Editing Lake-burst

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
A '''lake-burst''' ({{langx|sga|tomaidm}},<ref>[https://www.dil.ie/41361 Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, s.v. tomaidm.]</ref> {{langx|ga|tomhaidhm}}<ref>[https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/tomhaidhm Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, s.v. tomhaidhm.]</ref>) is a phenomenon referred to in [[Irish mythology]], in which a previously non-existent lake comes into being, often when a grave is being dug. Part of the lake-burst stories may originate in sudden hydrographic changes around limestone-based inland plains or [[Turlough (lake)|turloughs]].<ref>C.N. Ó Dochargaigh, 'Introduction', in: N.S. Robins & B.D.R. Misstear (eds.), ''Groundwater in the Celtic Regions: Studies in Hard Rock and Quarternary Geology'', London 2000, p. 1-3.</ref> Other so-called lake-bursts refer to marine estuaries, bays and inlets, such as [[Galway Bay]], [[Strangford Lough]], [[Dundrum Bay]], [[Belfast Lough]], [[Waterford Harbour]] and the mouth of the [[River Erne]]. Some of these coastal districts were renowned for the drowned prehistoric forests, which gave rise to several flood-myths. 

Lake-bursts play a significant role in Irish water symbolism. The people of Ireland and Celtic Britain generally believed that vast bodies of water — seas or inland lakes — harbored beings from the underworld (''Tír fó Thuinn''), whether as humans or monstrous creatures, in their depths. Bodies of water not only served as physical boundaries, but also as spiritual thresholds, separating life from death, this world from the [[otherworld]].<ref>Pamela Hopkins, 'The Symbology of Water in Irish Pseudo-History'’, in: ''Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium'' 12 (1992), p. 80-86.</ref> 

Medieval [[Irish bardic poetry|bards]] had a special genre of lake-burst poems called ''tomamond''. More or less elaborate 11th- or 12th-century narratives have survived around [[Galway Bay]], [[Lough Neagh]] and [[Lough Ree]], which seem to be related to similar (though less ancient) stories in Wales ([[Cantre'r Gwaelod]], [[Llys Helig]], [[Bala Lake]], [[Llynclys]]), Cornwall ([[Lyonesse]]), Brittany ([[Ys]]) and Normandy ([[:fr:Forêt de Scissy|Forêt de Scissy]]). A late 16th-century [[Frisia]]n legend, probably borrowed from Irish examples, refers to the origins of the [[Zuiderzee]]. Other Irish texts refer to the eruption of the [[River Boyne]] and other rivers. The poems of the lake-burst of [[Lough Erne]] and the eruption of Brí (where the legendary character [[Midir]] lived) have been lost. In Wales the [[flood myth]] is elaborated in the story of [[Dwyfan and Dwyfach]], who saved people and animals from the great deluge caused by the monster Avanc living in ''Llyn Llion'' (possibly [[Bala Lake]]). Its Irish counterpart as told in the ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn#Cassair|Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' only links up with the Biblical story of Noah's flood.

The theme relates to the classical story of the warrior [[Marcus Curtius]], who was said to have thrown himself in the [[Lacus Curtius]] near the Forum Romanum in order to stop a chasm made by the river Tiber. A similar story was told about King Midas.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Parallela_Minora*.html Plutarch, Moralia: Greek and Roman Parallel Stories]</ref>

==Identification==
Not every lake mentioned in medieval sources can be identified with certainty.<ref>Most identifications after John O'Donovan (ed.), [http://www.fweet.org/downloads/big/AFM_01.pdf ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616''], 2nd. ed., vol. 1, Dublin 1856.</ref> ''Loch Lainglinne'', for instance, might be another reference to [[Belfast Lough]], which was known as ''Loch Laoigh'' or ''Loch Laigh''.

Apparently, medieval Irishmen were convinced that almost all of their lakes had emerged after [[Genesis flood narrative|Noah's flood]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} Their myths suggest that [[land reclamation]] and [[deforestation]] went hand in hand with the seasonal [[inundation]] of low-lying plains. According to the corrupted text of ''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'' king [[Partholón]] found only three lakes or bays: ''Loch Fordremain'' in ''Sliab Mis'' of ''[[Munster|Mumhan]]'' ([[Tralee Bay]]), ''Loch Lumnig'' (probably '' Loch Lurgan'' or [[Galway Bay]]) on ''Tir Find'' and ''[[Lough Carra|Loch Cera]]'' or ''[[Lough Finn|Findloch]]'' over the borders of [[Erris|Irrus]]. Interestingly enough, several major lakes and outlets, such as [[Lough Corrib]], [[Lough Derg (Shannon)]], [[Shannon Estuary]] and [[Killary Harbour]] are not mentioned in any known myth. This may imply that at least some lake-bursts mentioned have been wrongly identified with smaller lakes, where, in fact, they may have been referring to one of the major lakes.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}} The cave of [[St Patrick's Purgatory]] on [[Station Island]] in [[Lough Derg (Ulster)]], moreover, was identified in the ''[[Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii]]'' as the entrance to the [[Underworld]].<ref>Lawrence Taylor, Lawrence & Meave Hickey, '[https://zoboko.com/text/24j830l9/the-tourism-imaginary-and-pilgrimages-to-the-edges-of-the-world/11 Pilgrimage to the Edge: Lough Derg in the Moral Geography of Europe and Ireland]', in: Nieves Herrero & Sharon R. Roseman (eds.), ''The Tourism Imaginary and Pilgrimages to the Edges of the World'', Bristol / Buffalo / Toronto 2015, p. 92-119.</ref>

The plains that supposedly had been drowned, had special names, which have been preserved in a 16th-century manuscript.<ref>John Carey, 'The Names of the Plains beneath the Lakes of Ireland', in: John Carey, Máire Herbert, Kevin Murray (eds.), ''Cín chille cúile: Texts, Saints and Places: Essays in Honour of Pádraig Ó Riain'', Aberystwyth 2004, p. 44–57.</ref>

==List of mythical lake-bursts==
The Book of Invasions (''[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]]'') describes seven waves of invaders who came to Ireland, including the Partholonians, Nemedians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha Dé Danann, and Milesians. Each wave reshaped the land, often accompanied by lake-bursts or floods that symbolized renewal and transformation. 
===[[Fionn mac Cumhaill]]'s time===
*[[Galway Bay]] or ''Loch Lurgan''.<ref>Harry Roe, Ann Doole (eds.), ''Acallam Na Senórach'', Oxford 1999, p. 127-128.</ref>

===[[Partholón]]'s time===
Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor2.html#34|title=Lebor Gabala Erenn pt. 2|access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref>

*Loch Laighlinne in Ui mac Uais of Brega (Laighlinne's grave)
*[[Dundrum Bay|Loch Rudraige]], in [[Ulaid]] ([[Rudraige mac Sithrigi|Rudraige's]] grave)<ref>Identification after Hector Munro Chadwic, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xNcKzZwHmnYC&dq=Loch+Rudraige&pg=PA107 ''Early Scotland: The Picts, the Scots and the Welsh of Southern Scotland''], Cambridge 1949, repr. 2013, p. 107. [[Gerald of Wales]] calls it ''Lake Ruturugus''.</ref>
*[[Lough Gara|Loch Techet]], in Connachta
*[[Lough Mask|Loch Mese]], in Connachta
*[[Lough Conn|Loch Con]], in Connachta
*[[Lough Muckno|Loch Echtra]], in [[Airgialla]] (between [[Mourne Mountains|Sliabh Modharn]] and [[Fews Lower|Sliabh Fuaid]]), "full of swans"
*[[Strangford Lough|Loch Cuan]] in [[Ulaid]], an inundation of the sea over the land of Brena, or by the river Brena - the seventh lake eruption

===[[Nemed]]'s time===
Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/lebor3.html|title=Lebor Gabala pt. 3|access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref>
*[[Lough Ennell|Loch Annind]] (Annind's grave)
*[[Loughgall|Loch Cal]] in Ui Niallain
*[[Lough Ramor|Loch Munremair]] in [[Lune (barony)|Luigne]]
*[[Lough Derravaragh|Loch Dairbrech]] (another king's grave)

===[[Érimón]]'s time===
Source:<ref>[https://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T100005A/ CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts: Annals of the Four Masters]</ref>
*[[Hacket Lake|Loch Cimbe]]
*Loch Buadhaigh
*[[Lough Baah|Loch Baadh]]
*[[Rinn Lough|Loch Ren]]
*[[Garadice Lough|Loch Finnhaighe]]
*[[Lough Graney|Loch Greine]]
*[[Lough Rea|Loch Riach]]
*[[Waterford Harbour|Loch Chaech]], in Leinster
*[[Belfast Lough|Loch Laegh]], in Ulster

===[[Tigernmas]]'s time===
*[[Lough Owel|Loch Uair]], in Meath
*[[Lough Iron|Loch n-Iairn]]
*[[Lough Key|Loch Ce]], in Connaught
*[[Lough Sheelin|Loch Saileann]]
*[[lough Allen|Loch nAilleann]], in Connaught
*[[Lough Foyle|Loch Feabhail]]
*[[Loch Gobhar|Loch Gabhair]]
*Dubhloch
*Loch Dabhall, in Oirghialla.

===[[Óengus Olmucaid]]'s time===
*Aenbheithe, in Ui Cremhthainn
*Loch Saileach
*Loch Na nGasan, in Magh Luirg, in Connaught
*The eruption of the sea between [[MagherowPeninsula|Eabha]] and [[The Rosses|Ros Cette]]

===Óengus the Mac Oc's time===
* [[Lough Neagh#Mythology and folklore|Lough Neagh]]

==See also==
{{portal|Ireland|Lakes}}
*[[Bodb Derg]]
*[[Nemed]]
*[[Turlough (lake)]]
*[[List of loughs in Ireland]]
*[[Flood myth]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake-Burst}}
[[Category:Irish mythology]]