The Story of Ancient Irish Civilization

by P. W. Joyce

The three chief metal-workers were the Gobha [gow], the Caird, and the Saer. The gobha was a smith—a blacksmith; the caird, a worker in brass, gold, and silver—a brasier, goldsmith, or silversmith; the saer, a carpenter or a mason—a worker in wood or stone.

We have already seen that the ancient Irish were very skilful in metallic art. Metallic compounds were carefully and successfully studied, copper commonly forming one of the ingredients. The most general alloy was Bronze, formed of copper and tin: but brass, a compound of copper and zinc, was also used. There were two kinds of bronze:—red bronze, used for spear-heads, caldrons, etc.; and white bronze, which was much more expensive, and used for ornamental works of art—fine metal-work of all kinds.

The exquisite skill of the ancient Irish brasiers is best proved by the articles they made, of which hundreds are preserved in our museums. The gracefully-shaped spear-heads, which, in point of artistic excellence, are fully equal to any of those found in Greece, Rome, or Egypt, were cast in moulds: and we have not only the spear-heads themselves but many of the moulds, usually of stone. In one glass case in the National Museum there are more than forty moulds for bronze axes, spear-heads, arrow-heads, etc.: some looking as fresh as if they had been in use yesterday. The old cairds were equally accomplished in making articles of hammered bronze, of which the most characteristic and important are the great trumpets ([page 87] above) and the beautifully-formed caldrons ([page 116])—many of admirable workmanship—made of a number of bronze plates, hammered into shape and riveted together.

In old times in Ireland, blacksmiths were held in great estimation; and in the historical and legendary tales, we find smiths entertaining kings, princes, and chiefs, and entertained by them in turn. We know that Vulcan was a Grecian god; and the ancient Irish had their smith-god, Goibniu, the Dedannan, who figures in many of the old romances.

The old Irish smith’s anvil was something like the anvil of the present day, but not quite so large and heavy: it had the usual long snout, and was fixed firmly on a block. There were sledges and hand-hammers, pincers or tongs, and a water-trough. The bellows was very different from the present smith’s bellows: it had two air-chambers of wood and leather lying side by side and communicating with the blowing-pipe. These were worked by a bellows-blower, who stood with his feet on the two upper boards, and pressed them down alternately, by which the two chambers were emptied in turn into the main pipe, so as to keep up a continuous blast. It should be remarked that in private houses they used a different sort of bellows, commonly called a ‘blower,’ which was held in the lap, and worked by turning a handle: this, by means of cog-wheels, caused a number of little fans in the inside to revolve rapidly, and thus to force a current through the pipe.

The fuel used by metal-workers was wood-charcoal. The smith’s furnace was made of moist clay, specially prepared, a sort of fire-clay, which was renewed from time to time when needed. This furnace surrounded and confined the fire on four sides, otherwise the light charcoal would be scattered by the blast of the bellows.

There was plenty to do for carpenters and other wood-workers, more indeed than for almost any other tradesmen, as the houses were then nearly all made of wood.

The yew-tree was formerly very abundant. Its wood was highly valued and used in making a great variety of articles: so that working in yew was regarded as one of the most important of trades. It required great skill and much training and practice: for yew is about the hardest and most difficult to work of all our native timber: and the cutting-tools must have been particularly fine in quality. Various domestic vessels were made from it, and it was used for doorposts and lintels and other prominent parts of houses, as well as for the posts, bars, and legs of beds and couches, always carved. Yew-carving accordingly gave much employment. There were also painters and metal-engravers; and here it is just as well to remark once for all, that the various articles of everyday life—hats, curraghs, shoes, book-covers, shields, chariots, leather, and so on, were made by special tradesmen (or women), all with their several suitable tools and instruments. The makers of vessels of wood, metal, and clay were very numerous, and they were quite as skilful and dexterous as those of the present time. A thousand years ago the Irish coopers were able to make vessels of staves bound with hoops, like our tubs and churns, as water-tight and as serviceable as those made by the best coopers of our day.

The tools used by the various tradesmen are often mentioned in the Brehon Laws, from which we learn that there was as great a variety in Ireland then as there is now: but our limited space will only allow us to barely mention a few. There were saws, axes, hatchets, and hammers of various shapes and sizes; an adze for coopers and shield-makers; compasses for circles; planes both for flat surfaces and for moulding; lathes and potter’s wheels for turning in wood and soft clay; chisels and gouges, awls, and augers. Besides the common whetstone they used a circular grindstone, which was turned on an axis by a cranked handle like those now in use.

Numerous stone structures erected in Christian times, but before the Anglo-Norman invasion, with lime-mortar, still remain all over the country, chiefly primitive churches and round towers. It is only necessary to point to the round towers to show the admirable skill and the delicate perception of gracefulness of outline possessed by the ancient Irish builders. A similar remark might be made regarding many of the ancient churches.