Úi Mháine Royal Honey

50ml of Exclusive Úi Mháine Royal Honey

Why pick this location for the bees? A little history of the area:

The éide or helmet is recognised as an important warrior status symbol since antiquity - e.g. Dell’elmo di Scipio - or The Helmet of Scipio - is immortalised as a line in the Italian national anthem - Il Canto degli Italiani. Scipio was head of the Roman army and in Gaelic Ireland, the Head or Ceann warrior of a clan was equally important and called the Ceann Éide - or anglicised - Kennedy. And it is from the ancient palace residence located behind the chief warriors in the ancient Irish Úi Mháine tribal lands that our bees gather their pollen and make their honey. The palatial site pictured above is behind Kennedy’s house in Pallas, East Galway and borders a 13^th century moat cut into the river Bunowen. It was for centuries the kingly or palace residence of one of the last Kings of Ireland (from where the townland Pallas gets its name) – and it was from here, and the nearby townlands of Ballydoogan (Ó Dubhagáin) and Scarreth that Tadgh O Ceallaigh gathered warriors to march to Clontarf in 1014 – the annals recording his and the Úi Mháine’s heroic contributions to Brian Boru’s victory and Tadgh’s eventual death at the hands of the Vikings. It was also from our bee’s location, centuries before and after the battle of Clontarf, that the Ó’Ceallaigh Dynasty ruled the large Úi Mháine territory that ran from Lake Graney in County Clare over to Portumna, up along the west of the Shannon to Athlone, across to Roscommon and Ballintober and down it’s western boundary by Monivea Castle.

The Norman invasions of the late 12^th century encroached on this territory and as they finally came west of the Shannon and into our bees Úi Mháine land in the form of Richard De Burgo’s clan – later Gaelicised to the Clan Ricard - he and his mounted Knights spread out from their base in Galway City and claimed the Kingdom of Connacht for the English Crown in 1245. Although this allowed the Norman rulers over in England to legislate for their second colony, the story on the ground here was somewhat different. The Úi Mháine strongholds – estimated to be in the region of 80 fortified positions – across Galway had been easily taken by the far superior military operation of the Norman nobility and in particular, the De Birmingham family – after which Birmingham City gets its name – had taken a large chunk of the Úi Mháine’s and our bees main palacial grounds, ousting the native rulers and building boundary walls and protected moated entries. In Caltra they built a Friary and in Pallas, Fohenagh, the moated site beside our bees was built. This became an area where locals could interact and conduct daily business with the Norman De Birmingham occupiers who were living in what is today called the Clonbrock Demesne. Later English cartographers would label the pallistrade and entry area - the “Common” - e.g. see item GA060-179 on the Irish Heritage maps viewer - filter by MapGenie 6 inch colour.

Inspiring Gaelic resistance, the Royal Palace and the Fort from which our bees forage was built right up against their boundary wall in defiance of the Norman residents, with the Úi Mháine eventually ousting the foreigners and building Clonbrock Castle as an eastern watchtower. It was also from this Royal Palace, that Donnchad Muimnech Ó’Ceallaigh set out to thwart a band of Norman gallowglasses and vagabonds who had made their way over from Athlone and down from Athleague and Roscommon – with intentions of eliminating the last of the native resistance. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, the burning of Ahascragh by Edmund Butler’s forces triggered a response from the Úi Mháine, who assembled around the fields of St Cuan’s Well. A comprehensive victory at the Battle of Ahascragh in 1307 proved a decisive blow to Norman ambitions and a rallying cry to the Gaelic Aristocracy - the smouldering and scattered embers of Gaelic life had been given room to breathe and armed with the confidence that they could match the invaders - a change in psychology sublimated across the island. The Battle of Ahascragh had turned out to be the pivotal turning point of the first Norman conquests.

After this battle, the Úi Mháine continued to rule from our bees fortified palatial home throughout the early 1300s. And by the 1350s, against all odds, the Ó’Ceallaigh family and its Chief of the Name, William were spearheading an Úi Mháine and Irish Gaelic revival. Copying Norman-styled castles which required different resources - and lots of stone - a new palace site a few kilometres northwest of our bees home was identified as a more appropriate place for the Royal Court and governors of the day. Ancient glaciers had carved out a long straight rocky runway from Esker in the home of the Úi Mháine's Bards – Bhaile Mhic an Bhaird - Ballymacward – right up to the townlands of Islands and Crannog in Castleblakney. Here, two large 100 metre long mounds of gravel looking out over Islands, both 15 metres high, and the remains of older and colder times, provided an ideal foundation for the Úi Mháine’s new castle and adjoining house. The town itself, known as Gallach – meaning stoney – became known as Gallach Úi Cheallaigh and hosted what was the original Seachtain na Gaeilge - a major Christmas festival in 1351 that was attended by all the leading figures of Gaelic Ireland at the time and eulogised by the poets of the day. The feast was such a success that it gave rise to the saying, Cuireadh fáilte Uí Cheallaigh romhainn (‘We got the O’Kelly welcome’), to describe outstanding hospitality - the original roots of Céad Mile Fáilte.

A clear description of the location and townlands around Gallach and the gravel esker are available. And in the poem Filidh Éireann go haointeach the authors describe the ridged terraced mounds and open streets, hills and meadows visitors encountered as they travelled from Pallas to Garrafine, Castleblakney, Caltra and TyCooley (from Tí Ceallaigh - Home of Kelly). You can still see the evidence today if you visit Castleblakney - e.g. see item GA060-081001- on the Irish Heritage maps viewer. Or visit Google Earth and get a birds/bees eye view of the ancient trails and natural barriers and avenues of the Úi Mháine - the journey from Aughrim to Kilconnell to Castleblakney is also littered with ancient and strategically placed forts, liosanna, crannógs, river crossings and defensive positions.

For the Úi Mháine however, protests taking place against Spanish control across Europe had a knock-on affect here and the peace and prosperity won at Ahascragh weren’t to last – the castle at Gallagh was knocked by the Clanricard in the 1500s; infighting, continued invasions and sometimes broken treaties with native rulers plagued the area right up until the 1600s – during which time the Úi Mháine found themselves caught up in everything from the reformation to the plantations to the English Crown wars. Fighting off Cromwellian forces was no sooner over than the Williamite wars had begun and at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 a decisive blow was dealt to the Gaelic rulers. By this time, the Chief of the Name was already deemed to no longer exist by an evolving English view of the native Irish. The subsequent fleeing of Patrick Sarsfield and his army of Wild Geese after the Treaty of Limerick only served to bulk up various European armed forces and the Chief of Úi Mháine (Úi = Hy in English and Mháine = many - Hymany) – Festus Kelly – also found himself defeated and in exile, far from his ancestral homeland of Gallach Úi Cheallaigh - and in the court of Marie Antoinette's mum, the Holy Roman Empress, Head of the Hapsburg Empire and the commander of the Austrian army, the formidable Queen Maria. 

While the remaining Úi Mháine or Hymany Clan were often held in contempt by the victorious foreign overlords now ruling Ireland; their value was not overlooked in Europe and Festus must surely have enjoyed the finest of cake in the court of the European Empress. His son Dillon Kelly proved a military marvel and impressed the Empress so much she recognised the Chief of the Name title associated with his (and our bees) ancestral homeland and through Festus – Dillon Kelly became the first Holy Roman Empire Count of Gallach and TyCooley. As you can see below, our bees forage in the lands of this ancient 2000 year old Úi Mháine Kingdom. Basing themselves right in the middle of the fortified palace of the last of the recognised Irish nobility, they create a truly unique and special blend of genuine Royal Irish Honey. Through our honey we invite you to experience a sense of magical realism combined with a taste of the true history of real Ireland you can and will find no where else in the world.

Due to the limited amount we can sell from this site, jars are only available in 50ml pots. Tracked national and international shipping is available. Delivery times range from 3-5 days.