Irish Stories/Mythology?

Question

What are some themes that most Irish Stories have? ex: morals, a death of a bad character, etc. I really don't know anything Irish related other than things about leprechauns and pots of gold or whatever. So please some help here! Oh, and I should mention that I have to write a story of my own, and am just looking for starters. Thanks : ) Anything is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

One recurring motif is that of the couple who fall in love despite the fact that she's married or betrothed to his father or uncle or some other older man to whom he owes allegiance.  A modern treatment of this theme occurs in the play Desire Under the Elms--by appropritely enough, Eugene O'Neill.

Then, as you might expect, Irish mythology includes some earthshaking free-for-all battles.

Answer 2

Another recurring theme is having to pass a test, fulfill an oath, or break a geiss in order to receive a reward or leadership position. A geiss was a taboo that was placed on a person forbidding them to perform a certain action. This geiss was usually placed on a male by a female - a goddess, queen or mother.

Fosterage was another common occurrence. Young children were given to another person to train in the arts of war, magic or knowledge. Young boys were sometimes sent to female warriors or to druids for training.

The supernatural world interfering with the lives of the mortals happened very frequently. The people of the sidhe (pronounced 'she') were divine beings and are also called the fairy folk. They weren't the little fairies with wings that one thinks of today, but the same appearance as humans except either exceptionally beautiful or sometimes extremely ugly, and they were very powerful.

One other common theme is a goddess appearing to a man in the form of an old hag and asking for something from the man. If the man agrees she changes into a beautiful maiden and grants him a reward.

The themes can be quite complex so I would recommend reading some of the stories:

(On this first site you can click on one paragraph at a time or select "The Celt edition as a single file" to bring up the entire text at once)

http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301021...

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cuc...

http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celt...

http://www.luminarium.org/mythology/irel...

I would definitely recommend reading The Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge)