Page 19 - IRISH HISTOEY - CHAPT 1_Neat

A Bare Bones History of Ireland Chap 1

The most powerful of the eight kings was called the High King. The High King was
rather like a current-day champion boxer - he only continued as High King as long as
he remained undefeated. For example, the King of Tyrone in 1166, was overthrown
and killed in a rebellion by his sub-kings who then gave their support to Rory
O'Connor, King of Connaught who advanced to become High King of Ireland.

Gaelic Language
Irish (Gaeilge), sometimes referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic was the predominant
language of the Irish people for most of their recorded history and it is an established
fact that they brought it with them to other regions, notably Scotland and the Isle of
Man where it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx respectively.
This native Irish language survived the Viking invasions so that in pre-Norman times
it was the universal language of Ireland.

Native clothing
Skellig Michael, Kerry
Rock of Cashel, Tipperary – circa 1100 AD

Religion
The second coming of St Patrick to Ireland in the 5th century (as an ordained Bishop
of the Christian faith) sparked the conversion of the Irish people to Christianity and
subsequently to their declared allegiance to Rome.
Religious tradition had always been strong in Ireland as evidenced by its famous
Celtic monasteries. Their buildings were very simple, consisting of several small stone
beehive shaped cells for monks to live in, clustered around a small stone church, a
protecting wall surrounded the whole settlement and a tall round tower was used to
store holy treasures and protect monks against Vikings attacks. The Irish kings were
generous patrons of religion and the monasteries. In 1134 Cormac McCarthy, King of
Munster, built the lovely church on the Rock of Cashel.

The People
For the period from the Battle of Clontarf (1014) to the arrival of the next invader
(Strongbo 1171) Ireland enjoyed over 150 years of relative peace and a flourishing
traditional gaelic culture.
For most of its history, Ireland was a ‘patchwork’ of geographical territories ruled by a
hierarchy of kings or chieftains. However, it is increasingly accepted that early
medieval Gaelic society was not so isolated from the European mainstream. As we
saw from the monastic heritage, contact with the continent of Europe ensured that Irish
kings were well acquainted with feudal system of government

19