rd-righ of Tara as supreme over
them all as he could make himself. The hopefullest thing that
could have happened would have been the abolition of the kingdoms
and kinglets, and the establishment of the Ard-righ's authority
as absolute and final.

Dermot son of Fergus Kervall became High-king in 544. A chief
named Aed Guairy murdered one of Dermot's officers, and sought
sanctuary with St. Ruadan of Lorrha, one of Findian's twelve
apostles, to whom he was related. The king hailed him forth, and
brought him to Tara for trial. Thereupon the whole Church of
Ireland rose to a man against the mere layman, the king, who had
dared thus defy the spiritual powers. They came to Tara in a
body, fasted against him, and laid their heavy curse on him, on
Tara, and, in the result, on the kingship.--"Alas!" said Dermot,
"for the iniquitous contest that ye have waged against me,
seeing that it is Ireland's good I pursue, and to preserve her
discipline and royal right; but it is Ireland's unpeace and
murderousness ye endeavor after." *

------
* I quote this from Mr. Rollerstone's book.
------

Which was true. The same trouble came up in England six
centuries later, and might have ended in the same way. But the
dawn of a manvantara was approaching then, and the centrifugal
forces in England were slowly giving place to the centripetal:
national unity was ahead, and the first two strong Williams and
Henrys were able in the main to assert their kingly supremacy.
But in the Irish time not manvantara, but pralaya, was coming;
and this not for Ireland only, but for all Europe. In the
natural order of things, the centrifugal forces were increasing
always. That is why Dermot MacKervall failed, where Henry II in
part suceeded. There was nothing in the cycles to support him
against the saints. Tara, accursed, was abandoned, and fell into
ruin; and the symbol and center of Irish unity was gone. The
High-kingship, thus bereft of its traditional seat, grew weaker
and weaker; and Ireland, except by Brian Boru, a usurper, was
never after effectively governed. So when the Norsemen came
there was no strong secular power to defend the monasteries from
them, and the karma of St. Ruadan's churchly arrogance and
ambition fell on them. And when Strongbow and the Normans came,
there was no strong central monarchy to oppose them: the king of
Leinster invited them in, and the king of Ireland lacked the
backing of a united nation to drive them