An Introduction, by Maria Crean
Although I attended the Art College in Belfast, Idid not see many prospects upon graduation. So, craving stability, I decided to do a PGCE. I was particularly interested in working within the realm of special education, something which I have been doing for the past ten years. Just last year, I completed a Masters in Special Educational Needs. It was while conducting this research that I took a long hard look at my career and realised I needed more creativity in my life. My research highlighted that one of the primary perceived benefits of art for those with SEND [Special Educational Needs and Disabilities] is its therapeutic value, and I am now re-training as an Art Psychotherapist, a long-held career dream.
Certainly, art has had therapeutic value in my own life, although I had put down the paintbrush for a long time while working as a teacher, which was an all-consuming career. Although I knew that creating art would allow me to feel less stressed, my workload meant that I never had time to paint or create, and any creative time I did find was so limited that I felt under too much pressure to produce a polished finished piece to make it ‘worthwhile’, resulting in me feeling more stressed than before. While the pandemic was bleak for many, time at home away from my career gave me a lot of time for reflection, and thankfully, some time to resume painting. I rediscovered my love for painting portraits, focusing on actors and musicians that were keeping me entertained during lockdown. I even dabbled in some online courses in painting and digital illustration, and without access to a photocopier, published the first professionally printed edition of my zine, ‘Dathúil’. However, what had the biggest impact and turned my artistic life around was taking part in an online group experience of Julia Cameron’s ‘The Artist’s Way’. The Artist’s Way encouraged me not only to take some time to relax through the weekly tasks, and to reflect upon the daily morning pages, but also to reorganise my life into one in which I could actively pursue my dreams.
I have repeated Cameron’s course several times and hosted a few online groups myself because seeing the changes in others unfold over the weeks is both mesmerising and inspiring.
Back in my working life in Dublin the following year,I was completing exams in the Irish language. This involved completing a project on the local area wherein I discovered that it was named after the famous legend of Tristan and Iseult as ‘Séipéal Iosóid’ is Iseult (or Isolde’s) rumoured resting place. While reading about Tristan and Isolde, I remembered a Dublin Street Art competition I had discovered during The Artist’s Way. I had missed the original deadline during lockdown by just a few days but was now ready to design and submit an artwork that represented the local area. I chose to design a modernised portrait of Iseult and was delighted when my design was accepted.
I have long been interested in Folklore and base my zine ‘Dathúil’ around the Celtic wheel of the year and its associated traditions and superstitions. Growing up, my grandparents ran a second-hand bookshop, so I read avidly. Irish Folklore is rich and varied and does not always follow the traditional pattern of the hero’s tale. What is also notable about Irish Folklore is that
it has its fair share of fierce females, which is where my work has focused for the past few years. As well as also painting Iseult’s partner Tristan in Chapelizod (a village in Dublin) the following year, I have summarised and updated many other inspiring females from Irish folklore, with the hope of reinvigorating their stories and inspiring interest from the younger modern generation.
Moving forward, I am hoping to branch out by including more males in my collection, along with lesser-known characters and tales that feature couples, creatures or groups. Were I to be gifted unlimited time I would also love to explore the folklore of other cultures and to investigate links between characters and themes, something I would love to study at Masters level one day! Stylistically I love bright colours and bold lines and I am inspired by movements such as Art Nouveau and the neo-traditional tattoo style.
I share some of these characters’ stories below and I welcome recommendations on who you would like to see me interpret next, as my zine is always open for contributions!
Brigid
Brigid, meaning ‘exalted one’ was originally the name of the Celtic Fire Goddess representing the flame of knowledge. A triple Goddess, she shared her name with her two sisters, Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith, daughters of The Dagda and Danú. As an infant, mythical bees would bring Brigid magical nectar from her orchard in the Otherworld. Wherever she walked, signs of spring such as daffodils, snowdrops, dandelions, crocus and shamrocks, would spring up.
Brigid’s compassion for her oxen, ram and boar, are one of the reasons she is patron and protector of domesticated and small animals such as badgers, lambs and cows. Many farmers still place Brigid’s triple-spaced cross in cattle byres for protection. Brigid is also the patron of song and poetry, art and crafts; and wisdom gained through prophecy and divination. As a fertility goddess, she resides over pregnancy, childbirth, midwives, and children of unmarried parents. In 451AD another Brigid was born in Faughart, Ireland. Her mother, Broicsech, a victim of slave trafficking, had been sold to Dubhthach, the pagan chieftain of Leinster.
Dubhthach named his daughter after the Celtic fire goddess, unaware of the feisty fire he was lighting in her belly. Bridgid’s charitable nature was evident early on. She gave away her mother’s store of butter which miraculously replenished itself. She continued to give away her father’s goods, including a gemstone-encrusted sword. Tiring of this, her father tried to have her married off to a poet.
Brigid had no desire for marriage and intended to dedicate her life to religious servitude and care for the sick and poor. She begged the heavens to strip her of her beauty so no man would want to marry her. Following harassment from a local man, she reportedly tore out one of her eyes; and cursed his to burst in his head. Brigid’s beauty apparently returned to her tenfold once she said her vows as a nun.
In 468AD, Brigid began a monastery on the site of an ancient oak so sacred that no weapon was permitted within the vicinity of it. The monastery contained a flame tended to by her nineteen nuns, protected by a hedge that no man could cross without finding themselves cursed, insane, crippled or dead. It burned for more than one thousand years after Brigid’s death until it was extinguished during the Reformation.
Saint Brigid is often depicted holding a cross made from rushes which she first made as she converted a dying pagan chieftain on his deathbed. 'Goddess' Brigid was likely 'syncretized' into 'Saint' Brigid to smooth the process of Christianisation in Ireland. It is telling that Brigid’s supposed death date perfectly aligns with the Celtic spring celebration of Imbolg, the first sign of hope for the Celts of coming spring after a harsh winter.
Macha
The name Macha is given to more than one vengeful female in Celtic mythology, but perhaps most notably she, with her sisters Badb and Nemain, makes up the Celtic triple Goddess of war and death, ‘The Morrigan’, often represented by a raven. To stumble across Macha, washing bloodstained clothes in a river, fortells the impending death of the witness.
Most well-known is Macha, wife of Cruinniuc, whose curse was later utilised by Queen Medb. Cruinniuc, a wealthy widow, was struggling to care for his land and children. One day Cruinniuc returned to find the home immaculate, the children bathed and a beautiful woman cooking dinner. Uninvited but not unwelcome, the Goddess Macha had bestowed herself in human form
as Cruinniuc’s wife, demanding only that her presence be kept a secret, which he accepted without question. While they were together the house knew no need or want, and Cruinniuc’s wealth continued to grow, along with Macha’s fertile stomach.
The King of Ulster held a large fair for notable locals, and it was here that Cruinniuc, lips loosened by free-flowing mead, began to boast of his wife that was stronger than any earthly creature and who could no doubt outrun the king’s horses. Overhearing this humiliation, a furious King Conor demanded that a heavily pregnant Macha be dragged before him immediately to prove herself.
Macha was days from giving birth and cradled her large, round stomach as she looked around the merciless spectators spitefully. Would no one call an end to this outrageous display of men’s bravado? Macha pleaded with the crowd of Ulstermen around her - ‘Help me, for each of you came born of a mother!’, but not even her husband came to her defence. Undeterred by the threat to the life of Macha and her unborn twins, the King stripped his best horse of all armour and fashioning’s to increase its speed. Laughing, the men of Ulster hollered and
howled for the race to begin.Despite the frothing steed running with all its might,
Macha still managed to cross the finish line first, accompanied by a great shriek of pain. It was there she birthed her twins, a boy named ’Fír’ (True) and a girl named ‘Fial’ (Modest). Exhausted, humiliated, and furious, Macha cursed the men of Ulster.
With her dying breath Macha decreed that at the time of their own and their province's greatest need, the Ulstermen would be as weak and helpless as a woman in childbirth. The curse would last for five days and four nights on each occasion, and nine times for nine generations, a curse utilised later by Queen Medb during the Cattle Raid of Cooley. Ulster is Macha's territory, and it is said she cleared the plains around Armagh (Ard Mhacha - The Heights of Macha), for the growth of fertile wheat. The place where she birthed her twins and met her end in Armagh was christened Emain Macha or ‘Macha’s Twins’, and is now known as Navan Fort.
Queen Medb was a fierce, headstrong, Irish warrior best known for the cattle raid of Cooley and Cú Chu- lainn’s downfall. When Medb left her unhappy marriage to King Conchubar of Ulster, her sister Eithne was prof- fered as a replacement. Despite her dislike of Conchu- bar, this union sparked a jealous rage in Medb and she drowned her pregnant sister. The baby survived and was removed from Eithne’s body, an oversight Medb would later regret.
After Conchubar subjected Medb to a revengeful and humiliating assault at Tara, Medb’s hatred of Ulster and its men intensified. So determined was Medb to see Conchubar’s end that she re-named all of her seven sons ‘Maine’, the name prophesied by a druid as avenging Medb.
Medb was not a woman to be messed with, and as Queen of Connaught, had equality with male leaders. After Conchubar, Medb found the qualities she desired in her husband Aillil - a lack of fear, meanness and jealousy. A jealous husband would have struggled by Medb’s side, as she was said to charm many men. It was rumoured that no new leader could be crowned before spending the night with her. Medb’s name is etymologically related to the word for mead, and is said to mean ’she who intoxicates’. However Aillil was not without imperfection, and fool- ishly teased Medb about who was the more powerful. Al- though fairly matched, Aillil had one thing over Medb - a magnificent white-horned bull. Medb could not bear this imbalance and immediately sought her own beast. When it was not given wilfully, an enraged, Medb assembled a large army to invade Ulster and pilfer the bull, planning to attack at the time of Macha’s curse.
The only remaining line of defence was young Cú Chulainn, immune to the curse. Cú Chulainn’s skills were mythical however and posed a realistic threat to Medb’s army. Medb spared no expense in convincing Con- naught’s best warriors to fight, including Cú Chulainn’s own friend Ferdiad, with promises of wealth and the hand of her daughter Fiandabair to the victor. The battle was long, brutal and ferocious, and through the distraction, Medb did manage to smuggle the bull home, only for it to be immediately gored to death by her husband’s beast.
Medb did not easily forget Cú Chulainn’s assault and plotted a long-drawn revenge involving fostering children orphaned by Cú Chulainn and educating them in the sorcery required for his eventual murder; an epic tale in itself. Medb’s end came while bathing in her favourite pool on Lough Ree. She was killed by her nephew Furbaide, who had never forgiven her for drowning his mother. He had honed his slingshot skills to perfection and shot her with a piece of hardened cheese. Medb’s hostility towards the Ulstermen lingered even after death, and she is said to be buried upright in Sligo, facing her enemies.
Tristan & Iseult
King Mark of Cornwall (in England) had an orphaned nephew whom he raised and knighted, Tristan. Tristan was eternally grateful for this and defended his uncle in battle, leading to a grave injury that threatened his life. Hearing of Irish Queen with the power to heal anything, King Mark sent and sent his nephew across the seas. While recovering in the Queen’s castle he met and fell in love with her beautiful daughter Iseult, whom he could not stop talking about upon his return to Cornwall. King Mark was old but decided that the time had come for him to take a wife, and he chose Iseult after Tristan had spoken of her so adoringly.
Iseult was less than pleased when Tristan returned with the news that he was bringing her to England to become his elderly uncle's wife. Iseult's mother made an enchanted potion for her depressed daughter that would lessen the pain by causing her to fall in love with the first person she laid eyes on after drinking it. If she drank itas she was wed, her marriage would be happy, however Iseult and Tristan drank the potion together while looking for some wine to drink on the return journey. Tristan was already besotted with Iseult, but now as Iseult looked into Tristan’s eyes she realised he was the man she wanted to marry.
Although the two were deeply in love they could not break the promise that had been made to King Mark - to deliver Iseult as his bride. Iseult sadly agreed to marry King Mark, but whenever her and Tristan were in the same room, they could not take their eyes off each other. All three in this love triangle were plagued by prophetic nightmares, and rumours began to make their way to King Mark as their romance was noticed. Enraged, Mark ordered the execution of them both, although Tristan escaped on his way to the gallows, rescuing Iseult and hiding with her in a forest until they were rediscovered. As punishment, Tristan was banished to France, where he later remarried; and Iseult was forced to live as Mark's wife.
When Tristan was again mortally injured, he sent for the only woman he knew could heal him, although he would not be sure if she would have forgiven him for abandoning her in England and finding a new wife. Too weak to await her arrival, he asked the ship to hoist a white sail if she was aboard; and a black sail if she wasn’t coming. If Tristan heard she was coming it would give him the hope he needed to hold on a little longer.However,Tristan's new wife, in a jealous rage, told him the sails were black, when really she could seethe sails on the approaching ship were white, causing Tristan to succumb to his wounds in despair. When Iseult arrived and realised what had happened, she lay next to him and died of a broken heart. The two lovers were buried beside one another, supposedly in Chapelizod in Dublin, hence the name ‘Seipeal Isolde’ (Iseult’s Chapel). It is said that a bramble branch grew out of Tristan’s grave and a rose from Iseult’s. These two branches intertwined and although King Mark tried to cut the branch three times, just like their love it was too strong.
Editor’s note:I would like to personally thank Maria here for not only being such a loyal subscriber to the magazine but also for writing so extensively across 2 issues about both her artistic journey and Ireland’s wild folkloric tales.
Maria's Instagram can be found here: www.instagram.com/acidstarzart
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