Goll - Nóra Nic Conaglaigh

Thu, 10/11/2012 - 14:03 | by Eoghan

Recording: [Download audio file] [Download AIFF audio file (of processed ‘user’ version)] [Download AIFF audio file (of archive version)]

Transcript

Bhí na Fiannú na hÉireann agus Fiannú an Domhain Thoir, bhí siad i dtólamh ag troid. Agus chuir Fiannú na... an Domhain Thoir scéala 'uige na Fiannú na hÉireann a choil[1] soir[2] agus go rachadh... ndéanfadh siad síocháin agus gan iad a'n tairne airm a thabhairt leofa. Agus nuair a bhí siadsan ag déanamh... na Fiannú na hÉireann ag déanamh réidh le choil soir dúirt siad go rachadh siad soir anois agus nuair a... dá rachadh na Fiannú thoir a throid leofa go rabh siadsan... nach rabh a'n dath airm leofa. Agus dúirt an fear eile nach dtiocfadh leofa a'n dath airm a thabhairt leofa, nach rabh a'n chead acu.

"Bhuel," a deir sé, "cha dtéann muid (gan rud ar bith)."

"Bhuel, goidé a bhéarfas muidinne?" arsa... ar sé.

"Bhéarfaidh mise liom," a deir Goll, "mo mhiodóg."

"Bhuel," a deir siadsan, "cha dtig leat do mhiodóg a thabhairt leat nó cá háit a gcuirfidh tú í?"

"Ó, bhéarfaidh mé liom in áit fholaigh í agus chan fhaghann siadsan í."

Bhuel, thug siad... d'imigh siad agus thug Goll a mhiodóg leis ach cha dtiocfadh le a'n nduine inse cáit a rabh an mhiodóg leis.

Agus nuair a fuaigh siad soir ansin thoisigh siad a dh'ithe agus a dh'ól agus bhí fáilte mhór ag na Fiannú thoir rófa[3]. Ach i lár na hoíche nuair a bhí an... fuaigh an t-ól ina gcionn thoisigh siad a throid. Agus nuair a bhí siad ag troid ansin agus cha rabh an... bhí an t-arm ag an mhuintir thoir agus cha rabh a'n dath airm ag an... na Fiannú abhus agus bhí siad dá marbhadh.

Deir duine acu le Goll, "Cá bhfuil an mhiodóg?"

Tharraing Goll... tharraing sé amach a mhiodóg agus mharaigh sé ocht bhfichid, ocht gcéad, ochtar agus ocht bhfeara déag sulmar[4] dtearna[5] siad tréadaí[6].

Translation

The Fianna of Ireland and the Fianna of the Eastern World were always fighting. And the Fianna of the Eastern World sent word to the Fianna of Ireland to go east and that they wound make peace and not to bring any weapons with them. And when the Fianna of Ireland were getting ready to go east they said that they would go east now and... if the eastern Fianna began to fight against them that they were... that they had no weapons with them. And the other man said that they couldn't bring any weapons with them, that they were not allowed.

"Well," he said, "we can't go with nothing(?)."

"Well, what will we bring?" he said.

"I will bring," said Goll, "mo dagger."

"Well," they said, "you can't bring your dagger with you, for where will you put it?"

"Oh, I will bring it in a hidden place and they won't find it."

Well, they went off and Goll brought his dagger with him but none could tell where he had the dagger.

And when they went east then they started eating and drinking and the eastern Fianna had a great welcome for them. But in the middle of the night when the... the drink went to their heads they started fighting. And when they were fighting then there wasn't... the eastern people had their weapons and the our Fianna had no weapons and they were being killed.

One of them said to Goll, "Where is the dagger?"

Goll pulled out his dagger and he killed eight score, eight hundred, eight and eighteen men before peace was made.

Footnotes

= ghoil/dhul. Cf. Art Hughes, 'Gaeilge Uladh', in Kim McCone et al., Stair na Gaeilge (Maigh Nuad, 1994), 611-60: 653. (Back)
Leg. sir? Cf. Dónall Ó Baoill, An teanga bheo: Gaeilge Uladh (Dublin, 1996), 150. (Back)
= rompu. Cf. Ó Baoill, op. cit., 97. (Back)
Cf. E. Evans, 'A vocabulary of the dialects of fanad and Glenvar, Co. Donegal', Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 32 (1972), 167-285, s.v. Sular, sulma, sulmar, surmar. (Back)
Leg. dtear’a? Cf. Ó Baoill, op. cit., 52. (Back)
I.e. treaty. (Back)

Commentary

A common theme in medieval and post-medieval Fenian lore is that of the Fianna battling foreign troops. This motif may have originated with stories of battles with supernatural creatures, but evolved into fights with the Danes, and in the post-medieval period, with warriors from the eastern world. By the seventeenth century, the overseas adventure had become a cliché, and was constantly used by compilers of manuscripts in relation to stories of Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna. See Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Dublin, 1988), 263. This provides a context for the current narrative, which lauds the military exploits and martial prowess of Goll mac Morna. Stories of his fighting abilities were often emphasised in medieval accounts, and Connacht writers in particular went to great efforts to portray Goll in a positive light. See Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Myth, legend and romance (New York, 1991), 247.

This story is transcribed also in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 184-7.

Title in English: Goll
Digital version published by: Doegen Records Web Project, Royal Irish Academy

Description of the Recording:

Speaker: Nóra Nic Conaglaigh from Co. Donegal
Person who made the recording: Karl Tempel
Organizer and administrator of the recording scheme: The Royal Irish Academy
In collaboration with: Lautabteilung, Preußische Staatsbibliothek (now Lautarchiv, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Recorded on 02-10-1931 at 16:00:00 in Courthouse, Letterkenny. Recorded on 02-10-1931 at 16:00:00 in Courthouse, Letterkenny.
Archive recording (ID LA_1255d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 01:34 minutes long. Archive recording (ID LA_1255d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 01:34 minutes long.
Second archive recording (ID LA_1255b1, from a shellac disc stored in Belfast) is 01:33 minutes long. Second archive recording (ID LA_1255b1, from a shellac disc stored in Belfast) is 01:33 minutes long.
User recording (ID LA_1255d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 01:33 minutes long. User recording (ID LA_1255d1, from a shellac disk stored at the Royal Irish Academy) is 01:33 minutes long.

Tags: