In
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 Ch ...
Tuan mac Cairill was a recluse who retains his memories from his previous incarnations, going back to
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 ...
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 manuscript known as Lebor na hUidre (English translation: Book of the Dun Cow) is the oldest extant written in Gaelic (Irish), and the texts included therein recount Irish history through an eschatological lens. The Christian authors who c ...
(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
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 Ne ...
,
Fir Bolg
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 Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. ...
and the
Tuatha De Dannan.
As a lone human guarding the land, he grew hairy, clawed and gray. And he witnessed the invasion of
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 Ne ...
(who he says was his father's brother), and woke up one day to find himself reborn as a vigorous young stag. The ancient stag watched the Nemedians perish, and was again reborn into a young wild boar, and became the king of the boar-herds, witnessing the taking of Ireland by Semion, leader of the Fir Bolg. Then he became a great hawk (or eagle: murrech "large sea-bird, a sea-raven (eDIL )", in the prose part, but ga, seig: séig "a hawk, a bird of the hawk kind (eDIL)" in verse. Mackillop says "eagle".) and saw Ireland seized by the Tuatha Dé Danann and the
Milesians. Later reincarnated into a salmon, he was caught by a fisherman serving a chieftain called Cairill, and was eaten whole by the Cairill's wife, and passed into her womb to be reborn again as Tuan mac (son of) Cairill. He was eventually converted to Christianity, and conversed with
St. Patrick and
Colum Cille.
See also
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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 fro ...
- compare with Tuan's shortened and truncated history of Ireland.
*
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.
...
- a similar figure in Irish myth
References
Sources
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External links
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* (retelling by
James Stephens)
Mythological cycle
Characters in Irish mythology