SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENT IN GLENDALOUGH ... - Ian Cantwell
SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENT IN GLENDALOUGH ... - Ian Cantwell SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENT IN GLENDALOUGH ... - Ian Cantwell
From around the ninth century Giendalough starts to become better documented whichbas to be seen within the political context ofa transfer ofpower from the Ui Mail tothe Vi Dunlainge 111 . The Annals of Ulster, 790, record the tour of relics of St.Coemgen and Mo-Chua moccu Lugedon l 12 .Then there is the well known quotationby Oengus ofTallaghtll3:Emain's burgh it hath vanishedSave that it's stones remainThe ruam ofthe west ofthe world's multitudinousGlendaloughIt must be noted that Tallaght was within the secular and ecclesiastical polity ofGlendalough (A Daniel was an abbot ofboth Glendalough and Tallaght in 868 114 ) so acertain amount ofbias may be expected. Since there is also evidence that royal sites ofthe Iron Age, such as Emain,bad lost their importance before the large scaleestablishment of Christianityl15 the triumphal tone should not be taken as accuratehistory. Glendalough appears to have benefited from the eel; De reform movement and a poem of the 9th century gives some idea of the conditions ascetic pilgrimsendured116:The windover the Hog's Back moansIttakes trees and laysthemlowAnd shivering monks overfrozen stonesTo the hours ofnight timegoThere are a large number of platfonn sites in the vicinity of Reefert and Temple naSkellig and recently it has been discovered that more are to be found in Derrybawn andlllMac Sbamhrain, 01'. cit pp. 70-6112Long, op.cit. p. In113ibid. p, l~ from Stob'sectitioa, p. 24, lines 193..0. Datec. 830, Mac Sbamhrain, op. cit. p. 191140 ,Dwycr P., Cell De, Dublin, 1981, p. 3311'O'Croinin, op cit p.451160 'Dwyet, op. cit. pp. 98...930
Brockagh, though their is no complete survey. Healy in one excavation 111 came to theprovisional conclusion that they were charcoal burning platforms but Long basclassifiedthem into two types, Charcoal burning platforms and hut sites ofeither stoneor wattle l 18 .Between 800 and 1,000 there is further evidence ofwoodland clearance ofoak, birchand alder with a rise of grasses and ferns. This period has to be seen as a majorexpansion phase within the valley that can be seen in the wider context of thedevelopment ofDublin as a major trading city. As recent archaeological evidence hasshown the city imported agricultural produce, especially cattle, from the hinterland119and Glendalough with its control of a significant number of paruchia would haveeconomicallybenefited. Also under its control would be the provisionofraw materials,such as horn, leather, timber, fur. A hoard ofAnglo Saxon coins 120 , deposited c. 980,reflects the fact that the Civitas was integrated into the Vikingmaritimecash economy.The foundation ofthe Parish ofSt. Kevin in Dublin city, sometime after the conversionofthe Norse kings to Christianity after 940 121, also indicateslinks with the possibilityofa Parish market. From an architectural viewpoint Scandinavian artistic influence canbe seen on the 12th century market cross 122 which is appropriate to conunerciallinks.These linkages can be seen as a counter to the perception that Vikings only raided thecivitas ofGlendalough. This is not to deny that they did but ofall recorded instances ofraiding: five were carried out by them as against sixby Irish.123117Long op, cit. p, 25 quoting Healy P. Supplementary Survey ..., unpublished, 1912, pp. 140-1118ibid. p, 26-7119McConnick F., Dairying and beefproduction in Early Christian Ireland: the faunal evidence, IrishLandscape Archaeology, Reeves-Smyth and Hamond, Oxford, 1983, p. 26112000ney R W.M., A hoard oftenth-century Anglo Saxon coins from Glendalough, J.R.S.A.l, Vol.90i1960, pp. 41-7 ..12 Fletcher, OIl. cit. pp. 380-11221..ong, op. cit. p. 175123ibid. p.11431
- Page 1 and 2: SOCIETY AND SETTLEMENTINGLENDALOUGH
- Page 3: INTRODUCTIONIn 1990, due to family
- Page 6 and 7: "Geography is a permanentfactor in
- Page 8 and 9: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI am deeply indebte
- Page 10 and 11: MEmODOLOGYIn 1996 two important wor
- Page 12 and 13: The fourth was the primary research
- Page 14 and 15: have been a tributary of the Avonmo
- Page 16 and 17: Pre-HoloceneAt the end of the perio
- Page 18 and 19: 4,6Q0-4,200BP, with an increase of
- Page 20 and 21: diagnostic ofhigh population pressu
- Page 22 and 23: Map2 Pre-Historic archaeology~. ._
- Page 24 and 25: must be careful in interpreting the
- Page 26 and 27: may be Downemore in Glassnamullen b
- Page 28 and 29: Knockadreet (Cnoc a' droichead); th
- Page 30 and 31: What is worth noting is the continu
- Page 32 and 33: include the creation ofa saintly ar
- Page 34 and 35: v1ap 4 Diffusion ofSelected Saints:
- Page 38 and 39: Glendalough: Politieal contextDurin
- Page 40 and 41: understanding medieval ideologies,
- Page 42 and 43: Glendalough: Abbey and BishoprieIn
- Page 44 and 45: low density which he explains by th
- Page 46 and 47: known how well this represents cont
- Page 48 and 49: Parish of Glendalough in the 1821.
- Page 50 and 51: What is unclear is the amount of un
- Page 53 and 54: The charters ofconfirmation to the
- Page 55 and 56: Dublin, John Cumin, was in exile 11
- Page 57 and 58: must pay for the wood 209 . This gr
- Page 59 and 60: appears to be the continuation ofth
- Page 61 and 62: 'IIIRoad to Plateau,,-- --Map 8 Cas
- Page 63 and 64: ecame Archdeacon of Glendalough and
- Page 65 and 66: obscure and even the great expert,
- Page 67 and 68: Glassnamullen was hived offfrom the
- Page 69 and 70: CHAPTER 4CONQUESTANDSECULMUSATIONPo
- Page 71 and 72: Glenmalure, but the fact that descr
- Page 73 and 74: I Map 9 Politics and Conquest - 130
- Page 75 and 76: Castlekevin under siegeThe impact o
- Page 77 and 78: transition from grain to pastoral a
- Page 79 and 80: CHAPTERSDECLINE, RESURGENCE AND EXT
- Page 81 and 82: Resurgence - The political backgrou
- Page 83 and 84: ofthe lowlandsofthe Pale andthe ber
- Page 85 and 86: which were put into execution in th
Brockagh, though their is no complete survey. Healy in one excavation 111 came to theprovisional conclusion that they were charcoal burning platforms but Long basclassifiedthem into two types, Charcoal burning platforms and hut sites ofeither stoneor wattle l 18 .Between 800 and 1,000 there is further evidence ofwoodland clearance ofoak, birchand alder with a rise of grasses and ferns. This period has to be seen as a majorexpansion phase within the valley that can be seen in the wider context of thedevelopment ofDublin as a major trading city. As recent archaeological evidence hasshown the city imported agricultural produce, especially cattle, from the hinterland119and Glendalough with its control of a significant number of paruchia would haveeconomicallybenefited. Also under its control would be the provisionofraw materials,such as horn, leather, timber, fur. A hoard ofAnglo Saxon coins 120 , deposited c. 980,reflects the fact that the Civitas was integrated into the Vikingmaritimecash economy.The foundation ofthe Parish ofSt. Kevin in Dublin city, sometime after the conversionofthe Norse kings to Christianity after 940 121, also indicateslinks with the possibilityofa Parish market. From an architectural viewpoint Scandinavian artistic influence canbe seen on the 12th century market cross 122 which is appropriate to conunerciallinks.These linkages can be seen as a counter to the perception that Vikings only raided thecivitas ofGlendalough. This is not to deny that they did but ofall recorded instances ofraiding: five were carried out by them as against sixby Irish.123117Long op, cit. p, 25 quoting Healy P. Supplementary Survey ..., unpublished, 1912, pp. 140-1118ibid. p, 26-7119McConnick F., Dairying and beefproduction in Early Christian Ireland: the faunal evidence, IrishLandscape Archaeology, Reeves-Smyth and Hamond, Oxford, 1983, p. 26112000ney R W.M., A hoard oftenth-century Anglo Saxon coins from Glendalough, J.R.S.A.l, Vol.90i1960, pp. 41-7 ..12 Fletcher, OIl. cit. pp. 380-11221..ong, op. cit. p. 175123ibid. p.11431
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