The world: historical and actual . HERE is no more fertileland beneath the sun thanIreland, known to the Ro-mans as Hibernia, to theCelts as Erin, or Scotia. Itsarea is only 31,874 square mileSjOr,includ-ing thenearlytwo hun-dred less-er islesbelong-ing to it,32, Irish Sea separatesit from England, withSt. Georges channel be-tween it and soil is too moist, therainfall too abundant for grain raising to the best advantage. The bogs ofthe low lands are a prominent feature of the island,but grass grows luxuriantly, and the yield of pota- toes is enormous. The only danger in the
The world: historical and actual . HERE is no more fertileland beneath the sun thanIreland, known to the Ro-mans as Hibernia, to theCelts as Erin, or Scotia. Itsarea is only 31,874 square mileSjOr,includ-ing thenearlytwo hun-dred less-er islesbelong-ing to it,32, Irish Sea separatesit from England, withSt. Georges channel be-tween it and soil is too moist, therainfall too abundant for grain raising to the best advantage. The bogs ofthe low lands are a prominent feature of the island,but grass grows luxuriantly, and the yield of pota- toes is enormous. The only danger in the case of thelatter is that the wet soil will breed decay, or the seedsof it, before the crop can be secured. Flax is a prod-uct for which the country is well adapted. Thesethree, grass, potatoes and flax, have been peculiarlysignificant in making Irish history, as will appear presently. Irish history can hard-ly be said to extend far-ther back than the fifthcentury when Christian-ity was introduced. Be-fore that time the barbar-ic tribes of the island werealmost unknown, or ifknown, little conversion of theisland was undertaken bySt. Patrick, who is itspatrmi saint. He was aFrenchman according; tosome, a Scotchman ac-cording to others. Takencaptive in war, he wassold into Ireland where he remained six years. Dur-ing that time he seems to have conceived a stronginterest in the people, for some twenty years after PATRICK IN IRELAND. (387) -ap 388 IRELAND AND THE IRISH. leaving there he returned as a missionary of thecross, spending over thirty years in his holy ; ins are obscure, but all this was certainly in thefifth century, probably in the early part of it. Hisdeath is fixed for March 17th, with wide variationsin the year, and that day is observed by the Irishpeople as sacred to his memory. Confused as is the1 >i< igraphy of this man, there
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectworldhistory, bookyea
