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Bruiden Meic Da Réo ‘Mac Da Réo’s hostel’

  • Middle Irish
  • prose
  • Cycles of the Kings
A Middle Irish saga which recounts how in Ireland, the vassal peoples (aithech-thúatha) rebelled and decimated the leading noble families and how the survivors regained power through the mediation of the judge Morann.
Manuscripts

See Ralph O'Connor, ‘Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo’, Ériu 56 (2006): 119–121 and Johan Corthals, Manuscript sources to Old and Middle Irish tales (MsOmit) (2010).

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 E 29 pp. 17-216 = Book of Fermoy ‘proper’ [s. xiv/xv]
ff. 35a–37a
rubric: ‘Bruíden Meic Da Reo annso sísana’
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1337 pp 708-776 (comprising parts of vols 22 and 23), pp 792-809 (comprising part of vol. 23) [1616]
pp. 761–764
No title
Other copies with modernised spelling are preserved in a number of late manuscripts and may give evidence of further recensions. They include:
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS B iv 2 (1080) [1627-1628]
ff. 125r–127r
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 M 47 (973) [1776]
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 H 28 (712) [s. xviii]
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 C 21 (672) [s. xix]
Language
  • Middle Irish
Date
possibly 11th or 12th century (O'Connor)
Form
prose (primary)
verse (secondary)
Textual relationships
The two Middle Irish recensions include a version of Sáerchlanna Érenn uile, a Middle Irish syllabic poem in 12 stanzas. A text which may be closely related to or nearly identical to the present text is that referred by the title Orgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib Érenn ("Cairpre Cenn Cait's massacre of the nobles of Ireland") in the two Middle Irish tale-lists.(1)n. 1 Ralph O'Connor, ‘Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo’, Ériu 56 (2006): 119–121.
(Possible) sources: Sáerchlanna Érenn uileSáerchlanna Érenn uileA syllabic poem incorporated in the two Middle Irish recensions of the saga concerning the revolt of the aithech-thúatha, Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait. It consists of twelve stanzas.
Related: Orgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib ÉrennOrgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib ÉrennAn early Irish saga whose title is included in versions A and B of the Middle Irish tale lists and suggests that its narrative would have focused on the revolt of the aithech-thúatha in Irish prehistory. It is not known what version of the tale was being referred to but it is likely related to two extant recensions of the late Middle Irish period, known as Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait.Scél ar Chairbre Cinn CaitScél ar Chairbre Cinn CaitThe second of two Middle Irish recensions, the other being Bruiden Meic Da Réo, which recount how in early Ireland, the vassal peoples (aithech-thúatha) rebelled and decimated the leading noble families. This is Thurneysen's ‘Recension I’, except for the modernised text in the Edinburgh MS, which he describes as ‘Recension III’.
Associated items
Sáerchlanna Érenn uileSáerchlanna Érenn uileA syllabic poem incorporated in the two Middle Irish recensions of the saga concerning the revolt of the aithech-thúatha, Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait. It consists of twelve stanzas.

Classification

Cycles of the Kings
Cycles of the Kings
id. 80

Subjects

revolt of the aithechthúatha
revolt of the aithechthúatha
id. 43509
Fíachu Findfholaid
Fíachu Findfholaid
father of Túathal Techtmar
See more Túathal Techtmar
Túathal Techtmar
No short description available
See more Morann
Morann, Morand
mythical judge (brithem) who is said to have given instructions of wisdom to the young king of Tara, Feradach Find Fechtnach son of Crimthann Nia Náir, after the revolt of the aithech-thúatha; besides Audacht Morainn, a number of further texts relating to wisdom and law are attributed to him.
See more

Sources

Notes

1.
Ralph O'Connor, ‘Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo’, Ériu 56 (2006): 119–121.

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.] Thurneysen, Rudolf [ed.], “Morands Fürstenspiegel”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 11 (1917): 56–106.
Internet Archive: <link>
56–73 poem; prose (with variants from the second recension) direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Ó Raithbheartaigh, Toirdhealbhach [ed.], Genealogical tracts. Vol. 1, Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1932.
CELT – pp. 107–116 (RIA MS 23 P 12): <link> Irishmanuscripts.ie – PDF: <link>
122–131 Text of the Book of Fermoy version, with English translation.
[tr.] MacNeill, Eoin [tr.], “The revolt of the vassals”, The New Ireland Review 26 (1906): 96–106.
Based on the Book of Fermoy text.

Secondary sources (select)

OʼConnor, Ralph, “Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo”, Ériu 56 (2006): 117–143.  
abstract:

The Middle Irish saga Bruiden Meic Da Réo tells how the vassal peoples of Ireland massacred the noble families of Ireland, and how the surviving nobles regained power through the mediation of Morann the judge. In this article I offer a literary analysis of the tale, paying particular attention to its treatment of kingship ideology and the message its author intended to convey to his audience. Comparisons with related texts, in particular the recension known as Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait, suggest that the author of Bruiden Meic Da Réo was not interested in pointing out a simple moral, but was concerned to explore the tensions and contradictions inherent within the ideology of kingship. In this respect Bruiden Meic Da Réo resonates with other sagas from the Middle Irish period in which a similar narrative template was used to prise open the fault-lines in this ideology.

web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
October 2010, last updated: January 2024
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