Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
jewel-encrusted daggers in Dublin's National Museum attest to the sophistication of this
warrior society.
In 55
B.C.
, the Romans conquered the Celts in England, but Ireland and Scotland re-
mained independent, their history forever skewed in a different direction—Gaelic, not Lat-
in. The Romans called Ireland
Hibernia,
meaning Land of Winter; it was apparently too
cold and bleak to merit an attempt at colonization. The biggest nonevent in Irish history
is that the Romans never invaded. While the mix of Celtic and Roman is part of what
makes the French French and the English English, the Irish are purely Celtic. Hurling, the
wild Irish national pastime, goes back more than 2,000 years to Celtic days, when it was
played almost as a substitute for warfare. Perhaps best described as something like air-
borne hockey with no injury time-outs, hurling is as central to the Irish culture as cricket
is to the English, or
boules
to the French.
When Ancient Rome fell and took the Continent—and most of the achievements of Ro-
man culture—with it, Gaelic Ireland was unaffected. There was no Dark Age here, and the
island was a beacon of culture for the rest of Europe. Ireland (population c. 750,000) was
still a land of many feuding kings, but the culture was stable.
