White Rod facts for kids

The White Rod was a special staff or wand that showed a Gaelic king or lord had the right to rule. It was a very important symbol used during their inauguration ceremony, which was like their official crowning. People also called it the White Wand or Rod of Inauguration. In the Irish language, it was known as slat na ríghe (rod of kingship) or slat tighearnais (rod of lordship).

This important rod was first written about in the 12th century. But people believe it was used much earlier than that. It was last mentioned in Ireland in the early 1600s. In Scotland, a similar rod was used until the 13th century for the last Gaelic-speaking kings. It was also used for the Lords of the Isles, who were a mix of Norse and Gaelic, until the 15th century.

Even after the Norman invasion of Ireland, some foreign families became very much like the Gaels. A good example was the powerful Hiberno-Norman De Burgh family. They were called Mac William Íochtar. They became completely Gaelic and ruled their followers like Irish clan chiefs. They also received the White Rod as a symbol of their power.

What the White Rod Looked Like

The White Rod had to be both white and straight. The color white stood for purity. The straightness meant justice, according to an old account by Geoffrey Keating.

Even when other parts of Gaelic Ireland's old ways disappeared, the Chief Poet kept a similar tradition. This poet, who was like a leader in poetry, would receive a Staff of Office. This staff was called Bata na Bachaille in Irish. It would then be passed down to the next poet. This happened in Munster well into the 1700s.

The Inauguration Ceremony

The meaning of the White Rod was always the same. But the details of the ceremony changed depending on the kingdom. For example, who gave the new lord or king the rod was different in each place. It depended on their history and traditions.

Around 1600, a diplomat named Sir George Carew wrote about the O'Mahonys. He noted that their country followed the old Tanist law of Ireland. This law meant that the next leader was chosen from the family, not always the eldest son.

Carew wrote that if MacCarthy Reagh gave someone a white rod, that person became O'Mahon, or Lord of the Country. However, giving the rod wasn't enough on its own. The new leader also had to be chosen by the followers. And being chosen wasn't enough without the rod. MacCarthy Reagh himself was inaugurated with the same ceremony. He used it to inaugurate O'Mahon and other chiefs who depended on him.

There was a complaint about this tradition. Juries in Cork noticed that when any Irish lord or gentleman became a leader, he would take a cow from every person living under him. This payment was for "erecting a rod in that name," meaning for the ceremony of becoming a leader.

The White Rod in Scottish Parliament

Before Scotland joined with England in 1707, there was an important person called the Gentleman Usher of the White Rod. This person worked in the Parliament of Scotland in Edinburgh. Their job was similar to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in the Parliaments of England and later the United Kingdom.

The Heritable Usher of the White Rod is a unique example of a royal office becoming a company. In 1877, the office became part of the Walker Trustees. This meant the trustees could charge money to anyone receiving an honor from the Crown. In 1908, a group called the Society of Knights Bachelor tried to fight this right. But a court case in Scotland confirmed the Walker Trustees' right to charge for honors. However, the Society of Knights Bachelor won an appeal to the House of Lords in 1911.

Today, the Bishop of Edinburgh is the Heritable Usher of the White Rod. The current holder is Dr John A. Armes. But this role doesn't have any duties anymore.

See also

• Gaelic nobility of Ireland
• Tullyhogue Fort
• Royal sites of Ireland
• Lord Great Chamberlain
• Lord High Steward of Ireland
• Peerage
• Sceptre

Sources

• Bannerman, John, "The King's Poet and the Inauguration of Alexander III", in The Scottish Historical Review Vol. 68, No. 186, Part 2 (Oct. 1989): 120–149.
• Bannerman, John, "The Residence of the King's Poet", in Scottish Gaelic Studies XVII (1996): 24–35.
• Book of Clanranald, ed. & tr. Alexander Cameron, in Reliquiæ Celticæ. Vol. II. Inverness. 1894. pp. 138–309.
• Dillon, Myles, "The consecration of Irish kings", in Celtica 10 (1973): 1–8.
• FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, "An Tulach Tinóil"
• FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, Royal Inauguration in Gaelic Ireland c. 1100–1600: A Cultural Landscape Study. Boydell Press. 2004.
• Green, Alice Stopford, The Making of Ireland and its Undoing: 1200–1600. London: Macmillan. 1908.
• Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (circa 1634), ed. & tr. David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen (1902–1914). The History of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating. Irish Texts Society. edition and translation available from CELT.
• Kingston, Simon, Ulster and the Isles in the Fifteenth Century: the Lordship of the Clann Domhnaill of Antrim. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2004.
• Mitchel, John, The Life and Times of Aodh O'Neill, Prince of Ulster. New York: Excelsior Catholic Publishing House. 1879.
• Nicholls, K. W., Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages. Dublin: Lilliput Press. 2nd edition, 2003.
• O'Donovan, John (ed.), and Duald Mac Firbis, The Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-Fiachrach. Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society. 1844. pp. 425–452.