All is Motion

Author: kodai_bot

  • A Castle on Teeling Street?

    A Castle on Teeling Street, Sligo

    The Discovery

    In 2007, during routine extension works, archaeologists struck a stone covering an old drain right under the present Weekender office on Teeling street. When the stone was lifted an unusual type of wine bottle was found, known from its shape as an onion bottle. These onion bottles were made between 1640 and about 1720 and are very rarely found intact. So it was decided to extend the excavation to see what else might be there. The bottle turned out to be sitting beside a massive mortared stone foundation 3 metres (10 feet) in width which is shown in this picture.

    Many of the buildings on the corner of Abbey St. and Teeling St. appear to use this as their foundation as it runs east and north directly under the modern buildings. At bottom right of the picture the modern wall can be seen to be sitting on similar masonry.

    The Castle

    The enormous width of the foundation suggests a fortified building, probably of a type known as a tower house. These tower houses were extremely common in Ireland all through the Middle Ages, it being a rather unstable place for anyone who had anything to protect. Lynchs castle on Shop street in Galway, now an AIB bank, is a good example of an urban tower house familiar to many Sligo people.

    Some tower houses had projecting corners, called flankers, to allow defenders to fire along the wall faces, and this may be what we are looking at in this picture. This is the only definite evidence of a castle so far found in Sligo.

    Who built this castle?

    In the 19th century Woodmartin described a castle set back from the corner of Abbey and Teeling streets, and mentions it had been found earlier in the century during the digging of a drain, just like this one. He believed it belonged to the O’ Creans. More recently, historians have identified it as Jones castle.

    But the truth is we cannot be sure. as there was in fact more than one castle in this area. An eyewitness description of the fighting in Sligo in the 1640’s mentions that  “the enemy possessed of the Lady Jones her Castle, which was nigh adjoyneing to Andrew O’Crean his Castle”. Clearly, there were at least two castles right beside each other, and so without further investigation we cannot be sure which one we have found.

    There are two possibilities. This castle was built either by the O’ Creans or Jones, families with very different origins, both of whom played a prominent part in the history of Sligo.

    The O’ Creans

    The O’ Creans (O’ Croidhen, Cryan) were an old Gaelic family from Donegal who were both merchants and religious in occupation. They were the most important medieval merchant family of Sligo, mentioned twice as wealthy merchants by the Four Masters in 1506 and in 1572.

    The Jones

    Lady Jones was the wife of Roger Jones, an Elizabethan soldier who served during the Nine Years War. He arrived in Sligo after the war in 1602, when a new English administration was being set up in Sligo.

    Connections

    Now, when Jones arrived in 1602 the town lay in ruins and so he appears initially to have used Holy Cross as a court-house. Soon after and nearby, he built his castle and Jones became constable of the new jail and also served as the first high sheriff and justice of the peace of the county. He had a garrison under his control and was responsible for the imposition of English law and order.

    And so the castle he operated from on Teeling street is the direct ancestor of the modern Garda barracks, the solicitors offices and courthouse all of which, in both function and location, are descended from Roger Jones early English administration in the county. The post of high sheriff was only abolished in 1922

    Meanwhile, in the Abbey the elderly Dominican friar Macduane was quite alone in Sligo as his life drew to a close in 1608. To those about him he confidently foretold that another Dominican would come to Sligo in time to give him the last sacraments. And sure enough, Daniel O’Crean, a young man fresh from his studies in Lisbon, arrived to comfort the old priest in his final moments.

    An Irish college had been founded in 1593 in Lisbon. The O’ Creans as merchants were heavily involved in the wine trade and through their connections with Galway they traded directly with France, Spain and Portugal, England and Flanders, importing wine, iron and salt, and spices such as saffron, in exchange for fish, hides and cloth. Sligo was not as remote as we sometimes think.

    Now, in an unusual twist, the two families became connected in the 1620’s with the marriage of the merchant Roebuck Crean and Jones niece Elicia and so they went into business together with Roger running a shop beside his house.

    The bottle probably arrived the same way as Daniel O’ Crean, through the port.  These bottles normally contained wine, but were often used as decanters on tavern counters long after the original contents had been drunk. There is mention of the lower floor of Jones castles being used as a tavern sometime around 1700. Perhaps the Town & County club continues this tradition today.

    The castle appears to have been pulled down shortly after the 1798 rebellion. After it had been demolished, someone had carefully placed the bottle under the stone but of course why, when and by whom is unknown. But no doubt the person who placed the bottle was aware of the history and left it to point us in the right direction.

    Postscript: The foundation has been reburied as there was no attempt to allow for it to be displayed. The current whereabouts of the onion bottle are unknown. Without a local museum, it could not be retained in Sligo.

  • Why Reinstating Access to Maeves Cairn May be the Only Way to Preserve It

    An updated version of an article that first appeared in Sligo Weekender in September 2014.
    The images above are of multiple new paths developing on the north side of the cairn which was traditionally pristine and unused for ascending or descending when the old path up from the south was still in use.It is particularly vulnerable to slippage as it was never bedded in by use.

    Back in 2007, it was suggested in a local newspaper article that the cairn on Knocknarea was suffering wear and tear due to people climbing up it as they had done for centuries.  The well worn path that people had traditionally used is on the south side of the cairn, here the stones are well bedded in and are not prone to fall. The groove that this path forms up the face of the cairn was mistaken for recent damage by the writer. This led to the erection of a sign forbidding people to climb the cairn. But the cairn had in fact not altered in centuries.

    In the 1990s the cairn was surveyed by archaeologist Stefan Bergh of NUIGalway and the measurements were compared to earlier ones by antiquaries more than 2 centuries ago, he concluded the cairn was the same size and shape and that no substantial collapse or alteration had happened in the meantime. It is often true that well meaning attempts to make things better, often lead to results the exact opposite of those intended. Since the erection of the sign, the cairn is now being damaged at an unprecedented rate.

    The fact that only on top of the cairn is a 360 degree view of the surroundings available means the temptation to ascend the cairn is strong. Now, of course, human nature being what it is, some obey the sign and some do not. But the tendency amongst those who do climb the cairn is now to go round to the north side of the cairn out of view of the sign and ascend from there. This side of the cairn was never bedded in, and consists of loose stone. As the photos show, a new path has developed where there was formerly none, and the loose stone is falling and threatening to cover the north marker stone. This is not the only new path forming, just the worst one.

    To interfere with peoples ancient pattern of movement is always a dangerous idea. When all were allowed up, a kind of rough equilibrium was established between those who brought stones and those who took them away. Now,  a new pile of stones almost 6 feet high is developing on top of the cairn which should be a shallow dish shape. Also the tradition of bringing a stone up the cairn is no longer functioning as these were traditionally cast on the sides, maintaining the general profile of the cairn.

    I’m afraid that if this takes its usual course, damage caused by an ill advised and unnecessary interference in the first place, will lead eventually to a call for no access to the cairn at all in the future. An outcome which I think is totally unnecessary and draconian, as well as denying people the wonderful experience of the view from the top.

    The solution is obvious. Access should be reinstated strictly on the traditional path, which should perhaps even be subtly reinforced. It should of course be made clear that only that path is to be used both to ascend and descend, and the rest of the cairn may then be roped off.

    A monument such as this is a dynamic thing, it relies on the interaction of people to preserve it, and it is extremely ironic that it is through well intentioned efforts to “preserve” it that the cairns equilibrium is now threatened. Pressure has been mounting through increased access to the mountain and increased tourism on the Wild Atlantic Way. The future status of this monument needs to be thought about very carefully, and state instincts to block access are not necessarily in the best interests of the cairn or tourism.

    The cairn survived five thousand years under the original arrangement, the people of Sligo had looked after it successfully for all that time, and if we want it to survive another five thousand I hope this is done as soon as possible.

    Contact: [email protected]

    Background

    Here is a link to a cached version of the original article in Sligo Weekender that caused the erection of signs prohibiting access for the first time in 2007. No study had taken place on whether damage was occurring, or what would be the best method to ensure the preservation of the cairn. The action was taken merely on the opinion of a single individual.   Damage to Cairn

    On September 4th 2014, the detrimental effect and threat of the access ban to the physical integrity of the cairn was noted in a letter to the Weekender by myself, of which the article above is an updated version. It was predicted at that time that the damage would get rapidly worse, as the dynamic equilibrium established under local tradition was upset by an ill advised intervention by the OPW, working off well intentioned, but incorrect, assumptions. Unfortunately this has turned out to be true. Compared to the ease of erecting signs prohibiting something, and the tendency to assume this is “doing something” it may seem counter-intuitive, but it is necessary to grasp that access to the cairn actually ensures its preservation as a living monument, whereas blocking this access ensures the exact opposite, its destruction and eventual sequestering as a ruined monument.

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  • Brexit, should we support the latest peasant revolt?

    “Besides, they were informed that he was even intriguing with the helots; and such indeed was the fact, for he promised them freedom and citizenship if they would join him in insurrection, and would help him to carry out his plans to the end.”

    Thucydides, on the Spartan general Pausanius attempted revolt in league with the oppressed helots, 5th Century BC


    March 2017
    Ah yes, the truth! The sordid, amoral, entitled nature of Britains ruling class is laid bare for the world to see thanks to Brexit and the wonder of instant communication. Travelling the globe to shamelessly pander to all the worst dictators and regimes on the planet. Of course, as historians, and particularly historians in Ireland, we know they have been like this for centuries, but have carefully controlled their image to maintain an aura of respectability, to bluff the world and, most importantly, their own people. But now the mask has slipped. Social media casts a light onto events and characters impossible to achieve before,  and with this claruty,  the narrative is not theirs alone to control anymore. .

    Recent avents suggest that Brexit represents perhaps a unique opportunity for the British people to think about how to remove or curtail their parasitical ruling clasd once and for all. Perhaps a chance to reform the archaic system of first past the post voting, that has created virtual perpetual rule by the Tories. Surely the alternative is not to be countenanced? With the Tories consorting with the Saudis, Trump and the murderous Duterte (a person who boasts about personally throwing criminals out of helicopters) they have certainly found their own ilk to hang around with. Their Britain entails an economy based on money laundering & arms dealing for the idle rich, supported by the labour of a helot class who toil in zero hour contracts and uncertainty designed to keep them too desperate, insecure and distracted to effectively resist their exploitation.

    In a world of plenty, they have nothing…and thats on purpose. Helots must always be kept in fear, and so they are bombarded daily with enemies, immigrants, Spain, the EU. Anything to create fear, to distract, to divide, because this prevents any concerted action against the real enemy of the British people, the ruling class. So much for the historical analysis.

    But now with the Brexit vote, the logical consequences of how they have retained internal power, and what is rational action in the outside world, are at odds with each other. This is an opportunity to expose what they are doing, and when we understand a mechanism, we can redesign it. The British state as it developed in the 16th century relied on external enemies to maintain the small elites control of a dangerously fragmented nation. The technique was successful, it led to Empire. However there are costs. National identity is defined in relation to the “other” . The system becomes unstable in the absence of an external enemy.

    So, in the absence of a more traditional enemy, the  EU served as a convenient enemy in the time honoured tradition. This was meant to be routine use of an enemy to create fear and distract the people, it was not meant to be acted on, but Cameron miscalculated and the people, fed a steady diet of hysterical anti-EU rhetoric, called his bluff, and now Brexit must be gone through with. This misstep may ultimately lead to their demise, as their willingness to sacrifice their peoples long term interest just to keep themselves in power has now been exposed. The British ruling class have been hoist by their own petard.
    Brexit is said to be a disaster for Britain, and perhaps in an analysis devoid of historical context this is correct. However, reading  it as a disaster assumes that all is well and functioning in British society, that historical tensions are not under the surface, ready to emerge as change progresses, And we know that for large parts of the country, they have been abandoned to their fate. Does it really make any difference to modern helots what is happening in the outside world? Shorn of rights and opportunities surely their first priority is to free themselves from the criminal gang who have held them hostage, in one guise or another, for roughly 9 centuries….and when the opportunity came, they took it.. the peasants (as the Tories would see it) revolted.
    And in this analysis Brexit may not make much sense from the outside, either socially or economically, but if you are inside it does, because it is not a thought out action of the ruling class, or a democratic, or rational and progressive movement, it is a revolt, a revolt of the dispossessed in the tradition of the great peasant revolts of the Middle Ages, such as the Wat Tyler revolt of 1381. A revolt explains the total disarray of the British establishment, whether left or right, both equally horrified at the seemingly mindless destruction of Brexit,  they do not know how to respond. Only the extremists are happy, and their agenda is being followed, no matter the cost to the economy, to social cohesion, to the existence of the UK itself. So, as the establishment implodes, the next step is to lay out a way forward for the democratic reform of Britain in the long run, and there is much that we, on the outside, can do to help that.
    Viva la Revolucion!

    Note on helots..https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helots