Legendary Ireland by Eithne Massey

Author:Eithne Massey [Eithne Massey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847175755
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
Published: 2013-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

Knockainey, Limerick

CNOC ÁINE

The tiny village of Knockainey is located deep in the fertile county of Limerick, close to the great Megalithic complex of Lough Gur. This is the heartland of the lady Áine, the kindly goddess whose name originally meant ‘brightness’. In the legends, the small hill close to the village was given to her ‘until the end of the world’, and was her main residence. The hill is not a difficult climb, but be careful to shut gates as there are animals grazing over most of it. There is a palpable sense of peace here. On the hill, Áine’s ancient cairn has been destroyed but there are still the remnants of three small ring-barrows known as Mullach an Triúr, ‘The Summit of the Three’. These mounds have been identified with Áine’s father Eogabal, her brother Fer Fí (a red-haired dwarf and musician), and Uainidhe, another mythical figure of whom little is known.

Well into the nineteenth century, a fair was held at Knockainey at the commencement of harvest, and at midsummer it was a tradition to carry the ‘cliara’, the burning brands of hay and straw, to the top of the hill and go three times around the three mounds. The brands were then scattered in the fields and among the cattle to bring fertility for the new agricultural year. A well on the hillside is also associated with Áine, and tradition has it that it was she who built the ancient stone bridge, now lost, over the nearby river Camóg. Áine, in her later form as banshee, was often sighted combing her long hair beside the water of the Camóg and also at nearby Lough Gur. Travellers avoided spending a night on the shores of that lake, for to do so was to risk enchantment – perhaps an encounter not only with the lady of the lake herself, but also with Gearóid Iarla Fitzgerald, a historical character and a figure who, over the centuries, accrued layer after layer of folk legend. He was said to be Áine’s son and a great magician who, on moonlit nights, can be seen cantering around the lake on his white horse. The lake was also believed to disappear by magic every seven years and, when that happened, the magic tree underneath the water was revealed. Under the magic tree a very old lady with long white hair was sometimes seen, knitting furiously – probably another incarnation of the local goddess. A local custom which was remembered up to the 1930s was that of bringing the sick to the edge of the lake on the night when the moon was full. It was believed that even if the patients did not recover, Áine would come to them and play music to comfort them. There are also many legends associating the hero Fionn with the lake and with Áine.

The wealth of folklore in the Knockainey/Lough Gur area is not surprising, given the antiquity of the sites and the rich archaeological remains scattered through these quiet fields and hills.

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