Macalistkr — Temair Br eg : Remains and Traditions of Tar a. 281 



Careful study of the confused mass of Irish historical material leads us to 

 the conclusion that it was Cormac mac Airt who established at least the 

 nominal suzerainty of the kings of Toinair over the whole ur the greater part 

 of Ireland. Previous to his time the " High-kingship " had no real existence ; 

 politically the kings of Temair were merely the local chieftains of the 

 province in which the Eidge is situated. That the standing army organized 

 by Cormac, the memory of which survives in the traditions of the //ana 

 of Finn, was an innovation modelled on the Roman legions, may be taken for 

 granted. A man of energy and bold initiative, such as Cormac is consistently 

 represented as being, had opportunities for studying the machinery of empire in 

 the Roman operations witnessed by his generation in Britain. Doubtless it was 

 the example thus put before him that showed him the way to extend his pro- 

 vincial sovereignty over as much of the island of Ireland as he could manage 

 to conquer. The traditions that assign so many important monuments to 

 Cormac cannot be altogether baseless, though they may be doubted in some 

 individual cases. Tech Midchuarta has all the appearance of having been 

 modelled after the pattern of a Roman basilica ; aud the traditions which 

 make Cormac the master of a standing army, a patron of letters, an adminis- 

 trator of laws — even that strange story which credits him with some kind of 

 Christianity — all fit in with the portrait of the man who planned his life and 

 his actions on the models afforded him by Roman Britain. There may be a 

 considerable element of truth in the theory, which is at least as old as 

 Pinkerton, that the //ana of Cormac were first organized to guard the coast 

 from a possible Roman invasion. Cormac, indeed, is the first real personality 

 in Irish history. Doubtless some of his predecessors in the pages of the 

 Annals had a real human existence. 1 see no reason to deny this to such 

 people as Tuathal Techtmar, Conchobar mac Nessa, Cu-Chulaind, Medb, and 

 many others ; but these have become so completely wrapped up in a fog of 

 legend that it is impossible to be certain of the historical truth of any of the 

 actions attributed to them ; while Cormac, though the legend-makers have not 

 altogether left him alone, stands out clearly before us as an innovator, a 

 conqueror, and a law-giver. 



In the present essay we do not propose to dwell on the doings of Cormac 

 and his successors. Our special purpose is the origin of Temair, and the 

 nature and early history of its kingship. The later historical developments, 

 inaugurated by the conquests of Cormac, do not specially concern us here, 

 except in so far as they may throw some light on the problems before us. 

 We therefore exclude from our consideration the buildings attributed to 

 Cormac and his successors. The next step, then, will be to re-classify the 

 older buildings, including a few that seem to be attributed in error to 



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