-jeanne Fionn and the Burning of Tara ____________________________________________________ During the time Conn C�adchathach -- Conn of the Hundred Battles -- was king of Tara in the second century of our era, Aill�n, son of Midna, a man of the Sidhe from Sidhe Fionnachaidh in Sliabh Fuad in the North, used to destroy Tara every O�che Shamhna. O�che Shamhna -- which is called Halloween in English -- is one of the two great divisions of the year in the old Celtic calendar. The other one is O�che Bhe�ltaine, the eve of the First of May. On these two nights, the gateways between this world and the Otherworld are open. One of these gateways is on the Hill of Tara, which was the religious and political capital of Ireland from the earliest times until a Christian saint cursed it in the sixth century. The gateway is a Sidhe mound called a passage tomb by the archaeologists, because it was used for burial and it has a passage leading to a chamber in the middle of the mound. It was built over 5000 years ago. If you go there at sunrise on the 8th of November -- L� Shamhna or the First of November in the old Celtic calendar -- you will see the sun shine straight through the passage into the chamber. That shows that this gateway is open at this time of year. No one lived permanently on the hill of Tara, but the king and his warriors would gather there every O�che Shamhna to protect this world against attacks from the Otherworld. The people of the Sidhe could come out of the Otherworld through any of these Sidhe mounds, and it was through the Sidhe mound on the Hill of Tara that Aill�n would come every O�che Shamhna, because he had a grudge against the kings of Tara. Unfortunately, the story of that grudge has been lost to us. And so it was especially important that Conn C�adchathach and his warriors should be at Tara to defend this world from Aill�n. But when Aill�n came, he would play the magic sleep music of the Sidhe on his flute, and when everyone was asleep, he would let a flame out of his mouth and burn all the buildings, which were made of wood. And not even Gol mac Morna, the leader of the elite troop of hand-picked heroes called the Fianna, was able to prevent Aill�n from burning Tara every O�che Shamhna. About this time, Fionn mac Cumhail, son of the former leader of the Fianna who was killed in a faction fight, reached manhood and arrived at Tara to claim the leadership of the Fianna. Fionn knew that Conn C�adchathach and Gol and Gol's clan of Fir Bolgs from Connacht, the Clan Morna, had been on the winning side of the fight against Fionn's clan of Milesians from Leinster and Munster, the Clan Baiscne. He also knew that Gol himself had killed Fionn's father, Cumhail. It is a sign of Fionn's courage that, at the age of 17, he walked into the king's palace at Tara, surrounded by his enemies, and said to Conn: "I am Fionn, son of Cumhail. Since my father was leader of the Fianna, it is right that I should be leader now that I am of age." Now, Conn knew that if he didn't make Fionn the leader of the Fianna, Fionn's faction, the Clan Baiscne, would revolt, and there would be civil war among the Fianna. But if he took the leadership away from Gol, the Morna faction would revolt. Conn did a wise thing. "Fionn," he said, "not even the great Gol mac Morna can prevent Aill�n of Sidhe Fionnachaidh from burning Tara every O�che Shamhna. The man who solves this problem for us deserves to be leader of the Fianna. The position is yours, if you stop the burning of Tara." The king had spoken, and not even Gol mac Morna could argue with Conn's decision. Fionn's father had left him the Crane Bag, a bag of treasures he got from Manann�n mac Lir made from the skin of Aoife, who had been shape-changed into a crane and died in that form. Among these treasures were a cap of silence and a poisonous spear. So blood-thirsty was this spear that the head of it had to be wrapped in seven layers of wet leather and kept in a bucket of water, and it was chained to a wall so it couldn't escape and kill everyone within reach. The spear's name was Birgha, and it was Aill�n's own spear. How Cumhail came by it is probably in that story that's been lost to us, but we can suspect that it provided at least part of the motive for Aill�n's destruction of Tara. On the following O�che Shamhna, Fionn took the cap and the spear to Tara and waited for Aill�n. When Aill�n appeared and played his Sidhe music, Fionn pulled the cap of silence down over his ears. As soon as the others were put to sleep by the music, Aill�n let fire out of his mouth. Fionn leapt up with the poisonous spear Birgha and went after Aill�n. Aill�n ran towards Sidhe Fionnachaidh, which is about 60 miles from Tara, with Fionn hot on his heels. Just as Aill�n was entering his Sidhe -- and so was between this world and the Otherworld -- Fionn threw the spear and killed him. That's how Fionn mac Cumhail saved Tara from burning and became leader of the Fianna. ____________________________________________________