Ireland, Scotland and Britain are strewn with relics of societies long passed. Some of these remnants take the form of great earthworks like Silbury Hill in England and the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Most often these ancient survivors remain in the form of stones: circles, megaliths, tombs and cairns. This article will serve as an introduction to some of the "Old Ones" which remain in Ireland and which I have had the personal privilege to meet.
Although no one can know precisely how the Neolithic, Stone or Bronze Age minds considered stone, archaeological and anthropological evidence allows us to speculate on the reasons for and uses of stone in monuments of the ancient world.
Stone was plentiful and more permanent than wood for the prehistoric peoples of Ireland. With remarkable effort, a circle or cairn could be raised which was unlikely to be disturbed or removed by marauding neighbours.
The early inhabitants of Ireland may have considered rocks the home of ancestral spirits as the Celts later believed. "Menhirs" are large megalithic standing or pillar stones which the druids are thought to have erected and used for their properties as psychic instruments, a belief which some feel confirmed by contemporary experimentation.
Stone passage-graves and tombs are believed to have been built to provide places of spiritual rebirth to deceased relatives. Newgrange, constructed around 3200 BC in the Boyne River Valley, County Meath, is the finest example of a passage-grave still remaining in Europe.
Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny stands near the centre of the venerated Hill of Tara, County Meath. A brooding megalith, lore tells us it was brought to Ireland by the Tuatha De' Danaan. Standing approximately five feet in height, it is said to shriek when trod upon by the true king of Ireland. Tara, as the royal seat of priest-kings, was the site of the coronation of each High King of Ireland.
To the west in Clare is the site of Magh Adair, the ancient inauguration place of the Kings of Thormond such as Brian Boru. On this site stands in tall grass a broken pillar stone, now about three feet in height which probably marks the area of coronation and served a similar ceremonial purpose as Lia Fail.
On the summit of Knocknarea mountain, County Sligo, is a great mound of stones said to be the burial cairn of Maeve, the legendary Queen of Connaught. Walking up the mountain and climbing the cairn on a blustery day, I first felt myself to be an intruder on the summit. As I paused to consider this "trespass", an enormous gust of wind virtually bore me to the top of the cairn as quickly as I could move my legs.
Atop the cairn, the wind blurs the lines of time and it is easy to feel that this cairn is infused with the goddess of Ireland, Eriu. The view from the summit takes in all four directions and allows Maeve a panoramic view of the land for which she is guardian.
The stone cairn is 35 feet in height and 200 feet in diameter. Interestingly, the cairn has never been excavated but is believed by archaeologists to house a Neolithic Age passage-grave. Locals oppose disruption of the mound, perhaps feeling that excavation will convince the goddess to abandon her watchpost.
The cairn dominates the landscape. Not coincidentally, the valley below is home to Carrowmore, the largest megalithic cemetery in Ireland. Standing amid the mixture of dolmens, small passage tombs and standing stones and looking up at Knocknarea, I was struck by the enormous works of stone and land forms that these people utilized to mark their beliefs and rituals - their "map" to the cosmos.
The key to the placement of each stone, regardless of the structure, was the belief of the builder. For whatever interest the modern pilgrim seeks out a site -- whether it be archaeological, cultural or spiritual -- the connection remains in the visitor's ability and willingness to "believe."
Future articles will continue our historical and mythological walk through the bones of Erui.
