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Earthing the Myths. Daragh Smyth
Читать онлайн.Название Earthing the Myths
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isbn 9781788551373
Автор произведения Daragh Smyth
Издательство Ingram
SACRED TREES
The main political centres of ancient Ireland were Emain Macha, which could be regarded as the capital of Ulster; Dind Ríg, that of Leinster; Cashel of Munster; and Cruachain of Connacht. The spiritual capital of Ireland was Tara in the ancient province of Mide (Meath), which also served as the ceremonial home of the High King. On a more local level, the most important ritual centre was the bile or ‘sacred and venerated tree’. Under these trees, which could be ash, oak, yew or hawthorn, chiefs were inaugurated, and they were the gathering place for tribal meetings and fairs. Some were cut down as a consequence of the zeal of Christian missionaries, others as a result of intertribal warfare. The influence of the sacred tree was demonstrated by the fact that the greatest insult that could be inflicted on an enemy was the desecration of the tree. For instance, the inauguration tree of the Dál gCais at Magh Adhair, now Moyre, near Tulla, Co. Clare, was, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, ‘cut after being dug from the earth with its roots’ by Maelseachlainn of Meath, King of Tara in 980 AD This date lends credence to the persistence of the inauguration ceremony long after Christianity had taken hold in Ireland. When in 1099 the craeb tulca, or ‘tree of the mound’, was cut down in Antrim by the O’Neills, the offending family some years later uprooted the sacred bile of the O’Neills at Tullaghoge.
As there were as many as 100 local chiefs in Ireland at the beginning of the twelfth century, we may assume that there were many sacred inaugural trees throughout the land. According to the archaeologist Barry Raftery, ‘the bile leaves no trace in the archaeological record, but we can assume that this custom [inauguration of kings] is of pagan Celtic origin, for there are clear indications that it existed in Gaul in the pre-Roman Iron Age’.
How to Use this Book
This book attempts to outline all the significant places in every county on the island of Ireland and includes places in Scotland where the early stories of the two countries conjoin. Altogether there are over a 1,000 locations referenced.
Each location is identified by a number in square brackets that refers to the Ordnance Survey Discovery Series for the Republic of Ireland and the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Discoverer Map Series.
Names that appear frequently in the text are explained in a glossary and are marked with an asterisk * throughout.
Various time periods are mentioned throughout the book and these are as follows:
Mesolithic: c.7000–4000 BC
Neolithic: c.4000–2400 BC
Bronze Age: c.2400–500 BC
Iron Age: c.400–500 AD
Early Christian: c.400–800 AD
Viking period: c.400–1100 AD
Early Medieval: c.400–1100 AD
CONNACHT
GALWAY
Gaillimh, ‘stony (river)’, also Gaillem, ‘the river and town of Galway’ Cnoc Medbha (‘Medb’s* Hill’), also known as Cnoc Magh (‘the hill on the plain’) and now known as Knockma, is five miles south-west of Tuam and south-east of Castlehacket [46]. Although only a little more than 500 feet high, the summit of Knockma commands some of the finest views in Ireland; the hill in the early part of the twentieth century was part of the folklore of Galway and Mayo. The fairies of Connacht were said to dwell in the depth of the hill under their leader Finvarra. The great cairn on the summit of the hill is marked Finvarra’s Castle on the Ordnance Sheet. Knockma is the south-eastern limit of the great plain anciently called Nemidh or Magh-Ith.
Fairy-fighting in the sky over Knockma and on towards Galway was held responsible for the famine of 1846–7. Or one might hint that if something disastrous occurred then the remnants of the fairy faith were somehow responsible.
There are four cairns in this area within which are said to be excavated passages and a palace where the aes síde live. Inside the cairn of Knockma there is believed to be an entrance to the Otherworld. It was common belief in this area that after consumptives died, they became well again with the aes síde.
The cult of the head which I have encountered in a few counties is found in a novel called Hero Breed by Pat Mullen, from Inishmore on the Aran Islands, published 1936:
What it was she saw or how far into the future it went nobody has ever known, but she said it as a geasa on his eldest son that he must dig up his father’s skull at the coming of the first new moon after one year had elapsed, and never part with it until his death, when it was to be placed in the care of his eldest son in turn. In this way it would be passed down through the centuries until time ceased to be. ‘For’, said she, ‘while the skull is kept carefully in the possession of the eldest son the spirit of the great warrior will always be near to watch over the family. The name shall never die out, the men shall be fearless, brave and strong, the women beautiful and kindly.
A further example can be seen at St MacDara’s Island, a monastic site almost two miles south-west of Mace Head. It is best approached from the village of Carna [44]. Here on 16 July, the saint’s patron day, local people came to the island and celebrated mass. After this some put their hands down into the earth in that part of the church where the saint’s skull lay and touched it. This ritual continued until one year when it was stolen by what some locals say was a tourist; however, no proof has ever emerged as to the guilty party. The thief destroyed a custom that lasted, supposedly, for nearly 1,500 years.
There are other less intense traditions associated with this sixth-century saint; passing fishing boats are said to dip their sails three times for luck. The distinctive-looking oratory, according to Estyn Evans in Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland, may have been timber-built. ‘The whole arrangement suggests a translation into stone of a timber building with its roof supported by elbowed crucks. This is the only surviving example of its kind, though miniature copies of similar oratories occur on top of high crosses at Monasterboice and Durrow.’ As the name Dair means ‘oak’, it is fitting that the original oratory was of timber.
The sighting of péists or Otherworld beasts (most notably the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland), was a common enough occurrence in Galway in the twentieth century. These sightings occurred firstly at Loch Fadda [44] close to Clifden, Connemara, and at Loch Ána (‘Ána’s lake’) [36] and at Loch Shanakeever (Loch Sheanadh Chíamhair, ‘the lake of ancient mist’) [37]. The beast was known as the Ech Uisce or ‘water horse’ as its head was similar to that of a horse. According to local reports it was black, had a large white stripe along its back and was about seven to eight feet in length. Georgina Carberry, librarian at Clifden, said that she saw it in 1954. In 1960 the Loch Ness investigation bureau came to Loch Fadda and used dynamite, with government permission, in order, one presumes, to bring the beast out of its lair. Some academics have dismissed the possibility of a monster by saying that the sightings may be merely of a group of otters, which, black and in procession, may appear humped. This ollphéist or monster was mentioned by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1842.
Loch Fadda features a crannóg or ancient lake dwelling; these were usually wooden enclosures. This lake dwelling is known as Beaghcauneen (Beitheach Cháinín, ‘the lake of the birch groves’). Coincidentally, the lake west of Loch Fadda is known as Loch Each, or ‘the lake of the horse’. Two miles south-west of Loch Each by foot (or by horse!) is Loch Naweelaun (Loch na bhFaoileann, ‘the lake of the seagulls’) where sightings of the Ollphéist have also been observed. For the enthusiast there is a megalithic tomb about 300 yards south-west from the east side of the lake.
Inchagoill Island on the northern end of Lough