the grianÁn of aileach
STONE TEMPLE OF THE SUN
IRELANDS NEOLITHIC ARTWORK ALIGNED TO EQUINOX SUNRISE
A DESCRIPTION BY MICHAEL O'CALLAGHAN
The GRIANÁN OF AILEACH is the remains of very ancient astronomically-designed megalithic cairn on the summit of the hill of Greenán at the Southern neck of the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland. The monument comprises a 6th century stone ringfort encircled by three earthwork enclosures, which incorporate the remains of a far larger and more ancient cairn dating from the Neolithic period, 4000 – 3000 BCE. Early texts refer to Aileach as the oldest building in Ireland.
The Irish (Gaelic) word grianán has been variously translated as “Stone Palace of the Sun”, “Fortress of the Sun” and “Stone Temple of the Sun”. The entrance passage is aligned to sunrise at the spring and autumn Equinoxes.
At dawn on the Spring Equinox —the ancient Celtic festival of Alban Eilir (“Light of the Earth”) and Autumn Equinox (the festival of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair, An Clabhsúr, or Alban Elfed) — the rising sun casts a narrow beam of light through the entrance passage across the centre of the ring onto the opposite wall, as shown in the photos below.
The Grianán is one of the five Irish royal sites marked on Ptolemy of Alexandria’s 2nd century map of the world. It served as a place of festival and ritual inauguration of Kings for thousands of through the mediaeval period. It was the ceremonial seat of the Kingdom of Aileach which lasted for for 800-years from 5th to the 12 centuries.
A printed map from the 15th century depicting Ptolemy's description of the Ecumene, by Johannes Schnitzer (1482).
Ptolemy's map marks the Grianán of Aileach as one of the 4 royal sites of Ireland.
It is marked by the word "Regia" and the golden circle above the letter 'R' in Ibernia.
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O'Doherty coat of arms.
Motto:
Ar nDúchas
(Our Heritage).
I consider the Grianan of Aileach as, among other things, a classic example of information-art.
I have a personal connection to the monument, , because The Grianán was the royal seat of my O'Doherty maternal clan ancestors for over a thousand years, including the Northern Uí Néill High Kings of Ireland from the 4th century on, the Kings of Aileach from the 5th to the 12 centuries, and their descendant O’Doherty Princes of Inishowen from the 14th century on.
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Note the aerial photos, showing the sunbeam penetrating the centre of the monument at dawn on the Spring Equinox.
RELATED MYTHOLOGY
According to Ireland's very ancient mythology, the Grianán of Aileach was built by the Dagda —the celebrated Druid God-King of the Tuatha Dé Danann ( the pre-IndoEuropean People of the Goddess Danu who inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts who arrived, according to oral history chronologies, around 1700 BCE). Some early texts refer to Aileach as the oldest building in Ireland.
Wikipedia states that the name Dagda is believed to come from Proto-Celtic: Dagodeiwos, "the good god" or "the great god", but may ultimately be derived from the Proto-Indo-European Dhagho-deiwos "shining divinity", the first element being cognate with the English word "day", and possibly a byword for a deification of a notion such as "splendour". This etymology would tie in well with the Dagda's mythic association with the sun and the earth, with kingship and excellence in general. Dhago-deiwos would have been inherited into Proto-Celtic as Dago-deiwos, thereby punning with the Proto-Celtic word dago-s "good".
Be that as it may, the Dagda was known as Ruad Rofhessa ("mighty one/lord of great knowledge"). He owns a magic staff, club, or mace (the lorg mór or lorg anfaid) which kills with one end and brings to life with the other, a cauldron (the coire ansic) which never runs empty, and a magic harp (uaithne) which can control men's emotions and change the seasons. The Dagda is said to dwell at Ireland's most famous megalithic site, Brú na Bóinne (i.e. Newgrange in the Boyne Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site), whose passage is illuminated by the light of the rising sun at dawn on Winter Solstice.
According to ancient oral history that was first written down in the 6th century CE, the Dagda built the Grianán of Aileach to protect the grave of his son Aedh. The first King of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Nuada Aigetlám (Nuada of the Silver Hand) is also said to be buried here, as are many O’Neill Kings from the middle ages.
The original Neolithic cairn was incorporated into a surrounding double ring-fort in the Bronze or Iron Age. In Celtic times it was known as the hibernation palace of the Sun Goddess, Graine, and the capital of the Kindgom of Aileach. In 674, Fínsnechta Fledach, King of Ireland, destroyed the existing hillfort. In 937 it was attacked again by Viking raiders. In 1006, the High King Brian Boru probably came to visit. In 1101, the King of Munster Muirchertach Ua Briain completely vandalised and destroyed the site, ordering his army to remove and scatter all the stones of the orginal cairn. By the 12th century, the Kingdom was repeatedly attacked and lost a lot of territory to the Anglo-Norman invaders. The current structure —which measures 24m diameter with 5m high walls— is thought to have been re-built in the 6th or 7th century by the Northern O'Neill kings, who occuplied the site from c. 789 to about 1050 CE. The site was surveyed by the archaeologist George Petrie in the 1830s. Substantial restoration work was carried out by the archaeologist Walter Bernard in 1874-1878, with help from hundreds of volunteers from the surrounding community. Today's structure preserves the solar alignment of the original cairn.
Wikipedia states that the name Dagda is believed to come from Proto-Celtic: Dagodeiwos, "the good god" or "the great god", but may ultimately be derived from the Proto-Indo-European Dhagho-deiwos "shining divinity", the first element being cognate with the English word "day", and possibly a byword for a deification of a notion such as "splendour". This etymology would tie in well with the Dagda's mythic association with the sun and the earth, with kingship and excellence in general. Dhago-deiwos would have been inherited into Proto-Celtic as Dago-deiwos, thereby punning with the Proto-Celtic word dago-s "good".
Be that as it may, the Dagda was known as Ruad Rofhessa ("mighty one/lord of great knowledge"). He owns a magic staff, club, or mace (the lorg mór or lorg anfaid) which kills with one end and brings to life with the other, a cauldron (the coire ansic) which never runs empty, and a magic harp (uaithne) which can control men's emotions and change the seasons. The Dagda is said to dwell at Ireland's most famous megalithic site, Brú na Bóinne (i.e. Newgrange in the Boyne Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site), whose passage is illuminated by the light of the rising sun at dawn on Winter Solstice.
According to ancient oral history that was first written down in the 6th century CE, the Dagda built the Grianán of Aileach to protect the grave of his son Aedh. The first King of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Nuada Aigetlám (Nuada of the Silver Hand) is also said to be buried here, as are many O’Neill Kings from the middle ages.
The original Neolithic cairn was incorporated into a surrounding double ring-fort in the Bronze or Iron Age. In Celtic times it was known as the hibernation palace of the Sun Goddess, Graine, and the capital of the Kindgom of Aileach. In 674, Fínsnechta Fledach, King of Ireland, destroyed the existing hillfort. In 937 it was attacked again by Viking raiders. In 1006, the High King Brian Boru probably came to visit. In 1101, the King of Munster Muirchertach Ua Briain completely vandalised and destroyed the site, ordering his army to remove and scatter all the stones of the orginal cairn. By the 12th century, the Kingdom was repeatedly attacked and lost a lot of territory to the Anglo-Norman invaders. The current structure —which measures 24m diameter with 5m high walls— is thought to have been re-built in the 6th or 7th century by the Northern O'Neill kings, who occuplied the site from c. 789 to about 1050 CE. The site was surveyed by the archaeologist George Petrie in the 1830s. Substantial restoration work was carried out by the archaeologist Walter Bernard in 1874-1878, with help from hundreds of volunteers from the surrounding community. Today's structure preserves the solar alignment of the original cairn.