Archive for Lore

THE LEGEND OF FIONN MAC COOL

January 21, 2008 · Filed under Fionn MacCool, Lore, Mythology

Fionn MacCool, was no ordinary giant. He was the biggest and the strongest giant in all Ireland. His voice could be heard for miles around. He was so strong that he could lift a hundred men in one of his enormous hands. Fionn lived with his wife in the hills of County Antrim. Fionn’s wife was called Oonagh.

One day a messenger came to Fionn’s castle. He had come all the way from Scotland with news for Fionn. The messenger told Fionn that a Scottish giant called Angus wanted to fight him. Angus wanted to show that he was stronger than any giant in Ireland. Fionn had never seen Angus before, but he knew that he was the biggest giant in Scotland. Fionn was not afraid.

The next day, Fionn began to build a path across the sea to Scotland. This path was called the causeway. It was made of thousands of rocks. Fionn built many miles of the causeway with his great hands. When Angus heard about Fionn’s causeway, he decided to build the Scottish end of the causeway himself. For weeks the two giants worked hard at building the causeway.

One morning Fionn was in the forest near his castle. He saw his wife coming towards him. He ran over to her.

She said to him, “I have heard that Angus is the biggest and the strongest giant in all the world. He is twice as big as you and twice as strong!” Fionn was very worried. “I cannot fight a giant that is twice my size!”

As the sun was setting, he heard a knock on the door. It was the messenger. “Angus wants to fight you tomorrow at sunrise,” he told Fionn.
“Yes, of course,” replied Fionn.

He went into his bedroom when the messenger left. He took the blankets off the bed. Fionn and Oonagh worked through the night. They cut the blankets and made giant baby clothes. Fionn put on the baby clothes and got into the giant cradle.

At sunrise the next morning, Oonagh heard a knock on the door. It was Angus. Angus asked Oonagh was Fionn there. Oonagh told him that he was gone for a walk and that he would be back soon. She invited him in. It was not long before Angus heard a cry. He asked whom it was, pointing to the cradle. Oonagh said, “That’s young Fionn, our baby.

Angus thought that if this is the size of their baby, how big could Fionn be. Then he ran out of the castle as fast as he could. He ran across the causeway and did not stop until he reached his country. He was afraid that Fionn might follow him.

Today, if you go to County Antrim, you can still see a small piece of the causeway. It is called the Giant’s Causeway, because it was built by Fionn Mac Cool, the most famous giant in the history of Ireland.

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THE LEGEND OF TIR-NA-NOG

January 21, 2008 · Filed under Lore, Tir-na-nog

Tir-Na-nOg is a very beautiful land. In Tir-Na-nOg the leaves don’t fall from the trees or die. The flowers bloom all year round, and you can smell the scent of them miles away. If you are ever lucky enough to go to Tir-Na-nOg you would see young, happy people there.

If you spent five days in Tir-Na-nOg, it would be about three or more years in Ireland. Tir-Na-nOg has a stream going through it and green hills all over. The people there have beautiful clothes, and you would eat off of gold plates and drink out of crystal glasses.

For entertainment the people would play tin whistles or play gold harps. The scenery is beautiful and the sun shines most of the time. The people tell wonderful exciting stories, and the children play lots of games.

Tir-Na-nOg means “THE LAND OF EVER YOUNG.”

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Dineen History and Lore

January 20, 2008 · Filed under Dineen, History, Lore, pagan

The Ó Duinnín (‘Dineen’) are one of Ireland’s hereditary families of historians, which required them (after the equivalent of a good high school education) to master/memorize all of the history, law, and genealogy of Ireland through an intensive 14 year curriculum in one of Ireland’s schools of seanchas (history, law, genealogy), after which they would specialize in their chosen field. The surname originates in what is now Co. Cork. They were hereditary seanchadh (historians/chroniclers) to the Mac Cárthaigh Mór kings of Munster.

Your original (and very ancient) tribal genealogy is summarized below.
Wherever you see the word “apparently’ below, it means that the pagan element of your genealogy had dropped out of use after Ireland went fully Christian about 700 AD. But it was not lost, so we can re-insert it into your genealogy where it belongs here.

1. Ó Duinnín (‘grandson of little brown one’), of the

2. Corcu Luighdhe (‘Seed? of (the god) Lugh’ – note that Lugh was the most popular Celtic god all over Europe and into Anatolia, i.e., wherever the Celts spread), of the

3. Dáirfine Mumhan (‘The Race of (the god) Dáire in Munster’ – both the Érainn of the north and of the south recognized descent from Dáire), apparently of the (Now, beginning with step 4 below, we begin to re-insert the pagan elements which went out of use but were not lost.)

4. Clann Fuithe Mhic Dedaid (‘Children of Fuithe son of (the god) Dedad’ – note Dedad, one of the great ancestor-gods of the southern Érainn), apparently of the

5. Dál mBáirdine (‘Share of (the god) Báirdin?’ – note the incorporation of the word Bárd meaning ‘praise-poet’ in the name of this god), definitely of the

6. Érna / Érainn / Íarna (‘Descendants of (the god) Ér/Ír, whose consort Éire gave her name to Ireland)

Hope that’s helpful.

Le gach dea-ghuí / Best, – Jerry Kelly

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Books on Irish History, Clans, Mythology and Lore

January 20, 2008 · Filed under Books, Clans, History, Lore, Mythology

Ireland Before The Vikings by Gearóid Mac Niocaill

Ireland Before The Normans by Donncha Ó Corráin

Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland by Kenneth Nicholls

Early Irish History & Mythology by T.F. O’Rahilly – a master work

“Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland: An Ethnography of the Gael A.D. 500-1750” by
C. Thomas Carney Ph.D.

1. Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae, edited by M.A. O’Brien. This
compiles the genealogies of the Book of Lecan, the Book of Ballymote, the
Book of Leinster, and the manuscript Rawlinson B.502.

2. Leabhar Genealach (Book of Genealogy) by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh – This was just published by De Búrca Books as The Great Book Of Genealogies, an accurate title. It took 350 years to get to print because it’s HUGE! It’s the most comprehensive source of real Irish seanchas (genealogy, law, history) available anywhere. It was written by the
hereditary seanchadh of the Uí Fhiachrach who was liquidated along with thousands of others of his profession during the cultural and physical genocide of the mid-17th century.

3. The Leabhar Ginealach of Seathrún Céitinn contained in his Foras Feasa Ar Éirinn (‘History of Ireland’). An excellent, abridged source. Seathrún Céitinn, the father of modern Irish prose and historical writing, was also liquidated in the mid-17th century.

4. The Leabhar Ginealach by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh – one of the Four Masters. Ó Cléirigh, the Four Masters, Mac Fhirbhisign, Céitinn, and many others took huge risks in the 17th century to protect, compile, and ultimately smuggle these manuscripts out of Ireland for their preservation to the present day. Many lost their lives in the attempt. Ár mbuí go
deo leo. Beannacht Dé ar a n-anamacha.

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