Fintan mac Bóchra and Cessair

from the Book of Leinster 1150 A.D.

28. The crew of three ships arrived at Dun na mRarc in the territory of Corco Daibne.  Two of the ships were wrecked. 

Cessair with the crew of her ship escaped, fifty women and three men: Bith s. Noe, of whom is Sliab Betha (named) - there was he buried, in the great stone-heap of Sliab Betha; Ladra the pilot, of whom is Ard Ladrand - he is the first dead man who went under the soil of Ireland;  Fintan s. Bochra, of whom is "Fintan's Grave" over Tul Tuinde.

Cessair died in Cul Cessrach in Connachta, with her fifty maidens.


29. These are their names, ut Fintan cecinit (Fintan said):  A just division we shared between us, myself and Bith and bold Ladra; for peace and for reason was it done, in the matter of the fifty magnificent maidens.

Seventeen women I took, including Cessair -Lot, Luam, Mall, Mar, Froechar, Femar, Faible, Foroll, Cipir, Torrian, Tamall, Tam, Abba, Alla, Baichne, Sille: that is the tale which we were there.

Seventeen Bith took, with Bairrfhind - Sella, Della, Duib, Addeos, Fotra, Traige, Nera, Buana, Tamall, Tanna, Nathra, Leos, Fodarg, Rodarg, Dos, Clos: be it heard -those were our people further.

Sixteen thereafter with Ladra: Alba, Bona, Albor, Ail, Gothiam, German, Aithne, Inde, Rodarg, Rinne, Inchor, Ain, Irrand, Espa, Sine, Samoll: that was our fair company.

None of the seed of Adam took Ireland before the Flood but those. 

Celtic St. Finnen, who fasted like a Brahman, so to compel a pagan sage, Tuan MacCarell, to reveal the ancient history of Ireland. Tuan had lived all through the various mythical Ages; his father was the brother of Partholon, king of the "Silver Race". At the end of the First Age, Tuan was a "long-haired, grey, naked, and miserable old man". One evening he fell asleep, and when he woke up he rejoiced to find that he had become a young stag. He saw the people of Nemed (the Bronze or Red Race) arriving in Ireland; he saw them passing away. Then he was transformed into a black boar; afterwards he was a vulture, and in the end he became a fish. When he had existed as a fish for twenty years he was caught by a fisherman. The queen had Tuan for herself, and ate his fish form, with the result that she gave birth to the sage as her son.

In the Celtic (Irish) account of the flood, Cessair, granddaughter of Noah, was refused a chamber for herself in the ark, and fled to the western borders of the world as advised by her idol. 4 Her fleet consisted of three ships, but two foundered before Ireland was reached. The survivors in addition to Cessair were, her father Bith, two other men, Fintan and Ladru, and fifty women. All of these perished on the hills except Fintan, who slept on the crest of a great billow, and lived to see Partholon, the giant, arriving from Greece.

At one time, long ago, Fintan was the most famous fish in the world.

And the reason he was so famous, as any Irish storyteller will tell you, was that he didn’t used to be a fish. A long time ago, as the Lebor Gabala Erenn states, he was a man, Fintann Mac Bochra, who had traveled to Ireland with Cessair, Noah’s Granddaugther to escape the flood. When that didn’t work, and everybody drowned, he turned himself into a fish.

He also spent some time as a stag, and a hawk, or else the hawk was another magical hawk that was as old as he was , depending on who you ask. There had been rumors that Finn McCool had eaten him, or that he’d died after telling St. Columcille the story of Irish history (along with the hawk, or by himself). But it wasn’t true.  He’d just been swimming around, passing the time. Until the wrong trawler picked him up.

In Celtic mythology, Fintan (the salmon of wisdom) was a shape-changer. He was the only Irish survivor of Noah' s flood, changing into a hawk to soar above the waters and into a salmon to live in them. He ate the gods' magic hazelnuts and received all knowledge, but was netted in a salmon- trap and cooked for the gods' banquet by Finn MacCool who in doing touched Fintan's flesh and absorbed the knowledge from Fintan turning him into a seer and healer on the spot. 

In Celtic mythology, Finn MacCool was an Irish prophet, warrior and healer. He learned his skills either from touching the flesh of Fintan as he cooked him, or by sipping the gods' wine as he served them at table. 

Fionntán and is found in Irish myth.  Their version of the Biblical Noah’s Ark has a second chapter.  Fintan mac Bóchra was part of a group who arrived in Ireland before the flooding began.  Noah’s granddaughter, Cessair, was among them.  Despite their travels, Cessair and company would perish in the deluge.  Fintan, however, turned into a salmon and lived – in fact, he’d eventually return to human form and live for more than 5,000 years – long enough to serve as an advisor to Finn McCool.  

The druid Finegas dwelled by the Boyne where a hazel tree dropped the Nuts of Knowledge into a pool confining Fintan the Salmon of Knowledge. For years he had failed to capture the fish, until Finn became his pupil and he got lucky, and he gave him the fish to cook but not to eat. Finn burnt his finger on some hot fish-juices, and on thoughtlessly sucking it became imbued with knowledge, so Finegas told him to finish off the rest and then piss off.

 

According to the mythical history of Ireland, the first inhabitants of Ireland were led there by Noah's granddaughter Cessair. In one version of the story, when her father was denied a place in the ark by Noah, Cessair advised him to build an idol. This idol advised them that they could escape the Deluge in a ship. Cessair, along with three men and 50 women, set off and sailed for more than seven years. They landed in Ireland at Donemark, on Bantry Bay in County Cork, just 40 days before the Flood.

The three men shared the women as wives between them. Six days before the Flood, Cessair died of a broken heart at Cuil Ceasrach in Connacht. The rest of Cessair's people were wiped out in the Flood, with the exception of one of the males, Fintan, who turned into a salmon. After a series of animal transformations he eventually became a man again and told his people's story.

The story of Noah’s granddaughter, Bith, and her son Fintan, is derived from Irish folk lore. Fintan, who is called the Blind One, the Salmon of Wisdom, and Goll of Assaroe is an important figure in Irish mythology. The Salmon of Wisdom is the oldest of the totem animals in Celtic mythology. It is from the Salmon that information is gained to free Mabon in the Mabinogion. Fintan’s own story is one of the transmigration of souls. He never dies but changes forms throughout history. Finally he takes the form of a man once the “age of humanity” is established after the flood

NAME           Cessair

EPITHET      First Goddess of Ireland

ALT               Ceasair / Cesair {kes'er}

SEX               F

FESTIVAL    Beltainn (Brilliant Fires)

CATEGORY     deity / warrior / chieftain / filidh

TYPE             earth goddess / sorcerer

CULTURE    Amazon

COUNTRY    Egypt (Meroë) / Ireland

REGION        Kilkenny

TERRITORY Munster / Connacht

LANDMARKS    Corco Duibne / Nore / Barrow / Suir

SITES            Dun na mBarc / The Meeting of the Three Waters /

                       Cul Cessrach

AGE               Bronze

DATES          BC 21st c

RELATIVES Bith (father); Saball (foster-father); Ladra and

                        Bath (brothers); Fintan (consort); Iafeth

                       (uncle)

SEE ALSO    Bairrfind / Banba / Fintan mac Bochra / Iafeth /

                        Ladra

REMARKS      

Cessair, daughter of Bith, had been 10 (7) years  in (Egypt ?) when she was warned by her foster-father   Saball, son of Nenual (Nionall), of a coming flood that   would envelop the land.  

Saball, a priest of the Tower of Baal, advised her to gather her followers into boats of clear hide (no hair) and journey westward and maybe she   would escape the flood.  

On the 15th day of the Moon she left the temple on the so-called island of Meroë (Egypt) at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the Atbara rivers.

Cessair had in her charge 3 shiploads (3x50 women & 3   men) of followers.  

  

She spent 20 (18) days upon the Caspian   Sea and 12 (20) days travelling from the Caspian Sea to the   Cimmerian (Sea of Azov).  

She then spent 1 day in Asia   Minor, then 20 days voyaging from Asia Minor to the Alps.   

They voyaged for 9 (18) days from the Alps to Spain and 9   days from Spain to Ireland where they landed on the 5th   (15th) day of the moon in May at Dun na mBarc (Fortress of   Ships) at the southern promontory Corco Duibne, Munster.   

They arrived 40 days before the flood.  By the time they reached Ireland there was only one   ship with 50 women and 3 men left.  

Here at Dun na mBarc   Bath son of Bith drowned in the spring.  It is believed   that Cessair was responsible for bringing the first goats   with them to Ireland.        

Cessair then led her people to Miledach (Bun Suainme)   at the Meeting of the Three Waters (Nore/Barrow/Suir) in   county Kilkenny.  Here she divided them them into 3 groups.   Cessair, Lot, Luam, Mail, Marr, Froechar, Femair, Failbi,   Forall, Cipir, Torrian, Tamall, Tam, Abba (Eba), Ella,   Raichne and Sille kept Fintan as their man, although he  was but a seven year old boy.  The champion Bairrfind and   her followers took Bith to the north with them.  The leader   Banba led another group and they shared the pilot Ladra.  The pilot Ladra soon died and the followers then divided themselves into two groups.  

When a great flood   struck 40 days after their arrival, Fintan and Banba were  the only survivors of the followers of Cessair.  

Cessair  herself died at Cul Cessrach in Connacht and the great   leech Abba was drowned when the rising water swept over her   while she slept on the beach.  The area became known as Traig Eba.        

Because Banba and Fintan mac Bochra both escaped the flood it is interesting to theorize that they were the progenitors of the Fomorii, a predominantly female people   who claimed that they came from Mount Hermon where there  was a temple to Baal.  Cessair's foster-father Saball son of Nionall (Nenual) was associated with a tower of Baal. 

References: 
http://www.shee-eire.com/magic&mythology/myths/TheLeborGabala/Fintan-and-Cessair/Page1.htm•http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/iml/iml11.htm, http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/mba15.htm , http://theugliestguitar.com/archives/570 

•http://appellationmountain.net/2009/11/11/name-of-the-day-fintan/ 

•http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Deluge_(mythology) 

•http://www.celtsite.com/Rooms/ReadRoom/Section-2.htm