For some people the term “Celtic Ireland” sounds redundant as it is often assumed that Ireland has always been Celtic. Actually, the Celts did not arrive in Ireland until about 500 BCE and they found an island which had been inhabited for thousands of years. In the space of a few centuries, Ireland’s Bronze Age cultures merged with the Iron Age Celts.
The Celts initially seem to have emerged as a distinctive cultural tradition in the Alps of central Europe. They spread from here across modern-day Germany and France, and as far east as Turkey. The Celts spread across Europe as a culture rather than as an empire. The term “Celt” actually comes from the Greeks who called the tribes to their north the “Keltoi.” We don’t know today what the Celts actually called themselves. We do know, however, that the Celts called the islands of Ireland and Britain the “Pretanic” islands which evolved into the modern word “Britain.”
One of the advantages that the Celts had over the other European cultures is that they had discovered iron. As a metal, iron was far superior to bronze. It was stronger and more durable and gave the Celts a technological edge. However, iron requires a great deal of heat to extract it from its ore, and thus a great deal of skill was required to smelt iron and to form it into tools. Iron tools did not totally replace the early bronze tools, but rather iron was an alternative metal. Both iron and bronze tools were made during the Iron Age.
While the Celts were not pacifists, the Celtic invasion of Ireland was not a military invasion. Over a period of several centuries, the Celts colonized Ireland until the pre-Celtic cultures had either died out or been assimilated into the Celtic Irish.
With regard to language, we cannot really know what language or, more likely, languages were spoken in Bronze Age Ireland. When the Celts arrived in Ireland, they spoke a central European language. Over time, the Celtic languages developed into the modern Irish (Gaelic) language. Gaelic was influenced by the native languages and thus the ancient languages of Bronze Age Ireland contributed to the modern language.
Brittonic (P-Celtic) was spoken in southern Britain and France and is the root of modern Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Goidelic (Q-Celtic) was spoken in Ireland and northern Britain. Goidelic is the root of modern Irish and Scots-Gaelic.
During the Iron Age there was a general consolidation of territories and kingdoms. The evidence for this is seen in the remains of hilltop forts and royal sites which were constructed during the second century BCE. The culture of Celtic Iron Age Ireland appears to have centered around war with many competing kingdoms—some scholars have suggested that there may have been hundreds of kingdoms.
During Iron Age Ireland, the concept of “king” was actually more like “chieftain.” The Iron Age kings were elected from within a restricted kinship group, The inaugural ceremony for the kings required that the new king marry the goddess of the land. It was then his role to protect the landscape and the harvest, and by extension, the people. If a king displeased his tribe, they removed him and likely killed him.
There were three grades of kings. At the lowest level were the ri túaithe who ruled a single kingdom or tuath. Next was the great king or ruiri who had become the overlord of a number of local kings. At the top was the king of the overlords or rí ruirech who ruled over a province. At any one time there were between four and ten provinces in Ireland. Each of these provinces had a royal site where important events took place.
One of the Iron Age forts was Emain Macha (also called Navan Fort) in county Armagh. This is a circular enclosure with a mound in the center. About 100 BCE, a large circular building was constructed. This building, 143 feet (43 meters) in diameter, was made from a series of circles and progressively taller wood poles. The entire cone-shaped building was then thatched. Shortly after the building was completed, it was partially burned and demolished. It was then covered over with a mound of limestone and earth. Some archaeologists have interpreted this as being a part of a large-scale ritual.
Shown above is the reconstruction of a circular house at Emain Macha.
One of the puzzling finds at Emain Macha were the remains of a Barbary Ape—an animal not native to Ireland or Europe, but found in north Africa. This may be an indication of long-distance trade at this time.
An example of a royal palace site can be seen at Dún Ailinne in county Kildare. This was a circular enclosure 96 feet (29 meters) in diameter. There were several tiers of benches around the enclosure. About 2,000 years ago, a circle of timbers was built, then burned, and buried in a mound. Like Emain Macha, archaeologists have interpreted this as a large-scale ritual.
Another archaeological feature of Celtic Iron Age Ireland are large carved stones. These stones stood up to seven feet (two meters) high and were carved with complex swirling patterns which were characteristics of the Central European Celtic cultures.
Shown above is the Turoe Stone. Some people feel that that carvings may represent a global map, while others see a phallic design.
Within the Celtic Kingdoms, the blacksmiths, druids, and poets were held in the highest esteem. The blacksmiths held a high position because they made the weapons of war. The druids were involved in making prophesies and soothsaying. Finally, it was the poets who glorified the warriors, creating the verses describing their exploits which were to be sung around the campfires.
The warriors sought glory and fame by doing battle with their enemies. A young warrior would be initiated by mounting his chariot—a two-wheeled wooden cart which was pulled by two horses—and returning from battle bringing home the heads of the enemies that he had killed. Following a successful battle, the warriors would gather for a celebratory banquet. The warriors’ weapons were primarily iron spears, iron swords, and round shields (made from wood, bronze, or iron).
For commoners in Celtic Iron Age Ireland life focused on farming. The people lived in small wooden or wattle-and-daub houses which were situated within a circular enclosure. They raised oats, barley, wheat, and rye. The land was ploughed with wooden ploughs which were pulled by oxen. There was common ground on higher ground where the people could graze dairy cattle. The farming was primarily a subsistence activity as there was relatively little trade in food items.