ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 215, 8 June 1877, Page 15

ANCIENT IRISH CIVILISATION.

Fkom a long article in a Dublin paper wo make the following extract stowing what can be seen in a saunter through, the Royal Irish. Academy. There is, indeed, a feeling of personal bitterness in the midst of the antiquities -which is fa,r from agreeable ; for one's ignorance of the proudest and 'best hour of Irish history is brought to light in a moment. You can hardly realise that there was a time when these stone antiquities were in vogue. Here you. find stone hammers, stone hatchets, stone arrow-heads, stone everything. What an amount of irresistible ingenuity and industry these Irish must have had to combat with such difficulties and to surmount them ? The stone age cannot have been a lowly time. Art, indeed, is not born, bub Invention was surely in the womb of Necessity. Near these sermons in stone you will find some very rare specimens of pottery, They are shown in a reversible glass case, constructed so as to show the objects on all sides. There are all sorts of things here, human figures included. The skulls are nicely shaped, albeit the shell necklaces betoken a backward condition. Now either the Irish, had good skulls and thus afforded models, or they had high skill and power of the ideal. In the one case Mr. Darwin was touched, in the other those libellous historians who talk of the ancient Irish as barbarians. Close by we come upon a series of wooden objects — yokes for oxen, cups for drinking, ladles, dishes, and even trumpets. Then we have curiosities in bone — thus showing the advance on the stone material. There are combs and pins, and ornaments which will repay careful examination. They are not the outcome of savage effort, and may excite an admiration which modern genius is inclined to monopo* Use. The metal antiquities are soon reached. -There are, as might be expected, military weapons; but there aye also cauldjonaj

trumpets, bits, and various other objects of interest. It is needless to state that the joinings are effected by riveting, the process of welding being then undreamt of. And how exquisitely the •work has been done will be admitted by those who are careful to examine it minutely. If they could not weld like us, moat surely we could not rivet like them. An old Irish harp -with chords in aged disarray will excite the interest of the visitor. What stories these chords might tell if the hand that once knew them could but touch them now ! This place is not without its sacred pathos, and, if one may use the phrase, its historical sorrow. Side by side with .ancient gewgaws for fine ladies, and kings, and princes, and nobles, you find grave memories and touching mementos of a time when history was not. But the compartments which contain these gewgaws and gimcrackery possess a wonderful interest of their own. Is it possible that a people living before the dawn of civilisation touched their bleak horizon could have achieved such miracles in the goldsmith's art, could have made ornaments so delicately beautiful as these P It is almost impossible to realise a condition of things so apparently contradictory j and still the age must have been dark. The Petrie collection is alive with interest and suggestion, and brings back memories of that great Irishman, painter, composer, author, antiquarian, patriot. In the Strong Room the visitor will find the gems of the collection — the Tara, Brooch, the Cross of Cong, the Bells of St. Patrick, the Ardagh Chalice, the Domnach prAirgid, in which our oldest MS. of the Gospel, said to have belonged to our Patron Saint, was formerly enclosed. The leaves of this old book have grown together, and the two parts look like brown dust-heaps. The Cross of Cong will soonest catch the eye. An inscription on the cross itself tells us that it was made for Turlough O Conor, the father of the celebrated Roderick, the last of our native kings. It may indeed be fairly stated that " No finer specimen of goldsmith's work has been preserved in any country in the west of Europe." The late Professor M'Cullagh, of T.C.D., presented this gem to the Academy. The visitor will not pass rapidly from this sacred treasure or readily yield his admiration of its beautiful workmanship. Hard by you see the rude bells which in St. Patrick's time called the Irish to the glad tidings of great joy. Its cover is beneath, and gives proof of the art of the time. The Brooch will not fail to arrest the admiring attention, especially of the fair. The story of the brooch is now dim, but the thing itself is rarely beautiful. The Ardagh chalice, of which facsimiles have been made, will start a thousand reflections. A lad digging potatoes found it in Ardagh, county Limerick. It is of white metal, adorned with gold filagree and enamel of exquisite beauty. It is composed of no less than 354 pieces, held together by a score of rivets. It bears an inscription in strange letters giving the names of the Apostles, St. Paul being named instead of Iscariot. One cannot view these curious old relics of a bygone time with indifference, and least of all with derision. The old manuscripts in these cases will perhaps interest bibliophilists more j but there is interest for all. We do not pretend to have more than suggested the treasures of this Strong Room, for no cursory notice such as this could include all the beauties of this collection. Suffice it to say that there are cases of gold ornaments, brooches, bracelets, and things the uses of which are not apparent. They are in great variety, of every size and every degree of richness. The visitor can indulge in his own speculations, and gratify himself with the thought that he is as nearly correct as the best of judges. Descending to the basement, we come to the outer and the further crypt. Here are deposited the heavier and larger curiosities, stone-work, old canoes, portions of Athlone old bridge and scores of curious remains. The canoes are interesting in their way, especially the long one, which occupies the centre bench. It was formed of a single tree, and the hollow must have been fired out and then cut out. We are ashamed to say that it is cut right across into eight pieces — a piece of vandalism of the moderns. It was found at the bottom of Lough Owel, in Westmeath, is 45 feet long, and from 4to 5 feet wide. There are apertures in the bottom which appear to have been filled with uprights which supported an elevated deck or awning. The visitor will find old pillars and slabs covered with Ogham writing, the which he may interpret as it pleases him.