Story Archaeology

Road sculpture, Táin Bó Cúailgne, Co Louth, photo by Paz

In the context of Dindshenchas, we return to the fascinating tale, Echtrae Nerai / Táin Bó Aingene ("The Adventures of Nera / The Cattle Raid of Aingene"), which we dipped into in "Corpse Carrying For Beginners".  When Nera returns from his adventures in the síd, he ends up with even more than a time-travel headache.

Join the Story Archaeologists as they try to unravel the threads of this closely-woven story.

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Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for this episode

"The Adventures of Nera / The Cattle Raid of Aingene", translated by Kuno Meyer; on Mary Jones' Celtic Literature Collective

"The Cattle Raid of Regamna", translated by A. H. Leahy, on the Celtic Literature Collective

"The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu" (a.k.a. Deirdre of the Sorrows), translated by Vernam Hull, on CELT

"The Cattle Raid of Cooley" - Recension I, edited and translated by Cecile O'Rahilly, on CELT

"The Cattle Raid of Cooley" - From the Book of Leinster (LL), edited and translated by Cecile O'Rahilly, on CELT

Corleck triple faced stone from County Cavan

After an exhausting treck around Ireland in pursuit of the Champion's Portion, it's time to sit back and examine the text of Fled Bricrenn as a whole.  There are many questions to be asked; such as who has been pulling our heroes' strings?

Join the Story Archaeologists in their quest to understand this fascinating saga, and attempt to locate it in time as well as space.

Please note: This would originally have been one long episode! Instead of making it "Dindshenchas 6: Fled Bricrenn 3 - Part 2 of 2", we decided to make it a whole new episode!

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

Fled Bricrenn, "Bricriu's Feast", translated by George Henderson; Irish Texts Society, 1899

Mesca Ulad, "The Intoxication of the Ulstermen", translated by W. M. Hennessey (1889). This could almost be a "companion text" to Fled Bricrenn, and contains detailed descriptions of many of the characters.

And finally, Bricriu's Feast: A Comedy in Three Acts, with an Epilogue by Eimar O'Duffy (1913).

Two-headed stone figure from Boa island, Lough Erne.

In the final episode of Fled Bricrenn, our heroes head deep into the Otherworld, a.k.a. Kerry. They enter the mysterious revolving fort of Cú Roí Mac Daire, culminating in the iconic beheading game.

Join the Story Archaeologists as they take an axe to the Gordian Knot of this magnificent, though bewildering, saga.

Please note: This would originally have been one long episode! This episode is marked as "Part 1 of 2", which covers the rest of the text., but instead of "Part 2 of 2", there will be a new episode, entitled Dindshenchas 7: Fled Bricrenn 4 - A Head to Head Discussion.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

Fled Bricrenn, "Bricriu's Feast" - translated by George Henderson; Irish Texts Society, 1899

In the second part of Fled Bricrenn, our heroes make their way to Crúachán to be judged for the Champion’s Portion. But their routes there and back are most circuitous.

Follow on their heels with the Story Archaeologists as Cú Chulainn, Loegaire and Conall are tested in some unexpected ways!

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

Fled Bricrenn, "Bricriu's Feast" - translated by George Henderson; Irish Texts Society, 1899

When Bricriu decides to hold a party, anyone who is anyone  must put in an appearance. But Bricriu has no intention of getting in a few beers and a few bowls of nibbles. No,  Bricriu's feast will set the greatest heroes of Ulster at each other's throats and send them racing off on adventures throughout Ireland.

Join the Story Archaeologists as they revel in this  rumbustious epic exploring a selection of Dindshenchas stories along the way.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Inis Clothrann, the largest island of Lough Ree, Co. Longford, is famous for more than just its venerable monastic remains.  It was here that Medb of Crúachán would bathe in the island's well in fulfilment of a geis, imposed for killing at least one of her sisters.  It was at this same well she met her death.

Join the Story Archaeologists as they plumb its murky depths, encountering a lethal piece of cheese on the way.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Check our Reading List for further reading and resources.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Mythic cartography is the art of mapping stories onto a living landscape.  In Ireland, these patterns are visible through the corpus of Dindshenchas poems and prose: in Australia, they have traditionally been painted onto rocks by the First Australians.

Join the Story Archaeologists as they chart the Songlines and Storylines in these, environmentally differing, mythic map libraries.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

To learn more about Kakadu national park in the Northern Territories in Australia, visit their website: kakadu.com.au

To learn about the archaeology of Knowth in the Boyne Valley, visit the official website: newgrange.com/knowth.htm

This site has excellent images of all the decorated kerbstones at Knowth: megalithicireland.com/Knowth.htm

To find out about the extraordinary Neolithic complex discovered in Orkney, visit this site: orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar

Begin Series 3, Dindshenchas and the Art of Mythic Cartography, as the Story Archaeologists interview Dr. Ranke de Vries, editor of "Two Texts on Loch nEchach".

With Chris away in Australia, Isolde, left behind in chilly Ireland, had the pleasure of interviewing friend and former teacher, Ranke de Vries, after the recent launch of her book with the Irish Texts Society.

Now re-united, the Story Archaeologists have decided to begin a new series with this exciting interview.  The mysteriously missing episode 11 of series 2 will materialise before long, as will the much-awaited major series on Finn.

In the mean-time, Chris has returned with stories from Australia's Northern Territories, which have re-awakened our interest in Irish stories of place, the dindshenchas.  We look forward to sharing them with you.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

by The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

Buy Irish Text Society Main Series Volume 65 (2012): De causis torchi Corc’ Oche and Aided Echach maic Maireda ‘ Two Texts on Loch nEchach’, edited by Ranke de Vries, on the Royal Irish Academy website.

Joseph F. Nagy, Conversing with Angels and Ancients. Published by Cornell University Press.

Begin Series 3, Dindshenchas and the Art of Mythic Cartography, as the Story Archaeologists interview Dr. Ranke de Vries, editor of "Two Texts on Loch nEchach".

With Chris away in Australia, Isolde, left behind in chilly Ireland, had the pleasure of interviewing friend and former teacher, Ranke de Vries, after the recent launch of her book with the Irish Texts Society.

Now re-united, the Story Archaeologists have decided to begin a new series with this exciting interview.  The mysteriously missing episode 11 of series 2 will materialise before long, as will the much-awaited major series on Finn.

In the mean-time, Chris has returned with stories from Australia's Northern Territories, which have re-awakened our interest in Irish stories of place, the dindshenchas.  We look forward to sharing them with you.

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

by The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.

Links for the episode

Buy Irish Text Society Main Series Volume 65 (2012): De causis torchi Corc’ Oche and Aided Echach maic Maireda ‘ Two Texts on Loch nEchach’, edited by Ranke de Vries, on the Royal Irish Academy website.

Joseph F. Nagy, Conversing with Angels and Ancients. Published by Cornell University Press.

We have dug down as far as we can go in this Story Archaeology dig of Cath Maige Tuired.  We've studied the landscape, examined related stories, collected linguistic potsherds. So what are we left with?

For the last episode in "The Battle of Moytura" series, the Story Archaeologists engage in some experimental story archaeology. What if we leave out "foreign" characters? What if we only read the oldest strata of the tale? If the story is not a battle between Good Gods and Evil Demons, what kind of story is it?

Strap yourselves in as we take off into pure speculation on a Story Archaeology joyride!

If you have any technical difficulties downloading or listening to the podcast, please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!  Related Articles will be posted in the days to come.

Old episodes now available on archive.org.

By The Story Archaeologists.

Music: “Tam Lin” by Gian Castello.