ANCIENT IRELAND TO TODAY 2016
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY BY LUCY M WARNER
OCTOBER 24, 2016


This first article “Timeline of Irish History” is followed by another history of Ireland which is given in more detail. This all began when I realized I had no idea whether Brian Boru was a mythical figure or a true life hero, so I began to research. He did indeed live and rule over Ireland in the 9th century BC. The following exciting retelling, and perhaps some fictionalization, of his life story by Morgan Llewelyn is keeping me spellbound. Steeped in knowledge of the ancient past, she fleshes out the world "Lion of Ireland," as vividly as if it were happening today. He certainly was historical, and very proud of him the Irish are, even to this day. See the two histories and the side issues that I was led to explore as I hopped like Brer Rabbit happily through this briar patch of time and early life. I suggest you buy a paperback as I did, or get it from the library, and start to read.

A mysterious group of people called the Picts appear both in the Irish history and in the Scottish, though they are most commonly connected with Scotland. Northern Ireland is located very close to Scotland, divided only by a narrow neck of water which is easily crossed in boats, so the Scots and the Irish have been linked by culture and by blood for the whole 2500 or so years since the Celtic groups encroached on the older inhabitants of the British Isles, those “Picti,” or “Painted” people. There is an old story from early archaeological and scholarly sources connecting that same description with the Celts as well. Apparently, they used blue body paint, perhaps only for war, derived from a plant called woad.

To make it more complicated, the Vikings from Germany, for centuries raided both Scotland and Ireland for gold and women, finally then settling down in both place to farm rather than subsisting on raiding others for booty. Nordic blood is a big part of the genetics today in that part of the world. The Vikings didn't die out, they just blended in.

The same is said of the Picts, or the “Cruthin,” of Northern Ireland. Another name for their group looks very much like “Ulster”, though not quite. Still with almost three thousand years’ worth of spelling and pronunciation changes, and the fact that many Cruthin did live there side by side with the Celtic/Gaelic groups, makes the melding of their cultures easy to understand. It wouldn’t surprise me if the first Irish were Picti or Cruthin, since the Celtic people didn’t come in from Southern Germany until around 2500 BP.

See the timelines on the earliest settlements in Ireland. In addition, the Picts are linked on the Iberian peninsula. See the article that I have placed near the end called “The Picts: Origin of the Picts.” That short article is found at website: http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/picts.html.

Another extremely interesting group is the Basques, whose language – at least one article some 20 years ago said – has no modern cognates, so they are also probably very ancient stock as are the Picts. The use in modern archaeology of DNA studies to connect groups in a way that goes beyond theory is really interesting and helpful in piecing together a picture puzzle of European heritages. It is also correcting previously accepted timelines, based on an established average rate of mutations. That timing, 30 years ago, was only a matter of educated guesswork based on comparisons of how their pottery, if they had any, was designed and made. Carbon 14 dating, based on the rate of decay in radioactive carbon from all organic remains found in an area. Groups were named for their pottery, tool styles, etc. My favorite name is that given to one Neolithic group of people in Wessex, England, that really stuck in my mind, the “Beaker Folk.” They were thought to be quite advanced, and connected with the building of Stonehenge, Chamber tombs, and other "megalithic" structures -- made from very large stones brought to the site to form a strong structure to be covered by sod. Given the amount of travel across Europe and the Mediterranean area, the trading in beautiful and well crafted articles, those Neolithic groups were very wealthy and clever. The engineering alone of a complex and beautiful structure like Stonehenge should make us stop believing that humans three or four thousand years ago were any less intelligent than we are. Those of us who insist on claiming that "space aliens" did it simply make me feel tired and discouraged.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Irish_history

Timeline of Irish history
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


This is a timeline of Irish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Ireland. To read about the background to these events, see History of Ireland. See also the list of Lords and Kings of Ireland and Irish heads of state and the list of years in Ireland.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prehistory / centuries: 1st ·2nd ·3rd ·4th ·5th ·6th ·7th ·8th ·9th ·10th ·11th ·12th ·13th ·14th ·15th ·16th ·17th ·18th ·19th ·20th ·21st


Mesolithic and neolithic periods[edit]

Year Date Event
c. 16,000 BCE During the Last Glacial Maximum, Ireland is covered in ice sheets
c. 12,000 BCE A narrow channel forms between Prehistoric Ireland and southwest Scotland [1]
c. 10,000 BCE Carbon-dating on bear bones indicate the presence of Paleolithic peoples in County Clare.[2]
c. 8000 BCE Mesolithic hunter-gatherers migrate to Ireland
c. 6500 BCE Mesolithic hunter-gatherers occupy sites such as that at Mount Sandel in Ulster
c. 4000 BCE Agriculture (including the keeping of livestock, and crop farming) has its beginnings in Ireland, at sites such as the Céide Fields in Connacht
c. 3500 BCE The Neolithic peoples of the Boyne Valley build a complex of chamber tombs, standing stones and enclosures over a period of hundreds of years. (Newgrange itself is dated to 3300-2900 BCE).

Bronze and Iron Ages[edit]

Year Date Event
c. 2000 BCE Bronze Age technologies start to arrive in Ireland, including the moulding of Ballybeg-type flat axes, and the beginnings of copper mining at Ross Island, Killarney and Mount Gabriel.[3]
c. 500 BCE During the Iron Age in Ireland, Celtic influence in art, language and culture begins to take hold.[4]
c. 300 BCE Murder of Clonycavan Man, according to radiocarbon dating
c. 200 BCE La Tène influence from continental Europe influences carvings on the Turoe stone, Bullaun, County Galway.[5]
c. 100 BCE Additional works expand the site at Emain Macha (first occupied in the Neolithic period)
1st century[edit]
Year Date Event
c. 100 AD Construction of a series of defensive ditches between the provinces of Ulster and Connacht
2nd century[edit]
Year Date Event
c. 140 AD Ptolemy's Geographia provides the earliest known written reference to habitation in the Dublin area, referring to a settlement in the area as Eblana Civitas
3rd century[edit]
Year Date Event
c. 220 AD The Annals of the Four Masters, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, and other semi-historical (non-contemporary) texts, place Cormac mac Airt as a longstanding High King of Ireland.[6][7] (The Annals date his reign as 226-266, but scholars vary in their assessment of Mac Airt's reign as legend or historical fact)[8][9]
4th century[edit]
Year Date Event
c. 300 AD Pollen data records from the late Iron Age indicate a resurgence in human activity after a relatively stagnant period[10]
5th century[edit]
Year Date Event
c. 400 Niall Noígíallach is placed by Medieval texts as a legendary Goidelic High King of Ireland (the Annals of the Four Masters dates his reign as 378-405)
431 Palladius is sent as the first bishop "to the Irish believing in Christ" by Pope Celestine I[11][12]
432 According to the Annals of Ulster (and other chronicles) Saint Patrick returns to Ireland.[13]
6th century[edit]
Year Date Event
536 A seemingly global climate event (possibly a volcanic winter)[14] causes crop failures[15] and famine in Ireland.
563 Irish monastic influence during the Golden Age peaks with the foundation of monastic schools by Columba and Brendan at Iona and Clonfert.[16] (Columbanus would later set up similar institutions in continental Europe, Fursa in East Anglia and Gaul, Aidan at Lindisfarne. Etc.)
7th century[edit]
Year Date Event
664-666 Several sources record a pervasive "yellow plague" on the island.[17][18]
8th century[edit]
Year Date Event
795 First Viking raids on Iona, Rathlin Island, and Inishmurray.[16]
9th century[edit]
Year Date Event
830 Óengus of Tallaght writes the Martyrology of Tallaght, the Prologue of which speaks of the last vestiges of paganism in Ireland
852 Vikings Ivar Beinlaus and Olaf the White land in Dublin Bay and establish a fortress - close to where the city of Dublin now stands
10th century[edit]
Year Date Event
980 The King of Dublin Olaf Cuaran abdicates following defeat at the Battle of Tara to Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill.[19]
988/9 Máel Sechnaill demands (and is paid) "tribute" by the Vikings at Dublin (this tribute date is sometimes recognised as the "foundation date" of Dublin as a city)
11th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1014 23 April Defeat of Máel Mórda mac Murchada and Viking forces by the armies of Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf marks the beginning of the decline of Viking power in Ireland.[20]
12th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1167 Following exile by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, Dermot MacMurrough seeks support from Henry II of England to reclaim his Kingship.
1171 Henry II of England lands at Waterford and declares himself Lord of Ireland.
1175 6 October[21] The Treaty of Windsor consolidates Norman influence in Ireland.
13th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1216 12 November Great Charter of Ireland issued by Henry III of England.
1252 The Annals of the Four Masters records a Summer-time heat-wave and drought.[22]
1297 The first representative Irish Parliament (of the Lordship of Ireland) meets in Dublin.[23]
14th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1315 26 May Edward Bruce arrives in Ireland and rallies many Irish lords against Anglo-Norman control.
1366 The Statutes of Kilkenny are passed at Kilkenny to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland.
1398 Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, mysteriously disappears; Gearóid Íarla is forever afterwards judged to be sleeping in a cave under Lough Gur, waiting to gallop out on his silver-shod horse and rescue Ireland at the moment of greatest need.
15th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1472 The Annals of the Four Masters records that the King of England sent an exotic animal (possibly a giraffe) to Ireland.[24]
1490 An earthquake takes place at Sliabh Gamh in County Mayo.[25]
1494 1 December Edward Poyning, Henry VII of England's Lord Deputy to Ireland, issued a declaration known as Poynings' Law under which the Irish parliament was to pass no law without the prior consent of the English parliament.
1497 The Annals of the Four Masters refers to a famine which "prevailed through all Ireland".[26]
16th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1534 11 June Thomas FitzGerald, the 10th Earl of Kildare, publicly renounced his allegiance to Henry VIII of England.
1537 3 February FitzGerald was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn.
1542 The Irish parliament passed the Crown of Ireland Act, which established a Kingdom of Ireland to be ruled by Henry VIII and his successors.
1570 25 February Pope Pius V issued a papal bull, Regnans in Excelsis, declaring Elizabeth I of England a heretic and releasing her subjects from any allegiance to her.
1575 May-Aug The Annals of the Four Masters record a drought, in which no rain fell "from Bealtaine to Lammas" (May 1 to August 1), which resulted in disease and plague.
1577 November The Annals of the Four Masters record that the Great Comet of 1577 "was wondered at by all universally".
1579 16 July Second Desmond Rebellion: James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, a cousin of the 15th Earl of Desmond, landed a small force of rebels at Dingle.
1594 The Nine Years' War commences in Ulster, as Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell rebel against Elizabeth I's authority in Ulster.
17th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1607 14 September The Flight of the Earls: The departure from Ireland of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell.
1609 Plantation of Ulster by Scottish Presbyterians began on a large scale.
1641 22 October Irish Rebellion of 1641: Phelim O'Neill led the capture of several forts in the north of Ireland.
1642 Irish Confederate Wars: The Irish Catholic Confederation was established, under the nominal overlordship of Charles I of England, with its capital at Kilkenny.
1646 28 March The Supreme Council of the Irish Catholic Confederation signed an agreement with a representative of Charles I, which procured some rights for Catholics in return for their military support of the royalists in England.
The members of the Supreme Council were arrested. The General Assembly renounced the agreement with England.
1647 A more favorable agreement was reached with Charles's representative, which promised toleration of Catholicism, a repeal of Poynings' Law, and recognition of lands taken by Irish Catholics during the war.
18th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1740 Extreme winters in successive years result in poor harvests, causing a largescale famine in which between 310,000 and 480,000 die.
1760 February Battle of Carrickfergus: A French invasion.
1782 After agitation by the Irish Volunteers, the Parliament of Great Britain passed a number of reforms - including the repeal of Poynings' Law - collectively referred to as the Constitution of 1782.
1796 December Expédition d'Irlande: Attempted French invasion.
1798 24 May Battle of Ballymore-Eustace: A miscarried surprise attack on the British garrison at Ballymore in County Kildare was counterattacked and defeated.
22 August Irish Rebellion of 1798: One thousand French soldiers landed at Kilcummin in support of the rebellion.
27 August Battle of Castlebar: A combined French-Irish force defeated a vastly numerically superior British force at Castlebar.
Irish Rebellion of 1798: The Republic of Connacht was proclaimed at Castlebar. First United Irishmen rebellion
19th century[edit]
Year Date Event
1801 1 January Acts of Union 1800 passed. The Kingdom of Ireland is annexed to Great Britain. 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is formed.
1803 23 July Second United Irishmen rebellion: The Irish nationalist Robert Emmet attempted to seize Dublin Castle.
1829 24 March Catholic Emancipation: The Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed, which allowed Catholics to sit in Parliament.
1831 3 May Tithe War: A force of one hundred and twenty armed police forcibly took possession of cattle belonging to a Roman Catholic priest in lieu of his compulsory tithe to the Anglican Church of Ireland.
1834 17 December Dublin and Kingstown Railway is opened as the first commercial railway in Ireland.
1836 Tithe War: The passage of the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 reduced the amount of the tithe and changed the manner of payment, which largely ended the unrest
1845-1849 Great Irish Famine: A potato blight destroyed two-thirds of Ireland's staple crop and lead to an estimated 1 million deaths and emigration of a further 1 million people.[27]
1867 5 March Fenian Rising.

20th century[edit]
Year Date Event

1913 19 August A Dublin businessman, William Martin Murphy, fired forty workers he suspected of belonging to the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU).
26 August Dublin Lockout: The ITGWU went on strike.
1914 18 January Dublin Lockout: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) rejected a call by the ITGWU to go on strike in their support. The strikers quit the union and returned to work.
18 September Government of Ireland Act, offering Irish Home Rule, passed but application simultaneously postponed for the duration of World War I.[28]
1916 24 April Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led an action which seized key government buildings in Dublin, and issued the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
29 April Easter Rising: The leader of the uprising ordered his followers to surrender.
1918 18 April Acting on a resolution of Dublin Corporation, the Lord Mayor convenes a conference at the Mansion House to devise plans to resist conscription.
14 December A general election returns a majority for Sinn Féin.

1919 21 January The First Dáil of the Irish Republic meets and issues a Declaration of Independence from the UK.
21 January Irish War of Independence: Volunteers of the Army of the Irish Republic kill two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary in what is considered to be the first act of the War of Independence.
1921 3 May Northern Ireland is established.
1921 6 December Irish War of Independence: The War of Independence ends when negotiations between the British government and representatives of the de facto Irish Republic conclude with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State
1922 28 June Irish Civil War: Bombardment by Michael Collins of Anti-Treaty forces occupying the Four Courts marks the start of the Irish Civil War
1923 24 May Irish Civil War: IRA Chief of Staff Frank Aiken orders volunteers to dump arms - effectively ending the Civil War.
1937 29 December The Constitution of Ireland comes into force replacing the Irish Free State with a new state called "'Éire', or, in the English language, 'Ireland'"
1949 August The Republic of Ireland Act is signed by the President of Ireland abolishing the remaining roles of the British monarch in the government of the Irish state.
1955 14 December Ireland joins the United Nations along with 16 other sovereign states.
1969 August Troops are deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland, marking the start of the Troubles.
1972 March The Parliament of Northern Ireland is prorogued (and abolished the following year).
1973 1 January Ireland joins the European Community along with Britain and Denmark.
1973 June The Northern Ireland Assembly is elected.
1974 1 January A power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive takes office, but resigns in May as a result of the Ulster Workers' Council strike. The Assembly is suspended and later abolished.
1985 15 November The governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
1990 3 December Mary Robinson becomes the first female President of Ireland.
1995 Ireland enters the Celtic Tiger period which marks great economic growth for Ireland - which continues until 2007.
1998 April The Belfast Agreement is signed. As a result, the Northern Ireland Assembly is elected, to which powers are devolved in 1999 and a power-sharing Executive takes office.
1999 Ireland yields its official currency the Irish pound and adopts the Euro.
21st century[edit]
Year Date Event
2001 7 June The twenty-first, twenty-third and twenty-sixth Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland, which provided for a universal ban on the death penalty, Ireland's recognition of the International Criminal Court and its ratification of the Treaty of Nice, respectively, were all approved by referendum.
2008 6 May After leading a Fianna Fáil government for nearly 11 years, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern retires - while under pressure due to corruption allegations.
2009 2 October The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon is enabled through the passing of a second referendum on the subject.
2011 1 February An ongoing financial crisis places significant strain on the coalition government, and the 30th Dáil is dissolved.

2015 23 May A 62% to 38% referendum result makes Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.[29]



http://www.ancient.eu/picts/
Ancient History Encyclopedia

Definition
by Joshua J. Mark
published on 18 December 2014

The Picts were a people of northern Scotland who are defined as a "confederation of tribal units whose political motivations derived from a need to ally against common enemies" (McHardy, 176). They were not a single tribe, nor necessarily a single people, although it is thought that they came originally from Scandinavia as a cohesive group. Since they left no written record of their history, what is known of them comes from later Roman and Scottish writers and from images the Picts themselves carved on stones. They are first mentioned as "Picts" by the Roman writer Eumenius in 297 CE, who referred to the tribes of Northern Britain as "Picti" ("the painted ones"), ostensibly because of their habit of painting their bodies with dye. This origin of their name has been contested by modern scholarship, however, and it is probable they referred to themselves as some form of "Pecht", the word for "the ancestors". They were referenced earlier by Tacitus who referred to them as "Caledonians" which was the name of only one tribe.

The Picts held their territory against the invading Romans in a number of engagements and, although they were defeated in battle, they won the war; Scotland holds the distinction of never falling to the invading armies of Rome, even though the Romans attempted conquest numerous times. The Picts exist in the written record from their first mention in 297 CE until c. 900 CE, when no further mention is made of them. As modern scholars point out, their absence from written history does not mean that they mysteriously vanished or were conquered by the Scots and annihilated; it simply means no more was written about them as they merged with the southern Scots culture, who already had a written history by that time, and the two histories became one from then on.

ASIDE FROM THE OCCASIONAL RAIDS BY ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER, THE PICTS SEEM TO HAVE LIVED PEACEFULLY UNTIL THREATENED BY OUTSIDE FORCES.
ORIGINS, CLANS, & NAME

Although it was accepted history in the past to date the arrival of the Picts in Scotland to sometime shortly before their mention in Roman history, or to claim a "Pictish Invasion", modern scholarship offers a much earlier date with no full-scale invasion. According to the Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland, "the Picts did not 'arrive' - in a sense they had always been there, for they were the descendants of the first people to inhabit what eventually became Scotland" (775). Historian Stuart McHardy supports this claim, writing that "the Picts were in fact the indigenous population of this part of the world" by the time the Romans arrived in Britain (32). They originally came from Scythia (Scandinavia), settled first in Orkney, and then migrated south. This claim is further supported by archaeologist and professor at Aberdeen University, Dr. Gordon Noble, who states, "All evidence points to the Picts being indigenous to northern Scotland...they began to coalesce during the late Roman period and formed some of the most powerful kingdoms in northern Britain in the early medieval period" (Wiener, 2). They lived in tightly-knit communities and built their homes out of wood, although their skill in stone carving is evident from the many engraved standing stones still extant throughout Scotland and housed in museums. These carved stone slabs are the only record the Picts left of their history; the rest of their story is told by later Roman, Scottish, and English writers.

McHardy credits the Picts with building the megalithic structures (such as the Ness of Brodgar), which can still be seen in Scotland in the present day (33). They established themselves in small communities made up of families belonging to a single clan which was presided over by a tribal chief. These clans were known as Caerini, Cornavii, Lugi, Smertae, Decantae, Carnonacae, Caledonii, Selgovae and Votadini (McHardy, 31). These clans (known as "kin") acted in their own interests, often raiding each other for cattle, but banded together when threatened by a common enemy and elected a single chief to lead the coalition. The kin (which comes from the Gaelic word for "children") would continue to follow and protect their chief, but that chief would obey the warrior all had agreed upon as group leader. Regarding the role of the chief, the historians Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry write:

The head of the kin was a very powerful man. He was looked upon as father of everyone in the kin, even though he might only be a distant cousin to most. He commanded their loyalty: he had proprietary rights over their land, their cattle; their possessions were in a sense his. His quarrels involved them and they had to take part in them, even to the point of laying down their lives (33).

This emphasis on the importance of family and a reverence for the father-figure may actually be the origin for the name "Picts" as the people have come to be known. McHardy, and others, cites the word "Pecht" as "a general catch-all term for 'the ancestors' within Scotland" (36). McHardy and the other historians claim that the people of Northern Scotland referred to themselves as "Pecht", meaning both that they honored the ancestors and were themselves of ancient stock (i.e. the indigenous people of the land). McHardy cites the historian Nicolaisen who shows how "the Roman 'Picts' corresponds closely to the Old Norse Pettir and to the Old English Pehtas" and that these names, and others from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "do not derive from each other but from a common source - probably a native name" (McHardy, 36). Given this, McHardy writes, "it is highly unlikely that [the Picts] were given their name by the Romans and therefore the idea of the term meaning 'the painted ones' has no basis in fact" (37). This claim, like many concerning the Picts, has been contested. Whatever they may have called themselves, and whatever it meant, the coalition of tribes ranged across the whole of Northern Scotland as far north as Orkney and as far south as the Firth of Forth. The males of the tribe were all warriors but, when not called upon to defend their clan or land, were farmers and fishermen and the females also farmed, fished, and raised the children. Aside from the occasional raids by one tribe against another for cattle, the Picts seem to have lived fairly peacefully until threatened by outside forces.

Image: Pictish Stone, Invereen, Scotland

THE COMING OF ROME

Rome’s first incursions into Britain were in 55 and 54 BCE by Julius Caesar but began effectively in 43 BCE under Emperor Claudius. In 79/80 CE, Julius Agricola, the Roman governor of Britain, invaded Scotland and pressed on to a line between the rivers Clyde and Forth by 82 CE. After establishing fortifications, he invaded northern Scotland in 83 CE and was met by the Pictish leader Calgacus in battle at Mons Graupius. The historian Tacitus recorded the battle and, in so doing, was the first to give a written account of Scottish history. It is from Tacitus' account of the battle the oft-misquoted line, "they make a desert and call it peace" comes. The actual line as set down by Tacitus is, "They make a solitude and call it peace." Mons Graupius is an example of the Picts gathering together under a single leader to combat a common enemy. Tacitus does not call Calgacus a king nor a chief but writes, "One of the many leaders, named Calgacus, a man of outstanding valour and nobility, summoned the masses who were already thirsting for battle and addressed them" (McHardy, 28). Tacitus records that Calgacus had 30,000 men under his command whom he encouraged prior to the battle through his famous speech (which many historians claim is Tacitus' own creation). Calgacus began his address to his warriors thusly:

I have a sure confidence that this day, and this union of yours, will be the beginning of freedom to the whole of Britain. To all of us slavery is a thing unknown; there are no lands beyond us, and even the sea is not safe, menaced as we are by a Roman fleet. And thus in war and battle, in which the brave find glory, even the coward will find safety. Former contests, in which, with varying fortune, the Romans were resisted, still left in us a last hope of succour, inasmuch as being the most renowned nation of Britain, dwelling in the very heart of the country, and out of sight of the shores of the conquered, we could keep even our eyes unpolluted by the contagion of slavery. To us who dwell on the uttermost confines of the earth and of freedom, this remote sanctuary of Britain's glory has up to this time been a defence. Now, however, the furthest limits of Britain are thrown open, and the unknown always passes for the marvellous. But there are no tribes beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and submission. Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace (29-38).

Agricola faced the Picts with 11,000 soldiers of the 9th Legion and defeated them. The Picts attacked in the same form they would have grown accustomed to in tribal warfare, while the Romans held their position in strict formation and repulsed the charge, then counter-attacked. Tacitus writes, "the Britons, when they saw our ranks steady and firm and the pursuit beginning again, simply turned and ran. They no longer kept any formation or any touch with one another, but deliberately broke into small groups to reach their far and trackless retreats." McHardy notes, however, that what Tacitus perceived as a rout was actually a tactical maneuver. He writes how the Picts "had retreated back into the forests and mountains" and then goes on to note:

Tacitus presents this as a result of their defeat but another way of considering this is that they had gone back to their scattered communities to regroup. It is a telling fact that no other Roman source talks of a formal battle like Mons Graupius in the north during the rest of the period of Roman occupation of southern Britain. Although there were later major outbreaks of warfare like the Barbarian Conspiracy of 360, it would appear that the native warriors learned quickly that there was little use in fighting the disciplined Roman fighting machine in set battles, particularly when their own skills had been learned in the process of small-scale, fast-moving raids. The scattering referred to can be seen as the Caledonians reverting back to smaller-scale raiding groups after the battle. Something like modern guerilla warfare was clearly called for and would appear to have become the norm for the next 300 years (48).

Although the Romans won the battle, allegedly killing 10,000 Pictish warriors, they could not capitalize on this victory. Unlike other nations which the Romans invaded, the northern reaches of Britain had no central cities which could be conquered. McHardy notes that, "By the time the Romans arrived in the northern half of the British Isles they had already overrun most of Europe and had developed a methodology of conquest and control. The lack of clearly defined central locales as seats of political power was perhaps part of the ongoing problem they had in trying to subdue this part of the world" (41). The Romans, in fact, never conquered the region which would become Scotland although they would make repeated attempts. The tribal nature of the Picts meant that they could move quickly from one locale to another, they were not tied to one single settlement in a geographical region, and they were adept at living off the land. The Romans, therefore, found themselves facing opponents who had no central cities to conquer, no farmlands to burn, and who, after Mons Graupius, refused to face them in the field as other peoples had done. The Picts were unconquerable because they presented the Romans with a new paradigm which Rome could not adapt to. The Roman legions had not yet encountered this kind of guerilla warfare (which would also prove effective in the Goth resistance under Athanaric to Roman invasion of their lands in 367-369 CE) and so were unable to subdue an enemy who lived, moved, and fought unlike any opponent they had faced before. The historians Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry write:

Tacitus described Mons Graupius as a great Roman victory; who can blame him. But was it? The fact remains that Agricola retired southwards when it was over. Moreover, when he left Britain a few months later, the frontier between the Romans and the Caledonians was nowhere near [the site of the battle]. It was more than 150 miles south, and over the years that followed, the Roman occupation of Scotland contracted and contracted. It probably never consisted of more than the holding of key forts and fortlets, and as time went by less and less of them (25).


Image of carved stone: Pictish Warrior with Drinking Horn

In 122 CE the emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of his famous wall which ran for 73 miles (120 km), sometimes at a height of 15 feet, from coast to coast. In 142 CE, the Antonine Wall was constructed further north under the reign of Antoninus Pius. These walls did nothing to discourage Pictish raids. The Frys note that, "both Hadrian's and the Antonine Wall were psychological as well as physical barriers. They marked boundaries, as it were. But neither side for a moment imagined them to be impregnable. Perhaps the Romans did not even intend them to be" (27). The walls served as a demarcation line between the southern lands under Roman domination, which were considered "civilized", and the barbarian wilderness of the north which was controlled by the Picts. When the Romans left Britain in 410 CE, the Picts still lived in the regions north of the wall as they always had. Whatever effect the Roman presence may have had on them is unknown, but the carvings the Picts left on their standing stones show no major differences in lifestyle from before the arrival of Rome to after the departure of the legions.

THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY

During the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity as the state religion, beginning with the emperor Constantine's decree of religious toleration, the Edict of Milan, in 314 CE. Christian missionaries began inroads into the lands of the Picts beginning with St. Ninian in c. 397 CE. The efforts of these missionaries, combined with the growing power in the south of the kingdom of Northumbria, would have lasting effects on the Picts. As McHardy observes, "Where the Roman Empire failed to conquer the Picts, the Christian Church succeeded" (93). The Picts practiced a tribal paganism which seems to have involved goddess worship and a devotion to nature which involved great respect for specific sites of supernatural power across the land where the goddess lived, walked, or had performed some kind of miracle. Women in Pictish society were regarded as the equal of men and succession in leadership (later kingship) was matrilineal (through the mother's side), with the reigning chief succeeded by either his brother or perhaps a nephew but not through patrilineal succession of father to son. There seems to be no record of the concept of "sin" in Pictish belief (the same as in other forms of paganism) and, as the goddess lived among the people, the land was to be venerated as one would the home of a deity. Christianity introduced a new paradigm of how the universe worked. McHardy writes:

The new religion brought in new concepts. The idea of an all powerful, often vengeful, male God was accompanied by the concept of all humans, and particularly women, as being essentially sinful. This, in a society where the likelihood was that women were at the very least equal to men, but where there was belief in a Mother Goddess, and possibly some sort of matriliny, suggests major change. There were other radical changes. The old goddess was within the landscape, the new God was in some unidentified stellar heaven. This would have to mean changes in people's perceptions of both themselves and the environment they inhabited (94).

While Ninian's efforts to convert the Picts had some effect, his later successor, St. Columba, would achieve major advancements in spreading Christianity. Ninian established Christianity among the southern Picts at some point in the reign of the Pictish king Drust I (also known as Drest I and Drust son of Irb) who ruled from either 406-451 CE or 424-451 CE (to name just two of the possible dates of his reign). Columba arrived from Ireland in c. 563 CE when the Pictish king Brude son of Mailcon ruled. Brude (also known as Brude I or Bridei) united the northern and southern Picts and, depending on which source one accepts, either became a Christian after meeting Columba or was already of the faith when Columba arrived.

A FORMER TRIBAL WARLORD IN IRELAND, COLUMBA KNEW HOW TO MOBILIZE & INSPIRE LARGE GROUPS OF MEN & MADE USE OF THIS TALENT IN HIS CONVERSION OF THE PICTS.

A former tribal warlord in Ireland, Columba knew how to mobilize and inspire large groups of men and made use of this talent in his conversion of the Picts. It is from the time of Columba's missionary work around the Pictish stronghold of Inverness that the legend of the Loch Ness Monster derives. St. Adamnan, who wrote The Life of St. Columba, includes the story of a large monster who lived beneath the waters of the River Ness and had already eaten inhabitants of the region when Columba arrived. Columba rescued one of his companions from the monster by invoking the name of God and commanding the creature to depart at which point, "the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes." This defeat of the monster is supposed to have greatly impressed the Picts who then converted to Christianity. Although the story deals with the River Ness, not the Lake Ness, it is considered the basis for all later stories about the Loch Ness Monster. Columba's other feats of wonder, including besting Pictish sorcerers at their own game (very like Moses with the Egyptian priests in the Book of Exodus) enhanced his reputation further and made Christianity a more attractive alternative to the traditional Pictish beliefs.

By the time Columba died in 597 CE, the Picts were mostly Christianized and had largely left their earlier way of life behind. The conversion of the Picts was not always a peaceful one, however. As late as 617 CE Picts were still resistant to the new religion, as evidenced by the martyrdom of Saint Donnan along with fifty-one of his followers by the Picts on the island of Eigg. Although records such as Adamnan's Life of Columba, or the works of Bede, present a narrative of Christian missionaries steadily, and successfully, advancing the faith, other works, such as the Annals of Ulster, make it clear that the conversion process did not go so smoothly. Even in 673 CE some segments of the Pictish population were still resistant to the new faith as evidenced by their burning of a monastery in Tiree.

NORTHUMBRIA & THE BATTLE OF DUN NECHTAIN
The Picts' way of life was not only under assault by the Christian missionaries within their borders but also by a growing power to the south. The rise of the Anglican Kingdom of Northumbria, which made regular incursions into Pictish land, necessitated strong central leadership in the form of a king of all the tribes, instead of the old system of many tribal chiefs uniting for a time under the guidance of a single leader. Although it is unclear why the Picts felt the need for a central government, it is thought that they may have attributed the Northumbrians' effectiveness in conquest to their kings and so sought to protect their lands by employing the same system of government.

Northumbria had the resources and manpower to take large portions of land from tribes such as the Scots, who had arrived from Ireland and settled in Dalriada and Argyll, and the Britons of Strathclyde; both of whom were then subject to the Angles of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The Angles had also seized parts of the Pictish lands to the north, subjugating the people and installing kings whom they felt would serve their purposes. One of these Pictish kings was Bridei Mac Billi (better known as Brude Mac Bile) who is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of the Pictish kings for halting the advance of the Angles of Northumbria and freeing his lands of their influence. In doing so, he would also remove the Northumbrian yoke from the Britons and the Scots to the south, as well as other tribes, and more or less set the early boundaries of what would later become England, Scotland, and Wales.

Battle of Dun Nechtain
Battle of Dun Nechtain

The Northumbrian king Ecgfrith, who was Brude's cousin, may have helped him to power on the condition that Brude would regularly send tribute and would work for Ecgfrith's interests. This claim has been contested, however, and it is also thought that Brude came to power after the Northumbrians defeated the king of the Northern Picts, Drest Mac Donuel at the Battle of Two Rivers in 670 CE. However Brude came to power, it is clear that he was expected to send tribute south to Northumbria. Brude, however, had no intention of doing so and, although it seems he initially did send tribute in the form of cattle and grain, this practice ended soon after he had consolidated his power. Ecgfrith was hardly pleased with this development but became more upset by Pictish raids into his kingdom south of Hadrian's now crumbling and undefended wall. Ecgfirth decided it was time to remove Brude and teach the Picts an important lesson but was advised to try diplomacy before battle.

At the same time, Brude was further consolidating his power by subduing rebellious Pict sub-chiefs. In 681 CE he took the stronghold of Dunottar and by 682 CE he had a navy of adequate size and strength to sail to Orkney and subdue the tribes there. Following this victory, he took the Scots' capital of Dunadd to the west so that, by 683 CE, he had secured his northern, eastern, and western boundaries (Orkney, Dunnotar, and Dunadd) and only had to concern himself with an attack directly from the south.

This attack came in May of 685 CE when Ecgfirth could no longer tolerate Brude's threats to his rule and refused the counsel of his advisors to try further diplomatic measures. He mobilized a force of cavalry (possibly numbering around 300) to put down what he saw as a Pictish rebellion in his lands. The Picts under Brude lured the Angle force deeper and deeper into their territory and then struck at a place known in English chronicles as Nechtansmere and in Welsh chronicles as Linn Garan; the Annals of Ulster refer to it as Dun Nechtain and this is the name most commonly referenced by historians. The Angle forces found themselves between the Pictish army, which is said to have numbered in the thousands, and the marshes of the lake. Ecgfirth, realizing his dangerous position, opted for a full-scale charge of his cavalry uphill to break the Picts' line in the center. Brude, however, fell back, feigning retreat, and then turned and held the line. He repulsed the charge, sending the Angles reeling in retreat back down the hill and toward the marshes; then, he counter-charged. The historian Bede, who gives the most detailed account of the battle, writes:

The enemy pretended to retreat and lured the king into narrow mountain passes, where he was killed with the greater part of his forces on the twentieth of May in his fortieth year and the fifteenth of his reign...Henceforward the hope and strength of the English realm began to waver and decline, for the Picts recovered their own lands that had been occupied by the English, while the Scots living in Britain and a proportion of the Britons themselves regained their freedom. Many of the English at this time were killed, enslaved, or forced to flee from Pictish territory (McHardy, 124).

The Battle of Dun Nechtain broke Northumbria's power and secured the borders of the lands of the Picts which, later, would become Scotland. It also drove the Christian missionaries of the Angles out of Pictish lands which allowed for the original Columban brand of Christianity to take hold in the highlands instead of the Roman brand which had been accepted by the Angles. Brude continued to rule until his death in 693 CE; by which time his kingdom was secure and at peace. He was succeeded by an unpopular king, Taran, who was deposed after four years and succeeded by Brude Mac Derile who defeated another Anglican invading force in 698 CE and issued the famous decree, set down by St. Adamnan, known as the "Law of the Innocents" which set guidelines for the waging of war in order to protect women, children, clergy, and other non-combatants.

THE RELIGIOUS WARS & THE SALTIRE
Brude Mac Derile died in 706 CE and was succeeded by his brother, Nechtan Mac Derile, who favored the Angles' version of Christianity over the Columban, or Celtic, church. The primary source of contention between the two was the dating of the celebration of Easter as well as secondary issues such as how the monks should wear their hair and conduct themselves. The more serious underlying issue, however, was that the Celtic church was locally based while the Anglicans had chosen to place themselves under the dictates of the Pope in Rome. This meant that the Celtic church owned its own lands while churches to the south were effectively owned and operated from Rome; priests in the land of the Picts came from the local community, those to the south were appointed by Roman Catholic authorities in Italy. It is not clear why Nechtan favored the Roman Catholic version of Christianity but, in 710 CE, he issued a royal decree to all the churches in his realm that they should accept the Roman Catholic dating of Easter and comply with Roman Catholic dictates in other regards.

NECTAN ABDICATED THE CROWN IN THE FACE OF GROWING HOSTILITY TO HIS RULE & RETIRED TO A MONASTERY.
This decree was seen by the Picts as a surrender to the Angles of the south, but they obeyed it, however reluctantly, until 724 CE when Nectan abdicated the crown in the face of growing hostility to his rule and retired to a monastery. As soon as he had left the throne, the land erupted in civil war between adherents of the Celtic Church and those who had come to favor Roman Catholicism. For five years the land of the Picts was divided by almost daily conflict between these two sects but the fighting would actually last longer, until c. 734 CE, and none of the kings who followed Nechtan seemed to have the power to stop the killing. Finally, in 734 CE, Oengus son of Uurguist came to the throne and took control. It seems he was able to unite the Picts by focusing their hostilities against an enemy other than themselves or the Angles: the Scots of Dalriada. He invaded Dalriada in 734 CE and, in 736 CE, captured the citadel of Dunadd. The Scots were defeated and subjugated by 750 CE and Oengus then turned his attention to the Britons; but was defeated at the Battle of Mocetauc.

Following Oengus, other kings ruled with more or less distinction until the rise of Constantin son of Fergus in 780 CE who consolidated the victories of Oengus into one kingdom under his rule. Constantin united the Picts and the Scots and was the first Scottish ruler to be known as Ard Righ -`High King' - of the Scots. When he died in 820 CE, his brother Angus son of Fergus took the throne. Angus is best known as the ruler who saw the vision of St. Andrew's cross in the sky, white clouds forming an `X' against the blue background, which would later come to be known as the Saltire, Scotland's flag. The Angles were again invading the land of the Scots and Picts and had gathered their forces at Mercia. The night before battle, St. Andrew appeared to Angus in a dream and promised him victory in battle if the king would dedicate a tenth of his riches to the service of God. Angus agreed to this and, the next morning, the white cross appeared in the sky as confirmation of the deal. The Scots-Picts coalition defeated the English under Athelstan and Angus adopted the white `X' on a blue background as his standard.

KENNETH MAC ALPIN & UNIFICATION

Although the Picts and the Scots had been joined under Constantin, history regularly credits this to the later king, Cinaed Mac Alpin, better known as Kenneth Mac Alpin. A popular story, long in circulation and still cited in history books, relates how Kenneth was a king of the Scots who, through intrigue and trickery, was welcomed by the court of the Pictish king and then murdered the royal family and seized the throne. Modern historians and scholarship reject this version of events completely. The original sources explicitly name Cinaed Mac Alpin as "king of the Picts", not of the Scots and his name is Pictish, not Scottish. The story of his "swindling or slaughtering the Picts all survive only in medieval manuscripts, with no earlier provenance" (McHardy, 167).

It is widely recognized today that Kenneth Mac Alpin was descended from King Aed Find of Scottish Dalriada and Constantin son of Fergus of the Picts; he was therefore an agreeable choice as king to both the Scots and the Picts. The claim that he wiped out the Pictish nation with a Scottish force after murdering the noble Pictish court is untenable. Firstly, there was no `Pictish Court' as it would have been imagined by later medieval writers and, secondly, as noted, Kenneth Mac Alpin had a legitimate claim to the throne of the Picts and would have had no need to exert force to claim the title of king. Kenneth Mac Alpin united the Picts and Scots more securely than Constantin, leading them in campaigns against the English to drive them completely from the region which would become Scotland. He came to the throne in 843 CE and, in eight years, extended his kingdom further than any other ruler of the region before him. By the time of his death in 858 CE, the borders of Scotland as a nation were recognizable in its present form and the English had been driven south into their own lands.

Besides the English encroachments, Kenneth Mac Alpin routinely had to fend off the increasing raids by Vikings who harassed the coast. He moved the relics of St. Columba from the holy island of Iona to Dunkeld (the new ecclesiastical seat), to secure them from Viking raids and is also credited with setting the Stone of Destiny at Scone as a symbol of national pride and power to inspire his people. After his death, the Viking raids continued and, as McHardy notes:

Many of these raids were extremely brutal. Surviving Annals from both Ireland and England tell of repeated raids year on year. The raids continued for much of the century and in time were accompanied by the Vikings settling. While many of the raids were carried out by handfuls of longships with up to a couple of hundred raiders, there were also some years when the Northmen arrived in much greater force. They were successful in taking over most of Scotland north of Inverness, the Hebrides and the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland, and they came close to totally conquering the Picts on at least one occasion (161).

In response to the threat of the Viking invasions, the Picts and the Scots became even more unified. Giric, son of Donald Mac Alpin, Kenneth's brother, is the last ruler mentioned as `king of the Picts' and, after his death in c.899 CE, the Picts are not mentioned in history again. McHardy writes: "the tribal peoples of Pictish and Scottish origin combined to form the new political entity of Alba which in turn became Scotland" (175). Dr. Gordon Noble supports this claim, stating there was "an increasing amalgamation of Picts and Scots - probably because of increasing Viking pressure on the native kingdoms of northern Britain" (Wiener, 3). The Picts of the ancient world did not disappear nor were they conquered and destroyed; they remained, the indigenous people of northern Scotland, and their ancestors still walk their lands and fields in the present day.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua J. Mark
JOSHUA J. MARK
A freelance writer and part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He teaches ancient history, writing, literature, and philosophy.



http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/picts.html

The Picts

Origins of the Picts

Photograph -- Pictish stone

By the fourth century AD, the predominant race in northern Scotland were the Picts, the name was coined by the Romans who referred to them as 'Picti' meaning 'painted ones', which referred to the Pictish custom of either tattooing their bodies or covering themselves with warpaint. The Irish referred to them as Cruithni, meaning "the people of the designs". What they called themselves has gone unrecorded.

The Picts were descendants of the Iron Age people of northern Scotland, believed to have originated in Iberia as hunter-gatherers, they moved through lower Britain and entered Scotland around 7000BC. Recent DNA tests have proven the Picts were closely related to the Basques of northern Spain. The connections between northern Britain and Celtic Spain are supported by many myths and legends. The dolmens, standing stones and the trail of "cup and ring" designs carved on stones by the prehistoric people of Iberia make their way from Spain and Portugal and northern France to Ireland and Scotland and represent the earliest evidence of the movement of prehistoric man from Iberia to Britain.

Conflict with the Romans

The earliest surviving reference to the Picts dates from 297 AD. In a poem praising the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, the orator Eumenius recorded that the Britons were already accustomed to the semi-naked"'Picti, fierce warrior tribes, north of the Antonine wall, as their enemies."

The Romans referred to Scotland as Caledonia, a name derived from the Pictish tribe Caledonii. By AD 80 the Romans had succeeded in subdueing the tribes of Britons which occupied the area south of the Forth and Clyde, but those to the north proved harder to conquer.

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus recorded ' ...the Picts, divided into two tribes called Dicalydones and Verturiones. are roving at large and causing great devastation'. In the early-600s, the Spanish bishop and encyclopaedist, Isidore of Seville wrote of them:-'the Picts, whose name is taken from their bodies, because an artisan, with the tiny point of a pin and the juice squeezed from a native plant, tricks them out with scars to serve as identifying marks, and their nobility are distinguished by their tattooed limbs.'

Gnaeus Julius Agricola advanced to the River Tay, constructing a legionary fortress at Inchtuthil, north of Perth. The Picts, under the leadership of Calgacus ('the Swordsman'), met the Romans under Julius Agricola, at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 84 A.D. when the Romans marched on their main granaries. Prior to this the Picts had avoided open battle, preferring to carry out guerilla style raids. Tacitus records a speech which he claims to have been made by Calgacus before the battle in which he describes the Romans as: "Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace.

An account of the battle was left by Tacitus, the Roman historian and son-in-law of Julius Agricola '..men and horses were carried along in confusion together, while chariots, destitute of guidance, and terrified horses without drivers, dashed as panic urged them. the earth reeked with blood. The Picts were routed by Roman cavalry and after the battle many succeeded in escaping into the hills and Agricola withdrew. The actual site of the battle is not known.

Other races in Scotland

The Scots, who were Gaelic Celts, arrived later, they crossed the sea from Northern Ireland in the third and fourth centuries A.D. taking over the area of the West Highlands, which they termed Dalraida.

The Britons of Strathclyde, another Celtic race, known as Brythonic Celts, controlled the south-west from the Clyde to the Solway and into Cumbria. To this melting pot was added the Vikings, of Norway and Denmark, originally raiders who became settlers, who largely occupied the islands of Shetland and Orkney and lastly the Angles, who came north across the border from England to inhabit the Scottish lowlands.

The Angles from Northumbria settled in south-eastern Scotland in the region between the Firth of Forth to the north and the River Tweed to the south.

The Pictish Kingdoms

The Picts and ScotsPictland, Pictavia or Cruithentuath, comprised all of modern Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde except for Dalriada (Argyll and other western areas). The Brythonic Celts covered the southern territories of the Kingdom of Strathclyde and also held the Manaw Gododdin territory around Stirling.

In later periods several Pictish kingdoms developed, ruled over by seperate kings:-

Cait, or Cat, situated in modern Caithness and Sutherland

Ce, situated in modern Mar and Buchan

Circinn, possibly located in modern Angus and the Mearns

Fib, the modern Fife.

Fidach, possibly near Inverness

Fotla, modern Atholl (Ath-Fotla)

Fortriu, centered around Moray

Myth tells us that the first Pictish king Cruithne had seven sons who gave their names to the seven Pictish subkingdoms. For much of the recorded history of the Picts, Fortriu seems to have been the dominant kingdom. There is evidence to suggest that a Pictish kingdom also existed in Orkney.

Forteviot was a residence of the Pictish kings of Fortriu. King Kenneth mac Alpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) died in 858 at the 'palace' of Forteviot. The palace formerly stood on Haly Hill, on the west side of the modern village of Forteviot.

Pictish society was militaristic and aristocratic and had several classes, including cavalry and footmen, a peasantry, some of whom were bonded to the land, all ruled by tribal chiefs and kings. The origins of this society lie in the Celtic Iron Age of the area.

The first king who appears in several early sources is Bridei son of Maelchon, often called by the anglicised name of 'Brude', who became king around 555AD and died around AD 586. Bridei's kingdom of Pictland stretched north from the land between the Forth and the Clyde. He defeated the Scots, under King Gabranin in battle and laid waste to the Scottish holdings in the west. He was visited by st. Columba at the great Pictish hill-fort of Craig Phadrig.

The Pictish language

The Pictish language has failed to survive to the present day. Few clues have been left behind as to this ancient language, apart from a few Pictish inscriptions. They probably acquired their alphabet from the Dalraida Scots. Their mysterious artwork was particularly distinctive, the symbolism of which remains undeciphered by archaeologists, its meanings shrouded in the mists of time.

A number of conflicting theories have been advanced regarding the Pictish language:-

(i) Pictish was an Insular Celtic language allied to the P-Celtic (Brythonic) languages (similar to Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric, and Breton)

(ii) Pictish was a Insular Celtic language linked to the Q-Celtic (Goidelic) languages (Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx)

(iii) Pictish was a Germanic language allied to Old English, the predecessor to the Scots language

(iv) Pictish was a Pre-Indo-european language, a relic of the Bronze Age

The current consensus is that Pictish was a P-Celtic (Brythonic) language that came under increasing influence by the Gaelic language of Dál Riata from the fifth century until its eventual replacement.

The evidence of place-names and personal names strongly implies that the Picts spoke an Insular Celtic language which was related to the Brythonic language of old Welsh. Celtic elements such as 'Aber', meaning a confluence or mouth of a river, are directly related to the Welsh Celtic language. The classic Pictish prefix 'Pit', found today in farm and village names such as Pittenweem and Pitlochry, may also reflect a Celtic word meaning 'a piece of' (land). Tribal names are known from Roman sources and a proportion have been shown to be Celtic. It is recorded that St. Columba required interpreters to speak to the Pictish King King Bridei, clear evidence that the Picts did not speak the Gaelic Celtic language of the Irish and Scots.

A number of ogham inscriptions have been argued as not being Celtic, and from this it has been theorised that non-Celtic languages were also in use in Scotland at this time.

Pictish Stones

The Picts are probably most famous for the carvings of symbols on their stones, the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts. Pictish Symbol stones have been found throughout Scotland, although their original locations are concentrated largely in the North East of the country in lowland areas, the Pictish heartland. Only a few stones are still located at their original sites, most have been moved to museums or other protected sites.

Crannog at Loch TayThe purpose and meaning of the stones are only slightly understood. 40 different symbols have been identified on these stones, which fall into three distinct groups. The first group of symbols, perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Pictish culture, are the abstract, or geometric designs: extraordinary, recurrent and consistent. The second group is made up of real or mythical creatures. The real creatures are those which the past were native to Scotland, such as snakes, eagles, wolves and bears. But the most common animal symbol is a strange creature bearing a pointed snout, curling antennae and curved, fin-like limbs, which is known as the 'Pictish beast'. The third group is of real life objects, often found in pairs mirror and comb; hammer and anvil; tongs and shears. These symbols are often featured towards the foot of a stone. It is thought they may qualify the meaning of any symbols carved above.

Society and Culture

The Picts may have been unusual in operating a matrilineality based society, with land, property and position passing through the female line, which is how Kenneth McAlpin, first King of the Scotland, the son of a Pictish princess, came to occupy the throne.

Archaeology has provided much evidence on the culture of the Picts. In common with most peoples in the north of Europe in the Dark Ages, the Picts were farmers living in small communities. Brochs, although built in the Iron Age, with construction ceasing around 100 AD, seem to have cotinued in use into the Pictish period. Crannóg, which may possibly have their origins in Neolithic Scotland, they were used as defensive dwellings and were still in use in the time of the Picts. They were constructed by driving timber piles into shallow parts of the lochbed, which then became the supporting frame for a round house. More than 20 submerged crannogs have been discovered in Loch Tay. An example has now been reconstructed on the south side of the loch at the Scottish Crannog Centre. The most common type of buildings used by the Picts were roundhouses and rectangular timber halls.

A variety of Pictish artefacts carved in silver and gold, enamel and stone have been discovered. They depict men and beasts and often feature intricate patterns. By the sixth century the style reveals the influence of Celtic and classical designs.

Pictish brooch A hoard of Pictish silver was unearthed on St Ninian’s Isle in Shetland in 1958 by a schoolboy, Douglas Coutts, who was taking part in excavations of the ancient church that had once existed on the island. The hoard contained eight decorated bowls, silver spoons and 12 penannular brooches of silver gilt. The hoard may have been hidden to conceal it from Viking raiders. It was found in a wooden box that had been buried beneath a slab marked with a cross. It is generally assumed that the treasure was hidden beneath the floor of an earlier chapel.

Conversion to Christianity

The Picts were converted to Christianity by St. Columba (Colum Cille), who was born around 521 in Ireland. St. Columba established the monastery on the island of Iona in 563, in an area controlled by the Dál Riata (The Scots). The biographer of Columba, Adomnan relates that Columba made several journeys into Pictavia. It is reputed that during missions along the Great Glen by Columba and his followers to preach among the Picts, the Loch Ness Monster had its first recorded historical debut. Columba visited the court of the Pictish King, Bridei, son of Maelchon, on several occasions. The gradual conversion of the Picts to Christianity and the spread of Columban monasteries throughout Pictland had been accomplished before the end of the seventh century.

After dominating most of Scotland for at least 600 years, the Picts were gradually absorbed into the nation of Alba in around 900. Their disappearance was partly the result of Viking invasions, but mainly by their political takeover by a Gaelic dynasty.

Pictish DNA

The distinctive DNA marker of the Pictish tribes of Scotland has been identified. The genetic footprint of the ancient Picts is still present in Scotland, S145-Pict, the unique grouping of their Y-chromosome, is carried by 7 per cent of Scottish men and has a wide distribution over the ancient Pictish areas of northern Scotland. Scientists were able to isolate the unique Pictish DNA strands from 1,000-year-old bone fragments found in ancient burial grounds.

DNA studies carried out in Scotland suggest an ancient story. Most Scots are descendants of the original hunter gatherers who arrived in Scotland after the close of the last Ice Age. A number of people, particularly in the western islands, are descended from farmers who arrived from the eastern Mediterranean during neolithic times.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Scone

Stone of Scone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Stone of Scone (/ˈskuːn/; Scottish Gaelic: An Lia Fàil, Scots: Stane o Scuin)—also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later the monarchs of England and the Kingdom of Great Britain. Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and in Scottish Gaelic, clach-na-cinneamhain. Its size is about 26 inches (660 mm) by 16.75 inches (425 mm) by 10.5 inches (270 mm) and its weight is approximately 336 pounds (152 kg). A roughly incised cross is on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport.[1] The Stone of Scone was last used in 1953 for the coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_of_Scone

Stone of Scone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Stone of Scone (/ˈskuːn/; Scottish Gaelic: An Lia Fàil, Scots: Stane o Scuin)—also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later the monarchs of England and the Kingdom of Great Britain. Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and in Scottish Gaelic, clach-na-cinneamhain. Its size is about 26 inches (660 mm) by 16.75 inches (425 mm) by 10.5 inches (270 mm) and its weight is approximately 336 pounds (152 kg). A roughly incised cross is on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport.[1] The Stone of Scone was last used in 1953 for the coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Tradition and history[edit]

Replica of the Stone of Scone at Scone Palace
Origin and legends[edit]
In the 14th century, the English cleric and historian Walter Hemingford described the previous location of the Scottish coronation stone as the monastery of Scone, a few miles north of Perth:

Apud Monasterium de Scone positus est lapis pergrandis in ecclesia Dei, juxta magnum altare, concavus quidem ad modum rotundae cathedrae confectus, in quo futuri reges loco quasi coronationis ponebantur ex more.[2]

At the monastery of Scone, in the church of God, near to the high altar, was placed a large stone, hollowed out as a round chair, on which future kings were placed for their coronation, according to custom.

Various theories and legends exist about the stone's history prior to its placement in Scone:

One story concerns Fergus, son of Erc, the first King of the Scots in Scotland, whose transport of the Stone from Ireland to Argyll, where he was crowned in it, was recorded.[3]
Some versions identify the stone brought by Fergus with the Lia Fáil used at Tara for the High King of Ireland. Other traditions contend the Lia Fáil remains at Tara.[4][5] (Inis Fáil, The Island of Destiny, is one of the traditional names of Ireland.)

Tradition and history[edit]

Replica of the Stone of Scone at Scone Palace
Origin and legends[edit]
In the 14th century, the English cleric and historian Walter Hemingford described the previous location of the Scottish coronation stone as the monastery of Scone, a few miles north of Perth:

Apud Monasterium de Scone positus est lapis pergrandis in ecclesia Dei, juxta magnum altare, concavus quidem ad modum rotundae cathedrae confectus, in quo futuri reges loco quasi coronationis ponebantur ex more.[2]

At the monastery of Scone, in the church of God, near to the high altar, was placed a large stone, hollowed out as a round chair, on which future kings were placed for their coronation, according to custom.

Various theories and legends exist about the stone's history prior to its placement in Scone:

One story concerns Fergus, son of Erc, the first King of the Scots in Scotland, whose transport of the Stone from Ireland to Argyll, where he was crowned in it, was recorded.[3]
Some versions identify the stone brought by Fergus with the Lia Fáil used at Tara for the High King of Ireland. Other traditions contend the Lia Fáil remains at Tara.[4][5] (Inis Fáil, The Island of Destiny, is one of the traditional names of Ireland.)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruthin

Cruthin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cruthin (Old Irish, IPA: [ˈkɾˠʊθʲɪn̠ʲ]; Middle Irish: Cruithnig or Cruithni; Modern Irish: Cruithne [ˈkɾˠɪhn̠ʲə]) were a people of early medieval Ireland, who occupied parts of the present day counties of Antrim, Laois, Galway, Londonderry and Down. Their name is the Irish equivalent of Priteni who are more commonly known by the Latin form Picti.[1] Despite this, a distinction was usually maintained by Irish authors writing in Latin.[1]

The Cruthin comprised a number of túatha (territories), which included the Dál nAraidi of County Antrim and the Uí Echach Cobo in County Down. Early sources preserve a distinction between the Cruthin and the Ulaid, who gave their name to the over-kingdom, although the Dál nAraidi would later claim in their genealogies to be na fir Ulaid,[2] meaning "the Ulaid people". The Loígis, who gave their name to County Laois in Leinster, and the Sogain of Connacht are also claimed as Cruthin in early Irish genealogies.[3]

By 773AD, the annals stopped using the term Cruithne in favour of the term Dál nAraidi,[1] who had secured their over-kingship of the Cruthin.

Etymology[edit]
Main article: Britain (placename)

In writings from Ireland, the name Cruthin, Cruthini, Cruthni, Cruithni or Cruithini (Modern Irish: Cruithne) was used to refer both to the people who lived alongside the Ulaid in eastern Ulster and the Picts of Scotland.[4] It is generally accepted that this is derived from *Qritani, which is the Goidelic/Q-Celtic version of the Britonnic/P-Celtic *Pritani.[5] From this came Britanni, the Roman name for those now called the Britons.[4][5][6] It has been suggested that Cruthin referred to all Britons not conquered by the Romans—those who lived outside Roman Britannia, north of Hadrian's Wall.[6]

Other scholars disagree, pointing out that although Cruthin was used to translate Picti into Irish, Picti was never used to translate Cruthin into Latin.[9] Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín believes that the "notion that the Cruthin were 'Irish Picts' and were closely connected with the Picts of Scotland is quite mistaken"[1] while Professor Kenneth H. Jackson has said that the Cruthin "were not Picts, had no connection with the Picts, linguistic or otherwise, and are never called Picti by Irish writers".[10] The Cruthin cannot be distinguished from their neighbours by archaeology.[11] The records show that the Cruthin bore Irish names, spoke Irish and followed the Irish derbfine system of inheritance rather than the matrilineal system sometimes attributed to the Picts.[9]

It is suggested that Cruthin was not what the people called themselves, but was what their neighbours called them.[12]

Relationship to the Dál Riata[edit]

Dál Riata was a Gaelic kingdom that included parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland. The Irish part of the kingdom lay in the middle of Cruthin territory. Historian Alex Woolf has suggested that the Dál Riata were a part of the Cruthin, and that they were descended from the Epidii.[12]

Modern culture[edit]

In modern times, some Unionist writers in Northern Ireland—in particular Ian Adamson—have seen the Cruthin as an ancient reflection of their own northern separatism and affinity with Britain. In his 1974 book Cruthin: The Ancient Kindred, Adamson argues that the Cruthin settled Ireland before the Gaels; that the two groups were at war for centuries, seeing the tales of the Ulster Cycle as representations of this; and that many of the Cruthin were driven to Scotland after their defeat in the battle of Moira (637), only for their descendants to return to Ireland in the 17th century Plantation of Ulster. Few historians accept his interpretations, with some accusing him of creating a sectarian narrative in which Ulster Protestants have a prior to claim to Ireland. Adamson denies this, claiming his interpretation of history offers "the hope of uniting the Ulster people at last".[18][19]

The asteroid 3753 Cruithne was named after the group.[20]

Robert E. Howard's pulp hero Bran Mak Morn was characterised as "chief of the Cruithni Picts".[21]



http://macalpineclan.com/lord-lyon-s-guidance-on-a-derbfine-or-family-convention

Lord Lyon's Guidance on a Derbfine or Family Convention

Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 18:44
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Derbfine was the name given in Old Irish Law to a four generation agnatic kin group of importance in determining succession and the ownership of property. More recently the term has been used to describe what might be termed a Family Convention, held when the identity of the Chief or Head of a historic Family or Name is in doubt, the object of which is to recognise a new Chief or Head of the Family or Name; or to indicate a suitable Commander for a term of years.

A Family Convention should be composed of the leading members of the Family or Name in question. It has not proved easy to define who exactly qualify as leading members, but the term certainly includes the heads or representatives of leading branches of the family. In the past the term has been defined in terms of armigers and substantial landowners. Although being an armiger does suggest a certain status and a degree of commitment to the Name, this definition has not proved entirely satisfactory, being on the one hand too exclusive and on the other open to abuse. For example, such a definition might exclude non-armigerous heads of leading branches; also, in theory at least, definition in terms of a given number of armigers may make a Family Convention open to “packing”. There is also the possibility that someone unconnected to the Name in question, might adopt that name as his or her surname and become an armiger. It is not appropriate that someone in this position should then be regarded as a leading member of the family. It does seem appropriate, however, to consult with a well established clan or family association where such exists.

There are a number of circumstances in which it would seem appropriate to hold a Family Convention:

(1) Where a blood link to a past Chief or Head of Name is likely but is not conclusively proven and it is wished to propose a particular person in that situation to be recognised as Chief.

(2) Where the main line of descent from a past Chief has died out and it is wished to recognise the Representer of a cadet line as Chief.

(3) Where neither blood link to a past Chief nor Representer of a cadet line can be identified but it is wished to propose a particular person of the surname as Commander. It is generally desirable that such a Commander should live in Scotland.

It should be noted that the Lord Lyon is unlikely to recognise a person recommended by a Family Convention as Chief or Head of a Family or Name, unless that recommendation is unopposed or, at the very least, has been approved by a substantial majority of the Family Convention.

The Family Convention should take place in Scotland although members outwith the jurisdiction may participate by video link or similar.

It is anticipated that the number of those participating in a Family Convention will be relatively small, of the order of ten to twenty-five people.

The Conduct of a Family Convention

It is desirable that one of HM Officers of Arms, or some other person approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, be appointed to supervise the Family Convention. The supervising officer’s role is to act as an impartial Chairman and to make an objective report to Lyon.

In case of dispute, the supervising officer will determine which individuals shall comprise the Family Convention and, in reporting back to Lyon, shall also take into account the views of any well established clan or family association.

At least six month’s notice of the intention to hold a Family Convention should be given to the Lord Lyon to be posted, at a minimum, on the Lyon Court website.



http://www.livinginireland.ie/en/culture_society/a_brief_history_of_ireland/

A Brief History of Ireland: English Version from Crosscare Migrant Project on Vimeo.

Early Irish History

Historians estimate that Ireland was first settled by humans at a relatively late stage in European terms – about 10,000 years ago. Around 4000 BC it is estimated that the first farmers arrived in Ireland. Farming marked the arrival of the new Stone Age. Around 300BC, Iron Age warriors known as the Celts came to Ireland from mainland Europe. The Celts had a huge influence on Ireland. Many famous Irish myths stem from stories about Celtic warriors. The current first official language of the Republic of Ireland, Irish (or Gaeilge) stems from Celtic language.

Early Christian Ireland

Following the arrival of Saint Patrick and other Christian missionaries in the early to mid-5th century, Christianity took over the indigenous pagan religion by the year 600 AD. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin, Greek and Christian theology in monasteries throughout Ireland. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that can still be seen across the country.

The Viking Era

At the end of the 8th century and during the 9th century Vikings, from where we now call Scandinavia, began to invade and then gradually settle into and mix with Irish society. The Vikings founded, Dublin, Ireland’s capital city in 988. Following the defeat of the Vikings by Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, at Clontarf in 1014, Viking influence faded.

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The Norman Era

The 12th century saw the arrival of the Normans. The Normans built walled towns, castles and churches. They also increased agriculture and commerce in Ireland.

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Plantations and Penal Laws

After King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England in 1534 he ensured that the Irish Parliament declared him King of Ireland in 1541. From this time up to the late 17th century, an official English policy of ‘plantation’ led to the arrival of thousands of English and Scottish Protestant settlers. The most successful plantation occurred in Ulster. From this period on, sectarian conflict became a common theme in Irish history.

The 17th century was a bloody one in Ireland. It culminated in the imposition of the harsh regime of Penal laws. These laws set about disempowering Catholics, denying them, for example, the right to take leases or own land above a certain value, outlawing Catholic clergy, forbidding higher education and entry to the professions, and imposing oaths of conformity to the state church, the Church of Ireland. During the 18th century strict enforcement of the Penal laws eased but by 1778 Catholics held only about 5% of the land in Ireland.

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Union with Great Britain

In 1782 a Parliamentary faction led by Henry Grattan (a Protestant) successfully agitated for a more favourable trading relationship with England and for greater legislative independence for the Parliament of Ireland. However, London still controlled much of what occurred in Ireland. Inspired by the French Revolution, in 1791 an organisation called the United Irishmen was formed with the ideal of bringing Irish people of all religions together to reform and reduce Britain’s power in Ireland. Its leader was a young Dublin Protestant called Theobald Wolfe Tone. The United Irishmen were the inspiration for the armed rebellion of 1798. Despite attempts at help from the French the rebellion failed and in 1801 the Act of Union was passed uniting Ireland politically with Britain.

In 1829 one of Ireland’s greatest leaders Daniel O’Connell, known as ‘the great liberator’ was central in getting the Act of Catholic Emancipation passed in the parliament in London. He succeeded in getting the total ban on voting by Catholics lifted and they could now also become Members of the Parliament in London.

After this success O’Connell aimed to cancel the Act of Union and re-establish an Irish parliament. However, this was a much bigger task and O’Connell’s approach of non-violence was not supported by all. Such political issues were overshadowed however by the worst disaster and tragedy in Irish history – the great famine.

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The Great Famine

Potatoes were the staple food of a growing population at the time. When blight (a form of plant disease) struck potato crops nationwide in 1845, 1846 and 1847 disaster followed. Potatoes were inedible and people began to starve to death. The response of the British government also contributed to the disaster – trade agreements were still controlled by London. While hundreds of thousands of people were suffering from extreme hunger, Ireland was forced to export abundant harvests of wheat and dairy products to Britain and further overseas.

Between 1845 and 1851 two million people died or were forced to emigrate from Ireland. The population of Ireland has never since reached its pre-famine level of approximately 8 million.

Ireland’s history of emigration continued from this point onwards with the majority of Irish emigrants going to the United States of America.

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Home Rule

There was little effective challenge to Britain’s control of Ireland until the efforts of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-91). At the age of 31 he became leader of the Irish Home Rule Party, which became the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1882.

While Parnell did not achieve Home Rule (or self-government), his efforts and widely recognised skills in the House of Commons earned him the title of ‘the uncrowned king of Ireland’. The impetus he gave to the idea of Home Rule was to have lasting implications.

In Ulster in the north of Ireland the majority of people were Protestants. They were concerned about the prospect of Home Rule being granted as they would be a Protestant minority in an independent Ireland with a Catholic majority. They favoured the union with Britain. The Unionist Party was lead by Sir Edward Carson. Carson threatened an armed struggle for a separate Northern Ireland if independence was granted to Ireland.

A Home Rule Bill was passed in 1912 but crucially it was not brought into law. The Home Rule Act was suspended at the outbreak of World War One in 1914. Many Irish nationalists believed that Home Rule would be granted after the war if they supported the British war effort. John Redmond the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party encouraged people to join the British forces and many did join. However, a minority of nationalists did not trust the British government leading to one of the most pivotal events in Irish history, the Easter Rising.

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Easter Rising

On April 24th (Easter Monday) 1916, two groups of armed rebels, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army seized key locations in Dublin. The Irish Volunteers were led by Padraig Pearse and the Irish Citizen Army was led by James Connolly. Outside the GPO (General Post Office) in Dublin city centre, Padraig Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic which declared an Irish Republic independent of Britain. Battles ensued with casualties on both sides and among the civilian population. The Easter Rising finished on April 30th with the surrender of the rebels. The majority of the public was actually opposed to the Rising. However, public opinion turned when the British administration responded by executing many of the leaders and participants in the Rising. All seven signatories to the proclamation were executed including Pearse and Connolly.

Two of the key figures who were involved in the rising who avoided execution were Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins. In the December 1918 elections the Sinn Féin party led by Éamon de Valera won a majority of the Ireland based seats of the House of Commons. On the 21st of January 1919 the Sinn Féin members of the House of Commons gathered in Dublin to form an Irish Republic parliament called Dáil Éireann, unilaterally declaring power over the entire island.

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War of Independence

What followed is known as the ‘war of independence’ when the Irish Republican Army – the army of the newly declared Irish Republic – waged a guerilla war against British forces from 1919 to 1921. One of the key leaders of this war was Michael Collins. In December 1921 a treaty was signed by the Irish and British authorities. While a clear level of independence was finally granted to Ireland the contents of the treaty were to split Irish public and political opinion. One of the sources of division was that Ireland was to be divided into Northern Ireland (6 counties) and the Irish Free State (26 counties) which was established in 1922.

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Civil War

Such was the division of opinion in Ireland that a Civil War followed from 1922 to 1923 between pro and anti treaty forces, with Collins (pro-treaty) and de Valera (anti-treaty) on opposing sides. The consequences of the Civil war can be seen to this day where the two largest political parties in Ireland have their roots in the opposing sides of the civil war – Fine Gael (pro-treaty) and Fianna Fáil (anti-treaty). A period of relative political stability followed the Civil war.

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Northern Ireland

Under the same Government of Ireland Act of 1920 that created the Irish Free State, the Parliament of Northern Ireland was created. The Parliament consisted of a majority of Protestants and while there was relative stability for decades this was to come to an end in the late 1960s due to systematic discrimination against Catholics.

1968 saw the beginning of Catholic civil rights marches in Northern Ireland which led to violent reactions from some Protestant loyalists and from the police force. What followed was a period known as ‘the Troubles’ when nationalist/republican and loyalist/unionist groups clashed.

In 1969 British troops were sent to Derry and Belfast to maintain order and to protect the Catholic minority. However, the army soon came to be seen as a tool of the Protestant majority by the minority Catholic community. This was reinforced by events such as Bloody Sunday in 1972 when British forces opened fire on a Catholic civil rights march in Derry killing 13 people. An escalation of paramilitary violence followed with many atrocities committed by both sides. The period of ‘the Troubles’ are generally agreed to have finished with the Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement of April 10th 1998.

Between 1969 and 1998 it is estimated that well over 3,000 people were killed by paramilitary groups on opposing sides of the conflict.

Since 1998 considerable stability and peace has come to Northern Ireland. In 2007 former bitterly opposing parties the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin began to co-operate in government together in Northern Ireland.

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Republic of Ireland – 20th Century to present day

The 1937 Constitution re-established the state as the Republic of Ireland.

In 1973 Ireland joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union).

In the 1980s the Irish economy was in recession and large numbers of people emigrated for employment reasons. Many young people emigrated to the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia.

Economic reforms in the 1980s along with membership of the European Community (now European Union) created one of the world’s highest economic growth rates. Ireland in the 1990s, so long considered a country of emigration, became a country of immigration. This period in Irish history was called the Celtic Tiger.

To find places of historical interest in Ireland visit:

www.heritageireland.ie
www.discoverireland.ie



THE LAST HURRAH OF FEMALE DOMINANCE IN EUROPE: "MACHA." THE FERTILITY GODDESSES OF THE PERIOD BEFORE THE NEOLITHIC, SO CALLED "VENUS FIGURINES," HAVE BEEN THOUGHT TO INDICATE THAT WOMEN MAY HAVE DOMINATED SOCIETY AS MUCH THEN AS MEN DO NOW. THE "CHILDREN OF THE EARTH" SERIES BY JEAN AUEL SHOWS THE SAME THING. THE FIRST BOOK BY LLYWELYN THAT I READ WAS CALLED "THE HORSE GODDESS," AND IT HOOKED ME ENTIRELY ON THIS KIND OF LITERATURE. SEE THE ARTICLE BELOW ON A HORSE GODDESS AND DOMINATRIX. THE CHARACTER IN "THE HORSE GODDESS" WASN'T VICIOUS OR DOMINEERING IN MY MODERN FEMINIST VIEW, BUT SHE WAS A LEADER OF HER TRIBAL GROUP AND TAMER OF HORSES.

READ ABOUT MACHA, BELOW. TRIPLE GODS AND GODDESSES DIDN'T START WITH THE CHRISTIAN "GOD IN THREE PERSONS." THE MENTION IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH OF THE "EVIL EYE" IS SOMETHING THAT IS FOUND IN MANY PLACES, TOO, AND APPARENTLY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS INTO THE PAST. THIS OLD IRISH RELIGION WAS EXTREMELY DARK. READING THIS, IT'S EASY TO SEE HOW THE FAIRY TALES OF THE GRIMM BROTHERS ARE SO STEEPED IN POWER, DANGER AND MAGIC RATHER THAN THE BEAUTIFUL LITTLE CINDERELLA FIGURES WHO JUST WANT TO CATCH THE PRINCE. I ALSO READ THAT THE "FAIRIES" OF THE CELTIC PEOPLE WEREN'T CONSIDERED IN AN ADORING LIGHT. THEY WERE DEEPLY FEARED. POWERFUL BEINGS IN THOSE DAYS WERE DANGEROUS.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macha

Macha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Macha (Irish pronunciation: [ˈmaxə]) is a goddess of ancient Ireland, associated with war, horses, sovereignty, and the sites of Armagh and Eamhain Mhacha in County Armagh, which are named after her. A number of figures called Macha appear in Irish mythology, legend and historical tradition, all believed to derive from the same deity. The name is presumably derived from Proto-Celtic *makajā denoting "a plain" (genitive *makajās "of the plain").[1] It was also said that Macha was called Grian Banchure, the "Sun of Womanfolk." [2]

Contents [hide]
1 Macha, daughter of Partholón
2 Macha, wife of Nemed
3 Macha, daughter of Ernmas
4 Macha Mong Ruad
5 Macha, wife of Cruinniuc
6 Relationships of the Machas
7 See also
8 References

Macha, daughter of Partholón[edit]
A poem in the Lebor Gabála Érenn mentions Macha as one of the daughters of Partholón, leader of the first settlement of Ireland after the flood, although it records nothing about her.[3]

Macha, wife of Nemed[edit]
Various sources record a second Macha as the wife of Nemed, leader of the second settlement of Ireland after the flood. She was the first of Nemed's people to die in Ireland – twelve years after their arrival according to Geoffrey Keating,[4] twelve days after their arrival according to the Annals of the Four Masters.[5] She is said to have given her name to the city of Armagh (Ard Mhacha—"Macha's high place") – where she was buried.

Macha, daughter of Ernmas[edit]

Macha, daughter of Ernmas, of the Tuatha Dé Danann, appears in many early sources. She is often mentioned together with her sisters, "Badb and Morrigu, whose name was Anand."[6] The three (with varying names) are often considered a triple goddess associated with war.[7] O'Mulconry's Glossary, a thirteenth-century compilation of glosses from medieval manuscripts preserved in the Yellow Book of Lecan, describes Macha as "one of the three morrígna" (the plural of Morrígan), and says the term Mesrad Machae, "the mast [acorn crop] of Macha", refers to "the heads of men that have been slaughtered." A version of the same gloss in MS H.3.18 identifies Macha with Badb, calling the trio "raven women" who instigate battle.[8] Keating explicitly calls them "goddesses",[9] but medieval Irish tradition was keen to remove all trace of pre-Christian religion. Macha is said to have been killed by Balor of the Evil Eye during the battle with the Fomorians.[10][11]

Macha Mong Ruad[edit]

Macha Mong Ruad ("red mane"), daughter of Áed Rúad, was, according to medieval legend and historical tradition, the only queen in the List of High Kings of Ireland. Her father rotated the kingship with his cousins Díthorba and Cimbáeth, seven years at a time. Áed died after his third stint as king, and when his turn came round again, Macha claimed the kingship. Díthorba and Cimbáeth refused to allow a woman to take the throne, and a battle ensued. Macha won, and Díthorba was killed. She won a second battle against Díthorba's sons, who fled into the wilderness of Connacht. She married Cimbáeth, with whom she shared the kingship. She pursued Díthorba's sons alone, disguised as a leper, and overcame each of them in turn when they tried to have sex with her, tied them up, and carried the three of them bodily to Ulster. The Ulstermen wanted to have them killed, but Macha instead enslaved them and forced them to build the stronghold of Emain Macha (Navan Fort near Armagh), to be the capital of the Ulaid, marking out its boundaries with her brooch (explaining the name Emain Macha as eó-muin Macha or "Macha's neck-brooch").[12] Macha ruled together with Cimbáeth for seven years, until he died of plague at Emain Macha, and then a further fourteen years on her own, until she was killed by Rechtaid Rígderg.[13][14] The Lebor Gabála synchronises her reign to that of Ptolemy I Soter (323–283 BC).[15] The chronology of Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn dates her reign to 468–461 BC, the Annals of the Four Masters to 661–654 BC.

Marie-Louise Sjoestedt writes of this figure: "In the person of this second Macha we discover a new aspect of the local goddess, that of the warrior and dominator; and this is combined with the sexual aspect in a specific manner which reappears in other myths, the male partner or partners being dominated by the female."[16]

Preceded by
Cimbáeth
and Macha High Queen of Ireland
(Alone)
LGE 4th/3rd century BC
FFE 468–461 BC
AFM 661–654 BC Succeeded by
Rechtaid Rígderg

Macha, wife of Cruinniuc[edit]
Macha, daughter of Sainrith mac Imbaith, was the wife of Cruinniuc, an Ulster farmer. After Cruinniuc's first wife died, she appeared at his house and, without speaking, began acting as his wife. As long as they were together Cruinniuc's wealth increased. When he went to a festival organised by the king of Ulster, she warned him that she would only stay with him so long as he did not mention her to anyone, and he promised to say nothing. However, during a chariot race, he boasted that his wife could run faster than the king's horses. The king heard, and demanded she be brought to put her husband's boast to the test. Despite being heavily pregnant, she raced the horses and beat them, giving birth to twins on the finish line; the twins are identified as a boy and a girl named Fir and Fial, meaning True and Modest.[17] Thereafter the capital of Ulster was called Emain Macha, or "Macha's twins" (in spite of the conflicting story according to which Emain Macha was named after "Macha's neck brooch"). She cursed the men of Ulster to suffer her labour pains in the hour of their greatest need, which is why none of the Ulstermen but the semi-divine hero Cúchulainn were able to fight in the Táin Bó Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley).[18] This Macha is particularly associated with horses—it is perhaps significant that twin colts were born on the same day as Cúchulainn, and that one of his chariot-horses was called Liath Macha or "Macha's Grey"—and she is often compared with the Welsh mythological figure Rhiannon.

Relationships of the Machas[edit]
Macha is named as the wife of Nemed, son of Agnoman, or alternately as the wife of Crund, son of Agnoman, which may indicate an identity of Nemed with Crund. Macha is also named as the daughter of Midir and Aed the Red.[19]


[show] v t e
Ulaid
[show] v t e
Irish mythology: the Mythological Cycle
[show] v t e
Irish mythology: the Ulster Cycle



TRADITIONAL ANCIENT IRISH KINGDOMS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulaid

Ulaid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Ulaid
Before 450–1177

Map of Ireland's over-kingdoms circa 900 AD.
Capital Various
Languages Irish
Government Monarchy
King
• –465 Forga mac Dallán
• 1172–1177 Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe
History
• Established Before 450
• Disestablished 1177
Succeeded by
Lordship of Ulster Coat of arms of Courcy family.svg
Earldom of Ulster Coat of arms of Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster.svg

Ulaid during the 10th–11th century and its three main sub-kingdoms, along with some of its neighbouring kingdoms. These boundaries would be used as the basis for the dioceses created in the 12th century.
Ulaid (Old Irish, pronounced [ˈuləðʲ]) or Ulaidh (modern Irish, pronounced [ˈu.liː])) was the name of a confederation of dynastic groupings that formed a provincial over-kingdom in north-eastern medieval Ireland.[1] Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid,[2][3][4] as well as in Chóicid, which means "the Fifth".[3][5] The king of Ulaid was titled alternatively rí Ulad or rí in Chóicid.[5][6][7]

Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province derives its name.[7] Some of the dynasties within the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, whilst others are cited as being of Cruithin descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population-group, of which the Dál Fiatach was the ruling dynasty.[7] As such the title Rí Ulad held two meanings: over-king of Ulaid; and king of the Ulaid, as in the Dál Fiatach.[5][7]

Anciently, according to legend, the territory of Ulaid spanned across the whole of the modern province of Ulster, excluding County Cavan, but including County Louth.[1][2] It was said to extend from the River Drowes in the west, which divides County Donegal from County Leitrim, all the way to the River Boyne in County Louth.[1][2][7] At the onset of the historic period of Irish history in the 6th century, the territory of Ulaid was largely confined to east of the River Bann due to encroachment by first the Airgíalla and then the Northern Uí Néill.[1] Ulaid ceased to exist after its conquest in the late 12th century by the Anglo-Norman knight John de Courcy, and was replaced with the Earldom of Ulster.[1]

An individual from Ulaid was known in Irish as an Ultach, variant spellings being Ultagh and Ultaigh.