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Brief Irish Renaissance History
Brief Irish Renaissance History
A Hundred Thousand Welcomes - by Roddy MacCurry
The purpose of this document, is to give you an overview of the Celtic Irish of the Renaissance period. We will be telling you a little bit about the history, dress, lifestyle, and languages of the Irish. It is our hope that when we are done with the telling of it, you will know of things you did not know before.
Sure and you will be wanting to create a character from that period. This book will serve as your guide. So sit on back and get yourself comfortable, for you are about to enter the land of leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter, lullabies and dreams and love ever after.
The political history of the Irish during the Renaissance
English rule over the Irish was severe, and at its worst forbade Irish Catholics to own land, practice their faith publicly, build churches or to bear any type of arms. These policies forced the Irish to be tenants on land in their own country. Poor harvests many times prevented farmers from paying the high rents, and often forced them to be evicted.
It would not be until the eighteenth century, that an Anglo-Irish ruling class was able to repeal many of these penal laws.
In 1541 - Henry VIII
In 1541, Henry VIII proclaimed himself king of Ireland. He bolstered English military presence and declared the people of Ireland officially Protestant.
This proclamation only served to further fan the flames of religious distinction. In an outright rejection of British rule, the Irish allied with Spain in their war with England during the 1570’s. The reprisal for this gesture of defiance was swift and brutal. The English massacred thousands of people, slaughtered livestock, burned farms and confiscated lands and property.
In 1553 - Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I, also increased the military forces and aggressively targeted regional rulers. Elizabeth and James I after her, attempted to colonize Ireland with subjects whose loyalty was without question. English subjects were encouraged to relocate with the promise of land on which to setup plantations. This was not a broad scale successful policy.
The outrages inflicted on the Catholic populace (the killing of a Catholic Irishman was considered no greater offense the killing of a dog) instigated a series of violent reprisals. These uprisings reached a peak in 1641 with the slaughter of over 1,500 Protestant settlers.
In 1649 - Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was a devout Puritan, ever intent on purging the colonies of non-Protestant forces, devised a military campaign for the complete obliteration of the Catholic power within Ireland. Almost immediately upon the execution of Charles I, in January 1649, Cromwell commenced the complete domination of Ireland and Scotland.
The Irish Home
In very early Ireland practically all residences were of wood or wicker work and most of them were in circular form. They were usually thatched with straw, rushes or sedge. The wooden and wicker work houses were washed with lime on the outside.
Linen sheets and ornamented coverlets were in use. Small low tables for serving meals were supplied with knives, cups, jugs, drinking horns, methers and occasionally napkins. Wheat meal, oat meal, eggs, meat, milk and honey, with some vegetables and few fruits supplied the table. Light was furnished by a number of ways by candles of tallow, bee wax, rushlights, spails of bog fir, or oil lamps.
All of the better class houses had basins for bathing. After their day’s exertion, and before taking their evening meal, hunters and warriors treated themselves to a bath. A bath was always a common courtesy to which to treat a newly arrived guest. The women had mirrors made of highly polished metal. They used cosmetics and had combs. Both sexes devoted the greatest attention to the care of their hair, which was often elaborately curled and plaited.
Women and men (of noble rank) wore beautiful wrought brooches, for fastening their mantle. Other ornaments were bracelets, rings, neck torques, diadems, crescents of gold and silver, all of which may be seen in the National Museum in Dublin.
A mether
(Irish: meadar) is a communal or 'Friendship' drinking vessel from the Celtic tradition, mainly in Ireland and originally solely for mead with old examples being made of wood.
Comin' Clothing
Men
The Celts in Ireland wore a standard outfit. This consisted of the inar, trius, brat, liene, and bonnet. The wealthy Celts wore kilts instead of trius.
Inar
The inar was a jacket. It was normally constructed of wool and like the later doublets had a skirt. The skirt of the inar was heavily pleated.
Trius
The trius or trews were a type of pants. They were normally fairly tight to the leg. Some existing bog examples have buttons up the back of the leg from bottom to mid-calf. These were made of wool cut on the bias.
Brat
The brat was a mantle or cloak made of a long rectangle of wool. It was edged with some sort of fringe. The longer the brat the more affluent the individual.
Liene
The liene or shirt can be considered the mainstay of the Irish. It was worn from mid thigh to below the knee depending on if it was worn alone or with trews. Fashioned of linen, the liene was dyed a saffron color for those of better standing. The more affluent Irish wore large lienes. The English in the 16th C. went so far as to limit the number of yards of cloth that could be in one.
Bonnet
The bonnet was a knitted wool cap that somewhat resembles the modern French beret. A Celt would always have his bonnet on so his head would be covered.
Kilt
The kilt was worn by the more affluent Celts and on special occasions.
Women
We know less about the clothing that women wore than the men. What we do know is from some accounts and also some drawings by period artists. In general a woman would wear an ankle length liene. Over this she would wear a skirt of some sort. Over this she would wear a brat (shawl/cloak). The brat would be similar to that worn by a man. For both sexes the brat was affixed at the shoulder with a broach.
Hats
The women wear hats. A number of different styles of hats were worn from simple caps to elaborate hats.
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