St.Conall is Conall Cernach, perhaps a "Summertime" face of the Fionn-type god. Often accompanying the Divine Twin, Conalls can be less 'protagonist', but also exhibit distinctive traits rarely found in other Fionn-types.

This issue is later than promised, because I suffered a sudden and unexpected laptop-failure.. make time for a backup, today!

I've yet to write about a saint literally named Fionn, Fionntan, and Fionnbharr, but I'll get to that. I've already introduced one Fionn-saint with the "Ber" prefix, and he won't be the last.

But today is about "Conall" and "Cernach", and the surprising variation in forms of the two names, including British saints. Of course, I'll be doing some coverage of Conall Cernach himself, hero of the Ulster Cycle, foster-brother of Cúchulainn.

Calendrical Clustering

I had planned to publish this on May 21, ahead of Conall Caol's feast (today). But this is only the latter day of a whole cluster of feasts: "Carannog/Cairnech" (May 16/17); "Fionnchadh" (May 16); "Fionnchan" (May 17); "Conval of Strathclyde" (May 18); "Conall of Iniscaol" (May 20); "Barrfhionn" (May 21); and "Conall Caol" (May 22).

This is one of two clear clusters of Fionn-Saints that I've noticed; the other is late September: Cadoc (Sep 25); Beroc (Sep 25); Finbarr of Cork (Sep 25); Barr of Barr Island (Sep 27); Baroc of Barry Island (Sep 27); and Fintan of Howth (Sep 27). To this, we can add Conval of Strathclyde, who is also celebrated on Sep 28.

I'm not sure why those calendar dates are significant. It seems as if the "Ber/Bar" named saints are more weighted to September, and the Conalls to May, but there's overlap.

Note particularly Barfhionn in May - this is the same guy whose name is also rendered "Barinthus", who visited the Happy Afterlife prior to Bréanainn, and who directed him to go there on his famous voyage.

Conall Cernach

Let's take a look at our clearest "native" exemplar: Conall Cernach of Ulster. Why is he the "Fionn of Ulster"?

Firstly, Conall's family: His father is Amergin mac Eccit, and his mother is Findchoem - both suggestively Fionn-type names. Recall that there are two patterns in Fionn-type birth myths: either from a cluster of Fionn-adjacent gods, or as Child/Grandchild of the Demiurge/Totality-god and their consort. Conall Cernach kinda has both..

Findchoem is sister to Conchobar mac Nessa. Like Ness, she has a water-myth surrounding her conception of Conall (pdf). The pattern resembles the conception of Mongán (explicitly Fionn mac Cumhaill's reincarnation). While Amergin's away, an unnamed druid (probably Manannán..) helps Findchoem to conceive a child - he brings her to a sacred well, bids her wash there, and gives her a drink that makes her conceive.

Conall's father, Amergin mac Eccit, is a Poet. Another of the name, "Amergin Glúingeal", son of Galam/Míl, "sings Ireland into being" - Dolan of Taliesin's Map identifies him as the "cosmogonic Fionn" of the invasion of the Milesians. So, Amergin is a Fionn name.

Amergin's father is a smith. Divine Craftsmen regularly occupy a role of possibly-occulted Demiurge/Creator. If Amergin's father is secretly a Demiurge, that positions Amergin as equivalent to Galam/Míl or Cumhall as father to the "protagonist" Fionn - in this case, Conall.

Amergin is also the name of St.Fionnbhar's father, who is himself a Smith - condensing the two details. In other respects, Fionnbhar's conception myth is far closer to Fionn mac Cumhaill than Mongán or Conall.

From birth, Conall Cernach has enmity from his uncle, Cét mac Mágach. Cét's role resembles that of Goll mac Morna (wrt. Fionn); a threat to Conall's childhood, and a lifelong rival of his. Like Goll, Cét resembles a sort of antagonistic mirror-image of his rival: Conall.

Between Conall's Father, Mother, and Uncle, he's surrounded by Fionn-types. His grandfather suggests a Demiurge. His conception resembles Mongán's. It's nearly a full bingo-card of a Fionn-type conception.

A Fionn-type Brotherhood

Cúchulainn's birth myth features a mytheme of mass-fosterage; I think this "Everyone's Son" thing is a trait of the Divine Twin god. But, he ends up being nursed and raised in the house of Findchoem, and Conall is the only one consistently referred to as his "Foster Brother" (1).

This pairing is interesting because of the ways that the Warrior Twin and the Fionn-type seem to serve different warrior-roles - the former deals with temporal, real-world threats, the latter deals with otherworldly threats (this isn't ironclad: Cúchulainn breaks this 'rule' often).

Conall's myths see him regularly overseas - routinely a proxy for the Otherworld in Irish myth. Whereas, in the Ulster Cycle's greatest tale, the Táin Bó Cuailnge (a temporal threat) Conall is basically absent - as is his Connaught mirror, Cét.

Killer of the Summer King(s)

Dolan of Taliesin's Map identified a family of myths found from India to Ireland, where the archetype I call "Summer King" is slain by a Fionn-type, often as instigated by a Woman. When a time-of-year is given, this myth seems to occur at the Start or the Peak of Summer.

Paradoxically, it's the Summer King who is killed/defeated, though the Winter King either goes into exile or dies (or "goes to the underworld") later. Dolan proposes that it's explaining why Summer doesn't increase forever (under the patronage of the Summer King), but peaks and declines once more towards Winter. Were he not slain, Summer and its profligate growth would become overwhelming.

In Conall's version of this myth, he's retired to live with Medb and Aillil (his arch-nemeses - it's weird). One Tuesday (?), at Bealtaine, Medb sees Aillil in a bush with another woman, and incites Conall to kill him - which he happily does (2). Conall then flees, and is killed a few days later at a ford.

The mirror-image myth of this, the killing of Ulster-King Conchobhar by Cét, is curiously deferred. Conchobhar barely survives Cét's attack, but lives for several years, then dies simultaneously with Jesus of Nazareth. This completes a pattern set up with his birth: also matched to Jesus. His death is a little earlier in the yearly cycle (late Spring), though this a clear Christianisation. Killed near the seasonal change by a mirror-image of Conall, Conchobhar's death seems to mirror Aillil's (3).

A detail of Conchobhar's death implicates Conall nevertheless. It was he who killed Mesgegra and made a trophy-stone from his brain, the same stone that kills Conchobhar. It was foretold that Mesgegra would avenge his own death - perhaps by making Conall responsible for Conchobhar's death. One form of this "attack on the generative god" is where the Fionn-type attacks his own (usually older) kinsman - had Conall attacked his uncle Conchobhar it would have aligned perfectly, so this subtle culpability is interesting in that light. Curiously, a folktale collected in the modern era places Conall Cernach at the death of Jesus - an odd alignment with the death of Jesus-proxy Conchobhar.

A Little Bit of Nuada..

Nuada (and his British counterpart, Nudd/Nodens) has a lot of connections to the Fionn-type deity, chiefly as ancestor to Fionn/Gwynn. In Irish myth, one of Nuada's stand-out traits is that of Fairness: this comes up a few times in the war with the Tuatha Dé's cousins, the Fir Bolg. Let's focus on just one part: When Sreng challenges Nuada to single combat, Nuada agrees only if Sreng will bind one arm, as Nuada has lost one of his.

To that last detail, we can compare Conall's combat with Lugaid mac Con Rí, who had killed Cúchulainn. Because Cúchulainn's arm had posthumously sliced-off Lugaid's hand, Conall disabled one of his own..

This mytheme is an interesting transposition "downstream" from Nuada to a Fionn-type. Given their relationship, it's not too surprising, but still interesting.

Snake Charmer

One more detail on Conall Cernach. The international "Fionn-Type" gods seem to have a subtle and curious connection to Serpents - sharing some identity with dragons and snakes (esp the symbolic "Horned Snake"), or having an affinity towards them. Apollo defeats a great Dragon named Delphyne (F) or Python (M) to establish a temple at Delphi. Shiva carries a great Naga (Snake/Dragon) named Vasuki around his neck all the time. The Gundestrap Cauldron shows Cernunnos (probably akin to the Cormac/Conchobhar/Cairbre/Colmán/Cíarán group) seizing a "horned serpent" that's striking at him - as the Fionn-type strikes at the Summer-King.

Now, Ireland doesn't have any snakes. All of those other Celts gotta deal with snakes, but not us! So, in places where you might find a serpent elsewhere, in Ireland you instead may find a sinuous substitute. Sigurd gains wisdom from the hearts-blood of a dragon, Fionn gets it from a Salmon.

However, Conall Cernach has this odd event in the Cattle Raid of Fraech, where he and Fraech are warned about a terrible serpent that's guarding Fraech's stolen cattle (abroad, in snake country). When Fraech and Conall arrive, the serpent just jumps into Conall's belt and, uh, that's fine. They leave, presumably with the snake still just hanging around Conall, like Shiva and Vasuki.

Conall Corc

The founder of the seat of Cashel, the Kingship of Munster, Conall Corc (en: crimson, purple) has a fragmentary mythos that's interesting for its own sake. It sets Conall Corc up as a sort of Southern Rival to the Northern dynasty of the O'Neills. "Legendary king/founder" isn't an ideal setting for a Fionn/Conall archetype's core mythos (which tends more to the fringes of society and the cosmos), so much of Conall Corc's story is peculiar to him. But a number of things shine through nevertheless.

Per the Cóir Anmann (n.54), we learn that he had the protection of a Witch named "Fidelm" at his birth, who hid him under a cauldron - this reminds both of the Cauldron-Witch goddess who gave Taliesin his wisdom, Ceridwen, and also Boann (who is AKA Fidelm), whose waters gave Fionn his, not to mention Fionn's early fosterage by a Crone, Liath.

He has a rivalry with a probable male-family-member one generation up named "Crimthann", seemingly a Summer-King name.

Of the two probable-goddesses that Conall Corc marries, Aimend and Mongfind, the latter is wooed in a way that closely resembles the birth myths of Fionn mac Cumhaill and Fionnbharra](https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/conall.html). That is, Corc's explicitly forbidden affair with a King's daughter leads to a pregnancy, the woman is threatened with burning, but she wins a reprieve from the King.

The O'Neill Conalls

There are several O'Neill Conalls, most notably the two Conalls who are direct sons of Niall: Conall Gulban, and Conall Cremthainne (4).

Another is Conall Cóel (en: slender, narrow). Like Conall Corc, he's also a fragmentary character, and not strongly inflected as a Fionn-type except in his obscure partnership-turned-deadly-rivalry with a Diarmait, and his brotherhood to a Divine Twin name, "Cellach".

Now, I'm not gonna declare that "Caol" (meaning slender, narrow) and variant spellings thereof are epithets of Conall/Fionn, exactly - it's a very generic word. But it does seem regularly to attach to them, as we'll see next.

Conall of Inis Caoil

For May 20, there's a feast day for Conall of Inis Caoil.

This guy's genealogy traces him to Conall Gulban, son of Niall. This is a common pattern, I find, for euhemerised gods in hagiography - their immediate 1-3 ancestors may be authentic (though at times they may be a copy of their immediate ancestor), and their penultimate-named ancestor (e.g. a child of Niall) may indicate their actual nature. The bits in between tend to be unreliable or simply fluff.

Conall of Clonallen

Clonallen, that is, "Cluain-dallain" - because it seems "Dall" is one of those characters that are clustering with our Conalls.

This Conall, venerated Apr 2, is a son of Áed (nb: Mongán is sired by Manannán, AKA Áed/Laisrén - the Fire God is spiritually adjacent to the Fionn-type), and he's set up at a place described as "Snamh Each, i.e. the harbour near unto the Cael, in Ui Eathach" - in other words, he's at a noteworthy choke-point in the river, a "Cael/Caol". He later replaces a "Cairbre" at another site - a Summer-King name. All very indirect and suggestive.

His ancestry is traced to Conall Cernach, but don't get excited: as with Niall, ol' CC is an ancestor of many clans. It's the child of Conall Cernach who seems to matter - in this case, "Irial". But, we don't have much surviving legend of CC's children, so it's not actually very useful as a hint. Ah, well.

Conall Caol of Inis Caol

This is a second Conall from Inis Caol, but unlike the other guy, this one's called Conall Caol. That's two Caols - one for the Conall, one for the Island. Successive hagiographers have continued to view these as distinct Conalls, despite much chin-stroking.

This one has a more in-depth backstory, and it figures a friendship with a "St. Dallán" - that name again, Dall, meaning blind. This Conall also descends from Conall Gulban son of Niall (but then, so does Colmcille, and many other contemporary saints..).

Supposedly, this Conall killed his father - killing fathers or uncles being a recurring trait of the fiercer Fionn-types, such as Fiach[rn]as and Conalls, in the rolls of kings. According to (O Riain, 2025) his father was a Stonemason: a craftsman, like Fionnbharra's father Amergin, or Conall Cernach's grandfather.

For all that he's celebrated May 22, folk belief has it that this Conall revisits his island on June 1st. Another Conall, of Drumcliff in Clare, is venerated June 2nd - I'm unsure whether this is based on oral or manuscript tradition. Possibly, these offsets represent the 11-day shift to the Gregorian calendar - that is, possibly they were originally celebrated nearer today, May 22.

Corc mac Fergus

Another possible Conall is Corc mac Fergus, a son of Fergus and Medb. These two, who seem to represent Dáire/The Dagda and a progenitive aspect of the Mórrígan, have three sons, triplets: Conmac, Cíar, and Corc.

The text Cóir Anmann ("Fitness of Names") has an entry for the eldest, Conmac, where it indicates that he is also known as Lugaid: the name of the Cosmic Person whose nature I explored in the issue for Saint Patrick.

Now, occasionally a Lugaid is just a guy named Lugaid. But, the next Triplet is Cíar ("Ciarraighe" ancestor and origin of the placename "Cíarraí" - Kerry). I've also done an issue on the most clear Demiurge-saints, Sts.Cíarán, indicating that this name indeed corresponds to the cosmogonical next-in-line; the Demiurge, who is begotten by the Cosmic Person.

Cosmogonically, the next step would be a Higher Fionn/Rudra character, who is begotten by the Demiurge but strikes back at him, as if representing a "second thought" against the idea of Creation. Together, they seem to establish early the generative/destructive axis of the universe. I also discussed this pattern previously, with Féichín of Fore. And, our third Triplet is named "Corc", which appears as an epithet of "Conall Corc", above.

To actually reconstruct the birth order requires triangulation of the Cóir Anmnann (n.283-284) and some Kerry Genealogies, but it's clear. Cosmic Person, Demiurge-Creator, and Destroyer; the expected order.

This "Corc" is also named "Fer Deóda", explained as meaning "late" because he was born last. Whatever about that, I'm struck that it resembles "Ferdiad"..

Carannog of Llangrannog

Let's look at a Welsh saint with a suspiciously similar name to "Cernach". Carannog is venerated widely, including in Ireland, where he's known as "Cairnech". His feast is 16/17th May. Another Carantoc/Cairnach associated with Patrick shares the same day.

In one of his most colourful myths, he is bid by King Arthur to deal with a deadly Dragon - he goes there, it's immediately tame for him, and he returns with it to Arthur's court, later releasing it. This anticlimactic ease with deadly Serpents should remind of Conall Cernach's handling of that one weird snake.

There is an Arthurian knight named Caradoc, who has a very Fionn-ish mythos, including the defeat of a magical serpent.

Conval, or Conwal

The Welsh "Conwal" would in English orthography sound more like "Conoo-all". In Irish, perhaps spelled "Conúall" - pretty similar to "Conall".

Conval of Strathclyde is venerated on two days, conspicuously with both clusters of Fionn-saints: the Conalls at May 18, and the Barras at Sep. 28. He's closely associated with Kentigern, who I suspect to be a "Peaceable Divine Twin" like Moling/Aengus - matching the pattern of Fionns paired with Divine Twins. He is also associated, for a time at least, with arch-Summer-King Colmcille.

He's associated with a town named Ceann a' Bharra (en: "Barrhead") - Barra's Head. Whether this is coincidence is unclear to me.

OK but, Who's Conall/Cernach/Corc?

It should be clear by now, I think, that this character-group shares a lot of mythic overlap with Fionns, Fiachnas, Barras, and others in the Fionn-group of gods and heroes. It's likely that this was known or noticed by contemporary experts - poets and druids - and that the characters were understood as partially or fully referring to the same "essence". But, why do they cluster the way they do in their celebrations?

And, if I keep referring to Fionn as an archetypical "Winter King", why do both clusters of feast-days appear in the Summer-half of the Celtic Year?

It's probable that much of the clustering is an artefact of regionalised versions of the same people. So, one or two mythic characters bearing epithets {Conall, Corc, Cernach, Caol} may have been celebrated in Mid-Late May, and others named {Fionn, Barr, Cadoc, Fintan} in late September, and each group developed additional regional variants.

However, many of the Conalls, Corcs, and Caols seem to serve quite different mythic roles, suggesting they're not all from the same "root" Conall. For example, "Caol" is an epithet of Labhraidh Loinseach's antagonist-uncle, "Cobthach Caol/Fion. This guy plays out an ultra-violent act against young Labhraidh (a sort-of Lugaid) including forcing him to eat part of his father's heart - quite similar to the spectacle of Gwynn's violence against Gwythyr at Bealtaine. This character isn't Conall Cernach or Fionn, but he's still carrying a demonic Fionn-type mythos and the name "Caol/Fion".

As to why the King of Winter would be celebrated in Summer and Autumn.. well, let's not forget that Fionn's greatest mythos is as Fionn mac Cumhaill, who's replete with Wintery symbolism and timing. His childhood is capped with a poem about Summertime, but he matures and comes into power over the Fianna at Samhain, the start of Winter. His Fianna are broken in the Battle of Gabra against a King with a Summer-King name: Cairbre (did it happen at Bealtaine? We don't know), suggesting that his story arc meets its denoument at Summertime. In many traditions, stories of the Fiannaíocht could only be told between Samhain and Bealtaine (and sometimes only at Night), establishing pretty concretely that this was a Seasonal God.

With all this mythos attached to Fionn himself, it's possible that the saint-forms of him didn't get much of a foothold in the folk consciousness in Wintertime except for St.Finnian at Midwinter itself, creating a misleading image of a saint-group who's otherwise venerated more in Summer/Autumn than Winter/Spring. Instead, he's venerated strongly in Winter but mostly under his euhemerised incarnation, and when the Fiannaíocht is out of season he's venerated as "Fionnbharra" in September, and as "Conall" in May. But, why even this division?

A Fionn for all Seasons

Perhaps, as I speculated for Bréanainn vs. Baithin, these theonyms varied in how they frame the God within their internal cycle

Maybe the Conalls' situation in Summertime represents a sort of moderated-Fionn, one that's closer to society and less Wintery, in contrast to the Fionn/Bar/Ber saints of Autumn? Fionn sometimes seems to resent Kings and Society, and conflicts fatally with 'his' King Cairbre, whereas Conall Cernach is an eager, loyal soldier of Conchobhar's.

And if Conall, brother and companion of the Overtly Solar Cúchulainn, might represent a sort of "Summertime alter-ego" of Fionn, perhaps that was a thin subterfuge allowing this God to be involved in myths that might otherwise have seemed to be "out of season" for him.

Another interesting angle to consider, is how much more likely it was for people and kingdoms to trace their origins to "Conall" than to "Fionn". It's possible that "Conall" was seen as more Dynastic - compatible with generativity and successful family-building, or civic power - in comparison to the great winter-wildling god of ecstatic wisdom, Fionn.

Wrap-Up

We've had Conalls, Conval/Conwal, Carantoc/Carannog/Ceirnach, and we've referred to the Fionnbharra/Barrfhionn groups and the Fiach[nr]as.. well, in Ireland "Conall", "Finnbar", and "Fiachra" are still current and popular names. The many clans of the Conalls have given many family names that endure today; most obviously "O Connell" but by no means stopping there.

As to places, they are many - but I'll spare a particular mention for Iniscaoil, today - a small and now abandoned tidal island that has clear links to some Conall mythology.

The Conalls, more obviously perhaps than the Fionns, are linked to Serpents rather than Salmon. Strange, I suppose, that Lizards never came up in their mythos in Ireland - we do have those, but they're terribly sneaky. There may be a "horned" interpretation for "Cernach", too - perhaps calling back to the mythical Ram-horned Serpent.

Footnotes

1. Fionn mac Cumhaill has an obscure foster brother, "Moling". As I will go into for Saint Moling's issue, this name seems to be a byname/incarnation of Aengus mac Óg himself - Fionn himself is also a Foster-Brother of a Divine Twin.
2. I'll say again: my tentative theory around Aillil(s) is that he represents an often-antagonistic form of Divine Twin where he's usurping the role of Summer King / Demiurge. This helps explain the thin, subtle links between Aenguses and Aillils, as well as Aillils and Cormacs/Conchobhars. This helps explain, to me, why an Aillil can occupy the victim role in a seasonal myth normally reserved for a Summer King.
3. The delay is interesting, given how (per Dolan) the delayed-death motif seems to attach to the Sky Father. Conchobhar might have a bit of "Sky Father" in him..He's father to at least one "celestial body": the Moon-God Furbaide.
4. I'm not sure why Conall Cremthainne is also named "Conall", because the second part of the name suggests a Summer King, and one of his dynasties is the "Clann Cholmáin", also suggesting a Summer King. He's also associated with Uisnech, close to Cíarán et al. When characters' genealogies seem to be hinting at a "Conall" identity, they trace to Conall Gulban, not Cremthainne.

Bibliography

• Dolan, J. (2022) "Taliesin's Map". ISBN-13: 979-8766418764. Available only on Amazon
• Ó Riain, Pádraig (2025) A Dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN: 978-1-80151-162-9

Coming Up

• 9th June: Colmcille, the Irish Brahma, "Oak/Summer King" of Cosmic Summer
• 17th June: Moling Luachra - Saint-form of Aengus mac Óg, followed immediately by;
• 17th June: Nectan of Hartland - Boann's husband Nechtan, God of the Well of Wisdom
• 21st June: Suibhne/Comhgan, Merlin, the Mad/Ecstatic Sage