The rectangular enclosure on top of the mound actually dates from the 12th century, but in this case has been reimagined as an earlier working farm. This is then surrounded by houses, metalworking sites and souterrains (appearing as circles). Further metalworking sites can be seen well away from the mound in the foreground and on the far left. The main settlement cluster of houses can be found near the tomb entrance in the right foreground; these were built over the location of the earlier defensive ditch which had silted up by this time. This illustration is based on Figure 4.1 ‘General location plan of tenth-eleventh century features’ found on record ME019-030060- on the National Monuments Service database.
Originally built during the Neolithic period (New Stone Age), the passage tomb of Knowth near Newgrange lay more or less unused for two millennia before being fortified and used as a hillfort during the late Iron Age. From the 9th to early 11th centuries, it became a site of huge importance when it served as the seat of the kings of North Brega (Cnogba).
In the late Iron Age/Early Christian Period, two huge defensive ditches were built around the monument, one at the base of the mound and another at the top.1 These may have been dug by the Gailenga who are noted as being in possession here until around 800AD. The Gailenga were then driven out by the Uí Chonaing sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine.2
The Uí Chonaing took the title ‘Kings of Cnogba’ and set about establishing North Brega as a key player in the region. Recognising the changing landscape upon the arrival of the Vikings, Cináed mac Conaing formed the first Gaelic alliance with the Norse in 850AD in rebellion against the Clann Cholmáin3 – an act for which he was later drowned.
The growth of North Brega continued into the 10th century, culminating in Congalach Cnogba managing to return the high kingship to the Síl nÁedo Sláine, a position which they hadn’t held in almost 200 years. Congalach followed this up by sacking Dublin 944AD,4 uniting the armies of Mide and Brega in 950AD,5 and putting a fleet of the entire northern half of Ireland on the Shannon to attack Munster the following year.6 Congalach was the last great king of Cnogba and died in an ambush in 956AD shortly after subduing Leinster.7
During this period Knowth had transformed into an open undefended settlement. The remains of 15 houses with stone foundations and five metalworking sites were excavated without any signs of a palisade wall or ditch.8 Instead, the occupants relied on nine souterrains build on and around the mound for protection. There were also two strategically located forts, one to the north and another on a ridge to the south overlooking the Boyne river. These would have defended the approaches to the site and may have been occupied by the king.9
By the 11th century the power of Cnogba kings was had all but disappeared and Knowth was granted to the Cistercian order in AD1157, a grant which was probably given by the new leading regional power: Tiernán O’Rourke of Breifne. A little later in the 12th century during Hugh de Lacy’s conquest of Meath the mound would be converted into a motte.10
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References
- F. H. A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout, Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape (Cork, 1997), pp. 303-304
- Geraldine Stout, Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne (Cork, 2002), p. 78
- Thomas Bartlett and Keith Jeffery, A Military History of Ireland (Cambridge, 1996), p. 47
- John Haywood, Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241 (New York, 2016), p. 152
- Catherine Swift, ‘The early history of Knowth’ in F.J. Byrne, W. Jenkins, G. Kenny, C. Swift (eds) Excavations at Knowth vol. 4: Historical Knowth and its hinterland (Dublin, 2008), p. 27
- Swift, ‘The early history of Knowth’, p. 27
- Annals of Ulster, U956.3, Available at https://celt.ucc.ie/ (Jun. 11, 2022)
- George Eogan, Excavations at Knowth vol. 5: The archaeology of Knowth in the first and second millennia AD (Dublin 2012), p. 85
- T. M. Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland (Cambridge, 2004), p. 54
- Nancy Edwards, The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland (London & New York, 2006), p. 44