Over the centuries, a rich, vast body of folklore developed in Ireland concerning the mythical Irish hero Cuchulain. The son of the god Lug and the noblewoman Deichtine, Cuchulain develops superhuman strength, performs many heroic deeds, and then dies a heroic and tragic death. By the 1800s, knowledge of the myth of Cuchulain and other Irish legends was, along with many other aspects of traditional Irish culture, beginning to fade due to encroaching Anglicisation. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, various Irish authors began to revive the stories of Cuchulain. These authors included several figures associated with the Irish Literary Revival such as William Butler Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory. The two books discussed below demonstrate how Irish authors turned to Irish folklore for inspiration in their attempts to assert a distinct Irish cultural identity in literature.
Cuchulain of Muirthemne by Lady Augusta Gregory, 1902
In this 1902 book, Lady Gregory retells the legends of Cuchulain. In her dedication of the book, Lady Gregory writes that she wanted to retell the stories of Cuchulain because many of these stories were only half-remembered in Ireland by the late 1800s. The cultural nationalist goal of Lady Gregory’s book is made clear in Yeats’ preface, wherein he states that the Irish need to become reacquainted with their old legends, Ireland will be culturally rejuvenated and “begin again to be a Holy Land.”
Four Plays for Dancers by William Butler Yeats, 1921
This 1921 collection of four plays by Yeats includes two dramas inspired by the legends of Cuchulain. “At the Hawk’s Well” tells the story of Cuchulain’s strange encounter with a hawk-like woman at a magical well. “The Only Jealousy of Emer” tells of Cuchulain’s affair with a woman of the Otherworld. Like Lady Gregory’s Cuchulain of Muirthemne, “At the Hawk’s Well” and “The Only Jealousy of Emer” are manifestations of how Yeats and his contemporaries turned to the old legends of Cuchulain for inspiration in their attempts to assert a distinct Irish cultural identity in literature.