1907-1908) 67 



"THE SCANDINAVIANS IN IRELAND." 



A second lecture was delivered by Major Berry, M.S.C., 

 entitled " The Scandinavians in Ireland," in which Major Berry, 

 in order to arrive at the true cause of the Scandinavian invasion 

 of Ireland, glanced briefly over the period from the introduction 

 of Christianity prior to the invasion. These events led up to the 

 drastic measures of Charlemagne, which in their turn led to a 

 continuation of forces in the North to avenge their gods and 

 liberties and stamp out the Christian form of worship. The 

 people of Ireland at this time were "enervated and enslaved by 

 the exactions of their clergy, the country ravaged and dependent 

 on the wealthy monasteries for the very means of existence. The 

 people, so long divided, were unable to combine to resist the 

 inroads of a powerful, cruel, and barbaric enemy. The Scand- 

 inavians directed their attack against the monasteries, not so much 

 because they were the storehouses of the riches and treasures of 

 the country as to avenge themselves against the ministers of a 

 religion who had destroyed their homes, murdered their kinsmen, 

 and betrayed their most cherished sentiments. The monasteries 

 were defensible, the monks well armed, and each establishment 

 could produce a more or less trained and formidable body of men 

 for its defence, consequently the annihilation of these monks was 

 not the cold-blooded slaughter of defenceless men it is so 

 generally represented to be. Major Berry then touched on the 

 dates and events which led up to the attack and defeat of Ragnar 

 and his feasts and sacrifices to Thor and the victory sacrifice, with 

 an avowed determination to extinguish the religion of the White 

 Christ, which gained for him the title of "Thor's Priest," and, 

 under the name Turgeia, with a new and powerful fleet, he 

 devastated Ireland and established himself at Armagh, and put his 

 wife Ota in possession of Clonmacnoise, who, seated on the high 

 altar of the Christians, issued her commands. A full account was 

 then given of the numerous family of Ragnar, and special reference 

 to his son Sigurd Snake Eye and their descendants, holding 



