Irish Goddess Banba (Banbha)

La Druidesse by Alexandre Cabanel (1823 - 1889)

Banba’s Crown is the northernmost point on the Irish mainland located at Malin Head, Inishowen, County Donegal (Irish: Cionn Mhálanna, Inis Eoghain, Contae Dhún na nGall). Its name pays homage to the goddess Banba or Banbha. According to Irish legend, Banba was one of the three goddesses who protected Ireland along with her sisters, Ériu and Fódla. They are members of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Celtic pre-Christian gods with supernatural ability.

According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, first compiled in the 11th century AD and intended to be a history of Ireland. The Milesians, who are the final race to settle in Ireland, came into contention with the Tuatha Dé Danann. On their way to Tara, the ancient ceremonial site and seat of power, the Milesians are met on three mountains by Banba, Fódla and Ériu. Each goddess asks for the land to be named after her. This is agreed to by Amergin, who is said to have been a bard and judge for the Milesians. As a result they give permission for Amergin and his people to settle in Ireland.

Teeval, Princess of the Ocean (Teeval, Ben-Phrinse Ny Marrey) - Manx Fairy Tale

Mermaid and Sea by Robert Anning Bell (1863–1933) credit Victoria Art Gallery

IN the old days Culain, the smith of the gods, was living in the Isle of Mann. It was the time when Conchubar was at the court of the King of Ulster, and had nothing but the sword in his hand. He was a fine handsome young man, and he had made up his mind to make himself a king. So he went one day to the Druid of Clogher to ask him what he had best do.
(Ayns ny shenn laghyn va Culain, gaaue ny jeeghyn, cummal ayns Mannin. Ec y traa shen va Conchubar ec cooyrt Ree Ullee, as cha row red erbee echey agh y cliwe v’ ayns e laue. V’eh ny ghooinney aeg, braew as bwaagh, as va’n aigney echey slane soit er jannoo eh hene ny ree. Myr shen, laa dy row, hie eh dys Druaight Chlogher dy vriaght jeh cre lhisagh eh jannoo).

‘Go thy way,’ said the Druid, ‘to the Isle of Mann. There thou wilt find the great smith Culain. Get him to make thee a sword and a spear and a shield, and with these thou shalt win the kingdom of Ulster.’
(‘Immee royd,’ dooyrt yn Druaight ‘dys Mannin. Ayns shen yiow oo yn gaaue mooar Culain. Cur ersyn jannoo cliwe as shleiy as scape dhyts, as lhieusyn cossynee oo reeriaght Ullee.’)

Conchubar went away, and hired a boat and put out to sea. He landed in Mann and made straight for Culain’s smithy. It was night when he got there, and the red glow of the furnace shone out into the dark. He could hear from inside the smithy the roar of the bellows and the clanging of the hammer on the anvil. When he came near, a great dog, as large as a calf, began to bay and to growl like thunder, and brought his master out.
(Hie Conchubar ersooyl as ren eh failley baatey as hie eh roish er y cheayn. Haink eh er thalloo ayns Mannin as hie eh çhelleeragh lesh keirdee Chulain. Va’n oie ayn tra raink eh, as va bree jiarg yn ‘urnish ry akin soilshean sy dorraghys. Cheayll eh voish çheu sthie y cheirdee garveig ny builg-heidee as clingal yn oard er yn ingan. Tra haink eh faggys da, ghow moddey mooar, cho mooar as lheiy, toshiaght er gullarnee as gyrnal gollrish taarnagh, as hug eh lesh e vainshtyr magh.)  

Niamh Cinn-Óir and the Land of Tír na nÓg

Niamh, illustrated by Beatrice Elvery in Heroes of the Dawn (1914)

The Fenian Cycle or Fianna Cycle (Irish: an Fhiannaíocht) in early Irish literature focuses on the exploits of the band of warriors known as the Fianna and their leader Fionn mac Cumhaill. Fionn mac Cumhaill is a hero in Irish as well as Scottish and Manx mythology. Much of the Fianna Cycle or Fenian Cycle is narrated by Fionn's son, the poet Oisín. The Fenian cycle remains an important part of Irish folklore passed down in oral tradition over many centuries.

A well known story from the Fenian Cycle is The Interrogation of the Old Men (Irish Agallamh Na Seanórach) probably compiled and written from older sources and oral tradition by a single author in about 1200. Other earlier tales were recorded in manuscripts and include The Book of the Dun Cow (c. 1100) and The Book of Leinster (c. 1160). The Fenian cycle is a key part of Irish folklore and contains many popular folk tales. Over the years a number of variations of the stories have been told and written.

Ag Siúlóid insan Aer - Walking in the Air

"Walking in the Air" is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film The Snowman which is based on Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book of the same name. Ag "Siúlóid insan Aer"  is St Columba's College Irish language version sung by Tania Stokes, accompanied on the piano by Ms Geraldine Malone-Brady - November 2014.

Life of a Manx Miner

Laxey (Manx: Laksaa) is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin). Laxey was the centre of an important lead and zinc-mining industry which was once one of the most important to be worked in the British Isles, and at the time, the world. Lead, zinc, copper and iron had been exploited on the Isle of Man from prehistoric times. Mining remained commercially viable until the early 20th century.

Scotland's Huntly Castle and the Sinister Events After the Death of George Gordon 5th Earl of Huntly

Huntly Castle is a ruined castle and ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon. It is located to the northeast of the market town of Huntley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Bhalgaidh or Hunndaidh, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain, Alba). The L-plan castle has a five storey tower and attached great hall and is built on the site of an earlier motte fortress, the mound of which can still be seen. The surviving remains on the site enable the story of the development of the castle to be traced, from the motte and bailey of the 1100s, through to the tower house of the later Middle Ages, then on to the stately stone palace of the Jacobean era.

‘Fairy Well’ and and the Captured Scottish Piper

The handsome drover, 1904–1904 painting by Heywood Hardy ((25 November 1842 – 20 January 1933)

In local folklore throughout the Celtic lands there are many stories of the little people, wee folk or fairies. They are often associated with particular locations and there are many 'fairy hills', 'fairy mounds', 'fairy glens', 'fairy wells' and 'fairy bridges'. One such place is the Fairy Well in the Parish of Logie. It is sometimes known as the Highlander’s Well and located not far from the base of Dumyat (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Mhèad) which is a hill at the western end of the Ochil Hills (Scottish Gaelic: Monadh Ochail) in central Scotland.

Highland drovers would sometimes stop here to allow their cattle to drink on the way to market. Local folklore has it that one of the wee folk (fairy) called Blue Jacket used to guard the well. One summer's day a Highland drover and piper from the Braes of Rannoch came to the Fairy Well with his Highland cattle. He fell asleep beside the Well only to be awoken shortly after by Blue Jacket. The fairy asked where he had come from and the drover told him Rannoch Moor. Blue Jacket then informed him that he was the guardian of the spring he had drunk from.

Lady Anne Farquharson-Mackintosh and the 'Rout of Moy' that Saved Bonnie Prince Charlie

Lady Anne Mackintosh

The village of Moy (Scottish Gaelic: A' Mhòigh) is situated between the villages of Daviot and Tomatin, in the Highland region of Scotland. Moy Hall is near to the village and is the home of the chiefs of the Clan Mackintosh, a Highland Scottish clan. It was at Moy Hall that Jacobite supporter Lady Anne Farquharson-MacKintosh entertained Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie")  in 1746. She learned that English government forces were advancing to capture Prince Charlie and she arranged for an act of subterfuge to protect him from capture.

Lady MacKintosh arranged for Donald Fraser the blacksmith and four other retainers to watch the road from Inverness. During the night they saw hundreds of Hanoverian troops marching along the road. As the English government troops approached they set about deceiving the advancing army by firing their pistols, shouting the battle cries of the Clan MacDonald and Clan Cameron and banging their swords against rocks. They fooled the advancing soldiers into thinking they had entered a stronghold of the Jacobite Army. At which point the British Government forces hastily retreated. It was an event that has come to be remembered as the "Rout of Moy".

Pages

Subscribe to Transceltic - Home of the Celtic nations RSS