which it appears that paganism prevailed- in Ireland in the
middle of the fifth century!*
Some further-changes were introduced'in the "State of Ireland
by Northmen, or- by. Banish settler's on thepfcorthem
and eastern coast. By the Danes it is supposed that several
towns were built*- The first appearance^ o f/h e .Northmen is
variously» dated. /According to the Iriste authorities which
appeared to AbbAGeoghéjgan the most“trustworthy,theirf#rai
arrival took place in 795. O’Flaherty dates it in 798, and
Keating in 820.. "
Ireland still remained in a very rude state in the time of
Henry II., as wóHearn authentically from the narrative'5^|
Giraldus Cambrensis,
Paragraph-2*—Survey of the ancient Irish traditionss-
A very prevalent opinion, supposed tofn^phiSidc® on ancient
tradition, derives the people of Ireland > from Wpaih ;
another tradition describes one particular body of thciri’aw^Fir
Bolg! or Belgians* Modern writers have been much disposed to
give credit/o pnefor both of thesfe relations. In orde^ïdTorm
any opinionfbf the degreëöf^credence due'to them, it witf$e\
necessary to consider the series óf ïegen*ds dr s a p ^ o n f ^ ^ h
the err termed history of "Ireland is, previously; tov“tlM,ivge:S5f
St. Patrick, founded. They have been coU'ected'by Ke'atifJ®
and 0 ’FIahcrty> the former of whom travelled in Ireland, iii
order to. obtain information from priests and Irish bardot
during the reign of Charles 'I. The chief sources’'of fiistqjy
in regard to times antecedent1'"to St. Patrick, \tfho Went to
Ireland from "Scotland about '432 a.d., and probably/mtrd-
duced the usefof letters, are ancient historical poems, said to-
have been composed between the sixth and tenth centuriesfT
The earliest of the-fmonkish annals are dated from between
• I t is stated in these Annals that Laoghaire, the son of Neill, having been in
the year 457 taken captive in a battle against the inhabitants of Leinster, swore by
the Sun and the Wind that be would never again demand a tribute for-cows. • The
history farther declares.that this chieftain having violated his oath, was in consè-
quence killed by the Sun and Wind. See Wood' in Trans. R. I. A., vol. xjii.
This relation proves that Christianity had not spread through Ireland till some time
after the arrival of St. Patrick.
the" tenth and twelfth centuries..; We have therefore nothing
approaching-!//' the j character of contemporary records of
early times.'/-.'
The^b'ardic.^fbri^o^sd-reland, as,collected by Keating and
others',* contains a wild andlgrotesque mixture'of the rhapsodies
of a poetical fa ric y ^ iih legends taken from scriptural
and/pfbfane ; history, blended, together with mi|i^|absurd
anachronisms than the fabulous h^®^df';any> other country
in,’Christ-eridoro; presents. ; Irelandjkl^eording to these ac-
cbunts/was peopled ftom many,Afferent,quarters. The sdiff
fereht^oferniesiare,* however, not very impprtantljas * sources;- of
the* population of Ireland, since/ope - /..said/to have perished;
before another a r r i ^ ^ s ^ f b -h ^ e >be’en| s,/bp*|exterminated by
the hordpj that succe4‘ded?it. They are enumerated jyith an
accua^^ifk#Ho ’dates and circumstances' whidh-^/perfectly
ridipu|lpus;, t; ^Later Irish wri.ters-’who hav,p‘^percelvfid the yab-
'surdit^pfi/hese^/t^tementSjdnstead'uf adopting./Ire. resol utiqn
(p/f^pstim'all^L^^en^tfair 1 y | by thpir morits/and. tempting the'
whole in atfiad^ unwilling to giyei^p>,th(^Vbri,/ed remains of
‘Irisji, antiqu|fy, hav<&contented thenfsplyes with,# stripping /lid
tegeifds" of the japst,. palpable.absurdities^ .They have/hus
d hgin'sedv't-lici r character, ’ and hpve^jset« them forth a,spL,
eetes^pf real/history. vB.ut ,it/f/, evidehf that ..mere /pies,
co-m^qeed,,- bys ? poete?^ and romanep|g| are th d ^ e lg o/g<in|l
authority; foi/all that is. pretended to have^been handed» ,down
from the pagan antiquity* of. Ireland//! In proof of .this a>ser-'
tribn-I shall, lay before my readers avery b rie f^ ^ tra c t of this
famous- spries|©^legcnds.;/
Keating, has cited a bardic /raditipn that three daughters
of Cain wete*the'first persons who-eame to Ireland.* This is
recorded in the'Leabhar Dhromet-Sneachta. Several coloniesl
arrived fyefpre the^Hpod^but the principal one d e sisted of the
followers of Ceasar—a singular, fi/fee. for an antediluvian,/ ^ 1
* The General History of Ireland, collected by the learned Jeoffry Keating,
D.D., translated from thé original Irish by D. A, Raymond, o f TrimLondon,
folio, 1732. See also Dr. Wood/on|the m ix tü re /f fable and fact in the early
annals of Ireland, &c., Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. x iii.; and an
Inquiry concerning the Primitive Inhabitants of Ireland, by T. Wood, M.D.
London, 1821.