Tailteann Games (ancient)

{{Short description|Pre-Christian Irish funeral games}} {{about|the pre-modern festival|the 1920s revival|Tailteann Games (Irish Free State)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} The '''Tailteann Games''', '''Tailtin Fair''', '''Áenach Tailteann''', '''Aonach Tailteann''', '''Assembly of Talti''', '''Fair of Taltiu''' or '''Festival of Taltii''' were funeral games associated with the semi-legendary history of Pre-Christian Ireland.

There is a complex of ancient earthworks dating to the Iron Age in the area of Teltown where the festival was historically known to be celebrated off and on from medieval times into the modern era.<ref name="Nally2008">{{cite book| author=T. H. Nally| title=The Aonac Tailteann and the Tailteann Games, Their History and Ancient Associations| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SObPJ02EiwMC| access-date=31 July 2012| date=30 June 2008| publisher=Jesson Press| isbn=978-1-4097-8189-9}}</ref><ref>[http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/tailteann-games-place-in-history-going-for-a-song-1037527.html Tailteann Games place in history going for a song] By Seán Diffley, ''Irish Independent'', Saturday July 14, 2007</ref><ref name="Quinn">{{Cite web |url=http://www.eirgridnortheastprojects.com/media/14.8%20Telltown%20Impact%20Assessment%20Report.pdf |title=Malcolm, Nigel., & Quinn, Billy., Teltown Impact Assessment Report, 2009. |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=25 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025210036/http://www.eirgridnortheastprojects.com/media/14.8%20Telltown%20Impact%20Assessment%20Report.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History and archaeology== The games were founded, according to the ''Book of Invasions'', by Lugh Lámhfhada, the Ollamh Érenn (master craftsman or doctor of the sciences), as a mourning ceremony for the death of his foster-mother Tailtiu. Lugh buried Tailtiu underneath a mound in an area that took her name and was later called Tailteann in County Meath.<ref>Lebor Gabála Érenn, original text edited and translated by R A Stewart Macalister, D. Litt, Part IV: Irish Texts Society, Volume 41, pp. 59, 115, 117, 149, 177, 179, London 1941. {{ISBN|1-870166-41-8}}.</ref>

The event was held during the last fortnight of July and culminated with the celebration of Lughnasadh, or Lammas Eve (1 August).<ref name="Keating1866">{{cite book| author=Geoffrey Keating| title=Foras feasa ar Eirinn ... The history of Ireland, tr. and annotated by J. O'Mahony| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAEHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA301| access-date=1 July 2012| year=1866| pages=301–}}</ref> Modern folklore claims that the Tailteann Games started around 1600 BC, with some sources claiming as far back as 1829 BC.<ref>{{cite book| author1=Tim Delaney| author2=Tim Madigan| title=The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEybKqyfVNwC&pg=PA42| access-date=12 August 2012| date=30 April 2009| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-0-7864-4169-3| pages=42–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author=William H. Freeman| title=Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science in a Changing Society| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDN6Qimp7YIC&pg=PA80| access-date=12 August 2012| date=21 January 2011| publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers| isbn=978-0-7637-8157-6| pages=80–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author=Peter Matthews| title=Historical Dictionary of Track and Field| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQFHe9RwE0wC&pg=PA2| access-date=12 August 2012| date=22 March 2012| publisher=Scarecrow Press| isbn=978-0-8108-6781-9| pages=2–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author1=Martin Connors| author2=Diane L. Dupuis| author3=Brad Morgan| title=The Olympics factbook: a spectator's guide to the winter and summer games| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKFuAAAAMAAJ| access-date=12 August 2012| year=1992| publisher=Visible Ink| isbn=978-0-8103-9417-9}}</ref><ref name="Brown1985">{{cite book| author=Terence Brown| title=Ireland: a social and cultural history, 1922-1985, p. 82| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FEGrCkdj-0C| access-date=11 August 2012| year=1985| publisher=Fontana Press| isbn=978-0-00-686082-2}}</ref><ref name="MellershWilliams1999">{{cite book| author1=H. E. L. Mellersh| author2=Neville Williams| title=Chronology of world history, p. 15| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCcOAQAAMAAJ| access-date=1 August 2012| date=1 April 1999| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1-57607-155-7}}</ref><ref name="Incorporated2000">{{cite book| author=Grolier Incorporated| title=The Encyclopedia Americana, pp. 892 & 905| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IA01AAAAMAAJ| access-date=1 August 2012| year=2000| publisher=Grolier| isbn=978-0-7172-0133-4}}</ref> Promotional literature for the Gaelic Athletic Association revival of the games in 1924 claimed a later date of their foundation in 632 BC. The games were known to have been held between the 6th and 9th centuries AD.<ref name="Koch2006">{{cite book| author=John T. Koch| title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA777| access-date=31 July 2012| year=2006| publisher=ABC-CLIO| isbn=978-1-85109-440-0| pages=777–}}</ref> The games were held until 1169–1171 AD when they died out after the Norman invasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theirishstory.com/2011/02/23/the-tailteann-games-1924-1936/|title=The Tailteann Games, 1924-1936|work=The Irish Story}}</ref><ref>Melvyn Watman, ''History of British Athletics''. Hale, London, 1968.</ref>

The ancient Aonach had three functions: honoring the dead, proclaiming laws, and funeral games and festivities to entertain. The first function took between one and three days depending on the importance of the deceased. Guests would sing mourning chants called the ''Guba'', after which druids would improvise ''Cepógs'', songs in memory of the dead. The dead would then be burnt on a funeral pyre. The second function would then be carried out during a universal truce by the Ollamh Érenn, giving out laws to the people via bards and druids and culminating in the igniting of another massive fire. The custom of rejoicing after a funeral was then enshrined in the ''Cuiteach Fuait'', games of mental and physical ability.<ref name="Nally2008"/>

Games included the long jump, high jump, running, hurling, spear throwing, boxing, contests in swordfighting, archery, wrestling, swimming, and chariot and horse racing. They also included competitions in strategy, singing, dancing and story-telling, along with crafts competitions for goldsmiths, jewellers, weavers and armourers. Along with ensuring a meritocracy, the games would also feature a mass arranged marriage, where couples met for the first time and were given up to a year and a day to divorce on the hills of separation.<ref name="Nally2008"/>

In later medieval times, the games were revived and called the Tailten Fair, consisting of contests of strength and skill, horse races, religious celebrations, and a traditional time for couples to contract "handfasting" trial marriages. "Taillten marriages" were legal up until the 13th century. This trial marriage practice is documented in the fourth and fifth volumes of the Brehon law texts, which are compilations of the opinions and judgements of the Brehon class of Druids (in this case, Irish). The texts as a whole deal with copious detail for the Insular Celts.<ref>O'Donovan, J., O'Curry, E., Hancock, W. N., O'Mahony, T., Richey, A. G., Hennessy, W. M., & Atkinson, R. (eds.) (2000). ''Ancient laws of Ireland, published under direction of the Commissioners for Publishing the Ancient Laws and Institutes of Ireland.'' Buffalo, New York: W.S. Hein. {{ISBN|1-57588-572-7}}. (Originally published: Dublin: A. Thom, 1865-1901. Alternatively known as ''Hiberniae leges et institutiones antiquae''.)</ref>

==Modern revivals and legacy== thumb|Fireworks at the first Games, August 15, 1924 {{main|Tailteann Games (Irish Free State)}} From the late nineteenth century, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and others in the Gaelic revival contemplated reviving the Tailteann Games. The GAA's 1888 championships of football and of hurling were unfinished owing to the American Invasion Tour, an unsuccessful attempt to raise funds for a revival.<ref name="Cronin2007">{{cite journal|last=Cronin|first=Mike|year=2007|title=The Gaelic Athletic Association's Invasion of America, 1888: Travel Narratives, Microhistory and the Irish American 'Other'|journal=Sport in History|volume=27|issue=2|pages=190–216|issn=1746-0263|doi=10.1080/17460260701437011|s2cid=143931786}}</ref>

The 2nd Dáil approved a scheme in 1922,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail1922060800005 |title=Iomadoirí Iasachta|work=Second Dáil debates|publisher=8 June 1922|access-date=31 July 2017}}</ref> and after a delay caused by the Irish Civil War the first was held in 1924. Open to foreigners of Irish heritage, the first games of 1924 and 1928 attracted some competitors fresh from the Olympics in Paris and Amsterdam. The Games' main backer, minister J. J. Walsh, lost office when Fianna Fáil took power after the 1932 election, and public funding was cut. The 1932 games were on a smaller scale against a background of the Great Depression and the Anglo-Irish Trade War, and no further games were held.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cronin|first=Mike|year=2016|title=Projecting the Nation through Sport and Culture: Ireland, Aonach Tailteann and the Irish Free State, 1924-32|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=38|issue=3|pages=395–411|issn=0022-0094|doi=10.1177/0022009403038003004 |jstor=3180644|s2cid=146215048}}</ref>

Jack Fitzsimons suggested reviving the Tailteann Games in a 1985 Seanad Éireann debate on tourism in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/seanad1985120500005#N143 |title=White Paper on Tourism Policy: Motion (Resumed) |last=Fitzsimons|first=Jack|date=5 December 1985 |work=Seanad Éireann Debates|publisher=Oireachtas |quote=Teltown is not far from Kells. The Tailteann games were world-renowned. They could be revived. There is great potential in this area. |no-pp=y|page=Vol.110 no.6 p.5 c.715 |access-date=2 August 2017}}</ref>

The Rás Tailteann ("Tailteann race") cycling race was founded in 1953 by the National Cycling Association (NCA), in opposition to the Tour of Ireland organised by the rival Cumann Rothaíochta na hÉireann (CRÉ). Cycling Ireland, the merged successor to both the NCA and CRÉ, still organises the Rás Tailteann annually, but it is usually known as "the [sponsor] Rás", or simply "the Rás".<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.cyclingireland.ie/cycling-news-item/donegal-ras-cycling-team/236|title=Donegal Ras Cycling Team|date=13 May 2014 |quote=This is the fourth year of An Post's sponsorship of the celebrated Rás Tailteann, which is more commonly known as The Rás.|publisher=Cycling Ireland|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

The Irish Secondary Schools Athletic Association organised annual national championships from 1963 under the name "Junior Tailteann Games".<ref name="athleticsireland2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.athleticsireland.ie/downloads/other/Schools_ROH_1916-MASTER8thMay.pdf#page=2 |format=PDF|title=Irish Schools Athletics Champions 1916-2015|date=8 May 2015|page=2|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref> Athletics Ireland continues to use the name "Tailteann Games" for its annual schools inter-provincial championships.<ref name="athleticsireland2005"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/tailteann-games-provide-another-thrilling-spectacle/|title=Tailteann Games provide another thrilling spectacle|date=26 June 2017|publisher=Athletics Ireland|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref> also independently the tailteann games are an inter-gaeltacht event that includes other activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/tailteann-games-athletics|title=Incredible images from the Tailteann Games, the ancient Irish predecessor to the Olympics|date=4 May 2018}}</ref>

The Gaelic Athletic Association's (GAA) Tailteann Cup, established in 2022, takes its name from the ancient games.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tailteann Cup Q&A |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/tailteann-cup-q-a-1.4880097 |work=The Irish Times}}</ref> Páirc Tailteann, a GAA stadium in Navan, County Meath, also takes its name from the games.

==See also== * Tailteann Games (Irish Free State), a revival held 1924–1932 * Tailteann Games of Athletics Ireland, a revival since 1963 in the form of schools' inter-provincial championships * Ancient Olympic Games, a similar tradition in classical Greece, c. 776 BC – 393 AD

==Annalistic references== See Annals of Inisfallen

* ''AI875.1 Kl. Muiredach son of Bran, king of Laigin, harried UíNéill as far as Sliab Fuait, and the Fair of Tailltiu was held.''

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==Sources== * Lewis Spence, ''The History and Origins of Druidism'' * Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock, ''Magical and Mystical Sites''

==External links== {{wikisource|Folk-Lore/Volume 31/The Marriages of the Gods at the Sanctuary of Tailltiu}} * [https://archive.org/details/aonactailteannta00nalliala Nally, T.H., The Aonac Tailteann and the Tailteann Games Their History and Ancient Associations - Full text on archive.org]

{{Multi-sport events}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tailteann Games}} Category:Sport in antiquity Category:Irish mythology Category:Druidry Category:History of County Meath Category:Sports festivals in Ireland Category:Recurring sporting events established in ancient history Category:1169 disestablishments in Europe Category:Medieval history of Ireland Category:Lugh