1-Apr-09 2:00 PM CST

Irish Stories Part I

IRISH STORIES

It is not all that long ago since Ireland was a complete stranger to technology. Many of our parents and grandparents can remember when electricity was introduced to the country in 1927, or when the first television broadcasts were made in the early 1950s. These important events were to herald great changes in Irish life, and a decline of many of the pastimes and traditions that had been a feature of Irish society for centuries.

One such tradition was that of storytelling – a prime source of entertainment in rural Irish society. Entire communities would gather together in a particular house and pass long winter nights reciting and sharing songs and stories that had been passed on orally from generation to generation. Many of these stories served as records of local history, committing to community memory important events of the past. Others were tales of superstition, of banshees and fairies and other mystical beings from the Otherworld. Many stories featured the same characters, forming an epic series, with each story giving an account of a particular episode or adventure in that character’s life. One of the most important of these series is the Fenian cycle, a collection of stories detailing the life and trials of Finn Mac Cool and his band of warriors, an elite army known as the Fianna, whose job it was to protect the lands of Ireland.

The stories of the Fenian cycle had to be exciting in order to capture the attention and imagination of the Irish fireside audiences. They also had to be easy to remember, as they relied only on human memory for their preservation.

The following features can therefore be found in the stories:

1. All the stories center around Finn Mac Cool, his son Oisín and grandson Oscar, and the various other members of the Fianna, their friends and enemies.

2. Most stories involve a battle or conflict of some sort.

3. All the stories contain highly exaggerated descriptions of the characters, their skills and talents, and their various adventures. These are sometimes so far-fetched as to be almost absurd.

4. Almost all the stories involve druids, magic spells and curses.

5. Superstitions often feature in the stories.

6. Common themes are: bravery, loyalty, revenge and trickery.

7. The numbers 3 and 7 appear very frequently in the stories.

The following section contains three stories from the Fenian cycle.

The Salmon of Knowledge

Long, long ago in Ireland, there lived a special band of warriors, known as the Fianna. This was no ordinary army, however. The warriors of the Fianna were the strongest, swiftest, most courageous and noble men in all of Ireland, and it was their job to protect the lands of their people and their king.

The leader of the Fianna was a man called Cool. Cool’s enemies were very jealous of him and challenged him to a battle. Cool’s wife, Muireann, could see into the future, and she warned Cool that he was in danger, but Cool was not afraid and accepted the challenge. Little did he know that his enemies had the help of an evil druid and they used magic to confuse Cool and his men. Although he was a great warrior, Cool’s strength was no match for the powerful druid, and he was lost in the battle.

Shortly afterwards, Muireann gave birth to a beautiful son. Fearing for the safety of her newborn child, she fled to the mountains of Sliabh Bloom, and there, deep in the forest, she left her young son in the care of two female warriors to protect him and keep him from harm.

The young boy grew up to be strong and brave, just like his father. His hair was as white as snow, and so he became known as Finn, which means “Fair One.” Finn was so swift of feet that he could out-run any animal of the forest. The women trained him to be a skillful warrior and hunter, and taught him to be courageous, honest and courteous to others. When he had reached a certain age, the women knew that they had no more to teach young Finn, and so they sent him to a wise old man, called Finnegas, to learn the art of poetry.

Finnegas, a great druid and poet, lived on the banks of the river Boyne. There he had spent much of his life, fishing each day from dawn to dusk, in the hope of catching a magical fish that swam in the deep, dark waters of the river. This fish was called the Salmon of Knowledge and it was well known that whoever would catch this fish and eat it would gain all the wisdom and knowledge of the world.

Finn spent a full year with Finnegas and he learned many wonderful things. The old man taught him how to catch, prepare and cook fish. He taught him about poetry and art. And of course, he taught him about the magical powers of the Salmon of Knowledge.

One evening, just as the sun was going down, Finn heard an almighty shout coming from the riverbank, where Finnegas had been fishing. Finn knew that the old man was always calm and even-tempered in his manner, and he realized immediately what had happened. He ran to the river bank as fast as his legs could carry him, and saw Finnegas standing there before him, holding the magical fish in his hands. It was the most magnificent fish that Finn had ever seen, with scales of glistening gold, ruby red and royal blue. The old man, exhausted from his long day on the river bank gave the fish to the boy to cook, and went to bed to rest.

Finn had been preparing for this task for a full year and quickly went to work, preparing, cleaning and cooking the fish with great care over the glow of the campfire. All the time, his master’s words of warning rang in his ears: “You must not allow even the slightest taste of the fish to pass your lips!,” he had told the boy, over and over. As the fish was cooking a small bubble rose on its skin, and Finn, wanting it to be cooked just perfectly, reached out and burst it with his thumb. The fire was scorching hot and a burning pain shot through his hand immediately. Without thinking, the boy put his thumb straight into his mouth to ease the pain.

Just then, Finnegas returned from his rest and looked at the boy. There was something different about him. His cheeks were redder and his eyes were brighter than ever before, and Finnegas knew immediately what had happened. Finn had received the wisdom of the Salmon of Knowledge.

“I have no more to teach you, my son,” he said sadly. “Go now to Tara, and take your father’s place as the leader of the Fianna,” he said, as he turned and walked back to the blackness of the forest, sparks dancing in the fire behind him.

From that day on, whenever Finn was faced with a difficulty, he would simply put his thumb in his mouth and he would have the solution to every problem and the answer to every question.