Bruiden Explained

In Gaelic Ireland, a bruiden pronounced as //bruiðʲenʲ// was a building offering shelter, drink and food, often translated as "hostel", "banqueting hall" or "inn."^[1]

A description in The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig (c. AD 800) describes one bruiden: "There were seven doors in each hall, seven roads through it, and seven fireplaces therein. There were seven cauldrons, with an ox and a salted pig in each. The person who came that way would thrust the fleshfork into the cauldron, and whatever he obtained with the first thrust he ate, and if he did not obtain anything with the first thrust he ate nothing."^[2]

The host (brugaid) was required to show "welcome to all" and "refusal to none."^[3]

List

According to The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig, there were five or six major bruidne in Ireland:

• Bruiden Dá Derga (Berga), located in the kingdom of Cualu; usually placed on the River Dodder or at Stackallen, County Meath.^{[4] [5]} Featured in the famous poem Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel)
• Bruiden Forgaill Manaich, located at Rathmooney, near to Lusk, Dublin.^{[6] [7]}
• Bruiden Dá Réo (Bruiden Mic Cecht Da Réo, Dareo, Bruiden dá Ger), located in West Bréifne (County Leitrim)
• Bruiden Dá Choca (Coga), at Breenmore Hill (Bryanmore), near Athlone ("in a district which belongs to Meave and Ailill");^{[3] [8] [9]} featured in the story of Togail Bruidne Da Chocae (The Destruction of Da Choca's Hostel)^[10]
• Bruiden Dá Thó, in Laigin, believed to lie in the south of County Carlow (possibly Ballyknockcrumpin)^{[10] [11]}

However, Fled Bricrenn (8th century) mentions the briuga Bricriu Nemthenga ("Poison-tongue").^[12]

Bruiden Blai Brugad or Bruiden Brúadaig is another, located in Ulaid, hosted by Blai.^[13] Bruiden of Moda Minadhmadadh is another.^[3]

The idea of having six bruidne may have been chosen to mirror the six "cities of refuge" in the Hebrew Bible.^[3]

Sean's Bar in Athlone is located in a building parts of which have been dated to c. AD 900, with wattle and wicker walls. Located near a crossing-point on the River Shannon, it claims to be Ireland's oldest pub and may be the site of an ancient bruiden.^[14]

See also

• Hall
• Irish pub
• Termonn

Notes and References

1. Web site: eDIL - Irish Language Dictionary. dil.ie.
2. Web site: bruiden. Oxford Reference.
3. Web site: Note 274 for The Glenmasan Manuscript. celt.ucc.ie.
4. Where was Bruiden Dá Derga?. Hamaltún, Gustamh. 1907. Ériu. 3. 36–41. 30007625.
5. Where Was Bruidhean Dá Derga?. Morris, Henry. 1935. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 5. 2. 297–312. 25513791.
6. Web site: (86) - Matheson Collection > Scéla mucce meic dathó - Early Gaelic Book Collections - National Library of Scotland. digital.nls.uk.
7. Book: Smyth, Daragh. A Guide to Irish Mythology. August 11, 1996. Irish Academic Press. 9780716526124. Google Books.
8. Web site: Anecdota Oxoniensia: Texts, Documents, and Extracts Chiefly from Manuscripts in the Bodleian and Other Oxford Libraries. Mediaeval and modern series. August 11, 1894. Clarendon Press. Google Books.
9. Web site: Part 89 of The Metrical Dindshenchas. celt.ucc.ie.
10. Web site: INDEX OF PROPER NAMES. adminstaff.vassar.edu.
11. Web site: Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History: Delivered at the Catholic University of Ireland, During the Sessions of 1855 and 1856. Eugene. O'Curry. August 11, 1878. William A. Hinch. Google Books.
12. Web site: Chapter 6.
13. Web site: Irish Sagas: Scéla Mucce Meic Da Thó names. iso.ucc.ie.
14. Book: Dorey, Martin. Take the Slow Road: Ireland: Inspirational Journeys Round Ireland by Camper Van and Motorhome. May 14, 2020. Bloomsbury Publishing. 9781844865840. Google Books.