| The
history of Ireland has been one of continual invasion and the displacement
of one people by another. |
| The
first recorded inhabitants of the British Isles (Britain, Ireland
and the Isle of Man) are referred to in 325 BC by the Greek historian/explorer
Ptolemy as the Pretani. The south of Ireland was inhabited by the
Firbog and the north by the Cruithin (Picts). The proximity of the
north of Ireland to Scotland meant Pictish kingdoms often encompassed
parts of Scotland and the north of Ireland (Ulster). |
| By
300 BC the Celts arrived in Britain pushing as far north as Strathclyde
in Scotland and from there, into Ireland. These Britonic Celts were
the ancesters of the modern day Welsh. The Celtic tribe of the Ulaid
(for whom Ulster is named) became the elite class in the north of
Ireland living along side and sometimes ruling over the Cruithin.
Around 200 BC the Gaels arrived in Ireland from the Iberian region
of Spain and gradually pushed north. The Ulaid and Cruithin united
in the face of a common enemy and built the defensive structure
called Black Pigs Dyke (the remains of which still stands today)
along the southern border of Ulster to halt the advance of the Gaels. |
| By
450 AD the more numerous Gaels had managed to gain control of most
of the north of Ireland, with Ulster shrunken to encompass only
the present day counties of Antrim and Down (the enlarged modern
day Ulster boundaries were put in place by the government of the
Tudor Elizabeth 1st for administrative purposes). The loss of territory
led to the Ulaid/Cruithin looking for land elsewhere. |
| By
490 AD the Ulaid/Cruithin (named Scotti by the Romans) had established
the kingdom of Dalriada in the Ayrshire and Galloway regions of
Scotland. By this time the Gaels domination of Ireland had led to
the Gaelic language becoming the spoken tongue of the now united
Cruithin Picts and Ulaid Celts. |
| In
500 AD the Scotti king of Dalriada, Fergus Mac Ere ruled a kingdom
that encompassed areas in both Scotland and Ulster. It is from Mac
Ere that Scottish Royalty and therefore the British Monarchy are
descended. |
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| The
ancient symbol of Ulster is the red hand. There are
several versions as to the true origins of this symbol. |
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| The
first version involves a race between two ships carrying one of
the many peoples to invade Ireland. The captains of two ships had
a wager that the first to set his hand on the land would own it.
One of the captains, seeing he was going to lose cut off his right
hand and threw it to the shore winning the wager. |
| The
second version has a biblical reference (Genesis 38 v 28-30)
to back the story up and involves Zareh and Pharez, the sons
of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. During their birthing,
Zareh's hand protruded first and the midwife tied a scarlet
cord around the hand to identify the firstborn. But Zareh
drew back his hand and his brother Pharez came out first.
Zareh's descendents were therefore disinherited and left the
other tribes ending up eventually Ireland and legend tells
they developed the first kingdom of Ulster in 1480 BC. The
two heraldic symbols were the red hand with scarlet cord (Zareh)
and the red lion rampant (Judah), one used by Ulster today,
the other by Scotland. |
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| Cuchulainn
- the Hound of Ulster |
| The
oldest story in western European history is that of
Cuchulainn, the hound of Ulster. Legend has it that
the young Cruithin warrior, Setanta killed the hound
of the Ulaid lord Chulainn. Setanta took the name Cuchulainn
and became his 'hound'. Cuchulainn became the war leader
of the Knights of the Red Branch, centered at Navan
fort and was repeatedly successful in repealing attacks
on Ulster by the Gaels of queen Maeve. |
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