Hill of Uisneach
| Hill of Uisneach Cnoc Uisnigh
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| — Hill — | |
 Hill of Uisneach
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| Coordinates: 53°29′25″N 7°33′45″W / 53.490226°N 7.56251°WCoordinates: 53°29′25″N 7°33′45″W / 53.490226°N 7.56251°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Westmeath |
| Elevation | 182 m (597 ft) |
| Irish Grid Reference | N285490 |
Uisneach or the Hill of Uisneach (Irish: Uisneach / Cnoc Uisnigh),[1] anglicized as Ushnagh, is a historical site in County Westmeath, Ireland (National Monument Number 155).[2] The hill is 182 metres tall[3] and was formerly deemed to be the centre of Ireland. It lies on the north side of the R390 road, 8 km east of the village of Ballymore and beside the small village of Loughanavally. The Hill of Uisneach occupies parts of four adjacent townlands: Ushnagh Hill, Mweelra, Rathnew, and Kellybrook.[3]
In Irish mythology, it was deemed to be the omphalos or mystical navel of Ireland, upon which rested a great stone (Ail na Míreann or "stone of divisions") which was said to mark the meeting point of the provincial borders of Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Midhe (which was once a separate, fifth province). Tradition tells that the Hill of Uisneach was a site favoured for Bealtaine fires and Druidical ceremonies, and as a ceremonial site it was regarded as second only to Eamhain Mhacha. In the poetic history Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of the Takings of Ireland), the Nemedian Druid Mide lit the first fire there. A fire was also lit on the Hill of Uisneach on the feast of Bealtaine. This fire could allegedly be seen from the Hill of Tara and, when those at Tara saw it, they lit their fire.
According to a popular passage from the same record, Ériu, a tutelary goddess sometimes viewed as the personification of Ireland, meets the invading Milesians at the Hill of Uisneach where, after some conversation and drama, the Milesian poet Amergin promises to give the country her name. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) claims a common belief that the stones of Stonehenge were brought to Britain from the Hill of Uisneach. Saint Bríd of Christian legend is also notably connected with fire.
Based on co-ordinates alone, some have theorised that this may be the site identified as Raiba or Riba by Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), the Egyptian-Greek astronomer and cartographer, writing in his Geographia around the year 140 AD.
Archaeologically, the site consists of a set of monuments spread over two square kilometres in the closely adjoining townlands of Ushnagh, Kellybrook and Rathnew,[3] which includes enclosures and barrows, a possible megalithic tomb, and two ancient roads. The biggest enclosure was excavated in the 1920s by R.A.S. Macalister and R. Praeger and showed evidence of occupation from prehistory up to the early mediaeval period.
The actual geographical centre of Ireland is near the western shore of Lough Ree, further to the west[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Irish Placenames Database Retrieved 2010-08-05.
- ^ National Monuments in State care, National Monuments Service, archaeology.ie. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
- ^ a b c Ordnance Survey map. Select Wind Report option for contour map. Select Historic 6" option for townland boundaries. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
- ^ Frequently Asked Questions Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved: 2011-06-25.
[edit] Further reading
- Jestice, Phyllis G. (2000). Encyclopedia of Irish Spirituality. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc.. ISBN 1-57607-146-4.
- MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869157-2.
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