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The names of the places featured in this Dinnshenchas, enclosed in square brackets at the beginning of each section, are found in Stokes’ printed edition in the Irish text only. For clarity the TLH editor has also inserted them in the translation in the interests of easier comparison with the Irish text.
This digital edition incorporates the addenda and corrigenda to the Bodleian Dinnshenchas printed by Whitley Stokes on p. 496 of Folklore 4 (1893).
The electronic edition represents the text of Whitley Stokes’ printed translation.
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In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost
amen, this below.
The story of the noteworthy steads of Ireland, which Amirgin
MacAulay, a poet of the Dési, to wit, the poet of Diarmait, son
of Cerball, composed.
He it is who made demand of Fintan, son of Bochra, at Tara,
when there was a great gathering of the folk of Erin round
Diarmait, son of Cerball, and Flann Febla, son of Scannlan
Saint Patrick’s successor, and Cennfaelad, son of Ailill, son of
Eogan, son of Niall, and Fintan, son of Bochra, the chief elder
of Ireland. And Amirgin fasted on Fintan for three days and
three nights in the presence of the men of Erin, both boys
and girls, at Tara, so that Fintan might declare to him the true
stories of the noteworthy steads of the Island of Erin, since he,
Fintan, had dismissed (?) every person and every tribe from it
from the time of Cessair, the maiden, of the Greeks of Scythia — she
was the first that occupied Ireland — to the reign of Diarmait, son
of Cerball. Hence said the poet, Cuan Ua Lochan,
Tara, Teltown, land of the assembly, etc.
Lugaid, son of Ith, when she went with Geide the Loud-voiced.
In his reign everyone in Erin deemed another’s voice sweeter
than strings of lutes would be, because of the greatness of the peace
and quiet and the goodwill and friendship that each man had
for the other in Ireland. Therefore, then, is Tea-múr more
venerable than every rampart, and nobler than every heritor is its
heritor, because the covenants of Tea, daughter of Lugaid, son of
Ith, to Gede the Loud-voiced, were the first free covenants that
were given in Erin.
Or Tea, wife of Erimon, son of Míl of Spain, was buried therein.
This is truer, as the poet said:
The first woman that went into a cold grave, Of the band from the Tower of white Breogan, Was Bregian Tea , the wife of the King,From whom is the name ‘true Temuir of Fál’.
Dil, daughter of Lugh-mannair, who went from the Land of
Promise, or from the land of Falga, with Tulchine, the druid of
Conaire the Great, son of Etirscél, son of Mess Buachalla. In
the same hour that Dil was born of her mother the cow brought
forth the calf named Falga. So the king’s daughter loved the
calf beyond the rest of the cattle, for it was born at the same
time
he took the ox with her. The Morrígan was good unto him, and
he prayed her to give him that drove so that it might be on
Mag nOlgaidi,
loved that plain). Hence Mag mBreg is
Or maybe it was named from Breogan, by whom the plain
was cleared. This is truer, and hence the poet said:
Mag Breoga, palm of our origin, As far as Tuaimm Trebain without weakness. The eldest of the heroes over seas, Breoga, overcame Brega.
lances which the Black Foreigners brought with them over
sea from the Continent. Two thousand and two hundred was
their number along with Labraid Loingsech the Dumb, son of
Ailill of Aine, son of Loegaire Lorc, son of Ugaine the Great.
From the time of that Labraid, among
the Leinstermen are famed for championship and
horror, and fear, and dread. For great was the virulence and the
ill-luck, and the misfortune that was inflicted upon the Leinstermen,
on themselves, before Labraid came to Ireland. Wherefore
saith the king-poet Find, son of Ross the Red,
etc.
Loegaire Lorc, then, son of Ugaine the Great, he is the
ancestor of the Leinstermen. Hence ‘Laigin’ is so called.
Or it is the golden and silvern lances which the craftsmen of Erin
made for Labraid Loingsech when he came along with Ernoll,
he that slew the king-folk in Dinn Ríg, and those lances were
plied upon the king-folk in Dinn Ríg, and on Cobthach Slender-neck,
King of Ireland, son of Ugaine. So thenceforward the
Leinstermen are called Laigin. Wherefore saith the shanachie:
Labraid Loingsech, sufficient their number, Slew Cobthach in Dinn Ríg, With a host of lancers over Ler’s pool: From them Leinster was named. “Tuaimm Tenma” was its name before thatOf the hill on which the slaughter was wrought. It is “Dinn Rig” thenceforward, From the killing of the king-folk. Two thousand two hundred foreigners, With broad lances from the continent: From the lances which were borne there Hence the Leinstermen are called “Laigin”.
Not hard
with Deltbanna, son of Drucht, with the cup-bearer of Conaire
the Great, King of Tara. From Síd Buidb on Femen was he.
Since the plain over which she passed seemed beautiful to her, she
took nought save her name
the Great, King of Ireland. For that Garman broke the king’s
law and justice at the Feast of Tara, to wit, he stole the queen’s
golden diadem out of Tech Midchuarta, and he used to kill her
household, for he was a brigand and a robber. Hence the poet:
Boimm Lecce’s son we announce: Catháir the king drowned him — Garman was the high man’s name Thro’ bardic poems — so that he might not be a king.
Or maybe it was named from Carman Glass, son of Dega, whose
brother was Dea, from whom
Dea, in the district of Cualu.
Ange, daughter of the Dagda, had gathered to make a tub thereout.
For the tub which the Dagda had made would not cease
from dripping while the sea was in flood,
faggot from Belach Fualascaig till it settled, and the wood grew
out of it on every side. Hence Fid nGaibli is now
Or, then, from the
two
it runs (?) through Fid nGaibli. As Berchán himself said:
Dear is this Gobul: From it is the appellation On the half of this wood: To say so is not overmuch. This gem of carbuncle, In the breast of this lawn, Carried off a great, good host.
And this is truer.
Mide was his name, because it is he that first lit a fire in Erin
before the expedition of the children of Nemed. And the fire
spread throughout the whole of Erin, and for seven years was it
ablaze. And from that fire were kindled every chief fire and
every chief hearth in Ireland. Wherefore Mide’s successor is
entitled to a sack
Ireland. And the druids of Erin said:
the fire that hath been kindled in the land.
went and cut the tongues out of the heads of the druids, and
took them with him, and buried them under him in the ground
of Uisnech. So then Mide’s foster-mother, Eriu, daughter of
Umor, said this: Haughty
saith she. Hence “Uisnech” and “Mide” are said.
son of Conor mac Nessa, went from Emain Macha westward to
Maive of Cruachu, for her lying-in, because the druid had said
to Clothru that her sister’s son would slay her. Then Eithne
went to bathe in the river, whereupon the stream struck her and
drowned her. Then Lugaid Mac con went and brought the boy,
even Furbaide, forth through her side. And hence “Eithne”
is the name of the river, and “Furbaide’s Cairn” over him.
Hence said the poet:
Eithne, the mother of the king’s son, Daughter of true Eochaid Feidlech: Through her was cut away — savage the breach (?) — Furbaide, son of Conor.
that dwelt in a fairy-mound in Erin, loved Brí Bruachbrec,
maidens till she was at Fertae na n-Ingen (“The Maidens’
Grave-mound”) beside Tara. Liath and his boys went forth to
Tulach na hIarmaithrige, and the slingers of Mider’s fairy-mound
did not let them pass, for as numerous as swarms (?) of bees on
a beautiful day was the mutual answer of their castings. So
Lochlán, Liath’s gillie, was wounded by them, and he died. The
maiden turns to Brí Léith, and there her heart broke. So Liath
said: Though I shall not attain the maiden, my name shall be
Hence “Brí Léith” (Liath’s Brí) and “Dinn Cochláin”
upon her.
(Cochlan’s Height).
dá Roth (“the Hill of Two Wheels”) in the Pleasant Plain of the
Land of Promise, with Iuchna Curly-locks, to reach Macc ind
Oc. Iuchna practised guile upon her. He played music to
And he turned her course back, so that she went round Ireland
southwards, till she came to Clidna.
This was the time that the illimitable sea-burst arose and
spread through the districts of the present world. Because there
were at that season three great floods of Erin, to wit, Clidna’s
flood, and Ladra’s flood, and Bale’s flood. But not in the same
hour did they arise. Ladra’s flood was the middle one.
So the flood pressed on aloft, and divided throughout the land
of Erin, till it overtook yon boat with the girl asleep in it, on the
strand, and there was drowned Clidna, the shapely daughter of
Genann. Hence “Tonn Clidna” (Clidna’s Wave).
cowherd of Bregmael, the smith of Cuirche, son of Snithe, King
of Húi Fuatta. Then he went in his little boat till he set up at
Ross Bladma — Ross n-Áir, “Wood of Slaughter,” was its name
at first. Thence he went to the mountain. Hence is “Sliab
Bladma” (Bladma’s Mountain).
Whence the poet said:
Blod, son of Cú, son of Cass Clothmín, Killed the cowherd of fair Bregmael, The smith of Cuirche Mór, son of Snithe: He set up at Ross Tíre ind Áir.
Or it is Blod, son of Breogan, that died there; and from him
the mountain of Bladma was named.
a spade and a billhook on his shoulder, after letting out, in three
days, the inlet round Tours the Pure, in the lands of France.
He feared that another work like it would be imposed upon him.
So he fled till he came to Imliuch maic Echonn. That was
and his spade. Hence “Mag Roigne” (Raigne’s Plain).
Nechtán the White-shouldered, from Loch Léin, whose name
was Nóisiu. His fostermother was Ettech, daughter of Lennglass,
son of Lonn: of the Glomraide of Tracht Tuirbi was he. She
went with Tethba and with Nóisiu, son of Nechtán the White-shouldered,
till she came to Ard Umai.
My going hence will be a loss to the
saith the girl.
That will not be true,
says her husband, for thy name
shall not be wanting to the land. But the
thou hast left on this land will be deadly.
Grief for this will follow thee,
say they.
That came true to her, for
died when going southwards, even Ettech, daughter of Lennglass.
Whence “Tethba” and “Cenn Etig”.
Not hard
three sons of Umor, of the kings of the Fir Bolg. Of the
Greeks was one of their two kindreds, to wit, Grecus, son of
Pont, and Danaus, son of Pont. This Danaus was the ancestor
of the Fir Bolg. The race of one of these two men prevailed
over
the well-tasted water, because there is in the lands of the
Greeks control and constraint over the water. And they were
put under slavery, to wit, to drag mould
bare flagstones, so that there should be seven cubits deep of
mould upon them.
So they fled before that tyranny to Ireland, and they built
them barques of their bags, and they came to the lands of Ireland
and set up at loughs fresh-watered, profound, clear-pooled.
Ainninn at Lough Ainninn, in Meath; Uar at Lough Uair, in
Meath; and Cimme, in Connaught.
hearts of Méche, son of the Morrígain, after his death by Mac
Cecht in Mag Méchi (Mag Fertaigi, now was the name of that
plain formerly). The shapes of three adders’ heads were on
the three hearts that were in Méche, and, unless his death had
occurred, the adders would have grown in his
not have left an animal alive in Ireland. So after slaying him on
Mag Luadat, Mac Cecht burnt them
ashes with yon stream, and it boiled, and it dissolved every one of
the animals that were therein. Wherefore thence are “Mag
Luadat”, and “Mag Méchi”, and “Berba”. Hence said the poet:
Méche’s hearts, hard the wound, Have been drowned in the Barrow; Their ashes, after being burnt by you, Mac Cecht, slayer of a hundred, cast in.
named? Not hard. Femen, then, and Fera, two brothers, to
wit, two sons of Moagab, son of Dachar of the clan of Brath, son
of Dëath. One billhook and one shovel of iron between the two.
When Femen was shovelling, Fera was hacking. When Fera
was shovelling, Femen was hacking. And each of them used to
fling his billhook and his shovel in his proper turn to the other
over the plain into Rae Urchuir (‘Field of a cast’). Hence “Mag
Femin”, and “Mag Fera”.
stayed with Congancness, son of Deda, after the flitting of her
folk. And the heritage and patrimony, for which she gave up
her family and her kin, is on yon mountain. Hence “Sliab Mis”
is said.
son of Bannach. He was the craftsman of Síd Buidb (“Bodb’s
Fairy-mound”). It is he that was under the lake making the
bright vessel of Fann the Long-haired, daughter of Flidais.
Every night, after quitting his work, he used to fling his anvil
away to the Indeoin na nDése (“The Anvil of the Dési”), to the
mound; and the showers which, thereafter, it used to cast forth
from the back, they are the pearls which were there sown by it.
Nithnemannach did the same in beating out the cup of Conor
mac Nessa in the north. Hence is “Loch Lein” and the “Anvil
of the Dési”.
of Boible, son of Birurchae. In the time of Conall the Flat-nailed,
a great murrain invaded Ireland, so that there was found
only one bull and one heifer in Glenn Samaisce
Boible’s fosterlings was sent in his turn to guard the cattle. When
Cua Great-head came to his turn to guard them, he acted
treacherously regarding them. He took them with him, and
made a cooking-pit for them, and devoured them on the mountain.
Whence “Sliab Cua”.
between the two champions who were with the king of Munster
and the king of Connaught. Rind and Foebur were their names;
two brothers were the twain, to wit, two sons of Smucaill, son of
Baccdub. One of the twain took service with Bodb of Síd Femin
in Munster. The other took service with Ocaill in Connaught, of
Síd Cruachan especially. So they displayed their swineherd’s art,
and collected, from south and from north, a great assembly at the
frontier at the inver, every hero in each of the two assemblies
having a shield (
the Shannon). That was the time when the flood came at the
turn
Tul Tuinne, by the stream of the Shannon, with its deadly blow:
The inver now is full of shields (
Or, when the champions were contending, a wave of the flood
tore their shields away from them. So the two kings exclaimed
from the hillock named Tul Tuinne (“Front of the Wave”):
The inver is now
that is, full of shields,
say
they.
That, then, is the right mering of the two provinces
and Connaught
of the Tuatha Dé Donann. She was reared at Cúil Echtair beside
was wooing her, even Fergus son of Ruide, Lusca Béist. Why he
was called “Lusca Béist” was because from his cradle (
that is, from his infancy, he nourished a monster (
inside.
Now the girl consented to marry him for sake of the cook-and-cupbearer’s
land that he held from the King of Connaught. It
extended from Moen to the sea. Fergus had no
wealth, though he had land. The girl, however, had wealth,
though she had neither land nor heritage. And this is what she
demanded of him, even a firm
even Echtga, was entrusted to her, and two cows are now
And the cow from the north yields a third more milk than the
cow from the south. Hence “Sliab Echtga”.
kindled fire continually before the sons of Míl the Spaniard, in
every stead wherein they pitched a camp. Because he needed
only to put one of his palms over the other, whereupon sparks of
fire, as from a firebrand, would come out of his knuckles, and the
sparks were as large as fresh wild apples at the beginning of
their harvesting. And he it is that cleared the plain. Whence
“Mag Aidne” (Aidne’s Plain) is said. Or mayhap it was so
named after his death thereon. This is truer.
Inis Aine, went from the lands of the Fomorian countries with a
chief (?) of the land to go round his boundary, when he heard
somewhat, the burden of the mermaids of the Ictian Sea. This
is the form that he beheld, the mermaid with the shape of a
grown-up girl. Above the water she was most smooth; but below
the water her lower parts were hairy-clawed and bestial. So
the monsters devoured him and cast him away in joints. And
the sea carried his two thigh-bones to yonder port, and the share
of a hundred would fit on the flat of each bone. Hence Port
Lairge (“Port of the Thighbone”) is
the hawk on Mag Eoin. He fed it and nourished it till it used to
eat the herds of horses, and the droves of cattle, and the human
beings by twos and threes. And when at last it found nothing
to devour, it turned on the plain against its fosterer Mossad,
even Mossad, son of Maen. Hence Mag Mossad (“Mossad’s
Plain”) and Seig Mossad (“Mossad’s Hawk”).
was the first man who shaved
expedition of the sons of Míl. Now the first man who was
shaved in Ireland was Fobarr Foltchain. This is the first barber’s
fee that was given in Erin, to wit, Berramain, that is, a
land in reward (
without a lie, in Mag Móin.
Or maybe it was recompense of his shaving that the plain . . .
. . . only: whence are “Moenmag” and “Berramain”.
Or maybe it was in wage for his barbering that the sons of Míl
gave Berramain to Moen. And this is truer.
made, to wit, the seven sons of Maine of Cruachu, even Maine
Fatherlike, and Maine Motherlike, and Maine Míngor, Maine
Mórgor, Maine Andae, Maine Mó-epert (greater his conception
and his substance), Maine Con-da-gaib uili, and Crithcen Croderg,
Etáin’s handmaid — from her Mag Cruachan is named. Those
are they who set the hurdles
Munster after taking the drove of the kine of Dartaid, daughter
of Regaman. Afterwards help came to them from Cruachu.
Hence Ath Cliath (“Ford of Hurdles”).
Mider of Brí Léith from Oenach Oengusa. To him Sinech of Síd
Cruachan was a friend. She
her fondness for him, to converse with him. They were detained
in Síd Cruachan for nine watches. So Etáin thought that that
Is this thy dwelling?
she asked. Nay,
said Mider: eastward, nearer to sunrise
than this, is the place of my dwelling.What profit, then,
says Crochen.
have we in visiting this fairy-mound?That
And
plain will bear thy name for ever, to wit, ‘Mag Cróchan’.
hence is Raith Maige Cruachan (“the Earthwork of Cruachu’s
Plain”), from Cruachu, Etáin’s handmaid,
head was blood-red, together with her eyebrows and eyelashes.
Hence “Mag Cruachan”.
(“White-horned”) and Donn Cuailnge (“the Dun of Cuailnge”),
after the drove was taken at Cnoc Tarbgai.
Findloch, the lake of Findbennach, from the death of the
Findbennach
Whence is said “Findloch”, and the poet said:
Mag Tarbga, whence was it spoken? From the contest of the strong-sated bulls. Thro’ the death of the Find very early, Thence the Find-loch is called.
Ailill of the Twisted Teeth; he was the leader of the brigands
of Ireland in the reign of Conall Cromderg, son of Labraid
they issued from Síd Collamrach, till he found them in the oak
wood of Tarbga.
before them
Enna Aignech’s hound. As they reached the lough, Niall was
drowned therein with his dogs and his robbers. Hence “Loch
Néill”.
(
Mag Slecht, in Brefne. When they slew him they took his head
southwards to the district of Corco Laigdi.
Aeda (“Aed’s Seat”) over Ess Ruaid (“Ruad’s Cataract”). After
he had done his work for Aed the Red, son of Badurn, son of
Maine Milscothach, he demanded the price of his work, to wit,
the produce of the cataract. Aed gave it to him, lest the men
of Connaught should have a quarrel about the produce of Ess
Ruaid. For that reason the tower was erected by the Children
of Ailill.
He, Dechet, was
had done. There was given to him
Lunga, that is, as far as the Plain of Eating (
because it was there that he consumed his food and his drink,
until he was drunk and merry-minded with ale, with milk, with
broth, with fish. Then he went into a frenzy of madness till he
reached the lough, and was drowned therein. Hence, as stories
tell, Lough Dechet is
Hence “Loch nDechet” is said.
whom Insi Mod are named, met together around the pig that
devastated the land about them, even Insi Mod. Unless the
hounds had come between them and the pig it would have been
a
The pig sprang before the hounds into the lake. The dogs
rushed after it. It pressed them together on the lough, and not a
hound escaped from it alive without mangling and without
drowning. After that the pig went to the island which is on the
lough. Hence Loch Con (“Lake of the Hounds”) and Muicc-inis
(“Pig-island”).
went to Condla’s Well under the sea, a well whereat are the
hazels and .... of knowledge, and
And in the same hour their fruit and their flowers and their
leaves burst forth. In the same hour they fall in a single shower
on the well, and it raises on it a royal wave of purple bubbles,
and the salmon chew that fruit, and it is the juice of the nuts that
is put up in the purple bubbles. And seven chief streams spring
out of the well, and each stream turns back till it reaches the well,
which is deemed by everyone the Well of Knowledge.
Now the maiden went to seek the lore, for nothing was wanting
to her save only knowledge. So she went with the stream till she
came to Linn Mná Féle (“the Pool of the Modest Woman”),
and the well ebbed, and she followed it to the banks of the river
Tarr-chain (“Fair Belly”). After this the river overwhelmed her
and turned her belly (
death after reaching the land of this side.
Hence is “Sinann” and “Linn Mná Féle” and “Tarrchain”.
made there when he went to destroy Dún Barc on Annle, son of
Loa Longhand, and he was a year and a half at them. Then
Said Curnan Blackfoot, son of Reo-doirche (“Dark-streak”),
Somewhat is the thing to which men go.
As said
The son of Reo-doirche the pleasant, The grandson of Curnan the hard, long-headed, Made wicker-frames, long has it been heard, At Druim Cliab when he was on an expedition.
of Calcmael, to Fergus Red-side’s four-and-twenty sons, so that the
whole of them died at the same hour. So that therefore it is
called Nemthenn. Hence is said in the
the cupbearers to the well of the green of the fortress. Whoever
went alone to it came not from it without disgrace. Now these
were the names of the cupbearers whom Nechtán had, even
Flesc and Lesc and Luam. Unless the cupbearers went to the
well, no human being would come from it without disgrace.
Then, with pride and haughtiness, the queen went
well, and said that it had no secret or power unless it could disgrace
her shape. And she went round the well withershins thrice,
to perceive the well’s
break over her, and suddenly her right thigh and her right hand
and her right eye burst, and then she fled out of the fairy-mound,
fleeing the disgrace and fleeing the well, so that she reached the
sea with the water
Bóinne (“Rivermouth of Boyne”) drowned her. Hence “Bóann”
and “Inber Bóinne”.
the Blind”) is that. Because Guaire committed parricide at Daiminis,
on his brother, on Dairíne Dubchestach, son of the Blind,
slaying him out of envy and treachery. So a wood and a dark
thicket spread over Guaire’s land. And thence Dubthair is so
called.
son of Noess, in Síd Forcarthan. He loved Aíde, daughter of
Ochinne, son of Conucha. Dub knew that there was another
woman along with him. Aíde went between the sea and the
stream . . . so that . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . over Cnucha.
Margen, Ochinne’s gillie, perceived that. He shot a feat-apple
which was in his hand, and the strength of the blow fell upon her
Pool”) and Ath Cliath Margeni (“Margene’s Hurdle-ford”),
because his shot fell therein, in the ford.
the King of the Fomorians. Centarcluas, that is a hundred ears
he had on his . . . . In the time of Eochaid Muniste, King of
Leinster, he
Leinstermen gathered his steward’s tribute for him to Belach
liquor, and he got into a hurry to eat his food. So he devoured
the flesh in heaps, and it was dry. A sore thirst came to him, and
dryness of throat attacked him, so he dashed his head against
the end of the mountain, and thereby he afterwards perished.
Hence Sliab Mairge, “Marg’s Mountain”, is called.
fell there when he was making an urgent request to a grown-up
girl, to wit, Sempait, daughter of Bethra. The buffoon was on
a begging tour from one country into another, and he found her
driving her cattle
girl to force her. She turned against him, fetched him a blow
with her cow-spancel on his skull, and made splinters of his head.
Hence Crechmael.
time she was born her face never fell on a field, and her thrice
fifty years were complete. Her sister once went to have speech
with her. Sentuinne (“Old Woman”) was her name: her husband
was Sess Srafais, and Senbachlach (“Old-Churl”) was another
name for him. Hence said the poet:
Sentuinne and Senbachlach, A seis srofais be their withered hair!If they adore not God’s Son They get not their chief benefit.
From Berre, then, they went to her to bring her on a plain on
May-day. When she beheld the great plain, she was unable to
go back from it, and she planted a stone (
and struck her head against it and .... and was dead. It
Whence Lia Nothan (“Nothan’s stone”).
chose Aed, son of Labraid Speckle-thigh, son of Roga Rodam.
She came out of the
the poet. She went with Gaeth, son of Gass Glan, to Oenach
Fer Fidga. The girl alone hoisted her sail of bronze on her boat,
and went to the river-mouth. And Aed, from the Seat whereon
he was, perceived her. The girl knew not on what land she had
chanced, till she heard in the river-mouth a burden of seamaids
which no one else had ever heard therein. Said the girl: This
is the brightest inver in Erin!
over the bow of her vessel, and was drowned.
(“Ruad’s Cataract”) has been so called.
Or this is truer: Aed the Red, son of Badurn of Ulster, was
drowned there while swimming the cataract. Hence it was
named Ess Ruaid (“Ruad’s Cataract”).
she had not seen him. They held a meeting for games there
between Cletech and Síd in Broga. The Bright Folk and fairy-hosts
of Ireland used to visit that game every Halloween, having
a moderate share of food, to wit, a nut. From the north went
three sons of Derc, son of Ethaman, out of Síd Findabrach,
and they eloped with Elcmaire’s daughter,
young folk without their knowledge. When they knew it, they
ran after her as far as the hill named Cnogba. Great lamentation
they made there, and this is the feast that supported them,
their gathering. Hence “Cnogba”, that is,
from the lamentation they made at yon gathering.
there, and this is the animal whose secret Colomb cille used to declare
to every one, to wit, three vomitings it would make, and this
was the portent of each of them, to wit, a vomiting in the sea, with
its tail on high:
and ships, and destruction to the animals of the sea in that year: a
vomiting in the air, with its tail down, while it cast its vomit
upwards:
the air in that year. Another vomiting throughout a land, so
that the land would stink:
beings and to cattle in that year. That animal may have existed
said: He read Rossualt’s secrets among the Scripture-schools.
Or a flood of great sea-fish took place there in the time of the
Garb Glunraige, so that they filled the glens and slopes of the
land on the side towards the sea.
Or maybe it was Muresc, daughter of Ugaine the Great, son of
Eochaid the Victorious, to whom that plain was given. Or maybe
it was there that Muresc died.
Or:
Or:
of Cormac, and Caindlech was his foster-mother, was
Caindlech. A daughter of Gaimgeilt, son of Rodba of the children
of Macc Tuaig Duib (“son of a Black Axe”), son of Conall
Congancnis, was Caindlech.
When Cormac went from the west, from Cruachu of Connaught,
to seize the kingdom of Ulster, his foster-father remained behind
him in the west, because he knew that his fosterling would fall,
and that he would never be king of Ulster.
Suamach went from the west after his fosterling to keep him back,
lest Cormac should suffer death by fire. When he reached
Druim Suamaig, there he beheld the blaze of the destruction —
Or, when he came to Tulach Dér “Hill of Tears”, to wit, the
tears of the Great Dagda, which he shed in bewailing his son
Cermat,
in Bruden da Choca. So his heart broke in Suamach. And
on Móin Caindlig, Caindlech heard that her fosterling was
burnt alive. Hence “Druim Suamaig” and “Móin Caindlig”.
Tara
Erin
the folk of Ireland, both men and women, were gathered unto it.
mac Lir. He chose Tuag, daughter of Conall Collamair,
to take her with him
Women. So by means of art magic he took her in her sleep,
without her perceiving it, to the inver of Glass mac . . . . He
laid her down
might go to take counsel with Manannan; but after he had gone,
a wave came over her at the inver, and drowned her. Or maybe
it was Manannan himself that was carrying her off, as is manifest
in the stave:
Or:
Or
of Ireland, because of the lamentation which the men of Ireland
made there, bewailing Cormac, grandson of Conn, King of Erin.
Or it may be the roof (
which was burnt there on Cormac. And that is not true but it
was on Muirchertach, son of Erc, and he was an uterine brother
of Bishop Mel’s. Hence Bishop Mel sang
and hence “Cletech” is so named.
The King, son of Erc, turned, When he was borne to the side of Húi Néill: Blood sought girdles in every battle field,He increased territories afar. I am afraid of the woman (Sín), Round whom move many storms (sína), For the man who will be burnt in fire, Whom wine will drown beside Clettech.
“Cerna, Cermna,” etc.
Or Cerniam was the name of the chief of the fairy-mound
which is there. After him that hill has been named from that
to this.
out of Scotland into Ireland with a prince’s treasures. There
he died, at yonder lough. And in the same year were the outbursts
of Loch Dacaech, etc. Whence Cloenloch is named.
was Fuata, and this is what was produced between them
and Fuata
the port, and killed herself in yonder lake. Hence “Loch
Dacaech” is
Dacaech, daughter of Cicol of Carn, . . . . horrible, green-rough, . . . . . . . Until she caused her own death.
royal swineherd of Catháir the Great. He and the swineherd of
Conn of the Hundred Battles, namely, Odba Uanchenn, son of
Blae Broad-limb, son of Cathlomna Linne, contended together.
There was a fruitful oakwood in the west of the Plain of Macha,
and never has there been an oakwood more fruitful. From what
point soever the wind would blow over it, the odour thereof
would be a heart-break to the swine of Ireland, so that they went
mad in seeking the oakwood. The odour reached the herds of
Catháir the Great. Following the odour of the oakwood went
the swine, that is, the swine of Leinster together with the swine of
Catháir the Great, as far as the Meeting of Three Waters. The
swineherd ran to drive them away, and he fell, and his frontal
bone broke out of his head. So he went to quench his ardour
with that stream, and was drowned therein. And a certain man
exclaimed from the brink of the stream, Ah! the stream (
Hence “Sruthar Matha”.
over (
was killed there in battle against a host of spectres and against
the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Or when Ith, son of Breogan, went out of Spain with thirty
ships to Irrus Corco-duibne, in Erin, he fared throughout Ireland
northwards to Ailech Néit, a place wherein, with Nechtain Red-hand,
King of the Fomorians, were three kings of Ireland, to
wit, Macc Cuill, Macc Cecht, and Macc Gréne. Since out of
bitterness they were spiteful and envious towards Ith, he bade
them farewell, and went on to Mag n-Itha, where he was killed,
because of his goodness and his worth. Wherefore, to avenge
him, Lugh, son of Ith’s wife, sailed
Whence is said: