Ireland History

Above : Piece from Book Of Ballymote

It is evident that the reliability of our early traditions must depend greatly upon the time at which written records were first made and preserved. The period at which the use of letters was first introduced into Ireland is, however, yet another doubtful question. By some the introduction of writing is ascribed to St. Patrick : others believe that written records were kept in Ireland from much earlier times. The Irish words for everything connected with writing are derived directly from Latin. We have no manuscripts from the times before St. Patrick. On the other hand, neither are there manuscripts from the Romans who occupied Britain, although, of course, they were well acquainted with letters. There was much intercourse between Ireland and the Roman Empire : there are frequent references to books written before St. Patrick came, and to laws which were recorded before his arrival. The sudden general adoption of writing immediately after the time of St. Patrick suggests some knowledge of it before his time. The probabilities are that the use of letters was known in a certain degree to the Irish for some time prior to the introduction of Christianity, but was not generally known until after that event.

Posted on June 25th, 2008 under Ireland to the First Century BC. Tags: brugh na boinne, irish mytologycal, letter, literature, mananndn, mythological cycle, ogham, patheon, period, tradition. Comments: None

Above : Picture From Fenian Cycle

Although from this period, as from the preceding one, no manuscripts have been preserved, it occupies, nevertheless, a prominent position in Irish literature, one even more important than that occupied by the earlier era. It is the period in which occurred the events around which are woven all the stories of two of the three great cycles of Irish Literature. The preceding period was that of the ” Mythological Cycle ” ; the present one is that of the ” Red Branch Cycle,” and the ” Fenian Cycle.” The stories which have been grouped into those cycles were produced, in the form in which they have come down to us, in times much later ; but as the latter two deal with the characters and events of this period, it is appropriate to refer to them here.

Posted on June 22nd, 2008 under First Century BC to the Coming of St Patrick. Tags: amazonian queen, deirdre, eamhain, fenian, literature, manuscript, naesi, red branch. Comments: None