Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-09

Brian devoted himself 10 the develop /
ment of the industries. the encourage
ment of agriculture and the education or ,
the people lie made wise laws and en-
forced them with justice. He founded
schools and colleges. He encouraged art
and science; he built roads I'm every d.
rect;on, and he gave the distracted conn
try the blessings of peace and prosperity.
Instead OF fighting among themselves
the people gave their attention to farm
ing. cattle breeding. trade and manufac-
turing. literature and the polite arts, ana
the historians say that another twenty
wears Of Brians reign would have
changed the entire history of the country.
Rare Tom Moore has given us a picture
of Ireland In those days, when, according
to his verses, "A beautiful young lady
Rich and rare with the gems she wore
-traversed the entire country from north
to south and from east to west without
being molested.
Fought on Good Friday.
When Brian became an old man. Mall
mora. King of Leinster. conspired with
the Danes. the Manxmen, the chiefs OF
the Orkneys and the Scots to overthrow
him. Sitgryg of the Silken Beard. ar
ranged with them to consolidate their
forces to overcome the Irish. Sigurd.
Earl Of Orkney, brought an army ten
thousand strong. Broder. the great Vi
king of the Isle OF Man, brought fleet
OF two thousand SHIPS anu IL tHVuSduo
men covered with mail from head to foot
TO meet the Irish. VINO always fought In
tunics. Broder had once been Chris
tian but had fallen from grace. Ne was
the tallest and the strongest man of his
time. His hair was SO long that he had
to tuck II under his belt. He wore coat
of mail ION which no steele could bite,
and had no reverence for God or Tor
man, for church or sanctuary.
The venerable Brian Boru. then sew
pntN-fhrpp canned In
what is now Phoenix Park. surrounded
by twenty thousand warriors representing
the different Irish clans. His sons pre-
vailed upon him not TO engage in tho
battle and he gave the command to MS
con Morrough. But he led the column to
the hill of Clontarf on the morning OF
Good Friday. and when the invaders were
in plain sight. Brian Boru. holding abort
a crucifix. rode from rank to rank re-
minding his men that on hat day their
Lord had died for them. and exhorttng
them to smite the heather hip and thigh
for their religion and their homes. Then
giving the signal for the onset he with
drew to his tent at the top OF the hill
where he could observe the conflict.
Battles Of Those Days.
hand-to-hand encounters. The command
ers selected each other for single combat.
The fighting extended for two miles along
tHt SHOIc vi Tic Day VI Duulh ahu hu-
man beings were cut down like stalks OF
corn. The aged kind remained in his tent
engaged In earnest prayer for victory
while the air was filled with the clash or
steel and the Danes and his own soldiers
were dying by thousands around him. To-
ward nightfall the heather gave way ana
began to retreat. Their commanders were
all slain or desperately wounded. Brian 8
grandson, THOROUGH. smote the Earl OF
Orkney with his battle AK and cleft his
head down as far as his neck. Broder.
the great Viking; desperately wounded.
nized Brian of the Long Beard at the
door of his tent. He. rushed upon the
old man with a double-edged battle ak.
Brian seized his trusty sword and they
struck together. Brian's head was am
putated and Broder's legs. one at the
knee and the other from the ankle. At
sunset when they returned from the bat
tie Brian's servants found their king dead
and Broder stretched by his side.
The body of Brian and that of his SON
Morrough were conveyed with great SOL
emnity to Armagh and laid at rest in the
cathedral where their tombs may he seen
this day The whole kingly funeral cere-
monies lasted for a fortnight. and all
Ireland was filed with lamentations
Every petty chief and prince in the is
land tried to grasp the power. As the
old song runs:
Each man ruled his own tribe,
But no man ruled Erin
and that condition continued for cen-
fury and a half. all Ireland being dis
tracted by the rivalries of the several
chiefs. the O'Briens. the O'Neills. the
O'COnnors and the OLoughlins.
Present Condition of battle-ground.
That part of the battle-ground lying on
the shore of the bay has been built over
and behind it the land has been divided
into small country places, where the ricf,
men of Dublin spend their idle hours
Their homes are encircled with high
fences and are divided by a maze of roads
and lanes concealed by canopies or green
foliage that overhang the walls.
A little farther on are the ruins OF a
church surrounded by a silent battalion
of gravestones. 1t was the Abbey OF
Kilbarrack and one of the tomhstones.
badly defaced marks the burial place Of
spy who betrayed Lord Edward Fitz-
gerald to the government in the insur-
rection Of aS. He Is known as The
Sham SQUIRE because for a time he
succeeded in passing himself OF as a
country gentleman of wealth and was
married to lady of good family. When
the fraud was detected he was sent TO
Jail and she died of shame and morfifica-
ton. Being boycotted by all honorable
men he became a spy and informer and
yard, which had to be watched because the
people resented his burial in consecrated
ground and would have thrown his body
into the bay.
The Hill of Howth.
The car line follows the curves of the
coast down to the shore of the Irish sea,
where the monstrous mass of rocks cover
ed with heather, rhodendrons and gorse.
now as yellow as gold, rise five or six
hundred feet with here and there a dense
mass of foliage. 1t is known as the Hill
of Howth, and is considered one Of the
most picturesque places in Ireland. At
it's foot is the village of Howth. and on
either side are the ruins of ancient strong
holds. located SO as to command the
entrance to the harbor.
The title of the Earl OF Howth dates
back to 1177, and was bestowed in battle.
1t has been held honorably by the Law
renee family, one Of the oldest IN Ireland.
They won their name and their lands by
the sword. The founder OF the house
was Amory Tristan. a Norman adventur.
er, who followed Strongbow to the con.
quest Of Ireland. and has been immortal.
lied In Wagners opera, Tristan and
Isolde While Tristan. loyal knight
and true, was attending a redhaired Irish
princess to her destined husband, the
King Of Cornwall, they drank by mistake
love potion which bound them forever
In frenzied romance. 1t ended with
Tristan dying in his castle and Isolde
coming over the sea to perish like juliet