This is an extract from The Enchanted Bay, Tales and Legends from Ernie O’Malley’s Irish Folklore Collection, nominated for an Irish Book Award. O’Malley was an Irish writer and revolutionary (1897–1957) who was born in Co Mayo. In The Enchanted Bay, writers Cormac K.H. O’Malley and Patrick J. Mahoney put together this anthology of Irish folklore with stories collected by O’Malley. This chapter looks at Dearg Mór…
DEARG MÓR CAME to invade Ireland from the Eastern World or Domhain Thoir. Because of his tooth of wisdom Fionn mac Cumhaill knew that Dearg Mór was coming and had undertaken to prepare and train his two best champions for this fight – his own son, Rinnin Roe mac Finn and Ceol Croige mac Craven.
While they were preparing for battle, they were training even more than they had before. They awaited the arrival of Dearg on the seacoast somewhere near Dublin. While at exercise one day, Finn’s son said in a loud voice, so people around could hear him, ‘There’s no man alive that I amn’t able to master in single combat.’ Ceol Croige replied, ‘I hope it’s true for you, Rinnin. Those words are sweet from your lips, but only if your rival was getting tired during the struggle would I agree with you.’
After some time Dearg arrived in Ireland alone in his boat. He jumped to the shore, caught his boat under his arms and drew it up a considerable distance on the beach. The two champions approached him, one on either side. Dearg took them both down, tied their hands and bound them together. Then he secured his boat and took them, one under each arm, to the court of Cormac mac Airt.
When the assembled court saw Dearg coming with their two champions already crushed, they got very much afraid and cried out to Cormac with fear that they’d all be killed. Cormac pacified them and told them to have patience until he’d see what could be done. Dearg marched in to the court and demanded the surrender of Ireland to himself.
Cormac announced: ‘Our sovereignty has often been challenged by those coming across the salt waters but has never yet been given to an invading army with hundreds of soldiers much less given to one man.’
Dearg answered, ‘If all your champions were mine, be they gentle or simple, high or low degree, not one man of them would I bring with me to fight across the sea. But I tell you this, I mean to have the sovereignty of Ireland for myself alone, and I’ll build a wall around this island with all the dead bodies of your champions by the simple force and power of my blows.’
Then, Cormac picked out 50 champions and sent them off to fight, and they lost. Then another 50, one set of 50 after another, until five hundred champions were killed. Cormac called on the Fianna to help.
When Dearg saw the Fianna coming in their awesome strength, he said to Cormac: ‘If it is to fight me that this rabble is coming from the mountains of Leinster, I pity their chances of ever returning there.’
Dearg fought the Fianna, and soon they were nearly annihilated.
Then Fionn sent for Goll mac Morna. Goll at this time had fallen out with the Fianna and was somewhere in Connaught, well away from them. At first Goll refused to consider taking part in the defence of Ireland because he said he had been badly treated by the Fianna previously.
‘If we had not been burnt with fire and badly treated,’ said Goll,
‘I would give you my help, but now I won’t.’
The messenger reported back to Cormac and Fionn and then returned again with their promises of riches and lands for Goll and pleaded with him not to allow one man to conquer Ireland for himself. Goll changed his mind and dressed himself from head to foot for the first time in his life in his armoured plates and coats of mail and returned to Cormac’s court to help fight Dearg in single combat.
The fight started and showers of sparks and smoke rose up from their armour as the two men fought and clashed. They fought to a draw nine times, and on the tenth fight, everyone that was watching the whole time was very much interested and greatly concerned about the outcome. Finally, Dearg was felled by Goll’s hand, and as he was dying, Goll said, ‘It’s a pity I hadn’t my brother here, the blows of one sledge are slow’ (Is mall buille an oird/cheapoird).
When it was all over and Ireland was saved from Dearg by Goll, Cormac and Fionn broke their promises to Goll, and instead of rewarding him, they chained him to a rock under a cliff, where he drowned. They felt then as they had before that Goll could not be trusted, even though he had saved Ireland.
The Enchanted Bay, Tales and Legends from Ernie O’Malley’s Irish Folklore Collection is written by Cormac K.H. O’Malley and Patrick J. Mahoney. It is nominated for TheJournal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year. More at irishbookawards.ie.
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