Connaught

“ CONRY, FLORENCE (1561–1629) , archbishop of Tuam, whose name in Irish is Flathri O'Moelchonaire, was a native of Connaught. After receiving a suitable education in Spain and the Netherlands he became a Franciscan friar of the Strict Observance at Salamanca, and he was for some time provincial of his order in Ireland (Sbaralea, Supplementum et Castigafio, p. 238) . He was commanded by Clement VIII to return to his native country, to assist by his counsels the army which Philip II had sent to Ireland in support of the rebellious catholics. ”

“ It was the bloodiest that ever was fought between the two nations, and continued throughout the whole day, from the rising to the setting sun. The Irish fought with inferior discipline, but with great enthusiasm. They lost ten thousand men, among whom were twenty-nine chiefs of Connaught. Tradition states that after this terrible day, the O’Connor family, like the Fabian, were so nearly exterminated, that throughout all Connaught not one of the name remained, except Felim’s brother, who was capable of bearing arms. ”

“ The bishops and clergy of Connaught, in accordance with the brehon law, fasted against the king at Rathbrennain, but failed to obtain his son's release. On the death of Turlough in 1156 Roderic assumed the kingship of Connaught, and the Sil Muireadhaigh, his tribe, gave him the custody of his brothers Brian Breifnach, Brian Luighneach, and Muircheartach Muimhneach. He put out the eyes of the first, as a sure means of preventing him from becoming a rival. Turlogh O'Brien and the Dal Cais gave him twelve hostages. ”

“ Paris, ii. 530) ; and on his return to England left John de Gray in the island as his justiciar, with instructions to build three castles in Connaught (Loch Cé, pp. 243-4) . The bishop now led an army to Athlone, where he built a bridge and a castle. Here he met Donnchadh O'Brien, king of Munster, and Geoffrey de Marisco, who had invaded Connaught from the south; Donnchadh reconciled the bishop with Cathal Chrobderg, king of Connaught, who gave up his son Turlough as a hostage (ib. p. 245; Four Masters, iii. 167-9) . ”

“ In Connemara the "bawneen" or sleeved waistcoat of whitish flannel is general and very becoming to its wearers, among whom are to be found the handsomest men in Ireland. Kerry women, who in certain parts really have the "black-blue Irish hair and Irish eyes", may perhaps hold their own even with the girls of Connaught; but for fine-looking men I would back Galway against any county in the British Isles. ”

“ In 1092 he was treacherously seized by Flaibheartach O'Flaibheartaigh, his gossip, and his eyes put out, an outrage avenged in 1098 by Madadhan O'Cuanna, who slew Flaibheartach. O'Connor ceased to be king, and retired to the monastery of Clonmacnoise, where he died in 1118. He married Mór, daughter of Turlough O'Brien. His son Turlough O'Connor [q. v.] became king of Connaught. Another son, Niall, surnamed Aithclerech, was killed in 1093. His daughter had some skill in metal-work. ”

“ Nor is there anywhere better to see that work of resettling on the good land (left for decades in mere prairie) those people whose fathers were huddled too thick on the bogs and moors where grass would not grow. Roscommon contributes more than its share—though five counties take a part—to what is still the great event of the year in Connaught, the fair of Ballinasloe, lasting through the first week in October. ”

“ Good grana,’ says he, ‘go to Castle Connor an’ find it for me; for it is written,’ says he, ‘that there is wan there now that is Irish, an’ Scotch, an’ Sassenach, all in one, an’ ’tis he alone that can find me head.’ This is the message of Con Condon the headless; an’ you,” shrieked the hag, pointing her bony finger at Max, “you, whose mother was a Connor, yer father a Scotchman, an’ yerself a Sassenach, come with me an’ find Con Condon’s head!”
“Mercy,” said Max, aside, to Dennis; “what must I do; where must I go? I daren’t go a step with that terrible old woman.” ”

“ Then Connie rose.
“I told the coachman, Aunt Marcia, I should ride for an hour or so after tea. If I take the Lawley road, does that go anywhere near Flood?”
“It takes you to the top of the moor, and you have a glorious view of the castle and all its woods. Yes, do go that way. You’ll see what the poor things have lost. You did like Douglas, didn’t you?”
“‘Like’ is not exactly the word, is it?” said Constance with a little laugh, vexed to feel that she could not keep the colour out of her cheeks. “And he doesn’t care whether you like him or not!” ”

“ The king did not appear to be in the least perturbed; he gave the prince a fatherly pat on his shoulder and winked at the Emperor of Zabonia.
“He’s only twenty-three and a few days,” explained the king, “so naturally he takes it a bit hard. I did myself—thought of entering a monastery—yes, really.”
His Zabonian Serenity chuckled deep in his cavern of chest.
“Ernie,” said the king, turning to his son, and speaking in his most kindly manner, “you’ve discovered what all kings discover sooner or later. You’ve found yourself out. Now your job will be to keep the people from finding you out. ”

“ This boy is a grandson of Lord Conniston's housekeeper, Mrs. Moon."
"At Cove Castle," said Lucy, with some color in her face. "I know."
"Do you know Lord Conniston?" asked Julius suspiciously.
"I have met him once. He seems to be a most delightful fellow."
"What a delightful speech for a lady," said Beryl. "Conniston is a scamp. I heard he enlisted in the Lancers."
"It shows how brave he is. Every man worth calling a man should go to the front." ”

“ Then the maiden answered, "Connla speaks to a young, fair maid, whom neither death nor old age awaits. I love Connla, and now I call him away to the Plain of Pleasure, Moy Mell, where Boadag is king for aye, nor has there been complaint or sorrow in that land since he has held the kingship. Oh, come with me, Connla of the Fiery Hair, ruddy as the dawn with thy tawny skin. A fairy crown awaits thee to grace thy comely face and royal form. Come, and never shall thy comeliness fade, nor thy youth, till the last awful day of judgment." ”

“ How often it happens in life that we have with a grave face to discourse of ordinary topics, while all the time our heart and memory are engrossed with some enchanting secret!
The castle of his grandfather presented a far different scene on the arrival of Coningsby from that which it had offered on his first visit. The Marquess had given him a formal permission to repair to it at his pleasure, and had instructed the steward accordingly. But he came without notice, at a season of the year when the absence of all sports made his arrival unexpected. ”

“ But when the last day of the month of waiting came, Connla stood by the side of the king his father on the Plain of Arcomin, and again he saw the maiden come towards him, and again she spoke to him.
"'Tis a glorious place, forsooth, that Connla holds among short-lived mortals awaiting the day of death. But now the folk of life, the ever-living ones, beg and bid thee come to Moy Mell, the Plain of Pleasure, for they have learnt to know thee, seeing thee in thy home among thy dear ones." ”

“ Suddenly an idea came to me and I faced Connie with this question: “Do you suppose that if Uncle were to know about those two boys, his own nephews, and could hear that they were all right, and could perhaps see them sometime, that it would help his recovery?”
“I’m certain it would,” declared Connie. “But how in the world are we going to find out such a thing, after all these years? India’s a big place, and it’s awfully far away, and they may not even be there any more. They may be dead, for all we know.” ”

“ In an age wherein honesty could boast few genuine martyrs, Conway was certainly the most distinguished. He never ceased to attest his attachment to virtue, at the risk of a most precarious fortune; and he had one merit that added to the beauty of his character, and in which he was singular, that he never mixed party or faction with his line of conduct.65 The Duke of Richmond, Sir George Saville, and Lord John Cavendish, were, undoubtedly, of as unblemished virtue as Conway ”

“ There is a pretty story, more than a thousand years old, in the Book of the Dun Cow, which tells how Prince Connla of the Golden Hair, son of the great king Conn the Hundred-Fighter, was carried off by a fairy in a crystal boat to Moy-Mell. One day—as the story relates—while the king and Connla, and many nobles were standing on the western sea-shore, a boat of shining crystal was seen moving towards them: and when it had touched the land, a fairy, like a human being, and richly dressed, came forth from it, and addressing Connla, tried to entice him into it. ”

“ Is then this civilisation, so much vaunted, inseparable from moderate feelings and little thoughts? If so, give me back barbarism! But I cannot believe it. Man that is made in the image of the Creator, is made for God-like deeds. Come what come may, I will cling to the heroic principle. It can alone satisfy my soul.’
CHAPTER III.
We must now revert to the family, or rather the household, of Lord Monmouth, in which considerable changes and events had occurred since the visit of Coningsby to the Castle in the preceding autumn. ”

“ Once on a time, there lived in California a gentleman whose name was Connor,—Mr. George Connor. He was an orphan, and had no brothers and only one sister. This sister was married to an Italian gentleman, one of the chamberlains to the King of Italy. She might almost as well have been dead, so far as her brother George's seeing her was concerned; for he, poor gentleman, was much too ill to cross the ocean to visit her; [Pg 10] and her husband could not be spared from his duties as chamberlain to the King, to come with her to America, and she would not leave him and come alone. ”

“ After that Connie drooped more and more, until by the time they left Interlaken for Geneva her life seemed to have gone from her, leaving her a pale, silent girl, with a hopeless look in her eyes pitiful to see in one so young. Absolutely true herself, and a child in many things, owing to her convent training, it was hard to imagine deception in any one whom she trusted, and doubly so in him who, if he were alive and well, had deceived her cruelly. ”

“ The king was contrite.
“Sorry, son,” he said. “I shouldn’t speak like that of royalty, I know. But I have so much on my mind these days, with this tiresome visit and your mumps and the shadow of war and heaven knows what.”
“But, father,” said the prince, following up his advantage, “please don’t ask me to permit this monstrous thing. It’s not honorable. It’s not princely.”
The king patted his son’s silk pajamaed shoulder.
“Pish-tush, Ernie!” he said playfully. “I wish you wouldn’t always be so devilishly idealistic. You’re so high-minded one needs to get on a stepladder to talk to you. ”

“ But when the screaming of the gulls came over the loch, and the plaintive crying of the lapwings was upon the moorland, and the smell of loneroid and bracken was heavy in the wind-fallen stillness, Ulad turned, for he felt a touch upon his shoulder.
It was Connla who touched him, and he knew the man. He had the old wisdom of knowing all that is in the mind by looking into the eyes, and he knew how the man had come there.
“Let the men who are your men, O Connla, move away from here in their birlinn, and go farther up into the haven.” ”

“ Then the maiden said: "O mighty Conn, Fighter of a Hundred Fights, the Druid's power is little loved; it has little honour in the mighty land, peopled with so many of the upright. When the Law comes, it will do away with the Druid's magic spells that issue from the lips of the false black demon."
Then Conn the king observed that since the coming of the maiden Connla his son spoke to none that spake to him. So Conn of the Hundred Fights said to him, "Is it to thy mind what the woman says, my son?"
"'Tis hard upon me," said Connla; "I love my own folk above all things ”

“ Conway, a brave soldier, but in civil affairs the most timid and irresolute of men, afraid of disobliging the King, afraid of being abused in the newspapers, afraid of being thought factious if he went out, afraid of being thought interested if he stayed in, afraid of everything, and afraid of being known to be afraid of anything, was beaten backwards and forwards like a shuttlecock between Horace Walpole, who wished to make him prime minister, and Lord John Cavendish, who wished to draw him into opposition. ”

“ A few days later I met Mr Conway at Breuil, and I asked him what he meant in this case by the term, ‘following the arête.’ His interpretation, which is rather an elastic one, is this: ‘Climb over the pinnacles if it is convenient to do so. If not convenient, shirk them by passing below their western bases.’ This latter method was most probably impracticable on the occasion of our ascent, which fully accounts for the great difference between Mr Conway’s ‘times’ and our own, as we certainly climbed at least as quickly as an average party on the Dent Blanche during the whole of our ascent. ”

“ Stay at your post, lad, till He calls:' HELEN."
"'Stay at your post till He calls,'" read the Convener again. "A great soul that. That word will do him good."
He was right. He found Shock waiting for him, calm, expectant, and ready to bear whatever life might bring, nor did his face change as he read the wire over and over again. He only said: "God is very good to us. She went away in peace, and she got my wire and I hers."
"Yes," said the Convener, "God is always good. We sometimes cannot see it, but," he added, "it was a great matter that your sister could have been there with her." ”

“ Her father was Comandante of the Presidio, 'el Santo,' the people termed him, because of his goodness. Concepcion, or Concha, as she was affectionately called by her parents, was only fifteen years old when our story begins—a tall, slender girl with masses of fine black hair and the fair Castilian skin, inherited from her mother. So lovely was she that many a caballero had already sung at her grating, but she would listen to none of them. Her lover would come from over the sea, she declared, someone who could tell her about the wide outside world. ”