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ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION
ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION
Plan of Tara, as it exists at the present day. Constructed to illustrate Dr. Joyce’s Social Histories of Ancient Ireland. From the two Plans given by Petrie in his Essay on Tara. THE STORY OF ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION BY P. W. JOYCE, LL.D., M.R.I.A. One of the Commissioners for the Publication of the Ancient Laws of Ireland President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. DUBLIN: M. H. GILL & SON, LTD. 1907 Printed by Ponsonby & G
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
This little book has been written and published with the main object of spreading as widely as possible among our people, young and old, a knowledge of the civilisation and general social condition of Ireland from the fifth or sixth to the twelfth century, when it was wholly governed by native rulers. The publication comes at an appropriate time, when there is an awakening of interest in the Irish language, and in Irish lore of every kind, unparalleled in our history. But the book has a further
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CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH PEOPLE WERE GOVERNED BY THEIR KINGS AND CHIEFS. There were in Ireland, from times beyond the reach of history, kings, who were of various grades according to the extent of the country or district they ruled over. The highest of all was the king of Ireland, who lived in the royal palace at Tara. He was called the Ard-ri [ard-ree], i.e. , ‘High king’ or Over-king, because he claimed authority over all the others. There was also a king over each of the five provinces—Leinster,
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
HOW THE WARLIKE OLD IRISH CONQUERED FOREIGN LANDS. From the remotest times the Irish had a genius for war and a love of fighting; and if it fell within the scope of this narrative, it would be easy to show that these features in our character have come down to the present day. For good or for bad, we are, and always have been, a fighting race. In old times the ‘Scots’—as the Irish were then called—were well known for their warlike qualities, and very much dreaded; so that fabulous rumours regard
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
HOW KINGS, CHIEFS, AND PEOPLE WERE SUBJECT TO THE BREHON LAWS. The ancient Irish had a system of laws which grew up gradually among them from time immemorial. And there were lawyers who made law the business of their lives, and lived by it. When a lawyer was very distinguished, and became noted for his knowledge, skill, and justice, he was recognised as competent to act as a Brehon or judge. A brehon was also a magistrate by virtue of his position. From this word ‘brehon,’ the old Irish law is n
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH LIVED AS PAGANS. When Ireland was pagan the people were taught their religion, such as it was, by Druids. These druids were the only learned men of the time, and they had in their hands all the learned professions—they were not only druids, but judges, prophets, poets, and even physicians. They were the only teachers, and they were employed to instruct the sons and daughters of kings and chiefs in whatever learning was then known. They were also advisers to king and people
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
HOW THE IRISH PEOPLE LIVED AS CHRISTIANS. It is not our business here to tell how the Irish were converted to Christianity; for this has been already related in our Histories of Ireland. Whether St. Patrick was born in Gaul or in Scotland, we know at any rate that he brought with him to Ireland, to aid him in his great work, a number of young Gauls and Britons whom he had ordained as priests. But soon after his arrival he began to ordain natives also, whom he had converted; so that the hard work
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
HOW IRELAND BECAME THE MOST LEARNED COUNTRY IN EUROPE. In old pagan times, long before the arrival of St. Patrick, there were schools in Ireland taught by druids. And when at last Christianity came, and was spreading rapidly over the land, those old schools were still held on; but they were no longer taught by druids, and they were no longer pagan, for teachers and scholars were now all Christians. But as soon as St. Patrick came, a new class of schools began to spring up; for he and the other e
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
HOW IRISH MISSIONARIES AND SCHOLARS SPREAD RELIGION AND LEARNING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Towards the end of the sixth century the great body of the Irish were Christians, so that the holy men of Ireland were able to turn their attention to the conversion of other people. Then arose an extraordinary zeal for spreading religion and learning in foreign lands; and hundreds of devoted and determined missionaries left our shores. There was ample field for their noble ambition. For these were the Dark Ag
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH WROTE DOWN ALL THEIR LITERATURE, AND HOW BOOKS INCREASED AND MULTIPLIED. Printing was not invented till the fifteenth century, and before that time all books had of course to be written by hand. According to our native records the art of writing was known to the pagan Irish, and the druids had books on law and other subjects, long before the time of St. Patrick. Besides these home evidences, which are so numerous and strong as hardly to admit of dispute, we have the testimo
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CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
HOW THE IRISH SCHOLARS COMPILED THEIR ANNALS. Among the various classes of persons who devoted themselves to Literature in ancient Ireland, there were special Annalists, who made it their business to record, with the utmost accuracy, all remarkable events simply and briefly, year by year. The extreme care they took that their statements should be truthful is shown by the manner in which they compiled their books. As a general rule they admitted nothing into their records except either what occur
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
HOW THE IRISH DERIVED AMUSEMENT AND INSTRUCTION FROM HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES. From the earliest date, the Irish people, like those of other countries, had Stories, which, before the introduction of the art of writing, were transmitted orally, and modified, improved, and enlarged as time went on, by successive shanachies , or ‘storytellers.’ They began to be written down when writing became general: and it has been shown by scholars that the main tales assumed their present forms in the sev
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH EXCELLED IN MUSIC. From the very earliest ages Irish musicians were celebrated for their skill, not only in their own country but all over Europe. Our native literature, whether referring to pagan or Christian times, is full of references to music and to skilful musicians, who are always spoken of in terms of the utmost respect. Everywhere through the Records we find evidences that the ancient Irish, both high and low, were passionately fond of music. It was mixed up with t
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH EXCELLED IN ART. The old Irish people became wonderfully skilful in some branches of Art; and many specimens of their handiwork still remain—preserved through the wreck of ages—which exceed in beauty of design and in perfection of execution all works of the kind done by the artists of other nations. While Art was cultivated in several branches, the Irish attained more skill in Ornamental Penwork than in any other. They took special delight, and used their utmost efforts, in
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH PHYSICIANS WERE SKILLED IN MEDICINE. Among most nations of old times there were great leeches or physicians, who were considered so skilful that the people believed they could cure wounds and ailments as if by magic. In some countries they became gods, as among the Greeks. The ancient Irish people, too, had their mighty leech, a Dedannan named Dianket, who, as they believed, could heal all wounds and cure all diseases; so that he became the Irish God of Medicine. He had a s
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
HOW THEY BUILT AND ARRANGED THEIR HOUSES. Before the introduction of Christianity, buildings of every kind in Ireland were generally round or oval. The quadrangular shape, which was used in the churches in the time of St. Patrick, came very slowly into use; and round structures finally disappeared only in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. But the round shape was not universal, even in the most ancient period. Look at the plan of Tara, at the beginning of this book, and you will see that the B
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
HOW THEY ATE, DRANK, FEASTED, AND ENTERTAINED. Dinner, the principal meal of the day, was taken late in the afternoon; and there was commonly a light repast or luncheon, called ‘Middle-meal,’ between breakfast and dinner. It was the custom to have better food on Sundays and church festivals than on the other days. Among the higher classes great care was taken to seat family and guests at table in the order of rank; and any departure from the established usage was sure to lead to quarrels. The ki
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
HOW THE PEOPLE DRESSED. An oval face, broad above and narrow below, golden hair, fair skin, white, delicate, and well-formed hands with slender tapering fingers: these were considered as marking the type of beauty and of high family descent; they were the Marks of Aristocracy. To these natural advantages the people added by the usual artificial means. Among the higher classes the finger-nails were kept carefully cut and rounded. It was considered shameful for a man of position to have rough unke
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
HOW THEY FENCED IN AND TILLED THEIR LAND. Ever since that remote time when legend and history begin to give us glimpses of the occupations of the inhabitants of this country, we find them engaged in Agriculture and Pasturage. For both of these purposes open land was necessary; and accordingly, people worked hard in old times to clear the land from wood. But there was always more pasturage than tillage. In very early ages there was little need of fences, for the people were few and the land was m
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
HOW IRISH HANDICRAFTSMEN EXCELLED IN THEIR WORK. All the chief materials for the work of the various crafts were produced at home. Of wood there was no stint: and there were mines of copper, iron, lead, and possibly of tin, which were worked with intelligence and success. From the most remote times there were in Ireland professional architects or builders, as there were smiths, poets, historians, physicians, and druids; and we find them mentioned in our earliest literature. There were two main b
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CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
HOW THEY PREPARED AND MADE UP CLOTHING MATERIALS. The wool was taken from the sheep with a shears having two blades and two handles, much the same as our present hedge-shears. After the shearing the whole work up to the finished cloth was done by women, except fulling, which was regarded as men’s work. The wool, after shearing, was sorted and scoured to remove the grease, and then carded into soft little rolls ready for spinning. Both wool and flax were spun with the distaff and spindle as in ot
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
HOW THE IRISH TRAVELLED ON LAND AND WATER. That the country was well provided with roads we know from our ancient literature, and from the general use of chariots. They were not indeed anything like our present hard, smooth roads, but constructed according to the knowledge and needs of the period, sometimes laid with wood and stone, sometimes not, but always open and level enough for car and horse traffic. There were five main roads leading from Tara through the country in different directions:
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
HOW THE PEOPLE HELD GREAT CONVENTIONS AND FAIRS; AND HOW THEY AMUSED THEMSELVES. Public assemblies of several kinds and for various purposes were held all through Ireland; they were considered very important, and were looked forward to on the several occasions with great interest. Affairs of various kinds, some affecting the whole kingdom, some the particular province or district, were transacted at these meetings. The laws were, when necessary, publicly recited to make the people familiar with
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CHAPTER XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
HOW THE CHARACTER OF THE OLD IRISH PEOPLE SHOWED ITSELF IN VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES AND ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS. Some of the modes of salutation and of showing respect practised by the ancient Irish indicate much gentleness and refinement of feeling. When a distinguished visitor arrived it was usual to stand up as a mark of respect. Giving a kiss, or more generally three kisses, on the cheek, was a very usual form of respectful and affectionate salutation: it was indeed the most general of all. When S
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