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 IRELAND

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IRELAND

These invaders were the Danes from the coasts of of others the decrees of synods were often flouted, and Scandinavia. Pagans and pirates, they loved plunder the new diocesan boundaries ignored. and war, and both on land and sea were formidable The Anglo-Nopm.\ns.— In Henry II of England an foes. Like the fabled Fomorians of earlier times they unexpected reformer appeared. The murderer of had a genius for devastation. Descending from their Thomas a Becket seemed ill-fitted for the role, but he ships along the coasts of western Europe, they mur- undertook it, and in the first year of his reign (1154) he dered the inhabitants or made them captives and procured a Bull from the English-born Pope Adrian slaves. In Ireland as elsewhere they attacked the IV authorizing him to proceed to Ireland "to cneck monasteries and churches, desecrated the altars, the torrent of wickedness, to reform evil manners, to carried away the gold and silver vessels, and smok- sow the seeds of virtue." The many troubles of his ing ruins and murdered monks attested the fury extensive kingdom thwarted his plans for years. But of their assaults. Armagh and Bangor, Kiklare and in 1168 Macmurrogh, King of Leinster, driven from Clonmacnoise, lona and Lindisfarne thus fell before his kingdom sought Henry's aid, and then Adrian's their fury. Favoured by disunion among the Irish Bull was remembered. A first contingent of Anglo- chiefs, they crept inland, effected permanent settle- Normans came to Ireland in 1169 under Fitzgerald, a ments at Waterford and Limerick and established a stronger force under Strongbow (de Clare, Earl of powerful kingdom at Dublin; and, had their able chief Pembroke) in 1170, and in 1171 Henry himself landed Turgesius lived much longer, they might perhaps have at Waterford and proceeded to Dublin, where he spent subdued the whole island. For a century after his the winter, and received the submission of all the death in 845 victory and defeat alternated in their Irish chiefs, except those of Tyrconnell and Tyrowen. wars; but they clung tenaciously to their seaport These submissions, however, aggravated rather than possessions, and kept the neighbouring Irish in cruel lessened existing ills. The Irish chiefs suljrnitted to bondage. They were, however, signally defeated by Henry as to a powerful ardri, still preserving their the Ardri Malachy in 980, and Dublin was compelled privileges and rights under Brehon law. Henry, on

to pay him tribute. But, able,. his side, regarded them as vas-

as Malachy was, an abler man sals holding the lands of their

soon supplanted him in the tribes by military service and

supreme position. Step by ^»^^^ "i accordance with feudal law.

step Brian Boru had risen from M^^*^,^ ^^K. Thus a conflict lietween the

being chief of Thomond to be yl^^HfllL tiSjti^P^ '^'^'^ system and feudalism

undisputed ruler of Munster. H^^^Hf^^Sf^HP^^,..^ jk .M>- ^^ose. Exercising his eu)5posed Its chiefs were his tributaries ^^^^F^__5^^BBLl'8Bt*'Tfc^BB I'Sl^. H'Miry divided the eoun- and his allies; the Danes he ^^^^^JEjirrl^K^Bil^^l j I jig^rH y '"'" ^° many great fiefs, had repeatedly cha.stised, and ^H^ fl|B%'^^Hj^HS|| ^1 SllMtll giving Mcath to de Lacy, Lein- in 1002 he compelled Malachy B|^^^^^^^^^^B^^WHBrJ|BMK|^^| ster to Strongbow, while de to abdicate in his favour. HB^SBJ^^^BBHHH8il<fc»*liMMiMiiSi Courcy was encouraged to con-

It was a bitter humiliation B^BB^^T-' iiiiiiiiii i .iiii iiimMiiiMiM^Miii iiii quer Ulster, and de C'ogan Con- fer Malachy thus to lay down ^^^^^^^raw|K|^nB|^HHHHHHHH|| naught. At alaterdatethede the sceptre which for 600 years ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^f^^^^^^^^^H Burgos

had been in the hands of his '^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^si Fitzgeralds in Kildan-and Des- family. It gave Ireland, how: Ruins of Ardfert Abbey mond, the Butlers in O.ssory.

ever, the greatest of her high-kings and unbroken peace forsome years. War came when the elements of dis- content coalesced. Brian had irritated Leinster by re- viving the Boru tribute ; he had crushed the Danes ; and these, with the Danes of the Isle of Man and those of Sweden and the Scottish Isles, joined together, and on Good Friday, 1014, the united strength of Danes and Leinstermen faced Brian's army at Clontarf. The

Discord enfeebled the capacity of the Irish chiefs for resistance; nor were kernes and gallowglasses equal to mail-clad knights, nor the battle-axe to the Norman lance, and in a short time large tracts had passed from native to foreign hands.

The new Anglo-Irish lords soon outgrew the posi- tion of English subjects, and to the natives Ijecame tyrannical and overbearing. Ignoring the many evi-

victory gained by the latter was great; but it was denees of culture in Ireland, her Romanesque archi-

dearly bought by the loss of Brian as well as his son and grandson. The century and a half which followed was a weary waste of turbulence and war. Brian's usurpation encouraged others to ignore the claims of descent. O'Loughlin and O'Neill in the North, O'Brien in the South, and O'Connor beyond the Shan-

tecture, her high crosses, her illuminated manuscripts, her shrines and crosiers, the scholars that had shed lustre on her schools, the saints that had hallowed her valleys, the missionaries that had spread her fame tliroughout Europe — ignoring all these, they despised the Irish as rude and barbarous, despised their lan-

non fought for the national throne with equal energy guage, their laws, their dress, their arms; and, while and persistence; and as one set of disputants dis- not recognizing the Brehon law, they refusetl Irish- appeared, others replaced them, equally determined to men the status of English subjects or the protection of prevail. The l&sser chiefs were similarly engaged. English law. At last, despairing of union among their This ceaseless strife completed the work begun by the own chiefs, or of justice from Irish viceroy or English Danes. Under native and Christian chiefs churches king, the oppressed Irish invited Edward Bruce from were destroyed, church lands appropriated by laymen, Scotland. In 1315 he landed in Ireland and was monastic schools deserted, lay abbots ruled at Armagh crowned king. Successful at first, his allies beyond and elsewhere. Bishops were consecrated without the Shannon were almost annihilated in the battle of sees and conferred orders for money, there was chaos Athenry (1316); and two years later he was himself in church government and corruption everywhere, defeated and slain at Faughart. His ruin had been In a series of synods beginning with Rathbreasail effected by a combination of the Anglo-Irish lords, and

(1118) and including Kells, at which the pope's legate presided, many salutary enactments were passed, and for the first time diocesan episcopacy was established. Meanwhile, St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, had done very remarkable work in his own diocese and elsewhere. His early death in 1148 was a heavy blow to the cause of church reform. Nor could so many evils be cured in a single life, or by the labours of a single man; and in spite of his efforts and the efforts

this still further inflated their pride. Titles rewarded them. Birmingham became Lord of Athenry and Earl of Louth, Fitzgerald Earl of Kildare, his kinsman Earl of Desmond, de Burgo Earl of Ulster, Butler Earl of Ormond. But these titles only increased their inso- lence and disloyalty. Favoured by the weakness of the viceroy's government the native chiefs recovered most of the ground they had lost. Meanwhile the de Burgos in Connaught changed