Iron Age Pagan Idol Discovered in Irish Bog

 

The Gortnacrannagh Idol unearthed in Roscommon bog, Ireland, 2021. Photo: courtesy Archaeological Management Solutions/European Association of Archaeologists

Introduction

Archaeologist working on the route of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Bypass in Co. Roscommon have discovered a 1,600-year-old wooden pagan idol. The discovery was made in the townland of Gortnacrannagh, about six kilometres from the prehistoric royal site of Rathcroghan.

Rathcroghan was an ancient site of power and the prehistoric royal capital of Connachta, one of the five ancient Irish kingdoms. The area is home to more than 240 archaeological monuments, including Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds, ringforts, and earthworks, and was known as a place of ritual gatherings. It is also said to have been the site of the capital and palace of Queen Medb. According to the Ulster Cycle, a group of legends set in the first century BC, Medb was a powerful warrior who at one time ruled much of Ireland.

Gortnacrannagh Idol

During the excavation of the wooden idol, archaeologists found an animal bone and what is thought to be a ‘ritual dagger’. The blade did not show evidence of use suggesting that, perhaps, it was made specifically for animal sacrifice. The Gortnacrannagh Idol remained intact due to the waterlogged conditions of the bog.

The “Gortnacrannagh Idol” measures over two and a half meters (8.2 ft.) high. Less than 15 similar idols have been found in Ireland and this one represents the largest discovered to date. The 1,600-year-old wooden pagan idol was carved from a split oak tree trunk during the Iron Age, which in Ireland occurred between 500 BC - 400 AD. The idol has been radiocarbon dated to between 252 and 413 A.D

A human-shaped head was carved at one end of the artifact and the body was marked with several horizontal notches. Dr Eve Campbell, Director of the AMS excavation site, told the Irish Examiner that ancient Celtic cultures regarded wetlands “as mystical places where they could connect with their gods and the Otherworld.”

Other Irish Wooden Idols

The Winter 2003 issue of Archaeology Ireland reported the discovery of a prehistoric alder-wood ‘figure’ in Kilbeg townland, Ballykeane Bog, County Offaly. The discovery was dated to the Bronze Age. ‘Red Man’ of Kilbeg was one of seven probable alder-wood idols deposited in the raised bogs of east Offaly in the early/late Bronze Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9QPoxrXxoA. The wooden idol was carved from curved alder roundwood (231 cm long, 16cm maximum diameter). It had been worked to a point at one end. Eleven notches 3cm apart had been cut across its width. It was radiocarbon dated to 1739-1530 BC.

Prior to 2001, only three prehistoric idols were known from Ireland all of which were recovered from wetlands. The oldest figure was recovered from the early medieval ‘royal’ crannog at Lagore, County Meath. It was 47cm in height and dated to the Early Bronze Age (2135-1944 BC). The second Bronze Age figure was dated to 1096-906 BC was discovered by turf cutters at Ralaghan, County Cavan. It was carved from yew and was 114cm in height. The third idol was discovered in Corlea, Co Longford. It was 5m tall and made form ash roundwood. One end was carved to a point while the other end has a carved neck and bulbous head. This item was incorporated within the sub-structure of an Iron Age (148 BC) trackway at Corlea.

“The lower ends of several figures were also worked to a point suggesting that they may once have stood upright,' stated wood specialist Cathy Moore. 'Their meaning is open to interpretation, but they may have marked special places in the landscape, have represented particular individuals or deities or perhaps have functioned as wooden bog bodies, sacrificed in lieu of humans.”

AMS archaeologist Dr. Eve Campbell, who directed the excavation of the site, said that the idol was likely to be a pagan god. 

"The Gortnacrannagh Idol was carved just over 100 years before St. Patrick came to Ireland — it is likely to be the image of a pagan deity. … Our ancestors saw wetlands as mystical places where they could connect with their gods and the Otherworld. The discovery of animal bone alongside a ritual dagger suggests that animal sacrifice was carried out at the site and the idol is likely to have been part of these ceremonies."

The idol is being conserved at University College Dublin and will eventually go on display at the National Museum of Ireland.

An early reconstruction of the Shigir Idol from 1894. Photo: courtesy Sverdlovsk Regional Museum 

The Shigir Idol

The most famous prehistoric wooden sculpture is the 12,500-year-old Shigir Idol, uncovered in a Russian peat bog which is the oldest known example of ritual art in the world. The incredible wooden sculpture was pulled from a peat bog in the western fringes of Siberia, Russia, 125 years ago. The Shigir idol is 2.8 meters (9.2 feet) long, though it was originally 5.3 meters (17.4 feet) before lengths of the artifact were accidentally destroyed during the Soviet era.

Head of the Shigir Idol, the world's oldest known wood sculpture. Photo: courtesy Sverdlovsk Regional Museum 

Doogarymore Wooden Wheel

In 1968/9 two warped fragments of pre-historic block wheels from the same period were found in the Roscommon bog. The National Museum of Ireland declared that these two artifacts were the earliest evidence of the wheel being used for transport on the island.

Doogarymore Wooden Wheel.
Photo: courtesy Flickr

The idol is now in University College Dublin, undergoing a three-year programme of preservation. The idol will be given to the National Museum of Ireland once the project is completed. Meanwhile, the AMS will make a replica of the Gortnacrannagh idol and donate it to the Rathcroghan Centre, where it will go on display.

Conclusion

The discovery of an Iron Age wooden idol near the ancient royal site of Rathcroghan has shone a light on pagan Ireland around a hundred years before the arrival of St Patrick. The Gortnacrannagh Idol remained intact due to the waterlogged conditions of the bog. It is thought that it may have formed part of an animal sacrifice. Less than 15 similar idols have been found in Ireland and this one represents the largest discovered to date.

For further information see:

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/pagan-idol-0015694

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/11000-years-old-new-dating-shigir-idol-reveals-it-oldest-wooden-sculpture-020504

https://roscommonherald.ie/2021/08/13/rare-artefact-from-iron-age-unearthed-near-rathcroghan/

Ireland Before St. Patrick

Image of an Ancient Crannog

As we approach yet another St. Patrick’s Day it is, perhaps, worth reflecting on what Ireland was like in pre-Christian times. We have to look to archaeologists and other scholars to provide us with an insight into the past. Yet, it is worth noting that, even today, we can still see glimpses of that pagan past all around us.

Ireland, in those days, was very different from Britain in many ways: it had its own language, political structures, customs and laws. It had not been invaded by Roman legions. It was also located at the furthest reaches of the known world.

Unlike Britain and Gaul, for example, the country did not have any major urban centres. Any political centres, such as they may have been, were likely to be associated with cult sites linked to kingship as in the case of Tara, Rathcroghan, Knockaulin and Armagh. As scholars often point out, the very word paganus ‘pagan’ actually means a rural dweller who lived in a pagus ‘rural environment’.

For Christian and non-Christians alike, death, burial, and the subsequent treatment of the dead, were purely matters for the family. The Christian clergy were not involved at all and pagans and Christians were buried alongside one and other in family graves.

Hill of Slane where St. Patrick
           Lit the Paschal Fire

The two prevalent burial types in Ireland from the late centuries BC and early centuries AD were cremations and inhumations, with the former more prevalent in the early period and inhumation becoming common into the first millennium AD.  Interestingly, cremation did not become obsolete, and instances of this practice have been dated to as late as the eight century.

Some non-Christian funerary customs continued to be practised, including burial in cemeteries not obviously associated with a church. Burned grain, antler tine and pig bones have been found in pre-Christian graves signifying some form of rite.

In 1959 the skeleton of a young woman, the skull of an infant approximately two years old, together with some animal bones (sheep/goat, dog and antler), were found in a bog in the townland of Derrymaquirk on the eastern side of Lough Gara, Co Roscommon. Archaeologists believe that the piece of antler may have been significant in terms of the religious beliefs of the time. This burial has been dated to between 750 - 200 BC.

Christian cemeteries or ‘holy ground’, in which most of the population were buried, developed from the late seventh century onwards. However, during the fifth and sixth centuries, burial practices for the nobility - clerics, kings and other aristocrats – began to change. This was due to what has been described as the cult of saints. Early Christians believed that by being buried near a holy grave they could hope to stand beside the saint on the day of the resurrection.

Decorated Grave Slab from Carrowntemple
Co. Sligo

We can also see the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. Two of the grave slabs at Carrowntemple, Co. Sligo, bear art of the Early Christian period that is derived from the Celtic art of the preceding Pagan Iron Age. One of these is very close to a design in the Book of Durrow and is datable to c. 650 AD. Several of the panels of the seventh century Moylough Belt-shrine, found only a few miles west of Carrowntemple, have this same mix of Pagan and Christian artwork.

Experts believe that many of the Irish Iron Age bog bodies are the remains of former kings who were sacrificed. The scarcity of such finds suggests that the sacrificial killings were only undertaken when a king’s reign had proven unsuccessful because of defeat in war, or due to famine or pestilence. The bodies were deposited in boundary bogs as offerings to the goddess who was associated with sovereignty, death and fertility.

Crucifixion Plaque
Clogher Holy Well

Early Irish texts suggest that holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals and were even protected by the old religion. For example, it is believed that wells were used instead of baptisteries in Ireland, which may explain the large number of holy wells throughout the country.

The Celts worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. In some respects, the nature of the Celtic religion helped in the development of Christianity. Their belief in the indestructibility of the souls of the dead helped in understanding the resurrection of Christ. The Celts also had their own sacrifices and ritual meals which, in a sense, mirrored aspects of Christian message.

Pagan Ireland was very different from Britain with its own language, political structures, customs and laws. The two prevalent burial types in Ireland from the late centuries BC and early centuries AD were cremations and inhumations with the former continuing late as the eight century. Christian cemeteries or ‘holy ground’ developed from the late seventh century onwards. Early Christian grave slabs show the merging of pagan and Christian art as Christianity gradually replaced paganism. Human sacrifice was practised in pagan times and Holy wells may have remained associated with non-Christian rituals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3vMGy2gQks