The Irish standard., 1910-08-20
WOMEN IN EARLY
HISTORY OF IRELAND
From Ancient Times They Have
Been Held in Great Respect
in Hibernia.
They Shared the Responsibilities
Pleasures and Culture of
the Time.
Protestant Families Sent Their
Children to be Nursed by
Catholic Peasantry.


Women from the earliest times have
been held in great respect in Ireland,
writes Sarah Atkinson. The Brehon
law, by which the inhabitants of
the territories outside the pale were
governed from long before st. Patrick's
time, to thoi reign of the cold -blooded
renegade son of Mary Queen of Scots,
and according to whose provisions the
people in many parts of the country
continued up to comparatively re-
cent period to arrange their affairs and
settle their disputes, secured to women
the rights of property, and provided for
their rational independence i'll. far
more effectual way than was contem-
plated by other codes. In social life
the spirit of the Brehon Law was en-
bodied and transmitted to succeeding
generations in the customs and man.
ners of the people.
One cannot read the annals of Ire
land without observing how import
ant was the position occupied by wom-
en- in Erin. All. according to their
degree, were expected to fill part.
both influential and honorable, in the
constitution of the clan. A consider
able share of the internal administra-
ton of the principality was intrusted
to the wife of the chieftain or pro-
vincial king. The duties Of hospitality
-onerous and constant and precisely
defined by the Brehon Law-were ex-
ercised by her. To her was intrusted
the care of the poor and suffering. She
was expected to be an encourager Of
learning, and friend to the Ollamhs
or professors, and a benefactor to the
churches, and a generous helper of the
religious orders.
While the chieftain was out fighting
or taking preys from his enemies, the
chieftain's wife kept everything in or
der in the little kingdom, and held
herself ready, at a moments notice,
to protect her people from robbers. or
defend her cattle from invaders The
mother of Hugh O'Neill is described by
the annalists as "A woman who was
the pillar of support and maintenance
of the INDECENT and the mighty, of the
poets and exiled, Of widows and or
phans of the clergy and men of SCI
ence, of the poor and needy; woman
who was head of council and advice to
the gentlemen and chiefs of the Prov
ince Of Conor Mac Nessa; demure,
womanly, devout, charitable, meek, be-
nignant woman, with pure piety and
the love of God and her neighbors."
And should one Of these fair wom-
en-, who acted we'll her part in the
chieftain's household, renounce "world-
ly vanities and terrestrial pomps' and
betake herself to IAN austre, devout
life" in a nunnery, the chronicler fails
not to speed thither the blessings Of
guests and strangers, poor and rich.
and poet-philosophers of Ireland, which
he prays may be on her in that life"
In recording the erection OF churches,
and the foundation of monasteries, the
old historians constantly note that It
is a joint work of the chief and his
wife. Sometimes. indeed, the wife
; seems to have been the sole founder;
and we are led to believe that she had
whether of the head of the dan or
the proceeds of her own dowry.
If the women of Erin took their full
share of the burdens and responsible
ties of life in those bygone stirring
times they were not excluded from par
ticipation in the pleasures Of life, and
in the advantage of whatever culture
was then attainable. Like their hus-
bands, they we're fond Of foreign trav-
el, and made pilgrimages to Rome,
and even to more distant shrines. But
1t was not customary for the chief and
chieftainess to leave home together;
one of them must stay to receive
strangers, entertain guests, and carry
on the government Of the principality.
Among the Brehons, who were the law
yers Of the clan, there were women
eminent as judges or expounders of
the laws; and in the learned families
3sNA