As we reach dry land after our long Immram,we encounter yet another mystery. Midir was once a Lord of the Sidhe a judge, and a worker of wonders. He was, on land, what Mananann was, in the Land Under Wave. . All is not what it seems. A mist of obscurity has gathered around Midir. Join the Story Archaeologists as they…
Tag: Metrical Dindshenchas
The Dindshenchas of Inber Ailbine: Gormanston, Co. Dublin
In Dindshenchas: A Magical Mystery Tour, we linked the characters and themes in this poem with two characters from Cath Maige Tuired, “The Battle of Moytura“. We explored connections between Rúad in this poem and Rúadán in Cath Maige Tuired, and his father, Rígdonn, with Rúadán’s father Bres. We have discussed Rúadán’s story in Series…
The Dindshenchas of Carmun
In Dindshenchas; A Magical Mystery Tour, we discussed the poem on Carmun as an example of dindshenchas celebrating a particular geographical place. It describes a major óenach which takes place every three years, and the activities of that fair, as well as the origin-tale of the character Carmun said to be buried there. We discussed…
St. Colmcille and the Water Monster
In the episode “Dindshenchas: A Magical Mystery Tour“, we discussed the dindshenchas story of Áth Clíath. It concerns the destruction of the great beast that created the Boyne Valley. Now, there may be no Irish dragons, but there are plenty of tales of water beasts, the ollphéists. We mentioned a few in the podcast episode. I…
The Dindshenchas of Áth Clíath Cúalann: Dublin
As we discussed in Dindshenchas: A Magical Mystery Tour, the Modern Irish name for the city of Dublin is Baile Átha Clíath, “The Town of the Ford of the Hurdles”. The “English” name of Dublin comes from Dublind, “Black Pool”,. This version is pretty much as translated by Gwynn, with some updating of the English!…
The Dindshenchas of Dublin
This poem on Dublind (dub = “black”, lind = “pool”) was the second dindshenchas we discussed in Dindshenchas: A Magical Mystery Tour. This version has been written for readability by Chris Thompson. You can read Gwynn’s original translation here. Dublind Metrical Dindshenchas, Volume 3 poem 11, pp 94-95 Ingen Roduib chaiss chalma The bold and…
The Dindshenchas of Brug na Bóinde, Boyne Valley, Co. Meath
The Metrical Dindshenchas, Volume 2 Poem 3, pp 19 – 25 The first Dindshenchas poem we looked at in this episode was the second of the poems on “Brug na Bóinde”, the Boyne Valley complex of Co. Meath which specifically centres on Newgrange. We didn’t go through every stanza in the episode, since…
Dindshenchas 12: A Magical Mystery Tour
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…
Brú na Bóinne and Cnogba – the Boyne Valley in the Metrical Dindshenchas
At the beginning of Tocmarc Étaíne, we have the tale of the conception and birth of Óengus Mac Ind Óc and his claiming of Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange) as his territory. We touched on this story back in Series 1, Episode 3, “Tales of Eithliu”, and compared it to the Metrical Dindshenchas poems on Bóand, the…
Sat-Navs and Seanchaís – Finding your way through stories and landscapes
This article was published in the journal Keltria in issue 42, “Storytelling”. You can order this issue of Keltria here for digital download or print edition. Notes appear at the end of the article. Ireland has an international reputation as a nation of writers and storytellers, and it forms a large part of our national…