EMAIN MACHA

COUNTY ARMAGH, IRELAND

A round enclosure of 15 acres (6 hectares), on a prominent drumlin ridge just a mile (1.6km) west of the city of Armagh. It is known today as Navan Fort. It was, according to historical tradition and Irish mythology, the legendary capital of the

Ulaidh: the tribe who gave their name to the province of Ulster.

The large, circular enclosure is 820 feet (250m) in diameter and surrounded by a ditch and a bank. Significantly, the ditch is inside the bank, which shows that the earthworks were not defensive but had a ritual function. This is the same layout that is seen in the Neolithic henges of western Britain, and it may be helpful to regard Emain Macha as a very large (but very late) henge, with correspondingly high status. The reference back to ancient practice is significant; ceremonies often include extremely archaic elements.

Inside the large enclosure, off-center to the north-west, is an earthen mound 130 feet (40m) in diameter and 20 feet (6m) high. To the south-east is a plowed-down ring-shaped monument about 100 feet (30m) in diameter.

The large mound covers the site of a roundhouse that was standing from about 350 BC to the late second century AD and was rebuilt nine times. After the final roundhouse, a new structure was laid out, a huge array of concentric posts 130 feet (40m) in diameter, with an entrance toward the west. The final act in the building of this monument was the raising of an enormous post 43 feet (13m) tall at the center. This happened in 94 BC. Then, in what seem to have been ritual deposition ceremonies, a cairn of stone, clay, and turf was built up around the internal posts, producing a huge mound. The outside timbers were deliberately set on fire and the building as a whole was covered in a turf mound, making something that looked like a Neolithic passage grave. The surrounding bank and ditch were created at the same time.

The whole sequence of events and the architecture of the Emain Macha monument smack of Neolithic rituals from a much earlier time, around 3000 BC, including the deliberate destruction by fire. It is long-held traditions and continuities of this kind that make the idea of a very long-established Atlantic Celtic community seem plausible.

Archeology shows that the hill was in use in the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.

The low ring-shaped monument was a round timber building that was rebuilt twice over. The remains of similar but smaller buildings with hearths were found under the 130-foot (40m) mound; they were large circular dwellings inhabited 600-250 BC, and it is tempting to see them as royal palaces. In the debris from these Iron Age dwellings was the skull of a macaque, perhaps the pet monkey of an ancient Irish king.

The Annals of the Four Masters say that Emain Macha was abandoned after being burned down in AD 331. The ancient place was destroyed by the Three Collas after a battle in which they defeated Fergus Foga, King of Ulster.

In Irish legend, especially in tales of the Ulster Cycle, this is one of the most important power centers in pagan Ireland. The ancient capital of Ulster was founded by the goddess Macha, perhaps in the seventh century BC, and it became the seat of Conchobar mac Nessa. He had three houses at Emain Macha. One was the Croeb Ruad (pronounced creeve-roe), meaning “The Ruddy Branch,” which is where he had his residence; the name “Creeveroe” survives still as a local place-name. Another was the Croeb Derg, “The Red Branch,” where the king’s battle trophies were kept. The third was the Tete Brecc, “The Twinkling Hoard,” where the war-band’s weapons were kept.

Many names celebrated in Irish mythology are connected directly with Emain Macha and the Red Branch warriors: Amergin the poet, Cu Chulainn the warrior, Emer his strong-willed bride, Conall Cernach his friend, Cathbad the chief Druid, Conchobar mac Nessa, the King of Ulster, and Deirdre of the Sorrows, the most beautiful woman in Ireland.

Today there is little to see beyond a grassy mound; a great contrast to the Emain Macha of myth and legend, which is a grand and mysterious place, the capital of the Ulaidh. The archeology shows a site that was relatively simple and primitive, but with ceremonies rooted in a distant past. The name “fort” is misleading, as the place was laid out for pagan ceremonies.

Navan was threatened by the expansion of a limestone quarry in the 1980s. A Friends of Navan group was formed and a public inquiry led to quarrying being stopped; the site was to be developed for tourism. A visitor center was opened in 1991, closed in 1993 through shortage of funds then reopened on a seasonal basis in 2005. The Celtic heritage is vulnerable, and not to be taken for granted.