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Celtic mythology
Coventina

Celtic polytheism
Celtic deities
Ancient Celtic religion

Druids · Bards · Vates
British Iron Age religion
Celtic religious patterns
Gallo-Roman religion
Romano-British religion
Brythonic mythology

Welsh mythology
Breton mythology
Mabinogion · Taliesin
Cad Goddeu
Trioedd Ynys Prydein
Matter of Britain · King Arthur
Gaelic mythology

Irish mythology
Scottish mythology
Hebridean mythology
Tuatha Dé Danann
Mythological Cycle
Ulster Cycle
Fenian Cycle
Immrama · Echtrae
See also

Celts · Gaul
Galatia · Celtiberians
Early history of Ireland
Prehistoric Scotland
Prehistoric Wales

Index of related articles
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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. Celtic mythology is the Mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the Religion of the Iron Age Celts Like other Iron Age Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts, prior to the Christianization of the Celtic-speaking lands The Gods and Goddesses or deities of the Celts are known from a variety of sources these include written Celtic mythology, ancient A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class in the ancient Celtic societies Etymology The word is a Loanword from descendant languages of Proto-Celtic *bardos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gwerh2 The earliest Latin writers used vates to denote "prophets" and soothsayers in general the word fell into disuse in Latin until it was revived by Virgil In Britain and Ireland the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest and until the 5th century in non- Romanised Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Gallo-Roman religion was a fusion of Roman religious forms and modes of worship with Gaulish deities from Celtic polytheism. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 Welsh mythology, the remnants of the Mythology of the pre Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts Breton mythology is the Mythology or corpus of explanatory and herioc tales originating in Brittany, now in France. Taliesin (c 534 – c 599 (spelled as Taliessin in Alfred Lord Tennyson 's Idylls of the King and in some subsequent works was a Brythonic Cad Goddeu ( English: The Battle of the Trees) is a poem from the Book of Taliesin in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion The Welsh Triads ( Welsh Trioedd Ynys Prydein, literally "Triads of the Island of Britain " are a group of related texts in Medieval The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those King Arthur is a legendary British leader who according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders Scottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland. The Inner and Outer Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland are made up of a great number of large and small islands The Tuatha Dé Danann ("peoples of the Goddess Danu " Modern Irish pronunciation /t̪ˠuːəhə dʲeː d̪ˠan̪ˠən̪ˠ/ Old Irish /tuːaθa ðʲeː The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan Mythology of Texts in translation Most of the important Ulster Cycle tales can be found in the following publications Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, Oxford University The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht (modern Irish Fiannaíocht) also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian An Immram (plural Immrama; Modern Irish: iomramh) is one of a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld An Echtra or Echtrae (pl Echtrai) is one of a category of Old Irish literature about a hero's adventures in the Otherworld (see Tír na Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. The Celtiberians (or Celt-Iberians were a Celtic people of Hallstatt culture Prehistory Mesolithic (8000 BC - 4500 BC What little is known of pre- Christian Ireland comes from a few references in Roman writings Archaeology and Geology continue to reveal the secrets of prehistoric Scotland, uncovering a complex and dramatic past before the Romans brought Scotland Prehistoric Wales in terms of human settlements covers the period from about 230000 years ago the date attributed to the earliest human remains found in what is now Wales The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The earliest Irish authors It is unclear when literacy first came to Ireland Celtic mythology is the Mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the Religion of the Iron Age Celts Like other Iron Age Although many of the manuscripts have failed to survive, and much more material was probably never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of four distinct, if overlapping, cycles: the Mythological Cycle, The Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Historical Cycle. The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan Mythology of Texts in translation Most of the important Ulster Cycle tales can be found in the following publications Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, Oxford University The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht (modern Irish Fiannaíocht) also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian Cycle of the Kings, also known as the King's Cycle or the Historical Cycle is a body of Old and Middle Irish literature. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit into any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a large number of recorded folk tales that, while not strictly mythological, feature personages from one or more of these four cycles. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological

Contents

The sources

The three main manuscript sources for Irish mythology are the late 11th/early 12th century Lebor na hUidre which is in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, the early 12th century Book of Leinster in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Rawlinson manuscript B 502 (Rawl. Lebor na hUidre, or the Book of the Dun Cow, is an Irish Vellum Manuscript dating to the 12th century The Royal Irish Academy ( RIA) (Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann is an all-Ireland, independent academic body that promotes study and excellence in the Sciences The Book of Leinster ( Irish Lebor Laignech) formerly known as the Book of Noughaval ( Lebor na Nuachongbála) is a Medieval Irish The Trinity College Library, the centrally-administered Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is the largest library in Ireland. Trinity College Dublin ( TCD; Irish Coláiste na Tríonóide Baile Átha Cliath; Latin: Collegium Sacrosanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae The Rawlinson Excidium Troie ("The War of Troy" discovered among the manuscripts collected by Richard Rawlinson (1690-1755 conserved in the Bodleian ), housed in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The Bodleian Library ( the main Research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition. The earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century. The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era.

Other important sources include a group of four manuscripts originating in the west of Ireland in the late 14th or early 15th century: The Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan, The Book of Hy Many, and The Book of Ballymote. The first of these contains part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Driving-off of Cattle of Cooley") and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy. Other 15th century manuscripts, such as The Book of Fermoy also contain interesting materials, as do such later syncretic works such as Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn (The History of Ireland) (ca. Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish Roman Catholic priest Poet and Historian 1640), particularly as these later compilers and writers may have had access to manuscript sources that have since disappeared.

When using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. Most of the manuscripts were created by Christian monks, who may well have been torn between the desire to record their native culture and their religious hostility to pagan beliefs resulting in some of the gods being euhemerized. MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective Many of the later sources may also have formed part of a propaganda effort designed to create a history for the people of Ireland that could bear comparison with the mythological descent of their British invaders from the founders of Rome that was promulgated by Geoffrey of Monmouth and others. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Geoffrey of Monmouth ( Gruffudd ap Arthur or Sieffre o Fynwy) (c There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy.

It was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other Knowledges Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Kenneth Jackson famously described the Ulster Cycle as a "window on the Iron Age", and Garret Olmsted has attempted to draw parallels between Táin Bó Cuailnge, the Ulster Cycle epic, and the iconography of the Gundestrup Cauldron. Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson (1 November 1909 – 20 February 1991 was an English linguist and a translator who specialised in the Celtic languages. The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel thought to date from the La Tène Period in the first century to second century BC However, this "nativist" position has been challenged by "revisionist" scholars who believe that much of it was created in Christian times in deliberate imitation of the epics of classical literature that came with Latin learning. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The revisionists would indicate passages apparently influenced by the Iliad in Táin Bó Cuailnge, and the existence of Togail Troi, a very early Irish adaptation of the Aeneid found in the Book of Leinster, and note that the material culture of the stories is generally closer to the time of the stories' composition than to the distant past. The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material.

Mythological cycle

The Mythological Cycle, comprising stories of the former gods and origins of the Irish, is the least well preserved of the four cycles. The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the pagan Mythology of The most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places and the Lebor Gabála Érenn or Book of Invasions. Dindsenchas (also dindshenchas, dinnsheanchas, other spellings Old / Middle Irish "tradition or lore of places" the Lebor Gabála Érenn ( The Book of the Taking of Ireland) is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of Poems and Prose narratives Other manuscripts preserve such Mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The (second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh. In Irish mythology, Bodb Derg ( Old Irish: /ˈboðβ ˈdʲeɾg/ Bodb-the-Red; Middle and Modern Irish Bodhbh Dearg /ˈboːβ ˈdʲaɾəg/ Tochmarc Étaíne ( Old Irish: "The Wooing of Étaín " is an early text of the Irish Mythological Cycle, and also features Cath Maige Tuired ("The Battle of Mag Tuired" is the name of two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish Mythology. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, or The Tragedy of the Children of Lir, is also part of this cycle. Out with you upon the wild waves Children of the King! Henceforth your cries shall be with the flocks of birds

Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to Noah. Noah (or Noe, Noach;; Nūḥ; Arabic: نوح; "Rest") was according to the Bible, the tenth and last of It tells of a series of invasions or "takings" of Ireland by a succession of peoples, the fifth of whom was the people known as the Tuatha Dé Danann ("Peoples of Goddess Danu"), who were believed to have inhabited the island before the arrival of the Gaels, or Milesians. The Tuatha Dé Danann ("peoples of the Goddess Danu " Modern Irish pronunciation /t̪ˠuːəhə dʲeː d̪ˠan̪ˠən̪ˠ/ Old Irish /tuːaθa ðʲeː Milesians are a people figuring in Irish mythology. The descendants of Míl Espáine, they were the final inhabitants of Ireland, and were believed to represent They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye. In Irish mythology, the Fomorians, Fomors, or Fomori ( Irish Fomóiri, Fomóraig) were a semi-divine race who inhabited For the locality in Mangalore. see Bolar (Location. In Irish mythology, Balor ( Balar, Bolar) of the Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada (Lug of the Long Arm) at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. Lugh (ˈluː modern Irish Lú, earlier Lug) is an Irish Deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the fairy people of later myth and legend. A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair

The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great onomastic work of early Ireland, giving the naming legends of significant places in a sequence of poems. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians.

It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. The term Golden age is best known from Greek mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures (see below Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, complete with death-tales. However there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities. See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always

Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, the Mórrígan, Aengus and Manannan appear in stories set centuries later, betraying their immortality. Lugh (ˈluː modern Irish Lú, earlier Lug) is an Irish Deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant The Morrígan ("terror" or "phantom queen" or Mórrígan ("great queen" (also known as Morrígu, Morríghan, Mor-Ríoghain For similar names see Angus (disambiguation. In Irish mythology, Aengus ( Áengus, Óengus, Aonghus In Celtic mythology, Manannán mac Lir is the god of the sea He is often seen as a Psychopomp, and considered to have strong connections to the Otherworld A poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends "Although [the author] enumerates them, he does not worship them". Goibniu, Creidhne and Luchta are referred to as Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craftsmanship"), and the Dagda's name is interpreted in medieval texts as "the good god". In Irish mythology Goibniu or Goibhniu (pronounced /ˈgovʲnʲu/ or 'Goive-nu' was a son of Brigid and Tuireann and the smith of In Irish mythology, Creidhne (or Credne) was a son of Brigid and Tuireann and the artificer of the Tuatha Dé Danann, working in In Irish mythology, Luchtaine (or Luchta) was a son of Brigid and Tuireann and the Carpenter or wright of the Tuatha Dé Danann Nuada is cognate with the British god Nodens; Lug is a reflex of the pan-Celtic deity Lugus, the name of whom may indicate "Light"; Tuireann may be related to the Gaulish Taranis; Ogma to Ogmios; the Badb to Catubodua. Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from Prehistoric Britain was a period in the human occupation of Great Britain that was the later part of Prehistory, conventionally ending with the Roman invasion Nodens ( Nudens, Nodons) is a Celtic Deity associated with healing the sea hunting and dogs Lugh (ˈluː modern Irish Lú, earlier Lug) is an Irish Deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Lugus was a deity apparently worshipped widely in antiquity in the Celtic -speaking world In Irish mythology, Tuireann or Tuirill Biccreo was the father of Creidhne, Luchtaine and Giobhniu by Brigid. Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became In Celtic mythology Taranis was the god of Thunder worshipped in Gaul, Britain and Hispania and mentioned along with Esus Ogma or Oghma is a character from Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a Deity and may be related to the Ogmios was a Gaulish Deity, who Lucian records was depicted as a bald old man with a bow and club leading an apparently happy band of men with chains attached In Irish mythology, the Badb (/baðβ/ " Crow " in Old Irish; modern Irish Badhbh /bəiv/ means " Vulture " Catubodua ("battle- Crow " is a Gaulish Goddess known from a single inscription in Haute Savoie, eastern France.

Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures

Ulster cycle

The Ulster Cycle is set around the beginning of the Christian era and most of the action takes place in the provinces of Ulster and Connacht. Boann (or Boand) is the Irish mythology goddess of the River Boyne, a river in Leinster, Ireland. In Irish mythology, Banbha, sometimes written as Banba in English daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was one of the patron Goddesses This article refers to the Pagan Goddess Brigid For the Catholic/Orthodox Saint of that name see Saint Brigid. In Irish mythology, Creidhne (or Credne) was a son of Brigid and Tuireann and the artificer of the Tuatha Dé Danann, working in In Irish mythology, Danu (Old Irish or Dana (the Modern Gaelic and Scottish form was the mother Goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (peoples In Irish mythology, Dian Cécht ( Old Irish pronunciation /dʲiːən kʲeːxt/ also known as Cainte, Canta, was a healing god According to Irish mythology, Donn, or the Dark One, is the Lord of the Dead and father of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, whom he gave to Aengus Óg to In Irish mythology, Ériu (/ˈeːrʲu/ daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron Goddess of Ireland In Irish mythology, Fódla (also given as Fótla, later Fódhla or Fóla) daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Macha (/ˈmaxə/ is a presumed Goddess of ancient Ireland, associated with war horses sovereignty and the sites of Armagh and Emain Macha In Irish mythology, Nechtan was the father and/or husband of Boann. The banshee (ˈbænʃiː from the Irish bean sí ("woman of the síde " or "woman of the Fairy mounds " is a Texts in translation Most of the important Ulster Cycle tales can be found in the following publications Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, Oxford University Ulster ( Ulaidh ˈkwɪɟɪ ˈʌlˠu / ˈʌlˠi is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster It consists of a group of heroic stories dealing with the lives of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, the great hero Cúchulainn, the son of Lug, and of their friends, lovers, and enemies. Conchobar mac Nessa (son of Ness) is the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Cúchulainn /kuːˈxʊlɪnʲ/ ( ( Irish for "Hound of Culann " also spelled Cú Chulainn, Cú Chulaind, Cúchulain, or These are the Ulaid, or people of the North-Eastern corner of Ireland and the action of the stories centres round the royal court at Emain Macha (known in English as Navan Fort), close to the modern city of Armagh. The Ulaid (pron /'ʊləɣ′/ were a people of early north-eastern Ireland, who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster: modern Irish Cúige Navan Fort should not be confused with Navan in County Meath. The City of Armagh ( is an ancient religious site of worship of both celtic paganism and Christianity and the oldest of the five cities in Northern Ireland, The Ulaid had close links with the Irish colony in Scotland, and part of Cúchulainn's training takes place in that colony. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.

The cycle consists of stories of the births, early lives and training, wooings, battles, feastings and deaths of the heroes and reflects a warrior society in which warfare consists mainly of single combats and wealth is measured mainly in cattle. These stories are written mainly in prose. The centrepiece of the Ulster Cycle is the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Other important Ulster Cycle tales include The Tragic Death of Aife's only Son, Bricriu's Feast, and The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel. Briccriu ( Bricriu, Briccirne, Bricne) is a warrior poet and troublemaker in the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology. The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel or Togail Bruidne Dá Derga is an Old Irish language epic. The Exile of the Sons of Usnach, better known as the tragedy of Deirdre and the source of plays by John Millington Synge, William Butler Yeats, and Vincent Woods, is also part of this cycle. Deirdre or Derdriu is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology. Edmund John Millington Synge ( (16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909 was an Irish Playwright, Poet, Prose writer and collector of Folklore. Vincent Woods (born 1960) is an Irish Poet and Playwright. He was born in County Leitrim.

This cycle is, in some respects, close to the mythological cycle. Some of the characters from the latter reappear, and the same sort of shape-shifting magic is much in evidence, side by side with a grim, almost callous realism. While we may suspect a few characters, such as Medb or Cú Roí, of once being deities, and Cúchulainn in particular displays superhuman prowess, the characters are mortal and associated with a specific time and place. Medb ( Old Irish spelling mɛðv Meḋḃ Meaḋḃ modern Meadhbh mɛɣv reformed modern Irish Meabh, Meːv sometimes Anglicised Maeve or Maev In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Cú Roí ( Cú Ruí, Cú Raoi) mac Dáire is a king of Munster and a sorcerer who If the Mythological Cycle represents a Golden Age, the Ulster Cycle is Ireland's Heroic Age. The Heroic Age was the period of Greek mythological history that lay between the purely divine events of the Theogony and Titanomachy and the advent of historical

Fenian cycle

Like the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle is concerned with the deeds of Irish heroes. The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht (modern Irish Fiannaíocht) also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian The stories of the Fenian Cycle appear to be set around the 3rd century and mainly in the provinces of Leinster and Munster. The 3rd century is the period from 201 to 300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Leinster (ˈlɛnstər Irish: Laighin, lainʲ one of the Provinces of Ireland, lies in the east of Ireland and comprises the counties of Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. They differ from the other cycles in the strength of their links with the Irish-speaking community in Scotland and there are many extant Fenian texts from that country. They also differ from the Ulster Cycle in that the stories are told mainly in verse and that in tone they are nearer to the tradition of romance than the tradition of epic. In Poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. The stories concern the doings of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of soldiers, the Fianna. Fionn mac Cumhaill (ˈɸʲiːn̪ˠ mˠak ˈkũw̃aːlʲ in Irish, ˈfɪn mə ˈkuːl in English) (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac In early Ireland, fianna (singular fian) were small semi-independent warrior bands who lived apart from society in the forests as

The single most important source for the Fenian Cycle is the Acallam na Senórach (Colloquy of the Old Men), which is found in two 15th century manuscripts, the Book of Lismore and Laud 610, as well as a 17th century manuscript from Killiney, County Dublin. Acallam na Senórach ( Modern Irish: Agallamh na Seanórach, translated to English as The Colloquy of the Ancients Book of Lismore, is an Irish Vellum manuscript compiled in early 15th century Lismore, Ireland. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Killiney bayjpg|thumb|right|Killiney Bay from Vico Baths. Irelandscape ]] Killiney ( is a townland in south County Dublin, Ireland on the outskirts County Dublin (Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath or more correctly today the Dublin Region ( Réigiúin Átha Cliath) is the area that contains the city of Dublin The text is dated from linguistic evidence to the 12th century. The text records conversations between Caílte mac Rónáin and Oisín, the last surviving members of the Fianna, and Saint Patrick, and consists of about 8,000 lines. Caílte (or Modern Irish Caoilte) mac Rónáin was a nephew of Fionn mac Cumhail and a member of the Fianna in the Fenian Cycle Oisín ( Old Irish, pronounced /ˈɔʃiːnʲ/ or roughly "ush-een" often anglicized to Ossian) son of Fionn mac Cumhail and of Sadb (daughter Saint Patrick (Patricius Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Roman Britain -born Christian Missionary and is the Patron saint The late dates of the manuscripts may reflect a longer oral tradition for the Fenian stories.

The Fianna of the story are divided into the Clann Baiscne, led by Fionn Mac Cumhall (often rendered as "Finn MacCool", Finn Son of Cumhall), and the Clann Morna, led by his enemy, Goll mac Morna. Goll mac Morna (or Goal mac Morn) was a member of the Fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology Goll killed Fionn's father, Cumhal, in battle and the boy Fionn was brought up in secrecy. In Irish mythology, Cumhall (earlier Cumall, pronounced roughly "Coo-al" or "Cool" son of Trénmór ("strong-great" was a leader of As a youth, while being trained in the art of poetry, he accidentally burned his thumb while cooking the Salmon of Knowledge, which allowed him to suck or bite his thumb in order to receive bursts of stupendous wisdom. He took his place as the leader of his band and numerous tales are told of their adventures. Two of the greatest of the Irish tales, Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne) and Oisín in Tír na nÓg form part of the cycle. The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne ( Irish: Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne or Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Gráinne Diarmuid Ua Duibhne or Diarmid O'Dyna (also known as Diarmuid of the love spot is a son of Donn and a warrior of the Fianna in the Fenian Cycle Gráinne (pronounced /ˈgrɒːnʲə/ is the daughter of Cormac mac Airt in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. Tír na nÓg ( Old Irish Tír na n-Oc) (tʲiɾʲ n̪ˠa n̪ˠog called in English the Land of Eternal Youth or the Land of the Ever-Young The Diarmuid and Grainne story, which is one of the few Fenian prose tales, is a probable source of Tristan and Iseult. The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy retold in numerous sources with as many variations

The world of the Fenian Cycle is one in which professional warriors spend their time hunting, fighting, and engaging in adventures in the spirit world. New entrants into the band are expected to be knowledgeable in poetry as well as undergo a number of physical tests or ordeals. There is not any religious element in these tales unless it is one of hero-worship.

Historical cycle

It was part of the duty of the medieval Irish bards, or court poets, to record the history of the family and the genealogy of the king they served. The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages one in Irish and the other in English. This they did in poems that blended the mythological and the historical to a greater or lesser degree. The resulting stories form what has come to be known as the Historical Cycle, or more correctly Cycles, as there are a number of independent groupings.

The kings that are included range from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who allegedly became High King of Ireland around 431 BC, to the entirely historical Brian Boru. Labraid Loingsech ("the exile mariner" also known as Labraid Lorc, son of Ailill Áine son of Lóegaire Lorc, was according to medieval Irish legend Events By place Greece Athens enters into an alliance with King Sitalkes of Thrace, after Nymphodorus an influential Athenian Brian mac Cennétig, called Brian Bóruma, ( c 941&ndash23 April 1014 (Brian Boru Brian Bóraimhe was an Irish king who ended the centuries-long domination However, the greatest glory of the Historical Cycle is the Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Sweeney), a 12th century tale told in verse and prose. The Buile Shuibhne (translates as "The Madness of Sweeney" or "Sweeney's Frenzy" is the tale of Sweeney (or Suibhne) a legendary king of Dál nAraidi

Suibhne, king of Dál nAraidi, was cursed by St Ronan and became a kind of half man, half bird, condemned to live out his life in the woods, fleeing from his human companions. Dál nAraidi (sometimes Latinised as Dalaradia &mdash which should not be confused with Dál Riata, Latinised as Dalriada was a kingdom of the Cruthin The story has captured the imaginations of contemporary Irish poets and has been translated by Trevor Joyce and Seamus Heaney. Trevor Joyce (born 26 October 1947) is an Irish Poet, born in Dublin.

Other tales

Adventures

The adventures, or echtrae, are a group of stories of visits to the Irish Other World (which may be westward across the sea, underground, or simply invisible to mortals). An Echtra or Echtrae (pl Echtrai) is one of a category of Old Irish literature about a hero's adventures in the Otherworld (see Tír na The most famous, Oisin in Tir na nOg belongs to the Fenian Cycle, but several free-standing adventures survive, including The Adventure of Conle, The Voyage of Bran mac Ferbail and The Adventure of Lóegaire. Lóegaire is a given name Lóegaire ( Laoghaire, Láegaire, Loeguire, sometimes anglicised as Leary) is a popular medieval Irish name

Voyages

The voyages, or immrama, are tales of sea journeys and the wonders seen on them. An Immram (plural Immrama; Modern Irish: iomramh) is one of a class of Old Irish tales concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld These probably grew from the experiences of fishermen combined with the Other World elements that inform the adventures. Of the seven immrama mentioned in the manuscripts, only three survive: the Voyage of Mael Dúin, the Voyage of the Uí Chorra, and the Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riagla. Máel Dúin is the protagonist of Immram Maele Dúin or the Voyage of Máel Dúin, a Christian tale written in Old Irish around the The Voyage of Mael Duin is the forerunner of the later Voyage of St. Brendan. Saint Brendan of Clonfert or Bréanainn of Clonfert (c 484 &ndash c

Folk tales

During the first few years of the 20th Century, Herminie T. Kavanagh wrote down many Irish folk tales which she published in magazines and in two books. Herminie T Kavanagh (1861 Aldershot, Hampshire England – 30 October 1933, Chicago Illinois U Twenty-six years after her death, the tales from her two books, Darby O'Gill and the Good People, and Ashes of Old Wishes were made in to the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Darby O'Gill and the Little People ( 1959) is a Walt Disney Pictures Feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, and Noted Irish playwright Lady Gregory also collected folk stories to preserve Irish history. Isabella Augusta Lady Gregory (15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932 née Isabella Augusta Persse, was an Irish Dramatist and folklorist. Eddie Lenihan (b-1950), first author of Meeting the Other Crowd as well as writer of numerous other books, has a growing reputation as a modern Irish folklorist. Edmund Lenihan (born 1950 also known as Eddie Lenihan, is an Irish Author, storyteller, lecturer and broadcaster NPR

References

Primary sources in English translation

Primary sources in Medieval Irish

Retellings of the myths in English

Secondary sources

Preservationist works - modern traditional stories

External links

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