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C S
eltic acred
L
andscapes
NIGEL PENNICK
The Celtic tradition is one of the most ancient in
Europe, with roots going back nearly 3,000
years. Today there is much to be learned from
the Celtic world-view, with its emphasis on the
recognition of the unseen world and the vital
part it plays in our relationship with the physical
landscape. In this exciting new study, Nigel
Pennick shows us the holy sites of Britain,
Ireland and mainland Europe through Celtic
eyes, reinvesting each place in the landscape with
its ancient spiritual, symbolic and mythological
importance.
From the original Celtic site of the castle at
Tintagel, passing through the sacred forest of
Broceliande in Brittany, and on to the monastery
of Scelig Mhichil off the coast of Ireland, Nigel
Pennick takes us on an exhilarating spiritual and
historical tour of the Celtic holy places of
Europe. He delves into’ the mystery and lore
behind the power of sacred trees and stones;
springs and wells as places of healing; holy
mountains as centers of geomythic energies;
sacred caves; holy islands; sanctified earthworks
and cities; paths and trackways; places for
demons and supernatural beings; the visible
instances of the divine in hidden temples; and
the holy places of the Celtic saints. Through
these themes, supported by a wide-ranging
gazetteer of sites, he reveals the continuing
importance of the Celtic tradition to us today.
With 64 illustrations
On the jacket
Front: Celtic labyrinth designs.
Back (left to right): ogham characters; the Ballinderry gameboard;
plans of underground structures; chart showing the division of the
day into tides; tenth-century cross at Nevern.
CELTIC SACRED
LANDSCAPES
CELTIC SACRED
LANDSCAPES
NIGEL PENNICK
with 64 illustrations
THAMES AND HUDSON
Frontispiece: The Celtic cross at Ballaugh, Isle
of Man, carved by the Manx runemaster Gaut
Bjornsson, reproduces in stone the wintry solar
phenomenon of the sun-wheel.
Any copy of this book issued by the
publisher as a paperback is sold subject
to the condition that it shall not by way of
trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired
out or otherwise circulated without the
publisher’s prior consent in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which
it is published and without a similar
condition including these words being
imposed on a subsequent purchaser.
Illustrations and text © 1996 Nigel Pennick
First published in the United States of
America in 1996 by Thames and Hudson
Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue,
New York, New York 10110
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number
95-60273
ISBN 0-500-01666-6
All Rights Reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording or any other
information storage and retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from
the publisher.
Printed in Great Britain
Contents
Introduction: The Inner and the Outer Landscape
6
i. The Celtic Symbolic Landscape
n
2. Sacred Trees
21
3. Sacred Stones
39
4. Springs, Wells and Places of Healing
63
5. Holy Mountains
79
6. Sacred Caves and Subterránea
93
7. Holy Islands
105
8. Earthworks, Enclosures and Cities
115
9. Trackways and Spirit-Paths
129
10. Places of Epiphany
141
11. Images and Temples
149
12. Continuity in the Celtic Church
165
Postscript: Out of the Wasteland
179
Gazetteer of Notable Celtic Sacred Places
181
Bibliography
221
Index
223
INTRODUCTION
The Inner and the Outer Landscape
The three principal endeavours of a Bard:
One is to learn and collect sciences;
The second is to teach;
And the third is to make peace
And to put an end to all injury;
For to do contrary to these things
Is not usual or becoming to a Bard.
The Triads of Britain
F WE LOOK at the landscape through contemporary eyes, our view can
I
be only partial; people in other times, or with other beliefs, have seen
things quite differently. The nature of some languages makes it impos
sible to speak or think in abstract terms, and it was so in pre-modern
Celtic tongues. The Celtic bards, in the times before literacy, recorded and
remembered everything poetically. Notable events, and their location in
the landscape, were recalled in oral aphorisms, ballads, sagas and triads.
This poetic vision of the landscape, ensouled with spirits, is a particularly
human and therefore humane vision of the world. It describes Carl Jung’s
enigmatic ‘unknown topographical law that rules a man’s disposition’.
Humans are at one with nature. We are part of it, not separate from it. To
the bard, the powers of nature, animals and the human psyche are best
personified in anthropomorphic forms that exemplify these qualities.
Because they are essential qualities, archetypes and images, and because
their existence is implicit rather than explicit in the material world, they
are ‘otherworldly’. Nevertheless, their existence is real: events, thoughts,
ideas, physical objects and places can be understood in terms of these
essences.
It is inevitable that everything described by humans must be explained
in human terms. These descriptions are interpretations of reality accord
ing to the structure and function of human consciousness. We should
always bear in mind that, whilst many descriptions render the perceived
reality very well, we should never take them literally. For, once they become
