Divine Timeline: When Did Irish Mythology Happen?

When did Irish mythology happen?

On the surface, it’s a bit of a silly question.

Because obviously most of Irish mythology didn’t happen, right?

These are stories.

Perhaps inspired by actual (human) people and events, but take it from me, an occasional fisherman:

In stories, the size of the fish keeps getting bigger.

A warrior becomes a culture hero becomes a superpowered deity. 

But this essay isn’t about all that. 

Because whether or not you believe or don’t believe in a god or gods, we can still answer the question: 

When did Irish mythology happen?

In some cases, the medieval Irish texts explicitly tell us when using synchronisms.

What the heck is synchronism?

Here’s an example:

In The Great Book of Lecan, it is noted that “Agamemnon began to reign” as a date marker for the deaths of the Irish gods Manannán and Midir. 

Agamemnon being the Mycenaean king famed for his role in the Trojan War who, according to Greek myth, took power in the 13th century BCE. 

In other cases, we’ll need to rely on the controversial work of the so-called Four Masters, who, between 1632 and 1636 CE, attempted to write down all of Irish “history.”

Really, all of it.

Starting with the flood narrative in the Book of Genesis. 

We…are not going to start there.

We’ll get there. 

Oh, we’ll get there.

But given the subject matter, I want to start not at the beginning of Irish mythology, but at the end.

Pssst. You can watch a video adaptation of this essay right here. Text continues below.

Most Irish myths can be placed into one of four cycles, Mythological, Ulster, Fenian, or Kings.

And the events that unfold in these four cycles do so chronologically.

Somewhat. 

To be sure, there’s some overlap. (We’ll get into it).

The Mythological cycle kicks things off with the Lebor Gabála Érenn or Book of the Taking of Ireland, commonly known as the Book of Invasions. 

Which details the arrival of Ireland’s six mythical races. 

Then we’ve got the Ulster cycle or Red Branch cycle, which is named for the famed 1st-century warrior society.

Then the Fenian cycle, or Fianna Cycle, which is named for the famed 3rd-century warrior society.

To cap things off, the Kings’ cycle, also known as the Historical cycle, bridges the gap between legendary Irish rulers and historical ones, taking us right up to the reign of the High King Brian Boru.

And that is where—or when—we’ll begin.

The Kings’ Cycle

The year is 1014. 

Brian Boru has just kicked some serious Hiberno-Norse butt at the Battle of Clontarf, earning him the unofficial title of the man who drove the Vikings out of Ireland.

Unfortunately, he did not survive the battle to enjoy that accolade.

Boru was born in Killaloe in what is now County Clare, and ascended to the High Kingship of Ireland in the year 1002 after building an army that united soldiers from Dublin, Leinster, Munster.

Of course, we’re pretty firmly on the history end of the history/mythology spectrum here. 

But things definitely start getting squishier as we follow the High Kings list back to Lóegaire mac Néill, who infamously tussled with St. Patrick—or so the story goes.

To quote Muirchú’s 7th-century hagiography, Vita sancti Patricii (The Life of Saint Patrick):

“There was in [Ireland] a certain great king, a fierce and heathen High King of barbarians, reigning in Temoria [Tara], which was the capital of the kingdom of the Irish. He was Loiguire [Loegaire] by name, the son of Neill, who is the ancestor of the royal stock of almost the whole of this island.

Now he had about him wise men and magicians and augurs and enchanters and inventors of every evil art, who through their heathenish and idolatrous religion had skill to know and foresee all things before they came to pass.”

Cool.

The aforementioned Neill, Loegaire’s dad, is Niall of the Nine Hostages, namesake of the Uí Néill dynasty. 

And while it’s very likely there was an historical Irish high king with this same, his timeline seems to have been fudged a bit.

Irish historian Geoffrey Keating reckoned that Niall’s reign began in 368.

The Four Masters dated it to 378.

Meanwhile, modern scholars date Niall’s reign to the middle of the 5th century CE.

The early chroniclers likely tweaked the dates in order to synchronize the Irish High Kings list with the aforementioned hagiographies that were circulating at the time. 

See, St. Patrick was believed to have been kidnapped by pirates around the year 400 (which may not have actually happened), BUT it’s also noted that these pirates were under the command of Niall of the Nine Hostages.

So in this reality—the Irish mythology cinematic universe, if you will—Patrick and Niall are contemporaries. 

Even though historically, they were not.

Moving forward, I will continue to side with the mythical dates because ultimately, what I’m doing here is not an exercise in history.

This is a timeline of Irish mythology.

The Fenian Cycle

We are now ready to transcend the Kings’ Cycle of Irish mythology and enter the Fenian Cycle. 

The cycle whose primary hero is Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Who again access to a magical search engine after burning his thumb on the Salmon of Knowledge and sticking it in his mouth. 

His thumb, not the fish. Although he does eat the fish too.

According to the internet, Fionn, who originally went by Deimne, was born circa 225 CE—but take that with a large grain of Irish sea salt because I cannot find any source material to support that date and hesitated to even include it.

What we do have is the Four Masters putting Fionn’s death at 283 CE, although according to Irish historian Seumas MacManus “he must have died some years earlier.”

We know from stories like The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn and The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne (during which Fionn appears as an old man) that nearly all of the events of the Fenian Cycle occur during the reign of Irish High King Cormac mac Airt.

Which in theory should make it easy to date the Fenian cycle, but in practice…

Yeesh.

The Annals of Ulster say Cormac’s reign lasted until his death in 366.

Which is weird because the Four Masters say his reign lasted from 226 to 266.

Which is also weird because Keating came up with 204 to 244 for Cormac’s reign.

Meanwhile, one version of the Lebor Gabála Érenn pegs his reign to the reign of Marcus Aurelius (the Roman Emperor), which lasted from 161 to 180.

Sooo what am I gonna do with all this?

The Lebor Gabála Érenn dates are the oldest but the synchronism with Marcus Aurelius’ reign, while seemingly helpful, isn’t supported by modern scholarship.

The safe bet?

Let’s just do what everybody does and say the Fenian cycle is set in the third century.

A century that begins…

Right here (201 CE).

The Ulster Cycle

We’re onto the Ulster cycle.

The cycle’s primary hero is Cú Chulainn, the hound of Culann, also known as the hound of Ulster.

Granted he starts out as Sétanta, then he kills a guard dog with a hurley and takes the dog’s job.

Cú Chulainn has the power of the riastrad, or war spasm. It’s akin to hulking out or going into berserker mode.

The dude grows super tall and scary and one of his eyes kinda pops out. 

It’s great stuff. 

From a dating perspective, however, it’s actually more useful that the Ulster cycle also follows the rise, reign, and fall of Cú Chulainn’s king, Conchobar mac Nessa, who is said to have taken power sometime in 1st century BCE.

This coincides with a period/political map known as the Five Fifths of Ireland.

A time when there was no widely recognized High King, as the island was divided up into five main kingdoms.

Their modern names might sound familiar: Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Meath.

And if you’re about to comment:

Umm, what about Crimthann Nia Náir, who Keating and the Four Masters recognize as holding the High Kingship in the years immediately preceding and following the birth of Jesus of Nazareth…

I would point you the oldest source on the matter: 

The Lebor Gabála Érenn. 

Which never says that Crimthann Nia Náir became High King, only that he slayed the previous one, Conchobor Abrat-Ruad. 

Royal status aside, the Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronizes that previous king’s reign, which lasted one year, with the reign of Vespasianus.

Who was Emperor of Rome between 69 and 79 CE.

What’s more, the Lebor Gabála Érenn synchronizes the reign of the High King Conaire Mór, whose life and death is detailed in the Ulster Cycle tale The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel, with the reign of Augustus.

Who was Emperor of Rome between 27 BCE and 14 CE.

Keating and the Four Masters, meanwhile, date the beginning of Conaire Mór’s reign to 64 and 100 BCE respectively, before Jesus’s time.

But just as Cormac mac Airt is THE king for most of the Fenian cycle, it is Conchobar mac Nessa who is THE king for most of the Ulster cycle—even though he’s not a High King.

And Conchobar is such an important figure that his death is synchronized with Jesus’s crucifixion.

FYI: the historical Jesus was born between 6 and 4 BCE and “died” between 30 and 33 CE.

So look, here’s what I’m gonna do. 

I’m gonna stick Cú Chulainn right where year zero would be (if there were a zero).

As for Conaire Mór, let’s put him a few years before that, which makes sense narratively. 

Because both the Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Annals of the Four Masters note that after his death, Conaire Mór isn’t immediately succeeded by another High King.

There’s a gap, thus allowing the Five Fifths of Ireland to become a thing.

And thus setting the stage for the Ulster cycle’s most celebrated epic, the Táin Bó Cúailnge, or Cattle Raid of Cooley.

Which sees Queen Medb of Connacht lead an army into Ulster because she wants a bull.

The Curious Case of Macha Mong Ruad 

Now, to recap:

We started with the Cycle of Kings and moving backward in time, we traversed the Fenian cycle and entered the Ulster cycle.

But I should clarify that the Kings’ cycle has really been running parallel to these other two the entire time.

For example, as we make our way from the Ulster Cycle back to the Mythological cycle, we can find Macha Mong Ruad, the first and only woman to serve as High King of Ireland.

The Lebor Gabála Érenn pegs Macha’s reign to Ptolemy I Soter’s reign in Egypt.

He was the Macedonian general who succeeded Alexander the Great as the ruler of Egypt, beginning his reign as king in the late 3rd century BCE.

But Keating says, nope, that’s not when Macha began her reign. 

She took power in the middle of the 5th century BCE.

But then the Four Masters say oh hell no: 

Macha Mong Ruad began her reign as the High King of Ireland in the middle of the 7th century BCE.

Ummm.

While historically unlikely, the synchronisms in the Lebor Gabála Érenn do, I think, add something to Irish mythology.

I like the implication that the Irish myths and Greco-Roman myths can exist in parallel. 

As can Christian myths, apparently. 

They can all be part of the same narrative universe, or multiverse.

We’ll get into it.

The Mythological Cycle

But first:

The last. 

According to the Four Masters, the Milesians, the last of the six groups to invade Ireland, crossed over from what is now Spain in the year 1700 BCE.

Known as the Milesian invasion, this is a big moment in Irish mythology, as it represents the end of the reign of the Irish gods, the Tuath Dé Danann, and the arrival of Gaelic/Goidelic Celtic-speakers.

These are the ancestors of Ireland’s modern human population. 

Or so the story goes. 

And according to Keating, this story actually happens about 400 years later in 1287 BCE.

This four-hundred year discrepancy is a recurring theme.

This is partially the result of the Four Masters using an Anno Mundi dating system that dated biblical creation to the year 5199 BCE.

Meanwhile, Keating used an updated model that dated creation to 4004 BCE.

It should also be noted that by abandoning the older, monastic dating system, Keating was able to better adhere to the Lebor Gabála Érenn’s synchronisms.

For example, the Lebor Gabála Érenn notes that the mythical ancestors and namesakes of the Gaels and the Scots, Goídel Glas and Egyptian Queen Scota, lived during the time of Moses and the Exodus.

Thus, Keating, following the latest biblical scholarship of his day, concluded that Goídel Glas and Queen Scota were stirring up trouble around 1511 BCE.

But wait a minute:

Didn’t the Four Masters say that the Milesian Invasion happened two hundred years before that in 1700 BCE?

That doesn’t make sense.

Because there are no Milesians without Goídel Glas and Scota. 

Look, that settles it:

We’re going with Keating moving forward.

By which I mean backward. 

Back to the time of the gods:

The Tuath Dé Danann.

Who famously serve a final defeat to Balor of the Evil Eye and his band of monstrous marauders known as the Fomorians at the second Battle of Maig Tuired. 

Which Keating dated to 1470 BCE.

The First Battle of Maig Tuired—which sees The Tuatha Dé Danann risk life and one very important limb in the defeat of Ireland’s previous inhabitants, the Fir Bolg—takes place in 1447 BCE.

And since the Fir Bolg only rule Ireland for 37 years, we can calculate that they take power in 1484 BCE. 

Nemed arrives in 1731 BCE but his people don’t last too long either, with many of them getting killed by the Fomorians. 

Some escape to Greece, eventually giving rise to the aforementioned Fir Bolg.

Before Nemed, we’ve got Partholón checking in in the year 2061 BCE—22 years before the birth of Abraham.

Cessair and her crew are the first to settle permanently in Ireland, circa 2361 BCE. 

She is presented as the granddaughter of Noah. 

But Cessair and her family are not allowed onto the ark so they head out to sea, way out to sea, in search of a sinless place where they can weather the approaching storm.

And they end up in Ireland. 

Then everyone dies.

Except for one dude who can shapeshift. 

And that’s Irish mythology in a hazelnut shell. 

Just read this essay backwards and you can see it unfold in chronological order. 

A Historically Accurate Irish Myth Timeline?

To reiterate, this is not a historically accurate or archaeologically accurate timeline.

It prioritizes the dates that best fit the Irish myths. 

For example, a timeline showing the true duration of human settlement in Ireland would need to go back tens of thousands of more years to the Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age.

And let’s not forget that many of Ireland’s most impressive megalithic monuments were constructed in the Neolithic, or New Stone Age.

Newgrange was built around 3200 BCE.

The Loughcrew Cairns around 3300 BCE.

The Carrowkeel Tombs around 3500 BCE.

For context, the Great Pyramid of Giza wouldn’t be built until around 2600 BCE.

And yet according to Keating, the island of Ireland was void of human activity until 2361 BCE.

What’s more, many of the biblical events that are used as Irish mythology’s key datemarkers have never been proven to be historical. 

So what we’re left with is an “Irish” mythology that collects only a small storytelling snapshot of an island with an incredibly long history.

The case can and has been made that “Gaelic mythology” or “Goidelic mythology” is the more accurate term, as the myths that would be preserved by the Christian scribes were originally told in the Gaelic/Goidelic Celtic tongue

And there appears to be some connective tissue between the Gaelic pantheon and the pantheons of other Celtic-speakers.

Granted, it is also possible that some of the myths that originated in Ireland could have been developed under the Bell Beaker culture that preceded Gaelic culture on the island.

Regardless, what’s clear is that the island’s Stone Age monuments helped shape Ireland’s mythological universe. 

These monuments became the homes of the Irish gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann.

And some folks believe those gods are still there, living on as the other crowd. 

The Irish fairies.

If you want to pay a particular Irish god/fairy a visit, boy have I got the map for you.

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Want to learn about the darker side of Irish mythology? Check out…

Samhain in Your Pocket

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Irish Monsters in Your Pocket

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Neon Druid: An Anthology of Urban Celtic Fantasy

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More the listenin’ type?

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