN 79 
 
 MacMiirrogh at once attacked and sacked New Eoss, an English 
 settlement, and retreated to a place of safety. King Richard 
 marched to Dublin, but was harassed and attacked all along the 
 line, and lost great numbers of his men. MacMurrogh well 
 knew guerilla warfare and with a handful of men played havoc 
 with a greatly superior force. The Irish chief knew, however, 
 that he could not resist successfully the King's great army. He 
 made terms with the King, and with all the chiefs came for- 
 ward and submitted. Eichard was glad to end the struggle and 
 invited the chiefs to Dublin, where he banquetted them and 
 knighted four »privincial Kings: O'Neill of Ulster, O'Connor 
 of Connaught, MacMurrogh of Leinster, and O'Brien of Tho- 
 mond. 
 
 Eichard 's expedition was an expensive failure, for he left 
 conditions in no wise improved when he embarked for England. 
 He left Eoger Mortimer heir to the English throne as his deputy 
 in Ireland. 
 
 No sooner had Eichard sailed than the Irish chiefs at once 
 proclaimed that their submission was a sham, that the King had 
 no right to demand it, and that it was might, not right, that 
 compelled them to acquiesce. The fighting was renewed at 
 Kells in Kilkenny; the English were routed, Mortimer was 
 slain and again MacMurrogh was supreme. 
 
 When the King heard of the calamity that had befallen his 
 cousin he was enraged at MacMurrogh and resolved at once to 
 set out again for Ireland to avenge Mortimer's death and to 
 overpower and humiliate the great Irish chief. A second time 
 he landed at Waterford with an army as numerous as the pre- 
 vious one. This time he determined to attack MacMurrogh 
 without delay; but again unforeseen obstacles beset him. Bogs, 
 forests, fallen trees, hidden gullies and quagmires in turn de- 
 layed his march. MacMurrogh retreated skilfully, leaving ev- 
 erything barren for the King's foraging parties. Bad weather, 
 lack of supplies, and repeated reverses compelled Eichard to 
 make forced marches to the Wicklow coast, where three vessels 
 laden with supplies awaited him. All along the line of march 
 MacMurrogh would dart in upon them, slaughter the King's 
 men, taken unawares, and then before reinforcements arrived 
 disappear as if by magic to his retreats in the mountains where 
 nature protected him from the overwhelming forces of the ene- 
 my. MacMurrogh then resolved to artifice and sent a messenger 
 to the King with word that he would agree to meet and arrange 
 for the future peace of his country. Eichard was pleased and 
 at once sent the Earl of Gloucester to treat with MacMurrogh. 
 They met. MacMurrogh and the Earl ''exchanged much dis- 
 
80 THE FIGHT UNTO DEATH 
 
 course ' ' but did not come to an agreement. MacMurrogh would 
 only agree to "i^eace without reserve." 
 
 The news aroused the King's anger; in a rage he offered a 
 large reward for MacMurrogh "dead or alive',' and swore that 
 he would never cease in his warfare till he had Art in his pow- 
 er. Little did he dream that he was looking upon Ireland for 
 the last time. When he returned to England he was stripped 
 of all authority. His expeditions in Ireland had cost him his 
 throne and eventually his life, MacMurrogh continued in his 
 victorious course and afterwards crossed the plain which lies 
 to the north of Dublin and encamped where Eoderic, when he 
 besieged the city, and Brian before the battle of Clontarf, had 
 pitched their tents of old. On this historic spot the Irish chief 
 routed the English of the Pale in his last great battle. From the 
 age of sixteen to his death, forty-four years, he resisted success- 
 fully all attacks from foreign foes. Of him Dr. Joyce says, ^'He 
 was the most heroic and persevering defender of his country 
 from Brian Boru to Hugh O'Neill; and he maintained his in- 
 dependence for nearly half a century just beside the Pale, in 
 spite of every effort to reduce him to submission." 
 
 Bagwell says: ''Art MacMurrogh, the great hero of the 
 Leinster Celts, practically had the best of the contest. ' ' What 
 hardships, privations and feats of arms could not effect, treach- 
 ery accomplished. It is recorded that he died of poison at the 
 age of sixty years. 
 
 From the death of Art MacMurrogh in 1417 to the rebel- 
 lion of Silken, Thomas, there was a lull in warfare. The Irish 
 chiefs and even the ennobled Butlers and Fitzgeralds used the 
 Irish language, dress and customs; Anglo-Irish lords were 
 as turbulent as the worst native chiefs. The Statute of Kilken- 
 ny became a dead letter. Barriers of race could not be main- 
 tained and intermarrying of Irish and Anglo-Irish went on. 
 The long war with France, followed by the War of the Roses, 
 diverted the attention of England from Irish affairs; and the 
 Viceroy, feebly supported from England, was too weak to chas- 
 tise these powerful lords or put penal laws in force. The hos- 
 tility of the native chiefs was bought off by the payment of 
 ''black rents." The loyal colonists in the "Pale" shivered be- 
 hind this encircling rampart, and when the sixteenth century 
 dawned, the English power in Ireland had almost disappeared. 
 
 The Irish Parliament was independent, yet its laws were 
 totally disregarded by all outside the "Pale." It passed acts 
 ordaining that every Irishman dwelling within the "Pale" was 
 to dress and shave like the English and to take an English sur- 
 name — ^from some town, as Trim, Sutton, Cork; or of some 
 
THOMAS H. SULLIVAN 81 
 
 color, as Black, Brown; or of some calling, as Smith, Carpenter, 
 etc. — on pain of forfeiture of his goods. Another mischievous 
 measure forbade ships from fishing in the sea of the Irish coun- 
 ties outside the ''Pale;" another made it lawful to decapitate 
 thieves found robbing or ''going or coming anywhere," unless 
 they had Englishmen in their company. The legislators were 
 attempting to discourage marauders, but they opened the way 
 for malicious persons to kill an enemy and go unpunished by 
 setting up the defense that the deceased was caught thieving. 
 
 During this state of affairs, the King sent to Ireland as his 
 Lord Deputy,, Sir Edward Poynings. After some military oper- 
 ations which he found to be beset with treachery and difficul- 
 ties — the new lord deputy held a parliament at Drogheda. This 
 was perhaps the most memorable that was ever held in Ireland, 
 as certainly no other Parliament in that country made laws 
 which endured so long as the two which were enacted and were 
 known for centuries afterwards as the Poynings Acts. By the 
 first of these it was ordained that no Parliament should be held 
 in Ireland in future, until the King and Council in England had 
 approved not only of its being summoned, but also of the acts 
 which the Lieutenant and Council of Ireland purposed to pass. 
 By the second, the laws enacted before that time in England 
 were extended to Ireland also. Thus the Irish Legislature was 
 made entirely dependent upon England. The Irish Parliament 
 had no power to originate anything, but was only free to accept 
 or (if they were very bold) to reject measures drawn up by 
 Irish Council and approved already by the King and his Coun- 
 cil in England before they were submitted to discussion. Such 
 was the state of subjection in which the Irish Parliament re- 
 mained by virtue of these laws for nearly three centuries later. 
 The general purposes of the Poynings legislature was to in- 
 crease the power of the King and diminish that of the Nobles, 
 who were the chief sources of danger to the crown. While at 
 the time of their passage the effect of the Poynings' laws did 
 not extend beyond the "Pale," yet at a later date, when English 
 law was made to extend over the whole country, and the Irish 
 Parliament made laws for all the people of Ireland, the Poyn- 
 ings' law, which still remained in force, was felt by the people 
 to be one of their greatest grievances. It was not until 1782 
 that these laws were repealed through the signal skill, energy, 
 moderation and the splendid eloquence of the famous patriot, 
 Henry Grattan. 
 
 During the tremendous struggle between the Houses of 
 York and Lancaster, the Geraldines sided with the House of 
 York and the Butlers with the House of Lancaster. After the 
 
>-82 THE FIGHT UNTO DEATH 
 
 civil war was over, one of the Geraldines was appointed Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland. In obedience to the King's mandate, he set 
 out for England and left young Lord Thomas as deputy in his 
 place. The son is known to history as ' ' Silken Thomas ' ' from 
 the gorgeous trappings of himself and his retinue. He was 
 scarcely twenty-one years of age, brave, open and generous, but 
 enemies who hated his clan were plotting for his down-fall. 
 They spread the report that his father, the Lord Deputy, had 
 been beheaded in England, and that all his relations were going 
 to be treated in the same way. This aroused the impetuous 
 young Lord. He, with his retinue, at once rode to St. Mary's 
 Abbey where the Council was in session, and openly renounced 
 his allegiance, delivered up his sword of office and the robes of 
 State. He collected a large force, led them to Dublin, and laid 
 siege to the castle where the leading citizens, including Arch- 
 bishop Allen, had sought refuge on the first appearance of dan- 
 ger. The archbishop was captured and taken to Lord Thomas. 
 He threw himself on his knees for mercy, and the young Lord, 
 pitying him, ordered his attendants to take him away and keep 
 him in custody. They wilfully placed a wrong construction up- 
 on his words and murdered the archbishop upon the spot. 
 
 Sir William Skeffington was appointed Deputy by the King 
 to put down the rebellion. He laid siege to the castle of May- 
 mooth, the strongest of the Fitzgerald fortresses. After nine 
 days' siege the castle fell, battered by English artillery, which 
 then for the first time was used in Ireland. The rebellion had 
 brought the English "Pale" to a frightful state as it was sup- 
 plemented by the plague which was raging over the whole 
 country. Lord Gray took command with a vigorous hand and 
 made short work of the rebellion. Lord Thomas and his friend 
 O'Connor made offers of submission. O'Connor was ])ardoned 
 and Lord Thomas was delivered up to Lord Gray on condition 
 that his life be spared. The military commander determined 
 to blot the Geraldines out of existence. He invited five of the 
 uncles of Lord Thomas to a banquet. He knew that three of 
 them had openly opposed the rebellion, nevertheless, the fact 
 that the same red Geraldine blood coursed through their veins 
 was sufficient excuse for their condemnation. 
 
 Lord Thomas and his five uncles were executed at Tyburn 
 in 1537. Thus ended the rebellion that originated in treachery 
 and was culminated by the violation of the rules of hospitali-ty 
 — making captive under your own roof the guest whom you have 
 invited, and condemning him to death. 
 
 Trouble next arose over a conflict between the feudal laws 
 of England and the old Irish law of Tanistry. Under the form- 
 
THOlVfAS H. SULLIVAN 83 
 
 er titles descended to the eldest son; under the latter, to the 
 chief selected by the clan. 
 
 Con 'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, had taken his title from Henry 
 VIII, subject to the English law of succession; but when Con 
 died the clan O'Neill chose Shane O'Neill, the hero of his Sept 
 to be The O'Neill. Shane at once put himself forward as the 
 champion of Irish liberty, the supporter of the Irish right to 
 rule themselves in their own way without the interference from 
 England. 
 
 Matthew, an adopted son, claimed the right to succeed to 
 the earldom \mder the English law. The father repented his 
 preference for Matthew and took Shane's part. The English 
 authorities, favoring Matthew, allured Earl Con to Dublin un- 
 der pretense of imjDortant business, and then kept him captive. 
 Shane was immediately in arms, both to avenge his father's cap- 
 ture and to maintain what he believed was his right against 
 Matthew and the government. 
 
 Sir James Croft joined Matthew and made several attempts 
 to subdue the young chief, but was unsuccessful. In the year 
 of Queen Elizabeth's accession, Matthew was assasinated under 
 circumstances which implicated Shane, though he was not pres- 
 ent. The father then died. Shane was elected in accordance 
 with the old Irish custom, and in open defiance to the English 
 law, his right to the earldom was contested. Shane defeated 
 his rivals in turn and overcame the Earl of Sussex, who was 
 sent to subdue him. 
 
 Failing to subdue him by force, the Queen resorted to 
 peaceful methods. She sent for Shane and invited him to Lon- 
 don; with his retainers all clad in their strange native attire, 
 Shane appeared in London; he made formal submission to the 
 Queen, received full pardon and had all his expenses paid. 
 Shane managed his affair very adroitly in England ; in the game 
 of craft against craft, the London officials had met their match. 
 But conditions were afterwards submitted to Shane for signa- 
 ture which would compromise his Irish rights and privileges. 
 To sign meant an opportunity to return to his native land; to 
 refuse meant the tower and death. He signed but never kept 
 the conditions; in fact he disregarded them entirely and re- 
 newed the warfare. One of the conditions bound Shane to make 
 war on the Scots and reduce them to obedience. He did make 
 war upon them, but it is believed rather to rid himself of un- 
 desirable and powerful neighbors who were hostile to his clan 
 than to keep the pact he had signed. 
 
 He was finally crushed, not by the government, but by the 
 O'Donnells: in this last conflict he was utterly ruined and by 
 
84 THE FIGHT UNTO DEATH 
 
 some insane resolution sought refuge with the Scots, whose un- 
 dying enmity he incurred two years before. They received him 
 with apparent show of cordiality, but soon raised a dispute and 
 put to death this valiant warrior, with the remnant of his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 After Shane O'Neill's rebellion his lands were declared for- 
 feited, and his vassals vassals of the crown. English soldiers 
 of fortune were given grants from Shane's escheated territory, 
 but when they attempted to settle they were killed bv the O'- 
 Neill's. 
 
 Others under Earl of Essex came and did their best to sim- 
 plify the process of colonization by exterminating the O'Neills, 
 men, women and children. Two years' trial proved unsuccess- 
 ful. But other colonizers came ; some under Peter Carew, siezed 
 on Cork, Limerick and Kerry and sought to hold them by exter- 
 pating the hated natives. It was against these colonizers that 
 the great Geraldine League was formed. 
 
 In the reign of Mary, that boy of twelve, whom Henry VIII 
 had not been able to include in the general doom of his house, 
 had been allowed to return to Ireland and resume his ancestral 
 honors. Once more the Geraldines were a great and powerful 
 family in Ireland. With encouragement from Eome and prom- 
 ises of assistance from Spain they rose again under the Earl of 
 Desmond and Sir James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. They met with 
 some successes at first : but as they had many wrongs to avenge,^ 
 they followed up their victories. 
 
 To prevent further uprising Sir Francis Crosby, the Queen's 
 representative, invited the chiefs and their kinsmen to a great 
 banquet at the fort of Mullaghmast, and there massacred them 
 all. Out of 400 guests only one escaped the feast of blood. This 
 inhuman act only served to inflame the minds . of the native 
 tribes who rose in all directions to respond to the Desmond call. 
 Elizabeth at once sent over troops under the new Lord Deputy, 
 Sir William Pelliam. He had with him as an ally Ormond, the 
 head of the house of Butler, hereditary foes of the Geraldines. 
 The English army cut its way over Munster with unexampled 
 ferocity. Ormond boasted that he had put to death nearly 
 6,000 disaffected persons. Spanish and Italian aid arrived too 
 late. 
 
 It was during this uprising that Sir Walter Raleigh and 
 Edmund Spencer held commands. Here it was that Raleigh 
 killed prisoners in cold blood to serve a sovereign and after- 
 wards another rewarded him for his loyalty by having him be- 
 headed. 
 
 Munster was so vigorously laid waste that even Froude de- 
 
THOMAS H. SULLIVAN 8S 
 
 clares that ''the lowing of a cow or the sound of a ploughboy's 
 whistle was not to be heard from Valentia to the Eock of Cas- 
 kel." Holinshed says that "a traveller would not meet any 
 man, woman or child, saving in the towns and cities, and would 
 not see any beast ; ' ' and Spencer gives a melancholy picture of 
 the inhabitants ' ' as that any strong heart would rue the same. ' ' 
 
 The estate of Desmond and his followers was forfeited to 
 the crown, and thus ended another uprising. 
 
 The next and last rebellion within the period to which we 
 are giving our attention was that of Hugh 'Neill. Hugh '- 
 Neill was borij about 1545; was educated among the English 
 as his father had always been on the side of the government. He 
 began his military life in the Queen's service as a commander 
 of a troop of horse. The Irish parliament made him Earl of 
 Tyrone in succession to his grandfather, Earl Con. O'Neill. 
 In the brilliant Court of Elizabeth the young Irish chief was dis- 
 tinguished for his gifts of mind and body. When of age he was 
 allowed to return to his native land. Once within his own 
 country he assumed the ancestral title of ''The O'Neill" and re- 
 vived all the customs of the independent Irish chieftans. For a 
 long time he took no part in the revolts or uprisings, but re- 
 mained passively loyal to the government. At length the treach- 
 erous capture of Hugh Eoe O'Donnell and his subsequent im- 
 prisonment in Dublin Castle, the refusal of Sir Henry Bagenal, 
 military commander of Ireland, to give Hugh his sister in mar- 
 riage, the subsequent marriage against Sir Henry's will and the 
 enmity it caused, and the ties of friendship and love for his 
 countrymen overcame his loyalty and drove him into ihe rebel- 
 lion which has taken his name. For a long time prior to the ac- 
 tual break he had been drilling men and obtaining ammunition 
 under varying pretenses. There were now alarming signs and 
 rumors of the coming disturbance. Three thousand English 
 soldiers were sent over under Sir John Norris. 'Neill regard- 
 ed this as the first step toward the subjugation of the entire 
 country, including his own province of Ulster. He seized and 
 plundered Portmore, Cavan and Monaghan. Lord General Nor- 
 ris marched against him, but without success. Failing to check 
 him by arms, resort was made to negotiate for peace; but O'- 
 Neill insisted that the Catholics should be free to practice their 
 religion. This was refused and the war went on. There were 
 numerous cl/ashes of arms, and Hugh was continuously success- 
 ful. Then came the Battle of Yellow Ford in 1598, where O'- 
 Neill and his followers gained the greatest victory ever won in 
 Ireland over English arms. Two thousand of the English, in- 
 
86 THE FIGHT UNTO DEATH 
 
 eluding their commander and most of their officers, were killed. 
 The Irish loss was less than 700. 
 
 It was in this battle that Hugh sought out Sir Henry, who 
 had refused him his sister in marriage, that he might slay him 
 in single combat. But fate had otherwise decreed ; before 'Neill 
 could reach him, another's bullet had dispatched him. Victory 
 was now at high tide, but the tide was soon to ebb. The Span- 
 ish allies, 3400 strong, entered the harbor of Kinsale on Septem- 
 ber, 1601. The news of their arrival brought Mount joy and 
 Carew, with 12,000 of Elizabeth's troops. O'Neill hastened to 
 Kinsale with 4000 men. It was then mid- winter. The English 
 were encamped outside Kinsale. They found themselves 
 hemmed in between the Irish and the Spaniards. Lack of sup- 
 plies and inability to get them were causing great hardship for 
 the Queen's Army. A council of war was held. Del Aguila, 
 commander of the Spanish, advised an immediate attack — 
 O'Neill counseled delay. It was decided to give the English 
 battle. Hugh drew close to the English lines. Del Aguila, for 
 some unknown reason, failed to carry out his part. Mountjoy 's 
 quick eye caught the situation at a glance; he charged with his 
 cavalry and routed O'Neill completely. The revolution was at 
 an end; but nevertheless Hugh continued the warfare and 
 yielded, after the disaster his Spanish allies had brought on 
 him at Kinsale, only upon condition of being guaranteed his 
 titles and his lands: by this time Elizabeth, who hated him so 
 much and so longed for his destruction, had breathed her last. 
 
 No such able chief appeared since the days of Brian Boru. 
 Cool, cautious, vigilant, he laid his plans with care, and knew 
 how to wait patiently for results. Never impulsive, never 
 boastful, wise in council and wary in speech from his long resi- 
 dence in London, he learned dissimulation, and was as crafty 
 as the craftiest English minister. What he might have done 
 had he been loyally supported at Kinsale it is hard to say. 
 
 It was during this uprising that Carew with 4000 men be- 
 sieged Dunboy, which was defended by 143 men. The defend- 
 ers fought to the last ditch. English cannon battered the castle 
 but the Irish never yielded till the few survivors were overpow- 
 ered and taken prisoners. Fifty-eight of these were executed on 
 the same day. Taylor, the Irish commander, and fourteen men 
 were reserved to tempt them to give information. They firmly 
 refused to purchase their lives on this condition, and were all 
 hanged. No one of the defenders escaped; they were all either 
 slain, executed or buried in the ruins, so obstinate and resolved 
 was their defense. 
 
 After the capture of Dunboy, 'Sullivan Beare began his 
 
THOMAS H. SULLIVAN 87 
 
 famous retreat. He had kept up the struggle resolutely, but the 
 odds were against him. On the last day of December. 1602, he 
 set out from Glengarriif with 400 fighting men, and 600 women, 
 children and servants. Through the mountains and glens, 
 avoiding the main roads, midst hardship, sufferings and priva- 
 tions, frequently attacked, sick in mind and heart at the scene 
 which was ever before him, he made his way to Leitrim Castle. 
 A fortnight before they set out from Glengarriff 1000 in number, 
 but on that morning, only 35 survived to enter the castle. Such 
 were the hardships and trials of our ancestors in the Emerald 
 Isle. It was during these times that the Ancient Order of Hiber- 
 nians was founded. This organization grew up gradually among 
 the Catholics of Ireland, owing to the dreadful hardships and 
 persecutions to which they were subjected. During the reign 
 of Henry VIII and Elizabeth, Acts of Uniformity and Suprem- 
 acy were passed. The Act of Supremacy invested the King with 
 spiritual jurisdiction, and, in substitution for the Pope, pro- 
 claimed him head of the church. The Act of Uniformity made 
 Protestantism the state creed. In consequence of these and oth- 
 er acts the bishops of the Irish were hunted like wolves, forced 
 to steal in and out of their native land and to beg their bread 
 from the King of Spain or the King of France. Their clergy 
 had no better fate, and for many long decades were tracked 
 pitilessly from glen to mountain, from forest to bog, as though 
 they were a wretched vermin in the body politic. It is a tradi- 
 tion in the Ancient Order that they first started as the body 
 guard of their poor parish priest when he said mass in the open 
 air. And many a rude print still exists representing these men 
 at the mouth of a glen in conflict with the English soldiery. 
 Within the priest finished his mass amid the falling snow, be- 
 fore terrified women and children, while the eternal hills of 
 holy Ireland looked down on a scene of martyrdom not sur- 
 passed by any holocaust of the Collosseum. 
 
 It is claimed that Rory 'Moore organized and founded 
 Hibernianism in the year 1565 in the County of Kildare, in the 
 Province of Leinster, and gave to his faithful followers the 
 name of ''The Defenders." The necessity of defending the 
 priest by force has rapidly passed away, but the organization 
 still lives and flourishes under its motto, ''Friendship, Unity 
 and True Christian Charity." 
 
 Strife, disorder and discontent always interfere with the 
 general pursuit of education and religion. During this period 
 education was not entirely neglected, but did not flourish as in 
 the earlier days when Ireland was the school house of Europe. 
 
 Desmond's Irish councilors understood Latin, and Shane 
 
John J. Cummings, M. D. 
 
 Dr. John J. Cummings was born in Worcester, 
 Mass., March 16, 1870, the son of Thomas C. Cummings 
 and Margaret (Hunt) Cummings, both natives of Coun- 
 ty "VVaterford, Ireland. He was educated in the public 
 schools and the Worcester Classical High School. He 
 entered Columbia University Medical School, New 
 York City, and was graduated in 1899. 
 
 Dr. Cummings is a member of the Massachusetts 
 Medical Society. For twelve years he has held mem- 
 bership in Division 35, A. 0. H., of Worcester, and for 
 a number of years served as physician for the Division. 
 June 30, 1903, Dr. Cummings was married to Nellie G. 
 Donovan, daughter of Jeremiah Donovan and Mary 
 (Daly) Donovan of Worcester. 
 
A^*^'*^-t-^--.>^^*^^t^^ ^<^ 
 
i^strurtinn unh i^snlatinn 
 
 1608 — 1690 
 BY 
 
 JOHN J. CUMMI'NGS, M. D. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF THE EAELS 
 
 Upon the death of Elizabeth in 1603, James, the son of the 
 xmfortunate Mary Stuart, Queen of the Scots, became King of 
 England, and for the first time in their history the Irish people 
 accepted English rule, and gave willing submission to an Eng- 
 lish dynasty, supporting it afterward with their life blood. 
 
 James began by a policy of conciliation and toleration, and 
 it looked as if a new era of prosperity was dawning upon Ire- 
 land, He accepted Tyrone's homage and created Kory O'Don- 
 nell. Earl of Tyrconnell. The public worship of the national re- 
 ligion, if not legalized, was at least tolerated. 
 
 But a few short years and conditions changed. First a 
 conspiracy developed which involved the two northern Earls, 
 and, although guiltless even in the opinion of the English, they 
 ^ere forced to flee for their lives, first to France, and thence to 
 Home, where they eventually died in exile. 
 
 Meanwhile the King in 1607, issued a proclamation, declar- 
 ing forfeit to the crown, the lands and estates of the two Earls, 
 and promising protection to the inhabitants of these counties. 
 A rising, under Sir Caliir O'Doherty, which was limited to In- 
 nishowen, a small portion of Tyrconnell, was made the excuse 
 for the violation of these solemn pledges, — pledges which re- 
 ferred to the Celts of six counties. Then began the movement 
 to root out the natives of these estates and the first steps to- 
 wards the plantations of Ulster had been taken. 
 
 THE PLANTATIONS OF ULSTER 
 
 James brought in with him from Scotland a host of greedy 
 
90 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 followers, all of whom expected to rise with their king to a. 
 position of wealth and power. England was not wide enough 
 to hold them nor rich enough to satiate their appetites. The 
 puzzled, but crafty king turned to Ireland. 
 
 Taking over the forfeited lands of Tyrone and Tyrconnell,. 
 he distributed them with a lavish hand. He did not limit the 
 distribution to soldiers and officers of rank, as had been done in 
 previous plantations, but gave it to English and Scotch adven- 
 turers, and to London trade companies. 
 
 He settled it on Protestant colonies whose first use of their 
 power was to evict the former tenants or clansmen, thus effect- 
 ing a complete change in the religious and social aspect of the 
 north, and Ulster became then, and has since remained, a prov- 
 ince occupied and controlled by a people, alien to the country. 
 
 Then over into Ireland, James sent his Lord Deputy and 
 his Surveyor General, and they became the heads of his cele- 
 lirated *' Commission for the investigation of defective titles." 
 Most Irish families held possession of their lands by tradition 
 and their rights could not be proven by regular title deeds. A 
 horde of spies was employed under the name of "Discoverers," 
 and these over-ran the country, finding or inventing flaws in 
 the titles by which these Irish families held their possessions. 
 
 As a result of the work of the Discoverers, nearly half a 
 million acres were found "by inquisition to be vested in the 
 Crown," "inasmuch as the titles were not such as ought," in 
 their judgment, "to stand in the way of his Majesty's designs.'^ 
 
 These lands were divided among three classes, the under- 
 takers, who were English and Scotch Protestants; the servitors, 
 who were Protestant Irish; and the old natives. Large grants 
 were also made to Protestant churches and educational institu- 
 tions — Trinity College in Dublin receiving nearly ten thousand 
 acres. 
 
 All who had been under arms in Tyrone's war were to be- 
 transplanted with their families and cattle to the waste places 
 in Munster and Connaught. They were so numerous, however, 
 that there was not room for them all there, and many remained 
 as laborers for the new tenants, or became wanderers and fugi- 
 tives near their old homes. 
 
 FIRST NATIONAL PARLIAMENT 
 
 After a lapse of twenty-seven years, during which no par- 
 liament had been held in Ireland, James I issued writs for the 
 attendance of both houses at Dublin. The work of confiscation 
 and plantation had gone on for several years without the sane- 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 9t 
 
 tion of the legislature. Normally, there would be a large ma- 
 jority of Catholics in the House of Commons. To offset this 
 majority, over forty fictitious boroughs, each returning twa 
 members, were created by royal charter. 
 
 The House of Commons, so constituted, contained two 
 hundred and thirty-two members, of which the supporters of 
 the government claimed one hundred twenty-five; the Catholic 
 party one hundred one; and six absentees. The upper house 
 consisted of fifty peers, of whom twentj^'-five were Protestant 
 bishops. Thus James I gave to Ireland her so-called ' * first free 
 parliament. ' ' 
 
 Hence long before the death of James I, which occurred in 
 1625, all the hopes which his accession had raised in the hearts 
 of the Irish had vanished. 
 
 They were revived again on the coming to the throne of 
 Charles, the husband of the Catholic princess, Henrietta of 
 France. Charles and his ministers encouraged them in their 
 expectations. In consideration of the payment of one hundred 
 and twenty thousand pounds, in three yearly installments, he 
 promised them certain concessions, known as the ''fifty-one 
 graces. ' ' 
 
 The Irish Lords had paid over two-thirds of the stipulated 
 amount, and then discovered that the afore mentioned con- 
 cessions had not materialized. Instead there were more brok 
 en promises, more robbing of the natives through the working 
 of the ' ' Court of Defective titles. ' ' 
 
 Meanwhile, Charles was having his troubles both in Eng- 
 land and Scotland. The Scotch were making their successful 
 fight for the liberty to worship as they pleased. 
 
 The Puritans in England were growing in power and at 
 last obtained control of parliament and were in full opposition 
 to the policies of the king. With a Protestant parliament in 
 power, there was little hope in Ireland of any relief and a spirit 
 of unrest began to make itself manifest. 
 
 THE REBELLION OF 1641 
 
 At the head of this uprising were Roger 'Moore, the pop- 
 ular leader, the famous Rory O 'Moore, of song and poetry, Sir 
 Phelim O'Neil, Lord Maguire and others of the gentry. It was 
 agreed that all the forts and arms should be seized, all the gen- 
 try should be made prisoners, but that none should be killed. 
 Many prejudiced historians have stated that this rebellion was 
 characterized by massacre and the ruthless murder of the Eng- 
 lish and Protestant inhabitants. In proof that such was not 
 
92 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 the case, here is the oath subscribed to, by all who joined the 
 rebels : — 
 
 1st. ' ' To maintain and defend the public and free exercise 
 of the Catholic religion.'^ 
 
 2nd. ''To give allegiance to King Charles, his heirs and 
 successors, and to support them against anyone who should 
 attempt injury to their persons or estates." 
 
 3rd. ' ' To receive the power and privilege of parliament, 
 the lawful rights and privileges of the subject." 
 
 ''The remonstrance to the Lord Justices states that wo 
 harbor not the least thoughts of hostility toward his Majesty 
 or purpose any hurt to his Majesty's subjects, in their posses- 
 sions, goods, or liberty." The remonstrance further deplores 
 any acts of lawlessness, or of cruelty imposed upon the English 
 or Protestant inhabitants, with promises to use their best en- 
 deavors to make restitution and satisfaction for any that may 
 have occurred. 
 
 Thus we have an account of the aims and objects of the 
 Irish lords in the beginning of this struggle against England's 
 oppression. And so it came to pass, that on the 23rd of Octo- 
 ber in 1641, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, and a few 
 other strongholds, severed itself from England. The failure 
 in Dublin was due to the fact that the officials were warned in 
 time by information given by the informer Owen 'Connelly, 
 an Irish Protestant servant, who revealed to his master, the 
 details of the plot. 
 
 Out of the confusion and general upheaval in Ireland at 
 this time there finally emerged four more or less well defined 
 parties, each of which had attracted to itself a certain number 
 of followers. 
 
 1st. There was the Old Irish which stood for total sepa- 
 ration from England. These were the people who had suffered 
 most from the plantations of Ulster and the subsequent re- 
 ligious persecutions. They were under the command of Sir 
 PhelimO'Neil. 
 
 2nd. The Anglo-Irish or Norman, who had suffered in the 
 same way though not so severely. They stood for religious 
 and civil liberty, but political Unity with England. They occu- 
 pied the central and western parts of the country and were 
 commanded by Lord Preston. These two parties were Catholic. 
 3rd. The Presbyterians and Puritans in Ulster under 
 Monro. These were with the English Parliament and acted 
 with the Scottish covenanters and were the most bitter enemies 
 of the King. 
 
 4th. The royalists, the supporters of the King, who were 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 93 
 
 Protestants, and the oflScial representatives of the Crown. At 
 their* head was Ormond with headquarters in Dublin. 
 
 For nearly a year, fighting went on in Ulster with varying 
 success. Sometimes the Old Irish were successful and in turn 
 suffered defeat by the Puritan or Parliamentary army under 
 Monro. 
 
 Sir Phelim O'Neil, as general of the Ulster army of the 
 north, had not the attributes of a successful commander. Be- 
 tween himself and Lord Preston, commander of the Catholic 
 army of the west, there was no union but rather a jealous rival- 
 ry. 
 
 At the suggestion of the Catholic bishops, a general assem- 
 bly met on the 22nd of October, 1642, at Kilkenny. Eleven 
 Bishops and fourteen lay lords represented the Irish peerage 
 and 226 commoners represented the people. 
 
 A celebrated lawyer, Patrick Darcy, a member of the Com- 
 mons, was appointed Chancellor. A Supreme Council, chosen 
 from among the members, was to be the executive branch of 
 the new government. This, then, was the Confederation of 
 Kilkenny, and it undertook to manage, and with some measure 
 of success, the affairs of the Irish Nation. 
 
 The Council appointed Gen. Preston in command of the ar- 
 my in Leinster; Gen. Barry in Munster; Sir John Burke in Con- 
 naught; and Owen Roe O'Neil in charge of the forces of the 
 north. Of these four generals, Owen Roe O'Neil was the only 
 one to achieve any signal success, and he won undying fame for 
 himself in his management of his campaign. 
 
 OWN ROE O'NEIL was the grandson of Art, brother of 
 the great Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone. Educated abroad at 
 the college of the Irish Franciscans in Louvain, he afterward 
 went to Spain, where he was trained as soldier and scholar. He 
 rose to the command of the Irish regiments in the Spanish army, 
 during that country's, war with France. 
 
 To the Irish he later became a popular idol, and well did 
 he deserve their loyalty. As long as tradition lasts, so long will 
 the children of the Irish be told and retold of the glories of 
 "Owen Roe." 
 
 At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was living in Brus- 
 sels, but when after a year's fruitless fighting, his, countrymen 
 sent out a call for his help, he left rank and station abroad, and 
 taking up the sword of his great ancestor, which had been sent 
 to him from Rome, he returned to his desolate Ireland, and 
 bravely did he battle for his God and his country. 
 
 He, together with about one hundred other Irish officers,. 
 
94 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 g-ave up their places in the foreign service and sailed for home, 
 landing at Donegal in Jnly, 16-1:2. 
 
 He had in him all the qualities that constitute a leader of 
 men, a clear sound judgment, chivalrous valour, bravery in the 
 field, skill in profiting of every advantage offered by the' enemy, 
 and a caution which left nothing to chance. For several years 
 he kept together an army created by his own genius, without 
 a government at his back, without regular supplies, enforcing 
 discipline and obedience, gaining victories and maintaining a 
 native power even in the very heart of the kingdom. Always 
 intent on the welfare of his country, he rose high above the 
 thousand and one petty jealousies and intrigues that surround- 
 ed him. Loved and obeyed by his followers, he was respected 
 and admired by his enemies, some of whom openly regretted 
 that such a good man had become identified with such a bad 
 cause. 
 
 Upon assuming command of the Catholic army of the north, 
 he assembled his followers at Dungannon, the hereditary 
 stronghold of his clan, and here he and his men took the oath 
 of obligation to the Catholic Confederation. Then followed 
 four years of unceasing training of his undisciplined army. 
 
 With the help of his experienced officers he taught the 
 herdsmen and countrymen the use of the muskets and the pike, 
 involving them only in small battles and skirmishes until they 
 had gained the experience and confidence of an efficient fighting 
 force. 
 
 And then in 1646, on the 4th day of June, came the meeting 
 of the army of the Parliament and 'Neil's force on the battle- 
 field of Benburb. The battle of Benburb has been often and 
 well described. There was a movement started to unite the 
 Scottish forces and proceed southward to Limerick, there to at- 
 tack the government of the Confederation. Gen. O'Neil with 
 five thousand foot, and five hundred horse, all ' ' good and hope- 
 ful men," to use his own expression, by a forced march reached 
 the northern Blackwater, and pitched his camp on the north 
 bank. Here he was, directly between the two Monroes, who 
 could join their Scottish forces only after dislodging him. Rob- 
 ert Monro, who reached his position first, saw it would be neces- 
 sary to give battle to save the smaller forces of his brother, 
 who were coming from the north. Consequently, he began to 
 move on 'Neil's position at dawn on June 5th, 1646, and pres- 
 ently reached the Blackwater, where he found himself face to 
 face with 'Neil's army across the river. Here, then, is the 
 spectacle presented by the two armies, marching in parallel 
 lines, on either bank of the river. Coming to a hill, which he 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 95 
 
 liad previously selected as a strong position, O'Neil retreated, 
 and Monro, fording the Blackwater, was in full pursuit. 
 O 'Neil's stronghold had the center of his army protected by 
 the hill, the right by a marsh, and the left by the Oona Water, 
 and in the foreground flowed the Blackwater. 
 
 While fighting was going on at the pass through which 
 O'Neil had retreated and left guarded, he drew up his line of 
 battle. And now the two armies have met beyond the hill and 
 the battle is on. For four long hours in the heat and dust of 
 that June day, O'Neil retreated and shifted, and the Scottish 
 army threw itself time after time on the enemy, who disap- 
 peared behind hedge and rock, and only came forth to repulse 
 an attack. And still O'Neil held his men back. To the mutter - 
 ings and complaints of some of his officers, who had hard work 
 holding the men, he replied, ''Wait for the sun," and when to- 
 wards evening the sun had fallen low enough in the sky to shed 
 its brilliant rays full in the faces of the tired and exhausted 
 Scotch troopers, 'Neil gave the long-delayed word to his army. 
 
 On they came, in a sweeping movement from right to left, 
 and before them the Scottish cavalry wavered and broke. Still 
 on they came, and following the Irish cavalry came the pike- 
 men. And now it was a hand to hand struggle, — a bayonet 
 charge — and the Scotch forces hemmed in between the two 
 streams, were in dire confusion. Finally, the Irish army reached 
 and stormed the hill where Monro's guns were placed, and the 
 victory was won. The defeat of the Scotch army was a complete 
 rout, and when the sun had set more than three thousand of the 
 Monro's men lay dead on the field. In addition Monro lost all 
 his artillery, tents and baggage, fifteen hundred horses, twenty 
 stands of colors, two months ' provisions, and numerous prison- 
 ers of war. The Irish lost but seventy, incredible as it may 
 seem, but such is the number given by their opponents. After 
 this battle, Gen. Monro writing home says, "The Lord hath 
 rubbed shame on our faces till we are humbled;" and the Irish 
 people welcomed O'Neil with a unanimous joy and acclaim. 
 
 "Owen Roe — our own O'Neil! 
 
 He treads once more our land: 
 The sword in his hand is Spanish steel. 
 
 But the hand is an Irish hand." 
 
 Meanwhile, the Confederation and Ormond, representing 
 the King, Charles I, had been parleying for the restitution of 
 the confiscated lands and the repeal of the penal laws. But the 
 King, although anxious to keep the Irish with him as an aid 
 
96 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 against the Parliament, did not dare concede all that was de- 
 manded and held off with promises. Had the issue been forced 
 by the Confederation after the decisive battle of Benburb, Ire- 
 land's history might have been different, but there was delay 
 and indecision, and as the Arab proverb puts it, ''There are 
 three things which cannot be recalled, The sped arrow, The 
 spoken word, The lost opportunity." The Irish had missed their 
 chance. 
 
 Later there was an attempt to attack Dublin, and force tlie- 
 Royalists to terms, but dissensions broke out between O'NeiL 
 and Preston, the other Catholic general, and O'Neil, disheart- 
 ened and discouraged and almost betrayed by the Confedera- 
 tion, turned first to Ormond — whom he disliked and distrusted 
 — and then to the Parliament, whom he knew hated and opposed 
 him. They both held out concessions, and finally O'Neil gave 
 his consent against his better judgment to a peace, which a year 
 before he had openly rejected, and on the 17th of January, 
 1649, a peace was signed between Ormond, acting for King 
 Charles, and the Catholic Confederation. This Treaty repealed 
 the penal acts, which had operated against the free practice of 
 the Catholic religion, and re-opened to them their places of 
 worship, the freedom of their own churches. 
 
 In the meantime the Puritan Parliament, having defeated 
 the forces of King Charles, and having taken him prisoner, 
 tried and convicted him on a charge of treason. The King was 
 beheaded Jan. 30, 1649, and England was completely in the 
 power of parliament and Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 CROMWELL IN IRELAND 
 
 For some time after the execution of Charles I, the Parlia- 
 mentarians lost ground in Ireland. Charles II, son of the mur- 
 dered King, was proclaimed King by nearly all parties, includ- 
 ing Ormond, the Confederation, and the Scotch Presbyterians. 
 Ormond was placed at the head of the forces favorable to the- 
 King, and he resolved to capture Dublin, which he had so easily 
 surrendered two years before. 
 
 Together with Lord Inchiquin, he laid seige to the city, 
 though thev were but poorly equipped for the task. They were 
 surprised and defeated at JRathmines, Aug. 2nd, 1649, by Col. 
 Michael Jones, at the head of the Parliamentary army. They 
 lost between 3000 and 5000 men. This closed Ormond 's mili- 
 tary career, and before the end of 1649 he fled to France, to re- 
 turn only with the restitution of the monarchy. 
 
 In England, parliament was supreme. Ireland had de- 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 97 
 
 clared for Charles II, loyal as always to the Stuarts. Therefore, 
 repudiating the terms of peace of '49, the parliament decided 
 to subdue Ireland. England had already felt the weight of the 
 strong hand and stern will of Oliver Cromwell, and accordingly, 
 he it was, who was chosen for this task. 
 
 With eight thousand infantry, four thousand cavalry, sev- 
 eral pieces of artillery, and twenty thousand pounds in money, 
 he landed in Ireland Aug. 15, 1649, and then began a series of 
 massacres for which there is no parallel in the history of civil- 
 ized nations. 
 
 This is an old story to many of you — this story of Crom- 
 well 's reigTi of terror in Ireland. Many of you have heard it as 
 children from your mother's lips, and many of you can go back, 
 in memory, every foot of the way, as we follow this fanatical 
 destroyer on his desolate, but triumphant, march through Ire- 
 land. Cromwell's command in all, lasted nine months, and is 
 remarkable for the number of sieges of walled towns, crowded 
 into that brief period. There was during the whole time, no 
 great field battle, like Marston Moor, or Benburb. It was only 
 a campaign of seventeenth century cannon against mediaevel 
 masonry. 
 
 He landed at Dublin and there rested until Sept. 1, 1649. 
 Leaving there, we see him with his army appearing Sept. 3rd 
 outside the walls of Drogheda. The town was fortified and 
 garrisoned by about 3000 men. Cromwell called on the com- 
 mander. Sir Arthur Ashton, to deliver up the town to the ser- 
 vice of the English parliament. Eeceiving no satisfactory re- 
 ply, he proceeded September 9th, with his guns, to beat down 
 the defenses. A breech in the wall having been made, an as- 
 sault was ordered; it was repulsed. A second assault was like- 
 wise unsuccessful, then Cromwell himself led his forces for the 
 third time. Col. Wall, who commanded the regiment defend- 
 ing the trenches, was killed, and his men, without a leader, be- 
 came confused and were driven back. 
 
 It was then that quarter was offered and accepted. The 
 town was finally captured and by Cromwell's orders neither 
 man, woman or child was to be spared. Numerous letters of 
 Cromwell's still in existence, show where he ordered the inhab- 
 itants to be put to the sword, though he had a way of giving to 
 God credit for his own inhuman cruelties. In one letter he 
 says, "I wish all honest hearts may give the glory to God 
 alone, to whom indeed the praise of tins mercy belongs." 
 
 Passing on from Drogheda, he went north to Dundalk, 
 thence to Newry, and Carlingford, which places all surrendered 
 without much resistance. The lesson of Drogheda had not been 
 
98 DESTRUCTION^ AND DESOLATION 
 
 in vain. Coleraine surrendered to Sir Charles Coote, who im- 
 itated Cromwell's example at Drogheda by putting the garri- 
 son to the sword. 
 
 By the end of September, 1649, every important place in 
 the north, Carrickfergus excepted, was in the hands of parlia- 
 ment. Eeturning to Dublin, Cromwell planned his campaign 
 to subdue the south. 
 
 October 1, 1649, he appeared before Wexford, which had 
 been fortified and garrisoned. He laid siege to the place, which 
 made a stubborn resistance for ten days. Through the treach- 
 ery of Captain James Stafford, one of the defenders* the army 
 obtained admission to the town and drove the garrison and in- 
 habitants to the market place. Crom-\i ell's letter to parliament 
 says : — 
 
 ''When they were come into the market place, making a 
 stiff resistance, our forces broke them and then put all to the 
 sword that came in their way. I believe, in all, not less than 
 two thousand, and I believe not twenty of yours from first to 
 last of the siege." Continuing, he relates other calamities, such 
 as the drowning of three hundred more, who in trying to es- 
 cape by boat, met their death in the harbor, and concludes by 
 saying piously, "Thus it hath pleased God to give unto your 
 hands this other mercy. — Drogheda was the first — for which, 
 as for all, we pray God may have all the glory. Indeed your in- 
 struments are poor and weak and can do nothing, but through 
 believing, — and that is the gift of God also." 
 
 There exists until this day in Wexford, the traditions of 
 the awful proceedings on the day of this conquest. One states 
 that three hundred women were put to death in the public 
 square. They had flocked around the great cross which stood 
 there, in the hopes that Christian soldiers would be so far 
 softened by the sight of that emblem of mercy, as to spare the 
 lives of unresisting women. But the victors, enraged at such 
 superstition, and perhaps regarding their presence there as 
 a proof that they were Catholics, — and therefore fit objects of 
 their zeal, — rushed upon them and put them to death. 
 
 The murder of Irish women was nothing new to the Puritan 
 army. After the battle of Naseby, one hundred females, some 
 of them of distinguished rank, were put to the sword. In one 
 day eighty w^omen and children, some infants at the mother's 
 breast, were precipitated over the bridge at Linlithgow, and if 
 any struggled to the bank of the river, they were knocked on 
 the head or thrust in again by the soldiery. Their crime was 
 being the wives and children of Irish soldiers who had served 
 under Montrose. 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 99 
 
 Thus, with the word of God on his lips, and his two-edged 
 sword in his hands, did this ''plague of England" hew his way 
 through Ireland. Everywhere, the people terror stricken and 
 helpless, gave up their cities or sent word that they wished to 
 treat with the parliament. In quick succession after Wexford, 
 was the surrender of Eoss; an attempt on Waterford, after- 
 wards abandoned in November, Dungarvan, Kinsale, Bandon 
 and Cork in December. Fethard, Callan and Cashel in January 
 and February. Carrick and Kilkenny in March, and Clonmel 
 early in May. 
 
 The last act of Cromwell's campaign was the siege of Clon- 
 mell, where the Irish gathered for a last stand. Clonmell was 
 defended by Hugh O'Neil, nephew of Owen Roe, with about 
 fifteen hundred men. For about two months Cromwell laid 
 siege to the place. He made several attempts to take it by 
 storm, but was' repulsed each time with a heavy loss. After a 
 final assault in the month of May, where he lost twenty-five 
 hundred men, he withdrew, but O'Neil, having exhausted his 
 ammunition, retired during the night with his army to Water- 
 ford. The town surrendered next day, Cromwell being unaware 
 of 'Neil's departure, granting favorable terms which, strange 
 to relate, were not violated. 
 
 Cromwell returned to England May 29, 1650, leaving his 
 son-in-law. Sir Henry Ireton, in command of the parliamentary 
 army. He was a worthy successor. The following August Ire- 
 ton captured Waterford and Duncanno, and soon afterwards 
 Athlone and Sligo, leaving only Limerick and Galway to the 
 Confederates. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1651, Ireton laid siege to Limerick, 
 commanded by Hugh O'Neil and Gen, Purcell. The town was 
 divided within itself by several factions. The plague was rag- 
 ing and the inhabitants were dying in the streets. Through the 
 treachery of some of them the town was compelled to surrender 
 October 27th, 1651. Ireton died of the plague. 
 
 The success of Cromwell 's campaign was assured to a great 
 extent by the fact that the Catholic armies were left practically 
 without a leader of their own. In the third month of Crom- 
 well 's occupation came the report of the death of their great 
 general, Owen Roe O'Neil. Wlien O'Neil heard of the news of 
 the taking of Drogheda he swore a great oath that ''he would 
 retake it if he had to storm hell to do it, ' ' and gaining the aid 
 and support of the Royalist army under Ormond, was on his 
 way south to meet the latter, when he wa struck down by a 
 fatal illness. None of his biographers have given a detailed 
 account of the disease which ended his life, but popular tradi- 
 
100 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 tion has claimed that O'Neil met his death by poison, from a 
 pair of boots presented to him by one of the Phmketts of Louth. 
 It was of hngering operation and served to paralyze his ener- 
 gies. For some time he battled against the disease, hoping he 
 might so far recover as to be able to lead his army. 
 
 From Deny, where he was first attacked in August, he 
 advanced slowly and painfully southward, borne on a litter, 
 and finally ''died in Our Lord the 6th of Nov., 1649, a true child 
 of the Catholic religion. ' ' In the chancel of a Franciscan Abbey 
 his body was interred. 
 
 No greater calamity than the death of O'Neil could have 
 come to the Irish Nation at this time. He was the only man, 
 who by reason of native ability and training, was able to cope 
 with Cromwell, and the consciousness of a great national loss 
 never struck deeper, than amid the crash of the walled cities 
 and towns of Leinster and Munster. 
 
 Many of his clansmen did not believe that he could die at 
 a time when he was so much needed, — some deeming that *'God 
 in His Divine clemency, would not deal so strait with this poor 
 nation, as to bereave them of this, their only champion." 
 
 And all over Ireland the prayers and wailings of the peo- 
 ple were offered up for the man who would have stood between 
 them and their doom. Whoever could understand the deepest 
 depth of Irish grief, the mingling of love, wrath and despair 
 following the loss of a leader, will find it all compressed in the 
 thirty odd lines of Davis' "Lament," with its closing wail: 
 
 ''Your troubles are all over. 
 
 You're at rest with God on high; 
 
 But we're slaves and we're orphans, 
 Owen! Why did you die? 
 
 After a siege of nine months Galway fell May 12, 1652, and 
 the war was practically over. Charles Fleetwood, Cromwell's 
 son-in-law, was appointed Lord Deputy. He instituted a High 
 Court of Justice to punish all concerned in the uprising of 161:1. 
 About 200 were executed, among them Sir Phelini 'Neil. 
 
 The war was now ended, but for a long time there had been 
 a terrible pestilence raging over the country. Famine came to 
 help the work of destruction, and for several years these two 
 scourges spread death, desolation and misery everywhere. But 
 the worst was yet to come. Parliament declared the whole of 
 Ireland forfeited. The Irish troops were not only to be dis- 
 armed, but were to be put out of the way. Hence, they were 
 permitted to take service in foreign armies at peace with the 
 
JOHN J. CU'MMINGS, M. D. 101 
 
 commonwealth. Those who did not voluntarily take such ser- 
 vice were forced into exile. 
 
 Nor were these forced exiles restricted to the warrior class. 
 ' ' The Lord Protector, ' ' says Prendergast, ' ' applied to the Lord 
 Henry Cromwell — then Major-General of the forces in Ireland, 
 to engage soldiers and to secure a thousand young Irish girls 
 to be shipped to Jamaica. Henry Cromwell answered that 
 there would be no difficulty, only that force must be used in 
 taking them; and he suggested the addition of fifteen hundred 
 or two thousand boys, of from twelve to fourteen years of age. 
 The numbers finally fixed were one thousand boys and one 
 thousand girls." The total number of children disposed of in 
 this way from 1652 to 1655 has been variously estimated at 
 from twenty thousand to one hundred thousand. The British 
 government was at last compelled to interfere and put a stop to 
 the infamous traffic, when the mere Irish, proving too scarce, 
 the agents were not sufficiently discriminating in their choice, 
 but shipped ofi^ English children also to the tobacco island. 
 
 CROMWELLIAN SETTLEMENTS 
 
 An act of settlement was passed which provided that all 
 the Irish, except those of the laboring classes, were to be trans- 
 planted to Connaught before May 1st, 1654. Any of those or- 
 dered away — young or old — men or women, found in any of the 
 three provinces after this date might be killed by whoever met 
 them. Moreover, they were not permitted to live within four 
 miles of the seas or of any town, or within two miles of the 
 Shannon. Connaught is famed as being the wildest and most 
 barren province of Ireland, and at this time it had been com- 
 pletely devastated by the war. Hence, this act was intended to 
 dispose of half a million human beings destined in the minds of 
 its projectors to die off and leave the whole island in the pos- 
 session of the ^' godly." 
 
 Cromwell died Sept. 3, 1658, and twenty months after- 
 wards Charles II returned to England and the monarchy was 
 restored. 
 
 THE RESTORATION 
 
 The Irish expected much from the restored king, who was 
 at heart a Catholic, and for whom they had fought and suffered. 
 They expected at least the restitution of their lands, but Charles 
 wholly neglected his friends, while providing for his enemies. 
 He re-established the Anglican church. The act of uniformity 
 
102 DESTRUCTION AND DESOLATION 
 
 was enforced against the Presbyterians and they suffered a 
 short, but severe persecution. 
 
 At first Catholics were given some freedom, but later par- 
 liament passed oppresive measures, and their condition became 
 pitiful. 
 
 James II, a Catholic, came to the throne in 1685 and de- 
 termined to restore Catholicism. He was so arbitrary, however, 
 that he aroused the whole Protestant population of England 
 and Ireland against him. He appointed Richard Talbot, a zeal- 
 ous Catholic, whom he had made Earl of Tyrconnell, Lord 
 Lieutenant. Talbot dismissed Protestants from the army and 
 civil offices and put Catholics in their places. The dismissed 
 Protestants fled to Holland and enlisted in the service of Wil- 
 liam, Prince of Orange. 
 
 The oppressive measures to which James II resorted in 
 England, and his encroachments on the liberty of his subjects, 
 brought about in England, the revolution of 1688. William, 
 Prince of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of the King, was 
 invited to take possession of the English throne. He accepted 
 and landed in England Nov. 5, 1688. Six weeks later James IT 
 fled to France. 
 
 In England and among the Protestants in Ireland, William 
 was hailed as a deliverer, but the Irish Catholics, in spite of all 
 they had suffered from the Stuarts, took the side of James. 
 Tyrconnell headed the adherents of the King, and then began 
 the so-called "Jacobite" wars. 
 
 Tyrconnell did all in his power to strengthen the position 
 of his royal commander. He met with no opposition except in 
 Ulster which, of course, was strongly Protestant. The people 
 of Derry declared for William and Mary as sovereigns of Great 
 Britain and Ireland. James had waited at the Court of Louis 
 XIV of France until assured of the Catholic support of Ire- 
 land. Then with a small French army and a number of Irish 
 exiles, — chief among whom was Sarsfield, — he landed at Kin- 
 sale in Cork, March 12, 1689. 
 
 He proceeded to Dublin, then with his army to Derry, 
 where he expected to be received with open arms. He was 
 greatly surprised when the inhabitants began to fire upon him, 
 and returned to Dublin, leaving the siege in the hands of two of 
 his generals. 
 
 April 18, 1689, the siege of Derry, one of the most famous 
 in Irish or English history, began. Great bravery was dis- 
 played on both sides and as starvation was about to compel the 
 surrender of the town, the relief ships of William arrived and 
 ran past the blockades, July 28, 1689. Three days later Hamil- 
 
JOHN J. CUMMINGS, M. D. 103 
 
 ton, commander of the Jacobite forces, seeing that all danger 
 of famine was over, withdrew his army and the town was saved 
 after a siege of one hundred and five days. 
 
 The siege of Derry was but the beginning of the struggle 
 between William of Orange and the rightful King, James II. 
 William's position in England, being now secure, he sent the 
 Duke of Schomberg to Ireland, with fifteen thousand men. He 
 captured Carrickfergus after a siege of a week. 
 
 June 1-lth, 1690, King William, as he had been proclaimed, 
 came to Ireland, to lead his army in person. His troops were 
 largely made up of continental veterans, excellent soldiers, from 
 Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Prussia. 
 
 James, at the head of twenty-six thousand men, poorly 
 drilled and miserably armed, had taken a position at the village 
 of Oldbridge, on the south bank of the Boyne, three miles above 
 Drogheda. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE BOYNE 
 
 William, with an army of 50,000 men, 5,000 of whom were 
 cavalry, arrived on the north bank of the Boyne, June 29th, 
 1690. The next day an artillery duel took place between the 
 two armies, William losing greatly thereby. 
 
 During the night, James, already certain of defeat, sent 
 all but six of his cannon back to Dublin and made preparations 
 for his own flight. The battle was resumed next day. Wil- 
 liam commanded the cavalry on the left wing, the elder Schom- 
 berg the center, and the younger Schomberg the right. William 
 attempted to cross the Boyne at Slane, but was repeatedly re- 
 pulsed by Arthur 'Neil's horse. His artillery finally cleared 
 the way and the army crossed the river, under its protection. 
 The Irish army was practically without cannon. 
 
 So well did the Irish troops fight that Schomberg 's body- 
 guard was cut to pieces and the commander killed. The center 
 of William 's army was being beaten back, when crossing lower 
 down with 18 squadrons of cavalry, he fiercely attacked the 
 riglit flank of the Irish army and thus turned possible defeat 
 into certain victory. The Irish troops outnumbered two to one 
 and led by a coward, as the King proved himself to be, fought 
 valiantly and retreated in good order to Dublin, and later to 
 Limerick. 
 
 James fled from the battlefield to Dublin, thence to Water- 
 ford, where he embarked for France, bringing the first news of 
 his own defeat. And, so, ends Ireland's story for eight-two 
 
Hon. Philip J. O'Connell 
 
 Philip J. O'Connell was born in Worcester, Mass., 
 December 18, 1870. He is the son of Philip O'Connell 
 and Ellen (Skehan) O'Connell, both of whom were born 
 in Ireland. After completing his studies in the Wor- 
 cester public schools, Mr. O'Connell attended the Wor- 
 cester Classical High School, and graduated in 1889. 
 In 1895 he graduated from the Boston University Law 
 School, receiving the degree LL.B., Magna Cum Laude. 
 He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1895. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell served as a member of the Worces- 
 ter Common Council in 1896, 1897 and 1898. Was elect- 
 ed a member of the Worcester Board of Aldermen for 
 1899 and 1900, and in 1901 was Mayor of Worcester. 
 For the past five years he has been a Director of the 
 Worcester Free Public Library. 
 
 For nearly a score of years Mr. 'Connell has been 
 identified with the A. 0. H. He became a member of 
 Division 3, A. 0. H., of his native city in 1895, and has 
 served as vice president and president. October 18, 
 1904, he was married to Katherine T. Power of Phila- 
 delphia, daughter of Lawrence Power and Katherine 
 (Magennis) Power, both former residents of Worces- 
 ter. 
 
Jrnm tlj^ Ingn^ to tJj^ Art 0f tlj^ llninn 
 
 1690—1800 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 
 
 The one hundred and ten years from the Battle of the Boyne 
 in 1690, to the Act of the Union in 1800, was one of the most 
 eventful and saddest periods in Ireland's mournful history. It 
 witnessed the defeat and surrender of the army of King James, 
 and the violation of the Treaty of Limerick. 
 
 During this period the penal laws were enforced until Ire- 
 land became almost a nation of paupers and slaves. It saw the 
 rise and growth of the Volunteer movement, and the successful 
 struggle for a free and independent Parliament, and before its 
 close it witnessed the destruction of the Independence of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 In the limited time at my disposal tonight, it will be impos- 
 sible to adequately treat of all these important events, and I 
 <?an only hope to briefly allude to them. 
 
 If we are to appreciate the political history of Ireland for 
 the last one hundred years, it is absolutely necessary to have a 
 more or less intimate knowledge of the events of which I am to 
 talk, and in order that we may better understand the beginning 
 of the history of this time, it is necessary to go back a few years. 
 
 In 1685 James, the Second, ascended the throne of Eng- 
 land. It was an age of deep religious prejudices, when the fate 
 of the English nation seemed to depend upon the religious af- 
 filiation of the heir to the throne. Charles, the Second, the im- 
 mediate predecessor of James, was his older brother. He was a 
 Protestant king, although he was a Catholic at heart, and had 
 little s^mi])athy with Catholic persecution. James, the Second, 
 was a Catholic. When he ascended the throne, there was but 
 little opposition on the part of the English peo-ple. If Charles 
 liad died a few days earlier, there is little doubt that James' 
 
106 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 religion would have prevented him from becoming king. But 
 the English were weary with the long civil war between Parlia- 
 ment and the King, and did not want a repetition of it. If they 
 had thought that the accession of James to the throne would 
 have meant a long line of Catholic rulers, it is probable that they 
 would have attempted to prevent it, but James, at ihis time,, 
 was childless, and the hope of having an heir to the throne was 
 already abandoned. 
 
 If James had acted cautiously and tactfully, he might have 
 obtained the love and sympathy of the English people and jus- 
 tice and liberty for his co-religionists. He had been warned by 
 the Pope to act with moderation and within the English con- 
 stitution, but he absolutely disregarded this advice. Though it 
 was forbidden by law, he insisted on mass being said publicly 
 at the palace; he appointed many Catholics to high civil offices; 
 he suspended all penal statutes against Catholics and abrogated 
 all religious tests for qualification to civil office, and defied Par- 
 liament. 
 
 The majority of the English were greatly annoyed at the 
 toleration and favor shown the C^atholics on the part of King 
 James. As a result the Protestants of England invited William 
 of Orange, who was the son-in-law of King James, to come over 
 to England '*to defend the Protestant religion and the liberty 
 of the English people." In 1688, William came to England 
 with a large army at his back. William had secured aid from 
 the Netherlands by persuading them that James intended to 
 make England Catholic and that with the aid of France, also a 
 Catholic nation, he would eventually enslave the Netherlands. 
 He received support from Spain on the ground that he was. 
 raising an army to curb the power of France. 
 
 After William landed in England, King James found him- 
 self deserted, even by his closest friends. He was naturally a 
 weak man and did not have courage enough to fight, and in a 
 short time, he was a fugitive and an exile in France. 
 
 When James ascended the throne of England the Crom- 
 wellian planters in Ireland, who were then in possession through 
 spoliation and confiscation of most of the land of the island, 
 viewed with terror, the reign of a Catholic king. On the other 
 hand, the Catholics whose ancestors had been deprived of their 
 land, regarded these colonists as mere plunderers, and were 
 hopeful that through a Catholic king, their wrongs would be 
 righted and their lands restored to them. 
 
 Immediately after James became king, he directed the 
 Viceroy in Ireland to inform the Catholics that they were free 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'COXNELL 107 
 
 to practice their religion and should have the same opportun- 
 ity of appointment to office as their Protestant neighbors. 
 
 Colonel Richard Talbot was appointed commander-in-chief 
 of the Irish army. He was a great favorite with the king, who 
 created him Earl of Tyrconnell. The Earl was the champion of 
 the Catholics, and having secured the control of the army, he 
 started to reform it, according to his own ideas. Many Catho- 
 lics were appointed to important places in the army and many 
 Protestants were dismissed by him. The Irish Protestant* 
 were immediately filled with alarm over the actions of Tyrcon- 
 nell. So great, however, was the favor in which Tyrconnell was 
 held by King James, that he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, 
 and immediately began to reform the civil government, as he 
 had the army. 
 
 Prior to the advent of Tyrconnell, all influence and power 
 in Ireland were in the hands of these colonists. The tables were 
 now turned. The army was no longer exclusively Protestant 
 and the Viceroy was their enemy. "While it does not appear that 
 the Catholics abused the power that had come to them, yet it is 
 not unreasonable to suppose that they made retaliations for the 
 injuries which they had received. 
 
 In Ulster the Protestants were very strong. The Protest- 
 ant militia there, who were supposed to have been disarmed by 
 Tyrconnell, had actually retained their arms. In a short time 
 Enniskillen expelled the Catholics from the town, and when 
 Tyrconnell sent a force to subdue them, the militia of Ennis- 
 killen defeated the Viceroy's troops. In Derry the same spirit 
 of defiance to Tyrconnell was shown. 
 
 When William ascended the throne and had been pro- 
 claimed king, he found among his most ardent supporters the 
 Irish Protestants. They hailed him as a champion and in many 
 counties associations were formed to fight his battles. 
 
 The Prince of Orange, in his very first proclamation, an- 
 nounced that he was ready to pardon all Irishmen who had laid 
 down their arms. Tyrconnell knew that if he deserted to Wil- 
 liam, his co-religionists would regard him as a traitor. He stood 
 firm for King James, and the war in Ireland between the ''Wil- 
 liamites," the followers of King William, and the "Jacobites," 
 the followers of King James, began. 
 
 In 1689 the siege of Derry began. Just before this King 
 James returned from France and took charge of the Irish army. 
 When James landed at Kinsale, he brought with him a great 
 many French officers, including Colonel Sarsfield of the Irish 
 Brigade, who had already distinguished himself with great 
 
108 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 ability in the French army. The siege of Derry was unsuccess- 
 ful on the part of James and he returned from Derry to Dublin, 
 and called together the Irish Parliament. This Parliament was 
 overwhelmingly Catholic. Most of them had had little experi- 
 ence in legislation, yet it is pleasing to recall that all of its acts 
 were just, and more pleasing than any other, was the bill which 
 granted liberty of conscience to all Irishmen. 
 
 While the siege of Derry was taking place, fighting was go- 
 ing on in many places in Ulster, and in August, William's great- 
 est general, Schomberg, who had been a marshal of France, 
 with twenty thousand men, landed at Belfast, and the conflict, 
 which hitherto had been between Irishmen, now became a great 
 international struggle. 
 
 King James with an army of about twenty-three thousand 
 men, many of them French soldiers, started for Drogheda to 
 meet General Schomberg, and the army of William. Schomberg 
 was not prosecuting the war as vigorously as King William de- 
 sired, and he decided to go to Ireland himself and take com- 
 mand. 
 
 At this time, his force was greatly increased by the addi- 
 tion of seven thousand Danes, and many other English anc? 
 Dutch regiments came over to Ireland also. William's armr 
 numbered between thirty-six thousand and forty-eight thou 
 sand men, half of whom were foreigners of different nationali 
 ties. 
 
 Then quickly followed the Battle of the Boyne on the firs^ 
 day of July, 1690. The army of James was defeated and retreat 
 ed to Limerick. The day following, Drogheda surrendered to 
 William. If he had pursued the Irish army, he might have de- 
 stroyed it, but he was extremely cautious, as he knew that the 
 Irish army had fought well at the Bo^^le, and he thought that 
 the army would probably recruit its strength, as it proceeded 
 toward the south. He was afraid that at the Shannon, the situ- 
 ation might be reversed. He gradually moved southward and 
 captured Wexford, Kilkenny, Clonmell, Waterford and many 
 other places. On the 9th day of August, 1690, he left his army 
 outside the walls of Limerick, and the siege began. The pros- 
 pect of defending Limerick against as large an army as Wil- 
 liam's, was not hopeful. The leaders of the Irish army, espec- 
 ially General Lauzun, a French general, and Tyrconnell, both 
 wanted to make peace with William. Lauzun was anxious to 
 get back to France. He had no desire for an Irish campaign; 
 many of the soldiers were sick, and the defences of Limerick 
 were very poor. Lauzun declared that ' ' the City could be tak- 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'COXNELL 109 
 
 en with roasted apples." France would give no more aid to the 
 Irish army. After James arrived in Paris he reported that the 
 Irish army had displayed cowardice at the Boyne, and, instead 
 of sending aid, France ordered her troops in the Irish army to 
 come home. Many of the other officers wanted to make peace 
 with William, but the rank and file were determined to fight it 
 ont. Sarsfield in particular insisted on fighting. He enjoyed 
 the respect of the Irish more than any other living Irishman of 
 his time, and had great influence with them. In France and in 
 England he had displayed great skill and bravery, and his of- 
 ficers were anxious for him to be second in command only to 
 Tyrconnell. The latter did not want to remain at Limerick, and 
 soon followed Lauzun to Galway, leaving General Boisseleau^ 
 a French officer, as governor of the city. 
 
 William demanded the surrender of the town, but Boisse- 
 leau refused to surrender, and the struggle began. Sarsfield, 
 with great courage and daring, with a small force, made a bril- 
 liant sortie and destroyed a convoy which was coming to aid 
 William's army and captured a large number of guns and a big 
 supply of ammunition. 
 
 In a short time the guns of the English began to play on the 
 city. They made steady progress and soon effected a breach in 
 the walls. The fighting was terrific. The people of Limerick 
 were a heroic race, and, rather than have the English capture 
 the city, they preferred to perish beneath its ruins. When 
 their ammunition was gone, they armed themselves with sticks 
 and stones and broken bottles and implements of every kind 
 and threw themselves in a hand-to-hand contest upon the ene- 
 my, as they advanced through the walls. The women of the 
 town were among the bravest. Many of them fell in battle, and 
 eventually the Irish army under Boisseleau, drove the English 
 army back. On the oOtli of the month William raised the siege 
 and leaving the Irish government in charge of two Lord Jus- 
 tices, set sail for England. 
 
 In the meantime, Lauzun and Tyrconnell, with the French 
 troops, went back to France. While the Siege of Limerick was 
 going on, the English captured all the strong places in Munster, 
 except Limerick, but, as winter was approaching, military oper- 
 ations ceased. 
 
 The last campaign began late in the year of 1691. During 
 the winter the troops at Limerick were half starved, jDoorly 
 armed and almost naked, but France soon sent a fleet with 
 stores and provisions, but no soldiers. 
 
 General St. Ruth came over, however, to take supreme 
 
110 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 command of the Irish army. The campaign opened in June, 
 1691, at Athlone, which after a most obstinate defense was cap- 
 tured by the English. St. Euth, then in command of the Irish 
 army, retreated to Aughrim, where the linal battle of the war 
 wa's fought on Sunday, July 12, 1691. The English were super- 
 ior in numbers, and especially so in arms and artillery. All 
 morning the priests in the Irish camp were kept busy. Mass 
 and prayers were offered up for victory; sermons were preach- 
 ed, in which the soldiers were urged in the name of God, to stand 
 firm for their altars and their homes. All knew it was the last 
 great stand. Defeat meant more confiscations, more penal 
 laws, churches closed, education denied, priests and the school- 
 masters outlawed; it meant poverty, slavery and exile. 
 
 On the other hand, victory meant security for their prop- 
 erty, recovery of the lands they had lost, the right to live in 
 peace in their own country, to worship at their own altars. It 
 wuuld revenge the Boyne and Athlone. With such hopes and 
 fears as these the soldiers prepared for battle. St. Ruth was 
 killed at a critical moment, and after a severe contest, the Irish 
 were finally- defeated with a loss of four thousand men. The 
 great bulk of the Irish army in command of Sarsfield, then 
 went back to Limerick a second time. Many of the officers 
 wanted to surrender, but Sarsfield was determined to fight it 
 out. France was expected to send fresh supplies. King Wil- 
 liam, however, was anxious for j^eace, and it was not long before 
 General Ginkle, in command of the English army, comj^letely 
 surrounded the city of Limerick. Sarsfield, finding himself con- 
 fronted by treachery and disaster, lost heart, and negotiations 
 of surrender were opened on the 24th of September, and the 
 Treaty of Limerick was signed October 16th, 1691. It was 
 signed by the Lord Justices and General Ginkle for the Eng- 
 lish, and by Sarsfield and other officers for the Irish. 
 
 In this treaty it was stipulated that the Catholics should 
 enjoy such privileges as were consistent with the laws of Ire- 
 land, or as they enjoyed under the reign of Charles, the Second; 
 that the king was to summons a Parliament in Ireland to pro- 
 vide the Catholics with such further security as might preserve 
 them from disturbance on account of their religion. The inhab- 
 itants of Limerick and other garrisons, still under arms, and all 
 under their piotection, and all soldiers and officers who were 
 not prisoners of war, and all merchants who had left the coun- 
 try and who returned within eight months, if they submitted, 
 were to get back the estates, which were held by them under the 
 reign of Charles, the Second. They were also to be permitted 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 111 
 
 to exercise all trades and professions as in the reign of James, 
 the Second, on taking the oath of allegiance to King William. 
 In the military articles of the Treaty, all families who wanted 
 to leave the comitiy were to be permitted to do so, but were not 
 to be permitted to settle in either Scotland or England. All of- 
 ficers and soldiers were to be permitted to enter French ser- 
 vice, and they were to be sent free to France in English ships. 
 
 Sarsfield was anxious to enlist the soldiers of the Irish 
 army in the service of France, while General Ginkle attempted 
 to get them for the English army. Twelve thousand of the Irish 
 soldiers promised to go with Sarsfield to France, while Ginkle 
 only succeeded in getting a thousand to enlist in the English 
 army. One half of the Irish soldiers who had promised Sars- 
 field to go, soon left for France, and thus the ' ' flight of the wild 
 geese," as they were called, was considerably increased. In 
 November, on the return of the ships from France, the remain- 
 der were ready to go. 
 
 All who left Limerick with the intention of going to France 
 did not go for various reasons — some because they were unwill- 
 ing to leave Ireland, others trusted English promises, and others 
 had heard of ill-treatment of their comrades in the French army. 
 It is likely that many more would have remained in Ireland, 
 had they not heard already of the broken promises of the Eng- 
 lish and the ill-treatment of their countrymen, who had submit- 
 ted. The women and children followed the soldiers to the ships, 
 with the idea of going with them. The men were first taken on 
 board, and many of the women fearing that they would be left 
 behind, rushed into the water and seized hold of the open boats 
 which were taking the men out to the larger vessels. Many of 
 them were drowned and others, having their fingers cut off by 
 the seamen, were lost in the sight of their relatives. 
 
 In March, 1692, a royal proclamation declared the war end- 
 ed, but long before this all resistance had ceased. Protestant 
 ascendancy was established and the subjugation of the old race 
 was complete. The colonists had expected to share in the con- 
 fiscations, which they supposed would follow the war. They 
 were indignant at the concessions made to the Irish, and almost 
 immediately began a struggle to violate the Treaty. 
 
 As King James' Parliament had repealed the Act of Set- 
 tlement, many of the original proprietors had got back their 
 lands, and, as a result, when the war closed, the ownership of 
 land was in a chaotic state. 
 
 In 1691 the English Parliament passed an act that no mem- 
 ber of the Irish Parliament should take his seat until he had 
 
112 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 taken certain oaths and subscribed to the declaration against 
 Transnbstantiation. It was the intention of tlie English Parlia- 
 ment to exclude the Catholic Irish from Parliament, and, though 
 the first Irish Parliament which met in 1692, would not recog- 
 nize the right of the English Parliament to pass a money bill 
 for the Irish, yet the same Parliament accepted this act. As a 
 result few Catholics presented themselves at the beginning of 
 the session, and those who did so refused to take the oath or 
 subscribe to the declaration against Transnbstantiation, and the 
 Parliament became exclusively Protestant. 
 
 Sidney, who was appointed Viceroy, attempted to govern 
 Ireland without persecution, and invited the Irish to join the 
 army. This act was resented by the colonists, who complained 
 to the English Parliament that under the Treaty of Limerick, 
 the Catholic Irish were being protected to the detriment of the 
 Protestants. The English Parliament objected to the disposal 
 of the forfeited estates in Ireland and finally passed an act that 
 no grant should be made of forfeited estates, until the English 
 Parliament should discuss and settle the matter. 
 
 This was an attack by the English Parliament upon King 
 William, and was an obvious attempt to set aside the Treaty of 
 Limerick. But he had already disposed of most of the forfeit- 
 ed estates. 
 
 The question of forfeited estates provoked a long fight be- 
 tween the king and Parliament, in which the king was worsted, 
 and Parliament appointed a commission of its own to inquire 
 into the extent of the forfeited estates in Ireland. This bill was 
 followed by another act, which enabled land to be sold by the 
 king, which really amounted to a second Act of Settlement. 
 As a result, in absolute violation of the Treaty of Limerick, most 
 of the land in Ireland was confiscated, with the exception of the 
 estates of a few families of English blood. The whole power and 
 property of the country was conferred by successive monarch s 
 upon an English colony, who, though they owned practically all 
 the land, never amounted to a third of the inhabitants. 
 
 As soon as the party of intolerance were secure in their 
 power the defenders of Deny resolved to avenge themselves on 
 the defenders of Limerick and to treat the Catholics to be sub- 
 missive and to remember they were a conquered people. 
 
 The king abandoned them to their foes and in 1699 a Par- 
 liament exclusively Protestant, began the passage of a long 
 series of penal laws. 
 
 It seems almost impossible in this enlightened age to real- 
 ize that a people professing the religion of Christianity should 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'COXNELL 113 
 
 have permitted the long period of barbarous persecution which 
 followed. Edmund Burke, a Protestant born in Ireland, univer- 
 sally recognized as the foremost English statesman of his time, 
 and one of the greatest, if not the greatest orator of the modern 
 world, declared in Parliament ' ' that the penal code was a ma- 
 chine of wise and elaborate contrivance and as well fitted for 
 the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people 
 and the debasement in them of human nature itself as ever 
 proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man." 
 
 Among the laws which were passed was one which took 
 away all firedrms from the Catholics, and no Catholic was al- 
 lt)wed to engage in gunmaking. No person could leave Ireland 
 to be trained as a Catholic or send abroad money for the sup- 
 port of a religious house, under the penalty of losing all civil 
 rights. 
 
 A Catholic was not allowed lo teach a school publicly or 
 in a private house, except to the members of the family. 
 
 A Catholic servant or laborer who refused to work on a 
 holy day of his church was fined, and if he did nc^t pay his fine 
 was whipped. All Catholic Bishops and all Catholic religious 
 orders were banished from the island. 
 
 The priests only were allowed to stay with the hope that 
 they would soon die out as the Bishops were all to be banished 
 and no other Bishops were to be allowed to come into the 
 country. 
 
 No Catholic was allowed to marry a Protestant. If they 
 did marry they were deemed dead in the law and their property 
 was to be confiscated. No Catholic was allowed to become a so- 
 licitor. 
 
 A priest was not allowed to return to Ireland if he had for 
 any reason left the country, and all priests were required to be 
 registered, showing their residence, age, and the date of their 
 ordination. 
 
 These are but a few of the laws which for almost a hun- 
 dred years reduced our ancestors to almost the level of slaves. 
 In the attempt to enforce them, every form of -:^riieltY and bar- 
 barism was practised. But the attempt to rout out Catholicity 
 in Ireland alasolutely failed. 
 
 The people naturally turned to the clergy for help and con- 
 solation. Disguised as a sailor or clerk, many a young Irish lad 
 went abroad to pursue his studies in France or Spain, and after 
 ordination to the priesthood, again putting on a disguise, he 
 came home to pursue the perilous duties of his office. 
 
 Priest hunting was a favorite calling for many years. In 
 some localities where the Protestants were tolerant the priest- 
 
114 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 liunter would refrain from, his degraded calling and the priest 
 would go about without disguise. 
 
 But these periods of tolerance did not last long, and the 
 priest would be obliged to flee to the mountains and the woods. 
 Mass was frequently said in the fields, and when the priest 
 said mass he frequently wore a veil or screened the altar so that 
 the people who assisted at the mass could truthfully answer 
 when interrogated about it, that though they had heard the 
 priest, they had not seen his face and could not tell his name. 
 
 But in spite of this persecution which lasted, for almost a 
 century, the old Church weathered the storm, and when it 
 ceased. Catholicity, if possible, was more firmly rooted in tlie 
 people than ever. 
 
 In addition to persecuting the Catholics in the practice of 
 their religion, the doors to the learned professions were closed 
 to them, and all civil offices were absolutely denied them. As 
 they were not allowed to own ]n'operty, many of them were re- 
 duced to the position of beggars. The peasantry were always 
 on the brink of starvation, and a period of famines began, five 
 or six of which occurred, culminating in the great famine of 
 1741, in which four thousand persons perished. 
 
 In the fifty years following the Treaty of Limerick four 
 hundred and fifty thousand Irishmen enlisted in the armies of 
 France, many of them for the want of something to do. They 
 went not only to the armies of France, but to Austria, Russia 
 and Spain. 
 
 It frequently fell to the lot of Irish soldiers to encounter an 
 English army on the field of battle on the Continent of Europe, 
 and when they met the bitter enemies of their race and relig- 
 ion, they fought with a desperation born of hate, famine and 
 exile. The Irish poet, Davis, in his poem the "Battle of Fonte- 
 noy," in which he tells the story of how the Irish Brigade of 
 the French Army defeated the English under the Duke of Cum- 
 berland at Fontenoy in 1744, and turned disaster and defeat in- 
 to a great victory of the French Army over the combined forces 
 of Austrians, Dutch and English, well described this feeling 
 when he wrote: — 
 
 "How fierce the look these exiles wear, who 're wont to be so 
 
 gay, 
 The treasured wrongs of fifty years are in their hearts today — 
 Their treaty broken, ere the ink wherewith 'twas writ could 
 
 dry. 
 Their plundered homes, their ruined shrines, their women's 
 
 parting cry, 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 115 
 
 Their priesthood hunted down like wolves, their country over- 
 thrown, — 
 Each looks, as if revenge for all were staked on him alone. ' ' 
 
 The Presbyterians and Quakers who constituted two- 
 thirds of the colonial interest in Ireland, were also greatly 
 persecuted by the Protestant Ascendency, and were denied all 
 civil offices and reduced almost to the level of their Catholic 
 fellow countrymen. The disabilities under which the Presby- 
 terians labored joined to economic causes drove many of them 
 to emigrate f-rom Ulster. In the year 1728 thirty-one hundred 
 of them left Ulster and settled in Pennsylvania, Virginia and 
 North Carolina. 
 
 In 1698 the English Parliament passed a law which abso- 
 lutely forbade the Irish people from exporting woolens to any 
 country except England, and to England subject, however, to 
 a ruinous tariff. The woolen industry had been one of the im- 
 portant industries of the island and this industry was almost 
 completely destroyed by this law, and its loss was a great blow 
 to the country. 
 
 William Mol>Tieaux, one of the members of the University 
 of Dublin in 1698, opposed the law and wrote a text book, in 
 which he maintained that the Irish Parliament had supreme 
 control over their own legislation. But, even in this text book, 
 the author made it clear that the ascendancy was for him the 
 Irish nation and that the majority of the Irish people had no 
 place, in it. 
 
 In 1703 there was a movement in Parliament for a closer 
 union with England, but England would not have a Parliamen- 
 tary union, and the Irish Parliament remained distinct but sub- 
 ordinate, resembling its English parent but with none of its 
 merits. It was a Parliament without power, without dignity, 
 and self respect, a Parliament of pensioners and placemen, 
 bigots and bullies. 
 
 The English Parliament in 1719 passed an act expressly 
 declaring that it had the power to legislate for Ireland. It had 
 been doing this thing frequently in the past, but it was not un- 
 til the year 1719 that they expressly declared that it had the 
 right to do so. 
 
 In 1722 the copper coinage in Ireland was very short. Vari- 
 ous petitions of the Irish Parliament to have a mint at Dublin 
 had been ignored. But, through the influence of the Duchess of 
 Kendall, one of the favorites of George the First, who was then 
 king, William Wood, an iron monger of Wolverhampton, was 
 granted a patent to coin copper half-jDence and farthings to the 
 
116 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 amount of one hundred and eight thousand pounds. Wood soon 
 began to send his half-pence and farthings across the channel. 
 The Irish Commissioner of Eevenue protested to the Viceroy 
 and to the Treasury Commissioners against this, but neither 
 protest received even the courtesy of a reply. Parliament took 
 the matter into its own hands and resolved that Wood had been 
 guilty of fraud; that the coin was greatly adulterated and 
 would entail a great loss to the country. 
 
 Jonathan Swift, the Protestant Dean of St. Patrick's in 
 Dublin, then began a memorable fight. Swift was Irish by 
 birth and education, yet he took little pride in being an Irish- 
 man. He despised the Catholics and favored the penal code. 
 He hated the Presbyterians, perhaps more than he did the Cath- 
 olics, but, at the same time, he was disgusted with the corrup- 
 tion, hypocrisy and servitude of his co-religionists. Under the 
 assumed name of M. B. Drapier, he wrote a series of pamphlets 
 denouncing Wood and his coin. In a short time all Ireland was 
 in a blaze of excitement over the letters of Swift, and all classes 
 of the people joined in their abhorrence of Woods' half-pence. 
 In these letters Swift denied the right of England's Parliament 
 to make laws for Ireland. To him it was government without 
 the consent of the governed. He boldly asserted that the Irish 
 were as free as the English by the laws of God, of nature and of 
 nations. A price was set upon his head, and though every man 
 in Ireland knew that Swift was the author of the letters, no one 
 would betray him. England finally backed down and the pat- 
 ent was cancelled and the angry passions of the people for a 
 time subsided. 
 
 During the years of the penal laws in Ulster, secret Pro- 
 testant societies called ' ' Oak Boys ' ' and ' ' Steel Boys ' ' came into 
 existence for the purpose of fighting excessive tithes and rents, 
 which were levied by the Ascendancy on the people. They 
 burnd houses and destroyed cattle, and compelled the landlord 
 and the parson to moderate their demands. 
 
 In 1741, a new Apostle of Reform and a champion of legis- 
 lative independence appeared in the person of Doctor Lucas, 
 who founded and edited a weekly paper called ''The Citizen's 
 Journal." He originally began as a colonial patriot, but his 
 denunciation of the whole system of government in Ireland 
 made him popular with the native race and all classes of nation- 
 alists among the Irish people began to read his paper. 
 
 He insisted on the right of Ireland to make her own laws 
 without the interference of England, and declared that, if Eng- 
 land was to legislate for Ireland, there was no safety for her; 
 that her linen industry would perish as did her woolen industry. 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 117 
 
 But he soon was condemned by the Irish Parliament itself and 
 was obliged to flee the country to the Isle of Man. 
 
 The persecution of Lucas drew the attention of all Ireland 
 to his writings. In the meanwhile an opposition party known 
 as ' ' The Patriots ' ' had grown up in Parliament, who helped to 
 keep the national sentiment alive, although their nationality 
 was narrow and exclusive. 
 
 In 1745 Lord Chesterfield became the Viceroy of Ireland. 
 Under him the priest hunting was stopped; chapels were open- 
 ed he was affable to the poor and rebuked many officers and 
 magistrates for their over-zeal in persecution. Mass was again 
 openly celebrated in Ireland. Though not a single enactment of 
 the penal code was repealed, yet the government under Chester- 
 field connived at the non-enforcement of the laws. He was soon 
 recalled and the old policy of persecution was immediately re- 
 sumed. This short respite, however, had the effect of infusing 
 new spirit into the Catholics, and also introduced disturbing 
 elements into the minds of Protestants as to the wisdom of the 
 persecution. 
 
 About this time in the south of Ireland most of the land 
 formerly used as tillage land was thrown into pasturage and 
 the farmers and laborers turned adrift and many who did not 
 enlist for military service, left Ireland for America. This con- 
 version of the land into pasturage meant starvation. Again the 
 collection of tithes was looked upon as a great evil, both by 
 Catholics and Presbyterians and to resist both of these great 
 evils a secret society in the south of Ireland known as the 
 ''White Boys," so-called from their wearing white shirts out- 
 side of their clothes, was organized and went around levelling 
 houses, destroying cattle and committing many outrages, and 
 while they were in existence they kept the Southern Counties 
 in terror, but they were pursued by the landlords with great 
 vigor. The ascendancy denounced these uprisings as a papist 
 conspiracy, yet made no attempt to remove the cause of them, 
 and continued to pass laws for their punishment that were bar- 
 barous in the extreme. During this period of crime and misery 
 Parliamentary proceedings began to attract attention. 
 
 The union between Scotland and England led to a similar 
 suggestion of the union between Ireland and England. It 
 seemed to be the only way of getting rid of the trade restric- 
 tions, which were impoverishing the nation. It received little 
 encouragement in England in the early part of the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
 The failure of the efforts of those who sought to bring 
 about a union between England and Ireland convinced the ma- 
 
118 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 jority of the colonists that the English Parliament was hostile 
 to the growth of industry in Ireland and had sought to destroy 
 its chief industry, and that it was never likely to lift Ireland to 
 a position of equality with herself. This feeling and belief had 
 much to do with the growth of the national spirit. The attempt 
 to enforce the penal laws after Chesterfield 's period of conniv- 
 ance, showed a deep stratum of intolerance, and it led to the 
 foundation of the First Catholic Committee in 1757. This was 
 the first movement in Ireland to obtain religious and political 
 freedom and social reformation by a peaceful association. This 
 Catholic Committee was supported almost entirely by the mid- 
 dle class of Catholics. The aristocracy among the Catholics 
 were afraid of giving any assistance. The clergy, though ready 
 to brave death for religion's sake, were unprepared to join in 
 the political agitation. The great mass of the people were un- 
 educated and undisciplined and easily led by those in whom 
 they reposed confidence, and were liable to be carried away by 
 ungovernable impulses, under the persuasion of the barbarous 
 tyranny and suffering then endured. The Catholic Committee 
 awakened the energy of the rising generation and showed that 
 peaceful acquiescence in their degradation was not the way to 
 remedy their grievances. 
 
 For years it was impossible to bring about any legislative 
 reform. The Parliamentary pensioners and placemen prevent- 
 ed any reforms in the pension list, or in the appointment of 
 judges. Dr. Lucas, in his writings, said that no reform would 
 come until Parliament would reform itself 
 
 In 1765 an attempt was made to have a bill passed to limit 
 the duration of Parliament, but this was unsuccessful. Be- 
 tween 1771 and 1775 some minor concessions were made to the 
 Catholics, including a new oath of allegiance to meet their re- 
 ligious objections. 
 
 At the beginning of the American Kevolution, the agita- 
 tion for free trade commenced and as p]ngland's difficulties in- 
 creased, the demands of the Irish Parliament grew louder and 
 louder. The defeat of the English in the American War at 
 Saratoga in 1777 filled the Irish people with hope. England 
 began to make concessions to them and, as the Revolutionary 
 War progressed, Ireland was gradually denuded of her troops 
 and volunteer corps for purpose of self protection were formed 
 throughout the country. The movement for the organization 
 of the volunteers began in Belfast. The volunteers served with- 
 out pay, carried arms and wore uniforms. Now, when England 
 and the colonists stood face to face in the fight for free trade 
 each side tried to conciliate the native Irish. In 1778, England 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 113 
 
 conceded the right to the Catholics to hold landed property. 
 The Catholic Irish, however, threw in their fortunes with their 
 colonial fellow-countrymen and, as a result, a united Ireland 
 confronted the English government. In 1779, the Irish Parlia- 
 ment met. Henry Grattan, who had become a member four 
 years earlier, was foremost among the leaders of the Patriot 
 Party and a colonel in the volunteers. No one had striven more 
 earnestly than he to end the feud between the colonists and 
 Catholics. He was the champion of the Catholics in 1778, when 
 important concessions were made to them, and he was now the 
 champion of both the colonists and native Irish in the attempt 
 to shake off the commercial fetters, which shackled both. De- 
 monstrations of the volunteers, who had taken up the fight for 
 the removal of trade restrictions, took place all through Ire- 
 land, and especially in Dublin. England was terrified. In 1779 
 Ireland was granted free trade. Having obtained free trade, 
 the volunteers resolved to obtain a free Parliament. In 1780 
 Grattan introduced a bill in the Irish Parliament, which de- 
 clared that the king, by and with the consent of the Lords and 
 Commons of Ireland, was the only power competent to legis- 
 late for her. 
 
 In 1782, the volunteers held a convention at Dungannon. 
 It was attended by representatives of one hundred and forty- 
 three corps of Ulster volunteers. This convention demanded 
 legislative independence. It asserted, too, the right of private 
 judgment in matters of religion, and expressed its gratitude 
 and pleasure on the repeal of the penal laws. 
 
 Religious' liberty began to advance step by step with poli- 
 tical liberty. The support of the Catholics in favor of Irish lib- 
 erty brought to their assistance the ablest men in both parties 
 in Parliament, and a bill was passed which permitted the Cath- 
 olics to take and dispose of land, and repealed the law against 
 the celebration of Mass, and also destroyed many other penal 
 laws. It contained provisions for the education of Catholics. 
 Thus was a great breach made in the penal code. 
 
 In 1782, the English Parliament, impressed with the neces- 
 sity of curbing the excitement in Ireland, began to consider a 
 final adjustment, that would bring satisfaction to both king- 
 doms. 
 
 Grattan in April secured the passage of his bill, embody- 
 ing the resolutions of the Dungannon Convention by a unani- 
 mous vote. Finally, in May, 1782, the English Parliament, un- 
 der the leadership of Fox, recognized the right of the legislative 
 independence of the Irish Parliament. Thus was ended the 
 fight begun by Molyneux, carried on by Swift and Lucas, and 
 
120 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OP THE UNION 
 
 triumpliantly closed mider the leadership of Grattan. The 
 great Irish patriot was well justified in saying as he does in 
 one of his speeches : ' ' I found Ireland on her knees, I watched 
 over her with a paternal solicitude; I have traced her progress 
 from injuries to arms, from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift! 
 Spirit of Molyneux! Your genius has prevailed! Ireland is a 
 nation. In that character I hail her, and bowing in her august 
 presence, I say — 'esto perpetua!' 
 
 But this hope and desire of Grattan's was not to succeed. 
 In the Parliament of Grattan, which thus began, the Catholic 
 was still excluded. He was also deprived even of the Parlia- 
 mentary franchise, and the Parliament was consequently still 
 unrepresentative. Grattan and Flood were its principal mem- 
 bers. Flood was opposed to giving Catholics the right to sit in 
 Parliament, although otherwise desirous of protecting them. 
 Flood made an effort to reform the organization of Parliament, 
 but was not successful. 
 
 At this time, Fitzgibbon, a grandson of a peasant and a 
 grandson of a Catholic, and whose name is still loathed in Ire- 
 land, was attorney general. He hated the Catholics, and, when 
 the ''White Boys" broke out in 1786, he met the outbreaks 
 with a riot act of great severity, although he knew that this 
 outbreak was due entirely to the tithe farmer and the rack- 
 renting landlord. Under the riot act, if twelve or more people 
 assembled together and were ordered by a magistrate to dis- 
 perse and did not do so, they were all liable to be put to death. 
 Grattan opposed this policy bitterly. 
 
 In 1783 Flood left Ireland and became a member of the 
 English Parliament, but never achieved any distinction there. 
 John Philpot Curran took his ]:>laee beside Grattan. He was a 
 friend and champion of the Catholics and a constant foe of the 
 attorney general. He was .undoubtedly the greatest advocate 
 of his time, and, as an orator, he was second only to Grattan. 
 Little was done for the Catholics from 1782 to 1790. Grattan 
 was always willing and anxious to aid them, but the opposition 
 of Flood and others made it impossible. In the meanwhile, the 
 Catholics made little effort themselves. The Catholic Commit- 
 tee did very little during this period. At this time a Catholic 
 petition would not be received in Parliament or in Dublin 
 Castle. 
 
 In 1790, the French Eevolution was in progress and its 
 effect was greatly felt in Ireland. A new republic had arisen 
 in France, which defied nature and reason and abolished all 
 religious disabilities, declared tithes to be immoral and all men 
 to have equal rights. The volunteers, who were still strong in 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 121 
 
 TJlster, were greatly influenced by the Eevolution and began to 
 demand Parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation. " 
 
 The Society of the United Irishmen was founded in 1791. 
 This organization brought Catholic and Presbyterian together 
 in a fight to bring about the reforms advocated earlier by the 
 Volunteers. The British ministry at this time was anxious for 
 the Irish Parliament to be more liberal. The English Parlia- 
 ment had granted many important concessions to the Catholics 
 in England. But the Irish Parliament would not do anything 
 further in thi^ respect. 
 
 Edmund Burke, though he hated the French Eevolution, 
 was favorable to the Irish demands. He sent his son to Ireland 
 to aid in the fight. In 1792, under great pressure from Eng- 
 land, Catholics were first admitted to the bar and marriages 
 between Catholics and Protestants legalized, and the Catholics 
 were permitted to erect and support Catholic schools. These 
 concessions did not satisfy the Catholics, however, as they were 
 still in the position of a degi'aded sect. The force of the French 
 Eevolution began to be more and more felt in Ireland. The 
 TJnited Irishmen and the Catholic Committee joined forces and 
 Wolf Tone, an Irish Protestant, became secretary to the Catho- 
 lic Committee. 
 
 A new Association known as the Friends of the Constitu- 
 tion was founded by Henry Grattan in 1792, the purpose of 
 which was to complete Catholic emancipation and Parliament- 
 ary reform. Wolf Tone, born in Dublin, educated at Trinity, 
 called to the bar in 1789, first made his appearance in Irish pol- 
 itics in 1791. He was the founder of the United Irishmen, and 
 by his pen and voice did much to bring the Catholics and Pro- 
 testants together. He believed that Ireland would never be 
 liappy while the influence of England was felt there, and he 
 wanted absolute independence for his native land. His hope 
 in accomplishing this lay principally in the dissenters of the 
 north of Ireland and the Catholics. The society of the United 
 Irishmen did not officially go as far as Tone wanted. It de- 
 manded parliamentarv reform, manhood suffrage, the aboli- 
 tion of property qualifications for a seat in Parliament and 
 eoual rights for the Catholics. Grattan was not in sympathy 
 with these advanced measures of reform. He opposed univer- 
 sal suffrage, and, as a result, op]")osed the United Irishmen. 
 Like Burke, he, too, hated the French Eevolution and wanted 
 the Irish to support England in a war with France, which was 
 then going on. In 1794, after a considerable struggle, May- 
 nooth College was founded for the education of priests, as the 
 French Eevolution made it impossible any longer for priests to 
 
122 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 be educated in France. This college has since become one of 
 the gi'eatest Catholic Colleges in the world. 
 
 In 1794, Grattan renewed the fight for Catholic emancipa- 
 tion in the Irish Parliament, but unsuccessfully. The Catholics, 
 absolutely disgusted at the defeat of Grattan, gave up the fight, 
 as they felt it was useless any longer to appeal to the Irish 
 Parliament, and in vast numbers joined the United Irishmen 
 and, through this society and with violence, sought the redress 
 which constitutionally they ought to have obtained. Another 
 secret society of Catholics, known as The Defenders, took up 
 the fight, and began to intimidate magistrates. They were 
 armed with pikes and spears and frequently fought the Irish 
 soldiery. They were, of course, frequently punished and many 
 of them imprisoned and killed. In Armagh the ''Peep of Day 
 Boys," a Protestant Society, fought The Defenders and defeat- 
 ed them. Afterwards the Peep of Day Boys founded a new as- 
 sociation, known as the ' ' Orange Society, ' ' the name being tak- 
 en from William of Orange. All of the bigots and fanatics of 
 Ulster joined the society and continued to persecute the Catho- 
 lics there in every way. The effect of the outrages was to in- 
 crease the United Irishmen, as the Catholics joined them for 
 protection, and the defenders all became United Irishmen and, 
 as a result, before the Eebellion of 1798 broke out, more than 
 five hundred thousand members were on the roll of the United 
 Irish Society. The members of the Society soon came to un- 
 derstand that the ultimate object was a revolution and a repub- 
 lic. It had a civil and military system of organization. Its 
 membership in 1796 included Arthur O'Connor, McNevin, Addis 
 Emmet and Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the son of the Duke of 
 Leinster. Wolf Tone had left Ireland in 1795. France had sent 
 an emissary to Ireland to see if a French invasion would be 
 welcomed. The emissary was found out. arrested and sentenced 
 to death. Tone had met him and had been requested by this 
 emissary to go to France on a mission for the United Irish So- 
 siety. Tone soon became a marked man and determined to leave 
 Ireland if possible and finally, through powerful efforts, left 
 Ireland and came to Philadelphia. Addis Eaimet and others 
 urged him, when leaving Ireland, to got aid from France. In 
 1796, Tone left the United States and went to Paris, where he 
 made a great impression and finally, in December, 1796, a 
 French fleet with many able officers and men, numbering fif- 
 teen thousand, in forty-three vessels, set out for Ireland. Only 
 thirty-five reached Bantry Bay. A great storm arose, which 
 made it impossible for the soldiers to land. It lasted many 
 days and the fleet finally became scattered and, to the rage and 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 123 
 
 disgust of Tone, in twos and' threes they went back to France. 
 England was thus saved by the winds. France, at this time, 
 was a great power and had humbled all of Europe, excepting 
 England, who was still invincible on the sea. 
 
 Grattan again unsuccessfully urged upon Parliament that, 
 if they expected to obtain the support of the Irish Catholios,, 
 they must grant them Catholic emancipation. Camden, the 
 Viceroy, and Fitzgibbon, were opposed to any concession. The 
 latter had sworn to make Ireland "tame as cats" and he im- 
 mediately started out to do it. Everywhere outrages were 
 committed by the soldiers. Men and women were killed out- 
 right and in a thousand ways the people were driven to des- 
 peration. Grattan 's influence in Parliament steadily waned. 
 Finally, when only seven men supported him, in May, 1797, he 
 ceased to attend Parliament altogether. 
 
 The United Irish Society confidently expected that French 
 aid would be sent to them and in May. Arthur O'Connor was 
 sent to France to hasten this aid. Lord Edward Fitzgerald 
 was named as commander-in-chief of tbe rebel forces. He was 
 then thirty-five years old, a Geraldine, and the son of Ireland's 
 only duke. He threw rank and fortune to the winds to fight 
 for his fellow-countrymen. He was a man of remarkable per- 
 sonal courage and was the idol of the ])eople. The conduct of 
 the Irish Army at this time in their treatment of the people 
 was well described by General Abercrombie, who had been ap- 
 pointed its chief military commander, who said that he found 
 on investigation "that the army, in ilie year 1797, had com- 
 mitted every cruelty and crime that could be committed by 
 Cossack or Calmuck, with the approval of those high in office. "^ 
 
 On April 3rd, 1798, a proclamation was issued by the Irish 
 government, demanding the surrender of all arms in ten days. 
 When arms were not surrendered, the soldiers made search 
 and wantonly destroyed the property of those who were sus- 
 pected of having arms. The United Irish leaders fixed on the 
 23rd of May for the insurrection. The French in the meantime 
 changed its plan of making the descent on England, and Bona- 
 parte was sent to Egypt with an army to defeat England there. 
 
 On May 18th, 1798, Lord Edward Fitzgerald was captured 
 a prisoner, while resting after dinner at the home of a friend in 
 Dublin, only after he made a gallant resistance, in which he 
 stabbed one of his captors and mortally wounded another. For 
 two months the government had been on his track. A price 
 had been set on his head. He died from wounds received in 
 this struggle in Newgate Prison a couple of weeks afterwards. 
 The day following his capture the Sheares brothers were cap- 
 
124 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 tured. They were members of the directorate of the United Ir- 
 ish Society. Most of the Society's leaders were obliged to leave 
 the country, and the whole movemenc was soon left without 
 any strong leadership. 
 
 Many causes limited the area of the rebellion and it was 
 only in portions of Wicklow, Kildare, Carlo \v, Dublin, Meath 
 and Queen's County that any fighting of consequence took 
 place. 
 
 On the 24th of May, 1798, the insurrection broke out in 
 many places in these counties, but the superior skill, discipline 
 and arms of the military were almost invariably successful. In 
 most of the counties, except Wexford, the rebellion was over in 
 less than a week. In Wexford, howcA er, there was a strong 
 spirit of rebellion. The Irish soldiers in Wexford were all 
 Orangemen, and were constantly animated by religious preju- 
 dices. As a result of cruelties committed by the soldiers, the 
 people preferred to fight than to be massacred, and under the 
 leadership of Father John Murphy of Booley vogue, the stand- 
 ard of rebellion rose. Inside of a week after fighting com- 
 menced, the County of Wexford was in control of Father John's 
 forces. Unless aid came from the surrounding country, the 
 ])atriot leaders knew that they must fail. The Irish government 
 began to make every effort to suppress the rebellion. They 
 feared that, if the French fleet landed in Wexford, the whole 
 country would be lost. The untrained peasantry had shown 
 remarkable bravery and gallantry and had won very many suc- 
 cesses. Most of the rebel's strength finally gathered at Vine- 
 gar Hill on the 21st of June of the same year, and the attack on 
 them was begun. The government forces numbered fourteen 
 thousand trained soldiers with experienced officers and an 
 abundance of artillery, while the rebels liad little or no artillery. 
 After a stubborn contest, lasting a few hours, the rebels were 
 out-matched and fled towards Wexford, leaving six hundred 
 dead on the field of battle. In this fight Father Michael Mur- 
 phy at the head of his men, was killed. Father John was cap- 
 tured and taken prisoner and later hung at TuUow. There 
 were many other priests engaged in the rebellion, which was 
 practically over in July, when a general amnesty was offered to 
 all who would forsake their leaders and give up their arms. 
 Most of the United Irish Directorate, who had been arrested, 
 were being tried before a High Commission Court in Dublin. 
 The Sheares brothers were sent to the scaffold, and many were 
 sent to Botany Bay, and twenty of the principal leaders were 
 sent to Fort George in Scotland and were kept there until 1802. 
 Of these McNevin and Emmet came to the United States, where 
 
HON. PHILIP J, O'CONNELL 12& 
 
 they attained great distinction, and Avtliur O'Connor left for 
 France, where he became a general in tbe French Army. France 
 had utterly failed the United Irish in this rebellion. A small 
 force came over in Angnst under the leadership of General 
 Humbert. It numbered less than a thousand. This force was 
 captured by Cornwallis, and they were treated as soldiers of 
 war and sent back to France, but theii' Irish allies, who were 
 captured with them, were slaughtered. 
 
 On September 20, 1798, another French fleet with Wolfe 
 Tone aboard the Hoclie, set sail from France for the purpose of 
 seizing Ireland. Once again the winds favored England. The 
 vessels were again separated at sea. They were attacked and 
 disabled by an English force under Wairen, and the Hoclie was 
 captured. Tone was tried by a court marshal and sentenced to 
 be hung. As a French officer he requested the right to be shot. 
 This was denied him, and, when refused, he cut his throat in 
 his cell. Before the end of the year the rebellion was at an end. 
 
 When the rebellion of 1798 broke out, William Pitt, the 
 English minister, seized the opportunity of bringing about a 
 legislative union between England and Ireland, and secured the 
 support of the British Cabinet to the plan. 
 
 While as a result of the Jacobite War and the confiscations 
 which followed, the Protestant minority held all the positions 
 of power in Ireland, yet they had little desire for a legislative 
 union for more than half a century. 
 
 Many descendants of William and Cromwell were coming 
 to regard Ireland as their own country. It was these men who 
 formed the volunteer army and had made the Irish Parliament 
 free. They realized that England's Parliament had destroyed 
 their trade and that the Irish Parliament was their own. 
 
 Since 1782, the prosperity of the country had advanced 
 with great strides. When Cornwallis was sent to Ireland in 
 1798, he was instructed by Pitt to feel his way to see what sup- 
 port he could secure for a union. 
 
 The English government, anxious to obtain a majority, be- 
 gan a campaign of education through pamphlets and in other 
 ways, in favor of the union, showing benefits that would arise 
 therefrom, and made argumentative appeals to both Protest- 
 ants and Catholics, as well as to the business interests of the 
 country. 
 
 When the Irish Parliament in January, 1799, met, the ques- 
 tion was immediately taken up under the leadership of Lord 
 Castlereagh, who was then Chief Secretary for Ireland. While 
 the king did not want this office held by an Irishman, yet an 
 exception was made in the case of Castlereagh, because he was 
 
126 FROM THE BOYNE TO THE ACT OF THE UNION 
 
 SO unlike an Irishman. He was cold, callous, and heartless. He 
 liad favored every severity of the government and employed as 
 his instruments in the enforcement of law men without a shred 
 of character. Love of country he did not understand, and pub- 
 lic virtue he despised. Bribery and corruption he loved to 
 employ. The support of the I^nion was to be made the test of 
 loyalty and all opponents of it were dismissed from their of- 
 fices. The opposition to the Union in Parliament had many able 
 leaders, and the votes in the early part of the struggle were al- 
 most even in the Irish House of Commons, while in the House 
 of Lords, the union forces were overwhelmingly in the majority. 
 Foster, the Irish secretary, was one of the principal oppon- 
 ents of the union. He had been opposed to Parliamentary re- 
 form and to Catholic emanci]^ation. During the Rebellion of 
 '98 he supported every severity and cruelty of the government, 
 yet to the chagrin of Pitt, he took the side of the opponents of 
 the union. Those who supported Castle reagli in the early stag- 
 es of the Parliamentary struggle were rewarded with offices, 
 ]iensions and promotions to the peerage. Corruption and the 
 purchase of seats immediately began. 
 
 Outside of Parliament very effective means were taken to 
 influence public opinion. Troops were hurried from England 
 until the army in Ireland numbered one hundred and thirty- 
 seven thousand men, although no rebellion was then feared. A 
 Coercion Act in '99 was passed, placing all Ireland under mar- 
 tial law. Meetings opposing the union were everywhere sup- 
 pressed. Petitions favoring the union were circulated through- 
 out Ireland, with small success. In the entire country only sev- 
 en thousand petitioned for the union, while one hundred and 
 ten thousand freeholders opposed it. 
 
 Among the Catholics, a few bishops having lost all confi- 
 dence in the Irish Parliament, and havmg been promised more 
 liberal treatment if a union was brought about, favored it, but 
 the priests throughout the nation were generally opposed to it, 
 and the small number, who signed the petitions favoring the 
 union, proved that the gr.eat bulk of the Catholic laity was thor- 
 oughly opposed to it. 
 
 Daniel O'Connell, who made his first public speech in Jan- 
 uary, 1800, declared that he would rather trust his Protestant 
 fellow-countrymen than to lay his country at the feet of for- 
 eigners, and that, if a union was to be ihe alternative of the re- 
 enactment of the penal laws, he preferred the re-enactment of 
 the penal laws. In the House of Commons out of three hundred 
 men, only one hundred and twenty-eight men were elected from 
 cities and towns with an open franchise; one hundred and sev- 
 
HON. PHILIP J. O'CONNELL 127 
 
 •«iity-two were returned from the close boroughs, named by a 
 crowd of private patrons, and consequently hound to vote as 
 their patrons wanted. In such an assembly it was easy to get 
 a majority, especially when bribery and corruption were used. 
 The great event of the debate was the re-appearance of Grattan. 
 With great reluctance he consented to re-enter Parliament. He 
 was then in feeble health, but through a friend he secured a 
 place in Parliament from a close borough. Dressed in uni- 
 form of the Volunteers and with loaded pistols in his pockets, 
 as he feared an attack on his way to the House of Commons, he 
 made his reappearance. He made one of the greatest speeches 
 of his career, but was unsuccessful, as one hundred and thirty- 
 eight of the members supported Castlereagh, while only ninety- 
 six voted with Grattan. Bribery and corruption had triumphed. 
 The articles of the Union were finally carried by a vote of one 
 hundred and fifty-eight to one hundred and fifteen. The articles 
 were sent to England in March, 1800, and with slight altera- 
 tions were passed there finally in May. They were then sent 
 l)ack to the Irish Parliament, and the act as finally passed re- 
 ceived the Royal assent in August, 1900. 
 
 In the century and more that has elapsed since the Legisla- 
 tive union between Ireland and England became effective, ev- 
 ery promise that was made in its behalf has failed of accom- 
 l)lishment and Ireland has fallen steadily backward. Disaster 
 :and ruin have been its fruit and the nation has constantly lost 
 in population, while almost every nation in the world has profit- 
 ed in Ireland's loss. 
 
 Within a year it is confidently hoped that as the result of 
 almost a half century of agitation, a solid and united parlia- 
 mentary delegation, led by wise and prudent leadership, with 
 the backing of the democracy of England, will wipe out the 
 corruj^tion, bribery and theft of 1800, and Ireland will once 
 more have a Parliament of her own. 
 
 Surely it is not too much to hope that in our own 
 life time, with the aid of this independent parliamentary body 
 constantly seeking the prosperity and happiness of the country, 
 Ireland may take her proper place among the nations of the 
 world. 
 
Rev. Michael J. McKenna 
 
 Eev. Michael J. McKenna, assistant pastor of St. 
 Francis Churcli, North Adams, Mass., is a native of 
 Holyoke, Mass. His early education was received in 
 the parochial and high schools of that city. He stud- 
 ied at St. Charles College, Maryland, and later at the 
 University of Ottawa, from which he was graduated in 
 1896. His theological studies were made at the Grand 
 Seminary, Montreal. He was ordained to the priest- 
 hood on Christmas Day, 1900. 
 
 Father McKenna was first stationed at St. Fran- 
 cis Church, North Adams. Following his service in the 
 North Adams Church he was transfeiTed to St. Pat- 
 rick's Church, Montreal. He was assistant priest at 
 the Church of the Holy Family, Springfield, Mass., for 
 eight years. He came to St. John's Church, Worces- 
 ter, Mass., in April, 1911. In April, 1913, after two 
 years' service, he was transferred to St. Francis 
 Church, North Adams. 
 
 AVhile in Worcester, Father McKenna was a mem- 
 ber and chaplain of Division 24, A. 0. H. He has been 
 connected with the Springfield Diocesan C. T. A. Union 
 for several years. He served as president in 1910 and 
 1911. 
 

®tj? (Eathnlir EmanrtiJattnu p^iini: 
 
 1801 — 1846 
 BY 
 
 REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 
 
 Toward the end of tlie 18tli century, Ireland was passing 
 through the darkest era of her history. The prime minister 
 of England at the time was that viiltnre statesman, William 
 Pitt. This high-minded fellow manfully availed himself of the 
 hopeless apathy into which the late rebellion had cast the Irish 
 nation. 
 
 As leader of the government, he grasped this dignified oc- 
 casion to further his scheme for the legislative union of Ireland 
 and Great Britain. Curran, Plunkett, Grattan, and other patri- 
 otic Irishmen had long opposed the foul intrigue of the British 
 minister, but all to no avail. The tears and entreaties of these 
 gifted statesmen proved absolutely fruitless. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, we are all familiar to some extent 
 with the horrid excesses of which national parliaments have 
 from time to time been guilty. But there is one excess recorded 
 in the story of civil states, baser than which, history knows no 
 record, and which will stand forever an unanswerable taunt to 
 the name of England as an honest state. 
 
 'Tis'the imperial theft, the parliamentary sacrilege com- 
 mitted by the ministry of England against our race, 100 years 
 ago, on old historic College green. 
 
 Would you gaze for a passing moment on that memorable 
 scene, the bare thought of which turns almost to gall the Irish 
 blood that courses through my veins ? The 3^ear was 1800. Par- 
 liament had convened for the last reading of a bill on a union 
 of our fatherland and Great Britain. Excitement among the 
 people naturally was intense, and threats from every side were 
 made against the aliens and the traitors. The awful time they 
 feared had now arrived, when the light of Irish liberty would 
 be extinguished. 
 
130 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 Their fear was right. No more ^voulcl the sun rise over 
 them as an independent people. Upon the floor of parliament 
 sat 300 men. Irishmen? Yes, a few. Catholics? Before God in 
 heaven, and 'tis history, not one solitary man. 
 
 The penal code was as yet by no means dead. The mncli 
 dreaded moment came at last. The prime supporter of the bill, 
 a man, with the mention of whose namt I dislike to pollute my 
 lips, a man who lived as Judas lived, and a man who died ,as 
 Judas died, a traitor and a suicide, arose to address the house 
 on the order of the day. 
 
 He proposed a vote for the legislative union between Ire- 
 land and Great Britain. The words seemed frozen as they is- 
 sued from his lips. He coolly made his motion, and as coolly 
 resumed his seat. 
 
 There he sat, with the utmost composure and indifference, 
 a man without a country, without a God, save base ambition; 
 the once minister supreme of Ireland, cold-blooded, stony-heart- 
 ed. Catholic hating, self-destroying. Lord Castlereagh. 0, what 
 a glorious counterpart, this Judas, of that modern Herod of the 
 Saxons, and with what immortal lustre shall not the name of 
 each adorn forever the page of Irish history, the nation-selling 
 Castlereagh, and the nation-slaying Cromwell' 
 
 Among the spectatoi's in the gallery who watched the un- 
 holy scene that was taking place, was a young Irishman, a law- 
 yer, who would one day stir the world and absorb the attention 
 of mankind. A melancholy picture of his country in disgrace 
 loomed up before him. ''Poor Ireland,*' he thought, "with her 
 fadeless past, will in a moment more be stripped of all her 
 rights, her dignity, and her power." 
 
 Her rank among the states of Europe lost, her constitution 
 canceled, and old College green, with her gifted orators, now 
 passing into story! 
 
 At last the moment for decision came. The destiny of a 
 nation was in the balance. Below sat the craven coitrts, lords 
 and commoners, with a quota of British clerks and officers 
 smuggled in to vote away the constitution of a country and the 
 liberty of a people. An awful silence like that of doom came 
 over all. There was no countenance to which the heart did not 
 dispatch some messenger. 
 
 The speaker rose slowly from his chair, alas, to occupy it 
 never again as presiding oifficer in an Irish ]3arliament. Out 
 (n^er the historic gathering he cast one last lingering glance. 
 His eyes met the gaze of a faithful few, Grattan, Plunkett, and 
 
 the rest. 
 
 Their lonelv look betokened not the faintest ray of hope. 
 
REV. MICHAEL J, McKENNA 131 
 
 He held up the accursed bill in deathlike silence. No one 
 moved, not a voice was heard, not even a whisper among the 
 benches. 
 
 He looked steadily about him on the last agony of the ex- 
 IDiring parliament. But a moment more and another chapter 
 would be written in the olden story of the wreck of states. Ire- 
 land will be fallen and College green will stand like all the lone- 
 ly ruins of the land to remind Irishmen of what they had been 
 once and now to tell them what they are no more. With their 
 eyes averted from the object that they hated, the spectators 
 heard the speaker put the awful question. 
 
 '^All in favor of this bill say 'Aye,' " and ayes to the num- 
 ber of 200 echoed through the rafters of that classic hall. 
 
 The final verdict had been spoken; the fatal climax had 
 been reached. 
 
 Screams and hisses rent the galleries; women fainted, 
 strong men wept like new-made orphans. Betrayed, dispirit- 
 ed, broken-hearted, they watched the speaker till he flung the 
 cursed bill away. The tragic scene was ended and Ireland in- 
 dependent was no more. 
 
 Thus, friends, was the country of our fathers, in which 
 four-fifths of the population had no voice, no vote, no say, de- 
 graded to a province of the British empire. As Irishmen, 
 through whose veins courses blood as pure as the purest in the 
 world, now tempered by a soil which makes it the ])roudest and 
 the best, as Irish Yankees; do not forget this fact. Repeat it 
 often, tell it everywhere, that 'twas through Saxon gold and not 
 the votes of Irishmen that the Union act of 1800 passed; that 
 'twas through landlordism and the treachery of Ulster Orange- 
 men, and never by the consent of our Catholic fathers, that Ire- 
 land as a nation was extinguished. 
 
 Among the spectators in the gallery who watched the un- 
 holy scene that had taken place below, was a young law^^er 
 who would one day stir the world. He gazed out over the dead 
 parliament of his country, tarried awhile beside its bier, fol- 
 lowed its cortege to the Dublin streets, heard the bells in Irish 
 steeples ring out a mournful tune for Ireland's degradation. 
 
 Their sound and the gruesome tragedy just enacted so fren- 
 zied him that his blood boiled, and he vowed that night, if God 
 would help him, the foul dishonor would not last, and the libel- 
 ous union would one day be repealed. 
 
 ''The act just passed, amalgamating my country and Great 
 Britain, is not," he said, "and never will be told in history as 
 the work or the will of Irishmen. 'Tis an outrageous infamy. 
 The world must know it. 
 
13 2 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 'Tis false as the blackest libel ever written on the records 
 of the damned." That lawyer was the immortal emancipator 
 of his race, the great O'Connell. 
 
 And now began the memorable pait that God intended he 
 shonld play in history. While yet in the tender years of man- 
 hood he consecrated his gifted life entirely to the nation's great 
 reforms, emancipation and repeal. Emancipation, the uncon- 
 ditional freedom of his countrymen to worship God as oJden 
 revelation and their conscience told them and not as English 
 hicre or Saxon lash had failed to make them, and repeal, the 
 absolute amendment of the execrable robbery- perpetrated 
 against his people in the late parliament of Ireland. 
 
 Catholic emancipation and the repeal of ihe union became 
 what millions deemed as hopeless, the cherished life task of 
 O'Connell. He choose the darkest penod in all the history of 
 his country to sound the trumpet of her resurrection. Not with 
 cruel arms, as marked all former struggles of his country with 
 her foes, but with such weapons rather as God and nature had 
 intended in all the great affairs of life and conscience would he 
 face the enemy and fight the cause of Ireland. 
 
 Xot as a soldier with a musket, buc as a man with an intel- 
 lect, did he depart to battle, first for the God-born rights of 
 Irishmen as Catholics, and next in turn, for the constitutional 
 rights of Irishmeri now as subjects of lhe British crown. 
 
 For nine and twenty years the first great struggle lasted. 
 One by one, he met and mastered England's foremost states- 
 men, among them Pitt and Peel and Wellington. 
 
 O'Conuell's first official act as leader in the terrific struggle 
 for the religious freedom of his people was to organize the Cath- 
 olic board. He then went forth amongst the nation and en- 
 deavored with all the power of his electric eloquence to rouse 
 them from their stupor. He asked them for their manhood's 
 sake, for the honor of their Melician ancestors, nay, for the glory 
 of the Creator, in the -name of God to lift u]) their 
 heads. 
 
 As their heaven-appointed leader he would bring them out 
 of the house of British bondage, would win for them religious 
 freedom if they would but hear him and obey. But they feared 
 him from the first, and would not listen. 
 
 Ah, was it any wonder! They realized too well that they 
 were Catholics, crushed for ages under the heel of brutal mas- 
 ters. Was it any wonder they turned a deaf ear to his entreat- 
 ies ? He was but an Irishman, a Catholic, like themselves, hold- 
 ing out to them the promise of a bright something which upon 
 this earth they no longer hoped to see. 
 
 They heard his bold expressions, and more than ever feared 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 133 
 
 for the only treasure left them. God: The last relic of their 
 nation's fadeless jDast, which tyranny never tarnished. The last 
 fragment of the ancient pride and greatness of imperial Ire- 
 land, their holy church. 
 
 "O, Christ of the winepress and, Golgotha," cried the 
 whipiDed and stricken Gael. "Put down this madman ere the 
 Saxon wolves shall with renewed and still more savage fury 
 turn upon us." So deeply had the iron of oppression entered 
 the Irish soul that they made no complaint to sacrifice every- 
 thing on earth, save God and virtue. 
 
 Their homes, the lands that were theirs since the dawn of 
 history, the products of the fields, and education, all such they 
 cared not for. 
 
 Yea, they would go, like cattle, dumb-driven, to the polls, 
 and vote against their own best interests, what matter? The 
 obligation to support an alien school, an alien minister, good 
 God. Think of that, in civilized Europe, and in the 18tli cen- 
 tury, did not seem cruel while the right was theirs to worship 
 Christ and honor His virgin mother even in nature's temple, 
 out on the lonely mountain, with their only friend through thick 
 and thin, their only father in woe and weak about them, their 
 Sogarth Aroon, poor and persecuted, oft ill-clad and hungry, 
 leading them on to the hills of eternal peace and freedom with 
 God in heaven. That was all they wanted now; all hope beside 
 was smothered in the Irish breast. 
 
 Said an eminent statesman who visited Ireland at the time, 
 ^'I have seen the Indian in his wigwam and the negro in his 
 chains; but the condition of the Irish peasant is worse than 
 that of the savage or the slave. ' ' O, death forever to the cruel 
 code, which starved and pauperized and did its diabolical best 
 to brutalize the millions of my race. 
 
 Yes; cursed eternally be the law which made it felony for 
 my sires to lift a hand or freely breathe God 's air. And shame, 
 everlasting shame, to the men who forced, in a single land and 
 generation, nearly 5,000,000 of their fellows into base illiteracy. 
 
 For less provocation did the Belgian bourgeoisie ignore 
 their union; for less provocation far did the phlegmatic Hol- 
 landers burst their dykes and let in the sea, and for less infinite- 
 ly did the rebels of America grapple with the lion of British tyr- 
 anny and win in the heraldry of nations an honored place for 
 our stars and stripes forever. 
 
 At the Sunday Mass the sogarth l)egan to whisper that in 
 foreign lands the name of a brave Irishman was meeting with 
 acclaim. 
 
 In all the courts of Europe, off in free America, in distant 
 
134 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 India and Anstralia, and parts elsewhere throngliout the globe, 
 millions mnltiplied were sounding the praises of O'Connell, and 
 speaking words of love and sjanpathy for his people. The civ- 
 ilized world was behind the emancipator and his cause. 
 
 The Irish peasantry awoke. They became convinced that 
 their fears had hitherto concealed the transcendent genius of 
 their valorous countryman, who, single-handed, braved the 
 wrath and defied the power of mighty England. They arose 
 and swore they would be free. They would follow their gallant 
 chieftan whithersoever he might lead them. 
 
 Then the liberator marshalled them about him, formed 
 them into one vast myriad phalanx that elicited for him the 
 admiration and plaudits of the civilized world. Throughout 
 the land from the center to the sea, he called together aristo- 
 crat and peasant, lay and cleric, priest and people. 'Twould be 
 the nation's final dash, jjerhaps, for freedom. He called it the 
 Catholic association. In it the country became a unit, and the 
 allegiance shown its chief was grander far in all respects than 
 ever was that of Saxon military to its king or Koman legion to 
 its Caesar. 
 
 A penny a month from every peasant and a pound from 
 each among the gentry brought millions to propagate the cause. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, consult the entire range of history, 
 and on no page thereof will you read where armies ever dis- 
 ciplined a nation as O'Connell disciplined Ireland, with no other 
 weapon than the cross and no code save the law of divine relig- 
 ion. We would gladly delineate the doctrine of O'Connell, even 
 in detail to do it justice, but the time is not at our disposal. 
 With the British constitution he, single handed, sought to make 
 that historic document that governed millions serve the inter- 
 ests of the millions, and not of Irish millions only, but of all the 
 millions scattered throughout the vast empire of Great Britain. 
 
 And the result ? Read the answer for yourselves. 'Tis the 
 history of 100 years told in all the lands that belt the globe. No 
 arms, no war, no misconduct of any kind," he said. 
 
 ''Honor the crown, respect the ministers, be obedient to 
 authority, act always within the limits of the law," and with 
 the millions of his countrymen would O'Connell form a tremen- 
 dous thunderbolt with which he'd shatter the omnipotence of 
 that age-old sinecure, which the present discij^le of O'Connell, 
 the gallant Redmond, is now dragging down to an inglorious 
 defeat, the British House of Lords. 
 
 And let me add right here, that the real enemy, the persist- 
 ent adversary of the civil and religions freedom of the Irish 
 people is today, and has been for centuries, the man who claims 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 135 
 
 to be clad in the Alniiglity's livery, and who sits, by virtue of 
 his office, a state bishop in that August assembly. 0, history, 
 what Christly charity is here. But 'tis the Sabbath, so, in gen- 
 uine charity, let's pass this chapter and proceed. 
 
 And lo! Look, looming in the distance, the first grand re- 
 sults of the liberator 's preaching. By the act of 1795, 40- shil- 
 ling men, generally day laborers, or at best small farmers, were 
 given the right of franchise. Clare was open. 
 
 Send me to parliament," said O'Connell. ''The liberator 
 for parliament," cried the Irish. "\Miat ? They who till now 
 had been prostrate and apparently forever slaves, depending on 
 the omnipotent landlord for their bread, their Jiomes, nay, their 
 very lives, they who for years had been driven to the polls like 
 cattle, and voted just as ordered; they claiming a representa- 
 tive in parliament, and he a Papist? Even so? Even so. 
 
 The time for the fulfillment of the olden prophecy that 
 emancipation would be won only when an Irish Catholic would 
 be sent to parliament had arrived. The liberator avowed he'd 
 stand for Clare. And the result ? 
 
 The fetters of landlordism, the Irish peasantry broke 
 asunder. The olden habit of servility they scorned, and man- 
 fully cast away, and then like God's own freemen, couae what 
 might, they elected O'Connell by a grand and unique majority. 
 Ireland was wild with exultation, and from every altar a sin- 
 cere thanksgiving hymn went soaring to the ear of God. 
 
 All earthly lands were looking on in admiration. Peel and 
 Wellington stood aghast. In all the years of struggle, O'Con- 
 nell had outpointed them at every parry. He fought them not 
 by night in the fastnesses of his Irish mountains, but in the open 
 day within easy hearing of king and parliament. They found 
 him an undaunted warrior with a warrior people at his beck. 
 
 Ere it is all too late, thought the man whom accident had 
 made the hero of Waterloo, justice must be shown these Irish. 
 Through them in no small part, was America lost to the British 
 crown forever. Through them were the hopes of England 
 crushed at Fontenoy. Through them the history of the world 
 was changed at "Waterloo. Their names are emblazoned high 
 on all victorious battlements of the earth, and if driven on by 
 tyranny to a last extreme, who knows but God what might en- 
 sue? 
 
 Wellington was right. The Iron Duke jiad clashed with 
 the mighty forces of old France, had measured swords and 
 crushed the hopes of Europe's foremost soldier. Napoleon Bon- 
 aparte. But Arthur looked for no erring Grouchy, he looked 
 for no blundering lieutenant here, the forces, their general, the 
 
136 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 battleground, the cause, all were different now. He knew the 
 history of the race with whom he dealt, and realized the tem- 
 perament of their leader. 
 
 He admitted, as did parliament, something must be done. 
 The inevitable had arrived. Qualified emancipation? No, no; 
 not qualified emancipation. That unrivaled galaxy of immortal 
 genius, the noble hearted Protestants, Burke and Curran, Grat- 
 tan and Plunkett, the best friends that Ireland ever had, were 
 too long mocked with the promise of this which never saw ful- 
 fillment. O'Connell spurned the offer. 
 
 Nothing short of unconditional religious freedom would 
 satisfy him and his Irish now. A bill for granting such was in- 
 troduced and passed. AVellington sought the signature of the 
 king, and Europe's crowned buffoon, George the Fourth, said 
 "No." On bended knee Duke Arthur begged his royal mas- 
 ter to sign the bill so necessary for the welfare of the realm. 
 George persisted. 
 
 "But, my liege, you must," cried Wellington. .The king 
 again said "No." 
 
 "For the peace of England and the safety of your sub- 
 jects, sign, I ask. ' ' The royal George said ' ' Never. ' ' 
 
 "Ah, you must; you must. Ireland is a unit, is on the verge 
 of war. Millions are they listening to s leader who has become 
 the idol of the nation. Yea, even the trusted soldiers of your 
 army cheer and follow him through the streets. Sign, my liege, 
 it can't be helped." 
 
 His royal highness seized the pen besmearing the docu- 
 ment with his filthy signature, and then burst into tears. Tears. 
 0, merciful Master! Thou who knowest infinitely well the 
 worth of every tear! What tears were here! What a picture 
 of repentance might religion claim foTcver if such tears were 
 only shed in sorrow for a sinful past. 
 
 "He did not weep," said a gifted oi-ator of that day, "when 
 he broke the heart of his poor wife, and declared her before the 
 world to be untrue. He did not weep ai the ruin of every form 
 of innocence that ever came before him, destroyed and polluted 
 by his unholy touch. 
 
 "He did not weep when he left Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 
 his own friend, to die of starvation in a London garret. No. 
 He had not tears to weep for the blaclr criminalities of a low, 
 lewd life. He had no heart to feel. He was never known to 
 weep in his life, save on the day that he was forced to sign the 
 bill which emancipated a stricken people, and then the bloated 
 voluptuary wept the devil's tears." 
 
 And so, on April 10, 1829, one of the most important meas- 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 137 
 
 ares that ever engaged the attention of an earthly parliament, 
 the liberty of Catholic conscience throaghout the empire, was 
 added forever to the civil statutes of Great Britain. Emanci- 
 pation for Catholic Ireland had been won. 'Twas the greatest 
 of O'Connell's bloodless triumphs in all his battling with an 
 empire — a victory that will remain forever th'i glory of his na- 
 tion, an example to all persecuted peoples, and a warning 
 henceforth to the governments of the world. 
 
 As an Irish Catholic, 'Council now claimed the right to 
 occupy a seat in the British parliament. He was refused. He'd 
 know the reason. Ah, the lonely graveyards of his age-whipped 
 country, the pathetic story of her blood -soaked soil for centur- 
 ies, might eloquently tell the reason. 
 
 Yet he contested his claim, and with success, not as a 
 Catholic, nor as an Irishman, but as an Irish Catholic subject 
 of the crown. 'Midst the hilarious shouts of the sea-divided 
 Gael, the liberator had wrested from the Saxon parliament an- 
 other victory. The British lords and commoners humbly ac- 
 knowledged O'Connell's claim. As a British subject would he 
 occupy a seat in ])roud St. Stephens; as an Irish Catholic would 
 he represent the constituency of Clare. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, in the foremost epics of the world, 
 poetic genius has immortalized scenes not a whit more valor- 
 ous than the conduct of the liberator on the day he entered par- 
 liament. 
 
 As a boy at school I learned of the valorous Greek Leon- 
 idas,who, with 300 men and the advantage of position, dared to 
 fight 10,000 at Thermopylae, but never was I told, save at my 
 mother's knee, of a weaponless young Irishman, with no ad- 
 vantage in his favor, braving, single-handed, all the millions of 
 an empire. 
 
 Gaze upon the picture for yourselves. There sat the 
 haughty speaker,willing to favor Ireland's liberator with every- 
 thing save respect. There were the imperious gouty lords who 
 despised O'Connell's nationality, and hated O'Connell's creed. 
 There, too, were the commoners of the realm, who frowned on 
 the mob orator of the Irish hills and lii,<:hways, whose presence, 
 they said, would soon cast odium upon the name of the British 
 house, all of them ready to greet him with hisses for hurrahs, 
 and jibes and jeers as their only sign of welcome to the new 
 member from rebel Ireland. 
 
 The speaker motioned O'Connell to advance, and requested 
 him to take the oath. The liberator hesitated, looked about 
 him for a moment. Full well he knew that in every man, per- 
 hai)s, of that vast assembly, Ireland and Catholicism could 
 
138 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 count an enemy, and himself not a single friend. Was lie abont 
 to deal a blow to Ireland and her church that would mean to 
 both eternal death in the mind of every Englishman that day 
 present. He called on God to guide him. 
 
 Turning to the chief officer of the house, O'Connell asked 
 for a copy of the oath. Not a word. Not a murmur even among 
 the benches. Every eye was riveted fast upon him. For some 
 moments he perused the document, then, looking the speaker 
 full straight in the eye, O'Connell virtually told him that as an 
 Irish Catholic, not all the bayonets' of the British Army would 
 make him take that oath. 
 
 Drawing himself erect and glaring back defiance at that 
 most bigoted of assemblies, he said: "That portion of this oath 
 which states that the sacrifices of the Mass, the invocation of 
 the blessed virgin Mary and her saints, as practised in the 
 church of Eome, are impious and idolatrous, is false." And as 
 such, though he were refused a seat in parlaiment forever, he 
 would not take such an oath. 
 
 What! An alien and a Papist express himself like this, 
 and of words that were as dear to every Saxon present as his 
 mother's grave! Even so. "I will not take this oath," O'Con- 
 nell said, " 'Tis false." 
 
 God bless the Englishmen who heard the liberator's words 
 that day. To a man, they rose and cheered hhn as he left the 
 house. 
 
 "He's a man," they said, "a hero, who represents the val- 
 or of a race; a soldier, the incarnation of his people; a warrior, 
 whom oppression cannot down." 
 
 O'Connell sought a re-election, was returned a second time 
 for Clare. The government wisely took the hint, and to avoid 
 further friction and perhaps of a far more fatal nature,set out 
 at once to correct the libelous portion of the oath. 
 
 O'Connell kept his word. He would not take that oath, he 
 said, and he never did, as originally written, till the insulting 
 features of it were erased clear and clean and forever from the 
 statutes of Great Britain. 
 
 And now begins the most brilliant portion of our story. 
 'Tis the story of a life, which, everything considered, from a hu- 
 man point of view, was perhaps the most pathetic life that man 
 had ever lived. 'Tis a period of something less than 20 years of 
 individual effort, yet such an epoch in tJie history of events that 
 to treat it rightly is worthy of an effort mightier for than any 
 of which I am capable, and would require much more time than 
 you could afford tonight. 
 
 Face to face with the triumphant emancipator of his race, we 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 13 9 
 
 stand once more to watch liim now in his nnrivalecl agitation 
 for repeal. 'Tis a story long and glorious, as it is lonely and 
 disheartening to every Irishman. Let us touch upon it 
 briefly. 
 
 At an age when most men begin to look for quiet and re- 
 tirement, O'Connell undertook the mightiest mission of his life. 
 At 54, with all the buoyancy of seeming youth, and in full pos- 
 session of such gifts that no statesman of his day or since has 
 equaled, he began his famous struggl? for repeal. Eepeal of 
 the union had been his great ambition since that memorable 
 night, back in College green, when he 'oeheld craven statesmen 
 barter away for Saxon favor the hopes and independence of his 
 country. 
 
 He was then a youth unknown, scorned as an Irishman, 
 persecuted as a papist, but now a man full grown — the foremost 
 subject of the realm — an emancipated Catholic with a seat in 
 the British parliament and enjoying a name that was on the 
 lips of men in well nigh every hamlet in the world. From the 
 mob orator, whose words and manners would disgrace the Brit- 
 ish house, he became the first orator of his age, the banner 
 statesman of the empire, the parliamentarian par excellence 
 among the states of Europe. 
 
 His maiden effort before the British housa was pronounced 
 a masterpiece worthy to live as long as the tongue in which ty- 
 ranny had forced him that day to speak. Blessed by nature 
 with the brow of a Jupiter, the stature of an Apollo, and a voice 
 like the thundering Tlior, deep, resonant, and unrivaled sweet- 
 ness that rose with an easy and melodious swell, he swayed at 
 will beyond the telling, all the passions of a multitude. 
 
 O'Connell aped no great orator of any parliament. True, 
 he possessed not the finished philosophical mind of his gifted 
 countryman, Edmund Burke, nor claimed he the charming dic- 
 tion of Lord McCaullay, but in each, when necessity demanded, 
 O'Connell outshone them both. No man of his generation could 
 reason more powerfully, nor state a case more clearly. 
 
 His logic was perfection; his language simple, often vigor- 
 ous, always unadorned, yet pleasing ever; while the power of 
 declination, never overdone, was so wonderful in the man that 
 to describe it, even severest critics say, would be a failure. 
 
 Even our own silver-tongiied American, Wendell Phillips, 
 who had heard all the great orators of his time, among them 
 Webster, Calhoun and Clay, went into ecstasy over O'Connell's 
 oratory, and made him the peer of the Eoman Cicero. A fa- 
 mous character, who could not tolerate even the presence of an 
 Irishman, heard the liberator once, and exclaimed in rapture: 
 
140 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 ''I have heard the orator of the age. That is the man and those 
 are the lips that speak English the best in my day." 
 
 And this, friends, was the man whom the legislative gen- 
 tlemen of St. Stephens feared wonld mar the dignity and high 
 standing of their respected honse. The man whose life deeds 
 for 20 years tell the wonderful gtory of ' ' Eepeal. ' ' Ah, but they 
 had to hear him only once, and how altogether taken back they 
 were. They marveled at the wonderful power and trans]Darent 
 workings of his mind. Spellbound they watched him wield the 
 chisel of his genius with all the grace and ease of a master hew- 
 ing his thoughts into images of sublime aud colossal grandeur. 
 But if so gifted, why have we so few of O'Connell's speeches? 
 Because bigoted men would not report him. When he arose, 
 the incarnation of the Irish soul, a man full of fury to open the 
 flaming battery of his scorn, invective and vituperation upon 
 some member who had assailed his cause, his religion or his 
 people, they listened but would not write, and though they did, 
 the British journals would not print O'Connell's efforts. 
 
 And so his speeches that would now stand out among the 
 finest specimens in forensic oratory, masterpieces of parliamen- 
 tary eloquence, have been lost to literature forever. Not as a 
 parliamentarian, however, not as a statesman, nor as an orator, 
 but as a leader of a people in their mighty fight for civil and re- 
 ligious freedom will O'Connell live and be remembered during 
 all the future ages of humanity. 
 
 * ' The greatest leader that the world has ever known, ' ' was 
 the magnificent eulogium of O'Connell by that eminent states- 
 man, the English Gladstone. ''The greatest leader that the 
 world has ever known," words spoken before the British par- 
 liament, of the immortal agitator, as Gladstone yet recalled him 
 standing on the very pinnacle of his glory, when nations world- 
 wide styled him the great King Dan of Ireland. 
 
 Though in ^^ears grown old, a man past 68, he still retained 
 all the vigor of mind and displayed all the physical strength 
 that he possessed as a man of 40. He stood in the foremost 
 rank of statesmen, a power dreaded and detested with the wliigs 
 of England in one hand, the tories in the other, making and 
 breaking ministries as a parliamentary pastime. For the first 
 time in 200 years that any Catholic held the office, he had just 
 been made lord mayor of Dublin, 
 
 In city after city throughout the island, the Irish flocked 
 in countless thousands to salute and hear their chieftan. Con- 
 temperaneous with these monster gatherings for repeal, another 
 movement, the most stupendous morai revolution in the his- 
 tory of the world, was taking place. 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 141 
 
 The vast assemblies who listened iu wild enthnsiasm to the 
 liberator responded equally to the bnrning appeal of an elo- 
 qnent friar, the immortal advocate of temperance, Fr. Mathew. 
 Marching- behind O'Connell and repeal. Irish millions prondly 
 held aloft as the nation's badge, the banner of total abstinence. 
 At last the climax came, 'twas lady day in Angnst, '-tS^ 
 and the place imiDerial Tara. It was the crowning day, and 
 alas for the hopes of Ireland, the conclnding trimnph of the 
 liberator's life. Celebrated victories had O'Connell won be- 
 fore, victories in the conrts, victories in the senate, bnt never 
 was there victory to compare with this. 
 
 Picture him as best you can, the great King Dan of Ire- 
 land, standing on the summit of Eoyal Tara and before him one 
 vast human ocean, 800,000 of the flower of his nation's man- 
 hood, for an audience. 
 
 England deigned to grace the occasion in her usual way; 
 40,000 redcoats were on hand to quell the unruly Irish. Had she 
 sent one redcoat only, history tells us now, one redcoat would 
 have been sufficient. There was no disorder. Ah! But there 
 might have been. 
 
 O'Connell had but to raise a finger to resent this latest in- 
 sult, and that day would have marked the beginning of a long 
 and horrid war that England might have rued forever. To 
 goad them on, he need but remind them of the memorable hill 
 on which they stood — Tara. 0, what a flood of ancient memor- 
 ies, what a storm of national sentiment would not the mention 
 of that hill awaken in the minds and hearts of that vast human 
 ocean. Tara, that old assembly place, where met Milesian 
 chiefs with their unbeaten clans of imperial Erin. 
 
 Eomautic Tara, where sang the bai'ds. Royal Tara, where 
 live the kings. Catholic Tara, Avliere the apostle of the nation, 
 Patrick, 1600 years before, with the weapon of the cross, had 
 stormed the citadel of paganism and won over to the religion 
 of the crucified the Irish race forever. 
 
 Immortal Tara, with its checkered story of -tOOO years. O 
 what harm national sentiment could have worked that day, 
 what havoc O'Connell could have wrought on that occasion 
 among those countless thousands of repealers. 
 
 But no, they held their peace and looked toward Clontarf, 
 where the last great meeting would be held. There was meth- 
 od in O'Connell 's movements. ''Tara and the kings, Clontarf 
 and the Danes." There were volumes, countless volumes, in 
 those words. 
 
 But 'Connell and his followers never met on that historic 
 field. Parliament would not have it; England was afraid. The 
 
142 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 outcome of Ireland's struggle for repeal as yet remains uncer- 
 tain. Competent hands, however, laid the foundation long ago, 
 and with perfect finish. 
 
 Perhaps even now, despite strike and strife and religious 
 hatred, despite the rancor of Ulster Orangemen and the atti- 
 tude of unfriendly lords, even now, under the honest and great- 
 hearted George V, the second crowned head in seven centuries 
 kindly disposed toward Ireland, and with the aid of the Asquith 
 government, will O'Connell's gorgeous edifice to Ireland be 
 completed. However, let the outcome be as it may, one thing 
 at least is certain, the magnitude and the grandeur which the 
 liberator threw into his colossal agitation for repeal will make 
 it conspicuous in history forever. 
 
 Next came the monster trial in which the gray-haired 
 chief tan was charged with the crime of treason. For well nigh 
 50 years England had tried to shatter the ambition of O'Con- 
 nell. To defeat him legislative opposition had proved fruitless. 
 'Twas his boast, and he kept his word, he'd drive a coach and 
 four through any act of the British parliament. 
 
 Even Destere with his pistol and Orangemen with his 
 poison, had not succeeded. Parliament had broken his purse, 
 but never his hopes, by foul injustice. And now came the foul- 
 est, the crudest and most cowardly aci: of all. 
 
 Into their courts of so-called justice they dragged a cham- 
 pion of British liberty and charged him, an aged man, with the 
 crime of treason. Oh, Lord. Infinitely knowing and all just, 
 what a charge was here. A man who l3ut a few days ])revious 
 had bowed in meek submission before a shameful legislation, a 
 man who might have marshaled his Irish millions upon that old 
 historic battlefield, where their ancestors in ages past had met 
 the Danes and driven them into the nearby sea; a man who, 
 maddened by tyranny to the last, might have met his country- 
 ment at Clontarf and inflamed their passions to unprecedented 
 fury, telling them that the intolerable pressure of hopeless 
 wrong was upon the nation; and then displaying all the povrer 
 of his electric eloquence, might have staggered humanity with 
 the command: "Century-long ill-treated countryment, dis- 
 perse, kill, burn, destroy every vestige of civilization in your 
 land; leave the entire island black and desolate; then, with no 
 country left you, no hope, no home, and life itself a weary bur- 
 den, turn for vengeance upon the age-long enemies of your 
 creed and race, and wreck their blasted empire. ' ' 
 
 But no. Till now he had bravely suffered every phase and 
 form of wrong, cruelty, injustice, oppression from the stranger, 
 ingratitude, insult and calumny from his own. One only ill re- 
 
REV. MICHAEL J. McKENNA 143 
 
 mained that lie might suffer for his country — imprisonmeut — 
 and O'Connell went to jail for Ireland. 
 
 The English House of Lords regretted the shameful action 
 of the courts, and after three months' detention, nuUitied the 
 sentence. The liberator came forth exonerated, but not the 
 dashing, valorous Dan of old. , Notwithstanding he was still ac- 
 knowledged the leader, more than ever the idol of the people. 
 As if by miracle, he became of a sudden young again, strong, 
 earnest, the vigorous man of old. As a victorious revolutionist 
 who had changed the destiny of a people without blood or 
 crime, he had thus far led his nation out of the house of religi- 
 ous bondage, ^had led them on through all the perils of the 
 stormiest sea of civil strife that the world has even known ; and 
 now, reanimated with the hope that conies of God, and which 
 bears with it success, as the heaven-appointed Moses of the 
 Irish, the liberator of Ireland's faith set out with his people 
 toward the promised land of civil freedom. 
 
 He stood on the topmost crest of hope's high mountain. 
 With confidence in God, he'd make one final eifort to obtain 
 the nation's long-sought boon, civil freedom. He looked below, 
 and to his discouragement and disgust, beheld the people in the 
 valley committing their old-time sin, disunion. 0, that olden 
 fault that has been so fatal ever to the Jiopes of Ireland and the 
 happiness of Irishmen. 
 
 Eebel captains had risen up in opposition to the peaceful 
 plan and methods of the aged chief tan. The gentry wanted 
 war; the peasantry to a man cried no, and adhered strictly to 
 the principles of the liberator as the only means of success for 
 Ireland. The olden tale of centuries l7"»ld once more anew — 
 dissension, division, disunion, defeat — decripit now, dispirited 
 and broken in his hopes, the old, unbeaten hero resigned his 
 commission as leader of the fight. 
 
 Meagher was as brave a soldier as ever drew a sword or 
 donned a uniform; Davis as true a bard as ever touched the hTe 
 to tune a nation's songs; Duffy was a patriot, McGee a scholar, 
 but in their opposition to O'Connell, young Ireland did their 
 country a cruel and lasting wrong. Tonight history writes their 
 names as the leaders of a lost and fatal cause. 
 
 The good chieftan was weary and alone. His personal 
 struggle for repeal was over. His life as a man in public ended. 
 Never again would he appear in the British arena as the un- 
 lieaten warrior of his people to battle for their freedom; no 
 more, save once, would he face his olden adversaries upon that 
 historic floor. Not as the religious or political gladiator, facing 
 the British lion in his fight for Go(i and countrv, but as a men- 
 
144 THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION PERIOD 
 
 dicant, yes, as such, his country's beggar, asking ahns of Al- 
 bion — which brings up to the final point of our evening's story, 
 that awful famine which laid Irekmd desolate, almost a univer- 
 sal wake, in '-17. 
 
 Old, haggard, pale, emaciated, the broken tribune stood 
 before the house, but a picture of his former self. A faint smile 
 crossed his face as he referred in a feeble voice to the memor 
 able scenes of other days. Parliament wept; even coursing 
 down the cheeks of those who were once his inveterate enemies 
 might be seen that day the manly tear of grief and pity. 
 
 Ah ! They need not fear him now He was the great '- 
 Connell no more. In tones scarcely audible he spoke of the 
 valor and the magnanimity of his people. He spoke of Trafal- 
 gar and Badajoes, told them how Irish courage and Irish prow- 
 ess had stayed the mad ambition of Napoleon to wreck the em- 
 pire, once by land and again by sea. "They fought and won 
 the battles of your empire, sirs. Now, famine is upon them. 
 Millions are they starving; yes, countless thousands of my peo- 
 ple clamoring for bread, are dying in the ditches. ' ' With tears 
 streaming from his eyes, he begged rich England to he]]) poor 
 Ireland in her awful hunger. — The Catholic Messenger, Worces- 
 ter, Mass. 
 
John F. O'Connor 
 
 John Francis O'Connor is a native of Worcester, 
 Mass., son of John J. O'Connor and Johanna (Daly) 
 O'Connor. He was educated in the Worcester piibhc 
 schools, graduating from the Classical High School in 
 1879. He graduated from Holy Cross College in 1882. 
 He was then appointed diocesan student to the College 
 of the Propaganda in Rome, Italy, by the late Bishop 
 O'Reilly. In 1884, he received the degree of A. M. 
 from Holy Cross College. 
 
 Mr. 'Connor served as representative in the Mas- 
 sachusetts Legislature during the years 1885, 1886, and 
 1887, and while a member introduced the bill which 
 provided for the establishment of evening high schools 
 in Massachusetts. Mr. O'Connor was admitted to the 
 Massachusetts Bar in 1888. He served for six years as 
 a member of the Board of the Directors of the Worces- 
 ter Public Library. During the years 1890, 1891, 1892, 
 he was principal of the High School in Blackstone, 
 Mass. In 1898, the year of the Spanish War, he was 
 chosen by Post 10, G. A. R., to deliver the Memorial 
 Day address at the soldiers monument upon the com- 
 mon. He has been a teacher of English literature in 
 the Worcester English High School since its opening 
 in September, 1892. 
 
^^■i-^-'Z^-i-f''X-' « 
 
iHift iFamto tn IBm 
 
 1846 — 1870 
 BY 
 
 JOHN F. O'CONNOR 
 
 A famous French author avows his preference for absohit- 
 ism under certain circumstances, declaring it better to be ruled 
 by one lion at a distance than by a pack of wolves at your door. 
 The illustration is defective, inasmuch as it overlooks the hun- 
 gry jackals that always attend the footsteps of such "lions;" 
 yet, borrowing the figure, we deliberately affirm that the people 
 of Ireland would have more to rejoice at than regret, were the 
 most rigid despotism of the Orient substituted tomorrow for the 
 monstrous mockery of "Constitutionalism" under which they 
 are now strangled. A bold assertion to make; ridiculous, some 
 will call it; but its literal truth is capable of the clearest de- 
 monstration. For with the exception of a few measures, nota- 
 bly the Land Act of 1903, from its earliest act to its latest, Eng- 
 land's legislation for Ireland, has been what the Abolitionists 
 with stinging brevity described negro slavery to be — "the sum 
 of all villanies. ' ' Let me give a few quotations from pens which 
 can scarcely be accused of any blind partiality toward Ireland: 
 
 "The uniform policy of England has been to deprive Ire- 
 land of the use of her own resources, and make her subservient 
 to the interests and the opulance of the English people. ' ' — Wil- 
 liam Pitt. 
 
 "Ireland has been uniformly plundered and oppressed." — ■ 
 Junius, 
 
 "This is not the slander of Junius nor the candor of Pitt; 
 it is history." — Chief Justice Bushe. 
 
 "A union was the only means of preventing Ireland becom- 
 ing too great and powerful." — Cooke. 
 
 "England first denied Irishmen the means of improve- 
 ment, and then insulted them with the imputation of barbar- 
 ism. ' ' — Paulding. 
 
146 THE FAMINE TO 187 
 
 ''The poor people in Ireland are vised ^orse than negroes 
 by their lords and masters. "^ — Lord Chesterfield. 
 
 ''What from the rapaeionsness of their unfeeling land- 
 lords, and the restrictions on their trade, the Irish are the most 
 wretched people on earth." — Lord Townshend. 
 
 "I must say from all accounts and from my own observa- 
 tion that the state of the Irish people in the parts I have named 
 is worse than that of any people in the world.' — General Gor- 
 don (1880). 
 
 ' ' The land of Ireland, like the land of every other country, 
 belongs to the people who inhabit it; and when the inhabitants 
 of a country quit it in tens of thousands because the govern- 
 ment does not leave them room to live in it, that government is 
 already judged and condemned. ' ' — John Stuart Mill. 
 
 "England has held for seven centuries to the lips of her 
 sister Ireland a poisoned chalice. Its ingredients were the 
 deepest contempt, the most unmeasured oppression, injustice 
 such as the world hardly saw before." — Wendell Phillips. 
 
 "Ireland is the most deplorable instance of modern his- 
 tory that a great and noble people may, for centuries altogeth- 
 er, be involved in the same injustice and infatuation, and all 
 the highly praised forms of the Constitution be paralyzed by 
 the force of passion and prejudice. Kings, Lords, and Com- 
 mons have, alternately or simultaneously, wronged Ireland." 
 — Von Eaumer. 
 
 "Before you refer the turbulence of the Irish to incurable 
 defects in their character, tell me if you have treated theui as 
 friends and as equals. Have you protected their commerce? 
 Have you respected their religion? Have you been as anxious 
 for their freedom as your own? Nothing of all this. What 
 then? Why, you have confiscated the territorial surface of the 
 country twice over; you have massacred and exported her in- 
 habitants; you have deprived four-fifths of them of every civil 
 privilege; you have made her commerce and manufactures slav- 
 ishly subordinate to your own. ' ' — Sydney Smith. 
 
 *"Tlie whole scheme of L^nion goes upon the false and abom- 
 inable presumption that we could legislate better for the Irish 
 than they could do for themselves — a principle founded upon 
 the most arrogant despotism and tyranny. There is not a more 
 clear axiom in the science of politics than that man is his own 
 natural governor, and that he ought to legislate for himself. 
 We ought not to presume to legislate for a nation in whose feel- 
 ings and affections, wants and interests, opinions and prejudic- 
 es^we have no sympathy." — Charles James Fox. 
 
 "The landlord may become a direct oppressor. He may 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 147 
 
 care nothing for the people, and have no object but to squeeze 
 the most that he can out of them. The Eussian government has 
 been called despotism tempered with assassination. In Ireland 
 landlordism was tempered by assassination. Ever}' circum- 
 stance combined in that country to exasperate the relations 
 between landlord and tenant. The landlords were, for the 
 most part, aliens in blood and in religion. They represented 
 conquest and confiscation, and they had gone on from genera- 
 tion to generation with an indifference for the welfare of the 
 people which would not have been tolerated in England or Scot- 
 land. ' ' — Froude. 
 
 ''The bujk of the Irish people are tenants, extremely poor, 
 living in the most sordid wretchedness, in! dirty hovels of mud 
 and straw, and clothed only in rags. Had I never been in the 
 American colonies, but were to form my judgment of civil so- 
 ciety by what I have lately seen, I should never advise a nation 
 of savages to admit of civilization, for I assure you that in the 
 possession and enjoyment of the various comforts of life, com- 
 pared to these people, every Indian is a gentleman, and the ef- 
 fect of this kind of civilization seems to be the depressing mul- 
 titudes below the savage state, that a few may be raised above 
 it." — Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 "When, therefore, we of Irish blood, declare England's mis- 
 rule of Ireland to be so unspeakably and atrociously cruel as to 
 be unparalleled in the world's history, we arraign England 
 only as she has been arraigned by the most eminent economists, 
 historians and statesmen of the world, including many of her 
 own distinguished sons. We are saying of her only what Bea- 
 consfield, Bright and Gladstone have said of her. In brief we 
 are arraigning her only as history arraigns her. We are simply 
 telling the truth. 
 
 I have thus far spoken only in a general way of England's 
 maltreatment of Ireland. Let me now be more specific. What 
 has been the general result to Ireland of the enforcd partner- 
 ship of 1801 — that is, of British imperialism? I can reply to 
 this question best by the test of comparison with other coun- 
 tries. W^ien the act of union was passed Ireland had one-half 
 the population of Great Britain, three-and-a-quarter times that 
 of Scotland, ten times that of Whales, and five times that of Lon- 
 don. Today her population is about one-eighth of that of Great 
 Britain, twenty thousand less than Scotland, two and a half 
 times that of Wales, and about two millions less than that of 
 greater London. 
 
 Going beyond the bounds of the United Kingdom, we find 
 a similar progress in population in all the small nations of Eu- 
 
148 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 rope, without a single exception. Holland, Belgium, Norway^ 
 Sweden, Switzerland, Bavaria, Portugal, Greece, have added 
 more than fifty per cent to their respective populations during 
 the last fifty years. While these small states have thus in- 
 creased their populations, through the guardian care of nation- 
 al liberty, Ireland, under the evil influence of an alien rule, has 
 lost a hundred per cent of her people. In this respect she stands 
 in a unique position among civilized lands, there being, in fact, 
 no parallel in the history of Christian nations for the steady 
 and deadly drain of population away from a country blessed 
 by nature with resources capable of sustaining three times the 
 present number of the inhabitants of Belgium. 
 
 This, however, is only half the indictment of the alien rule. 
 As a direct result of this fatal weakening of Ireland's vital en- 
 ergies, both the birth-rate and the marriage-rate of the country 
 are now near the lowest of any nation in Europe. There is, 
 likewise, an alarming increase of insanity among the diminish- 
 ing numbers; a fact also due to the emigration of the more vir- 
 ile of the people, leaving the physically impoverished behind to 
 carry on the racial functions of human development. As a 
 further comment upon all this decay and retrogression, a com- 
 bined national and local taxation, which amounted to a total of 
 $10,000,000 a year under an Irish parliament, with a population 
 equal to that of today, is now, as a result of a hundred years of 
 England's government, over $60,000,000 annually, an increase 
 of six hundred per cent. On the top of all this, there is the fact 
 that there is far more pauperism in the country today than 
 there was thirty years ago, when Ireland had two more millions 
 of people. Add to this the humiliating admission that her pop- 
 ulation is the worst educated in the British Isles, and we have 
 a brief summary of what Ireland owes to English rule. 
 
 What is the remedy? This question Michael Davitt thus 
 answers: ''There is no hope for Ireland under such govern- 
 ment — absolutely none — any more than there is for a person 
 into whose blood an insiduous poison has been infused and who 
 is denied the effective remedy which would counteract the dead- 
 ly fluid. We must, therefore, demand the remedy that can 
 alone save our country from national death. Nationhood, and 
 that only — the full, free, and unfettered right of our people to 
 rule and govern themselves in everything concerning the do- 
 mestic laws, peace, and welfare of Ireland — is what we must 
 demand and work for henceforth, if England's callous selfish- 
 ness is not to be allowed to carry out and to complete the ruin 
 it has already but consummated." 
 
 These clarion words of one of the greatest, noblest, and 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 149 
 
 most beloved of Ireland's patriotic sons, it is needless to say, 
 the entire Irish race enthusiastically endorses and passionately 
 applauds. For what Irishman or son of an Irishman is there 
 whose heart does not bleed when he reads these pathetic words 
 of Lady Wilde, so gTaphically descriptive of the present tragic 
 state of Ireland ? 
 
 ''Ireland rests, 'mid the rush of progression, 
 
 Like a frozen ship in a frozen sea. 
 And the changeless stillness of life's stagnation 
 
 Is worse than the wildest waves could be 
 
 Eending the rocks eternally." 
 
 ''When my country takes her place among the nations of 
 the earth, then and not until then let my epitaph be written!" 
 were the dying words of the martyred Eobert Emmet. Who of 
 Irish blood so base that he does not ardently hope and fervent- 
 ly pray that that epitaph shall one day be written? 
 
 I am to tell you tonight a story of man's inhumanity to man 
 so appalling that it seems incredible. For I am to tell you the 
 frightful story of Irish tenant-slavery and of Irish landlord 
 tyranny. Negro slavery was a terrible thing, but Irish tenant 
 slavery was a still more terrible thing. Xo tyranny that the 
 world has ever known surpassed in savagery the tyranny of Ir- 
 ish landlordism: If this seems to anyone the language of exag- 
 geration I ask him to suspend judgment until he hears my 
 story. If then he say that I have exaggerated, I will not only 
 recall my words, but will humbly apologize to him for having 
 transcended the langiiage of truth. 
 
 What is the explanation of this Satanic oppression, through- 
 out seven long centuries, of the Irish people? Xo fair-minded 
 person can reach any other conclusion than that what Mr. 
 Froude terms a mission of civilization was simple a colossal 
 scheme of spoliation and land-piracy. ''Eooting-out" is the 
 quaint and suggestive name which James the First's Attorney- 
 General gives it. The word briefly and happily expresses the 
 animus of British rule in Ireland for seven hundred years. 
 
 Xo doubt some will find it hard to believe that a professed- 
 ly Christian nation set to work deliberately and systematically 
 to extirpate the people of another. Xevertheless it is the liter- 
 al, naked truth. How to secure the spoiler and exterminate the 
 rightful occupant of the soil is the problem to which English 
 statesmen have bent their energies from the time of Henry 11 
 to the time of Edward VII. Tlie "rooting-out" process has 
 gone pitilessly on for centuries — at one time hastened by fire, 
 
150 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 sword, and gibbet, at another by the slower tortnre of savage 
 laws, again by the crushing pressure of artificial famine — but an 
 indestructible seed has always survived. Fix your gaze on any 
 intermediate date from 1172 to 1903: you may note differences 
 in the machinery employed, but the functions it performs are 
 forever the same. It may be Henry II 's edicts of outlawry and 
 cantonments, or the swords of bandit barons, or Henry VIII 's 
 grim statutes, or Elizabeth's pacification of fire and steel, or 
 the plantings of the Stuarts, or Cromwell's butcheries and 
 transportings, or the hellish malice of the penal code, or the 
 Hessian infamies of '98, or the famines, evictions, and coercion- 
 acts of Victoria; — amid them all there is one constant element: 
 the rooting-out process never halts or slacks. 
 
 Most assuredly, then, the British government has had one 
 fixed principle, one settled policy, in its treatment of Ireland; 
 and that is — the extermination of the Irish race. And never 
 did it more fiendishly pursue that policy than during the last 
 half of the nineteenth century, as the steadily dwindling popu- 
 lation of Ireland conclusively proves. The population of Ire- 
 land was in 1841 about 8,200,000. Today it is only 4,375,000. 
 It should be at least 16,000,000. These figures tell a story of op- 
 pression more brutal than any other recorded in the world 's an- 
 nals. 
 
 Alluding to the incontrovertible fact that Ireland 's popula- 
 tion has melted away at the rate of a million in every ten years 
 since 1847, Lady Wilde cries out: 
 
 A million a decade! What does it mean? 
 
 A nation dying of inner decay; 
 A churchyard's silence where life has been; 
 
 The base of the pyramid crumbling away; 
 A drift of men gone over the sea — 
 
 A drift of the dead where men should be! 
 
 Beholding the annual mournful exodus of the evicted Irish 
 tenants, the London Times, in May, 1858, indignantly ex- 
 claimed: ''For generations the proprietors of the land in Ire- 
 land have been Spartans among a helot peasantry — almost 
 planters among negro slaves." 
 
 I shall treat of that period of Irish history which we have 
 now reached under these topics: The Famine, the Young Ire- 
 land Insurrection, the Great Evictions and Depopulation, Brit- 
 ish Legislation, the Tenant Right League, and the Fenian In- 
 surrection. 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 151 
 
 THE FAMINE 
 
 In ancient and mediaval times, such famines as those which 
 occurred in the nineteenth century were unknown in Ireland. 
 Meat and fish, corn and vegetables, fruit and honey supplied 
 the rich. The mass of the people lived chiefly on porridge, or 
 stirabout, a wholesome food made from oatmeal, and usually 
 eaten with milk. The partial famines which arose during the 
 Danish wars were caused by the Danes themselves, who plun- 
 dered and spoiled and murdered, destroying the people as well 
 as their food ; and it was war also which caused the famine dur- 
 ing the invasion of Edward Bruce. 
 
 When Munster was desolated during the Desmond war 
 (1580-1583), and Ulster laid waste by Mountjoy in his cam- 
 ]5aigns against Tyrone, crops were intentionally destroyed, for 
 in each case the invader invoked the aid of hunger to subdue 
 his opponents. In a similar spirit, the Cromwellian soldiers 
 went forth with scythes and Bible, to cut down ripening Papist 
 corn lest the resistance of the Papist might be prolonged. And 
 the famines which desolated Ireland periodically from 1725 to 
 17-40, and with fearful consequences in the latter year, nearly a 
 fifth of the population being swept away, naturally resulted 
 from the movement to consolidate farms, involving, as it did, 
 the eviction of thousands of persons from their homes. 
 
 The famine of 1821-22 was caused by floods, which over 
 large areas destroyed the growing crops. The partial famines 
 of 1831, '35, '36, '37, and '42 were caused by evictions for rent. 
 In not one of all these famines, did the calamity arise from the 
 sudden and unexpected failure of a crop on which the people 
 mainly relied, and which had been sown in sufficient quantity 
 for their needs. 
 
 In 1845, the landlords were still as grasping, the laws as 
 unjust, the Government as unsympathetic, the skies as change- 
 able as of old. But in that year, for the first time in Ireland, 
 the potato was attacked by a mysterious disease, which, inde- 
 pendently of landlordism or law or cai^ricious climate, was suf- 
 ficient to precipitate a national calamity. 
 
 Up to the famine of 1740, oatmeal continued for the masses 
 to be the staple article of diet. But Sir Walter Raleigh, at the 
 end of the sixteenth century, had introduced the potato from 
 Virginia. It did not, however, become at once popular. It was 
 not sown extensively throughout the seventeenth century, and 
 even in the first quarter of the eighteenth century corn contin- 
 ued to supply food to the nation. But the evictions and conse- 
 quent famines of the second quarter of the eighteenth century 
 
15 2 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 • 
 
 effected a change. The miserable patches of land on which so 
 many of the people were now compelled to live, if planted with 
 corn, could not produce sufficient food for a family, and the 
 scanty and ill-paid labor of the occupiers would not enable them 
 effectually to supplement their food-supply. 
 
 But if potatoes were sown instead of com, hunger might be 
 kept from the poor man's door. Except rice, the potato is the 
 cheapest food for sustaining human life. The ordinary ])roduce 
 of an Irish acre will feed a family of eight for a year, while at 
 least two acres planted with corn would be required. The lat- 
 ter, too, was subject to tithes, but the potato was not. Under 
 these influences, it grew in favor, until in 1750 potato-culture 
 had so completely supplanted corn, that for nine months of the 
 year potatoes and milk were everywhere the food of the y>ooy. 
 The multiplication of J:Os. freeholds, following the Catholic Re- 
 lief Act of 1793, added enormously to the number of very small 
 tenants, and in consequence enormously increased the number 
 of those dependent on the potato; and when in 1845, their one 
 resource failed, millions were face to face with hunger. 
 
 The blight, as it came to be called, first showed itself in 
 Germany, then in Belgium, in 1842; after which it appeared in 
 Canada in 1844, and in the next year in Great Britain and Ire- 
 land. In' the latter country, it was first seen about the middle 
 of September in Wexford. Thence it marched with invisible 
 tread all over the land, poisoning the peasant's potato fields 
 with the fatal breath of the simoon. The stalks, till then green 
 and healthy and loaded with blossoms, crumpled and withered 
 beneath its touch ; the leaves looked as if acid had been sprink- 
 led upon them; the burned spots grew larger until leaves and 
 stalks were decayed; and the fields, lately vigorous with vege- 
 table life, became a putrid mass of vegetable matter. When 
 the potatoes were dug up, it was found that the fatal disease 
 had penetrated beneath the soil and that a large part of the 
 crop was rotten. AVorse than all, when the sound potatoes, 
 having been separated from the unsound ones, were deposited 
 in the pits and the pits after a time opened, it was seen that 
 the blight had entered, and laying its awful hand on the sound 
 potatoes, had rendered them unfit for human food. The ])eas- 
 ant, with blanched face, saw his food thus disappear, and as he 
 looked at his children, shivering with fear at what they saw, 
 and as he thought of the many months before him during which 
 the potato was his and their only resource, he was filled with 
 terror and dismay. 
 
 The extent of the damage varied according to the district. 
 In some districts the potatoes were all but com])letely de- 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 153 
 
 stroyed, in others but little affected; but taking the country as 
 a whole, it was calculated that at least one-half of the crop was 
 ruined, a loss which equalled $-15,000,000. 
 
 By 1846, the threatened famine in Ireland had become an 
 awful reality. In Clare, many people were starving; near Lim- 
 erick, not even a rotton potato was left; in Kilkenny, three- 
 fourths of the inhabitants had not three days' provisions; and 
 ^11 this as early as April. In May, there was not a potato with- 
 in twenty miles of Clonmel; provisions had reached famine 
 prices; and in Galway, potatoes were selling at six-pence a 
 stone, and even half of those sold were unfit for food. By the 
 month of June, 51,000 were in the workhouses; and before that 
 <iate, there had been deaths from starvation in Limerick and 
 in Newry. 
 
 Far worse than this followed. During the spring, the j'soor 
 people had made heroic efforts to obtain seed potatoes. They 
 pinched and saved and stinted themselves; they sold their corn 
 and stock, and even their bedclothes; and often the dress which 
 on Sunday had excited the admiration of her friends and the 
 ■«nvy of her female rivals, was deposited at the ])awn-sho]:> by 
 the rustic beauty, with quivering lips and tearful eyes. The 
 seed obtained with such difficulty and with such sacrifice was 
 'duly sown, and up to the end of July all promised well. But 
 again the blight fell, and tlie potato crop all over the land be- 
 came its victims. Not half the crop, as in 1815, but the whole 
 crop was thus suddenly blotted out of existence. Gazing at his 
 rotting potato fields, the afflicted peasant bowed his head in an- 
 guish and looked to the future without hope. It would be a 
 low estimate to put the loss at $100,000,000, and it has been put 
 at twice that amount — a calamity to which even the chequered 
 history of Ireland was unable to furnish a parallel. 
 
 Women and children, half-naked and perishing with cold, 
 swarmed over the turnip fields, devouring the turnips raw, 
 while the little children looked on screaming with hunger. 
 Starving and menacing crowds paraded the streets demanding 
 work and food; deaths from starvation began and continued; 
 the clergy and dispensary doctors were worn out attending the 
 sick and dying; coroners' inquests became frequent with "died 
 from starvation" as their verdicts; and Mitchel calculates that 
 in 1816 "not less than 300,000 perished either of mere hunger 
 or of typhus fever caused l)y hunger. ' ' 
 
 The year of 1816 thus closed in darkness and gloom, but in 
 the new vear the a'loom deepened and the horrors were greater 
 still. 
 
 The famine still marched in triumph over the land, and ev- 
 
154 THE FAMINE TO 1S70 
 
 ery clay fresh victims were offered up to satisfy its insatiable 
 demands. Peo]>le died in the cities and in the towns, even in 
 Dublin and Belfast and Cork and Limerick, as well as in the 
 country districts; they died in the fiekls, they died at the pub- 
 lic works and on the way to the Government depots for food; 
 they died at the workhouse door vainly seeking for admission; 
 they died in the workhouses themselves, where fever and dysen- 
 tery, following- on famine, did what famine was unable to do. 
 In (Jork Workhouse, forty-five died in a single day; in the South 
 Dublin Union, 700 were down with dysentery; in Westport 
 Union, of thirty-three annointed in one day by the priest, only 
 three were living on the following day. 
 
 Weakened with hunger or sick with fever or dysentery, 
 they lay down in their cabins, without a bed to lie on, without 
 food or fire, often without clothes. In one house, seventeen 
 persons were found lying together in fever. A young man was 
 found lying in fever by the side of his brother, dead for three 
 days, and of his sister, dead for five days. A mother putting 
 her five children to bed at night found some of them dead with 
 hunger in the morning; and often, when all but one of a family 
 had died, the survivor barred up the doors and windows of his 
 little cabin to kee]3 out the dogs and pigs, and then lay down 
 dying amidst the dead. Car-drivers passing along saw corpses 
 on the road and often drove over corpses at night. A father 
 and son dying of hunger, the survivors of the family, unable 
 to buy a candle, kept up a light during the night by pulling tlie 
 thatch off' the house and setting it on fire. Funerals ceased to 
 be attended. The afflicted father brought the dead bodies of 
 his children to the graveyard alone; corpses were often tied up 
 in straw and thus buried, or were not buried at all and were 
 eaten by rats and dogs; coffins became a luxury, and in Skib- 
 bereen and elsewhere hinged coffins were used, one body after 
 another being brought to the grave in the same coffin. Coron- 
 ers were unequal to the task of holding so many inquests, and 
 often when inquests were held, the jury, enraged at what they 
 saw, brought in a verdict of wilful murder against Lord John 
 Eussell, the then prime minister of England. 
 
 Thousands of others died in their homes or on the roads 
 and not only of fever but also of dysentery, dropsy and small- 
 pox; and Mitchel's estimate is that in 1847 half a million died 
 of famine and disease. 
 
 To foreign countries and the Colonies there had been from 
 1831 to 1841 a continuous stream of emigration, a yearly aver- 
 age of 43,000; the numbers increased in the years that followed, 
 until, in 1846, 106,000 left Ireland for foreign countries, besides. 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 155 
 
 278,000 landed at Liverpool. But in 1847, all previous records 
 were beaten. The crowds whom eviction and the Poor Law had 
 made homeless, being unable to pay the passage across the At- 
 lantic, crossed to England, All were poor, some nnable to work, 
 many already in fever; and while the English workmen dis- 
 liked to have the English labor market thus flooded by Irish 
 exiles, the English ratepayers disliked having so many thrown 
 on the rates and so many in the hospitals and elsewhere to 
 spread disease. The Government took alarm, and an Order in 
 Council was issued imposing stringent quarantine regulations; 
 shipping companies were also induced to raise the rates for 
 deck passages ;*and these measures all but closed Great Britain 
 to Irish emigrants. 
 
 Scraping together the little money they could gather, or 
 helped by the landlords, who were delighted to get rid of them, 
 thousands then turned their faces to the setting sun, and everj^ 
 vessel which left Ireland for Canada and. the United States was 
 filled with Irish, fleeing from famine and disease. Once em- 
 barked fresh horrors were in store for them. The vessels were 
 crowded, the ventilation defective, the food scant and un- 
 healthy, the water impure, medical attendance wanting; and 
 soon, generated by unsanitary conditions or perhaps carried on 
 board by some passenger, fever broke out, and the ships be- 
 came so many charnel-houses. Of 493 who sailed on the Erin 
 Queen, 136 died on the voyage; on the Avon, 246 out of 552; on 
 the Virginia, 267 out of 476; and on another vessel not named, 
 out of 600 only 100 survived. And when the survivors landed 
 on American soil they landed only to die. Along the banks of 
 the St. Lawrence were to be found "one unbroken chain of 
 graves where repose father and mother, sisters and brothers^ 
 in a commingled heap, no stone marking the spot." 
 
 In 1848, there was only a partial failure of the potato crop. 
 But for many this availed little. Thousands, being barred 
 from relief if they held more than a rood of land, voluntarily 
 surrendered their farms. Many thousands more were ruthlessly 
 evicted by their landlords. Such was the etfect of these co- 
 operating causes, that within one year 70,000 occupiers with 
 their families, that is 500,000 persons, were rooted out of the 
 land. What the landlords wished was to consolidate farms, and 
 while the number of holdings under thirty acres were thus di- 
 minished, thosei over thirty acres were increased. These land- 
 less and hopeless men, seeking admission to the workhouses, 
 found them full. Wandering aimlessly about, they were im- 
 prisoned under the Vagrancy Act.- Stricken with fever, they 
 found the fever hospitals choked with patients to such an ex- 
 
156 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 tent that in 1847 alone 156,000 patients were admitted to the 
 fever hospitals. 
 
 In the midst of sncli horrors, the living began to envy the 
 dead, for the dead had ceased to suffer while the living had 
 their sufferings still to go through. Many lived on cabbage and 
 a little meal; others on cabbage and seaweed; in Mayo men 
 lived on turnips, and some on ass and horse flesh, even when 
 diseased ; others on grass and turf, and in one case a woman ate 
 her dead child. Men worked on the roads without shoes, wo- 
 men were almost naked, children with nothing to cover them 
 but an old shirt and ragged waistcoat; and this while the blasts 
 of winter blew. On his journey to Donegal, Mr. Foster noted 
 that pigs and poultry had disappeared; the dogs had been 
 killed; the people had a sickly livid color; the children had 
 ceased to play, and reduced to skeletons by hunger, they had 
 lost the freshness of youth, and were like weazened old men. 
 
 Some of the resident landlords were doing their best to re- 
 lieve suffering, but the absentees, with a callousness which it 
 would be luird to equal and impossible to surpass, remained 
 unmoved, and to the relief funds not one penny did they sub- 
 scribe. The law allowed them — and shame for Parliament that 
 it did — to seize for rent; and in the midst of hunger and horror, 
 bailiff's and agents supported by police, laid hands on every- 
 thing. They seized the people's sheep and cattle and oats, or 
 their scanty furniture, or the potatoes grown from seed given 
 in charity. They turned the people out-of-doors, levelled their 
 cabins or set them on fire, and sent their starving tenants adrift 
 without money or clothes, with the result that in the Barony of 
 Erris 6,000 died of famine in a single year. ''I have visited," 
 said Mr. Tuke, "the wasted remains of the once noble Red Man 
 on his reservation grounds in North America, and explored the 
 'Negro Quarter' of the degraded and enslaved Africans, but 
 never have I seen misery so intense, or physical degradation so 
 complete as among the dwellers in the bog holes of Erris." 
 
 In 1848 occurred the Young Ireland Insurrection, but as 1 
 intend to speak of this event more fully hereafter, I shall only 
 state here that it tragically failed, and that, as a result of it, all 
 the prominent nationalist leaders were either in prison or in 
 exile. 
 
 In 1849, the sufferings of Ireland were greater than in any 
 previous year except 1847. Within twelve months the landlords 
 dispossessed half a million of persons, and with such heartless- 
 ness and cruelty that except England, the whole world was hor- 
 rified. Fever added its victims; in this year cholera first ap- 
 peared, killing 36,000. The total deaths "from famine and dis- 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 15T 
 
 ease in tliis year reached 240,000. During all this time, the tide 
 of emigration continued to flow. In 1847, 215,000 emigrated 
 and almost the same number in 1818, '19, and '50. In 1851,, 
 when the famine was over, 257,000 left Ireland. In the latter 
 year, the population was brought down from 8,200,000 in 1811 
 to 6,500,000. According to official estimate, it should have been 
 9,000,000. Ireland had lost in ten years 2,500,000! A million 
 had emigrated! A million and a half had perished from famine 
 and fever! And O'Connell's prediction that a fourth of the 
 population would be lost was fulfilled! 
 
 Said John IMitchel : ' ' Now, that million and a half of men, 
 women, and children were carefully, prudently, and peacefully 
 slain by the English government. They died of hunger in the 
 midst of abundance which their own hands created. In 1817 
 alone, food to the value of $216,790,000 was grown in Ireland^ 
 according to the statistical returns for that year. For it was 
 only the potato crop that had failed. It is on record that some 
 of the food laden ships, speeding on their voyage of mercy to 
 the Irish shores passed on their way other ships laden with 
 Irish produce from the same shores to England, with the ex- 
 ported fruits of Irish toil and land, to be turned into rent for 
 the Irish landlords in the English market." 
 
 Says Michael Davitt: "There is probably no chapter in 
 the wide records of human suffering and wrong so full of shame 
 — measureless, unadulterated shame — as that which tells us of 
 a million and a half of people, lying down to die in a land out 
 of which forty-five millions' worth of food was being ex]iorted 
 in one year alone for rent, the product of their own toil, and 
 making no effort, combined or otherwise, to assert even the 
 animal's right of existence, the right to live by the necessities 
 of its nature. It stands unparalleled in human history, with 
 nothing approaching to it in the complete surrender of all the 
 ordinary attributes of manhood by almost a whole nation in the 
 face of an artificial famine. ' ' 
 
 Said Archbishop Hughes: "I fear there is blasphemy in 
 charging on the Almighty the result of human doings. The 
 famine in Ireland, like the cholera in India, has been for many 
 years indigenous. But in the present instance it has attracted 
 the attention of the world, and they call it God's famine. Yet 
 the soil has produced its usual tribute for the support of those 
 for whom it was cultivated. But political economy, finding Ire- 
 land too poor to buy the product of its own labor, exported 
 that harvest to a 'better market,' and let the people die of 
 famine or live by alms. 
 
 "Still the rights of life are dearer and higher than the 
 
158 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 rights of property. There is no law of Heaven, no law of na- 
 ture, that forbids a starving man to seize on bread wherever 
 he can find it even though it should be the loaves of propiti- 
 ation on the altar of God's temple. But I say to those who 
 maintain 'the inviolable rights of property,' if they would have 
 them respected, to be careful also and scrupulous in recogniz- 
 ing the rights of humanity. Let us be careful, then, not to blas- 
 j)heme Providence by calling this God's famine!" 
 
 Said Isaac Butt: ''Let any man tell me the difference be- 
 tween an expulsion of the whole population of the highland re- 
 gions of Glenveigh by a squadron of Cromwell's troopers in 
 1650 and an expulsion of its population in 1850 by the man who 
 has inherited or purchased Cromwell's patent. The very 'pomp 
 and circumstance' are the same. Military force ejects the peo- 
 IDle now as it would have done then. The bayonets of the sol- 
 diery drive now as they did then the old population from their 
 homes. Cruel men come now as they would have done then, 
 and, ami-d the wailing of women and the cries of children, level 
 the humble habitations that have given shelter to the simple 
 dwellers in that glen. What, I ask, is the difference? By what 
 mockery of all justice and truth can we call the one the act of 
 inhuman conquest, the other the legitimate exercise of the sa- 
 cred rights of property with which no one is to interfere F Where 
 is the difference to the evicted family? Where is the difference 
 to the mother that leads away her starving children from the 
 home where her toil had found them bread? What is a 'clear- 
 ance' such as this but the extermination of military conquest 
 l^ut in force under the forms of law? Let us consider the effect 
 of the evictions upon the evicted peoj^le. To what were they to 
 turn? The sentence that drives them from the land, to what 
 doom does it consign them? It is the deprivation of the means 
 of life. To them, it is the sentence of death ! 
 
 "Enough to say that if in those twenty years all the hor- 
 rors of a real and actual war of conquest — all the worst horrors 
 of a civil war and insurrection — had swept over Ireland, fewer 
 hearths had been desolated and fewer families been brought to 
 beggary and to ruin. An actual war would have brought with 
 it its compensations. Deeds of daring would have left some 
 memories to become traditions of the historic past. Deeds of 
 generosity and charity would have tempered even the atroci- 
 ties of fierce passion. Heroism and self-devotion would have 
 redeemed the crimes and the bloodshed of the battle-field. Dis- 
 ci]3line and self-denial would have purified and elevated the 
 character of a nation. Ireland has endured all that constitutes 
 the agony of the conflict and more, far more, than the degrada- 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 159 
 
 tion and misery of defeat. These are the things which ahnost 
 jnstify the reasoning- of those who argne that it were ])etter for 
 the peasantry of Ireland to risk all in one wild and mad insur- 
 rection than wait to be wasted away by the slow combustion of 
 suppressed civil war; that all the misery which even an unsuc- 
 cessful revolt could bring upon them were better and lighter 
 than these which a tame submission to the present svstem en- 
 tails." 
 
 Says Clancy: ^'It is a matter of conspicuous record that 
 Ireland lost more lives through the single agency of famine in 
 1846, '47, and '48, than America lost in the most desperate civil 
 war of history; or that Europe lost during all the wars of Na- 
 poleon ; but very few persons are aware that such visitations in 
 Ireland are not merely occasional, nor even periodic, but liter- 
 ally constant in greater or less degree, so that the people stand 
 perennially on the verge of starvation. In 1832, Bishop Doyle, 
 being asked what was the condition of the west of Ireland, re- 
 plied: '' People are starving there as usual." In 1835 a royal 
 commission estimated at three millions the number annually 
 liable to suffer in Ireland from sheer hunger. Of every subse- 
 quent year, down to the present, substantially similar testimony 
 has been given by unimpeachable witnesses. 
 
 English politicians and publicists have elaborated two in- 
 genious theories to account for this unnatural condition. One 
 party holds that it is due to ''surplus population," while the 
 other shifts the blame to "a special visitation of Providence." 
 The latter explanation is blasphemous, as both are false. Sir 
 Eobert Kane has proven, beyond all chance of doubt or cavil, 
 that the natural resources of the island are easily capable of 
 supporting twenty million human beings in comfort. Other 
 competent judges, including De Beaumont and Alison, place 
 the figure far higher. Hence the theory of "surplus popula- 
 tion" is mere cant and rubbish. 
 
 In the next place, when English writers have the audacity 
 to affirm that the famine of 1847 (or of any other year) was 
 ''providential," they try to make the Almighty a scajDegoat for 
 what was positively and directly the crime of England. In ev- 
 ery other country, Perraud well observes, the word "famine" 
 means absolute want of the necessaries of life; but in Ireland 
 it signifies that when the cultivator has sold his corn and cattle 
 to pay rents and taxes, then, should the potato-crop fail, he 
 finds himself suddenly reduced to a fare of wild herbs and 
 grass, which do not long ward oif the famine fever. In other 
 lands self-preservation is the first law of nature. In Ireland 
 there is a special law: First, and above all things, pay your 
 
160 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 rent, your cess, your rates, your taxes; if anything remain, live 
 on't; if nothing remain, lie down and rot! 
 
 Thus it was that with a teeming abundance of food around 
 them — product of Nature's bounty and their own sweat — whole 
 armies of the Irish race perished of starvation in the ''glorious 
 reign" of Victoria. How many more hundred thousands would 
 have perished, but for the generous charity of other lands, it 
 is impossible to conjecture. The people of America, of France, 
 the Pope, the Czar, the Sultan, the distant "despots" of Asia 
 and Africa, the very negro slaves — all combined to do for Ire- 
 land what her ''constitutional" rulers refused to do, namely, to 
 keep her people alive. 
 
 "YOUNG lEELAND" 
 
 O'Connell founded the Repeal Association in 1840. But 
 for a long time the Association made no progress. O'Connell 
 spoke as a great orator and a great Irishman, but he spoke to a 
 nation that would not heed and that was reluctant even to lis- 
 ten. On every side there was doubt, hesitation, apathy, and in- 
 difference. Yet this wonderful old man of sixty-six did not de- 
 spair in the midst of so much depression and gloom. Patiently, 
 perseveringly, and with grim tenacity, he continued his efforts. 
 
 At last his patience was rewarded. In the autumn of 1842 
 three remarkable young men joined the Repeal Association and 
 often attended its sparsely-attended meetings. These were 
 Thomas Osborne Davis, John Blake Dillon and Charles Gavan 
 Duffy. Davis and Dillon were barristers, but with little prac- 
 tice. Duffy had been assistant editor of a Dublin paper, and 
 still later editor of a paper in Belfast. Davis was the oldest, and 
 was but twenty-eight years of iage, having been born in Mallow; 
 Dillon was from Connaught; Duffy was an Ulsterman. The two 
 latter were Catholics; Davis was a Protestant, and in intellect- 
 ual power, in force of character, in capacity, for leadership, he 
 was the ablest of the three. He was a poet, a philosopher, an 
 historian, a man who read much and thought much, tolerant, 
 kindly, forbearing, with broad human sympathies and a pas- 
 sionate love for Ireland. Duffy had much of the practical good 
 sense of his native Ulster — fine natural talents and a consider- 
 able power of literary expression. In this latter respect Dillon, 
 was his inferior, though his intellect was of a very high order. 
 His motives were of the purest, his nature without guile, his 
 ambition only to serve Ireland. The sufferings of his poorer 
 countryment went to his heart, and he longed to strike down 
 the power which oppressed them. No more lovable character, 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 161 
 
 none more resi^ectecl, none more miselfisli or courageous ap- 
 l^eared in the public life of his time than John Dillon. 
 
 All three — Davis especially — had profound admiration for 
 O'Connell. But they disapproved of some of his methods and 
 some of his policy. Equally distrustful of both English, par- 
 ties, these young men favored more toleration in Ireland, so 
 that by conciliation and forbearance all Irishmen might act 
 together in demanding their rights from England, and not in 
 the whining language of a beggar but in the manlier accents of 
 the freeman. They wanted Irishmen to cultivate self-respect 
 and self-reliance, to take a pride in their past, to recall the far 
 distant times T^ien Ireland was the School of the Yv est, to learn 
 the lesson that by disunion they had lost and by union every- 
 thing could be won. 
 
 To give utterance to these thoughts a newspaper was nec- 
 essary, and in the summer of 184-2 Davis, Dillon and Duffy, un- 
 der the shelter of an elm tree in the Phoenix Park, determined 
 to found a newspaper. Duft'y was named its editor, and the 
 first number of the Nation was published in October, 18-12. Its 
 motto was 'Ho create and foster public opinion in Ireland and 
 make it racy of the soil." Its vigor and freshness of style, its 
 thoughtfulness, its manly tone, were new in Irish journalism. 
 From its pages thousands of Irishmen learned for the first time 
 of Colnmbkille and Columbanus, of Duns Scotus and Erigena, 
 of Bangor and Lismore. They were able to follow in the foot- 
 steps of the Wild Geese, to see Sarsfield fall at Landen, Mahony 
 hold Cremona, and Lally charge at Fontenoy; or again to sit 
 with Colgan in his study at Louvain. They learned something 
 of Irish music, of Irish eloquence, of Irish valor; they learned 
 to interpret the rath and dun, the broken arch and the ivy-clad 
 ruin. And learning so much, they lifted up their heads and 
 were proud of the land in which they were born. 
 
 To the young men especially the new ]iaper appealed, and 
 in the University, in Maynooth, in the colleges and schools, it 
 was welcomed with enthusiasm. In the country towns, in the 
 farmers' homes it was read; and by the light of the village 
 forge the smith paused from his anvil, and the villagers gath- 
 ered round, while some one read out from the columns of the 
 newly-arrived Nation its tales, its historical sketches, its stir- 
 ring appeals. The Times and Quarterly Review recognized its 
 literary ability. Irish exiles abroad sent their congratulations, 
 foreign newspapers bade it welcome, and its articles were cop- 
 ied into American newspapers all over the United States. Un- 
 der its influence the Re]:>eal Association grew rapidly, its meet- 
 ings full, its weekly rent coming in by hundreds of pounds, and 
 
162 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 thus did a newspaper succeed where even the great agitator so 
 far had failed. 
 
 To the young generation of political thinkers who sympa- 
 thized with the doctrine of the Nation, the name ''Young Ire- 
 land" was given. ''At the head of this party," says Savage, 
 "blazed a galaxy of genius — poets, orators, scholars, writers, 
 and organizers." The sun and center of the galaxy, for too 
 brief a day, was Thomas Davis. Around him circled a brilliant 
 constellation of young, ardent, gifted, and patriotic Irishmen. 
 With the aid of "The Nation" and the Yoimg Irelanders, 0'- 
 Connell aroused and united Ireland as she had never been 
 aroused and united before. In proof of the truth of this state- 
 ment, I need only mention the monster gatherings of Tara and 
 Clontarf. But unfortunately this union was not destined to 
 last. To the horror of the famine, another terrible woe was 
 added, that of factional strife. 
 
 TIIF. YOUNG lEELAND INSUREECTION 
 
 To still further dishearten the afflicted people, the popular 
 leaders were at war. At the death of Davis in 1845, the nominal 
 leader of the Young Irelanders was Smith O'Brien, but the real 
 leader had since become John Mitchel. He was a solicitor, and 
 an Ulster Presbyterian, and like Wolfe Tone seems to have al- 
 ways hated England. He had considerable literary capacity, 
 took Carlyle as his model and imitated him with success, and 
 was as bold, as blunt, and as outspoken as his master. He had 
 little sympathy with O'Connell's peaceful agitation, and none 
 at all with his constant preaching of the doctrine that in no 
 case should there be spilling of blood; and he regarded the re- 
 newed alliance of 'Connell and Lord John Eussell with undis- 
 guised hatred and contempt. Absolutely fearless, he would 
 have held the meeting at Clontarf in defiance of Government, 
 would have broken down the bridges behind the troops as they 
 left the city, and captured the city itself; and when the ])eople 
 were dj'ing of famine in 1846, he would have seized the peo- 
 ple's corn, which, to pay the landlord's rent, was borne from 
 the Irish shores on every outward-flowing tide. 
 
 By 'Connell these views were abhored. He wished to re- 
 main on good terms with Lord John Eussell, wished the Eepeal 
 Association to be in everything loyal and peaceful, and in July, 
 1846, he proposed a series of resolutions pledging the members 
 against physical force not only in the present but for the fu- 
 ture, no matter what contingency might arise. He was answer- 
 ed in a speech of extraordinary eloquence by a young recruit 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR ,163 
 
 to the Young Ireland Party, Thomas Francis Meagher, and as 
 neither side would give way, and there was no one like Davis 
 strong enough to make peace, the Young Irelanders, headed by 
 Smith O'Brien, left Conciliation Hall and set up the Irish Con- 
 federation. Henceforth, says Mitchel, the Repeal Association 
 was of no use except to obtain offices for the friends of O'Con- 
 nelL 
 
 Meanwhile, repelled from the workhouses, debarred from 
 crossing to England, unable to reach America, made vagrants 
 by evictions and punished as such by Act of Parliament, the 
 homeless at home grew desperate, and through the autumn and 
 winter outrages were common. Landlords, agents, bailiffs, 
 magistrates and police fell victims to popular wrath, and rarely 
 were the assailants brought to Justice. Parliament was sum- 
 moned in November, but instead of the evictor's hand being 
 stayed, the old specitic for Irish disaffection was again tried, 
 and a Coercion Bill was soon passed into law. But disaffection 
 continued and increased. Mitchel openly advocated violence, 
 resolved to cross the path of the British car of conquest even 
 though it should crush him to atoms. Unable to carry with him 
 the Irish Confederation, he seceded from it ; unable to persuade 
 the Nation newspaper, he established the United Irishman, 
 and in its columns urged that the corn leaving the country 
 to pay rents should be forcibly detained to feed the hun- 
 gry. 
 
 Under the influence of Mitchel 's teaching, Sarsfield Clubs 
 were formed, arms were purchased, pikes manufactured, men 
 were enrolled and drilled and studied the tactics of guerilla 
 warfare. Before the new year had advanced far, his hands 
 "^ere strengthened by the events which occurred in England 
 and on the Continent. The English Chartists demanding man- 
 hood suffrage, vote by ballot, annual Parliaments, pa^ineut of 
 members and other things, and finding that Parliament per- 
 sistently refused their demands, now menaced Parliament with 
 force. In France, Louis Philippe was dethroned; the Austrians 
 were driven from Italy; there were uprisings' in Rome and Vi- 
 enna and Berlin; and the sounds that came to Ireland across 
 the seas were the exultant shouts of the masses, the lamenta- 
 tions of reactionary and discarded ministers and the crash of 
 falling thrones. Mitchel 's adherents soon increased; the Con- 
 federation adopted his views, and Smith O'Brien, Meagher, 
 Dillon and the other leaders became as anxious as he was to 
 try the fortune of war. Accordingly they resolved to rise in re- 
 bellion in the autumn. 
 
 The Government, however, anticipated them, and a Trea- 
 
1&4 THE FAMINE TO IS 70 
 
 son Felony Act was passed, making the speaking, writing or 
 printing anything revohitionary pnnishable by transportation; 
 and nnder this new Act, Mitchel was arrested, and by means 
 of a dniy packed jnry, was convicted and sent for fonrteen 
 years to Van Dieman's Land. The United Irishman was snp- 
 pressed; and so were its two snccessors, the Irish Tribnne and 
 the Irish Felon, and in Jnly the Habeas Corpns Act was sns- 
 pended. Had it not been, there wonld probably have been no 
 attempt at insnrrection. Mitchel was the only nian of action 
 among the leaders. Bnt when the Habeas Corpns Act had been 
 snspended, O'Brien and his friends, knowing that they wonld 
 be at once cast into prison, left Dublin to rouse the masses at 
 Tipi^erary. 
 
 The priests, however, had been there before them, and 
 pointing out the futility of undisciplined masses waging war 
 against a great empire, induced many to abandon the idea of 
 a rebellion. Many others were disgusted with Smith O'Brien. 
 He was honorable, upright, chivalrous and brave, but he was 
 also weak and irresolute, and utterly incompetent to be a suc- 
 cessful leader, either in peace or war. An abortive attack on a 
 l)olice barrack at Ballingarry was his only exploit. The crowds 
 then melted away from him, and he and Meagher and ]\I']\ranus 
 were arrested, convicted and sentenced to death, the sentence 
 in each case being commuted to transportation beyond the seas. 
 Duffy was prosecuted but acquitted; Dillon escaped to Ameri- 
 ca; others were thrown into prison, imder the Habeas Corpus 
 Act, or were pardoned; the Government had triumphed, and the 
 insurrection of 1848 was at an end, and alas! the party of Young 
 Ireland was no more ! 
 
 Thus fell that party whose genius won the admiration of 
 the world, the purity of whose motives, the chivalry of whose 
 actions, even their direst foes confessed. They were wrecked 
 in a hurricane of popular enthusiasm, to which they fatally 
 spread sail. It is easy for us now to discern and declare the 
 huge error into which they were impelled — the error of medi- 
 tating an insurrection — the error of judging that a famishing 
 l^easantry, unarmed and undisciplined, could fight and conquer 
 England at peace with all the world. But it is always easy to 
 be wise after the fact. At the time — in the midst of that de- 
 lirium of excitement, of passionate resolve and sanguine hope — 
 it was not easy for generous natures to choose and determine 
 otherwise than as they did. The verdict of public opinion — 
 the judgment of their own country — the judgment of the world 
 — had done them justice. It has proclaimed their unwise 
 course, the error of noble, generous, and self-sacrificing men. 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 165 
 
 THE GREAT EVICTIONS AND DEPOPULATION 
 
 In ISil there were -191,000 Irish families or nearly four 
 million persons living in mud-hovels with only one hearth, 
 forty-three per cent of the entire agricnltnral tenantry living 
 in one-roomed lionses. In 1817 the number of small holdings 
 exceeded 1,300,000, about a million being less than five acres in 
 extent, and nearly 700,000 under one acre. The operation of 
 Mr. Gregory's land-clause compelling those who sought out- 
 door relief to forfeit all but one quarter-acre of their land soon 
 left many of these holdings unoccupied, and thousands of tlie 
 mud-hovels were emptied or destroyed by fever and hunger. 
 But these agents of depopulation were not enough to satisfy 
 the impatience of the landlords. Tenants from whom the last 
 farthing might be squeezed were tolerated, because they were 
 more profitable on the land than cattle; but tenants who could 
 pay no rent, who entered the workhouses or received outdoor 
 relief, and as such were a burden upon the land, were deemed 
 worse than the barren fig-tree, and deserving of a similar fate. 
 And the great clearances were continued throughout the fam- 
 ine, and long after the famine had passed away. 
 
 Pity and kindness the vast majority of landlords had never 
 shown where their tenantry were concerned, and they showed 
 neither now. In the depths of winter as in summer, whole fam- 
 ilies — the sick, the infirm, the aged — were ruthlessly cast out, 
 and often when not a penny of rent was due. In one Union 
 6,000 families were evicted in a single year. On one small es- 
 tate, one hundred and twenty houses were levelled; on another, 
 twenty- three in a single day; in a fortnight, twelve hundred 
 persons were made homeless; within a few months 1,000 cabins 
 were thrown down; whole districts were cleared to make way 
 for larger farms. Forbidden to use the ruined houses from 
 which they had been driven, the evicted lived behind hedges 
 and ditches until cold and hunger drove them to the work- 
 house. In one case five families lived in a single room only 
 twelve feet square; in a piggery five feet by four a widow and 
 her three children lived for three weeks; a woman ill of dysen- 
 tery lay down in a cow-shed, and the inspector coming to see 
 her was ankle-deep in mud. 
 
 Even such lodging as this the landlords grudged. They 
 ordered the evicted to be cleared off their properties, and ])ro- 
 hibited the tenants still remaining from taking them in. Any 
 shelter put up was pulled down, and in one case a temporary 
 hut of this kind was set on fire by the landlord's bailiff, while 
 the evicted tenant was at the relief works and his wife and cliil- 
 
166 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 dren were gathering shell-fish on the neighboring strand to 
 save themselves from starving. All this happened in the Kil- 
 rush Union within the year ending May, 1849, and is taken 
 from a Government inspector's unadorned and imemotional re- 
 port. On a bleak hillside in Galway on New Year's Eve, in the 
 midst of a violent storm, a whole family was thrown out. For 
 the sake of their children who were sick, the parents begged 
 even one night's shelter, but they begged in vain. And there 
 were thousands of other cases rivalling these in barbarity. 
 
 But still Parliament would do nothing. There was no re- 
 dress of grievances, no staying of the evictor's hand. Sharman 
 Crawford's Land Bills of 1848 and 1850, extending the Ulster 
 custom to all Ireland, was rejected with scorn, and even the 
 milder measures of the Irish Secretary, Lord Lincoln, were not 
 passed. Mild as these latter were, they were looked at askance 
 by Lord John Eussell ; and as for Sharman Crawford 's Bills, he 
 declared them to be subversive of the rights of property, meas- 
 ures which no Government with a sense of justice could pass. 
 But he passed a Coercion Act in 1847 and another in 1848, and 
 the latter was renewed in the two following years. The fact 
 was that British statesmen of both parties viewed not only with 
 complacency but with joy this thinning of the Irish peasantry. 
 
 From 1849 to 1856 a million and a half had emigrated, one- 
 fifth of whom had been actually evicted. The strong and 
 healthy were thus leaving the shores of Ireland, and her popu- 
 lation, which in 1841 was over 8,200,000, in 1851 stood at 6,500,- 
 000 and was reduced in 1861 to 5,760,000. The Times wrote 
 exultingly that in another generation the Irish Celts would be 
 as obsolete in Ireland as the Phoenicians in Cornwall, and the 
 Catholic religion as forgotten as the worship of Astarte. 
 
 When an Irish property was advertised for sale in the 
 Landed Estates Courts, it was regularly mentioned as an in- 
 ducement to purchasers that the tenants had no leases. It was 
 assumed that the incoming landlord would care nothing for the 
 tenants, and would raise the rents or evict as best suited his 
 purpose. And all over the country tenants were being evicted 
 for non-payment of an impossible rent, for voting against his 
 landlord, for refusing to send his children to the Protestant 
 schools, for getting his daughter married without the previous 
 permission of his landlord, for giving a night's lodging to a 
 stranger, for harboring an evicted tenant. Tenants were turned 
 out who owed no rent, and turned out in all kinds of weather, 
 and with their whole families — the sick, the aged, the father- 
 less orphan, the mother with her new-born babe. And those 
 not evicted had to submit to conditions which only slaves could 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 167 
 
 have endured; to the exactions of the landlord, the insolence of 
 the agent, the brutality of the bailiff, the insults of every menial 
 whom the landlord or agent employed. 
 
 It was not in human nature that these things could be 
 patiently borne, and the harassed tenant, having no hope from 
 Parliament, looked to the Ribbon lodges for vengeances, and 
 he looked not in vain. The evicting landlord or his agent, the 
 over-officious bailiff, the grabber who occupied an evicted hold- 
 ing, had one and all need to tremble, and often fell beneath the 
 assassin's hand and generally unpitied by the people. In Ar- 
 magh a land-agent was stoned to death in open day, and his 
 murderers, caught red-handed, were acquitted; in Monaghan 
 an agent was beaten to death; in Cavan, a lady; in Westmeath 
 a grabber was shot dead in the presence of three men, who re- 
 fused to aid the murdered man as he fell mortally wounded; in 
 Clare a landlord's house was set on tire, and house and occu- 
 pant burned to ashes. A generous and kindly people, maddened 
 by oppression, were being turned into ferocious savages. And 
 yet Parliament would not interfere, would not give the slight- 
 est help to the unfortunate tenants. 
 
 BEITISH LEGISLATION 
 
 But what was the British Government doing for the Irish 
 tenants? We shall now see. 
 
 The Irish peasant's history has been indeed sad and tragic. 
 After the conquest, the Anglo-Norman lords extended to him 
 the burdens but not the blessings of the feudal system. The re- 
 ligious changes of the sixteenth century greatly embittered the 
 relations between the ruling and the sulDJect classes. The confis- 
 cations and plantations of the seventeenth century accentuated 
 and perpetuated the antagonisms which prevailed; and when 
 Protestants had been invested with lands and power, and Cath- 
 olics had been deprived of both, the relations established be- 
 tween landlord and tenant were almost impossible for the peas- 
 ant to endure. 
 
 In the Irish Protestant Parliament of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, the landlords' power was supreme. To the lands they 
 held, confiscation was their common title. It was the Catholics 
 around them who had been despoiled, and the main object of 
 the Penal Code was to impoverish and degrade them, to leave 
 them without power to rebel, the hope of improving their con- 
 dition, or even the spirit to complain. And to this extent, the 
 Penal Code succeeded. Native and English writers of the 
 eighteenth century — Swift and Prior, Berkeley, Dobbs and 
 
168 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 Young — had pictured the condition of the peasants of their time 
 as in the lowest scale of human misery. Newenham and Wake- 
 field, who wrote in the early part of the next century, could 
 only show that this condition was not improyed by the Act of 
 Union; and Be Beaumont, a Frenchman, who studied the Irish 
 cpiestion with the unprejudiced eyes of a foreigner, declared 
 in 1837 that the miseries endured by the Irish peasant were 
 worse than those of the Indian in his forests or those of the 
 negro in his chains. 
 
 The British Parliament had at no time been just where 
 Irish Catholic tenants were concerned. Its sympathies had 
 been with the Irish Parliament in its enactment of tbe Penal 
 Code. Its reluctance to grant ciyil rights to Catholics was 
 shown long after the era of ])enal legislation had passed away; 
 and its obstinate resistance to emancijiation was especially dis- 
 creditable in yiew of the promises made at the Union by Pitt 
 and Castlereagh. The fact was that England had long con- 
 tinued to regard the Irish Catholics as foes — and sought to 
 exterminate them. Disdaining to conciliate them, she refused 
 to allay their discontent, and preferred to liaye tliem helpless 
 and poor. 
 
 But the Irish landlords, on the contrary, she regarded with 
 special affection. These men of her own race and religion she 
 had planted on Irish soil in the midst of a hostile population. 
 She ruled Ireland through them, loaded them with power and 
 priyileges, gratified their eyery caprice, condoned their numer- 
 ous misdeeds, protected them from the wrath of those whom 
 they had treated as worse than slayes, and this with tlie whole 
 force of a mighty empire. Eyery secret society which arose, 
 from the Whiteboys to the Eibbonmen. owed its origin to op- 
 pressiye landlordism; almost eyery outrage perpetrated might 
 be traced to the same cause, and this eyery thoughtful writer 
 and speaker was ready to acknowledge. 
 
 But Parliament would not interfere. At the cost of a few 
 shillings, the landlord could obtain an ejectment decree, wheth- 
 er the rent had been paid or not: he could raise the rent at will; 
 he could distrain the tenants' growing crops for rent and sell 
 them when ripe, charging the expense of doing so on the ten- 
 ant. He could make what arbitrary estate rules he pleased, 
 could send the tenants' cattle to the ]wund, for this reason or 
 that reason or for no reason at all ; and if the tenant summoned 
 the offending landlord or bailiff", he knew what to ex])ect from 
 a landlord magistrate on the Bench. If he merely complained, 
 he might haye his rent raised; if he complained publicly, he 
 was regarded as a disloyal subject; if he joined a secret so- 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 169 
 
 cietv, he might be sent to ]nnson or to the scaffold; and if dis- 
 tnrbances arose, the landlords cried ont for repressive laws, 
 and Parliament promptly responded bv giving them a Coercion 
 Act. 
 
 Despairing of Parliament, O'Connell looked to Eepeal as 
 the great remedy, and agitated the I^and qnestion bnt little. 
 Bnt Mr. Brownlovr in IS'29 bronght in a bill for the reclamation 
 of waste lands; Mr. Ponlett Scope, an old friend to Ireland, in- 
 trodnced a Land Bill in 1834; and Mr. Sliarman Crawford 
 bronght in bills in 1836 and 1837, merely giving the tenant 
 compensation for distnrbance. Not one of these measnres 
 passed into lav\^ Parliament wonld do nothing except pass 
 Coercion Acts.* The landlords and tenants were left face to 
 face; the former evicted; the latter, driven to desperation, had 
 reconrse to secret societies and ontrage; and in the desultory 
 agrarian warfare which went on, the landlord's writ was met 
 by the peasant's gun. 
 
 Sir Eobert Peel had no affection for Ireland and little for 
 reform. He was Irish Secretary in 1811, when Judge Fletcher 
 advised the Grand Jurors of Vricklow to give their tenants a 
 property in their holdings, assuring them that such action on 
 the part of the landlords would be more efficacious for the re- 
 pression of outrages than the cord and the gibbet. But Peel 
 shut his eyes and closed his ears, dined and feasted with 
 Orangemen and landlords, and in 1817 passed a bill through 
 Parliament cheapening and making easier the ]irocess of evic- 
 tion. In the years that followed, whether in office or out of it, 
 he was the steady advocate of coercion for Ireland, And when 
 he died in 1850, the Irish people shed tears indeed, but they 
 were tears not of grief but of ,ioy. Nor is their hatred of him 
 to be wondered at. Had he done his duty, Ireland had been 
 spared the awful horrors of the famine of '17. Had he had any 
 compassion on Ireland, not a soul would have perished when the 
 potato blight smote her! 
 
 Sir Eobert Peel, the Tory, was succeeded in office by Lord 
 John Eussell, the Whig. It is enough to say of him that if any 
 man is to share with Peel the awful guilt of that frightful loss 
 of life which took ])lace during the famine years, it is Lord John 
 Eussell. For he, like Peel, refused obstinately and callously to 
 do anything substantial to relieve the terrible distress of those 
 years." The brutal treatment of the Irish ]:>eople by these two 
 English statesmen seems beyond belief! History holds them 
 guilty of as black a crime as was ever perpetrated — the death 
 by famine and fever of a million and a half of human beings! 
 Nor were their successors in office a whit more merciful 
 
170 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 towards Ireland. The Tories, Aberdeen and Derby, and the 
 Whig, Palinerston, however they differed on other questions, 
 were alike in this — their ntter callousness to the sufferings of 
 the Irish people. Indeed of these three, Palmerston perhaps 
 was the most heartless. A few weeks before his death in 1865, 
 he threw off his mask of mock Whig-sympathy, and bluntly 
 and brutally declared that he utterly repudiated tenant rights 
 that in his opinion tenant right was nothing else but landlord- 
 wrong. 
 
 It was not imtil the uprising of the Fenians that English 
 statesmen condescended to listen to the tragic cries of the Irish 
 people. And even then, as Gladstone himself candidly con- 
 fessed, it was not pity but fear that caused them to seek some 
 other remedy than coercion for the woes of Ireland. Especially 
 did they dread the use of the terrible dynamite bomb by the en- 
 raged Irish patriots. The blowing up of Clerkenwell prison it 
 was that caused Gladstone to disestablish the Irish Protestant 
 Church and to pass the land act of 1870. Mercy was a word 
 never found in the vocabulary of English statesmen whenever it 
 was a question of Irish suffering they were asked to consider! 
 Truly, ' ' Who would be free themselves must strike the blow ! ' ' 
 
 Again I assert that no one who studies Irish history can 
 for a moment doubt that almost down to the present day it has 
 been the settled policy of the English Government to extermin- 
 ate the Irish race. In the execution of that policy, even famine 
 was a welcome agent. That is, I am aware, an awful statement 
 to make, but I make it unhesitatingly — for it is the truth. 
 Steadilv vear bv vear the depopulation of Ireland goes on. In 
 1841 Ireland's population was 8,200,000; today it is 4,375,000, 
 If extermination has not been the one and only aim of English 
 statesmen in their treatment of Ireland — then how can you 
 explain these figures? How explain their heartless treatment 
 of her during the awful famine years of '46, '47, '48 ? 
 
 THE TENANT EIGHT LEAGUE 
 
 When the year 1850 dawned, the outlook was dark. The 
 famine had not yet quite spent itself, and more than 240,000 
 persons filled the workhouses. Rents were raised, even in Ul- 
 ster, and in spite of the Ulster custom, the clearances went on. 
 The tide of emigration rose higher and higher. The population 
 was rapidly dwindling, and all over the country cattle and 
 slieep were being substituted for men. From Lord John Rus- 
 sell nothing could be got but coercion; and nothing could be 
 eff'ected in Parliament by the corrupt and incapable men whom 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 171 
 
 the Irish electors sent there. Driven to desperation, the peas- 
 ants had recourse to secret societies. There had been a long 
 succession of them — Whiteboys, Whitefeet, Terryalts, Eock- 
 ites, Eibbonmen and others; bnt by this time the Ribbon So- 
 ciety had distanced all its rivals — like Aaron's rod it had swal- 
 lowed them all. With its lodges, its secret meetings, its oaths 
 and passwords and signs, it had extended over the land. Re- 
 cruited from the peasantry, it watched the peasant's interests 
 and avenged its wrongs, and the landlord or agent who pulled 
 down the peasant's cabin was laid low by the Ribbonman's 
 avenging hand. 
 
 These methods, however, were abhorrent to many of the 
 tenants' best friends, and in 1850 a Tenant Defence Society 
 was formed at Callan in Kilkenny, and within a few months 
 similar societies were formed elsewhere, some of them in Ulster. 
 Holding their meetings public and keeping within the law, they 
 relied on mutual co-operation, on the pressure of public opinion, 
 on having honest representatives in Parliament. If only these 
 various associations would combine into one national organ- 
 ization, if north and south would agree to sink their differences 
 for the tenants' sake, much could be done; and in the hope of 
 forming such an organization, a circular was sent broadcast, 
 signed by men of different religions, and asking the tenants' 
 friends to meet in Dublin. 
 
 This Tenant Right Conference met in Dublin, on the 6th of 
 August, and was a remarkable gathering. For the moment, 
 the Bojaie was bridged, and north and south were brought to- 
 gether. The chairman of the meeting was Dr. MacNight, the 
 Presbyterian proprietor of the Banner of Ulster. Scattered 
 around the room were tenants, a few liberal landlords, Presby- 
 terian ministers and Catholic priests; Mr. Godkin, the editor 
 of the Protestant Derry Standard; Mr. Maguire of the Catholic 
 Cork Examiner; Mr. Greer, an Ulster Presbyterian lawyer; Dr. 
 Gray of the Freeman, and Mr. Duffy of the Nation, both of 
 whom had shared imprisonment with 'Council ; and Mr. Fred- 
 erick Lucas, the Catholic editor of the Catholic Tablet. The 
 last named was probably the ablest of them all. At this con- 
 ference resolutions were passed demanding for the tenants 
 fixity of tenure, fair rents and free sale, and an equitable ar- 
 rangement regarding arrears which had accumulated during 
 the famine, and that henceforth all Parliamentary candidates 
 should pledge themselves to be independent and oppose any 
 and every British party which refused to concede the tenauts' 
 demands. 
 
 During the next twelve months a vigorous propaganda was 
 
172 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 carried on both in the press and on the platform. The Tenant 
 Eight movement made great strides, and in the General Elec- 
 tion of 1852, forty members were retnrned pledged to Tenant 
 Eights and Independent Opposition. Lncas was retnrned for 
 Meatli, Gavan Dnffy for New Eoss, John Francis Maguire for 
 Dnngarvan, George Henry Moore for ]\[ayo — all men of the 
 liighest attainments, and all men of nnblemished honor. The 
 General Election over, the new Irish party met in Dnblin, and a 
 resolntion was carried, with only one dissentient, declaring it 
 essential "that all members retnrned on Tenant Eight prinei- 
 l^les should hold themselves perfectly independent, and in op- 
 position to all Governments which do not make it part of their 
 policy, and a Cabinet question, to give to the tenantry of Ireland 
 a measure embodying the principles of lsh\ Sharman Craw- 
 ford's Bill" 
 
 Things once more looked bright for Ireland. The hopes of 
 Irishmen rose high. A united Irish party was capable of ac- 
 complishing almost anything. But these hopes were soon 
 blighted. For alas! the Tenant Eight party was united only in 
 name. 
 
 It had among its members as rascally a band of self- 
 seekers, as foul a band of traitors as ever betrayed a country. 
 Of course, I refer to the infamous political freebooters — John 
 Sadlier, William Keough and their followers, known as the 
 Brass Band Brigade. When the list of the minor appointments 
 in the new Whig government was published January 1, 1853. it 
 was discovered that Keough was Irish Solicitor-General, John 
 Sadlier a Lord of the Treasmy, Edmond 'Flaherty a Com- 
 missioner of Income Tax, and Monsel, Clerk of the Ordinance. 
 Contrary to their plighted word, they had taken office without 
 consulting their colleagues and without obtaining any promise 
 of Irish legislation from the Government. They had jiistified 
 the suspicions of Lucas and Duffy, who disliked them from the 
 beginning. The country wliich believed in them, they had 
 shamefully betrayed ! 
 
 Of course, such treachery could not go unpunished, and 
 Lucas and Duffy did their utmost to defeat them when they 
 came up for re-election. 
 
 But British gold proved stronger than they. The union of 
 the Orange north and the Catholic south so frightened the 
 British Government that it left no stone unturned to disrupt 
 the Tenant Eight League and to re-elect the Irish traitors. 
 Such wholesale corruption was not seen in Ireland since the^ 
 days of Pitt and Castlereagh. The result was only what was to 
 be expected. Sadlier and Keough and their followers were re- 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 173 
 
 turned to Parliameut, and the Tenant Eight League was 
 wrecked. Yes, Ireland once more lay a writhing victim at the 
 feet of her foe! In October, 1855, Lucas died like O'Connell of 
 a broken heart. _ A few months later, Dufty, grieving for his 
 dead friend and despairing of Ireland, resigned his seat in 
 Parliament, and sailed for Australia. From that day until the 
 Fenian Insurrection of ^66, Ireland was to British Tory and 
 British AVliig alike an object of scorn and derision. ''Ireland 
 now lies like a corpse on the dissecting table!" cried grief- 
 stricken Gavan Duffy. "Yes, and thank God that she does!" 
 exultingly shouted in reply the brutal land-oligarchy which at 
 that time ruled >tlie British empire. 
 
 FENIANISM 
 
 In the evidence given before tlie Devon Commission in 
 1843, the state of Ireland, as affected by its land laws, stands 
 completely revealed. Many of the landlords were too poor to 
 be generous or even just to their tenants. Others, hampered by 
 law of entail, and having nothing more than a life-interest in 
 their property, were too reluctant to spend money on improve- 
 ments. A good iu"oi)ortion were absentees, caring as little for ' 
 their tenants as for the inhabitants of Timbuctoo. The rule of 
 the agents of these absentees was that of tyranny and not in- 
 frequently of corruption. They gave no leases, effected no im- 
 provements, seized the buildings made by the tenants, raised 
 the rent on land he had improved, and evicted him, often from 
 mere caprice. In spite of their landlord prejudices, the Devon 
 Commissioners declared that the uncertainty of tenure para- 
 lyzed all exertion, and was a fatal bar to improvements. They 
 found that where the Lister custom was allowed, and the ten- 
 ants could sell the goodwill of their farms, agrarian outrages 
 were rare; where it was not allowed, they were common; that 
 nearly half the holdings in Ireland were less than five acres in 
 extent, and a large proportion of them much less ; that in Kerry 
 66 per cent of the houses were mucLcabins with but one room, 
 in Mayo the percentage was 62, in Cork and Clare 56, and in the 
 rich county of Down it was 25; that the agricultural laborer 
 everywhere was badly housed, badly fed, badly clothed, badly 
 paid for his labor; his home was a mud-cabin, leaky and filled 
 with smoke; his food potatoes and water; his bed the earthen 
 floor, without a blanket to cover him; his property a pig and a 
 heap of manure. They found that in every case of a renewal 
 of a lease, the rent was raised; that bailiffs were corrupt and 
 often accepted bribes; that growing crops were seized for rent, 
 
174 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 a practice which they strongly condemned. These evils were 
 of long standing, and could not be cured at once by legislation. 
 But Parliament could have interfered to give the tenant some 
 sort of security of tenure; it could have stopped the common 
 practice of subdividing holdings; it could have compelled the 
 farmer to build better houses for his laborers; and in a country 
 where there were nearly 4,000,000 acres of improvable waste 
 lands, some employment might be given to redundant labor. 
 What embittered the Irish farmers and laborers was that Par- 
 liament did nothing but watch complacently the decimation 
 of a whole people by famine, eviction and emigration; and this 
 while the great English newspaper, the Times, gloated over the 
 Irish exodus, and gleefully announced that in a short time a 
 Celt would be as rare in Ireland as a Red Indian on the shores 
 of Manhattan. 
 
 As for the landlords, they were hopeless. There are few men 
 who will not abuse unlimited power, and the Irish landlords 
 had never adopted any self-denying ordinance in dealing with 
 tenants. ]\Iany of these landlords had been overwhelmed in 
 the famine, but their successors were not less ready than they 
 to oppress and evict, and from 1850 to 1870 was the period of 
 the great clearances. Thousands of the holdings were, it is 
 true, utterly unable to decently support a family, and thousands 
 of the houses levelled were utterly unfit for human habitation. 
 And if the landlords had compensated the tenant and enabled 
 him to emigrate, not altogether destitute and penniless, evic- 
 tion would have been robbed of the worst of its terrors; and 
 when the Irishman had attained to some measure of comfort in 
 a foreign land, he might have looked back without regret to 
 those days when he rejoiced only in misery and a mud-cabin. 
 Instead of this, he had to remember that his landlord had driv- 
 en him out without compensation, caring nothing about what 
 might be his fate. The exile's heart was sore, and neither time 
 nor distance nor the acquisition of wealth could make him for- 
 get the day of his eviction with all its horrors. The worst cases 
 were those — and they were many — where the tenant was sent 
 adrift after having labored and toiled to improve his holding, 
 after having built" and fenced and drained, after having won 
 the bog and mountain to fertility. When all this was done, the 
 landlord cast him out, seizing on all the improvements he had 
 
 made. 
 
 The Quarterly Review (in 1854) declared that ''the cabins 
 of the peasantry were pulled down in such numbers as to give 
 the api>earance throughout whole regions of the south, and still 
 more of the west, of a country devastated and desolated by the 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 175 
 
 passage of a hostile army." In Westmeath Dr. Nulty saw 700 
 persons evicted in a single day. In one house were patients de- 
 lirious in t}i3hus fever, but even that house was pulled down; 
 and as the shades of night fell, the evicted, young and old, 
 cowered under the hedges, drenched with the heavy autumnal 
 rains. In the county of Mayo a whole countryside was emptied 
 of its inhabitants by Lord Lucan, and in the same county even 
 a wider stretch of country was cleared by Lord Sligo. Mr. Pol- 
 lock's clearances in Galway were equally thorough. In the lap 
 of the Donegal Mountains, the peaceful valley of Glenveigh was 
 (in 1861) cleared in a single day by Mr. Adair. Thus were 
 thousands of Irish peasants banished to foreign lands, bearing 
 in their hearts the bitter memory of wrong; cursing the land- 
 lords who had dispossessed them, and the English Government 
 by which these landlords were sustained. 
 
 Not all of the landlords,, however, deserved these maledic- 
 tions, for not all were of the type cT Mr. Adair. But those who 
 neither evicted nor rack-rented were comparatively few, and 
 in consequence the condition of the mass of the tenants was 
 pitable. In a country where industries did not flourish, the 
 competition for land was so keen that the landlord could make 
 his own terms. Nor did he consider the tenant in any other 
 light than as a rent-paying machine, to have his rent raised or 
 to suffer eviction at his landlord 's good will. If he built a new 
 house, then surely he could pay more rent, and his rent was 
 raised; if he fenced or drained or reclaimed, the land was there- 
 by enriched and its letting value was greater; if he or his chil- 
 dren dressed decently, it was evident that they were comfort- 
 able and could pay more rent if only the screws were put on. 
 And there were estate rules which could be imposed only on 
 slaves, and which only those long habituated to slavery could 
 have endured. The tenant was compelled to vote for his land- 
 lord's nominee at elections, to send his children to the Protes- 
 tant school, to get his landlord's permission to marry or to have 
 any of his children married; and he was prohibited from build- 
 ing houses for his laborers, or giving shelter to strangers. 
 
 On one small estate in Mayo, the Ormsby estate, the old 
 tenants still tell, with blazing eyes, how they had to work even 
 on holidays for the landlord at half wages ; and when the har- 
 vest came, how they had to cut his oats during the day, and 
 ■f ijen — for there was no other time available — how they had to 
 cut their own oats by the light of the harvest moon. Even the 
 bailitf on many estates compelled the tenants to give free la- 
 bor, and thus were the bailiff's crops sown and saved. And the 
 cases were not a few where the rent was not raised, the eject- 
 
176 THE FAMINE TO IS 70 
 
 ment process withdrawn, or tlie eviction stayed, because the 
 honor of a bhishing and beantifnl girl was sacrificed to a ty- 
 rant's hist. It was these things above all which made weak 
 men strong and cowards brave, which made landlordism an un- 
 clean and an accursed thing, and nerved, the arm of the assas- 
 sin. 
 
 In spite of Lord Palmerston's landlord sjanpathies, such a 
 system could not have lasted if there had been an honest and 
 energetic body of Irish members in Parliament. But there was 
 no such body. After 1857 Mr. G. H. Moore was without a seat 
 until 1868. The most prominent of the popular representatives 
 were ^Ir. J. F. Maguire, Mr. Martin and The O'Donoghue, and 
 of these Mr. ]\Iaguire only was a man of much capacity, and 
 even he was unable to carry a popular movement to success. To- 
 wards the end of 186-1 Mr. Dillon, then returned from his Amer- 
 ican exile, started the National Association of Ireland, aided 
 and encouraged by Dr. Culleu. But Mr. Moore would have no 
 connection with any movement controlled or influenced by Dr. 
 Cullen. Mr. Duffy, who was home on a visit from Australia, 
 having been asked to join, also held aloof, and for the same rea- 
 son as Mr. j\Ioore; and Mr. Dillon died in 1866 before the Asso- 
 ciation had gone far. 
 
 There were, indeed, Irish members who posed as popular 
 leaders and advocated popular measures. And the aspiring 
 national member during those years, as he stood upon the hust- 
 ings and asked the people's votes, was glib of tongue and prodi- 
 gal of i^romises as man could be. He would vote an extension 
 of the franchise, for land reform, for the disestablishment of 
 the State Church; he would support no Government which fail- 
 ed to favor these measures, for he believed in the i)olicy of In- 
 dependent Opposition. He wanted neither place nor favor, and 
 was satisfied if he could only serve Ireland. These promises 
 and protestations were set off by vague talk about an oppressed 
 people, a land of saints and heroes, and the glorious green flag. 
 Some voters estimated this eloquence and vehemence at its 
 worth, and taking the candidate's bribe, gave him their vote, 
 knowing well that neither he nor his opponent was sincere. 
 
 But there were others who had not yet sounded the depths 
 of political depravity, and believing in the candidate voted in 
 his favor. To their disgust they soon found how much they 
 had been deceived. When the candidate entered Parliament, 
 he at once forgot his promises, scoffed at Independent Opposi- 
 tion, attached himself to the Government, and not a man in the 
 party was more obedient to the crack of the party whip. His 
 reward came in due course. A tide-waiter-ship or a position in 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 177 
 
 tlie Excise for his illegitimate son, a stipendiary magistrate- 
 ship for a son who was too stupid to succeed at a profession, a 
 county court judgeship for a brother at the Bar, a fat place at 
 home or a colonial governorship for himself — this was the price 
 given for his Parliamentary support. And if some indignant 
 supporter charged him with his pledge-breaking and treachery, 
 he coolly admitted his offence, chuckled at having made so good 
 a bargain with the Government, and even thanked God that he 
 had a country to sell. 
 
 Such men spoke with no authority in Parliament, and were 
 heard with no j'espect. Nor could Palmerston and men like 
 him be so much blamed if they had done nothing for Ireland, 
 seeing that the Irish voters had sent such men to the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 It was indeed assumed by many English public men that 
 Ireland was content and wanted no experiments in legislation. 
 And a smooth-tongued Viceroy, Lord Carlisle, at Lord Mayor's 
 banquets and cattle-shows, year after year reported, like the 
 sentinel on the watch-tower, that all, was well. Crime had de- 
 creased, religious animosities were disappearing, agricultural 
 methods were improving, education spreading among the mass- 
 es, churches and schools multiplied. In ten years the number of 
 mud-cabins had fallen from -191,000 to 125,000, and this neces- 
 sarily involved the emigration of many thousands, the most 
 vigorous and energetic of the race. But, convinced that Nature 
 intended Ireland to be "the mother of flocks and herds," Lord 
 Carlisle was not alarmed at this exodus. It increased the rate 
 of wages at home, and resulted in bettering the lot of those 
 who remained; as if indeed a dwindling population were proof 
 of national prosperity rather than of national deca3\ This 
 shallow so})liistry was considered good enough for the alder- 
 men and cattle-breeders who listened to him, but it did not im- 
 pose on men of intelligence and patriotism, and was little wor- 
 thy of a statesman or of an honest public man. Nor was the 
 applause with which Lord CVirlisle was greeted able to silence 
 the voice of disaffection, which at that very time turned from 
 tlie platform and Parliament and sought an outlet through 
 revolutionary channels. 
 
 As far back as 1847, a general strike against rent was 
 preached in the Nation and the Irish Felon by James Fintan 
 Lalor, a man of great power of expression, Iwld, fearless and 
 clear-sighted, of striking and original views and of indomitable 
 will. In spite of the events of that and the following year, he 
 was not discouraged, and in 1849 he organized in Munster an 
 insurrection which was even a greater fiasco than Smith 0'- 
 
178 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 Brien's attempt of 1818. Next year Lalor died, and nothing 
 was attempted till 1858, when some young men in Cork and 
 Kerry established a revolntioiwiry society. Ostensibly for lit- 
 erary purposes, and called the Phoenix Literary Society, it was 
 really a secret and oath-bound organization, pledged to over- 
 throw British rule in Ireland by force of arms, and believing 
 that the time was opportune when England was fully occupied 
 in ))utting down the Indian Mutiny. Its headquarters was at 
 Skibbereen, its branches in West Cork and Kerry. The chief 
 of its local leaders was Jeremiah O'Donavan Eossa. But its 
 real founder was James Stephens, who had a share in the rising 
 of 1818, since then had lived mostly at Paris and mixed much, 
 with foreign revolutionists, and in 1858, having returned to 
 Ireland was acting as jorivate tutor to a gentleman near Kil- 
 larney. He was a man of good education, with a capacity for 
 organization and secret conspiracy, believing that nothing 
 could be done for Ireland in Parliament, but much by a strong 
 revolutionary society watching England's difficulties and ally- 
 ing itself with her foes. The Phoenix Society, however, soon 
 collapsed. The priests denounced it from the altar. Smith 
 O'Brien and the Nation, then under ]\[r. A. M. Sullivan, public- 
 ly assailed it, and the Government arrested the leaders and had 
 them, in 1859, tried by special commission. One prisoner, 0'- 
 Sullivan, was convicted and sentenced to penal servitude; and 
 then O'Donavan Eossa and the others pleaded guilty and were 
 liberated, and an end had come to the Phoenix Society. 
 
 Stephens was not among those arrested, or perhaps sus- 
 pected, and returning to Paris, began to build up a new and 
 far more formidable society than the Phoenix had even been. 
 It was called the Irish Eepublican Brotherhood, or shortly the 
 I. E. B.; but in America, to which it soon spread, it was called 
 the Fenian Society, and its members the Fenians, the name 
 borne by the famous militia of olden days, which were com- 
 manded by Finn MacCumhael. Organized into circles, each 
 under a centre, all authority converged through higher centres 
 commanding many circles, towards the head centre, Stephens, 
 who was now in su^oreme command. Thus, while the lesser of- 
 ficers knew little of the organization, and had therefore little 
 to tell if they were traitors, Stephens knew everything, and 
 held the threads of the whole movement in his hands. John 
 O'Mahoney was supreme in America; John O'Leary, Thomas 
 Clarke Luby and Charles Kickham in Ireland; and there Avere 
 agents also in England and Scotland. O'Mahoney was a grad- 
 uate of Trinity College, a man given much to historical studies, 
 and thoroughiv honest and sincere. O'Leary, Luby and Kick- 
 
JOHX F. O'CONNOR 179 
 
 liam were, like O'Malionev, all Munster-men, all well connected 
 and educated, and all — Kickliam especially — men of literary 
 capacity. Aiding tlieni at home was O'Donavan Eossa; aiding 
 O'Malioney in America were Dolieny, Corcoran and many 
 others. 
 
 Assuming that an Irish republic was formed with the en- 
 rolment of the first members, in the Fenian oath, allegiance 
 was sworn to the new republic, which necessarily meant a repu- 
 diation of English power. Xor was there any difficulty in fuid- 
 ing thousands who were ready to take such an oath, Irish 
 landlordism and English law, as administered in Ireland, had 
 planted beyond the Atlantic a new Irish nation more fiercely 
 opposed to England than even the old green island at home. 
 Amid the rush and bustle of American cities, on American 
 farms and railroads, in the lonely log-cabin in American woods, 
 down in the depths of American mines were Irish exiles who 
 thought of England only with a curse. Their fathers had told 
 them of the horrors of the famine days, and they themselves 
 had seen the crowbar brigade at work, the house levelled in 
 which they were born, the fire quenched around which they had 
 gathered to pray at their mother's knee. They knew the Eng- 
 lish law only by its oppressions, and the Government only as 
 an instrument of terror. Irish landlordism and English rule 
 they had always seen linked together in injustice, and, as they 
 thought of them, the light of battle was in their eyes. Nor would 
 they have hesitated to join with the Hottentot to bring England 
 to the dust. In a country where they were free to speak out, 
 they used language of violence which would not be tolerated 
 at home, and one newspaper in San Francisco openly advocated 
 assassination, and even offered a reward for the murder of in- 
 dividual Irish landlords whom it named. Xot all American 
 Fenians were so bloodthirsty as this, but all hated England and 
 loved Ireland, and gave expression both to their love and hatred 
 in swearing allegiance to the Irish republic. In the American 
 Civil War, thousands rushed to arms for one side or the other, 
 and thousands of them fell gloriously on American battlefields. 
 Others, however, passed unscathed through the fire and smoke 
 of battle, and when the Civil War was over in 1865, 200,000 Ir- 
 ish-American soldiers were set free to fight England. 
 
 In Ireland, meanwhile, the Fenian circles in 1860 and 1861 
 were being slowly filled. But in the latter year an event oc- 
 curred which had a stimulating effect. Terence Bellew M 'Man- 
 ns, one of the 1818 men, had died in exile in San Francisco, and 
 it was determined to bring his remains to Ireland. Across the 
 American Continent was one long national demonstration, and 
 
180 THE FAMINE TO 1870 
 
 in Dublin no such funeral procession had been seen since 0'- 
 Connell's. Tens of thousands from city and country trudged 
 through the streets for hours on that bleak November day, 
 and while the torches blazed amid the fast-falling shades of 
 gathering night, the faces of the spectators — mostly young 
 men — wore a stern resolve to follow in the footsteps of the 
 dead. Freely they joined the Fenian ranks, and when Steph- 
 ens and Luby went through the country districts subsequently^ 
 crowds had already taken or were ready to take the Fenian 
 oath. 
 
 Towards the end of 1863 sufficient funds were available to 
 start the Irish People, which was the organ of the Fenians. 
 O'Leary was editor, Luby, Kickham and Stephens were among 
 the contributors. Its object was to promote Fenianism; to dis- 
 credit Parliamentary agitation; to wean the Eibbonmen from 
 agrarian national objects ; to attack all who opposed the Fenian 
 movement, as unsafe political guides. Much hatred of England 
 was thus stirred up; much opposition to Parliamentary action; 
 and the Eibbonmen, turning from agrarian quarrels and the 
 assassination of landlords, swore allegiance to the Irish repub- 
 lic. And not only did recruits come from the country farmers' 
 sons, from the artisans and shopmen, the students and journal- 
 ists of the cities and towns, but from many Government offices, 
 from the Dublin police, from the Irish in Great Britain; and 
 thousands of the Irish soldiers in the British Army also joined. 
 Fully aware that a Fenian Society existed in America and 
 in Ireland, the Government waited, and the Times sneered at 
 the young men who marched and drilled at night, predicting 
 that* they would be good British soldiers. Suddenly, however, 
 guided by two informers, Nagle and Power, the ''Irish People" 
 in September, 1865, was raided by detectives, its printing-press, 
 type and papers seized. O'Leary, Luby, Kickham and O'Don- 
 avan Eossa were arrested, and so were many others through 
 the country towns; and special commissions were set up both 
 in Dublin "and C'ork for the trials. O'Donavan Eossa, having 
 been already concerned with the Phoenix Society, was sen- 
 tenced to penal servitude for life; O'Leary, Luby and Kickham 
 to twentv vears, and others to shorter terms of imprisonment. 
 Stephens evaded arrest until November, and a few nights after 
 being lodged in Eichmond prison, he made good his escape. 
 The fact was that some of the prison warders were Fenians, 
 and it was these who opened the prison door for their chief. 
 
 Dislocation of Fenian plans necessarily followed the arrest 
 of the Fenian leaders. Stephens reached America only to find 
 his followers suspicious and distrustful, and in 1866 a section 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 181 
 
 of them, repudiating both him and O'Mahoney, crossed tlie 
 frontier into Canada, and attacked England on American soil. 
 During the war promises of help had been made to them by 
 the United States, angry with England for her sympathy with 
 the Southern States. But these promises were easily forgotten; 
 the laws of neutrality were enforced, and the thousands of Fen- 
 ians hurrying to the frontier were turned back by American 
 arms. The small Fenian force which crossed were soon over- 
 powered by superior numbers, and England rejoiced that all 
 danger was passed. Not, yet, however, for Stephens announced 
 that the blow would be struck in Ireland itself, and during the 
 year 1866. . 
 
 But Stephens never came, and his disgusted followers de- 
 posed him and elected Colonel Kelley their chief, and under his 
 directions the insurrection broke out in Ireland on the 5th of 
 March, 1867. Some collisions with police and soldiers took 
 place at Kilmallock, Tallaght and near Cork, but the rising had 
 no chance of success, for the Government had been forewarned 
 and were amply prepared. Corydon, a Fenian informer who 
 knew much, told all he knew, and in consequence Chester Castle 
 was saved from capture by the Irish in England; General Mas- 
 sy, the military commander, was arrested at Limerick Junction, 
 and the officers, who had come from America, in the steamer 
 Jacknell, had no sooner landed than they were made prisoners. 
 A terrific snowstorm which began on the 5th of March was also 
 lielpful, and showed, not for the first time, that the very ele- 
 ments were aiding England. 
 
 Within the next few months, jails were filled and judges 
 were busy trying prisoners and passing sentences on them. The 
 conduct of the trials was much complained of, and special re- 
 sentment was shown towards Judge Keogli, once a patriot, and 
 then a renegade, and now lecturing prisoners on the iniquity 
 of rebellion. In England there was one case which aroused 
 bitter feelings in Ireland. Colonel Kelly and Captain Deasy, 
 having escaped to England, were arrested at Manchester in 
 September, but a crowd of Fenians attacked the prison van car- 
 rying them, and set them free. In the attack a policeman. Ser- 
 geant Brett, lost his life, and five men — Allen, Lark en, O'Brien, 
 - 'Meagher, Condon and Maguire — were tried on the capital 
 charge, convicted and sentenced to death. Maguire, however, 
 was pardoned, not having been present at all at the attack; 
 Condon, because he was an American citizen, had his sentence 
 commuted to imprisonment for life; the other three were exe- 
 cuted. Certainly they had attacked the prison van, and equally 
 certain it was that thev had not committed murder. 
 
182 THE FAMINE TO 1S70 
 
 But it availed nothing. England was enraged against the 
 Fenians and wonld not be appeased withont blood, and 
 thronghout the trial the animns of witnesses, jury and judges 
 was apparent. As the prisoners stood in the dock, they were 
 manacled; and as they stood on the scaffold, a huge crowd 
 gathered to gloat over their execution. These things moved the 
 whole Irish race to indignation. The Manchester martyrs were 
 at once enrolled among the heroes who had bled for Ireland; 
 their cry of ''God save Ireland" from the dock was taken up 
 and repeated, and the few stirring lines of T. D. Sullivan, end- 
 ing with the refrain, have since become the National Anthem. 
 
 Undeterred by all that had happened, a Fenian in London 
 named Barrett blew up a portion of Clerkenwell prison, killing 
 twelve persons. This was in December, and in that month and 
 in the following. Captain Mackay, with a few followers, made 
 several daring and successful raids for arms in Cork. But he 
 was captured, convicted and sentenced to a term of imprison- 
 ment; and from that date no further efforts were made by the 
 Fenians, and Fenianism ceased to agitate the public mind, 
 which it had agitated so long. 
 
 But I can not bring the story of the Fenian insurrection to 
 a close before telling you of its one glorious episode — the Bat- 
 tle of Eidgeway. By the month of May, 1866, General Roberts, 
 the American Fenian commander, had established a line of 
 depots along the Canadian frontier, and in great part tilled 
 them with the arms and material of war sold to him by the 
 United States government. Towards the close of the month 
 the various "circles" throughout the Union received the com- 
 mand to start their contingents for the frontier. Never, prob- 
 ably, in Irish history, was a call to the field more enthusiastic- 
 ally obeyed. From every State in the Union there was a sim- 
 ultaneous movement northwards of bodies of Irishmen: the 
 most intense excitement pervading the Irish population from 
 Maine to Texas. At this moment, however, the Washington 
 government flung off the mask. A vehement and bitterly- 
 worded proclamation as shameful as it was treacherous in view 
 of the promises made the Fenian organization, called for the 
 instantaneous abandonment of the Irish projects. A powerful 
 military force was marched to the northern frontier; United. 
 States gimboats were posted on the lakes and on the St. Law- 
 rence river; all the arms and war material of the Irish were 
 sought out, seized, and confiscated, and all the arriving con- 
 tingents, on mere suspicion of their destination, were arrested. 
 
 This course of proceeding fell like a thunderbolt on the 
 Irish! It seemed impossible to credit its reality! Despite all 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 183 
 
 those obstacles, however — a British army on one shore, an 
 American army on the other, and hostile cruisers, British and 
 American, guarding the waters between — one small battalion 
 of the Irish under Colonel John O'Neill succeeded in crossing 
 to the Canadian side on the night of the 31st of May, 1866. 
 They landed on British ground close to Fort Erie, whieli place 
 they at once occupied, hauling down the royal ensign of Eng- 
 land, and hoisting over Fort Erie in its stead, amidst a scene 
 of boundless enthusiasm and joy, the Irish standard of green 
 and gold. 
 
 The news that the Irish were across the St. Lawrence — 
 that once more, for the first time for half a century, the green 
 flag waved in the broad sunlight over the serried lines of men 
 in arms for ''the good old cause" — sent the Irish millions in 
 the States into wild excitement. In twenty-four hours fifty 
 thousand volunteers offered for service, ready to march at an 
 hour's notice. But the Washington government stopped all 
 action on the i)art of the Irish organization. Colonel Eoberts, 
 his military chief officer, and other officials, were arrested, and 
 it soon became plain the unexpected intervention of the Ameri- 
 can executive had utterly destroyed, for the time, the Canadian 
 project, and saved to Great Britain her North American col- 
 onies. 
 
 Meanwhile O'Neill and his small force were in the enemy's 
 country — in the midst of their foes. From all parts of Canada 
 troops were hurried forward by rail to crush at once by ovei- 
 whelming force the now isolated Irish battalion. On the morn- 
 ing of the 1st of June, 1866, Colonel Booker, at the head of the 
 combined British force of regular infantry of the line and 
 some volunteer regiments, marched against the invaders. At 
 a place called Limestone Eidge, close by the village of Ridge- 
 way, the advance guard of the British found O'Neill drawn up 
 in position ready for battle. The action forthwith commenced. 
 The Irish skirmishers appeared to fall back slowly before their 
 assailants, a circumstance which caused the Canadian volunteer 
 regiments to conclude hastily that the day was going very eas- 
 ily in their favor. Suddenly, however, the Irish skirmishers 
 halted, and the British, to their dismay, found themselves face 
 to face with the main force of the Irish, posted in a position 
 which evidenced consummate ability on the part of O'Neil. 
 Booker ordered an assault in full force on the Irish position, 
 which was, however, disastrously repulsed. While the British 
 commander was hesitating as to whether he should renew the 
 battle, or wait reinforcements reported to be coming up from 
 Hamilton, his deliberations were cut short by a shout from the 
 
184 THE FAMINE TO 1S70 
 
 Irish lines, and a cry of alarm from his own — the Irish were 
 advancing to a charge. TheV came on with a wild rush and a 
 ringing cheer, bursting through the British ranks. There was 
 a short but desperate struggle, when some one of the Canadian 
 officers, observing an Irish aid-de-camp galloping through a 
 wood close by, thought it was a body of Irish horse, and raised 
 the cry of '' cavalry! cavalry!" Some of the regular regiments 
 made a vain effort to form a square— a fatal blunder, there be- 
 ing no cavalry at hand; others, however, broke into confusion, 
 and took to flight, the general, Booker, it is alleged, being the 
 fleetest of the fugitives. The British rout soon became com- 
 plete, the day was hopelessly lost, and the victorious Irish, with 
 the captured British standards in their hands, stood on Ridge- 
 way heights as proudly as their compeers at Fontenoy — "The 
 field was fought and won." 
 
 O'Neill, on the morrow of his victory, learned with poig- 
 nant feelings that his supi^orts and supplies had been all cut off 
 by the American gun-boats. In his front the enemy were con- 
 centrating in thousands. Behind him rolled the St. Lawrence, 
 cruised by United States war steamers. He was ready to fight 
 the British, but he could not match the combined powers of 
 Britain and America, He saw the enterprise was defeated 
 hopelessly, for this time, by the action of the Washington ex- 
 ecutive, and, feeling that he had truly "done enough for valor," 
 he surrendered to the United State? naval commander. 
 
 Judged by the forces engaged, Ridgeway was an inconsid- 
 erable engagement. Yet the elfect produced by the news in 
 Canada, in the States, in England, and of course, most of all in 
 Ireland, could scarcely have been surpassed by the announce- 
 ment of a second Fontenoy. Irish troops had met the levies of 
 England in pitched battle and defeated them. English colors, 
 trophies of victory, were in the hands of an Irish general. The 
 green flag had come triumphant through the stonn of battle. 
 At home and abroad the Irish saw only these facts, and these 
 appeared to be all-sufficient for national pride. This brief epi- 
 sode at Eidgeway was for the Fenian Irish the one gleam to 
 brighten the page of their history. 
 
 The Fenian Insurrection failed, but it did not fail utterly. 
 Far from it ! For it left Ireland more thoroughly aroused, more 
 thoroughly united, and more firmly determined than ever be- 
 fore to achieve her national independence — by constitutional 
 means if she can, by martial means if she must. And if Ire- 
 land is now on the eve of Home Rule, that glorious achieve- 
 ment is due to this one fact — that Ireland had in ^66 men so 
 brave and so patriotic that for her they laughed to scorn the 
 
JOHN F. O'CONNOR 18 5 
 
 terrors of a British prison and a British gibbet ! For the mem- 
 ory of their bravery, of their imprisonment and of their igno- 
 minious death upon the scaffold has animated the Irish race 
 from the year '66 to this year of our Lord 1914. ''God save 
 Ireland!" prayed they. And from that day to this, ''God save 
 Ireland!" has been the prayer of every Irish Gael and every 
 descendant of an Irish Gael the world over! 
 
 Never till the latest day 
 
 Shall the memory pass away 
 Of the gallant lives thus given for our land; 
 
 But on the cause must go 
 
 Through joy, or weal, or woe, 
 Till we make our isle a nation free and grand. 
 
 "God save Ireland!" say we proudly; 
 
 "God save Ireland!" say we all: 
 
 "Whether on the scaffold high 
 "Or on the battle-field we die, 
 "Oh, what matter, when for Erin dear we fall!" 
 
Edward J. McMahon 
 
 Edward J. McMalion was born in Fitcliburg, Mass., 
 August 25, 1861, the son of Edward McMahon and the 
 late Bridget (O'Keefe) McMahon. With his parents 
 he came to Worcester, Mass., in 1862. He attended 
 the Worcester public scliools and was graduated at the 
 AVorcester Classical High School in 1881. He studied 
 Jaw in the office of Attys. Verry & Gaskill, and at the 
 Boston University Law School, where he received the 
 degree LL.B., upon his graduation in June, 1885. In 
 The same month Mr. McMahon was admitted to the 
 Massachusetts Bar, and has been engaged in the prac- 
 tice of law in Worcester since that time. 
 
 Mr. McMahon represented Ward Five in the Com- 
 mon Council of the City of Worcester during 1889, 
 1890, 1891 and 1892. He was a member of the Board 
 of Aldermen in 1901, 1902 and 1903, a member of the 
 Board of Directors of the Worcester Free Public 
 Library for six years, 1904-1909, and was president of 
 the board in 1909. Mr. McMahon was married to 
 Anastatia M. Power of Worcester, October 5, 1904. 
 
y(7U4-S. 
 
 (y ^Ci^<>c/a^^ 
 
®I|^ S^gj^wratirm nf 3iTlau& 
 
 1S70 — 1914 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD J. McMAHOX 
 
 111 preceding lectures of this course, you considered the his- 
 tory of Ireland from the earliest times to the year 1870. You 
 heard, from the lips of learned and eloquent men, the storj' of 
 the ancient glory of Ireland, of her acceptance of the faith from 
 the glorious apostle, St, Patrick, and of the great part she took 
 in the dissemination of Christianity in every part of the world. 
 You heard of her famous schools and universities, and of their 
 imperishable influence in the preservation of human knowledge. 
 You heard the story of her great tragedy, of the wars, the per- 
 secutions and confiscations, that during long centuries were in- 
 flicted upon her, and of the destruction of her kingdoms, her 
 literature and her prosperity. And you heard too that, in a 
 struggle which has lasted more than seven hundred years, Ire- 
 land has preserved her ancient faith untarnished and her ster- 
 ling nationality unconquered and unconquerable. 
 
 This evening we will turn back the pages of the past and 
 will concern ourselves with the history of present day Ireland, 
 A great revolution has taken place in Ireland since 1870, and 
 by means of it, the Irish people have secured — and are now en- 
 joying — greater economical, religious and political rights, than 
 they have known, as a nation, for more than 300 years. The 
 truth of this proposition is apparent when we consider the fol- 
 lowing facts: 
 
 In 1870 the people of Ireland neither owned the land upon 
 which they lived, nor could they own it; now they own more 
 than half of the land, and presently will own every foot of it. 
 
 In 1870, and the years which followed, Ireland was the most 
 poverty-stricken country in the world; now she is blessed with 
 hope and prosperity. 
 
 In 1870 the Catholic youth of Ireland were denied the 
 
1S8 THE REGENERATION 01- IRELAND 
 
 privilege of higher education; now they possess a university. 
 
 In 1870 the people of Ireland were governed by laws made 
 and administered by British officials; now they make a part of 
 their own laws, and are looking forward, with hope and con- 
 fidence, to the establishment of absolute home rule, in 
 Ireland. 
 
 In our discussion of this most important chapter of Irish 
 history, we will divide the subject matter into these three parts: 
 First, the deplorable condition of Ireland in 1870 and in the 
 years which followed; Second, the forces employed in her strug- 
 gle for existence; and Third, the great transformation that has 
 been accomplished. 
 
 Ireland is about as large in territory as the State of Indi- 
 ana. Although comparatively small in area, she is blessed 
 with an abundance and variety of natural resources. Her soil 
 is most fertile. Her mountains and hills are rich in deposits of 
 coal, iron, tin, lead, copper, building stone, slate and beautiful 
 marbles. She possesses three of the safest and most commodi- 
 ous harbors in Europe. The Shannon, 247 miles in length, is 
 the largest river in the British Islands. The water power of 
 her rivers is capable of unlimited development, and these riv- 
 ers, and her lakes and coast lines, afford most valuable fishing 
 grounds. Her climate is delightful, and the beauty and grand- 
 eur of her scenery, Thackery says, "no pen can describe." And 
 what of the men of Ireland? 
 
 In Ireland you have a race of men proved, by the history of 
 the world, to be brave and able. Go through tlie world and see 
 the industry and ability of Irishmen. In every country, but 
 their own, the Irish race have been industrially successful, have 
 risen to the highest positions, and have shown themselves fitted 
 for the arts of government and of industry. 
 
 Possessing all these advantages, and beloved by her 
 sons more than any other nation on earth was ever beloved, by 
 every law of nature and mankind Ireland should be populous 
 and prosperous, and her people happy and contented. Yet, sad 
 to relate, we find that Ireland, during the early years of the 
 period we are discussing, was the ])oorest and most distressful 
 country in the world, and that her children were flying from her 
 shores as though she had been stricken by a malignant plague. 
 This deplorable condition was due solely to two causes; land- 
 lordism and misgovernment. Let us briefly consider these 
 twin evils which brought so much misery upon the Irish peo- 
 ple. Years and years ago Ireland was an industrial and a com- 
 mercial nation. When the time came, as it did, in the early 
 part of the eighteenth century, that her manufactures and 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 189 
 
 commerce threatened to rival those of England, they were 
 promptly and permanently destroyed by acts of the British 
 parliament which may be found in the record. The destruc- 
 tion of their industries and trade compelled the Irish to look to 
 the land as their only means of support, and, from that day to 
 the present time, they have remained substantially an agricul- 
 tural people. 
 
 It is estimated that the lands of Ireland could support in 
 comfort a population of ten million people. Now all the land 
 in the olden times, before the advent of the English, was owned 
 and possessed absolutely by the people of Ireland. Under the 
 old Brelion laws there was a tribal system of land ownership 
 which not only guaranteed to the tiller of the soil, the right of 
 possession, but also secured for him the fruits of his husbandry. 
 With the imposition of English dominion all this was changed. 
 During the terrible wars that were waged by Henry VIII, Eliz- 
 abeth, James I, Cromwell and William of Orange, for the sub- 
 jugation of Ireland, and the extermination of her people, all of 
 the lands of Ireland were seized and confiscated and then distri- 
 buted as rewards for serA^ice to the soldiers and favorites of 
 the several invaders. The old tribal form of laud-ownership 
 was displaced by the system of feudal tenure which England 
 imposed upon the country. 
 
 In plain words the Irish people were robbed of their lands 
 and the Irish owners of the land were replaced by alien robbers 
 who, in this unrighteous manner, became the progenitors of the 
 race of landlords, whose- control of the lands of Ireland, for 
 more than two hundred years, was one of the greatest evils that 
 ever befel that unhappy country. The cruel exactions of these 
 landlords and the appalling misery inflicted by them upon the 
 prostrate people of Ireland during the two centuries preceding 
 the year 1870, make some of the blackest pages of Irish history, 
 but these are matters which are not within the sco])e of our 
 present inquiry, and it will suffice in dismissing them to quote 
 the unbiased testimony of two eminent authorities, one a 
 Scotchman, and the other an Englishman. 
 
 Mr. T. W. Russell, a Scotchman and a member of the Brit- 
 ish Parliament, says: 
 
 ** These years have been dominated b}^ a land system, 
 which can only be described as systematized and legal robbery 
 of the poor. The governed were, in the main helots and slaves; 
 the governors were, to a large extent, callous and heartless 
 tyrants. England had, unasked and unbidden, taken over the 
 government of Ireland. Where the duty was not shamefully 
 neglected, it was exercised in the interests of a class alone. 
 
190 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 Until Mr. Gladstone arose, no subject people had ever been 
 more basely treated or neglected by a conqueror." 
 And Mr. Froude, the eminent historian, says : 
 ''In Ireland the proprietor was an alien, with the fortunes 
 of the residents upon his estates in his hands and at his mercy. 
 He was divided from them in creed and language; he despised 
 them, as of an inferior race, and he acknowledged no interest 
 in common with them. Had he been allowed to trample on 
 them, and make them his slaves, he would have cared for them, 
 perhaps, as he cared for his horses. But their persons were 
 free, while their farms and houses were his; and thus his only 
 object was to wring out of them the last penu}* which they 
 could pay, leaving them and their children to a life scarcely 
 raised above the level of their own pigs." 
 
 One of the awful consequences of this pernicious system, 
 was the depopulation of Ireland which took lolace during the 
 last half of the 19th century. The population of every other 
 civilized country in the world, in that period, increased. In 
 Ireland it declined. In 1845 Ireland had three times as many 
 people as Scotland, and half as many as England; but in sixty 
 years Ireland lost 4,500,000, and today she has less inhabitants 
 than Scotland and hardly a tenth of the population of the Unit- 
 ed Kingdom. As I have said, the people fled from the land as 
 if it were stricken with a plague. Is there in the world a ]mY- 
 allel to that awful tragedy? They have gone from Ireland in 
 millions and with bitterness in their hearts; and liave carried 
 a sense of their wrongs into every corner of the world. And 
 what was the character of that emigration? Ninety per cent, 
 of those who fled from Ireland were between the ages of ten 
 and forty-five years — the very life blood of the nation. Famine 
 and emigration had reduced the population of Ireland to about 
 four and a half millions in 1870, the year which begins the peri- 
 od we are now discussing. With this great loss of population 
 came another and perhaps greater calamity to the Irish people. 
 "We have seen that the destruction of their commerce and in- 
 dustries obliged them to become an agricultural people; and it 
 is well within the mark to say that, of the population of four 
 and a half millions in 1870, three and a half millions, or seven 
 ninths of the entire people, were dependent upon the land for 
 their means of existence. Now in the old days, ]u-ior to 1830, 
 the landlords permitted the people to occupy practically all of 
 the fertile lands of Ireland upon the single condition that they 
 paid the rent. If they did not, they were evicted; but, gener- 
 ally speaking, in that time, if the ])oor Irish people were able 
 in any way to pay the rent, and all other exactions and fines 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 191 
 
 imposed upon them by the landlords, they were permitted to re- 
 main n23on their farms. In this way most of the farms in Ire- 
 land were held by the same families for many generations. 
 The only interest or sentiment, however, that moved the land- 
 lord in his dealing with the land, or with the people, was the 
 commercial one of profit: and so, when opportnnity came to in- 
 crease his revenue, by transforming the farm lands into large 
 grazing pastures, which he might lease to English speculators, 
 he promptly and mercilessly evicted his old Irish tenants from 
 their holdings. Away back in the early thirties the landlords 
 began to get i;id of their tenants. The famine of '49 gave great 
 impetus to the clearing out, and the enormous demand for cat- 
 tle during the Crimean "War was another thing that turned the 
 landlords toward grazing as more profitable than tenant farm- 
 ing. A landlord, instead of having to collect rents from two 
 hundred or three hundred tenants, found he could let the same 
 land to half a dozen big English grazers. This plan rid him of 
 a lot of trouble and saved him the annoyance of constant agi- 
 tation about excessive rents. So the people were driven out, 
 those who could pay their rents and those who could not. The 
 houses and barns they had built, where their fathers had lived 
 and their children liad been born, passed to the landlord abso- 
 lutely, and there was no law under which the tenant could re- 
 cover a penny for the home stolen from him. A man's father 
 and grandfather, perhaps reclaimed the land years and years 
 before, drained it, fenced it and built the house and barns. At 
 the command of the landlord all the labor of those many years 
 was swept away. 
 
 Houses and barns were flung down, and the stones that had 
 sheltered families for generations, were built into walls around 
 the grazing fields. 
 
 By means of these wholesale evictions, which continued, 
 from time to time to the year 1870, not only the homes of the 
 people were destroyed, but entire villages and districts were 
 obliterated as effectually as though they never had existed. 
 
 ATriting of this period and of the condition of Ireland in 
 the seventies and eighties, T. P. O'Connor says: ''The traveller 
 can pass for miles, and see a country on which not a single hu- 
 man being remains: the frequent ruin speaks of a vanished pop- 
 ulation as effectually scattered as the populations of those en- 
 tombed cities in Italy, the ruins of which today, with such com- 
 pelling silence, tell the tale of tumultuous life reduced to still- 
 ness and death." 
 
 As a result of these great clearances, 12,000,000 acres, or 
 four-fifths of the lands of Ireland, and that the most fertile in 
 
192 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 the country, were transformed into grazing pastures for horses 
 and cattle, and the unfortunate people, who formerly occupied 
 them, were compelled to find homes and sustenance upon the 
 3,000,000 acres of bog, mountain and waste land which the 
 landlords could not otherwise dispose of to their advantage. 
 The horrible inhumanity of this attempted extermination of a 
 people is not paralleled in the history of any other civilized na- 
 tion in the world. Think of it for a moment: 3,500,000, or sev- 
 en-ninths of all the people of Ireland, in the closing half of the 
 enlightened nineteenth century, were driven out from four- 
 fifths of the land, which rightfully belonged to them, and 
 obliged to support themselves, or perish, upon the remaining 
 one-fifth. And that was the condition of the peasantry of Ire- 
 land ,witli reference to land holding in 1870, and until the peri- 
 od of land reform, to which presently we shall refer. Let us 
 now briefly consider the situation of the tenants in their newly 
 acquired holdings; and I am now speaking of their condition 
 in 1870 and the years which immediately followed. The land- 
 lord let the bare soil, perhaps a strip of bog, or a patch on a 
 stony hillside. The tenant then took the bit of land and erected 
 his little -cabin on it. Before he could raise a peck of potatoes 
 he had to prepare the land. He had to clear out the stones, dig 
 drains and build fences. It has been truly said that his first 
 three crops were stones. In other words the Irish peasant had 
 to take the raw materials and actually make his farm with his 
 own hands, and with the most heart-breaking labor, meanwhile, 
 and always, paying the rent. The tenant was never secure in 
 his holding. There was always impending the dark, dread 
 shadow of rackrenting and eviction before his vision. Each 
 landlord employed an agent, whose duty it was to inspect the 
 holdings from time to time, estimate the improvements made 
 by the tenant, and then to raise the rents accordingly. If, for 
 instance, the tenant had agreed to pay $10 a year for his three 
 or four acres of stony land, he was told that, having cleared 
 and drained it, and made the land tenantable, he would have to 
 pay $20. The result was, of course, to discourage thrift. The 
 man who tried to improve liis condition paid dearly for it. An- 
 other form of extortion, employed by the landlords, was the 
 imposition of fines upon the tenants, and in many cases these 
 were levied either wantonly, or for reasons that would be called 
 ridiculous, were it not for the misery which followed them. 
 
 Tims, for example, certain tenants were obliged to perform 
 a number of days ' ' ' duty work ' ' for the landlord — for nothing 
 — during each year of their holding; a tenant, whose son was 
 married, without consulting the landlord's agent, was given an 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 193 
 
 increase in his rent of $25; another tenant had two sons mar- 
 ried and, because he allowed them to live in the onthonse at- 
 tached to his home, his rent was raised $50 per year; in one 
 town there is a record showing that twenty families in that 
 place were fined in a similar manner by the landlord's agent for 
 marriages taking place without his permission. And in Ire- 
 land, in those days, the landlord had a power to enforce his ex- 
 actions — the power of starvation. If the unfortunate tenant 
 could not meet the demand of the agent, no matter how unjust 
 that demand might be, his little home was surrounded by the 
 constabulary, tl^e crow bar brigade did its work and the poor 
 tenant, with his wife and little ones, were flung on the road- 
 side to starve and to die. And even in those cases, where the 
 tenant, with the assistance of occasional remittances froin rela- 
 tives in America, was able to meet the hard demands of the 
 agent, his lot was at best a miserable and most precarious one. 
 Upon this point let me quote the language of the official report 
 of the Department of Agriculture: 
 
 ' ' The people paid a rent for their holding generally not be- 
 cause of its agricultural value, but rather because it was nec- 
 essary to have some home for their family. In a 'good year' 
 many of the inhabitants were little more than free from the 
 dread of hunger, whilst a bad year, arising from the complete 
 or partial failure of their crops, produced a condition of semi- 
 starvation." 
 
 Such was the degree of serfdom to which the people of Ire- 
 land were reduced, by the iniquitous system of land tenure 
 maintained in that unhappy country by English laws, during 
 the first ten years of the period we are now discussing. So 
 much for the land qeustion. 
 
 Another great evil that ^weighed heavily upon the people, 
 during this period, was the* unjust and oppressive system of 
 government that England imposed upon Ireland. You have 
 heard the story of the destruction of the Irish parliament in 
 1800, and of the perfidious means employed by Pitt and his 
 colleagues to accomplish that act of treachery, of which Glad- 
 stone said: '*I know of no blacker or fouler transaction in the 
 history of man than the making of the Union between England 
 and Ireland." You remember, too, the assurances that were 
 given to the Catholics of Ireland, by the British Ministry, that 
 emancipation and perfect equality would be accorded them im- 
 mediately upon the establishment of the Union; and 3'ou know 
 how quickly these assurances were repudiated. Catholic eman- 
 cipation did not come till 1829, and then it was granted only in 
 the presence of a threatened revolution. 
 
194 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 It was not until 40 years later, in 1869, that the Catholics, 
 who numbered four-fifths of the population, were released from 
 the burden of supporting the Protestant establishment in Ire- 
 land. While it is true that, in form and name, the Catholics 
 were granted emancipation in 1829, it is no less true that from 
 the time of the Union until the enactment of the Local Gov- 
 ernment Act in 1898 to which we shall refer later, the great 
 majority of the people of Ireland — more than four-fifths of 
 them — had no more effective influence in matters of Irish legis- 
 lation than the citizens of Massachusetts have in the affairs of 
 Australia. Think of it — the Irish people could not construct a 
 road, build a bridge, erect a public building or engage in any 
 town or municipal enterprise without the sanction of the Brit- 
 ish pai'liament. And worse than that: in all the years of fam- 
 ine, of eviction and of suffering, through which Ireland passed 
 from 1830 to 1881, the British parliament failed to pass even 
 one act for the substantial betterment of the peasantry of that 
 unhappy country. During that period, forty-eight bills, for the 
 relief of the suffering tenants, were introduced in the imperial 
 parliament, and every one of them was rejected. In the same 
 period of fifty years there were enacted forty-eight measures 
 for the coercion and oppression of the people. If England has 
 failed to provide good government for Ireland, she has not 
 failed to exact from that poor country, by means of imjust tax- 
 ation, an amount infuiitely larger than her proportionate share, 
 of the imperial taxes. Some years ago the accusation was made 
 that Ireland was greatly overtaxed, and that accusation became 
 so insistent that, in May, 1894, a royal commission was appoint- 
 ed by the imperial government to investigate the matter. And 
 that' commission found and reported that Ireland was over- 
 taxed to the extent of nearly $15,000,000 ^ year, and that that 
 had gone on for half a century. 
 
 In supi^ort of this statement let me quote from the Satur- 
 day Eeview (Unionist) of July 25, 1896, as follows: "Ten out 
 of the thirteen commissioners agree in that we have taken 
 2,750,000 pounds a year more from Ireland than Ireland ought 
 to have paid. And this fleecing of England's weaker sister has 
 been going on at this rate for something like half a century. 
 According" to the finding of a commission, mainly composed of 
 Englishmen, we owe Ireland considerably over 100,000,000 
 pounds (in our monev about $500,000,000). Had this sum been 
 left in Ireland to fructify it is more than likely that Ireland 
 would never have suffered as she did." 
 
 Another example of English misgovernment in Ireland is 
 found in the matter of education. In preceding lectures you 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 195 
 
 were told of the great schools and universities that made Ire- 
 land the seat of learning and the home of the scholars of Eu- 
 rope, during the glorious age of her independence; and you 
 were told, too, that the suppression of her schools, her language 
 and her literature followed closely upon the destruction of her 
 liberty. It is recorded that Elizabeth appointed commissioners 
 to abolish the Irish schools, destroy their books, scatter their 
 masters and pupils, and to wipe away their remembrance. From 
 that time the way of the Irish scholar was marked by outlawry, 
 starvation and death. The education of the youth of Ireland 
 was made a ^rime. No Irishman was allowed to open a public 
 school or send his children over the sea to study. Irish Catho- 
 lics, so far as the laws were concerned, were left for the next 
 two centuries absolutely illiterate, or with only such teaching 
 as the wandering hedge schoolmaster could bring them. Indeed 
 it was not until 1833 that England provided any sort of a sys- 
 tem of national education; and that system, with some modifi- 
 cations, remained in force until a few years ago. Dr. Whately, 
 the Protestant archbishop of Dublin, was the head of the board 
 that established the present system of national schools in Ire- 
 land, and his avowed policy was to Anglicize the children in 
 the schools, to effect the "consolidation," as he called it, of 
 Great Britain and Ireland. This right reverend, but unpatri- 
 otic Irishman, undertook to revise the reading books used in 
 the schools. In doing so he expunged such verses as Camp- 
 bell's "Downfall of Poland," and Scott's poem containing the 
 lines : 
 
 "Breathes there a man with soul so dead 
 Who never to himself hath said: — 
 This is my own, my native land!" 
 
 and, in their place, he inserted in the books this effusion from 
 his own pen: 
 
 "I thank the goodness and the grace 
 That on my birth have smiled. 
 And made me in these Christian days 
 A happy English child. ' ' 
 
 The tendency of the Board of Education was to denation- 
 alize the little children of the Irish race. Irish history, Irish 
 poetry, the Irish language, and indeed everything Irish were 
 forbidden in the schools until a few years ago, and it was not 
 
196 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 until 1908 that the Catholics of Ireland were accorded the priv- 
 ilege of University training. 
 
 Let me summarize what I have said with reference to the 
 misgovernment of Ireland by England, from the time of the 
 Union to the beginning of the great transformation, that is 
 now taking place in Great Britain and in Ireland, in the words 
 of Mr. Chamberlain, the eminent English statesman. Speaking 
 at West Islington in England, on June 17, 1885, Mr. Chamber- 
 lain, in referring to the existing system of government in Ire- 
 land, said: 
 
 '*I do not believe that the great majority of Englishmen 
 have the slightest conception of the system under which this 
 free nation attempts to rule a sister country. It is a system 
 which is founded on the bayonets of 30,000 soldiers encamped 
 permanently as in a hostile country. It is a system as com^ 
 pletely centralized and bureaucratic as that with which Russia 
 governs Poland, or as that which was common in Venice under 
 Austrian rule. An Irishman at this moment cannot move a 
 step, he cannot lift a finger, in any parochial, municipal or edu- 
 cational work, without being confronted, interfered with, con- 
 trolled by, an English official appointed by a foreign govern- 
 ment, and without the shadow or shade of representative au- 
 thority." 
 
 It must appear conclusively, from the facts which I have 
 stated, and the English authorities which I have cited, that the 
 imjust and oppressive systems of land tenure and civil govern- 
 ment, that were inflicted by England upon Ireland, during the 
 early part of the present period, and for a long time prior to 
 then, were directly responsible for the miserable condition of 
 that unhappy country, and the prostration of her people. I 
 have taken much of your time, this evening, in the considera- 
 tion of those evils of landlordism and misgovernment, which 
 prevailed, so recently in Ireland, in order to show in greater 
 contrast the immeasurable improvements, that already have 
 been accomplished in the matter of land tenure, and the great 
 transformation that presently is to be effected by the estab- 
 lishment of an Irish parliament, for the government of Ireland. 
 
 The year 1879 marked a crisis in the history of Ireland. 
 The potato crop, which may be described as the thin ]3artition 
 which separated large masses of the people from starvation, 
 was bad in the years 1877-78. In 1879 two-thirds of the crop 
 had failed to come to maturity, and, in many parts of the 
 country, had entirely disappeared Thus Ireland again stood 
 face to face with famine. Everywhere there was distress^ and 
 miseiw. Everywhere the landlords were demanding exorbitant 
 
EDWARD J. McMAKON 197 
 
 rent, and, failing to obtain it, were throwing the tenants upon 
 the roadsides; and everywhere, in the minds of the people, 
 loomed up the horrible spectre of '46 and the desolation and 
 death that followed in its wake. Parliament was asked to stay 
 the hand of the landlord, but parliament refused to interfere. 
 
 Then began the greatest struggle in the history of Ireland. 
 It was a struggle which involved the very existence of the Irish 
 nation, and which finally was to determine whether Ireland was 
 to remain the home of an ancient and distinguished race of 
 men, or to be transformed into one vast grazing pasture for 
 cattle. Standing upon a platform, erected upon the site of the 
 cabin, in which he was born, and from which his father had 
 been evicted ^thirty years bef oi'e, in the town of Straide, County 
 Mayo, Michael Davitt, one of the purest Irish patriots that ever 
 lived, denounced the oppression of his country by England as 
 tyranny, and called upon the manhood of Ireland to enroll 
 themselves under the standard of the Land League which he 
 had organized for the defense of their homes and their liberties. 
 Davitt 's sincerity and patriotism aroused the people from one 
 end of Ireland to the other, and, before the close of the year 
 1879, Ireland was, for the fourth time in the century, in the 
 throes of revolution. In all history there is no parallel to the 
 struggle which followed, or to its outcome. 
 
 The demands of the Irish people may be summed up in a 
 single phrase, the abolition of landlordism and the establish- 
 ment of home rule. Opposing these demands, and insisting 
 upon the retention of their feudal rights, were the landlords of 
 Ireland, and the most powerful empire on earth. 
 
 In the presence of such fearful odds, well might the friends 
 of Ireland tremble, when they considered the disastrous effect 
 that was almost certain to follow that unequal combat. Cau- 
 tious men reminded the people of the sad catastrophies of 180.3, 
 1848 and 1865, and implored them to be patient, to wait, and 
 to hope for better conditions; but the time for patience and 
 waiting and hoping was gone. An outraged and a determined 
 people were patient, and waiting and hoping only for the com- 
 ing of some man, of courage and ability, to direct their organ- 
 ization and to lead them to victory. 
 
 Then came the hour and the man. And that man was 
 Charles Stewart Parnell, who was destined, in his own short 
 life, to strike the blow that caused the downfall of feudalism in 
 Ireland, and to lay the corner stone for the establishment of 
 Irish self government. 
 
 Parnell in assuming his leadership, in a great speech, at 
 "Westport, said to the people of Ireland: 
 
198 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 ''Hold your harvests — Hold your lauds, aud remember 
 that God helps him who helps himself." 
 
 Hitherto, wheu the laudlords had seut their process of 
 evictiou, the teuaut had goue out with wife aud childreu though 
 the wife aud childreu might be dyiug, aud the ditch be their 
 only refuge. Here was a uew and a strauge aud a thrilliug gos- 
 l^el; that the farmer should staud by his holdiug aud his houie 
 aud refuse to perish at the bidding of his oppressor. This 
 memorable phrase became the war-cry of the uew Irish revolu- 
 tion, which, in a short time, spread over every part of Ireland. 
 What were the forces available, aud the methods employed by 
 Paruell, in this unprecedented caiiipaign he was about to enter 
 in behalf of his countrymen? 
 
 First, Paruell had at his back the united support of every 
 man, woman aud child in Ireland, who gave to him their un- 
 questioning and unswerving allegiance. To be sure they were 
 without arms in their hands, but that did not matter. They were 
 told by him to hold their lands, aud they knew how to hold 
 them and how to refuse payment of the rent. In addition they 
 had indomitable resolution in their hearts. That was enough. 
 
 Second, Paruell had the sympathy, publicly and freely ex- 
 pressed, of the civilized world. One instance of this took place 
 in Washington, D. C, on February 2, 1880, when, by resolution 
 of the House, he was accorded the unusual honor of addressing 
 the representatives of the American i3eople, on the distress of 
 his country. 
 
 Third, Paruell had, in the Irish parliamentary party, an 
 army made, disciplined aud led by an incomparable general. 
 
 It was of this party that Gladstone said: "Paruell had a 
 most efficient party, an extraordinary party. I do not say ex- 
 traordinary as an opposition, but extraordinary as a govern- 
 ment. The absolute obedience, the strict discipline, the military 
 discipline, in which he held them was unlike anything I have 
 ever seen. They were always there, they were always ready, 
 they were always united, aud Paruell was supreme all the 
 time. ' ' 
 
 Now, keeping in mind that the object of this campaign 
 was to abolish landlordism aud to secure self government, what 
 were the methods employed by Paruell ? Physical force f No — ■ 
 that door was closed and to open it meant the suicide of a na- 
 tion. 
 
 The methods used by Pamell were unicpie, and unparalleled 
 in the history of political warfare, and may be stated in two 
 words, Abste'ution and Obstruction. Paruell believed that if 
 he could compel England to give her attention to Ireland, and 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 193 
 
 to nothing else, lie would succeed, and he proposed to do this 
 by the forces of abstention and obstruction. Abstention meant 
 passive resistance. It meant that the tenants should keep a 
 firm grip on their holdings, and that landlords, who evicted 
 them, and land-grabbers, who took their farms, should be let 
 alone. And what an awful significance was attached in Par- 
 nell's time, in those simple words, "let him alone.". Speaking 
 at a mass meeting in Ennis, on September 19, 1880, Parnell 
 said to the people: "When a man takes a farm from which 
 another has been evicted, you must show him on the roadside 
 when you meet him, you must show him in the streets of the 
 town, you must show him at the shop counter, you must show 
 him in the faif and in the market place, by leaving him severely 
 alone, by isolating him from his kind as if he was a leper of old 
 — you must show him your detestation of the crime he has com- 
 mitted, and you may depend upon it that there will be no man 
 so full of avarice,, so lost to shame, as to dare the public opinion 
 of all right thinking men, and to transgress your unwritten 
 code of laws." From this time the doctrine of boycotting, as it 
 afterwards came to be called, from the name of a land agent, 
 Captain Boycott, was accepted with popular enthusiasm, and 
 measured out freely, by the people, to the offending landlord 
 and land grabber. Without threat or violence, without doing 
 the slightest injury to any of his legal rights, they left him in 
 such absolute isolation that the fate of the leper was happiness, 
 compared with his. He was "let alone." 
 
 Social ostracism or boycotting, as it was called in land 
 league days, did not originate in Ireland. It has been resorted 
 to in divers forms and innumerable causes in all civilized coun- 
 tries. As far back as the month of March, 1770, it was re- 
 morselessly used by the people of the colony of Massachusetts, 
 in the case of traders who persisted in importing tea from Eng- 
 land, against the protest of the colonists. Various instances of 
 this form of boycotting are reported in the "Boston Gazette 
 and Country Journal" of Monday, March 12, 1770. 
 
 In marked contrast with the passive character of absten- 
 tion, Parnell's policy of obstruction was full of dramatic action. 
 It was outlined in his declaration that, so long as England re- 
 fused to allow Ireland to have a parliament of her own, Irish- 
 men must see that parliamentary government was made im- 
 practicable and impossible in England. 
 
 By means of long speeches, questions and debates, he pro- 
 posed to prevent parliament doing any work, until it consented 
 to listen to the imperative needs of Ireland. English statesmen 
 for a long time had turned a deaf ear to Ireland's claim for 
 
200 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 justice, and lie would make them listen. The unwritten laws 
 and traditions of the House of Commons were all opposed to 
 this procedure, but Parnell speedily found, in the written rules 
 and orders, of the House, ample authority which permitted him 
 to obstruct public business and to bring the parliamentary ma- 
 chine to a standstill. 
 
 With this weapon at their command, Parnell and the Irish 
 party began blocking every bill brought in by the government; 
 nothing was too large or too small a question for discussion. 
 Night after night they talked, and talked by the hour, upon ev- 
 ery subject that arose. On one memorable night, Mr. Joseph 
 Bigger, a member from Cavan, talked four hours. In describ- 
 ing this event Mr. Redmond, the present leader of the Irish 
 party, says: ''At first, members indulged in the usual inter- 
 ruptions, and seeing that Mr. Bigger rather welcomed them as 
 affording him a pleasant rest, they adopted another plan to 
 discourage him and left the house in a body. Looking in an 
 hour later, they found him still on his legs, reading long ex- 
 tracts from blue books to em]3ty benches. An hour later he 
 was still talking. x\fter a while the Speaker of the House at- 
 tempted to cut him short. There is a rule that every member 
 must make himself audible to the chair, and Mr. Bigger 's voice 
 had grown weak and husky. 'The Honorable Member is not 
 making himself audible to the chair,' said the Speaker. 'That 
 is because I am too far away from you, sir,' said Mr. Bigger, 
 who immediately gathered his books and papers, walked sol- 
 emnly up the floor of the House and took a position within a 
 yard of the chair. 'As you have not heard me, Mr. Speaker,' 
 said Mr. Bigger, 'I will begin all over again,' " Time and 
 time again, Mr. Parnell, Mr. Bigger and other members of the 
 Irish party were suspended" and removed from the floor of the 
 House. Their places were taken by others who talked and de- 
 bated and questioned, till the night was gone, and no business 
 could be done. In this way the dignified House of Commons 
 soon became a place of unbroken turbulence and disorder. Dur- 
 ing this period of obstruction, Parnell was the most hated man 
 in England, ^^"lienever he arose to address the House he was 
 greeted with howls and roars of execration from exasperated 
 members. In the press and on the streets, he was denounced 
 as a tyrant, a dictator and a traitor. And yet, only a few years 
 were "to pass, and this same Parnell was to be proclaimed the 
 most popular man in London, by those same Englishmen, in the 
 press, upon the highways, and upon the floor of the House of 
 Commons. Let us anticipate a little, at this point, to tell this 
 story, in the words of Mr. Redmond : 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 201 
 
 ' ' It was on the first of March, 1889. The conspiracy of the 
 London Times and Piggott, the Irish forger, to rnin Parnell by 
 means of forged letters implicating him" in the Phoenix Park 
 mm-der had just broken down. For many months this terrible 
 accusation, made with all the autliority of the greatest news- 
 paper in England, had hung over Mr. Parnell's head. The 
 most skilled experts in handwriting had sworn positively that 
 his was the hand which had penned the damning letters. Belief 
 in his guilt was almost universal in England, and now suddenly 
 the forger had the truth wrung from his li])s, in the witness 
 chair, and had fled the country to find a few hours afterwards 
 an end to his miserable life by suicide. The reaction in Mr. 
 Parnell's favor was instantaneous and complete. On leaving 
 the cramped and clammy room in the Law Courts, where the 
 long hearings had been held, he was escorted through the 
 streets of London by cheering thousands of Englishmen, and, 
 on his arrival at the House of Commons, he was cheered and 
 cheered again, in the lobb-y and upon the floor of the House, by 
 Englishmen of every political persuasion." 
 
 Time will not permit us to dwell further upon the story of 
 the battles and clashes and conflicts that took place between the 
 forces of constituted authority and the forces of Parnell, in Ire- 
 land and upon the floor of the House of Commons, during the 
 early years of this great revolutionary period. It is enough 
 that in the year 1881, Gladstone, the prime minister of England, 
 and the first statesman of the world in his time, generously 
 acknowledged the justice of the demands of Ireland, and not 
 only brought to the aid of the Irish cause the weight of his 
 own magnificent ability, but also secured for it the enduring 
 sympathy and support of the newly enlightened democracy of 
 England. Neither have we the time this evening to pay ade- 
 quate tribute to the sublime genius of that brilliant young lead- 
 er of the Irish people, Charles Stewart Parnell, whose love for 
 his country, whose sacrifices in her behalf and whose incom- 
 parable leadership in her battles have secured for him the 
 everlasting gratitude of liis countrymen and an imperishable 
 place among the national heroes of his country. 
 
 The regeneration of Ireland began with the enactment of 
 Gladstone's celebrated land act of 1881, which completely revo- 
 lutionized the system of land tenure upheld in Ireland for over 
 two hundred years. But the land act of 1881 did not settle the 
 Irish question. The struggle, for the reformation of the laud 
 laws and the government of Ireland, was to go on for more than 
 thirty years. Victory after victory was to be won. Parnell and 
 Gladstone were to pass away, but Ireland's progress was not to 
 
202 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 be halted. And now the master statesmen, who are leading, re- 
 spectively, the forces of Ireland, and of England, to a trinmph- 
 ant conchision of this most remarkable revolution, are John E. 
 Redmond, the wise, eloquent and fearless chairman of the Irish 
 parliamentary party, and Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister of 
 England, who has staked his political career upon the question 
 of the establishment of the nationhood of Ireland. Let us now 
 survey the victories that have been won for Ireland, b}^ the 
 Irish Parliamentary party, during the past thirty years, and 
 the prospects for the future. 
 
 In the first place, landlordism has been abolished forever 
 in Ireland; rackrenting, eviction and extermination are gone, 
 gone never to come back to Ireland; the evicted tenants, who 
 have survived the battle, have been restored to their home- 
 steads; by virtue of the various land purchase acts, England 
 has loaned the imperial credit, to the amount of one billion dol- 
 lars, to the farmers of Ireland, for the purchase by them of the 
 lands of Ireland; more than half the soil of Ireland, formerly 
 held by 750 Irish landlords, has already passed into the absolute 
 ownership of more than 300,000 Irish peasant proprietors, and 
 the purchase of the remaining part ha'^been made possible; 
 tenants in towns and cities have been given the right by law 
 to compensation for good will and betterment, a privilege not 
 known in the United States; nearly 100,000 modern cottages, 
 which rent for a shilling a week, have been erected for the use 
 of agricultural laborers; three and one-half million dollars are 
 distributed each year to the dependent old people of Ireland, in 
 the form of old age pensions; great improvements have been 
 made in the educational system, the Gaelic language and Irish 
 history are now taught in the elementary schools, and there 
 has been established a national university for the higher educa- 
 tion of the Catholic youth of the country; and, since the Local 
 Government Act of 1898, all the powers of local government, in 
 district, urban, and county affairs, have been vested in the 
 Irish people. This Act of 1898 has made home rule inevitable. 
 
 In 1886, Gladstone introduced his first home rule bill, but 
 it was defeated in the House of Commons. In 1893 he intro- 
 duced another home rule bill, and carried it through the House 
 of Commons. It was summarily rejected by the House of 
 Lords. 
 
 There was a general election in December, 1910, in which 
 the one great issue was the question of home rule, and the ver- 
 dict of the electorate of Great Britain and Ireland was over- 
 whelmingly in favor of granting self government to Ireland. 
 The liberal party was returned to power with a combined ma- 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 20 3- 
 
 jority of 1:24. After this magnificent endorsement of Ireland's 
 demand, there remained but one obstacle, in the British gov- 
 ernment, to the granting of home rule. The House of Lords 
 has opposed every measure of relief for the benefit of the people 
 of Ireland, that has been introduced, in Parliament, during the 
 past century. It killed the home rule bill in 1893 without the 
 slightest consideration, and, so long as it retained its power of 
 veto, the cause of home rule, in Ireland, was hopeless. The 
 greatest achievement of the Irish party — and indeed of any 
 political party in the history of England — was the amendment 
 to the English constitution, which was effected by the ''Parlia- 
 ment Act" of 1911. B}' that act the veto of the House of Lords 
 has been abolished, and the power of hereditarj^ rule to over- 
 ride the will of the people is gone forever. Now, under the law, 
 any measure, which has passed the House of Commons three 
 times, within two years after its first introduction becomes a 
 law, notwithstanding the opposition of the Lords, providing it 
 receives the royal assent. With the destruction of the power 
 of the House of Lords, the way was cleared for action, and in 
 1912, Mr. Asquith introduced his now famous home rule bill, 
 which is destined to give to Ireland the only real measure of 
 national self-government she has possessed in more than 300 
 years. This fact is apparent when we contrast the jurisdiction 
 conferred by it, upon an Irish parliament, with that possessed 
 by the parliaments of Ireland, from the time of James I, 1603, 
 when the English conquest of Ireland was completed, to the 
 time of the LTnion in 1800, when the parliament of Ireland was 
 destroyed. The only power possessed by the Irish parliaments, 
 from 1603 to 1782, was to record the will of the reigning sover- 
 eign, whose authority over every part of Ireland during that 
 period, was substantially that of an absolute monarch. Grat- 
 tan's parliament, which lasted from 1782 till the Union in 1800, 
 is sometimes referred to as an independent parliament. It is 
 true that Grattan's parliament did great things for Ireland, 
 but it was independent only in theory. In fact and in practice 
 it was dependent and impotent. Xo measure passed by that 
 parliament could become a law until it had passed King and 
 Council in England; and the executive of Grattan's parliament 
 was responsible, not to the parliament of Ireland, but to the 
 parliament of England. Indeed Grattan's parliament was in 
 no sense of the word a representative Irish parliament, for the 
 reason that the Catholics of Ireland, who then numbered four- 
 fifths of the population, were not only excluded by law from 
 membership in it, but also were denied the privilege of the fran- 
 chise in parliamentary elections. 
 
204 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 And now let us consider the measure of national self-gov- 
 'ernment conferred ui)on Ireland by the Asquitli home rule bill. 
 
 In the first place it abolishes the government of Ireland by 
 Dublin Castle, and substitutes for that the government of Ire- 
 land by the Irish people. As Mr. Redmond said, at the national 
 convention in Dublin two years ago: "Dublin Castle, with all 
 its evil and blood-stained tradition, disappears. That horrible 
 system — anti-Irish, unrepresentative, centralized, bureaucratic, 
 which has misgoverned, tortured, and ruined Ireland, crumples 
 instantly into dust, and a new Irish Executive will control every 
 Irish board and every Irish department." 
 
 The home rule bill removes all existing religious and polit- 
 ical disabilities, and provides for absolute freedom and equal- 
 ity in the matter of religious worship. It establishes, for the 
 government of Ireland, an Irish parliament consisting of two 
 houses, namely, the Irish Senate, composed of forty nominated 
 senators, and an Irish House of Commons, comi)osed of one 
 hundred and sixty-four elected members. The executive de- 
 partment will consist of Irish ministers, dependent upon the 
 confidence of the Irish House of Commons. The first senators 
 will be nominated by the government in power in the British 
 parliament, when the bill is enacted into law, presumably the 
 ,\squitli government. Later, these senatorial nominations will 
 <^ome from the Irish ministers. Senators will hold office for 
 eight years. Members of the Irish House of Commons will be 
 elected by the Irish people and may hold office for five years. 
 This nominated senate will have no power either to amend or 
 reject any money bill. It may reject an ordinary bill twice, but, 
 after the second rejection of a bill, the two houses will meet to- 
 gether and the bill will then pass if it has a majority in the 
 joint convention. The Irish parliament will have jurisdiction, 
 subject only to certain matters which are reserved with quali- 
 fication, of every purely Irish matter and of all public service 
 in connection with the administration of the civil government 
 of Ireland. These departments will immediately come under 
 the control of the Irish parliament ; public works and buildings, 
 rates on government property, railways, roads and bridges, de- 
 partment of agriculture, congested districts board, local govern- 
 ment boards, valuation office, law and justice department, the 
 supreme court, county courts, the Dublin metropolitan police, 
 prisons, reformatory and industrial schools, education, univer- 
 sities, colleges, charities, the Irish Postoffice, and finally, in 
 the words of the bill, "the Irish parliament shall have power 
 to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of 
 Ireland." There are certain services which are reserved for 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 20 o 
 
 the Imperial Parliament. ^Most of them, however, will come 
 under the control of the Irish parliament within a few years. 
 Services that are temporarily reserved are: 
 
 (a) The general subject matter of the acts relating to 
 land purchase in Ireland, the old age pension acts, the national 
 insurance act, and the labor exchange act. (b) The collection 
 of taxes, (c) The royal Irish constabulary, (d) Postoffice 
 savings banks. Trustee savings banks and Friendly Societies; 
 and (e) Public loans made in Ireland before the passing of this 
 act. 
 
 Of these five reserved matters, the royal Irish constabulary 
 will automatically become an Irish service and will be under 
 the control of the Irish parliament at the end of six years, and 
 each one of the others, will pass to the Irish parliament within 
 a short time, in compliance with express provision for the 
 transfer of jurisdiction, contained in the present bill. The only 
 matters, reserved exclusively to the imperial parliament, are 
 matters directly affecting the Crown, such as the making of 
 war and peace, the army and navy, treaties and foreign rela- 
 tions, dignities, coinage, trademarks, patents and naturaliza- 
 tion. For a time the Imperial Government will collect all taxes 
 in Ireland and also all the tenant purchasers annual ]:)ayments. 
 This provision for the collection of the taxes is required for the 
 reason that the Imperial Government has loaned its credit to 
 the amount of nearly one billion dollars, to the tenant farmers 
 of Ireland, for the purchase of their farm lands from the land- 
 lords, under the various land purchase acts. If the tenant pur- 
 chasers fail to make their annual payments, the loss will be met 
 by deduction from the tax revenue, which otherwise would all 
 be handed back to the Irish government. 
 
 After these losses have been adjusted — and it is estimated 
 that they will be small in number and in amount — every penny 
 of Irish taxation, no matter from what source obtained, direct 
 or indirect, customs or income tax, is to be transferred to the 
 Irish exchequer to be expended on Ireland by the Irish govern- 
 ment. When land purchase agreements are com])leted and 
 when Irish revenue exceeds Irish expenditure, the bill provides 
 a means whereby Ireland will collect her own taxes, and until 
 that time comes Ireland will not be required to make any con- 
 tribution to the imperial exchequer for imperial expenses. By 
 far the most important financial clause in the new home rule 
 bill is that which requires that England, in addition to the 
 amount of Irish taxes collected by her, shall also pay over to 
 Ireland annually, for an indefinite number of years, a sum near- 
 ly equal to ten millions of dollars, in our money. And this pa}- 
 
206 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 jnent is not to be a loan from England to Ireland, which, at 
 some future time, will have to be repaid; neither is it a gift. 
 It is an act of justice. It is a restitution of a small part of the 
 one hundred and fifty million pounds which poor depressed Ire- 
 land was overtaxed by her rich and prosperous sister England 
 during the fifty years preceding 1894, as expressly found by 
 the royal commission in 1895 to which we have already referred. 
 Such in brief is a summary of the home rule bill. It does 
 not provide, it is true, for the absolute separation of Ireland 
 from England. No sane man will contend that Ireland today 
 is in a position to demand and achieve her absolute independ- 
 ence against the will of England. That being the case the ques- 
 tion naturally arises, is the proposed home rule bill an accepta- 
 ble measure? Well, the best judges of that are the people to 
 l)e directly affected by it, not tlie Irish race in other portions of 
 the world, but the Irish people at home in Ireland. And what 
 do they say about itf The eighty-four men who represent the 
 heart of national Ireland, in the Irish parliamentary party, 
 voted unanimously for the acceptance of the bill. A convention 
 assembled in Dublin, larger and more marvelous in its enthusi- 
 asm and unanimity than any other assembly that ever came to- 
 gether on Irish soil, having considered carefully and wisely the 
 conditions and circumstances, in which Ireland is now situated, 
 declared that "the home rule bill is acceptable" and directed 
 its representatives to convex' that message to the British ])ar- 
 liament. On the 19tli of July, 1912, Mr. Asquith, the Prime 
 Minister of England, public and officially visited Ireland. In 
 Dublin he addressed the largest gathering of Irish men and 
 women that has assembled in Ireland since the monster meet- 
 ings of 'Connell at Tara. This immense mass of people, num- 
 laering more than 100,000, filled 'Connell Street, the broadest 
 street in Ireland, from Parnell statue to Nelson's Pillar. In 
 that great assemblage were the official representatives of every 
 town, city and county in Ireland, excepting only a very small 
 part of the country to which we shall presently refer. In his 
 -speech Mr. Asquith said, in plain and express words, that Ire- 
 land is a nation and that as a nation, Ireland is entitled to the 
 inalienable right of self-government, and believing this he 
 solemnly and unreservedly pledged himself and the great de- 
 mocracy of England, which he represented, to carry through 
 to a successful end the home rule bill, for the government of 
 Ireland, which he had presented to the British parliament. 
 This pronouncement of the Prime Minister was received with 
 the greatest enthusiasm. One hundred thousand hearty Irish 
 welc^omes and 100,000 lusty Irish cheers proclaimed to him the 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 207 
 
 gratitude of the Irish people and the unanimity with which his 
 proposition for the self-government of Ireland was accepted. 
 Since the introduction of the home rule bill, and just subse- 
 quent to the Asquith meeting in Dublin, I visited many parts 
 of Ireland and talked with many people, with reference to this 
 great absorbing topic of the hour in that country; and I can 
 state, from personal observation, that, with the exception of a 
 .small corner in the northeast portion of Ireland, every class, 
 creed and section, of the Irish people, are absolutely united 
 upon the acceptance now of the home rule bill. 
 
 The only body of Irishmen, in any part of the country, 
 that protests against the adoption of the bill, is a band of fan- 
 atical Orangemen in the north of Ireland. These Orangemen 
 say, "Ulster does not want, and will not have, home rule, and, 
 if the nationalists succeed in obtaining it, we will fight. ' ' 
 
 A consideration, however, of the situation in Ulster will 
 prove that this manifesto of the Orangemen is essentially wrong 
 in three very important particulars, for it' will appear that a 
 majority of the people of Ulster do want home rule; that, when 
 liome rule comes, the Orangemen must and will accept it, and 
 that they will not fight. Now what are the facts about the senti- 
 ment of the Province of Ulster on the home rule question? The 
 population of Ulster is very nearly eventy divided between 
 Catholics and Protestants. There are no Catholic Orangemen. 
 All the Catholics, to a man, in Ulster, are home rulers. It is 
 estimated by Protestant home rule members of parliament from 
 Ulster — men who knew — that more than ten per cent of the 
 Protestants of that Province are home rulers. There are nine 
 counties in Ulster. In five of them — Cavan, Donegal, Ferman- 
 agh, Monaghan and Tyrone — the Catholics are in a large ma- 
 jority, and in the remaining four — Antrim, Armagh, Down and 
 Londonderry— the Catholics constitute a substantial minority. 
 Each one of the nine counties sends at least one home rule mem- 
 T3er to parliament, and of the thirty-three members, to which 
 Ulster is entitled, seventeen are now home rulers and sixteen 
 are unionists. The most prosperous industry in Ulster— in fact 
 in Ireland — and one of the largest em])loyers of labor in the 
 whole United Kingdom, is the great shipbuilding firm of Har- 
 land and Wollf. This firm employs 16,000 workmen in Belfast 
 and pays to them $150,000 a week. The head of this great con- 
 cern, which means so much to Belfast, is Lord Pirrie. And no 
 man in Ulster knows better than Lord Pirrie the needs of Ire- 
 land, and the effect that home rule would have u])on the social, 
 economic and political condition of his country. There is no 
 more ardent supporter of home rule in all of Ireland than this 
 
208 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 same Lord Pirrie. Indeed, it may be said that the present 
 home rule movement had its birth in Ulster, where it was 
 brought into existence and nourished b}^ those two noble and 
 patriotic Irish Ulster Protestants, Isaac Butt and Joseph Big- 
 ger. And today the principal city in the Province, Belfast, is 
 represented in parliament by that brilliant young leader of his 
 people, Joseph Devlin. I submit, therefore, that the claim of 
 the Orangement that Ulster is opposed to home rule, is abso- 
 lutely wrong and without foundation. Now as to the other 
 claim of the Orange forces, namely, that, in the; event of home 
 rule Ulster will fight, we will find upon an inspection of the 
 record that that claim is equally without foundation. "There 
 is no terror," Ulster, "in 3^our threats." Ulster will bluster, 
 but Ulster will not fight. The same old threats of civil war are 
 the political stock-in-trade of the Orange lodges. There is 
 nothing novel about them. On every occasion, in the past hun- 
 dred years, when concession of any sort was to be given to the 
 Catholics of Ireland, the record shows that the fearless Orange- 
 men were threatening to sacrifice even their lives, if necessary, 
 in defense of that noble principle, religious inequality, in Ire- 
 land. Thus in 1829, when O'Connell won his great victory of 
 Catholic emancipation, there were all sorts of declarations that 
 "the blood of the papists would be shed like water, and that the 
 Orangemen would die rather than consent to this compact with 
 Satan," and one of the leading Orange lights of the time ex- 
 pressed himself upon the subject, in the following choice quat- 
 rain: 
 
 "Surrender! — no, we never will 
 While Brunswickers have blood to spill; 
 Our cause is glorious, and for that we'll fight 
 For George's title and for William's right." 
 
 Again in 1868, when Gladstone was determined to ])ut an 
 end to that iniquitous system of tithes, which reciuired the Cath- 
 olics of Ireland to pay for the support of the Protestant minis- 
 try, by the disestablishment of the Irish church, the watchful 
 warriors were awake and were willing again to die, if needs be, 
 to prevent their Catholic fellow countrymen from enjoying re- 
 ligious freedom. 
 
 Listen to this specimen of heroism from a speech delivered 
 in Portadovru in May, 1868, by Thomas Ellis: "We will fight- 
 hay, if needs be, we will die — die as our fathers died before us, 
 as our sons will die who succeed us. Yes, we will die; and this 
 will be our dving crv — echoed and re-echoed from earth to 
 
:BDWARD J. McMAHON 209 
 
 heaven aud from one end of Ulster to the other — No Popery! 
 No Surrender. ' ' And in order not to be outdone by their brave 
 ancestors of O'Connell's time, one of the patriots, a Mr. Ma^ 
 ginnis, dropped into poetry to the extent of these inspiring 
 lines : 
 
 ''Our bosoms we'll bare to the glaring strife, 
 
 Our vows are recorded on high; 
 To prevail in the cause is dearer than life, 
 
 Or crushed in its ruins to die." 
 
 i 
 
 AVell, Catholic emancipation became a law in 1829, and the 
 disestablishment of the Irish church was completed forty 
 years later, and there was no civil war, and it is recorded that 
 all of these poor men, who were so anxious to bare their breasts 
 and die in the last ditch as martyrs in the Orange cause, were 
 hapiuly content, in the end, to forego that questionable priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 But it would seem that the fact that their brave words 
 about fighting and dying, were spoken only in a Pickwickian 
 sense, is not yet appreciated by some of the present day hard 
 headed sons of Ulster, for we find one of them declaring only 
 a few months ago his belief that his followers "would march 
 from Belfast to Cork, and take the consequences, ' ' and another 
 stating, at a public meeting, that the Orangemen ''would try 
 and fight their corner, and die up against the wall if necessary." 
 It is perfectly obvious that all this talk about fighting and dy- 
 ing is the veriest nonsense. Your boasting Orangeman is not 
 going to commit suicide. But there are others in Ulster who 
 are now making a diifereut threat. They are saying that, in 
 the event of the establishment of an Irish parliament, the Or- 
 angemen will not recognize it, and will not pay taxes to, or for 
 the new Irish government. A little serious reflection, however, 
 on their part will forbid the execution of any such ridiculous 
 threat. No doubt the Orangemen would joyfully hurl defiance at 
 the Irish parliament, and would refuse to pay a penny into the 
 Irish treasury, were it not for the simple reason that by doing 
 so they would work the immediate destritction of Ulster pros- 
 perity. See what would happen if those people were to refuse 
 recognition of the established government in Ireland. Their 
 ports would be closed to commerce. They could not use the 
 mail service, for to buy postage stamps, from the Irish Post- 
 office, would be not only to recognize that institution, but to 
 contribute to the revenue of the Irish government; and the 
 same would be true of the telegraph and telephone service, both 
 
210 THE REGENERATION OF IRELAND 
 
 of which will be under the control of the Irish Postoffice. No 
 courts would be open to them for the adjustment of their legal 
 affairs, and, in addition to many other sacritiees, they would 
 have to cease drinking tea, coft'ee, beer and spirits, and even 
 deny themselves the consolation of an occasional ])ipe of to- 
 bacco, for all of these articles would be taxed by the Irish gov- 
 ernment. No, there is no danger to be apprehended from that 
 threat. 
 
 The latest proposition for the settlement of the Orange 
 question is that Ulster be set apart from the rest of Ireland, 
 that there be a ]^artition of Ireland and that, instead of one na- 
 tion, there shall be two nations in Ireland. This pro})osal clear- 
 ly indicates the extreme of Orange bigotry and intolerance. It 
 means that Orangemen would viciously destroy the entity, and 
 even the very existence of Ireland, rather than fraternize with 
 their Catholic fellow'-countrymen. But the nationhood of Ire- 
 land, which has existed for more than 3,000 years, and which 
 has survived the wars, the ])ersecutions, the famines and the 
 devastations of seven centuries, is not now going to surrender 
 its ancient birthright, and sink into disgraceful oblivion, mere- 
 ly to propitiate the fanatical bigotry of the Orangemen of Ul- 
 ster. The reply of the Irish party to all these unpatriotic pro- 
 posals was made by Mr. John Redmond, in his great Limerick 
 speech, in which he said, "This two nation theory is to us an 
 abomination and a blasphemy. Ulster is as much a part of Ire- 
 land as Munster. AVe know, in our idea of the Irish nation, no 
 district, no county, no province, we know no race, no 
 creed, no class. Ireland and all Ireland for the Irish. 
 Ireland emancipated, Ireland united, Ireland indivisible — these 
 are our unchanged and unchangeable ideals — and let me say, 
 in reverence and seriousness, we ought reverently thank God 
 that we have lived to see the day, when those ideals are about 
 to be realized." And the reply of Mr. Asquith, the i>rime min- 
 ister of England, was made in these words, spoken by him in 
 December last: "The government is determined to give home 
 rule to Ireland, and is not going to ])e frightened or stopped by 
 menaces of civil war. The home rule bill shall go through as it 
 now stands." With the exception of the act for the abolition 
 of slavery in America, no legislative measure for the relief of 
 an afflicted people, in modern history, has ever been hailed with 
 such po}:)ular and universal satisfaction, as that accorded to the 
 home rule bill, which Mr. Asquith, in obedience to the express 
 mandate of the i:)eople of Ireland, England. Scotland and 
 Wales, introduced in the British parliament two years ago. 
 The bill was passed for the first time, in the House of Commons, 
 
EDWARD J. McMAHON 211 
 
 in January, 1913. It was rejected by the Lords. It was passed 
 for the second time, in the House of Commons, in June of the 
 same year, and was again rejected by the Lords. It will be 
 passed a third time, in the House of Commons, early in the 
 session, which convenes on the tenth day of this month; and 
 before the expiration of the present year, despite the ravings 
 of Orangemen and the opposition of Lords, an Irish parliament, 
 for the government of Ireland, by Irishmen, will be established 
 in the capital city of Ireland. 
 
 A single word, and I am done. 
 
 What effect, you may ask, have aU these land and govern- 
 mental reforms produced in Ireland! 
 
 My friends, I can assure you that already they have 
 brought a greater degree of prosperity to Ireland than she has 
 known in a century. Go where you will today in Ireland, make 
 any sort of an investigation you desire, and everywhere you 
 will find evidence of the great transformation that has taken 
 place in the social, economic, and political condition of the 
 people. Let me submit two citations from the latest official re- 
 port, in support of this statement. 
 
 For half a century the population of Ireland has been de- 
 creasing at the terrible rate of 40,000 annually. Last year, for 
 the first time in 60 years, this awful drain upon the life blood 
 of the country was stopped, and the population showed an in- 
 crease of 1102. In 1881 the number of depositors in Irish sav- 
 ings banks was 150,097; last year the number was 698,452, an 
 increase of nearly 550,000, In 1881 there was deposited in 
 Irish savings banks $19,010,505; last year the amount was 
 $78,000,000, an increase of nearly $60,000,000. Again, in the 
 twelve months ending June 30, 1913, there was an increase of 
 deposits in Irish joint stock banks of $11,960,000, and the total 
 deposits, in the Irish banks, was the largest ever record- 
 ed. 
 
 Yes, my friends, the entire face of the country is being 
 changed; the wrongs of centuries are being righted; and today, 
 with her faith in God unshaken, and her spirit of nationality 
 unbroken, Ireland turns to a future that promises to keep her 
 children at home, and to bring to them and their mother- 
 land the blessings of continued peace, prosperity and hap- 
 piness. 
 
 And in her hour of triumph, when, with her, the whole 
 world rejoices, may not we, the sons and daughters of her ex- 
 iled children, offer to the dear old motherland our earnest fe- 
 licitations, and sav to her, in the words of our own immortal 
 O'Reillv: 
 
John E. Lynch 
 
 John E. Lynch was born in Worcester, Mass., Feb- 
 luary 7, 1863. Both parents were born in Ireland, — his 
 father, Thomas Lynch, in Navan, Comity Meath, and 
 his motlier, Margaret (Murray) Lynch, in Dromin, 
 County Louth. 
 
 Mr. Lynch completed the public school course in 
 Worcester, graduating from the Classical High School 
 in 1881. He then entered the State Normal School in 
 Worcester, from which he graduated in 1884. Shortly 
 afterward, he began to teach in the public schools of his 
 native city, a vocation which he has followed without 
 interruption for thirty years. For the past thirteen 
 years he has been principal of the Woodland-Street 
 School, and for eleven years of the same period, a 
 supervisor in the schools. He has travelled extensively 
 in Europe. 
 
 Mr. Lynch was a trustee of the Worcester Free 
 Public Library for six years. He is one of the founders 
 of the American Irish Historical Society, a life member 
 of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, a former presi- 
 dent of the Worcester County Teachers' Association, 
 an active member and official of the Massachusetts 
 Teachers' Federation, and a member of the Public 
 School Art League. 
 
..^t/lAA^U^ 
 
®ij^ Jrislj tn ttj^ Arts 
 
 -BY- 
 
 JOHN E. LYNCH 
 
 Art in Ireland may be considered as of two periods — Chris- 
 tian and pre-Christian. 
 
 The pre-Christian art, developed in Ireland before the ad- 
 vent of St. Patrick in the fifth century, may be termed Celtic. 
 This embraces the remarkably skillful and artistic work in 
 bronze, gold and enamel practiced in Ireland, before the com- 
 ing of the Christian influence, and in Great Britain before the 
 Koman invasion and occupation. 
 
 The first three steps of any civilization in the British Isles 
 concerned with art, originated, first, from the Iberian aborig- 
 ines in the late stone or early bronze period; second, from the 
 first Celtic invaders, the Goidels, in their bronze age ; and third, 
 from the second Celtic invaders, the Brj^thonic Celts, in their 
 iron age. 
 
 The Celtic invasion of Ireland began probably as earlv as 
 2000 B. C. 
 
 The earliest monuments in the British Isles that show the 
 least trace of artistic or aesthetic feeling is Stonehenge in Sal- 
 isbury, England, during the late stone age. 
 
 The polished stone age was succeeded bv that of bronze. 
 In the British Isles it lasted from 1500 to about 300 B. C. 
 
 Art in the British Isles during the bronze age can best be 
 studied from the examples in Ireland, for in that country have 
 been found very many of the best examples, so large a number 
 that it was thought to be the birthplace of some of the most 
 characteristic principles and designs. 
 
 Celtic art in this age is illustrated by numerous beautiful 
 forms of objects of utility that were capable of ornamentation 
 and aesthetic embellishment. Among the articles exhibiting 
 ornate motives were daggers, swords, hatchets, spears, shields, 
 
214 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 bracelets, helmets, brooches, torques, neck-ornaments and the 
 like whose decorations of lines and curves either engraved or 
 beaten up from behind, are marvels of beauty. Relative to 
 these it is said that ''many objects so ornamented are so exquis- 
 ite in proportion and in the rhythm of their lines that they ex- 
 emplify in their own system of decoration a point beyond which 
 it could not go. " Exclusively linear was the decoration of these 
 things in bronze. 
 
 Summing up the decorative motives of Celtic art of the 
 Bronze age it is found "that they may be grouped as follows: 
 Diagonal lines, straight and curved lines, leading to various 
 combinations of the chevron ; punched dots, the spiral, the loop, 
 the swastika, the winding band, and concentric circles. 
 
 These jDatterns, in combinations of dots, straight and 
 curved lines and the like are found in the numberless carved 
 stones and rocks, tomb furniture and debris from inhabited 
 sites. Of sculptured stones Ireland has afforded the most im- 
 portant examples, the most remarkable being those discovered 
 in the tumuli of county Meath, at New Grange, near Drogheda, 
 and at Sliath Na Calliaghe, near Oldcastle. 
 
 The Iron age of Celtic art in Britain dates from the third 
 century, B. C. 
 
 The decorated articles of this period consist mainly of 
 grave goods found in burial mounds and tombs; remains found 
 in village or town sites, and of objects casually lost. 
 
 Nothing that gold-workers have done surpasses the artistic 
 beauty and skill of execution of the gold torque from Limavady, 
 which is one of the highly prized pieces of the Dublin 
 museum. 
 
 During this Iron age of Celtic art, enamelling was practiced 
 by the workers in metal. The art, a very ancient one, was high- 
 ly developed among the Celts before the coming of the Romans 
 to Britain, and carried to such a degree of excellence that noth- 
 ing quite equal to its products has yet been found in continental 
 Europe. The process was the fixing on metal by heat of vitre- 
 ous matter, as glass colored with metallic oxides. Enamelling, 
 being as it were the handmaid of the metal-workers, can best 
 be treated in connection with the finest examples, which will be 
 referred to later. 
 
 It was long before Christianity, which supplanted Druid- 
 ism, modified or enriched Irish art to such a degree as to im- 
 press itself as a distinct form. So persistent were the motives 
 and basic art principles of pagan Ireland that their continuity 
 as an Irish style was not materially interrupted up to the 13th 
 century. "The Christian art ideas wer^ engraved on the pa- 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 215 
 
 gan ideals and motives; tliougli tliey modified the latter they 
 did not supersede them." 
 
 The arts in which the Celtic Christians of Ireland gained 
 distinction were metal work, stone-cutting or sculpture, the 
 writing and illumination of manuscripts, architecture, and that 
 art of beauty, feeling, and expression, the art of music. 
 
 In the Dublin Museum is to be seen an excellent representa- 
 tive collection of the metal work, Eelative to this, Lovett says 
 that it would be possible to fill many pages with descriptions of 
 the beautiful objects contained here illustrative of the knowl- 
 edge, skill, and perseverance put forth at a time when many 
 persons fancy that Ireland was inhabited only by hordes of sav- 
 ages, mainly occupied vritli the slaughter of each other. 
 
 Among the most artistic, valuable, and interesting speci- 
 mens in this museum are the Ardagh chalice, cross of Cong, 
 Tara brooch, shrine of St. Patrick's bell, and the Devonshire 
 crozier. 
 
 The value of thesei objects in metal is not in any case due 
 to the intrinsic value of the material employed, but rather to 
 the high degree of artistic skill and exquisite taste indicated. 
 Bronze, copper, gold, and silver were the materials employed. 
 
 The gem of the whole collection and in many respects con- 
 sidered by many authorities one of the most beautiful and note- 
 worthy art objects in Europe is the Ardagh chalice. 
 
 It belongs to a class of cups or chalices known as the 
 ''calices ministrales" in use before the tenth century by the 
 minor clergy and the laity before the latter was debarred by 
 the church from communion of both kinds, bread and wine. 
 
 Consisting as it does of 354 pieces of gold, silver, brass, 
 bronze, copper, and lead, all put together with the most artistic 
 ability, and showing a remarkable variety of Celtic ornamenta- 
 tion, it forms a specimen of classic elegance, both in beauty of 
 design and exquisiteness of skill, acknowledged to be one of the 
 finest pieces of metal work Christian art has anywhere pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The cross of Cong is regarded by some as the supreme ex- 
 pression of Christian Celtic metal workers. It was designed 
 and executed for the church of Tuam in the 12th century by or- 
 der of Turlough O'Connor, king of Connaught, to enshrine a 
 portion of the true cross; later, it was transferred to the abbey 
 of Cong. 
 
 The Tara brooch was found near Drogheda, not far from 
 the sea, in 1850. In its execution it was probably contempor- 
 aneous with the Ardagh chalice, for they have a similar devel- 
 opment of the spiral design ; the same kind of filigree work ; the 
 
216 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 same tricliinopoli or silver chain work; similar circles of amber 
 and translucent glass, and corresponding enamels, both Clois- 
 onnes and Champleves. 
 
 The Devonshire crozier, one of the finest examples of the 
 goldsmith's art, was found early in the 19th century, in the cas- 
 tle of the duke of Devonshire, Lismore county, Waterford. 
 
 The iron bell of St. Patrick, quite crude in style and make, 
 is interesting more on account of its association and antiquity 
 than its workmanship. Having an unbroken traceable history 
 for 1400 years, it is at once the most authentic and the dearest 
 Irish relic of Christian metal-work that has descended to us. 
 It was used by St. Columba only 60 years after Patrick's death. 
 It is probably one of the many bells distributed by St. Pat- 
 rick, throughout the numerous oratories. Smiths, skilled in 
 shaping, were among those who accompanied him to Ireland, 
 and the bell probably represents one of their productions. 
 
 From the 10th to the 12tli century it was customary to en- 
 shrine these rude iron bells, made centuries before, in many in- 
 stances, in cases made beautiful with gold, silver, gems, and 
 enamels, and further enriched by intricate interlaced patterns. 
 
 Of this character is the shrine of St. Patrick's bell. On it 
 is an Irish inscription, which reads: "A prayer for Donnell 
 O'Lochlain, through whom this bell shrine was made; and for 
 Donnell, the successor of Patrick, with whom it was made, and 
 for Calahan 'Mulhollan, the keeper of the bell, and for Cudilig 
 O'Immainen, with his sons, who covered it." 
 
 The reverence of the Irish for things that elevate is shown 
 not only by their care in preserving in shrines, bells of their 
 patron saints, but also by the similar care for the precious books 
 and manuscripts. 
 
 Book-shrines or cumdachs are chiefly, if not entirely, pecu- 
 liar to Ireland. 
 
 The cumclach of Molaise's gospels, made in the 11th cen- 
 tury, is the oldest one to be seen. The case or box has three 
 covers, the first or inner one of yew wood, the second or middle 
 one of copper ]:)lated with silver, and the third or outer one 
 plated with gold. 
 
 Relative to illuminated manuscripts, Marcus Ward says, 
 ''To the middle ages — the fruitful mother of constructive and 
 decorative art — we owe, if not the invention, at least the cul- 
 ture and development of the art of illuminating manuscripts. 
 The perfection to which it was carried in those times, which it 
 was so long the fashion to misname the dark ages, excites the 
 astonishment, not less than the admiration of every beholder, 
 who is imbued with a moderate share of artistic feeling." 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 217 
 
 "At a period," says Westwood, ''when the fine arts may 
 Ibe said to have been almost extinct in Italy and other parts of 
 the continent, from the fifth to the end of the eighth century, 
 the art of ornamenting manuscripts had obtained a perfection 
 almost miraculous in Ireland." The Irish monks in their cells 
 exquisitely illuminating manuscri])ts are worthy prototypes of 
 the German monk of whom Longfellow in the Golden Legend 
 presents a touching picture laboriously and reverently copying 
 in his Scriptorium the Gospel of St. John, and beautifully il- 
 luminating it. 
 
 ''It is growing dark. 
 
 Yet one line more, 
 
 And then my work for today is o'er. 
 
 I come again to the name of the Lord, 
 
 E're I that awful name record. 
 
 That is spoken so lightly among men, 
 
 Let me pause awhile, 
 
 And wash my pen ; 
 
 Pure from blemish and blot must it be. 
 
 When I write the word of ]\Iystery. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Thot goodly folio standing yonder, 
 
 Without a single blot or blunder, 
 
 Would not bear away the palm from mine, 
 
 If we should comi:)are them line for line. 
 
 There now, is an initial letter, 
 
 St. Ulrick himself never made a better, 
 
 Finished down to the leaf and the snail, 
 
 Down to the eyes on the peacock's tail; 
 
 And now as I turn the volume over, 
 
 And see what lies between cover and cover, 
 
 What treasures of art these pages hold. 
 
 All ablaze with crimson and gold, 
 
 God forgive me, I seem to feel , 
 
 A certain satisfaction steal 
 
 Into my heart and into my brain. 
 
 As if my talent had not lain 
 
 Wrapped in a napkin, and all in vain. 
 
 Yes, I might almost say to the Lord, 
 
 Here is a copy of Thy word 
 
 Written out with much toil and pain; 
 
 Take it, O Lord, and let it be 
 
 As something I have done for Thee." 
 
218 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 ''In those early ages," Says Wilde, ''art had no existence 
 save in nnion with religion. Hnmanity brought together all its 
 most precions ointment to pour upon the feet of Jesus." 
 
 "In Ireland, especially — the Island of Saints — whatever 
 genius could devise or the hand of the artist execute was lav- 
 ished upon some work that would recall the presence of God to 
 the people, stimulate His worship, or make known His word: 
 the crosses, the shrines, the jeweled cases for saints' relics, the 
 golden covers for the holy books. But nothing of that period 
 has come down to us that shows a luxury in domestic life. 
 
 The Word of God was shrined in gold, made rich with gems 
 and enamels, but the people lived their old simple lives in the 
 old rude huts; and even kings gave their wealth, not to erect 
 palaces, but to build churches, to endow abbeys, to help the 
 cause of God, and speed holy men, who were His ministers, in 
 their crusade against evil, ignorance and darkness. 
 
 It is no idle boast to say that from the seventh to the tenth 
 century, in art and religion, the Irish were the teachers of 
 Europe. ' ' 
 
 No illuminated manuscript of the Celtic school exists to 
 which an earlier date than the sixth century can safely be as- 
 signed, but its first beginnings must be put much earlier, for 
 by this time we find already a fully developed and elaborate 
 system of decoration, together with a very high degree of tech- 
 nical skill. 
 
 In Trinity College library, Dublin, numerous are the rare 
 books, valuable relics, and priceless manuscripts "bespeaking 
 the days when the students of all Europe flocked to the schools 
 of Ireland for education. ' ' 
 
 Its most precious book is the Book of Kells, regarded by 
 many as the most beautiful of books. 
 
 It is a product of the age which sent Columba to lona, 
 Cuthbert to England, and Columbanus to Gaul. It is a copy of 
 the Gospels and takes its name from the fact that it once be- 
 longed to the monastery of Kells, in Meath. Written in the 
 sixth or seventh century, it is an example of Irish illumination 
 and writing without a rival. 
 
 The work is a copy in Latin of the four Gospels with intro- 
 ductions of St. Jerome, and is written on vellum, forming a 
 volume twelve inches long and nine inches wide. It is said to 
 be the most remarkable copy of the four Gospels that exists. 
 
 Of the Book of Kells, Bradley asserts, that it is the most 
 amazing specimen of penmanship ever seen. It is at once the 
 most ancient, the most perfect, and the most precious example 
 of Celtic art in existence. 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 21» 
 
 The Book of Durrow and the Book of Armagh keep dis- 
 tinguished company with the Book of Kells in Trinity College, 
 Dublin, as exemplifying the finest in Celtic illumination. 
 
 The Book of Armagh is of special additional interest be- 
 cause it is the only copy of the New Testament Scriptures which 
 have come down to us from the ancient Irish church. In early 
 times Ireland was resorted to as a safe, peaceable, and well- 
 furnished field for students of religion. 
 
 But the numerous destructive incursions of the Danes, and 
 the ordinary ravages of time depleted the large stock of these 
 valuable books and manuscripts to such an extreme that of all 
 the Bibles produced not one entire copy of the Old Testament 
 remained, ancT of the Xew Testament copies, the Book of Ar- 
 magh alone remains. 
 
 The Book of Durrow is said to have been written by St. 
 Columba and is therefore of the sixth century. To this indus- 
 trious monk is credited the production of more than 300 copies 
 of the gospels. 
 
 Among the books of the Irish school of illumination made 
 elsewhere than in Ireland may be cited the famous Lindisfarne 
 gospels now in the British museum. 
 
 Columba 's zeal for spreading learning and his skill in copy- 
 ing brought on a quarrel with St. Finnian, his teacher and 
 friend. The latter had a very precious copy of the Psalms 
 which St. Columba greatly wished to possess. This he secretly 
 copied. His right of ownership of the copy was disputed by 
 St. Finnian and the king decided in the latter 's favor. This 
 brought on a battle in which many on both sides were killed. St. 
 Columba was full of remorse for the misery he had brought on 
 his dear land and as a punishment and penance exiled himself. 
 
 As an exile from his beloved Erin, in his coracle he sailed 
 the rough seas and established a monastery on the lonely Scot- 
 tish isle, lona. It became the ''Mecca of monks" and the mon- 
 astic capital of Scotland. 
 
 From the sixth to the eighth century it was second to none 
 in radiating civilizing influences throughout Europe. Of it, 
 says Dr. Johnson, ' ' That man is little to be envied whose patri- 
 otism would not gain fame upon the plain of Marathon, or whose 
 piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona. ' ' 
 
 Columba was the prototype of millions of exiles of after 
 ages who brought blessings to the land of their adoption and 
 reflected honor and glory on the green isle that gave them birth. 
 
 Many kings were crowned here at lona on a stone which, 
 some think, now forms a part of the British coronation chair in 
 Westminster Abbey. 
 
220 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 The influence of the British illuminators went side by side 
 with religious education, not only to Scotland and England but 
 to many places on the continent. 
 
 In Irish sculpture the most important things are the cross- 
 es. Those who copied and embellished the manuscripts were 
 the originators of these beautiful designs of art in stone. The 
 style of ornament corresponds exactly with the art of the il- 
 luminators and the metal workers, modified, of course, by the 
 difference in material. It is noticeable that the motives are 
 '' essentially Celtic, depending always on line and a devoted 
 search into all its possibilities." 
 
 There are today in Ireland probably 45 high crosses, 32 of 
 which are richly sculptured. 
 
 It has been said that, ''Whether her monks reared lofty 
 watchtowers, erected churches, fashioned jewelled chalices, or 
 carved elaborate crosses no effort was too great and no device 
 too intricate. Even when it was intended to be merely an orna- 
 ment, the sculptors felt that it would stand within God 's temple, 
 its arms outstretched beneath the dome of heaven, with the sun, 
 moon, and stars for altar lights, and guarded by angelic hosts." 
 
 Built between the lOtli and IStli centuries they may "be re- 
 garded not only as memorials of the piety and munificence of 
 the founders, but also as the finest works of sculptured art of 
 their period." 
 
 Undoubtedly they are a development of the pillar-stones, 
 with their incised circle, the emblem of eternity, enclosing the 
 cross, the symbol of Christianity. 
 
 "The striking feature of these crosses," says O'Neil, "is 
 the ornamental and pictorial work displayed in the carving. 
 There is a profusion of spiral pattern, Celtic tracery, and zoo- 
 morphic design. The whole body of Christian doctrine finds 
 its expression in their sculpture, intended no doubt by means 
 of symbolic representations to be great object lessons in the 
 way of faith to every beholder. The central idea on the face of 
 the cross is usually the crucifixion, and on the back the resur- 
 rection, or Christ in glory — the remaining spaces on the panels 
 and on the sides being filled with various sacred and other 
 subjects. ' ' 
 
 Among the most important of the high crosses are St. 
 Martin's cross of lona, the cross of Drumcliffe, two at Monaster- 
 boice, two at Clonmacnoise, and one each at Durrow and Tuam. 
 
 In respect to outline and proportions, St. Martin's cross in 
 lona is considered by some to be the most beautiful. Especially 
 is the sculpture on the eastern face of a high Celtic order of art. 
 
 A' visit to Monasterboice is most satisfactorv to all inter- 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 221 
 
 ested in Irish art, for there can be studied in position the most 
 superb ancient crosses that Ireland can show. 
 
 Though nearly a thousand years have passed since the 
 erection of the crosses, many of their carvings are clear and 
 sharp, and so afford excellent subjects for study in detail. 
 
 Immediately in front of the round tower is the highest of 
 the crosses, its central shaft standing twenty-three feet high, 
 and the cross arm over six feet long. 
 
 '^In architecture," says Armstrong, '^the Irish Celt 
 showed the same qualities as in the other arts. His structures 
 are by no means ambitious, but his designs never fail to have 
 that appropria'teness to material and purpose which betrays an 
 essentially artistic race." 
 
 *'Its special excellence does not lie, as some vainly claim, 
 in antiquity of style superior to ancient architecture elsewhere, 
 but rather to the fact that the ruins are so numerous and in 
 such condition as to enable one to trace the development from 
 a rude and crude beginning to a very beautiful result ; to follow 
 the gradual change of one style into another until the Irish 
 Romanesque almost reached perfection." 
 
 The first steps in the development of Irish architecture can 
 best be understood by a brief consideration of the work of the 
 first builders, whose monuments still exist in witness of their 
 work. Antedating the Christian influence by centuries they 
 show by numerous huge burial monuments or sepulchral struc- 
 tures called cromlechs and dolmens first efforts in stone build- 
 ing. 
 
 The dolmen and cromlech builders of this era attempted no 
 ornament whatever. Sometimes the dolmens are surrounded 
 by circles of upright stones 150 to 160 feet in diameter, thus re- 
 sembling Stonehenge in England and similar structures in other 
 parts of Great Britain and Scandinavia. 
 
 Cinerary urns and calcined bones found beneath the pon- 
 derous stones indicate their use as burial places, probably of 
 pagan Celtic royalty. 
 
 The Druids may have used them later as temples, or as al- 
 tars for their sacred ceremonies. 
 
 The tumuli or dome-roofed structures are much in advance 
 of the dolmens and cromlechs, for they have incised decorative 
 designs on walls and roof. 
 
 This is evidenced by the carvings in the royal cemeteries of 
 New Grange, Dowth, Teltown and Eathkenny. 
 
 That at Xew Grange is a hill whose cairn of stones is esti- 
 mated to weigh 18,000 tons. At one time thirty colossal stones 
 circled it; now remain but twelve. 
 
222 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 On tlie huge stone that guarded this old Celtic pagan tomb 
 are spirals, coils and diamond shaped characters whose sig- 
 nificance is unknown, but which remind one of many of the dec- 
 orative lines on the metal art and illuminated manuscripts of 
 later centuries. 
 
 Ogham stones are found in pagan burial places and in sub- 
 terranean treasure houses built long before the Christian period. 
 
 The alphabet of the Ogham script consists of lines, short, 
 straight, or slanting, drawn above, below or through a stem 
 line, dots or -nicks representing vowels. On stone monuments 
 the stem line is the sharp edge of adjacent faces. 
 
 Their use continued somewhat on stones and in manuscripts 
 even after the introduction of the Eoman letters, and were not 
 wholly displaced' before the ninth century of '^nr era. 
 
 Most of the Ogham stones are found in Ireland, a very few 
 in England, and, according to Prof. Morley, they are in their in- 
 scriptions the first representations of the earliest literary age 
 in the British Isles. 
 
 The rude pagan forts and dome roofed sepulchres may be 
 regarded as the first examples of Irish architecture. 
 
 They were built without cement and show the same ignor- 
 ance of the principle of the arch common to all primitive build- 
 ers. The stone forts or duns are found on the western shores 
 of counties Kerry, Clare, Sligo, Mayo, Donegal, and Antrim. 
 
 "They belong to the culminating period of the heroic legen- 
 dary era immediately preceding the introduction of Christian- 
 ity, and are associated with the adventures of Eengus and Conor 
 and Muirbheck Mil, of Fergus and Cuchulain, heroes of the Fir- 
 bolg race." 
 
 Many of these pagan forts continued in use after the in- 
 troduction of Christianity, but in numerous instances the con- 
 verted kings and chieftains made to God an offering of their 
 duns or fortresses that the missionaries might erect within the 
 area their little cells and oratories. Thus were developed the 
 first Irish ecclesiastical buildings, consisting of two or more 
 oratories serving as churches, beelike huts of the monks with 
 their walls, gardens, and burial grounds, and all surrounded by 
 the .stone wall. To it was given the name cashel from the 
 Irish 'Vaiseal," meaning round stone fort. 
 
 They became community centers. All who professed the 
 Christian faith were there welcomed, each new-comer building 
 his own hut, partook of the life of the place, and received botli 
 religious and secular instruction. 
 
 And thus arose those great Celtic monasteries that were in 
 realitv villages, schools and industrial establishments united in 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 223 
 
 the worship of the Christian religion nnder the authority of 
 some great saint or teacher like St. Columba, St. Finnian of 
 Clonard, and St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise. 
 
 The most remarkable of the early Christian monasteries 
 is that on Skellig Michael or the Great Skellig, one of the three 
 rocky islets in the Atlantic off the coast of Kerry. 
 
 On the north side of Dingle bay in Kerry is the best isolat- 
 ■ed specimen of Irish oratory, that of Gallerns, in a fine condi- 
 tion of preservation. 
 
 Ancient oratories of this angular, oblong style, with walls 
 without cement, either sloping in a curve towards tlie roof, like 
 upturned boats, or built in steps, probably formed the begin- 
 nings of later and more advanced style of ecclesiastical edifice. 
 
 The next period of Irish architecture is marked by a de- 
 cided advance, the noteworthy feature of which is the transi- 
 tion from uncemented walls, as seen in buildings of the sixth 
 to the eighth centuries. 
 
 The archaic and mixed style of the masonry is character- 
 istic of the structures of this era. ]\Iassive dovetailed stones 
 with ashlar, and wide-jointed, irregular courses of stone, door- 
 ways with a great horizontal lintel stone, inclined doorways, 
 round-headed east windows, a pointed arch scooped out or 
 formed by two stones of a triangle are features typical of these 
 buildings. 
 
 The transition to the true arch is seen in such buildings as 
 the church on Friar's Island near Killaloe, St. Columba 's in 
 Xells, and St. Kevin's in Glendalough. 
 
 Of all places in county AYicklow, Glendalough of the Seven 
 Churches is the most famous. 
 
 Many vales and glens are as somber and weirdly beautiful, 
 but they lack the historic interest and legendar;^ halo that make 
 it dear to the archaelogist, the poet, and the dreamer. • 
 
 St. Kevin founded Glendalough in the 10th century. Of 
 its numerous small churches and buildings, scattered through- 
 out the valley, the round-tower, St. Kevin's, the Lady chapel, 
 and the cathedral are the most notable. 
 
 The main cluster of buildings is enclosed by a wall or cash- 
 el pierced by a fine old gateway. 
 
 St. Kevin's kitchen was so called because of someone's ab- 
 surd notion that the belfry was a chinmey originally. It once 
 consisted of a nave and chancel, a sacristy in the east and a bel- 
 fry in the west. AYith tlie introduction and development of the 
 chancel came the use of the true arch with radiating points. 
 Even after the use of the arch the doorway with horizontal lin- 
 tel continued. 
 
224 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 After King Brian, at Clontarf, liad won peace from the 
 Danes, who had overritn the realm, great activity in building 
 and especially in restoring monasteries took place. 
 
 At this time and during the following two centuries may 
 be credited the remarkable round towers, half belfries, and half 
 fortifications. 
 
 Ferguson in his history of architecture says: "The Irish 
 built round towers and oratories of a beauty of a form and 
 with an elegance of detail that charm even at the present day." 
 
 "The pillar towers of Ireland, how wondrously they stand 
 
 B}^ the lakes and rushing rivers, through the valleys of our 
 
 land ; 
 In mystic file, through the isle, they lift their heads sublime, 
 Those gray old pillar temples, those conquerors of time." 
 
 The round towers of Ireland are peculiar and most inter- 
 esting national structures, and for 3'ears have been an attract- 
 ive subject of antiquarian research. 
 
 Some have attributed them "to the Vikings, others to ad- 
 venturers from the orient, while others have looked upon them 
 as penitential homes of ascetic monks." 
 
 More than a hundred of these remarkable structures are to 
 be seen at the present time, some of them in good condition. 
 All of them resemble each other in plan and construction, local 
 peculiarities or other conditions determining the position of 
 the window. The door was usually about fifteen feet from the 
 ground, and this lends color to the belief that they served as 
 places of refuge in times of danger. After entering, and re- 
 moving the ladder, the defenders were practically unassailable 
 by any weapons the Northmen possessed. 
 
 "iliese towers may be divided into four styles : First, those 
 as that at Swords or Scattery built of rough field stone, un- 
 touched by hammer or chisel, the mortar being of coarse, un- 
 sifted sand; second, towers such as that of Donoughmore, Cash- 
 el, or Monasterboice, with stones roughly hammer dressed, 
 round to the curve of the wall. In these, mortar was freely used. 
 Third, those in which the stones were laid in horizontal cours- 
 es, as that at Glendalough or Devenish. The stones were well 
 dressed and were cemented in strong plain mortar of lime and 
 sand. Fourth, those made of strong, rough, but excellent ash- 
 lar masonry, rather open jointed and so resembling closely the 
 English-Xorman masonry of the early part of the twelfth cen- 
 tury. The Aghadoe, Kells, and Ardmore towers are good exam- 
 ples. 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 225 
 
 The towers are divided into stories generally by floors of 
 wood, but in some instances by masonry. Numerous and varied 
 purposes have been advanced by different authorities as to their 
 origin and use. 
 
 ' ' First : That the Phoenicians erected them for fire temples. 
 
 Second: That the Druids used them as places from which 
 to proclaim the druidical festivals. 
 
 Third: That they were for astronomical purposes. 
 
 Fourth: That they were Phallic emblems or Buddhist tem- 
 ples. 
 
 Fifth: That they were for good people to shut themselves 
 up in for meditation and prayer. 
 
 Sixth: That they were for bad people to be. shut up in un- 
 til they became good. 
 
 Seventh: That they ^ were belfries. 
 
 Eighth: That they were keeps or monastic castles for the 
 safe keeping of the treasure of the monasteries. 
 
 Ninth: That they were beacons or watch towers. 
 
 Tenth: That they were used for defense against the Norse 
 pirates. An additional reason has been given, namely, that 
 they were built by the ancients to puzzle the moderns. ' ' 
 
 In the opinion of most scholars, Dr. Petrie has settled once 
 and for all this most controverted point in Irish archaeology 
 as to the origin and use of the round towers. 
 
 He maintains that they were watch towers, belfries, and 
 places of refuge into which the monks and all connected with 
 the monastery could retire with their valuables in times of dan- 
 ger. 
 
 The towers vary in height from sixty to one hundred feet, 
 and in diameter at the base from nine to thirty feet. 
 
 Especially graceful and pleasing in their outline, they give 
 to the landscape a charm which is unique. 
 
 In most examx)les the tower stands erect beside the ruins 
 of an ancient, but deserted, church, and among the smoldering 
 tombstones of a neglected or desecrated graveyard. 
 
 The round tower period of building from 890 A. D. to 1238 
 was identical with the period of the three steps in the develop- 
 ment of the Romanesque form. 
 
 Two great systems of architecture show the growth of the 
 Romanesque. The Greek and Roman based their principles of 
 construction, the one on the column and the entablature, the 
 other on the arch and the vault. Apparently it is the blending 
 of the entablature of the Greeks with the rounded arch of the 
 Romans that gave rise to the buildings in Ireland that typify 
 the Irish Romanesque. 
 
226 THE IRISH IX THE ARTS 
 
 The early style of architecture characterizing such church- 
 es as Maghera, Banagher and Temple Martin, had vigor enough 
 to modify the incoming Romanesque, and to live on, perpet- 
 uating in the latter buildings of the lltli and 12tli centuries 
 enough basic Irish to distinguish the style from the Eomanesque 
 of other countries. 
 
 And so we see the lingering in rounded arch structures of 
 horizontal lintels in windows and doorways; of inclined jambs 
 of the primitive doorways; of the rich, ornamental designs of 
 the Celtic period that were found there even before the Roman 
 occupation of Britain. 
 
 The beautiful incised moldings of the doorway of Killeshin 
 suggest the charm of engraving, so delicate are they. 
 
 Like a sentinel guarding The Golden Vale of Tipperary 
 rises the far-famed rock of Cashel. Here in full strength at 
 one time was found the combination so frequently to be seen in 
 Ireland of the castle and abbey, of military and religious pow- 
 er. 
 
 Now the ecclesiastical remains dominate the situation. 
 Towers and turrets and arches call attention to the chief struc- 
 tures: the round tower, Cormac's chapel, and the ruined cath- 
 edral. 
 
 Cormac's chapel is the real architectural gem of the group. 
 Begun by Cormac McCarthy, king of Munster, in 1127, it was 
 consecrated in 1134. The building, fifty feet by eighteen feet,^ 
 makes up in chaste desigTi, elaborate carving and solidity of 
 structure what it lacks in size. The north doorway is very 
 richly and artistically decorated, consisting of five concentric 
 arches or moldings, supported by five columns and a double 
 column. The interior, dignified and beautiful, with well pro- 
 portioned Romanesque arches richly ornamented, is in keeping 
 with the exterior. All combine to make an architectural achieve- 
 ment worthy of any people in any age. 
 
 The cathedral is of later date, belonging to a period short- 
 ly after 1152, when Cashel became the seat of the archbishop of 
 Munster, but more of the work now standing was built toward 
 the end of the 14th century. Now it is a picturesque but melan- 
 choly ruin. 
 
 The most interesting ruin in Connaught is that of Cong 
 abbey. Built in 1128 by the Augustinians during Turlough O'- 
 Connor's reign, it was endowed by his son, Roderick O'Connor, 
 the last independent king of Ireland. 
 
 Like almost all of the old religious houses, monasteries and 
 abbeys, its dilapidated condition reveals the work of sectarian, 
 kingiy greed, animosity and vandalism. Ivy alone is beautifully 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 227 
 
 binding up or hiding the cruel wounds. But enough of its 
 structure remains to reveal its exquisite beauty. Many of its 
 columns and "floral capitals carved in limestone are as fine 
 specimens of the carver's art as can be found anywhere in the 
 world, ' ' in the opinion of such authorities as Petrie and Wilde. 
 
 A pleasant ride through the Boyne valley a few miles out- 
 side Drogheda brings the traveler to the monastery, usually 
 called Mellifont. With Monasterboice only three miles distant, 
 County Louth is given an architectural interest not to be 
 rivaled. 
 
 At Mellifont stood the largest and most beautiful of Irish 
 monasteries; but though its nakedness and desolation strike the 
 heart there is still enough remaining to attest the grandeur and 
 beauty it once possessed. 
 
 It was founded in 1142 for the Cistercian order. In its 
 style of architecture was little or nothing that was tjq^ical of 
 the Irish, for St. Bernard of Clairvaux sent over a company of 
 monks who laid the first foundation. Everything had a for- 
 eign aspect. 
 
 The structure known as the Baptistry is the finest part 
 left. Octagonal in form, it stands on a series of splendidly 
 built arches. Ferguson says that after the conquest, the Eng- 
 lish introduced their own pointed architecture. But beyond 
 the Pale their influence was hardly felt. Whatever was done 
 was stamped with a character so distinctly Irish as to show 
 how strong the feeling of the people was, how earnestlj^ and 
 how successfully they would have labored in the field of art 
 had circumstances been favorable to its development. 
 
 A careful study of Irish buildings subsequent to the con- 
 quest of the 12th century indicates the continuation of an Irish 
 style, even though strongly influenced by English and continen- 
 tal principles. The germ of Gothic architecture in Ireland was 
 introduced by Richard de Clare, commonly known as "Strong- 
 bow," soon after 1170 by the rebuilding of Christ church catli- 
 edral in Dublin. 
 
 Decidedly English are some of the structures of the tran- 
 sitional period, but others show remarkable and unmistakable 
 Irish characteristics. Especially is this true of the Cistercian 
 churches of Boyle, abbey Knockmoy, Corcomroe, and Ballin- 
 tober abbey of the early part of the 13th century. 
 
 St. Doulough's church, near Dublin, is a curious instance 
 of a return to the old Irish plan, as in St. Columba's at Kells, 
 of the combination of a church and living rooms under a stone 
 roof. The building is mainly early Gothic. 
 
 Kildare cathedral on the site of St. Brigid's old church is 
 
228 THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 a very interesting fortified and battlemented cliurcli with dou- 
 ble walls, wliicli are joined between the windows, making flat 
 buttresses. The outer wall is carried over the lancet windows 
 of Gothic arches, a slit being left over the window through 
 which molted lead might be poured or arrows shot to drive off 
 an enemy. 
 
 Its round tower is an evidence of the persistency of the 
 Irish idea found as far back as the time of St. Kevin, in Glen- 
 dalough. 
 
 Towards the close of the 14th century the influence archi- 
 tecturally of England and the continent became stronger. Art 
 is too tender a plant to thrive under the warlike conditions 
 subsequent to the Anglo-Xorman invasion. The Irish were too 
 busy defending their homes and attacking the invaders to con- 
 tinue the artistic development that characterized the 150 years 
 of quietude following Brian's victory at Clontarf. 
 
 Holy Cross abbey, in its newer work, also bridges over the 
 transition to late Irish Gothic. 
 
 On Killarney's shores one sees the attractive ruins of this 
 latter style in the Franciscan abbey of Muckross. 
 
 The cloisters in Jerpoint abbey remind us of those in 
 Cashel, built two centuries before. Much carving and many 
 designs in relief enrich the recesses between the shafts. 
 
 In Sligo abbey the quadrangle of cloisters presents beauti- 
 fully designed and carved arches of stone with pillars, differing 
 in their carved designs. This lack of uniformity, together with 
 the grace and dignity of the whole, adds to the charm. 
 
 The stone castles, fortresses, and fortified gates were an 
 innovation of the Norman invaders. With these they held in 
 check the Irish, and the latter soon learned to imitate them by 
 building similar means of defense. Thus the Gaelic stockaded 
 earthworks and the duns gave way to such structures as Blarn- 
 ey castle, the great castle of the McCarthys. In Munster, the 
 d 'Briens ; in Ulster, the 'Neil 's ; in Connaught, the 'Connors ; 
 and elsewhere other Irish princes built similar strongholds, 
 many of which stand like Blarney, eloquent memorials of war- 
 like days. 
 
 Such fortified gates as the St. Lawrence gate, in Drogheda, 
 is Norman. It is one of the two gates remaining that gave en- 
 trance to the walled city. Its two lofty towers, each of four 
 stories, has stepped embattlements in the Irish style. 
 
 In the 16th century under Henry VIII, began the confisca- 
 tion of the religious houses and lands in both England and Ire- 
 land. During the reigns of Elizabeth and James, the despoiling 
 and destruction continued. To the monasteries, the universi- 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 229 
 
 ties and the schools of the country, which through the middle 
 ages "were as lamps in the darkness and as rivers in a thirsty 
 land," came destruction dire and wicked. Ruin and desolation 
 reigned. 
 
 "How changed the scene, how lonely now appears 
 The wasted aisle, wide arch, and lofty wall; 
 
 The sculjDtured shape — the pride of other years. 
 Now darkened, shaded, sunk, and broken, all; 
 
 The hail, the rain, the" sea-blown gales have done 
 
 Their worst to crown the wreck by impious man begun. ' ' 
 
 Anarchy 'increased, religion, education, art, gave way to 
 ignorance and poverty and wretchedness. 
 
 England's arbitrary acts and brutal statutes together with 
 the inter-marriage of the Norman and Celt made the former 
 more Irish than the Irish. 
 
 Thereafter Anglo-Norman and Irish Celt became as one 
 nation united in perpetuating Irish nationality, Irish religion, 
 and the traditions and learning of the Irish race. For the 
 greater part of seven centuries has the contest waged. Through- 
 out it all the Irishman smiled through his tears: he saw ever 
 the silver lining to the cloud. The bard and minstrels from 
 generation to generation down the ages kept alive in his heart 
 the glory of the days that have been and pictured the glory of 
 those to be. 
 
 Any description of Irish art would be incomplete without 
 reference, however brief, to that art of beauty and expression, 
 of which the harp is the symbol — the art of music. 
 
 Down through the years long antedating the Christian era, 
 music and song formed an integral and organic part of Irish 
 civilization and culture. "From the cradle to the grave, in all 
 the activities of peace and war, the sweet, soothing lullabies; 
 the joyous airs of love and the dance; the songs of bards and 
 minstrels, singing of battles, fought and won; the peaceful mel- 
 odies of the workers in cot and field; the weird and heartrend- 
 ing keening; songs of wailing and lamentation, all bear witness 
 to the place music had in the expression of every emotion of 
 the Celtic temperament." 
 
 Hecateus, the Egyptian, 500 B. C, referred to the Irish 
 playing on the harp and chanting sacred h^inns in the temple; 
 on the hills of Tara the musicians ' ' softened the pillow of Cor- 
 mac McArt, high king of Erin;" before St. Patrick a harper 
 exclaimed, ' ' Never again shall my harp sing the praises of any 
 God save St. Patrick's God," at a famous feis at Tara in the 
 
2^0 ' THE IRISH IN THE ARTS 
 
 sixth century, 1000 bards coming together inspired the harp to 
 shed sweet music through Tara's halls; on the field of Clontarf ; 
 in the Orient vales of the Holy Land, in the first crusade; at the 
 courts of Scotland, Wales, and on the continent; in the monas- 
 teries of Eatisbon and St. Gall founded by Irishmen, and else- 
 where in Europe the Irish, down through the ages, gained in 
 the theory and practice of music preeminence and undying 
 fame. 
 
 The bards and minstrels and musicians were especially 
 singled out for extra persecution from the 14th century. Under 
 Edward III and Henry VIII their persecution was brutal ; Eliz- 
 abeth ordered them hung and their instruments destroyed; 
 James I continued the wicked work, and so throughout the 
 Cromwellian period and the penal days down to the latter part 
 of the 18th century, their sufferings were beyond description — 
 their penalty like that of the priest and the teacher, for keep- 
 ing alive the history and traditions of the race. It is said that 
 ''Under God they have been the means of preserving Irish na- 
 tionality and faith through centuries of disaster and persecu- 
 tions such as a nation never before suffered and lived. ' ' 
 
 While the race exists so will its music. The exquisite metal 
 work, the priceless manuscripts,, the highly sculptured crosses, 
 the dignified heaven-pointing round towers, the artistic chapels 
 and churches may disintegrate, crumble, and become as dust, 
 but the poetry and song of the Irish people will live on, inspir- 
 ing the Irish at home and abroad, to keep alive all that is wor- 
 thiest and best in the national character. 
 
 This indestructible spirit has for nigh 800 years buoyed up 
 the hearts of Erin's patriot's until at last we can sav with 
 O'Reilly: 
 
 "0, Erin, 
 
 The night of thy grief is closing, and the sky in the east is red : 
 
 Thy children watch from the mountain tops for the sun to kiss 
 thy head. 
 
 0, mother of men that are fit to be free, from their rest for free- 
 dom borne. 
 
 Thy vacant place in the nation's race awaits but the coming 
 morn ! ' ' 
 
 To the descendants of the Irish in America has come a rich 
 double legacy — that from the old and that from the new. By 
 adhering to the best the old has given them, by rehearsing and 
 cherishing it, they become more worthy of the freedom and op- 
 portunity which they inherit in the new; and the harp of the 
 
JOHN E. LYNCH 231' 
 
 old, no longer mute, will be then a source of inspiration to them 
 for the highest kind of patriotism both in peace and in war, in 
 the new land, in the free land, "where the air is full of sun- 
 shine and the flag is full of stars. ' ' 
 
 NOTE. — Grateful acknowledgement is made to the follow- 
 ing authorities and to others whose writings have been of in- 
 estimable help in the preparation of this lecture, both as sourc- 
 es of reference and of libe,ral quotation: Petrie's Ecclesiastical 
 Architecture of Ireland, O 'Neil's Fine Arts and Civilization of 
 Ancient Ireland, Ferguson's History of Architecture, McGinty's 
 Ancient Irish Art, Stokes's Early Christian Art in Ireland, 
 Armstron2:'s Art in Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
George McAleer, M. D. 
 
 Dr. George McAleer was born November 29, 1845, 
 on a farm near Bedford in the Province of Quebec, on 
 which his parents. Miles McAleer and Jane (McCon- 
 nell) McAleer, settled soon after their arrival from 
 County Tyrone, Ireland. He attended the public 
 fechools of his native village, private schools of a high- 
 er grade, and graduated from Stanbridge Academy, in 
 v^liich he taught classes in Latin, Greek and higher 
 mathematics. 
 
 On attaining his majority. Dr. McAleer came to 
 Worcester, Mass. He was employed as bookkeeper and 
 accountant in a large folding chair factory. From his 
 youth he had an ambition to fit himself for the medical 
 profession, and for many years applied all his leisure 
 time to mastering the preliminary studies. He made 
 his medical course in Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. McAleer is one of the founders of the Bay State 
 Savings Bank of Worcester and has served as Treasur- 
 er for twenty years. He has been an extensive con- 
 tributor to publications and is the author of several 
 volumes. He is a member of Division 3, A. 0. H., of 
 Worcester. Litigation over his patents in the Federal 
 Courts extending over several years prevented him 
 from engaging in the practice of medicine. For many 
 years he has been associated with his brother in the 
 Harness and Saddlery business. Dr. McAleer married 
 Helen Frances Kendall, June 2, 1874. 
 
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lEurnp^an (UnnntvitB 
 
 -BY- 
 
 DR. GEORGE McALEER 
 
 I am to address joxi upon the subject of Ireland's contribu- 
 tions to the progress of other European countries. To ade- 
 quately treat the subject assigned to me would require the pre- 
 sentation and consideration of authentic and important matter 
 bearing thereon sufficient to fill many extensive volumes. In 
 the time at my disposal I can only hope to briefly and in a very 
 general way touch uj^on a few of the more important contribu- 
 tions that Ireland has made to the civilization and progress of 
 the countries mentioned, and through them to the world at 
 large, but which I hope may awaken anew a greater sense of 
 admiration, appreciation and gratitude for the glorious pre- 
 eminence attained in Christianity and civilization by our fore- 
 fathers during the early centuries of the Christian era, and for 
 what they so nobly did for the welfare of mankind under the 
 most adverse conditions, and which it is hoped may stimulate 
 renewed interest and desire for further investigation and study. 
 
 To be just, the contributions of a nation and people to the 
 welfare of other nations and peoples must be considered from 
 the standpoint of the civilization and opportunities of the bene- 
 factor, and century and period must be compared with a cor- 
 responding century and period. 
 
 The various events which go to form what is called the his- 
 tory of a nation — its achievements and contributions to the 
 welfare of the world — are its individual actions, the spontane- 
 ous energy and manifestation of its life; and as individuals 
 show what they are by their acts, so does a nation or a race by 
 the facts of its history. To readily and more fully comprehend 
 what Ireland contributed directly to the other European na- 
 tions it may be well to very briefly recall how the spontaneous 
 life of her people had manifested itself during the earlier cen- 
 turies, with what results, and what gifts of transcendant value 
 
234 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 she had in abundance to bestow upon less favored nations and 
 peoples. 
 
 An impartial investigation of the early history of Christian 
 Ireland will prove her title to supremacy in enlightenment and 
 civilization — in learning, arts, sciences, and in all other intel- 
 lectual pursuits that dignify, ennoble and adorn the lives of 
 highly cultured people — during a period of nearly a thousand 
 years before the unparalelled and unpardonable brutal perse- 
 cutions and devastations of later centuries. 
 
 The people of no nation ever accepted the teaching of the 
 Master so promptly, so generally, or with greater alacrity; the 
 people of no nation have ever been more faithful to His com- 
 mands or suffered greater or more cruel and persistent persecu- 
 tions because of their fidelity and devotion thereto. During all 
 the years of many centuries after the coming of Saint Patrick 
 in A. D. 432, the light of Christianity and the triumphs of civil- 
 ization reigned supreme throughout the land. Cathedrals and 
 churches multiplied throughout the country; monasteries, ab- 
 beys, and schools were built upon hilltop and plain; the refine- 
 ments and amenities of highly civilized life were everywhere in 
 evidence. Thoughtful and unprejudiced scholars and intellect- 
 ual leaders in many lands pay the excellent tribute of justice, 
 appreciation and gratitude to the many noble and distinguished 
 Irish monks and scholars of the early centuries of the Christian 
 era, who, having heeded the commands of the Master, brought 
 the light of learning, the blessings of Christianity, and the 
 amenities of Christian love and fellowship into the darkened 
 places of the pagan and benighted world — men who gave the 
 classics, sciences and refinements and higher aspirations of life 
 to the unlettered and less responsive people of many lands — 
 Irish monks and scholars who during all the years of seven 
 centuries grew not weary of preparing and pouring the oil of 
 learning and righteousness into the lamp of civilization, the af- 
 terglow of the brilliant rays of which still gloriously illumine 
 the nations of Western Europe and very materially aided in 
 giving them commanding prominence and place in the affairs 
 and councils of the nations of the world from distant ages to 
 the present time. Their triumphs for God and right — and thus 
 for the welfare of mankind — are an aureole of glory adorning 
 the land of their nativity and ancestors. 
 
 So much attention was bestowed upon education, and so 
 highly was it appreciated, that, in the restricted territory of 
 Ireland the celebrated and extensive institutions of Clonard, 
 Clonfert, Bangor, Clonmacnois, Arran, Lismore, Grlendalough, 
 and many others of lesser note, devoted to Christianity and 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 235 
 
 learning, were filled to overflowing in the sixth century with the 
 youth of Ireland and students of rank from the nobility and 
 leading families of Western Europe who came in great 
 numbers to receive the benefits of such an education as 
 could then be obtained nowhere else. AVlien they returned to 
 their homes their advanced scholarship made them conspicuous 
 and gave them great prestige and high standing with their 
 fellowmen and distinguished i)rominence in the governments 
 and daily life of the people. They so generally diffused such 
 unbounded admiration for the scholarship, austerities, and al- 
 truism of the monks, and of the intellectual attainments and re- 
 finements of the^inhabitants, that the fame of Ireland during all 
 the years of several centuries shone as a brilliant star of the first 
 magnitude in the world of learning and civilization. 
 
 In proof of the early Christianity and advanced civilization 
 of the people of Ireland and the great benefits conferred by her 
 missionaries and scholars upon foreign lands and through them 
 upon the world at large, however alluring and agreeable the 
 task, for lack of time I shall submit the testimony of but a few 
 of the many that might be quoted, and these I shall select from 
 among those who cannot be accused of being prompted by 
 friendship or undue partiality. 
 
 The learned German scholar, publicist, and antiquary, the 
 late Heinrich Zimmer, Professor of Celtic in Berlin, and one of 
 the very ablest Celtists that Germany ever produced, in the 
 Preussich Jahrbucher thus testifies : 
 
 ''Ireland can indeed lay claim to a great past; she can not 
 only boast of having been the birthplace and abode of high cul- 
 tivation in the fifth and sixth centuries at the time when the 
 Roman Empire vras being undermined by the alliances and in- 
 roads of the German tribes, which threatened to sink the whole 
 continent into barbarism, but also to having made strenuous 
 efforts in the seventh and up to the tenth century to spread her 
 learning among the German and Eomance peoples, thus form- 
 ing the actual foundation of our present continental civilization. 
 
 At the beginning of the sixth century these 
 
 Irish Christians were seized with an unconquerable impulse to 
 wander afar and preach Christianity to the heathen. In 563, 
 Columba, with twelve confederates, left Ireland and founded 
 a monaster}^ on a small island off the coast of Scotland; in 590, 
 Columbanus and twelve confederates established a missionary 
 monastery at Anagratum in the Vosges mountains in France, 
 and later another at Luxivium which became a most fruitful 
 center of ecclesiastical and monastic life. In 610 he founded an- 
 other at the foot of the Appenines between Genoa and Milan 
 
236 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 which throughout the middle ages bore a high reputation as a 
 seat of learning, 
 
 "An offshoot of the monastery founded by St. Columba on 
 the island of lona was founded in Lindisfarne; in 590, Colum- 
 banus and companions established a monastery in France at 
 Luxeuil, and later another at Bobbio in Italy; St. Gall another in 
 Switzerland; St. Fridolin another upon the Ehine in Germany; 
 St. Fiacre another in Brabant; St. Fursey another on the river 
 Marne; St. Cataldus another in Italy. The great Charlemagne, 
 founder of modern European civilization, surrounded himself 
 with learned Irishmen, and at his celebrated Court they were 
 accorded prominent station of responsibilitj^ and honor and 
 where they were known as 'men incomparably skilled in hu- 
 man learning.' " In reference to the standards of learning in 
 the monasteries in Ireland he records: "The standard of learn- 
 ing was much higher than with Gregory the Great and his fol- 
 lowers. It was derived without interruption from the learning 
 of the fourth century, from men such as Ambrose, Jerome, and 
 Augustine. Here also were to be found such specimens of clas- 
 sical literature as Virgil's works among the ecclesiastical writ- 
 ings, and an acquaintance with Greek authors as well, besides 
 the opportunity of free access to the very first sources of Christ- 
 ianity." 
 
 it is recorded in Bede's Historia Qentis Anglorum that 
 
 Ireland even shared in attempts to convert the Frieslanders 
 and Saxons. The energetic English missionaries to these peo- 
 ple at the end of the seventh century, Victberct, Hewald, and 
 Wilibrord, although Anglo-Saxons by birth, all received their 
 theological training in Ireland. Alcuin records of Wilibrord, 
 the apostle to Friesland, that he spent twelve years in Ireland 
 under the most distinguished teachers of theology, and that 
 "Britain gave him birth but Ireland reared and educated 
 him." 
 
 Hieric, in his biography of St. Germanus, a bishop of Eom- 
 an Gaul, a work finished in the year 876, records: "Need I re- 
 mind Ireland that she sent troops of philosophers over land and 
 seas to our distant shores, that her most learned sons offered 
 their gifts of wisdom of their own free will to our learned King, 
 our Solomon." 
 
 Dr. Reeves gives extended notice to the achievements of the 
 Irish missionaries. Saints Cataldus, Fiacre, Fridolin, Colman, 
 and Killian, none of whom find place in English annals. St. 
 Cataldus labored in Southern Italy; St. Fiacre, in France; St. 
 Colman is the patron saint of lower Austria; St. Killian taught 
 in Franconia; St. Fridolin at Glau\ms, where his figure finds 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 237 
 
 place in the cantonal arms and banner. And lie further records 
 of Ireland: "We must deplore the merciless rule of barbarism 
 in this country (England), whence was swept away all domes- 
 tic evidence of advanced learning, leaving scarcely anything at 
 home but legendary lore, and which has compelled us to draw 
 from foreign depositories the materials on which to rest the 
 proof that Ireland of old was really entitled to that literary 
 eminence which national feeling lays claim to. Our real knowl- 
 edge of the crowds of Irish teachers and scribes who migrated 
 to the Continent and became founders of many monasteries 
 abroad, is derived from foreign chronicles and their testimony 
 is borne out by the evidence of numerous Irish manuscripts 
 and other relics of the eighth to the tenth century, occuring in 
 libraries throughout Europe. ' ' 
 
 Alcuin, the great author and pride of the brilliant and dis- 
 tinguished Court of Charlemagne, affirms the fact that in ear- 
 lier times the most learned instructors of Britain, Gaul and Up- 
 X)er Italy were from Ireland. 
 
 At home her prelates and clergy were appreciated and re- 
 spected, abroad her missionaries and the scholars of her schools 
 were distinguished and highly honored. The overflow of 
 Christianity, learning and zeal of the people of Ireland illumin- 
 ed the darkened, less favored and less responsive nations of 
 Western Europe and well earned for her the glorious title of 
 "the Island of saints and scholars." 
 
 Such were the glorious centuries of Ireland's history — such 
 was the golden age of Ireland-^and such were the glorious fruits 
 in which she rejoiced and which she so bountifully bestowed 
 upon less favored nations and upon less fortunate peoples. But 
 a sadder day dawned — the glorious sunshine of civilization was 
 darkened by the clouds of war, devastation and pillage. During 
 the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, the persistent incur- 
 sions and warfare of the Norsemen made serious inroads upon 
 the prosperity and resources of Ireland. The flocks and herds 
 with which the Island abounded and the richly endowed shrines 
 and schools were the chief attractions for these piratical barbar- 
 ians. The sacred places and their valuable treasures suffered 
 most from their incursions and fury. 
 
 In A. D. 838, they despoiled and burned down Clonard, a fa- 
 mous school and See; and in the same expedition, Slane, the 
 school of King Dagobert, and Durrow of Columbcille also suf- 
 fered; four times in the same century Armagh was devastated 
 and laid in ruins; Lismore, and even Clonmacnois, in the very 
 heart of the country, were rifled. Three centuries of peace, in 
 earlier times, had left the pious and studious Irish ill prepared 
 
238 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 to resist these swarms of fierce invaders, but necessitj' aroused 
 and restored the warlike spirit and valor of the race. 
 
 In 863 they defeated the. Danes near Lough Foyle; in 902 
 near Dublin; at Dundalk in 920; at Eoscrea in 943; at Lough 
 Foyle in 1002; and upon many other bloody battlefields until 
 they were finally overthrown and driven out of Ireland by Brian 
 Boroimhe, King of Munster, in the famous and decisive battle 
 of Clontarf in 1014. 
 
 This lengthened period of conflict and warfare was soon af- 
 ter followed by the Norman invasion, and later by the more 
 brutal, cruel and relentless wars and persecutions of the English 
 which were begun in 1171 under Henry II and continued ever 
 since, but with abated fury and lessened animosity during later 
 years. From the time of the invasion of Ireland in 1171 the one 
 great object of England was nothing less than robbery and the 
 extermination of the Irish people. To effect this heinous pur- 
 pose no cruelty was too severe, no method too barbarous. This 
 fiendish undertaking having been unsuccessfully persisted in 
 during several centuries without fully achieving the intended 
 result, an embassy was sent to Ireland by Henry VI 11 to make 
 extended observation and to report upon the wisdom or unwis- 
 dom of continuing the unholy undertaking and to recommend 
 the best means to adopt to prosecute the nefarious work, should 
 the prospect of final success justify the continuance of the policy 
 of extermination. Their report, now on file among the State pa- 
 pers of England with others relating to the same subject, gives 
 greater prominence to the practical difficulties that would follow 
 extermination than to the barbarity of the undertaking or to the 
 best method of accomplishing the long desired result. Among 
 other things it is noted in the report that : 
 
 ''The lande is very large — by estimation as large as Eng- 
 lande — so that to inhabit the whole with new inhabitants the 
 number would be so great that there is no prince christened that 
 commodiously might spare so many subjects to depart out of 
 his region But to enterprise the whole extir- 
 pation and total destruction of all the Irishmen of the lande, it 
 would be a marvelous and sumptuous charge and great difficul- 
 ty, considering both the lack of enhabitors, and the great hard- 
 iness and misery these Irishmen can endure, both of hunger, 
 cold and thirst, and evil lodging, more than the inhabitants of 
 any other lande. ' ' 
 
 Cromwell, known in history as the friend and tool of Cran- 
 mer, and by the people of Ireland as a fiend incarnate because 
 of his atrocity and brutality, in continuation of the old-time 
 policy of extermination, inquired of his English agents in Ire- 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 239 
 
 land what would be tlie best means to adopt to accomplish the 
 same purpose and forever subjugate the country. Their re- 
 port, which is still preserved among the many State papers of 
 England of similar import, sets forth that the most efficient 
 mode of proceeding was the old-time policy, to exterminate the 
 people, and that the best means to ensure this result was starva- 
 tion. The corn — a term then used to include all cereals used 
 as food — was to be destroyed systematically and the cat- 
 tle killed or driven away — and it was a special glory reserved 
 for the * ' Protector ' ' to carry out this fiendish policy throughout 
 almost the whole of the countr3\ "The very living of the 
 Irishy," says»the report, "doth clearly consist in two things: 
 take away the same from them and they are passed forever to 
 recover, or get to annoy any subject in Ireland. Take first from 
 them their corn, and as much as cannot be husbanded and had 
 into the hands of such as shall dwell and inhabit their lands, to 
 burn and destroy the same so that the Irisliy shall not live there- 
 upon; and then to have their cattle and beasts, which shall be 
 most hardest to come by, and yet, with guides and policy they 
 may be oft had and taken." The report goes on to point out 
 most ingeniously and elaborately every plan and artifice for 
 carrying this diabolical policy into effect. 
 
 "Irishmen are of opinion among themselves," said Justice 
 Cusack to the King, "that Englishmen will one day banish 
 them from their lands forever. ' ' 
 
 Previous to the year 1600 the horrors of warfare had been 
 the lot of the people of Ireland durng the preceding eight hun- 
 dred years. They were robbed of their worldly possessions, 
 their monasteries, abbeys, cathedrals, churches and schools 
 were plundered and destroyed, and her extensive and priceless 
 literary treasures were given to the devouring flames. People 
 of rank and quality were impoverished and had only old rags 
 and thatches of straw to cover and protect them in inclement 
 weather; wives bitterly bemoaning the murders of their hus- 
 bands; mothers forced to see their children butchered before 
 Iheir faces or imj^aled as playthings upon the bayonets of de- 
 graded and brutal soldiers; others overwhelmed with grief and 
 distracted by their persecutions and losses. Desolate and starv- 
 ing inothers and children, and the aged and infirm, sought se- 
 curity and shelter in gloomy caverns, mountain fastnesses, hid- 
 den ravines and other obscure places, where they wasted away 
 and died of hunger, exposure, fear and apprehension, to gratify 
 the inhumanity of a brutal soldiery and the insatiable cruelty 
 and avarice of an intolerant, persecuting and relentless foe. 
 The underlying records of the heart-rending details of the suf- 
 
240 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 fering of the people of Ireland during so many centuries are 
 burned deeply into the memory of her j^eople, and they eloquent- 
 ly and forcefully plead in explanation and extenuation of the 
 loss of intellectual sujiremacy and leadership of Ireland in 
 later times. The unceasing warfare and violent persecutions of 
 centuries, which for fiendish atrocity and brutality have, hap- 
 pily for the credit of human nature, no paralell in the annals of 
 Time, have tended to direct the interest and attention of the 
 people away from intellectual pursuits and the refinements of 
 life and to promote the growth and development of the warlike 
 spirit for the defense of their homes and altars — to supplant the 
 institutions of religion and learning with frowning fortresses 
 and bloody battle-fields— to supplant the scholar with the war- 
 rior. It was reserved for the base Tudors to inflict the effective 
 and lasting blows that worked the sad and sorrowful transfor- 
 mation. The robberies and destruction of cathedrals and mon- 
 asteries, the treasure houses of religion and learning, and the 
 butchery and dispersion of their incumbents by Henry VIII, the 
 hideous penal laws of Elizabeth, and their more cruel enforce- 
 ment by their mercenary and blood-thirsty representatives and 
 successors, left no other choice but a soldier 's life for the people. 
 
 We, the descendants of such noble ancestry — the successors 
 of these glorious confessors and martyrs of old — may forgive, 
 but can we ever forget?— we may forgive but the facts of his- 
 tory remain to stir the blood within us, to arouse and to warn; 
 we may forgive but we cannot forget that the relentless intoler- 
 ance and injustice from which our worthy forbears so cruelly 
 suffered, although now so cunningly ignored, disguised and 
 apologized for, still remain, and that history repeats itself. 
 
 We do not recall nor dwell upon the horrors of the past be- 
 cause it is a pleasure to do so, but because it is our bounden duty 
 to know and to gratefully remember the trials and vicissitudes 
 of centuries that our ancestors sustained for their loyalty and 
 devotion to principle; it is not muck-raking nor tearing open 
 old sores to gratify a wanton spirit of vindictiveness but to 
 kindle anew our love and veneration for the memory of those 
 gone before who so loyally and manfully cherished and suffered 
 in defense of lofty ideals and loyalty to conscience and the 
 teaching of the Eedeemer of mankind and of His worthy di- 
 sciple Saint Patrick and his loyal and devoted successors. * 
 
 The year 1600 dawned in darkest gloom and sorrow — the 
 inheritance of the past was insufferable — and yet their hope 
 and valor remained, and these once again prompted them to or- 
 ganize and seek justice by the sword. The confederation of 
 Kilkenny followed — a movement, the outgrowth of the abhor- 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 241 
 
 rence of the outrages of the past and the intense patriotism and 
 love of the people for liberty that promised a brighter and bet- 
 ter fnture^^ — a movement that for breadth of comprehension and 
 wisdom in formulation may well challenge comparison with the 
 best and bravest efforts ever made to right the wrongs of a 
 plundered and grievously oppressed people. The battles and 
 massacres of Dungan Hill, Knocknanos, Athlone, Aughrim, Dro- 
 heda, Wexford, and of others elsewhere, while valiantly main- 
 tained ended disastrously. The final effort was made at the des- 
 perate and memorable siege of Limerick which was bravely and 
 fiercely contested but which was forced to capitulate to vastly 
 superior num\)ers and armament, and to submit to the disper- 
 sion of the flower of the officers and men of the Irish army to 
 the other nations of Europe, where as they of old covered them- 
 selves with glory and added new lustre to the land of their na- 
 tivity. Thenceforward, the contributions of Ireland to other 
 European countries were more along military lines upon bloody 
 battle-fields than in churches and the halls of learning. 
 
 As years went by and oppression increased in Ireland, the 
 numbers of Irish soldiers on the continent grew larger and, 
 therefore, we can scarcely name a battle of any importance in 
 which they did not figure in a conspicuous manner. And it is 
 worthy of note that the Irish regiment was always found with 
 its face to the foe in the thick of the fight. The English his- 
 torian, Macauley, in writing of the effect of the penal laws, tells 
 his readers that "Irish Catholics rose to important military 
 and civil positions in France, Italy and Spain, in the armies of 
 Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa; Irish Catholics who, if 
 they had remained at home, would have been looked down upon 
 by all the ignorant and worthless squireens who had signed the 
 declaration against transubstantiation. In his palace at Ma- 
 drid he (Wall, minister of Ferdinand the Sixth) had the pleas- 
 ure of being assiduously courted by the ambassador of George 
 the Second, and of bidding defiance in high terms to the am- 
 bassador of George the Third. Scattered all over Europe were 
 to be found Irish counts, Irish barons, Irish knights of Saint 
 Louis and of Saint Leopold, of the White Eagle and of the Gold- 
 en Fleece, who, if they had remained in the house of bondage 
 could not have been ensigns of marching regiments or freemen 
 of petty corporations. ' ' 
 
 Greater numbers of Irishmen have fought in the armies of 
 France, long England's bitterest enemy, than under the flag of 
 any other nation on the continent. After the siege and surren- 
 der of Limerick, in 1691, almost the entire garrison embarked 
 for France, on the advice of Sarsfield, and.Ainder the command 
 
242 IRELAND'S COXTRIBUTIOX TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 of Lieutenant-General Sheldon, and there formed the famous 
 Second Brigade. What was known as the First Brigade consist- 
 ed of the three regiments sent the year before to Loiiix XIV in 
 exchange for help from France in the cause of James 11. But in 
 this exchange the French did not keep faith for they sent over 
 sev^eral very inferior regiments composed of young and inex- 
 perienced men, while the soldiers returned from Ireland were 
 picked regiments of old and disciplined men under Mount- 
 cashel. Daniel O'Brien, eldest son of Lord Clare, and Arthur 
 Dillon. This brigade served with Catinat in Italy, where they 
 distinguished themselves in many fights on the old battle-fields 
 of the world. 
 
 The Second Brigade, under the command of Sarsfield, took 
 part in the siege of Namur, which surrendered after seven days. 
 Sarsfield, at its head, publicly received the thanks of the French 
 for the great service rendered them, and in the following March 
 was made a Field-Marshal. But he was not destined to enjoy 
 his honors long, for in July of the same year, 1693, he met liis 
 death at the battle of Landen fighting in the cause of a ])etty 
 tyrant who refused to tolerate the Huguenots. Sarsfield 's death 
 was made all the more sad and bitter by the realization that he 
 i)ad not sacrificed his life in the service of his own country. As 
 he lay mortally wounded on the battle-field he is said to have 
 raised his hand wet with his own blood and to have ])athetically 
 said to those about him: "Oh, that this had been d<uie for Ire- 
 land." 
 
 During the war of the Spanish Succession, which broke out 
 in 1701, the Irish Brigade held an important position in all the 
 great battles and rendered invaluable service to France. The 
 successful defence of Cremona when surprised by Prince Eu- 
 gene was due to the valiant stand of a small company of Irish- 
 men who held the Po gate of the city against greatly superior 
 numbers. The bravery of the Irish troops was cons]ncuous at 
 the famous battles of Blenheim (1704), Oudenarde (1708), and 
 Malplaquet (1709), and Irishmen fought under Berwick at the 
 battle of Almanza, and Mahoney won victories for the French 
 in Sicily. In the battle of Fontenoy, in 1745, the gi-eatest vic- 
 tory of France over England since the battle of Hastinscs, in 
 1066, the two Irish Brigades lost their chiefs and were decimat 
 ed by their many desperate and victorious charges. In 1695 all 
 the remaining veterans were organized into a brigade of twelve 
 full regiments, four of horse and eight of infantry, under the 
 descendants of their first officers. Until the revolution in 1791 
 they took ])art in every war in which France was engaged. 
 From 1691 to the vear 1745, after the battle of Fontenov. above 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 243 
 
 four hundred aud fifty thousand Irishmen lost their lives in the 
 service of France. Many of the officers of the brigade founded 
 distinguished families in France and since represented in the 
 jDublic life and campaigns of the country. O'Brien was created 
 Marshal of France and Commander of Languedoc; McMahon, 
 a Marquis and Knight of Saint Louis; Dillon was created a vis- 
 count of the same rank as Turrenne; Lally was made Governor 
 of Pondicherry; Roche, Viscount of Fermoj^; and so with many 
 others. 
 
 French recruiting for the brigade was carried on systemat- 
 ically in the south and west of Ireland long after the survivors 
 of Limerick had fired their last shot. In the war of the succes- 
 sion the chief glory of the brigade was the defense of Cremona 
 and their share in the fierce battles of Blenheim and Ramillies. 
 On the latter battlefield O'Brien, Lord Clare, fell mortally 
 wounded, leaving after him a son to conquer at Fontenoy. Riva 
 surrendered to Dillon, and Alsira to O'Mahoney. On the field 
 of Almanza, March 13, 1707 — a date that English historians find 
 it very agreeable to overlook — the French and Irish killed three 
 thousand of the Anglo-Dutch forces and took ten thousand 
 l^risoners and one hundred and twenty stands of colors.. This 
 battle compelled Queen Anne to dismiss Marlborough and ac- 
 cept the humiliating peace of L^trecht. But the hottest and 
 proudest day that the brigade ever saw was a May day in 1745. 
 The French army, commanded by Saxe, was accompanied by 
 King Louis, leaving eighteen thousand men to besiege Namur 
 and six thousand to guard the Scheldt, took a position between 
 the river and the British, having their center at the village of 
 Fontenoy. The British and Dutch under the son of King 
 George, the Duke of Cumberland, were fifty-five thousand 
 strong; the French, fifty-five thousand. After a hard day's 
 fighting and the slaughter of thousands, victory seemed to 
 declare against France, and King Louis, who was present, pre- 
 pared for flight. At this moment Marshal Saxe ordered a final 
 charge by the seven Irish regiments under O'Brien, Count Tho- 
 mond. The tide was turned again to the cry of "Remember 
 Limerick." France was delivered, England humbled, and Hol- 
 land reduced from a first to a second rate power upon that day, 
 largely by Irish valor and Irish bravery. With utter self abne- 
 gation they flung themselves upon the enemy. They smote them 
 like a devouring torrent, but on the conquered field their blood 
 was shed like rain. One-fourth of all the officers, including 
 Dillon, were killed, and one-third of all the men. 
 
 Until Austerlitz. Fontenoy stood unequalled in military 
 historv. But the brave brigade never recovered its lost blood 
 
244 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 upon that field. To the last the remnant kept their colors and 
 their reputation. In Germany with Saxe, in the far East with 
 Lally, in Canada with Montcalm, the last of that heroic brother- 
 hood fought until they died. Their favorite leaders all fell on 
 the field: McCarthy, Sarsfield, the two O'Briens, and the two 
 Dillons died in battle, and all victorious over England. When 
 in 1745 the news of the battle of Fontenoy reached King George 
 he exclaimed in the bitterness of his disappointment: "Cursed 
 be the laws that deprived me of such subjects. ' ' 
 
 After the French Kevolution, during the Consulate and the 
 Empire, the war records of the Irish in France were no less re- 
 markable. Napoleon found two generals and five colonels, to 
 say nothing of numerous troops, among the exiles who poured 
 into France after the Irish rebellion in 1798. After the Restora- 
 tion most of these men remained true to the fallen Napoleon^ 
 but a new line of French-Irish descendants of the men of the 
 Brigade rose into prominence. An Irish count was the last to 
 draw sword for the Bourbons in 1791, while an Irish general 
 stood by them to the end in 1830. 
 
 Among the most distinguished Irish families in France dur- 
 ing the middle of the last century were the MacMahons. They 
 were Irish Catholics who maintained their allegiance to the 
 Stuarts, and thus came to settle in France. The most conspicu- 
 ous member of this family, the famous Marshal MacMahon, was 
 born at Sully (Saone et Loire) in 1808. His father had been 
 made a peer by Charles X, whose personal friend he was. The 
 boy was educated at St. Cyr and then entered the army and went 
 to Algeria where he saw hard service for several years. He had 
 risen to the rank of Brigadier-General when the revolution of 
 1848 broke out and after that date he was promoted in swift 
 succession ; he became general of division in 1852 and was made 
 Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in the following year; he 
 was in command of infantry under Bosquet in the Crimea and 
 was made Grand Cross of the Legion and senator for his part in 
 the assault of the Malakoff, and finally Commander-in-Chief of 
 the forces in Algeria. He won his greatest military honor, how- 
 ever, when in command of the second army corps of the Alps, in 
 1859, at the battle of Magenta. After the battle he was made 
 Duke of Magenta and Marshal of France by the Emperor Na- 
 poleon III. Two years later, in 1861, he represented the emper- 
 or at the coronation of William III of Prussia, and in 1864 
 he became Governor-General of Algeria. In 1870 he command- 
 ed the army from Chalons to Sedan, and was wounded just in 
 time to be free from the responsibility of the surrender. After 
 the fall of M. Thiers in the spring of 1873, this great Irishman 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 245 
 
 was elected President of France, a position which he filled with 
 ability, dignity, force and tact until June, 1879. 
 
 The following extract from a lecture by Sir Charles Gavan 
 Duffy, in Melbourne, gives an idea of the position of the Irish- 
 men in France during the Presidency of Marshal MacMahon: 
 "In the drawing-room of the President of the French Kepublic, 
 who is the natural head of the exiled families, I met descendants 
 of Irish chiefs, who took refuge on the continent at the time of 
 the Plantation of Ulster by the first Stuart; descendants of 
 Irish soldiers who sailed from Limerick with Sarsfield, or a little 
 later with the ''Wild Geese" (Jacobites) ; of Irish soldiers who 
 shared the fortunes of Charles Edward (the "Young Pretend- 
 er"); of Irish peers and gentlemen to whom life in Ireland 
 without a career became intolerable in the dark era between 
 the fall of Limerick and the rise of Henry Grattan; and kins- 
 men of soldiers of a later date, who began life United Irishmen 
 and ended as staff* officers of Napoleon. Who can measure what 
 was lost to Ireland and the British Empire by driving these men 
 and their descendants into the armies and diplomacy of France? 
 All of them except the men of '98 have become so French that 
 they scarce speak any other language. There is a Saint Pat- 
 rick's Day dinner in Paris every 17th of March, where the 
 company consists chiefly of military and civil officers of Irish 
 descent who commemorate the national apostle but where the 
 language of the speeches is French because no other would be 
 generally understood. I reproached a gallant young soldier of 
 this class, whom I met in Paris, with having relinquished the 
 link of a common language with the native soil of his race. 
 "Monsieur," he replied, proudly, "when my ancestors left Ire- 
 land they would have scorned to accept the language any more 
 than the laws of England ; they spoke the native Gaelic. ' ' 
 
 In 1585, Queen Elizabeth raised a forced levy of 1500 Irish 
 troops to fight against the Spaniards in the Lowlands. As might 
 be expected, these troops, which were led by Sir Edward Stan- 
 ley, an English Catholic, took the first opportunity to exchange 
 the service of Queen Elizabeth for that of the Catholic King of 
 Spain. Stanley's corps distinguished itself in many battles 
 and "though young troops, displayed the steadiness of veter- 
 ans and a spirit of gallantry not surpassed even in that military 
 age." 
 
 In the seventeenth century the Irish were at the capture 
 of Orsoy and the siege of Rhinberg. In 1599 they fought under 
 Cardinal Andrew of Austria, governor of the Netherlands. 
 They continued to serve in the Netherlands until the peace of 
 1609 between the States and the Archduke Albert, sharing in the 
 
246 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 capture of Ostend and Grave, and everywhere fighting with ex- 
 treme bravery. When Charles II of England was an exile on 
 the continent there were several Irish regiments in the service 
 of Spain and France. One of these was commanded by Eichard 
 Grace of Gracefield in Queen's County; Justin McCarthy, Lord 
 Muskerry, afterwards Lord Mountcashel, commanded another 
 regiment; Sir John Darcy led a third. 
 
 Three times during the eighteenth century meii of Irish 
 race were ambassadors of Spain at the English court. Alex- 
 ander O'Reilly, afterwards Spanish ambassador at the court of 
 Loui^ XVI, was governor of Cadiz. "It is strange," said Na- 
 poleon, on his second entry into Vienna in 1809, "that on each 
 occasion on arriving in the Austrian capitol I should find myself 
 in treaty with Count O'Reilly." The dragoon regiment led by 
 the same Count O'Reilly saved the remnants of the Austrians 
 at Austerlitz. The Blakes, O'Donnells, and Sarsfields were 
 equally famous in Spain. O'Donnell, Duke of Tetuan, was a 
 dominant figure in Spanish politics during the middle of the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 The O'Neil, Count de Tyrone, writing of the Irish in Portu- 
 gal, says: "Here also the Irish blood is in great favor since 
 more than two centuries. Among dukes and barons, ministers, 
 judges, lawyers, high-reputed officers in the army and navy, 
 everywhere, old Irish names are to be met with, and the names 
 of 0"'Donnell, O'Neil, O'Daly, de la Poer, Kelly, Fitzgerald, 0'- 
 Meagher, Sarsfield, O'Farrell and many others are repeatedly 
 met with in our history. An O'Neil, Count Santa Monica, was 
 the tutor of the king, Don Carlos, and the family enjoys a high 
 position at coin-t. The Duchess of Saldana is a Fitzgerald; in 
 fact this little country is a great example of the worth of Irish 
 blood." 
 
 Another prominent writer and publicist records that: 
 "Within a century the great Leinster house of Kavanagh 
 counted in Europe an aulic councillor, a governor of Prague, a 
 field-marshal at Vienna, a field-marshal in Poland, a grand 
 chamberlain in Saxony, a count of the Holy Roman Empire, 
 a French Conventionist in 1793, Godefroy Cavaignac, co-editor 
 with Armand Carrell and Eugene Cavaignac sometime dictator 
 in France, and Edward Cavanagh, minister of Portugal. 
 
 Russia found among the exiles a governor-general of Liv- 
 onia. Count Thomond was commander at Languedoc. Lally 
 was governor at Pondicherry; O'Dwyer was commander at Bel- 
 grade; Lacy, of Ruga; Lawless, governor of Majorca. Count,, 
 Taafe is another of the Irish rulers of nations. Descended from 
 a distinguished Sligo family, he was for years a commanding 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 247 
 
 figure iu Aiistro-Himgariau politics. Count Taafe was also a 
 Knight of the Golden Fleece, a Knight of Malta, and a Knight 
 of St. John. Baron O'Carrell attained to distinguished prom- 
 inence in Austrian diplomatic service. In the Austrian army 
 there were also a Baron 'Brien, a Baron Brady, a Baron Mc- 
 Guire, and a Count 'Kelly, as well as many other distinguished 
 officers of Celtic descent. 
 
 Many Irishmen were counts of the Holy Roman Empire. 
 Among these were Count 'Gorman, Count Eussell, Count 
 Moore, and Count Cecil-Kearney. In Russia the family of Gen- 
 eral Obrutscheft" is descended from the Irish O'Bryans, just as 
 the Odontschefi's are descended from the O'Donnells." 
 
 The recognized ability and distinguished achievements of 
 [rishmen upon battle-fields in other lands are too great and too 
 brilliant to escape the attention of the pseudo-historian and 
 arch-enemy of Ireland, of Irishmen, and of everything Irish, 
 the late James Anthony Froude. In his historical works he 
 records : ' ' The Irishman of the last century rose to his natural 
 level whenever he was removed from his own unhappy c5untry. 
 In the seven years' war Austria's best generals were Irishmen. 
 Brown was an Irishman, Lacy was an Irishman, O'Donnell's 
 name speaks for him, and Lally Tollendall who punished Eng- 
 land at Fontenoy was O'Mullaly of Tollendall. Strike the 
 names of Irishmen out of our public service and we lose the he- 
 roes of our proudest exploits — we lose the Wellesleys, the Pal- 
 lisers, the Moores, the Eyres, the Coates, the Napiers; we lose 
 half the officers and half the privates who conquered India for 
 us and who fought our battles in the Peninsula. What the Irish 
 could do as enemies we were about to learn when the Ulster 
 Exiles crowded to the standard of Washington. What they can 
 
 be, even at home, we know at this present hour 
 
 It was Celtic valor that bore down the Roman in the defile of 
 Thrasymene, on the disastrous field of Cannae; nor was it until 
 Caesar carried the ten years exterminating war into the home 
 of the Celts that the contest of four centuries was decid- 
 ed." 
 
 To more fully understand and appreciate the difficulties 
 and dangers of the task that Ireland undertook in early times 
 for the enlightenment and uplift of other nations in the halls of 
 learning, in the sanctuaries, and on the battle-fields of Europe 
 — the formative period of their present enlightenment, civiliza- 
 tion and importance in the affairs of the world — and that we 
 may more fully realize the burning zeal, daring bravery, and 
 Christian charity that prompted the missionaries and scholars, 
 like the apostles of old, to undertake the work of evangelization 
 
24 8 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 and civilization among the erncle, uncivilized, and marauding 
 hordes that overran Europe, destroying Roman civilization, 
 and disrupted society as would a devastating plague, it may be 
 well to consider, however briefly in the time at my disposal, 
 the then existing disorganized condition of society throughout 
 Europe, an age when might made right, and 
 
 ''When it was the plan 
 To let him take who might 
 And let him keep who can." 
 
 It will readily be recalled that for a period of upwards of one 
 thousand years, Roman arms and Roman civilization dominated 
 this portion of the world. During the fifth century many of 
 the modern monarchies of Europe had their commencement, the 
 empire of the east having been about that period brought to the 
 very verge of ruin by the innumerable hosts of l^arbarians from 
 the north which poured in upon it and at length subdued it by 
 the overthrow of Roman domination in the year 476. The van- 
 dals, the Suevi and the Alans were the first insurgents. These 
 were soon followed by the Visigoths, Burgundians, Germans, 
 Franks, Lombards, Angles, Saxons and Huns. These roving 
 plunderers and depredators, taking different routes and armed 
 with fire and sword, soon destroyed nearly every vestige of 
 Roman ci\T-lization, subjected to their yoke the terrified victims 
 of their ferocity, and erected their conquests into kingdoms. 
 
 The Visigoths, after having driven out the Vandals, de- 
 stroyed the Alans, subdued the Suevi, and founded a new king- 
 dom in Spain. The Angles and Saxons made a conquest of 
 Britain from the Romans and natives, and the seven maraud- 
 ing groups set up seven kingdoms in England under their re- 
 spective leaders, which period is known in English histor^^ as 
 the heptarchy or seven kingdoms. 
 
 The Huns established themselves in Pannonia and the Ger- 
 mans on the banks of the Danube. The Heroli after having de- 
 stroyed the Western Empire, founded a government in Italy 
 which continued but a short time, being driven out by the Os- 
 trogoths. Justinian retook Italy from the Ostrogoths. The 
 greater part of Italy soon after fell under the power of the Lom- 
 bards, who formed it into a kingdom. The exarchate of Raven- 
 na, raised by them to the Empire of the East, enjoyed it but a 
 short time. The exarchate being conquered by Charlemagne 
 was settled by him on the Pope, which may be regarded as the 
 origin of the temporal power. 
 
 Numerous bodies of people from different countries, having 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 249 
 
 taken possession of Ganl, founded therein several liingdoms 
 which were eventually united by the Franks under the name of 
 France. Pharamond was the first monarch; and under Clovis 
 it attained considerable eminence. Pe]3in expelled, in the per- 
 son of Cliilderic III, the race of Pharamond, called the Merovin- 
 gian, from the throne and assumed the reins of government. 
 His son, Charlemagne, the greatest ])rince of his time, retrieved 
 the honor of France, destroyed the Lombardian monai'chy, and 
 renewed the glory of the Empire of the West, being himself 
 crowned emperor by the Pope at Rome. Under Charlemagne 
 France was the most powerful and brilliant kingdom of Eu- 
 rope; all the other monarchies were eclipsed by the lustre of this 
 new kingdom. 
 
 Spain was sul)dued by the Saracens who founded a new 
 kingdom in the mountains of Asturias. The many contests 
 between the Christians and Moors for supremacy laid waste < 
 this beautiful country during many years, until victory crowned 
 the Christian arms at the famous battle of Lepanto and the 
 Moors were driven out of Spain. 
 
 Lecky, in his History of European Morals, assures his read- 
 ers that the conflicts of these many races and the paralysis of 
 all government followed the fall of the Roman Empire made 
 force everywhere dominant, and petty wars incessant. Within 
 a century of the death of Mohamet his followers had almost ex- 
 tirpated Christianity from its birth-place and early home in the 
 East, founded great monarchies in Asia and Africa, planted 
 their conquering banners upon many of the strongholds of 
 Spain, threatened the overthrow of Western Europe and to es- 
 tablish Islamism upon the ruins of Christianity and Roman civ- 
 ilization. The rapid growth and spread of Mohamedanism had 
 aroused justifiable consternation bordering upon panic through- 
 out the Christian world. These various clashing races and 
 tribes who then formed the chief portion of the population, had 
 no written literature before their conversion to Christianity and 
 hence they adopted the learning and assimilated the civilization 
 of the country from whence came the missionaries who were 
 their teachers and civilizers. Irish monks were the first as they 
 were the most numerous and most successful laborers in the 
 work of bringing order out of chaos ; in teaching these barbarous 
 and profligate hordes their dependence upon and accountability 
 to the Omnipotent Jehovah; in teaching them the dignity and 
 responsibility of worthy manhood; in teaching them their duty 
 to themselves and to their fellow-men; in teaching them the 
 basid principles of organized society and the blessings of fixed 
 forms of government established upon a Christian foundation. 
 
250 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 
 
 The student, the scholar, the statesman, and the tlioughtful 
 may now well consider what might have been the consequences 
 —not only to Europe but also to the world — had Mohamedaii- 
 ism then overrun Europe and planted its triumphant banners 
 upon its citadels and outposts and subordinated those Teutonic 
 and other tribes who so often changed their creeds and upon 
 whom the course of civilization has since so largely depended— 
 had Islamism triumphed and the cross been made subservient 
 to the crescent — and also the debt of appreciation and gratitude 
 due to those who so bravely repulsed the Mohamedan hordes 
 upon many bloody battle-fields and thus aided in giving Christ- 
 ianity, learning, the knowledge of scientific agriculture, and 
 civilized government not only to the nations of Europe but also 
 through them to the world at large, and which still survive 
 with all their blessings. In this great and glorious work of 
 evangelization and civilization, as already shown, Irish monks, 
 Irish scholars, and Irish soldiers had distinguished prominence 
 and success — and this to their undying praise and glory is what 
 Irishmen did for the other nations of Europe and also for the 
 world, the glorious records of which adorn the most glorious 
 pages in the annals of Time. 
 
 Such in barest outline is a sketch of the origin of the mod- 
 ern nations of Europe and of the period when our ancestors so 
 generously and so successfully planted the seed and gathered 
 the bountiful harvest of Christianity and civilization from such 
 a barren and unpromising field and from such untoward people 
 and repulsive surroundings. As I stated in my opening, that to 
 be just, century and period must be compared with a corres- 
 ponding century and period; and applying this rule in the pres- 
 ent instance and comparing Ireland in Christianity, civilization, 
 intellectual attainments and the refinements of life, with corres- 
 ponding centuries and periods of the other nations of Europe 
 from the fifth to the eighth century will be like comparing the 
 brilliancy of the noonday sun with the darkness of midnight. 
 
 I have necessarily but briefly touched upon some of the 
 more brilliant, glorious and beneficent achievements of Irish- 
 men in varied and important walks of life in other European 
 countries which not only do credit to themselves but also to the 
 land of their nativity or ancestry, but which perverse and in- 
 iquitous prejudice and unchristian malevolence have too long 
 ignored or misrepresented in the pages of so-called history and 
 literature, and thus withheld from the knowledge of the world 
 at large. 
 
 It is an interesting subject of speculation, though a melan- 
 choly one, to consider what the history of Ireland might have 
 
DR. GEORGE McALEER 251 
 
 been had all those men of genius and force been free to use 
 their great powers for the betterment of their native comitrj', 
 or the country of their ancestors, instead of spending their lives 
 as exiles in foreign lands. It should be a matter of pride as 
 Avell as' of duty for all through whose veins courses rich Celtic 
 blood to teach their children, or to insist that they be taught in 
 the schools which they attend, the story of the triumphs and 
 glories, the joys and sorrows, the aspirations and hopes of Innis- 
 fail. A new day dawns that gives promise of a more hopeful 
 future — a day when the learning and civilization of the scholar 
 will be blended with the bravery of the soldier and the states- 
 manship of th^ patriot — a day that will bring back the old-time 
 achievements and glory of Ireland and give her again command- 
 ing prominence and honor among the nations of the world. 
 
Hon. John T. Duggan, M. D. 
 
 Dr. John T, Duggan was born in Worcester, Mass., 
 June 30, 1855, son of Walter H. Duggan and Julia M. 
 (Collopy) Duggan. His early education was received 
 in the public schools. He attended Holy Cross College, 
 and was graduated in 1880. He studied at Bellevue 
 Hospital Medical College, New York, and graduated in 
 1883. The same year he received the degree of A. M. 
 from Holy Cross College. 
 
 Dr. Duggan served as a member of the Worcester 
 School Committee for twelve years and was twice 
 elected vice chairman of that body. He was Mayor of 
 AVorcester in 1906 and 1907. In June, 1906, he received 
 the degree of LL. D. from his Alma Mater. From 1893 
 to 1898 he was chairman of the United States Board of 
 Pensioning Examiners. 
 
 For the past fifteen years Dr. Duggan has been 
 chairman of the visiting staff of St. Vincent Hospital, 
 Worcester. He is a member of the Massachusetts Med- 
 ical Society. On Oct. 27, 1885, Dr. Duggan was mar- 
 ried to Nellie J. Glastrick, daughter of Patrick and 
 Mary Glastrick, both natives of Dublin, Ireland. 
 

 
Sulunh^B ®ontributt0n tn Am^rtran 
 
 -BY- 
 
 HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 
 
 It lias been truly said "that the best monument to a great 
 and good man are the works which his hand and his head have 
 enriched the world. ' ' And we may also assume that tlie great- 
 est tribute which any country or any nation can bestow upon 
 an}^ of its citizens is a just appreciation of those who have la- 
 bored for its peace, its happiness and its prosperity. 
 
 It is an indisputable fact that too often historians, w^io 
 call themselves such, are sadly lacking in those fundamental 
 qualities of impartiality, fidelity and accuracy, these basal qual- 
 ifications that lead up to the primary end of history, viz : truth, 
 and which should be recorded as such for the instruction of 
 mankind. 
 
 If persuasion is the office of the orator then truth is the es- 
 sential i3rerequisite of the writer of historical narrative. Fac- 
 tion and affection must be strangers to his pen. Past events 
 and characters must be contemplated with a cool and dispas- 
 sionate eye and he must lay before his readers a faithful copy 
 of human nature. A great many people are somewhat incred- 
 ulous if they are not in possession of facts; but every record of 
 facts, however true the}'' may be, is not entitled to the name of 
 history. It has been truly said that the biographies of men 
 make up the best history of mankind; but if we read the pages 
 of many of the histories of our time it would seem as though 
 this form of composition was sadly neglected. 
 
 History is more thoroughly appreciated and much better 
 understood when we are brought face to face with the person- 
 al lives of the men who played the principal parts in the ac- 
 complishment of great and noble deeds, and who sent into the 
 
254 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 great swelling stream of human progress their silent contribu- 
 tions for the advancement and betterment of society. 
 
 The so-called ''Dark Ages" were given that name for the 
 reason that writers knew little or nothing of the individual 
 lives and the great accomplishments of the men and women of 
 that time. And the knowledge of these ages is inculcated into 
 the minds of school children and students of history as periods 
 when everything that pertained to literature, poetry and the 
 arts was at a standstill, when nothing flourished and everything 
 portended a dark and dismal outlook, yet, when the truthful 
 historian, the imprejudiced writer, the faithful portrayer of 
 deeds and men begins to collect the scattered details that missed 
 the recognition of other writers, we read a far different story, 
 and feel that in the very heart of these so-called dark ages, 
 there shone a galaxy of intellectual lights that will compare 
 very favorably with those of other centuries. 
 
 John Euskin said "that the proper estimation of the ac- 
 complishments of a period in human history can only be ob- 
 tained by a careful study of three books, 'The Book of the 
 Deeds,' 'The Book of the Acts,' and the 'Book of the Words' 
 of the given epoch," and before passing judgment upon the ac- 
 complishments of the men of this greatly misrepresented ]:)eriod, 
 it would be well for the students of history to familiarize them- 
 selves with the writings of those men who have told the story 
 in an impartial, faithful and accurate manner. It is in this way 
 that we can form a just estimate of what they contributed to 
 the world's progress, both in science, literature and the arts 
 and which commands the appreciation and respect of every suc- 
 ceeding generation since that time. 
 
 "The records of ]nost people are embraced within a nation- 
 al aspect and they have affected the world's history and their 
 own destiny mainly in their aggregate capacity." How differ- 
 ent the history of that race of people whose homes and whose 
 firesides were in that little Green Isle of the sea. They had to 
 be content with having their deeds and noble achievements re- 
 corded through the lives of their children, who were exiles in 
 every region of the globe for years and years, either through a 
 desire for liberty or the direful pangs of absolute necessity. 
 The glory and the accomplishments of Ireland's sons and 
 daughters must take the place of the history of the Irish race 
 and prove to the world that the accusations trumped up against 
 them were only circumvented by treachery, deceit, perjury and 
 fraud. The biographies of the sons of this gallant race emphat- 
 ically prove that when they took up their abode in foreign 
 lands, their unequalled valor, and matchless ability chiseled 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 255 
 
 out a new destiny and founded new nations and even after all 
 this, tliey have been robbed as a race of the credit and name of 
 the work of their honest endeavors. The history of the world 
 has never yet recorded a race of people that have been treated 
 with more malevolence, hatred and ill will than those who pro- 
 fess and who will always hold dear, a love for the green flag of 
 Erin. 
 
 The sons of Ireland have been maligned, misunderstood 
 and slandered as to their credit and character, and robbed of 
 all that was near and dear to them. And, at this time, we want 
 to say that "the solution of the problem of remedying Ireland's 
 wrongs was never referred to the people of the two countries. 
 For, if the settlement of this momentous question was left to 
 the common people of England and to the common people of 
 Ireland, long ago, it would have been adjusted in a manner sat- 
 isfactory and mutually agreeal^le. " "For, in the ^'^ar 1885, 
 when the common people of England, for the first time in that 
 country, became a factor in her political life, two millions of 
 English workingmen exercised their right of franchise by pos- 
 itively preventing the Tory government from putting into force 
 another Coercion Act in Ireland, framed for the sole purpose of 
 catering to the whims and caprices of a tyrannical landlord- 
 ism." On the contrary: As a distinguished writer once said, 
 "the Irish people have nothing to fear, but everything to hope, 
 from the common people of Great Britain." "It is not the sea, 
 hut the separate ])ool that rots, and so it is not the common 
 people but the se]^arated class of humanity that rots." The 
 Aristocrat, the fellow on horseback, don't you know, the fellow 
 peering out through the monocle, and wishing to be monarch 
 of all he surveys, who has ruled Europe for centuries, the un- 
 adulturated essence of all that is contained in a mean and de- 
 spicable snobbery. In the North American Eeview for Janu- 
 ary, 1886, there appeared an article from the pen of the late 
 lamented John Boyle O'Beilly, in which he wrote a graphic 
 summary of Ireland's long struggle for National independence: 
 
 "A hundred years ago," he said, "Ireland was in the most 
 deplorable condition that any civilized nation ever descended 
 to. Six centuries of a violent struggle had wasted her blood, 
 her money and her resources; her people were disfranchised; 
 no man voted in Ireland except those of the English colony. 
 For a hundred preceding years the teacher and priest had been 
 hunted felons. There were only four million Irish altogether, 
 and they were nearly all in Ireland. Friendless, voiceless, vote- 
 less, landless, powerless, disarmed, disorganized, ignorant, for- 
 gotten by the world, misreported and misrepresented by their 
 
256 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGREdS 
 
 rich and powerful enemy and held up in English books, news- 
 papers, schools at home and abroad as a race of wild, weak^ 
 witty, quarrelsome, purposeless incapables. But even in his 
 blood and rags and wretchedness, the Irishman was still un- 
 subdued, still a free man in soul and a foeman to act. It seems 
 very strange that the general view of Ireland and the Irish 
 
 The Druids may have used the mlater as temples, or as al- 
 question is looked upon as a purely sentimental one, when, in 
 reality, it is one of the most material and practical. The false 
 characteristics that have been attributed to the Irish race by 
 an unfriendly nation implied that they could not govern them- 
 selves if they had opportunity. But this is always the tribute 
 which injustice pays to morality. The only way a man can 
 stand well in any community is, after he has injured his brother 
 man, to assail his character. This must be done in order that 
 his own action may be justified." But, howsoever true this 
 ma^^ be. Irishmen and the sons and daughters of Irishmen have 
 proven to the world that, notwithstanding all the grievous 
 wrongs they have suffered, all the contumilies which have been 
 heaped upon them, and all the inhuman atrocities to which they 
 have been subjected, they have distinguished themselves, to 
 whatever part of the world they have gone, by their intellectu- 
 al, as well as by their physical superiority. 
 
 The small stream of Irish emigration that began to flow 
 westward previous to the last century, had swollen in later 
 years to the vast proportions of a torrent; and while we fully 
 realize that a great number took up their burdens in lands other 
 than, America, it seems, in a way providential, that those who 
 came here had a forecast and were influenced by some unseen 
 hand that blended their choice with Ireland's early historic 
 memorials in the past; for, whether we take nebulous tradition 
 seriously or otherwise, we must admit that it has certain truth- 
 ful bearings on the real facts of history. 
 
 The fame of St. Brendan's adventures, long before the dis- 
 covery of America by Columbus, has been told in song and le- 
 gend, and even reached to far-away Asia. 
 
 One of three books that were most read in the 13tli cen- 
 tury, "The Golden Legend," contained an article of St. Bren- 
 dan's Land. The old Scandinavian chronicle, called the "Land- 
 namabok" was completed in the 13th century and apparently 
 from older documents. This was the "Book of Iceland's Ori- 
 gin," and from the fact that the early Irish navigators had fre- 
 quent intercourse with the Northmen of Iceland and Scandin- 
 avia, both sharing equally the hazardous occupation of hardy 
 sea-faring men, the Northmen attribute the honor of a first 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 257 
 
 discovery of America to Ireland and Irishmen, and foreshad- 
 owing the great land as a colonial dependency, justly belong- 
 ing to the country of their birth, the Northern Sagas called it 
 by the name of * ' Great Ireland. ' ' 
 
 This region was placed in the western ocean and westwards 
 from Ireland, and what we now call the country of the Eskimo, 
 Labrador and Nova Scotia, New Foundland, the New llngiand 
 and Southern States were known to these early discoverers by 
 other names. Centuries before the Spaniards landed in Flor- 
 ida, Irishmen had settled in that southern portion of North 
 America, and introduced a civilization, the traces of which still 
 remain. N. Lu'dlow Beamish, in his book entitled ' ' The Discov- 
 ery of America by the Northmen in the Tenth Century, with 
 notices of the early settlements of the Irish in the Western 
 Hemisphere," published in London, 1841, and consisting of 
 eight volumes, says that the ancient and indigenous remains 
 found in Florida indicate such a conclusion. 
 
 Away back in the eighth century, a people speaking the 
 Irish language was found in the Southern parts of North 
 America, according to the statement of Professor Eafu, of 
 Copenhagen, and that part of the country which now lies along 
 the Eastern coast, stretching from Chesapeake Bay to the Caro- 
 linas and Florida, had a tradition that white men anciently 
 occupied that region, and that they were possessed of iron im- 
 plements ; and such is the opinion of Baron Von Tschudi, in his 
 work on Peruvian Antiquities. Moreover, Lionel Wafer states 
 that there was a wonderful affinity between the Irish language 
 and that spoken by the Indian people living on the Isthmus of 
 Panama. He relates many other particulars to show that the 
 western continent was colonized at a very early time by Irish 
 people; therefore, it was to the land, which seemingly was dis- 
 covered by their sires, that those emigrants, who were exiles 
 from their own home, came during the last four centuries, and 
 when they set foot on the soil of the Western continent, they 
 were not in possession of a very great amount of the material 
 things of this world. 
 
 First came the advanced guard in the 16th and 17th cen- 
 turies, followed later by that great army of emigrants who had 
 girded on the Armor of Faith in God, Hope in His Promises 
 and Charity for their God and their neighbor, and they settled 
 in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, Pennsylvan- 
 ia, Maryland and the Carolinas. On this and on the other side 
 of the ''Father of Waters," they took up their abode with a 
 fixed determination and a true nobility of purpose to carve 
 out their own destiny in a land where the ravs of God's sun 
 
258 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 shone through an atmosphere of freedom, where they could 
 prove to the world that they were not the people that misrepre- 
 sentation and calumny proclaimed them to be, but, rather, the 
 representatives and the apostles of a true, rational liberty ever 
 recognizing the rights, the freedom and the equality before the 
 law of the individual; intolerant of absolutism, despisers of 
 feudalism — neither of which would ever gain a foot-hold or a 
 habitation among the exiled Irish Celt, and by their valor and 
 daring, they would ever strive to crush the ambitious schemes 
 of any hydra-headed monster who was averse to the principle 
 that liberty and union were the priceless treasures of nations 
 and of men. 
 
 Long before the Eevolution representatives of Ireland 
 were numerous in the American Colonies. 
 
 Some people are possessed with the idea that the Irish 
 people had little to do with the early settlement of America, 
 that the original stock was solely puritanic, at least one would 
 be inclined to form this opinion from a perusal of the histories 
 of this country. In the year 1623, only three years after the 
 Pilgrim fathers landed in that cold and wintry December, on 
 the desolate short of Plymouth Bay, more than 500 Irish men 
 and women were transported to New England by British mer- 
 chants. Over three hundred years ago at the time when Henry 
 VIII became a Protestant, his firm resolve that the Irish should 
 be Protestant likewise, resulted in his reforming process which 
 continued for a hundred years and for the accomplishment of 
 his wicked design, his chief means were the bullet, the rope and 
 tlie slave ship; and one of the results was the selling into slav- 
 ery of 60,000 Irish boys and girls to the tobacco planters of the 
 West Indies, as Sir William Petty and other English historians 
 of the time relate. And a gentleman from the Island of Ja- 
 maica once told the story that the Negroes in that country used 
 a great many Gaelic words. And an Irish writer is sponsor for 
 the statement that in four years over 6000 men and women 
 were shipped to America by English merchants as a result of 
 this inhuman edict. 
 
 From this it would appear that the settlement of this coun- 
 try was not all one-sided. Eeligious libert^^ for ourselves was 
 the cry of the Puritan and the Hugenot ; the accumulation of the 
 Almighty dollar, plying the fur trade, engrossed the minds of 
 the Dutch; Freedom" and toleration for all were the aspirations 
 of the Celt, and as has been truly said, ''from out the colony of 
 Lord Baltimore was first heralded the glad news of that free- 
 dom of thought, of conscience and of heart which is the glory 
 of America todav. " , 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 259 
 
 Others among the early settlers were the Irish School Mas- 
 ters who for generations imparted tuition and the fruit of their 
 labors was evident in the great number of their pupils who at- 
 tained positions of eminence in peace and in war. A great many 
 of the patriots in the war of the E evolution sat at the feet of 
 Irish teachers, and the love and respect which was shown by 
 these pupils for their tutors contributed in no small manner 
 to their future achievements. 
 
 In 1640 William Collins accompanied a party of refugees 
 from the West Indies to what is now New Haven, Conn. After 
 a time these refugees scattered in different directions and some 
 of them returned to Ireland. Collins taught school in Hartford 
 for a while. After this, honest thinking got him into trouble 
 in Boston, and he was banished, taking up his residence in 
 Rhode Island, or as it was then called, Aquidneck. He married 
 Faith Hutchinson and in 1642 he was killed by the Indians. 
 Thomas Dongan, son of an Irish 'Baronet, was appointed Gov- 
 ernor of New York in 1683. He did much to encourage educa- 
 tion. During his administration a Catholic college was opened 
 in New York with an admirable course of studies. One of the 
 first scholars in America in his day was Rev. Francis Allison, 
 D. D., who was born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1705. Lossing says 
 of this Irish Educator that ''His chief claim to honor among 
 men is that he was the tutor of a large number of Americans 
 who were conspicuous actors in the events of the Revolution 
 that accomplished the Independence of the United States. ' ' He 
 came to America in 1735 and settled in Pennsylvania. He not 
 only taught in that state but also in Connecticut and elsewhere. 
 Charles Thompson, another Irishman, who was afterwards per- 
 manent secretary of the Continental Congress and a sterling 
 patriot, was one of the pupils of this brilliant man. 
 
 It has been truly said of Allison that he was one of the 
 fathers of American scholarship. Among the military instruct- 
 ors to the patriots was Robert Patterson, a native of Ireland, 
 who, in 1779, was made Professor of Mathematics in the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania. He was also the fourth director of 
 the United States mint. 
 
 Joseph Story, who was a Judge of the United States Su- 
 preme Court, was, when a boy, a pupil of the Irish teacher 
 Michael Walsh, who was the author of a Mercantile Arithmetic 
 and a New System of Bookkeeping, and upon whom Harvard 
 conferred a degree. 
 
 We might mention Robert Adrian, who was born in Car- 
 rickfergus, and who was Professor in Revolutionary times, of 
 Mathematics and National Philosophy in what is now Rutgers 
 
260 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AflMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 College; Robert Oliver, who established in Baltimore the Hi- 
 bernian Free School; Robert Alexander, who came here in 
 1736 from Ireland, and who may be considered the founder of 
 the present Washington and Lee University, Virginia. This 
 was the institution to which in 1826, John Robinson, an Irish- 
 man, who had served under Washington, bequeathed his estate 
 valued at $46,000. 
 
 The immortal Webster, .as a pupil, sat at the feet of Ed- 
 ward Evans, a schoolmaster, in the early days of America, and 
 born in the County Sligo, Ireland, which is put down as the 
 place of his birth in the history of the town of Salis- 
 bury. 
 
 Darby Kelley, the Irish teacher in New Hampshire, one of 
 whose descendants was the late Mrs. Joseph H. Walker, wife 
 of our departed Ex-Congressman and esteemed fellow citizen. 
 Other descendants of this early Irish Schoolmaster were Capt. 
 Warren M. Kelley, who commanded a company in Donohue's 
 10th New Hampshire Regiment in the Civil War, and Gen. 
 Benj. J. Kelley, who raised the first Union regiment and won 
 the first Union victory south of Mason and Dixon line. 
 
 That Master Commandant and laconic Oliver H. Perry, 
 who defeated the British Flotilla on Lake Erie in the war of 
 1812, and in whose veins flowed Irish Blood, was a pupil of one 
 of the earliest schoolmasters of Rhode Island, the man who had 
 taught three generations of the youth of his neighborhood, old 
 Master Kelley, of whom it is recorded that he was never once 
 known to have lost his temper, but preserved a most beautiful 
 evenness of mind that was the envy of those who were engaged 
 in his difficult and important calling. 
 
 We cannot leave this part of our subject without a brief 
 reference to that philosopher who was contemporary with, and 
 a friend of Pope, Swift and Addison — George Berkeley, born 
 at Kilkrin, near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1684. 
 He was regarded by his associates as one of the most brilliant 
 minds of his time. He held a theory in regard to the non-ex- 
 istence of matter which indeed seemed curious, which he de- 
 velops in his principles of human knowledge, but his influence 
 was, as a writer says, '^Much better traced through the widely 
 expanded fields of literature, printing, architecture, science and 
 education. While in Newport, R. I., he wrote his famous poem, 
 ''On the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America.'^ 
 Previous to his departure for Ireland in 1731, he donated to 
 Yale the finest collection of books that ever came to America, 
 and also gave liberally to Harvard. Rhode Island always has 
 and will in the future hold his name in loving memory. He 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 261 
 
 wrote a great many works on science and he was one of the 
 ablest mathematicians of his day. 
 
 The inauguration of evening schools was not an innovation 
 of the eighteenth century, as many of the present day might 
 suppose. Most of these old dispensers of education taught ev- 
 ening as well as day schools in their homes, and reading, writ- 
 ing, arithmetic, English grammar, Geometry, Plane and Spher- 
 ical Trigonometry, Surveying, and Bookkeeping were the 
 branches to which they gave their assiduous attention, and they 
 were not unmindful of the classics, for Greek and Latin were 
 included in their curriculum, all of which were productive of 
 most excellent results. Nor, were their efforts confined to one 
 or two sections in colonial days, for Maine, New Hampshire, 
 Ehode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and other parts were 
 recipients of their excellent endeavors in the cause of educa- 
 tion — the bulwark then, as now, of a nation's greatness. 
 
 It would be very interesting reading if it were possible 
 for us to gain access to the notes, lectures, and other writings 
 of these Irish Schoolmasters of the olden time which, no doubt, 
 lie in some hidden spot and which might well be assigned a 
 suitable place as memorials of their generation. 
 
 They made heroes and heroism possible; through educa- 
 tion they brought out what otherwise might have remained 
 dormant in the minds of those who drank in the precepts of 
 their valuable labors. The names which we have mentioned 
 are only a few of those of Irish nationality who were engaged 
 in shaping the minds of the young in the days of yore and who 
 are now assigned to the realms of oblivion. The land of their 
 birth or their ancestors gets no credit whatsoever from the his- 
 torical writers of modern times for their sacrifices and the im- 
 measurable amount of good they brought to the threshold of 
 liberty and happiness. When Benj. Franklin wrote Thompson, 
 the Irish Schoolmaster, that ''The Sun of liberty is set, the 
 Americans must light the lamps of industry and economy," 
 Thompson replied, "Be assured that we shall light torches of 
 a very different sort. ' ' 
 
 In those early days when colonization and its handmaid, 
 civilization, were laying the foundation for that magnificent 
 structure which is today the envy of all the great nations of the 
 world, these grand and glorious United States of America, we 
 must not be unmindful of the many sacrifices that were made, 
 the sufferings that were endured and the obstacles that were 
 surmounted by that noble vanguard of immigrants whose 
 names are forgotten and whose memories only live in the great 
 work they accomplished. Nor, do we wish for a moment to 
 
262 IRELAND'S CONTHIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 take away from any race or any people the glory of their 
 achievements towards the fulfillment of noble purpose and 
 honest endeavor, but as we are strictly concerned tonight with 
 a race that has been placed before the world by prejudiced 
 minds as indolent, weak and as purposeless incapables, we de- 
 sire to meet these accusations face to face in an impassioned 
 manner and prove to the world that they were base and un- 
 founded fabrications. 
 
 The knowledge imparted by the earlj^ Irish Schoolmasters 
 in Colonial days teemed with the elements of justice, fortitude 
 and morality. The schooling that Ireland received from Eng- 
 land for centuries could not be productive of any other result 
 than those which must necessarily follow from the instillation 
 of knowledge that had its source in perverted minds. Yet, 
 when these poor Irish immigrants were put to the test in new 
 fields and under more favorable conditions, their resolute 
 minds, their indomitable will and their fixed determination of 
 purpose arc .e phoenix like from the ashes of their ancestors. 
 
 From their numbers was the woodman whose labors laid 
 claim to the mighty trees of the forest, the agriculturalist who 
 tilled and cultivated the soil with the rude implements at his 
 command; the builder whose humble and unpretentious log 
 cabin supplanted the wigwam of the Indian and from which 
 the curling smoke of infant civilization arose and ascended to 
 heaven as incense and a token of thanksgiving for past pro- 
 tection and future blessings; the educator who filled the thirsty 
 souls of the young with the knowledge that would direct them 
 and posterity along the paths that led to the accomplishment 
 of heroic achievements and noble deeds. Whether in their 
 struggles with the Eed Men or fighting dissension and religious 
 differences which were followed by insults and persecution, 
 oftentimes ending in banishment, or in working for the com- 
 plete annihilation of English supremacy in this fair western 
 world. Irishmen and the sons of Irishmen exhibited in no small 
 degree a fortitude, a patience and a heroism that should merit 
 for them a higher degree of honorable mention than has too 
 often been denied them. Parkman in his ^'Pioneers of France 
 in the New World, ' ' page 396, says, ' ' Seldom has religious ty- 
 ranny assumed a form more oppressive than among the Puritan 
 exiles. New England Protestantism appealed to liberty; then 
 closed the door against her." 
 
 Nearly three hundred 3^ears ago the General Court of Mas- 
 sachusetts Ba}^ granted lands on the Merrimac River for an 
 Irish settlement and in that great and protracted war against 
 King Philip, Chief of the Narragansett tribe of Indians, there 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGG^AN 263 
 
 were several Imndred Irishmen from this settlement who did 
 yoeman work with the troops from Massachusetts, Plymouth 
 and Connecticut, and their names are still preserved in the 
 Colonial records, and after the termination of this terrible 
 struggle when the colonies of Massachusetts and Plymouth 
 were sorely distressed, their towns destroyed, their houses 
 burned, and greater than all, the flower of the country, chiefly 
 composed of young men, gone from them forever; when, also, 
 on account of their great pecuniary losses, over a half million 
 dollars, which meant a great deal for the people who were strug- 
 gling in those days, the call for help went out, Ireland in the 
 midst of all her sorrows and trials sent her small contribution, 
 and our own* historian, Bancroft, referring to this act, said: 
 ''Let us not forget a good deed of the generous Irish; they sent 
 over a contribution, small it is true, to relieve the distresses of 
 Plymouth Colony. Connecticut, which had contributed sol- 
 diers to that war, furnished the homeless with a thousand 
 bushels of corn, God will remember and reward ^that precious 
 fruit. With the defeat of the Indian Chief Philip, the tribes 
 of Eed Men in New England began to grow less and less and 
 the colonists were never afterwards seriously molested by the 
 attacks of hostile Indians." In the early colonization those of 
 Celtic elements of race, and afterwards largely increased from 
 Ireland, were unmistakably the source of American heroism, 
 character and prosperity in a marked degree. We have no 
 complete memorial, previous to the Eevolution, regarding par- 
 ticulars of those emigrations which took place from Europe 
 to America. But from those records which are accessible they 
 seem to have been verv copious. (See Kev, J, A, Spencer's 
 History of the U. S. Vol. 1). 
 
 It has been estimated that 3000 males left Ulster yearly 
 for the American Colonies soon after the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century. One reason for this exodus was from the 
 fact that during the reign of William III and of Queen Mary, 
 the woolen trade of Ireland was greatly discouraged. In the 
 year 1660 Robert and Magdalen Pollock with their six sons and 
 two daughters sailed from Donegal, Ireland, for America, and 
 settled in the then colony of Lord Baltimore, within Somerset 
 County, Maryland, at a place now known as Davis' Quarter. 
 In America the name was contracted to Polk. From one of 
 the sons was descended James K. Polk, afterwards President 
 of the United States, from another son descended Gov. Charles 
 Polk of Delaware and Gen Thomas Polk of Mecklenburgh fame, 
 from a third Governor Trust en Polk of Missouri. The Car- 
 rolls who founded CarroUton in Maryland emigrated from Ire- 
 
264 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMEIRICAN PROGRESS 
 
 land before 1689. Daniel Carroll was a native of Littamourna, 
 Ireland, and liis grandson, Charles, was the last snrvivor of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. In his own state 
 founded by Catholics, on the principle of religions toleration, 
 the education of Catholics had been proscribed by law in the 
 days of his youth. 
 
 The established church of England had been supported in 
 Maryland by taxing the people of all other creeds and, after 
 Mr. Carroll's return to that colony, over the signature of the 
 "First Citizen," he attacked the validity of the law which im- 
 posed such a tax. 
 
 Just before the Eevolution, he was appointed one of the 
 Committee of Correspondence for the Province, and in 1775, he 
 was elected one of the Council of Safety, and was a delegate to 
 the Revolutionary Convention. On the 4th of July, 1828, he 
 laid, with much ceremony, the foundation stone of the Balti- 
 more and Ohio Eaiiroad. 
 
 We can only give a meagre enumeration of the Irish immi- 
 grants who sought homes in the colonies, in the early part of 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
 In the Shenandoah Valley, New York, about the Blue 
 Ridge mountains, several localities in Virginia, where the 
 names of towns today, are, no doubt, of Irish origin, as also 
 are counties, rivers and creeks. Pennsylvania and New Hamp- 
 shire, the latter its town of Dublin, named after the metropolis 
 of Ireland — the former the settlement of the parents of Anthony 
 Wayne, that distinguished General of the Revolution. 
 
 Some came to the banks of the Hudson River, among them 
 Charles Clinton, from the County Longford, Ireland, and, at 
 that time, he had two distinguished sons and a grandson, who 
 were afterwards great historical characters, and illustrious 
 sons in Revolutionary days, whether acting as officers in the 
 attack on Fort Fontenac in 1758 or as officials managing the 
 affairs of nation and state, their commanding abilities, as well 
 as their administrative faculties, seem to have been character- 
 istic of this great family, and there is no name in the bright 
 galaxy of illustrious Americans to which the country is more 
 indebted than that of Clinton. 
 
 Irish emigrants came to this country in 1729, in the pro- 
 portion of nine to, one, of all the other European nationalities. 
 James O'Hara, an Irishman, was one of the founders of Pitts- 
 burg; afterwards he was a quarter master general under the 
 military direction of Gen. Anthony Wayne. 
 
 The parents of General Stark were born in Ireland, and as 
 emigrants settled in New Hampshire. Nor were settlements 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGKfiAN 265 
 
 confined to the eastern part of this country. They were numer- 
 ous along the frontier, and through the distant back woods; 
 and the names of Daniel Boone, the daring major Hugh Mc- 
 Grady, and Simon Kenton, one of the first adventurous pioneers 
 of the west, may be mentioned as those of Irishmen. David 
 Campbell, whose son, Capt. John Campbell, shared in almost 
 all the campaigns against the Indians until the close of the 
 Eevolution, was the pioneer who erected Campbell's station, 
 fifteen miles below Knoxville, Tennessee. There, too, at Lime- 
 stone, lived the Irish father of the famous Davy Crockett. 
 
 In mentioning the districts, and some of the families which 
 have been alluded to, we do so to show the relation of Irish 
 settlers with the United States in Colonial days. 
 
 They laid out the sites and plans of many towns and cities. 
 They came to America on account of the outrages they had suf- 
 fered for their civil and religious rights, preferring to encoun- 
 ter the dangers of an Atlantic flitting, rather than abide under 
 the yoke and lash of such an oligarchy. 
 
 They were determined, in their new home, to meet oppres- 
 hion with strong resistance, and they were firmly resolved to 
 crush any foe who would attempt to deprive them of the in- 
 alienable rights that belonged to every man. They brought 
 with them no love for England, and, as Bancroft, the historian, 
 said, '*we shall find the first voice, publicly raised in America 
 to dissolve all connection with Great Britain, came, not from 
 the Puritans of New England nor the Dutch of New York, nor 
 the planters of Virginia, but from Irish immigrants." 
 
 And that priceless boon of liberty, which we have enjoyed 
 from the time soon after that memorable Fourth of July, in 
 377G, to the present moment, was in no small measure due to 
 the courage, to the bravery, to the determined spirit and per- 
 sistent zeal of Irishmen, and the sons of Irishmen in the war 
 of the Revolution. 
 
 "You have lost America by the Irish!" was the exclama- 
 tion of a British statesman in the Imperial Parliament, about 
 the time that liberty was secured. 
 
 Historians do not seem to say much about this fact, but the 
 records of the army fully sustain it, for, in Mr. P. H. Bagenal's 
 work on the ''American Irish," he writes as follows: '*As to 
 the actual number of Irishmen who fought in American ranks, 
 we find remarkable, independent historical evidence in a curi- 
 ous volume published in London in 1785, the title page of 
 wliich professes to be: "the evidence as given before a com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons on the Detail and Conduct of 
 the American War,' no less important a personage than the 
 
266 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRiESS 
 
 scholarly Edmund Burke sat in that committee; and this cele- 
 brated Irishman in examining a Major-General Robertson, wha 
 had sei'ved in the army in America for 24 years, elicited a curi- 
 ous and interesting fact. 'How,' asked Burke, 'are the pro- 
 vincial (American) corps composed? Are they mostly Ameri- 
 can, or emigrants from various nations from Europe?' The 
 answer was, ' General Lee informed me that half the Rebel Con- 
 tinental Army were from Ireland,' Edmund Burke forsaw and 
 warned the government of the outcome of the Revolutionary 
 war, viz: the loss of the colonies if England should persist in 
 its hostilities, and by his unsellisli integrity of purpose in elo- 
 quently and persistently defending the rights of the colonies 
 all through the war, he showed to the world his greatness of 
 soul and true nobility of purpose, and his name should ever be 
 held in loving memory by the people of these United States of 
 America as a staunch friend and true supporter of constitu- 
 tional and national liberty whether for the individual or for 
 the nation." 
 
 When the embattled farmers fired the shot that was heard 
 around the world, when Major Pitcairn, in command of the 
 British advance, insolently gave the summons, at Lexington, 
 ''Disperse, ye rebels," Irishmen were doing duty at Lexington 
 and Concord, and Bimker Hill. When the call came for the en- 
 rollment of minute men Celtic blood responded, and nearly 150 
 Irish names are still preserved, and the recognized leader at 
 the battle of Concord, during the encounter, was Col. Barrett. 
 John Stark, a name familiar to every student of American his- 
 tory, was engaged working on his farm in Londonderry, New 
 Hampshire. His parents had emigrated from the North of 
 Ireland and brought potatoes to this country, and the seed 
 therefrom was propagated very extensively through America. 
 
 This daring and distinguished son heard of the massacre 
 at Lexington. In a few hours he raised 800 men. War had no 
 terrors for this brave Celt. Having served through the French 
 and Indian conflicts with credit and distinction, he now took 
 upon himself the duties of a defender of colonial rights. There 
 was one company raised in Bedford which consisted of seventy- 
 one Irishmen, or Irish Americans. These belonged to a New 
 Hampshire Company at the battle of Bunker Hill. Moreover, 
 while some corps were mostly natives, they were also largely 
 composed of Irish. 
 
 From this same old granite state came Gen. John Sullivan, 
 the son of a Limerick schoolmaster, and his brother James, 
 who was afterwards Governor of Massachusetts. The former 
 captured the first fort and the first gun in the Revolutionary 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGL^N 267 
 
 War, at Newcastle, in 1774, and over 100 barrels of powder 
 which he secured, were stored in the basement of the old meet- 
 ing house at Durham, New Hampshire, the greater part of 
 which was used six months later in the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 When Ethan Allen in that memorable month of May, with his 
 eighty men, paid a very early and unexpected morning call 
 upon the British Commandant at Fort Ticonderoga and de- 
 manded in very forcible and laconic terms, an immediate sur- 
 render, he had with him that youth, Henry Knox, who was born 
 in Boston of Irish parents, in 1760. This stripling undertook to 
 bring to Cambridge over 100 cannon which were captured and 
 were at this fort besides a number of swivels, small arms and 
 stores. This Was certainly a Herculean task in those days, 
 when we consider the difficulties of transit, yet after incredible 
 exertions he conveyed all the military stores safely to their 
 destination. For this great service, he was entrusted by Con- 
 gress with the command of the Department of the Canadian 
 frontier, with the rank of Brigadier General. He fought at 
 Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, Germantown and Monmouth, 
 and contributed largely to the capture of Cornwallis. 
 
 He was raised to the rank of Major-General. He after- 
 wards succeeded Lincoln as Secretary of War, and filled that 
 position with honor and credit. 
 
 We cannot pass by a daring deed, one of Maine's con- 
 tributions to the Revolutionary War, and the name of O'Brien 
 rings with patriotism and bravery. It was in Machias Bay that 
 Jeremiah 'Brien, the eldest of seven brothers, fought the first 
 naval battle for American Independence. Coming from Cork, 
 Ireland, with his father and other members of his family, they 
 made their new home in the settlements of what is now called 
 the "Pine Tree State." The aged father Maurice, and all of 
 the sons, were ardent supporters of Colonial rights. When the 
 English schooner "Margaretta" appeared in Machias Bay, 
 sent over to intimidate and frighten the settlements, this brave 
 family under the leadership of their eldest brother, Jeremiah, 
 made up their minds to capture this vessel; and getting an old 
 cannon, which was the property of the village, they planted it 
 on board a sloop secured for the purpose. Taking every pre- 
 caution, this heroic band, supported by their brave neighbors, 
 pushed out to attack this schooner, which carried ten guns. 
 They were greeted with outbursts of laughter, with contempt 
 and derision; but oftentimes, ''he laughs best who laughs last;" 
 and so it proved; for, having boarded the schooner, after a 
 short and shar]) struggle, the commander was compelled to 
 strike his colors. In this battle twenty of tile crew of the 
 
268 IREILAND'S COiNTRIIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROiG'RESS 
 
 schooner were killed and wounded in a hand to hand encounter 
 — among them Capt. Moore, who fell mortally wounded. 
 
 Previous to the battle the Captain had threatened to fire 
 on Machias town unless the inhabitants removed a liberty pole 
 they had erected when news reached them of the affair at Lex- 
 ington. This battle has often been spoken of as the ''Lexing- 
 ton of the Seas" for, like that celebrated conflict on land, it 
 was the issue of the people against an equipped force. 
 
 After this battle, these same brothers, with their neighbors, 
 captured many valuable prizes in their cruisings along the 
 coast for nearly two years, having been commissioned by the 
 provincial government to take command of many privateers 
 engaged in the capture of British coast survey vessels, which 
 were bringing supplies, and among them the Gen. Patterson, 
 an English armed vessel having on board a number of British 
 officers who were returning from New York to England. In 
 the meantime Jeremiah was captured by two English frigates, 
 " was sent to England and confined in Mill prison, from which he 
 afterwards escaped. Some of the descendants of this brave 
 family are inhabitants of the north today, or are scattered 
 through the Great Kepublic whose independence was secured 
 by the glorious achievements of their ancestors. 
 
 Immediately after the Battle of Bunker Hill, said Dr. Thom- 
 as Addis Emmet in an address before the American Irish His- 
 torical Society in New York, Jan. 19, 1899, every able-bodied 
 man among those emigrants from the North of Ireland entered 
 the American army, and their continuous service and disci- 
 pline made them the main-stay of the organization until the end 
 of the war. Those Irishmen who had settled in Pennsylvania 
 turned out chiefly under the command of General Hand and 
 Col. William Irving. They were both Irishmen and had served 
 as Surgeons in the British service — Gen. Hand in the Army, 
 Col. Irving in the Navy. Hand was of Catholic parents from 
 the North of Ireland, and his command, composed of Presby- 
 terians, joined the Army before Boston, shortly after Washing- 
 ton took command. Just previous to his arrival there had 
 come a body of Catholic Irishmen from Maryland and lower 
 Pennsylvania, under the command of Col. Stephen Moylan, who 
 was a personal friend of Washington, an Aide on his staff, and 
 an active officer throughout the war. Moylan was a brother to 
 the Catholic Bishop of Cork, Ireland, who was a sincere and 
 devoted friend of the American cause. 
 
 From all this, one can form a fair estimate of the great 
 number of Irishmen and Irish Americans who were contributory 
 toward gaining our national independence, and ultimately that 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGIAN 26^ 
 
 blessed boon of liberty, of which every American citizen is 
 the proud possessor. 
 
 They came from every colony under brave and fearless 
 leaders, resolved to sacrifice the last drop of their blood for 
 the attainment of ends which they knew were honorable and 
 justifiable. They were conspicuous in the battles on land and 
 in the engagements on the sea. We note Stark, bravely keeping 
 off the British advance at the rail fence at Bunker Hill and 
 again the hero at Bennington, Dr. Warren giving up his life on 
 the redoubts in the same battle. We seem to behold Montgom- 
 ery^, falling in the face of a murderous fire at the siege of 
 Quebec. 
 
 The father of the American navy, Commodore Jack Barry, 
 heroically defending the sea-coast towns from the attacks of 
 the enemy, capturing the first British war vessel that was ever 
 taken by an American cruiser — he was one of the men who 
 could not be bought, for, when Lord Howe offered him about 
 $80,000, and the command of a British ship of the line, in re- 
 turn for his services in the British Navy, the offer was flung 
 back with scorn, and the assurance that Britain possessed neith- 
 er money nor honors enough to buy him. And when he was 
 protecting the Supply ship Luzerne, with a large amount of 
 specie from Havana, from the attack of a British fleet, after 
 conquering the enemy, he was hailed with the inquiry: ^'Who 
 are 3^ou?" — and the world knows his answer, ''The tJ. S. Ship 
 Alliance, saucy Jack Barry, half Irishman, half Yankee. Who 
 are youf" 
 
 Many of the officers of the American Navy learned their 
 lessons of skill, valor and proud patriotism under him. Wash- 
 ington was his special friend. He was just as admirable and 
 loving in private as in public life. He died as he had lived, a 
 consistent, practical Catholic. He had no children and left the 
 greater part of his property to an orphan asylum. 
 
 In the coming month of Maj^, a monument is to be erected 
 to the memory of this patriotic, able and courageous naval 
 commander, in the City of Washington. His allegiance to the 
 cause of libert}^ could never be divided. His love of America 
 and American principles could never be questioned. 
 
 Again, we behold Gen. Anthony Wayne, one of the bravest 
 and most brilliant officers of the American Eevolution, born in 
 the Irish settlements of Chester County, Penn., (to which his 
 Irish i^arents had emigrated in the early part of the 18th cen- 
 ury), we see him, with Gen. Thompson, moving on Canada, 
 where he was severely wounded; serving under Gen. Gates, at 
 Ticonderoga, where he brought into service his great skill as 
 
270 IRELlAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 an engineer. Again at the battle of Brandywine, where, with 
 very inferior forces, he held the enemy at bay; at Germantown, 
 where he displayed his great ability as a leader, and when he 
 was entrusted by Gen. Washington with the taking of Stony 
 Point on the Hudson, the formidable position with one side 
 protected by the river, so true did he prove to the confidence 
 placed within him that, for this great achievement, he re- 
 ceived a gold medal and the thanks of Congress. 
 
 We could mention other names and a record of other valor- 
 ous deeds that were conducive to the drafting of the Declaration 
 of Independence, the greatest document even penned and which 
 bore the signatures of nine men who were of Irish birth or 
 parentage. The immortal John Hancock, the first signer, was 
 of Irish descent, his ancestors having emigrated from the Coun- 
 ty Down, Ireland. 
 
 In the school histories of the United States, Patrick Henry 
 is the only prominent one mentioned bearing the Christian 
 name so peculiar to Ireland, and as taking an active part in the 
 war of the Eevolution ; but from various sources there has been 
 gathered a list of nearly 250 Patricks who served in the Army 
 either as officers or private soldiers, and in giving due prom- 
 inence to the names we have mentioned, we do not forget those 
 valiant men who were of the rank and file and who were in- 
 strumental in procuring for future generations that glorious 
 heritage of a civil and religious liberty. 
 
 In the war of 1812, when the rights of American seamen 
 were imposed upon and England sent Men-of-War to stop and 
 search American vessels, not only on the ocean but even on 
 our coasts, the result was that, in a few years, six thousand 
 American seamen were seized and compelled to serve in the 
 English Navy. 
 
 The names of Commodore Perry, Commodore Thomas Mc- 
 Donougli and General Andrew Jackson will ever be cherished 
 as deserving the gratitude of the American nation — all with 
 Celtic blood in their veins, together with other Irish Americans 
 who performed signal service on land and sea. 
 
 In the war with Mexico, the names of Zachary Taylor, 
 Brigadier-General, James Shields, who afterwards served in 
 the Confederate War, Commodore David Connor, who directed 
 the operations of the fleet, Major-General of Volunteers, Rob- 
 ert Patterson, Gen. Stevens Watt Kearney, who conducted an 
 army over the plains through New Mexico and California, Col. 
 Pierce M. Butler, who fell fighting at Cherubusco, son of the 
 South Carolina Senator of the Revolutionary War and of Irish 
 descent, besides those prominent Irish Celts, a host of others 
 
HON. JOHN T. BUGGHAN 271 
 
 whose names are on record, and who, Hke their noble ancestors, 
 were contributing their share towards the rise and progress of 
 this liberty-loving nation. 
 
 It is not necessary, neither do we propose to institute any 
 comparisons between the leaders or private soldiers of the 
 Civil War. 
 
 It was one of the most cruel, the most dreadful and 
 the most stubbornly contested of any war in modern times. It 
 was a fratricidal war — a terrible contest between brothers. 
 Irishmen fought against those of their own kin, as did others 
 who did not have within them the elements of Celtic origin. 
 The patriotism bf the Irish race never underwent such a se- 
 vere test of loyalty to their adopted country as was experienced 
 when the immortal Lincoln issued a call for volunteers to save 
 the Union, yet never was purer metal melted in a crucible. 
 They responded in numbers so large that many regiments from 
 the North were composed altogether of Irishmen and those of 
 Irish descent. 
 
 The Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers and the 28th Massa- 
 chusetts were so markedly Irish that the State gave them full 
 permission to carry the green flag of Erin beside the Stars and 
 Stripes, and during the whole war Irish valor and Irish gal- 
 lantry were never wanting. 
 
 Whether we behold the brilliant and dashing Sheridan 
 flying through the Valley of the Shenandoah and coming upon 
 his retreating and despairing soldiers, with a voice ringing out 
 above the very din of battle turn a disastrous and seemingly 
 inextricable rout into a complete and glorious victory. Gen. 
 George Gordon Meade, in command at Gettysburg, of Irish de- 
 scent, and whose grandfather was one of the original members 
 of the sons of St. Patrick of Philadelphia. 
 
 The Irish Brigade, under the gallant Meagher, giving ex- 
 hibitions over and over again of courage and invincible pluck 
 which earned for them the praise and admiration of the whole 
 army, or the thousands of other Irish soldiers who fought with 
 that same determination, we are impressed with the loyalty 
 they manifested toward the preservation of the Union, as did 
 their ancestors in colonial days for the principles of civil and 
 religious liberty. 
 
 "^^^len that quiet, dignified, modest and lamented Pres. 
 McKinley called for troops to resent the insult that had been 
 offered to liberty's emblem, he found none more willing to re- 
 spond than those of Celtic blood, and from all over the Union 
 they came ready and willing to endure whatever hardships 
 might be in store for them, and today the Island of Cuba lives 
 
272 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 in the enjoyment of a liberty that will be conducive to greater 
 blessings for a happy and peaceful future. 
 
 ''By that grim mouth which once belched death 
 
 But now has known, of war surcease 
 These many years the violets nod 
 
 And dandelions light the sod 
 Once dark with blood of men Dear God, 
 
 We thank Thee for the day of peace." 
 
 And peace hath her heroes, no less renowned than war. 
 Ireland has contributed to America's progress in times of peace 
 in divers ways. The genius of the Irish race has been mani- 
 fested in the world of invention; Robert Fulton bridged the 
 gulf that separated conception and achievement, and his prac- 
 tical mind justly entitled him to be called the father of navi- 
 gation. Born of Irish parents he eventually adopted the pro- 
 fession of Civil Engineer. In 1807 he completed a steamboat 
 which successfully navigated the Hudson. In 1814 he de- 
 signed an armed steamship for the defense of the harbor of 
 New York and a submarine vessel capable of holding 100 men, 
 the plans of which were sanctioned by the Government, and he 
 was ordered to construct them at Government expense, but be- 
 fore these works could be completed he passed away, and his 
 death was looked upon as a public calamity. 
 
 That wonderful invention of Samuel F. B. Morse, the elec- 
 tric telegraph, that brings the whole world before us in the 
 morning newspaper, confers a debt of gratitude on his scien- 
 tific mind that can never be reckoned. In 1854, when Cyrus 
 W. Field of New York wrote to Prof. Morse in regard to the 
 practicability of his invention in the working of a cable across 
 the Atlantic, he was assured of his entire confidence, and we 
 have that wonderful means of transmitting messages under the 
 ocean. 
 
 Cyrus H. McCormick, of Irish extraction, patented a com- 
 bination reaper and mower in 1834, which he afterwards so 
 improved as to make it the necessary basis of all reapers. In 
 competitive trials at home and abroad the American mowers 
 and reapers have demonstrated that they are superior to all 
 others. In London and Paris it has been proven beyond ques- 
 tion that the American machine can cut an acre of grain in 
 much less time than those of foreign invention. One of the 
 largest branches of this business today is in Russia, and that 
 coimtry is enabled by reason of McCormick 's invention to 
 gather its vast amount of agricultural products with greater 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 273 
 
 facility and satisfaction. And when they are ready to be sent 
 away we have the splendid steamboat and railroad system of 
 James J. Hill, whose parents came from the same province in 
 Ireland as those of McCormick, the wonderful land and water 
 service which allows America to communicate with the em- 
 pires of the eastern world, and if Mr. Hill happened to be 
 pressed for rolling stock, he could obtain the assistance of Sam- 
 uel Sloan, born at Lisburn, Ireland, and who was President of 
 the Hudson Eiver Kailroad, and later of the Delaware, Lack- 
 awanna & "Western, the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon 
 Eailroad of Michigan, and the Great Northern Texas. 
 
 In some of the great engineering feats accomplished in 
 this country, might be mentioned the names of William Mul- 
 holland. Chief Engineer of the Los x^ngeles Water Works and 
 under whose supervision water was brought to the city from 
 the Sierra Nevada mountains, two hundred and fifty miles 
 away, by the construction of the Los Angeles aquaduct, and 
 which stamps him as one of the most remarkable men in his 
 line in recent times. His services are also valuable to the 
 LTnited States as an expert on irrigation. 
 
 As an electrical engineer, John F. Kelley of Pittsfield, 
 Mass., a man who has received nearly a hundred United States 
 patents for the utilization of electricity. In long distance high 
 tension transmission work he was an early contributor. 
 
 Walter Shanley of County Leitrim, Ireland, who was en- 
 gineer of the great Hoosac Tunnel. Dennis Hart Mahan, one 
 of the ablest of American Civil and Military engineers, was of 
 Irish extraction, born in New York City in 1802, April 2; grad- 
 uated from West Point in 1824, at the head of his class, was 
 retained there as assistant professor of mathematics and en- 
 gineering for two years, then sent to Europe on professional 
 duty; remained there four years, fifteen months in the 
 engineering school at Metz, then returned and was appointed 
 Professor of Civil and Military Engineering at West Point, 
 which he held up to his death, Sept. 16, 1871. 
 
 His reputation in his profession was world wide, and his 
 works are of the highest authority on matters treated. Among 
 them are "Field Fortifications," '^Military Mining and Siege 
 Erections," "Permanent Fortifications," "Course of Civil En- 
 gineering," "Advance-guard, Out-post and Detachment, Ser- 
 vice of Troops," besides many other valuable additions to 
 science. 
 
 As presidents of great corporations both in the mercantile 
 and banking line, the names of Irishmen are prominent in in- 
 dustries and in savings institutions in great cities. In the city 
 
274 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 of Pittsburgh, Pa., for example, where it is said there are more 
 powerful banks and more millions per capita than in any other 
 large city outside of New York, Thomas Mellon, born in the 
 County Tyrone, was the leading bank man for years. Samuel 
 Gr. Bayne, from Ulster province, did not come to America until 
 he was twenty-five years old. He accumulated a great fortune 
 in the oil fields and started a bank in Bradford, Pa., and after- 
 wards organized national banks in Minnesota, Ohio, New York, 
 Texas, Mississippi and Kansas, and notwithstanding his busy 
 life he found time to write several books on different scientific 
 and many literary subjects. The Emigrant Industrial Savings 
 Bank of New York, with deposits aggregating nearly $125,000,- 
 000, and with something like 140,000 depositors in its personnel 
 is almost wholly Irish. It has carried on its work by success- 
 ful management for over 60 years, a splendid example of Irish 
 trust, Irish thrift and Irish efficiency. 
 
 The story of Mackay, Flood, Daley, O'Brien and Fair, all 
 native born Irishmen, reads like a wonderful fairy tale. Com- 
 ing to this country in the latter part of the '40s, with their 
 wonderful business qualifications and thorough knowledge of 
 engineering, they extracted from the Eocky Mountains untold 
 treasures, that made them the most powerful money kings of 
 their generation. They established banks and controlled finan- 
 cial concerns of great magnitude, men with true Irish hearts 
 and of princely generosity. 
 
 The industrial history of many of the great cities of the 
 West has been influenced in no small way by the remarkable 
 efforts and untiring business acumen of Patrick, Michael and 
 John Cudaliy, three brothers whom the famine of the late '40s 
 drove from Kilkenny County to this country. Having been 
 denied the privileges of a free education by tyrannical laws, 
 they entered the public schools of Milwaukee, where they re- 
 mained only a few years. They started out equipped only 
 with the ordinary advantages of a common laborer, doing 
 daily work in the meat packing houses of Milwaukee. By per- 
 sistent and determined effort they rose to partnership and 
 finally ownership of the great meat packing establishment of 
 the West, and at the present time they are looked u])on as men 
 who accomplished one of the most remarkable feats in indus- 
 trial advancement, and a large amount of the stock which they 
 handle in their establishment comes from the cattle ranges in 
 Nevada and Wyoming, owned and supervised by George Rus- 
 sell and Timothy Kenney, both of whom were born in Ireland 
 and who came to this country as emigrants. 
 
 Among the names of many Irishmen who have reached a 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 275 
 
 prominent place in business circles of America are those of 
 A. T. Stewart, whose great store in New York had the largest 
 retail department in the world. He began life as a poor boy, 
 selling Irish laces, and after his death the sum of ($40,000,000) 
 forty million dollars was said to be his fortune; Anthony N. 
 Brady, the proprietor of several large tea stores in Troy and 
 Albany, whose earnings reached such large figures and his in- 
 vestments in railroads, gas plants, foundry supplies and elec- 
 trical appliances proved so successful that he left a tremendous 
 fortune, and he was one of the most charitable men in the 
 United States, John D. Crimmins, the New York building con- 
 tractor who l;ias erected anywhere from four hundred to six 
 hundred structures, many of them skyscrapers, in many of the 
 cities of the United States. He held office in many organiza- 
 tions; John Flannery of County Tipperarj^, the Savannah Cot- 
 ton King, and Thomas F. Walsh, from the same county, whose 
 great business qualifications enabled him to accumulate from 
 the Western mines an amount to make him many times a mil- 
 lionaire. 
 
 Thomas Fortune Eyan, one of the shrewdest financiers in 
 America, comes of Irish stock and is a living example and pos- 
 itive proof that a people who resent persecution make excel- 
 lent colonists and their descendants make the very best mater- 
 ial for citizenship. Indeed our whole national system consists 
 of a harmonius blending of the stock of Irish strain with that of 
 other persecuted pilgrims. 
 
 Thirteen years ago this very month of March, Mr. F. 
 Spencer Baldwin wrote an article in the New England Maga- 
 zine in which the question is asked, ''Where do the Irish emi- 
 grants settle?" and he answered the question by saying that 
 ''the great majority settle in the cities of the Atlantic sea 
 board. He further states that ' ' the explanation is simple enough 
 from the fact "they had neither money, skill or knowledge." 
 We will not gainsay the money part, but as far as knowledge 
 and skill are concerned let him remember the names of the men 
 whom we have mentioned, and others whom we would be 
 pleased to honor if circumstances and time were at our dispos- 
 al. It was very natural in the early days for immigrants to 
 take up their abode in that part of America where civilization 
 manifested itself. The time for the development of the West 
 and Northwest had not come. In the year 1850, Thomas D 'Arcy 
 McGee, a man of fine literary accomplishments and patriotic 
 sympathies, entertained the opinion that the future of the Irish 
 lay in the newer states. In furtherance of this view he co-oper- 
 ated with others in calling an Irish-American Convention at 
 
276 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 Buffalo to promote Western emigration. In this he was op- 
 posed by the most illustrious and one of the ablest of the Cath- 
 olic prelates of America, Most Rev. John Hughes, Archbishop 
 of New York. This splendid type of Catholic priest and exem- 
 plary citizen, who, in 1851, laid the corner stone of the grandest 
 religious structure in the New World, (St. Patrick's Cathedral^ 
 New York), and who, in 1861, on the breaking out of the South- 
 ern Rebellion after frequent consultations with the immortal 
 Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward, was sent by the Gov- 
 ernment on a special mission to Europe in relation to the atti- 
 tude of England and France. And the President was so pleased 
 with the result of his labors, that he officially indicated to the 
 Pope that this Grovernment would be pleased to see Archbishop 
 Hughes elevated to the Cardinalcy. He was one of the ablest 
 minds of his day and one of the glories of the Catholic Church 
 in America. 
 
 This was the great man who was at that time opposed to 
 Irish emigration to the Western parts of the country, and even 
 if the Bishop had said nothing, conditions were adverse. There 
 was at this time a great development of industries in the East, 
 and the Irish immigrants instead of ajDplying themselves to the 
 occupation of agriculture and farming, for which they were so 
 naturally fitted, on account of the excellent fertility and rich- 
 ness of the soil in their own dear native land, very likely were 
 attracted to those industries which could furnish them a means 
 for gaining a livelihood, and the mills and the mines of the East 
 were far more preferable than the barren wastes and wilds of 
 the West. But as emigration continued others like those whom 
 we have mentioned above, began to move Westward, when cir- 
 cumstances and opportunities presented themselves to their ad- 
 vantage, and today many giants of this republic of Irish ex- 
 traction may be found beyond the Alleghanies and still farther 
 across the Rockies. In Iowa, for instance, according to the cen- 
 sus of 1890, there were over fifty thousand people of Irish na- 
 tionality pursuing peaceful occupations, twent^^-five thousand 
 of whom were engaged in agriculture. 
 
 In the Dakotas, of fourteen thousand persons of Irish ma- 
 ternity, nearly eight thousand were farmers. In Wisconsin 
 of fifty thousand persons of Irish maternity pursuing gainful 
 occupations, twenty-two thousand were engaged in farming, 
 and so on in many of the other North Central States of the 
 West. From this we would say to those writers who seem to 
 be so impressed with the way the Irish race congest American 
 cities, and seem to think that our people avoid what their best 
 interests dictate, viz: settlement on the farms — to these critics 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 277 
 
 we would suggest that tliey look over these figures and not be 
 in such a hurry to arrive at alarming or despondent conclus- 
 ions. It has been truly said that Irish immigration not only 
 swelled the numerical preponderance of the North, but also set 
 in motion Western emigration of Northern people, thereby 
 building up the great Northwestern States which gave the non- 
 slave holding Commonwealths at the outbreak of the rebellion, 
 a majority in Congress." 
 
 The assumption that the Irish in great proportions con- 
 gregate in cities, in lieu of smaller towns, is eventually mis- 
 leading, as it ca^n be applied to immigrants who have come from 
 other countries. Taking the census returns of 1890, for these 
 were the ones available, when the writer in the New England 
 Magazine of 1901, wrote the article, we find that for the thirty 
 large cities of the United States the German born population 
 exceeds the Irish born population in twenty-three cities, in- 
 cluding New York, Chicago, Brooklyn and St. Louis. 
 
 Of the Irish born population in 1890, 56% was found in the 
 124 principal American cities; 48% of the German population 
 was also found in these cities. Of the whole number of Eus- 
 sians, Poles and Italians 57%, 58% and 59% respectively were 
 found in the principal cities, these three foreign elements 
 being more inclined even than the Irish to crowd in the 
 cities. 
 
 There is nothing that better distinguishes the refinement 
 and nobility of a race than the character and self-sacrificing 
 work of its women. Everywhere throughout the length and 
 breadth of America there are examples of women who are 
 silently and without ostentation sending in a contribution of 
 imtold value, a powerful adjuvant in strengthening the moral 
 growth and progress of this nation. We see them moving about 
 clad in the garb of the various sisterhoods, we find them on the 
 battle-field mitigating suffering, assuaging pain, comforting 
 the dying; in times of peace instructing the youth, feeding the 
 orphan, visiting the sick, ministering to the afflicted, caring 
 for the aged, and engaged in divers other occupations of a lofty 
 and dignified nature. The names of many of the daughters of 
 Erin may be found in this book of noble deeds, and the splen- 
 did work which they accomplish is of • immeasurable value in 
 the making of the history of a nation. For when these moral 
 props begin to tremble and totter look out for a speedy and in- 
 evitable ruin, 
 
 A certain writer says that ''the contributions of the Irish 
 to the higher arts of civilization in this country, it must be 
 frankly stated, have been comparatively few and small," and 
 
278 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 he mentions, among these, music, painting and architecture. 
 All Irishmen will ever cherish the name of Samuel Lover, the 
 talented novelist and song writer, who paid a visit to the United 
 States in 1848 and was graciously received. His ''Rory 
 'Moore," ''Molly Bawn," '' Low-back 'd Car," ''Molly 
 Carew, ' ' and other popular Irish songs, are sung today and are 
 just as soul-inspiring as when they were written. The grand- 
 son of this same Samuel Lover is none other than our own Vic- 
 tor Herbert, who is Irish born and of real Irish stock. This 
 celebrated composer has written nearly twenty-five operas 
 which entitle him to credit from the best musical critics. More- 
 over, he is a soloist of note and is second to none as an orches- 
 tra leader. Ethelbert Nevin wrote ' ' Narcissus, " " The Rosary ' ^ 
 and other immortal compositions. And to those who ever heard 
 Patrick Gilmore's band they cannot but remember the sweet 
 music that was often rendered by that famous collection of 
 musical artists. It was an Irishman, Dominick Lynch, who in- 
 troduced Italian opera in this country, the man who also was 
 the founder of Rome, N. Y. 
 
 In painting there is John Singleton Copley, the eminent 
 American artist, born in Boston in 1737, the son of Irish par- 
 ents from the County Clare. He painted a picture of his half 
 brother which he sent to Benjamin West to be entered in the 
 Royal Academy and which West declared was a marvel of col- 
 oring as well as artistic in design and drawing. He even invited 
 the young artist to come to England and make his house his 
 home. While he did not accept the invitation he went abroad 
 shortly afterwards, and while in Parma made a copy of "St. 
 Jerome" for Lord Grosvenor, which is said to be the finest ever 
 produced. Among his other works are "A boy rescued from a 
 shark in the Harbor of Havana," "The Western Family," 
 * ' Siege of Gibraltar, ' ' painted for the City of London and hang- 
 ing in the Council Chamber of Guild Hall; "Abraham's Sacri- 
 fice," "Hager and Ishmael," "The Nativity," besides innu- 
 merable portraits in England and America. That other Ameri- 
 can artist, born in Ireland in 1796, Charles Ingham, founder of 
 the National Academy of Design, who as a portrait painter 
 ranked among the first of his day. George P. A. Healy, born in 
 Boston of Irish parents, 1813, whose most important works 
 were "Franklin's Urging the Claims of America before Louis 
 XVI, King of France," and "Webster's Reply to Hayne." Wil- 
 liam J. Hennessey, born in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, in 
 1839, whose works in oil and water colors are greatly prized, 
 among them, "In Memoriam," "The Wanderers." "On the 
 Sands," "Autumn on the New England Hills," "A Summer 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 279 
 
 Sea," ^'The Gleaners' Return," ''New England Berry Pickers" 
 and many other excellent productions. 
 
 Thomas Crawford, the distinguished American sculptor of 
 Irish extraction, executed the equestrian statue of Washington 
 for the State of Virginia, and it may be seen in the City of 
 Richmond. His colossal statue, "Armed Liberty," on the dome 
 of the capitol at Washington, is a masterpiece. Besides these 
 he left over sixty other contributions to art which are monu- 
 ments to the works of his head and hand. He was the father 
 of F. Marion Crawford, the distinguished novelist. Among the 
 men and women who have been prominent in the profession of 
 teaching and Vho have been important factors in the building 
 up of excellent systems of education, no one is perhaps better 
 known than William H. Maxwell, Superintendent of the Public 
 Schools of greater New York for the past fifteen years. Pre- 
 vious to this he was for eleven years Superintendent of Schools 
 of BrookljTi, N. Y. The length of time he has occupied these 
 very responsible positions, this County Tyrone man, must have 
 given unmistakable evidence that he is the possessor of a won- 
 derful adaptability for organization and supervision. He was 
 not only born in Ireland, but received his education in that 
 Island and did not come to America until he was twenty-five 
 years of age. 
 
 And that legion of teachers in the public schools of Irish 
 blood, men and women, among them Margaret Healey and 
 Catherine Goggin of Chicago, who have fought so determinedly 
 and persistently for the rights of teachers and better conditions 
 for teachers and pupils, and whose efforts have been attended 
 with such excellent results, which enables all the members of 
 the profession of teaching to give the best that is within them 
 for the future progress and glory of America. 
 
 From early colonial times to the present day, Irish brawn 
 has been instrumental in developing the natural resources of 
 this continent. It has been evident in every kind of manual 
 labor, not only in the large cities, but in towns, villages and 
 hamlets. They have constructed roads, built railroads, dug 
 canals, and as one writer says, "They have carried cities on 
 their backs." They have worked mines and run factories. 
 They have worked hard and withal with the greatest amount of 
 good nature, and many of the greatest edifices in this country 
 are resting on foundations that were laid by the hands of Irish 
 tradesmen. Irish brain has been represented in all the most 
 important offices in the gift of Nation, State and Municipality. 
 Eight of our Presidents have been the recipients of a generous 
 infusion of Irish blood. Many of our ambassadors have been 
 
280 IREDAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN PROGRESS 
 
 Irish or of Irish descent, Justices of all Courts from the Su- 
 preme Court of the United States down to the District Courts 
 of cities and towns have had representatives of the Irish race; 
 Members of Congress, too numerous to mention, Governors of 
 States, including Joseph M. Carey of Wyoming, father of the 
 ''Carey Act," which gave to the Western States the proper 
 idea of irrigation; Edward F. Dunne of Illinois, McGovern of 
 Wisconsin, Burke of North Dakota, Tener of Philadelphia, 
 Higgins of Rhode Island, and our own beloved and splendid 
 example of true American citizenshi}?. Gov. David I. Walsh of 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 And America must remember the many sacrifices and de- 
 privations of the Irish sons and daughters who labored in fac- 
 tories, mercantile establishments, offices and the divers other 
 humming industries whose unceasing toil and pure lives placed 
 within reach of other sisters and brothers the j^ossibility of the 
 attainment of honorable and trustworthy positions. 
 
 We might speak of the uplifting effect that the drama has 
 exercised in the progress of American ideals and mention the 
 names of Lawrence Barrett, Dion Bouccicault, John Brougham, 
 Bartley Campbell, Augustin Daly, Joseph Jefferson, John Mc- 
 Cullough, Barney Williams, among those of Irish extraction. 
 
 The roll of honor of celebrated Irish Divines is a long one 
 of men who have achieved notable prominence in their chosen 
 field of labor, and who have been most potent factors in everj^- 
 thing that pertains to the gTeat moral strides that have been 
 made in American advancement. We do not have to go very 
 far back to find the names of some of those eminent citizens. 
 But from the earliest times many of our most noted clergymen, 
 both Catholic and Protestant, have been Irish. Among Prot- 
 estants, Dr. John Hall and Dr. William Rainsford, are names 
 that were reverred on account of their broadness of mind, while 
 among Catholics, the eminent Cardinals, whose sympathetic 
 and tolerant characters have won them a large place in the af- 
 fections of the American people. 
 
 With such master minds as those of Archbishops Ireland, 
 Keane, Glennon, and many others, besides the great number of 
 Bishops, devoted pastors and self-sacrificing curates, many of 
 whom have won national fame, in the exposition of the princi- 
 ples of truth, moderation and justice. We have not referred to 
 Ireland's contributions to the professions or in the domain of 
 American literature. These subjects will be considered in fu- 
 ture lectures and we have no doubt that the list of Irish names 
 prominent in these fields will be alike worthy and creditable. 
 But from all that we have said, does it not seem truly won- 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 281 
 
 derful that a race of people, suffering for liimdreds of years 
 from persecution and intolerance, with their industry and ener- 
 gies paralyzed by an odious and iniquitous system of tj^rannical 
 rule, with a gross misrepresentation of her ancient history and 
 illustrious development in learning, law, music and architect- 
 ure, with her literature including previous manuscripts record- 
 ing momentous facts of many centuries either destroyed or 
 hidden from the world, with even her native language abol- 
 ished, and the teaching of which was made a felony for one 
 hundred years, with all these and many other deprivations — 
 does it not see^l amazing that the Irish race, or any other race 
 of people under like circumstances could ever thrive in any land 
 or under any sun? All these men by their nature loved Ireland, 
 even though she was poor, distressed and suffering, and they 
 loved America with both heart and head, for it had given them 
 freedom, homes and honorable careers, and what they could 
 have given to their own native land, under different conditions, 
 they contributed to America for her glory and her progress. 
 
 We have purposely refrained during the course of our re- 
 marks from the use of the term ' ' Scotch Irish, ' ' which to us is 
 a very dubious one, a gigantic bubble which, when pierced with 
 the needle of investigation, explodes and releases a wonderful 
 volume of air with an exceedingly high temperature. 
 
 Many of those Irishmen, whose parents emigrated from the 
 North of Ireland, like those of Horace Greeley, the celebrated 
 American Journalist, are called Scotch-Irish in some of their 
 biographies, which many anti-Irish writers are in the habit of 
 calling all North of Irelanders. This is seemingly one of the 
 fraudulent ways by which Ireland is robbed or at least striven 
 to be, of the credit and honor of her children. To show the ab- 
 surdity of this Scotch-Irish term, we need only remember that 
 the rebellion of 1798 was mainly supported and maintained by 
 the Irish Protestants of the North. They founded a secret so- 
 ciety known by the name of ''United Irishmen," and in that 
 war, which only lasted five months and which cost England 
 anywhere from $150,000,000 to $250,000,000, Lord Edward 
 Fitzgerald and Wolfe Tone died, and of the leaders of the 
 United Irishmen fully two-thirds were Protestants and Presby- 
 terians. And it was Irish Protestants of the same kind, or their 
 brethren, as devoted and patriotic Irish as men could be, who 
 mainly settled the Northern parts of New England before the 
 days of the Eevolution and who were, with their Irish fire and 
 eloquence, the great inspirers of the American people in their 
 determined and successful resistance to British tyranny, and 
 well they might, as they brought over with them from the old 
 
282 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERlIlCAN PROGRESS 
 
 land an undying hatred to English oppression and English 
 perfidy. 
 
 It is not necessary to say that such is not a Scotch failing, 
 for they seem to take a pride as a rule in outdoing Englishmen 
 themselves in loyalty to the British Crown. 
 
 It has been said that Irishmen have faults. Yes, we freely 
 admit that this is true; but, let the nation or historian or anj^ 
 man who is without the same cast the stone of accusation. But 
 we feel as though we may reasonably assume that when the 
 ledger is opened and a balance is struck, the virtues of the Irish 
 race will greatly outnumber their many imperfections. 
 
 And for what purpose is this all written! Is it to engender 
 prejudice in those who may mistake the motives that were in 
 the mind of the writer and to influence the distinction of class 
 against class in all that pertains to the advancement and pros- 
 perity of this great Republic of the Western world? Positively 
 and emphatically we answer in the negative. With a very 
 generous infusion of Irish blood in our veins, as children of 
 Irish parents, whose hands were calloused and shriveled in ob- 
 taining the necessary means for bestowing on their children 
 an education of which they were so cruelly denied, we take a 
 pardonable pride in beholding the names of those of our own 
 race, taking a prominent place with other builders of this na- 
 tion, and those hundreds of others less conspicuous perhaps, 
 whose deeds and whose sacrifices were instrumental in a great 
 degree for the blessings we now inherit. The names we have 
 mentioned are only a few from the long list that could be pro- 
 duced, but which answer our purpose in direct refutation of 
 the charges of those malefactors who have misrepresented the 
 true characteristics of the Irish people and falsely given them 
 the appellation of "weak, lazy, broken, miserable, purposeless 
 incapables, to contradict the statements that the Irish race 
 were dreamers about ancient greatness that was all a lie, and 
 about future freedom and honor that were all a delusion, and 
 that God and nature had made them past and future subjects 
 to the wise, good, unselfish, gentle English nation that went 
 about the world helping weak countries to be free and civilized 
 and Christian." 
 
 These were the true motives that prompted us to dilate 
 in a very humble way on some of the achievements of the Irish 
 race in America. To show that they were willing to make any 
 sacrifice for the attainment of honorable and praise worthy 
 ends. They despised religious intolerance. Irish Catholics 
 loved men like Emmet, Wolfe Tone, Plunkett and Henry Grat- 
 tan, although they were of a different religious persuasion; 
 
HON. JOHN T. DUGGAN 28S 
 
 they admired them because they loved Ireland, and more es- 
 pecially from the fact that these noblemen had the courage of 
 their convictions and the fearlessness to express them. 
 
 ''Rise in the silence of these silent years 
 Rise while the unwrit stone is rolled away 
 And us to higher, nobler accents move 
 Proud Emmet of the lion-heart. ' ' 
 
 ''When my country shall have taken her stand among the 
 nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be 
 written," corned ringing down through all the years, and his 
 last request has ever remained sacred, for no artisan as yet has 
 chiseled the stone that marks the site of his lonely grave, but 
 his epitaph is written deep down in the hearts of every true 
 son and daughter of Erin and all their lineal descendants, in- 
 spiring them with the thought that love of country, secondary 
 only to love of God, should be one of the principal aims of our 
 lives. Love of country, love of neighbor; mindful of the glor- 
 ious deeds and great sacrifices of our ancestors, by imitating 
 their example we shall perpetuate their memories by safe- 
 guarding the precious legacies that have been bequeathed to 
 us and that all our energies whether in civil, religious or in- 
 dustrial life, shall be exerted in behalf of the moral, physical 
 and intellectual growth of these, our own bright, glorious and 
 free United States of America — your home and mine. 
 
Michael F. Fallon, M. D. 
 
 Dr. Michael F. Fallon is a native of Worcester, 
 Mass., born July 16, 1863, son of James Fallon and 
 ^tary (Dyer) Fallon. He attended the Worcester 
 g-rammar schools and completed his studies in the Wor- 
 cester Classical High School in 1881. He was grad- 
 uated from Holy Cross College in 1884, and from the 
 Harvard Medical School in 1887. He spent two years 
 at Heidelberg, Vienna and Strassberg in post graduate 
 studies. 
 
 Dr. Fallon has been surgeon-in-chief ^t St. Vincent 
 Hospital, Worcester, for a number of years. He is a 
 member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and a 
 Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a 
 Director of the Worcester Free Public Library. Dr. 
 I'^illon is married to Ella J. Ford, formerly of Spring- 
 field, Mass. 
 

©Ij^ Jrtfilj in il^Jitritt^ an5 Bmi^tv^ 
 
 -BY- 
 
 DR. MICHAEL F. FALLON 
 
 The study of the lives of prominent Irish physicians re- 
 quires the study* of the history of many nations, since during a 
 long period owing to the penal laws, a youth was not permitted 
 to study medicine in Ireland. But Ireland's loss was the gain 
 of other nations, since we find doctors of Irish descent promin- 
 ent in nearly all the countries of Europe. And during the time 
 of the penal laws, some of these exiled Irish men, became pro- 
 fessors of medicine in various universities of the continent, and 
 some of them became leading physicians, and even attending 
 physicians to the rulers of continental countries. 
 
 Dr. O'Hagan was royal physician in Spain in the time of 
 Charles V. Dr. Quinlan became physician to the Emperor of 
 Russia ; and in France, George Mareschall became the first sur- 
 geon to King Louis XIV. The life of Dr. Mareschall reads like 
 a romance. He was the son of an Irish captain of cavalry who 
 served under Louis XIII, and born at Calais, France, in 1685. 
 He was left an orphan at the age of thirteen. He went to Paris, 
 and aspired to be a surgeon. He was penniless, and without 
 friends. He obtained a position as physician in one of the 
 convent hospitals, and such was his ability and industry, that 
 he was appointed attending surgeon to the Charity hospital. 
 He was called in consultation when Louis XIV was suffering 
 from a severe illness, and was given credit for saving the King's 
 life. 
 
 After this, his rise was phenomenally rapid, and in 1703, 
 Dr. Mareschall became first surgeon to the King, and during 
 the remainder of the King's life, Mareschall was not only his 
 attending surgeon, but also his confidential adviser. He was 
 raised to the nobility by Louis, and when Louis XIV died, Mare- 
 schall was appointed first surgeon to Louis XV. In addition to 
 the high standing in court circles. Dr. Mareschall was noted 
 for his successful efforts to elevate the practice of surgery 
 throughout France. He was made chief of surgery of the king- 
 dom, and organized surgical practice in such a way, that all 
 
286 THE IRISH IN MEDICHNB AND SURGERY 
 
 surgical study, and license to practice surgery, came under the 
 control of the chief of surgery. He founded the Eoyal Academy 
 of Surgery in 1732. He was the recipient of many honors, and 
 when he died, in 1736, he was held in the highest esteem and 
 affection by the Court, and by his colleagues, because of his 
 noble character and untarnished reputation. 
 
 During the time of the penal laws, while it was not permit- 
 ted an Irish Catholic to study medicine in Ireland, still, he 
 could, after having taken his degree in a foreign country, re- 
 turn to Ireland to practice medicine. A glimpse of such a phy- 
 sician of the 17th century is given us in a charming descrip- 
 tion by Dr. James Walsh. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Arthur of Limerick, the leading physician of 
 Ireland in his day, was a contemporary of Harvey, the famous 
 physician who gave us our first knowledge of the circulation 
 of the blood. This was in the early part of the 17th century. 
 Dr. Arthur had to go to France to study medicine, and when 
 he returned to Ireland, he in time became a famous physician. 
 His case book, which was written in Latin, has been made 
 known to us by Dr. Walsh. 
 
 This book contains an account of some very interesting 
 diseases, and also of some of the Doctor's patients. Although 
 he was recognized as a skillful physician, the fact of his being 
 Catholic, debarred him from practice arhong society people; 
 but even bigotry had to yield to his skill. Dr. Walsh gives us 
 an interesting account of his successful treatment of the famous 
 Protestant Archbishop Usslier. The Archbishop, whom Dr. 
 Arthur calls the "pseudo-primate of Armagh," had been under 
 the care of the royal physician of England, and had obtained no 
 relief. In despair, he turned to Dr. Arthur, who diagnosed his 
 case, and treated it successfully. Dr. Arthur says in reference 
 to his treatment of the Archbishop, ^ ' My hopes were not disap- 
 pointed. The grave and absorbing malady, which had eluded 
 all the efforts of my distinguished colleagues in England, in a 
 man so eminent and conspicuous for his erudition, and which 
 now yielded to my efforts, made me celebrated and welcome 
 among the English, though before this, because of my Catholic- 
 ity, I had been thoroughly detested." 
 
 What a sad, sad commentary on the times is this last sen- 
 tence! A good man, and a skillful physician, thoroughly de- 
 tested because of his Catholicity! 
 
 And despite such treatment, it was of Irish Catholics that 
 the Duke of Wellington, an Irishman and a Protestant, said, 
 ^'It is mainly to the Irish Catholics that we all owe our proud 
 pre-eminence in our military career." 
 
DR. MICHAEL F. FALLON 287 
 
 There is probably no museum in the world, that contains 
 material of greater interest in scientific value, than the British 
 museum. The founder of the collection that formed the basis 
 of the museum was an Irishman, Dr. Hans Sloane, born in Ire- 
 land, in 1660. 
 
 He not alone was a celebrated physician, but was eminent 
 as a botanist and a chemist. He, at one time, was chief physi- 
 cian to the English West Indian fleet, and made a remarkable 
 collection of the fauna and flora of Jamaica. Many honors were 
 I)estowed upon him, the greatest honor was when he was made 
 President of the Royal Society, succeeding Sir Isaac Newton. 
 His industry iji collecting scientific material was remarkable, 
 and his immense collection from which the British museum had 
 its origin, contained about forty-four thousand books, manu- 
 scripts, and drawings; thirty- two thousand medals and coins; 
 one thousand one hundred antiques; three thousand cameos, 
 seals, and precious stones; five hundred vessels of agate and 
 jasper; eighteen hundred crystals; six thousand shells, and 
 many other scientific objects. 
 
 Another Irishman who was a surgeon in a foreign country, 
 was Barry Edward O'Meara, who was surgeon to Napoleon 
 Bonaparte at St. Helena. Dr. O'Meara was born in Ireland, and 
 was the naval surgeon on the Bellerophon in 1815, when Napol- 
 eon surrendered on board that vessel. He became a favorite of 
 Napoleon, and at Napoleon's request, was sent with him to St. 
 Helena, as his medical attendant. Dr. 'Meara died in London 
 in 1836. His grand-daughter, a resident of Paris, was a cele- 
 brated literary woman. She wrote under the pen name of Grace 
 Eamsey. 
 
 THE IRISH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 
 
 Towards the middle of the 19tli century, Dublin became 
 one of the most famous medical centers of the world. Physi- 
 cians came from everywhere to study under Drs. Graves, Stokes 
 and Corrigan. The most prominent of this trio was Dr. Graves, 
 who received his medical degree at the University of Dublin, 
 in 1818, and then spent three years in study in the leading hos- 
 pitals of Europe, Dr. Graves was an original investigator, and 
 he revolutionized certain medical practises that had held sway 
 for centuries. He instituted new methods of treatment in some 
 fevers, in diseases of the chest, and in certain intestinal diseas- 
 es. The benefits that he conferred on mankind by his changes 
 in the treatment of fevers alone, entitle him to immortality in 
 medical biography. 
 
288 THE IRISH IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 Previous to this time, it had always been the practice ta 
 starve fevers. Dr. Graves changed this, and instituted the 
 method known as '.'forced feeding." He contended that fever 
 patients with their senses benumbed would not call for food, 
 and might die from starvation, unless they were fed sufficiently/ 
 Under his treatment of feeding patients, the results were im- 
 measurably better than with the former treatment, when such 
 patients were starved. 
 
 One day, when Dr. Graves was visiting the hospital, he 
 commented on the healthy appearance of some patients who 
 had gone through a long siege of tjq^hus fever, and he exclaim- 
 ed, "This is all the effects of good feeding: and lest, when I am 
 gone, you may be at a loss for an epitaph. for me, let me give 
 you one in three words: 'He fed fevers.' " 
 
 Dr. Graves likewise revolutionized the treatment of con- 
 sumption, and the methods that are in use today, are practical- 
 ly those that he instituted. Previous to this, consumption was 
 held to be an inflammatory disease, and the patient was con- 
 fined to the house, protected from the cold, with but very little 
 attention to diet. Dr. Graves proved that this was the wrong 
 treatment, advised the consumptive to stay out of doors, and 
 take plenty of nourishment. His treatment of consumption in- 
 stituted almost one hundred years ago, is the treatment in use 
 today, and it is a remarkable fact that although Dr. Graves 
 proved that the old time treatment of consumption was wrong, 
 and although he advocated fresh air, plenty of nourishment, 
 proper bathing, yet his methods did not become generally 
 adopted until recently. 
 
 Dr. Graves gave an original description of the disease 
 known as "Exophthalmic Goitre," and this disease is generally 
 known as ' ' Graves ' Disease. ' ' He made very valuable and life 
 saving contributions on the causation and spread of cholera, 
 and he was the first to show clearly, that cholera travelled, and 
 travelled only along lines of human contact. 
 
 Dr. Graves was remarkable in many ways other than in his 
 proficiency in medicine. When a youth, travelling on the con- 
 tinent of Europe, he once met a famous artist, Turner. They 
 became congenial companions, and travelled together for 
 months in Bohemian style without even knowing or asking each 
 other's names. One time, during a storm in the Mediterranean, 
 Graves put down a mutiny on board ship, smashing the life- 
 boat with an axe, overpowered the panic stricken captain, took 
 command of the crew, repaired the leaking pumps with leather 
 from his own boots, and successfully brought the vessel into 
 port, through his competent seamanship. 
 
DR. MICHAEL F. FALLON 289 
 
 Dr. Stokes, another of the leaders of the Irish School of 
 Medicine, was a friend of Dr. Graves. Stokes' father was a 
 professor of medicine in Trinity College. Stokes, as a boy, was 
 not studious, and preferred like many of the boys of the pres- 
 ent day, the reading of novels and poetry to study. He was the 
 despair of his parents. But a change came over him. 
 
 ''One day, while reading a novel, he fell asleep, but short- 
 ly afterward was awakened by some warm drops falling on his 
 face, started up, and saw his mother bending over him. Her 
 tears had awakened him. Stung with remorse, at having been 
 the cause of so much suffering, his nature appeared to undergo 
 a complete and fealutary change, and the dreamy, indolent boy 
 suddenly became the ardent, enthusiastic student." 
 
 Dr. Stokes received his medical education in Edinburg, and 
 when he returned to Dublin, he was elected physician to Meatli 
 hospital, succeeding his father. Drs. Stokes and Graves worked 
 harmoniously together in this hopsital for almost thirty years, 
 and after Dr. Graves' death, Dr. Stokes was considered to be 
 the ablest physicial in Europe. He was especially proficient in 
 diseases of the chest and of the lungs. Even today, his book 
 on diseases of the heart is authoritative, and many of his orig- 
 inal observations on the lungs and on the heart are still uni- 
 versally accepted. Certain forms of heart disease have been 
 named after Dr. Graves and Dr. Stokes. Both Dr. Graves and 
 Dr. Stokes were noted for their kindness to the poor. 
 
 The third member of the Irish school of medicine was Sir 
 Dominick Corrigan, who was an authority especially on heart 
 diseases. His investigations on certain kinds of heart diseas- 
 es were so accurate, and his descriptions so perfect, tliat even 
 today they are considered authoritative. The remarkable thing 
 about this masterpiece was that it was written seven years after 
 his graduation, and from a study of patients in a hospital so 
 small, that it had only six beds. Dr. Walsh says of this achieved 
 ment, ' ' He did not visit his hospital merely to see his patients, 
 but to study the cases carefully. His success is only another 
 examjjle of the necessity for seeing much, and not so many 
 things, if there is to be any real progress. Now-a-days, physi- 
 cians scarcely consider that they have any hospital experience, 
 unless they are attending physician to several hospitals, seeing 
 at least one hundred patients a week. 
 
 The result is that patients do not receive the skilled care 
 they should, and that advance in medicine suffers because of 
 the opportunities for clinical observations, while a busy attend- 
 ing physician rushes through a ward, and the resident physi- 
 cian has only time for routine work that enables him to keep 
 
290 THE IRISH IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 just sufficiently in touch with the progress of his cases to satis- 
 fy the hurrying chief surgeon. 
 
 Through the original investigations of these three men, 
 Graves, Stokes and Corrigan, real advances were made in med- 
 icine, and many of the older theories and practices were revo- 
 lutionized. 
 
 SOME IRISH DOCTORS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 It is well known that the Irish who were in America enlist- 
 ed in large numbers in the Revolutionary army, and fought 
 vigorously for the independence of America. Many Irish doc- 
 tors were prominent, not alone for their professional services, 
 but also in organizing the army. 
 
 Colonel Edward Hand and Colonel William Irving helped 
 to organize companies in Pennsylvania. They had previously 
 served as surgeons in the British army, and their services were 
 valuable in the Colonial army. Among the most noted patriots 
 leading up to the Revolution, was Dr. Matthew Thornton, and 
 his is the last named signed to the most famous of all American 
 documents — the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Matthew Thornton was born in Ireland, in 1714, his peo- 
 ple emigrated to America, and they settled in our own city of 
 Worcester. Here he was educated. He practiced medicine in 
 Londonderry, New Hampshire, and was a very successful phy- 
 sician. He was a surgeon in the New Ham]:>shire division of the 
 army in the expedition against Loisberg. 
 
 He took a prominent part in the political agitation against 
 the British government, was a member of the convention which 
 declared New Hampshire to be a sovereign state, and was 
 elected its President. 
 
 He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1776- 
 1778. After the Revolution, he was the recipient of many hon- 
 ors, among them a position on the Supreme Bench of the State. 
 He died in Newburyport, Mass., in 1783. 
 
 The first governor of Delaware, or as it was then called, 
 the ''President of the State," was Dr. John McKinley, who was 
 born in Ireland in 1721. Preceding the Revolution, he was bit- 
 terly opposed to British oppression, and became a fearless and 
 outspoken patriot. He died in Wilmington, in 1796. 
 
 Dr. James McHenry (1753-1816) was born in Ireland, and was 
 a prominent surgeon of the Revolution. He later was secretary 
 of war in Washington's cabinet, and again in that of Adams. 
 He instituted many radical and effective reformations in the 
 army. Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, is named in his honor. 
 
DR. MICHAEL F. FALLON 29fl 
 
 It as off this fort that Francis Scott Key, while a prisoner on 
 a British man-o-war, wrote the ' ' Star Spangled Banner. ' ' 
 
 Dr. Hugh Williamson, physician, patriot, and scholar, waa 
 horn in Pennsylvania in 1735 of Irish parents. He was head of 
 the medical department of the troops of North Carolina in the 
 Revolution. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention 
 in 1786; he was also a member of the first Congress under the 
 new Constitution. He contributed many valuable articles to 
 medical and scientific journals. Even in those early days, he 
 prepared a plan and advocated the construction of a canal con- 
 necting Lake Erie and the Hudson. 
 
 Another distinguished physician and patriot of the Revo- 
 lution was Dr. David Ramsey, born in Pennsylvania in 1749, 
 son of an Irishman. He became well known for his valuable 
 services in the Revolution, and at the siege of Savannah he 
 won marked distinction. He became a member of the Conti- 
 nental Congress in 1782, and was its acting president in 1785- 
 1786, while Hancock was ill. He was an authority in both med- 
 ical and historical subjects, and among his publications were, 
 ^'History of the American Revolution," 1790; ''Life of Wash- 
 ington," 1801; "History of South Carolina," 1808. 
 
 In 1771 in Virginia, was born Dr. Ephraim McDowell, one 
 of the greatest benefactors of the human race. Dr. McDowell 
 was of Irish ancestry. He has been called ' ' The Father of Ab- 
 dominal Surgery." In 1809, he for the first time in history, re- 
 moved a large abdominal tumor. This was done before the time 
 of anaesthetics, and he did not have even trained assistants. 
 This operation opened up a new chapter in surgery, and Dr. 
 McDowell, in accomplishing this operation successfully, con- 
 ferred an everlasting benefit upon mankind. He performed 
 this same kind of an operation at least eight times subsequent- 
 ly. He was a bold, fearless and successful surgeon, performing 
 various kinds of major operations. Among his patients was 
 James K. Polk, who later became President of the United 
 States. From him, he removed a stone. 
 
 Dr. McDowell's great grandfather came from Ireland, and 
 despite the fact that the residence of his ancestors can be traced 
 in Ireland, even as far back as the middle of the 17th century, 
 some of his biographers refer to him as Scotch-Irish. And it 
 may be opportune here- to quote the words of the Duke of Ar- 
 gyle (Youth's Companion, Aug. 25, 1910), as to the kinship of 
 the Scotch and Irish. 
 
 ' ' There has been no Walter Scott to write romantic novels, 
 to direct attention to the glories of the Irish clan feuds and am« 
 l)itions. But the very name of Scots is Irish, and Ireland was 
 
292 THE IRISH IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 Scotia, or the land of the Scots, and it was only anothed migra- 
 tion of Celts from Ireland to Scotland, that gave modern Scot- 
 land its name. The Scots from Ireland came there displacing 
 the tenants in possession, the poor Picts, of whom so little is 
 now said or heard." 
 
 From this description of the Scots, from the most eminent 
 authority, the opprobrious epithet of Scotch-Irish should be 
 changed to that of Irish-Irish. 
 
 During the Eevolutionary period, there was born in New* 
 buryport, Mass., Dr. James Jackson. He was the son of Jona- 
 than Jackson, who was born in Ireland. In his day, there was 
 no more prominent physician in New England than Dr. Jack- 
 son; he was one of the founders of the Massachusetts General 
 Hospital, of which he was the first physician. He was made a 
 professor at Harvard in 1812, and for many years was Presi- 
 dent of the Massachusetts Medical Society. In addition to be- 
 ing a distinguished physician, he was also a noted author. 
 
 Of his son. Dr. James Jackson, Jr., who was fitted to take 
 up the work of his illustrious father, Oliver Wendell Holmes 
 said: ''His early death was a calamity to the profession of 
 which he promised to be a chief ornament." 
 
 Dr. Holmes wrote this beautiful description of Dr. James 
 Jackson, Sr. : ''First of all, he truly loved his profession; he 
 had no intellectual ambitions outside of it, literary, scientific 
 or political; to him it was occupation enough to apply at the 
 bedside the best of all that he knew, for the good of his patient; 
 to teach the young, all that he himself had been taught, with 
 all that his own experience had added ; to leave on record, some 
 of the most important results of his own observation. The com- 
 munity trusted and loved him; the profession recognized him 
 as the noblest type of physician. ' ' 
 
 In St. Paul's church yard in New York, is a monument to 
 Dr. William J. MacNevin, with this inscription: "This was 
 erected by the Irishmen of the United States, in grateful ac- 
 knowledgement of his services to his native land, and of the 
 devotion of his after life to the interests of his adopted coun- 
 try." 
 
 Dr. MacNevin was born in Galway, Ireland, in 1736. His 
 uncle, Baron MacNevin, was physician to the Empress Maria 
 Teresa in Prague, Young Dr. MacNevin, prevented by the 
 penal laws from getting a medical education in Ireland, went to 
 his uncle in Bohemia, and there received his education. He lat- 
 er became a successful physician in Dublin, but owing to his 
 patriotic activities, he was imprisoned by the English govern- 
 ment in Fort George, Scotland. He was liberated from prison^ 
 
DR. MICHAEL P. FALLON 293 
 
 and went to France, where he held for some time, a captain's 
 position in tlie Irish brigade, which was a part of Napoleon's 
 army, under his direct command. He went from France to New 
 York, where owing to his ability, he became a prominent and 
 honored physician. He did all in his power to improve the con- 
 dition of his fellow Irishmen, both professionally and other- 
 wise. In 1816, he established a free labor bureau in New York, 
 at his own expense, and maintained it for many years to aid 
 the Irish emigrant in getting employment, and this was the 
 first agency of its kind in New York. He gave his professional 
 services free to all his countrymen who needed them. Dr. Em- 
 met said of hii;^: ''He was a remarkably handsome man, with 
 beautiful black eyes, rather under sized, and when his features 
 were in repose, he had the saddest expression I ever saw any- 
 one have. He lived in the recollection of the past, and he car- 
 ried to the grave, this sorrow for the apparently hopeless con- 
 dition of his native country. ' ' 
 
 One of the leading surgeons of this country in his day, was 
 Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, who was born in Virginia in 1828. 
 Dr. Emmet's grand uncle was Robert Emmet, the Irish mar- 
 tyr. In 1850, Dr. Emmet was resident physician to the emi- 
 grant refuge hospital on Ward's Island in New York, It was 
 Dr. Emmet's duty to care for sick emigrants in the hospitals, 
 and about this time several hundred thousand emigrants came 
 to New York as a result of the famine in Ireland. Dr. Emmet 
 gives a very vivid account of the sufferings of these poor emi- 
 grants, many of whom actually died, after landing, in the 
 streets of New York, and his description of the condition of 
 these people has a particular interest for many of us of Irish 
 descent in this community whose parents were in this ex- 
 odus. 
 
 He said that many of the emigrant ships were not even 
 seaworthy, and at times, they took five months to make the 
 voyage to New York. He says the sufferings of the emigrants 
 aboard ship was greater than on any slave ship, and the death 
 rate was larger than it would have been from any pestilence on 
 shore. No emigrant ship then carried a physician, and there 
 was no help for those stricken with fever. 
 
 Dr. Emmet knew of several instances where one-half of 
 the passengers had died, and had been thrown overboard before 
 the voyage was concluded. Generally, on the arrival of the 
 ship, all remained below in a helpless condition as many had 
 been for days without the slightest care; on opening the hatch- 
 es, the health officer was frequently compelled to have the fire 
 engine pump started, that, by means of a stream of water, the 
 
294 THE IRISH IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 deadly atmosphere between decks, like tliat of a coal pit, might 
 be sufficiently purified to render comparatively safe, the under- 
 taking of moving those below. In the foulest stench that can 
 be conceived of, so soon as the eye had become accustomed to 
 the darkness prevailing everywhere, under the open hatch, a 
 mass of humanity, men, women and children, would be seen 
 lying over each other, the greater jDortion stupefied, or in a 
 delirious condition from typhus, or putrid fever, cholera, and 
 small pox; all were helplesSj^and among them were often found 
 bodies of the dead in more or less advanced stages of decom- 
 position." 
 
 Dr. Emmet later became a very prominent surgeon in New 
 York, and devised certain operations which still bear his name. 
 He probably had one of the largest hospital and private prac- 
 tices of any physician that ever lived. He reckoned that he 
 had treated about one hundred thousand women. 
 
 Among his patients were the parents and family of Theo- 
 dore Eoosevelt. Dr. Emmet says, "One of the youngsters, a 
 boy, became the President of the United States, and he has 
 claimed I brought him into the world." And again, ''He, Theo- 
 dore Eoosevelt, was a very delicate child, and his life was saved 
 only by the most careful watching. He is indebted to me for 
 being now the strong and healthy man, as I was instrumental^ 
 somewhat, in having his father send him, as a growing boy^ 
 onto a ranch out west. ' ' • 
 
 One of the most noted surgeons of America was James 
 Marion Simms, who was of Irish descent on his mother's side, 
 English on his father's side. It was said of him, that he pos- 
 sessed the brain of an Apollo, the heart of a lion, the eye of an 
 eagle, and the hand of a woman. He originated certain surgical 
 operations for the relief of suffering woman, and he became 
 celebrated not alone in America, but in Euro])e. He numbered 
 among his patients, some of the most aristocratic people in 
 various parts of Europe. 
 
 Dr. A. J. McCosh, another famous surgeon, was born in 
 Ireland in 1858. He became one of the leading surgeons in 
 America, and was noted for his scientific investigations. Dr. 
 McCosh was the son of Rev. James McCosh, who at one time was 
 President of Princeton College. 
 
 Just as Dr. Jackson was a pioneer in the Harvard Medical 
 School, so also was an Irishman, Dr. Newell Martin, one of the 
 founders of the Johns Hopkins University. 
 
 The Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1876. The 
 various professors were chosen for their excellence in their re- 
 spective callings, and such wisdom was used in the selection 
 
DR. MICHAEL F. FALLON 295 
 
 of these professors, that in a very short time, the University 
 ranked among the foremost in America. 
 
 One of the most important chairs of the professorship in 
 the University, was that of biology, and Dr. Henry Martin, a 
 young Irishman, was selected for this. Dr. Martin was trained 
 under Huxley, and under Michael Foster, the famous English 
 physiologist, and Dr. Martin, during his seventeen years' pro- 
 fessorship in Johns Hopkins University, was perhaps the most 
 13otent factor in the scientific development of biology and physi- 
 ology in America. His teaching had, in no small measure, a ben- 
 eficial effect upon the hygienic department of our government. 
 Some of the leading professors of science in our country ac- 
 knowledge their debt of gratitude to this Irishman, among 
 them. Professor Councilman of the Harvard Medical School. 
 Dr. Martin's kind and unselfish life made him beloved by all 
 his fellows. A memorial tablet has been erected in Johns Hop- 
 kins University to commemorate "his brilliant work as inves- 
 tigator, teacher and author, by which he advanced knowledge, 
 and exerted a wide and enduring influence." He died in 1896. 
 
 One of the most lovable characters in the history of Ameri- 
 can medicine, is that of Dr. Joseph 'Dwyer. Dr. 'Dwyer was 
 of Irish descent, and was born in 1841, in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. 
 'Dwyer led a blameless, unselfish life, and devoted himself to 
 the alleviation of suffering in children. He was the originator 
 of intubation, a method of placing a tube in the larynx when 
 the lar^Tix was blocked up by false membranes, as in diphther- 
 ia. This tube permitted the passage of air to the lungs, and 
 saved a large number of children from both suffering and 
 death. This method of intubation, devised by Dr. 'Dwyer, 
 was the result of years of patient investigation and hard 
 work. 
 
 The study of the lives of Irish physicians has been a source 
 of great pleasure to me — a pleasure tinged with sadness. Since 
 during a long period of Ireland 's history, the Irish Catholic was 
 forbidden to prepare himself in his own country for one of the 
 noblest of professions — that of the physician — a calling that 
 pre-eminently gives opportunity for service. xVnd this despite 
 the fact that no people were better fitted mentally and physical- 
 ly to attain eminence than were the Irish, and this is proved 
 by their achievements in all walks of life in our own country. 
 
 Today, for exam]jle, there is no more eminent surgeon in 
 America, than Dr. John B. Murphy, of Chicago, of whom Sir 
 Rickman J, Godlee, President of the Royal College of Surgeons 
 of England, recently said, that *'He (Dr. Murphy) was one of 
 the most original, one of the most ingenious, one of the most 
 
296 THE IRiISH IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY 
 
 eloquent, and one of the most distinguished surgeons of the 
 present day. ' ' 
 
 And coming nearer home, there is no more eminent surgeon 
 in all New England, than Dr. John T. Bottomley, of Boston, in 
 whose success we justly take pride, since he is a product of our 
 own Holy Cross College. 
 
 And in our neighboring state of Rhode Island, is another 
 distinguished surgeon. Dr. John W. Keefe, a native of Worces- 
 ter, the recipient of the highest medical honors of his adopted 
 state. 
 
 In the making of medical biographical literature, perhaps 
 there is no man in America more favorably known that Dr. 
 James J. Walsh. Dr. Walsh is distinguished not alone in his 
 specialty of nervous diseases, but he has labored in scientific 
 fields other than medicine, and has rendered valuable service 
 in his contributions concerning educational systems of the 13tli 
 and 14th centuries. 
 
 That intellectual and physical prowess is not lacking in 
 the Irish youth, was recently shown when a Brickley, a Mahan, 
 and an 'Brien, brought victory to Harvard over her old rival, 
 Yale, for the first time in the history of the Cambridge stadium. 
 
 And, just as these young Irishmen led on to victory for 
 their companions, so did their exiled ancestors achieve distinc- 
 tion in foreign lands in medicine and in surgery. 
 
 And let us hope that under more favorable auspices prom- 
 ised the Irish people under the new regime, that Irish Doctors 
 may profit by their added opportunities to advance the science 
 of medicine, and to alleviate suffering. 
 
John F. McGrath 
 
 John F. McGrath was born in Worcester, Mass., 
 January 10, 1881, son of the late Thomas E. McGratli, 
 and Elizabeth T. (O'Connor) McGrath. Both parents 
 jire natives of Worcester. His grandparents on both 
 the paternal and maternal side were born in Ireland. 
 
 Mr. McGrath attended the grammar schools, and 
 completed his studies in the Worcester Classical High 
 School in 1898. He was graduated from Holy Cross 
 College with the degree of A. B. in June, 1902, an honor 
 man and a commencement speaker. After leaving 
 Holy Cross Mr. McGrath chose law as the field of his 
 special activities. He was admitted to the Massachu- 
 setts Bar in February, 1905, but continued his studies 
 at Boston University Law School in order to graduate 
 with his class in June, 1905. He has since practiced 
 
 his chosen profession in Worcester. 
 
 Mr. McGrath served in the Massachusetts Legis- 
 lature in 1907 and 1908. He is a member of Division 
 1, A. 0. H., of Worcester. Mr. McGrath was married 
 on June 26, 1912, to Minnie H. Troy of Worcester. 
 
Jr^lanJn a Qlnntnbuttnn to lEngltfilj ICtteratur^ 
 
 -BY- 
 
 JOHN F. McG-RATH 
 
 There is a fal^e belief in the minds of many that the energies 
 of the Irish have been directed along rougher and less ornate 
 levels than the plane of literary effort. This belief like many 
 others entertained of our ancestors, is absolutely without basis, 
 and is usually the result of ignorance or prejudice. Among 
 those who have quaffed even slightly from the springs of the 
 Muse, the Irish have had at least some recognition of their po- 
 sition in literature. The quality of the recognition has varied 
 according to whether the critic read ''with his eyes or with his 
 prejudices." Yet how impregnable and glorious that position 
 is! As the world advances in learning and knowledge, the 
 mightiness of it is more realized and appreciated. 
 
 One strong element there is that lately has drawn aside 
 the portals of the past and shown to everlasting view what an 
 effective force the Celt has been in the building of this world 's 
 literature. It is the revival of interest in the Gaelic tongue. 
 This revival has awakened an interest in the minds of tens of 
 thousands of students, and brought in a panorama before them 
 a wealth of buried treasure. They are digging deep into the 
 mines of long ago and are drawing forth a literary ore, useful 
 for ages to come. To those who have unlocked this repository 
 of learning to the enrichment of us all, we offer up glad paeans 
 of praise. 
 
 Long before the Romans began to move to the westward, 
 and cross the English Channel in their ambition to become a 
 mighty empire, the Milesians had a literature of their own. 
 When the Eomans finally did come they conquered the inhab- 
 itants of what are now England and Scotland. Often did they 
 look with eager eyes over the Irish Sea and resolve to rule over 
 the people beyond, but this resolve they never carried out. 
 Thus the Irish alone escaped the influences and obliteration 
 which conquest carried with it, and preserved their mental in- 
 dependence, their language, and their customs. Not only did 
 
298 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 they preserve all these for posterity, but in preserving them 
 they enabled the present generation to gain some idea of the 
 learning and customs of the other races who dwelt near, as the 
 Teutons who were among those subjugated. While the subju- 
 gated races were constantly warring with the Romans, the 
 Irish were for such days at peace, and cultivated the arts and 
 the sciences. 
 
 For four centuries from the fifth to the ninth, according to 
 a German historian, the civilization of Europe was centered in 
 Ireland. She was its university. She became the Mother and 
 the fountain-head of literature, aye, more! the "Island of Saints 
 and Scholars." Education and enlightenment flourished on all 
 sides. Schools abounded everywhere. They were really more 
 like universities, owing to the extent of their classical courses. 
 From them men went forth forming centers of teaching every- 
 where, developing the literary instinct of culture of other na- 
 tions, and infusing into their poetical forms the characteristics 
 of Gaelic verse. She imparted the highest culture and methods 
 to the Norsemen, the Anglo-Saxons, the Germans, the French, 
 and the Spaniards in varying degrees. Strangers flocked to 
 Ireland for instruction from all nations. They were hailed by 
 a hospitality that has never been equalled. 
 
 In no country of which we have any authentic account did 
 the bards exist in such numbers, or produce so much and so 
 varied verse, as among them. To become a bard it was neces- 
 sary to go through a rigid and trying course of training. The 
 ollamli, who was the highest dignitary among them, devoted 
 from nine to twelve years in learning two hundred and fifty 
 principal stories and one hundred secondary ones, along with 
 a multitude of other matters which were required. 
 
 The first known appearance of the bards was in 500 B. C, 
 and they continued down to Turlogh O'Carolan, who died in 
 1737. They were divided into three classes, the Fileas, the 
 Brehons, and the Senachies. The Fileas were poets who were 
 in constant attendance upon the chief of the clan. They cele- 
 brated his valor and sung his personal praises. They watched 
 his progress in battle for the purpose of describing his skill. 
 They composed odes on his birthday. They aroused the patriot- 
 ism and loyalty of the members of a clan by war songs. They 
 sang lamentations over the dead. 
 
 The Brehons framed the laws in verse and recited them. 
 The Senachies preserved the family pedigrees in a poetic form. 
 They kept a record of the events of their time. They com- 
 posed legends. They were the wandering story tellers. And 
 welcome indeed to the peasant's fireside were they because of 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 299 
 
 the skill and humor with which they repeated well worn fairy 
 or historic legends. 
 
 There was great enthusiasm among them for the bards, 
 which attests the natural fondness of the Irish race for poetry. 
 So great was this enthusiasm and so fast did the bards increase 
 in number that in the sixth century they constituted one-third 
 of the male population. Finally a public assemblage was held 
 and a law passed restricting their number. 
 
 If the bards were not the originators of the Irish Fairy 
 Tales and Folk Lore, which are among the oldest of those of 
 any of the European races, they at least preserved them. Hyde 
 says in his ''Beside the Fire," "Of all the traces that man in 
 his earliest period has left behind him, there is nothing except* 
 a few drilled stones or flint arrowheads that approaches the 
 antiquity of these tales." Story-telling was always a favorite 
 amusement with the Irish. They would recite old tales and 
 describe historical events in prose or poetry at the popular 
 festivals. Their profession was regarded as a lofty and re- 
 spectable one. They would often gather at dusk and relate 
 their different versions of the same tale. A vote would then be 
 taken to decide which one had the best version. After the de- 
 cision all had in the future to give the version agreed upon, 
 which they did, so there has been handed down to posterity 
 with accuracy tales even as long as Deirdre, which some story 
 tellers could unfold word for word. 
 
 The fairies themselves were divided into two great classes, 
 Sociable and Solitary Fairies, and meant what the words im- 
 ply. The former were fairies who both quarrelled and made 
 love. The latter were generally gloomy and lonely. 
 
 The principal ones among the latter were the Pooka, the 
 Dullahan, the Far Gorta, and the Banshee. The Pooka was the 
 fairy of the nightmares. He usually assumed the shape of a 
 horse, a goat, an eagle or a bull. His habit was to snatch a 
 rider from his horse and rush him over the ditches, rivers and 
 mountains until the break of dawn. And woe be to him who, 
 filled with nectar of the gods, or even a less expensive commod- 
 ity, appeared upon the highway after twilight! 
 
 The Dullahan was a headless fairy, though sometimes he 
 carried this usually necessary' appendage under his arm. He 
 drove a black coach called coach-a-bower, which was drawn 
 by headless horses. The coach rumbled along the road, and 
 were it to stop at your door it was a sign of death. 
 
 The Far Gorta was a man of hunger who travelled over the 
 country begging for food and bringing luck to the giver of it. 
 
 The Banshee was a fairy woman who was originally a So- 
 
300 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISIH LITERATURE 
 
 ciable Fairy, but who was weighted down with sorrow and thus 
 became Solitary. She it was who wept upon the death of a de- 
 scendant of an old Irish family. 
 
 The fairy tale of Finn and the Phantoms is one of the very 
 earliest stories that has come down to us, for it is found in the 
 Book of Leinster. It survives in Ireland to the present time. 
 In it Finn with Caeilte and Ossian, become separated from 
 their companions towards night-fall and seek shelter in a house 
 that they see before them in the valley, but which they had 
 never noticed before. They find themselves in a hut filled with 
 the most horrid sounds of screeching and wailing. In the midst 
 stands a churl and with him a grim old hag with three heads, 
 •and a man who has no" head, but a single eye in the middle of 
 his breast. The churl calls on some unseen beings to sing a 
 song for the King of Warriors of the Fianna, upon which nine 
 bodies without heads rise up on one side of the dark cottage, 
 and nine heads without bodies rise on the other side, and to- 
 gether they raise horrid screeches which fill the three men with 
 terror. 
 
 ^ ' Though each rough strain of theirs was bad, the headless bod- 
 ies ' strain was worse; 
 
 No strain of all so ill to hear, as the whistle of the one-eyed 
 man. 
 
 The song they sang for us that night would wake the dead from 
 out the clay. 
 
 It well-nigh split our heads in twain, that chorus was not mel- 
 ody." 
 
 The Phantoms then attack Finn and his companions and 
 fight them all night long, but with the first break of day the 
 whole dismal crew, the house and all of its inhabitants, van- 
 ished into thin air, leaving the three Feniang in a swoon upon 
 the ground, from which, however, they revived in course of 
 "time, and return home none the worse. 
 
 Again, according to Douglas Hyde, the oldest known book 
 now in existence is the Tain Bo Chuailgne or Cattle Eaid of 
 Cooley. This is a story of how Ailell and Meve, king and queen 
 of Connaught, engaged in battle and drove back with them the 
 magic brown bull of Ulster. It was written by the poet Sen- 
 chan. The Saltair of Tara attributed to Cormac MacArt was 
 published in the third century. 
 
 But the most beautiful among all these tales — so beautiful 
 that it ranks with the few great stories of tradition — is the 
 story of "The Fate of the Sons of Usnach," better known as 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 301 
 
 Deirdre. Just after the birth of Deirdre, Cathbad, the prophet^ 
 took her into his arms and foretold the evil that would fall to 
 men because of her loveliness. Conor, king of the Ultonians^ 
 was present and ordered her to be reared as a princess that he 
 might marry her when she became of age. So the child was 
 given to Lavarcham, her foster-mother, to be brought up in a 
 lonely place, among the hills, where the eye of man should 
 never gaze upon her ill-fated beauty. Lavarcham gave the 
 child knowledge and skill in all things in which she herself was 
 so possessed. There was not a ''blade of grass growing from 
 root, nor a bird singing in the wood, nor a star shining from 
 the heaven, ' ' »but Deirdre knew its name There was one thing 
 she knew not of. It was friendship with anyone outside of her 
 own home. One day she eluded the watchfulness of her tutor 
 and passed unnoticed through the iron gate in the high wall 
 that surrounded her prison palace. Rambling along through 
 the forests, she came upon a huntsman. He was Naoise, a son 
 of Usnach. When he beheld the splendor of the girl's counten- 
 ance he was filled with a flood of love. For her beauty was be- 
 yond every degree surpassing. The lass requited his affection. 
 Thereafter they met quite frequently. One night Naoise with 
 his two brothers aided her to escape to the nearest harbor. They 
 went aboard ship and were driven by the wind south across 
 the waters to Alba, for they feared the wrath of Conor, the king. 
 Here the three brothers and Deirdre lived for a long time hap- 
 pily, and rose in great favor and power with Conor, for all the 
 while they concealed the beautiful Deirdre, and Conor had not 
 learned how or with whom she had escaped. His discovery of 
 it later drove the three sons and Deirdre forth again, and they 
 lived by hunting in the highlands and the islands. Conor again 
 learning their whereabouts, sent ambassadors to them with the 
 olive branch of peace to induce them to return. Deirdre in a 
 dream saw them coming and felt that there was danger, but 
 Naoise yielded to their assurances of safety and good-will, and 
 they prepared to return to Erin. Continually she warned them, 
 but Naoise smiled at her fears, but heeded her not. A last de- 
 spairing attempt was made by her as they came in sight of the 
 royal city; she told them, that in a dream of the night before, 
 she perceived that if, when they arrived, they were admitted 
 into the mansion in which King Conor was feasting with the 
 nobles of Ulster around him, they were safe, but if on any pre- 
 text they were quartered by the King in the House of the Red 
 Branch, they must be certain of treachery. They were sent to 
 the House of the Red Branch. Then for the first time did they 
 begin to believe her suspicions were well founded. That night 
 
302 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTIOiN TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 Conor, fired with drink and jealousy, called for some one to go 
 and bring him word how Deirdre looked, Lavarcham, the 
 nurse, undertook to go. But she disclosed to Naoise and Deirdre 
 the treachery being plotted against them, and returning to 
 Conor, she told him that Deirdre had wholly lost her beauty, 
 whereat, "much of his jealousy abated and he continued to in- 
 dulge in feasting and enjoyment a long while," until he thought 
 of Deirdre again. This time he did not trust Lavarcham but 
 sent Miani, first recalling to his mind that his father and his 
 three brothers had been slain by Naoise. 
 
 In the meantime the entrances and windows of the Red 
 Branch House had been shut and barred and the doors barri- 
 caded. One small window, however, had been left open at the 
 back and the spy climbed upon the ladder and looked through 
 it and saw Naoise and Deirdre sitting together and playing 
 chess. Deirdre called Naoise 's attention to the face looking at 
 them, and Naoise, who was lifting a chessman off the board, 
 hurled it at the head and broke the eye that looked at them. 
 The man ran back and told the King that it was worth losing 
 an eye to have beheld a woman so lovely. 
 
 Then Conor, fired with fury and jealousy, led his troops to 
 the assault. There was fighting and shouting around the Red 
 Branch House, and Naoise 's brothers, helped by the two sons 
 of Fergus, passed the night in driving them back, and in 
 quenching the fires that broke out around their shelter. At 
 length morning began to dawn, but the sons of Usnacli were 
 still living and Deirdre was still untaken. 
 
 At last Conor's druid, Cathbad, consented to work a spell 
 and charm over them if Conor would pledge his faithful word 
 that having once taken Deirdre he would not harm the sons of 
 Usnacli. Conor plighted his word, and the charm was set at 
 work. The sons of Usnach had left the half burned house and 
 were escaping in the morning light with Deidre between them, 
 when they came upon, as they thought, a sea of thick, foamy 
 waves, and they cast down their weapons and spread out their 
 arras and tried to swim, and Conor's soldiers came and cap- 
 tured them without having struck a blow. They were brought 
 before the King and he caused them to be at once beheaded. It 
 was then that the druid placed a curse upon the land, for Conor 
 had broken his plighted word. That curse was fulfilled in the 
 misery that fell upon the province during the wars with Meve. 
 He cursed also the house of Conor, and prophesied that none 
 of his descendants should possess that land. This last prophecy 
 has been verified, for history records that none of the great 
 families who followed claimed descent from Conor. 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 303 
 
 As for Deirdre, she was at once distracted. She fell upon 
 the ground beside her husband. She tore her hair and rent 
 her disheveled tresses. The lament she broke forth into has 
 long been a favorite with Irish scribes. She called aloud for 
 Naoise, and then fell into the grave where the three sons were 
 Ijeing buried, and died upon them. Their flag was raised over 
 their tomb and their names were there inscribed, and their 
 funeral games were celebrated. So runs the tragedy of the sons 
 of Usnach, and the fateful life of the child Deirdre. 
 
 There is but one in all European literature with which this 
 is compared. It is the "Iliad" of Homer. Nothing else cor- 
 responds to it.* It is so unique in its flavor and in its spirit. It 
 is so delicate, so polite, so chivalrous. Yet it is mild and free 
 and even savage, representing the true ideals and feelings and 
 conditions of those days. To have steeped the tale with the 
 heautiful romance with which it is permeated attests that the 
 people who created it must have cherished highly romantic 
 and heroic literature. 
 
 What are the characteristics of Irish literature, and whence 
 do they comef Naturally they are the same as those possessed 
 by the people. In nearly all their poems there is a loA^e of na- 
 ture more intimate and spiritual than can be found among the 
 English or the Scottish works. The heart of the Gael has shown 
 a great love for outdoors. It has not alone been the affection 
 of an oppressed and t^Tannized people, but an indescribable 
 love for Mother Earth. They looked upon her not with their 
 eyes, as though apart from her, but with their soul, as though 
 they were a part of her. They seemed to recognize the voices 
 in the trees, in the flowers, in the blades of grass. There is ev- 
 idence of this in Samuel Ferguson's ballad of "Aideen's 
 Orave. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Here, far from camp and chase removed. 
 Apart in nature's quiet room. 
 The music that alive she loved 
 Shall cheer her in the tomb. 
 
 The humming of the noon-tide bees, 
 The lark's loud carol all day long. 
 And home on the evening's salted breeze, 
 The clanking sea-bird's song. 
 
 Shall round her airy chamber float. 
 
 And with the whispering winds and streams, 
 
 Attune to Nature's tenderest note 
 
 The tenor of her dreams. 
 
304 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 And oft at tranquil eve's decline, 
 When full tides lip the Old Green Plain, 
 The lowing of Maynalty's kine, 
 Shall round her breathe again." 
 
 The same note or strain is in Charles Weekee's poem called 
 ''Think." 
 
 ''Think, the ragged turf boy urges 
 O'er the dusty road his asses; 
 Think, on seashore for the lonely 
 Heron's wings along the sand. 
 
 Think, in woodland under oak-boughs 
 Now the streaming sunbeam passes; 
 And bethink thee, thou are servant 
 To the same all moving hand." 
 
 Another trait is that of friendship and companionship. 
 In no place were' these noble institutions so highly honored or 
 revered as in Erin, In stories dealing with either romance or 
 heroes, this spirit of unity created great interest and seasoned 
 the writings with a rich pathos. Throughout the whole story 
 of Deirdre, the unity and loyalty of the three sons of Usnacli 
 are emphasized. No other race except the ancient Greeks pos- 
 sessed the quality to such a degree, but the Gaels possessed in 
 addition to this that which the Greeks lacked, a deep chivalry 
 and respect for woman. Among them woman was the peer of 
 man in power, in friendship, in estate and in position. The love 
 that was borne for Deirdre well establishes this. 
 
 The increasing persecution of the Irish injected a note of 
 melancholy and sadness in their writings. Though as far back 
 as the fall of Finn MacCool, who lived in the fourth century, 
 and who was an early bardic poet from whom the name Fenian 
 comes, there followed "The Age of Lamentation." After his 
 death the bards spent their days and nights lamenting and 
 wailing for him, so that a tone of sorrow was transmitted 
 through the ages to become fuller and deeper as the mailed 
 hand of tyranny rained blow after blow upon the unprotected 
 head of the peasant. Upon his death his son Ossian composed 
 many dirges and stirred up the other poets. There can be no 
 doubt but that these dirges which were spread all over Ireland, 
 influenced the character and sentiment of the Gael. The tone- 
 of melancholy then sounded became linked with subsequent 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 305 
 
 disaster, and increased. They wrote and sung of the weak and 
 of the poor, of hopes and of ambitions, of purity, of piety, of 
 hospitality, and of simpHcity, (virtues for which they have 
 been distinguished). They sung not of material things, be- 
 cause of these were they robbed. 
 
 Another trait is their imaginativeness. The reason for the 
 great power of imagination with which they are so remarkably 
 endowed is found in the fact that for decades they have fed 
 upon such wondrous stories and fairy tales as given to no other 
 people. The fantastic notions and ghostlike conceptions which 
 these fascinating legends and myths contained made almost 
 everyone who lieard them in time imagine that he saw them, 
 so much so, that the native Irish walking along the country 
 roadside at night with their minds so filled with the memory of 
 the latest tales they heard, could hear and see in the rustling 
 of the wind through the leaves, or the call of the lark to his 
 mate, or the moving of the foliage so that the moon shone 
 through for an instant only on a young white birch, some rest- 
 less phantom come from another world. 
 
 Many Irish scholars there are whom the world carelessly 
 refers to as Englishmen or Britishers. Much of this is due to 
 bigotry and race-hatred. The prejudice that England and 
 Englishmen had, and it is with regret it is said, especially Pro- 
 testant Englishmen, for things that were Irish, led them to deny 
 them all credit they could. They robbed Ireland of a part of 
 her literature as well as of her wealth. It was quite general 
 that where anything emerged from the Irish that was bad, it 
 was both emphasized and advertised by the generous English. 
 When the good came forth it was spoken of lightly or not at 
 all, or it was attributed to an Englishman. The heavens of 
 England's literature are studded with stars that belong in 
 the blue vault of Ireland. They have been placed th^re by the 
 defiling and profaning hand of some earthly god and not by 
 the sacred finger of the Divine Scholar. True, there were many 
 of the native Irish who, deprived of an opportunity at home to 
 acquire even a small education, were forced to link their for- 
 tunes with the folk of England. Some of them in time lost 
 many of their Celtic characteristics. Among these was Jona- 
 than Swift, who was born in Dublin. He has been extoled as 
 the greatest writer of satire in the English language. All of 
 us are more or less familiar with his *' Gulliver's Travels," so 
 that it needs no description. It was written by him during his 
 tenure as Dean at St. Patrick 's in Dublin. His other best known 
 satires are the "Tale of a Tub," "The Battle of the Books," 
 and "A Meditation on a Broomstick." His style is English 
 
306 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLI'SIH LITERiATURE 
 
 rather than Irish, Yet he wrote many articles in defense of 
 his native country. 
 
 Oliver Goldsmith is another who drifted to England. He 
 was born in County Longford, Ireland, November 10, 1728. 
 His ''Vicar of Wakefield," "The Deserted Village," and "She 
 Stoops to Conquer, ' ' are gems in the literary diadem of the uni- 
 verse that from their first appearance to our day have glittered 
 and sparkled. He did not lose all his Irish characteristics, for 
 'tis said of him that he sought neither wealth nor advance- 
 ment, that "he looked on all things with a sympathetic eye, an 
 oj^en heart, an innocent delight in the happiness of others, a 
 kindly consideration for human frailty and weakness, and a 
 sigh and a tear for man's misfortune." Truly, the most un- 
 generous critic or opponent will concede these qualities to be 
 traits of his native land. He permeated his ' ' Deserted Village ' ' 
 A\^ith them. Bear with me until I repeat the opening lines of 
 ihat great work, and let him deny who can that they were not 
 the outpourings of an Irishman's soul. 
 
 ' ' Sweet Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain, 
 
 "Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain, 
 
 Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid, 
 
 And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed: 
 
 Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease. 
 
 Seats of my youth, when every sport could please, 
 
 How often have I loitered o'er thy green. 
 
 Where humble happiness endeared each scene! 
 
 How often have I paused on every charm, 
 
 The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm, 
 
 The never-failing brook, the busy mill. 
 
 The decent church that topt the neighbouring hill. 
 
 The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade. 
 
 For talking age and whispering lovers made! 
 
 How often have I blest the coming day, 
 
 When toil remitting lent its turn to play, 
 
 And all the village train, from labour free. 
 
 Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree, 
 
 While many a pastime circled in the shade. 
 
 The young contending as the old surveyed; 
 
 And many a gambol frolicked o'er the ground. 
 
 And sleights of art and feats of strength went round. 
 
 And still as each repeated pleasure tired. 
 
 Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired; 
 
 The dancing pair that simply sought renown 
 
 By holding out to tire each other down; 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 307 
 
 The swain mistrnstless of his smutted face, 
 While secret laughter tittered round the place; 
 The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love, 
 The matron's glance that would those looks reprove. 
 These were thy charms, sweet village! sports like these, 
 With sweet succession, taught even toil to please; 
 These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed, 
 These were thy charms — but all these charms are fled. ' ' 
 
 And later in the same inspiration we find the gentle tribute 
 he pays to his old schoolmaster, Paddy Byrne: 
 
 ^' While words of learned length and thundering sound 
 Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around. 
 And still they gazed and still the wonder grew, 
 That one small head could carry all he knew. ' ' 
 
 Richard Brinsley Sheridan was another who sought the 
 London atmosphere. He was born in Dublin inl751. He is un- 
 doubtedly the greatest dramatic wit of all ages. He was of the 
 same type of English comedy dramatists as Wycherly, Con- 
 greve, and Farquahar, the latter being of Irish birth. When 
 but twenty-four years of age Sheridan wrote "The Rivals," At 
 twenty-five he conceived his masterpiece, ''The School for 
 Scandal." Here was the triumph of wit. At twenty-eight he 
 produced "The Critic" in the Drury Lane Theatre in London, 
 which he had purchased. These were his three greatest come- 
 dies. They teem from beginning to end with a sparkling wit 
 and humor which drive away from the playgoer all lingering 
 traces of trouble or anxiety. England can scan the scroll of the 
 ages now closed. She can delve into the archives of Westmin- 
 ster. She can call back from across the Great Divide all her 
 litterateurs, and marshal them in gallant array before the Tri- 
 bunal of Scholars, but she will find no light glittering so bright- 
 ly as The Prince of Humorists, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 
 "He hath no fellow in the firmament." Already his comedies 
 have had a long life, and though the old standards of taste and 
 the rules of dialogue have changed, these plays are being as 
 warmly greeted in this twentieth century as they ever were 
 during the nineteenth. 
 
 Not all, however, in the recent centuries, drifted to Lon- 
 don, absorbed its spirit and fused it with their native feelings, 
 traits, and aspirations. Many there were who remained on the 
 ^'old sod" and breathed in every word of their writings the 
 pure and unalloyed spirit of the Gael. There were Samuel 
 
308 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 Lover, James Clarence Mangan, Charles Lever, Sir Samuel Fer- 
 guson, Aubrey De Vere and William Allingham. This sextet 
 labored in the vineyard of letters during the daybreak of the 
 nineteenth century, one of Ireland's golden ages. 
 
 Lover first burst into great favor with his ''Rory 0'- 
 Moore." He later dramatized it and as a test of its merit it 
 has survived in actual production even up to our time. It had 
 an original run of one hundred and eight nights. This may not 
 strike the popular fancy of today as a very formidable record, 
 but we must not be unmindful that this was almost a century 
 ago and that the scale of doing things was not as great then as 
 now. From his pen came in 1842 * ' Handy Andy, ' ' a rollicking 
 story of Irish life. He also wrote ' ' The Legends and Stories of 
 Ireland," which he illustrated with his own etchings. 
 
 Mangan, who preceded Edgar Allen Poe but a few years, 
 has been frequently compared to him. Their life and genius 
 were alike. Both were gifted though hapless poets. Mangan 's 
 poem, ''The Nameless One," and Poe's "Eaven" were crea- 
 ations of similar souls. A spirit of sombreness pervades them 
 both, and comes from their weird way of living. Dissappoint- 
 ment in love changed the whole current of Mangan 's life. He 
 had become a visitor in the domestic circle of a family above 
 his station, in which there were three beautiful sisters. By one 
 of them he was encouraged and flattered. But he was suddenly 
 disillusioned and thrown off. The shock drove him to dissi- 
 pation. In three years he emerged from it a man broken in 
 health, with hope abandoned and old before his day. His de- 
 spondency and abstraction naturally influenced his poetry and 
 made it plaintive. Of ''The Nameless One" it is averred that 
 there is scarcely anything in the entire range of English liter- 
 ature so profoundly affecting. It is the confession of his life. 
 
 "Roll forth, my song, like the rushing river, 
 That sweeps along to the mighty sea; 
 God will inspire me while I deliver 
 My soul of thee ! 
 
 Tell thou the world, when my bones lie whitening. 
 Amid the last homes of youth and eld, 
 That there was once one whose veins ran lightning 
 No eyes beheld. 
 
 Tell how his boyhood was one drear night-hour, 
 How shone for him, through his griefs and gloom, 
 No star of all Heaven sends to light our 
 Path to the tomb. 
 
JOHN F. McORATH 309 
 
 Eoll on, my song, and to after ages 
 
 Tell how, disdaining all earth can give. 
 
 He would have taught men from wisdom's pages 
 
 The way to live. 
 
 And tell how, trampled, derided, hated, 
 And worn by weakness, disease, and wrong, 
 He fled for shelter to God, who mated 
 His soul with song; — 
 
 With song, which alway, sublime or vapid, 
 Flowed like arill in the morning beam, 
 Perchance not deep, but intense and rapid,— 
 A mountain stream. 
 
 Tell how this Nameless, condemned for years long 
 To herd with demons from hell beneath, 
 Saw things that made him, with groans and tears, long 
 For even death. 
 
 Go on to tell how, with genius wasted. 
 Betrayed in friendship, befooled in love, 
 With spirit shipwrecked, and young hopes blasted, 
 He still, still strove, — 
 
 Till spent with toil, dreeing death for others, 
 
 And some whose hands should have wrought for him, 
 
 (If children live not for sires and mothers), 
 
 His mind grew dim, — 
 
 And he fell far through that pit abysmal, 
 The gulf and grave of Maginn and Burns, 
 And pawned his soul for the devil's dismal 
 Stock of returns; — 
 
 But yet redeemed it in days of darkness. 
 And shapes and signs of the final wrath, 
 When death in hideous and ghastly starkness 
 Stood on his path. 
 
 And tell now how, amid wreck, and sorrow, 
 And want, and sickness, and houseless nights, 
 He bides in calmness the silent morrow 
 That no ray lights. 
 
 And lives he still, then? Yes! Old and hoary 
 At thirty-nine from despair and woe. 
 He lives, enduring what future story 
 Will never know." 
 
310 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 This poem is more remarkable because it has not bitter- 
 ness, no indictment of fickle fortune which are to be found in 
 the poetry of other geniuses whose lives have been similarly 
 wrecked. 
 
 Charles Lever was the novelist who wrote ''Con Cregan," 
 "Harry Lorequer, " "Charles O'Malley, " and numerous other 
 books containing brilliant pictures of Irish life. He was a 
 sketcher of one of the many interesting phases of Irish life 
 which was then passing, so that he will probably be endeared 
 for many ages to come. 
 
 Ferguson, a most accomplished scholar in ancient Irish 
 literature, was one of the great national poets of Ireland. His 
 best poems were ' ' The Forging of the Anchor, ' ' and ' ' Congal. ' ' 
 The latter is conspicuous for its musical sweetness and its for- 
 tunate choice of descriptive adjectives. 
 
 The poems of Aubrey DeVere contain perhaps the highest 
 type of Catholic spirit. A vein of deep spirituality courses 
 through all of them. According to Alfred M. Williams, an em- 
 inent literary critic, DeVere deserves a higher critical estimate 
 than he has received from English critics, and ' ' that some day 
 he will be considered worthy of a place beside Shelley and Lan- 
 dor, and acknowledged as a rare type of modern poetical gen- 
 ius." 
 
 The poetry of William Allingham pictures the beautiful 
 scenery of Ireland, particularly of the vicinity of Ballyshan- 
 non, where he was born. It tells of the romance and the sor- 
 rows of the Irish peasants. It draws sketches of Irish charac- 
 ter from all grades and classes. There had been no author of 
 English except one "who is so vividly a painter of real life as 
 Mr. Allingham." His aim was to give a faithful portrayal of 
 existing society and circumstances, "and the clearest insight 
 and most vivid representation of contemporary life in Ireland." 
 "Lovely Mary Donnelly," which was his inspiration, is said to 
 be one of the most perfect specimens of Irish poetry. Let me 
 read but the first two verses and the last of the tender 
 creation. 
 
 "0, Lovely Mary Donnelly, it's you I love the best; 
 
 If fifty girls were round you, I'd hardly see the rest. 
 
 Be what it may the time of day, the place be where it will, 
 
 Sweet looks of Mary Donnelly, they bloom before me still. 
 
 Her eyes like mountain water that's flowing on a rock, 
 
 How clear they are, how dark they are ! and they give me many 
 
 a shock. 
 Eed rowans warm in sunshine and wetted with a shower 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 311 
 
 Could ne'er express the charming lip that has me in its power. 
 
 0, Lovely Mary Donnelly, your beauty 's my distress ! 
 It's far too beauteous to be mine, but I'll never wish it less; 
 The proudest place would fit your face, and I am poor and low; 
 But blessings be about you, dear, wherever you may go!" 
 
 It cannot be gainsaid that no race produces more elo- 
 quence, and few races producQ as much as the Irish. Perhaps 
 the constant political struggle for independence when the only 
 weapon left to plead its cause was logic and the appeal to the 
 world to the equity of its demand and the iniquity of its civil 
 oppression, may have keened and sharpened the edge of elo- 
 quence. Whatever the cause or influence there has ever been 
 an abundant supply of general orators whose fervid, convinc- 
 ing, and impassioned utterances have lifted minds to higher 
 planes and stirred souls to greater efforts. Their rugged phy- 
 sique, their jovial manner, their cordiality and felicity of ex- 
 pression, their tender sympathy toward the unfortunate, their 
 ready wit, their tenacious memory of facts and figures, and 
 their powerful imaginations springing from their superstitious 
 beliefs in fairies and their like, raised them to an eminence 
 apart from other people. Burke, O'Connell, Curran, Emmet, 
 Grattan and Parnell are a group brilliant enough, even though 
 there were no others, to shed lustre on the name of the Gael, 
 enduring to the Day of Judgment. The recollection of their 
 silvery tongues and sapient logic like the sweet but melancholy 
 tones of Erin's harp, will ever linger in our memory. 
 
 To the world at large, Edmund Burke is the best known. 
 Like those of Demosthenes and Cicero, the currents of his elo- 
 quence have come rolling down to us through the ages. Of his 
 many efforts, the greatest are his two addresses touching the 
 American Revolution. In 1774 he delivered a famous speech 
 on American Taxation, which was followed in 1775 by his plea 
 for Conciliation with the Colonies. In both he advocated a 
 wise and liberal policy toward our American forefathers. There 
 is scarcely an American school boy whose mind has not at some 
 time been directed to their study. It was the warm heart of the 
 Irishman that was speaking, appealing for the tyrannized and 
 overtaxed. Had his counsel been adopted all the mischief that 
 ensued might have been averted. (However, nestled here now 
 in our cradle of liberty, while we venerate the wisdom and mag- 
 nanimity of his position, we are amazingly grateful to George 
 III for lack of foresight). In 1788 he opened the trial of Hast- 
 
312 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO EN<}LISH LITERATURE 
 
 ings accused of misgovernment in India, with a widely cele- 
 brated speech that lasted four days. England possessed no or- 
 ator or political thinker superior to him. He was likewise a 
 man of great literary attainments. Dr. Johnson said of him, 
 ' ' Take up whatever topic you please, he is ready to meet you. ' ' 
 His learning and imagination won for him the friendship of the 
 leading men of England. He possessed a passionate ardor, a 
 poetic fancy, a resourcefulness, an irony, a pathos, a denuncia- 
 tion, and a tenderness that astounded Parliament. 
 
 On the French Eevolution he took a position contrary to 
 his colleagues. After the Fall of the Bastile, he exclaimed: 
 "The French have shown themselves the ablest architects of 
 ruin who have hitherto existed in this world. In a short sj^ace 
 of time, they have pulled to the ground, their armj^, their navy, 
 their commerce, their arts, and their manufactures!" History 
 proved him to be correct. 
 
 The renowned historian, Taine, says of him: ''He brought 
 into politics a horror of crime, a vivacity and sincerity only 
 suitable to a young man. He fought against the crimes of pow- 
 er in England, the crimes of the people in France, the crimes of 
 the monopolists in India. He made himself everywhere the 
 champion of principle and the persecutor of vice, and men saw 
 him bring to the attack all the forces of his wonderful knowl- 
 edge, his lofty reason, his splendid style, with the unwearying 
 and untempered ardor of a moralist and a knight." 
 
 To illustrate briefly his power of diction, let me read part 
 of his reply to the Duke of Bedford when the latter criticized 
 him for accepting a pension from the throne. 
 
 ' ' The grants to the house of Eussell were so enormous, as 
 not only to outrage economy, but even to stagger belief. The 
 Duke of Bedford is the giant among all the creatures of the 
 crown. He tumbles about his unwieldly bulk; he plays and 
 frolics in the ocean of the royal bounty. Huge as he is, and 
 whilst 'he lies floating' he is still a creature. His ribs, his fins, 
 his whalebone, his blubber, the very spiracles through which 
 he spouts a torrent of brine against his origin, and covers me 
 all over with the spray — everything of him and about him is 
 from the throne. ' ' 
 
 He wrote many beautiful and learned essays. His essay 
 on "The Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful" 
 has won for him admiration in Grermany and France as well as 
 in all English speaking countries. 
 
 After Burke comes Daniel O'Connell as a world figure, 
 though as an Irishman, he far surpasses the former. For Burke 
 engaged in the wider affairs of the British Empire, while the 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 313 
 
 Great Liberator waged chiefly the cause of liberty for Ireland. 
 He was called to the Irish Bar in 1798 at a time when the rebel- 
 lion was at its highest pitch. He became famous as a lawyer 
 and was unrivalled as a cross-examiner. On May 15, 1829, he 
 came to take his seat in Parliament and was heard at the bar 
 on his right to be exempt from taking certain oaths of allegi- 
 ance detestable to all Catholics. But the House of Commons 
 refused to release him from the obligation. On April 22, 1834, 
 he spoke for seven hours in a memorable plea for a committee 
 to be appointed to investigate the outrageous injustice of the 
 Act of Union. On August 15, 1843, he addressed on the Hill of 
 Tara on the Repeal and Catholic Emancipation, an audience 
 estimated to c^ontain three quarters of a million people. He 
 found the hopes of the Catholic people at a low ebb. Many of 
 their rights were regained by his courage and intellect. It 
 seems that nature built him for the part he played in Irish af- 
 fairs. He was almost six feet tall, of enormous strength, and 
 inexhaustible energy. He had a wonderful command of lan- 
 guage, and a mighty and powerful voice that rose high above 
 the uproar of any throng. And in those quite sorrowful days, 
 the din and clatter of bigotry and oppression were tumultuous 
 enough to drown the most giant tones. His patience and self- 
 possession were admirable. These qualities with his wonderful 
 eloquence which could be cutting or flattering, and with his 
 genuine humor, enabled him to control the wildest emotions of 
 his hearers or subdue into respectful silence the noisiest of his 
 political opponents. It was this Great Liberator who revived 
 and rekindled that spirit of hope which tonight is burning 
 brighter in our souls than at any moment during our journey 
 here, that spirit of hope so soon to manifest itself in the actual 
 realization of a government of Ireland, by Ireland, for Ireland 
 and in Ireland. 
 
 The personality of John Philpot Curran was a unique Irish 
 contribution to literature. He was small of stature, with an 
 unhandsome though strong face, out of which peered bright, 
 flashing black eyes. He had a charming manner, a limitless 
 supply of wit, and ready answers. He is most famous for his 
 defense of the leaders of the insurrection of 1798, and in May 
 of 1800 he represented James Napper Tander, whom ''The 
 Wearing of the Green" has immortalized. 
 
 If there is skepticism in the minds of anyone, what convinc- 
 ing proof that the Gael has a natural inclination to eloquence 
 there is in those thrilling utterances of Robert Emmet. He was 
 a mere boy at the time, just turned twenty-five, when declared 
 guilty of high treason, he was asked why sentence of death 
 
314 IRELAiND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 should not be pronounced upon him. From the prison dock he 
 gave to the world a classic. Hear his closing words: 
 
 ''My lamp of life is nearly extinguished. My race is run. 
 The grave opens to receive me — and I sink into its bosom! I 
 have but one request to ask, at my departure from this world; 
 • — it is the charity of its silence. Let no man write my epitaph ; 
 for, as no man who knows my motives dare now vindicate them, 
 let not prejudice nor ignorance asperse them. Let them and 
 me repose in obscurity and peace, and my tomb remain unin- 
 scribed, until other times and other men can do justice to my 
 character. When my country takes her place among the na- 
 tions of the earth, — then, and not till then, — let my epitaph be 
 written! I have done." 
 
 Henry Grattan as an orator is of the first magnitude. His 
 eulogy on the Earl of Chatham and his invective against Na- 
 poleon are among the greatest ever delivered. 
 
 In the field of journalism three figures that loom above 
 their fellows were Cardinal Wiseman, Patrick Ford and T. P. 
 O 'Connor. The Cardinal, in addition to his profound and schol- 
 arly essays on the Church and its Doctrines, founded and edited 
 the Dublin Keview. It was the vigorous personality of Ford 
 that created the Irish World and made it an effective force on 
 this continent, for to him more than to any other is credited 
 the keeping alive in the States of the spirit of Home Rule. 
 O'Connor, who is the founder and editor of numerous publica- 
 tions, is one of the greatest living journalists. In the record- 
 ing and analyzing of events Douglas Hyde, Justin McCarthy, 
 and his son, Justin Huntley McCarthy, are a trinity of histori- 
 ans that are fairly to be compared with an equal number from 
 any nation. 
 
 In wit and humor the Celt has no equal. For these he has 
 a national reputation. To say clever and amusing things with- 
 out effort or premeditation seems part of an Irishman's make- 
 up, whatever his rank or class. He sees a humorous side to 
 everything. The driest situation can be made by him a peg 
 for a joke. His wit is sympathetic as a rule, though it can con- 
 tain a sting. But it is not usually sarcastic like the English- 
 man's, nor ponderous like his, either. The Celt will inject in 
 his utterances a lot of roguish flattery. He will often say pret- 
 ty things to one at his own expense. Note the genuine modesty 
 in Curran's reply to a friend who met him while strolling in 
 one of the London parks. "Why," asked the friend, "do you 
 go about with your mouth open?" "Oh," answered Curran, 
 "I am trying to catch the English accent." Blarney is an 
 Irishman's exclusive property. It is in constant bloom about 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 515 
 
 him. Note it again in the pretty compliment paid to the vil- 
 lage beauty: 
 
 ' ' Who stepped with such infinite grace, 
 That even the daisies she trod on, 
 Looked up with delight in her face. ' ' 
 
 Note yet once more the roguish flattery that Samuel Lover 
 bestows on Molly Carew, in his poem by the same name. Molly 
 wears such a big bonnet to church that one of the boys sitting 
 near her is anxious to get a peep at her ''purty" face. His 
 mind is not on the Mass but on Molly. He can't even remember 
 his prayers. .Despairingly he reaches over and whispers warn- 
 ingly into her ear: 
 
 "Take off that bonnet. 
 
 Or else I'll lave on it, 
 
 The loss of my wandering soul. ' ' 
 
 In lyric poetry — poetry that is adapted to music — the po- 
 sition of the Irish is most enviable. They rank with the Scotch, 
 and the French, and far surpass the English. Ireland has ly- 
 rics by the thousands. ''Many of them," according to Barry, 
 ''written probably under great political excitement bear, too 
 sadly, evidence of the angry passions which dictated them, un- 
 relieved by beauty of thought or strength of compositions.'^ 
 Naturally oppression would have an effect upon the lyric genius 
 of Ireland. Yet she ranks high. Her greatest lyrists were 
 Banin, Lover, Griffin, Father Prout, Eoscommon, Maginn, Cur- 
 ran, Drennan, Laxly Morgan and Thomas Moore. England has 
 no children to compare with these, save Keats and Shelley. Her 
 navy is her greatest glory. Yet she has few naval songs. The 
 best one she has is "The Arethusa," written by an Irishman, 
 named Hoare. "Rule Britania" is a Scotch song, and "God 
 Save the King" is taken from another Scotch song. Moore, if 
 Ireland had no other, is lyrist enough for her. He ranks with 
 Burns of Scotland, Beranger of France, and Keats of England. 
 In his expression of the softer feelings he is perfect, and he is 
 unrivalled even hy Burns in many of his gay songs. Find for 
 me the repertoire of a single individual containing more love 
 and pathos, more liveliness and more quietness, than in "Dear 
 Harp of Mv Countrv," "The Minstrel Bov," " 'Tis the Last 
 Rose of Summer," "The Meeting of the Waters," "The Harp 
 That Once Through Tara's Hall," and "Believe Me If All Those 
 Endearing Young Charms." They have lived a century, and 
 like wine, improved with age. 
 
316 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 In Samuel Lover's Molly Bawn, there is the blarney and 
 the coy, entrancing, and irresistible appeal to a colleen's heart. 
 
 ^'Oh! Molly Bawn, why leave me pining. 
 
 All lonely waiting here for you. 
 While the stars above are brightly shining, 
 
 Because they've nothing else to do; 
 
 The flowers late were open keeping, 
 
 To try a rival blush with you, 
 But their Mother, Nature, set them sleeping. 
 
 With their rosy faces washed with dew. 
 
 Oh ! Molly Bawn, why leave me pining. 
 
 All lonely waiting here for you, 
 The stars above are brightly shining, 
 
 Because they've nothing else to do. 
 
 Now the pretty flowers were made to bloom, dear, 
 And the pretty stars were made to shine. 
 
 And the pretty girls were made for the boys, dear, 
 And maybe you were made for mine. 
 
 The wicked watch dog here is snarling. 
 
 He takes me for a thief, you see. 
 For he knows I'd steal you, Molly darling. 
 
 And then transported I should be. ' ' 
 
 Many of the Irish airs are gay, lively, jovial and rollicking, 
 none more so than the most popular of all Irish drinking songs, 
 ^'The Cruiskeen Lawn," which a dear grandmother of mine 
 often sang for me. 
 
 ''Let the farmer praise his grounds. 
 
 Let the hunter praise his hounds. 
 
 And the shepherd his sweet-scented lawn; 
 
 But I, more blest than they,. 
 
 Spend each happy night and day 
 
 With my charming little cruiskeen lawn, 
 
 Gra-ma-chree ma cruiskeen, 
 
 Slainte geal ma vourneen, 
 
 Gra-ma-chree a coolin bawn bawn bawn, 
 
 Gra-ma-chree a coolin bawn. 
 
 There is one song that is perhaps the nearest and dearest 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 317 
 
 to our hearts. It is the song of the prospective exile. It is de- 
 spair and hope. It is pathos and bliss. It is unity and love; it 
 comes to us a vagrant song we know not from whom, ''The 
 Wearing of the Green : ' ' 
 
 ''0 Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that's goin' round'? 
 
 The shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground; 
 
 St. Patrick's day no more we'll keep, his colors can't be seen. 
 
 For there's a bloody law agin the wearing of the green. 
 
 I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand, 
 
 And he said, ''How's poor old Ireland, and how does she 
 
 stand.?" 
 She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen, 
 They are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green. 
 
 Then since the color we must wear is England's cruel red. 
 Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have 
 
 shed. 
 You may take the shamrock from your hat and cast it on the 
 
 sod. 
 But 'twill take root and flourish still, though under foot it's 
 
 trod, 
 When the law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they 
 
 grow. 
 And when the leaves in summer-time their verdure dare not 
 
 show. 
 Then I will change the color that I wear in my caubeen, 
 But till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearing of the green." 
 
 In all these songs there is a genuine warmth of soul, a hos- 
 pitality of welcome, a touching tenderness, a faith in God, and 
 a standard of morality not found in the songs of other countries. 
 In them one finds no maudlin sentiment, no morbid sensuous- 
 ness, no inane and meaningless phrases, no degenerate love, 
 but a love and reverence for mother, for home, for country, and 
 for God. One finds in their songs what he finds in their people. 
 
 There are many songs, poems, and books alleged to be 
 Irish which falsely represent Irish life and Irish character. The 
 mischief that these vile things have done is indeed incalculable. 
 There are some people whose dwarfed mentality, or want of 
 any, misleads them to the belief that the injection of the name 
 Barney, or Larry, or Mickey, or a splash here and there from 
 the Lakes of Killarney, or the introduction of a Father ' ' Tom, ' ' 
 or a saturating with a coarse and false brogue, makes an Irish 
 poem; that a jangle of sharps and flats linked with a few sen- 
 
318 IRELAND'S CONTRIBUTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 tences about a Colleen, or Acushla, or Asthore, or MaCree, 
 makes an Irish song; that a tale about Paddy the rake, or a 
 blunderer, or a hapi3y-go-lucky adventurer, or a swaggering, 
 staggering, rollicking tippler makes an Irish story. They bear 
 too clearly the broad seal of some white light heretic. You can- 
 not make an Irishman. You can only be born one. 
 
 You can see an Italian sunset only in Italy. You can feel 
 the hallowness of the earth of Calvary only in the Holy City. 
 You can see the mighty pyramids only in Egypt. They belong 
 there. They cannot be removed. So also you can find the mel- 
 ody of Irish song, the pathos of Irish poetry, the wit, the beauty, 
 the playful fancy of Irish story rising out of an Irish soul alone. 
 
 However limited the time within which we are permitted to 
 refer to a few of the jewels shining in the literary diadem of 
 Ireland, we would indeed be recreant and wanting if we did not 
 make some allusion to Francis Mahony's poem that immortal- 
 ized Shandon Church, sitting in the heart of the City of Cork. 
 Its rhythmical measure which fascinates the ear with the con- 
 tinued recurrence of its melodious swing, gives its autlior im- 
 perishable fame. A single verse is sufficient to attest the merit 
 of this: 
 
 ' * With deep affection 
 And recollection 
 I often think of 
 Those Shandon Bells, 
 Whose sounds so wild would 
 In the days of childhood 
 Fling round my cradle 
 Their magic spells. 
 On this I ponder 
 Where'er I wander, 
 And thus grow fonder. 
 Sweet Cork of thee ; 
 With thy bells of Shandon, 
 That sound so grand on 
 The Pleasant waters 
 Of the river Lee." 
 
 Beautiful as thy hills and lakes, Emerald Isle, is the 
 story of thy children in literature! Broad as the sweet tones 
 of thy harp has been their influence! Thou held the literary 
 scepter of Europe for centuries! The darkness of night came 
 upon thee, and thy children, driven for light to other climes, 
 have embroidered their genius, their fancy, and their morality 
 
JOHN F. McGRATH 
 
 319 
 
 on the mantles of other peoples. But a new day is breaking. 
 The first gleam of a golden sun comes glimmering over the hills 
 of tomorrow. May the brilliance of this new day light thee 
 with unfading radiance! May thy fields, thy hills, thy valleys, 
 thy rivers, and thy lakes glisten with a new joy on a contented, 
 a cultured, and a God-fearing people ! 
 

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 UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. 
 
 Books may be kept for two weeks and may 
 be renewed for the same period, unless re- 
 served. 
 
 Two cents a day is charged for each book 
 kept overtime. 
 
 If you cannot find what you want, ask the 
 Librarian who will be glad to help you. 
 
 The borrower is responsible for books drawn 
 on his card and for all fines accruing on the 
 same.