Fort Navan: Ulster's Ancient Capital

The Tain¹ is one of Ireland’s most vivid ancient tales centering around the theft and subsequent conflict over a mighty bull. The famed Ulster hero Cu Chulainn, known as the “Hound of Emain Macha,”² sets out to reclaim the bull himself, and (after the Ulster army are stricken with a debilitating sickness³) he single-handedly holds back the Connacht army through a series of raids.

I’ll not spoil the rest of the story for there is much depth and beauty in the narrative demanding a post all of its own. But what I find interesting is how, in the build up to the final battle between the warriors of Connacht and Ulster, there are multiple refrains of “arise kings of Macha.”⁴ And then after the battle is won, the story ends with the subdued declaration that: “the men of Ulster returned in triumph to Emain Macha.”⁵ Note – Emain Macha is the original name for Fort Navan.

Throughout the various tales of the Ulster Cycle, Emain Macha appears again and again as the de facto hub for Ulster – a place of Kingship and the political centre for the kingdom. Whether its references to gatherings of Chieftains,⁶ the training of their famed Red Branch warriors,⁷ or great games and festivals,⁸ within these ancient stories Emain Macha is presented as the centre of political, military and cultural power.

Fort Navan’s sacred beginnings

Perhaps most important of all, however, is the location’s namesake. For Emain Macha (meaning Macha’s twins) derives its name from the ancient myth “The Labour Pains of Ulaid”.⁹ This is again another colourful narrative which takes place ahead of the Tain. The goddess Macha becomes pregnant with an Ulsterman’s children, but when he foolishly boasts of his wife’s speed, she is forced to run a race against the Ulster King’s horses. She wins, but at its end she dies giving birth to twins, cursing the men of Ulster for their cruel race and henceforth becoming the location’s namesake.

While the story is a raw and painful narrative, I think part of its significance is in how it places Emain Macha within the mythology and religious context of the time. For to have created a mythologised narrative for its name, sets the area apart from other, possibly competing, landmarks and population centres.

Myths of history

There’s a danger with any reading of mythology without care for its provenance and bias. Emain Macha is certainly no less a victim of these vices. Most of our source material dates only to the medieval period. Which is why recent archaeology has been so important in helping us understand where myth ends and facts begin.

Evidence of human occupation at Fort Navan (the anglicised name for Emain Macha) has shown habitation from as early as the neolithic period up until 1000AD. However, the period of greatest evidence and interest spans from 100BC-900AD.¹⁰ It was at this time that the fort, located on the outskirts of modern-day Armagh, Northern Ireland, would have most closely resembled that described in the myths and sagas of ancient Ireland.

Temple mount

Image of Fort Navan as shown in an old OS map

The hill covers an impressive 240m diameter containing multiple sites of significance. Foremost is the burnt remains of a 40m structure now believed to have served some ceremonial purpose around 100BC. Soon after being built, it was filled with “limestone boulders to a height of 2.8 m and set alight” for an unknown ritual.¹¹ During this early period, it appears that the Fort is therefore better characterised as a religious site rather than political or military, as one leading archaeologist, Dr Gleeson, explained:

“[I]t actually appears to be a ceremonial centre of paramount ritual and religious significance, where people engaged in major ceremonies and activities.”¹² Fort Navan is comprised of “a series of massive temples, some of the largest and most complex ritual arena of any region of later prehistoric and pre-Roman Northern Europe.”¹³

But as we all well know, when memory fades into history, monuments and places become replaced and reused. The once great religious temple may have continued in some form. Regardless the site continued to serve as a critical hub for the region right through to the medieval period.¹⁴

Continuity and change

Under 1km away stands another prominent hill which held the trivallate hillfort, Haughey’s Fort. Up until relatively recently, it was believed that it was abandoned before Fort Navan was occupied. But recent evidence suggests the two would have overlapped in time during the Iron Age.¹⁵ Archaeological evidence is still very limited for this period so what form and structure continues to be subject to debate. But my rather unqualified view is that the sites could have quite possibly complemented each other, serving different ends; one being economic, military and political, while the other cultural and religious.

Regardless, evidence of the Fort Navan’s economic importance has been found in the animal remains:

“The results provide clear evidence that communities in Iron Age Ireland were very mobile and that livestock were also moved over considerable distances. People brought animals from across Ulster and beyond to Navan Fort and it is likely that the great prehistoric regional centres of Ireland acted as lynchpins in the landscape and centres for large-scale connectivity.”¹⁶

And periods of building and rebuilding have been well documented.

The permanence of history

After considering all of the history and mythology surrounding this once great centre of Ulster, what conclusions can we draw? One obvious point is the enduring legacy such places hold. For instance, Armagh’s subsequent rise within medieval Christian history may have drawn closely upon this legacy. Indeed, Francis Pryor makes this point persuasively when he says:

“If archaeology teaches us anything, it is that thoughts and ideas can outlive the most permanent of monuments.”¹⁷

Image of a representation of Fort Navan's temple taken from the site's museum

The linkage between mythology and history is also important to note. The mythology of the Ulster Cycle conveys a richness that archaeology and historical records can never do. It brings to life the wars and conflicts that raged, along with the pains and struggles that life brought. In the same way, today fiction serves such a critical role in providing us with a reflection on who we are and what we do. While not an exact representation, it helps us to stop and consider life in all its seriousness and silliness.

So when we consider monuments like the once great capital of Ulster, we can remember life both then and now. In so doing, I believe we will find ourselves truly enriched.

To see more details about the site as a visitor attraction today see: https://visitarmagh.com/places-to-explore/navan-centre-fort/

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