Ireland is an island of temperate climate three hundred miles from North America and is, in size, one hundred fifty miles from east to west. In the middle lies a central plain with hills and low mountains surrounding. Every part of the island is within 100 miles of the sea. Humans arrived on the island between 8000 BC and 6500 BC. Written history began in Ireland approximately 400 AD.

The earliest reference to Ireland is in 'Peripolous' of Himilco (600-500 BC) and De Bello Gallico (52 BC) in which Caesar refers to Ireland as 'Hibernia'. Ptolomey produced the first recognizable map of Ireland.

The first inhabitants of Ireland were classic Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) hunter gatherers using stone implements. About 3000 BC they evolved into classic Bronze Age (Neolithic) people who cultivated crops, raised domestic animals and (though metals were extremely rare in Ireland) made weapons, tools and jewelry out of bronze. They created fine stone implements and traded abroad. About 2000 BC, they built megaliths, masive stone sanctuaries and tombs. By the 1st century BC, Ireland, as well as Scotland, was under the control of a race called the Picts, a Neolithic people whom the Irish called Fir Bolg. The next conquerors of Ireland were the Celts who dominated the island until about 1170 AD and held parts of Ireland until 1600 AD. The first Celts, probably a small migration, arrived about 600 BC, bringing their iron skills with them. A major migration was underway about 350 BC and the Celts were well established by 150 BC.

The Irish made frequent raids on Roman Britain from 297 until about 450. During this period several Irish colonies were made in parts of Britain including the Dal Riata in Scotland as well as in parts of Wales, particularly southwest Wales in Pembrokeshire, Carthmenshire and Cardiganshire. The south Wales colony was linked to Munster, though a northern colony was linked with Leinster. The Dumnonii of Devon and Cornwall are linked with parts of Mayo. The Irish were involved in trade with the Roman Empire and Roman artifacts are found in Irish sites from the 1st-2d century. A Roman trading base was established at Stoneyfordon as well as at Malahide, north of Doblin.

Early Irish history was recorded on Ogham Stones. Ogham was an alphabet comprised of horizontal marks drawn across a vertical bar and was used to mark grave and boundaries. Irish history is composed anciently in three categories: laws, annals and genealogies.

The Irish society was tribal in origin, primarily rural and marked by familiar hierachy. Extended families, or clans, composed of members, slaves and others, lived in a "ring-fort", a circular enclosure organized around a series of huts that were used to contain livestock. In this time period, the countryside was heavily wooded by deciduous forests and the countryside was separated by bogs. Crops of oats, barley, wheat and rye were grown, while agriculture centered around dairying. Cattle were extremely important and served as a measure of wealth and status.

The early Irish political system was contained in the Tuath or tribe in which Ireland was divided into some eighty to one hundred fifty policital Tuaths. Each Tuath was composed of members through kinship as well as other means. The ruler of the Tuath was the Ri, followed by grades of nobles, freemen and slaves or serfs. The structure of the Tuath was based upon membership, property and honor price, all of which were related to a large degree. The lowest grade of nobles had a minimum of ten members, while the highest helf forty. The noble granted livestock to the member and in return, the member was liable for military service, labor, quarters as well as a payment of rent in kind. All of the political classes shared in common a love of the land, which led to the ancient Brehon law or gravelkind, under which land was the common property of society subject to the preferential but not permanent rights of families that worked and lived on the land. The Ri nominally owned the land but he did so as trustee and had no rights to transfer the land.

The Irish placed a great value upon honor or enech. The lowest king had an honor value of approximately forty nine cows, while the independent farmer held a value of five milk cows. While the values fluctuated, the ratio remained the same. The honor, or enech, was also related to the ability of the man to act as a surety in a contract. Theoretically, the Ri was above the law. However, the Ri could be held responsible for wrongs through a fasting, which was held outside his door. In Ireland, allowing the person fasting to die was considered shameful, therefore, the Ri would be forced to respond positively to the accusation of wrong-doing.

Irish law, rather than based upon crime and punishment, was based on the concept of injury and compensation. The focus of the law was on compensating the victim for the damage done. The law was the same throughout Ireland and while it could be altered over time, it could not be radically altered.

The extended family, "derbhfine", was an important social unit and functioned in relationship to property ownership, inheritance and liabilities. The derbhfine was technically defined as descendants of a common great-grandfather and consisted of a four generation group, traced through the male line. Individuals could hold land within their own right, family property, however, was vested in the fine and could not be sold without the permission of the familial group., which was responsible for the payment of damages to anyone harmed by a member of the family. Partible inheritance was in practice and upon the death of the head of the family, the land was divided among the members of the family though the sub-division could take a number of years to complete. Idealistically, the youngest would divide and the eldest would choose. Through sub-division, a family could split into progressively poorer segments.

Divoce as well as remarriage was possible and polygamy was practiced by the upper political alliances. Marriage was therefore, not a guarantee of political alliance. Often, a stronger bond was fosterage, sometimes free between relatives and sometimes for a fee and in some cases a son was fostered by one's overlord. This fosterage was political and verged on the giving of hostages.

Women's legal status improved over time and by about 700, marriage was a partnership between equals. Both parties would retain their own rights to property without the consent of the other and there were clear grounds on which a wife could divorce her husband including cruelty, sterility or importance among others. Divorce entitled each to retain that which they had brought into the marriage and included any profits based upon said property.

Poets (Fili) or bards, judges (Brehons) and priests (Druids) composed the professional classes and fell outside the familial structures of society. They enjoyed a status equal to that of a Ri and were not bound into the network by the kin-group. These were freemen who underwent years of intensive and difficult training. They were free to move from the service of one Ri to that of another.

The succession of the Ri was as that of inheritance but could not be divided and must also be contained within the derbhfine. The succession was guaranteed by election, in which the electees were a group of extended royal families of the derbhfine.This succession was not always confined within the derbhfine. In some cases, succession depended not upon one's eliegibilty under the law but upon power, as weaker individuals within the ruling class rarely succeeded to Ri, unless they received outside help. Strong dynasties could retain control over the kingship over several generations, advancing their immediate relatives rather than other segments of the dynasty. Those excluded segments would become poorer and fade out of politics or could gain outside help or simply split off and found a new Tuath. Splits in kingdoms also occurred when two segments of the dynasty were too closely balanced. The tendency of kingdoms to split meant that the nobility were constantly becoming poorer and were replaced from above. The practice of inclusive legitimacy added to the number of royal heirs and accentuated these procedures.

The office of Tanaise or successor, appears to have been one of successors of the current Ri. The Tainist was chosen during the lifetime of the king whom they were to succeed. In actuality, there was no guarantee that the Tanaise would succeed and often the office of Tanaise was rather one of recognition of a strong personality within the Tuath.

The Ri acted as military leader as well as the Tuath's representative in foreign affairs. The early Ri's in Ireland did not make the laws as they were permantent and maintained by the professional classes. There is a sense that the Ri was closely associated with the land and that he success and fertility of the land and the people were dependent upon the Ri.

In early Ireland there were three grades of kings or Ris, the simple Ri, the RuiRi or king of kings and the RiRuireach or overking. The Ri was a king in his own right of his own people, the RuiRi and RiRuireach ruled over their own people as well as over lesser client kings. There was no High King in early Ireland. The kingship of Tara, in prehistoric times, held mythic significance but in the historic period, the 'high kingship' only comes into play later.

The Pentachy or division of Ireland into five provincial kingdoms: Meath, Ulster, Connaught, Leinster and Munster is held in antiquated legend but may rather be a concept of the fifth century.

In an old Irish book, "Lebor Gabala Erenn" or the "Book of the Five Invasions" the early history of Ireland is said to have been transcribed by Christian scribes from the oral history of Ireland. The book begins with the story of Creation, through Noah and the Dispersal of the Nations and the descent of the Gael of Ireland from Japheth, son of Noah. This book states that there were five invasions of Ireland prior to the advent of the Gaels. These invasions were the Cessair (Cesair), Partholon, Nemed, Fir Bolg and the Tuatha de Danann.

Cesair was the granddaughter of Noah and the daughter of Bith and came with a company of fifty women and three men including Fintan, son of Bochra, Bith, son of Noah (Cesair's father) and the pilot, Ladra. The women were divided upon the men with Fintan taking Cesair and sixteen women; Bith took Cesair's companion Bairrfhind and sixteen women; Ladra was left with the remaining sixteen women. It is said that Ladra died of an excess of women. Following Ladra's death, the remaining women were shared between Fintan and Bith.

Bith moved north and died leaving Fintan and Cesair and the remaining women. Fintan escaped, fleeing before the women, to the Hill of the Wave (Tui Tuinde). Cesair was said to have been the first to bring sheep into Ireland.

The next invader is Partholon. It is said that when Partholon arrived in Ireland there were only three lakes and nine rivers in the whole of Ireland and that seven more lakes burst forth in his day and another four in the time of his successor, Nemed and another three in the time of the Tuatha de Danann. Partholon arrived in Ireland, landing in Munster, with a large retinue and three Druids. It is said that he left his own country after murdering his father, Sera and his mother in order to inherit their kingdom. After failing in his aim, he set sail for Ireland, a country then inhabited by the Fomoire. The Fomoire were demons and lived beneath the sea, an evil and misshapen people, with whom Partholon did battle. As part of his retunue, Partholon had brought seven laborers, two plow men, two plow irons and four oxen, introducing agriculture into Ireland. Partholon was described by the ancients as the "chief of every craft" and is credited with the first hostel, the brewing of ale and meat cooked in a cauldron for guests, as well as dueling. He is said to have brought with him two merchants, one of whom is said to have introduced gold into Ireland, while the other introduced cattle into Ireland. It is said that the Partholonians were killed by a plague.

The third invader of Ireland was Nemed, whose name means holy or sacred. Nemed was said to have clared twelve plains of Ireland and four lakes burst forth during his reign. He is said to have built two royal forts. His predecessor, Partholon, is said to have cleared four plains in Ireland. There were two invaders after Nemed, the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha de Danann. It is said that Nemed cleared four plains for himself and four for each of the future invaders of Ireland. The next two groups of invaders have been called royal and the royal forts that were built in Nemed's time in Ireland could have been for them. Nemed is said to have been a remote descendant of Noah through Noah's son Japeth and Japeth's son, Magog. He and his followers spent half a year on the sea travelling to Ireland. When he landed, the only survivors were Nemed and four women. Nemed fought the ancient enemies, the Fomoire, beating them twice. The Fomoire destroyed most of the followers of Nemed, leaving Nemed's three sons, Starn, Iarnbonel the Soothsayer and Fergus Lethderg, or Fergus Half Red or Redside, who escaped in a ship. The next invaders of Ireland, the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha de Danann were descended from Nemed's first two sons. Fergus Lethderg's descendants settled abroad.

The Fomoire were the evil demons of Irish myth. They reached Ireland the same way as Partholon, by ship, and fought Partholon, Nemed and the later invaders, the Tuatha de Danann. These Fomoire were warlike and violent. They lived beneath the sea at a place called Tory Island and were said to sometimes appear with just a single hand, foot or eye.

The Fir Bolg were ruled by kings and partitioned Ireland into five provinces, established the kingship and first administered justice. Their name means "bag men". After Nemed's descendants left IReland, their descendants who became the Fir Bolg fled to thrace, where they were enslaved. In Thrace, they were made to carry bags of earth from the fertile valleys to the rocky hills and were thus named the bag people. According to ancient myths, they had several notable kings. One of these was Eochaid, son of Erc of whom it is said that during his reign there was no year without harvest and no wetting in his time save only the dew. He executed the law of justice for the first time. Another notable king is Rinnal of whom it is said that in his time weapons were first given points. The Fir Bolg were defeated in the first battle of Magh Tuiread and fled to the islands of Islay, Arran, Man and Rathlin, from where they later returned to Ireland about the beginning of the Christian era.

The Celts were of fair skin, red-blonde hair, taller and larger than their contemporaries. Speaking an Indo-Germanic language, the Celts were bound together by a common culture and were composed of autonomous tribal units. The Celts arrived in Ireland in two major waves, one, the Q-Celts, came from southern France and or nothern Spain and landed in southwest Ireland. The second wave, probably Q-Celts but possibly P-Celts, traveled from Frane to northern Britain and landed in northeast Ireland. This is congruent with Irish folklore that holds that three sons of King Mileadh of northern Spain: Heremon, Heber and Ir, together with the Milesians after King Mileadh, invaded Ireland concurrent with Alexander the Great. The Milesians defeated the Tuatha de Danann who had conquered the Picts and the Fomorians. Most of the Gaelic rulers claimed to be descended from Heremon or Heber. Eventually, these Celts began to call themselves Gaels, a term referring to inhabitants of Ireland who shared their ethinicity.

The Gaels divided Ireland into four provinces: Leinshter, Munster, Ulster and Connacht. Even before the Celts, the land was divided into Tuaths. This political structure perfectly matched that of the arrving Gaels. (Conicidence?) The Gaels were also predisposed towards small and autonomous tribal units. The Irish were known for their resistance to strong centralized government under a strong monarch and insisted upon a loose confederation of small and autonomous units of government. (Something we see in Celtic descendants and which was to later be the cause of the Civil War in the United States.)

Though the Tuatha was autonomous, every Tuatha shared the common Q-Celtic language and a Druidic language, as well as a uniform rural society. There were no towns or villages. These included a variety of social classes as mentioned above.

The Egoghanacht trace their origin to Conall Corc, son of a British mother and four or five generations removed from the Eogan from whom the dynasty derived its name Conall, who returned from Pictland to claim the kingship of Munster. Their seat was at Cashel and they emerge as a power in Munster and coincide with the expulsion of the rulers of some of the Irish kingdoms established in North Wales at the beginning of the fifth century. The earliest Eoganacht king identified by name is Aengus, son of Nad Fraich, who lived in the late fifth century and was said to have been baptized by Saint Patrick. We know that Eoganacht was opposed by his second cousin, who refused to subordinate himself to Aengus and who appears to have succeeded the kingship of Cashel following the death of Aengus. He was slain in 490. By the middle of the sixth century, five great branches of the Eoganacht held the best land in Munster and along with their allies. The location of the lands separated their enemies and present a concerted action against their rule.

In Leinster, the rising power was the Ui Dunlainge in the north who had pushed back their rivals, the Ui Chennselaig in southern Leinster. Both of these groups trace their ancestry to Laigin, ruler of the province in the fifth century. Ennae Cennselach who died about 483 and Dunlang were seemingly first cousins. Dunlang's son, Illan who died about 527 was succeeded by his nephew, Cormac along with three other Ui Dunlainge kings in the sixth century.

The rise of the Ui Dunlainge in Leinster corresponds to the loss of the rich plain between the Boyne and the Liffey to the Ui Neill, overkings of Ulster. The Ui Neill trace their origins to Niall Noigiallach 'Niall of the Nine Hostages' of the fifth century. This is the king who traditionally kidnapped Saint Patrick into slavery in Ireland. Niall's son, Loegaire, is said to have defeated the Laigin about 453 but lost to them in 458-459 during an upheaval in Ireland in which Tara changed hands several times. Niall was a descendant of Conn (of the Hundred Battles) and is generally regarded as the first Ard Ri or high king of Ireland. He ruled from Tara and claimed descent from Heremon. Niall did not have total and complete rule or submission of the Ri's. Rather his power was more as a leader of a voluntary confederation of petit kings. Late in Niall's life, two of his sons: Eoghan (the elder) and Conall Gulban, conquered northwest Ulster about 400 BC, founding a new kingdom. Another of Niall's sons, Laeghaire, succeeded him as Ard Ri, while still another established kingdoms elsewhere on the island. Nialls descendants were known as the Ui Neill, who were to dominate Ireland until the time of Brian Boru in 999.

As the rest of Europe and the British Isles entered into the Dark Ages with the fall of the Roman Empire, Ireland entered its Golden Age (462-800). This was concurrent with the time of Saint Patrick. Patrick, born in Roman occupied Britain was captured at the age of 16 by Irish raiders, perhaps by Niall of the Nine Hostages, and was brought to Ireland as a slave. It was during this time that Patrick turned to religion. After six years as a shepherd slave in Ireland, Patrick escaped and went back to England, determined to convert the Irish to Christianity. He studied in Gaul, where he was ordained about 417 AD and spent fifteen years in the church of Auxerre. His first nomination as bishop to the Irish was rejected because of a sin in his youth. On the death of Palladius, appointed first bishop of the Irish in 431 by Pope Celestine I, Patrick was ordained a bishop (432) and began his mission in Ireland. Patrick's success with the Druidic nobility of Ireland was astonishing. Conducting his mission from Armagh, Patrick, over a period of thirty years, established the Church in Ireland.

During the sixth and seventh centuries, when all of Europe was in decline, Ireland became the prominent learning center of the world. Students from all over Europe flocked to Ireland, which became the focus of the Christian world, sending scholar-missionaries into Europe, including Saint Columba (521-597) and saint Columbanus (543-615). By the ninth century, Irish scholars were among the most celebrated in the world and included Johann Scotus "Eriugena", a native Irishman who became the preeminent scholar in the Renaissance of Charlemagne and chief professor at the Palace school of Charles the Bald. Much of the writings and artwork created during the Golden Age of Ireland was destroyed by the Vikings and current information is based on European documents including the British historian, Bede. Much of the gold and silver artwork of this period is now resting in Danish museums.

The Ui Neill were split into a number of factions. In the south, the Southern Ui Neill Clann Cholmain came to dominate their rivals, Sil nAerda Slaine, taking the overkingship of the Ui Neill in 743. The Northern Ui Neill were divided into Cenel Conaill, who dominated until the eighth century and Cenel nEoghain who dominated and expanded south and east from their base around Derry. This expansion cut in on the Airgiialla, who were between the Northern and Southern Ui Neill as well as upon the Ulaid to the east of Lough Neagh.

In the West, Connacht, named after Conn Ceadchathach (Ced-cathach) or 'Conn of the Hundred Battles', was dominated first by the Ui Fiachrachin in the north and later the Ui Briuin from about 725. Both of these groups claimed relation to the Ui Neill, who were also said to be a junior branch of the Connachta, who moved into Ulster. Conn Ceadchathach (Ced-cathach) formed a monarchy in central Ireland about 200 AD that was called the "Middle Kingdom". His southern rival, Eoghan Mor established the kingdom of Munster. Eventually, these two leaders came to an agreement dividing the island along a line from Dublin to Galway into a northern part ("Conn's Half") and a southern part ("Mogh's Half"), a division that lasted until the time of Brian Boru in 1002.

The Viking tyranny in Ireland brought Ireland into its own Dark Ages (795-1014). By the early 800's, the Vikings were making regular raids into Ireland. For the first forty years, the Vikings were involved in Ireland only to plunder, rape and pillage but in 831, with the arrival of Thorgest, things changed as Thorgest's goal was to conqueor Ulster, Connacht and Meath. In 837 sixty Viking vessels arrived set upon seizing land for settlement and by 841 the Vikings had established small, well-fortified settlements in Louth and at what is present Dublin. This expansion continued through 873, particularly in the southeastern regions. In 852 Olaf the White and Ivar "Beinlaw" landed in Dublin Bay, fortifying the hill above Dublin and later declaring Dublin a separate state, later developed into a walled city.

In 914 the Vikings began their most ambitious expansion capturing Waterford and creating a fortress there and again imposing Viking sovereignty in Dublin. Niall Glundubh, the Ui Neill High King raised an army all over Ireland and met the Vikings at the Battle of Dublin in 919. The Vikings defeated the Irish establishing their dominance over the entire island. They then established a virtual chain of settlements at Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick. In 944 Olaf "Cuaran" ("of the Sandals") became the king of the Viking State of Dublin and shortly after, the Vikings defeated teh Eoganachti who had ruled over southern Ireland. The Vikings then subjugated all of Munster including Cashel and followed this by capturing Meath and imposing a severe tyranny that was called the "Bablylonish captivity" by the Irish. The Vikings began marrying into Gaelic families. Even under the threat and subjugation imposed by the Vikings, the Irish refused to unite under a central government making it easier for the Vikings to defeat them one or two Gaelic lords at a time.

Throughout the Viking invasions, the Gaelic lords contined to fight among themselves. The Ui Neill of Tara held northern Ireland while the Eoganachti of Cashel controlled the South or "Mogh's Half". The Leinster lords constituted a third force. Centuries before, the Leinstermen had lost their land to the Ui Neill and Eoganachti but they constantly plotted to regain their land. After centuries of subordinate status, Flann Sinna, a Leinsterman, defeated and slew the greatest priest-king of Eoganachti history, Cormac MacCullenan, in 908 at Ballaghmoon. This defeat did not re-empower the Leinstermen but it did deal a serious blow to the Eoganachti from which they never recovered.

In Ireland's darkest days, three men emerged to save Ireland. In the South (Munster), the brothers Mahon and Brian Boru, while in the north, Malachy. Gormflath, daughter of the Leinster king was to play a manipulative role by successively marrying Olaf "Curaran", (the Viking) and then Malachy and finally Brian.

In Munster, the decline of the Eoganachti, led to the emergence of a previously obscure clan, the Dalcassions, headed by two brothers: Mahan (925-76) and Brian Boru (940-1014) (See Brian Boru for more information.) By 1002 Brian Boru became the undisuputed Ard Ri of all of Gaelic Ireland after defeating the Vikings in many battles. As Ard Ri, Brian regarded himself as a Gaelic Charlemagne, launching programs to restore the institutions of the island and launching programs to restore the physical and scholarly preeminence of Ireland. He built bridges and roads, rebuilt churches, upgraded monastery libraries and gave art and culture new impetus.Though Brian's control was not absolute, Brian's tenure as Ard Ri is one of the high points of Irish history. In 1014, Brian's forces met and defeated the combined Leinster-Viking army in a fierce battle at Clontarf. The battle of Clontarf marked an end to Viking tyranny in Ireland but did not expel the Vikings from Ireland. The Battle of Clontarf claimed the lives of Brian Boru (at age 74), his son, Murchad and Murchad's son. Following the death of Brian's son, Malachy, Ireland slipped back into the ancient divided government.

A Shionann Bhriain Bhóroimhe

Oh, Shannon of Brian of Boroma,
very wonderful, {with} your laugh's greatness,
how you cease from noisy mirth where you stretch toward the sea in comfort.
You go to touch on Boroma; you reach to finger Kincora; at the recommendation of the Son of great Mary, you are tuneful of sound till eternity.
The place where you go you do not hide -- from Slieve Anierin you go quickly enough
through Loch Ree, through Loch Derg.
At the loop towards the Danaans' Waterfall you may not overflow your shackles; there you go the more slowly -- at departure, you touch near Limerick.
From Limerick, quick and easy go to reach into Scattery Island, touch near our Seanan's harbor, holy the great approach afterwards.
You were bordered by lands often going into each, back towards the Danaans' Waterfall, a Shionann. at departure into waiting, oh Shannon.
The Boyne, the Suir, the slim Elm River and the Suck are not slow streams -- it says in noble books a Shionann. that they are not as noble as you, oh Shannon.

The Everlasting Voices

O SWEET everlasting Voices, be still;
Go to the guards of the heavenly fold
And bid them wander obeying your will,
Flame under flame, till Time be no more;
Have you not heard that our hearts are old,
That you call in birds, in wind on the hill,
In shaken boughs, in tide on the shore?
O sweet everlasting Voices, be still.

William Butler Yeats