This cycle deals primarily with the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses of Pagan Ireland. There are two main divine races that seem to be the basis for the Irish Celtic belief system evident in the Mythological cycle, The first of these divine races, the Tuatha De Danann, has been believed to translate to 'People of the Goddess Danú' and this is probably incorrect seeing as an older name, which was also used for the community of the gods by the continental Celts, was Tuatha Dé. A reasonable translation of Tuatha Dé would be 'Divine Tribes' and Tuatha Dé Danann could also be reasonably translated as 'Divine Tribes of Danú'.
The Second, and often opposing, race are the Fomor who are inexplicably linked with Oileán Thoraigh (Tory Island) located off the coast of Donegal. The word Fomor was originally understood to translate to "sea pirates" or "under sea dwellers" however an older name for the Fomor is "Fomoiri" which in translation comes closer to "Underworld phantoms" [Ó hÓgáin]. We are told in the Mythological Leabhar Gabála, that upon being defeated by the Invading Milesians, from whom the Gael are said to descend, the Tuatha De Dannann entered into the mounds of Ireland retreating back into the Otherworld where they have dwelled since. Through the centuries they have come to be known as the people of the Sidhe, (Sidhe - 'a mound') or, more recently, 'the Fairies', who exist on separate plains of existence to the human race, unperceivable by us save for at certain times of the year such as the great festivals of Samhain or Bealtaine, when the barriers between the realms are at they’re weakest.
Probably the most Significant tale of the Mythological Cycle would be the great battle between the armies of the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomor in the hugely symbolic 'Cath Magh Tuireadh'. This is a tale of enormous symbolic wealth containing the fundamentals of a Celtic world view, in particular the fight between the Tuatha De Dannan God Lugh, and the Fomor God Balor, where Balor, the great baleful sun god is slain by having his burning eye put out through the back of his head from a cast made by Lugh, his own grandson, with his sling thus fulfilling a prophecy made to Balor many years before.
Other well known tales to be found in this cycle include 'Oidheadh Chlainne Tuireann' (The Tragic Story of the Sons of Tuireann) which is one of the three great tragedies of Irish literature, where after killing Cian the father of Lugh, the three sons must complete a series of almost impossible tasks as punishment for their crime. Another is 'Tochmarc Etáin' (The Wooing of Etain) in which the God Midhir must carry out a series of tasks in order to win the Goddess Etain. One of these tasks was to build an enormous road over a bog land, evidence of a road matching the description given in the legend has been uncovered in Co Longford, proving that the legend is inexplicably tied into the landscape and the archaeological record. Most of the tales in the Mythological Cycle are of considerable antiquity, stemming far back into Ireland's pre-Christian past but, of course, like the other cycles (especially the Fenian cycle), there have been more recent additions showing the continuity of a popular mythological tradition from earliest times down to relatively recently. The Christian tale 'The Children of Lir', for example, is only found in a late seventeenth century manuscript. The Mythological cycle also contains the famous pseudo-historical Leabhar Gabála, which relates the six mythical invasions of Ireland by the Cessarians, the Partolonians, the Nemedians, the Firbolg, the Tuatha Dé, and Finally, the Milesians or Gael.
Regarding the Fomoiri however, it would seem they have always been here, acting as a basis for some divine primordial ancestry, as many of the gods of Tuatha Dé Danann have a Fomor ancestry. Many of the scribes have tried to humanize these invasions by linking them to various countries on the continent, such as Norway with the Fomor, Greece with the Firbolg etc. and it seems that the main concern of these scribes was to produce a complete historical account of ancient Ireland during the compilation of the Leabhar Gabála. Perhaps this was an attempt to rationalise these tales by scribes who were either unaware, disapproving or even overtly hostile towards the pre-Christian belief that the human race had descended from the Gods. Legends from the Mythological Cycle are to be found in some of the earliest compiled Irish manuscripts such as The Book of The Dun Cow (1106) The Book of Leinster (1150) the Book of Fermoy, and the book of Ballymote (1390). All in all, the Mythological Cycle is a brilliant and beautiful piece of unique lore wherein we get glimpse into how the ancient Irish understood the forces of nature and the cosmos, as Gods and Goddesses, interacting in the cycle of their lives, through the complex and genius symbolism of the native mind.
© 2007 Seanchán Mac Conraoi