In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English

_In Search of Ancient Ireland_ by Carmel McCaffrey and Leo Eaton is a well-written and thorough tour of Irish history from Neolithic times following the last Ice Age up into the 12th century.

Chapter one looked at the first Irish people. The chapter began with the authors touring the Irish countryside examining eskers, long gravel ridges left behind by retreating glaciers, features that once served as elevated roads relatively free of vegetation, useful to Ireland’s first arrivals. Although there is debate over whether a land-bridge still existed at the time between Britain and Ireland, the first people to settle Ireland arrived in small family groups around 9000 BC, having left southwest Scotland for northeast Ireland. The authors discussed Mount Sandel, a Mesolithic site dating to around 7000 BC. Notable finds from the camp include fulacht fiadh (also known from the Bronze Age), essentially mounds of fire-heated stones that were used to boil water for cooking. More dramatic though are the 1500 megalithic structures from Neolithic Ireland built largely between 4000-2000 BC, structures that are evidence of large communities with considerable organization. The authors discussed dolmans, court tombs, and wedge tombs.

Chapter two reviewed Bronze Age Ireland, which began around 2400 BC. The authors examined a Bronze Age mine, the famous stone circles of the era (hundreds of all sizes were constructed between the end of the Neolithic and the start of the Iron Age around 500 BC), the importance of cattle (as one expert said, “raising cattle is the key to understanding Ireland…everything is about cattle”), the traumatic climatic events that took place between 1159-1141 BC that led to the development of Ireland’s first warrior aristocracy and hill forts, and crannogs (artificial lake islands, usually with no more than two huts).

Chapter three examined who the Celts were and what it means to be “Celtic,” reviewing the history of the term (which is of very recent origins), how there is no evidence of any large-scale Celtic invasion from Europe (though Celtic culture and language did indeed arrive), and how Celtic should be seen as a cultural and linguistic term, not an ethnic one. A very interesting section examined in detail _An Tain Bo Cualigne_ (frequently just called _The Tain_ or translated as _The Cattle Raid of Cooley_, the greatest Irish story and oldest epic written in a vernacular European language).

The fourth chapter looked at religion and laws. Topics included the druids, various Irish festivals (Samain was a great feast that marked the end of the year and the start of the new one on November 1st, a festival that eventually transformed into Halloween), the Brehon Laws (administered by judges known as brehons, a vital part of Irish life though not written down until seventh and eighth centuries), the significant role of fili or poets, and women’s rights in Ireland (much better under Brehon Laws).

Chapter five was devoted to fifth century St. Patrick, detailing his life (interestingly, he was not the first missionary to Ireland nor was he in fact Irish) and how the cult of St. Patrick developed (largely for the political expediency of various Irish leaders).

The sixth chapter looked at the rise of Christianity, how was it spread from the top down in Ireland, how missionaries had to adapt an essentially urban religion to a land without cities, its largely nonviolent acceptance, how some Celtic gods morphed into saints (St. Brigid might have either have been a real person or the goddess Brigid). A major figure is St Enda, the man most responsible for introducing monasticism to Ireland.

Chapter seven examined in detail the Irish monasteries, which were surprisingly worldly (Irish monks frequently married and were not poor) and scholarly (they preserved much Classical literature). While some monasteries basically became cities with many lay persons living and working there, others were founded in very remote places, notably desolate off-shore islands and even Iceland (appalled at the lack of Irish martyrs, the Irish church said that White Martyrdom could be achieved by leaving Ireland and founding monasteries in desolate places). Also examined are early conflicts between the Irish and Roman churches, Brendan the Navigator, and the perigrini (large numbers of Irish pilgrims in Europe from the sixth century on).

Chapter eight looked at the growing role of monasteries in the flowering of Irish arts and crafts (examples include the _Book of Kells_ and the ninth century High Crosses, sometimes called Celtic crosses, freestanding, up to 20 feet in height stone crosses with the distinctive ringed cross head and elaborate and apparently painted carvings upon them) and also the Irish political situation; the hundreds of petty kings (many were called taoiseach or chieftains), Irish succession laws (not always the eldest son, but rather decided upon by a dail or discussion group), and the wars between the monastic city-states.

Chapter nine looked at the first Viking raids in the late 8th century and the establishment of Viking fortified camps called longphorts, many of which later became Irish cities (the most important would be Dublin, which comes from Dubh Linn, or Black Pool, a natural harbor favored by the Vikings).

Chapter ten examined the history of the Vikings in Ireland, how “Vikings were as likely to use Irish allies in their own wars as the Irish were to have Viking allies,” and how Viking towns became real engines of economic growth (and also by the way Christianized; later myths would portray all Vikings as pagan).

Chapter eleven chronicled the life and times of tenth century Brian Boru, “Emperor of the Irish,” the only Irish high-king to have any real power.

The final chapter looked at the conflict between Tara, long the seat of traditional Irish power and prestige, and Dublin, growing in wealth and power, the lasting Viking legacy in Ireland (they introduced coins, even the stirrup and spur), the massive reforms imposed on the Irish church by Rome in the twelfth century, and Dermot MacMurrough, the deposed Irish king who was partly responsible for the Norman English invasion.