\ RioCHT NA MID HE Records of Meath Archaeological and Historical Society Vol.XI 2000
.' " ...•~.,..... -; ...~..... The local context of The local context of Oenach Tailten 1 Coirpre and the donation of Donag-hpatrick - are all taken over from earlier Patrician documents by the author of the Tripartite CATHY J, SWIFT Life with only minor additions and omissions.7 The topographical context of Conall's gift is best illustrated in yet another life of Patrick, the Vita Tertia, the date of which has yet to be fully The history of cknoch Tailtl'n or the ~Fair of Teltown~Z has discussed in print." The account of the gift of Donaghpatrick in traditionally been viewed as part orlhc story of the highkingship this text specifics the c10geconnection between the church site of Ireland. There are good reasons for this. Many of our texts and that of the royall'lite of Rath Airthi,.H; refer specifically to the link between the rulers of Tara and the Then Patrick came to ConaUson ofNiall and Conal! received assembly-site at Teltown and the reference in an early poem on him with great joy and he baptised him. And he offered him the Air~alla to coimdiu Temme S('CO Taj/len (lord of Tara and his home and the whole dwelling.place and he said to him: Tellown) is typical of this genrc:1 The argument put forward "Make for yourself a civitas from this dwelling-place and I here, however, is that the relationship between Teltown and the will make for myself another dwelling:.place in front of (or Vi Neill overlordship identified in our texts from the seventh east of?)the gates ofyour civitas". And (thus) Patrick made century A.D. can be illuminated by looking more specifically at there the CIvitas which is today called DomTJOchJlatrak the early politics of the Blackwater valley. and Patrick sketched the dwelling-place for GonaUwith his I be~n with a discussion of the evidence from the Tripartite staff; thig ig Rath Airthir. And P~trick said to him: "In this Life of Patrick, an account of the saint probably compiled at some dwelling. place, there will be many kings and in it blood will point prior to the early tenth century.4 The ccntrall'lection of this not be shed, save only the blood of one man and you will be text opens with the donation to Patrick's cult of the royal dun blessed and your rule will be powerful for eternity and the (stronghold) ofAth Truim (Trim) by the son of Ring-Lofg-uiremac seed of your bothers will serve your seed for eternity.tO Neill - king of Tara and son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. ThiR story iRthen followed by other encounters between the saint and The proximity of the two sites illuminates a series of connected the sons of Niall. For the celebration of the first Easter, Patrick episodes which are otherwise unique to the Tripartite Life. In is said to have come to the baile (place) of Teltown, where the these Patrick blesses in turn the royal fort of Rath Airthir, the 6cnach rigdae (royal Mlla('h) took place. There he met Coirprc area ofthe&'nach Tailten and the sanctuary at Domnach Jlatmic. mac Neill who wantpd to kill Patrick and who whipped members Each of these three sites iRsaid to have been blessed in turn by of his household in the river Sele or Blackwater. As a consequence, Patrick and each is promised rights of sanctuary. Coirpre was cursed by Patrick and told that hi!'!descendants The saint begins with the fort of Rdth Airthir itself. He would serve the sons of his brothers, that his family would never propheRied it would be the place of the assembly for the tuatha rule and that there would never be salmon in the Blackwater. (kingdoms) for both ordinary and extraordinary assemblies and In contrast, when Patrick met Coirprc's brother Conall - that only one wounding would ever take place there. The known as Conall Cremthainne in Rome genealogiefl to help circumgtances of this wounding arc then given: an episode distinguish him from his more famous northern brother - at involving the knifing of a warrior called Mace Bresailll by .<;osad du itd Domnach Pcitraic indiu (the dwelling where descendants ofAed Slaine through his son, Mael Odar. AB recently Donaghpatrickli is today), Conall received him with great joy and outlined by Professor Byrne, a member of this family can be was haptised. Patrick then confirmed his !Icedfor eternity. AB at identified in eighth.century documentation as Eladach mac Maile Trim, a church was sub!lequently founded but the author specifies 'Odrae tigerna Cremthinnae (lord of Cremthenn) while other that, at Donaghpatrick, Conall himself measured out the church connections can be drawn with the settlements of Slane and and that it was !lixty feet long, paralleling: the sixty.cubit length Knowth.J2 References to a Meath lordship ofCremthenn occur in ""LJ ~ of Solomon's temple.6 A.F.M. sub annl,<;867, 1~9, 1030.~1.lli!9and it seems likely that M~ Thege three episodes - the foundation of Trim, the cursing of it is this unit which gives ~onall mac Neill his sobriquet, _''''f'\.'S' Cremthainne. The eighth-century association with Slane and 24 26 Woehl na Midhe The local context of c'wnach Tailten 27 Knowth corresponds to John Col~an's seventeenth-century in 717. He himself, his father and his son were all killed in identification of Cremthenn with the area then known as the battles with the Vi Chonaing but another son, Fergal mac barony of Slane and is reneeled in the placename "Crcvin" FogartaiJ.{,died al'lrex deiscerd Breg (king of southern Brega) in witneslicd in the Inquisitions of Charles I where it is Associated 751. By the mid eighth century, therefore, Diarmait's dcscendants with the parish of Drumcondra, Co. Meath.l:J may have been concentrated towards the south, possibly in the This section in the Tripartite Life is immediately followed by area of Lagorc which is explicitly associated with this family in a connected episode in which Patrick grants sanctuary to the All. 785. area of 6enncl, Tnilten, sayinJ{ that no dead would ever be carried The topographical associations of Ailill's descendants, by from that site; again. an incident which proves Patrick's power in contra!!t, appear to be north-western in the first half of the this regard is cited. There is then a brief excursus in which two eighth century. Aed mac D1uthaig (whence the Sil nDllithaig) is other churches nrc founded, one apparently at Kells - identified identified in Ann. Tig. 689 as the king of Fir Chlil. Glosses in in other texts as a royal fort of the legendary king Cormac mac fifteenth-century manuscripts of Felire 6engusso and F"lire Airt.14 Patrick is then said to have returned to the Teltown area Gornufin indicate that this kingdom included Imblech Fia(ich) where he erected a monumental stone on a hill at Donaghpatrick and l\lng mBolee, identified by John O'Donovan as the parishes at a site where a cross stood above a mill; thil'lmill Patrick also ofMoybolWlcand Emlagh in the modern barony ofLower Kells.16 blessed - for the I{oodof the kingdoms for eternity. Patrick left a The Fir Chlil arc also closely associated with events at Tuilen number of his dil'lcipleshere, apparently in charge of both the Taken in conjunction with the other land Cormac mac Airt's settlement at Kells and the burial mound of unit entitled <5 chill sair (from the church [i.e. Donaghpatrick] Niall Noigiallach, thought to be at Faughan Hill, across the eastwardl'l), it would appear that the Vi Chonaing were based in valley from Donaghpatrick.18 This is also the area in which, the Blackwater valley, according to the Vita Tertia, the ancestral home of Conall Thefle two families of Sil nAedo Sl:line, the Uf Chonaing and Cremthainne was located. I would conclude, therefore, that this the Boyne lords ofCremthenn, are not the only prominent factions area was of particular importance in the political hierarchy of in our late seventh and eighth-century records. Also active in the Sil nAedo Slaine and that as such, it was dominated in the this period are descendants of Aed SIaine through two other first half of the eighth century by what was then their most sons, Diarmait and Ailill. Diarmait's family included Fogartach suece!'lsful branch, the Uj Chonaing. This appears to be the mac Neill who was expelled de regno (from the kingdom) in A U. implication of the reference to Tir macc Conaigg in the Tripartite 714 but regained kingship in 716 and disturbed c'wnach Tailten Life. Profe!lsor Byrne has suggested that these dynasts sub- 28 Rfocht na Midhe The local context of nenach Tailten 29 sequently ousted the descendants of Mael Odae, laking ovcr the protection of one who was within the royal precinct. In Audacht kingship of Knowth and focussing their enerb>lcSon eastern Morainfl, it is stated that a ruler could impose immunities from 22 expansion.19 Meanwhile the rulers of Fir Chul. whose homeland violence at every 6enach. lay immediately to the north are stated to have controlled Rath The author of the Tripartite uses the phrase bin{ 6enaig Airthir by A.U. 810. (A laler king of R:ith Airthir, who died in Tailten ofthe location of this area ofsanctuary. This implies that A.U. 866, is identified 8S Ccrnachnn mac Cumuscaig, names the sanctuary was a discrete area within which the 6enach which do not allow us to identify the particular dynasty to which Tailten took place, like many travelling fairs in Ireland today he helong:ed.) I would deduce from these fluctuations that conlrol which have a traditional location in each settlement which they of ROld Irish text, Longes Mac nUislenn, the sons ofUisliu were be seen as the mru;R rig of the leading ruler of the Sil nAedo said to have joined the household followingof the king ofScotland Siaine. As such, control of the fort of Rath Airthir and the and as a consequence, they uassumed mercenary service with immediately surrounding area could fluctuate between the lii him and placed their houses on the {aithehe~. In the sagas, the Chonaing and the Fir Ch"1 in the manner which appears to be {aiihehe is depicted as an area on which visitors would congregate implied by the sources. before being admitted to the inner buildings of a settlement. The author of the Tripartite Life makes it clear that he Warrior!'lor visiting dignitaries might leave their chariots there, envisaged that Patrick's saintly blessing resulted in areas of troops might camp there and battles might take place, youths sanctuary surrounding not just the ramparts of Rath Airthir but might play their games there and the ruler of a settlement might also the blai (enclosure?) where the 6enaeh Tailten was held as leave his dog to defend it while he was entertaining guests well as his own church of Donaghpatrick. Secular sanctua; of inside. Despite the buildings, the fields and the animal pens, it this kind is described in Middle Irish legal commentary as the was not exclusively a cultivated area; in it one might also find maiRen dil/ona or the precinct which surrounded high-status gras~, trees, pillar.stones and pools of waler and there are legal establishments. Anyinjury inflicted on someone within the bounds references to the possibility of finding deer within its confincs.26 of the mail/en d{gona meant the assailant had to pay the owner's Monumental crosses were also found in this area; an annal entry honour-price as well as the fine for the injury itself.21 Similar for Chron. Scot. 849 talks of a cross on the {aithehe of Slane notions of sanctuary are mentioned in the Airgialla poem where which was broken and parts of which ended up in Teltown. it is stated that one of the crimes over which their Vi Neill The fact that O'Clery viewed bla{ as a synonym for {aithche overlords had jurisdiction was the upsettinK of an rN'nach under impliel'lthat we should visualise 6enach Tailten as having taken the over-king's protection. Another involved the violation of the place, therefore, in an area of dispersed rural settlement sur- 30 Riocht no Midhe The local context of 6enach Tailten 31 rounding a central focus of high status. We can be c\'cn morc rHmach took place around the grave-mound of the eponymous !;pecific however, since an analysis of the various types of bini Tailtiu, but also that the site included such as wood-biai, pool-blai or road-blai which existed in carly records from pillars over waves decked\\lith arms ... mounds Ireland has survived in the law tracts. These distinctions are over noble foreigners and walls built over the dead of great based on the type ofhoundary mark which demarcates the unit. plagues. Thus, a pool-blui is demarcated by the walers of a river or a lake or a pool, while a blai esbaide or blal of deficiency is marked by n Other verses in the poem also refer to stone monuments and hollow or boggy place or a l'tony valley or the track of an ancient mounds; the coirthe or pillar of Colman; the carn or stone mound route and so forth. of Conall, the lieie or stones of Grup and Gar.33There are also There arc two particular types of blai in this cataloj..'"Uewhich saga references to the actions of AmarWn, who littered the area seem mOl'lt relevant to the probable location of &mach Tailten' around Tailtiu and Rath Airthir with stones.34 An entry in A.U. the first being the aUbiai or rock-blai where po!lsible marker~ R31 talks of a disturbance ~hout the (orad-structures of 6enach are listed as the (lil adrada (rock of adoration), ail annscuithe Tailten. Unfortunately, we lack more precise topographical (the immovable rock) or ail Ieehta (monumental rock). The rock reference points for blai 6enaig Tailten although an entry dealing of adoration is particularl:y intriguing; the only other example of with itl'!celebration by Ruaidri Ua Conchobuir inA.F.M. 1167/68 thiR phrase known to me iRin a gloss on the legal text Di astud docs specify that the encampment of the participants extended Chirl ocus Dligid where it gloRseRalt6ir or altar!7 but an open- from Mullach Aiti (JIiIl of Lloyd) to Mullach Tailten (the hill of air Christian altar forming a boundary marker is difficult to Teltown). This may imply that on the lower parts of the ridge visualise.:lS Given the shape of prehistoric monuments such as where stand the prehistoric Knockans - bulldozed in part during portal tombs, perhaps we should imagine the title "rocks of 1997 but currently being excavated and rebuilt - may indeed adoration~ being given to megalithic tombs. Other possible have been the site of blai Denaig Tailten as suggested by boundary markers may also have originated in prehistory - nineteenth-century wri!ers.3S Bronze Age Rtanding stones as at Glencul1en, Co. Dublin for The reference to (orad-structures at 6enach railten is example or Iron Age barrows with accompanying stone pillars as particularly interesting. In the eleventh or early twelfth-century at Kiltullagh, Co.Roscommonor Island, Co.Mayo.2!IAs it happens, compilation, l.char na Cerl or the DookofRights, a verNerefers to the stone pillar at Island is inscribed with an early ogam the fact of(orad rig Airgialla for deis rig Tailllean (the (orad of inscription and there are a number of legal references to the use the king of Airgialla at the right hand of the king of Teltown) of ogam HtoneNas marking:the boundaries of land-units.3o while the prose introduction adds the details that the latter is A second alternative as a location for bIni 6enaig Tail/en also seated on a (orad and issed a thomus co ma-rua claidem righ might he the gnoth-blai or blal of distinction where the markers Airgiall cohind lamha in dailimh (the distance of it is so that the are a mound - dumae - or the base of a trunk - bun omna(i) - or sword of the king of Airgialla may reach the tip of the cup- the mound of a tree -duma erainn. The word dumae uAedhere is bearcr's hand).3OlIn other words the space between the two(orad- not specific to any particular type of mound; we find it being used structures is that of an outstretched arm and the length of a to describe burial mounds. mounds for public ceremonies, fairy sword. This reference, as in the case of the annal entry for 831, or side-mounds, mounds for hunting huts and even gun refers to forad-structures in the plural; there are also two other emplacements in the seventeenth century.31 references to a multiplicity of Teltown forad-structures in The reason I suggest that these two particular types seem the Genemain Aeda Slaine and Cuan Ua Lothchain's early eleventh- most likely candidates for blai 6enaig Tailten is that the Middle century poem. The lalter is the most specific in that it indicates Irish Senchas na Relee identifies Teltown as an anccstral that there were foraid (Old Irish plural of (orad) for both men graveyard for the Ulaid, while another text, the [.cbor na hUidre and women; twenty (oraid for the kings of Tara on what was version of Aidf'd Naih I, speaks of 50 hills Ccnoiclat the site of termed mur Echach (the rampart of Eochul and a further twenty 6enach Taillen.32 Cuan Ua Lothchain, in his famous early for their queens on the mur of Eochu's wife. There were also eleventh-century poem on Teltown, not only states that the (orad-structures for the men of Connacht.37This description of Thl' local context of cHmach Taillen 33 32 Rioeht no Midhe structures being specifically associated with 6enach-festivities multipleforaid, linked to specificregional authorities, corresponds including an Old Irish gloss to the legal text Di Aslud Chirt ' to similar evidence in a poem on 6enach Carmuin.311 Dligid. This reads coms 6enaig .i. a gianad DeUS a (orada d~ Tomas Cathasaig:h has written: "The Welsh gorsedd is 6 denum (the prcscribed arrangemcnts of an 6enach, that is, its etymologically a ncar-match for Irish {orad nnd they have a c1e.aringand bui~dingits (orad-structures).46 In other words, the somewhat similar range of meanings butgorsedd has in addition cYldence of the vernacular texts would seem to indicate that the the Otherworld connotations of Irish sid.,,;m 6 Cathasaigh is here majority of(orad-structures were purpose-built and intended as stating that Irish forad docs not share all the attributes of the seating for high.status individuals at points where large Welsh gOT!wdd but this point appears to have been mil'lsed by gatherings might take place. Edel Bhreathnach has suggested Charles Doherty, who cites 0 Cathasnigh's views before putting that 6enach-festivities are likely to have involved a variety of forward a definition which attributes the functions of a sid to the structures, both monumental and temporary.-47It is not clear forad: into which category (orad-structures might fall, although the Originally the (orad was probably associated in particular legal gloss referring to their building in the context of clearing with kingship. Some of them may have been prehistoric Oenacl~-sitesmight imply structures which needed fairly frequent tumuli. They were regarded as the home of the gods and attentIOn. On the other hand, the exi!!tence of forty such (oraid kings were inaugurated upon them. The king, therefore, associated with the Tara kings and their wives, might seem to seated upon his (orad, was the intermediary between his sugge8t that the underlying monument could be relatively people and the otherworld.4o permanent. (I'm assuming here that not all of the fortv would have been constructed for a single occasion.) . This definition, thoug:h recently endorsed by Conor Newman" . There is one important example of what may have been a and by Elizaheth Fitzpatrick in her papers to the 1998 conference:-l single monument bearing the name of Forad at Tara. This is on Tara and Teltown. is not !mbstantiated by an examination of identified in the Book of Leinster version of a Middle Irish text, the Irish texts. Where a mound is associated with royal inau~r. Dindgnai Temrach or "the Heights of Tara" as lalhrach ind ations, the word normally used is carn'2 while the existence of a F(hJoraid ia laeb ind rigthaige fJ..ll.iill:.(the site of the Farad to the plurality of (orad-structures on a single site (and, indeed. the west side of the king's house). Elsewhere the same text states association of some of them with women who weTC not that Tea, the wife of Erimon was buried b~tween the Farad and inaugurated) has already been indicated in the citationFl listed the king:'s house,4l1Unfortunately, as is pointed out in Petrie's above. In Maud ,Joynt and Eleanor Knott's list of references in study, other versions of this text, from later manuscripts, slate the Dictionary o( the Irish Language, there is one instance of that the monument is la taeb ind riglhaige a.ll2i!:(to the east side druids and seers using (orad-structures but this is in the context of the king-'shouse). A", Dindgnai Temmch is the key text used of overseeing the activities of troops at a battle-site and it, too, for identif}'ing the monuments currently visible at Tara, this refers to (oruid in the plural..(;JThere is not a single instance in variation is crucial. George Petrie's map leaves the relationship the texts cited in the Dictionary in which a (orad is associated of the two monuments ambiguous (he writes "Forradh no Teach with inauh"Uration and indeed, the eleventh-century Dindgnai Cormaic"). R.A.S. Macalister, however, adds to the confusion in Temmch, which refers to a(orad-structure, specifically associates that he states (inaccurately) that all the manuscripts he has inauguration with the very different location ofDuma na nGfall.'~ consulted usc anoir (Le. to the east side of the kings housc).-49In An entry in A.U. 823 refers to the burning of the (orad of the this he has been followed by Francis John Byrne, Sean P. ecclesiastical ruler of Armagh, which implies that the structure Riordain and Leo Swan (although Swan draws attention to the is hardly likely to have been an earthen mound, while O'CIery's 6 Early Modern glosKary simply gives the translation (oradha .i. discrcpancics in previous account.",and provides a useful collection of the earlier plans.)50Edel Bhreathnach and Conor Newman in ionaid suidhe (forad-structures, that is places for I!itting).Byrne's translation of the 'word as "seat~ or John Carey's as "platform" Discovery Programme publications, opt instead for the earlier, are thus both much more accurate renditions ofthe word(orad.~s Book of Leinster, an[ar ( to the west side of the king's house) in their depiction of the relationship, as John O'Donovan had done More importantly, there are a number of references to (orad- r The local context of 6enach Taillen 35 34 /Uoeht na Mid"e Donnchad and the presence of Patrician relics - which are stated I in his nineteenth-century Rurvey of the Rite for the Ordnance to have been present at 6enach Tailten in A.U. 831 - it seems a Survey.51 probable inference. It would thus appear that these twin sites I All of these repreRcnl attempts by modern scholars to identify provi~ed the central focus, in the (aithehe of which was blat the monuments currently visible on Tara with the description!! --J 6enaik Tailten. in the early texts and any attempt til deduce the function of the This coincides with the evidence ofa variety of early medieval {orad-structure from such efforts is clearly speculative. Not only texts which indicate that an 6enach was convened by a king on are such studies dependent on the assumption that the eleventh. land under his personal control. So. in Heptad 56. the seven century description can be correlated with the surviving evidence places where combat is not allowed under Irish law include the on the ground. hul the dilTerin~ versions in the manU!~cripts dun of a king with itsfaithche at the time ofan 6enach. A gloss on make it impossible to he cerlain which of the two (very different) Heptad 61 refers to giving land to the king for the specific monuments involved is the eleventh-century Farad. In a poem purpose of holding an 6enach. A Dindshenchas poem on Loch entitled Temair I by its editor, Edward Gwynn, the site of Tara 52 Garman (Wexford) identifies a king's demesne as an 6enach-site as a whole is called fornd nn rfg or Forad of Kings. This is where boats assemble. Perhaps most tellingly, the law-text Crith patently a symholic title of the seatJIocntion ofthe king and tells Gablaeh lltates that it is the responsibility of the king to convene us little about the "pedfic function of forad. On the whole, it an 6enach, although only with the agreement of his tuath or would seem that the name Forad, as it is used at Tara, is likely to "kingdom". One might also note n gloss on Heptad 2, indicating represent the re-nnminJ'("by medieval authors of a more ancient that land granted to the church and given to the king for holding monument and, I would arWJe, is less diaJ'("nosticof the function of an 6ennch, reverts to its original owner. A second glossator of these structures than the more Ilpccirlcreferences associated points out that giving the land to the king:means that there will with Teltown and other sitell. . be no festival for the patron Raint.!i4As Charles Doherty has When the author ofthe Tripartite Life talks ofPatrick blefising: (fein pointed out in his discussion of Irish 6enaig, there is frequent the blai 6enaig Tailten, therefore, it appears he was envisaging: mention of both royal and ecclesiastical presidency of 6enach. an area of rough ground demarcated by what were in all likelihood assemblies in our sources - as in the famous incident of AU 800 prehistoric monumenL'l;either barrows forburial, standing stones, when the local king died at the circio (erie filii Cuilinn Luscan or mounds. both small and larg:e. Associated with the area wa~ (the 6enach of the feast of Mac Cuilinn ofLusk).5.~In the light of also the Inlir or rampart of Eochu and that of his wife (the pair of references such as these, it seems reaRonably plausible that the which, one is tempted to sug:g:est,may he the twin m'ounds now location of blat 6enaig Tailten in the vicinity of both a royal fort known as the Knockans) and other structures known as (aruid. and a chUrch was not coincidental, and that both the ruler of This description agrees with what we know of other 6enacll sites Rath Airthir and his ecclesiastical counterpart at Donaghpatrick which, like 6I!nach Tailten. are often descrihed as being:outside played vital roles in conveninJ'("6enachTailt~n. One ofour earliest areas of normal habitation, made up of numerous mounds, and 53 references to Teltown, in fact, is to its ancestral role as both a as sites of ancient bUrial places. royal dwelling place and location of an ngon regale or royal However, it is important to recognise that while blai 6enaig assembIy.!>6The existence of this legal evidence would also seem Tailten was most probably an area of open ground, it lay in close to strenb"lhen the suggestion, made aboveon the basis ofannalistic proximity to two major settlements; one being that of the evidence, that the mruig rig of the Sit nAedo Slftine probably ecclesiastical f'ite of Donag-hpntrick, while the other was that of consisted ofthe area ,"urrounding Rath Airthir and Donaghpatrick the prestigious royal fort of Hath Airthir. The connections between the three are indicated. not only by the episodes in the Tripartite and included the modern townland of Teltown. This brings me to the question of a role of an 6enach: what Life alread.y discussed, but by an entry in the Annals o( Ulstpr exactly was its function in the life ofa medieval Irish community? sub nnno 789 which indicates that it was at Hath Airthir that the relics of Patrick were dishonoured by the high-king Donnchad m. The classic English translation since the days of Conall Domnaill on the occasion of an 6enach. The wording does not Mageoghan in 1627 and common in the mid-nineteenth-eentury work of Eugene O'Curry and John O'Donovan is "fair",ci7 specify that this was 6enach Tailten but given the high status of 36 Rioe"t flU Midhe The local context of 6enach Tailten. 37
O'Donovan certainl)' S;lW this as an economic institution; he which was a recognised way of e8tablishing one's overlordship refer.'!, for example. to Nobber in Co. Meath as being in his day over other peoples. The former, Charles-Edwards suggests, may "celebrated only for its one fair of heavy cattlc",&!This fits with have been donated to the Irish kings through hospitality dues for Doherty's emphasis on the economic aspects of the 6enach. lIe "there is no evidence of a network of local royal centres to which sees what he terms earlier tribal6cnaig as being the occasion of food renders were delivered'.63 I would like to put forward the cc!remonialgift.~ving between kings, the acceptance of which possibility that the role of such "local royal centres" was, in fact, symholised acts of political submission. However, he believes fulfilled by the 6enach-as!'lemblies. that, by the eleventh century, much of the legal and political A text which is admittedly much later in date than the period significance of the 6enach hnd dissipated and its function had we are discussing here, Forbuis Damh Damhgaire or the Siege of become predominantly economic.59 Damh Damhgaire, provides an insight into the way this It is worth considering here the time of year at which 6enach di!:;tribution-system may have worked. The description is of Tailten was celebrated. Accordin~ to the Middle Irish text, Cormac mac Airt, legendary ancestral king of the Ui Neill whose l Genemain Aeda SlainI', it was held at 1.lIgnnsad. ;A] This is the fort WMI said to he at Kells: festival held at the beginning of AUg'Ust,apparently in close conjunction with the harvest. In a ~,fjddle Irish commentary Cormac received that year the tribute which was owed to him by each of the five provinces of Ireland and which recently edited by Fergus Kell:y,the valUe of Flheepand pig!!wa!! consisled of 180 cowsfrom each province. Cormac distributed Raid to increase at r,ugnasad which was used as a marker of the these renders to the seven principal tliatha of Tara for a a~e of the beast. Since the specifications for food-render in Cain plague had arisen amongst their beasts and he did not keep Aicillne make it clear that clients of a certain rank must submit a single cow which he did not distribute (OR and he had animals of a certain value, it Sf'ems plausible that such renders always an open hand for distribution), were made in conjunction with the harvest-festival. Cdin Aicillne When Cormac had finished distributing the cattle, his and its accompanying glossNi docs, in fact, specify that the age of steward came to him, i.e. Maine Mibriarach mac Miduath. certain bovines was reckoned up to the point when one gave the "0 Cormac, have you distributed all the cattle?" said he, "I animal to one's lord in winler, while the text on the value of have" said Cormac. "I do not know what to do" said the animals specifies that cattle-values changed at Samltin (the late steward, "I will not be able to furnish you with the where. winter fcstivall and again at Beltaine (early summer).fH withal to feed the household of Tarn, even for a single night, Other legal texts identify a variety of summer foods which for it was on those cattle which we were relying. And the were to be ftiven to one's lord as food-rent by n client. These reason is that all your own flocks have succumbed," This included dairy produce such as fresh milk, huller and cream, a news astonished Cormac and he said: "What were you bullock for roastin~, vegetables and a molt sambid or "wether of thinking of, steward, that you did not tell me that before my summer food'.WlAgain, where a client's renders included summer hands were empty after receiving my tribute? For now 1 food, the end of the summer seems the most plausible time for have nothing to give you and it docs not please me to brinJ:ringthem to the lord, pressurize an,yone;from the moment that the year's tributes In n non-monetary economy, such renders had to be either have been /:pven to me, I will have no other rent until the eaten by the lord and his immediate entourage or redistributed year's end."fi4 by him to his followers. Thomas Charles. Edwards has argued for a two.fold division in the type of food-render J:rivento early It is clear that this description is part of an unusual set of medieval kings: firstly, those from within his own kingdom, circumstances brought about by plague but the general idea that which would be offered on a reg'Ular basis, and which would a lord would redistribute his renders to his clients at the same reflect all the broad cate~ories into which the contemporary diet time that he received them makes perfect sense. It seems likely was divided; secondly, those submitted by outsiders which are that preservation of large quantities of food-stuffs at a single likely to he dona led as livestock on the hoof. The latter could be location over a long time would pose logi!!ticnlproblems to the acquired by Irish kings through the arch rig or royal cattle raid lord, particularly in the case of milk, vegetables and dead animals. 38 Riocht no Mid"e The local context of 6enach Tailten 39 It would seem far more sensible to move them back into circulation and Kelly, is another important aspect of the 6enach; that of an immediately, usin~ the wealth g"enerated by some to reward assembly at which people from far-flung Rettlements could meet others nnd to bind them mOTC firmly to one's cause. Cuan Ua and marriage alliances could be formed. A gloss on the le~al tract Lothchain's early eleventh-century poem on Denae" Tailten Cain Aieillne mentions the imperative for the manchuine praises Mael SechnaiJI, amongst other things, for his generosity (dependant8) of a lord to accompany him to an 6enaeh while in distributing corn, milk and malt. These are all items which another, recently edited by Kelly, draws attention to the need to occur in the lists of food-renders in Cain Aicillne, Crith Gablaeh have the roads in ~ood condition prior to such occasions. In T6.in 65 and Bretha Nemed Toisech. Furthermore, the Middle Irish 86 Cuailgne, it is stated that special clothes were worn for the poem on another Lugnasad fair, Denoch Carmuin, stresses that duration of an 6enaeh; whi1~ooing Emer, Cli Chulainn is in addition to the foreign trade discussed by Doherty. markets described as having dressednimself in his 6enach.c1othes and fi6 (margnid) in food and livestock also took place. This would travelled by chariot to the 6enaeh while Emer and her women sat seem a natural development if the proffering and redistribution at the (orad of the 6enaeh, near to her father's dun, A late Middle of food renders were a normal part of6enach-festivities. Irish story. entitled simply 6enach Tailten, tells of an incident Commentator" since Doherty have emphasised othcr, non- which took place during the 6enaeh when a woman claimed her mercantile. aspects of an 6enach. In his recent book, Early Irish man had had intercourse with another and demanded that he Farming, Fergus Kelly makes a number of passing references to swear a denial under the hand of St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise the holding of Ocnnig in early Ireland, emphasising in particular who was al!'io present. It is easy to believe that the communal the horse-racing which took place there. Chariot-racing waR also merry-making- which obviously made up an important element of a feature and the lawyers were careful to stress that owners the 6enach-celebrations facilitated the creation of marriage couldn't claim compensation for injuries either to or by a horse or alliances althou~h, as Daniel Binchy has indicated, it is not clear chariot at Of'nach assemblies. In an annal entry for 811, it is whether the entry in Cormac's Glossary which refers to a Tulaeh stated that the community of Tallaght prevented the 6ennch no Coibehe or "hill of contract~ at 6enaeh Tailten should be seen Tail/('n from being held that year conna'Techt ('ch nn carpat (so as a formal recognition of such activity.69 that neither horse nor chariot arrived). Kelly also stresses other Instead, Tulach na Coibche may reflect the legal decisions aspects of an O<'nnchnot discussed in detail by Doherty, namely which could be made at an 6enaeh.70 The introduction to a late the sporting contests, music, story-telling and the recitation of Middle Iri!'ih tale, Genemain Aeda Slane, states that tributes royal J{enealob,;cs.J;7 were ag-reed and laws were enacted at 6enaeh Tailten every At the Tara conference in April 1998, Thomas Charles-gdwards /,ugnasad. A similar idea was also put forward in relation to pointed out that, on a number of occasions, ecclesiastical synods 6enaeh Carmuin, where the poet states that the participants may have run concurrently with Denailf. Certainly, there is more would discuss the dues and tributes of the province.71 We have than one gathering of ecclesiastics associated with Teltown, the already encountered other incidents which took place at 6enaeh most famous of which i:.;probably the synod which proposed to Tail ten and which involved seeking leg'at redress - namely that excommunicate Columba ofIona. In another incident, in the Vita of the woman who accused her husband of absconding with Prima of8t. Brigid, Patrick is said to have convened an assembly another woman and the attempt to establish the paternity of an of many bishops at Teltown which discussed, amongst other unclaimed child. things, the paternity ofa certain baby. The mother had accused It is clear from this relatively short overview that an 6enaeh one of the senior members of Patrick' sf amilia, Bishop Br6n, but served a multitude of possible functions. It was a recognised when 81. Brigit blessed the baby's ton~e, the child announced g'atheringpoint for a population dispersed across a rnrallandscape 6Il the true father. Neither account states explicitly that these and provided a social occasion to break up the cycle of the year. It gatherings took place during6efUlch Taiit('n, but they are certainly seems to have been the occasion at which certain agricultural high-status gatherings at Teltown involving individuals from renders were proffered to one's king and might, in turn, be many areas of Ireland. gained by those in royal favour. It provided communal fun in the Implicit in this, as well as in the observations of both Doherty shape of horse-racing and competitions in which warriors could
------40 IUoc!lt na Midhe The local context of iXmach TaWen 41 show offtheir skills. It reinforced respect for the authority of the Cholmain en~endercd by this conflict appears to have tempted patrons; that of the king when his genealogy and attainments the Connachta to cross the Shannon and raid western Mide in were lauded in public by the professional filid and that of the Chron. Scot. 899. Though the Connachta raid ended in failure, it church when relics of the local saint were paraded. It involved is nol impossible that Diarmait, who hore the name of a famoll.s conspicuouscomlUmptionofthe products ofan agricultural society, sixth-century Ui Neill king of Tara, was also eager to exploit in particular food,drink and clothing and it probably encouraged Flann Sinna's difficulties and was facilitated by the localdynasts the development of trade in luxury goods. In addition, as a of the Sil nAedo Staine. At the very least, the possibility should gathering point for the wider community, other types ofmcetings be canvassed, given the short list of annalistic refereo.cea to could coalesce around it; a synod of visiting bishops for example 6enach Tailtf'!n and the need to weigh every scrap of eVidence or an opportunity for hearing law cases. Perhaps the simplcllt which has survived. way in which to summarize its function is simply to state that it Similarly. Binchy discussed but dismissed the A. fl. 811 refer. act.edas a safety-valve through which a community could resolve coee to the community of Tallaght, in the territory of the any internal tensions it might have. Leinsterrnen, who prevented the 6enach from taking place; this, Identifying the function of an early medieval Iwnach is the he suggested, was an anomalous incident, brought ab.outby ~he essential starting point for any attempt to rellolve what role border situation ofTallaght and the great prestige oflts leadmg Dellurh Tailten played in the overkingship ofthe Vi Neill kings of cleric Mael Ruain.73 Nor did he accept the entry in A.U. 733 Tara. The standard account of that relationship for many years which refers to the overthrow at Teltown ofCatha I mac Finguine, has heen Binchy's 1958article, ~TheFair ofTailtiu and the Feast overking of Munster, by a Clann Cholmain dynast ofWestmeath 2 of Tara".7 In this, Binchy is particularly concerned to refute the as indicating anything other than a simple ~engagement".74At statement hy Eoin Mac Neill and others that &mach 7'ailten was the 1998 Teltown conference, Teresa Bolger drew attention to a national assembly. Hinchy therefore dismissed the claim of the the fact that the A.U. annal entry docs not give Cathal's poet Cuan Uri.Lothchain that. in the eyes of an early eleventh- patronymic and suggested that th~ record. refer~, not to the century poet, provillion was normally made for attendance at overking of Munster, but to a Sil nAedo Slalne pnnce. The two Denaeh Toiltell by the kings of Lcinster. Ulster, Munster and contenders might be Cathal mac Finsnechtai, son of a sevent~- Connacht. Instead Binchy suggested that all the evidence we century Sil nAedo Slaine king of Ta:rawho is co~mem~rated In have is to the effect that Denaeh Tailten was summoned by the the genealogies, and Cathal mac Aedo of the Fir Chul whose head of the Ui Neill and disturbances ofthe 6enach were confined death at the hands of his Sil nAedo Siaine cousins is recorded in to groups from within the Vi Neill hegemony. A.U. 737.n;If Bolger's suggestion is accepted, the 733 episode This seems to over-simplify the matter. Binchy noted the two would fit the pattern of dil'lturbancesbeing confined to members twdfth-century references to the holding of 04mach Tailtcn by ofthe Vi Neill hegemony,as postulated by Binchy.It is impossible twoUa Conchohuir kings fromConnacht, Toirdelbachand Ruaidri to be certain but on the whole, it seems to me that Cathal mac in 1120and 1167/8but he dismissed them as ~artificial revivals"; Finguine is the more likely candidate because secular dynasts, he did not comment, however, on the fact that inA.F.AI 894 (rede whosc names are given without patronymics in A.U. in this A.D. 899) Diarmait mac Cerbaill, king of Ossory is said to have period, tend to be figures who hold the highest political offices celehrated &mach Tailten. The Ossory dynasty had been closely and whose careers arc well-documented. In the same year that associated with the Clann Cholmain kings ofTara in the previous Cathal mac Aedo's death is recorded, for example, another A.U. generation: Diarmait's aunt, Flann ingen Dungaile, had been entry reads ddl itir Aed Allan 7 Cathal DC, Tfr dd Glas (Ameeting married to Mael Sechnaill and was commemorated as rigan rig between Aed Allan [king of Cenel nEogainJ and Cathal at Temrn (queen of the king of Tara) before she died in A.V. 890. Terryglass). In this case, it is undoubtedly Cathal mac Finguine The period in which Diarmait is said to have celebrated 6enach whose actions are being recorded. Tail/en coincides with an cntry in Chron. Scot. 898 recording Binchy did not discuss the possibility, raised by John warfare between Flann Sinna, son of ~'1aelSechnaill and king of O'Donovan,that the alliance ofClann Cholmain and the powerful Tara, and his son, Mael Ruanaid. The weakness in Clann Connacht king, Muirgius mac Tommaltaig, who mounted an 42 Rfocht na Midhe The local context of Denaeh Tailten. 43 expedition "as far as Tir-in-Ocnaigh" (land of the ocnach) inA. U. ambiguous in import, cover a lon~ chronological time-span and I 808, might have been intending- to attack Denaeh TaiLten.76 Their could he seen as indicating that &mach Tailten was a gathering enemy on that occasion was Aed mac Neill ofthe Cenci nEogain, of island-wide importance under the aegis of the king of Tara, who is identified in A.U. 811 as being a man who might be Binchy was clearly justified in opposing an anachronistic expected to celebrate Denneh Tailten in this period, and who nationalism which could, at its most extreme, be interpreted as burned the border-territories of Mide in revenge for the abortive depicting:6enach TaWen as the parliament in embryoofa modern attack. l\1uirgius is perhaps the hest documented of the early nation-state.llo On the other hand, we have a clear seventh. Connachta kings and the context in which this raid may have century statement, in Muirchu's life of Patrick, that Tara was taken place is possibly illustrated in the fact that two of his !'Ions seen as caput Scottorum (the head of of were killed by the Luigne in 810. (Peoples of this name arc the Irish), that it was ruled by an imperator (emperor) who was known both from the area of modern Meath - the barony orLune descended from Niall Noigiallach and that his kingdom - and from Sligo. where they gave their name to the barony of encompassed huius pene insolae (almost the entire island).~l1In a Leyney.) world where over-kingship depended heavily on symbolicacts of MOlitsurprising'ofall, Binchy's article of 1958made no mention submission, as well as on military assistance and extortion of of the Old Irish poem on the Airgialla in which the Vi Neill over. revenue,Il2 it is perfectly plausible that provincial kings may lord of Tara and Teltown is said kl preside ovcr the warnors of have attended 6enach railien on occasion. The evolutionar;y Ireland, the king of Munster being' in the extreme south of the model of early Irish kingship, which has held sway since the banqueting hall, the king of Leinster beside him, and the king'of 1960s, has recently been subjected to important criticisms3 and the Connachta behind.77An edition of this poem had been pub- it may be that it is now time to look again at the "fictional" lished some seven years earlier by Maidn O'Daly who credited sovereignty of the carly kings of Tara. Binchy with having made many valuable suggestions prior to Recent work by Colman Etchingham has stressed that what publication. This odd omission may perhaps be explained by the survives in the Irish annals provides us with only a partial and fact that Binchy saw the disturbances recorded in the annals as patchy account of specific areasM and it is a striking fact that so the most important evidence for the presence or otherwise of many of the relatively short list of annal references to 6enach other provincial kings.7" At the !'ame time, his statement that Tailten deal with failures to hold the assembly. One of these, in his examination of the evidence for6enach Tailten reinforced his A.U. 873 states that failure kl hold the 6enach without goodand previous helief in a fictional sovereignty of the Tara king ovcr sufficient cause - sine causa iusta et digna - was something other provincial monarchs,79would seem to indicate that he was which has not been heard of since ancient times, One should note predisposed to minimise any evidence to the contrary. that the annalist is complaining about the lack of an explanation One final point on this issue can be made. In addition to the rather than the lack of an 6enach; after all, the cancellation monuments associated with the VanOUlIprovincial kings, the engendered by the activities ofTaliaght, some sixty years, before penultimate verse of Cuan's carly eleventh-century poem refers has already been cited. to the absence of seven kings who might have been expected to Ciuin Ua Lothchain's eleventh--eentury poem states that five attend. He names the various kings, though without patronymics, hundred denaig had been held between the 6enach of Patrick and two non-UiNcill kings may be amongst them: Cathal (possibly until the udub-6enach" or B1ack«nach of Donnchad. This has Catha I mac Conchobuir, king of Connacht) and Dondchad been identified by his modern editor, Edward Gwynn, as being (possibly Dondchad Mriel.na-mbO, king of the Vi Cheinselaig). the fair disrupted in A.U. 927 and in this he was followed by The common occurrencc of both these personal names, their lack Daniel Binchy.HIiThis is a modern inference though a very of patronymics and the lack of detail in either annals or reasonable one; the annal entry refers to a disturbance while geneaiob-riesfor many of the subordinate Vi Neill leaders from Donnchad was presiding at the 6enach but the annalist does not this period, makes it imp0!olsibleto be certain about either of use the phrase dub.6enach. It is important to note, 8S Gwynn these suggestions hut the possibility is there. pointed out, that this 927 date presumes that the figure of five These various references, scanty though they are and onen hundred 6enaig is something of an approximation and that Cuan 44 Rioeht nn Mid/u' The local context of 6fmach Tailtm 45 docs not make any reference to the years when the annalists Dindshenchas on 6enach Carmuin: recorded the absence of a fair. On the other hand, the poet's identification ora seventy-nine year gap, between the dub-6enach For holding it the Leinstermcn (were promised) corn and and Mael Seehnaill's revival of the festivitY,Il6 corresponds milk and freedom from control of an)' (other) province in reasonably well with the annalistic evidence. The celebration of Ireland; that they should have men, royal heroes; tender &>nQch Tailten by Macl Scchnaill is recorded in Chronicoll women: goodcheer in every several house, every fruit like a Scottorum under the year 1005 (recte 1007) which leaves a g:ap show (1): and nets full (offish) from waters. But ifit was not of eighty years. Given the different ways in which one might held, they should have decay and early gre)'ness and young mark year's end in the Middle Ages, this seems a reasonable kings.fl8 approximation. Propaganda might state that all four provincial kings w:re pre~cnt The forty kings who are identified by euan as those who on a regular basis at 6enach Tailten and stron~ !ara kings m~ght celebrated 6ennig TaWe" are all, bar one, said to he descendants have been in a position to enforce this, but pohtlcally weak kings of Niall Noigiallach. The exception is the legendary Connacht could face opposition from such relatively minor groups as,the king, Ailill (Molt),The forty kings are subdivided into the various Gailenga, as happened in AU. 827, or even from.the SIl nAedo Vi Neill dynasties: members ofthe Cenel Locgaire, Cenci Cairpre, SIaine themselves, as in A.U. 717, Those Tara kmgs who were Sil nAedo Shiine, Clann Cholmain, Cenel nEogain and Cenel under threat from more junior candidates within the Vi Neill Conaill. As Gwynn indicated in his edition, this list can be dynasties or from strong provincial kings, such .as Cathal mac broadly correlated with the known Vi Neill kings ofTara.~17Since Finguine of Munster or Muirgius m.acTommal~alg of Connacht, the poem is a praise-poem in favour of MaeIScchnaill, himself an may have found it difficult on occasIOnto exercise the necessary Vi Neill king of Tara, and of his actions in reviving the festival, control over the Sil nAedoSiaine kings, or to demand the presence this is not particularly surprising". The fact that the local Sil oftheir more powerful subordinates from elsewhere on the island. nAedo Siaine king-s arc not given prominence is equally Similarly, it was only powerful Tara kings, such as Donnch~d unproblematic<'ll,given Mael Sechnaill's dynastic ancel'ltry<'lmong mac Domnaill, whocouldsuccessfullychallenge the localauthonty the Clann Cholmain who were long-st.'lndingrivals oftheir casteen of the Patrician church as represented by Donaghpatrick. neighbours. As propaganda, rather than factual history, CUlln's The area of the Blackwater valley, from Kells to Navan, is one need was to produce plausible generalisations which would suit of the best documented regions in early medieval Ireland, Our his patron, rather than a precise account of the known details sources depict a region which appears dominated by the most concerning a festivity which he states had not been celebrated by prestigious of the Sil nAedo Slaine forts; one whose r,amparts - a Tara king for some eighty year!!. ma!!sively substantial at the present day - were said to have It might be that holding 6fmach Tailtl'n on an annual basis been blessed by the saint himself. In its immediate vicinity was a was an aspiration rather than an automatic reality for the early church claimed to have been founded by a progenitor ofthe royal Tara kings, As an assembly apparently held under the immediate house, whose dimensions resembled that ofSolomon's temple.,In ae~s of the most powerful Sil nAedo Slaine king of the day, close proximity to these two settlements was an area which possibly in association with the leader of the eccesiastical site of appears to have been demarcated by ancestral burial mounds Donaghpatrick, it was crucially important as a symbol of the and prehistoric stone monuments and it is here that th~ Vi Neill high-king's control over the fertile lands of the eastern midlands. kings of Tara were wont to hold their 6enach-assembhes, S.uch If, as I have ar~ed above, one of the primary purposes of the assemblies represented a communal treat proffered by hlgh- 6fmach was to redistribute agricultural renders to one's subordin- kings in years when they effectively dominated Brega and every ates, the presence of the Vi Neill overlord would become even year where possible,They symbolisedthe Tara ~ings' overl~r~s~ip more important. Disturbances, interruptions or cancellations of the fertile lands of the east midlands, Dunng the festlVltles, illustrated a Tara kin~s weakness; holding a successful gathering, visitors from afar would be guaranteed immunity from attack in contrast, could bolster a new king or one weakened by defeats and over-kings from other parts of Ireland would accept the elsewhere. This, after all, is what is implied in the prose hospitality ofthe lord ofTara, thus acknowledging his suzerainty. 46 Wocht na Midhe The local Context of 6enach Tailten 47 6f'narh Tailten is thus cmcial to the history of the high.king~hip 3rd editinn (Duhlin 1949), p.130; M. MacNeill. Th,f"'11001 oft...llhlllJ.WJ (Orlnrd 196Z), p.313, In Ihilthcy have been followed by Micheal Herity, 'Mol" and moundl at royal of Ireland but, paradoxically, I would argue, its importance lies ailea in I•..••land. in R.S.At. In .• axiii fl9931, pp 127.51, PP 142-3 and Leo Swan, in the limited nature of an over.king's control in an area in which T"/t"",,,: A" a"eltnl Iu.",bly 11.1"i" C.•••"'ly M"",h (Archaeology I•••lllld Heritage regional power was concentrated in local hands. Guide Nn.3, Nov. 19981.O'Donovan'a ••tymalOfO'"f Oristown: R"ik 6rlh"ulh~ from e"rli ••r '''",t'Oll1h,r I. rmte1elrlycorrooora!-ed bytne A.D, 15-4{).o11form OVERESTON t 1\~I,,,,./r, "'0". po••••Miofll. p, 11-41orby A.D. 1663ORISTOWNEII"q. unairlh••••UII me"n both 'front part' and 'the ellt". MaK mllrel; w&oa vital inKredient in the Tllra kingahip. The fON'd ,""wn on that DlI.A p. 2-41,-46-69,p.365: 6-4.77. OC<:1I9ion.pawlled much ofthil paper, 11. It iMpo••.~ihle that Ihi" walll 80n of Bre.aalllnd llrand •••n ofFln"nechta Fl",!aeh, Mth 2. Forearly IItt....tlltion. nfthe name, ••••••f)u11O""ryo{lhe JrI.h Ln"l:u"l('. ed. E,G. Quin "fwhom died in AU. 6%, Jr 110,thia wnuld make him. rival deacendant af Aed S"ine muhlin 19'131,- he••••after ciled al WI. _ T p. 29:25.-49; A,D, 148f!...9:TALLEN thmull:h the lattO'r'llIOn Dunchad, IA"o/,,"'a H,b"'''im, x (19-41),p,SU; A,D. 1MO-I: TALLYN tlill'''/H'flrlUi ",,,,,,,./i •• 12. Byrne and F•••""il,"Two livel", p, 1-4.Bymeon ••••IUKIt""tedthlt. min recorded in 1J()"~•• rn~.,. 1,~4(/.J54t fro", ",a""",,,I". In Ih, l'"bI~ Rrrord Offrll'" Gailpnlta, wal a hrolher of the GnrmKal mac Elldaig reI Cn"",ba; Iking nf Knowth) ••••"••••II""a ••lltI•••r,,"' ••""f"'rtarl""': LaJ;:"",,,, <''' of Odha ",ith Nllva" il ro.-...ct. (,..,.. E. 11"111",O" ••.•••alliCOll C-.I,I,eu"" /ororu", tI fnbuu", Hi""'rnl'" " Smlinr (Dublin 1910~ pp 556-71. this wnuld aK•..••••with the r,la/,( •• It>III, a"''';jU'''~' of th, cou"l.y af MMlh roll",,/..J ,1"ri"llllt, l'rf>I(rr.'. ofl"" orri""" •••••••r•....,ill 18.16,I'd. M. O'Flan"lj"an (n•.••y 1927). p, 418l. K''''l(raphical dilltriblltiOIl or GnnnKI1'. family, a" identified by Hyrne lind Francis. It 3, M. O'D.ly,'A poem nn tho AiTJ(\IIUa'in l':nu xviU9aZl, pp 179-1lH,p. 179 t I. would, however. mcan ill"oorinl;th•• Ie1Itimonyof the Tripartite Lire that Mliel Odar 4 K. Multhrone, 'Die Ahfa".un~U'it und U1,.,rliererunj( d"r Vita Tripartita", in z.e.p., wa. a lIOnof Aed Slliine, xvi 119271,pp 1.901.KH. Jaeksoll, "Th" dal ••or Ihe Tripartile Lire of St, Patrick' in 13. J. ColKan Tri". Th"umnl ••rll"'. ed. P. 6 Riain (•••..print Blackmck 1997 nf onltinll 7,C.I'., xli 1191161.PP 5-<11';;G. Mac Eoin, "'!'he dlltinll: of Middle hillh tl'llta" in Dri,. edit;"" pubh ••hed Louvaill 1&171.p 1M, n,,1e 9; I"q. Nl"",II, Hib ""p"rl I, Meath Amd. P,..,.,.• IIViii UAA2), pp 109-38; F.J. Byrne lind P. Franeill. "Two 1iv~" nf 51. Cllr.1. I 7 (AD. 16251",hich refen tn the milnor nf Newcutle in Crevin aJ. NeW1lttln. PlltTIC~:V'la S""""da and Vila Q ••art,,' in R.S.A.I J"., euiv (1994), pp 5-117, pp 6.7, New8ton" ill II ttlwnland in th•• pari.h nf Drumrondra ((;"" •••.••1alpha""'licol i"d"l/o The ep,!lOdellI d,!ICu." he •.••••••mlklh ••l'I"l/ra;.,: Ih, Ir'pal1il"I'f' 0{/',lIriell, ed. K. Iht 1",,,,,I,,,,d. a"d tow".,p"ru~ •••""d baro", ••~o{l ••••la"d. Baltimore 1986. p. 738). A Mukh,." ••••IDuhlin 19391,pp -43--4'1lind (with Enllli.h tranalatinnl Th, In,,,,rfil,l.f ••of numb<'r or the plll'('nam ••" I""""illted with thO'minor in th•• Inq"",linna can be l'al" ••II, wllh <>I1I,r&"'um""I •• ed, W. Stoke" lLondon IHH7), pp 64-75, identified in th" vicinityofNeW!'tnne on t•••••OS 6' tnwnland indu of Co, M•..ath, Sheet 5. AD. 1302: chun:h d•• DONPATRICK (CaI"",lar 0{ d•••..""'t",. re/"tl"g 10 lre/""d. 111. 130"2.7, I'd. HR Sw•.••lm"n and G.F.llandcoek (London 18.'161,p. 260); AD. 11';40.1: H .• ""lIl'ha~na •..••1"" inuiJor,,1'l Huidrr;IJn<:>I<"'I~D"" C"",ed. R.I. B••••t.ndO. Bergin DONAPATRYK (Ii.,,,,,/I Ir. ",a". pa"~"IO"a,pp, 112-3); A.D. 165-4.6: /Dublin 19291- he•••ar\erciled •• I•.V. - p. 127: 4052--4056; Fifl[falR(l."h""nd al~r UONOUGHPATRICK (TI>" C",d S•••••.•••y A.D. 1654.56. Ccu"ly at M<'I,a S"l'm ,,,I/o V"lllnll'lm CI'''',,,I,,,,,,,,, ed, A, ColunK' and L. Turrado (7th variant spelhnK oF('.-onlingis g;vea III Conae, ahnwinll:the ume modlficatlon of 111/ttl editinll, Madrid 1975).3 R<.>g62 (11WI6;21. hardll (whith can equally ",,,II be Ipelte in fmallyUable ••in Old lrilh orth(lfotT9phy); 7. L. Bieler. 7''''' PoITll'w" I,ll. i" Ih••1Jn<:>I<'" ArmllRh (Dublin 1979), p. 13219.10, pp Carp •••JI""ta/"ft,,,r ••m H'Mrnior, ed. M.A. O'Brien /Dublin 19621.p. 554. 166-17111. 16, Fllire Or"R""" (',ili~:Ih~ ",ol1yrol word lind tht! 11'"""•• 11)'corrupt nature of the I (Stu\tll"art 1987/. pp 21\4.307. pp 304.6: Kelly. F"r""IIIt. p. 5fi8. te •.t. &-e 6 Cnthll""i"h, 's/,r. p.lSO;"The Hp"l.ion of the l'kMi" ed. K. Meyer, Y 0'0.1)' •• A'''R, ••lI••po<-m".p, 182 t31.2; F. Kelly "'wtl"chl Morni"" lOuhlin 1976/ "~ c.vmmroOsraige, I Kelly. Fnrnww. pp 369.70. 26. Lt."'J(~' "''''' nUU1""I,'lht ~",l",o(lh~ '(>1'18of V"liu. ed, V. Hull (New York 19491. pp. ~~ Th~ Roo""o(IA,,,&~~{nrm~~ly fAl",r"" Nu.=h""JfMw •..d. R.1. Be8t. O. 8el'Jl'in" M.A. 46-8111,115; •••••al""J. CareY',-rhe huv ••nly cIty' in C"'It ••.••• "viii (19H6). pp 87.107, O'Arien IDublin 192~1. p, 121:3821-3823, p. 1\1\;M"onJ UI"d. ed, J. Canmchael WatMn (Dublin 19671. p. 353-6. pp 11: 254- ~5. Byrne. Ir,~h ""'''1('. p. :;6; J, Ca",y. K"'R 0( My,'~r, •• ; Mrly Irish "liR;o", Wlrll"'R' 12:269. p, 22:5()G.7. p. 35: 71144;.p. :J-6;8154;.p. 37: 631.2; T..",,,il8rwld,,~dll Dr'1la ed /Dublin 1998). p.1H, translating TM .""/lalr"" R""", " rolltrfUJ" 0( ",rly M,ddlt E. Knott. (Duhhn 1936). p. 15156, p.26 I 119;Torh", ••,.., ~'trbf'. ed. E. Windiach i~ lruh I"",m. ed. W. SlDk•••(O.foni 18831. p. 8:502. In •••.h••'r,,'~ IIlli. (Le,pzIg 11197).pp 445..[,6 p. 508:627-8;"'uf"1 Ca••Cul"i"". ed. A.G. 46. B>nchy.Co~p".,p.916;36-7. Van Hamel io Comp'" CO" C"I",,, ••""d r>lhrr.'"ri~8.(Dublin 1933). p. 7i119; I"',h •.• ~7. E. Bb •••athnach. "The I""h midchu.,,~I,,; the hou"" of the mead circuit'.!vr:h"",,/nfty B"RI", . ..d. 0 () hAodha (Duhlin 19781. p.4:111>-7;A.U .••.• 1>II••••••.604. 777; Cocotl It-.•.I,,,,d .ii.4 (Winter 199H), pp 2(j..22. F~~u"",..d."1. Doh"")11 R~"..Ct!',.d (1923). pp 404.23. p.40813; Td,,, &I Cwril"R'" ~8, fl"" 1",,,Rltr. p, 12:3109-13, {rom Iht 800"" of ul".ttr. ed, C. 0 Rahll1y (Dublin 1967). pp 21.2:761\_9. p. 24875.7. p, ~9, G. Petrie •• On the hi~tory and antiquitie. of Tara Hill~. R. I, A. Tn,," .• viii. (18391. pp 29, 106H_74. p. ~3: 1f>llI.2; Kelly, Far",,"II. p. 274. 25-232. p. 12A. p,137-8. p. 153 but note p, 1S6 wbere be simply opllo for a welltern 27. Binchy, Cnrpu •• p, 238,4.19 Forad (j,e. ""ith the kin"'8 hOU!ll!10tbe l"UU; RA.S. MMalillter. "Temsic B"'I/' a .tudy 28. B,eler. I""'r'n ••,, 1f'.~I,.p. 1311:36.7. "fthe •••main. and tradition. of Tara". R,I.A Proc.. xuivC {I917.19). pp 231-~04. pp 29, M. M,'. pp.1I9.911; RA,S. M••••ali.tt>r. Cor/'•.••i"""r,p"o,,"," '" ••.•lllr •.•'" tflto primary text UllOOby ~t.cali8tt>r. Thi. hall the a"",r read,nll: (p. 281 I 9) a. doea c..lllmr •.•",. vol. IlOuhhn 1945). p.5. that in the faCllimile oflhe &>0""0( nll/l.ymOU. (fo.3,';(la 7.~lJ.Ho•••.ever Macali.ter 811YS T. CharlC'!'-Edw ••rd•• "80undari ••• in InRh lAW.in Mm"'L•••I •••I11~",r"'."ronll"u,'y a"d (p. 23~. p.244) he alllO con.u\tt>d th ••••••pmduction of tlMoBook of Lein.t ••r and thi8 C~""RI'..d P.II, Sawyer (wndon 1976~. pp 8'}'7; T. Charl" •. Edw ••rd•• E"rly Ir;.h ""d re8do t1urly ""(,,r (f03Oa 39) u in the modem diploma~ic edition. cited in the " ••bh 11I•••hlp (Oxford 1993). pp 261-2; D. McM.nu •• A guult I" OJ/am IMaynooth prcvi()u" footnote. 1991 I. JlP 163.5; Kelly. F'Jr"''''R. p. ~09. 50. Byrne.l~Ulh ""'''R'. p, f>6;S. P. 6 RiortUin. T""" Ih~ mo•••.•m••••18 OJIth••hill/Dundalk 31. DIL D 448:33-76. Fordi""u •••ion ofprehiatonc mound. in 1ri.h m..d, ••vallradition._ 1954). p.H; D.L. Swan. "Th•• hill of Tara, county Meath; the ••v,de""e of .erial Byrne. 'Hi~lorical oot.e" pp 3113- 387; T. 6 C.thaM;lI:h. "Th•• ""mantic. of .id" in photoK •.••f'hy". ill n.SAl. J••.•cviii (197R~.pp 51-AA.pp 54.9, t,Il .•••• uli 11977-8l. pp 137-55; T. 6 CathaMil/h. 'The cponym ofCn0ll:ha" in EIRIW. "I. E. Bh •••••thn ••ch. "Th", lllP"ll:rapby of Tara: the dncum",nlary evidence" in D."rot .••.1'Y IX'" (19119). pp 27-38; C. sWln. "P ••gAn monumenta and Chriatian lell:al centreR in "t"rJf(rnmm~R"'porl. 2 (bublin 199!'», pp 68.76. p.7l; C. N••wman. T"rn ••.•n'<'}'. pp 77- early Meatb" 'n Woeht"" Mldh~. ",2 (1996). pp 1.26. Hfi;QTI"nnv ••n. (lS.lm~r •• .\Imlh p, IlRt 222. 32. Selll'/"u "" R~t.-c in '~II. p.I29, 4103.6; "'ut"ri Noth 1 in I•. U.p. 94:29OH-9 52. Th", M~lrlNll n."d.hrnrh", porI I ..d, E. Gwynn, ("'print Dublin 1991 of onl:inal 33. Th,'"M~tr,ml lJ,,,dahr,,rchfu pari IV ed. E. Gwynn. (reprint Dublin 1991 of orill:inal editi()n 1-'uhh~h..d Dublin 1903). pp 2-5;""" al!lOGwynn. DinJ.h",ru:ha&Ill, p, 194: 21; ed,tmn pubhohed Dublm 192~ I, pp 1(6-163. p35473, TB,C. (ui",' ••~l. pp 109.110; 3937-80, "3. Gwynn.lh"d.h~"rho. 111. p. 2: 5.12; Wat80n. 14"'800U/o.d. p. 15:3~(}.3; M. oJilon. "36. "1ac."IIeill. tugh"" •••• pp 312-323, No delailed account of the damage done by the 'S\l>r;('1Ifrom tbe l•••. tractll. in tn" .i (1932). pp ~2-65. p,50, bu\ldo~)II1( i. yet availahl,. ,n print bu~""" "',."h"ffihvly frrwnd. "i,2 (Sumnwr 1997), .~4. Binchy, Corpu•• p. f,0:2H.30. p. 54:12-22; Gwynn.I>r.NI..hn,rh". Ill. p. 168; Binchy. p,4, lila not clear wh<-th•••th ••photograph in S••..an. T"II"",,, repl"e8enlJl the Knockan8 Crilh ('•••bI••ch. p,20 t 35.6; Binchy. Corp •.•~. p, 4:2-11. pnor to th ••hull-fRl/lhl. ed. M. Dillon (Dublin 1982). pp 72.3. pp 76.7. pp 67.119.pp 81-84, Ecck-oiutlcal palmnageor doI'"arlt Toi/lt". apart from th ••AU. 831 27.. L.U .. p.133:4217; Gwynn.lJ.Nl.ah"lIt'h"" IV. p. 15065--6; p.I54:10~.12. entry. ia al"" indicated in AU. 784 and in the depiction of the role of Ci•• an of 38. Th", MrlrlNll Ihnd&h""<"l/u P,,11 III ed. E, Gwynn (reprint Dublin 1991 or ori/o:inal Clonmacnoi ••• in. Middle lri.h teat. O" ••O<'hTa;llt". which ia dillCUllIIf'dbelow. See ••d,l'on publi.hed oubhn 1913 ••p 16;2()()..4;•••••• 1"" Tht M~lr"",l U'nd.h"lIl'lttu ""rt al"" Gwynn, D",d.hrneho. N. pp 156-8:153.lfiO. II ed. E. Gwynn (reprint Duhllll 1991 or oriltinal edition publi.h..d Dublin 19061 56, Bi••l"r. r"lrln ••" I~ata, p.132 I 9 p.78:9012. • 57. E. Mac Neill. "Ancient lri.h law: the law of.tatu8 or franchise' in R.l.A. f'roc.• nxviC 6 Catha.ai!:h. "SM". p.150. 119231. pp 265-316. p. 302 fn.l: O~ Donovan. O.S. II',,~•.•..l,f",,'h. p.ll t 31, . "40. c. Dnh••"y. "Th"monaatic town in urly med, ••yall •••land" in Th" mmpnrnln", hi., $R. O.Dnnnvan. o.s. kilt •.•••M",lh p, 211177. o(urbn" M'R'''. ,••"""Rom ••" f:wropt. ed. H.B. Clark ••• nd A Simm. 12 vol. o...r.:J 59. Doherty, "F..chanl/I! and t •.••d••" pp 72-6. pp Ill ..•. 19R5l. i pp ~5-75. p. 52. • 60, 1,.U.. p. 133: 4212. C. Newman, T",,?, " ••",."h"miK••••• ITlbt. ""tI "14810"" 0( Hy Finch"",,}, ed. John O'Donovan 63. T. Char1('11.F.dward•• "Early medieval kinl/.hip. in the Briti.1i lalCfl' in TIl••ong,". 0( (Dublin IM~ I. pp 442"', A"RI".S=o ••"""'gdoma •••••.S Ba"""tt (Leocc••ter 19119>,pp 28-39. e.p. p,30. p.39. ". M. Joynt &: E. Knott, C<>n'ribu,ion. 10a Dirlio ••••ry ,,{1M lruh Ln"lfIUJilf" F(Dublin 50 Rioeht na Midhe
64 F",hlJl'lJro",•• Dnm!l~'h(ll".l'd, M.L. Sj"•.~led1.,R~. C~ll., xliii! 19261, pp 1.123. pp 12.3. Th,. translation i. that ofSjoe.tedt. tranalated from lhe French. 6.'•. 1U>1ly,Fnrm"'f(. 1'.31M. Binch)', C","l'u" p. 4113;12.19~ p,2230:17.2O; BillChy, en/Ia aabla •.", p. 3:71.76. I am II:nl •.r,,1 to ColmAn Etehirll:ham for the •.dl"l'Cnrc tL>n,.../hll N,,,,•••I T"'~h. 66. Gwynn, f)",rlJrrnrh". III. p.U:30 .••.H 67. Kelly.F"rm"'f(, p. 99, p. 3(',0,pp 4~.6J; Gwynn,/hnd.hrlldlll.lIf. pp 2.25. 6H. Ad"m",in', j,{ •. "'Columba ed. M.O. Andcnoon (Oxford 1991), pp 184.11\6 ~ 1113: Vi/a S Rr'K,d"r ed. Bollandi.t. in Artn S""rlorllm : "~hrunrii I 1'.122f V:36; S. Connolly, "Vita Prima Brill'itae: lIackll'round and H,.torie"l Value" in Il.S.Al.Jn .•cxix 09119). pp 1,.49. p. 23 ~ 39 fi9, HInch)', Corp"', p. 171lH:1_7:Kelly. "'lIr"",,~, p.•~3A~ 3; T.B,t'. 1I.1',n.•tl'rl, p.64:23.~7; TIJf"""''''''' 10:""••'1' inl •./I. p,30910HI2_7~(),."nrh Tmit ••" in /Jit l.l''''#~' p. 1204; S""n. e""",,,,,, ed. K. Meyer (Duhlin 19121.1'.32~3115.Set' D.A. Binchy. "The Fair "fTailliu lind lhe Fca~t "fTara" in 1':••••, oviii 1195!!).PI' 113.311,1',124, 70 Binchy. Cdlll G"b/"ell, 1',102. 71. i./1. 1', 1334206-14; Gwynn.l"n,/.h ••"r"(u ill. 1'.111214_7. 72, See aoove. fn. 69, 73. Binehy.4'he Fair'. PI' 117.fI. 74 Binehy,4'he Fair", p. 121.2. 71> O'llrien, C-49, PI' 247--8. R!,. G"'ynn. o."d.hmrhn'rv. p. 4111;Fhnchy, 4'h ••Fa •••• 1'.120. 86. Gwynn. Dt"d.h~neh(J' IV. p. 160: 1119.90. R7. Gwynn. n."d.h""r"",rv, 1', 1!>8:177.88;PI' 418.9; Byrne, Iri.h It,nl{'. PI' 271>-6, 88 Stnk ••••.'Renn ••• Dind.h",nr"n'", PI' 311.3141 III.