Lá na Laochra: Hero Day 2021

RABHADH: ÚSÁIDTEAR DROCHTHEANGA, COMHAIRLÍTEAR DISCRÉID FAIRGSEORA.

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE USED, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Right, so, fáilte róimh go léir go dtí Lá na Laochra, so Project Béaloideas’s second event. You’re all very welcome here. So, I’m just gonna jump right into it. So, seans go bhfuil trácht cloiste agaibh ar Lugh Lámhfhada, there’s a chance that you have heard of Lugh of the Long Hand, so he was one of the heroes of Ireland, and you’ll definitely have heard of him if you were keeping up to date with your Project Béaloideas and the series that we had on Heroes.

So, Lugh, he was a champion of Ireland, he was one of the Déithe na hOilteacha, he was a God of Skill. He had a very interesting family. So, his dad was Cian, who was one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and his mam - or his mother- was Eithlinn or Eithne (depending on which version you hear), but she was the daughter of Balor Drochsúil or Balor of the Evil Eye. And, well, Balor was your typical evil overlord, he wanted to control Ireland and all the rest of it, and he was told by a prophecy that he would only be overthrown by his grandson. So he did what any evil overlord would do, and he locked up his daughter in a tower of glass.

Now, because it was made of glass, Cian saw her one day and they fell in love with one another. He snuck in and he snuck back out again, and when Balor found out that Eithne was pregnant, he threw the triplets that she gave birth to, into the ocean. Now, two of them died and some say that they became seals. It depends, I like to think they became seals because it’s a bit nicer. Lugh survived anyway and Manannán Mac Lir, who was the Sea God, he whisked them away with a current and brought them to Taillte. This is the important bit, so Tailte was Lugh’s faster mother and he was raised Tailte and Eochaid. Now Tailte, she was really ridiculously strong and fierce and one day, she decided to clear an entire plain so it could be used for land and for planting and for a settlement. This had such a strain on her body that she actually died and Lugh decided to create Lúnasa in her honour. So Lughnasadh, the old way it was written, means “the funeral march of Lugh”. That’s what it was originally for, it was dedicated to his foster mother, the woman who had raised him and that was what this is based on. So, today is the First of Lúnasa which is Lá Lúnasa, or Lúnasa basically.

That eventually changed, so it was the Funeral March of Lugh and then it became the Games of Lugh. So, because Lugh was the God of Skill, they would have games of skill, as such. There was three parts to Lúnasa. It usually started in mid-July and ran up to mid-August. So, the first part of it would have been honouring the dead. So, the bards would come together and they would sing songs, chronicling the lives of all those who had died in the past year. That was the first part.

The second part was the proclamation of the laws. So, the Brehons, which were the old lawmakers in that day, it’s where we get the word ‘Breitheamh’ for ‘judge’ now. The Brehons would come together, they’d say what needs changing and they changed it, and they proclaimed the laws.

The last bit was the fun bit, so that was the games. So, first were the games of strength. Any way to test your strength, that was done. You had swimming, huge games of hurling - with about a hundred and fifty aside, men and women, anyone that wanted to play, they could play -, you also had stuff like wrestling, horse riding, sword fighting, spear throwing - any way to test your strength, it was done. But Lugh was also a Dia na hOilteacha, he was also a God of Skill, so they had games of skill, typically enough. So, they would have had games of chess, like fidhchell. They also would’ve done things like this, where they would tell stories or they would recite poetry or sing songs or dance, anything that required skill, it was also tested.

So, the place that Tailte died; it was named after her. It later became Telltown. So, that can be found out in Meath and that’s where these games took place. And it’s also said that these games outdate the Olympics, so they actually started before then and I think during the Gaelic Revival, they were also brought back but unfortunately, the tradition hasn’t really carried on.

So, that’s sort of something we wanted to incorporate with today’s event. We had stuff like Lúnasa years ago, and we decided to take that storytelling part of Lúnasa and try and reboot that here in Tallaght.

So, just another little welcome, I suppose, so fáilte go dtí Project Béaloideas, this is Lá na Laochra. Inniu, roinnfimid scéalta libh ar Laochra na hÉireann. So, today gonna share stories of the Heroes of Ireland. Tagann na scéalta seo ó bhfinnscéalta chomh maith le stair nua. So these stories will come from legend as well as recent history and to cur tús le na scéalta, we’re gonna have a quick audio story from Rachel Nic Aoidh. Now, unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the projector’s not going to work, so you guys can just listen to the story as it is.

I’m just gonna give Rachel a quick introduction as well. So Rachel is my teammate and one of my good friends. She is another member of Project Béaloideas. So we worked on the series together, where we’ll post a new video every Monday and these will all relate to the theme of the upcoming event. So, the last six weeks, we’ve been releasing stories on Heroes. We have people like the Dagda, Lugh, Ogma, Fionn Mac Cumhaill, all those sorts. You can find these videos and all our information our website. Now, our website is a bit, a bit of a long name, but its projectbealoideas.wixsite.co/my-site , you’re better off just going to our Instagram and making your way through there which is a lot easier, it’s just @projectbealoideas and you can find all the information there.

But, rachaimid ar aghaidh, so seo é “The Children of Lir” le Rachel Nic Aoidh

Rachel Nic Aoidh

Hello. The story I chose today is the Children of Lir.

Years ago in ancient Ireland, lived a King and ruler of the sea called Lir. When the Dagda died, there were two that went up for the throne at Tara. Bo Dearg and Lir. Lir was furious when he lost out to Bo Dearg, and refused to attend his coronation. But Bo Dearg did not want to begin his reign with bad blood. He had heard that his wife had died, and gave him his condolences. He wanted Lir to marry one of his three daughters, and for them to become family and end their feud. Lir accepted his offer, and told him that he would marry his eldest daughter, Aodh. They both went on to marry and had four beautiful children together, Aodh, Fionnula, Fiachra, and Conn. When the children were young, Aodh died. Lir and his children were very sad, and Lir wanted a new mother for his young children. He married Aodh's sister Aoife, who was said to have possessed magical powers.

Aoife loved the children and Lir at first, but soon she became very jealous of the time that King spent with them. One day, she took the children to swim in Lake Derravaragh. When they got there and the children took to the water, Aoife used her powers to cast a spell over the children, which turned them all into beautiful swans.

She cast this spell, forcing them to live as swans for 900 years - three hundred on Lake Derravaragh in County Westmeath, three hundred on Straits of Moyle between Ireland and Scotland and three hundred more on Isle of Inis Glora on the side of County Mayo. The spell would only be broken when the man of the north married the woman of the south.

But Aoife’s spell had not taken away children’s voices. The children were able to tell their father what had happened to them through song. Lir, who had been searching for his children, came down to the lake and saw Fionnuala, now a swan, who told him of a spell cast on them by Aoife. Enraged, he banished Aoife into the mist, and she was never seen again.

Although sad for his children, Lir remained a good father and spent his days faithfully by the lake listening to their singing. Their three hundred years on Lake Derravaragh were filled with joy, but at the end the children had to say goodbye to their father forever, as they were forced to move on to the next 300 years they would spend on the Straits of Moyle, One could say Lir was a hero to his children until they had to leave him.

From then onwards, they traveled to Straits of Moyle, where they spent three hundred years enduring fierce storms and spent much time separated from each other. But they survived these three hundred years, and eventually traveled together again, to a small saltwater lake on Isle of Inis Glora.

One day, the King of Connacht had married the daughter of the King of Munster. This was the story of the man of the north and the woman of the south Aoife had told them about. The King’s wife begged her husband to find these beautiful singing swans they had heard of and bring them back to her. The King sent his men searching high and low for the swans but none had come back to him with them. He went out in his own search for them.

Eventually he spotted them by the beach, and grabbed two of them in each of his hands. Almost instantly, the swans all turned back into their human forms, now very, very old. Fionnula told him that she was so thankful that he had broken the curse. She asked of him to lay them beside each other so they may finally know peace. The king did that immediately and finally, the four children of lir were finally laid to rest. They would live on to become legends in history.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Sin é scéal “The Children of Lir”, which is one of our sadder stories. I think it’s one of the three Tragedies of Irish Mythology. So, our next speaker is live and in person, to bring us back to reality. So, we have Grace Hicks, who’s going into her final year in UCD. So, she’s doing a degree in English and Creative Writing. She’s also working on her own historical-fantasy novel, which I for one am very much looking forward to giving a read. An seans go mbeidh sibh in ann í a aithint ó the Gaza Monologues and Éiríocht, which are TCA projects ó Tamhlacht so that’s that. So here is the story of The Dearg Due, le Grace Hicks.

Grace Hicks

Sorry, that was a very unprofessional start. Okay. So the story I’m about to tell you, isn’t one that’s very traditional, or one that you might have come across. This character didn’t fight in crazy battles, or get captured by witches, or anything else you might be used to, but I still think that her story is worth telling and should be shared anyway, and if I could find my notes, that would be very helpful. So, this myth of the Dearg Due starts in Port Láirge or Waterford as you might be more familiar with. I don’t have an exact location because at that time it was a lot of fields and stuff like that. So, the Dearg Due was a young woman who was forced into an arranged marriage that she wanted no part of. Seems pretty common, from where we’re setting her down, given the timescape and everything. So her husband was a really cold and cruel man. He was absolutely horrible to her. She spent the entire marriage being neglected and locked away and eventually this is what led to her death.

And before she was even fully buried, you know, the dirt hadn’t even settled, this man went off and married someone else. So, we don’t like this man, okay? We hate him, he’s not very nice. Her body wasn’t even cold, and he didn’t even just leave the funeral; he went to get married to his next wife, so I think he gets what’s coming to him in fairness.

So, you might be thinking, where’s the heroic act, like, where’s this going? This isn’t very nice. But, historically, women have had a hard time seeking justice and form stories from Greek mythology like Medea, Hera, and all of them. You might say it might take a bit of a darker turn, but in this case, I think it’s justified.

So, this young woman’s form of justice came in bloodshed. This is how she became the Dearg Due. The need for revenge *verbed* her soul and she rose from the dead and sought out those who had wronged her. So she started off with her father, who was the one who sold her into this marriage in the first place, and she stole the air from his lungs. Not fully sure how she did that but revenge makes you powerful, okay? So, that’s how she did it.

So after he was dead, she went off to find the husband, her bloodthirst overcame her, and Ireland’s potentially first vampire - it’s said that this story first inspired Dracula, which we’ve all heard of. She drank the blood from his body. So both men who left her to die found themselves dead at her feet, which I think is very poetic of her.

So, this could have been used as a nightmare story. Something to tell your kids like “oh the Dearg Due is hiding under your bed” or stuff like that. But, I like to think of it as a warning, that there’s only so much a person will take, of being kicked down, until eventually they fight back. And, if the Dearg Due were an iron-clad warrior or someone who travelled to Tír na n-Óg and fell of a horse, because he didn’t listen to his wife’s advice, we’d know her name, but we don’t know her name. She’s literally just restored to the Dearg Due, this frightening figure and I believe her story should be told because I’m very passionate about telling the stories of those who have been forgotten by history and those who are often neglected, like this woman very clearly. So, I think this story is important to tell because Ireland does have a history of oppression and we like to think “oh no we didn’t do it. It was other people who did it to us”. We did do it and this woman, she got back what was hers, you know? She was able to get rid of the men who had wronged her, find herself in a powerful position, not sure where the story went from here but someone should take it and make a retelling where she starts a cult and women from being abused. I don’t know, I think that would be pretty neat, but that’s my own opinion.

Audience Member

Yes.

Grace Hicks

Thank you. So, I first heard about this story when I was doing research for the Classics Society in UCD. We were doing a whole feature for Halloween on different gods and monsters and hellgods and whatever from around the world and this is how her story popped up. There’s a few sites and stuff that have her listed but she’s never named. So, I’d like to think that one day the Dearg Due will make a name for herself and she’ll become one of those stories, like Medea or Hera, where you see her and you see there’s only so long that women will take s*** from people. Thank you.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, sin é scéal an Dearg Due. Ár gcéad seanchaí eile, or our next speaker, is coming to us via video again. Although again, níl an físeán ag obair faoi láthair so the video won’t really be there, but you can still listen to the story anyway. This story, it’s a bit different from the stuff we’ve heard already so tá sé saghas éagsúil, mar ní scéal tipiciúil é, is níos mó, it’s more of an account, rather than anything else. So it’s coming to us from Sharon Devlin, who will give herself her own fantastic introduction, better than I could anyway. She’s done a lot, a lot of research, an-chuid taighde ar na Tuatha Dé Danann, on the Tuatha Dé Danann, so I’m very excited to be working with her from here on out. So this is an account of Danu and Brighid by Sharon Devlin.

Sharon Devlin

Hi, my name is Sharon Devlin. I’m a professional visual artist. I’m a community arts practitioner. I’m an arts facilitator and I’m a project coordinator with Tallaght Community Arts.

I explore Irish mythology through my work and have long been fascinated with dolmens, passage tombs, stone circles, and the stories around them. I am always drawn to the story of a place: whether that is of the people or the area. Several years ago I decided to explore the story of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with a view to creating a body of work around it. During my exploration I was disappointed to find that there wasn’t a huge amount of information available, especially about the women. They have long been written out of history. I feel it is time that we rectify this so that our children, girls and boys, have access to the stories of inspirational females. We are Yin and Yang; male and female; female and male; and we must honour this. The following is a brief example of some information I found in my exploration of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

They come under my list of obstreperous women. That term was coined by a male politician a couple of years ago, with reference to women who were out agitating for change and I’d be proud to be called an obstreperous woman.

So, Danu. Irish Goddess. The Mother Goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Peoples of the Goddess Danu. Danu has no surviving myths or legends associated with her in any of the medieval Irish texts. Danu is typically associated with the rivers and flowing water. Life. The Mother Goddess of Ireland was considered to be the goddess Danu, who gave her name to the Tuatha Dé Danann. Danu is considered to be the mother to the Children of Light.

The Tuatha Dé Danann are spoken of as a spiritual race in Irish mythology. They are thought to represent the main deities of a pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland. They are now said to dwell in the Otherworld but interact with humans and the Human World. They are associated with ancient passage tombs such as Brú na Bóinne which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. Each member of the Tuatha Dé Danann has associations with a particular feature of life or nature and many appear to have more than one. Much of Irish mythology was recorded by monks, who modified it, to a certain extent, and it is no wonder that there is little recorded on the Mother of the Children of Light. This was the age of writing women out of history.

Brigid. Before the arrival of Christianity, there was the goddess Brigid, exalted one. This was the daughter of the Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and wife of Bres, the King of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was central in the celebration of the ancient Celtic festivals and is known as the Goddess of Healing, Poetry, the Arts, Blacksmithing, and the Healing Arts. She was believed to be present to watch over every birth of every child. Her healing wells can still be found in Ireland to this day. She is strongly associated with fire and is regarded as a guardian of the home and hearth. Such was the level of devotion to her by the People of Ireland and beyond that the Catholic Church knew it would be unwise of them to seek to obliterate her from history. Instead, they created a new narrative that would serve them: St. Brigid. A nondescript devoted nun living in poverty having given all of her belongings away and in the service of her God and His Church. With her power and influence diluted, she was now portrayed as a long suffering woman, grey and diminished rather than the fiery, sexual, powerful goddess that she once was.

I will continue my exploration of obstreperous women and seek to celebrate them through my work. I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you. Goodbye.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Sin Sharon Devlin, so that was Sharon Devlin, giving us a great account of Danu and Brighid, two of the powerful Tuatha Dé Danann. To bring us back to reality once more, we have another speaker, Aoife Ní Mhurchú. So Aoife Ní Mhurchú has a Double Honours Bachelor of Arts in German and Music from Maynooth, and a Master in Education from FROEBEL. Tá sí ag obair faoi láthair i nGaelscoil Cnoc Líofa, so she’s working in a primary school, Gaelscoil Cnoc Líofa, it’s a Gaelscoil, which obviously, coming from a Gaelscoil myself, I really appreciated. She also worked- this summer she volunteered for the July Provision. So, this is a summer camp for kids with disabilities, and I was talking to Aoife earlier and was delighted to hear, she actually told some of the stories that we had told at some of our events, and the kids absolutely loved them so that was just really great to hear.

One more thing, just about how amazing Aoife is, is that she organised the ‘Cabaret for Calcutta’. This is where she formed a band in 2019 with her college friends, to raise money for the HOPE Foundation, who do absolutely phenomenal work, so this is going to be ‘Fionn and the Mermaids’ le Aoife Ní Mhurchú.

Aoife Ní Mhurchú

Dia dhaoibh. Conas atá sibh? Gach duine go maith?

Lucht Feáchana / Audience

Woo! Go maith. Go maith. Go maith.

Aoife Ní Mhurchú

Tá fíorbhrón orm. Níor, ní bhfuair mé seans é seo a phriontáil, so beidh sé seo just i mo lámh. Not ideal, but bogfaimid ar aghaidh, an bhfuil sin ceart go leor le gach duine? Okay, so léigh mé an scéal seo i leabhrán beag a bhí agam le blianta fada inár dteach sa bhaile. I found this book in a - I found this story in a little book we had in our house from years and years ago and I’d never heard it before, and it’s Fionn Mac Cumhaill again, who we all know, but it’s a story that, I don’t know, I’d be really surprised if ye have heard it.

And because Oisín was telling me, he asked me to become a part of this and I, of course, said yes and the theme was heroes. So I also thought of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Oisín and we all know the main names of it, but this is a brilliant story because it’s just so different. It’s Fionn and obviously it’s about his son, Oisín, but it’s about him being a father figure of a hero. Like, he’s a hero because he’s fighting so hard for his son, Oisín, and you’ll see what I mean by that. So I thought it was different. He hasn’t got a sword in his hand at all for this one, strange. But I thought, the hero comes through because he fights so hard for his son.

Okay, bhfuil sibh réidh? Okay. So it’s called Fionn and the Mermaids.

When Fionn’s son, Oisín, was an infant in his cradle, he was like no ordinary child. Even at the age of 9 months he was huge and Fionn and his wife couldn’t keep him supplied with milk, even though they had four of the finest Kerry cows in their front garden. Oisín drank a barrel of milk every day and this went on for a while, but soon the cows began to fail and die, and Fionn decided to call a halt. He sighed and slumped next to the hearth.

“D’you know what? The last time I was in Ard Mhaca I heard of a rumour that fish are great things altogether for filling the stomach. I’ll head down to Black Cliff on the coast tomorrow and see if I can catch anything to feed aul hungry-guts there.”

Early the next morning, lightness filled Fionn’s heart as he congratulated himself for the brilliant idea he had had. He didn’t even feel nervous as he passed the haunted area of Geata na Spioraid. Suddenly, he saw a dark figure in the distance and she called out:

“Fionn MacCumhaill – is it to Black Cliff you’re going to this day? Well, you can tell me if you like, but I know already. That’s where you’re going to catch fish to feed your son Oisín.”

Fionn tried to sound commanding and fearless, but twas early in the morning so a croaking, squeaky voice rose up from Fionn’s lungs instead.

“Alright woman, you’re to tell me now how you have come to know so much about me. Go on, out with it.”

“Well, that I can’t tell you, but there is something that I can,” came the female voice again. “Take my word for it, it’s shark meat you want to feed your son. Remember that – shark meat! Oh, and you’d want to use this as bait too.”

And with that she pulled out something wrapped up in a small piece of catskin and gave to Fionn. Fionn was only delighted with the luck that had come upon and thanked the hag with a tip of his head before going on his way.

Before he knew it, Fionn was standing on the edge of Black Cliff.

“In ainm an diabhal, isn’t the evil-looking place down there,” he muttered to himself.

The thought of Oisín at home roaring for food crossed his mind and Fionn was filled with a surge of energy to catch the biggest fish he could find. He grabbed the rod and got the catskin the hag had given him. He unwrapped it carefully and there in his hand was a type of snail sliding across his palm. Without hesitation, Fionn shoved the snail onto the end of the line and threw it as far as he could into the tide. He readied himself with one bent knee and the rod held tightly between his hands, waiting for the sharks to bite.

And there he waited,until there came a vicious tug on the end of the line and the rod was nearly pulled from under his boot. The line grew taught, and Fionn soon found himself being dragged forward right over the edge of Black Cliff and into the crashing waves.

Fionn, like most, could not hold his breath for very long (which is quite the disadvantage here, as you can imagine) and he began to turn blue, with dark blots emerging behind his eyes. And his life would have ended right there had the great creature not decided to swerve into a dark opening in the seabed. Before Fionn knew it he was struggling and gasping at the air like a salmon fresh from the Shannon.

He looked around at the enormous cave and at the half-fish, half-body creature before him. The creature glared at Fionn and let out a great cry when she tore the end of her hook from her tail.

“We’ll see what our queen will make of you,” she snarled, and wrapped Fionn in the fishing line, dragging him through the passageways to a great hall with high ceilings, beautiful statues and gleaming jewels on every surface – even the floor beneath Fionn’s boots.

They approached a great throne upon which sat a decorated and stone-faced mermaid, eyeballing Fionn who crouched at her tailfin. Fionn’s voice was hoarse after swallowing half of the Irish sea.

“Your highness, I’m not the type of man to steal anything from any person, or to be spying on one another, or anything of the sort. All I was doing was trying to catch a few sharks for my hungry young lad at home, just like the old woman at Geata na Spioraid told me to.”

The mermaid’s eyebrows furrowed at the mention of the old woman from Geata na Spioraid.

“That cailleach!!” she howled. “That cailleach was once a close friend of mine whose sole purpose now is to disturb my life in any way she can.”

A cruel smile flittered across the mermaid’s face, and she fixed her gaze on Fionn again.

“But no matter. For I’ll show her just what happens when she sends her friends into the waters of Éire to annoy me.”

Fionn’s heart sank. “I…I’m no friend of that hag, Sure I only met her there but this morning. And I’d never even dream of upsetting such a wonderful, honourable...”

“Ara, stop!” the mermaid yelled again. “Your charm and wit will do nothing for you here.” Then, stroking her chin with her finger and thumb she said: “Are you interested in racing?”

This was not the response Fionn was expecting, but he went along with the change of topic. “Racing?” said Fionn. “Eh, indeed I am, but…”

“Well, that’s it so!” the Queen interrupted. “A race is what we’ll have. It’s into the water and start swimming for the cliff. You’ll get ten minutes head start ahead of my friends behind me here” – gesturing to three monstrous sharks in turn – “and if you can get to the cliff and climb it before they catch you, then well and good.”

“And if I can’t?” shouted Fionn.

“Well, well and bad!” she laughed.

A cold sweat began to develop on Fionn’s neck and a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Ara, to hell with it and may ye rot with the plague!!”

He turned on his heel and ran through the passageways until he met the lapping water and, with a mighty breath, he plunged into the water and flailed towards the surface as fast as he could. He turned then to see the three sharks chasing him in turn.

For an instant- In an instant, the three monsters were in front of him. For the first shark, Fionn reached for the rod in his belt, and, like the familiar feeling of a sword in his hand, pushed it forward towards the eye of the middle shark. Its eye popped out like an olive dropping from the branch and the shark sank lifeless to the sea-bed.

After seeing Fionn’s sheer strength and fearlessness at work, it didn’t take long for the other two to realise what they were in for, and so they scuttled off quickly into the blackness of the ocean. Fionn then turned to the surface again and with an almighty gasp he drilled his fingers into the face of Black Cliff and took in as much air as his lungs could hold, just in time. Still feeling the adrenaline of the events, he began to claw his way up the cliff until he felt the soft green grass of the cliff edge.

Without hesitation, he thumped the soil towards Geata na Spioraid in search of the hag that had led him astray.

“Oh, tis early you’re back!” called the voice of the old woman crouching at the foot of a great ash in the shadows.

“Well, it’s no thanks to you either, cailleach!” shouted Fionn as he made great strides towards her.

Fear shot through the old woman’s spine and she stood with a start, letting the purse in her hands fall to the forest floor. Fionn stopped in his tracks before the purse and felt a cold touch grace his body when he realised that it was none other than the gold purse from his very home. The thought of what the old hag had done crossed Fionn’s mind – she probably robbed his house, maybe killed his wife and son. He snatched the purse in his hand and pushed her to the ground, his focus now on getting home.

He clashed and thrashed through the forest until, finally the thatched roof of his home came into view. Bursting through the door he saw his wife and son sitting quietly by the fire. Fionn let out an almighty sigh and then went straight to the trapdoor in front of the hearth. As he expected, the trapdoor lay bare, as was the gold purse in his hands.

“She’s stolen our gold!” shouted Fionn in a rage.

“Y’aul amadán. What are you talking about? Who’s stolen our gold?” said his wife.” No one has crossed the doorway since you left, I think I would have noticed that, thanks! And where’s the shark meat for Oisín?”

Fionn failed to hear his wife’s questions and muttered to himself

“In ainm an diabhal. I suppose she really was an aul cailleach playing tricks for the bloody fun of it..!”

Fionn sank to the floor with his head in his hands, preparing himself for the belting he’d soon get from his wife for not bringing back any food. But the belting never came, for when Fionn looked up he saw his wife staring wide-eyed at the soles of his boots, which were covered from heel to toe in the finest jewels and gems and diamonds that either of them had ever seen.

“Begorrah! I guess I did end up stealing something from those mermaids after all!” he said.

The next day, Fionn went into the village of Gleann Draoi and bought a herd of the best Kerry cows he could find for Oisín.

And that’s how it was. From that day on, there was peace in the house and Oisín grew up to be good-natured, handsome and wise. And all because of the milk of those Kerry cows and Fionn’s journey to the depths of the Irish sea.

Go raibh maith agaibh. Go raibh maith agat.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

So, that was Fionn and the Mermaids, one that I have never heard before anyway. So, we have two stories left for you, dhá scéal eile. Second last story will be audio again, and then I will go ahead. So our next story is from a returning speaker. So, Ruth Nic an Rí- I saw returning, unfortunately she couldn’t be with us tonight but she still got involved, which is absolutely great. So last time, she told the story of Setanta and how he became Cú Chulainn, and gave us a great anecdote of her love for camógaíocht and the GAA, and them sports. So she is just after finishing her second year in TUD, where she is doing journalism, obviously with an interest in sports journalism. And she’s also the deputy of the writers’ team for Galpal, which is an arts collective for people of colour, for women, and for queerfolk, and they do absolutely smashing work, and I’d definitely recommend giving them a look after tonight. So, this is ‘Women of Ireland’ le Ruth Nic an Rí.

Ruth Nic an Rí

Dia dhuit, is mise Ruth Nic an Rí. When I heard this theme, Heroes, there was a lot going through my head of what I should talk about and what I should read. But I decided I was going to read about the women of this country, and in particular, my granny, Peig King, who I have a photo of here with me. Peig was a member of Cumann na mBan, since she was sixteen and before that she was a member of Cumann na gCailín. She was a true Irish republican and she never deviated from those core beliefs of a united Ireland. She was an inspiration to me and she was a member of Cumann na mBan up until her dying days. So I would like to dedicate this particular song, “The Women of Ireland”, to my granny, Peig King.

“Women, Women of Ireland your glory’s in the shade

Your dreams they have gone and decayed

The deeds you have done they all went unsung

By no Bard or no one

For without you there is nothing

Except love songs in the wind

And all of your struggles and despair

And there were castles in the air

Shout it from every mountain

From every mountain on high

And the four winds will sigh

For Ireland, Ireland’s our glory

And your monuments built on your sorrow and pain

For if ever the seas and oceans run dry

Tears of struggle and of joy

And all your sadness and your pain

Would fill the oceans up again

Daughters, Daughters of Erin to the Cuman na mBan

Your dream was to see Ireland free

Thru agrarian struggles were determined to win

And from there to begin

There you were dressed for rebellion

But your beauty could not hide

Your sorrow and suffering and despair

And there were castles in the air

Shout it from every mountain

From every mountain on high

And the four winds will sigh

For Ireland, Ireland’s our glory

And your monuments built on your sorrow and pain

For if ever the seas and oceans run dry

Tears of struggle and of joy

And all your sadness and your pain

Would fill the oceans up again

Women, Women of courage, you suffered in your silence

You kept Ireland’s spirit alive

You were imprisoned, your people enchained

But you never gave in

In troubled days of old Ireland

You were the brave ones who fought

Through oppression and famine and despair

And there were castles in the air

Shout it from every mountain

From every mountain on high

And the four winds will sigh

For Ireland, Ireland’s our glory

And your monuments built on your sorrow and pain

For if ever the seas and oceans run dry

Tears of struggle and of joy

And all your sadness and your pain

Would fill the oceans up again”

Sin é. Go raibh maith agat.

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Yeah, so that was Women of Ireland, which was sang by the Wolfe Tones, I think, and retold by Ruth Nic and Rí.

So that leaves us with me then, I’m just going to give a quick introduction of myself, I know most of you know me already.

So- that’s fine, don’t worry about that.

So, I’m just after finishing my first year of law in UCD, and that has sort of been a part of why I wanted to do this. So, last September, bhí me i nGaillimh, I was in Galway, and I went into this bookshop. And I found a book called Brehon Law. Now, I knew going in that this isn’t the law we have here, I knew it would have nothing to do with my degree, but I bought it anyway, and I gave it a look. And it was, well, it was fantastic.

So, Brehon Law was the system we had in place before the Brits and the Common Law and all that. So, it worked. It worked really, really well. It was fantastic in terms of equality between men and women. And it had a really great value for community and hospitality, which is something that I think has really been damaged over the past year, with Covid restrictions and having to not see anybody for basically a year anyway. So, that was kind of a part of why I wanted to do this, I wanted to bring back that sense of community into Tallaght and hopefully have that popping up all over Ireland, eventually. So that was really my first step to founding Project Béaloideas.

Some of you might know, some of you might not know, but there are three aims to this Project. So the first one ná an Ghaeilge, an Ghaeilge a spreagadh, Gaelchultúr a spreagadh, mar sin agus a leithead. So we want to encourage Irish and Irish culture. The second one is not just to stop with Irish and Irish culture, not just to have it there, but to push it in its development, to really open up what it means to be Irish so we’d like to invite people to come along who have stories, who are Irish, whether or not they were born here, whether or not their parents were born here. Like, we’re all living here, we’re all Irish so I figure that has to be recognised. And then the last thing is community. So they all sort of tie in with each other but the last one is community. So, go háirithe i dTamhlacht, anseo, we really want to build it back up for what it is, for people to know what’s going on in your neighbours’ lives and not just be separate, as we’ve had to be for the last year.

So my last story for today is, Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill, liomsa, Oisín Ó Dubhshláine.

So, i Ré na Sí, in the time of the fairies, bhí fathach mór ann, there was a big giant. And his name was Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill. Now, it’s hard to place when this story took place, some people say that it was the same Fionn, like in Aoife’s story, who was the leader of the Fianna, who was the father of Oisín. Others, like myself, would believe that this happened before the time of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Gael, and all that. So, I think that Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill started off as a legend. He- He was this giant who lived in Ireland and stories were told about him and told and retold and retold until a young boy named Demna, went onto take Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s name, take up his mantle. Or you know what? Chances are he might’ve gotten one of those mushrooms from Mario and supersized himself, we don’t really know. But that’s what I like to believe anyway. Some people say that when the Tuatha De Danann were overthrown by the Gael, they were forced back to the Otherworld and they actually- as people stopped believing in them, they became smaller and smaller and smaller, to become the fairies. But at the same time, the heroes of the Gael, like- well not Cú Chulainn, because he ended up dying, and not Oisín, because he ended up dying- But like Fionn Mac Cumhaill, they got that power and they grew taller and taller and taller. So it’s really, it’s up to your own interpretation. If that is the case, it means that this story took place less than two thousand years ago, which, all things considered, is fairly recent.

So, fear mór ab ea Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill. He was a big man. And it’s said that, when he walked, his hair was constantly wet because he kept breaking the clouds so eventually he just started putting shampoo in it, just to, you know, kill two birds with one stone. But, yeah, chónaigh sé in the North of Ireland, he lived in the North of Ireland, lena bhean, Úna, with his wife, Úna, on Knockmany Hill. And they had to have two sets of furniture for everything, they had a standard size and a supersize, because she was just a regular sized person like you or I.

So, one day, bhí Fionn amach ag siúl, he was out walking on the coast of Antrim, when he heard thunder, or what he thought was thunder. So, he turned to look but, unlike today, there was no clouds in the sky, only a mist covering the Irish sea. He kept walking, it was probably nothing. The next thing he heras:

“I AM THE GREATEST GIANT IN THE WORLD”

He ignored it anyway, he said “oh, I’m just imagining things”

“THERE IS NO ONE GREATER THAN ME”

He just shook his head and kept walking. “I’m going mad.”

“DEFINITELY NT THOSE PUNY IRISH FELLAS THEY COULDN’T STAND UP TO ME”

Sin é. That was it. That was the line. He said:

“ACTUALLY. I AM THE GREATEST GIANT IN THE WORLD, PAL”

And then through the mist, he hears:

“AND WHO ARE YOU?”

“Well, I’m Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill, I’m the greatest giant in Ireland. Who are you?”

“My name is Benandonner. I am the greatest giant in Scotland and in the world.”

“A likely story,” Fionn thought.

The next thing, he sees some shadows flying through the mist, and ducks out of the way to see some rocks landing in the place that he stood.

“YOU THINK YOU’RE MAD?”

So, Fionn scoops up a patch of land and throws it like a discus thrower.Faraor, unfortunately, it didn’t make it all the way to Benandonner in Scotland, it crashed into the Irish sea where it would later be known as Manann or the Isle of Mann, so that’s where that came from, which was unfortunate. And the spot that he left there, went on to become Lough Neagh, when it rained. So that was that patch of land anyway, and that’s where that went.

So, Benandonner saw this and went:

“Pal, you are brutal!”

And Fionn couldn’t take it anymore he said:

“No, I challenge you, to hand-to-hand combat, me and you, let’s go.”

And then he’s looking:

“Actually, how am I going to get there?”

And Benandonner is also thinking, “how am I going to get there?”

Benandonner was a bit quicker. So, he picked up a pile of stones and started flinging them into the ocean. And Fionn could make out what he was doing, he couldn’t see him yet, but he could make out what he was doing. So, he started throwing na clocha isteach sa farraige (throwing the rocks into the ocean). So, the two of them are there building their bridge, until it connected. And it became, well, I suppose you’d call it a causeway by giants, so a Giant’s Causeway, or also known as Clochán an Aifir.

So, the bridges had met in the middle: the giant’s hadn’t. And next, Fionn hears:

“I’ll see you tomorrow Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill.”

And Fionn thought, “I’m not waiting til tomorrow for this fight. Nonononononono.”

Benandonner was gone. Fionn said “no, I’m going to embarrass him ar a thalamh féin, I’m going to embarrass him on his own land.”

So he snuck across the Causeway and made it to Benandonner. When he got there, he was in for a bit of a shock. Benandonner was asleep. But if you could say that Fionn Mór was as big as a hill, Benandonner was a mountain. He was far bigger than Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill.

“The size of this fella,” he whispered to himself.

And next thing he ran home ar luas lasrach, as quick as lightning, and he burst through the door. And Úna is looking at him like, “what is wrong with this fella? Are you okay?”

And Fionn Mór’s going “no, fathach, mór, eh, big giant, causeway, fight tomorrow, I can’t.”

And Úna’s going “what? Hold on, hold on, ní thuigim, is fathach tusa freisin (I don’t understand, you’re a giant too).”

“No, Úna. He’s a big giant.”

“Okay, okay.”

So Fionn got up and started writing his will immediately because he knew he wouldn’t be able to survive this. But Úna, bhí plean ag Úna, bhí sí glic go leor (Úna had a plan, she was clever enough). So she put his mind at ease anyway and said, “here’s what we’re gonna do.” And they made their plan and the camera cut away.

So, an lá dar gcionn, the next day, Benandonner came and he had to crouch to make his way through, because if Fionn Mac Cumhail was hitting his head off the clouds, Benandonner couldn’t even see below them. He was walking along like this, he was crouched. And eventually, he was looking for the biggest house in Ireland, for the biggest man in Ireland, and he finds it. This was when Ireland experienced its first earthquake, and probably one of its only earthquakes, since every step that Benandonner took, the ground shook. Fionn Mór didn’t really notice. Bhí se ag crith cheanna féin sa bhaile, he was already shaking at home. He didn’t notice the earth was shaking too much.

Benandonner knocked on the door.

Dff, dff, dff.

“Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill, come out and face me.”

And Úna opens the door. She knew it was coming, but she was still shocked when she saw the size of Benandonner.

“Ohhh lord. Alright, cé tusa? (Who are you?)”

“I AM BENANDONNER. I AM THE GREATEST GIANT IN THE WORLD.”

“More like the loudest giant in the world. And how can I help you?”

“I AM HERE TO FIGHT FIONN MÓR MA-”

“Listen here, Benny, relax. I’m standing right beside you, you do not need to be roaring at me. There’s a baby inside and if you wake him, you’ll have to deal with him.”

Benandonner was shocked. No one had ever spoken to Benandonner like this before, he was the tallest person in the world. But anyway, he decided to hush for a second.

And Úna says “now, Fionn Mór is just gone for a message, he’ll be back in a minute. If you want to sit inside, you’ll just have to be quiet, okay?”

“Alright.”

So, Benandonner crouches in through the door anyway and makes his way to Fionn’s chair, which is still too small for him. Then he notices the cradle.

“Who’s this wee lad?”

“Oh, that’s Fionn Beag. Yeah that’s- that’s our son.”

Now, it’s important to note that this was not their son. This was actually Fionn Mór and as part of Úna’s plan she fashioned some baby’s clothes. So she made him an oversized bonnet, an oversized nightdress, and some bróigíní to wear. So Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill is lying in this oversized cradle in his oversized clothes.

And Benandonner was thinking, “they grow them big out here.”

“How did you even carry this child?” he asked her.

“Oh nonono, he wasn’t like that, he just- he just- he grew fast.”

Benandonner’s thinking, “ohh, if this is a baby… what’s the dad going to be like?”

“Well, you must be thirsty after all that shouting anyway. I’ll get you a cupán tae (cup of tea). So, Úna goes into the kitchen, fixes up a cup of tea- or two cups of tea and comes back out. So she came back with one big and one beag (small). And so, she gives the big mug to Benandonner. And he gulps it and immediately spits it back out. He roars the house down and Fionn Mór starts crying- or “Fionn Beag” starts crying.

“What’s all your noise about?” Úna asked.

“It scalded my mouth.”

And Úna’s standing here beside Fionn Beag and pouring the tea into his mouth, a much cooler cupán tae (cup of tea) and he’s gulping it down, no problem.

“Well, the baby doesn’t seem to mind. Anyway, I’ll go and get you another cup. Anyway, here, here’s a piece of cake, that’s to cool your mouth down.”

So Benandonner takes this “cake”, which was actually a rock disguised with flour and spices but she goes “mind, it might be a bit soft, it’s just out of the oven.”

So Benandonner takes a bite and immediately cracks every tooth in his mouth and roars again, which sets off the baby again, and so- “the baby”. And so, Úna gives a real piece of cake to Fionn Mór. Fionn Mór eats it no problem to him, because it was a normal piece of cake.

“What sort of cake was that?” Benandonner asks.

Can you guess what she said? Can anyone guess?

“Sure, it was just rocky road.”

Audience

*disappointed groans and laughs*

Oisín Ó Dubhshláine

Ar aon nós (anyway), thosaigh Fionn ag gol arís, Fionn Mór started to- or Fionn Beag started crying again anyway. And Úna’s in the kitchen, trying to get this cupán tae for Benandonner and she says:

“Here, can you just soothe him for a minute. Just get him to calm down. He’ll be fine with you, I’m just going to get your cupán tae, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Benandonner has a scalded mouth and cracked teeth and he’s going- he thinks he’s going a bit mad at this point. So he does the only thing he can think of. He takes his finger; puts it in the baby’s mouth, to shut him up. Immediately, Fionn Mór clomps down on Benandonner’s finger and Benandonner pulls his hand away, missing one finger.

And so, this is too much for Benandonner. If a baby was able to bite his own finger off, that was it, he was out of there, he was gone, ar nós na gaoithe, an talamh ag crith faoina chosa. He was running like the wind, the ground shaking beneath his feet. And he tore the stones of the Causeway behind him so Fionn Mór couldn’t come after him after he saw what had happened back at the house.

And Úna watched him go.

“Yeah, going, going… gone.”

So she returned home anyway and finds Fionn Mór in his bonnet and his bróigíní and his nightshirt and he’s saying “can I get a hand here now, please?”

So, ní raibh ar Fhionn Mór troid in aghaidh Benandonner, buíochas le hiontas Úna. He didn’t have to fight Benandonner, thanks to the brilliance of Úna. So, ligfidh mé daoibhse a rá cé hé an fíorlaoch den scéal seo. I’ll leave it up to you to decide who the true hero of this story is.

So sin é scéal Fionn Mór Mac Cumhaill, and as we’ve seen from today there are different types of heroes. Lir took care of his children for as long as he could. Fionn Mac Cumhaill went and fought some sharks for his son. Shows how important family can be to us. An Dearg Due, or the Woman from An Dearg Due, who we won’t know the name of, more than likely, sought retribution and she took back what was hers. She refused to let herself just be a victim of it and she took back what was rightfully hers. She fought for herself. We saw Bríghid, the healer, who was an inspiration to the poets and the women of Ireland. We had Danu and Tailte, who raised children, who very often weren’t there own, but they raised them like they were family anyway.

Chun an fhírinne a rá, to tell the truth, there are many different ways to be a hero. You can take action and you can fight, like Peig King did in Cumann na mBan. Or you can just be there for your clann and cairde, for family and friends. And sometimes, that’s enough.

Sin é Lá na Laochra: Hero Day 2021 and go raibh míle maith agaibh as ucht a bheith linn.

I think, tá an caife dúnta ag an bointe seo so I hope you enjoyed your stuff. I should also say a big thank you just before we finish up completely to Aon Scéal for hosting us. They are fantastic, they do great work. Feel free to drop by, they do absolutely great food and they do great drinks and I think they’re opening up their menu a bit more in the future. So yeah, feel free to stop by.