coracles and nothing else. The 'Tripartite Life of S. Patrick,' which is of the tenth or eleventh century, mentions several kinds of ships: "noe," or ship; "curach," or coracle; "ethar;" "long," or vessel; and "coblach";[1] whilst Adamnan, in his 'Life of Columba,' which was certainly written in the seventh century, and which is therefore older and so much the more valuable, mentions nine kinds of ships: "alnus," "barca," "caupallas," "curuca," "navis longa," "navis oneraria," "navicula," and "scapha."[2] From this it is perfectly clear that by 650 A.D. the Irish had made considerable progress in the art of ship construction. They were a civilised race, and must not be confused with the painted barbarians of the early Roman writers.
There are two distinct sets of Irish voyages. The first, which are fully narrated, mythical; the second, true, but only to be inferred from facts which are not recorded in connection with the voyages themselves. In addition, the claim of Ireland to the discovery of America must also be considered, as it has been put forward of late years with renewed energy. It stands somewhat apart from the other two classes of voyages.
Of the mythical voyages—which all point vaguely to a dim knowledge of land beyond the Atlantic—the best known are those of the sons of Ua Corra, who, three in number, sailed with five others forty days and forty nights out into the Atlantic, till they came to a land of men moaning and lamenting.[3] After many wild adventures and a visit to an Odyssean inferno, they at last arrived at Spain. The date given for the voyage is 540. A little later St. Brandan, Abbot of Cluainfert, was visited by a friend, Barontus, who told him of an island far off in the ocean, which had been promised to the saints. For this island St. Brandan set sail with seventy-five monks and spent seven years in seafaring and adventure. He found the island, which was no sooner seen than it vanished.[4]
- ↑ 'Tripartite Life of S. Patrick' (Chronicles and Records Series), vol. i. cxlix.
- ↑ A full description of this kind of ancient coracle is to be found in the early 'Life of S. Brendan,' quoted in Reeves, W., 'Vita S. Columbæ Auctore Adamnano' (Dublin, 1857), pp. 169, 170. This coracle was made of greased skins fastened to an osier frame. Large coracles had two or even three thicknesses of skin. They carried masts and sails, which shows they must have been of tolerably stout construction.
- ↑ O'Curry, 'Manuscript Materials for Irish History,' 289.
- ↑ This vanishing island was in later years often reported to have been seen from the Canaries, and very numerous expeditions were sent in search of it. See also page 63.
