The Irish Mythological Cycle

The Irish Mythological Cycle contains some of the most significant stories in global mythology. It is one of the last surviving remnants of the mythology of the Iron Age Celts, a broad and disparate tribe of people, united primarily by similar languages and cultures, who originated in Central Europe sometime around the 6th century BCE. Their culture spread into Ireland through migration and cultural contact, gradually becoming the dominant culture on the island of Ireland.

Fairy places: a Sidhean (fairy hill) in Co. Mayo

A sidhean (fairy hill) in Co. Mayo at a bog cut away. Fairies are associated with the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Courtesy of the National Folklore Collection

Fairy places: a Sidhean (fairy hill) in Co. Mayo
Courtesy of the National Folklore Collection

Fairy places: a Sidhean (fairy hill) in Co. Mayo

A sidhean (fairy hill) in Co. Mayo at a bog cut away. Fairies are associated with the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Courtesy of the National Folklore Collection

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These early Gaels found the country dotted with the burial mounds of earlier inhabitants – most significantly, Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth – which they then associated with their own Gods. Many tales of Fionn and the Fianna are also situated at these sites.

The Irish Mythological Cycle contains a series of stories set in Ireland’s pre-Christian past, populated by godlike characters that can be easily identified as prominent gods in Celtic cosmology. The early scribes who composed and preserved the stories were Christian monks, so they were careful not to represent the characters as gods. Over time, the characters were presented as having lived and ruled in Ireland before the age of mortal men.

The Book of Invasions, or Leabhar Gabhála na hÉireann, is a compilation of history, folklore, and mythology in prose and poetry form. It was compiled by an anonymous scholar around the 11th century and purports to be a true history of Ireland; in fact, it is a pseudo-history with Christian and pre-Christian mythological elements, telling of wave after wave of invasion and immigration into Ireland. It is preserved in several manuscripts, including the Book of Leinster and the Book of Lecan, and copies can be found at the Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College Dublin.

The Battle of Moyturra

An interpretation of the Battle of Moyturra from an exhibition at the arts project centre Dublin.

The Battle of Moyturra

The Battle of Moyturra

An interpretation of the Battle of Moyturra from an exhibition at the arts project centre Dublin.

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The Book of Invasions can be divided into ten different books, beginning with a re-telling of the story of Genesis before later including accounts of the people of Nemed, who battle against the Fomorians, a race of sea pirates, before being wiped out by a flood and displaced around the world. Their descendants, the Fir Bolg, then come to Ireland, before being replaced by the Tuatha Dé Danann, a group of people who possess the secrets of magic and druidry, in the First Battle of Moytura.

The sagas are not particularly representative of Early Irish mythology, as they are so hugely altered and distorted by the scribes. But one saga – the Second Battle of Moytura – is different. This saga is perhaps the richest source of information about Ireland’s pre-Christian deities, who can be clearly linked to Continental deities. The text also is perhaps the closest to the authentic oral mythological tradition, and continues to resonate with artists, poets, filmmakers and modern druids.