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One
day as
Fionn and the men of the
Fianna were returning from a hunt,
a beautiful Fawn strayed out onto their path, and a chase ensued.
The Fawn was quick and left the hunters far behind except for Fionn
Mac Cumhaill and his two hounds Bran and Skeolaing. They chased
the Fawn through forests and down into a valley until she could not
run any further, when she wearily lay down the two hounds approached
her but did not harass her.. They returned home with the Fawn following
and That night Fionn was woken up as he sat up in his bed he saw a
beautiful woman standing by his bed nearby, her name was Blai Dherig.
She told him that she had been turned into the little Fawn by
a druid of the Fairy Folk
(Tuatha De Dannan). Fionn made love to her
that night and soon after she became his wife.
Some
time later returning from a trip which took 7 days Fionn found his
dear wife missing, he searched far and wide for his love but without
any joy. After some time had passed and his wife still missing Fionn
and his two hounds were hunting around Ben Bulben in County Sligo
(pictured below) when they came across a young boy who was very wild in appearance.
The boy told Fionn how his mother had met with a dark strange man
who took her away but he himself could not follow. Fionn took pity
on the boy, returned home with him and called him Oisin which means
Little Fawn.
It
happened one day while out hunting that
Fionn, Oisín and the
Fianna
saw a beautiful lady approach them on a snow white horse decorated
in colourful trappings. She wore flamboyant clothes and a crown of
gold. When she reached the men she told them that she had been searching
for a man called Oisín, a man she was in love with and that she was
the daughter of the king of the land of eternal youth . . .Tir Na
Nóg. Her name was Niamh of the golden hair. |
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When
she spoke her voice was so enchanting that when she asked Oisín to
travel to Tir Na Nóg with her he could not refuse her, he had fallen
love with this beautiful maiden himself. He climbed onto the brilliant
white horse and they turned from Fionn and the Fianna and made their
way to Tir Na Nóg. Fionn and his companions watched the horse carry
the strange beautiful lady and his son across the horizon to an unknown,
strange and mysterious land far off the west coast of Ireland, little
did Fionn know that he would never see his son again. |
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On
their journey to the land of everlasting youth the sun shone warmly
down on the travellers and Oisín drifted into a daze, he saw high
towers, gates and walls around a large city with people bustling around.
When they reached Tir Na Nóg and were there for what Oisín thought
was about 3 weeks he longed to meet his friends and family again.
Niamh gave Oisín the beautiful white horse to travel back on but warned
him not to dismount the horse while on Irish soil and to return to
Tir Na Nóg.
Oisín
set off for Ireland and when he arrived he made his way to the Hill
of Allen in County Kildare where his father Fionn had his dún. On
his way he passed through the forests where he had once hunted with
his friends from the Fianna. When he reached the Foot of the Hill
of Allen he urged the horse to climb to the top but when he reached
it there were no dwellings of any kind, the hill had been taken over
by nature, her tall trees and long grass had overgrown any buildings
which might have been there. Oisín travelled on a little confused
and came across an old and feeble man trying to carry a heavy load,
without thinking he instinctively leaped from the horse to help the
old man and when he landed on his feet he turned into an old feeble
man himself. . . he then realised that his time spent in the otherworld
of Tir Na Nóg seemed like 3 weeks but was in fact nearly 300 years. |
