Favourite Irish Legend?

Banphrionsa

What's your favourite Irish legend? Mine is about the love triangle between Grainne, Diarmuid and Fionn MacCool, which was to have happened centuries ago in the Kingdom of Tara. Grainne was betrothed to Fionn MacCool, and on their wedding day before taking her vows, Grainne met Fionn MacCool's younger nephew Diarmuid and ran off with him. Fionn MacCool pursued his runaway bride all over Ireland, making the wayward couple sleep in a different place every night for 16 years. Legend has it that these beds can still be seen today in many remote places. Now this is the ultimate love triangle!

biko

The children of Lir

roughan

hmm Famous Irish Legend ...thats easy ROY KEANE

simu

Anything with Fionn and the Fianna rocks!

Flex

So many brilliant tales from the Fenian Cycle and the Ulster Cycle, but my favourite is the Cattle Raid of Cuailnge (Cooley). Its brilliant from start to finish. Favourite one in the Fenian Cycle is the Battle of Ventry.

Rockee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Boru

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Plunkett

nollaig

The one about the war between connavht and ulster over the bull is good. With the 2 friends having to fight each other.

St. Patrick up on Croagh Patrick for lent is another pretty cool legend.

meditraitor

The Salmon of Knowledge

DamoKen

nollaig wrote:

The one about the war between connavht and ulster over the bull is good. With the 2 friends having to fight each other.

That would be Cuchulain fighting his foster brother Ferdiad at the ford I think from The Cattle-Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge), one of my favourites as well. Another would be Niamh of the Golden Hair and Oisin, so many of them hard to call a favourite. Not sure about St Patrick and Brian Boru, surely historical figures, not legends (though I suppose they did become legendary)

nollaig

Well, while St. Patrick is historical. Surely, the story about him staying up on croagh patrick for 40 days & 40 nights is a legend. Is there any historical evidence to suggest otherwise?

DamoKen

nollaig wrote:

Well, while St. Patrick is historical. Surely, the story about him staying up on croagh patrick for 40 days & 40 nights is a legend. Is there any historical evidence to suggest otherwise?

sorry my bad, meant Oliver Plunkett as per the post referencing Wikipedia

Buttermilk

biko wrote:

The children of Lir

Yeah I loved that story when I was growing up. Its a great story! I would love to know more about Queen Meave and the hill of Tara, I dont know of her.

luckat

Can't stand Cú Chullainn, what a little prick that guy was.

simu

luckat wrote:

Can't stand Cú Chullainn, what a little prick that guy was.

Why?

casanova_kid

nollaig wrote:

Well, while St. Patrick is historical. Surely, the story about him staying up on croagh patrick for 40 days & 40 nights is a legend. Is there any historical evidence to suggest otherwise?

Yeah, I think that one ranks beside the whole banishing snakes and all that god bull**** aswell.

luckat

Why, Simu? The guy was a psycho. Seven years old, his first action is to kill a dog. Classic symptom of a psychopathic personality.

Shortly after that he discovers that if he "takes arms" on a particular day he'll be famous though short-lived. He bullies a charioteer into taking him out and goes and murders a couple of unfortunate giants.

Then there's the whole Queen Maeve business. The woman was just trying to keep her husband in order. If Cú Chullain had kept his nose out of the row it would have been sorted out - the Connacht people would have brought home the bull, story ended.

I mean, look at the point in the story when Maeve is walking around her camp with her pet squirrel on one shoulder and her pet crow on the other, and Cú takes his sling and kills the squirrel, then the crow. Does this fellow have a thing against pets?

And then there's his son. He goes off training, to learn how to kill more efficiently, and gets off with his trainer's daughter. She "falls pregnant" (to use the tabloid term) and he tells her she should send the sprog to him when he's grown - but make sure he doesn't tell anyone but himself his name.

Not a word about child support, mind.

So years later the kid turns up, proud as punch, just dying to meet his hero father. He won't tell anyone his name, and the Red Branch mob all try to kill him, but fail.

They send for the da, who comes along and can't kill him either, until he plays a dirty trick and uses the Gae Bolga, bringing it up from under the waves into the kid's arsehole. When the kid's dying, Cú Chullain says who he is and the kid says "Oh! You're my da!" and dies.

Cú Chullain goes nuts, and raving with temper tries to attack the waves and has to be quieted down with an opiate-laden spear.

What a creep.