A new and impartial History of Ireland, from the earliest accounts to the present time ... with a vindication of the early annals, and an introduction to the history and antiquities of Ireland

Chapter I

Introduction of Christianity into Ireland — Preached there before the Arrival qfSt. Patrick — Mission qf Palladius — Captivity of St. Patrick — Place of kis Birth— His Miracles — -Vision — and Apostolical Labours in Leinster and Ulster — Confutes the Druids — Is invited by Aongus, King of Munster, to his Court — Presides at a Public Examination of tlie National Records — Writers of his Life — Difference between the Irish and Roman Churches in the Celebration of Easter. AT what period the Christian religion was first preached in this country, is not sufficiently agreed upon by ancient writers. But as Logaire, the suc cessor of Dathy, was the reigning monarch, when St. Patrick came into this country, we here naturally fix the era of salvation to our Pagan ancestors. The introduction of Christianity into Ireland, forms an era big with consequences that affected the mo rals, and the politics of the time in which it occurred, and therefore not to be passed over in silence— We now behold a nation of warriors, who considered heroism and bravery, as the pinnacle of human perfect tion, illumined by the light of divine revelation, and softened by the spirit of christian mildness and forbear ance, become a nation of saints and hermits: we shall behold the rough warrior put off his coat of mail, and assume the more impenetrable armour of christian for- VOL. II.

B titude. We shall view, and w7e may derive profit as well as pleasure, from the mental vision, the tumultuous spirit of military ardour, chastened by the pure flame of religion, subside into the meek effusions of universal charity. The religion of our Pagan ancestors, seemed formed to raise the mind to the highest pitch of warlike enthusiasm ; and therefore to be more hostile to that spirit of humility, so strongly inculcated by the precepts of the gospel. But extremes are often more closely allied, than appearances would make them. Beauty and sublimity, so different in their efcient causes, and in their positive effects, are often so closely united by associating shades, that it requires the eye of a master to discern which is which ; and Ave often find the turbulent votary of anger to be most obnoxious to the softer feelings of impassioned sensibility.

There is, then, in the christian, and in the warrior, some uniting link, some associating virtue; and this seems to be, a noble, generous, disinterested spirit; — a spirit that rises superior to every thing terrestrial, and that spurns the sordid gratifications of terrene en joyments. We should not, therefore, be surprised, if our ancestors yielded, with such ardour, to the influence of divine revelation. St. Patrick, their great apostle, seemed to be endowed with a spirit that rendered him peculiarly qualified for their conversion. He interfered as little as was consistent with the purity of the religion which he preached, with those ancient customs and institutions, to which they seemed so strongly attached. The dissemination of Christianity, at this early period, employed the talent of the learned, and to it they de voted all their literary labours.

Incredulity was notthe characteristic of the present age. More studious of dis covering truth, than of denying its existence, the cobweb theories of the sceptic were neither cultivated by the learned, nor patronized by the uninitiated. Conscious of their own ignorance, and doubtful of a doctrine that was neither sanctioned by the seal of divine authority, nor countenanced even by the most specious deductions of ingenious reasoning, the druids themselves, if they did not immediately embrace, at least, hesitated to oppose, a more sublime system of theology, which, though too elevated for the niggard span of pagan intellect, yet presented, so far as it could be understood, principles which appeared to be founded on the most obvious deductions of moral instinct and natural religion. Nor did they affect to think that nothing should be believed but what could be understood.

They had sufficient discrimination to perceive, in the first place, that belief can only be conversant in things where there is a possibility of doubt ; and in the second, they saw, that if nothing be true but what can be understood, it must necessarily follow, that what is truth with regard to one man, because he understands it, is falsehood with regard to another, because he cannot : in which case, truth would be the creature of our own mind : it could have no existence till it was first perceived, and consequently it would be a creation of our own, adapted to the different degrees of individual perception, not to the reality of things in themselves, or tiie inseparable relation that exists between them. But whatever opposition the druids made to the establishment of truth, it was surmounted by the zeal of the primitive christians, which sufficiently appears, from the great success that attended their exertions.

Now it was that Christianity put forth all her energies — she saw, with grief, the heathen world, darkened by the multiplying errors of paganism, and shrouded from the knowledge of the Supreme Being. She saw the creature of man's hand become the object of his own adoration ; and she pitied the fallacy of that reason, which, by its subserviency to the cravings of desire, became the instrument of depraved nature, rather than the arbiter of moral rectitude. It is difficult, at 'this distance of time, to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, who first planted christianity in this country. That it was taught and preached before the arrival of St. Patrick, is certain: for we are informed by the venerable Bede, a respectable authority, " that in the eighth year of the reign of the emperor Theodosius, Palladius was sent by Celestin, bishop of the Roman church, to the the Scots, believing in Christ, to be their first bishop."

This is also confirmed by Prosper who says, " that he was ordained by Pope Celestin, and sent, the first bishop, to the Scots, believing in Christ." — Ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatur a papa Celestino Palladius. It appears, however, that even Palla dlus was not the first christian missionary, and that the Irish first received the light of Christia nity from the early Asiatic or African churches. — The enmity that subsisted, for several ages, be tween the Irish and the Romans, rendered the for mer averse to any doctrines, inculcated by the lat ter. Palladius, however, might be the first bishop that came into this country from Rome ; and that such only was the meaning of Bede and Prosper, we are strongly inclined to believe ; for if Christianity was not preached before the coming of Palladius, why make use of the words, " to the Scots believing in Christ ?" words which sufficiently evince, that a part of the Scots were converted before his arrival.

We have, tnoreover, several respectable authorities to support us in the opinion, that the gospel was preached, at a very early period in this country. Usher* and Bruodinus tell us, that Mansuetus, the first bishop, and patron of Toul, who was canonized by Leo IX. wras an Irishman, and a disciple of St. Peter. In the reign of Con, in the second century, St. Cathaldus, an Irishman, preached the faith in Italy, and was bishop and patron of Tarentum ; and, in the ensuing age, Cormoc, one of the most famous of our ancient monarchs, became a convert to the christian faith, as has been already observed. It ap- * Usser PrimorJ. p. 747, 8. Bruodin, p 579. pears, also, from the poem of Torna Eigis, preceptor to Niall the grand, that he was a christian ; for, in the last distich of this poem, he thus concludes, as latin ized by Mr. O'Flaherty : Omnes monte Sion sæculorum, Judice Christo, Convenient homines, quo quoque ducar ego*.

In the fourth century, previous to the landing of St. Patrick, Dima, a holy missionary, founded a church near Adaire, in the county of Limerick, which still bears his name. The learned Ibarus founded an academy in Leinster? at a place called Beg-Lire, where, according to Ushers, he instructed great numbers of the natives, as well as foreigners, in sa cred and polite letters. And Colgan \ says, " that people from all parts crowded to his schools to be in structed in Christianity and letters. St. Kieran and St. Declan also founded churches, before the arrival of St. Patrick ; and St. Albe, archbishop of Minister, founded a church and schools at Emely, before his arrival. But whatever progress Christianity had made, previous to the landing of St. Patrick, the conversion of the entire kingdom was reserved for the labours of this great apostle.

Palladius, who, as has been observed above, was sent here by Celestin, remained but a few months in the island, having failed in his mission. He was attend ed to this country by twelve clergymen, and landed at Inbher Deaghadh, in the north of Leinster. Here he erected three churches ; the first called Cill Finne, the second, Teach-na Romhanach, and the third, Domhnach-Arda. Having converted a few of the natives, he was apprehended by Nathi, the son of Garchon, a person of great power in that part, of the country, who obliged him and his followers, to quit the island. Palladius went over to Britain, and by * AH men shall meet on mount Sion, where I also shall appear. + Usser Primord. p. SQL % St. Abbani. his death, which happened shortly after, he made way for a more successful missionary, St. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland.

We have already observed, that he was brought a captive into this country by Niall the grand. He was detained six years, a swine herd, in the valley of Arcail, adjacent to the mountain Mis, and obtained his freedom on the seventh. For the Irish, as we are informed by Colgan, emancipated all their slaves, unless they preferred themselves to remain in slavery. It is, however, said, that Milcho Mac Huanan, prince of Dalaradie in Ulster, to whom he was sold, refused to restore him to liberty on the seventh y7ear, agreeably to the custom of the country, and that he was obliged to purchase his liberty with a lump of gold which he happened to find at a place called Sce ric. Other authorities assert, that when he com menced the seventh y7ear of servitude, he was directed in a dream to prepare for his return ; and that, in obedience to what he deemed a divine warning, he fled his master's house, and hastened with all possible expedition to the sea coast, where he found a ship, ready7 to w7eigh anchor.

He applied to the cap tain, who at first refused to admit him, but afterwards relenting, he received him on board,and after a dangerous voyage of seventy-three days, landed him in Al bany. Astera journeyoftwenty-eightdays,hearrived, at his native village Banaven, in the territory of Ti burnia, at the northern extremity of England, and not far, says Probus, from the Western ocean : haud procul a mare occidentali. The place of his nativity, however, is much contested among writers. Some make him a native of Ireland, others of Scotland, others of Wales, and others of Armorica or Little Brittany, in France. Mathew of Westminster, sur named Florilegus, and Boronius, make him a native of Ireland — Natione Hibcrnensis. Sigebert, the Martyrologies of Bede, Usuard, Rhaban, Adon, and, guided by their authorities, the Scotch writers, make os Ireland. 7 him a Scot — XVI.

Kal. April in Scotia natale. S. Patricii. But, as Me. Geohagan remarks, the day of one's decease is taken for that of his birth in the style of the martyrologies, and Ireland alone was known by the name of Scotia in the time of St. Patrick. The most general and the best founded opinion seems to be, that he was a Briton, born, as we have already observed, near the confines of Scotland, in Banaven, a town in the territory of Tabernia, which was then a part of the Roman province, but afterwards annexed to the kingdom of Scotland ; a circumstance that reconciles the writers who make him a Scot of Caledonia to those who make him a Briton. Jocelin supposes Tabernia to mean Tabernaculorum Campus, the field of Tabernacles, or tents, so called from the tents of the Roman army who had been there encamped.

He also tells us, that his father dwelt in Empthor, on the coast of the Irish sea, whence Usher concludes that Banaven, the birth-place of the saint, was Kirkpatrick or Kilpatrick, situated between Alcluid at present Dunbrit-ton and Glascow ; and that it got the name of Kilpatrick in subsequent times, in honour of the saint to whom it had given birth. The year in which he was born is not less disputed than the place of his birth. William of Malmesbury, Stanihurst, Proous and others, place it in the year 361. Probus, who says he lived 132 years, fixes his death in 493; Malmesbury, in 472, the 111th year of his age ; Henry of Marleburgh says he was born in 376; Jocelin, in 370; and Florence of Worcester in 372; which date seems to be the most correct, as the general opinion is, that St. Patrick lived 120 years.

The saint's father was Calphurnius; his mother was Conchessa, niece or sister to St. Martin of Tours. The writers of his life attribute many miracles to him in his youth ; but as Fiech, his cotemporary, who had better opportunities of knowing every thing of importance connected with his life, is entirely silent with regard to them, they seem entitled to little eredit ; especially when we consider that the saint himself, in his cpnfession, attributes his captivity to his ignorance of the true God, and his disobedience to his laws. It would appear agreeable to the strictest principles of christian philosophy to suppose, that conferring the power of performing miracles on a child, is not consistent with "the equal and impartial distribution of God's favours, if, a._ is generally supposed, a miracle be a gift, bestowed only on extraordinary sanctity.

For there can be no sanctity without judgment, because no act can be good but so far as we know it to be so. He who performs what, the world would denominate a good and meritoriousact,without knowing himself that the act is good, cannot be supposed to possess any merit for it, because he did it unintentionally ; and the moral value of any human act can never rise higher than the moral purity of the intention with which it is performed. But if sanctity or merit be founded on knowledge and intention, how can we suppose a child possessed of either? To suppose him endowed with those powers of moral perception, is to suppose him an intellectual phenomenon ; a being deriving its intelligence from a source, inaccessible to the rest of men. A child never appears more engaging than while he appears robed in the white garb of baptismal innocence ; this sentiment is beautifully expressed by Chateaubriand, when he says : Un enfant sans innocence est un fleur sans parfum — >A child without innocence is a flower without per fume : and yet innocence seems to be only a more amiable expression for ignorance.

A child is innocent, because he knows nothing ; he will ever remain innocent, until he is taught the distinctions between good and evil; whence it follows, that he would ever remain innocent if he never perceived the?e distinctions. Every act done in a state of invincible ignorance, is an innocent act , and though it may appear a paradox, yet it is certain that it is only when we are made acquainted of Ireland. 9 with the nature of a good act, that we are capable of committing an evil one. Had our first parents ne ver tasted of the tree of knowledge, they would have been always innocent; and could we ourselves remain in the same state of ignorance in which we were born, we would be equally so. Hence it follows, that though we may possess knowledge without be ing criminal, — without being either virtuous or vi cious ; yet we cannot be criminal, — we can be neither virtuous nor vicious, without possessing knowledge.

But as a child cannot possess that knowledge on which sanctity is founded, it is difficult to conceive why the power of performing miracles should be conferred upon him. The ways of God, it is true, are inscrutable ; and there are, perhaps, those, who are born favourites of God, prior to any merit of their own. He may think proper to reward, even in our childhood, that merit which he foresees in our riper y7ears. That there are such peculiar favourites of heaven, seems to appear in the instance of Esau and Ja cob. But that St. Patrick was so favoured cannot be concluded from the testimony of those who wrote his life, many years after his death, when we find that such miracles [are not spoken of by St. Fiech, his disciple and cotemporary. Dr. Milner, in his defence of the existence of St. Patrick against Dr. Ledwich, gives up the puerile stories related of him by Joce line and other writers, and the Abbe Me Geohagan does the same.

After his release from captivity, he returned to his friends, with whom he lived for some time. We are informed, that during his residence among them, he saw, in a vision, a man coming to him from Ireland, with a letter, beginning with the words vox Hibernigensium ; and that while he perused it, he seemed to hear the natives call on him for instruction. Should this story excite^the cold smile of incredulity, in the religious sceptic, who shrewdly rejects, all VOL. II. c The Histoty 10 supernatural agency, vie shall, for his satisfaction, endeavour to show its probability, without the in tervention of a miracle. There is a cerfain power in the human mind — by which it suffers itself to be irresistibly drawn to the exclusive contemplation of some! interesting, Softie endearing object — notonly in thevisive hour of night, but even when the sun dispenses his rneridian beams, the mind, shielded by this protecting ægis, becomes indurated to the influence of the surrounding scenes, and strongly attaches itself to this alluring attrahent.

In this hour of mental abstraction, reason pays homage to the eagerness of desire, and the imagination strongly paints the object of its endearment, and gives existence to new images, fhdt render it more impressive. Can we, then, be surprised, if St. Patrick, who seems to have indulged a sfroflg desire, if we are not permitted to term it a divine call, for the conversion of this nation, should be so strongly affected by the impulse of religious feelings, as to imagine the natives of this country calling ort hiffr for the light of truth. - From his residence amOng them, he saw the possibility of their conversion ; and from the civilities which he received from them, the emotions of gratitude, as well as the impulse of religion, would have inclined him to labour for their salvation. We must then admit the probability of the fact, though we should even reject the historic testimonies that have handed it down to us.

During his residence arnong his friertds, he prepared himself for the church, vvith an assiduity worthy the great task which he was destined to accomplish. He devoted himself exclusively to the study of that faith which he intended to impart to others ; and his study was not that barren, unproductive speculation, which multiplies knowledge without wisdom, and learning without sanctity. He reduced his know ledge to practice,- and exercised the most rigid preqf Ireland* 11 cepts of christian morality, that he might be asterwards better qualified to root up the seeds of infidelity and error. St. Patrick, from the moment of his vision, entertained an ardent desire of labouring for the salvation of the Irish nation. He therefore resolved, contrary to the wishes of his friends, to go into foreign countries, to acquire that knowledge, without which he could not expect to succeed in so great an undertaking.

He went accordingly7, being now in his twentythird year, to the monastery of Marmoutiers, founded near Tours, by7 St. Martin of that city, and uncle ofConchessa, his mother. From St. Martin he received the clerical tonsure and the monastic habit. Here he remained in the practice of the most austere religious duties till the death of St. Martin in 397, or, according to Severus Sulpitius, in 402, when he set out for Rome, and joined the canons regular of St. John of Lateran, being now in (his twentieth year. Here he applied himself to study, and made a rapid progress in sacred letters and ecclesiastic discipline. " Ibique," gays Usher, " turii sacris literis imbutum turn etiam ecclesiasticis institutis eruditum, et in re gulari disciplina uptime institutam fuisse significat*. He afterwards visited the monasteries and hermitages of the Mediterranean isles.

He was induced to visit St. Germain, who was appointed bishop of Auxerre in 418, under whose discipline he remained several years, endowing his mind with all the virtues of an apostle, to prepare him for the great ministry to which he aspired. The desire of greater perfection induced him to visit the monastery of the isle of Lerin, founded by St. Honorat, where he remained nine years under his directions, and of Maximus his successor, but still corresponded with St. Germain, to whom alone he communicated all the secret propensities of his heart. He left Lerins. in his thirty-eighth year, and re- • Usser Primord. cap. svii. p. 835. turned to Auxerre. News having arrived of the death of Palladius, St. Germain sent him to Rome, with letters of recommendation to Pope Celestine, and instructions relative to the Irish mission.

The pope reived him with testimonies of the greatest esu.-em, and having invested him with apostolic au thority, sent him to preach the gospel to that nation whose conversion had been for many years the only subject of all his anxieties and pastoral solicitude. The baptismal name of- St. Patrick, was Succath, which he changed to Magonias, at his ordination by St. Germain. Pope Celestin, to give additional weight to his embassy, 'conferred on him the Patri cian order : Patricius, therefore, was only his title, though it afterwards became his name. His arrival in the country is dated A.D. 432, in the fourth year of the reign of Loghaire. He spent the two first years of his mission in Leinster and Ulster, where he converted numbers of the inhabitants. The chief difficulty he had to surmount, was that of esta blishing his authority over the native clergy, who seemed averse to the interference of the Roman missionaries.

He succeeded, however, by his mild and condescending deportment, and even conciliated the friendshipof Ibarus, who chiefly resisted his authority. Hearing, about two years after his arrival, that the national estates were to meet at Tara, he determined to attend there, in order to gain, if possible, some converts among the Irish princes, well aware, that the example of the Great has a strong influence over the minds of the people. As all culinary fires were ex tinguished on the eve of Bel, or May, and rekindled from the great fire, kept burning in the temple of Uisneach, he resolved to take a bold -step, and kindle, on this eve, a large fire, convenient to the temple. This, indeed, was a measure that nothing less than a confidence in the divine assistance, which can scarcely7 be termed human, could justify; and the event proved that he was directed by higher counsels than those which result from human sagacity.

The druids, as he had rightly foreseen, immediately exclaimed against this bold innovation, and the apostle was summoned, next day, to appear before Loghaire, the reigning monarch. The saint, fired with divine zeal to accomplish the will of his master, and to manifest his doctrine, at the peril of his life, openly confessed the word of life, and proved the fallacy of the doctrine by which the druids had imposed upon mankind. As the mysteries of druidism could neither be supported by reason, nor sanctioned by a divine commission, we may easily conclude that the druids could have little success in opposing a doctrine that was founded on the principles of eternal truth. Accordingly, we find the Empress of Loghaire become an immediate convert to the new doctrine. The conversion of the Empress led to that of a great many more ; and the druids themselves either became the proselytes of truth, or endeavoured to screen from public scrutiny a doctrine which they could not defend, by avoiding a conference with the apostle of Christianity.

At the exhibition, held on the plains of Tailtean, he con verted numbers, so that the gospel [spread rapidly through all parts of the kingdom, in the course of a few years. As yet, he confined himself to the north ern parts of the kingdom, till Aongus, king of Mun ster, hearing of his fame, and being himself a convert to the faith, invited him to his court. Here he met with St. Albe, and St. Declan, and it was agreed upon among them, " that St. Albe should rank as a second Patrick, and be patron, and archbishop of Munster ; and that St. Declan should be called the Patrick of the Deasies, and their chief bishop. After this, they blessed the king, and giving the kiss of peace, each returned to his particular charge."* St. Patrick having firmly establisheddus authority over the Irish ec- * Hanner's Chronicle, p._35. clesiastics, and succeeded in converting tlie greatcj part of the nation from the darkness of paganism to the light of revelation, was now consulted on every matter of public deliberation.

Though it is a matter of some doubt whether Loghaire was converted to the faith, we are at least certain, that he was not hostile to the interests of Christianity. This, probably, w7as owing to the influence of his queen, who, as we noticed above, was converted by St. Patrick. The saint had not, therefore, to contend with royal opposition ; and we find him preside, with the monarch's permission, at a public examination of the national records. A committee was appointed every third year, for this purpose, consisting of three arch-druids, three chiefantiquarians, and three bards ; and, in the present instance, the bishops St. Patrick, Benin, and Sairnach, succeeded to the three arch-druids. The antiquarians were Dubhtach, Feargus, and Rosa, and the monarch himself, together with the kings of Ulster and Munster, attended at the convocation.

It is said that St. Patrick having observed our history deduced only from Phenius, and wishing to associate it with that of the Jews, made Phenius, the son of Baath, the son of Magog, the son of Japhet. It is true, indeed, that this might be a means of reconciling the Irish to a religion, virtually the same with that practised by their primogenial ancestors; but whether the saint would have recourse to any artifice, such as might even be denominated a pious fraud, in order to establish the doctrine of his divine master, is a circumstance much to be doubted. It is to be hoped that he had too great a respect for the purity of his religion — .a religion that admitted n© stain, and too great a confidence in the divine assistance, to practise even a deception that was ultimately intended to promote the establishment of the christian religion.

The number of histories written of the life of St. Patrick have only served to confuse each other, and render doubtful what w7ould have been otherwise evident. Usher, guided by historic documents, placed in the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, counts 63 or 66, " Omnes libri,* says' he, " qui de vir* tutibus Patricii sexaginta sex nilfttero computantur vel sexaginta tres." * Those, however, that are chiefly worthy of notice, are, "' His u His; Letter to Carotic," and " the Lives written by sortie" of his disciples." The confession of St. Patrick was written by himself. They commence with the words Ego Patricias Peccator, 1 Patrick a sinner. He speaks of few miracles, but of many visions, in which God pointed out to him the line he was to pursue. It is not unworthy of notice, and perhaps no small proof of their authenticity, that in these visions"there is nothing to be met with, puerile, or unworthy the dignity of the great work to which he was called, or the greatness and majesty of the being by whom he was selected.

The subject of his letter to Carotic Was a cruel and barbarous action committed by this tyrant, who, though a christian, slew and massacred a great number of converts to Christianity, while the saint was in the act of administering to them the blessed sacrament, and carried off great numbers, whom he sold to the Picts. The saint represented to him, in this letter, the enormity of his crime, and demanded back the prisoners ; but Carotic contemn ing his expostulations, he wrote another letter, addressed to the public, in which he loudly complains of the tyrant's cruelty, especially in selling christian slaves to infidels. He forbids his people to communicate with him or his associates in spirituals or temporals, until he had done penance, and restored his prisoners; and declares that all who do so, partici pate in his crimes, and undergo the same judgment.

The confession of St. Patrick, and his letter to Ca- * Usser Prim. Eccles. Brit. cap. 17. pag. 81*. rotic, are quoted by Usher, Ware, Colgan, Bollandus, and other writers, with high encomiums. The former is allowed, by all the w7riters of his life, to have been written by himself, which proves it at least more ancient than the writers themselves. Both pieces are evidently the production of the same mind, as they have the same character, and the same style, and nothing appears in them unworthy the great apostle to whom they • are attributed. " His confession," says the abbe M'Geohagan, " is marked with such characteristics of truth that it would stand by itself, though it had been quoted by no writer whatever, and at the same time nothing can be discovered in it that can excite suspicion. Even Cave himself acknowledges that both his confession and his letter to Carotic are very ancient writings.