Overviews of each cycle:
Texts available in An Chartlann from each cycle
Most people today would be familiar with Cycles as a means of categorising the tales of Ireland, and it would seem this has been the logical method for quite some time. However, although it is probable that the poets and bards of medieval Ireland were familiar with the notion of cycles as a means of classification, there is no reference to such a classification in any of the significant manuscripts we have today regarding the native literature. It has been accepted that the traditional mode of classification was by 'tale-type'. The book of Leinster gives us a total of nineteen of these tale type classifications. They are presented in the form of two lists. List one contains seventeen types while list two contains fifteen types, thirteen of which occur in both lists.
It is said in the book of Leinster, that in order for a poet to actually be considered qualified, they were required to learn 350 of these tales, 200 primary tales and 100 secondary ones, word for word, without any fault. Unfortunately we only have a list of 187 of what would constitute a primary tale and nothing of what would classify as a secondary type. The nineteen tale types, as given in the book of Leinster in the form of two lists, are as follows.