Hey white pagans, if you're calling the polytheistic traditions of nonwhite people "pagan" even though the practitioners don't choose to identify with this term themselves, you're doing colonialism and being racist.
The Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology: Cú Chulainn, the Táin, and the Red Branch
The Ulster Cycle is the heroic-age cycle of Irish mythology. The gods have receded into the sídhe, humans rule the country, and King Conchobar mac Nessa holds court at Emain Macha with a band of warriors called the Red Branch. The cycle's most famous text, the Táin Bó Cúailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), follows the boy-warrior Cú Chulainn as he holds off the army of Connacht almost single-handed. Around the Táin sit a cluster of related stories: Cú Chulainn's birth and training, his marriage, his death, the exile of Deirdre and her lover Naoise, the troublemaker Bricriu's chaotic feast. The gods still appear, but as visitors from another country.
If you're new to this series, the four-cycles overview sets the framework, and the Mythological Cycle overview covers the gods and the world before humans. This article focuses on the warrior court and the people in it. The Fenian Cycle overview comes next.
The world of the Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle is set in a heroic age of warrior aristocracies, chariot warfare, and cattle as the measure of wealth. By the cycle's internal chronology (synced by medieval scribes with the reign of Augustus and the birth of Christ) the Tuatha Dé have retreated into the sídhe, and humans rule the island. Conchobar mac Nessa is King of Ulster, ruling from Emain Macha (the modern Navan Fort, in County Armagh). His warrior band is the Cráebh Ruadh, the Red Branch.
The cycle's distinctive features are mostly social and material. Battles are decided by single combat between named champions rather than by massed armies. Heroes fight from chariots driven by trained drivers, fast and maneuverable. Feasts are competitions: the curath-mír (champion's portion) goes to the warrior judged best, and the dispute over who deserves it drives the plot of Fled Bricrenn. Insults are weapons. A satire from a poet can raise blisters on a king's face. Oaths and geasa (sacred prohibitions or obligations) bind heroes even when honoring them brings ruin.
Cattle are wealth. The Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) is a war fought over a single bull. Raids, counter-raids, and the protection of herds shape the cycle's economic logic.
The Otherworld stays close. Heroes can be lured into it. Gods visit the human world, sometimes in disguise. Cú Chulainn is half-divine; his father is Lugh (most of the time), the same god who led the Tuatha Dé at the Second Battle of Moytura. The Morrígan appears repeatedly across the cycle, sometimes as a crow, sometimes as a washer at a ford prophesying death.
A long-running scholarly debate runs through all of this: how much of the picture preserves real Iron Age Celtic culture, and how much was constructed by medieval scribes? J.P. Mallory's In Search of the Irish Dreamtime is a fairly accessible investigation of this question. The short answer is that the cycle is a composite, with archaic-looking features sitting alongside clearly medieval ones.
The manuscript layer, briefly
The series opener covers this argument in detail. The short version for the Ulster Cycle: the two foundational manuscripts are Lebor na hUidre (Book of the Dun Cow, c. 1100, compiled at Clonmacnoise) and the Book of Leinster (c. 1160). Most major Ulster Cycle texts survive in one or the other, sometimes in both, and sometimes in different recensions1.
Christian framing is present but lighter than in the Mythological Cycle. The scribes mostly let the heroes be heroes. The most overt Christianizing tends to be brief epilogues noting that this all happened before the coming of Christ.
The compositional layers matter for the Táin especially. Recension 1 (Lebor na hUidre) is rougher and earlier; the Book of Leinster recension is smoother, more literary, more medieval. They can be read as two different versions of the same story, not as a draft and a final.
Major figures
These are the people who keep showing up.
Cú Chulainn Born Sétanta, son of the god Lugh and Deichtire, sister of Conchobar. Renamed at age seven after he killed the smith Culann's hound and offered to take its place: "Cú Chulainn" means "the hound of Culann." Trained by the warrior Scáthach in Alba (Scotland). The cycle's central hero. Holds Ulster against Connacht almost alone in the Táin. Dies young.
Conchobar mac Nessa King of Ulster, ruling from Emain Macha. His obsession with Deirdre triggers the slaughter of the sons of Uisliu and the defection of Fergus and many other warriors to Connacht.
Fergus mac Róich Former king of Ulster, displaced by Conchobar through the trickery of Nessa, Conchobar's mother. Defects to Connacht after Conchobar's betrayal of the sons of Uisliu. Fights for Medb in the Táin with divided loyalties.
Conall Cernach Cú Chulainn's foster brother. Hunts down those responsible after Cú Chulainn's death.
Medb (Maeve) Queen of Connacht. Rules in her own right; her husband Ailill is consort more than co-ruler. Launches the Cattle Raid of Cooley to acquire a bull equal to one Ailill owns. Both ruthless and clear-eyed about her own ambition.
Deirdre Daughter of Conchobar's storyteller. The druid Cathbad prophesies at her birth that she'll grow into the most beautiful woman in Ireland and bring ruin to the kingdom. Conchobar plans to marry her; she escapes with Naoise, eldest of the sons of Uisliu. Dies by her own choice rather than be passed back to Conchobar.
Emer Cú Chulainn's wife. Wooed and won in Tochmarc Emire. Outlives him and dies of grief on his grave.
Bricriu Nemthenga "Bricriu Poison-Tongue." An troublemaker who delights in pitting heroes against each other. Provides the plot engine for Fled Bricrenn.
The Morrígan Goddess of war and sovereignty (among other things), the same figure as in the Mythological Cycle. Crosses paths with Cú Chulainn repeatedly in the Táin: as a woman offering herself to him (he refuses), as various beasts during single combat, as a washer at a ford prophesying his death.
Macha Cursed the Ulstermen so they would suffer the pains of childbirth at the moment of greatest need. Her curse explains why Cú Chulainn alone holds the border in the Táin.
The major stories
Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
The cycle's centerpiece, often referred to simply as "the Táin." Queen Medb of Connacht launches a war to capture the Donn Cuailnge (the Brown Bull of Cooley) so she can match a prized white-horned bull her husband Ailill owns. The Ulstermen are incapacitated by Macha's ancient curse: at the moment of greatest need, they suffer the pains of childbirth. Only the seventeen-year-old Cú Chulainn, exempt from the curse, stands between Connacht and the Ulster border. He fights a series of single combats at the ford, killing one champion after another, including his own foster brother Fer Diad in the cycle's most famous combat sequence. The Ulstermen eventually recover and rout Connacht, but the bulls fight first; the Donn Cuailnge kills the Connacht bull and then dies of his wounds. The text survives in two recensions: Recension 1 in Lebor na hUidre, the second in the Book of Leinster.
Translations: Recension 1 (Cecile O'Rahilly, CELT), the academic standard; Book of Leinster recension (CELT); Irish Sagas Online overview and texts. Modern translations by Thomas Kinsella (1969) and Ciaran Carson (2007) are the most widely read but are not free.
Story Archaeology: the Circling the Táin series (Episodes 1–7+) is a close reading of the prelude tales and the Táin proper.
Candlelit Tales: the ongoing Táin Mosaic series; the Combat of Cúr (Ep 13)
Compert Con Culainn and Macgnímrada Con Culainn (Cú Chulainn's birth and boyhood)
Two short texts that establish Cú Chulainn's origin. Compert Con Culainn (The Conception of Cú Chulainn) tells how Deichtire, sister of Conchobar, conceives after a strange visit from the god Lugh. The medieval text actually preserves two competing accounts of the boy's father: in the older version, Lugh is the supernatural father and Deichtire conceives by swallowing a small creature in a drink of water; in the alternate, Cú Chulainn is the result of incest between Conchobar and Deichtire. Most modern retellings settle on Lugh, but medieval scribes kept both. Macgnímrada Con Culainn (The Boyhood Deeds of Cú Chulainn) is preserved within the Táin itself: how the boy Sétanta arrived at Emain Macha and quickly outclassed his elders, how he killed the smith Culann's hound by hurling a sliotar (hurling ball) down its throat, and how he took up the dog's role and renamed himself the hound of Culann.
Translations: for Compert, see CELT (Irish text, A.G. van Hamel edition); English translation in Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas. For Macgnímrada, read it within the Táin translations linked above.
Story Archaeology: Circling the Táin 04: Boyhood Deeds.
Candlelit Tales: Who Was Cú Chulainn (Explained)
Longes mac nUislenn (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu)
The druid Cathbad prophesies at the newborn Deirdre's bedside that she'll grow into the most beautiful woman in Ireland and bring ruin to the kingdom. Conchobar refuses to have her killed. He sequesters her instead, intending to marry her himself. Deirdre falls in love with Naoise, eldest of the sons of Uisliu, and persuades him to elope with her; the three brothers and Deirdre flee to Scotland. Years later Conchobar lures them back with a false promise of safe conduct, then has the brothers killed and takes Deirdre. She refuses to live with him and ends her own life. Fergus, Cormac, and many other warriors defect to Connacht over Conchobar's broken word, and these are the defections that put Fergus in Medb's army during the Táin.
Translations: The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu (Vernam Hull edition, CELT); the later "Deirdre" recension is at CELT T301020; also in Jeffrey Gantz, Early Irish Myths and Sagas.
Candlelit Tales: Deirdre of the Sorrows Part 1 (Ep 220) and Part 2 (Ep 221)
Fled Bricrenn (Bricriu's Feast)
Bricriu Nemthenga ("Poison-Tongue") builds a great feasting hall and invites the Ulster warriors with the deliberate intent of stirring up trouble. He privately tells each of three heroes (Cú Chulainn, Conall Cernach, and Lóegaire Búadach) that the curath-mír (hero's portion) is rightfully theirs. The three nearly come to blows, and their wives quarrel over who deserves to enter the hall first. A series of trials and tests follows, including a beheading game in which a giant churl invites each hero to behead him on the condition that he can return the favor the next night. Only Cú Chulainn keeps his side of the bargain; the giant reveals himself to be the druid Cú Roí mac Dáire and confirms Cú Chulainn as the champion. The beheading game is the same plot device that turns up centuries later in the Middle English Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Translations: Fled Bricrend (Henderson edition, CELT), Irish text with notes; English translation in Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (Sacred Texts) and Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume.
Story Archaeology: Dindshenchas 04: Fled Bricrenn 1, The Feasting Hall, 05, 06, and 07; plus a shorter audio version for younger listeners.
Candlelit Tales: Bricriu's Feast (Ep 83); The Champion's Portion (Ep 85) on SoundCloud
Tochmarc Emire (The Wooing of Emer)
How Cú Chulainn won his wife. Emer is the daughter of Forgall Monach, a chieftain who has no intention of letting a young hero of unknown reputation marry his daughter. Cú Chulainn approaches Emer at her father's house, and she sets him a series of riddles and tasks before she'll consider him. To meet her conditions, Cú Chulainn travels to Alba (Scotland) and trains under the warrior Scáthach ("the shadowy one"), who teaches him the Gáe Bolg (a barbed throwing spear that can only be thrown with the foot) and the fighting techniques that make him famous. He also fights Scáthach's rival, the warrior queen Aoife, defeats her in single combat, and conceives a son with her, the boy who will become the central figure of Aided Óenfhir Aífe. Cú Chulainn returns to Ireland, takes Emer by force from her father's house, and marries her.
Translations: The Wooing of Emer by Cú Chulainn (CELT); Irish Sagas Online.
Story Archaeology: Circling the Táin 05: The Wooing of Emer; Audio Story 3: Scáthach's Story; Circling the Táin 06: Women Warriors and the Training of Cú Chulainn
Aided Óenfhir Aífe (The Death of Aoife's Only Son)
Cú Chulainn, before leaving Aoife in Scotland, leaves a ring for the son she'll bear and three geasa for the boy: he is not to give his name to a single warrior, not to turn aside from any single warrior, and not to refuse single combat with any warrior. Years later, the boy (Connla) sails to Ireland to find his father. He lands on the Ulster coast. The Ulstermen demand his name; he refuses. They send Conall Cernach to fight him; Connla defeats Conall. Finally Cú Chulainn himself comes down to the strand. They fight, and Cú Chulainn kills Connla with the Gáe Bolg before either realizes who the other is. As the boy dies, Cú Chulainn recognizes the ring and learns he has killed his own son.
Translations: Aided Óenfir Aífe (van Hamel edition, CELT); Irish Sagas Online; also in Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume
Serglige Con Culainn (The Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn)
Also known as Oenét Emire (The Only Jealousy of Emer). Cú Chulainn falls into a year-long wasting sickness after attacking two otherworldly women in the form of birds. One of them, Fand, the wife of the sea-god Manannán mac Lir, eventually invites him into the Otherworld to fight on her behalf against her enemies. He goes, defeats them, and stays with Fand for a month. Emer, his human wife, comes to confront Fand and Cú Chulainn at their meeting place. The two women each offer to step aside for the other; Manannán arrives, shakes his cloak between Cú Chulainn and Fand to ensure they will never meet again, and the druids give Cú Chulainn and Emer a drink that erases their memory of the affair. The text is also notable for an interpolated political prophecy delivered by Cú Chulainn's charioteer.
Translations: Serglige Con Culainn (Myles Dillon edition, CELT) for the Irish text; English translation in Jeffrey Gantz's Penguin volume; also at Mary Jones's Celtic Literature Collective
Aided Con Culainn (The Death of Cú Chulainn)
The cycle's tragic close. The children of Calatín, three monstrous sorcerer-siblings raised in vengeance for their father's death at Cú Chulainn's hands during the Táin, conjure illusions of an army marching on Emain Macha. Cú Chulainn rides out to meet them despite warnings. To force him into the field, they manipulate him into breaking the geasa that have protected him: he is tricked into eating dog meat (a violation, since his name binds him to the dog), and his charmed spear is taken from him by satirists who threaten to dishonor him if he refuses to give it up. Mortally wounded, he ties himself to a standing stone with his own intestines so he can die on his feet. The Morrígan finally lands on his shoulder as a crow; only then do his enemies dare approach. His foster brother Conall Cernach takes vengeance afterward.
Translations: Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (Sacred Texts)
Candlelit Tales: The Death of Cú Chulainn
Where to go next
Two more Ulster Cycle texts are worth flagging if you want to keep reading. The other Cattle Raid tales (Táin Bó Fraích, Táin Bó Regamna, and others) are usually classed as remscéla, "preludes" to the Táin, and they fill in what happens before Medb crosses the border. Scéla Mucce Meic Da Thó (The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig) is short, sharp, and one of the best demonstrations of how the cycle's honor-economy actually works at a feast.
The Fenian Cycle is up next. The shift between cycles is significant: the Fenian Cycle's heroes are not warrior aristocrats at a king's court but a roving band of hunters at the edges of settled society. Different rhythm, different geography, different relationship to the past.
Mark Williams, Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth (Princeton University Press, 2016). ↩︎
An untitled Old Irish poem by an unknown poet written in the early 8th century (Breatnach 1981). In Irish, it is commonly known by the first line of the text: "Moí Coire coir Goiriath". The title 'The Cauldron of Poesy' was given to it centuries after it was written. The complete text of the poem, along with the Middle Irish annotations and glosses added by a later scribe, is found in the manuscript TCD MS 1337.
This poem is about the kinds of knowledge and ability required to be a great poet. It describes 3 metaphorical cauldrons found within each person. These cauldrons are vessels for different kinds of knowledge and skills. They are called Coire Érmae (the Cauldron of Progression), Coire Sofis (the Cauldron of Knowledge), and Coire Goiriath (Breatnach 1981, 1990). They can be upright (full of knowledge), inclined (half-full), or upside-down (empty), and events during a person's life can change the position of the cauldrons.
8th-9th c. bronze vessel from the Derrynaflan Hoard
This poem is frequently misinterpreted as describing some kind of metaphysical energy centers. Some people go as far as to link the cauldrons to Asian concepts like qi or chakras. The inaccurate translations used in these interpretations obscure the fascinating blend of Christian, Pagan, and possibly ancient Greek influences in this complex work of medieval Irish poetic lore.
Poetry was a complicated profession in medieval Ireland. Professional poets, known as filid, had a minimum of 7 years of formal education and were divided into 7 different grades with ánroth and ollamh being the 2 highest. In addition to writing and preforming poetry, an ollamh was required to memorize genealogies and compose satires (Carey 1997, Breatnach 1983, Breatnach 1981, eDIL). Bards were poets who lacked formal education and were considered to be of inferior grade to a fili (eDIL, MacNeill 1924).
I don't feel qualified to talk about these topics in depth, but I want to share an accurate translation of the poem and to discuss at least some of its cultural elements.
I know of 2 authoritative translations of this poem, one by P. L. Henry (1980) and one by Liam Breatnach (1981) which has some additions and corrections (Breatnach 1984, 1990, 2023). The translation of the poem I give here is almost entirely Breatnach's with the exception of a small section that I rewrote, because I found Breatnach's wording confusing. For the glosses and annotations, I included a few of Henry's translations and some additional information from other authors. My changes and additions are in purple. I chose to leave out more than half of the annotations, because there were so many they overwhelmed the poem. This did mean losing some information about the role of poets in medieval Irish society.
We don't actually know what the word goiraith means (eDIL). Henry translates it as warming, incubation, or maintenance, based on the inference that goiraith comes from gorad (heating or warming), the intransitive form of guirid (Henry 1980). This interpretation doesn't make sense semantically in the context of the poem. The gloss for goiraith translates as, "i.e. 'it has closed off great falsehood', i.e. 'near to me in every land'," (Breatnach 1981). The text of the poem indicates that the Cauldron of Goiraith is related to having knowledge of language and grammar, and to learning and knowledge in childhood (Breatnach 1981). I don't see how warming/incubation could relate to either closing off lies or knowing grammar.
In addition to not fitting the semantic context, the interpretation of goiraith = gorad = warming doesn't fit the poetic form. The 3 cauldrons form a triad in the poem, and triads in poetry are typically written using parallel structure. The names of the other 2 cauldrons, sofis (knowledge) and érmae (progression), are both nouns (Breatnach 1981, 1990), so it follows that goiraith should also be a noun. Guirid/gorad is a verb (Henry 1980). Breatnach identifies goiraith as a compound noun with the first syllable likely being gor 'warm.' He suggests that goiraith might mean something like 'raw material' but stresses that this translation is "speculative in the extreme; the only thing that we can be reasonably sure of is that it has to do with the initial stages of study" (Breatnach 1981).
Old Irish glossary for this post:
Amairgen: mythical ollamh of ancient Ireland
ánroth: the second highest rank of fili (eDIL)
bairdne: bardic craft or metre, a type of poetry considered inferior to the work of a fili (eDIL)
Éber and Donn: mythical Irish kings
Érmae: progression (Breatnach 1990) or motion (Henry 1980)
fili (pl filid): a professional poet with at least 7 years of formal education (Breatnach 1983)
imbas: poetic inspiration or prophetic knowledge which poets (filid) obtained through magical or supernatural means (eDIL, Carey 1997)
ollamh: the highest rank of fili (eDIL)
raind: verses of poetry? (cf eDIL rann)
síd: fairy mound (eDIL)
túath: group of people or territorial unit (eDIL)
(I apologize for the formatting. I can't figure out how format this nicely on tumblr.)
'The Cauldron of Poesy' translated by Liam Breatnach:
Mine is the proper Cauldron of Goiriath,(1)
warmly God has given it to me out of the mysteries of the elements;(2)
a noble privilege which ennobles the breast
is the fine speech which pours forth from it.(3)
I being white-kneed, blue-shanked,(4) grey-bearded Amairgen,
let the work(5) of my goiriath in similes and comparisons be related
- since God does not equally provide for all,
inclined, upside-down (or) upright-
no knowledge,(6) partial knowledge(7) (or) full knowledge,(8)
in order to compose poetry for Éber and Donn with many great chantings,(9)
of masculine, feminine and neuter,(10)
of the signs for double letters, long vowels and short vowels,
(this is) the way by which is related(11) the nature of my cauldron.(12)
1 goriath, i.e. 'it has closed off great falsehood', i.e. 'near to me in every land'. 2 Well has God given it to me out of the mysteries of the elements, or 'that naming which ennobles' is a raw instrument which He has granted to me out of the mysteries of the elements. 3 which pours forth poetry from it. 4 a tattooed shank, or who has the blue tattooed shank. 5 What my cauldron does is the relation of poetry on which there are said to be many forms, i.e. white and black and speckled, or the colour of praise on praise. 6 when it is upside-down, i.e. in foolish people. 7 inclined, i.e. in those who practice bairdne and raind. 8 when it is supine, i.e. in ánroth's of knowledge and poetic art. 9 with numerous displays out of the many 'great seas' of poetry, i.e. many chantings of poetry. 10 Old Irish had 3 grammatical genders. 11 This is the law which I relate about them, or it is the declaration by which poetry is related. 12 This is the function of my cauldron.
I acclaim the Cauldron of Knowledge
where the law of every art is set out
as a result of which prosperity increases(1)
which magnifies(2) every artist in general
which exalts a person(3) by means of an art.
1 It confers increase of wealth on everyone. 2 'It makes great of' every art in general, or it generally 'makes great of' him who has that skill. 3 It gives exaltation to persons together with granting something to them, or his art exalts every person.
Where is the source of poetic art in a person; in the body or in the soul?
Some say in the soul since the body does nothing without the soul. Others say in the body since it is inherent in one in accordance with physical relationship, i.e. from one's father or grandfather,(1) but it is more true to say that the source of poetic art(2) is and knowledge is present in every corporeal person(3), save that in every second person it does not appear; in the other it does.
1 a fili only had full status (honor-price) if his father or grandfather was a fili (Corthals 2014). 2 of bardic art. 3 that it is in the body.
What does the source of poetic art and every other knowledge consist of? Not difficult; three cauldrons are generated in every person, i.e. the Cauldron of Goiriath and the Cauldron of Progression and the Cauldron of Knowledge.
The Cauldron of Goiriath,(1) it is that which is generated upright in a person from the first; out of it is distributed knowledge to people in early youth.
The Cauldron of Progression, then, after it has been converted(2) it magnifies; it is that which is generated on its side in a person.
The Cauldron of Knowledge, it is that which is generated upside down, and out of it is distributed(3) the knowledge of every other art besides poetic art.
1 a cauldron in which 'great falsehood' has been 'closed off'. 2 Afterwards, after being turned over, it magnifies a person. 3 measured.
The Cauldron of Progression,(1) then, in every second person it is upside down, i.e. in ignorant people. It is on its side in those who practice bairdne and raind. It is upright in the ánroth’s of knowledge and poetic art.(2) And the reason, then, why everyone else does not practice at that same stage is because the Cauldron of Progression is upside down in them until sorrow or joy converts it.
How many divisions are there of the sorrow which converts it? Not difficult; four: longing,(3) grief,(4) and the sorrow of jealousy,(5) and exile for the sake of God,(6) and it is internally that these four make it upright,(7) although they are produced from outside.
1 a cauldron 'which turns over afterwards' in him. 2 the ollam of bardic art. 3 for his father. 4 for friends (Henry 1980). 5 after cuckolding. 6 on account of the extent of his sins. 7 it is out of its interior that these four convert the cauldron, although they are put into it from outside.
There are, then, two divisions of joy through which it is converted into the Cauldron of Knowledge, i.e. divine joy and human joy.
As for human joy, it has four divisions: (i) the force of sexual longing, and (ii) the joy(1) of safety and freedom from care, plenty of food and clothing until one begins bairdne,(2) and (iii) joy at the prerogatives of poetry after studying it well, and (iv)* joy(3) at the arrival of imbas which the nine hazel trees of fine fruit at Segais(4) in the síd’s collect and which is sent upstream(5) along the surface of the Boyne, as extensive as a ram’s fleece(6), swifter than a racehorse, in the middle of June once every seven years.*
1 after (recovering from) sickness. 2 until he practices poetry. 3 at the coming of imbas along the Boyne or the Graney, ie a bubble which the sun cause on the plants, and whoever consumes them will have an art. 4 Segais is a well at Síd Neachtain which is the source of the River Boyne according to the Dindsenchas (Gwynn 1913). 5 Possibly referring to the hazel nuts falling into the well and being eaten by salmon. See discussion on imbas below. 6 ('extensive as a ram's fleece' refers to the surface area of the river covered). (A ram’s fleece being the largest size of fleece) *Division (iv) is the section of the translation I altered.
Divine joy, moreover, is the coming of divine grace to the Cauldron of Progression, so that it converts it into the upright position, as a result there are people who are both divine and secular prophets and commentators(1) both on matters of grace and of (secular) learning, and they then utter godly utterances and produce the corroborations(2), and their word are maxims and judgments, and they are an example for all speech. But it is from outside that these make the cauldron upright,(3) although they are produced internally.
1 (ie people versed in both secular and ecclesiastical learning) as were Cumain, etc. Colmán mac Lénin and Colum Cille. 2 (that is, commentaries confirming the truth of Scripture (Breatnach 2023)). 3 it is from outside that these 'are handed over’ into his cauldron. although they are produced on the inside, i.e. it is outside the person that the divisions of enlightenment 'operate' the converting of the cauldron, while composing poetry (?) i.e. the performing of their deeds caused the converting of the cauldron.
Concerning that, what Néde mac Adnai said:
I acclaim the Cauldron of Progression
with understandings of grace
with accumulations of knowledge
with strewings of imbas,
(which is) the estuary of wisdom
the uniting of scholarship
the stream of splendor
the exalting of the ignoble(1)
the mastering of language
quick understanding
the darkening of speech
the craftsman of synchronism
the cherishing of pupils,
where what is due is attended to
where senses are distinguished
where one approaches meanings(2)
where knowledge is propagated
where the noble are enriched
where he who is not noble is ennobled,
where names are exalted(3)
where praises are related
by lawful means
with distinctions of ranks
with pure estimations of nobility
with the fair speech of wise men
with streams of scholarship,
a noble womb in which is cooked
the basis of all knowledge(4)
which is set out according to law
which is advanced to after study
which imbas quickens(5)
which joy converts
which is revealed through sorrow;
it is an enduring power
whose protection does not diminish.
I acclaim the Cauldron of Progression.
1 ‘Its essence raises up' the ignoble people to make them of noble status ie with regard to equal honor-price. 2 Many varieties of knowledge are approached in it, i.e. tales and genealogies. 3 It gives exaltation to the names of the people to whom praises are made if they are uttered according to lawful means. 4 The imbas of the Boyne which is distributed lawfully afterwards. 5 The imbas of the Boyne or the Graney moves the cauldron.
What is the Progression? Not difficult; an artistic* ‘noble-turning’(1) or an artistic 'after-turning'(2) or an artistic course, ie it confers knowledge(3) and status and honour after being converted.
*The MS has sai here, Breatnach tentatively interprets this as soí (artistic) 1 The 'conversion of knowledge’ to that which it has not done before is noble. 2 or 'which reverts afterwards' to that which it has done. 3 poetry or eloquence.
The Cauldron of Progression
it grants, it is granted
it extends, it is extended
it nourishes, it is nourished(1)
it magnifies, it is magnified
it requests, it is requested of(2)
it acclaims, it is acclaimed
it preserves, it is preserved
it arranges, it is arranged
it supports, it is supported.
Good is the source of measuring,(3)
good is the acquisition of speech,(4)
good is the confluence of power,(5)
which builds up strength.
It is greater than any domain,
it is better than any patrimony,
it brings one to wisdom,*(6)
it separates one from fools.
1 He feeds a person together with (his) retinue, and he is fed together with (his) retinue, i.e. he provides entertainment and entertainment is provided for him. 2 He makes demands on the members of the túath, and entreaties are made to him for their forcibly removed cattle'. (This gloss refers to the function of the poet in enforcing claims on behalf of the members of his túath outside the boundaries of the túath, his means of enforcement being satire, and to the entitlements due to him for performing this function (Breatnach 1984).) 3 Good is the cauldron out of which one measures by letter and verse-foot. 4 Good is the cauldron in which is the 'fire of knowledge' 5 Good is the cauldron out of which all this is obtained. *Henry translates this line as 'it brings to (the grade of) a scholar'. 6 the same honour-price as a king. This gloss refers to the fact that an ollamh was considered worthy of the same honor-price as a king in medieval Ireland (Carey 1997).
Discussion: Divine Joy, Imbas, and Philosophy
An early 8th century composition date (Breatnach 1981) means that this poem was written a few centuries after the arrival of Christianity to Ireland. That the original author was Christian can be seen in the description of the divine joy that turns the Cauldron of Progression. Divine grace and divine prophets are common themes in Christian writing. The consistent use of God singular (Dia) as a proper noun and the mention of the body and soul as 2 separate entities also indicate a Christian author (cf Henry 1980). The mentions of imbas, however, suggest the acceptance of continued Pagan magic practices by the Christian author (Carey 1997).
The early 10th c. text Cormac’s Glossary clearly marks imbas as Pagan magic when it condemns the ritual of imbas forosnai for requiring offerings to Pagan gods (Russell 1995, Carey 1997). This attitude is in sharp contrast with earlier Irish texts like Bretha Nemed where having imbas forosnai is considered a required qualification for an ollamh (Carey 1997). 'The Cauldron of Poesy' is, perhaps, a middle ground between a pre-Christian norm, and later Christian intolerance. It categorizes imbas as one of the 4 kinds of human joy that can turn the Cauldron of Progression, something which is beneficial for an ollamh to have but not essential (Carey 1997).
How did a medieval poet obtain the supernatural knowledge known as imbas? In the ritual described in Cormac’s Glossary, the poet chews on raw meat, chants over his hands, and then sleeps with his palms against his face (Russell 1995), a practice which bears no resemblance to the one hinted at in 'The Cauldron of Posey'. Some modern scholars have questioned whether Cormac actually knew what he was talking about (Carey 1997). Some later medieval sources are more useful for making sense of the the arrival of imbas on the River Boyne mentioned in the poem.
The Dindsenchas about the River Shannon mention 9 hazels growing around the well of Segais which is the source of 7 rivers. The hazels, which are associated with poetic wisdom, drop their nuts into the water. The nuts are then eaten by salmon (Gwynn 1913). The 12th c. Macgnimartha Find explicitly connects eating salmon from the Boyne to gaining imbas. It tells how Finn Éces spent 7 years by the Boyne waiting to catch a salmon that would grant him knowledge only to have his student Fionn mac Cumhaill accidentally eat a bit of the fish while cooking it and gain the knowledge of imbas forosnai instead (Carey 1997). Salmon swim upstream to breed during the spring and summer in Ireland (Inland Fisheries Ireland) which might explain why the poem describes imbas as being sent upstream in the middle of June.
Based on these sources, it appears the ritual for gaining the joy of imbas was simply: go to the Boyne on the summer solstice of the 7th year, catch a salmon, and eat it. How you identified the correct year, I don't know, but perhaps it was linked to the 7 years of a fili's education.
Although the joys which turn the Cauldron of Progression could be either Christian or Irish Pagan, the metaphor of the cauldrons appears to have a completely different origin. The 3 cauldrons serve as vessels for different things. Coire Goiriath, given out of the (natural) elements, contains basic childhood knowledge. Coire Érmae (Progression) contains the capacity to expand a person's knowledge based on experiences of joy or sorrow. Coire Sofis (Knowledge) contains advanced knowledge of the arts. This setup bears a striking resemblance to Aristotle's 3-part concept of the human soul. Aristotle divides the soul into (1) the nutritive soul, possessed by all living things, which contains the most basic faculties necessary for survival, (2) the animal soul, possessed by animals and humans, which contains faculties for sensation and movement, and (3) the rational soul, possessed by humans, which contains faculties for thinking and logic (Corthals 2014).
The similarities between Aristotle and the cauldrons go beyond just dividing the inner workings of humans into 3 categories of increasing intellectual complexity. Coire Érmae is moved by experiences of joy or sorrow, much like Aristotle's animals, with their animal souls, move in response to desires to experience pleasure or avoid pain (Corthals 2014, Aristotle 350 BCE/1907). Furthermore, the sensations experienced by the animal soul that lead to pleasure or pain are caused by external forces much like the sorrows that move the cauldron are caused by external forces (Aristotle 350 BCE/1907).
If Coire Goiriath is inspired by Aristotle's nutritive soul, this might explain the enigmatic glosses: 'it has closed off great falsehood', i.e. 'near to me in every land'. As the nutritive soul was only concerned with basic survival, Aristotle believed it was incapable of producing lies (Aristotle 350 BCE/1907), hence the Cauldron of Goiriath would be incapable of producing falsehood. As for the second gloss, a person always has their basic survival instincts with them, no matter where they go. The decision to replace types of souls with types of cauldrons might have been made by an Irish poet who was looking for imagery that was more familiar to their audience. (See Henry 1980 for other examples of cauldrons used in medieval Irish literature.)
While it seems unlikely than an 8th c. Irish poet actually read Aristotle, the poet may have had access to other works inspired by Aristotle's ideas. For example, the 7th c. writer Virgilius Grammaticus describes a 3-part soul that seems to have been derived from Aristotle. Virgilius might have been Irish, and even if he wasn't, parts of his writing definitely made it to Ireland (Corthals 2014).
In addition to the religious and philosophical elements I've discussed, 'The Cauldron of Posey' also contains quite a bit of material on secular Irish society with topics including the education of poets, the status of poets, and the role of poets in settling disputes (Breatnach 1981, 1984, Corthals 2014). In the section on divine joy, it appears the poet is trying to create unity between secular and ecclesiastic views of learning (Breatnach 1981). These things are well outside my area, but I do want to point out that there is more to this poem than religion.
'The Cauldron of Posey' contains an intriguing mix of Christian and Pagan, secular and ecclesiastic, foreign and native, cooked together into a single harmonious poem. It shows us that the transition from Pagan to Christian was a gradual process with elements of both existing side by side. It also shows us that religion was just one piece of Ireland’s cultural history, and if we focus exclusively a search for spiritual meaning, we risk missing out on the rich cultural details.
Bibilography:
Aristotle. (1907). De Anima (R. D. Hicks, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published ca. 350 BCE) https://archive.org/details/aristotledeanima005947mbp/page/n7/mode/2up
Breatnach, L. (1981). The Cauldron of Poesy. Ériu, 32(1981), 45-93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30007454
Breatnach, L. (1984). Addenda and Corrigenda to 'The Caldron of Poesy' (Ériu xxxii 45-93). Ériu, 35(1984), 189-191. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30007785
Breatnach, L. (1990). On the Citation of Words and a Use of the Neuter Article in Old Irish. Ériu, 41(1990), 95-101. http://www.jstor.com/stable/30006290
Breatnach, L. (2023). Varia 1. Proclitic mis. 2. fírad. 3. Further to In Coire Érmae, ‘The Caldron of Poesy’. Celtica, 35(2023), 66-77. https://journals.dias.ie/index.php/celtica/article/view/6/5
Breatnach, P. (1983). The Chief's Poet. Proceedings of the RIA: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, 83C(1983), 37-79. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25506096
Carey, J. (1997). The Three Things Required of a Poet. Ériu, 48(1997), 41-58. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30007956
Corthals, J. (2014). Decoding the 'Caldron of Poesy'. Peritia, 24-25(2013-14), 74-89. https://www.scribd.com/document/721674860/Decoding-the-Caldron-of-Poesy
eDIL 2019: An Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, based on the Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1913-1976) (www.dil.ie 2019). Accessed on 6/30/24
Gwynn, E. (1913). Royal Irish Academy Todd lecture series: The Metrical Dindshenchas Part III (Vol. X). Hodges, Figgis, & Co., LTD. https://archive.org/details/toddlectureserie10royauoft/page/n3/mode/2up
Henry, P.L. (1980). The Cauldron of Poesy. Studia Celtica, 14/15(1979/1980), 114-128. https://www.seanet.com/~inisglas/henrycauldronpoesy.pdf
MacNeill, E. (1924). Ancient Irish Law. The Law of Status or Franchise. Proceedings of the RIA: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, 36(1921 - 1924), 265-316. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25504234
Russell, P. (1995). Notes on words in early Irish glossaries. Etudes Celtiques, 31(1995), 195-204. https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1995_num_31_1_2070Russell 1995
Also called Cétsamhain, the festival of Bealtaine marked the beginning of the summer season in Ireland when the cattle were driven to greener pastures. Typically observed on May 1st (though the day's festivities would normally begin on the previous evening), Bealtaine is one of four major festivals that shaped the old Irish year.
According to Sanas Cormaic, an early Irish glossary, the festival of Bealtaine was marked by the driving of cattle between two bonfires to safeguard them against disease in the coming year. Indeed, all the way up to modern times, the lighting of bonfires has been a centerpiece of Bealtaine traditions, as has the association with protection; many supernatural beings were said to be afoot at this time, and giving away one's goods, such as fire or butter, could spell bad luck and scarcity for the months ahead.
This design features rowan branches, marsh marigold, Irish primrose, and a rowan cross tied with red thread, all of which, according to folkore, would be common sights on Bealtaine, and were said to protect against witches and fairies. Cattle and fire, of course, represent the most enduring element of the tradition, from Cormac to the 19th century, and all the way into modern revivals.
Celtic Reconstructionism: Theology, Cosmology, and What CR Actually Believes
Celtic Reconstructionism (CR) is a polytheistic, animistic religious movement grounded in pre-Christian Celtic sources. If this is your first time here, start with the basics and then the history.
For readers coming from Wicca or eclectic neo-paganism, the structural differences are significant. CR is working from a different theology, not just a different set of deity names.
Polytheism: The Gods Are Real and Distinct
Where much of Wicca and eclectic neo-paganism works within a soft polytheist framework (“all gods are one god” and “all goddesses are one goddess”), CR holds that the gods are genuinely distinct.1
CR is a form of hard polytheism, specifically grounded in the polytheist traditions of the Celtic nations (Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales). The gods are individual beings with distinct personalities, histories, and domains, not aspects of a universal deity or archetypes of the collective unconscious.
The Jungian framing popular in some pagan circles (gods as psychological archetypes, projections of the collective unconscious rather than external beings) is also not a CR position. The exact metaphysical nature of that existence isn’t dogmatically defined; the movement doesn’t require practitioners to hold identical positions on what, precisely, a deity is. What it does require is engaging with them as distinct individuals rather than as symbols.
CR is also animist. The land, rivers, trees, and other natural features have spiritual presence. Specific hills, rivers, and wells are named in the Irish sources as home to specific spirits or deities: the Boyne to Bóann, the Shannon to Sionann. Scholar Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, writing in Celtic Gods and Heroes, observed that the Irish medieval mythographers described the ancient gods as prehistoric tribes who “still dwell there invisibly present, side by side with the human inhabitants.”2
The Maiden/Mother/Crone Problem
If you’ve spent time in any pagan space, you’ve encountered the triple goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone. It’s ubiquitous in contemporary paganism.
The framework comes from Robert Graves’s The White Goddess, published in 1948. Graves was a poet and mythographer, not a scholar of Celtic religion. The Maiden/Mother/Crone model imposes a specific meaning (female divine power organized around reproductive lifecycle stages) that the Irish and other Celtic sources don’t support.
Celtic goddesses do appear in triple form, but these are functional groupings, not age-based progressions. Brigit appears in the sources as three sisters: one of poetry, one of healing, one of smithcraft. Sjoestedt says the triple Brigit is “adored by poets, smiths and leeches,” three domains of skill, not three life stages. The Morrígan similarly appears as a triple figure whose aspects relate to battle, fate, and sovereignty. Sjoestedt identifies the trio as the Badb, the Morrígan, and Nemain (or Macha, depending on the source), figures differentiated by how they manifest on the battlefield and in relation to fate, not by age or fertility status.2
Graves’s model ties female divine power to the reproductive cycle in a way the actual sources don’t. A goddess in Irish tradition is categorized by what she does and where she holds power: her domain and function, not her age or life stage.
Three Realms: Land, Sea, and Sky
CR’s cosmology, its understanding of how the universe is structured, is built around three realms, not the four elements or four directions familiar from other pagan traditions.
In Old Irish:
Nem: sky (niv) Talam: land (TAH-lum) Muir: sea (mwir)
Swearing by sky, land, and sea was a standard way of invoking the whole of existence, the complete structure of the world, not three symbolic categories. Erynn Rowan Laurie describes this directly in A Circle of Stones: “It is upon this division, rather than the traditional western four elements of earth, air, fire and water, that the ancient Celts based their concept of the universe. Oaths were sworn by land, sea and sky. All things lived within the circle.”3
The four-element, four-direction ritual framework in Western neopaganism descends from ceremonial magic, specifically the Hermetic tradition as transmitted through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late nineteenth century.
Connecting the three realms, in Laurie’s framework, is fire. Specifically imbas (IM-us), the fire of poetic inspiration. Fire is the presence of the gods and the link between humanity and the divine.3 The imbas tradition in Irish mythology names a specific form of inspired vision sought by poets and seers. It involves altered states and deliberate withdrawal from the mundane world, and it gives the cosmological concept direct ritual application.
The three realms give CR practitioners a working map of who they are in relationship with: the gods, the spirits of the land (including the Aos Sí), and the ancestors. These aren’t rigid categories. A deity like Manannán straddles sea and Otherworld; the Tuatha Dé Danann, after their retreat into the sídhe, became the spirits of the land they once ruled. The realms orient the practitioner, not constrain the beings.
The three-part structure operates alongside a second, fivefold layer of sacred geography. Ireland was traditionally divided into five provinces (Connacht, Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Meath at the centre), each carrying not just a directional orientation but a conceptual quality: learning in the west, battle in the north, prosperity in the east, music in the south, and kingship at the centre.4 Archaeologist J. P. Mallory describes this system as a “cultural cosmology, a way of partitioning the world” rather than a straightforward political map. The provincial capitals (Rathcroghan, Navan Fort, Knockaulin, Cashel, Tara) functioned as ceremonial centres whose Iron Age origins predate the medieval literary accounts by centuries.4 The three realms and the five provinces aren’t competing frameworks; one structures the cosmos vertically, the other structures the land horizontally, with Tara at the sacred centre.
The Otherworld
The Irish Otherworld, An Saol Eile (“the other world/life”), is not an afterlife in the Christian sense. It’s a parallel realm that coexists with the mortal world, accessible at certain places and times. It appears under multiple names in the sources: Tír na nÓg (Land of the Young), Mag Mell (Plain of Delight), Tech Duinn (the House of Donn, where the dead gather), Tír fo Thuinn (Land Under the Sea). These aren’t synonyms for a single unified realm; they name different regions of an unseen geography.3
The Otherworld coexists with the mortal world, accessible at certain thresholds rather than located at a remove from it. Access points to these other realms include the sídhe mounds, caves, lakes, and the western sea. Liminal times, especially Samhain and Bealtaine, thin the boundary between worlds.
In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions), the Tuatha Dé Danann don’t leave Ireland after their defeat by the Milesians. They withdraw into it, retreating into the sídhe mounds, the hills, and the rivers. This is why the Aos Sí (the fairy folk) and the gods are related concepts in Irish tradition: the gods became the spirits of the land. Sjoestedt describes the Irish mythographers presenting the ancient gods as beings who still dwell invisibly present beside the human inhabitants.3
The relationship between the dead and the Otherworld is complex in the sources, and CR doesn’t flatten it. Irish cosmology offers no single unified afterlife, and CR doesn’t impose one.
Ritual Structure: What CR Practice Actually Looks Like
Circle-casting and quarter-calling framework comes from late nineteenth-century ceremonial magic, specifically the Golden Dawn tradition, and was absorbed into Wicca through Gerald Gardner’s development of that religion in the 1940s and 1950s.
CR ritual centers on prayer, offering, and hospitality. Daily devotional practice is weighted more heavily than periodic elaborate ritual. In practice, this usually means a home altar: a cloth, a candle, images or symbols of the deity or ancestors being honored, a bowl for offerings, kept and tended regularly.
Offerings are simple: milk, ale, mead, hazelnuts, wine, apples, oats, butter, pork. All are well-attested in the mythology and folklore as preferred by gods and spirits.3 Nothing needs to be sourced from a specialty shop. Regular, modest practice carries more weight than an elaborate occasional ritual that rarely happens.
Reciprocity is the underlying concept. Offerings are expressions of ongoing relationship, not transactions. Flaithiúlacht (FLAH-hyoo-lacht), meaning hospitality, is both a social virtue and a ritual one in Irish tradition. Laurie puts it plainly: “In the Celtic world, hospitality is a sacred duty.”3
Ethics: Where CR Draws Its Moral Framework
CR ethics come from Celtic primary sources, not the Wiccan Rede. The primary texts for Irish CR are the Triads of Ireland (Tríada Éireann), a medieval collection of wisdom sayings covering kingship, personal conduct, and social obligation; the Instructions of Cormac Mac Airt (Tecosca Cormaic), advice attributed to the legendary king on truth-telling and right behavior; and Brehon law (Fénechas, “law of the freemen”), the pre-Norman Irish legal system, restorative rather than punitive and focused on compensation and the repair of social harm.5
Three concepts from these sources appear throughout CR practice:
Fír (feer): truth, meaning not simply honesty but alignment between words and reality at a structural level. Oath-breaking and false witness were among the most serious violations in Irish tradition. The concept runs through law, mythology, and the ethics of kingship: a king who spoke falsehood was believed to cause physical harm to the land itself.
Enech (EN-akh): literally “face,” meaning honor or social standing. Your enech is your reputation as maintained through right action, damaged by lying, cowardice, or failure to meet your obligations. The related legal concept, lóg n-enech (logue n-EN-akh), is the “honor price,” a person’s assessed social value under Brehon law, which determined the scale of compensation owed when they were wronged. In early Irish law, enech and “face” were the same word; to shame someone was to make them red in the face, synonymous with an offense against their honor.6
Flaithiúlacht: hospitality, introduced above as a ritual virtue and equally an ethical obligation. The CR FAQ describes CR ethics as a “virtue theoretic ethical system,” meaning positive guidelines for behavior rather than a list of prohibitions.1 Hospitality is one of those positive obligations.
All three concepts are embedded in a specific historical and cultural context, developed within a society that treated the social and spiritual worlds as continuous with each other. A CR practitioner engaging with them is engaging with a real historical ethical system.
Related Reading
CR sits inside a wider ecosystem of Celtic tradition. These pieces offer practical entry points into the Irish practices and folk beliefs that surround the theology:
The Evil Eye in Irish Folklore: how folk belief in the evil eye operated alongside formal religion, and the folk cures that responded to it.
Bealtaine: Irish May Day Traditions: one of the liminal thresholds named above, with the seasonal observances that grew around it.
St. Brigid’s Day Crosses: the continuity between Brigit as pre-Christian goddess and Brigid as saint, expressed through a surviving folk practice.
How to Read Ogham Divination: the Irish tree alphabet as a ritual and divinatory system that fits the CR framework.
Irish New Year Folk Magic: Lá Coille: seasonal folk observance drawn from Irish sources.
The New Moon in Irish Folklore: how lunar observances entered Irish folk practice.
The next article in this series will cover the gods themselves: who the Tuatha Dé Danann are, what the sources actually say about them, and how CR practitioners relate to specific deities today.
CR FAQ ↩︎ ↩︎
Celtic Gods and Heroes by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt ↩︎ ↩︎
A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts by Erynn Rowan Laurie ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
The "All Snakes Day" Myth: What Actually Happened in Ireland
Every March, the same story circulates in pagan spaces:
St. Patrick’s “snakes” were Druids
Patrick was a conqueror
March 17th is a holiday celebrating the destruction of Irish paganism
The problem is that none of these points are true. Ireland never had snakes. The snake miracle was invented centuries after Patrick died. And the Christianization of Ireland looked nothing like a genocide. The “All Snakes Day” story feels meaningful, but it’s built on fabrications — and pagans interested in Irish history deserve the actual record instead.
Where “All Snakes Day” Comes From
The pagan author and Druid Isaac Bonewits coined the term “All Snakes Day” and wrote songs about welcoming the “snakes” back to Ireland. Wild Hunt, 2012 The claim is that Patrick’s “snakes” were actually Druids, making his legendary snake-banishing a stand-in for pagan persecution. The idea spread through neopagan communities online in the 2000s and 2010s and became a seasonal staple.
Bonewits was the founder of Ár nDraíocht Féin and a well-known figure in American paganism, which helped give the story credibility in some circles.
Ireland Never Had Snakes
The most basic problem with the All Snakes Day story: there are no snakes in Ireland’s fossil record at all.
Ireland’s land bridge to Britain closed around 8,500 years ago as glaciers melted after the last Ice Age. Snakes hadn’t reached Ireland before the sea cut the connection. Popular Science, 2024 Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland, reviewed the fossil record and put it plainly: “At no time has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland — nothing for St. Patrick to banish.” National Geographic
In fact, writers were already noting Ireland’s lack of snakes before Patrick was even born. The Roman author Solinus recorded it in the 3rd century CE. Science Musings Patrick had nothing to do with it.
The Snake Miracle Was Added Centuries Later
Patrick’s earliest biographies were written in the 7th century, about 200 years after his death. The snake miracle appears in none of them.
The story first shows up in the 11th century. A more well-known version was written by Jocelin of Furness in the 12th century. Ireland’s Folklore and Traditions
Celtic Reconstructionist scholar P. Sufenas Virius Lupus said in 2012:
The hagiographies of St. Patrick did not include this particular ‘miracle’ until quite late, relatively speaking — his earliest hagiographies are from the 7th century, whereas this incident doesn’t turn up in any of them until the 11th century. Wild Hunt, 2012
There’s also a logic problem with the “Druids as snakes” reading. The 7th century biographies by Muirchú and Tírechán have Patrick fighting Druids constantly. He fights them openly, with earthquakes, curses, and skull-crushing. Wikipedia: Muirchú moccu Machtheni If later writers wanted to describe a purge of Druids, they had no reason to suddenly become cryptic. It had already been said plainly.
The earliest anyone proposed that snakes meant Druids was W.Y. Evans-Wentz in Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries (1911) and even he called it personal speculation. Morgan Daimler, reviewing the text, described the logic as “faulty.” Living Liminally
What the Conversion of Ireland Actually Looked Like
Christianity was already in Ireland before Patrick arrived.
In 431 CE, Pope Celestine sent a bishop named Palladius to Ireland as the “first bishop to the Scotti believing in Christ.” The wording matters: you don’t send a bishop to a community that doesn’t exist yet. There were already Christians there. Prosper of Aquitaine, Chronicon, 431 CE, via Wikipedia: Palladius Britannica History Ireland
The real Patrick was, in his own telling, enslaved in Ireland as a teenager, escaped, and came back as a missionary. His own writing describes beatings, robbery, and real doubt about whether his work had any lasting effect. Strange Horizons / Bridgette Da Silva Living Liminally He was not a conqueror, and his writings are still readable today at confession.ie.
The druid-fighting warrior version of Patrick came from Muirchú’s 7th century Vita Sancti Patricii, written about 200 years after Patrick’s death. It had a clear political goal: promoting the Armagh church’s claim to lead all of Irish Christianity. Wikipedia: Muirchú Strange Horizons It’s church propaganda, not a historical record.
Ireland stayed mostly pagan for eight or nine generations after Patrick died. Living Liminally, citing Da Silva Druids kept working as folk magicians and diviners. Irish law texts from the 7th and 8th centuries CE still describe druids (draoithe) as active in society. Wikipedia: Druid Some joined the Christian clergy as that became the new intellectual class. Strange Horizons, citing Peter Berresford Ellis
Pagan beliefs didn’t die. They blended. Samhain became All Saints’ Day. Brigid’s feast overlapped with Imbolc. Belief in the fairy folk was still alive when Irish schoolchildren recorded local folklore from older community members in the 1930s that is now accessible on Dúchas.ie.
This conversion was a slow process that took centuries. It was not a genocide. There is no historical evidence of a violent purge of Druids.
Why the Myth Keeps Circulating
The “pagan survival” idea — that modern paganism descends from an unbroken pre-Christian lineage that survived persecution — is emotionally appealing but historically weak. Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon (Oxford University Press, 1999) showed that modern pagan witchcraft is a new religious movement, not an ancient survival. The claimed ancient roots are mostly Victorian and 20th-century inventions. All Snakes Day fits this pattern: a modern story that feels like recovered history.
The genocide framing also gives communities a shared story of persecution and a sense of historical roots. But it’s not a good reason to accept bad history.
The story also gets used as a simple argument against Catholicism and Christianity, turning a complex religious shift into a villain story. That doesn’t help anyone who actually wants to understand Ireland.
These myths ends up hurting Irish and Irish diaspora communities trying to connect with real heritage. The people most drawn to the story often end up with invented history instead of the real thing.
What to Do Instead
The impulse behind All Snakes Day is not the problem. Celebrating pre-Christian Irish culture, honoring Ireland’s traditions before Christianity, wearing a snake pin — none of that needs a fake genocide behind it.
The Henge of Keltria offers a “Feast of Age” as a March 17th alternative: a community celebration not built on invented history. The Witching Path
Better still: learn what Irish people actually did on St. Patrick’s Day. The Dúchas Schools’ Collection — a collection of folklore recorded by Irish schoolchildren in the late 1930s — documents the real customs: the shamrock’s religious meaning, the “drowning the shamrock” drinking tradition, St. Patrick’s Cross worn by women and children, the sally stick carried for household protection, holy well patterns, and farming markers tied to the agricultural year. All those traditions are covered in my next article.
You can also critique the plastic Paddy commercialization, the green beer, the novelty hats, the way Irish-American culture rebuilt the holiday, without inventing victims to make the point.
The actual history of Ireland’s religious shift is more interesting than the myth. Beliefs layered and blended over centuries. Druids became clergy. Fairy faith lived alongside Christianity into living memory. That story is worth knowing and worth protecting from the tidier, false version.
This piece was inspired by old folklore where animals are more than animals — messengers, guides, keepers of unseen paths. The hare has always felt like a liminal creature to me, something that belongs equally to earth and myth.
I imagined a moment where the veil thins just enough for a little light to slip through — fireflies, aurora, and something ancient watching the road ahead.
For anyone who loves symbolic creatures, soft magic, and night landscapes that feel a little otherworldly.
Guess what! It's the time of year where I get sick over and over again! So, here's my go-to "I'm tired of being sick and tired" tea.
Lemon and ginger tea (Spiritually, lemons are cleansing and ginger supports healing. Medicinally, lemon's acidity helps cut through phlegm buildup and ginger's spice helps clear your sinuses.) (I personally use the Celestial Seasonings Jammin' Lemon Ginger.)
Lemon juice (added cleansing and clearing)
Honey (to sweeten your life and also sooth a sore throat)
I always add more lemon juice because I love sour things. Drink it slowly and as warm as you can stand it.
May you be blessed and also not sneezing.
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