Hibernia, Britain & The Dark Ages

By Charlotte Berry

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The subject of Hibernia during the time of Arthur (the Dark Ages) and the island's relationship with Britain is something that we at The Pendragon Society have long debated. In recent years the success of Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Trilogy and the 2004 film, Tristan and Isolde, both of which have interesting accounts of Hibernian piracy and Hibernian settlers on the west coast of Britain, have made me look into the subject even further.

The island of Ireland was never incorporated into the Roman Empire, which meant that Roman influence on Ireland was limited to contacts with Britain and other conquered parts of the Empire. By the start of the 5th Century AD, Hibernia (Classical Latin name for Ireland) had entered what many now refer to as a golden age. With the start of the decline of the Roman Empire Hibernia flourished and grew rich often from the piracy they took up against a neighbouring Britain that could no longer look to the Legions for protection. Thanks to evidence from surviving Roman texts we can be almost certain that Irish tribal expeditions harried the Roman provinces of Britannia (Britain) and Gaul (France).

The arrival St. Patrick to Ireland (432 AD) to convert the Irish, who were all Druidic, to Christianity had amazing success despite the fact that the Celtic nobility held their power through the Druidic religion. This also spelled more problems for the Romano-British and Celtic tribes that lived on the West Coast of Britain during the mid 5th Century as Pagan Irish Warlord's arrived trying to escape the flourishing Christianity of their homeland. The Hibernian's had some success and managed to settle in a few areas on the west coast of Wales. It is more than likely that many Hibernians settled on the Isle of Anglesey, Welsh Ynys Môn, which was the centre of the Druidic religion, just across the Irish Sea from Ireland.

There is very little in surviving sources of writing about the relationship between Britain and Ireland during the 5th Century other than what was recorded by the Romans prior to the break up of the Empire. However, the lack of written history does not mean that Rome or the Roman province of Britannia did not significantly interact with Ireland.

Further Reading: -

• LAING,JENNIFER AND LLOYD Celtic Britain and Ireland The Myth of the Dark Ages

Tristan+Isolde
2006

Bernard Cornwell
Find out about his intriguing Warlord Chronicles

Marion Zimmer Bradley
Find out about her best selling Arthurian novel