improvident.

AN

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF IRELAND.

[Illustration: IRISH HISTORY.]

CHAPTER I

Celtic Literature--Antiquity of our Annals--Moore--How we should
estimate Tradition--The Materials for Irish History--List of the Lost
Books--The Cuilmenn--The Saltair of Tara, &c.--The Saltair of
Cashel--Important MSS. preserved in Trinity College--By the Royal Irish
Academy--In Belgium.

The study of Celtic literature, which is daily becoming of increased
importance to the philologist, has proved a matter of no inconsiderable
value to the Irish historian. When Moore visited O'Curry, and found him
surrounded with such works as the _Books of Ballymote and Lecain_, the
_Speckled Book_, the _Annals of the Four Masters_, and other treasures
of Gaedhilic lore, he turned to Dr. Petrie, and exclaimed: "These large
tomes could not have been written by fools or for any foolish purpose. I
never knew anything about them before, and I had no right to have
undertaken the _History of Ireland_." His publishers, who had less
scruples, or more utilitarian views, insisted on the completion of his
task. Whatever their motives may have been, we may thank them for the
result. Though Moore's history cannot now be quoted as an authority, it
accomplished its work for the time, and promoted an interest in the
history of one of the most ancient nations of the human race.

There are two sources from whence the early history of a nation may be
safely derived: the first internal--the self-consciousness of the
individual; the second external--the knowledge of its existence by
others--the _ego sum_ and the _tu es_; and our acceptance of the
statements of each on _matters of fact_, should depend on their mutual
agreement.

The first question, then, for the historian should be, What accounts
does this nation give of its early history? the second, What account of
this nation's early history can be obtained _ab extra_? By stating and
comparing these accounts with such critical acumen as the writer may be
able to command, we may obtain something approaching to authentic
history. The history of ancient peoples must have its basis on
tradition. The name tradition unfortunately gives an _a priori_
impression of untruthfulness, and hence the difficulty of accepting
tradition as an element of truth in historic research. But tradition is
not necessarily either a pure myth or a falsified account of facts. The
traditions of a nation are like an