Cath Fionntrá - The Battle of Ventry

The Legend of The Battle of Ventry

Cath Fionntrá , one of the great tales of the Fianna, tells the tale of the mythical battle of Ventry, fought out with heroic, bloody ferocity between the invading forces of Rí an Domhain (the King of the World) and Fionn Mac Cumhaill’s band of elite warriors

The earliest known publication of this epic tale comes from a 12th Century manuscript, but it lived long in the oral tradition of Ireland before that.

The characters on both sides of the conflict are of the highest nobility and honour, although not without recourse to devious sleights. On the one side there is Rí an Domhain and his allies, some of them with personal grudges to settle with Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Fionn was protecting Ireland while Dáire Donn wished to bring the country to its knees and force it to be subservient to him.The Fianna, on home soil, are determined to defend Ireland and their own honour, bound by their motto;“Purity in our hearts, strength in our limbs and deeds to match our words”.

Their unrelenting battle on the shores of Ventry lasted for a year and a day, reverberating around Ireland and echoing to this day in placenames that recall great heroes and their deeds

 

Finscéal Cath Fionntrá 

Is é Cath Fionntrá  ceann de na scéalta is tabhachtaí i scéalta na Féinne. Déanainn Cath Fionntrá cur síos ar chogadh dearg gaisciúil idir arm Dháire Donn, Rí an Domhain, agus na Fianna.

Sa 12ú haois a scríobhadh an leagan is luaithe atá againn, ach is léir go raibh eolas ar an gCath i bhfad roimis sin.

Tháinigh na maithe agus na mór-uaisle ó gach cúinne den ndomhan le páirt a ghlacadh sa chath agus bhí sé fiain agus fíochmhar. Theastaigh ó Rí an Domhain Éire a ghabháil mar gurbh í an t-aon tír amháin ar dhroim an domhain í nár ghéill riamh do. San airm aige bhí Rí na Fraince agus theastaigh uaidh siúd díoltas a dh’imirt ar Fhionn Mac Cumhaill. Ag cosaint na hÉireann a bhí Fionn agus is ag iarraidh í a chur faoina smacht a bhí Rí an Domhain. Bhí na Fianna ag iarraidh Éire, agus a gclú féin, a chosaint, iad ag cloí lena mhana mhisniúil: " Glaine inár gcroí, neart inár ngéaga agus beart de réir ár mbriathar".

Lean an choimhlint mharfach san gan stad, gan staonadh ar feadh bliana agus lae. Tá macallaí de le cloisint timpeall Chorca Dhuibhne fós sna logainmneacha, a úsáidtear go dtí an lá atá inniu ann