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Ireland's X-Files - Table of Cosmical Phenomena, Epizootics, Famines and Pestilences in Ireland

Antique Forteana from the Emerald Isle - Paranormal Ireland in the Middle Ages

Very strange events were reported from Ireland in the Middle Ages. Some of which might definitely hint at paranormal activity and should be in the Irish X-files. Ever heard of the medieval Irish UFO-flap? No, I am not about to begin a joke at the expense of Britain's western neighbours, I am serious. Who amongst us can remember those days, when ships were seen in the sky above Ireland, when thousands perished due to a crashed spacecraft? Okay, I might be exaggerating sligthly here ... or my interpretation of the reported facts might be wrong. But let us look at the evidence ...

A Fortean Census

I recently re-discovered the "Table of cosmical phenomena, epizootics, famines and pestilences in Ireland", a proto-Fortean collection of stories as related in the ancient chronicles of Ireland. To be found in the rather dreary "The Census of Ireland for the Year 1851, Part V: Tables of Deaths, Vol. 1" (HMSO 1856). This massive tome was prepared for the British government and presented to Queen Victoria ... Sir William Wilde (father of Oscar) acted as Medical Commissioner on the census. While the bulk of the census was just that, namely a review of the current state of the Emerald Isle, some parts dealt with history. The "facts" for these parts were drawn from numerous sources. Most came from the 17th century "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters" others from the "Annals of Tighernach", the "Annals of Ulster" and many other, not always reliable and consistently referenced works. Hence the chronology might not be too strict here. Compilers used different time systems and then fit those to the common AD-system we still use today. Most excerpts in the census start AM 2820 (anno mundi 2820, better known today as 2340 BC), then peter out towards the Norman conquest ... presumably because historical facts pushed "wonderful portents" towards the area of the "Damned". Though some people might hold the view that even today news from Ireland do hold a certain Fortean quality from time to time. So I ploughed through the pages, searching for nuggets of information. Not included in my brief survey were various solar and lunar eclipses, floods, illnesses, general weather phenomena and individual deaths by lightning and other "divine retributions". Also not included are foreign (and frankly irrelevant) entries like this one for the year 947: "A cold frosty snowy winter in Poland." Just what this had to do with the price of tea in China eluded me. I also tried to group the highlights for easy reference ...

Snows, Rains and other Falls

There are some records regarding unusual amounts of snow, but three entries refer to unusual types of snow and are therefore relevant to us:

AM 3942 - It was in the reign of Finnachta that snow fell wth the taste of wine, which blackened the grass.
AM 4177 - Snow with the taste of wine fell continually this year.
864 - A bloody snow fell.

The explanation given by the worthy compilers regarding the first two entries, "propably a red snow", are not really satisfying. In fact they are an exercise in stating the obvious unless the wine was white. Now snow coloured red will indeed at least optically "blacken grass" in certain conditions, but how do the experts explain the taste? Not at all. Blood from the sky also came in the form of rain. Apparently tasteless ... but sometimes with drastic consquences to the landscape (Tourism Ireland would go gaga ...):

689 - It rained blood in the island of Britain and in Ireland.
690 - It rained a shower of blood in Leinster this year. Butter was then also turned into lumps of gore and blood [...].
863 - It rained blood.
865 - Showers of blood were shed, so that sods of gore were found.
875 - [S]howers of blood were [...] shed, so that lumps of gore and blood were visible on the extensive plaims at Dumha-an-Deasa (in Cianachta Breek, near Duleek, county of Meath).
898 - A shower of blood fell at Ard Ciannachta.

Less unpleasant falls occurred occasionally, though I spotted no frogs or fishes:

717 - It rained a shower of honey upon Othain-beg (Little Othonia), of silver over Great Othonia. It rained a shower of blood upon the boundaries of the Lagenians (Leinstermen).
759 - It is then said that three showers fell in Crich-Muireadhaigh in Inis-Eoghain (Inishowen). First, a great shower of silver fell; when the king prayed again, a second shower of heavenly honey fell; and subsequently, the third shower fell of pure wheat, which covered all the fields over, that the like was never seen before.
1021 - A shower of wheat was rained in Ossory, [...].

Weird Waters

Some watery weirdness seems to tie in with rains, if one allows a bit of speculation here:

649 - Lough Neagh was turned into blood.
679 - Lough Neagh was turned into blood this year.
865 - Lough Leibinn (Lough Leane, near Fore, in Westmeath) was turned into blood during nine days, so that it appeared to all that it was lumps of blood, like the lights of animals, externally, i.e. all round its edge.

Here we have some hitherto innocent lakes suddenly becoming quite detestable ... and might not a "shower of blood" have brought about this drastic change? We do not know, but in the case of Lough Leibinn we might hazard this opinion ... the same year also has showers of blood! Now cause and effect may become confused here: There is always the possibility of Lough Leibein becoming "blood", then a waterspout forming on the lake due to some freaky weather, this in turn finally depositing its watery element somewhere else as a "rain of blood". And remember that this took place near Fore, where water is reported to flow uphill anyway. Waterspouts, the sceptic's favourite, of a less sanguine nature could also have been responsible for other strage happenings:

758 - Bennmuilt (a mountain peak) poured forth water with fishes.
866 - A stream of strange water burst from the side of Sliabh-Cualann (a mountain in Wicklow), in which were fish, and coal black trouts, which were a great wonder to all.

A "rain of fishes" on a mountain-top, flowing down like a stream? Or, to advance another possible explanation, a hidden lake bursting its banks, taking its fishy population with it into the valley. Visitors to the Wicklow Mountains may see such lakes a few miles outside Dublin even today, only from a ridge you'll spot them. And always remember ... early medieval man was not particularly famous for enjoying a spot of hillwalking in his spare time. As late as 1982 a friend of mine stayed at a farmhouse in the West of Ireland - when the farmer (in his sixties and living there all his life) enquired about the day's walking, my friend mentioned a trip along the shores of a nearby lake. Whereupon his host expressed some wonder that "there is a lake that way". But I digress, maybe because the last item gleaned from the chronicles left me confounded:

561 - A poisoned pool made its appearance in Meath, through a chasm of the earth, and a vapour proceeded from it which produced a fatal disease in men and beasts of burden.

I confess that a sulphurous spring sounds a most likely candidate here. But the "chasm" could also point towards a minor earthquake or landslide releasing some toxic fumes, poisoning the surroundings due to adverse weather conditions. Pockets of air thoroughly depleted of oxygen have been reported around old mineshafts ... this might be another possible background. The water forming the lake might or might not be connected - it could simply be an underground stream going new ways (... which might also be the reason for a landslide ... neat, eh?). Take note that Meath still has mining activity today - the Tara Mines (now part of the Boliden group) are just north of Navan.

Unusual Animal Antics

While two-headed calves, six-legged sheep and similar monstrosities seem to be absent from Irish history (or common enough not to be recorded), two interesting snippets could be snatched from the dusty pages:

AM 3972 - In the reign of Fiaha Finnailches every calf had a white spot on its forehead.

Hmmm ... it does not really say that every calf was actually born with this spot. Might this just be a reference to some obscure system of marking cattle? A spot of lime will do wonders here (the Celts used it for styling their hair, as you might know). And looking at the colourfully marked sheep roaming today's countryside ... Maybe what sounds like a phenomenon is just the description of a rural practice to mark cattle that has been counted for a census? The next interesting entry is more mysterious:

690 - The wolf was heard speaking with human voice, which was horrific to all.

Now this is more interesting. Ireland does not really have a werewolf tradition - so we might assume that there was no outbreak of lycanthropy referred to here. Thus we have to accept that speaking wolves roamed Erin's green isle for a while. Certainly more exciting than the ABCs (alen big cats) found (or not) in Ulster today. One should, however, bear in mind that Gerald of Wales relates a tale about "werewolves" - a couple from Ossory was chosen every seven years to live as wolves. An encounter with such a couple is dated 1182 (or 1183), a priest meets them in a wood on Meath's northern border. However - as the male "werewolf" manages to partly undress the female one I assume they were not really lycanthropes but just dressed up ...

Angels

Despite the fact that the shrine at Knock is doing big business even in our godless times, Ireland seems to have been spared visitations by the celestial host. I only picked up one reference for the year 664. An angel appeared after years of plague and high mortality - just when members of the clergy prayed that those of the "inferior multitude" may die. To alleviate the hardship of their betters - Jonathan Swift's much later "Modest Proposal" comes to mind. The angel heralds a high mortality indeed, but amongst the "higher ranks" due to a "pestilence" (which was actually pan-European at the time). The moral here? When the Cosmic Joker gets peeved, you'll be the butt of His joke!

Comets and Meteors

Some other goings-on in heaven are reported quite regularly, namely the appearance of comets (and in some cases meteors ... which, in my personal experience, are certainly streaking across the Irish sky often). "Hairy stars" are normal references to comets.

443 - A hairy star appeared.
673 - There was a comet and a star of great brightness seen in the months of September and October.
677 - [A]ccording to Siegebert, there was a comet visible for three months.
678 - [A]ccording to Bede [...], there was a comet visible for three months.
891 - A comet after Easter.
905 - A comet appeared.
916 - Evil signs, too; the heavens seemed to glow with comets, a flame of fire arose and passed from the west of Ireland until it passed over the sea eastwards.
1011 - There appeared two shining comets in autumn.
1017 - There appeared a most frightful great comet for four months.
1018 - The hairy star appeared this year during a fortnight in autumn.
1031 - A comet.

Not really exciting stuff ... but a good example for the "reliability" of ancient chronicles. Obviously the comet reported by Bede and Siegebert was the same. But their dates differ ...

Assorted Celestial Phenomena

Other happenings up above seem a bit more exciting than a common-or-garden falling star. Sometimes actually a star, in the wrong place at the wrong time:

612 - A Star was seen the seventh hour of the day this year.

Well ... call me a sceptic, but this sounds like a very bright Venus to me. Which even today regularly causes confusion.

664 - [I]n the same summer the sky seemed to blaze.
673 - A light an tremulous cloud, like a rainbow, in the fourth watch of the night before Easter, appeared in a clear sky, passing from the East to the West.
711 - There was a shining and extreme clear night in harvest.
711 - A shining night in autumn.
761 - A bright night in autumn.
890 - The heavens seemed to be on fire during the night on the calends of January.
979 - This year was seen a bloody cloud often times in the likeness of fire; and it was most apparent at midnight, and so in various beams was coloured. When it began to dawn, then it glided away.
991 - A wonderful appearance on the night of the festival of St Stephen, when the heavens became crimson red.

Aurora borealis anyone? Just look at the descriptions and timing ... Polar lights can be observed from time to time in Ireland, rare enough to be "special", but ultimately not a big deal. Though superstitious people might well have made mountains out of molehills (of which there are none in Ireland, due to an absence of moles - just another snippet of useless information) in those nights. I remember a family nember telling me in the 1960s "If you can see the Northern Lights at night, there is going to be unrest and war!" Slightly less usual is a sun-dog, especially one lasting a whole day:

909 - A strange thing fell out this year, which was two suns had their courses together throughout the space of one day, which was the day before the nones of May.
909 - Two suns seen in equal career on the same day.

A last phenomenon is not easily explained, with near-biblical imagery but (apparently) no consequences whatsoever:

943 - Two pillars of fire a week before Allhallowtide, and they illuminated the whole world.

I am entirely open to suggestions here ... though personally I would vote for a severe outbreak of aurora borealis. Then again some natural gas deposit might have broken open and spontaneously ignited.

Dragons, Signs and UFOs

Let us now look towards the heavens again, as there were some incidents that are definitely out of the norm.

734 - There was the appearance of a dragon, both huge and ugly to behold, this harvest, seen in the sky, and a great thunder heard after him in the firmament.
742 - There were dragons seen in the sky.
745 - Dragons were seen in the sky.
746 - The appearance of serpents were seen in the sky.

Within a space of just a dozen years Ireland seemed to get plagued by dragons (and their less fleet-footed relatives). The "dragon" of 734 sounds like something plummeting to earth from space - you get a fiery spectacle and then, should there be enough substance left, a sonic boom. Alternatively you might imagine an aircraft (or spacecraft) exploding ... again you would have something big flying, then go up in flames, followed much later by the actual sound of the explosion. Rest assured, the other (apparently soundless) dragons and serpents might be explained away by natural phenomena, northern lights, falling stars ... as would the following rather unspecific entries:

743 - In the night an awful an marvellous sign was seen in the stars.
745 - In the night a terrible and wonderful sign appeared amongst the stars.
765 - At night a terrible and wonderful prodigy appeared amongst the stars.

But take note that the "dragons" and "signs" appear around the same time, here we have a "flap" (of which UFOlogists seem to be rather fond).

930 - Terrible armies and battles were seen in the air all night.

This is the only mention found of a worldwide phenomenon - the "wild hunt", the "ghost riders", the "Angels of Mons"? As this occurs at a time of Viking activity in Ireland, it might just have been a new, nordic interpretation of polar lights or other meteorological oddities! But how do we explain the following entries by the chroniclers?

721 - Ships were seen in the air over Clonmacnoise.
748 - Ships, with their sailors, were seen in the air over Clonmacnoise.
748 - Ships with their crews were seen in the air.

Assuming the last two entries to refer to the same episode, we are left with two occasions, upon which Clonmacnoise was visited by unidentified flying objects with an apparently human(oid) crew. We are talking "ships" here, the observers must have been (quite) sure of the artificial nature and (general) purpose of the objects observed in the sky. Comparisons with the North American airship scares in the 19th century seem logical ... Clonmacnoise, situated at the crossing of the Esker Way and the Shannnon and thus also near fresh water and at the same time at the "back of beyond", also seems to be a classical spot for a bit of UFO-activity (... and you are cordially invited to speculate upon the optical similiarity between Saturn V rockets and Irish round towers). If you would prefer another example of a spectacle that might be seen as a medieval description of an interplanetary visit:

1054 - Several Wonders and prodigies occurred this year. A steeple of fire was seen in the air, over Ros-deala (in the county of Westmeath) on the Sunday of the festival of George, for the space of five hours. Innumerable black birds passed into and out of it and one large bird in the middle of them; and the little birds went under his wings, when they went into the steeple. They came out and raised up a greyhound, that was in the middle of town, aloft in the air. The wood on which they perched fell, and the oak tree shook with its roots in the earth.

Here you have the classic triangular shape and glowing appearance of a mothership ("steeple of fire"), several scout ships ("black birds") and maybe a shuttle ("large bird in the middle"). Then we have a case of alien abduction ("raised up a greyhound") and also some property destruction through inconsiderate landing attempts ("the wood on which they perched fell") plus the earth-shaking final take-off ("the oak tree shook with its roots in the earth"). Elementary, my dear Watson!

Death from Above

Similar weird happenings seem to point towards some other rather unusual aerial activity. The chronicle has its share of rulers being struck by lighting, this is nothing really out of the ordinary (after all, a bloke standing on a chariot, raised shield or platform wielding a lengthy metal implement might be said to live dangerously in a thunderstorm). But some less mundane episodes deserve an honorable mention here ...

604 - A thunderbolt destroyed the army of Ulad, in the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor Heraclius.

This must have been the mother of all thunderbolts, as an entire army was rendered impotent in one go. I am open to suggestions here, but unless one accepts all the warriors crowding under one big tree, a massive series of lightning strikes in a wet and muddy (and thus literally very conductive) area seems to be the only explanation. This would have killed and stunned some warriors, panicked the horses and thrown everyone into disarray. The army would have been "destroyed", incapable of further action and maybe even scattering into the four winds. Then again, a judiciously used thermo-nuclear weapon would have had the same effect, if you really want to indulge ... An aerial explosion of some kind and subsequent fall-out might also explain the following entries (... on the other hand a long, hot summer could be slightly exaggerated here):

932 - Fire from heaven burned the mountains of Connaught this year, and the lakes and streams dried up, and many persons were also burned by it.
1019 - All Kildare was burned by a fire from heaven.

It is more difficult to ascertain what led to the final three entries I picked for this article. A crash of some object from space, releasing toxins and thus killing cattle, would be a likely explanation for the first one.

942 - A comet, followed by inundations and great death of cattle.

Naturally we could also see a mere coincidence of events here, a comet (or meteor) being observed and than an entirely unrelated outbreak of foot and mouth following ... which might als explain the strange happenings of the year 960.

960 - A bolt of fire passed south-westwards through Leinster, and it killed 1, 000 persons and flocks, as far as Ath-Cliath (Dublin).
960 - An arrow of fire came from the south-west along Leinster and killed hundreds thousands of men and cattle, with the houses of Dublin burned.

Could we be reading about a Tunguska-like event here, a crash of something big, hot and maybe toxic in Leinster? The feeble "explanation" given by the 19th century compilers is as follows: "To what extent the lightning caused the mortality referred to, it is difficult to say; but it is manifest, from the former entries, that an epidemic pestilence raged throughout the country about the same time." Not even an attempt at explanation, but the mere suggention that the events may be unrelated. And while the first account seems to be more restrained (and the number of casualties more believable), the second account mentions houses actually burning - which would be in line with a cosmic crash, a Tunguska-style event ... or a weak and confused plague victim accidentally setting fire to his own house and burning down the 'hood. You'll really have to make up your own mind about all these news from Ireland ...

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Dublin Tourism Dublin Ireland Dublin

Ireland's X-Files - Table of Cosmical Phenomena, Epizootics, Famines and Pestilences in Ireland

A Fortean Census

Snows, Rains and other Falls

Weird Waters

Unusual Animal Antics

Angels

Comets and Meteors

Assorted Celestial Phenomena

Dragons, Signs and UFOs

Death from Above

Sights and Sounds of Dublin Ireland

Dublin Tourism Dublin Ireland Dublin News

Irish Government Details Jobs Plan - Wall Street Journal

Campus Residences Ltd win an Irish Accommodation Institute Gold Award - Dubli...

New routes launched in the Americas (20 December 2011 ? 6 February 2012) - an...

Skara Brae rated as a 'must see' - BBC News

New eRentals.co.uk deals help tourists enjoy cheap Ireland car hire this febr...