Over the years, I’ve had many people ask whether the woman warrior Liath Luachra was a real person, that’s to say whether she was based on a ‘real’ character from ‘Irish mythology’ or not. I figured I’d explain that today.
Liath Luachra – the woman warrior – originated as a character from one of my book series – The Fionn mac Cumhaill Series (Fionn mac Cumhaill is a famous character from some very ancient Irish stories). Over the course of those initial books however, the strength of the Liath Luachra character meant she tended to dominate the story. As a result, I ended up giving her a series of her own – The Irish Woman Warrior Series.
In some regards, this series proved even more popular than the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series. I regularly receive far more emails from readers demanding the next Liath Luachra book than I do for my other works. Additionally, in 2020, there was a lot of online activity on the character as three of the existing novels had been adapted for a potential television series by Graisland Entertainment (sadly, the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic meant it didn’t proceed to the green light).
So what are the actual facts!
The truth is there really isn’t much information available on the original source of the character, Liath Luachra. In total, there are there are two recorded references to a ‘Liath Luachra’ personage in Irish-related ‘mythology’. The first reference involves a male figure who served as treasurer to Na Fianna. The second relates to an individual whose gender is never actually defined but who was (in a very vague way) described as one of Fionn mac Cumhaill’s childhood guardians.
The books I’ve been writing for the last nine years or so, use the latter portrayal of ‘Liath Luachra’ (adapted as a female) but really, all we really know about this character is what we’re told in the 12th century text Macgnímartha Finn (the Boyhood Deeds of Fionn) and even that’s pretty sparse. The relevant part of that text reads as follows:
“Cumall left his wife Muirne pregnant. And she brought forth a son, to whom the name of Demne was given. Fiacal mac Conchinn, and Bodball the druidess, and the Gray one of Luachar came to Muirne, and carried away the boy, for his mother durst not let him be with her. Muirne afterwards slept with Gleor Red-hand, king of the Lamraige, whence the saying, “Finn, son of Gleor.” Bodball, however, and the Gray one, and the boy with them, went into the forest of Sliab Bladma. There the boy was secretly reared.“
Hardly much to go on but, to be honest, from a writer’s perspective that’s absolutely fine. The text provides the skeleton of a story and a basic outline of a character but there’s plenty of room to have fun and to flesh out the story as you see fit.
Basically the name ‘Liath Luachra’ means the ‘Grey One of Luachair’. Why she was known as ‘The Grey One’ – it’s impossible to tell. The text collates oral narratives that were in existence well before the story was ever written down. It’s possible the character was meant to be an old woman (i.e. grey-haired). Another possibility was that she had a ‘grey’ personality or simply dressed in grey. The possibility I introduce in Liath Luachra: The Grey One is very much my own.
‘Luachair’, meanwhile, is an Irish word that means ‘rushes’ (i.e. the reed plants) but could also mean ‘a place of rushes’. There was a Luachair in West Kerry mentioned in many of the early texts (Luachair Deaghaidh – Sliabh Luachra) but, of course, it’s impossible to tell if that was where the author of Macgnímartha Finn was referring to.
Even up to a few years ago, if you’d searched for the term ‘Liath Luachra’ online, you’d have found absolutely no references. Nowadays however, despite the low key, historically and culturally accurate approach I use for my books, their popularity has meant you’ll find plenty such references. Amongst them, however, are numerous posts by ‘mythology authorities’ claiming that Liath Luachra was not only a famous female warrior (he/she wasn’t, that was a complete invention on my part) but also had the first homosexual relationship recorded in Irish mythology (Untrue. In the fictional books I write, she’s a bisexual character but, again, that’s a complete fabrication).
When it comes to ‘Irish mythology’, you really have to take anything on the internet (unless its from a reputable university etc.) with a huge grain of salt – particularly when it’s sourced from people who are not of the culture from which the mythology is sourced. I don’t believe people add these mistakes intentionally but sometimes they’re too lazy to do the research or they simply get the wrong end of the stick.
Wikipedia – used by many entities as a source of cheap (often inaccurate) information – is probably the main culprit in the spread of this misinformation. If you look at the article on ‘Liath Luachra’ on that site you’ll immediately see whoever the author was, he/she unanimously decided the character was a woman warrior. That same text is then copied and reproduced by commercial entities throughout the internet. With the advent of artificial intelligence (which, basically, uses data already available on the web, no matter how inaccurate), those mistakes are likely to increase.
I must admit, I sit here completely bemused at times, by how my own works have contributed to the ‘mythology’ of mythology.
