![Navan Fort, County Armagh - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Navan_Fort%2C_County_Armagh_-_geograph.org.uk_-_43871.jpg)
The royal sites of Ireland were the seats of the
Gaelic kings of Ireland
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
. Medieval sources describe them as the ceremonial capitals of various Irish kingdoms, where kingly
inaugurations, assemblies and athletic games were held. Archaeological investigations show that many royal sites were culturally significant for thousands of years before recorded history, and they often include ancient monuments such as
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
burial mounds
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
,
standing stones,
cairns and
enclosures
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
.
Each Irish kingdom is thought to have had its own royal site, but six sites are considered to be the most important. These are
Tara ( ga, Teamhair), seat of the
Kings of Meath and the
High King, along with the
provincial capitals:
Navan Fort (''Eamhain Macha'') for
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
;
Rathcroghan
Rathcroghan () is a complex of archaeological sites near Tulsk in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is identified as the site of Cruachan, the traditional capital of the Connachta, the prehistoric and early historic rulers of the western territory ...
(''Cruachan'') for
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
;
Knockaulin (''Dún Ailinne'') for
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...
; and
Cashel (''Caiseal'') for
Munster.
Uisneach
, alternate_name = Ushnagh (anglicisation)
, image = Hill of Uisneach.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Information sign
, map =
, map_caption =
, map_type = island of Ireland
, map_alt = A map of Ireland
, map_size =
, location = ...
represented the union of the provinces and may have served as a meeting place for the kings. These major sites, excluding Navan Fort (in Northern Ireland), have been listed as a potential
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
These primary sites might be associated with less prominent sites that served other purposes for the kingship. For instance, the King of Tara presided over assemblies at Tailtiu (
Teltown
Teltown ( ga, Tailtin) is a townland in County Meath, Ireland, for the area between Oristown and Donaghpatrick Kells. It was named for the Irish mythological figure or goddess, Tailtiu. The Tailtin Fair was held there in medieval times as a r ...
) and Tlachgta (the
Hill of Ward
The Hill of Ward (, formerly ''Tlachtgha'') is a hill in County Meath, Ireland.
Geography
The hill lies between Athboy (to the west) and Ráth Chairn (to the east). During medieval times it was the site of great festivals, including one at w ...
) during the
Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in gd, Lùnastal, and in gv, ...
festival.
Features of a royal site
Historian Michael Herity analysed several historically designated royal sites to determine what feature they shared. He noted that each had
ring-barrows, most had
hillforts
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Rom ...
and linear earthwork
avenues, a few had
cairns or
standing stones, but he noted the lack of these may have been due to these structures' fragility. Herity also notes that literary sources celebrate these sites as cemeteries and may indicate
ancestor worship
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
. Herity also notes that a composite mound and circular enclosure structure, exemplified by the combination of ''An Forradh'' and ''Teach Cormaic'', is almost exclusively found on royal sites. Less frequent features include sacred trees ("bileda"), stone chairs, inauguration stones, stone basins, and churches.
['Inauguration Sites'. ''Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia''. p. 230.]
Inauguration sites
![O'Neill inauguration Richard Bartlett](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/O%27Neill_inauguration_Richard_Bartlett.jpg)
Many royal sites served as ceremonial locations for inauguration ceremonies. The prospective monarchs benefited from associating themselves with the ancient monuments and cultural significance of the royal sites.
Inauguration ceremonies treated the prospective king's lands as "betrothed" and the rituals followed the pattern of a marital feast or ''banais righe''.
The hilltop location of the inauguration sites offered panoramic views of the "betrothed" lands during the ceremony.
Similar ''
feis
A () or () is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are () and (). The term is commonly used referring to Irish dance competitions and, in Scotland, to immersive teaching courses, specialising in traditional musi ...
'' ceremonies in the early Middle Ages represented a direct marriage between the king and a goddess representing his lands. The significance of the marriage analogy declined in the later Middle Ages as kingship became more oriented toward ownership.
['Feis'. ''Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia''. p 165.]
Historical accounts of inauguration ceremonies are scarce and varied. One account suggests that the
Cenél Conaill
Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history
* Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) i ...
king mated with a mare, had it ritually slaughtered and boiled, and then bathed in its broth while his subjects drank from the bath.
This accounts has been criticised as propaganda designed to make the Irish look barbarous or pagan but would be consistent with an Indo-European tradition of inaugural horse slaughter.
Records of inaugurations in the later Middle Ages indicate that there was no set inauguration ceremony, but races, drinking liquor, reading poetry, processions representing the kings lands, and granting the
White Wand
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
or rod of sovereignty seem to have been basic parts of the ceremony.
Some inaugurations included the rite of the "single shoe." Accounts document the use of the rite at the inaugurations of the Uí Choncobhair in the fifteenth century and the
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into t ...
and
Méig Uidhir in the sixteenth century. An account of the Choncobhair ceremony records the would-be king leaving a single slipper at his inauguration site to signify his claim. The next day, the Mac Diarmada, a vassal family with the role of "king-maker", placed a shoe on his lord's foot during the inauguration. In the Uí Néill ceremony, the would-be king sat on a stone chair on the inauguration hill and
Uí Ágáin or, in later ceremonies, Ó Catháin, (king-makers for the Uí Néill), cast the shoe over the seated prince's head. The throwing of the shoe may have been evolved from a tradition of throwing a shoe for good luck. The shoe may also be related to the footprints carved in inaugural stones.
![Richard bartlett tullahogue inauguration chair 1602](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Richard_bartlett_tullahogue_inauguration_chair_1602.png)
Inauguration sites had a diversity of features, attesting to their diverse ancient origins. Some of these ancient features seem to have been adapted for the purpose of inauguration ceremonies such as the flattening of the top of a burial mound.
Many inauguration sites have small mounds with a flattened area on top just large enough for a man to stand on. These features have been interpreted as "throne mounds," and might have allowed a king to stand on a summit and survey the lands and people below.
Several cases of using stone inauguration chairs were documented, although the use of a more conventional chair "
throne
A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mona ...
" was probably an import dating to the later medieval period. Cartographer Richard Bartlett drew the chair at
Tulach Óg the inauguration site of the Ui Neill of Tir Eoghain. The only extant Irish inauguration chair, now in the Ulster Museum, belonged to the Ui Neill dynasty of the Clann Aeda Buide.
Other royal sites
*
Aileach, early medieval seat of the
Cenél nEógain
Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history
* Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) i ...
of the
Northern Uí Néill
The Northern Uí Néill is any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall we ...
, referred to as the "
Kings of Ailech
The Kings of Ailech were the over-kings of the medieval Irish province of Ailech in north-western Ireland. It encompassed the territories of the Cenél nEógain and Cenél Conaill. After the battle of Cloítech in 789 its kings were exclusively ...
". Their seat moved to Tulach Óg at the beginning of the eleventh century.
*
Tullahoge (''Tulach Óg''), coronation place of the
Ó Néill kings of
Tír Eoghain
Tír Eoghain (), also known as Tyrone, was a kingdom and later earldom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising parts of present-day County Tyrone, County Armagh, County Londonderry and County Donegal (Raphoe). The kingdom represented the core homeland of ...
from the eleventh century.
*
Clogher
Clogher () is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne and ...
(''Clochar mac nDaimine''), royal seat of the
Uí Chremthainn dynasty, of the kingdom of
Airgialla.
*
Croghan Hill
Croghan Hill ( or ''Brí Éile'') is a hill with a height of in County Offaly, Ireland. The remains of an extinct volcano, it rises from the Bog of Allen and dominates the surrounding plains. Historically known as ''Brí Éile'', it is menti ...
(''Brí Éile''), coronation place of the
kings of Uí Failghe
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh' ...
.
*
Down Mound or Dun-da-lethglas (''Dún da Lethglas''), probable royal seat of the
Dál Fiatach
Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland during the Middle Ages. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and they were its main ruling dynasty for most of Ulaid's history. Their ...
kings of
Ulaid
Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...
.
*
Emly
Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
It is situated on the R515 ...
(''Medón Mairtíne''), ancient capital of central Munster and the
Mairtine The Mairtine (Martini, Marthene, Muirtine, Maidirdine, Mhairtine) were an important people of late prehistoric Munster, Ireland who by early historical times appear to have completely vanished from the Irish political landscape. They are notable for ...
.
*
Bruree (''Brugh Rígh''), ancient alternative capital of Munster and later capital of the
Uí Fidgenti
The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...
.
*
Knowth
Knowth (; ga, Cnóbha) is a Neolithic passage grave and an ancient monument of the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne located 8.4 km west of Drogheda in Ireland's valley of the River Boyne. It is the largest passage grave of the Brú ...
(''Cnoghbha''), royal seat of the
Síl nÁedo Sláine
Síl nÁedo Sláine () are the descendants of Áed Sláine (Áed mac Diarmato), son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill—they were the kings of Brega—they claimed descent from Niall Noígiallach and his son Cona ...
kings of
Brega from the beginning of the ninth century.
[F.J. Byrne in Eogan 1968, 399]
*
Knock Iveagh
Knock Iveagh () is a hill near Rathfriland, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is topped by an ancient burial cairn and was part of a ritual landscape, associated with the Uí Eachach tribe. In the Middle Ages it was the inauguration site of th ...
(''Cnoc Uíbh Eachach''), coronation place of the
Magennis
Magennis ( ga, Mac Aonghusa), also spelled Maguiness, Maginnis, Magenis, McGinnis, or McGuinness, is an Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as ''Mac Aonghusa''. A prominent branch o ...
chiefs of
Iveagh
Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now County Down, Northern Ireland. Originally it was a Gaelic Irish territory, ruled by the ''Uí Echach Cobo'' and part of the overkingdom of Ulaid. From the 12th ...
.
*
Magh Adhair
Magh Adhair (; "Adair's plain") is a former inauguration site and place of archaeological significance located near the village of Quin, County Clare, in Ireland. Traditionally known as the place in which the kings of Thomond were installed, mo ...
, coronation place of the
Dál gCais and later
O'Brien dynasty
The O'Brien dynasty ( ga, label=Classical Irish, Ua Briain; ga, label=Modern Irish, Ó Briain ; genitive ''Uí Bhriain'' ) is a noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becoming ...
, kings of
Thomond
Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...
.
*
Skeagoura (''Sciath Ghabhra''), coronation place of the
Maguire
Maguire ( , also spelled MacGuire or McGuire) is an Irish surname from the Gaelic , which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-grandson of Cormac ma ...
kings and chiefs of
Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
.
References
* Byrnes, Michael. 'Feis'. ''Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia.'' pp. 165–166. Routledge. CRC Press, 2005 .
* FitzPatrick, Elizabeth. 'Inauguration Sites'. ''Medieval Ireland: an Encyclopedia.'' pp. 230–231. Routledge. CRC Press, 2005 .
*
*
*
Citations
{{Reflist
Archaeological sites in Ireland