First bishop was Palladius in 431, sent by Pope Celestine I, probably to southern Ireland. Patrick was bishop in 432 according to tradition. Annals kept in 6th and 7th century. Backtracked to 5th century, Patrick was a Britain taken as a slave to Ireland at age 16 for six years. Fled to his home, returned as missionary to Northern Ireland. Patrick was in Armagh in the province of Ulser, the capital of Emain Macha. Although Patrick converted the pagan Ui Neill overlord, besting the Druids, Christianity was still a minority.
In the 7th c. Ulster and the Ui Neill kingdom had shrunk and Armagh was in the vassal kingdom of the Airgialla. The Ui Neill and the Ulstermen fought for possession of Patrick's body, buried in Armagh (or Down Patrick).
The early kings of Tara were inaugurated by a pagan rite know as the Feis Temro � Feast of Tara. Feis is from Old Irish "fo-aid" (sleeps with). The king was united with the land in a ritual marriage. Last mention of this tradition in the annals was at the inauguration of Diarmait Mac Cerbaill, in 558 or 560, two generations after Patrick. Diarmait was the grandson of a brother of Loegaire, who according to legend submitted to Patrick. Loegaire and his successor Ailill-Molt were both inaugurated. Ireland was mostly pagan until mid-6th c. Plague in 548, then monasticism began to flourish and completed the conversion. Armagh was the main ecclesiastical center in the 10th and 11th c.
Contact with Britain:
In circa 634, Ireland, England and Scotland were to form a single culture area. 'Insular' manuscripts as all were alike. Pict art was also incorporated. Culture was shared until 8th and 9th century. Lush foliage patterns form North-umbria and figures of humans and little animals were Pictish.
8th century, the church and overlords impose ecclesiastical law � the Saints Cain (c, 697�the 'cana plural') � in one province to protect the clerics, church property, women and children from violence. 8th c. monasteries occasionally went to war with each other due to secularization.
In 795, Viking raids. 832-870 most damage was done. Some Vikings were peaceful settlers, pursued commerce, and introduced silver. Cana law ends in 842, some 9th century monasteries were untouched. The Book of Kells survived the Viking raids. Churches built from stone c.859, and Norse towns on east coast were built that time also. 9th c. Ireland's golden age of art was lost. The notorious Turgeis, a brutal pirate, ruled Ulster form Armagh. His wife presided over human sacrifices at the high altar of Conmacnoise. In the 8th and 9th centuries Gwynedd and Dyfedd in west Wales, Dalriada in Scotland, Munster and Ulster in Ireland were dominant Celtic kingdoms. 9th c. Viking raids in Britain, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Plundered monasteries on islands and capes (Lindisfarne and Iona among them) monks massacred or sold as slaves on continent. About this time the monasteries became city-like.
Pre-11th century history of Pictland and Scotland:
Picts lived in what is known as Scotland. The land area was called Caledonia by the Romans and gave the Celts of that land the name Picts, which means "painted ones". They were called Cruithni. They had yellow-red hair and originated from Germany. Caledonii was in the North, Maeatac from the south.
Bridei, the son of Maelcan (?), king of the Picts was a descendant of a Welsh princess (6th c.). Had a host (or army) and a navy. Also had council, treasury, priests, slaves and messengers. The second Bridei (7th c.) united Pictland. He destroyed the Northumbrians in 685, who ruled northern Britain in the 6th and 7th centuries.
Nechthan, king of the Picts converted. Oengus (729) king of the Picts had peaceful relations with the Angles, but fought the Scots. Two battles were fought, possibly in Ireland. Oengus died in 761.
Galic-speaking Scots, the Dalriada, from northeast Ireland migrated to what is now called Argyll, Scotland. Along the coast and western isles, with Irish homeland became the kingdom of Dalriada. Their royal dynasty moved to Scotland by the 6th Century. Their link with Ireland ended by 637 A.D. By the 8th c. the Hill of Dunadd was a major stronghold.
The Picts fought MacAlpin and the Scots and were defeated by them in 839. In Pictland, the kingdoms of Rheged, Gododdin and Strathclyde all fell by 9th century. Kenneth MacAlpin, Dalriadan king, imposed his power on Picts, who soon ceased to exist. The Norse slaughtered The Picts and Eoghann, the last king of the Picts, died. Macalpin led the Scot-Picts again the Vikings, 844-860.
Clan Dougall was at Dunstaffnagle Castle, Argyll. Clan Donald of the Dalriadic kings.
When Columba went to Scotland, he founded a religious community on the island called Iona and established the Irish Church in the Gaelic kingdom of Dal Riada (of the Scots). Iona becomes the religious center of Scotland. Consecrate king Fergus Mac Erc (founder of the kingdom of Dalriada), the first to be consecrated on the British mainland. King Aedan (his grandson) was consecrated in 563. Bridei, the high king of the Picts converted in 570. Columba was given the island of the Ross of Mull, possibly by Bridei. The island was called I-colmnkil.
Circa 840: The Scots who were forced inland by the Vikings absorbed the Picts. Kenneth MacAlpin (c. 850) took Columba's relics form Iona to Dunkeld, which was the ecclesiastical center, the government in Scone. The Monymusk Reliquary, made in Pictland, held the relics of Columba. Carried into battle to ensure victory. The religious center of Scotland went from Iona to Dunkeld (849), then to St Andrews (943). Scone then became the secular and ceremonial center of Scotland. "Life of St. Columba" by Adomnan, a 7th century work.
The Stone of Scone: "The Stone of Destiny":
The Stone of Scone was the inauguration stone of Scottish kings. The Scots took it from Tara in Ireland to Iona, then to Dunstaffnage Castle where it was built into one of the walls. Then the Stone of Scone was in Perthshire (the sacred center of Pictland), after the union of Dalriada and Pictland. Kings from Kenneth MacAlpin onward were crowned on the Stone of Scone. In 1290 King Edward of England's reign, the heiress to the Scottish throne drowned on a voyage from Norway to Scotland. Edward arbitrated the dispute over the throne (called the Great Cause). His candidate, John Balliol installed and abandoned. England invades Scotland, and seizes the Stone on 1296. Kept under the Coronation Chaor in Westminster Abbey. In 1950, Scots nationalists attempt to take it, and took it briefly in 1952. The Stone was finally returned in 1993.
Wales: Deisi from northwest Ireland took land reaching the Gower Peninsula from the kingdom of Dyfed.
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The Islands:
The King of the Isle of Man converted in the 5th or 6th centuries. Norse power enveloped the Hebrides and the Isle of Man until mid-13th century (1266) and the Orkney and Shetland Islands for two centuries more. Scandinavian Earls of Orkney and the kings of Dublin and Orkney vied with one another for power c. 1214. Man was ruled by a Norse dynasty until 1205. Alexander II was preparing to make war for the Hebrides (1249), but died on Kerra Island.
The king of Man did homage to Alexander III in 1264, and Magnus of Norway sold the Isle of Man and Hebrides to Alexander III. The Treaty of Perth ceded the Isles to Scotland in 1266. Godred, the son of Magnus led an unsuccessful rebellion. England and Scotland then fought over Man until 1333, when England finally gained control of the island. On the Hebrides are the standing stones of Callernish, Lewis and Outer Hebrides, possibly used for sun worship.
10th and 11th centuries�-Viking raids:
Vikings established cities in Dublin, Limeric, Waterford, Wexford and Cork. Some fighting existed, but it was limited. Intermarriage and religious conversion eased hostilities.
Brian Boroimhe (or Boru or Boruma) of the Dal g cais, the masters of the province of Munster. In 1002 he was the high king of Ireland. Confirmed Armagh in the ecclesiastical supremacy. Sought communications and education. The Norse were the allies of the rebellious kingdom of Leinster, who resisted Boroimhe. He died at Clontarf in 1014, fighting in a victory over the Norsemen. The O'Briens of Munster are his descendants.
From 1014 three kingdoms fought for the kingship: the O'Connors of Connacht, the O'Briens of Munster and the MacLochlainns of Ulster. The first king of great power was Mael Sechnaill of the Ui Neill. Then came Diarmait of South Leinster in 1022, Brian of the Ui Neill (1114-1156 ?), then Tairdelbach Ua Conchobuir of Connacht.
Turlough O'Connor ruled Connacht (1106-1156 ?) and was high king from 1121-1156 (?). From 1156 to 1166 Muirchcheartach MacLoclain of Ailech was the high king.
Many kingdoms: Munster, Leinster, Connacht, Meath, Ailech, Oriel and Ulster. There were 100-200 petty kings plus independent Norse towns. Then came Rory O'Connor (1116-1198). The O'Connors ruthlessly tried to depose the lesser king and divide the kingdom. Due to this Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster appealed to Henry III of England during the years 1166-1167. As far back as 1155 the (English) Pope Adrian IV declared Ireland to be under the English king's over-lordship. In 1169 Robert FitzStephen went to Leinster with Norman knights, Welsh soldiers and some Flemish soldiers.
After a revolt by the Irish and Danes in 1170, Richard FitzGilbert de Clare (Strongbow) sent to Ireland, and landed at Bannow Bay in Wexford County. Took Waterford and Dublin. Claimed the kingdom of Leinster and married MacMurrough's daughter. King Henry was upset and went to Ireland in 1171 with 500 knights, several thousand soldiers and 400 ships, culminating in Henry's lordship over Ireland in 1170 and the treaty of Windsor in 1175 with Rory O'Connor. Connaught and Munster remained independent. Anglo-Norman barons on the western Welsh border were known as the Marcher lords. They went to Ireland to conquer, but Henry intervened in 1170.
In 1171 Henry went to Ireland, wanting to give the island to his son William. Gave Leinster to De Clare, Meath to Hugh De Lacy. Dublin and other coastal parts were reserved for the English kingdom. Henry had feudal relations with all the other Irish kings. Prince John became the king of Ireland in 1177, announced in 1185. Sent John de Courcy to take land in Ulster County in 1176, conquering the kingdom of Ulster in 1177. The Irish rebelled against John in 1185 and were victorious. John made a trip to Ireland to put the barons and Irish under his rule. Fought battles and destroyed many castles.
Those who had control over Irish lands:
Gerald of Windsor: southern and central Ireland. William de Burgh (brother of Hubert): Ulster. Theobald Walter, who was King John's butler, had land also. England still had control over the east coast and the southeast. The Dublin countryside controlled by the English was known as "The Pale".
In 1204 Dublin Castle was the seat of royal government. By 1250 2/3rds of Ireland was controlled by England. The Irish held northwest Ulster, southwest Munster and the highlands. In 1254 the Norman bishops were in English areas and foreigners occupied 1/3rd of Irish diocese. Parliament formed in late 13th c., but the Irish were excluded. Crown of Ireland was offered to King Haakon IV of Norway in 1263.
1250-1275 English colonies were at their peak. 1261 Normans were expelled from southwest Munster and in 1270 the O'Connors defeated them at the battle of Athenkip. The galloglachs were mercenary warriors form Scotland who fought against the English knights. The Irish crowned the Scot Edward Bruce King of Ireland in 1316. He was defeated and slain at Dundalk. Ulster and Connaught ended the English feudal system when the De Burgh line ended in 1333. The De Burgh males took the names of Burke and MacWilliam. Anarchic Ireland was ready for re-conquest in Tudor times and Henry VIII's reformation.
Religion:
In 1047 Lanfranc, the Abp. of Canterbury wrote to Turlough O'Brien the Irish high king to rid his country of all evil customs concerning marriage and sacraments. In 1134 the chapel built on the rock of Cashel by king Cormac MaCarthy. Cistercian monks from France took residence in Ireland in 1142. In The Synod of Kells introduced a new framework of dioceses and bishops in 1152. In 1157 the high king Muircheatach MacLochlain, Devorgilla, wife of king of Beifne, Tiernan O'Rourke and king Donough O'Carroll of Oriel at Cisterian abbeys at Mellifont consecration. In 1167 the nun's church at Clonmacnoise founded by Devorgilla.
Culture:
In the 14th c. there was English decline in Ireland and a Gaelic resurgence. Intermarriage caused Irish customs and language to be absorbed by the English. Attempt to stop this began in 1297. In 1366 the statutes of Kilkenney attempted to prevent Gaelic customs from spreading among the English. Marriage with Irish, fashions of riding and dress were forbidden. Settlers could only speak English and no Irish minstrels and entertainers. Monasteries and cathedrals could not have Irish in communities. Forbade the game of hurling (similar to field hockey). The statutes were impossible to enforce and had very little effect.
The rowboat used by the Irish is called a "curragh". The Welsh call their version of the rowboat a "coracle." These boats are made of a whicker frame and covered with leather or oilcloth.
