Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/268

IRELAND [HISTORY. in 845. Garmundus, another king of Ireland spoken of by Cam- brensis and Jocelin, is most probably the mythical Garman or Car man of prehistoric times, a view which bears out a sagacious remark of Worsaae, that the Irish accounts of the Northmen frequently bear the stamp of being derived from early poetical legends. But, even admitting that the story of Turges is a fable, the vik ing inroads in the first half of the 9th century inflicted untold woes on the country, one of the greatest being the breaking up of the Irish schools, just when they were at their best. Those who escaped fled to other countries ; among these we may assume were Sedulius Scotus and John Scotus Erigena. But, whatever may have been the cruelty of the vikings, the work of disorder and ruin was not all theirs. The condition of the country afforded full scope for the jealousy, hatred, cupidity, and vanity which characterize the tribal stage of political society. Fedlimid, king of Munster and archbishop of Cashel, took the opportunity of the misfortunes of the country to revive the claims of the Munster dynasty to be kings of Ireland. To enforce this claim he ravaged and plundered a large part of the country, took hostages from Niall Caille, the over-king (833-845), drove out the comarba of St Patrick, or archbishop of Armagh, and for a whole year occupied his place as bishop. On his return he plundered the termon lands of Clonmacnoise "up to the church door," an exploit he repeated the following year. There is no mention of his having helped to drive out the foreigners. It is indeed possible that much of the devastation attributed to Turges may have been the work of Fedlimid, yet he is praised by the bards and annalists About 852 the Dub-gaill or black foreigners, that is, the Danes as distinguished from the Find-gaill or fair foreigners or Nor wegians, arrived. They quarrelled with each other at first, but ultimately made common cause. The Scandinavians at this time had effected permanent settlements, and trade had brought the natives and foreigners into friendly contact and intermarriage. Much intermingling of blood had already taken place in conse quence of the number of captive women who had been carried away by the invaders. A mixed race grew up, recruited by many Irish of pure blood, whom a love of adventure and a lawless spirit led away. This heterogeneous population were called Gallgoedel or foreign Irish, and like their northern kinsmen betook themselves to the sea and practised piracy, and so were known to the Northmen as Vikingr Scotar. The Christian element in this mixed society soon lapsed to a large extent, if not entirely, into paganism. The Scandinavian settlements were almost wholly confined to the sea port towns, and, except Dublin, included none of the surround ing territory. Owing to its position, and the character of the country about it, especially the coast land to the north of the Liffey, which formed a kind of border land between the territories of the kings of Meath and Leinster, a considerable tract passed into the possession of so powerful a city as Dublin. We have evidence of this occupation in the topographical nomenclature of the district, while there are very few traces to be found elsewhere. The social and political condition of Ireland, and the pastoral occupation of the inhabitants, were unfavourable to the development of foreign commerce, and the absence of coined money among them shows that it did not exist. The foreign articles of dress or ornament they required appear to have been brought to the great oenachs or fairs held periodically in various parts of the country. A flourishing commerce soon grew up in the Scandinavian towns Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, &c. ; mints were established there, and many foreign traders Flemings, Italians, and others settled there. It was through these Scandinavian trading communities that Ireland came into contact with the rest of Europe in the llth and 12th cen turies, of which the present forms of the names of three of the Irish provinces affords evidence. They are formed from the Irish names by the addition of the ending staSr, ster. The settlers in the Scandinavian towns soon came to be looked upon by the native Irish as so many septs of a clan added to the system of petty states form ing the Irish political system. They soon mixed themselves up in the domestic quarrels of neighbouring tribes, at first selling their protection, a method largely followed afterwards by the Anglo- Normans, but afterwards as vassals, sometimes as allies, like the septs and clans of the Goedel among themselves. The latter in turn acted in similar capacities with the powerful Dano-Irish chiefs, Irish clans often forming part of the Scandinavian armies in Britain. This intercouse led to frequent intermarriage between the chiefs and nobility of the two peoples. One .of the earliest and most interest ing examples of this is the case of Cerball, king of Osraige or Ossory, from about 858 to 887 or 888. Eyvindr, surnamed Aust- ina Sr, "the east-man," 1 son of Bjo rn, agreed to defend Cerball s territory, which from its position stood much in need of it, on condi tion of getting his daughter Raforta in marriage. Among the chil dren of this marriage were Helgi Mngri, or "the Lean," one of the early settlors in Iceland, and Thurida, wife of Thorstein " the Red," so n of the celebrated Olaf, "the White, "king of Dublin. Three other 1 In AnRlo-Xorman times the Dano-Irish of Dublin and other cities are always called (Mmcn (Aust-menn) or East Men; hence the name Ostmanstown, now Oxmanstown, a part of the city of Dublin. daughters of Cerball married foreigners : Gormflaith, called in Norse Kormlb S, married Gritnolf, who also settled in Iceland ; Fridgerda, married Thoris Hyrna ; and Ethne or Edna, married Hlo Sver, whose son was Earl Sigurd Digii ("the Fat"). Cerball s son Domnall, in Norse Dufnialr, was the founder of an Icelandic family; while the names Raudi and Baugr, the son and grandson of another son of Cerball, Cellach, in Norse Kjallakr, show how com pletely Norse they had become. Many others of the Icelandic settlers were Irish of pure or mixed blood, such as Thormo Sr, Ketil Bufa, &c. Among the descendants of Reginald (Rognvald) of Waterford we find such distinctly Irish names as Gillepatraicc, and Donddubhan or Donavan. This intimate connexion of the two peoples explains the occurrence among the Icelanders and Nor wegians of Konall, Kjaran, Njall, Kormakr, Brigit, Ka Slin, and many other Celtic names. After the arrival of the Dubgaill or Danes about 851, there was a severe struggle between them and the Norwegians, but all ulti mately acknowledged Olaf "the White" (the Olafr hinn Hvite of the Norse saga and the Amhlaebh of the Irish) as king. The over- king of Ireland at this time was Maelsechlainn, or Malachy, the first of the name, a brave soldier who had reduced the Scandinavian possessions in Ireland previous to the coming of Olaf to a few strong holds on the sea ; but owing to the character of the Irish armies, which has been dwelt upon above, he was unable to retain the forts he took (among them Dublin). After Olaf came Ivar " Beinlauss," "the Boneless," who was afterwards king of the Northumbrians, a circumstance which accounts for the close connexion which after wards subsisted between the Northumbrian dynasty and the Danish kings of Dublin. On the death of Ivar, Cerball, king of Ossory the Cerball above mentioned an Irishman of Goidelic blood, suc ceeded him, and was acknowledged as Danish king of Dublin until his death in 888. Cerball in alliance with another Ivar made his neighbours feel his power, and practically made Ossory independent. It is curious that, while the Irish annals do not recognize Cerball as king of Dublin, Kjarvalr of Dyflin is enumerated among the principal sovereigns of Europe in the Icelandic Landndma-lok. From about the beginning of the reign of Cerball to about 915, corre sponding to the reigns of the over-kings Aed Find Liath and Fland Sinna (nephew of Cerball), there were no fresh invasions of the Danes or Northmen. During this period Ireland enjoyed compara tive rest, and was regarded elsewhere as a place of comparative safety, notwithstanding the many feuds between the Irish clans in which the Dano-Irish shared, including the campaigns of Cormac, son of Cuilennan, king-bishop of Cashel. After this forty years rest the invasions recommenced. Niall Glundub (" Blackknee"), who became over-king in 910, gallantly opposed the invaders, and attempted to get possession of Dublin, but was defeated with great slaughter in the battle of Kilmashoge (Cell-Mosamhog) near Dublin in 919, and himself and twelve chiefs slain. From this time until Maelsechlainn, son of Domnall, or Malachy II. became over-king of Ireland in 980, the country was plundered and desolated by natives and foreigners alike. The most prominent figures of this period were Muircertach, son of Niall "Blackknee," commonly known as Muircertach "of the Leather Cloaks," Cellachan or Callaghan of Cashel, and Olaf Cuaran. Muircertach Mac Neill was the most formidable opponent the Scandinavians had yet met. In his famous circuit of Ireland he took all the provincial kings, as well as the Danish king of Dublin, as hostages, and, after keeping them for some time at Ailech, he handed them over to the titular king of Ireland, the weak and inefficient Domnall, showing that his loyalty was greater than his ambition. Callaghan of Cashel, though the hero of a late romance, had in reality no claim to fame. Olaf Cuaran, or Olaf "of the Sandal," was the son of Sigtryggr, or Sitric, who was king of Dublin about 917. Sigtryggr was expelled from Dublin (about 920), and went to England, where he took advantage of the death of Rognvald (about 924) to make himself king of the Scandi navian kingdom of Northumbria. On the accession of Athelstan he went to Tamworth (926) and made homage to him, and married Athelstan s sister, but died the following year. Athelstan then expelled his sons Olaf and Gu Sro Sr or GulJred. This Olaf appears to have been the one who married the daughter of Constantino, king of Scotland, and with another Olaf, son of the cruel Gu Sml, king of Dublin, who went away from that city in 834, took part in Constantine s wars with Athelstan, ending in the bloody battle of Brunanburgh (938 A. r>. ). Olaf, son of Gu Sred, returned to Ireland, but on the death of Athelstan became king of the Northumbrian king dom, and on becoming a Christian was acknowledged by Eadmund. Olaf Cuaran, who appears to have been also baptized (844), suc ceeded to the Northumbrian kingdom for a short time in the reign of Eadred, on the expulsion of Eric Bloody Axe, but on being in turn expelled he appears to have gone to Ireland, where he became king of Dublin, and apparently of Man and the Isles. The Isle of Man belonged to the Goidelic kingdom of Ireland in early times, and was conquered in 588 by Aidan, son of Gabran, king of the Scotic kingdom of Alba, and passed away from the Irish connexion after the convention of Drnimceta. During the independence of the Dano-Irish kingdom of Dublin it seems to have formed part of it.