I’m glad you like it. If you want to have another few happy mornings reading the Táin Bó Cúailnge, in Irish Gaelic and English translation, then be my guest (but the translation is over a century old so a bit archaic):
The language used here is not surprising. There are two ways in which these stories have been preserved. The first and foremost is the oral tradition which has persisted for over 2000 years. The second is the written medieval manuscripts, transcriptions of these folktales by Catholic monks. So their history is far different from for instance the Pali texts and although these stories are similar in broad lines, there are many variations and differences in details. Moreover, these monks also gave their own interpretations to these texts and “christianised” them. For instance, in one manuscript it says that Macha’s twins were stillborn, in another that they were born safely with the help of God. The latter statement is of course ridiculous and clearly the scribe’s own invention; the Celts did not believe in a creator-God and Macha herself was one of the Goddesses of the land.
The oral traditions have passed these stories on from parents to children in their own words. This went on for a long period of time before the medieval monks started writing them down so already there is a large variation, but the oral traditions have continued separate from the written texts after that too.
The fact that the word “rebirth” appears here makes me suspect that this is a text from oral tradition only. We have no textual evidence in any of the medieval transcriptions about the notion of rebirth among the Celts. We only have what the Romans recorded about it. Most scholars seem to attribute this lack to the freedom of the Catholic scribes, for whom the notion of rebirth among men (other than supernatural beings) would be blasphemous.
The belief in rebirth itself however is something that has survived in the oral tradition and some studies have been done in various Celtic countries to that extend. But of course it being a pagan belief, especially in Catholic Ireland, these things kept very much underground.
In any case, some of the manuscripts have been digitized and some transcriptions and translations of this legend "Ces Noínden Ulad" can be found here:
(the links to the manuscripts don’t work but you have to find collection from the dropdown)
In regards to their history, we cannot draw many definite conclusions from these texts except from the broad lines in which they are similar. I therefore think it is fairly safe to say that there was a far greater level of equality between men and women in pre-Roman times than thereafter, but I find it going a bit too far to conclude that it was a matriarchal society. After all, there have been strong women throughout history; England has seen a number of very powerful Queens on the throne while the society at large was still patriarchal.
I believe that Queen Medb probably existed as an actual historical character, but Macha was a Goddess and therefore belongs in the realm of the spiritual. If the sisters Aoife and Sgathaich were actual people or not is open for debate. I can equally see the arguments for and against. They could just as well have been nature-fays; the message being clear: don’t try to trick nature because you will regret it in the end, a message we could still learn from today.
As for my own story, I can see many parallels with the story of Aoife. I also took up martial arts and I too was defeated, not in a fight but tricked through my own gullibility (drugged with Datura). In some way I also took my revenge by forgiving. Rape is not about sex but about power and by forgiving I took that power back onto myself, like Aoife took the life she had given back from the man who tricked her. Besides, in the end nature always comes with it’s own revenge through the laws of Kamma and I’ve seen this very clearly when I went back to confront him. In such a way, stories of Aoife and other women can be seen as the embodiment of Kamma as a feminine force that you can never double-cross. Of course my story has nothing to do with the tales of Aiofe, but I can dream, and ultimately, that is where those myths come from.