The ma.n.u.script materials for ancient Irish history may be divided into two cla.s.ses: the historical, which purports to be a narrative of facts, in which we include books of laws, genealogies, and pedigrees; and the legendary, comprising tales, poems, and legends. The latter, though not necessarily true, are generally founded on fact, and contain a ma.s.s of most important information, regarding the ancient customs and manner of life among our ancestors. For the present we must devote our attention to the historical doc.u.ments. These, again, may be divided into two cla.s.ses--the lost books and those which still remain. Of the former cla.s.s the princ.i.p.al are the CUILMENN, _i.e._, the great book written on skins; the SALTAIR OF TARA; the BOOK OF THE UACHONGBHAIL (p.r.o.n. "ooa cong-wall"); the CIN DROMA SNECHTA; and the SALTAIR OF CASHEL. Besides these, a host of works are lost, of lesser importance as far as we can now judge, which, if preserved, might have thrown a flood of light not only upon our annals, but also on the social, historical, and ethnographic condition of other countries. The princ.i.p.al works which have been preserved are: the ANNALS OF TIGHERNACH (p.r.o.n. "Teernagh"); the ANNALS OF ULSTER; the ANNALS OF INIS MAC NERINN; the ANNALS OF INNISFALLEN; the ANNALS OF BOYLE; the CHRONIc.u.m SCOTORUM, so ably edited by Mr. Hennessy; the world-famous ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS; the BOOK OF LEINSTER; the BOOK OF LAWS (the Brehon Laws), now edited by Dr. Todd, and many books of genealogies and pedigrees.

For the present it must suffice to say, that these doc.u.ments have been examined by the ordinary rules of literary criticism, perhaps with more than ordinary care, and that the result has been to place their authenticity and their antiquity beyond cavil.

Let us see, then, what statements we can find which may throw light on our early history, first in the fragments that remain of the lost books, and then in those which are still preserved.

The CUILMENN is the first of the lost books which we mentioned. It is thus referred to in the Book of Leinster:[2] "The _files_ [bards] of Erinn were now called together by _Senchan Torpeist_ [about A.D. 580], to know if they remembered the _Tain bo Chuailgne_ in full; and they said that they knew of it but fragments only. Senchan then spoke to his pupils to know which of them would go into the countries of _Letha_ to learn the _Tain_ which the _Sai_ had taken 'eastwards' after the _Cuilmenn_. Emine, the grandson of Ninine, and Muirgen, Senchan's own son, set out to go to the East."

Here we have simply an indication of the existence of this ancient work, and of the fact that in the earliest, if not in pre-Christian times, Irish ma.n.u.scripts travelled to the Continent with Irish scholars--Letha being the name by which Italy, and especially what are now called the Papal States, was then designated by Irish writers.

The SALTAIR OF TARA next claims our attention; and we may safely affirm, merely judging from the fragments which remain, that a nation which could produce such a work had attained no ordinary pitch of civilization and literary culture. The Book of Ballymote,[3] and the Yellow Book of Lecan,[4] attribute this work to Cormac Mac Art: "A n.o.ble work was performed by Cormac at that time, namely, the compilation of Cormac's Saltair, which was composed by him and the Seanchaidhe [Historians] of Erinn, including Fintan, son of Bochra, and Fithil, the poet and judge.

And their synchronisms and genealogies, the succession of their kings and monarchs, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities, from the world's beginning down to that time, were written; and this is the Saltair of Temair [p.r.o.n. "Tara," almost as it is called now], which is the origin and fountain of the Historians of Erinn from that period down to this time. This is taken from the Book of the Uachongbhail."[5]

As we shall speak of Cormac's reign and n.o.ble qualities in detail at a later period, it is only necessary to record here that his panegyric, as king, warrior, judge, and philosopher, has been p.r.o.nounced by almost contemporary writers, as well as by those of later date. The name _Saltair_ has been objected to as more likely to denote a composition of Christian times. This objection, however, is easily removed: first, the name was probably applied after the appellation had been introduced in Christian times; second, we have no reason to suppose that King Cormac designated his n.o.ble work by this name; and third, even could this be proven, the much maligned Keating removes any difficulty by the simple and obvious remark, that "it is because of its having been written in poetic metre, the chief book which was in the custody of the _Ollamh_ of the King of Erinn, was called the _Saltair of Temair;_ and the Chronicle of holy Cormac Mac Cullinan, _Saltair of Cashel;_ and the Chronicle of Aengus _Ceile De_ [the Culdee], _Saltair-na-Rann_ [that is, Saltair of the Poems or Verses], because a Salm and a Poem are the same, and therefore a _Salterium_ and a _Duanaire_ [book of poems] are the same."[6]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SITE OF TARA.]

The oldest reference to this famous compilation is found in a poem on the site of ancient Tara, by Cuan O'Lochain, a distinguished scholar, and native of Westmeath, who died in the year 1024. The quotation given below is taken from the Book of Ballymote, a magnificent volume, compiled in the year 1391, now in possession of the Royal Irish Academy:--

Temair, choicest of hills, For [possession of] which Erinn is now devastated,[7]

The n.o.ble city of Cormac, son of Art, Who was the son of great Conn of the hundred battles: Cormac, the prudent and good, Was a sage, a file [poet], a prince: Was a righteous judge of the Fene-men,[8]

Was a good friend and companion.

Cormac gained fifty battles: He compiled the Saltair of Temur.

In that Saltair is contained The best summary of history; It is that Saltair which a.s.signs Seven chief kings to Erinn of harbours; They consisted of the five kings of the provinces,-- The Monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.

In it are (written) on either side, What each provincial king is ent.i.tled to, From the king of each great musical province.

The synchronisms and chronology of all, The kings, with each other [one with another] all; The boundaries of each brave province, From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.

From this valuable extract we obtain a clear idea of the importance and the subject of the famous Saltair, and a not less clear knowledge of the admirable legal and social inst.i.tutions by which Erinn was then governed.

The CIN OF DROM SNECHTA is quoted in the Book of Ballymote, in support of the ancient legend of the antediluvian occupation of Erinn by the Lady _Banbha_, called in other books Cesair (p.r.o.n. "kesar"). The Book of Lecan quotes it for the same purpose, and also for the genealogies of the chieftains of the ancient Rudrician race of Ulster. Keating gives the descent of the Milesian colonists from Magog, the son of j.a.phet, on the authority of the Cin of Drom Snechta, which, he states, was compiled before St. Patrick's mission to Erinn.[9] We must conclude this part of our subject with a curious extract from the same work, taken from the Book of Leinster: "From the Cin of Drom Snechta, this below. Historians say that there were exiles of Hebrew women in Erinn at the coming of the sons of Milesius, who had been driven by a sea tempest into the ocean by the Tirren Sea. They were in Erinn before the sons of Milesius. They said, however, to the sons of Milesius [who, it would appear, pressed marriage on them], that they preferred their own country, and that they would not abandon it without receiving dowry for alliance with them. It is from this circ.u.mstance that it is the men that purchase wives in Erinn for ever, whilst it is the husbands that are purchased by the wives throughout the world besides."[10] The SALTAIR OF CASHEL was compiled by Cormac Mac Cullinan King of Munster, and Archbishop of Cashel. He was killed in the year 903. This loss of the work is most painful to the student of the early history of Erinn. It is believed that the ancient compilation known as Cormac's Glossary, was compiled from the interlined gloss to the Saltair; and the references therein to our ancient history, laws, mythology, and social customs, are such as to indicate the richness of the mine of ancient lore. A copy was in existence in 1454, as there is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Laud, 610) a copy of such portions as could be deciphered at the time. This copy was made by Shane O'Clery for Mac Richard Butler.

The subjoined list of the lost books is taken from O'Curry's _MS.

Materials_, page 20. It may be useful to the philologist and interesting to our own people, as a proof of the devotion to learning so early manifested in Erinn:--

"In the first place must be enumerated again the _Cuilmenn_; the Saltair of Tara; the _Cin Droma Snechta;_ the Book of St. Mochta; the Book of _Cuana_; the Book of _Dubhdaleithe_; and the Saltair of Cashel. Besides these we find mention of the _Leabhar buidhe Slaine_ or Yellow Book of Slane; the original _Leabhar na h-Uidhre;_ the Books of _Eochaidh O'Flannagain_; a certain book known as the Book eaten by the poor people in the desert; the Book of _Inis an Duin_; the Short Book of St. Buithe's Monastery (or Monasterboice); the Books of Flann of the same Monastery; the Book of Flann of _Dungeimhin_ (Dungiven, co. Derry); the Book of _Dun da Leth Ghlas_ (or Downpatrick); the Book of _Doire_ (Derry); the Book of _Sabhall Phatraic_ (or Saull, co. Down); the Book of the _Uachongbhail_ (Navan, probably); the _Leabhar dubh Molaga_, or Black Book of St. Molaga; the _Leabhar buidhe Moling_, or Yellow Book of St. Moling; the _Leabhar buidhe Mhic Murchadha_, or Yellow Book of Mac Murrach; the _Leabhar Arda Macha_, or Book of Armagh (quoted by Keating); the _Leabhar ruadh Mhic Aedhagain_, or Red Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar breac Mhic Aedhagain_, or Speckled Book of Mac Aegan; the _Leabhar fada Leithghlinne_, or Long Book of Leithghlinn, or Leithlin; the Books of O'Scoba of _Cluain Mic Nois_ (or Clonmacnois); the _Duil Droma Ceata_, or Book of Drom Ceat; and the Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the Queen's County)."

[Ill.u.s.tration: (A) MS. in the "_Domhnach Airgid,_" [R.I.A.] (temp. St.

Patrick, circa A.D. 430.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: (B) MS. in the "_Cathach_," (6th century MS attributed to St. Colum Cille)]

Happily, however, a valuable collection of ancient MSS. are still preserved, despite the "drowning" of the Danes, and the "burning" of the Saxon. The researches of continental scholars are adding daily to our store; and the hundreds of Celtic MSS., so long entombed in the libraries of Belgium and Italy, will, when published, throw additional light upon the brightness of the past, and, it may be, enhance the glories of the future, which we must believe are still in reserve for the island of saints and sages.[11]

The list of works given above are supposed by O'Curry to have existed anterior to the year 1100. Of the books which Keating refers to in his History, written about 1630, only one is known to be extant--the _Saltair-na-Rann_, written by Aengus Ceile De.

The princ.i.p.al Celtic MSS. which are still preserved to us, may be consulted in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. The latter, though founded at a much later period, is by far the more extensive, if not the more important, collection. Perhaps, few countries have been so happy as to possess a body of men so devoted to its archaeology, so ardent in their preservation of all that can be found to ill.u.s.trate it, and so capable of elucidating its history by their erudition, which, severally and collectively, they have brought to bear on every department of its ethnology. The collection in Trinity College consists of more than 140 volumes, several of them are vellum,[12] dating from the early part of the twelfth to the middle of the last century. The collection of the Royal Irish Academy also contains several works written on vellum, with treatises of history, science, laws, and commerce; there are also many theological and ecclesiastical compositions, which have been p.r.o.nounced by competent authorities to be written in the purest style that the ancient Gaedhilic language ever attained. There are also a considerable number of translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. These are of considerable importance, as they enable the critical student of our language to determine the meaning of many obscure or obsolete words or phrases, by reference to the originals; nor are they of less value as indicating the high state of literary culture which prevailed in Ireland during the early Christian and the Middle Ages. Poetry, mythology, history, and the cla.s.sic literature of Greece and Rome, may be found amongst these translations; so that, as O'Curry well remarks, "any one well read in the comparatively few existing fragments of our Gaedhilic literature, and whose education had been confined solely to this source, would find that there are but very few, indeed, of the great events in the history of the world with which he was not acquainted."[13] He then mentions, by way of ill.u.s.tration of cla.s.sical subjects, Celtic versions of the Argonautic Expedition, the Siege of Troy, the Life of Alexander the Great; and of such subjects as cannot be cla.s.sed under this head, the Destruction of Jerusalem; the Wars of Charlemagne, including the History of Roland the Brave; the History of the Lombards, and the almost contemporary translation of the Travels of Marco Polo.

There is also a large collection of MSS. in the British Museum, a few volumes in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, besides the well-known, though inaccessible, Stowe collection.[14]

The treasures of Celtic literature still preserved on the Continent, can only be briefly mentioned here. It is probable that the active researches of philologists will exhume many more of these long-hidden volumes, and obtain for our race the place it has always deserved in the history of nations.

The Louvain collection, formed chiefly by Fathers Hugh Ward, John Colgan, and Michael O'Clery, between the years 1620 and 1640, was widely scattered at the French Revolution. The most valuable portion is in the College of St. Isidore in Rome. The Burgundian Library at Brussels also possesses many of these treasures. A valuable resume of the MSS. which are preserved there was given by Mr. Bindon, and printed in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy in the year 1847. There are also many Latin MSS. with Irish glosses, which have been largely used by Zeuss in his world-famed _Grammatica Celtica_. The date of one of these--a codex containing some of Venerable Bede's works--is fixed by an entry of the death of Aed, King of Ireland, in the year 817. This most important work belonged to the Irish monastery of Reichenau, and is now preserved at Carlsruhe. A codex is also preserved at Cambray, which contains a fragment of an Irish sermon, and the canons of an Irish council held A.D. 684.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOORWAY OF CLONMACNOIS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLONMACNOIS.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Work._--_Lectures on the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History_.

This work was published at the sole cost of the Catholic University of Ireland, and will be an eternal monument of their patriotism and devotion to literature. A chair of Irish History and Archaeology was also founded at the very commencement of the University; and yet the "Queen's Colleges" are discarding this study, while an English professor in Oxford is warmly advocating its promotion. Is the value of a chair to be estimated by the number of pupils who surround it, or by the contributions to science of the professor who holds it?

[2] _Leinster._--Book of Leinster, H.2.18, T.C.D. See O'Curry, p. 8.

[3] _Ballymote._--Library R.I.A., at fol. 145, a.a.

[4] _Lecan._--Trinity College, Dublin, cla.s.sed H.2.16.

[5] _Uachongbhail_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, p. 11.

[6] _Same_.--Ibid. p. 12. The Psalms derived their name from the musical instrument to which they were sung. This was called in Hebrew _nebel_.

It obtained the name from its resemblance to a bottle or flagon.

Psaltery is the Greek translation, and hence the name psalm.

[7] _Devastated_.--This was probably written in the year 1001, when Brian Boroimhe had deposed Malachy.

[8] _Fene-men_.--The farmers, who were not Fenians then certainly, for "Cormac was a righteous judge of the _Agraria Lex_ of the Gaels."

[9] _Erinn._--Keating says: "We will set down here the branching off of the races of Magog, according to the Book of Invasions (of Ireland), which was called the Cin of Drom Snechta; and it was before the coming of Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed."--See Keating, page 109, in O'Connor's translation. It is most unfortunate that this devoted priest and ardent lover of his country did not bring the critical ac.u.men to his work which would have made its veracity unquestionable. He tells us that it is "the business of his history to be particular," and speaks of having "faithfully collected and transcribed." But until recent investigations manifested the real antiquity and value of the MS. Materials of Ancient Irish History, his work was looked on as a mere collection of legends. The quotation at present under consideration is a case in point. He must have had a copy of the Cin of Drom Snechta in his possession, and he must have known who was the author of the original, as he states so distinctly the time of its compilation. Keating's accuracy in matters of fact and transcription, however, is daily becoming more apparent. This statement might have been considered a mere conjecture of his own, had not Mr.

O'Curry discovered the name of the author in a partially effaced memorandum in the Book of Leinster, which he reads thus: "[Ernin, son of] Duach [that is], son of the King of Connacht, an _Ollamh_, and a prophet, and a professor in history, and a professor in wisdom: it was he that collected the Genealogies and Histories of the men of Erinn in one book, that is, the _Cin Droma Snechta_." Duach was the son of Brian, son of the monarch _Eochaidh_, who died A.D. 305.

[10] _Besides._--O'Curry, page 16.

[11] _Sages._--M. Nigra, the Italian Amba.s.sador at Paris, is at this moment engaged in publishing continental MSS.

[12] _Vellum._--The use of vellum is an indication that the MSS. must be of some antiquity. The word "paper" is derived from _papyrus_, the most ancient material for writing, if we except the rocks used for runes, or the wood for oghams. Papyrus, the pith of a reed, was used until the discovery of parchment, about 190 B.C. A MS. of the _Antiquities of Josephus_ on papyrus, was among the treasures seized by Buonaparte in Italy.

[13] _Acquainted_.--O'Curry's _MS. Materials_, page 24.

[14] _Collection_.-A recent writer in the _Cornhill_ says that Lord Ashburnham refuses access to this collection, now in his possession, fearing that its contents may be depreciated so as to lessen its value at a future sale. We should hope this statement can scarcely be accurate. Unhappily, it is at least certain that access to the MSS. is denied, from whatever motive.

CHAPTER II.

Tighernach and his Annals--Erudition and Research of our Early Writers--The Chronic.u.m Scotorum--Duald Mac Firbis--Murdered, and _his_ Murderer is protected by the Penal Laws--The Annals of the Four Masters--Michael O'Clery--His Devotion to his Country--Ward--_Colgan_--Dedication of the Annals--The Book of Invasions--Proofs of our Early Colonization.