The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends by Peter Berresford Ellis
Authors: Peter Berresford Ellis
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important contributions to such studies. Myles Dillon’s The Cycles of the Kings , Oxford University Press,
1946, and Early Irish Literature , University of Chicago, 1948. The impressive Professor Thomas O’Rahilly’s Early Irish History and Mythology , Dublin Institute of Advanced
Studies, 1946. Alwyn and Brinsley Rees’s Celtic Heritage , Thames and London, 1961. These were some of the many titles which impressed me in sorting out the original fabric of the Irish
tales.
The following stories are an amalgamation from many sources and varied versions. The first two are in the Leabhar Gabhála , The Book of Invasions. It contains the stories of the
mythical invasions of Cesair, before the Deluge, through to the invasions of Partholón, Nemed, the Firbolg, the Tuatha Dé Danaan and finally the Milesian ancestors of the Gaels. It is
regarded as the “national epic” of Ireland.
To this “Mythological Cycle” belongs the stories of The Sons of Tuirenn and The Children of Lir . The Sons of Tuirenn appears as Aided Chlainne Tuirenn and
there is much spelling confusion of the name, which appears as Tuireall and Tuirill, and also uncertainty as to the identity of Tuirenn. In one text he is described as Danu’s father; in
another, her husband; while the goddess Brigid is also placed in this role. The narrative Oidheadh Chlainne Lir (The Tragic Fate of the Children of Lir) survives from a fifteenth-century
text and has always been one of my favourite tales. The Love of Fand is based on Serglige Con Culainn , belonging to the Red Branch Cycle, also known as the Ulster Cycle; this is
heroic myth comparable to the Iliad in theme and heroic tone, of which the most famous story is the saga of the Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cuailnge).
Lochlann’s Son belongs to the Fenian Cycle, sometimes called the Ossianic Cycle, concerning the deeds of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his Fianna warriors, whose first bold synthesisappeared as a cohesive whole in the twelfth-century Accamh na Senórach (Colloquy of the Ancients). The stories are dated to the third century AD . Next to the Táin , the Fenian Cycle is one of the longest medieval compositions and became very popular with ordinary people during that period.
It was from the Fenian Cycle that many Arthurian stories were later embellished. Although there are nearly a dozen original Arthurian sagas in Irish, the Arthurian stories never displaced
stories of Fionn Mac Cumhaill in medieval Irish popular imagination.
The Poet’s Curse concerns historical personages in Mongán and the poet Dallán Forgaill. A discussion of the earliest surviving medieval texts of the story was made by
Dr Eleanor Knott in Eriu 8, pp. 155-60. Dalian Forgaill is, by tradition, the author of Amra Choluim Chille, composed c. 600 AD , and is considered one of the oldest
survivals in Irish literature.
Finally, Cellachain of Cashel is based on several stories I heard in West Cork in my youth and which I have cross-referenced to a couple of surviving medieval texts: Senchas
Fagnála Caisil andso sis agus Beandacht Ríg , a fifteenth-century fragmentary story The Finding of Cashel , preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, and Caithreim Cheallachain
Chaisil (The battle-career of Ceallachan of Cashel), written in the twelfth century. It was commissioned by Cormac III MacCarthy of Cashel, some time between 1127–38, and written at
Cashel.
The oldest copy, dating to the twelfth century, is in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. These are some of the impressive texts that survive from the patronage of the Eóghanacht royal
dynasty, who were kings of Munster and later Desmond, reigning from Cashel. The last regnate Eóghanacht king was Donal IX MacCarthy Mór (d. 1596).
Sadly, during this time, Sir George Carew, representing Elizabeth of England, set out not only to destroy native government in Munster but all Irish manuscripts. Many of these old manuscripts
were cut up, on his orders, to make covers
1946, and Early Irish Literature , University of Chicago, 1948. The impressive Professor Thomas O’Rahilly’s Early Irish History and Mythology , Dublin Institute of Advanced
Studies, 1946. Alwyn and Brinsley Rees’s Celtic Heritage , Thames and London, 1961. These were some of the many titles which impressed me in sorting out the original fabric of the Irish
tales.
The following stories are an amalgamation from many sources and varied versions. The first two are in the Leabhar Gabhála , The Book of Invasions. It contains the stories of the
mythical invasions of Cesair, before the Deluge, through to the invasions of Partholón, Nemed, the Firbolg, the Tuatha Dé Danaan and finally the Milesian ancestors of the Gaels. It is
regarded as the “national epic” of Ireland.
To this “Mythological Cycle” belongs the stories of The Sons of Tuirenn and The Children of Lir . The Sons of Tuirenn appears as Aided Chlainne Tuirenn and
there is much spelling confusion of the name, which appears as Tuireall and Tuirill, and also uncertainty as to the identity of Tuirenn. In one text he is described as Danu’s father; in
another, her husband; while the goddess Brigid is also placed in this role. The narrative Oidheadh Chlainne Lir (The Tragic Fate of the Children of Lir) survives from a fifteenth-century
text and has always been one of my favourite tales. The Love of Fand is based on Serglige Con Culainn , belonging to the Red Branch Cycle, also known as the Ulster Cycle; this is
heroic myth comparable to the Iliad in theme and heroic tone, of which the most famous story is the saga of the Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cuailnge).
Lochlann’s Son belongs to the Fenian Cycle, sometimes called the Ossianic Cycle, concerning the deeds of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his Fianna warriors, whose first bold synthesisappeared as a cohesive whole in the twelfth-century Accamh na Senórach (Colloquy of the Ancients). The stories are dated to the third century AD . Next to the Táin , the Fenian Cycle is one of the longest medieval compositions and became very popular with ordinary people during that period.
It was from the Fenian Cycle that many Arthurian stories were later embellished. Although there are nearly a dozen original Arthurian sagas in Irish, the Arthurian stories never displaced
stories of Fionn Mac Cumhaill in medieval Irish popular imagination.
The Poet’s Curse concerns historical personages in Mongán and the poet Dallán Forgaill. A discussion of the earliest surviving medieval texts of the story was made by
Dr Eleanor Knott in Eriu 8, pp. 155-60. Dalian Forgaill is, by tradition, the author of Amra Choluim Chille, composed c. 600 AD , and is considered one of the oldest
survivals in Irish literature.
Finally, Cellachain of Cashel is based on several stories I heard in West Cork in my youth and which I have cross-referenced to a couple of surviving medieval texts: Senchas
Fagnála Caisil andso sis agus Beandacht Ríg , a fifteenth-century fragmentary story The Finding of Cashel , preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, and Caithreim Cheallachain
Chaisil (The battle-career of Ceallachan of Cashel), written in the twelfth century. It was commissioned by Cormac III MacCarthy of Cashel, some time between 1127–38, and written at
Cashel.
The oldest copy, dating to the twelfth century, is in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. These are some of the impressive texts that survive from the patronage of the Eóghanacht royal
dynasty, who were kings of Munster and later Desmond, reigning from Cashel. The last regnate Eóghanacht king was Donal IX MacCarthy Mór (d. 1596).
Sadly, during this time, Sir George Carew, representing Elizabeth of England, set out not only to destroy native government in Munster but all Irish manuscripts. Many of these old manuscripts
were cut up, on his orders, to make covers
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