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Texts

Acallam na senórach‘The dialogue of the ancients’

  • Middle Irish
  • prose, verse
  • Finn Cycle
Author
Anonymous
Manuscripts

Five manuscript witnesses:

Language
  • Middle Irish
  • late Middle Irish (or very early Classical Irish)
Form
prose, verse (primary)
Prosimetrum.
Textual relationships
Related: Ar chruitire Fhinn mhic ChumaillAr chruitire Fhinn mhic Chumaill

Expanded, modernised version of a poem concerning Fionn‘s harper Cnú Dereóil, which is found originally in Acallam na sénorach, where it begins Abhuc do fuair Finn ferdha (Stokes ll. 630–683).

Dinnshenchas of Ard RuideDinnshenchas of Ard Ruide

Dinnshenchas of Ard Ruide, a royal seat in Munster.

Tóiteán Tighe FhinnTóiteán Tighe FhinnA ballad about a tragic event and its aftermath in Fenian tradition. It relates how Garad mac Morna burnt to death the wives of the fían-warriors in Finn's house and how he was afterwards slain by his son Aod.Dinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IPoem on the dinnshenchas of Tond Clidna, attributed to Caílte.Dinnshenchas of Tonn ChlidnaDinnshenchas of Tonn ChlidnaProse tract on the dinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna.
Associated items
Dinnshenchas of Almu IDinnshenchas of Almu IDinnshenchas poem on Almu (the Hill of Allen, Co. Kildare), which recounts the tale of the conception of Finn mac Cumaill.Dinnshenchas of Ard RuideDinnshenchas of Ard Ruide

Dinnshenchas of Ard Ruide, a royal seat in Munster.

Rise up OsgarRise up OsgarForud na Fíann fás in-nochtForud na Fíann fás in-nochtGéisid cúanGéisid cúanIs úar geimred at-racht gáethIs úar geimred at-racht gáethDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IDinnshenchas of Tonn Chlidna IPoem on the dinnshenchas of Tond Clidna, attributed to Caílte.Turus acam Día h-AíneTurus acam Día h-Aíne

Classification

Finn Cycle
Finn Cycle
id. 578

Subjects

Saint PatrickSaint Patrick
(fl. 5th century)
St Patrick
No short description available
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Finn mac CumaillFinn mac Cumaill (Find úa Báiscni)
Fionn mac Cumhaill, Find úa Báiscni
(time-frame ass. with Finn Cycle, Finn mac Cumaill, Cormac mac Airt)
Finn mac Cumaill (earlier mac Umaill?), Find úa Báiscni: central hero in medieval Irish and Scottish literature of the so-called Finn Cycle; warrior-hunter and leader of a fían
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Caílte mac RónáinCaílte mac Rónáin
Caílte mac Crundchon meic Rónáin
(time-frame ass. with Finn Cycle)
or Caílte mac Crundchon meic Rónáin, kinsman of Finn mac Cumaill and a prominent member of his fían; accomplished warrior and hunter; one of the protagonists of Acallam na senórach
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Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “Acallamh na senórach”, in: Ernst Windisch, and Whitley Stokes [eds.], Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch, 4 vols, vol. 4, Leipzig, 1900. 1–438, ix–xiv.
Celtic Digital Initiative: <link> CELT – corrected edition (without Stokes’ notes): <link> Internet Archive: <link>
Edition, with translation of the parts left untranslated by O'Grady.
[ed.] OʼGrady, Standish Hayes, Silva Gadelica (I–XXXI): a collection of tales in Irish, vol. 1: Irish text, London: Williams & Norgate, 1892.
Digitale-sammlungen.de: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>, <link> CELT – various: <link>, <link>, <link>, <link>, <link>, <link>
94–233 Edition, from the Book of Lismore version.
[tr.] OʼGrady, Standish Hayes, Silva Gadelica (I–XXXI): a collection of tales in Irish, vol. 2: translation and notes, London: Williams & Norgate, 1892.
Digitale-sammlungen.de: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive: <link>
101–265 Translation.
[ed.] Dillon, Myles [ed.], Stories from the Acallam, Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series, 23, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1970.
Six stories, corresponding to lines 1-120, 329-353, 354-468, 718-871, 949-1002 and 1868-1934 of Stokes' edition.
[tr.] Dooley, Ann, and Harry Roe [trs.], Tales of the elders of Ireland, Oxford's World Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
The first translation into English of the whole text.
[tr.] Harmon, Maurice, The dialogue of the ancients of Ireland: a new translation of Acallam na senórach, Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2009.  
Preface by Seán Ó Coileáin.
A free, literary translation that is not intended for scholarly purposes.

Secondary sources (select)

Connon, Anne, “The Roscommon locus of Acallam na senórach and some thoughts as to tempus and persona”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 21–59.
Dooley, Ann, “The European context of Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 60–75.
Carey, John, “Acallam na senórach: a conversation between worlds”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 76–89.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Some strands and strains in Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 90–108.
Parsons, Geraldine, “The narrative voice in Acallam na senórach”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 109–124.
Ó Cadhla, Stiofán, “Gods and heroes: approaching the Acallam as ethnography”, in: Kevin Murray, and Aidan Doyle (eds), In dialogue with the Agallamh: essays in honour of Seán Ó Coileáin, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2014. 125–143.
Connon, Anne, “Plotting Acallam na senórach: the physical context of the ‘Mayo’ sequence”, in: Sarah Sheehan, Joanne Findon, and Westley Follett (eds), Gablánach in scélaigecht: Celtic studies in honour of Ann Dooley, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013. 69–102.
Dooley, Ann, “Speaking with forked tongues: gender and narrative in the Acallam”, in: Sarah Sheehan, and Ann Dooley (eds), Constructing gender in medieval Ireland, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 171–190.
Dooley, Ann, “The deployment of some hagiographical sources in Acallam na senórach”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 97–110.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Keeping the Acallam together”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 111–121.
Ó hUiginn, Ruairí, “Fiannagheacht, family, faith and fatherland”, in: Sharon J. Arbuthnot, and Geraldine Parsons (eds), The Gaelic Finn tradition, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2012. 151–162.
Connell, Sarah, “Writing on the land of Ireland: nationality, textuality, and geography in the Acallam na senórach”, Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies 7 — Space/place in the medieval imagination (2011). URL: <http://hortulus-journal.com/journal/volume-7-number-1-2011/connell/>.
Parsons, Geraldine, “Whitley Stokes, Standish Hayes O’Grady and Acallam na Senórach”, in: Elizabeth Boyle, and Paul Russell (eds), The tripartite life of Whitley Stokes (1830-1909), Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2011. 185–195.
Schlüter, Dagmar, “‘For the entertainment of lords and commons of later times.’ Past and remembrance in Acallam na senórach”, Celtica 26 (2010): 146–160.
Donahue, Annie, “The Acallam na senórach: a medieval instruction manual”, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 24–25 (2004/2005, 2009): 206–215.
Parsons, Geraldine, “Acallam na senórach as prosimetrum”, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium 24–25 (2009): 86–100.
Parsons, Geraldine, “The structure of Acallam na Senórach”, Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 55 (2008): 11–39.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Acallam na senórach: a ‘tri-cycle’?”, in: Dan M. Wiley (ed.), Essays on the early Irish king tales, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. 63–83.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Life in the fast lane. The Acallam na Senórach”, in: Helen Fulton (ed.), Medieval Celtic literature and society, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005. 117–131.
Ó Coileáin, Seán, “The setting of Géisid cúan”, in: John Carey, Máire Herbert, and Kevin Murray (eds), Cín Chille Cúile: texts, saints and places. Essays in honour of Pádraig Ó Riain, 9, Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2004. 234–248.  
Géisid cúan is a poem preserved in Acallam na senórach.
Dooley, Ann, “The date and purpose of Acallam na senórach”, Éigse 34 (2004): 97–126.
Dooley, Ann, “Arthur of the Irish: a viable concept?”, Arthurian Literature 21 (2004): 9–28.
McTurk, Rory, “Acallam na senórach and Snorri Sturluson’s Edda”, in: Séamas Ó Catháin, and Patricia Lysaght [et al.] (eds), Northern lights: following folklore in north-western Europe. Aistí in adhnó do Bho Almqvist: essays in honour of Bo Almqvist, Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2001. 178–189.
Roe, Harry, “Acallam na senórach: the confluence of lay and clerical oral traditions”, in: Cyril J. Byrne, Margaret Harry, and Pádraig Ó Siadhail (eds), Celtic languages and Celtic peoples: proceedings of the Second North American Congress of Celtic studies, held in Halifax, August 16-19, 1989, Halifax, Nova Scotia: D’Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies, Saint Mary’s University, 1992. 331–346.
Nagy, Joseph Falaky, “Compositional concerns in the Acallam na senórach”, in: Donnchadh Ó Corráin, Liam Breatnach, and Kim R. McCone (eds), Sages, saints and storytellers: Celtic studies in honour of Professor James Carney, 2, Maynooth: An Sagart, 1989. 149–158.
Murphy, Gerard, “Acallam na Senórach”, in: Myles Dillon (ed.), Irish sagas, Dublin, 1959. 122–137.
Nuner, Robert D., “The verbal system of the Agallamh na senórach”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 27 (1958–1959): 230–310.
Contributors
C. A., Dagmar Schlüter, Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
April 2011, last updated: December 2022