Dog Lovers In Ireland – Is it a Fairy Tale ?

Paul | blog | October 17, 2011

I was given a present of a book over 15 years ago, but only at the week end did I pick it up to read.It’s called Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens who was born in Dublin in 1880

The first story that I opened up was called The Birth Of Bran. This story is about Fionn ( A descendant of Noah after the great Flood) who unlike Fergus Fionnliath, was a great dog lover, and Bran was a special dog to Fionn

It says that he knew everything about dogs from the setting of the first little white tooth to the rocking of the last long yellow one. He understood all things to do with dogs because he loved dogs, for it is by love alone that we understand anything.

Then it goes on to say among the three hundred dogs that he owned, there were two to whom he gave an especial tenderness.

Three hundred dogs !!!!….(Even back in Celtic mythological times it seems that there were people in Ireland that kept too many dogs)

Getting back to this Fergus Fionnliath chap, he detested dogs and when he saw one he threw rocks at it until it was out of sight. But the power that protects all creatures had put a squint in his eye, so that he always threw crooked.He gave prizes to servants who disliked dogs, and when he heard that a man had drowned a litter of pups he used to visit that person and try to marry his daughter.

Now this is a fairytale, and of course has a happy ever after ending, whereby Fionn sends Fergus a special pup and within a week that young hound became the very pulse of his heart.

There is also a message in this short story, that the past must always be reckoned with; it is seldom as far behind us as we could wish: it is more often in front, blocking the way, and the future trips over it just when we think the road is clear and joy our own.

Based on the above, our past has characters that kept over 300 dogs, and ones that hated the sight of dogs, and rejoiced when litters of pups were drowned, so even if this is a fairy tale, it looks like our past has well and truly caught up with us.