Marion Deane, “Compert Conculainn: a study of the birth of culture”, PhD thesis, University of Ulster, Coleraine.
Last September I received an unexpected voice message from Manchán Magan. We were colleagues with an interest in, and respect for, each other’s work. We were interested in discussing possible projects but unfortunately, had never met in person. I knew he was unwell but had no idea that his condition was so serious. The voicemail included a request. He was concerned that the work of Irish teacher and scholar Marion Deane had been sadly overlooked. She died in October 1923 at the age of 85. I promised to follow this up.
Marion Deane (Treacy) had been married to the Northern Irish poet Seamus Deane. They had both, I believe, been involved with the founding of the Field Day Theatre Company, but Manchán was primarily concerned about her paper ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, on the topic of the triple birth of Cú Chulainn, which he felt, deserved to be better known.
A librarian friend sent me this thought provoking paper. It is well worth reading. Marion’s arguments are firmly grounded in Irish pre-Norman law and she gives a particular focus to attitudes concerning incest. This does seem to be relevant to stories involving Cú Chulainn. Not only does his triple conception include incest but Isolde’s translation work demonstrated that his wife, Emer was also in danger of, or already was, a victim of incest, herself.
There are other aspects of the paper that I might not so easily agree with but that is what makes it interesting, the starting point for a further ‘Conversation in the Landscape’. I also found myself wishing that I could discuss this paper with Isolde. But, of course, we already did discuss the topic, in some detail, in Series 6: Circling the Táin: Episode 3, The Birthpangs of Ulster.
Now you can download and read Marion’s paper and let me know your thoughts. You can even compare it with Isolde’s views on the same story. Manchán felt strongly that Marion’s work deserved to be more widely read and I do agree with him.