Iverni

The Iverni or "Hiberni" ( _el. Ἰουερνοι "Iouernoi") were an ancient Celtic people of Ireland mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century work "Geographia".

The Ptolemaic Iverni

Ptolemy's description of Ireland is of supreme importance for the study of early Irish ethnography. His account implies that the Iverni had by his time become one of the dominant tribes of the island. Ptolemy gives the names of sixteen peoples in Ireland, several of which can be identified [Seán Duffy, "The Concise History of Ireland", Gill & Macmillan, 2000, p.38] . According to his account the territory in the extreme southwest of Ireland (Munster) was occupied by a people called the "Iouernoi". Ptolemy mentions a city in their territory called Ivernis ( _el. Ἰουερνις "Iouernis").

Etymology

The name appears to be based on the name given to the island as a whole, Hibernia or Ivernia (polytonic|Ἰουερνία) for which see further Éire [John T. Koch, "Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia", ABC-CLIO, 2005, p.709] .

O'Rahilly's model

According to the controversial historical scheme proposed by T.F. O'Rahilly the Iverni arrived in Ireland ca. 500 BC, and spoke a P-Celtic language known as "Ivernic" (see Primitive Irish). They may have been affiliated with or belonged to the tribes of the Belgae of northern Gaul and Great Britain. In this scheme, based upon medieval legends of the migrations of peoples into Ireland, there were four separate incursions of the Celts into Ireland in pre-historic times: the Priteni, who were the first to colonize the island, were followed by the Belgae, who invaded Ireland from northern Gaul and Britain. Later, Laighin tribes from Armorica (present-day Brittany) are believed to have invaded Ireland and Britain more or less simultaneously. Lastly, the Milesians/Gaels reached Ireland from either northern Iberia or southern Gaul.

Descendants

According to O'Rahilly, in historical times, descendants of the Iverni were known as the tribe of the "Éraind" or "Érainn" in Munster.

Other [James MacKillop, "Dictionary of Celtic Mythology", Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1998] proposed Ivernic groups include the Corcu Duibhne of County Kerry, the Déisi of Waterford, the Osraige of the Kingdom of Osraige/Ossory and the Dál nAraidi of Antrim. The Builg, identified with the historical Belgae and mythological Fir Bolg, may have been identical with, or a sub-group of, the Iverni. Their association with the Belgae is now much in doubt Fact|date=May 2007.

Footnotes

References

*Citation
last = Herm
first = Gerhard
author-link =
year = 2002
title = The Celts
place = Ireland
publisher = St. Martin's Press
ISBN = 0312313438
*Citation
last = O'Rahilly
first = T. F.
author-link = T. F. O'Rahilly
year = 1947
title = Early Irish History and Mythology
place = US
publisher = Medieval Academy of America
*Volume V14, Page 789 of the 1911 Encyclopedia [http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/DRO_ECG/EARLY.html]
*"Ptolemy's Ireland," copyright (c) 1997-2006 [http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire150.htm]
*J.-J. Tierney, "The Greek geographic tradition and Ptolemy's evidence for Irish geography", in RIA Proc., Ixxxvi (1976) sect.C, pp. 257-265
*Theodore William Moody ,"A New History of Ireland", p. 140, Oxford University Press, 1976
*Nora Kershaw Chadwick, "The Celts", Pelican Books, 1970
*C. Thomas Cairney, "Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland, An Ethnography of the Gael", AD 500 - 1750, McFarland & Company Inc, Publishers ISBN|0899503624
*Bryan Sykes, "Blood of the Isles (2006)
*John T. Koch, "Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia", ABC-CLIO, 2005, p.709
*Gerhard Herm, "The Celts", St. Martin's Press, 2002 ISBN|0312313438.
*T. F. O'Rahilly, "Irish Dialects, Past and Present", 1932
* T.F. O'Rahilly, "The Goidals and Their Predecessors", London, The British Academy, 1935
* C.F.C. Hawkes, "Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers", Oxford University Press, 1977
* John Haywood, "Atlas historique des Celtes", trad. Colette Stévanovitch, éditions Autrement, coll. Atlas/Mémoires, Paris, 2002, ISBN|2-7467-0187-1.
* Byrne, Francis John, "Irish Kings and High-Kings." Batsford, London, 1973 ISBN|0713458828
* Duffy, Seán (ed.), "Atlas of Irish History." Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 2nd edn, 2000 ISBN| 0717130932
* Nora Chadwick, "The Celts", Pelican Books, 1971
* C. Thomas. Cairney, "Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland - An Ethnography of the Gael AD 500-1750", Willow Bend Books, 1989.
* Richard Bradley, "The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland", Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN|0521848113, ISBN| 9780521848114
* T. M. Charles-Edwards, "Early Christian Ireland", Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN|0521363950, ISBN|9780521363952
* Barry Raftery, "Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age", Thames and Hudson, 1998 ISBN|0500279837
* Lloyd Robert Laing, "The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland, C. AD 400-1200: C. AD 400 - 1200", Cambridge University Press, 2006 ISBN|0521838622

ee also

*Early history of Ireland
*List of Celtic tribes
*Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland