The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-11-19
SOME NEW hooks.
wnipoie's History OF Ireland.

No one, OF course. Is qualified to form an
opinion regarding the Irish questions which
are discussed with so much interest both in
Che United Kingdom and in the United States
unless he has acquired some knowledge of
Ireland's history throughout the period OF
English interference with the people Of that
island. But heretofore it has boon difficult to
acquire an adequate knowledge Of Irish
history prior to tho eighteenth century,
from tho lack Of Il handbook sufficiently
concise. lucid. and trustworthy. Mr.. CHARLES
GEORGE WALpoLE has come nearer than any
other English writer TO satisfying this want in
his Short History Me Kingdom Of Ireland from
the Earliest Times 10 The Union ,cih Great Britain
(Harpers). Tho author claims no credit for
original research. his object being simply to
present in n condensed form the materials
already cxtant In published state papers and
correspondence. and in the very numerous his
torical works bearing on tho Same subject.
The chief merits of the book are the fulness
with which 1t exhibits the facts we are really
concerned to know. the skill with which 1t
glides over insignificant details. and the i'm
partial spirit with which topics that have pro-
voked much heated controversy are uniformly
treated. We do not mean that the authors
sympathies are disguised; on the contrary. 1t
is evident that they are warmly enlisted on the
side of Ireland. but Mr.. Walpole is studiously
temperate In the expression Of the feelings
and opinions to which the patient study OF
Irish history has brought him. We should add
that the arrangement Of his materials is efYec-
tive, and that tho maps by which the cardinal
epochs in the history OF the country are Illus
trated form n useful supplement to the narrative
Mr.. Walpole gives but twenty pages to tho
history of independent Ireland: yet he man
ages to give us good deal OF information re-
garding the political and social condition of
the native Irish during the centuries which
preceded the first English invasion in the time
Of Henry H. He has reached the conclusion
that nothing in the nature of authentic his
tory can be Cleaned by the student before tho
early part Of the fifth century. He considers
the 200 years between the beginning OF the
sixth century. when Christianity had become
we'll established. and the end of the eighth con-
fury. when the incursions OF tho Mortimer be-
gan to have been the most peaceful and pros
porous years that Ireland has ever known. He
seems TO appreciate the relatively large meas
ure Of learning and civilization which existed
at this epoch and by which ireland WAS favor
ably distinguished not only from the pagan
Kingdoms founded by the English in the island
OF Britain. and from the unconverted natives of
central and northern Germany but also from
the Frank and Burgundian Kingdoms In Gnul.
erntions Of tribes, corresponding pretty nearly
to the four provinces into which the island ia
now divided. though the Morse termination
"ster" shows that. with the exception of Con-
naught. none Of the present provincial
names could have been In use before
the ninth century. These confederacies
each acknowledged royal family of it's own;
Ulster that of the O'Nicls Connaught that ofthe
O'Connors. Munster that of the O'Briens and
Leinster that Of the McMurroughs. In theory
these four kingdoms all recognized q branch
Of the Ulster family OF O'Niel as lords para
mount. and to this race. entitled to supreme
authority. appertained the demesne OF Meath,
which included westmeath. Longford. and
part OF Kings county. and was sometimes
reckoned as fifth kingdom. This overload.
ship was really only maintained by force. and
the right to it was frequently disputed by the
formidable southern kingdom OF Munster.
The kingdom OF Munster was itself divided
into the two districts OF Thomond and Des-
mond, whose leading families the O'Briens and
the McCarthys claimed to occupy alternately
the vassa throne of Cashel. The intertribal
wars which were carried on. with only brief
intermissions from the dawn OF authentic
history up to the arrival Of Strongbow are at
tributed by the author to the fact that.
the tribal land became occupied and the in
OF each other. and perhaps aienated by diff
ferences of origin. were driven to aggression
by the pressure Of population upon subsistence.
The Mortimer may be said to have been the
virtual masters OF the greater part OF Ireland
Tor two centuries from the first subsection Of the
natives by Turges in the early part Of the
ninth century up to the battle Of Clontarf in
1014 The Morse emlgrants planted themselves
at the mouths Of all the principal rivers
girded the whole coast with trading COM
munities. and kept up communications across
the country by more than one series of
fortified posts. They had almost as de-
structive an effect upon the Christian
civilization Of Ireland as the English had
on that of Britain. and it is to be noted
that the Morse settlers in Ireland wereNot con-
verted until the latter half of the tenth century
The complete overthrow OF the Danes at Clon-
tart might have been followed by II revival Of
prosperity in Ireland but for the struggle for
the overordship between the hereditary house
and the Kings OF Munster The first 81 the lat
ter to usurp the throne OF Tara was Brien Boru
and from that time forward for century and
a half the contest for supremacy between the
provincial Kings was seldom intermitted 1t
should be pointed out. before leaving this por-
ton OF the narrative. that the Morse cmigrants
though subjugated. were not driven out OF the
iblHnu. lney renamed IN their settlements
keeping up close Intercourse with their kins-
men in Britain. by whom. and not by the irish
they had been converted to Christianity
1t is significant circumstance that the
Danish Bishops of Waterford and Dublin were
ordained from Canterbury. There can be no
doubt that the Danish communities must have
played an important part in facilitating the
Norman and Angevin conquest Of Ireland
though ut first they vehemently opposed the
invasion.
According to Mr.. Walpole's view Of Irish his
tory, there have virtually been five English
conqucsts OF Ireland; but the first two were as
imperative as the Norman conquest of Eng
land in the sense that the invaders were al
most completely amalgamated in blood and
sympathy with the common people 1t was
through the last three conquests resulting in
the plantations and settlements. which began
in the seventeenth century that an alien popu-
lation became firmly rooted in portions of the
Irish soil. map OF the Anglo-Norman posses
sions in Ireland in the thirteenth century
shows that the nibusters and colonists who
succeeded Strongbow had occupied about two
thirds Of Ireland and established the feuda