describe a musical instrument, undoubtedly a whistle
or flute. Pipes, flutes, and whistles have been found in
archaeological excavations, mainly in Viking contexts.
They are generally crafted from the bones of birds and
fowl.
Vocal performance and accompaniment are also
well documented in medieval Ireland, showing an
impressive variety in the use of the human voice. Two
early terms in Irish for general musical entertainment
derive from the Irish term, “to blow,” or “blow out.”
This suggests that mere humming and whistling, as
well as wind instruments, were principal among early
musical entertainment.
Airfitech
(“minstrel”) is the
most common term used for any musician involved in
vocal and instrumental performances. The
airfitech
is
a regular feature of the saga literature, providing pro-
fessional vocal and instrumental entertainment for
gathered guests.
Humming and crooning as musical performances
are well documented in medieval Ireland. Several dif-
ferent named types of humming and crooning are men-
tioned, each associated with different strains of music
and activities. Keening, a mournful humming or moan-
ing traditionally associated with Irish funerals, is an
enduring example of these vocal styles. Additionally,
an abundance of terms in the surviving literature attest
to the popularity of formal humming or lilting, a rec-
ognized feature of Irish music that survives to the
modern day.
The late medieval period witnessed significant
change in Ireland’s music tradition. With the breakup
of the native ruling class in the late sixteenth century
came permanent influences from Britain. Newly intro-
duced instruments such as the standard flute and violin
became popular, as did novel vocal arrangements and
formal dance. This period also saw the arrival of sheet
music for both instrumental and vocal compositions.
Surviving sheet music is indeed abundant for Ireland’s
early modern period. Historically an oral music tradi-
tion with emphasis on improvisation, this innovation
had a profound effect on Irish music. Formal dance in
Ireland is not well attested before the sixteenth century.
Doubtless a part of Ireland’s musical culture, little is
known of its expression in the medieval period.
A
NGELA
G
LEASON
References and Further Reading
Buckley, Anne. “Musical Instruments in Ireland: Ninth–
Fourteenth Centuries.” In
Musicology in Ireland
, edited by
Gerald Gillen and Harry White. Dublin, 1990.
Flood, W. H. Grattan.
A History of Irish Music
.
Dublin, 1905.
O’Curry, Eugene.
The Manner and Customs of the Ancient Irish
.
Vol. 3. Dublin, 1973.
See also
Entertainment
MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE
The Mythological Cycle is that body of medieval Irish
narrative literature chiefly concerned with the deeds of
the inhabitants of the Irish otherworld. Characters from
this cycle frequently appear in the other three main
cycles (the Ulster Cycle, the King Cycle, and the Finn
Cycle) as well as in other categories of narrative that
fall outside this classification such as the
dinnsenchas
(“place lore”).
The inhabitants of the otherworld are collectively
known as Túatha Dé Danann (“tribes of the goddess
Danu/Danann”), a term that first appears around the
turn of the eleventh century in poems associated with
Lebor Gabála Érenn
(see Invasion Myth). Earlier texts
called them Túatha Dé (“tribes of gods”), but the more
common designation at all periods was
áes síde
(“folk
of the fairy-mound”). They inhabited the
síde
(“fairy-
mounds”), which were natural hillocks or man-made
mounds such as the ancient tomb complex at Brug na
Bóinne (Newgrange, Co. Meath). Their divine origin
is sometimes explicitly recognized, but Christian writ-
ers occasionally rationalize them as fallen angels or
demons. Attempts to euhemerize them (to suppose that
they were mortals who were worshipped after their
deaths) are most successful in the influential
Lebor
Gabála Érenn
, where they are usually portrayed as
descendants of Noah.
The names of some of the principal characters sug-
gest an origin in native mythology. One of their chiefs
was the Dagda whose name means “good god” (Dago-
d–evos). The king of the Túatha Dé Danann at the battle
of Mag Tuired is Núadu Argatlám (“Núadu silver-
arm”) whose name is cognate with Lludd Llawereint
(“Lludd silver-arm”) of Welsh saga and is thought to
be the same as the deity called Nodons who appears
on Romano-British dedications. Lug Lámfhata (“Lug
long-arm”) is associated with the harvest festival
(Lugnasad) and is thought to be a reflex of the Celtic
god whose name may be preserved in various conti-
nental European place names such as Lyon and Leiden
(Lugudunum).Cath Maige Tuired
There are two distinct but related battles of Mag Tuired.
The first, often known as
Cath Maige Tuired Conga
(“the battle of Mag Tuired of Cong”) is recounted in
Lebor Gabála Érenn
and tells of the invasion of Ireland
by the Túatha Dé Danann and the subsequent battle with
the Fir Bolg. Although chronologically anterior to the
second battle, it was composed at a later date. In the
battle, Núadu, king of the Túatha Dé Danann, loses his
arm. A replacement is fashioned from silver by the phy-
sician Dian Cécht and the smith Credne, and so NúaduMUSIC