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Dinnshenchas of Turloch Sílinne, al. Loch mBlonac
verse beg. Turloch Silinde seo indé

  • Middle Irish
  • verse, prose
  • Early Irish poetry, Dinnshenchas Érenn, dinnshenchas
Dinnshenchas for Loch mBlonac (formerly Turloch Sílinde ‘Sílenn's old home’) and Loch Cairrgin (formerly Loch Sílinde and Cúil Sílinde, Silenn's new home as well as her place of death).
First words (verse)
  • Turloch Silinde seo indé
Context(s)The (textual) context(s) to which the present text belongs or in which it is cited in part or in whole.
Manuscripts
Dinnshenchas Érenn A (poem):
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1339 (H 2. 18) = Book of Leinster [s. xii2]
p. 158
Dinnshenchas Érenn C (prose and verse):
R =
Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS 598 ff. 90-125 [s. xiii/xiv (?)]
Lc =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 2 = Book of Lecan (Leabhar Leacain) [s. xvin]
B =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406]
M =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 1 (1225) = Leabhar Uí Mhaine (The Book of Uí Maine) [1394]
S3 =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS B iii 1 (742) [s. xvii]
H =
Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1322 (H 3. 3) [s. xvi]
S =
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS D ii 2 (1222) [s. xvi (?)]
Prose account printed by Gwynn.
Language
  • Middle Irish
Form
verse, prose (primary)

Classification

Early Irish poetryEarly Irish poetry
...
Dinnshenchas Érenn
Dinnshenchas Érenn
id. 6712

The Dinnshenchas Érenn is a compilation of literary compositions, in prose or verse, on lore surrounding the prominent places of Ireland. These texts usually offer origin legends which purport to explain how a well-known place in Ireland, such as a certain hill, plain or lake, received its present or former name. The genesis of this collection is usually dated to the late Middle Irish period (11th and 12th centuries).

dinnshenchasIrish narrative literature, onomastic lore and learning, topographical literature
dinnshenchas
id. 32607

Subjects

Loch mBlonac
Loch mBlonac
No short description available
See more Loch Cairrgin
Loch Cairrgin ... Ardakillin Lough
County Roscommon
No short description available
See more
Contents
Under-construction.png
Work in progress

Verse account (5 qq)

Summary:
Yesterday Turloch Sílinne (Silenn's dry lake) belonged to Silenn but now she is deprived of it. Its new owner is Blonac, daughter of Túe.

Blonac has built here an enclosure for her cattle. Today it is a lake full of water, a lake of warriors (loch na láech).

Sílenn's fate is presented in the future tense: she will make a long journey, searching over every mountain east and west, until she finds the base (bun, i.e. implicitly, of the lake-burst?). She, whose lake is dry in summer (lit. ná ba samda ‘who was not summer-fed’), will find a new abode with a wet entrance (tairsech) and die from exertion (saethar).

Both are famous women who have lakes named for them, but it is only Silenn who died from toil.

» Comments: The word turloch is defined in Marstrander, Carl (ed.), Dictionary of the Irish language (1913–1976) as ‘dried up lake, a place dry in summer and submerged in winter, marsh’. » People: Silenn • Blonac ingen Túi

Prose account

Summary:
The prose accounts in the Rennes MS (ed. Stokes) and RIA MS D ii 2 (ed. Gwynn) recount a similar story, but differ in a number of details and in wording.
Turloch Sílinde

Both versions agree that Turloch Sílinde is the place where Sílenn daughter of Machar (son of Dubthach/Duthain son of Rún(e)) used to dwell; but that one day, the woman Blonac seized it from her. Blonac is called a daughter of the Túe son of Ríge in the Rennes MS; similarly, ingen Tái in RIA D ii 2, where further, she is identified as a famous female hospitaller or banbriugaid.

Loch mBlonac

When Blonac has built a pen for her calves, the site becomes flooded and a lake is created. The Rennes version makes explicit that the lake is named for her.

Loch Sílinde/Sílenn

RIA D ii 2: Sílenn, though distressed by her loss, does not confront Blonac. She moves to Cúil Sílinde in Mag nAí instead, where she remains. Cúil Sílinde and Loch Sílinde, i.e. Loch Cairrgin, are named for her.

Rennes MS: Sílenn moves to another place where another lake has burst forth: Loch Sílenn, which is named for her. Her grave (fert) is dug here.

» People: Sílenn ingen Machair • Blonac ingen Túi

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.] Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 3, Todd Lecture Series, 10, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1913.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vols. 1-3: <link>  : View in Mirador
376–379 [id. 66. ‘Turloch Sílinne’] Poem. direct link direct link direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 5, Todd Lecture Series, 12, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1935.
Internet Archive – vol. 5: <link>  : View in Mirador
138 Corrigenda direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley, “The prose tales in the Rennes dindshenchas”, Revue Celtique 15 (1894): 272–336, 418–484.  

An edition and translation of the prose texts in the Dinnshenchas Érenn as they occur in Rennes, Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole, MS 598. Missing texts are supplied from the Book of Lecan version.

TLH – edition (I, pp. 277-336): <link> TLH – translation (I): <link> TLH – edition (II, pp. 418-484): <link> TLH – translation (II): <link> Celtic Digital Initiative: <link> Internet Archive – 272–336: <link> Internet Archive – 272–336: <link> Internet Archive – 418–484: <link> Internet Archive – 418–484: <link>
467–468 [id. 67. ‘Turloch Sílinne’] Prose account. direct link
[ed.] [tr.] Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 3, Todd Lecture Series, 10, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1913.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vols. 1-3: <link>  : View in Mirador
546–547 [id. 66. ‘Turloch Sílinne’] Edition and translation of the prose account in RIA MS D ii 2 direct link

Secondary sources (select)

Gwynn, E. J., The metrical dindsenchas, 5 vols, vol. 3, Todd Lecture Series, 10, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1913.
CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vols. 1-3: <link>  : View in Mirador
546–547 [id. 66. ‘Turloch Sílinne’] direct link
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2012, last updated: March 2024
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