Science Spin November 2008

Clare Island: The lost civilisations

By Anthony King

The medieval inhabitants of Clare Island lived within the realm of the clan of Grace O'Malley (Gráinne Ní Mháille), a powerful pirate queen that ruled the seas around the west of Ireland. This was a rich Gaelic world full of wrestlers, harpists, cattle raiders, saints and hunters. The island's colourful medieval society, however, is recent compared to its far earlier megalithic culture. The megalithic islanders, archaeologists believe, would have lived in rectangular timber houses, grown cereals and raised cattle, sheep, as well as goats. Researchers are providing insights into these important periods of island history.

Abbey

The abbey at Clare Island, which dates from the medieval period reveals much about the nature of Gaelic society in which it existed. The paintings which adorn the Abbey's walls portray dragons, hunters and soldiers. For some today, these images might not be considered appropriate for placement on church walls. However, the reason is clear. The paintings date from a medieval period when the Gaelic lords held power in Ireland, and the images depict their world of hunting, war and music.

The abbey was a very important one, as it was a 'royal chapel' belonging to the clan of Grace O'Malley. Legend has it that the famed 16th-century female buccaneer had her headquarters on Clare Island. The ornately painted Abbey, situated on a rise a mile or so from the island's harbour, signalled her family's power and wealth.

Today it has probably the most intact medieval ceiling in the country. "It is of national and arguably international importance," said Dr Paul Gosling, an archaeologist and editor of the Royal Irish Academy's recent volume on the abbey. Its colourful wall and ceiling paintings depict an odd farrago of wrestlers, harpists, cattle raiders, animals of the hunt and saints.

The ruined tower houses and castles around the country were not always so grey. In fact, the medieval world shone with colour, the buildings festooned with paintings and tapestry. But, few wall murals survived Ireland's tortuous history.

Dr Gosling said the abbey paintings are particularly important since they offer a Gaelic worldview: "Most medieval paintings that survive in Ireland would be in the eastern part of the country and would tend to be more Anglo-Norman, old English, whereas these are patently late Medieval Gaelic paintings." The nature of the art is quite rustic, insular and derivative. "You get a Gaelic world view on that ceiling of the pastimes of a seafaring, partially mercantile family, but very much a family based in Gaelic law, traditions and family organisation and politics."

Across from a gothic walled tomb in the Abbey, visitors can see the plaque of the O'Malley heraldic arms. The limestone slab depicts a hunted boar along with a ship and a horse at full gallop. The ship represents the clan's maritime power, which was noted for raids by sea on neighbouring territories, such as in 1513 when the O'Malley fleet attacked Killybegs. The family's moto on the plaque, "Terra marique potens," means 'Powerful on sea and land'.

According to the New Survey of Clare Island, the boar may recall a sovereignty myth in early Irish texts, when candidates for kingship hunted a wild animal and the young man who captured the quarry became the new ruler.

The Abbey was built and granted to the Cistercian order some time after 1224, with a two-storey chancel added in the 15th century. It wasn't large enough to be a true abbey, but rather was a Cistercian cell. "It's a most peculiar structure; effectively a small parish-like building with a chancel added," said Dr Gosling.

That the Cistercians ran this "abbey" was unorthodox. The ethos of their order was to withdraw from the world and live in rural areas, so it's perplexing that Cistercians stayed on Clare Island, where they had to provide parochial and pastoral care to the community from its only church. "It makes the whole thing quite intriguing," he said, but the Cistercians did do some unusual things in Ireland and may have gone native.

The discovery in 1992 of a mounted warrior on the church wall emphasised how far the Abbey strayed from monastic ideals. In the Abbey volume of the New Clare Island Survey, medieval art expert Dr Roger Staley writes that the Abbey is more a celebration of lordly power than Cistercian spirituality. He points to the image of the mounted knight, with his mailed armour, as a common embodiment of aristocratic authority in medieval art.

Castle

The O'Malley's wealth and influence was tied to their lightly built galleys, which allowed them to trade, exact taxes and carry out raids. Clare Island's harbour offered an ideal naval base from which to police and harass the coastal traffic around Clew Bay. Grace O'Malley's Castle, probably built in the sixteenth century, guarded the harbour - it still stands today. Though named for her, whether the Pirate Queen ever stayed in the castle is uncertain. Gráinne Ní Mháille was not a chief and she is not mentioned in any Gaelic sources; she exists only in English writings, where she appears in a negative light.

It was her defiance of England that probably elevated her to the status of Gaelic heroine, particularly during the 18th century when the Gaelic way of life was being eclipsed. Her abilities as a leader of fighting men and seafarer became part of our folklore. She undoubtedly visited Clare Island, but discerning between the legends, truths and fictions that surround Gráinne Ní Mháille is difficult for fact-tied historians.

Bronze Age

That the island was occupied long before the O'Malley's is evidenced by the prodigious number of mysterious Bronze Age mounds. Fifty-three of these "fulachtaí fia" are known on the island and four have been excavated. Unearthed from the mounds were piles of heat shattered stones and wattle troughs. Two were radiocarbon dated to 2,000 B.C. and two to around 1,000 B.C., so whatever they were used for continued for a millennium.

"Fifty-three doesn't indicate a large population, said Dr Gosling, "but a long line of centuries where there was continuous settlement and cultural uniformity."

Meanwhile, Professor John Waddell, an expert in prehistory at NUI Galway, said it remains a mystery why hot stones were used to heat troughs of water, but the fulachtaí fia possibly had a range of functions.

Dr Gosling sees sauna bathing as most likely. "It is difficult to believe they were effective cooking places," he said, as you'd need to boil about 100 gallons of water in these troughs and large amounts of meat. But why would people go to so much trouble to heat water? Sauna is an integral component of cultural life in Nordic countries, said Paul: "So it may be that Ireland had cultural traditions in which washing and bathing were done as part of ritual activity." He said it could be part of Bronze Age rites of passage, marriage, or linked to religious observance. "There are all sorts of reasons why people bathe in other countries."

Thomas Westropp wrote the archaeology paper in 1912 for the original Clare Island Survey. He was the leading field archaeologist of his day, said Paul, but you get the impression that he was a little disappointed in the island. It hadn't got as nice promontory forts as other islands and had no ring forts; he only got excited when he encountered the church paintings.

"It has a ruined castle, a ruined signal tower, a lighthouse, a small church and graveyard, a scattering of huts and houses, a number of enclosures and a megalithic tomb," said Dr Gosling. If you take the Abbey out, he said, nearly everything is typical, but Dr Goslingis far from downbeat: "From the point of view of the Clare Island survey it's absolutely brilliant. The data on Clare Island can be used to draw conclusions on the character of Irish settlement from prehistoric right down to modern times."

Megalithic tomb

From the island's harbour you will see signposts to a megalithic tomb. This dates from 4,000 to 3,000 B.C. and is a court tomb, the earliest type of megalithic tomb in Ireland; they are common along the Mayo/Sligo coast. These tombs had a roofless forecourt before a compartmentalised burial chamber. Professor Waddell explained that ancient ritual practices were performed in the forecourt, with the tomb acting as the ceremonial centre for a small agricultural community. The island's farmers would have lived in rectangular timber houses, grew cereals like wheat and barley and raised cattle, sheep, and goats.

The tomb suggests that Clare Island had a settled farming community as early as 4th century B.C. There are no archaeological monuments dated between 3,000 and 2,100 B.C., however, and archaeologists are unsure whether the island was continuously inhabited during that time. There are also few remains from the first millennium and early Christian period. "This doesn't mean they weren't there. The building of the Abbey might have removed an earlier foundation," said Prof Waddell. A standing stone and holy well close by the Abbey suggests it was a place of worship before medieval times.

The island's promontory forts are not as ancient as we might like to imagine and date from around 1400 to 1500. Recent excavations failed to uncover their social role, and Paul's best guess is that they were built on promontories for reasons of status. Prof Waddell describes Westropp as an extraordinary energetic and competent field archaeologist, yet he failed to find the tomb or the fulachtaí fia. He visited during the summer months when heather grew to the height of a man's shoulder and possibly concealed these monuments, said Paul. What can seem obvious today may not be obvious at another time.

Review

Biologists have been able to examine museum specimens collected during the first survey, though much material was lost. Professor Martin Steer, chairman of the Clare Island committee, said the Royal Irish Academy will keep a database on collections from the recent surveys.

Dr Matthew Jebb of the National Botanic Gardens is seeking notebooks and materials from the scientists who've worked on the New Surveys of Clare Island. "We are very aware nowadays, with impending climate change, that the smallest observations could gain huge value later on. You cannot predict what that is going to be. So to review people's notebooks in detail is going to be very important."

The Abbey fell into disrepair during the twentieth century. In an attempt to prevent damage, a concrete roof was put on, said Roisín Jones of the Royal Irish Academy, but it was the wrong thing to do. A master church painter has since come along and helped restore the paintings. He used UV radiation to clean away algae and all sorts of fine dental tools to restore the paintings. Westropp's drawings from the original survey were helpful in these efforts.

The Office of Public Works made great progress in restoring the abbey and visitors can now gaze on a special view from medieval Ireland. There's been no official opening, but you may collect a key from the nearby cottage and view the restored medieval artwork with its peculiar mix of secular and religious themes.