Was Caithréim Thoirdhealbhaigh written at Clare Abbey in the mid-fourteenth century? (original) (raw)
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2014
This thesis considers the role and presentation of Cú Chulainn in a broad range of texts belonging to the Ulster Cycle. Chapter I offers a general introduction to the thesis. Relevant scholarly theories to date are presented along with an outline of the methodological approaches underpinning this study. The scope of the research in the form of a database of tales is detailed in Chapter II. The textual history of this material is also found therein. This is intended as a quick reference chapter. Chapter III considers the key area of Cú Chulainn's heroic biography. This encompasses a study of his depiction in a number of tales including Táin Bó Cúailnge. In a bid to provide a well-rounded evaluation of the hero, a number of key thematic elements are addressed in the remaining chapters. Understandably, considerable emphasis is placed upon his function as a warrior. Chapter IV looks at his martial prowess, his ríastrad, his weaponry and his special skills or cleasa. Warrior codes and honour are discussed in Chapter V. Chapter VI moves away from the domain of warfare to examine his physical presentation and his appeal to the opposite sex. His offspring are also considered therein. Cú Chulainn's parentage and his connection to his homeland, Mag Muirthemne, are appraised in Chapter VII along with an evaluation of his presentation as a saviour-type figure. Finally, Chapter VIII draws together the general research findings with concluding remarks about Cú Chulainn's role within these sagas. Chapter I: General Introduction I.1. Ulster Cycle material The Ulster-Cycle material is the platform upon which Cú Chulainn is presented. This body of literature consists of about eighty sagas, poems and shorter texts and its central concern is the warfare-related activities of the prehistoric inhabitants of Ulster (Ó hUiginn, 1992, 29). 1 Most of the tales are set in Ulster and Connacht with Emain Machae being presented as the royal centre of the Ulstermen. It is the most significant literary collection of this period with the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (TBC) being its centrepiece owing to its length and the number of tales, referred to as remscéla, that are either dependant on or derivative from it. Material from the Ulster Cycle, like Verba Scáthaige and Conailla Medb Míchura, are amongst our earliest surviving written pieces with a tentative date of the seventh century being proposed for both of these texts. Mac Cana's (1975, 103-4) assertion that the following two centuries were particularly productive is largely true. The writing down of many primary texts, including key Ulster-Cycle tales
The origins of Clann Chruitín: chronicler-poets of the learned Gaelic tradition
The Other Clare, vol. 38, pp 19-30, 2014
Clann Chruitín were among the most notable learned kindreds in Co. Clare in the late medieval period. They featured among the aos dána, the Gaelic learned class who specialised in, as the annals assert, ‘senchas agus le seinm’. Holding hereditary lands in west Co. Clare on the margins of the Atlantic coast, they attained the status of ollamhnacht in history (seanchas) and music (seinm) from the fourteenth century. Remarkably, learned members of Clann Chuitín continued to be associated with literary activity of he native tradition until the mid-nineteenth century when Séamas Mac Cruitín, self-described as ‘the last relic of the hereditary bards of Thomond’, died.
Texts and Transmissions of the Scúap Chrábaid: An Old-Irish Litany in its Manuscript Context
The Scúap Chrábaid, or "Broom of Devotion," is the name of an Old-Irish litany, traditionally ascribed to Colcu Ua Duinechda (died c. 795), a learned scholar of the midland monastery of Clonmacnoise. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the complex manuscript transmission and publication history of this litany in an attempt to determine precisely which text, or series of texts, should be identified as the Scúap Chrábaid. It critiques the existing editions of the text and explains their relationship to the surviving manuscript copies. The paper concludes by drawing on the context of the litany's manuscript transmission to suggest an explanation for its rather eccentric name: the Broom of Devotion.
A fourteenth-century poem on the Meic Conmara lords of Clann Chuiléin
Studia Hibernica (no. 40), 2014
Amongst the collection of bardic poetry from the medieval period there are several compositions dedicated to the Meic Conmara lords of Clann Chuiléin, who were the leading dynastic lineage in east Co. Clare and whose territory encompassed the baronies of Bunratty and Tulla. They were composed by members of the Uí Mhaoilchonaire, Uí Mhóirín, Meic an Bhaird and Meic Craith (Clann Chraith) learned lineages. The latter family were an important medieval dynasty of learned men and churchmen in Thomond and elsewhere in Munster. A fourteenth-century poet of that family and his composition, Coin airdfhiadhaigh Clann Choiléin, which eulogizes the Meic Conmara, form the chief subject matter of this paper.
Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn: history and literature in twelfth-century Ireland
This paper discusses the tale Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn, a sequel to the early Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailgne, in light of the historical context of the period when it was written (the second half of the twelfth century). It argues that its author drew on contemporary historical events and developments as models for episodes in the plot of his story. Specifically, his depiction of Irish kings importing foreign mercenaries from the Hebrides and struggling for influence over the midland province of Mide resonates with distinctly twelfth-century historical phenomena. As a result, although it is set in the heroic past, the images of kingship and of inter-provincial politics depicted in Cath Ruis na Ríg were shaped by the twelfth-century struggle for dominance amongst the various contenders for the high-kingship of Ireland. The paper tentatively suggests that the text might have been written as a commentary on the period of conflict between Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, king of Cenél Eógain, and Tairdelbach Úa Conchobair, king of Connacht, during the early 1150s.
Clare Abbey, Clann Chraith and the coarb of St Breacán
Studia Hibernica, 2023
A poem on the life of St Breacán sheds light on the use of literary devices to advance proprietorial interests in the late medieval diocese of Killaloe. The poem enumerates land grants and dues that, taken together, represent a charter of rights owed to the saint and his coarb (comharba). Previous analysis of the poem indicates that it was produced at Clare Abbey under the auspices of Clann Chraith (the McGrath lineage), who were the hereditary abbots during the 15th century. An assessment of the available evidence not only adds weight to this proposal but also reveals the probable impetus behind the poem: a need to bolster allegiances and revenues owed to Clare Abbey by neighbouring ecclesiastical sites in the face of waning influence. A comparative analysis of a poem on the rights of St Molaise of Devenish, Co. Fermanagh, will show that the use of hagiographic poetry as a tool of policy was not unique to Thomond and was in use in other late medieval Gaelic Irish lordships. 1