Editing Ulster Cycle (section)

==Historicity==

Along with the [[Lebor Gabála Érenn]], elements of the Ulster Cycle were for centuries regarded as historical in Ireland, and the antiquity of these records was a matter of politicised debate; modern scholars have generally taken a more critical stance.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Michael Ryan|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/in-search-of-the-irish-dreamtime-archaeology-and-early-irish-literature-by-jp-mallory-review-1.2637831|title=In Search of the Irish Dreamtime: Archaeology and Early Irish Literature by JP Mallory review|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

Some scholars of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as [[Eugene O'Curry]] and [[Kuno Meyer]], believed that the stories and characters of the Ulster Cycle were essentially historical; [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] was inclined to believe the stories were entirely mythical and the characters [[euhemerism|euhemerised]] gods; and [[Ernst Windisch]] thought that the cycle, while largely imaginary, contains little genuine myth.<ref>[[T. F. O'Rahilly]], ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, pp. 269–271; [[Cecile O'Rahilly]], ''Táin Bó Cualnge from the Book of Leinster'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1967, Introduction, p. ix</ref> Elements of the tales are reminiscent of classical descriptions of [[Celts|Celtic]] societies in [[Gaul]], [[Galatia]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]]. Warriors fight with swords, spears and shields, and ride in two-horse chariots, driven by skilled charioteers drawn from the lower classes.<ref>Compare ''[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301035/text004.html Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster]'' pp. 164–166 with [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Historical Library'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC 5.29], [[Julius Caesar]], ''Commentarii de bello Gallico'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 4#33|4.33]]</ref> They take and preserve the heads of slain enemies,<ref>Compare ''[http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/conchobar2.html The Tidings of Conchobar son of Ness]'' §15 with Diodorus Siculus, ''Historical Library'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC 5.29]</ref> and boast of their valour at feasts, with the bravest awarded the ''[[curadmír]]'' or "champion's portion", the choicest cut of meat.<ref>Compare ''[http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/MacDatho/ The Story of Mac Dá Thó's Pig] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925170341/http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/sttaylor/MacDatho/ |date=25 September 2007 }}'' and ''[http://web.ncf.ca/dc920/bricriu.html Bricriu's Feast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305204835/http://web.ncf.ca/dc920/bricriu.html |date=5 March 2017 }}'' with [[Athenaeus]], ''Deipnosophists'' [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Literature/Literature-idx?type=turn&entity=Literature.AthV1.p0254&isize=M&pview=hide 4.40], Diodorus Siculus, ''Historical Library'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=agd-eLVNRMMC 5.28]</ref> Kings are advised by [[druid]]s ([[Old Irish]] ''druí'', plural ''druíd''), and poets have great power and privilege. These elements led scholars such as [[Kenneth H. Jackson]] to conclude that the stories of the Ulster Cycle preserved authentic Celtic traditions from the pre-Christian [[Iron Age]].<ref>[[Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson]], ''The Oldest Irish Tradition: a Window on the Iron Age'', Cambridge University Press, 1964</ref> Other scholars have challenged that conclusion, stressing similarities with early medieval Irish society and the influence of classical literature,<ref>John T. Koch, "Windows on the Iron Age", ''Ulidia'', December Publications, 1994, pp. 229–237; [[J. P. Mallory]], "The World of Cú Chulainn: The Archaeology of ''Táin Bó Cúailnge''", ''Aspects of the Táin'', December Publications, 1992, pp. 103–153</ref> while considering the possibility that the stories may contain genuinely ancient material from oral tradition. [[J. P. Mallory]] thus found the archaeological record and linguistic evidence to generally disfavour the presence of Iron Age remnants in the Ulster and [[Mythological Cycle|Mythological]] Cycles, but emphasised the links to the [[Corlea Trackway]] in the earlier [[Tochmarc Étaíne]] as a notable exception.<ref>[[J. P. Mallory]], ''In Search of the Irish Dreamtime''. Thames & Hudson. 2016.</ref>

It is probable that the oldest strata of tales are those involving the complex relationship between the Ulaid and the [[Érainn]], represented in the Ulster Cycle by [[Cú Roí]] and the [[Clanna Dedad]], and later by [[Conaire Mór]]. It was observed a century ago by [[Eoin MacNeill]]<ref>[[Eoin MacNeill]], [https://archive.org/details/papersirishacad00macnuoft "Early Irish Population Groups: their nomenclature, classification and chronology"], in ''Proceedings of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] (C) 29''. (1911): 59–114</ref> and other scholars that the historical Ulaid, as represented by the [[Dál Fiatach]], were apparently related to the Clanna Dedad. [[T. F. O'Rahilly]] later concluded that the Ulaid were in fact a branch of the Érainn.<ref>[[T. F. O'Rahilly]], ''Early Irish History and Mythology''. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1946.</ref> A number of the Érainn appear to have been powerful [[Kings of Tara]], with a secondary base of power at the now lost [[Temair Luachra]] "Tara of the Rushes" in West Munster, where some action in the Ulster Cycle takes place and may even have been transplanted from the midland Tara. Additionally it may be noteworthy that the several small cycles of tales involving the early dominance of the Érainn in Ireland generally predate the majority of the Ulster Cycle tales in content, if not in their final forms, and are believed to be of a substantially more pre-Christian character. Several of these do not even mention the famous characters from the Ulster Cycle, and those that do may have been slightly reworked after its later expansion with the ''Táin'' and rise in popularity.