Where did the Celts live?

Celtic settlements:

Raths, Crannogs, Hillforts, Promontory Forts

What are Raths?

• Raths are forts that are enclosed by circular ditches or mounds of earth

• Made of timber

• Where wood was scarce, some were built in stone, these are called cashels

• Archaeologists use aerial photography to find locations- over 40,000 in Ireland

• Several families lived inside them

• Underground passages called souterrains( used for hiding/storing food)

What is this called?

What are crannogs?

• Man-made islands in lakes

• Circle made of trees: circle of wooden stakes was put onto the bed of water, then layers of stones, mud and twigs were put into the circle to build a mound higher than the water level, a fence was built around the mound and houses were built inside the fence

• Some crannogs linked to mainland by wooden bridge, stepping stones or by boats hidden along the shore

• Archaeologists have found over 1200 crannogs across Ireland

• Found many bronze and iron tools

What are Hillforts?

• Like raths but much bigger and built on a hill

• 50 have been found in Ireland

• Used for important events such as religious festivals or markets

• Possibly be headquarters of Celtic kings

• Example: Tara(Co Meath)

What are Promontory forts?

• Built on cliff tops

• Found on the west and south coast of Ireland

• Example is Dun Aengus on Inis Mor in the Aran Islands

• Archaeologists believe this was used for religious purposes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC5D70Xmvqg

Clip on the Celts, how they came to Ireland, settlements and the arrival of Christianity

Questions

1. List the different kinds of place where the Celts lived.

2. How were crannogs built?

3. Where can we find examples of Hillforts?

4. Draw and label each of the settlements that the Celts lived in.

5. Explain the following keywords: raths, Hillforts, crannogs, promontory forts

Verbal Test

• Who were the Aos Dana?

• What were the social classes of this time?

• What are Raths?

• What are Crannógs?

Life in Celtic Ireland

•Farming

•Fashion and jewellery

•Religion and burial customs

Life in Celtic Ireland:

• Farming played an important part in the lives of most Celts

• Cattle, sheep and pigs were kept

• Cattle very important for the Celts, under Brehon Laws: wealth was measured in cattle

• Rotary quern was used to ground wheat into flour, flour was used to make bread

Fashion and Jewellery• The Celts cared about their appearance!

• Clothes made from linen and wool

• Rich men wore a knew length linen tunic

called a leine, tied at the waist by a crois

• Women wore ankle length linen tunics

• In winter, they wore woollen cloaks

(brats) pinned at the shoulder with a

gold or silver brooch

• Rich people dyed their clothes in bright

colours and richly embroidered

• Made make up from herbs and berries

• Poor men wore trousers, women wore

plain wool tunic

• Legend tells us the Celts were tall and

good looking, hair was fair and the dyed

it to make it lighter using lime-wash

ACTIVITYActivity: Draw and label a man and

woman from Celtic times

Celtic Fashion

Religious and burial customs

• Believed in many Gods:

Examples

An Dagda: chief god, also god of after-life

Lugh: god of war (Festival of Lughnasa, held in August)

Brigid: main goddess

• Worshipped in woods (oak tree sacred to them)

• Religion important: druids held in high esteem

• They offered sacrifices to the gods (animals mostly sometimes human)

• Religious holidays: Samhain, Cremated their dead, sometimes buried with goods (believed in afterlife)

Ogham Stones

• Graves marked by standing stones

• Some have writing on them called ogham

• Lines carved into stone

• Spell out name of the person

• Ogham earliest form of writing in Ireland

Write your name in Ogham

Questions

1. Why were cattle so important to the Celts?

2. Describe how the Celts dressed.

3. Why were druids important in Celtic society?

4. What is Ogham? Where can it be found?

5. Write an account of the following: religion in Celtic Ireland

People in History

Write about a farmer in Ireland: either stone age, bronze age or iron age

• Type of settlement

• Food, lifestyle

• How society was organised

• Laws, rules (way of life)

• Religion, burial customs