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Ireland
in
Schools
Promoting
mutual
understanding
between the
peoples of
Britain and
Ireland through
young people
Sefton Pilot Scheme
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Finn & the Fawn
Narrative Poetry & Physical Drama
Neil Williams
AST (Drama), Maricourt Catholic High School, Maghull
‘Ireland in Schools’ Liverpool Pilot Scheme Sefton Council
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Note for teachers
Main text – Finn & the Fawn by Neil Williams
Full text
Stanza by stanza
Other texts for children about Finn
The Story of Bran – from Favourite Irish Fairy Tales by Sionbhe. Lally
The Salmon of Wisdom – from Favourite Irish Fairy Tales by Sionbhe. Lally
Finn & the Salmon of Knowledge – from The Cool MacCool, a narrative poem by Gordon Snell
Reference
About Finn 1 – his qualities
About Finn 2 – the Finn cycle
Finn’s headquarters – Hill of Allen
Map of Ireland – counties & towns
NLS Planning Sheets – pdf format
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Note for teachers
Aims
I wrote the narrative poem ‘Finn & the Fawn’ and the accompanying framework to demonstrate how Drama can be used to deliver and enrich the
National Literacy Strategy and other curriculum areas in the Creative Arts.
It was piloted with Year 5 teachers and children at St Edmund’s & St Thomas Catholic Primary School in Waterloo, Sefton, as part of the pilot
scheme being run by Sefton Council and ‘Ireland in Schools’ to develop a Creative Arts Irish pathway through the curriculum.
Finn & the Fawn
Finn MacCool is Ireland’s most famous mythical hero, the leader of a band of warriors who hunted, fought, conducted raids, lived an open-air
nomadic life and defended Ireland against invaders. The poem tells of how Finn’s wife, Sadbh, came to him in the form of a fawn and was later
spirited away by ‘the Dark Druid of the Men of Dea’. The other main characters are their son Oisín and Finn’s famous hounds, Bran and Sceolan.
These were said to be his cousins, his mother’s sister having been turned into an animal during pregnancy by magic.
Framework & method
I provided for the pilot school an overall framework for:
staging the poem as a physical theatre without stage or props, while also
fulfilling some of the key text objectives of the NLS in Year 5,
meeting the main requirements of the Drama curriculum, and
stimulating cross-curricular activities, particularly in the Creative Arts.
The framework is reproduced here in pdf format. The classroom teachers did their own more detailed planning, particularly for addressing
appropriate word and sentence level objectives in the NLS. One group of children acted as narrators, while the rest became the actors, a few
providing the main characters, the others representing the scenery and background. The narration was complemented by a wide range of Irish
music, taken from CDs, and live percussion. The teachers used the framework as the bases for a series of lessons in the Literacy Hour and
beyond which occupied some ten hours in the Spring Term, 2003. The exercise culminated in a live performance on the evening of 12 March and
was recorded on video.
Appraisal
Thanks to the teachers, Jo Horrocks and Kate Kerr Goodaker, and the children, the whole exercise was a great success in bringing alive not just
the core of the National Literacy Strategy and the Drama curriculum but also other areas of the curriculum, including Art, Geography, ICT and
Music. Moreover, it involved all the children, even those who usually avoided participation.
In future, however, I would rotate the narrators in order to give all children the opportunity to become involved in the action. The narrators, all
volunteers, looked with envy as their classmates not only enacted the poem but also formed imaginative physical feats, transforming themselves
into rivers, forests and a castle with towers, turrets and a creaking drawbridge.
I am delighted to say that the framework is being taken up by other schools, one of which has kindly provided the planning for the first of a six
week scheme of work based on Finn & the Fawn. It is reproduced here in pdf format. I should like to thank my fellow Drama AST, David Jessop
of Birkdale Primary School, for providing this scheme and for his help in putting together this presentation
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1
Let us sit near the fire
And tell a tale of old,
Of adventures and monsters,
And of heroes so bold.
So as the flames flicker,
And we watch the smoke climb,
Let us go back to County Kildare,
In Ireland, through the mists of time.
2
Our hero is a hunter,
His name, Finn MacCool.
No man was better,
He knew all the rules.
Out each day with his favourite
hounds ... Bran and Sceolan, Skiu-lin
They’d jump and they’d bound.
But Finn, he moved so quietly,
Silently following the deer.
Then, fearlessly aiming
His bow, bright and clear.
3
One day, Finn wandered far from home
Into the land of Dea; and there alone
In the green valley’s shade,
A lovely peaceful fawn
Grazing quietly,
In the light of early morn.
But what was strange
And difficult to explain,
Were the dogs,
Quiet and tame.
Indeed, these two
Jumped and frisked with the fawn,
And she did with them
In the pink light of dawn.
4
Now Finn, he saw this
And was amazed by this strange sight.
So he led the fawn home with him
In the early morning light.
5
In the distance he saw his castle
Tall and high and grand.
He saw its towers, its turrets,
Its drawbridge down on the land.
The doors creaked slowly open
And Finn went right inside
With his faithful loyal hounds
And the fawn close by his side.
6
And when inside,
What a sight to see!
The fawn he’d brought home
Had changed mysteriously.
And in its place,
In the middle of the hall
Stood a beautiful young woman
Majestic and tall.
‘My name is Sadbh,’ she said, Saive
And then explained how she
Had come under a spell, cleverly cast
By the Dark Druid of the men of Dea.
Because she had refused to marry the man
As a fawn she was forced to survive,
Hunted and chased and hounded,
Trying desperately to keep alive.
But now she was in the land of Finn
The spell had fallen apart,
And a beautiful woman had reappeared
And soon she captured Finn’s heart.
7
The wedding soon took place
The castle rang with songs and cheers.
And a future life of happiness, they hoped,
Would last throughout the years.
And Finn, so anxious about the spell
Would never leave her side,
Not even to go hunting
In the fields and forests wide.
8
But ... within a year of their marriage,
Fearsome men sailed from across the sea
Keen to rob and plunder
And destroy all of Ireland, aggressively.
The drums began to beat
A blood curdling battle cry.
War was declared in a moment!
Some men were soon to die.
And Finn, he joined the men
To keep his country free,
His beloved Ireland, he wanted safe,
And peaceful as it should rightly be.
9
But while young Finn
Was battling for his very life,
Dark forces were gathering
And moving towards his wife,
Who was soon to be a mother,
Carrying their first child,
And thinking of their future,
She gently began to smile.
10
The Dark Druid of the Men of Dea
Moved stealthily into the land of Finn,
And with his magic spells he changed himself,
Into our hero, and his evil was about to begin.
He appeared with two hounds,
Just like Sceolan and Bran,
And called out loud to Sadbh,
As part of a cunning plan.
She ran to greet her husband,
Or so she innocently thought,
Not realising, until it was too late,
And by the Druid she was caught.
And straight way she was taken
Back to the lands of Dea,
Where she became a fawn again
And was no longer free.
11
And Finn, just seven days later
Back from the war he strode,
And found his castle empty,
Deserted, and stoney cold.
No sign of Sadbh could he find
Not even a single clue,
As where she’d gone, or what went wrong,
He didn’t know what to do.
The villagers, they told him
Of how Sadbh had been lured away,
And Finn, he immediately
Began his search, both night and day,
To find his wife he loved
And for the next seven years,
He looked both far and wide
In a vale of tears.
12
Until one day, on a riverside,
In a lonely glade he found
A young boy with blond straight hair,
Sitting, alone, without a sound.
And then,
Bran and Sceolan went up and licked him,
On his face and on his hands,
And they started barking joyfully,
And the boy seemed to understand
Because he showed no fear,
And smiled and laughed so free.
And although he could not speak,
Finn realised who he could be.
He was the image of his mother, Sadbh,
Doubt of that, there was none,
And Finn, he named him Oisín, Aw-sheen
His love, his joy ... his son.
13
And after many years,
Oisín spoke like other men,
And told his father how
He remembered when
He had been brought up
And cared for by a fawn,
Until a Druid took her away,
Leaving him alone, forlorn.
14
And so, Finn and Oisín
Faced the future, side by side
One looking for a mother.
The other for his bride.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
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1
Let us sit near the fire
And tell a tale of old,
Of adventures and monsters,
And of heroes so bold.
So as the flames flicker,
And we watch the smoke climb,
Let us go back to County Kildare,
In Ireland, through the mists of time.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
2
Our hero is a hunter,
His name, Finn MacCool.
No man was better,
He knew all the rules.
Out each day with his favourite
hounds ... Bran and Sceolan,*
They’d jump and they’d bound.
But Finn, he moved so quietly,
Silently following the deer.
Then, fearlessly aiming
His bow, bright and clear.
* pronounced Skiu-lin
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
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3
One day, Finn wandered far from home
Into the land of Dea; and there alone
In the green valley’s shade,
A lovely peaceful fawn
Grazing quietly,
In the light of early morn.
But what was strange
And difficult to explain,
Were the dogs,
Quiet and tame.
Indeed, these two
Jumped and frisked with the fawn,
And she did with them
In the pink light of dawn.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
4
Now Finn, he saw this
And was amazed by this strange sight.
So he led the fawn home with him
In the early morning light.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
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5
In the distance he saw his castle
Tall and high and grand.
He saw its towers, its turrets,
Its drawbridge down on the land.
The doors creaked slowly open
And Finn went right inside
With his faithful loyal hounds
And the fawn close by his side.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
6
And when inside,
What a sight to see!
The fawn he’d brought home
Had changed mysteriously.
And in its place,
In the middle of the hall
Stood a beautiful young woman
Majestic and tall.
‘My name is Sadbh*’ she said,
And then explained how she
Had come under a spell, cleverly cast
By the Dark Druid of the men of Dea.
Because she had refused to marry the
As a fawn she was forced to survive,
Hunted and chased and hounded,
Trying desperately to keep alive.
But now she was in the land of Finn
The spell had fallen apart,
And a beautiful woman had reappeared
And soon she captured Finn’s heart.
man
* Saive
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
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7
The wedding soon took place
The castle rang with songs and cheers.
And a future life of happiness, they hoped,
Would last throughout the years.
And Finn, so anxious about the spell
Would never leave her side,
Not even to go hunting
In the fields and forests wide.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
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8
But ... within a year of their marriage,
Fearsome men sailed from across the sea
Keen to rob and plunder
And destroy all of Ireland, aggressively.
The drums began to beat
A blood curdling battle cry.
War was declared in a moment!
Some men were soon to die.
And Finn, he joined the men
To keep his country free,
His beloved Ireland, he wanted safe,
And peaceful as it should rightly be.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
9
But while young Finn
Was battling for his very life,
Dark forces were gathering
And moving towards his wife,
Who was soon to be a mother,
Carrying their first child,
And thinking of their future,
She gently began to smile.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
10
The Dark Druid of the Men of Dea
Moved stealthily into the land of Finn,
And with his magic spells he changed himself,
Into our hero, and his evil was about to begin.
He appeared with two hounds,
Just like Sceolan and Bran,
And called out loud to Sadbh,
Or so she innocently thought,
As part of a cunning plan.
Not realising, until it was too late,
She ran to greet her husband,
And by the Druid she was caught.
And straight way she was taken
Back to the lands of Dea,
Where she became a fawn again
And was no longer free.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
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11
And Finn, just seven days later
Back from the war he strode,
And found his castle empty,
Deserted, and stoney cold.
No sign of Sadbh could he find
Not even a single clue,
As where she’d gone, or what went wrong,
He didn’t know what to do.
The villagers, they told him
Of how Sadbh had been lured away,
And Finn, he immediately
Began his search, both night and day,
To find his wife he loved
And for the next seven years,
He looked both far and wide
In a vale of tears.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
MENU
12
Until one day, on a riverside,
In a lonely glade he found
A young boy with blond straight hair,
Sitting, alone, without a sound.
And then,
Bran and Sceolan went up and licked him,
On his face and on his hands,
And they started barking joyfully,
And the boy seemed to understand
Because he showed no fear,
And smiled and laughed so free.
And although he could not speak,
Finn realised who he could be.
He was the image of his mother, Sadbh,
Doubt of that, there was none,
And Finn, he named him Oisín*
* Aw-sheen
His love, his joy ... his son.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
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13
And after many years,
Oisín spoke like other men,
And told his father how
He remembered when
He had been brought up
And cared for by a fawn,
Until a Druid took her away,
Leaving him alone, forlorn.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
END
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14
And so, Finn and Oisín
Faced the future, side by side
One looking for a mother.
The other for his bride.
Williams, Finn & the Fawn
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The Story of Bran
Favourite Irish Fairy Tales by S. Lally, Poolbeg, 1-85371-777-0, pp 2-7
The younger sister of Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s [Fee-yun Mac Koo-wil] mother was very
beautiful. She married the chief of the Fianna [Fee-yunna] of Ulster but did not know
that her husband had already promised his love to a fairy woman.
When the fairy woman heard of the marriage she was jealous. She stole the new
bride away and cast a spell on her, turning her into a hound. While the enchantment
lasted, the hound gave birth to two pups.
Fionn found out what had happened and forced the fairy woman to undo her wicked
spell. However the two pups could not be changed so Fionn took them into his care.
He called them Bran and Sceolan [Skiu-lin].
They grew up to be swift and beautiful hounds. Bran was small and wise, with more
than human understanding. She was Fionn’s favourite hound. He gave her a collar of
gold to wear and led her on a silver leash.
One day, when Fionn and his men were out hunting, a fawn started up before them.
They chased it till men and dogs were tired, all except Fionn, Bran and Sceolan, who
followed the fawn into a deep valley.
Suddenly the fawn stopped and lay down. Bran and Sceolan knew at once that it was
an enchanted creature. They gently licked its face and neck. Fionn was surprised but
trusted the wisdom of his hounds and did not harm the fawn.
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He turned to go back to the castle of the Fianna and the fawn followed. As they
passed through the gates of the castle it turned into a beautiful maiden with long
golden hair.
‘My name is Sive [Saive],’ she explained. ‘The Dark Druid changed me into a deer for
refusing his love. But here in the castle of the Fianna I am free of his power.’
Fionn fell in love with Sive and she became his wife. For a whole year they were
together. Then Fionn had to go away to wage battle against an enemy of Ireland.
While he was gone, Sive watched for his return. One day she saw a cloud of mist
coming towards the castle and in the mist she thought she saw Fionn with Bran and
Sceolan at his heels.
She ran out to meet them. The mist opened. The Dark Druid, not Fionn, was there.
Sive tried to turn back but the druid struck her with a hazel rod, turning her into a fawn
once again. He set his dogs on her and they disappeared into the mist.
Fionn was heartbroken. He searched for Sive in every part of Ireland. Bran and
Sceolan were the only hounds he brought with him because he could trust them not to
harm Sive if they found her.
At the end of seven years he gave up the search. Then one morning while he was
hunting on the steep side of Benbulben, his hounds raised their voices and raced into a
valley. Fionn followed and found Bran and Sceolan driving the other hounds back from
a golden-haired boy. Fionn questioned him but the boy could not speak. ‘We will take
him home with us,’ Fionn said.
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Bran and Sceolan loved the little boy and played with him constantly. After a while he
learned to speak and told Fionn of a deer whom he loved dearly. He remembered an
evil man who would speak to the deer and go away in anger.
At last the angry man struck the deer with his hazel rod and forced her to follow him,
leaving the boy all alone in the valley where Fionn had found him.
Fionn realised that this was his son. He gave him the name Oisín [Aw-sheen] which
means little fawn.
Years passed but Fionn hoped always to find Oisín’s mother. One misty morning he
was hunting on Benbulben. Bran started forward, baying at the scent of a deer. Fionn
could not see in the mist. He was afraid that the deer was Sive and forgot that he
should trust Bran to know. To silence her, he struck her with her silver leash. At first
Bran wondered at being struck by Fionn. Then she looked sadly at him and turned
away. She ran down the mountainside to the dark lake which leads to the other world
and plunged into it. Fionn was sorry for what he had done but he never saw Bran again.
Yet still on moonlit nights Bran and Sceolan can be seen, playing among the thickets,
where the castle of the Fianna once stood. And sometimes when the mist of morning
covers Benbulben, the cry of a hound in chase echoes from its hidden peak.
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The Salmon of Wisdom
Favourite Irish Fairy Tales by S. Lally, Poolbeg, 1-85371-777-0, pp 37-40
The Fianna of Ireland were noble fighting men. Their motto was ‘Truth in our hearts,
strength in our hands, our deeds according to our word.’
No man could join the Fianna [Fee-yun] until he was able to recite twelve books of
poetry, defend himself against the spears of nine warriors, run through woods without
breaking a twig, leap over a stick the height of himself, pass under a stick as low as his
knee and take a thorn from his foot while running.
The chief of the Fianna [Fee-yunna] was Cumhall [Ko-wal], father of Fionn. Fionn was
only a small child when his father was killed in battle by the men of Clan Morna. His
mother was afraid that Clan Morna would try to kill Fionn also. She asked two wise
women to take him to a safe place and care for him.
The wise women took Fionn to a lonely dwelling deep in the woods of Slieve Bloom.
The young boy learned from them all that they knew. They taught him to swim by
throwing him into a deep pool and leaving him to make his own way out of it. To make
him learn to run swiftly they made him herd hares in a field which had no fence or
hedge.
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Fionn grew up straight and tall. At last the time came for him to leave the wise
women and go to the ancient druid, Finnéigeas [Finn-ay-gas], to learn the art of poetry.
Finnéigeas lived in a small cabin beside the river Bóinne. He had chosen that place
because it is always beside water that poetry is revealed to poets. Near to his cabin was
a deep pool overhung by the branches of the nine hazel trees of wisdom. Nuts of
wisdom fell from this tree into the pool and in that pool lived Fiontán, the salmon of
wisdom.
It was foretold that whoever first ate of this salmon would possess all the wisdom in
the world. Finnéigeas had fished for seven years, but failed to catch the salmon of
wisdom. A short time after Fionn came to him he fished for the salmon and succeeded
in catching it.
Finnéigeas was delighted. He instructed Fionn to cook the salmon but not to eat any
of it. Fionn cooked the salmon with care, turning it over and over. When it was ready
he served it to his master.
Finnéigeas saw that Fionn was changed. In his eyes shone the light of wisdom. ‘Tell
me boy, have you eaten any of this salmon?’ he asked.
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‘No master, I have not, but as I turned the salmon I burnt my thumb and put it in my
mouth.’
Finnéigeas knew then that Fionn had received the wisdom of the salmon. ‘Here,’ he
said, returning the fish to him, ‘take the salmon of wisdom and eat it since you have
tasted it first.’
Fionn ate the salmon and became possessed of all the wisdom of the world. From
that time, he had only to bite the thumb which he had burned and he could discover the
secrets of hidden magic and see into the future.
‘Now you must go away from this place for there is nothing more I can teach you,’
said Finnéigeas sadly. Fionn took leave of his teacher, and in return for his kindness he
made this poem:
How sweet and lovely is May
The blackbird whistles in the living wood
And the cuckoo is singing, singing, singing;
Small bees carry their harvest
Reaped from the flowers;
The harp of the woods plays its music
And the river rushes are whispering together.
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Finn & the Salmon of Knowledge
From The Cool MacCool – a narrative poem about Finn – by G. Snell, O’Brien Press, 0-86278-176-0
Long ago, beneath the sea,
There grew a magic hazel-tree.
Its nuts, enchanted by a spell,
Had Knowledge hidden in the shell.
The tree stood very near a well,
And there a salmon used to dwell.
He didn’t need to go to school,
For when the nuts fell in the pool
He ate them up, and said with glee:
‘I really fancy nuts for tea And thanks to all those tasty dishes
I’m now the brainiest of fishes!’
A poet also heard the rumour It put him, in the best of humour.
He’d catch the salmon in his net,
And then, what knowledge he would get!
Finegas was the poet’s name To everybody he’d proclaim:
‘I am the best and brightest bard
From Aughnacloy to Oughterard!’
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For seven years time seemed to crawl,
And still, the salmon didn’t call.
The poet got a bit depressed
Until one day he had a guest:
‘My name’ he said, ‘is Finn Mac Cool,
And I would like to go to school
And learn to be a proper poet.
If there’s a way, I’m sure you know it.’
Finegas shook him by the hand:
‘I am the finest in the land.
If poetry is your delight,
I’ll teach you how to write it right!’
And so Finn stayed and studied hard
To learn the secrets of the Bard.
One day he looked into the river
And saw a sight that made him quiver:
A silver salmon, huge and proud,
Was talking to himself out loud!
Finn listened, then began to shout:
‘That’s what I’ll write an ode about!
To find a real live talking salmon
Is like being given bread with jam on!
Perhaps I’ll join him for a swim:
I’d really learn a lot from him!’
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Finegas heard his cries of joy.
He said: ‘That Salmon’s mine, my boy!
I’ve waited seven years to meet it And now at last I’m going to eat it!
This river bank will be the venue:
Don’t write an ode, just write the menu!’
The cunning bard said: ‘Salmon dear,
From what you say, it’s very clear
That you’re the wisest fish around.’
‘If any wiser can be found,’
The salmon said, ‘Then I’m a clam!
A genius is what I am My brain’s the most enormous size.’
‘Then,’ said the Bard, ‘you get the prize!’
The salmon said, ‘A prize, no less!
What can it be?
Now let me guess.
A bowl of worms? A cup? A shield?
A holiday in Sellafleld?’
The poet said, with hungry eyes:
‘It is a Bumper Mystery Prize.
You wonder now, what can it be?
Then come up here, and you will see!’
The salmon knew the risk he took
In popping up to take a look ...
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About Finn 1 – his qualities
As a member (fénnid) of a fían and its leader, Finn was to some extent an outlaw; yet he was also a poet, diviner,
and sage, and therefore endowed with traditional and, in early Ireland, institutional attributes.
His parentage combined warrior and visionary elements. His father, Cumhall, was a leader of the Tara fían in the
service of Conn Cetchathach, High King of Ireland. His mother was Muime (or Muireann), daughter of a druid,
Tadg, who ruled over the otherworld in a fairy-mound underneath Finn’s headquarters at the Hill of Allen in Co.
Kildare.
After his father’s death in battle Finn recovered his father’s lost magical powers and was fostered. His training by
women mirrored that of Cú Chulainn. One collection, describing Finn’s first encounter with people other than his
fosterers, referred to him as the Lad of the Skins, a feral creature. His unique daring in jumping a chasm won him
the favours of Donait, a woman of the otherworld. As well as being endowed with physical courage, Finn
possessed a gift of special insight which he could summon by biting his finger.
According to one account of the origin of this gift, he sustained an injury when a fairy-woman caught his finger in
the door of the fairy-fort at Femun (Slievenamon, Co. Tipperary) while he was pursuing Cúldub, an otherworld
thief who stole the Fianna’s food. Thereafter he found himself inspired with imbas (great knowledge) whenever
he puts the damaged finger into his mouth.
In folklore the injury was caused by Finn’s burning his thumb on the Salmon of Knowledge from the Boyne, which
he was cooking for his druid teacher. By chewing his thumb to the marrow - an activity known as teinm láida
(chewing the pith) or by putting it under his déad feasa (tooth of knowledge) he can attain the state of wisdom.
This power also brings him the gift of poetry, and many poems celebrating the beauty of nature in the cycle are
ascribed to him.
Everything about Finn is associated with magic. His wife, the mother of his son, Oisín, came to him in the form of
a deer. Bran and Sceolan, his famous hounds, are said to be his cousins, his mother’s sister having been turned
into an animal during pregnancy by magic.
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About Finn 2 – the Finn cycle
The story of Finn and the fawn, Sadbh, his wife, is part of the Finn cycle (or the Ossianic cycle) of Irish myths and
legends, a body of stories centred on the exploits of the mythical hero Finn MacCool, his son Oisín (whence
‘Ossianic’), and other famous members of the fian (warrior-band) of Finn.
Collectively known as the Fianna, they hunted, fought, conducted raids, and lived an open-air nomadic life. In the
main tale of the Finn cycle, the Hunt for Diarmaid and Gráinne, Finn appears as a vindictive and jealous older man
when, grieving for his dead wife, he is promised the young Gráinne as his wife. Initially threatened by the
youthful Diarmuid, he eventually gets Grainne back by refusing to use his magical powers to save his dying rival.
Set in the third century AD, the Finn cycle is one of the four into which medieval Irish literature is divided, the
other three being mythological, Ulster (the wars between Ulster and Connaught and the exploits of Cú Chulainn)
and historical (or king).
Literary conventions reflecting society
This set of literary conventions surrounding Finn reflects a feature of early Irish society in that such bands of
warriors did live outside the structures of that society while retaining links with it. Cormac mac Airt, the legendary
King of Tara, commanded the Fianna, often requiring them to defend the country against natural and supernatural
invasions. One of the characteristics of the cycle is its frequent celebration of the beauty of nature, and birdsong,
mountain, river, and seashore are frequently evoked in sensitive and vivid language.
A recurrent theme
In folk tradition Finn is still alive and ready to help Ireland in time of need.
Associations
Finn (‘bright, ‘fair’) has been seen as a variation on Lug, a divinity of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is also associated
through his name with light and is linked to Welsh Gwynn and the Celtic origins of Vienna. He combines the world
of nature, connected with the fían, and that of culture, expressed in poetry.
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Hill
of
Allen
1
The Hill of Allen, as seen from the south,
where Finn MacCool used to have his
headquarters.
Also know as the Hill of Almhuin ‘(the Great
Neck’), it is situated four miles to the northwest of Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
It rises 676 feet in height and is surrounded
by the Bog of Allen.
Much of the Hill of Allen is forested like this
and, with the surrounding area, provided the
training ground for the band of warriors.
While a tower was being built on the top of
the hill in the middle of the nineteenth
century, giant human bones of a man and a
woman, both well over six feet tall, were
discovered. The man’s were said to be
those of Finn and both sets of bones were
re-interred in a hollow space under a rock.
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Hill
of
Allen
2
Much of the north side of the hill of Allen has been removed by quarrying, to the dismay of conservationists
and others interested in Ireland’s heritage.
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Map of Ireland – counties & towns
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