Monasteries of the Moy
Growing up in the hinterland of the ancient edifices of Rosserk and Moyne Abbey in Co. Mayo, left a distinct impression on me, and an acute awareness since childhood of ancient Ireland. These ancient ruins sit in a landscape peppered with historic landmarks such as standing stones, the ruin of a 13th century castle across the river and a nearby Holy Well, Tobar Mhuire, housed in a small stone building erected in 1799. This is the landscape that shaped me, inspired my love of architecture and my appreciation of the craftsmanship of the past.
Rosserk Abbey was founded in the fifteenth century by the chieftain of the Joyces, a powerful family of Welsh origin, who settled in Connacht in the thirteenth century. The friary of Rosserk housed a community of friars of the Third Order of St. Francis or the Tertiaries. Unusually this order consisted of married men and women who wished to lead a Franciscan life, but because of their marital status, were not able to join the First Order (friars) or the Second Order (nuns). Prior to the construction of the abbey, the area was called ‘Ros Serce’, named after a miracle working female saint called Searc, a disciple and alleged sister of St. Patrick who resided there. It is speculated that the foundation of the abbey at the Rosserk site occurred somewhere between 1400 and 1441 as the Tertiaries enjoyed wealthy patronage in medieval Ireland. The buildings are grouped around an open cloister, three sides consist of vaulted chambers with a church on the remaining side topped by a bell tower. The kitchen, dining hall and dormitories were located at the first floor level. The abbey has an intact double piscina topped by angels carved in stone, this is a recess with a stone basin for washing sacred vessels used during religious ceremonies. In the late sixteenth century, the abbeys of Rosserk, Moyne and Rathfran, were sacked and burnt by Sir Richard Bingham, English Governor of Connacht. By the 1800’s Rosserk had been abandoned for over two hundred years and walls in many places were on the verge of collapse. In the 1880’s the abbey was taken in to the care of the Commissioners of Public Works who ensured that walls were secured, stonework pointed, and window tracery restored, the original pieces found in the surrounding debris. Works to this National Monument was carried out in Rosserk in 1883, under the direction of the architect, Mr. Thomas Newenham Deane R.H.A.
Further down the river towards the ancient village of Killala, sits the larger and imposing ruin of Moyne Abbey. Set further back from the River Moy, Moyne rests in luxuriant green fields, its high tower can be seen for miles around. The Franciscan Friary of Moyne was founded by Mac William de Burgo in 1455, and the building was consecrated in 1462 by the Bishop of Killala. Moyne once possessed a valuable library being a provincial school of the Franciscan order, together with an infirmary and a mill for grinding corn. A well preserved enclosed cloister exists at the heart of the building, an enclosed walkway where the friars prayed and meditated. The more rudimentary elements of monastic life were also accommodated within the abbey walls, including a kitchen and dining hall, sacristy, chapter house and the dormitories. The monastery was burnt in 1590 by Sir Richard Bingham, the English Governor of Connaught. The friars left after suffering persecution at the hands of Bingham, and the lands of the abbey came into the possession of Edmund Barrett. Later it was owned by an English widow, she allowed the friars to return to the Abbey in 1606, where they remained until 1618. Moyne was later owned by the Lindsay family who demolished part of the monastery with gun powder. In 1718, the abbey came into the possession of the Knox family, Francis Knox, the son of William Knox of Castle Rea, took up residence at Moyne after his marriage to Dorothea Annesley. It is said that during the sacking of the abbey, a soldier by the name of Knox killed the last abbot of Moyne. Parts of the abbey were still habitable and Francis re-modelled a wing of the monastery and lived there. After the Knox family left Moyne, the property was bought by the Kirkwood family who are associated with nearby Bartra Island. In the early 1900’s the predecessors of the OPW carried out works to stabilise the structure, access at this time could only be granted by requesting a key from the caretaker’s cottage. Over the last century, since both monasteries passed into the care of the OPW, their constant care and attention over the decades has ensured that these ancient structures have endured and continue to fascinate all those who visit them.
The Education Programme at Dublin Castle
Since launching our Education Programme in May 2023, we’ve sought to enable access to the art collection and history of Dublin Castle. It’s all been a learning process, and one that we’re excited to be involved in.
Prior to the design and build of the Education Room in September 2023, our social media platforms needed to disseminate information in a way that was accessible and engaging. We chose specific paintings, textiles and sculptures to discuss art terminology like chiaroscuro, stuccowork, memento mori and contrapposto in a way that was user-friendly. We grouped specific artworks together under themes like Birds in the Collection, Art Inspired Recipes and L’Influence Française to capture varying audience demographics. We created a Quiz Time highlight on our Instagram page encouraging users to test their understanding of Dublin Castle’s art collection and history. In January 2024, we announced Astrology as the theme of the Education Programme and this has anchored our decisions regarding family-friendly workshops and social media posts throughout the year. The theme has been an enjoyable way to explore the history of the site, encouraging new links to be made between artworks.
Since May 2023, the Education Team has designed and delivered over 100 individual events as part of our Education Programme. In this year alone, we delivered over 70 free educational events on site, including talks, tours, workshops and demonstrations. In August, we hosted 13 educational events, 11 of which took place during National Heritage Week 2024. It was a wonderfully diverse programme made possible by the talents of the Guiding Team and external collaborators. From Apollo Marks inspired by the stuccowork ceiling of the Apollo Room to Origami Skull Bookmarks inspired by painterly depictions of St. Jerome, we had lots of fun and engaging activities to offer members of the public. We ended theweek on a high, celebrating Wild Child Day with the delivery of a Bird-Box Workshop inspired by those hanging in the trees of the Dubh Linn Gardens. Following the success of the Focal an Lae social media posts and our Turais Trí Ghaeilge, we launched our very first Caint agus Comhrá session in October
2024. This drop-in session will be a monthly event in the Education Room of Dublin Castle. The purpose is to provide a space and framework to speak Irish in a comfortable, relaxed and historically rich setting. It’s another mode of engagement and one that we’re excited to offer as part of our Education Programme. Based on the popularity of our Respond to the Artwork workshops, we’re continuing to adopt ‘slow-looking’ strategies in leading our family-friendly and dementia-inclusive sessions at Dublin Castle. These workshops offer participants space, time and guidance in discussing the art elements as
they relate to chosen artworks in the collection, before completing an appropriate art activity. It’s a format that captures active learning across all age groups, and one that we’re keen to develop in upcoming years. Currently in development is our Educational Video Series, which will provide insights into selected artworks in the collection. These short videos will assist teachers, students and members of the public in learning about the collection in a way that is art-specific and student friendly. We’d like these videos to be part of an ongoing project that complements the Art History curriculum at post-primary level. We recently launched our Painting Pursuit Educational Resource, a trail
that celebrates the artwork of the State Apartments and challenges detectives of all ages to decipher clues hidden in the paintings. It’s been a fun project to lead, and will complement both the ‘Death in the Collection’ tour and ‘Secret Agent’ tour at Dublin Castle. Moving forward, we’re excited about the inclusion of a Portfolio Preparation Course and regular drawing sessions within our Education Programme.
This interest stems from personal experience studying and teaching observational drawing in the classroom setting. Given how fortunate we are to have life-sized plaster cast statues in the collection, there is lots of scope for developing Bargue and Cast Drawing classes in upcoming years. On a final note, I’d like to extend my thanks to the staff at Dublin Castle for their ongoing support towards the work of the Education Team. Since establishing our Programme in 2023, progress has been accelerated through the build of the Education Room, the expertise of the Guiding Team and the contributions of external historians and artists. It’s all been in the pursuit of an engaging programme of events, and we look forward to developing more learning opportunities for people in the future.
Medb of Connaught
Queen. Warrior. Goddess. Medb of Connaught was many things within Celtic mythology.
As Queen, Medb ruled over the province of Connaught, overseeing her kingdom
from her seat of power at Rathcroghan.
As Warrior, Medb raised an army against Ulster to ensure she would gain possession of the Brown Bull of Cooley.
As Goddess, Medb represented fertility and sovereignty, offering men the power of kings through marriage.
With the mounds of Rathcroghan, and the cairn at Knocknarea said to symbolise parts of Medb’s body, it signifies the legacy that she left within Irish pseudohistory - her powerful connection to the land that is written in the earth itself.
According to mythology, the epic battle known as the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Battle of Cooley) was incited during a seemingly innocuous conversation between Medb and her then husband/consort, Ailill Mac Máta. What started as a bed-time discussion turned into one of the most brutal fights in pseudohistory.
“In Ailill’s herd there was a magnificent bull called the White-horned and Medb had none to touch it.”
As comparisons are made between the couple over who has the greater fortune, the most prized possessions, they realise they are equal in all things…bar one. Where Ailill is in possession of Finnbennach, the great White-Horned bull (who was once owned by Medb), Medb has nothing to match.
Knowing that the only way to surpass Ailill’s fortune is to obtain the Brown Bull of Cúailnge, Medb rallies troops of men behind her from her seat at Rathcroghan, and goes to war against Ulster when the bull’s owner refuses to hand him over.
There are two ways of reading Medb’s actions here:
The first is to see her decision to go to war as juvenile and trivial, risking people’s lives for mere belongings, just to win a competition against her husband.
The second, however, provides us with a more nuanced depiction of Medb’s character, as Queen, but also as a woman. According to Sylvia Brinton Perera, Medb’s decision to go to war signifies a determination to maintain independence, to retain and protect her power over herself and her land, from what Perera calls “the rising patriarchal Celtic aristocracy.”
Ailill receives his power, his authority, via his marriage to Medb; without her, his rule is not legitimate, demonstrating the influence that Medb holds. As the recognised Sovereign of Connaught, her authority over the lands of Rathcroghan and its people is power that Medb does not want to lose. Her being is so tied to Rathcroghan that her bodily functions actually alter the landscape when her menstrual blood creates the earthwork channels known as the Mucklaghs.
The Táin Bó Cúailnge symbolises Medb’s fight to remain equal to her husband and retain the lands that are so much a part of herself.
“ I have never heard in all Ireland of a province run by a woman except this one.”
Ailill confirms the power that Medb has within Connaught with this statement, which is why only Medb can determine who becomes king through a sacred marriage ritual.
This ritual involved the chosen man becoming so drunk that it would grant him access to the spiritual world, thus receiving the knowledge required to rule a kingdom. The word mead has a close correlation with Medb’s name, meaning ‘drunken one’ or ‘she who makes drunk’.
Perera notes that in other folklore, as well as Celtic, the goddess of sovereignty is not only the one serving the drink, but is also the drink herself, therefore giving her future king the power and knowledge to rule alongside her divine self. Only those kings selected by Medb were recognised by the people.
However, if the king was no longer fulfilling his duty, both as ruler and husband to Medb, the failure would be reflected in the land. Land that Medb is visible in.
At Rathcroghan, its earthworks and mounds reflect Medb’s bodily fluids and her physical form.
At Tara, where Medb’s father was King, the henge Rath Maeve is named after her (which could also refer to her predecessor Medb Lethderg).
At Knocknarea, Queen Medb’s Cairn is a symbol of the life/death cycle, representative of pregnancy in its rounded shape among the mountains, while also being Medb’s supposed resting place.
According to Gerard Mulligan, parts of Rathcroghan may have been deliberately created to represent Medb, “allowing the king to be ‘physically’ close to the goddess” even when she is not there, always maintaining that connection to his source of power.
The reach of Medb’s power across Ireland cannot be underestimated. Whether as Queen, Warrior, or Goddess, Medb holds sway over kings, wars, and the landscape. Despite warring opinions of her character, Medb is one of the best known ‘players’ in Celtic Myth, to the point that many Irish monuments are associated with her name.
It makes it hard to deny that Medb of Connaught is anything but legendary.
Sources:
Brinton Perera, Sylvia. Celtic Queen Maeve and Addiction: an archetypal perspective, 2001.
Dictionary of Irish Biography. Medb Chruachna, contributed by John Carey.
Lehmann, Edyta, 2008. ‘And thus I will it’: Queen Medh and the Will to Power. Jstor.
Mackillop, James. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, 2004.
Mulligan, Gerard, 2011. Archaeology and Myth: a consideration of the ancient royal site of Rathcroghan. Jstor.
Neolithic Cúil Irra, Co. Sligo – Knocknarea / Carrowmore / Carns Hill. 2017. Jstor.
Ó Cathsaigh, Tomás, 2002. “Táin Bó Cúailnge” in Coire Sois, The Cauldron of Knowledge. Ed. Matthieu Boyd. Jstor.
Waddell, John, 1983. Rathcroghan: a royal site in Connacht. Jstor.
Waddell, John, 2009. Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon: where the Táin Bó Cúailnge began. Jstor.
Wollemi Pine – exciting developments in the conservation of one of the world’s most endangered trees
In a world in which extinction and loss of plants and animals is a recurrent and depressing theme there are occasional glimmers of hope and examples of extraordinary survival. One such was the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) of Australia, discovered alive in a remote gorge of Wollemi National Park and previously only known from 20 million year old fossils.
In 1994, David Noble, an Australian botanist, came across a group of trees in a remote gorge in Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, just 150km from Sydney. This chance discovery of the Wollemi pine, a distant relative of the Monkey Puzzle tree was a major botanical sensation. It was soon realised that it represented a wholly unknown living relative of a group of fossil trees dating back over 200 million year. The fact that only 89 individuals were known underlined their extreme vulnerability.
A major propagation project to replicate the trees and send them across the globe followed, with all proceeds being channelled into conservation measures within the Wollemi National Park of the Blue Mountains. As a conservation measure this has proved extremely successful in both ensuring the species survival, and discouraging collectors to search for the tree as it is now so readily available.
Unfortunately the risks of fungal disease to the native grove of 89 trees, as well the rise in bush fire intensity and prevalence, means that its long term security is still uncertain. Whilst we have been growing this species in Ireland for the past 19 years, both in botanic gardens and in private gardens, the planting of twelve new trees in Ireland in late 2023 represents an
exciting new chapter in conserving the Wollemi Pine.
Recent advances in DNA technology have, for first time, allowed the recognition of six distinct genetic strains amongst the surviving 89 wild trees. Formerly the population had been considered to lack any diversity at a genetic level.
In 2022, 174 young Wollemi pine trees, representing the six genetic strains grown by the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney were shipped from Australia. The trees were carefully looked after at Forestry England’s tree nursery at Bedgebury Pinetum in south east England. Six trees remain at Bedgebury, while the remaining trees have been distributed to 28 botanic gardens across the UK and Europe.
In 2023 the John F. Kennedy Arboretum, Co. Wexford, and the Kilmacurragh Botanic Gardens in Co. Wicklow were selected at suitable sites for this global conservation initiative. Twelve trees, representing two sets of each genetic strain were donated to the Office of Public Works – six to the JFK Arboretum and six to the Kilmacurragh Botanic Gardens. The twelve Wollemi Pine trees will be monitored, in collaboration/co-ordination with the other 28 European sites for the meta-collection.
The climate crisis means that across all continents many trees like Wollemi pines are facing urgent threats to their survival. We know that 34% of conifers are now endangered and our ongoing work to research, propagate and save tree species is more vital than ever. Growing genetically diverse plantings of these trees is vital to maximise their adaptive ability to climate change and crucial for the meaningful long-term success of restoration projects.
The importance of the JFK Arboretum has gained international standing in recent years. In addition to our participation in the Wollemi Pine meta-collection project the arboretum has made signification contributions to the International Conifer Conservation Programme – a global leader in study and conservation of endangered confer trees. In 2022 over 10 acres of new planting established some of the world’s most endangered conifers at the arboretum. Comprising of 1300 trees, representing 24 endangered conifer species the planting is the single largest planted collection of the International Conifer Conservation Programme in the world.
John F Kennedy Arboretum is one of the 32 National Historic Properties under the care of the Office of Public Works (OPW). Dr Matthew Jebb is the Director of the National Botanic Gardens sites including John F Kennedy Arboretum. Curator Dr Darach Lupton, Site Foreman Kevin Naughton and HEO Delia Hickey oversee the management and operations of the site.
Biodiversity Week 2024 – Homes for Wildlife
Welcoming National Biodiversity Week, Kieran O’Donnell T.D., Minister of State with Responsibility for the Office of Public Works, said:
I am delighted to welcome the arrival of National Biodiversity Week- celebrated by the OPW with over 40 events taking place at more than 12 of our heritage sites nationwide from 17 May to 26 May. Families around the country are spoiled for choice this National Biodiversity Week – there’s truly something for everyone, young and old. We are proud to be able to showcase our rich natural heritage across these sites, which are maintained by OPW staff to the highest standards of excellence. I wish to commend them for the hard work they undertake year-round and for organising such engaging and creative events across our magnificent historic houses, estates, castles, gardens, parks and prehistoric monuments.
Families will find plenty to enjoy across the week, with a range of workshops, tours, trails and other fun activities on offer. Other events include in depth talks on biodiversity and conservation by leading experts. A full day of family-friendly fun is on offer at Céide Fields, Co. Mayo, where cliff-side telescope viewings, guided tours of the blanket bog and a wildlife scavenger hunt are open to the public free of charge.
Lorcán Scott, Biodiversity Officer at the Office of Public Works, said:
It is great to see such a diverse range of events across OPW sites, celebrating our rich biodiversity that exists throughout the country. Under the OPW’s stewardship, these sites support a myriad of habitats and species that we want to ensure are there for future generations to cherish. The theme for International Day for Biodiversity 2024 is ‘Be part of the Plan,’ with the implementation of our Biodiversity Action Strategy, the OPW is demonstrating we can play our part in addressing the global biodiversity crisis, and the expert work of our gardeners and guides play no small part in this mission.
In John F. Kennedy Arboretum, Co. Wexford, children can learn through play about the wonders of our natural world by crafting a ‘mandala’, a circular design that radiates out symmetrically from its centre, in the heart of the woodland environment. In this interactive workshop, children can use plant materials sourced around the Arboretum, including rhododendron petals, fallen cones and palm leaves, to create their own unique, natural creations.
At Parkes Castle, Co. Leitrim, botanist and ecologist Dr. Dolores Byrne will lead a hands-on, family friendly exploration of the biodiversity around the castle and along the lakeshore at Lough Gill. At the lake, the whole family will learn about the steps we can take to preserve the biodiversity of this essential natural resource. Children will get the opportunity to collect invertebrates on the lakeshore, as well as a chance to meet and get to know Lough Gill’s bugs and fish.
Visitors to Glendalough Monastic Site, Co. Wicklow, can uncover hidden worlds in the biodiversity treasure hunt and be in with a chance to win an OPW Heritage Card. This card provides 12 months of unlimited access to over 50 OPW sites and visitor attractions with guided tours. While at Glendalough, visitors can hear first-hand from OPW guides about the importance of biodiversity in our built and cultural heritage.
These are just a few of the great events we are running for National Biodiversity Week 2024. This calendar of events is sure to engage and educate young children about the ever-growing importance of biodiversity, and the magical range of flora and fauna alongside which we all coexist. There’s a lot for grown-ups to learn as well, with talks and guided tours on offer from key specialists at the ‘International Conifer Conservation Programme’ at the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow.
Cover image: A female kestrel sits on top of a wedge shaped tomb at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. The iconic outline of Ben Bulben mountain is visible in the backdrop. Photo by Sally Siggins.
Women, Water and Wisdom in Celtic Mythology
14 faces look out over Dublin City, their countenances ranging from pensive, to sorrowful, to jolly. These are the River God heads carved into the keystones of Dublin’s Custom House by Edward Smyth. They represent some of the major rivers of Ireland, and includes the Atlantic Ocean to signify Ireland’s wider trade. All of them have a story attached to them, many steeped in Celtic mythology.
I have always had an interest in mythology, particularly the feminist readings of mythology and the role women play in this pseudo-history. I became fascinated by the stories connected to these Riverine faces, and even more interested by the fact that the stories attached to them, and the rivers they represent, were relating to women in our mythology. Yet Smyth designed all but one as male…
Upon researching some the myths behind Smyth’s River Gods, it became clear that most of the rivers, in Celtic mythology, are personified as goddesses, not gods, which raised the question as to why Smyth created 13 out of his 14 faces as men? There are unfortunately no sources to glean the thoughts of Smyth during his creation of the River Gods, but there is no denying that they are some of his best work; something which James Gandon (architect of the Custom House) was also aware of when he saw Smyth’s designs for the building’s statues.
Gandon had already hired an Italian man, Agostino Carlini, to design and create the majority of the statues on the Custom House. That was before Edward Smyth, an Irish sculptor hailing from Co. Meath, submitted his designs for the building. When he viewed Smyth’s designs, Gandon declared him equal to Michelangelo (a very high compliment indeed), gave Carlini his P45, if you will, and Smyth became the creator of nearly all of the statues you see on the building today.
Was Smyth aware of the mythological significance of the faces he created? Did he deliberately ignore the rivers’ female associations, or have no idea?
Some of these faces, and their stories, demonstrate a connection between women, water, and wisdom. This is tied to the tales of the fae folk, or the Tuatha de Danánn and their beliefs, and the goddesses they worshipped. While these mythological women are now hidden behind the male faces displayed on the Custom House, it is important to bring their stories back to the forefront and reveal how women, their association with water, and the search for wisdom all intertwine.
SINANN & BOAND
The one Riverine head out of the 14 on the Custom House that is represented as a woman depicts the River Liffey, or Anna Livia as she becomes known after James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. She is overlooking the river above the front door of the Custom House on the south façade. However, the two main Riverine heads that are of particular interest regarding their mythology are The Shannon (which flows from Cavan to Kerry) and The Boyne (which flows through Meath), and touching briefly on The Lagan (which flows through Belfast). All three are represented as men, as gods, but their mythological stories are very much connected to women.
The stories connected to the Shannon and the Boyne are found in the Metrical Dindshenchas, which explains the mythological origins of the rivers. The Dindshenchas is an early Irish text which reveals the origin of place names, and means ‘lore of places’. Within it there are two poems each given to the women linked to the creation of the two rivers: Sinann and Boand. These poems are said to date back to around the 10th or 11th centuries, and the stories are very similar.
The poems are exceptionally long, so below are sections[1] from the poems relevant to the connection between women, water, and wisdom:
Sinann I:
In the still Land of Promise,
that no storm of bloodshed mars,
the deathless maid gained the fame that was her undoing,
the daughter of bright Luchar, whom I celebrate.
A well with flow unfailing
is by the edge of a chilly river
(as men celebrate its fame),
whence spring seven main streams.
Here thou findest the magic lore of Segais
with excellence, under the fresh spring:
over the well of the mighty waters
stands the poets’ music-haunted hazel.
The woman of Luchar of full chastity
followed the stream of Segais
till she reached the river’s brink
and met destruction and utter frustration.
There the comely lady was drowned
and perished under heavy injury;
though the woman of warlike ardour is dead,
her noble name clave to her river.
Sinann II:
The maiden, — fair was her form, —
came on a day to the river
and saw — it was no paltry matter —
the lovely mystic bubbles.
The maiden goes on a lamentable venture
after them into the green-flowing river:
she is drowned yonder through her venture;
so from her is Sinann named.
Boand I:
As thrice she walked round
about the well heedlessly,
three waves burst from it,
whence came the death of Boand.
They came each wave of them against a limb,
they disfigured the soft-blooming woman;
a wave against her foot, a wave against her perfect eye,
the third wave shatters one hand.
She rushed to the sea (it was better for her)
to escape her blemish,
so that none might see her mutilation;
on herself fell her reproach.
Every way the woman went
the cold white water followed
from the Sid to the sea (not weak it was),
so that thence it is called Boand.
Boand II:
Thither came by chance the Dagda
into the house of famous Elcmaire:
he fell to importuning the woman:
he brought her to the birth in a single day.
Boand went from the house in haste
to see if she could reach the well:
she was sure of hiding her guilt
if she could attain to bathe in it.
the strong fountain rose over her,
and drowned her finally.
[1] Should you wish to read the entirety of the poems: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T106500D/index.html
though the woman of warlike ardour is dead,
her noble name clave to her river.
The two poems on Sinann describe a well (Connla’s Well), which is surrounded by nine hazel trees, these hazelnuts contain magic, so that when they drop into the water they create “mystic bubbles” in the stream of Segais, which flows from the well. Sinann follows the stream in search of the one gift she does not possess – imbas, or wisdom – and is subsequently drowned. The river that is created from her drowning is named after her – The Shannon. Sinann has now become the river.
When you delve into the words that are used to describe Sinann, the first poem focuses heavily on her virginal virtues: “The woman of Luchar of full chastity”/ “of the pure-white modest woman.” The second poem does the same, continuously referring to Sinann throughout as “maiden”, and noting her “fair form”. While the poems attempt to reduce Sinann to that of a pure, virginal maiden, they do tell us that she deliberately went to the well in search of knowledge: Sinann I says: “There lacks no desirable gift that I could not fancy as belonging to that noble lady save magic lore in its sequences/the deathless maid gained the fame that was her undoing.” While Sinann II says: “One night the maiden bethought her/that every sort of fame was at her command save the mystic art alone.” There is an autonomy here that Sinann possesses by choosing to seek out imbas forosna – the wisdom that illuminates.
Boand, like Sinann, also goes to a well in search of mystical knowledge. Poem I on Boand describes how the Segais well is guarded by her husband Nechtain, so that no-one but he and his cup-bearers can have access to the “mysterious evil” hidden within its waters. However, Boand challenges her husband’s rule and accesses the well; she is then attacked by the water, and drowned.
Poem II however is interesting in that it doesn’t describe Boand’s search for wisdom, but rather she goes to the well in the hopes of washing away her guilt for bearing the Dagda’s child, rather than her husband’s (which will be discussed further on). Boand appears bold and independent in her poems, challenging the water: “Hither came on a day white Boand (her noble pride uplifted her), to the well, without being thirsty to make trial of its power/As thrice she walked round about the well heedlessly.” Perhaps it is because Boand thought she could challenge the power of the water, that she is mutilated by it, rather than merely drowned, like Sinann. The river created from her drowning is now named after her – The Boyne.
We can see the surface story of how women, water, and wisdom connect: a woman goes to a well, to drink or bathe in its waters, in the hopes of gaining mystical knowledge. But how does it all intertwine on a deeper level? And why go to a well to receive wisdom?
WOMEN & WATER
To understand the deeper connection between women and water, we need to look at the Tuatha de Danánn and the Mother Goddess they worshipped. The Tuatha are a tribe of people living in Ireland around 1700BC, who have the ability to wield magic. It is this tribe who later become known as the Fae, or Faeries, as they reside underground in Síd, or faerie mounds (this is where the term banshee comes from, meaning woman from the mound). The Tuatha’s name literally translates to “Tribe of the Goddess Danu”, one of the Goddesses they worshipped.
Both Sinann and Boand are members of the Tuatha de Danánn, a people known for their wisdom, so it is perhaps for this reason that the two women go in search of the wisdom they feel they are owed as members of this tribe. But why go to the water in search of it?
To grasp the why, we need to look at their goddess, Danu. Danu is referred to as the Mother of the Gods, and has many gifts to her name. She is seen as the goddess of rivers, wisdom, and fertility. It is Danu who is responsible for the Tuatha receiving their renowned knowledge, passing her wisdom onto her people.
The various interpretations of the meaning behind Danu’s name helps solidify that connection between women, water, and wisdom, as words contain so much meaning.
In the Scythian language (which is a group of Eastern Iranian languages from the Classical – Late antique period) Danu is said to mean ‘river’. In Old Irish dán means ‘gift or skill’ – so in different languages, in different parts of the world Danu represents both water and wisdom. Her gift of wisdom is passed to her people, but also to her legitimate children, their names carrying the power of the mother: Écna means wisdom or enlightenment, and Érgna means understanding.
Danu is not only a wise-woman, but a powerful witch (not in the connotation as we understand witch today, but more like a druid). Sharon Paice MacLeod notes how many sources refer to the Tuatha goddess as a ‘bandruí or bantúathach’, which means a female druid, or witch.
Let’s say then that the well-water is connected to the goddess Danu, that it contains her wisdom, that it is imbued with powerful magic, thanks to her witchcraft. It makes sense then that Sinann and Boand would go to the water in search of magical wisdom – a gift which they wish to receive from their Mother Goddess.
But why then are they punished or drowned for their search? Danu is viewed as containing a duality within her, both as the nurturing, benevolent Mother Goddess, but also as the destructive Warrior Goddess. Archaeological findings often came across weapons and gold at the bottom of well or lake sites, signifying offerings to the gods. Neither Sinann nor Boand offered any gift or sacrifice to the goddess in return for imbas – folklore suggests that rivers demand a sacrifice – perhaps the goddess felt insulted that the women would take her gift without anything in return, and drowned them for their insolence.
However, it could also be argued Danu gave them the greatest gift of all – immortality. The benevolent side of Danu is shown in the tale attached to the River Erne, when Érne runs away in fear from the warrior Cruachu Olcai and is taken by the water in protection.
Interestingly, Sinann herself is already associated with water long before she becomes the river Shannon. Her grandfather is Manannán Mac Lir – the god of the sea. Her connections to water therefore are already solidified, and her fate, perhaps, pre-destined.
There is a further connection between women and water beyond the Tuatha de Danánn’s goddess. In the Dindshenchas Sinann I poem there is a line that says “Let us recount the entire journey whereon went Sinann of noble repute to Lind Mná Féile in the west”. The words to focus on here are “Lind Mná Féile”. In old Irish this translates to “Pool of the Generous Woman”. Therefore, the water that Sinann goes to in order to gain imbas has already been given a female personification. However, developing that link between women and water is the word “féile”. In old Irish it means something different to what it means to us As Gaeilge today. Today, it means festival, but in old Irish it has been found to refer to both male and female genitalia. Directly before the word is “mná”, meaning woman. We can therefore make the connection that “mná féile” is a reference to a woman’s genitals, further solidifying that association between women and water.
Given that both Boand and Sinann die upon arriving at the well, it signifies the idea of life and death. The Mother Goddess giving birth, but upon death the two girls return to the womb and are reborn as rivers themselves.
Boand’s story does the same thing, describing the Boyne as parts of Boand’s body after she becomes the river. She is called “the White Marrow” and “white-bellied Boand”, acknowledging how woman and water are one.
Her connections to water therefore are already solidified,
and her fate, perhaps, pre-destined.
WOMEN & WISDOM
We’ve already established the connection between women and wisdom in the form of the goddess Danu, but there are other representations of how the two link, mainly through the figure of Boand.
Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer and geographer, created a map of Ireland, in the 2nd century, on which the river Boyne is called Bouvinda. Again, this is where language is important because bó, in Irish, means cow. I don’t imagine Ptolemy was insulting Boand, but rather exalting her, because cows were sacred animals to the Celts. However, Vinda means wisdom, which means Boand herself, and the river she becomes, is wisdom personified.
Perhaps Boand is declared wise because she does not adhere to her husband Nechtain’s control, refusing to allow the well, and its knowledge, to be accessed by him alone.
In Sinann’s second poem she, or rather the river she becomes, is referred to as Sín Morainn, which means Morainn’s Collar. The story behind the collar is that whomever wears it is compelled to tell the truth. It links Sinann with truth-telling, a form of wisdom, to know and tell the truth of things.
Both poems on Boand make reference to an affair between her and a figure called the Dagda. The Dagda is one of the gods of the Tuatha de Danánn, said to be their chief or leader, and is well-known for his skill and wisdom. He also was in possession of a cauldron, meant to represent abundance and plenty. There are plenty of sources in Irish literature which associate cauldrons with wisdom; but a cauldron is also a vessel for containing water, and was sometimes given up as an offering to the gods. This is fitting given that Danu is associated with rivers, and The Dagda is Danu’s son. Boand gives birth to The Dagda’s son Oengus Óg, who becomes the god of love.
Oengus is often visualised with swans surrounding him. This is because he falls in love with Caer, a woman who takes the form of a swan, and who Oengus transforms into a swan for in order to spend his life with her.
This connects with the story of The Children of Lir (which the River God Lagan represents – with the swan heads carved onto the face), where four children of the Tuatha de Danánn are cursed to live 900 years as swans by their stepmother. Due to the stories associated with swans in Celtic mythology, they are viewed as a respected animal in Ireland today.
However, swans are also viewed as having a link between this world and the Otherworld.
WISDOM & THE OTHERWORLD
In Nuala Ní Chonchuair’s poem “The White Mantle”, which is based on Caer, she describes her transition into a swan: “I seasonally adjust, slipping through the gap between this and the otherworld, where I wear a white mantle and I rush and slide on Loch Béal Dragan” Only when Caer is in swan form can she transfer between our world and the Otherworld, when she is one with the water. Perhaps it is for this very reason that the swans in the Children of Lir live for 900 years. Not because that was the curse put upon them, but because they lived as swans, connected to the water, which is connected to the Otherworld, a place between life and death. It is only when they leave the water and revert back to their human forms that the children die.
In Celtic mythology the Otherworld represents both the Faerie paradise realm and a spiritual realm for the dead. Either way you look at it, the Otherworld is representative of eternity because time works differently to reality – a couple of years in the Otherworld could equate to a day or two here. The Otherworld is viewed as the ultimate source of powerful knowledge – its access point? Under or across the water. It was seen as the living place of the deities; so if the Otherworld was the residing home of Danu, it is plausible that water would give access into the Otherworld and to Danu herself.
slipping through the gap between this and the otherworld
It makes sense then that if the Otherworld represents immortality and water is the access point, that Sinann and Boand live on in the water they were consumed by. It is not death for them, but a life in the Otherworld, and eternal access to the source of imbas forosna. Or rather they become imbas forosna, as they are now the access point to the Otherworld.
The Otherworld, however, is only accessible via specific points.
Sinann’s story notes how hazelnut trees surround Connla’s well, dropping their produce into the water. Hazelnuts are seen as a product associated with the Otherworld. Perhaps it is these that open the gateway through the water from our world into the Otherworld of Danu and other deities.
The stream of Segais is the water in which both Sinann and Boand attempt to receive imbas. Segais is specifically noted as being connected with wisdom and the Otherworld. And it is said that access to ‘immus na Segsa’, the great knowledge of Segais can be found there.
Within Celtic mythology there is an innate connection with water and its representation of wisdom through the goddess Danu, and the depiction of water as analogous to that of women’s bodies – as seen particularly in the stories of Sinann and Boand.
These mythological stories, although not reality, have bled into religious traditions, such as the worshipping at the Trinity Well on Pentecost Sunday – the well being the source of the River Boyne. However, female deities have been worshipped for their wisdom long before the male-centric focus of modern religions.
The connection between women, water and wisdom is an intrinsic one, one that seeps from our mythologies into our realities, and is inherently linked to the depiction of the Mother Goddess and her knowledge. But that’s not hard to believe, as the saying goes: “Mother knows best”.
Mother Knows Best
Sources:
Arbuthnot, Sharon, 2021. The Medieval Irish Vocabulary of Sex and Reproduction: Insights from the Trotula and Other Medieval Texts. Kelten.vanhamel.nl.
Beck, Noémie. The River-Goddess in Celtic Traditions: Mother, Healer and Wisdom Purveyor in Mélanges en l’honneur de Pierre-Yves Lambert, 2015.
Carey, John, 1987. Time, Space, and the Otherworld. Jstor.
E.K., 1919. The Boyne and What it Stands for. Jstor.
Hopkins, Pamela, 1992. The Symbology of Water in Irish Pseudo-History. Jstor.
Hore, Herbert & Mac Ritchie, David, 1895. Origin of the Irish Superstitions Regarding Banshees and Fairies. Jstor.
Mac Cana, Proinsias, 1980. Women in Irish Mythology. Jstor.
MacLeod, Sharon Paice, 2006/2007. A Confluence of Wisdom: The Symbolism of Wells, Whirlpools, Waterfalls and Rivers in Early Celtic Sources. Jstor.
MacLeod, Sharon Paice, 1998/1999. Mater Deorum Hibernensium: Identity and Cross-Correlation in Early Irish Mythology. Jstor.
MacLeod, Sharon Paice, 2003. Oenach Aimsire na mBan: Early Irish Seasonal Celebrations, Gender Roles and Mythological Cycles. Jstor.
Ní Chonchúir, Nuala. The White Mantle.
Oxfordreference.com
Selling, Kim, 1998. The Locus of the Sacred in the Celtic Otherworld. Sydney Open Journals.
Spaan, David B., 1965. The Place of Manannan Mac Lir in Irish Mythology. Jstor.
Storyarchaeology.com
The Metrical Dindshenchas. Celt.ucc.ie
Williams, Mark, 2016. Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Winter Walks: Biophilia and its benefits
In winter, the Irish landscape shines with a subtle beauty. Evergreen plants take centre stage. Deciduous plants bare their bones, providing elegant architecture. Delicate nodding snowdrops and hellebores emerge and many of our favourite scented plants are at their best – wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), sweetbox (Sarrococca sp) and Daphne among them.
Increasingly, researchers acknowledge the importance of daily contact with nature. Studies in multiple disciplines indicate the value of plants both wild and cultivated on human well-being. Exposure to nature can help deal with stress, depression and inattentiveness. Green spaces also give us a space to come together, facilitating connection and community.
There’s nothing quite like wrapping up warmly and taking a winter walk in any of our garden and parkland sites on a crisp day. Studies establish that we benefit physically, mentally and socially from being surrounded by nature. These benefits may be explained through the concept of “biophilia”, which holds that human beings have an innate affinity for living and growing things.
Biologist Edward O. Wilson defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”. Due to evolutionary processes, humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. We are a novelty seeking and social species, always on the lookout for new sensations to share with other people. Such drives would have been of competitive advantage to our ancestors in expanding their range. As a consequence, we delight in the sheer variety of colours and sounds, scents and taste, textures and shapes of nature – and crucially, in the continuous change in all of these through the seasons and across habitats.
For most of our evolutionary history, we were deeply connected to the landscape and the rhythm of the seasons. As we began to urbanise, we strove to maintain the connection – from potted plants to pets to landscape paintings, we seek connection to the natural world.
Following the industrial revolution, wealthy landowners in Europe began to create controlled natural experiences – hunting and pleasure grounds. Examples in Ireland include the Phoenix Park and Doneraile Estate.
In the early Victorian era, planting schemes featuring annual flowers in a formal pattern were de riguer. However, by the later 19th century, this gave way to the ‘wild garden’ approach of Irish garden designer William Robinson.
A most influential and respected gardener and horticultural writer, Robinson strove for ‘honest simplicity’. He established plants in places where they would thrive and spread without becoming invasive. Using perennial plants, he utilised a painterly approach to colour and texture.
Robinson was perhaps ahead of his time as the ‘wild garden’ approach not only taps into our innate biophilia but also allows space for biodiversity.
Sites such as Altamount Gardens, Annes Grove, and Heywood Gardens bear the hallmarks of his style today.
See our leaflet on Historic Gardens for inspiration and planning a day out.
Sources:
Wilson, E.O., 1984. Biophilia. Harvard University Press
Nelson, E.C. and McCracken, E.M., 1987. The Brightest Jewel: A history of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. Boethius Press, Kilkenny
Robinson, W., 2011. The Wild Garden: Or, Our Groves and Shrubberies Made Beautiful. Cambridge University Press.
The Rock of Cashel: Walking Amongst the Dead
One of the most commonly asked questions on a guided tour of the Rock of Cashel is “Are there ghosts here?” While I myself have never seen or felt anything out of the ordinary there are members of the public who claim to have done so. Let’s face it, with such a mixed and often tragic history, if ever a place was going to be haunted then the Rock of Cashel would surely be a prime location.
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The graveyard at the Rock of Cashel is one of the oldest active graveyards in Ireland. Historically the site dates back to the early fourth century when the Kings of Munster ruled high over the fertile planes of Tipperary, but the word Cashel derives from the gaelic word with the same pronunciation meaning a stone fortress. This suggests pre-Christian activity and, naturally, possible burials on the old limestone pedestal. Today, if you’re lucky enough to have had your name listed on the grave register from 1930, when your time finally comes you too could rest for eternity with Kings and Bishops.
Irish mythology has it that the Rock of Cashel was formed after the Devil took a huge bite out of the aptly named Devil’s Bit Mountain twenty miles north of Cashel. There is a large gap in the mountain between one outcrop ofrock and another small plateau. This was supposedly done to evade Saint Patrick who was banishing the pagan thoughts and customs that had ruled Ireland for millennia. In biting off this chunk of sandstone the Devil broke a tooth and as he flew south from the mountain he spat out the Rock of Cashel from his mouth to where it now stands. If this theory was to believed one of Ireland’s most iconic monuments was built on Satan’s tooth!
The Massacre of Cashel
In the summer of 1647 the Baron of Inchiquin, Murrough O’Brien, the Irish commander of the Protestant army of Cork under the control of Oliver Cromwell, commenced a campaign against the Irish Catholic strongholds in Munster. He met with little resistance and was allowed to make a major push towards the ecclesiastical centre of Cashel. The attack on the Rock of Cashel commenced on the 15th September 1647. Initially, the Irish defenders managed to protect the Cathedral, holding off the attackers trying to get through the doors, but the Parliamentarians then placed numerous ladders against the many windows in the Cathedral and swarmed the building. For another half an hour fighting raged inside the grounds, until the depleted defenders retreated up the bell tower. In the end all the soldiers and most of the civilians on the Rock were killed by the attackers. The Bishop and Mayor of Cashel along with a few others survived by taking shelter in a secret hiding place. Apart from these a few women were spared, after being stripped of their clothes, and a small number of wealthy civilians were taken prisoner, but these were the exceptions. Overall, close to 1,000 men, women and children were slaughtered on that night. The bodies were said to be stacked six deep on the Cathedral floor according to one eyewitness.
The Audio Visual Theatre at the Rock of Cashel has been a hotbed of ghostly sightings over the years and the one common dominator is a young shawled child with long dark hair hunched over. Others have claimed to have heard screams and even footsteps following them in that same area. Recently, one lady had to leave the building because of all the negative energy she experienced and described the feeling of being choked by it. Everyone who had an encounter in the Vicar’s Choral all agreed individually that they were most definitely not made to feel welcome and that they should leave.
Could this possibly be the ghost of one of the young children put to death by Lord Inchiquin and his Parliamentarian forces in September 1647?
Grave Robbers at the Rock of Cashel
“You can’t take it with you” is an old Irish saying that goes back generations and that is surely true if you are to believe the testament of the George Ryan from Inch, outside Thurles, in Co. Tipperary published in The Tipperary Gentry. The Ryan’s were a wealthy landowning family in the late nineteenth century and on one of his many trips home from Clonmel, Mr Ryan was passing the Rock of Cashel late at night on horseback with his servant. Looking up to the Rock, Ryan noticed a light shining from the grounds. Determined to see what it was he halted and told his servant to come with him. The servant was afraid and refused to go but Ryan told him he would shoot him if he did not so, under pressure, he agreed.
There was a woman in Cashel, who made a living from opening the graves of aristocratic ladies after burial, to rob them of their gold rings or any other valuable ornaments buried with them. When Mr. Ryan and his servant appeared beside her at the graveyard, the story is she struck Ryan with a dead persons arm across the face. The terrified servant ran away and Ryan grappled with and overcame the woman. He took out his pistols, marched her to Cashel town and gave her up to the Authorities. There she was later hanged for the robberies.
Samhain
As we prepare for yet another Halloween, we follow in the footsteps of our Celtic ancestors who celebrated the ancient festival of Samhain to usher in “the dark half of the year.” Celebrants believe that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down during Samhain, allowing more interaction between humans and inhabitants of the Otherworld. That can only mean one thing at the Rock of Cashel – it’s going to be an interesting night!
Samhain: The Roots of Halloween
Every Halloween, people around the world dress up and take part in festivities, yet few are aware of its roots in the ancient festival of Samhain. In Irish folklore, the veil between our world and the supernatural draws thin at this time. It is a liminal phase, a turning of the year.
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Samhain takes place roughly halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, marking a transition between the lighter half of the year and the darker half. Astonishingly, the ancient inhabitants of this island were able to plot and track the movements of the sun in the sky through the year. The Mound of the Hostages at Tara Hill is a 5,000-year-old Neolithic passage tomb. There, the rising sun illuminates the inner chamber at both Samhain and Imbolc (which coincides with Brigid’s Day – more on that in a future post). A similar phenomenon takes place in another Neolithic site in Co. Meath, the Loughcrew Megalithic Cemetery, also known as Slieve na Calliagh (Hill of the Witch). According to local folklore, the Loughcrew site was created by An Cailleach Bhéara, a powerful figure in Irish mythology. It was she who brought about winter, a necessary time to draw inwards before the rebirth of spring.
In Irish, Scottish, and Manx myth, the Cailleach is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the winter. The word derives from the old Irish for ‘veiled one’.
In Irish, Scottish, and Manx myth, the Cailleach is a divine hag and ancestor, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the winter. The word derives from the old Irish for ‘veiled one’.
The story of witches in Ireland can be traced back to Viking society, which shaped Ireland from about the 11th century. Women who could ‘see the future’, known as völva, had an esteemed place in society, as evinced by the Viking burial sites and mythology. The völva practised a kind of ecstasy magic known as seid. Their visions were induced through the use of hallucinogenic herbs, particularly those of the nightshade (Solanceae) family. A rare plant nowadays, henbane (Hyoscamus niger) is mostly found around archaeological sites in Dublin. Highly toxic, it is suggested that völva may have applied the herb and relatives such as deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) topically so that the chemicals were more safely absorbed. These two nightshades are also ingredients of the infamous ‘flying ointment’ which is reported as inducing a sensation of flying. Deadly nightshade was important herb employed by the witch healers as it inhibits uterine contractions when miscarriage threatens. The modern medication atropine was originally extracted from this plant. Atropine is used today to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate, and to decrease saliva production during surgery. Atropine eye drops are commonly used by eye doctors to dilate the pupils.
Witch healers used Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) as a cure for dropsy and other heart related ailments. The precise mechanisms of how it worked were mysterious to medical administrators until an English physician, William Withering, investigated its affects. His attention was drawn to the foxglove and its properties in the first place when a wise woman cured his patient of dropsy with a tea made of it. The heart drug digitalin was later extracted from foxglove. Digitalin increases the action of the heart and makes it more regular. Like many of our most important plant medicines, it has the power to save a life and also to end it – for a healthy person ingestion of foxglove can be fatal.
Elder (Sambucus nigra) has been called “the medicine chest of the country people” as it can boost immunity and act as an anti-inflammatory. Despite these positive attributes, it often has a curiously negative role in folklore. It is said that to burn it will cause the devil to appear and that if you use its wood to make a cradle it is an invitation to the fairies to steal your baby and replace it with a changeling. Perhaps these stories are a testament to its medicinal properties which were perceived as magical.
The aos sí (faeries) are said to live underground in fairy forts, across the Western sea, or in an invisible world that co-exists with the world of humans. In folk belief and practice, they are often appeased with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. They are seen as fierce guardians of their abodes —whether a fairy hill, a fairy ring, a particular loch or wood, or a special tree (usually hawthorn). You would be well advised not to harm hawthorn (𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘨𝘺𝘯𝘢), for fear of incurring the wrath of the aos sí, who use this plant as a portal between their world and ours. To this day, lone trees in particular are left well alone. In some cases, hawthorns are revered as rag trees with powers of healing, especially if growing by water or on a ringfort. This deep-rooted reluctance to interfere with certain wild things has the benefit of preserving nature. Hawthorn is superb for wildlife, providing shelter as well as food for animals, particularly when part of a hedgerow. Hedgerow habitats occupy an interface between open grassland and close-growing woodland. They have become increasingly important for biodiversity in the face of habitat loss and fragmentation, and intensifying land use. As well as a habitat in themselves, hedgerows also provide crucial links and landscape corridors for wildlife – many bats, for example, prefer not to cross open ground but use hedges and treelines to reach their insect-rich hunting grounds. Like Samhain, hedgerows occupy a liminal space, allowing some through while acting as a boundary for others.
One of the widespread medicinal plants known in Ireland is Sphagnum moss. A biological engineer, it is the very fabric of our raised bogs. Its power of absorption allow it to hold up to twenty two times its own weight in liquid. This remarkable sponge-like quality comes from its cellular structure – 90% of its cells are larger, hollow, and dead. It is also antiseptic, containing bacteria and fungi such as penicillin. Humans learned to take advantage of this capacity, using it to soak up blood, pus, and other bodily fluids. In Native American societies, it was used to line cradles, acting as a natural diaper. In Viking Age Dublin it was used as toilet paper. It is said that after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the armies used it to staunch their wounds. More recently, during World War One, it was again employed on the fronts. Both sides collected the moss and made extensive use of it. Nurses then began using it themselves during menstruation. Thus Sphagnum is an example of a plant whose properties were noted and utilised independently by different people.
A biological engineer, Sphagnum moss is the very fabric of our raised bogs. Its power of absorption allow it to hold up to twenty two times its own weight in liquid.
Nowadays we are not as intimately tied to the land so we are less in tune with the shifting seasons. Yet as we face the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, we find ourselves noticing nature and its cycles more than we did before. This coincides with renewed interest in our natural and built heritage as well as in customs and festivities such as Samhain.
Sagas & Scéals: The Hiberno-Norse of Waterford
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A young woman ambles down a dark and narrow laneway, followed by a shaggy grey dog. She is twenty, perhaps twenty-one, and wears a woollen smock fastened over a flaxen dress with iron pins. She walks out into the sun and into a sprawling market square. The ground beneath her has been beaten into mud by the crowd. The sky is dark and grey, brewing rain, but the threat of bad weather doesn't deter her, or indeed the other inhabitants of this city.
There are great canvas tents all along the square with wide, open doorways, sheltering salt-beaten traders as they sell fur, tooled leather, fruit, honey, vegetables, wax, jewellery.
Góðan morgin*,” the girl calls to the old ostman selling bright green apples, waving, and he waves back. When he lifts his arm, a pendant catches the sunlight and glints around his neck; Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, in beaten, polished metal.
As they push through the throng, her dog goes to sniff at a stall where dried fish is being sold. He edges his head up to the wooden poles that the fish is hung from, daring to lick the side of a salted herring. The girl scolds him and pulls him away by the collar, and then apologises to the irate fisherwoman behind the stall: “Tá brón orm*.”
The market square is bustling with people hailing from both west and east of the North Sea. There are native Irish tentatively mingling with incoming Scandinavians, towns and cities filling up with ostmen, or ‘men from the east’. The girl calls her dog and they walk onwards, in through the hum of the crowd and the market, and into this new city built on the winter fjord.
She is part of a new and fast-growing cultural group appearing within Scandinavian settlements in Ireland. Her mother is an Irish freedwoman from the hills of the Déise; her father is an ostman from across the sea in Lochlann, or Norway. She is a Norse-Gael – perhaps better known as Hiberno-Norse – and thousands just like her populated the early medieval Viking towns of Waterford, Wexford, and Dublin.
Who were the Hiberno-Norse, and what impact did they have on the cultural, social, and archaeological history of Ireland?
According to the Annals of Ulster, Ireland was first introduced to these Scandinavian newcomers – more widely known as Vikings – in 795 A.D. A horde of Norwegian raiders made landfall at Rathlin Island off the coast of County Antrim, and summarily laid waste to the contemporaneous church there. The buildings were burnt to the ground and the church was pillaged for commodities like silver, slaves, and livestock. In the same year, the monks on Lambay Island in Dublin suffered a similar fate.
Being careful not to sanitise the Viking presence here too much – it’s always important to keep their violent appearance on our island in mind– one should take into account the very real and nonviolent impact that these newcomers had on the Irish once they ceased their raids and began to properly settle. There were, undoubtedly, Norse-Irish relationships, and subsequent marriages.
The Hiberno-Norse were the product of these relationships; people of mixed Irish and Norse ancestry. The group emerged in Ireland around the 9th century A.D., after the aforementioned Norse groups found their way down the Irish coast after settling in Scotland and the Isle of Man. Children of Norse and Irish parents then went on to grow up in a mixed-culture household and, more importantly, a mixed-culture society. Many were likely bilingual, speaking both Old Norse and Irish, and would have been exposed to the customs and stories of both parents’ individual cultures. It is also more likely that earlier Hiberno-Norse people had fathers from Scandinavia and mothers from Ireland, given that the majority of early Norse arrivals to Ireland were men.
This culture also gave rise to a class of in-demand mercenaries hailing from Norse-Gael clans – the gallowglass, from the Irish gallóglaigh, meaning foreign warriors.
In addition to this, the distinctive Hiberno-Norse art style began to emerge in jewellery and art, seen today in much of the archaeological finds associated with the culture, which produced fantastic craftspeople. An excellent example of this fine craftsmanship is Waterford’s kite brooch, a silver Hiberno-Norse brooch found during the excavation of the Waterford City Square Shopping Centre. The brooch itself dates back to around 1100 A.D., and is decorated with highly intricate gold filigree and amethyst-coloured glass gems.
Over time, the Hiberno-Norse people were Gaelicised to the point that their distinct culture disappeared. However, their imprint on Irish history was long-lasting, and endures today. For example, there are many areas in Ireland that still hold their Norse-Irish placenames.
– Waterford – from the Old Norse Veðrafjǫrðr; ‘winter port/port of the rams’
– Wexford – from the Old Norse Veisafjǫrðr; ‘fjord/inlet of the mud flats’
– Oxmantown, Co. Dublin – from the Old Norse Austmanna-tún; ‘Ostmantown’
– Ballygunner, Co. Waterford – from the Scandinavian name Gunnarr and the Irish baile (town); ‘the town of Gunnarr’
Additionally, there are several surnames present in the current Irish population that have Hiberno-Norse origins.
– McAuley – from the Irish Mac Amlaibh; ‘son of Amlaibh’, a Gaelicised version of Olaf.
– McAskill – from the Irish Mac Asgaill; ‘son of Asgall’, a Scandinavian given name.
– Macotter – from the Irish Mac Ottar; ‘son of Ottir’, a Scandinavian given name.
This autumn, the Office of Public Works will bring this rich culture to life by hosting a Halloween storytelling event like no other at Reginald’s Tower, Waterford; the vast Anglo-Norman successor to a Norse-built wooden watchtower constructed soon after the founding of Waterford in 914 A.D.
Sagas & Scéals is a storytelling event that will introduce visitors to Raghnailt, a Hiberno-Norse woman – complete with fully authentic costume – who will bring visitors on a storytelling adventure throughout the building. Reginald’s Tower will embrace the spookiest of seasons with pumpkins and skeletons galore, adding a ghostly ambience to the 12th-century stronghold.
Raghnailt is decidedly bilingual; she speaks both her maternal Irish and paternal Old Norse. As a child, she’ll inform visitors, her parents shared with her a myriad of stories and legends from their respective homelands, which she will then go on to recount throughout the event.
These tales include the story of Fenrir, the monstrous chained wolf of Norse mythology who, upon the advent of Ragnarok – the Old Norse doomsday – will break free from his binds and devour the sun; the medieval account of the werewolves of Osraige, the old Irish kingdom that lay in modern-day Kilkenny; the story of the horse-eared king Labraidh Loingseach; the terror of the infamous banshee; the Waterford vampire, the Dearg Dú; and many more.
The event will be aimed at giving a living personality to these distinctive people – not wholly Viking or wholly Irish, but something else entirely – and bringing to life some lesser-known myths of the Waterford area and beyond at the same time.
Details of the event and other related events can be found on the Reginald’s Tower social media pages closer to the time. Numbers limited – booking essential. Suitable for children 8+ years and above.
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*Góðan morgin = Old Norse for good morning. Phonetic: goth-an mor-gin
*Tá brón orm = Irish for I’m sorry / my apologies. Phonetic: taw brone urm
