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Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age
Our established impressions of early Celtic Ireland have come down to us through the great Irish epic tales of heroic struggles between kings and warriors, of outlandish gods and wise Druids. But how do these images compare with the evidence revealed by the excavator's trowel? Recent archaeological research has transformed our understanding of the period. Reflecting this new generation of scholarship, Professor Barry Raftery presents the most convincing and up-to-date account yet published of Ireland in the millennium before the coming of Christianity.
The transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age in Ireland brought many changes, not least the proliferation of imposing hillforts. Did these have a purely defensive role, or were they built for ceremonial or commercial purposes? When did the Celtic character of early Ireland emerge? New findings indicate that the construction of the country's great royal centers, such as Tara and Emain Macha, coincides with the first appearance in Ireland of the material culture of the European Celts - so-called La Tene artifacts. The author argues that these were the portable trappings of a rising aristocratic elite, which expressed its power by building highly visible monuments.
Professor Raftery also discusses the significant advances that took place in travel and transport, including the creation of the largest roadway in prehistoric Europe; the elusive lives of the common people; the idiosyncratic genius of the local metalsmiths; and the complex religious beliefs exemplified by standing stones, and offerings in rivers and lakes. He presents fascinating new material about Ireland's contacts with the Roman world, and in a final chapter he reviews the whole question of whether La Tene culture spread to Ireland through invasion or peaceful diffusion.
Pagan Celtic Ireland is the definitive statement of what we currently know about the country's shadowy, Celtic origins. Generously illustrated throughout, it will be read avidly by everyone interested in Ireland's mysterious and long-lost past.
The transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age in Ireland brought many changes, not least the proliferation of imposing hillforts. Did these have a purely defensive role, or were they built for ceremonial or commercial purposes? When did the Celtic character of early Ireland emerge? New findings indicate that the construction of the country's great royal centers, such as Tara and Emain Macha, coincides with the first appearance in Ireland of the material culture of the European Celts - so-called La Tene artifacts. The author argues that these were the portable trappings of a rising aristocratic elite, which expressed its power by building highly visible monuments.
Professor Raftery also discusses the significant advances that took place in travel and transport, including the creation of the largest roadway in prehistoric Europe; the elusive lives of the common people; the idiosyncratic genius of the local metalsmiths; and the complex religious beliefs exemplified by standing stones, and offerings in rivers and lakes. He presents fascinating new material about Ireland's contacts with the Roman world, and in a final chapter he reviews the whole question of whether La Tene culture spread to Ireland through invasion or peaceful diffusion.
Pagan Celtic Ireland is the definitive statement of what we currently know about the country's shadowy, Celtic origins. Generously illustrated throughout, it will be read avidly by everyone interested in Ireland's mysterious and long-lost past.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 10, 2021
The book contains detailed descriptions of finds and archaeological sites, and places which are important to the enigma of the Irish Iron Age. If you're looking for a clear answer, this is not the book for you, but know that there is no clear answer (yet) -- just a lot of speculation.
Anyhow... the artifacts touched upon in this book are extraordinary finds, giving us a view on what life could have been like in the Bronze Age (for the most part). For that alone, the book is worth it.
Anyhow... the artifacts touched upon in this book are extraordinary finds, giving us a view on what life could have been like in the Bronze Age (for the most part). For that alone, the book is worth it.
December 26, 2008
Pagan Celtic Ireland is a book that was written with the intent of presenting the new discoveries made about the Irish Iron Age. These discoveries involved new dates established with better techniques in radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology. The main goal of this book is to give a picture of life in the Irish Iron age and what it entailed, and the author achieved that goal with ease. The main source used in researching this book is archeology and the written sources were used as a way to give a more colorful picture of the time.
By the end of this book I was left with a lot of questions. These questions are not the mark of a bad book, in fact they are the mark of a good one. The questions I was left with are the same ones posed by the author in the last chapter of the book. I have been asking myself these questions since I started reading the book and the fact that the author asked these question too means, to me at least, that what he was trying to convey has indeed reached me.
The questions I kept asking myself were as follows. What is the meaning of culture and how does it apply to the Celts? What does “Celtic culture” really mean? How can we apply it to Ireland and make it make sense? If we consider that the Hallstatt and La Tène styles constitute Celticness, then how do we explain the Celts in Ireland, since they have little of the Hallstatt style and only a native
version of the La Tène style, with the major arts that define the La Tène culture missing. How can we explain the Celticness of the south of Ireland where the La Tène style is missing completely?
An interesting and thoroughly enjoyable book that gives interesting information, and asks questions that a lot of authors gloss across, and some even fail to ask. Most importantly a book that makes you think.
By the end of this book I was left with a lot of questions. These questions are not the mark of a bad book, in fact they are the mark of a good one. The questions I was left with are the same ones posed by the author in the last chapter of the book. I have been asking myself these questions since I started reading the book and the fact that the author asked these question too means, to me at least, that what he was trying to convey has indeed reached me.
The questions I kept asking myself were as follows. What is the meaning of culture and how does it apply to the Celts? What does “Celtic culture” really mean? How can we apply it to Ireland and make it make sense? If we consider that the Hallstatt and La Tène styles constitute Celticness, then how do we explain the Celts in Ireland, since they have little of the Hallstatt style and only a native
version of the La Tène style, with the major arts that define the La Tène culture missing. How can we explain the Celticness of the south of Ireland where the La Tène style is missing completely?
An interesting and thoroughly enjoyable book that gives interesting information, and asks questions that a lot of authors gloss across, and some even fail to ask. Most importantly a book that makes you think.
January 17, 2020
"Pagan Celtic Ireland" presents a nice survey of the archaeology of Ireland in the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Chapters are organized both chronologically and thematically around the main types of sites in each period. Raftery abjures the contentious discussions about the introduction of Celtic (an Indo-European language) into the island, a topic that has puzzled and bedeviled philologists for ages. (He does provide a brief and clear explanation of the difference between p-Celtic and q-Celtic languages, which is part of the evidence.)
However, although Raftery is an expert who's spent his career on the archaeology of Ireland, the book was published in 1999 (if I am remembering correctly) -- a long time ago in the field! I don't know anything about subsequent developments, but I'd guess that there's been a lot of work and that some views he expresses have been overturned, some questions he leaves open answered, and some new questions developed. No doubt a more up-to-date account could be found in the second edition of Richard Bradley's "The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland" (2019) - but it covers a larger area, and I can't really comment because I haven't read it.
However, although Raftery is an expert who's spent his career on the archaeology of Ireland, the book was published in 1999 (if I am remembering correctly) -- a long time ago in the field! I don't know anything about subsequent developments, but I'd guess that there's been a lot of work and that some views he expresses have been overturned, some questions he leaves open answered, and some new questions developed. No doubt a more up-to-date account could be found in the second edition of Richard Bradley's "The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland" (2019) - but it covers a larger area, and I can't really comment because I haven't read it.
July 10, 2025
Decent but pretty academic archaeological history of bronze/iron age ireland
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August 2, 2025dnf
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews