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There is often confusion surrounding the roles of Uisneach and Tara, with each having a claim to being the seat of the High Kings. Just like Tara, Uisneach was also one of the six major ‘royal capitals’ and has an equally rich history and folklore. Medieval sources quote the relationship between the two cultic centres as being like “two kidneys of an animal”,1 therefore it should be taken that both hills were sisters and of equal importance. Generally speaking, Tara was thought of as a place of kingship whereas Uisneach was more associated with the Druids. This may not have always been the case, though, as it has been suggested that Uisneach was the chief site of the high king before Tara’s rise to power:
“From the time of Tuathal to that of Cormac mac Airt, who, about a hundred years later, transferred the seat of the monarchy to Tara, the Connacht dynasty (Connachta) occupied Uisneach” 2
The fact that the ‘stone of divisions’ is located here, which marks the sacred centre of Ireland and the burial spot of the goddess Eriú (Éire), demonstrates that Uisneach is deeply connected to Ireland’s sovereignty and held a certain cosmological significance. Along with this, The Dagda – the father god of Celtic Ireland – was said to reside on the hill with his solar horses. Regardless of which site has more of a claim to being the original seat of the high kings, Uisneach remains better known for its association with druidism and the great fire festival of Beltane (Bealtaine). Indeed, the link between a sacred centre and Druidry can also be found on mainland Europe. Caesar commented on the Celts of Gaul holding an assembly of druids in the lands of the Carnutes, which was at the time regarded as the centre of Gaul.3
According to the Annals of Ulster, the area around Uisneach was in the hands of the Laigin (Leinstermen) until the battle of Druim Derg in 516AD,4 after which it was annexed by Fiachú mac Neill, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Fiachú’s tribe, Cenél Fiachach, dominated the midlands until eventually losing out to the rising power of their cousins – the Clann Cholmáin. By the 8th century the Clann Cholmáin had cemented their position as the established kings of Mide and based themselves at Rathnew Fort on Uisneach Hill.5 Rathnew Fort was excavated in the 1920’s and the remains of domestically occupied stone houses and souterrains were found, something that is quite unusual as royal sites were usually only occupied temporarily.
As the Clann Cholmáin grew in strength they proceeded to push into Brega to assert dominance over the Síl nAedo Sláine – their traditional rivals for the kingship of the Southern Uí Néill. As their influence spread, some kings of Uisneach also took the title ‘King of Tara’, and during the reign of Malachy 2nd in the late 10th century the term ‘Mide’ denoted the territories of both Mide and Brega.6 The Clann Cholmáin relocated from Rathnew Fort to the shore of Lough Ennell sometime in the 8th or 9th century,7 but Uisneach remained an important site and acted as their royal centre.
References
- Francis John Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings (London, 1973), p. 58
- R. A. S. Macalister and R. Lloyd Praeger, ‘Report on the Excavation of Uisneach’ in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, Vol. 38 (1928/1929), p. 125
- Francis John Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings (London, 1973), p. 58
- Annals of Ulster, Year 516.1. Available from UCC at https://celt.ucc.ie (Feb 22, 2022)
- Roseanne Schot, ‘From cult centre to royal centre: monuments, myths and other revelations at Uisneach’ in R. Schot, C. Newman, and E. Bhreathnach (eds) Landscapes of Cult & Kingship (Dublin, 2011), pp. 88-89
- Schot, ‘From cult centre to royal centre: monuments, myths and other revelations at Uisneach’, pp. 90-93
- Aidan O’Sullivan, ‘The social and ideological role of crannogs in Early Medieval Ireland’, PHD thesis, Department of Modern History, NUI Maynooth (March, 2004), p. 67
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