While most of the poems in the Dinnshenchasare
anonymous, a number are ascribed to seven well-known
poets of the ninth to eleventh centuries, including
Máel-Mura of Othain (Fahan, Co. Donegal), who died
in 887, Cormac mac Cuilennáin, learned king-bishop
of Cashel (d. 908), Cináed ua hArtacáin (d. 974),
Mac Liac (d. 1016), Cúán ua Lóthcháin (d. 1024),
Eochaid Eolach ua Céirín (fl. c.1050), and the cele-
brated Flann Mainistrech (of Monasterboice, Co. Louth),
who died in 1056—Cináed being said to have com-
posed no fewer than seven poems, and Cúán four. Nine
other poems are said to be the work of another seven
poets of whom little appears to be known other than
their names, while there are also fictitious attributions
to Colum Cille, Finn mac Cumaill, and others. A long
poem, “Éire iarthar talman torthig,” preserved at the end
of a copy of the Dinnshenchasin the Book of Uí Mhaine,
is attributed to Gilla-na-Náem Ua Duinn, of the
monastery of Inis Clothrann on Lough Ree, and is said
to have been composed in 1166. It summarizes the
Dinnshenchaslegends of some 97 places—giving one
quatrain to each place. Gwynn also compiled a list of
46 early Irish texts, most of them well-known—including
Táin Bó Cúalnge,Fled Bricrenn, Táin Bó Fraích,
To chmarc Étaíne,theVita Tripartitaof St. Patrick, the
Banshenchas,and others—that he suggests were the
source of various articles in the Dinnsenchas. All of
this reflects the fact that dinnshenchaswas an essential
part of the body of learning that a medieval Irish poet
or literary practitioner was expected to master.
NOLLAIGÓ MURAÍLE
References and Further Reading
Bowen, Charles. “A Historical Inventory of the Dindshenchas.”
Studia Celtica10/11 (1975–76): 113–37.
Gwynn, Edward, ed. The Metrical Dindshenchas. Todd Lecture
Series VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII. Dublin: Royal Irish Acad-
emy, 1903, 1906, 1913, 1924, 1935. Reprinted by School
of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
1991.
––––––. “The Dindshenchas in the Book of Uí Maine.” Ériu 10
(1926–28): 68–91.
Ó Concheanainn, Tomás. “An Dinnsheanchas Próis.” Ph.D. thesis,
National University of Ireland, Galway, 1977.
––––––. “The three forms of Dinnshenchas Érenn.” The Journal
of Celtic Studies, vol. III, no. 1 (1981): 88–131.
Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid, and Kevin Murray. “Place-names.” In
The Heritage of Ireland: Natural, Man-made and Cultural
Heritage: Conservation and Interpretation, Business and
Administration, edited by Neil Buttimer, Colin Rynne, and
Helen Guerin, 146–155. Cork: The Collins Press, 2001.
Stokes, Whitley, ed. “The Bodleian Dinnshenchas.” Folklore 3
(1892): 467–516.
––––––, ed. “The Edinburgh Dinnshenchas.” Folklore 4 (1893):
471–497.
––––––, ed. “The Prose Tales in the Rennes Dindshenchas.”
Revue Celtique15 (1894): 272–236, 418–484; 16 (1895):
31–83.
Thurneysen, Rudolf. Die irische Helden- und Königsage bis
zum siebzehnten Jahrhundert. 36–46. Halle, 1921.
See alsoCináed ua hArtacáin; Cormac mac
Cuilennáin; Cúán ua Lothcháin; Etymology; Flann
Mainistrech; Lecan, Book of; Leinster, Book of;
Máel-Muru; Placenames; Uí Maine, Book ofDOMNALL MIDI
SeeUí Néill, SouthernDOWNPATRICK
Downpatrick is situated at the main entry point into
the Lecale peninsula in south-east County Down, on
a ridge overlooking the Quoile river and marshes. It
has had at least four names. Before the eleventh century
Dún Lethglaise was most common. Dún dá Lethglas
becomes more general after the eleventh century, often
used in a secular context, until it gives way in the
thirteenth century to simply Dún, Dunum, or Down.
The “Patrick” element does not seem to have been
added until the seventeenth century. An ecclesiastical
settlement existed at the site by the eighth century, and
continued into the twelfth century, established on the
hill at the western end of the ridge. Excavation in the
1980s showed that what was claimed in the 1950s to
be a Bronze Age hillfort was in fact the monastic vallum.
From the early eleventh century, coincidental with the
introduction of the name Dún dá Lethglas, references in
annals link it to the ruling dynasty of Ulaid. These cul-
minate in 1177 when John de Courcy, in his seizure of
the kingdom, made straight for Downpatrick and cap-
tured it, expelling the king. It has been conjectured that
the strong fort at the edge of the marsh on the northern
promontory, the so-called English Mount, might be the
site of a twelfth-century royal center.
Down, with Connor, was named the site of the see
of Ulaid at the Synod of Ráith Bressail in 1111, the
first well-known Bishop being the future St. Malachy,
elected in 1124. His career at Down was a complex
story of secular involvement and hostility. Initially he
was more centered on Bangor, but his two successors,
also named Malachy, established Down firmly as the
diocesan center. As the site of a cathedral and a royal
center it also served as the focus for further monastic
patronage under the first Malachy, notably that of Ere-
nagh, less than three miles away, founded in 1127, the
earliest house in Ireland of a Continental Order (Sav-
igny). Annalistic references also indicate a subsidiary,
potentially urban settlement attached.
Bishop Malachy III successfully negotiated the crisis
of the conquest by John de Courcy in 1177. The mound
within the English Mount enclosure is best explainedDOWNPATRICK