Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting RuinsRussell, Thomas O'Neill
History
Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting Ruins
Russell, Thomas O'Neill
Ireland -- Antiquities; Ireland -- Description and travel
The country in the vicinity of Emania, while containing no striking
objects of scenic interest, is, at the same time, picturesque and
beautiful. Southern Ulster, even where it is not mountainous, is usually
most varied and interesting in its general features. It is essentially a
land of hills and valleys; but the hills are never so high that they
cannot be cultivated, and the best land is sometimes found on their very
tops. The country round Emania is extremely broken, hill and valley are on
every side. It is generally, like most parts of Ulster, well cultivated.
There are many antiquarian curiosities in the neighbourhood of this
ancient fortress. Some of the most perfect Druid circles in Ireland are in
its vicinity. There is a very remarkable one about a mile from it which a
thrifty farmer has turned into a haggard. It encloses about quarter of an
acre of ground. The stones of which it is composed stand about four feet
over the surface, and must average nearly a ton each in weight. But
vandalism is strong in the vicinity, for it is only a short time since
another splendid Druid circle, nearly as large as the one mentioned, was
torn down, and its stones broken to mend roads withal. Thus are many of
the relics of ancient Erin disappearing before the march of
denationalisation.
Those who live in the vicinity of Emania tell many stories about the
finding of treasure-trove close to and in this ancient fortress. According
to them, gold ornaments of great value were found by some persons many
years ago who suddenly became rich, much to the surprise of their
neighbours. Those ornaments were, of course, melted down, and like
hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of similar articles found in almost
every part of Ireland, never found their way to any museum, and are lost
to the country for ever. There can hardly be any doubt that some very
valuable articles in gold have been found near Emania.
One of the most interesting instances of the long survival of a place name
is to be found adjacent to this celebrated spot. Most Irish persons have
heard of the Red Branch Knights. Moore has immortalised them in his
exquisite lyric, "Let Erin Remember the Days of Old." Few believe that
such an institution as the Red Branch Knights ever existed. It is
generally looked on as a bardic fable; but there is a townland close to
Emania which is still called Creeve Roe, in correct orthography, _Craobh
Ruadh_, which means Red Branch. The preservation of this place name for
nearly two thousand years cannot be regarded as an accident. It goes far
to prove that the Red Branch Knights did exist, and that the townland took
its name from them. This extraordinarily long survival of a place name,
the historic fame and antiquity of the locality, lend a supreme interest
to this ruined stronghold, which, centuries after its glories had
vanished, Gaelic bards used still to call "Emania the Golden."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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