Literatures In This Period

Above : Picture From Fenian Cycle

Although from this period, as from the preceding one, no manuscripts have been preserved, it occupies, nevertheless, a prominent position in Irish literature, one even more important than that occupied by the earlier era. It is the period in which occurred the events around which are woven all the stories of two of the three great cycles of Irish Literature. The preceding period was that of the ” Mythological Cycle ” ; the present one is that of the ” Red Branch Cycle,” and the ” Fenian Cycle.” The stories which have been grouped into those cycles were produced, in the form in which they have come down to us, in times much later ; but as the latter two deal with the characters and events of this period, it is appropriate to refer to them here.

The contrast between the two cycles which deal with this period is very marked. The ” Red Branch ” literature treats of events which occurred two centuries before those dealt with by the ” Fenian ” stories : not only are the characters different, but also the localities in which the scenes are principally laid : the literary tone and style, and the whole outlook, of the two cycles belong to different types.

The ” Red Branch ” Cycle has also been named the ” Ultonian ” Cycle because it is devoted to characters and events belonging to the ” Irian ” Kingdom of Ulaidh. Its centre is Eamhain Macha, and its outlook is that of the Clanna Rury. It is markedly local and self-contained, and it regards the rest of Eire in a spirit of aloofness. Its style is terse and vigorous, and its tone heroic and even aristocratic. It falls naturally into two sections, of which one is the sequel to the other. The first deals with Eamhain Macha and the sons of Uisneach : the second is concerned with Cuchulain and the ” Tain Bo.”

The earliest stories tell of the foundation of Eamhain by the Amazonian Queen, Macha ” of the Golden Hair ” ; of the glories of its royal palaces, and of the ” Craobh Ruadh,” and of the power of Connor the son of Nessa, who reigned over most of the North of Ireland just before the time of Christ. It is in the reign of Connor that the third of the ” Three Sorrows of Story-telling ” is laid. This is the ” Fate of the Children of Uisneach,” which tells of the love of Deirdre for Naesi, the son of Uisneach, and the jealousy and treachery of Connor, culminating in the death of the three sons of Uisneach and the secession of Fergus Mac Roigh and many others of the ” Red Branch ” warriors.