ANCIENT IRELAND:

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 20, 15 May 1902, Page 3

ANCIENT IRELAND:

Its Literature, Art and Music.

At an entertainment given recently in Melbourne under the auspices of the Gaelic League the Rev. Father Ganly delivered a very interesting lecture on the ' Literature, art and music of ancient Ireland.' Want of epace compels us to condense the report of the lecture which appe^nd in the A fir or at p. Father Ganly, after instituting a comparison between the life of an individual and that of a nation, said that the Celtic race having been saved from the demoralising influence of Roman domination its genius created for itself a literature, a legal code, a social hierarchy, in a word a system of legislation equal in many respects to the most cultured nations of antiquity and superior to nearly all pagan races. If the history of a country be written in its ruins, in the relics which have escaped the shipwreck of ageß, there is no land which possesses a more glorious or a more interesting record than Ireland. The stimulation of the intellectual faculties and their development to produce external results are manifested in the life of a people by their proficiency in the arts of civilisation. Among these we shall take six, by which we shall test Ireland's claim to rank among 1 the civilised nations of antiquity. ARCHITECTURE. The history of the rise and development of the builder's art in Ireland forms in itself a most interesting subject of study. The buildings of very early times, which we still find in the country, do not differ much from structures of a similar character raised by primitive races in every land, before a knowledge of the principle of the arch was discovered. It is the architecture of necessity. The first Christian edifices were of a primitive character. They were developed from the pagan model, with such modifications in form as their difference in purpose required. It was during the sixth century that the transition from undressed masonry to dressed and chiseled work took place. The famous Round Towers are said to date their origin from this period. Anyone who has seen these wonderful monuments of Irish skill cannot deny that, in beauty of design, in symmetry of form, in compactness of structure, they compare favorably with specimens of ancient architecture found in any country. When the monuments of the builder's art in Ireland, from periods ranging from pre-Christian times to the Anglo-Norman invasion, are placed in consecutive order, we can trace the transition from a rude beginning to a style which was distinctively national. The beautiful Abbey of Roscrea, in Tipperary, and King Cormac's Chapel, Cashel, in the same county, are eloquent witnesses of the degree of perfection to which the architectural art had reached in Ireland. METALLURGY. One of the ancient Irish records — the Annals of the Four Masters — tells us that gold was first Bmelted in Ireland as early aa the year 600, before the Christian era. It is certain that the pagan Irish had a knowledge of mining. Implements of various kinds belonging to the craft have of late years been found in various parts of Ireland. Quantities of gold and silver have been found buried with the dead. Among the numerous specimens of ancient Irish metallurgy which have escaped the wreck of ages there are three which have acquired a world-wide fame. These are the Chalice of Ardagh, the Processional Cross of Cong, and the Brooch of Tara. They are to be seen in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. An adequate description of these exquisite relics of ancient Irish metallurgy would be impossible. To form any idea of the superb workmanship which characterises even their minutest detail, one has to subject them to a minute inspection. The Chalice of Ardagh is mentioned by early Irish writers. They give glowing descriptions of what they designate as a peerleßß work of art. During the Danish invasions this precious treasure was stolen from Clonmacnoise and for centuries was supposed to be hopelessly lost. The robber, Gilcomhaiu the Dane, of Limerick, was detected and executed for this and other crimes, but he refused to disclose where he had secreted his plunder, which waa hidden in the earth at Ardagh, County Limerick. It was discovered there by a young man who since came to Australia, whom I met about 10 years ago in South Melbourne where he was then resident. The Chalice of Ardagh is unquestionably the most perfect example of ancient Irish art yet discovered. It is composed of gold, silver, white bronze and previous stones, and the ornamentation is co delicately and so artistically worked that I venture to Bay no jeweller of moderD times could produce a work equal to it. The Brooch of Tara is a contemporary of the Chalice of Ardagh. They were probably made by the same artist. They show precisely similar developments of what has bpen termed the spiral line, or trumpet pattern of ornamentation Like other works of this class, its basis consists of white bronze, and the ornaments are in gold, silver, niello, enamels, and glass of different shades. Cong is a small township in the County Galway, possessing historical associations of deep interest. The beautiful work of art — the Cross of Cong — which now holds a place of honor in the Museum of the Roy<il Iriwh Aoa^e'n/, Pub 1 ;>. i« tae proudest boast of the littlo village. The Processional Ciosp of Cong is undoubtedly one of the finest spejirners of metal work of its time in the Western world. Designed as a reliquary for a portion of the true cross received from Home by Turlough O'Connor, King of Ireland, in the year 1123, the artist lavished all the re ourcea of hia ingenuity on its con«triK tion. On ihe Hides of thf Cnws are inscriptions, the first of which is tnutJ trarii-'lati d . 'In thin Cross is preserved the Cross on which tre Founder of the world suffered .' This beautiful Processional Ciobs >\as originally marie for thp Archiepiscopal Church vi Tuam, During the ho-calkd Reformation the CrobH was con-

cealed. Early in the present century it was discovered by the parish priest of Cong, whose successor handed it over to the Royal Irish Academy, where it is now an object of admiration. SCULPTURE. The genesis of all true art is to be found in man's consciousness of the supernatural, and in the impulse of his spiritual nature to give it external form and expression. The pre-historio ruins of Egypt, China, Babylon, Phoenicia, Peru, were temples or mausoleums. The buildings erected in honor of the gods are the only works of man which time has not been able to destroy. In Ireland sculpture was employed only to give expression to the religious faith of the people. The High Crosses of Monasterboice, of Kells, of Tuam, of Cong, of Clonmaonoise, and forty others, may be called so many religious epics in stone. The artists who executed these crosses possessed not alcne a knowledge of the Roman and Byzantine sohools, but they endeavored to picture forth, by historical and symbolical groups, the mystery of man's fall and the Divine plan of the Redemption. To such perfection had this style of artistic representation been brought in Ireland that in various fragments of Irish literature we find minute directions to the artist to be followed in representing Christ and His Apostles. The relics of Irish sculpture which have escaped the ravage of the Cromwellian iconoclasts are 200 Ogham stones, 250 inscribed mausoleums, 7 pillar stones. 4 altar stones, 45 high crosses, 32 of which are highly ornamented, and 8 of which bear very interesting incriptions. THE DECORATIVE OE ILLUMINATING ART. Before the invention of printing the pieservation of all literature depended on the writers and transcribers of manuscripts. For their labors in this sphere the much-maligned monks of the Catholic Churoh have placed modern civilisation under a deep debt of gratitude. They kept alive the embers of ancient learning and handed them down to succeeding generations. The tranpoription of manuscripts formed so important a part of the monastic discipline that the great St. Columba is said to have written 300 works with his own saintly hands. ' The Book of Kells,' the wonder of the world, was written and illuminated by this great scholar and missionary. I have Been this wonderful book in the library of Trinity College, Dublin ; but I leave others to desoribe it. One of the greatest authorities on art is Wyatt. Mr Wyatt says : •It is to Ireland that the rich style of manuscript ornamentation is due. Irish art was original, and of marvellous perfection. ... In delicacy of handling, the minute but faultless exeoution, the whole range of paleography offers nothing comparable to these early Irish manuscripts, and those produced in the same style in England. When in Dublin some years ago I had the opportunity there of studying carefully the moßt marvellous of all, ' The Book of Kells ' ; some of the ornaments I attempted to copy, but broke down in despair. No wonder that tradition should allege that these unerring lines had been traced by angels. We freely confess that in the practice of illumination at least they (the Irish) appear in advance, both in mechanical execution and originality of design, of all Europe, and of the AngloSaxon in particular.' LITERATUiiE. National traditions assign a high state of cultivation to th c pagan Irish. But, without granting to these a greater degree of credibility than they striutly deserve, it must be admitted that the immense quantity of literary relicß, relating to pre-Christian times, oould only have been transinittad to us by some form of written record. It is beyond doubt that on his arrival in Ireland Sfc. Patrick found a regularly defiaed system of law, and a fixed classification of the people under the s«vt>y of a single monarch, presiding over subordinate provincial k'ugs. Everyone has heard of the Brehon laws. They were a code of legislation by which the inhabitants of ancient Ireland were governed. The English Parliament attached such' importance to this venerable legal institute of autiquiry that in the year 1852 a Royal Commission was i.-sued to 12 distinguished jurist*, noblemen, and Celtio scholars for the transcription and translation of the Brehon Law.*. Four volumes have Wen already issued from* the press, and a sum of over £10,000 has been grnated by the Bntish Government towa-ds the expends of ta« publication cf the work. The name-i of John MBale, Arohbisnop of Tuam, bngvne O'Curry. aud John O'Do .ovan are the three who are inseparably connecred with the resuscitation of the language and literature of the Irish nation. The venerated Archbishop'n genius v.as (synthetic, while that of the other two was analytical. Dr. MHale tronslut; d portions of the Bible, of Homer, and' nearly all of Mote's Melodies into the old language of the Gael. Ha waa also the author of many works both in Englmh and in Irish, one of the moat beautiful of. which is a poem in the two languages composed in \Si>l, on the occasion of the Defiuiiion of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Eugene O'Ourry and Dr. ODouovan ' were the great keyholders who unlocked the doors of the treasury of lii«h literature. Many of the books of ancient Ireland have b.en lost in the wreck in which the country waß involved, but enough of their ylory remains to prove ihe country's claim to a hi«h degree of iiUsrary culture. Where are books of Irish literature to be found ? They are to be found in the libraries of Trinity Collpge and the lioyal Iri.-h Academy, Dublin ; in the libraries of Oxford and the British MuHum ; in fe e libraries of LouvaiD, Brussels, B<sle, Turin Bobbio, Schaffaaussen, Vienna, Copenh-t^en. What do they c lwist of ? They comprise general and national history, oivil and ecclesiastical record. l:v« s of r»airuß, gei.eu-lotfical material*, poetry, romance, tracts wi medicine, wutbcuiatiuH, gramma}-, geography aud astronomy. To enfer i^to a minute anaJyuiH of these works would require considerable time Here I will only say that many of them are productions of rtal literary m nt.

MUBIO AND POETBY. Poetry and song have been oalled the autobiography of a race— the essence of a nation's history. The themes to which they attach themselves are either those critical periods on which the fortunes of a people turn or such incidents of a lighter vein as illustrate the SJS? al ff eh « a ° te » 8t !« 9 - The records of no other country in the 7iZ # a JL° a ** r °f lllu8tr ? tlon ot this interpretation of the vocation of the poetical muse than those of Ireland. of Eri^'wwS.* 1 ? £ no !f. l i t . Tri^ recordB ' Osßian was the Hom <* ni fh / e ,^ etdldfor the BCa «ered remains of Grecian poetry, the former did for the bardic songs of Ireland. Some of his productions have been pronounced worthy of the ' blind bard of Chios Born in the third century before the Christian era, popular Svp B °nf r Tr ft nt9him / BUnit . ing % himeelf the threefold prerogatives of poet, hero, and warrior. Several of the Ossianio poems have been translated into English verse by Irish poets The following are the best known :—' Congal' 'Tain Bo OnSlJSi' 'Conary-Mesgedra,' 'Naming of Cuchulin,' * Mr SuSSSt TS, Vn °^l °t Q U ee ? D Maey '' b * Aubrey de Vere ; and 'The Lay of Ossian on the Land of Perpetual Youth/ by T. D Sullivan " ft urged that after all, Irish history cannot boast of any great work of^genius like those of the ag-e of Pericles in Greece, andof Augustus m Rome, it must be remembered that the records of the world contain only comparatively few of Buch epochs— that inspiration ib a grace and that labor is a law. Moreover, it must be remembered that the Irish nation was arrested in its development During the 300 years which succeeded the introduction of Christianity into the country, its people advanced so rapidly in the arte of civilised life that they gave promise of a future-as brilliant as the great ages of Grecian or Augustan literature. Than came the nations struggle, not for her literature and art, but for her VGry ©XIBTJ6QCO. 81^ ?h? h J lo f2 PPcP u cr J Goerre8 > th ™ refers to Ireland : 'The affrighted spirit of truth had flown during the Gothio irrnptiona mto Europe, and there (in Ireland) made iti abode in sa}esy?Sl Europe returned to repose, when these hospitable philoßophera who V^ ltMll !i! ylu ?7 c J c oalled oyß^ope to restore its effulgent light over her bedarkened forests.' But this golden age of Sft it tory wa9 800n brou g h t to » disastrous termination. Attraoted by the treasures of her churcheß, monasteries, and schools, the Danes who were a nation of pirates and plunderers, landed on the S«w T 8 mth S year I9o'I 90 ' iOli 01 nearly so ° y ears kept up a system of guerilla" warfare, which was as provoking to a eoldier race, accustomed to meet their enemy in the field, as it was rninons TrtSTf^- ed^ cation i At len gta, driven to desperadon, Jhe Irish, under King Brian Born, rose as one man, and on the field of Olontarf broke the Danish power tor ever. The intensity of the struggle may be estimated from the fact that England, two centunes before the battle of Clontarf , had submitted to the fierce pirates whom the Irish conquered and expelled from their shores. The country made giant efforts to rebuild her ruined temples monasteries and eohools. But another visitation was near at hand me Anglo-Normans came, says Fronde, with unconsoious irony, to complete the civilisation which the Danes had commenced. From that hour to the present the history of Ireland is written in blood and tears. - *.