''An Banshenchas'' (literally "the woman lore") is a medieval text which collects brief descriptions of prominent women in Irish legend and history into a poetic narrative.
Unlike much of early Irish literature, ''An Banshenchas'' may be attributed to a specific author and date. The introduction of the poem states that
Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside, of Ard Brecáin in
Meath, composed it in 1147.
Content
''An Banshenchas'' is framed in a historical context and starts with
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
and other
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
women, moves to the legendary women of
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 ...
such as
Étaín and
Emer, then completes with later-day characters who are almost certainly historical, including a few woman of the
Hiberno-Norse aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word ...
.
The references to each of the characters within are short; a few lines at most. For example, in regard to some early biblical figures:
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, Seth
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. ...
, pious Sili and Cain
Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...
were the four first men who propagated multitudes. Eve, Olla, Pib and Pithib (women of power in the eternal world) bore the beautiful race: prosperous before the Flood and miserable afterwards. Eve was the only wife of mighty Adam. Olla was spouse of blameless Seth. Pib was the name of the wife of guilty Cain. She did not avoid evil. Pithib was wife of Sili of the prophets. Whiter than foam was her body.
Or regarding some of the legendary women of Ireland:
Etain was wife of Eochu Aireman, Esa was her daughter, evil were her rites. Her name is given to a lofty spot, allied by her crimes to pollution. Mes Buachalla was Esa's daughter. By her methods mariners were coarsened.Banshenchas: The Lore of Women
/ref>
The stories of some of these women are known from other sources, ranging from the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
, to the ''
Wooing of Etain'' to other, less-well known sources. Some of the names within ''An Banshenchas'' are today just names that hint at stories that are long-lost but were known to Ó Caiside and his contemporaries.
Manuscripts
Copies of ''An Banshenchas'' are found in the ''
Book of Leinster'', ''
Leabhar Ua Maine
''Leabhar Ua Maine'' (also ''Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin'', ''The Book of Hy-Many'' and RIA MS D ii 1) is an Irish genealogical compilation, created c. 1392–94.
History
Previously known as ''Leabhar Uí Dubhagáin'', after Seán Mór Ó Dubha ...
'', and the ''
Great Book of Lecan
The (Great) Book of Lecan (Irish: ''Leabhar (Mór) Leacáin'') (RIA, MS 23 P 2) is a medieval Irish manuscript written between 1397 and 1418 in Castle Forbes, Lecan (Lackan, Leckan; Irish ''Leacán''), in the territory of Tír Fhíacrach, ...
''. Like the ''
dinsenchas'' ("place lore") poems, the banshenchas poems are accompanied by prose commentary probably of a slightly later date.
Notes
References
*
Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin, "The Manuscript Tradition of the Banshenchas." ''Ériu''. Vol. XXXIII (1982).
* ''The "Banshenchas" the
Ui Neill queens of
Tara'', Anne Connon, in ''Seanchas:Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of
Francis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne (1934 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish historian.
Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II. A ...
, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, pp. 98–108,
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, 2000
* ''A Prosopography of the Early Queens of Tara'', Anne Connon, in ''The Kingship and Landscape of Tara'', ed.
Edel Bhreathnach, pp. 225–360,
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, 2005
Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia'The Ban-Shenchus', Part I by Margaret E. Dobbs'The Ban-Shenchus', Part II by Margaret E. Dobbs'The Ban-Shenchus', Index by Margaret E. Dobbs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banshenchas
Irish-language literature
Early Irish literature
Irish mythology
Texts of medieval Ireland