Irish Historical Thinking in the Saga Cath Maige Tuired Conga

Abstract

The Middle Irish text Cath Mag Tuired Conga belongs to the pseudo-historical (or synthetic) tradition of the Irish narrative. It tells as about the Fir Bolg arrival and about their battle with the Túatha Dé Danann. This saga includes not only the typical elements of the insular literature, but also borrows some subjects and plots from the Bible and from the patristic works. The author mentions many dates and places, and we can reconstruct his idea of history and geography, the chronotope, in which he existed. On the basis of this saga we can draw a conclusion about a typical historical line of thinking of the Middle Irish author.