Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
LEPRECHAUN
Like other fairy creatures, they have been linked to the Tuatha De Danann of Irish mythology.
The leprechauns spend all their time busily making shoes, and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If ever captured by a human, the Leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release.
Popular depiction shows the Leprechaun as being no taller than a small child,with a beard and hat, although they may originally have been perceived as the tallest of the mound-dwellers (the Tuatha Dé Danann)
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Thursday, July 14, 2011
BRIAN BORU
He was born around 940, the youngest of two sons of Cennedig, head of Dal Cais, one of the royal free tribes of Munster.
Brian grew up during the worst days of tyranny when the Dacassians had driven in to the present county of Clare.
His brother, Mahon, had become King of Munster in 951, upon the death of their father. Together they fought against the invading Norsemen, who had imposed taxes in Munster. This struggle eventually led to the murder of Mahon.
Brian avenged his brother’s death by killing the king of the Ostermen (Norse) of Limerick, King Imar.
From this point onwards Brian held Munster as his own. He marched into Connaught and Leinster and joined forces with Mael Sechnaill II in 997. Together they divided Ireland between them.
The Norse settlers in Dublin ranged against Brian but were defeated at Glen Mama where the King of Leinster was captured. The King of Dublin, Sitric Silkenbeard, was soon defeated too.
In 1002 Brian demanded of Mael Seachnaill that he recognizes him as King of Ireland. Mael agreed, partially because many of his own people viewed Brian as a hero who had restored Ireland to greatness after the Viking invasions.
Brian earned his name as ‘Brian of the Tributes’ by collecting tributes from the minor rulers of Ireland and used the money raised to restore monasteries and build new churches. He sent overseas to replace lost books and artefacts that had been destroyed during the invasions.
He reigned for thirty-nine years. It was a time of unsurpassed glory, prosperity and happiness.
He promoted the arts and learning. He is credited with having originated surnames. His patriotism and personal sacrifice brought the clans together, under one King, for the only time in Irish history.
The Norsemen were not done yet however, and once more waged war on Brian Boru and his followers at Clontarf in Dublin.
Despite the lack of backing from the men of Connaught, the Munstermen won the day but lost Brian in the battle.
This was a major turning point as it finally subjugated the Norse presence in Ireland who were considered subordinate to the Kinships of Ireland.
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MANANNAN MAC LIR
Manannan is often seen as a psychopomp, (these are creatures in many religions whose responsibility is to escort deceased souls to the afterlife), and has strong affiliations with the Otherworld, the weather and the mists between the worlds.
He has strong ties with the Isle of Man, where he is referenced in a traditional ballad as having been the nation’s first ruler. He is also believed to have been the magician who could make an illusory fleet from sedge or pea shells in order to discourage would-be invaders.
Despite of not being the biological father of that many, Manannan took it upon himself to raise a number of foster children, among them Lugh of the great hand and the children of Deirdre. He is a father-figure and a patron as much as he is a joker.
As the archetype of the father, he stands for rigid rules and consistency, but as a joker he is the lord of temporary chaos in the mildest temper.
Manannan owned many magical items:
· -A magic goblet of truth.
· -A self-propelled ship named “Wave Sweeper”.
· -A cloak of mists which made any who wore it invisible at will.
· -A flaming helmet with two precious stones, which flashed as he moved.
· -A sword named Fragarach.(The Answerer), from the wound of which no man –ever recovered.
· -A horse called “Enbarr of the Flowing Mane” which could travel over water as easily as land.
· -A breastplate which no weapon could pierce.
Manannan’s powerful role in the cycle of life and death is also expressed in his possession of the magic swine, whose flesh provides food for feasting by the gods, and the regenerates each day.
He appears in many Celtic myths and tales, but only plays a prominent role in some of them.
-In the tale “his Three Calls to Cormac”, Manannan tempts the Irish King Cormac mac Airt with treasure in exchange for his family.
-The tale “Manannan at Play” features the god as a clown and beggar, who plays a number of pranks, some of which result in serious trouble.
-In the tale, “The Sickbed of Cuchulain”, Manannan’s wife, Fand, has an ill-fated affair with the Irish warrior. It was then that Manannan decreed that the world of faeries and the world of humans should forever remain separated.
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NUADA ARGETLAMH
They arrived bearing with them their stone of destiny called the Lia Fail which they placed on the mound of Tara and ever after the rightful kings of Ireland were chosen when it called out; the spear of Lugh which ensured victory to whoever wielded it; the Sword of Nuada from whom none could escape and the Cauldron of the Dagda from which none would go unsatisfied.
In Ireland they made contact with the Fir Bolg (a reclusive type of giant-kin), the then inhabitants of the island, and Nuada sought from them half of the island for the Tuatha De, which their king rejected.
Both peoples made ready for war. During the first battle of Magh Tuiredh (Moytura), a battle between heroes ensued.
Nuada faced Sreng, the champion of the Fir Bolg, losing an arm in the fight.
Nuada’s ally, Aengaba of Norway, then fought Sreng, while the Dagda protected Nuada, carrying him from the field.
The Tuatha De gained the upper hand in the battle, but Srend later returned to challenge Nuada to single combat. Nuada accepted on the condition that Sreng fought with one arm tied up; but he refused. By this point the battle was won and the Fir Bolg were defeated.
The Tuatha De offered Sreng one quarter of Ireland for his people instead of the one half offered before the battle, and so they moved westwards to the islands off the west coast namely the Aran Islands.
Dianchecht, the druid physician of the Tuatha De , prepared a bath of magical herbs with such curative properties that the wounded that were plunged into it were made whole. However the bath could not cure the king.
In those days the king was required to be whole in mind and body; so Nuada, a good and well-loved king, having lost his arm, was no longer eligible for kingship and he was replaced as king by Bres.
Bres,is a half Fomorian prince, renowned for his beauty and intellect. He identifies with his Fomorian side and treats the Tuatha De terribly, levying large taxes and forging the usual hospitality and entertainments a king is expected to provide.
A solution is sought, and finally, Dianchecht uses his skill to fashion for Nuada a marvellous hand of silver which functions as well as a human hand and fitted it to Nuada’s arm.
Restored to wholeness, Nuada could, once again, take his rightful place as a king.
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CONCHOBAR MACNESSA
Conchobar is the son of Ness and the druid Cathbad. The boy is reared by Cathbad until the age of seven, when a new king of Ulster, Fergus mac Roich, seeks Ness for his wife after having fallen in love with her.
Nessa agrees to become his wife on the condition that Fergus allows Conchobar to be king for a year. Fergus, being the good-hearted man that he was, happily made the trade.
Conchobar advised by his mother rules so well that by the end of the year decide he should be king permantly, and so w hen Fergus wanted his throne back .Ness makes it difficult for Fergus to retain his title and Conchobar musteres his warriors to drive his rival into exile.
Despite his unusual access to royal power, Conchobar becomes a popular king.
At times, Conchobar was a good king, incredibly generous, especially with his nephew Cuchulainn, celebrated for his prudence and wise judgement; and at times he was a bad one, it was his fault that the goddess Macha cursed all the men of Ulster, and that the “ Sorrows of Deirdre “ ever happened.
Conchobar married several of Eochu’s (High King) daughters. Medb, was the first. She bears him a son, but soon leaves him.
Conchobar married several of Eochu’s (High King) daughters. Medb, was the first. She bears him a son, but soon leaves him.
Medb’s sister, Eithne, conceives a son by him, but Medb murders her and the son is delivered by posthumous caesarean section.
Mugain bears him a son and remains his chief wife.
Conchobar’s eldest son, Cormac, is given to Fergus mac Roich to foster.
Famous stories in which Conchobar appears are The Cattle Raid of Cooley and The Battle of Ros na Rig.
Conchobar owned a famous shield named Ochain which let out a piteous wail whenever its master was in peril.
The Book of Leinster tells of his death at the hand of Conall of the Victories who hit him with a talisman, one of Ulster’s trophies of battle, (the petrified brain of a king of Leinster) from a slingshot so hard that the ball became deeply embedded in Conchobar’s brain.
His physicians were unable to remove it, so sewed up the wound and told the king he would survive so long as he did not get excited or over-exerted himself.
CUCHULAINN
His name, Cuchulainn, means ‘hound of Cullan’.
In his youth, he was so beautiful; the Ulster men worried that without a wife, Cuchulainn will steal their wives and ruin their daughters. They searched all over Ireland for a suitable wife, but he will have none but Emer, daughter of Forgall, who was opposed to the weeding.
Forgall suggests that Cuchulainn should train in arms with Scathach, hoping that he will be killed in the process.
He studied under the warrior/Goddess Scathach on the Isle of Skye.
She teaches him all the arts of war, including the use of the Gae Bulg, a barbed spear, thrown with the foot that has to be cut out of his victim.
She teaches him all the arts of war, including the use of the Gae Bulg, a barbed spear, thrown with the foot that has to be cut out of his victim.
Cuchulainn returned to Ulster, but Forgall still refused to let him marry Emer.
He storms Forgall’s fortress, killing twenty-four men, abducts Emer and steals Forgall’s treasure. This shows how he was known for his terrifying battle frenzy, in which Cuchulainn becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe.
Cuchulainn got to be a great warrior and leader of the Red Branch.
At the age of seventeen he defended Ulster single-handedly against the armies of Queen Medb of Connacht in the epic Tain Bo Cuailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley); as the men of Ulster are disabled by a curse and are not able to fight.
It was prophesied that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame, but that his life would be a short one.
When Cuchulainn encounter the Morrigan, he failed to recognise her as an incarnation of the goddess and brusquely rejected the love that she professed him. The Morrigan then told him that in that case she would hinder him when he was in battle.
Cuchulainn’s fate is sealed when he broke his geasa or ban against eating dog meat; causing him to be spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him.
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CU ROI MAC DAIRI
A king of Munster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology; he is usually portrayed as a warrior with superhuman abilities, a master sorcerer.
His name probably means ‘hound of the battlefield’ or ‘roaring warrior’ and he is believed to be the son of Daire Mac Dedad.
He is associated especially with Kerry, where the remains of a prehistoric fortification in the Slemish Mountains are still known as Caher Conree, 'Cu Roi's City.
From the age of seven until he died he had not bloodied his sword in Ireland, and the food of Ireland did not pass his lips either.
Each night in whatever part of the world he might be in, he chanted an incantation so that his fortress in Kerry revolved as swiftly as a mill-stone and the entrance could never be found after sunset.
Cu Roi is a great tester of courage and has shape-shifting abilities; he appeared most frequently in the guise of a giant yokel or herdsman.
On one occasion he challenged the heroes of Ulster to play the Beheading Game with him as indicated in the legend of the Feast of Bricriu.
He helped out the Ulstermen one time on a raid of the Underworld and they offered him first choice of the booty if they succeeded.
They did succeed and when Cu Roi went to make his choice, the Ulstermen refused to hand over the goods, he then lifted up the booty, stowed it on several parts of his body and prepared to leave.
Cuchulainn was the only one that tried to stop him and he simply lifted him up and threw him into the earth. Then he did one of the worst things to be done to a Celtic Warrior; with his sharp sword he shaved off all of Cuchulainn’s hair, forcing him to hide for a year until his hair grew a little.
He appropriated many otherworldly prizes which the Ulsterman had captured, including his wife, Blanaid, loved by CuChulain.
Several tales describe the enmity between him and Cu Roi.
At the end, it was his wife, who betrayed him by pouring milk into the river by his stronghold as a sign when he was there; enabled Cu Chulainn to kill him.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
FERDIA
Ferdia trained on the Isle of Skye at the same time as Cuchulainn, under the tutelage of the renowned warrior woman Scathach..
Ferdia was years ahead in his training and was therefore almost like an older brother to Cuchulainn. They became friends and ‘foster brothers’ to each other.
Many years later, when the Battle of the Brown Bull is being fought, they find themselves on opposite sides; Ferdia is aligned to Queen Medb and Cuchulainn is fighting on the side of Ulster.
When Ailill and Medb invade Ulster to steal the bull Donn Cuailnge, their progress is held up by Cuchulainn, who defeats a series of Connacht champions in single combats.After Fergus, there was only one man left among Medb’s armies who had a change against Cuchulainn, Ferdia.
But he doesn’t want to fight his foster brother and friend; he even refuses Medb’s gifts of a chariot and the hand of her daughter in marriage.
But he is forced by Medb, who threatens him with satires about himself and his family if he does not comply to her wishes.
The threat of being a figure of fun for all eternity proves too much for Ferdia and he consents to fight Cuchulainn.
Both of them are equal in all martial feats, with two exceptions:
- the Gae Bulg, a barbed spear which only Cuchulainn knows how to use
-and Ferdia’s horny skin, which no weapon can pierce.
They fought in the ford for three days and neither gaining advantage over the other.
The next day Cuchulainn used his magical weapon and slew his friend with a low cast of the spear. The threat of being a figure of fun for all eternity proves too much for Ferdia and he consents to fight Cuchulainn.
Both of them are equal in all martial feats, with two exceptions:
- the Gae Bulg, a barbed spear which only Cuchulainn knows how to use
-and Ferdia’s horny skin, which no weapon can pierce.
They fought in the ford for three days and neither gaining advantage over the other.
When he saw his friend dying, he took Ferdia in his arms and carried him across to die in the camp of the men of Ulster rather than with Medb.
Ferdia’s death was a symbolic sacrifice for Connacht. When Cuchulainn fell down exhausted and heart-sick from the battle with Ferdia, the Connacht legions stormed the borders, overtaking Ulster.
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FIONN MAC CUMHAILL
Fionn or Finn is a nickname meaning " fair" and several legends tell how he gained the nickname when his hair turned prematurely white.
Fionn was a king, a seer, a poet, a Druid and a knowledgeable man.
Everything he said was sweet-sounding to his people.
Of his justice it used to be said, that if his enemy and his own son had come before him to be judged, it is a fair judgement he would have given between them.
The stories of Fionn and his followers, the Fianna, form the Fenian cycle, much of it purported to be narrated by Fionn's son, the poet Oisin.
As a seven-year old boy, he met on the banks of the Boyne with a seer called Finneigeas, who had dedicated the past seven years of his life to catching the Salmon of Knowledge, which swam in the river and would impart the knowledge of the world on the first person to taste it.
While Fionn was there, Finneigeas caught the salmon, and with much joy put it on the spit to cook, entrusting the cooking to Fionn but warning him not to taste it.
After a time, Fionn went to see if the fish was cooked, however he touched it with his thumb and burnt himself, leaving a blister.
To ease the pain, he put his thumb in his mouth, and thus became the first person to taste the salmon.
Ever after that, if Fionn needed to know something, he put his thumb into his mouth and the knowledge came to him.
Fionn met his famous wife, Sadhbh, when he was out hunting.
She had been turned into a deer by a druid, for she had refused to marry him.
Fionn's hounds, which were once human themselves, recognised she was human and Fionn spared her.
She transformed back into a beautiful woman the moment she set foot on Fionn's land.
One of Fionn's earliest achievements was the creation of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, which he scooped out with his two bare hands, and tossed into the Irish Sea where it became the Isle of Man.
He later destroyed all of Ireland's serpents, a story later appropriated by St. Patrick.
MORIGNA
The Morrigan could change her shape at will, and she frequently appears in the ornithological guise of a hooded crow, (but also as a beautiful woman). She is one of the Tuatha De Danann (" Tribe of the goddess Danu") and she helped defeat the Firbolg at the First Battle of Mag Tuireadh and the Fomorians at the Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh.
The Celts believed as they engaged in battle, the Morrigan flew shrieking overhead, often in the form of a carrion crow or a raven, calling up a host of slain soldiers to a macabre spectral dance. When the battle ended, the soldiers would leave the field until dawn so that the Morrigan could claim their trophies of heads.
The Morrigan appears as both a single Goddess and a trio of Goddesses. The other deities who form the trio are Badb , and either Macha or Nemain .Their collective name means " the phantom queen".
As a triple goddess, Morrigan was the Crone aspect of the Great Mother.
For what it can be seen from different texts, "Morrigan" or"Morrigu" is a title applied to different women who for the most part seem to be sisters or related in some manner, or sometimes it is the same woman with slightly differing names in different manuscripts and redactions.
We see that Morrigan is identified with Badb, Macha, Anann and Danann. The first identified with the raven and battle, the second usually identified with the archetypal Celtic horse goddess, the third with the land goddess, and the fourth with a mother goddess.
She resided to the North, which was the realm of the dead, justice and the element of Earth.She often appeared to a hero on the day he was to die, thus she appeared to Cuchulainn before he went to the battle of Muirthemne as an apparicion of the three crones who were roasting a hound on a rowan pit.
There was a geas on Cuchulainn not to eat the meat of his namesake the hound or that would be the day he died. The crones shamed him into eating the taboo food and thus he was killed in battle later that day.
The function of the Goddess here, was not to attack Cuchulainn with weapons but to render him helpless at a crucial point in battle. And all because after she appeared to him for the first time and offered her to love him, he failed to recognize her and rejected her.
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011
THE BANSHEE / BEAN-SIDHE
She is said to wail and cry when members of certain families are about to die. It has never been established, however, why this ghostly creature follows some families (5 main families in particular). Intermarriage has since extended the select list.
The Banshee can appear in a variety of guises. Most often she appears as an ugly, frightening hag, but she can also appear as stunning beautiful woman of any age that suits her.
She may also appear in a variety of other forms, such as that of a hooded crow, stoat, hare and weasel; animals associated in Ireland with witchcraft.
Although not always seen ( the Banshee was also very shy of encountering the eye of a mortal), her mourning call is heard.
The wail of the Banshee is a peculiar sound that resembles the melancholy sound of the hollow wind, having the tone of the human voice and is distinctly audible at a great distance.
While it is on record that the Banshee has been heard at noon, night is the time generally chosen by her for her visits to mortals.
One of the strangest Banshee stories of all had its beginning in Dublin, when at 2:30 am on 6th August, 1801, when Lord Rossmore, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in Ireland died at his home.
The evening before he had attended a party in Dublin Castle and to the people he met there, he seemed in the best of health.
Before leaving, he invited Sir Jonah and Lady Barrington to join a party he was holding in his house at Mount Kennedy, CO Wicklow.
At two o'clock in the morning, Sir Jonah awoke and heard ''plaintive sounds'' coming from outside the window. Lady Barrington and a maid heard it too.
Finally, at 2:30, Barrington heard a voice call ''Rossmore! Rossmore! Rossmore!''. And the there was silence.
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