HISTORICAL TALESKelly, Dorothy. “The Heart of the Matter: Models for Irish High
Crosses.” Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of
Ireland121 (1991): 105–145.
Manning, Conleth. Clonmacnoise. Dublin: 1994.
Ó Floinn, Raghnall. “Patrons and Politics: Art, Artefact, and
Methodology.” In Pattern and Purpose in Insular Art, edited
by Mark Redknap, et al., 1–14. Oxford: 2001.
See alsoCerball mac Dúngaile; Church Reform,
Twelfth Century; Clonmacnois; Early Christian
Art; Ecclesiastical Sites; Iconography;
Inscriptions; Máel-Sechnaill I; Sculpture
HISTORICAL TALES
Description
Historical tales are narratives usually concerned with
kingship, dynastic conflicts, and battles, in which the
glories of one royal dynasty or another are recorded.
They are frequently assigned to the genre known as
the “Cycle of the Kings,” a classification based prima-
rily on the fact that the main thematic concern of such
tales is with royal personages. The significance of
many of these tales is not so much in the historical
matters which they purport to recount but in the moti-
vation of authors writing at some removal from the
events narrated and whose main purpose was to recast
earlier events, usually for the benefit of some local
dynasty. The time and place of composition of such
tales, therefore, are crucial factors in seeking to under-
stand the motives of their authors. It must also be borne
in mind that historical accuracy was not the paramount
concern in the composition of such texts and it is not
uncommon to find deliberate distortion of earlier his-
torical records. Historical tales are thus often a more
accurate reflection of events occurring at their time of
composition rather than of events recounted in the
narratives themselves.
Some of these tales recount events in historical bat-
tles. One example is Cath Almaine (The Battle of
Allen), which is based on a battle fought in 722 at the
Hill of Allen, County Kildare. There are two recen-
sions of this tale. The composition of the earlier recen-
sion would seem to represent a tenth-century re-working
of previously existing sources. The protagonists in this
tale are the Northern Uí Néill under Fergal mac Maíle
Dúin, and the men of Leinster under Murchad mac
Brain. The tale celebrates the victory of the Leinstermen
and was probably written for one of Murchad’s descen-
dants. Tales concerned with the Battle of Mag Rath
(Moira, in modern Co. Down), which was fought in
the year 637, have also been written. Cath Maige Rath
(The Battle of Mag Rath) is preserved in two recen-
sions, the earlier of which has been dated to the tenth
century. The first recension purports to set out the
cause and outcome of the conflict in which the protag-
onists are Domnall mac Áeda, over king of the Uí Néill
and his foster-son Congal Cáech, of the Ulaid. Congal
is eventually killed at Mag Rath. Another tale con-
cerned with the battle of Mag Rath is Fled Dúin na
nGéd(The Feast of Dún na nGéd), dateable, it would
seem, from about the late eleventh to the mid-twelfth
century.In this tale, the Ulaid ruler, who is named
Congal Cláen, declares himself publicly slighted by
Domnall and vows revenge. Congal subsequently
seeks aid from his Scottish and British kinsmen and
the narrative ends with a brief account of the battle of
Mag Rath in which Congal and his allies are defeated
by Domnall. The author of Fled Dúin na nGéddisplays
familiarity with Cath Maige Rathand has rewritten the
earlier narrative with various embellishments of a
learned nature for a different purpose. Characters in
the narrative stand as surrogates for royal contempo-
raries of the author. Domnall mac Áeda of the text
would seem to stand as surrogate for Domnall Mac
Lochlainn of Cenél nEógain, who sought to regain
traditional Uí Néill hegemony in Ireland at the close
of the eleventh century. Domnall mac Áeda’s relation-
ship with the Ulaid as depicted in Fled Dúin na nGéd
would seem to have been intended to reflect Domnall
Mac Lochlainn’s relationship with the Ulaid in the late
eleventh century. The compiler’s sympathies lie not
with the aggrieved foster-son, but with his foster-father
and with the viewpoint of stable authority, with the
particular position of Domnall Mac Lochlainn in
regard to the Ulaid. Fled Dúin na nGédis one of many
narratives, therefore, in which the present is repre-
sented in terms of the past, that is, contemporary con-
cerns of the author are communicated by allusion to
past events.Tales of Battles with Foreign Invaders
Historical tales belonging to this category were also
written for propaganda purposes. One such tale is
Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib (The War of the Irish
againstthe Foreigners). This text provides an account
of the Scandinavian invasions of Ireland in the ninth
and tenth centuries and the resistance to them by the
Dál Cais, culminating in the victory of that dynasty
under their leader Brian Boru, at the Battle of Clontarf
in 1014. The narrative, however, was seemingly com-
piled in the early part of the twelfth century at the
behest of Brian Boru’s great-grandson, Muirchertach
Ua Briain. The purpose of the narrative was not to
provide an accurate historical record of events in ninth-
and tenth-century Ireland but rather to enhance the
position of the later Muirchertach and to legitimize the