It all begins with the chance finding of an old cookbook in a secondhand bookshop in Blackrock. I wandered in with only the intention of sheltering from the rain but “The Tailteann Cookery Book” seemed to beckon me from a tabletop weighed down with this and other dusty old volumes. It wasnt so much the dull pea green cover ,that had long since lost its dust jacked, but more so the word Tailteann that inspired investigation. Intrigued and wanting to know more I purchased the old book and once home poured over the pages of recipes. This was a second edition published and printed by the Dublin company WM. Warren and Son in 1935 and is as removed from the glossy cookbooks of today as it could possibly be. Instead this is a practical resource and covers not just recipes for food but also sections on cleaning equipment and a wonderful section called ‘Invalid Cookery’. Somewhat like Maura Lavertys Full and Plenty but preceeding it by several decades. But none of this brought me any closer to the word Tailteann. Much googling later and I arrive at the Tailteann games which were ancient games similar to the Olympic games but held in Ireland and their name a derivative of Tailteau a woman from Irish mythology. She was the stepmother of Lugh of the long arm and the wife of the last Fir Bolg king of Ireland. When the Tuath De Dannan took control of the country they tasked Tailteau with clearing the country of forests and vegetation to make way for agriculture. This labour eventually and ensuing exhaustion led eventually to her death her son Lugh (whome the aincent festival of Lughnasa is named in honour) vowed to hold annual games in her memory on the sight where she lay dead.
From this chance finding of a book came the notion of celebrating this forgotten fragment of history and this character. Taking this as the main theme I decided to engage with the Celtic calendar and the veneration of the changing seasons and they're associated festivals Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtine and Lunassa. Each one acknowledged by a gathering centred around a meal composed of dishes suitably attuned with the season and featuring components foraged directly from the immediate neighbourhood.