Celtic Seafaring and Transport -SteeringA first-century Be gold model boat from Broighter in the north of Ireland (Figure
15.3) has a steering oar pivoted near the stern as have the boats depicted on the
first-century AD monument to Blussus (a Celt) now in Mainz Museum (Ellmers
1975) (Figure 15.4), and on a third-century AD altar to the Celtic deity Nehalennia
from Colijnsplaat (Ellmers 1978: fig. 5). A steering oar, some 10 m in length, and
dated to the second/third century AD, has been recovered from Lake Neuchatel,
Switzerland (Eglofff 1974); a 5-15 m steering oar from the first/second century AD
boat site at Zwammerdam, Netherlands (de Weerd 1988); and one of 4.10 m in length
with the second/third century AD Bruges boat (Marsden 1976: fig. 6). As the boat
depicted on the eighth-century AD Kilnaruane Pillar near Bantry, Co. Cork, also has
a steering oar (Hourihane and Hourihane 1979), the total evidence seems to suggest
that steering oars were widely used on Celtic boats. There is no mention of the
steering arrangements of the Veneti seagoing plank ships described by Caesar (De
Bello Gallico I I 1.13) and by Strabo (IV+l) and perhaps we may conclude that they
had side rudders as in Roman ships, possibly only one rather than a pair. Side rudders
are, indeed, shown on the starboard side of seagoing plank vessels depicted on two
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Figure 15-3 A first-century Be gold model boat from Broighter (Ireland). (Photo: National
Museum of Ireland.)257