"Yet, however universal some of these motifs may be, what grounds them and makes them meaningful in a native context is the specific manner in which they are inscribed in the landscape. As well as fire, for example, Uisneach is also closely associated with water, a relationship that reconciles well with its geographical position at the junction of two major river systems, in a landscape hemmed in on all sides by bodies of water: the River Inny and its tributary, the Dungolman, to the north and west, and Lough Owel, Lough Ennell and the River Brosna, to the east and south. In addition to myriad other, social, cultural and economic significances attaching to these watery features – as communication arteries, as sources of food and other resources, and as socio-political boundaries – it is clear from their nomination as foci for votive deposition in prehistory and their associated mythology that many of them were also invested with more profound, symbolic and sacral significances. In one of the more colourful toponymic accounts contained in Lebor Gabála Érenn, for example, Loughs Owel and Ennell, together with Lough Iron, to the north, are said to have issued from ‘three belches’ vomited from the Hill of Uisneach by the recipient of an emetic potion prepared by the legendary physician Dian Cécht. While this account may embody a subtle reminder of the territorial claims of Clann Cholmáin (though by no means reflecting the full extent of the over-kingdom of Mide), of perhaps greater interest here is its depiction of Uisneach as a source of primeval waters, a motif that also finds expression in other literary sources dating from the late seventh century onwards. The tale Tucait Baile Mongáin (‘Mongán’s Frenzy’), for instance, describes how a great hailstorm during an assembly on the hill ‘left twelve chief streams in Ireland for ever’, and is also one of the earliest sources to emphasize the liminal status of Uisneach as a meeting point between the temporal and otherworld spheres. A similar sentiment is expressed, though in a different guise, in Echtrae Chonlai (‘The Otherworld Adventures of Conlae’) and it has been suggested that both tales were composed in the late seventh century by an author based in the midlands."

"This concept of neutrality is especially intriguing when considered in light of the archaeological evidence from Uisneach. Indeed, compared with the grandiose, ‘royal’ enclosures of the other ceremonial complexes, the relatively inconspicuous character of the largest prehistoric monuments at Uisneach seems to diminish their effectiveness as material expressions of earthly power, and could very well reflect the ritual exclusivity and political ‘detachment’ claimed for the site in the early literature. All things considered, the possibility that Uisneach was more a religious than a political centre in later prehistory, and only later emerged as a bona fide ‘royal site’, cannot be easily dismissed. Whatever its precise role in later prehistory, it is clear that by the sixth century AD Uisneach had evolved into a cult centre of sufficient standing to mark it out as an auspicious base for a new order of aspirant kings. The evidence of renewed building and a shift to domestic occupation in the wake of its appropriation as a royal seat by the southern Uí Néill marks an important juncture in the history of Uisneach, yet occurs in tandem with the promotion in the early literature of ‘antique’ traditions associated with the site. Far from diminishing the sacral importance of Uisneach, therefore, the construction of the impressive conjoined ringfort of Rathnew and its network of associated settlements must be understood in a context in which the ritual of kingship was rooted in a pagan past and legitimacy was gained by harnessing the power and significances invested in ancient places. As Mac Cana notes, early medieval kingship represents ‘a reflex, or a replica, of the sacral kingship … and even when Irish rulers owed their accession more to force of arms than to hereditary right, they were always careful to legitimize their claim by reference to the primal myth and ritual of sovereignty’."

Tara Ritual