The Summer Solstice

“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath, the door of a vanished house left ajar…”

Margaret Atwood, Eating Fire

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Cover art is ‘Midsummer eve bonfire’ by P.S._Krøyer

June 20 – 22

The summer solstice is called Grianstad an tSamhraidh in Gaeilge which means ‘sun stop of the summer’ and Alban Hefin in Welsh which means ‘light of summer’.

The summer solstice is a very ancient and special time when the sun’s power is at it’s peak and is likely one of the oldest celebrations on earth. The Northern hemisphere experiences the longest day of the year and the sun touches the northernmost point on the horizon. In many northern points of the hemisphere such as Scotland, it is barely dark at midnight. Summer solstice in many ways seems to be a continuation of the celebrations that took place on Bealtaine. This is a time when the earth and her animals are at their prime in vitality, gaining much needed and more consistent energy from the sun.

There were naturally quite a few folk traditions and practices that took place around this time in general that have continued into the present. Making flower garlands, dancing, celebrations with food, music and bonfires were and are frequent activities. Bonfires were most certainly lit on the evening before June 23rd (St. John’s Eve or Oíche Fhéile Eoin) where every village was said to have a fire and in times of old it was good luck to take home a burning sod of turf.¹

Within Christian theology, John the Baptist was understood to be preparing the way for Jesus, with John 3:30 stating “He must increase, but I must decrease”. This is symbolized in the fact that the sun’s height in the sky and length of the day begins to diminish after the summer solstice and begins to increase after the winter solstice. This all of course may have been a supplantation over old Native folk belief. People commonly jumped over the fire for good luck and even cows or other farm animals were sometimes made to jump over the fire to increase their milk yield.² The fire would have continued until the next daybreak and commonly held at a crossroads on the green patch in the center.³ In modern times, of course, it’s still a bonfire with neighbors, family and friends and wherever we’re able and is most safe to have one.

“There were bonfires lighted all over the country on 23rd June and again on the 28th June. The people gathered around them, sang songs and danced. It was considered lucky to bring some of the remains of the burned bushes to the home.“

Mrs J. Stewart, County Cavan, 1920’s

“In olden times young boys used to collect the materials for the fire a few days previous to the night. Old and young gathered those nights and remained round the fires till morning – the young danced and sang and the old told stories. It was a beautiful sight to stand on a hill on one of those nights and look at the country side around dotted with fires like stars on a frosty night. When the fire was well lighted cheering took place and this was answered from the neighbouring fires so that the district for miles around echoed with shouts and laughter. When going home from the fire in the morning the men brought a lighted bit of the wood with them and threw it into the potato and corn field. They believed that by so doing they would have good crops of potatoes and oats that year. was this: Two or three boys would each take a lighted bit with them and whatever one died or went out first, that person would die the first and the person whose bit of stick would remain lighted the longest would live the longest.”

Mrs Eugene Farrelly, County Meath, 1920’s

June was also considered the luckiest month to get married._⁴ Along with that, it was then considered lucky to get married on certain days and there was a even a common Irish rhyme to illustrate this… “Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the best day of all. Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses and Saturday the worst day of all.”⁵ I think it’s a bit comical that in today’s day and age, Saturday is the most popular day to get married. Horse fairs and races were often held around this time, particularly on the 24th of June.⁶ In fact, in some references, some of the biggest fairs of the year happened around the end of June and were often related with the selling of farm animals.^7,8 Herbs may have been gathered on summer solstice or the evening before that were considered more potent and lucky.

“It is said that the cuckoo leaves Ireland on the 22nd of June and goes to the fair of Raphoe which is held on the 22nd of June and after the fair leaves this country.“

Hugh Doherty, County Donegal, 1920’s

The Irish goddess Áine was celebrated at this time and her name means ‘brightness or radiance’. She was possibly a significant sun goddess at one time and has large associations with the summer solstice and fairies, sometimes lovingly referred as ‘Queen of the Fae’.⁹ Not coincidentally, she is also associated with horses and sometimes represented by a red mare. It was thought that Áine and her tribe came out to celebrate in the festivities on the summer solstice, some tales say in the morning and others say at night. There are multiple hills named after her such as Cnoc Áine (Donegal and Limerick), Tobar Áine (Tyrone), Dun Áine(Dunany) and Lios Áine (Louth). She was the ‘best hearted woman who ever lived’ and meadowsweet is a beautiful, fragrant and potently healing plant with strong associations with her.¹⁰

In folklore from County Limerick, Áine is said to have two daughters whom she warned never to marry. The first daughter disobeys her, and on her wedding night Áine finds her son-in-law eating the breast off her daughter. Áine forces her younger daughter to witness the horror and reinforces her warning about disobeying her mother, but the younger daughter soon elopes and runs off with a druid. Áine then shuts herself into her house as a recluse and will only commune with the local fairies. She dies of grief on Saint John’s Eve, and the good folk assemble in great masses bearing torches. It is said from this time on torches or cliars as they were called, were carried in the fields on Saint John’s eve.¹¹

Two tales of Áine from County Limerick…

“Long ago a woman named Áine lived in a fort in the of Knockaney called fort Áine. The fort is round in shape. Once a couple of men tried to explore the interior but they saw a big black dog and a man dressed in black so they were afraid and ran away. A woman went there one day to pick ash (a very sacred tree… the ‘world tree’) sticks. Áine came out of the mound with long flowing hair and told her to put back the sticks the way they were. The woman was not able to put the sticks the same way so Áine carried her into the fort. (and disappeared)”¹²

Mrs Halpin, County Limerick, 1920’s

“The Legend of Áine’s Golden CombOne summer’s day long after the Bean’a-tighe sat upon her favourite seat called “Suidheacán Bean-a’-tighe”, having come up from the depths of the lakes.She sat upon the seat and combed her golden hair with a golden comb which she placed beside her when her work was finished and then the Bean-a’-tighe slept.High above the Suidheachán is the hill on which stood the “Buachaill” ~ or herdsman of the island, “watched her the lady of the lakes as he dressed her golden tresses; saw he the golden comb, and coveted it for himself.””Bean-a’-tighe sleeping dreamed not of robber Bhuacaill who stole softly to the seat and stole the golden comb.”From that day onwards misfortunes of every kind came thick and fast upon the Buacaill and death soon claimed him but when about to die he ordered the golden comb to be flung into the lake and so the Bean-a’-tighe joyfully regained it.”

Also from the very next passage… On the 6th night of the full moon the people brought their sick close to the lakes so that the moonlight shone brightly on them near the waters of the lake. The old people called this night- “All-Heal” and if a sick person was not better by the 8th or 9th day of the moon he would then hear the “Ceol Side” which “Áine” the bean-sidhe and spirit of Lough Gur would sing or play to comfort the dying.The sick person would fall asleep at the music “Suantraige:- which was said to be the whispering song of sleep which Aine’s brother Fer Fí played. Fer Fí was a kindly red haired dwarf and it was said to be a sign of good luck to him laughing. He played only 3 tunes – Wail, Sleep and Laughter – on his 3 Stringed harp. Suantraighe 2. Geantraighe 3. Goltraighe.

In another Legend the herdsman piper Seán Ó hAodh met Áine one night, clothed in fine white robes, near Lough Gur and she requested Seán to play at a ball she was attending. She met Seán in a splendid horse-drawn carriage, and they traveled over a long road covered with stunning roses and fruit trees. When they arrived at Áine’s mansion, Seán played the pipes before many beautiful ladies and gentlemen until the early morning hours. When the sun rose, he could see fish outside the windows and realized he was at the bottom of Lough Gur. The ladies and gentlemen gave Seán guineas and Áine gave Seán a gold purse, and straight after, he fell asleep. He awoke on Suidheachán Bean-a’-tighe to find that all the guineas had turned to gorse but that the gold purse that Áine gave him was still there and never ran empty.¹³

More interesting info on Cnoc Áine…

“Knockaney got its name from Áine, a princess of the Dedannan race. Her father was killed in battle with olioll Olum. She is regarded in folklore as queen of the fairies of Munster. Before Áine lived, the ancient name of Knockaney was Drum, Collchoille which means a ridge of hazel-wood. Five tribes of the Martine, who were a branch of the Firbolgs, settles at Knockaney. They were defeated by the De Dannans with the help of Áine. She gave this help on condition that the hill should be called after her, and for that reason it was called Knockaney or Áine’s Hill.

Tradition also has it that the man who condemned Robin Emmet is buried in Knockaney church-yard. Aney was not surrounded with a wall yet as it contained two castles and widely renowned annual fair, and was one of the places where the Justice Itinerant help assizes, and we may presume it became an important town under the care of the Desmonds. The place was renowned both in Legendary Love and authentic history. It was to Knockaney that the Ard Righ Roderick, and Jernan O’Rourke according to the Annals of the Four Masters, marched an army in 1169, and divided Munster into two parts, between McCarthy and O’Brien and three times twelve score cows were given to Roderick O’Conor by the people of Desmond as eric for the murder of Murhtough O’Brien. There were few milch cows round Knockaney in the middle of the eighteen century. It was all sheep the people kept, for the wool was valuable, and England required it for her staple manufacture. But the peasants determine that England would not get it.

Knockaney at that time, was a collection of cabins raised on the ruins of a town that was prosperous until the Geraldine disaster of 1384 when he Earl of Desmond’s estates were confiscated. The farmers wife was able to pay the rent by the use of her spinning wheel.
There was no Catholic Church in Knockaney from the time when the penal laws were stringently put into force until they were relaxed during the Volunteer period of 1392, when thatched church was erected. That served as a place of Catholic worship until the present church was built in 1894.

Still, despite all the inhuman persecution, the people kept alive the lamps of the old faith, of the old learning, and of the old ideas. They were animated in their misery by the Gaelic songs of the Jacobite poets, who were the real Gaelic Leaguers of the day, and who served to “keep the fires of the nation burning” during the dreadful period of penal code. The peasants sang those songs, one of their favorites being “An Binn Lisin Derach an Bhrugha”, which was written by Brian O’Flaherty, the mason of Bruff. Knockaney was renowned for its Domach or fair, festival religious in its origin which dated to an unknown antiquity, and is mentioned as an apparently well established institution in or about 776 B.C. year of the first Olympaid when Eochu son of Ailill Find, High King of Ireland, was slain thereafter a reign of seven years by Argatamar.

One of the Royal residences of the King of Cashel was on the hill of Knockaney, and was named Dún Cliach, while another was called Dún Gair, or Inis Locho Gair, was situated on the island of Lough Gur, which is now known as Knockadoon, according to tradition it was on the of Carrickmore in that island. Le Dún Loughgur” is mentioned as late as 1287, but no trace of it remains at the present day. There were royal forts as early as AD 366, some were rebuilt by Brian Boru in the 10th century. The same king built Inislocha Bend or Inis Locha Cé, a crannouge, or fortfied island in Loch Cend nó Cenn “Lake of the heads” a lake which formerly existed to the north of Knockaney. This is now drained.

There is an old tradition in this locality that St. Ailbe the patron saint of Cashel and Emly was born at Knockaney. His father’s name was O lcanais and his mother’s name was Sanclit. They both worked with the king. She was the king’s handmaid and she was about to bear a child to O lcanais. As they were unmarried he became afraid of the king so he fled. Soon afterwards Sanclit bore a son the famous Saint Ailbe but Cronán the king in anger at the sin, refused to allow him to be brought up under his roof with his own sons and cruelly ordered him to be taken away left under a rock, where he was found by a she-wolf who reared him among her whelps. It happened one day when the wolf was abroad in quest of food that a certain man, Lochan Mac Lugir the perfection of natural goodness found the child under the rock among the whelps, and carried him away to his house, Ultimately he gave him to some men from Britian, who were slaves in the eastern part of Cliach, and they reared the boy and gave him the name of Ailbe, because he was found living under a rock.

This truly romantic district is steeped in ancient legendary lore, with which the name of Princess Áine, daughter of the ruling Chief of this district in the 2nd century is intimately associated, particularly in local fairy tales, in which she figures as Queen of the fairies of Munster. In olden topography her name survives, for the locality surrounding the hill was anciently called Áine Cliach.

There are in this district archaeological remains which tell of a time far more ancient than the days of Oilioll Olum indeed, going back for at least 1,700 years before that King swayed the sceptre of sovereignty over the plains of Munster. The memorials recalling the mind to this distant day are the two sepulchral mounds on the top of the hill of Knockaney, at its eastern side, which learned antiquarians attribute to the Tuatha de Danaans. These were the manufacturing and commercial people who ruled from anterior to the invasion of the Milesians, about 1,400 B.C. The Milesians, being a soldier race, soon made themselves masters in the land, reducing the Dedanaans to a state of serfdom, and driving them into a more remote and poorer parts of the country.

The abundance of game in this forested region made it a favourite hunting ground in olden days of the Red Branch Knights, who generally engaged in the excitement and pleasures of the chase during the summer season. It was well known to the ancient Feni, particularly to Cuchuillin, Chief of the Red Branch Knights. In local folklore many is the tale told of the hunting expeditions of Finn and his Chiefs, with their packs of wolf hounds. There are written records, too, of wonderous exploits of the chase in this locality in old Irish manuscript volumes.”¹⁴

Gréine (also spelled Grian, or Gráinne) is another figure in Irish mythology, often associated with the sun and fertility whom is sometimes depicted as a sun goddess. Her name means simply, ‘sun’. She is potentially related to (as a sister) or is an aspect of the goddess Áine. Gréine is also known through the story of The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne where as a young woman, she elopes with Diarmuid, a hero of the Fianna, after being betrothed to the much older Fionn mac Cumhaill.

After many adventures, Diarmuid’s foster father Aengus negotiates peace with Fionn. Gréine and Diarmuid settle in Keshcorran, County Sligo where they have five children. Eventually Fionn organises a boar hunt near Benbulbin and Diarmuid joins, in spite of his geis and prediction that he will be killed by a boar. Indeed, the creature wounds him mortally as he deals it a fatal blow. Fionn has the power to heal his dying comrade by letting him drink water from his hands, but he lets the water slip through his fingers twice. Fionn’s grandson Oscar threatens him with violence if he does not help Diarmuid, but when he returns from the well on the third attempt it is too late. Diarmuid has died. In Ireland, many dolmens were labeled Leaba Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne, ‘Diarmuid and Gráinne’s Bed’.

Many ancient stone circles and monuments align with the summer solstice including the Ring of Brodgar, Stonehenge, Dombeg, Carnac and Callanish Stones. The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney, Scotland specifically has been locally known for centuries as ‘The Temple of the Sun’. The stones according to local legend were giants that danced through the night and not realizing the sun was rising, were turned to stone at first light. Tales of midsummer adventures enchants the imagination and it’s no surprise that the summer solstice inspired one of the greatest writers, Shakespeare, in his famous ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’. In Wales, a tradition was passed down through the ages to set a wheel, a sun symbol, on fire and hurl it down a local hill representing the sun on its descent. The long evenings likely brought people out in force and celebrations would have spilled between houses and streets. These celebrations may have led to the origins of classic spiral folk dances like ‘Threading the Needle’. Spiral symbols have often been synonymous with the sun and continued vivacity.

At last,
After our home attain’d, we turn’d, and lo!
With festal fires the hills were lit! Thine eve
Saint John, had come once more, and for thy sake
As though but yesterday thy crown were worn,
Amid their ruinous realm uncomforted
The Irish people triumph’d. Gloomy lay
The intermediate space; — thence brightlier burn’d
The circling fires beyond it. ‘Lo!’ Said I,
Man’s life as view’d by Ireland’s sons; a vale
With many a pitfall throng’d, and shade, and briar,
Yet overblown by angel-haunted airs,
And by the Light Eternal girdled round.

Aubrey Thomas de Vere, Irish poet

References

1. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0269D, Page 05_026
2. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0495, Page 128
3. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0714, Page 203
4. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0089D, Page 08_025
5. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0519, Page 010
6. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0623, Page 419
7. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0613, Page 336
8. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0613, Page 180
9. MacKillop, James. 1998. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.10, 16, 128
10. Fitzgerald, David. 1880. Popular Tales of Ireland. Revue Celtique. p. 190.
11. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0517, Page 057
12. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0516, Page 075
13. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0516, Page 215
14. The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0517, Page 053

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