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The Irish legend of Finn MacCoul is one of the more prevalent mythological tales of Ireland. A giant of a man, Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn MacCoul), who was one of the most celebrated characters in Irish mythology, became the leading warrior of the Fianna, the military elite of ancient Ireland. The Fianna were founded in 300 B.C. by King Fiachadh (fee-a-kuh), and they were responsible for guarding the High King. Until Finn MacCoul set forth a code of honor among them, the Fianna had a reputation of being quite unruly and considered themselves above the law. Finn challenged the men of the Fianna to become champions of the people and to set an example as models of chivalry and justice. The tales of the Fianna are argued to be the basis of those of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. There are numerous tales of Finn MacCoul and his great feats, and the following is the tale of ... Finn MacCoul and The Salmon of KnowledgeIn days gone by, Cormac, who was the son of Art, ruled Ireland. He was an hospitable prince and his house was always open. In the ancient version of keeping up with the Jones', his expenses outweighed both his money and credit. He was at his wit's end on how to keep up the charade, so he set down a plan to go to war with one of his neighbors. The Grand Monarch of Versailles and the Celestial Sovereign of Ashantee had both wanted to acquire the same land, so why not Cormac? Fiachadh Muilliathan, King of Munster, had vast pasture lands along the banks of the River Suir, which went by the name of the Golden Vein. Cormac decided that he would go to war to take the land and he would never be in debt again. However, Fiachadh of Munster was a wise King and he valued that land as precious; and his band of Men of Ormond and Desmond, were also great warriors. After his plan was dashed, Cormac sought advice from a Druid, who was a Caledonian. He would do just about anything for money, so he told Cormac about one of the rivers that ran under ground in western Ireland, now called Mayo; and not far from the lofty mountain, now named Croagh Patrick. He said that there was a salmon, which if caught and eaten, would give the eater such wisdom, prowess, and good fortune that he would have fame and prosperity forever. Cormac lost no time in setting out on his fishing excursion into Connaught. When he came to the banks of the river, he followed its course through a fertile valley, finally coming to where the turbulent river fell into a cavern, to be seen no more. Close to the opening of the cavern there was a dark, deep pool that whirled about in rapid eddies. Amidst the many fish, was where the salmon of knowledge lived. Cormac and his Caledonian advisor fished day after day, and many a fine fish they caught and ate. Cormac became so tired of fish, and it repulsed him so much, that he began to crave the fat mutton of the pastures of Tara. He could not bring himself to taste of every fish taken from the pool. Then he and his advisor decided to be selective and threw back the ones that were not as plump. They still had no luck. One evening a little fish was caught that was thin and ugly with a hooked snout, such as a poacher would steal on a dark night. Who would suppose that anyone who had his choice would think of eating a spent salmon. The fish was thrown on the bank, leaving it to wriggle back into the river. Just as it was about to jump into the stream, a man who was looking on, caught it by the gills. He thought to himself that, if this fish was not good enough for the King's taste, it I was fine for him to eat. He made a fire and started to broil his fish. Now, who was this man? It was no other than Finn MacCoul, the son of Art, and grandson of Trein the Big. He had been sent to these shores of the Western Sea, in order to save him from the tribe of Morni, who wanted to kill him. He lived here along this river and may have died, except for the circumstances of this ugly fish tossed aside by King Cormac. He broiled his fish until a blister arose by the heat of the fire. Not wanting his salmon to dry up with juices leaking out of the blister, he pressed his left thumb to it, causing it to burst. Burning his thumb, he put it into his mouth to cool. The instant his thumb came between his teeth he felt as wise as if he was a hundred years old. All of his achievements flashed before his eyes and he saw how Ireland and Caledonia would contend for the honor of giving him birth. It was Finn MacCoul instead of King Cormac that happened on the salmon of knowledge. The moral of the story is that 'time and patience is a virtue'.
Finn MacCoul and The Isle of ManThere are a few versions of the mythological legend of Finn MacCoul and The Isle of Man. The inhabitants of the island and anything pertaining to it are known as Manx. #
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Finn MacCoul and The Giants CausewayThere are many heroic legends surrounding Finn MacCoul. Many of the great legends of Ireland are linked to the north coast of Ulster, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, where man first settled on the emerald isle. In this legend we will tell of his role in building the Giants Causeway. Finn MacCoul was a relatively small giant by comparison. A renowned warrior, he was going about his daily duties on the north coast, when a much larger Scottish giant called Benandonner started shouting and ridiculing Finn's fighting ability. This made Finn irate, and he lifted a lump of earth and threw it to Scotland as a challenge to fight this giant. Benandonner responded by throwing a rock back to Finn. The Scottish giant shouted that he would make sure that Finn would never fight again, except for the fact that he couldn't swim across the Channel. Finn was enraged by this threat and proceeded to tear large pieces of rock from the cliffs. He worked for more than a week pushing these rocks into the ocean bed. When he finished he had made a sturdy causeway to Scotland. He then shouted that Benandonner no longer had an excuse not to come to Ireland and fight. In fear of losing his reputation, the Scottish giant had no alternative but to make the trek. Finn was exhausted, having worked so hard and long on the causeway; he just wanted to sleep. However, he needed to buy some time before fighting Benandonner. He came up with an ingenious plan to disguise himself as a baby. The Scottish giant arrived at Finn's home shouting for Finn to come out of hiding. Finn's wife told Benandonner that he was away but would not be long. She invited the Scottish giant to join her for some tea and cake, in which Finn's wife had baked some stones. Benandonner took a bite and broke one of his teeth and thought that Finn must be a tough man to eat cakes like this. Not to be outdone, he finished off the cake and tea, breaking two more of his teeth. Benandonner noticed the baby cot and the huge baby inside it. His eyes widened in fear and thought if this is the size of the baby, how big is his father. He reached his hand in to touch the sleeping baby and Finn bit off the tip of his finger. Benandonner was shocked and thought that if this is what the baby could do, what must the father be capable of doing. This thought terrified him, so he stood up and ran like wind back across the causeway to Scotland, destroying it as he went.
How Finn MacCoul and His Men Were BewitchedThe daughter of the King of Greek had a hatred for the giant Finn MacCoul and, for Goll, one of Finn's great heroes, and his grandson, Oscur. One day she appeared before him as a white doe. He chased her with his two hounds, Brann, and another, until she led them to the bottom of the black North. She disappeared at the edge of a lake and, while they searched for her, a beautiful lady appeared. As she sat on the bank, she was pulling at her hair and crying. Finn asked her what was wrong and she replied that her ring had fallen into the water and she was afraid to go home without it. Finn offered to retrieve it for her and proceeded to dive into the lake. He dove three times, one after another, and, on the third time, he felt like he was on death's door. When he handed her the ring, he noticed that he had changed into a decrepit, gray-haired old man. Then she spoke to him, saying that now he will never forget the King of Greek's daughter and how he killed her husband and her two sons. Finn answered her by telling her that if he did, it was by fighting man to man on the battlefield. She whisked herself away, leaving Finn as helpless as an infant. That night, when Finn did not return home, there was great sorrow. The next day all of his warriors, except Oscur, began to search for him. They traveled far and wide until they became tired and hungry. They came upon an old fort, where there lay a well stocked table of food and meadh, so they sat down on seven stone seats which were placed around the table. They were so hungry that they ate and drank their fill. Just as they finished, a lady walked in and said that she hoped their meal was sufficient. She told them that Finn was at the lake shore and that she would show them the way to pay him a visit. They all shouted with joy but, when they tried to stand up, they found themselves stuck to the stone seats. They were very unhappy, to say the least, and they could not go to Finn, whom they noticed was lying still. They spent a very uncomfortable day and night, until they spotted Oscur following Finn's hound, Brann. The hound had gone a hundred miles in search of Oscur and had found him lying asleep by a lake in Killarney. Brann barked so loud that the wolves, the deer, the foxes and the hares ran fifty miles away; the eagles, the kites and the hawks flew five miles up in the sky; and the fishes jumped out on dry land. He just couldn't make Oscur awake so he bit his little finger to the bone, to no avail. Then he bit him on the nose, which finally awoke him. He opened his eyes, and was going to punish the dog, but Brann raised his muzzle and began to howl. Immediately, Oscur knew that either Finn or Goll was in peril and he quickly followed him to the North. As he reached Finn, he could hardly hear him, so Oscur put Finn's thumb to his lips and, by the virtue of his thumb, told Finn to tell him how to remove the spell. Finn told him to go to the fairy hill and to make the enchanter give him a potion of youth. When Oscur arrived at the hill, the thief of a fairy man disappeared into seven layers of the ground. Oscur was not to be deterred from his mission, and he dug after him until the earth and stones became a new hill. When the digging reached solid rock, he pinned him and brought him up out of the hole. The fairy's face was ashen and as shriveled as a rotten apple and he was very unwilling to give up the youth potion. Oscur forced him to do so and he then rushed to Finn's side. He gave Finn only a little drop at a time, down his throat, after which Finn sprang five yards in the air and shouted till the rocks rung. It wasn't long until Finn, Oscur and Brann reached the enchanted men. They were very ashamed of themselves to be pinned to their seats but Oscur spilled some of the potion down to every man's thigh and freed them. By the time he came to the foul-mouthed Cunyán, there was hardly a drop left in the cup. He could only free a part of one thigh and, getting impatient, Oscur picked him up and pulled him off the stone. Cunyán let out a loud roar because some of his skin was left attached to the stone. Oscur told him not to fret because they would get a sheepskin sewn onto him and he would be as comfortable as a mama's boy before long. When all were free, they gave three shouts that were heard as far as the Isle of Man and, for a week after, they did nothing but eat and drink wine and meadh, the beer that the Danes taught them to make from heather.
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