Irish hospitality was no myth but a warm and living tradition that went back to pagan times and lasted through to the 20th century. Perhaps the greatest dishonour a person could bring upon himself in pre-Christian Ireland was to be accused of miserliness or refusal to give hospitality. Christian thinking had a similar theme, with its belief in the virtues of giving towards the poor and needy.
This tradition of goodwill and generosity continued down through the centuries through periods of prosperity and dark times of famine. What is most remarkable is that the warmest hospitality was often to be found amongst the poorest of the poor. In Irish tradition, hospitality was not merely a virtue, but a duty. Indeed it could be said that the Irish had an almost superstitious fear of turning the stranger away from the door: Who knew who the stranger might be?
The duty of hospitality is beautifully expressed in the following lines, translated into English by the Celtic scholar, Kuno Meyer.
‘Bid the guests welcome, though they should come at every hour / Since every guest is Christ – no trifling saying this, / Better is humility, better gentleness, better liberality toward him.’
The responsibility for dispensing hospitality rested most heavily on the hosteller (in old Irish ‘brughaidh’). There were five or six ‘bruighean’ (hostels) in ancient Ireland. The host had to keep open house for all corners, closing the door against none, and he had to keep no reckoning no matter how often a guest chose to come, or how long he stayed. Each hostel had to have in readiness a hundred servants and a hundred domestic animals of each king: cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, hens, bees, as well as a hundred beehives.
Occasionally hospitality was abused, as is shown in the story of Buchet. Buchet was a kind and generous host but his hospitality was abused by the twelve profligate brothers of his dearly loved foster-daughter, Eithne. There was not their like in Ireland for high living and extravagance and they frequently descended on the unfortunate Buchet with a host of servants, consuming everything within reach. Before long Buchet was ruined and was forced to sell his land and herds and to move to a woodman’s cottage near the seat of the high king at Kell’s, Co. Meath. This story, however, has a happy ending. King Cormac, riding in the forest, met the bewitching Eithne and made her his queen. He gave Buchet the bride-price of his foster daughter, including herds of cattle, bronze cauldrons and so much gold that Buchet could scarcely carry his wealth back to his former home. Ever afterwards, it is said, Buchet continued to keep open house and each night entertained as many as came. Fifty musicians played for the guests and there was so much song and music that, to this very day in folklore, men still speak with wonder of the ‘melodies of Buchet’s House’.
The rights of hospitality in medieval times can be broken down into three main sections: the right of any traveller to food and lodgings, the right of a king or overlord to billet his servants – known as ‘coshering’ and the right of a lord to be entertained by his tribesmen. ‘Filí’ (poets) with their retinue were always welcomed by chieftains. The chieftains or kings were afraid that they would be satirised by the ‘file’ if they were less than generous. Some of the poets became so demanding that the chiefs met to consider banishing them completely. At the Council of Dromceat they met and couldn’t agree on what to do. They sent for Colmcille who had departed to Iona off the west coast of Scotland. Colmcille returned and pleaded on behalf of the poets, so they were allowed to continue.
In the Middle Ages, the hostel keeper (successor of the earlier ‘brughaidh’) was expected to keep open house. His table was usually lavish and he particularly welcomed powerful chieftains, princes and their servants and men of letters (poets, bards). However, any traveller could expect, not only free board and lodgings, but a warm welcome, be he beggar, wandering student, itinerant musician, juggler, clown, priest, or soldier. This was a natural result of the times; bad roads, lack of transport and political divisions, which made any man thirty miles from his native place, a foreigner. It was generally held by experienced travellers that food, lodgings and general comforts were best provided when a woman, be she wife or mistress, oversaw the servants and supervised the kitchens.
Perhaps the best remembered account of a great banquet in the old Irish traditions, and one that went into folk history, was that of Brian Ó Ruairc who, at Christmastime in the year 1951, held ‘open house’ int eh great hall of his castle at Dromahair, Co. Leitrim. The occasion was later celebrated in the folk song, ‘Pléaráca na Ruarcach’ and still later immortalised by Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, when he described it in verse.
The Great Famine of 1845-49 was to change everything and customs and traditions that had survived for two thousand years were swept away. Never again would unstinted and prodigal hospitality be taken for granted.
