Editing Merrow (section)

=== Dindsenchas ===
There are tales featuring Irish mermaids in the ''{{lang|ga|[[Dindsenchas]]}}'', collections of [[onomastics|onomastic]] tales explaining the origins of place names. One tale explains how the demise of Roth son of Cithang{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Roth was prince of [[Fomorians]] according to an alternate text ("Recension B text" published by Thurneysen (1892), ''Folklore'' '''III''', p.&nbsp;489).{{sfnp|Bowen|1978|p=145}}}} by mermaids (''{{lang|ga|murduchann}}'') in the [[Isle of Wight|Ictian]] sea ([[English Channel]]) gave birth to the name {{lang|ga|Port Láirge}} (now [[County Waterford]]). "Port of the Thigh" it came to be called where his thigh washed ashore. The mermaids here are described as beautiful maidens except for their hill-sized "hairy-clawed bestial lower part" below water.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This is the incident in the Ictian sea mentioned by O'Hanlon.{{sfnp|O'Hanlon|1870|p=58}} Roth originated voyage from the land of Fomorians, and was accompanied by a chieftain. O'Hanlon calls his source the Book of Lecan, and this is one of the manuscripts for the "Prose Tales from the ''Rennes {{lang|ga|Dinsenchas}}'' #42", considered here.}}{{sfnp|Stokes|1894|loc=''RC'' XV, 432–434}} While one text group only goes as far as to say the mermaids dismembered Roth,{{efn|The Rennes Dindsenchas}}  alternate texts{{efn|The Bodleian Dinsenchas; the metrical Dindsenchas.}} says that they devoured him, so that only the [[femur|thigh bone]] drifted ashore.{{sfnp|Stokes|1892|loc=''Folklore'' III, 489–490}}{{sfnp|Gwynn|1913|pp=190–193}}

Thus, like the mermaids in O'Clery's version, the half-beautiful mermaids here sang sleep-inducing "[[Refrain|burdens]]" or musical refrains, tore their victims apart, and ate them. [[Whitley Stokes (Celtic scholar)|Whitley Stokes]] noted that the description of mermaids here coincides with the description of sirens in the ''{{lang|la|[[Physiologus]]}}'', or rather the medieval European [[bestiary|bestiaries]], particularly that of {{lang|la|[[Bartholomaeus Anglicus]]}}.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Stokes says the {{lang|ga|Dindsenchas}} of {{lang|ga|Port Láirge}} matches the description of mermaids in the ''{{lang|la|[[Physiologus]]}}'', but he specifically cites ''Medieval Lore'', p. 136, which is acutually the "siren" section in the epitome to the bestiary of {{lang|la|[[Bartholomaeus Anglicus|Bartholomaeus]]}}.{{r|"steele"}}}}{{sfnp|Stokes|1894|loc=''RC'' XV, 434 note}}

There are several onomastic tales which attempts to explain the name origin of {{lang|ga|[[Ess Ruaid]]}} (Assaroe Falls), one of which involves mermaid music (''{{lang|ga|samguba}}''). It purports a woman named Ruad who rowed out to the estuary was lulled to sleep by the "mermaid's melody" and drowned in the spot, which received its name after her.{{sfnp|Stokes|1895|loc=''RC'' XVI, 31–33}}

The {{lang|ga|Dindsenchas}} of {{lang|ga|Inber n-Ailbine}} (estuary of [[List of rivers of County Dublin|Delvin River]], [[County Dublin]]) is counted as a mermaid tale, though no "mermaid" term specifically occurs.{{r|"morse-bertha"}}{{sfnp|Stokes|1894|loc=''RC'' XV, 294–295}} Nine women dwelling in the sea held immobilized the fleet of three ships led by {{lang|ga|Rúad|italic=no}} son of {{lang|ga|Rígdonn|italic=no}}, a grandson of the king of the {{lang|ga|Fir Muirig|italic=no}} people.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|{{lang|ga|Rúad mac Rigduind meic rig Fer Muirigh}}. O'Curry has attempted to localize the {{lang|ga|Fir Muirig}} / {{lang|ga|Fera Muiridh}} to the seacoast between [[Howth]] and the [[River Shannon]], later to be called {{lang|ga|[[Ciannachta]]}}. The argument is based on identifying these mermaids' island home to be "{{lang|ga|Inis fianchuire}}" of ''{{lang|ga|Oidhe Chloinne Tuireann}}'' equivalent to "{{lang|ga|Inis Caire Cenn-fhinne}}" in the [[Book of Lecan]] said to lie undersea between Ireland and {{lang|gd|[[Alba]]}} (Scotland).{{sfnp|O'Curry|1863|pp=190n, 240}}}} Rúad lay with the beautiful women, but he made an empty promise to carry on their tryst. The women arrived by boat to exact vengeance on Rúad, but frustrated, slew two of his sons instead, including the child one of them had borne. The episode is also embedded in the story ''[[Tochmarc Emire|The Wooing of Emer]]'' of the [[Ulster Cycle]].{{r|"tochmarc-emire"}}