Editing Niamh (mythology) (section)

== Modern text ==
The only Irish text preserved from the past which contains the story of Oisín and Niamh in Tír na nÓg is the poem ''Laoi''[''ḋ''] ''Oisín A''[''i'']''r Ṫír Na N-Óg'' "The Lay of Oisin in the Land of the Youth", composed around 1750 and attributed to [[Mícheál Coimín]] (Michael Comyn, 1676–1760).{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|[[Dáithí Ó hÓgáin]] is critical that {{harvp|Mackillop|1986|p=32}} is oblivious to other pieces of literature that allude to Niamh, but Ó hÓgáin does not specify which works he meant.<ref name=o-hogain/>}}<ref name=mackillop-fionn/><ref name=rolleston/> The poem may have been based on lost traditional material,<ref name=mackillop-fionn/><ref name=shaw/> although the opposite may be true, and the poet may have largely invented the story working from very basic hints about Oisin and [[Caílte mac Rónáin|Caílte]]'s journeys to the fairy mounds (''[[sídhe]]''), as described in the ''[[Acallam na Senórach]]''.{{Efn|[[Alan Bruford]] says he himself is willing to accept this idea, but notes that Gerard Murphy would have disagreed with him.}}<ref name=bruford/> It has even been suggested that the folktale the poet borrowed from may not necessarily be Irish, since foreign tales of the same theme are numerous and widespread.<ref name=o-duilearga/>

The story of Oisín's disappearance to Niamh's fairyland is regarded as one of several tales told to explain why Oisín was not killed in the [[Battle of Gabhra]] in which the Fianna were annihilated, and how he lived to tell his tale many centuries later.<ref name=mackillop-fionn/><ref>{{harvp|Ó Briain|1999|p=234}}: "explanation of Oisin's longevity".</ref>