Celtic Voyages and the Round Table
Irish voyage tales, Welsh poetry and the Arthurian romances send heroes and saints to sea in coracles, curraghs and enchanted ships.
This chapter of Sacred Ships holds 9 ships. For each one we give the source, what happens, and only what the text itself says about the vessel. See all 102 ships on one page.
Subject to interpretation, Marea can build any of these ships as a scale model, with the maximum detail the scale permits. We build her as the text describes her: the timber, the oars, the sails. Seventeen of these texts even give her size or her crew.
This database was put together by Ai Refloat™, Marea’s own artificial intelligence, from published translations of the texts and from museum and university sources. Ai Refloat is still young & like any teenager, it can be a little volatile and unpredictable at times, but above all, it is learning fast. So this list may well contain mistakes and we welcome the input of everyone who knows these texts and traditions better than we do.
Have you spotted a mistake? Tell us which ship and which text, and we will amend it accordingly. Tell us here
The ships
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Irish
Scuab Tuinne, the Wave Sweeper Raft or coracle
Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann)
Tradition Irish
The boat of the sea god Manannán mac Lir, on loan to Lugh. Lugh lends it to the sons of Tuireann for their quest, and they direct it to the Garden of the Hesperides and sail swiftly away with the spoil.
The vessel A boat that sails wherever its passengers direct it, though even the Wave Sweeper could not reach the Island of Fianchuivé beneath the sea.
Sources Wikipedia: Manannán · sacred-texts.com
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Irish
The Coracles of Bran Raft or coracle
Immram Brain (The Voyage of Bran), late 7th or early 8th century
Tradition Irish
A woman with a silver branch sends Bran to sea. Manannán tells them the water they row over is for him a flowery plain. At the Land of Women a year passes for them and many years in Ireland; on return Nechtán leaps ashore and turns to ashes.
The vessel Coracles rowed by three companies of nine men, 27 in all. The queen draws their boat ashore with a magic ball of yarn.
Sources Wikipedia: Voyage of Bran
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Irish
The Curragh of Máel Dúin Raft or coracle
Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin (Lebor na hUidre; Yellow Book of Lecan)
Tradition Irish
Máel Dúin sails to avenge his father. A druid limits the crew, but three foster brothers join anyway and upset the voyage. After more than thirty wondrous islands they reach the murderers' island and all make peace.
The vessel A curragh, the Irish hide boat. The pages checked do not describe how it was built.
Sources Wikipedia
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Irish
The Currach of the Uí Chorra Raft or coracle
Immram Curaig Ua Corra
Tradition Irish
Three brothers set out into the Atlantic in penance, travel from island to island, and settle on the coast of Iberia, where they build a church.
The vessel A small currach carrying nine: the three brothers, a bishop, a priest, a deacon, a musician and the craftsman who built it.
Sources Wikipedia
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Irish Christian legend
The Currach of Saint Brendan Raft or coracle
Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis, c. AD 900
Tradition Irish Christian legend
Brendan sails with sixteen monks to seek the Promised Land of the Saints. The best known episode is a landing on an island that turns out to be a sea monster, Jasconius. Tim Severin later sailed a leather boat built to this description from Ireland to the New World.
The vessel Wattle covered with hides tanned in oak bark and softened with butter, with tar on the seams.
Sources Wikipedia: Saint Brendan · Currach
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Welsh, Arthurian
Prydwen Voyaging ship
Preiddeu Annwfn (Book of Taliesin); Culhwch and Olwen
Tradition Welsh, Arthurian
Arthur sails in Prydwen to Annwn, the otherworld, to rescue a prisoner and take the pearl rimmed cauldron. Three boatloads set out and only seven men return. In Culhwch and Olwen Arthur's men sail it to Ireland.
The vessel Arthur's ship, the name taken to mean “fair face”. Geoffrey of Monmouth later gave the name to Arthur's shield.
Sources Wikipedia: Prydwen · Preiddeu Annwfn
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Arthurian
The Ship to the Isle of Apples Voyaging ship
Geoffrey of Monmouth, Vita Merlini, 1150 or 1151
Tradition Arthurian
Taliesin tells Merlin of the island of apples where Morgen tends the wounded Arthur, reached by sea.
The vessel A ship steered by Barinthus, who has been identified with the Barrintus who told Saint Brendan of a wonderful island.
Sources Wikipedia: Vita Merlini
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Arthurian
The Ship of Solomon Voyaging ship
The Grail quest (Queste del Saint Graal tradition)
Tradition Arthurian
Perceval's sister leads Galahad, Bors and Perceval aboard the magical Ship of Solomon, which carries them to the holy city of Sarras.
The vessel A magical ship; Edwin Austin Abbey's mural shows three spindles on the stern for the Tree of Life.
Sources Wikipedia: Perceval's sister · Digital Commonwealth
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
Celtic Voyages and the Round Table · Arthurian, Cornish and Breton
Tristan's Ship of White and Black Sails Voyaging ship
Tristan, version of Thomas of Britain
Tradition Arthurian, Cornish and Breton
Dying, Tristan asks for white sails if Iseult is aboard and black if not. His jealous wife lies about the colour, and he dies of grief.
The vessel A ship whose sails signal from afar whether Iseult is aboard, an echo of the Theseus story.
Sources Wikipedia
Illustration: an AI interpretation of the text, to come.
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