Have your tickets ready for inspection and your guide-books open to page 1! To round off Series 3, we’re going to discover some Dindshenchas gems in the Irish countryside. Join the Story Archaeologists as they take you on a magical mystery tour of mythic cartography, mapping myths as they go. Don’t forget to subscribe to get the…
A Christmas Card from the Story Archaeologists
In our Midwinter special we pulled out some of the less familiar treasures of Irish mythology from Manannan’s famous Craneskin bag, also known as the treasure bag of the Fianna. In a light hearted attempt to seek out some unusual seasonal gifting opportunities, we wondered which ones might still be appropriate in the early 21st…
The Treasure Bag of the Fianna
The fair boy stared at the bag, turning it over in his hands. It felt smooth to the touch; fine leather, warm and welcoming to his fingers. He continued to stare at the pouch, its faded colours telling a story, but it was a tale he could not yet read. But he knew the object,…
Midwinter Special: The Craneskin Bag – A Santa’s Sack of Gifts from Irish Mythology
Long before Santa’s sack was filled with seasonal gifts, Manannán Mac Lír had a wonderful craneskin bag full of magical treasures, which he frequently gave to those he favoured. But what will the Story Archaeologists pull out of the bag? Some unusual pets, a mythical Swiss Army knife and a Holy Grail. Don’t forget to subscribe to…
The Corlea Trackway
The Irish bog is a remarkable environment. Not only is there a wide diversity of flora and fauna to be found, but these wetlands also provide a rich resource for archaeological discoveries. Things survive under the bog. Materials that would generally perish , wood, leather, and even the soft tissue of a human body, may…
A Causeway Over Móin Lámraige
The wind’s touch was cold. It fingered his cloak, lifting the edges, finding the fissures between folds of the wool. He shivered, but he did not move to pull the mantle further about him. He must not move. He must not be seen, hiding there among the reeds. It was full dark, a crescent moon…
Dindshenchas 11: Tocmarc Étaíne 3 – A Game of Fidchell
As we reach the final section of “The Wooing of Étaín”, a game of fidchell leads to some epic gains and losses. There will be archaic poetry, incest, a War of the Worlds and some civil engineering. Join the Story Archaeologists as they encounter a tale where text and archaeology come together in an extraordinary…
The Text of Tocmarc Étaíne Part 2
Here is the part of the text of Tocmarc Étaíne we covered in “Tocmarc Étaíne 2: The Re-Born Identity“. Edited O. Bergin & R. I. Best, Translated by Isolde Carmody, based on Bergin and Best’s translation. View Bergin & Best’s edition on CELT
A Prophecy
The afternoon sunshine silvered the water, diamond-points lighting the waves with laughter. The girls all stood in happy chattering groups, finished with their bathing, wrapping themselves in their flower-coloured mantles as they dried their wind-washed hair. Then one of them, perhaps the most beautiful, so it was said, looked up, suddenly still, peering seaward, into…
Dindshenchas 10: Tocmarc Étaíne 2 – The Re-Born Identity
As Étaín grows up to be the most beautiful woman in Ireland – again – she is wooed and won by no less than the king of all Ireland. But no story can be that simple! Join the Story Archaeologists as they seek out the improbable causes of the “sick-lying” of Étaín’s new brother-in-law. Don’t…