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The Bronze Age
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The Bronze Age in Ireland lasted from about 2000BC to 500BC. Knowledge of how to make bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, came to Ireland from Europe. The copper was mined in Ireland, chiefly in county Kerry, while the tin was imported from Britain. Initially, items were made by pouring melted bronze into a hollowed-out stone but as technology improved, this gave way to two-part moulds and eventually to fully three-dimensional clay moulds. Items produced in this way included axes, daggers and awls - some of which appear to have been designed with human targets in mind. By the end of the Bronze Age, chauldrons and horns were being made from beaten sheet bronze. Gold items were also produced, although mainly for ceremonial or decorative purposes.

The Bronze Age coincided with a deterioration of the Irish climate and many of the upland areas, devoid of trees due to Neolithic tree-felling, turned into peat bogs. Thus, Bronze Age farmers were forced to fell lowland forest in order to make farmland. Bronze artefacts have been found in some lowland bogs, probably deposited in religious ceremonies. Population continued to increase and trade between neighbouring communities improved although some inter-tribal wars must also have occurred. In terms of everyday life, the people lived in wooden, wattle-and-daub or sob houses on their farms. Many of them cooked outside at so-called 'fulacht fian' (cooking places) where hot stones were used to heat water in which meat was then boiled. On the whole, society seems to have been more egalitarian than in the past, but with a definite aristocracy evident.

The Bronze Age lacks the massive passage tombs that characterised the Neolithic. Its people opted instead for simpler cist burials or, at the most, burials in wedge tombs. Wedge tombs consist of a single stone chamber covered with earth. Other megalithic constructions include henges, which are large earthen circles constructed for religious purposes, which seem to have included animal sacrifice. Towards the end of the period, large numbers of stone circles were constructed, although these were restricted to two geographical areas in Ulster and Munster. These, too, probably had ceremonial functions.

The Celtic Iron Age (pre-Christian)
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In a period of time beginning around 500BC, the Celtic culture which was expanding in central Europe reached the Britain and Ireland. While probably not an invasion as such, the Celts arrived in sufficient numbers to replace the language and culture of Ireland's Bronze Age residents with that of the Celts. The Celts were an Iron Age people, and used iron in addition to bronze to make weapons, cooking utensils and other items. Iron takes more technology to refine, but it also much stronger and more durable than bronze.

The Celts in Ireland divided themselves into over a hundred small kingdoms, or tuaths, each of which was ruled by a king. Sometimes a king had the allegiance of a number of other kings and there were a few kings who had a lot of control. These were kings of provinces. Early maps by Mediterranean sailors and geographers have identified the key tribes in Ireland around the time of Christ and these have been matched with historical evidence and folklore.

The Celtic culture was based around a system of honour, whereby warriors gained honour by valour in battle. Unlike conflicts in later history, it was almost invariably the aristocracy who did the fighting while the peasantry - who often worked like slaves for their king - remained on their farms. The whole system was supported by Brehon Law, a well structured system of justice where most crimes were settled by fines which were related to the status of the victim. There was no death penalty. In terms of religion, the Celts were pagan until the 400s AD, and had a form of bardic religion which involved the worship of natural objects such as trees and rivers. Special carved stones have been found that may have been involved in religious rites.

Around 43AD the expanding Roman Empire conquered Celtic Britain, as it had conquered most of Celtic Europe. Ireland and Scotland remained one the only non-Roman Celtic areas left. Trade continued between Britain and Ireland, but following the decline of the Roman Empire in the 400s AD, the Irish plundered the Britian coast and, later formed colonies in Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. All were ultimately defeated by the Britons, except the colony in Scotland (by the Dal Riata tribe) which survived and ultimately formed the basis of the kingdom of Scotland.

Like all peoples, the Celts left ruins in Ireland. Large royal sites such as Emain Macha and Tara seem to have been used for ritual and kingship purposes, while the stone hillforts seem to have had a much more practical defensive purpose. Many of these can be seen today. And, of course, it was the language of the Celts (Q-Celtic) which forms the basis of modern Irish.

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Related Topics:
Geography - Ireland's Peat Bogs
Bookshop - Books on pre-Christian Ireland

Christianity &
the Vikings