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- Herausgeber: The O'Brien Press
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
By turning off the main highway and discovering old routes, some of which have been travelled for thousands of years, you will see Ireland in an entirely different way. Follow the Old Road will take you on a tour of a variety of pathways from great river roads to lost railways. Long before records began, travellers arriving on our shores found safe havens, natural harbours, the estuaries of rivers, and settled there, in sight of the ocean that had brought them to this land. Gradually they moved inland to more fertile soil, usually along the course of a river that provided both guidance and essential water supplies. In later centuries, great lords built their castles and monks their abbeys upriver, at the tidal limit. Some of the routes are still used today while others lie ignored and overgrown. Villages, and, later on, towns grew up around these castles and abbeys to serve their needs; towns that still prosper today.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
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Contents
Cormorants on a slipway
Introduction
e live in an age where travel within our country is defined by the car we drive, the nearest motorway. All movement is land-based, road-based. It’s hard to imagine, but long ago, people travelled in very different ways. It’s time to look back and remember those ways, even, perhaps, to rediscover them. They’re still there, waiting to be found.
The first settlers arriving on our shores found safe havens, natural harbours, the estuaries of rivers, and settled there, in sight of the ocean that had brought them to this land. Gradually they moved inland to more fertile soil, following the course of the river. These natural waterways were the easiest way to travel when most of the country was covered with thick forests and it was all too easy to lose the way or run into danger. In later centuries, great lords built their castles and monks their abbeys along these river roads, and in turn, towns and cities developed around them.
Tracks also began to appear between isolated settlements or between such settlements and ports where markets were held. Longer routes were marked out over mountains, through passes, across boglands. Where the land was very boggy, wooden trackways called toghers were built, similar to the old corduroy roads which led into Siberian Russia. And pilgrims travelling to ancient sites of worship followed old tracks, guided by marker stones and distinctive natural features in the landscape. Gradually major roads became identified: for example the Slíghe Mhór across the midlands, on a natural esker or raised causeway. These were still rough and ready trackways, but they made long distance travel possible.
Later still, as the world of industry expanded, businessmen saw the possibilities of expanding the useful river system to allow carriage of heavier loads further distances. Canals made connections possible between already important waterways and also extended the navigable length of individual rivers by cutting off large natural loops or avoiding narrow, rough, or shallow stretches.
Ironically, the canals of Ireland were hardly out of their infancy before they were threatened by the advent of the railway, and many fell into disuse, becoming silted up and overgrown by the lush growth that in Ireland is always ready to invade and take back its own.
At its height, the railway system covered almost every part of Ireland, with the stations and halts of little branch lines serving tiny settlements and connecting to the main routes between cities. Once the motor vehicle became established, though, the railways too began to decline, and today what remains is but a skeleton of what once was. Yet still there in the countryside lie the old tracks, the forgotten stations, the hidden halts, each one with its own story to tell.
In our own time, the increasing demands of commerce and cars have encouraged the creation of new, ever-faster motorways and dual carriageways, shortening journeys between major destinations, cutting off wasteful curves and by-passing towns and villages which once saw a constant roar of traffic. The journeys are faster, yes, but the amount you miss by following the main through route is incalculable. If you want to know more about the real Ireland, then do yourself a favour. Find the old road. Rediscover the old ways of travelling. By turning off the main highway and discovering venerable routes, some of which have been travelled for thousands of years, you will see Ireland in an entirely different way.
River Shannon at Clonmacnoise
CHAPTERI
The Great River Roads
hen we think of old roads, tracks, byways, we naturally tend to visualise these as being tramped out over the centuries on solid ground – over mountains, through valleys, leading to sacred sites, markets and castles, linking one community with another. Yet there are far earlier roads, known and followed by travellers since prehistoric times.
Those who first came this way by sea (itself the most ancient and well-known path) found Ireland had a deeply indented coastline with safe and sheltered bays. They followed the rivers that flowed into these bays, rivers that pointed the way ever onward and upward, drawing the intrepid explorer on with the promise of fertile soil, fresh water and, above all, a safe place to settle.
The great river roads connecting Ireland’s interior to the sea gave easy and relatively safe access. No need to beat through thick forests where enemies or wild animals might lurk, no danger of losing your way. When a highway like that opens up in front of you, the most natural thing in the world is to accept its lure and set off to find out what lies round the next bend. And where the first explorers led, others followed, each contributing to the gradual expansion of settlement and trade.
Ireland is bountifully supplied with rivers, each with its own story to tell from prehistory to the present. Here are three (or perhaps we should call it five, strictly speaking) that reflect different aspects of those stories and of the country. They are the Shannon, the Bann, and the Three Sisters.
THE SHANNON: FIRST OF ALL, LINKING ALL
The longest river in Ireland and indeed longer than any in neighbouring Great Britain, the Shannon rises from a dark and mysterious pool in Co. Cavan and flows south and west for 360km (224 miles) through or between eleven counties before reaching its estuary, which is itself a major harbour. Virtually dividing Ireland in half, it’s our supreme waterway, known and travelled for thousands of years. It has seen invaders, pilgrims, colonialists, battle fleets, engineers, industrialists, and finally pleasure-seeking tourists. As such, it is linked to every stage of Ireland’s history and development.
Whoever first happened upon its spreading estuary must have wondered what could possibly lie further inland, since from the sea it is not possible to guess just how far the wide waters continue. What we do know is that it was familiar to the world’s earliest traders. It is shown on Ptolemy’s famous 2nd-century map, which was itself compiled from earlier sources held in the legendary library of Alexandria in Egypt.
Alexandria was an important trading centre at the cross-roads between west and east. The Pharaohs gently but firmly insisted that any books or writings arriving with travellers should be confiscated and copied for their library. In fact the originals were then kept by the Pharaohs, the travellers getting the copy. The great library became a treasure house of knowledge, and Ptolemy would thus have gathered his information on Ireland from sources such as nautical charts or descriptions of journeys, which would themselves have originated from information passed between trading ships over previous centuries. We can be fairly sure, therefore, that a good knowledge of Ireland’s coastline and its major rivers was available from before the time of Christ. And that in turn argues a succession of visitors to these shores, whether traders or travellers, from a long way back.
What did they come for – trade, raid, worship or settlement? The trade route from Iberia to Ireland and Great Britain stretches back into prehistory. Ships from the Middle Sea or Mediterranean would have brought wine and salt north, exchanging it for hides, wool, grain and copper. They in turn dealt with Greek and Phoenicians, and it is quite likely that these traders from the far south also came to Ireland. From the north, the Danes brought tar and timber, seeking foodstuffs and hides in return. Later they would return in their longships, to plunder, terrorise, and finally settle.
Then there were pre-Christian pilgrims who might well have made the long journey to visit famous sacred sites like the Hill of Uisneach, using the river roads to reach them. And finally there were those seeking new lands, somewhere to settle, found a community, raise families and crops. Many came to the estuary of the Shannon.
This river has always been of strategic importance. When Oliver Cromwell ravaged the country in 1654, his principal aim was to ethnically cleanse three of the four provinces to free up the land for incoming English settlers. Any surviving landowners were given the choice of going ‘to Hell or to Connacht’; that is, die or migrate into the poorer land west of the Shannon.
Approaching from the sea, the Shannon estuary appears enormous, as indeed it is, with Co. Limerick spreading out on the southern side and Co. Clare to the north. The estuary has boasted its own river monster since ancient times, a fearsome creature called Cathaigh, which sported a horse’s mane, a whale’s tail, and death-dealing nails of iron.
Scattery Island
St Senan, patron saint of Co. Clare, is said to have defeated Cathaigh at Inis Cathaigh, or Scattery Island, which lies in the estuary just outside Kilrush. You can’t keep a good monster down, though, and she might still be spotted on stormy days if you keep your eyes open. Senan afterwards founded a monastery on the island, the ruins of which still stand, along with a round tower. Catch a ferry there from Kilrush and enjoy the peace that now envelops an islet which has seen Viking raiders, sheltering Spanish Armada ships, Tudor invaders, and even more recent British army outposts. An island in such an estuary is a key strategic location, whatever the century.
A short distance upriver from Scattery, the estuary narrows a little, and here a modern car ferry crosses between Killimer and Tarbert, reflecting thousands of years of boat travel transporting travellers from one side to the other. The name Tarbert, or Tairbeart, means a draw-boat or portage, that is, a place where boats must be pulled across land to reach another stretch of water. The ferry port is in fact on a little island just off the mainland, although this is now connected by a bridge. In early times, those crossing the estuary at this narrower point might well have had to drag their boats across the narrow island before reaching the Limerick shore. The car ferry is an ideal way to experience the space, the grandeur, the wildness of this great river as it meets the sea. Dolphins are often spotted disporting themselves around the boats (they really seem to enjoy accompanying them).
Foynes, on the Limerick side, was the first landing base in Ireland for seaplanes or flying boats from North America. Surveys were made by Charles Lindbergh in the early 1930s, and the first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland landed there in 1937. In 1942, Foynes was abandoned in favour of a new airport at Shannon. Today it houses a museum of flying boat history.
The distinctive fishtail shape of the upper estuary becomes noticeable here, the River Fergus forming the north fin, and leading on to Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clarecastle and Ennis. The southern fin of the fishtail is the Shannon itself.
The flat landscape we see today around the Shannon estuary was far more thickly wooded in antiquity. Archaeological digs, as well as occasional marked drops in sea level, have revealed the remains of coastal forests as well as trackways and wooden dwellings. The remains of woven willow fish baskets and fish traps have been found, and the medieval Annals of Innisfallen record that in 1105 ‘…there was caught by fishermen in the sea of Luimneach [Limerick] a fish of unheard-of size which measured fifteen feet, and two ingots’ weight were obtained for it.’ Was it a basking shark? A pilot whale? Or perhaps one of Cathaigh’s offspring, escaped from St Senan’s clutches?
Lough Gur, 22km (13.6 miles) south of Limerick, was probably settled by migrants arriving via the rivers Shannon and Maigue some 6,000 years ago. Today’s site has been reconstructed to give an idea of what life was like in the Stone, Bronze, Iron, Early Christian, and medieval eras. About 300m (330 yds) west of the main centre is the largest stone circle in Ireland, Grange, built around 2,200 BC. The largest of its 113 standing stones is known as Crom Dubh, after an early pagan harvest god.
Bunratty Castle, on the Clare side of the Shannon, is a tourist magnet, offering everything from medieval castle banquets and shopping to a folk museum. The Vikings got here first, though, creating a settlement in the 10th century on high ground, giving them extensive view south over the estuary. That strategic position was not lost on the Anglo-Normans either: they established a medieval town on the same spot. By 1287 this had a population of about 1,000 people, and boasted a castle, a court, a shambles (meat market), fairs, a water mill, a fish pond, and a rabbit warren. One 14th-century Irish text refers to ‘Bunratty of the wide roads, oared galleys and safe harbour.’
Basking sharks swim just under the surface of the water.
On the other side of the Shannon, lies the thriving city of Limerick. It was founded by the Vikings who discovered a handy island there on which to set up camp in 812. Today known as King’s Island, this is hardly distinguishable as a separate entity from the rest of the city when driving through, but keep a sharp eye out when heading for King John’s Castle and you will see that you have to cross the smaller River Abbey en route. The Abbey is a distributary rather than a tributary, as it forks off from the Shannon a little way upriver, and then joins it again near the old Potato Market. One might well think that the island got its name from the castle, but in fact the 2nd-century Ptolemy map mentioned earlier does show a place called Regia (i.e. King) in exactly the same spot, indicating a much earlier royal settlement. That wouldn’t be surprising, since it’s a natural river crossing and a good defensive position.
Bunratty Castle
The Viking sea-king Thormodr Helgason used this island base to range up and down the Shannon from Lough Derg to Lough Ree, snatching treasures from monasteries and abbeys along the way. The Limerick raiders, however, met their match in 937 when they clashed with their Dublin counterparts on Lough Ree and were thoroughly defeated.
Treaty Stone and King John’s Castle, Limerick city
In Norman times, the walled city on King’s Island was known as Englishtown, to distinguish it from Irishtown, which was kept firmly south of the Abbey river and thus off the island. King John’s Castle was built here in 1200 and is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind in Europe. Close by, St Mary’s Cathedral, founded in 1168, is the oldest structure in the city still in daily use. Some five centuries later, the Treaty of Limerick was signed here on a block of limestone, ending the war between the Jacobites and the Williamites.
Killaloe, upstream from Limerick, lies on the southern shore of Lough Derg and the west side of the Shannon, with Ballina directly across on the eastern shore. It’s another one of the principal crossings of this major river road and as such is rich in history and archaeological discoveries. In St Flannan’s Cathedral is a unique stone bearing both Viking runes and ogham. The runes read ‘Thorgrim carved this stone’ while the ogham records ‘A blessing upon Thorgrim.’
Killaloe, Co. Clare
Killaloe is the birthplace of the High King, Brian Boru, who ruled his kingdom from here before meeting his death at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. There are two claims for his ancestral home. The first was Kincora, or Ceann Coradh, meaning ‘head of the weir,’ a castle that stood on a hill above what is now Killaloe town. Unfortunately, nothing remains of that ancient royal stronghold. The second site, fortunately, is still with us.
The Thorgrim stone, St Flannan’s Cathedral
Brian Boru’s Fort is a circular earthwork standing on a spur of land overlooking the point where Lough Derg narrows into the Shannon. It is also known as Béal Bóru, or ‘port of the cattle tribute’, indicating that a toll was levied on goods and animals using this crossing, or alternatively, that tributes were paid here to a ruler. Whoever controlled this fording point controlled the strong trade route from the coast into the heart of the country.
A short walk down from the road leading north from Killaloe town brings you to the huge and silent tree-ringed fort which must have been a hive of activity in the days when it was a royal seat. The king would never have allowed the magnificent surrounding trees to grow to their present height though, as it would have interfered with the ability of the watchmen to keep a sharp eye out in all directions.
Brian Boru’s Fort
The ringfort actually dates from an earlier period than that of Brian Boru. More than 800 stone implements, including stone axes, hammer stones and perforated stone sinkers for lines and nets, have been found in this area, and many stone axes within the fort itself. This suggests that a Stone Age settlement occupied the site because of its position by a convenient fording point, which could also be used as a safe harbour for the small boats used for fishing. It was certainly an excellent strategic spot, and one from which the king could sally forth at speed either along Lough Derg or along the river, depending on where the trouble was brewing.
Holy Island, Lough Derg
At one time Brian Boru had a fleet of 300 ships on the Shannon, and harried the King of Tara, Mael Sechnaill, right up to his sacred site of Uisneach, modern Co. Westmeath, in pursuit of his own claim to the high kingship. He also went downriver and attacked the Viking settlement at Limerick, causing its leaders to seek refuge on Scattery Island. That didn’t help them, as Brian followed them there, even into the sanctuary of the church, and slaughtered as many as he could find. Perhaps the fact that as a child he had seen his own mother killed by invading Norsemen gave him a particular lust for revenge. A very fine 11th-century sword was found in Lough Derg in 1988, made of iron with silver and copper decoration. It could well have been used by Brian Boru himself or one of his commanders. It is now in the National Museum in Dublin.
Holy Island, or Inis Cealtra, on the same lough is an old monastic site with a round tower, many church ruins, a sacred well, and a graveyard dating back to the 8th century. There is also a bargaining or covenanting stone, where marriages or bargains could be agreed. It is likely that this islet was already a sacred site in pagan times, which encouraged the incoming Christian religion to found a centre of their own here.
The Irish name for Nenagh, a few km to the east of Lough Derg, is An t’Aonach, or The Fair. Since it lies on the River Nenagh, which flows into the lough and thus connects to both the north and the south by river road, such a location would have been a natural choice for traders, eventually leading to the establishment of a town.
At the northern end of Lough Derg lies Portumna (‘the landing place of the oak’), with a long history of ferries and bridges dating back at least to medieval times. Hayes Island in the middle of the river provides a natural halfway landing between counties Tipperary and Galway. The present bridge, opened in 1911, had a swing section (the largest of its kind in Europe) to allow ships up and down river, but this has since been replaced.
Dominating the town is Portumna Castle, a magnificent fortified house, built by Richard de Burgo, 4th Earl of Clanricarde, at the beginning of the 17th century. Without parallel in Ireland at the time for its splendour, it is said to have cost £10,000; this is difficult to calculate in today’s terms, but it’s certainly close to £30m (€34m). The family lived here for generations until the house was severely damaged by fire in 1826. Just over a century later, Princess Mary (daughter of George V) visited the house with her husband, Viscount Lascelles (later Earl of Harewood), who had inherited the property from the last Earl of Clanricarde. They considered restoring the house but the plan never materialised. Today, though, much of the gardens have been brought back to their former grandeur, as well as the ground floor of the house itself, and both are open to the public.
Portumna Castle, Co. Galway
In striking contrast to Portumna Castle is the old Portumna Workhouse, opened in 1850 to house 600 inhabitants in gaunt grey buildings surrounding a central square. Dreaded by the poor but a last resort before starvation, it was a harsh place where families were separated on arrival. Today, when few young people realise that such a place could ever have existed, it is salutary to visit Ireland’s only Workhouse Centre, housed in the original Portumna building on St Brigid’s Road. This has been restored to the stark conditions that faced those who had lost their homes and land through inability to pay rent to the landlords.
In an older Ireland, matters were handled more courteously. Under the traditional Brehon Laws, the wealthy had a duty to take care of the sick and the poor, and to welcome visitors. When Christianity came to Ireland, monasteries and abbeys took on the role of caring, as well as providing food and shelter for travellers. Someone journeying up or down the Shannon in medieval times could be sure of finding board and lodging along the way.
Portumna Workhouse
Next upstream is the river port of Banagher. Many of the travellers passing through here were pilgrims, heading for Clonfert or Clonmacnoise, but there would also have been constantly feuding forces from Leinster, Munster or Connacht, all of whose boundaries meet in this region. In the 16th century, English forces sailed up the Shannon to seize Banagher for themselves, and acquire the advantages of a good crossing point. An early bridge built in 1049 was replaced by a stone structure in 1685. A broken arch can still be seen below the modern structure that carries traffic across the Shannon today.
Wool contributed largely to Banagher’s prosperity up to the 17th century, but severe restrictions were placed on this trade in 1699 by an England concerned for any risk to its own wool industry. The export of grain, however, continued. The novelist Anthony Trollope came here in 1841 to work for the post office, and remained three years, writing his first two novels in Banagher. Charlotte Brontë came here too: she had married her father’s curate, and they were making a honeymoon visit to his relatives in the town.
About 20km (12.5 miles) to the east of Banagher lies Lough Boora. It might hardly seem linked to the Shannon, but in fact it is a remnant of a time when the river and its lakes covered a larger area than they do today. Excavations in 1977 revealed a Mesolithic settlement at Boora, dating to around 6,800 BC. Previously it had been assumed that early settlement was always near the coast, migration into the centre of Ireland taking a lot longer. Now we know that intrepid explorers were paddling well up the Shannon and its tributaries about 3,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Banagher lies at the centre of a very special area known as the Shannon Callows, which stretches from Portumna up to Athlone, between Lough Derg and Lough Ree. Callows are wet grasslands or meadows that lie along the floodplains of large rivers, and those on the Shannon are classified as a special area of conservation. Many species of birds occur here, the rarest and best-loved being the endangered corncrake.
Shannon Callows
Shannonbridge is noted chiefly for its splendid 18th-century bridge as well as a fort built in fear of a Napoleonic invasion via the river. The delightfully named island of Swimming Place of Two Birds, or Snámh Dá Éan, lies upriver between Shannonbridge and Clonmacnoise. At this ancient fording place, St Patrick is said to have crossed into Connacht. Later the Normans built the Motte of Clonburren on the west bank, close to where an early Christian nunnery already stood. In fact, when you look at the Shannon, it is notable how many islands there actually are in the river, and how often these are old fording places across an otherwise wide and deep stretch of water.
Clonmacnoise, poised on the river bank, can seem not quite of this world with its ruined churches, spires and carved crosses. Founded around 550 by St Ciaran, it soon grew to prominence because of its location at the crossroads of two ancient routes: the Shannon and a trackway known as the Eiscir Riada, which we will meet in the next chapter. The Christian settlement probably grew up over an earlier centre here, since both the river and the track were known in ancient times, long before the new religion came from the East.
The bridge that gives Shannonbridge village its name
It wasn’t just pilgrims that visited Clonmacnoise. Waves of raiders attacked it over the centuries, and not always Vikings. Of eighty documented raids, seven were perpetrated by the Vikings, twenty-seven by the Irish themselves, six by the Normans, and a surprising forty by the English. (The new colonists were anxious to hold this great crossroads for themselves, given the possibility of attack from any direction, and their distinct lack of popularity with the resident population.)
Beyond Clonmacnoise, Athlone is the only crossing point before Lough Ree. The busy town (Átha Luain, ‘the town of Luain’s Ford’) wouldn’t exist if it had not possessed a place where the river could be crossed safely. This was in use at least since the Bronze Age.
Turlough O’Connor, then king of Connacht, built a bridge here in the 11th century, and by the 12th century there was a fort to defend it. Later came a Norman motte and bailey, superseded in its turn by the English-built 13th-century Athlone Castle, which still stands today. The castle was a Jacobite stronghold during several savage sieges of the town. De Vere’s stirring poem immortalises the exploits of Patrick Sarsfield and the supporters of King James II, who were determined to cut the all-important bridge as they retreated into Connacht.
Athlone Castle
‘O, who for Erin will strike a stroke,
Who hurl yon planks where the waters roar?’
Six warriors forth from their comrades broke,
And flung them upon that bridge once more.
Again at the rocking planks they dashed;
And four dropped dead, and two remained;
The huge beams groaned, and the arch down-crashed,
Two stalwart swimmers the margin gained.
St Ruth in his stirrups stood up, and cried,
‘I have seen no deed like that in France!’
With a toss of his head Sarsfield replied,
‘They had luck, the dogs! ’Twas a merry chance!’
There is a pub in Athlone that was already old when the Jacobites faced the Williamites across the Shannon. Luain’s Inn, or, as it is more familiarly known, Sean’s Bar, dates, unbelievably, from around 900. When it was being renovated in the 1970s, the walls were found to be the genuine wattle-and-daub of that period. It is said that Luain, the first owner, would guide people across the ford, thus giving his name to the town in perpetuity, further evidence that settlement always grows up around such a crossing. There is a record of every single owner of the pub since then, including pop singer Boy George, who took a brief fancy to it in the 1980s. The premises proudly holds the title of Oldest Pub in Ireland in the Guinness Book of Records, and is aiming to seize the record for Oldest Pub in the World. It’s not often you can sit over a peaceful drink in a hostelry that dates back more than a thousand years. As first Normans, then Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians and Victorians, took over power in the country, and war after war was fought across Europe, this venerable inn remained virtually unchanged, and travellers gratefully quaffed its ale, before making the crossing of the Shannon on their way east or west.
Now the Shannon widens into the vast expanse of Lough Ree, with Leinster to the east and Connacht to the west. One of the many islands scattered throughout the lake is known as Inchcleraun. It had a monastery in early Christian times and still contains the ruins of several old churches. Some legends say this is where Queen Maeve was killed, although other stories insist that she never died but still lives on in the Otherworld. The Viking Turgesius had a ringfort here too. Lough Ree was ideal for the Northern raiders, as they always preferred islands on open stretches of water with good views in every direction. No fewer than five hoards of Viking treasure have been found in this lough, including the largest known of gold ornaments, on Hare Island, weighing 10kg (22lbs).
Another concentration of Viking hoards was found around Lough Ennell, to the east of Lough Ree, and thought to have formed part of the larger lake in ancient times. Of the six collections found, five were of silver ingots with one, the Carrick Hoard, containing 60 ingots, weighing over 30kg, the largest of its kind ever found here. Lough Ennell is on the Brosna, a tributary of the Shannon. Turgesius, who had his ringfort on Lough Ree, is said to have drowned in Lough Owel, the source of the Brosna, just above Lough Ennell. It is quite likely that the raider traders also linked into Loughs Derravaragh, Sheelin and Gowra, above Owel, either by river or by portage, i.e. pulling their boats across short stretches of land between waterways.
