- Ireland: A World without the Romans -
most deep-rooted assumptions have come under critical scrutiny. There is particular
concern about the precise meaning of the term 'Celtic' in an insular context. In the
narrowest sense the term is a purely linguistic one and thus there are problems when
it is applied to the archaeological evidence.
At the beginning of history, around the middle of the first millennium AD, the
country was wholly Celtic in its language and its institutions. For linguists, this can
only have come about by means of a significant immigration of Celtic-speaking
people at some time in later prehistory. Such an intrusion is not, however, reflected
in the archaeological evidence. There is thus seeming conflict between the two
disciplines.
It may be that these difficulties derive from the defective quality of the material
record for, in truth, the Iron Age in Ireland is represented by only a small body of
evidence, mainly consisting of scattered artefacts devoid of context and often even
of provenance. Burials are few and settlements all but non-existent. There are also
inherent weaknesses in the archaeological method which derive from the virtual
impossibility of proving unequivocally from the archaeological record the presence
in a given area of intrusive peoples, even in cases where an intrusion is historically
documented.
These matters are not easily resolved and can scarcely be furthe~ debated here.
From the perspective of archaeology the indications are, however, of very consider-
able population continuity throughout the last millennium Be. At the same time it is
difficult not to see the profound changes in art and technology, which heralded the
appearance of La Tene influences in Ireland, as indicative of the arrival of some
foreigners in the land. These may well have been few in number, perhaps no more
than a ruling caste with specialist metalworkers. Whether such hypothetical intruders
could have been responsible for creating the Ireland of the earliest historical sources,
however, will continue to be a matter for discussion.
IRON AGE BEGINNINGS
There is little to suggest that the earliest phase of the Irish Iron Age may be regarded
as 'Celtic', however that term is applied. The Hallstatt culture is represented in
Ireland by little more than a scatter of insular variants of the continental Giindlingen-
type sword, a handful of winged chapes and a few other items (Raftery I984: 8-14).
None of these objects is iron with the rather doubtful exception of a corroded and
fragmentary sword blade from the river Shannon at Athlone for which a Hallstatt
date has been claimed (Rynne I982; Scott I99I).
These remains undoubtedly show that Ireland was in touch with the Hallstatt
world outside and that the country shared in the changing fashions of sword manu-
facture spreading across western Europe at this time (Champion I982: 4I). It seems
too that experimentation in iron technology was also taking place in different parts
of the country at about the same time. This is hinted at by two looped-and-socketed
axeheads of iron from Co. Antrim and by a cauldron of riveted iron sheets from
Co. Cavan (Raftery I983, nos. 555, 567, 577). All are stray finds, however, so their
dating is uncertain but the technique of their manufacture has generally been taken