Clonmacnoise Monastery

Clonmcnoise was founded in 544CE by St. Ciarán where a major east-west route crossed the River Shannon. Location is important in real estate, even for monasteries, and this location meant opportunities for visitors and trade, making it a major center for religion and learning for centuries. Ciarán met Diarmait Mac Cerbaill there, who became the first Christian High King of Ireland. Together they built the first wooden church on the site. The first community had about a dozen men.

It was visited by St. Columba (according to Adomnán), who while there prophesied about a future where there would be debates over the dating of Easter.

By the 9th century the place was thriving and had grown to several buildings and between one and two thousand men. Wooden structures had been replaced with stone. Ciarán had died in 549, and his body buried under the original church that was later rebuilt in stone as the Temple Ciarán (see illustration). It is the smallest church on the site at only 9x12 feet.

Excavations of Temple Ciarán have revealed no body, but did uncover a crozier. The detailed and beautiful Clonmacnoise Crozier is on display at the National Museum of Ireland. Although some like to associate it with Ciarán, the workmanship dates it to the late 11th century. It is an example of the superb craftsmanship that came out of Clonmacnoise, as its location and reputation created a thriving secular community as well as a religious one.

Plague was always an issue in the Middle Ages. Ciarán died from the plague, and a plague in the late 7th century killed many of the students and teachers. In the 12th century, Clonmacnoise began to decline. Raids reaching far inland from Vikings (one of the authors of the Clonmacnoise Book of the Dun Cow was killed in 1106 by Vikings) and Normans (who had taken over England in 1066) contributed, but so did simple economic factors. Not far to the north the town of Athlone was growing and drawing talent and commerce. There were also competing religious sites as other orders started to move into Ireland to spread their own versions of monasticism.

One Clonmacnoise survival is the Annals of Clonmacnoise, chronicling Ireland from prehistory to 1408. I'll tell you a little about it next time.

The Law of Innocents

Besides Brehon Laws, Ireland had Cáin laws (Cáin="law"; redundant, I know) that were made with the help of church figures. Adomnán of Iona (c.625 - 704) is responsible for a set of rules that has been called the first human rights treaty. The Cáin Adomnáin, the "Law of Adomnán," is also called the "Law of Innocents" because it was designed to protect women, children, and noncombatants during times of warfare.

It was produced in 697 from the Synod of Birr, a gathering of clerics and secular figures, Irish, Pictish, and Dal Riatan. It was likely called by Adomnán himself, based on his authority as the abbot of Iona.

Although designed to protect the innocent, it was unforgiving of the guilty. Section 33 of one of the two remaining manuscripts (both of a later date than the 7th century) is particularly harsh, and relates how an angel demanded rules to protect women:

Go forth into Ireland, and make a law in it that women be not in any manner killed by men, through slaughter or any other death, either by poison, or in water, or in fire, or by any other beast, or in a pit, or by dogs, but that they shall die in their lawful bed... 

For whoever slays a woman shall be condemned to a twofold punishment, that is, his right hand and his left foot shall be cut off before death, and then he shall die, and his kindred shall pay seven full cumals*, and one-seventh part of the penance. If, instead of life and amputation, a fine has been imposed, the penance is fourteen years, and fourteen cumals shall be paid. But if a host has done it, every fifth man up to three hundred shall be condemned to that punishment; if few, they shall be divided into three parts. The first part of them shall be put to death by lot, hand and foot having been first cut off; the second part shall pay fourteen full cumals; the third shall be cast into exile beyond the sea, under the rule of a hard regimen;

Women were not assumed to be angels, either. A woman who murdered, stole from a church, or tried arson, would be condemned to be pushed from shore in a boat with one oar and some gruel. This was considered a way to avoid killing a woman, and left her fate up to God (shades of Antigone!).

Section 50 deals with non-death offenses:

If it be rape of a maiden, seven half-cumals (is the fine) for it. If a hand (is put) upon her or in her girdle, ten ounces** for it. If a hand (is put) under her dress to defile her, three ounces and seven cumals for it. If there be a blemish on her head or her eyes or in the face or in the ear or nose or tooth or tongue or foot or hand, seven cumals are (to be paid) for it. If it be a blemish on any other part of her body, seven half-cumals are (to be paid) for it. If it be tearing of her dress, seven ounces and one cumal for it.

The Synod of Birr brought together different ethnic groups that we therefore assume were Christian. One group mentioned was the Picts, a name with which everyone may be familiar, but who were they? What was their relation Scottish and British and Irish people? Are they still around, and did they leave us any lasting monuments? Let's try to figure out what we really know about the Picts, and why were they called that? See you tomorrow.

*A cumal represented the value of three milch cows.
**The "ounces" are of silver.

Tanistry and Authority

Congal Cáech was a king of the Irish province of Ulaid (on the north east coast) in the early 7th century. Cáech means  "squinting" or "half blind." He was so-called because he was stung in the eye by a bee, and according to the Bechbretha this made him ineligible for the position of High King of Tara. His clan demanded that the eye of the beekeeper's son (he was the son of the High King Domnall mac Áedo) be put out to even the score.

This is one of the few hints we get about early Irish kingship eligibility: that the High King must be without blemish.How one could be eligible for kingship seems to follow the system of tanistry. The Tanist is the second-in-command or second-in-line after a ruler, and not necessarily a descendant. Historically, the males of the clan would choose their next leader from among all the righdamhna ("kingly material"), which could include sons of the departed ruler.

This method persisted in Ireland until the early 17th century when English common law replaced it. In Ireland today, the echo of tanistry can be heard in the title of the deputy prime minister, Tánaiste.

The illustration shows the numerous kingdoms of Ireland, with each having its own king, although often neighboring kingdoms banded together for protection from larger alliances. Political marriages between kingdoms also contributed to descendants with legitimate claims to multiple kingdoms, which could help them unite under one ruler.

Irish kings had a different set of responsibilities than other European kings. For one, they did not have the authority to create laws. The laws were worked out by the Brehons, the judges/arbitrators who wrote tracts on what was right and proper for a working society. The kings' job was to support the law, not make it up. During times of emergency a king could create a law, but this was seen as only temporary.

The king was never above the law. He was not always directly subjected to restitution, however: a designated underling would have to suffer the consequences, and would then be compensated monetarily by the king. The king could lose his status, however, if he engaged in "non-kingly" activities such as being seen doing the work of a commoner, acting cowardly in battle, or traveling without a proper retinue.

Although limited in power when it came to the law, kings could collaborate with the church in developing laws. Adomnán of Iona produced a set of laws, the Cáin Adomnáin ("Law of Innocents"), which has the names of several kings attached to it showing heir involvement and support.

The Cáin Adomnáin has been called Europe's first human rights treaty, and is worth taking a closer look...next time.

Prophetic Death

Prophetic death is a staple of mythology and legend. One classic trope is the "threefold death" in which a prophecy claims three different manners of a person's death, all of which somehow come true.

One example is a Welsh legend of Merlin, who is asked to prophesy a boy's death; he says the boy will fall from a rock. The boy is then dressed in different clothing and brought before Merlin and asked about the manner of his death; Merlin says he will hang. The boy is then disguised as a girl and brought again; Merlin prophesies drowning. Later, while on a hunt, the boy slips from a rock, is caught on a tree and suspended upside-down, with his head in a lake, where he drowns.

Diarmait Mac Cerbaill was a real historical figure, and yet we are told he suffered the threefold death of legends. According to the Life of Columba by Adomnán of Iona, he is told by an Irish seer that his foster-son, Áed Dub ("Black Áed"), will kill him; Diarmait banishes Áed Dub. Then, St. Ruadán prophesies that he would be killed by the roof beam of his hall at Tara; Diarmait has the roof beam removed and thrown into the sea.

With those dangers removed, Diarmait continues his quest to avoid death by asking druids how he will die. They predict a threefold death, "by iron, water, and fire." This would mean slain with a weapon, drowning, and burning. Further, they are him that there will be signs of his impending death: a shirt grown from a flax seed, a woolen mantle made from a single sheep, ale brewed from a single grain of corn, bacon from a sow that has never farrowed.

Diarmait, satisfied that his death by anything other than old age is unlikely, visits the hall of Banbán, where he is shown a shirt, a mantle, and bacon that satisfy the conditions of his imminent death. He decides to immediately leave the hall, but Áed Dub is waiting at the door, stabs him and sets fire to the hall. Prevented from leaving the burning hall, Diarmait climbs into a vat of ale to survive the heat. The burning hall collapses, and the roof beam, which Banbán had found in the sea and used to build his hall, falls and crushes Diarmait.

It is curious to have a prophetic and threefold death attributed to an actual person. The Annals of Tigernach, in the entry for 563, merely states "Diarmaid son of Cearbhall was killed in Ráth Bec in Magh Line by Aodh Dubh son of Suibne Araidhe, king of Ulster, and his head was taken to Cluain and his body was buried in Connere."

Adomnán, for his own reasons, was clearly embellishing. Perhaps his knowledge that Diarmait was dabbling in Christianity was the emphasis, since legend says that Áed Dub suffered a similar threefold death, which Adomnán attributes to divine justice after killing Diarmait. Adomnán would have been drawing from several sources for his Life of St. Columba, including the saga Aided Diarmata ("Death of Diarmait").

One more look at Diarmait, the king who bridged the pagan and Christian eras in Irish kingship, before we move on to something else. This next look will be from the angle of St. Ruadán.

Diarmait mac Cerbaill

There were two significant designations for kings in Ireland. Of the several different kingdoms on the Emerald Isle, only one of them had possession of the sacred site the Hilo Tara, on which stood the Lia Fáil, the "Stone of Destiny," brought to Ireland by the Tuatha dé Danann, that would cry out when the true king stepped on it. Whether the Stone ever was heard to cry out is moot: possessing the Hill let you declare yourself King of Tara after engaging in a sacred pagan initiation rite.

The other designation was High King of Ireland, or King of All Ireland. This designation was not rooted in Irish mythology: it denoted someone powerful enough that other kingdoms recognized his political and military superiority. There was no spiritual or religious aspect to this title.

Diarmait Mac Cerbaill was the last known king in Ireland to go through the pagan ritual of marriage to the goddess of the land, and so was King of Tara. Annals declare him a great-grandson of the semi-historical Niall of the Nine Hostages. His father's name was Fergus, but rather than be named "Ferguson," his surname is given as Cerbaill from his father's nickname Cerrbél, "crooked mouth."

During his lifetime, he was also declared High King of Ireland, from 544 to 565. His reign was not stellar. In a dispute between St. Columba and Finnian of Movilla, he took the wrong side and was defeated at the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, the famous "Battle of the Books" over the copyright of the Cathach. It was not the only battle he lost.

Despite his initiation as King of Tara, and references to "druid fences" being used during the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne, he was the first High King in Ireland to embrace (or at least dabble in) Christianity. Adomnán of Iona wrote that Diarmait was "ordained by God's will as king of all Ireland." Adomnán was writing 150 years later, but it is not the only evidence that Diarmait might have begun forging a healthy relationship with Christianity. He supported St. Finnian of Movilla. The stone pictured above is believed to be Diarmait and St. Ciaran, carved into the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, planting a stake together. There is a quotation attributed to him that suggests respect for the power of Christianity: "Woe to him that contends with the clergy of the churches." Also, curiously, two of his sons are called Colmán, a specifically Christian name based on the 6th century Irish missionary, St. Columbanus. (Irish royals were known to give the same name to more than one son—relying on nicknames later to distinguish them?—until the 16th century.)

The end of his life, however, was decidedly non-Christian; rather, it involves a mythical "threefold death" based in prophecy that seems impossible at first but comes true in a logical manner. It's complicated enough that I think I'll save it until tomorrow. See you then.

Adomnán of Iona

Adomnán of Iona (also known as Eunan) was born about 627 CE in what is now County Donegal. We do not know a lot of details of his life before he became the ninth abbot of Iona in 679. At some point he tried to get the monks of Northern Ireland to adopt the Roman dating of Easter, decided at the Synod of Whitby in 664. Irish monasteries were still opposed to this, and modern scholars think his authority was probably weakened by his attempts to get Iona to change, and by his absences from Iona as he traveled to other monasteries to try to persuade them to follow the Roman method of calculation.

His greatest legacy may be the Vita Columbae, the "Life of Columba." He was related on his father's side to St. Columba, and used an earlier source to write the definitive biography. The Life of Columba is a valuable resource for information about groups like the Picts, the practices of monasteries, and the politics of the time.

He also wrote De Locis Sanctis, "On Holy Places." He got the information second-hand by a Bishop named Arculf who visited Iona after being to the Holy Land, Egypt, Constantinople, and Rome.

He is also known for the Cáin Adomnán (Gaelic: "Canons of Adomnán"). Presented and agreed to in 697 at the Synod of Birr—a meeting of Irish nobles and churchmen believed to have been convened by Adomnán himself—it established the safety and immunity of non-combatants during war. It is also referred to in Latin as the Lex Innocentium, the "Law of Innocents."

As mentioned in the previous post, he makes one of the earliest references to the divine right of kings. Diarmait Mac Cerbaill was High King of Ireland; he died about 565. Adomnán said he was "ordained by God's will as king of all Ireland," and that his assassin was visited by divine punishment. 

Adomnán died in 704, possibly on 23 September, which is celebrated as his feast day. Although the name Adomnán and its variants are rarely found today, his alternate name of Eunan is found on the Cathedral of Eunan and St. Columba in Letterkenny, County Donegal, as well as on other churches and schools.

I came to talk about Adomnán because of the link to the divine right of kings I wrote about yesterday, but the more I read, the more puzzling his example became. A monk declaring Diarmait Mac Cerbaill "ordained by God's will" looks more and more odd when you look at the king's actions: was he a Christian High King of Ireland, or was he a King of Tara, or both? We'll go into this tomorrow.