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In early Ireland, '''fianna''' (singular '''fian''') were small, semi-independent warrior bands who lived apart from society in the forests as mercenaries, bandits and hunters, but could be called upon by kings in times of war. They appear in Irish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill. In more recent history, the name Fianna Éireann has been used by a number of Irish Republican paramilitary youth groups.
The historical institution of the ''fian'' is known from references in early medieval Irish law tracts. A ''fian'' was made up of landless young men, often young aristocrats who had not yet come into their inheritance of land.^[1] A member of a ''fian'' was called a ''fénnid''; the leader of a ''fian'' was a ''rígfénnid'' (literally "king-''fénnid'').^[2] Geoffrey Keating, in his 17th century ''History of Ireland'', says that during the winter the ''fianna'' were quartered and fed by the nobility, during which time they would keep order on their behalf, but during the summer, from Beltaine to Samhain, they were obliged to live by hunting for food and for pelts to sell.^[3] Keating's ''History'' is more a compilation of traditions than a reliable history, but in this case scholars point to references in early Irish poetry and the existence of a closed hunting season for deer and wild boar between Samhain and Beltaine in medieval Scotland as corroboration.^[4]
Some legendary depictions of ''fianna'' seem to conform to this historical reality: for example, in the Ulster Cycle the druid Cathbad leads a ''fian'' of twenty-seven men which fights against other ''fianna'' and kills the twelve foster-fathers of the Ulster princess Ness. Ness, in response, leads her own ''fian'' of twenty-seven in pursuit of Cathbad.^[5]
However, the stories of the Fenian Cycle, set around the time of Cormac mac Airt, depict the ''fianna'' as a single standing army in the service of the High King, although it contains two rival factions, the Clann Baíscne of Leinster, led by Fionn mac Cumhaill, and the Clann Morna of Connacht, led by Goll mac Morna, and lives apart from society, surving by hunting.
Membership was subject to rigorous tests. In one such test the applicant would stand in a waist-deep hole armed with a shield while nine warriors threw spears at him; if he was wounded, he failed. In another his hair would be braided, and he would be pursued through the forest; he would fail if he was caught, if a branch cracked under his feet, or if the braids in his hair were disturbed. He would have to be able to leap over a branch the height of his forehead, pass under one as low as his knee, and pull a thorn from his foot without slowing down. He also needed to be a skilled poet.
Members included:

★ Fionn mac Cumhaill: last leader of the Fianna

★ Cumhal: Fionn's father, the former leader

★ Goll mac Morna

★ Caílte mac Rónáin

★ Conán mac Morna

★ Diarmuid Ua Duibhne: a warrior of the Fianna who ran off with Finn's intended bride Grainne and was finally killed by a giant boar on the heath of Benn Gulbain. Foster son of Aengus.

★ Lughaid Stronghand: sorcerous warrior, nephew of Fionn mac Cumhaill, one of the four who could have untied the knots Diarmuid bound the seakings with, but refused to do so. Lover of Aife, daughter of Manannan

★ Oisín, son of Fionn mac Cumhaill: (Macpherson's Ossian)

★ Oscar, son of Oisín

Contents

References

References

1. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, ''Early Medieval Ireland'', Longman, 1995, p. 88
2. Dictionary of the Irish Language, Compact Edition, Royal Irish Academy, 1990, pp. 299, 507
3. Geoffrey Keating, ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' 2.45
4. Nerys Patterson, ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: the Social Structure of Early Ireland'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, p. 122-123
5. Kuno Meyer, "Anecdota from the Stowe MS. No. 992", ''Revue Celtique'' 6, 1884, pp. 173-186