In Irish mythology, the Fianna were Irish warrior-hunters who served the High King of Ireland in the 3rd century AD. Their adventures were recorded in the Fenian Cycle. Their last leader was Fionn mac Cumhail. The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. ... A warrior is a person habitually engaged in war and/or skilled in the waging of war. ... Hunting is, in its most general sense, the pursuit of a target. ... The office of High King of Ireland (Irish: Ard Rí Érenn) was in origin a pseudohistorical construct of the eighth century that placed a king of all Ireland atop the fragmented pyramid of kingship that actually existed at that time. ... // Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... The Fenian Cycle also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian Tales, Fian Tales, Féinne Cycle, Feinné Cycle, Ossianic Cycle and Fianaigecht, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythic hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna Éireann. ... Fionn mac Cumhail (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, pronounced roughly Finn mac Cool) was a legendary hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, also known in Scotland and the Isle of Man. ...

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. Statue showing a Gallic shield with a butterfly boss. ... Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park. ... A dense growth of softwoods (a forest) in the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ...

A fian (singular), as defined by the Brehon Laws, was a band of young men, usually young aristocrats who had not yet come into their inheritance of land, who lived apart from society as mercenaries, bandits and hunters, and could be called upon in times of war. The fianna of legend, while usually depicted as a standing army serving the High King, also appear as rival bands living rough in the woods. The two main factions in the legendary fianna were the Clann Baíscne of Leinster, led by Fionn, and the Clann Morna of Connacht, led by Goll. The Brehon Laws were statutes that governed everyday life and politics in Ireland until the Norman invasion of 1171 (the word Brehon is an Anglicisation of breitheamh (earlier brithem), the Irish word for a judge). ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... Mercenary (disambiguation). ... Butch Cassidy, a famous outlaw An outlaw, a person living the lifestyle of outlawry, is most familiar to contemporary readers as a stock character in Western movies. ... Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ... Leinster (Irish: Laighin) is the eastern province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. ... Connaught redirects here. ...

Members included:

• Fionn mac Cumhail: 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 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 Cumhail, 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 Cumhail: (Macpherson's Ossian)
• Osgar, son of Oisín

Fionn mac Cumhail (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, pronounced roughly Finn mac Cool) was a legendary hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, also known in Scotland and the Isle of Man. ... In Irish mythology, Cumhal (earlier Cumal, pronounced roughly Coo-al or Cool) son of Trénmór (strong-great) was a leader of the fianna and the father of Fionn mac Cumhail. ... Goll mac Morna (or Goal mac Morn) was a member of the fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Caílte (or Caoilte) mac Rónáin was a nephew of Fionn mac Cumhail and a member of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Conán mac Morna, also known as Conán Maol (the bald), is a member of the fianna and an ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... In Irish mythology, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (also known as Diarmuid of the love spot) was son of Donn and a warrior of the Fianna. ... In Irish mythology, Gráinne was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt. ... Binomial name Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig. ... In Irish mythology, Aengus (Áengus, Óengus, Angus, Anghus) aka Aengus Óg (Aengus the Young), Mac ind Óg (son of the young) or Mac Óg (young son) was a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably a god of love, youth and beauty. ... The ancient symbol of the pentagram is often used as a symbol for magic. ... Fionn mac Cumhail (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, pronounced roughly Finn mac Cool) was a legendary hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, also known in Scotland and the Isle of Man. ... In Irish mythology, Manannan mac Lir was a sea and weather god. ... Oisín (or Ossian), son of Fionn mac Cumhail, is a poet and warrior of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Fionn mac Cumhail (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, pronounced roughly Finn mac Cool) was a legendary hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, also known in Scotland and the Isle of Man. ... James Macpherson (October 27, 1736–February 17, 1796), was a Scottish poet, known as the translator of the Ossian cycle of poems (also known as the Oisín cycle). ... Ossian, alternatively spelled Oisín, son of Fingal (Fionn mac Cumhail), is a poet and warrior of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... Osgar, Abbot of Abingdon. ...

Other uses

• Fianna can also refer to the Fianna Eireann
• Fianna is used in the name of one of the major Irish political parties, Fianna Fáil.
• Fianna can also refer to Na Fianna

Fianna Éireann is an Irish republican youth movement, along the lines of the Boy Scouts. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (IPA ; English translation: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in Ireland. ... Na Fianna GAA Club is located in Glasnevin at the heart of the Northside of Dublin. ...

External links

• Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna