PRE-CHRISTIAN IRELANDPRE-CHRISTIAN IRELAND
Sources
Because literacy arrived only with conversion to Chris-
tianity from the fifth century C.E. onward, there is no
contemporary native record for pre-Christian Ireland,
while its remote location on the western edge of
Europe meant that it attracted little attention from
Classical commentators. The archaeological record
attests to ritual practice, but not to religious belief; a
limited insight in this connection may be obtained
from historical sources (including certain early eccle-
siastical texts in the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis,
some Middle Irish antiquarian tracts, and occasional
stray references in later medieval accounts), from
hagiography, and from Old and Middle Irish literature.
The extent to which such evidence reflects practices
or beliefs comparable to those of the Continental Celts
is open to debate; scholars have noted the limited
quantity and range of archaeological data and its qual-
ified resemblance to the style of La Tène, a site in
Switzerland the material heritage of which is widely
viewed as the definitive characteristic of Iron Age
Celtic culture. Concerns have also been expressed
about the lateness of literary references to pagan cus-
tom, and about acceptance of the apparently La Tène
type settings of Old Irish stories (especially the Ulster
Cycle), from the eighth century C.E. onwards, as rep-
resenting a “window on the Iron Age.” McCone, in
particular, stresses the ecclesiastical environment in
which Old Irish literature was produced, and the
Christian and Classical influences affecting it, while
not denying the possible survival of some influence
from oral tradition with pagan roots. Some have argued
for a recasting, in this ecclesiastical environment, of ear-
lier sources to present a more supernatural view of the
poet’s profession. In Carey’s view, the late ninth-century
glossary of Cormac mac Cuilennáin represents an impor-
tant step in reconstructing a “pagan heritage” for Ireland.
Ritual Sites
Two prominent earthwork sites, which apparently
served ritual functions, bear traces of fire-ceremonies—
while at another site there are indications that horses
were perhaps ceremonially killed. At Emain Macha
(“Navan Fort”), near Armagh, excavated by Waterman
in the 1960s–70s, one phase of later Iron-Age activity
(with dendrochronological date of 95 B.C.E.) involved
the construction of what looks to be a shrine comprised
of concentric circles of wooden posts. There is evidence
of intense burning, seemingly deliberate. Parallels have
been drawn with the Dún Ailinne earthwork, County
Kildare (radiocarbon dates ranging from 390 B.C.E. to
320 C.E.), where Wailes found a circle of wooden posts
inside an enclosure—also destroyed by fire. Cosmolog-
ical interpretations of these structures focus on an
apparent resemblance to the sky wheel (a symbol else-
where associated with the Celtic deity Taranis, who had
solar connotations) and see particular significance in the
destruction of these sites by fire. At Tara, the discovery
by Roche of animal remains—especially horse—sug-
gests ritual activity and prompts comparisons with
Danesbury in England, and perhaps with Belgic or
north-Gaulish sites like Gournay or Ribemont. The find
is especially curious in view of a colorful account in
the twelfth-century topography of Giraldus Cambrensis,
which purportedly describes a regnal inauguration,
whereby the new king engaged in ritual mating with
a white horse before it was slaughtered and eaten.Priesthoods
The separation of embankment from interior by a fosse
at such sites, possibly intended to distance observers
from proceedings within the enclosure, has led some
archeologists to infer the existence of a priestly class.
Historical evidence from the Early Christian period in
the form of ecclesiastical legislation (particularly the
so-called “First Synod of St. Patrick,” which may
reflect a sixth-century C.E. reality) refers to seers before
whom pagans swore solemn oaths. Hagiographical
works from the seventh century onward—including the
Latin Lives of St. Brigit—commonly refer to druids;
such references, and the term driúin Old Irish, may
mean that this priesthood (described in a Gaulish con-
text by Caesar and by earlier commentators) histori-
cally did exist in Ireland. The late medieval description
by Giraldus Cambrensis of nine women who guarded
an eternal flame at Kildare has been viewed as testi-
mony to a priestly role for females in connection with
a fire-cult—and comparisons drawn with a flame at
Bath and with Classical accounts of all-female sanc-
tuaries in Gaul. Several episodes in the Life of Brigit,
including the description of her veiling, when a column
of fire was seen to rise from her head—otherwise open
to interpretation as Christian symbolism—have been
cited as possible reflections of a fire-priestess role.
However, recent opinion, as represented by Harrington,
is more skeptical.Sacrifices
The archaeological record includes several discoveries
of La Tène artifacts, hoards, and single finds, which
seemingly represent ritual deposits. In the late nine-
teenth century, a collection of swords, scabbard plates,