Description
Mythical lovers Diarmuid and Gráinne shelter beneath Poulnabrone Dolmen under a starry sky.
The beautiful Gráinne was the daughter of the High King of Ireland, Cormac mac Airt. Many potential suitors had come to Tara and asked for her hand over the years, but she had turned each of them down, much to the chagrin of her father.
Meanwhile at his home on The Hill of Allen, the ageing Fionn mac Cumhaill was grieving over the loss of his wife Maigneis. His men suggest that he marry Gráinne, and travel to Tara on his behalf to ask for her father’s permission. Concerned that he might look bad if he said no, Cormac bids them to go and ask Gráinne herself, so they can hear it from her mouth when she turns the offer down. However, to his great surprise Gráinne agrees to the arrangement.
Plans are put in place, and a great feast is held to celebrate their betrothal. At the feast, Gráinne is horrified to find that Fionn is old enough to be her grandfather. She had mistakenly thought she would be marrying one of his sons. She gives a sleeping draught to everyone at the party except for a handful of Fionn’s men, and asks Diarmuid if he would marry her instead. Diarmuid was a beautiful young man, with a magical love spot on his forehead that made any woman who saw it fall in love with him. She recognises him as a young hurler she had seen many years before, whom she had fallen in love with as she watched him play.
Diarmuid initially refuses out of loyalty to Fionn, but she puts a geis on him that compels him to follow her. The two head off into the night, and so the pursuit begins, as an angry Fionn seeks to hunt them down. During the chase, the pair grow closer and become lovers, eventually settling and having five children together.
There are stories from all over the country of places where the lovers camped as they tried to stay ahead of Fionn. Dolmens in particular are often known as the beds of Diarmuid and Gráinne.
This is an 10″ × 8″ giclée print, printed on Hahnemühle William Turner paper and signed by Shelly Mooney.
