Royal Sites
Irish and Celtic myths and legends, Irish folklore, Irish fairy tales and More Irish Tales and Legends
Royal Sites of Ireland
The courts of Gaelic Kings and Queens, great athletic competitions, ferocious battles, mystical rituals and inaugurations and more took place at the Royal Sites of Ireland. Throngs of Gaels, heroes, druids and wanderers gathered at these places to celebrate, to hear judgements, or to vie for power. There are many such sites, each associated with an Irish kingdom, of varying degrees of importance, but the five oldest and largest have served as centres of cultural, political and spiritual power for many thousands of years.
Remnants of ceremonial pathways, barrow tombs, dolmens and standing stones have been found in and around these sites, as well as strange wooden structures and other artifacts spanning every age of Ireland from the Neolithic to the Iron age. They often featured sacred trees or "bileda", stone chairs, inauguration stones, stone basins, as well as mound and circular enclosure structures.
The five major sites, master-places of the five provinces, cóiceds in Irish, or "fifths", were Tara or Teamhair, seat of the Kings of Meath and the High King, along with the provincial capitals, Navan Fort or Eamhain Macha for Ulster, Rathcroghan or Cruachan for Connacht, Knockaulin or Dún Ailinne for Leinster, and Cashel or Caiseal for Munster.
Uisneach was considered a sixth Royal Site since it was the centre of Ireland and where all five provinces touched, and was perhaps used as a meeting place for the Kings when needed.
Here are a few of the lesser Royal Sites of Ireland:
- Aileach, early medieval seat of the Cenél nEógain of the Northern Uí Néill, referred to as the "Kings of Ailech".
- Tullahoge, Tulach Óg, coronation place of the Ó Néill kings of Tír Eoghain from the eleventh century.
- Clogher, Clochar mac nDaimine, royal seat of the Uí Chremthainn dynasty, of the kingdom of Airgialla.
- Croghan Hill, Brí Éile, coronation place of the kings of Uí Failghe.
- Down Mound or Dun-da-lethglas, Dún da Lethglas, probable royal seat of the Dál Fiatach kings of Ulaid.
- Emly, Medón Mairtíne, ancient capital of central Munster and the Mairtine.
- Bruree, Brugh Rígh, ancient alternative capital of Munster and later capital of the Uí Fidgenti.
- Knowth, Cnoghbha, royal seat of the Síl nÁedo Sláine kings of Brega from the beginning of the ninth century.
- Knock Iveagh, Cnoc Uíbh Eachach, coronation place of the Magennis chiefs of Iveagh.
- Magh Adhair, coronation place of the Dál gCais and later O'Brien dynasty, kings of Thomond.
- Skeagoura, Sciath Ghabhra, coronation place of the Maguire kings and chiefs of Fermanagh.
Incredible Royal Sites of Ancient Ireland
Cashel of the Kings, the mighty Rock of Cashel was in olden times known as the Royal Site of the Kings of Mumu, a place we today call Munster. It is a great uplifting of raw limestone from the surrounding grassy plains, which old tales tell was hurled from a mountain called the Devil's Bit, in County Tipperary. It is said to have been where ... [more]
The great northern fastness of Emain Macha means "Macha's twins" or "Macha's pair", and its tale is bound tightly with the local goddess Macha, after whom is also named Armagh, Ard Macha. The ancient Greek philosopher Ptolemy drew a map of the world, upon which he marked a place called Isamnion in southern Ulster, which ... [more]
The spiritual and geographical heart of Ireland is the Hill of Uisneach overlooking a wide plain in view of twenty counties, where the borders of all five kingdoms met, where great decisions were made and assemblies were held, the mórdáil Uisnig, and home to Ail na Mireann, or the Stone of Divisions. On the hill all around this strang ... [more]
The seat of the High Kings of Ireland stretching back to the Tuatha and the Fir Bolg, Tara or Temair as it was known then, is said to have been the seat of a hundred and forty two kings, kingships won by battle, contest and merit, not passed down father to son as in more primitive cultures. It is also known as Teamhair na Rí, 'Tar ... [more]
Dún Ailinne is one of the great Royal Sites of Ireland, "a place of assemblies, a Rath with royal roads, a Grianan or palace, and a Royal Dún", where great ceremonies, rituals and gatherings took place, seat and crowning-place of the Gaelic Kings of Leinster. All that remains of it now is a large circular embankment a ... [more]
The glorious stronghold of Rathcrogan, or Ráth Cruachan, was the Royal Site of the great Kings and Queens of the Western lands for thousands of years. Within its sacred embrace were held the thronging ceremonial assemblies or óenach, and people of every station would gather from all corners of Ireland to reach out and touch, if on ... [more]
