From The Specialty Travel Index on line specialty travel index
and in print in the quarterly Magazine "The Specialty Travel Index"
August 2002
Author David Ackerman
"Into the Ancient Heart: Irish Myths and Magic"
Irish myth is an amalgam of legends that date from the Neolithic through the Iron Age. It was this rich heritage of myths and megaliths that my wife Robin and I set out to explore with our guide, storyteller and folklorist Richard Marsh, on our seven-day tour arranged by the Irish Connection.
Ireland Myths and Legends
Crouching in a Neolithic womb, my hands press against stones laid into place by men over 5,000 years before. My wife's fingers trace cryptic spirals and lozenges carved by ancient artists using only flint and bone. This cross-shaped grotto, known as a passage tomb, has become our refuge from the storm and a doorway into another time.
Our guide plays a flashlight across an elaborately decorated slab, his soft voice describing how, on the equinoxes, the sunlight moves precisely from one graven sunburst to another. It is a quiet communion of sky and stone, one of many monuments left behind by a complex, enigmatic people. What do the symbols mean? No one knows. Yet in this silent, artificial cavern at Loughcrew, Robin and I are both humbled and comforted. For five millennia later, they still proclaim: "We were here."
Tales of Kings and Demons
A proud land of vast green fields, rustic cottages, and musical wit, Ireland has a history that stretches back 7,000 years. Because the island is isolated at the outermost edge of Europe, much of its early culture and lore has survived, though the country has faced its share of strife. Irish myth is an amalgam of legends that date from the Neolithic through the Iron age, painting a unique history of the island. The earliest tales, such as in The Book of Invasions, described the Tuatha De Dannan, the Formorians, and the Fir Bolg, noble peoples akin to gods, who were ultimately driven away or into the Underworld by war. The later stories of the Ulster Cycle featured 1st-century figures such as Queen Maeve of Connacht and the hero C'chulainn - not gods but humans with extraordinary abilities. In these parables, the Tuatha were transformed into the Sidhe or faerie: magical, amoral beings who could use ancient stone monuments and sacred sites to enter our world. The Fenian Cycle carried into early Christian times and was built around Fionn mac Cum-haill and his Fianna (warriors rather like Celtic samurai).
Throughout the eras, the sagas were often as tragic as they were splendid. Heroes belonged to the land, sharing its soul and its destiny. Happy endings were rare and fates often harsh. But there was joy even in the pain, and otherworldly wonders were abundant. It was this rich heritage of myths and megaliths that my wife Robin and I set out to explore with our guide, storyteller and folklorist Richard Marsh, on our seven-day tour arranged by the Irish Connection.
Our journey began at Tara, a short drive northwest of Dublin. This was the "Seat of Kings," the symbolic center of royal power in Ireland until the fifth century a.d. Irish kings came here annually to be recognized in ceremony and celebration, and the site still exudes authority, complemented by a 360-degree view that takes in Ireland's central plain.
At first appearing as a simple set of undulating hillocks, Tara gradually revealed itself to us, with its earthen rings and white standing stone "the Lia Fail " delineating the Royal Enclosure, including the home of celebrated 3rd- century King Cormac's house. Beneath the Mound of the Hostages, we gazed into the neolithic tomb where the hero Fionn supposedly defeated the faerie terror Aill'n as it emerged to ravage Tara with fire. Like Tara, every place had its tale. On the north coast was the Giants Causeway, an anci-ent lava outcropping composed of thousands of hexagonal pillar-like formations. Accord-ing to local lore, the pillars were actually remnants of an ancient bridge to Scotland constructed by Fionn in his desire to duel a Scottish giant.
In the west was Croagh Patrick, the stark, wind-swept mountain where Ireland's patron saint chose to banish all demons from the island. And in the midlands lay Lough (lake) Derravaragh, where a jealous stepmother transformed the children of King Lir into intelligent swans, their plaintive but beautiful songs echoing over the land for 900 years. To this day, it's illegal to kill a swan in Ireland.
Yeats Country
If each locale was a story, then the west coast city of Sligo was an anthology. A century ago, beloved poet W. B. Yeats popularized much of the folklore in his books and plays, and has since become a regional industry, with an honored gravesite as well as signs and statues spread throughout the township.
Yeats claimed his inspiration was all around him, and our local guide, Michael Ro-berts, showed us why. Whether it was walking through the verdant Hazelwood punctuated with rough- hewn statues of warriors, lovers and gods, or listening to Michael's rendition of the Second Battle of Moy Tura - where the Tuatha faced the dark Formorians in a titanic clash of arms - the fantastic felt alive here. In fact, the reverence for myth is so deep that local residents have prevented any attempt to open Queen Maeve's Cairn (tomb mound) on imposing Knocknarea Mountain, leaving it, and the legend of the warrior queen it holds, inviolate.
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