The Irish standard., 1911-03-04
DRUID WORSHIP
IN IRISH HISTORY
Fantastic Theories of the Religion
of the Ancient Gaels Fast
Disappearing.
Antiquarian Research Pursued in a
Critical Spirit is Revealing
Interesting Facts.
Modern Writers Believe Early Gaelic
Religion was Philosophic
Quest for Truth.

An interesting lecture ON D:uidical
| Worship and Affairs in Ireland WAS re-
Gently delivered before the National
Literary Society Of Dublin by Rev. p.
e. Mallen. 1t follows in part:
| Until about the middle of the last
century writer's on the religion of the
ancient Gael indulgcd in the widest
and most fantastic theories about the
forms of worship of our Pagan ances-
tors. Divinities, particularly the most
repulsive ones, were taken wholesale
from the Pagan pantheon of the East
and West, and set up in the green
woods and hills of Erin, and it was
only when the study of our ancient
history, language. and literature was
undertaken in the rational and critical
spirit that maintains amongst our Irish
scholars OF the present day that anti
quacian research found that the nast
had really left us an historical back
ground to the beginnings or our race.
However, knowledge OF the main
| features of Druidsm can be arrived
at with reasonable degree OF ce--
tainty. Modern writer's on the sub
iect, amongst them Prof MacNeill are
inclined to hold the view that it was
a purely philosophic system whose
main end was the attainment Of knowl-
edge, and that religion. in so far as
it entered into the system, was merely
a past and parcel of that knowledge.
This seems to be q sound view, and
would accord with the ready and Gag
er acceptation Of the Christian Faith
by the Pagan Irish, and the small
amount of organized opposition which
st. Patrick met with from the Druids
on his first coming to Ireland. ST
Patrick himself in his Confessions
a work which even the most skeptical
critics are forced to regard as authen-
tic, expresses his amazement at the
numbers who focked to conversion.
! Ai"u VIC III diNS OCCiI SoiCiy vi even
chiefly devoted to the teaching Of re-
ligious dogma and the exercise OF ~e-
ligious functions, no human explana-
tion will adequately meet the fact OF
their wholesale and almost immediate
national conversion other than that
the Druids had been for a long time
previously sadly ncglecting their du-
ties, or that miracle was wrought
like to that after Pentecost. Still less
convincing than these even is the ex-
planatioD adduced by lo"of. Bury in
his Life of st. Patrick" that ti1eir al
most unquestonng reception of Chris
tian truth was due to the fact that
the God of the Christians was the God
of the great Roman Empire, and that
this union of Christ and Caesur was
the Christians most imposing argyll
| ment.
We a~c safe in stating that people
who never knew physical fear before
the might Of Imperial Rome at its sum-
nit OF power would never allow Rome
in the Fifth century either to illumine
by it's light or darken by it's shadow
the path that led their souls to truth.
The rational explanation as far az 1t
to lie in the fact that the preachings
Of the Druids left the minds of the
people free in their seeking after truth.
and to a great extent guided them on
the way that led to it. We can only
regret that that self-imposed law
which debarred the D:uids themselves
from committing anything to writing
has deprived us Of the true source of
knowledge which would put an end to
all controversy.
Bst even from the evidence we do
possess it is permissible to conclude
that this system Of theirs so allied ii,
the tendency of many of it's teachings
to the g:eat pre-Christian philosophi-
system of Plato was one suited to dis
pose the mind of the Gael to embrace
the sublime message which st. Patrick
brought. But the great problem in
connection with our subject is con-
cerned with the nature Of the sacrifice
of the Druids, was it human or other
wise. We strictly confine ourselves
here to consideration of the question
in so fur as it concerns Irish Druid