Show Notes
Animal companions have played a variety of important roles in human societies over the millenia. Join Chris as she explores how dogs, cats and even the occasional crane, have been regarded and regulated both in the comprehensive early Irish law texts and Irish stories, mythology and folklore.
Oweynagat: Cave of the Cats
Links for this Episode
This episode includes Isolde's explanation of the many grades of poet that existed, File, Bards, and even Bramble Hounds
A useful article on the background to pre-Norman, early Irish law.
The Lost Legal System: Pre-Common Law Ireland and the Brehon Law by Dr Noelle Higgins
Fled Bricrenn: The Road to Cruachan
More from Story Archaeology
The story of Sinann, who gave her name to the river Shannon, was first recorded, in written form, in the Metrical Dindshenchas, 'the Lore of Prominent Places'. Such tales morph and shapeshift as they are retold through time yet still retain unexpected applicabilities. Join Chris as she traces her own meandering journey in Sinann's company.
William Robinson: Tallanbanna with cloud front. 1988
Recent DNA testing on a long ignored jawbone fragment has opened a viewpoint on the distant past to when and how animal companions began to alter the everyday lives of human communities. Join Chris as she explores this new research and wonders, on the way, what 'pet' names might they have chosen!