Ui Mhic Ceir - Founders of Togher!

Not very much is known about the people who initially inhabited the lands that are now known as Togher  and due to very few archaeological excavations , absolutely nothing is known of the Hunter Gatherers and later first Settlers/Farmers who undoubtedly populated the region thousands of years ago. It is thought that the Southern portion of Ireland at the time of the last Ice Age , circa 11,700 years ago , although relatively ice free , was an Arctic Tundra - very dry and very cold.

Corlea Causeway

illustrating what Togher's Tochar looked like

However as the climate warmed and the Ice began to melt , with resulting rises of sea levels , humans would have emigrated further north into the Togher area and beyond. This region back then would have been a vast wetland with numerous bogs and outwash from the melting glaciers located further north. Countless rivers and shallow lakes would have formed making navigation possible and also providing fish as a means of food for our Ancestors. It must be remembered that the terrain back then was heavily wooded and boggy making it treacherous to any invaders and even locals on foot. Evidence of hill forts suggest that for the majority of the population , homes were situated for the greater part on higher ground. The list below highlights the approximate residential period of the Ui Mhic Ceir.

Paleolithic ( c. 8800 BC)
- anything which previously existed was ground to dust by 2 mile high glaciers

Mesolithic (c. 8800 – 4900 BC)

Neolithic (c. 4900 – 2000 BC)

Bronze Age (c. 2000 – 800 BC)

Iron Age (c. 800 – 1 BC)

Roman (c. AD 1 – 400)

Early Medieval period (c. AD 400 – 800)
- Ui Mhic Ceir rule over Togher

Medieval period (800 – c. 1500)

Post-Medieval period (c. 1500 – c. 1800)

Industrial/Modern ( c. 1800 - Present )

 

Reconstruction of hill fort

The Ui Mhic Ceir or Sons of Ceir are mentioned in the old annals and would have appeared in Togher and the greater region extending north to the River Lee and south beyond the current Airport region approximately during the 3rd Century A.D. Though not much is known of them , they must have been a peaceful sept for they are not mentioned in any battles. Neighbouring tribes and petty kingdoms would have been constantly at war with each other so it is a curious fact that they avoided this. They built no roads or towns but instead lived in circular forts , a few of which still remain to this day. They most certainly would have been responsible for constructing the Tochar or causeway soon after their arrival which lent its name to the land it traversed. They are described in 18th Century historical archives as being an unimportant sept on the southside of Cork City.

Illustration of what the Ui Mhic Ceir

would have looked like

Ciar , who was the leader of and gave his name to , the Ui Mhic Ceir , was the son of Corc and Aoibhinne. His tribe and its descendants undoubtedly named the Townlands during this time , the titles reflecting the boggy terrain. Over the course of the centuries , various incursions by Ostmen or Vikings would have seen some territory gifted off through inter-marriage and assimilation of invaders. It would seem that by the time of the Norman Invasion of the 12th Century , the Ui Mhic Ceir had all but vanished.