''Cath Finntrágha'' () (''The Battle of Ventry'') is an

Early Modern Irish Early Modern Irish () represented a transition between Middle Irish and Modern Irish. Its literary form, Classical Gaelic, was used in Ireland and Scotland from the 13th to the 18th century. Classical Gaelic Classical Gaelic or Classical Irish ( ...

prose narrative of the Finn Cycle of

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. It dates probably to the 15th century in its current form, but apparently relied on older material. It concerns the deeds of the warrior-hero

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill, often anglicised Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer a ...

, his ''

fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young men, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage ...

'', and, eventually, the gods and goddesses of Irish myth as they defend Ireland against a foreign invasion led by the world-king Dáire Donn. According to Derick Thomson, an 18th-century manuscript of the story in the

Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

also survives in the hand of iconic Scottish

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), legal name Alexander MacDonald, or, in Gaelic Alasdair MacDhòmhnaill, was a Scottish war poet, satirist, lexicographer, and memoirist. He was born at Dalilea into the Noblesse, Scottish nobili ...

.Thomson, Derick S. The Companion to Gaelic Scotland, (Blackwell Reference 1987), page 184-185.

Synopsis

Dáire Dáire is an Old Irish name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dar ...

(or Dáiri) Donn, called "king of the great world" and ostensibly the most powerful ruler in Europe, intends to invade Ireland. Apart from seeking to gratify a more general ambition to conquer territory, he has a pretext and motif which are directed at Finn mac Cumaill in person. First of all, Dáire seeks retribution for the fact that Finn has eloped with the wife and daughter of Bolcán (Vulcan), King of France, when in the mercenary service of the latter. Second, Dáire's sense of honour and pride is ignited by stories about Finn's successes. He musters a large body of forces from all across Europe and invades Ireland at ''Finntraighe'' (lit. 'fair strand'), the shore of Ventry (

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

), on the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of m ...

. A mighty and protracted battle ensues. Finn's son

Oisín Oisín (), Osian, Ossian ( ), or anglicized as Osheen ( ) was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the Fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the demigod son of Fionn mac Cumhaill and ...

faces Bolcán in combat, who much like Suibne Geilt, goes insane and flies off, ultimately landing at Glenn Bolcáin. The young son of the King of Ulster arrives with a troop of boys to rally to Finn's support but is killed. It is only when the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...

are called upon and, after considerable internal debate, choose to intervene, that the

Fianna ''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young men, often from the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, "who had left fosterage ...

are at last victorious. When Finn personally slays both Dáire Donn and the Greek amazon Ógarmach, the invaders finally admit defeat and take flight.

Manuscripts and textual history

The text in its present form was probably written in the 15th century and is represented by two vellum manuscripts: (1) Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B. 487, 1–11, and (2) Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 29 (''olim'' 23 L 24), 328–337, 355–361. In a note to Rawlinson B. 487, the scribe Finnlaech Ó Cathasaigh of Tirawley (County Mayo) declares to have composed the tale for Sadbh Ní Mháille (daughter of Tadg Ó Maille), wife of Richard MacWilliam Bourke (d. 1479). Earlier allusions to Finn's battle at Ventry suggest that one or several versions of the story were current as early as the 12th century. The event is first referred to in a love-story of the ''

Acallam na Senórach ''Acallam na Senórach'' (, whose title in English has been given variously as ''Colloquy of the Ancients'', ''Tales of the Elders of Ireland'', ''The Dialogue of the Ancients of Ireland'', etc.), is an important prosimetric Middle Irish narrat ...

'', in which Finn sets out to meet the enemy in battle, but interrupts the journey to act as a match-maker for Cáel and Créde. During the seventeen days of the battle, the couple offer assistance to Finn, but on the last day, Cáel drowns at sea in pursuit of an opponent and Créde dies of grief. The story is also told in the 15th-century ''Cath Finntrágha'', but this appears to offer a thoroughly revised tale, which incorporates miscellaneous narrative material from the Finn Cycle, the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

and the

Mythological Cycle The Mythological Cycle is a conventional grouping within Irish mythology. It consists of tales and poems about the god-like Tuatha Dé Danann, who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races such as the Fomorians and the Fir ...

. It has been argued that much of its framework was suggested by the earlier tale '' Cath Trága Rudraigi'' (''The Battle of Dundrum Bay''), in which

Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...

forces invade Ireland and do battle at Dundrum Bay (County Down).

Editions

The text was edited and translated by Kuno Meyer (1885) from the vellum manuscript Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B 487, with variants from Egerton 149. Cecil O'Rahilly later published and edition and translation, also from Ms. Rawlinson B 487.

Antiquarian commentary

John O'Donovan provides a number of interesting insights into the Battle of Ventry in his Ordnance Survey letters of 1841. He noted several burial carns near Cantraw, presumed evidence of a great slaughter, along with local claims of finds of many bones and skulls at the east end of the strand. He also noted a boggy area known for the slaughter of the mighty men, ''Guin na dTreanfhear''.John O’Donovan in his Ordnance Survey Letters on the Antiquities of the County of Kerry, of 30 July 1841 (ref. 14/C/30/8 (viii

/ref>

Popular culture

The Novel 'Storm Shield' by Kenneth C. Flint is based on the characters and events of the Battle of Ventry.

Explanatory notes

References

;Bibliography *''

'' ** ** ** **
e-text
via CELT corpus. *''Cath Finntrágha'' **

via maryjones.us **
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via CELT {{DEFAULTSORT:Cath Finntragha Early Irish literature Fenian Cycle