The earliest and most significant compilation of
stories in the old Irish FENIAN CYCLE of heroic tales
is the Acallam na Senórech or the Colloquy of the
Old Men. The text survives in three manuscripts—
two from the 15th century and one late one from
the 17th century. Linguistic evidence, however, indicates that the text was composed in the 12th century. Unfortunately, all three manuscripts break off
before any conclusion is reached. Incomplete as it
is, though, the extant text runs to some 8,000 lines,
making it the longest of all old Irish works save
only the TÁIN BÓ CUAILGNE.
The text takes the form of a frame narrative, not
unlike the Arabic Thousand and One Nights. The
frame itself tells the story of a meeting between
Saint Patrick and the last surviving members of the
fian warrior band of the great mythic hero Finn
mac Cumaill. It begins as Oisín (Finn’s son) and
Cailtre, last of the Fenians, are wandering with a
small band a century and a half after the great battles in which Finn and the other Fenians perished.
Soon after the narrative begins, Oisín separates
from Cailtre to seek his mother, who is one of the
Tuatha de Danann, the gods of pagan Ireland. Cailtre and the others continue south toward Tara, and
on the way they meet with Saint Patrick. Cailtre
and his companions accept Christianity, and Saint
Patrick begins to travel with Cailtre. As they travel,
the saint asks Cailtre questions about the landscape, and Cailtre relates several tales about the
place names of the woods and hills they pass
through.
When Patrick asks about Finn mac Cumaill,
Cailtre tells about hunting with Finn in Arran,
between Scotland and Pictland, and sings a lay
about Arran and its many stags. He tells Patrick
how the hill Finntulack (“Whitemound”) in
Munster got its name from Finn himself when he
and the Fenians left that hill on the morning of
their last battle. He tells the story, too, of Cael’s
Strand, so named for a young Fenian warrior who
also fell in the ensuing battle, but whose quest for
his beloved Créde had delayed the fight. After
Cael’s death, Créde had sung a lament while lying
beside him on the shore where his body had
washed up.
When they arrive at Tara, Cailte, Patrick, and
their companions find Oisín already there, at the
court of Diarmuid mac Cerbaill, and the ancient
heroes continue to tell tales. Some of the stories are
concerned with mythological or historical themes,
but for the most part they are tales of the Fenian
bands, many of them unique to this text.
It seems likely that a single compiler put together the text of the Acallam na Senórech, gathering, perhaps from oral sources or from written
sources long since lost, as many legends of old Ireland as he could find. Whether the author was a
cleric or a layperson, the most remarkable thing
about his text is Saint Patrick’s interest in and respect for ancient Irish lore. Such a relationship is
rare indeed at this point in time. In a later ballad
version of the frame narrative, Saint Patrick condemns the pagan Fenians, declaring that Finn is in
hell, while the Fenians defiantly declare that if such
is the case, God is a poor judge of character, and
they would rather be in hell with Finn than in
heaven with such a lord.
Bibliography
The Colloquy of the Old Men (Acallam na senórach).
Translated with introduction and notes by Maurice Harmon. With a preface by Seán Ó Coileáin.
Dublin: Maunsel, 2001.
Dillon, Myles. Early Irish Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948.
Stories from the Acallam. Edited by Myles Dillon.
Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
1970.