Concept of Kingship and Sovereignty in the Mythological Cycle and how it is represented In the Archaeology of Tara Monument Complex

by Steve Toase

Abstract

This assignment first looks at the problems surrounding the use of external classical sources to study prehistoric Ireland and why it is better to use internal literature. One of the main sources are the stories written down in the 8th-11th centuries which form the four branches of the Irish Mythos. The background to these are looked at then the evidence for the concept of Sovereignty followed by an analysis to find evidence linking Tara to this concept. The archaeology is examined and cross referenced to the stories to find out if they can be used as a source of information about social values in pre-Christian Ireland

1. Introduction

The primary aim of this project is to look at one aspect of the Irish mythology and see if it is represented in the archaeology. This assignment will look at the concept of kingship and sovereignty that forms a reoccurring theme throughout the Irish mythology, especially the mythological cycle. An attempt will be made to establish the reliability of the legends as documentary evidence. The project will then look at the archaeology and see if evidence exists in the physical record to support the documentary evidence. The archaeological aspect of this essay will be looking primarily at Tara and it's function within the concepts of royalty that existed within Ireland. Cunliffe (1997,206) states that,

"Four great ritual centres are known from the vernacular literature and all have being identified on the ground as surviving complexes of earthworks; Tara (Meath), Cruachain (Connacht), Dun Ailinne (Co. Kildare), and Emain Macha or Navan Fort (Co. Armagh). All were associated with rites of kingship in the early historic period but Tara was pre-eminent."

2. Documentary Sources

2.1. Why Insular Sources instead of External Classical Sources

When it comes to the Irish Iron age tribes and Ptomely, the information was probably coming from merchants and some doubt has being cast on some of the information. An example of this is the naming of two northern European tribes, the Menapii and the Cauci. Another occurrence is the reference to the name Brigante in regarding a group occupying the south east of Ireland. It is quite probable that there maybe some error in translation from the language that the native tribesmen are speaking to the merchants which is then getting translated to Greek by Ptomely. Raftery (1997, 201) does point out a possible link between the finds from the rich burial of Lambay Island off the coast of Co. Dublin, specifically the bronze headed torc, and the Brigante confederation. However on the distribution map he has shown spot finds are found in the north-west of Wales and as far south as the river Avon in Southern Britain. There are other considerations such as the possibility of misunderstanding between Ptomely and the merchants, for example it is quite possible that the Brigantes were encountered on the north-east coast of Britain and that the Cauci and Menapii were encountered in the territories more commonly associated with the tribal names in Northern Europe. With reference to other information the classical author Strabo states, "I say this only with the understanding that I have no trustworthy witnesses for it". Some of the information that Ptomely refers to such as the Boyne, Shannon is supported and the name Voluntii has being equated with the Ulaidh of Ulster. There are biases within the classical sources. The quote from Strabo above is in reference to claims about the practices found in Ireland, for example that cannibalism, endocannibalism, incest and fornication were being practised (Raftery, 1997:204). This is not an attempt to discredit the classical sources but to put forward an argument why it proves more reliable to use the insular sources that emerge in the form of mythology and are first written down in the early Christian period.

2.2. The Insular Documentary Sources

Problems and advantages. 2.21 There are widely acknowledged to be four branches of Irish Mythology, commonly called the four cycles. These are:

• The mythological cycle

• The Ulster Cycle

• The Fenian Cycle

• The Historical Cycle

"In the so-called Mythological Cycle the chief characters belong to the Tuatha de Danaan, 'The Peoples of the Goddess Danann', who are said to have occupied Ireland before the coming of the Sons of Mil, the ancestors of the present inhabitants. The stories of the Ulster Cycle are mainly about the warriors of King Conochbar of Ulster, and especially about the exploits of the foremost among them, CuChuchulain. The Fenian stories are about Finn mac Cumaill and his roving warbands... The so called Historical Cycle is a miscellaneous group of stories centred on various high-kings of Ireland and also on a number of provincial or lesser kings." (Rees, 1990:26)

The main criticism that is levelled against the mythological sources is the fact that they were written down by the priests of the new religion , Christianity. This is given as a strong argument for their unreliability. However on examination of the stories there seems to be some evidence for them to be more reliable than first assumed. First of all apart from the historical cycle which deals with the arrival of Christianity the mythology is handled with a certain amount of sensitivity. The inclusion of details which would normally be seen as being very much against the bible's standpoint on sexual relations seems to reinforce the point that while these stories were being written down by members of the Christian faith a certain amount of reverence for the content existed. This has being argued to be an indication of the fact that they remain in a form which they were in before the arrival of Christianity. This is illustrated in the passage from a translation of the Tain "But I who have written this history, or rather story, do not give faith to many of the things in this history or story. For some things therein are delusions of the demons, some things are poetic figments, some are like truths and some are not, and some are for the amusements of fools". (Rees, 1990:24) The discovery programme has put a date on the Irish written tradition as starting in the 5th century, about the time of the emergence of Ogham script on stones (http://ireland.iol.ie/~discovry/). If this is the case it means that information would have had to have being transmitted orally, leading to the need for accuracy in retelling of knowledge and information. This is illustrated in the fact that within the Christian texts are included charms and warnings "...reminiscent of the Book of Revelations" (Rees, 1990:17) While these do not necessarily point to complete reliability they do indicate a more solid foundation for making statements about prechristian Iron Age society in Ireland than relying on Caesar's accounts of Gaul. There are other ways of identifying the reliability and accuracy of some of the legends by looking at the material culture that is mentioned. This may give a more solid idea of the age of that is being refered to.

2.22 Summary regarding sources

Therefore to sum up while there are problems with the insular sources, some which will be covered below in more detail when dealing with specifics, they must be seen as being a more reliable record of the culture than external classical sources, such as Ptomely who was getting his information second-hand by traders, and Ceasar who only came to the British Isles during the abortive invasion in 55bc but has his comments about Gaul applied wholesale to Britain, Scotland, Ireland and Wales by some modern authors (e.g. Stuckley). The Rees in the study refered to above acknowledge that it cannot be said to what degree the tales have being altered or deliberately rearranged. (Rees, 1990:24)

2.3 The Concept of Sovereignty in the Irish Myths

The concept of sovereignty is one that appears regularly throughout the stories of the Irish Tradition. The story normally starts with the prospective candidates being presented with a hag and having to embrace it unconditionally. This can be seen in the story of Niall of the Nine Hostages, where he and his four step-brothers go out into the woods and all except Niall refuse to embrace the hag. On embracing the hag she turns into a beautiful woman. Sovereignty also appears with Lugh when he is encountered by Conn. This shows that the concept of sovereignty as being the willingness to accept the land with all its faults, and in the mating be linked with it, is quite a strong theme. (see discussion)

3. The Documentary Evidence

3.1 As part of the discovery programme in Ireland, which focuses on Tara, an extensive documentary survey for the site has being carried out. The Tara Literary Project under the direction of Dr. Edel Bhreathnach. This deals with all the evidence of Tara contained within the historical documents of Ireland." There are references to Tara in many of these early medieval texts, but most especially in the annals, genealogies, sagas, poetry and topographical texts. Tara is depicted as caput Scotorum 'the capital of the Irish' in the Latin Life of Saint Patrick written by Muirchú maccu Machtheni in the late seventh century A.D. Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig 'The Vision of Conn of the Hundred Battles', composed circa 680 to 720 A.D., is the earliest list of the kings of Tara, some of whom are mythical or heroic, others genuinely historical." (http://ireland.iol.ie/~discovry/)

3.2 The link between Tara and the concept of kingship in the Stories of Ireland The earliest, in the Cycles of Irish Tales, reference to the royal aspect of Tara is in the build up to the second battle of Mag Tuired when Nuadu while the king of the Tuatha de Danaan, holds a feast at Tara (Rees, 1990:33). The link to kingship is maintained throughout the legends. One of the main texts relating this idea is the settling of the Manor of Tara relating how "...the territorial divisions are confirmed at the beginning of the Christian era by a supernatural authority" (Rees,1990:119) As stated above the Vision of Conn of a Hundred Battles establishes a record of the kings of Tara. In the legends we see a link with the sovereignty of Ireland through Queen Medb, often seen to represent the sovereignty of Ireland (Rees, 1990:75) "Great indeed is the power of Medb over the men of Ireland for she would not allow a king in Tara without his having herself as a wife." This is two-fold, linking the land with Tara through Medb representing the land and being the daughter of a king of Tara, and the line of Tara as a high king. The concept of high king is sometimes misunderstood, as we put our own values on the phrase. Alwyn and Brinley Rees see this as representing the centre where the four other provinces meet, the centre being Breca (1990:chapter 5). Dr Bhreathnach suggests that "Contrary to popular belief, Tara was not the chief residence of the high-king of Ireland. Early sources suggest that a king who held the title rí Temro'king of Tara' occupied a superior position above other kings on the island. This position did not translate into political control over the whole island, as expressed in the term 'high-king', until the ninth century."( http://ireland.iol.ie/~discovry/) Therefore although the site was significant it was a symbolic significance rather than one of complete political power.

4. The Archaeological Evidence

The next question that needs to be asked is how does the archaeology relate to the information that we are getting from the stories. It must be remembered that we are not going to go and dig at Emain Macha and find direct evidence for the existence of cu-Cuchulain and this should not be our intention when looking at the archaeological evidence. Examples of this have occurred many times, with one example being the search for the Ark of the Covenant from the Judeo-Christian Mythos at Tara by British Israelites (Raftery,1997:68) These sites held an important place in the psyche of the society from which these stories originated. The aim is to see if their importance is represented in the archaeological record. The sites will be dealt with in the order above.

4.1 Tara is a site located in the county of Meath. It is located on a prominent Northwest/Southeast ridge commanding extensive views of the surrounding area (Raftery, 1997:66) The Hill of Tara is a long, quite low limestone ridge (about 503m a.s.1.) This is a large univallate ditched and bank enclosure, known as Ráth na Ríogh (Norman & St Joseph, 1969). This is similar in form to the henges of Britain which have the ditch on the inside of the bank excluding defence as a viable function. In this way it would be comparable to a monument such as Avebury. in the centre are two rath earthworks, the eastern one being the Forradh adjoined to the west by the Tech Cormac. Erected in the centre of this monument is the Lia Fail that was moved from its original site in 1798 (Ibid.). Including the four features already mentioned there are about 30 monuments visible in the immediate viscinity of the ridge, and another 30 that can only be identified through geophysics or Aerial photography (http://ireland.iol.ie/~discovry/). Most of the following data comes from the Irish discovery programme web site as this has the latest information on the dating and identification of the features of Tara. The Discovery Programme identifies eight phases of development at Tara these are tabled below

*(Cooney and Grogan (Irish Prehistory: A social perspective, 1994, 133-138)

There seems to be evidence for continuity of use but change of function. Tara's position in the landscape must be seen to be significant for any status attached to the site, as it creates a dominating place across the landscape. There is obviously an intention to control the access to the sacred and therefore functioning in a similar way to the chambered tombs such as West Kennett (Barrett, ). It is interesting to note that there is one chambered tomb at Tara. An examination of the references to Tara (Rees,1990) shows only one reference to actual occupation as a dwelling. (Ibid.,327). All other references to it are either feasting, making judgements (Ibid.,273), or a ritualised encounter such as at the start of the second Battle of Mag Tiured where Lugh is confronted at the entrance to Tara. Cooney and Grogan (1994) look at the ceremonial significance of these sites by studying the alignments that exist. They suggest at Tara "...the major arrangement of monumental features follows the North-South trend of the ridge that forms the hill of Tara."

5. Discussion

It would seem that there is a definite link between Tara and the concept of King ship. We are not looking at a Royal dwelling, but more a ceremonial centre, possibly a combination of a place of inauguration and a royal court. There is evidence in other parts of the British Isles for continuation of monuments as a focus for ritual activity and meetings. One example would be the earthwork at Knowlton, Dorset which acted as a focus for public meetings, to the point where a church was constructed on the site. Other evidence for the Royal link with can be made by a comparison with the other named sites within the historical record, Emain Macha, Dun Ailinne and Cruachain. There is historical evidence for the significance of these sites in the poem by Oengus the Culder, 800 AD, who compares these great but fallen centres of pagan activity to the Christian centres of the time. Raftery (1997:80) puts forward a theory that,

"..we can discern a sacral kingship with a quasi divine king hemmed in by awesome religious taboos and onerous social obligations. He is the personification of his tribe. Then he must marry the earth in an elaborate inauguration ceremony to ensure the growth of crops and the animals. The enactment of this ceremony, in effect a fertility cult, was in all probability a primary activity, carried out at these royal sites-which thus became the ritual embodiment of tribal consciousness. Such was the critical role that in Christian times, shorn of the pagan significances, the royal sites still retained their ancient prestige"

For further information on the concept of sacral kingship see article in Gaelic Culture Library. While some of this cannot be demonstrated with present archaeological evidence, it is evident that a link between the sovereignty of Ireland and Tara exists. It's position and it's relation to the four provinces of Ireland, would suggest a dominant position within the social structure of Ireland in the Iron age period (When the last two phases occur). It must be emphasised that their is no evidence to suggest the role of King of Tara indicated political power over the kings of the other provinces but was the sacral king, who was the ritual symbol of the people of Ireland. A law tract from the seventh century states that every king had to convene an assembly known as an oenach at regular intervals. This could hark back to the Iron Age functions of the enclosure at Tara.

6. Conclusion

There is evidence that the monumental complex of ritual features at Tara, and other sites, was linked to kingship in the pre-Christian Iron age of Ireland. The archaeology supports the idea of this as being a controlled ritual site rather than one of occupation, and the historical-Irish Mythos would seem to support this, it being the belief of the author that the reference to not staying away from Tara for nine nights in the Geis (or Taboo) of Connaire (Rees, 1990:327) is a reference to not neglecting duty rather than remaining in the Royal Dwelling. While legends must be understood in their cultural and political context, and approached very, very cautiously with regard to identifying site functions, they can prove a useful archaeological resource, and in this case do have some grounding in fact.

Special Thanks

To my wife Annie of the Dachaidh de Goibniu, and the Clans of the Clannada

Bibliography

Fragments from Antiquity, Barrett, 1994, Blackwell, Oxford

Altering the Earth, Bradley, 1993, Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh

Irish Prehistory: A Social Perspective, Cooney & Grogan, 1994, Wordwell, Dublin

The Ancient Celts, Cunliffe, 1997, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Discovery Programme 1998 http://ireland.iol.ie/~discovry/

The Early Development of Irish Society, Norman and St. Joseph, 1969, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Pagan Celtic Ireland - The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age, Raftery, 1997, Thames and Hudson, London

Celtic Heritage, Rees and Rees, 1990, Thames and Hudson, London

Early Ireland: A Field Guide, Weir, 1980, Blackstaff Press, Belfast

prepared by Steve Toase

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