(Eamhain
Macha.) The ancient royal capital of Ulster, Eamhain
Maher, now known as
Navan Fort, was the centre of ancient Irish culture. It was founded
by Queen Macha and is associations with Cuchulainn
the legendary Ulster warrior. The fort is sixteen acres in area on a hill
top with a large mound in the centre, it was most likely a ritual
site rather than a defensive one, although considering the depth
and scale of the surrounding ditches and It is part of a complex
which included Lough na Shade, in which bones and sculls as well
as four bronze trumpets were found in the 19th century, the king's
stables a Bronze age ritual site to the north west; Haugheys fort
to the west and ancient tombs in the hills to the North. One of
the houses in the enclosure belonged to an important person as it
contained the bones of a Barbary ape, probably a gift from North
Africa. The fort is thought to have been in use from
4000 to 5000 years ago, and was occupied from 700 to 100 BC when
the sagas of the hero Cuchulainn was associated with it. The fort
was destroyed in 332 AD. The
Celtic war fertility goddess Macha is said in the Annals
of the four masters to have lived in the 7th century BC. She appears
in three sets of stories it is thought she may have been three different
people. The first married Nemhedh, said to have been a Scythian warrior
who came to Ireland. She died on one of the twelve plains which was then
named after her. The second ruled Ireland around 700 BC . She lured
five sons of a claimant into the forest, one by one and bound them up,
later forcing them to build the royal fortress of Eamhain Macha. The third forced herself upon Crunnchu a wealthy
widower. Chunnchu boasted about his wife's strength at a gathering of
Ulstermen , saying that she could outrun the kings horses. Although heavily
pregnant, she took up the challenge and beat them, she then gave birth
to twins, the exertion led to her death, but before she died, she cursed
the men of Ulster saying that in Ulster's greatest hour of need the men
would suffer the pains of childbirth The King's
Stable. The
King's Stables is a man made pool 25 M in diameter and 2.5 M deep it was
built on the edge of a lake now overgrown. It is one Km west of Navan
fort, tradition has it that the ancient Kings watered their horses and
washed their chariots here, it is thought by some that the site may have
been used for sacrificial purposes as part of a human scull was found
in the mud along with parts of a mold for casting bronze swords. Slieve
Gullion has at its summit passage graves and to the south is a forest
park with walks. It features in the epic prose. The Cattle Raids of Cooley.
Tourist Information
40 English Street
Armagh City
Co Armagh
Tel +44 (0)28 3752 1800
E Mail
Web Site
Tourist Information
40 English Street
Armagh City
Co Armagh
Tel +44 (0)28 3752 1800
E Mail
Web Site