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St. Columba a Member of the
Royal House of Ulster - He founds a Church in Derry - Responsible for the
Battle of Cuildrevne, - "The Battle of the Books" - Repairs to lona
- The
Conversion of Northumbria - St. Columba returns to Ireland - Attends the
Convention of Drum - Ketta in Derry - The Boru Tribute - The Battle of Moyrath
(Moira) - The Coming of the Danes.
About fifty years after the
death of St. Patrick there arose almost as remarkable a spiritual leader
in the person of St. Columba, whose influence outside his native land was
even greater than that of his predecessor, and who may with truth be
regarded as the founder of what was for centuries the centre of
Christianity in the West.
St. Columba was born at
Garten, in Donegal, in 521, and was a member of the royal house of Ulster
the Hy-Nials. His portrait has been admirably limned by Adamnan, who
indeed gives us the man in his habit as he lived. After the lapse of
centuries this vivid portrait has lost none of its charm. We recognize the
complete and genuine humanity of the man, despite the ultra-miraculous
nature with which his biographer seeks to endow him. The chief
characteristic of St. Columba was his whole-hearted and genuine love for
his native land. Ireland seems to have been, despite his calling, the
chief object of his love, and his sorrow at leaving her his most poignant
affliction.
In 545, we are told, he
founded the monastery and church at Derry, a place in which he seems to
have centred his affections, for frequent are his references to the
beloved "Oaks of Derry".
But though St. Columba had
a tender heart, he had a fiery temper, and that fiery Celtic temper, it
has been held, led to his being largely responsible for the battle of
Cuildrevne in 561. Strange as this may appear, the evidence in its favour
is so strong that, although Adamnan tries to make light of it, it cannot
be ignored ; otherwise St. Columba's exile from a land he loved cannot be
explained. The banishment of the saint to lona cannot possibly have been
voluntary, but must have been undertaken as a penance and token of
penitence for the share he had taken in the unpriestlike work of
bloodshed.
The story of the battle of
Cuildrevne may be told in a few words, and shows how even saints may
occasionally lose their tempers. St. Finian of Moville possessed a rare
copy of the Psalter. St. Columba, without the knowledge or permission of
the owner, secured the book and transcribed it. St. Finian, having
discovered this, demanded the copy, which St. Columba refused to
surrender. The matter was referred to the Ardri. He decided against St.
Columba, who refused to abide by the judgment, and, rousing all his
relatives and friends to side with him, thus brought about the first
recorded "Battle of the Books".
Two years after this
sanguinary encounter St. Columba left Ireland with twelve companions, and
landed in lona, where he became the cynosure of all the eyes in
Christendom. Here he lived and laboured, and here he died in 597, and with
his death there passed away one of the most important men of his time, and
certainly the first Irishman of his day.
It must be remembered that
Britain, which during the lifetime of St. Patrick had been on the whole
Roman and Christian, had, under the iron rule of its Saxon conquerors,
relapsed into paganism, and therefore Ireland had slowly become, by this
process, more and more isolated from Christendom. She was a spark of
Christianity surrounded by a mass of paganism, a disk of light in a circle
of gloom. As such she became a beacon to all enthusiasts of the Faith,
with the result that, through the Irish colony at lona, Ireland was
largely responsible for the conversion of the North of England. How this
came about may be briefly told. Oswald, King of Northumbria, had in his
early days taken refuge in lona, and when called upon to reign he at once
summoned the Irish missionaries, and, acting himself as their interpreter,
so impressed his subjects that great numbers of them were converted. Thus,
with Oswald's warfare against heathenism in the North and St. Augustine's
great and indefatigable labours in the South, England once more became
Christian. But in the very enthusiasm of the adherents and propagators of
the Faith lay the seeds of schism. Disputes arose on various subjects
connected with the Church, and many wordy warfares ensued. Unimportant as
these may appear, they were the source of trouble at the time, and
eventually did much to shape the destiny of Ireland.
In her isolated position,
separated from the continent of Europe, and surrounded by the waves and
tempests of the Atlantic, Ireland existed, as it were, "alike unknowing
and unknown". Her children, unlike those of the sister isle, have never
been great lovers of the sea, and therefore never ventured afar,
consequently she was unknown. Cassar scarcely mentioned her; Agricola
superciliously remarked that she might be worth conquering, but thought,
in his ignorance, the conquest could be gained with a single legion. All
the known world had fallen before the Romans, but Ireland was left
severely alone. Is it to be wondered at, under these circumstances, that
as time progressed, and the world changed from paganism to Christianity,
and Ireland with it, she should, while embracing the new Faith herself, be
little affected by the triumphs of that Faith on the far-away Continent,
and be regardless of the temporal or spiritual power of Rome.
In this she stood somewhat
apart amongst the peoples of Europe. True, St. Patrick had ruled that all
disputes in the Church which could not be settled at home should be sent
to Rome for decision; but this canon had been overlooked, so dim and
distant did Rome appear to be. Ireland was soon to learn how far-reaching
was the power of the Holy See.
Rome being a centre of
learning and in touch with other centres of learning discovered that in
computing Easter the Jewish cycle was incorrect, and forthwith she
substituted a more correct cycle. Of this important alteration the Irish
were unaware, and when their attention was drawn to the matter by Rome,
some of the churches determined to adhere to the Jewish cycle, which had
been introduced by St. Patrick, while others were in favour of adopting
the new cycle. The controversy raged for over a century, and was finally
settled by submission to Rome. This submission of the Church of Ireland to
the powers at Rome, which claimed a right of disposition over "the isles
of the sea", became the first link in the chain of events which led to
Pope Adrian's issuing the famous bull "Laudabiliter", by which he gave
Henry II of England permission to enter Ireland "and execute whatsoever
may tend to the honour of God and the welfare of the land".
But if Ii eland was thus
delivered over to British rule (a rule which, whatever it may be to-day,
was for centuries a rule of greed and plunder, of butchery and
ruthlessness) by her love of a Church which has held the world in awe, she
owes much to that Church for physical well-being and intellectual and
spiritual advancement. "The Irish", said Sir James Mackintosh, "are
enabled to boast that they possess genuine history several centuries more
ancient than any European nation possesses it in its spoken language."
That they are able to pride themselves on the antiquity of their annals is
due to the influence of the Church missionaries, who everywhere were the
pioneers of the new learning as of the new Faith, and the preservers of
such chronicles as existed at their coming. But not alone did the monks
encourage literature: they were carvers, gilders, painters, architects,
and bookbinders, as well as illuminators and lovers of letters. While a
turbulent torrent of war roared round the walls of their monasteries they
calmly proceeded with their work, producing vessels of gold and vessels of
silver, carven work of exquisite beauty, chalices, croziers, and crosses,
and illuminated manuscripts with marvellously intricate and dexterously
drawn designs.
But learning was not
confined to the monasteries; there were lay teachers who had themselves
been taught by the monks, and these men went up and down through the land
instructing the people, and thus playing a very important part in the
diffusion of knowledge. Every large monastery had a school attached, and
in these schools secular as well as ecclesiastical learning was carefully
attended to. There is ample evidence that Latin and Greek were carefully
studied and successfully acquired.
The reputation of Ireland
as an intellectual centre spread far and wide, and attracted scholars and
would-be scholars from all parts of the Continent. From Britain they came,
as Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, expressed it in a letter to one who had
himself been educated in Ireland, in "fleet loads".
But, alas! Ireland was to
experience but a brief period of peace from within or from without. While
she could she enjoyed this period of steady moral and intellectual growth,
and availed herself to a very remarkable extent of all the benefits it
afforded her. But even as she dreamt of a golden age of light and letters,
of peace and plenty, she was suddenly torn asunder with internal
dissensions and threatened with foreign invasion.
St. Columba, as we have
seen, was in his sanctuary at lona, and to him came his neighbour, Aidan,
King of the Dalriadans, a Caledonian colony, to complain that the Ardri,
the King of Ulster, named Aedh, demanded tribute of him. Aidan had
befriended St. Columba on many occasions, and St. Columba had anointed
Aidan as king. To settle this dispute St. Columba crossed to Ulster with
King Aidan in order to attend the Convention of Drum Ketta. This was held
in A.D. 587 in a small town in County Derry. It is said that this was the
most numerously attended and representative gathering that had been held
for many years. St. Columba addressed the huge gathering, and finally he
won the day.
This was not, however, the
only matter which had to be considered. The Ardri insisted on the payment
of the Boru tribute, which, it will be remembered, was first imposed by
Thuathal. The Leinster king resisted this demand, and finally a battle was
fought in which the Ardri was slain.
The next internal upheaval
occurred in the reign of King Domhnall. A grandson of the Ardri just
mentioned, he became Ardri in 627. It is recorded that as a child he was
carried to the Convention of Drum Ketta in order that St. Columba might
bless him. The saint did so, and prophesied that, unlike the majority of
Irish kings, Domhnall would die In his bed. Domhnall, when he became Ardri,
proceeded to do the best he could to test the truth of this prophecy. He
made war on an Ulster prince named Congal. Congal had slain a previous
Ardri, and Domhnall sought to punish him. He defeated Congal and drove him
out of his Ulster possessions into exile. After an absence of some ten
years in Britain, Congal returned at the head of a large army. Domhnall
now sorrowfully said he did not wish to fight Congal. He suddenly
remembered that he was his fosterfather, and that he loved him! Why then
did he some years before drive him from Ulster? But notwithstanding the
sentiments expressed by the Ardri he collected men in the other provinces
and proceeded to prove his love for Congal by opposing him in a fierce
battle fought at Moyrath (Moira) in Down. Congal fought with great
bravery, and the story of his encounter in single fight with a warrior
named Conall is recorded in a Bardic tale, The Battle of Moyrath, in which
Congal and his opponent are compared to Hercules and Antasus. Congal,
however, was mortal, and he was slain and his army annihilated, and
Domhnall died in bed as predicted.
Ulster suffered both from
within and without. Northern pirates landed in 824 and sacked Bangor, and
laid waste the whole district, plundering and burning town after town as
they careered wildly on their way, devastating the country like a cloud of
locusts. Maghera, Moville, and Armagh, to mention but a few of the
principal objects of their attacks, were pillaged.
Nine years later the
renegade Bishop-King of Cashel, who aspired to be Ardri, plundered
Clonmacnoise, and "butchered the monks like sheep", and so terrified the
Primate of Armagh that he paid homage to the cut-throat.
Such were the internal
dissensions which disturbed a sorrowful land; but these "old unhappy
far-off things" fade into insignificance when compared with the dangers
which menaced Erin from without. Hitherto she had escaped the Scandinavian
scourge which for four hundred years had swept over Britain. But she had
suffered in common with Britain and Gaul from incursions of vikings, and
had hitherto warded off their attacks. Their black ships, with crews of
Picts, Danes, and Norsemen, now came sweeping over the waves in such
numbers that they menaced her very existence. These Danes were "merciless,
sour, and hardie". Here, if ever there was one, was a chance for a united
Ireland! Alas, that dream has never been realized! The vikings found an
easy prey, and visiting various portions of the coast line they, in their
light ships, sped up the rivers, and landing unexpectedly, struck terror
into the hearts of the Irish by the very suddenness and fierceness of
their attacks.
Led by a chief whose name
is variously given as Thorkels, Turges, and Thorgist, sixty of their ships
entered the Liffey and sixty more the Boyne. Here they landed and burned
and plundered, ravished and massacred the natives. They spent much of
their fury on the churches. Turges killed all the priests and monks he
could lay his hands on. He burned the Cathedral of Armagh, and set his
wife on the High Altar at Clonmacnoise to utter incantations. He also
exacted a tribute called "nose money", so called from the name of the
organ which he removed if the money was not paid. In the end he carried
his cruelty so far that in despair the natives arose on their oppressors,
of whom a general massacre took place, and Turges was seized and slain.
But this was only a temporary reaction. More Danes appeared Amlaff, Sitric,
and Imar and with countless ships, filled with their fierce followers,
they enslaved the island. The Irish, still divided amongst themselves,
were easily broken. The Danes built and fortified towns along the coast,
and into these citadels they gathered the spoil of the whole land. Cork,
Waterford, Limerick, Wexford, and Dublin all owe their origin in the first
instance to the vikings. The history of the next three hundred years is
one of war and all the horrors of war. |
