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Home , Connla, Donn, Emer, Fand, Fir Bolg, Fomorians

IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

By Mike McPhee

[Text of an address to the Sydney Unitarian Church on 22 November 2020.]

Welcome back to another instalment of , which I explained the last time was first committed to writing in the monasteries. Although many of those manuscripts have not survived and much more material was probably never even written down, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of distinct, if overlapping, cycles:

1. The – prehistorical 2. The Cycle – c. 1st Century CE 3. The Fenian Cycle – c. 3rd Century CE 4. The Historical Cycle – 5th Century CE onward

The principal element of the Mythological Cycle, known as The Book of Invasions, is a collection of poems and prose narratives depicting seven groups of invaders, only five of whom were human. What I find incredible is that the last arrivals – the Gaelic Irish – must have acquired the stories about the previous groups from the indigenous peoples whom they conquered and subsequently assimilated.

As I told you last time, the third group of humans to arrive in were led by a man named , whose expedition came from Scythia. These Nemedians won four battles against the monstrous but, after Nemed and many others died from a plague, they were subjugated by the Fomorians for four generations. Finally, they rebelled but, after some initial success, they were almost completely wiped out except for 30 survivors, some of whom went to the magical lands of the north, others to Britain (which was uninhabited at that time) and still others to Greece.

Those who went to Greece were enslaved and made to carry bags of soil and clay, for which reason they were called the , meaning ‘men of the sacks’. After 230 years, they managed to return to Ireland and fend off the Fomorians for the next 37 years. The Nemedians who went to the north became the supernaturally gifted Tuatha Dé Danann (people of the ). They lived in four island cities called Falias, Gorias, Findias and Murias, where they were instructed in various magical arts. Eventually, they returned to Ireland in 300 ships concealed by a dark mist, bringing with them the Four Treasures – one from each island. Also known as the Four Jewels, these were:

• The Stone of Destiny, that would cry out beneath any legitimate king who took the sovereignty of Ireland. • The Spear of , that rendered its bearer and his followers invincibile. • The Sword of Light, that no one could resist or escape from once it was drawn from its sheath. • The Cauldron of , that could feed an unlimited number of people.

(The Stone of Destiny still stands on the , capital of the High Kings, in Co. Meath. Lugh and the Dagda were prominent members of the Tuatha Dé Danann who later became main pagan gods of the Gaelic Irish – more about that later.)

The Tuatha were met by the Fir Bolg and both peoples realised that they were related, though the former were short, dark and hairy, with crude weapons, and the latter were tall, golden and beautiful, with advanced and brightly shining armaments. The Tuatha proposed an equal division of the island but the Fir Bolg rejected this, so they fought for four days on the Plains of Magh Tuireadh (Moytura) and the newcomers won. The Fir Bolg were given the western region of but a second battle was fought at Moytura in which the Formorians were totally vanquished by the Tuatha. The aforementioned Lugh became king and the Tuatha enjoyed 150 years of unbroken rule in their lands.

Looking now at the Tuatha who became gods and , the Dagda appears to have been the chief god, associated with fertility, agriculture, strength and wisdom.

While he lived in human form, he took part in the Second Battle of Moytura and then ruled as king for 70 or 80 years. As a god, he has a staff, club, or mace which kills with one end and brings to life with the other, the aforementioned cauldron, and a harp that can control the seasons and the weather. His wife is the Morrigan, who is mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling death or victory in battle. She incites warriors to do brave deeds in battle and can help them defeat their enemies, in which role she often appears as a crow, as we will see later. She, too, took part in the Second Battle of Moytura and her poetic chant enabled the Tuatha to drive the Formorians into the sea.

Again, while in real life, the pair had three sons and two daughters, only the latter of which became deities. Those were Áine, goddess of the summer, wealth and prosperity, and Bríd (), goddess of the spring, fertility, healing, poetry and smithcraft. The Dagda also had an affair with Bóann, goddess of the , and she gave birth to a son named . In order to hide their affair from Bóann’s husband, he used his harp to make the sun stand still for nine months; therefore, their son was conceived, gestated and born in one day.

Lastly, Manannán was the sea god, said to have a self-navigating boat, a horse that can ride over the water, a deadly strength-sapping sword and a cloak that renders people and things invisible. After the Gaelic Irish arrived and conquered the Tuatha (which I told you about last time), the latter went into the Otherworld under the ground and became the sídhe (fairy people), with Manannán as their ruler and guardian. His wife is , who often takes the form of a sea bird, flying with a flock in pairs joined together by a silver chain; she, however, flies with her sister, Lí Ban, joined by a chain of gold.

We will see some of these deities again as we proceed to the later Cycles. As I said last time, unlike the early historical tradition in which Ireland is united under High Kings, the depicts a country divided into provincial kingdoms that are often at war with each other. Another difference is that the Historical Cycle spans perhaps 1500 years, whereas the entire Ulster Cycle takes place during the reign of King of (Ulster). He married Medhbh (Meave), the princess of Connacht, but she subsequently left him and later became the queen of that region in her own right.

As I told you last time, Cú Chulainn distinguished himself even as a boy when he arrived in Conchobar’s capital, Emhain Mhaca (now City). As he grew older, he wanted to marry , the daughter of Forgall Monach, who lived in what is now Co. . Forgall was opposed to the match and suggest that Cú Chulainn should train in arms with the renowned warrior-woman, Scáthach, who lived in Dún Scáith (Fortress of Shadows) on the Isle of Skye, hoping the ordeal would be fatal. She taught him all the arts of war, along with Ferdiadh, who became his best friend and foster brother.

However, Scáthach had to face a battle with Aoife, her rival and, by one account, twin sister. Cú Chulainn joined the fray, subduing Aoife, but he spared her life on the conditions that the women cease their enmity and Aoife bear him a son. He returned from Alba (present-day Scotland) fully trained but Forgall still wouldn’t let him marry Emer, so he stormed his fortress, stole his treasure and abducted his daughter.

However, before he left Dún Scáith, Cú Chulainn gave Aoife a gold ring and told her to send their son to Emhain Mhaca when he was old enough that the ring fit his finger. However, he was not to identify himself when he arrived, so that he would stand on his own merits and never refuse combat. The boy was named , and he was trained by Scáthach in the arts of war before he came from Scotland to Ireland in a bronze boat at the age of eight. Like his father, he had superb fighting skills and the lords of Ulster were worried that more men would follow him. Various champions were sent against him and he defeated them all.

Finally, King Conchobar sent Cú Chulainn to challenge him and, when Connla still refused to identify himself, they fought in the water and the boy nearly won. Cú Chulainn then used the magic spear that Scáthach had given him and struck Connla in the stomach. He carried the boy to the shore before he died and, seeing the gold ring on his finger, realised that he had killed his own son. Cú Chulainn was grief-stricken and he regretted that day for the rest of his life, as he never had another son.

I told you last time about Cú Chulainn’s exploits in the Táin Bó Chúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), when Queen Medhbh of Connacht went to war against Ulster. Before that happened, though, he was at Muirtheimne in Co. Louth with some men who were hunting waterbirds so their wives could wear feathers on the shoulders of their gowns. Cú Chulainn became determined to kill the largest, most beautiful birds for his wife, Emer, and he brought down two that were linked by a golden chain. These, of course, were the sea goddess, Fand, and her sister, Lí Ban, and they put Cú Chulainn to sleep with a magical song.

They returned in human form and beat him with horsewhips so badly that it took him nearly a year to recover. After that time, Lí Ban, returned and asked him to come to Fand’s island, Magh Meall, to defend it against three demons (possibly surviving Formorians) that were besieging it. Cú Chulainn went there and defeated the invaders, after which he and Fand became lovers. They agreed to meet periodically in Ireland, but Emer found out about this and she arrived with a troop of women armed with knives to reclaim her husband. After some discussion, both women recognised the other’s love and were prepared to relinquish their claims, but Fand decided to return to her husband, Manannán. He used his cloak of mist to make her and Cú Chulainn forever invisible to each other, while he and Emer drank a potion that caused them to forget the entire affair.

Cú Chulainn also had an encounter with the Morrigan (goddess of war) during the Cattle Raid of Cooley while he was waging his one-man guerrilla campaign against the entire army of Connaght. She came to him in the form of a beautiful young woman and offered him her love, but he spurned her. She then revealed herself and threatened to interfere in his next fight, which she did – first in the form of an eel who tripped him in the ford where he was to confront one of Medhbh’s champions; then as a wolf who stampeded cattle across the ford; and finally as a heifer at the head of the stampede.

However, Cú Chulainn wounded her in each form and, after he defeated his opponent, she appeared to him as an old woman milking a cow, with wounds corresponding to the ones he had given her in previous forms. She offered him three drinks of mil and he blessed her with each drink, thus healing her wounds. Cú Chulainn told the Morrígan that he would not have spurned her, had he known her real identity.

Again as I told you before, the Fenian Cycle is a body of prose and verse centring on the exploits of the mythical hero, Fionn mac Chumhaill, and his warrior band, the (Guardians). The source documents date from the 7th to the 14th Centuries, though there are also some later elements.

Just to briefly recap, Fionn’ father was mac Trénmhoir, a former leader of the Fianna who was killed in battle before he was born. His birth name was Deimne (meaning ‘certainty’) and he was brought up by his father’s sister and her husband in the forest of Sliabh Bladhma, where he was taught the arts of war and hunting. He then met the poet, Finn Éces (Finnegas), near the River Boyne and studied under him.

Finnegas had spent seven years trying to catch the Salmon of Knowledge that lived in a pool of the Boyne. Eventually, he caught it and told the boy to cook it for him, but while doing so he burned his thumb and instinctively put it in his mouth. This imbued him with the salmon’s wisdom and, when Éces saw that he had gained wisdom, he let the youngster eat the whole fish and gave him the new name, Fionn (‘the fair one’), because his hair had turned prematurely white.

As he grew older, he entered the service of a number of local kings and then volunteered when the High King at Tara asked for someone to protect the capital from the attack of Áillen, the fire-breathing member of the Tuatha Dé Danann who came to wreak destruction on Tara every year, lulling its men to sleep with his music and then burning the city and its treasures. Fionn defeated Áillen with the help of a magic spear that warded off the music, after which his heritage was recognised and he was given command of the Fianna. (However, it appears that he also did service in France, as we shall see later.)

Many stories are told about Fionn being a giant of a man who physically transformed the Kingdom of Ulster. At one point, he is said to have built the Giant’s Causeway so he could cross the North Channel to Scotland and fight another giant on that side. In fact, the Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns (mostly hexagonal) resulting from an ancient volcanic fissure. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. There are identical columns on an island on the Scottish side, which may have given rise to that story. (In another version of the story, the Scottish giant destroyed the middle portion of the Causeway so Fionn couldn’t follow him.)

In a related story, the Scottish giant hurled insults at Fionn from across the Channel, provoking him to throw huge clods of earth at him. The largest chunk fell short and became the Isle of Man, while the hole he left in the ground become , the largest lake in Ireland.

I’ll close with a story that I only discovered while researching this presentation – it is from a manuscript called Cath Finntrágha (The Battle of Ventry) and it’s truly amazing! The Bay of Ventry is on the south coast of the Dingle Peninsula in Co. Kerry, which is in the southwest corner of Ireland. (As luck would have it, the Dingle is one of the three Gaeltachts; that is, areas where the is spoken by most people.)

The saga tells of a man called , who is described as ‘the king of the great world’, though his nationality is not identified. Evidently, he was the most powerful ruler in Europe and he assembled a massive army and navy to invade and conquer Ireland. He had with him forces led by the kings of France, Spain, Greece, Norway and many other countries (even India!).

King Bolcán of France had a particular interest in this campaign because, when Fionn had been his service as a young man, he had eloped with both his wife and daughter. Dáire Donn was happy to help him, not only to expand his territory but also for the distinction of killing the famous . The Fianna had sentries all along the coasts of Ireland, so Fionn was quickly alerted when the invaders landed in Ventry Bay and he brought his forces to meet them.

A mighty and protracted battle ensued that lasted for a year and a day. Fionn's son, , faced Bolcán in single combat, during which the French king lost his mind and fled the battlefield. Despite this, the greatly outnumbered Fianna were on the verge of being defeated when a young prince of Ulster arrived with a troop of hundred boys. Although the invaders killed every one of the young warriors – and the brave prince lost his life when he wouldn’t let go of his adversary until they both drowned in the sea – their arrival saved the Fianna from annihilation.

The Fianna had taken heavy casualties by then time, though they had also inflicted heavy losses on the invaders and many of their kings and leaders were killed. They sought help from the Tuatha Dé Dannan, who had initially felt that the invasion didn’t affect them. After being persuaded that many of the Fianna were related to them, they left their homes in the Otherworld led by their king, Bodhbh Dearg, his brother, Midhir (both sons of the Dagda) and Ilberach, the son of Manannán (the sea god).

Their assistance turned the tide of the battle in favour of the Fianna and Fionn, though gravely injured, first killed Ógarmach, the Amazon daughter of the king of Greece. Then he finally faced Dáire Donn, the ‘king of the great world’ in single combat and killed him. Demoralised from the loss of their king, the invaders retreated and were driven out of Ireland, never to return. According to one version of this story, Fionn died from his wounds, but the tradition is that he and some of the Fianna still sleep in a cave, waiting for three blasts of their magical hunting horn to awaken them.

The story ends on a sad note because a young Fianna warrior named Cáel had fallen in love with a beautiful Tuatha woman named Créd. They had only just been married when they heard news of the invasion, so Cáel joined his comrades at Ventry to confront the invaders and Créd helped with the sick and wounded. On the final day of battle, Cáel died while pursuing the surviving leader of the invaders and dragging him from his ship, causing them both to drown. Fionn and his companions found Cáel's body on the beach after the battle and brought it back to Créd for burial. Créd was so distraught when they put Cáel into the grave that she lay down beside him and died from her sorrow.

(I am indebted to the artist, Bob Ó Cathail, for most of these pictures. He actually lives at Ventry these days but he had an extensive career in many countries prior to that.)

On a hill named Caherard, overlooking Ventry Bay, stands a wedge tomb dating from the Bronze Age (c. 2500 – 500 BCE). Its name is Leaba an Fir Mhuimhnig (The Munsterman’s Bed) and, although it was built long before the time of the mythical battle, traditionalists prefer to regard it as the grave of one of the Fianna who was slain at the Battle of Ventry.

[For those who are reading this, I have done my best to render names and place-names in a format that people conversant with Modern Irish would be able to pronounce.]