—God! he cried. I forgot to tell him that one about the earl of Kildare
50th cast. page 190, line 446.
—God! he cried. I forgot to tell him that one about the earl of Kildare after he set fire to Cashel cathedral. You know that one? I’m bloody sorry I did it, says he, but I declare to God I thought the archbishop was inside. He mightn’t like it, though. What? God, I’ll tell him anyhow. That was the great earl, the Fitzgerald Mor. Hot members they were all of them, the Geraldines.
Episode 10 is made up of 19 sections, describing different scenes in Dublin. This is its eighth section.
Ned Lambert, a grain merchant, giving a tour of the grain storehouse to Rev. Hugh Love, a clergyman. Speech by Lambert addressing J. J. O’Molloy after Rev. Love's exit.
Rev. Love was researching history and came to visit this place to write a book on the FitzGerald family. The remains of the meeting house of St Mary's Abbey were being used for a warehouse, where Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare （1513 - 1537) raised the flag of rebellion against the English king in 1534.
The meeting house of St Mary's Abbey, a 12th century building is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Dublin. At the time of this novel (1904) it was being used as a grain storehouse. The location is just east of the Dublin City Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market (opened in 1892), which was mentioned in the 24th article of this blog, so it makes sense that it was used as a grain storehouse.
During the late Middle Ages, Ireland was ruled by a group of aristocrats known as the Anglo-Irish, who had come over from England. In other words, they were neither indigenous Celtic kings nor kings of England.
Earl of Kildare was summoned by King Henry VII of England on the grounds of rebellion and inquired into in London. He was then accused of burning the cathedral of Cashel in 1491. He is said to have replied. 'Had I known that the archbishop was not inside, I would not have burnt it.' (The archbishop of Cashel was probably on the side of the English king. I couldn't get that far in my searches.)
Lambert tells of the line by Earl Kildare.
"Bloody" is an abusive and
emphatic word used by British workers in the early 20th century (the present
day of the novel), not a word used by medieval earls.
Lambert uses the word "God" many times in blasphemous episodes.
The American novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) is of Irish descent, so he must be a descendant of the Great Earl, distantly or not. I fancy that the title of his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby (1925), may have been inspired by 'Garret the Great'.
"Rock of Cashel" by Bernie Goldbach is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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