THE HISTORY OF IRELAND
The history of Ireland
is rich in the legends, myths and folklore of
different races. It has been proven
that the traditions of the Irish
people are the oldest of any race in all western
Europe and that
they are the longest settled on their own land. The Irish, too,
was
one of the first peoples to adopt surnames and , as many of these
were
fixed during or shortly after the reign of Brian Boru , The
High King of Ireland
(AD941-1014AD) the Irish may indeed be justly
proud of their tradition. Indeed
the history of the Kellys in
Ireland predates this period and there are many
stories and legends
surrounding the Kelly family from this time.
Pre
Christian History
In earliest days the mysterious Tuatha De Danann
, mysterious god
like warriors with magical powers roamed Ireland along with
their
servants the Firbolgs and their sea going henchmen the Formorians.
By the sixth century BC they had disappeared , probably annihilated
by King
Milesius and his forces from Spain. In about 350BC the
Celts, who had marched
across Europe came to a halt in Ireland, the
western most outpost and from the
1st
century AD the gaels started to emerge, having adopted the myths,
genes
and lifestyles of all those who had come before them. Gaelic
culture was set
to become a integral part of Irish history from then
until the modern day and
formed moulded Ireland into the nation it
is now.
Early Christian
Ireland was a pagan country until the arrival of Saint Patrick in
432AD.
He had been preceded by Palladius , who is believed to have
been sent to Ireland,
then called Scotia, by Pope Celestine I .
Little trace of him now remains and
there are several conflicting
theories as to Saint Patrick's origins. Amongst
those postulated are
that he was either Welsh, Roman or French. His impact was,
however,
enormous. Christianity ushered in Ireland's Golden Age. Schools were
opened , laws formulated , the era of the great manuscripts dawned,
ancient
folklore which had been passed down orally from generation
to generation was
committed to writing and the great monastic
settlements, that were to form such
an inherent part of society for
centuries, thrived about this time. Beautiful
metalwork , much of in
it indigenous gold, was produced as were stone sculptures
and books,
many of which form part of modern day Ireland's national treasures.
This was the era of the fabled "Land of Saints and Scholars"
during which time many of her Saints and scribes went abroad to
Europe to spread
the gospel , and lay people, went to tend the sick
in Europe, which was then
descending into the Dark Ages.
The Arrival of the Vikings
In the ninth century , the Vikings and Norsemen from Scandinavia
arrived by
longboat , plundering and looting the monasteries and
treasures that lay close
to the sea and rivers. Some remained to
found the ports of Waterford, originally
known as Vadrefjord and
Dublin where artefacts continue to be unearthed even
today. In
1014AD most, but by no means all, of the Norsemen were defeated at
the Battle of Clontarf , four miles to the north of modern day
Dublin City
centre. Even at this stage the O'Kellys were making a
considerable impact on
Irish history and is was during this battle
that the legendary Tadhg Mor O'Kelly
fell "fighting like a wolf dog"
against the Danes in defence of Ireland
. During and after the
battle it is said that the legendary sea monster, which
can be seen
on the O'Kelly crest , came from the sea to protect the fallen body
of Tadgh Mor and his O'Kelly kinsmen.
The Danes had , however, successfully
laid the foundations of modern
Dublin and their influence in building the capital
is still very
much in evidence today.
The Anglo Norman Invasion
Just as the arrival of Saint Patrick and the Vikings were turning
points
in Irish history so too was the arrival of the Normans. The
Anglo Norman Invasion
, which commenced in 1169 was not planned?it
just happened! A bitter rivalry
existed between two warrior kings;
Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster and Tiernan
O'Rourke of Breifne (now
Cavan). Mac Murrough had learned the wrath of O'Rourke
by wooing his
wife , Devorgilla, from him. Although she returned to her husband
after a short interval , O'Rourke supported Rory O'Connor, King of
Connacht,
in a feud against Mac Murrough and his ally, Murtough Mac
Lachlainn, the powerful
king of Ulster. The sudden death of Mac
Lachlainn left Mac Murrough isolated
and helpless. His castle at
Ferns in County Wexford was destroyed and he fled
secretly to Europe
to seek the assistance of Henry, Duke of Normandy, count
of Anjou
and Maine, who had been crowned King Of England in 1154 at the age
of 21. Henry actively encouraged Mac Murrough to recruit some of the
Normans
and Flemings who had invaded England in 1066, a turning
point in English history
which secured Duke William of Normandy's
position on the English throne.
Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare , an ambitious Norman known as
"Strongbow"
agreed to lead a force to Ireland in exchange for the
hand in marriage of Aoife,
Mac Murroughs daughter and the rights of
succession to the land of Leinster.
In May 1169 the first of the
Norman invaders landed on the beaches of County
Wexford followed
later by Strongbow. The indigenous Irish, supported by their
allies
and naturalised Normans fought valiantly against the invaders but
were thwarted by superior military ingenuity. Within a year Mac
Murrough had
died and his ambitions had come to nothing. The Normans
however, thrived in
Ireland and in 1175 Henry II came to Ireland to
stop the progress and set up
centralised administration. During his
time in Ireland he built the first Dublin
Castle, introduced coinage
and the legal jury system.
Within eight years
of their arrival the Normans dominated much of
Irish life with the exception
of parts of Munster and Connacht ,
which was still dominated by the O'Kellys
of Ui Maine. The Normans
were superb builders and administrators and gave much
to the
infrastructure of Ireland at that time. They did not however,
completely
conquer the country but integrated into the local
population. So much so that
the English initiated Poynings' Law .In
an attempt to frustrate integration
into the local population the
Normans were forbidden to marry Irish, adopt the
customs, dress or
traditions of the local gaels or to speak the language.
The Cromwellian Period
To save the expense and administration
of governing Ireland from
abroad the English appointed the Fitzgeralds as Governors
of
Ireland. Garrett Mor Fitzgerald , the great Earl of Kildare, became
known as "all but the King of Ireland" and was later succeeded by
his son Garrett Og Fitzgerald, a man who lacked his fathers fine
diplomacy and
authority. In addition to that he had the arrogant
young King Henry VIII to
contend with. In 1541 Henry, after
declaring himself head of the Church of England
also declared
himself King of Ireland. For the most part many of the Irish
chieftains and Anglo Irish entertained this position and paid him
patronage.
However he also declared himself head of the church in
Ireland which infuriated
the devout Christian Church and led to
revolt.
There were numerous uprisings
.Eventually a strong army, led by the
Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill , and Red
Hugh O'Donnell marched south
from Ulster to join a Spanish force which had sailed
to the County
Cork coast at Kinsale. The battle that ensued, the Battle of
Kinsale, was another turning point in Irish history. O'Neill and
O'Donnell retreated
to Ulster and they along with almost ninety of
Irelands most powerful families
fled to continental Europe from
Lough Swilly in County Donegal in what became
known as "The Flight
of the Earls."
In spite of this retreat
Ireland remained a considerable military
risk to the English and in 1649 Oliver
Cromwell (1599-1658) arrived
in Ireland with his army. He began by capturing
the town of Drogheda
in County Louth after the infamous siege of Drogheda and
went on to
engulf the country granting his soldiers confiscated lands in lieu
of pay and wrecking the infrastructure of Ireland . He thus laid the
foundation
for the widespread Protestant ownership of land and the
Protestant land-owning
ascendancy.
The Flight of the Earls had left a strong power vacuum in Ulster
which James I of England filled with Protestant immigrants, mostly
from
Scotland, who were given land subsidies in the six counties of
Ulster. The importation
three hundred years ago of privileged
immigrants with a distinct nationality
and strict religious
observances could be said to have laid the foundation for
the years
of religious conflict that dogs modern Ireland.
From 1695
penal laws had been introduced with the aim of destroying
Catholicism as a political
force in Ireland, along with its threats
from sympathetic Catholic allies in
Spain and France. Catholics were
debarred from Parliament , from holding public
office , from the
legal professions and from holding positions in the army.
In fact
they were not even allowed own a horse worth more than £5. However
those who crossed over to the Established Church were allowed take
to privileged
positions. Thus most of the Norman and Old English
families managed to retain
their land and positions by adopting the
new faith. The Irish were further compelled
to Anglicise their
family names and drop the 'O' and 'Mac' prefixes in favour
of
English variants. Many town and locality names were also anglicised
during this period.
King James II (1633-1700) succeeded his brother, Charles
I. James
II, a Catholic, after a violent and mismanaged reign fled to Ireland
where the Irish flocked to his side. However the Protestant King
William
of Orange had been invited to take over James's throne and
in 1690 landed with
an army of 35,000 men and fought King James with
his army of 23,000 Irish and
French soldiers at the Battle of The
Boyne for the throne of England. Outnumbered
and defeated King James
fled. The Irish struggled on, but heavy defeats at Limerick
and the
Battle of Augrim a year later in the heart of O'Kellys Country,
dominated for generations by the O'Kellys of Ui Maine many of whom
were amongst
the 4,000 Irish fatalities , took their toll and
effectively ended Irish resistance.
During the period 1690 to 1730 , it is estimated that as many as
120,000
Irish sailed for the save haven of mainland Europe. Many of
them stowed away
on merchant vessels smuggling wine from France to
Ireland and became known as
"the Wild Geese". This name later became
synonymous with the hundreds
of thousands of Irish emigrants whose
talents were to flower abroad as the could
not do at home. In fact
far from defeating Irish Catholicism the flight of the
"Wild Geese"
served to spread Irish influence throughout Europe.
In the Catholic countries of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy they
were well
received. Supported by the martial art- soldiering, they
soon occupied high
positions within the armies of Europe and put
their administrative talents to
work in the courts of Europe.
The Struggle for Home Rule
In 1781 the American colonies defiance of English authority inspired
the Irish
to do likewise. Led by patriotic Ulster Protestants , the
agitated for legislative
independence, which they achieved in 1782.
For a brief period Ireland was an
independent kingdom, though
sharing a monarchy with England. A number of religious
restrictions
were removed , Catholics were permitted to vote but were still
excluded from holding public office.
Because of the constant communication
between the Irish and the
exiled "Wild Geese" in France the philosophy
of the French
Revolution filtered back and took seed amongst the Irish. Under
the
leadership of Wolfe Tone a rebellion took place in 1798 mainly in
Dublin
and Wexford. Unsupported as they were by the rest of the
country the rebellion
and brutally and quickly suppressed.
In 1801, despite much opposition , and
by creating many new peerages
an Act of union with Britain was passed. Ireland
lost its
independent parliament to become once again a minor part of the
United Kingdom. The union effectively set the political and cultural
life of
Ireland back a hundred years and Dublin ceased to be one of
Europe's leading
capitals.
It was not until 1829 that Daniel O'Connell won full catholic
emancipation . the Young Ireland Movement, contrary to O'Connell,
believed that
force was the only way to repeal the harsh anti Irish
laws. In 1848 their abortive
insurrection was defeated and its
leaders, William Smith O'Brien and Charles
Gavin Duffy, were sent to
Australia as convicts. Not only did their ideas enrich
Australia but
their writings had greater effect in Ireland that their abortive
coup.
The Great Famine
In 1845 the potato crop, on
which the Irish were largely dependant,
failed as a result of widespread blight.
Within the following five
years the population of seven million fell to an estimated
three
million through starvation, drought and emigration, largely to the
United States, Canada and the Americas.
In Ireland, despite the loss of some
many of its leaders the fight
for home rule and land reform continued largely
through the efforts
of Charles Stewart Parnell (1845-1891). In the United States
it was
taken up by the militant Fenian Brotherhood. However sexual scandals
marred Parnell who died in 1891 without realising his goal of Home
Rule.
The 1916 Easter Uprising
For many the ill prepared uprising
of 1916 came as a surprise. Many
of the local population were against the Declaration
of Independence
made by a band of poets and young republican idealists in the
General Post Office in the centre of Dublin City on a quiet Easter
Monday.
Fierce fighting erupted all over Dublin for a short time
before the English
ordered a gunboat up the River Liffey to bombard
the ill armed rebels in the
GPO. Patrick Pearse and the remaining
rebels quickly surrendered to the British
and were marched away
through a crowd of Dubliners who spat at and insulted
them.
However the ruthless execution of the leaders of the uprising
quickly
turned the tide of public opinion against the English and
left a legacy of hatred..
The Emergence of Modern Ireland
After the 1916 Uprising Home
Rule was finally granted but six
counties of Ulster held firm and refused to
join a united Ireland. A
compromise solution which allowed for the partition
of Ireland and
separate status for Northern Ireland was agreed under the
stewardship of Eamonn de Valera, Michael Collins and Lloyd George,
then Prime
Minister of England. However the