Page 57 - Demo

Chapter two 57
ragh of Kildare. Oisín, the immortal warrior-poet, who went to Tír na nOg- ‘The Land of Eternal Youth,’ was Fionn’s son, while Oscar, the brave son of Oisín, a man who according to the ancient tales, never wronged bard or woman, is remembered as a mighty warrior, reputed to have been the greatest ighter of the Fiann. Other famous Fiann included Diarmuid Donn, ‘Diarmuid the Beautiful,’ who eloped with Gráinne; the bitter-tongued Conán of the Curses; Caoilte of the Stories, and the mighty and fearless Goll mac Mórna of Connacht. Even their hounds, Bran and Sceolan, Fionn’s favourites, live on in immortal song.
Fionn mac Cumhaill, illustration by Stephen Reid
The end of the Fiann na h-Eireann came late in the third century, when they rose in revolt against the then High King, Cairbre, son of Cormac. It is told that the revolt came about for two reasons-one was jealousy. The Fiann was composed of two factions, and it is chroni- cled that Cairbre had favoured the Connacht branch of the Fiann, the Clann na Morna, over Fionn’s own north Munster clan, the Clan na Báiscni. The second reason was that after they had enjoyed too much power for too long a time, Fionn and his clan, who were the principal faction in the Fiann, became dominant and in turn, domineering. So it came to pass, in the year 280 or 284 A.D., the Fiann having joined forces with Mogh Corb, the King of Munster, clashed with a mighty royal army led by Cairbre, in the death-grapple since known as the battle of Gabhra. Various references place Gabhra in either Dublin or Meath. Oisín, the son of the great Fionn, who was by then deceased, led the Fiann. At the close of battle, Cairbre stood triumphant and the Fiann lay slain, almost to a man, about the ield-their power and inluence gone, forever. So ended the most storied, and possibly the most glorious, band of heroes that Ireland ever knew.