The Hill of Uisneach, sacred center of Ireland

The Hill of Uisneach has been known as the “sacred center, or naval” of Ireland since long before written history. It is the geographic location where the five ancient kingdoms of Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connacht and Mide come together.

Mide is an interesting one because while the other four refer to areas which have always been known as geographical boundaries (which still exist in most Irish people’s minds), Mide was the center, a thin place where the other four conjoined, a place of the magical otherworld, of which the Cat’s Stone, Ail na Míreann, served as the entry point.
Ail na Mireann, the Cat’s Stone

Mide was the most powerful place in Ireland, the place where the Druid’s worshipped. It is believed to be the birthplace of E’riu, the Goddess after whom the Milesians named Ireland.
E’riu was the Mother Goddess of the land; the rocks formed her bones, the earth her flesh, the rivers her veins. She is said to be sleeping under the Catstone now and for all time.

We usually think of Tara as the heart of Ireland and in practical ways it was. Tara is where the kings were crowned, where the royalty ruled. The Hill of Uisneach, on the other hand, is where the very first twin fires of Beltaine were lit and where daily rituals of great magic and divination were performed. The huge bonfires, visible all across the island, continue every May 1st. They were said to be the eyes of E’riu as she watches over the land.

In the old days, People drove their wealth, which was measured by the numbers of their cattle, to Uisneach so that the animals would be purified by the smoke from the fires and then they would take an ember from the bonfires home with them so that they could start their own hearth fires to welcome in the summer, thus receiving blessings from the Goddess E’riu herself.

Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a roadway which links Tara and the Hill of Uisneach together, as well as tunnels and ring forts suggesting centers of learning, thus lending credence to both the mythological and historical stories about the site.

Ptolemy wrote about the Hill of Uisneach in AD82, though he incorrectly identified its name as Raiba. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that the stones of Stonehenge were brought to Britain from Uisneach. It is said that the God Lugh, who gave rise to harvest celebration Lughnasadh, was drowned in a lake on the Hill and rests beneath an adjoining tumulus. The lake is named after him to this day.

The Goddess Brigid, “the bright one”, was also originally worshipped on the Hill of Uisneach.

The ‘Good God’ Dagda is said to have lived there, too. He stabled his solar horses there. Two souterrains have been discovered under Uisneach, inside a wheel shaped enclosure. One of these ‘caves’ is in the shape of a mare pursued by a galloping stallion. I find it very interesting that horse deities have always been associated with the hill.

In 1111 AD, a synod of bishops and clegry was held at Uisneach to begin the work of dividing Ireland into Dioceses. The take over by the Church had begun. However, as late as the 1600’s, the people of County Westmeath still referred to themselves at ‘people of the old kingdom’ (of Mide, which is Uisneach).

Fun facts: James Joyce visited Uisneach while he was working in Mullingar in 1900 – 1901, after which, Uisneach was mentioned in ‘Finnegans wake’.

And in the late 1920’s the great Irish statesman, Eamonn de Velera, addressed a rally of thousands and thousands of people on the Hill, an event which many believe contributed to the success of the Independence movement and the existence of the free Republic of Ireland today.

Of course I had to go to the hill, only to discover that access is now controlled by a corporation created to develop it into a major tourist attraction, (Crowd gathered for the Festival of the Fires, Beltaine)

which is what has happened with access to Newgrange. A large parking lot has been laid, which bodes ill for this important sacred site.

At least they have openly acknowledged the Druidic and ritual aspects of the Hill. They continue to hold the annual Beltaine festival, though now there is an admission fee.