Analysis: Christmas may not have been a big deal in Medieval Ireland, but it was a special time all the same marked by feasting, rest and some parties
Contrary to claims by some modern Celtic druids on the internet, it is not possible to reconstruct what any Christmas, winter festival or pagan rituals may have looked like in pre-Christian Ireland. While we cannot know what any pre-Christian religion may have looked like, we do have a few tantalising snippets in the Irish sources which offer an insight into how other faiths were perceived by Christians, from whom most of written sources come. Writing in the fifth century, St Patrick, for example, criticised sun worship, proclaiming that believers in Christ adore him who is 'the true sun'.
In one early chant for the first hour of Christmas Day, there is no mention of the birth of Christ. The antiphon instead focusses on the joy of the monks at the prospect of shrinking hours of darkness following the winter solstice and the promise of longer days to come. Even though we now enjoy the benefits of electricity, illuminating the diminishing daylight hours, I am sure we can all empathise with the clerics' anticipation of brighter days ahead (given the events of the last few years, I mean that both literally and metaphorically!).
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While we brighten the winter gloom with an seemingly ever-increasing abundance of twinkling Christmas fairy lights, our medieval ancestors relied on candlelight. In the ninth century Irish text the Voyage of St Brendan (Navigatio sancti Brendani), Brendan and his monks celebrate Christmas on the island of St Ailbe, ‘during which they observe the altar lamps being magically set alight by a flying arrow, the candles burning without being consumed because the light is of a spiritual kind’. This tale has been termed a medieval bestseller on account of its popularity across medieval Europe and was the inspiration for Tim Severin's famous Atlantic voyage in 1976.
Of course, Christmas by definition is a Christian celebration. In medieval Ireland, it was not the big festival that it is today, and it receives much less attention in texts like the Voyage of St Brendan than Easter, which marked the pinnacle of the liturgical calendar. There are enough references in the written texts, however, to indicate that it was a special time, marked by feasting and rest.
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For example, according to early Irish law, commoners were allowed bread (most likely wheaten) at Easter, Christmas and on Sundays. Similarly, Dublittir (d.796), abbot of Finglas, a church which observed a strict abstinent lifestyle, permitted a relaxation of the rules during the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun, while another set of monks’ rules laments the drunkenness of some clerics during these same holy festivals.
Brennu-Njáls Saga, a later medieval Icelandic literary tale, provides an evocative depiction of a lavish Christmas feast slash political summit attended by Sitric Silkenbeard, ‘Hiberno-Norse’ king of Dublin (and my candidate for top Dubliner of all time), in 1013. While this account is dramatic fiction, it does convey how Christmas was a time for significant political events and displays of hospitality. There are a number of references in the sources of kings spending Christmas in important monasteries such as Clonmacnoise, and that taxes and dues were also to be paid at that time.
According to Brennu-Njal’s Saga, Sitric of Dublin was at the court of fellow so-called ‘Viking’ leader Earl Sigurd of Orkney to drum up support against Brian Boru in what became the Battle of Clontarf. Recently acknowledged as ‘Emperor of the Irish’, Sitric of Dublin was resisting the overlordship of the man from Munster (nothing new here then!).
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According to another literary account of the events surrounding the Battle of Clontarf, the War of the Irish against the foreigners (Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh), Boru tired of his siege of Dublin in the winter of 1013 and returned home to Munster to rest and regroup for Christmas. According to the story, he returned east in January and intensified his efforts to bring the Dubs to heel, ultimately culminating in the Battle of Clontarf at Easter 1014.
The word for Christmas in medieval Irish was Notlaic (modern Nollaig), derived from the Latin natalicia meaning ‘birth’. While Notlaic Mór designated Christmas Day, the big day itself, the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th was referred to as Notlaic Becc 'Little Christmas'. The language reflects the understanding in medieval Ireland of this time as a defined, bookended period. The Annals of Ulster, for example, record that there was a heavy fall of snow in the year 1234 eter dá notlaic ‘between the two Christmases’.
This piece was originally published by Maynooth University's Spotlight On Research
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
