Fionn Mac Cumhaill - Fionn As A Giant

Fionn As A Giant

In both Irish and Manx popular folklore, Fionn mac Cumhail (known as "Finn McCool" or "Finn MacCooill" respectively) is portrayed as a magical, benevolent giant. The most famous story attached to this version of Fionn tells of how one day, while sucking his magic thumb (which allows him to see anything going on anywhere), Finn sees that the giant Cuhullin (or, in the Manx version, a buggane) is coming to fight him. Knowing he cannot withstand Cuhullin, Finn asks his wife Oona to help him. She dresses her husband as a baby, and he hides in a cradle; then she makes a batch of griddle-cakes, hiding griddle-irons in some. When Cuhullin arrives, Oona tells him Finn is out but will be back shortly. As Cuhullin waits, he tries to intimidate Oona with his immense power, breaking rocks with his middle finger. Oona then offers Cuhullin a griddle-cake, but when he bites into the iron he chips his teeth. Oona scolds him for being weak (saying her husband eats such cakes easily), and feeds one without an iron to McCool, who eats it without trouble.

In the Irish version, Cuhullin is so awed by the power of the baby's teeth that, at Oona's prompting, he puts his fingers in Finn's mouth to feel how sharp the teeth are. Finn bites off Cuhullin's middle finger, and, having lost the source of his power, Cuhullin shrinks to the size of an ordinary human and runs away in shame.

In the Manx version, the buggane's terror at the mere strength of Finn MacCooill's child causes him to run away in fear. The Manx contains a further tale of how Finn and the buggane battle at Kirk Christ Rushen. Finn's feet carve out the channels between the Calf of Man and Kitterland and between Kitterland and the Isle of Man, while the buggane's feet make an opening for the port at Port Erin. The buggane injures Finn, who flees over the sea (where the buggane cannot follow), but the buggane tears out one of his own teeth and strikes Finn as he runs away. The tooth falls into the sea, becoming the Chicken Rock, and Finn curses the tooth, explaining why it is a hazard to sailors.

Many geographical features in Ireland are attributed to Fionn. Legend has it he built the Giant's Causeway as stepping-stones to Scotland, so as not to get his feet wet; he also once scooped up part of Ireland to fling it at a rival, but it missed and landed in the Irish Sea—the clump becoming the Isle of Man, the pebble becoming Rockall, and the void becoming Lough Neagh. Fingal's Cave in Scotland is also named after him, and shares the feature of hexagonal basalt columns with the nearby Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

In Newfoundland, and some parts of Nova Scotia, "Fingal's Rising" is spoken of in a distinct nationalistic sense. Made popular in songs and bars alike, to speak of "Fingle," as his name is pronounced in English versus "Fion MaCool" in Newfoundland Irish, is sometimes used as a stand-in for Newfoundland or its culture.