The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1921-11-24

Irish shores went forth celebrated
missionaries, among them st. Colum.
ba, who evangelized Scotland, and st
Gan, who went to Switzerland anc
did such good work there that one Of
the cantons is called by his name.
Later on after these peaceful years
there was constant warfare; first the
Danes invaded our coast and then the
various chiefs fought amongst them
selves for supremacy, but there wa
never a King Of ireland, i.e., Of the
whole country. There were kings OF
chiefs Of different districts and
among them Ulster had the first
place. One Of the chiefs in the 18th
century quarrclled with another and
being defeated, he went to England
and invited the English king to come
over and help him. That was the
beginning Of English rule in ireland
and also Of Roman Catholicism. The
early church was entirely Celtic and
owned no allegiance to Rome.
Ulster was and Is the premier prov.
ince. The oldest and most renowned
Of all Irish symbols is the Red Hand
of Ulster, also the badge Of the
O'Neills, who owned and ruled mos.
Of the land in the old days. The
symbol dates very far back and pos
sibly even further than the story con.
nected with IL. This, however. Is the
tale: A race called the Milesians in
vaded Ireland about 100 A. d. and,
according to tradition, two Of the
chieftains had agreed that whoever
touched the soil of ireland first after
leaving the vessels in their small
boats should have first choice Of the
land. One, seeing his rival gaining
in the race, drew his sword and cut.
ting of his hand hurled II to the
shore, thus touching land first and
overcoming his opponent. Hence the
bloody hand has been the chief badge
Of Ulster till this day and Is de-
picted in the windows and stones Of
various buildings.
Ulster was always the hardest
province TO s6bdue and is still.
Finally, after much fighting. about
1911 the English Government confis-
Gated the greater portion Of the land,
granting 1t to English and Scotch
settlers. This has never been forgot.
ten nor forgiven; II was a sinful
thing to do, and tho in many ways II
has worked out well, yet II created
such bitterness toward England as
has never been quelled during the in
tervening centuries. There have been
rebellions in every century since then,
bad ones in 164l and 1898, minor
ones later and finally the very bad
one at Easter, 1915.
The matter Of religion always
comes into Irish politics. The dis.
possessed owners in 1911 were Ro.
man Catholics, the settlers were
Protestants, and that was the begin
ming of the religious troubles. Then
in 10000, when James II was forced
to leave England, 1t was on Irish
soil the decisive battles between Pa
pal tyranny and Protestant freedom
were fought. The Irish Roman Cath.
olics fought for the English Roman
Catholic King, whilst the Irish Prot
estarts fought on the side Of the
Protestant Prince Of Orange and won
the victory.
Our troubles are political as wen
as religious. During the 18th and
18th centuries the laws were very
severe against Presbyterians and Ro-
man Catholics. The Test Act was
one Of the worst; by It only those
who belonged to the Episcopal church
and took communion in that church
were eligible for any public Office.
This excluded both Presbyterians and
Roman Catholics, for they would not
stoop to such an act as to give up
their own faith. In the north many
Of the Presbyterian ministers were
forbidden to preach in their churches
and were imprisoned for doing SO.
Later the laws against our trade
were most unjust. During the 18th
century Ireland was prohibited from
exporting its manufactures to the
markets Of the world. The principal
products then were silk, wool and
linen. The silk trade was introduced
by French Protestsnts and fiourishei
for a considerable period. The VOL
len trade was destroyed because the
English manufacturers were jealous
Of the Irish ones. The linen trade,
however, could not be wholly destroy
ed, as England could not compete
with Ireland in respect to it, as the
extreme moisture Of our climate gives
TO Irish linen that delicate Wilderness