UNIT 2 – BRITANNIA AND HIBERNIA: MYTH AND ORIGIN

Britannia is the female personification of Britain. When Julius Caesar arrived to the
isles, he used the word Britany (tattooed people) to refer to its inhabitants. From this
name we got Britannia. The most common representation of Britannia is with a lion, a
trident, a shield with the Union Jack flag and a ship which symbolizes Britain’s power
over the seas.

Charles II was a Stuart king (17th century) and even then, Britannia appeared
symbolized in coins. It was said that her figure was inspired on Frances Teresa Stuart,
Duchess of Richmond, who was famous for refuting being Charles II’s mistress.

Brutus is a legendary character descendant of Aeneas. He is known as the founder and

1st king of Britain. This legend appears in the Historia Britonnum by Nennius. Here
Nennius says that Britannia derives its name from Brutus.

Hibernia it is the Latin name for Ireland. It was first called Ierne by the Greek, but then,
it is likely that the romans saw a connection between this name and the latin word
Hibernus and chose this name because it was actually really cold. In any case, Tacitus
uses the name Hibernia in his book Agricola.

Mythical origin: Túathal Techmar was a high king of Ireland according to legends. His
name comes from an earlier form Teuto-valos (ruler of people). His name may have also
referred to the Celtic god Teutates (god of the people and also death). Ireland was
divided into small kingdoms, so the high king, Túathal Techmark, was the king of
kings, a high king. He was the son of a former high king of Ireland who had been
deposed by the 4 kings of Ireland (kingdom of Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and Munter).
Later on, Túathal is believed to have returned as the head of an army to reclaim his
father’s throne. He fought 25 battles against Ulster, 25 against Connaught, 25 against
Leinster and 35 against Munster. Finally, he conquered Ireland and created the kingdom
of Mide in the middle of Ireland. He became king of kings. As a punishment for these
four kings, Ireland suffered famine sent by god. 

Túathal Techmark built 4 fortresses in the kingdom of Mide where the druids made
sacrifices in Samhain, in the land of Mide that corresponded to that Tuathal had taken
from the kingdom of Munster.
Tuathal died in battle against the king of ulster and then his son avenged him.

There is a mythological personification of Ireland, which is Hibernia. She appears in

several images, especially in the 19th century.

There existed a magazine, Punch, that was quite hostile to Irish nationalism. It showed
Hibernia as the younger sister of Britannia, as a beautiful but fragile girl. Hibernia is
threatened by Irish nationalists and she goes to the strong Britannia looking for defence.

Erin go bragh: Irish motto that means “Ireland forever”.