Fia

Fia

Os

Agh alla

Oisín - young deer

Eilit - a doe

Damh alla - a stag

Damhra - herd of deer

The white-tailed deer is the most common and most widely distributed of North American large mammals.

Deer were of extreme importance to the early Irish, but surprisingly little folklore about them was recorded. Deer represented swiftness, strength, and nobility, as well as the fertility of the forest, and regeneration due to their regrowing of antlers. The Irish goddess of deer was Fliodhais. During her son’s reign over Ireland, cattle and deer were both milked together. Irish deer were said to be so fat that they couldn’t escape a hunt. This still shapes the language, as “Fia-” can also mean anything wild or great in size (for example, “fiabhuidéal fuiscí” means a wildly large bottle of whiskey). Fionn Mac Cumhaill and his Fianna, the legendary warrior band, fought enemies and hunted deer. Fionn’s son was called Oisín because his mother was the deer-woman Blaí Dheirg. In the tale of Buile Suibhne, the king’s story is told through poetry and part of this is a praise poem to the deer.

The deer’s lore seems to have been forgotten as woodlands were cut down during colonization, and deer mostly became confined to the estates of the landed gentry. Native species nearly went extinct during the Famine, and only a single native herd remained in Co. Kerry.

“Fia” means forest-dweller and comes from the word for the forest “Fiodh”. It can also be used to mean “a wilderness.”

“Giorria”, the Irish for a hare, is actually a contracted spelling of “gearrfhia” meaning a short deer.

The colour of a deer has its own specific name in Irish, “Osbhuí.”

“Fulacht Fia” was an ancient method of cooking in the wilderness. A pit was dug and filled with water. Stones were heated in a fire and dropped into the pit to create a pool of boiling water in which meat was cooked. In modern Irish, we still use the word “Fulacht Fia” but it now means a barbeque.

Béaloideas - Folklore

Fionn Mac Cumhaill agus a Mhac Oisín (ó Antoin Ó Gallcobhair, Co. Dún na nGall)

Lá amháin bhí Fionn Mac Cumhaill agus na Fianna Éireann amuigh ag seilg. Chaith siad lá ar bheann is ar ghleann agus ní bhfuair siad a dhath ar bith. Ag deireadh an tráthnóna agus iad ag teacht chun an bhaile léim eilit mhaol amach as faoi bhun binne. Lean siad í idir fir is madraí, go dtí go raibh siad uilig tuirseach, ach amháin Fionn agus a dhá mhadra, Bran agus Sceolán. Lean siad an eilit nó go raibh siad i lár machaire móire agus an oíche ag titim orthu. Stad an eilit. D’imigh Bran agus Sceolán faoi choinne an eilit a mharú, ach thósaigh an eilit ag deánamh cuideachta leis an dá mhadra. Bhí iontas an domhain ar Fhionn nuair a chonaic sé iad. D’imigh sé leis chun an bhaile agus má bhí iontas air an chéad uair bhí seacht n-oiread air nuair a chonaic sé an eilit a leanúint agus í ag deánamh spóirt leis na madraí.

Ba é an áit a raibh Fionn ina chónaí i mBaile Átha Cliath. Ní raibh sé istigh ina phalás go dtáinig an bhean óg uasal isteach ina dhiaidh agus ní raibh a fhios aige cérbh í fhéin. D’amharc sé uirthi ach níor labhair sé, ach labhair sise agus dúirt sí gurbh ise an eilit a raibh siad ina diaidh agus gur dhiúltaigh sí bheith pósta ar dhuine de na draoithe a bhí in Éirinn agus gur cuireadh faoi gheasa eilite í, agus go mbéadh sí mar sin go ceann trí bhliana agus go ndúirt duine de na seirbhísigh léi dá dtiocfadh léi cuairt a thabhairt ar Fhionn Mac Cumhaill go mbéadh sí ina bean óg uasal arís. Dúirt sí gur chaith sí an lá ag rith agus go raibh sí ag rith ar feadh an lae nó go raibh na Fianna uilig tuirseach, ach tú fhéin agus do dhá mhadra Bran agus Sceolán agus bhí a fhios agam nach ndéanfadh Bran nó Sceolán a dhath orm agus bhí a fhios agam go mbéinn slán ina measc.

Bhí athas ar Fhionn nuair a chuala sé an scéal sin uaithi, agus pósadh é fhéin agus an bhean óg uasal. Lá amháin chuaigh sé amach ag seilg agus bhí sé amuigh ar feadh seacht lá agus nuair a tháinig sé chun an bhaile arís ní raibh tásc ná tuairisc a mhná roimhe. Dúirt duine de na seirbhísigh go dtáinig fear isteach agus gur shíl sí gur Fionn a bhí ann agus gur rith sí amach ag cur fáilte roimhe, ach nuair a leag sí lámh ar an bhfear gur chuir sí béic uafásach aisti agus ansin gur bhuail an fear le slat draíochta í agus go raibh sí faoi gheasa arís, agus gur imigh sí mar a bhéadh an ghaoth ann.

Nuair a chuala Fionn an scéal sin níor labhair sé focal, ach chrom sé a cheann agus tháinig brón agus buairt air agus thosaigh sé ag mairgniú faoi taobh den bhean. Tamall ina dhiaidh sin d’éirigh sé, thug leis a sciath agus a chlaíomh agus amach leis agus a chuid madraí ina dhiaidh agus níor fhág sé fód de chuid talamh na h-Éireann nár chuardaigh sé. Chaith sé seacht mbliana ag cuardú ach ní fhaca sé a bhean ón lá sin go dtí an lá inniu.

Adapted from: “The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1055, Page 325-328” by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Seanfhocail - Proverbs

Chomh fiáin le fia na mbeann - As wild as a deer.

Chomh sciobtha le fia - As swift as a deer.

Dar fia! Dar fia is fiolar! - According to the deer! According to the deer and eagle! (By jove!)

Tá a fhios ag fia go… - The deer knows that… (“heaven knows that…”)

Ná maraigh an fia go bhfeice tú é - Don’t kill the deer until you’ve seen it. (Don’t count your chickens until they hatch)

Trí cú each, trí each fear, trí fear fia, trí fia fiolar, trí fiolar iomaire, trí iomaire críoch an domhain - Three (lifespans of a) hound is (the lifespan of) a horse, three (lifespans of a) horse is (the lifespan of) a man, three (lifespans of a) man is (the lifespan of) a deer, three (lifespans of a) deer is (the lifespan of) an eagle, three (lifespans of an) eagle is (the lifespan of) a cultivation ridge, three (lifespans of a) cultivation ridge is (the lifespan of) the world.

Ní i gcónaí a mharaíonn daidí fia - It’s not always that daddy kills a deer. (You don’t always win)

Rith na con i ndiaidh dhá fhia - The running of the hounds after two deer. (Greediness; doing too much at once)