Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne (written Ἰέρνη). In his book Geographia (c. 150 AD), Claudius Ptolemaeus ("Ptolemy") called the island Iouernia (written Ἰουερνία). It is likely that the Romans saw a connection between these historical names and the Latin word hibernus meaning wintry. In any case, the Roman historian Tacitus, in his book Agricola (c. 98 AD), uses the name Hibernia.
Iouernia was a Greek alteration of the Q-Celtic name *Īweriū from which eventually arose the Irish names Ériu and Éire. The original meaning of the name is thought to be "abundant land".
The island of Ireland was never incorporated into the Roman Empire.The fact that the Romans never occupied Ireland meant that Roman influence on Ireland was limited to trading contacts throughout the Empire.[1] Roman historian Tacitus makes reference to an expedition to Ireland by the general Agricola in AD 82. He is reported in one passage to "have crossed the water", the water in context is unknown and perhaps is reference to some exploratory mission, however the remainder of the passage deals exclusively with Ireland. According to Seneca, Agricola was of the opinion that Ireland could be conquered with one legion and a moderate amount of auxiliaries, in all roughly 6,000 men. Reference is also made about an Irish king who had fled the island in search of refuge. Agricola provided him with safety in the hope that it might be a reason to possibly invade the island. The Ulster historian Richard Warner has theorised that the Midlands leader Túathal Techtmar, usually thought mythical, was in fact historical and went to Britain to get Roman support for his military campaigns (along with other later exiles). If there is any truth in this hypothesis, the Romans may have had a greater influence on the southeast of Ireland than normally thought by scholars.[2] Overall, the relative lack of Roman influence on Ireland meant that it preserved its ancient culture to a much greater degree than continental countries such as Gaul.[3]
Irish tribal expeditions harried the Roman provinces of Britannia (Britain) and Gaul (France) as evidenced from surviving Roman texts.[citation needed]
In the early 1st century, Roman and Greek knowledge of Ireland was thin. The geographers Strabo and Pomponius Mela describe a cold land populated by extremely fierce inhabitants, where, despite the coldness, the grazing for cattle was lush.[citation needed]
By the 2nd century, the geographer Ptolemy gave coordinates for a surprisingly detailed map of Ireland, naming tribes, towns, rivers and headlands. This information could have come from a variety of sources but does demonstrate the increasing knowledge and interest in Ireland.
Irish written history does not mention Rome at all. However, the lack of written history does not mean that Rome or the Roman province of Britannia did not significantly interact with Ireland. Archaeologists have found an enormous fort complex at Chester (Deva Victrix) in northwest England that may have been planned as a centre to rule the islands, or as a military base to deter Irish invasions.
From early in the archaeological record, the peoples of North West Europe, including Britain, Gaul, Spain and Ireland had mutually warred, traded and settled.
Ptolemy, in 100s, records some Irish tribal names identical to those of tribes in Gaul and Britain, suggesting significant Celtic settlement. Recent genetic and linguistic research suggests the interesting possibility that these tribes may have been descended from the first neolithic farmers to reach Ireland (alluded to in Ireland's allegoric history: The Book of the Taking of Ireland)[4][5][6]
At this time Ireland, western and central Europe were all home to several Celtic peoples with their associated Celtic religion, and they were supervised by the Druids. A number of historians have argued that the people of Ireland and Britain shared a broadly similar Celtic heritage. The Isle of Anglesey, Welsh Ynys Môn, was a centre of the Druidic religion, just across the Irish Sea from Ireland. Other historians, however, have disputed that such a homogeneous group existed.[7] The application of the "Celtic" label to the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland c.1 AD may, however, be misleading as the genetic evidence suggests that most inhabitants of both islands are predominantly descended from palaeolithic hunter-gathers of Iberian and neolithic farmers of Germanic (mid-European) origin. An invasion of bands of Gaelic (Milesian) warriors from Iberia c.1500BC may have had more of a linguistic than a genetic impact.[8]
Transport and communication was often along rivers and coasts, with the Irish Sea being a part of this network. When Julius Caesar briefly invaded southern England in 54 BC, he received the submission of many tribes, including that of the Orcadians in the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. Communications could be long distance, but whether any Irish knew of the Romans at this time is uncertain.
Rome often projected its power beyond its boundaries. Beyond the West coast of Britannia was the Irish Sea, with many easy crossings, and many distinctive mountain landmarks to ease navigation. The spread of Roman power to Ireland's neighbours would have had significant effects on Ireland. By 51 BC the part of Gaul in what is modern France had been conquered by the Romans, with the permanent garrisoning of Britain starting after the second invasion in 43. England and Wales would remain within the Roman Empire for another 350 years.
Revolts by the newly subjugated British tribes may have increased settlement from Britain to Ireland and reduced settlement in the other direction. Events such as the destruction of the druidic shrine and sacred groves at Anglesey in 60 by the Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus would have been noticed in Ireland.
Four centuries of Roman presence in Roman Britain were related to ancient Hibernia with a continuous trade and commerce, even if in a very small scale. Geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century made a map of Hibernia full of data on rivers, mountains and people demonstrating a knowledge of the island that could have been originated even from the presence in Hibernia of Roman explorers/traders living in small trading places of the Ireland's south and eastern coast.[9]
Generally in Ireland, Roman material is rare and found in different contexts from the native La Tène style material. No roads have been identified as being Roman, and no large Roman settlements have been found. However in the southeast of Ireland, where native material is rare, Roman-style cemeteries and large quantities of Roman artifacts have been found.
A group of burials on Lambay Island, off the coast of County Dublin, contained Roman brooches and decorative metalware of a style also found in northern England from the late 1st century. However this could represent, for example, Brigantes fleeing reprisal from the crushed revolt of 74.
At Drumanagh, 25 km north of Dublin, a large (200,000 m²) site was identified in 1995[update] as possibly Roman. Consisting of a peninsula defended by three rows of parallel ditches on the landward side, the site appears to have been a port or bridgehead.[10]
The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that Agricola, while governor of Roman Britain (AD 78 - 84), entertained an exiled Irish prince (may be Túathal), thinking to use him as a pretext for a possible conquest of Ireland.[11] Neither Agricola nor his successors ever conquered Ireland, but in recent years archaeology has challenged the belief that the Romans never set foot on the island.
Indeed, in 82 Agricola "crossed in the first ship" and defeated peoples unknown to the Romans until then. Tacitus, in Chapter 24 of Agricola,[12] does not tell us what body of water he crossed, although many scholars believe it was the Clyde or Forth; however, the rest of the chapter exclusively concerns Ireland. Agricola fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single legion and auxiliaries. This conquest never happened, but some historians believe that the crossing referred to was in fact a small-scale exploratory expedition to Ireland.[13]
Roman and Romano-British artefacts have been found primarily in Leinster, notably a fortified site on the promontory of Drumanagh, fifteen miles north of Dublin, and burials on the nearby island of Lambay, both close to where Túathal is supposed to have landed, and other sites associated with Túathal such as Tara and Clogher. However, whether this is evidence of trade, diplomacy or military activity is a matter of controversy. It is possible that the Romans may have given support to Túathal, or someone like him, to regain his throne in the interests of having a friendly neighbour who could restrain Irish raiding.[14] The 2nd century Roman poet Juvenal, who may have served in Britain under Agricola, wrote in Satires that "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland",[15] and the coincidence of dates is striking. Alternatively it has been suggested that Roman traders arrived for a regular "fair" or market at the site at regular dates.
Roman coins, some converted to pendants, and Romano-British brooches have been found deposited as votive offerings at Newgrange.[16]
According to Phillip Rance some tribes of Hibernia, called Attacotti (Old Irish term: aithechthúatha), from southern Leinster were Foederati (allies) of the late Roman Empire, and fought together with the Roman legions in the second half of the 4th century[17]
Roman sources mention raids on Britain by two groups of people usually associated with Ireland, the Scoti and the Attacotti. The term Scotti comes from Queen Scotia daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh who was Queen of the Milesians. In the Irish origin story, the Milesians come from the northern coast of Spain and are the original Celtic invaders. The island of Ireland was named Scotia in honor of their Queen. Perhaps as early as the 17th century, and certainly in the 18th century, some Irish scholars had suggested that the origin of the Attacotti might lie in Ireland. This was based on the perceived similarity between Latin Attacotti and the Old Irish term aithechthúatha, a generic designation for certain Irish population-groups, usually translated "rent-paying tribes", "vassal communities" or "tributary peoples". Combined with the knowledge of Irish raids on the coast of Britain in the late Roman period, it was suggested that one group of raiders had stayed to become the historically attested people mentioned by Ammianus.
Túathal was, in the Irish myths, a High King of Ireland. He was the son of a High King Fíachu Finnolach. His father was overthrown and killed in a revolt by the King of Ulster. Túathal's mother, who was the daughter of the King of Alba (Britain at the time, because Alba became the name for Scotland later on), fled to Britain with her son. 20 years later he returned to Ireland, defeated his father's enemies in a series of battles and subdued the entire country. He became High King at Tara, in the center of Ireland. There he convened a conference where he established laws. He annexed territory from each of the other four provinces to create the central province of Míde (Meath). Four fortresses were built, one for each of the four areas of land.
Some consider him to be the first real High King.[citation needed] The dating of Irish history/mythology in the 1st centuries AD is prone to error; however, the most popular belief is that Túathal was exiled in AD 56 and reigned from around 80 to 100.[citation needed]
Tacitus, the Roman author, tells us that around this time Agricola had with him an Irish chieftain who later returned to conquer Ireland with an army. Juvenal later wrote (in Satires) that Roman arms were "taken beyond the shores of Ireland." Excavations at sites linked to the tale of Túathal have produced Roman material of the late 1st or early 2nd centuries. It would be consistent for Túathal to have been that Irish chieftain.
The High King Brian Boru (c. 941-1014) based his title on being emperor of the Irish people, which was in Latin: "Imperator Scottorum", as distinct from claiming to be Emperor of the island of Ireland. From 1172 the Lordship of Ireland gave the King of England the additional title "Dominus Hibernie" (sic, for Hiberniae; also "Dominus Hybernie"), Lord of Ireland. The Kingdom of Ireland created the title Rex Hiberniae, King of Ireland, for use in Latin texts. Gerard Mercator called Ireland "Hybernia" on his world map of 1541. In 1642 the motto of the Irish Confederates, a Catholic-landlord administration that ruled much of Ireland until 1650 was: Pro Deo, Rege et Patria, Hibernia Unanimis. (In English: For God, King and Fatherland, Ireland is United).
By the 18th century Hibernia was used on Irish coins and companies such the Hibernian Insurance Company were established (later renamed the Hibernian Group). The name took on popularity with the success of the Irish Patriot Party. At a time when Palladian classical architecture and design were being adopted in northern Europe, Hibernia was a useful word to describe Ireland with overtones of classical style and civility, particularly by the prosperous landed gentry who were generally taught Latin at school. The Royal Exchange in Dublin was built in 1769-79 with the carved inscription "SPQH" for Senatus Populusque Hibernicus - The senate and people of Ireland.[18] The Royal Hibernian Academy dates from 1823.
Hibernia is a word that is rarely used today with regard to Ireland.[19] It is occasionally used for names of organisations and various other things; for instance: Hibernia National Bank, Hibernian Insurance Group, Ancient Order of Hibernians, The Hibernian magazine, Hibernia College, Hibernian Football Club, HMS Hibernia, the Hibernia oil field, and modern derivatives, from Latin like Respublica Hibernica (Irish Republic) and Universitas Hiberniae Nationalis (National University of Ireland). Hibernia is also the name of a large sea oil platform off the shores of Newfoundland, in which this Canadian province has strong ties to Ireland.
The compound form Hiberno- remains more common, as in Hiberno-Norse, Hiberno-English, Hiberno-Scottish, Hibernophile, etc.
- ^ Hibernia
- ^ British Archaeology, no 14, May 1996: Features
- ^ "The Celts". http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MA/CELTS.HTM.
- ^ Colin Renfrew (1987) Archaeology and Language - The puzzle of Indo-European Origins
- ^ Stephen Oppenheimer (2006) The Origins of the British
- ^ M.Harper (2006) The History of Britain Revealed - The shocking truth about the English Language
- ^ R. English, Irish Freedom, p. 12-67.
- ^ Stephen Oppenheimer (2006) The Origins of the British
- ^ Vittorio di Martino (2003), Roman Ireland, The Collins Press
- ^ Romans in Ireland
- ^ Tacitus Agricola 24
- ^ Agricola 24
- ^ Vittorio di Martino (2003), Roman Ireland, Chapter two
- ^ Vittorio di Martino, Roman Ireland, Introduction
- ^ Juvenal, Satires 2.159-160
- ^ Carson, R.A.G. and O'Kelly, Claire: A catalogue of the Roman coins from Newgrange, Co. Meath and notes on the coins and related finds, pages 35-55. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 77, section C; Wallace, Patrick F., O'Floinn, Raghnall eds. Treasures of the National Museum of Ireland: Irish Antiquities, Items 4:31-33, ISBN 0-7171-2829-6
- ^ *Philip Rance, ‘Attacotti, Déisi and Magnus Maximus: the Case for Irish Federates in Late Roman Britain’, Britannia 32 (2001) 243-270
- ^ McPartland E. The Royal Exchange Competition JRSAI vol.102, p.63. See the original SPQR
- ^ Although it is found in the first line of the Aeolus section (part 2, episode 7) of James Joyce's novel Ulysses: IN THE HEART OF THE HIBERNIAN METROPOLIS (a fictional newspaper headline referring to Dublin).
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