Brian Rua (c.1648–?) was 17th century "prophet" or
Oracle from
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name ...
in
County Mayo,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Papers relating to the life and the prophecies of Brian Rua, known collectively as "''Tarngaireacht Bhriain Ruaidh''" were destroyed, apparently by his own son, who lost his temper with his father when the two had one of their regular disagreements.
Brian Rua lived in the parish of
Kilcommon
Kilcommon ( ga, Cill Chomáin) is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitatio ...
in the townland of Inver. Believed to have been born around the year 1648, his story was passed on through
oral history in the parish. Brian Rua is reputed to have made a number of
prophecies
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...
in his lifetime, predicting that "Carriages travelling North and South will have iron wheels and the stones on the roads will be talking" and "Carriages on wheels with smoke and fire will come to
Achill
Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Brid ...
and the first and last carriages will carry dead bodies". In 1894, the first train on the newly created Achill railway line carried the bodies of 32 young people who died in a drowning tragedy in Clew Bay, an event locals suggest fulfilled the prophecy.
In 1906 a renowned Celtic scholar called Michael Timoney from
Lahardane
Lahardane, also sometimes spelled Lahardaun (, meaning "Half on Hill"), is a village in the parish of Addergoole, County Mayo, Ireland, adjacent to Lough Conn and to Nephin, and close to the towns of Crossmolina, Castlebar and Ballina. The 20 ...
set out to collect the story of Brian Rua and publish it, so that it would not be forgotten. The stories were carried down the generations in the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
and published in that language. In 2000, as part of the Millennium Project, the story was translated into English and published as part of the book 'Traditional Cures and Gifted People' by Philomena Cronin.
References
* Achill Railway: http://www.realizedvision.com/railways.php
* Cronin, Phil, ''Traditional Cures and Gifted People''. With a translation of Red Brian Carabine's Prophecy' (2000) Crossmolina
Mayo County Library* McDonald T. ''Achill Island. Archaeology-History-Folklore'' (1997) Longford
* Noone, Fr. Sean. ''Where the Sun Sets'' (1991) Erris
* Nolan R. ''Within the Mullet'' (2001) Kildare
* Timoney, Michael.''Tarngaireacht Brian Ruadh'' 1906 Lahardane
{{DEFAULTSORT:O Cearbhain, Brian Ruadh
Social history of Ireland
Connacht
Prophets
Irish folklore
17th-century Irish people
People from County Mayo
Irish-language writers