Irish History
And
The Fighting Irish
And
The Fighting Irish
( Celtic And Irish Mythology )
the historical cycle
It
was part of the duty of the medieval Irish bards or court poets, to record the history of the family and the
genealogy of the King they served. This they did in poems that blended the mythological and the historical to a greater or lesser degree. The resulting stories form what has come to be known as the Historical Cycle, or more correctly Cycles, as there are a number of independent groupings.
The Kings that are included range from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who allededly became High King of Ireland around 431 Bc, to the entirely historical Brian Boru. However the greatest glory of the Historical Cycle id the Buile Shuibhne ( The Frenzy of Sweeney ) a 12th century tale told in verse and prose
The Kings that are included range from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who allededly became High King of Ireland around 431 Bc, to the entirely historical Brian Boru. However the greatest glory of the Historical Cycle id the Buile Shuibhne ( The Frenzy of Sweeney ) a 12th century tale told in verse and prose
adventures
The adventure, or echtrae, are a group of stories of visits to the Irish Other World ( which may be westward across the sea, underground, or simply invisible to mortals ) The most famous, Oisin in Tir na nOg belongs to the Fenian Cycle, but several free-standing adventures survive, including The Adventure of Colne, The Voyage of Bran mac Ferbail, and The Adventure of Loegaire.
voyages
The Voyages, or immrama, are tales of sea journeys and the wonders seen on them. These probably grew from the experiences of fishermen combined with the Other World elements that inform the adventures. Of the seven Immrama mentioned in the manuscripts, only three survive: The Voyage of Mael Duin, The Voyage of the
Ui Chorra, and the Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla. The Voyage of Mael Duin is the forerunner of the later
Voyage of St. Brendan.
Ui Chorra, and the Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla. The Voyage of Mael Duin is the forerunner of the later
Voyage of St. Brendan.
the ancient hill of tara
The
Hill of Tara ( Irish ' Teamhair na Ri ' Hill of the Kings ) is located near the River Boyne beween Navan
and Dunshaughlin in County Meath. It contains a number of ancient monuments, and according to tradition was the seat of Ard Ri na hEireann, or the High King of Ireland. It is a place shrouded in the ancient history of Ireland where great tribes and Kings met for hundreds of years. At the summit of the hill, to the north of the ridge, is an oval Iron Age hilltop enclosure, measuring 318 metres north-south by 264 metres east-west and enclosed by an internal ditch and external bank, known as ' Raith na Riogh ' ( The Fort of the King's, also known as the Royal Enclosure ) The most prominent earthworks within are the two linked enclosures, a bivallate ring fort and a bivallete ring barrow known as ' Teach Chormaic ' ( Cormac's House ) and the ' Forradh ' or Royal Seat. In the middle of the Forradh is a standing stone, which is believed to be the Lia Fail ( Stone of Destiny ) at which the High Kings were crowned. According to legend the stone would scream if a series of challenges were met by the would-be King. At a touch the stone would let out a screech that could be heard all over Ireland. To the north of the ring-forts is a small neolithic passage tomb known as Dumha na nGiall ( The Mound of the Hostages ) which dates to 2000 BC.
An aerial view of The Hill of Tara The Mound of Hostages
To the north, just outside the bounds of the Raith na Rig, is a ringfort with three banks known as Raith na Seanadh
' The Rath of the Synnods ' Excavations of this monument have produced Roman artifacts dating from the 1st-3rd centuries. Further north is a long, narrow rectangular feature known as the Banqueting Hall, although it is more likely to have been a ceremonial avenue or cursus monument approaching the site, and three circular earthworks, known as the Sloping Trenches and Grainne's Fort. All three are large ring barrows which may have been built too close to the steep and subsequently slipped.
To the south of the Royal Enclosure lies a ring fort known as Raith Laoghaire ( Laoghaire's Fort ) where the eponymous King is said to have been buried in an upright position. Half a mile south of the Hill of Tara is another
hill fort known as Rath maeve, the fort of either the legendary Queen Medb, who is more usually associated with Connaught, or the less well known legendary figure of Medb Lethderg, who is associated with Tara.
' The Rath of the Synnods ' Excavations of this monument have produced Roman artifacts dating from the 1st-3rd centuries. Further north is a long, narrow rectangular feature known as the Banqueting Hall, although it is more likely to have been a ceremonial avenue or cursus monument approaching the site, and three circular earthworks, known as the Sloping Trenches and Grainne's Fort. All three are large ring barrows which may have been built too close to the steep and subsequently slipped.
To the south of the Royal Enclosure lies a ring fort known as Raith Laoghaire ( Laoghaire's Fort ) where the eponymous King is said to have been buried in an upright position. Half a mile south of the Hill of Tara is another
hill fort known as Rath maeve, the fort of either the legendary Queen Medb, who is more usually associated with Connaught, or the less well known legendary figure of Medb Lethderg, who is associated with Tara.
For
many centuries, historians worked to uncover Tara's mysteries, and suggested that from the time of the
first Celtic influence until the 1169 invasion of Richard de Clare, the Hill of Tara was the island's political and spiritual capital. Due to the history and archaeology of Ireland being not well-intergrated and naturally evolving, archaeologists involved in recent research suggest that the complete story of the wider area around the Hill of Tara remains untold. The most familiar role played by the Hill of Tara in Irish History is as the seat of the Kings of Ireland until the 6th Century. This role extended until the 12th century, albeit without its earlier splendour. Regardless, the significance of the Hill of Tara predates Celtic times, although it has not been shown that Tara was continuously important from the Neolithic to the 12th century. The central part of the site could not have housed large permanent retinue, suggesting that it was used as an occasional meeting place. There were no large defensive works. Certainly the earliest records attest that High Kings were inaugurated there and the ' Seanchas Mor ' legal text ( written down after 600 AD ) specified that they had to drink ale and symbollically marry the goddess Meave ( Medb ) to aquire the High-Kingship
Previous scholarly dispute over Tara' initial importance advanced as archaeologists identified pre-Celtic monuments and buildings dating back to the Neolithic period around 5000 years ago. One of these structures, the Mound of Hostages, has a short passge which is aligned with sunset on the true astonomical cross-quater days of November 8th and February 4th, the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain and Imbolc. The mound's passage is shorter than the long entryways of monuments like Newgrange, which makes it less precise in providing alignments with the Sun: Still it has been stated that the daily changes in the position of a 13 foot long sunbeam are more than adequate to determine specific dates.
Previous scholarly dispute over Tara' initial importance advanced as archaeologists identified pre-Celtic monuments and buildings dating back to the Neolithic period around 5000 years ago. One of these structures, the Mound of Hostages, has a short passge which is aligned with sunset on the true astonomical cross-quater days of November 8th and February 4th, the ancient Celtic festivals of Samhain and Imbolc. The mound's passage is shorter than the long entryways of monuments like Newgrange, which makes it less precise in providing alignments with the Sun: Still it has been stated that the daily changes in the position of a 13 foot long sunbeam are more than adequate to determine specific dates.
Above, The Stone of Destiny The entrance hall to the Mound of Hostages
A theory that may predate the Hill of Tara's splendour before Celtic times is the legendary story naming the Hill of Tara as the capital of the Tuatha De Danann, pre-Celtic dwellers of Ireland. When the Celts established a seat in the hill, the hill became the place from which Kings of Mide ruled Ireland.
The Mound of Hostages is a megalithic ' passage tomb ' and is the oldest monument on the Hill of Tara. The name
Mound of Hostages derives from the custom of overkings like those at Tara, retaining important personages from subject kingdoms to ensure their submission. One of the legendary Kings of Tara was named Niall of the Nine Hostages in recognition of the fact that he held hostages from all provinces of Ireland and Britain.
The Mound of Hostages is a megalithic ' passage tomb ' and is the oldest monument on the Hill of Tara. The name
Mound of Hostages derives from the custom of overkings like those at Tara, retaining important personages from subject kingdoms to ensure their submission. One of the legendary Kings of Tara was named Niall of the Nine Hostages in recognition of the fact that he held hostages from all provinces of Ireland and Britain.
