Is acher in gaíth in-nocht... is an anonymous 9th-century poem in Old Irish.

This anonymous poem is written in the margins of an Early Irish manuscript that now resides in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland. Dating from around 850 AD, the text may have been compiled in a northern Irish monastery such as Nendrum or Bangor (both in Co. Down).

In just a few short words it conveys the sense of dread that was permeating through Irish monastic communities in the 9th century AD. During this period Viking raids were an ever present danger and the Irish Annals record numerous attacks on monasteries. In such a climate of fear and uncertainty, it is not difficult to understand why a monk would wish for stormy seas and a respite from ship borne assaults.

Is acher in gaíth in-nocht,
fu·fúasna fairggae findfholt;
ní·ágor réimm Mora Minn
dond láechraid lainn úa Lothlind.

Bitter is the wind tonight, 
it tosses the ocean’s white hair;
I fear not the coursing of a clear sea 
by the fierce warriors from Lochlann.

The Viking raid on the island of Lindisfarne in 793 AD is traditionally regarded as the beginning of the Viking age in Britain, although it has been suggested that these early raiders may already have been settled in the Northern Isles rather than sailing directly from Norway. During the next three to four decades the Gaelic annals record a large number of Viking raids in the Hebrides and Ireland and a number of monasteries, including Iona, were attacked and looted and monks were killed. While activities of this nature figure prominently in popular accounts about the Vikings, it is clear that raiding was not the only concern of these Scandinavian peoples. Trade may also have played a major role in this process. For example, in Ireland after 841 AD, the major trading ports of Dublin , Wexford, Waterford , Cork and Limerick all originated as Viking naval bases (Longphoirt). In theory, and at a slightly later period, a trader from Dublin could have sailed up the Irish sea , crossed the North sea and entered Scandinavian-controlled river systems in Russia to emerge eventually in the Black sea and sell his goods in Constantinople.

By c.850 AD the Gaelic annals record the appearance of a new group of people called the Gall-Ghaedheil (Norse Gaels/Foreign Gaels) who seem to have been mainly resident in the Hebrides and south-west Scotland . It is likely that these people were of mixed Norse and Gaelic blood which indicates a degree of integration and settlement between the two peoples within a short period of time. Scandinavian bases and trading ports were also established on the east coast of Britain . In England , York was captured in 866 AD and it is possible that the devastation of the North-British fortress on Dumbarton rock in 870 AD was an attempt to establish a maritime link between York and Dublin via the Clyde-Forth headwaters. By the end of the ninth century, Norse control of the Northern Isles led to the creation of the earldom of Orkney and successive dynasties from this province attempted to extend their authority southwards into Caithness (Which included Sutherland during this period) and Moray over a long period of time. It has been suggested that this Norse push southwards towards the Great Glen was motivated by economic considerations: namely, a desire to control the extensive timber resources found in Easter Ross for the maintenance, repair and building of shipping.

✙ Dál Riata - Norse Gael ✙

Áedán mac Gabráin  was king of Dál Riata from circa 574 onwards. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern day Argyll & Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland. Genealogies record that Áedán was a son of Gabrán mac Domangairt. He was a contemporary of Saint Columba, and much that is recorded of his life and career comes from hagiography such as Adomnán of Iona's Life of Saint Columba. Áedán appears as a character in many Old Irish and Middle Irish language works of prose and verse, some now lost.

The Irish annals record Áedán's campaigns against his neighbours, in Ireland, and in northern Britain, including expeditions to the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, and the east coast of Scotland. As recorded by Bede, Áedán was decisively defeated by Æthelfrith of Bernicia at the Battle of Degsastan. Áedán may have been deposed, or have abdicated, following this defeat. He died c. 608.

✙ Dál Riata - Áedán ✙

Labhair an Teanga Ghaeilge

Ó labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom,
A chuid mo chroi a stór,
An teanga a labhair mo mháithair liom,
In Éirinn ghlas fadó.

'Sí teanga bhinn ár sinsear í,
An chaint is milse glór:
Ó labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom,
Is bain dem'chroí an brón.

Ó labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom,
'Sí teanga cheart na nGael:
An teanga bhinn is ársa 'ta
Lé fáil ar fud an tsaoil.

A stór mo chroi is beannacht ort,
A chailín óig gan cháim,
Cá bhfúil sa saol aon teanga mar
Ár dteanga féin le fáil?

********************************

Speak the Irish Language

Oh, speak the Irish language with me,
Treasure of my heart,
The language my mother spoke to me,
In green Ireland long ago.

She is the language of our ancestors,
The sweetest sounding speech:
Oh, speak the Irish language with me,
And remove sorrow from my heart.

Oh, speak the Irish language with me,
The true language of the Gael:
The oldest language there is
to be found in all the world.

Treasure of my heart a blessing on you, 
Young, flawless girl, 
Where in the world is there any language like
Our own language to be had?

✙ Dál Riata - Labhair an Teanga Ghaeilge ✙

The intriguing clan system plays a big role in Irish & Scottish culture and tradition, and has it's roots in the ancient Celtic tribal system. So it fits in perfectly. A clan has been many things, over hundreds of years, including a family group, a political system, and a means of defending territory and ensuring survival in harsh conditions and difficult times. It's as hardy and resilient as the Irish & Scottish people themselves, and has survived (and thrived) throughout centuries littered with bloody battles, as well as many attempts to destroy them. The clan system seems to have been pretty well established by the 11th and 12th century, but signs of their existence go back as far as the 6th century. The word 'clan' comes from the Gaelic word 'clann', which meant 'family, offspring, children' and that's basically what they still represent, large family groups.

The original clans of Ireland & Scotland were basically extended family groups, the majority of members were related by blood and descended from a common ancestor. They also contained a number of 'Septs', which were families who didn't have direct blood ties to the Clan Chief (or Chieftain) but were still associated with it. Often these Septs wielded a certain amount of clan power themselves. Other individuals sometimes joined a clan to show their support or to seek protection or simply to stay alive. In the beginning clan names were usually tied to specific areas, known as 'clan territories', they were created to bond residents of that area and to protect it from being invaded or stolen by other groups.

✙ Dál Riata - March of the Clans ✙

Cath Maige Tuired (modern spelling: Cath Maighe Tuireadh), meaning "The Battle of Magh Tuireadh", is the name of two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish mythology. The name Mag Tuired (modern spelling: Magh Tuireadh) means "plain of pillars" or "plain of towers",and is anglicised as Moytura or Moytirra. It refers to two separate places, both in Connacht: the first near Cong, County Mayo on the border with County Galway; the second by Lough Arrow in County Sligo. The two texts tell of battles fought by the Tuatha Dé Danann, the first against the Fir Bolg, the second against the Fomorians.

The First Battle of Mag Tuired:

The first text, sometimes called Cét-chath Maige Tuired ("The First Battle of Mag Tuired") or Cath Maighe Tuireadh Cunga ("The Battle of Mag Tuired at Cong") or Cath Maighe Tuireadh Theas ("The Battle of Southern Mag Tuired"),relates how the Tuatha Dé Danann took Ireland from the Fir Bolg, who then inhabited the island. It begins with the children of Nemed, an earlier group of inhabitants of Ireland, leaving for Greece to escape their oppression by the Fomorians. A group of Nemed's descendants, the Fir Bolg, return to Ireland and conquer it, occupying it for thirty years until the coming of the Tuatha Dé Danann, another group of Nemed's descendants.

The Second Battle of Mag Tuired:

The second text of this name, also known as Cath Dédenach Maige Tuired ("The Last Battle of Mag Tuired"), Cath Tánaiste Maige Tuired ("The Second Battle of Mag Tuired"), and Cath Maighe Tuireadh Thúaidh ("The Battle of Northern Mag Tuired"), tells how the Tuatha Dé Danann, having conquered Ireland, fall under the oppression of the Fomorians, and then fight a battle to free themselves from this oppression. It expands on references to the battle in Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Irish Annals, and is one of the richest sources of tales of the former Irish gods. It is found in a 16th-century manuscript, but is believed to be a composite work compiled in the 12th-century from 9th-century material.

✙ Dál Riata - Battle of Mag Tuired ✙

In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu (modern spelling: Nuadha), known by the epithet Airgetlám (modern spelling: Airgeadlámh, meaning "silver hand/arm"), was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is cognate with the Gaulish and British god Nodens. His Welsh equivalent is Nudd or Lludd Llaw Eraint.

Nuada was king of the Tuatha Dé Danann for seven years before they came to Ireland. They made contact with the Fir Bolg, the then inhabitants of the island, and Nuada sought from them half of the island for the Tuatha Dé, which their king rejected. Both peoples made ready for war, and in an act of chivalry allowed their numbers and arms to be inspected by the opposing side to allow for a truly fair battle. During this first great battle at Mag Tuired, Nuada lost an arm[1] in combat with the Fir Bolg champion Sreng. Nuada's ally, Aengaba of Norway, then fought Sreng, sustaining a mortal wound, while the Dagda protected Nuada. Fifty of the Dagda's soldiers carried Nuada from the field. The Tuatha Dé gained the upper hand in the battle, but Sreng later returned to challenge Nuada to single combat. Nuada accepted, on the condition that Sreng fought with one arm tied up. Sreng refused, but by this point, the battle was won and the Fir Bolg all but vanquished. The Tuatha Dé then decided to offer Sreng one-quarter of Ireland for his people instead of the one-half offered before the battle, and he chose Connacht.

Having lost his arm, Nuada was no longer eligible for kingship due to the Tuatha Dé tradition that their king must be physically perfect, and he was replaced as king by Bres, a half-Fomorian prince renowned for his beauty and intellect. The Fomorians were mythological enemies of the people of Ireland, often equated with the mythological "opposing force" such as the Greek Titans to the Olympians, and during Bres's reign, they imposed great tribute on the Tuatha Dé, who became disgruntled with their new king's oppressive rule and lack of hospitality. By this time Nuada had his lost arm replaced by a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht and the wright Creidhne (and later with a new arm of flesh and blood by Dian Cecht's son Miach). Bres was removed from the kingship, having ruled for seven years, and Nuada was restored. He ruled for twenty more years.

Bres, aided by the Fomorian Balor of the Evil Eye, attempted to retake the kingship by force, and war and continued oppression followed. When the youthful and vigorous Lugh joined Nuada's court, the king realised the multi-talented youth could lead the Tuatha Dé against the Fomorians, and stood down in his favour. The second Battle of Mag Tuired followed. Nuada was killed and beheaded in battle by Balor, but Lugh avenged him by killing Balor and led the Tuatha Dé to victory.

Nuada's great sword was one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, brought from one of their four great cities.

Vocals - Merida Dubh

✙ Dál Riata - Long Live the King ✙

Sonus lomma is lenna lir,
búaid comairle in cech caingin,
búaid comperta, clú co mbail,
búaid creiche adíu, búaid slúagaid.

Luck of milk and of plentiful ale,
successful counsel in every matter,
success in procreation, fame with prosperity,
success in raiding hence, and victory in war.

A blessing from St. Colmán in Betha Colmáin maic Lúacháin.

Saint Colmán mac Lúacháin was an early Irish abbot, 
and founder and patron saint of Lann (Lynn, Co. Westmeath).

Backing Vocals - Merida Dubh

✙ Dál Riata - Sonus Lomma ✙

Cris nathrach mo chris, nathair ima·tá:
Náram·gonat fir, náram·millet mná.

My belt is a snake belt, a snake that wraps around:
May men not wound me, may women not destroy me.

This couplet is taken from what is known as the "Klosterneuburg Incantation".
This text invokes not only Cris Finnéin, Cris Eoin, "the belt of St. Finnén, the belt of St. John", but also Cris nathrach, "the belt of a snake", a clearly magical object. In some cases, the lorica envisages a divine counter-attack against magical aggression.

✙ Dál Riata - Cris Nathrach ✙

Betha, Bás, Aithghen - Life, Death, Rebirth.

The Celts believed in reincarnation, but the form and method in which it occurred was considerably different than most of today's Pagan attitudes towards rebirth. For the majority of Celts, it was rebirth into one's own clan which was to them the most sensible way in which reincarnation could occur. For a few others, it was rebirth somewhere else in their native land; never outside it. For the Druids, it was the immediate transmigration of the life essence into another nearby lifeform. 

Certainly the most common of these ethnocentric Celtic beliefs was the idea that one would return to be reborn into their own clan. In Old Irish the word for this specific type of reincarnation was Aithghen, (Gaulish-Brittonic: Ategenos) a word whose root means "to repeat." In this doctrine of limited reincarnation the spirit of an ancestor was reborn among his or her own kin. This means that certain inherited characteristics and even Deuoi (Tuatha Dé Danann gods) would sometimes appear or reappear in a family lineage.

✙ Dál Riata - Aithghen ✙

Who now can trace a continuous line of their ancestors back further than a few centuries? Who sings their praises? Who knows their histories and tells their tales? Indigenous peoples the world over hold tradition as the basic tenet of society. It is the glue that binds them together. It is one of the points of focus that creates a group identity; the greater part of this is our relationship with our ancestors.

People leave their mark upon the landscape, and this is often the link to our connection to them. This is not just true of monuments like Stonehenge or New Grange, but of the entire landscape around us. The city that sprang up from the group of huts by a stream, the rolling green hills of the farm, the old wall by the road-side. Our ancestors live on. 

Their actions have brought you to where you are today, allowing you to be who you are. If for no reason other than that we should honour them. And in the very act of acknowledging our ancestors it helps us to find our place in the world, a sense of belonging within the tribe. Our past and our future.

✙ Dál Riata - Honour the Dead ✙

Ethereal mist surrounds the stones
In Dál Riata's land of ancient past
Where lie the tribe of rested bones
Stand symbols of power built to last
Alone, they stand on sacred ground
Still withstanding the test of time
Alongside remnants of burial mounds
With their age-old, carved designs
The once-thriving cridhe na rìoghachd
Dùn Ad rising from a' Mhòine Mhór
Where stood great kings of hill & loch
In time of peace; in time of war
Through these glens, souls still remain
Their many memories fill each space
I feel the blood course through my veins
I am a part of this historical place

**************************************************

✙ Betha, Bás, Aithghen ~ Life, Death, Rebirth ✙

1. Sonus Lomma (Incantation)

2. Battle of Mag Tuired

3. Cris Nathrach (Incantation)

4. Honour the Dead

5. Airnigde

6. Aithghen

**************************************************

Backing Vocals on Sonus Lomma - Merida Dubh

Please check individual tracks for historical information.

✙ Dál Riata - Life, Death, Rebirth ✙

Nuall Fer Fio ~ Fer Fio's Cry

May Fer Fio's cry protect me as I make my circuit of the Plain of Life.

**************************************************************

Ad-muiniur secht n-ingena trethan

I call on the seven daughters of the sea,

dolbtae snáithi macc n-áesmar.

who shape the threads of long-lived children.

Tri bás flaimm ro-ucaiter,

Three deaths be taken from me,

tri áes dom do-rataiter,

three ages be given to me,

secht tonna tocaid dom do-ra-dáilter!

seven waves [of plenty] poured for me.

Ním chollet messe fom chúairt

May I not be molested on my journey

i llúrig Lasréin cen léiniud!

in my radiant breastplate / Breastplate of Lasrén without stain.

Ní nassar mo chlú ar chel!

May my name not be pledged in vain;

dom-í-áes;

May I have long life;

nim thi bás comba sen!

may death not come to me until I am old.

Ad-muiniur m’Argetnia

I call on my Silver Champion,

nád bá nád bebe;

who has not died and will not die;

amser dom do-r-indnastar

may time be granted to me

findruini febe!

of the quality of bronze.

Ro orthar mo richt,

May my double be slain

ro saerthar mo recht,

may my law be ennobled,

ro mórthar mo nert,

may my strength be increased,

nip ellam mo lecht,

may my tomb not be readied,

nim thí bás for fecht,

may I not die on my journey,

ro firthar mo thecht!

may my return be ensured to me.

Ním ragba nathair díchonn,

May the two-headed serpent not attack me,

ná dorb dúrglass,

nor the hard pale worm,

ná doel díchuinn!

nor the senseless beetle.

Ním millither téol,

May no thief attack me,

ná cuire ban,

nor a company of women,

ná cuire buiden!

nor a company of warriors.

Dom-i urchar n-aimsire

May I have increase of time

ó Rig inna n-uile!

from the king of all.

Ad-muiniur Senach sechtaimserach

I call on Senach of the seven ages,

con-altatar mná side

whom fairy women reared

far bruinnib búais.

on the breasts of good fortune.

Ní báitter mo shechtchaindel!

May my seven candles not be quenched.

Am dun díthagail,

I am an invincible fortress,

am all anscuichthe,

I am an immovable rock,

am ha lógmar,

I am a precious stone,

am sen sechtmainech.

I am the symbol of seven treasures.

Roba chétach

May I be [the man of] hundreds [of possessions],

cétbliadnach,

hundreds of years,

cach cét diib ar úair.

each hundred in its [proper] time.

Cota-gaur cucum mo lessa;

I summon my good fortune to me;

ro bé rath in Spiurta Noíb formsa.

may the grace of the Holy Spirit be on me.

✙ Dál Riata - Nuall Fer Fio ✙

Now Oghma, a man well skilled in speech and in poetry, invented the Ogham. The cause of its invention was, as a proof of his ingenuity, and that this speech should belong to the learned apart, to the exclusion of rustics and herdsmen. He might not have been a huge fan of rustics or herdsmen, the tales don’t tell us for certain, but sure not many of the nobles were, back then. Except maybe for the Dagda, who never seemed to mind the odd rustic or herdsman in amongst his company.

And that is how the cause of it’s invention is recorded, but is it truly so? Is there more to the tale, that we don’t yet know?

Whence the Ogham got its name, was according to sound and to matter, who are the father and the mother of the Ogham.

Oghma, the first inventor, spoke and sang it in respect to its sound, indeed. According to matter, however, ogum is og-uaim, the little egg hatched in a cave… perfect alliteration, which the poets applied to poetry by means of it. For by letters Gaeilge is measured by the poets, and when they are written are they done.

True too, is that the father of Ogham is Oghma, while the mother of Ogham is the hand or knife of Oghma.

***

The champion sat alone, in the darkness, in the dirt.

His restless hands moved through the clay in which he sat. Scooping, scraping, kneading, shaping, dispersing it back to the floor of the cave, then repeating the process again.

After a time, in the silence, he began a low hum. Starting deep down in his broad chest, it built steadily as it rose through his throat and flowed past his lips, softening and sweetening over his honey tongue as it was released to the air around him.

The cave accepted the sound, as ever she would, with the open arms of amplification and reverberation, gifting the champion his sound back to him, from many angles and in many ways. The essence of Ogham lived in that sound, discharged from the father to the womb of the mother.

It did not exist in our world though, without form, for that is ever the differentiation between the worlds – the formless and the formed.

Taking the clay, imbued with the sound and birthed from the body of the cave, the champion shaped matter, created a small round surface with his hands. And with his knife, he carved what came, shaping the sound around into the matter, twining the two into the first strokes, the early birch, the B.

And with that, a vision came, for the sound and the matter combined did form a gateway to Imbas Forosnai, and the champion saw Lugh, son of Ethliu, in pain as his wife was carried away from him into the Otherworld, and not once but seven times over. And he knew the birch, the Beith, would guard the woman, should Lugh let it, for the Ogham had told him true.

Oghma continued the process, the birth of Ogham, and each little egg he carved hatched a new letter into this world, there in the cave under the mound. And each new letter presented him with fresh Imbas, illuminating his experience, so that he understood. With each birth of sound, and matter, with each new letter, he knew it for a key to the wisdom between the worlds. With each new letter, the focus narrowed, and he learned to insert the key within the lock, and open the doorways to the Knowledge Which Illuminates.

There’s much more to the Ogham, oh and so much more to learn and know… but sure, they’re all stories for another day.

By native Irish Draoí (Druid), Lora O'Brien.

Bodhrán by Maxi Aguirre.

✙ Dál Riata - Oghma ✙

Four Elements is the fourth and final installment in the Dál Riata project.

✙ Dál Riata - Four Elements ✙

Part I - West Wind:
Dord Féinne
Battle of Éadan Mór
Cairn of the Dead
August Wind
Call of Wolves
Farewell to Islay

Part II - Riata's Tribe:
Tribe
Sacrifice the King
Samhain
Death Over Dishonour
Dùn Ad
Eviction of the Gael
Riata's Tribe

Part III - Heart of the Kingdom:
Áedán
Norse Gael
Pilgrimage to Iona
Artúr
March of the Clans
Kilmartin Glen

Part IIII - Life, Death, Rebirth
Sonus Lomma (Incantation)
Battle of Mag Tuired
Cris Nathrach (Incantation)
Honour the Dead
Airnigde
Aithghen
Nuall Fer Fio

**************************************************
Bodhrán on Dùn Ad - Hoireabard Ó Beólláin
Backing Vocals on Sonus Lomma 7 Dùn Ad - Merida Dubh

Please check out individual tracks for historical information.

✙ Dál Riata - Four Elements ✙

Fàilte, Fáilte, Welcome!

Dál Riata was a one-man project 
based in Argyll, Scotland; formerly the heart 
of the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dál Riata.
It stretched from the west of Scotland, across the 
North Channel and to the northeast of Ireland. 
Today these are the areas of Argyll in Scotland 
and some of County Antrim in Ulster.

​

The very act of acknowledging our ancestors
helps us to find our place in the world,
a sense of belonging within the tribe.
Our past and our future!

© All songs composed by Seán Mór Ó Cuinn.

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