Ireland. Europe. the Canopie of Heaven; and in such a miserable Condition, that it moved Pitty in some of their Enemyes. The lamentable Cryes of this poor forlorn Troup, (when the Fleet that carryed away their Fathers and Husbands was under Sail and gon out of Sight) would begett Compassion in Wolves and Tygers, and even in Creatures that were insensible. Some of them had the whole Length of Cyprus to traverse, before they came to their former Habitations, which were then possessed by the Enemy; they had noe Victualls to eat, or Money to buy it, and their plundered Countrymen (among whom they were to travail, and from whom they might expect some Relief) had not wherewithall to feed themselves. 88. This wofull Revolution made all the Nations of Asia, who were equally concerned and surprized with Grief and Astonishment, to wonder to behold the most warlick of Nations, (by the Testimony of one of their greatest Adversaryes,) a People, heretofore undaunted in Adversity, soe shamefully to lay down their Arms, and soe freely undergoe that servile Yoke, which, by former Experiments, they found insupportable. asperitatem prætenso: ac denique tantis obruebantur calamitatibus, ut inter infensissimos etiam hostes misericordiam invenirent. Desertæ hujus turbæ lamenta fletusque, cum classis, in qua Parentes et Mariti vehebantur, jam vela fecisset et prospicientium oculis se subtraxisset, belluarum immanissimas Lupos Tigresque, imò muta elementa et res sensu carentes, quadam commiseratione permulcere posse viderentur. Nonnullis emetienda erat universa, qua patet, Cyprus, ut in antiquas sedes postliminiò redirent, quæ tamen ab hostibus tunc tenebantur: nulla ad conficiendum tot dierum iter annona; nihil, ad comparandum victum, pecuniarum supererat: Populares, per quos illis transitus, et a quibus extremæ egestatis solatia sperari poterant, à prædabundo Milite bonis exuti, ne suorum quidèm necessitatibus sublevandos pares erant. 88. Hic infirmitatem meam eo usque fatear oportet, ut stupore pariter luctuque attonitus hæream, cum gentium omnium bellicosissimam (idque inter Adversarios infestissimi cujusdam testimonio) populumque inter adversa semper infractum, ac libertatis olim tenacissimum tam turpitèr et ignominiosè arma abjicere, ac durissimæ servitutis jugum ultrò subire videam, lics. But that the most zelous Delphicans of the Universe should happen to Roman Cathoconclude a Peace with the sworn Enemy of the true Worship, without Conditions for their sacred Flamins, or obtaining Security for theire free Bishops. Exercise of the divine Ceremonyes, is a Mistery that surpasses the weak Capacity of Man to comprehend. What the Reasons might be for these prodigious Transactions, and what Performance the conquered Cyprians Irish. (whether liveing in a voluntary Exile abroad, or in a forced Bondage at home,) have hitherto received, after soe many large Promises of both Sides, must be the Work of an other Time, and likely of an other Pen : the publick Calamity of my Countrymen, unfortunate Countrymen in generall, and the lamentable Condition of some particular Friends, added to the Incommodities of old Age, rendring me unable to pursue that Remnant of a wofull History, that requires Ink mixed with the Writer's Teares ; and the Fountain of my weak Eyes hath been drained up already, by the too frequent Remembrance of the Slaughter at Acra, and Aughrim. the sad Separation at Paphos. cujusquàm non ferendum esset pondus, sæpè experiendo didicerant. Ad hæc Vindices Delphicæ religionis acerrimos cum eorundem Sacrorum iniquissimis hostibus tam præceps et inconsultum fœdus perculsisse, ut nec sanctorum Flaminium ratio haberetur, nec exercendæ religionis libertati provisum esset, altiùs est quàm ut ingenio comprehendi aut judicio discerni possit meo. Ex quibus causarum fontibus hæc tam stupenda rerum series emanaverit, quàmque parùm aut nihil eorum domitis Cypriis, seu qui in spontaneo exilio procul, seu qui domi in coacto servitio agunt, post tot ampla promissa aut Syri præstiterint, aut Cilices; alterius temporis, et fortassè etiam Authoris opus erit: communia enim Popularium meorum mala, cum tristi et calamitoso quorundam amicorum ac familiarium statu, additis senectæ incommodis, impediunt ne tam ingratæ lugubrique ultra insistam narrationi, quæ non nisi temperato lacrymarum rivis atramento pro dignitate delineari posset: nec oculi in tot jam fletus sufficiant, quos tùm accepta ad Acram clades, tum æterna ad Paphum separatio penitùs exhausere. Limerick. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. "M NOTE 1. Macaria Excidium. ACARIA," one of the ancient Greek names of Cyprus, according to Pliny, as μakáp og, the "fortunate," or "blessed," and vñσoç, “island," on account, says Moreri, "of its great fertility." It is not unlikely, that the Irish Colonel may have peculiarly selected the name so derived, as characteristic, in more senses than one, of his "native island ;" or, with reference both to the circumstance of its fertility, and to the fact of its having been called "holy," not only in Christian, but in Heathen times. This appears by the information, which Avienus tells us he extracted from the Punic account, preserved until his time, of the north-western voyage of the Carthaginian navigator, Himilco, supposed by Heeren to have occurred, most probably, about the middle of the fifth century before Christ; but considered to have happened, at all events, before the age of Alexander the Great, or not later than the fourth. Having noticed, from this Carthaginian source, the natives of the "Insula Estrymnides," or "Scilly Islands," as a race who did not carry on traffic in the usual large vessels formed of pine, &c., Avienus thus proceeds: "Sed rei ad miraculum, Navigia junctis semper aptant pellibus, Corioque vastum sæpe percurrunt salum,” "Ast hinc duobus in Sacram (sic insulam Propinqua rursus insula Albionum patet.” Mr. Moore observes:-" In this short but circumstantial sketch, the features of Ireland are brought into view, far more prominently than those of Britain. After a description of the hide IRISH. ARCH. SOC. Y hide-covered boats, or currachs, in which the inhabitants of those islands," the Estrymnides, 'navigated their seas, the populousness of the isle of the Hiberni, and the turfy nature of its soil, are commemorated. But the remarkable fact contained in this record—itself of such antiquity-is, that Ireland was then, and had been, from ancient times, designated The Sacred Island, "—which, he elsewhere adds, "was a sort of type of her social position many centuries after, when again she shone forth as the Holy Island of the West". See Note 58. NOTE 2, Page 4. The family of Colonel Charles O'Kelly, &c. The branch of the O'Kellys, or that of Screen, from which the Author was descended, had, from the reign of Philip and Mary, been on good terms, or officially connected with, every English administration in Ireland, except that of the usurper, Oliver Cromwell. The Author's connexion by blood with the race of the English settlers in Ireland was through his mother, Isma, daughter of Sir William Hill, of Ballybeg, in the County of Carlow. Besides Colonel Charles O'Kelly, Author of Macariæ Excidium, Member in the Irish Parliament of 1689, for the County of Roscommon, and Colonel of a Regiment of Infantry, and his brother John, of Clonlyon, Sheriff, in 1686, for the County of Roscommon, Member, in the Parliament last mentioned, for the Borough of Roscommon, and Lieutenant Colonel and Captain of a company in his brother Charles's regiment, there were several other O'Kellys, Kellys, or Kelleys, in the service of King James II., during the War of the Revolution in Ireland. Amongst the INFANTRY of the Irish army, Edmund Kelly was Lieutenant to Captain Sir Anthony Mullady's company in "The Royal Regiment," or "The King's Foot Guards," under Colonel William Dorrington. Teige O'Kelly was Lieutenant, and Bryan Kelly was Ensign to Captain Charles Daly's (or O'Daly's) company; William Kelly was Ensign to Captain John Bourke's company; and another William Kelly was Ensign to Captain Edmond Bourke's company, in the Regiment of Richard de Burgh, or Bourke, Earl of Clanrickarde. William Kelly was Lieutenant to Captain Edmond Lally's company, in the Regiment of Ulick de Burgh, or Bourke, Lord Galway. Richard Kelly was Captain in the Regiment of Christopher Fleming, Lord Slane. Maurice Kelly was Lieutenant to Captain James Eustace's company, in the Regiment of Sir Maurice Eustace of Castlemartin. Hugh Kelly was Ensign to Captain Mathew Lynch's company, in the Regiment of John de Burgh, or Bourke, Lord Bophin, or Boffin. Daniel Kelley and John Kelley were Captains, and another Daniel Kelly Lieutenant, a Pliny, Historia Naturalis, lib. v. cap. 35. vol. ii. pp. 1018, 1019: Valpy, London, 1826.-Moreri, Grand Dictionnaire Historique, &c., tome v. p. 4: Paris, 1725.-Avienus, Descriptio Orbis Terræ, et Ora Maritima, pp. 140-141, 150, &c.: Argentorati, ex Typographiâ Societatis Bipontinæ, 1809. -Heeren, Historical Researches into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 92, 99-101, 169-172, 502-506, 520-522: Oxford, 1832.-Moore, History of Ireland, vol. i. pp. 7-9, 52: London, 1838.) |