Crom Dubh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crom_Dubh)
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Crom Dubh or Crum-dubh etc meaning "black and crooked" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, was a Celtic god, for which see The Voyage of Bran, Book II, p49. It may have been some kind of megalith.
Di-Dòmhnaich crum-dubh "Crom Dubh Sunday" is known in Ireland as the first Sunday in August, but in Lochaber is applied to Easter. It appears in the Scottish saying:
Di-Dòmhnaich crum-dubh, plaoisgidh mi an t-ùbh.
"Crooked black Sunday, Ill shell the egg."
The exact origin of this saying is unknown, but there is some evidence that Crom Dubh was a fertility related god. In later times, he would be considered to be an evil god, and the element "dubh" (black) had sinister sounding connotations.
There may be an etymological connection with cromlech, a term of Breton origin. Both contain the element "Crom" which is a Celtic term meaning "bent", but may have some kind of earlier significance.
Was Crom Dubh, Crom Cruach?
In The Voyage of Bran, Book II, p49, the dinnseanchas of Magh Slécht is quoted as mentioning the Crom croich/Crom Cruach, or king idol of Ireland. This crom croich is, on pp213, 214, identified with Crom Dubh, but Crom Dubh appears to have had wider currency than Crom croich, and this may be conflation.
This article incorporates text from Dwellys [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911
Also known as CENN-CRUACH, CROM-CRځICH, CROM-DUBH, CRӉCH, CROMM
CROM-CRUAICH: 'Lord of the Mound'. A very primitive God of Sacrifice, and the Chief Idol of
CROM-CRUAICH was a large Megalithic standing stone at
Eventually Christianity came along and put a stop to all that.
This was a great public relations exercise for Christianity. But we feel St Paddy was not one to let a little wild exaggeration stand in the way of one of his 'me and me crosier' yarns.
CLOGHANE & BRANDON Historical & other Information (http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/cloghane/cb-history.html)
An Clochán agus Bhréanainn Oidhreacht agus Gnéithe Eile Suimiúla an Cheantair
This material is excerpted from "The Dingle Peninsula: History, Folklore, Archaeology" by Steve MacDonough, copyright 1993, published by Brandon Book Publishers, Ltd., Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Each of its 260 pages is packed with information on the communities of the
High places have been chosen as religious sites throughout the world since the earliest times, and Lughnasa, which was perhaps the most important Celtic festival, was generally celebrated at hilltop sites. The central symbol of the festival was the temporary victory of Lug, a bright, young god of many talents, over the older, darker god,
Some time after the advent of Christianity Lug was replaced in most cases by
The eastern side of the mountain is also the location for the most remarkable hilltop promontory fort in
The fort consists of two stone ramparts. The first stands at the point of the mountain where it falls steeply to the south and north and is about 100 metres long. The second, 120 metres west of the first, is 30 metres long, and both run north-south. Built of large and medium sized stones laid horizontally, the better preserved sections of the walls are about 2 metres thick and stand up to 2 metres high. There are entrances in both walls.
It occupies a commanding position 2,625 feet (800 metres) high at the western boundary of Lettragh, the area north of the central ridge of the
At the eastern extremity of the peninsula stands the similar hilltop promontory fort of Caherconree and the proximity of these two important monuments strongly suggests that this area was a vital and powerful centre of activity in the Iron Age.
From Faha, where the mountain pathway starts, the surfaced road passes through Ballynalacken to Cloonsharragh. Here, up an bóthar dorcha, the dark road, there is a very fine alignment of three standing stones.
A string of small communities lies in a line to the north on the edge of
The pier at Brandon village is quiet enough these days, but a century ago as many as a hundred canoes used to fish from here, in addition to several larger craft, bringing in mackerel which were cured on the quays by women and children. The salted mackerel were sent in large quantities to
Murririgane was once the home of the leading family of the
The area between
It is extraordinary to think, looking at the creek, that three families lived there in the last century, and that one of those families remained into the early years of this century. But above Sauce to the east and west lived more families on what seems equally inhospitable land. At
Cloghane is the main focus of this peaceful and beautiful corner of the peninsula. Until early this century the pattern on
To the east of Cloghane the small hill is called Drom and near a track here are four galláin, one of which is partly hidden. At Fermoyle, nearby, the two large houses belonged to two branches of the Hickson family, prominent local landowners who came to the peninsula in the 17th Century and married into the Husseys of Dingle.
The area south of Fermoyle and up to the
An extensive series of neolithic and Early Bronze Age remains which pre-date the formation of the blanket bog lies on either side of the Scorid river at Ballyhoneen, below Lough Adoon. To the west of the river is a large network of pre-bog walls which once surrounded the fields of the first farmers who settled in this area in the neolithic period. Their existence has been revealed by a combination of turf-cutting and erosion; some are almost completely exposed, some are still partly covered by peat, and others presumably still lie unexposed under uncut sections of the bog here. In the northwestern sector of the pre-bog field system is a large boulder decorated with cup-and-circle rock art, which is probably of the Early Bronze Age. Also on the western side of the river are the sites of several dry-stone huts, but the principal structures lie on the eastern side.
A wedge-tomb stands on a low hillock about 574 feet (175 metres) east of the river, partly buried in the bog, its base filled with water. Three of the stones of the tomb are decorated with rock art. About 213 feet (65 metres) north of it is a standing stone and 279 feet (85 metres) further north another one. Southwest of the tomb are the ruins of two dry-stone huts. Two fulacht fiadh sites lie north of the standing stones. One is on the eastern bank of the river, which has eroded it, while a holly tree has also disturbed this site. But the fragments of burnt stone, the black soil, and the horseshoe-shaped mound are typical of this kind of site. The other fulacht fiadh lies about 574 feet (175 metres) to the northeast.
Taken as a whole, the Ballyhoneen area must be regarded as one of the prime archaeological sites on the peninsula. In places such as this the pre-bog landscape has been quite well preserved, along with the field systems, settlements and graves of the early farmers. The development of blanket bog is thought to have begun by the late 3rd millennium BC, and it continued to develop in new areas as late as the 12th Century AD. At sites such as Ballyhoneen, the fact that rock art, wedge-tombs and standing stones are found within the ancient field systems suggests quite strongly an Early Bronze Age date.
Information on guided and self-guided walks around this area, and map guides of the area, can be obtained at the Visitor Centre in Cloghane.
The Cloghane -
Lughnasa, the Celtic harvest festival, at the end of July, is a celebration of the outwitting of Crom Dubh, "the dark crooked one", by another god, Lugh, "a newcomer, a traveller, clever, with superior power or skill, able to enlist the help of a giant, owner of a marvellous horse, a dispossessor and annexer of other's goods for his followers, a winner of meat and corn. The victory involves dispossession, a transfer of goods and the confinement of the defeated in a narrow place."
The pagan rites of the festival included a solemn cutting of the first of the corn and an offering to the deity by bringing it to a high place and burying it.
With the coming of Christianity, Lugh's place is taken by "monks" or particular personages such as
The stone head of Crom Dub, set in the wall of the ruined medieval church in the
The name means "bloody crescent" or "bloody bent one." It is also called
CROM CRUACH (The A to Z of Ancient Ireland is based on the book, 'Ancient Ireland -The Users' Guide' by Conan Kennedy, published by Morrigan Books, Killala, Co.Mayo, Ireland).
Variants: dullaghan, far dorocha, Crom Dubh (http://www.design-perfekt.de/sligo/docs_eng/dullahan.htm)
The dullahan is one of the most spectacular creatures in the Irish fairy realm and one which is particularly active in the more remote parts of counties
Around on certain Irish festivals or feast days, this wild and black-robed horseman may be observed riding a dark and snorting steed across the countryside.
"I seen the dullahan myself, stopping on the brow of the hill between Bryansford and Moneyscalp late one evening, just as the sun was setting. It was completely headless but it held up its own head in its hand and I heard it call out a name. I put my hand across my ears in case the name was my own, so I couldn't hear what it said. When I looked again, it was gone. But shortly afterwards, there was a bad car accident on that very hill and a young man was killed. It had been his name that the dullahan was calling".
Dullahans are headless. Although the dullahan has no head upon its shoulders, he carries it with him, either on the saddle-brow of his horse or upraised in his right hand. The head is the colour and texture of stale dough or mouldy cheese, and quite smooth. A hideous, idiotic grin splits the face from ear to ear, and the eyes, which are small and black, dart about like malignant flies. The entire head glows with the phosphoresence of decaying matter and the creature may use it as a lantern to guide its way along the darkened laneways of the Irish countryside. Wherever the dullahan stops, a mortal dies.
The dullahan is possessed of supernatural sight. By holding his severed head aloft, he can see for vast distances across the countryside, even on the darkest night. Using this power, he can spy the house of a dying person, no matter where it lies. Those who watch from their windows to see him pass are rewarded for their pains by having a basin of blood thrown in their faces, or by being struck blind in one eye.
The dullahan is usually mounted on a black steed, which thunders through the night. He uses a human spine as a whip. The horse sends out sparks and flames from its nostrils as it charges forth. In some parts of the country, such as
On nights of Irish feast days, it is advisable to stay at home with the curtains drawn; particularly around the end of August or early September when the festival of
The origins of the dullahan are not known for certain, but he is thought to be the embodiment of an ancient Celtic god,
Unlike the banshee, the dullahan does not pursue specific families and its call is a summoning of the soul of a dying person rather than a death warning. There is no real defence against the dullahan because he is death's herald. However, an artefact made of gold may frighten him away, for dullahan's appear to have an irrational fear of this precious metal. Even a small amount of gold may suffice to drive them off, as the following account from
"A man was on his way home one night between Roundstone and Ballyconneely. It was just getting dark and, all of a sudden, he heard the sound of horse's hooves pounding along the road behind him. Looking around, he saw the dullahan on his charger, hurtling towards him at a fair speed. With a loud shout, he made to run but the thing came on after him, gaining on him all the time. In truth, it would have overtaken him and carried him away had he not dropped a gold-headed pin from the folds of his shirt on the road behind him. There was a roar in the air above him and, when he looked again, the dullahan was gone".
Today thousands of pilgrims traverse, some barefoot, the difficult terrain of this holy mountain on their annual pilgrimage to the summit to beseech the almighty for whatever personal intentions they might have or equally just to enjoy the amazing Clew Bay landscape.
It has been the same throughout the millennia when pre Christian people travelled the same landscape in search of their own particular divinity.
Pilgrimage to a number of these holy places in
It is argued that the religious importance of
Archaeological research suggests that
Did the ancient peoples venerate
Was the ancient pilgrim route of the Tóchar Phádraig used for more than the transport of pilgrims? Was it a trade route between
The Dullahan -
It is said that after sunset, on certain festivals and feast days, one of the most terrifying creatures in the spirit world, the Dullahan, can be seen riding a magnificent black stallion across the country side.
One story from
While no-one knows for certain how the Dullahan originated, it is thought that he is the embodiment of the Celtic fertility god,
GAZETTEER of IRISH PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS (http://www.irishmegaliths.org.uk/limerick.htm)
SELECTED MONUMENTS IN
Place-names in italics refer to listed entries.
R 779 284
On the top of Duntryleague Hill, a fine skeletal passage-tomb - denuded entirely of its cairn - still retains its long passage and a wider, cruciform chamber whose 3 roofstones are stepped one above the other in a style common in
This rather poor photograph taken in 1972 shows the roofless passage leading to the massively-roofed chamber. Thirty years on, the surrounding trees have reached their maximum height, and have been felled, thus restoring the splendid views. Click here for a more recent photo.
R 838 533
This alignment of three stones, all about 1.6 metres tall and set one metre apart, affords splendid views. A fourth stone stands some 5 metres to the SW, suggesting that there could have been seven or more stones originally.
~ 6.8 km N by E is Baurnadomeeny wedge-tomb,
R 640 410
Lough Gur has a great concentration of prehistoric remains, including wedge-tombs, foundations of huts, stone circles, standing-stones and crannógs (artificial refuge-islands in lakes).
The most famous of these monuments is the Late Neolithic or very Early Bronze Age stone circle and henge known as the Líos (= enclosure) in Grange townland, situated to the E of the Bruff-Limerick road. Heavy stones stand shoulder to shoulder against a massive bank of gravelly clay 10 metres wide, 1.3 metres high and nearly 70 metres across. Most are of local limestone, but some are volcanic breccia from over a mile away. Of these the heaviest stone just N of the entrance, known as
The most important of several alignments, however, is that of the short stone-lined entrance passage with two massive stones at the opposite side of the circle, whose tops form a V-notch for observing the moon's minimum midsummer setting in 2500 BC.
~ 100 metres NNE is a second circle, smaller (15 metres in diameter), unprotected from livestock, but also constructed of large, but beautifully weathered, stones, which can be reached through a purpose-built gap in the fence just over a low dry stone wall. It consists of very rough and uneven stones with a large gap on one side where, it would appear, at least two orthostats have been removed.
~ 350 metres NNE is large, gently-leaning menhir standing 3.5 metres tall behind a farm building. The west face appears to have been worked flat, almost concave while the rear is very rounded, and the name of 'stooper' (cruach) would be more appropriate for this stone than for the one at the Líos. It stands to the east of an ancient sunken track that runs north-south past it and the foundations of several hut sites and ancient field boundaries.
~ Just visible over the hedge 100 metres to the south of Grange Líos and accessible through a gate in the same field boundary is Cloch a' Bhíle, or the Tree of Life, said to be a lithic manifestation of the supernatural tree that mythically grows at the bottom of the nearby Lough. In its gnarled, bramble-protected mossiness it does resemble a trunkless tree.
The farmer who now looks after much of the land around Lough Gur sells a small but very informative booklet on the whole area written by
~ Near the NW corner of the lough is a stone-built crannóg now surrounded by marsh instead of water.
~ To the S of the road skirting the S shore of the Lough in Loughgur townland is a fine wedge-tomb some 9 metres long, with a slab-roof gallery and a separate chamber instead of a portico at the SW (front) end.
Loughgur, county Limerick
R 640 410 - Sheet 65
Nearest village: Bruff
~ About 750 metres SW, on the same side of the same road is another - ruined - wedge-tomb, known as Leaba na Muice (The Pig's Bed).
~ On the other side of the Lough are more standing-stones, circles, and another crannóg, as well as stone forts, and neolithic house-sites.
~ The visitors' centre is better than many.
Crom Cruach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crom_Cruach)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the pre-Christian Irish pantheon, Crom Cruach (alternative spellings Crom Crúaich, Cromm Crúaich, Crom Cróich, Cromm Cruach, Cenn Cruach, Crom Cruagh, Crom Crooach, Crom Cruaidh, Ceancroitihi, Crom Dubh, Black Crom and as Crom-cruaghair, the great Creator, he has, by some writers, been identified with the Persian Kerum Kerugher) was the chief god of Ireland. He was both a solar deity and a fertility deity.
The ancient texts tell us that there was an idol on Magh Slécht, which is the plain of adoration or prostration, in the Parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ulster named Crom Cruach. His statue was an upright stone pillar coated in gold and silver (to symbolise the sun and moon) and surrounded by twelve smaller statues of bare stone or covered in bronze (according to different sources). This alignment would have represented the sun surrounded by the signs of the zodiac.
It was claimed by later chroniclers that on the annual feast of Samhain (later renamed Halloween, November 1), his followers sacrificed one third of their firstborn to him in exchange for milk, corn, the fertility of cattle and a fertile growing season.
The tradition of offering the firstborn to a god was still continued by the Christian priests, successors to the Crom priests, at least as late as the 8th century AD. See "The Collection of Tithes in Ireland",  and also the poem of St. Grellan in "The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many" (page 13). 
Crom Cruach's worship was said to have been introduced by the High King Tigernmas. One Samhain night, during prostration, the king and 4,000 of his followers died from a plague contracted there, called "The Seventh Plague of Ireland". Only about 1,500 survived.
According to contemporary sources, St. Patrick cursed and destroyed the idol and stopped the worship of Crom Cruach. However, it has been shown that the stones sunk in the earth before the time of St. Patrick, so this was probably just an anecdote.
The Masraige tribe were the inhabitants of Magh Slécht at the time of St. Patrick. It was this tribe who supplied the ancient Druids and High Priests of the god Crom Cruach and their successors, the Christian priests. Saint Dallan Forgaill, the Chief Ollamh or Poet of Ireland, was a member of the tribe. They survived at least until the coming of the Ui Bhriuin in 700 A.D. who then dispossessed them and took control of Tullyhaw. The word Masraige means "Kings of Death", which may be related to their worship of Crom. The name of Tigernmas, the high king who is said to have introduced Crom's worship, also translates as "Lord of Death".
There is another standing stone also named Crom Crúaich in Drumcoo townland, County Fermanagh. It has the figure of a man walking engraved on it which either represents Saint Patrick or a druid, depending on when it was engraved.
Crom is mentioned in the Dinnshenchas in the Book of Leinster, as well as the Tripartite Life of Patrick and the 14th century Book of McGovern.
He may be the same as the Clogher idol Cermand Cestach.
Alternative: Cromm Cruac ("bloody crescent"), Cenn Cruaic ("bloody head"), rid-iodal h-Eireann ("the king idol of Ireland").
The Crom stone was rediscovered in 1921 buried in the ground beside a stone circle on a nearby mound from where it had been moved. It had been smashed into several pieces, some of which lay nearby. When excavated and placed upright on its flat base, it was found to lean obliquely to the left from the vertical. This has been linked to the translation of Crom Cruaich as the "bent or crooked one of the mound". It was decorated in the 1st century BC with "La Tène" symbols in the "Waldalgesheim Style", but the stone circle was erected much earlier, in the Early Irish Bronze Age, c. 2000 BC.
The stone has been interpreted as a phallic symbol, like the similar Turoe Stone in County Galway. . Although now much damaged, it can be reconstructed from the different surviving pieces. At the base of the stone there were four rectangular adjoining panels measuring 90 cm each in width giving a circumference of 3m 60 cm when it was first carved. The height of each panel was about 75 cm. These panels are said to represent the foreskin of the penis.  The top of the stone (perhaps representing the glans of the penis) was carved in parallel lines.  Connecting the top with the panels was a blank triangular section representing the triangular piece of skin attaching the foreskin to the penis.
The stone was named the Killycluggin Stone, after the townland where it was found, and is now in Cavan Museum. A replica is situate at the roadside in Killycluggin. Beside the mound is Kilnavert Church, which was founded by St. Patrick to eradicate the worship of Crom in the area. It was originally named Fossa Slécht or Rath Slécht, and it is from this small location that the wider Magh Slécht area received its name. There is also a Tobar Padraig (St. Patrick's Well) nearby, as also described in the ancient manuscripts.
The 14th century Book of McGovern, written in Magh Slécht, contains a poem which states that Crom was situate at Kilnavert beside the road and that the local women used to tremble in fear as they passed by. There is still a local tradition in the area that the Killycluggin stone is the Crom stone and all the manuscript sources confirm this.
The symbols on the stone have been variously interpreted as (1)the Sun and Moon (2) as sperm (3) as channels for the blood from sacrifices, human or animal, to flow down with the path of the blood being read as an oracle by the druids (4) as a penile tattoo.
The cult of Crom is still fashionable today. A street in Belcoo, County Fermanagh is named Crom Crúaich Way in his honour. There is even a mountain in Australia named after him "Mount Cenn Cruaich" in Warrumbungle National Park. A popular novel was published about modern human sacrifice in Cavan, entitled "Cromm" by Kenneth Flint, Doubleday 1990. John Montague the poet has a poem "The Plain of Blood" about Crom. Thomas D'Arcy Magee wrote a famous poem in the 19th century called "The Celts", which mentions Crom. A type of Scottish harp is named crom-chruit because of its shape.
The following sources may be consulted for further information-
St. Tirechan's memoir of St. Patrick, written in 670 AD, known as the "Breviarium", which is preserved in the Book of Armagh. Tirechan used notes given to him by his teacher St. Ultan of Ardbraccan; as Ultan died in 657 AD after a very long life, he may have known people who knew St. Patrick.
The Tripartite Life of Patrick, written c. 895 AD from older sources.
The Metrical Dindshenchas. The first recension is found in the 12th century manuscript the Book of Leinster, with partial survivals in a number of other manuscript sources. The text shows signs of having been compiled from a number of provincial sources and the earliest poems date from at least the 11th century. Internal evidence suggests the majority of the poems have a pre-Christian origin. Two poems (7 & 71) on Magh Slécht can be found online. 
The Book of McGovern, written in the 13th century by poets living in Magh Slécht.
Excavations at Killycluggin- (1. Ó Ríordáin, S.P. 1952. Fragment of the Killycluggin Stone. J. Roy. Soc. Antiq. Ireland 82, 68. (2. 1974 by B. Raftery, Department of Archaeology, University College, Dublin. (A short synopsis of the full report can be found online.) 
Geoffrey Keating's History of Ireland 1632  , (Section XXV, 25)
Annals of the Four Masters
For the continued worshipping of Crom up to the 20th century in Ireland, see Festival at Lughnasa (Oxford Univ. Press, 1962) by Máire Mac Neill.
"Killinagh Church and Crom Cruaich" by Oliver Davies in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Volume 2, 1939.
Mag Slecht from the Metrical Dindshenchas Vol 4