THE CAPITAL OF IRELAND.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20587, 1 July 1932, Page 18

THE CAPITAL OF IRELAND.

DUBLIN'S EARLY HISTORY. INFLUENCES ON ITS GROWTH. (By T.C.L.) People who take tho ordinary mail route from London to Dublin miss the pleasantest of introductions to the capital of the Irish Free State. Thev leave London at night, join the boat at Holyhead in the dark hours, and when they awaken, if the sea gods have been kind, they will be alongside an exceedingly plain wharf set at the end of mean streets. Crossing by boat from Liverpool, the sea passage is a good deal longer, and on a fine summer's morning the approach to Dublin is very charming and particularly if the early morning is clear and sunny. It must be confessed that bright sunshine cannot remove the drabness of tho streets around the river wharves, though it does not take Jong to reach the wider streets and brighter thoroughfares. It is a curious fact that the Irish capital is a growth due to alien influences. Its site to tho ancient Erseman was but a ford, "the hurdle ford" for crossing tho Liffey, the main river in central Ireland. Subsequently' they built a wicker bridge across tho river just above a big black pool, in Irish, "Dabh Linn," below the ford. Hence the name, "Dubh Linn," first for the bridge and then for a settlement the Danes founded. They found the bay and tho tidal Liffey an excellent place for beaching their galleys, and those old Vikings found, too, that tho Irishman was as fond of a fight as they were, and was ready to give as much as ho got in the shape of warfare. Because of this the Danes were obliged, to set up some kind of defenced village. They made it on the south side of the river, regarding the Liffey aa a boundary between them and the Irish that could he watched against surprise attacks. Norman Influence. But the ardour of the Viking was no match for the trained discipline of the Norman troops. Tho Danes were driven from their village. At first they made a new one on the north side of the river, to a position which has now on one side the • barracks in which the old Irish garrison was quartered before the Free State was'created, and on the other a portion of the huge manufactory known as Guinness's Brewery. For a while the Danes were left undisturbed. But the Norman kings of England wanted lands and money wherewith to hearten the barons who supported the dynasty just as" long as it was good persona] policy. So Henry 11. assigned tho town of Dublin, which

he first called the capital of Ireland, to the good citizens of Bristol. They were to pay the king—through an overlord, of course—so much tribute, and they could do what tliey liked with Dublin, always with the approyal of the Norman nobles and prelates appointed by the Crown to represent it in the vassal state of Ireland. It was not altogether a failure. What trade there had been with Ireland had come Bristol way. Bristol sea captains knew the bays of Waterford and Dublin as well as anyone could be said to know them as navigators, and apparently there was in those far-off days that itch for change and a better chance that sent West Countrymen to Taranaki nearly a hundred years ago. Quite a number of West of England settlers went to Dublin, and if none ot the common people left names in history thev at least consolidated the British hold upon Southern Ireland. Cathedral Rebuilt. The first thing they did was to rebuild the cathedral church erected by the Danes 150 years before, but which had suffered a good _ deal in the troublous days when Dane and Norman strove for supremacy. Incidentally, the crypt of tho old church —Christchurch — is the only vestige ot' Danish building ov architecture that can be seen in modern Dublin. Naturally enough the erection of a castle followed that of the church. For this the Norman Governor chose the ridge a little to the west of the church where the . Danes had made their stronghold. Though little remains of the old castle, it served as the official title for all official documents until the coming of Dominion status. Some of the most pathetic errors of administration of misunderstanding and of deceit and ■ treachery may be found in the State papers of the nineteenth century dated from "Dublin Castle." But if the castle first represented alien domination over all Ireland, or at least so much of Ireland as the troops could patrol, there was an authority to which even the Sovereign Lord of England must defer. The power of the Church was greater than that of the Eing and the Church made few mistakes in the men it sent to control its temporal affairs. It was the period when religious fervour turned to building. Abbeys and monasteries, with their attendant churches, were being erected all over the British Isles. They were wonderful undertakings, and even what is left of them is a priceless heritage. So it was not surprising that the prelates in control at Dublin grew dissatisfied with tho modest dimensions of Christchurch as the cathedral church of the city. Just outside the walls there was a holy well to which the great Saint Patrick had given his name, and there was established the St. Patrick's Cathedral, which every visitor to Dublin is almost certain to be shown. Stirring Days. It knew some stirring days. If the Irish chiefs could fight, and fight hard, against an invader they were never loath to "have a go" amongst themselves. The difficulty was, often enough, to decide who had won, and here, sometimes, the Church was able to meditate. . The chapter house of St. Patrick's was the scene of such an endeavour. The peace parleys had nearly reached success. One party was within and the other without the building, a very necessary precaution among undisciplined clansmen who had only one idea of the rules of warfare, which was to kill an enemy whenever opportunity offered. But the two chiefs would not be reconciled because if one came out to shake hands or the other went in, it would be claimed as a sign of surrender. It took the wit of an Irish priest to solve th'e difficulty. He cut a hole in the chapter house door and through this aperture the two chiefs solemnly shook hands and peace had once mere triumphed. The hole in the door is there to this day, and the story is told with the gentle suasion of the Irish accent that disarms all incredulity. In Tudor days the city grew apace. But all the time only as the stronghold of au Irish Government which regarded the native Irish as its hereditary enemies, and the trading post of merchants who demanded from the unfortunate Irish such profit as should compensate for exile from England and the dangers of living amidst a hostile race. New Religious Effort. In Queen Elizabeth's day there came a new religious effort to Dublin. It was decided to make Ireland a Protestant nation. The advisers of "Good Queen Bess " were no fools. They knew that to bring about the change in churchmanship there must be something more than force. Simple force had been tried by Elizabeth 's sister, Mary, and it had failed. So had efforts to

stifle convictions by force failed in Elizabeth's own reign. Ireland, said the English prelates and statesmen, should be treated differently. The adult population were not likely to change their religion, most of them would probably die in the inter-tribal wars that were always breaking out; indeed, England was not sure if it would not be better if they were exterminated and so end a troublesome problem. On the other hand, if there were means provided for instructing and educating the young folk as Protestants the work would be lasting, whatever may be thought of the ethics or state-craft. Dublin's great "Trinity College," owes its foundation to the broader views of Elizabethan days. The college was then "five minutes' walk outside the walls" that still encircled Dublin city. Now, of course, it is well within its borders. During the English civil wars Dublin sa r many a devastating conflict. With the Restoration and the appointment of a Lord Lieutenant, whose duties were not wholly military, the modern city may be said to havo been born. Since then there has been but little fighting in Dublin streets. Tragedy there has been, but it has been in more complex circumstances. The city had really become the centre of Southern Irish affairs. It was still alien in growth and in outlook in many ways, but the first signs of Irish predominance were visible when the Duke of Ormonde represented the "Merrie Monarch." A "capital of Ireland" had really been established.