History of Ireland, ancient and modern. Translated ... by P. O'Kelly

Front matter

PATRICK SARSFIELD O / ~^CJ? j flsE HISTORY OF IRELAND, ANCIENT J* MODERN. ihn fom Ar iwt wdkndk iniwb AND IDEIDfliCATiEID TO TM [£ Ll LRJSiHJ BJS0©AlD£ BY THE ABBE' MAC- GEOGHEGAN Translated from the French M :?M1K£ OTBttXY 1>3QR [D (U B U IN FIUIBMSHE© BY JF AMES BUFFY. 25 ANl&ES EA ST. 1WW THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, ANCIENT AND MODERN, TAKEN FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC RECORDS, AND DEDICATED TO THE IRISH BRIGADE BY THE ABBE MAC-GEOGHEGAN. TRANSLATED IRON THE FRENCH, BY PATRICK O'KELLY, ESQ., Author os a History of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, &c. " Let Erin remember the days of old, Ere her faithless sons betray'd her : When Malachi wore the collar of gold, Which he won from th^proud invader ; When her kings, with standard of green unfurl'd, Led the Red-Branch Knights to danger ; Ere the emerald gem of the western world Was set in the crown of a stranger.'* Moore. DUBLIN : PUBLISHED BY JAMES DUFFY, 25, ANGLESEA STREET 1844. PRINTED DT THOMAS I. WBITF, FLEET-STREET.

Preface

. One of the most important works that have ever been written respecting Ireland, is the history of the Abbe Mac-Geoghegan. It may be a matter of surprise to the unthinking, that this most valuable and interesting history has not before this been translated into English ; but this surprise must be lessened when we reflect, that, besides the distracted situation of this country, and the passions that have agitated her different sects and parties, there were other more powerful causes which might have prevented the publication of the great truths contained in this rare history of Ireland. Under such circumstances it cannot be wondered at, that an impartial history, which has made known to France and to the Continent the wrongs and the sufferings of Ireland, and one that has accurately displayed the conduct of her enemies, and the struggles of her friends, should, even to this period, be un known to the English reader.

The elegantly written calumnies of Hume have been generally circulated, while the plain truths of Mac-Geoghegan have been suppressed. The circumstances which have given an impetus to the circulation of fiction, and the discountenancing of fact, are now at an end. The bad passions of Irishmen are subsiding, and the settlement of a great question, (Catholic Eman cipation) has taken away from all parties, an interest in the concealment of what was just, while it has given to the people of all classes an inducement to know the truth alone, and nothing but the truth. With these objects solely, the translation of the work of the Abbe Mac-Geoghegan has been undertaken. The history of Ireland is generally complained of even in Ireland, while the ignorance of it in England, has entailed upon Irishmen great and innumerable calamities.

It is only by a knowledge of our country, that Englishmen can know how to estimate its worth, and until a full and accurate knowledge of all its circumstances are attained, can the country expect justice to be done to it. Those, therefore, should be deemed the best friends to Ireland, who exert

PREFACE.

. themselves to induce their fellow men to study her character, to know her situation, and to appreciate her value. With such objects has the author of this Translation undertaken the risk of giving to both countries, the work of the Abbe Mac-Geoghegan ; and from Irishmen at least, he looks with confidence for that support and patronage which patriotism alone should induce them to afford him. He begs the liberty, therefore, of subscribing, himself their very humble and devoted servant, PATRICK O'KELLY. N.B. Some portions of this valuable history were unavoidably omitted in the former edition, translated by Mr. O'Kelly, but they shall be inserted in this edition which has been carefully revised, and corrected by the Translator. DEDICATION. TO THE IRISH TROOPS IN THE SERVICE OF FRANCE. Gentlemen, To you I owe the homage of my labour ; you owe to it the honour of your protection.

The history of Ireland belongs to you, as being that of your ancestors ; it is their shades that I invoke in a foreign land ; it is their glory that I recal. The records of their exploits and virtues, which fill a space of so many ages, I here bring to your review. Among all the virtues, whereof you shall see so many brilliant examples, you will remark two that were peculiarly dear to your ancestors, viz., an ardent zeal for the true religion, so soon as they were made acquainted with it, and an inviolable fidelity to their kings : such are the qualities, gentlemen, which still characterise you. Europe, towards the end of the last century, was surprised to see your fathers abandon the delights of a fertile country, renounce the advantages which an illustrious birth had given them in their native land, and tear themselves from their possessions, from kindred, friends, and from all that nature and fortune had made dear to them ; she was astonished to behold them deaf to the proposals of a liberal usurper, and following the fortunes of a fugitive king, to seek with him in foreign climes, fatigues and danger, content with their misfortune, as the seal of their fidelity to unhappy masters.

France, which among so many virtues, (of which she is a model) places in the first rank loyalty to her kings, was delighted to see those strangers dispute with her the glory of it : she gladly opened to them a generous bosom, being per suaded that men so devoted to their princes, would not be less so to their benefactors ; and felt a pleasure in seeing them march under her banners. Your ancestors have not disappointed her hopes. Nervinde, Marseilles, Barcelona, DEDICATION. VI Cremona, Luzara, Spire, Castiglione, Almanza, Villa Viciosa,* and many other places, witnesses of their immortal valour, consecrated their devotedness for the new country which had adopted them. France applauded their zeal, and the greatest of monarchs raised their praise to the highest pitch by honouring them with the flattering title of " his brave Irishmen."

The example of their chiefs animated their courage ; the Viscounts Mount cashelf and Clares the Count of Lucan,§ the Dillons, Lees, Rothes, O'Donnels, Fitzgeralds, Nugents, and Galmoy s,|| opened to them on the borders of the Meuse, the Rhine, and the Po, the career of glory, whilst the O'Mahonys, MacDonnels, Lawlesses, the Lacys, the Burks, O'Carrols, Craftons, Comerford, Gardner, and O'Connor, crowned themselves with laurels on the shores of the Tagus. The neighbouring powers wished to have in their service the children of those great men ; Spain retained some of you near her throne. Naples invited you to her fertile country : Germany called you to the defence of her eagles. The Taffs, the Hamiltons, O'Dwyers,! Browns, Wallaces, and O'Neills, supported the majesty of the empire, and were entrusted with its most important posts.

The ashes of Mareschal Brown,** are every day watered with the tears of the soldiers, to whom he was so dear, whilst the O'Donnels, Maguires, Lacys, and others, endeavoured to form themselves after the example of that great man. Russia, that vast and powerful empire, an empire which has passed suddenly from obscurity to so much glory, wished to learn the military discipline from your corps. Peter the Great, that penetrating genius and hero, the creator of a nation which is now triumphant, thought he could not do better than confide that essential part of the art of war to the Field Mareschal de Lacy, and the worthy daughter of that great emperor, always entrusted to that warrior, the principal defence of the august throne, which she filled with so much glory. Finally the Viscount Fermoy, ft general officer in the service of Sardinia, has merited all the confidence of that crown.

But why recal those times that are so long past ? Why do I seek your heroes in those distant regions ? Permit me, Gentlemen, to bring to your * M. de Vendome, called the Chevalier de Bellerive who had a particular esteem for that warlike nation, at the head of whose sons he had fought so many battles and gained so many victories, confessed that he was surprised at the dreadful feats that these army butchers (as he called them), had performed in his presence.— Camp de Vendome, p. 224. t M'Carthy. X O'Brien. § Sarsfield. || Butler. General O'Dwyer was commander of Belgrade. ** He was nephew of General Brown. ff Koche, otherwise de la Roche. DEDICATION. VII recollection that great day, for ever memorable in the annals of France ; let me remind you of the plains of Fontenoy, so precious to your glory ; those plains where in concert with chosen French troops, the valiant Count of Thomond* being at your head, you charged with so much valour, an enemy so formidable ; animated by the presence of the august sovereign who rules over you, you contributed with so much success, to the gaining of a victory, which, till then, appeared doubtful.

Lawfeld beheld you, two years afterwards, in concert with one of the most illustrious corps of France,! force entrenchments which appeared to be impregnable. Menin, Ypres, Tournay, saw you crown yourselves with glory under their walls, whilst your countrymen, under the standards of Spain, performed prodigies of valour at Campo Sancto and at Veletri. But whilst I am addressing you, a part of your corps is flying to the defence of the alhes of Louis,! another is sailing over the seas to seek amidst the waves another hemisphere, the eternal enemies of his empires Behold, gentlemen, what all Europe contemplates in you ; behold herein the qualities which have gained esteem for you, even from your most unjust enemies. Could a compatriot to whom the glory of Ireland is so dear, refuse to you his admiration ?

Accept, gentlemen, this small tribute of it. Honour with your support a history, which the love for my country has caused me to undertake ; your protection and patronage will render this work respectable, and may merit some indulgence for its defects ; it should have none, were my labour and zeal equal to render it worthy of those to whom I dedicate it. I am, with profound respect, Gentlemen, Your very humble and most obedient servant, J. MAC-GEOGHEGAN. • At present Mareschal of France, Knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost, Commander of Lan guedoc. f The King's Regiment. X The regiment of Fitzjames, composed of Irish cavalry, in the army of the Prince of Suabia, distinguished itself at the battle of Rosbach, against the Prussians. § General Lally, with his regiment, embarked for Pondicherry.

Introduction

. To observe order and system in writing this history, I have thought proper to divide it into three parts, the objects of which appeared to me equally interesting. The first comprises the times which had passed from the establishment of the Scoto-Milesians in Ireland, down to the first century ; that part, therefore, during which the island had been buried in the darkness of paganism, I call " Pagan Ireland." The second commences with the beginning of Christianity in that country, in the fifth, and continues until the twelfth century : this part I call " Christian Ireland." Lastly, the third comprises the different invasions of the English, their establishment in that country, and all that has occurred down to our time. In the first part, or pagan Ireland, will be seen, first, the natural history of the country ; second, a critical essay on the antiquities of the Milesians ; third, the fabulous history of the Gadelians ; fourth, the religion and customs of the Milesians ; fifth, their civil and pohtical government ; sixth, their domestic and foreign wars ; seventh, the different names under which that country has been known to the natives and to strangers ; eighth, its general and particular divisions, its dynasties, and territories ; also, the names and origin of those who were the proprietors of it.

In the second part, or Christian Ireland, will be seen, besides its profane history, the great progress that religion and learning had made from the fifth to the ninth century ; the confusion caused to the state, and the disorder which prevailed in the church for some time, by the invasions of the Danes ; tranquillity restored, and the exercise of religion re-established in its ancient splendour, after the final defeat of those barbarians, which happened in the beginning of the eleventh century, until the arrival of the English towards the end of the twelfth. Lastly, in the third part shall be described the manner in which some English colonies came to establish themselves in Ireland, in the twelfth century ; the wars which they made upon the old inhabitants of the country during four hundred years; the re-union of the two people in the reign of James VI. of Scotland and I. of England ; finally, we shall conclude by giving a detail of the strange revolutions which have, since that time, arisen to Ireland's' *'" <J PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

The nation which forms the subject of this history, is, without doubt, one of the most ancient in Europe. An idea of its history must be agreeable to such as are desirous of exploring its antiquity. The situation of Ireland having rendered it difficult of access to invaders, her inhabitants lived during many ages free from all insult from their neighbours. They cultivated the arts, sciences, and letters, which they had borrowed from the most polished people of their time, the Egyptians, and Phœnicians ; and the patronage which their princes afforded to learning, joined to the esteem in which they held those, who made a profession of it, contributed much to its advancement. A system of government founded on the law of nature and humanity, influenced their morals. Some princes, possessed of a justice worthy of the first Christians, appeared, like so many stars iu an obscure night, from time to time, upon the throne, and gave vigour to the laws, enervated by the weakness of their predecessors.* Ollam Fodla, one of their monarchs, summoned a triennial assembly at Teamorf, in order to regulate the affairs of the state, and to examine into the genealogies of families.

He established schools for the cultivation of literature and philosophy, which the people had received from the Ancients. Ugane- Mor, Aongus Tuirmeach, and Eocha Felioch, who had re-established the pentarchy, rendered jurisprudence vigorous, added new lustre to the laws, and granted a particular privilege to learning. Fearadach the Just, Feidlim the Legislator, Cormac Ulfada, and Cairbre the Second, surnamed Lift'eachair, followed the example of their predecessors. The learned in jurisprudence who flourished in the different reigns, assisted the princes by their counsels. Learning was not the sole occupation of] the Scoto-Milesians ; without mentioning their domestic wars, they often measured their arms, not only with the Picts, the Bri tons, and neighbouring Islanders, but with the Romans themselves, who were then the masters of the world.

The expeditions of Eocha the Second, of Aongus Ollbuagach, son of Fiacha the First, Aongus the First, Ugane-Mor, Criomthan the First, Nial the Great, Dathy, and the dreadful devastations which they committed among the Britons, (of which Gildas complains), furnish suffi cient proofs of it. The warlike character of the Scoto-Mile sians appeared again, with splendour, in the long wars which they maintained against the Danes, and which lasted with doubtful suc cess, from the beginning of the ninth century, till 1014, when those barbarians were totally defeated at Clontarf by the valiant Brian Boroimhe, the Monarch of the Island; while they abandoned to them some other provinces, to free themselves of so formi dable an enemy. Merit was not left unre warded amongst them : the Nobles were distinguished from each other, and they again from the people, by the number of colours, which each wore according to his rank.

Enna the First ordered silver shields to be given to those chiefs who distinguished themselves in war ; Muinemon added to them chains of gold, and Aldergode decreed gold rings, as a reward, to those who would distinguish themselves in the arts and sciences. Lastly, the antiquaries, doctors, bards, or poets, called also, " Fileas" were rewarded with lands, which had been assigned for them. During the fifth century, Christianity presented new scenes in Ireland. That nation, so attached to the superstitions of paganism and idolatry, and versed in the theology of the druids, became afterwards, by the preaching of the Gospel, the theatre of religion, and a seminary for strangers, while Gothic ignorance spread itself over the face of Europe. Thus, it may be said that the four first ages of Christianity, were the most bril liant, both of the ancient and modern history of that people : but the harmony of the * Ante c. 720. f Afterwards called Tara.

B and at the same time too obvious for us not to feel how absurd such an accusation must be. A nation that wishes to enslave others, generally treats those who will not submit to its laws, as savages : a little attention how ever paid to the state in which Ireland then was, and to the pretensions of the English, will easily destroy the imposture. More than two thousand years had already elapsed, during which that people, commanded by native princes, were governed by their own laws; consequently they would not receive those of strangers, in whom they discovered neither character to inspire them with awe, nor power to make them obey. Although part of Ireland had at first submitted to the English, still more than two thirds of it, far from bending under a yoke that seemed odious to them, were always under arms, to defend both their lives and properties against those tyrants.

If he that repels an enemy, who comes armed to invade his patrimony, should be treated as a barbarian or a savage, the most polished nations and the most magnanimous merit the same appellations. Gerald Barry, a priest, and native of the country of Wales in England, called in Latin, Cambria, (from whence is derived the name of Cambrensis, under which he is known), was the first stranger who undertook to write the history of Ireland, in order to perpetuate the calumnies which his countrymen had already published against its inhabitants. government, and glory of Christianity became eclipsed in the ninth century, by the frequent invasions of the northern barbarians, who had overrun, about the same period, the greatest part of Europe. Their incursions continued for two centuries with doubtful success ; the barbarians were often defeated, and in the end totally expelled.

The constitution of the state had been so shaken by this war, that it could never be re-established, notwithstanding the efforts which had been made ; a decay in religion, and corruption in the morals of the people, from their intercourse with the barbarians ; the interruption to the legitimate succession to the throne, which occurred about the time of Malachy, the Second, by the intrusion of the provincial Kings ; and the different fac tions always attendant upon usurpation, brought insurmountable obstacles to its re establishment, and were favourable circum stances to the ambition and cupidity of a neighbouring nation. Although history was cultivated among the Scoto-Milesians, more than amongst any of their contemporaries ; notwithstanding also their great care to preserve to posterity the remembrance of their exploits ; yet that peo ple were but little known to the learned before Christianity.

Strabo, Pomponius Mela, Solinus, and other writers have made their ignorance appear, by giving arbitrary de scriptions of this island, and by their exag gerated representations of the rudeness and barbarity of its inhabitants. The English, having, in the twelfth cen tury, put an end to the Irish monarchy, and wishing to give a colour of justice to their usurpation, and to the tyranny which they exercised against the inhabitants of the country, have, without any other title than a fictitious bull of Adrian the Fourth, and the Circumstances required, that they should make the Irish pass for barbarians. The title of Henry the Second was founded only upon a bull, obtained clandestinely from Pope Adrian the Fourth, an Englishman by birth. The cause of this bull was a false statement which Henry had given to the Pope of the impiety and barbarism of the Irish nation.

Cambrensis was then ordered to verify by writing, the statement upon which the granting of the bull had been extorted. He did not fail to intermix his work with calumnies, and groundless absurdities ; however, the credit of a powerful king knew how to make even the court of Rome believe them. It was in this spirit that Cambrensis wrote his history, and from thence the English authors have taken the false colouring, under which ancient Ireland has been represented. Passion and interest made them pass over the recantation which Cambrensis felt himself obliged to make, in the latter part of his life, of several false and calumnious imputations, with which his history had been filled. Cambrensis did not possess the necessary requisites for a historight of the strongest, represented the Irish as savages, who inhabited the woods,* and who never obeyed the laws, as if these titles were sufficient for stripping them of their properties.!

What! that people so renowned in the first ages of Christianity for their piety and learning, and amongst whom the Anglo-Saxons themselves went, according to their own historians, to be instructed, during the centuries which preceded the invasion of the English, are all of a sudden reduced to the condition of savages !! The metamorphosis is too difficult to be admitted, * Sylvestres Hiberni. f Camd. edit. Lond. p. 730. X " They retired hither, for the sake either of divine study, ora more chaste life." — Bede's Church History, b. 3, c. 27. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 11 rian. History is not a mere production of the mind : it is au assemblage of facts, the arrangement of which depends alone upon the author. To write the history of a country, it is essential to know it, likewise the character and genius of its inhabitants, and to be capable of consulting its annals.

Cam brensis possessed none of these qualifies with respect to Ireland, the history whereof he undertook to write. It is true, that he had been twice in that country, first through curiosity, in 1171, to witness the advance ment of his relations and friends ; secondly, as preceptor of John, Earl of Mortagne, son of Henry the Second, to whom the king his father had given the title of Lord of Ire land. In those two voyages he remained but eighteen months in Ireland, and saw about one third of it, which alone obeyed the Eng lish ; he could not with safety put his foot into any other part of the kingdom. Being incapable of consulting the records of the country, (wTitten in a language to which he was altogether a stranger), he was obliged to substitute, instead of truth, falsehoods, and the productions of a prejudiced mind, to swell his volumes.

Could a stranger, after spending some months at Paris, without knowing either the language, consulting our historians, or visiting the learned men of the country, be capable of writing a history of France ? If he chose to describe the morals and customs of the lowest among the people, without even alluding to the heroic virtues of our kings, the bravery and generosity of our nobles, and the acknowledged merit of an infinite number of our fellow citizens ; if he dwelt, in fine, on what was most vile, without speaking of the civil and military government, or of the fundamental constitution of the state, could such a man aspire to the title of historian ? Would it not be the true means of rendering the author con temptible, together with his work? Such has been precisely the disposition and capa city of Gerald Cambrensis.

Have not the Irish an equal right to complain of him, as Josephus (in his first book against Appion) complains of some Greek authors, who under took to compose the history of the Jewish war, the destruction of Jerusalem, and cap tivity of the Jews, from hearsay, without having been ever in the country, or seen the things of which they wrote, and who, he said imprudently assumed to themselves the title of historians ? five books in Latin, the three first under the title of " Topography of Ireland," and the other two under that of " Ireland conquered by Henry the Second." Those are indeed pompous titles, but are not at all applicable to so imperfect and weak a production : the title of Topography is unfitly applied to the description of a whole kingdom, and the name of Conquest does not belong to an agreement made between Henry the Second, and a part of that nation.

It was under such titles, however, that he had the presumption to begin, and promise, not only the history of the actual state of Ireland, but also of its antiquities. It is not to be wondered at that Cam brensis has succeeded so ill, and that his work deserves not even the name of history. He was prejudiced against the Irish people, and his ignorance of their language rendered him incapable of consulting their annals. He had seen but the few cities which were in the power of the English, and continued in the country too short a time to make the necessary researches ; that care he commit ted to his friend Bertrand Verdon, who remained in it but six months after him ; therefore the collection of materials, which could serve as a basis to his pretended his tory of Ireland, was so inconsiderable, and so filled with fiction, that he never gave even the description of a county, town, or village, not even of that part* of it which he had seen.

He gives us for a history, the fabulous narrative of four fountains, three islands, three lakes, and the sources of four rivers,']' of which the Shannon, the most considerable, discharges itself, according to him, into the North Sea. He scarcely mentions who were the first inhabitants of the country. As to the Scoto-Milesians, who were the peace ful possessors of it for more than two thousand years before his time, he contents himself by saying, that there had been a continued and uninterrupted succession of one hundred and eighty-one monarchs, who reigned over that people, but says nothing of their history, laws, government, or of their wars ; neither does he furnish any cata logue of their kings. He says in a few words, that the six sons of Muredus, king of the province of Ulster, had made a descent upon Scotland.

The invasions and wars of the Danes, in Ireland, he touches upon very lightly, but is grossly deceived, as much in predictions of the prophets contain in them any truth, I will live by fame, througii every aye- — Cambrensis. Preface. Our ambitious author, wishing, as he him self says, to acquire glory and immortalise his name* by a description of Ireland, wrote Grat Luc. cap. 10, pag. 100. f Grat Luc. c. 2. pag. 6. * " I will be read by the people, and, if the reference to the period of their first landing in that country, (which he fixes in the year 838), as he is respecting the name, exploits, and country of Gormundus. Such reveries lie has no doubt borrowed from Geoffrey of Monmouth. Like certain animals, which wallow in mire and prefer it to the sweetest flowers,* he attached himself to whatever he could discover meanest and most vile among the people; unsupported likewise by any written authority, or the evidence of any correct or impartial man, he composed an absurd collection of old-women's,, sailors', and soldiers' stories, which he seasons with scandalous aspersions, satires, and invectives against the nation ; neither prince nor people, clergy, secular or regular, are spared: he respects nothing; every thing becomes the object of his calumnies and detraction, f Having spent five years in composing this fine work, the five books of his pretended history of Ireland came forth.

In raptures with that new production of his genius, and unable to conceal his vanity, Cambrensis repaired to Oxford,^ where, in presence of learned Doctors, and the assembled people, he read, after the example of the Greeks, his topography, during three successive days, giving to each book an entire day. To ren der the comedy more solemn, he treated the whole town splendidly for three days : the first was appropriated to the populace, the second to the doctors, professors, and prin cipal scholars of the university ; and lastly, the third day he regaled the other scholars, soldiers, and citizens of the town " a noble and brilliant action," says Cambrensis him self, " whereby the ancient custom of the poets has been, for the first time, renewed in England." But unfortunately for him, the success did not answer his expectations : it was easily seen, particularly at court, that the bad choice he had made of the materials whereof his history had been composed, and the fables he had introduced into it, could be but the effect of his ignorance, or hatred for the Irish nation.

They were not astray for the cause of that hatred; besides the private quarrel which he had with Aubin O'Molloy, monk of the order of Citeaux, and abbot of Baltinglass, in which he was defeated, and which excited his anger against that nation, he wished for the ruin and destruction altogether of the Irish, who might prove an obstacle to the aggrandizement of his relations and friends, as appears from his second book on the conquest of that people. Nothing tends to discover* more easily the malignity and inconsistency of Cambrensis' mind, than the extremes into which he let himself be carried. Sometimes he extols with warmth the merit of his relations, newly established in that country : again he exclaims violently against the English and Normans, engaged with them in the same cause, against the Irish.