A History of the Irish at Home and Abroad

A History of the Irish at Home and Abroad

Collaboration by Terry O´Mahony

& Maggie Sheehan BA Hons

Cover Art: Artist: Anon

Smashwords Edition

The History of the Irish at Home and Abroad

All Rights reserved by Maggie Sheehan

Copyright © 2010 by Maggie Sheehan

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A History of the Irish at Home and Abroad

By Terry O´Mahony & Maggie Sheehan BA (Hons)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Ancient Ireland

Chapter 2 How the Early Irish Lived

Chapter 3.The Role of Religion in Early Ireland

Chapter 4.The Druids

Chapter 5.The Brehon Laws

Chapter 6.The Role of the Ancient Irish Bard

Chapter 7.The Origins of Irish Music and Drink

Chapter 8.The Life and Times of St. Patrick

Chapter 9.Ireland´s Golden Age

Chapter 10.The Viking Invasion

Chapter 11.Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf

Chapter 12.Pope Adrian 1V Gives Ireland to Henry II

Chapter 13.Schism The Irish Catholic Church & Rome

Chapter 14.The Norman Invasion

Chapter 15.Robert Bruce and the Scottish Invasion of Ireland

Chapter16 Kilkenny Statutes and the First Racial Laws

Chapter 17.The Invasion of Ireland in 1377 by Richard II

Chapter 18.Henry VII and the Beginnings of a Tudor Dynasty

Chapter 19.Henry VIII and his Son, Edward VI

Chapter 20.The Plantation of Ireland

Chapter 21.Ireland and Queen Mary Tudor

Chapter 22.Queen Elizabeth I

Chapter 23.The Colonisation of Ireland

Chapter 24.The Battle of Kinsale

Chapter 25.James 1st and the Flight of the Earls

Chapter 26.Phelim O´Neill and The Irish Confederate Wars

Chapter 27.Oliver Cromwell in Ireland

Chapter 28 To Hell or Connacht

Chapter 29.The Enslavement of Ireland´s People

Chapter 30.Charles II and the Restoration

Chapter 31.James II

Chapter 32.When Orange Men Fought for the Pope

Chapter 33.The Siege of Limerick

Chapter 34.The Wild Geese and their Forgotten Womenfolk

Chapter 35.A Women´s Army

Chapter 36.Penal Days in Ireland

Chapter 37.Ireland In the Wake of Cromwell

Chapter 38.Origins of the British Empire

Chapter 39.Britain´s Entry into the Slave Trade

Chapter 40.The Enslavement of the Irish

Chapter 41.Conditions Aboard the Slave Ships

Chapter 42.Conditions of Slavery

Chapter 43.Bacon´s Rebellion

Chapter 44.The Aftermath of Bacon´s Rebellion

Chapter 45.Ireland and the Protestant Ascendancy

Chapter 46.Theobald Wolfe Tone and The United Irishmen

Chapter 47.The Act of Union

Chapter 48.Presbyterians Welcomed back by the Ascendancy

Chapter 49.Robert Emmet

Chapter 50.The Irish Workhouse

Chapter 51.Daniel O’Connell – ‘The Liberator’

Chapter 52.The Great Irish Famine

Chapter 53.Conditions Aboard the Coffin Ships

Chapter 54.In The Wake of the Famine

Chapter 55.The Spirit of the Irish

Chapter 56.Charles Parnell

Chapter 57.John Edward Redmond

Chapter 58.Roger Casement

Chapter 59.Patrick Pearse

Chapter 60.The Easter Rising

Chapter 61.British Reaction to the Establishment of the First Dàil

Chapter 62.The Kilmichael Ambush

Chapter 63.The Burning of Cork City

Chapter 64.The Crossbarry Ambush

Chapter 65.The Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Irish Civil War

Chapter 66.Famous Women Rebels

Chapter 67.Michael Collins & the First Bloody Sunday

Chapter 68.Irelands Nineteenth Century Renaissance

Chapter 69.Eamon de Valera

Chapter 70 Northern Ireland

Chapter 71 Bombings in the Republic

Chapter 72 British Justice for the Irish

Chapter 73 A Second Bloody Sunday

Chapter 74 Bobby Sands and the ´´H´ Block Hunger Strike

Chapter 75 The Good Friday Agreement

Chapter 76 MarjorieMowlem

Chapter 77 The Catholic Church Scandals

Chapter 78 The Republic of Ireland

Chapter 79 English History As It Relates to Ireland

Chapter 80 Oliver Cromwell´s Rise to Power

Chapter 81 The Irish Diaspora

Chapter 82 The European Conquest of North America

Chapter 83 The Irish in America

Chapter 84 The American War of Independence

Chapter 85 The Fenian Movement in America

Chapter 86 The Irish in Canada

Chapter 87 The Irish in Australia

Chapter 88 The Irish in Mexico

Chapter 89 The Irish in Argentina

Chapter 90 The Irish in Brazil

Chapter 91 The Irish in the West Indies

Chapter 92 The Irish in Puerto Rico

Chapter 93 The Irish in Cuba

Chapter 94 Bibliography

Chapter 95 Index

Synopsis

For those interested in Irish history this book offers an insight into events which have formed Ireland and impacted on her inhabitants but which have, in many instances, for political and religious expedience, remained hidden, locked away from scrutiny.

Exposed, for example, is the shocking fact that twice in its history, the Irish nation came perilously close to total extinction; that literally hundreds of thousands of Irish men, women and children were cruelly spirited away to the West Indies and North America to serve as slaves, that the Irish endured a merciless famine inflicted callously and coldly bloodedly upon them -by the English establishment.

Read about ironic historical anomalies such as the period in history when Irish Catholics fought for the Protestant interest and Protestants found themselves fighting for the Pope.

It is also a sad truth that throughout its checkered history Ireland´s greatest export has been its people. This account looks at why that is so and the exploits of the Irish abroad and gives an insight into the diaspora.

Prologue

For hundreds of years the English denied the Irish access to knowledge of their own history or culture and all education was banned. Harsh racial laws were put in place to segregate the different races which comprised Irish society and mixed marriages were strictly forbidden. Catholics could not openly practice their religion; Irish dress was considered unacceptable and during and after the 17th century even the authority of the ancient Irish Brehon Law system was eschewed in favour of Roman law.

Until the 1920’s Irish history did not figure within any school curriculum; the Gaelic language was not permitted to be spoken and Irish culture was firmly discouraged. Later, when history as a subject was countenanced within the school system it was English history that was promoted, not Irish. All battles were seemingly won by the victorious English and their heroes were all British. Irish history had effectively been eclipsed by a romantic recounting of English historical prowess.

When the twenty-six counties of Ireland became a Republic, Irish historians set about the business of recovering Ireland’s history but unfortunately political difficulties culminated in a bitter civil war and its authors generally, in an endeavour ‘not to rock the boat’, tempered their language and their written thoughts in order to avoid controversy. But the bitterness and divisions of that civil war were to continue for at least another 50 years.

In this book, perhaps for the first time, you will discover some of the hidden history peculiar to the Irish and, hopefully, a realistic and truthful accounting. Many Irish men and women even now, for example, have no knowledge of the fact that many of their ancestors were once slaves or that at least twice the Irish nation came perilously close to annihilation.

Introduction

Around 45BC the Romans conquered the Druids in Gaul; some 50 years later they went on to vanquish those in Britain. Caesar's purported reason for wiping out the Druids was that they practiced human sacrifice and that the Romans found this deeply distasteful. This reaction from a people, who indulged themselves in the almost daily spectacle of human sacrifice for mere entertainment, is arguably hypocritical. It is much more probable that the Druids posed a threat to Roman expansionism because they didn´t embrace the notion of imperialism and were fiercely nationalistic.

Crucially, also whilst the Romans crushed the Druids in Gaul and Britain at no stage did they conquer Ireland and so the country, for the next six hundred years, underwent an uninterrupted period of development which allowed her to flourish under Druidic rule into a civilized and learned nation far removed from European influence.

A central feature of Irish Druidism was its sophisticated and highly equitable system of law which was dispensed and regulated by Brehons and, operated without any police or jails; proving amazingly effective. Brehons were a very learned class of men and women who spent up to twenty years mastering their chosen fields; among which featured mathematics, astronomy, religion, poetry, engineering, science and a raft of others.

In the early part of the 5th century St. Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland but in order to make it palatable to the Irish, he cleverly incorporated those aspects of their paganism which were compatible with Christian doctrine. In doing so, St. Patrick was instrumental in establishing a new society based on an admix of Christian and Druid beliefs. As a result, Ireland enjoyed many centuries of her own distinctive brand of Catholicism until the Norman Invasion of the 12th century brought it to an abrupt and bloody end.

In the 5th century, at a time when the rest of Europe was sinking into a Dark Age following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Ireland experienced a golden age of learning. Her monasteries became highly acclaimed centres of learning and students flocked to them from all parts of Europe. At the same time, Irish monks were painstakingly copying important spiritual and secular classical works; restoring many European libraries and expanding their own. In turn, these monasteries evolved into universities to which wealthy Europeans eagerly vied to send their sons.

Interestingly, the students who converged on Irish monasteries were taught Irish Catholicism, not Roman and the Vatican became increasingly threatened, doing its utmost to make its Irish counterpart conform to the Roman model. The situation then became increasingly fraught when it became apparent that Irish Catholicism was within a hair’s breadth of spreading to almost every country within Europe, and to the obvious detriment of Roman Catholicism.

Indeed, so threatened was Rome by Irish Catholicism that in the 12th century, backed by the might of the Norman sword, it put a violent and bloody end to its competitor´s reign. Bleeding and bruised, the Irish Catholic Church had no other recourse but to capitulate to Roman rule and in that moment liberty, learning and freedom of thought was all but lost to the Irish.

However, a nucleus of Irish monks continued to write and teach in Gaelic as well as Latin and this proved incredibly important in promoting freedom of thought at a time when the only written language imposed by the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe was Latin; thereby maintaining the mystique of knowledge and understanding only unto its own clergy.

These Irish monks diligently continued to write in Gaelic and put into writing Irish Druidic teachings and folklore, which up to then had only been passed down via an oral tradition. Had the monks not bravely undertaken to do so, these literary riches along with many Greek and Latin classics of both a spiritual and secular nature would almost certainly have been lost to posterity.

Despite external pressure, when and wherever possible, Irish scholars were encouraged to read, write and study in their own language and to acquire an understanding of classical Greek and Latin thereby affording them the very widest possible education.

Therefore, at a time when most other European countries were controlled by Roman Catholicism and the use of the Latin language, Ireland alone, enjoyed freedom of thought and expression. So, when, in the 16th and 17th century the English tried to usurp Ireland´s culture and religion they had left it too late; Ireland had already enjoyed some 600 years of Irish pagan Druidism together with almost 1,000 years of her own Catholicism and could not be converted to Protestantism.

Nevertheless, it is an imponderable as to why, after centuries of oppression, slavery, torture, starvation, usurpation, denial of the right to education or religious freedom, the Irish, perversely, chose to cling to their own religion and culture. There is arguably no other country in the world which has endured so much for so long and retained its culture and identity intact.

Chapter 1

Ancient Ireland

(The Great Irish Elk)

When attempting to trace the history of Ireland and the Irish race, it is necessary to establish that our knowledge of its most ancient origins rely upon a weave of fact, conjecture and Irish pagan and Christian mythology.

The island of Ireland first emerged some 15,000 years ago. The Ice Age had ended and the Polar ice fields receded exposing Erin in all her fertile splendour. Grass shoots had forced their way to the softening surface and gradually covered the land upon which the Great Irish Elk roamed, grazing upon her thickening undergrowth. In time, forestation formulated, creating a yet denser canopy. Ireland thus remained in this tranquil and undisturbed state for many centuries until the first human incursion; which is believed to have taken place around 6 to 8 thousand years ago.

According to archeological study, Ireland was first inhabited by a Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age people who it is believed hailed from Scotland; crossing the Irish Sea and landing in the north east of the country. Little is known of these early visitors but it is evident they were primitive hunters, perhaps making forays in packs, and that their movements would have been severely restricted by the density of the forest. It is also reasonable to conjecture, that they would have been richly sustained by the abundance of wildlife and the fish to be found in the many rivers, streams and seas in and around the island.

The next invaders were a Neolithic or more advanced Stone Age people who arrived in Ireland around 3,000 BC but, yet again, we have little knowledge of where they came from or their culture. What is known, because of recovered artefacts, is that they were skilled workers in metal who produced fine gold work and broach pins and the erection of megalithic tombs and the many ancient stone structures dotted throughout Ireland are attributable to this Neolithic Age.

There is a stone tomb located in Newgrange, County Antrim which has been carbon dated to this period and predates even the Egyptian pyramids. The entrance to the tomb has been designed to capture the rays of the rising sun at Samhain, the mid winter solstice, so that it penetrates directly to the very centre of the tomb; the logistics involved in making this possible demonstrate that these were a very clever people with a sophisticated grasp of mathematics and astronomy. There are similar constructs in Nowth and Dowth which were also built around the same time.

Subsequently, the Bronze Age dawned in Ireland around 1500 BC. These were a developed people who came to Ireland’s shores via the Middle East. Importantly, they brought with them knowledge of how to grow grain and rear animals for domestic use, such as pigs and sheep. They too were workers of metal but were more advanced in that they were able to craft axes and weaponry. This advanced skill allowed them to hunt more effectively and cut back the forest; clearing and creating tracts on which they could then plant crops. They were also better equipped to defend themselves and ward off the omnipresent threat posed by the wild animals which lurked in the surrounding forests.

Among the many practical skills these enlightened people possessed was the ability to produce intricate bronze jewellery. However, in order to produce the bronze needed to fashion such items, it was necessary to travel to Spain and Cornwall to collect the copper and tin required. In this regard, they were much less insular than those peoples who had inhabited Ireland before them. It is also testimony to the quality of their work and their commercial acumen that they were able to produce bronze items in sufficient quantity to enable them to develop a trade with Europe. It is therefore reasonable to conjecture that this was a highly cultured, skilled and artistic people who were the first to use the Irish sea links available to them.

By 1,000BC there is evidence of yet another foreign incursion. This time it was an Iron Age people who threatened the status quo. These were the Gauls who spread throughout Europe; travelling a circuitous route, north of the Alps to Asia Minor in the east, down to France, Italy and Spain and then, taking a westerly direction, arriving in Britain and then Ireland. They were a nomadic warrior people; professional soldiers and mercenaries. Their existence at this point has been attested to by trading Phoenicians, Romans and Greeks. Whether their introduction into Ireland was wrought by aggressive or peaceful means is not recorded but it is clear that the Bronze Age people who were settled in Ireland at the time and their bronze metal weaponry was no match against the iron of the new arrivals who quickly came to dominate all the peoples who had settled in Ireland before them. Over time, a peaceful coexistence was achieved and eventually they collectively came to form a homogenous grouping called the Gaels. Modern scholars have termed the word ´Celt´ to describe this grouping but this term is more descriptive of the fact that they spoke a common language rather than that they shared genetic kinship.

A lengthy period of peace ensued in which the Irish Celtic peoples were afforded time to settle and develop but an important factor allowing this to occur was that, unlike most of Europe, Ireland was never, at any point, invaded by the Romans, nor did it ever become part of the Roman Empire. It is believed, however, that Agricola, a Roman General, looking across from his easterly Scottish post and greedily towards Ireland, did at one point seriously considered mounting an invasion. Had he done so, one organized and highly trained Roman legion would have sufficed to conquer Ireland for the Empire. Luckily, this was not to be as the Romans had more pressing matters to deal with; the Picts were revolting and a German invasion had occurred. Crucially, this was all taking place at a time when Rome’s might was on the wane and in fact, shortly thereafter, the entire Roman Army retreated from Britain.

The European Gauls, later to be named Keltoi by the Greeks and Caltae by the Romans were one of the most influential and powerful people in Europe from the 4th century to the 1st century BC. Indeed, so strong a force were they, that they successfully mounted a challenge to both the Greek and Roman worlds; sacking Rome in 390 BC, conquering southern Italy and then Delphi in 279BC.

Alongside the more factual presentation of Ireland’s earliest history, supported by archeological study, runs a quasi historical cum-mythological seam produced by learned writers of much later centuries. Predominant among these writings is that of the Lebor Gabala or Book of Invasions; the completed text of which was written in the 12th century although it is believed there were other versions written much earlier. It is made up of legends and ‘history’ from earliest times. Some of the stories are clearly pagan in origin and are drawn from the Druidic oral tradition, others are biblical in content but all are given a Christian spin by the ascetic Irish monks who compiled them. The Book of Invasions speaks of mythical creatures called Partholanians; Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha De Dananns and the Milesians.

Historians discount a number of these peoples as entirely mythological; others, they believe existed and have some basis in fact. The Fir Bolgs for example are believed to have been the Belgae who hailed from Gaul. They were apparently a warlike, short, dark people and some historians believe they fled to Ireland in order to avoid oppression and that this was the tribe that Caesar encountered in battle. Historians of Irish antiquity also reason that the Tuatha De Dannans existed and that they were a highly skilled and sophisticated race. And, it is to this tribe they attribute the construction of the many prehistoric stone tombs and megaliths still to be found throughout Ireland today.

Finally, the invasion in 1,000 BC by the Milesians, referenced within the pages of the Lebor Gabala, is believed by many historians to have actually occurred. Originating in Sythia, they migrated to Ireland via Egypt and then Spain and it is this tribe who are believed to be the ancestors of the Gaels. The chief of the tribe was called Miledh, and it was he who gave his name to the Milesians; from another chief, Goidel, they were sometimes called Gadelians or Gaels.

´History´ recounts that Miledh had two sons named Eber and Eremon who agreed to divide the island of Ireland equally between them. However, a dispute arose between the two brothers triggered by the fact that Eber’s wife decided she wanted Tara and the surrounding lands and, of course, this flew directly in the face of the original agreement. In order to settle the dispute, the two brothers fought each other with Eremon emerging victorious. He subsequently became the sole ruler, Ard ri and King of all Ireland. He was also the eponymous originator of the powerful Ui Neill Sept which was to play such an important role in future Irish history.

That the Book of Invasions or Lebor Gabala largely comprises fantastical heroic events is undoubted but they later proved extremely useful to Christian monks when providing genealogies for their wealthy clients who emanated from the noble class. From this source they were able to produce romantic lineages which purportedly stretched as far back as Noah and the flood; while, at the same time, they exalted the heroism and courage of characters believed to have been directly associated with a given blood line.

Chapter 2

How the Ancient Irish Lived

(A Neolithic Stone Structure)

As a result of early invasions, the Irish nation comprised an admix of different peoples who had each migrated to its shores at different times in her history but there is little or no evidence that any battles took place during this process. It is however reasonable to suppose, that a good deal of fighting did take place before an interloper was wholly assimilated. But, whatever the circumstances of their arrival, there is a consensus that all these peoples came eventually to coexist in relative harmony. In time, they even came to speak a common language and assumed the collective title of the Gaels or, as scholars were later to label them, the Celtic people.

In attempting to glean an impression of how life was lived in Ireland at this early juncture it is again necessary to rely largely on conjecture and mythological folk lore. It’s difficult, for example, to describe with any accuracy what people wore as there are no written eyewitness accounts but it is reasonable to assume that they used the materials about them. Sheep had been introduced into Ireland during the Bronze Age and the spinning of wool is an extremely ancient Irish preserve. Flax too, from which they would have perhaps been able to produce linen garments, is known to have been grown as far back as Neolithic times. Animal skins would certainly have been plentiful and so a mental picture begins to emerge of a warm and well clad people who would have known how to coat the materials they wore; making them waterproof and affording a bolster against a moderate but wet climate.

From recovered artifacts there is evidence that the Gaels or Celts loved to embellish their clothing with the addition of golden collars which they wore around their necks and bracelets on their arms and wrists and (apparently) those of any status, had garments dyed and embroidered with gold. (Terry Jones, The Barbarians, BBC Books. p23.)

A sophisticated knowledge of the dyeing process was passed down via an oral tradition and it too was woven into the mythological folklore in which this ancient people were steeped. It has been noted time and time again that the Irish had a love of colour but the colour or colours a person was allowed to wear depended on his or her rank in society. According to the laws, a servant or churl could only wear one colour, a farmer two, an officer three and a freeman four. Five colours were allowed for a chieftain. A judge or bard could wear six and nobility wore seven, including the royal purple. The rule of colour however, never applied to children.

In 1366, the English forbade the English settlers from wearing Irish dress and later laws in the reign of Henry VIII tried to get rid of the cloak as an item of dress altogether. During the Elizabethan wars the shaggy cloak was especially frowned upon because it was associated with rebellion. It was both warm and waterproof and enabled Irish fighting men to remain out in the hills and woods in the worst of weather. (Brid Mahon, Rich and Rare, The Story of Irish Dress Mercier Press. p22 ) Edmund Spenser also afforded an insight into early Irish garb when he wrote A fit house for an outlaw, a meet bed for a rebel, and an apt cloak for a thief.

Plants of course were essential in producing dyes for materials such as wool, linen and skins and were also used extensively for medicinal purposes. Some barks and leaves were used as a defence or curative against certain conditions. The ash berry, for example, was known to be a remedy for rheumatism; the pansy was recognized as a cure for constipation and even cancer; pennywort too was a panacea for a wide range of conditions from chilblains to tuberculosis, the crocus was a cure for measles and nettles were used to relieve rheumatism and pleurisy. Interestingly also, foxglove was used to treat heart disease and is still used in modern times in this connection. (Brid Mahon, Rich and Rare Mercier Press, 2000. p.26 )

But essentially Ireland was an agricultural society based on the rearing of cattle, sheep and livestock. There was no coinage and so wealth was determined by the number of cattle held. These early Gaels knew how to rear animals for domestic use and grew grain as far back as 3,500 BC and produced wheat, oat, barley and flax. Their main diet consisted of dairy products, such as meat, butter, cheese, milk, and fish was in abundant supply. When all these elements are combined, along with the good hunting to be had in the dense forests, it becomes evident that the ancient Irish enjoyed a wholesome and extremely varied diet.

Unsurprisingly in an agrarian society, land too was strictly governed by an ancient Irish law known as Gravelkind and it was this instrument which determined the ownership of land. Land was not distributed according to hierarchical social ordering but by a much more representative and democratic arrangement; the king did not own the land but rather it was deemed to be the common property of society, subject to the preferential rights of those families who worked or lived on it. Further, although the Gaelic lord held nominal title to land, he too did so merely as a trustee on behalf of the community and as such, had no power to transfer or to extinguish the community’s rights to such land. Of course, later, when the English came to dominate Ireland, such convivial common rights to land disappeared.

Interestingly, the ancient Irish took their entertainment and leisure time very seriously; pretty much as they do now. Apart from storytelling; singing and playing instruments, chariot racing and horse racing one of their most celebrated sports was the game of hurling. Hurling employed the use of an ash stick carved similarly to that of a hockey stick and the game itself was akin to that of hockey but much faster, more brutal and very exciting. In fact, even today it’s very popular and is considered to be the fastest field sport in the world.

In the south of Ireland there’s an ancient game known as ´Bowling´ which is unique to that part of Ireland and is still played to this very day. It necessitates the throwing of an iron ball, the size of a hurling ball, along a road. When the ball stops it is thrown again until the designated finishing point is arrived at. The winner is the person who arrived at the finishing post with the least throws. Large bets are placed upon each throw as it is almost impossible to determine where the ball will land and even the tiniest stone can deflect its path and fling it into a ditch. Although in essence it’s a primitive and simple game it can be very exciting and, when played at its best, requires consummate skill. Those who rise to become champions of this sport are greatly celebrated and are known to win a deal of money.

It is also interesting to note that such was the equitable nature of ancient Irish society that at times the lowest clansman stood on an equal footing with his chieftain or even his king as the following example illustrates: It is recorded that when an Irish king visited Richard II in Dublin, the king sat down to dine with his minstrels and retinue as was the norm. However, the English were appalled at such a display of egalitarianism and they soon rearranged things, ensuring that the Irish royalty ate separately from the rest of their attendants. The Irish, as guests, gave into the demands of their English hosts although it very much went against their inclination and custom.

In order to evince a clearer picture of what life was like for the Irish in these early times it’s important to get an idea of their living conditions. Historians have established that they lived in basic wood and mud structures which were dotted all over; preferring to live inland where grazing was good, rather than along the coastline. There were no towns but there were a small number of villages located here and there.

The majority of the population lived in individual settlements called raths. The perimeter of an area with a diameter of at least 30 feet was dug out and walled off by simultaneously throwing up an embankment. The remains of the palisades can sometimes still be detected in such embankments which had no doubt been erected to fend off animals. Inside the enclosed area were the simple buildings, the walls of which were made of branches and plastered with mud, the roofs being of shingle or turf. This glimpse into the kind of living arrangements preferred by these early people indicates they were essentially rural and that their pursuits were primarily pastoral. (Quote taken from: Michael Richter’s, Medieval Ireland. Published by Gill and Macmillan, 1990 page 22.)

Whilst it is evident that life in ancient Ireland had many positive aspects, it was nevertheless a precarious existence. In such a wet climate crops were constantly under threat; throwing up the specter of famine. There was also the omnipresent fear of pestilence and disease and these came in spades. Yellow Fever brought from Europe tore through the population in the 6th and 7th century and, apart from naturally occurring disasters, the Irish themselves were often engaged in internecine warfare with other tuathas; frequently sustaining injury and even death. All these factors of course coalesced to create a very high incidence of mortality and served to make life expectation in ancient times very short indeed.

Chapter 3

The Role of Religion in Early Ireland

(Ancient Tomb at Newgrange)

Such a fragile existence placed the ancient Irish very much at the mercy of the elements; famine, disease, pestilence and plague. Injury or death frequently resulted from constant internecine warfare between tribes or tuathas and they did all they could to appease the forces they believed rained these disasters upon them. To this end, they worshipped a pantheon of gods all of whom had to be placated if crops were to ripen and mortal man was to survive.

From a modern perspective it is perhaps difficult to comprehend the level of fear and superstition that governed their lives; the anxiety that coloured virtually every aspect and the overwhelming worry that at any moment they might be struck down by a myriad malevolent forces. An inherent deep belief in the existence of the supernatural was therefore considered both wise and natural and