The sixteenth century in Europe was a time of unprecedented change. It was the beginning of the modern era, and it saw a revolution in almost every aspect of European life. The century opened with the discovery of a new continent. The renaissance in Italy was peaking and spreading north, even arriving in backwaters like England (Hale – The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance). Life was largely prosperous for the average person, the economy was growing. The mechanisms of commerce, systems of international finance, ocean-going trading fleets, an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, were all building a recognizably capitalist, money-based economy. Geniuses were stepping all over each other on the street corners producing scientific innovation after innovation. Technological innovations like gunpowder were changing the nature of warfare and the military caste nature of society — the cannon probably had a great deal to do with the rise of the centralized nation state as we know it. The printing press created a media revolution. It brought ideas, partisan rhetoric, and how-to manuals to the people. Most of all, it brought the Bible, in its original tongues and in the vernacular, to the masses. A spirit of inquiry, a desire to return to first principles, was blowing through the Church, which had been the unifying cultural foundation of Europe for a millenium.

Consequently, the castles and land ownership by the Irish Clans was ephemeral with the exception of a few. The theory of a solid Irish party fighting against a solid English party was never true at any time in Ireland. It was least of all true during the Munster and Ulster rebellions, even what was professedly a war of religion during the 16^th century. The country was divided by its people as well as by difference in status. By the end of the Renaissance period England had become the dominant ruling country in the world.

Blarney Castle:  Blarney Castle, the famous Blarney Stone and Blarney terrain as viewed by the visitor today: The Castle is the third to have been erected on this site. The lower walls are fifteen feet, built with an angle tower by the McCarthys of Muskerry. It was subsequently occupied at one time by Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster, who is said to have supplied four thousand men from Munster to supplement the forces of Robert the Bruce at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Legend has it that the latter king gave half of the Stone of Scone to McCarthy in gratitude. This, now known as the Blarney Stone, was incorporated in the battlements where it can now be kissed. The first building in the tenth century was a wooden structure. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone structure which had the entrance some twenty feet above the ground on the north face. This building was demolished for foundations. In 1446 the third castle was built by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster of which the keep still remains standing. The Earl of Leicester was commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to take possession of the castle. Whenever he endeavoured to negotiate the matter McCarthy always suggested a banquet or some other form of delay, so that when the queen asked for progress reports a long missive was sent, at the end of which the castle remained untaken. The queen was said to be so irritated that she remarked that the earl’s reports were all ‘Blarney’. The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty. During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites. The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times before being purchased in the early 1700s by Sir James St. John Jefferyes, then Governor of Cork City.Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire however, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion – known as Blarney House – was built overlooking the nearby lake. In the mid 19th Century the Jefferyes and Colthurst families were joined by marriage, and the Colthurst family still occupy the demesne. In the early 20^th century when Irish estates were being bought up by the British government Sir Geo C Colhurst owned 31,260 acres of varying quality land.

The native Irish began building castles also in their new location. The O’Sullivan and the O’Callaghan Clans were forced to uproot themselves from Cashel and go to West Cork and South Kerry in the former and North Cork in the later case. The O’Keeffes’ had to move from Glanworth – north of Fermoy up the valley of the River Bride and Blackwater to poorer quality land at Glenville, Dunbulloge, Dromagh and  Cullain ui Caoimh (Ballydesmond) in Co Cork. The McCarthy Mor had to retreat to Macroom and the lands of South West Co. Cork. The O’Mahonys went westwards where they wrestled some land off the O’Driscoll, O’Cowhigs and others. The McCarthys were associated some 50 castles, the O’Driscolls and the O’Mahonys’ both with fifteen, the O’Keeffes with ten, O’Cowhigs, Coffeys with seven, the O’Sullivans with six, and the McAuliffes with  four. Several other native Irish built castles throughout the county. The tribes continued their pastoral farming as they had done from the earliest of times. Animals and animal products, cattle and sheep, wool, tallow, hides, butter, figure as prominently in the mediaeval records as they do in the most recent times.  In the words of D.A. Chart, Esq.; M.A. Public Record Office of Ireland (1908), speaking about the period  ‘From the earliest times, Ireland has been, just as she still is, primarily a country of pasturage. The — tribes were purely pastoral in their habits, even taking the cow as their standard value. Yet cereals were raised to the extent that they varied, probably, according as the country was peaceful or the reverse. In times of disturbance no holder of land cared to give a hostage to fortune by sowing his land with corn, which could easily be burnt or destroyed by his enemies. Cattle, on the other hand, in the eyes of both the English and the Irish, had the advantage that they could, at the time of need, be driven to some hiding-place or some defensible position, where they would be secure from capture. The bawn or fortified enclosure to which cattle were driven for safety at night or in war time, is a prominent feature in most of our ancient landscape’. However this was to change over time.

Market towns were developed around the Norman occupied lands. Very early on, at least thirty -seven market towns in Co. Cork were known to the English government in Ireland. At that time they were well within the English Lordship of Ireland. These market towns were the city of Cork and the towns/villages of Carrigaline, Buttevant, Ballyhay, Midleton, Castlemartyr, Cloyne, Mogeely, Tallow(Co. Waterford), Corkbeg, Glanworth, Castleyons, Shandon, Mallow, Bridgetown, Ballynamona, Carrig, Kilworth, Mitchelstown, Ballynoe, Carrigrohane, Ballinacurra, Doneraile, Dunbullge, Innishannon, Grenagh, Ballyhooly, Kinsale, Rinronone, Ringcurran, Ovens, Castlemore, Ballinaboy, Carrigaline, and Douglas. It will be noted that these markets were located in the areas most densely settled and heavily manoralised by the Anglo Normans. This was replicated afterwards in counties Limerick and Tipperary. Political security and productivity of the soil encouraged large- scale settlement from England and Wales, and not infrequently, even further afield.  This first of the major invasions of Ireland resulted in the formation of a new set of surnames belonging to Viking Norman families. Names in this category – such as Burke, Costello, Cusack, Dalton, Dillon, Fitzgerald Keating, Nagle, Nugent, Power, Roche, Sarsfield and Walsh became numerous. To this day these names are numerous, particularly in the coastal counties of the East and south of the country. In present day Co. Wexford, native Irish names like Murphy and Kavanagh are only native Irish names in the top ten names in the county, whereas the remaining eight are Anglo Norman names Furlong, Sinnott, Stafford, Walsh, Rossiter, Devereux, Butler and Power. Tenants of the Barrymore Estate in East Co. Cork 1776, gives one also the dominating effect of Anglo Norman names in that part of Ireland. Surnames such Forrest, Cotter, Barry, Walsh, Heafe, Coppinger, and Power were in the majority of Tenants of the Estate.

Civil war broke out in England after the 100 years war with France in 1453. The Earl of Kildare and Desmond sided with Yorkists, while the Earl of Ormond sided with the Lancastrians. The Earl of Desmond defeated the Earl of Ormond at the battle of Piltown in Co. Kilkenny. For fifty years afterwards the Earl of Kildare and Desmond held control of Ireland. The Munster Gerladines turned more and more to the Irish side after the Earl was beheaded in error by the Viceroy Tiptoft in 1468. The Earl of Desmond who succeeded did not attend an Irish parliament for nearly a hundred years.  Titoft was recalled and Thomas, Earl of Kildare was created Viceroy.  He was succeeded by Gearoid Mor, Garrett the great Earl of Kildare. He was the greatest of all the Geraldines and was all but king of Ireland until his death.  He like all the Geraldines supported the Yorkists and though Henry V11, a Lancastrian was King of England, was not powerful enough to replace him. Later Henry did replace him with Poynings, who was famous for introducing Poyning’s Law of 1494.  According to this law no parliament could be assembled in Ireland without the Kings consent, and no act passed by parliament could become law unless approved of by the King and his council. Poynings, however was not a success as viceroy. Henry recalled him and once more again made Gearoid Mor viceroy. He continued as viceroy and the most powerful man in Ireland until he died in 1513.

‘Irish society, traditional kindred based society, was politically and economically inferior to feudal society, with its intensive arable farming based on manorial organisation, which Norman-English society had become long before the invasion of Ireland. Moreover, Irish economic inferiority had important military consequences also and English superiority in arms was clearly demonstrated as the invasion and conquest of Ireland progressed. Thus “the use of mailed soldiers was itself an indication of socio-economic development… We have here an unequal struggle between an industrially advanced power and a pastoral economy’. – ref: Gillingham – English Imperialism. Gaelic Ireland because of its own weakness and rivalries was never able to completely overrun the colony, even when the latter was at its weakest and subject to the greatest threat. The development of urban life was one of the colonies greatest safeguards. The town’s development and survival were particularly well placed to form bridges between Gaelic and English Ireland, not least by the way of trade.  However this was to change under the reign of the Tudors – when absentee landlords became the order of the day.  Little did the Native-Irish know of the horrific times that would follow when “see no evil, hear no evil ….” became part and parcel of some of the Landlords culture.

Some Castle Pictures and History

Johnstown Castle Estate

Johnstown Castle Estate became home to two prominent Wexford families. The first owners were the Esmondes; a Norman family who settled in the county in the 1170s. They constructed the tower houses at Johnstown and Rathlannon during the 15th or 16th century. During the Cromwellian period of 1640s the estate was confiscated and changed hands several times before being acquired by John Grogan in 1692, whose descendents remained at Johnstown up until 1945 when Maurice Victor Lakin presented Johnstown Castle estate as a gift to the Nation.

Trim Castle was used as a centre of Norman administration for the Liberty of Meath, one of the new administrative areas of Ireland created by Henry II of England and granted to Hugh de Lacy. de Lacy took possession of it in 1172. De Lacy built a huge ringwork castle defended by a stout double palisade and external ditch on top of the hill. There may also have been further defences around the cliffs fringing the high ground. Part of a stone footed timber gatehouse lies beneath the present stone gate at the west side of the castle. The ringwork was attacked and burnt by the Irish but De Lacy immediately rebuilt it in 1173. His son Walter continued rebuilding and the castle was completed c 1204. The next phase of the castle’s construction took place at the end of the 13th century, and the beginning of the 14th century.

He was sent over to Ireland as procurator-general in 1177, Richard de Clare having died shortly before. The grant of Meath was now confirmed, with the addition of Offelana, Offaly, Kildare, and Wicklow. As governor of Ireland Lacy secured Leinster and Meath, building numerous castles, while preserving the Irish in possession of their lands. He was subject to an accusation that he intended to seize the sovereignty of the island for himself. The author of the Gesta Henrici, however, says that Lacy lost his favour with Henry in consequence of complaints of his injustice by the Irish.

Dungarvan_Castle

Dungarvan Castle – King John’s Castle is an Anglo-Norman fortification founded in 1185. It was built in a very strategic location at the mouth of the River Colligan. From here, ships could be anchored and soldiers could command the narrow strip of land to the south of the Comeragh Mountains which linked East and West Waterford.

Lismore Castle

Lismore Castle was first built by Prince John in 1185, and a round tower, dating from the 13th century still stands today. Lismore was founded by St.Carthage in 636AD and by the 8th century had become an important seat for Monastic learning. The ‘Book of Lismore’, an illuminated manuscript dating back to the 15th century, and the Lismore Crozier from 1116, were both discovered hidden within the walls of Lismore Castle in 1814, and bear testimony to Lismore’s long artistic tradition. The Castle was the birthplace of Robert Boyle, the scientist whose name lives in ”Boyle’s Law” and was owned by Sir Walter Raleigh. Visitors to the gardens can wander in the footsteps of poets such as Spencer, Thackeray and Betjeman or even the dancing feet of Fred Astaire.

Carton House

Carton House the Earl of Kildare Stronghold. During a history spanning more than eight centuries, Carton Demesne has seen many changes. The estate first came into the ownership of the FitzGerald family shortly after Maurice FitzGerald played an active role in the capture of Dublin by the Normans in 1170 and was rewarded by being appointed Lord of Maynooth, an area covering a large3 portion of Co. Kildare including townlands which include Carton. His son became Baron Offaly in 1205 and his descendant John FitzGerald, became Earl of Kildare in 1315. Under the eighth earl, the FitzGerald family reached pre-eminence as the virtual rulers of Ireland between 1477 and 1513. However, the eighth earl’s grandson, the eloquently titled Silken Thomas was executed in 1537, with his five uncles, for leading an uprising against the English. Although the FitzGeralds subsequently regained their land and titles, they did not regain their position at the English Court until the 18th century when Robert, the 19th Earl of Kildare, became a noted statesman. Carton remained in the control of the FitzGeralds until the early 1920s when the 7th Duke sold his birth right to a moneylender. Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley in order to pay off gambling debts of £67,500. He was third in line to succeed and so did not think he would ever inherit, but one of his brothers died in the war and another of a brain tumour and so Carton was lost to the FitzGeralds.

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle William the Earl Marshall built the first stone castle on the site, which was completed in 1213. This was a square-shaped castle with towers at each corner; three of these original four towers survive to this day. The Butler family bought the Castle in 1391 and lived there until 1935. They were Earls, Marquesses and Dukes of Ormonde and lived in the castle for over five hundred years. They were a remarkable family, resilient, politically astute and faithful to the crown and to Ireland as dictated by the politics of the times. These loyalties determined their fortunes and career, and so too the fortunes of their seat.

Limerick Castle

The Viking sea-king, Thormodr Helgason, built the first permanent Viking stronghold on Inis Sibhtonn (King’s Island) in 922. He used the base to raid the length of the River Shannon from Lough Derg to Lough Ree, pillaging ecclesiastical settlements. In 937 the Limerick Vikings clashed with those of Dublin on Lough Ree and were defeated. In 943 they were defeated again when the chief of the local Dalcassian clan joined with Ceallachán, king of Munster and the Limerick Vikings were forced to pay tribute to the clans. The power of the Vikings never recovered, and they reduced to the level of a minor clan, however often playing pivotal parts in the endless power struggles of the next few centuries. The arrival of the Anglo-Normans to the area in 1172 changed everything. Domhnall Mór Ó Briain burned the city to the ground in 1174 in a bid to keep it from the hands of the new invaders. After he died in 1194, the Anglo-Normans finally captured the area in 1195, under John, Lord of Ireland. In 1197, local legend claims Limerick was given its first charter and its first Mayor, Adam Sarvant. A castle, built on the orders of King John and bearing his name, was completed around 1200. Under the general peace imposed by the Norman rule, Limerick prospered as a port and trading centre. By this time the city was divided into an area became known as “English Town” on King’s Island, while another settlement, named “Irish Town” had grown on the south bank of the river.

Glanworth Castle

Glanworth Castle. Dominating the village skyline, Glanworth Castle,- North East  Co. Cork once controlled a strategic crossing point on the River Funcheon. Built by the by the Flemings on lands taken from the O’Keeffes’, later taken over by Condons in the 13th century, the castle soon passed to another Norman family, the Roches(Lord FermoY, who effectively controlled much of North East Cork between then and the 17th century. Recent conservation work by the Office of Public Works, has now rendered the complex safe and accessible to the public, preserving for us a unique record of Medieval grandeur in Ireland.

Ashford castle

In 1228, Ashford was founded by an Anglo-Norman family by the name of de Burgo, after they defeated the O’Connor Clan, natives of Connaught (also spelled Connacht), for whom the Abbey of Cong is attributed. They built several castles, but Ashford was their “principal stronghold.”

The Barony was also introduced by the Anglo-Normans as a unit of Landownership being appropriate to the jurisdiction of a baron, whereas the origin of the word “county” would appear to be linked with the jurisdiction of a count. Each of the 32 counties was divided into baronies and like the counties varied greatly in size. From the sixteenth century on the barony was used as an administrative, tax and regional entity within the county. Representatives of counties and towns were elected to the parliament by 1300. During the 14^th century it became increasingly the practice to summon the commons to parliament, and before the end of the century they had established the right to be present. By then parliament has assumed the representative character it was to retain right down to the present day.

The Parish is of great antiquity and essentially is an ecclesiastical territorial unit indicating the area which a clergyman had care of the spiritual needs of the community. It appears that by the time of the Norman invasion a network of parishes existed across Ireland and the Anglo Normans did little to alter the existing framework apart from rededicating churches to acknowledged saints. The extension of the Reformation and the dissolution of the Monastic orders during the 17^th century tended to accompany the extension of the English rule in Ireland with the result that the existing parish framework was adopted by the Protestant churches and by the civilian authorities – hence the “civil parish”. While there are approximately 2,500 civil parishes in the country, many more Catholic religious parishes exist presently, because of new parishes being set up in expanding cities and large towns.

Townland is the smallest administrative division (as well as being one of the oldest) in the country and all the territorial divisions are collections of townlands.  The size of a townland may be regarded as a rough guide to the quality of the land as the bigger townlands are usually found in the poorer soil areas.  The average townland size in Ireland is 300 acres – approximately 121 Hectares. In mountainous areas the townlands may be as much as 2,000 acres; on the other hand in thickly-settled lowlands they are frequently less than 100 acres, and some anomalous fragments of an acre or two are designated townlands. The study of Ireland’s 65,000+ townlands(Griffith Valuation) names shows the nuances of the old Gaelic names and the attempted Anglicising of the names by English Cartographers who in the main carried out the job. The townland names, involving so many land holdings, are legal titles, and their Gaelic names, however erroneously spelt on the Ordnance Survey maps, are fossilized in their forms. Only an [Act of the Oireachtas] can alter them. A glance at any Ordnance map will reveal the strange names that Gaelic imagination contrived and English scribes corrupted. Be that as it may, most townland names can be traced back to its origins through its name.  These names were very often very descriptive of the location, its type of topography, its soil type etc. Townland names are still used as the address for all people residing outside of the cities and towns.

Consequently England’s view of the 12^th century Ireland and the other Celtic countries was influenced by being conquered by the Normans and the controlling influence brought about as a consequence.  The Irish ‘were perceived as poor and a primitive society – primitive in that they had failed to climb the ladder of evolution of human societies. Gerald of Wales writes:

‘Ireland is the most temperate of all countries. Snow is seldom, and lasts only for a short time. There is such a plentiful supply of rain, such an ever-present overhanging of clouds and fog that summer scarcely gives three consecutive days of really fine weather. Winds are moderate and not too strong. The winds from the west-north, north and east bring cold. The north-west and west winds are prevalent, and more frequent and stronger than other winds. They bend (in the opposite direction) almost all trees in the west that are placed in an elevated position uproot them. Ireland is a country of uneven surface and rather mountainous. The soil is soft and watery, and even at the tops of high and steep mountains there are pools and swamps. ……… There are many woods and marshes; here and there are some fine plains, but in comparison with England they are indeed small. The country enjoys the freshness and mildness of spring nearly all the year round. Consequently, the meadows are not cut for fodder, and the stalls are never built for beasts. —– ‘the land is fruitful and rich in fertility ……..it is rich in honey and milk. Ireland exports cow-hides, sheep-skins and furs. Much wine is imported. But the island is richer in pasture than in crops, and in grass rather than grain. The plains are well clothed with grass, and the hagards are bursting with straw. Only the granaries are without their wealth. The crops give great promise in the blade, even more in the straw, but less in the ear. For here the grains of wheat are shriveled and small, and can scarcely be separated from the chaff by any type of winnowing. What is born forth in the spring and is nourished in the summer and advanced, can scarcely be reaped in the harvest because of the unceasing rain. For this country more than any other suffers from storms of wind and rain’.  The above is a reasonable assessment of present day Irish climate and weather and the resultant effects on grain and grass growing. Gerald goes on to write:

‘Moreover, above all other peoples they always practice treachery. When they give their word to anyone, they do not keep it. They do not blush or fear to violate every day the bond of their pledge and oath given to others – although they are very keen that it should be observed with regard to themselves. When you have employed every safeguard and used every precaution for your own safety and security both, by means of oaths and hostages, and friendship firmly cemented, and kinds of benefits conferred, then you must especially be on your guard, because then especially their malice seeks a chance.  For they feel that because of your reliance on your safeguards you are not on the watch. Then at last they resort to the arts of evil and their accustomed weapons of deceit, so that, taking an opportunity of your feeling of security, they may be able to injure you when you do not expect it.

You must be more afraid of their wile than their war; their friendship than their fire, their honey than their hemlock; their shrewdness than their soldiery; their betrayals than their battle lines; their specious friendship than their enmity despised. For this is their principle:  “who asks of an enemy whether he employs guile or virtue?”  These are their characteristics: they are neither strong in war, nor reliable in peace’.  ‘the native Irish as typical barbarians, whose life, lived so close to nature, promoted vigour, hardiness and courage but denied them the “arts” of civilization. Drawing upon classical ideas about progress of civilization, he speculated as to the causes of their poverty and backwardness. Unlike most people who progressed from pastoralism to agriculture to urban life, the Irish had remained wedded to pastoral pursuits of their ancestors. This accounted for their sloth and poverty … The seclusion of Ireland from the benevolent influence of more advanced societies left them hopelessly and helplessly wrapped in the cocoon of their antiquated and limited way of life.’

By contrast the Norman-English-Walsh people saw themselves, as prosperous, peaceful, law-abiding, urbanized and enterprising. These attitudes reflected another 12^th-century commentator Abbot William of Malmesbury, whose system of classification of peoples ‘divided men and women into the civilized and barbarians’ on the basis of their socio-economic development. ————-Accordingly its agriculture was primitive  and pastoral; town life, trade and money were more or less absent; forms of economic exploitation were primitive.’

Such ideas could be deployed to the advantage in the process of conquest and colonization.  Thus the characterization of the invasion and conquest of Ireland: ‘as the struggle of “civilization” with “barbarism” —- was immensely satisfying to advocates of dominant life-style, who thereby assured themselves of their own superiority and of the desirability of the conquest or conversion of their rivals’.

Gerald’s writings according to F. X Martin reflect the militaristic, entrepreneurial attitudes of the class to which they belonged to – the feudal military aristocracy – and the disparaging, dismissive, even racist attitude to the Irish to be found in contemporary England in particular.

By 1350 the Anglo-Norman influence was most clearly stamped on the Irish landscape. Initially the lightly-equipped Irish soldiers could offer no resistance to the heavily-armed and well-drilled invaders, who cut through the country smelling out the better lands like well-trained truffle-hounds. The Anglo- Normans were prepared to expend capital on the organization of their manorial. The Fitzgeralds, the Butlers and the Burkes consistently searched for soils to their taste, or a strategic point worth defending; they erected an earthen mote, later replaced by a castle in places of special importance. Only the Burke advanced beyond the Shannon-river. They confined themselves mainly to Leinster and East Munster, which were to prove a centre from which Irish forces would frequently emerge to harass the farms and towns of the surrounding town-lands. The basic Anglo-Norman unit was the manor, extending perhaps to 3,000 acres and here the lord would have his home-farm or stead, often protected by a moat, containing his house and his farm-buildings, with its surrounding fields. Other large farm units would be given to supporters, linked to the lord by allegiance as well as rent, to rent-paying individual farmers, and to borough communities and burgesses, with land in common, and their own court and other privileges. The holders of these larger units came from outside Ireland. The population explosion in Western Europe and in England at the time, had brought about men anxious for tenancies of good arable land in return for payment of money in services and in kind.

Barrymore Castle Philip de Barry – the elder brother of Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) was granted lands strategically placed in between Cork City and Youghal. By 1206, a charter of King John confirms the existence of Barryscourt manor at Carrigtwohill close to the medieval settelemnt of Cloyne. It contained approximately 10,000 acres of land.

The Norman land owners were found mostly in the Midlands, the eastern Leinster counties and the valleys of eastern Munster.

By 1485 one can see from the map below that the Norman settlers owned a large portion of Munster, and Leinster and a lesser portion Connaught an insignificant portion of Ulster.

land holdings in Ireland circa 1450

By 1100AD Dublin, along with Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick had developed as a trading towns by their Viking founders, doing a large trade with Bristol and Wales, with the emphasis on shipbuilding, slaves and commerce. By the time this prosperity had been achieved the Vikings had ceased to be pagan conquerors at war with the native Gaels. They had become Christian, peaceful and permanently settled. Nevertheless they had settled mainly in the coast towns that they had founded. Similar thing happened in England, Wales and Western France.  The Normans that conquered England in 1066 came from Normandy in Northern France. However, they were originally Vikings-Plunders from Scandinavia. At the beginning of the tenth century, the French King, Charles the Simple, had given some land in the North of France to a Viking chief named Rollo. He hoped that by giving the Vikings their own land in France they would stop attacking France. The land became known as Northmannia, the land of the Northmen. It was later shortened to Normandy. The Vikings intermarried with the French and by the year 1000, they were no longer Viking pagans, but French speaking Christians. In the year 1030 a group of Normans conquered land in Italy. .  After the Battle of Hastings the Normans had taken control of England and Wales. Although the Normans are best remembered for their military achievements, they also showed remarkable skill in government. The Normans established many schools, monasteries, cathedrals and churches in both Italy and England and built many castles to defend their new land.

In Ireland by 1156 the struggle for political supremacy lay between Murtough MacLochlainn of Ailech in the northern part of Ireland – the most powerful king in Ireland and supported by MacMurrough King of Leinster, and Rory O’Connor of Connaught – supported by O’Rourkes of Breffini. The struggle swayed to and fro, from Ulster to Leinster, to Connaught to Munster, with endless campaigns, cattle-raids, burnings, and atrocities until O’Connor won out. MacMurrough was belittled and decided to look for assistance from King Henry the 11 of England. Henry was French rather than English and spent most of his time in France. He was born in Normandy, reared in France and spoke Norman French, not English. Most of his life was spent there as England was only part of his Angevin empire which embraced England, Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Poitou and Aquitaine and he had sovereign claims also over Toulouse, Wales and Scotland. Henry like other Normans of his time had perceived ideas of Ireland. He was influenced no doubt by the English Church Hierarchy after the religious See of Dublin opted to become an Irish archbishopric in 1155, spurning the ecclesiastical rule of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England.  The English Church suddenly felt that the Irish Church had strayed away from Latin Christianity.  They claimed ‘that the Irish clergy did not obey Rome and that it was allied to the Coptic Church doctrine’. This was a very suitable pretext for Henry to talk to Pope Adrian 1V. Of course Henry did not tell the Pope that he had a “land grabbing” addiction. However, this was more often than not the excuse that the Normans used for invading the many countries in Europe. The crusading ideal was still very much in vogue in mainland Europe and was sometimes invoked as a pretext for an invasion. Henry was granted a papal bull, Laudabiliter by the only English pope Adrian 1V, authorizing him to invade Ireland in order to reform the church.  And Henry 11 permitted Diamuid McMurragh, King of Leinster to invite Richard FitzGilbert de Clare better-known as Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke to Irish shores provided he (King Henry 11) was recognized as the overlord of the King of Leinster. However, F.X. Martin in his review of his Conquest questions the authenticity of some of the above. According to Martin forgery was a thriving industry in the twelfth century to possibly justify invasions or otherwise.

For an account of the Norman invasion of Ireland we are lucky in having a firsthand account by  Gerald [de Barri or Gerald of Wales] – Giraldus Cambrensis (c1146-1223) was related to King Henry 11 and to many of the first Norman leaders who came to Ireland. He had spent many years in France was very aware of the Norman take over in Western France and southern Italy as well as England and Wales. Being closely related by blood or marriage to many of the first Norman leaders who came to Ireland, he gained much valuable information from them about pioneering years in the country.  He was Archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman. It should also be noted that Philip de Barry – the elder brother of Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) was granted lands strategically placed in between Cork City and Youghal.     By 1206, a charter of King John confirms the existence of Barryscourt manor at Carrigtwohill close to the medieval settelemnt of Cloyne. It contained approximately 10,000 acres of some of the best land. His book Expugnatio Hibernica – The Conquest of Ireland – edited with translation by A.B. Scott and F.X. Martin is revealing regarding our soils and climate but biased with regards to our people. He writes:

‘Following up on his promise of aid Robert FitzStephen landed on the southern coast of County Wexford at Bannow on 1st of May 1169. They had with about 400 strong – Norman, Welsh and Flemish forces in three ships. The following day Maurice de Prendergast with a force of about 200 reinforced FitzStephen’s group. Merging with a force of near 500 Irishmen under MacMurrough, the combined army marched toward the Viking-Irish seaport of Wexford, where battle began outside the walls of the town. Encountering the Norse army —– the Viking-Irish retired within their own walls. Following assaults on the walled town, the Viking-Irish called for terms of peace which ultimately led to their recognition, once again, of Dermot as their overlord. At this time, Dermot granted lands in Wexford to Robert FitzStephen and his half-brother Maurice FitzGerald, as well as to Hervey de Monte Marisco, an uncle of Strongbow. In 1170 Waterford was captured by Strongbow (Earl of Pembroke, Richard FitzGilbert de Clare) and afterwards they routed Roderick O’Connor’s army in Dublin’.

Land Grants

Word reached Henry of the rapid success of the Normans in Ireland. It was too rapid for his liking. He knew how bold and independent these Normans barons were. He feared that Strongbow might declare himself as king. Quickly gathering a large army, he sailed from Wales landed in Waterford in October 1171. To win favour of the Irish he called a halt to the Norman conquest, he recognized Dermot McCarthy king of Munster, after Dermot promised to pay Henry tribute. From Waterford he marched to Cashel, where Donal Mor O’Brien, King of Thomond, and others submitted. To win the support of the clergy, Henry let it be known that Pope Adrian had asked him to come to Ireland to root out religious abuses. When the bishops heard this they gave him their support. While other Irish princes also submitted, Roderick O’Connor and the Northern princes did not. Henry in turn gave those that did large tracts of land in return. To curtail Strongbow who had most of Leinster, Henry made Hugh de Lacy his Deputy or viceroy as well giving him Co. Meath. Maurice Fitzgerald his uncle got most of Offaly and Naas. In 1185 Henry’s son Prince John was sent to Ireland and made further grants of lands including North Tipperary and part of Kilkenny to Theobald Walter (his butler) and for that reason that family came to be called Butlers. Later they built Kilkenny Castle and became the Earls of Ormonde. He granted William de Burgo (Burke) most of Galway.

The total conquest was almost complete within thirty years. The Munster conquest was made easier by continuing struggle between MacCarthys and the O’Briens for its domination.  By the treaty of Windsor in 1175 Rory O’Connor pledged himself to recognize Henry 11 as the overlord and to collect annual tribute for him from all parts of Ireland, while Henry agreed to accept Rory as “Ard-Ri” (High-King) of the unconquered areas. The scheme broke down for two reasons – Rory was “Ard-Ri” in name only; he found it hard to enforce authority even in his own territory in Connaught. Secondly, Henry 11 could not restrain his barons in Ireland from seizing more Irish land, and he himself made several grants of large areas without consulting Rory or the Irish kings. The Normans ended up owning all good lands in the plains, the coasts, and the riverways. They left the hill-country, the woods and the boglands to the native Irish. Henry reserved to himself Dublin and its hinterland, and the coastal land from Bray to Arklow, also Wexford, Waterford and the adjoining district as far as Dungarvan.

Despite the treaty of Windsor, to which Henry the 11 had put his name to in 1175, he began to sign away other lands which still belonged to Gaelic Irish. To himself he reserved the cities of Cork and Limerick, but the McCarthy lands from Mount Brandon in Kerry to Youghal were given to Robert FitzStephen and Milo de Cogan while the O’Brien lands ‘kingdom of Limerick’ which embraced present day North Kerry, Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary was granted to Philip the Braose. Philip de Braose junior (fl. 1172), was an Anglo-Norman noble most noted for his participation in Henry II’s conquest of Ireland. He was one of the three captains of adventurers left in charge of Wexford at Henry’s departure in 1172.He was also given the City of Limerick (‘Limericenæ videlicet regnum’).

McCarthy retained only south-west Cork and O’Sullivan the Beara Peninsula and South Kerry.  Consequently Munster became one of the most French-Norman-Viking occupied lands outside of France. The Norman advance progressed steadily in the north, west and south. By 1250, within eighty years of the invasion – three quarters of the country had been overrun by the Normans. These shrewd Anglo Norman – Land-Grabbers cherry picked the best of the land in the four provinces of Ireland and left the native Irish with the hills, mountains, the bogs and rocky lands which was mainly in the western half of the island of Ireland.

Stone Circles, Stone Rows, and Standing Stones are quite evocative in the Irish landscape and still cause people to pause and contemplate their raison d’etre and to imagine the rituals which took place at, or in them and to try to imagine the people who performed such ritual.  Were they for marriage?..a baptism of some sort?…  funeral rites?…  sacrifice? Nothing else in Irish archaeology has this power of connecting the peoples of the past with the people of the present.  To stand in the centre of a Bronze Age stone circle on the side of a windswept hill can be a moving experience. Earlier historian’s usually associated the above with the Celts.   However, it is thought the Celts came to Ireland in waves of immigration between 800 BC and 100 BC some 2000 years later

Above picture shows Newgrange, which is one of the best examples in Ireland and in Western Europe, of a type of monument known to archaeologists as a passage-grave or passage-tomb. It was constructed around 3200BC, according to the most reliable Carbon 14 dates available from archaeology. This makes it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years more ancient than Stonehenge. Surrounded by a stone circle (12 remaining from an estimated original 36), with 97 Kerb-stones, an internal cruciform chamber and corbelled roof, the grandiose scale of the earth-works at Newgrange make it one of the most spectacular of prehistoric monuments in all Europe. The recognition that it provides an accurate means of measuring the solar year (to within a margin of several minutes), is testimony to the prehistoric mind.

As the Bronze Age in Ireland drew to a close, there appeared in Ireland a new cultural influence. Developing in the Alps of central Europe, the Celts spread their culture across modern-day Germany and France and into the Balkans as far as Turkey. Within a few hundred years, Ireland’s Bronze Age culture had all but disappeared, and Celtic culture was in place across the entire island.

The Celts had one major advantage – they had discovered Iron. Iron had been introduced to the Celtic peoples in Europe around 1000 to 700BC, thus giving them the technological edge to spread as they did. Iron was a far superior metal to bronze, being stronger and more durable. On the other hand, it required much hotter fires to extract it from its ore and so it took a fair degree of skill to use iron. None of this is to be taken to mean that bronze fell out of use. Rather, iron simply became an alternative metal and many bronze objects have been found that were made in the Iron Age.

Iron brought a new era of man’s capabilities within our island. Only a very superficial layer of soil was used for the growing of food. This resulted in both leaching and erosion of the top soil from the sloping hills where most people resided. The valleys were still dominated by huge trees, which the people had not the facility to cut down nor to remove the huge roots. Ireland’s wet climate particularly in the western part exacerbated both erosion and leaching.  The soils became more acid, nutrients such as phosphorus became unavailable to the crops. Hence the people moved from one place to new land. The iron implements were stronger than the bronze age ones and the type of implement was also developed in mainland and brought in by the continuing immigration of mainland European Celts. The ax, the pick-ax, and even a basic wooden plough with an iron share coulter were reputed to have been put to use.

Farming within a Rath

However, progress must have been counted in hundreds of years – not like now when it is in hundreds of hours. The iron wore very fast while the wooden part was vulnerable and I am sure that the plough that was pulled by animals did not survive for long on the rocky lands of Ireland. It was not until steel was made available for farm implements that great progress was made in this regard and this did not happen until we got into the 18^th century.  On the sandy soils or in stone free soils it was different.  However the manual iron implements must have played a greater part.  They were able to penetrate deeper-down in the soil and new fertile layer of soil was producing increased yields. However as population rose ‘empty’ land to move on to must have become increasingly difficult.  In the words of Frank Mitchel in his book “The Irish Landscape”  ‘The farming of the Dowris Period that opened with a bang with the introduction of the ‘ard’ (hill farm) ended with a whimper as infertile heaths extended widely’.  The simple type of homestead of the lowest rank of ‘free’ farmer was the ‘rath’ or ringforth. It is also known by other names as lios, caher, or cashel and occasionally as dun. Cashel and lios are applied to stone structures. Rath and lios are applied to example made principally of piled earth, although many may have stone faced banks.  It is still the commonest monument on the Irish countryside.  Below one can see aerial pictures ringforts/ raths at Ballincollig, Co. Cork – ref Archaeological Inventory of Co. Cork Vol. 11.

Aerial pictures ringforts/raths at Ballincollig, Co. Cork – ref Archaeological Inventory of Co. Cork Vol. 11.

Not all raths will have been occupied at one time. Although they often called ring-forts, they are not forts, if we mean a strong point capable of resisting siege for some time. Raths rarely had a well and offered little difficulty to a determined attack. Within the raths was an open space, the lis, where livestock could be penned in time of an emergency, and there were also houses and small farm buildings. The farmer and his family lived in the house while the servants lived in huts propped against the inside of the bank. The Chief of the clan normally lived in a ‘cranog’ which would often be a rath built on a island for security reasons.

Governing the Irish People

The Gaels were the last group of Celts who colonized Ireland.  When the Gaels arrived, they divided Ireland into five or more kingdoms.    The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia or Scotia.)  In 100 AD Ptolemy recorded Ireland’s geography and tribes; native Celt records are of Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. A High King ruled over the Irish provinces.  Each one of these provinces had their own king who was, in name at least, subject to the High King.  (The High King held his court at Tara.)  The medieval Irish had a set of judicial laws known as the Brehon Laws.  This system was administered by well-trained, highly educated jurists called the Brehons.

A townland was an ancient Irish measure of land. The size of a townland may be regarded as a rough guide to the quality of the land as the bigger townlands are usually found in the poorer soil areas.  There are 64,000 townlands in the island of Ireland  so the average townland size in Ireland is about 300 acres. In mountainous areas the townlands may be as much as 2,000 acres; on the other hand in thickly-settled lowlands they are frequently less than 100 acres, and some anomalous fragments of an acre or two are designated townlands. The study of Ireland’s 64,000 townland names shows the nuances of the old Gaelic names and the attempted Anglicising of the names by English Cartographers who in the main carried out the job. The townland names, involving so many land holdings, are legal titles, and their Gaelic names, however erroneously spelt on the Ordnance Survey maps, are fossilized in their forms. Only an [Act of the Oireachtas] can alter them. A glance at any Ordnance map will reveal the strange names that Gaelic imagination contrived and English scribes corrupted. Be that as it may, most townland names can be traced back to its origins through its name.  These names were very often very descriptive of the location, its type of topography, its soil type etc. Ireland’s townland is the smallest administrative centre of administrative division (as well as being one of the oldest) in the country.  All other territorial divisions are collections of townlands.

Christianity

According to early medieval records (ref. The Two Patricks’ by Thomas F. O’Rahilly), Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland in 431 AD on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to the Irish who had already been converted to Christianity.  Palladius whose second name was Patrick went to Leinster.  St. Patrick was a Briton of good family captured as a youth and enslaved in Ireland, after escape Patrick returned and  went to Ulster in 432 AD to save the heathens from themselves and to minister to the true believers.  Other views of have been put forward of south Munster connection with the Coptic Church of either Egypt or Greece. The Ogham stone writings have been put forward as a support to this point of view.  . A recent “bogbook” (collected from under 1400 years layers of peat) was discovered in the Irish Midlands in 2006. While the book is, on its own, one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries in Europe, it held one more spectacular secret. In the final stages of its conservation fragments of papyrus, a type of reed paper probably originating in Egypt, were found in its leather binding. Speculation about the connections between early Irish traditions of ascetic monasticism and those of the Coptic Church in Egypt may have got a further boost from this discovery adds solid evidence for contact between the two regions in the eight century.

Around this time place names were drawn up for the different localities around the country, which remain to the present day. Druid society collapsed as Christianity spread through Ireland.  Irish Christian scholars became masters of Greek, Latin, and Christian theology.  Monasteries were built and they flourished.  Some believe the monks preserved Latin and Greek knowledge during the early Middle Ages.   Manuscript illumination, metalworking, jewelry used during ceremonies, and sculpture were of a particularly high standard.  (The Book of Kells is undoubtedly the best example of manuscript illumination in the world, and it can be viewed in Trinity College, Dublin.)  Many Celtic crosses were carved anew, lengthening one leg of the cross from the original four that were equal in size in order to symbolize the Christianized cross.  New crosses were also built, many having elaborate carvings depicting Biblical stories.  Both Celtic and Christian, these crosses cover Ireland.  Farmers, wealthy enough to devote some resources to intricate gold and silver ornaments, sophisticated enough to have lawyers (brehons) and poets (filidh) as well as the druids who practised magic and offered sacrifices to the pagan gods. Kings and chieftains were the only people to have horses. At one stage warriors had used horses and chariot in battle, but by the time the Vikings arrived, chariots were only used to impress the common people.

Whatever the truth of how Christianity came to Ireland, on the one hand through the Coptic Church of Egypt or through St. Patrick from Scotland, or Palladius it provided not merely a religion but also a written language, Latin.  A tradition of story-telling had preserved accounts of great events, tribal histories and genealogies. Now there were scholars who recorded this material on vellum manuscripts, no doubt amending and embroidering it as they blended fact and legend. Such laborious work was aided by the spread of monasteries, often on isolated islands or mountains, where monks lived austerely and could pursue their studies free from the demands placed on conventional priests. No wonder it became known as the island of saints and scholars. The Christian monks had established monastic schools such as Clonmacnoise that were famous throughout Europe. Saint Aidan has been commonly recognised for re-converting the English people to Christianity in the 7^th century. These monastic centres were the nearest thing the Irish had to towns. Outside of these, the rest of the population lived totally pastoral lives of herding, farming and hunting. Ireland was so rich in natural resources and a small population, that they did not needed to exploit the sea in the way the Vikings did.

A picture of the ruin of clonamacnoise. Clonmacnoise (Irish: Cluain Mhic Nois, “meadow of the sons of Nos”) is a monastic site overlooking the River Shannon in County Offaly. The extensive ruins include a cathedral, castle, round tower, numerous churches, two important high crosses, and a large collection of early Christian grave slabs (the last two on display in the excellent site museum). Clonmacnoise was founded in 548 by St. Ciaran, the son of a master craftsman. The settlement soon became a major center of religion, learning, trade, craftsmanship and politics, thanks in large part to its position at the major crossroads of the River Shannon (flowing north-south) and the gravel ridges of the glacial eskers (running east-west).

The tribal system of land tenure did not facilitate economic or technical progress in agriculture. This is perhaps where the capitalist system wins for the individual, who is promised the full benefits of the innovation when put in place. Where land is held or worked jointly, even if the individual had permission to innovate, a large part of the results would have to be shared with his fellow. Probably according the Irish Economist, Raymond Crotty, the only advantage the system possessed was that it provided an assured social status for all members of the clan and a corresponding right to a share, a large or small, in the total produce of the clan’s land. In tribal Ireland, a man’s economic position was determined by social class into which he was born. If this was high, his share in the clan’s land and its produce was large; if low, his amount was smaller, but at least everyone had some status and corresponding right to the resources of the clan. A more likely reason for holding on to the tribal system was the topography of the land, soil quality and the restrictions of farming that could be practiced particularly in the western half of Ireland.   Nevertheless old stories contain many references to banquets, although these may well be greatly exaggerated and provide little insight into everyday diets. There are also many references to fulacht fiadh. These were sites for cooking deer, and consisted of holes in the ground which were filled with water. The meat was placed in the water and cooked by the introduction of hot stones. Many fulacht fiadh sites can still be identified across the island of Ireland, and some of them appear to have been in use up to the 17th century. The main meats eaten were beef, mutton and pork. Domestic poultry and geese as well as fish and shellfish were also common, as was a wide range of native berries and nuts, especially hazel. The seeds of knotgrass and goosefoot were widely consumed and may have been used to make a porridge.

The Viking Plunderers

The Viking “Raiders” arrived on an Ireland that had rich grassland that supported many cattle, and dense forests of oak, yew and fir trees. The forests were filled with game while the lakes and rivers teemed with fish. Gold glittered in many rivers and streams. The climate, warmed by the Gulf Stream, was very mild in comparison to that of Scandinavian countries. The first major one was that of the Vikings after A.D. 793.  That Viking explosion burst upon mediaeval Europe from Ireland and the Baltic to the Mediterranean and Constantinople. Scandinavia the farthest corner  from the Fertile Crescent, was the last part of Europe to be transformed, being reached by agriculture only around 2,500 B.C. and by Christianity until 1000 A.D. Scandinavians became Vikings, i.e. raiders. Viking ships and sailors were fast enough compared to elsewhere in Europe and they could escape before being overtaken by the locals’ slower ships. The raids began in 793 with an attack on Linsdisfarne Island off the northeast English Coast. Thereafter, the raids continued each summer, when the seas were calmer and more conducive to sailing. Vikings from different parts of Scandinavia went raiding in different directions. Danish Vikings mainly sailed to Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. They also settled in Normandy and Brittany. They formed the Duchy of Normandy in France. At first the Viking raiders had limited their attacks on Ireland to the monasteries in coastal areas, but with the passage of time they grew bolder. Large fleets entered the Shannon, Boyne and Erne rivers and sailed up to the interior of the island. They began raiding prosperous farmsteads, pillaging an ever-larger area. Bands of Irish warriors had traditionally gathered only for battles between tribes. When a battle was over, they went home – Ireland had no standing army. By 841 the Vikings had established a longphort, or fortified settlement at the mouth of the Liffey. This area had been known locally as Dubh Linn (Dublin) because of the colour of its water. Similar trading bases developed later at Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Limerick. Eventually these like Dublin would become towns.

In the second half of the tenth century a new aggressive power emerged in Munster, through the expansion of hitherto obscure petty kingdom of East Clare, Dail Cais, whose Mathgamain captured Cashel from the Eoghanachta in 964. Shortly afterwards he defeated the Norse of Limerick at the Battle of Sulchoid and sacked the city. The description of Limerick in the O’Brien tract, Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib, gives an impression of the wealth of a Viking port town: ‘They carried off the jewels and their best property, and their saddles beautiful and foreign, their gold and their silver; their beautifully woven cloth of all colours and of all kinds. The fort and the goods town they reduced to a cloud of smoke and to red fire afterwards. The whole of the captives were collected on the hills of Saingel. Every one of them that was fit for war was killed, and every one that was fit for a slave was enslaved”.

Maithgamain himself was killed in 976 but his brother Brian Boru within a few months brought all of Munster under his control. From Cashel he systematically set about building up power for himself. In the meantime, the Norse of Dublin also suffered a disastrous defeat at the battle of Tara in 980. The victor was Mael Sechnaill son of Domnall, who became king of Tara in that year. In 981 he besieged and took Dublin, carrying off a great prey from the Norse and imposing a heavy tribute on them.  The Norse thereafter were reduced to playing a subordinate role in the renewed struggle for power between the rulers of the northern and southern half of Ireland. Brian Boru representing the southern dynasty of the Dail Cais went on to defeat the combined effort of Mael Sechnaill representing the northern Ui Neill along with the Dublin Norse. In 1002 Brian became king of Ireland  or as he styled himself, emperor of the Irish. The Battle of Clontarf is taken as marking the end of the Viking wars, at which Brian Boru deafeated Mael Morda, King of Leinster, who had allied himself with the Dublin Norse again. Brian won the battle but died in the process.

The Irish had learned from the Vikings. Their superior weapons – the heavy swords, the iron spears, the helmets and mail were now used by the Irish too. At Clontarf both sides fought with similar weapons. The Vikings in the towns were now largely Christian and were an established element in Ireland, influencing the Irish and being influenced by them. Even before Clontarf, Dublin had begun to mint coins, the first ever in Ireland. The most important influence that the Vikings had on Ireland was the transformation of a simple rural economy. With the establishment of towns Ireland ceased to be wholly rural, and the traffic of the ports opened her up to the outside world in a new way.

Nevertheless the ancient Gaelic or Brehon, system of land tenure, with its characteristic political, social and legal structure prevailed throughout the countryside. The native Irish dwellers were still controlled by their Laws, Customs and Military strength. The Chiefs ruled by the Brehon Law, which meant that the land belonged to the freemen of the clan, or sept. The chief was granted the use of large estates during his life time, but these were returned to the clansmen when he died.  The chief did not own the land, so it could not be confiscated if he rebelled as under English Law. The chief did not inherit his power, but was elected by the freemen of the clan. Any man from the derbfine was eligible for election. Each chief had a Brehon to administer laws, a file or poet to write his praises and to record the history of the clan, and reuctaire, or reciter, to entertain his guests. The tribal lands were divided into commonage and privately-held land, the former providing a source of revenue for the various tribal dignitaries and officials-chiefs, bards lawyers and priests-while the remainder was allocated in various proportions and on various terms to the tribal members and their dependents.

Viking warship

As an aside, Skuldelev 2 warship has become the most famous of the Viking ships discovered in 1962 in Roskilde harbor in Denmark. The longship was 30 meter, able to host more than 80 warriors. This is the kind of ship Danish and Norwegian Vikings used for attacks on England and France. When the wreck was found, the archaeologists thought they found two ships and they named the ships number 2 and 4. Only later they found out that it was all from one very long ship and there was no ship number 4. For this reason this ship is often named “Skuldelev 2-4″. Research has shown that the ship was built in Dublin, Ireland in the year of 1042 A.D. In 2004 The Viking Ships Museum launched a full size reconstruction of the ship by the name “The Sea Stallion from Glendalough”. In 2007 the ship did the journey back to Dublin where the original Skuldelev 2 was built.