The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-05-04

late as the 9TH century, when ST.
Albanian put an end to compulsory
military service for women. He was
travelling one day and carrying his
mother on his back when theyp came
across two armies fighting, near them
were two women belaboring each
other with reaping hooks. The saint s
mother was shocked that she slid to
the ground and made her son promise
before they moved another step that
he would do his utmost to redress this
evil.
A thing that points to the fact that
women were held in esteem is that in
all families except those of the very
poor the best part of the house was
set apart for theswomen. 1t was called
the "Grianan," which means Sunny
Chamber" Grian being the Irish for
sun. Here the women lived, worked,
or studied, and here the men came
to visit the ladies when they were
weary of their stiff rooms, and here
they played chess and enjoyed music.
The Grianans were made as pretty and
bright as possible, they were frequent
ly matched with birds feathers, some
times entirely white, but that was &C
cording to individual taste. In the
description of the beautiful Grianan
built by Cairbre, King of Kerry, for
his daughter Crede we read that it
had green door posts and a carved sill
Iyn H1nfn Tho fhofNo hrnurT1 n
crimson, and the porch was matched
with birds feathers, beautifully ar
ranged in stripes of blue and yellow
The Grianans were not only artistic
outside, but inside they were hung
with beautifully. embroidered hang
ings, and there. were couches inlaid
with silver and gold, and cushions
with beautiful covers.
Such were the surroundings in
which the women of ancient Ireland
lived and moved, and from such we
may be able to estimate the position
of woman before the dawn of the
golden age of Ireland ~
In the absence Of alarm clocks the
girls of that period were awakened in
the mornings by a woman servant
playing sweet music, similarly al
night she was lulled to sleep by the
music of slumber. s. ,sasa
Like the women of Greece they took
great care of their personal appear
ance, and. were renowned for theil
beautiful hair which they usually wore
in two or more long plaits These
plaits were not confined by a ribbon
but by a flexible gold ornament, many
examples of which may be seen il
| the Dublin Museum. Women also
wore a gold ornament on their heal
called a mind" and we have re
naming to us many specimens of col
lars, bracelets, waist ornaments, etc
One hears little nowadays of any
but the Tara Brooch, whereas there
were at least fifteen different type!
of brooch These were worn by boil
men and women to Keep the cloak il
place. ,@
Even in those days Ireland was ia
| nous for fine linen, and it was largel,
employed for wearing apparel. The
women wore a loose overdress of tht
Princess style of fine wool or silk
richly embroidered and fastened OF
the left side by eyelet holes and ;
lace, buttons and pressions. being a!
i yet unknown The dress was con
fined at the waist by hoop of twistet
/ gold or a belt of leather often riehl!
! chased and studded with stones. Owe
this was worn a cloak richly EN-
[broidered, or trimmed with fur or pei
haps entirely of skins. On their fee
they wore sandals or shoes of fin
leather, a King is one place described
as wearing two shoes of net work. 0
gold with golden buckles
Even the men deemed it disgrace
to have red hands and unkempt nails
and there were skilled manicurist
among the women servants. Deirdr
lamenting for her dead husband, says
Il sleep no more, no more do
crimson my nails, no more shall jo.
come into my mind
AS in this instance our knowledg
of the ways and habits of the womel
of ancient ireland is not mere SUI
mise, it is gathered from the old man
uscripts. The bards were often yer,
exact in their details, and when the
were describing feast or a meetin!
/ between two chiefs, they would de
scribe what the king wore and Wha
the queen wore as if they were writ
ten for a society paper, and it i
thanks to them that we can now con
Istruct for ourselves an accurate pic
ture of, those times.
i Here is a description from an olt
Tale of the Princess Etain: Ssh
stood on the edge of the well comb
ing her hair with bright comb o
silver adorned with gold, The hue o
her hair was like that red gold afte
Furnishing. It was plated in tw,
locks and a bead at the point of eacl
lock. She wore a mantle folded ant
purple, and in the mantle siIve
j fringes arranged and a brooch of tn,
finest gold A kirtle long and hooded
4 of green silk with red embroidery O
Egold was seen beneath it. Marvellous
i clasps of gold and silver in the kirtlt