Oisin and Saint Patrick

Last time, you were introduced to the figure of Oisin from Celtic mythology. The son of Fianna leader Finn MacCool and the goddess Sadb, known as the little fawn, Oisin was a renowned poet of Irish myth.

As we near the great Irish celebrations of Saint Patrick's Day, let's have a look at the myth that connects the mythical figure Oisin to Saint Patrick himself. To do this we must begin with the story of Oisin, Niamh, and the Land of Youth. The myth is as follows:

One day, Niamh, the daughter of the sea god Manannan Mac Lir, appeared to Oisin while he was hunting by the shore of a lake. She was riding a beautiful horse with silver hooves and a golden mane and she told Oisin how she had traveled far to find him and to invite him to her father's otherworld realm, the Land of Youth and of Promise. Upon hearing this, Oisin readily agreed to join Niamh and mounted her horse. He disappeared and his father, Finn MacCool, never saw him again.

After a number of battles and exploits in the other realm, including a fierce fight with a Fomorii giant, Oisin began to miss his home, his land of Ireland. So Niamh let Oisin use her magical horse to visit his home but with the condition that he cannot dismount the horse else he will not be able to return to the Land of Youth.

When Oisin finally returned to Ireland he barely recognized it. It seemed so strange to him. Those he had known were all dead and the people now seemed so sad, much different than the heroes he had lived with so long ago. On his journey he happened across a group of men struggling to move a boulder, so he helped them easily moving the boulder from up on his mount. But suddenly the saddle slipped and Oisin fell to the ground. Instantly the horse vanished and Oisin turned from a mighty young warrior into a blind, old man.

It is at this point in the myth where Christian monks recording the old tales added their own flavour to the story and it is here where we meet Saint Patrick.

So now we find our hero Oisin an old, blind man in a strange new Ireland. The tale continues...

It is said that Oisin began rambling on repeating Tirnanog over and over again; he was calling to the Land of Youth. The men he had helped decided then to take Oisin to the wisest man they knew, Saint Patrick.

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