94 [Proc. B.N.F.O, 



Mr. Bigger, who was cordially received, said in the age of 

 Queen Elizabeth there was in Ireland no government as they 

 understood that expression; men did that which was right in 

 their own eyes, and the country got on fairly well without 

 law courts or police. Small lords existed side by side with 

 great ones, and passed on their estates from generation to 

 generation, as if a strong Government protected men in their 

 rights. Great chieftains, like O'Neill or the Lord' of Desmond, 

 no more thought of doing gross injustice to small lords than 

 a strong man would to-day think of hurting a little child or a 

 poor cripple. They had their wars, as persons nowadays had 

 their quarrels and law-suits, but they made friends again. 

 Those internecine quarrels were not always very destructive 

 to life, but were often in the nature of duels ; two chieftains 

 had a dispute, and, if there was no Government, the matter 

 had to be decided by war. They met and fought it out like 

 gentlemen and men of honour, and the loser paid generally in 

 cattle or land. Many of the chieftains delighted in great 

 castles of stone, with walls many feet thick, and others pre- 

 ferred the more primitive crannoge, or fortified island, in a 

 lake; others, again, like the Savages of the Ardes, declared 

 that a castle of bones beat a castle of stones, and long resided 

 in the woods, sheltering in rude huts and wigwams, like Robin 

 Hood in England. With the advent of the House of Tudor, 

 and the more aggressive policy of that race in regard to Ire- 

 land, one after another of the great captains of Irish territory 

 stepped out to fight with the Crown. The houses of Kildare 

 and Desmond, and the O'Neills and the O'Donnells, and the 

 De Burghs of the West went out against the Crown, wrestling 

 fiercely, strenuously, often victoriously, with the Tudors, but 

 ultimately in vain. Shane O'Neill at one time conquered all 

 Ulster, and seemed about to conquer Ireland. His govern- 

 ment was so strong that many farmers fled to him, even out 

 of the Pale, to enjoy the good peace that prevailed under him 

 when he was in his strength. At this time there were few 

 tolerable roads in the country; a certain number of stone 

 causeways did exist, but most parts of the island were covered 



