The Importance of Legacy in Irish Folklore

The Tales of the Elders of Ireland, though written down after the story of the Táin, carried along many of the same stylistic traits that can be found throughout this earlier text as well as plot characteristics. For example, much emphasis is placed on the naming of certain landmarks and locations based on battles and deaths that occur throughout both stories. More interesting though is the emphasis that is placed on the legacy of these two stories and the descriptions that each story contains about how and why it has been passed on to future generations.

The story of the Táin starts off immediately describing how the current residents of Ireland came about the tale. The story goes that the poets of Ireland all gathered around to see if they could recite the Táin in its entirety but were unable to. Then a poet names Senchán sent some of his students to the grave of Fergus (a major character throughout the story) and after several mystical occurrences Fergus rose from the grave and told the Táin, in its entirety to the students who then returned with it to Senchán. Other variations of this encounter between Fergus and the poets exist, however they all involve a mystical encounter where the story is related to the present day people from someone who was there.

Similarly, in the Tales of the Elders of Ireland, someone who had been present there of old relates the stories. This man's name was Cailte, and he is one of the few surviving warriors of the Fian. Throughout the tale, for various reasons and requests, Cailte relates past heroisms of himself and the rest of Finn's warriors, much of which is recorded by St. Patrick's scribe. In this way part of the history is transferred to the new generation. However, a mystical occurrence is present in this story as well. In chapter eleven when Cailte is staying with some people of the sid as a parting gift he is given "A drink...for the remembrance of lore, so that any cataract or river or estuary" that he encounters he will remember (Dooley 203).