30 March 2003 Celtic Warriors 'Were Bisexual' —by Jan Battles, The Sunday Times THEIR feats of heroism are legendary. Now the bisexual antics of some of Ireland's greatest warriors will be uncovered in a new television documentary. The Land of Sex and Sinners will reveal that some ancient Celtic warriors had sex with male comrades and sometimes engaged in threesomes. Among those whose sexuality will be explored is Cu Chulainn, the mythical hero of Ulster. The series is being made by Tyrone Productions, the company founded by Moya Doherty and John McColgan, the makers of Riverdance. "A lot of warrior societies, including the Danes, would have been partly bisexual," said Jimmy Duggan, the producer and director of the series. "While they were off being warriors they lived in an all-male environment." Duggan has uncovered Roman historical accounts of such behaviour among Celtic men. "There are hints that Cu Chulainn was bisexual," he said. "There is one incident where he is in bed with a man." The sexual practices of Queen Medbh of Connaught are also examined. The legendary warrior immortalised in The Tain is portrayed as a sexual predator. "She encourages her warriors by offering them sexual favours," said Duggan. In an extract from The Tain, Queen Medbh says: "I have never denied myself the man I took a fancy to and I never shall, whatever husband I have now or may have hereafter." The series, which will go into production next month, will also contain evidence about the controversial feudal practice known as jus primae noctis. This was an ancient privilege of the lord of the manor to share the wedding bed with his peasants' brides. The feudal right was depicted in the film Braveheart, even though there was no evidence that it actually occurred. In the film, the English declare they will "breed out" the Scots by introducing the ancient English custom, giving noblemen the right to sleep with the bride on the night of a tenant's marriage. Duggan says he has uncovered evidence while researching the programme that the custom actually happened in Ireland. "The landlord would have the first night with the bride of one of his subjects. It seems this was happening up until the early part of the 20th century," said Duggan. "We have evidence of such things being written into contracts. It was part of the rights which came with the land when it was passed to the owner. That lasted into living memory in the last century." Duggan has interviewed a man who remembers it happening to families in Galway. Another story he is investigating concerns a woman in west Cork believed to have shot her husband, a landlord, when he reneged on a promise to stop the practice. "Ireland would have been one of the most uninhibited countries in Europe before the church got a stranglehold on the country," said Duggan. He has also found accounts of sexual rituals involving animals. The Land of Sex and Sinners, a two-hour series, will "explore the sexual culture of Ireland from pre-history to the present". The company promised it would be "peppered with fascinating, unlikely and sometimes shocking revelations from a land with a reputation for repression but a millennia-long history of rampant permissiveness". The series will also cover a collection of sexual artifacts and erotic art from prehistoric and more recent times. Broadcasters in several countries, including Australia, have showed interest in buying the series. It will be shown in Irish on TG4, and an English version is also being made. See also: The Celts Page updated 30 Mar 2008 Background by Míchealín Dhochartaigh Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.