[net.nlang.celts] Irish Genocide: Lesson 2: Before English Occupation

jmg@houxk.UUCP (12/14/83)

	In order to realize the true magnitude of the crimes committed against
Ireland throughout the British occupation one must have an understanding of
what kind of society existed before the English. Here are some brief glimpses.
In 1963 German historian Ludwig Bieler wrote:

		"Irish art...is not only unique in the Middle Ages, it is also
	the first, and in the West the only, example of an abstract art in an
	articulate civilization which was still spiritually integrated.
		One of the determining factors that shaped Carolingian art,
	its spirit can still be felt in the romanesque art of the 11th and
	12th centuries. Gothic art broke away from this path and took a new
	direction. We at present stand at the end of the way which the art of
	Europe has since taken. Our eyes are open again for the appreciation
	of Irish art, which is one of the glories of our Western heritage."

	After Ireland received Christianity some time in the early 500's
missionaries from Ireland went out all over Europe to spread their faith. Irish
missionaries founded monasteries and universities in Iceland, Scotland, England
(Oxford), France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. They penetrated into Africa
(still in the Middle Ages) and into Russia as far as Kiev. The city of
Brandenburg, Germany is named after St. Brendan who established the Christian
faith there.
	Ireland is considered by most historians to have functioned as the
lifeboat for Western civilization during the Middle Ages. People came from all
over Europe to study there and even to the sons of kings it was a place to
marvel at. Prince Alfrid of Northumbria wrote:

	I travelled its fruitful provinces round
	And in every one I found
	Alike in church and palace hall
	Abundant apparel and food for all.

	I found God's people rich in pity
	Found many a feast and many a city.
	Piety, learning, fond affection,
	Holy welcome, and kind protection.

	Poets well skilled in music and pleasure
	Prosperous doings, mirth and pleasure.
	Flourishing pastures, valour, health
	Long-living worthies, commerce, wealth.

	Sweet fruits, good laws for all and each,
	Great chess players, men of truthful speech.
	Candor, joyfulness, bravery, purity,
	Ireland's bulwark and security.

	The laws of the country were upheld by the Fianna Knights (Fenians)
who lived and fought under a strict code. Some of their knightly vows were:

	Never to seek a dowry with a wife, but to choose her for her good
	   manners and virtue.
	Never to offer violence to a woman.
	Never to refuse any mortal in need anything one possesses.
	Never to flee from less than ten adversaries.

	In Elizabethan times an English writer described the Irish people as:
"..of paines infinite, sharpe-witted, lovers of learning, capable of any studie
whereunto they bende themselves, constant in travaile."

	In the 17th century Englishman William Camden wrote:
		"Our Anglo-Saxons of that day used to flock together to
	Ireland, as a market for learning whence it is that we continually find
	in our writers concerning holy men of old, 'he was sent away to be
	educated in Ireland.' It would appear that it was from that country our
	ancestors received the first instruction in forming letters, as it is
	plain they used the same characters which are still used in Ireland.
		Ireland which is now for the most part wild, half savage, and
	destitute of education, at that time abounded in men of holiness, piety
	and splendid geniuses, while the cultivation of literature elsewhere in
	the Christian world lay neglected and half buried."

	In my next article we will see how the changes described in the last
paragraph came about.