Wikipedia

Lebor Gabála Érenn

This article is about the medieval Irish text. For the album by Horslips, seeThe Book of Invasions (album).

Lebor Gabála Érenn(literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland";Modern Irishspelling:Leabhar Gabhála Éireann,known in English asThe Book of Invasions) is a collection of poems andprosenarratives in theIrish languageintended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to theMiddle Ages.There are a number of versions, the earliest of which was compiled by an anonymous writer in the 11th century. It synthesised narratives that had been developing over the foregoing centuries. TheLebor Gabálatells of Ireland being settled (or "taken" ) six times by six groups of people: the people ofCessair,the people ofPartholón,the people ofNemed,theFir Bolg,theTuatha Dé Danann,and theMilesians.The first four groups are wiped out or forced to abandon the island; the fifth group represents Ireland's pagan gods,[1]while the final group represents the Irish people (theGaels).

Folio 53 from theBook of Leinster.Lebor Gabála Érenn is recorded in more than a dozen medieval manuscripts and the Book of Leinster is just one of the primary sources of text. Image: Dublin, TCD, MS 1339 (olim MS H 2.18)

TheLebor Gabálawas highly influential[2]and was largely "accepted as conventional history by poets and scholars down until the 19th century".[3]Today, scholars regard theLebor Gabálaas primarily myth rather than history.[4]It appears to be mostly based on medieval Christian pseudo-histories,[4]but it also incorporates some of Ireland’s native pagan mythology.[5]Scholars believe that the goal of its writers was to provide a history for Ireland that could compare to that of Rome or Israel, and which was compatible with Christian teaching.[4][6]TheLebor Gabálabecame one of the most popular and influential works of early Irish literature. Mark Williams says it was "written in order to bridge the chasm between Christian world-chronology and the prehistory of Ireland".[2]

TheLebor Gabálais usually known in English asThe Book of InvasionsorThe Book of Conquests.InModern Irishit isLeabhar Gabhála ÉireannorLeabhar Gabhála na hÉireann.

Origin and purpose

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See also:Medieval ecclesiastic historiography

The writers ofLebor Gabála Érennsought to create an epic written history of the Irish comparable to that of theIsraelitesin theOld Testamentof the Bible.[7][8]This history was intended to fit the Irish into Christian world-chronology,[9][10]to "find a place for Ireland in the Biblical history of the world".[7]In doing so, it links them to events from the Old Testament and likens them to the Israelites.[11]Ancestors of the Irish were described as enslaved in a foreign land, fleeing into exile, wandering in the wilderness, or sighting the "Promised Land" from afar. The writers also sought to incorporatenative pre-Christian storiesabout the origins of the Irish, and to reconcile them with medieval Christian lore.[7]

The authors of Lebor Gabála Érenn were strongly influenced by such religious texts asSt. Augustine of Hippo's5th-century book,City of God.

The LGE seems to have been influenced by four major Christian works in particular:

The pre-Christian elements, however, were never entirely effaced. One of the poems in LGE, for instance, recounts how goddesses from among theTuatha Dé Dananntook husbands from the Gaeil when they 'invaded' and 'colonised' Ireland. The pattern of successive invasions recounted in the LGE is reminiscent ofTimagenesof Alexandria's account of the origins of theGaulsof continental Europe. Cited by the 4th-century historianAmmianus Marcellinus,Timagenes (1st century BC) describes how the ancestors of the Gauls were driven from their native lands in eastern Europe by a succession of wars and floods.[12]

Numerous fragments of Ireland's mythological history are scattered throughout the 7th and 8th centuries. In hisLectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History(1861),Eugene O'Curry,Professor of Irish History and Archaeology at theCatholic University of Ireland,discussed various genres of historical tales mentioned in the manuscripts:

TheTochomladhwas an Immigration or arrival of a Colony; and under this name the coming of the several colonies ofParthalonofNemedh,of the Firbolgs, theTuatha Dé Danann,the Milesians, etc., into Erinn, are all described in separate tales. It is probably from the original records of these ancient stories that the early part of the various Books of Invasions has been compiled.[13]

R. A. Stewart Macalisterbelieves that the LGE was a conflation of two independent works: aHistory of the Gaedil(modelled after the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament), and an account of several pre-Gaelic settlements of Ireland (to the historicity of which Macalister gave very little credence). The latter was then inserted into the middle of the other work. Macalister theorised that the quasi-Biblical text had been a scholarly Latin work namedLiber Occupationis Hiberniae( "The Book of the Taking of Ireland" ).

The earliest surviving account of Irish origins is found in theHistoria Brittonum( "History of the Britons" ), written in Wales in the 9th century.[14][15]The story probably came from a now-lost Irish source.[16]It says that Ireland was settled by three groups of people from theIberian Peninsula.The first are the people ofPartholón,who all die of plague. The second are the people ofNemed,who eventually return to Iberia. The last group are led by three sons of a warrior or soldier fromHispania(mīles Hispaniae), who sail to Ireland in thirty ships. They see a glass tower in the middle of the sea and set out to capture it, but when they reach it, all but one of their ships are sunk. Only one ship is saved, and its passengers are the ancestors of all the Irish.[16]

When theLebor Gabálawas first compiled in the 11th century, the three waves of settlers had grown to six. Joseph Lennon says "These waves may, in fact, represent the redactors' attempts to account for numerous oral accounts in Irish of origin legends".[7]It is also suggested that there are six waves to match the "Six Ages of the World".[17]

These stories continued to be enriched and elaborated upon by Irish historian-poets throughout the 9th century. In the 10th and 11th centuries, several long historical poems were written that were later incorporated into the scheme of LGE. Most of the poems on which the 11th-12th century version of LGE was based were written by the following four poets:

It was late in the 11th century that a single anonymous scholar appears to have brought together these and numerous other poems and fitted them into an elaborate prose framework – partly of his own composition and partly drawn from older, no longer extant sources (i.e. thetochomlaidhreferred to above by O'Curry), paraphrasing and enlarging the verse. The result was the earliest version of LGE. It was written in Middle Irish, a form of Irish Gaelic used between 900 and 1200.

Versions

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Within a century of its compilation there existed a plethora of copies and revisions ofLebor Gabála,with as many as 136 poems between them. It is "somewhat misleading" to refer to theLebor Gabálaas one narrative. No two versions are identical, although many elements remain the same.[7]There are fiverecensions,surviving in more than a dozen medieval manuscripts:

  • First Redaction (R¹):preserved inThe Book of Leinster(c. 1150) andThe Book of Fermoy(1373).
  • Míniugud (Min):this recension is closely related to the Second Redaction. It is probably older than the surviving MSS of that redaction, though not older than the now-lost exemplar on which those MSS were based. The surviving sources are suffixed to copies of the Second Redaction.
  • Second Redaction (R²):survives in no less than seven separate texts, the best known of which isThe Great Book of Lecan(1418).
  • Third Redaction (R³):preserved in bothThe Book of Ballymote(1391) andThe Great Book of Lecan.
  • O'Clery's Redaction (K):written in 1631 byMícheál Ó Cléirigh,a Franciscan scribe and one of theFour Masters.Unlike the earlier versions of LGE, this redaction is inEarly Modern Irishbut was admitted as an independent redaction byMacalisterbecause there are indications that the author had access to sources which are no longer extant and which were not used by the compilers of the other four redactions. The work was compiled in the convent of Lisgool, nearEnniskillen.O'Clery was assisted by Gillapatrick O'Luinin and Peregrine O'Clery (Michael O Clery's third cousin once removed, and one of the Four Masters).

The following table summarises the extant manuscripts that contain versions of LGE. Most of the abbreviations used are taken from R. A. S. Macalister's critical edition of the work (see references for details):

Sigla Manuscript Location Redactions Notes
A Stowe A.2.4 Royal Irish Academy R² A direct and poor copy ofD
B The Book of Ballymote Royal Irish Academy R³ Blost one folio afterβ,β¹andβ²were derived from it
β H.2.4 Trinity College, Dublin R³ A transcript ofBmade in 1728 by Richard Tipper
β¹ H.1.15 Trinity College, Dublin R³ A copy, made around 1745 by Tadhg Ó Neachtain, of a lost transcript ofB
β² Stowe D.3.2 Royal Irish Academy R³ An anonymous copy of the same lost transcript ofB
D Stowe D.4.3 Royal Irish Academy R²
E E.3.5. no. 2 Trinity College, Dublin R²
F¹ The Book of Fermoy Royal Irish Academy R¹ F¹andF²are parts of one dismembered MS,F
F² Stowe D.3.1 Royal Irish Academy R¹
H H.2.15. no. 1 Trinity College, Dublin R³
L The Book of Leinster Trinity College, Dublin R¹
Λ The Book of Lecan Royal Irish Academy R²,Min First text of LGE inThe Book of Lecan
M The Book of Lecan Royal Irish Academy R³ Second text of LGE inThe Book of Lecan
P P.10266 National Library of Ireland R²
R Rawl.B.512 Bodleian Library R²,Min Only the prose text is written out in full: the poems are truncated
V¹ Stowe D.5.1 Royal Irish Academy R²,Min V¹,V²andV³are parts of one dismembered MS,V
V² Stowe D.4.1 Royal Irish Academy R²,Min
V³ Stowe D.1.3 Royal Irish Academy R²,Min
K¹ 23 K 32 Royal Irish Academy K Fair copy of the authorMichael O Clery'sautograph.Kis contained in several paper manuscripts, butK¹,the "authoritative autograph", takes precedence.[18]

The LGE was translated into French in 1884. The first complete English translation was made byR. A. Stewart Macalisterbetween 1937 and 1942. It was accompanied by anapparatus criticus,Macalister's own notes and an introduction. Macalister's translation "synthesizes the versions of this already synthesized text".[7]

Contents

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The collection can be divided into ten chapters:

Genesis

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A retelling of the familiar Christian story of thecreation,the fall of Man and the early history of the world. In addition toGenesis,the author draws upon several recondite works for many of his details (e.g. the SyriacCave of Treasures), as well as the four Christian works mentioned earlier (i.e.The City of God,etc.).

This part also contains a genealogy derived via theHistoria Brittonumfrom the 6th-centuryFrankish Table of Nations,itself relying partly on the 1st-centuryGermaniaof Tacitus.It gives the descent of the major peoples of Europe from three brothers.[19]

Early history of the Gaels

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Tower of Hercules(A Coruña,Galicia)

This chapter begins by explaining that all mankind is descended fromAdamthrough thesons of Noah.It tells us how Noah's sonJaphethis the forebear of all Europeans (seeJaphetites), how Japheth's sonMagogis the forebear of the Gaels andScythians,and howFénius Farsaidis the forebear of the Gaels. Fénius, a prince ofScythia,is described as one of 72 chieftains who built theTower of Babel.His son Nel wedsScota,daughter of an Egyptianpharaoh,and they have a son namedGoídel Glas.Goídel crafts theGoidelic (Gaelic) languagefrom the original 72 languages that arose after theconfusion of tongues.Goídel's offspring, the Goidels (Gaels), leave Egypt at the same time as theIsraelites(the Exodus)[20]and settle in Scythia. After some time they leave Scythia and spend 440 years travelling the Earth, undergoing trials and tribulations akin to those of the Israelites. The druid Caicher foretells that their descendants will reach Ireland. After seven years at sea, they settle in theMaeotian marshes.They then sail viaCreteandSicilyand eventually conquerIberia.There, Goídel's descendantBreogánfounds a city called Brigantia, and builds a tower from the top of which his son Íth glimpses Ireland. Brigantia was the Roman name ofCorunnainGalicia[21]and Breogán's tower is possibly based on theTower of Hercules,which was rebuilt at Corunna by the Romans.

Cessair

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Bantry Bay, where Cessair and her followers are said to have landed

According to theLebor Gabála,the first people to arrive in Ireland are led byCessair,daughter of Bith, son ofNoah.They are told to go to the western edge of the world to escape theoncoming Flood.They set out in three ships, but two are lost at sea. They land in Ireland, at Dún na mBárc onBantry Bay,forty days before the Flood. The only survivors are Cessair, forty-nine other women, and three men:Fintan mac Bóchra,Bith and Ladra. The women are split evenly among the men. Each also takes one as his wife: Fintán takes Cessair, Bith takes Barrfhind and Ladra takes Alba. However, Bith and Ladra soon die and Ladra is the first man buried in Ireland. When the Flood comes, Fintán is the only one to survive. He becomes a salmon and later an eagle and a hawk, living for 5,500 years after the Flood, whence he becomes a man again and recounts Ireland's history.

In an earlier version of the tale, the first woman in Ireland isBanba.[22]Banba,FódlaandÉriuwerea trioof land goddesses and their husbands wereMac Cuill(son of hazel),Mac Cecht(son of the plough) andMac Gréine(son of the Sun). It is likely that Cessair, the three men and their three wives are a Christianised replacement for them.[23][24]Fintán/Mac Cuill may also be linked to theSalmon of Knowledge,which gains all the world's knowledge after eating nine hazelnuts that fall intoa well.The women who accompany Cessair appear by their names to represent the world's ancestral mothers; they included Alba (ancestor of the Britons), Espa (Spanish), German (Germans), Gothiam (Goths), Traige (Thracians), and so forth. Thus "their arrival can be read as creating a microcosm of the whole world's population in Ireland". Several other companions echo the names of ancient Irish goddesses.[24]

Partholón

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"Tuan watches Nemed", illustration byStephen Reidin T. W. Rolleston'sMyths & Legends of the Celtic Race,1911

Ireland is then uninhabited for 300 years, until a second group of people arrive. They are led byPartholón,who is descended from Noah through Magog. They sail to Ireland via Gothia,Anatolia,Greece, Sicily and Iberia. They include Partholón's wifeDelgnat,their four chieftain sons, and others. When they arrive, there is only one open plain, three lakes and nine rivers. They clear four more plains and a further sevenlakes burst from the ground.Named figures are credited with introducing cattle husbandry, ploughing, cooking, brewing, and dividing the island in four. They battle and defeat the mysteriousFomorians,who are led byCichol Gricenchos.Eventually, Partholón and his people (now 5,000 men and 4,000 women) die of plague in a single week. Only one man,Tuan mac Cairill,survives. Like Fintán, he lives for centuries in a number of forms, so that he can recount Irish history. This chapter also includes the tale of Delgnat committing adultery with a servant.

Partholóncomes fromBartholomaeus(Bartholomew) and he is probably an invention of the Christian writers, possibly being borrowed from a character of that name in the Christian histories of SaintJeromeand Isidore.[25][26]The Fomorians have been interpreted as a group of deities who represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature; personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought.[27][28]

Nemed

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Ireland is then uninhabited for 30 years, until a third group of people arrive. They are led byNemed,who is also descended from Noah through Magog.

They set out from theCaspian Seain 44 ships but, after a year and a half of sailing, the only ship to reach Ireland is Nemed's. On board are his wife, his four chieftain sons, and others. During their time in Ireland, the Nemedians clear twelve plains and build two royal forts, and four lakes burst from the ground. They win four battles against the Fomorians.

After Nemed and many others die of plague, the Nemedians are oppressed by the FomoriansConandand Morc. EachSamhain,they must give two-thirds of their children, their wheat and their milk to the Fomorians. Thistributethat the Nemedians are forced to pay may be "a dim memory of sacrifice offered at the beginning of winter, when the powers of darkness and blight are in the ascendant".[29]Eventually, they rise up against the Fomorians and attack the Tower of Conand with 60,000 warriors (30,000 on sea and 30,000 on land), defeating Conand. Morc then attacks, and almost all of the Nemedians are either killed in the fighting or swept away by the sea. Only one ship of thirty men escapes. Some of them go "into the north of the world", some go to Britain and become the ancestors of allBritons,and some go south to Greece.

Fir Bolg

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Ambassadors of the Fir Bolg and Tuath Dé meeting before the Battle of Moytura, illustration byStephen Reid

Those who went to Greece were enslaved by the Greeks and made to carry bags of soil and clay. After 230 years, they sail back to Ireland. They are known as theFir Bolg(men of bags), and contain two sub-groups known as theFir Domnannand Fir Gálioin. Led by their five chieftains, they divide Ireland intofive provinces:Gann takes North Munster, Sengann takes South Munster, Genann takes Connacht, Rudraige takes Ulster and Slanga takes Leinster. A succession of nineHigh Kingsrule over Ireland for the next 37 years.

Tuatha Dé Danann

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Those who went into the north of the world are the supernaturally-giftedTuatha Dé Danann(or Tuath Dé), who represent the main pagan gods of Ireland. They come to Ireland in dark clouds and land onSliabh an Iarainnin the west,[30]bringing with themFour Treasures.They fight the Fir Bolg for the ownership of Ireland in theFirst Battle of Mag Tuired(Moytura). The Tuath Dé are victorious. In some versions, the Fir Bolg flee Ireland and settle on remote offshore islands, while in others they are granted the province of Connacht.Nuada,king of the Tuath Dé, loses his hand or arm in the battle and is thus no longer fit to be their king. He is replaced byBres(a half-Fomorian), who becomes High King of Ireland. However, Bres mistreats the Tuath Dé and neglects his kingly duties. This may reflect the occasional supremacy of the powers of blight (the Fomorians) over the powers of growth (the Tuath Dé).[31]After seven years,Dian Cechtthe physician andCrednethe metalsmith replace Nuada's hand/arm with a working silver one, and he re-takes the kingship. Though in some versions Nuada's arm is replaced with a silver one by Dian Cecht immediately, but he is still considered unfit to be king and Dian Cecht's son Cian replaces it with an arm made of flesh. The Tuath Dé then fight the Fomorians in the Second Battle of Moytura.Balorthe Fomorian kills Nuada, but Balor's grandsonLughkills him and becomes king. The Tuath Dé enjoy 150 years of unbroken rule.

Milesians

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"The Coming of the Sons of Miled", illustration byStephen Reid

The tale of the Gaels is now resumed. Íth, who has spied Ireland from the top of Breogán's Tower, sails to the island with a group of men. He travels toAileach Néitwhere he meets Ireland's three kings: Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht and Mac Gréine of the Tuath Dé. However, he is killed by unnamed attackers and his men return to Iberia. The Gaels set sail with a great force to avenge his death and take Ireland. They are referred to here as the Sons ofMíl Espáine(orMilesians). The nameMíl Espáinecomes from the LatinMiles Hispaniae( "soldier ofHispania"). After they land, they fight against the combined forces of the Tuath Dé and Fomorians. On their way toTara,they are met on three mountains by the aforementioned Banba, Fódla and Ériu – the wives of Ireland's three kings. Each goddess asks that the Gaels name the land after her. One of the Gaels,Amergin,promises that it shall be so. At Tara, they meet the three kings, who defend their claim to the joint kingship of the land. They ask that there be a three-day truce, during which the Gaels must stay a distance of nine waves from land. The Gaels agree, but once their ships are nine waves from Ireland, the Tuath Dé conjure up a great wind that prevents them from sailing back to land. However, Amergin calms the wind by reciting a verse. The surviving ships return to land and the two groups agree to divide Ireland between them. The Gaels take the world above, while the Tuath Dé take the world below (i.e. theOtherworld) and enter thesídhemounds.

Roll of the pagan kings of Ireland

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See also:List of High Kings of Ireland

Modelled on the BiblicalBooks of Kings,this chapter recounts the deeds of various kings of Ireland, most of them legendary or semi-legendary, from the time of Éber and Érimón to the early 5th century of the Christian era.

Roll of the Christian kings of Ireland

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A continuation of the previous chapter, it is the most accurate part ofLebor Gabála,being concerned with historical kings of Ireland whose deeds and dates are preserved in contemporary written records.

Modern analysis

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For many centuries, theLebor Gabálawas accepted as an accurate and reliable account of the history of Ireland. As late as the 17th century,Geoffrey Keatingdrew on it while writing his history of Ireland,Foras Feasa ar Éirinn,and it was also used extensively by the authors of theAnnals of the Four Masters.Recently, however, the work has been subjected to greater critical scrutiny. One contemporary scholar has placed it in "the tradition of historical fabrication orpseudohistory";[32]another has written of its "generally spurious character" and has drawn attention to its many "fictions", while acknowledging that it "embodies some popular traditions.[33]The Irish archaeologistR. A. Stewart Macalister,who translated the work into English, wrote: "There is not a single element of genuine historical detail, in the strict sense of the word, anywhere in the whole compilation".[34]

The tale of the Gaels coming to Ireland is believed to be an invention of the Christian writers and an attempt to liken the Gaels to the Israelites.[3][25][35]The claim of Scythian origins seems to be based on the superficial similarity of the namesScotiandScythae.[36]Other medieval pseudo-histories did likewise with other nations. For example, in his earlierHistory of the Goths,described by James Carey as "a model of barbarian pseudohistory",Isidoreconcludes that theGothsandGetsare related due to their similar names, and says that they (along with the Scythians) descend from Magog.[37]The claim of Iberian origins may be based on three things: the coincidental similarity of the namesIberiaandHibernia,[3][38]Isidore describing Iberia as the "mother[land] of the races",[36]andOrosiusdescribing Ireland as lying "between Iberia and Britain".[39]The claim that the Gaels settled in the Maeotian marshes seems to have been taken from theBook of the History of the Franks,[40]and their travels to Crete and Sicily may have been based on the tale ofAeneas.[41]Other parts of theLebor Gabáladerive from pagan Gaelic mythology, most notably the divine Tuath Dé and the demonic Fomorians, who have been likened to theÆsir and VanirofNorse mythology.It is suggested that the Nemedians' struggle against the Fomorians is "an echo of the primordial clash" between these two groups of supernatural beings,[42]and that the Fir Bolg are the human equivalent of the Fomorians.[43]

While most scholars view the work as primarily myth rather than history, some have argued that it is loosely based on real events. In the 1940s,T. F. O'Rahillycreated a model of Irish prehistory based on his analysis of theLebor Gabálaand the early Irish language. He suggested that there were four waves of Celtic migrations or invasions: theCruthin(c. 700–500 BC), theÉrainnorBuilg(c. 500 BC), theLaigin,Domnainnand Gálioin (c. 300 BC), and the Gaels (c. 100 BC). He argued that the first three groups spokeBrittonic languages.O'Rahilly believed some of the 'invasions' inLebor Gabálaare based on these, but that others were invented by the writers. He also argued that many of Ireland's 'pre-Gaelic' peoples continued to flourish for centuries after 100 BC.[44]O'Rahilly's theory has been challenged by historians and archaeologists, and is no longer accepted.[45][46]

InThe White Goddess(1948), British poet and mythologistRobert Gravesargued that myths brought to Ireland centuries before the introduction of writing were preserved and transmitted accurately by word of mouth before being written down in the Christian Era. Taking issue with Macalister, with whom he corresponded on this and other matters, he declared some of theLebor Gabála's traditions "archaeologically plausible".[47]The White Goddessitself has been the subject of much criticism by archaeologists and historians.[48][49]

Text

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Translations

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Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister'sfive volume English translation ofLebor Gabála Érennwas published between 1938 and 1956.
  • Macalister, R.A. Stewart(ed.), "Lebor Gabála Érenn - The Book of the Taking of Ireland",Irish Texts Society,Educational Company of Ireland

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^Koch 2006,pp. 1693–1695.
  2. ^abWilliams, Mark (2016),Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth,Princeton University Press
  3. ^abcÓ hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991).Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition.Prentice Hall Press. pp. 296–297.
  4. ^abcCarey 1994,pp. 1–4.
  5. ^Koch, John T.Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia.ABC-CLIO, 2006. p.1132
  6. ^Koch 2006,p. 1132.
  7. ^abcdefLennon, Joseph (2008).Irish Orientalism: A Literary and Intellectual History.Syracuse University Press. pp. 29–36.ISBN978-0-8156-3164-4.
  8. ^Macalister 1938,pp.xxvi-xxvii: "If we cut the interpolated sections out, we find ourselves left with aHistory of the Gaedil,based upon the history of the Children of Israel as it is set forth in the Old Testament. ".
  9. ^Koch 2006,p. 1130.
  10. ^Carey 1994,p. 3.
  11. ^Koch 2006,p. 1133.
  12. ^Marcellinus, Ammianus,Res Gestae,15:9
  13. ^O'Curry, Eugene (1861),"Lecture XIII",Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History,James Duffy, Dublin, pp. 294–295
  14. ^"NENNIUS (NEMNIUS, NEMNIUUS) (Fl. C. A.D. 800), monk and antiquary | Dictionary of Welsh Biography".
  15. ^Dumville, David (1974), "Some aspects of the chronology of the Historia Brittonum",Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies,25(4): 439–45
  16. ^abBrady, Lindy (2022).The Origin Legends of Early Medieval Britain and Ireland.Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–50.
  17. ^Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise(1949),Celtic Gods and Heroes,Dover Publications, 2000, p. 3
  18. ^According to (O'Donovan 1849,pp. xxiii–xxiv) the manuscript K1in the Royal Irish Academy is actually a fair copy of Mícheál Ó Cléirigh's autograph made by his fellow-master Peregrine O'Clery. The author's original manuscript was probably sent toLouvain.
  19. ^Evans 2015,p. 138.
  20. ^Macalister 1939,pp. 33–39, 61–65.
  21. ^Encyclopædia Britannica,"A Coruña".
  22. ^Koch 2006,p. 165.
  23. ^Carey 1994,p. 21.
  24. ^abMonaghan, p.85
  25. ^abCarey 1994,p. 9.
  26. ^Monaghan, p.376
  27. ^MacCulloch 2009,pp. 80, 89, 91.
  28. ^Smyth, Daragh (1996),A Guide to Irish Mythology,Irish Academic Press, p. 74
  29. ^MacCulloch 2009,p. 80.
  30. ^Cockburn MacAndrew, Henry (1892), "Ireland before the Conquest",The Highland Monthly,3,"Northern Chronicle" Office: 433–444
  31. ^MacCulloch 2009,p. 89.
  32. ^John Carey, in an introduction to the 1993 edition of R. A. Stewart Macalister's English translation; Francis John Byrne, in hisIrish Kings and High-Kings(pp. 9–10) refers to the work as "a fantastic compound of genuine racial memories, exotic Latin learning and world history derived from Orosius and Isidore of Seville, euhemerised Celtic mythology, dynastic propaganda, folklore, and pure fiction".
  33. ^O'Rahilly 1946,p. 264.
  34. ^Macalister 1939,p. 252.
  35. ^Monaghan, p.331
  36. ^abCarey 1994,p. 12.
  37. ^Carey 1994,p. 13.
  38. ^Monaghan, Patricia.The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore.Infobase Publishing, 2014. p.332
  39. ^"Did the Irish Come from Spain?",History Ireland,vol. 9, no. 3, 2001
  40. ^Carey 1994,p. 15.
  41. ^Carey 1994,p. 16.
  42. ^Ó hÓgáin,Myth, Legend & Romance,p.318
  43. ^Online Index to the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions) based on R.A.S. Macalister's translations and notes: O - P.Corpus of Electronic Texts,2008.
  44. ^O'Rahilly 1946,p.264; pp. 154 ff.
  45. ^Brady, Ciaran; O'Dowd, Mary; Mercer Walker, Brian, eds. (1989).Ulster: An Illustrated History.Batsford Books.pp. 22–23.T. F. O'Rahilly, whose historical conclusions have been questioned by archaeologists and historians. In particular, O'Rahilly's thesis on the chronology of the invasion has been subject to serious revision and, consequently, as explained in more detail below, his views on the ethnic makeup of early Ireland are no longer accepted.
  46. ^Dillon, MylesandChadwick, Nora.The Celtic Realms: History and Civilization.Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1967. p. 5.He distinguished four successive immigrations: the Cruthin some time before 500 BC; the Érainn (Fir Bolg) perhaps in the fifth century; the Laigin (with Domnainn and Gálioin) in the third century; the Goidil who came c. 100 BC.... O'Rahilly's most novel suggestion is that his first three groups spoke Brythonic dialects... His demonstration is not convincing, and the notion that this more archaic language was brought latest, by a migration of the Quariates from south-east Gaul, is inherently improbable.
  47. ^Graves 1948,p.48 & p.100.
  48. ^Wood, Juliette (1999)."Chapter 1, The Concept of the Goddess".In Sandra Billington, Miranda Green (ed.).The Concept of the Goddess.Routledge. p. 12.ISBN9780415197892.Retrieved23 December2008.
  49. ^Hutton, Ronald (1993).The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy.John Wiley & Sons.p. 320.ISBN9780631189466.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • Carey, John(2005), Fulton, Helen (ed.), "Lebor Gabála and the Legendary History of Ireland",Medieval Celtic Literature and Society,Four Courts, Dublin, pp. 32–48
  • Carey, John(1993),A new introduction to Lebor Gabála Érenn. The Book of the taking of Ireland, edited and translated by R.A. Stewart Macalister,Dublin: Irish Texts Society
  • Ó Buachalla, Liam (1962), "The Lebor Gabala or book of invasions of Ireland",Journal of the Cork Historical & Archaeological Society,67:70–9
  • Ó Concheanainn, Tomás (1998), Barnard, Toby (ed.), "Lebor Gabála in the Book of Lecan",A Miracle of Learning. Studies in Manuscripts and Irish Learning. Essays in Honour of William O'Sullivan,Aldershot and Bookfield: Ashgate, pp. 40–51
  • Cockburn MacAndrew, Henry (1892),Ireland before the Conquest,vol. The Highland Monthly, Volume 3 (Digitised 2007 from original at Harvard University ed.), "Northern Chronicle" Office, pp. 433–444
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