Evening star., 1905-03-17
HISTORY OF IRELAND
STORY AS RELATED BY DIR. II. E.
JOHNSON.
est. Patrick and the Land He Loved
So. Well'' Theme of
Address.

The lecture delivered Wednesday evening
before the Waugh Brotherhood of Waugh
NJ. E. Church by DR.. H. f. Johnson, refer
ence to which was made in The Star of
yesterday was received with enthusiasm.
DR.. Johr SON chose for his theme "St. Pat
rick ard the Land He Loved So Well,'' and
in the course of his address he paid grace
full tribute to the emerald isle and intro
duced many matters of historical interest.
He related the story in a graceful way
which captivated his audience, and gave
voice to his. love for his native land while
relating Ireiaud's struggles for liberty and
place among the nations.
Story of Centuries.
1.-The story of ireland may be traced
through fifteen hundred years of history,
eight hundred wears of tradition and a
thousand years of legend, he said THE
earliest occupants of he island are known
as Firbolgs or FOmorians. They are de-
scribed as a small, wiry, restless, talkative
race, and are supposed to have been
Iberians from the south of Spain. They
gave to the island It's earliest name, calling
it liberia now changed to Hibernia. Four
hundred years later came second colony,
called in Irish story the Tuatha de Dana
ans These brought a superior civilization
They were workers in metals, and when
their king lost a hand in battle with the
Firbolgs, one of his artisans made for him
a silver hand after which he is known as
Newad of the silver hand. They were
skilled in architecture, of which the Round
Towers are said to be specimens. They wor-
-shped Baal under the forms of fire and
the serpent; they practiced human sacrifice,
and their priests were called Druids. Many
traces of this worship remain. In local
names as BallyshannOn, that is, Baal of the
Shannon Balyinasloe; and one that has
crossed the ocean and fixed itself nearby,
Baltimore, is Baal ii moor; or Baal of the
field.
THE feast of Beltone-still observed-was
festival of Baal, in which fires were built
the mountain tops on the first of May.
THE Danaans brought with them to Ire
land block of granite which they called
'the stone of Scone," or destiny. They es-
tablished the seat of government at Tara,
and on this stone, at Tara, the Irish kings
were crowned for many years. The stone
was afterward carried to Scotland and
there used in the coronation of the kings
of Scotland. 1t now lies beneath the coro-
nation chair in Westminster Abbey. There
are strong reasons for the opinion that the
Danaans were Phenecians from the shores
of the Mediterranean.
Invasion by Third Race
About two hundred years after the birth
of Christ Ireland was invaded by third
race, known in the island as Milesians
Scott These were the Callahan GeIts, TO
whom Paul wrote his epistle. in which he
so fifty portrays marked trait of Irish
character: If it were possible we would
have plucked out your own eyes and have
given them to me- These brought Chris
tianty to Ireland and of this stock st.
Patrick sprang. They also settled in Scot
land, and from them that country took its
present name. They established their seat
OF government at Atn-Cliath, the Eblana of
Ptolemy, the present city of Dublin. AT the
opening of the fourth century these three
races occupied the island, and were con-
stantly at war; the Firbolgs chiefly in the
south the Danaans In the west and the
Celts in the north and east.
I'VE now come to the era of st. Patrick,
who is one of those 1rishmen who had the
misfortune to be born out of his native
country There has been almost as much
controversy over his birthplace as over that
of Homer The probability is that he was
born at a place now called Kirkpatrick, near
Dumbarton, in nd, whittier his ances-
tors had emgrated from Ireland. The date
was about 3T2. He tells us in his confession
that his father deacon and his grand
father a presbyter of the church. When
sixteen years of age he was captured by
pirates and sold as slave in Ireland. After
seven years of slavery he escaped, reached
home studied to prepare for the work to
which he felt called and az the age of
th.rty-siX years returned to ireland as a
missionary. His name has been loaded
down with marvellous stories, which have
sprung from that fertile held-an Irish
imagination; but the truth is stronger than
fiction.