Coire Sois, The Cauldron of Knowledge: A Companion to Early Irish Saga

10. The Eponym of Cnogba

10 The Eponym of Cnogba ( 1 9 8 9 ) Cnogba (Knowth) is part of the necropolis of Bruig na Bóinne, at the bend of the River Boyne in County Meath.1 In the Dinnshenchas of Cnogba, we are told that it is properly Cnoc Buí, the Hill of Bua or Buí, who was daughter of one Ruadrí Ruad and wife of Lug mac Céin; she was buried there, and the great mound was constructed over her body.2 Much the same information is given in the Dinnshenchas of Nas: Cnogba is the Hill of Buí “of the battles”—she lived and was buried there;3 she is also referred to as Buí in Broga,“Buí of Bruig (na Bóinne).”4 Buí and Nas were daughters of Ruadrí, here said to have been king of Britain, and each of the two sisters was married to Lug.5 While Lug mac Céin, otherwise known as Lug mac Eithlenn, is one of the best-known figures in the Irish pantheon, his relationship with Buí is poorly documented. To the references in the Dinnshenchas , we can add that the Banshenchas mentions Bua, daughter of 155 156 THE CYCLES OF THE GODS AND GODDESSES Ruadrí, king of the Britons, as one of Lug’s wives,6 and that in an anecdote preserved in YBL, Lug is said to have been married to Buach, daughter of Dáire Donn.7 (We shall see that Buach may be taken as a variant of Buí.) Lug is also said to have been married to Echtach, daughter of Daig, and to Englecc, daughter of Elcmar.8 The form Cnogba cannot be explained as a reflex of Cnoc Buí. It might be assumed, therefore, that Buí was simply drawn into the Dinnshenchas in order to provide a plausible etymology for Cnogba, and that the notion that she was married to Lug was prompted by his known associations with Bruig na Bóinne. This assumption may be correct, as far as it goes, but it leaves us far short of the whole story. Buí’s dual role as eponym of Cnogba and spouse of Lug is part of a larger design, and the purpose of the present article is to trace that design by drawing data on Lug and Buí from a number of disparate sources. The crucial step towards an understanding of Buí’s character was taken by T.F. O’Rahilly when he identified the eponymous Buí of the Dinnshenchas with the personage known in Irish literature and folklore as the Hag of Beare (Caillech Bérri, modern Cailleach Bhéarra).9 He contended that in“The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare,”10 dated by Murphy to the late eighth or early ninth century, the caillech’s name is given as Buí, and he drew attention to “other references to her as Boí, Buí, Bua” in an anecdote in LU,11 and in the Dinnshenchas. O’Rahilly’s observations, as reported by Gerard Murphy, are not backed up by argument, and it is therefore necessary to state the case for them. There are two issues to be considered: first, the interpretation of a line in “The Lament” as giving the caillech’s name as Buí, and secondly the identification of the caillech with the Buí of the Dinnshenchas, and of the anecdote in LU. We shall see that O’Rahilly’s interpretation of the relevant line has been accepted by Murphy, but that it has been silently rejected by the other scholars who have subsequently translated the poem. On the other hand, the identification of Caillech Bérri with the eponym of Cnogba is presented by F.J. Byrne12 and Proinsias Mac Cana13 as part of the conventional wisdom, without acknowledgment of O’Rahilly.14 In his 1963 edition of “The Lament,” Murphy printed the fifth line as Is mé Caillech Bérri Buí, and translated, “I am the Old Woman of Beare, beside Dursey”; he was probably influenced by the fact that Oileán Baoi Bhéarra was the“old name”for Dursey.15 In Early Irish Lyrics, in deference to O’Rahilly, the line is printed Is mé Caillech Bérri, Buí, and translated “I am Buí, the Old Woman of Beare.” Carney translates “I am the hag of Buí and Beare”;16 Greene and O’Connor “I am the Nun of Béarra Baoi.”17 While there is...