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Tuan Mac Cairill
In Irish mythology Tuan mac Cairill was a recluse who retains his memories from his previous incarnations, going back to Antediluvian age. Initially a follower of Partholon, he alone survived the plague, or the Flood, that killed the rest of his people. Through a series of animal transformations he survived into Christian times, and, in conversation with St. Finnian of Moville told a brief history of himself and of Ireland from his people onward to the coming of St. Patrick. Sources His legend is found in an 11th Century manuscript called Lebor na hUidre (The Book of Dun Cow); in a 15th Century manuscript called Laud 610 kept at the Bodleian Library, Oxford; and in a 16th Century manuscript labeled H.3.18 at Trinity College, Dublin. Summary Tuan who was a hermit or recluse, told St. Finnan that he was born 2000 years earlier and witnessed many of the waves of invaders who came to ancient Ireland - the Nemedians, Fir Bolg and the Tuatha De Dannan. As a lone human guarding ...
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Irish Mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Christian scribes, who modified and Christianized them to some extent. This body of myths is the largest and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. The tales and themes continued to be developed over time, and the oral tradition continued in Irish folklore alongside the written tradition, but the main themes and characters remained largely consistent. The myths are conventionally grouped into ' cycles'. The Mythological Cycle consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann, who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races like the Fomorians. Important works in the cycle are the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' ("Book of Invasions"), a legendary history of Ireland, the ''Cath Maige Tuired'' ("Ba ...
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Tuatha Dé Danann
The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland. The Tuath Dé are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. They dwell in the Celtic Otherworld, Otherworld but interact with humans and the human world. They are associated with the ''sídhe'': prominent ancient burial mounds such as Brú na Bóinne, which are entrances to Otherworld realms. Their traditional rivals are the Fomorians (Fomoire), who might represent the destructive powers of nature, and whom the Tuath Dé defeat in the Cath Maige Tuired, Battle of Mag Tuired. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"); The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"); Lugh; Nuada Airgetlám, N ...
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James Stephens (author)
James Stephens (9 February 1880 – 26 December 1950) was an Irish novelist and poet. Life Early life James Stephens' birth is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Stephens himself claimed to have been born on the same day and same year as James Joyce (2 February 1882), whereas he is in fact probably the same James Stephens who is on record as being born at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, on 9 February 1880, the son of Francis Stephens (''c''. 1840–1882/3) of 5 Thomas's Court, Dublin, a vanman and a messenger for a stationer's office, and his wife, Charlotte Collins (''b''. ''c''. 1847). His father died when Stephens was two years old, and when he was six years old, his mother remarried, and Stephens was committed to the Meath Protestant Industrial School for Boys in Blackrock for begging on the streets, where he spent much of the rest of his childhood. He attended school with his adoptive brothers Thomas and Richard (Tom and Dick) Collins before graduating as a solicitor's clerk. The ...
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Fintan Mac Bóchra
In Irish mythology Fintan mac Bóchra (modern spelling: Fionntán), known as "the Wise", was a seer who accompanied Noah's granddaughter Cessair to Ireland before the deluge. Bóchra may be his mother, or may be a poetic reference to the sea. He was one of only three men in the expedition, along with fifty women, so he, Cessair's father Bith, and the pilot, Ladra, had sixteen wives each. Fintan's wives are named: Cessair, Lot, Luam, Mall, Mar, Froechar, Femar, Faible, Foroll, Cipir, Torrian, Tamall, Tam, Abba, Alla, Baichne, and Sille. He married Ebliu later. His only son was Illann. His wives and children were drowned when the flood arrived but he survived in the form of a salmon, remaining a year under the waters in a cave called Fintan's Grave. He then turned into an eagle and then a hawk then back to human form. He lived for 5500 years after the Deluge, becoming an advisor to the kings of Ireland. In this capacity he gave advice to the Fir Bolg king Eochaid mac Eirc when the ...
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Lebor Gabála Érenn
''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to the Middle 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. The ''Lebor Gabála'' tells of Ireland being settled (or "taken") six times by six groups of people: the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, the people of Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha Dé Danann, and the Milesians. The first four groups are wiped out or forced to abandon the island; the fifth group represent Ireland's pagan gods, while the final group represent the Irish people (the Gaels). The ''Lebor Gabála'' was highly influential and was largely "accepted as conventional history by poet ...
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Colum Cille
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important Iona Abbey, abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Columba studied under some of Ireland's most prominent church figures and founded several monasteries in the country. Around 563 AD he and his twelve companions crossed to Dunaverty near Southend, Argyll, in Kintyre before settling in Iona in Scotland, then part of the Ulster kingdom of Dál Riata, where they founded a new abbey as a base for ...
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Milesians (Irish)
In the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Irish Christian pseudo-history, the Milesians () are the final race to settle in Ireland. They represent the Irish people. The Milesians are Gaels who sail to Ireland from Iberia (Hispania) after spending hundreds of years travelling the earth. When they land in Ireland they contend with the Tuatha Dé Danann, who represent the Irish pantheon of gods. The two groups agree to divide Ireland between them: the Milesians take the world above, while the Tuath Dé take the world below (i.e. the Otherworld). Whether the word "Milesians" came before or after the name Míl Espáine, which is the Irish form of the Latin ''Miles Hispaniae'' ("Soldier of Hispania") is uncertain. Joseph Lennon writes that "no Irish-language cognate of the word exists." and that "the word Milesian is not used to refer to the Irish with any regularity until the eighteenth century..." Scholars believe that the tale is mostly an invention of medieval Christian writers ...
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Nemed
Nemed or Nimeth (modern spelling: Neimheadh) is a character in medieval Irish legend. According to the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (compiled in the 11th century), he was the leader of the third group of people to settle in Ireland: the ''Muintir Nemid'' (or ''Muintir Neimhidh'', "people of Nemed"), ''Clann Nemid'' (''Clann Neimhidh'', "offspring of Nemed") or "Nemedians". They arrived thirty years after the Muintir Partholóin, their predecessors, had died out. Nemed eventually dies of plague and his people are oppressed by the Fomorians. They rise up against the Fomorians, attacking their tower out at sea, but most are killed and the survivors leave Ireland. Their descendants become the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann. Etymology The word ''nemed'' means "privileged" or "holy" in Old Irish, and "seems to have been a designation of a druid".Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 318 The ...
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Firbolg
In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Nemed, Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. Those who went to Greece became the Fir Bolg and eventually return to Ireland, after it had been uninhabited for many years. After ruling it for some time and dividing the island into Provinces of Ireland, provinces, they are overthrown by the invading Tuatha Dé Danann.John Carey (Celticist), Carey, John''The Irish National Origin-Legend: Synthetic Pseudohistory''. Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge, 1994. pp. 1–4 Myth The ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' tells of Ireland being settled six times by six groups of people. The first three—the people of Cessair, the people of Partholón, and the people of Nemed—were wiped out or forced to abandon the island. The Fir Bolg are said to be descendants ...
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Antediluvian
The antediluvian (alternatively pre-diluvian or pre-flood) period is the time period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of man and the Genesis flood narrative in biblical cosmology. The term was coined by Thomas Browne. The narrative takes up chapters 1–6 (excluding the flood narrative) of the Book of Genesis. The term found its way into early geology and science until the late Victorian era. Colloquially, the term is used to refer to any ancient and murky period. Precedents The Sumerian flood myth is alleged to be the direct mythological antecessor to the biblical flood record as well as other Near Eastern flood stories, and reflects a similar religious and cultural relevance to their religion. Much as the Abrahamic religions, ancient Sumerians divided the world between pre-flood and post-flood eras, the former being a time where the gods walked the earth with humans. After the flood, humans ceased to be immortal and the gods distanced themselves. Timing the antediluv ...
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Nemedians
Nemed or Nimeth (modern spelling: Neimheadh) is a character in medieval Irish legend. According to the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (compiled in the 11th century), he was the leader of the third group of people to settle in Ireland: the ''Muintir Nemid'' (or ''Muintir Neimhidh'', "people of Nemed"), ''Clann Nemid'' (''Clann Neimhidh'', "offspring of Nemed") or "Nemedians". They arrived thirty years after the Partholón, Muintir Partholóin, their predecessors, had died out. Nemed eventually dies of Plague (disease), plague and his people are oppressed by the Fomorians. They rise up against the Fomorians, attacking their tower out at sea, but most are killed and the survivors leave Ireland. Their descendants become the Fir Bolg and the Tuatha Dé Danann. Etymology The word ''nemed'' means "privileged" or "holy" in Old Irish, and "seems to have been a designation of a druid".Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall P ...
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Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last into endless future times , founder = Queen Elizabeth I , established = , named_for = Trinity, The Holy Trinity.The Trinity was the patron of The Dublin Guild Merchant, primary instigators of the foundation of the University, the arms of which guild are also similar to those of the College. , previous_names = , status = , architect = , architectural_style =Neoclassical architecture , colours = , gender = , sister_colleges = St. John's College, CambridgeOriel College, Oxford , freshman_dorm = , head_label = , head = , master = , vice_head_label = , vice_head = , warden ...
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