Hibernia
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- For other uses, see Hibernia (disambiguation).
Hibernia is the Roman Latin name for the island of Ireland. The Romans referred to the North of Ireland as Scotia after the Scotti who lived there.
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Meaning of Hibernia
Hibernia may derive from the Latin term hibernus that translates as wintery.
Another possibility is that hibernia derives from Pytheas of Massilia, the Greek merchant and explorer from the 4th Century BC, who called Ireland Ierne, which may itself derive from Erin the mythological name for Ireland. Ierne may have been further latinised to Ivernia and then to Hibernia.
Popular belief
What is certain is that Hibernia was never formally incorporated into the Roman Empire.
It is commonly believed that the Romans neither invaded nor particularly influenced Ireland. It is certain that Irish tribal expeditions harried the Roman provinces of Britannia (Britain) and Gaul (France). But what is less certain is whether the Romans had a direct effect on Ireland. Written records are brief yet suggestive. No Roman roads have been found, and no records of an invasion have been discovered. Irish written history does not mention Rome at all.
However the lack of history does not mean that Rome or the Roman province of Britannia did not significantly interact with Ireland.
Ireland at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain
Prior to the Romans, the tribes of Britain, Gaul, Spain and Ireland had mutually warred, traded and settled.
Significant British settlement in the Southwest of Ireland occurred around 1 AD. Ptolemy in 100 CE records Irish tribal names identical to those of tribes in Gaul and Britain, suggesting significant settlement.
At this time Ireland, Britain and France was populated by the Celts, with the associated Celtic Religion, supervised by the Druids. The Isle of Anglesey, Welsh Ynys Môn, was the centre of the Druidic religion.
By 51 BC French Gaul had been conquered by the Romans, with the permanent garrisoning of Britain occurring 100 years later. Irish interactions with the Roman empire are most likely to have occurred with the Roman province of Britannia.
Evidence of Roman visits
Generally in Ireland Roman material is rare and found in different contexts from the native La Tene material. However in the Southeast of Ireland, where native material is rare, Roman-style cemeteries and large quantities of Roman finds have found.
Tara, the midland ritual complex, Clogher, a northern hillfort, and Cashel, in the south have produced early and late Roman material, the first two having produced no native finds of contemporary age. The place name Cashel has its origin in the Latin castellum. All become capitals of new kingdoms and all believe that their origins derive from Britain.
At Drumanagh, 25 km of Dublin, a large (200,000 m²) site has recently been found to be Roman. Consisting of a peninsula defended by three rows of parallel ditches on the landward side, the site appears to be a port or bridgehead. Access to the finds and the site has been prohibited for over 10 years due to a court case about ownership. It is a scandal.
Other Roman influences can be seen such as the penannular brooch, used to fasten Irish cloaks from 4th-11th century, which derives from a style of Romano-British brooch, or the early medieval Irish sword which derived from the Roman Spatha and even the rapid adoption of Christianity.
Roman coins have been found at Newgrange, presumably offerings from early tourists.
Invasion perhaps
The Irish myth of Tuathal, tells of an Irish Chieftan, who was in Britain around the time of Agricola and returned to seize power in the Irish Midlands with a trained army. Tacitus tells us that Agricola had with him an Irish Chieftan for exactly such a task. Juvenal tells us that, Roman 'arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland'. Excavations at sites linked to the tale of Tuathal have produced Roman material of the late 1st or early 2nd centuries AD. Perhaps Tuathal was that Irish Chieftan referred to above who returned with Roman trained troops, power and technology.
Everyone accepts that Caesar 'invaded' Britain. Yet his army left few discoverable traces, stayed only a couple of years, and failed to incorporate Britain into the Roman Empire. It is only through the survival of Caesar's book, The Gallic War, that we know of the Roman invasion of Britain in 54 BC.
The few other remaining texts from that period, combined with the archaeology suggest that interaction between Romanised Britain and Ireland occurred. But without the miraculous discovery of a lost Roman text, or some dramatic archaeological finds, the details will remain debated.
Modern usage
Hibernia is a word which is rarely used today with regard to Ireland, however it is occasionally used for various names of organisations and things, for instance: Ancient Order of Hibernians, Hibernia College, Hibernian Football Club, the realm Hibernia in the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot and HMS Hibernia. Other modern derivatives, from Latin, include Respublica Hibernica (Irish Republic) and Universitas Hiberniae Nationalis (National University of Ireland).