Irish mythology - The sources

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. 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, th ...

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• Irish mythology - The sources
• Irish mythology - Mythological cycle
• Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures
• Irish mythology - Ulster cycle
• Irish mythology - Fenian cycle
• Irish mythology - Historical cycle
• Irish mythology - Other tales
• Irish mythology - Adventures
• Irish mythology - Voyages
• Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia - Irish mythology

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.), housed in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. 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 ...

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Irish mythology, Irish mythology - The sources, Irish mythology - Mythological cycle, Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures, Irish mythology - Ulster cycle, Irish mythology - Fenian cycle, Irish mythology - Historical cycle, Irish mythology - Other tales, Irish mythology - Adventures, Irish mythology - Voyages, Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia II - Irish mythology - The sources

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. 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 covered range from the almost entirely mythological Labraid Loingsech, who became High King of Ireland around 431 BC t ...

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Irish mythology, Irish mythology - The sources, Irish mythology - Mythological cycle, Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures, Irish mythology - Ulster cycle, Irish mythology - Fenian cycle, Irish mythology - Historical cycle, Irish mythology - Other tales, Irish mythology - Adventures, Irish mythology - Voyages, Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia II - Irish mythology - Historical 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. 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. 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, close to the modern city of Armagh. The Ulaid had close links with the Irish colony in Scotland, and part of Cà ...

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Irish mythology, Irish mythology - The sources, Irish mythology - Mythological cycle, Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures, Irish mythology - Ulster cycle, Irish mythology - Fenian cycle, Irish mythology - Historical cycle, Irish mythology - Other tales, Irish mythology - Adventures, Irish mythology - Voyages, Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia II - Irish mythology - Ulster 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 most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places and the Lebor Gabála Érenn or Book of Invasions. 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. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, or The Tragedy o ...

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Irish mythology, Irish mythology - The sources, Irish mythology - Mythological cycle, Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures, Irish mythology - Ulster cycle, Irish mythology - Fenian cycle, Irish mythology - Historical cycle, Irish mythology - Other tales, Irish mythology - Adventures, Irish mythology - Voyages, Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia II - Irish mythology - Mythological cycle

Like the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle is concerned with the deeds of Irish heroes. The stories of the Fenian Cycle appear to be set around the 3rd century and mainly in the provinces of Leinster and Munster. 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. The stories concern the doings of Fionn m ...

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Irish mythology, Irish mythology - The sources, Irish mythology - Mythological cycle, Irish mythology - Other important Tuatha Dé Danann figures, Irish mythology - Ulster cycle, Irish mythology - Fenian cycle, Irish mythology - Historical cycle, Irish mythology - Other tales, Irish mythology - Adventures, Irish mythology - Voyages, Irish mythology - Folk tales

Read more here: » Irish mythology: Encyclopedia II - Irish mythology - Fenian cycle