83~Ireland

A brief History

Ireland was first settled in about 6000 BC by a race of Middle Stone Age hunter-gatherers who lived there and hunted such creatures as the megaceros, a giant variety of deer so large that their antlers spanned 10 feet. Around 3000 BC, they made significant technological improvements which moved them into the classification of Bronze Age people. These people eventually came to be known as the Picts, who ruled over Ireland for millenia and even expanded to Scotland. Irish folklore tells that during these very early times, two sons of King Milesius of Iberia conquered Ireland, becoming King Heremon, and his brother Heber. It is said that after assuming power in Ireland Heremon slew his brother, took the throne and fathered a line of kings of Ireland that includes Malachi II and King Niall of the Nine Hostages.

In around 900 BC, a race known as the Celts appeared. They were the result of cross-breeding between European Bronze Age people and wanderers from central Asia. They dominated the country for many years to follow, building many of the characteristic ring forts which are found all over Ireland. They did not confine themselves to Ireland, however, dominating Western Europe for a long time, sacking Rome in 390 BC, and Delphi a century later.

In the early 5th century AD, St. Patrick came to Ireland to convert the Irish, who were all Druidic, to Christianity. He had amazing success, as today nearly everyone living in Ireland is Christian and Druids are almost unheard of. This feat was made even more impressive by the fact that the Celtic nobility held their power through the Druidic religion; because of this, they were exceptionally difficult to convert.

The years that were the Dark Ages for the rest of Europe, between 410 and 800 AD, were a golden age for Ireland. Ireland flourished while the Roman Empire fell, fragmented and was plagued by attacks from Vikings, Muslims and Magyars. It was not to last however; Ireland was to have its own Dark Age.

In 795, Vikings from Scandinavia landed on the Gaelic island of Iona and plundered a monastery there. By the early 800s, they had begun raids on Ireland itself, plundering it on a regular basis. At first, they were only interested in rape, pillage and plunder, but eventually they stayed, rather than taking their loot and leaving. By 841, they had established several well-fortified settlements in Louth and expanded aggressively thereafter, eventually conquering all of Ireland with a decisive victory in the Battle of Dublin in 919. The Celts slowly regained land, however, and in 1014, led by Brian Boru, they almost completely eliminated the Viking presence in Ireland with the Battle of Clontarf.

Next came the Normans, who were of originally Viking origin. While some Vikings were raiding Ireland in the previous centuries, the Normans had settled in northern France and were intermarrying with the natives. From there, they swept through England and Scotland, and eventually came to Ireland in 1169. Within a few years they had captured Dublin and most other major cities, and so Ireland belonged to them. They intermarried with the Celts (who now called themselves the Gaels), giving rise to many powerful Norman-Irish feudal families.

Then, a feud which was to change the fate of Ireland began between two powerful families: Tiernan O'Rourke and Dermot MacMurrough. Two other families joined in as well; Rory O'Connor sided with O'Rourke and Murtogh MacLochlain protected MacMurrough. In 1166, O'Rourke and O'Connor triumphed and chased MacMurrough out of Ireland.

MacMurrough was not to be discouraged, however; he returned shortly thereafter with an army provided by Henry II and the assistance of the legendary Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, also known as Strongbow. He eventually managed to take over Ireland and instated himself as ruler there. He became sick and died after a short reign, and left his throne to Strongbow. O'Connor and O'Rourke raised an army and attempted to instate MacMurrough's nephew, with whom they sympathized, instead of Strongbow but they were defeated.

Strongbow therefore became King of Ireland, but King Henry had plans of his own. He had provided the army that conquered Ireland, and he wanted Ireland in his empire. So he brought a new army to Ireland, consisting of over 4000 troops. Strongbow surrendered Ireland to him without a drop of blood being shed.

For a long time thereafter, Ireland was divided between the Normans and the Gaels. Though the Normans controlled most of the Island, there was eventually a Gaelic resurgence and the Norman territories were vastly reduced. Once this happened, the Normans began to be assimilated and eventually became "more Irish than the Irish."

Though still affiliated with England, Ireland was essentially independent. The Tudor Dynasty (1485-1607) put an end to this, engaging in another conquest of Ireland and instating laws which, among other things, decreed that the King of England was automatically the King of Ireland, essentially making the two a single country. They also ousted the Catholic church, making Protestantism the religion of Ireland and also imposed laws which created a huge class distinction, setting the stage for the bloody conflicts that rage to this day.

MAJOR FACTS INFLUENCING IRISH FAMILIES AND SURNAMES

The history and people of Ireland are a fascinating subject of study. Ireland is an island of the British Isles, to the west of Great Britain, and it is divided into the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. Ireland is renowned for its lush green landscape, festive atmosphere and friendly populace. The vibrant culture of the modern Irish is a product of Ireland's ancient history.

Settled by the Celts in the 6th century, Ireland became divided into the rival kingdoms of Meath, Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht. Christianity was introduced to Ireland in the 5th century by St. Patrick, who is celebrated as the patron saint of Ireland. Ireland became a leading cultural center of Europe in the 6th to 9th centuries. In the 11th century, the Viking invasions were halted by Brian Boru, but Ireland was still split into warring kingdoms. The English invasion began under Pembroke in the 12th century and the invaders soon mingled with the Irish. By the early 15th century, only small pockets of Ireland remained under direct English rule. Henry VII attempted to bring Ireland under English jurisdiction by means of Pynings' Law in 1495. Opposition to English rule increased when the Penal Laws attempted to impose Protestantism and the political struggle became merged in the conflict between Catholics and Protestants.

In the reign of Elizabeth I, rebellions were ruthlessly suppressed and Protestant Scots were settled in Ulster. In the mid-17th century, another rebellion was put down by Cromwell with a great loss of life and was followed by a thorough Protestant settlement. The Irish supported James II in his unsuccessful attempt to retain the thrown, but they were defeated by William III at the Boyne in 1690. Absentee landlordism worsened the already desperate economic conditions. Grattan and the Irish Volunteer army obtained an independent parliment in 1782. Continued Irish unrest and Wolfe Tone's rebellion in 1798 led to the Act of Union in 1800 and Irish representation in British Parliament. Daniel O'Connell's agitation resulted in the granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. The Irish Potato famine of the 1840s decimated the population and caused mass emigration. The Fenians forced L:iberal Prime Minister William Gladstone to disestablish the Irish Church in 1869 and to pass the Irish Land Act in 1870, which guaranteed fair rents and to unsuccesful attempts to pass Home Rule Bills. A Home Rule Act was passed in 1914, despite Conservative opposition, but its application was delayed until after WWI. In 1920, the Home Rule Act incorporated the northeast in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The island of Ireland became the Irish Free State in 1921

Flight of the Wild Geese

For approximately two centuries, a great number of able-bodied young Irishmen emigrated from Ireland. This migration, which took place over the 17th and 18th centuries, is colloquially known as the 'Flight of the Wild Geese'.

The exodus began at the end of the Elizabethan wars, which were a series of revolts that began in 1569, and ended with the defeat of the Irish rebels at Kinsale in 1602. The bitter loss was followed by the Flight of the Earls in 1607, in which the outlawed rebel leaders, Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, and Hugh Roe O'Donnell, the Earl of Tyrconnell, fled to France with 99 other influential Irishmen of Ulster. The possessions of the insurgents were forfeited to the Crown. Furthermore, the six Ulster counties of Armagh, Tyrone, Derry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Cavan were confiscated. The Crown established the Plantation of Ulster, in which the ancestral homelands of the Irish were distributed among English and Scottish Protestant settlers. The dispossessed Irish were deported to Connacht and Munster.

Many Irish, especially those who had fought in the rebellion, also chose to flee to continental Europe. France was one of the most favoured destinations for the Irish, because it was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Once there, they frequently entered military service. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Catholic French were sympathetic to the Irish cause and they often smuggled luxury commodities to the Emerald Isle, in exchange for high-quality Irish wool and Irish military recruits. The recruits, who were equally prized, were customarily referred to in the ships' cargo logs as wild geese in order to mask the illicit recruitment; the name stuck and the military exiles came to be popularly known as 'Wild Geese'.

In the foreign military services, the recruits formed the 'Irish Brigades' and Irish soldiers were justly famed for their courage and fighting skill. Although the Irish Brigades were most prominent in the service of France, they were also active in the Austrian, Italian, and Spanish armies. Many Irish soldiers gained commissions as officers in token of the high regard in which they were held.

In the ensuing decades, the Wild Geese continued to flood into continental Europe from Ireland. This was particularly true during the Cromwellian Transplantation of the 1640s, when great numbers of Irish landowners had their estates confiscated and were transplanted or exiled. At this time, numerous Irish septs migrated to France in their entirety. After the broken terms of the Treaty of Limerick and the enaction of the harsh, anti-Catholic Penal Laws following the Irish resistance to William of Orange's 'Glorious Revolution', many Jacobites migrated to France from Ireland. In fact, the entire Jacobite army fled to France, and the former British King James II reviewed an army of 21,000 soldiers at Vannes in 1692.

The Irish Brigades were active throughout the next century. They were involved in an abortive French invasion of Britain in 1759, and it was hoped that the Catholic population of Ireland would rise up to support the invasion force. However, the glorious return of the 'Wild Geese' was prevented by the defeat of the French fleet at sea.

In the two centuries between the 'Flight of the Earls' and the French Revolution, hundreds of thousand of Irish migrated to continental Europe. In fact, it has been estimated that during the time of the Jacobite uprisings between 1691 and 1745, over 450,000 Irishmen died in the service of France alone. As such, the 'Flight of the Wild Geese' represents one of the most massive migrations in the history of Ireland.