Texts

Gein Branduib meic Echach ⁊ Áedáin meic Gabráin ‘The birth of Brandub mac Echach and Áedán mac Gabráin’

  • Middle Irish
  • prose
  • Cycles of the Kings, Birth-tale, Comperta
Language
  • Middle Irish
Provenance
No linguistic analysis is known at this stage. Benjamin Hudson dates the text on historical grounds to the early 11th century, during the reign of Máel Coluim II (d. 1034).(1)n. 1 Benjamin T. Hudson, Kings of Celtic Scotland (1994): 111. This date is endorsed is by Máire Ní Mhaonaigh in her discussion of one version of Orcuin Néill Noígíallaig,(2)n. 2 Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, ‘Níall Noígíallach’s death-tale’ in Cín Chille Cúile... (2004). while Máire Herbert prefers a somewhat later date, during the reign of Díarmait mac Máel na mBó. Morgan Thomas Davies has remarked: “Both arguments, and both dates, seem plausible, though it is worth noting neither Hudson nor Herbert (nor for that matter Ní Mhaonaigh) provides any evidence for their dating of the text beyond the explanatory power conferred by the convenient correspondence with the reigns of Máel Coluim or Díarmait mac Máel na mBó.”(3)n. 3 Morgan Thomas Davies, ‘The somewhat heroic biography of Brandub mac Echach’ in Essays on the early Irish king tales... (2008): 178.
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
Related: Ro batar laeich do LaigneibRo batar laeich do LaigneibMiddle Irish poem on the birth of Áedan mac Gabráin, king of Dál Riata, and Brandub mac Echach, king of Leinster.

Classification

Cycles of the Kings
Cycles of the Kings
id. 80
Birth-taleBirth-tale
...

CompertaComperta
...

Subjects

Brandub mac Echach
Brandub mac Echach
(d. 605)
King of Leinster from the Uí Cheinnselaig.

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Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin
(r. 574–609)
king of Dál Riata (r. c.574–609)

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Eochu mac Muiredaig meic ÓengusoEochu mac Muiredaig meic Óenguso
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Sources

Notes

Benjamin T. Hudson, Kings of Celtic Scotland (1994): 111.
Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, ‘Níall Noígíallach’s death-tale’ in Cín Chille Cúile... (2004).
Morgan Thomas Davies, ‘The somewhat heroic biography of Brandub mac Echach’ in Essays on the early Irish king tales... (2008): 178.

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Meyer, Kuno [ed. and tr.], “Gein Branduib maic Echach ocus Aedáin maic Gabráin inso sís”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 2 (1899): 134–137.
CELT – edition and translation: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
Based on Rawlinson B 502, with variants from Rawlinson B 512
[ed.] Best, R. I. [ed.], “The birth of Brandub, son of Eochaid and of Aedán, son of Gabrán”, in: Roger Sherman Loomis (ed.), Medieval studies in memory of Gertrude Schoepperle Loomis, Paris, et al.: Columbia University Press, 1927. 381–390.
YBL version

Secondary sources (select)

Davies, Morgan Thomas, “The somewhat heroic biography of Brandub mac Echach”, in: Dan M. Wiley (ed.), Essays on the early Irish king tales, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. 170–212.
Ní Mhaonaigh, Máire, “Níall Noígíallach’s death-tale”, in: John Carey, Máire Herbert, and Kevin Murray (eds), Cín Chille Cúile: texts, saints and places. Essays in honour of Pádraig Ó Riain, 9, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2004. 178–191.
189
Hudson, Benjamin T., Kings of Celtic Scotland, Contributions to the Study of World History, 43, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994.
111
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
October 2010, last updated: January 2024