with other population groups. Some can be dated as
early as the seventh century and are closely related to
genealogies alongside which they often appear. Cath
Crinna (the battle of Crinna) tells how Cormac mac
Airt defeated the Ulaid with the help of Tadg mac Céin
and drove them from the Boyne, as a result of which
Tadg was rewarded with all the lands he could encircle
in his chariot. This legend attempts to explain the
political landscape of the eighth century, when the
land around the Boyne was occupied by the descen-
dants of Tadg (the Cianachta), who were vassals of
the Uí Néill (descendants of Cormac). The story
known as “The Expulsion of the Déisi” tells how the
Déisi were expelled from Tara, wandered through
Leinster, and were eventually granted a homeland on
the borders of Munster in reward for driving out the
Osraige. This story creates a connection between the
Déisi of Brega in the Midlands and the Déisi of Munster,
but it almost certainly lacks any historical foundation:
déisi simply means “vassals” and could have been
applied independently to different subject tribes in
different parts of the country. Indeed, inconsistencies
between variant accounts of the story appear to
reflect the changing fortunes and relations of differ-
ent branches of the ruling dynasty. In stories such as
this contemporary reality and relationships are pro-
jected into the past, illustrating the folly of attempts
to use origin legends to reconstruct the history of
pre-Christian Ireland.
GREGORY TONER
References and Further Reading
Carey, John. “Scél Tuáin meic Chairill.” Ériu 35 (1984):
93–111.
———. “Origin and Development of the Cesair Legend.” Éigse
22 (1987): 37–48.
———. A New Introduction to Lebor Gabála Érenn. London:
Irish Texts Society, 1993.
———. The Irish National Origin Legend: Synthetic Pseudo-
history. Quiggin Pamphlets on the Sources of Medieval
Gaelic History. Cambridge: Department of Anglo-Saxon,
Norse, and Celtic, 1994.
———. “Native Elements in Irish Pseudo-history.” In Cultural
Identity and Cultural Integration: Ireland and Europe in the
Early Middle Ages, edited by Doris Edel, 45–60. Dublin
and Portland: Four Courts Press, 1995.
Koch, J. T., and John Carey, eds. The Celtic Heroic Age:
Literary Sources for Ancient Celtic Europe and Early Ireland
and Wales. Malden, Mass.: Celtic Studies Publications 1994.
2nd edition, 1995.
Macalister, R. A. S. Lebor Gabála Érenn. 5 vols. London: Irish
Texts Society, 1938–1956.
McCone, Kim. Pagan Past and Christian Present. Maynooth,
Ireland: An Sagart, 1990.
Ó Corráin, Donncha. “Irish Origin Legends and Genealogy:
Recurrent Etiologies.” In History and Heroic Tale: A Sym-
posium, edited by Tore Nyberg et al., 51–96. Odense,
Denmark: 1985.
———. “Historical Need and Literary Narrative.” In Proceed-
ings of the Seventh International Congress of Celtic Studies,
edited by D. Ellis Evans, 141–158. Oxford: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1986.
Scowcroft, R. M. “Leabhar Gabhála, Part I: The Growth of the
Text.” Ériu 38 (1987): 81–142.
———. “Leabhar Gabhála, Part II: The Growth of the Tradi-
tion.” Ériu 39 (1988): 1–66.
See also Biblical and Church Fathers; Dinnsenchas;
Forus Feasa ar Éirinn, Genealogy; Mythological
Cycle; ScriptoriaÍTE (d. 570 OR 577?)
After Brigit, Íte was one of the most prominent female
saints in the Irish Church. Íte was the founder and
abbess of the monastery of Killeedy, County Limerick.
Her feast day is January 15. Her name also appears
records her original name as Deirdre; a fourteenth-
century Life by John of Tynemouth gives Derithea.
She was the patron saint (matrona) of the Uí Conaill
Gabra, who occupied the western part of present-day
County Limerick. The main church at Clúain-chredail
became Íte’s monastery, Cell-Íte, now Killeedy. Three
recensions of her Life remain extant, but none of the
present forms can be dated earlier than the twelfth
century.
Most of her life and works is legendary; few his-
torical details can be determined. According to Íte’s
genealogy, she was a member of the royal family of
the Déisi and was born near present-day Waterford.
After she was consecrated as a nun, she migrated to
Clúain-chredail, where she founded her own monastery.
The date of her foundation is unknown, but she was
present at Killeedy by 546. Although Killeedy was
founded as a monastery for women, by the ninth century
it had become a monastery for men.
Killeedy apparently supported a school for young
boys. Íte is traditionally known for fostering young
boys, among them St. Brendan the Navigator; she has
been called the “foster-mother of the saints of Ireland.”
According to one recension of her Life, St. Brendan
asked her the three things which pleased God and the
three things which displeased him; Íte replied, “True
faith in God with a pure heart, a simple life together
with holiness, generosity together with charity” are
pleasing, but that “a mouth detesting men, holding
fast in the heart an inclination to evil, and smugness
in wealth” are displeasing. Íte appears in the tradi-
tions of St. Brendan, offering him advice and guid-
ance for his voyages. The ninth-century Martyrology
of Óengus contains the anecdote that Íte asked to have
the infant Jesus to nurse; the text records the poem
“Ísucán” (Little Jesus), which is attributed to her but
is of a later date.ÍTE (d. 570 OR 577?)