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Ireland and the Making
of Britain
small island of Hibernia behind him, while the Sassenach
drew his strength from the teeming population of northern
Europe.
Thus Nennius says the invaders were constantly
being reinforced "the more the Saxons were vanquished
the more they sought for new supplies of Saxons from
Germany. Kings, commanders, and military bands were
invited over from almost every province, and this practice
they continued till the reign of Ida." A statement by
Bede implies that practically the entire Anglic people
emigrated from the Continent en masse men, women
and children no one being left to cultivate the land, for,
he says, the land "which is called Angulus" remained a
desert till the day in which he wrote. And then there
was another reason and a potent one. It was at this period
that the Gaels of Ireland were turning their backs on the
mirage of military glory and were preparing to spend
themselves in the nobler engagement against the forces
of ignorance and heathenism,, From the time of Patrick
there is no record of any raiding expedition going forth
from the Gaedhaltacht. The military organization of
the Fianna, whose exploits are celebrated in the poems of
Oisin, still continued to exist, but it gradually disappeared,
and the great military encampments, like Tara, Aileach
and Cruachain, in which the Irish kings were accustomed
to dwell surrounded by permanent fighting forces, lost
their military character around the seventh century. 1
iKells, originally a military stronghold, later the head of the Colombian
1
foundations, is an example, as the dialog between Columcille and the prophet
Becc indicates:
"O Becc, tell thou to me
Kells, the wide, pure grassed,
Whether clerics (will) dwell in it,
Whether warriors (will) abandon it?"
So Becc said:
"Trains who are amidst it
Shall sing praises of the Lord's Son;
Its warriors shall depart from its threshold;
There will be a time when it will be secure." (Leabar Breac, p. 32
a-b; Anecdota Oxoniensia, Ser. 5, p. 306.)
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