''An Banshenchas'' (literally "the woman lore") is a medieval text which collects brief descriptions of prominent women in Irish legend and history into a poetic narrative.
Unlike much of early Irish literature, ''An Banshenchas'' may be attributed to a specific author and date. The introduction of the poem states that
Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside, of Ard Brecáin in
Meath, composed it in 1147.
Content
''An Banshenchas'' is framed in a historical context and starts with
Eve
Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...
and other
biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
women, moves to the legendary women of
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...
such as
ÉtaÃn and
Emer, then completes with later-day characters who are almost certainly historical, including a few women of the
Hiberno-Norse aristocracy
Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats.
Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...
.
The references to each of the characters within are short; a few lines at most. For example, in regard to some early biblical figures:
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam ...
, Seth
Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...
, pious Sili and Cain
Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
were the four first men who propagated multitudes. Eve, Olla, Pib and Pithib (women of power in the eternal world) bore the beautiful race: prosperous before the Flood and miserable afterwards. Eve was the only wife of mighty Adam. Olla was spouse of blameless Seth. Pib was the name of the wife of guilty Cain. She did not avoid evil. Pithib was wife of Sili of the prophets. Whiter than foam was her body.
Or regarding some of the legendary women of Ireland:
Etain was wife of Eochu Aireman, Esa was her daughter, evil were her rites. Her name is given to a lofty spot, allied by her crimes to pollution. Mes Buachalla was Esa's daughter. By her methods mariners were coarsened.Banshenchas: The Lore of Women
/ref>
The stories of some of these women are known from other sources, ranging from the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
, to the ''
Wooing of Etain'' to other, less-well known sources. Some of the names within ''An Banshenchas'' are today just names that hint at stories that are long-lost but were known to Ó Caiside and his contemporaries.
Manuscripts
Copies of ''An Banshenchas'' are found in the ''
Book of Leinster'', ''
Leabhar Ua Maine'', and the ''
Great Book of Lecan''. Like the ''
dinsenchas'' ("place lore") poems, the banshenchas poems are accompanied by prose commentary probably of a slightly later date.
Notes
References
*
Muireann Nà Bhrolcháin, "The Manuscript Tradition of the Banshenchas." ''Ériu''. Vol. XXXIII (1982).
* ''The "Banshenchas" the
Ui Neill queens of
Tara'', Anne Connon, in ''Seanchas:Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology'', History and Literature in Honour of
Francis John Byrne, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, pp. 98–108,
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...
,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, 2000
* ''A Prosopography of the Early Queens of Tara'', Anne Connon, in ''The Kingship and Landscape of Tara'', ed.
Edel Bhreathnach, pp. 225–360,
Four Courts Press
Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...
,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, 2005
Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia'The Ban-Shenchus', Part I by Margaret E. Dobbs'The Ban-Shenchus', Part II by Margaret E. Dobbs'The Ban-Shenchus', Index by Margaret E. Dobbs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banshenchas
Irish-language literature
Early Irish literature
Irish mythology
Medieval texts in Irish