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Line 1: {{Short description\|Medieval Irish tale}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}} {{italic title}} '''''Buile Shuibhne''''' or '''''Buile Suibne'''''{{efn\|Alternate spellings are also: Shuibni, Suibne}} ({{IPA-ga\|ˈbˠɪlʲə ˈhɪvʲnʲə}}, '''''The Madness of Suibhne''''' or '''''Suibhne's Frenzy''''') is ana ~~old~~medieval Irish tale about ~~the~~ '''Suibhne mac Colmáin''', king of the [[Dál nAraidi]], who was driven insane by the curse of [[Rónán\|Saint Rónán Finn]]. The insanity makes Suibhne leave the [[Battle of Mag Rath]], ~~enter~~and begin a life of wandering (which earns him the nickname Suibne Geilt or "Suibhne the Madman")~~, until~~. heHe dies under the refuge of [[Mo Ling\|St. Moling]]. The tale is sometimes seen as ~~the~~an installment ofwithin a three-text cycle, continuing on from ''Fled Dúin na nGéd'' (''The Feast of Dún na nGéd'') and ''Cath Maige Rátha'' (''The Battle of Mag Rath''). Suibhne's name appears as early as the ninth century in a law tract (''Book of Aicill''), but ''Buile Shuibhne'' did not take its current form until the twelfth century.<ref name="sailor">{{cite journal\|last=Sailor \|first=Susan Shaw \|title=Suibne Geilt: Puzzles, Problems, and Paradoxes\|journal=The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies \|volume=24 \|pages=115–131 \| number =1 \|year=1998 \| doi = 10.2307/25515239 \|jstor=25515239 }}</ref> {{~~harvnb~~harvtxt\|Ó Béarra\|2014}} includes a detailed analysis of the language and date of the text. He contends that the text in its final form is not as old as generally presumed but should be dated to the early thirteenth century. ==Suibhne's identity== Line 10 ⟶ 12: ==Text== There are three manuscripts, '''B''' (Royal Irish Academy, B iv i), 1671–4; '''K''' (Royal Irish Academy, 23 K 44), 1721–2; and '''L''' (Brussels, 3410), 1629, a condensed version in the hand of [[~~Michéal~~Mícheál Ó Cléirigh]]. The text can be dated to broadly from ~~1200–1500~~1200 to 1500 on linguistic grounds, but [[John O'Donovan (scholar)\|John O'Donovan]] asserted the writer must have lived before 1197 when the last [[Kings of Tír Chonaill\|chieftain of Tir Connail]]<!--Flaithbhertach O'Muldory--> died who was descended from [[Domnall mac Áedo]], since the work is intended to flatter this monarchic dynasty.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|p=xiii–xix}} == Plot == Line 21 ⟶ 23: ===The madness and wandering=== The deranged Suibhne then left the battlefield behind, reaching a forest called Ros Bearaigh, in Glenn Earcain{{efn\|name="ros-bearaigh-and-earcain"\|Ros Bearaigh may be another forest in the vicinity of Ros Earcain ([[Rasharkin]], [[~~Co.~~County Antrim]]), which occurs as a separate location in this tale, {{harvnb\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|loc=notes, p.162 (to §12, p. 15), 164 (to §17, p.23), 167 (to §35, p.51)}}}} and perched on a [[yew tree]]. He was discovered by his kinsman Aongus the Fat, who was making his retreat from battle. Suibhne fled to Cell Riagain{{efn\|[[Kilrean]], {{harvnb\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|loc=notes, p.162}}}} in [[Tir Conaill]], alighting on another tree. There he was surrounded by the forces of [[Domnall mac Áedo]], which was the side Suibhne and his Dál nAraidi kinsmen were warring against. The victorious Domnall nevertheless praised and pitied Suibhne and offered him gifts, but the madman would not comply.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=15–23}} Suibhne went to his home territory of Glenn Bolcáin,{{efn\|Possibly Glenbuck, near Rasharkin, {{Harvnb\|Mackillop\|1998\|loc="Bolcáin, Glenn", p. 47}}, citing [[Gearóid Mac Eoin]] (1962), "Gleann Bolcáin agus Gleann na nGealt" in ''Béaloideas'' 30; O'Keeffe could not pinpoint it but also believed it to be somewhere in N. Antrim, {{Harvnb\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|p=164}}.}} wandered seven years throughout Ireland, and returned to Glenn Bolcain, which was where his fortress and dwelling stood, and a celebrated valley of madmen.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|p=x}}{{sfnp\|Mackillop\|1998\|loc="Bolcáin, Glenn", p. 47}} Suibhne's movement was now being tracked by his kinsman Loingsechan, who had successfully taken the madman into custody thrice before. Loingsechan in his millhouse had a chance to capture Suibhne, but the attempt failed, and he must await another chance. Suibhne then paid visit to his wife, who was living with another man, a contender for Suibhne's kingship. Eorann maintained she would rather be with Suibhne, but he told her to remain with her new husband. An army stormed in, but Suibhne eluded capture.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=23–39, 41, 45–46}} Suibhne then returned to the yew tree at Ros Bearaigh, the same tree he went to when he first developed his madness, but when Eorann came to deceive and capture him, he moved away to another tree in [[Rasharkin\|Ros Ercain]].{{efn\|name="ros-bearaigh-and-earcain"}} ~~But~~However, his whereabouts ~~was~~were discovered, and Loingsechan coaxed him out of the tree, tricking him with the false news that his entire family had perished. Loingsechan brought Suibhne back to normal life and restored his sanity, but while recuperating, the mill hag taunted him into a contest of leaping. As they leapt, the noise of a hunting party returned Suibhne to madness. The mill hag eventually fell from her leap and was dashed to pieces. And since she was Loingsechan's mother-in-law, it meant Suibhne's could not return to Dál nAraidi without facing vengeance.{{sfnp\|Frykenberg\|2006\|p=1797}}{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=49–83}} Suibhne subsequently wandered various parts of Ireland, into Scotland and Western England. He went from [[Roscommon]] to [[Slieve Aughty]], Slieve Mis, [[Slieve Bloom]] mountain ranges;{{Refn\|group="lower-alpha"\|Names of mountain ranges in Munster, except O'Keeffe believes [[Slieve Mish]] is not meant here, but rather [[Slemish]] in Ulster.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|loc=Index of Places and Tribes, pp. 194–7}}}} [[Inishmurray\|Inismurray]] island; the Cave of [[Donnán of Eigg\|St. Donnan]] of [[Eigg]], an island in the Scottish [[Inner Hebrides]];{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|loc=Index of Places and Tribes, p. 195}} then tarried for a month and a half in "Carrick Alastair" ([[Ailsa Craig]] off Scotland).<ref>{{citation\|last=Smyth \|first=Daragh \|title=A Guide to Irish Mythology \|publisher=Irish Academic Press \|year=1996\|page=160}}</ref> He reached Britain and befriended a Fer Caille (Man of the Wood), who was another madman, spending an entire year together. The ~~Briton~~ giant Briton met his predestined death by drowning in a waterfall.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=83–105}} ===Death according to prophecy=== "Fly through the air like the shaft of his spear and that he might die of a spear cast like the cleric whom he had slain." Suibhne then returned to Ireland, to his home dominion of Glen Bocain. He visited his wife Eorann again but refused to go in the house for fear of confinement. Eorann then told him to leave, never to return, because the sight of him was an embarrassment to all.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=105–111}} But after a while, Suibhne regained his lucidity and made his resolve to go back to [[Dál nAraidi]], whatever judgment ~~may~~might befall him. [[St. Ronan]] learned of this and prayed to God to hinder Suibhne. Suibhne iswas haunted by headless cadavers and detached heads at [[The Fews\|Sliabh Fuaid]].{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=105–111}} Eventually, Suibhne arrived at "The House of [[St. Moling]]", i.e. Teach Moling ([[St Mullin's]] in [[~~Co.~~County Carlow]]),{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|loc=Index of Places and Tribes, pp. 194–7}}), and Moling harbored him after hearing the madman's story. It might be noted that earlier, Suibhne had sung a stave predicting this place to be the place where he would meet his demise,{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|p=81}} and likewise, the Saint also knew this to be the madman's resting place.{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|p=143}} As Suibhne attended Moling's [[vespers]], the priest instructed a parish woman employed as his cook to provide the madman with a meal ([[Collation (meal)\|collation]]), in the form of daily milk. She did so by emptying milk into a hole she made with her foot in the cow dung. However, her husband (Moling's herder) believed malicious hearsay about the two having a tryst, and in a fit of jealousy, thrust a spear into Suibhne while he was drinking from the hole. Thus Suibhne died in the manner prescribed by Ronan, but received his sacrament from Moling, "as [[Éraic\|eric]]".{{sfnp\|O'Keeffe\|1913\|pp=143–147}}<ref>{{Harvnb\|Dillon\|1948\|pp=98–100}}</ref> ==Literary style== The poetry in the story of Suibhne is rich and accomplished, and the story itself of the mad and exiled king who composes verse as he travels has held the imagination of poets ~~through~~since ~~to the twentieth century~~then. At every stop in his flight, Suibhne pauses to give a poem on the location and his plight, and his descriptions of the countryside and nature, as well as his [[pathos]], are central to the development of the text. {{Harvtxt\|Ó Béarra (\|2014)}} includes a detailed analysis of some of the poetry.<ref>{{cite web\| url = https://vanhamel.nl/codecs/%C3%93_B%C3%A9arra_2014a\| title = Ó Béarra, F., "Buile Shuibhne: vox insaniae from medieval Ireland", in Mental health, spirituality, and religion in the middle ages and early modern age (2014) • CODECS: Online Database and e-Resources for Celtic Studies}}</ref> ==Translations and ~~adaptions~~adaptations== Many poets have invoked Suibhne (most often under the English version of his name, Sweeney) – most notably ~~[[T. S. Eliot]] and~~in [[Seamus Heaney]]~~. Heaney published a~~'s translation of the work into English, which he entitled ''[[Sweeney Astray~~]]''. Eliot made Sweeney the central figure in his verse drama ''[[Sweeney Agonistes~~]]''. The author [[Flann O'Brien]] incorporated much of the story of ''Buile Shuibhne'' into his [[comic novel]] ''[[At Swim-Two-Birds]]'', whose title is the English translation of the place name ~~"Snamh~~'Snámh dadá ~~en"~~én' in the tale.{{sfnp\|Mackillop\|1998\|loc="Buile Shuibhne", p. 63–4}} Another version from the Irish text, titled ''[[The Poems of Sweeny, Peregrine]]'', was published by the Irish poet [[Trevor Joyce]].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.soundeye.org/trevorjoyce\|title=The Poems of Sweeny, Peregrine\|~~author~~first=Trevor \|last=Joyce\|access-date=17 November 2011\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602185632/http://soundeye.org/trevorjoyce/\|archive-date=2 June 2009}}</ref> A modern Irish version of Buile Shuibhne was published in 2010 by Seán Ó Sé.{{sfnp\|Ó Sé\|2010}} This was the first time that the full original text was made available in modern Irish. Sweeney also appears as a character in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s novel ''[[American Gods]]'' and is portrayed by [[Pablo Schreiber]] in its [[American Gods (TV series)\|TV adaptation]].<ref name="Schreiber">{{cite web\|url=https://deadline.com/2016/05/pablo-schreiber-cast-mad-sweeney-american-gods-starz-thumper-1201752004/\|title=Pablo Schreiber To Play Mad Sweeney In 'American Gods' Starz Series, Joins Indie 'Thumper'\|work=Deadline\|first=Nellie\|last=Andreeva\|date=May 11, 2016\|access-date=May 12, 2016}}</ref> In the TV adaptation, itIbis, issaying ~~revealed~~that "stories are truer than the truth," suggests that Sweeney ~~was~~is ~~actually~~also [[Lugh]], the Irish multi-skilled god of lightning, crafts and culture. However, Sweeney remembers his past as Buile Shuibhne, and denies that he is Lugh. Although, he begrudgingly remembers episodes of Lugh's life such as the slaying of One-Eyed [[Balor]] of the [[Fomorians]]<ref>{{Cite episode \|title=Treasure of the Sun \|episode-link=American_Gods_(season_2) \|series=American Gods \|series-link=American_Gods_(TV_series) \|network=Starz \|season=2 \|number=7 \|language=en}}</ref> A contemporary version of the legend by poet [[Patricia Monaghan]] explores Sweeney as an archetype of the warrior suffering from "[[Da Costa's syndrome\|Soldier's Heart]]".<ref>[http://www.fourthorder.org/id37.htm Mad Sweeney<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109142035/http://www.fourthorder.org/id37.htm \|date=January 9, 2006 }}</ref> [[W. D. Snodgrass]] introduces his poem ''Heart's Needle''<ref>[http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15302 Heart's Needle] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919122651/http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15302 \|date=2006-09-19 }}</ref> with a reference to ''The Madness of Suibhne''. Irish poet and playwright [[Paula Meehan]] loosely based her 1997 drama ''Mrs. Sweeney'' on the Sweeney legend. Set in an inner-city Dublin flat complex called The Maria Goretti Mansions (~~a metaphor for~~recalling the ~~notorious~~factual [[Fatima Mansions ~~Flats~~(housing)\|Fatima ~~in Dublin~~Mansions]]), the play examines what life must have been like for Sweeney's wife; as Meehan states, "I wondered what it must have been like to be his woman."<ref>Meehan, Paula, Author's Note for 'Mrs Sweeny', in "Rough Magic: First Plays" (Dublin: New Island Books, 1998), p. 463.</ref> The play charts the trials and tribulations of Lil Sweeney's life in the Maria Goretti flats as she deals with crime, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, and tries to come to terms with the premature death of her daughter Chrisse, a heroin addict who died a year before the action starts from an AIDS related illness. Lil's husband, Sweeney, is a pigeon fancier who, upon discovering that all his pigeons have been killed, retreats into a bird-like state. Irish composer [[Frank Corcoran]] wrote a series of works between 1996 and 2003 around the tale. This includes the choral work ''Buile Suibhne / Mad Sweeney'' (1996, after Heaney), the electro-acoustic composition ''Sweeney's Vision'' (1997), and the chamber work ''Sweeney's Smithereens'' (2000). French writer [[Pierre Michon]] retells the story of Suibhne's levity in his 1997 collection ''Mythologies d'hiver''. In the 1999 [[young adult literature\|young adult]] [[fantasy fiction\|fantasy]] novel ''[[The Stones Are Hatching]]'' by [[Geraldine McCaughrean]], Mad Sweeney is portrayed as having been traumatised by his experience fighting in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-028766-5\|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]\|title=The Stones Are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean\|date=May 2000\|access-date=24 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/geraldine-mccaughrean/the-stones-are-hatching\|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]\|title=The Stones Are Hatching\|date=15 May 2000\|access-date=24 January 2021}}</ref> Noah Mosley composed the opera ''Mad King Suibhne'' in 2017 produced by Bury Court Opera with a libretto by [[Ivo Mosley]] and it was also performed at [[Messum's]] barn, Wiltshire. <ref>{{cite web\|title=Messums Wiltshire\|url=https://messumswiltshire.com/performance-mad-king-suibhne\|date=November 2017\|access-date=21 June 2019\|archive-date=17 August 2020\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817125352/https://messumswiltshire.com/performance-mad-king-suibhne/\|url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news\|work=Salisbury Journal\|title=Mad Kind Suibhne opera at Messums Wiltshire\|date=10 November 2017\|last1=Griffin\|first1=Katy\|url=https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/entertainments/15654087.mad-king-suibhne-opera-at-messums-wiltshire-in-tisbury}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web\|work=Brian Dickie.com\|title=Mad King and Marnie\|url=https://www.briandickie.com/my_weblog/2017/11/mad-king-and-marnie.html}}</ref> ==See also== [[Cycle of the Kings]], a wider grouping of contemporary narratives [[Magheralin]], a present-day village at the site of the church of Ronan Finn [[Woodwose]] ==Notes== Line 71 ⟶ 75: {{citation\|last=O'Keeffe \|first=James G. \|title=Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne). Being the Adventures of Suibhne Geilt. A Middle-Irish Romance \|place=London \|publisher=D. Nutt\|year=1913 \|series=Irish Texts Society \|volume=XII \|url=https://archive.org/stream/builesuibhnethef12okee#page/n7/mode/2up\|pages=198pp\|no-pp=yes\|via=Internet Archive}} {{citation\|last=O'Keeffe \|first=James G. \|title=Buile Shuibhne \|place=Dublin\|publisher=Stationery Office\|year=1931\|series=Medieval and Modern Irish Series \|volume=I \|url=http://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/pageturner.cfm?id=76545982\|pages=110pp\|no-pp=yes}} {{citation\|last=Ó Sé \|first=Seán \|title=Buile Shuibhne (modern Irish version) \|place=Dublin\|publisher=Coiscéim \|year=2010 \| language = gaIrish\|pages=109pp\|no-pp=yes}} {{cite encyclopedia\|last=Frykenberg \|first=Brian \|title=Wild Man in Celtic Legend \|editor-last=Koch \|editor-first=John T. \|editor-link=John T. Koch \|encyclopedia=Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia \|volume=1 \|publisher=ABC-CLIO \|year=2006 \|pages=1796–99 }} {{cite encyclopedia\|last=Mackillop \|first=James\|article=Buile Shuibhne \|encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology \|year=1998\|isbn=9780198691570\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUPXAAAAMAAJ}} *{{cite book\| last = Ó Béarra \| first = Feargal \| chapter = Buile Shuibhne: vox insaniae from medieval Ireland\| editor-last = Classen \| editor-first = Albrecht \| title = Mental health, spirituality, and religion in the middle ages and early modern age \| work = Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture \| number = 15 \| publisher = De Gruyter\| year = 2014~~\| ref = {{harvid\|Ó Béarra\|2014}}~~ \| pages= 242–289 }} ==External links== Line 81 ⟶ 85: {{Irish poetry}} ~~{{DEFAULTSORT:Buile Shuibhne}}~~ [[Category:Irish poems]] [[Category:Early Irish literature]] [[Category:Irish-language literature]] [[Category:~~Irish~~Texts ~~texts~~in Irish]] [[Category:Cycles of the Kings]] [[Category:Epic poems]] ~~[[Category:Medieval literature]]~~ [[Category:Irish books]]