Ireland by Vincent McDonnell Read Free Book Online Page A

written by hand), were in Latin. They were decorated with religious paintings and highly intricate drawings in vivid colours. When you looked at a page it seemed as if a light glowed behind it, and this is why they are described as ‘illuminated’. Did you know that the largest surviving collection of European manuscripts from those times comes from Ireland?
    Two of the most famous of these illuminated manuscripts are The Book of Durrow and The Book of Kells, both of which are in Trinity College in Dublin. The Book of Durrow, containing the four gospels, was probably written in the late seventh or early eighth century, and is the oldest surviving Irish illuminated manuscript. The Book of Kells, which also contains the four gospels, was probably written sometime in the ninth century. Some historians believe it was written on the island of Iona, off the Scottish coast. It is regarded as one of the finest illuminated manuscripts in the world.
    During the Golden Age, Latin was the written language. Later, many of the old stories and myths and legends of Ireland began to be written down in Gaelic for the first time and it then became a written, as well as a spoken, language. The oldest surviving manuscript in Gaelic is The Book of the Dun Cow, which was probably written in the eleventh century. It contains many of the old myths and legends, including the story of The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
    There were no printing presses or computers back then, so manuscripts had to be copied word for word by hand using quills and ink. The monks who did this were called scribes and often the only light they had was from candles or oil lamps. Sometimes they worked for years writing or copying a single book, and no doubt their fingers were permanently stained with ink.
    One man who was involved in copying manuscripts was Columcille, who is now a saint. Whenever he copied a manuscript, he kept the copy for himself. Once, Columcille copied a book belonging to Saint Finian and kept the copy for himself. Finian was angry at this and complained about it to the High King, Diarmuid, and asked him to decide who owned the copy.
    Diarmuid gave a famous judgement, based on one of the Brehon Laws, which you remember were the laws in force in Ireland at that time. This law stated that a calf that wandered away from a farm always belonged to its mother. If the calf wandered onto another farm the farmer could not claim that it belonged to him. Now the High King declared: ‘To every cow its calf and to every book its copy.’ So Columcille couldn’t keep the copy of the book. Today we call this law copyright, and no one can copy a book without the permission of the person who owns the copyright.
    Some of our most famous Irish saints also lived during those times. The best known of them are Saint Finian, Saint Kevin, Saint Columbanus, Saint Brendan, Saint Ciaran, Saint Columcille and Saint Brigid, who is almost as important a saint in Ireland today as Saint Patrick. She was born around 453 at Faughart, County Louth, the daughter of a local chieftain. When she grew up she decided to devote her life to God. She founded a convent and built her church beneath an oak tree. In Gaelic, this church was called
‘Cill Dara’
, the church of the oak, or as we know it today in English, Kildare.
    Just as with Saint Patrick, there is a legend associated with Saint Brigid. It is said that when she wished to found her convent she asked the local king for land on which to build it. He said that he would give her as much land as her cloak would cover. This amount, of course, would be tiny. But legend says that Saint Brigid placed her cloak on the ground and that it spread out until it covered an enormous amount of land. The king was so impressed – or more likely terrified – at seeing this, that he granted Saint Brigid the land.
    Her feast day is celebrated on 1 February and on that day many schoolchildren in Ireland make a Saint Brigid’s Cross from green rushes. Another