Early Irish Literature

Adomnán's sixth-century "Life of St. Columba" has often been used to "bolster" belief in the Loch Ness Monster, yet specific historical and cultural analysis of Adomnán tends to completely separate  Adomnán’s story about St. Columba from the modern myth of the Loch Ness Monster, and finds an earlier and more culturally significant use of Celtic “water beast” folklore along the way. Judicious application of Critical Theory and structural analysis can discredit any strong connection between kelpies and water-horses on the one hand and the modern “media-augmented” creation of the Loch Ness Monster on the other. Without St. Columba, the myth of the Loch Ness Monster falters,
for belief in the creature can be seen to rest upon several oft-cited but easily discredited foundations.

The paper investigates the use of motifs from Early Irish Voyage Literature in the Kildare Poems, written in Ireland in the mid-14th century. The study identifies potential Irish literary motifs, particularly those connected to the Otherworld as seen in early Irish voyage literature. However, the motifs are unusually explicit in their sexual imagery and may be understood as satirical. It is suggested that the exaggerated presentation of motifs from early Irish voyage  literature points to a cultural distance of the author towards a culture he was well familiar with.

this paper looks at how leaders in 12th C Ireland gained agricultural or commodity wealth from their subjects and how they transformed this into monetary or at any rate metallurgical resources with the help of foreign merchants of largely Scandinavian and English extraction

The ninth-century Irish voyage tale known as Immram Maíle Dúin, or the Voyage of Máel Dúin, is a cleverly structured inter-textual narrative which draws on many sources. It interrogates the role of the Church in Irish society. It presents a world which is deeply flawed and violent.

Published in: Judith Devlin & Howard B. Clarke (eds), European Encounters: Essays in Memory of Albert Lovett (Dublin: UCD Press, 2003) 239–52.

In the texts connteted to the Ulster Cycle of Tales we find a number of references to snow. This study investigates descriptions of heavy snowfall and bad weather conditions in Ulster Cycle tales to determine the function of the description of such phenomena.
It finds that snow was a not infrequent phenomenon in early Irish life. Yet, mention of this type of natural phenomenon appears to used as a narrative instrument and it is used to delay or otherwise influence the development of the tale. Natural forces are controlled by higher powers and may connive with heroes or turn against them.

The ninth-century Irish voyage tale known as Immram Maíle Dúin, or the Voyage of Máel Dúin, is a cleverly structured inter-textual narrative which draws on many sources. It interrogates the role of the Church in Irish society. It presents a world which is deeply flawed and violent. Published in: Judith Devlin & Howard B. Clarke (eds), European Encounters: Essays in Memory of Albert Lovett (Dublin: UCD Press, 2003) 239–52.

The raven and crow have been associated with death in a variety of cultures, primarily due to their deep-black feathering and scavenger diet. In Scandinavia and Ireland the corvid was often paired with a supernatural patron, Valkyries and the Morrígan respectively. These supernatural patrons shared - and/or facilitated - the corvid's role as symbol of death, prophet and mentor of the hero, and were known to take up the shape of a corvid besides. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to exploring the similar function of the corvid in the Irish and Norse texts, while the second part discusses the corvid as a sine qua non, as it has an interesting foil in the corr ('crane, heron'). The corr is likewise associated with battle and prophecy, and its connection to the Irish hero Finn mac Cumaill may be indicative of a mentorship alike to that of the Morrígan and Cú Chulainn

Ravens have been linked to death in a variety of cultures due to their black feathering and scavenger diet. In Scandinavia and Ireland the corvid was often paired with a supernatural patron, who shared the corvid's role as symbol of death, prophet and mentor of the hero, and were known to take up the bird’s shape besides. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to the similar function of the corvid in the Irish and Norse texts, while the second part discusses the corvid as a sine qua non.

In a recent publication, Donnchádh Ó Corráin comments on the work of the scribe known as M in Lebor na hUidre (LU): ‘Máel Muire’s annotations and marginalia throw more light on his work and deserve very close study’ (2015, 26). Indeed, these are particularly interesting as regards commentary in the margins of Recension I of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (TBC) in LU. Glosses explaining personages and place names, as well as difficult grammatical forms, are not limited to hand M throughout TBC but may be seen also in those hands formerly identified by Best and Bergin (1929, xiii) as A and H. All forms of commentary in hands A, H and M provide additional information about certain narrative details, the narrative itself and once the marginal commentator even refers the reader to a related tale, i.e. Tochmarc Emire ‘The Wooing of Emer’ on p. 58b. In another piece of marginalia in the hand of M (p. 61a), the commentator asserts and corrects the assumption by the reader that Culann’s hound was from the litter found in the skull on Congánchnes. While intertextual references, such as the reference to Tochmarc Emire, appear to be part of the serialisation of TBC as a main narrative to which smaller, complementary tales are attached (i.e. mostly remscéla ‘prefatory tales’), one must question the purpose of the remaining glosses and explanatory commentary in LU’s TBC.
By looking at a selection of examples within their codicological context, this paper will investigate the probability that the marginalia to TBC in LU served a pedagogical purpose. I will also discuss whether and/or how the marginalia is transmitted into other manuscripts containing Recension I TBC and mention the contrasting state of affairs in the Book of Leinster copy of Recension II TBC.

Ó Corráin, D., 2015: ‘Máel Muire, the scribe: family and background’, in R. Ó hUiginn (ed.)
Lebor na hUidre. Codices Hibernenses Eximii 1, 1-28. Dublin.
Best, R. I. and Bergin, O., 1929: Lebor na hUidre. Book of the Dun Cow. Dublin