In 52 BC the brilliant Belgic leader Commius of the Atrebates turned against his former ally Caesar. He led a large force to join the armies of his kinsman Vercingetorix against him in a great insurrection which was to change the course of European history. Following Vercingetorix’s defeat, Commius became over-leader of the Belgic Atrebates, Morini, Carnutes, Bituriges, Bellovaci and Eburones and many Belgae followed him to his British Kingdom in the last Celtic-speaking folk movement to Britain, rather than endure the savagery of Roman civilisation.
In the twenty years following Julius Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC Commius’ British Kingdom grew in size and wealth. In the nine years from 34 BC there were three occasions under Caesar’s successor Octavian (Augustus Caesar), 34, 27, and 26 BC, when a full scale invasion of Britain was contemplated. Commius then appears to have set up a Belgic enclave around the mouth of the Shannon in Western Ireland which became known as and was recorded by Ptolemy as Gangani, the descendants of Gann, the form of his full Celtic name.
Meanwhile his sons took over from one another in surprisingly swift succession as kings of South East Britain. Each re-emerged of Kings of the expanding Belgic settlements in Western Ireland; these were Tincommius (Irish Sen Gann), Epillus (Eochill) and Verica (Ferach) However a war between the tribes of Britain brought Verica (Bericus) to the Court of the Emperor Claudius to ask for support. And so in the year 43 AD a Roman army under the able command of Aulus Plautius landed in Britain Among the distinguished soldiers of this army was Vespasian and about 60 AD his son Titus, both of whom were destined to become Emperors of Rome. It was therefore among the Britons that those soldiers were trained who destroyed that Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.
By this time the Brigantes controlled the largest section which is now northern England and a significant part of the midlands, centring on what is now known as Yorkshire. The modern town of York was originally known by the name of Eboracum, founded by the Romans in 71AD and deriving from the Eburones, whose High Goddess of Sovereignty was Brigantia. Ptolemy also places the Brigantes in South Wexford. They survived into the period of documentary history as the Ui Bairrche giving their name to the Barony of Bargy. It could be that the Brigantes invaded Ireland under pressure from later Belgic and Gaulish tribes and that prior to this they had lived in parts of Britain which were more proximal to Wexford. But they could also have migrated under pressure from the Romans in the 70’s AD. There was also a tribe, of course, known as the Brigantii, whose capital was Brigantion, now Bregenz, on the Lake of Constance, the Bodensee or Swabian Sea (das schwäbische Meer) , known to the ancients as Lacus Brigantinus.
The legendary Ninth Legion, Legio IX Hispana, the Spanish Legion, was one of the oldest and most feared units in the Roman Army. Put together in Spain by Pompey in 65 BC, it came under the command of Julius Caesar who was Governor of Further Spain in 61 BC, and served in Gaul throughout the Gallic Wars from 58 – 51 BC, the Legion was decisive in ensuring Caesar’s control of the Republic.
After Caesar’s assassination it remained loyal to his successor Octavian. It fought with distinction against the Cantabrians in Spain from 25 – 13 BC but suffered terribly in the British revolt led by Boadicea ( Boudica) in 60AD, losing as many as 50 – 80 per cent of its men . However, several high ranking Officers who could only have served after 117 AD are well known to us, so we can safely assume that the core of the Legion was still extant in the reign of Hadrian, 117 – 138 AD.
The first great leader of the Feni (later “Gaels”) in Ireland, Tuathal (Teuto–valos) Techtmar, was probably a Roman soldier, commanding Q-Celtic speaking auxiliaries from Spain. The earliest known source for the story of Tuathal Techtmar’s conquest of Ireland from the Aithech thuatha (Vassal Tribes) is a poem by Mael Mura of Othain AD 885. Mael Mura intimates that about 750 years had elapsed since Tuathal Techtmar had marched on the ancient British or Cruthin ritual centre of Tara to create his kingdom of Meath, which would date the invasion to the early 2nd Century AD. This is probably approximately correct. The standard pseudo-historical convention is employed, however, to make him an exiled Irishman returning with a foreign army. The account in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, which does contain a shadow of history, is probably older and in this we see that Tuathal was born outside Ireland and had not seen the country before he invaded it. We can synchronise his invasion to early in the reign of Hadrian (122 – 138) and his death fighting the Cruthin near Antrim in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 – 161).This fits with Juvenal (c60 to 127 AD) who wrote “We have taken our arms beyond the shores of Ireland…” Tuathal may indeed represent the fictitious Mil Espáne, or even the Ninth Legion, the Legio IX Hispana, but that we will probably never know.
And who are the Last of the Belgae? We meet the Manapians again in the 3rd Century AD in the person of Carausius, who by immense naval talent rose to be admiral of the British fleet and ruled Britain from 287 to 292 AD. We meet them through their sea-god Manannán Mac Lir who slept with Cantigern, wife of Fiachna Lurgan, who bore him a son, Mongan. These legends were first put down in Bangor, founded by Comgall, who was sponsored by Cantigern as Queen of Dalaradia. And of course we meet them today as Kylie and Dannii Minogue.
As for the Brigantes, one of their descendants was Sir John Gorman, soldier and politician, who became Deputy Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. What of the pre-Celtic ancient British Cruthin they displaced? Well, we meet them as Sir John Lavery, L S Lowry, and Martin Lynch, the artists, and as Martin Mc Guinness, Ken Maginnis and Alban Maginness, the politicians.
Finally, I attended the funeral of my friend Julian Ian McCartan Hill on Friday 23rd July 2010 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Downpatrick and stood on the Hill of Down where St Patrick, St Columba and St Brigid (Brigit or Brigantia) are said to be “buried”. Like the Guinness family, the McCartans had also been Lords of Iveagh, the ancient Cruthin territory of Ulster. I stood with Jim McDowell and Erskine Holmes and looked towards the Mournes, so beloved of C.S. Lewis and one inspiration for Narnia. The old name for the range of mountains was na Beanna Boirche, but originally Bairche. I wondered if this could have meant the Breasts of Brigantia, the High Goddess, and we were standing on her sacred site. Who knows? The usual translation is the Peaks of Boirche, a local king. What is certain, however, is that the Mournes were a final refuge of the Manaig, the Last of the Belgae.
Blog Links
Part 1 The Two Heroes
Part 2 The Gallic Wars
Link
Julian Ian McCartan Hill – Irish Times obituary July 31, 2010
Concluded