The Cattle Raid of Cooley; Epidsode 18. Haven listened to enough of Fergus’ stories about Cuchulainn, Maeve orders her army to cross the river. On reaching the north bank, they are now in the territory of the Ulster king. But where is Cuchulainn? #TainOnTwitter Far away to the north, the Ulster warriors at Emainn Macha are assembling to repulse the invaders. “Howyas” said the Ulster king “are yis looking forward to kicking the Connaught men back across the Shannon?”. But the Ulster men were uncharacteristically silent #TainOnTwitter

Cattle Raid of Cooley. Episode 17. Forgal’s daughter, Emer, had already warned him of the danger he faced in Scotland. “Lovely jubly” said the Ulster hero “Scotland is lovely and so are the Scottish people, shure what could go wrong” #TainOnTwitter As Cuchulainn approached Scotland he saw some warriors near the “Pupil’s Bridge”. “Howyas”. “Howya, Are you going to try to cross that bridge” they asked. “Are you going to stop me” he asked. “No” said the boys sitting back as if to enjoy a show #TainOnTwitter

Cattle Raid of Cooley: episode 16. Cuchulainn has returned from Meath and madness and is now back among his Ulster friends. “Howyas”, “Howya, Cuchulainn - we are just trying the apple-feat and other nimble fighting techniques, will you join us?” #TainOnTwitter Cuchulainn was a apple-feat genius and when the Ulster WaGs saw him performing it they were mighty impressed; “we’ve never seen such a romantic and risqué apple-feat before” they said. The Ulster husbands were very unimpressed “hmmmmmmh” they sulked #TainOnTwitter

Cattle Raid of Cooley: episode 15. “What would today be good for?” asked someone from a passing Druid. “If a warrior took up arms today” replied the Druid “his name would endure in Ireland forever”. “By golly!” said Cúchulainn “that’s the job for me” #TainOnTwitter Cuchulainn approached the king “Howya”, “Howya - would there be any chance of you giving me your spear, sword, shield- in fact all your weapons” he asked “also your chariot”. “What do you want them for”. “To kill things with”. “No bother so” replied the king #TainOnTwitter

Cattle Raid of Cooley: episode 14. “Boys” said Fergus to the boys “sit down there and I’ll tell you about Cúchulainn, the lone Ulster warrior who is going to kill most of you”. The boys sat down “we’re dying to hear about him” said the boys #TainOnTwitter Maeve’s army had reached the previously unnamed ford on the River Mattock, now known as the Ford of the Forked Branch. “It’s lovely here” they said as they sat down to hear about Cúchulainn #TainOnTwitter

I am now looking for examples of sayings that are particularly Irish. Let’s get a thread going My favorite is “gosson” - pronounced ‘goss - on” not garsoon or any variant. It means “a young lad” - always a good young lad. Often heard “will ya leave the gosson alone”. Doesn’t mean abandon him, the opposite in fact - it would take 25 tweets to explain this to an Englishman

Do you want to hear about the Battle of Benburb 1646. Major fight between the forces of Owen Roe O’Neill & Scots general Robert Monroe. Join me at 9 tonight to see how it went #Benburb Eoghan Roe O'Neill was the nephew of the Great Hugh O’Neill and had served in the Spanish army. When the rebellion broke out in Ireland 1641, O’Neill was fighting the French but as soon as he was decommissioned he and 200 men returned to Ireland #Benburb

To try to get an impression of how old Newgrange is: if we start from today and go back to the heyday of the Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar - we need to go back the same length of time again to find the beginning of Newgrange 3200BC #Newgrange If your ancestor was one of the people who built Newgrange, she would be your great, great, great ....... grandmother X 200 greats #Newgrange

Contrary to the image of the Viking funeral in a burning ship floating off into the sea, the ships, instead of being burned were buried. The most famous one is the Oseberg Ship burial in Norway #Vikings The burial is dated to 834AD. The ship which had been buried in a mound was nearly 22 meters long. It contained an enormous number of grave goods including beds, chests, buckets but remarkably the skeleton of a peacock #Vikings

The picture below is of Jelling, the political center of Harald Gormson, Viking leader of Denmark. The stones represent his conversion to Christianity c. 960. Gormson is also known as Bluetooth and that’s where “Bluetooth” as in WiFi gets its name. Did you know that? #Vikings Anyway, for the time being we have no interest in Christianized Viking, preferring the pagan lads (and lassies) who began settling in Ireland after 835 or so #Vikings

“Boys” said Meave to the boys “will one of yis tie this lucky charm around the foot of that criminal that we hanged earlier”. “You know it is Halloween” replied the boys. “Nera” said Meave “surely you are not scared”. “Of course not” shivered Nera #Halloween As Nera walked towards the gallows, the demons of the glen screamed. “It’s shocking dark” he thought “but I’m sure everything will be grand” he mused “despite it being Samhain, darkness, horror and death and the door to the otherworld is probably open” #Hallloween

I’ve arrived at Newgrange to find that it is closed, I’m not having much luck on this otherworldly journey. Not to worry tho, what had Newgrange to do with Cuchulainn? #CattleRaid The Ulstermen were surprised when a flock of birds landed on the green outside Emann Macha. They were further surprised to see that each pair of birds were linked by a silver chain “Strange” they thought #CattleRaid

I’m about to head off up the mountain to where Cuchulainn killed the hound. #CattleRaid I’m back down from Slieve Gullion, the Ulstermen have not yet installed WiFi in their mountain fort but I got some great photos #CattleRaid

I’ve arrived in Finea just now. It’s east of Granard and the place where Fergus turned the army southwards. This aroused suspicions - was he leading the army astray - into an ambush perhaps. “Hang on” thought Meave “where is the Ulster army””Fergus come here” she said #CattleRaid I passed a few interesting roadside memorials. Here’s one about an ambush near Ballinalee near Granard #CattleRaid

The army of the men of Ireland resumed their march in the morning. They were heading for the fords on the Shannon at Termonbarry. The names of the places they passed tells us it was a very wet place, the Marshy Lakebed, the PeatRidge. It is difficult country. #CattleRaid They were following the route of one of the four great roads of Ireland - Sligh Asail. The word Sligh means trackway, the word Asail means Donkey (it probably doesn’t of course but sounds too much like the Irish word for Donkey for us not to use it) The Donkey Track #CattleRaid

I’ve left the terrible entrance to the otherworld, without too much trouble, except covered in mud from climbing into it. I am now sitting on/in Maeve’s fort. It is right here that the Cattle Raid began, and this exact spot where Maeve and her husband quarreled #CattleRaid We will have many more digressions but now it is time to start the Cattle Raid. It started with a quarrel and ended in the destruction of two kingdoms. Maeve and her husband, Ailill, were in bed - how often do those words preceded a row? #CattleRaid

I have arrived at Queen Meave’s Connaught fortress at Rathcroghan. But before we start talking about it, I’ll first visit the entrance to the otherworld - the dreadful cave Oweynacat - the deceivingly innocently named Cave of the Cats #CattleRaid This cave is referenced several times in the Cattle Raid. It is the home of the goddess of war and death - the Morrigan who causes all sorts of trouble later on. Magical and greedy pigs live here, also cats #CattleRaid

I have just arrived at a freezing cold and grey Clonmacnoise in County Offaly. You might be wondering what this important early Christian centre has to do with our pre-Christian Cattle Raid of Cooley #CattleRaid The earliest version we have of Tain Bo Cuailnge - the Cattle Raid of Cooley - is found in a manuscript called Lebor na hUidre - the Book of the Dun Cow - so called because it was made from the skin of St Keiran’s favourite cow #CattleRaid

Tonight we start our great adventure into the (other)world of Irish myth and folklore. Following the route of Queen Maeve’s army on the Cattle Raid of Cooley. I’ll tell the story and explore the landscape of Ireland’s national epic tale. Join me here #CattleRaid The story tells of Maeve’s attempt to capture the mighty Brown Bull of Cooley from the Ulstermen. Standing in her way is a lone hero, Cuchulainn. At the end of it all, Ireland is wrecked - so who was this fabulous bull? #CattleRaid

If we can’t visit the mountains today, where Petticoat Loose ‘lives’, because of the weather it shouldn’t stop us talking about her. Here’s her story #HauntedRoad She is associated with the Vee Pass in the Knockmealdown mountains in the border of counties Tipperary and Waterford. The old people say her name was Mary Hannigan and she lived there about 200 years ago #HauntedRoad

The’Buckeen’ Daly’s wake & funeral were a triumph. His widow is delighted. Everyone is looking forward to Saturday’s fair where the final part of the funeral celebrations will play out. ‘Mouldy’ Farrell has challenged the Tiernan’s to a fight and they have accepted #FactionFight ‘Mouldy’ has sent his three sons to round up the cousins, in-laws, friends, clients who he had dug graves for, and everyone who loves fighting; the message “Be at the green for twelve, bring a stick’. #FactionFight