Tom, Paddy and their grandfather told stories about their youth. They spoke of cutting the turf in summertime, good and bad teachers at school and the pranks they played on them, going to the local dance-hall to do Irish céilí dancing6, touring shows in the village hall and much more. The children were fascinated to hear about their granny when she was young. It made them laugh to hear about some of the naughty things she did as a child.
“It sounds like you and her were right little imps,” Niamh said to Paddy. Paddy chuckled, thinking about the funny memories.
Brian, Fionn, Aillén, Gráinne, Maeve and Morrigan enjoyed their stories too. Conor had begged Brian Boru to tell them about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, where Brian had been killed alongside his son and grandson. Brian explained how his men were fighting against the combined forces of the King of Dublin, the King of Leinster and the Vikings. He was elderly at the time of the battle, and he had been praying when he was killed. His forces were victorious, despite his death.
“You were seen as a national hero,” said Conor.
Sean had asked Fionn Mac Cumhaill to tell them about the story of the Salmon of Knowledge. Fionn told them that when he was a boy, he went and lived with wise poet called Finegas, who lived by the River Boyne. Finegas was always fishing, and one day Fionn saw him catch a beautiful salmon. Finegas knew he had caught the Salmon of Knowledge, but he didn’t tell Fionn. Finegas was tired after battling with the salmon, so asked Fionn to cook it, but warned him not to eat it. So Fionn had built a fire to cook the fish. As he had turned the fish over, he burnt his thumb, and put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain. When Fionn had brought the cooked fish to Finegas, Finegas saw a change in him. He asked him if he had eaten the salmon. Fionn had replied that he hadn’t, but then remembered sucking his thumb. Finegas was sad that he would never be the wisest man in Ireland, but he was happy for Fionn.
Sean avait demandé à Fionn Mac Cumhaill de leur raconter l'histoire du Saumon de la Connaissance. Fionn leur raconta que lorsqu’il était un jeune garçon, il était allé vivre avec un poète très sage appelé Finegas, qui vivait près de la rivière Boyne. Finegas pêchait toujours et un jour Fionn le vit attraper un beau saumon. Finegas savait qu'il avait attrapé le Saumon de la Connaissance, mais ne le dit pas à Fionn. Finegas était fatigué après s'être battu avec le saumon, alors il demanda à Fionn de le faire cuire, mais le prévint de ne pas le manger. Alors Fionn fit un feu pour cuire le poisson. Lorsqu’il retourna le poisson, il se brûla le pouce et le mit son pouce dans sa bouche pour soulager la douleur. Quand Fionn apporta le poisson cuit à Finegas, Finegas vit qu'il avait changé. Il lui demanda s'il avait mangé le saumon. Fionn répondit qu'il ne l'avait pas fait, mais se rappela ensuite avoir sucé son pouce. Finegas fut triste de ne jamais pouvoir être l'homme le plus sage d'Irlande, mais il était heureux pour Fionn.
“So you became the wisest man in Ireland,” prompted Sean. “So they say,” Fionn laughed.
Fionn told Aillén to tell everybody more about himself. He told them that he was one of the Tuatha de Danann, who were a magical race with supernatural powers. He lived in Mag Mell, which was a wonderful paradise. It was a place where it was always spring-like and sunny. Aillén described himself as a fairy musician who played the Irish harp and sang songs.
“And we know what happened when you played the harp,” Fionn teased him.
Niamh encouraged Aillén to sing a song. He hadn’t needed much persuasion. He had broken into a haunting, lilting song about the Mountain Ash tree. It was so beautiful that it had brought tears to Niamh’s eyes.
“The Mountain Ash is also known as the Rowan tree,” Conor had said breaking the trance that had held the listeners captivated.“Gráinne, you have a story from your childhood like me,” said Fionn. Grainne was delighted to tell her story. She told them how she was the daughter of Owen/Eoghan O’Malley the chief of the O’Malley clan. The family had a fleet of ships off the west coast of Ireland. She said that when she was twelve years of age, she really wanted to sail on the ships with her father. Gráinne had pleaded with her father to let her join him at sea, but he had told her that it was no place for women or girls, and that her long hair would get caught in the ropes. In a fit of temper, Gráinne had cut her hair short like a boy. This had made her father laugh, and Gráinne became known as Gráinne Mhaol, which basically means Gráinne the bald-headed.
Queen Maeve had laughed at this nickname. Gráinne had then brought up how Queen Maeve had died, and told the others it was a very peculiar way to die. After much coaxing, Maeve told the story of her death. Maeve’s father had married her off to Conchobar Mac Nessa, the king of Ulster. She hadn’t been happy about the marriage and it didn’t last long. But when he gave Maeve’s sister, Eithne, to Conchobar Mac Nessa, it had made Maeve angry. She had killed her pregnant sister. Eithne’s baby son, Furbaide, survived. When Furbaide had grown-up, he had sought revenge for his mother’s death; he planned to kill Maeve. Every evening Maeve bathed near Lough Ree, and Furbaide knew this. He practised with his slingshot, until one day he had fired a piece of cheese at Queen Maeve and killed her.
La reine Maeve avait ri de ce surnom. Gráinne avait alors évoqué la mort de la reine Maeve et dit aux autres que c'était une façon très particulière de mourir. Après beaucoup d'insistance, Maeve raconta l'histoire de sa mort. Le père de Maeve l’avait mariée à Conchobar Mac Nessa, le roi d’Ulster. Elle n’avait pas été heureuse de ce mariage et cela n’avait pas duré longtemps. Mais quand il donna la sœur de Maeve, Eithne, à Conchobar Mac Nessa, cela mit Maeve en colère. Elle avait tué sa sœur enceinte. Furbaide, le petit garçon d’Eithne avait survécu. Une fois Furbaide devenu adulte, il avait cherché à se venger de la mort de sa mère; il avait prévu de tuer Maeve. Chaque soir, Maeve se baignait près de Lough Ree, et Furbaide le savait. Il s’entraînait avec son lance-pierre, jusqu'au jour où il tira un palet sur la reine Maeve et la tua.
The children had tried to stifle their giggles, on hearing about the strange death. Queen Maeve had glared at them but this made them worse, and they roared out loud. Maeve had quickly declared that it was Morrigan’s turn to tell a story.
Morrigan told them about a woman called Odras. Odras’s husband kept fine cattle and had a bull which Morrigan decided to take while Odras was asleep. When Odras woke up, she was furious about the missing bull. She knew it was Morrigan, so she followed Morrigan to the Otherworld, by going into the cave of Cruachan. But again Odras fell asleep, and Morrigan turned her into a pool of water, which flowed into the River Shannon.
Then their grand uncle Paddy sang Danny Boy, which brought tears to their eyes. So to cheer them up, Paddy sang Paddy McGinty’s Goat. This had everybody laughing.
“I’ve really enjoyed listening to your tales of magic, heroism, power and strength,” said Conor with enthusiasm.“Yes, it’s good to hear about you three women being as powerful as the men, so long ago,” agreed Niamh. The women turned to Brian, Fionn and Aillén and gave them mocking looks. This annoyed the three men. “Everyone knows that women are weaker than men,” Brian Boru taunted them.“Every woman knows what fools men are,” Morrigan spat back.
The three men and the three women all stood up and started baiting each other. The children, their grandfather, Uncle Paddy and Tom looked on, shocked.
Suddenly, Sean got up and stood between them with his hands up.
“Stop! We will organise a contest between you to see whether the men or the women are the most powerful and skilled.”“Great idea,” encouraged Conor. “Alright, but we have to do it before midnight,” said Brian. “We have to get back to the Otherworld by then, or else we will be trapped in the world of the living, forever.
