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Do bunad imthechta Éoganachta
From Van Hamel wiki
| Title
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Do bunad imthechta Éoganachta
‘Concerning the origin of the wandering of the Éoganachta’
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| Author
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Byrne regards it "very likely that this story was compiled, if not composed, by Cormac mac Cuillenáin, when the Eóganachta were making a final effort to challenge the Uí Néill high-kingship"[1]
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| Manuscripts
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Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 610 [s. xv], ff. 97ra line 27 — 97vb.. Headed "Do bunad imthechta Eoganachta in so".
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| Type or category
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Cycle of Mug Nuadat
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| Date
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"very likely, from the late ninth century or very early tenth" (Ó Corráin);[2]
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| Provenance
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Munster
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| Description
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Origin legend of the Éoganachta and the Dál Cuinn. It first relates how Éogan (the eponymous ancestor of the Éoganachta) and/or his sons arrive and settle in Ireland, how Éogan (the father or one of his sons) save the population from starvation, and how Éogan's son is chosen to be king. Their peaceful ascendancy is then contrasted with an origin tale of the Dál Cuinn (called children of the "second Míl Espáine"), who rule Ireland by the sword. In the north of the island, they alternately share the kingship with the Cruthin until Conn Cétchathach defeats them in a series of battles. The situation is reversed when Fiachu Araide, progenitor of the Dál Araide, expels Conn's grandson Cormac mac Airt from Tara. Cormac flees to Munster, where he becomes a vassal of Fiachu Muillethan, Éogan's great-grandson, in return for his assistance against Fiachu Araide. Fiachu Muillethan defeats the latter in battle. Cormac is thereby restored to the kingship and grants the lands settled by the Ciannachta to Fiachu Muillethan, who passes them on to Connla mac Taidg.
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| Textual relationships
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Cf. Cath Maighe Léna; Tochmarc Moméra; Cóir Anmann §§ 36-39 (in Stokes' edition)
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| Sources
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Ó Corráin suggests that the episode in which Éogan accepts advice from his seers concerning the famine, was modelled on the biblical tale of Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41). The author of the tale was also familiar with a version of the legend relating to Míl Espáine.[2]
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Description
Summary
 Under construction
The sons(?) of Éogan Táidlech ('The Shining'), also known as Mug Núadat and Éogan Fitheccach, come with a fleet to Ireland and make landfall at Inber Colpthai, the mouth of the River Boyne. They are met by the men of Ireland, with whom they exchange silver for food. The men of Ireland are impressed with the wealth of the newcomers and take Éogan into fosterage in return for a handsome fosterage fee. [...]
Notes
Sources
Editions and translations
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Byrne, F. J., Irish kings and high-kings, 2nd ed. [1973], Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001. 199—200 » (translation of a single passage).
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Secondary sources
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Byrne, F. J., Irish kings and high-kings, 2nd ed. [1973], Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2001. 199—201
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Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, “Irish origin legends and genealogy: recurrent aetiologies”, in: Nyberg, Tore, Iørn Piø, P. M. Sørenen, et al. (eds.), History and heroic tale: a symposium, Odense: Odense University Press, 1985. 51—96.
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Sproule, David, “Origins of the Éoganachta”, Ériu 35 (1984): 31—37.
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