FIONN MAC CUMHAILL

He tasted the Salmon of Knowledge. He knew everything.

The young Fionn was apprenticed to the poet Finnegas, who had spent seven years trying to catch the Salmon of Knowledge from the pool of Fec’s Well. Whoever ate the salmon first would gain all the knowledge in the world. Finnegas caught it and told Fionn to cook it but not to taste it. Fionn burned his thumb on the fish and instinctively put it in his mouth. The knowledge entered him. From then on, whenever he sucked his thumb, he could see the truth of any situation.

He built the greatest warrior band Ireland ever saw.

Fionn reclaimed leadership of the Fianna — the elite warrior band that served the High King. Under his command, the Fianna became legendary. To join, a man had to memorize twelve books of poetry, defend himself from nine warriors throwing spears while standing in a waist-deep hole, run through the forest without breaking a twig, leap over a branch at forehead height, and duck under one at knee height — all at full speed.

He is the hero who connects the mythological to the historical. He built the Giant’s Causeway. He sleeps in a cave beneath Ireland, waiting to return when the country needs him most.