Emania – Bulletin of the Navan Research Group 24, 2018.

108 S., mit Beiträgen in englischer Sprache, zahlreiche Abb.
A4. Broschiert.

ISSN: 0951-1822
ISBN: 978-3-942002-36-3

€ 20.00 / £ 17.10 (Institutspreis: € 30.00 / £ 25.65) zzügl. Versand..

Contents

• Editorial
• John Waddell
  Equine Cults and Celtic Goddesses
  The cultic importance of the horse in late prehistoric times is well documented over a wide area of Celtic Europe including Ireland. This and the evidence for the endurance of pagan beliefs in medieval Ireland combine to suggest that the equine aspects of Macha recorded in early literature are remnants of the mythology of a horse goddess associated with Emain Macha. This paper aims to illustrate the widespread ritual importance of the horse in later prehistory in the Celtic-speaking world and to indicate the survival of pagan beliefs well into medieval times in Ireland.
• Ronald Hicks
  The Rout of Ailill and Medb: Myth on the Landscape
  Many Irish myths involve journeys, the classic example being Táin Bó Cúailnge, which includes an itinerary that turns out not to replicate the list of places actually visited. While places mentioned in these journeys are often familiar, many are not. Such a journey is described in Scéla Mucce meic Dá Thó, in which Ailill and Medb flee Mac Dá Thó’s hostel chased by his hound Ailbe. This paper considers several questions raised by the route described for Ailill and Medb’s flight, including whether the places can be identified today and whether the path makes sense geographically. Alternative locations for some sites are evaluated. The significance of the choice of places mentioned is considered by looking at other mentions in the dindshenchas and elsewhere, where they play a role in myth, history, or both. The known archaeology of each is also considered. Finally, other possible factors that might shed light on the significance of the route described are discussed.
• Joe Fenwick
  The Late Prehistoric ‘Royal Site’ of Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon: An Enduring Paradigm of Enclosed Sacred Space
  Rathcroghan (Crúachu), like the other late prehistoric ‘royal sites’ of Tara (Temair), Co. Meath, Navan Fort (Emain Macha), Co. Armagh, and Knockaulin (Dún Ailinne), Co. Kildare, features prominently in the literary imagination of early medieval Ireland. These places are presented as royal strongholds, distinguished cemeteries and the loci of great assemblies, a fading memory of an heroic pagan past eclipsed, it would seem, by the truth and light of Christianity. Recent archaeological field research and excavation, however, indicates that these places served not as great royal residences but instead as regional cult centres whose political and symbolic significance persisted long after their supposed demise. This article examines the archaeological evidence from Rathcroghan against a backdrop of comparative evidence from Tara, Navan Fort and Knockaulin. Despite superficial differences, these great royal sites share much in common, which seems to indicate a general accord in terms of ritual, ceremony and religious belief across much of the island of Ireland throughout late prehistory. The article further proposes that these centres of cult and kingship might have had a surviving archaeological influence above and beyond the literary landscapes in which they figure so prominently. Perhaps the unique form and layout of early Christian settlement in Ireland, which developed largely during the conversion period, might owe as much to the influence of these pre-existing royal sites and centuries-old vernacular tradition as it does to canonical law and Biblical allusion.
• Mike McCarthy & Daniel Curley
  Exploring the Nature of the Fráoch Saga – An Examination of Associations with the Legendary Warrior on Mag nAí
  This paper will attempt to explore the connections that exist between a collection of archaeological and topographical features situated in the area referred to as Mag nAí or Machaire Connacht, ‘the Plains of Connacht’, and the legendary warrior figure of Fráoch mac Fidach Foltruad. The exploration of Fráoch and his possible links with these features of the landscape in the vicinity around the multi-period ritual complex of Rathcroghan has developed on the parts of the authors from an almost daily interaction with the area, as well as the questions that visitors, and the authors themselves, have asked of the area that we are interpreting for the visitor.
• R.B. Warner
  Ptolemy’s River Winderis: A Corrected Identification, a Sea-monster and Roman Material from the Adjacent Sandhills
  It is argued here that the second-century Romano-Egyptian geographer Ptolemy’s ‘Winderis river-mouth’ is to be identified with the inlet between the inner and outer bays at Dundrum, Co. Down. The highly dangerous sand-bars and white-water waves at the mouth of the inlet are explanation enough for the name, which appears to mean ‘the whitest (river)’. The dangerous nature of the inlet might also explain why, despite its being a fairly minor feature, it was included on Ptolemy’s map. The turbulent waters also give a good explanation for the old-Irish myth concerning a sea-monster at that spot. Finally it is proposed that a late-Roman gold-and-silver hoard found adjacent to the inlet might have been an offering to the sea-god, in thanks
  or as appeasement.
• Cóilín Ó Drisceoil & Aidan Walsh
  New Radiocarbon Dates for the Black Pig’s Dyke at Aghareagh West and Aghnaskew, County Monaghan
  This paper presents a suite of new radiocarbon dates from the bivallate linear earthwork known as the ‘Worm Ditch’ / ‘Black Pig’s Race’, County Monaghan. The dates, obtained from charcoal samples recovered during Aidan Walsh’s 1982 excavations at Aghareagh West and Aghnaskew, suggest that the south bank was constructed in the Middle Bronze Age, 1420–1270 cal BC, and the remainder in the Iron Age, probably between 220–160 cal BC.
• Dirk Brandherm, Cormac McSparron, Thorsten Kahlert & James Bonsall
  Topographical and Geophysical Survey at Knocknashee, Co. Sligo – Results from the 2016 Campaign
  In the summer of 2016 a series of surveys were carried out of the summit of Knocknashee Hill, Co. Sligo. A topographical survey of the entire summit plateau was conducted, as was a magnetic susceptibility survey. Magnetic gradiometry and earth resistance surveys were carried out over a much smaller area, focused on a particularly well preserved group of roundhouses. The topographical survey revealed additional houses not previously recorded. It also allowed hitherto unnoticed settlement patterning to be observed. The magnetic susceptibility survey produced a map of probable areas of intense activity on the summit of the hill, and the magnetic gradiometry survey demonstrated the presence of additional structures, not visible as surface features, whose close, perhaps overlapping nature suggests that there may be a superimposition of structures not previously identified at Knocknashee.
• Anthony Wilkinson
  Knocknashee – Local Perceptions
  This article provides a brief précis of placename evidence and folklore linked to Knocknashee hill. It is hoped that this information might contribute to a future, more extensive historical topography of the place.
• Patrick McCafferty
  The Fear of Fairy Forts: Archaeological Preservation by Plague and Superstition
  This article attempts to explain the survival of tens of thousands of ring-forts in the Irish landscape. The sites probably owe their preservation to superstitious fear of leprechauns and fairies. But what gave rise to such fears? The paper proposes, tentatively, that medieval outbreaks of disease may be to blame.