''Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil'' ("The Victorious Career of Cellachán of Cashel")

Donnchadh Ó Corráin Donnchadh Ó Corráin (28 February 1942 – 25 October 2017) was an Irish historian and Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at University College Cork. He earned his BA in history and Irish from that institution, graduating in 1964. He was a ...

writes that this title "was first given it by Eugene O'Curry in his transcript of the text. It has no title in the earliest copy, that in the Book of Lismore. A variety of titles occurs in the late manuscript tradition in which the tale is normally divided into two parts entitled respectively 'Cathughadh Ceallachain re Lochlannuibh' and 'Toruigheacht na tTaoiseach air Cheallachain' ( Ó Corráin, 'Caithréim' p.1 (fn 1)) is an Irish tract from the first part of the 12th century. It is most likely written some time between 1127 and 1134,According to Caoimhín Breatnach (p.222) it "appears to have been written between 1127 and 1134", while Letitia Campbell (p.288) states that it was commissioned between 1128 and 1131. commissioned by

Cormac Mac Carthaigh Cormac is a masculine given name in the Irish and English languages. The name is ancient in the Irish language and is also seen in the rendered Old Norse as ''Kormákr''. Mac is Irish for "son", and can be used as either a prefix or a suffix. ...

king of Munster The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the '' Book of Invasions'', the earliest ...

and claimant to the title

High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...

. The tale is ostensibly a biography of Cormac's 10th century ancestor

Cellachán Caisil Cellachán mac Buadacháin (died 954), called Cellachán Caisil, was King of Munster. Biography The son of Buadachán mac Lachtnai, he belonged to the Cashel branch of the Eóganachta kindred, the Eóganacht Chaisil. The last of his cognatic ance ...

, but in reality a propaganda tract. It is written as an Eóganacht riposte to the

Dál Cais The Dalcassians ( ga, Dál gCais ) are a Gaelic Irish clan, generally accepted by contemporary scholarship as being a branch of the Déisi Muman, that became very powerful in Ireland during the 10th century. Their genealogies claimed descent fr ...

Uí Briain The O'Brien dynasty ( ga, label= Classical Irish, Ua Briain; ga, label=Modern Irish, Ó Briain ; genitive ''Uí Bhriain'' ) is a noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becomi ...

chronicle, ''

Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ''Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib'' ("The War of the Irish with the Foreigners") is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings and Uí Ímair dynasty in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginning ...

'', but reflects the current political situation where former rivals Dál Cais and Eóganachta are allied against

Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair Toirdhealbhach Mór Ua Conchobhair (old spelling: Tairrdelbach Mór Ua Conchobair; 1088 – 1156) anglicised Turlough Mór O'Conor, was King of Connacht (1106–1156) and High King of Ireland (ca. 1120–1156). Family background and early life ...

, with an emphasis on collaboration between Cellachán Caisil and

Cennétig mac Lorcáin Cennétig mac Lorcáin (died 951), was a prominent king of the Dál gCais (or "Dalcassians") and king of Tuadmumu. He raised the dynasty in power, from regional vassals of the kings of Munster, to challenging for the kingship himself. He was t ...

against their common foe, the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. Flanagan, p. 919 A copy of Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil is contained in the

Book of Lismore The Book of Lismore, also known as the Book of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach, is a late fifteenth-century Gaelic manuscript that was created at Kilbrittain in County Cork, Ireland, for Fínghean Mac Carthaigh, Lord of Carbery (1478–1505). Defective ...

, as well as in several other manuscripts. Ó Corráin, pp.1–3 The most recent edition of Caithréim was made by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

scholar

Alexander Bugge Alexander Bugge (30 December 1870, Christiania – 24 December 1929, Copenhagen) was a Norwegian historian.

in 1905. This edition is based on the text contained in Book of Lismore and R.I.A. 23 H 18 (707), with critical variants from British Library Egerton 106 occasionally cited.

Notes and references

Notes

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Bugge's edition at Openlibrary.org

Cellachan

Callahan Genealogy and History website, including a copy and lengthy discussion of this book.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caithreim Chellachain Chaisil Historiography of Ireland Texts of medieval Ireland Irish manuscripts MacCarthy dynasty Irish books