Archaeology & The Art of the Ancestors.

Sketches of carvings within Brú na Bóinne by George Victor Du Noyer.

As an artist I am constantly inspired by the land of Ireland, her sacred sites and her people.

Cauldron detail from MÓR-RÍOGHAIN

For many years standing stones, cairns, rock art and archaeological finds have crept 

into my paintings.

Passage stone detail from AN CAILLEACH

Sometimes a single carving can inspire a larger painting.

Drawing of an antlered deer carving found by Eugene Conwell on a bone flake 

from Cairn H, Loughcrew.

Sketch, part of a new painting, 'Stone, Antler & Bone'.

With each view of these special places my respect for the skills of the ancient people of Ireland grows.

Carvings inside Cairn T, Loughcrew highlighted by the sun at Autumn Equinox.
More about this painting - AN CAILLEACH

Over centuries sites change, stones are taken for building or for private collections, finds removed to museums and carvings weathered or covered by lichen.

Lichen on a passage stone in the Mound of the Hostages, Hill of Tara.

Image © knowth.com

However, the meticulous recording by past generations of artists and archaeologists has left us with beautiful representations of the Art of the Ancestors.

Dublin born George Victor Du Noyer, 1817 – 1869.

George Victor Du Noyer, an Irish painter, geologist and antiquarian, was commissioned over several years by the Irish Ordnance Survey and the Geological Survey of Ireland to realistically illustrate many sites across the island. 

Du Noyer worked in watercolour and pencil and his sketches are works of art. 

Sketches of Cairns T and L, Loughcrew by George Victor Du Noyer.

Image from Durrus History

His legacy is a series of images as fresh today as they were in the 1800’s. 

Du Noyer’s sketches can be seen HERE

Around the same period J.J.A. Worsee, a Danish archaeologist, was commissioned by 

King Christian VIII of Denmark to record ‘Viking-age antiquities and monuments of Scandinavian character’ 

during his stay in Dublin. 

Illustration by James Plunket from 

‘An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland’. 

Worsee assigned James Plunket to prepare a series of watercolours showing artefacts in the collections of the Royal Irish Academy. These became known as The Plunket Watercolours or The Worsaae Drawings.

Now housed in the National Museum of Denmark, they consist of twelve large drawings depicting objects arranged by type and period. 

Each artefact, from the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and later is drawn to full scale, beautifully coloured, with great attention to detail.

As well as their artistic value the Plunket Watercolours record the provenance 

of some early finds of The RIA’s collection of Irish antiquities.

Plunket’s watercolours can be viewed HERE

In more modern times the work of the Irish-American graphic artist, Martin Brennan, 

not only recorded ancient art but challenged the way in which people viewed Ireland’s monuments. 

Images © Martin Brennan.

Together with his friends, Brennan observed and documented evidence showing that the function of the great passage tombs, such as Newgrange and Loughcrew, were not only burial mounds but were also used as astronomical observatories over 5,000 years ago.

Kerb stone 51 at Dowth, known as the ‘Stone of the Seven Suns’, © Martine Brennan.

His clear, clean illustrations, focussing on the carvings rather than the textures, provide us with an inventory of Ireland’s Megalithic Art as well as possible insights into the motivation of the ancestors.

Brennan’s book 'The Stars and the Stones', republished as
‘The Stones of Time’ can be ordered HERE

Today cameras and computers have replaced sketch books and pencils but recording the beauty and intricacy of these carvings and sacred places continues.

Stone 52 at the rear of Newgrange © Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland.

Photographers, such as Anthony Murphy, keep the tradition of the antiquarian and the art of the ancestors alive for future generations.

The ceiling stone in the end recess of Cairn T, Loughcrew 

© Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland.

Visit Mythical Ireland HERE

Long may they continue to inspire us!

Æ, artist & mystic - “And the old enchantment lingers in the honey-heart of earth.”

‘The Spirit of the Pool via the Beauty of Art’

I first saw the work of the Irish visionary, George William Russell some twenty years ago and have been fascinated by his life ever since.  

Self portrait as a young man and an older Æ, described as having eyes 

“like well-springs in a wildwood of hair and beard.” 

Born in County Armagh in 1867, his family moved to Dublin when he was a child and it was here that Russell remained throughout his life. 

Plaque outside 84 Merrion Square, Dublin where Æ once worked.

You can read more about his life HERE

It was on a visit to his aunt in Drumgor, Co. Antrim when he was 16, that Russell experienced his first vision:

‘The Stolen Child’

"there broke in on me an almost intolerable lustre of light - pure and shining faces, 

dazzling processions of figures - most ancient, ancient places 

and peoples and landscapes lovely as the lost Eden"

‘Deirdre at the door of her Dun’

After hearing a voice whispering “AEON” to him as he painted, Russell used the pseudonym Æ to sign his work from then on.

Æ’s signature on the Autograph Tree next to that of WB Yeats at Coole Park.

Although known primarily as a poet, he was a painter, a committed worker for the Co-Operative Society, an editor and co-founder of the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin as well as a mystic.

Æ’s visions of the ‘many-coloured land’ and the Tuatha Dé Danann inspired many of his early paintings and he continued to paint the Otherworld throughout his life.

‘Spirit of the Sea’

His spirits and fairies were not the small, winged creatures of Victorian fantasy but huge, dominating presences, the ‘Shining Ones’, their heads crowned with ‘flames’ of energy. 

They were Warriors, 

‘The Crusade’

‘Wood chopper and Tree Spirit’

Spirits of wood, water and cave

‘Aeon’

‘Lissadell fairies cavern’

and the Tuatha Dé Danann of Ireland who demanded respect.

‘Petition’

‘Tired’

Russell, known as the ‘myriad-minded man’, died aged 68. 

He is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.

Many of his paintings are held in public collections throughout Ireland and others have emerged 

since his death.

Lying concealed beneath wallpaper at 3 Ely Place in Dublin are more of Æ’s visions. 

Two murals have been uncovered in the building which was once the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Ireland. Others may surface in the future.

Æ’s visions continue to inspire.

“And the old enchantment lingers in the honey-heart of earth.”

Russell's poem ‘A Dream of Angus Oge’ and Winter Solstice at Newgrange.  

A video by Mythical Ireland.

More about Russell and the Theosophical Society can be found HERE

A candle in the window.

The 22nd is the longest night of the year, when darkness is deepest.
As the sun rises on Wednesday we witness the birth of a new year.

The winter solstice sunrise at Newgrange.
Photo by Anthony Murphy © mythical ireland.com

The seconds of daylight will slowly increase and the sun will climb higher in the sky bringing the promise of spring. Until then we keep the fire going, stay indoors and gather with family and friends
to celebrate a rebirth.

3,000 years ago ancient people, in the Boyne Valley and elsewhere, were probably doing much the same. 

They too prepared for an important annual occasion,
the return of sunlight into the centre of the great mound,
Brú na Bóinne, now known as Newgrange.

We can only imagine the meaning of this phenomenon to our ancestors yet despite the change in
date and beliefs across the years, we continue the magic of this event in our modern traditions.

As we decorate the tree and light our candles we perform small acts 

of sympathetic magic to encourage the return of the sun.

On dark evenings when we gather indoors and close the curtains the glow of tiny lights
reflect the star filled, winter sky outside.

Beneath the branches lie gifts from loved ones, memories of childhood
and mementoes of our ancestors.

Although it is often said that this is a time for children, we adults also sense the magic of 

the turning year and feel the hope that a new year brings.

Irish tradition includes placing a lit candle in the window on Christmas Eve, 

symbolising a welcome to those looking for shelter on that night.

In our own window shines a golden light, a symbol of the returning sun and a sign that there 

is a place beside the fire for those in need.

May you have warmth, food & companionship this winter 
and feel the hope embodied by the reborn sun.

Shining Stones.

I've long been fascinated by shining stones,  cloche geala, the bright, white stones which appear throughout the ancient architecture, folklore and mythology of Ireland.

Also known as grian cloche, sun stones, they are white quartz, clear crystal and quartzite stones which
most famously appear on the monuments of the Boyne Valley.

Shining stones, used in the modern facade of Newgrange 

& at the entrance to Knowth nearby, were discovered during excavations.

The Silva Gadelica of 1892 describes the mound as "chequered with the many lights” and it is easy
to imagine how impressive the quartz covered mound would have originally been when it glowed
in sunlight and beneath a full moon.

Quartz stones were erected in many places on the island and finds of shining stones occur at almost all of the ancient, sacred sites excavated here.

Poundcartron, Co. Galway  Photo by Gerard Bleeker .

Not confined to construction, quartz crystals and white stones were also left inside mounds to lie 

with the dead.

Excavations in Cairn T on Sliabh na Caillí, Loughcrew revealed a clear quartz crystal, drilled 
& used as a pendant. Poulnabrone, across the country, held two such crystals amongst other artefacts.

Why were these shining stones so important to our ancestors?

One answer may lie in a special property of quartz, its' triboluminescence. 

This means that when one piece of quartz is rubbed against another, in the dark, 

a bright yellow-orange light can be seen. 

The Uncompahgre Ute people of Central Colorado created ceremonial rattles made from 
buffalo rawhide filled with clear quartz crystals. When shaken during night time ceremonies, 
flashes of light could be seen through the translucent hide.

In a similar way quartz may have been used in the ancient rituals of Ireland.

Perhaps this characteristic was understood as a living fire, akin to sunlight, within the stone ?
Or maybe the stone was believed to house the spirits of the departed awaiting rebirth?

***

Folklore also provides us with insights into shining stones.

In the same way that the fairy folk were known as daoine uaisle, good people /gentry,
white quartz was called cloche uaisle, gentle or noble stone and associated with fairies, their
mounds and the dead.

This practice of cursing, especially using nine white stones in a fire, was used in many areas.
It was understood that misusing these stones in this way would awaken the ire of the Good People
who would vent their anger upon the cursed one.

White stones however could be used to heal as well as harm.

Quartz crystal amulet encased in silver, 

15th century from The National Museum of Ireland.  

Amulets were dipped in specially collected water and used in healing rituals.

Fairy doctors and WISE WOMEN, in contact with the Good People, were said to use white quartz and crystals to cure sick people and animals.

A cure for boils involved reddening nine white quartz stones in the fire then placing them into a pot
of boiling water and sage.

The Shrine of Miosach.

Later sacred quartz was used in the decoration of Christian shrines 

to protect relics and some were thought to have the power to heal. 

The beliefs and rituals associated with shining stones were adapted by the early Christian church
with stones used on saints' beds, graves and at holy wells.

Skour Well. Co. Cork with Christian icons, a Rag Tree and shining stones.

On May eve, Bealtaine, pilgrims would make rounds at the well and leave a white stone.

White quartz is revered by many communities often marking rites of passage. 

This is "The Tinkers' Heart", a pattern of quartz stones laid at an Argyll crossroads in Scotland 

during the 1700's.  Since then it has been used by generations of  Travellers as a sacred place 

to bless their children and hold weddings. 

Across time, from the Neolithic to today, there appears to be continuity in the beliefs and traditions associated with shining stones.
Although we will never know the meaning of quartz to our ancestors it appears to be connected with sacred ground, ritual fires, the Otherworld and possibly the rebirth of the spirit.

We find white quartz chippings on modern graves, cloche gaela left at holy places in the landscape,

Offerings left at Drombeg Stone Circle Co. Cork, known locally as the Druid’s Altar.

 and quartz crystals used in healing and as tools to 'see' the future.