Bears were once common in Ireland but are now extinct on the island, having died out in the 1st millennium BC.
Bears were once common in Ireland but are now extinct on the island, having died out in the 1st millennium BC.
A subspecies of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) evolved in and was native to ancient Ireland, probably living much as bears do today - as carrion-scavenging grazers who hibernate in the colder months. However, much like today's bears, the ancient Irish brown bear likely would supplement their broad diet with young and adult red deer, wild boar, Irish hare and Atlantic salmon (in addition to a myriad of other marine and freshwater species). The bulk of a bear's diet consists of wild berries, fruits, fallen nuts, edible flowers, grasses and herbs.
Bears in Ireland often slept through the cold winter in caves, hollows, burrows or sheltered cliffsides; several are known to have died during hibernation, with their bones being found by modern-day archaeologists. [1] The most famous fossils were discovered in Poll na mBéar (lit. "bear's hole") in County Leitrim, and Aillwee Cave, County Clare. [2] [3] Remains have also been found at Lough Gur; County Kildare; and County Longford. [4] Perforated bear teeth (worn on necklaces) have been found in caves in County Clare. [5]
A bear patella bearing butchery marks has been dated to 10860–10641 BC; it was found in the Alice and Gwendoline Cave, County Clare and is the earliest known evidence of human activity in Ireland.
DNA studies have shown that the Irish bear was intermediate between the modern brown bear and modern polar bear. [6] This suggests that the Irish bear interbred with archaic polar bears during the Pleistocene. [7]
The bear is believed to have died out c. 1000–500 BC, due to habitat loss and hunting. [6]
In Old Irish, there are three words used for bear:
The word art fell out of use, with the word gamuin ("calf") being added to math to create mathgamain, and the word beithir being respelled as béar.
The elements art and math often appear in personal names like Arthur or surnames such as MacMahon. [12] In the 12th century Mathghamhain mac Conchobar Maenmaige Ua Conchobair was a prince of Connacht; Mathghamhain Maonmhaighe Ó Briain was King of Thomond in the 15th century; and Mathghamhain Ó hIfearnáin was a poet of the 16th century. [13] [14] [15]
Art mac Cuinn, Art Imlech and Art mac Lugdach were legendary High Kings of Ireland; [16] King Arthur's name is believed to be Brythonic for "bear-man"; and Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach was a 14th-century king. The name Artrí ("bear-king") is also recorded; Artrí mac Cathail was King of Munster in the 8th–9th centuries, and Artrí mac Conchobair was briefly Abbot of Armagh in the 9th century. [17] The surname O'Hart also derives from Ua hAirt, "descendant of Art"; they were based around the Hill of Tara before losing their land in the Norman invasion and resettling in County Sligo. [18] [19]
Bears occasionally appear in Irish mythology and folk tales, for example, in the tale of The Brown Bear of Norway. [20]
Bears died out in Ireland prior to the coming of the Celts, so their name does not appear in very many place names. The Beara Peninsula, Bear barony and Bere Island are not named for the mammal; the name is believed to have the same root as Iberia. [21] Lismaha (Irish Lios Matha), a townland in County Roscommon, possibly means "bear ringfort", although it could also be "Matthew's ringfort." [22]
Bear-baiting took place in Ireland in the early modern period, with it being common in Belfast; a baiting in Dublin in 1726 led to a bull and bear escaping, with one bear "[seizing] one man by the leg and tore it to pieces." [23] A bear-baiting took place in Cork in 1769. [24]
Two polar bears lived in Dublin Zoo between the early 1980s and 2003. The female bear's behaviors caused concerns and an independent study was commissioned which found bears needed to be able to spend time alone when they choose. It was later moved to a zoo in Hungary where their needs can be accommodated better. [25]
Habitat loss has made it impossible to reintroduce the bear to Ireland, but there are two brown bears — rescued from a private zoo in Lithuania — residing in Wild Ireland, a 23 acres (9.3 ha) reserve on the Inishowen Peninsula. [26] [27]
Connacht or Connaught, is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms.
In Irish mythology, *Danu is an obscure figure, whose sole attestation is in the genitive in the name of the Tuatha dé Danann. Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land.
Fianna were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A fian was made up of freeborn young males, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage but had not yet inherited the property needed to settle down as full landowning members of the túath". For most of the year they lived in the wild, hunting, cattle raiding other Irish clans, training, and fighting as mercenaries. Scholars believe the fian was a rite of passage into manhood, and have linked fianna with similar young warrior bands in other early European cultures.
Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs with the aim of attacking and subduing the bull by biting and holding onto its nose or neck, which often resulted in the death of the bull.
Tlachtga was a powerful druidess in Irish mythology and the red-haired daughter of the arch-druid Mug Ruith. She accompanied him on his world travels, learning his magical secrets and discovering sacred stones in Italy. Tlachtga's name was attached to the Hill of Ward in County Meath, which was the site of prominent festivals in her honour in the Middle Ages.
Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland,with a height of 368 metres (1,207 ft). It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff resembling the profile of the emperor Napoleon. On top of this are the remains of an ancient promontory fort called McArt's Fort. Cavehill was also historically called 'Ben Madigan', after a king of Ulster called Madagán.
Present-day Irish has numerous loanwords from English. The native term for these is béarlachas, from Béarla, the Irish word for the English language. It is a result of language contact and bilingualism within a society where there is a dominant, superstrate language and a minority substrate language with few or no monolingual speakers and a perceived "lesser" status.
The Grey wolf was an integral part of the Irish countryside and culture, but are now extinct. The last wild wolf in Ireland is said to have been killed in 1786, 300 years after they were believed to have been wiped out in England and 100 years after their disappearance from Scotland.
Tuathal is an Irish male name meaning [ruling with] "fervour over the people" or "valour of the tribe", from Old Irish túath "people, tribe, tribal territory" + gal "ardour, valour", from Proto-Celtic *galā "might, ability".
The surname McDonagh, also spelled MacDonagh is from the Irish language Mac Dhonnchadha, and is now one of the rarer surnames of Ireland.
Killeany or Kilhenny, Kilheny is a civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It lies in the Burren region of the northwest of the county.
Mullaghreelan Rath is a ringfort (rath) and National Monument located in County Kildare, Ireland.
Rory is a masculine given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the Irish: Ruairí/Ruaidhrí and Scottish Gaelic: Ruairidh/Ruaraidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. The meaning of the name is "red king", composed of ruadh ("red") and rígh ("king"). In Ireland and Scotland, it is generally seen as a masculine name and therefore rarely given to females.
Rathsoony is a ringfort and national monument located in County Galway, Ireland.
Loher Cashel is a stone ringfort (cashel) and National Monument located on the Iveragh Peninsula, Ireland.
Aughrim Ringforts are a pair of ringforts forming a National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.
The Alice and Gwendoline Cave is a limestone cave in County Clare, Ireland. It is known as the site of brown bear bones bearing the mark of butchery, which have pushed back the first known human habitation of Ireland by over two thousand years.
The Curraheen River is a river in County Cork and Cork City, Ireland, a tributary of the River Lee.
Felix Ua Duib Sláin, often anglicised as Felix O'Dullany was a medieval Irish bishop.
Castlerahan is a barony in County Cavan, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.
Media related to Bears in Ireland at Wikimedia Commons