Modern Irish - Caoilte i Sí Easa Ruaidh

Caoilte in the fairy-dwelling of Assaroe

‘Caoilte i Sí Easa Ruaidh’ is a condensed Modern Irish retelling of an episode from the Middle Irish tale Agallam na Senórach (c. 1200). It recounts the initial meeting between St Patrick and Caoilte mac Ronáin, one of the fianna or warrior-bands led by the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. Caoilte, now an aged warrior who has outlived the fianna, tells St Patrick the story of how his youthful vigour was restored by the Tuatha Dé Dánann, the supernatural beings who dwell in the sí (fairy-dwelling) at Assaroe. Before he can be healed, Caoilte must first agree to a ‘pact’ (cairde) placed upon him by the Tuatha Dé Danann: that is, he is obliged to protect them from the sons of king of Ulster, who seek the ‘honour price’ (éric) or ‘compensation’ for the slaying of their grandfather. Caoilte fulfils the terms of the pact and secures a treaty of peace. The woman healer Béibhionn then prepares a drink of healing herbs for Caoilte, so that his weariness and battle-wounds are healed. The tale is read by Professor Lillis Ó Laoire (Ollscoil na Gaillimhe/University of Galway) in the Ulster dialect, as spoken in Gort an Choirce, Co. Donegal. (Recorded at the University of Cambridge Language Centre by Saimon Clark, Media Editor, March 2015)