Inauguration Sites in Tipperary

Inauguration of the O'Neill on 1602 map of Ulster by Richard Bartlett

I must admit I have a soft spot for royal inauguration sites. This one here was for the O'Neill clan of Ulster. Not that many have been recorded in Tipperary but if you see some of the pre Cromwellian maps of Tipperary / North West Munster there were at least 12 "countries" in the North Western section, all of which would have required an inauguration site. Clues to a site include a sacred tree or bíle, a stone chair or a footprint stone. Generally they were on a height, so on top a mound or barrow. There doesn't seem to be a consistency to their location sometimes they were on the edge of a territory, sometimes in the middle. Sometimes a rival site could be set up during times of civil war.

Here is a list of the "Chief Irish regions and countries of Thomond and Chief Captains of the same"
This was essentially part of King Henry VIII's enemy list in North Munster but also points to these being "countries" in their own right with chiefs that would require inauguration. ...

"O' Brien de Toybrien (Clare and Limerick)
O'Kennedy de Ormond (Tipperary)
O'Carroll de Ely (King's Co.)
O'Meagher de Ikerin (Tipperary)
McMahon de Coroaskin (Clare)
O'Loghlin de Burrin (W. Clare)
O'Grady de Kinall Downall (Clare)
O'Brien de Arra (Tipperary)
O'Mulryan de Owney (Tipperary)
O'Doure (O'Dwyer) de Kylnemanagh (Tipperary)
McBrien Oghonagh (Coonagh) (Limerick)"
Taken from "The History of the O'Dwyers" by Sir Michael O'Dwyer

So from this we can see that the O'Kennedys, O'Carrolls, O'Meaghers, O'Briens, O'Mulryans & O'Dwyers all would have had to have inauguration sites all within the general area of North Tipp. To my knowledge no record has ever been kept of the sites locations. Personally I think this is something that needs to be addressed, is it possible to rediscover these inauguration landscapes?

Comments

Hag Stones, are they an example of authentic Irish folklore or a neo-pagan import?

By Darkone CC BY-SA 2.0 The first time I ever heard of Hag-stones was this year. They are more commonly known as Adder stones and described on wikipedia as follows: " An adder stone is a type of stone, usually glassy, with a naturally occurring hole through it. Such stones have been discovered by archaeologists in both Britain and Egypt ." In Britain they are also called hag stones , [1] witch stones , serpent's eggs , snake's eggs , or Glain Neidr in Wales , milpreve in Cornwall , adderstanes in the south of Scotland and Gloine nan Druidh ("Druids' glass" in Scottish Gaelic ) in the north. In Germany they are called Hühnergötter ("chicken gods"). In Egypt they are called aggry or aggri . Adder stones were believed to have magical powers such as protection against eye diseases or evil charms, preventing nightmares , curing whooping cough , the ability to see through fairy or witch disguises and traps if looked at ...

The Origins of the surname Ryan

NOTE: This is currently a work in progress and I ask for any feedback on what I have written. Ryan is one of the top ten surnames by population / number of people in Ireland. It would be nice if there was a simple explanation as to the meaning of the surname Ryan, unfortunately to my knowledge there isn't. The most likely explanation is that it goes back to a King or Chief of Idrone circa 900AD named Rian or Rien. It was around this time that the Irish began taking on surnames and it may be that it was after him his descendants began to be called, O or descendent of Rian. We are not sure how or when exactly the O'Mulryan name came about. It is likely that it means "descendent of the followers of Rian". However, this is not certain. We will see further down in this article that the genealogies suggest they are both descended from the same ancestor circa 900AD. Although other evidence does contradict this. Just what Rian means is not known for sure. Explana...

Ryan Family Nicknames

Over 500 individual Ryan Family nicknames - many with townlands associated with them. Click Here

The Tipperary Antiquarian

Search This Blog