Before the famous Greek geographer Pytheas of Massilia (c. 325 BC) discovered Thule several centuries prior to the Common Era, and before the Viking explorer Naddoður cast his eyes on what we know as Iceland in the ninth century, there was Ireland. Preceding the voyage of Erik Thorvaldsson, better known as Erik the Red (circa 950 AD – circa 1003 AD), to Greenland, and earlier than Columbus’s landing on Guanahani (San Salvador) in the Bahamas, Ireland was known to the world as Hibernia. Ireland (née Hibernia, meaning “the land of winter”) was thought to be the end of the known world, the point farthest west. In fact, a sliver of Portugal around Cabo da Roca (9°29’56.44” W) claims that honor, but who back then knew this? Staring at the sea from the lofty summits of the Cliffs of Moher was akin to staring into infinity.
Popular Superstitions
Until Columbus, most people thought the world was flat. And even if it was disc-like, as some hypothesized, it was still flat. If you ventured too far, you would fall off. Or, before reaching the edge of the world, you would be attacked by frightful sea monsters, waterspouts, or you would run out of provisions before sighting land. Your crew might mutiny in some bloodlust, mindless rage. Your ship would sink, and you would perish, and no one would ever learn of your fate. You would not live to rue the day you left dry land simply because you would not live.
Sailors throughout human history have been known to be superstitious. Author Christine Brito explains how legends of fearful sea creatures begin:
“A natural phenomenon that is not understood, or not well understood, may lead to the creation of monsters and fantastic beings. For the great majority of human history, it was not possible to stop or slow the moment of natural observation. It was impossible to freeze time or stop the motion of the observed animal, particularly if it moved quickly (both in the sea and on land) or was well camouflaged in its habitat, or under severe climatic or oceanographic conditions. A glimpse did not allow the capture of the full essence of the animal. The speed of events in nature overcame the mental record of the occurrence, especially if the animal or its environment were not known. It was easy to add a part of a fish to a whale or a mermaid’s tale to a manatee or incorporate fins or limbs where they did not exist.”
Some of the more imaginative and ferocious creatures of the sea back then included the Kraken, sea serpents, the Scylla and Charybdis mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, Leviathan, giant squid, mermaids, and sirens. Ulysses, incidentally, had heard of the sirens’ song, which could drive a man mad. So he ordered his crew to lash him to the mast when they passed near the sirens. His crew was ordered to put wax in their ears so while he could hear the singing, his crew could not. But was Ulysses aware of a prophecy from the Oracle that said if any man slipped by the sirens, the creatures would be turned to stone, even as Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt? Today, the waters off the Italian city of Sorrento (near Naples) are said to contain the sirens’ remains. But the superstitions that haunted the sailors were likewise known to the mapmakers. They filled in the unknown parts of their charts with the words of warning: “Here be dragons.”
Cardinal Points
When thinking of compass points, we associate particular attributions with certain cardinal directions. East, for example, is thought to represent birth, life, and, of course, a new day. Hence, medieval cathedrals were generally built with the entrance to the structures facing west and the altar on the east side so that people would face east even as they prayed. The country of Japan has historically been known as the Land of the Rising Sun (Nippon), which is evident from its national flag. The sun is particularly important in Shintoism and Buddhism as well, both of which serve to reinforce the national myths. The direction west, however, suggests autumn, perhaps death and darkness as well, because the light of the sinking sun appears to be extinguished by the ocean. Yet, there is a certain lure of the west beyond the hope and economic rewards of trade routes to the Orient and the notion of Manifest Destiny.
Early maps reveal a certain progression of thought by their makers. They evolved much as a child develops a sense of identity. Infants initially focus on their mouths and only later become more aware of their extremities. So, it would not be unusual for the ancient Greeks to produce a map of their known world with Athens as the center or for the Romans to place Rome prominently on their maps. Afterwards, the Greeks used a “core-periphery” approach, where the center of the map included mature, accomplished civilizations, while savage, uncivilized barbarians were relegated to the outer margins of the map along with monstrous creatures and misshapen humans. The ocean was thought to be a river that circled the dry lands of the planet and was populated with sea monsters and leviathans, as mentioned above.
Elysium and Avalon
Thus, Homer located the Elysian Fields (or Elysium), which was the realm of the Blessed Dead, on the western edge of the Earth by the stream of Oceanos, as did the Greek poet Hesiod. While the Greeks and Romans might fear death, even as we might, the mythological lands to the west of Ireland held the promise of a better eternal life. Avalon, the Celtic equivalent of Elysium, where Arthur was taken when mortally wounded by his son Mordred, was said by some sources to be located west of Ireland, as Lope Garcia de Salazar writes in his translation of Du Graal (Percival and the Holy Grail). Not all authorities agree, however.
The Celts
The Celts were not the first to cross the Irish Sea, but they played an important role in the history of Ireland. The Celts (aka the Gaels) were first mentioned in writings by the Greeks around 500 BC, using the term Keltoi (or alternately Keltai or Galatai). The Romans later referred to them as Celti, Celtae, and Galli. The Celts were not the indigenous inhabitants of Ireland, but they quickly subdued anyone they encountered as they moved into the British Isles. Perhaps the Romans drove them out of Britain and across the Irish Sea? They were truly fierce and as barbaric as the Greeks might have predicted, and they fought naked. Strabo, writing in the first century BC, echoes the disdain that the more civilized nations had for the inhabitants of Ireland/Hibernia, claiming that they tolerated cannibalism, incest, and homosexuality (Geography § 4.4.6). Diodorus Siculus of the first century BC repeats this accusation in part, though neither had firsthand knowledge.
The Celts may have originated in Central Europe, in the general area of the headwaters of the Danube River. They were not a distinct ethnic group but rather a collection of tribes. Though distinct from each other, the tribes had a somewhat similar basis for language, religion, and culture (some say the Danube River was named for the goddess Danu [cf. Tuatha Dé Danann], though the word also exists in Scythian, where it means “river”). The Celts eventually migrated to England and from there to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. With them, they brought their Gaeilge as a language, and Irish Gaelic became the predominant language in Eire before it was co-opted by English over the past century.
Is there any relevance anymore to the term “Celtic?” Perhaps only in academia. It is only there that you find references to the extinct Neanderthals. I joined a DNA service a few years ago similar to Ancestry.com, and my DNA showed more than the usual amounts of vestigial Neanderthal genes. I was fairly stunned to learn that, but my wife said it was no surprise to her. I just grunted my reply and scratched.
The Roman Empire
Rome conquered England and Wales early on and tried to subdue Scotland without success on three different occasions. They perhaps intended to invade Ireland; Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman general who ruled England in the first century AD and was the father-in-law of the famous historian Tacitus, thought he could conquer Ireland with a single legion, but he never tried. Julius Caesar, Claudius, and Hadrian were just a few rulers of Rome who visited Britain, though they did not step foot in Ireland. The fact that England came under the administration of Rome while Ireland did not created lasting differences between the two countries, including how Catholicism was implemented.
The Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher consist of sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Strata are clearly visible in the rock face. The shale contains ammonoid and crinoid fossils, which indicate that the entire structure was submerged at some point in time.
There are many signs at the Cliffs warning people away from the edge because the sandstone layer is unstable and subject to collapse. Additionally, the Cliffs are being undermined, in some sense, by the action of waves as they crash into the base of the structure. Tragically, there have been suicides as well as possible accidents that take place at the Cliffs, the highest elevation of which is 700 feet above the surface of the restless sea, where the waves dash into the rocks at the cliff’s base. According to one source:
“Overall, 66 deaths occurred on or at the base of the Cliffs of Moher during the period from 1993 through August 2017. In total, 18 (27.3%) of the victims were international visitors to Ireland, including 11 males (61.1%)”.
Myths and Legends
The Cliffs of Moher are also steeped in legend, as is much of Ireland. For example, fleeing the rising influence of Christianity in Ireland, a number of the indigenous deities went into hiding, only to eventually emerge as foals who perished while racing across the summit of the Cliffs.
Moher also has an account of a mermaid in its history. She was spotted out of the water, and a local man engaged her in conversation. As she prepared to leave to return to the sea, the man snatched her magical cloak from her, and without it, she was powerless to return to her aquatic form. He forced her to marry him, and she bore him children, but all the while she searched for her cloak until she found it one day while her husband was away. When her husband returned, she and the cloak had forever disappeared.
There are other myths as well, dealing with witches and lost cities. You can learn about these by visiting the official site here.
Ireland is no longer considered to be the end of the world, but the mystery and fascination of that country continue to enchant us all.
Footnotes
1Oceanus was originally considered to be a titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia. Later it became a place synonymous with the great river (ocean) surrounding the known world.
2“The mean age of travellers (n = 17) was 34.2 years. Victims were nationals of 12 different countries, with 13 being European nationals. Most deaths occurred in summer (n = 7) or spring (n = 6), with eight deaths (44%) reported at weekends. In total, 15 victims (83.3%) had walked along the cliff path alone. A jump or fall from the cliffs was witnessed in only two cases (11.1%). Post-mortem examinations revealed multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a height. Four cases had evidence of alcohol intoxication. Suicide or open verdicts were returned in 50% (n = 9) of the cases.
Conclusions: Travelling alone to the site, purchasing one-way tickets, or depositing belongings on the clifftop support the possibility of suicidal intent, while being intoxicated could be a co-factor in suicidal jumps or support the possibility of an accidental fall. This knowledge could help to identify travellers at the greatest risk of death at cliffs.”
