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Wave 7 – Amhairghin and the Arrival of the Sons of Mil

And, the end of Goddess Culture

The arrival of Amhairghin Glungheal and the Sons of Mil is the arrival of the Gaels in Ireland. This was the start of Celtic Ireland. What is self evident in this, but a surprise to many, is that there was a whole history and mythology of pre-Celtic Ireland. The “Irish” weren’t always Celts!

Mil was descended from Noah according to Lebor Gabála and lived in Scythia. He had to leave Scythia because of a jealous king and set off on a great journey. He was travelling towards Ireland but never made it. His uncle, Íth, decided to travel to Ireland with thrice 50 warriors. The Tuatha Dé engaged in discussion but in the end killed Íth. He was brought back to Spain. This was not exactly exemplary hospitality.

Nine of Íth’s brothers and eight of the Sons of Mil set off to take Ireland from the Tuatha Dé. They arrive at Inber Scéne (Kenmare Bay) where Amhairghin delivered a piece of mystical rhetoric. They defeated a force of the Tuatha Dé at Sliabh Mis. The great Banba, Fódla and Ériu who all asked that their name be on the Country.

They, the Sons of Mil then met three kings of the Tuatha Dé who persuaded the Sons of Mil to retreat over nine waves. But in a druid battle they won and arrived again on the shores of Ireland. They then defeated the Tuatha Dé at the Battle of Tailtiu. The Tuatha were then banished to live in the sidh and other lonely places. For philosopher, mystic, John Moriarty “this was a sad day for Ireland, a cultural disaster, a worse disaster culturally than the coming of the Vikings, than the coming of Cromwell and his religious roundheads”.

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insights from participants that were collected by the Bard team in the breakout groups and the large group discussions.

Connection 1 – The Transition from A pre Celtic World
Clearly what we are dealing with here is Irish pre-history but nevertheless we do know the Celts arrived from the 5^th century BC onwards. This means there was a pre-Celtic Ireland. For some people this is news and something they have given no thought. In a sense, for many, the Irish are Celts, always have been. So the Sons of Mil arriving is a transition. It seemed that this idea was fully and enthusiastically welcomed by some, enthusiastic about the pre Celtic Ireland. For others, it seemed, this was not so welcome! It was a surprising, perhaps ’shocking’ new idea!

Connection 2 – The Gender Dimension
What this arrival/invasion marked was a transition that was a movement to a more patriarchal/male dominated world. And despite the lack of historical information, there is an enormous significance in a collective cultural chance to remember a story that symbolises the idea that patriarchy came from somewhere else (as opposed to being inherent to human nature). The Tuatha Dé Danann were the people of the goddess, Danu. They were a goddess culture. The arrival of the Celts was the end of that matriarchal culture.

Connection 3 – The Tuatha Dé Driven Underground
Significance of Tuatha being driven underground: with the symbolism of the unconscious, the “other world”, faerie, rivers/forests as ecological foundations of life. It also offers a receded but nonetheless ever present layer of more valuable things in life than those valued on the surface. Also comparisons with king under the mountain trope: not really dead but there biding its time, to surface again in times of danger, and potentially to one day take power again. For some ,the idea of the Tuatha Dé coming back over ground again is compelling, especially from a feminist perspective.

Connection 4 – Circular Thought
The sense of spirals, waves and continuous motion and a cyclical conception of history. This is contrasted with the linear progress narratives of history and of Greco Roman thought. This spiral/cyclical conception applies in our personal lives as well. But the idea of spiral suggests ever spiralling layers of one’s understanding. These stories, this wisdom tradition evokes a circular world view.

Connection 5 – Irish Suspicion of Outsiders
In spite of all the compliments of Íth who led the forward party, the Tuatha Dé were very suspicious. And as we know, they killed him. The participants suggested that there might be a lesson here.

Is there an enduring suspicion of the stronger (Britain, the EU, new arrivees) and what about current Irish political negotiations? Certainly the Tuatha Dé did not cover themselves in glory with this episode.

Connection 6 – Faults on both Sides
The story highlights a strong sense of the Tuatha’s action being wrong in the killing of Íth. This then brought on the aggression of the Sons of Mil but participants reflected on feelings of shame and perhaps a reflection on Ireland’s historical wrong doings. In turn was Amhairghin’s song all about ego (as represented by Moriarty) and could they be trusted? In the end they did get rid of the Tuatha Dé and the goddess culture. It seems the Tuatha Dé had demonstrated a failure of hospitality and a loss of touch with their own values.

Connection 7 – A story with Global Resonances
What the story of the Sons of Mil represents is the possible Scythian origins of the Irish. There are also important connections in this story to Noah and the Fenius the Ancient and those who went on to build the Tower of Babel and to Moses. This Old Testament figure, Moses, saved the life of the infant Gaedheal, who was bitten by a snake, by touching him with his rod before pronouncing that Gaedheal’s descendent would be safe from serpents and live in a land where no such creatures existed – Ireland!

There are clearly connections here to Islamic and Middle Eastern cultures and a number of mythic resonances.

Wave 6 – Cú Chulainn as a Tragic Hero

Where Now with Warrior

What we have experienced experienced in the Bard is that as we tell the many stories of the Tain that the take on the story becomes ever more tragic and sad. Cú Chulainn is, as you tell the story, absolutely not a romantic hero but rather a figure of tragedy.

We told the story of “The Curse of Macha” and how this farmer Crunchu has all his dreams come true when Macha comes into his life. But she tells him one thing he is not to do, don’t boast about me. He can’t resist! And the race with Kings horses is set up. The twins are born but Macha dies but not before cursing the Men of Ulster, who, at their time of greatest need will be struck down, and unable to fight.

The Curse of Macha story sets up the Battle with Ferdia at the Ford. Cú Chulainn’s fights with his foster brother, Ferdia who is representing the Men of Connacht and Medb’s army. We told this story but because of time had to omit much else. We also told the story of the death of Connla, Cú Chulainn’s son with Aoife during his time with Scatchach in Scotland.

And finally, we covered the Death of Cú Chulainn at the hands of the Sons of Calatan and how some of his past victories (he had killed Calatan) came back to haunt him. The combined effect of the battle with Ferdia, the death of Connla and the death of Cú Chulainn created a powerful aggregated effect. It is simply tragic but most of all you are left with a feeling of how little agency this extraordinary warrior had! How ironic that someone so apparently powerful had so little power to shape his destiny!

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insights from participants that were collected by the Bard team in the breakout groups and the large group discussions.

Connection 1 – Medb’s Ease of Manipulation
In the telling of the Battle at the Ford the way in which Queen Medb is so easily able to manipulate Ferdia into a fight he does in no way desire. She did this through appealing to his pride, or perhaps more accurately the threat of shame if he did not take up the challenge. The role of emotion and manipulation was noted as an important feature in setting up the ‘brother battle’ between Cú Chulainn and Ferdia.

Connection 2 – How People of Strength are Manipulated

One reflection on Cú Chulainn and Ferdia is how the strong are manipulated by the powerful. The power figure could be a Queen as in Medb but the ‘powerful’ could also create a culture that value certain sacrificial behaviour that is the duty of the physically strong. The young, often men, are then a sacrificial victim within a particular cultural context. They have little or no agency. Those that do exercise a sense of agency e.g. conscientious objectors, deserters or those who commit suicide in these horrific circumstances in contrast earn only spite and contempt.

Connection 3 – The Tain: A Cautionary Tale
One way we can read the Cú Chulainn story is as a celebration of the warrior spirit, energy and the idea of the ‘blood and sacrifice’. In this regard the archetype seems to have played a powerful role in the cultural imagination. The events of 1916 and the actions of figures like Padraig Pearse seeming to act out the ultimate blood sacrifice. In modernity, the exploits of our sporting heroes across sports and in every village, county, province and the nation, are embodiments, surely of those figures who ‘put their necks on the line’ to defend the honour of the community.

But ultimately, and hearing these stories, Ferdia’s battle, Connla’s death and Cú Chulainn’s demise, the collective feeling was that the Tain can be understood as a critique, a total critique of the warrior archetype and of war and where it can lead. Every battle, every death in battle is essentially the death of a brother.

Connection 4 – Silence and Speechless-ness
Such was the impact, the cumulative impact of the stories of the Ferdia battle, the Connla death and the Cú Chulainn demise that the participants were left with a sense of speechlessness ……. what was there to say, what could be said after that …. the stories were so powerful. The collective experience seemed to be …. this is so sad, so tragic. Only a wish to be silent.

Connection 5 – Cú Chulainn’s Red Mist
There was another angle on the powerlessness of the apparently most powerful. It was the reflection that when Cú Chulainn was in his rístrádh, when the ‘red mist’ descended, he was actually not in control. Internal emotions and instincts had completely taken him over, he was unable to distinguish friend from foe, he had lost any sense of agency. So both from forces outside him and from forces inside him, Cú Chulainn is not in control.

Connection 6 – Warrior and the Return Journey
One participant had a son who worked as a psychiatrist in the US Military dealing with post war trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. He spoke of the difficulty of the return journey after the conflict. It is as if the mental places a warrior goes in battle, what they do, what they see makes it very difficult to return to normal life. And then if they do not return as ‘heroes’, as happened after the Vietnam War in the US, it makes it doubly difficult. The classic deal for the warrior/soldier is ‘you put your neck on the line’ (ref. the Champion’s Portion) and on return you get the best of everything, return a hero and if you die we will sing about you for eternity. But modern psychiatry and experience highlights the lie that there may be in this warrior code.

Connection 7 – War Ritualised …. To Contain the Rage
One point that was made was that some scholars (for example Proinsias MacCana – Early Irish Ideology and the Concept of Unity in “The Irish Mind” P 64/65) have pointed out that fighting in early Irish society was rigidly patterned and that it had strong elements of ritual. It was pointed out that the use of ritual in the Good Friday Agreement was helpful in containing the rage. In this regard language using forms of address, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Adams, was helpful in creating a contained anger.

And one current question for participants was as to whether this was essentially a tale of a violent society in Irish pre-history or one where the fighting was contained within ritual structures and not that harmful. Indeed, did the fighting act to strengthen cultural ties and bonds?

Wave 5 – Cú Chulainn: Romantic Cultural Hero

The Classic Archetype of the Warrior

What the Bard Mythologies Global Research Study on Irish Myth revealed is that one of the best known figures in Irish Myth is the great warrior, Cú Chulainn – the Irish Achilles. He is the great defender and was adopted by both communities in the Troubles in the North.

In Wave 5 we told the stories of a hero, who prior to his first great exploit was called Sétanta. Beginning with his birth stories we heard of his divine and human parentage in that both the god Lugh and the warrior Sualtam have claims to fatherhood. This otherworld/human origins is common with mythic heroes and was central to Cú Chulainn’s story.

Even as a young child the young Sétanta was exceptional. Once he heard of the Red Branch Knights he was enthralled. He persuaded his mother Dechtaire to allow him to join the young Knights at Emain Macha. Once there he laid low 50 of the youths playing hurling and the rest fled. His early life was a series of extraordinary feats in fighting but also in chess.

He acquired his name when slaying the hound of the smith, Culann on his way to Tara – Sétanta was to arrive late and the fierce hound was in his way. The hound is Cú, so hence this remarkable deed gave him his name Cú Chulainn – the slayer of Culann’s hound. He took up arms on a fortuitous day, killing the ferocious Sons of Nechtan, while in a rístrádh, or battle spasm. He only came out of this state of fury when the women lifted their skirts and then threw him into a vat of cold water. Cú Chulainn’s relationship with women was often fraught, but always interesting!

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insights from participants that were collected by the Bard team in the breakout groups and the large group discussions.

Connection 1 – The Positive Aspects of the Warrior Archetype – in today’s sport
This Wave was looking at the Story told with Sétanta and the Warrior as a ‘romantic hero’ and the idea of war and battle being seen in a positive light. A video of the famous 2007 Ireland vs. England rugby match was shown with the reminder that the last time the English had officially been in the stadium, the British Army had shot unarmed Irish Citizens. This famous day was indeed a catharsis in Croke Park, with the silence during the English National Anthem being seen as a moment of nurturing and healing. The cosmic necessity of this critique, Ireland’s crushing win, the preceding tension and fears of violence, not realised, was an example of the positive role of ‘battle’ as in sporting battle. The battle in this context had a healing, redemptive effect.

Connection 2 – The Recurring Sets of Three
The participants noted what is a frequent and recurring motif in folklore and myth. This is the frequent recurring of sets of three: three enemies (The sons of Nechtan), three vats of water (to cool Cú Chulainn) after his rístrádh, three companions, three barriers, etc. Numbers often have a symbolic significance that it helps to understand.

Connection 3 – Warrior: to Unite and/or Divide
While it might be easy to either refute or embrace the warrior archetype in modernity the participants reflected how this archetype and its associated energy could be used to unite (e.g. Croke Park 2007) or to divide. The Warrior energy could be a part of destructive hate such as sectarian violence in the North, or it could also play a key role as a ritual unifier such as in sport. A conflict can unify a community but that unity could be focused against a ‘hated’ enemy which, certainly within a county, is divisive.

Connection 4 – Ordinary Warriors 2020
One of the characteristics of these early Sétanta stories is how ‘outstanding’ and ‘exceptional’ is the young Sétanta. The Covid-19 virus has given us the concept of the “ordinary warrior”, doctors, nurses, carers, delivery drivers. But this does not mean their contribution is not outstanding. It was felt that it is, but that it had gone largely unrecognised. This was the harnessing of the warrior archetype by ordinary people to fight for ordinary people.

Connection 5 – Warrior Energy – A British Perspective

Following World War 2 there was a clear collective focus within Britain to harness the Nation’s energy to build a better society. After the war, the warriors were working to build a better society: the British Welfare State, NHS and free education as well as the rebuilding of cities etc. after the war. Such were the horrors of war, such was the collective sacrifice, that there was a collective resolve to build a better society.

Connection 6 – Rístrádh, Battle Race and the Role of the Woman
One of what was now Cú Chulainn (after the Culann’s hound story) characteristics was the rístrádh, the battle rage that he got into, for example in the fight with the Sons of Nechtan. In this state he knew not enemy or friend! The role of the women, lifting their skirts to shame him and then putting him in three vats of icy water to get him out of this state was noted with interest.

Connection 7 – Warrior Focus today and the Dangerous Invisible Enemy
The participants felt that there was still an important role for this archetype figure and the associated energy. One of the challenges is that the nature of the enemy has changed. It is often an invisible or intangible threat that is being faced such a racism, climate change, or importantly an invisible virus.

Wave 3 – Fintan and the Hawk of Achill

Shapeshifting and the Shamanic

In the colloquy of Fintan and the Hawk of Achill we have a dialogue between a wonderful shamanic figure who has lived for 5500 years and a hawk who has lived as long! The dialogue takes place just before they die. These two, human and bird have seen it all.

In this story we hear of two more of the “Three Wisdoms of the Irish”. If Cesair brought the synchronic perspective of knowing all the mythologies of the world, Fintan brought diachronic second wisdom having lived for so many years. The final foundational wisdom is the ability to shapeshift, an important shamanic gift.

We learn that Fintan had been variously salmon, eagle and hawk. This third wisdom, shapeshifting, means an ability to see the world from anothers perspective. In this story it is the perspective of the animal kingdom. But someone with this skill can surely apply it to the human world – and shapeshift to understand others, understand enemies.

This story gets closest to offering echoes of a Mesolithic (2000 BC – 4000 BC) before the emergence of a Neolithic culture.

We also had a powerful presentation from Chaobang Ai, on his experiences with Shamans in Guyana and the Philippines and the connections between this story and the stories/myths of indigenous peoples around the world.

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insight from participants which were collected by the Bard team in the breakout meetings and the big group sessions at the event:

Connection 1 – Mythic History from the Hawk’s Perspective
There was clearly an impersonal, detached quality in the hawk’s reflections in the dialogue with Fintan. Was the hawk being sadistic, or bureaucratic and simply doing what a hawk does? Was the hawk relishing in the bloodiness of a battlefield or simply fulfilling what a bird of prey does in its cosmic and transcendental role in recycling the dead (warriors on the battlefield) and reintegrating them into nature. Hawks, it seems, don’t do compassion or sentiment! Fintan on the other hand did bring some compassion to his telling! The contrast was very clear.

Connection 2 – The Ecological Role of Birds
From the perspective of the narrative it was easy to see the ecological importance of birds, especially birds of prey in playing an important role as recycler. The hawk was detached from the personal or tribal sentiments. From here it was possible to appreciate their role in the greater good in regard to nature and the natural world. So what we as humans might see as a cruel detachment could also be framed as ecologically positive.

Connection 3 – The Ecological Role of Birds
In the colloquy both the hawk and Fintan have lived for thousands of years. They have seen the entire ‘mythic history’ of Ireland. What this clearly spoke to was an extraordinary wisdom and insight. But as listeners we were left with a feeling of the loneliness that goes with an extremely long life. It means the guaranteed and repeated loss of everyone one knows. This sense of loneliness also had strong resonances with people in the Covid 19 context with people having to deal with the deaths of people close to us and also large numbers of people dying alone in care homes and hospitals. That shared loneliness acted to bring Fintan and the Hawk together at the end despite prior antagonisms in a deep understanding and companionship.

Connection 4 – The Fighting and Bloodshed
There was, it seems, considerable amounts of fight and bloodshed in the two shared stories. Or is it that these are the stand out moments in a mythic history? Were the Irish always fighting?

Connection 5 – Shapeshifting and Oneness with Nature
The shapeshifting of Fintan who told of his time as salmon, hawk and eagle was felt as a meditative journey but also in a current context, was felt to be relevant to how lockdown gave rise to new rituals and ceremonies (including the Bard sessions) that help us to remember how it is to be human.

Connection 6 – Circularity of Life
Connections made to the circularity of life being from death to life to death whether it was for Fintan or the Hawk or individuals or communities or even Ireland as a whole. Unlike the linear rational thought of Greco Roman culture this world view is far more circular.

Connection 7 – Encounters with Shamans
The pursuit of shamanic energy and experience was valued but how could it be the real thing as opposed to New Age type stuff which misuse language and symbols. Discussion took place on the impact of the Catholic Church and modernity on the shamanic values. In Irish myth the connection with the Cailleach and the negative branding of shamanic elements as “witches” etc. Reflection on the loss of the shamanic experiences and indigenous communities around the world was expressed especially in relation to Chaobang Ai’s recounting of meeting shamans with indigenous people in Guyana and the Philippines.

Wave 2 – The Cesair Journey

An epic journey and a foundation myth of Ireland

In regard to the beliefs of the ancient Irish about their origins what we know is that we don’t know. Whatever nature origin legends there may have been did not survive the arrival of Christianity. What we do know, however, is that these origin questions were important to them.

What does emerge from literary and historical sources is a series of settlements of “people who come from somewhere else” often fleeing hardship, wars, floods. This foundation mythology is captured in a collection of stories put together in the late eleventh century, Lebor Gabála Érenn, “The Book of the Taking of Ireland”.

The first arrivee was Cesair, fifty women and three men including her partner, Fintan MacBochra. She arrived after an epic journey that started in East Africa, in Meroe and travelled all the known world. In some versions she was refused a place in the Ark. In a sense the first arrivee was an outcast, and her myth was that of a “Not Chosen” people. We also told a version in which Cesair and her people were the ‘great founders’ of Ireland – its first people.

The first arrivee brought a formidable woman and the ‘mothers of the world’. Imagine that she was informed by the wisdom of knowing the Myths of all the Known World in the various cultures she passed through on her epic journey.

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insight from participants collected by the Bard team after the storytelling:

Connection 1 – The Flood as a Primal Mythic Moment
Myths have frequent recourse to a primal moment . These are events or happenings that affects everyone in the society and which they remember for a very long time. In the case of Cesair and her people it was floods as their primal moment. Today it is a ‘virus – Covid 19’ but both are primal world shaping moments and times. A war whether external or a civil is another typical primal moment.

Connection 2 – Difference between the Versions
The participants observed how little you have to do to oral story to fundamentally change its meaning fundamentally. In one version Cesair and her folk are the ‘great founders’ of Ireland as its first arrivees. In another version (based on old texts) the Cesair party are essentially ‘outcasts’ in that they are not allowed on Noah’s Ark. Each version has very different meanings and identity value. Which do you prefer to tell and believe is an important question.

Connection 3 – Why do we not know this story?
Every time the Bard team tell the Cesair story we find there is little knowledge among the public of the story. The Bard Global Survey confirmed this lack of knowledge. Participants ask why? Was this founding myth of a strong woman and her accompanying 50 ‘mothers of the world’ effectively written out of history? Did the monks or other Christians seek to marginalise it

Connection 4 – An Irish Dreamtime
The aborigines have the idea of ‘dreamtime’ where they essentially imagine (dream) a world into existence. Given, as outlined, there is little knowledge of this story. It obviously offers itself as an alternative creation myth – perhaps of a people who came from somewhere else? To embrace this epic story could mean a people changing the story/myth they tell about themselves.
Myths, if they are implicit or unconscious drive us though we don’t know it. To become conscious of the myths we live by is to gain agency. It is about an individual or a people owning the myths it lives by. A people can change its identity and its myths. And to do so is to create a dreamtime – an Irish dreamtime.

Connection 5 – The Gendered Aspect – Women/Goddess
One of the connections and insights made was that this is a ‘women led’ venture and one in which women are dominant. The new religion, Christianity had its own ‘myth of origins’ to propagate, an intention to repudiate the old gods. It was also a patriarchal religion. The Bard participants were of course acutely aware of the gendered aspects of this story. And many inspired by the obvious gender of the key protagonists!

Connection 6 – Parallels with Greek Mythology
There is an obvious parallel in Greek Myth with the great sea journey of Odysseus and his companions back to Ithaca from Troy. The obvious differences being the sheer length of Cesair’s Journey (is it ten times as long?) and the face of it being a new start rather than a journey home as in the Odyssey.

Connection 7 – Archetype of the Mother

Cesair as the archetype of the mother as creator, founder, protector, nurturer and source of strength was noted. At the same time Cesair is not a typical ‘maternal’ mother but rather one with a very strong sense of agency, independence and purpose.

Wave 1 – The Voyage of Bran

A different encounter with the Divine

Along with a culture’s creation myth there can be few more central moments than when that peoples encounters the divine. That moment fundamentally shapes the relationship with a transcendent force and imagined god.

In the case of the Jewish people it was that meeting of Moses as leader of the Israelites with Yahweh on the top of Mount Sinai. Yahweh having induced fear with fire and thunder gives Moses a gift, a tablet of stone on which are inscribed the ten commandments.

As John Moriarty, the late Kerry poet and mystic pointed out the contrast with the Irish encounter could not be more stark. Here the king/hero Bran whose life was upended by a ‘longing’ ends up meeting the Irish Sea god, Manannan MacLir. His gift, a silver branch. This Moriarty saw as a way of perceiving the world – silver branch perception.

Here we have a contrast between a God whose elements are fire and stone and one whose elements are air and water; one whose gift is a tablet of commandments and another whose gift is “silver branch perception” – a way of perceiving the world.

The Connections and insights from Participants

Here are some of the most significant connections and insight from participants and collected by the Bard team:

Connection 1 – A Time out of Time
In the way that Bran’s voyage to the otherworld was a ‘time out of time’ so this corona virus lock down is also a time out of time. This lock down can be seen perhaps as a time of opportunity and possibility what the Greeks called “Kairos” time. Other comments were that it was of time slowed down and this gave people an opportunity to assess what is really important.

Connection 2 – The Gift of Silver Branch Perception – A Way of Perceiving
The silver branch gift as being part of the encounter with Manannan was an experience where the divine gave Bran a very different way of perceiving the world. In this regard the gift was seen as an enhancement of one’s awareness of the world. The point made was that this was about the oneness and the connection between all things and an aspiration to know one’s fuller known ness (evoking Aristotlean potentiality).

Connection 3 – A Time of Planting Seeds to germinate a new normal
The germination theme came up in another connection in a comment that ‘we are locked away to germinate like seeds’. This was captured in a Mexican proverb ‘they tried to bury me but didn’t know that I’m a seed’.

Taken together the idea of taking the time out of time and also a new way of perceiving there was discussion of this time being about the germination of a new normal. In this regard the silver branch suggest critical thinking about what is going on at this time. This critical thought is not just about access to knowledge nor is it about looking to authority figures. For some this new normal was exciting leaving open the new and the possible generated from the bottom up.

Connection 4 – The Paradox of the Silver Branch
The question here was is the branch of this world (but seen differently) or is this a separate otherworld from which there is no return. In the story as told the branch occupies both of these options. We are left with the paradox. Perhaps it is not one or the other but both/neither and perhaps a cognisance of and comfort with that ambiguity and this is at the heart of silver branch perception.

Connection 5 – The Image of the Golden Thread
In the story, Bran catches a ball of thread, and is pulled back to the Island of Joy he is seeking to leave. Is this, one participant commented, to be seen as Covid 19 a golden threat pulling us into a perceptive mode of thought whether we want to go there or not.

Connection 6 – The Power of Longing – a “Call to Adventure”
Many were struck by how a strong man, Bran, who was secure as warrior and king and apparently impervious to all challenges, yet is suddenly brought low by a totally different form of power. As Moriarty put it “Bran Mac Feabhal laid low not by a sword but by longing’. In the language of myth this is typically the ‘call to adventure’ that begins the Hero Journey, as we find we are pulled into a journey into the unknown, after that longing. In Bran’s case perhaps this was the King Journey rather than the Hero Journey.

Connection 7 – The Return Journey from a world upside down
Being an exile and removed from life as you knew it not only changes your perception of the world but other people’s perceptions of you as you return. Could this return be difficult or even, as in Bran’s case, impossible! One feature of the world of Bran (and Covid 19) is how it turned things upside down and how the low paid front liners (often women and immigrants) were now heroes. This is world upside down! But surely out challenge is to make the return journey. In the myth Manannan comes ashore but not Bran. Do we need a different ending?

The Story of the Story

The story of Bran mac Feabhail is one of a fictional character, originally written with much in verse. Though written at a time when Christianity was well established the story is based on pre Christian ideas of the otherworld. The writer was a Christian he was working within the structure of an international folklore motif of a man who returns from the timeless other world. The text was written in northern Ulster in the early eighth century.

GSIM – Results per Question

Below are some handy info-graphics outlining each question and its results for sharing and posting.

GSIM – Implications of Study

There are a number of implications of what has been discovered from this study:

The Little Known Wisdom Tradition

There is some awareness of half of what has been described as the “richest store of myth and its associated traditions north of the Alps”. There is almost no knowledge of the other half among the Irish Diaspora.

Where is there some knowledge

The areas of the Mythology that are somewhat familiar are the two warrior traditions: CúChulain, the Tain and the hero within the tribe, and Fionn and the Fianna and the outlaw hero, outside the tribe. These myths certainly played a role in the Celtic Revival and Independence struggle.

What are the missing elements of the mythologies – Foundation Stories

Little known are the two foundation mythologies, the Lebor Gabála, Book of Invasions and the Battles of Moytura. These mythologies contain the Irish Creation Stories – the ”people from somewhere else” and echoes of the shamanic and goddess cultures of the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. They also lay out a unique indigenous organizational structure – a mythology of distributed power and the cult of the sacred centre.

What are the missing elements of the mythologies – King/Leadership Stories

Prior to the arrival of the Anglo Normans, the King Stories were very popular (33% of the stories told). Following the Invasion, other stories (rebel/outlaw) became told and the King Stories were barely told (3% in early 20^th century).

COMPARATIVE DATA

GSIM – Main Outcomes

Interest in the Myths

Overall, interest in learning more about Irish Mythology is high, with over 80% of respondents expressing interest in obtaining more information about the Myths.

Respondents overwhelmingly described the stories that they were familiar with as “interesting” and “wonderful”, although there is a distinction about how these stories are viewed.

70% of Irish respondents disagreed that these myths were part of a comic Ireland image, (leprechauns, little people), whereas 59% of US respondents felt they were.

Familiarity with the Stories

However, overall the familiarity with these stories is very low, with only a select few such as Cú Chulainn, Children of Lir, Fionn Mac Cumhall receiving relatively high levels of recognition.

Of the 14 key characters in the Myths reviewed, on average over half of respondents answered “not familiar at all” with even poorer numbers with the diaspora’s familiarity, the UK respondents having the most favourable numbers of that group.

Familiarity with the Cycles of Myth

There are four cycles of Irish Myth: Mythological, Ulster, Fenian, King. There is a relatively high level of recognition of the Ulster Cycle (CúChulainn) and the Fenian Cycle (Fionn MacCumhall).

There is very little familiarity with the Mythological Cycle (except when the Children of Lir is included in the Cycle) and the King Cycle (Cormac MacAirt).

Character Familiarity Overview

Respondents:	Top 3 Most Familiar Characters :
Overall	Fionn MacCumhal, Cuchulain, Lir
Ireland	Fionn MacCumhal, Cuchulain, Lir
Diaspora	Fionn MacCumhal, Ceasair*, Lugh
U.S.A	Fionn MacCumhal, Ceasair*, Balor
U.K & N.I	Ceasair, Fionn MacCumhal, Lugh
Australia	Nemed, Fionn MacCumhal. Cuchulain

* querying this data has led to the conclusion that respondents most likely confused the Irish; Ceasair, with the Roman; Caesar.

Respondents:	Top 3 Least Familiar Characters:
Overall	Amhairghin Glungheal , Nemed, Parthalon
Ireland	Amhairghin Glungheal, Nemed, Ceasair
Diaspora	Amhairghin Glungheal, Lir, Midhir
U.S.A	Cuchulain, Amhairghin Glungheal, Lir
U.K	Lugh, Amhairghin, Nemed
Australia	Lir, Midhir, Lugh

IMPLICATIONS OF STUDY

GSIM – Comparative Data

Percentage of those surveyed who believed the myths were for everyone:

65%

Ireland:

72%

United States:

54%

UK & Northern Ireland:

47%

Australia:

73%

Percentage of those surveyed who feel very familiar with the Irish Myths:

26%

Ireland:

35%

United States:

31%

UK & Northern Ireland:

31%

Australia:

Percentage of those surveyed who believe the myths are tied to the Irish language:

79%

Ireland:

79%

United States:

72%

UK & Northern Ireland:

78%

Australia:

79%

As they remember, where did respondents first learn about the Irish Myths?

Ireland:

Learned at school:

52%

Learned from parent:

32%

United States :

Learned at school:

52%

Learned from parent:

15%

UK & Northern Ireland:

Learned at school:

16%

Learned from parent:

51%

Australia:

Learned at school:

13%

Learned from parent:

40%

Some Propositions about Irish Myth:

The Proposition	Agree	Disagree	Don’t know enough to comment
These myths are part of a rich wisdom tradition of the people that we have forgotten.	71%	4%	25%
Ireland on its Independence was too influenced by British Institutions, Culture and Traditions.	61%	11%	28%
The Irish Myth could be a source of Inspiration to the Ireland of the 21^st Century.	66%	7%	27%
The Ancient Irish had a different way of looking at the world.	79%	3%	18%
Ireland was a centre of Wisdom and Inspiration in the 5^th and 7^th centuries and could be that again.	58%	13%	29%
The Catholic Church saw these stories as pagan and were to be replaced by the correct Christian Stories	86%	8%	6%