Dead Men Standing

One thread that occasionally raises its head throughout Irish mythology is the motif associated with the burial process of some  (a word often mistranslated as ‘king’ but more accurately translated as ‘chieftain’) or mythological celebrities, where the corpse is bound upright or interred in the standing position, usually in defiance of an enemy or rival population group.

The early and medieval Irish literature contains several references in this regard but the most famous is probably linked to that of Cú Chulainn who, in a final act of defiance, ties himself to a standing stone to die on his feet. Facing his enemies, he remains upright for three days after he dies as they’re too terrified to come close (clearly, nobody thought of throwing a stone!).

Another celebrity associated with upright burials was Laoghaire (son of the infamous Niall). Famous for his hostile interactions with Saint Pat, Laoighaire is recorded (by Tíreachán) as being buried on the ridges of Tara, placed upright and facing south in defiance of the Leinster tribes. This follows somewhat in his father’s footsteps, given that Neill’s body was also said to have been held aloft by his tuath as a good-luck token when heading off to battle.

Early Irish literature has a few other references to the bodies of chieftains and heroes being buried upright and although there is a possibility that might have reflected some kind of burial ritual linked to the cult of warriors, it’s very much a literary motif rather than a historical one. As a result, you really have to be careful with its interpretation.

Who was Fiacail mac Codhna

Fiacail mac Codhna is a swaggering and irrepressible warrior from the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series, based on the original Fenian narratives. Handsome, charming, and shrewdly strategic in battle, Fiacail’s potential for tribal greatness is undermined only by an over-sexed libido and a strong weakness for women, particularly where it relates to Bodhmhall ua Baoiscne, sometimes – but not always – portrayed as the aunt of Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Previously bonded to Bodhmhall, Fiacail’s tomcat behaviour eventually led to the dissolution of their relationship, something he still regrets many years later.

Fiacail mac Codhna’s quite a lot of fun as a character. He can be charmingly crass at times – particularly where it relates to sex – but his humour and genuine attraction to Bodhmhall means he’s a credible third player in the love triangle with Bodhmhall and Liath Luachra. His bawdy humour and blunt demeanour, meanwhile, offers welcome relief from some of the more serious and intellectual characters in the series.

When not chasing women, Fiacail likes long walks in the mornings (usually naked), having conversations with Great Father Sun. Much of this involves trying to convince Father Sun not to cause the end of the world but there’s also the occasional attempt to negotiate the gift of a pony.

Fiacail turns up on several occasions over the course of the original Fenian narratives, usually as a kind of foster father/advisor to the young Fionn mac Cumhaill. In some of the manuscripts however, he’s referred to as a ‘reaver’.

In modern Irish, ‘fiacail’ is actually the word for ‘tooth’ so it seems an unusual name for a character. Sadly, the name is so old even the Fenian narratives in the original manuscripts offer little explanation for its origin. As a result, I had to come up with own rationale

Goll mac Morna

Military leader of Clann Morna (not the chieftain), Goll mac Morna takes on a much larger role in Fionn mac Cumhaill’s life as the core Fenian narrative progresses.

Interestingly, you rarely see much about Goll from the English web content publishers (generally, because they don’t really understand how Gaelic culture works in the Fenian narratives) but Goll is actually quite the fascinating character when you get to know him.

All the same, you still wouldn’t want to meet him alone on a dark night.

Deirdre Unforgiven

I came across an interesting book – Deirdre Unforgiven – by Eamon Carr during my recent visit home. Sitting in a friend’s bookshelf, I found myself drawn to it by the bleak cover image from Irish artist John Devlin.

A brief flip through it revealed the book was a clever conflation of the ancient Irish tragedy with more contemporary ‘troubles’ in the north of Ireland covered by Eamon Carr during his time as a journalist. As a result, it’s quite powerful and evocative but it’s certainly not light reading.

Certainly interesting for those with a link to/or interest in Northern Ireland and a familiarity with the raw narrative of the original tale, it can be ordered through the usual outlets.

No-one cares if you scream!

This is a tagline I was using recently for ‘The Great Wild’ – an unintended spin on the iconic ‘Alien’ feature film tagline (“In space, no-one one can hear you scream”). I only realised that a day or two after coming up with it.

That said, at the time, I felt my tagline worked in terms of capturing the ‘isolation’ concept of the Great Wild, as well as the callous nature of some of its inhabitants. The ‘Alien’ tagline, however, was exceptionally clever in that it also captured the whole nature of space (the vacuum meaning that you can’t, of course, physically scream).

I don’t really feel this kind of ‘market writing’ is my forte but I guess, you just do what you can and look at other talented people for inspiration.

‘Liath Luachra: The Great Wild’ is currently running at a reduced price ($2:00 instead of $4.99) but I’ll probably be going back to the original price in a few weeks.

Cú Chulainn and Ferdia

Cú Chulainn and Ferdia in combat at Áth Fhirdia (the Ford of Ferdia).

With the intial series of FIONN mac Cumhaill coming to a close next year, I’ve been giving some thought to doing a series based on the Ulster narratives.

To be honest, I’ve still not decided. Developing a workable narrative for Cú Chulainn is no easy task and would require some serious adaptation from An Táin to make it work (unless you go down the whole Celtic Fantasy which doesn’t really interest me and which, frankly, has had its day).

We’ll see. I’ll give an update in Vóg – (my newsletter – link available in the comment below) on my thoughts around that at the end of June.

Liath Luachra – A New Project

On the work front, I’m fully occupied with an intense freelance project which means it’ll be a few more weeks before I can launch back into writing.

That’s a delay that’s always a bit frustrating but I’ve spent the few free hours I have, relaxing with a fun project I hope to bring to frution at some point in the future.

Attached is a cartoon/comic-book image of Liath Luachra associated with that.

Some old (and slightly mysogenistic) Covers

I’d just started the process of redesigning the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series book covers this week when these arrived in yesterday as part of a historical post.

About eight years ago, I’d commissioned some covers and the artist came back with the attached images. At the time, although I was really impressed with her design skills (she did the first Liath Luachra book cover and one or two more) I felt these images were very ‘genre dated’ – harking back to the misogynistic, old-style, fantasy covers of the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties.

It’s also worth noting that there was absolutely no stock images out there to represent 1st/2nd century Ireland in a meaningfully accurate way (and there still isn’t, hence my preference for hiring my own illustrators).

I never used these versions but went with a far more restricted set that I’ve slowly being replacing over the years. I’m hoping to start introducing the new covers in the next edition of my newsletter (Vóg).

Coming in 2024

After a hectic, but production poor 2023, I’m proactively returned to creative mode. At the moment, my key focus is on finishing ‘FIONN: The Betrayal’ – the fifth book in FIONN mac Cumhaill Series and, probably, the second last.

This particular work has been a lot harder to write than most other books in the series thus far. That’s not really a surprise as it’s also the first book to start reeling in all the different plotlines spread across the FIONN series (and some elements from the overlapping Liath Luachra books).

For that reason, it’s a lot more ‘talky’ and includes far more character development than many of the other books but that’s critical to maintaining an appropriate narrative pace leading up to the series culmination.

That’s all boringly technical, I know, but the last thing I want to do is rush the story (in a manner similar to the last season of the Game of Thrones television series, for example).

I’m hoping to publish this on the Irish Imbas website at the end of March /start of April. It’ll then go wide to all the other ebookstores a month or two after that.

On completing this book, I had intended to start the next in the Liath Luachra series but, given the overlapping narratives, it’s important that I’m further along in the next FIONN series before I can do that. As a result, I’ll probably start immediately on the sixth FIONN book (title not yet decided).

I’ll also be working on a shorter Liath Luachra work (LIATH LUACHRA: The Quiet One) once that’s completed. That will follow the story from ‘Liath Luachra: The Great Wild.’

Not to be confused with ‘The Quiet Girl’.

My last priority is non-fiction work entitled ‘Irish ‘Mythology 101 (How Irish ‘Mythology’ Works) which I’ve been working on for some years but which I’ve regularly had to put aside due to other commitments.

This should be available by the end of the year.

I have other projects and creative work on the go, but these are the ones I’m focussed on delivering in 2024.

Maith agaibh!

Ten Years

It’s hard to believe but it’s now coming up to ten years since I first started publishing books on Irish culture and Irish cultural belief systems.

Back in 2013/14, I’d originally planned to write (and publish through a mainstream publisher) a non-fiction book related to Irish Fenian stories. What I ended up discovering through my research however, completely upended my plans (both in terms of WHAT I decided to publish and HOW I published)

I started off with BEARA: Dark Legends in 2014, as it was closest to my heart. After that, I published FIONN: Defence of Rath Bládhma which subsequently went on to become a finalist in the SPFBO competition (it came in 4th place out of 300).

Over the following ten years, I published about 1-1.5 books a year and currently have 14 books on the catalogue (with some separate short stories/novellas and another book to come out in the next 3-4 months).

Throughout those ten years, I learned a huge amount about Irish ‘mythology’, what people think that is, and what it really is. One of my more ambitious projects is to produce a work on those findings by the end of the year. I also learned a lot about computer game production, script writing and negotiating with Hollywood lawyers.

I’ve also learned that no matter what my plans, life will always come barging in to disrupt them. That was originally a source of great frustration for me, but I’ve got over myself and just learned to accept it.

Creatively, I’ve become faster at producing work and the books and other products. Meanwhile, the works I’ve developed continue to increase in popularity (which is a reward in itself, of course).

Over the next year or two, I’m hoping to get to a point where I can support myself uniquely through my creative work and I’m very grateful to all those people (readers, reviewers, advisors, etc. ) who’ve supported me over the years and helped me get to this place.

Go raibh mile maith agaibh!

Imagining Iron Age Ireland …

What was prehistoric Ireland like 2,000 years ago? Before Christianity, when it was likely an Island with a population of 100,00 – 200,00 people?

And how you get that across for a contemporary audience?

I discuss this with the Irish Stew gang on the latest Irish Stew Podcast interview.

You can find the link here: Irish Stew Podcast