Food

Food and Drink at the Tailteann Games 

Feasting at Tailteann – 6pm to 8pm
A Traditional Gathering of Food, Honour, and Community

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The great assemblies of early Ireland were as much about shared feasting as shared competition. Food and drink didn't merely sustain participants—they bound them together across clan lines and social divisions, transforming individual competitors into a unified community.

The Brehon Laws reveal the central role of hospitality in Irish society. These legal texts detail obligations for provisioning assemblies: lords provided cattle and ale, farmers contributed grain and dairy, craftspeople brought specialized foods. This wasn't charity but reciprocal duty that reinforced social bonds through collective hospitality.

Stories from the Ulster Cycle capture this spirit through contests over the curadmír—the champion's portion. In Fled Bricrenn, warriors compete not just for the choicest meat, but for the social recognition it represented. Prowess earned the right to feast at the high table, linking martial honour with ceremonial dining.

While specific details about Tailteann feasts remain elusive in our sources, the broader pattern is clear across Irish literature. The Dindshenchas emphasizes that hospitality was a measure of honour at assemblies, with participants receiving provisions according to their rank. This hierarchy of dining reinforced social order while ensuring collective participation.

Archaeological evidence confirms that large-scale feasting occurred at important Irish sites, though connecting specific finds to literary accounts requires caution. Excavations at Iron Age ceremonial centers have revealed cattle bones, cooking areas, and storage facilities scaled for feeding substantial gatherings. However, the relationship between these material remains and the assemblies described in medieval texts is complex.

The scattered references to food and drink in sources about Tailteann suggest these gatherings followed established patterns. Laws governed who provided what, literary traditions celebrated the social bonds formed through shared meals, and archaeological evidence confirms the material capacity for large communal feasts.

When the Tailteann Games were revived in 1924, organizers instinctively understood this connection. Contemporary accounts described elaborate banquets where competitors shared traditional Irish hospitality. The emphasis on communal dining remained integral to the event's cultural meaning.

At Kells Priory, we continue this understanding. Every shared meal honours the bonds that have always made gatherings like Tailteann more than mere contests—they are acts of belonging, where food becomes a foundation of community across generations.