Pre- Christian Ireland and Inculturation
Leaving Certificate Religious Education Section I Religion: The Irish Experience
Part 3 Christianity in Ireland
Topic 3.1 The coming of Patrick
Topic / Description of content / Outcomes3.1 The coming of Patrick /
- ….
- the inculturation of Christianity in Ireland
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- ….
- give two examples of the inculturation of Christianity in Ireland
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- ….
Leaving Certificate R.E. Syllabus p91
Please note that the following article is background information only on this topic. It in no way constitutes a sample or exemplary answer on this topic.
The Cult of the Ancestors
‘The early agricultural peoples combined fertility rites with the cult of the dead. They were, in fact, two aspects of one religion – expressions of the hopes and anxieties of the community. The world seemed full of power, everywhere would be found signs of the life forced, manifest in all living creatures, both animal and vegetable – in the heavens, in the waters and in the mysterious events of disease, death and decay. These forces could be temporarily localised in some person or place, but ancient men were not sufficiently self-conscious to think of them as residing in individuals as such. The community was not merely composed of the living but of the ancestors as well. Life on earth was a temporary exile from the true, undifferentiated, group-life somewhere beyond. The ancestors, the custodians of the source of life, were the reservoir of power and the vitality, the source whence flowed all the forces of vigour, sustenance and growth. Hence, they were not only departed souls but still active, the keepers of life and fortune. Whatever happened, whether for good or evil, ultimately derived from them. The sprouting of the corn, the increase of the herds, potency in men, success in hunting or war, were all manifestations of their power and approval. Hence the place where the ancestors dwelt was the most holy spot in the world. From it flowed the well being of the group. Without the tomb or the cemetery, life on earth would be miserable, perhaps impossible. They were a collective concept without individual names’.
R.T. Rundle Clark, ‘Myth and Symbol in ancient Egypt’, 1959, p119
The cult of the ancestors among African peoples can be seen in the Liturgy of the Mass in the Zaire rite:
‘Brothers and sisters, we who are living on earth are not the only followers of Christ; many have already left this world and are now with god. But together with them, we make up one great family. Let us join ourselves to them, and especially to the saints, so that this sacrifice may gather us all together into one body. And you our ancestors, be with us, you who have served God with a good conscience be with us. Here is our prayer’.
M. Thurian and G. Wainwright, ‘Baptism and Eucharist: Ecumenical Convergence in Celebration’, 1983, p205
In Eucharistic Prayer 1 we read:
‘For ourselves, too, we ask some share in the fellowship of your apostles and martyrs, with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, (Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia) and all the saints’.
In this prayer we see that the faithful Christians who have died and the saints in heaven are the ancestors – like Abraham ‘our father in faith’ in the Roman Catholic Canon.
On 1st November each year the Christian calendar marks the feast of All Saints – clearly an adaptation or Christian equivalent of the pre-historic cult of the ancestors. The feast of All Saints arose from the inculturation of the Celtic feast of Samhain in which the barriers between the divine world of the Tuatha Dé Danann and humans were broken down through an intermingling of the two races. Yet the distinction between the dead – the ancestors and the Tuatha Dé Danann or gods and goddesses of Ireland – is a fine one. This is hinted at in the feast of All Souls on 2nd November. In the Catholic tradition purgatory is a part of the otherworld like as is heaven and hell.
In relation to the cult of the ancestors there also exists a rite for the consecration of a church. In the Pontificale Romanum the relics of the saints were held in a building which was separate from the church. On the night before the consecration of the church a vigil took place to honour the saints. On the next day when the ‘sepulchre’ or cavity in the altar of the new church was ready, the relics were taken from the separate building and buried in the new sepulchre. This was done by way of a solemn procession. Four priests carried the enclosed relics on their shoulders and they completed a circular tour of the new church externally. Also in the procession were the bishop and the faithful people, who sang Kyrie eleison, repeatedly. During the procession the following antiphon was sung (in Latin): “Arise, O Saints of God, from your dwelling place, bless these places, bless the population and preserve us sinners in peace”. This again is evidence of the close and sacred relationship between the faithful living and the blessed dead. In the early Christian period churches were often built on the burial sites of the martyrs. With the spread of Christianity, churches were built in places where there were no martyrs so pieces of the bones of martyrs were instead collected and inserted into the altar of the local church. Ó Nualláin, 1984, p8-9[1] wonders if such dedications were in the same manner as the cremated remains in the stone circles at Drombeg, Bohonagh, Reanascreena, in Cork and in Cashelkeelty, Co. Kerry. Soil-filled pits were also found in the stone circles of Bohonagh and Reanascreena. Perhaps this was a sample of rich soil – a reminder of rich fertile land that the ancient worshippers desired, land that would provide many fruitful harvests and healthy cattle. There seems to be an understanding that the ancestors could help the people still living and the soil sample was a reminder of this. Similarly, Christians reminded the saints whose relics were contained in the church altars that they were to sanctify the place, to bless the faithful people and to intercede for them with Christ.
Thus, there appears an unbroken and long tradition of the cult of the ancestors from the Neolithic era to Roman Catholicism today. Throughout rural Ireland we notice the remains of many ancient graveyards, enclosed by a circular wall of earth or stone. Inside is visible a mound of earth in the centre, indicating the large numbers of burials there. In the centre lies the ruins of a medieval church, probably not the first to built there. This ideal situation indicates the traditional closeness of the living and the dead. On an important occasion, the Sunday liturgy, the barriers between the living and the dead were broken down. They living and dead formed one united community. This also seems to have happened at the great Celtic festivals of Lughnasa and Samhain, when celebrated at the tombs of the ancestors. Today, many graveyards are situated many kilometres away from the site of the church, creating a distance and disunity between the visible reminder of the worlds of the living and the dead.
The presence of yew trees in many ancient graveyards is perhaps not a co-incidence. Druids liked to use wood from the yew tree to make their wands. The yew tree is a long-lived type, and when cut down can arise again similar to the way in which the snake sloughs its skin and arises as a reborn snake. It raises the question as to the possibility that perhaps these graveyard yews were first planted by the druids.
The landscape of Ireland is full of traces of the ‘lingering footmarks of man’s quest for the divine from the most remote past to the present day’[2]. This phenomenon is evidenced in the many megalithic tombs dispersed around the country, the stone circles, the rows of standing stones and single pillars, the earthen raths and liosanna, the natural formations given a religious significance such as Dhá Chíoch Dhanann (The Paps) near Killarney, the sacred lakes, rivers, wells and trees, the Christian buildings such as monasteries and churches, graveyards and pilgrimage sites. It is worth remembering that for most of our time on earth, human beings have been pagan. Sometimes Christians forget this phenomenon, and are inclined to look down on ‘paganism’. Indeed one could argue that Jesus himself was influences by paganism. It seems that he could read and write – a practice invented by the pagans. He wore clothes – again a pagan practice of weaving and making cloth from sheep’s wool. We know that Jesus visited the synagogue and the Temple in Jerusalem; but architecture was also a pagan invention. Therefore, Jesus himself made use of much of the cultural heritage of his time as it had come to evolve from pagan times.
Gods and Goddesses of Ireland
The Celts had a particular interest in the fertility of the land, preserving the order of the universe and with peace and prosperity. The goddess Éire, who gives her name to Ireland, is the land of Ireland. She is the Great Mother, the nourishing mother of people in Ireland, responsible for the growth of grass, the ripening of corn and the growth of apples on trees, fish in the rivers etc. The legend ‘Leabhar Gabhála Éireann tells how at Sliabh Mis in Kerry the Clann Mhíle met the goddess Banbha of the mystic race of the Tuatha Dé Danann. After speaking to her she agreed that they could take possession of the land if it were called her name. In Bardic poetry Ireland is often referred to as ‘Banbha’. Clann Mhíle then journeyed to Sliabh Eibhleann on the Limerick-Tipperary border. There they met the goddess Fodhla. She also agreed to let them have the country if it was called after her name. They agreed. In Bardic poetry Ireland is also known therefore as Fodhla. The clan then journeyed to the hill of Uisneach where they met Ēire. She welcomed them and said that Éire would be the main name of the country for ever.
The three husbands of the goddesses (Mac Coill, Mac Céacht and Mac Gréine) organised a battle between the Tuatha Dé Danann and Clann Mhíle (Celtic invaders) at Taitleann in Co. Meath. The battle resulted in the division of the country between the supernatural Tuatha Dé Danann and the human Celts, Clann Mhíle. As a way of dividing the country between them the humans took the surface of the land and the Tuatha Dé Danann descended underground into the hollow hills and megalithic sites throughout Ireland. The supernatural life of the Tuatha Dé Danann was to continue in the underground in sites such as Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange), Sliabh na mBan, Sí Mór, Sí Beag, Cnoc Áine, Lough Gur, Cnoc Sí Úna and Carraig Chlíona. The Tuatha Dé Danann are usually invisible but on occasions can make themselves visible. Examples of this are when people claim to hear the ‘bean sí’ (the woman of the hollow hill) or they claim to see her combing her long red hair. In Irish folk tradition it is seen as unlucky to pick up a comb from the wayside since it might be the property of a bean sí who dropped it on her way to wail at the death of someone descended from Gaelic or Norman aristocracy. The Tuatha Dé Danann are often called the ‘aos sí’ (inhabitants of the sacred hill/site).
Soon after the Tuatha Dé Danann went underground they caused the harvest and milt to fail. Humans were then in a position where they had to humbly go and ask the Tuatha Dé Danann to restore the crops. Their king, Daghdha, graciously agreed to restore the land’s fertility. The leadership of the Tuatha Dé Danann is later passed on to Manannán Mac Lir (who gives his name to the Isle of Man). He divides the sí (supernatural mansions) among the princes of the Tuatha Dé Danann. For instance, Bodhbh Dearg takes over the fairy mansion of the Sí mBuidhbh near Lough Derg on the river Shannon. Fionnbharr is given Sí Meadha in Co. Galway. Midhir gets Sí Truim near Slane. As a result the supernatural race of the Tuatha Dé Danann are spread throughout the country, living in the hollow hills still venerated as sacred places after thousands of years.
The Tuatha Dé Danann possess three great treasures:
- The Faeth Fiadha – the supernatural cloak of invisibility. They can on occasion make themselves visible to humans if they wish.
- Flea Ghoibhneann – the supernatural drink from the blacksmith god Goibniu. This allowed the Tuatha Dé Danann to avoid death and old age.
- Muca Mhanannáin – the pigs of Manannán Mac Lir which provided endless food. Pigs that were killed and cooked today would be alive again tomorrow.
Thus in Ireland there exists the tradition of two population groups: the human population living on the land surface, and the supernatural, divine, immortal, usually invisible Tuatha Dé Danann living in the hollow hills and ancient monuments. A constant interchange exists between these two groups. The divine race of the Tuatha Dé Danann controls land fertility. The humans on the land surface acknowledge this by making offerings to them. If the offerings are not made, the Tuatha Dé Danann has the power to create bad harvests, crop failure and other land misfortunes. The offerings made by humans are of two types: formal and informal. Formal offerings included practices such as burying a sheaf of corn on a Lúnasa Hill, killing a cock and sprinkling its blood on a threshold and four corners of the house on St. Martin’s Eve (11 November), leaving cakes at sacred sites during sacred times (e.g. Samhain, Imbolc, Belataine Lúnasa). Informal offerings included the following: when milking a cow, the first drops of milk are poured onto the ground, marking the side of the cow with a sign of the cross made by the thumb dipped in milk, the first milk of a newly-calved cow is poured out at a sacred tree, lios or other sacred site, three potatoes taken from the lunchtime pot are laid aside for the Tuatha Dé Danann. Iron was used as a protector from the harm of the Tuatha Dé Danann – for example, the horseshoe over the door or the thongs in the cradle. The creidheamh sí included many other observances: the bean sí who wails at the death of a member of the Gaelic aristocracy, the traditions of skill in music and medicine given to humans by the Tuatha Dé Danann, stories of supernatural animals coming from the sea, the four Celtic feasts of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lúnasa which celebrated the yearly life-cycle of the goddess. The early founders of Christianity in Ireland, such as Colm Cille, had to contend with a sophisticated and mythical religions which was firmly integrated into the socio-political system in Ireland. The underground race of the Tuatha Dé Danann exerted huge power over the lives of people on the land, since the Tuatha Dé Danann controlled land fertility. They had to be placated by offerings such as a loaf laid at the foot of a sí and they required huge respect of their sacred sites which were not to be tampered with by humans. This has meant that many sacred sites have been preserved to this day. However, the decline of the fairy faith (creideamh sí) has also led to much destruction of such sites.
The fairy faith: This was a complex religious system, a fertility cult concerned with the production of food, health, good harvests, children, large herds of cattle, sheep and pigs, and protection. Since food and children were at the heart of this faith it represented the survival of individuals and the survival of the human race. The creideamh sí was concerned with practical issues: survival, the secrets of nature and herbs to provide good health, with healthy laws to produce a stable society. It was seen as extremely important to placate the Tuatha Dé Danann and the goddess since people feared a succession of bad harvests and their ultimate destruction. Good relations with the divine Tuatha Dé Danann secured land fertility as well as human and agricultural stock. The Tuatha Dé Danann could move between worlds and become involved in the personal affairs of people. There was a constant meeting and blending of the two populations realms: the human and the supernatural. It seems that Christianity co-existed with the creideamh sí. Some assimilation probably occurred, which is not unusual when one religion replaces another and they establish an understanding of each other.
The Gods and the power of nature: In a sense the ancient gods and goddesses might be explained as elemental divinities, the personifications of the forces of nature. One might imagine the High King at the Hill of Tara looking over the plains of Éire, and discerning there the body of the goddess in her fruitfulness and variety making the grass grow and the corn ripen, producing acorns and apples on the trees. The image of the goddess could also be discerned in the river Boyne, An Bhó Fhinn (white cow) – symbol of fertility, the giver of salmon. The god Manannán Mac Lir could be discerned in the raging sea crashing against the strand, charging his chariot. The Tuatha Dé Danann regularly abducted people, especially on the feast of Samhain (31st October) when the invisible barriers between this world and the world of the supernatural was broken down. This allowed the Tuatha Dé Danann to wander into the human world and humans could be drawn into the divine sphere. The Christian Church could not ignore the huge importance attached by the Celts to the feast of Samhain. It is no coincidence, and is an example of inculturation, how the feasts of All Saints and All Souls replace Samhain and are deeply influenced by it.