Royal sites of Ireland

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The royal site of the kings of Ulster, Eamhain Mhacha, now known as Navan Fort Navan Fort, County Armagh - geograph.org.uk - 43871.jpg
The royal site of the kings of Ulster, Eamhain Mhacha, now known as Navan Fort

The royal sites of Ireland were the seats of the Gaelic kings of Ireland. Medieval sources describe them as the ceremonial capitals of various Irish kingdoms, where kingly inaugurations, assemblies and athletic games were held. Archaeological investigations show that many royal sites were culturally significant for thousands of years before recorded history, and they often include ancient monuments such as Neolithic burial mounds, standing stones, cairns and enclosures. [1]

Contents

Each Irish kingdom is thought to have had its own royal site, [2] [1] but six sites are considered to be the most important. [3] These are Tara (Irish : Teamhair), seat of the Kings of Meath and the High King, along with the provincial capitals: Navan Fort (Eamhain Macha) for Ulster; Rathcroghan (Cruachan) for Connacht; Knockaulin (Dún Ailinne) for Leinster; and Cashel (Caiseal) for Munster. [3] Uisneach represented the union of the provinces and may have served as a meeting place for the kings. [3] These major sites, excluding Navan Fort (in Northern Ireland), have been listed as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site. [4]

These primary sites might be associated with less prominent sites that served other purposes for the kingship. For instance, the King of Tara presided over assemblies at Tailtiu (Teltown) and Tlachgta (the Hill of Ward) during the Lughnasadh festival. [5]

Features of a royal site

Historian Michael Herity analysed several historically designated royal sites to determine what feature they shared. He noted that each had ring-barrows, most had hillforts and linear earthwork avenues, a few had cairns or standing stones, but he noted the lack of these may have been due to these structures' fragility. [6] Herity also notes that literary sources celebrate these sites as cemeteries and may indicate ancestor worship. [6] Herity also notes that a composite mound and circular enclosure structure, exemplified by the combination of An Forradh and Teach Cormaic, is almost exclusively found on royal sites. [7] Less frequent features include sacred trees ("bileda"), stone chairs, inauguration stones, stone basins, and churches. [8]

Inauguration sites

Detail of a copy of Richard Bartlett's 1602 map of Ulster that included this depiction of an Ui Neill (O'Neil) inauguration on Tulach Og. A figure on the right, an O Cathain, can be seen holding a shoe over the king's head as part of the "single shoe" ritual. O'Neill inauguration Richard Bartlett.jpg
Detail of a copy of Richard Bartlett's 1602 map of Ulster that included this depiction of an Uí Néill (O'Neil) inauguration on Tulach Óg. A figure on the right, an Ó Catháin, can be seen holding a shoe over the king's head as part of the "single shoe" ritual.

Many royal sites served as ceremonial locations for inauguration ceremonies. The prospective monarchs benefited from associating themselves with the ancient monuments and cultural significance of the royal sites. [8] Inauguration ceremonies treated the prospective king's lands as "betrothed" and the rituals followed the pattern of a marital feast or banais righe. [8] The hilltop location of the inauguration sites offered panoramic views of the "betrothed" lands during the ceremony. [8] Similar feis ceremonies in the early Middle Ages represented a direct marriage between the king and a goddess representing his lands. The significance of the marriage analogy declined in the later Middle Ages as kingship became more oriented toward ownership. [9]

Historical accounts of inauguration ceremonies are scarce and varied. One account suggests that the Cenél Conaill king mated with a mare, had it ritually slaughtered and boiled, and then bathed in its broth while his subjects drank from the bath. [9] This accounts has been criticised as propaganda designed to make the Irish look barbarous or pagan but would be consistent with an Indo-European tradition of inaugural horse slaughter. [9] Records of inaugurations in the later Middle Ages indicate that there was no set inauguration ceremony, but races, drinking liquor, reading poetry, processions representing the kings lands, and granting the White Wand or rod of sovereignty seem to have been basic parts of the ceremony. [9] Some inaugurations included the rite of the "single shoe." [10] Accounts document the use of the rite at the inaugurations of the Uí Choncobhair in the fifteenth century and the Uí Néill and Méig Uidhir in the sixteenth century. [11] An account of the Choncobhair ceremony records the would-be king leaving a single slipper at his inauguration site to signify his claim. The next day, the Mac Diarmada, a vassal family with the role of "king-maker", placed a shoe on his lord's foot during the inauguration. [10] In the Uí Néill ceremony, the would-be king sat on a stone chair on the inauguration hill and Uí Ágáin or, in later ceremonies, Ó Catháin, (king-makers for the Uí Néill), cast the shoe over the seated prince's head. [10] The throwing of the shoe may have been evolved from a tradition of throwing a shoe for good luck. [10] The shoe may also be related to the footprints carved in inaugural stones. [12]

Detail of Bartlett's map with an inuauguration chair located at Tullyhogue Fort, County Tyrone at the bottom. Richard bartlett tullahogue inauguration chair 1602.png
Detail of Bartlett's map with an inuauguration chair located at Tullyhogue Fort, County Tyrone at the bottom.

Inauguration sites had a diversity of features, attesting to their diverse ancient origins. Some of these ancient features seem to have been adapted for the purpose of inauguration ceremonies such as the flattening of the top of a burial mound. [8] Many inauguration sites have small mounds with a flattened area on top just large enough for a man to stand on. These features have been interpreted as "throne mounds," and might have allowed a king to stand on a summit and survey the lands and people below. [8] Several cases of using stone inauguration chairs were documented, although the use of a more conventional chair "throne" was probably an import dating to the later medieval period. [13] Cartographer Richard Bartlett drew the chair at Tulach Óg the inauguration site of the Ui Neill of Tir Eoghain. The only extant Irish inauguration chair, now in the Ulster Museum, belonged to the Ui Neill dynasty of the Clann Aeda Buide. [14]

Other royal sites

Related Research Articles

There are four provinces of Ireland: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Meath has been considered to be the fifth province. In the medieval period, however, there were often more than five. The number of provinces and their delimitation fluctuated until 1610, when they were permanently set by the English administration of James I. The provinces of Ireland no longer serve administrative or political purposes but function as historical and cultural entities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill of Tara</span> Irish royal site and archaeological complex

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruthin</span> People of medieval Ireland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulaid</span> Ancient Irish kingdom

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tullyhogue Fort</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Tara (Ireland)</span> 980 battle between the Gaelic Irish of Meath and the Norse Vikings of Dublin

The Battle of Tara was fought between the Gaelic Irish of Meath, led by Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, and the Norse Vikings of Dublin, led by Amlaíb Cuarán. It took place near the Hill of Tara in Ireland in the year 980. From the period of 950-980 AD, the Vikings had formed temporary alliances with certain Irish clans, enabling them to continue their perennial raids and plunder of the island, however they faced resistance from an alliance of Irish rulers who wanted to eliminate the Viking presence in southern Ireland. The battle was a devastating defeat for the Vikings and led to the Irish regaining control of Dublin.

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Croghan Hill is a hill with a height of 234 metres (768 ft) in County Offaly, Ireland. The remains of an extinct volcano, it rises from the Bog of Allen and dominates the surrounding plains. Historically known as Brí Éile, it is mentioned in Irish mythology and is traditionally seen as a sacred hill. On the summit is an ancient pagan burial mound with panoramic views, which reputedly became the inauguration site of the kings of Uí Failghe. On the eastern slope is an old graveyard and the remains of a medieval church, while at the western foot of the hill is the remains of a medieval settlement, church and castle. An ancient bog body, Old Croghan Man, was found nearby. The village of Croghan is at the southern foot of the hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scone, Scotland</span> Village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermanagh</span> Historical Irish county

Historically, Fermanagh, as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. Fir Manach originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin origins. The kingdom of Fermanagh was formed in the 10th century, out of the larger kingdom of Uí Chremthainn, which was part of the overkingdom of Airgíalla. By the late 11th century it had grown to cover all of what is now County Fermanagh. The kingdom came to be ruled by the Mag Uidhir (Maguire) clan from the late 13th century onward. They were based at Lisnaskea, and their royal inauguration site was nearby Sgiath Gabhra (Skeagoura), now called Cornashee. Under Hugh Maguire, Fermanagh was involved in the Nine Years' War against English rule. His successor, Cú Chonnacht Óg Mag Uidhir, was one of the Gaelic Irish leaders who fled Ireland during the Flight of the Earls. Fermanagh was subsequently merged into the Kingdom of Ireland as County Fermanagh.

The White Rod, White Wand, Rod of Inauguration, or Wand of Sovereignty, in the Irish language variously called the slat na ríghe and slat tighearnais, was the primary symbol of a Gaelic king or lord's legitimate authority and the principal prop used in his inauguration ceremony. First documented in the 12th century Life of Máedóc of Ferns, but assumed to have been used long before then, it is last documented in Ireland in the early 17th century. In Scotland the rod was used into the 13th century for the inauguration of its last Gaelic-speaking kings, and for the Norse-Gaelic Lords of the Isles into the 15th.

Carnfree is a site south of the village of Tulsk in Roscommon that also lies close to the more celebrated ancient landscape of Rathcroghan. The chief feature here is the bronze-age mound of Carnfree itself, believed to be the cairn of the Connacht warrior Fráech, that was used as an inauguration place up to late medieval times. It also encompasses an area known as Selc featuring Duma Selga and the ecclesiastical site where Saint Patrick baptised the Ui Brian princes of Connacht, who according to the saint's biography may have resided in or administrated from this area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Uí Néill</span> Name given to several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland

The Northern Uí Néill was any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall are termed the Southern Uí Néill. The dynasties of the Northern Uí Néill were the Cenél Conaill and Cenél nEógain, named after the two most powerful sons of Niall: Conall and Eógain.

Eilne, also spelt as Eilni, alias Mag nEilne, was a medieval Irish Cruthin petty-kingdom in the over-kingdom of Ulaid. It lay between the River Bann and River Bush, and was centered on Magh nEilne, the "plain of Eilne", spanning north-east County Londonderry and north-west County Antrim, in present-day Northern Ireland. Eilne may represent the name of an original population grouping, though even in the Old Irish period who they were was forgotten.

Dál mBuinne, alias Dál mBuain, meaning the "portion of Buinne", was a medieval Irish Cruthin petty-kingdom that was part of Dál nAraidi of Magh Line in the over-kingdom of Ulaid. Their eponymous ancestor was Buinn, son of the legendary Ulaid king Fergus mac Róich. It consisted in whole or part of a trícha cét. Dál mBuinne is Anglicised as Dalmunia and Dalboyn, the latter of which became the name of a medieval deanery.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Herity 1993, p. 127.
  2. ↑ Byrne 1973, 27[ full citation needed ]
  3. 1 2 3 Newman 1998, p. 127.
  4. ↑ "The Royal Sites of Ireland: Cashel, Dún Ailinne, Hill of Uisneach, Rathcroghan Complex, and Tara Complex". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Newman 1998, p. 129.
  6. 1 2 Herity 1993, p. 136.
  7. ↑ Herity 1993, p. 137.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 'Inauguration Sites'. Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia. p. 230.
  9. 1 2 3 4 'Feis'. Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia. p 165.
  10. 1 2 3 4 FitzPatrick 2004, p. 123.
  11. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, p. 122.
  12. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, p. 128.
  13. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, p. 129.
  14. ↑ 'Inauguration Sites'. Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia. p. 231.
  15. ↑ Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia, p 11.
  16. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, pp. 139–148.
  17. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, p. 206.
  18. ↑ Warner, R. B. (1973). "The Excavations at Clogher and Their Context". Clogher Record. 8 (1): 5–12. doi:10.2307/27695679. JSTOR   27695679.
  19. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, p. 32.
  20. ↑ MacDonald, Philip (2012). "Geophysical Survey and Excavation at the Mound of Down, County Down". Queen's University Belfast.
  21. ↑ F.J. Byrne in Eogan 1968, 399[ full citation needed ]
  22. ↑ Herity 1993, p. 147.
  23. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, pp. 80, 228–229.
  24. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, pp. 52–59.
  25. ↑ FitzPatrick 2004, pp. 84–85.
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