Ireland

by Vincent McDonnell

  A family, or group of related families, would live in the fort, protected from attack by the earthen banks or stone walls. One fort in County Wicklow had four banks, or walls, for protection. This tells us that the people who lived there needed a lot of protection. This may have been from other people who lived in Ireland, or from raiders from Britain or from Europe.

  From the beginning of time men have wanted what other men possess. One of the things that they most covet is gold, and when they become crazy with their desire for gold, we say that they are suffering from gold fever. Gold has always held a special fascination for men, and still does to this very day. When an athlete wins at the Olympics he or she is presented with a gold medal. When a couple get married, they exchange gold rings. Though we have even more precious metals than gold today, it is still regarded as the most valuable and desired metal on earth. It gleams and dazzles when light shines on it, is hard wearing, does not rust or tarnish, and lasts a long time. These are the reasons why it is so valued today, and why it was so valued thousands of years ago.

  Such a valuable metal was not used by our ancestors to make weapons or tools. Instead, they made ornaments like gold collars, necklaces and arm and leg bracelets called torcs and another type of necklace called a lunula. They also made earrings, and pins for women to wear in their hair, fasteners for their clothing and discs that resembled blazing suns. Thousands of years ago, there was much gold in Ireland and one of the largest gold mines in the country was in County Wicklow.

  When raiders attacked Irish settlements, they were not only seeking weapons and slaves and food and goods, but also gold. It is probable that due to these raiders, the forts and raths and cashels were built. It is likely that the well-defended fort in County Wicklow was built because the people who lived there had large amounts of gold and objects made of gold because of the goldmine in that county.

  These raiders did not remain in the country. Instead, they took whatever they wanted and returned to their homes. But other people did come to stay in the 6,000 years following the arrival of those first settlers from Scotland. We know that the Beaker People came, as did the people who lived at Lough Gur. But none of those was to have the effect on the country, and on those already living here, than the Celts, who first came here about 2,500 years ago. It was a turbulent period, not only in Irish history, but in world history. Man had discovered iron, which is a much better metal than bronze, and those who possessed iron weapons conquered those who still used bronze. With the discovery of iron, the Bronze Age came to an end and we entered what is called the Iron Age.

  6

  The Celts

  The Celts came from Europe and were once part of a great Celtic Empire. They spoke a language from which our Gaelic language has come. They were a tall, proud people with light reddish hair. They were warriors, and their powerful physique and iron weapons gave them superiority over other smaller and less well-armed people. Despite this, they were driven out of Europe by other more powerful tribes.

  It is likely that the Celts introduced the art of horsemanship to Ireland. Very elaborate horses’ bits made of bronze, and dating from around 2,000 years ago, have been found here. Wide tracks made of hewn wooden planks have also been found. These must have been built to allow easy passage of wheeled vehicles, probably horses pulling carts.

  Some historians claim that the Celts had chariots similar to those of the Romans. Blades, which may have been fixed to the wheels of a chariot, have been found in Ireland. So it is possible that the Celts did have chariots. They would have been familiar with Roman chariots and may have copied them. If they used horses and chariots in their warfare, they would have had a huge advantage over the native population who were, for the most part, farmers.

  Historians once thought that a large army of Celtic warriors invaded Ireland about 2,500 years ago and conquered the country. Now they no longer believe this. They think that the Celts came in smaller groups over a period of hundreds of years and gradually subdued the people already living here. As often happens in these situations, the Celts and the natives intermarried. Eventually they all merged together and became the ancestors of the Irish people we are today. The Celts named the country Ériu, or as it is known today, Erin, and Ireland is now the only remaining independent Celtic nation in the world.

  As well as iron tools and weapons, the Celts brought to Ireland a certain style in decoration called the La Tène style. It is named after a place in Switzerland where a great many objects in that style were found. The Celts were master-craftsmen in metal and leather, and especially in gold. They wore gold neck decorations, and also rings and bracelets, some of which were worn around the ankle. They painted and engraved designs on the objects they made, but we do not understand what these designs mean. They were also masters at carving, and carved their designs on stone. One of the best examples of their stone carving is the Turoe Stone, near Loughrea, County Galway.

  The Celts were a religious people and had many gods. They believed that these gods dwelt on mountains, and in rivers and trees and woods. Their best-known god was named Lug. The festival of Lughnasa was held in his honour on the first day of August every year. Today, the Irish name for August is still Lughnasa, and is a link back to our ancient ancestors.

  The Celts were what we call pagans, and they had priests who were known as druids. A stone carving of druids found in France shows two tall men in long robes, and with long hair and beards. One is wearing a headdress of flowers and leaves and is carrying a ceremonial mace. The druids were revered and no doubt feared, for ordinary people believed they had magical powers. People in those ancient times probably danced and chanted around fires to the beat of drums, and played simple music on whistles made of hollow bones. They also had bronze horns, which were so elaborate that they were almost certainly played only on important religious or ceremonial occasions. The largest collection of Celtic horns in the world has been found in Ireland. When they were first found no one knew how to play them. But recently, people have learned how to play them.

  These religious celebrations were held at special times of the year. The most important of these times were the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices. These dates mark specific points in the earth’s orbit around the sun, and are closely associated with the seasons. The equinoxes mark the two times when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness. The summer solstice marks the time when the days begin to grow shorter and darker, and the winter solstice when the days begin to grow longer and brighter.

  In ancient times a plentiful supply of food depended on the weather. There were no shops back then; people had to grow enough food to feed themselves. They also had to store sufficient food for the winter when no crops could be grown, so knowledge of the seasons was of immense importance. They had to know when was the best time to sow seeds, when to gather the crops and when to start preserving food for the winter.

  There were no fridges or freezers in those times either, so preserving food was vital. Meat would have been smoked and dried to preserve it. Edible roots would be preserved in pits covered with earth. Fungi and other edible roots would be dried and hung up in a cool, dark place. When I was growing up on a small farm, we still used these methods of preserving meat and vegetables over the winter.

  The winter, as you know, is a dark, cold time with the days getting colder and darker until the winter solstice on 21 December. From then on, the days begin to grow longer and warmer, with the promise of spring. So 21 December was a very important day for those ancient Irish people. On that day they would have held religious ceremonies to give thanks to their gods that they had survived the dark winter and could now look forward to the coming spring. They would also have had great celebrations with feasting and music and dancing.

  Can you imagine one of those religious ceremonies and celebrations? First, a great fire is lit to give both light and heat. The whole tribe, men, women and children then gather in a ring around the fire. Drums begin to beat an
d the druids dance around the blazing fire, the leaping flames casting their shadows on the glowing faces of those watching them. The druids are probably naked, their bodies dyed with woad, a blue dye obtained from a plant. They begin to chant, their voices echoing out in the darkness beyond the fire’s glow. Others begin to play whistles and then bronze horns are sounded, like the deep baying of some gigantic animal.

  The druids’ dance becomes more frenzied and their chanting grows louder. Bigger drums begin to boom and mingled with all those sounds is the droning of the horns. The druids are offering prayers to the gods in thanksgiving for the bountiful supply of food and for the continued good health of the people. They are asking the gods to grant them good weather when spring comes so that their people can plant their seeds. They pray, too, for a bumper crop at harvest time so that the tribe will again have sufficient food for the winter.

  Now the druids offer up a sacrifice to the gods. An animal is killed and its blood sprinkled on the earth, or even on the people gathered around the fire. A terrible thing – something we would not want to think about too much – is that sometimes a human sacrifice was made to the gods. Two male bodies, known as Clonycavan Man and Old Croghan Man, were found preserved in bogs in recent times. Both are thought to have been sacrificed to the gods. I’m glad to say that these sacrifices only took place on rare occasions, maybe when a new chief took over leadership of the tribe. The druids also buried valuable objects, or threw them into lakes as offerings to the gods. This is why we have found so many of these objects, which have helped us to understand our ancestors and their beliefs and how they lived.

  Because the people believed that the druids could persuade the gods to send sunshine or rain as required, they were revered and regarded with awe. Even the chiefs of the community feared and respected them. The chiefs would consult the druids before making any major decision, and so those men possessed great powers and privileges within their communities. Another group who held great power and privilege was the poets, or filí in Gaelic. They kept alive the stories and traditions and history of the people, and were held in great esteem.

  The arrival of the Celts changed Ireland forever. It became a Celtic nation and within 500 years the Celtic language, religion and customs were a normal part of everyday life. But warfare between different tribes also became a part of Irish life, and this violence brought great changes to the way people lived.

  7

  The Coming of Kings

  When the first people came to Ireland they would have belonged to one family or tribe. One man would have been the leader and would have made all the important decisions. If he had a son, then he became the leader when his father got too old or died. As the family got bigger, that leader gained more power. He now had more people to look after and to make decisions for.

  If a tribe was attacked and conquered then the members of that tribe became slaves for their conquerors. This gave the conquerors even more power, for now they had men, women and even children to work on their behalf. They could produce more food and goods, which they could then swap for things they needed. This swapping of goods is called barter. There was no money back then and so people had to barter what they possessed for what they needed. If a tribe had access to copper and tin and was good at making bronze axes, they could barter them with a tribe who made objects from leather, or that made pottery.

  When the Celts arrived, they were more powerful than the people already living in Ireland. They conquered these native people and became richer and even more powerful. As they grew more and more powerful, so did their leaders and their families, along with the druids and the filí. They lived in the biggest and best houses, had the best food and drink served to them by slaves, and wore the best clothes and gold ornaments.

  But where there are rich and powerful tribes there are also problems. Other tribes become envious and wish to conqueror their neighbours and take all that power and wealth for themselves. Before the Celts came to Ireland, there was fighting and conquering occurring among the tribes already living here. With the arrival of the Celts, this conquering increased. Communities were forced to protect themselves and this is one reason why they built hill forts and raths and cashels.

  Within his fortress, the tribal leader and his people could live in relative safety while protecting their animals and food and property from marauders. From here, the chief could rule over the other tribes around him who were not as powerful as he was. Gradually these chiefs became kings of their areas and eventually five major areas, or kingdoms emerged. These were the four provinces we still know today along with that of Meath. When we now refer to one of the four provinces in Gaelic we use the word ‘cuige’. Cuig means ‘five’ in Gaelic and refers back to that time when there were five provinces.

  Later still, Ireland was divided into seven areas or kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms had its own king. These areas were then divided into smaller areas called tuaths and these, too, had their own king. There was constant warfare between these kings, and sometimes forts were not sufficient to protect one area from another. You remember, there was no money back then, and a king’s wealth was measured in the number of cattle he possessed. So when kings went to war they would also try to steal the other king’s cattle.

  When war broke out between Connacht and Ulster, the Ulster people built giant earthworks to separate the two areas. These would have helped to protect them from the attackers, and prevented the attackers from stealing cattle. A section of these earthworks, known as Black Pig’s Dyke, still exists today. The name, according to legend, is associated with a magician who was tricked into becoming a pig, and was then forced to travel around Ireland rooting up the earth into gigantic banks.

  Of course, this is just a legend, but as there are many such earthworks around the country, this indicates that there was much warfare. Some kings became very powerful and wished to be High King of all Ireland, or Ard Rí in Gaelic. But though many claimed to be High King, in reality there was no one king who ruled all of Ireland at this time.

  Still, there were some very powerful kings in Ireland living in magnificent forts. One of the most famous of all these Irish forts was Emain Macha, or Navan fort. It was in Armagh, and was founded either by a Queen Macha, or was called after a goddess of that name. It later became the residence of one of Ireland’s most famous kings, Conor Mac Nessa, who reigned in Ulster about 2,000 years ago. It was at his court that the great hero Cú Chulainn lived. The Red Branch Knights, who were brave warriors, also lived at Navan fort.

  The kings of Connacht lived at Rathcroghan, County Roscommon, the kings of Leinster at Dún Ailinne, County Kildare, and the kings of Munster at Cashel, County Tipperary. But the most famous of all Irish forts was the great fort on the hill of Tara, in County Meath. Its origins date back to Stone Age times, when there was a settlement there. One of its most famous kings was Cormac Mac Airt, who was the son of Art and the grandson of a king named Conn, who gave his name to Connacht. During his reign, Cormac Mac Airt made Tara the capital of Ireland. He lived there in a magnificent palace and within the fort was a great banqueting hall, said to be the largest building in all of Ireland.

  According to legend, Cormac founded the Fianna, whose leader was Fionn MacCumhaill. He was a great warrior and lived on the nearby Hill of Allen. The Fianna could be said to be Ireland’s first army, and many stories are told of their brave deeds. However, it is difficult to know what is actually true and what is legend. But they make great stories; so much so that they are still related today, part of our folklore and myth. Legend claims that the Fianna became too powerful and were defeated in a great battle at Gavra, County Meath, by Cormac’s grandson, Cairbre.

  For hundreds of years, Tara was the most important fort in the country and whoever ruled there was virtually the High King. There was a stone there called the Lia Fáil, or Stone of Destiny, and when the rightful king touched it, it cried out. This part about the stone crying out is clearly a myth, but perhaps a druid cried out and thi
s gave rise to the legend. The stone can still be seen at Tara today.

  The king who ruled at Tara was so powerful that every third year a great gathering, the Feis of Tara, was held, to which were invited the other Irish kings. At this gathering, the kings would discuss making new laws, which were known as the Brehon Laws, ‘Brehon’ being the Gaelic word for judge. After this, and when the weaker kings had paid honour to the more powerful ones, a great feast, known as the Feast of Tara was held. During this time athletic contests and games took place, and there was much music and song and story, and of course feasting on the best food and drink. The feast lasted for three whole days, though it’s claimed that it could go on for weeks or months.

  Yet despite these great gatherings of the Irish kings, disputes between different kings continued. Alliances were formed and broken and war could be waged for wrongs done, or for even imagined wrongs. Stories about many of these disputes were later written down. One of the most famous is The Cattle-Raid of Cooley. This tells the story of the war between Queen Maeve of Connacht and Conor Mac Nessa of Ulster. Maeve invaded Ulster in a dispute over the ownership of the brown bull of Cooley. Cú Chulainn, one of Ireland’s most famous mythical heroes, also appears in this story and was killed in the fighting. Maeve was victorious, and her victory probably marked the beginning of the decline of Navan fort and the power of the Ulster kings.