Ireland's
Four
Cycles
of
Myth
and
Legend
u
u
Irish
mythology
has
been
classified
or
taxonomized
into
four
cycles
(collections,
sets)
From
the
oldest
tales
to
the
most
recent,
they
are:
the
Mythological
Cycle;
the
Ulster
(or
Red
Branch)
Cycle;
the
Fenian
(or
Ossianic)
Cycle;
and
the
Historical
(or
Kings')
Cycle
u
u
The
Mythological
Cycle
is
dominated
by
origin
myths
called
pseudohistories
These
tales
narrate
a
series
of
foreign
invasions
of
Ireland,
with
each
new
wave
of
invader-settlers
marginalizing
the
formerly
dominant
group
u
The
oldest
group,
the
Fomorians,
resemble
the
Greek
Titans:
semi-divine
beings
associated
with
the
chaos
that
preceded
the
civilizing
gods
u
The
penultimate
aggressor
group,
the
Tuatha
D
Danann
(people
of
the
goddess
Danu),
suffered
defeat
at
the
hands
of
the
Milesians
or
Gaels,
who
entered
Ireland
from
northern
Spain
Legendarily,
some
surviving
members
of
the
Tuatha
D
Danann
became
the
fairies
or
"little
people,"
occupying
aerial
or
subterranean
(underground)
zones
on
the
island
of
Ireland
but
with
a
different
temporality
The
Irish
author
C.S.
Lewis
uses
this
idea
in
his
Narnia
series,
where
the
portal
into
Narniaa
place
outside
"regular'
timeis
a
wardrobe
u
Might
the
Milesians
have,
in
fact,
come
from
Spain?
A
March
2000
article
in
the
esteemed
science
journal
Nature
revealed
that
98%
of
Connacht
(west-of-Ireland)
men
and
89%
of
Basque
(northeast-of-
Spain)
men
carry
the
ancestral
(or
hunter-gatherer)
European
DNA
signature,
which
passes
from
father
to
son
By
contrast
with
the
high
Irish
and
Basque
numbers,
just
63%
of
British
and
2%
of
Turkish
men
exhibit
this
DNA
signature
u
The
standard
sequence
of
pseudohistorical
invasion
tales
is
called
Lebor
Gabla
renn
("book
of
the
takings
of
Ireland"),
which
appears
in
five
versions
or
recensions
One
recensionthe
"first
redaction"
survives
in
two
manuscript
collections
(or
codecies):
the
12th-century
Book
of
Leinster
and
the
14th-
century
Book
of
Fermoy
u
u
The
Ulster
Cycle
is
dominated
by
tales
of
the
adolescent
superhero
Setanta,
who
receives
an
"achievement"
name
C
Chulainn
(rather
as,
in
the
Bible,
Abram
becomes
Abraham,
Jacob
becomes
Israel,
and
Simon
becomes
Peter)
While
C
Chulainn
tends
to
function
as
a
free
agent,
he
serves
his
maternal
uncle,
Conchubar,
King
of
Ulster
(Ulaid
in
the
Irish
language),
who
maintained
two
rooms
called
the
Red
Branch
at
his
rth
or
fort
called
Eamhain
Mhacha
(near
the
present-day
city
of
Armagh)
The
dull
Red
Branch
room
is
for
introspection
and
deliberation
('thinking
the
thoughts"),
while
the
bright
Red
Branch
room
is
for
displaying
slain
enemy
bodies
(evidence
of
"fighting
the
fight")
u
The
Ulster
Cycle's
major
narrative
is
the
Tin
B
Cailnge
or
"The
Cattle
Raid
of
Cooley,"
which
consists
of
a
number
of
primary
tales,
as
well
as
so-called
fore-tales
(prequels)
Queen
Medb
of
Connacht
assembles
a
coalition
army
(primarily
from
Connacht,
Munster,
and
Leinster)
and,
leaving
her
rth
at
Cruachan
(in
present-day
Co.
Roscommon),
invades
Ulster
to
seize
Donn
Cailnge:
i.e.
the
brown
stud-
bull
of
the
Cooley
peninsula
Medb's
foremost
warriors
must
battle
C
Chulainn,
who
transforms
via
a
"warp
spasm"
into
a
fierce
opponent
u
Many
scholars
estimate
that
the
Ulster
Cycle
reflects
or
hyperbolizes
events
that
occurred
in
Ulster
and
Ireland
around
the
time
of
Christ
The
Ulster
Cycles
portrays
an
Ireland
fractured
into
petty
kingdoms
(i.e.
without
effective
central
authority)
u
u
Like
the
Ulster
Cycle,
the
Fenian
Cycle
centers
on
a
charismatic
warrior,
Fionn
mac
Cumhaill;
however,
Fionn
("the
fair-haired
one")
is
less
of
a
loner
than
C
Chulainn,
becoming
leader
of
an
elite
martial
troop
(or
kern)
called
the
Fianna
Most
of
the
Fenian
Cycle
is
narrated
(in
prose
and
verse)
by
one
of
Fionn's
1
sons,
the
warrior-poet
Oisn
For
that
reason,
the
tales
are
also
called
the
Ossianic
Cycle
To
a
degree,
the
relationships
and
rivalries
between
Fionn
and
other
members
of
the
Fianna
resemble
Britain's
legends
of
Arthur
and
the
Knights
of
the
Round
Table
One
popular
Fenian
Cycle
tale
concerns
Fionn's
hunting
of
his
fellow
warrior
Diarmuid
once
the
latter
absconds
with
Fionn's
intended
wife
Grinne
Leinster
and
Munster
are
the
provinces
most
highlighted
in
the
Fenian
Cycle
u
u
Produced
by
bards
(i.e.
court
poets),
the
Historical
(or
Kings')
Cycle
contains
several
sub-cycles,
most
of
which
focus
on
kings,
their
deeds,
and
their
genealogies
Some
kings
are
mythological,
which
others
(like
Brian
Boru)
are
historical
The
"jewel
in
the
crown"
of
the
Historical
Cycle
is
the
poetry-and-prose
work
Buile
Shuibhne
("Frenzy
of
Sweeney"),
which
concerns
the
half-man,
half-bird
existence
of
Suibhne,
a
cursed
Ulster
king
In
1983,
Seamus
Heaney
published
a
translation
of
Buile
Shuibhne,
which
he
titled
Sweeney
Astray
u
END
