The Door-Keeper Speaks… Who is this young warrior who came late to the gate of Tara, after the feasting was begun? Who is this fine and shining youth who stood before me, Camall Mac Riagail, gate-keeper of the Túatha Dé? Oh, he was pleasant to look upon, his cloak threaded with gold. He was tall…
The Battle of Moytura 03: Techt Lugo – The Coming of Lug
Lug Lámfhada has a Long Arm indeed, stretching all the way from Continental Celts to the Insular Isles. His role is central to Cath Maige Tuired, but how does he relate to the other dramatis personae of the tale? Join the Story Archaeologists as we dust off this iconic hero. Don’t forget to subscribe to…
Carrowkeel
High above the western shore of Lough Arrow are the Bricklieve hills. From the plain of Moytura, these hills rise clear, and the grey limestone domes that top them are highly visible. These domes are a part of the megalithic complex of passage tombs known as Carrowkeel. The complex comprises of 14 cairns, with a further…
Bres in Other Texts
Bres Mac Elathan appears in a number of texts besides Cath Maige Tuired, and often in a more sympathetic light. He appears as one of the Túatha Dé Danann, as in Tocmairc Étaíne, “The Wooing of Étaín”, where the Dagda sends Elcmar of the Brug away on business to Bres in Mag nInis so that…
Bres – Kingship and Status
In the 21st century, we have quite different ideas of government, nationhood, sovereignty and royalty to our ancestors of 1000 and more years ago. Indeed, it is hard to imagine that an island as small as Ireland had as many as 150 túatha (usually translated as “tribes” or “petty kingdoms”) between the 5th and…
The Story of Bres
It wasn’t his fault. How could one so noble, so beautiful, have been at fault? He was the golden youth, the beloved one chosen by his mother’s people. How could it all have gone so wrong? How had his golden dreams become so tarnished? He had grown up with his mother’s glowing stories. “When you…
The Battle of Moytura 02: Echtrae Breis – The Adventures of Bres
Bres the Beautiful, the Half-Blood Prince of the Túatha Dé Danann, fared little better than his modern literary counterpart. As the Battle of Moytura draws near, we explore the terrible tale of the king set up to be brought down by meanness and false judgement. Join the Story Archaeologists as we try to piece together…
Midsummer Midnight Skies over Leitrim
In the podcast episode, we mentioned how bright the night skies can be, here in Leitrim, even at midnight. The sun does not go far down behind the horizon then, and even at midnight the sun glow is still visible. It is easy to imagine that there is some wonderful city casting its light into…
The Romano-British temple to Nodens at Lydney Park:
I have never visited Lydney Park in Gloucestershire so I cannot give a personal impression of the complex. However, the site is very relevant to any exploration of Nuada. There are definite etymological connections between the British Nodens, the Welsh Lludd (Nudd) and the Irish Nuada. Descriptions of the temple complex given below are largely…
The Fisher King
The Fisher King is a figure closely associated with the Arthurian cycle and, more directly, with the legends of the search for the Grail. A discussion on the development and varying source materials for the stories is beyond the scope of this article, but similar motifs and character types appear in each version, the main…