It is described by many pagans as the most sacred place in Ireland. And I am very lucky to live very close to it - The Paps of Anu and The City. It is situated in the eastern part of Co. Kerry, about 15 minutes drive from where I live.
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| Dhá Chioch Anann or The Paps of Anu, as seen from The City |
They are two mountains of equal size resembling the breasts of a woman, with cairns at their peaks. These pre-historic structures, still unexcavated, probably contain miniature passage graves or burial cists, and give the perfect finish as nipples in the top of the breasts.
They were believed to be the breasts of the goddess Anu, or Danu, the mother goddess of Ireland, and the Tuatha de Dannan. This reinforced the belief that earth is the body of the goddess, and Nature is therefore, sacred.
Down by the Paps of Anu is Cathair Crobh Dearg, The City of Shrone, known locally as simply "The City". It is said to have been the first place to be populated in Ireland. It is strongly associated with May Day (Beltaine), and cerimonies are still held in The City today in the first of May. Unfortunately, as for every pagan traditions, it has been taken by christianity, and is now a place of worship for christians. Pagan celebrations are still held in the city, as far as I know.
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| The holy well and the Paps in the background |
There isn't much of the city left today, but remainings of the thick stone wall, a holy well and a cross-inscribed stone altar can still be seen. Dan Cronin, who wrote "In The Shadow of the Paps", a grand book about the city and the paps I still yet have to read, said once:
When you stand in the middle of the Cathair you get great feeling of satisfaction that you’re standing here on one of the most ancient places on earth where religious ceremonies of one kind or another have been enacted for the past six or seven thousand years, without a break…Tell me another place you’ll find that. You’ll find them, all right…but they’re long since broken, the sequence is broken. But not at Cromlech Cathair Crobh Dearg…There is no place in Western Europe more ancient, functioning the same length of time, as Cromlech Cathair Crobh Dearg.
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| Cross-inscribed stones |
I have dedicated this past Winter exploring Sared Ireland. It is a good time of the year to do so, as there are very few edibles to forage for, and outdoors activities are limited. Plus it is the dark time of the year, the time when we honour our ancestors, so it felt just right to visit all these ancient sites. Most of them were stone circles, and I shall gather them in another post, I just thought the Paps deserved a post of its own :)
I hoped you liked it!
Blessings,
Sara Terrwyn Valentim
