Ireland Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the Irish people we are today. The Celts named the country É
riu
, or as it is known today, Erin, and Ireland is now the only remaining independent Celtic nation in the world.
    As well as iron tools and weapons, the Celts brought to Ireland a certain style in decoration called the La Tène style. It is named after a place in Switzerland where a great many objects in that style were found. The Celts were master-craftsmen in metal and leather, and especially in gold. They wore gold neck decorations, and also rings and bracelets, some of which were worn around the ankle. They painted and engraved designs on the objects they made, but we do not understand what these designs mean. They were also masters at carving, and carved their designs on stone. One of the best examples of their stone carving is the Turoe Stone, near Loughrea, County Galway.
    The Celts were a religious people and had many gods. They believed that these gods dwelt on mountains, and in rivers and trees and woods. Their best-known god was named Lug. The festival of Lughnasa was held in his honour on the first day of August every year. Today, the Irish name for August is still Lughnasa, and is a link back to our ancient ancestors.
    The Celts were what we call pagans, and they had priests who were known as druids. A stone carving of druids found in France shows two tall men in long robes, and with long hair and beards. One is wearing a headdress of flowers and leaves and is carrying a ceremonial mace. The druids were revered and no doubt feared, for ordinary people believed they had magical powers. People in those ancient times probably danced and chanted around fires to the beat of drums, and played simple music on whistles made of hollow bones. They also had bronze horns, which were so elaborate that they were almost certainly played only on important religious or ceremonial occasions. The largest collection of Celtic horns in the world has been found in Ireland. When they were first found no one knew how to play them. But recently, people have learned how to play them.
    These religious celebrations were held at special times of the year. The most important of these times were the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices. These dates mark specific points in the earth’s orbit around the sun, and are closely associated with the seasons. The equinoxes mark the two times when there are equal hours of daylight and darkness. The summer solstice marks the time when the days begin to grow shorter and darker, and the winter solstice when the days begin to grow longer and brighter.
    In ancient times a plentiful supply of food depended on the weather. There were no shops back then; people had to grow enough food to feed themselves. They also had to store sufficient food for the winter when no crops could be grown, so knowledge of the seasons was of immense importance. They had to know when was the best time to sow seeds, when to gather the crops and when to start preserving food for the winter.
    There were no fridges or freezers in those times either, so preserving food was vital. Meat would have been smoked and dried to preserve it. Edible roots would be preserved in pits covered with earth. Fungi and other edible roots would be dried and hung up in a cool, dark place. When I was growing up on a small farm, we still used these methods of preserving meat and vegetables over the winter.
    The winter, as you know, is a dark, cold time with the days getting colder and darker until the winter solstice on 21 December. From then on, the days begin to grow longer and warmer, with the promise of spring. So 21 December was a very important day for those ancient Irish people. On that day they would have held religious ceremonies to give thanks to their gods that they had survived the dark winter and could now look forward to the coming spring. They would also have had great celebrations with feasting and music and dancing.
    Can you imagine one of those