Rathcroghan
Rathcroghan is a complex of archaeological sites near Tulsk in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is identified as the site of Cruachan, the traditional capital of the Connachta, the prehistoric and early historic rulers of the western territory. The Rathcroghan Complex is an archaeological landscape with many references found in early Irish medieval manuscripts.
Located on the plains of Connacht, Rathcroghan is one of the six Royal sites of Ireland. The landscape extends over and consists of over 240 archaeological sites, 60 of which are protected national monuments.
The monuments range from the Neolithic, the Bronze and Iron Ages, to the medieval period. These monuments include burial mounds, ringforts and medieval field boundaries amongst others. The most prominent of these are the multi-period Rathcroghan Mound, the Oweynagat cave, the Mucklaghs, and the Carnfree medieval complex.
There are many historic references to Rathcroghan recorded in early medieval manuscripts, including the 12th-century Lebor na hUidre. Rathcroghan is recorded as the location of one of the great fairs of Ireland, as well as being one of the island's three great heathen cemeteries. It is also the location for the beginning and end of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and the royal seat of Medb, a mythical queen of Connacht.
Rathcroghan is said to provide entrance to the Otherworld, described in the medieval period as "Ireland's Gate to Hell", via Oweynagat. The cave has associations with the pagan festival of Samhain as well as being described as the dwelling of Morrígan, a mythical figure in early medieval Irish literature.
Importance
According to National Geographic, the site may be "Europe's largest unexcavated royal complex". It is designated a Royal Site of Ireland by the Irish government. Ireland applied for UNESCO World Heritage status for the site in 2021.Mythology
Origin
According to a Dindshenchas poem, Cruachan was named after Crochen, the handmaid of Étaín, a sídhe maiden reborn as a mortal. When Étaín is brought back to the Otherworld by her original sídhe lover Midir, Crochen accompanies them and on their way to Midir's underground palace they spend some time in a mound known as Síd Sinche.Crochen is so impressed by this síd that she asks Midir if this is his palace. Because of her loyalty to Étaín and her respect to this dwelling, Midir gives it to her and names it in her honour before bringing Étaín to his palace at Bri Leith. At the end of the poem Crochen is mentioned as the mother of Medb.
The same poem mentions Cruachan as a royal cemetery: "Listen, ye warriors about Cruachu! With its barrow for every noble couple".
Ulster Cycle
Cruachan features heavily in the Ulster Cycle as it was the home of one of its chief characters Queen Medb. She had been given the kingdom of Connacht by her High-King father Eochaid Feidlech who had de-throned the previous king Tindi Mac Conra over an act of treachery. It is unclear if Tindi had actually ruled the province from Cruachan or if had been built Medb.Another story states that Cruachan had been ruled by the queen's sister, Clothru, before Medb herself had her killed. Vivid descriptions of the Western capital are given in Fled Bricrenn, and this one in Táin Bó Fraích:
Cruachan features at the start and end of the Táin Bó Cúailgne with the pillow talk in the royal residence, and concluding with the fight of the bulls, supposed to have taken place at Rath na dTarbh, one of the largest ring-forts on the site. Aside from the Ulster tales there are not many mythical descriptions of Connacht's main fort with one of the best examples occurring in a Dindshenchas poem on Carn Fráich. This poem deals with two figures of this name, one being the Fráech of Medb's time and one who was a Connacht prince preceding Irelands division into Conn's and Eoghan's half, with this section of the poem describing Cruachan as a stone-built fortress.
Samhain
Cruachan seems to have heavy associations with the feast of Samhain, as it was during this time that the Irish believed that the prehistoric graves from before their time opened and their gods and spirits, who dwelt inside, walked the earth. The emerging of creatures from Oweynagat would be part of this belief. A legend based on this is "The Adventures of Nera", in which the warrior of the title is challenged to tie a twig around the ankle of a condemned man on Samhain night. After agreeing to get some water for the condemned man he discovers strange houses and when he finally gets him some water at the third house he returns him to captivity only to witness Rathcroghan's royal buildings being destroyed by the spirits. He follows the fairy host to the síd where he meets a woman who tells him that what he saw was a vision of what will happen a year from now unless his mortal comrades are warned. He leaves the síd and informs Ailill mac Máta of his vision who then has the Sidhe destroyed.Oweynagat
Oweynagat is a cave on the site. According to National Geographic it is the birthplace of Queen Medb, also known as Queen Maeve.It is unclear whether what is referred to as the síd is Oweynagat or the mound of Rathcroghan itself.
On the inner lintel is an ogham inscription. The full phrasing is unclear but the words "" and "" have been translated; it is unclear if this is the same Fraech associated with Queen Medb.
A tale from the 18th century tells of a woman who on trying to catch a run-away cow, follows it into the cave and emerges miles away in Keshcorran, County Sligo.
Various destructive creatures emerged from Oweynagat in during Samhain in traditional tales. These included:
- The name Oweynagat may come from the magical wildcats featured in "Bricriu's Feast" that emerge from the cave to attack the three Ulster warriors before being tamed by Cúchulainn.
- The Ellen Trechen was a triple headed monster that went on a rampage across the country before being killed by Amergin, the father of Conall Cernach.
- Small red birds came from the cave withering every plant they breathed on, before being hunted by the Red Branch.
- Herds of pigs with similar decaying powers emerged from the cave with Ailill and Medb themselves desperately trying to hunt them down, but having to deal with the pigs' power of vanishing and ability to shed captured flesh.
The Morrígan
History
Like the other royal sites there are not any great historical references or archaeological evidence to prove it was a royal residence or fortress as described in the myths, with some of the best examples of ring-forts in the area dating from Christian times. It was certainly an important cemetery with the amount of ring barrows backing up the scribes who mention it alongside Tailtiu and Tara as one of the three great burial sites also a gathering place or oenach. All assemblies and oenachs were part of religious and funerary traditions and just as an assembly was held at the cemetery of Tailtiu there would surely have been one at Cruachan. It is believed by many that queen Medb was actually the local earth goddess, much like Medb Lethderg at Tara, and that becoming king meant marrying the earth, becoming one with Cruachan with the inauguration more than likely taking place on Rathcroghan mound itself. Cruachan's religious importance diminished after the arrival of Christianity, highlighted by the prologue in the Martyrology of Oengus that contrasts the end of Cruachan's power with the emergence of Clonmacnoise.The new emerging writers didn't really record what actually happened at sites like this, developing stories which feature the síd of Cruachan being attacked by Ailill and Medb while referring to Owenagat as the hell's gate of Ireland. At the end of the first century, a number of raths were built on the site. Some of these later included souterrains with an entrance for one built over Oweynagat using standing Ogham stones from the site that were unique to Connacht, usually only appearing in the south-west of Ireland. The area is peppered with medieval field banks, the best examples being around Reilig na Ri, showing that Cruachan became key grazing land possibly attached initially to the early medieval fort built at neighbouring Tulsk, with another nearby feature – Carnfree mound – being used as the inauguration site of the O'Conor kings of Connacht. There is evidence of small house clusters or sean bhaile between the monuments that could have been lived in well past the Middle Ages; however, the next important development was surveying that began in the mid-eighteenth century, highlighted by Gabriel Beranger's colour drawing of Cruachan mound. This work was continued by the ordnance survey in the 1830s who, with local help, assigned the names to the monuments that are used to this day. Not much physical excavation has been done around Rathcroghan mound, but technologies such as radar and magnetic surveys have revealed features that show great similarities between Rathcroghan, Tara, and Emain Macha. In 1999 the Cruachan Ai visitor centre was completed in Tulsk, showcasing all the latest research updates done on Rathcroghan as well as Carnfree and Tulsk itself.
A historical reference to the cave is to be found in the Triads of Ireland, dating from the 14th to the 19th century, where "Úam Chnogba, Úam Slángæ and Dearc Fearna" are listed under the heading, "the three darkest places in Ireland". The last, meaning the 'Cave of the Alders', is generally thought to be the present Dunmore Cave, while the first two translate as the caves of Knowth and the caves of Slaney. is not known which exact system of caves/passage tombs near the river Slaney is being referred to, with the most likely, those at Baltinglass. Other sources translate the listed locations as Rath Croghan, the cave or crypt of Slane and the "Cave of the Ferns".