Ireland - a Divided Island Part Two

chieftains trade their loyalty behind the clouds high mountain king Carrantouhil commanding his Macgillycuddy Reeks men of begotten rank, scheming skulduggery secrets hide out of sight, Comeragh mystery shrouds Coumshingaun flighty earls flee from the Lough Swilly shore priests conspire, a king, a queen, a lord-protectorate exact revenge imported evil stalks the land and soul of Ireland near-on half give way, massacre, starvation, transportation and slavery annexation by stealth, abomination exposed Shannon artery, remorseless draining through lakes of tears solidified karst corpses dissolving into central mireland, ringed by coastal ramparts and remnant towers turloughs disappear where the ground is leaking playboys drink from black frothy pools of humour where the craic is good where sad refrain gives way to rhythmic distraction where song, stories, poetry, plays and dance merge in murky island brews native chiefs are stripped of their Ulster lands to control, anglicise and civilise a rebellious region the area most resistant to English rule official and private plantation, top to bottom colonisation Gaelic hands across the channel disrupted Scottish and English incomers, presbyterian and church of England town and country, protestant domination Irishmen uniting for briefest moments on higher ground descent into cold depths of history the Cliffs of Moher plunging from The Burren's bald barren bleakness disfigured fingers pointing blame, shame and guilt like the peninsular lands, Beara to Iveragh, Mizen to Dingle stretching out to a new land of migrating hope escaping abuse and clutches of long-robed men and women the stifling heavy hand of implanted culture two main layers of tradition now overlaying an unfathomable past