Bibliography
Dorothy Ann
Bray s. xx–xxi
Works authored
comments: Based on the author's dissertation (Helsinki University, 1989)
Contributions to journals
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “The story of Plea”, North American Journal of Celtic Studies 2:1 (2018): 56–78.
abstract:
The story of the underwater monastery of Plea, told in a gloss to Broccán's hymn (Ní car Brigit), is an unusual tale in Brigit's tradition; however, it contains several well-known tropes from Irish immrama. The story has been associated with changing attitudes toward pilgrimage and the idea that the monastic rule of Kildare differed significantly from other Irish monasteries up to the twelfth century. This paper examines the elements of the story and traces its possible connections to other, earlier elements in Brigit's tradition, including her association with St. Brendan of Clonfert, as well as the motifs in the genre of the immram. The tale may reflect contemporary concerns over perceived unorthodox practices in Irish churches and monasteries as the twelfth-century reform of the Irish Church got under way.
abstract:
The story of the underwater monastery of Plea, told in a gloss to Broccán's hymn (Ní car Brigit), is an unusual tale in Brigit's tradition; however, it contains several well-known tropes from Irish immrama. The story has been associated with changing attitudes toward pilgrimage and the idea that the monastic rule of Kildare differed significantly from other Irish monasteries up to the twelfth century. This paper examines the elements of the story and traces its possible connections to other, earlier elements in Brigit's tradition, including her association with St. Brendan of Clonfert, as well as the motifs in the genre of the immram. The tale may reflect contemporary concerns over perceived unorthodox practices in Irish churches and monasteries as the twelfth-century reform of the Irish Church got under way.
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “Sucking at the breast of Christ: a spiritual lesson in an Irish hagiographical motif”, Peritia 14 (2000): 282–296.
abstract:
The motif of holy men suckling infants, while relatively minor and late in Irish hagiography, is nevertheless significant in a metaphorical sense as a spiritual aci of imparting the grace and teaching of Christ through the symbols of milk and motherhood. This motif relates to the role of both men and women saints (such as St Íte) as nurturers and teachers in the early Irish church.
abstract:
The motif of holy men suckling infants, while relatively minor and late in Irish hagiography, is nevertheless significant in a metaphorical sense as a spiritual aci of imparting the grace and teaching of Christ through the symbols of milk and motherhood. This motif relates to the role of both men and women saints (such as St Íte) as nurturers and teachers in the early Irish church.
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “Allegory in the Navigatio sancti Brendani”, Viator 26 (1995): 1–10.
abstract:
The Navigatio sancti Brendani has been variously interpreted as a monkish transatlantic voyage, a continental devotional piece with an Irish setting, an allegorical pilgrimage, and an allegory of monastic life. This article explores the monastic allegory in the context of the early Irish church, suggesting a link with the célí dé reform in examining the type of monasticism evinced in the text, as well as its genre in Irish literary tradition (the text as an immram). The eschatological theme, as disclosed by apocalyptic imagery, is also linked to the metaphor of the voyage as a life journey. On the level of a physical voyage, the text evokes the physical and geographical reality of the early Irish church; on the spiritual level, the voyage evokes the aims and outlook of the reform movement of the ninth century, especially attitudes toward pilgrimage, using the familiar immram genre. The Irish Christian and Irish monastic background to the Navigatio is thus reinforced.
abstract:
The Navigatio sancti Brendani has been variously interpreted as a monkish transatlantic voyage, a continental devotional piece with an Irish setting, an allegorical pilgrimage, and an allegory of monastic life. This article explores the monastic allegory in the context of the early Irish church, suggesting a link with the célí dé reform in examining the type of monasticism evinced in the text, as well as its genre in Irish literary tradition (the text as an immram). The eschatological theme, as disclosed by apocalyptic imagery, is also linked to the metaphor of the voyage as a life journey. On the level of a physical voyage, the text evokes the physical and geographical reality of the early Irish church; on the spiritual level, the voyage evokes the aims and outlook of the reform movement of the ninth century, especially attitudes toward pilgrimage, using the familiar immram genre. The Irish Christian and Irish monastic background to the Navigatio is thus reinforced.
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “Saint Brigit and the fire from heaven”, Études Celtiques 29 (1992): 105–113.
abstract:
[FR] Sainte Brigit et le feu venu du ciel.
Les miracles impliquant le feu ou des phénomènes de lumière surnaturelle semblent associer les saints irlandais aux croyances et aux rituels païens, aux mythes solaires, aux cultes du feu. D’un autre côté, on peut trouver des précédents bibliques permettant de replacer les saints dans la tradition chrétienne. En effet, aussi bien dans la tradition chrétienne que dans le paganisme irlandais, un feu ou une lumière surnaturels symbolise non seulement la présence de la divinité sur terre, mais aussi l’illumination de l’esprit. La similitude de la sainte avec la déesse Brigit permet de rapporter ses miracles de feu et de lumière à l’ancien culte de la déesse, patronne de la poésie, de la médecine et de la métallurgie (une technique rendue possible par le feu), et au noyau fondamental de la culture irlandaise elle-même.
[EN] Miracles with fire or supernatural light phenomena have, in the past, associated the saints of Ireland with pagan beliefs and rituals, solar myths and fire cults. On the other hand, biblical precedents can be found to restore the saints to Christian tradition. Miraculous fire and light in both Irish pagan and Christian traditions symbolise not only the presence of the deity on earth but also the illumination of the mind and spirit. The similarity which appears between the saint and the goddess Brigit may connect her fiey miracles to the ancient cult of the goddess, patron of poetry, medicine and metalwork (a craft made possible by fire) and to the heart and foundation of Irish culture itself.
Les miracles impliquant le feu ou des phénomènes de lumière surnaturelle semblent associer les saints irlandais aux croyances et aux rituels païens, aux mythes solaires, aux cultes du feu. D’un autre côté, on peut trouver des précédents bibliques permettant de replacer les saints dans la tradition chrétienne. En effet, aussi bien dans la tradition chrétienne que dans le paganisme irlandais, un feu ou une lumière surnaturels symbolise non seulement la présence de la divinité sur terre, mais aussi l’illumination de l’esprit. La similitude de la sainte avec la déesse Brigit permet de rapporter ses miracles de feu et de lumière à l’ancien culte de la déesse, patronne de la poésie, de la médecine et de la métallurgie (une technique rendue possible par le feu), et au noyau fondamental de la culture irlandaise elle-même.
[EN] Miracles with fire or supernatural light phenomena have, in the past, associated the saints of Ireland with pagan beliefs and rituals, solar myths and fire cults. On the other hand, biblical precedents can be found to restore the saints to Christian tradition. Miraculous fire and light in both Irish pagan and Christian traditions symbolise not only the presence of the deity on earth but also the illumination of the mind and spirit. The similarity which appears between the saint and the goddess Brigit may connect her fiey miracles to the ancient cult of the goddess, patron of poetry, medicine and metalwork (a craft made possible by fire) and to the heart and foundation of Irish culture itself.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 29, 1992: <link>
abstract:
[FR] Sainte Brigit et le feu venu du ciel.
Les miracles impliquant le feu ou des phénomènes de lumière surnaturelle semblent associer les saints irlandais aux croyances et aux rituels païens, aux mythes solaires, aux cultes du feu. D’un autre côté, on peut trouver des précédents bibliques permettant de replacer les saints dans la tradition chrétienne. En effet, aussi bien dans la tradition chrétienne que dans le paganisme irlandais, un feu ou une lumière surnaturels symbolise non seulement la présence de la divinité sur terre, mais aussi l’illumination de l’esprit. La similitude de la sainte avec la déesse Brigit permet de rapporter ses miracles de feu et de lumière à l’ancien culte de la déesse, patronne de la poésie, de la médecine et de la métallurgie (une technique rendue possible par le feu), et au noyau fondamental de la culture irlandaise elle-même.
[EN] Miracles with fire or supernatural light phenomena have, in the past, associated the saints of Ireland with pagan beliefs and rituals, solar myths and fire cults. On the other hand, biblical precedents can be found to restore the saints to Christian tradition. Miraculous fire and light in both Irish pagan and Christian traditions symbolise not only the presence of the deity on earth but also the illumination of the mind and spirit. The similarity which appears between the saint and the goddess Brigit may connect her fiey miracles to the ancient cult of the goddess, patron of poetry, medicine and metalwork (a craft made possible by fire) and to the heart and foundation of Irish culture itself.
Les miracles impliquant le feu ou des phénomènes de lumière surnaturelle semblent associer les saints irlandais aux croyances et aux rituels païens, aux mythes solaires, aux cultes du feu. D’un autre côté, on peut trouver des précédents bibliques permettant de replacer les saints dans la tradition chrétienne. En effet, aussi bien dans la tradition chrétienne que dans le paganisme irlandais, un feu ou une lumière surnaturels symbolise non seulement la présence de la divinité sur terre, mais aussi l’illumination de l’esprit. La similitude de la sainte avec la déesse Brigit permet de rapporter ses miracles de feu et de lumière à l’ancien culte de la déesse, patronne de la poésie, de la médecine et de la métallurgie (une technique rendue possible par le feu), et au noyau fondamental de la culture irlandaise elle-même.
[EN] Miracles with fire or supernatural light phenomena have, in the past, associated the saints of Ireland with pagan beliefs and rituals, solar myths and fire cults. On the other hand, biblical precedents can be found to restore the saints to Christian tradition. Miraculous fire and light in both Irish pagan and Christian traditions symbolise not only the presence of the deity on earth but also the illumination of the mind and spirit. The similarity which appears between the saint and the goddess Brigit may connect her fiey miracles to the ancient cult of the goddess, patron of poetry, medicine and metalwork (a craft made possible by fire) and to the heart and foundation of Irish culture itself.
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “The Image of St. Brigit in the early Irish Church”, Études Celtiques 24 (1987): 209–215.
abstract:
L’image de sainte Brigide emprunte à la fois des éléments de la déesse païenne Brigit et des éléments provenant de la christianisation. Plutôt qu’à la Vierge Marie, il faut la comparer à une grande figure de l’épopée irlandaise, la reine Medb, ainsi qu’aux sorcières surnaturelles représentant la souveraineté. Brigide est restée associée aux manifestations de la fertilité, et en particulier à la fabrication de la bière.
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 24, 1987: <link>
abstract:
L’image de sainte Brigide emprunte à la fois des éléments de la déesse païenne Brigit et des éléments provenant de la christianisation. Plutôt qu’à la Vierge Marie, il faut la comparer à une grande figure de l’épopée irlandaise, la reine Medb, ainsi qu’aux sorcières surnaturelles représentant la souveraineté. Brigide est restée associée aux manifestations de la fertilité, et en particulier à la fabrication de la bière.
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
Bray, Dorothy Ann, “The manly spirit of St. Monenna”, in: Ronald Black, William Gillies, and Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (eds), Celtic connections: proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Celtic Studies, vol. 1: Language, literature, history, culture, East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1999. 171–181.
