Texts

verse beg. Ind fhilid ra fetatar

Dinnshenchas poem on the origin of Tara, with prose introduction. The poem is 12 stanzas long and incomplete in the form in which it is preserved.

Initial words (verse)

“The poets have discovered”

‘Ind fhilid ra fetatar’

Manuscripts

Language

Old Irish
O Daly has stated in her edition that “the dating of the language presents considerable difficulty”. The verse uses Old Irish forms for infixed pronouns and no independent pronouns occur in the text. With regard to the prose, she remarks that “there is nothing [..] I think that would conflict with a date c. 900”, noting also a number of Old Irish forms.⁽¹⁾^{n. 1} e.g. “Ēre (dat. sg.), óchtar, and the superlative caīmum.” Máirín O'Daly, ‘On the origin of Tara’, Celtica 5 (1960): 186–187.

Form

verse (primary)

prose (secondary)

Verse, with prose introduction.

Number of stanzas

12

Classification

Early Irish poetry

Temair

Temair ... Tara

County Meath

^1.

e.g. “Ēre (dat. sg.), óchtar, and the superlative caīmum.” Máirín O'Daly, ‘On the origin of Tara’, Celtica 5 (1960): 186–187.

[ed.] [tr.] O Daly, Máirín [ed. and tr.], “On the origin of Tara”, Celtica 5 (1960): 186–191.

Contributors

Dennis Groenewegen