Before the four cycles of Irish Mythology there were other comings and goings
THE FIRST WAS CESSAIR who was said to be the granddaughter of Noah, who was refused passage on his great Ark, but she, being a resourceful woman made an ark of her own. She sailed across many oceans with forty nine-women and three men to become the first inhabitants of Ireland. This story also touches on the shape-changer, Fintan mac Bóchra, who was the only one to survive the great flood by taking the forms of a salmon, an eagle, and a hawk, and went on to survive for centuries only to become a human again – one who carried the wisdom within the stories of all the ages.
THE SECOND WERE DEALGNAT AND PARTHOLÓN who came three hundred years after Cessair’s people were gone. They sailed from Greece having committed terrible crimes. When the came to Ireland they cleared many forests, brought agriculture and a story about a big fight between husband and wife. Neglected, Dealgnat had found a lovely young man for herself. However this didn’t go down well with Partholón, and it became the very first judgement for adultery in Ireland. A sad ending ensued, because after all that prosperity and prowess, having won many battles agains the Fomhóire, (ghostly phantoms with a strong relationship with the sea, and chaos) the people of Dealgnat and Partholón came to their end because a filthy black plague killed them all in a week.
THE THIRD WERE NEMED’S PEOPLE who came from the Caspian sea. When the came to Ireland they too cleared many forests to reveal four lakes. For many years they prospered but the Fomhóire were always there to torment them. Many many battles were fought and in the end, due to another plague, they were weakened badly. They fled and as they did they split into two groups. Some went to Greece and were put to slavery to carry soil in bags onto the arid landscape in an attempt to make it fertile. After a time they escaped to return again as the fourth people to come to Ireland.
THE FOURTH WERE THE FIR BOLG (men of bags) divided Ireland into five provinces for their five kings including the sacred Cúige (fifth) at the centre of the four. They ruled for thirty seven years until the Tuatha Dé Danann, also said to be descendants of Nemed returned from the mythical northern cities of Falias, Gorias, Murias and Finias. The Tuatha Dé Danann defeated the Fir Bolg who were sent to live in Connacht which, though very beautiful, is the least fertile of the provinces. After this, The First Cycle of Irish Mythology begins with the tales of The Tuatha Dé Danann. The stories of these, people of the goddess Danu are woven right through all of the cycles, which is why I named my book SÍDH since the people of the goddess have never left. (Plural Sidhe, underground homes of the Tuatha Dé Danann)
THE FOUR CYCLES OF IRISH MYTHOLOGY :
THE MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE is centred around the Tuatha Dé Danann, or the People of the Goddess Danu, a pantheon of deities who possess all the frailties of human behaviour. When they came to Ireland they brought four gifts, The Lia Fáil (a stone that cried out under a true king), The Cauldron of plenty that never emptied owned by The Daghda. The spear of Lugh when used in battle was never beaten and Fragarach the sword of Nuadu (their king). When they went underground they lived in the many Sidhe dwellings in Ireland. Some call them fairies but I like to think of them as similar to Tolkien’s elves, extremely skilled supernatural people, as capable of war, as they are of great love of nature. The Tuatha Dé Danann are not burdened by logic or chronology. Instead they enchant with dreamlike qualities, confusing with intense clarity. For instance in the story of Midir and Étaín, Fúamnach, sorceress and first wife of Prince Midir, cast his new love Étaín into a whole other lifetime with a spell laced with jealousy, and so the poor women lost her head for it. See SÍDH : Stories from the Women in Irish Mythology, to decide for yourself if she deserved it, or not.
THE ULSTER CYCLE contains many stories that are all connected to a complete whole that is Ireland’s great Epic Tale, An Táin Bó Cúailnge, or The Cattle Raid of Cooley. This main thread of this cycle is Queen Meadhbh of of Connacht who goes to war with Ulster for a bull. This is because she is not the equal to her husband Ailill in all possessions. He owns a bull and she does not, but I often wonder was that the real reason or did she have other scores to settle? This is the cycle that features the very famous Cú Chulainn who fights Meadhbh’s army single handedly because the men of Ulster were struck down by Macha’s Curse. The story of Macha is one of the many tributary stories contained in TÁIN : The Women’s Stories.
THE FENIAN CYCLE centres around Fionn mac Cumhaill, leader of the Fianna of Ireland who were a band of warriors, hunters and poets that lived in the wild, and were also welcome in the halls of kings. To be a member of the Fianna warriors had to prove themselves by completing amazing feats of strength and finesse. They were able to fight while running through a forest without disturbing a twig, write poetry, only ever marry for love and a lot more than that. The stories of the Fianna are full of mysterious happening, like the story of the beautiful Sadhbh, changed by a dark druid into the body of a deer, and who became the mother of Fionn’s son, Oisín who was the one who went with Niamh to Tír na nÓg (Land of the Young).
THE KING CYCLE traverses the two worlds of myth and history. There are many stories of the births of kings in the books TÁIN and SÍDH, and as you read them you will realise that the history part is questionable. For instance most kings and heroes have very interesting stories of their conceptions. A large bird comes to Mess Buachalla’s cow pen home to conceive King Conaire Mór who was the king who walked naked to Teamnair to claim his throne. Neasa mother of King Conchobar, mac Neasa’s copulated with the druid Cathbadh before she found a father for her child. That was High King Fachtna Fáthach, but unfortunately he was killed by Queen Meadhbh’s father King Eochaid Feidlech of Connacht. Another king tale is of Niall of the Nine Hostages who won his father’s crown by kissing a hag who turned into a beautiful woman. Of course they lay down with each other and that is in fact entirely symbolic because, if a king doesn’t respect the feminine in all her guises, he is a fool. These kings and many more turn up in the retellings I have written but since my stories are from the female perspective you might only be introduced to them.
Written by Karina Tynan