Traditional Transportation in Ireland
Discusses the traditional methods of transportation in Ireland.
Location: Ireland
An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach.
Travelers have tales to tell.[1]
Carts and Chariots in Early Ireland
Most historic Irish people did not ride horses for transportation. In early myths, warriors rode into battle on chariots and raced them at annual fairs. The most valuable chariots were adorned with gold, silver, and colorful feathers. Carts were more commonplace; chariots had mostly disappeared by the Middle Ages. Oxen and horses could draw either, though horses were more common for chariots and oxen for carts. St. Patrick himself reportedly traveled by chariot pulled by two oxen. Later, donkeys pulled carts into town on market days.
Ireland's first roads traveled between its five main kingdoms, emanating from the high seat at Tara. They are described as wide paths, sometimes lined with wood or stone. In boggy areas, Irish laborers constructed raised causeways, similar to the artificial islands that supported crannogs.[2] Today, Ireland's roads range from country paths to modern freeways and overpasses.
Irish Ships and Sailing
As might be expected from an island nation, the Irish have been accomplished sailors for thousands of years. The first inhabitants of the island, along with its first crops and livestock, crossed the seas from Europe in skin- or logboats. In more recent millennia, Irish monks isolated themselves on rocky islands, while residents of lake crannogs controlled access to their homes by ferry. The most iconic Irish vessel is the currach, a wicker boat covered with treated hides. Modern currach are still manufactured and prized by fishermen for their light weight and maneuverability.[3][4]
Bibliography
"Bíonn Siúlach Scéalach," Daltaí na Gaeilge, accessed April 07, 2017.
Patrick W. Joyce, A Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland (London, NY, and Bombay: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1906), 480-491.
Margaret Stokes, Early Christian Architecture in Ireland (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1878), 23-24.
G. Frank Mitchell, "Introduction" in Treasures of Early Irish Art: 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977), 10-15.
Jane Leslie Helleiner, Irish Travellers: Racism and the Politics of Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000).
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