It's Enough To Keep One Awake All Night

The boy left home and journeyed we know not where in search of one known as Fionn mac Cumhaill. The boy soon found him and was taken into service with the proviso that he would be subject to dismissal if his work was not satisfactory and would be able to name his own reward at the end of a year's service if his work was satisfactory. The plot thickens.

King Cormac's wife dies. The king marries the youngest of three daughters of the local blacksmith. The service of the boy, who wishes to inherit the kingdom, is coming to an end.

Things begin to get a bit twisty as only the Irish can make them. The upshot was that the boy became king. He was known as King Conn and was despised from one end of Ireland to the other. So despised was he that the abominally wet summer weather, which saw hay rotting in stacks in the fields was attributed to the reign of the newly crowned king.

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As fate would have it, King Conn also suffered from insomnia. Until the rightful heir to the throne turns up and rectifies the sleeeplessness of King Conn, who is at last, if not exactly reconciled with his true father, at least, the giant otter did put an end to his sleeplessness. However, do not try this remedy at home.

Bibliography
O'Sullivan Sean,Folktales of Ireland, The University of Chicago Press,London:1966.

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