Transcript

Bhí mac ag an Rí Lochrann a dtugadh siad an Dearg Mór air agus mharaigh na Fiannú[1] Éireann é. Agus d'éis iad á mharú fuair siad cuireadh ón Rí Lochrann a ghoil go dtí é nó go dtugadh sé a iníon dho Gholl Mór le pósadh. Agus réitigh siad amach le ghoil go tír Lochrann. Agus d'fhága siad Conán ina ndiaidh mar bhí sé drochmhúinte agus bhíodh sé ag tarraingt achrainn orthub gach uile áit dá dtéigheadh siad. Agus sheoladar leothub agus bhí Conán ag imeacht fiáin. Agus tháinig fear go dtí é a dtugaidís (an) Manannán air, (a dh)raoitheadóir. Agus d'fhiafraigh sé dhe cén luach saothair a thiúrfadh sé dhó as currachán snámh a thabhairt dó a thiúrfadh go tír Lochrann é riocht agus go mbeadh sé ann i dtosach ar na Fiannú Éireann.

"Níl aon luach saothair agam," a deir Conán.

Ach mar sin féin thug sé an currachán snámh dhó. Agus nuair a bhí sé ag goil thar na Fiannú Éireann dúirt sé le Goll go rabh a dheartháir, Conán Bán, báite ar an trá ó inné.

"Má tá," a deir duine eile dho na Fiannú Éireann, "is maith crua tirim," a deir sé, "an focal cainte atá ag tíocht as a bhéal."

Bhalaigh Conán thartub agus tháinig sé go dtí an Rí Lochrann agus bhí máthair an Rí Lochrann chomh sean agus go rabh sí i gcliabh crochta taobh amuigh ar an mballa ag tabhairt (follántais) dhi.

"Aithním," a deir an tseanbhean, "culaith agus claimhe an Deirg agus ní aithním a dheilbh ná é féin." Shíl sí gurb é an Dearg Mór a bhí ann.

"Gnás," a deir Conán, "dho chlann na ríghte a bheith... dho chlann na ngaiscíochaí," a deir sé, "a bheith ag déanamh gaisce, dho chlann na ríghtí a bheith ag inseacht scéil, dho chailleachaí a bheith ag stopadh a mbéil, ach dar mo bhriathra ní bheinn folláin nó go gcnagainn an chailleach a bhí (ar gor sna cléibh)."

Shiúil sé isteach go dtí an Rí Lochrann agus ní bhfuair sé aon locht air. Agus bhí mac eile ag an Rí Lochrann a dtugadh siad Tuathal air agus bhí sé sin in áit a dtugaidís an (Uaimh Chaoil) air. Agus nuair a bheadh na Fiannú Éireann le thíocht isteach ar an gcósta bhí sé sin le tosaí ag scréachaíl. Agus bhí a chuid scréachaíl in ann na Fiannú Éireann a chur dhon tsaol. Agus nuair a chuala Conán go rabh sé ann chuaigh sé chomh fada leis. Agus nuair a tháinig sé go dtí é chuaigh siad ag imirt cártaí. Agus bhuach sé ar Chonán agus dúirt Conán leis an bhreith a thabhairt.

"Cuirim dho bhreith ort," a deir sé, "éirí as an gcathaoir a bhfuil tú innti agus suí insa gcathaoir seo."

Rinne siad é sin. Agus bhuach Conán air aríst. Agus dúirt sé leis a bhreith a thabhairt.

"Cuirimse go bhreith ort," a deir Conán, "do cheann," a deir sé, "a leagan go cruinn ar an gceap agus nuair a tharraingeos mise ort an tua gan thú ag cur asad glao ná fead."

Tháinig... Mha–... Tharraing sé an tua agus mharaigh sé é. Agus tháinig na Fiannú Éireann isteach go tír Lochrann nó gur shiúileadar isteach ag an rí. Agus tháinig Conán é féin ann. Bhí siad... Bhí an oíche gá caitheamh, agus iad ag caitheamh bainse. Agus cuireadh draíocht ar na Fiannú Éireann riocht agus gur ghreamaigh siad dho na cathaoireachaí a rabh siad orthub 'na suí agus gur ghreamaigh na cathaoireachaí dhon urlár. Nuair a bhí sin déanta chruinnigh na Lochrannaigh orthub nó go dtoisíodh siad ag marú na Fiannú Éireann agus bhí bua faighte acub am eicínt sa saol roimhe sin ó fhear draíocht, lá ar bith a mbeadh siad ann go dtiocfadh sé féin chomh fada leothub.

Translation

The King of Scandinavia had a son who was called Dearg Mór and the Fianna of Ireland killed him. And after they killed him they received an invitation from the King of Scandinavia to go to him so that he might give his daughter's hand in marriage to Goll Mór. And they prepared to go to Scandinavia. And they left Conán behind because he was ill-mannered and drew strife on them wherever they went. And they sailed off and Conán was going wild. And a man came to him who was called An(?) Manannán, a(?) magician. And he asked him what reward he would give him if he gave him a little sailing boat that would bring him to Scandinavia so that he would be there before the Fianna of Ireland.

"I have no reward (to give you)," says Conán.

But all the same he gave him the little sailing boat. And when he was passing the Fianna of Ireland he told Goll that his brother, Conán Bán, was drowned on the beach since the day before.

"If he is," said another of the Fianna of Ireland, "the speech that is coming out of his mouth," he said, "is good and firm and dry."

Conán hurried past them and he came to the King of Scandinavia and the King of Scandinavia's mother was so old that she was in a frame hung on the wall outside giving her support(?).

"I see," said the old woman, "the clothing and sword of Dearg but I do not see his shape or his own self." She thought it was Dearg Mór who was there.

"It is usual," said Conán, "for the offspring of kings... for the offspring of warriors," he said, "to engage in feats of valour, for the offspring of kings to tell stories, for hags to shut their mouth, but by my word I won't be well until I strike the hag brooding in the frame (?)."

He walked into the King of Scandinavia and he didn't disparage him. And the King of Scandinavia had another son whom they called Tuathal and he was in the place they used to call the Narrow Cave (?). And when the Fianna of Ireland were about to land on the coast he was to start screeching. And his screeching was capable of annihilating the Fianna of Ireland. And when Conán heard he was there he went to him. And when he came to him they went playing cards. And he beat Conán and Conán said to him to name his forfeit.

"I enjoin you," he said, "to get up from the chair you're in and sit in this chair."

They did that. And Conán beat him again. And he told him to name his forfeit.

"I enjoin you," said Conán, "to lay," he said, "your head precisely on the block and when I take out the axe not to shout or whistle."

He came... He kill–... He took out the axe and killed him. And the Fianna of Ireland came to the land of Scandinavia and walked over to the king. And Conán himself went there. They were... The night was going by, and they were having a wedding feast. And the Fianna of Ireland were put under a spell so that they stuck to the chairs they were sitting on and the chairs stuck to the floor. When that was done the Scandinavians surrounded them so that they could start killing the Fianna of Ireland and they had received a boon from a magician some time before that, that anytime they were there he would come to them.

Footnotes

Commentary

This appears to be a version of a famous Fenian tale known as Bruidhean Chaorthainn, or 'the Hostel of the Rowan Tree'. It involves the Fianna killing a foreign invader, and being trapped in the hostel or palace of his father. They become magically stuck to their chairs, and are subsequently freed. One character named Conán Maol has the skin torn away from his back when escaping from the chair, and he is forced to replace it with a sheepskin. It was recorded in Seathrún Céitinn's seventeenth-century text Foras feasa ar Éirinn, where it is described as an 'unhistorical tale'. See James MacKillop, A dictionary of Celtic mythology (Oxford, 2004), 61-2. A full translation of the story can be found in P.W. Joyce, Old Celtic romances (Dublin, 1920), 176-222. The incident in the story concerning the axe may be derived from an event in the Ulster Cycle tale of Fled Bricrenn, or Bricriu's Feast, where a churlish warrior strikes a bargain with the heroes of Ulster that he will allow them to behead him if he can do the same in return. See Kuno Meyer (ed. and tr.), 'The Edinburgh version of the Cennach ind Rúanado (The bargain of the strong man)', Revue Celtique 14 (1893), 450–91. For more on the type of Fenian tale concerning the Fianna being trapped in a dangerous palace or hostel, see Joseph Falaky Nagy, 'In defence of Rómánsaíocht', Ériu 38 (1987), 9-26. See also Joseph Falaky Nagy, 'Shamanic aspects of the "Bruidhean" tale', History of Religion 20:4 (1981), 302-22.

Phonetic and orthographic transcriptions of this recording appear in Brian Ó Curnáin, The Irish of Iorras Aithneach, County Galway (4 vols, Dublin, 2007), vol. 4, 2107-9.