PREFACE

In attempting to trace the origin of the Triad Triad: a group of three related things, often expressed as a proverb or list as a literary form among the Irish, one must remember that it is just one of several similar list-like sayings common in Irish literature. For instance, the collection printed here contains three duads duad: a pair or group of two (items 124, 133, and 134), seven tetrads tetrad: a group of four (items 223, 230, 234, 244, 248, 251, and 252), and one heptad heptad: a group of seven (item 235). An entire Irish law book is written in the form of heptads;¹ while triads, tetrads, and other groupings appear throughout every part of the Laws.² These organized arrangements were, of course, a great help for memorization.

If the Triad were the only such form, one might reasonably consider the idea that it originated from the influence of the doctrine of the Trinity the Christian belief in one God in three persons on the Celtic imagination. It has often been noted that this doctrine led to many unique features in Irish folklore, literature, and art. I would also not deny that the sacred nature of the number three, combined with the fact that these are easier to write, may have contributed to the popularity of the Triad. It is certainly the most common of the various numerical sayings and the only one that has survived to the present day.

Regardless, I believe the model for Irish triads, tetrads, pentads pentad: a group of five, and others should be sought in the list-like sayings—numerical proverbs original German: Zahlensprüche—found in Hebrew poetry across several books of the Old Testament. I am grateful to my friend, Reverend Carl Grüneisen, for the following list of these sayings, which I quote from the Vulgate Vulgate: the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible version.

¹ See Ancient Laws of Ireland, volume 5, pages 118–373.
² For example, in the first volume of the Laws, we find duads on page 228, line 15 and page 294, line 27; triads on page 50, lines 9 and 27, page 230, line 4, page 264, line 20, and page 288, line 28; tetrads on page 40, line 21, page 54, line 7, page 64, line 1, page 240, line 24, page 256, lines 4 and following, page 272, line 25, and page 274, line 3 and following; pentads on page 36, line 21, page 50, line 32, page 90, line 29, and page 102, line 6; hexads hexad: a group of six on page 68, line 11 and page 248, line 7; a heptad on page 134, line 9; and an ennead ennead: a group of nine on page 16, line 20.